NTT Appoints Abhijit Dubey as Global Chief Executive Officer, NTT Ltd. from April 1, 2021

NTT Ltd., the world-leading global technology services provider, today announced that Abhijit Dubey will succeed Jason Goodall as Global Chief Executive Officer for NTT Ltd.  Abhijit takes the role following over 20 years with global advisory firm McKinsey & Company.

Jason Goodall, current Global CEO for NTT Ltd. commented, “We are looking forward to welcoming Abhijit to the NTT family in 2021 to lead the next generation of our business.  He shares our passion for the technology industry and the role that technology can play in helping make the world a better place.  He brings many years’ experience of our industry and context, as well as a strong track record in delivering high performance and profitability in organizations having advised clients on a range of strategic, operational, and go-to-market challenges.  I am confident that we have solid foundations in place following our successful integration last year and am delighted to work with Abhijit in the first half of next year to ensure a smooth handover.”  

Commenting on his appointment, Abhijit said, “I’m excited about the opportunity to lead this next chapter for NTT Ltd.  NTT is privileged to be a critical technology services partner for many of the world’s leading companies and public sector organizations, with employees in over 73 countries around the world.  With many NTT clients accelerating their digital transformation because of the global pandemic, there has never been a more important time for the technology industry to deliver for the world.  I am passionate about NTT’s purpose, strategy, and part it will play to help clients, employees and communities leverage technology for good.  I am very much looking forward to working with the team.”

Abhijit will join NTT in early February and formally step into his new role on 1 April 2021. He will be based at NTT Ltd.’s headquarters in London. Following a three month handover period, Jason Goodall will retire from his executive role on 30 June 2021 and will remain as a Board Director for NTT Ltd, and Dimension Data, as well as act as a strategic advisor for the NTT Venture Capital business. Tsunehisa Okuno, Chairman, NTT Ltd. commented, “I’d like to thank Jason for his service and commitment to our business for over 23 years and look forward to welcoming and working with Abhijit as he joins us in 2021.”

About NTT Ltd.

NTT Ltd. is a leading global technology services company. We partner with organizations around the world to shape and achieve outcomes through intelligent technology solutions. For us, intelligent means data driven, connected, digital and secure. As a global ICT provider, we employ more than 40,000 people in a diverse and dynamic workplace that spans 57 countries, trading in 73 countries and delivering services in over 200 countries and regions. Together we enable the connected future. 

Honda India Power Products Ltd. Reaches 5 Million Unit Sales Milestone in 2020

Honda India Power Products Limited (HIPP), a leading manufacturer of power products in India, has completed 35 glorious years of its operations in the country. During the course of this memorable journey, HIPP has brought smiles to over 5 million customers in India and overseas. The company has been a trusted partner in progress for its valued customers in line with its vision of “Empower People, To Do Better”. 

HIPP launched its first product namely Portable Generator Model EM650 in India. With a modest network of around 100dealerships, the company has since launched a wide range of power products like Portable Water Pumps, General Purpose Engines, Power Tillers, Brush Cutters & Lawn Mowers supported by a nationwide network of over 600 channel partners. Accumulated sales reached the 1 Mn unit mark in 2003. Having reached the 4 million mark in 2017, the 5-Million-unit sales milestone was reached in 2020, i.e., within a short span of 3 years. Apart from the Indian domestic market, HIPP products are exported to nearly 50 markets overseas including advanced countries like USA, Europe & Japan.

Takahiro Ueda, CMD, President & CEO, Honda India Power Products Limited said, “We are proud to have crossed the 5 million milestone in the same year of completing 35 years of committed service to our customers. The trust bestowed upon us by our valued customers inspires us to continuously innovate and provide products of highest quality at an appropriate price. It has been an incredible journey and we will continue to offer the latest technology that delivers unmatched value to our customers.”  

HIPP is one of the first Japanese conglomerates to enter the Indian market in 1985 and thereby contribute to strengthen economic relations between India & Japan. Since inception, the company has been providing innovative, eco-friendly & best-in-class products to its customers across India in the field of power backup, agriculture & construction.

As a conscious corporate, the company has participated in community development programs & helped create employment opportunities at its Greater Noida factory. HIPP has regularlysupported disaster relief operations across various regions of India, including recently, extending assistance for combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

NSDC and Jagriti Sewa Sansthan Join for Jagriti Digital Yatra 2020

* To inspire millions of youths in Tier 2/ 3 India (Middle India) to become entrepreneurs and to create a positive impact

* To motivate youth through a range of experiences designed within a framework of “Inspiration-Innovation-Incubation”

* First 100 digital yatris to get 20% off on the subscription fee

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Jagriti Sewa Sansthan have joined hands for Jagriti Digital Yatra 2020, a nation-wide digital yatra to inspire millions of youth in the country to become entrepreneurs, and be self-reliant.  Jagriti Yatra is the flagship program of Jagriti Sewa Sansthan that has taken 500 youth and women every year, over the past 12 years, on a national train journey to explore, understand and learn from ‘Middle India’ - small towns and districts.   Amid current pandemic, the partners invite youth to join via digital format.

Under this partnership, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will act as a ‘Knowledge Partner’ for Jagriti Digital Yatra 2020.  It will assist in driving awareness and to motivate youth to join Jagriti Digital Yatra 2020 campaign through its skilling ecosystem which includes sector skill councils, training partners, and training centres. NSDC participants (digital yatris) will get a discount of 20% on the subscription fee, which will be applicable only for first 100 registrations.

In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, NSDC and Jagriti aim to promote ‘Udyamita’ or ‘Enterprise’ on a large scale. The Jagriti Digital Yatra will carry over 1,000 Digital Yatris on a journey of national exploration through digital means for 15 days from 24th December 2020 to 8th January 2021 (visit https://www.jagritiyatra.com/ for more details).

Sharat Bansal, Chairman of Jagriti, Co-Founder of JECP said “The Jagriti Digital Yatra 2020 represents the spirit of Jagriti and that of the country. When there is a crisis, we will rise undaunted, creating a larger journey and a wider message of enterprise across the country. Jagriti is a charitable organization with the mission of Building India through Enterprise with a particular focus on small towns and districts – Middle India.”

Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, NSDC, said, “New economy entrepreneurial models differ from traditional business models.  The NSDC-Jagriti partnership aims at mentoring youth to build viable and sustainable entrepreneurial ventures.  The digital journey will be an immersive experience for participants, delivering challenge-discovery, idea-exchange, problem-solving and best-practices through collaboration and coaching.”

At the core of JDY 2020 is the belief that entrepreneurial energy must be mobilized for revival and growth.  With due encouragement and support, leaders in the middle can create local enterprise and local employment helping revive the country as a national movement. The Jagriti Digital Yatra will reach out to millions of Indians during these 15 days virtual journey.

Jagriti Digital Yatra 2020 seeks to multiply the number of participants, outreach, and its impact. It will engage 3,000 Digital Yatris using digital platforms for group work and experience, bringing enterprise learning through role model visits and digital maps. Yatris will interact through live sessions with 12 role models at key locations where the yatra stops and will undertake business plan competitions. The yatra will have national speakers like Dr Kiran Bedi, Dr. RA Mashelkar, R. Gopalakrishnan among others. The yatra will host panel discussions on 6 key issues relevant for smaller towns and districts – Health, Women empowerments, Digital, Urbanization, Agriculture, Apparel and Handicrafts, subjects that are the focus of the Jagriti Enterprise Center – Purvanchal (JECP). The yatra will have 90+ hours of content and engagement with 200+ speakers over 15 days. Peer to peer interaction with participants forms the core of the digital learning process, with online learning-by-doing.

About National Skill Development Corporation

National Skill Development Corporation, working under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, is a unique public-private-partnership which aims to catalyze creation of quality vocational training ecosystem in India. Since inception in 2010, NSDC has trained more than 2.5 crore people through its partnership with 600+ training partners, 11,000+ training centers spread over 600+ districts across the country. NSDC has established 37 Sector Skill Councils and is implementing Government’s flagship skill development schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), among others.

About Jagriti Yatra Sansthan

Launched on 2nd October, Gandhi Jayanti, Jagriti is paying homage to the father of the nation and the Yatri in every Indian. Gandhiji travelled on a train on his return from South Africa, while the Dandi March in 1930 helped shape our freedom struggle. The Yatra will also pay homage to Swami Vivekanand, with a first stop in Kanyakumari, where Vivekanand meditated after 4 years of travels across the country. Jagriti believes journeys like these have defined India from time immemorial, acting as important crossing points. The Jagriti Digital Yatra 2020 seeks to create a new crossing point at the end of 2020, when the country starts a 2-year journey running up to the 75th anniversary of India’s independence in 2022.

ICICIdirect Launches ‘ICICIdirect Neo’ - a Zero Brokerage Plan Across Indian Market

ICICI Securities (I-Sec), one of India’s largest brokerage house with ~5 million customers, today announced the launch of ‘ICICIdirect Neo’ – a path breaking zero brokerage plan.  This is one-of-its-kind plan targeted at traders, offering unlimited trading with zero brokerage on all Futures trades and flat Rs. 20 per order for Margin and Options trades.

ICICIdirect Neo customers will get host of additional distinctive features like:

* Instant liquidity, where customers get cash within 30 minutes of selling stocks as per their chosen plan

* Access to ICICIdirect’s award winning research with over 300 companies under fundamental coverage

* Access to One-Click Portfolios -  baskets of research curated theme-based (fundamental or technical or a combination of both) stocks or MFs

* Access to proprietary and third party trading tools to get the best out of any market situations

* Margin Trading Funding (MTF) at an interest rate of just 8.9% per annum, as per chosen plan

Mr. Vijay Chandok, MD & CEO, ICICI Securities says, “We remain agile to customer feedback and the launch of ICICIdirect Neo is in response to the feedback we received from our trading customers. This plan, with zero brokerage on all Futures trades, and a flat Rs.20 per order brokerage on Margin and Options trades, is tailor-made for them and will aid in their quest for maximizing profits. It’s very strong proposition for the trading community who can enjoy the combination of low cost, robust platform, and strong analytics tools.”

Indian Music Experience Museum Plans a Unique Workshop from December 19-20, 2020

On the occasion of the Christmas time! Indian Music Experience Museum plans a unique workshop, filled with interesting information, insightful ideas and inspiring music is led by Tiara Oberoi with Ria Bhatnagar, Tiana Oberoi and Leeanne Besterwitch, students of Sandra Oberoi (Founding Director of Harmony-the music school). They bring to this workshop a combined expertise of having traveled internationally with The Harmony Chorus, performing across Russia and the UK, winning the UK Choir Festival for choral excellence; competing on Rising Star, a national level reality singing show on Colors tv, placing at India’s top 8, and participating in several music shows including Christmas events.

It's #Christmas time! A time to celebrate, sing and spread joy. Discover some fascinating traditions from around the world while learning to sing your favourite Christmas carols. Learn a few tips on good vocal technique and how to care for your voice as well. 

This Christmas Carols Workshop on 19th and 20th December, in collaboration with Harmony-The Music School, is not to be missed! Register now to book your slot!

Tickets available on BookMyShow: https://bit.ly/3mbZI7v

H&M Foundation and Social Alpha Commit USD 2 Million to Support Start-ups and Innovations in Waste Management

Sweden based H&M Foundation and Social Alpha have joined hands to launch “Techtonic – Innovations in Waste Management”, a nationwide grand challenge to identify and curate locally designed, disruptive innovations addressing problems in waste management and improving the livelihoods of waste pickers. 

Through “Techtonic – Innovations in Waste Management”, H&M Foundation and Social Alpha aim to create an enabling ecosystem stack for innovators and entrepreneurs developing waste management solutions with a focus on supply chains efficiencies, logistics traceability and waste to value systems. 

Top 5 winners of Techtonic will join the first cohort of Social Alpha Waste Innovations Accelerator and receive support in their lab-to-market journey. The Accelerator will provide startups support with fully paid pilots, expert guidance, go to market strategy, ecosystem access and an opportunity to pitch for seed capital investment up to Rs 1 Cr. First of its kind, the accelerator has been designed to leverage the knowledge and strength of multiple stakeholders across Central, State and Local Government bodies, private sector and civil society to drive the uptake of high-impact and scalable technology innovations.

Techtonic – Innovations in Waste Management is inviting applications from start-ups that are working on  addressing the following challenges in waste management:

* Network Optimization: Innovative solutions to build the supply chain efficiency of waste generated

* Data for waste management: Technology solutions for end-to-end waste traceability, transparency and visibility of the waste  supply chain

* Waste to Value: Enabling recycling and resource recovery from waste streams through innovations, with a focus on low value waste

Karl-Johan Persson, Board Member of H&M Foundation, said “With H&M Foundation’s entrepreneurial heritage and spirit, we see it as both essential and inspirational to use technology and innovation to create social change. New ideas are needed for positive development, and waste management and material recycling are fundamental components of a circular economy. We are happy to support this innovation challenge and are excited to see what impact it will have.”

Manoj Kumar, Founder and CEO, Social Alpha, said, “We believe that climate action can be catalysed by accelerating entrepreneurial solutions to waste management challenges. Deep science and technology innovations will provide the much needed impetus to create circular economic models and enhance livelihood opportunities for millions of waste warriors engaged in this sector. We are delighted to partner with H&M Foundation to nurture entrepreneurship for social, economic and environmental impact – which represents a unique triple bottom-line paradigm.”

With an initial outlay of Rs 15 Crore committed by H&M Foundation and Social Alpha,  the programme will continue to seek more partners as it progresses in its journey. It has also forged partnerships with Start-up India, Invest India, AGNii, Government of Karnataka, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Saamuhika Shakti with the objective to scale this initiative across the country.

Saamuhika Shakti, the collective impact project,  is the programme partner for problem curation, pilots and validations. Saamuhika Shakti brings together multiple organisations - BBC Media Action, CARE, LabourNet, Hasiru Dala, Save the Children, WaterAid and The/Nudge Foundation to work towards a common agenda of enabling waste pickers to have greater agency to lead secure and dignified lives.  This will ensure that the solutions are centered around creating sustainable, better livelihood and enhanced income opportunities for waste pickers.

Techtonic – Innovations in Waste Management has been announced in view of the rising amounts of waste generated from rapid urbanization in India. According to the World Bank, our country is the largest producer of waste in the world owing to its population size. As per a 2016 estimate, India generates 277 million tonnes of municipal solid waste every year. Lack of proper waste management has led to our cities grappling with overflowing landfills, which are hotspots of greenhouse gas emissions, oceans filling up with plastics and leachate from landfills leaking into the soil and groundwater. 

While Government support through policy and programme on waste management has built a momentum, highlighting the need for holistic solutions, true circularity can only be achieved through advancement in technological innovations and their widespread adoption. 

The last date to apply to Techtonic – Innovations in Waste Management is January 31st, 2021.

To apply to the program, log onto to https://www.socialalpha.org/techtonic-innovations-in-waste-management/

About H&M Foundation:

The H&M Foundation is an independent non-profit global foundation headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. It is privately funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of the H&M group. Founded to accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, H&M Foundation uses collaboration and innovation to co-create, fund and share solutions for the world’s most urgent challenges. Since 2013, the family has donated SEK 1.5 billion. To learn more, go to hmfoundation.com and follow @hmfoundation on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

About Social Alpha: 

Social Alpha’s mission is to drive economic growth, social justice and climate action through the power of entrepreneurship and market-creating innovations. Social Alpha is focused on catalysing entrepreneurship for impact and provides critical technology and business incubation support to mission-driven founders through its product innovation labs and venture acceleration framework. Since its inception in 2016, Social Alpha has nurtured 150+ start-ups, making 40+ seed investments and 3 exits. 

upGrad Acquires Recruitment Firm Rekrut India; Forecasts a Massive Jump in Career Outcomes for Learners

upGrad, India’s largest online higher edtech has acquired Rekrut India, the recruitment and staffing solutions company. This 100% acquisition marks an unprecedented M&A in India, where an edtech company has acquired a recruitment firm.

The Mumbai-based Rekrut India provides solutions to build organisations' human capital through their deep sectoral expertise, an extensive network of 100+ recruiting experts, and pioneering products that are agile & adaptive given the complexities of hiring in today’s times. Rekrut has built a wide reach through its multiple hiring models which allow simplified hiring. It is currently working closely with many corporate Startups, MSMEs, and large enterprises.

Driving ROI of education through career outcomes has been a core differentiator for the edtech major upGrad. Acquisition of Rekrut will turbocharge its career engine by opening up wider placement opportunities and propelling accessibility of upGrad learners to Rekrut’s hiring partners.

Talking about the acquisition, upGrad Co-founders Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, and Phalgun Kompalli, in a joint statement, said, “Rekrut will now open the floodgate of career opportunities for upGrad learners. Hence, we are thrilled to announce the onboarding of the team, a significant step in making upGrad a career powerhouse for professionals. This move is integrally aligned with our company’s vision of powering career success for every member of the global workforce as their trusted lifelong learning partner.”

Post the acquisition, Rekrut India, a 100% subsidiary of upGrad, will continue to operate independently, with Ajay Shah continuing as the Managing Director. Given the massive potential of the recruitment sector, which in itself is an INR 15,000 crore market, upGrad firmly believes an independent business in this sector will provide strong non-linear growth opportunities for the edtech major.

“Currently in the market we operate in, we don’t give jobs to people; we give people to jobs. This is predominantly due to the skill gap in India. The upGrad-Rekrut synergy will disrupt the ecosystem and build an end-to-end supply chain of manpower, where Rekrut is the demand partner providing cutting-edge jobs and upGrad will supply the highly skilled, and future-ready talent. We will be taking the learners’ pipeline to the relevant industry stakeholders thereby helping them find the right talent with speed, while in parallel offering a wider choice of career transition for upGrad learners,” said, Ajay Shah, Managing Director, Rekrut.  

“Our M&A strategy is focused towards building a wider higher education and career ecosystem and Rekrut fits-in perfectly with its capabilities to drive tangible ROI for our learners. upGrad’s plans of 300% growth in its paid learner base and driving career outcomes for these 1.2 million learners by FY25, will be further accelerated with this strategic acquisition,” said Gaurav Kumar, President - Corporate Development, upGrad.

The Rekrut acquisition comes at a time when online education has started to gain greater acceptance with recruiters, thereby thawing the age-old offline-online perception divide when it came to hiring talent. Prior to Rekrut, upGrad’s in-house career services team was reaching out to around 100-200 hiring partners in a year and drove over 1000 career transitions in 2020, with an average salary hike of 44%. With Rekrut’s expertise and core business being driving placements, upGrad is fairly confident to boost its current volume by 10X and drive meaningful career outcomes for learners, at scale, and with speed.

About upGrad:

upGrad is India’s largest online higher education company. Founded in early 2015, upGrad has impacted almost 1 million individuals globally, within a short span of 5 years.

upGrad provides online programs in the areas of Data Science, Technology, Management and Law to college students, working professionals and enterprises. These programs are designed and delivered in collaboration with top-notch universities like IIT Madras, IIIT Bangalore, MICA, BIMTECH, NMIMS Global Access, Jindal Global Law School, Duke CE, Deakin University, Liverpool John Moores University and others. With an 80% program completion rate, robust tech platform, outcome-based learning approach, industry-relevant curriculum, finest university credentials, strong mentorship, and steadfast placement support, upGrad has established its position as the leader in the Indian education system.

IIIT Bangalore and upGrad's PG Diploma in Data Science is India’s first-ever PG Diploma, with over 10,000 alumni & learner-base, to be recommended and validated by the NASSCOM and is aligned to Government approved National Occupational Standards (NOS). ​upGrad ranked​ as India's​ No.1​ startup,​ ​as per the LinkedIn​ ​Top​ ​Startups 2020 list. This is the third time in a row that upGrad has been featured​ ​in the​ top startup list by LinkedIn. ​The edtech major received the title of 'Best Education Brands' by Economic Times in 2020​ for the second time, post winning the same title in 2018. ​The brand made it to the​ prestigious​ GSV Global EdTech 50 List 2020. ​Owing to its world-class learning platform. upGrad won the 'Best Communication and Teaching Platform' in the Education Innovation Awards 2020 by Entrepreneur India​ as well as received the title of ‘Best Tech for Education’ by IAMAI in 2019.