Month: April 2023

Aereo Receives the First Set of Incentives in Drone-Based PLI Scheme from MoCA

Aereo is one of the 12 drone companies to receive the first set of incentives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation~

Aereo (formerly Aarav Unmanned Systems) received the first set of disbursements from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components. MoCA has disbursed an amount of Rs. 30 crores to 12 beneficiaries for the fiscal year FY 2022-2023.

The PLI scheme for drones and drone components was announced in September 2021. Following that, a total of 23 drone companies were provisionally shortlisted in July 2022 for the incentives under this scheme. However, after due diligence by the government, only 6 drone manufacturers and 6 drone component manufacturers received the first incentives from the aviation ministry in April 2023. Aereo, is one of 6 drone manufacturers to receive the incentive under the PLI scheme.

Aereo is one of the largest drone solutions companies in the commercial drone market in India with a strong presence in mining, urban and rural development, land survey, and construction sectors. It has built advanced intellectual properties (IPs) over the past decade and filed around 15 patents. Additionally, it was the first company to develop a DGCA-certified survey-grade PPK drone in India. Aereo has mapped over 40,000 villages under the SVAMITVA scheme of GOI and close to 25,000 square kilometers in the state of Haryana under large-scale mapping.

After receiving the incentive, Vipul Singh, Co-founder, CEO, Aereo, said, “The first PLI disbursement marks a milestone for indigenous drone technology in India. We are extremely thankful to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for the timely release of this amount. The PLI incentive will enable Aereo to expand its operations across and beyond the nation, and also accelerate indigenous R&D in the country. Along with PLI we also look forward towards a Design Linked Incentive (DLI) in the next year that will further strengthen the booming drone industry.”

GHODAWAT CONSUMER CROSSES 1600CR REVENUE IN FY23

GHODAWAT CONSUMER CROSSES 1600CR REVENUE IN FY23

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Ghodawat Consumer Ltd. (GCL), the FMCG arm of Sanjay Ghodawat Group (SGG), has achieved a remarkable milestone in FY23, surpassing INR 1600 cr in revenue. GCL's consistent focus on innovation, customer-centricity, affordability, and quality has created a unique brand identity for itself. These value-based practices have resulted in a 20% YoY growth, and GCL is now targeting to achieve INR 2000 cr in revenue in FY24.

 

GCL started its journey by manufacturing edible oils and expanded its product portfolio to include staples and impulse categories. Today, GCL's wide-ranging products, including the ‘Star’ brand atta, edible oil, pulses, rice, salt, snacks, assorted namkeens, water, and ‘To Be Honest’ – real fruit and vegetable crunchies are household names in western and southern India. Additionally, Fizzinga – carbonated drinks, Frustar – fruit drinks, Coolberg – non-alcoholic beer, and Rider – Energy Drink are top-selling products in the beverages category.

 

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GCL manufactures all its products in state-of-the-art facilities under the strictest manufacturing protocols. The company's adept team ensures that high-quality raw materials and packaging are used to deliver the best possible products to customers.

GCL's MD, Shrenik Ghodawat, said, “We are committed to changing the experience of everyday food, merging innovation and technology to provide consumers with fresh and wholesome products. Our unique marketing strategies, quality products, and expansion into new markets have helped us achieve this milestone. Our business model is focused on providing customers with affordable products, greater ROI for distributors, and ease of stocking for retailers. We strive to ensure that every consumer utilizes at least one product from GCL in their day. We will continue to focus on maximizing value for all our stakeholders.”

 

ChatGPT’s rapid growth puts Instagram to shade: Infosys co-founder Gopalakrishnan at GIM Convocation

480 students were awarded PGDM certificates at GIM's annual convocation ceremony

~ Disruptive technologies to help India reach $10 trillion economy

~With the accreditation by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) from the United Kingdom (UK), GIM had joined an exclusive club of 296 institutions worldwide ~

 

Artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT’s rapid growth has put to shade social media behemoths like Instagram and Tiktok, according to Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, who has also claimed that disruptive technologies will help the Indian economy reach the $ 10 trillion mark. 

Gopalakrishnan, chairman of Axilor Ventures, was a chief guest at the annual convocation ceremony organised by the Goa Institute of Management (GIM) during which certificates were formally handed over to 480 students spread across five management programmes who completed their post graduate diploma in management. 

15 medals were awarded to students who made a significant mark in academics as well as extracurricular activities, while awards were also given to students with best academic performances in the respective programs. 

In his address during the ceremony, which was also attended by Ashank Desai, chairman of the GIM governing board and the B-school’s director Dr. Ajit Parulekar, Gopalakrishnan spoke about the rise of ChatGPT and the transformation which the AI chatbot was about to unleash worldwide. 

“It's one of the fastest growing apps or tools ever. Within two months after its launch… GPT had 100 million monthly active users in contrast to Instagram which took two and a half years to reach 100 million users,” he said, adding that the chatbot was “evolving faster than any technology introduced or invented by humans to date”. 

“We are finding new capabilities every single day. Chat GPT democratised access to artificial intelligence machine learning models and helps with a wide range of tasks such as reading x-rays, essay writing, poetry, summarizing information and documents and testing code segments etc. It shows human-like capabilities, but at an amazing speed of response. Clearly this disruption will have a significant impact on every aspect of our life,” Gopalakrishnan said. 

Gopalakrishnan also said that disruptive technologies would transform India’s industrial landscape and help the country to accelerate its Gross Domestic Product. 

“I believe that disruptive technologies will transform all industries and this gives India an opportunity to accelerate GDP growth and become the second or the third largest economy in the world. A few IT companies have demonstrated this in the last 45 years. There is tremendous wealth to be made in India, as India grows to become a five trillion dollar economy or a 10 trillion dollar economy,” he said. 

Director Parulekar, who presented the Director's Report on the institute’s performance for the last academic year, said that with the accreditation by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) from the United Kingdom (UK), GIM had joined an exclusive club of 296 institutions worldwide, which received the prestigious endorsement. After the IIMs, the GIM is the second institution in the country to be accredited by the Business Graduates Association, a UK-based global membership organisation of Business Schools. 

“This year, we received a record-breaking number of applications: 13,320 unique applications as compared to the year prior which was 8,730. This translates to a 53 percent increase in applications across all four full-time PGDM programmes,” he also said. 

15 medals were awarded to students who made a significant mark in academics as well as extracurricular activities. Awards were given for ‘best academic performance’ in the respective programs. 

 

Gen Z supermodel and actor, Ishita Gupta, has been appointed as a global ambassador for Prequel Inc

Gen Z supermodel and actor, Ishita Gupta, has been appointed as a global ambassador for Prequel Inc, a US-based technology company that specializes in developing the Prequel mobile application for editing photos and videos with filters and effects. The app has achieved great success, reaching number 1 in the “Photo & Video” category of the US Apple App Store in February 2021.

Ishita Gupta shared some captivating AI-generated portraits in reel format on her Instagram handle and encouraged her followers to try out the app, stating that the results were “absolutely amazing”. She also expressed her love for the app's “sorting hat filter”, which placed her in her favourite Harry Potter house. Ishita's reel was set to Michael Jackson's iconic song “Beat it,” which is a common theme in her reels, as she is a huge fan of the late pop icon.

Prequel is a go-to photo and video editing app for several popular celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Ariana Grande, Timbaland, and Charlie Puth. Ishita's appointment as a global ambassador for the app is a remarkable achievement, and she is doing an excellent job of representing India on a global scale. It is worth noting that Ishita's bio reads “everyone's fantasy, no one's reality,” indicating that her perception about herself is synonymous to the AI fantasy filters, as she is the fantasy any man would love as his reality.

 
Ishita is currently holidaying with her family in the USA for Easter holidays and is expected to return to London in June. We don’t have any news of the model visiting India as of yet.

Next-Generation Dell PowerEdge Servers Deliver Advanced Performance and Energy Efficient Design

News summary

·         Dell PowerEdge server portfolio expansion offers more performance, including up to 2.9x greater AI inferencing

·         Dell Smart Flow design and Dell Power Manager software advancements deliver greater energy efficiency

·         Dell Secured Component Verification helps secure the supply chain with cryptographic verification

·         Dell APEX portfolio to offer a modern compute as-a-Service experience, helping companies improve IT operations while making the most of their resources

 

Full story

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) expands the industry’s top selling server portfolio1, with an additional 13 next-generation Dell PowerEdge servers, designed to accelerate performance and reliability for powerful computing across core data centers, large-scale public clouds and edge locations.

 

Next-generation rack, tower and multi-node PowerEdge servers, with 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, include Dell software and engineering advancements, such as a new Smart Flow design, to improve energy and cost efficiency. Expanded Dell APEX capabilities will help organizations take an as-a-Service approach, allowing for more effective IT operations that make the most of compute resources while minimizing risk.

 

“Indian businesses across industries are looking at managing and working with increasing quantities of data. The next-generation Dell PowerEdge portfolio will accelerate their digital transformation with AI-driven innovation, automation, and zero-trust adoption. The expanded portfolio will ensure accelerated performance and reliability for powerful computing across IT environments.” said Manish Gupta, Vice President and General Manager, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies, India.

 

“We have consistently deployed innovations in power management, thermals and processor upgrades that have increased the energy efficiency of the PowerEdge portfolio while dramatically reducing their energy intensity,” he added.

 

New Dell PowerEdge servers are designed to meet the needs of a range of demanding workloads from artificial intelligence and analytics to large-scale databases. The expanded portfolio announced in November 2022, including the PowerEdge XE family of servers with NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software suite for a full stack, production AI platform builds on advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

 

New servers for cloud service providers

 

The introduction of Dell PowerEdge HS5610 and HS5620 servers delivers optimized solutions tailored for cloud service providers managing large-scale, multi-vendor data centers. Available in both 1U and 2U form factors, these new, two-socket servers include cold aisle serviceable configurations and are available with Dell Open Server Manager, an OpenBMC based systems management solution to simplify multi-vendor fleet management.

 

Greater performance and simpler management

 

Next-generation PowerEdge servers provide improved performance, including the Dell PowerEdge R760, which delivers up to 2.9x greater AI inferencing on 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors with Intel Deep Learning Boost and Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions.2 The PowerEdge R760 also offers up to a 20% increase in VDI users3 and over 50% more SAP Sales & Distribution users on one server, compared to the previous generation.4 PowerEdge systems may be ordered with NVIDIA Bluefield-2 data processing units to provide additional offload, acceleration and workload isolation capabilities idea for power efficiency for private, hybrid and multicloud deployments.

 

Enhancements to Dell monitoring software and new services make server management even easier:

 

·         Dell CloudIQ — Dell software combines proactive monitoring, machine learning and predictive analytics while offering a comprehensive view of servers wherever they reside. Updates include advancements to server performance forecasting, select maintenance operations and new virtualization visualization.

 

·         Dell ProDeploy services — The Dell ProDeploy Factory Configuration service delivers PowerEdge servers ready to install and preconfigured with the customer’s preferred operating system, hypervisor software and settings for RAID, BIOS and iDRAC. The Dell ProDeploy Rack Integration service delivers and installs production-ready racked and networked PowerEdge servers, ideal for companies expanding their data center environments or undergoing an IT modernization.

 

·         Dell iDRAC9 — As customers seek increased server automation and intelligence, Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) makes Dell systems easier to deploy and diagnose, equipped with updated features such as Certificate Expiry Notice, Telemetry for Dell Consoles and GPU monitoring.

 

 

Designed for sustainability  

 

Dell PowerEdge servers are designed with sustainability in mind, offering customers a 3x performance improvement, compared to 14th Generation PowerEdge servers with Intel Xeon Scalable processors launched in 2017, resulting in less floor space required and more powerful and efficient technology across all next-generation systems.5 Key highlights include:

 

·         Dell Smart Flow design — A new feature within the Dell Smart Cooling suite increases airflow and reduces fan power by up to 52% compared to previous generation servers.6 The Smart Flow design supports greater server performance with less power required to cool systems for more efficient data centers.

 

·         Dell OpenManage Enterprise Power Manager 3.0 software — Customers can better manage efficiency and cooling goals, monitor carbon emissions and set power caps up to 82% faster to limit overall energy usage. With the enhanced sustainability target tool, customers can determine overall server use, virtual machine and facility energy consumption, leak detection for liquid cooling systems, and more.

 

·         Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) — Four next-generation Dell PowerEdge servers will be available with the EPEAT silver designation, and 46 systems will be designated EPEAT bronze. The EPEAT ecolabel is a leading global designation, covering products and services from the technology sector that demonstrate a responsible purchasing decision.

 

 

Reliability and security at the core

 

Next-generation PowerEdge servers help accelerate Zero Trust adoption within organizations’ IT environments. The devices constantly verify access, assuming every user and device is a potential threat. At the hardware level, silicon-based hardware root of trust, with elements including the Dell Secured Component Verification (SCV), helps verify supply chain security from design to delivery. Additionally, multifactor authentication and integrated iDRAC verifies users before granting access.

 

A secure supply chain also enables customers to advance their Zero Trust approach. Dell SCV offers cryptographic verification of components, which extends supply chain security to the customer’s site.

 

Delivering a scalable, modern compute experience

Customers looking for OpEx flexibility can consume PowerEdge servers as a subscription through Dell APEX today. Using advanced data collection and processor-based measurement by the hour, customers can take a flexible approach to avoid the costs associated with over-provisioning their compute needs.

Later this year, Dell Technologies will expand its Dell APEX portfolio to offer bare metal compute services on-premises, at the edge, or in colocation facilities. Services will be available through a predictable, monthly subscription and easily configured through the APEX Console, enabling customers to meet their workload and IT operational needs with scalable and secure compute resources.

 

Availability

·         Dell PowerEdge R760 has been available globally since February 2023.

·         Dell PowerEdge HS5620, HS5610 are available globally in April 2023.

·         Additional next-generation Dell PowerEdge servers will be global availability throughout the first half of 2023.

·         ProDeploy Factory Configuration is globally available today, and ProDeploy Rack Integration is available today in the US.

·         Dell APEX compute services are planned for the second half of 2023.

 

Additional resources

·            Learn more about Dell PowerEdge

·            See more about Dell ProDeploy services

·            Press Release: Dell Technologies Advances High Performance Computing and AI with Dell PowerEdge Servers and Dell APEX Innovation

·            Press Release: Next-Generation Dell PowerEdge Servers Dramatically Improve Performance for More Sustainable Data Centers

·            Connect with Dell via Twitter and LinkedIn

 

Scandi Standard Standardizes with Infor Cloud

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Infor, the industry cloud company, today announced that Scandi Standard has chosen Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage to consolidate and standardize its core processes such as purchasing, processing, logistics and finance. The suite will be delivered as a multi-tenant cloud solution powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

 

Scandi Standard is a leading producer of chilled, frozen, and ready-made chicken products in the Nordics and Ireland, as well as selling eggs in Norway. In its production, Scandi Standard cares about the highest standards for quality, innovation, and sustainability. Scandi Standard has operations in five countries and sales in over 40 through subsidiaries such as Danpo, Den Stolte Hane, Kronfågel, Manor Farm and Naapurin Maalaiskana. Scandi Standard's existing business systems lacked the industry adaptation needed to ensure that the ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution could support all core processes in a harmonized way within the group and contribute to further increasing the ability and pace of change in the business. With a standardized platform, Scandi Standard also sees an opportunity to more quickly introduce new technologies into the group and future-proof its development.

 

“Our value chain is quite similar in all markets where we operate, which means that we see an opportunity to standardize our processes as far as possible in the industry-adapted solution that Infor has,” says Göran Matz, Scandi Standard’s Group CIO. “The move to a new business system is, to a large extent, a process of change. With an industry-specific business system in the cloud, the introduction is facilitated while at the same time we get support with updates and best practices for the food industry.”

 

After a procurement process, the group chose Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage. A multi-tenant cloud deployment was a deciding factor in Scandi Standard's decision, ensuring the business can benefit from continuous updates with minimal administrative burden on the internal IT team.

 

“For our core processes such as purchasing, logistics and finance, there is really no reason for us to do anything differently than other companies in our industry do, but rather is something we see can be harmonized advantageously within the group where possible,” Matz says. “With Infor, we now get the uniformity we were looking for with a supplier of an ecosystem and a future-proof product.”

 

Learn more about Infor CloudSuite Food & Beverage.

View article…

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NewsVoir India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)


Credgenics turns operationally profitable, eyes INR 240 crore revenue this fiscal

  • Achieved INR 100 crore revenue in FY 2022-23 resulting in 7x growth over the past 18 months
  • Working with more than 100 customers to revolutionize debt collections with its SaaS-based integrated technology platform

NEW DELHI, April 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Credgenics, a leading provider of SaaS-based debt collections and resolution technology platform has announced that it has achieved operational profitability in its fourth year of operation. The company's success is attributed to its innovative approach to debt management, which leverages technology to digitally transform the debt collections processes for Banks, NBFCs, FinTechs and ARCs. Credgenics anticipates growing by more than 100% in the current fiscal year, with an expected revenue of approximately INR 240 crore.

Backed by WestBridge Capital, Tanglin Venture Partners, and Accel Partners, Credgenics has touched an overall loan book worth USD 47 Billion in FY 22. Credgenics has seen lenders improve their collection efficiency by 25% and reduce the costs of collections by 40%. Credgenics is working with some of the leading private banks and non-banking financial companies, including IIFL Finance, Mahindra Finance, IREP Credit Capital and others, as well as Fintechs, the future lenders. The company has handled 40 million retail loans till date and sends 60 million digital communications every month.

Speaking on the announcement, Rishabh Goel, Co-Founder & CEO, Credgenics said, “We are excited to have achieved our revenue target of INR 100 crore in the financial year 2022-23 and we expect to clock 100% YoY revenue growth in FY 2023-24 to reach INR 240 crore. We strongly believe that our success reflects our commitment to continue delivering exceptional customer experience and driving positive business outcomes for our clients.”

Anand Agrawal, Co-Founder & CPTO, Credgenics commented, “Since the last fundraise in 2021, our revenue has increased 7 times, our customer base has expanded five times to reach 100, and our employee count has increased to 300, which is five times its previous size.”

“The ability to lend money is contingent on having an effective debt collection mechanism in place. Though lenders have traditionally tackled this issue through various methods such as relying on manual efforts, complex home-grown systems, outsourcing control to agencies and using multiple disconnected systems. In contrast, we have provided futuristic technology solutions to address this challenge efficiently through our automated, digitized and data-driven platform,“ said Agrawal.

“We have adequate capital, and while we continue to add on our robust market presence in India, our efforts will also be directed towards expanding our business to international markets, including Southeast Asia. We commenced our operations in Indonesia last year and are soon entering Vietnam,” Goel added.

Credgenics offers insights-driven personalized approach for communications across multiple channels, including chatbots, voicebots, WhatsApp, IVR, SMS, and emails. The market-leading platform offers a comprehensive suite of debt resolution solutions including digital collections, litigation management, field collections mobile app, and payments platform that use AI driven intelligent automation and Machine Learning models to deliver highly efficient collections. With these advanced technologies, Credgenics is able to help creditors reimagine their debt collection process while also providing debtors with a more user-friendly and efficient experience.

Credgenics has expanded this year with offices now in 7 locations including Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Jakarta and Singapore and will soon be opening in Vietnam as well.

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)


D. E. Shaw India Expands to Bengaluru and Gurugram


D. E. Shaw India Private Limited, a part of the D. E. Shaw group, has announced the opening of new offices in Bengaluru and Gurugram.

“Our talented colleagues in India have helped the firm innovate for more than 25 years,” said Eddie Fishman, a member of the D. E. Shaw group’s Executive Committee. “In addition to our presence in Hyderabad, we’re pleased to join the communities of Bengaluru and Gurugram to attract a growing number of impressive people.”

The Bengaluru and Gurugram offices have opened with more than 300 employees combined, while a majority of D. E. Shaw India staff continue to operate from its longstanding home in Hyderabad. The new locations will allow it to engage with top talent more broadly across India and support its needs for high-potential technology and finance professionals.

“Our geographical expansion will unlock hiring opportunities, increase location flexibility for our employees, and strengthen our already accomplished and diverse set of talent,” said Charitra Mehta, managing director and a member of the Operating Committee at D. E. Shaw India. “As we enter this new chapter, we’re excited to welcome many more extraordinary minds that can help us solve complex problems.”

Located in well-known business parks, the new offices are neighbors to a number of global companies, and, like the firm’s existing offices in Hyderabad, feature state-of-the-art workspaces that facilitate the firm’s collaborative working style and ethos. 

WTC Chandigarh Project at Final Stage; GMADA Acting in Haste and Arbitrarily


EO, Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), has initiated the action of resumption of site in haste and arbitrarily. The matter is sub-judice before the appellate authority as WTC Chandigarh has already filed an Appeal under sec 45(5) of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning & Development Act 1995 challenging the illegal action of EO, GMADA.

 

Against allotment of plot for Rs. 131 Cr in September 2015, WTC Chandigarh has already paid Rs. 108 Cr to GMADA within the allowable time period extending to June 2026. Further, WTC Chandigarh has been regularly highlighting to GMADA the discrepancies in their calculations and delay in grant of PTM by GMADA against executed term sheet since 2022.

 

The project is at a finishing stage, with more than 100% of receipts utilised towards project related expenses with significant future receivables and stock more than sufficient to cover any and all expenses.

 

It is pertinent to mention that notices to various other developers / allottees issued by GMADA is indicative of both the instability in the micro market and the hasty approach being taken by the Authority.

 

While we are deeply aggrieved and concerned about these recent developments, we urge GMADA that a policy in public interest is required to be framed urgently in this regard at the earliest to ensure that the interests of various stakeholders across various projects in the region are suitably addressed. This would pave a way for the revival of the entire Greater Mohali area as well as attracting continued investment in the state.

 

We are confident about the merits in support of our appeal as well as the robust position of the WTC Chandigarh project, and reach out to all our Channel Partners and Customers to stand together and help make WTC Chandigarh the landmark project it is.


View article…
 

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NewsVoir India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)

STAYING TRUE TO HER BELIEF TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, MEGHNA GHAI PURI GRACED THE RAMP FOR A CAUSE

 

Meghna Ghai Puri, President of Whistling Woods International, graced the ramp for ‘Walk For A Cause’, a charitable initiative hosted by Shaina NC, Fashion Designer & Social Worker, to support and raise awareness about cancer. The event witnessed the presence of Waheeda Rehman and Jacqueline Fernandes as the Chief Guests for the evening among other guest celebrities including Madhoo and Sagarika Ghatge, socialites and cancer survivors and volunteers, who all came together to lend their support to the cause.

Supporting the cause, Meghna Ghai Puri said, “I am honoured to be a part of Walk For A Cause and to support VCare Cancer Foundation, who are working towards such a noble cause. As an institute, we at WWI draw immense pride that we are passionate about helping the community and working towards making our world a better place. I am grateful to be a part of this wonderful initiative.”

Meghna Ghai Puri walked the ramp in a stunning outfit designed by Shaina NC, which was beautiful fusion of traditional and contemporary elements, featuring intricate embellishments and statement jewellery pieces.

An annual endeavour, this year’ Walk For A Cause featured 35 women achievers from various facets of life, applauding their efforts and inspiring others with their journey and achievements. Meghna Ghai Puri's participation was a testament to her commitment to various social causes and her dedication to create a difference in the society.