Archive: March 27, 2023

Birla Carbon to participate at the European Coatings Show 2023

Nuremberg, Germany – March 27, 2023: Birla Carbon, one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon black solutions, will participate at the European Coatings Show 2023, in Nuremberg, Germany, from March 28 – 30, 2023. Birla Carbon will exhibit in Hall 1, Booth – 1-326.

As a major player in the carbon black industry, Birla Carbon will exhibit an innovative range of carbon black products, which are widely used in the coatings, inks, adhesives and sealants, industry for their performance features such as high jetness, tint strength, easy dispersion, and good compatibility.

“We are delighted to be participating in the European Coatings Show 2023,” said John Davidson, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Birla Carbon. “The event will help showcase our wide range of Raven, Conductex, and Continua™ SCM products that make Birla Carbon the one stop shop, as a sustainable carbon black solutions provider, for coatings applications. With our commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, we strive to reduce environmental footprint while delivering the same high-quality products.”

The European Coatings Show 2023 will help showcase Birla Carbon’s performance grade carbon black solutions while promoting sustainability, and circularity at scale. It will also bring together experts and professionals from the coatings industry to discuss the latest trends, technologies, and innovations in the coatings and paint industry.

Renaatus Gets US$ 29M Contract from Maldives to Expand Gan International Airport

Mumbai, 27th March 2023: Renaatus Projects Private Limited, a construction and construction material manufacturing company with a strong foothold in Maldives and Mauritius as well as a growing presence in India, has won a US$29 million contract from the Government of Maldives to expand and upgrade the infrastructure of Gan International Airport, operated by Addu International Airport.

Funded by Exim Bank of India, the project involves the construction of air traffic control tower, fire station as well as upgrading and renewing the current terminal, parkings, roads, duty-free shops and restaurants. The project is expected to begin this month and will be completed by 2025.

An MoU in this regard was signed by Mr. Gais Naseer, Managing Director, Addu International Airport Company, and Mr. Selvasundaram Poosappan, Chairman, Renaatus Projects Private Limited in Maldives recently, in the presence of Mr. Munu Mahawar, High Commissioner of India to Maldives, and several ministers of Maldives government.

Embarking on an ambitious expansion plan, this construction-to-fabrication multinational has set the target of increasing its top-line growth from about Rs 800 crore at present (FY 2022-23) to Rs. 3,500 crores by 2030. The group is already involved in four infrastructure projects in Maldives – including two social housing projects funded by the government – and two housing projects of its own, that envisage the construction of 600+ housing units in total. In India, the company has completed several prestigious construction projects in Tamil Nadu. It runs three plants to manufacture Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks (sold under the brand name of Renacon), panels, adhesives in the state. The company plans to set up seven more manufacturing units across the country.

Commenting about Renaatus group’s expansion plans, Mr. Selvasundaram Poosappan, Chairman, said, “We have been in the industry for over two decades, and have meticulously developed the capability to provide end-to-end solutions for all construction needs. A value driven organisation, we are strong in using technology and are committed to the concept of ‘integrated project delivery’. We have a strong foothold in Maldives and Mauritius and aspire to emerge as a key player in the construction industry in India as well. With our pan India expansion plans and infrastructure and housing projects in the country and abroad, our group is poised to achieve a turnover of Rs. 3,500 crores by 2030. Being in the labour-intensive industry, we hope to create employment opportunities for 30,000-40,000 people by that time.”

Commenting on the Gan International Airport project, Mr Manoj Poosappan, Managing Director, said, “Winning this prestigious contract from the Government of Maldives stands as a testament to the trust we have built in the markets we operate with an untiring resolve to build an enviable track record when it comes to sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and stakeholder value. This project will tremendously boost tourism and thus the economy of the southern region of the Maldives and benefit businesses and residents. When we win such overseas projects, it also has a positive impact in India from where we source major construction materials from our manufacturing units.”

Renaatus group has created an indelible mark in the construction sector in Maldives and Mauritius with its remarkable infrastructure projects. Some of its landmark projects include: Renaatus Ithaa Muiy, development of 73 luxury apartments (US$ 13.55 Million), makeover of IGMH, Male’ Republic of Maldives, IMFF –Maldives University, and New Supreme Court Building at Port Louis, Mauritius (US$ 24.94 million), Newscast housing project of 600 Nos (2BHK) social housing units in Hulhumale (US$ 28.90 Million), development and sale of Hiyaa Residential Apartments in Hulhumale (US$ 30 Million), among others.

In Tamil Nadu, Renaatus has created many avant–garde projects such as Medavakkam Grade Separator (Rs.98.08 Crore), Perungalathur Road Over Bridge (Rs.155.00 Crore), Residential & Hospital for New Tirupur Medical College, Tirupur (Rs 175 Crore), Residential & Academic Campus Development in JIPMER, Karaikal (Rs 171 Crore), upgradation of SH 09 Cuddalore–Madapattu Section (Rs 231 Crore), Irrigation Infrastructure in Grand Anicut Canal, Thanjavur (Rs 222 Crore).

Danfoss announced as a Member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Network, to accelerate the circular economy transition

Danfoss, a world leader in food, infrastructure, climate, and energy-efficient technologies has been announced as a Member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Network, which will support the company’s circular economy journey. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is committed to the creation of a circular economy that tackles global challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution.

Danfoss has joined the Foundation’s Network as part of our efforts to support the transition towards a low-carbon and circular economy, and we will develop and implement a circularity framework in all our segments. Circularity is one of the key step-change initiatives of Danfoss’ ESG ambition, alongside Decarbonization and Diversity & Inclusion.

Ravichandran Purushothaman, President Danfoss India said, “Danfoss’ focus on circularity represents our strong commitment to be the preferred decarbonization partner for our customers, combining our energy efficient solutions, deep product understanding and continuous innovation mindset. Circularity is also about reconditioning products at the end-of-life cycle in a sustainable manner saving significant time & cost and having an incremental positive impact on the environment. By 2030, 80% of all products manufactured by us will have circularity embedded in it. Recently, a new refurbished VFD Drives line has been piloted at Danfoss Chennai factory. Our learnings from this line will be taken to other Danfoss sites later.”

This initiative promotes the principle of the circular economy by “taking back” the older drives and refurbishing them to a fully functional drive without compromising the renowned Danfoss quality and safety standards. It will help in reducing electronic waste and adds value to its ESG commitments.

Martin Rossen, Senior Vice President, Head of Group Communication & Sustainability, Danfoss, says: “To be accepted as a Member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Network puts Danfoss alongside many of the world’s leading organizations whose circularity practices we can aspire to and learn from. Everyone claiming this is a walk in the park is lying – we need to help, inspire and support each other for the sake of our businesses and the climate. Don’t be mistaken. At the same time, we at Danfoss are very proud of our work on our Danfoss Circularity Framework and our goal is to integrate circularity assessments as part of all product development projects.”

The circular economy is based on three principles, all driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature. Danfoss’ circularity target for 2030 is that more than 80% of newly developed products sold will be covered by the circularity approach, and that circularity collaborations will be established with 80% of Danfoss’ top 25 customers.

Danfoss’ Rethink-Reduce-Recirculate approach will drive the innovation and development of new products and is inspired by the approach developed by the CIRCit research project and five Nordic universities. In 2022, the Danfoss Circularity Framework was refined based on the Rethink-Reduce-Recirculate principles and incorporated nine circularity strategies that can be applied in new product development across Danfoss. The framework measures circularity when designing new products and identifies opportunities for improvement.

This year the circularity framework and an assessment tool will be implemented in several projects across Danfoss’ business segments.

“Our aim is to accelerate the development of low-carbon products and circularity initiatives across all our business segments, but it’s hard work and difficult. Our focus is on mechanical, and electronics products and we are excited to further develop our approach to circularity and positively impact our product design strategy with this Network. The Ellen Macarthur Foundation includes some of the world’s largest and most influential organizations, with transformative potential to demonstrate what’s possible within circularity,” adds Martin Rossen.

Katie Attrill, Network Manager, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, says: “We welcome Danfoss as a Network Member and look forward to supporting the company on its circular economy journey. We work with a group of more than 250 organizations as part of our formal Network. The Network includes some of the world’s leading businesses, policymakers, cities, academic institutions, and thought leaders. With our Network, we facilitate collaborative projects, provide learning opportunities and host workshops and other events to explore strategies and solutions that support their circular economy transition. “

Danfoss will continue its work with universities and other companies to ensure that the assessment tool and circularity framework adopted are validated and they capture circularity principles and concepts in an accurate and complete way.

AVEVA Partners with Azule Energy to Enable World-Class Operations Through Digital Transformation

Mumbai, India, 27 March 2023 – AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, driving innovation and sustainability, has partnered with Azule Energy, Angola’s largest independent oil and gas operator, to drive digital excellence throughout the firm’s operations.

The partnership agreement will enable Azule Energy ¬– a 50/50 Joint Venture backed by bp and Eni ¬– to reduce costs, improve safety and unlock new production opportunities using AVEVA’s cloud, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and digital twin technologies.

Moreover, the partnership will help cut the time spent searching for key asset information, improve maintenance planning, reduce offshore trips and visits, enhance team collaboration, and facilitate remote operations.

Azule Energy boasts a strong pipeline of new projects that are scheduled to support the energy needs of Angola’s growing economy and strengthen its role as a global liquified natural gas (LNG) exporter.

Digital Twin Spans Entire Asset Lifecycle

AVEVA will deploy its digital twin software to connect data from every layer of the technology stack for one contextualized, multi-visual experience. In the first phase, AVEVA will focus on existing operations, implementing AVEVA Asset Information Management, AVEVA Information Standards Manager, and Assai Cloud for Operations – for two existing floating production storage and offloading units (FPSOs) in Block 18 (Greater Plutonio Development) and Block 31 (PSVM).

AVEVA’s digital twin technology is the only solution on the market that spans the entire asset lifecycle. The vendor-agnostic solution is scalable, integrated, and open. It unites engineering and enterprise data to create a true digital backbone that will bring industrial intelligence to Azule’s entire team, delivered via the cloud.

Peter Harriman, COO, Azule Energy, said: “We have signed a strategic contract with AVEVA to digitally transform our operations for optimized productivity, efficiency and safety. This partnership will enable Azule Energy to achieve our goal of establishing a world-class operation.”

Caspar Herzberg, CEO, AVEVA, commented: “The move to AVEVA SaaS will empower Azule Energy to innovate and remotely collaborate across teams regarding their FPSO assets. The vessels are located a long distance offshore, which represents a significant challenge to operations. Using data-led insights, Azule’s team will be able to breakdown silos and deep collaboration between onshore and FPSO teams, using their combined insight to streamline processes and accelerate delivery.”

Herzberg added: “AVEVA’s industry-leading visualization technology will further enable Azule Energy to deliver faster and at scale. AVEVA is the only provider to supplya fully integrated solution that can be developed quickly and reliably. Together we are committed to providing secure, lower carbon energy to support Angola’s sustainable development.”

Arvind SmartSpaces sells entire launched inventory of second phase of Arvind Greatlands within 7 hours

Bengaluru, March 27, 2023: Arvind SmartSpaces Limited (ASL), one of India’s leading real estate development company, today announced that it has sold out the entire launched inventory of 2nd phase of its residential plotted development project, Arvind Greatlands in Devanahalli, Bengaluru, within 7 hours of launch. It consisted of more than 150 units valued at more than 100 Crs.

Arvind Greatlands marked ASL’s entry into the plotted development segment in Bengaluru. The first phase of this project, with a saleable area of ~0.5 million sq. ft. amounting to a booking value of more than Rs. 200 Crore, was sold out in 10 hours in November 26, 2022. The first phase is under HDFC Platform 1. The second phase and all future phases are fully owned by Arvind SmartSpaces.

Arvind Greatlands is the ideal place for those seeking a luxurious lifestyle, replete with an opulent, executive-level golf course. The project offers excellent infrastructure with RCC roads in the entire development Arvind Greatlands customers will also get a membership of Monogram Resort – Devenahalli offering various amenities including gymnasium, rooftop infinity pool, indoor games room, table tennis, jogging track, badminton court, spa, library, restaurant, executive business centre, multimedia theatre, discotheque, and yoga pavilion.

Arvind SmartSpaces entered the Bengaluru market in 2013 and has until now added 10 projects across the region with 4 projects having already been delivered and 6 in various stages of development.

Commenting on successful launch, Mr. Kamal Singal, Managing Director and CEO, Arvind SmartSpaces said, “We are elated to have received such a tremendous response from the Bengaluru homebuyers for successive launches in the micro market of Devenahalli. The successful launch of Greatlands phase 2, which followed the stellar launch of Greatlands phase 1, within just 4 months is testament to the growing equity and trust of the Arvind brand in our key market of Bengaluru. We look forward to build on this performance and have planned various launches and new project additions to further strengthen our presence in Bengaluru.”

Tenable Delivers Cloud Security Posture Management for Multi-cloud and Hybrid Environments

Mumbai, 27th March 2023 – Tenable®, the Exposure Management company, today announced significant advancements to Tenable Cloud Security, a unified and scalable Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) and vulnerability management solution delivered on the Tenable One exposure management platform, and expanded availability of Tenable Agentless Assessment for Microsoft Azure.

Hybrid and multi-cloud strategies enable organizations to satisfy unique business requirements and accelerate innovation. But managing highly complex and distributed cloud environments – each with its own security tools, processes and specialized skill requirements – is neither easy nor straightforward. As a result, security issues such as simple misconfigurations and excessive privileges – the root cause of the majority of cloud breaches – can go unseen.

Tenable Cloud Security enables organizations to achieve consistent cloud security and compliance by bringing all cloud vulnerabilities, misconfigurations and drift across multi-cloud and cloud-native environments to the forefront, providing organizations with a unified cloud security solution that simplifies and scales cloud security posture management. Tenable Cloud Security’s built-in best practices consistently enforce security posture and compliance across environments, detecting and preventing risky configurations from ever reaching cloud runtimes.

When deployed as part of Tenable One, customers gain advanced vulnerability prioritization capabilities and automated remediation workflows, enabling security and DevOps teams to prioritize remediation efforts where they can have the biggest impact on security and compliance posture.

“Cloud environments are in a constant state of change, meaning that security, compliance and governance is a ‘never-done’ job,” said Nico Popp, chief product officer, Tenable. “With more than half of data breaches occurring in the cloud, organizations are racing against the clock and cannot afford for weak code to go into runtime. To effectively scale security at the speed and scale of the cloud, the pendulum must swing from reactive threat detection and response to exposure management and preventive cloud security posture management.”

Additional new and enhanced CSPM features include:

Continuous Discovery and Assessment – Improved cloud account onboarding enables organizations to continuously discover and assess both managed and unmanaged cloud accounts, limiting blind spots and minimizing risks.

Most Comprehensive Policy Portal, Views and Content – New policy portal makes it easy to view and customize over 1,500 out-of-the-box policies spanning 20 industry benchmarks and regulations. Enriched by the expertise and speed of Tenable Research, including the industry’s most comprehensive library of 71,000 known vulnerabilities, Tenable Cloud Security has 2.6 times more cloud Center for Internet Security (CIS) certifications than any other cloud security vendor. Organizations can visualize misconfiguration details, impacted resources and all the context needed to quickly remediate issues. With the new low code policy group editor, organizations can create custom policy groups enabling security teams to build custom policy groups leveraging existing policies.

Automated Cloud-to-Cloud Drift Detection – New drift detection enables organizations to maintain compliance by detecting configuration drift in runtime and between Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC), automating pull requests including corrected code or step-by-step instructions to the right owner, or applying remediation code automatically to significantly reduce mean-time-to-remediation.

Enhanced Reporting and Collaboration: Enhanced reporting capabilities enable security teams to accurately report on key metrics to executive leadership while increasing cross functional collaboration between security operations and compliance teams. Report and share security posture findings by role, function or by industry benchmarks and regulatory frameworks – such as CIS, SOC 2 and 20+ others.

Expect demand for senior living projects to increase multifold in Vrindavan, here are the top reasons

Authored by Ankit Aggarwal, MD, Devika Group

As the population of seniors is steadily increasing, the demand for senior living housing will continue to grow. The pandemic has impacted all sectors of the economy but post-pandemic things have changed to a great extent and interestingly the demand for senior living housing has increased. As per the recent report by National Statistical Office (NSO)’s elderly, in India the elderly population(aged 60 and above) is projected to touch 194 million in 2031 from 138 million in 2021, a 41% increase in a decade. We expect that over the next 4-5 years the demand for senior living projects will increase multifold in non-metro cities. The main reasons behind this are attracting financing options available, availability of plenty of lands, and plenty of space to build bigger complexes to make it more attractive and seniors love these open spaces. Although growth rates vary by region there is a growing trend that the majority of seniors would prefer living in cities with low population density. The trend of seniors moving into cities with low densities is also contributing to its growth. It creates opportunities for developers to create new projects in markets, where there is less competition.

Vrindavan, known as the land of Lord Krishna, has a special place in our hearts. Attracting a large number of tourists and pilgrims every year it has become a pilgrimage for people across India and beyond. Besides being home to several temples this holy place is also the most sought-after investment destination. The demand for property buyers in Vrindavan is witnessing a massive boom. Not only natives but also tourists from different parts are eyeing Vrindavan from a real perspective. Buying property in Vrindavan is a great investment decision as the city offers much-needed tranquillity to those looking for peace, mostly our senior population.

Vrindavan proximity to Delhi (180km) and other major cities like Agra makes it an attractive real estate destination. The city is well-connected and delivers all the amenities a modern home buyer looks for. For those living in Delhi, NCR, or other surrounding regions, property in Vrindavan can be a phenomenal second home choice. The price of residential property in Vrindavan is far less than that of a property in DelhI-NCR. Therefore, those with limited budgets can find better investment options in Vrindavan than in other key cities. There is no denying that Vrindavan is experiencing great infrastructural development. It lets you live away from all the hustle and bustle. With a property in Vrindavan, you can combine your spiritual needs with long-term investment decisions. As a pilgrimage site, footfall in Vrindavan increases each year with the city’s tremendous growth potential, investing in a plot or second home in Vrindavan is sure to give beneficial returns.

But before purchasing a property you must be aware of the right location where you would find ample property options. Chattikara road, Chaitanya Vihar, and Chaumuhan are some places that offer tremendous real estate investment opportunities. The process of buying a property in Vrindavan becomes less of a headache when you choose a trusted builder.

Now that we are aware of the central locations and top builders, finding a residential property in vrindavan will not be a hassle anymore. A major chunk of ambitious home buyers are already tricking vrindavan’s real estate market. So why late? Start capitalizing on the essence of spirituality and the flourishing infrastructure of Vrindavan.

2 in 3 Data Science professionals gained competitive edge over peers through upskilling programmes: Emeritus India Impact Survey

Mumbai, March 27, 2023: Indian data science professionals are increasingly leveraging reskilling and upskilling programmes to unearth new career opportunities for themselves, revealed the findings from the recently released Emeritus India Impact Survey. The survey, conducted by Emeritus, a global leader in world-class professional education, found that 2 in every 3 data science professionals polled were able to gain an edge over peers as a result of participating in professional upskilling programmes from Emeritus.

A majority of the data science professionals surveyed – about 86% – admitted to seeing a positive impact on their jobs from the programmes they were a part of within a span of 12 months, demonstrating the immediacy of the programme outcomes. 1 in 2 professionals said they advanced in their current jobs and were also able to unearth new career opportunities, thanks to the programme they undertook. The majority of the survey respondents belonged to the fields of software and IT services, healthcare, as well as, finance and insurance.

There is a huge gap of at least 51% between the demand and supply of data science professionals (working in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and big data analytics) in India, as per the ‘State of Data Science & AI Skills in India’ report 2023 published by Nasscom, the apex body for Indian IT industry. In an encouraging sign that could help close this gap, the Emeritus India Impact Survey found that data science professionals who took up upskilling programmes could also contribute to their organisation’s growth. Over 60% of the professionals agreed to having witnessed a technical improvement organisationally as a result of the insights gathered from data science programmes conducted by world-renowned industry experts and thought leaders.

The programmes were also helpful in imparting data science professionals with the necessary skills to fill gaps in the knowledge of their jobs (61%), valuable tools and training that they could immediately apply to their work (63%), as well as, future-proof their careers (56%).

Commenting on the Emeritus India Impact Survey findings, Mr. Mohan Kannegal, CEO, India and APAC, Emeritus, said, “There isn’t any sector today that can remain untouched by data science and analytics in today’s world, while at the same time, there exists a huge gap in the number of professionals skilled in the domain. At Emeritus, we are driven to plug these skill gaps through our high-quality professional upskilling programmes curated in partnership with world-class educational institutions that aim to elevate the learner’s skillset. The Emeritus India Impact Survey 2022 points to several positive signs that upskilling helps not just at an individual level, but also at an organisational level.”

This recently released India Impact Survey was conducted in September 2022, with learners who completed Emeritus professional education programmes through its partner schools before June 2022.

Emeritus connects learners through global virtual classrooms, partnering with over 60 top universities to offer online and app-based learning in formats including courses, certificates, online degrees, boot camps, etc. The company has a truly global reach – serving more than 250,000 learners across 160 countries, with programmes offered in a variety of languages.