Month: March 2023

Honeywell received the ‘SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award 2022’ for its Solstice® portfolio of ultra-low global warming potential (GWP) products. Honeywell’s Solstice® portfolio has been contributing significantly to sustainability across industries. The SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award recognizes innovations that represent game-changing ideas that bring us to a more sustainable future. The applicants were judged on the innovation’s advantages over alternatives, sustainability benefits, disruption, and impact metrics, amongst other criteria. The other winners in this category included Microsoft, SoCal Gas and Sesame Solar. Hitesh Mehta, General Manager, Advanced Materials, Honeywell India said, “Honeywell’s Solstice® ready now technology helps customers lower their carbon footprint and improve energy efficiency without sacrificing end-product performance. It supports their sustainability goals with innovative, ready-now products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save energy, measure and reduce carbon impact and support the adoption of renewable energy sources. SEAL Sustainable Innovation Award is a testament to the primacy we place in providing sustainable solutions to help companies meet sustainability and environmental goals.” Honeywell has invested a billion dollars in research, development, and new capacity for Solstice® technology, having anticipated the need for lower-global warming potential (GWP) solutions to combat climate change more than a decade ago. The Solstice® portfolio of products benefits society through superior energy efficiency performance in cooling and insulating applications. Using Honeywell Solstice technology has helped avoid the potential release of the equivalent of more than 295 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere so far, equal to the carbon emissions from nearly 688 million barrels of oil. By the end of 2022, Solstice R-1234yf, a low global warming potential refrigerant used in automobile air conditioning systems, will be used in almost 185 million vehicles globally. For its contribution to helping companies meet sustainability and environmental goals, Honeywell’s Solstice® portfolio has been named Top Project of the Year in the 2022 Energy + Environment Leader Awards and was highly commended as part of the World Sustainability Awards 2022 in the Sustainable Technology Award category. The SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement, and Leadership) Awards honor the organizations and leaders dedicated to making real progress on the most pressing issue of our time. Each year, the SEAL Awards recognize the 50 Most Sustainable Companies in the World and the most impactful and innovative Environmental Initiatives. SEAL Award winners are determined by a holistic methodology that measures applicants against established benchmark metrics that demonstrate true impact and progress towards a healthy planet and a sustainable future.  

Videonetics has announced the appointment of Ashish Goyal as Director of Software Engineering and Development. Ashish will play an essential role as a member of the leadership team and will be based in Bengaluru. He will oversee planning, development, designing and testing of Videonetics products in the marketplace while building and leading company’s engineering and product development team. Dr. Tinku Acharya Fellow IEEE, Founder & MD of Videonetics “Ashish is a great addition to our leadership team. His strategic leadership, tech acumen and wealth of hardware and software expertise will be key to expanding our product roadmap while retaining our leadership position as #1 VMS Provider in India and top five VMS providers in Asia” He brings onboard 18 years of leadership experience in diverse sectors including products & services organization and in building enterprise-grade, near real-time, globally distributed large-scale systems serving millions of transactions and processing big data. Before joining Videonetics, Ashish held various senior leadership positions in multi-national companies such as SanDisk, Microsoft Corporation and Cognizant. Ashish Goyal Director of Software Engineering and Development of Videonetics “Videonetics has been at the forefront of innovation, leadership, and excellence with incredible potential to disrupt the industry. And I am honored to be part of the company and look forward to defining product strategy, addressing problems of our partners and customers, penetrate new territories with our AI powered Unified Video Computing Platform” A seasoned tech industry veteran, Ashish has a credible track record blended with expertise in technologies like Open-Source System, Cloud Computing, Web & Desktop Development, Distributed Systems and many more. At Videonetics, he will drive product design, development & delivery, largely focussed towards providing market-ready solutions across geographies. He will be an integral part to consolidation and expansion of Videonetics’ engineering, product, and design teams.  

Research shows that congestion charging can reduce traffic volumes in cities by as much as 30%. But perceived unfairness in how charges are applied can make these kinds of schemes very unpopular, especially at first. There’s good news, though smart video solutions can support far more equitable congestion charging approaches, leading to faster acceptance, and improved traffic management outcomes Congestion charging can be a powerful tool in the fight against traffic congestion and resulting vehicle emissions. So much so, in fact, that empirical data from London, Singapore and Stockholm show congestion reductions of between 13% and 30%. But while congestion schemes and tolling can help in the fight against excessive traffic on city and highways networks, they can also be very unpopular with local people when they are first deployed. To increase acceptance for congestion charging, authorities need to effectively communicate the overall benefits to road users, especially in terms of shorter journey times and improved air quality. Additionally, convenient, fair, and flexible payment systems are needed to ensure that schemes are accepted by road users quickly and comprehensively. Supporting fair, effective congestion charging with smart video A wide range of technologies are needed to support congestion charging, from AI-powered smart cameras to radio frequency identification tags (RFID), GPS and wireless communications networks. However, smart video is critical for ensuring that congestion charging schemes are as effective and equitable as possible based on a number of key capabilities. Recognize vehicle type and emissions band The latest AI-powered smart video solutions can differentiate between different types of vehicles and apply congestion charges based on their emissions rating. This can often be achieved with algorithms that recognize vehicle size, shape, and model, allowing charges to be applied accordingly. Where this feature is not available, the vehicle type and emissions band can be determined using ANPR (license-plate recognition) technology, which allows vehicle registration details to be cross-referenced by local authorities and their databases. In either of these cases, drivers are charged according to the type and emissions rating of their vehicle, a more equitable approach that is generally better accepted by road users. Support fairer, distance-based congestion charging Congestion charging is often seen as unfair when a single charge is levied for any vehicle entering the zone. This means that the cost is the same, whether a vehicle crosses the controlled area just once, or circulates for the entire day. To address this, some authorities are experimenting with innovative schemes such as distance-based congestion charging. By recognizing vehicles, and their license plates, smart video can support this kind of model, which has the potential to increase acceptance of congestion charging schemes in the future. Enable dynamic charging depending on real-time traffic conditions With traditional schemes, drivers often pay full price to enter congestion charging zones even when traffic is light. With the ability to provide real-time traffic ‘awareness,’ smart video can support other models where drivers pay more during peak hours, or when congestion is heavier. This ensures that drivers pay less when roads are clear, giving them better value and a better overall travel experience. Detect exceptions and allow them free access to controlled areas In fair congestion charging schemes, certain vehicles and drivers should be able to enter and leave controlled zones without charges being levied. This applies, for example, to drivers who live in congestion-charging zones, and to some commercial vehicles, including taxis or other ground-transport or delivery vehicles. With smart video, these ‘exceptions’ can be recognized and permitted to enter and leave controlled areas without being charged. Hikvision ITS solutions When it comes to creating and deploying more effective, more equitable congestion-charging schemes, Hikvision ITS solutions can help. Specifically, we our solutions can be used by authorities to provide the real-time traffic awareness they need to support dynamic pricing and other innovative congestion-charging models. What’s more, our AI-powered cameras can help identify vehicles, their emissions ratings, and their eligibility to pay charges, in real time to support fairer schemes and accelerate acceptance.  

Ashish P. Dhakan MD & CEO Prama Hikvision India Pvt. Ltd. The Union Budget 2023-24 clearly has the visionary roadmap to put India on the path to become $5 trillion economy. The seven priorities of the budget ‘Saptarishi’ are inclusive development, reaching the last mile, infrastructure and investment, unleashing the potential, green growth, youth power and financial sector. It shows the government’s vision and missionary zeal for a developed India. We welcome the growth oriented budget positively as it is aimed at furthering the cause of the Indian manufacturing industry. The Union Budget has the blueprint of a sustainable economic growth in Amrit Kaal {Amrit Kaal refers to the next 25 years (up to 2047) leading to the centenary of India’s independenc}, backed by consistent and well-planned strategy. It also shows the strong commitment towards electronic manufacturing sector and infrastructure development. The budget shows clear intent to offer calibrated customs duty rates to provide a graded rate scheme to facilitate domestic electronic manufacturing sector. The government’s commitment to empowering the youth by introducing mandatory courses such as AI, coding, drones, IoT, 3D printing, and other soft skills under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 and establishing of 30 Skill India international centers, will connect skilled youth with employers and leaders in the industry and encourage entrepreneurship. As an integral part of India’s fast developing electronic security manufacturing ecosystem, we are sure that this Union Budget will help to realize the vision of ‘Surakshit Bharat’ (Secure India) through the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India) roadmap. From the security industry perspective, this is an industry friendly budget as it acknowledges MSMEs as growth engines of the economy, the Budget proposes enhanced limits for micro enterprises and certain professionals for availing the benefit of presumptive taxation. To support MSMEs in timely receipt of payments, the Budget allows deduction for expenditure incurred on payments made to them only when payment is actually made. The Union Budget offers a solace to the MSME sector. The revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to take effect from 1 April 2023 through infusion of Rs.9,000 crore in the corpus. This scheme would enable additional collateral-free guaranteed credit of Rs.2 lakh crore and also reduce the cost of the credit by about 1 per cent. At the hindsight, the Union Budget strikes a fine balance between big capex and fiscal discipline, it will spur the growth of Indian economy, improve the infrastructure and empower the common people. Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani Vice Chairperson NAREDCO India has prudently maneuvered global and economical storms. It has aptly addressed the economic growth of India by augmenting the capital expenditure outlays in infrastructure upto Rs.10 lac crores accounting to nearly 3.3% of GDP. This will have a multiplier effect on real estate asset classes like the residential, commercial, industrial and logistics sector. The last mile connectivity will reduce the logistics cost substantially, enhancing India’s global competitiveness and investment index. Infrastructure development is pivotal for employment generation and opens up hinterlands across geographies for all sorts of real estate developments. Setting up of Urban Infrastructure Development Fund managed by NHB will ensure governance, speed in execution and timely delivery under PPP ties. Incremental PMAY allocation upto Rs.79,000 crores will give impetus to affordable housing and benefit a wide segment of homebuyers. Rebates in personal tax will permit additional disposable income in the hands of the discerning homebuyers to be invested back in a safe asset ‘home.’ The capital gain tax benefit on the sale of property above the value of Rs.10 crores is sought to be withdrawn. families are liable to pay capital gain tax which will disincentivize families to buy multiple properties as a security provision for their children. Emphasis on skilling to foster research and knowledge-based economy will garner a job ready workforce for the highly labor-intensive real estate sector. The measures for digital adoption and green economy will augur well for sustainable development and help achieve a low carbon economy. Terming it a fiscally ‘balanced’ budget, I rate it at 8/10. The Union Finance Minister, Smt Niramala Sitharaman has expressed a clear commitment to capital expenditure, which will have a positive impact on the Indian industry and create employment opportunities. The Centre has granted 50-year interest-free loans to state governments for an additional year with a total outlay of Rs.1.3 lakh crore, encouraging infrastructure investment across the states and fostering local industries. The government has also taken measures to ensure that all sections of the salaried class benefit from the Union Budget, with reduced tax slabs from the lowest to the highest brackets. This will be advantageous for all income taxpayers, with a considerable growth in the tax base over the past five to six years. The finance minister has also taken steps to benefit the MSME sector by launching a new Rs.9,000 crore credit guarantee scheme. This revamp will offer an additional collateral-free loan of Rs.2 lakh crore to MSMEs while reducing the cost of credit by 1%, as stated in her budget speech. This budget also focuses on inclusive development, by establishing an Agriculture Accelerator Fund to nurture agri-startups and promoting digital public infrastructure. This will provide farmer-centric solutions for crop planning and storage. Substantial agricultural credit targets up to Rs.20 lakh crore by 2024 will place a priority on animal husbandry, dairy, and fisheries. This ambitious plan has the potential to significantly strengthen the economy. Vishak Raman Vice President of Sales, India, SAARC and Southeast Asia Fortinet A steep increase of 33% in capital investments to 10 Lakh Crore almost three times the outlay made in 2019 shows why India is one of the most buoyant economies in the world. While Investments and development programs are all tech-driven the budget realises the potential of 5G by setting up 100 labs in engineering institution to develop Apps to assists in all verticals including smart classroom, precision farming, smart transport systems and healthcare. The capital flowing into AI-Startups last year was $2.7 billion globally. The race in AI is heating up…