Archives February 2023

Bangalore, February 28: Sanofi Speciality Care today reaffirmed its commitment to rare diseases in India on the occasion of Rare Disease Day, stating that it will continue with its efforts in empowering the lives of patients with rare diseases by offering transformative healthcare options.

Rare Disease Day is the globally-coordinated movement on rare diseases, working towards equity in social opportunity, healthcare, and access to diagnosis and therapies for people living with a rare disease. Sanofi has been supporting the rare disease day event commemoration in India for 13 years now, ever since the first event was commemorated in 2010 at the Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi.

Anil Raina, General Manager, Sanofi Speciality Care (India) said, “Over the past 40 years, Sanofi has launched different therapies for the treatment of many rare diseases, namely Gaucher disease, Fabry disease, Pompe disease, Mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I) and Acid Sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD). Since its incorporation in India in 2007, we have been working not only towards enhancing awareness of rare diseases, providing free diagnostic support, but also building the capacity of the clinicians, and supporting Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in public and private institutions.”

According to Mr Raina, “The company also has a global humanitarian program aimed at providing free life-saving treatment to patients in India diagnosed with Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs). Under our India Charitable Access Program (INCAP), we have been supporting patients for Gaucher disease, Pompe disease, Fabry disease and MPS I disease with life-saving Enzyme Replacement Therapy. Many of the children receiving therapy under this program are now in their teens and adulthood, and are able to lead near-normal lives.”More than 1000 patients in over 70 countries are in the company’s global Humanitarian Program today, out of which over 170 patients are from India.

With the largest portfolio of rare disease therapies, the company has also received a recommendation from the Subject Expert Committee to import and market two new products in India — Nexviazyme® (Avalglucosidase alfa powder) and Xenpozyme™ (Olipudase alfa powder) for Pompe disease and Niemann-Pick disease (ASMD) respectively. “We are hoping to launch these therapies in India by end of 2023 or beginning of next year, subject to completion of all further regulatory steps.”

Both these products have been granted orphan drug status and approval in several countries including the US, Australia, EU, UK and Japan, to name a few.

According to Dr Shalini Menon, Country Medical Lead Sanofi, “Xenpozyme is the first therapy indicated specifically for the treatment of ASMD, and is currently the only approved treatment for this disease. This is a devastating and extremely rare disease that affects both children and adults. The approval of Xenpozyme represents the culmination of bold work done in research and development, and Sanofi’s unwavering commitment to this historically overlooked community.” She said Nexviazyme is for both infantile and late-onset Pompe disease, and showed improvements in respiratory function and walking distance measures.”

Vadodara: Renowned speakers from various fields shared their experiences with participants at the third edition of TEDxNUV organised by Navrachana University, the region’s premier multi-disciplinary private university, on Sunday.

The latest edition of TEDxNUV was organised on the theme “unxplored”, encouraging speakers and attendees to delve into topics that have not been widely discussed or studied and to present new perspectives and insights.

“The objective of TEDxNUV on the ‘unxplored’ theme was to invite speakers to talk about diverse topics that are not yet popular in public discourse. We are thankful to Navrachana University for the successful conference,” said Ravi Sevak, Licensee and Organiser of TEDxNUV and Program Chair, Mechanical Engineering at Navrachana University.

The speakers at TEDxNUV spoke on a range of topics and themes, including the challenges they faced during their journey, how they overcame the struggles, and much more.

“At Navrachana University, we believe that learning is not limited to the four walls of the classroom. The objective of TEDxNUV was to give our students an opportunity to listen to the unique experiences of the distinguished speakers and learn from them and be inspired by their success stories,” said Shilpa Thacker, Admin and Finance In-charge at TEDxNUV and Manager, Communication at Navrachana University.

Among the speakers, screenwriter and lyricist Niren Bhatt spoke about life as a creative professional and how he handled constant rejections and subsequently success. Master artisan Pabiben Rabari shared her journey from a local to a global entrepreneur. Music therapist and Ayurvedic practitioner Dr. Kedar Upadhyay addressed the audience on the topic of music and its healing power.

Among other speakers, academician Raghava Krishna spoke about civilizational design thinking, while entrepreneur Kartikey Hariyani shared his thoughts on the future of electric mobility. Sai Chandrasekhar of NGO Agastya International Foundation spoke on the impact of lack of curiosity among children.

AlUla, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – February 27, 2023: The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), in collaboration with the Saudi Camel Racing Federation (SCRF), announced today that the inaugural AlUla Camel Cup will be held from March 14-17, 2023. The tournament will crown a ‘Champion of Champions’ and will complete with a grand prize pool of USD 21.33M.

With the highest prize pots in the world per round of camel racing, the tournament honors the Kingdom’s revered sport in the stunning backdrop of AlUla, a place of extraordinary human and natural heritage.

Amr AlMadani, CEO of the Royal Commission for AlUla said: “The AlUla Camel Cup will celebrate the most noble of Saudi Arabian sporting traditions, welcoming royalty VIPS, the elite of the sport and many distinguished guests to the most glorious of settings for this illustrious occasion.”

With such deep-rooted historical connections – such as the Incense Road Trading route where camel caravans travelled through AlUla trading precious goods, and the ancient petroglyphs featuring camels engraved across the rocks of AlUla – it is fitting that we celebrate the ‘ships of the desert’ with the first AlUla Camel Cup.

The inclusion of the AlUla Camel Cup to the Saudi Camel Racing Federation’s season ushers in a new era for the Kingdom’s cherished homegrown pursuit.

“We eagerly await March 14 when world-class sport will be combined with natural beauty and the epitome of modern luxury for a spectacle like no other.”

Mahmoud Suleiman Albalawi, Executive Director of SCRF, said: “The pinnacle of the Saudi Arabian camel racing season, which will crown a ‘Champion of Champions’, can have no better setting than the performance grade track at AlUla, a jewel of the desert where tradition meets modernity.

“Saudi Arabia has championed camel racing the world over, with historical records indicating the sport played a part in our ancient culture as far back as the 7th Century. The professional nature of camel racing has a similarly distinguished past, with the first professional camel race held in Saudi Arabia dating back to 1964 as part of a heritage festival.

“The evolving story of the sport, where we pay tribute to its timelessness and the special appeal it holds in the hearts and minds of the region’s people, will reach new heights at the AlUla Camel Cup in March 2023. Here the conclusion of our camel racing season, which began back in August 2022, will reach a truly spectacular finale.”

AlUla Camel Cup is one of the flagship sports events of AlUla Moments 2023 calendar of events and festivals, which includes five major festivals and six marque events. Other sports events taking place in AlUla are “The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup in AlUla 2023” (March 4), “AlUla Trail Race” (February 23 and 24), and the recent “Saudi Tour” (January 30 – February 3).

In-depth details of each day at the AlUla Camel Cup, and activities surrounding the event, will be released in due course.

India, 27th February’2023: PVR Limited, the largest and the most premium cinema exhibition company in India, after the merger with INOX Leisure Limited announced the launch of a new 5-screen multiplex in the state of Telangana today. The new multiplex at Ashoka One Mall on Y Junction in Hyderabad will strengthen the company’s foothold in Telangana with 102 screens in 18 properties and consolidates the merged entity’s presence in South India with 508 screens in 92 properties.

The multiplex is located in Kukatpally, a residential and commercial locality having excellent connectivity to the city’s hotspots. Due to proximity to the IT hub of Hitech city and Gachibowli, Kukatpally has emerged as the preferred locality for professionals working in these IT hubs.

The new cinema is designed to deliver a luxurious experience with an artfully designed L-shaped lobby, a concession counter with a curated food section, and a live kitchen. The five auditoriums having a seating capacity of 1274 with last-row recliners are equipped with advanced laser projection for crystal-clear visuals and spectacular audio experience with Dolby Atmos technology. The live kitchen will serve a variety of gourmet cuisine which the customers can also order through Swiggy and Zomato within the comfort of their homes.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Ajay Bijli, Managing Director, PVR Limited, said, ‘’South is an important market for us as people are socially more inclined to movie viewing and has a steady supply of regional content. The immense passion of movie-going audiences results in higher occupancy levels. We are delighted to open our sixteenth property in Hyderabad, under the combined portfolio of PVR and INOX. Hyderabad is home to the Telugu film industry which is the largest in South cinema and produced the highest number of films in 2022. The dubbed versions of many Telugu films got record pan India attendance, becoming a game changer in the history of Indian film exhibition industry”.

Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana consists of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and is the largest and most populous city of the state. The city has become a hub of trade and commerce and an international centre for information technology. One of the wealthy economies in India, Telangana has a proud history and grand heritage. It is home to some of India’s best educational institutions, public sector and defense companies and a thriving global services sector and film industry.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Executive Director, PVR Limited, said, “We are super excited to launch another property in one of the highly developed states in India. A city that has an incredible mix of traditions and modernity, Hyderabad has a young population, one of the prime demographical segments of movie going audiences. The state has friendly business policies and is known for its hospitality and multicultural and pluralistic society. Through this new multiplex, we aim to present movie-goers with a go-to hangout place where they can binge-watch and dine together”.

With this opening, the merged entity has strengthened its growth momentum and has opened 143 screens across 26 properties in 21 cities in this fiscal.

Mumbai, 22 February 2023: The requirement for skilled professionals is the need of the hour in India’s job market. According to a report by McKinsey & Company, around 375 million people will have to change their field of work this decade to meet the expectations of employers. Aiming to make jobs more accessible and help users find the right opportunities in India, apna – the largest jobs and professional networking platform – has announced plans to upskill 1 million job seekers by 2024 through apnaAscend.

As a leading professional networking and job platform, apna has played a key role in providing job opportunities for millions of job seekers, especially in the rapidly expanding workforce. Recognizing the urgent need for skilled professionals across various industries, apna has launched a new initiative, apnaAscend, which aims to equip career aspirants with the necessary skills to secure their dream jobs within 4-6 weeks This groundbreaking program will help bridge the skill gap in the job market by providing top-notch upskilling, reskilling, and training to aspiring professionals and connecting them with top companies for relevant opportunities.

In just a few months, around 5,000 students with an equal split Between T1 and T2/T3 cities have enrolled in the program and upskilled themselves, with most aged between 20 and 25 years. Among these, 90% of students have secured job offers from organisations such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, HCL, Bharti Airtel, Bharti AXA, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HP, PolicyBazaar, Shaadi.com and more.

As per a recent International Labour Organisation report, digitization and the growing needs of the care economy are altering enterprises’ skill requirements and hence producing skills mismatch when skill need are not properly addressed. Therefore, due to the ever-evolving dynamics of the workplace and the emergence of new technologies, many job seekers in India are facing roadblocks in their search for employment due to a lack of proper guidance and mentorship.

The guidance is crucial, not just for job seekers, but also for employers who can have their current employees pick up the right skills to move laterally into open positions. In response to these challenges, apnaAscend is specifically designed to offer dedicated, individual attention from designated coaches, a valuable alumni network, one-on-one improvement sessions, and live insights from industry experts hailing from top organizations.

The Union Budget 2023 has highlighted the need to bridge the gap between the skills possessed by the current workforce and the skills demanded by employers, in order to create more job opportunities and drive the economy forward. In this rapidly evolving technological landscape, it is important for everyone to not only have the necessary qualifications but also receive training in industry-relevant skills to secure competitive employment. To this end, apna, a trusted platform with over 30 million users and 4 lac + recruiters, offers a convenient solution to upskill and find suitable job opportunities with the right salary, at a location that suits the user.

Commenting on the growth plans, Karthik Manivannan, COO – apnaAscend, apna, their skilling business line stated, “As a nation with millions of people in the workforce, there is an increasing need to upskill and reskill this talent pool for better opportunities. This need for skilling is reflected in the fact that our business is rapidly growing with rising interest from users and employers. We are committed to making millions of job seekers future-ready to bridge the talent gap. Thanks to robust participation in the apnaAscend program from students across India, we are confident they will be upskilled with the relevant requirements of organisations seeking talent to find their dream jobs.”

With the aim of alleviating persistent unemployment and penetrating deeper into Bharat, apnaAscend will launch more courses for job roles such as sales, relationship management, and analytic & data support services across BPO, hospitality and retail sectors.

These courses will help widen the scope of upskilling students for various job opportunities, especially in emerging technologies. Considering its expanding footprint and bouquet of courses, apna is poised to emerge as the go to platform for placements problems for both job seekers and the Indian industry at large.

Ralph Lauren Fragrances introduces RALPH’S CLUB PARFUM, a new scent that invites you back to experience the greatest night of your life. Present at the glittering evening to introduce the parfum to the city was the charismatic Bollywood actor Siddharth Malhotra.

This fragrance takes on a new, intense expression of Ralph’s Club that combines rich, woody notes and bold, spicy facets. Featuring natural origin ingredients luxuriously crafted to their finest quality, RALPH’S CLUB PARFUM leaves a lingering trail that follows you throughout the night. This highly concentrated fragrance was created for the true mavericks of style and those who inspire others to enjoy the fullness of life around them.

RALPH’S CLUB PARFUM was exclusively crafted by master perfumer Dominique Ropion with notes of Fresh Lavandin and a spicy infusion of Cardamom, blended with warm, woody tones of Patchouli and the extreme intensity of Vetiver.

TOP NOTES: Mandarin Oil, Apple Accord, Cardamom Oil
MID NOTES: Lavandin Heart 2, Clary Sage Heart 1 Oil, Geranium Absolute
BASE NOTES: Vetiver Heart, Patchouli Oil, Cashmeran

The sleek flask is a product of years of craftsmanship, with sharp angles that are cool to the touch and striking black, matte translucent glass. The gunmetal design features a hinge cap detailed with the iconic Ralph’s Club monogram.

RALPH’S CLUB PARFUM is available at top beauty and lifestyle retailers – Shoppers Stop, Sephora, Lifestyle, SS Beauty, Myntra and Tata Cliq and you can get 100ml at Rs.9300

New Delhi, February 27, 2023: Consistent Infosystems, a leading provider of IT hardware, security and surveillance, print consumables, electronics, and home entertainment products in India, launches a new range of versatile desktop ATX tower cabinets. Built with a classic brushed-finished high-grade metal chassis, the new desktop PC cabinets are compatible with all-size motherboards.

While laptops are the future of most computing needs at home or office, desktop PCs are still a necessity for various requirements. Be it simple low-budget PCs or high-end gaming rigs, assembling a desktop PC always requires a strong, rigid, and versatile computer cabinet. To fulfill these requirements of the customers, Consistent has launched 6 new PC tower ATX cabinets — CE001, CE003, CE004, CE006, CE007, and CE008.

The cabinets are built for all sizes of ATX motherboards and are equipped with necessary cooling fans for intake and exhaust to keep the interior hardware cool for effective functioning. The cabinets are made from strong alloys with a thickness of .035 SPCC with an ABS front bezel. The bezels have room for one CD-ROM/DVD-ROM bay, dual USB 2.0 ports, and audio ports, while the side has a large vent for the CPU fan intake. The interiors are large and designed for easy assembly of motherboards, convenient PSU installation, and standard cable management.

Having more than 20+ branches, a team of 300+ employees, and more than 3500+ channel partners, Consistent offers its customers technologically superior products and world-class technical support. The brand has 55+ service centers across the country, where customers can visit anytime to ensure the best after-sales support.

27th February 2023: Gear up to mark your arrival and ramp up your style with Noise’s new round dial smartwatch, NoiseFit Halo. India’s leading connected lifestyle tech brand has announced the launch of a premium trendsetter that flaunts a metallic build and a classy round dial along with an always on AMOLED display. The NoiseFit Halo can be availed from Amazon and gonoise.com at a price range of INR 3,999.

Commenting on the launch, Amit Khatri, Co-Founder, Noise, said, “We are always keen on upgrading our lifestyles, so why not also upgrade our smart wearables? Keeping this in mind, our newly launched premium round dial smartwatch, NoiseFit Halo, is a step up for the ones looking at leveling up their look and marking their arrival in style”

Designed to empower consumers with a premium smartwatch choice in the round dial segment, the NoiseFit Halo ensures a feature-rich upgrade for trendsetters looking for a smartwatch with AMOLED always on display, premium round dial, leather strap, and many more features. It comes with 466*466px brightness coupled with a 1.43” screen, for crystal-clear viewing. Noise, adding to your everyday style quotient has also introduced leather and perforated straps with NoiseFit Halo, that will stay timeless, adding to the style statement while sitting comfortably on the wrist.

The brand’s newest addition comes equipped with smart touch technology offering unique customisation such as double Tap to wake, covering the watch screen during an incoming call – this will put the call on silent and palm control to turn off display. Its IP68 water and dust resistance ensures a seamless experience. The smartwatch also gives access to recent call logs and can also store up to 10 contacts through Noise Buzz, making interaction with the device extremely interactive and hassle free.

The NoiseFit Halo comes packed with an array of wellness features under Noise Health SuiteTM that can keep a track of all your vitals including heart rate, SpO2, sleep monitor, stress measurement, breath practice and female cycle tracker. Users can also keep their daily reminders and weather forecast handy, with the help of its inbuilt Productivity Suite. The smartwatch offers over 100 sports modes and 150+ watch faces.

The NoiseFit Halo is available in the following color options:

Product  Specifications

NoiseFit Halo

New Delhi, 27th February 2023: COAI, the apex industry body representing the digital communications sector in the country, has reiterated its position that the demand of telecom operators for a reasonable ‘usage fee’ from OTT Communication service providers for leveraging their networks to provide profitable services is fair and rational, and would aid in developing the country’s digital infrastructure while contributing to the economy.

Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, Director General, COAI, stated on the matter, “Certain entities with vested interests are misdirecting the issue of the need for a regulatory framework for the communication OTTs and the need of usage charge to be paid by OTTs to the TSPs, by bringing in the aspect of Net Neutrality in a misleading manner, to make it a populist issue. We reiterate that all our member TSPs are committed to following the Net Neutrality principles as per their licensing conditions”.

There seems to be a lack of appreciation of the fact that net neutrality pertains to the non-discriminatory treatment of content which has no nexus to the usage fee issue. Telecom Service Providers are committed to following the Net Neutrality Principles, as per their license conditions, as also all other regulatory and security compliances that the TSPs undertake to safeguard consumer interest and security – which OTTs presently do not.

The proposed usage charge is to justly meet the funding requirements for creating a robust telecom infrastructure in India, increased revenue for the exchequer, and continued innovation, as is the need of the hour for India’s growing digital ecosystem. It has been proposed that OTT communication services pay a network usage charge to the concerned TSP in a fair and equitable manner for the actual traffic carried by these OTTs on TSPs’ network based on measurable usage. This usage charge will contribute towards the development, maintenance, and upgradation of the network infrastructure.

It is also pertinent to highlight the European Commission’s recent commitment in the Digital Decade Declaration to develop adequate frameworks so that “all market players benefiting from the digital transformation… make a fair and proportionate contribution to the costs of public goods, services, and infrastructures…”.

The revenue collected by TSPs from the OTTs will help the TSPs roll out and expand networks to meet the infrastructure requirements for OTT services. It may also be noted that the revenues thus collected will count towards the TSPs AGR calculations. Hence, the OTTs will effectively be contributing to the national exchequer through the TSPs.

Keeping in mind that a supportive framework needs to be provided to nurture startups, MSMEs, and small enterprises in the OTT ecosystem, COAI has also proposed that such smaller players with low usage need NOT be required to pay the usage charge. In this way, innovation and entrepreneurship would not get affected. The concept of a significant intermediary has been well recognized in various Government guidelines and rules for the imposition of additional obligations on such intermediaries.

OTT platforms take a free ride on TSP-funded networks without contributing to the setting up, operating, and maintenance costs either directly or indirectly or for the expansion of networks through USOF. TSPs invest heavily in network infrastructure and acquiring spectrum, comply with quality-of-service norms, audit accounts, and pay goods and services tax, licensing fees, facilitate lawful interception and monitoring systems whereas, in stark inequality, the OTT platforms owned and operated by huge foreign entities leverage the data to build a subscriber base which they use for substantial direct/indirect benefits – chiefly from advertisements based on data analytics and other monetizing strategies of data collected from subscribers of its platforms. Since most of these OTT platforms are owned/operated by huge foreign entities, this Indian data is used for filling up the coffers of the owners and increasing the GDP of that country. As these platforms are not under the Telecom law presently, their revenues do not contribute to our Economy or Telecom growth because there is no Indian taxation on these operations.

In fact, lately, many OTT communication players are contemplating/already charging subscribers a significant fee for verified accounts, adding further lead to their revenues. “It is ironical that representatives of entities profiting themselves by levying charges on subscribers while riding free on the telcos’ network are stating that paying for usage would effectively raise costs for users,” commented Lt. Gen. Dr. S.P. Kochhar, DG, COAI.

“The fact, though unfortunate, is that the proponents of such OTT service providers wish to continue to have free lunch at the expense of TSPs, while conveniently overlooking the fact that the TSPs continue to invest immensely towards building the nation’s digital infrastructure and delivering connectivity, access and opportunities for inclusive growth to the Indian citizens,” he added.

It is pertinent to note that any entity which creates a property or infrastructure by investing funds, is entitled to take usage charges (rent /lease charges, etc.) from someone who uses the same for commercial purposes. Hence, a legal framework enabling TSPs (who invest in establishing nationwide telecom infrastructure) to charge any user that uses its service/infrastructure is fair and reasonable.

While effectively both TSPs and OTTs provide similar communication services to the same Indian population in the same prevailing environment, in the same geography, engineered over the same application layer of the 7-layer OSI-based IP networks set up by TSPs; they presently operate under different rules which are disadvantageous to the TSPs and the nation.

27th, February 2023: UNIVO, a leading online program management company, has partnered with Sardar Patel University of Gujarat.

The primary objective of this collaboration is to offer upskilling certification programs for learners. The short & mid-term certificate courses will be designed with focus on career aspirations & needs of undergraduate & post graduate learners. The objective of these courses is to enable learners with preferred skills and make them better equipped for top placements in the corporate world.

Dr Niranjan P.Patel, Vice Chancellor, Sardar Patel University, said, “This partnership between our university and UNIVO will produce multi-dimensional synergy for mutual success. UNIVO provides expertise in this segment which will help us in delivering our programs to a larger audience with the best-in-class experience. Undergraduate and Postgraduate students stand to benefit from these programs immensely.”

On this partnership Mr. Abhishek Ajmera, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, UNIVO Education said “We are pleased to announce our partnership with Sardar Patel University. The institution has an incredible legacy in imparting higher education to learners. We look forward to working with them closely to offer world-class remote learning experiences and ensuring a fruitful long-standing relationship.”