Robotic Surgeries Emerge as Saviour Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

In the COVOD-19 era, when carrying out surgeries has become difficult, Robotic Surgery can provide minimally invasive procedures to patients, while providing greater protection to the doctors and other healthcare professionals, when compared to manual surgical procedures.

An estimated number of 313 million people all over the world undergo surgery everywhere. With the looming COVID-19 crisis, the health of these patients has been compromised. Currently, Robotic technology comes as a solution to the surgical challenges.

Dr. Ramakant Panda from the Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai, one of just a few centres in India offering patients surgical robotic procedures has commented, "Patient safety is our key priority and with COVID-19 we need to make sure we can conduct surgery in the best way possible for patients. We believe that surgical robotics offers this enhanced safety for patients. With physical distancing maintained while the surgeon sits at the console, this has the potential to reduce the likelihood of the patient or surgical team catching COVID-19. We are happy we will be offering surgery using Versius, a surgical robot. Robotic surgery can enhance surgery and help patients in the COVID era, as well as has the potential to support surgery during future pandemics. When conducting manual minimally invasive techniques, the surgeon is within very close proximity of the patient with more of the surgical team in the operating room, so this considerably increases the risk of contracting the infection and infecting the patient. In robotic surgery, the surgeon is more than 6 feet away while also reducing the number of people in the operating room."

Dr. Ramakant Panda also added that, "Versius, the surgical robot is controlled from a console away from the operating table, but with clear sight and easy access to the patient always. In addition, as the surgeon operates both the instrument and visualisation arms there is no need for an assistant to operate the camera - helping reduce the risk of COVID transmission to patient and hospitals to work efficiently with less manpower at a time of increased pressure. COVID-19 places attention on hospitals to deliver the best patient care at a time when resources are under high pressure."

According to Dr. Ramakant Panda, "Hospitals need to think differently during COVID-19 and surgical robotics offers a glimpse into the future of the operating room where technology can help the surgical team deliver minimally invasive surgery in a way that brings benefit to the surgical team, patient-and ultimately the hospital. It is important that patients do not delay during COVID, as with Versius Robotic surgery the patient recovers fast with virtually no pain/little pain and there is reduced risk of COVID transmission. So Versius is an Opportunity. It is an affordable option, as it is marginally higher than manual laparoscopy, but has various benefits especially at this time."

The demand for robotic surgery in India is high. This is especially beneficial during the time of COVID-19 when every hospital bed is under pressure, and hence it becomes important to ensure that patients have a shorter length of stay at hospitals and return home quicker. An open surgery also poses a greater risk of infection. A minimally invasive robotic surgical procedure drastically reduces the risk of a surgical site infection for a patient.

For more details & enquiries, please contact: 9322760158, info@ahirc.com.

"Tintin Match" Launches Today for Android and iOS

5^th Planet Games in cooperation with Moulinsart are today proud to announce the release of Tintin Match, an exciting and fun match-3 mobile game that is available right now, free to play, at the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Tintin Match is a story-driven, match-3 switcher game for all ages starting age 9, where you progress through colourful puzzles built around the universe of Tintin. As you follow the famous reporter on his adventures you will take on puzzle challenges to unlock and collect iconic Tintin locations and characters known from the books. 

The game has been developed by the 5^th Planet Games Berlin Studio in collaboration with Moulinsart, 5^th Planet Games is headed by renowned puzzle game expert Moritz Voss; a former technology lead at King, the now Activision-owned, Swedish company behind some of the most successful puzzle games ever published, like Candy Crush Saga and Bubble Witch Saga. Moulinsart actively contributed to the artistic realization of the interface, the "sprites" and the characters of the game with the support of his studios.

Henrik Nielsen, CEO of 5^th Planet Games, is looking forward to launching the astonishing new Tintin game on mobile, and credits Moritz Voss’s leadership as a driving factor. “Moritz Voss has excelled in the match 3-genre several times before and we are confident that this game will be THE best game we have ever brought to market”.

Nick Rodwell, Managing Director of Moulinsart, the company behind Tintin, whose Studios actively contributed to the artistic development of this game agrees: “We’re very excited about this opportunity to introduce Tintin to mobile gamers around the world. To let players take on the role of the detective and solve puzzles and mysteries on their own, through a fun and familiar game mechanic, is a great way to expand the Tintin universe. We very much hope that it will be a huge hit among fans of both Tintin and puzzle games throughout the world”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soScE9AaaLQ

Get Tintin Match on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fpg.tintin
Get Tintin Match on Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1455871967

About Tintin:

TINTIN might be the hero everyone would like to be, but is also surely the friend everybody would like to have. A friend who would do anything for the ones he cares about. Today, The Adventures of Tintin still resonates vibrantly: They inspire artists, writers, movie and theatre directors alike. Tintin embodies the universal values in which each and everyone can rely. Tintin is a unique mix, combining exciting stories, a “ligne claire” drawing style and universal themes.Tintin is famous all over the world.

Distributed worldwide, Tintin’s adventures are devoured with the same enthusiasm since its debut back in 1929 in the pages of Le Petit Vingtième. Who could have envisioned such a success? Definitely not its creator, Hergé (Georges Remi), autodidact comic book artist who was lucky enough to publish his work during his teenage years in the pages of Belgium’s scout magazines.

About 5th Planet Games:

5th Planet Games is a mobile games developer and publisher located in Copenhagen and Berlin. We work with strong IPs as the Adventures of Tintin and premium sports brands such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Nyjah Huston (pro Skateboarder). We are proud to expand the world of the successful Vikings TV series, the legendary game Doodle Jump and our own, Nordic childrens IP Hugo. For more information see www.5thplanetgames.com
About Moulinsart:MOULINSART is the worldwide exclusive owner of all exploitation rights of HERGÉ’s work, including the copyrights, as well as the reproduction rights and the adaptation rights.

Niyogin Fintech to Acquire 51% Stake in iServeU for $8 Mn

Niyogin’s vision is to create a full-stack digital platform for unserved or underserved and bring best in class products and services on the platform. Niyogin has been scaling its unique platform through a network of financial professionals and with products such as wealth, credit, and other SaaS-based products that help digitize small businesses. We take another big step forward in this journey and are excited to announce acquisition of 51% strategic and controlling stake in iServeU for INR 592 M (US$ 8 M) in a cash plus stock deal.

iServeU leverages the full capability of digital platforms and public payments infrastructure to reach the underbanked with focus on rural India. The company enables small village merchants to serve local communities and drive financial inclusion through iServeU’s digital platform. iServeU has seen rapid adoption of its platform and has been processing transactions worth ~US$500m annually on their platform. The transactions and platform adoption have accelerated through the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as rural local communities rapidly moved towards digital adoption.

The acquisition provides Niyogin with deep market access to un/under banked India. Apart from market access for the firms, there are multiple product complementarities such as credit, digital wealth, and payments among others which the two companies can jointly access to create a strong full-stack fintech value proposition for our customers.

“We welcome iServeU and the team to the Niyogin family. They bring with them a unique platform, reach, and experience that will be of immense benefit to Niyogin. We continue to make strategic investments in effectively using technology to bring digital enablement to unserved. Niyogin’s capabilities combined with iServeU’s digital platform strengths will maximize impact to the underserved and unserved customers and allow us to expand product stack and addressable market.”said Amit Rajpal, Chairman and Co-Founder, Niyogin Fintech.

Welcoming the acquisition, Debiprasad Sarangi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, iServeU Technologies said, “We see Niyogin as a long-term strategic partner and are excited about what Niyogin and iServeU can deliver jointly to rural customers and micro-businesses, transform communities, leverage technology to empower people and accelerate much needed financial inclusion in India. The capital infusion will be used to scale and accelerate growth with expanding footprint deeper into rural India and new product innovation.”

The acquisition is subject to necessary approvals and customary closing conditions. Equirus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to iServeU for this transaction.

About Niyogin Fintech Limited

Niyogin (BSE : 538772) is India’s pure publicly listed fintech startup with an end-to-end digital platform empowering small business, starting with their financial needs and building a broader ecosystem meeting their non-financial requirements as well. At Niyogin we are building a digital platform with a unique distribution model to access the B2B+C customers in India. This is through our partner network of financial professionals along with the direct digital channel and partnerships We are board run and professionally managed company. We currently have credit and non-credit product including India’s leading Digital wealth platform under brand “Moneyfront” with assets under administration of over US$100 M. For more information, please visit www.niyogin.com

About iServeU

iServeU is the only financial inclusion solution provider that is architected on latest technology stack and is fully micro-services enabled (allowing fully elastic cloud deployment and reducing infra-costs by approx. 80% of usual costs). Despite of government’s several steps, still there is huge gap between bank and unbanked/under banked people. We oath towards innovating a Next Generation Payment Solutions by creating a Connectivity between remotely located unbanked masses with basic financial services through our top-notch technology. We believe technology and banking services should be for everyone. Our focus is on deeply rural, rural, urban and semi-urban people, and we are moving ahead towards our mission “Redefining Financial Inclusion”. 

iServeU Technology Pvt Ltd (iServeU) is a DIPP certified Fin Tech Company registered under The Start-up India program of Government of India, supported by NSTDEB, pledging towards making India a financial inclusive society. We are almost 5 years old and are successfully running several technology solutions in partnership with Banks, NBFCs, FI Players and Corporate BCs. iServeU is proud to announce over 50000+ retailers and INR 35 B. transactions per year with access to 25000+ villages across India & 500+ concurrent transactions per second. For more information, visit www.iserveu.in

India’s 1st Integrated OTT Exchange 'ads2OTT' Set to Launch

The exchange will offer an aggregation of ad inventory across leading and trusted OTT platforms

361 Degree Entertainment & Media Pvt Ltd is set to launch ads2OTT, India’s First Integrated OTT Exchange in October 2020. In the past few years there has been a proliferation of OTT platforms in the video-on-demand category. Though there has been a substantial increase in subscription numbers, the potential of the advertising revenue is yet to be realised. Today brands and agencies are facing a challenge to reach out to multiple platforms in existence. Hence, there is a need of an exchange that offers ad inventory available across platforms, under one roof. ads2OTT is aimed to provide a one-stop solution for brands to advertise across OTT platforms.

ads2OTT’s futuristic construct, promises to fulfil advertisers’ requirements of focused advertising, which is both impactful and result oriented. With one seamless transaction you can reach viewers across any part of India, with high-quality and on-demand content across popular TV shows, movies, LIVE sports and more. The focus is to go beyond metros and target regional and local advertisers especially in tier 2 and 3 markets. The exchange will specialise in helping brands, agencies and advertisers understand and navigate this revolutionary media landscape. 

Shivi Chopra, Co-Founder, ads2OTT

Shivi Chopra, Co-Founder, ads2OTT says, “The rise of OTT platforms has presented a great opportunity for advertisers. The advent of the festive season along with the upcoming IPL will boost advertising and brands will look at investing in the OTT space in a big way. The question is no longer about whether to invest in OTT but rather How and How much. OTT offers a formidable combination of the impact of television along with the power and precision of digital. Our prime focus will be to help regional and local brands to experience the efficiency and effectiveness of the category. At the same time, we will be catering to national brands who are looking at conveying their brand’s message or extending their existing broadcast reach. We are extremely bullish about the future of OTT and the exponential ROI it will generate for advertisers.”

Shivi Chopra further added “ads2OTT is envisioned to play a critical and catalytic role in forming OTT into a separate category within the Media Advertising Landscape.”

Economic downturn and budget limitations could force marketers to adopt creative solutions to attract users. In the near future, ads2OTT will experiment with innovative formats such as in-show monetization, with shoppable content embedded directly in the stream as there is a need to think holistically.

Advertisers will aim to capitalize on the OTT boom but will have to become more particular of the media sources and their proportion impacting the consumer mind space. Brands are increasingly allocating their marketing spends to OTT platforms as the digital medium becomes highly influential and consumers are deeply engaged with this medium. 

ABOUT 361 DEGREE Entertainment and Media Pvt. Ltd. 

361 Degree is an integrated marketing and communications company. The platform provides end-to-end solutions through their group companies, ranging from planning to execution, across multiple media and entertainment spectrum.

PhonePe to Digitize 25 Million Small Merchants across 5500 Talukas in India

The company will also create over 10,000 jobs across the country

PhonePe, India’s leading digital payments platform today announced that it will enable digital payments for over 25 million small merchants across India in the next one year. The company will also onboard these kiranas on its PhonePe for Business app, offering them end-to-end control of the payment process including instant payment confirmations, receipts and reconciliations. It plans to reach 5,500 talukas via its merchant acquisition team that will lead to over 10,000 jobs being created in semi urban and rural areas.

Despite the rapid penetration of digital payments, kiranas across India still rely on cash. Kirana owners have smartphones, data and the aspiration to adopt newer technology, but there are no services that match their aspirations. Kiranas are looking to acquire customers and forge deeper relationships with them. Customers on the other hand are looking for safety and convenience, while continuing to access their local trusted neighbourhood merchant.

PhonePe with its multiple offerings is all set to bridge this gap. It offers its merchant partners a personalized store page on the PhonePe app allowing them to list their store timings, share their product catalogue and promote home delivery options, thereby reaching out to a much wider customer base. Customers have the convenience of discovering local stores in their vicinity and connecting with the merchants using the call or chat feature to place their orders, and pay remotely via the stores tab on the PhonePe app. PhonePe is bringing these offerings to merchants in semi-urban and rural areas to help them digitize and grow their business.

Commenting on the announcement, Vivek Lohcheb, Vice President - Offline Business Development, PhonePe said, “Kiranas and merchants across small villages and towns are striving to progress and prosper. We are really excited to partner with them in this journey and take digital payments to the last mile of India across every village and town. This is also in line with our brand ethos of ''Karte Ja. Badhte Ja'' which reflects the role played by PhonePe in India’s progress, helping bridge the digital divide while empowering merchant partners across Bharat."

About PhonePe:

PhonePe is India’s leading digital payments platform with over 230 million registered users. Using PhonePe, users can send and receive money, recharge mobile, DTH, data cards, pay at stores, make utility payments, buy gold and make investments. PhonePe forayed into financial services in 2017 with the launch of digital gold providing users with a safe and convenient option to buy 24-karat gold securely on its platform. PhonePe has since launched Mutual funds and Insurance financial products like tax-saving funds, liquid funds, international travel insurance and Corona Care, a dedicated insurance product for the COVID-19 pandemic. PhonePe also launched its Switch platform in 2018, and today its customers can place orders on over 200 apps including Ola, Myntra, IRCTC, Goibibo, RedBus, Oyo etc. directly from within the PhonePe mobile app. PhonePe is accepted at over 11 million merchant outlets across 500 cities nationally.

Tech-Head Search Firm Purple Quarter Assists Joining of Hike Messenger's New Head of Engineering

Tech-Head Search Firm Purple Quarter today said that the startup played a matchmaker between Hike Messenger and its new VP and Head of Engineering, Suvesh Malhotra. Purple Quarter was mandated by Hike Messenger to fulfill this position Prior to this, the CTO recruitment firm has closed many senior-level technology roles for various leading businesses like Rivigo, Tokopedia (the Indnoesian e-commerce giant), InMobi, Walmart Labs, Swiggy, Acko General Insurance, Swiggy, UrbanClap and more.

Commenting on the appointment of Suvesh Malhotra at Hike Messenger, Deepak Singh, Founder and CEO of Purple Quarter said, "When we received the mandate from Hike Messenger, we looked for candidates in gaming and other intense technology domains from both India and abroad. We were aware of Suvesh's extremely noteworthy work and he was already in our mind among the foremost choices for the role. We collected a deep understanding of his work by studying his career trajectory and proposed him to Kavin Mittal."

Purple Quarter states that the pandemic led to a demand surge in senior technology roles among firms. Roopa Kumar, the Co-founder and COO of the firm adds, "The pandemic led many businesses to amp up their technology game and as a result we never witnessed a slump in the demand for senior technology roles and this holds true for companies across verticals. The only challenge was physical or face-to-face meetings couldn't materialize, but making the best use of technology, our detailed and thorough process, which required a bit of a tweak for remote interviews never made remote interviews seem anything short of face-to-face meetings."

Founded in 2017, Purple Quarter is a CTO recruitment startup that deals with hiring for technology leadership-level roles for organizations.

Myntra Announces Bollywood Actor, Kiara Advani, as its Brand Ambassador

Set to drive Myntra's narrative as a Fashion Expert among consumers across the country

Myntra announces Bollywood actor and style icon, Kiara Advani, as its brand ambassador and nationwide celebrity endorser. Her mass appeal as a talented actor and fashion trendsetter is poised to accelerate conversations around Myntra’s apparel segments. She will thus play a pivotal role in connecting one of India’s leading fashion and lifestyle destinations, with millions of fashion-forward consumers.

Kiara is an icon for her filmography and projects across OTT platforms and a well-known fashionista in B-town. Her sublime style quotient is poised to strengthen Myntra’s position as a leading destination for fashion and lifestyle among the customers.

In her role as the brand ambassador, Kiara will establish a strong connection with Myntra’s existing customers, while attracting a new set of fashion-forward, digital-savvy and entertainment-oriented customers from across the nation. Additionally, her engaging social media presence, high resonance with the country's youth population, and a strong fan following will help strengthen Myntra’s vision of democratising fashion.

Speaking about her association with Myntra, Kiara said, “Fashion is all about being comfortable in your attire and I believe comfort brings out the confidence in you. Myntra has changed the overall dynamics of online shopping, it’s a platform that has enabled us to find our fashion favorites with just a click. It’s been one of the most liked platforms amongst the youth and it makes me extremely happy to join hands with them and be associated with the brand."

Speaking on the association, Amar Nagaram, CEO, Myntra, said, “We are ecstatic about our association with Kiara Advani. She personifies fashion and style that appeals to a wide audience across geographies and age groups. Her association will be pivotal in helping us foster our relationship with existing customers while expanding our footprint into unexplored regions in India. This association gives impetus to our commitment of serving the evolving fashion and lifestyle needs using the power of technology while offering superlative customer experience, and unparalleled fashion content."

The influence of cine stars on fashion is ubiquitous. Those moments in life when fashion takes precedence, trendsetters such as Kiara lead the way for people and influence their fashion and lifestyle choices. Non-metro and smaller cities that are fast emerging as key markets for online fashion commerce are no different. The Bollywood diva is set to feature in the company’s new brand campaign focusing on strengthening Myntra’s position as a fashion expert.

About Myntra:

Myntra is India's leading platform for fashion brands and pioneer in m-commerce play. An integral part of the Flipkart Group, Myntra brings together technology and fashion to create the best experience in the fashion and lifestyle space in India. The company has partnered with over 3000+ leading fashion and lifestyle brands in the country such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Levis, Wrangler, Arrow, Jealous 21, Diesel, CAT, Harley Davidson, Ferrari, Timberland, US Polo, FabIndia, Biba and many more, to offer a wide range in latest branded fashion and lifestyle wear.

Myntra services over 27,000 pin codes across the country. With the largest in-season product catalogue, 100% authentic products, Cash on Delivery and 30-day Exchange/Return policy, Myntra is today the preferred shopping destination in India.

Ed-tech Start-up DataTrained Ties with IBM to Deliver High Demand Skills like Data Science, ML and Neural Network

DataTrained, Bangalore-based Ed-tech start-up, today announced its collaboration with IBM to offer courses in Data Science, Machine Learning, and Neural Networks in India. 

As a part of the 10-month learning program, students will be taught the fundamentals of Machine Learning, and will be introduced to an array of Data Science essentials, like Python, R, and Deep Learning. During the course, students will be engaged in over thirty projects that would give them a chance to practice the skills they have learned while enrolled in the program, such as exploratory data analysis and model creation. Students also benefit from working on industry relevant platforms, 24/7 access to teaching assistants and online sessions conducted by IBMers. The course concludes with Capstone Projects that will help students demonstrate applied skills.

Rashid Khan, CEO, DataTrained, said, “We are delighted to partner with IBM to bring our students the most comprehensive training programs available. IBM is undeniably a pioneer in AI, cloud and data science in the industry. Both IBM and DataTrained share a common goal of making Data Science and Machine Learning more relevant and accessible, and this relationship is a step further in that direction.”

Devkant Agarwal, Leader, Growth initiatives, Career Education Services, IBM, said “IBM is committed to empowering students from various backgrounds with skills needed to excel in today’s high-demand technologies. As we emerge from the pandemic, new age technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning have taken precedence and it has become important for students to constantly up-skill themselves in these areas.  These courses are aligned to current market shifts and will help future proof their careers.”

Using a distinct blended learning model, students will be taught via live online sessions and pre-recorded videos followed by quizzes and assignments. They will be provided industry-recognized certificates from IBM and DataTrained upon successful completion of the program. The program also comes with 6 months of internship which adds further value to the job seekers. 

About DataTrained

DataTrained is an industry-sponsored ed-tech company headquartered in Bengaluru. A leading Analytics company, DataTrained specializes in providing Big Data solutions and Artificial Intelligence aided decision making for retail customers. The company has two campuses in Noida and has plans to open 5 new campuses by the end of 2020. Their core strength is the partnership with leading corporates and is looking forward to bridging the gap between the industry and academia by providing internship opportunities as an integral part of their course.For more information on the course visit: https://www.datatrained.com/data-science-program

Jio Platforms' success gives hope to struggling Indian IT vendors impacted by COVID-19, says GlobalData

• Challenges faced by Indian IT vendors are in stark contrast to global counterparts


• Indian tech companies have traditionally been IT services giants


• Interest in Jio Platforms will augur well for other Indian tech companies

Global technology companies have seen a rapid increase in their valuation over the past six months - with the most notable example being Apple passing the US$2 trillion mark in market capitalization (MCap) value. In contrast, many Indian IT vendors are struggling, having been affected considerably by the COVID-19 outbreak. While traditional Indian IT services giants have been waiting to tide over the impact of the pandemic, Jio Platforms has transformed into a tech juggernaut. While it may be difficult for others to replicate what Jio has achieved, the interest in Jio will definitely augur well for other Indian technology companies at a time when enterprises across the world are gearing up for digitization, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Nishant Singh, Director of Technology at GlobalData, says: "While Indian IT vendors seeing such stark contrast to global counterparts is unfortunate, this is just the nature of the IT services business model, which, in contrast to software, needs projects in the pipeline. With the COVID-19 outbreak, enterprises halted all non-critical expenses, including plans to upgrade or transform their IT infrastructure. This has had an impact on Indian IT companies, since most of their revenues are from IT services.

"A lot of the faith in global technology companies comes from the fact that they have a pretty robust suite of intellectual property, including hardware, software and ecosystems that serve consumers and enterprises alike. The growth in stock prices merely reaffirms that technology companies – primarily 'Big Tech' companies – are well poised to tide over the pandemic-induced recession."

Big Indian technology companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL have traditionally been IT services giants. Unlike their counterparts in the software space, IT services companies typically do not have a large stash of intellectual property, making it slightly difficult for the market to distinguish between the IT services companies. For example, TCS – India's biggest IT services company – has only managed to recover the valuation it had lost owing to the pandemic. The company has also been in the news recently due to the intellectual property lawsuit filed against it by Epic Systems Corp.

Despite these struggles, the near future should see the market showing more confidence in the traditional Indian IT vendors. Singh adds: "With enterprises across the world now gearing up for digitization, Indian IT services vendors will witness a lot of action. Coupled with the market euphoria witnessed for Jio, the technology landscape in India could well witness a drastic revival in investor confidence."

Analysts available for interview. Please contact Aarti Chandrseker at the GlobalData Press Office for comment on +91 40 6616 6809 / +44 (0)207 936 6400 or email: pr@globaldata.com.

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Earth Observing Systems Help Us Create a Sustainable Planet

In recent years, space technology has allowed India to move into the world of high-tech ecosystem. India is focused on developing Earth observation (EO) capabilities that is based on capturing different themes of land, water, cartography, ocean, atmosphere, and meteorology. The national earth observation satellites help in a diverse range of functions such as weather forecasting, disaster warning and mitigation, national security, and natural resources management. With the increasing applications, India is poised to launch 10 earth observation satellites into space in 2020-21.

The perspective of space is truly important to the future of not just India, but the world at large. NASA’s Earth Observing Systems (EOS) are being used in space to help monitor and analyse the health of Earth’s atmosphere and environment from an all-encompassing view. Earth observations provide the evidence necessary for varied purposes, and aid in informed decision-making.

"Developments in these technologies help us understand the world better,” says IEEE Fellow Tom Couglin. “Satellites allow us to capture a holistic understanding of the Earth that could not easily be achieved on the Earth’s surface. This additional knowledge will allow us to better manage and understand our impact on the environment."

NASA’s EOS project helps the scientific research community study land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere and oceans long-term through polar-orbiting and low inclination satellites. NASA currently has 28 satellites orbiting Earth to study various environmental patterns and collect valuable data for researchers. Since the first launch in 1999, EOS technology has been a guiding solution to help us understand how to effectively heal the planet.

"One of the most impactful applications of space technology is how it has been applied to Earth Observing Systems to monitor the health of the Earth’s atmosphere and environment,” says IEEE Fellow Karen Panetta. “For instance, using LIDAR in space, data was collected on the amounts of aerosol pollutants in the atmosphere around the Earth and tracked the disbursement of these pollutants over the Earth, as well as which countries the pollutants originated from. Another mission looked at the effect of ozone depletion and found correlations to cancers in amphibians and fish where the ozone layer was depleted."

EOS satellites are built with a specific purpose and environmental focus. Examples include AQUA, which gathers 89 Gigabytes of data a day on energy fluxes, aerosols, vegetation cover on the land, phytoplankton in the oceans and tracks air, land and water temperatures; or the spacecraft DSCOVR, that observes and measures radiation reflected and emitted by the sunlit side of Earth; and CLOUDSAT, which studies the clouds for improved weather accuracy and climate prediction. 

Panetta also says, "these kinds of missions help bring robust validated data that is essential to informing the public and convincing governments and agencies to take action.” This type of data collection is crucial to gather if we want to focus on correcting our current environmental pain points and create new technologies that protect Earth’s natural and limited resources."

OSS Infocom Ties with Garmin for the Distribution of Best Hybrid Watches Vivomove 3 Series with 5 Health Indicators

Watches for tracking high-resolution heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation, respiration which is one of the key symptoms of Covid -19

OSS Infocom, the nationwide Authorized Distributor for Garmin watches has tied-up with the company for distribution of all models of the best hybrid watches in Vivomove 3 series with five health indicators recently. This is the first of its kind full Analog Digi and Fitness Watch available in the market. It has unique features which includes smart notifications, measuring continuous wrist based heart rate SPO2 (Oxygen level), count on number of steps, tracks key health & fitness data, stress energy, menstrual cycle tracking, alarm for taking breaks during long working hours, etc. 

With these watches one can now track the high-resolution heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation, respiration which is one of the key symptoms of Covid -19.

Five Health Indicators

The technologies used will enable people to monitor their health and to combat health problems like this virus and future pandemics. As the company says “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”, so Garmin helps one to monitor and measure the health parameters so that one can not only improve everyday but achieve the ultimate goal by beating the problems of yesterday.

“We are extremely happy that Garmin watches are so useful during this Covid time. Currently health has become the utmost priority and keeping that in mind monitoring the health parameters all the time has a positive implication on our health, fitness and also peace of mind. These watches are having stunning OLED display, tracks all important activity metrics, connected GPS, support notifications, multiple design options, swim-proof & battery life upto 5 days. Apart from being beautiful, this is one of the most feature packed and best hybrids available in the market today” said Amit Sinsinwal, Director of OSS Infocom.

The design of the Vivomove 3 series watches are such that one can easily change the band with quick-release. It is available in standard silicon band for use during fitness activities and leather band can be worn as a dress watch in the office wear or dinner date. This watch is totally waterproof to 5 ATM and the battery of the watch is so good that it can last for 5 days in one charge. It is available in an exclusive range with a price tag of INR. 26,290.

Related - Omega Seamaster 300m

ABOUT OSS INFOCOM

OSS Infocom established in 2014 as a distribution company with National Offline Retailers (~120+) and Distribution Centres (~15+) across India. Presently, OSS Infocom is managing national distribution across all channels for Garmin Corporation, USA. It has more than 10 logistics partners across the nation. 

OSS Infocom manages high visibility merchandising at most prominent places inside and outside the stores. It negotiates with modern trade outlets for best available visibility with current turnover of INR 80 Cr, it aims to become ₹ 150 Cr. by Year 2021. It is into distribution & import of Telecom/IT/ Sports & Outdoor products including logistics management. Launch of New products at National as well as the Regional level. Its core forte is in online distribution with partners like Reliance, Tata, and e-commerce business with Amazon, Paytm, Flipkart, TataCliQ and many more.

IIT Bombay Students launch Indian Alternative to Scanning Apps, With AI Features

Here comes an indigenous alternative to Chinese document-scanning apps, following Government of India’s decision to ban 59 mobile apps which were prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India. AIR Scanner, a free-of-cost mobile application, has been developed Rohit Kumar Chaudhary and Kavin Agrawal, two final-year B.Tech students in the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay. Their inspiration comes from Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s clarion call for an Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.


AIR Scanner has been launched on Independence Day, 15th August 2020. The AI (Artificial Intelligence) based Reading Assistant & Document Scanner app can scan documents and also read to users who have difficulty in reading English.

“Initially, we had been working on developing an app to make reading experience easy for people who find it difficult to read English. It was then that the Indian government banned many Chinese apps including mobile scanner apps. After the ban on Chinese app – CamScanner, we surveyed and found that people are facing issues in scanning and organising documents through their mobile phones. It was then we decided to add scanning features too to our existing AIR App”, says Rohit Kumar Chaudhary, one of the developers.

What makes this app special are its exclusive safety features.

The document you scan using your mobile camera will be saved in PDF format and will be stored in the device only. “AIR Scanner app does not collect any information about the user and all the documents are stored in the phone’s local storage. We are not using any cloud storage to store the documents of the users. The app guarantees complete user security.”, Rohit Kumar added.

The app is free of cost and at the same time completely secure. “Many scanner apps require users to sign-in to their apps. Once you sign-in to the application, they automatically back-up all your documents and your personal information into their cloud. This is where the security issue arises. AIR Scanner app doesn’t even require you to sign-in”, he said.

With this app, every user can enjoy all the document scanner features such as scanning, organizing and sharing documents without worrying about its security.

Kavin Agrawal

Added advantage of this app is its Artificial Intelligence feature that reads out the scanned pages and also provides meaning of the selected word to the user in 40 different languages.


“The motivation behind this innovation is to help people in education. As of now, it is available in English language only, but we are planning to make it available in multiple languages which will make it easy for anyone to read any language. Soon we are planning to convert this project into a Start-Up.


As of now there are 1500 downloads from the Play Store. Currently it is available for Android users only but soon it will be released for iOS users too”, he said.

The application can be downloaded from the following link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hind.airscanner.

India’s 1st Manufacturing Unit for Li-ion Battery Component Sets Up in Karnataka by Mumbai-based Firm

Mumbai-based firm Epsilon Carbon has set up India's first manufacturing facility in Karnataka to produce graphite anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LiB), said report by Economics Times (ET). Notably, China supplies more than 80% of the global demand for graphite anodes, which is used in nearly all Li-ion batteries.

Graphite anodes comprise 25% volume in LiB cells and are the highest single material component in a cell’s chemistry. Epsilon Carbon has also set-up a target-oriented research and development laboratory to improve the quality of the material further.

The company has housed a new subsidiary, Epsilon Advanced Materials, to run the battery materials business and with this the company aims to become the preferred supplier of synthetic graphite material to cell manufacturers and energy storage device companies across the globe.

Synthetic graphite is used as the anode component in lithium-ion batteries. Although lithium is the best-known component of lithium-ion batteries (LiB), there is far more graphite than lithium in a battery.

Vikram Handa, managing director of Epsilon Carbon, said -

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the importance of a self-reliant nation. As India pushes an aggressive electric vehicle policy... our manufacturing leadership in graphite anodes will make India self-sufficient for a key raw material for LiB cells.

Established in August 2010, Epsilon Carbon already operates India’s first integrated carbon complex with a backward integration from raw coal tar to the finished product.

According to market report, the synthetic graphite market is expected to register a CAGR of around 4% (in terms of voulme) during the forecast period. Major factors driving the market studied are increasing demand for electric vehicles and high purity levels of synthetic graphite.

Epsilon Carbon, which is a leading manufacturer and supplier of Coal Tar Chemicals, plans to invest Rs 500 crore over the next five years in the facility that would produce 5,000 tonnes of anode material annually. It plans to triple this capacity to 15,000 tonnes in 2021 and to 50,000 tonnes/year by 2025, said the ET report.

China currently dominates synthetic graphite production and demand globally. Almost all stages of the lithium-ion battery manufacturing chain are focused on China and China is by far the largest and most rapidly growing market for lithium-ion batteries, which paves the way for the market growth of synthetic graphite.

Li-ion batteries, commonly used in handheld electronics, are composed of three main components -- a graphite anode, a cathode and electrolyte (lithium salt dissolved in organic solvent)-- the graphite anode has specific capacity of about 350 mAh/g.

Electric vehicles nowadays rely mostly on Li-ion batteries, earlier it was nickel-metal hydride batteries, which are heavy, bulky and have a specific energy that is too low, about 80 Wh/kg, for long-distance travel. LiB using graphite anodes exhibit a specific energy of more than 160 Wh/kg, double that of nickel-metal hydride batteries.

Lithium is added to graphite when charging and removed as the battery is used. Graphite anodes are used in nearly all Li-ion batteries, but recent research has sought to capitalize on a better anode solution—silicon. With a theoretical capacity of more than 10 times that of graphite, silicon anodes can at least double the capacity of graphite-anode batteries. However, it is this very ability to absorb lithium and expand during charging that is the problem -- The silicon breaks down quickly.

Telecom Minister Launches Completely Wireless BSNL Bharat AirFibre for Rural Bihar with Subscription starts at ₹ 349/ Month

• Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launches completely wireless BSNL Bharat AirFibre for rural areas in Bihar
• Bihar gets a new Next Generation Network Telephone Exchange to serve the New Bihar Vidhan Mandal
• Bharat AirFibre works on the unlicensed spectrum, easy to deploy and morereliable, Subscription starts at Rs. 349 / Month
• 50 more AirFibre sector antennas to be deployed in Bihar within next 6 months announced - Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

BSNL takes a leap forward to fulfil Government of India’s vision of Broadband to All. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, inaugurated a Next Generation Network Telephone Exchange at New Bihar Vidhan Mandal compound and Bharat Air Fibre service at Danapur Telephone Exchange in Bihar through Video conferencing from New Delhi on 29th August. Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Shri Awadhesh Narain Singh, Chairman Bihar Legislative Council along with other dignitaries graced the occasion .

This Next Generation Network Telephone exchange is a facility augmentation in Bihar Vidhan Mandal which will serve to the additional demand for reliable wireline and broadband services since it is connected on optical fibre . This exchange has a capacity of 512 telephone wireline and 128 broadband connections which can further be increased. New and Old Vidhan Mandal and 3 New Secretariat Block A, B And C will be served through this new facility.

While newly commissioned Bharat AirFibre will help to provide faster and reliable internet services in the rural area, Bharat AirFibre has speed at par with high-speed fibre FTTH and will serve upto 6 Km area covering R.K.Puram, Anandpur, Danapur Market and Danapur Cantonment from Danapur Telephone Exchange .

This being completely wireless technology is easy to deploy , more reliable, needs less maintenance and will provide connectivity in Non-feasible areas and villages which can’t be connected through FTTH. Bharat AirFibre works on the unlicensed spectrum and has very less interference which enables better quality of relay for the subscribers.

Bharat AirFibre will start its subscription at a low price point of Rs. 349 per month, this makes internet accessible and affordable to users in villages and difficult terrains.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to convert challenges into opportunity for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and on the same lines my mission is also to take opportunities to rural corners of India. Especially in the times of Covid19 pandemic, there is immense scope for digital education, digital skilling and tele medicine etc and broadband connectivity in rural India will play a crucial role. Bharat AirFibre will help us to scale-up faster and meet the target of covering 6 Lakhs villages in 1000 Days.” said Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

During the event Telecom Minister also announced 50 more AirFibre sector antennas to be deployed in Bihar within next 6 months

In his address at the event Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Sushil Modi said “Bihar Governmet has recently notified Right of Way (RoW) rules to facilitate better deployment of mobile tower antennas and laying of fibre optic cable in the state. Also I am happy to mention recently I got the new BSNL FTTH broadband connection and I impressed with its high speed connectivity.”

Government of India has allotted various projects of national and strategic importance to BSNL that will help BSNL to contribute in nation building such as Network for spectrum (NFS), Bharat Net project for Optical Fiber connectivity including more than 3000 Gram Panchayats of strategic Union Territories of Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh. Recently BSNL has commissioned submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai to Andaman & Nicobar Islands at a total cost of Rs 1224 Crore. Also, submarine Cable connectivity has been planned between mainland and Lakshadweep Islands and it will be executed by BSNL. Government of India has allotted 4 G spectrum to BSNL also worth nearly Rs 14,000cr. BSNL is making full preparation to launch 4G services across the country and thus helping to boost the Government’s initiative of “make in India”.

Besides various Government projects, BSNL has also provided almost 3Lakh FTTH/ Broadband connections across the country to meet the enhanced internet requirements of ‘work from home’ during last six months. Also, to bring delight to the customers BSNL has introduced various attractive tariff plans and simplified the various processes at BSNL Portal for greater digital engagement.

NuScale becomes 1st Nuclear Tech Firm to Receive US Govt.'s Design Approval for its Small Modular Reactors

Oregon, United States -based NuScale Power, that designs and markets small modular reactors (SMRs) -- nuclear reactors that generates generally 300 MWe equivalent of energy or less, has announced today that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) completed Phase 6 review—the last and final phase—of the Design Certification Application (DCA) for the company’s groundbreaking small modular reactor (SMR) with the issuance of the Final Safety Evaluation Report (FSER), which means the completion of the technical review and approval of the NuScale SMR design.

With this final phase of NuScale’s DCA now complete, customers can proceed with plans to develop NuScale power plants with the understanding that the NRC has approved the safety aspects of the NuScale design.

NuScale's SMR designs are for its 65 feet tall x 9 feet high reactor vessels that use conventional light water cooling methods and runs on low enriched uranium fuel assemblies based on existing light water reactor designs.

Earlier in April 2019, NuScale announced that it was developing a 1-10 MWe "simple and inherently safe compact heat pipe cooled reactor" that "requires little site infrastructure, can be rapidly deployed, and is fully automated during power operation." Partners include Additech, INL, and Oregon State University. The project follows solicitation of ideas and designs from the US Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. 

A diagram depicting a NuScale reactor. [ credit - NuScale / CC BY-SA ]

An artist’s rendering of NuScale Power’s small modular nuclear reactor plant. Photo courtesy of NuScale

NuScale’s DCA was completed in December 2016 and accepted by the NRC in March 2017. The review process demonstrated both the simplicity of NuScale’s SMR design and the thoroughness of the company’s application. As an example, during the rigorous Phase 1 review process, which included 115,000 hours spent reviewing the DCA, the NRC issued far fewer requests for additional information compared to other design certification applications. NuScale spent over $500 million, with the backing of Fluor, and over 2 million labor hours to develop the information needed to prepare its DCA application. The company also submitted 14 separate Topical Reports in addition to the over 12,000 pages for its DCA application and provided more than 2 million pages of supporting information for NRC audits.

This is a significant milestone not only for NuScale, but also for the entire U.S. nuclear sector and the other advanced nuclear technologies that will follow. This clearly establishes the leadership of NuScale and the U.S. in the race to bring SMRs to market. The approval of NuScale’s design is an incredible accomplishment and we would like to extend our deepest thanks to the NRC for their comprehensive review, to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its continued commitment to our successful private-public partnership to bring the country’s first SMR to market, and to the many other individuals who have dedicated countless hours to make this extraordinary moment a reality.

said NuScale Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Hopkins.

"Additionally, the cost-shared funding provided by Congress over the past several years has accelerated NuScale’s advancement through the NRC Design Certification process. This is what DOE’s SMR Program was created to do, and our success is credited to strong bipartisan support from Congress."

The simulator control room at NuScale Power's small modular reactor design facility in Oregon. Photo courtesy of NuScale

NuScale Power has developed a new modular light water reactor nuclear power plant to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, and other process heat applications. This groundbreaking small modular reactor (SMR) design features a fully factory-fabricated NuScale Power Module™ capable of generating 60 MW of electricity using a safer, smaller, and scalable version of pressurized water reactor technology. NuScale's scalable design—a power plant can house up to 12 individual power modules—offers the benefits of carbon-free energy and reduces the financial commitments associated with gigawatt-sized nuclear facilities. The majority investor in NuScale is Fluor Corporation, a global engineering, procurement, and construction company with a 60-year history in commercial nuclear power.

NuScale is headquartered in Portland, OR and has offices in Corvallis, OR; Rockville, MD; Charlotte, NC; Richland, WA; and London, UK.

NuScale competes with other similar SMR makers like Hyperion, Holtec, General Atomics, and Hybrid Power Technologies, among others.

Last year in June, Holtec signed a partnership agreement with Ukraines Energoatom and Ukraine's national nuclear consultant, State Scientific and Technical Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (SSTC-NRS), to establish a consortium to explore the environmental and technical feasibility of qualifying a 'generic' SMR-160 system that can be built and operated at any candidate site in the country. This would establish a reactor design capability in Ukraine, with a view to it becoming a regional hub for selling such reactors in Europe, Asia and Africa.
~ with inputs from Businesswire

HONOR MagicBook 15 Second Sale Starts from 31st August, 2020 on Flipkart

• HONOR MagicBook 15, India’s first laptop with 3 breakthrough innovations - Pop-up Webcam, 2-in-1 Fingerprint Power Button and 65W Type-C Compact multi-device fast charging - under INR 50K price, will go on its second sale on Flipkart starting 31^st August, 12 PM onwards


• Emerged as the bestseller and most wishlisted device ever on Flipkart during its first sale

​HONOR, the global leading tech brand for the youth, announced the second sale of its first ever laptop for the Indian market – HONOR MagicBook 15, on Flipkart starting 31^st August, 2020, 12:00 PM onwards. The laptop comes in Mystic Silver variant and will be sold for INR 42,990.

During its first sale, HONOR MagicBook 15 went out of stock within 120 seconds and emerged to be one of the most wishlisted laptop on the platform ever. This success is a testament of the brand’s continuous investment in best-in-class offerings and quality products at competitive price.

• In the second sale, consumers can avail No Cost EMI options up to 12 months starting at INR 3,583* along with an exchange offer of upto INR 20,000 at the time of purchase, T&Cs apply. HONOR MagicBook 15 comes pre-installed with Microsoft Windows 10 Home and all HONOR MagicBook 15 users will get a free 1-month trial of the Microsoft 365 personal subscription.

“Register & Win” Contest
Consumers who purchase HONOR MagicBook 15 must call at 18002109999 to register and get assured gift upto INR 1,000/- or follow HONOR India’s official page for more Contest information. Limited period offer, T&Cs apply.

HONOR MagicBook 15

HONOR MagicBook 15, with its Aluminium body and Azure Blue Chamfer, is India’s 1^st Laptop with 3 breakthrough Innovations^[1], namely the Pop-up Webcam, 2-in-1 Fingerprint Power Button and 65W Type-C Compact multi-device fast charging. The sleek, compact and stylish HONOR MagicBook 15 touts a 16.9 mm thick at its thickest point, and 1.53 kg light-weight design for a laptop with 15.6” (39.6cm) Full View Display. The laptop is compact and easy to carry, boasts of 1920x1080 IPS FHD Anti-glare & Glossy Display, 16:9 aspect ratio, 5.3 mm thin bezels on the top and sides with 87% screen-to-body ratio, 178 degree viewing angle with TUV Certified Eye Comfort Mode to minimize eye-strain, a very useful feature for current work & school from home scenario. For your multi-purpose needs, the laptop comes fitted with USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Type C, HDMI and 3.5 mm headphone jack as well.

Designed for the young professionals and students, HONOR India’s first laptop comes bundled with all the right features to deliver unparalleled and seamless performance to users. The 65W Type C fast charger, is compact and stylish with just 160g in weight to carry around, and with its super-charging capabilities it can charge the laptop by 53% charge_^[2] in just half an hour. For fast and secure unlocking the laptop offers 2-in-1 Fingerprint Power Button and for better privacy it has a Pop-up Webcam embedded in the keyboard. Both these features and the 65W Type C fast charger are premium and never-seen-before at this price point. To add to the convenience, HONOR’s cutting-edge technology - Magic-Link 2.0^[3] enables instant pairing with an NFC enabled HONOR smartphone for multi-screen sharing and file sharing.

Note: All trademarks, brand names are the property of their respective owners. T&C apply. Follow us on our official page and social media handles for more information on brand, products, offers and contest details, etc.

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^[1] T&Cs Apply. Three breakthrough innovations under INR 50K range. For further details, visit www.hihonor.com/in
*T&Cs Apply. For more details on NO Cost EMI & Exchange Offer, visit Flipkart.

^[2] Data from HONOR internal laboratories. Actual usage may vary depending on usage and other factors.

^[3]The feature is only supported on HONOR MagicBook 15 Series with PC Manager Version 10.0.2.99 or above that have installed related drivers provided by PC Manager. It is only compatible with select NFC-enabled smartphones meeting following conditions: HUAWEI phones running EMUI 10 or above; or HONOR phones running EMUI 10 or Magic UI 3.0 or above.

Start-up Challenge Contest 'Chunauti' Launched by IT Minister to Identify 300 Startups and Seed Fund of upto ₹25 Lakh

• IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Launches “Chunauti”- Next Generation Start-up Challenge Contest
• The programme aims to identify around 300 startups working in identified areas and provide them seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh and other facilities
• Lays Foundation of IT Capacity Building Center of NIELIT in Muzaffarpur in Bihar.
• Shri Prasad urged the young, talented innovators of India to come forward and avail benefits of Chunauti challenge and create new software products and apps

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad today launched “Chunauti”- Next Generation Startup Challenge Contest to further boost startups and software products with special focus on Tier-II towns of India. The government has earmarked a budget of Rs. 95.03 Crore over a period of three years for this programme. It aims to identify around 300 startups working in identified areas and provide them seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh and other facilities.

Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite startups in the following areas of work:

1. Edu-Tech, Agri-Tech & Fin-Tech Solutions for masses
2. Supply Chain, Logistics & Transportation Management
3. Infrastructure & Remote monitoring
4. Medical Healthcare, Diagnostic, Preventive & Psychological Care
5. Jobs & Skilling, Linguistic tools & technologies

The startups selected through Chunauti will be provided various support from the Government through Software Technology Parks of India centers across India. They will get incubation facilities, mentorship, security testing facilities, access to venture capitalist funding, industry connect as well as advisories in legal, Human Resource (HR), IPR and Patent matters. Besides seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh, the startups will also be provided cloud credits from leading cloud service providers. Start-ups who are in the ideation stage may be selected under the pre-incubation programme & mentored for up-to six months to evolve their business plan & solution around the proposed idea. Each intern (start-up under pre-incubation) will be paid Rs. 10,000/- per month upto a period of 6 months.

 Startups can apply by visiting the website of STPI or by clicking at the link https://innovate.stpinext.in/

Union Minister also laid foundation stone of the digital training and skilling center of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) at Muzaffarpur in Bihar. This center will be developed by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India at a cost of Rs. 9.17 Crore. The government of Bihar has allocated one acre of land for this institution. This center will be equipped with the state of the art training facility with a digital laboratory. Different courses such as O level, CCC, BCC, Programming and multimedia training will be offered from this center.

Speaking at a virtual event in presence of Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I urge the young, talented innovators of India to come forward and avail benefits of Chunauti challenge of Government and create new software products and app. This launch is a bold initiative under the clarion call for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

Visa Harnesses Real-Time Deep Learning to Enhance Transaction Processing

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) today announced Visa Smarter Stand-in Processing (Smarter STIP), a new capability that uses real-time artificial intelligence (AI) to help financial institutions manage transaction authorizations when service disruptions occur.

Using deep learning to analyze past transactions, Smarter STIP generates informed decisions to approve or decline transactions on behalf of issuers in the event that their systems go offline. Visa pioneered the use of AI and neural networks to prevent fraud—Smarter STIP builds on that track record, and is the first in a suite of new AI-powered innovations coming to VisaNet, Visa’s global processing network.

“Consumers expect instant and uninterrupted access to their funds—failure to meet that expectation can be costly,” says Jack Forestell, executive vice president and chief product officer, Visa. “Stand-in processing has always been a vital assurance to our clients that when the unexpected occurs, we’ve got their back. By adding AI, that capability becomes smarter, stronger, and more dynamic.”

Addressing the challenge of downtime

Whether it’s scheduled maintenance or an unexpected outage, service downtime is disruptive for financial institutions and their customers. When stand-in processing is not in place, the potential impacts can be profound: lost revenue due to failed transactions, poor cardholder experience resulting in call volume spikes to customer service centers, damage to reputation, and even scrutiny from regulators.

Visa’s new Smarter STIP service builds on Visa’s existing STIP capability by using deep learning to analyze past transactions down to the cardholder level. Thus the transaction decision that Smarter STIP provides is based on unique insights derived from the cardholder’s past purchasing behavior, rather than solely on static rules applied across an entire card portfolio. With this added intelligence, Visa is able to provide a transaction decision on the issuer’s behalf that more closely mirrors the issuer’s own decision making process—with the potential to decrease transaction declines for cardholders by up to 50% in some cases.¹

Harnessing AI for the Payments Ecosystem

Visa Smarter STIP is one of several new real-time deep learning capabilities designed to solve long-standing challenges and pain points for buyers, sellers, and financial institutions.

These enhanced services are made possible by the investments Visa has made to optimize its core infrastructure. This includes a scalable, high-performing, GPU-based platform designed to support the rapid deployment of deep learning capabilities.

“AI is one of the most transformative technologies of our time, giving us the power to build data-driven products that deliver new levels of insight and personalization. With one of the largest and richest data sets in the world, Visa is extremely well positioned to unlock the full potential of AI for our clients and cardholders, and at massive scale,” says Rajat Taneja, president of technology at Visa. “We’ve made significant investments in our infrastructure, making it possible to harness this data more deeply across all facets of VisaNet. Our data, combined with low-latency architecture and our unique modeling capabilities, make our technology platform among the most powerful for AI.”​

Global adoption already underway

Smarter STIP will be available in October 2020 and has generated interest from a range of financial institutions around the world.

“At UBS, we believe in building a better future for our customers by harnessing the power of innovation and collaboration—a continuous process that relies on innovative thinking and transformative technologies and capabilities, developed both in-house and by our partners,” says Stefan Uebelhart, Head of UBS Card Center. “We are very pleased to launch Visa’s Smarter STIP service, as this is an example where the power of collaboration, transformative technologies and innovation come together to provide an improved experience for our cardholders. In our quest to build a better future for our customers, we see Visa as a valued partner and intend to work together in the innovation space.”

“As a leader in interest-free shopping platforms in Australia and New Zealand, Latitude Financial is constantly exploring new technology and innovation so we can deliver the best possible service to our customers,” said Latitude’s Chief Commercial Officer, Paul Varro. “Visa’s Smarter STIP service helps us substantially improve transaction approval rates. This is a great outcome, cleverly bringing together AI with our historical authorisation learnings, new datasets, and Visa’s experience in transaction processing to provide a rich customer experience, all the time.”

About Smarter STIP

Visa created the Smarter STIP capability to address a key pain point for issuers and issuer processors: the suboptimal experience for cardholders during service disruptions. Visa’s novel approach to stand-in processing, recognized through a US Patent in 2019, improves on the existing STIP capability through real-time evaluation of cardholder-level features. The model relies on:

• Multiple recurrent neural networklayers with millions of parameters.


• Billions of historical records to train the model, resulting in an average 95% accuracy in emulating an issuer’s likely decision in Visa’s sample tests².


• Continuous learning from real time transaction and outage data, allowing the service to adapt and improve as an Issuers’ behavior changes over time​.

Visa Smarter STIP does not require any technical change for clients to participate. Issuers connected to Visa DPS will be enabled for Smarter STIP when the service launches globally in October 2020.

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa,visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.

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¹ Based on Visa internal analysis comparing existing and Smarter STIP approval rates of all transactions in Q1 CY2020 for a single US Issuer.
² This number was measured by Visa’s internal simulation of the Smarter STIP model offline on transactions for all Visa BINs globally in Q4 2019. On average, the Smarter STIP model made the same approve/decline decision as the issuers 95% of the time, for transactions across all regions.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200826005289/en/

Maruti Suzuki Partners with Self-Drive Car Rental Firm Myles Automotive for Car Subscription Programme

• The monthly subscription for the car includes
• Brand new car on subscription at an all-inclusive monthly fee
• Road tax, registration charges and zero dep insurance coverage included
• Complete maintenance included
• 24*7 Roadside assistance and customer support included

In a move to offer easy and flexible car ownership to customers, Maruti Suzuki today announced the launch of its subscription programme - Maruti Suzuki Subscribe for individuals. Maruti Suzuki has tied up with Myles Automotive Technologies to launch Maruti Suzuki Subscribe as a pilot project in select Indian cities - Hyderabad and Pune.

Subscribe programme offers solutions for everyone who is seeking to experience the benefits of owning a car without purchasing it. Customers can choose to subscribe a new Swift, Dzire, Vitara Brezza and Ertiga from Maruti Suzuki ARENA and a new Baleno, Ciaz and XL6 from NEXA for a period of 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42 and 48 months.

Customers will pay an all-inclusive monthly subscription charge starting Rs. 17,600 for Swift Lxi in Pune & Rs. 18,350 in Hyderabad (including taxes) with no down payment. Once the subscription tenure is over, the customer can also avail buyback option.

Speaking on the partnership, Ms. Sakshi Vij, Founder & CEO, Myles said, "Maruti Suzuki has been a pioneer in the Indian market and we are excited to partner with them to provide car subscription services under the Maruti Suzuki Subscribe programme. We have always believed in the power of partnership in fulfilling our mission of easier vehicle ownership solutions in the Indian market."

Announcing the customer centric programme, Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing and Sales), Maruti Suzuki India said, "In the changed business dynamics, many customers want to shift from public transport and shared mobility solutions to personal cars. They want mobility solutions that are easy on pocket and do not involve long-term financial commitments. Maruti Suzuki Subscribe addresses these changing needs of customers. We are confident that our new offering will introduce many new customers to the brand. It will also be embraced by the millennial, who frequently look at upgrading to latest cars with flexible tenure options as low as 12 months."

With features such as zero-down payment, complete car maintenance, insurance, 24*7 roadside support and no resale risk, the all-inclusive subscription service will be a delight to customers. Myles will take care of the vehicle maintenance, insurance coverage and road side assistance through Maruti Suzuki's dealer channel.

SocialPilot Grants Rs 1 Crore to Small Businesses amid Covid-19 Outbreak

SocialPilot offered grants worth Rs.1 crore to over 1,400 small and medium businesses since March 2020

Small businesses are financially more fragile than larger companies in times of crisis. The Covid-19 outbreak has hardly spared any business, with small companies being affected the most. Additionally, reverse migration of employees has added more miseries to such businesses.

To address the issues faced by small businesses, several companies have come forward to help these small businesses increase their productivity and skills by offering free tools, services, and products. 

However, it is not just large corporations that have tapped their cash coffers; there are a few smaller companies as well that have stepped up to help other small businesses during these testing times. SocialPilot is one such company that decided to help out. 

SocialPilot offered grants cumulating to around Rs.1 crore to over 1,400 small and medium businesses since March 2020 to help companies market and sell their products and services online since the offline economy came to a sudden halt.

SocialPilot is a social media marketing product that has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies in India. Although investment in social media tools amid the COVID-19 outbreak is a challenging task for small businesses, SocialPilot made this possible by offering grants to all qualifying small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, bloggers, and aspiring individuals. After this offer, businesses have changed their perspective on e-commerce and social media marketing, explains Jimit Bagadiya, co-founder and CEO at SocialPilot. 

Sharing his thoughts, Tejas Mehta, co-founder at SocialPilot said, “Traditional businesses who did not have a presence online realized that they need to do something online. We encouraged people who were not active online to take the first steps in leveraging social media as a marketing channel, and hence they were able to get traction to their online stores.” He further adds,” Businesses don’t grow in isolation and we believe in mutual growth. This has been our core belief since our inception.”

India’s SaaS revenue has reached $3.5 billion as of FY 2020, growing at 30% CAGR, with 75% of it coming from global sales, according to a report by The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). North America is the largest SaaS market accounting for almost 60% of the SaaS spend. India, as a market, has been growing at unprecedented rates as the younger generation takes the digital-first approach in the traditional as well as modern businesses. 

SocialPilot is a social media management tool that helps small businesses and agencies manage social media publishing, analytics, social media calendar, and engagement. SocialPilot was the first publishing platform to add TikTok and Facebook Boosted Posts as a part of the publishing platform. SocialPilot has been consistently ranked as a segment leader by Gartner, Capterra, G2, GetApp, and others. 

The company was bootstrapped by Jimit Bagadiya and Tejas Mehta in 2014 to increase the efficiency in social media marketing. In addition to Ahmedabad, SocialPilot has a presence in California, New York, and Kentucky. The company caters to over 150,000 users (5,000 customers) across the globe. SocialPilot’s niche has been in Social Media Analytics, Social Media Scheduling, and Marketing, Social Inbox, Bulk Scheduling, Client Management, and Social Media Calendar. 

Mercedes-Benz Joins The Climate Pledge and Delivers More Than 1,800 Electric Vehicles to Amazon’s Delivery Fleet in Europe

• This order marks the largest electric vehicle commitment for Mercedes-Benz Vans to date
• The electric vehicles from this order will begin making deliveries to customers in 2020, helping to save thousands of metric tons of carbon.
• The Climate Pledge, co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism, is a commitment to reach net zero carbon by 2040—ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement.

Today, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced it is adding more than 1,800 electric vehicles from Mercedes-Benz Vans to its delivery fleet in Europe this year. Amazon and Mercedes-Benz share a commitment to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, and Mercedes-Benz also announced today it has joined The Climate Pledge, which calls on signatories to be net zero carbon across their businesses by 2040—a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement goal of 2050.

“We welcome the bold leadership demonstrated by Mercedes-Benz by signing up to The Climate Pledge and committing to ambitious action to address climate change. We need continued innovation and partnership from auto manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz to decarbonize the transportation sector and tackle the climate crisis,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “Amazon is adding 1,800 electric delivery vehicles from Mercedes-Benz as part of our journey to build the most sustainable transportation fleet in the world, and we will be moving fast to get these vans on the road this year.”

“At Mercedes-Benz, we have set ourselves the ambitious target to make the transformation of mobility a success story. By joining ‘The Climate Pledge’ we are building on our goal to consistently pursue emission-free mobility and sustainable vehicle production,” said Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG. “We stand with Amazon, Global Optimism and the other signatories of The Climate Pledge, in a commitment to being net zero carbon by 2040 – ten years ahead of The Paris Agreement. I am pleased that we will be able to gain even more momentum on our sustainability offensive with this step.”

As part of Mercedes-Benz’s commitment as the latest signatory of The Climate Pledge, the company is doubling down on its commitment to "Ambition2039," a roadmap to CO2-neutral mobility. The company is evaluating ways to remove carbon from its entire value chain, from development to the supplier network, from its own production to the electrification of products and beyond, as well as to ensuring renewable energies for the use phase of electric vehicles. With its goal to have a CO2-neutral fleet of new cars in less than 20 years, Mercedes-Benz is making an important contribution to slowing climate change. The company is already making good progress in this direction: By the end of this year, the vehicle portfolio will comprise five fully electric models and more than 20 plug-in hybrids. Signatories to The Climate Pledge also have the opportunity to share access to technologies, best practices and innovations in supply chain enhancements. They are also able to co-invest in new technologies and emerging solutions.

Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners will have access to the new fleet of zero-emission vehicles to make deliveries to customers in Europe this year, helping to save thousands of metric tons of carbon. The order is a milestone for Mercedes-Benz Vans, marking the largest order of electric vehicles for the manufacturer to date, and makes Amazon its largest sustainable transportation partner worldwide. More than 1,200 EVs in the order will be comprised of the newest electric commercial van available at Mercedes-Benz – the eSprinter, a larger model than the manufacturer’s first zero-emission vehicle, the eVito. The eSprinter includes state-of-the-art safety features including, electrical parking brake, active brake assist, reverse camera, blind spot assist, and more. The remaining 600 vehicles will be comprised of the manufacturer’s midsize electric van, the eVito, to give Delivery Service Partners operating in geographies that require a smaller-format vehicle access to a zero-emissions delivery option.

"I am delighted that we are further intensifying our long-standing partnership with Amazon and working together on the battery-electric future of transportation," said Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. “With the eVito and the eSprinter, we have electric vehicles in our portfolio, which are ideally suited for the requirements of the courier-, express- and parcel-service industry for goods delivery on the so-called ‘last mile’ in terms of their equipment and range. They show that local emission-free driving, convincing performance, comfort and low operating costs can be combined perfectly.”

“Amazon’s investment is a strong and concrete sign of its commitment and alignment to EU priorities,” said Fabio Massimo Castaldo, Vice President at the European Parliament. “Amazon continues to contribute to the achievement of the EU Green Deal goals, foster technological innovation and generate resilient and sustainable jobs in Europe. I hope that other corporations will follow Amazon’s example in the near future.”

Amazon is also committed to powering its growing electric fleet with clean energy. As part of The Climate Pledge, Amazon is investing in renewable energy as a critical step toward addressing our carbon footprint globally and has committed to run on 100% renewable energy by 2025. Globally, Amazon has 91 renewable energy projects that have the capacity to generate over 2,900 MW and deliver more than 7.5 million MWh of energy annually. These projects include 31 utility-scale wind and solar renewable energy projects and 60 solar rooftops on fulfillment centers and sort centers around the globe.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.