Tata Motors Launches Ceramic Coating In House Service With The All-New Safari

Tata Motors, India’s leading auto brand, today, announced one of an industry first service offering of Ceramic Coating with the all-new Safari. This is an advanced hydrophilic formulation technology to revitalize the appearance of Tata cars. Available at a price of 28,500 (inclusive of GST) for UVs, this service will be provided at all Tata Motors authorized dealerships.

Used in the aerospace industry and by hyper-car manufacturers, the Ceramic Coating forms a hardened finish that mixes with the paintwork to instantly rejuvenate the appearance of the vehicle. As compared to existing conventional treatments, this coating lasts much longer and helps in shedding debris and grime while protecting the vehicle against traffic pollution, acid rain, solvents, animal matter and more. The coating’s strong crystal-like layer reduces fading by UV rays on the vehicle. It is not only easy to maintain due to its self-cleaning properties but also helps in repelling oxidation and corrosion, thereby offering 360-degree protection to materials in the car such as glass, paint, rims/wheels, vinyl-plastic and leather. Additionally, keeping up with the ‘New Forever’ promise, Tata Motors will also extend this unique service to all other Tata passenger vehicles at prices varying as per their respective segments.

Commenting on the introduction of this service, Mr. Dimple Mehta, Head Customer Care - Domestic & International Business, Passenger Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors said, “Besides launching new products we are also focused on introducing industry first service offerings, such as the Ceramic Coating. With the launch of new cars and UVs  that cater to evolving consumer demands, customers are now also expecting the best-in-class aftersales service that furnishes these new age products. In alignment with the same, we have collaborated with world-class companies in car care technologies such as 3M, Wuerth, Bardhal and Sikand Stanley BG and SK Car Care to bring in this industry first service in India in house. We are positive that this value-added service along with others will provide paramount vehicle protection as we work to continue to provide the best-in-class aftersales service to our customers.”

With a robust build quality comes strong product confidence. To emphasise on the same, Tata Motors is providing additional value added services for the all –new Safari, making the entire product offering irresistible.

Pentacare Extended warranty: For Safari we have launched Up to 5 years and unlimited kilometers Pentacare Extended Warranty. Extend warranty will have 3 options- 2+1 years/ 1.15 Lakh kms (whichever occurs first ), 2+2 years/ 1.30 Lakh kms whichever occurs first ) and 2+3 years (Pentacare) /unlimited kms. Warranty. The warranty package covers important maintenance services of all critical parts such as the engine and engine management system, air conditioning system, transmission system and gearbox, fuel system, and much more. Moreover, any breakdown related to the malfunctioning of the clutch and suspension are also covered in Extended Warranty for up to 50,000 kms.

Value Care Maintenance Plan –Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC): Tata Motors has also launched Value Care – a pan India maintenance service plan that guarantees protection against unexpected repair cost and provides substantial savings through protection against inflation & price volatility of lubricants during the functioning of the vehicle. Customers can choose from one of three plans namely Value Care Gold, Value Care Promise to Protect and Value Care Silver. Between these three plans, customers can avail a variety of services such as unexpected wear and tear repairs for vehicle parts, oil replacements, consumables, service parts and regular servicing of your vehicles at stipulated & recommended periods.

Juniper Networks Announces New Partnership Agreement With ConnX To Drive AI-Driven WAN Adoption And Leadership Across India

* Long-time Juniper 128 Technology global partner ConnX expands its relationship with Juniper Networks to the India subcontinent

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced that ConnX, an AI-driven communications transformation-as-a-service platform provider, has been appointed as a partner for India and the SAARC region. ConnX will help deliver Juniper’s vision of end-to-end AI-driven automation, insights and action from client-to-cloud and drive the adoption of solutions, including Juniper’s Session Smart® SD-WAN across India.

Recognized as a leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wired and Wireless LAN Access Infrastructure, Juniper Networks is simplifying how enterprises operate their networks while improving network users’ experiences using automation and proactive AI-driven operations. 

WAN Assurance and the Marvis Virtual Network Assistant (both driven by Mist AI) have recently been added to the Session Smart® network portfolio, creating a true AI-driven SD-WAN solution. By continuing to expand the Juniper® campus and branch portfolio and bringing it all under a common Mist AI umbrella, customers benefit from fully integrated AIOps, security and troubleshooting across the WLAN, LAN and WAN for lower costs and optimized end-user experiences.

With over 30 years of experience driving the digital transformation of large Fortune 500 enterprises, ConnX has been a long-time 128 Technology partner, having designed, implemented and supported over 5,000 sites across AMER and EMEA. The new local partnership agreement will allow ConnX to expand its remit into the Indian market – and help enterprise customers across India transition from fragmented and siloed communications services toward an integrated, AI-driven, multi-service collaboration platform powered by Juniper Networks.

Supporting Quotes:

“Over the years, ConnX has demonstrated a strong global track record as an AI-driven communications transformation-as-a-service platform provider for large enterprises. We are delighted to have deepened our global relationship with this India-centric partnership agreement, confident that we have a great partner in ConnX who will be able to further deliver Juniper’s experience-first vision of the end-to-end AI-driven network. Together, we want to radically change the economics of the SD-WAN market with a true client-to-cloud vision across the Indian subcontinent and beyond.”

Sajan Paul, Managing Director & Country Manager, India & SAARC, Juniper Networks

“Over the past 25 years, ConnX has developed a deep understanding of the global enterprise transformation, building up extensive experience and success working across the partner ecosystem. With this agreement, we look forward to helping Juniper customers navigate the needs of a new borderless workforce, leveraging AI and automation to realize the significant cost advantages and the benefits of rapid service delivery, global scalability and predictive customer experience while mitigating the operational complexity of supporting and maintaining fragmented and siloed communications services.”

Indrajit Ghosh, CEO, ConnX

“APAC market growth in cloud-native/mobile-first and IoT applications is accelerating with the adoption of AI-driven over-the-top top connectivity & collaboration services. Under this partnership, ConnX will offer hosted/managed services, including AI-WAN/SASE, SaaS optimization and intent-based routing, network security, UCaaS, CCaaS and AIOps driven Service assurance to Enterprise and Service Provider customers in India and SAARC countries.”

Arun Soni, SVP and Country Head-APAC, ConnX

About Juniper Networks

Juniper Networks challenges the inherent complexity that comes with networking and security in the multicloud era. We do this with products, solutions and services that transform the way people connect, work and live. We simplify the process of transitioning to a secure and automated multicloud environment to enable secure, AI-driven networks that connect the world. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

AWS Announces Availability Of Amazon WorkSpaces In The Asia Pacific (Mumbai) Region

Amazon WorkSpaces is now generally available in the Asia Pacific (Mumbai) Region. Amazon WorkSpaces is a fully managed, secure Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution that runs on AWS. With WorkSpaces, customers can provision virtual, cloud-based Windows and Linux desktops for their users, providing them with access to the documents, applications, and resources they need, anywhere, anytime, from any supported device. They can pay either monthly or hourly, just for the Amazon WorkSpaces they launch.

Mumbai is our 14th region and is part of our continuing commitment to always making it easier for workers to securely access their applications from home, remote offices or anywhere. For a list of regions where Amazon WorkSpaces is available, see the AWS Region Table.

The expansion comes as we approach the one-year anniversary of global travel restrictions, lockdowns, and work from home (WFH) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have spent the past year helping customers across the globe rapidly shift to WFH. For example, we helped LearningMate – a technology company offering domain expertise in teaching and learning solutions – move their workforce to WFH.

“LearningMate seamlessly transitioned to a remote work environment by rolling out Amazon WorkSpaces. We integrated Amazon WorkSpaces with our on-premise Active Directory over VPN to ensure that all our employees have secure access to our corporate data and internal applications. Our IT team was able to evaluate Amazon WorkSpaces within a week and ramped up to over 100 workspaces within a month. With Amazon WorkSpaces, we were able to operationalize over 200 new hires in a COVID-19 lockdown situation without any impact to our growth,” said Palash Sinha, IT Head, LearningMate.

With our availability of the Mumbai Region, customers can provision WorkSpaces closer to their users and data, providing a more responsive experience.

Customers in the Mumbai Region can also take advantage of WorkSpaces Streaming Protocol (WSP), the new, cloud-native streaming protocol that enables a consistent user experience even on unreliable networks. If workers run into networks with high packet loss or unstable at home or office networks, WSP might be able to help. I know it has helped me with my home network.

WorkSpaces for Government and Highly Regulated Industries

Government organizations and highly regulated industries like financial services must adhere to strict compliance and data sovereignty requirements in India. WorkSpaces’ expansion allows customers to better meet data sovereignty requirements without the cost and complexity of building on-premises VDI.

RBL Bank, for example, is one of the leading private sector banks in India. The bank is looking forward to moving their current WorkSpaces deployment to the Mumbai region after using it to enable work from home since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When COVID-19 came, we needed to move many of our employees to work from home overnight. We turned to Amazon WorkSpaces for hundreds of workers and we were able to get them up and running in 10 days, while maintaining the same data security we needed to support our business,” said Sankarson Banerjee, CIO of RBL Bank. “With the opening of the Mumbai region, we look forward to bringing WorkSpaces to more users. It will also help us raise the bar in the user experience while meeting our data sovereignty commitments. AWS’s continued pace of innovation is helping us to add agility to our workforce in ways we did not think possible just a few years ago.”

WorkSpaces for Contact Center, Development, or Back Office

For companies that provide services such as customer support, development, or back office services like accounting or IT support, using Amazon WorkSpaces in Mumbai can enable a more reliable way of giving users a persistent desktop while helping to reduce the risk of data leakage, by using the closest possible AWS Region. Amazon WorkSpaces makes it easy to enable temporary, seasonal, or full-time employees with all the resources they need to be successful in a secure desktop experience.

Wipro Limited is a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, which provides various services including Data Analytics and AI, Business Process Management, Digital Strategy and Transformation, and Cyber Security and Risk. Capitalizing on the opportunity to securely help customers transition to remote working, Wipro has developed a custom IT-as-a-Service offering called Wipro virtuadesk™ leveraging Amazon WorkSpaces for one of its contact center customers to enhance work from home productivity. This solution enabled the customer to implement a bring your own device (BYOD) policy for their users and improved performance 10x while reducing the overall total cost of operations (TCO).

“We helped some of our most security-conscious customers run their operations in India across a wide array of workloads leveraging Amazon WorkSpaces. We provided them with secure access, especially for their employees working remotely. The feedback has been phenomenal.  WorkSpaces’ fully-managed Desktop as a Service (DaaS) offers the type of agility our customers need for seasonal and temporary hiring and changes in the business landscape,” said Anshul Sarin, Vice President, Cloud & Infrastructure Services, APMEA, Wipro Limited. “The addition of the Mumbai region meets one of the top customer asks of improving both performance and security. Wipro’s virtuadesk, powered by Amazon WorkSpaces is a state-of-art solution that provides seamless experience to customers in remote working spaces. Our broad portfolio and service delivery capabilities on cloud, coupled with AWS WorkSpaces’ agile and scalable features will help customers achieve transformative outcomes.”

Hindware Appliances Rolls Out New TVC For Hindware Snowcrest i-Fold, India’s First Foldable Air Cooler

*Created and conceptualized by DDB Mudra Group, the quirky film through a simple idea of a misunderstanding brings about an innocent twist-in-tale to introduce i-Fold air cooler.

Hindware Appliances released a new TVC campaign ‘‘Summers mein kare cold, winters mein ho jaaye fold’ to support the launch of Hindware Snowcrest i-Fold, India’s first foldable Air Cooler. The company aims to expand its offering in the air cooler segment with i-Fold, an innovative air cooler that offers efficient cooling with a powerful air throw of 3400 M3 per hour and can be folded up for easy storage when not in use.

Conceptualized by DDB Mudra Group, the film opens with an old man plonking on a couch, complaining about the hot city weather to his son, whom he has come to visit. Busy making tea in the kitchen, the son hears his father’s protests and simply responds, “kholdo” (open it). Confused, the old man unbuttons his shirt, and gradually all his clothes, assuming his son was asking him to undress. When the son finally walks into the living room and finds his father sitting on the couch in nothing but vest and boxers, he points to the foldable Hindware Snowcrest i-Fold Air cooler right next to his father, finally putting an end to the comedy of errors. The film then shifts its focus to the i-Fold’s innovative easy-to-store ability with powerful cooling and concludes by highlighting how the product is a perfect fit for all seasons.

The 360⁰ integrated campaign will be visible on platforms such as TV, print, and digital. The campaign will feature across electronic, print, and digital media platforms for widespread reach, and will air on 24 television channels including GEC Sony Sab, and prominent news channels such as AAJ TAK, NDTV, and ABP Network amongst others. It will also go live on Hindware Appliances social media channels like Facebook, YouTube & Instagram for better targeting.

It will also be available in other regional languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam. The TVC will run across Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and North Eastern states. 

Mr. Rakesh Kaul, CEO & Whole Time Director, Somany Home Innovation Limited (SHIL), said, “As a company, innovation is at the core of every product we introduce for our customers. Hindware Snowcrest i-Fold is no exception. With i-Fold, we want to offer every Indian home a wholesome solution, not for just summers but for the seasons that follow as well. And now that we have built this summer ready, easy-to-store, powerful air-cooling device, we can’t wait for our customers to make the most of it.”

Mr. Kaul further added, “i-Fold is a one-of-a-kind product, so it had to have a one-of-a-kind campaign. After several scribbled notes and incredible brainstorming sessions, we finally narrowed down on ‘Summers mein kare cold, winters mein ho jaaye fold,’ to perfectly articulate the soul of the product. When finalizing the TVC, we ensured that the entire property was laden with the same elements of fun and simplicity as the tagline, thus truly resonating with the i-Fold’s remarkable offerings.”

Commenting on the commercial, Karan Shetty, Director, Fingerprint Films, said, “When the script came to us last year, my team and I liked how a vague instruction, a simple misunderstanding, and a light-hearted twist-in-tale that could introduce the product with such accuracy. Working on this film was a memorable experience as I got to work with an innovative pioneering product; casted Rajesh Puri, which was a nostalgic trip down the memory lane; to create such a quirky and amusing screenplay.”

Rahul Mathew, National Creative Director, DDB Mudra Group added, “The idea was to have unique fun, because plain fun wouldn’t cut. The play on the word ‘Kholdo’ and the Indian habit of dads to go all commando with the onset of summers was a good space to play in. The TVC made sure i-Fold’s functionality was showcased in all its glory, and the story’s humorous intrigue keeps the audience attached to the piece.”

Toyota Kirloskar Motor To Cover COVID-19 Vaccination Cost Of Employees And Their Families

In continuation to its continuous efforts to safeguard the health and safety of its employees, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has announced to cover  COVID-19 vaccination cost for all the employees, their family members and contract employees. The company will reimburse expenses incurred for both the doses of approximately 25,000 members which includes employees, their family members and contract employees.

In order to promote a healthy and safe workplace environment, TKM has undertaken several preventive measures to ensure the overall wellbeing of its employees. Considering vaccination is crucial in the fight against the pandemic, an employee can choose to reimburse the costs of the vaccinations or get them free of charge at company identified health care facility, whichever is convenient.

Commenting on the gesture, Mr. Shankara G, Vice President, Human Resources and Services Group, TKM said, “Our employees are our most valued asset and we place utmost importance to improve the quality of life of our workforce and their families. In addition to providing a conducive working environment, we continually evaluate and introduce unique welfare measures over and above the statutory requirements. Especially during the pandemic, we ensured uninterrupted support by providing facilities ranging from critical health programs and priority doctor-on-call, mental and physical awareness to manage their health needs from home thereby reducing the load on local hospitals. With this gesture, we aim to safeguard the health and safety of all our employees, their family members and the community at large." he added.

TKM has been at the forefront in consistently taking effective measures to counter the outbreak and will continue to support and take adequate measures for the safety of its key stakeholders, healthcare workers and the community. The company has introduced multiple policies and programs that granted employees with paid leaves for the absence due to infection or quarantine. The company also provided special Covid-19 insurance coverage to employees and family, Covid care kit to the families of our employees (Sanjeevini Kit) and nearby community, dedicated hotline services along with extensive CSR support to the frontline workers of the Government of Karnataka amongst other support.  

Bharat Financial Inclusion Limited To Cover COVID-19 Vaccination Cost For Employees

* Over 28000 employees to benefit from this exercise

Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. (BFIL), a 100% subsidiary of IndusInd Bank, today announced that it will bear the costs of COVID-19 vaccinations to inoculate over 28000 employees of the company to protect them against the coronavirus. As part of the initiative, the company will fully reimburse the vaccination costs to the employees as and when they receive the two mandated doses.

Speaking on the initiative, Shalabh Saxena, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, BFIL, said, “At BFIL, the welfare of our employees has always been our top priority. Through the COVID-19 outbreak, we devised comprehensive business protocols that ensured the health and safety of our entire employee ecosystem. Microfinance being a high-contact business, it was the courage and perseverance shown by our employees that helped us serve our customers without any major disruption. Covering the vaccine costs is just a small way of expressing our gratitude to them and as the government expands the vaccination drive, we encourage our employees to get themselves vaccinated for the well-being and protection of themselves and their family members.”

BFIL had taken several initiatives through the COVID-induced lockdown to support its employees and the local communities that it closely interacts with on a regular basis. During the lockdown, apart from maintaining stringent safety protocols at branches and offices, it also reached out to local government hospitals and provided free medicines while training and equipping frontline health-workers with protective equipment. The company also contributed a sum of INR 1 Crore Rupees to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) to help fight the unprecedented crisis.

About IndusInd Bank Limited:

IndusInd Bank, which commenced operations in 1994, caters to the needs of both consumer and corporate customers. Its technology platform supports multi-channel delivery capabilities. As on March 31, 2020, IndusInd Bank has 1911 branches/ banking outlets and 2760 ATMs spread across 751 geographical locations of the country. The Bank also has representative offices in London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Bank believes in driving its business through technology. It enjoys clearing bank status for both major stock exchanges – BSE and NSE - and major commodity exchanges in the country, including MCX, NCDEX and NMCE. IndusInd Bank was included in the NIFTY 50 benchmark index on April 1, 2013.

Ratings:

Domestic Ratings

●       CRISIL AA + for Infra Bonds program

●       CRISIL AA for Additional Tier I Bonds program

●       CRISIL A1+ for certificate of deposit program

●       IND AA+ for Senior bonds program by India Ratings and Research

●       IND AA for Additional Tier I Bonds program by India Ratings and Research

●       IND A1+ for Short Term Debt Instruments by India Ratings and Research

International Ratings

●       Baa3 as Issuer, Bank Deposits and Senior Unsecured MTN ratings by Moody’s Investors Service

●       P3 as Short Term Issuer Rating by Moody’s Investors Service

About Bharat Financial Inclusion Limited:

Bharat Financial Inclusion Limited is a 100% subsidiary of IndusInd Bank Limited with presence across 23 states covering 1.33 lakh villages. The states include: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Haryana, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Assam, Tripura, Gujarat, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

Sameer Katole Appointed As The New CEO Of The Designer Tech Brand - Crossloop

* With a deep understanding of the consumer durable market, Sameer Katole aims to make the designer tech brand a leader in the India’s wearable technology segment

Crossloop, a leading tech and lifestyle brand of India has appointed Sameer Katole as the CEO to lead the operations across India and Europe. Sameer will be responsible for bolstering Crossloop’s operations and leveraging his expertise to drive stronger countrywide growth. He has an extensive experience in the consumer durable market.

A veteran with almost 14 years of experience in the consumer durable and retail industry, Sameer has a distinguished track record of sales and market accomplishments. He will be focusing on product, sales, marketing, corporate development and the overall growth of the brand. Sameer will bring in his experience and expertise of managing dynamic clients’ expectations, cross-functional team leadership, boosting sales and business potential, technology innovation, and large scale strategy to fuel Crossloop’s’ journey, in India as well as other potential markets.

Backed by Sanjay Hira, Chairman, Hira Group - Texet Technologies Pvt Ltd, a UK based consumer electronics focused MNC in existence since 1959, Crossloop was launched with a vision to enhance the customer experience within the consumer electronics industry. The startup had received an Investment of 7Mn USD by Hira Group in 2019.

Sameer Katole, CEO, India and Europe said, “I am delighted to embark on this new journey at Crossloop as the CEO. The role brings immense honor and responsibility. I am glad to work with Sanjay and the team to help drive forward the next stage of growth. I am looking forward to contributing to company’s growth in India and international markets as well as its long-term vision of bringing innovations that never stops at Crossloop.”

He also added, “The consumer behavior in the digital age is evolving constantly and with our strong product portfolio, in 2021, we have the vision to ensure that every consumer owns a well-designed, high performance fashion tech accessory and we become their first choice. We aim to achieve minimum 3X topline growth and lead the fashion tech accessory segment in India.”

Today millennials and Gen Z play an increasingly important role in driving the consumer market segments. They are focusing more modern technologies and fashionable tech accessories as this marks a style statement for them. Addressing the personalized needs of the consumer, Crossloop delivers consumer-tech focused, high performance, and designer wearable tech accessories.  The startup aims to bring high-end technology to the masses with its present and future offerings. The current product portfolio includes Pro series earphones, Daily fashion earphone series, Crossloop Gen TWS and Volar, Dorm and Akorn Bluetooth speakers.

About Crossloop

With its audio accessories products, Crossloop is offering customers a perfect cross between design, utility, performance and functionality. Crossloop designer earphones are uber stylish and are for those who would love to flaunt them. A lifestyle brand, primarily focusing on fast moving electronics, accessories and gadgets. Backed by Hira Group, an UK based consumer electronics focused MNC in existence since 1959, Crossloop was launched with a vision to enhance the customer experience within the consumer electronics industry.