Pawan MUunjal Receives The First Ather 450X In The Delhi Market

Mr. Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO of Ather Energy, today presented the first unit of their new electric scooter 450X in Delhi to Dr. Pawan Munjal, the Chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp.

Handing over the scooter to Dr. Munjal, Tarun said, "We have launched the Ather 450X across markets in the past few months and are now delighted to begin our retail operations in New Delhi. To kick-start this phase, we are happy to deliver the first vehicle in Delhi to Dr. Pawan Munjal. Not only has Dr. Munjal instilled confidence in Ather as one of our key investors but he also has been a mentor to me and Swapnil personally over the years. This is an extremely proud moment for us.”

Dr. Pawan Munjal, said, "I am truly delighted to receive Ather 450X Scooter from Tarun. Sustainability and clean energy remain at the core of Hero MotoCorp's vision - 'Be the Future of Mobility'. I congratulate Tarun, Swapnil and the entire team for developing this technologically-advanced and connected vehicle for customers in the country."

Hero MotoCorp has been a part of Ather’s growth story since 2016 and currently has nearly 35% of shareholding in the leading EV maker.

Nearly 70% Indian Consumers Increased Savings, Investments Post Pandemic: InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index

InterMiles, a leading loyalty and rewards programme, has released its maiden ‘Consumer Spending Sentiment Index Report’ showcasing payment, purchasing and personal finance trends, along with shifting consumer spending patterns. The report is based on responses received from more than 11,500 InterMilers across India.

Key Insights from the InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index:

90% Indian consumers witnessed a change in personal spending behavior since the onset of the pandemic

The pandemic has had a deep-rooted impact on the economy – not only bringing about a change in spending capacities, but also a shift in consumer priorities and renewed caution with regards to purchasing.  According to the survey by InterMiles, almost 90% Indian consumers have witnessed a change in personal spending behavior since the pandemic, with a mere 10% reporting no change in their spending behavior.

Given the uncertainty and suddenness of the global pandemic, close to 70% Indians have now placed greater emphasis on securing the future by increasing investments and savings. Investments also ensure increased cash flow in the economy, possibly aiding in quicker fiscal recovery for the nation.

Spending priorities have taken a turn, with 21% consumers increasing spends on essential products, while non-essential spending saw negligible (3%) increase post the advent of the pandemic.

Expenditure on essential goods and services like food products and healthcare saw a substantial increase by 45% and 38% respectively. Routine spending on FMCG products like household goods and personal care products remained the same as before.

On the contrary, non-essential spending saw a steep decline with consumer spends decreasing on travel (68%), entertainment (52%) and apparel (45%).

The rise of social commerce, voice-activated shopping and contactless payments 

The pandemic and the subsequently imposed lockdown triggered massive changes in consumer shopping behavior, with over 74% survey respondents stating an increase in the use of online shopping portals. This can, no doubt, be attributed to the distinct need for contactless services as consumers looked to minimize touchpoints that could lead to viral transmission.

The survey also threw light on the relatively new, but sure shift to social commerce, with as many as 40% consumers stating that they now use social media channels like Facebook and Instagram more frequently for shopping. This instant content to commerce behavior is anticipated to revolutionize the marketing ecosystem in the country, while also allowing SMMEs increased visibility at low costs. Giving us a glimpse of the future, 31% respondents said that their usage of digital voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home, for shopping, increased through the course of the pandemic.

70% consumers have changed payment preferences post the outbreak of the pandemic. Solidifying the contactless payments behavior, consumers have switched preferences from cash to either cards (26%) or UPI and e-wallets. Given the increasing penetration of smartphones and ease of usage, UPI is the clear choice for the evolved Indian consumer, with over 44% consumers stating that they’ve started using UPI services even more than cash and cards.

About the InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index:

The InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index was introduced to identify trends that matter and enrich the industry’s understanding around the always evolving consumer payment and purchasing behaviors. The programme which has a 10mn plus member base, is committed towards understanding the pulse of consumers across various travel & lifestyle categories. Data collected through these surveys will not only enable InterMiles as a programme to create unique and compelling value propositions for its members, it will also create meaningful business opportunities for its partners. 

The member base for the InterMiles Consumer Spending Sentiment Index comprises of multi demographics as well as diverse payment, lifestyle and travel preferences.

Federation of Indian Granite And Stone Industry Elects Ishwinder Singh As New President

Federation of Indian Granite and Stone Industry has elected Executive Committee Members that was held on 28 March, 2021 to elect the Office Bearers for the term 2021-23. The Office Bearers is as follows.

Sri. Ishwinder Singh, President

Sri. Manoj Kumar Singh, Vice President

Sri. G.M. Hegde, Vice President

Sri. Mahaveer Singh Rathore, Vice President

Sri. Sunil K Arora , Vice President

Sri. N. Ashoken, Vice President

Sri. Pramod Bhandari, Vice President

Sri. S. Krishna Prasad, General Secretary

Sri. Sunder Somani, Treasurer

Sri. Yeshwant Ranka, Joint Treasurer

Sri. Kalit Bhandari, Joint Secretary

Sri. Rajesh Kumar Sharda , Joint Secretary

Sri. S. Shankaranarayanan, Joint Secretary

Sri. Venkatesh Saka, Joint Secretary

Dr. Harpal Singh Yadav, Joint Secretary

Sri. Sanjeev Modi, Joint Secretary

Sri. Laxmikant Jain, Joint Secretary

Sri. Madan Lal Jangid, Joint Secretary 

We will be obliged if you can release the above list in the news item in your newspaper for the benefit of our members. Photograph of Sri. Ishwinder Singh, President and Sri. S. Krishna Prasad, General Secretary is enclosed.

‘Nourishing Minds’ Initiative By Hershey India To Build Nutrition In Underprivileged Kids With Sofit Plus

* Sofit Plus is a new plant protein drink developed for under-nourished kids based on research conducted with leading institutions like IIT- Bombay, Sion Hospital and NGO Annamrita

* The BMI results indicated an overall decrease in the percentage of both `thin’ (from 18% to 8%) and `severely thin’ (from 17% to 2%) children~

* An overall improvement in anthropometric measurements amongst underprivileged kids, possibly due to presence of high-quality soy plant protein in Sofit Plus along with other biological factors such as age, gender, their daily diet ~

* Results of blood parameters indicated significant effect of Sofit Plus on vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin B12, calcium, zinc, ferritin and total protein levels in the undernourished kids~

* Recovery from deficiency of the above nutrients were close to 75% to 100%~

Hershey India Pvt Ltd, a part of The Hershey Company, a leading global snacking giant and the largest producer of quality chocolates in North America, has developed Sofit Plus, a plant protein-fortified drink exclusively for its `Nourishing Minds’ social initiative. Designed to meet the nutritional needs of underprivileged kids, the drink was developed by Hershey India in collaboration with IIT-Bombay, Sion Hospital and the NGO Annamrita.

The product is a result of an in-depth research conducted by IIT – Bombay amongst a group of underprivileged children (within the age group of 6-18 years) from suburban slums in Mumbai. The research revealed startling data such as 30% of the kids are below normal BMI of which 18% are thin, 11% are severely thin and 0.9% are underweight. It further indicated major deficiencies in the intake of carbohydrates, fats and proteins amongst children. Calcium, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Zinc and Iron deficiencies were also highlighted through dietary recall and analysis.

Based on this study this study, Hershey India developed Sofit Plus – a special plant protein-fortified drink designed to meet the nutritional needs of underprivileged kids in India. As part of the initiative, the study focused on three main areas: a) to provide evidence of the role of nutrient supplementation in overcoming undernourishment; b) to determine the efficacy of the plant protein drink Sofit Plus and c) to understand its impact on the overall growth.

One serving (200ml) of Sofit Plus was provided to approximately 500 children twice a day, for 6 days a week, for 3 consecutive months. The research, team led by Prof Narendra Shah at IIT Bombay, meticulously monitored the field performance at the chosen schools in Mumbai.

Commenting about the initiative, Herjit Bhalla, Vice President India and AEMEA at The Hershey Company said, “The Hershey Company globally has a legacy of driving positive change through initiatives that benefit society. Keeping up with the tradition, we have developed Sofit Plus, a soy plant protein fortified drink, as a part of our initiative ‘Nourishing Minds'in partnership with Annamrita, Sion Hospital and IIT-Bombay. Designed to help meet the nutritional needs of underprivileged kids in India, this product is backed by rigorous research and development, to help address the low nutrition levels amongst the designated group of children and help contribute towards building a healthier future for them.”

Prof Narendra Shah at IIT Bombay, further commented, “Lack of nutrition among children is often the invisible problem in developing nations. India is home to millions of stunted children. A country cannot aim to attain economic and social development goals without addressing the issue of malnutrition. It is essential to focus on children’s health for inclusive growth and educational development as they will be driving the future of our country. We are happy to be a part of the Hershey India’s innovative research and development team. We are extremely encouraged by the positive results delivered by Sofit Plus in addressing the nutritional gaps in malnourished children. Sofit Plus is specially manufactured with added plant proteins and micronutrients for distribution to students of participating schools. Made with added nutrients, the product should be beneficial for the children’s overall health and growth.”

There are various forms of malnourishment and deficiencies that affect children. Childhood deficiencies include an insufficiency in protein, energy and micronutrients namely iron, vitamin A, iodine and zinc. The problem is particularly severe in India. Hershey India, in collaboration with leading research, medical and social organizations, launched the ‘Nourishing Minds’ initiative to bridge this nutrition gap.

About The Hershey Company 

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate's Booty.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably.  Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

Tata Motors Launches Ceramic Coating In House Service With The All-New Safari

Tata Motors, India’s leading auto brand, today, announced one of an industry first service offering of Ceramic Coating with the all-new Safari. This is an advanced hydrophilic formulation technology to revitalize the appearance of Tata cars. Available at a price of 28,500 (inclusive of GST) for UVs, this service will be provided at all Tata Motors authorized dealerships.

Used in the aerospace industry and by hyper-car manufacturers, the Ceramic Coating forms a hardened finish that mixes with the paintwork to instantly rejuvenate the appearance of the vehicle. As compared to existing conventional treatments, this coating lasts much longer and helps in shedding debris and grime while protecting the vehicle against traffic pollution, acid rain, solvents, animal matter and more. The coating’s strong crystal-like layer reduces fading by UV rays on the vehicle. It is not only easy to maintain due to its self-cleaning properties but also helps in repelling oxidation and corrosion, thereby offering 360-degree protection to materials in the car such as glass, paint, rims/wheels, vinyl-plastic and leather. Additionally, keeping up with the ‘New Forever’ promise, Tata Motors will also extend this unique service to all other Tata passenger vehicles at prices varying as per their respective segments.

Commenting on the introduction of this service, Mr. Dimple Mehta, Head Customer Care - Domestic & International Business, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors said, “Besides launching new products we are also focused on introducing industry first service offerings, such as the Ceramic Coating. With the launch of new cars and UVs  that cater to evolving consumer demands, customers are now also expecting the best-in-class aftersales service that furnishes these new age products. In alignment with the same, we have collaborated with world-class companies in car care technologies such as 3M, Wuerth, Bardhal and Sikand Stanley BG and SK Car Care to bring in this industry first service in India in house. We are positive that this value-added service along with others will provide paramount vehicle protection as we work to continue to provide the best-in-class aftersales service to our customers.”

With a robust build quality comes strong product confidence. To emphasise on the same, Tata Motors is providing additional value added services for the all –new Safari, making the entire product offering irresistible.

Pentacare Extended warranty: For Safari we have launched Up to 5 years and unlimited kilometers Pentacare Extended Warranty. Extend warranty will have 3 options- 2+1 years/ 1.15 Lakh kms (whichever occurs first ), 2+2 years/ 1.30 Lakh kms whichever occurs first ) and 2+3 years (Pentacare) /unlimited kms. Warranty. The warranty package covers important maintenance services of all critical parts such as the engine and engine management system, air conditioning system, transmission system and gearbox, fuel system, and much more. Moreover, any breakdown related to the malfunctioning of the clutch and suspension are also covered in Extended Warranty for up to 50,000 kms.

Value Care Maintenance Plan –Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC): Tata Motors has also launched Value Care – a pan India maintenance service plan that guarantees protection against unexpected repair cost and provides substantial savings through protection against inflation & price volatility of lubricants during the functioning of the vehicle. Customers can choose from one of three plans namely Value Care Gold, Value Care Promise to Protect and Value Care Silver. Between these three plans, customers can avail a variety of services such as unexpected wear and tear repairs for vehicle parts, oil replacements, consumables, service parts and regular servicing of your vehicles at stipulated & recommended periods.

Juniper Networks Announces New Partnership Agreement With ConnX To Drive AI-Driven WAN Adoption And Leadership Across India

* Long-time Juniper 128 Technology global partner ConnX expands its relationship with Juniper Networks to the India subcontinent

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced that ConnX, an AI-driven communications transformation-as-a-service platform provider, has been appointed as a partner for India and the SAARC region. ConnX will help deliver Juniper’s vision of end-to-end AI-driven automation, insights and action from client-to-cloud and drive the adoption of solutions, including Juniper’s Session Smart® SD-WAN across India.

Recognized as a leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure, Juniper Networks is simplifying how enterprises operate their networks while improving network users’ experiences using automation and proactive AI-driven operations. 

WAN Assurance and the Marvis Virtual Network Assistant (both driven by Mist AI) have recently been added to the Session Smart® network portfolio, creating a true AI-driven SD-WAN solution. By continuing to expand the Juniper® campus and branch portfolio and bringing it all under a common Mist AI umbrella, customers benefit from fully integrated AIOps, security and troubleshooting across the WLAN, LAN and WAN for lower costs and optimized end-user experiences.

With over 30 years of experience driving the digital transformation of large Fortune 500 enterprises, ConnX has been a long-time 128 Technology partner, having designed, implemented and supported over 5,000 sites across AMER and EMEA. The new local partnership agreement will allow ConnX to expand its remit into the Indian market – and help enterprise customers across India transition from fragmented and siloed communications services toward an integrated, AI-driven, multi-service collaboration platform powered by Juniper Networks.

Supporting Quotes:

“Over the years, ConnX has demonstrated a strong global track record as an AI-driven communications transformation-as-a-service platform provider for large enterprises. We are delighted to have deepened our global relationship with this India-centric partnership agreement, confident that we have a great partner in ConnX who will be able to further deliver Juniper’s experience-first vision of the end-to-end AI-driven network. Together, we want to radically change the economics of the SD-WAN market with a true client-to-cloud vision across the Indian subcontinent and beyond.”

Sajan Paul, Managing Director & Country Manager, India & SAARC, Juniper Networks

“Over the past 25 years, ConnX has developed a deep understanding of the global enterprise transformation, building up extensive experience and success working across the partner ecosystem. With this agreement, we look forward to helping Juniper customers navigate the needs of a new borderless workforce, leveraging AI and automation to realize the significant cost advantages and the benefits of rapid service delivery, global scalability and predictive customer experience while mitigating the operational complexity of supporting and maintaining fragmented and siloed communications services.”

Indrajit Ghosh, CEO, ConnX

“APAC market growth in cloud-native/mobile-first and IoT applications is accelerating with the adoption of AI-driven over-the-top top connectivity & collaboration services. Under this partnership, ConnX will offer hosted/managed services, including AI-WAN/SASE, SaaS optimization and intent-based routing, network security, UCaaS, CCaaS and AIOps driven Service assurance to Enterprise and Service Provider customers in India and SAARC countries.”

Arun Soni, SVP and Country Head-APAC, ConnX

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks challenges the inherent complexity that comes with networking and security in the multicloud era. We do this with products, solutions and services that transform the way people connect, work and live. We simplify the process of transitioning to a secure and automated multicloud environment to enable secure, AI-driven networks that connect the world. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

AWS Announces Availability Of Amazon WorkSpaces In The Asia Pacific (Mumbai) Region

Amazon WorkSpaces is now generally available in the Asia Pacific (Mumbai) Region. Amazon WorkSpaces is a fully managed, secure Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution that runs on AWS. With WorkSpaces, customers can provision virtual, cloud-based Windows and Linux desktops for their users, providing them with access to the documents, applications, and resources they need, anywhere, anytime, from any supported device. They can pay either monthly or hourly, just for the Amazon WorkSpaces they launch.

Mumbai is our 14th region and is part of our continuing commitment to always making it easier for workers to securely access their applications from home, remote offices or anywhere. For a list of regions where Amazon WorkSpaces is available, see the AWS Region Table.

The expansion comes as we approach the one-year anniversary of global travel restrictions, lockdowns, and work from home (WFH) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have spent the past year helping customers across the globe rapidly shift to WFH. For example, we helped LearningMate – a technology company offering domain expertise in teaching and learning solutions – move their workforce to WFH.

“LearningMate seamlessly transitioned to a remote work environment by rolling out Amazon WorkSpaces. We integrated Amazon WorkSpaces with our on-premise Active Directory over VPN to ensure that all our employees have secure access to our corporate data and internal applications. Our IT team was able to evaluate Amazon WorkSpaces within a week and ramped up to over 100 workspaces within a month. With Amazon WorkSpaces, we were able to operationalize over 200 new hires in a COVID-19 lockdown situation without any impact to our growth,” said Palash Sinha, IT Head, LearningMate.

With our availability of the Mumbai Region, customers can provision WorkSpaces closer to their users and data, providing a more responsive experience.

Customers in the Mumbai Region can also take advantage of WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol (WSP), the new, cloud-native streaming protocol that enables a consistent user experience even on unreliable networks. If workers run into networks with high packet loss or unstable at home or office networks, WSP might be able to help. I know it has helped me with my home network.

WorkSpaces for Government and Highly Regulated Industries

Government organizations and highly regulated industries like financial services must adhere to strict compliance and data sovereignty requirements in India. WorkSpaces’ expansion allows customers to better meet data sovereignty requirements without the cost and complexity of building on-premises VDI.

RBL Bank, for example, is one of the leading private sector banks in India. The bank is looking forward to moving their current WorkSpaces deployment to the Mumbai region after using it to enable work from home since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When COVID-19 came, we needed to move many of our employees to work from home overnight. We turned to Amazon WorkSpaces for hundreds of workers and we were able to get them up and running in 10 days, while maintaining the same data security we needed to support our business,” said Sankarson Banerjee, CIO of RBL Bank. “With the opening of the Mumbai region, we look forward to bringing WorkSpaces to more users. It will also help us raise the bar in the user experience while meeting our data sovereignty commitments. AWS’s continued pace of innovation is helping us to add agility to our workforce in ways we did not think possible just a few years ago.”

WorkSpaces for Contact Center, Development, or Back Office

For companies that provide services such as customer support, development, or back office services like accounting or IT support, using Amazon WorkSpaces in Mumbai can enable a more reliable way of giving users a persistent desktop while helping to reduce the risk of data leakage, by using the closest possible AWS Region. Amazon WorkSpaces makes it easy to enable temporary, seasonal, or full-time employees with all the resources they need to be successful in a secure desktop experience.

Wipro Limited is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, which provides various services including Data Analytics and AI, Business Process Management, Digital Strategy and Transformation, and Cyber Security and Risk. Capitalizing on the opportunity to securely help customers transition to remote working, Wipro has developed a custom IT-as-a-Service offering called Wipro virtuadesk™ leveraging Amazon WorkSpaces for one of its contact center customers to enhance work from home productivity. This solution enabled the customer to implement a bring your own device (BYOD) policy for their users and improved performance 10x while reducing the overall total cost of operations (TCO).

“We helped some of our most security-conscious customers run their operations in India across a wide array of workloads leveraging Amazon WorkSpaces. We provided them with secure access, especially for their employees working remotely. The feedback has been phenomenal.  WorkSpaces’ fully-managed Desktop as a Service (DaaS) offers the type of agility our customers need for seasonal and temporary hiring and changes in the business landscape,” said Anshul Sarin, Vice President, Cloud & Infrastructure Services, APMEA, Wipro Limited. “The addition of the Mumbai region meets one of the top customer asks of improving both performance and security. Wipro’s virtuadesk, powered by Amazon WorkSpaces is a state-of-art solution that provides seamless experience to customers in remote working spaces. Our broad portfolio and service delivery capabilities on cloud, coupled with AWS WorkSpaces’ agile and scalable features will help customers achieve transformative outcomes.”