Snapchat Releases New Magic Trick AR Lens With Lay’s Making Users Disappear Into Thin Air!

* New AR lens created for the launch of Lay’s Wafer Style in India

Snapchat is pushing its creative boundaries with its innovative AR lens to introduce the new flat cut chip - Lay’s Wafer Style, the thinnest chips from the house of Lay’s. Recently launched by PepsiCo India, these ‘Paper Thin, Wafer Thin’ chips now have a special interactive lens that Snapchatters can use to witness a magic trick starring themselves! In order to introduce a chip that is ‘so thin that it disappears’, the lens allows users to participate in a magic trick where they get to see themselves disappear in smoke. 

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Description automatically generatedThis partnership between Lay’s and Snapchat is expected to deepen consumer engagement, especially amongst Millennials and Gen-Z - who form the primary target audience for Lay’s.

Commenting on the collaboration, Gaurav Jain, Head of APAC Business Expansion, Snap Inc. said, “The young Indian audience today has an evolved palate and engages meaningfully with quirky, relatable and easily shareable content. With our first of its kind lens Snapchatters can watch themselves disappear- an ideal way to captivate imagination. We are confident that this new lens will resonate with Snapchatters across the country, leading to a successful launch for Lay’s Wafer Style.”

Snapchat has, in the past, triumphantly launched multiple AR lenses in collaboration with leading brands in the country.

“We have been frontrunners in delighting Lay’s fans with unique and flavourful experiences. With the launch of Lay’s Wafer Style, we are ready to delight fans again with the thinnest chips from the house of Lay’s. Keeping consumer preference in mind, we’ve created region-specific flavours in a format that will be loved by all. We’re excited to have our brand ambassador Alia Bhatt feature alongside Siddhanth Chaturvedi, creating magic with this new campaign. Our partnership with Snapchat is meant to bring alive the proposition of the brand in a disruptive way and we’re looking forward to huge participation and engagement by our consumers. We are confident that the audience will love this new offering, Lay’s Wafer Style, just like our other food innovations.” said Shailja Joshi, Director Marketing - Potato Chips Category India at PepsiCo India. 

Tailor-made to suit the existing and evolving tastes and palates, Lay’s Wafer Style is available in three special variants– Salt & Pepper, Tangy Treat & Sundried Chilli flavours– select variants are available in select geographies.

Over the past few years, Snapchat AR has evolved from being just for entertainment and self-expression to having true utility for both consumers and businesses. Snapchat sees over 6 billion AR Lens plays every day, and we have more than 200 million people engaging with AR every day.

About Lay’s: 

Launched in 1995 in India, Lay’s is one of the marquee brands from PepsiCo India and has always been known for bringing in flavours of the world along with Indian flavours that our consumers love. Lay’s has a wide range of offerings under its umbrella, with unique and indulgent flavours that cater to both local and international tastes. It is available in six flavours. 

Consumers can also log onto the Lay’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/laysindia and follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lays_india/?hl=en

About PepsiCo India

PepsiCo entered India in 1989 and has grown to become one of the largest MNC food and beverage businesses in India. PepsiCo India has been consistently investing in the country and has built an expansive beverage and snack food business supported by 62 plants across foods and beverages. PepsiCo India’s diverse portfolio includes iconic brands like Pepsi, Lay’s, Kurkure, Tropicana 100%, Gatorade and Quaker. In less than two decades, the company has been able to organically grow eight brands, each of which generate Rs. 1000 crores or more in estimated annual retail sales and are household names, trusted across the country.

PepsiCo’s growth in India has been guided by our vision to Be the Global Leader in Convenient Foods and Beverages by Winning with Purpose. “Winning with Purpose” reflects our ambition to win sustainably in the marketplace and embed purpose into all aspects of the business. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com

39th T A Pai Memorial Lecture On Founder’s Day Conducted By TAPMI, MAHE

T A Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), a constituent unit of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) celebrated the Founder’s Day and conducted the 39th T A Pai Memorial Lecture. This is a momentous year as TAPMI is celebrating the Centenary Year of the founder, Late Shri. Tonse Ananth Pai, Padma Bhusan Awardee. Executive Director – Management Studies and Director, TAPMI Dr. Madhu Veeraraghavan welcomed the gathering. Key members of the founding family Smt. Vasanthi Pai - Trustee, MAHE Trust, Shri. U Ashok Pai, Sri Sathish Pai along with Dr H S Ballal, Pro-Chancellor, MAHE and Lt Gen (Dr.) MD Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor, were present to commemorate the occasion.

A special cover was released on the occasion by Smt. Sharda Sampath Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle who presented the same to Shri. U Satish Pai, Executive Chairman, Manipal Media Network Ltd. Late Shri. T A Pai’s nephew Dr Laxman G Prabhu fondly remembered his uncle and highlighted the many qualities that made him an inspiring figure. Dr. H S Ballal, Pro- Chancellor, MAHE highlighted the contributions of Shri. T A Pai in laying the foundation for the creation of modern Manipal.  Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M. D. Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor, MAHE offered his felicitations on this momentous occasion. Dr Viswanathan Iyer Dean (Academics) at TAPMI moderated the event as the Master of Ceremony.

Dr. Harish Hande, Founder & Chairman - SELCO - Solar Light Pvt Ltd, was the Chief Guest for the event.  A renowned social entrepreneur Dr. Harish Hande highlighted the societal role that management institutes like TAPMI must play, drawing inspiration from the life and work of Shri. T A Pai.  Guest of Honor, Dr. L H Manjunath, Executive Director, Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project, spoke about his strong association with Shri. T A Pai as an employee of the Canara Milk Union and his enormous contribution to the region.

An award ceremony was held at the event to recognize long service employees of the institute. Professor Sulagna Mukherjee, Professor Animesh Bahadur, and Ms. Sudha B were felicitated for completing 10 years; Mr Narayan was felicitated for completing 30 years in the organization. The awards were presented by Dr. H S Ballal, Pro- Chancellor MAHE.

The event closed with Prof. S Sudhindra (Associate Dean – Academics) offering a vote of thanks.

About Shri. T A Pai

Shri. Tonse Ananth Pai. Shri T.A. Pai joined Syndicate Bank in 1943 as Deputy Manager. After holding several positions in the bank and being the General Manager from 1944 to 1961, he rose to become Managing director from 1962 to 1964. His stewardship of the bank is credited with several achievements – fastest growth, pioneering schemes, innovation in the mobilization of small savings, agricultural financing, and focus on the common man. After a little over one year, he rejoined Syndicate Bank in 1966 and was appointed its chairman in 1967. He was appointed as Chairman of Food Corporation of India in 1965. The Government of India appointed him Chairman of Life Insurance Corporation in 1970. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1972 and appointed as Union Minister for Railways. In 1973, he was given responsibility for the newly created Ministry of Heavy Industries, and subsequently, the Ministry of Steel and Mines. Shri Pai took over the Ministry of Industry and Civil Supplies in 1974 and thus became responsible for the industrial development of India.

About the T A Pai Foundation Day Lecture

This event is organized every year to acknowledge the contribution of Padma Bhushan awardee, late Shri. T. A. Pai, who laid the cornerstone of TAPMI in 1980 and his vision, intended to give back to society and create employment opportunities for all. On this occasion, thought leaders and Eminent Citizens of the country share their vision, expertise with the students of TAPMI and other Manipal Institutions to inspire them on contemporary topics. Shri Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, MD & CEO, Syndicate bank, Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, AICTE, Mr Faizal E Kottikollon, Founder and Chairman, KEF Holdings; Chairman of the Board, Meitra Hospital, Kozhikode, and Shri (Dr.) Satya Pal Singh, former Hon’ble Minister of State for HRD (Higher Education) are a few personalities who have delivered the lecture in the past.

MaxiVision Announces V.S.Sudheer As The New CEO Of The Group

Hyderabad origin MaxiVision Eye hospitals group announced key leadership appointment to its strategic position for its pan India business. V.S.Sudheer has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, for the whole MaxiVision Group. Mr. Sudheer has been working as Chief Operating Officer for the group for the last five years. The new appointment is his elevation of the position.

Speaking on the elevation Dr.GSK Velu – Chairman MaxiVision Eye hospitals group said, We are proud to announce the elevation of our COO, Mr. Sudheer, as Group CEO of MaxiVision Eye Hospital Group. This promotion could not have come at any better time, while MaxiVision has poised itself to grow to be India’s largest eye care chain.

Mr. Sudheer who has been with MaxiVision for the past 5 years has significantly contributed to the company's annual revenues of 50 Cr to the current 250  Cr which is the strong base on which the company has set its goal to be 700 Cr company in the next 2 years. He brings with him very strong expertise to team up and works with Ophthalmologists of repute to deliver clinical excellence in all branches of the eye care segment.

MaxiVision will immediately expand to Tamilnadu, Karnataka, and Gujarat in Phase 1. Phase 2 will be expanding in Kerala, Maharashtra, and Orissa, making it a 60 hospital network in 15 months period. With this base, from 2023, the group will expand to other regions in Central India, and East India, reaching out to North East regions also on Joint Venture Models, with successful doctors. Mr.Sudheer will head this expansion ambition and vision of mine to make Maxivision the largest eye care chain of Indian Origin.

Sudheer heads a team of management professionals with decades of experience in eye care business management and he comes with 23 years of past experience in creating over 100 and more eye hospitals across India majority of these with Vasan Eye Care, where he was Director of Operations for 15 years. He is perhaps the senior-most eye care management professional in India. With this large experience in creating brands and successful eye care practices

Sudheer will now head MaxiVision Eye Hospitals Group as Group CEO. We wish him all the best in the successful journey”

Speaking to the media, Mr.Sudheer Said, “I thank Board Members of Maxivision, Dr.GSK Velu, our Chairman, Mr.Ganesan, Vice Chairman, and Dr.Kasu Prasad Reddy, Founder, and Co-Chairman, for this promotion and more importantly, the recognition of my contribution to this company. With a lot of backward engineering, consolidation, and brand building for the last  3 years, Maxivision is one of the top recalled eye care destinations for people of Telangana and AP and commands the respect and trust of millions of patients.  Over 2 lakh patients every month choose Maxivision for their eye care needs, from our current network of 23 hospitals. With 26 years of vintage and reputation in the market, we are seeing 2nd Generation of the patients, to treat entire gamut of eye diseases, from our super-specialists. The group has a rich talent pool of highly experienced doctors, and a large clinical team to deliver world-class standards in eye care in this region. Success of Maxivision is the perfect synergy and balance between clinical and patient service functions, which are 2 very important verticals in delivering the best quality eye care. Very superior in state of the art technology, stellar excellent patient care, these hospitals are one of the most sought eye care destinations for people from across South India, and many foreign countries. 

Adding on he said “Today Maxivision is a regional player. This great brand and the service should not be restricted to one region. My primary task is to take this brand footprint, in the same model, to other states of India, and grow towards being the number one eye care network in India. This will be a regional brand with a national presence very soon. With our group companies synergies, across the globe, we have plans for Joint Venture, and PPP models in Srilanka, South East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa by the year 2026.

He concluded by saying “I am as good as my team, and I am blessed with a professional management team, who heads critical verticals in micro levels, of Operations, Clinical Administration, Patient Care, Business Development, and Financial Management. I also wish to thank all my great colleague doctors who have stood by us during tough times, of the pandemic, and helped us sail across the crisis, and keep the growth trajectory intact”

This leadership appointment at the organization will not only ensure that MaxiVision augments its service capabilities and strengthens its undisputed market leadership pan India, but also continues to be at the forefront of such industry redefining unmatched services to its customers. 

Naario, A Woman-Led Food Start-Up Launches ‘Badloge Tabhi Toh Badloge’ Women Empowerment Campaign

* Provides opportunities to women across India for micro entrepreneurship 

Naario, India’s 1st woman led food startup that offers natural and organic products, all pioneered by women has started an initiative “Badloge tabhi toh Badloge - The world changes when you change” with a mission to provide entrepreneurial support for women home-makers thereby making a difference to the society.

Naario has launched this campaign to lead by example and take a giant step towards changing the prevalent norms. With the aim of giving back to the society, the campaign will motivate and support hundreds of home-makers. 

Anamika Pandey, Founder, Naario said, “Naario is Women-owned and Women-led, providing opportunities to women across India. We enable women to stitch together their creative talents and their desire for financial independence. At Naario, we not only democratise making good food but also give opportunity to each and every woman to create their own identity. We just started addressing these things more tangibly. We want to empower any and every woman who touches base with Naario in any way - as a consumer, as a partner, pioneer, as a part of our loving community.”

Through this campaign, Naario wishes to show everyone scars, stories, souls that are real and ones that every woman can relate to. The only difference is that the women of Naario know ki #badlogetabhitohbadloge!” 

The women who’ve been a part of Naario have seen small and big changes in their lives- something as simple as being able to travel alone to being able to afford flight tickets for their entire family. 

One of the Naario partners said, “I bought my first phone in 35 years. This is the first time ever that I bought something with my own money.”

What Naario is trying to do through this campaign and with the brand in general is giving people- especially women, the freedom of choice. To not just choose good food for them and their family but also make well rounded decisions for themselves. 

About Naario:

Naario founded by Anamika Pandey is India’s 1st women-led food brand that offers natural and organic products, all pioneered by homemakers. Tastes like home-made and made by homemakers. Behind each product is a story of a homemaker, their perfected recipe, and ambition to shine through Naario. The products are natural, nutritious and delicious. Naario is conscious about what they offer the consumer and do not make any compromises on the quality, flavour, and taste. All products are 100% sourced and made in India.

The products range from breakfast cereal to beverages to condiments. Every product is pioneered by a different woman/ homemaker with no chemicals, no preservatives, just healthy and tasty food. Currently they have 7 products to offer which consist all-rounder Garam masala, Lucknowi masala, 9 in 1 Flour Mix, Jaggery powder with Chai Masala, Filter Coffee decoction and Classic Muesli. In just 6 months, the company has enrolled 70+ women partners and successfully fulfilled more than 5000 orders.

Founder’s Profile

Anamika Pandey, aged 24 years, an engineer is from Uttar Pradesh. She dropped out of MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business to pursue a career as Subscription Head, Bigbasket’s new venture- BBdaily to only quit later to launch her own food  product startup Naario to help her mother and some other mothers to fulfill their dreams.

Used a model similar to BB daily’s to run a pilot on Naario in late 2020. Launched Naario officially in early 2021 as a solo female founder with 2 people in the early team. Anamika has been awarded the youngest business icon by Dainik Jagran in 2021. 

Her biggest purpose and success mantra behind Naario - every single product launched under Naario solves her and her family’s problems, to begin with. Only once Anamika is satisfied with the solution does she launch it. It’s no wonder that Naario is currently growing at 40% month on month, with a target of 6X growth trajectory.

To know more about Naario ki puri Kahaani www.Naario.com

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Launches The New Camry Hybrid Across India

* New Camry Hybrid carries forward the legacy of powerful performance, environment friendliness, highest safety and luxury with enhanced exterior and interior features

* The New Camry Hybrid sports a new-look Front Bumper and Grille Design with chrome inserts that gives it an eye-catching presence and stance unmatched in its class

* On the inside, a Floating type bigger 9-inch Infotainment System compatible with Android Auto & Apple Carplay is paired with State-of-the-Art 9-speaker Premium Audio JBL® w/Clari-Fi™ technology

* Newly designed 18-inch Alloys further amplify the sportiness while providing a superior ride experience

*  Fresh look Rear Combination Lamps with LED Brake Lights now available with a Black base extension

* A black engineered wood effect film with a composite pattern lends a more contemporary look to the new-age Y-design instrument panel ornamentation

* Camry is now also available in a new exterior color Metal Stream Metallic

* The New Camry Hybrid is available at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 41,70,000 across India (Prices are the same across the country)

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced the launch of the New Camry Hybrid with refreshing design changes to amplify the power, luxury, style, and elegance of the intelligent and intuitive sedan.

On the outside, a new design Front Bumper, Grille and Alloy wheels further enhance the bold and sophisticated looks of the Camry Hybrid.  The interiors also see design changes in line with evolving customer choices, with a Floating type bigger 9-inch Infotainment System compatible with Android Auto & Apple Carplay complementing the aesthetically designed instrument panel. The design of the ornamentation has also been refreshed with a black engineered wood effect film with a composite pattern.

Further, the popular self-charging hybrid electric sedan is now available in a new exterior color of Metal Stream Metallic in addition to the existing colors of Platinum White Pearl, Silver Metallic, Graphite Metallic, Red Mica, Attitude Black, and Burning Black.

Speaking about the launch of the New Camry Hybrid, Mr. Atul Sood, Associate Vice President, Sales and Strategic Marketing, TKM, said, “The Camry Hybrid is an amazing amalgamation of power and luxury that has been designed to provide seamless driving experience to our customers. At the same time, it has been designed for a greener and sustainable future as the self-charging hybrid technology delivers a unique combination of exemplary dynamic performance, acceleration, and lower emissions. Over the years, it has endeared itself to thousands of customers and we are confident the New Camry Hybrid will attract many more with its carefully thought-out design and luxurious features. Since its introduction in 2013, the Camry Hybrid is well established in the Indian market and is a testament to Toyota’s unwavering efforts towards a carbon neutral environment.”

The vehicle is powered by a 2.5-litre, 4-Cylinder Gasoline Hybrid Dynamic Force Engine, coupled with a powerful Motor Generator delivering a combined output of 160kW [218PS]. Customers can choose from three driving modes - Sport, Eco and Normal. In the Sport Mode, the Dynamic Force Engine improves acceleration response by non-linear throttle control. Studies have shown that strong hybrid vehicles are capable of running upto 60% of time on electric mode thereby giving high fuel efficiency.

The adoption of Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) enables high body rigidity, unprecedented comfort, and fun-to-drive characteristics besides improved stability and superior handling delivering a combination of sportiness and spaciousness.

The sedan’s ability to shift driving modes along with Ventilated Front Seats and Sequential Shift with Paddles makes driving a truly exhilarating experience. Its cabin is accentuated with a range of advanced features like 10-Way Power Adjustable Driver Seat, ORVM and Tilt-Telescopic Steering Column with Memory Function, Wireless Smartphone Charger, and Heads-Up Display seamlessly blending best-in-class human machine interface with the interior design. Further, comfortable Rear Seats with Recliner, Power Assisted Rear Sunshade, Audio and AC Controls on capacitive touch panel, placed on the rear arm rest provide a luxurious experience. A three-zone personal air-conditioning releases refreshing nanoeTM positive ions that moisturize the skin and hair while deodorizing the cabin. To light up the drive, there is a Tilt and Slide Moon Roof with Retractable Sunshade and a Front Power tilt.

The New Camry Hybrid offers a host of active and passive state-of-the-art safety systems for all passengers with best in class 9 SRS Airbags, Parking Assist with Back Guide Monitor, Clearance & Back Sonar, Vehicle Stability Control, Traction Control, Hill Start Assist Control,  Electronic Parking Brake with Brake Hold Function, and Tyre Pressure Monitoring System among others.

The New Camry’s hybrid battery comes with a warranty of 8 years or 1,60,000 kilometres (whichever comes first). Bookings for the New Toyota Camry Hybrid are open.

Customers can book the vehicle online (www.toyotabharat.com) or visit their nearest Toyota dealership.

Cashfree Payments Joins Hands With Furlenco To Delight Its Customers With Convenient And Instant Payouts

Cashfree Payments, India’s leading payments and API banking solutions company, is assisting the subscription-based furniture rental company Furlenco, in creating a fastest security deposit refund experience for its customers, through its Payouts link solution ‘Cashgram’.

The furniture rental company collects security deposits at the start of the subscription plan. Once the subscription ends, Furlenco teams pick up the furniture from the customer site and the security deposit is credited back to the customer's preferred account using a Cashgram link.

As soon as the Furlenco system identifies that the return is completed, the system auto-generates a Cashgram link using Cashfree Payments’ Cashgram API with the registered phone number or email id of the customer and refund amount. The customer receives the link over Whatsapp/SMS/email and can open the link, enter preferred bank account details or UPI ID or other wallet details where the customer would like to receive the refund money. This helps customers get the refund credited without having to share their sensitive bank account details.

This payout system takes care of all the backend activities and automates the refund process for the business. The end customers can also claim refunds instantly even during bank holidays and weekends.

Founded in 2012, Furlenco provides furniture and home decor on rent along with relocation services. Prior to integrating Cashgram, Furlenco’s payout process was majorly manual and highly procedural in nature, which made it tedious, time-consuming and prone to errors and delays. The Cashfree Payments - Furlenco partnership is of high significance as the collections and refund process is an essential part of the rental business.

Reeju Datta, Co-Founder, Cashfree Payments said, “We are delighted to extend our payout services Cashgram to Furlenco and its users. Cashfree Payments has always strived to undertake innovative approaches to address industry problems. Through Cashgram, we have been helping Furlenco in making the entire process of Payouts simple, stable and seamless. We will continue our efforts of providing consumer-centric products, which will generate greater functional efficiency and convenience for businesses and customers alike.”

Varun Krishnakumar, Director of Products, Furlenco said, “We are happy to partner with Cashfree Payments for Payouts so as to serve our customers with a seamless experience. Prior to this partnership, our refund process was tedious, prone to errors and time consuming owing to system-induced delays. The partnership with Cashfree Payments has allowed us to render fast, secure and user-friendly settlements, thereby enhancing the overall customer journey. Also, from the automation and scalable point, Cashgram has been phenomenal. The time saved, in turn, has allowed us to interact more with the customers in devising more effective and innovative procedures, thus creating a better value proposition.”

With over 50% market share among payment processors, Cashfree Payments today leads the way in bulk disbursals in India with its product Payouts. Recently, India’s largest lender, SBI invested in Cashfree Payments underscoring the company’s role in building a robust payments ecosystem. Cashfree Payments works closely with all leading banks to build the core payments and banking infrastructure that powers the company’s products and is also integrated with major platforms such as Shopify, Wix, Paypal, Amazon Pay, Paytm and Google Pay. Apart from India, Cashfree Payments products are used in eight other countries including the USA, Canada and UAE.

About Cashfree Payments

Cashfree Payments is a leading payment and API banking solutions company. It provides full-stack payments solutions enabling businesses in India to collect payments and make payouts via all available methods with simple integration. Cashfree Payments’ offerings include an advanced and easy way to integrate payment gateways, a split payment solution for marketplaces, bank account verification API and Auto Collect -- a virtual account solution to match inbound payments to customers. Founded by IIIT Hyderabad alumnus Akash Sinha and IIT Kharagpur graduate Reeju Datta, www.cashfree.com is among the leading payment service providers in India processing transactions worth USD 20 Billion annually. It has leveraged technology to lead payment disbursals in India with more than 50% market share among payment processors. Cashfree Payments enables more than 1,00,000 businesses with payment collections, vendor payouts, wage payouts, bulk refunds, expense reimbursements, loyalty and rewards. Apart from India, Cashfree Payments products are used in eight other countries including the USA, Canada and UAE. Cashfree Payments is backed by Silicon Valley investor Y Combinator, Apis Partners, State Bank of India (SBI) and was incubated by PayPal. 

OPPO India Partners With BITS Pilani To Build A Future Innovative Workforce

* Signs MoU with the Science and Technology institute for Knowledge & Skill enhancement of India R&D employees related to areas such Extended Reality, Imaging & Network Technology

In line with the brand’s human-centric approach to innovation & technology, OPPO India today signed an MoU with BITS Pilani to upskill its R&D engineers with advanced technological learnings. With the advent of industry 4.0 and in the era of specialization, this initiative reiterates OPPO’s focus to help employees acquire skill upgradation while focusing on innovations centric to advance technologies. Under the partnership BITS Pilani’s Work Integrated Learning Programs (WILP) division will support OPPO India R&D engineers to strengthen their technical knowledge through various courses.

Following the government’s vision of building a future-ready workforce, through this partnership OPPO aims to develop its engineers from India R&D in various emerging technology areas including network, imaging, and extended reality. The program will be fully sponsored by OPPO, and the nominated candidates will be admitted through a structured admission process. BITS Pilani WILP will use fully functional and regularly-maintained equipment & software in their virtual & remote labs that is open for students 24x7 throughout the year, and will also provide them with the course handouts, video lectures that can be attended as per the students’ convenience, simulations & industry-specific case studies as part of the detailed academic programme.

Elaborating on the MoU, Mr Tasleem Arif, Vice President, India R&D Head, OPPO India, said “Our new brand proposition ‘Inspiration Ahead’ is in line with our efforts of creating a skilled workforce that will meet the ever-evolving technology demands of the consumer. The impact of rapid technological changes has led OPPO to ensure we are ahead of the game to ensure we develop innovations that revolve around user experience. This association compliments OPPO’s aim to deliver the best training for our employees and accelerate our Make in India efforts.”

With OPPO’s constant focus on innovation, this initiative follows the brand’s research across AI, network, imaging etc. to help strengthen the technical knowledge of OPPO engineers.

Explaining the collaboration, Prof. G. Sundar, Director, Off-Campus Programmes & Industry Engagement, BITS Pilani, said, “BITS Pilani is happy to work with an innovation leader like Oppo in offering our unique programmes that integrate rigorous academic content with skill building, and ensure that the learners are kept abreast of latest and emerging technologies, and prepare them to anticipate market needs and build products to fill such needs.”

BITS Pilani WILP has been behind over 97,000 working professionals to strengthen the foundation of their technical expertise and assisting them to stay relevant by upgrading their Knowledge & skills. Given the nature of new-age professions, and the acquired reputation of Indian professionals in these roles, continual learning and higher educational qualifications are necessary tools for the nation to succeed within, and compete globally and BITS Pilani WILP allows to do so without interrupting the careers of these working professionals.

OPPO has been at the forefront of empowering and mentoring India's youth through multiple initiatives. OPPO has also collaborated with leading institutions to promote research in the field of science and technology. It envisaged joint research and development for multiple projects over two years to develop new technologies in areas specific to camera and image processing, battery, networks (5G), system performance, and Artificial Intelligence, among other areas. 

About OPPO Mobiles India Private Limited

OPPO is a leading global smart device brand. Since the launch of its first mobile phone - “Smiley Face” - in 2008, OPPO has been in relentless pursuit of the perfect synergy of aesthetic satisfaction and innovative technology. Today, OPPO provides a wide range of smart devices spearheaded by the Find and Reno series. Beyond devices, OPPO provides its users with the ColorOS operating system and internet services like OPPO Cloud and OPPO+. OPPO operates in more than 50 countries and regions with more than 40,000 of OPPO's employees are dedicated to creating a better life for customers around the world.

About BITS Pilani Work Integrated Learning Programmes(WILP):

India has a large and qualified professional workforce, which must and will continue to grow in size, complexity, and quality. Given the nature of modern professions, and the acquired reputation of Indian professionals in these roles, continual learning and higher educational qualifications are necessary tools for the nation to succeed within, and compete globally. Work Integrated Learning Programmes of BITS Pilani (WILP) are degree/diploma/certificate programmes which are developed and conducted by BITS Pilani in association and jointly with organizations representing various industry sectors.  

About BITS Pilani:

BITS Pilani is an Institution of national repute, known for providing technical education of the highest standards and is well recognized for its innovations, and strong links with industry. It is consistently ranked as the best private engineering & technology institution by leading ranking agencies and publications. MHRD, Govt. of India, in August 2018 announced BITS Pilani as one of the first six Institutions of Eminence in the country. It is one of the few universities that has created an institutionalized framework for achieving a vibrant environment that successfully inculcates an ambience for experiential and cooperative learning and education. BITS Pilani views education as a continual engagement and experience, and ensures that the learning experience is integrated seamlessly not only across its classrooms and laboratories, but also in the industry, as exemplified by its Practice School, and Work Integrated Learning Programmes.