JK Tyre Unveils New 23.1-26 Size V-Compact Tyre at EXCON 2019

Highlights

* New tread pattern design using computational technology for excellent traction, flushing properties and contact pressure distribution
* A robust tyre with broad lugs for best-in-class mileage with dual tread compound mix to provide cut resistance and cooler running optimization
* Strong nylon construction with a high denier fabric gives exceptional casing strength and reliability.

Indian Tyre Industry major & the market leader in Truck Bus Radial segment, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, today launched the new V-Compact R3 tyre at EXCON 2019.

The 23.1-26 V- Compact R3 is designed especially for soil compactor application. This new tyre comes with non-directional tread pattern and broad tread buttons to provide better & even pressure during compaction. While the tread compound provides resistance to cuts, scratches, abrasions and punctures giving high load carrying stability, tread contours ensure self-cleaning advantage along with maximum contact area for better flotation and minimal soil disturbance.

Mr. VK Misra, Technical Director, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd, said, “We, at JK Tyre, are excited to introduce our latest technological innovation  The V-Compact R3 tyre on the acclaimed EXCON stage. Our newest addition of V-Compact R3 tyre for soil compactor application re-instates our commitment to cater to the needs of road construction contractors and further enhance their operational efficiency. Providing high stability and resistance against wear & tear, the new tyre addresses the evolving needs of the market as we continue to maintain pace with the changing requirements.”

The tyre has heavy-duty nylon carcass construction using high denier fabric gives exceptional casing strength and reliability during operation.

About JK Tyre and Industries Limited:

Part of the JK Organisation, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd is a leading tyre manufacturer in India and amongst the top 25 manufacturers in the world with a wide range of products catering to diverse business segments in the automobile industry. JK Tyre is the only tyre manufacturer in India to be included in the list of Superbrand in 2019, the seventh time the honour has been conferred upon the company.

JK Tyre has global presence in 100 countries across six continents, backed by production support from 12 plants - 9 in India and 3 in Mexico. Currently, the capacity across all its plants is about 35 million tyres per annum. In April 2016, JK Tyre acquired Cavendish India Limited from Birla Tyres. While acquisition added three modern plants to its portfolio taking the total count to 12, it helped the tyre major foray into the two/three wheeler segment as well. In 2018, the company inaugurated its state-of-the-art Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence (RPSCOE) at Mysore.

Pioneers of radial technology, JK Tyre produced the first radial tyre in 1977 and is currently the market leader in Truck Bus Radial segment. With over three decades of technological innovation, JK Tyre offers tyre for entire range of passenger and commercial vehicles, starting from a 3 kg two-wheeler tyre to a 3.5-ton OTR tyre.

Omnichannel Jewellery Start-Up eJOHRI Raises $1 Million Funding in Pre-Series Round

Mumbai-based omnichannel jewellery start-up eJOHRI raised $1 million funding in a Pre-Series round. This investment was led by Mr. Rajesh Ranavat together with a group of investors from Hong Kong. eJOHRI is an omni-channel marketplace for gems & jewellery. The investment will help jewellery retailers from over 100 cities in India access consumers across the country as well as overseas using eJOHRI’s digital platform.

“This investment will enable us to ensure better consumer reach and service support for the over 100 existing jewellers on our platform across 100 cities in India and extend this to over 1,000 jewellers in a short period of time. The platform allows customers to choose from over 18,000+ designs from different retailers across the country. The potential of this business is in connecting digitally a large number of the over 300,000 jewellery retailers to meet the varied needs of the consumers who will spend approximately US$ 100 Bn by 2025. Further, there are significant opportunities in unlocking value along the entire supply chain which is currently very fragmented” said Mr. Shailen Mehta, Co-Founder of eJOHRI. 
Mr. Jignesh Mehta, Co-Founder, eJOHRI adds, “We are extremely fortunate to have like-minded investors who are not just funding our growth but are also closely involved with the strategy of the business. This investment reaffirms the marketplace potential of this hitherto unorganized business.”

Mr. Rajesh Ranavat added “We found that every jeweller on the eJOHRI portal has been handpicked to represent India’s specialized craftsmanship to create the most unique designs. A digital marketplace model was severely needed in this market to help small, medium and large jewellers to meet the specific needs of a national and global audience. It has helped the local jeweller suddenly expand their reach to anyone who likes their designs. We are happy to have invested in eJOHRI and are confident of their growth trajectory.”

Some of the most popular jewellery retailers are already on the eJOHRI platform which include PNG Jewellers, Ranka Jewellers, Waman Hari Pethe,  D.P Jewellers, P.C Chandra, PMJ Jewels and IBJA Gold to name a few. eJOHRI is aggressively onboarding jewellers from across India and plans to substantially increase its range of offering in the next 2-3 years.
eJOHRI’s unique omni-channel approach allows customers to “Try & Buy” allowing them to discover online and book appointments with jewellers to visit the store at their convenience  apart from the option of buying online.

About eJOHRI (https://www.ejohri.com/):
ejohri.com is an omnichannel jewellery marketplace dedicated exclusively to the online-offline shopping of gems and jewellery across India. A pioneer in this segment, it is an online facilitator between jewellers and customers and offers a wide range of designs to choose from some of the most reputed jewellers in India. It brings jewellers from across India on a common platform to market their brand and showcase their products to a wider customer base.
eJOHRI enables customers to browse and buy products online and also provides a ‘Try & Buy’ option by booking appointment with the jeweller at their convenience. eJOHRI currently has over 100+ jewellers across 100 cities in India and is steadily growing to reach 1000 jewellers. 

The vivo U20 Now Available With 8GB RAM at Rs 17,990 Only

Highlights

* Offers a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 AIE with a massive 5000mAH battery supporting 18W Dual-Engine Fast Charge
* Available across all offline channels pan India

vivo, the global innovative smartphone brand, today launched the power-packed addition - U20 in 8GB + 128GB to its recently introduced unstoppable performer vivo U20. The new variant will be available across leading retail outlets at a price of Rs 17,990. The device comes in two attractive color options – Racing Black and Blaze Blue.

A perfect amalgamation of #UnstoppablePerformance, and is equipped with the new generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 equipped with 4th Generation Kryo CPU and 6th Generation Adreno GPU and best in segment battery that comes with 18W fast charger inside the box. The device also comes with 16MP selfie camera and an AI triple camera setup at the back - 16MP Sony IMX499 (Primary + Night Mode) + 8MP (Super Wide Angle) +2MP (Super Macro).

Consumers will also get an array of attractive offers* on the purchase of 8GB variant of vivo U20 including:

* 5% Cashback with HDFC Bank Credit Card regular transactions and Credit Card/Debit Card EMI & HDFC CD loans till 31st Dec'19
* 5% Cashback with ICICI Band Credit Card/Debit Card EMI transactions till 31st Dec'19
* 5% Cashback with Axis Bank Credit Card/Debit Card EMI transactions till 31st Dec'19
* Attractive EMI schemes from finance partners - Bajaj, IDFC First Bank, HDB, Home Credit
* Jio additional data benefit of INR 6000

Customers can also exchange their old smartphone device through vivo Upgrade Application to purchase new vivo smartphones.

Like all vivo devices, the U20 follows vivo’s commitment to ‘Make in India’ and is manufactured at vivo’s Greater Noida facility.

#Unstoppable Performance with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 675AIE

The latest vivo U20 uses the new generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 equipped with 4th Generation Kryo CPU and 6th Generation Adreno GPU to give you effortless multi-tasking and powerful gaming experience. To complement SDM675, U20 comes with faster LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.1 Storage. The Antutu score of the processor is over 2 lakhs, thereby providing unstoppable performance.

#Unstoppable Power with a 5000mAh Battery and 18W Fast Charging

Experience Unstoppable Power with the big 5000 mAh Battery on U20. Don’t let the battery stop you from playing games or watching movies. With U20, battery worries are a thing of the past, 18W Dual-Engine Fast Charging technology fills up this big battery in no time. U20 also supports with reverse charging technology and can charge other devices like a mobile power bank. (OTG cable required).

With the help of the 18W fast charging technology, in just 15min* of charge, users can enjoy:

* 2 hours of YouTube
* 3 hours of Google Maps
* 3 hours of Facebook
* 4 hours of Instagram

#Unstoppable Experience with FHD+ Halo FullView™ Display

U20 gives an immersive experience while playing games and watching videos as it comes with one of the biggest displays in the segment combined with a high 90.3% Screen to body Ratio. The U20 display also comes with Panda MN228 display protection that scores 700 on the Vickers hardness test results.

Create Memories with AI Triple Camera

When you see the world through an AI Triple Camera, creating photographic masterpieces is easier than ever. U20 features the Sony IMX499 Camera Sensor with large Aperture of f/1.8 and PDAF, to handle everything you throw towards it. A truly versatile camera which comes loaded with like AI Super Wide Angle, Super Macro, Bokeh with Shot-Refocus and much more.

Additionally, the Super Wide Angle lens expands your view to 120° to give you a wider view. And the 16MP front camera with AI Face Beauty helps you celebrate your most radiant moments in life, without effort. It also comes with multiple selfie modes, such as AI Face Beauty, AR Stickers etc. which makes the selfie-taking experience enjoyable and fun.

#Unstoppable Gaming with Ultra Game Mode

Ultra-game mode is designed to give you an Unstoppable gaming experience. Multi-Turbo is the lightning-fast feature gamers need. By reducing frame-drop, it gives you smoother gaming experience.

Origo Raises Rs.48.5 Crore from ResponsAbility, Oikocredit and IndusInd Bank

Origo, leading commodities and rural finance company, has raised INR 48.5 Crores from Switzerland based responsAbility Investment AG, Maanaveeya (a subsidiary of the Netherlands based social impact investor Oikocredit) and IndusInd Bank. The funds raised will accelerate Origo’s vision of creating a robust rural financial ecosystem by increasing its distribution in rural India. These funds will allow Origo to provide much-needed capital to agri-enterprises, both small and medium, an unmet need, which Origo is targeting to accomplish.

Mr. Venkatram Reddy, CEO, Origo Finance – “Over the last 10 years we have gained strength in rural India, helping agri-enterprises and also micro and small enterprises with access to much-needed financing. We cover multiple aspects of rural India including agriculture, dairy and micro businesses. With these investments, we hope to gain further inroads and provide stronger solutions across many more locations.”

Mr. Sunoor Kaul Director, Origo Commodities added – “Origo since inception has led impact in agriculture and now in rural micro loans in rural areas. Origo has been responsible for facilitating storage of over 23 million metric tonnes, reducing post-harvest losses by 5%, providing additional food security to over 1 million people, and 35% of the new loans going to new to credit category.”

Ms. Suhasini Singh, Head of Agriculture Debt for responsAbility added: “Food & Agriculture is a target sector for responsAbility Investments. Origo aligns well with our development criteria of strengthening agriculture value chains by providing efficient post-harvest solutions and timely financing to participants across the agriculture spectrum. Our financing is intended to support Origo’s vision of providing integrated solutions to the agri-economy.”

Mr. Gouri Shankar, Managing Director of Oikocredit’s Indian subsidiary Maanaveeya shared – “Maanaveeya believes that lending to the agriculture and micro, small and medium enterprise sectors in rural areas is one of the most effective ways of reducing rural unemployment and poverty in India. Origo’s work in this area is a good fit for Maanaveeya’s social impact mission to improve the lives of low-income people and we are happy to continue to partner with and support them.”

Mr. Srinivas Bonam, Head – Inclusive Banking Group, IndusInd Bank said – “The vision of Origo aligns well with Livelihood Finance agenda of the Bank and we hope to have continued and deepened association with the company.”

Tata Motors Delivers 100 Zests for Corporate Transportation to Athena Cars in Bangalore

Key highlights:

* First and largest order of an automatic variant in employee transportation segment across the country
* The fleet will be deployed in Bangalore by Athena Cars, a leading full services transportation company

Tata Motors has announced that it has delivered 100 Tata Zest XTA variants to Athena Cars, a leading full services transportation company based in Bangalore. The order is the first and the largest of its kind - for an automatic variant to be deployed in India’s sizeable employee transportation segment.

Athena Cars is a leading provider of corporate transportation solutions across Bangalore and counts Amazon as one of its largest clients. The delivery was marked by a formal event graced by Mr. Sushanta Sen, Head - Institutional Sales, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit (PVBU), Tata Motors and Mr. Sree Harsha S D, MD – Athena Cars, among others.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Sushanta Sen, Head – Institutional Sales, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit (PVBU), Tata Motors, said, “The order is a resounding testament of Zest’s superior build quality, segment-leading performance and overall market acceptance. Furthermore, the automatic variant makes for convenient driving around the city, thereby contributing to the overall efficiency of the organizations. In the days to come, we hope to strengthen our relationship with Athena as we look to supply a substantial number of cars to the company, over the current order, in 2020.”

According to Mr. Sree Harsha S D, MD – Athena Cars - “Safety of customers and our chauffeurs has always been Athena’s priority and I feel that Tata Zest Automatic is an excellent & meticulously designed product to that end. Tata Motors has done a great job with Zest by ensuring the availability of all safety features at a price point affordable in the commercial segment. These 100 cars are just a beginning as we look forward to having another 300 Tata vehicles in our fleet by 2020.”

Launched in March 2015, the Tata Zest XTA is one of the best-equipped cars in the compact sedan segment. At the time of its launch, the Zest XTA was the only automatic diesel sedan in its category. The model includes dual airbags, reverse parking sensors and alloy wheels. The variant also boasts of features like the high-end touch-sensitive Harman infotainment system featuring phone controls and voice commands. Due to its AMT set-up, the Zest XTA also comes with an option of a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Subex and RAG Announce First of its Kind Alliance to Leverage Blockchain for Combatting Fraud

Subex, a leading telecom analytics solutions provider, today announced it has joined hands with the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG) to provide a blockchain-based fraud management solution to its customers. As part of this alliance, Subex becomes part of the RAG Wangiri Blockchain Consortium which seeks to use Blockchain technology to gather real-time industry threat intelligence about fraudsters. The consortium includes some of the world’s leading Communications Service Providers (CSP) from North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Fraud continues to be a major problem for telecom operators, costing them billions of dollars annually. With technology enabling fraudsters to outsmart traditional fraud management controls, solutions that can enable data exchange in real-time are the need of the hour for operators. By partnering with the RAG Wangiri Blockchain Consortium, Subex aims to provide its customers with a decentralized and cryptographically secure blockchain ledger of fraud-related information. The ledger is already supported by CSPs across the globe, synchronized and made available to all consortium members in real-time.  Subex will make it easy for users of their ROC Fraud Management solution to update and utilize this common repository.  Existing customers using compatible versions of ROC Fraud Management will be able to take advantage of this threat intelligence database. The improved quantity, quality and timeliness of fraud-related data will benefit Subex’s clients whilst helping the whole industry by increasing the number and diversity of CSPs that share information about fraud.  The first use case focusses on Wangiri fraud, which is a global and increasing problem for telcos and their customers.

Commenting on the partnership Rohit Maheshwari, Head – Strategy and Products, Subex said, “The threat of fraud is ever-looming and telecom operators are consistently challenged to keep up with the increasing sophistication of fraudsters in today’s digital ecosystem. While data exchange between operators has always been touted as a solution to the problem, past industry efforts have been limited and largely offline. We, at Subex, are excited about the promise of RAG Wangiri Blockchain as it enables an API based mechanism for telecom operators to exchange data, allowing them to respond to threats faster than ever before. Further this will be one of the first large scale blockchain based efforts in the fraud data exchange space. Blockchain functions well in consortium-type environments that require high levels of trust and auditability in the data that is shared between consortium members. We believe this is a great opportunity for the industry to come together and move collectively against fraud. Moreover, from an organizational standpoint, this is in line with our aspiration to play a role towards enabling collaboration and contributing further to the fraud management community.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Subex on this global initiative,” said Eric Priezkalns, Chief Executive of RAG.  “The telecoms industry has repeatedly tried to use common databases to share information about crime, but the results have usually been disappointing. Put simply, old technology meant updating the database was too slow and burdensome.  The distributed and secure nature of Blockchain eliminates many obstacles to the exchange of data, which is why a wide range of telcos have already joined our anti-wangiri consortium.  Linking Subex’s market-leading Fraud Management System to our Blockchain ledger will make it even more straightforward for telcos to contribute and receive fraud intelligence from other telcos within their country and overseas.”

Cybercriminals Play the Grinch this Festive Season, Reveals McAfee’s Christmas Scams Survey

News Highlights -

* 28.6% of Indians have lost between INR 15,000 to 20,000 as a result of fake online retail sites
* 78.6% experienced seasonal travel scams through unsolicited and malicious links
* 53.6% Indians fell victim to deceiving apps by clicking on links that directed them to sketchy websites
* Other scams that Indians fell victim to during the holiday season hustle include email (25.3%) and text phishing (21.1%)
* 43% of Indians are very concerned about being scammed through fake charities

Are you looking forward to the Christmas break? You are not alone, as cybercriminals are equally thrilled about the holiday season. With online Christmas shopping on the rise, McAfee today revealed that 56.1% Indians have fallen victim to discount scams, by clicking on links that took them to a sketchy website. Its recent survey, ‘A Christmas Carol: Scam Edition’, highlights how the year end festivities present a variety of threats, with more than half (53.6%) Indians falling victim to scams resulting from deceiving apps. While cybercriminal activity continues to grow in sophistication, popular scams like email phishing (25.3%) and text phishing (21.1%) still result in close to a quarter of Indians being duped throughout the season.

As the tech savvy generation of online shoppers continue to surge, 35.4% of Indians confess to have been conned by discount scams, where a malicious file was downloaded onto their device. Throughout the festivities, 60.2% have fallen victim to robocalling, and 57.1% through sim jacking. Considering that family vacations and travel is high on the agenda for many Indians, the survey revealed a whopping 78.6% of Indians have been impacted by seasonal travel scams.

A new trend that hit unsavvy consumers hard this festive season was through phony gift cards. A total 39.3% Indians were directed to a site, were they were asked to input personal information such as name, telephone number or credit card information, with 40% losing between INR 10,000 to 15,000. Leveraging the emotional aspects of philanthropy and generosity, 60.7% were victims of fake charities, with scammers impersonating genuine trusts to ask for donations.

Millennials need not fear missing out on the party, as the survey revealed a staggering number (52.6%) between the age of 18 to 24 years, faced the brunt of romance scams, and 60% in the same age group agree to being scammed by e-greetings.

Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director, McAfee India commented – “Consumers choose to beat the holiday rush by purchasing and booking online, but, as transactions surge, so do the cyber-attacks. With the sheer volume of people shopping online, they tend to get careless, carried away with discounts, and open themselves to phishing attacks, frauds, malicious websites, and viruses that aim to steal money and personal information.

As threat actors continue to enhance their techniques and explore new creative means of theft, it is crucial that users are mindful of potential risks and undertake necessary measures to protect themselves this holiday season”.

Like the 12 days of Christmas, below are the 12 Scams of 2019 -

The following list outlines the 12 scams Indians have fallen victim to in 2019 and the percentage of Indians who have experienced them:

Email phishing: 25.3%
Deceiving apps: 24.3%
Discount scams: 24%
Streaming or downloading films/TV: 23.7%
Streaming or downloading music: 23%
Phony online stores:22.2%
Deceptive online games: 21.9%
Text phishing: 21.1%
Fake charities: 20.4%
Fake gift cards: 20.3%
Shipping notifications scams: 20.2%
Sim jacking: 20%


Tips to stay safe this holiday season:

Never reuse passwords. With just one hack, cybercriminals can get their hands-on thousands of passwords, which they can then use to try to access multiple accounts.
Stop and pause. Instead of clicking on a link in an email, it is always best to check directly with the source to verify an offer or shipment.
Browse with security protection. Use comprehensive security protection, like McAfee Total Protection, which can help protect devices against malware, phishing attacks and other threats. It includes McAfee WebAdvisor, which can help identify malicious websites.
Use a tool to help protect your personal information. A solution like McAfee Identity Theft Protection takes a proactive approach to help protect identities with personal and financial monitoring and recovery tools to help keep identities personal and secure