Manipal Academy of Higher Education Launches Volunteer Services Unit In Jamshedpur Campus

Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) takes another step towards fostering social responsibility and community development with the launch of the Volunteer Services Unit in its Jamshedpur Campus. The inauguration ceremony, which took place on July 24, 2023, at Manipal Tata Medical College (MTMC), Jamshedpur, witnessed the participation of esteemed dignitaries and university officials who emphasized the significance of volunteering for holistic student development.

The event's chief guest, Prof Tata L Raghu Ram Tata, a distinguished personality from XLRI, Jamshedpur, emphasized the transformative power of volunteering and urged the students to become socially conscious and responsible individuals. He encouraged them to find happiness and fulfillment in giving back to the community, highlighting the positive impact such acts can have on society.

During the ceremony, the newly appointed student office bearers of VSO-MAHE were formally installed by Dr Dilip G Naik, Pro Vice Chancellor of MAHE. In his address, he enlightened the audience about the remarkable legacy and contributions of Dr. TMA Pai, the founder of MAHE, towards community welfare. Dr. TMA Pai's vision of instilling a sense of social responsibility among students continues to guide the institution's efforts to this day.

Notable personalities from MAHE, including Dr. Sharath K Rao, Pro Vice Chancellor, and Dr. N N Sharma, Pro Vice Chancellor Strategy and Planning, along with Dr. G Pradeep Kumar, Dean of Manipal-Tata Medical College, Jamshedpur, graced the occasion with their presence and shared their insights on the importance of student engagement in community development.

VSO-MAHE provides an inclusive platform for students and faculty to offer their time, skills, and resources for the betterment of the community. Through various volunteering initiatives, students can actively participate in projects and programs addressing social issues, healthcare, education, and sustainable development.

Speaking about the launch, Dr. G Pradeep Kumar, Dean of MTMC, expressed, "We are delighted to inaugurate the Volunteer Services Unit in our Jamshedpur Campus. MAHE has always been committed to nurturing well-rounded individuals who not only excel academically but also demonstrate empathy and concern for the society they live in. The VSO-MAHE will serve as a bridge between the campus and the community, fostering a sense of responsibility and solidarity among our students." With the establishment of the Volunteer Services Unit at the Jamshedpur Campus, MAHE reiterates its dedication to cultivating socially responsible leaders who will contribute positively to the world around them.

Picture caption: L-R  Dr Rajiva Dwivedi, Director of Academic Administration and Quality, MTMC, Jamshedpur; Dr. N N Sharma, Pro VC (Strategy & Planning), MAHE; Dr. Dilip G Naik, Pro VC of MAHE (Mangalore Campus); Dr. G Pradeep Kumar, Dean, MTMC, Jamshedpur; Dr. Raghuram Tata, Associate Professor, XLRI, Jamshedpur; Dr. Sharath K Rao, Pro VC (Health Sciences) MAHE, Manipal; Anup Naha Chief Coordinator-Volunteer Services Organisation (VSO), MAHE; Abhishek Chaturvedi, Joint Coordinator, Volunteer Services Organisation (VSO), MAHE

Air India Launches Upgrade+ To Simplify Purchased Cabin Upgrades

Air India today introduced its latest offering, Upgrade+, for guests with eligible bookings to purchase instant, confirmed upgrades to the front cabins at fixed prices.

Upgrade+ enables Air India guests to opt for upgrades to premium cabins between 72 hours and 12 hours before a flight, subject to availability. Alternatively, Air India guests can purchase cabin upgrades at the airline’s airport counters at the time of checking in.

With the launch of Upgrade+, Air India has discontinued its ‘Bid Upgrade’ programme, whereby guests with eligible bookings could earlier bid for cabin upgrades and were required to wait for up to four hours before their flight’s departure for upgrade decisions.

With Upgrade+, Air India guests will receive the benefits of the upgraded cabin, such as increased baggage allowance, priority check-in at dedicated counters, boarding and baggage handling, on board amenities, and a delectable culinary experience. However, the fare conditions of the original booking will apply to upgraded bookings, including cancellation, rebooking fees, and accrual of Flying Returns miles.

Air India’s premium cabins include Premium Economy (currently available only on select flights to North America), Business Class (available on all domestic and international routes), and First Class (available on select long-haul routes).

Guests with confirmed, Air India-issued booking documents for flights operated by the airline would be eligible to opt for upgrades using Upgrade+. They would either receive e-mail invitation to upgrade their bookings or will be able to check their eligibility using the widget on the Upgrade+ webpage.

About Air India:

Founded by the legendary JRD Tata, Air India pioneered India’s aviation sector. Since its first flight on October 15, 1932, Air India has built an extensive domestic network and also connects with non-stop flights to cities around the world, across USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Far-East, South-East Asia, Australia, and the Gulf. After 69 years as a government-owned enterprise, Air India and Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata group in January 2022.

Air India is navigating through a major five-year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI, with an ambition to become a world class airline with an Indian heart. The first phase of this transformation, the taxi phase was recently concluded, and focused on fixing the basics. These included bringing back to service many long grounded aircraft, addition of talent across flying and ground functions, rapid upgradation of technology and strengthening of customer care initiatives amongst others. 

Member of Star Alliance, the largest global airline consortium of leading international airlines, Air India offers seamless connectivity and facilities to passengers all over the world.

It has committed over USD 400MM to completely refit the interiors of all wide-body aircraft and has also planned an investment of over USD 200MM in digital and technology. In January 2023, as part of its transformation efforts, Air India placed the industry’s largest ever order of 470 aircraft across Boeing and Airbus and these will start joining its fleet from later this year. With its enhanced fleet, network and improved on-time performance, the airline is revamping its customer proposition.

Coca-Cola India Announces The Appointment Of Ajay Vijay Bathija As Vice President, Franchise Operations For Southwest Asia

Coca-Cola India announced the appointment of Ajay Vijay Bathija, as Vice President of Franchise Operations for Southwest Asia (SWA). Ajay's extensive career journey with The Coca-Cola Company spans nearly 24 years and encompasses a distinct combination of marketing and franchise expertise.

In 1999, Ajay embarked on his professional journey with the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. (HCCBPL) Front Line Sales team and demonstrated consistent growth steadily advancing across different roles and positions within the organisation. He was the Region Manager for the Mekong Delta Region at SabCo Vietnam, in 2005. In this pivotal role, he led sales operations and route-to-market strategies to drive volumes.

He returned to India as Director Marketing for Colas and spearheaded the ground-breaking "Share a Coke" campaign. He successfully, introduced Coca-Cola Zero sugar for the first time in the INSWA (India and Southwest Asia) markets. He was also instrumental in rejuvenating ThumsUp through integrated marketing campaigns, resulting in enhanced brand love.

As the Country Manager for Bangladesh from 2018-2020, Ajay worked closely with the Bottling Partners to bring Bangladesh amongst the top 3 markets in Coca-Cola TM, within The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) globally. In 2020, he transitioned to Senior Director - Front Line Marketing, where he aligned portfolio strategies, facilitated seamless commercial and marketing execution, and successfully launched the most celebrated musical franchise of the Company, ‘Coke Studio’ in Bangladesh. His pioneering "Is Cooking" Coke with meals experience platform, particularly "Kolkata is Cooking," boosted Coca-Cola TM’s brand love and consumer engagement.

Commenting on the appointment, Sanket Ray – President, India, and Southwest Asia, said “With his understanding of business, and growth mindset, Ajay has a proven track record of taking business to newer heights. We are hopeful that with his astute business acumen and collaborative approach he will further the organization’s purpose in the Southwest Asia region.”

Ajay has successfully completed his Masters in Marketing Management from NMIMS, Mumbai. He is a Commerce graduate from HR College of Commerce and Economics.

About Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola in India is one of the country’s leading beverage companies, offering a range of high-quality and refreshing beverage options to consumers. The company in line with its vision of ‘Beverages For Life’ offers a wide portfolio of products which includes hydration, sports, sparkling, coffee, tea, nutrition, juice and dairy based products. In India it’s beverage range includes Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Charged by Thums Up, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Maaza, Minute Maid range of juices. The Company also offers hydration beverages including Limca Sports, Smartwater, Kinley, Dasani and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. Premium products constitute Schweppes and Smartwater. In addition, it offers Costa Coffee range of tea and coffee. The Company is constantly transforming its portfolio, from reducing sugar in its drinks to bringing innovative new products to market.

The Company along with its owned bottling operations and franchise bottling partners has a strong network of close to 4 million retail outlets through which it refreshes millions of consumers across the country. It seeks to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable agriculture initiatives and carbon emission reductions across its value chain.

Globally together with its bottling partners, The Coca-Cola Company employs more than 700,000 people, helping to bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.cocacolacompany.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn

GOVO Joins Forces With Amazon MiniTV For Dance Reality Show - Hip Hop India!

* Celebrating the power of beats, moves, and the art of hip-hop

GOVO, an emerging force in the audio industry, is thrilled to unveil its partnership with Amazon MiniTV, the renowned streaming platform, for the highly anticipated dance reality show, "Hip Hop India!" This extraordinary collaboration sets the stage for a remarkable transformation in the Indian dance landscape, uniting exceptional talent and delivering an unrivalled entertainment experience.

"Hip Hop India" is poised to redefine the boundaries of dance competitions, showcasing the best of hip-hop talent across the nation. GOVO together with Amazon MiniTV's widespread influence, aims to captivate viewers and create an unforgettable dance spectacle that celebrates the power of beat, moves, and the art of hip-hop. The show features the exciting "Bass ka Boss - Battle Round," where contestants will take the stage to compete. Embracing the roles of judges, the dynamic duo of Remo D'Souza and Nora Fatehi will be gracing the stage of the dance reality show.

Commenting on the collaboration with Amazon MiniTV, Mr. Varun Poddar and Mr. Piyush Jalan, Founder and Co- Founder at GOVO said “We're excited to team up with Amazon MiniTV for 'Hip Hop India,' a ground-breaking series that not only showcases exceptional dancers but also provides a dynamic platform for their talent to shine. Our goal is to enhance the show's electrifying atmosphere and deliver an unforgettable sonic adventure that perfectly complements the incredible performances. By amplifying the dancers' skills and artistry through an immersive audio experience, we aim to uplift and celebrate them, giving them a remarkable opportunity to captivate audiences and make a lasting impact in the world of hip-hop.”

Hip Hop Dance India organized a record-breaking event at Film City Goregaon. On the 21st, they planned to gather 2000 dancers to perform a choreographed hip hop routine for precisely ‘5 minutes and 7 seconds’, with the aim of breaking the Guinness World Record. If anyone from the team was interested in attending, the organizers made vanity van arrangements accordingly.

The collaboration between GOVO and Amazon MiniTV creates a powerful alliance that unites dancers from all walks of life, providing them with an extraordinary stage to showcase their exceptional talent.

With the stage set and contestants preparing to give it their all, it's time to witness the journey from "Gully se Glory Tak!" Starting from July 21st, the show will exclusively stream on Amazon MiniTV, accessible for free within Amazon's shopping app and Fire TV.

About GOVO:

GOVO is an emerging audio technology company that is making waves in the industry. With a passion for innovation and a commitment to delivering exceptional audio experiences, GOVO is quickly gaining recognition for its cutting-edge products. From wireless Bluetooth speakers to powerful soundbars, GOVO seamlessly integrates advanced technology with sleek designs to create immersive audio solutions. With a strong emphasis on quality, performance, and customer satisfaction, GOVO is poised to become a leading player in the competitive audio technology market.

BenQ Launches 4LED 4K Smart Projector W4000i To Deliver Immersive, Theatre-Like Movie Experience At Home

BenQ, a leading provider of advanced display technology solutions, is launching the W4000i 4LED 4K Home Cinema Projector, an innovation in home entertainment. This projector is designed to provide unprecedented levels of cinematic quality in various at-home settings. It features BenQ's proprietary 100% DCI-P3 CinematicColor and HDR-PRO technologies, ensuring true 4K image quality with precise HDR color accuracy. The W4000i offers greater detail in both bright and dark scenes, creating an unparalleled 4K HDR enjoyment experience. Additionally, it comes equipped with Android TV which is Google certified. The projector is preinstalled with popular streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime and grants full access to the Google Play Store.

The W4000i projector delivers a luxurious true 4K HDR experience, thanks to its utilization of CinematicColor Technology. This technology enables the projector to achieve a super-wide 100% DCI-P3 color space and contrast quality, ensuring exceptional color accuracy. With over 8.3 million razor-sharp pixels, this projector creates unforgettable viewing experiences that leave a strong impression on audiences. Its 4LED 4K Ultra HD resolution and advanced HDR capabilities redefine the possibilities of home entertainment.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rajeev Singh, Managing Director, BenQ India & South Asia, said, “We are thrilled to introduce the W4000i projector, a true game-changer in home cinema technology. At BenQ, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of visual display solutions, and the W4000i is a testament to our unwavering dedication to providing our customers with the best possible experiences. Our team has worked tirelessly to create a product that not only meets but exceeds the expectations of our discerning customers. With the W4000i projector, we aim to redefine home entertainment and bring the magic of the big screen directly to our customers' living rooms. We are confident that this latest addition to our product line will be a game-changer in the industry.”

Key Highlights -

Remarkable Brightness and Wide Color Range: The W4000i delivers vibrant visuals with its impressive 3200 ANSI lumens brightness and 100% DCI-P3 color coverage, ensuring accurate and vibrant colors in any lighting condition.

Exceptional Resolution: The W4000i's True 4K resolution presents movies with exceptional clarity, capturing every subtle detail for an immersive viewing experience.

Efficient LED Light Source: The W4000i utilizes an efficient 4LED light source (RGBB), providing faster start-up times, longer lifespan, and reduced maintenance compared to traditional lamps. The Smart Eco mode adjusts brightness intelligently, saving energy and extending the LED life up to 30,000 hours.

HDR-PRO with HDR10+ for Perfect Details in Dark and Bright Areas: BenQ's HDR-PRO technology with Local Contrast Enhancer enhances dynamic contrast in HDR10+ and HLG modes, delivering lifelike colors and exceptional detail in both bright and dark areas. The W4000i projector fulfils all resolution, color gamut, and dynamic range requirements, ensuring spectacular 4K HDR experiences with cinematic color accuracy and incredible detail reproduction.

Cinematic Modes and Color Temperature Tuning: The W4000i offers customizable picture modes like Filmmaker Mode and Cinema Mode, providing accurate colors and an authentic movie-going experience. BenQ's color temperature tuning with 11 white balance controls further enhances visual accuracy and elevates the overall viewing experience.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY –

MRP – INR 4,00,000

Offline Channels – All leading Retail Home AV BenQ SI Partners .

About BenQ Corporation:

Founded on the corporate vision of “Bringing Enjoyment ‘N’ Quality to Life”, BenQ Corporation is a world-leading human technology and solutions provider aiming to elevate and enrich every aspect of consumers’ lives. To realize this vision, the company focuses on the aspects that matter most to people today – lifestyle, business, healthcare, and education – with the hope of providing people with the means to live better, increase efficiency, feel healthier and enhance learning. Such means include a delightful broad portfolio of people-driven products and embedded technologies spanning digital projectors, monitors, interactive large-format displays, and lighting solutions. Because it matters.  

About BenQ Group:

The BenQ Group is a $25+ billion powerhouse comprised of nearly 20 independent companies operating in over 30 countries across numerous industries with a combined workforce of over 100,000 employees.  Each Group member is a recognized leader in its own field, contributing to the BenQ Group’s vast resources, broad R&D, and distinct strategic strengths.  By leveraging each company’s vertical specialization to create true scale across horizontal markets, the BenQ Group controls a highly efficient value chain with the unrivaled ability to deliver critical components and world-class solutions in the following industries: TFT-LCD, green energy, fine chemicals, and advanced materials, lighting, IC design, precision components, system integration, branded business, and service.  The Group is committed to profitable and sustainable businesses that share its long-standing vision of Bringing Enjoyment ‘N’ Quality to Life.

The BenQ Group companies are BenQ Corporation, AU Optronics Corporation (world’s top manufacturer of large-size TFT-LCD panels), Qisda Corporation, Darfon Electronics Corporation, BenQ ESCO Corp., BenQ Materials Corp., BenQ Guru Corp., BenQ Medical Center, BenQ Medical Technology Corp., BenQ AB DentCare Corp., BriView Co., Ltd., Daxin Materials Corp., Dazzo Technology Corp., Forhouse Corp., Lextar Electronics Corp., LILY Medical Corp., and Raydium Semiconductor Corp.

Shoppers Stop Reports Highest Q1 Revenue Of Rs 1241 Cr And EBITDA Of Rs 58 Cr In Q1FY24

Highlights

Reports PBT of Rs.19 Cr in Q1 FY24; PAT at Rs 13 Cr 

Brands premiumization across categories resulted into strong Average Transaction Value growth of 8% 

 Capex investment of Rs 43 Cr   

Added 1 HomeStop and 6 Beauty stores 

5 Department stores under fit-out 

Renovated 3 Department and 1 HomeStop Stores 

Shoppers Stop launched “Fashion For All” format under the brand “Intune”, which is 100% private brand. Opened 3 stores-2 at Hyderabad and 1 at Dombivali (Mumbai), 3 stores under fit out 

Beauty remained fastest growing segment recording sales of Rs 216 Cr, +13% YoY 

 Shoppers Stop Ltd. one of India’s leading premier fashion and beauty brands, has declared its results for the quarter ended 30th June 2023, for the fiscal year 2023-24.  

 Management Comments: 

Mr. Venu Nair, MD & CEO at Shoppers Stop, commented on the Q1 FY24 results, “Retail Sector is moving towards normalcy, with Beauty & non-apparel categories seeing strong growth. However, Apparel segment is witnessing moderation, and the operating environment remains challenging. In this context we have delivered a resilient and competitive performance. Our business model and its strategic pillars are driving sustainable growth. As a result, our revenue for Q1FY24 has grown by 4% compared with Q1FY23. We continue to revamp our older stores to upgrade their look and feel, offering fashionable brands for all age groups and customers. Our strategy of democratization of beauty for all segments of customers has driven growth. The 3P customer centric strategy about personalization, premiumization and private label has, resulted in Increased Average Transaction Value (ATV) Average Selling Price (ASP) by 8% and 5%. 

“On the overall store expansion strategy, Shoppers Stop will open 12 new Department stores in 7 new cities by the end of FY24, apart from 15 Beauty stores. Recently, we launched “Intune” a “Fashion For All” format, again one of the strategic initiatives to cater to the Young Families. We launched 3 stores, 2 at Hyderabad and 1 at Dombivli (Mumbai) and another 3 stores are under fit out.” 

“Our customer engagement strategy through various offline and online activations like beauty makeovers, End of Season Sale (EOSS) witnessed a rebound of customers footfalls to our stores resulting in higher traction. For a more personalized experiences through AI, we have introduced ‘Virtual Try On and Skin Analyzer’ at SSBeauty stores for virtual try on make-up experience.”     

Performance of strategic pillars in Q1FY24: 

First Citizen Loyalty Customers continue to choose us as their preferred brand of choice for their fashion and beauty needs. First Citizen base expanded to 9.2Mn loyal customers and contributed to 80% of offline sales and 42% of online sales. For our premium Black card members, the Average Transaction Value (ATV) was 2X and members spend was 4X of the First Citizen. We received 2X campaign response from our 450+ customer engagement activities with an increased ATV +26%.  

Private Brands – Private Brands Sales gave a contribution of 14% to the Sales and 21% on apparel. Indian wear category outperformed with “HAUTE CURRY” grew by 42% and “KASHISH” grew by 14%. Smart Casual wear for men under the brand “FRATINI” grew by 39%.  

Beauty – Beauty at Rs.216 Crs, grew by 13% contributing 16.4%. The strong customer engagement with 160K makeovers resulted into higher engagement and conversion. We have launched 23 new brands under the beauty category such as Kilian Paris, Lancôme, Olaplex, Farmacy etc. We introduced “Virtual Try On and Skin Analyzer” at SS Beauty store for virtual try on make-up experience, one of the unique propositions from Shoppers Stop to its customers. 

Store Expansion – We launched 1 HomeStop and 6 Beauty Stores in this quarter. We have 5 Department stores under fit-out and schedule to open this quarter. We renovated 3 departmental and 1 Homestop during the quarter. We also launched 3 Intune stores – 2 at Hyderabad and 1 at Dombivali (Mumbai) in this quarter. Our Capex investments were at Rs.43 Crs.  

Outlook 

In the near-term, Retail Industry will continue to witness rebalancing of price-volume growth equation and a gradual recovery in consumer demand. In this environment we will continue to provide superior value to our consumers and invest behind our Stores/Brands. We remain focused on driving our long-term strategic priorities including expansion into newer markets and building distinctive capabilities for the future.  

IBM Report: Average Cost Of A Data Breach In India Touched INR 179 Million In 2023

* In the country, organizations with extensive use of security AI and automation helped cut data breach costs by INR 95 million and reduce breach lifecycles by 153 days

IBM (NYSE: IBM) Security today released its annual Cost of a Data Breach Report,[1] showing the average cost of a data breach in India reached INR 179 million in 2023 – an all-time high for the report and almost a 28% increase since 2020. Detection and escalation costs jumped 45% over this same time frame, representing the highest portion of breach costs, and indicating a shift towards more complex breach investigations.

At nearly 22%, the most common attack type in India was phishing, followed by stolen or compromised credentials (16%). Social engineering was the costliest root cause of breaches at INR 191 million, followed by malicious insider threats, which amounted to approximately INR 188 million.

According to the 2023 IBM report, globally businesses are divided in how they plan to handle the increasing cost and frequency of data breaches. The report found that while 95% of organizations studied globally have experienced more than one breach, these breached organizations were more likely to pass incident costs onto consumers (57%) than to increase security investments (51%).

“With cyberattacks growing in pace and cost in India, businesses must invest in modern security strategies and solutions to stay resilient. The report shows that security AI and automation had the biggest impact on keeping breach costs down and cutting time off the investigation - and yet a majority of organizations in India still haven’t deployed these technologies. It’s clear that there is still considerable opportunity for businesses to boost detection and response speeds and help stop the ongoing trend of growing breach costs,” said Viswanath Ramaswamy, Vice President, Technology, IBM India & South Asia.

Breaching data across environments

In India, 28% of data breaches studied resulted in the loss of data spanning multiple types of environments (i.e., public cloud, private cloud, on-prem) – indicating that attackers were able to compromise multiple environments while avoiding detection. When breached data was stored across multiple environments, it also had the highest associated breach costs (INR 188 million) and took the longest to identify and contain (327 days).

Need for AI and automation to pick up speed in India

AI and automation had the biggest impact on the speed of breach identification and containment for studied organizations. In India, companies with extensive use of AI and automation experienced a data breach lifecycle that was 153 days shorter compared to studied organizations that have not deployed these technologies (225 days versus 378 days). In fact, studied organizations that deployed security AI and automation extensively saw nearly INR 95 million lower data breach costs than organizations that didn’t deploy these technologies – the biggest cost saver identified in the report. In this context, it is important to note that 80% of studied organizations in India have limited (37%) or no use (43%) of AI and automation.

Additional Sources

To download a copy of the 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report,  visit: https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach.

About IBM Security

IBM Security helps secure the world's largest enterprises and governments with an integrated portfolio of security products and services, infused with dynamic AI and automation capabilities. The portfolio, supported by world-renowned IBM Security X-Force® research, enables organizations to predict threats, protect data as it moves, and respond with speed and precision without holding back business innovation. IBM is trusted by thousands of organizations as their partner to assess, strategize, implement, and manage security transformations. IBM operates one of the world's broadest security research, development, and delivery organizations, monitors 150 billion+ security events per day in more than 130 countries, and has been granted more than 10,000 security patents worldwide.