Vesuvius Group CEO Mr. Patrick Andre Inaugurates New AlSi And Basic Monolithic Plants in Visakhapatnam

Vesuvius, a global leader in the refractory industry, proudly inaugurates the new Alumina-Silica (AlSi) and Basic Monolithic manufacturing plants, at a ceremony held on 12th November 2024 (the release was sent on embargo), in Visakhapatnam, further supporting the Make in India initiative. The state-of-the-art facilities are integral to Vesuvius’s ongoing investments in India, aimed at enhancing manufacturing capabilities and addressing the rising demand from the iron and steel industry. This development follows the April inauguration of the Mould Flux manufacturing plant in Vishakhapatnam. 

The new AlSi and Basic Monolithic plants will produce high-quality alumina-silica and basic monolithic refractory products, essential for iron and steel production. This expansion, once in commercial production, will boost annual production capacity by 250,000 tons, reinforcing Vesuvius’s position as a leading provider of refractory solutions in the region. These plants are setup with equipment that enable Vesuvius to bring new products and technologies to the Indian Market.

Mr. Patrick Andre, Chief Executive of London headquartered Vesuvius group, stated, “Our ongoing investment plans highlights our strong belief in the Indian market. The AlSi and Basic Monolithic plants are a testament to our commitment to innovation and support to India’s industrial growth.” 

“These new facilities not only enhance our manufacturing capabilities but also contribute to the socio-economic development of the communities we serve. Sustainability and efficiency are at the core of our operations.” said Mr. Biswadip Gupta, Chairman of Vesuvius India Limited (VIL).

Mr. Mohinder Rajput, Managing Director of VIL, emphasized, “Our new plants feature energy-efficient technologies and robust waste reduction systems, ensuring that our growth aligns with environmental stewardship and operational excellence.

About Vesuvius India Ltd.

Vesuvius India Ltd., part of the global Vesuvius Group, specializes in manufacturing and supplying refractory products essential for high-temperature industrial processes. Committed to innovation and sustainability, VIL serves the steel, iron ore pelletization, DRI, cement, aluminium and other key industries across the country.

EasyBuy Drives Nationwide Expansion With Five New Stores In October

EasyBuy, India’s leading value fashion brand, continues to expand its national presence with the launch of five large-format stores across four states, marking a pivotal step in its growth journey. New store openings in Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh extend EasyBuy’s commitment to making affordable, aspirational fashion more accessible.

The newest EasyBuy locations are in Gadag, Karnataka; Moghalrajpuram, Vijayawada; Nikol, Ahmedabad; Arcot Road, Chennai; and GT Mall, Bangalore. Each store, spanning 8,000–10,000 square feet, showcases EasyBuy’s refreshed retail identity, complete with a vibrant new logo, an inviting open façade, and a modern, easy-to-navigate layout. With a broad selection of contemporary styles, these stores offer a seamless shopping experience

Karan Mehta, CEO, EasyBuy, emphasized the brand’s commitment to providing contemporary and aspirational fashion at affordable prices in prominent locations nationwide.

EasyBuy's new stores are poised to become fashion hubs, offering a wide range of trendy and affordable collections for men, women, and children. The brand’s commitment to providing fashionable collections at competitive prices is clear through its ongoing efforts to expand and innovate.

About EasyBuy:

Founded in 2014 by the prestigious Landmark Group, EasyBuy has quickly emerged as a leading contemporary value fashion destination. The Landmark Group’s incredible growth story, from a single store in Bahrain to over 2,200 stores across 20+ countries, is the stuff of retail legends. In India, they brought us Lifestyle, Max, EasyBuy, and more.

EasyBuy is dedicated to making fashion accessible to everyone, allowing individuals to express themselves in trendy outfits. With over 1000 styles priced under 499/- to choose from and fresh arrivals every fortnight, we ensure that fashion goes beyond just clothing; it becomes a statement of personal style and expression.

With merchandise manufactured locally in India and available in 150+ stores, EasyBuy's new store concept, spanning 8,000-10,000 square feet, features a bold new logo, a fresh and vibrant collection, and a minimalistic layout. The easy-ability concept of the EasyBuy ethos allows customers to navigate in-store seamlessly, thus helping them make purchase decisions easily. From everyday casuals for men, women, and kids, EasyBuy has your wardrobe covered with quality threads.

Karnataka’s Software Exports Cross Rs 4.11 Lakh Crore During Fiscal 2023-24

Karnataka’s software and services exports crossed Rs 4.11 lakh crore during fiscal 2023-24 (March 2024) from Rs 3.2 lakh crore a year ago, marking a 27% year-on-year growth, Minister for IT&BT, Priyank Kharge, said here on Thursday quoting Software Technology Parks of India data.

With this, the State’s individual share in the country’s total software exports had further increased from last year’s 42%, he said.

IT exports from Beyond Bengaluru too have grown substantially in FY’24 with tier 2 and tier 3 cities contributing at least Rs 10,000 crore, the Minister added.

IT services exports from STPI-registered units for the whole country crossed Rs 9 lakh crore in the 2024 financial year.

Later, speaking at the closure of 27th edition of Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS), the Minister said that the State’s GCC (global capability centres) policy, a first in the country, would trigger quantum growth in GCC ecosystem, bring in 500 additional GCCs, create over 3.5 lakh new jobs and contribute $50 billion to Karnataka’s economy by 2029.

The 2024 edition of the tech exposition witnessed the launch of Nipuna in collaborations with IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, BFSI Consortium and Accenture to drive skilling and workforce transformation.

Through these MoUs, the State is expected to train 1,00,000 youngsters in a year.

“Under Nipuna, the State has the potential to emerge as the world’s most precious and premium talent hub,” Mr. Kharge anticipated.

The three-day summit featured an investor connect and under which over 300 start-ups pitched to over 100 investors.

“Out of the 300-odd start-ups, 23 were in ideation stage, 75 from concept validation stage, 140 are from early traction stage and 80 from growth stage,” the Minister explained.

Mr. Kharge further said the State would constitute Start-up Awards from next edition (2025) of BTS to recognise excellence in innovation, scalability, and socio-economic impact across India’s start-up ecosystem.

BTS-2024 saw participation from 51 countries and it had a line-up of 521 global speakers on a range of tech topics.

Automation Anywhere Shaping The Future Of Enterprise Business Processes In India

* AI Agents To Drive 10x Businesses Automation And Transformation

Automation Anywhere, a global leader in AI-powered process automation is set to lead the next wave of business transformation for Indian enterprises through its advanced custom AI Agents suite. Automation Anywhere’s AI Model is trained on over 300 million automations and works seamlessly with models tailored to the needs of every industry. This will enable Indian organizations to achieve dramatic efficiency improvements, driving process tasks that formerly took hours down to minutes, and delivering 3x time to value and up to 10x business impact across business workflows.

Commenting on the India launch, Ankur Kothari, Co-founder and COO of Automation Anywhere, stated, “We are witnessing a transformative shift in the automation landscape of India, as businesses in all sectors are embracing process automation, not just to improve workflows and efficiency, but as a strategic catalyst for innovation and growth. By harnessing the power of custom AI agents, we are not only enhancing customer experiences but also fostering deeper, more personalized connections. We are innovating continuously to meet the evolving needs of our customers in real time."

Commenting on the announcement, Rohit Singhal, CEO, Masin, a leading global consultancy firm specializing in engineering and construction disputes and arbitrations that has recently implemented Automation Anywhere’s custom AI agents- said, “At Masin, we recognize the potential AI has while also understanding it’s growing indispensability in the field of disputes and arbitrations. Our partnership with Automation Anywhere empowers our teams to automate critical processes like citation drafting and document analysis, enabling us to focus on higher-value tasks with the potential to unlock additional revenues. With the flexibility of our legal AI agents, we are poised to deliver faster, more precise support to our clients. We are looking to unlock greater value for our business, and we believe the AI solution from Automation Anywhere will be the right catalyst.

At Imagine India 2024 in Bangalore, Automation Anywhere launched its AI Agent Studio platform, enabling rapid automation development for Indian enterprises. This low-code tool allows businesses to create custom AI Agents that learn from enterprise data, make informed decisions, and execute actions across systems, accelerating processes by up to 90%. With these tools, developers of all skill levels can tackle complex tasks like automatically replacing products during stock shortages. This technology empowers local businesses to optimize operations, streamline processes, and achieve significant cost savings. Driven by Gen AI Process Models, these advancements enhance process discovery, automates tasks, and improves document processing accuracy, ultimately increasing value across various workflows, including customer service, finance, IT, and HR.

Over the coming months, Automation Anywhere is committed to rolling out a suite of AI-powered solutions and agents designed to drive rapid business outcomes across key functions to accelerate business productivity. At the forefront is the Automation Co-Pilot, a versatile enterprise assistant now integrated with Amazon Q Service, offering conversational capabilities. This enables faster task completion across any application, allowing users to ask questions, trigger AI Agents, or initiate automations through a simple chat interface. Automation Co-Pilot is enterprise-ready and can be embedded within any system or enterprise application to streamline workflows. Additionally, the Service Operations Solution Accelerator, empowers teams with pre-packaged AI Agents and workflows tailored for various service operations processes. This tool improves service team and customer interactions and experiences by automating and improving cognitive-intensive tasks like order management and returns processing.  

About Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere is a leader in AI-powered process automation that empowers organizations to drive productivity gains, foster innovation, improve customer service, and accelerate business growth. The company’s AI + Automation Enterprise System is powered by specialized AI, autonomous AI agents, and offers process discovery, end-to-end process orchestration, document processing, and analytics — all with a security and governance-first approach. Guided by its vision to fuel the future of work, Automation Anywhere is dedicated to unleashing human potential through AI-powered automation. Learn more at www.automationanywhere.com

Samsung R&D Institute, Noida And IIT Bombay Sign MoU To Pioneer Research In Digital Health, AI And Other Emerging Technologies

* Five-years partnership aims to drive cutting-edge research and develop next-generation technologies in digital health and artificial intelligence

* This collaboration gives IIT Bombay students practical experience and key industry insights, preparing them to meet future technological challenges

* Specialized training and certification programmes led by IITB faculty will equip Samsung engineers with in-depth knowledge of emerging technologies

Samsung R&D Institute, Noida (SRI-Noida), has strengthened its commitment to industry-academia collaboration by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay).

Under this MoU, SRI-Noida and IIT Bombay will explore breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, and other critical areas. The five-year partnership will facilitate joint research projects, providing IIT Bombay students and faculty an opportunity to collaborate with Samsung engineers.

This approach will not only open newer avenues for the students, but will enhance their industry readiness. In addition, it will equip Samsung engineers with specialized training and certification programmes from IIT Bombay in emerging technologies such as digital health and AI.

The MoU was formally signed by Kyungyun Roo, Managing Director of SRI-Noida, and Prof. Upendra V. Bhandarkar, Associate Dean of Research and Development at IIT Bombay. The event, which took place at IIT Bombay, was attended by faculty members from the Koita Centre for Digital Health (KCDH), including Prof. Ranjith Padinhateeri, Head of KCDH, Prof. Nirmal Punjabi and Dr. Raghavendran Lakshminarayanan.

“This collaboration represents a powerful blend of industry expertise and academic excellence, opening doors for pioneering research, innovation, and talent development. We look forward to working closely with IIT-B’s exceptional faculty and students to drive meaningful advancements and develop solutions that address real-world challenges in the field of Digital health, AI and other emerging technologies. Together, we aim to create an ecosystem of knowledge-sharing and innovation that benefits both our organization and society at large,” said Kyungyun Roo, Managing Director, SRI-Noida.

‘’Today marks an exciting milestone as we formalize our partnership with SRI-Noida. This MoU presents our shared commitment to innovation, knowledge exchange and pursuit of excellence. By working together, we are creating new pathways for students and faculty to engage with industry, advancing research opportunities and contributing to the growth of our communities,” said Prof. Upendra V. Bhandarkar, Associate Dean (R&D), IIT Bombay.

The MoU encourages the publication of joint research papers, promoting knowledge sharing that will drive technological progress and industry-aligned innovation. Through this partnership, Samsung and IIT Bombay are setting the foundation for a sustained exchange of expertise that will push the boundaries of next-generation technologies and inspire future breakthroughs.

Samsung Newsroom India

Samsung R&D Institute, Noida and IIT Bombay Sign MoU to Pioneer Research in Digital Health, AI and Other Emerging Technologies   – Samsung Newsroom India

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

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

Johns Hopkins University Signs An MoU With Ajit Isaac Foundation To Bring Essential Palliative Care Services To Rural India’s TerminallyI ill

* The collaboration offers opportunities for training, research fellowships, workshops and conferences at palliative care centers managed by Ajit Isaac Foundation

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) today signed an MoU with Ajit Isaac Foundation (AIF) to provide assistance in setting up and launching palliative care centers in India. These centres will provide compassionate, dignified care to terminally ill patients in underserved regions in India, along with training and supporting community-based caregivers.

Of an estimated 8-10 million Indians who need palliative care, only 1-2% have access to it, which is significantly lower than the global average of 14%. With most palliative care centres being concentrated in urban locations, India faces a healthcare access equity issue, especially in rural areas where services are scarce. This collaboration seeks to address these disparities by expanding access to high-quality end-of-life care in underserved regions, enabling terminally ill patients to experience comfort and peace in their final stages of life.

AIF is establishing a 63-bed Palliative Care Centre in Tumkur, set to launch in early 2025. This Centre will serve as the foundation for the JHU-AIF collaboration, which aims to design and implement comprehensive training programs in palliative care, offered both online and offline, with continued mentorship support for staff. JHU will help in developing a research fellowship and designing curriculum. Additionally, AIF and JHU will jointly host workshops and conferences, both in India and internationally, to showcase the latest advancements in palliative care, fostering knowledge exchange and the adoption of best practices.

Commenting on the collaboration, Ronald J. Daniels, President, JHU said, "We are delighted to partner with AIF and are committed to bridging the healthcare divide, ensuring compassionate and dignified care for all. With colleagues in India, we will use evidence-based approaches to help healthcare providers and caregivers improve quality of life for terminally ill patients, regardless of geography or circumstances."

Ajit Isaac, Co -founder, AIF commented, “Palliative care is deeply meaningful to us, shaped by personal experiences and a commitment to addressing the significant gaps in this field. There is a pressing need for skilled personnel, infrastructure and resources to provide dignity and compassionate care to those in need at the end of life. We are excited about our collaboration with JHU, which has the potential to advance palliative care and drive equitable healthcare for all in India”.

This joint effort is an important step towards improving healthcare access to the underserved regions in rural India.

About Johns Hopkins University  

Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, is a world-renowned research institution based in Baltimore, Maryland, known for pioneering the concept of a modern research university in the United States. It consistently ranks among the top universities globally and leads U.S. institutions in research spending, making significant contributions across fields such as medicine, public health, engineering, and international studies. The university is home to renowned schools, including the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the School of Medicine, which are recognized for their excellence in research, education, and patient care. With a global outlook, Johns Hopkins fosters innovation, intellectual exploration, and solutions to pressing societal challenges, impacting lives worldwide. JHU recently established the Gupta-Klinsky India Institute (GKII) to deepen its collaborations with India, focusing on advancing public health, education, and innovation. 

About Ajit Isaac Foundation

Ajit Isaac Foundation (AIF) is driven by a commitment to foster a lasting and positive impact on society by addressing issues in healthcare and by creating socio-economic opportunities. The foundation is built on a framework of partnerships with organizations, recognising that those organizations are best suited to tailor solutions to their unique needs. By delegating the decision-making and resources, AIF ensures that their initiatives are not only effective but also sustainable in the long term. The Foundation has funded several projects, including the Isaac Centre for Public Health at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, Isaac Centre for Public Policy at Ashoka University and a paediatric centre in partnership with CMC Vellore. To learn more about their projects, visit www.ajitisaacfoundation.com 

Celebrating 25 Years Of Trust And Excellence; Bhima Marks The Silver Jubilee Of Its First Store In Bangalore At Dickenson Road

* Avail Exciting Anniversary Offers Across Bhima’s Exquisite Gold, Diamond, And Silver Collections

Bhima celebrates the 25th anniversary of its iconic Dickenson Road showroom, marking a quarter-century of trust, quality, and unwavering commitment to its discerning customers. Established in 1999 as the brand’s first showroom in Bangalore, this store marked the beginning of Bhima’s path to becoming a trusted name in the city, shaping the journey as it stands today. It has since become a cornerstone of Bhima’s legacy, fostering deep relationships with customers who seek exceptional craftsmanship and a personalized jewelry shopping experience.

To honor this remarkable milestone, the brand invites its customers to join the anniversary celebrations from November 22nd to 24th, 2024. Over these three days, patrons can look forward to exclusive anniversary offers wherein they can enjoy up to Rs. 500 off per gram on gold jewelry, a flat Rs. 7,000 cashback per carat on diamond jewelry along with a free gift card worth up to Rs. 1 lakh, and up to Rs. 5,000 off per kilogram on silver jewelry. In addition, customers visiting the showroom during this period will have a chance to participate in a special lucky draw, with the exciting opportunity to win two Aprilia scooters every day, adding an extra layer of celebration and gratitude for its customers’ enduring loyalty.

From weddings and anniversaries to other milestone celebrations, it has been an integral part of marking life’s most meaningful moments, solidifying its place in the hearts of the Bangalore community. As the brand celebrates this milestone, they not only honor the legacy of the past but also look forward to a future filled with promise. This legacy reflects the brands dedication to preserving tradition while embracing innovation. As Bhima looks forward, the commitment to exceptional quality, trust, and customer satisfaction will remain the guiding principles of its journey.

Join us in the celebration and enjoy exclusive offers at Bhima’s Dickenson Road showroom.