Ballantine’s Ushers In A New Era Of Golf In India With First Golf Mixed Pro Challenge

* 18 teams with two men golfers and one woman golfer each to tee-off for the title 

In continuation with their promise of many firsts in the Indian Golf Circuit, Ballantine’s, from the house of Pernod Ricard, is ready to host India’s first Golf Mixed Pro Challenge. The tournament will be played over 36-holes at the DLF Golf and Country Club, Gary Player course and is open to men and women professional golfers, from the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI). In a unique format, one lady professional will team up with two gentlemen professionals and compete. 18 such teams would be teeing off for the championship between 5th and 6th of April.

Known golfers from across the country such as Veer Ahlawat, Khalin Joshi, Udayan Mane, Yuvraj Sandhu, Gaurika Bishnoi, Vani Kapoor and Jahanvi Bakshi will play in the Mixed Pro Challenge.

Speaking about the launch of the Ballantine’s Golf Championship, Mr. Kartik Mohindra, Chief Marketing Officer, said “Greatness in the game of life always stems from self-belief. Something Ballantine’s has unwaveringly stood for. It and celebrates self-belief in individuals. Inspiring them to stay true to their passions and excel on their own terms. The game of golf is a reflection of these values. Every golfer has his or her unique swing and stroke. The Ballantine’s Golf Championship celebrates these unique quirks, and drives you to stay true to YOUR game. 

Resonating with the fact that the soul of Ballantine’s and golf is Scotland, this tournament takes the brand’s timeless affiliation with the game even further by setting new precedents – including India’s first ever mixed pro golf challenge. This tournament, with its nationwide footprint, is an attempt to bring the illustrious sport of golf on the map of India.

We believe that through this initiative, we will inspire and bring together a tribe of Indian golfers to raise toasts of accolades and conviviality, as well as engender a great exchange of ideas. Golf and Ballantine’s: both a class act. Made for the discerning.”

Speaking about the championship, Ms. Kavita Singh, President, Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) said, “It gives me immense pleasure to know that the DLF Golf & Country Club will be hosting the first ever mixed gender event for professional golfers in India. I am sure that this unique experiment in getting the men and women professionals together in a team competition will generate huge interest amongst lovers of the Sport and act as a catalyst for promotion of professional golf in India. I take this opportunity to thank Ballantine's, the Sponsors, for their support in making this innovative format a reality and congratulate both the PGTI and WGAI professionals taking part in this historic tournament. I wish all players the very best and extend my good wishes for the success of this exciting team championship”

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), said, “The PGTI is excited to be part of this first-of-its-kind event in India where men and women professionals will rub shoulders and compete alongside each other. The event is a step in the right direction in promoting both men’s and women’s professional golf in India. The unique format of the event promises to be an enthralling experience for Indian golf fans. We thank the WGAI for sharing our vision by partnering with us in this event. We also thank Ballantine’s and the DLF Golf & Country Club for supporting the event and making it possible.”

The tee-off is scheduled for 8 AM onwards at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram, on 5th and 6th of April, 2022.

About Pernod Ricard:

Pernod Ricard is the world’s no. 2 in wines and spirits with consolidated Sales of € 8,682 million in FY16. Created in 1975 by the merger of Ricard and Pernod, the Group has undergone sustained development, based on both organic growth and acquisitions: Seagram (2001), Allied Domecq (2005) and Vin & Sprit (2008). Pernod Ricard holds one of the most prestigious brand portfolios in the sector: Absolut Vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin and Malibu, Mumm and Perrier- Jouët champagnes, as well Jacob’s Creek, Brancott Estate, Campo Viejo and Kenwood wines. Pernod Ricard employs a workforce of 18,500 people and operates through a decentralized organisation, with 6 “Brand Companies” and 85 “Market Companies” established in each key market. Pernod Ricard is strongly committed to a sustainable development policy and encourages responsible consumption. Pernod Ricard’s strategy and ambition are based on 3 key values that guide its expansion: entrepreneurial spirit, mutual trust and a strong sense of ethics. Pernod Ricard is listed on Euronext (Ticker: RI; ISIN code: FR0000120693) and is part of the CAC 40 index.

About Ballantine’s:

https://www.ballantines.com/en-EN

Tata Motors Launches The All New Tigor EV Sedan With Ziptron Technology In Nepal

* Comes with GNCAP 4-star rating, continuing Tata Motors’ legacy of making safe cars

* With this launch, Tata Motors intends to make EVs mainstream for the personal segment

* Comes with an ARAI-certified range of 306 kms (under standard testing conditions)

* Available in 3 trim options – XE, XM, XZ+ (XZ+ Dual Tone option available)

Tata Motors, in partnership with Sipradi Trading Pvt. Ltd., is all set to excite the electric vehicle market in Nepal with the launch of the Tigor EV. Starting today, the Tigor EV deliveries will commence across the country. Following in the footsteps of its ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) sibling, the Tigor EV has also been lauded by GNCAP with a 4-star rating for adult (12.00 points out of 17.00) and child (37.24 points out of 49.00) occupant protection. Set to scale new heights in the dynamic world of electric mobility, the Tigor EV features Tata Motors’ proprietary high voltage EV architecture, Ziptron, and is built on the three strong pillars of Technology, Comfort, and Safety. The vehicles are now on display at showrooms and have been made available for test drives across the dealer network by Sipradi Trading Pvt. Ltd. 

Price chart (Ex-showroom):

Tigor EV XE         NPR 29.99 Lakhs

Tigor EV XM        NPR 31.49 Lakhs

Tigor EV XZ+       NPR 32.99 Lakhs

Speaking on the launch of the Tigor EV in Nepal, Mr. Mayank Baldi – Head PVIB, Tata Motors, said, “EVs are fast gaining popularity on the back of rising comfort of customers, as the barriers to adoption are being overcome and due to growing preference for environmentally friendly solutions. This has been spearheaded by our very own Nexon EV, which today is the most popular EV in the markets. The Nepal market has been a strong propagator of EVs, which has indeed inspired us to widen our offerings here. We are ecstatic to launch the Tigor EV today, powered by the capable Ziptron Technology. The Tigor EV is a perfect option for all aspiring sedan buyers who are looking to own a vehicle that is technologically advanced, comfortable and high on safety standards, while also being an environmental-friendly commute, making it an irresistible choice for the buyers to #EvolveToElectric.”

Commenting on this momentous occasion, Mr. Rajan Babu Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer, Sipradi Trading Pvt. Ltd., said, “With the introduction of the new Tigor EV sedan, after the overwhelming response to the Nexon EV, marks another milestone with our partnership with Tata Motors. The new Tigor EV is engineered to rule the roads with the best given value proposition and experience an unparalleled performance. Tigor EV Sedan is uniquely suited to address the aspirations of the Nepalese customers while also promoting hassle free EV adoption. We are excited to be a part of this electrifying journey and will continue bringing the best of the products to our customers in Nepal.”

Providing an optimal range, the new Tigor EV has an extended ARAI certified range of 306 kms (under standard testing conditions), making it more desirable for personal commute. Armed with stunning design, class leading safety coupled with comfort and thrilling performance, the Tigor EV delivers a peak power output of 55 kW and a peak torque of 170 Nm and is powered by a 26-kWh liquid-cooled, high energy density battery pack and an IP 67 rated battery pack and motor to make it weather and worry-proof.

Tata Motors is offering the new Tigor EV in three variants: XE, XM, XZ+ (XZ+ Dual Tone option available), which come with an 8 years and 160,000 KM battery and motor warranty for the EV owners. Moreover, it also delivers superior driving dynamics and balanced suspension for sharper handling. Other features include electrically adjustable and foldable ORVMs, smart key with push button start, portable charging cable, etc.

The Impact-Resistant Battery Pack casing of Tigor EV complies with AIS - 048 standard for nail penetration at cell Level. Based on a proven platform with Rear Crash suited structure, the car is compatible with globally acceptable CCS2 charging protocol and can be fast-charged as well as slow-charged from any 15 A plug point. In addition to a silent cabin, spacious interiors with ample headroom and legroom for comfortable seating, the Tigor EV comes packed with technology across its powertrain, infotainment & charging, all while promising a comfortable, and smooth drive. Tata Tigor EV is a nimble offering with powerful underpinnings and gives one the benefits of an EV at an accessible price.

To know more about the Tigor EV, customers can visit https://cars.tatamotors.com.np/cars/tigor-ev.php or visit their nearest dealership.

TiE Mumbai Organized A Webinar On Media & Entertainment -Next Fast Forward

TiE Mumbai organized an interactive session on Media and Entertainment hosted by Ravikant Sabnavis (CEO, Innovative Oral Care) and four unique startups founders, Kavita Shenoy (Founder & CEO, Voiro), Paula McGlynn (CEO, Bharatiya Digital Party (BhaDiPa)), Gaurav Srivastav (Founder & Director, Firstkut) and Sumedh Chaudhry (Co-founder, NewsBytes & Cricketpedia). The participating Startups discussed their individual journey so far, adapting to changing consumer trends and opportunity mapping of future trends in Media and Entertainment sector.

“This webinar gave an interesting insight on how the way content is being consumed will change. With changing audience taste, there must be a balance between content creation and the viewer. The session also discussed aspects of being disruptive, evergreen and trending content, ways of monetizing digital content and how to handle concept rejections and barriers.” said Ravikant Sabnavis – Charter Member, TiE Mumbai &  CEO, Innovative Oral  Care 

Firstkut offers options to watch trailers of movies and OTT shows on their app and aids viewers in deciding what they want to watch. They are designed to help in the decision-making process of the viewer. After a viewer watches a trailer, they work to ensure that the viewer either buys tickets to the movie or visits the OTT platform to watch. Going forward the company intends to sell OTT content, by being a subscription and transaction-based platform.

NewsBytes leverages the power of AI to generate content across media formats using AI and the platform is used by more than 50 million users every month. Cricketpedia is “fantasy cricket meets AI” and lets users  create fantasy cricket teams based on the past performance of players. . The content creation of Newsbytes  is entirely automated and their ability to create content using technology has helped them scale their business.

Bharatiya Digital Party (BhaDiPa) is a content platform for young Marathi viewers that develops, produces and distributes OTT content that is truly unique much like their audience. They have been disrupting the regional landscape with their content. The main idea of this Startup was to create original IPs, shows and films in the Marathi language which can be monetized through advertising. They have also ventured into talent management, managing writers, directors and standup comedians. The company also provides content marketing solution to brands.

As the viewer is spoilt for choice so is the advertiser. Voiro was created after the founders recognized the diverse content choices offered to viewers have led to the complexities of driving revenue. It is a startup that builds monetization infrastructure for advertising-based businesses. They work with the monetization teams of multiple OTT provider companies, essentially simplifying work for media sales, finance and operation teams and making them more efficient.  They draw insights from revenue data, empowering teams to manage their risks and therefore build higher performing businesses.  

About TiE Mumbai

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. Since 1992. TiE has been supporting entrepreneurs by offering education, mentorship, networking and funding opportunities. The mission of TiE is to foster entrepreneurship globally through the 5 pillars of TiE : mentoring, networking and education, funding and incubation. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community. TiE’s focus area is to generate enable the next generation of entrepreneurs. There are currently 11,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 60 chapters across 17 countries. TiE’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, TiE’s focus is on generating and nurturing our next generation of entrepreneurs.

For more information visit https://mumbai.tie.org/ 

Uber Hosts Its First Data Conference Datacon 2022 In Indian Market

Uber India Engineering team successfully hosted Datacon 2022, a day-long conference focused on the use of data to make better business decisions. Technology leaders and subject experts from Uber and leading global technology companies such as LinkedIn, Rakuten, and Microsoft, came together to share insights into their work on improving data quality and reliability at scale. 

At Uber, Data is a First Citizen equivalent to the applications and services and teams are involved in analysis activities to make the platform better. The right use of this data helps provide the best experience to Riders, Eaters, Drivers, and Delivery partners. Product teams at Uber are constantly engaged in work related to data so that Drivers and Delivery partners on our platform can earn more, while Riders and Eaters have the right ETA calculated to the last second. 

Vast amounts of data are being generated for large companies across industries. The emergence of bigger companies has led to support systems becoming more complex. Data observability has fast risen as an important function that holds the key to making better decisions. At Datacon 2022, various such challenges and opportunities were discussed by experts with topics ranging from:

Data-driven optimization in real-time marketplaces

Handling data at scale using Remote Shuffle Service (RSS) in Spark

Applying anomaly detection and automation to improve data reliability

Building Serverless Hive - A PetaByte Scale Data Warehouse

Consistent Metrics In Online And Offline World

Speaking at the conference, Manikandan Thangarathnam, Senior Director, Engineering, Uber, said, “The core experiences offered by Uber, from Uber Eats to Uber rides, are powered by data. With data becoming the most powerful tool to make better business decisions, there are several common questions faced by Uber and our technology peers. Datacon 2022 was our attempt to discuss the criticality of improving data quality for business and bringing diverse voices to the table. We will continue to encourage cross-learning across industries and look to build in the future.”

Some highlights from Datacon 2022:

Datacon keynote: On Data-Driven Optimization In Real-Time Marketplaces 

Ritesh Madan, Senior Director at Uber, who leads the pricing and incentives for Uber Rides and Delivery businesses, talked about how Uber runs real-time marketplaces for multiple lines of businesses with complex matching, pricing, promotion, and payment structures. During his talk, Ritesh also covered strategies and data architectures to generate the input data and state to enable ML models and sophisticated optimization algorithms for an efficient marketplace.

LinkedIn Sales Insight For Smarter Sales Planning

Linkedin Sales Insights (LSI) is a self-service tool that gives you direct access to real-time data and insights on companies and employees in your target market.

During their session, Shishir Sathe & Harpreet Singh of LinkedIn went over the Data Foundational aspects that were built for LSI in order to enable self-serve analytics that gives customers a lot of flexibility. They also covered how LinkedIn solved these data and design challenges around scaling count distinct operations for Big Data and tackling the pre-compute and store approach as it was not technically possible to do this for all possible combinations of over 15+ attributes (due to the memory and computational resources).

On Future Of Data Observability

Uber DataCon included a panel discussion on the topic of, ‘Future of Data Observability’. The discussion started with an overview on the importance of Data Observability and hearing the perspectives of each of the panelists from their experience. It was followed by a deep-dive on aspects like data SLA, data quality, tools and framework and pain points of consumers. Discussion extended on how data observability is handled at Uber and factors that should be taken into consideration while designing to make the application more observable. The panelists included, Divya B, Chirag Parmar, Javed Abdulla Alok Srivastava while Pallavi Rao moderated the discussion.  

Data Reliability At Scale For Rakuten Data Science And ML Workflows

Traditional data quality and reliability mechanisms follow deterministic rules coded by a human programmer. But these cannot evolve fast enough or scale quickly enough to keep up with the data velocity and volume. Sekhar MK VP of AI Products Rakuten and his team, talked about how various ML techniques and tools can be leveraged for ensuring Data Reliability at Scale to address issues in the areas of Automatically discovering & flagging issues, Tracing and generating data lineage for critical data pipelines, Flagging erroneous predictions, Auto-auditing raw as well as derived data sources for completeness

Data Mesh Architecture At Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365, has a compliant experimentation platform that allows Microsoft data scientists to build machine learning models by providing the necessary tools, processes, and infrastructure. Raj Srivastav & Vinit Tiwari from Microsoft talked about the platform that started off as a centralized data lake, which is now evolved into a distributed architecture, more closely aligned with a Data Mesh paradigm. This talk shared their experiences and insights through this journey and described the various challenges with both architectures.

Kassio, A Global Crypto Platform, Receives A Pre-Seed Funding Of US$ 1.6 Million

Kassio, a crypto for everyone platform that allows users to buy, sell, borrow, earn and utilize cryptos, successfully raised a funding of 1.6 million US Dollars in the pre-seed round. Kassio received its funding in February 2022 from two major European investment funds and the round was successfully led by Aalto Capital. 

Kassio is a comprehensive crypto platform that instantly unlocks all the benefits of crypto through a simple and secure app, where there is something for everyone. The platform offers options where a user can stick to the earn feature if the trading feels risky, and earn up to 13% profits simply by converting funds into a stablecoin pegged to the USD. Alternatively, crypto users can instantly buy and trade in real-time and use the crypto they already own as collateral to receive instantly approved low-interest loans. Kassio also offers a unique crypto card that enables users to utilize their crypto in daily life.

The platform consists of an international team and was founded in October 2020 by Sachin Singh, Anuj Yadav, and Bharat Vivek, who have strong experience in product development and blockchain technology. Speaking about the funding, Sachin Singh, CEO and co-founder of Kassio, said, “This successful pre-seed funding round is a testimony to the strength of our project Kassio, its roadmap, offerings, and the innovative product that brings together crypto investment and much-required crypto utility features”.

Swedish Investors at Aalto Capital, along with two major European investment funds, immediately saw the potential of Kassio and its team. In February of 2022, they decided to invest 1.6 million US Dollars in the company's pre-seed round of funding to accelerate and globally scale the company's mission of making crypto mainstream. Shayan Khan, Partner at Aalto Capital added, “While crypto is the next biggest equalizer after the internet revolution, Kassio with its strong offerings, is a project that changes the whole dynamics of the community. I am confident that Kassio will be instrumental in providing quality crypto offerings to end-users and bring about the change that the world has been waiting for in this ecosystem.”

While the product is set to exit private beta in mid-April in India and mid-May in the EU, the platform already has an AUM(Digital Assets under Management) worth 16M US dollars and a loan playbook of 9M US dollars.  Kassio will use the funds to launch its operation in the Indian and European markets, further strengthening its product development process and adding more talent to the senior management across its legal, compliance, institutional relationships, and design functions.

About Kassio

Established in October 2020, Kassio is a one stop unified crypto platform that provides the users ability to earn, borrow, trade, shop, and utilize cryptos. The company aims to establish itself as the number one trusted and secure platform in the crypto space with its secure asset management feature, along with increasing the utility of the crypto holdings, allowing users/businesses to earn more value out of their crypto assets. Kassio aims to build the most secure and straightforward platform to facilitate these transactions for everyone from the crypto curious to the expert trader. If you are interested in following the journey of kassio and being one of the first to know about their official launch, you can join the waitlist at kassio.com today.

ServiceNow Opens Two India-Based Data Centres In Response To Strong Customer Growth

* ServiceNow to reach 18,000 technology professionals in India, by year-end, to keep up with demand for ServiceNow expertise

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW), today launched local data centre facilities in Mumbai and Bangalore, strengthening its commitment to help Indian customers embrace innovative digital solutions and meet local data residency preferences.

“India is a top growth market for ServiceNow and we are seeing larger local organisations partnering with us to benefit from the power of our Platform to drive their digital transformation needs,” said Arun Balasubramanian, ServiceNow Managing Director India & SAARC. “ServiceNow is committed to manage data locally and meet India’s data protection and sovereignty standards. The new data centres enable even more financial services, technology and other regulated verticals to reap the benefits of ServiceNow’s single, unifying Platform for digital business.”

Mike Lents, ServiceNow Senior Vice President Global Cloud Services, said that the new data centres are large sites for ServiceNow with full network and capacity, to deliver performance at scale and increased sustainability. “ServiceNow has certified Data Centre Sustainability Professionals (CDCSP®) serving our customers and partners in every region we operate, including Asia Pacific.”

With forecasts for the India data centre market to grow more than 15 percent through to 2027, ServiceNow invested in the new data centre locations with sustainability top of mind.

“These data centres give ServiceNow’s customers and partners a sustainable way to responsibly source cloud data hosting in India and contribute positively to their own ESG commitments,” said Lents.

ServiceNow also announced a total of 18,000 people will be trained and certified in India by the end of 2022, together with partners and customers, to meet the burgeoning demand for ServiceNow product specialists.

“As more companies take bold steps to leverage ServiceNow’s innovative digital solutions to modernise their business and better serve customers and employees, more experts are needed to help them with integration” said Balasubramanian. “The skills drive supplements existing NextGen and Partner Training and Certification programs, enabling thousands of Indian workers the opportunity to build rewarding careers within our fast-growing ecosystem.”

Axis Bank Partners With RBI For Swanari TechSprint Initiative To Advance Digital Financial Inclusion For Indian Women

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank today announced its association with The Reserve Bank of India Innovation Hub (RBIH) for Swanari TechSprint initiative that aims at advancing digital financial inclusion for women across the nation. RBIH will host Swanari (???-????) TechSprint from 18th - 22nd April 2022 to create and produce smart, creative and sustainable solutions for underserved, low and middle income (LMI) women and for women-owned enterprises in India.

With this launch, RBIH will create a platform for fintechs, financial service providers, innovators and subject matter experts to collaborate, ideate and solve specific problems and code prototype solutions in real time. This partnership will enable Axis Bank to strengthen its commitment towards financial inclusion and also reinforce its Bharat Bank strategy of ensuring last mile connectivity.

Speaking on the occasion, Munish Sharda, Group Executive & Head Bharat Banking, Axis Bank, said The Reserve Bank of India Innovation Hub (RBIH) has been consistently demonstrating their commitment in developing new and innovative ways to accelerate financial inclusion in India, and it gives us immense pleasure to associate with RBIH for Swanari TechSprint initiative.  As a responsible citizen, we are committed to continue supporting emerging fintech solutions and work collaboratively for ensuring best financial outcomes for women."

An RBIH white paper entitled Gender and Finance in India supporting the program is also now available at www.swanaritechsprint.in. Participants can register for Swanari Techsprint till Midnight on 4th April.

About Axis Bank:

Axis Bank is the third largest private sector bank in India. Axis Bank offers the entire spectrum of services to customer segments covering Large and Mid-Corporates, SME, Agriculture and Retail Businesses. With its 4,700 domestic branches (including extension counters) and 11,060 ATMs across the country as on 31st December 2021, the network of Axis Bank spreads across 2,665 centers, enabling the Bank to reach out to a large cross-section of customers with an array of products and services. The Axis Group includes Axis Mutual Fund, Axis Securities Ltd., Axis Finance, Axis Trustee, Axis Capital, A.TReDS Ltd., Freecharge and Axis Bank Foundation.