Abbott Launches Panbio™ COVID-19 Antigen To Strengthens Rapid Diagnostics Portfolio To Support Testing At Home, Work And Clinics

* Panbio™ COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test has received CE Mark for over-the-counter use in adults and children, with or without symptoms

* The self-test features a minimally invasive nasal swab and delivers results in as early as

15 minutes with no instrumentation, using proven Abbott lateral flow technology

* Automatic reading of test results and fast, easy online reporting to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) via Abbott’s NAVICA™ reporting app

* In clinical evaluations with self-test users, the Panbio Self-Test correctly identified

95.2% of positive samples and 100% of negative samples

Abbott has announced the launch of Panbio™ COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in adults and children with or without symptoms. In alignment with the current ICMR advisory on self-use, these tests will be made available to ramp up testing of symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals and contacts of confirmed coronavirus cases.

Abbott will deliver millions of Panbio COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Tests available for self-use to ease the burden on healthcare systems in urban and rural India. Since the tests provide critical information at a point in the infection cycle when people are at the highest risk of spreading the disease, they can be a powerful tool to slow the spread of infection.

"India needs a clear, multi-pronged COVID-19 response strategy," said Professor Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, former Director General, ICMR. "Scaling access to easy, accurate and fast testing can speed up the country’s preparedness and curb community contagion. Self-testing at home empowers individuals with the ability to carry out the first line of protection against disease transmission. This not only streamlines the process of isolation, tracing and tracking but also supports people in taking charge of their own health and enhances participation of individuals willingly."

In India, Abbott will offer self-tests for use at home, assisted professional testing at point of care and laboratories, as well as workplace testing to help enable a sense of normalcy in returning to places of employment.

"Rapid antigen testing is critical in the fight against COVID-19 and Abbott is delivering a variety of diagnostics options at a critical juncture in the pandemic," said Sanjeev Johar, divisional vice president of Abbott’s rapid diagnostics business in Asia Pacific. "Self-testing is a proven tool that provides an added layer of defense along with public health protocols and the vaccine roll out."

Self-Tests enable fast testing and reporting to help curb the spread of infection

The Panbio COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test is easy-to-use, and people can take the test by using a simple nasal swab (not the deep nasopharyngeal swab) while following the Instructions for Use steps on pack. For children younger than 14 years, an adult caretaker should help collect the nasal samples and conduct the test procedures.  The kit contains all the materials required including nasal swabs, test devices and reagent ampules. No additional instrumentation is required to conduct the test.

Self-test kits are offered in packages of one, four, 10 and 20 tests. With results in just 15 minutes, the Panbio COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test enables people who test positive to immediately isolate so that they do not infect others, rather than waiting days for results.

The test is to be used along with Abbott’s NAVICA mobile app, available in the Google Play and Apple app store. The app offers a simple and streamlined process of self-registration, automatic reading of results and easy reporting as per ICMR guidelines. Panbio Self-Tests will be available via retail pharmacies and through e-commerce platforms, as well as through organizations and institutions.

Rapid point of care testing delivers timely health information to inform treatment

Abbott has multiple professional use diagnostic test options in India that deliver reliable, on-the-spot results. Abbott offers the Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device for professional use. This version of the test – which is scientifically identical to the self-test– can be administered by health professionals on adults and children, with or without symptoms. Like the Panbio Self-Test, the professional test offers a minimally invasive nasal swab option for the assisted, supervised sample collection, which can help people who are not comfortable with the deep nasopharyngeal swab. It delivers results in 15 minutes.

The Panbio professional test demonstrated 95.7% sensitivity and 97.6% specificity when benchmarked against RT-PCR tests, indicating high reliability.[i]  Abbott is the only diagnostics manufacturer to provide performance data on a rapid antigen test specific for use on children who are 15 years and younger, including infants. Panbio has CE Mark for asymptomatic use and supervised nasal swab collection and is on the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Use Listing.

Land Rover Supports Virgin Galactic's First Fully Crewed Space Flight

* Mission accomplished: Land Rover vehicles support Virgin Galactic’s first commercial space flight with a full crew

* Range Rover Astronaut Edition and Land Rover Defender 110 help put Sir Richard Branson into space for the first time

* Partners since 2014, Land Rovers tow Virgin Galactic space vehicles, transport astronauts and support day-to-day operations

* Watch the mission at www.virgingalactic.com/

Land Rover was part of the mission as Virgin Galactic completed its first ever fully crewed space flight, with founder Sir Richard Branson on board as one of four Mission Specialists.

The SpaceShipTwo Unity craft travelled with four Mission Specialists and two pilots on board. The six-strong crew started and completed their mission at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Sir Richard arrived for the ‘Unity 22’ mission in a Range Rover Astronaut Edition and after a safe landing his spacecraft was towed back to waiting well-wishers by a Land Rover Defender 110.

The company’s fourth crewed spaceflight was the first to carry a full crew. Those in the cabin experienced out-of-seat weightlessness and incredible views of Earth from space.

Audiences around the world watched a livestream of the space flight, seeing first-hand the extraordinary experience Virgin Galactic is creating for future astronauts.

“This is an incredible technical and human achievement for the Virgin Galactic team as they took personal adventure to thrilling new heights,” said Joe Eberhardt, President & CEO, Jaguar Land Rover North America. “Land Rover is proud to have supported this exciting mission and we look forward to supporting all the flights into the future.”

Virgin Galactic is the world’s first commercial ‘spaceline’. It has already signed up around 600 Future Astronaut customers, who will be transported to their flights in vehicles supplied by partner Land Rover.

Land Rovers are part of daily life for the Virgin Galactic team, with roles which include towing the space vehicles, carrying equipment and clearing runways before take-off for the first private company to fly humans into space in a craft designed for commercial service.

Stephen Attenborough, Chief Customer Officer for Virgin Galactic, said: “Land Rover has been by our side, on our side and part of our daily lives at Virgin Galactic since 2014. It was completely fitting that these capable, luxurious and iconic vehicles played a central part in today’s historic events. As we look ahead to the start of a full commercial service, we couldn’t be more delighted to know that Land Rover will be going Above and Beyond, as together we open space to change the world for good.”  

Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson and Jaguar Land Rover Chief Creative Officer Prof Gerry McGovern OBE unveiled the Range Rover Astronaut Edition in 2019. Created by Land Rover SV Bespoke and offered exclusively to Virgin Galactic Future Astronaut customers, these luxury SUVs celebrate the partnership’s shared values and the Future Astronaut community’s historic contribution to the democratization of space.

Cyient To Support The UK's HMLR To Centralize And Digitally Register The Local Land Charges Records

Cyient, a global engineering and digital technology solutions company, announced that it has been selected by HM Land Registry (HMLR) to support its Local Land Charges (LLC) Programme.

HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership valued at £7 trillion, enabling over £1 trillion worth of personal and commercial lending to be secured against property across England and Wales. The Land Register contains more than 26 million titles showing evidence of ownership for more than 87% of the landmass of England and Wales.

Cyient has partnered with Esri UK and Xerox to deliver this project. The partnership brings a wealth of proven and relevant experience of direct and tangible benefits to the LLC program. The program aims to digitize and migrate millions of separately held local land charge records from local authorities into a centralized digital register. This will enable HMLR to provide a single and simple-to-use digital service for homebuyers and conveyancers.

Mark Kelso, Programme Director, Local Land Charges, HM Land Registry said: “We are excited to be working in partnership with Cyient to deliver the new national digital LLC Service for England and Wales.”

"We are delighted to have been selected by HMLR to support the LLC Programme. Cyient's experience in successfully delivering large volume geospatial information digitizing and migration projects made us a solid fit for HMLR,"said Matt Wood, Geospatial Sales Director, EMEA, Cyient.

Cyient will work with Esri UK to provide a fully configured and customized version of the Esri SWEET™ software package, which will be used as the primary spatial capture and improvement tool for HMLR. Xerox's Capture and Content Services, which use powerful artificial intelligence and machine learning, will automatically capture and validate information from digital and physical local land charge records.

“Esri UK look forward to collaborating with Cyient and Xerox to support HMLR on their LLC Programme.  Location is a key parameter for the programme and our Sweet for ArcGIS software is designed for exactly this type of use case—configurable, Web-based geospatial data capture/editing by multiple parallel operators with real-time feedback to support efficient capture of high quality data,” said Miles Gabriel, Commercial Manager at Esri UK.

“Homebuyers and conveyancers expect easy and instant access to land records, because they make financial and legal decisions based on these documents,” said Darren Cassidy, Managing Director for U.K. and Ireland and Senior Vice President for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) Enterprise and Global Accounts Operations at Xerox. “Xerox services together with Cyient's geospatial platform will automatically populate and enable a centralized digital register improving the citizen experience.”

Cyient will own the entire process and provide a central management information platform, allowing for "single pane of glass" reporting, with the ability to drill down to prove data integrity and provenance. Cyient will provide all spatial capture and improvement services as well as textual capture.

About Cyient

Cyient (Estd: 1991, NSE: CYIENT) is a global engineering and digital technology solutions company. As a Design, Build, and Maintain partner for leading organizations worldwide, Cyient takes solution ownership across the value chain to help customers focus on their core, innovate, and stay ahead of the curve. The company leverages digital technologies, advanced analytics capabilities, domain knowledge, and technical expertise to solve complex business problems. 

Cyient partners with customers to operate as part of their extended team in ways that best suit their organization’s culture and requirements. Cyient’s industry focus includes aerospace and defense, medical technology and healthcare, telecommunications, rail transportation, semiconductor, geospatial, industrial products, and energy and utilities.

NSDC Onboards WhiteHat Junior As New Training Partner In India

* The partnership aims to build capacity of Coding Trainers across the country

* 12,500 Coding Trainers to be trained in three-years

* Will enable teaching Coding to millions of school children

National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), India’s apex facilitator of skill development and vocational training for India’s youth, has empaneled WhiteHat Jr, a leading live one-on-one online learning platform, as its training partner to accelerate Skill India Mission. WhiteHat Jr, through this partnership, will contribute towards significantly increasing the talent pool of qualified coders to teach coding to children across the country.

NSDC, a public-private partnership organization, is tasked with carrying out initiatives that lay emphasis on training Indian youth in market-ready skills. With the advent of Industry 4.0, the demand for skilled workers is witnessing a surge in areas like Coding, Automation, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and Robotics. The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has laid emphasis on the introduction of vocational education and digital / IT-related skills in schools.

Whitehat Jr is one of the largest kids coding platforms in the country, encouraging IT learning and coding amongst students to prepare them for the new-age world. The partnership will encourage promoting learning and upskilling of teachers for the ecosystem. 

"WhiteHat Jr was established with the vision of making every child a creator versus a consumer of technology in the digital age. By partnering with the esteemed NSDC, we will enable this vision to come to life for every child in India through creating a network of trainers in the last mile of the country," said Karan Bajaj, Founder and CEO, WhiteHat Jr. 

Commenting on the partnership, Arun Pillai, Chief Strategy Officer, National Skill Development Corporation said, “NSDC’s endeavor is to work with world-class organizations to make available their training capacities, knowledge and innovation to the ecosystem of learners in the country. We believe our partnership with WhiteHat JR will help a larger group of students acquire skill sets in emerging technologies. This will enable them to effectively participate in the fast-changing economic and social spheres of life.”

About National Skill Development Corporation

National Skill Development Corporation, working under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, is a unique public-private-partnership that aims to catalyze the creation of a quality vocational training ecosystem in India. Since its inception in 2010, NSDC has trained more than 2.5 crore people through its partnership with 800+ training partners, 11,000+ training centers spread over 700 districts across the country. NSDC has established 36 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 WhiteHat Jr

WhiteHat Jr has been launched with the singular mission of empowering kids to become creators versus consumers of technology. The company has channeled students’ natural creativity through an engaging curriculum and personalized, live teacher attention. WhiteHat Jr’s 11,000+ strong teacher workforce conducts thousands of LIVE Coding, Math and Music online classes every day on its proprietary platform.  Cumulatively, the company has conducted more than 8.5 million classes to date.

Godrej Appliances Supports India’s Fight Against COVID, Counters Vaccine Hesitancy By Incentivizing Vaccinated Customers

* Taking a step towards countering vaccine hesitancy, offers a 6-month extended warranty free, on purchase of a Godrej appliance, to customers who have taken at least one dose of Covid Vaccine

* Cold chain partner to the ongoing Covid Vaccination Drive in India, the brand has offered India world class technology like Ultra low temperature Freezers for vaccines.

* Has been offering durables that offer greater safety and health assurance like India’s first Washing Machine providing more than 99.99% disinfection against Covid-19 virus, ACs with virus disinfection feature, UVC disinfecting device Godrej Viroshield for surface disinfection against Covid 19

Speedy vaccination is the single biggest weapon in our arsenal to fight the Covid battle and safeguard ourselves, our families, and our country. India has administered over 27 crore doses of the anti-Covid vaccine so far, according to official data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. That is still less than 5% of our population. Ground reality reflects a significant challenge of vaccine hesitancy. If India has to win over the deadly virus, people need to be encouraged to be vaccinated.

Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, announced that its business, Godrej Appliances has introduced an innovative campaign to encourage people to take jabs. They have introduced a one-of-its-kind special offer of 6 months extended warranty free on purchase of all Godrej Appliances, across all channels, for customers who have received at least one covid-19 vaccine dosage. The idea is simply to associate vaccination with greater positivity and applaud those who are setting the right example for our larger communities. The offer which is valid till 22nd August 2021 is available on all B2C Godrej Appliances.

Commenting on the issue of vaccine hesitancy Padma Shree Presidential Awardee and Dr. B. C. Roy Presidential Awardee, Doctor Prof. Sanjeev Bagai; Chairman, Nephron, said, "Taking vaccination is of paramount importance as it provides much needed protection from the virus. Vaccination is a critical tool in the fight against the virus, and we firmly believe that people should not be hesitant to get vaccines. To overcome this, confidence and trust needs to be built amongst them, in addition aggressive public awareness needs to be driven."

Commenting on the initiative, Kamal Nandi – Business Head and Executive Vice President – Godrej Appliances, said, "As a responsible brand and cold chain technology partner to India’s Covid vaccination drive, we understand that the only way to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic is to take all necessary precautions and get vaccinated at the earliest. However, vaccine hesitancy remains a very real barrier in this drive and we are witnessing it at close quarters. We therefore decided to take tangible action.  Thanking those who are countering this vaccine hesitation by getting themselves and their loved ones vaccinated thus  encouraging others to do the same, we have launched this thoughtfully crafted 6 month extended warranty free, on purchase of any of our B2C products, to customers who have taken atleast one dose of Covid vaccine. Our trade partners and customers have welcomed this initiative whole heartedly. It’s a small measure from our end in this fight against Covid-19. #Let'sWinWithVaccination."

Godrej Appliances, a business of Godrej & Boyce one of India’s leading conglomerates known for its commitment to nation, has always strived to offer relevant technologies suited to Indian consumer needs, especially during these unprecedented times. This is evident from the many product offerings the brand has launched in the recent past, where it has been an active contributor to Covid vaccination drive with medical refrigerators that helps to protect the Covid vaccines at the right temperature, launched India’s first range of Washing Machines tested to provide more than 99.99% disinfection against Covid-19 Virus and Godrej Viroshield, a disinfectant device that has been certified to disinfect 99.99% Covid-19 virus in just 2 minutes.

About Godrej Appliances

Godrej Appliances, a business unit of the highly diversified Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. is one of the leading Home Appliances players in India. Godrej was the first Indian Company in 1958 to manufacture Refrigerators and has since then, expanded its portfolio across many other categories like Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Microwave Ovens, futuristic Thermo-electric cooling solutions, Air Coolers, Deep Freezers, highly specialized Medical Refrigerators and more recently, UVC Technology-Based Disinfecting devices and Dishwashers, all powered by the driving philosophy of 'Things made thoughtfully’/ ‘Soch Ke Banaya Hai’. 

This thought extends from human-centric design to planet centric design. Environment is a core value at Godrej Appliances. Both manufacturing units of Godrej Appliances’ - in Maharashtra and Punjab, became the first in the country to win the coveted Platinum Plus Green Co certification for their pioneering green manufacturing practices. 

The brand takes pride in not just its carefully designed products and environment-friendly technologies, but also best in class after-sales service delivered through over 680 service centers and more than 4500 SmartBuddy service experts spread all over the country.

Samsung Launches 2021 Soundbar Lineup In India; Brings World’s First 11.1.4 Channel Soundbar For A Room-Filling Experience

 

* Q Series soundbars come with exclusive Q-Symphony technology that seamlessly syncs audio from Samsung QLED TV to deliver 3D sound

* Introducing SpaceFit Sound that analyses your TV’s physical environment and provides immersive sound tailored specifically to your space

*  Enhanced Dolby Atmos® technology range for an elevated sound experience

Samsung, India's largest and most trusted consumer electronics brand, has launched its 2021 Soundbar lineup, including the world's first 11.1.4 channel soundbar ushering in a never before rich and immersive surround sound experience.

The new Q-series, A-series and S-series soundbars are carefully tuned at the Samsung Audio Lab in Valencia, California to make each in-home entertainment experience perfect – be it binge-watching your favorite show or action movie or playing heart-racing video games.

The new soundbar lineup will be available at all leading consumer electronics stores, and across online platforms, including Samsung’s official online store Samsung Shop from July 7, 2021.  

The new and premium Q-series soundbar, an epitome in audio technology innovation, comes with the world’s first 11.1.4 channel that enables consumers to enjoy the most realistic three-dimensional audio. To help consumers experience perfection, Q-series soundbars come with Samsung’s signature Q-Symphony technology that plays surround sound from TV and soundbar simultaneously, creating incredible audio synergy.

For a real cinematic experience, all models of Q-series support Dolby Atmos/DTS:X. The audio experience is taken to an all-time high with Samsung’s SpaceFit Sound technology that automatically analyses the surrounding environment and provides an optimized sound experience. That’s not all, when a game device is connected to your TV, the soundbar automatically switches to the Game Mode so that you can solely focus on enjoying the game. The new lineup has Amazon Alexa built-in, making it easy to take full control of the listening experience.

To address the demands of Indian consumers for high wattage soundbars, the new A-series soundbars come with enhanced wattage. This series comes equipped with Dolby Audio/DTS Virtual:X, a 3D sound made with Samsung’s exclusive audio processing technology, providing an immersive surround sound simulation. Its new Bass Boost feature allows users to add ‘more boom’ with a simple click, while the Adaptive Sound Lite technology automatically enhances voice clarity and optimizes sound for TV series, sports, and news, depending on content.

The S-series soundbar comes stylishly design wrapped in a premium fabric along with smart usability and mind-blowing sound experience and is a perfect addition to any living room. Without a central speaker, those sitting near the edges of the room can often only hear the sounds closest to them. This series includes a central speaker that replicates a room-filling cinema-style environment. For those who play music from their mobile devices, Tap Sound makes it as simple as tapping a device to the soundbar to play music.

“In-home entertainment is one of the most important stress busters today as work and play boundaries continue to fade. Our 2021 Soundbar lineup has been designed to offer premium sound experience with stylishly elegant looks. With innovative features and industry first technology that are truly game changers, the new lineup is designed for those looking for the sound of perfection. In a time when consumers have access to an endless range of content, soundbars help elevate their audio-visual entertainment experience,” said Raju Pullan, Senior Vice President, Consumer Electronics Business, Samsung India.

Price, Offers, where to buy:

The 2021 Soundbar lineup would be available on Samsung’s official online store, Samsung Shop and select Samsung Smart Plazas from July 7, 2021.

The Q series soundbar models – Q950A, Q900A, Q800A, and Q600A will be available for INR 147,990, INR 111,990, INR 61,990 and INR 43,990 respectively.

A series soundbar models A670, A550 and A450 will be available for INR 47,990, INR 33,990 and INR 27,990 respectively.

S series soundbar model S61A will be available for INR 47,990.

Consumers buying the soundbars can avail up to 10% additional cashback of up to INR 6,000 on all leading credit and debit cards of HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Federal Bank and Bank of Baroda.

All Soundbars will come with 12 months of warranty.

Q series

Dolby Atmos/ DTS:X: Enjoy a real cinematic experience with ultimate 3D sound from all the directions at home. Q950A and Q900A will support true Dolby Atmos through its full range driver with the waveguide. Q series models Q800A and Q600A will also be support true Dolby Atmos via Samsung patented technology, the Acoustic Beam that acts as upward-firing speaker delivering an immersive overhead sound.

True 11.1.4 Channel Soundbar: With the first 11.1.4 channel in the world that sends out detailed expressions of sound motion in 11 directions, one can enjoy an unprecedentedly rich and stereoscopic sound. This is unrivalled new sound technology from Samsung that perfectly reproduces all the motions around the world.

Up-firing rear speakers: Waveguide technology, engineered by Samsung Audio Lab, enables up-firing speakers project audio above you, maximizing the overhead and surround sound effect.

Q-Symphony: Awarded as the best CES innovation, Q-Symphony allows your soundbar to sync with your Samsung TV, together creating immersive sound. It combines and enhances sound through the soundbar's front, side, and up-firing speakers as well as the TV's speakers, giving you a new level of acoustic immersion so you can experience content like never before.

SpaceFit Sound: SpaceFit Sound automatically analyzes the surrounding environment of your living space and provides the optimized sound for you.

Game Mode Pro: Powerful up-firing speakers, acoustic beam and strong woofers of soundbar provides multi-dimensional 3D dynamic sound optimized for gaming. The soundbar automatically switches to Game Mode when connected to your Samsung TV so you can focus on playing.

One remote: Samsung soundbar has the same interface with Samsung TV so one can control the soundbar too with a Samsung TV remote. One can turn their soundbar on and off and control various features like mute, sound effects and EQ settings with the remote control for Samsung TV.

Built-in Amazon Alexa: Take full control of the listening experience with built-in Amazon Alexa.

Music streaming made easy: Airplay2 is newly supported through OTN enabling it to be used to stream audio from iPhones and other Apple ecosystem devices. Tap Sound is a feature that mirrors the mobile sound to the powerful soundbar by a single tap. You can also enjoy your mobile screen on the TV and mobile sound through the soundbar simultaneously in a more immersive way.

A series:

Dolby Audio/ DTS Virtual:X: It is a room filling technology that fills up your room with virtual surround sounds. It analyzes the scenes based on big data and sends out the sounds to right places, providing a perfect surround sound experience regardless of the numbers of speakers or their locations. If you want to enjoy a richer surround sound, optional rear speaker SWA-9100S will be able to provide it.

Bass Boost: This feature delivers more power and allows users to add ‘more boom’ with a simple click so you can feel every beat.

Adaptive Sound Lite: Adaptive Sound Lite provides the optimized sound for TV series, sports, and news by automatically analyzing the audio tracks of each content.

Inbuilt Subwoofers: The great bass of an in-built wireless subwoofer brings your entertainment to life.

One remote: Samsung soundbar has the same interface with Samsung TV so one can control the soundbar too with a Samsung TV remote. One can turn their soundbar on and off and control various features like mute, sound effects and EQ settings with the remote control for Samsung TV.

S series:

Side horn speaker with acoustic beam: This technology provides a true surround sound experience that completely dominates the space. Acoustic beam has multiple up-firing holes. Each of these holes works like a single speaker and generates more dynamic and panoramic sound effects. Side horn speaker mounted at both ends of the soundbar has a spacious delivery with sound acting like a megaphone that amplify sound. Side horn speakers with acoustic beam will spread the sound surrounding you from a simple all-in-one form factor.

Premium fabric design: Wrapped in a premium fabric to fit beautifully into any interior, it is a sound system designed to be part of your home. The soundbar's timeless look combines natural expression with dimension and durability. The texture and its curved shape design, together with cutting-edge technology, matches the exceptional feeling of room-filling sound.

Built-in Amazon Alexa: Take full control of the listening experience with built-in Amazon Alexa.

Music streaming made easy: Airplay2 is newly supported through OTN enabling it to be used to stream audio from iPhones and other Apple ecosystem devices. Tap Sound is a feature that mirrors the mobile sound to the powerful soundbar by a single tap. You can also enjoy your mobile screen on the TV and mobile sound through the soundbar simultaneously in a more immersive way.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 

Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news on Samsung India, please visit Samsung India Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com/in. For Hindi, log on to Samsung Newsroom Bharat at https://news.samsung.com/bharat. You can also follow us on Twitter @SamsungNewsIN

Adaptation Of Scientific Agriculture Practices Will Drive Global Demand Towards Indian Cotton Farmer

Cotton continues to enjoy a pre-eminent and the most favoured fibre status for the textile industry globally as well as in India. It is an immensely important crop for the sustainable livelihood of the Indian cotton farming community. Presently, ~50 to 60 million people depend on cotton cultivation, marketing, processing and exports for their livelihood across India. In the last few years, the cultivation of cotton has been steadily declining globally and the world cotton farming experienced dramatic developments in 2020/21 due to an unprecedented pressure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While India is one of the largest producers of cotton in the world, Persistent adoption of unsustainable agricultural practices for the largely water-intensive crop, extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as genetic modification has posed a significant challenge that needs immediate attention. There is still a gap in the yield level of cotton obtained in India vs. the global average. This means, higher land usage, but a lower income for farmers. Today less than 10 % of cotton is grown in a way that actively protects farmer’s economic growth and the environment. The latest trend suggests that the textile industry is becoming increasingly sensitive in choosing sustainable fibres to drive their textile supply chains since the outbreak of Covid-19. Hence, the buoyancy for a revival of Indian cotton farming is now driven by sustainable cultivation. 

Global scenario of cotton production and consumption 

As per the report of the United States Department of Agriculture, the global 2020/21 cotton farming is down 6.5 percent from the previous year to 114.1 million bales. The farmers of major cotton-producing countries (India, China, United States, Brazil, and Pakistan) are facing a challenge to compete with their counterparts both in terms of per hectare yield as well as produce. Adverse weather, an infestation of pink bollworm in cotton crop, lower prices, higher labour cost and policy uncertainty all contributed to the sharp decline. Additionally, the decreased synthetic fibre prices driven by substantially lower oil prices placed huge competitive pressure on world cotton markets. Normally, India produces up to ~ 3.5 crore bales of cotton, whereas China produces ~3.25, USA produces 2.5 crore bales followed by Brazil and Pakistan which produces ~1.5 and 0.65 crore bales respectively. Although the US and Brazil are major exporters of cotton, the production in both countries has been declining for two consecutive years. Resulting in inefficiency to support the global import demand and the high price of cotton. 

In terms of cotton consumption, Asian countries dominate the global market. Cotton consumption in China is around 4.75 to 5 crore bales which are higher than other countries of the globe. Whereas Pakistan’s cotton consumption is 1.35 crore bales. In recent years, strong growth of the spinning and textile industry has spurred the consumption of cotton in Bangladesh and Viet Nam. Bangladesh requires 90 lakhs to 1 crore bales of cotton and Vietnam needs 75 to 80 lakh bales. Due to their proximity to India, all these Asian countries import a substantial quantity of cotton from India. If we talk about the situation in India, the consumption of cotton is increasing here. Due to the phenomenal growth of the domestic textile industry in the last two decades along with the Indian spinning industry, the country has become one of the largest consumers of cotton i.e., about 23% of world cotton consumption. 

The brighter spot for cotton farmer globally 

The global acreage for cotton has been constant since the last few years. As the world economy recovers from the severe 2020 downturn, global cotton consumption is expected to grow by 4.1 percent in the 2021-22 season, substantially above the long-term average rate of 1.7 percent, according to the US department of agriculture (USDA). World cotton production is projected to grow 1.5% p.a. to reach almost 30 Mt in 2029. This growth will come from an expansion of the cotton area (0.5% p.a.) as well as growth in average global yields (1% p.a.), suggest OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2020-2029. 

Indian cotton farming: At a glance 

India is one of the largest producers of cotton in the world accounting for about 26% of the world cotton production. The country has the largest area under cotton cultivation which is about 41% of the world area under cotton cultivation between 12.5 million hectares to 13.0 million hectares. The crop is mainly produced in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Odisha. Modernization of India’s cotton production—including the adoption of BT varieties—propelled India to the top among cotton-producing countries. Government policies such as giving greater thrusts to Research and Development in cotton encouraging the use of quality seeds and pesticides by providing subsidies for such inputs and price support measures have also contributed to changing the cotton scenario in India. 

Even with the impressive statistics of Indian cotton farming, the productivity per hectare has not reached its full potential over the years. Persistent adoption of unsustainable agricultural practices for the largely water-intensive crop, extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as genetic modification has posed a significant challenge that needs immediate attention. There is still a gap in the yield level of cotton obtained in India vs. the global average. This means, higher land usage, but a lower income for farmers. 

Speaking about the sustainable practices for cotton farming in India, C K Patel, AGM - Agronomy & Marketing, Netafim India said, “To turn around the prevailing scenario, it is imperative to make farmers aware of healthier cotton practices and adaptation of scientific farming techniques. Promotion of environmentally sustainable practices for the mass-produced cash crop along with the scientific and egalitarian application of water, effective use of fertilizers and pesticides will help the Indian farmers to achieve sustainable growth in cotton cultivation. Studies have proved that the adoption of suitable technology such as micro-irrigation in cotton farming helps in reducing input cost and increases income by increasing the number of crops they grow. The benefits include an increase in the water use efficiency up to 80-90% owing to reduced water requirement, about 20% less consumption of electricity per hectare and up to 70- 80% increase in fertilizer use efficiency which translates into significant cost savings. Controlled application of water and fertilizer has resulted in increasing the productivity of the crops up to 50%. All these boost farmer income levels by more than Normal”. 

Besides the economic benefits, the technology boasts of a slew of social and environmental advantages as well. Since Indian farmers are receptive to take up any technology that brings certainty to their life and leads to an increase in income level, drip irrigation in cotton farming needs extensive propagation. The backbone of the success of micro-irrigation implementation in cotton cultivation remains in the awareness generation campaigns and effective training amongst farmers.