CreditAccess Grameen's IPO to Open from Aug 8-10, 2018; Sets Price Band at Rs 418-422

Bangalore-based micro finance lender CreditAccess Grameen’s initial public offering (IPO) will open for subscription between August 8 and August 10. CreditAccess Grameen, a leading micro-finance institution headquartered in Bangalore, will open its initial public offer for subscription on August 8 with a price band at Rs 418-422 per share.

The public issue comprises a fresh issue of up to Rs 630 crore and an offer for sale of up to 1,18,76,485 equity shares by the promoter, CreditAccess Asia N V.

The offer will close on August 10. Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 35 equity shares and in multiples of 35 equity shares thereafter.

CreditAccess Grameen focused on providing micro-loans to women customers predominantly in Rural Areas in India.

According to CRISIL Research, it was the third largest NBFC-MFI in India in terms of gross loan portfolio as of March 2017. As of March 2018, it covered 132 districts in the eight states (Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala, Goa) and one union territory (Puducherry) in India through 516 branches and 4,544 loan officers.

Its promoter CreditAccess Asia N V is a multinational company specialising in MSE financing (micro and small enterprise financing), which is backed by institutional investors and has micro-lending experience through its subsidiaries in four countries in Asia.

Equity shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE. ICICI Securities, Credit Suisse Securities (India), IIFL Holdings and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company are book running lead managers to the issue.

The Bid/Offer Period closes on August 10, 2018. The company and the promoter selling shareholder in consultation with the BRLMs may consider participation by Anchor Investors in accordance with the ICDR Regulations. The Anchor Investor Bidding Date shall be one Working Day prior to the Offer Opening Date.

The Price Band for the Offer is from Rs. 418 to Rs. 422 per Equity Share. Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 35 Equity Shares and in multiples of 35 Equity Shares thereafter. 

The Equity Shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.

Kalyan Jewellers to Open New Showroom at Marathahalli, Bengaluru on August 9, 2018

Kalyan Jewellers, one of India’s most trusted and leading jewellery brands, has today announced that it will be opening a brand new showroom on Varthur Main Road, Marathahalli - their 5th in the garden city. Brand Ambassadors Shri Shivrajkumar and Shri Nagarjuna along with the company’s Chairman and Managing Director T.S. Kalyanaraman and Executive Directors Rajesh Kalyanaraman and Ramesh Kalyanaraman, will inaugurate the same on 9th August, 2018 at 11:30 am.

The new showroom in Marathahalli will be the 130th showroom of the brand globally and will offer exquisite gold, diamond and studded jewellery. As part of the launch offer, - customers will get 1 gold coin free* on purchase of precious stone jewellery worth Rs. 25,000/- or 2 gold coins free with every purchase of uncut, diamond and polki jewellery worth the same amount. The customers will also able to get a 100% value on exchange of old gold.*

Kalyan Jewellers Chairman and Managing Director T.S. Kalyanaraman said, “Kalyan Jewellers has been warmly received in Bengaluru, and it is this that encouraged us to launch a new outlet in Marathahalli. Customers can expect quality jewellery, extensive range of designs, great ambience along with a world of privileges at this new showroom. Bengaluru is an important growth market for the brand and the state of Karnataka has always shown tremendous potential. The investment in Marathahalli is part of our strategy to establish a stronger presence in this city and also make Kalyan Jewellers more accessible to our customers. ’’

Kalyan will offer its patrons, Muhurat, the bridal jewellery line curated from across India along with exclusive sections featuring Kalyan’s popular house brands such as Tejasvi – Polki jewellery, Mudhra - handcrafted antique jewellery, Nimah – temple Jewellery, Glo – dancing diamonds, Ziah – Solitaire like diamond jewellery, Anokhi – uncut diamonds, Apoorva – diamonds for special occasions, Antara – wedding Diamonds and Hera – daily wear diamonds and Rang – precious stones jewellery. Kalyan will draw from its portfolio of over one lakh contemporary and traditional designs and will offer selections for everyday as well as bridal wear and festive occasions.

Thales Data Threat Report 2018: 93% of Indian Respondents Plan on Increasing IT Security Spending in 2018

Thales, a leader in critical information systems, cybersecurity and data security, announces the findings of its 2018 Thales Data Threat Report, India edition, issued in conjunction with analyst firm 451 Research. The report finds that a striking 93% of Indian respondents plan on increasing IT security spending this year, the highest among all countries surveyed and well above the global average (78%).

This year’s findings demonstrate a mix of good and bad news for Indian organisations in adopting security strategies to prevent the breach of sensitive data at their workplaces.

According to the report, digital transformation across the globe has led to the growth of new business models that are focused on driving growth and profitability for organisations including cloud, IoT, big data and blockchain. Indians recognise encryption with Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) capabilities as the top security tool for securing sensitive data in cloud environments and continue to spend their resources on the same technology.

The report also states that the government’s steps toward ensuring transparency under the ‘Aadhaar programme’ have resulted in an increase in IT security spending by Indian organisations. At the same time, reports of successful data breaches in India are second only to Sweden among all geographical and vertical markets.

Key findings:

* In India, the top choice for satisfying data privacy laws is encryption (30% vs. 42% globally, where it is also the top choice), followed by tokenization (25% vs. 20% globally) 
* Around 52% of Indian respondents reported a data breach last year, way above the global average (36%). Further, a full three quarters (75%) of respondents in India reported being breached at some time in the past, compared with just 67% globally.
* 62% of Indian respondents report feeling ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ vulnerable to attacks on sensitive data (37% ‘extremely’ vulnerable), well ahead of the global average (44%).
* Indian organisations are apparently not spending their valuable IT security funds in the right places.
* 91% list analysis and correlation as the most effective weapons to stop data breaches followed closely by data-in-motion/data-at-rest defenses at 90% each
* Endpoint/mobile defenses are ranked least effective (81%)
* Yet endpoint/mobile defenses are ranked at the top in terms of spending plans (81%), with data-at-rest at the bottom (54%).
* 85% of Indian respondents say compliance is either ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ effective at stopping breaches, again way ahead of the global average (64%).
* Indian respondents are relatively unconcerned about storing sensitive data in cloud environments, with 92% of Indian respondents reporting that their organisations store sensitive data in some form of public cloud (either IaaS, PaaS or SaaS), well ahead of the global average of 74%.
* Concerns about performance impacts and business processes are the top barriers cited in India to IT security, followed by perceptions of complexity (48%) and perceived need (37%).

The data in the report is based on detailed inputs from over 100 senior IT security managers in India – all part of the Thales 2018 Global Data Threat Report, which polled 1,200 IT security managers in eight countries and across four major vertical markets.

“The world today revolves around technology and more and more organisations are reshaping the way they do business with digital transformation. As the world becomes more connected, it also becomes more vulnerable. Cybersecurity has become an indispensable part of our digital technologies. At Thales, we have been helping our customers to think smarter and act faster during the complexities that arise each day and mitigate the challenges successfully.

“This year’s India Data Threat Report 2018 emphasizes the need for change in security strategies to prevent the continuous increase in data breaches and also highlights privacy and data protection practices,” said Emmanuel de Roquefeuil, VP & Country Director, Thales in India.

“The report reveals data about increasing cyber threats in India and is a call to action for organisations to strengthen their security posture and take steps towards protecting their data. We’re now at the point where we have to admit that data breaches are the new reality with over half of organizations in India suffering a breach in the last year. In this increasingly data-driven world it is therefore hugely important that organizations take steps to protect that data wherever it is created, shared or stored. Thales provides everything an organization needs to protect and manage its data, identities and intellectual property, and meet regulatory compliance – through encryption, advanced key management, tokenization, privileged-user control and high-assurance solutions,” said James Cook, Sales Director South Asia, Thales eSecurity.

This Start-Up Fought WhatsApp False News and Prevented Two Tragedies in Chennai

When Verify.Wiki LLC - a start-up that fights False News through a methodology called "reverse virality" - by combining crowdsourcing with social networking- saw the recent lynching incidents in India due to False WhatsApp messages, it immediately sprang into action. The company picked Chennai as a pilot city to test if it could prevent another tragedy.

On July 13th, 2018, the company noticed two suspected False News stories propagating via WhatsApp, one asking people to punish a school teacher in Perambur, Chennai for hitting and kicking little children, and another circulating a young female doctor's photo, claiming she was treating patients for free in Chennai. Both these posts went viral on WhatsApp and Facebook in Chennai.

"The team immediately kicked off the pilot. They first learnt that the video that was circulated was from a school in Egypt, recorded in 2014, not from Perambur, Chennai. They also quickly uncovered the other story about the doctor was also false, propagated by a person who steals profile photos of young women from Facebook", said Siva Nadarajah, an adviser and investor at Verify.Wiki who recently requested the company to help with the deadly False News crisis in India.

Once the stories were verified to be false through crowdsourced research, Verify.Wiki said its "reverse virality" approach ensured the propagation of the False News was stopped within hours. With reverse virality, the corrected version of the False News, was propagated back through the same path the story originated, via WhatsApp and Facebook, targeting those who might have consumed the False News.

"We were able to stop both the False News stories within a few hours. We also noticed the propagation of those two false stories completely stopping within 24 hours.", added Siva Nadarajah.

 "Imagine if Wikipedia and Facebook had a baby. You combine crowdsourcing with social networking. It's so powerful when it comes to transparency and credibility in fighting False News. We stopped seven False News stories just within two weeks of our pilot in Chennai. Some are harmless and some are deadly. The nice thing is anyone can anonymously submit a suspected False News and everyone can participate in the verification activities. It's a democratic process to fight False News", added Siva Nadarajah. 

Facebook, the parent company of WhatsApp recently took full page newspaper advertisements to warn people of False News propagating via WhatsApp, after lynching incidents killed dozens of people across India.

Infinix Brings Dual VoLTE in Sub 6K Segment Available on Flipkart from Rs 5,999 Onwards

Infinix Mobile, the online smartphone brand from TRANSSION Holdings, today announced the launch of its global “SMART” series in India. The SMART 2 flaunts many industry-first innovations in the sub 6K smartphone segment such as the 18:9 Full View display, 8MP Low Light selfie with Dual LED Flash, Dual SIM, Dual VoLTE (4G+4G), and Face Unlock. 

Speaking on the occasion, Anish Kapoor, CEO Infinix India said, “As India is undergoing rapid technology changes with 4G LTE expected to be adopted by 85% of the Indian market by 2018 (Source: published ET news), hence, there is a pressing need in the market for Dual-VoLTE smartphones in the budget segment. We at Infinix have a clear goal in mind of bringing exceptional devices across all price segments which empowers our customers with premium smartphone experience sans the premium pricing. SMART 2 is a validation of the same.”

He further added, “Infinix SMART 2 is a future ready budget smartphone which can enable two 4G VoLTE SIM cards active in your phone simultaneously.  Filling-in the gap for generation next, this latest smartphone ticks every box for consumer looking for a perfect package in the budget segment under 6K by offering the combination of features such as 18:9 Full View display, 8MP Selfie Camera with Dual LED Flash and Dual SIM, Dual VoLTE (4G+4G) and Face Unlock.”

To celebrate the launch of Smart 2 on Flipkart, Mr. Ayyappan Rajagopal, Senior Director - Mobiles at Flipkart said, “We are excited to launch the new Infinix Smart 2 on Flipkart. This product truly ensures an uncompromising smartphone experience for the masses at an affordable price. This offering will play a key role for Flipkart in the sub 8K segment by ensuring quality smartphones with the latest features are democratized and made accessible to all.”

Some of the key features include:

Full View display

As for display, yet again the brand has not compromised Infinix SMART 2 is endowed with 5.45” HD+ Full View display with 18:9 aspect ratio with easy one hand operation. The smartphone is bestowed with a larger screen-to-body percentage of 83% and 500 nits’ brightness to add to an immersive visual experience. Moreover, the screen also features an Eye Care mode to protect you from eye strain caused due to long hours of smartphone usage.

Enhance your selfie experience

Adding another industry-first feather in the cap, Infinix is first to offer the 8MP Low Light selfie camera with Dual LED Flash and f/2.0 aperture in the sub 6K segment.

Its large f/2.0 aperture lets more amount of light to enter the sensor and with customisable Dual LED Flash, SMART 2 captures sharper and brighter selfies even in low lighting condition. SMART 2 is equipped with 9 level of beauty levels to give you perfect selfies. Also Its Bokeh selfie mode lets you stand out of the crowd by putting you in focus and blur rest everything in the background.

Rear 13MP PDAF camera with Dual LED Flash

The smartphone is also equipped with a rear camera sporting a 13MP PDAF, f/ 2.0 with 5P Lens and Dual LED Flash, which helps in getting sharper and brighter photographs. It also supports HDR, Beauty, Night and Panorama modes to elevate the photography experience.

Future ready smartphone with Dual SIM, Dual VoLTE (DSDV)

Infinix SMART 2 is first in the segment and redefines with category by providing Dual VoLTE SIM (4G+4G) solution. With SMART 2, consumer can use 4G VoLTE in both the SIM cards at the same time. It also features a dedicated microSD card slot, which can support expandable memory upto 128GB.

Upping the ante of performance & security in budget category

Infinix SMART 2 comes with a MediaTek 6739 64-bit 1.5GHz Quad-Core processor for superior performance. On the software front, It comes with XOS 3.3 powered by latest Android Oreo 8.1 operating system. As smartphone privacy and security is key these days, SMART 2 comes with advance face recognition technology which provides quick Face Unlock under 0.3 sec.

In terms of battery life, the new Infinix SMART 2 comes with big capacity 3050mAh battery, which provide 21hrs of 4G talk-time and keeps up with fast paced life.

The device will be available in two variants - 2GB RAM + 16GB storage for Rs 5,999 and 3GB RAM +32GB storage for Rs 6,999

With this latest smartphone in the portfolio, Infinix is now 5 SKU strong with SMART 2, HOT 6 Pro, HOT S3, NOTE 4 & ZERO 5. The new smartphone will be available exclusively via Flipkart India starting from 10th Aug, 2018. SMART 2 will be available in four colours of Sandstone Black, Serene Gold, Bordeaux Red and City Blue.

Altair to Set Up Altair Design Innovation Center in collaboration with KLE Technological University, Hubballi

Altair Engineering India and KLE Technological University (KLE Tech) are interested to set up an Altair Design Innovation center (ADIC) at KLE University, Hubballi campus. Following are the core objective of this engagement and henceforth both Altair and KLE TECH will work towards achieving below goals and deliverables.

Objective of this Industry-Academia Interaction through Altair Design Innovation Center is to develop and facilitate competency on commercial FEM software from Altair called HyperWorks. Also aid students research activity with the help of our FEM code. This also helps in proving Skilled man power which are in turn useful to Altair customers and prospects. This Innovation Centre is based on HyperWorks Suite of Products. The goals include:

1.      Provide Unlimited Student-License to any active student of KLE Tech during his degree or Post graduation degree course for his personal Laptop/Desktop so that he can actively pursue Altair HyperWorks Technology.

2.      Facilitate Various Online Learning and certification courses (listed in Annexure). No limit to the number of students taking part in this initiative. Only certified students list will be published in Altair Industry outreach portal to facilitate Internship and placement at Altair, Altair Customers, Altair Distributors, and Altair Prospects.

3.      Following eBooks to be used for framing Syllabus and as a reference book for the planned Industry oriented courses at KLE Tech. Note that these are by default used as Reference book for the certification courses of Altair. This will help KLE TECH to facilitate Syllabus making for Mechanical P.G and U.G courses.

a.FEM: Practical Aspects of Finite Element Simulation (A Study Guide)
b. Optimization: Practical Aspects of Structural Optimization (A Study Guide)
c. Multi Body Dynamics: Practical Aspects of Multi-Body Simulation with HyperWorks
d. Non- Linear Explicit Simulation: Crash Analysis with RADIOSS – A Study Guide
e. DOE Studies: Design of Experiments with HyperStudy – A Study Guide
f. Additive Manufacturing: A Practical Introduction to solidThinking Inspire                                      g. Composites: Introduction to Practical aspects of Composites
h. Ease of Simulation: A practical introduction to Inspire
i. Dynamics: Learn Dynamic Analysis with Altair OptiStruct
j. Machine Learning: Introduction into Fit Approximations with Altair HyperStudy

4.      Altair to help KLE Tech on following: It will help the institution to move up to the next level of competency in FEM techniques.
a.       Assistance to sponsored Industry R&D projects, 
b.      Intensive Faculty Development Program (FDP) – 2 in a year, 2/3 days each
c.       Access to our Altair calendar Training to faculties – Train the Trainer program
d.      Project work to students (One batch, max 3 students per batch)

Speaking on the occasion, Pavan Kumar, Managing Director, Altair India, said, “We are honoured to be selected as the technology partner for KLE Technological University. We are sure that the partnership will result in KLE producing future ready engineers.”

Speaking on the partnership, Dr.Ashok Shettar, Vice Chancellor, KLE Technological University, Hubballi said “Collaboration with Altair will help us to expose our students to industry relevant technologies and tools making them industry-ready.”

KLE TECH is a Treasure of Knowledge. Altair to pursue in converting this knowledge to applied science useful to society. This MOU is a walk towards bigger collaboration to create win-win situation.

Fullerton India Offers Garima Loan to Promote Sanitation in Rural India

Fullerton India Credit Company Limited (Fullerton India), a leading non-banking financial company with a strong pan-India presence, has successfully booked more than 150 Garima Loans – a toilet construction loan, in the pilot phase, benefitting over 1000 lives across 35 locations in rural India. Garima Loan offered under Fullerton India’s rural business arm, Gramshakti, aims to encourage inhabitants of rural areas to lead a hygienic lifestyle and elevate their standard of living by constructing toilets.

Garima loan can be availed by a homeowner across 35 branches of Gramshakti in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. The ticket size of the loan ranges from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 50,000, which can be repaid in easy instalments within the tenure of 6 to 24 months, depending on loan amount.  Borrowers can also avail the subsidies offered under Swachh Bharat Mission while applying for the loan.

Commenting on the launch, Vishal Wadhwa, Head- Rural Business, Fullerton India Credit Company Limited, said, “A number of households in rural areas are deprived of clean and hygienic toilets, which leads to infections and other health issues. Identifying this gap, Fullerton India launched Garima Loan to enable a dignified standard of living in India’s rural hinterlands. We have witnessed a high demand for the loan pan-India with as many as 25 loans disbursed in Godhra, Gujarat in a single day. This highlights the need for such products in rural and semi-urban areas. The launch of Garima further reinstates Gramshakti’s commitment to be the one-stop player for rural credit needs.

To accelerate the efforts to achieve rural sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation, Garima loan can be availed by borrowers either to construct new toilets or to reconstruct their existing toilets. Gramshkati will soon offer this product across all its branches by engaging with rural communities in improvement of their sanitation status through an intensive awareness campaign.”

Vivo Brings 72 Hours of Special Offers this 72nd Independence Day

Vivo, the premium global smartphone brand, today announced their exciting Independence Day offers starting from 7th to 9th August (sale starts at midnight of 6th August) exclusively on its e-commerce store, shop.vivo.com/in. During Vivo’s ‘Freedom Carnival’,  customers can avail attractive discounts, coupon deals and cashback offers on select range of Vivo smartphones and accessories during the three day online sale.

Get the NEX and V9 @ INR 1947 and Accessories @ INR 72

Commemorating India’s 72 years of Independence, Vivo will be offering their latest best-sellers – NEX and V9 via flash sale for just INR 1947. Additionally, consumers will also stand a chance to purchase Vivo accessories such as earphones, and USB wires at an attractive price of INR 72 only. The flash for both the smartphones and accessories will commence at 12 noon for all three days and will last till stocks last.

Speaking on the announcement, Jerome Chen, CMO, Vivo India, said, “Vivo wanted to make the 72nd Independence Day special for all its customers. Our Freedom Carnival brings exclusive offers on our latest products and provides the freedom for everybody to celebrate and express themselves through Vivo smartphones and accessories.” 

Cash back on all credit and debit card transactions

During the three days carnival, customers get up to INR 4000 cashback on select models.  In addition, Vivo is offering 12-month zero-cost EMI scheme on all Vivo smartphones. Besides cashbacks and interest free shopping, customers will also get Bluetooth earphones worth INR 1200, free on purchase of NEX, X21 and V9.

Coupon Deals

Customers can further sweeten their purchase with the help of readily available discount coupons redeemable on select smartphones and accessories.

BSE Unveils New AI Text-Based Conversation Chatbot Ask Motabhai

To give customised information, the BSE has introduced an AI-based chatbot Ask Motabhai, which can have a text-based conversation with the user and mine the BSE website.

The chatbot has been built in partnership with Microsoft and Shephertz, a BSE statement said.

It will be convenient and faster for investors, especially small and retail, to get stock and market information.

In addition to stock prices and corporate news, the system is programmed to address market related queries on mutual funds, derivatives and initial public offerings (IPOs).

“BSE has always been at the forefront in adoption of technology based advancements, and launch of the chatbot marks yet another significant initiative in BSE’s endeavour to add to seamless customer experience. With the chatbot in place we would be able to serve our audience better and help them with quick information

without having to go through any other channel,” its MD and CEO Ashishkumar Chauhan said.

BSE makes available on its website the information on stock prices, corporate results and announcements, in real-time, of over 5,000 companies that are listed on it.

PhonePe Emerges as Leading Digital UPI Player Crossing 100 Million Transaction in July 2018

PhonePe, India’s fastest growing digital payments platform announced that it has emerged as the single largest player on the UPI network, ahead of other payment apps like Paytm and Tez. PhonePe also crossed the 100 million transaction mark in July, becoming the fastest Indian digital payments company to achieve this feat.

According to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), its UPI platform saw 236 million total transactions in July. Of these, PhonePe had the largest market share of 40 per cent.

Talking about the milestone, PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam said,”The PhonePe platform has witnessed incredible transaction volume growth over the past few months. Our growth in market share is largely fueled by two factors. One, we have added lakhs of new offline and online merchants on our platform in recent months and are seeing exponential growth in merchant transactions. Two, NPCI recently started blocking any UPI transactions where the sender and receiver bank account number are the same. This block by NPCI has effectively limited the ability of certain companies from incentivizing shell transactions and artificially inflating their UPI numbers. As a result of these two factors, our market share of UPI transactions has jumped to 40% in July.”

PhonePe has been rapidly expanding its merchant base and is now accepted as a payment option across 3 lakh offline and online merchant outlets spanning food, travel, groceries, taxi cabs and movie ticketing.

Mahindra Group’s Fresh Take on Girl Child Education with #LadkiHaathSeNikalJayegi

Mahindra Group, along with Project Nanhi Kali, aims to dispel the misconceptions around girl child education, by taking on a fresh view for the phrase with the campaign #LadkiHaathSeNikalJayegi. With the objective to demonstrate the opportunities that result from educating every girl child, this campaign will go live today across all digital channels of Mahindra Rise. A number of surround activities are planned, to spread the word and create a movement to support the cause. These activities will celebrate women who have achieved greatness by taking that crucial first step. These women will be both from outside Mahindra, as well as inspiring stories of our own Nanhi Kalis.

Commenting on the purpose and genesis of the campaign, Sheetal Mehta, Senior Vice President- CSR and Executive Director, K.C. Mahindra Education Trust, said, “With over two decades of experience in educating girls, Project Nanhi Kali has sufficient evidence that education is the only tool which enables girls to rise from a life of poverty, and go on to live a life of dignity. The objective of this campaign is to change attitudes towards girls, by giving a positive perspective to the phrase #LadkiHaathSeNikalJayegi. We hope that every Indian citizen, will not only view this film, but also help spread awareness and contribute to this worthy cause.”

“Mahindra is a socially responsible and trusted brand but with our RISE philosophy, we not only want to do good in the community, but also aim to inspire others to do good in order to drive societal change. This is the heart of Mahindra’s ‘Rise for Good’ campaigns. With the #LadkiHaathSeNikalJayegi campaign we’re turning this phrase on its head into a message of positive empowerment for girl child education and their ensuing success.” said Vivek Nayer, Chief Marketing Officer, Group Corporate Brand, Mahindra Group.

The Mahindra team conducted a detailed social media listening exercise on social issues. Not surprisingly, girl child education was among the most talked about issues online. Furthermore, focus group discussions highlighted that:

* It was a common desire among parents to be protective of the daughter. Even working mothers felt the need to restrict their daughters’ movements
* Men often self-appointed themselves as protectors of women
* Even today, there is an accepted belief that certain jobs are for women, and certain jobs aren’t

The film has been conceptualized keeping these insights in consideration. A semi-urban setting was chosen for the film to ensure relatability, given that these beliefs exist not just in rural India, but also in cities. It is through a conversation between a girl and her father that the prevalent mindset is challenged by providing a new perspective to ‘Ladki Haath Se Nikal Jaayegi’.

The film was conceived and scripted by FCB Interface. The Chief Creative Officer, from FCB Interface, Robby Mathew, said, "This film is an ode to the unsung heroes, who reject our society’s patriarchal mindset and encourage their daughters to fly. It is a celebration of a girl child’s dreams and her father’s determination to make it happen. It changes the meaning of this often-used phrase 'Ladki Hath Se Nikal Jaayegi’ and instead uses it to make a case for putting her destiny back into her own hands"

Project Nahi Kali, since 1996 has empowered over 350,000 girls, including 153,999 girls in this past year alone. This massive undertaking was made possible thanks to over 4,560 Community Associates who tutor our Nanhi Kalis for 2 hours every day, 6 days a week through the year, working across 5,262 Academic Support Centres in remote, tribal and rural pockets, as well as urban slums in 11 states of India. The objective of the campaign is to increase awareness and encourage more and more people to join the movement.

Jet Airways Commences Bengaluru and Guwahati Flight Operations

Jet Airways is India’s premier international airline, currently operates flights to 66 destinations, including India and overseas. Jet Airways’ robust domestic India network spans the length and breadth of the country covering metro cities, state capitals and emerging destinations.

Beyond India, Jet Airways operates flights to key international destinations in South East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Europe and North America. The Jet Airways Group currently operates a fleet of 120 aircraft, comprising Boeing 777-300 ERs, Airbus A330-200/300, Next Generation Boeing 737s and ATR 72-500/600s.

Worldwide IaaS Public Cloud Services Market Grew 29.5% in 2017

The worldwide infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market grew 29.5 percent in 2017 to total $23.5 billion, up from $18.2 billion in 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. Amazon was the No. 1 vendor in the IaaS market in 2017, followed by Microsoft, Alibaba, Google and IBM.

"The top four providers have strong IaaS offerings and saw healthy growth as IaaS adoption is being fully embraced by mainstream organizations and as cloud availability expands into new regions and countries," said Sid Nag, research director at Gartner. "Cloud-directed IT spending now constitutes more than 20 percent of the total IT budget for organizations using cloud. Many of these organizations are now using cloud to support production environments and business-critical operations."

In the IaaS market, the competitive landscape is consolidating around the leaders. The top four providers — Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba and Google — are all hyperscale IaaS providers and represent approximately 73 percent of the total IaaS market and 47 percent of the combined IaaS and infrastructure utility services (IUS) market.

Amazon is the clear leader in the worldwide IaaS market with an estimated $12.2 billion revenue in 2017, up 25 percent from 2016. The largest of the IaaS providers, Amazon is also the most mature, enterprise-ready provider, with the strongest track record of customer success and the most useful partner ecosystem. Growth in 2017 was driven not only by customers that are migrating from traditional data centers to cloud IaaS, but also by customers implementing transformational digital business projects, reflecting its broad range of use cases.

Microsoft secured the No. 2 position in the IaaS market with growth of more than 98 percent on its IaaS offering, with revenue surpassing $3.1 billion in 2017. Microsoft delivers its IaaS capabilities through its Microsoft Azure offering, which is a collection of infrastructure and platform services.

In the third spot, Alibaba's 2017 growth of 63 percent reflects the company's successful investment in research and development (R&D). Alibaba has the financial capability to continue this trend and invest in global expansion, giving the company potential to become over time an alternative to the global hyperscale cloud providers in select regions.

"This reflects a fundamental change in what and how organizations are consuming technology. Some legacy infrastructure offerings, such as IUS, are seeing lower and slower uptake that impacts the combined IaaS and IUS market," Nag said. "Additionally, a groundswell of demand for cloud-skilled personnel is forcing technology providers to change how they compete to meet this exploding demand."

Canon India’s Cinema and Pro DV Project ‘Future Broadcasting’ Hosts its 9th Edition in Bengaluru

Inaugurating the ninth edition of Canon India’s extensive Cinema and Pro DV project ‘Future Broadcasting’, Bengaluru is all set to welcome the future of cinema trends. The project accomplished in collaboration with leading industry experts, including Avid/Real Image (a division of Qube Cinema Technologies), LiveU, G-Technology from Western Digital and Atomos, witnessed a series of workshops and events, designed to give hands on experience on products like Cinema EOS C200, Cinema EOS C300 Mark II and XA 15 & XF 405 along with ME20F-SH(Multi-purpose camera). With a firm focus on its objectives, the project got industry experts to demonstrate the workflow of these superlative solutions, confirming that these solutions will lead the forthcoming trends in the Cinema and PRO DV segment.   

The first leg of the workshop was organized in Guwahati and Imphal respectively in January 2018. The subsequent events were planned in Bhubaneshwar on February 19, followed by Kolkata on February 21st and Jaipur on March 18th.  Following the success of the project in National Capital on 27th of April, Hyderabad on the 30th of May and Chennai on 1st June , the project now ventures into Bengaluru and will be followed by Kochi. 

Commenting on the growing trend and demand for better solutions in Cinema and PRO DV segment, Mr. Eddie Udagawa, Vice President, Consumer Imaging and Information Centre, Canon India, said, “We are elated to bring our trailblazing project ‘Future Broadcasting’ to Bengaluru, an endeavor towards expanding our portfolio and tap the mainstream cinema business all over India, including eminent, producers, broadcasters and renowned documentary film makers. In line with our commitment towards, ‘offering the best of imaging experience’, we have also partnered with leading industry players, who further confirm the status quo of our cinema solutions in the near future. With fiuture broadcasting, we have been able to take our leading-edge solutions in Cinema and Pro DV segment to every corner of the country. Being a city filled with diversity and  rich heritage, Bengaluru becomes a great spot for Future Broadcasting.” 

Talking about their partnership with Canon, Sathish Kumar.P, General Manager of Real Image (a division of Qube Cinema Technologies), said, “Future Broadcasting has been a perfect platform for us to showcase an overview of the Avid Media Composer editing application and Avid Newsroom workflows, Avid Storage, Asset Management, Cloud based and Social Media Workflows. We will also showcase Media Composer | First. The free-to-use Media Composer | First provides users with a comprehensive yet simple editing toolset with many of the same features and functionality that award-winning Media Composer  editors rely on, in a new powerful, streamlined interface.” 

Talking about the evolution of video transmission units and its association with Canon, Yaal Eshel, VP Sales, LiveU said, “We’re glad to partner with Canon and Avid to present our latest solutions, including the LU600 HEVC, offering unmatched quality and reliability for newsgathering, sports and any other live video productions Ever since the invention of cellular bonding in 2006, and the launch of LiveU’s portable live video transmission units, it has replaced the SNG trucks, offering better mobility and cost-effectiveness for global newsgathering. We will also demonstrate LiveU Solo, our cost-effective plug-and-play device bringing broadcast-quality live streaming to the online market.” 

Another integral partner for the ninth edition of Future Broadcasting is Atomos, an Australia based organisation, making high quality camera monitors and recorders. Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Dilip Kathuria, CEO, Atomos, said, “We are delighted to associate with Canon and exhibiting our CDM Technologies and Solutions (CDMTS) at ‘Future broadcasting’. The idea behind this association is to not only showcase the future of cinema technology, but also the associated technologies required to sustain the production. We will also demonstrate LiveU Solo, our cost-effective plug-and-play device bringing broadcast-quality live streaming to the online market.” 

Commenting on the importance of storage, Khalid Wani – Director – Channel Sales, India, Western Digital, said, “With an aim to empower professionals to capture their dreams, enhance their storytelling, and bring to life their moments of inspired creativity,we enable content creators to capture and tell their stories. Future Broadcasting is an ideal opportunity for us encompassing everything that has to do with cinema and filming and storage is an important part of the whole process.” 

Mixed Bag for Indian Automobile Companies During July Car Sales

Carmakers in India expressed a mixed bag of reactions towards sales in July. While a majority of manufacturers posted robust sales figures for the month, a few - including market leader Maruti Suzuki, surprisingly clocked a decline in car sales.

Maruti Suzuki India reported a marginal decline in sales at 1,64,369 units in July. The company had sold 1,65,346 units in July last year.

Domestic sales were up marginally at 1,54,150 units last month, against 1,54,001 units in the year ago month. However, exports in July were down by 9.9% at 10,219 units, against 11,345 units in the corresponding month last year.

In comparison, the country’s second largest carmaker Hyundai Motor India reported a 7.7% increase in total sales at 59,590 units in July. The company had sold 55,315 units in July last year. Domestic sales rose 1.1% to 43,481 units last month, compared with 43,007 units in July 2017, while exports grew 31% in July to 16,109 units, against 12,308 units in the year-ago month.

Homegrown Tata Motors recorded a strong growth of 21% in July, with its sales in the domestic market growing by 21% at 51,896 units, compared to 42,775 units over the previous year. 

Toyota Kirloskar Motor sold a total of 13,677 units in the domestic market during July 2018. The company has been able to register a double-digit growth of 36% in June-July 2018, compared to the same period in 2017.

Mahindra and Mahindra reported 13% increase in total sales at 47,199 units in July, having sold 41,819 units in the same month of the previous year.

Source: Agencies

Drive Enterprise-Wide Digitization with Newgen OmniScan Web 3.0

Newgen Software, a provider of Business Process Management (BPM), Enterprise Content Management (ECM), and Customer Communication Management (CCM) platforms, today released OmniScan Web 3.0. The new version of the scanning solution offers advanced document scanning capabilities, which helps businesses fast-track processes by capturing data and converting it into actionable business information.

OmniScan Web 3.0 enables users to use web browsers to capture information and documents directly into business systems and processes. Leveraging the new version, organizations can ensure high-quality data output, reduced operating costs, better resource optimization and improved information security.

"This version offers enhanced user experience and will help organizations drive enterprise-wide digitization with access to the relevant information for business use." said Diwakar Nigam, Chairman and Managing Director, Newgen Software.

Key features include:

·  Enriched User Experience - Offers users flexibility to customize the language of the application and create templates in their preferred language. The solution supports various Unicode Languages such as Arabic, Latin, Greek and others
·   Improved Quality of Images - Enhances image quality through adaptive binarization while scanning documents such as passports, licenses and others
·   Easy to Configure Templates - Maintains consistency and saves time by allowing users to extract information such as Data class, Form fields, Document Types and Folder from OmniDocs document repository
·   Better Information Access - Helps in record identification by extracting barcode values and associating them with the index fields
·  Faster Document Processing - Enables users to process unstructured documents quickly with automated document separation
·   Easy Installation - Facilitates remote installation with MSI setup

HSIL Launches Hindware Calisto Water Purifier in an Exclusive Strategic Alliance with Flipkart

HSIL Limited, makers of the iconic sanitayware brand Hindware, today announced their strategic alliance with e-commerce major Flipkart, to launch their latest brand of home appliances - Hindware Calisto. As part of this exclusive tie up, Hindware Calisto water purifier will be the first product to debut under the new brand. The product will offer an amalgamation of latest technology and stylishly designed products to the discerning Flipkart customers.

Priced at INR 14,990, Hindware Calisto water purifier for a limited period will be available to consumers at a special offer price of Rs. 8,199. Hindware Calisto water purifier will be a Best in Class RO+UV+UF water purifier present in the Indian market. Its six stage water purification technology is capable of removing all kinds of impurities. The model is equipped with features such as 7 litre storage tank, TDS removal up to 1800 PPM, indicators for tank full, purification and power, world class components, amongst others. Going forward, the brand will also be introducing other new product categories under Hindware Calisto. 

Speaking at this partnership, Rakesh Kaul, President, Consumer Products Division, HSIL Limited said, “At Hindware, customer centric innovation lies at the core of our brand promise and this product pivots around this very approach. We are extremely excited to launch it exclusively in partnership with Flipkart. It is a natural progression to our business, owing to the boom in the e-commerce industry. Furthermore, Flipkart’s understanding of the landscape, wide reach and quest for excellency in terms of customer experience, makes this partnership an enhancement of a relationship founded on similar values.” 

Sandeep Karwa, Head of Large Appliances, Flipkart, commented on the launch, “Over the last few years, customers have shown a great appetite for improved technological products, owing to ever rising health concerns relating to water consumption. This is further validated by the growth of this segment which is in the range of 300% in the last one year. Building on our selection, we are happy to partner with Hindware to launch Calisto, their latest range of water purifiers that is a combination of latest technology a 6 step purification procedure along with great pricing, making it an easy purchase. We are positive this will be well received by consumers who are looking for a smart and an affordable product.”

The product will be exclusively sold on Flipkart India from August1, 2018. Hindware has a strong and robust After Sales Service network spread across 800+ cities in India.  

India Enterprises Eliminate IT Waste with Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS

Nutanix, a leader in enterprise cloud computing, has announced the rapid uptake of its native hypervisor, AHV, among India customers who aim to improve efficiency and eliminate virtualization costs on licensing, maintenance and support.

India’s AHV adoption rate increased over fifty percent in the company’s third quarter of fiscal 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Moreover, in its third fiscal quarter of 2018, 83 percent of all Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS nodes sold to customers in India leveraged AHV as their hypervisor, many of whom utilize it for virtualized enterprise workloads including SAP, Oracle and Microsoft. There is a clear shift from the traditional purchase model when customers used to purchase separate licenses from legacy vendors.

“The biggest benefit we experience with Nutanix AHV is simplicity. Nutanix has made the hypervisor invisible – which is how it should be; and this has helped reduce our IT admin efforts by over 40 percent. We have adopted AHV for running enterprise and big data workloads and find great value in Nutanix’s ability to reduce complexity that used to plague the traditional data centre,” said Rahi Racharla, CIO of The Multi Commodity Exchange of India Limited (MCX).

“The extremely high adoption of AHV in India demonstrates that virtualization is still an under-penetrated market, and by making hypervisors invisible, Nutanix is growing the surface area of the Enterprise Cloud.  Customers want to lower their total cost of ownership and also find strong value in reducing the number of separate IT silos,” said Sunil Mahale, VP and MD of Nutanix India. “Many of our customers have started called AHV its ‘Apna’ hypervisor, which means ‘my choice of hypervisor’ in Hindi. Leaders across industry verticals including finance, telecom, airlines and automotive have already seen the benefits of our Enterprise Cloud OS software.”

By including AHV with the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud OS software stack at no additional cost, Nutanix helps customers across the globe and in India reduce cost and make infrastructure invisible while enhancing the visibility and functionality to their data centres. Customers leveraging AHV can eliminate the need to purchase separate virtualization technology, significantly reducing costs and eliminating the need to manage multiple licenses.

With AHV, hyperconverged infrastructure management, capacity planning, performance monitoring and common tasks such as deploying, cloning and protecting virtual machines are centrally managed through a single comprehensive application, Nutanix Prism, rather than utilizing disparate products and policies in a piecemeal strategy.

Talentedge, Edtech Firm Saw Increase Demand in Traditional Courses

Talentedge, India’s first Ed-Tech firm, leading in live and interactive learning for working professionals, have recently conducted a survey on their various courses. It was observed that an increasing number of professionals are opting for Human Resource (HR) learning programs. Enquiries generated for HR & Talent Management courses are at par to programs like Digital Marketing, Data Analytics and Big Data.

The role of HR has changed due to digitalization. Until recently, HR systems were following periodic cycles, whereas now review and feedback is possible in real-time through interactive software and cloud based applications. These days there’s a requirement of a new breed of HR professional that possess the skills to transform the work environment to a more digitally organized system.

Aditya Malik, CEO, Talentedge said, “A growing trend in the last few years has been observed; an increasing number of working professionals opting for online courses, with an aim to acquire new skills and competencies to remain relevant especially in the human resource management. The overall business landscape has led to changing role of HR in a firm. HR today has to give more strategic inputs in business with focusing talent acquisition, talent development and productivity. We have proudly partnered with XLRI and SHRM to provide these courses.”

Basis an observation made for online course trends in India it came to light that students enrolled in HR certificate courses from Southern India saw an increase of more than 50% this year as compared to last. Additionally, post-graduates opting for talent management courses have seen a year on year growth of 20%. A recent demand of skill development in a working professional even after 20 years of experience has generated the need for them to pursue flexible online courses. Undergraduates are seen opting for generic high value HR courses in lieu of an MBA.  Thus, coupling the preferences of UG’s with 20+ years of experience and recent UG’s for generic HR courses leads to a further increase in this category.

Toyota Technical Training Institute Celebrates Graduation of its World-Class Skill Talents

Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI), an institute designed to train bright talents from the rural corners of Karnataka, today celebrated its 9th convocation ceremony and conferred academic degrees to 52 students from the outgoing batch of 2015-2018 [3 years TTTI course]. The academic honors were handed over by the Chief Guest Dr. K P Krishnan, Secretary – Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India along with Mr T. Kitagawa, Consul General of Japan, Bangalore and senior management representatives from Toyota Kirloskar Motor – Akito Tachibana – Managing Director, Shekar Viswanathan, Vice Chairman and Whole-time Director and Sailesh Shetty - Vice President, while proud parents, friends and relatives watched from the sea of audience members who turned out for the event.

Considering the changing regulations from Safety - Fuel Efficiency [CAFÉ] - Emission norms, there is a continuous need for improvement in vehicle technologies. Therefore, there is tremendous need for highly trained manpower with right skill sets who understand the modern technology and its advancements, which stresses the need for quality training facilities to impart specialized skills. Corporate are working tirelessly to bridge the widening gap between the availability of skilled manpower and industry requirements, for an accelerated economic growth and steering towards greater industrial transformations.

With a focus to bridge this gap that the industry is grappling with dearth of entry-level talent, TTTI imparts world-class skills training to young talents of economically weaker sections of the society in rural Karnataka and provides a dedicated three-year program that focuses on the holistic development of Knowledge, Skill, Body and Attitude. With a structure that ensures the highest standard of education, the curriculum offers a unique blend of complete learning experience, along with basic subjects, recreational activities and comprehensive training on automobile assembly, automobile paint, automobile weld and mechatronics. In addition, students are given practical training by applying the world renowned ‘Toyota Production Systems’ to the various manufacturing processes at the Toyota plant in Bidadi. Since establishment, the institute has trained over 531 students who have been inducted on job at Toyota Kirloskar Motor & other Toyota Group companies with 100% placements.

Appreciating Toyota’s foresightedness in making the industry tomorrow ready, Dr. K. P. Krishnan – Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship – Government of India, said, “Our nation have extraordinarily talented youngsters, who must be nurtured and provided with the best possible opportunities to excel in the competitive society. We need more corporates like Toyota to support government’s Skill India initiative to create opportunities, space and scope for the development of the talent of the Indian youth. I would like to applaud the efforts of the faculty and staff of Toyota Technical Training Institute towards enhancing employability of the rural youth and congratulate all the outgoing students a bright future and a successful career”.

Handing over the degrees to the graduated students, Akito Tachibana, Managing Director - Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “Toyota strongly believes that we have greater role in India than just manufacturing and selling safest and environment friendly cars.  It goes beyond the core of our business to build a talent pool that can create a sustainable business environment. Toyota Technical Training Institute has been a significant arm of Toyota for more than a decade. Our aim here is to develop world-class workforce through a structured curriculum which not only enhances the students’ knowledge & core skill talents, but also focuses to train on the overall individual development with right attitude, work ethics and principles making them better citizens of the country. It is indeed a proud moment for all of us with TTTI graduates exceling in their skill sets to meet the industry standards and being globally competitive.

I am confident that TTTI graduated students will bring out their passion at work, be the best in the industry and explore more possibility to be even better with the imparted skill sets, contributing to the development of India in future, he added.”

Established in the year 2007 as a part of Toyota’s social initiatives, the first batch of students from TTTI received their academic degrees in 2010 in the gracious presence of Dr. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India. The institute is a fully residential school. The objective of TTTI is to develop good corporate citizens equipped with Toyota specific methodologies and create learning opportunities for the deserving individuals.

The students during the course also get an opportunity to participate in the National Skill Competition & World Skill Competition (Skill Olympics) in 3 categories namely - Mechatronics, Car Painting, Prototype Modelling. The TTTI batch of 2011 secured 4th position in World Skill Competition 2015 held at Sao Paulo, Brazil & won “Medallion of Excellence”. At last year’s 44th World Skills Competition held at Abu Dhabi, Mr. Kiran, employee of Toyota Kirloskar Motor won the bronze medal in the Prototype Modelling Skill, Mr. H Varun and Mr. T A Anand Kumar who are also alumni of TTTI and employees of TKM, ranked sixth in the Mechatronics Skill category & won “Medallion of Excellence”.

Over the years, TKM has undertaken holistic skill initiatives for the development of skilled manpower that ensures a secure and steady flow of qualified human resources not only for the community but also for the industry as a whole. Toyota’s vision to create a learning organization by developing competitive human resources among all stakeholders and they contributing towards the business sustainability. Besides TTTI, Toyota have curated some dedicated initiatives such as Toyota Apprentice Scheme [Training for Apprentice], Gurukul [In-house training for its employees], Toyota Technical Educational Program [Skill program for the students of Industrial & Technical Training Institutes] and many other skill initiatives to nurture a contingent workforce for the industry as a whole.

As a long term plan of associating with Academia, Toyota aims to collaborate with the academic council to add Toyota unique traits in the study curriculum. Toyota also focuses to mentor students through Toyota Engineers to develop future ready skilled manpower covering wider spectrum of human resources with world-class competitive skill levels.

As a responsible corporate, Toyota will continue the efforts to effectively contribute to skill enhancement of the budding workforce, in support of the common goal of SKILL INDIA MISSION. Through its robust skill development curriculum, Toyota focuses to build a strong work force for the industry as a whole.

AON Soccer Tournament for India's NGO Child Rights and You in B'luru

Child Rights and You (CRY) one of India’s leading NGO’s working on child rights will be organizing a tournament - AON Soccer for Child Rights on August 04, 2018 at the FIFA approved FSV Arena at Hennur – Bagalur Road, Bangalore. The event aims to provide children from the marginalized sector of the society the right exposure to life through the medium of sports.

The 3rd edition of the event would see 30 teams coming together which includes 6 women’s team. Out of the 30 participating teams, 2 teams would be from the Vysarpadi Children Empowerment Project (one men’s and one women’s team)

This one of a kind event where corporate teams come together with the marginalized sector of the society to uphold child rights using soccer as the language of change. Sport breaks boundaries and it motivates the underprivileged children to continue education.

Buy your passes at Events High to see a spectacular game of soccer while ensuring lasting change for children!

Mayank Saksena Quits JLL, Joins ANAROCK as MD - Land & Head of South India

India’s leading real estate services provider ANAROCK Property Consultants have announced that industry veteran Mayank Saksena has joined the Firm as Managing Director - Land & Head - South India Residential Services.

Prior to this appointment, Mayank Saksena was Managing Director of Land Services international property consultants JLL India, where he was also part of the India Leadership Council (ILC). During his tenure of over a decade there, he closed several high-ticket land deals and acquisition mandates. These include some of the largest land transactions on record across large cities in the country.

In his career spanning over 16 years, he has crafted transactions and acquisitions on behalf of prominent real estate developers, corporates and Government agencies. He is an acknowledged expert on land-related transactions knowledge leader for Pan India real estate markets.

Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “This is a critical appointment and the next step in ANAROCK’S evolution as India’s foremost full-deck real estate services provider. Mayank brings a robust developer-focused growth framework for land transactions to the table. He will also play a leading role in building our residential vertical in South India. With his strong developer relationships across segments and geographies, Mayank has an excellent understanding of various business models and market dynamics across the real estate domain.”

Mayank Saksena is forthright about his enthusiasm in joining ANAROCK. “Having worked with Anuj Puri and Santhosh Kumar over several years, I am coming home into a very familiar business environment led by India’s most accomplished real estate experts," he says. "Land is the foundation of the real estate life-cycle, and I am excited to bring my experience in this critical vertical to help build the fastest-growing real estate company in the business. We already have several high-level mandates lined up. Moreover, South India is a major residential growth area for ANAROCK.”

At this point in time, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai still have unsold housing inventory of  85,000, 27,500 and 28,500 units respectively.

“When compared to Q2 2017, unsold inventory has declined by 24% in Bengaluru, 11% in Hyderabad and 10% in Chennai. This implies that the South Indian markets are improving and that the time is right to leverage the resurging demand,” says Saksena. “With ANAROCK’s proven abilities to unfetter pent-up inventory and its already strong presence in the South, we will now explore this market’s potential to the fullest.”

Mayank Saksena will be based out of ANAROCK’s Bangalore office and his role begins with immediate effect.