In an effort to empower companies to derive more value from their data and deliver better customer experiences, Adobe, Microsoft and SAP have introduced the Open Data Initiative (ODI).

Announced at the “Microsoft Ignite” conference here late on Monday, the initiative will enhance data exchange between the applications and platforms offered by the three companies.

“Together with Adobe and SAP, we are taking a first, critical step to helping companies achieve a level of customer and business understanding that has never before been possible,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

“Organisations everywhere have a massive opportunity to build AI-powered digital feedback loops for predictive power, automated workflows and, ultimately, improved business outcomes,” he added.

Companies around the world use software and services from Adobe, Microsoft and SAP to run product development, operations, finance, marketing, sales, human resources and more.

The core focus of the Open Data Initiative is to eliminate data silos and enable a single view of the customer, helping companies to better govern their data and support privacy and security initiatives.

“Adobe, Microsoft and SAP are partnering to reimagine the customer experience management category,” said Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe.

“Together, we will give enterprises the ability to harness and action massive volumes of customer data to deliver personalised, real-time customer experiences at scale,” he added.

According to Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, the three companies understand that the customer experience is no longer a sales management conversation.

With the open data initiative, we will help businesses run with a true single view of the customer,” said McDermott.

IANS

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met nine leaders from across the globe in a whirlwind of bilateral interactions and spoke at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summity.

She began her day on Monday by attending the high-level event on counter-narcotics convened by US President Donald Trump, where she was seated at the front row.

India is one of 129 countries that have signed the pledge drafted by Trump on commitment towards international fight against drugs.

Although it was not a formal meeting, she greeted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when she came to the UN, India’s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.

Sushma Swaraj met the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Spain, Ecuador, Colombia, Mongolia, Nepal, Morocco, Lichtenstein and Federica Mogherini, the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

The topics discussed during the meetings with the foreign ministers depended on the relations with those countries and ranged from strategic cooperation to trade and investment.

Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale participated in the Special Meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) — a 26-member forum for cooperation in promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.

Ruchi Ghanashyam, the Secretary (West), spoke at the Africa Adaptation Initiative High-Level Roundtable. The organisation aims at facilitating finance and cooperation for the continent’s development.

After Sushma Swaraj’s meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted: “Strategic partnership gaining momentum!”

The two countries have been building up their strategic relations reinforced by the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue that includes the US and Japan.

Closer to home was the meeting with Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, which “took stock of our bilateral relationship”, Kumar tweeted.

At the meeting with Ecuador Foreign Minister Jose Valencia Amores, there were “good discussion on ways to further consolidate bilateral relationship in the areas of trade, agriculture, pharma, IT and capacity building”, according to Kumar.

Also from Latin America, Colombia’s Foreign Minister, the discussions centred on cooperation on trade investment, pharma, mining, petroleum and capacity building, he tweeted.

With Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, Sushma Swaraj “explored ways to intensify ties in investment, renewable energy, water treatment, tourism and their contribution to our flagship initiatives”, according to Kumar.

Mogherini and Sushma Swaraj “discussed issues related to trade and investment and exchanged views on the regional and global issues,” Kumar said in a tweet.

He noted that India and the EU were bound by a “strategic partnership based on common values of democracy, freedom and rule of law.”

“Celebrating the 25th anniversary of our diplomatic relations” Sushma Swaraj and Lichtenstein Foreign Minister Aurelia Frick “exchanged views on enhancing bilateral relations in trade and investment, particularly through participation at Indian trade fairs and tourism,” Kumar tweeted.

On relations with Morocco, he noted that they stretched back to the time of Ibn Battuta, the 14th century explorer, and tweeted that Sushma Swaraj and “Morocco Foreign Minister, Nasser Bourita discussed strengthening cooperation in areas of commerce, pharma, cyber security, defence and culture”.

She also met with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar.

The High-Level General Assembly session begins on Tuesday.

On the sidelines, she was to meet Fiji Prime Minister J.V. Bainimarama and the Foreign Ministers of Iraq, Cyprus, Moldova and Estonia.

Ians

Mumbai Slump in the financial stocks along with a weak rupee and high crude oil prices dragged the S&P BSE Sensex down 536 points on Monday and the NSE Nifty50 lost nearly 170 points to close below 11,000-mark — slipping into the red for the fifth consecutive session.

On the other hand, the rupee weakened during the day to trade around 72.59 (4.15 p.m) per US dollar against the previous close of 72.20 per greenback.

With all the major sectors contributing to the sell-off, top sectoral losers were banking, auto and finance.

At 3.30 p.m, the wider NSE Nifty50 provisionally closed at 10,974.90 points, lower 168.20 points or 1.51 per cent from the previous close of 11,143.10 points.

The BSE Sensex, which had opened at 36,924.72 points, provisionally closed at 36,305.02 points, lower 536.58 points or 1.46 per cent from the Friday’s close of 36,841.60 points.

The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 36,945.50 points and a low of 36,216.95 points.

(IANS)

DCM Dr. G Parameshwar announced that in next few days, the state government will launch free WiFi scheme in Bengaluru city. “It will be free of cost for the first six months and after six months the WiFi will be provided at a nominal charge.

Speaking at an event in Govindarajanagar of the city, he stated that after Delhi, Bengaluru will be the second city to offer free WiFi service to the residents. “Our idea is to take technology to the doorsteps of the people,” he said.

He also stated that the BBMP and the state government are considering the proposal of extending the White Tap roads across the city. “Potholes is one of the biggest problems in the city. We are trying to find a technological intervention to ensure quality, long lasting roads,” he said.

He also assured of a 200-bed hospital in the Govindarajanagara constituency where all the super specialty services will be provided under a single roof.

He also made it clear that there will not be any political crisis in the state. “Everything is a false hype. This government will last for five years,” he said.

PTI

Petrol retail rates finally breached the Rs 90 mark in Mumbai by touching Rs 90.08 per litre here on Monday, but stood much higher elsewhere in the state, industry officials said.

Federation of Maharashtra Petroleum Dealers Association (FAMPEDA) President Uday Lodh said that the new rate became effective after a hike of 11 paise effected on Monday.

Parbhani District Petrol Dealers Association (PDPDA) President Sanjay Deshmukh said the petrol rates soared to Rs 91.91 in the districts.

The highest petrol prices logged in various cities included: Nanded Rs 91.61, Amravati Rs 91.31, Ratnagiri Rs 91.14 and Jalgaon Rs 91.01, said Lodh.

Similarly, diesel prices also shot up by five paise per litre in Parbhani where it sold at Rs 79.15, said Deshmukh.

However, Aurangabad notched the highest prices when diesel crossed the Rs 80 mark and retailed on Monday at Rs 80.53 per litre, followed by Amravati at Rs 79.90 and Solapur at Rs 79.25.

An official said that there was no fall in demand with the festival season currently on, and the upward trend was likely to continue for some time.

(IANS)

Bhubaneswar Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the revival of the Talcher fertiliser plant in Odisha will create huge job opportunities while making the country self-sufficient in fertiliser production.

The Talcher plant will start production in 36 months with an investment of Rs 13,000 crore, said Modi.

Launching the revival work for the country’s first coal gasification-based fertiliser plant, Modi said: “Around 4,500 people will be employed in the region.”

It would also reduce India’s dependency on importing gas and urea, he added.

“Odisha had lost hope of the fertiliser plant but we did it despite several hurdles. We vowed that with new energy and new speed, we will take the country to a new height,” Modi said in Talcher as he addressed the public.

The plant is being developed by Talcher Fertilisers Limited (TFL), a joint venture of GAIL (India) Limited, Coal India Limited (CIL), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCFL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL).

The project would have an output of 1.27 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) of ‘Neem’ coated prilled urea using coal and petcoke as feedstock.

The plant, targeted to be commissioned by 2022, will ensure easy availability of urea in Odisha as currently there is no urea plant in the state.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, also present on the occasion, thanked the Prime Minister and assured him of all support from the state government.

(IANS)

Software major Adobe has struck a deal to acquire Marketo, a leading Cloud platform for business-to-business marketing engagement, for $4.75 billion.

“The acquisition of Marketo widens Adobe’s lead in customer experience across B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) and puts Adobe Experience Cloud at the heart of all marketing,” Brad Rencher, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital Experience, Adobe, said in a statement on Thursday.

The deal is Adobe’s largest ever and puts the company in more direct competition with Oracle and Salesforce, ZDNet reported.

Adobe said the transaction, which is expected to close during the fourth quarter of the company’s 2018 fiscal year, is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently, the San Jose, California-headquartered Adobe said.

Marketo is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices around the world, and serves as a strategic partner to enterprises across a wide variety of industries.

With nearly 5,000 customers, Marketo brings together planning, engagement and measurement capabilities into an integrated B2B marketing platform.

Adobe hopes that adding Marketo’s engagement platform to its “Experience Cloud” will enable Adobe to offer an unrivalled set of solutions for delivering transformative customer experiences across industries and companies of all sizes.

The Adobe Experience Cloud platform enables B2C companies to drive business impact by harnessing massive volumes of customer data and content in order to deliver real-time, cross-channel experiences that are personalised and consistent.

This acquisition brings together the richness of Adobe Experience Cloud analytics, content, personalisation, advertising and commerce capabilities with Marketo’s lead management and account-based marketing technology to provide B2B companies with the ability to create, manage and execute marketing engagement at scale.

“Adobe and Marketo both share an unwavering belief in the power of content and data to drive business results,” said Steve Lucas, CEO, Marketo.

“Marketo delivers the leading B2B marketing engagement platform for the modern marketer, and there is no better home for Marketo to continue to rapidly innovate than Adobe,” Lucas added.

Upon close of the transaction, the Marketo CEO will join Adobe’s senior leadership team and continue to lead the Marketo team as part of Adobe’s Digital Experience business, Adobe said.

(IANS)

The key Indian equity indices opened on a positive note on Friday tracking firm global cues, with the S&P BSE Sensex gaining around 280 points so far.

Further, Asian stocks rose after markets in the US hit record highs on Thursday.

At 9.30 a.m., the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 11,319.70 points, higher by 85.35 points or A0.76 per cent from its previous close.

The BSE Sensex which had opened at 37,278.89 points, traded at 37,403.57 points, higher by 282.35 points per 0.76 per cent from its previous close 37,121.22 points.

So far, it has an intra-day high of 37,427.10 points and a low 37,202.94 points.

On Thursday, stock exchanges were shut on account of Muharram.

(IANS)

After facing a backlash over reports in July that third-party app developers can read your Gmail, Google has once again defended its policy to allow third-party apps to access and share data from Gmail accounts.

According to a CNNMoney report on Thursday, Gmail lets third-party developers integrate services into its email platform.

“Developers may share data with third parties so long as they are transparent with the users about how they are using the data,” said the report, quoting from a Google letter sent to the US Senators.

Google also makes “the privacy policy easily accessible to users to review before deciding whether to grant access”, said Susan Molinari, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs for the Americas at Google, in the letter.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July that despite assuring users to “remain confident that Google will keep privacy and security paramount”, the search giant is still allowing third-party app developers scan through Gmail accounts.

Gmail has nearly 1.4 billion users globally — more users than the next 25 largest email providers combined.

Later, Google said in a blog post that the company is continuously vetting developers and their apps that integrate with Gmail before it opens them for general access.

According to Google, it gives both enterprise admins and individual consumers transparency and control over how their data is used.

“We make it possible for applications from other developers to integrate with Gmail — like email clients, trip planners and customer relationship management (CRM) systems — so that you have options around how you access and use your email,” said Suzanne Frey, Director, Security, Trust and Privacy, Google Cloud.

Before a published, non-Google app can access your Gmail messages, it goes through a multi-step review process at the company, it said.

“It includes automated and manual review of the developer, assessment of the app’s privacy policy and homepage to ensure it is a legitimate app, and in-app testing to ensure the app works as it says it does,” Frey noted.

In 2017, Google had said its computers will soon stop reading the emails of its Gmail users to personalise their ads.

(IANS)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for intensifying the war on illegal financial transfers, money laundering and tax evasion as one of the ways to ensure countries had adequate funds for development.

The world needs “a surge in investment” in the Sustainable Development Goals, Guterres said on Thursday unveiling his plans for the launch during the high-level meeting of the General Assembly next week of a strategy to mobilise financing for development.

“Simultaneously, I appeal to the international community to take much more effective steps to fight illicit flows of capital, money laundering and tax evasion, which continue to siphon away much-needed funds for development from the developing world,” he said at a news conference.

“The UN, for its part, will continue to support developing countries in creating conditions for mobilizing domestic resources, including through tax reform and other good governance measures,” he added.

Surveying the global scene, Guterres said: “Multilateralism is under attack from many different directions precisely when we need it most.

“I will use my meetings and other opportunities next week to press for renewed commitment to a rules-based global order and to the UN.”

When asked if he thought US President Donald Trump was a threat to multilateralism, Guterres said: “I don’t like to personalise things.”

He said there was a general erosion of trust — in political institutions, international organisations and among nations — for different reasons and “multilateralism has been in the fire”.

Of his three initiatives at the high-level session, another is the “Action for Peacekeeping”.

“Our aim is to build on the peacekeeping successes of the past and to help our missions succeed in today’s protracted and volatile contexts,” he said.

Ahead of the meeting, he created a Declaration of Shared Commitment, which “represents a clear and urgent agenda for peacekeeping, and all stakeholders have made very specific commitments”.

It has been signed by 128 countries, including India.

Outlining the dire problems in peacekeeping, Guterres said: “Peacekeepers are facing increasing threats while seeking to implement frequently large and complex mandates. Peacekeeping fatalities are at the highest level in a generation. Equipment is often inadequate, and political processes remain fragile or absent in several of the situations.”

He is also launching a new strategy called “Youth2030” as well as a “Generation Unlimited” initiative.

These aim at “first, doing more to respond to the aspirations of young people, in particular quality education and decent jobs, and and second, giving them a voice in decision-making at all levels”, he said.

(IANS)