Archives November 2024

Bengaluru, November 19, 2024: Ola Electric, India’s largest pure-play EV company, has achieved a landmark victory with its all-women workforce at Ola Futurefactory, securing five Gold Awards at the 49th International Convention on Quality Control Circles (ICQCC) held in Sri Lanka in November 2024. Competing against industry peers from 14 countries, this milestone makes Ola Electric the first Indian EV manufacturer to win at this scale – demonstrating leadership in quality, innovation, and operational excellence.

The achievement celebrates the might of Ola Electric’s women-led teams from rural backgrounds, who showcased their work at the factory’s paint shop, motor shop, general assembly line, battery shop, and welding shop. The projects involved showcasing solutions that contribute to cost efficiencies, quality and safety enhancement as well as productivity enhancement – reflecting the company’s focus on inclusivity and sustainability.

Commenting on the accomplishment, an Ola spokesperson said, “This recognition at ICQCC is a testament to our relentless pursuit of excellence with our incredibly talented women at the helm of the EV revolution at our Futurefactory. It reflects our ethos of blending innovation with empowerment, and setting new benchmarks on the operational-heavy automotive shop floors, which are traditionally dominated by men. We are extremely happy to have started this shift in the Indian automotive manufacturing landscape and are committed to bringing more women on the shop floors.”

Award-Winning Projects
Five teams representing the paint shop, motor shop, General Assembly Line, battery shop, and weld shop won the Gold Award for the following projects:

• Paint Shop: The project involved showcasing innovative optimisation strategies that helped with the reduction of operational costs
• Motor Division: The project highlighted our efforts in the enhancement of product competitiveness by reducing the COPQ (Cost of Poor Quality)
• General Assembly: The team efficiently accelerated time-to-market by increasing capacity in the Front Fork sub-assembly process
• Battery Shop: The focus of this project was to boost battery pack productivity in order to meet the growing customer demands
• Weld Shop: This project prioritised improving robotics throughput to enhance operational efficiency and streamline workflows

Ola Futurefactory, located in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, is India’s largest integrated and automated electric 2-wheeler manufacturing plant. The facility manufactures best-in-class Ola S1 scooters, including vehicle components like battery packs, motors, and vehicle frames.

Bangalore,  November 19 2024:  Nido, North Bangalore’s newest rooftop destination, has opened its doors, offering a tropical haven amid the city’s dynamic and fast-paced atmosphere. Nido, derived from the Italian word for “nest,” offers a space that goes beyond the typical bar experience, providing an inviting and elevated atmosphere for guests to enjoy. Spanning 3,500 square feet, the venue offers panoramic views of the city skyline under a semi-retractable roof that seamlessly adapts to Bangalore’s ever-changing weather, making it a year-round destination.

Nido is poised to become a prominent dining destination, elevating the culinary landscape with its curated collection of exquisite dishes and innovative offerings. With a capacity to host up to 150 guests, the venue seamlessly combines communal tables with intimate lounges, cosy family corners, and romantic alcoves. The three thoughtfully designed sections ensure the perfect ambiance for every occasion—whether it’s a vibrant celebration or a peaceful retreat.

Beyond its versatile design, Nido offers an exceptional culinary experience, blending South Indian and Continental flavours with unique fusion twists. The thoughtfully curated menu caters to a wide array of tastes, ensuring something for everyone. The bar complements this with an innovative range of cocktails, floral infusions, and refreshing mocktails, all served with breathtaking views of the city. To enhance the tropical atmosphere, Nido also offers an extensive selection of draught beers, further contributing to the venue’s laid-back yet sophisticated ambiance.

The design of Nido is a testament to collaboration and local craftsmanship, brought to life by Studio 8 Architects in partnership with Bondasoup Art Studio. Drawing inspiration from tropical and earthy elements, they carefully handpicked materials to bring the idea of a “nest” to life. A standout feature is the retractable fabric roof, which allows the venue to open up to the expansive starry sky or close up to create a cozy indoor atmosphere—much like a bird’s nest, offering freedom to soar while providing a safe haven. Another key highlight is the canopy ceiling crafted from lantana twigs, ethically sourced from rural Karnataka. The terrazzo flooring and custom-designed cutlery further enhance the venue’s unique character. Every element of the design has been carefully considered to create an ambiance that is tranquil, homely, and welcoming.

Sathvik Shetty, the driving force behind Nido, shares, “With Nido, our goal was to craft a space where guests feel not only connected but truly at ease. We felt that Hebbal was missing a rooftop sanctuary that brought together craft cocktails, exceptional food, and artistic expression. Our vision was to create a space that is not just a bar but a cultural hub where guests can relax, feel a sense of belonging, and immerse themselves in a vibrant, curated experience.”

Nido is not just another rooftop bar; it’s an experience. With live music and electrifying weekend DJ nights, it brings a fresh and thoughtful addition to Bangalore’s vibrant F&B scene. Whether you’re unwinding under the stars, hosting a lively celebration, or catching up with friends, Nido effortlessly adapts to every occasion, making it the perfect setting for memorable moments.

With its elegant interiors, warm ambiance, and expansive views, Nido offers more than just a venue—it’s a place to truly belong.

Participants can register for free as SOG Grandmasters aims to unearth talents who can represent India in Mind Sports globally

New Delhi, Nov 19th, 2024: The Skillhub Online Games (SOG) Federation on Friday announced partnerships with globally recognized game technology platforms, Tornelo, a FIDE (International Chess Federation) approved platform to conduct the Indian Chess Masters (ICM) and Indian Chess Masters for Blind (ICMB), and RummyCulture, to conduct Indian Rummy Grandmasters (IRG) and ensure seamless and fair participation of players at the SOG Grandmasters Series.

To make the inaugural championship a success and promote traditional Indian mind sports with a pan-India competitive structure, the Grandmasters Series platform aims to bring over 1 lakh registrations that will unearth mind game talents from across India, who later can represent the country at the global tournaments. The registrations are open on the official website (www.soggrandmasters.com).

The SOG Federation’s partnership with cutting-edge platforms ensures a seamless, world-class technical framework to foster a fair and competitive gaming ecosystem in India, aligning with its vision of establishing the country as a global Mind Game hub. This collaboration provides players with top-tier resources, upholds robust standards of ethical gameplay, and guarantees fairness in competition, with no fees charged to participants throughout the SOG Grandmasters Series.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Tornelo and Rummyculture, two renowned leaders in their fields, to bring unparalleled technological rigour and expertise to the SOG Grandmasters Series. Together, we’re not only setting a new standard for competitive skill gaming in India but also ensuring that this journey is grounded in stringent regulatory practices and an unwavering commitment to fair and free display of talents. These cutting-edge platforms’ expertise will only be used to conduct the game and the players can expect a highly secure, transparent, and level playing field that welcomes all the competitors and provides an environment where skill truly shines and real talents get the platform to play for India globally in mind sport platforms,” said Shankar Aggarwal, President, SOG Federation

Tornelo, a FIDE-approved platform, ensures inclusivity by supporting both e-Chess and Blind Chess, creating an accessible experience for all players on an equal playing field.

“Partnering with SOGF for the SOG Grandmasters Series is a significant step forward in elevating mind sports in India. We are honoured to provide the technical platform for both the Indian Chess Masters and Indian Chess Masters for the Blind, supporting SOGF’s mission to spotlight India’s top strategic talents. Together, we’re setting a new standard for competitive chess and fostering a culture of skill, strategy, and resilience,” said David Cordover, CEO of Tornelo.

Meanwhile, RummyCulture is one of India’s fastest-growing online rummy platforms with more than 2.5 Crore (25 million) players and holds the “Guinness World Record” for hosting the world’s largest online rummy tournament. To provide an exciting, legal, safe, and fair gameplay experience to all users, the platform is RNG & No Bot certified. It also has an ISO 9001:2005 certification.

With a belief in the power of technology to provide outstanding online rummy gaming experiences blended with best-in-segment customer service, offers, and player rewards, RummyCulture’s games are designed on an extremely user-friendly UI and make it convenient for first-time players to understand and play hassle-free. The platform offers players great opportunities to utilize their rummy skills and win a variety of exciting prizes.

‘Indian Rummy Grandmasters (IRG) is redefining the game of rummy, instilling a sense of pride and accomplishment in players across the country. By encouraging individuals to unlock their potential and master their skills, IRG empowers players to excel in this strategic and intellectual game. Through dynamic tournaments and opportunities for growth, IRG provides a platform to showcase talent and dedication. Players can register and begin their journey to greatness at playirg.com”, said Amit Kushwama, AVP Strategic Initiatives, Gameskraft (RummyCulture’s parent company).

The SOG Grandmasters Series begins with online qualifiers, leading to Phygital Zonals on December 19-20, 2024, in Bengaluru (South Zone), with the grand finals scheduled for March 2025. Participants can register now at [www.soggrandmasters.com] and (www.playirg.com).

Bangalore, 19/11/2024: AxisRooms, a leading hotel distribution technology provider, said that The Foxoso Group of Hotels in India has adopted its Channel Manager solution to sell more rooms via multiple OTAs with real-time distribution. Additionally, the group has adopted AxisRooms’ Revenue Management System to sell more rooms at optimised rates to boost its revenues.

The Foxoso Group of Hotels is known for its diverse offerings, budget-friendly rates, and exceptional service. The group commenced operations in 2021 with its first property – Foxoso Delhi Airport. It has six properties in the airport hotels, resorts, heritage hotels, and luxury camps segment in Goa, Agra, Nainital, Jaisalmer, and Bhowali.

According to Neeraj Raj, Revenue Manager of The Foxoso Group of Hotels, the earlier channel manager didn’t have the right features to help them ensure real-time distribution of rates and inventory across 12+ OTAs. Additionally, it was not user-friendly. “AxisRooms Channel Manager tool was the natural choice as it has all the features and functionalities that let us ensure real-time distribution across multiple OTAs. It comes with a Mobile App, enabling us to manage our sales channels on the go. Plus, it is extremely user-friendly. It saves us 90% of our time daily.”

Apart from the Channel Manager, The Foxoso Group of Hotels has also implemented AxisRooms’ Revenue Management System to optimise its pricing strategy and drive revenue. “Currently, two of our properties are powered by AxisRooms’ Revenue Management System. We will roll out this product across the rest of our properties very soon,” Neeraj said.

“Empowering hotels with innovative, user-friendly and cost-effective technology is at the heart of what we do at AxisRooms. Our partnership with The Foxoso Group of Hotels exemplifies our commitment to helping hotels drive OTA sales and revenue growth while improving operational capabilities through cutting-edge solutions,” said Ravi Taneja, Chief Operating Officer at AxisRooms.

India, 19th November 2024: Addverb, a global leader in industrial robotics and warehouse automation, has announced its entry into the humanoid robotics field, with the launch scheduled for 2025. This landmark move represents a new chapter in Addverb’s evolution, which began with developing fixed automation systems and mobile robots. Previously, Addverb introduced India’s first quadruped, “Trakr,” an AI-powered robot with autonomous navigation, modular payload, and the ability to traverse various terrains for maintenance and security applications. Addverb onboarded Reliance as a strategic investor in 2021 and subsequently deployed its advanced robotic solutions across multiple use cases in Reliance’s diverse businesses, including grocery, fashion, petrochemicals, and healthcare. Addverb will work closely with Reliance to develop the humanoid, leveraging the synergy of the Jio AI Platform and 5G services, and deploy it extensively across the group’s businesses for various use cases.

The new humanoid robot will be an advanced AI agent capable of processing vast volumes of multi-modal data from vision, audio, and touch inputs. Leveraging dynamic, self-learning algorithms, it will navigate complex environments, perform intricate tasks, make real-time decisions, and adapt to diverse workflows across industries—including warehouses, defence, and healthcare.

Equipped with cutting-edge GPU technology, energy-efficient actuators, and dual-arm capabilities, the robot will execute complex tasks requiring bipedal mobility across multiple terrains. It will also integrate Visual and Language Action (VLA) technology, enabling full autonomy in dynamic settings.

Powered by self-learning algorithms and multi-modal data, this humanoid will rapidly adapt to evolving environments, performing tasks like parcel handling, quality inspection, sorting, assembly, and disaster relief. Its dexterity and adaptability will allow it to thrive in both structured and unstructured settings.

On the humanoid robot announcement, Sangeet Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of Addverb, said, “Our foray into humanoid robotics is driven by our ambition to eliminate ‘3D’ jobs—those that are Dull, Dirty, and Dangerous. This project focuses on integrated processing and decision-making capabilities, enabling the humanoid to perform complex tasks with human-like dexterity and strength.”

Mr. Kumar further added, “Our goal is not only to build a world-class humanoid robot but to create an ecosystem of downstream companies, similar to what we have achieved in warehouse automation in India. This initiative will boost humanoid robot density in India and support global adoption of this technology. We are embarking on an exciting journey towards transformative progress in robotics.”

Addverb’s commitment to quality has attracted a prestigious client list, such as Reliance, HUL, PepsiCo, Maersk, Mondial Relay, DHL, and Landmark, underscoring its reputation for transformative automation solutions. With operations across the US, Europe, and Asia, Addverb is set to redefine robotics with its humanoid launch in 2025, aligned with India’s “Make in India, Make for the World” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” visions, contributing to India’s global leadership in robotics and manufacturing.

Mumbai, 19th November 2024 — Stovekraft, a leader in home appliances, proudly announces the launch of the Orbitron Air-fryer Steamer 6.5 L, a groundbreaking cooking solution designed to redefine home cooking. This advanced appliance combines powerful Air Whirl technology, digital controls, and versatile presets to make healthier cooking easy, fast, and tasty. With a spacious 6.5-litre capacity, Orbitron is engineered to deliver maximum flavour and nutrition without the need for excessive oil, making it the ultimate choice for modern kitchens.

The Orbitron Air-fryer Steamer features 12 convenient cooking presets such as popular favourites like fries, tikka, samosa, veg roast, pizza, cutlets, cakes, chips, roast nuts, Paani poori, and brownies for ease of cooking. Perfectly suited for Indian cooking, these presets empower home chefs to prepare a range of dishes effortlessly.

Orbitron also has a sleek digital touch control panel for simple and intuitive operation. Its Cooking Progress Glass Window provides a clear view, allowing users to monitor food as it cooks. It features a Flip button that automatically rotates the food, ensuring even heat distribution for perfectly cooked results every time.

“The Orbitron Air-fryer Steamer is designed with the Indian home chef in mind. It’s not only powerful and efficient but also simplifies cooking for busy households,” said Mr Rajendra Gandhi, Managing Director of Stovekraft. “This launch is a testament to our commitment to innovation that meets real consumer needs, making every meal a memorable experience.”

With 1500W power, the Orbitron ensures faster cooking times and retains food’s essential nutrients. Its Air Whirl technology circulates hot air evenly to create a crisp, golden texture on the outside while keeping the inside tender and juicy, transforming everyday ingredients into extraordinary meals.

Ideal for health enthusiasts and food lovers alike, the Orbitron offers unmatched versatility for preparing family meals, party snacks, and everything in between. With the Orbitron Air-fryer Steamer, Stovekraft continues to pioneer solutions that enhance the joy of home cooking while meeting today’s standards for nutrition and wellness.

India, November 19, 2024 – F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) announced early access of F5 AI Gateway to streamline interactions between applications, APIs, and large language models (LLMs) driving enterprise AI adoption. This powerful containerized solution optimizes performance, observability, and protection capabilities, all leading to reduced costs. Integrated with F5’s portfolio, AI Gateway gives security and operations teams a seamless path to adopting AI services through significantly improved data output quality and a superior user experience.

According to F5’s State of AI Application Strategy Report, 75% of enterprises are implementing AI. Like countless modern applications, AI services are largely delivered and consumed via APIs. However, enterprises face many additional challenges in architecting and scaling AI-fluent apps and services. As an example, efficient operations require close monitoring of increasingly relevant metrics such as GPU compute costs and system responsiveness, as well as emerging regulatory compliance concerns.

“LLMs are unlocking new levels of productivity and enhanced user experiences for customers, but they also require oversight, deep inspection at inference-time, and defense against new types of threats,” said Kunal Anand, Chief Innovation Officer at F5. “By addressing these new requirements and integrating with F5’s trusted solutions for API traffic management, we’re enabling customers to confidently and efficiently deploy AI-powered applications in a massively larger threat landscape.”

Real-world AI solutions require optimized request, response, and prompt interactions across an entire data ecosystem. F5 AI Gateway observes, optimizes, and secures a vast number of user and automated variables to offer cost reductions, mitigate malicious threats, and ensure regulatory compliance.

F5 AI Gateway is designed to meet customers—and their apps—at the ideal place in their AI journey. It can be deployed in any cloud or data center and will natively integrate with F5’s NGINX and BIG-IP platforms to take advantage of F5’s leading app security and delivery services in traditional, multicloud, or edge deployments. In addition, the solution’s open extensibility enables organizations to develop and customize programmable security and controls enforced by F5 AI Gateway. These processes can be easily updated and applied dynamically to drive instant adherence to security policies and compliance mandates.

“AI-powered applications will become a cornerstone for nearly every business and organization in the coming years,” said Shari Lava, Senior Director, AI and Automation at IDC. “F5’s introduction of an AI gateway to its application stack of services enables its customers to have greater flexibility in how they build their AI application structure, but still have enhanced protection and model optimization.”

F5 AI Gateway:

• Delivers security and compliance policy enforcement with automated detection and remediation against the risks identified in the OWASP Top Ten for LLM Applications.
• Offloads duplicate tasks from LLMs with semantic caching, enhancing the user experience and reducing operations costs.
• Streamlines integration processes, allowing developers to focus on building out AI-powered applications rather than managing complex infrastructures.
• Optimizes load balancing, traffic routing, and rate limiting for local and third-party LLMs to maintain service availability and enhance performance.
• Provides a single API interface that developers can use to access their AI model of choice.

“F5’s AI Gateway is an integral part of our AI strategy,” said Austin Geraci, CTO of WorldTech IT. “With this technology, our customers are able to develop both internal and external-facing AI applications capable of handling a surge in queries without degradation to site and application performance. F5 brings leading app security and delivery capabilities to accelerate AI experiences at scale. With F5 AI Gateway, semantic caching and intelligent traffic routing alone represent significant cost savings, and the unification of F5 services will save customers hundreds of hours of integration work.”

New Delhi, 19th November 2024: Recently, doctors at HCMCT Manipal Hospital saved a 2-year-old child with mercury poisoning following the accidental ingestion of mercury from a broken thermometer. The child was brought to the hospital after the thermometer broke in his mouth. Initially, there were no visible signs of abdominal pain or vomiting, making it difficult to assess the extent of mercury ingestion. The child was initially managed conservatively with laxatives under close observation, as the exact amount of mercury ingested was unknown. All routine tests, including serum and urine mercury levels, were conducted. However, despite the use of laxatives, an abdominal X-ray revealed a substantial amount of mercury spread throughout the bowel, posing significant health risks.

After 48 hours with no improvement in mercury clearance, Dr. Sufla Saxena, Head of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and her team proceeded with an urgent colonoscopy. During the procedure, mercury was located throughout the large bowel and at the tip of the appendix. A comprehensive bowel lavage was conducted (a procedure that involves flushing out the large intestine with liquid to clean it) to flush out the mercury from the colon. The procedure went well, and the child was discharged the very next day. A follow-up X-ray confirmed that the mercury was fully cleared, eliminating the need for chelation therapy. This timely intervention successfully prevented the potential dangers of mercury toxicity.“

Commenting on the case, Dr. Sufla Saxena, Head of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, HCMCT Manipal Hospital, Dwarka said, “Acute or chronic mercury exposure can cause adverse effects during any period of development. Mercury is a highly toxic element and can have devastating effects on critical organs such as the heart, central nervous system, and kidneys. With early diagnosis and opting for the procedures at the right time, we were able to prevent the dangerous effects of mercury exposure and ensure the child’s recovery without complications. This case highlights the important role of timely and advanced pediatric care in managing toxic exposures.”

Delhi, 19 Nov 2024: FOSTIIMA Business School, the renowned B-School in Delhi, hosted a 3-day Online Faculty Development Programme on “Leveraging Analytics for Strategic Business Management.” This programme aims to empower faculty to integrate data-driven insights into their teaching and research, which helps them to utilize their advanced knowledge and skills for strategic decision-making in business management.

In this 3-day programme from 12-14 November 2024, faculties from JIMS, GIBS, and Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management get an overview with a combination of hands-on workshops, case studies, and interactive sessions on the fundamentals of analytics, data visualization and interpretation, and advanced analytics techniques to enhance their teaching effectiveness and student engagement in business management.

On the first day of the programme, an insightful session was conducted around Text Sentiment Analysis and HR Job Description. Dr. Saumendra Mohanty, Consultant Data Science & AI Trainer & Professor, and Prof. Saloni Srivastava shared JD Matching with Orange and Python, a case study on hotel reviews, and an introduction to prompt engineering. On the second day, the session started with the Data Visualisation & Interpretation. Mr. Mohit Aggarwal, IBM Certified Trainer & Power BI specialist, and Dr. Neetu Kamra, IBM Certified in Descriptive Analytics, Predictive Analytics & Design Thinking, shared insights on Visualisation with Power BI and Visualization with Cognos. On the last day of the programme, there was a session on Introduction to Gen AI LLM Sentiment where Ms. Neha Issar, Assistant Professor IBM Spark & Scala Certified, shared an Analysis Case Study with Gen AI with Python and provided IBM Certification to the workshop participants. The event was convened by Prof. (Dr.) Subhash Kakkar, Prof. (Dr.) Ruchika Yadav, and Dr. Sweety G. Chhabria.

On successfully organizing the programme and thanking all the attendees and guests, Mr. Anil Somani, Chairman, FOSTIIMA Business School-Delhi, said, “We are thrilled to partner with IBM to offer this amazing 3-day Faculty Development Programme. At FOSTIIMA, Our mission is to equip young managers with the skills to tackle challenges on the international stage while upholding high standards of education, ethics, integrity, and discipline. To achieve this, it becomes important for faculty to equip themselves with the latest skills, knowledge, and methods. To bridge the gap between academia and industry, we aim to empower our faculty to deliver a world-class education to prepare our students for the future. This initiative is a testament to our dedication to fostering innovation, excellence, and lifelong learning. It’s a matter of pride for us that today the academic excellence of FOSTIIMA Business School partners with IBM for this Faculty Development Programme. I thank academicians and academic institutions for participating in the FDP here and sharing their invaluable experiences.”

This Faculty Development Programme is a significant step towards equipping educators with the necessary skills and knowledge to leverage analytics and advanced technology in their teaching to make it more engaging for their students.

November 19, 2024 : The Indian School of Business (ISB) has announced its strategic brand refresh by unveiling a refreshed logo, marking a pivotal step in its mission to develop leaders equipped with the knowledge and character to drive global transformation. Renowned brand consultancy Landor partnered with ISB to bring this vision to life.

This evolution aligns with ISB’s legacy and ambition, highlighting its position as a world-class institution grounded in rigorous research, innovative pedagogy, and a global outlook. From its robust research centres and world-class faculty to its dynamic alumni network, ISB showcases its success in nurturing leaders who drive impact.

ISB’s updated logo is a manifestation of its strategic direction and symbolises the institution’s innovative and forward-thinking approach. It builds on ISB’s core elements while incorporating a modern, forward-thinking design with a bold, clean sans-serif wordmark. The logo itself has been directionally reoriented to move forward and upward towards a direction that conventionally signals progress and empowerment —qualities that are central to ISB’s strategic direction.

Dean Madan Pillutla remarked, “Our new brand embodies ISB’s relentless pursuit of excellence. We are firmly committed to nurturing leaders who drive impactful change in a complex world. We are already on a path of evolution this year with a revised curriculum and a new programme for young leaders. Our new brand identity reflects our belief that the future belongs to those who create it.”

Lulu Raghavan, President APAC at Landor, added, “This brand refresh is more than a design evolution—it’s a powerful statement of ISB’s role in shaping future-ready leaders for India and beyond.”

Since its inception in 2001, ISB has pioneered business education, emerging as a premier research-driven institution. The refreshed brand reflects ISB’s focus on blending cutting-edge research with real-world application, fostering an environment where knowledge meets practice. This approach equips its students to lead innovation across industry, government, and society, championing transformative leadership worldwide.