Atos and Indian Government Sign Major HPC Agreement to Support India’s National Supercomputing Mission

Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today signed a HPC agreement with the C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), an organization within the MeitY (Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology of India), in the presence of the French Minister for External Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, and the Secretary of the Minister of Electronics and IT India, Ajay Prakash Sawhney, in New Delhi. This agreement is part of India’s NSM (National Supercomputing Mission).

“We’re delighted to officially become today the technology partner of C-DAC for HPC-related platforms and to participate in India’s prestigious NSM (National Supercomputing Mission) program.  We are honoured that our BullSequana supercomputers, will be empowering Indian academic and R&D institutions across the country to accelerate their research and at the same time support India’s ambition to be a leader in HPC.” said Pierre Barnabé, Chief Operating Officer, Big Data & Security at Atos.

“This new agreement illustrates the strategic relationship and partnership between France and India and will enable India to leapfrog to the league of world-class supercomputing power nations.” said Dr. Herman Darbari, Director General of C-DAC.

This project will see Atos deploy its BullSequana supercomputers, including the recently announced BullSequana XH2000 in various academic and research institutions, making Atos a leading supercomputing provider in India.

JetEscapes Holidays Announces Attractive Packages for Dubai Shopping Festival Starting Rs 28,740 Onwards

Jet Airways’ JetEscapes Holidays today introduced exciting, new all-inclusive Dubai holiday packages for guests planning to travel to Dubai to indulge in retail therapy at the world’s biggest shopping festival - ‘The Dubai Shopping Festival’.

Attractively priced and highly popular, JetEscapes’ Dubai Holidays packages aim to offer an enhanced shopping experience at the annual festival and are inclusive of return Economy air fares, airport transfers, hotel accommodation with breakfast, city tours, travel insurance and the chance to earn 5 JPMiles on every Rs.100 spent. The incredible 6-week sale extravaganza is scheduled from 26th December, 2018 to 2nd February, 2019.

An annual pilgrimage for shoppers’, the Dubai Shopping Festival is replete with fashion shows, fireworks and mega sales, which completely transform the entire city of Dubai. This year, JetEscapes Holidays has announced two nights/ three days and four nights/ five days’ holiday options. The two nights/ three days package starts from Rs 28, 740/-* and four nights/ five days package starts from INR 51, 850/-*respectively. The four attractive holiday packages, ‘Dubai Free & Easy’, ‘Magic Dubai’, ‘Mania Dubai’ and ‘Fascinating Dubai’ have been especially created in response to the needs of travellers keen to experience this special global extravaganza.

With these tailor-made packages, guests can get a glimpse of the culture, traditions and history of Dubai. Guests choosing the ‘Magic Dubai’, ‘Mania Dubai’ and ‘Fascinating Dubai’ packages will also be able to experience the Dhow Cruise and Desert Safari along with dinner and enjoy a free entrance to the Global Village. Guests opting for ‘Mania Dubai’, in addition to the above, will also get access to the architectural landmark, Dubai Frame which has also been described as "the biggest picture frame on the planet". There are special add-on delights for guests availing ‘Mania Dubai’ and ‘Fascinating Dubai’ packages with Abu Dhabi city tour, visit to Ferrari World and free entrance to Warner Bros Studio included in the packages.

And while in Dubai, guests will also be able to join the live showing of the grand Mughal-E-Azam show from 10th – 12th January, 2019. Mughal-e-Azam – an absolute must watch, is the first large-scale Indian Broadway-style musical which pays a stunning homage to K. Asif’s classic film of the same name. The musical swept the Broadway World Awards and won seven trophies, including Best Play & Best Director in 2017.

Guests travelling for the Dubai Shopping Festival can now enjoy even more convenient flight options from Mumbai and Delhi with Jet Airways. Effective 5th December, 2018, Jet Airways has added a 7th daily non-stop frequency between Mumbai and Dubai. Effective 24th October, 2018, the airline added a 4th daily frequency on the Delhi-Dubai route, giving its guests added convenience of travelling at their chosen time and make the most of their holidays.

Belson Coutinho, Sr. Vice President – Marketing, eCommerce & Innovations, Jet Airways said, “The Dubai Shopping Festival is a shopaholic’s dream. As the world’s largest shopping festival clubbed with top-of-the-line entertainment, the annual showcase gives this Gulf hot spot a whole new platform replete with jovial and vibrant vibes. Tourists including families, will be spoilt for choice with the presence of every major global retail and lifestyle brand at the 23rd Dubai Shopping Festival not only offering unbeatable shopping deals to travellers, but also an exhaustive and equally impressive culinary options from the choicest restaurants. JetEscapes Holidays’ all-inclusive Dubai Shopping Festival packages are designed to offer a unique and memorable holiday experience for the entire family, while taking care of our guests’ every travel need. Providing guests with lasting experiences is one of the core strengths of Jet Airways.”

Shine.com Introduces Face Recognition and Touch ID Capabilities in its Mobile Application

Underlining its focus on leveraging technology as a key differentiator, Shine.com, India’s 2nd largest job portal, has introduced face recognition and touch ID capabilities in its mobile application. The technological milestone marks the first time that any Indian online jobs portal has integrated features designed around hardware-based tech in its mobile app, and emphasizes Shine.com’s commitment to offering users a superior and distinct experience on its platform.

Following the development, when a Shine.com user signs up on or logs into the mobile app for the first time, they are prompted to create a Face/Touch ID for future sessions. One user session on the Shine mobile application lasts for a month, after which users need to log in again. By streamlining the login process through Face/Touch ID, Shine.com has ensured that users can seamlessly log back into the app without any hassle, even if they forget their passwords.

Users can also log into the app any time they receive notifications simply by using their face/touch ID, without having to enter a password or go through other means of authentication. The new features also draw on the in-built security mechanism of the OS platform that the mobile app operates on, to safeguard the user’s information.

Amardeep Vishwakarma, CTO, Shine.com, added, “Shine.com has been an industry frontrunner for the past several years, with an unwavering focus on user-centricity when it comes to its offerings. We were amongst the first online jobs portals in India to have launched their own mobile app. The launch of this first-of-its-kind face and touch-based login features on our mobile app, well before any other player in the domain, further reinforces our commitment to simplifying and adding value to our users’ interactions with our online platform.”

“While most apps focus only on improving on the software side of tech, our app is currently the only jobs app which is also keeping pace with changes on the hardware side. The latest version of the Shine.com mobile app is geared for the latest smartphones in the market, the iPhone XS and the iPhone XR, and is leveraging cutting-edge technology to enable a significantly better user experience,” added he.

Shine.com has enabled touch ID-based login on both Android and iOS applications, while the face recognition-based login is currently available exclusively on the Shine.com iOS app on iPhone XS and iPhone XR. The platform plans to soon make the face ID feature available on its Android app as well.

Shradha Sharma of Yourstory, Launches Author Vishwas Mudagal's Book, The Last Avatar

Successful entrepreneur, CEO, angel investor, motivational speaker and author Vishwas Mudagal's latest book, a mythological fiction and sci-fi novel,titled ‘The Last Avatar’, was today launched at Atta Galatta by eminent media personality, Shradha Sharma, Founder, CEO & Chief Editor of Your story, a media technology platform for entrepreneurs. 

Set in the future and written over a fabric of mythology, weaved with threads of science fiction, the Last Avatar is the first installment of a three-part trilogy under Age of Kalki and attempts to demystify the tense geopolitical times that truly surround us today. Launches amidst popular guests and avid book readers, the event included a book reading sessions by the author himself, followed by a tete a tete with the guest for the evening, Shardha Sharma, who has been instrumental in shaping the career of many entrepreneurs and played an encouraging role for emerging starts-ups. 

Speaking on the occasion, author Vishwas Mudagal says, I was always fascinated with the prophecy of Kalki, the last avatar of God who the ancient Hindu Puranas and epics predict would be born to end the age of darkness on earth. I decided to create a true Indian superhero with Kalli, in a way no one had ever thought about before". 

This is the author’s second book, after a very successful debut – Losing my Religion launched in 2014,  which went on to become a sensational bestseller and etched his place as a top author and youth icon. 

Effectively jugging multiple roles, Vishwas Mudagal is also the CEO & Co-Founder of GoodWorkLabs and GoodWorks CoWork, ranked the No1 co working space in Bangalore, and has embraced storytelling as his parallel career to pursue his love and passion for writing.

Spell Bee League Carnival’ Sees Overwhelming Success in Bengaluru

Spell Bee League in association with NRN Aerospace Systems organized “Spell Bee League Carnival”, a spelling fiesta for children on 16th December 2018 at The Kittur Rani Chennamma Stadium (Jayanagar), Bangalore. The daylong event saw over  1000 children from 1st – 10th standard participate in spelling competitions to win a grand prize of gifts worth 1 Lakh rupees. 32 Children were selected for the Quarter Finals which will be held in the coming days.

The event was inaugurated by MLA of Jayanagar, Sowmya Reddy. In her address she said “Competitions and events of this nature need to be organized on a larger scale across Bangalore. These help on enhancing the communication skill of the children. This not only helps them become more competitive but also gives them a break from their study schedule. I wish the event all the very best”

The event had dedicated zones for parents where they had access to a team of experienced mentors who advised them on topics around parenting and career goals of children. Activities by International & National partner brands included mind stimulating tasks for the future troopers.

Speaking on the occasion, Madhu HS, Co-founder, Spell Bee League said “We have received an overwhelming response for the event. We have seen participation of over 1000 children and we have selected 32 among them for the quarter finals that will happen in the coming days. Today we have also announced the launch of #SpellBeeHive, a unique talent community for children of all age group a nd we are very excited about it”

This event is being organized by BizWingz and is presented by NRN Aerospace Systems, Smart Kidz Club, School Travel App, Kydz Adda, Sanrakshan PTE Ltd Singapore, Faith Foundation Trust, PFA Wildlife Hospital, Hoopsters, Bisleri Fonzo and Breathe Entertainment. Bengaluru’s leading radio station, Indigo 91.9 fm is the official radio partner for the event.

Airbus to Increase Sourcing to $2 Billion and 5,000 People Employed from India by 2020

Bullish on India as a market place as well as a manufacturing hub, leading aircraft maker Airbus today said it has begun sourcing components for almost all its jets from the country and aims to take its cumulative sourcing from there to USD 2 billion in the next five years.

Showering fulsome praise for the Modi government's Make in India campaign, Airbus said it's making large number of products in the country, either directly or through its supply partners, where collectively more than 5,000 people are employed.

"It's a great initiative and we are already pushing for it in a big way. We have done a lot of 'Make in India' of our own and we would do much more, going forward," the European giant's Managing Director for India Srinivasan Dwarkanath told the media at the Paris International Air Show.

The company's latest A380 aircraft, which is being displayed here, has got evacuation slides for all its eight doors made in Bangalore while there are many other products that the company is getting made in India. "Almost all our products have got India-made parts," he said.

Dwarkanath said there are broadly four areas of focus for Airbus in India -- engineering, services for customers, aerospace partnerships and R&D innovation.

"Some of the common themes across all these focus areas are skill development, jobs and getting and transmitting the know-how," said Dwarkanath, who is the Vice-President for International Cooperation, South and South-East Asia, besides being MD for Airbus India.

Airbus' own centre in Bangalore for engineering has got more than 350 engineers working in core engineering functions while there are over 2,000 people across the supply chain in this segment.

Two offshore development centres are also employing 300 people each, he added.

In the aerospace segment, Airbus has got over 40 suppliers and partners, including the Tatas and the Mahindras.

"Across the supply chain, more than 5,000 people are working, including one-third on the manufacturing side, exclusively for Airbus products. Our target for the next five years is to source USD 2 billion worth products from India cumulatively up to 2020," he said, while adding that the growth in the past 10 years has already been of about 12 times.

India Post Announces Full-Fledged Entry into E-Commerce

India Post has announced its full-fledged entry into e-commerce business, where it will leverage its parcel business for end-to-end delivery of products.

“We have simplified decision-making process at Department of Posts (DoP) by setting up a separate parcel directorate. It can make quick decision on parcel rates and related provisions. India Post will leverage its vast network for e-commerce services for doorstep delivery of products,” Communications Minister Manoj Sinha told reporters.

The minister also launched India Post’s e-commerce portal.

Earlier, any decision related to change in parcel delivery rates or matching services of private players required approval from top officials, which was time-consuming. The DoP has set up parcel directorate which is free to take decision to match the competition.

“India Post is open for registration of all vendors for e-commerce business. It will pick up products from vendor and deliver to doorstep of customers,” Sinha said. India Post has delivery network up to remotest villages through its 1.55 lakh post offices which no one can match, the minister said.

“We will also facilitate return of products service like it is available for customers on other e-commerce platforms,” India Post Secretary A N Nanda said.

Sinha said the department will strictly monitor delivery of products. “The credibility that DoP has built over the years is immense. We will suitably resolve complaints whenever we receive them,” the minister said.