Tentacle has recently entered the field of ground power unit (GPU) manufacturing by launching its innovative new product, Tentacell. It marks an important step forward in the government’s Make in India initiative and the company’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology with a focus on performance, efficiency, and user satisfaction. The product recently received Innovation Excellence Award at the recently concluded Wings India 2024, held during January 18-21 in Hyderabad.

Tentacell is crafted as a next-generation smart GPU, specifically designed to elevate aviators’ performance and efficiency to unprecedented heights. With a focus on aviator comfort and ergonomics, Tentacell redefines the core purpose of a GPU, offering a seamless blend of cutting-edge technology and user-centric design for an unparalleled GPU experience in aviation.

It is a next-generation smart GPU that redefines simplicity and groundbreaking innovation. Proudly made in India, it is the world’s first Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled portable GPU. Boasting a feather-light design with a 50% weight reduction compared to traditional GPUs, Tentacell prioritizes manoeuvrability and ease of use. Its 75% efficiency enhancement during startup and charging propels operational speed to new heights, ensuring swift and reliable GPU performance.  However, Tentacell aims to be more than just a GPU; it’s a commitment to sustainability. The inclusion of a unique Solar Power Unit reduces dependence on traditional power sources, cutting costs and minimizing the environmental footprint. With a built-in Battery Management System (BMS) ensuring safety and longevity, Tentacell stands as a beacon of reliability. Be it aviation, defense, medical evacuations, or research, Tentacell’s versatility across aircraft and diverse applications showcases its adaptability. The IoT integration enables remote monitoring, providing real-time insights into GPU health and usage.

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The new studio, located at Kunjwani Bypass, Srinagar Road (Jammu), covers a carpet area of 3,500 sq. ft and represents an investment of $365,000. The company also plans to invest of $365,000-$610,000 in expanding its warehousing and supply chain infrastructure in the union territory.

WoodenStreet has already hired a team of 20 professionals to spearhead its operations in J&K and plans to create over 50 more job opportunities shortly.

WoodenStreet said in a press release that it plans to open more experience stores in Tier 2 and 3 cities to provide consumers a ‘touch and feel’ exposure with a physical shopping experience and enhance its omnichannel presence.

Lokendra Ranawat, CEO and co-founder of WoodenStreet, said: “Our goal is to provide an exceptional in-store experience that matches the convenience and quality that our customers have come to expect from our online store.”

Founded in 2015, WoodenStreet currently operates over 100 brick-and-mortar stores across India and has more than 350 delivery hubs, delivering over 30,000 home furniture, décor, and home furnishing products.

In April last year, the company secured $30 million in Series B funding from Westbridge Capital and unveiled its plans to invest approximately $20 million to fuel its growth nationwide in October 2022.

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The transaction details haven’t been disclosed.

BetterPlace plans to use this acquisition to expand into other Southeast Asian markets, such as Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

BetterPlace recently raised $40 million in funding, which will help in this expansion.

Southeast Asia has high rates of digital usage, but the frontline workforce management in the region remains largely untransformed. Many companies still use multiple vendors and disjointed solutions, leading to reduced productivity.

With 200 million frontline workers in the region, the market size for management services is worth $280 billion. BetterPlace aims to bring its successful, all-in-one SaaS offering from India to the SEA market.

Pravin Agarwala, co-founder & Group CEO at BetterPlace, said, “Driven by the vision to optimize frontline workforce management for enterprises, a combination of consolidation and innovation was the right way to go about building the world’s most comprehensive workforce management platform that exists today. As the largest player in Asia today, we are thrilled to welcome MyRobin to the BetterPlace family and further our vision towards formalizing the frontline workforce globally. With our technology and MyRobin’s expertise in operating in Indonesia, we would be able to introduce equitable opportunities for the frontline segment.”

Launched in 2020 in Indonesia, MyRobin provides on-demand, pre-screened, frontline workers on a long and short-term basis to enterprises in Indonesia. In addition, it provides attendance and performance management services, and through their product MyWarung, offers embedded financial services like early wage and BNPL, and has its own frontline workforce upskilling platform called MyRobin Academy.

MyRobin has over 3 million workers in its community. It has clients such as Shopee, Astro, Sicepat, E-Fishery, and Kopi Kenangan.

The company claimed that it has growth of 7X in 2022 and has had a direct impact on 44,000 families in the last 2 years.

Ardy Satria Hasanuddin, co-founder & CTO at MyRobin, said, “As the next chapter of our growth, we would like to take our vision and expertise to more geographies and BetterPlace is the perfect partner who will enable us to achieve this goal. We are delighted and excited to be part of BetterPlace and aspire to become instrumental in achieving our shared goal of creating a better place for enterprises and frontline workers across the world.”

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G7 CR, which currently works with over 600 customers from the SME, enterprise, government, and start-up sectors across India, will bring 200 excellent professionals to Noventiq’s family.

Headquartered in Bengaluru, G7 CR Technologies was founded in 2012. Since the beginning, the company has focused on providing primarily Microsoft Azure-based solutions and services as well as Microsoft products. In addition to this, G7 CR is a Microsoft Solution partner for Data & AI, Infrastructure, Digital & App Innovation, Modern Work & Security. G7 CR has received Microsoft’s Country Partner of the Year Awards in 2019 and 2020. G7 CR also has a strong presence in the Middle East which complements Noventiq’s growth strategy in that region.

This transaction follows a series of acquisitions made by Noventiq in India in the past two years; Value Point Systems, which was announced in October 2022, Umbrella Infocare, acquired in February 2022, and Embee, acquired in January 2021. All these companies, together with G7 CR, complement Noventiq´s capabilities to deliver the most modern set of solutions and services to customers of all types in this dynamic market – from large Indian global corporations to digital-natives born in the cloud. This set of offerings includes multi-cloud solutions, software, cybersecurity and infrastructure.

Sergey Chernovolenko, CEO at Noventiq, commented: “We are extremely happy to welcome G7 CR team to Noventiq. This transaction represents our fourth acquisition in this country which shows how important it is for our strategy to continue to invest in India, for India. Our goal is to have a $1Bn business in India in the mid-term, and thanks to the incorporation of successful organisations like G7 CR, this goal will become a reality soon.

This acquisition is particularly important because through G7 CR we will be able to boost our Microsoft Azure services business, as well as better access India’s vibrant sector of high-tech companies and start-ups.”  

Christopher Richard, Managing Director and Founder, G7 CR Technologies India Pvt Ltd, said: “We are very proud to have captured the eye of Noventiq’s leadership team. Noventiq’s global scale and G7CR’s technology skills combined will enable us to provide a wider solution offering, and deeper tech engagements, to our existing and future customers. Further, this acquisition will give G7 CR access to a full portfolio of solutions and services from multiple global technology providers, as well as the opportunity to collaborate with a team of almost 3,900 excellent professionals. By joining Noventiq, we will contribute to their strategy of expanding Noventiq’s footprint across India and beyond.”

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Initiated by ParentCircle in 2019, the #GadgetFreeHour campaign has been a resounding success with millions of people switching off electronic gadgets and spending the hour or even more with children and family members without the usual interruptions from mobile phones or television.

The first edition was launched on Children’s Day on November 14, 2019. This year the #GadgetFreeHour is being organised on November 20 to coincide with the World’s Children Day.

ParentCircle has urged everyone to step back and reconnect with their families by participating in the #GadgetFreeHour social initiative on November 20 (World Children’s Day), 2022, between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

In this one hour, families will disconnect from their gadgets and spend time with their children — playing, talking, eating, laughing together, rediscovering the joy of each other’s company in a fun way.

Playing together and spending time with each other create powerful memories, and even help children and adults pick up essential life skills. This year, all our exciting activities and contests for families were focused on enhancing family bonding and encouraging families to spend time on activities without any gadgets.

ParentCircle wants everyone to seriously think over “What will happen if families don’t connect face-to-face, ifthey don’t spend uninterrupted time together, talking to each other and sharing experiences? Gadgets will begin to replace family!”

That is why it is imperative that families regularly disconnect from their gadgets and reconnect with each other, it said.

The campaign has already started attracting a lot of traction on social media and it is expected that a large number of people will participate in the initiative to cement their bonds with family members.

Like the previous years, millions are expected to remain away from electronic gadgets on the evening of November 20.

The Puducherry Government has also joined hands in this initiative and is keen on spreading the go-gadget-free message across all schools in the Union Territory.

Elaborating on the idea behind the GadgetFreeHour, ParentCircle said positive relationships with their close ones help children feel secure and loved. Building relationships requires spending quality time with our children, engaging in play and meaningful communication with them, without the interruptions of gadgets such as mobile phones and TV.

“It’s time we think about how to build family relationships, find tech-life balance, follow healthy digital practices, and make gadget-free connection time a regular part of every family’s routine,” it said.

Nalina Ramalakshmi, Founder and Managing Director, ParentCircle, said the key to successful parenting is building a trusting relationship with your children.

“For this to happen, parents must make the time to spend with their children — listening to them, chatting with them, or just playing and having fun, and creating fond memories.

“During these special moments, the focus must be on connecting with children without other distractions, such as smartphones. This is the 4th year of our #GadgetFreeHour campaign, and we hope that through this campaign we motivate families to spend gadget-free time together on a regular basis, and not just once a year,” Ramalakshmi added.

#GadgetFreeHour Quotes

The #GadgetFreeHour initiative has garnered a lot of celebrity support, with actors, musicians, doctors, authors, corporate leaders, and experts in the field of child education coming forward to talk about how gadget-free time can enhance the parent-child bond. Here’s what they are saying:

“#GadgetFreeHour is a unique initiative by ParentCircle and Chellamey magazines founded by Nalina Ramalakshmi. The widespread and rampant usage of smartphones, iPads, iPods, gaming gadgets, etc., by children has diverted their focus and attention from studies and extracurricular activities. They have become addicted to gadgets, ignoring family activities. As a result, family bonds have broken, especially with both the parents going to work in many families. It has become necessary for parents and children to devote an hour to family every day without the use of gadgets, including TV. This is the vision of the gadget-free initiative. I wish #GadgetFreeHour 2022 tremendous success!”

AV Dharmakrishnan, CEO, The Ramco Cements Limited, “Technology has improved our lives and our living standards. It has brought us closer in many aspects. We can, in an instant, talk to family, friends and even groups across the globe. Ironically it has also created a lot of distance between us in personal terms. When we are together physically, we interact less because we have gadgets that distract us. Person to person interaction enables a direct connection with each other at an emotional level. This emotional connection is very important to nurture at early stages of childhood to create strong bonds as a family. Children long for personal time with their parents and caregivers. On November 20th, please put aside all electronic gadgets for an hour – #GadgetFreeHour – and experience for yourselves the joys of distraction free human interaction. Let’s all try to make #GadgetFreeHour more frequent in the coming days.”

NRK Ramkumar Raja, Managing Director, Ramaraju Surgical Cotton Mills Ltd, “Having this campaign and having a collective understanding and a collective tech-free charter or contract where everybody is spending gadget-free time are brilliant, because this initiative shows people the importance of spending time with their families.”

#GadgetFreeHour will also help create new habits. The quality of conversations, connections and relationships and being present are so important.”

Dr Jenny Woo, Founder/CEO, Mind Brain Emotion and TEDx Speaker, “In today’s scenario, we cannot tell our kids ‘Don’t use gadgets!’ For instance, my daughter is studying in UKG.During the pandemic, gadgets were used for educational purposes. So, she is familiar with gadgets.

Now, we need to control the usage. I always insist that my child use YouTube only when accompanied by the parents. YouTube Kids is safe for children. Using parental locks on our gadgets will also be helpful.

If you say ‘Don’t do something,’ children will do that only. In lieu of that, you can say what they can do. Research shows excessive use of gadgets can affect kids’ brain development and creativity. Family time is affected because of these gadgets. Everybody in the family should have half an hour of gadget-free time. You can use that time to spend quality time with your family.

ParentCircle is conducting its #GadgetFreeHour campaign on November 20 (World Children’s Day), 2022. Let’s disconnect from gadgets between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to reconnect with our families. You can take this pledge and spend time talking with each other and having a fun time with your family. Enjoy family time and the happiness that it brings!

I have taken the #GadgetFreeHour pledge. I request you to participate in the campaign too.”

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Underlying this facility is an AI-powered bot that matches the customer’s inputs and automatically facilitates a formal application along with a KYC check, and once verified, sets up a credit line in a few clicks through a guided conversational flow. The borrower’s details will be generated and displayed based on the name entered – the only key input that the borrower needs to enter at the start of the conversation.   

Mr. V. Raman Kumar, Founder Chairman, CASHe, said, “It’s our “Customer First” approach that is at the forefront of our product innovation strategy. Today’s smart consumers demand instant gratification and contactless support. Our AI-enabled chat product introduced on WhatsApp is a step in this direction. We believe an industry-first and innovative service like this will not only empower our customers and ensure that they get a best-in-class experience in their demand for credit but will also significantly expand our credit footprint using the humongous user base of WhatsApp, thereby bringing us closer to our vision of achieving financial inclusion to the underserved in India.”

CASHe’s WhatsApp chat service is built on the WhatsApp Business Platform, an enterprise solution that allows businesses to communicate with new and existing customers on WhatsApp in a simple, secure, and reliable way. WhatsApp in India has been gaining consumers in millions with a quarter of the two billion global users are from India alone. Taking cognizance of this trend, CASHe has become the first fintech player to introduce this service through its AI-powered chatbot. The service received tremendous traction with customers during the beta stage with a near-zero delay in approving credit limits for the KYC-compliant customers.  

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WIKA, a specialist in precision component manufacturing associated to Pressure, Temperature, Level, Flow, & Force for critical industrial applications, has launched this Indigenous solution for safety industry like firefighting. The product approved by UL and FM is aimed to provide complete solutions to building sites and construction projects.

As Gaurav Bawa, Managing Director and Vice President of WIKA India mentioned, “The new model FSFD has been designed to detect the water flow in wet sprinkler systems once the sprinkler has been triggered. We hope to make this product easy to use and applicable to both industrial and domestic segments. WIKA India is dedicated to bring the best for the Indian customers and this is one of the first products out. There will be others in the pipeline.”

The flow switch is fitted with a pneumatic time delay mechanism that can be set from 0 … 70 seconds via an adjustment dial to avoid false alarms during water surges. Two sets of microswitches activate the control panel and the local audible warnings The tamper-proof screws on the cover prevents any unauthorized access to the switch point setting. The robust design, is suitable for indoor and outdoor applications and equipped with error-free installation instructions.The FSFD flow switch is suitable for both industrial and residential applications, where signalling the local hooters and control panel upon sprinkler activation is needed.

Since the FSFD flow switch is designed to be fitted for pipe sizes between 2” to 8″ in various pipe schedules, the product provides a complete solution for construction projects.

WIKA India operates and manufacture with a stringent a quality and environment management system according to requirements of international standard (ISO 9001, ISO 14001). While its facilities use modern machinery, state-of-the-art welding equipment alongside helium leak rate detection and certified calibration and testing instruments towards ensuring quality control and least risk operations, WIKA India has NABL accreditation and is equipped with high level primary standard dead weight tester, measure pressure controller and highly-accurate master gauges certified through DKD Germany. WIKA offers a worldwide network with the calibration and service centers and promises to be competent partner, certified by national accreditations bodies according to ISO17025.

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Mahadev brings over 25 years of experience to the role with companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Gap and Zeta Suite. In his last role at Zeta, he served as the Senior Director of Engineering where he led the center and built the team from scratch. He has worked within diverse domains including ecommerce, retail, supply chain and fintech, which will help in ShipBob’s continued focus on innovation in the global supply chain and logistics technology sector.

Commenting on getting on board, Mahadev Malyala, Vice President of Engineering, ShipBob says “I strongly believe in the India growth strategy set out by our global team.  I am delighted to be joining a team of people who are zealous about using technology to provide a world-class fulfilment experience for our global ecommerce companies. The teams play a critical role in fostering world-class innovation by introducing services internationally and we are all amped up to grow our team in the country.”

Shipbob recently launched their Technology Innovation Hub in India that is centered around building the most innovative products with the help of finest talent based out of India in engineering, product management, platforms, data science, customer success and analytics. ShipBob will continue to bring its remote-first philosophy to the market in India, as the company believes that flexibility enables all people to perform their best both at work and at home.

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“The 2022 Union Budget looks promising and paves the path to economic recovery. As India aims to achieve competitive success in the global economy through budget allocations in critical infrastructure, healthcare, technology and innovation, securing the digital infrastructure that binds society in modern times needs to become the primordial priority for organizations, across the private and public sectors. This means that organizations in India must take a good hard look at their cyber hygiene practices and have the ability to continuously monitor and verify every attempt to request access to corporate data at all levels, whether that’s a device, app, user or network attempting to make that connection.”

The expected 5G spectrum auction this year, coupled with the Indian government’s goal to digitize processes for citizens through e-passports and e-registration services, presents manifold cybersecurity challenges. Increased adoption of IoT, in critical sectors and industries only pose greater challenges and threats that could have a direct and huge impact on society. Furthermore, the proposed launch of the Digital Rupee using blockchain technology opens fresh avenues for cyberattackers seeking payment from victims with only a modest risk of detection. If there is one thing we learned from 2021, it’s that cybercriminals are relentless and lucrative in testing the resilience of India’s digital systems. It’s more important now than ever that technological advancement and innovation must be guided by security in mind to protect India’s interests but more importantly establish deterrence against threat actors.”

2. Vasudeva Rao Munnaluri, RVP India & SAARC, Zendesk

“We welcome this technology-focused budget, which will help boost India’s growth. The Union budget 2022-23, with its support for businesses, will have a constructive impact, considering the unprecedented times we live in. The continuation of tax breaks for the startup sector and push for 5G in manufacturing is promising for the continued growth of these sectors on a global scale. The focus on digital transactions coupled with measures for ease of doing business will give Indian fintech startups the much-needed thrust. The concessions for intelligent devices is also an important step towards increasing IoT adoption across sectors. All in, we are encouraged by the focus on enabling transformational technologies that will allow Indian businesses to harness the opportunities for growth.”

3. Aayur Kaul, Market Head, Skillshare India

“The focus on online learning in the Union budget 2022-23 will propel growth in India’s edtech industry. The pandemic changed the atmosphere of learning in India, with most classes being conducted online. The focus on online-learning is a step towards democratizing learning in India. Skill-based online learning took the center stage in this year’s budget, highlighting the importance of vocational and creative classes that online learning enables. The announcement to launch a Digital University and dedicated online videos, quality online content will see a higher demand, creating a positive environment for online learning companies to grow in India. Skillshare being an online learning community for creatively-inclined people, we welcome the focus on edtech in the budget.”

4. Subodh Parulekar, CEO and Co-Founder, Afour Technologies

“In an effort to propel growth, the budget for 2022–23 provides tax sops for startups and supports digital transformation across industries. The tax exemption for the startup sector has shown the government’s commitment to building a dynamic and robust startup ecosystem. The announcement of the digital currency is a historic move in India’s financial history and promises to open up new vistas of growth and innovation in the sector. The impetus on design-led manufacturing for 5G is another important sector that could nudge India’s economy toward sustained growth. The budget is timely and futuristic. We believe that these measures will make India a fast-growing, digitally empowered, and forward-looking economy. “

5. Naman Shah, Founder & CEO, NowPurchase

“Given the unusual times we live in, the Union budget for 2022–23 has been quite positive for Indian enterprises. The government’s decision to push skill development through the DESH Stack e-portal is commendable. The proposal to extend a 6,000-crore RAMP programme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) over the next five years is encouraging for increasing competitiveness of this sector. We expect that the government’s efforts to interconnect MSMEs’ portals such as Udyam, e-Shram, NCS, and Aseem in order to broaden the scope will aid the formidable growth of the MSME sector. Along with this, the gradual phase out of some custom duties should definitely bolster manufacturing. The government’s support for India’s startup and MSME sectors has continued this year, and the industry is poised to be back on a growth trajectory after an unprecedented last financial year.
The PLI Schemes, which now cover fourteen sectors, are expected to contribute to increased production of Rupees Thirty Lakh Crores, with the potential to create sixty lakh new jobs over the next five years. Because of the government’s strong push for PLI Schemes, India may incentivise international investors to set up manufacturing units in India and support local manufacturers to expand their units and generate jobs, enhancing India’s global competitiveness. As a technology-driven procurement platform, NowPurchase finds the budget to be extremely satisfactory.”

6. Sripad Nandiraj, Founder, Hocomoco

“The Union Budget 2022-2023 presented by FM Sitharaman for the affordable housing sector will undoubtedly encourage the sector’s next stage of growth. The announcement that an urban planning panel would be established and that 80 lakh affordable houses will be built at a cost of Rs 48,000 crore under the PM Awas Yojna in 2022-23 is a positive move. This would help to enhance the affordable housing market and promote affordable housing in metropolitan areas for the economically weak and middle class. The challenge, however, according to the Economic Survey, is to significantly increase infrastructure spending. India spent $1.1 trillion on infrastructure during fiscal years 2008 and 2017. It will now need to spend $1.4 trillion to reach a GDP of $5 trillion by 2024-25, according to its recent report. Additionally, the Gati Shakti plan, which aims to bring 16 ministries together to work on infrastructure and connectivity projects, is also a beneficial move that will aid the affordable housing plan. From Hocomoco’s standpoint as a construction aggregator company, the budget is extremely encouraging.”

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To mark World Environment Day, the premium organic skincare brand Lotus Organics+ has collaborated with ExclusiveLane.com. This online handicraft brand encourages and helps small artisans to market their eco-friendly products across the globe. A digital campaign will run on social media platforms of both the brands to create awareness amongst their respective audiences on how these brands are engaged in sustainable practices to protect the environment. From home decor to cutlery, ExclusiveLane.com has  wide variety of products ranging from lamps, vases, clocks, wall decor, trays, studio pottery, tea lights, and much more. Many of these products are made with eco-friendly and biodegradable materials by rural artisans and the online store provides them dignity of  labour, means of earning their livelihood and preserving their traditional forms of art and craft.

Elaborating on the collaboration, Mr. Nitin Passi, Joint Managing Director, Lotus Herbals, says, “With environmental concerns being more and more relevant, actions from socially responsible brands can heavily affect consumer behavior. we are glad to collaborate with Exclusive lane.com, a niche lifestyle brand that shares our values on sustainability and the protection of the environment. With this endeavor, we intend to join hands with similar niche brands on a regular basis, thereby giving them a bigger platform to address environmental concerns.”

Lotus Organics+ social media campaign in collaboration with ExclusiveLane.com goes live on world environment day on 5th June 2021. Both brands turn World Environment day into an occasion to create meaningful engagement with their audiences through social media posts, stories, and IG sessions to create awareness. For Lotus Organics+, the objective of the collaboration is to educate its audience that living organic is not only about using organic skincare and hair care products that are produced using sustainable practices but also about making other small changes in one’s lifestyle. These could be minor changes to our daily living, such as choosing wooden cutlery over steel cutlery and using ceramics products for dining and home decor. During the month-long campaign, consumers who shop at lotus-organics.com and ExlusiveLane.com could avail exciting discounts and offers, which could be redeemed in the form of vouchers and free gifts.

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