upGrad Signs MoU With SRM University, Chennai, Joins Forces To Empower Students With Future Skills

upGrad, Asia’s largest integrated learning skilling and workforce Development Company, has entered into a transformative memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai. This strategic alliance marks a significant step towards bridging the gap between traditional academia and the ever-evolving demands of modern industry. 

Designed specifically for SRM students, this partnership aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) and UGC guidelines, aims to offer a comprehensive training experience to learners through workshops, certifications, and boot camps, promoting a hybrid learning model that combines online education with on-campus engagement for a dynamic educational atmosphere. The focus areas encompass cutting-edge fields such as data science, web development, artificial intelligence, and digital marketing, with programs meticulously designed to equip students with advanced skill sets in alignment with contemporary technological trends, ultimately bolstering their employability in the tech industry. 

Prof. Jayakumar, Dean School of Engineering and Technology, SRM Vadapalani campus added “SRM looks forward to this partnership with upGrad as an industry education partner to provide emerging tech skill programs to the students and faculty members to expand their employment opportunities in India and around the globe”

Pavan Boggarapu, Vice President - Product at upGrad and an alumni of SRM Institute Chennai, said "I am thrilled about the incredible opportunities that this partnership has unlocked for learners at SRM Institutions. It goes far beyond preparing them for traditional jobs; it's about empowering them to embrace a future filled with limitless possibilities. Through this collaboration, students will gain access to upGrad's state-of-the-art learning resources, online courses, and cutting-edge technologies, further enriching their educational experience. We strongly believe that these programs will encompass both essential soft skills and emerging technical competencies, bridging the gap between academic excellence and industry readiness, fostering a seamless transition for students into the professional world."

This partnership is not only limited to course offerings. Recently, upGrad also served as the technology partner for SRM's Hackfest 2.0, involving eight participating colleges. They organized a two-day, hands-on workshop for computer science engineering students, preparing them for the Hackathon competition. The strategic collaboration is set to enhance the institute's course offerings, providing learners with increased global job prospects at accessible rates propelling Indian students to become the hallmark standard of talent. Thus, offering ample global opportunities to the Indian talent.

About upGrad

Started in 2015, upGrad is Asia’s largest integrated Learning, Skilling, and Workforce Development Company. The offerings range from online & hybrid Degree programs to pathway and study abroad programs to certification and Bootcamps to Diploma, Master’s and Doctorate programs for working professionals. upGrad provides most of these programs to enterprise clients through its B2B arm along with recruitment and staffing services. To date, upGrad has enrolled 10 million+ learners from 70+ countries, boasts a network of 300+ direct global university partners, wide line-up of 2500+ pathway connections, 20,000+ recruitment partners, and an enterprise arm with 3000 corporate partners, worldwide. www.upgrad.com

Scoot Awarded Best Low-Cost Carrier At TTG Travel Awards And Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards 2023

Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has been awarded “Best Low-Cost Carrier” at the TTG Travel Awards and Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards 2023. Scoot has won these awards for consecutive years, underscoring its commitment to delivering operational and service excellence, and reaffirming its position as a leader in the industry.

Scoot’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Calvin Chan, attended both award ceremonies and expressed his gratitude. He said, “We are honoured to receive these awards once again and would like to thank our valued customers and industry partners for their support through the years. These awards reflect the unwavering dedication, passion, and hard work of the entire Scoot family. We remain committed to connecting people and cultures through travel and redefining the experience in the low-cost carrier industry.”

TTG Travel Awards 2023 – Best Low-Cost Carrier

The TTG Travel Awards is organised annually by TTG Asia and honours the best of Asia Pacific’s travel industry. Winners are determined through online voting by TTG publication readers and travel trade industry professionals.

The 32nd Annual TTG Travel Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner was held in Thailand on 28 September 2023. This year marks Scoot’s third consecutive year in winning the award.

Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards 2023 – Best Low-Cost Carrier (Asia Pacific)

The Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards acknowledges excellence in the travel and hospitality industry. Winners were selected from votes casted by industry professionals based on overall excellence, professionalism, innovation and other criteria according to their area of expertise.

The award ceremony was held at Conrad Centennial Singapore on 3 October 2023.

This is Scoot’s second win in the same award category.

Earlier this year, Scoot was also named the “Best Low-Cost Long-Haul Airline” at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2023. Since 1999, the World Airline Awards has been regarded as ‘the Oscars of the aviation industry’ and remains fully independent and impartial, with travellers of over 100 nationalities deciding on the winners via a passenger satisfaction survey.

Photo Caption: (Scoot’s Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Calvin Chan, representing Scoot at the award ceremonies for TTG Travel Awards and Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards 2023).

ICICI Bank Launches ‘iFinance’, A Single-View For Savings And Current Accounts Across Banks

·         Leverages the Account Aggregator ecosystem to enable users to link their accounts

·         Crores of ICICI Bank customers as well as customers of other banks can view their accounts across banks in one place

·         They can access the one-view dashboard on ICICI Bank’s mobile banking and internet banking platforms 

ICICI Bank announces the launch of ‘iFinance’, enabling crores of customers-retail and sole proprietors, to get a consolidated view of their savings and current accounts in one place. Customers of other banks can also get the benefit from this facility, which ICICI Bank has introduced by leveraging the Account Aggregator ecosystem, on the Bank’s digital platforms, namely iMobile Pay app, Retail Internet Banking (RIB), Corporate Internet Banking (CIB) and InstaBIZ, the Bank’s mobile app for businesses.

‘iFinance’ provides a single-view dashboard of all accounts. Users can check account balances, get valuable insights on spending patterns, download statements and more. The dashboard offers significant convenience to users and assists them to exercise better control over expenses and monitor their finances in a seamless manner.  

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Sidharatha Mishra, Head- Digital Channels, ICICI Bank, said, “We, at ICICI Bank, remain committed to offer futuristic and innovative digital solutions to our customers. With the launch of ‘iFinance’, we are enabling our customers as well as customers of other banks to view their account data in one place and provide them a better control over their finances. This is the Bank’s initiative to introduce the convenience of open banking for customers by leveraging the Account Aggregator ecosystem. This unique feature also provides users with the facility to manage their expenses by analysing their spending patterns in a safe and secured place. The ‘iFinance’ facility is available across our mobile banking and internet banking platforms which provide ease of access to account information to the customers. We believe this new feature will help the users to conveniently monitor and manage their finances.”

The key features of ‘iFinance’ facility are:

·         Linking and viewing of all accounts: Users can securely link their savings and current accounts with all banks and view account balances at one place

·         Summary of income and expenditure: The facility allows users to get insightful summary of their income and expenditure which helps them monitor their finances properly

·         Track spending / payments: Users can track their spends and get category wise information of their expenses. This helps them in managing their expenses and overall financial health

·         Complete user control: The facility also provides increased convenience as the users can link and de-link accounts on real-time basis

·         Detailed statement(s): With this facility, users can also download consolidated account statement(s) of all linked Bank accounts

Users can avail ‘iFinance’ facility by following these steps:

·         Log in through ICICI Bank’s digital platform(s) namely iMobilePay, Retail Internet Banking, Corporate Internet Banking and InstaBIZ

·         Click on the ‘iFinance’ button and verify credentials

·         After the verification is completed, all Bank accounts that the users are holding with ICICI Bank and other banks, will be pre-populated

·         The user can select the Bank to link and provide consent to link accounts

·         Approved accounts will be displayed to the user

Also, customers of other banks can avail this feature by following the below steps:

·         Download the app

·         Register with mobile number

·         Click on ‘iFinance’ and follow the same steps mentioned above

For news and updates, visit www.icicibank.com and follow us on Twitter (X) at www.twitter.com/ICICIBank

About ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank Ltd (BSE: ICICIBANK, NSE: ICICIBANK and NYSE:IBN) is a leading private sector bank in India. The Bank’s total assets stood at Rs 16,47,000 crore at June 30, 2023.

[24]7.ai Announces Expansive Recruitment Drive To Onboard Over 7000 Professionals In FY’24

* Creating employment opportunities for India's diverse talent pool.4000 executives already onboarded in Bangalore & Hyderabad

* Interested candidates for customer service positions for voice and chat services can send their CVs on careers.india@247.ai

* Extensive 45-to-90-day training provided to freshmen to ease them into the workplace with options for short- and long-term employment.

24]7.ai, a global leader in intent-driven customer solutions and contact center services, has ramped up recruitment at its Bangalore and Hyderabad centers. The company is actively hiring Customer support advisors for both voice and chat services. Leveraging India's expansive talent pool, [24]7.ai is also set to strengthen its workforce by targeting talent from key Tier 2 & 3 cities like Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, Dharwad, Chittoor, Tirupati, Coimbatore, Vizag and Vijayawada. The company already has hired over 40% of its Talent needs with candidates from Tier2 cities.

With the recruitment drive already underway, the company is proactively collaborating with educational institutions to leverage the growing pool of nascent fresher talent, who will account for one-third of the company's talent needs. Concerted women centric recruitment drives have also taken up the women centric hires to 41% of overall recruitment. [24]7.ai was recently rated amongst the “Top 50 best places to work for women” by the global expert in workplace culture, ‘Great place to work’- for the 5th consecutive year.

Namit Jauhari Country Head India, [24]7.ai said, “It is promising to see that the landscape of employment in India is finding new centers of talent in Tier-2 & 3 cities. We look forward to contributing to the growth of these emerging talent hubs by hiring and fostering a dynamic and inclusive workforce. Opportunities are offered for fixed term and short-term hiring so that both graduate and undergraduate talent can benefit from our intensive training programs and exposure to working for Fortune 500 companies.”

Nina Nair, SVP & HRD Head, India and Americas, [24]7.ai said, “We are excited to welcome freshers and fruitfully engage them through smooth campus to corporate transitions, leveraging on our robust training processes. We stay strongly invested in our people and nurture freshers to grow them into leaders. A testimony to this, is our consistent ranking for the 5th consecutive year amongst the ‘Top 100 best workplaces’ and ‘Top 50 best workplaces for women’ by Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture.”

This year's recruitment drive is geared towards providing full-time positions as well as fixed-term employment options as an opportunity for education to aspirants who prefer a short-term work engagement. The company has in place initiatives like ‘Earn while you learn scheme’ that also provides undergraduates an experience of work life as they continue to study. To ease in freshers, ‘Campus to corporate’, on-the-job learning initiatives, soft skills training and coaching initiatives are in place for smoother transitions. The new joiners also get an opportunity to work with Fortune 500 clients using cutting- edge conversational ai technology. to empower and support them.

About [24]7.ai

[24]7.ai software and services use artificial intelligence, human insight, and deep vertical expertise to produce personalized, consistent, and satisfying customer experiences. The company's advanced conversational AI platform, combined with more than 20 years of contact center operational expertise, empowers the world's largest and most recognizable brands to deliver natural, frictionless conversations across all digital and voice channels. For more information, visit http://www.247.ai.

[24]7 and [24]7.ai are trademarks of [24]7.ai, Inc. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

Schwing Stetter India Supports Young Indians’ – “Chotta Cop” Initiative To Promote Road Safety

* “The company helps create impactful road safety awareness videos for the cause during Yi road safety summit 2023.”

Schwing Stetter India, one of the country’s leading concreting equipment manufacturers has recently partnered with Young Indians (Yi) for their “Chotta Cop” initiative that aims to train Yuva students to be certified first respondents - over the course of next five years about one crore students are to become good samaritans (Farishtey) through the programme.

Yi road safety summit was organized recently at the JW Marriot, New Delhi, where the awareness videos were officially launched.

Speaking at the summit on “The role of corporates in ensuring road safety,” Mr.V.G.Sakthikumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Schwing Stetter India said, “It is a social obligation for any individual to understand why road safety matters and how road accidents not only cause injuries, but also economic loses. As a company, we always follow strict protocols at our construction sites as we are conscious about environment and its impact on the other stakeholders involved.”

“It gives me immense pleasure to see initiatives like Chotta Cop reach the young and upcoming generation – their good samaritans act will influence more people. The videos that we have created in collaboration with Young Indians’ will reach more than a million students. Meanwhile, more corporates like us should invest and promote road safety by partnering with NGO’s, local authorities and the government to improve road infrastructure in India. Schwing Stetter India believes our success is measured not only by the machines we build but also by the lives we help protect on the roads every day.” he added.

Some of the other prominent speakers at the summit include - Dr. Ankit Varshney, Delhi Sports Doctor, Dr. Neharika Yadav, Dental surgeon, Jitendar Sharma, Editor-crime & Investigation Zee media corporation Limited and S S Yadav, IPS & Special CP Traffic Police, Delhi.

About Schwing Stetter India Private Limited:

Incorporated in June 1998, and commencing its manufacturing operations in 1999, Schwing Stetter India is a 100% subsidiary of Schwing GmbH, a 1.30 billion USD German concreting machinery manufacturer and a part of XCMG group. Schwing Stetter is a pioneer in manufacturing equipment for concrete preparation, placement, transportation, and recycling. Schwing Stetter (India) Private Limited manufactures concrete batching plants, concrete placing booms, concrete pumps, concrete truck mixers for transporting readymade concrete to construction sites, concrete truck mixers with concrete pumps, concrete recycling plants, plastering pumps, self-loading mixers, and sludge pumps.

Schwing Stetter (India) sells and services equipment like concrete pavers, aerial working platform, all terrain crane, cold milling machine, crawler crane, excavator, horizontal directional drilling, motor grader, rotary drilling rig, tower crane, truck crane and wheel loader are our various newer range of equipment that have been launched recently from GOMACO and XCMG. We cater to the requirement of infrastructure developers and act as an OEM supplier to various cement companies who offer ready mix concrete. Schwing Stetter has its manufacturing units in 12 countries including Germany, Austria, USA, Brazil, Russia, Ostrava, UK, India supported by sales and service centers in France, Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden as well as representations in more than 150 countries Worldwide. Contact us on : https://www.schwingstetterindia.com/  

Atlassian Announces Appointment Of Paranth Thiruvengadam To India Site Leader And Head Of Engineering ITSM

Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ: TEAM), a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software and the maker of Jira Software, Confluence, Bitbucket, and Trello, announces the appointment of Paranth Thiruvengadam to India Site Leader and Head of Engineering ITSM (IT Service Management). 

In the new dual role, Paranth will focus on leading Atlassian’s 1700-strong India-based workforce and driving its ITSM customer-centric approach. 

He joins Atlassian with 20+ years of experience across technology and business leadership roles including Chief Technology Officer at Clear (formerly ClearTax) and MedLife, and senior positions at Yahoo!, IBM Labs and Walmart Labs. He has a rich background in developing SaaS platforms, web applications, infrastructure and transaction platforms that span across finance, supply chain, healthcare, taxation, and regulatory compliance. 

Rajeev Rajan, Chief Technology Officer, Atlassian, says, “Paranth is not only a scaled engineering leader, but has a proven track record in driving product strategy and business metrics, too. His experience will be invaluable in building our ITSM solutions alongside our operations in India, our fastest-growing location.” 

Paranth adds, “Crafting ITSM product on both technology and business strategy provides a distinctive chance to introduce innovation and shake up the market for enterprise and small business products. Utilising the talent pool in a strategic location such as India uniquely situates us to tap into the top technologists while maintaining our competitiveness through a profound understanding of customer needs." 

Atlassian, whose R&D center is located in Bengaluru, was recently ranked number eight in India’s Best Companies to Work For 2023 by the Great Place to Work Institute. 

About Atlassian 

Atlassian unleashes the potential of every team. Our agile & DevOps, IT service management and work management software helps teams organize, discuss, and complete shared work. The majority of the Fortune 500 and over 260,000 companies of all sizes worldwide - including NASA, Kiva, Deutsche Bank, and Salesforce - rely on our solutions to help their teams work better together and deliver quality results on time. Learn more about our products, including Jira Software, Confluence, Jira Service Management, Trello, Bitbucket, and Jira Align at https://atlassian.com. 

JLR India Retails 2,356 units In H1 Of FY24: Records Best-Ever Half-Yearly Sales

* JLR India H1 retail sales doubled with a YoY growth of 105%

* Achieved highest ever Q2 retail sales of 1,308 units with a YoY growth of 108%

* Order book remains strong with a growth of 90% in H1 vs the same period last year

* Recently launched 24MY Range Rover Velar has received a great response with over 750 orders  

* Defender achieves sales of 1,000 units in H1 with YoY growth of over 250%

JLR India today reported its best ever H1 performance with record sales of 2,356 units and a YoY growth of 105% during the April – September 2023 period. The strong half yearly growth was driven by record sales in both quarters, with Q2 witnessing a 108% YoY growth and retails of 1,308 units. JLR India had previously reported a 102% sales growth in Q1, compared to the same period last year.

The order book in FY24 has seen consistent growth, with H1 closing order book higher by 90% compared to the same period last year. Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender continue to witness strong demand contributing to 72% of the total order book. The current total order book covers for more than eight months of sales.

Mr. Rajan Amba, Managing Director, JLR India, said, “We are pleased with our strong performance in H1 and Q2 FY24. The consistent growth in our order book exemplifies the growing strength of our brand and products in the hearts of Indian consumers. We will continue to introduce new products that are best suited to meet the discerning needs of our customers and invest in strengthening our brand desire and client experience.”

The successful launch of 24MY Range Rover Velar along with growing demand for Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender underpins the strong sales performance in H1. Defender was the best-selling model with sales of 1,000 units in H1.

JLR certified pre-owned business grew by 83% in H1 FY24.