Orkla strengthens its presence in India with a foray into the Indian confectionary category

Bangalore, 22^nd August, 2017: Orkla Group, the Norwegian leader in branded consumer goods and parent company of MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd., today announced the company’s foray into the Indian confectionary category with the launch of Laban – a specially crafted human-shaped, non-sticky, 100% vegetarian, fruit flavoured chew. The brand’s entry also marks the first product from the company’s portfolio in the confectionary category.

Laban – Norway’s number 1 confectionary brand from Orkla, will be manufactured and distributed by MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. in India. Extensive research was undertaken to arrive at a formulation that would not only suit the discerning Indian consumer preferences but also retain the brand attributes i.e. the stretchy, chewy quality of Laban and its unique human shape. The product proposition has been localized to make it a 100% vegetarian confectionary with a range of popular Indian flavors such as Strawberry, Mango, Green Mango and Orange.

Speaking on the occasion, Peter Ruzicka, CEO, Orkla ASA, said, “The Indian confectionary market is seeing huge potential that Orkla would like to tap into. The current estimates show that the industry is close to INR 8200 crores with a YoY growth at 7%. The tremendous growth that we are witnessing in the category along with the other economic indicators of the country has given us the confidence to launch Laban in India.”

Atle Vidar-Nagel Johanssen, CEO, Orkla Foods said, “With the localization of Laban based on the preferences of Indian consumers, this will be the first product to come from the Orkla portfolio in the confectionary category in India. We are confident that Laban will prove to be a growth-driver for Orkla in the Indian market.”

Best-in-class production equipment from various countries such as Germany, Britain and Korea have been brought together to put up a state-of-the-art production line at MTR Foods’ Bengaluru manufacturing facility with a total investment of Rs. 40 crores. Besides the manufacturing facility, MTR Foods’ robust supply chain and distribution network across India will be leveraged to ensure wider reach of the brand. The packaging of the product has also been redesigned in order to appeal to the Indian consumers.

Sharing his perspective on the unique aspects of Laban, Sanjay Sharma, CEO, MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. said, “We have invested close to INR 40 crores on this project to ensure that we get everything right – from getting the best manufacturing equipment from across the world to procuring the quality ingredients from across the world. With its unique human shape, popular Indian flavors and stretchy property along with a product concept of promoting childlike joy, Laban is clearly differentiated from any other confectionary in the industry. With an India wide launch and MTR’s sales and marketing bandwidth behind this product, we are confident about the success of Laban. ”

Laban will be launched with a hi-decibel campaign and will be available at all general and modern trade outlets across India priced at Rs. 10 for the 26 gms pack and Rs 30 for the 65 gms pack.

 

Innovative Foods Ltd launches Sumeru ‘classique’ parathas with Chef Ajay Chopra

Bangalore, August 10^th, 2017: Innovative Foods Ltd. (IFL), a major player in the Indian food processing industry, which markets their frozen food range under the brand name Sumeru, today launched a new line-up of their frozen parathas.

At the launch event, Chef Ajay Chopra, who was recently announced as the brand ambassador for Sumeru, whipped up some lip smacking dishes to showcase the versatility of Sumeru’s frozen paratha range. He also demonstrated a few tips and tricks for everyone who’s looking to create quick homemade meals with frozen parathas.

Speaking on the occasion, Saurabh Kumar, VP, Sales & Marketing, IFL said “The growing acceptance of frozen food in India has pushed us out of our seats to think of new product solutions. Providing convenience and versatility to consumers has been one of the core pillars on which our product portfolio stands and our aim has been to enable consumers create restaurant like meals at home. Our new range of Parathas are a delightful triangulated combination of taste, health & excitement.

“My association with Sumeru has given me a platform to make people believe that you don’t need to be a chef to experience a restaurant class meal at home. Parathas are a favourite across India and with a little innovative thinking, they can easily be adapted to a variety of dishes.” mentioned Chef Ajay Chopra, Brand Ambassador Sumeru, who has previously been a judge on Master Chef India

Suraj Sharma, GM, Marketing IFL, commented, “A lot of research has gone into making these new products. Whether it’s the multigrain variant or beetroot with jeera or turmeric with ajwain or methi with spinach – all these combinations have been developed keeping in mind the health factor along with the taste which today’s discerning consumer demands.”

The event started with Innovative Foods ltd addressing the media followed by a delightful demo cooking session with Chef Ajay.

The new range of parathas launched today are as follows:

·       Beetroot & Jeera Paratha

·       Turmeric & Ajwain Paratha

·       Methi & Spinach Paratha

·       Multigrain Paratha

These parathas are easily accessible at your nearest grocery store and are reasonably priced in the bracket of Rs 80-100 per pack of 5.

About Sumeru

Innovative Foods Limited (IFL) is a major player in the Indian food processing industry since 1989. Under the brand name 'Sumeru', they manufacture and market various types of ready to eat vegetarian and non-vegetarian food that includes seafood, Poultry and Pork. Their customized products are supplied to various leading food service companies in India. Their core business is frozen food. They have retailed the multi-category product portfolio across the country with a presence on all major modern trade counters with a pan India presence that covers all tiers of cities and towns. They have embarked their presence in the Indian ethnic export market via USA while the manufacturing units are in the south Indian state Kerala, Kochi.

Philips, connecting India for a healthy future

Bangalore, July 28, 2017: Philips Innovation Campus, successfully organized their third Digital Healthcare Conclave on July 28, 2017. The conference shed light on why connected healthcare is the need of the hour for our country and how it can solve the existing healthcare problems.

Indian healthcare system has always grappled with 2 As - Accessibility and Affordability challenges. In 2015, there were 25354 Primary Health Center (PHC)s in India and 8.1% of these PHCs were without a doctor. To add to this, 38% of deaths are due to communicable diseases, maternal, per-natal and nutritional disorders, and 42% of deaths are due to non-communicable diseases. This burden will only increase as less than 15% of population is covered by insurance. With all these challenges, one can hear the wheels of Indian healthcare cranking hard and heaving to pull. How do we address this?

While there has been a lot of innovations in healthcare where technology has shown the potential to find solutions, it is important that there is a common roadmap, strategy that would help the ecosystem work in tandem towards relevant solutions.

The challenge

Indian healthcare system is burdened with numerous challenges. While it is seen that innovative solutions using digital technologies have been able to address these challenges effectively, there is a long way to go. Connected healthcare solutions is a key to this. But for this to work, it requires an ecosystem where health data is available to care givers. But India lacks a common health data repository. The PHCs DHCs and CHCs are not connected.

Connected care and AI supported by UIDAI (Aadhaar) could help in addressing these challenges 

The National Healthcare Policy 2017, talks about how connected healthcare is the solution to the existing healthcare problems in India. The policy suggests the setting up of a National Digital Health Authority (NDHA) to regulate, develop and deploy digital health across the continuum of care using digital technologies. It highlights the role of Aadhaar to make connected healthcare a reality by establishing a seamless and efficient National Health Information Network.

Philips has been at the forefront of using digital technology in healthcare. Its various connected care solutions have increased accessibility to care in remotest corners of the world, empowered patients to manage their health while also giving health providers tools to improve patient outcomes. With a r mission to touch more than 3 billion lives by 2025, Philips is working towards creating meaningful innovations that will make healthcare accessible to all. Some of these innovations include:

Data Science Platform (DSP)

Healthcare is transitioning from episodic, fragmented care to networked, continuous care which enables population health management, integrating data from disparate point solutions across hospitals, physician practices, insurance and consumer homes. It provides actionable and context sensitive information to clinicians, patients and care givers. To provide analytics for such a wide range, there is a need for a data science platform that has comprehensive capabilities to do analytics on many aspects including analysis on longitudinal data. Philips Data Science Platform is a platform for healthcare analytics meant for data scientists and product development teams to develop analytical models and applications providing a standardized data science platform that ensures seamless development and deployment across healthcare continuum. This Platform empowers healthcare organizations to spend more time understanding their data, freeing them from the responsibility and expense of building, maintaining and deploying data science capabilities in-house. With these advanced analytics and artificial intelligence methods, organizations can rapidly  .. create predictive models, optimize operational workflow, and accelerate development of analytics offerings

DSP comes prepackaged with most of the open source tools, frameworks, libraries etc. that data scientists use. DSP comes with a rich set of pertained clinical models for Medical images and clinical reports - that can either be consumed directly within a hospital workflow or by data scientists to build their own custom specific models/apps.

Mobile Obstetrics Monitoring (MoM).

High fetal and maternal mortality rates continue to remain one of the major concerns in the healthcare space. The Philips Mobile Obstetrics Monitoring (MOM) software solution helps community caregivers and doctors work together to identify and manage high-risk pregnancies, bringing care to where it’s urgently needed: primary health centers and patient homes. MOM features a way for community caregivers to capture vital information so that a clinical decision support (CDS) pregnancy risk level can be calculated. This helps standardize pregnancy risk stratification so that high-risk cases are not missed. Mobile applications connect doctor, caregiver, and patient for diagnostic assistance and progress assessment.

A pilot study using MOM is being done in Shorapur Taluk in Yadagir District, Karnataka since December 2016. Philips has partnered with Narayana Health and National Rural Health Mission, Karnataka for this study. Over 1000 women have already been covered under this study.

Chest Pain Clinics (CPC)

While cardiovascular diseases have quadrupled in the last 40 years, 50% of the affected patients arrive too late for appropriate treatment. If the patient receives treatment within one hour of the ‘the golden hour’, possibilities of saving his/her life increase manifold.

Philips Innovation Campus has developed a solution ‘Chest Pain Clinics’ to answer the problem. A Chest Pain Clinic is essentially a clinic or a small healthcare facility that is devoted to the care of outpatients, primarily CAD patients. These CPCs serve as the first point of contact for the patient and are usually run by general physicians or non-interventional cardiologists. The pre-requisite for a CPC is that it should be: Capable of performing ECGs on patient. They are equipped with Philips Efficia ECG 100 an innovative, portable, easy to use ECG machine, with diagnostic quality ECG machine intended for acquisition, recording, measurement, display and printing of simultaneous 12 channel ECG waveforms of patients in ECG room for both in-patient and outpatient.

In this model, CPCs will constitute the spokes for the ‘hub’ hospital. Once a patient arrives at one of the spoke CPCs, the local physician evaluates the patient’s symptoms and, performs an ECG via the Philips Efficia ECG 100. This ECG is wirelessly transmitted to the on-call cardiologist. Once Cardiologist reviews the ECG, he instructs the general physician on the next steps for treatment of patient.

TigerAir rebrands to Scoot

Bengaluru July 25, 2017 - Nine months after Scoot and Tigerair announced their intention to pursue a single brand and operating licence under the enhanced Scoot brand, the airline industry today bade farewell to Tigerair Singapore as its last flight departed Singapore for Tiruchirappalli at 2305 on 24 July.  From today, all previous Tigerair flights will be operated under the Scoot brand and Scoot flights will operate under the TR flight designator code. This marks the completion of the Scoot-Tigerair integration process that began last May when the airlines were brought under a common holding company, Budget Aviation Holdings.

After successfully commencing operations in India last year, award winning value airline Scoot is all set to take up new destinations under its umbrella that were running under Tigerair. These include Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Lucknow which will now operate under the single brand name – Scoot from 25 July 2017.

Scoot CEO Mr Lee Lik Hsin said, “As we come to the end of Tigerair’s journey, we open up a brand new chapter for Scoot. Building on what Tigerair and the old Scoot had achieved since their respective inceptions, we are stronger than we have ever been before, and consequently in an even better position to offer our guests more choice, connectivity and value. The enhanced Scoot that we are introducing today is spunky and sassy, and promises to create more travel opportunities for our guests.”

To celebrate the merger to the single Scoot brand, special one-way promotional fares from Bengaluru will start from as low as INR 5,599 to Singapore, INR 9,799 to Bali, INR 10,499 to Hong Kong, INR 12,499 to Melbourne/Sydney among others. Additional 10% discounts are also available through promotional codes for a booking period from 25 July to 6 Aug 2017.

“Scoot was very well received after the launch of our first three destinations in India last year, the response was remarkable. We hope to create the same impact in Bengaluru, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi, Lucknow and Hyderabad by bringing great prices without compromising on the safety and comfort of the passengers. When flying with a young and passionate airline like Scoot, our guests can expect a safe, reliable and contemporary travel experience with a unique attitude – Scootitude.” said Bharath Mahadevan, Country Head, India, Scoot.

New Destinations

In conjunction with this single brand celebration, Mr Lee also disclosed the five new destinations that Scoot will call at by June 2018.  Among them are Honolulu, Scoot’s maiden USA destination, and Harbin in Northeast China. The remaining three are short-haul destinations - Kuching and Kuantan in Malaysia, and Palembang in Indonesia.

Coupled with the addition of the previous Tigerair network, the five new services will bring Scoot’s total destination count to 65 across 18 countries.

New Uniform

Beyond new destinations, Scoot’s crew members, affectionately named Scootees, will be outfitted with new uniform designs bearing a refreshing, yet distinctively Scoot look.  The new uniform for female crew members cuts a flattering silhouette with its asymmetric dress design and higher waistline, while that for male crew members features sharper angles for the yellow highlights on the polo shirts.

Both male and female crew uniforms also feature fun details, such as black buttons sewn on with yellow thread to provide a subtle feature for the male crew uniforms, and thicker fabric for the Scootees to stay warm during cabin service. The new uniforms represent a fresh start for crew of both airlines, while Scoot’s signature black and yellow colour combination have been retained, carrying on the spirit of fun and spontaneity of the Scoot brand.

Escape the Ordinary

In conjunction with the brand enhancement, Scoot has also changed its Get Outta Here! tagline and adopted a new slogan, Escape the Ordinary. 

“Scoot’s new tagline, Escape the Ordinary, is reflective of our growth as an airline brand,” said Mr Lee. “It is more relevant to the global market now that our network has grown as it is aspirational to our inner wanderlust, and inspires us to travel and explore the world.”

Scoot also rolled out its first A320 aircraft, previously operated by Tigerair and repainted with the Scoot livery, named “Conscious Coupling” in commemoration of the integration between Scoot and Tigerair. The current Tigerair fleet will be progressively repainted and the complete livery change is targeted to be by mid-2018.

Log on to www.flyscoot.com to find out more.

***

About Scoot

Scoot is the low-cost, medium-to-long haul arm of the Singapore Airlines Group. Scoot took to the skies in June 2012 and merged with Tigerair Singapore in July 2017, retaining the Scoot brand and positioning it well for a new chapter of growth. Scoot has carried over fifty million guests and now operates a fleet of 14 state of the art, widebody Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 23 young and modern Airbus A320 family aircraft, with six more Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 39 Airbus A320neo aircraft on order. Scoot’s network presently encompasses 60 destinations across 17 countries, with Harbin, Honolulu, Kuantan, Kuching and Palembang to join the network soon. Scoot provides – in addition to fantastic value airfares – a safe, reliable and contemporary travel experience with a unique attitude – Scootitude. Offering amenities including on-board Wi-Fi Internet connectivity and in-seat power as well as the ability to redeem and accrue Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, Scoot was voted 2015, 2016 and 2017 Best Low Cost Airline (Asia/Pacific) by AirlineRatings.com and ranked in the Top 10 of the World’s Best Low-Cost Airlines in 2015 by Skytrax. Scoot is passionate about changing the way people travel long distance. Book your tickets at FlyScoot.com or contact our Call Centre. Find out more on FlyScoot.com, Facebook.com/FlyScoot, Instagram.com/FlyScoot, and Twitter.com/flyscoot.

INNOVATION on ‘Watchdog for Agriculture Farms’ from Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology College wins Chairman’s Award at Texas Instruments India Innovation Challenge Design Contest 2016

Bangalore, July 22, 2017:  Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology College, Coimbatore bagged Chairman’s Award for the best innovative product for the Texas Instruments India Innovation Challenge Design Contest 2016. This was announced at the grand finale held at IIM Bangalore and was presided by top minds in academia and industry. The dignitaries present were Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Shri NS Raghavan, Shri Harkesh Kumar Mittal, Dr. Anita Gupta, Prof. G Raghuram, Dr. Peter Balyta and Sanjay Srivastava.

The first runner up for the Texas Instruments IICDC 2016 is the team from IIT Kharagpur for their innovation on tracking sleep disorder and the second runner up is from Dream Institute of Technology, West Bengal for their innovative solution on safety ensuring wearable. Total 30 teams participated in the finals which received 1.5 crores as product development fund. Out of these, Jury selected 10 teams which will receive INR 2Crores seed fund and opportunity to be incubated at NSRCEL, IIMB.

The 2016 TI IICDC saw participation from ~11,000 engineering students across 624 colleges in India. The collaboration with Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) has helped to nurture the young engineering minds and support the Make in India Program at IICDC 2016. In the 10 months long challenge, the participants saw an intense mentoring program from IIMB and TI. TI provided technical resources and guidance throughout the contest, including tool support and mentoring to design & help the students make their prototypes. DST provided funding of INR 3.5 crores to the student start-ups, which went towards the product development and seed fund. The online platform MyGov, promoted active participation of Indian citizens in the country’s governance and development, helped students from all different corners of the country to register for the IICDC through the MyGov portal.

Commenting on the award ceremony, Mr. Laxmi Kant Tiwari from IIT Kharagpur, one of the selected 10 teams said, “We feel honoured and privileged to emerge winners of this year long challenge. It feels all the more exciting to know that we competed amongst the best minds in the country and we were chosen by eminent jury members as the winning idea. We are confident that we will be able to work on this innovation further with the assistance and guidance from TI, IIM B and our mentors. We are all thrilled to start our new journey as entrepreneurs”

At the heels of the results, Texas Instruments India Innovation Challenge Design Contest (IICDC) 2017 is now open for registrations at www.ti.com/iicdc

About Texas Instruments: Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company that develops analog ICs and embedded processors. By employing the world's brightest minds, TI creates innovations that shape the future of technology. TI is helping approximately 100,000 customers transform the future, today. Learn more at www.ti.com. For more information on the global TI university program, visit www.ti.com/university.

About IIMB & NSRCEL: Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) builds leaders and entrepreneurs through holistic, transformative and innovative education. An EQUIS accredit school, IIMB is an acknowledged hub of academic activity in India and globally. IIMB’s research centres include the Centre for Public Policy, the Nadathur S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, the Centre for Financial Markets & Risk Management, the Centre for Corporate Governance & Citizenship, the Centre for Software & IT Management, and the Centre for Supply Chain Management. The N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL) incubates start-ups and provides free mentoring for budding entrepreneurs. NSRCEL currently incubates 18 start-ups – perhaps the largest number for an incubation center in an academic institution.  In 2016-17, NSRCEL conducted 500 mentoring sessions and over 50 events. Through its rapidly growing open mentoring initiatives, it is conservatively estimated that NSRCEL may have directly impacted in excess of 10,000 entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs or other participants in the ecosystem since it was established in 2000.

About DST: The Department of Science and Technology (DST) set up in 1971 by the Government of India plays a pivotal role in promotion of science & technology in the country. The department has wide ranging activities ranging from promoting high end basic research and development of cutting edge technologies on one hand to service the technological requirements of the common man through development of appropriate skills and technologies on the other. One of the mandates of DST is to support innovations, science and technology based entrepreneurship development and technology business incubation activity through National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (https://www.nstedb.com/). The board engages with academic and R&D institutions and also partners with leading industries to promote entrepreneurship across the country.

About MyGov: MyGov is a novel initiative taken by the Government of India to build a crucial partnership between Citizens and Government with the help of technology for materialising the real potential of India. Through this platform, the Government encourages public participation towards Good Governance by seeking ideas, suggestion and creative talent of citizens.  MyGov’s focus is to empower citizens to work hand in hand with government to channelize their collective energy into constructive nation building. National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has designed, developed and hosted the MyGov and twenty (20) of its Sub-Domains.

Paytm Gold is now available as cashback

Bangalore 20th July, 2017  : Paytm now enables customers to get their cashback as Paytm Gold. This will combine the spending & saving experience with an asset that is close to the hearts of Indians. Paytm Gold bought from MMTC-PAMP is stored in their 100% secure insured lockers at no additional cost to the customer. The company aims to encourage the habit of saving each time they spend, thus achieving long-term wealth creation for its users. Accumulated gold can be delivered or sold back to MMTC PAMP instantly.

Launched in April, Paytm Gold has been attracting thousand of customers, making the platform the country’s largest jeweler in terms of footfall within days of launch. More than 60% customers are choosing to buy and accumulate gold according to their budget instead of selling or requesting delivery, without worrying the heavy fees for gold storage in physical lockers. To accelerate this rapid adoption, the company is now servicing all pin-codes, making the product available at every nook and corner of the country. This will enable every Indian, irrespective of location and income level to save in Paytm Gold.

Krishna Hegde, Snr. Vice President – Paytm said, “We have observed that many of our customers were shopping and converting their cashback into pure gold. To encourage this trend further, we are introducing cashback as Paytm Gold. Now you can save gold for long-term wealth creation irrespective of location or income level. That means, whether you are shopping online, paying utility bills or buying movie/travel tickets, you can earn pure gold kept for free in MMTC-PAMP’s secured lockers. This will transform the way the Indian consumer saves.”

 Mehdi Barkhordar, Chairman at MMTC-PAMP India said, “Our partnership with Paytm is built on the foundation of making it easier for every Indian to buy, store and redeem highest quality gold. Launching cashback as Paytm Gold is a natural extension for us, as it would allow every customer to put aside a portion of their money every time they are transacting. This money would then be converted into pure gold purchased from and stored in MMTC-PAMP lockers with complete flexibility in redemption. We believe this is the largest number of customers a jeweler has served in this country in such a short period.”

Paytm Gold has made it accessible for every Indian to buy, store and sell pure gold instantly. The product has witnessed huge interest across cities and towns from Burdwan, Dhanbad, Warangal, Kanchipuram to Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Customers at more than 8,000 pincodes have chosen Paytm Gold as their preferred savings instrument. On the Paytm platform, customers can buy 24K 999.9 Gold from MMTC-PAMP (India’s only Internationally Accredited Refinery) instantly and store it in the country’s most secure, 100% insured lockers at no additional charge. Consumers can buy gold for as little as Re. 1, democratizing access to a wider set of customers as it will make investing in gold more affordable.

 About Paytm:
Paytm is India’s largest mobile payment & commerce platform. With the current user base of more than 225 million, Paytm is on a mission to bring half a billion Indians to the mainstream of the economy using mobile payment, commerce and recently launched Payment Bank. Paytm is founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and is the Consumer brand of India’s leading mobile internet company One97 Communications.  Paytm is headquartered in the National Capital Region, India. The company’s investors include Ant Financial (Alipay), Alibaba Group, SoftBank, SAIF Partners and Mediatek.

Airbus Bizlab Season 2 Bengaluru Launched

Bengaluru, 20 July 2017 – Airbus BizLab announced the successful culmination of its second season through a flagship event in Bengaluru. At the event, the start-ups who were selected to work with different Airbus teams in India and across the world over the last six months showcased their concept models and ideas of transforming the aerospace sector.

 The season two was launched in January 2017 in the presence of the then French Foreign Affairs Minister Mr Jean-Marc Ayrault. It had received 137 applications from nine countries. All the five selected start-ups – Neewee, Stelae Technologies, EFLIGHT, SYmbosim and Qualitas Technologies have today either started working with Airbus or are associated with the aerospace sector.

 The event was attended by Bruno Gutierres – Head of Airbus BizLab, Pierre de Bausset – President and MD at Airbus India, Srinivasan Dwarakanath – President, Commercial Aircraft at Airbus India and Siddharth Balachandran – Airbus BizLab Leader, India. The importance of B2B start-ups across various sectors was also discussed over a panel discussion.

 Commenting on the success of the second season, Bruno Gutierres said, “We are thrilled to have worked with such exciting start-ups in season two. It is re-assuring to see the potential and quality of entrepreneurs in the Indian start-up ecosystem. We are hoping to create more opportunities for start-ups to work in the aerospace and defence sectors.”

 Apart from working with the start-ups in the cohort, Airbus BizLab in India will soon be launching a community of B2B start-ups working in areas such as Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Electric Propulsion, Factories of the Future, Space Tech & Solutions, Image Processing, Cyber Security, IOT & Robotics.

 Elaborating the importance of the community Siddharth Balachandran said, “Every season we can accelerate only five or six start-ups but we keep receiving adhoc requests from Airbus teams globally checking if we have a start-up working on a specific problem that they face. So, from now on, we will have a ready pool of registered start-ups in the community to pick from. We will also organize regular events for the community to help these start-ups better understand the world of Aerospace & Defence.”

 Bizlab is a part of Airbus’ innovative strategy to bring together start-ups and Airbus “intrapreneurs” to work and speed up the transformation of their innovative ideas into valuable businesses. Through its six month “acceleration programme” for early stage projects, Airbus Bizlab gives access to a large number of coaches, experts and mentors in various domains.

 The call for applications for Season three in Bengaluru is now open and BizLab is inviting interested B2B startups to apply for the acceleration program.


Selected start-ups from Season 2:

Neewee from BLR – developed a solution “procuSense” which helps companies identify bottlenecks, optimize/improve performance from their supply chains – currently pursuing pilots in Airbus globally

Stelae Technologies from BLR – created Artificial Intelligence software which transforms unstructured content into structured, searchable and indexable output – partnered with Tech Mahindra to propose a digitilisation project for Airbus

SYmbosim from BLR – specializing in the accelerated design of composite materials/structures – currently in discussion to run a pilot with one of the Airbus teams

eFlight from BLR – integrates flight planning, filing & logging for business aviation pilots – signed a partnership with one of the Airbus subsidiaries
Qualitas Technologies – a Machine Vision and Deep Learning start-up that automates visual processes in manufacturing – recently delivered a pilot for an Airbus team in Toulouse and is awaiting the final nod for implementation

Kids welcomes Peppa Pig to Bangalore

Bangalore, 15^th July, 2017:  Viacom18 Consumer Products, the consumer products arm of Viacom18, welcomed the internationally acclaimed character of Peppa Pig and her brother George, to India. The show - Peppa Pig, started to air in India on Nick Jr. from December 2016 along with fast growing video on demand platform Voot and rapidly gained a massive following among tiny tots and their parents in India; following which, Viacom18 is enhancing the viewer’s experience further by providing an exclusive meet and greet with their favorite characters across the city and exclusively at a Hamley’s outlet in Bangalore.

The two toons, Peppa and George visited Honeybeez Play School and amused the kids with their presence and also exhibited their wide range of attractive and kid’s friendly merchandise. The preschoolers watched episodes of Peppa Pig, learnt interesting lessons, played exciting games, participated in creative activities and had lots of ice-creams while having a lot of fun. The kids also won Peppa Pig themed products from Peppa herself and their joy knew no boundaries.

To magnify the celebration, Viacom18’s consumer arm, in association with international toy brand Hamley’s, are also hosted a ‘Peppa Pig Welcome Party’ which kick started in Bangalore. Kids across all age flocked to the Hamley’s store and experienced the joy of meeting their most loved characters. Moreover, they also took part in an array of activities such as- maze games, Peppa Pong games, coloring contests and even a magic show. Kids in Bangalore had an unforgettable day and carried back with them bag full of memories and Peppa Pig merchandise.

ABOUT VIACOM18 CONSUMER PRODUCTS:

Our mission is to create a unique brand experience for fans of all ages by bringing Viacom 18’s most favorite brands and characters like MTV, Roadies, South Park, Colors, Nickelodeon along with a growing portfolio of acquired third party brands like FC Barcelona, Peppa Pig to name a few to life through innovative and exciting merchandise.

Viacom18 Consumer Products is a significant player in the fast growing and evolving licensing and merchandising business with its diverse portfolio. By creating exciting and engaging products we aim to bring alive our brands and characters in the lives of our fans. Through various associations, Viacom18 has cut beyond the conventional L & M categories giving the consumers a slice of its.

At Viacom18 Consumer Products, we aim at continuously creating enchanting products to reach out to infants, tweens, teens and young adults by being a part of their everyday lives.

ZIPPO SHINES BRIGHT AT THE 6TH EDITION OF BANGALORE OPEN AIR!

Bangalore, July 3^rd 2017 – More than 1500 music lovers from across India came together to celebrate and enjoy pulsating rock and metal music, at the 6th season of the Bangalore Open Air music festival. Hosted at the lush Royal Orchid Resort and Convention Center, the festival witnessed some of the best talents from both Indian and International bands.

An exciting highlight of the festival was the Zippo Flame Art which was setup at the venue. Symbolizing the passion and love for rock music, the flame art created fun and magical moments for the artists and the crowd, which they won’t forget for years to come!
The festival goers also got to witness the Zippo Encore area in all its glory! From unleashing their creative spirits at the ‘Zippo Custom Contest’, to trying their luck at the ‘Zippo Wheel of Fortune’ and celebrating their inner-passion through face-painting, the Zippo Encore Area had an activity for everyone. The attendees also had a chance to find their perfect Zippo windproof lighter from the host of exclusive collectibles available. 

Videocon’s GST Summit empowers consumer electronic traders in Bengaluru

Bengaluru, June 24^th , 2017: Videocon, a major consumer electronics and DTH company, along with ASSOCHAM and CEAMA, organized a GST Summit for traders where the implications of the proposed ‘one nation-one tax’ were discussed. The summit also addressed doubts raised by consumer electronics retailers. The Bengaluru chapter of the ASSOCHAM CEAMA GST summit powered by Videocon and Videocon d2h was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Shri. R.V. Deshpande, Honourable Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries, Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Karnataka. The seminar was also addressed by Shri. Narayan Swamy, Commissioner - Service Tax, Bengaluru.

Bengaluru is one of the 200 cities where Videocon plans to spread awareness and impart knowledge about GST, to consumer electronics trade partners. The national rollout of the ASSOCHAM-Videocon GST Summit in Delhi was welcomed by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Honorable Union Minister of State for Finance, Government of India. He commended ASSOCHAM and Videocon for organizing the summit for the benefit of the trader community.

Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Vishal Sharan, Sales Head, Videocon, said, “We are committed to welcome GST and bring everyone in the consumer electronics industry within its ambit. The objective behind organizing this summit was to equip our trade partners in Bengaluru with complete knowledge of GST and prepare them for its implementation. Videocon has always taken initiatives to ensure the welfare and growth of the industry.”

Being a responsible corporate house, Videocon is committed to serve the industry and all its stakeholders. The company recently launched a digital helpline for retailers, GST@vgmail.in, where consumer electronics retailers can email their queries with regards to GST. Videocon will endeavor to respond with the help of experts within 48 working hours.

GST Summit received a tremendous response from traders in Bengaluru. Consumer Electronics retailers, utilized the platform to clarify all their GST queries.

About Videocon Group

Videocon Group is a global business conglomerate with a strong presence in Household Consumer Goods, Mobile Handsets, DTH, Retail, Oil & Gas, and the Power sector. Videocon group has constantly leveraged a culture of innovation to develop a range of market re-defining products.

Photo Caption- Shri. R.V. Deshpande, Honourable Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries, Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Karnataka rolls out the ASSOCHAM VIDEOCON GST Summit for traders in Bengaluru. Shri. Narayan Swamy, Commissioner - Service Tax, Bengaluru was also present on the occasion.

Shri Pradeep Dhoot welcoming Shri. R.V. Deshpande, Honourable Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries, Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Karnataka at ASSOCHAM Videocon GST Summit in Bengaluru. 

LtoR: Shri. Narayan Swamy, Commissioner - Service Tax, Bengaluru; Shri. R.V. Deshpande, Honourable Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries, Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of Karnataka; and Shri Pradeep Dhoot

OnePlus5 Launch in India

Mumbai, June 22, 2017 – OnePlus today introduced the OnePlus 5, the latest in its lineup of premium flagship smartphones. With this new device, OnePlus is further demonstrating its mission to share the best technology with the world.

The OnePlus 5 features the highest resolution dual-camera system on a smartphone today for clearer photos than ever before. Dash Charge, OnePlus’ industry-leading charging technology, gives users a day's power in half an hour. The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 platform, coupled with up to 8 GB of RAM, provides a smooth user experience at a lower power consumption rate. The OnePlus 5 also supports 34 GSM network bands, giving users seamless connectivity around the world.

“The OnePlus 5 showcases our obsessive attention to detail and our focus on delivering the best user experience possible,” said OnePlus Founder and CEO Pete Lau. “We have applied this approach to all aspects of the OnePlus 5. For example, the dual camera provides some of the clearest photos in the smartphone market today and gives users more control to take stunning photos in all conditions.”

Commenting on the partnership, Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Category Management, Amazon India, said “Reiterating our long-term exclusive partnership with OnePlus since 2014, we are thrilled     to offer our customers exclusive access to the World’s Highest Resolution Dual Camera Smartphone OnePlus 5. Customers across the country can now enjoy fast and reliable delivery of OnePlus 5 at their doorstep. Amazon.in has successfully brought the flagship OnePlus smartphone devices to Indian customers, and are now thrilled to offer the latest OnePlus 5. This will be available for purchase starting Rs. 32,999 exclusively on Amazon.in. Smartphones are one of the fastest growing product lines and have repeatedly been one of the top selling categories on Amazon.in.”

Attention to Design and Details
At 7.25 mm, the OnePlus 5, available in Midnight Black and Slate Gray colors, is the thinnest OnePlus flagship ever. The aluminum unibody features a continuous hard line around the edge of the phone. The Horizon Line, a key element of OnePlus design, casts one half of the phone in light and the other in shadow, offering an elegant, streamlined appearance. The minimalistic design is further reinforced by a new crescent-shaped antenna that blends seamlessly into the top and bottom edges of the phone. Rounded corners and edges makes the OnePlus 5 feel more comfortable in the hand.

Dual Camera. Clearer Photos.
The OnePlus 5 features the highest resolution dual-camera system on a smartphone today. A tailor-made 16 MP sensor is supported by a 20 MP sensor with a telephoto lens to accurately determine the distance between the sensor and objects in the environment. A large f/1.7 aperture allows for faster snaps and helps compensate for stuttering to improve image stabilization.

In Portrait Mode, the two sensors work together to create a focal separation between faces and backgrounds, while a custom software algorithm makes your subject clear and well-lit. This results in a professional depth-of-field (bokeh) effect that keeps faces sharp in front of a blurred backdrop. Smart Capture combines optical zoom with multi-frame technology to let you zoom in with greater clarity, while Fast AF uses the dual-camera system to more accurately calculate depth to speed up auto-focus by up to 40 percent.

The all-new Pro Mode gives smartphone users powerful DSLR features such as ISO, white balance, shutter-speed, focus and exposure modification, as well as an on-screen histogram and RAW image file support for complete control of post-shot editing.

A Day’s Power in Half an Hour
First introduced with the OnePlus 3, Dash Charge is the fastest charging solution on the global market. A quick half-hour charge gives the OnePlus 5 enough power for the day. By carrying more current and shifting the power management from the handset to the adapter to keep the phone cooler during charging, Dash Charge can continue to fast charge the OnePlus 5 even when using GPS or playing graphically intensive games. The 3,300 mAh battery also lasts up to 20 percent longer than the OnePlus 3T.

Smooth Experience
Through a combination of powerful hardware and intelligent software, the OnePlus 5 provides a truly seamless smartphone experience.

The OnePlus 5 takes advantage of the top-of-the-line Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835 platform that provides powerful performance while drawing up to 40 percent less power. With up to 8 GB of LPDDR4X RAM, the OnePlus 5 can run a large number of apps in the background without a single second of lag. The combination of UFS 2.1 and a new two-lane ROM results in 26 percent faster storage performance in everything from installations to loading apps and games.

OnePlus’ custom operating system, OxygenOS, is designed to refine stock Android’s core functionalities with features and optimizations that add value to the user experience. New updates to the OnePlus 5 include Reading Mode, which utilizes an ambient sensor and gray-scale mapping to make reading as comfortable as reading an actual book. Gaming Do Not Disturb Mode allows users to play their favorite games without being disrupted by notifications or accidental hardware button presses. With App Priority, the OnePlus 5 loads your most-used apps more quickly to further improve performance.

Pricing and Availability
The Midnight Black version (8 GB RAM / 128 GB storage) will retail at Rs 37,999. The price for Slate Gray version (6 GB RAM / 64GB storage) is Rs 32,999.

The OnePlus 5 will be available in an exclusive early access sale on Amazon.in on June 22nd 2017 starting 4.30PM. Select users will also be able to experience and purchase the OnePlus 5 at our Pop-up stores across 5 cities in India on a first cum first serve basis: Mumbai: 22nd June, New Delhi on 23rd June, Bangalore and Chennai on 24th June and Hyderabad on 25th June.

OnePlus 5 open sales across all countries begin on June 27, 2017. In India, it will be available for sale on Amazon.in, oneplusstore.in and across OnePlus Experience Stores in Delhi and Bangalore.

NI Showcases Smart Platforms and Tools for the Indian Aerospace & Defence Industry

INDIA, Bangalore – June 21, 2017: NI (Nasdaq: NATI), the provider of systems that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, hosted the India Defence and Aerospace Symposium 2017 in association with Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries (SIATI). The symposium which witnessed a footfall of 500, was attended by engineers, scientists, managers and professionals in the aviation, space and defence industries and focused on navigation, RADAR, Electronics Warfare, Military Communications, Satellites as well as test rig construction and HIL.

At the event, NI showcased how the design, development and test challenges of the Indian Aerospace & Defence (A&D) Industry can be integrated by smart platforms & tools powered by ready-made technology. The diverse set of industry experts present, shared their ideas on revolution in simulation and test solutions, challenges of RADAR design & test, advanced techniques for phase aligned RF signal generation & acquisition and data acquisition systems for A&D applications.

Commenting on the importance of system design for the Aerospace and Defence industry, Tarun Gupta, Business Development Manager, National Instruments India, said, “India is an established technology hub for engineering services and product development for the global defence market. At National Instruments, it is our endeavor to provide the best-in-class testing solutions for enabling this industry rapidly develop and deploy systems. The India Defence and Aerospace Symposium 2017 gives us a platform to showcase the advanced technologies that can help build modern & reliable automated test systems for the aerospace & defence segments.”

At the event, NI showcased:

·       Smarter approach to system design in Aerospace & Defence

·       Prototyping & Testing modern Electronic Warfare (EW) Systems and RADARs

·       Gigahertz Record & Playback Systems & Using Software Defined Radios (SDRs) for prototyping communications systems for A&D industry

·      Validating and Testing of Avionic Systems & Advanced Techniques for Phase Aligned signal generation and acquisition

·       Architecting Flexible HIL Test Systems for Embedded Controllers & Data Acquisition Systems for A&D Industry

The annual National Instruments Defence & Aerospace event aims to bring together and share domain knowledge and best practices from partners in the Indian Aerospace and Defence industry.