Aspire Systems Recognized For The 12th Consecutive Year As One Of India’s 100 Best Places To Work For 2021

Aspire Systems, a global technology services firm, has been recognized as one of the 100 Best Places to Work for 2021 by the Great Place to Work® Institute. The Great Place to Work® Certification is awarded to organizations that provide exceptional employee experiences and prove best-in-class people practices based on a meticulous evaluation method. The assessment is based on the Great Place to Work® Model©, which appraises a workplace based on its Trust Index© and Culture Audit© qualities. And for Aspire, this is the 12th time that the organization has been winning this award in a row.  

Commenting on this accomplishment, Dinesh Kumar T K, Vice President, Human Resources, Aspire Systems, said, “We are all going through a challenging time due to the pandemic situation. From an organizational standpoint, we have taken several initiatives in the interest of the safety and welfare of employees to pull through this. This year, our ranking is 48 and this is a fitting testimony to the high level of commitment and dedication our employees and their families have shown during this period.”   

“While we understand that it is always an honor to be acknowledged as a Great Place to Work, we believe it is also a reminder to aim for betterment. As an organization, we are working towards innovating and administering better people practices and focusing on their growth and well-being. We have always been a people-centric company and believe in embracing our customers’ and employees’ welfare every step of the way. I would like to thank each member of our Aspire family, who worked wholeheartedly in making Aspire a great place to work” adds Dinesh. 

Great Place to Work® Certification is recognized globally by employees and employers alike for identifying and recognizing great workplace cultures. More than 10,000 organizations from over 60 countries partner with the Institute every year for assessment, benchmarking, and planning actions to strengthen their people practices.  

About Aspire Systems: 

Aspire Systems is a global technology services firm serving as a trusted technology partner for more than 200 customers across the globe. Aspire works with the world's most innovative enterprises and software product companies, helping them leverage technology to transform their business in the current digital landscape. Its proven approach to Software Engineering & Digital Technologies helps companies run smart business models. Aspire’s core philosophy of ‘Attention. Always.’ communicates its belief in lavishing care and attention to its customers and employees. The company currently has over 3800 employees globally and is CMMI Level 3 certified. It operates across North America, LATAM, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific. 

Programmatic Mobile Video Advertising See 194% Growth In India

 

* InMobi report finds in-app video ads showing significantly higher click through rate as compared to other formats  

Videos have emerged as the most preferred form of content over the last few years on the wave of an unprecedented global growth in video consumption. According to InMobi’s State of Programmatic Mobile Video Advertising in India report, there are 356 million mobile video viewers in India. The report throws insights on the change in advertiser spends and the performance of video as a format from data analyzed on the InMobi Advertising Platform between January 2020 and January 2021.

Commenting on the state of programmatic videos in India, Vasuta Agarwal, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, said, “In the recent years, online video consumption has exploded across the globe. The increasing mobile video consumption, which was seemingly an emerging trend during the lockdown, is now redefining the advertising strategies of some of the leading brands. With the time spent in watching videos at an all-time high and the growing engagement, we see a strong potential for programmatic advertising across sectors.”

The Future is Video

Smartphones continue to rapidly penetrate India’s demography, and this has fueled a 194% growth in Mobile Video Advertisements. As 62% of mobile users in India watch videos on their devices, brands today understand the increasing impact of mobile video advertising. In-app video ad engagement peaked over the last year with a 23% growth YoY in Click-Through Rate (CTR). When compared with other formats, in-app videos witnessed a 112% higher CTR.

Doing Mobile Video Right

Like any other advertising campaign, there are several critical factors, such as the length of the video or its orientation, that advertisers need to think about when launching a mobile-first advertising campaign. According to the report, vertical videos ads saw a 25% YoY growth in CTR in the review period as compared to 18% YoY growth in case of landscape video ads. Similarly, when compared with other formats, the CTR for vertical video ads was 4x higher and that for landscape video ads was 47% higher.

The unprecedented growth in video consumption has paved the way for brands investing in building mobile-first video, scaling and engaging across different video placements, and optimizing the videos for the various in-app environments. Going forward, leveraging programmatic video will be the way to ensure maximum transparency and brand safety while enhancing efficiencies for brands.

Key Highlights

* 356 million mobile video viewers in India

* 194% growth in mobile video ads 

* 42% of all in-app programmatic spending is accounted by video

* 23% YoY growth in CTR seen for in-app video

* In-app videos see 112% higher CTR compared to other formats

* CTR for vertical video ads 4x higher as compared to other formats

* 25% YoY growth in CTR for vertical video ads

Paytm Launches "iPhone Bonanza”, Pay Electricity Bill On The App & Get A Chance To Win An iPhone 12

India’s leading digital financial services platform Paytm today announced the launch of the ‘iPhone Bonanza’ offer on electricity bill payments. Users who pay their electricity bills through the Paytm app between June 8th and July 8th will stand a chance to win an iPhone 12.  

Winners will be notified via email & phone calls by 31st July 2021, and upon successful verification will be given a Paytm Mall voucher. The winners can log on to Paytm Mall, enter the voucher code and order the iPhone 12 for free.  

To bring more convenience Paytm has recently enhanced the electricity bill payments experience with features such as 2-step instant payments and timely reminders through SMS and in-app notifications. Users need to simply choose their state & service provider, enter their bill number or customer account number and then make the payment. Additionally, users paying the electricity bill for the first time on Paytm will get a guaranteed cashback of up to Rs 50. 

Paytm gives its users the flexibility to select their preferred payment mode from Paytm UPI, Paytm Wallet, Paytm Postpaid, debit and credit cards, or net banking.  

Paytm spokesperson said, "It is our constant endeavour to enable users with seamless digital payments services that help in enhancing the ease of living. We have onboarded electricity boards from every corner of the country ranging from Karnataka, Delhi, AP, Telangana to Lakshadweep, Manipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, among others.  With our new UI and exciting offers, we are trying to reach new users across the country.” 

Paytm users can also do mobile, broadband & DTH recharges, pay their credit card bills, book cylinders, make rent payments, and many other utility bill payments from the comfort of their home.

Union Bank Of India Enters MOU With The National Small Industries Corporation Ltd (NSIC)

 

Union Bank of India has entered into MOU with The National Small Industries Corporation Ltd (NSIC) under "NSIC Bank Credit Facilitation Scheme" to support MSMEs with credit requirements.  

Under the arrangement the MSME Unit can approach directly to any of NSIC branch offices which are also operating as Finance Facilitation Centre (FFC) and submit their request for loan requirement from Union Bank of India. The official sitting at the NSIC Branch will provide hand holding support to the MSME unit by assisting them in completing all documentation as required for further submission to the Bank. These documents are to be provided by the MSME unit based on the checklist of the Bank. No fee is charged from the MSME unit for applying for loan under this scheme.  

The agreement was signed by Shri P K Das, FGM on behalf of Union Bank of India and Shri P R Kumar CGM, NSIC. 

Vedanta Selects 23 Start-Ups As Winners For First Edition Of Its “Vedanta Spark” Global Corporate Accelerator Program

Vedanta Group, India’s leading producer of metals, minerals and oil & gas today announced 23 start-ups as winners of the first edition of their unique ‘Vedanta SPARK’ initiative. Vedanta SPARK was launched on 30 Oct’20 (www.vedantaspark.com) with the objective to build technology capabilities for achieving business transformation and strategic growth by partnering with early-stage, growth stage and venture stage Digital Tech start-ups. The initiative organised as an innovation grand challenge and corporate accelerator program attracted over 1,350 registrations from across 19 countries with more than 250 overseas startups.     

The winning 23 start-ups having      been      selected after a highly rigorous process of evaluation involving business executives and industry experts and under strong competition      hold the potential to deliver a  business impact of around $45-50 million in this current financial year.  As part of Vedanta      Spark the winners will be      offered      various opportunities including partnerships and collaborations, funding and investments, capacity and resources etc. to pave the way for outcomes in operational excellence, revenue growth from new products and markets, and new digital ventures.      These chosen start-ups will get pilot opportunities within Vedanta Group to implement and demonstrate business impact, opening up revenues to win commercial orders for a potential global roll out.

Commenting on it, Mr Sunil Duggal, Group CEO, Vedanta said: “We have selected      these 23 start-up partners after a rigorous selection process. I am very excited and very happy to be working with you. At Vedanta, we will make it our duty to embrace these start-up partners as we strongly believe Vedanta can derive      huge enterprise value. Vedanta will make this a periodic program going forward and consider expanding this partnership with global educational and research organizations as well.”

Mr Akarsh Hebbar, Executive Sponsor remarked: “Even in the 1990s Vedanta believed in making age-old industries like mining and metallurgy digital. Vedanta is always on the hunt to find the next big thing. Vedanta Spark is a further refreshing boost to Vedanta's cultural DNA and as we speak we are already thinking about the next cohort of start-ups to work with. What we offer to start-ups is our scale. We are always open to the idea of start-ups using us as their playground for testing their cutting edge technology. This is just the beginning and we welcome all these 23 start-ups to the Vedanta family!”

The almost two dozen start-ups were chosen following a thorough evaluation process by expert panels consisting of Vedanta’s professionals, domain experts and external mentors from reputed govt. ministries and industry     . The      23 winning      start-ups are Sparkcognition, Machinemax, Throughput, Promethean Energy,Dimension NXG, Infrrd, Zededa, MaximL, Tachyus, Neewee, SenseGiz, Guardhat, Prysmex, MicroSilicon, Detect Technologies, ExactSpace, Imaginate, Algo, Affine, Safe AI, Planys, Enmovil, and Edgistify.

Winning start-ups like Detect Technologies and SafeAI Inc were enthusiastic and appreciative of the programme and the opportunity to work with the Vedanta Group.

Daniel Raj David, CEO and Co-Founder, Detect Technologies said: “Vedanta Spark is a very structured and incredible platform for startups to work with large conglomerate for its digitization. For fostering innovation we need - awareness, execution of pilots and scale. The Vedanta Spark program provides all the 3 things on a single platter.”

Brenton Welford, VP Business Development, SafeAI Inc commented: “As an autonomous tech company with Vedanta we envision building systems that can bring people outside the line of fire. SafeAI is really excited to implement its first autonomous haulage system in India with Vedanta.”

The key national partners for Vedanta Spark are Forge (strategic partner incubator), Start     up India, AIM, Agnii (Invest India) and the key global partners are Core Hub, World Start     up. The company plans to make Investments of about INR 100 Cr towards the implementation of this programme.

The program roadmap has been formulated towards scaling up the engagement models with Innovative start-ups, whose partnership provide Vedanta with the potential to combine the speed, cost, scale and scope advantages of Start-ups in Innovation with the scale, reach, production, distribution, financial, and commercial capacity of Vedanta Limited.

About Vedanta Limited:

Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa, Namibia, and Australia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. Under the aegis of Vedanta Cares, the flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Vedanta and its group companies have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index 2020, and were conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, CII Environmental Best Practices Award 2020, CSR Health Impact Award 2020, CII National Award 2020 for Excellence in Water Management, CII Digital Transformation Award 2020,  ICSI National Award 2020 for excellence in Corporate Governance, People First HR Excellence Award 2020,  ‘Company with Great Managers 2020’ by People Business  and certified as a Great Place to Work 2021. Vedanta’s flagship Nand Ghar Project was identified as best CSR project by the Government of Rajasthan.  Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education Introduces Bachelors’ Programme In Aesthetics And Peace Studies

* This course aims to cover a wide-ranging area of liberal arts/ humanities and social sciences with a broad framework of Aesthetics and Peace Studies which will help students to be able to work in media and art organizations.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education have announced its first-of-its-kind programme – BA in Aesthetics and Peace Studies– has been launched from this academic year with many innovative features by the Gandhian Centre for Philosophical Arts and Sciences (GCPAS), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). This is also in tune with the National Education Policy -2020 with the possibility of an Honours degree.

Gandhian Centre for Philosophical Arts and Sciences is a department that engages with interdisciplinary teaching and research with a view to developing alternative knowledge systems to deal with contemporary crises. The Centre engages with the intersectionality of aesthetics, philosophy, ecology, journalism, Gandhian and peace studies, and with its much-discussed interdisciplinary approach, the BA in Aesthetics and Peace Studies intends to connect and combine liberal arts and social sciences with a broad framework of Aesthetics and Peace Studies. Literature, Arts, and Media have been brought together with Political Science, International Relations, Philosophy, etc.

“The idea is to provide education for both arguably ‘more creative/artistic potential and more intellectual acumen’ with the possibilities of meaningful careers. Their artistic, intellectual, and communicative abilities will be trained in such a way that they will be able to work in the areas of journalism, media, communication, social sector, international agencies, research, and publishing”, said Prof Varadesh Hiregange, Director, GCPAS.

Earlier Gandhian Centre for Philosophical Arts and Sciences has launched two postgraduate programmes – MA in Ecosophical Aesthetics and MA in Art and Peace Studies – in the last two years, embarked on an undergraduate programme on similar lines, with a view to catering to diverse artistic interests.

“This is the trend; we see many such students with multiple interests; this is an attempt to create the learning opportunity for such students who can also make a career out of their talent. There will be multiple exit points in BA (Aesthetics and Peace Studies) in the sense that the students can study for three years and get a normal degree, can study for four years, and get an Honours degree, can study for two years, and get a diploma, can study for one year and get a certificate. Research becomes integral to the Honours degree which makes it different and on par with global standards,” Prof Varadesh Hiregange, added further.

MAHE Pro-Chancellor Dr. H S Ballal and Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen Dr. M D Venkatesh, in their recent communique, have expressed happiness over the interdisciplinary approach in the new programme, stating that it is in tune with MAHE’s commitment to encouraging liberal arts/humanities and social sciences along with technical and health sciences.

The details of the programme may be obtained from the link- https://manipal.edu/gandhian-centre.html

Bayer And Zydus Announce Continuity Of Their Successful Joint Venture

* The joint venture between the two organisations will be extended for 3 years

* Bayer Zydus Pharma will continue to operate in therapies including cardiology, diabetes, women’s health, ophthalmology and oncology, with new products in the pipeline

* At a time when healthcare is most needed, this JV will continue to focus on innovation-led, patient-centric offerings and digital health solutions

Bayer (South East Asia) Pte Ltd and Cadila Healthcare Limited today announced the extension of their Joint Venture by three years from June 2021. The companies first entered into an agreement on January 28, 2011 to set up the Joint Venture - Bayer Zydus Pharma Private Limited for the sales and marketing of pharmaceutical products in India, with headquarters in Mumbai.

Over the last ten years, Bayer Zydus Pharma has been a successful partnership combining Bayer’s scientific expertise and commercialization of novel products backed by Cadila Healthcare’s strong India presence. The Joint venture company focused on addressing  the  unmet healthcare needs of patients in India by providing best-in-class innovative health solutions. During the term of the joint venture, the company also launched  some of Bayer’s global innovative assets like Xarelto®, EyleaTM and Visanne® in India.  Bayer Zydus Pharma will continue to operate in core therapies including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, women’s health, ophthalmology and oncology, with new products in the pipeline. Key products in the company’s pharmaceutical portfolio include Xarelto®, Glucobay®, EyleaTM, Yaz®, Mirena® and Visanne® amongst others.

Mr. Manoj Saxena, Managing Director, Bayer Zydus Pharma, said, “The Joint Venture with our trusted partner Zydus Cadila has been successful over the last decade in driving scalable reach of our health solutions to patients across the country. We endeavour to carry this momentum forward, harnessing the benefits of our partnership towards delivering innovation-led, patient-centric offerings and digital health tools in India. By sustaining the gains we have made over the years, we aim to fulfill unmet patient needs, strengthen the Indian healthcare ecosystem and translate our vision of ‘Health for All, Hunger for None’ into reality.”

Speaking on the development, Managing Director of Cadila Healthcare Ltd., Dr. Sharvil Patel  said, “We have always believed in the power of collaboration and working with partners to create win-win alliances which unlock value for patients and the healthcare system at large. The spirit of partnership in this joint venture has all been about channeling the core strengths of both Zydus and Bayer for the benefit of the patients. By maximizing the reach, enabling access to innovative products for the patients and leveraging expertise for better health outcomes, the JV has set a benchmark. Moving ahead, we see the efforts intensifying as we address a common goal of contributing to a robust and sustainable healthcare system in India.”

Bayer has been present in India for 125 years in the area of Crop Science and Pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical division’s extension of the joint venture with Cadila Healthcare testifies  Bayer’s commitment to serve the healthcare needs of patients in India. Through strategic and time-honoured alliances with local partners, Bayer Zydus Pharma will continue to offer new-generation therapies to address the nation’s prevailing and emerging health concerns.