Lenskart Ropes in Katrina Kaif as Brand Ambassador for Next Two Years

India’s leading eyewear company – Lenskart has announced notable Bollywood star – Katrina Kaif, as its first ever brand ambassador. Katrina will be the face of Lenskart for the next two years and would also feature in the brand’s new campaign.

Commenting on the new campaign launch, Peyush Bansal, Founder and CEO, Lenskart.com said “Lenskart as a brand is all about fun, fashion, playfulness and friendliness. Katrina, we feel, is all of this too naturally, hence a perfect fit and not a forced fit”. He further added: “We were looking for someone who naturally fits the Lenskart brand proposition of ‘Addictive Playfulness’. Katrina fits this the most. Her song ‘Kala chashma’ was a phenomenal success and we think she will be really successful with the actual chashma (spectacles) as well”.

On becoming the brand ambassador, Katrina Kaif stated: “I am delighted to be associated with Lenskart which is one of the most loved eyewear brands in India. It’s very important for me to find synergies with my brand associations and I believe Lenskart resonates the same. Lenskart is a brand loved by Indian youth and this is a conscious effort to connect with the fashion savvy Indians.”

Hatrick Star Shivaraj Kumar Inaugurates Exclusive Antigravity Fitness center in Malleshwaram

Mimi Partha Sarathy, Founder and Managing Trustee launched Internationally renowned Antigravity Fitness from USA with professional certified teachers. The chief guest for the event  No. 1 Kannada Movie Hatrick star Dr. Shivaraj Kumar Inaugurated Exclusive Antigravity Fitness in  Malleshwaram  at  Sri Krishna Wellness, Yoga & Cultural Centre, 9^thCross, 6^th Main, Malleshwaram , Bengaluru, The other renowned personalities  at the event were  Dr. C. N. Ashwathnarayan - MLA, Malleshwaram, Ms. Reeth Abraham  - Internationally renowned Athlete , Arjuna Award and Rajyotsava Award Winner, -         Dr. Sita Bhateja  - Chairman, Sita Bhateja Speciality Hospitals, Padmini Ravi  - Founder - Padmini Ravi Dance Academy,  Nita Raval – Master Teacher – AntiGravity Fitness & Founder CEO – Biorythym – Pune.

AntiGravity Fitness.

AntiGravity  Fitness is a dramatic and dynamic new form of exercise focused on fitness and would bring in a great amount of diversity to the fitness and wellness activities conducted at Sri Krishna Wellness Yoga and Cultural Centre, Malleshwaram.

AntiGravity Fitness is a relatively new concept in the fitness world, that is fast gaining popularity worldwide and is approved by Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, American Council on Exercise, Central YMCA Qualifications and Yoga Alliance U.S. This concept is the brainchild of Christopher Harrison, a former choreographer, gymnast and aerial performer. Antigravity Fitness combines traditional poses with other exercise forms like Pilates, aerial acrobatics and calisthenics, with the aim of achieving a complete body workout. In Antigravity Fitness, hammock-like suspended gear is used to practice different yoga poses and exercises. These hammocks can support the weight of up to 970kgs, so be rest assured, you will be safe.

Sri Krishna Wellness, Yoga and Cultural Centre, was set up in January 2014, to promote the rich heritage of India Art, Culture and Yoga .Set amongst ancient trees in the heart of Bangalore, with  a traditional hall and surroundings, the center currently hosts various activities such as Holistic and Integrated Yoga,  Therapeutic Yoga, Pranayama and Meditation, Classical Dance classes, Music, Bhajans, Kirtans, Concerts, Shastra Classes and lectures,  and much more.

Preserving our rich heritage and tradition is a duty , commitment and passion for old BangaloreansMrs. M.A.Vedavalli and  her daughter Ms. Mimi Partha Sarathy, founders of  Sri Krishna Wellness, Yoga and Cultural Center. The internationally renowned KYM 500 hour Teacher Training Course from  Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram – Chennai is also conducted at the Centre. Late Sri T. Krishnamacharya  is often called the Father of Modern Yoga, and was the teacher to several great Yoga Teachers like BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, TKV Desikachar, and Madame Indra Devi. 

VMware, SAP Team Up to Accelerate and Streamline Enterprise IoT Initiatives

VMware, Inc. announced a collaboration with SAP, aiming to create an integrated Internet of Things (IoT) solution that supports the implementation and management of IoT use cases across devices, infrastructure, edge, cloud and application domains. The goal is to enable fast deployment, scalability and on-schedule execution of IoT projects. 

In a 2016 study conducted by IDG Research Services on IoT, 47 percent of companies considered technological expertise as an important factor when selecting an IoT vendor.(1) This is especially important, because enterprises spend a lot of time in vendor selection and integration while implementing IoT use cases.

Collaborating on an Enterprise IoT-Ready Architecture

An enterprise IoT-ready architecture consists of an infrastructure plane and application plane. The infrastructure layer refers to the IoT infrastructure itself along with the capabilities to manage and secure it, whereas the application plane analyzes insight-rich data from connected things to drive business decisions and processes.

 VMware is a leader in infrastructure and device management software. With its family of VMware Pulse IoT solutions, VMware will offer enterprises a consistent infrastructure plane for all their IoT projects and a management solution to securely onboard, configure and monitor ‘things’ on an ongoing basis along with support for on-premises capabilities. The recently announced VMware Pulse IoT Center will help simplify IoT complexity by managing all ‘things’ as one, improve the reliability and security of IoT infrastructure through accurate and real-time visibility of ‘thing’ health, and help accelerate the ROI of IoT use cases by streamlining how IoT projects are deployed and scaled. VMware Pulse IoT Center is expected to become available in calendar 2017.

SAP is a recognized leader in business and enterprise applications and analytics. SAP Leonardo IoT solutions are built on the agile and innovative SAP Cloud Platform, and connect people, processes and things. SAP Leonardo is a digital innovation system that helps companies transform systems that manage workflows or processes into systems of intelligence by integrating technologies like IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics to bridge the gap between operations and information technology.

Through their collaboration and testing, VMware and SAP plan to offer mutual customers:

·         Enterprise IT Approved – Both VMware and SAP are trusted brands and have an understanding of how to help organizations recognize real gains from IoT technology.

·         OT–IT Integration – SAP provides real-time visibility by converging time-series device data with business transactional data, while VMware will enable IT to have visibility and control of the IoT use case from the infrastructure operational point of view.

·         Holistic Analytics – With access to both operational and business analytics, enterprises will be better able to harness the wealth of information unearthed from their IoT deployments as well as view and track the health of the IoT infrastructure itself.

·         Shorter Time to Value ­– Both companies are working together to develop a pre-integrated, pre-tested solution that aims to enable quick deployments while providing the necessary security and management capabilities for IoT architecture across gateways, micro data centers and the cloud to drastically help speed up time to value.

“VMware and SAP have a long and rich history of working together to empower our mutual customers to transform their businesses with solutions that help to innovate, simplify and move toward a software-defined enterprise architecture,” said Mimi Spier, vice president, Internet of Things, VMware. “Today, we extend that relationship with our collaboration to apply our know-how to helping customers successfully deploy and operate their IoT solutions spanning infrastructure to applications and analytics.”

“Companies win when they can make intelligent real-time decisions at the edge; SAP Leonardo supports that bold innovation,” said Nils Herzberg, senior vice president, global head, IoT Go-to-Market & Strategic Partnerships for SAP. “As customers start to implement, one obstacle to realizing that vision is tackling infrastructure lifecycle and management outside of the traditional data center. By working with VMware, we are helping mutual customers to create innovative gains while supporting a reliable, maintainable and secure IT platform.” 

Can We Actually ‘Celebrate’ Girl Child Day In India?

It’s quite common to come across girls whose parents’ disappointments with them are engraved in their names. Be it the arid villages of Rajasthan or the fertile plains of West Bengal – the scenario hardly changes, as one often comes across girls named Nehraaz (literally meaning ‘we are upset’), Mann Bhari (Oh! It’s enough), Nakhushi (Unwanted), Annakali and Chaina (both meaning‘Oh God! We don’t want more’) in abundance. Clearly their very names are testimonies of how a girl child is not preferred in the family, and how their parents were disappointed because they had been desperately looking forward to raise a boy.

Looking closely into the pattern of sex ratio at birth over the last decade, a similar narrative comes to surface. There is only a marginal improvement recorded in the sex ratio at birth over the last decade, as a comparative analysis of two consecutive National Family Health Surveys (NFHS-3, 2005-06 and NFHS-4, 2015-16) reveals. While the findings of NFHS-3 record a sex ratio of 914, NFHS-4 registers 919 – an improvement of just 5 points.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) a normal gender ratio at birth is between 102 – 106 boys per 100 girls, which is equivalent to 943 – 980 girls for 1000 boys. But, as the recent NFHS data suggests, states such as Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Delhi falls far short of the bench mark, thus indicating a strong social preference for the boy child over girls.

With patriarchy, gender bias and discrimination deeply woven in the very fabric of Indian society, girls are at a basic disadvantage from the very minute they are conceived. Largely girls continue to live a disadvantageous life from having adequate nutrition to continuing education. With ‘Beti Padao, Beti Bachao’ and several other schemes launched by the government to address the issue, the basic mindset of the society towards its girls has not yet changed much.

In terms of enrolment in schools, the gross enrolment ratio stood at 56% in 2015-16 for higher secondary education, which is the last mile of schooling, which means only 1 in 2 girls in the country complete school education (Source: U-DISE 2015-16). Going forward, not only do more girls drop out as the education progresses, around 13.2 percent girls continue to be illiterate, compared to 10% of boys (Census 2011). The onus of sibling care and household chores still lie on her unready shoulders as the family prepares her young mind to be married off and become someone else’s property from the time she learns to comprehend the world around her.

Now that the Right to Education Act (RTE) has completed its seventh anniversary, and Government initiatives such as ‘Beti Padao, Beti Bachao’ in place, ideally all girl children under the age of 14 years are supposed to be in schools. However, data suggests that there are more than 18 Lakhs of girls under 14 who are married, and more than one third of them (4.2 Lakhs) have children. Further data reveals that more than 44 Lakhs of girls under 14 are working, and more than 3 Lakhs of them are married and working. These are children who are barely into their teenage – a critical juncture that plays a huge role in shaping their lives (Census 2011).

“With a population of 225 million, girls account for 48% of India’s children. Yet a girl in India continues to face discrimination in almost every aspect in every phase of life – in accessing proper nutrition and health care during childhood, adolescence and pregnancy, having proper education, enjoying equal right to participate in the decision making processes within the family space and in the external world as well. In order to address the underlying gender inequality that holds girls back, India has to re-strategise and undertake focused initiatives, and hence investments, for its girl children, and also monitor progress and revisit strategies on a regular basis.” Said Komal Ganotra, Director, Policy & Advocacy, Child Rights and You.

“To make any transformational change in our society possible, the first step is to make change happen at the mindset level. It is only when we collectively battle patriarchy, discrimination, gender based violence that girls would live freely. We wouldn’t have to celebrate a special ‘Girl Child Day’ talking about their plight and glorifying their achievements  the day we all truly celebrate the existence of girls as equals  in our society.” She further added.

Amazon India Launches Priyadarshini Handlooms’ Fabric Products in the Festive Season

Amazon India is ensuring that this year Diwali will be even more special as it launches Priyadarshini Handlooms, the brand outlet of Karnataka Handloom Development Corporation (KHDC) which is a Government of Karnataka Undertaking. Originally known for its silk sarees, KHDC today offers some of the finest hand woven range of traditional and printed silk sarees, bed spreads, carpets, home furnishing products, shirts, etc. Established in 1975 with the objective of providing support to weavers, KHDC currently has 13000 handlooms under its wing. This festive season the local weavers associated with KHDC will be able to showcase their talent and art to a wide customer base of Amazon.in across the country and boost their revenues.

As Dussehra is just round the corner, Amazon India wants to make the festival special not just for its customers but also for the sellers. In line with its vision to transform the way India buys and sells, this launch will enable Priyadarshini Handlooms’ weavers to leverage the growth of digital commerce and make the most of the festive season sale. The wide range of products offered by Priyadarshini Handlooms are ideal selections for the festivity. Different varieties of fabrics are produced by the weavers of KHDC blending ancient heritage with today’s contemporary fashion trends. Amazon India will feature sarees from Priyadarshini Handlooms that display the craftsmanship and creativity of their designers and artisans.

Talking about this launch, N.L. Shantakumar, Managing Director, Priyadarshini Handlooms said “We are glad to partner with Amazon India especially ahead of the festive season and Dussehra which is one of the most-popular and widely celebrated festivals in the country. This association marks the beginning of a new journey for the weavers as they venture into the arena of e-commerce. Karnataka produces some of the finest hand-woven products which have always been popular and in demand. With this launch, we will be able to cater to our consumers all over India and grow our business.”

Gopal Pillai, Director & GM, Seller Services, Amazon India, added, “Our partnership with Priyadarshini Handlooms is a part of our constant endeavor which is aligned with the Government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ initiatives. We believe that it is essential to extend our support to sellers in ways that they benefit and grow. This launch specifically timed around the festive season and especially Dussehra, is aimed at leveraging the festive season and benefitting both -- our consumers and sellers. Our consumers will get new, exciting offerings whereas the weavers of Priyadarshini Handlooms will get access to our millions of customers across the country.”

Since its launch in June 2013, Amazon.in has been working extensively to launch services that meet different business requirements of sellers and help them grow their business profitably online. From offering Fulfilment By Amazon (a pay-as-you-go fulfilment service wherein Amazon.in  packs, ships and delivers products to customers, manages returns and does customer service on behalf of the sellers), innovating Easy Ship (an assisted shipping service that makes it easy for sellers to ship products across India), launching Seller Flex (bringing Amazon’s flagship FBA experience to the seller’s doorstep by implementing the FBA technology at sellers’ warehouses), introducing Amazon Tatkal (a service-on-wheels to help SMBs get online within 60 minutes), to building the largest storage capacity in ecommerce in India for sellers to the tune of 13 million cubic feet, Amazon.in has been helping sellers reach millions of customers across the country.

Yes Bank Wins Dual Accolades at The Banker Transaction Banking Awards 2017

Yes Bank, India’s fifth largest private sector Bank, won dual accolades at The Banker Transaction Banking Awards 2017, reinforcing its leadership in Transaction Banking. Yes Bank was the ‘Global Winner’ in the Supply Chain Finance categoryand was also adjudged as Transaction Bank of the Year for Asia Pacific. Yes Bank’s win post the thorough assessment done by The Banker is a testament to the comprehensive and industry leading Transaction Banking Solutions provided by the Bank, which leverage best-in-class technology and Innovation.

To win the Transaction Bank of the Year for Asia Pacific, Yes Bank has beaten all major transaction banks, including global banks, who have traditionally dominated the region.

Yes Bank had previously won The Banker Transaction Banking Awards for Payments in 2014 and 2016; along with being awarded the Best Trade Finance Bank in India by The Asian Banker Transaction Banking Awards for 3 consecutive years.

In its Award citation, The Banker mentioned that ‘Yes Bank' has gone beyond traditional virtual account solutions, which were limited to facilitating inward credit and ignored a key client demand for greater ease and automation of reconciliation. Its eCollect solution uses application programming interfaces (APIs) and structured reports to bridge the gap between receipt of funds and reconciliation. eCollect is a plug-and-play solution for faster customer onboarding and eliminates the need for bank involvement in generating virtual account numbers. It also integrates bank and client systems to enable real-time validation, transaction processing and enterprise resource planning updates.’

On Yes Bank being adjudged the Global Winner in the Supply Chain Finance category, The Banker said that Yes Bank’s developments within this space is an impressive example of innovation, and the Bank is utilizing new technology to establish itself as a pioneer in this space.

The Banker’s Transaction Banking Awards are unique in recognizing project-based innovations. The Banker encourages each entrant to not only outline their overall strategy but also provide up to three examples of how the innovation(s) will help improve their clients’ businesses.

Over the years, Yes Bank has been scaling up its market position to emerge as a leading and prominent bank offering a full suite of supply chain financing products using its first-in-the-industry API Banking solutions.

On receiving the prestigious recognitions, Asit Oberoi, Group President and Global Head, Transaction Banking Group, Yes Bank, said: “We are honoured to receive such a prestigious and significant global recognition from the world’s leading banking publication, The Banker. This dual win demonstrates the Bank’s impressive and sustained progress in offering customized Trade Finance & Cash Management Services. This complimented by prudent Risk Management and regulatory compliance has ensured that we offer consistent and seamless solutions to our Corporate Clientele. We had invested significantly in technology in our quest to be ahead of the curve in terms of Innovative and differentiated services. We feel vindicated having pursued such a strategy. These awards reaffirm Yes Bank’s mission of breaking technological barriers to provide superior customer experience.”

The Transaction Banking Group at Yes Bank is a core product group focused on Financial Supply Chain Management of Corporates, both International and Domestic, comprising Trade Finance & Services and Cash Management Services (CMS). The Trade Finance & Services product portfolio focuses significantly on Working Capital requirements across large and small Corporates (including the government and SMEs).

IMRB Survey Reveals, 66% of Parents in Bengaluru Restrict Children on Foods or Playing Outside for the Fear of Falling Ill

Child health issues have always been a cause of serious concern in the country. According to a survey conducted by a leading research firm Kantar IMRB and commissioned by Dr Batra’s Homeopathy, clearly highlights that, 66% of the parents in Bengaluru are forced to restrict their children either from eating food they like or playing outside with the fear of them falling ill. The survey was conducted by Kantar IMRB across eight major cities in India having a sample size of 1,617 respondents (mother or father), with children in the age group of 2-10 years and belonging to socio economic class A and B. The focus of the survey was to understand the health issues among children and best treatment options available with long term benefits.

Based on the illness index observed among children in Bengaluru, 63% of them fall ill at least once in every 3 months forcing parents to prevent their children from consuming ice-creams, chocolates, pastries, cold drinks etc. due to fear of catching cold and cough. It was also observed that, parents restrict their children from playing outdoors due to dust/pollution, in fear of triggering an allergy and at times preventing them from playing with other children in fear of catching infections. Considering the fact that a child’s sound health is a key factor to an excellent academic year, missing school due to illness can put a lot of pressure on both the child and his/her parents. However, the situation in Bengaluru is quite alarming, according to the survey, 50% of the children miss school for less than 10 days due to illness. The survey further highlights that 22% children miss school between 10-15 days.

But the biggest question here is what kind of ailments are restricting children to enjoy their childhood. The survey states that, while cough and cold account for 70% and fever 67% are the most common ailments identified in Bengaluru, 33% of children witness skin related issues which is higher than any other city in India (v/s the national average of 25%).

Since most families in metros like Bengaluru are nuclear families, where mostly both parents are working, there is also a growing concern with 77% of parents who feel that Allopathy may have adverse side effects on children. They are now willing to consider a medication that fights disease at its roots and has no side effects for their children. IMRB research also underlines that, 74% of the parents feel that Homoeopathy is the best form of treatment for long term results and helps in building immunity and resistance in children. The survey further states that, 91% parents are willing to try homeopathy out of which 53% are current users already (either through standalone or dual treatment).

Speaking on the findings of the survey, Dr. Mukesh Batra, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Dr. Batra’s Group of Companies said “Based on the survey finding revealed by IMRB, it is very evident that the ailments faced by children in Bengaluru are all related to low-immunity. At Dr Batra’s we strongly focus on child health with a positive treatment outcome of 96.8% in child health troubles. It is tragic to see the future of our country is losing out on their childhood due to illnesses that are easily preventable and treatable. Therefore, it’s about time that parents consider a treatment option which strengthens the immune system of a child, increasing the body’s capability of self-healing. Homeopathy is a great cost effective option that treats ailments holistically by enhancing nutrient absorption and assimilation, resulting in better general health, restoring happiness to their childhood.”