Archives April 2023

07 April 2023,  Raffles Udaipur offers the perfect destination for those looking to spend a luxurious and relaxing Easter weekend with their loved ones. Nestled in the heart of Udaipur, this beautiful property offers breathtaking views of the Aravalli mountain range and the serene Udai Sagar Lake.

With its tranquil surroundings, world-class amenities, and exceptional service, Raffles Udaipur is the ideal place to unwind and indulge in a memorable Easter celebration. Our Easter brunch menu features a wide range of delectable dishes that are sure to delight your taste buds and satisfy your cravings.

At Raffles Udaipur, we have curated a few Easter special drinks that are sure to enhance your Easter celebrations. Sip on our Amarula-based concoction, Easter in the Glass, which is infused with strawberry cream, or indulge in our Sweet Tooth, a vodka-based drink mixed with gummy bears and cranberry.

Easter is a time for renewal and rejuvenation, and what better way to celebrate than with an indulgent meal with your loved ones? Start your meal off right with our salad bar featuring lemon cous cous, corn with mint, dill, and feta cheese. For those who love seafood, we have poached prawns with snow peas cocktail onion and French style tuna, beans, and egg salad.

Our International, homemade cold cut, meats, and cheese station includes chicken pastrami, turkey pastrami, chilli chorizo, black forest ham, served with homemade preserves, crostini, pickles, and more. Cheese lovers will be delighted with our selection of goat cheese, marinated feta, Emmenthal, brie cheese, gouda, and cream cheese. Satisfy your sweet tooth with our cheese crackers, prunes, marinated olives, and nuts. The assortment is followed by delectable mains and desserts for every taste palette.

In addition to our culinary offerings, we also offer a range of activities and experiences that are perfect for families and couples alike. From a mesmerizing sunset high tea at the Belvedere Point to rejuvenating spa therapies at the Raffles Spa, there is something for everyone at Raffles Udaipur.

Our luxurious rooms and suites are designed to provide the utmost comfort and relaxation, with each room offering stunning views of the surrounding mountains or lake. Our attentive staff is always on hand to ensure that your stay is as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

So if you’re looking for the perfect destination to spend your Easter weekend with your loved ones, look no further than Raffles Udaipur. Book your stay today and experience the ultimate in luxury and relaxation.

Bengaluru, April 7, 2023 –– Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS), the leader in cloud security, today announced enhancements to Zscaler Posture Control™, strengthening its cloud native application protection platform (CNAPP) capabilities with data loss prevention (DLP) and ThreatLabz threat intelligence powered by the world’s largest security cloud.

Integrating DLP and threat intelligence into Posture Control makes it the only CNAPP that delivers an accurate cloud risk view by correlating risk impact and likelihood using sensitive data discovery and security signals. Deep insights into how incidents will occur, and the resulting data exposure, give DevOps and security teams an unprecedented understanding of where to focus their limited resources. For example, an internet-facing container with a critical unpatched vulnerability represents a significant risk because attackers can exploit it to gain access to personally identifiable information (PII). With this new integration, organizations can reduce costs and resources while staying agile and proactive in securing sensitive data and secrets in the public cloud.

Research shows that 78% of organizations use more than 50 cybersecurity products. Businesses were initially forced to either piece together point tools, like CSPM, CIEM and vulnerability scanning, or rely on loosely integrated solutions that required agent installation and did not correlate and prioritize findings. Recent solutions shifted to a streamlined, agentless deployment and introduced correlation, but the narrow focus on misconfigurations and unpatched vulnerabilities was only a small piece of the risk puzzle.

Zscaler Posture Control, combined with its data protection and threat prevention capabilities, helps world-leading organizations more effectively correlate and prioritize risk across their entire cloud estate, reducing the time, effort and resources needed to piece together these risks.

Zscaler Posture Control is a CNAPP solution that helps organizations build, deploy and run secure cloud applications. Launched in 2022, it presents a unified approach to understanding, prioritizing and remediating security risks in public cloud environments. With the seamless integration of Zscaler DLP, security, IT and DevOps teams can understand whether sensitive data such as PII, PHI and PCI are exposed as a result of cloud security weaknesses. These new innovations mean organizations can now realize even greater benefits from Zscaler Posture Control, including:

• Risk identification, correlation and prioritization: Integrated DLP and threat intelligence identify attack paths and detect ongoing attacks by automatically correlating misconfigurations or activities that seem low-risk when viewed individually but can be great risks when viewed holistically.
• Efficiency at scale: An integrated graph-based correlation and prioritization engine expedites remediation and reduces alert fatigue by focusing on the risks that matter most.
• Point product consolidation: A single, easy-to-deploy agentless platform eliminates point products by unifying CSPM, CIEM, CWPP and DLP, continuously securing every stage of the application life cycle.
• Native, end-to-end platform without silos: Posture Control reduces security and DevOps team silos with 360-degree, in-depth visibility of risks across the entire multicloud footprint – including virtual machines (VMs), containers and serverless workloads – from build to run.

“CNAPP platforms have started to gain wide popularity in recent years, but they all suffer from the same weakness: they do not help organizations understand sensitive data exposure,” said Willie Tejada, Senior Vice President at Zscaler. “Zscaler Data Protection technologies offer a deep understanding of sensitive data that we’ve built and developed over many years. By integrating these technologies, Zscaler gives organizations a view of cloud risk that security teams have never seen before.”

These enhancements will be made available by June 2023. For more information, please visit zscaler.com/products/posture-control.

This year, the kick-off international event under the auspices of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2023 was the India–Russia Business Forum in New Delhi. The main theme is ‘Strategic Partnership for Development and Growth’.

The main focus of the discussions was on economic convergence between Russia and India along the following tracks: smart cities, healthcare, IT, as well as creating a favorable business climate in the Russian Federation and creating the necessary legal conditions for business structures to operate.

“For many years, SPIEF has been one of the leading business platforms for dialogue and strengthening economic ties between Russia and India. Russian-Indian ties are steadily developing, and this momentum needs to be maintained. Science and technology occupy an important place in the cooperation between the countries. In the near term, the economic agenda of the Russia–India dialogue will focus on such issues as structural transformation of the economy, expanding export potential, improving the business climate, and human capital development,” emphasized Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation.

The changes unfolding before our eyes signal the beginning of a new era in international relations. India and Russia are facing not only new opportunities, but also challenges, including the trade and economic problems of the regional business space, and the issue of digital transformation of the transport complex in the context of technological sovereignty is becoming acute.

During a pitch session, Alexey Valkov, Director of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, answered how SPIEF creates opportunities to discuss plans for mutually beneficial partnerships and the development of joint projects on the way to business modernization: “The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a unique brand that has earned its status through the contribution of hundreds and thousands of specialists and experts in various fields from Russia and foreign countries with the widest geographical reach. We know our target audience and every year we work to improve the effectiveness of the tools that enable participants to find new partners and open up business opportunities.”

 More than 600 delegates and experts attended the two-day Forum and two important strategic agreements were signed between RISING Technology, RUSSOFT, the Technological Sovereignty Export Association, ICL Services, as well as the Indian Business Alliance and The Indian Lawyer and Allied Services.

“Russia and India are actively strengthening their business partnership. Our goods are increasingly in demand, and Russian exporters are ready to step up deliveries. As part of the Business Forum, the Russian Export Center organized a two-day business mission of Russian high-tech companies where exporters held more than 200 business meetings with leading technology companies, government officials, educational institutions and the banking sector in India and signed a number of cooperation agreements. Over 90 Indian counterparties expressed interest in our technology. The business mission that we organized laid a good foundation for cooperation between companies from the two countries,” said Veronika Nikishina, General Director, Russian Export Center.

The Forum was organized by the Roscongress Foundation; the Department of External Economic and International Relations of Moscow; the Russian Export Center; the Technological

Sovereignty Export Association; RUSSOFT, a non-profit partnership of software developers; the Global Council of Innovation and Industry; India’s National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency – Invest India; the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and the Business Council for Cooperation with India. ROSATOM became a partner of the Forum, and its representatives spoke about the latest developments in the areas of Smart Cities and Nuclear Medicine.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will take place on 14–17 June 2023 at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre.

By Mr. Kaushal Agarwal – Chairman, The Guardians Real Estate Advisory

The recent decision by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to stand pat on repo rates is good news for the real estate sector. This pause in rate hikes will encourage homebuyers to take advantage of lower home loan rates and invest in property, driving growth in the sector. Stable interest rates provide attractive financing options, making it easier for potential buyers to purchase homes and stimulating the market. This move will also provide a breather to existing homeowners who were burdened with rising EMIs due to the rate hikes witnessed in the past six policies. All in all, the RBI’s decision is positive for keeping the real estate market vibrant and prosperous.

India 07th April 2023: TVS Supply Chain Solutions (TVS SCS), one of the largest and fastest growing integrated supply chain solutions providers in India in terms of revenues according to the report titled “Logistics and SCS (Supply Chain Solutions) Market in India,” prepared by RedSeer (the “RedSeer Report”), today announced that they have won a contract for the supply of spares, consumables and accessories for the Land Rover Wolf Platform from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), acting through its Agent, Babcock Land Defence Ltd. This agreement is for two plus one year and will see TVS SCS use its accredited inventory management, procurement and supply chain expertise to ensure the optimum availability of spares for this legacy vehicle platform.

The Land Rover Wolf fleet has been in service with the UK MOD since the mid-1990s. TVS SCS along with the Post Design Services contractor will continue to address to support the availability and upkeep of the platform.

Mr Ravi Viswanathan, Managing Director, of TVS Supply Chain Solutions stated, “This business win is a testament to TVS SCS’ strong position in providing supply chain capability to support several of the UK MOD’s vehicle platforms. We continue to thrive on our expertise and believe in the power of adding value to our customers in every possible way.”

Mr Andrew Jones, CEO, of TVS Supply Chain Solutions-UK & Europe stated, “We listened to the customer’s needs and demonstrated our expertise by providing a robust solution which created value for the UK MOD. This contract aligns with our commitment to provide the UK MOD with innovative and resilient supply chain services to maximise the availability of equipment it operates across Land, Sea and Air domains.”

Mr Ben Slade, Head of Strategic Sourcing, Babcock, commented, “TVS SCS proposed the most robust solution, successfully demonstrating high-quality automotive supply chain capability to maximise parts availability supporting this critical vehicle platform whilst also ensuring value for money for our UK MOD customer”.

TVS SCS through its UK operations manages circa 3 million items per day for customers across automotive, beverage, defence, healthcare, rail, and utility sectors. These clients rely on TVS SCS’ ability to create and manage a resilient supply chain that actively mitigates the risk of supply from global disruptions.

Kolkata, 7th April 2023: The official poster launch for the upcoming film “Swadeshini Bideshini” was held at the iconic pub Lord of the Drinks in Kolkata on 6th April 2023. The director, Indira Dhar Mukherjee, unveiled the poster alongside several prominent guests, including Mumtaz Sorcar, Indian Actress, and Jaya Seal Ghosh, Indian Actress & Dancer. The event was held in the afternoon, and Poila Baisakh Special new Bengali Menu was also unveiled at Lord of the Drinks, adding to the excitement of the day.

“Swadeshini Bideshini” is a heartwarming story about two old friends who reconnect after a period of time and realize that true friendship is about accepting each other’s differences rather than trying to change them. The film promises to be a comedy-filled delight for audiences of all ages. The film boasts an impressive cast of talented actors, including Rupsha Guha, Moubani Sorcar, Suman Sen, Sharmila Sen, and four-year-old Kabir Mukherjee. The guests at the event expressed their excitement and anticipation for the film, with many stating that it would be an excellent option for a family outing. Overall, the poster launch for “Swadeshini Bideshini” was a huge success, with attendees eagerly awaiting the film’s release. It promises to be a heart-warming and entertaining story that will leave audiences laughing and feeling good.

During the event, Indira Dhar Mukkherjee, director of Swadeshini Bideshini shared her personal connection with the story, stating that “The film’s narrative holds a special place in my heart, and every day of shooting felt like a trip down memory lane with my dearest friends. I can’t help but smile when I think about the good times we shared, and I believe that same joy and positivity will be reflected in the film. After a long and tiring day, this movie can serve as the ultimate stress buster.”

Guntur, 7 April 2023: Vignan Online, the e-learning arm of Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology, and Research (Deemed-to-be University), Guntur, today announced the launch of Vignan’s Integrated Support & Assistance (VISA). The unique learner support and assistance platform provides an immersive experience for the learners enrolled in Online Degree Programs from Vignan Online. VISA is a comprehensive service platform that allows learners to post their queries at any time of day and track their progress based on the tickets they have raised.

The platform is a one-click solution for multiple queries of the learners ranging from change of program or electives, issues, and queries regarding fees, correction to the existing personal information, any issues related to the Online Degree Programs or subject, LMS login query, document verification query, and so on. Based on the generic queries, the service will provide automated solutions and a step-by-step process to be followed or will help the learner connect with the right person pertaining to the issue. The service provides a ticket number for each submission in the system to help the learners track the status of their tickets and act accordingly. The platform is designed to ease day-to-day queries, making the interface easy and uninterrupted. The turnaround time (TAT) is less than 24 hours, and it varies according to the nature of the query. If a query is not resolved by VISA, it is automatically escalated to the program manager.

Announcing the launch of VISA, Srinkant Nandigam, CEO of Vignan Online, said, “This is a unique initiative aimed at providing simplified solutions to the learners for numerous issues that require administrative support. Learners can operate on the platform without any stress through a single-click solution with 24 X 7 support. A specialized team of more than 50 technical and administrative staff works at the back end to make this service uninterrupted and effective. I am hopeful that VISA will prove to be a perfect platform for the learners and resolve their problems at the earliest.”

April 07, 2023: Newgen Software, a global provider of the NewgenONE—low code digital transformation platform—today announced the availability of its content services platform, OmniDocs, in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, an online store providing applications and services for use on Azure. Newgen’s customers can now take advantage of the productive and trusted Azure cloud platform, with streamlined deployment and management.

OmniDocs — now commercially available – enables the end-to-end management­ of enterprise content, from origination to disposition. The platform connects content and processes in a contextually accurate manner and enables organizations to go digital. It comes integrated with smart tools to capture content from multiple sources, manage it in a secure centralized repository, and make information easily accessible for users. It offers flexibility to access or deliver content via mobile and the cloud, creating a highly connected and digital workplace.

With the commercial translatability status, Newgen shall be able to expand its solution portfolio and maximize profitability by entering new markets and optimizing its sales and marketing efforts. This will lead to greater opportunities for upselling and cross-sell faster sales cycles, and better marketing insights.

“By collaborating with Microsoft, we will be able to enhance our sales efforts and offer a top-notch solution to our customers that leverages the power of Azure’s cloud-based infrastructure,” said Rajvinder Singh Kohli, SVP at Newgen Software. “Our platform can be leveraged by users to create a boundaryless workplace with anytime-anywhere content access and document management.”

Jake Zborowski, General Manager, Microsoft Azure Platform at Microsoft Corp., said, “We’re pleased to welcome Newgen to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, which gives our partners great exposure to cloud customers around the globe. Azure Marketplace offers world-class quality experiences from global trusted partners with solutions tested to work seamlessly with Azure.”

The Azure Marketplace is an online market for buying and selling cloud solutions certified to run on Azure. The Azure Marketplace helps connect companies seeking innovative, cloud-based solutions with partners who have developed solutions that are ready to use.

India, 7th April 2023 – Smarten Spaces, a leader in digital workplace solutions, is proud to announce the launch of a purpose-built package, Jumpree by Smarten Spaces for Microsoft Teams, a comprehensive digital workplace platform. As most companies move to work in hybrid, the solution focuses on providing the employee with tools to enhance their experience and increase productivity as they juggle between home and the office. It also helps with companies optimize and better utilize their spaces in a flexible world.

The timing of this much-needed solution couldn’t be better as employees adapt to the new way of working. However, it is critical for companies to provide employees with the best experience in order to maintain productivity.

According to the 2023 Gartner® Market Guide for Workplace Experience Applications [1], “Improving the employee workplace experience is the No. 1 priority for 67% of corporate real estate leaders who are increasingly working with the digital workplace team to optimize the hybrid experience”

With Jumpree by Smarten Spaces for Microsoft Teams, employees can exercise a host of options – from selecting the days they work from office, synchronizing schedules with colleagues, and reserving spaces that best suit their requirements. Jumpree by Smarten Spaces enables employees to book meeting and collaboration spaces, desks, and other amenities or any spaces across the office, with ease, without the need for any additional app downloads. Companies can increase their productivity and companies can reduce up to 30% space costs. The solution offers seamless out-of-the-box integration with Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Outlook, and Teams making it easy for companies to deploy and use.

“Jumpree by Smarten Spaces for Microsoft Teams is a game-changer for employee workplace experience,” said Dinesh Malkani, Founder & CEO of Smarten Spaces. “Jumpree by Smarten Spaces makes things easy for employees by extending a Microsoft product they already use into a fully integrated solution that is highly intuitive. It removes the complexity of hybrid work and empowers them to collaborate better with their teams while giving them the best choices of spaces they love to work in. As companies move to flexibility in work arrangements, they can optimize their spaces.”

The solution is available in multiple packages with a 30-day trial period at Microsoft AppSource, Azure Marketplace, and Microsoft Teams. It can be self-onboarded by the companies themselves or through the partner ecosystem.

“As the workforce normalizes hybrid models, having the right tools for managing workspaces is vital for productivity and collaboration. Smarten Spaces has developed a specialized solution for Microsoft Teams that will add value to the workplace experience,” stated Ben Summers, Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft Teams & Platform at Microsoft Corp.

Smarten Spaces’ solution is deployed in over 30 countries globally including with leading Fortune 500 companies. They have recently reached an annual employee transaction rate of 3 million + employee interactions with a 3.5 X growth and deployment to over a million users.

INDIA – 07 April 2023 – After Mondelēz International’s announcement on the launch of its fourth global consumer trends study, the State of Snacking™ report examining year-on-year insights on how consumers make snacking decisions, the company today unveiled the India report. The 4th edition of the study highlights how economic challenges are impacting consumer snacking choices around the globe. On the bright side, most surveyed Indian consumers continue to prioritize snacking, despite rising costs and inflationary pressures as snacking’s become the sole way to get respite from worldly issues. Thus, 86% of Indians continued to find room in their grocery budget for snacks.

This is at the back of an evolving relationship with food wherein snacking has become a daily staple as 76% Indians claim to snack twice a day. Other key findings of the India report state:

• Essential: Chocolate remains essential with 83% saying that chocolate is for the soul.
• Indulgence: Consumers are seeking that indulgent snacks are part of their everyday life (77%) and that they provide moments of peace in their day (81%). As per last year’s report, 88% consumers surveyed snacking improved mental health emotionally
• Connection: Snacking also offers routine moments of togetherness. Eight in 10 consumers (79%) snack to connect with others with nine in 10 (88%) saying, “sharing snacks with others is my love language.
• Trust: Indian consumers also report having more faith in known brands to carry them through this time, with 85% saying, “known brands are better equipped to deliver during challenging times.
• Mindful: Many are also tuning into portion sizes, saying they take time to portion out snacks before eating them (82%) and check nutrition labels on snacks before buying them (86%)

Nitin Saini, Vice President – Marketing, Mondelez India, added, “This year’s report rightfully captures how Indian consumer view snacking as a way to build connections or steal small moments of indulgence in their lives. While intuitive snacking on the rise, it is interesting to note that conscious consumers aren’t a monolith but are reframing indulgences to feel more permissible. Our study further indicates that today’s consumer is making judicious snacking choices that ensure individual’s well-being. As a global snacking leader, these insights validate our focus on delivering the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way as we continue to lead the future of snacking.”

Additional findings from the 2022 State of Snacking India report include:

SNACKING IS BECOMING ESSENTIAL

Snackification continues to remain alive and well for Indians, despite the tumultuous economy. While 89% of Indian consumers are concerned about inflationary pressures, snacks will continue to be an essential part of their grocery budgets.

• Additionally, 9 in 10 Indian consumers (88%) say their household sits down to enjoy a snack together at least on a weekly basis
• 80% of the consumers say snacking helps them take their mind off the issues of the world

SNACK DISCOVERY & PERSONALIZATION

In the digital era, social media and other channels are acting as a catalyst for the snack exploration process. Over three-quarters of the consumers say they need more “snackspo” (or snack inspiration) in their life, especially Millennials (85%)

• Nearly nine in 10 Indian consumers (89%) either have bought or would buy a snack in-store after seeing it online
• Consumers crave multiple sources of inspiration and turn to digital platforms for exploring new snacks. More than three-quarters of Indian consumers would browse for snacks to buy in a virtual experience (76%),
• 84% will go out of their way to find their favorite snack, while a similar percentage (82%) would even pay extra to bring back some of their favorite childhood snack brands.

MINDFUL SNACKING

Consumers are trying to be mindful and present while snacking, with 87% reporting they are selective about the indulgent snacks they choose and 84% reporting they take time to savor indulgent snacks.

• Consumers are seeking that indulgent snacks are part of their everyday life (77%) and that they provide moments of peace in their day (81%). As per last year’s report, 88% consumers surveyed snacking improved mental health emotionally
• Indian consumers are also making an effort to be mindful and present while enjoying these types of snacks, as eight in 10 (84%) are more likely to take time to savour indulgent snacks.

The global 2022 State of Snacking report, developed in partnership with consumer polling specialist, The Harris Poll tracks snacking attitudes and behaviors among thousands of consumers surveyed across 12 countries for the fourth consecutive year.