Fanzart Launches Ultra-Luxurious Champagne Gold-Plated Fandelier

Fanzart, India’s foremost creators of luxury fans launched their ultra-luxurious Champagne Gold Fandelier (fan and chandelier) with their patented high vortex blades and pure gold plating, at a press conference here today. 

Speaking on the launch of the Champagne Gold Fandelier, Anil Lala, Founder and Managing Director, Fanzart said, “The Champagne Gold fan is an exclusive fandelier for the discerning few. Spending more time at home is the new norm considering the ongoing situation in the world. Comfort coupled with good looks is expected of functional décor elements such as fandeliers. The Champagne Gold Fandelier offers silent, yet efficient cooling with its patented vortex blades that displace 8000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air and comes with a Brushless DC Motor (BLDC motor). Our unique summer-winter feature makes this an ideal option for dining rooms and during winters when air circulation is a priority over cooling. The fan uses only 22 watts of electricity, making it power-efficient as well”. 

Perfect match for several interior mood boards:

This 3-blade, remote controlled fan, comes with a light kit, offering multiple illumination options. The regal champagne gold colour makes it a perfect match for several interior mood boards - Neo-Classic, Eclectic, Hollywood Glam, Victorian and Bohemian among others. The fandelier also comes with Fanzart’s unique summer-winter feature – that combines clockwise and anti-clockwise movements to provide a cool breeze and cosy warm air effect. This makes the fan ideal for placement above dining tables. It can also be placed in living rooms, drawing rooms, family areas, walk-in wardrobes, and other spaces.

Speaking on the design of the Champagne Gold Fandelier, Tarun Lala, Executive Director, Fanzart said, “Besides seamless functioning, we have placed intense focus on the looks of the fandelier. The Champagne Gold colour makes it an easy match to most interior design themes and colour palettes. The gold plating gives it a chic and luxurious touch. The lighting strips offer LEDs in warm light, daylight, and white light options to match the user’s needs. All three options come with a dimmer option. This functional décor elements fits perfectly in most interior design schemes”. 

Fanzart’s Champagne Gold Fandelier is priced at Rs 1.50 lakh and will be available at https://www.fanzartfans.com  and  78 showrooms all of fanzarts across India. 

Technical Details

-          Chandelier fan (non-crystal)

-          Patented Vortex Blades - 8000 CFM.

-          Bright LED strip - with 3 colours of LED – Warm light, Day light, White light with dimmer. 

-          Powered by Brushless DC motor (BLDC motor). Absorbs only 22 watts of power.

-          High-quality remote control for convenience.

-          Blade Material – 3 blades, 5D Vortex ABS

-          Blade Mechanism - Regular

-          Blade Size - 22 inches

-          Sweep - 558 mm / 22 in

-          Motor Spec - 153 x 12 mm DC

-          Height of Fan: 559 mm / 22 in

-          Additional features: Summer Winter Feature

About Fanzart

In the 8 years of its entry into the market, Fanzart has risen to prominence as a pioneer and leader in the luxury designer fans segment. With 78 showrooms across the country, Fanzart is a name to reckon with in the luxury interior segment with its niche offerings. The products are also shipped internationally and have made a mark for themselves.

Rohit Sharma Joins Team Financepeer to Impact Lives Via Education

* New partnership to help strengthen the reach and presence of Financepeer among Indian Schools and Parents

Financepeer- Google incubated Education fee financing Company has collaborated with Rohit Sharma as its brand ambassador. The ace batsman will be helping to transform the education sector and introduce innovation across different segments of education with Financepeer. This new partnership will help bolster the reach of Financepeer - edtech and fintech platform, among the Indian parents and schools.

There has been a significant increase in number of parents depending on school fee financing models this year. Established in 2017, Financepeer has impacted a million lives with their business model that ensures access to education and seamless operations of schools. Apart from fee financing solution, Financepeer offers insurance cover and digital learning platform, thus catering to holistic education needs of parents and students.

Rohit Sharma said, “I am pleased to be associated with Financepeer. I believe they have an interesting business model catering to the most important sector - education.”

“As a parent, I do understand the value associated with your child’s future and I’m glad that Financepeer has been assisting a number of parents through their venture. I look forward to my collaboration with them as they continue to help students secure holistic education,” added Rohit, who is exclusively handled by IMG-Reliance’s talent management arm.

Welcoming Sharma onboard, founder and CEO of Financepeer, Mr Rohit Gajbhiye said, “We are extremely happy and honoured to collaborate with Rohit Sharma. Our brand is represented by our core values – Transparency, Integrity, Accountability and Commitment to society. We strive at creating a positive impact in the education sector and Rohit Sharma’s contributions in the education sector over the years has truly exemplified all the attributes that our brands stands for.”

Financepeer is a leader in Education Fee financing segment in India that aims at making quality education accessible and affordable to the masses. With its continuous innovation in services and digital technologies, the edtech company has provided holistic education to almost 1 million students across the country. As a part of this collaboration, apart from being the face of the brand, Sharma will also participate in digital activities of Financepeer. The partnership with Reliance IMG and Financepeer is XXXXX (details of partnership, visibility of Rohit Sharma on Financepeer app or website or TVC).

About Financepeer

Financepeer is a Forbes acclaimed and Google incubated School fee financing company for-profit Impact Creation venture. Established in 2017, the Company is headquartered in Mumbai has its presence in more than 50 cites of India and has collaborated with 2,000 schools across boards. Till now, Financepeer has provided access to education to more than 9 lakh plus students.

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Completes Merger of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance with Itself

HDFC ERGO General Insurance (HDFC ERGO), India’s third-largest general insurance company in the private sector, announces the completion of the merger of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance (formerly known as Apollo Munich Health Insurance) with HDFC ERGO. Pursuant to approval of the merger by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the receipt of final approval from IRDAI, the merger was given effect to on November 13, 2020. The merged entity is HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd. said, “The merger of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance with HDFC ERGO General Insurance is a moment of pride for us. This marks the second successful merger in India’s general insurance sector, following the merger of L&T General Insurance and HDFC ERGO in 2017. It makes HDFC ERGO the one-stop-shop for all our general and health insurance offerings. Health insurance is expected to be one of the growth drivers for the general insurance industry, and with this merger, we are now a dominant player within the health insurance industry.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Oliver Willmes, COO ERGO International & Director, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd. said, “The merger provides us with the opportunity to grow by increasing our footprint and distribution network, in line with our strategic objective to be amongst the top private insurers in our core markets. We fully believe in the HDFC ERGO management, which has done a great job putting tremendous effort into the merger of the two companies. We expect significant synergy potential based on our mature business practices such as high degree of automation and scale, leading to cost efficiencies and better operating ratios.”

Mr. Ritesh Kumar, MD & CEO, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd. said, “We welcome the policyholders and channel partners of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance into our family and assure them of a seamless transition and enhanced customer experience with the combined expertise of both the entities. We also welcome the employees of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance into our family. Further, our existing policyholders and channel partners will now be able to access the wider product suite of the merged entity and the health insurance expertise and products of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance.”

Mr. Anuj Tyagi, MD & CEO, HDFC ERGO Health Insurance Ltd. said, “The merger of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance with HDFC ERGO culminates about 10 months of efforts to integrate both the entities. We would like to assure our policyholders of continuity of benefits, access to wider product suite and access to digital capabilities of HDFC ERGO. Our channel partners will now have access to the combined health insurance product suite of the merged entity.”

The merger makes HDFC ERGO the second largest private insurer in the Accident & Health Insurance business, expanding its product suite to 50+ products in this segment. In FY2019-20, the merged entity had an overall market share of 6.2% and an about 8% market share in the Accident & Health Insurance segment. The policyholders will continue to have access to the cashless network of 10,000+ hospitals. They will also benefit from the enhanced reach of HDFC ERGO, which is now present in 203 physical offices across 170 cities and another 250+ digital offices across the country.

About HDFC ERGO:

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd. is a 51:49 joint venture between the Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC); India’s premier Housing Finance Institution and ERGO Group AG; the primary insurance entity of the Munich Re Group of Germany. HDFC ERGO, the third largest General Insurance provider in the private sector, offers the complete range of general insurance products including Motor, Health, Home, Agriculture, Travel, Credit, Cyber and Personal Accident in the retail space and Property, Marine, Engineering, Marine Cargo, Group Health and Liability Insurance in the corporate space.

Over the last few years, HDFC ERGO has constantly endeavoured to not just align itself to the evolving market needs, but instead be a pioneer in terms of its offerings. Having its ears to the ground has helped the Company create a stream of highly targeted new products and AI-based tools and technology. Be it unique insurance products, integrated customer service models, top-in-class claim process or a host of technologically innovative solutions, the Company has been able to delight its customers at every touch-point and every milestone.

With a wide distribution network and a 24x7 support team, the Company has been offering seamless customer service and innovative products to its customers. Please log on to www.hdfcergo.com for more information on HDFC ERGO and the products and services offered by the company.

This Children's Day Gift Your Child A Secure Future Across India

Children’s Day is celebrated across India on 14th November on the birthday of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. This year we have double celebrations, Diwali and Children’s day, on this Day.  The best gift ever for a child is the financial planning at an early age. Right from the beginning, a parent must focus on understanding a child’s needs with respect to their higher education cost as well as college fees and other expenses. As the child starts having dreams and aspirations, parents too along with their children must explore, identify and pursue the best available options to aid and nurture their dreams for a safe, sound and accomplished future. This process can also include involving and educating their ward about the secure routes and options for their future journey.

Investment for children has always been a challenge for parents because in this task they need to prepare today for a better tomorrow. And parents today are more aware of the opportunities and means at their disposal to re-write the traditional methods of parenting. Ms. Anjali Malhotra, Chief Customer, Marketing, Digital and IT Officer, Aviva Life Insurance suggests few ways to secure and invest for child’s future.

Start planning early

While millennial parents today are resourceful and have a lot of readily available information, yet, most of them continue to be poor financial planners with majority of them having little or no financial planning about their child’s higher education. Due to this, often, they do not have enough saving and end up going in debt paying for their child’s higher education. Hence, it becomes imperative, in today’s time to start planning finances early to ensure that, neither the parents nor their child face any obstacle in their path to realize their dream.

Educate your child and ensure holistic development

Parents are considered the first teachers of their children. However, apart from teaching children the difference between right and wrong, parents must take a step ahead and do more to ensure a secure financial future for their children. For example, parents can have regular financial conversations with their children. This Children's Day can be a good opportunity for parents to start giving investment lessons to their children. While in early childhood, parents can talk about simple things like income, spending and saving, later parents can include important lessons about banks, fixed deposits, savings bank accounts and recurring deposits as well as various government schemes as well as the importance of having a good insurance plan to secure their financial future.

Know your child’s interest and talent

Millennials are the driving force of our nation, rising beyond conventional opportunities and treading the lesser travelled career-paths. Today, opportunities have diversified and there are so many more career and growth options available that what was available earlier. But to ensure a child’s happiness and success, it is imperative for the parents to identify their child’s inherent talent and then to hone it accordingly. In order to know their dreams, talents and aspirations, parents should explore structured aptitude assessments that include expert guidance and can be used to understand the cognitive skills and capabilities of their kids. Aviva Kid-O-Scope is one-of-a-kind online platform that helps parents identify their child’s inherent talent at an early age. Today’s millennial parents want nothing but the best for their children and this is just the kind of tool that can help them ensure a bright future for their children. The education cost calculator that comes with this platform also helps parents plan their finances for their child’s higher education.

Invest in Child Insurance plans

This Children’s Day do something that remains with your child forever. Gift your child an insurance plan which not only helps build a secure fund for her education but also safeguards her dream career. The earlier you secure a child insurance plan, the bigger the amount of funds you can save to ensure the protection of the child’s future, if life takes a sudden turn. Most plans offer convenient premium terms to individuals. Therefore, you can mostly choose from monthly, half-yearly, or annual payments. These insurance plans also have tax benefits associated with them. This makes a child insurance plan not just a form of saving and planning, but also one for investment purpose.

In conclusion, it is best if you prepare for your child’s future as much as you take care of their present. One should have a contingency plan in place beforehand to ensure that your child has a happy and prosperous life. 

Bayer Sets Up New Insecticide Manufacturing Plant in Vapi, Gujarat

* New plant in Vapi will produce Ethiprole, an active ingredient used in insecticides for crop protection

* Will meet domestic demand in India and export to global markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America

* Set up with an investment of € 24 million, the plant’s annual production capacity is 1,500 metric tons

Bayer has inaugurated a new plant at its Vapi site in Gujarat. The plant will manufacture Ethiprole, an active ingredient used in insecticides for crop protection products. Set up with an investment of € 24 million (₹200 crores), the plant’s annual production capacity is 1,500 metric tons. It will cater to domestic demand in India and export to global markets across Asia Pacific and Latin America.

The Vapi site is an integral part of Bayer’s commitment towards the Government’s vision of ‘Make in India’ that aims to promote job creation and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure, ensuring sustained growth of the Indian economy. Inaugurated in 1994, the Vapi site employs 1,200 full time employees and is Bayer’s largest global synthetic pyrethroids production facility, with nearly 80% of the production exported to USA, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan and Australia. Spread over 85 acres, the Vapi site manufactures 11 active ingredients and 11 intermediates for use in crop protection, animal health and home & garden applications.

“The agriculture sector is currently the largest end-user of Ethiprole, which is emerging as one of the best insecticides for a variety of crops. With our new insecticide plant, we will fulfill domestic needs for Indian agriculture and also export to global agricultural markets. India is one of Bayer’s key growth markets in Crop Science and with this strategic investment, we aim to further enhance our global competitiveness in agrochemical manufacturing and supply chain,” said Narendra Shah, Director, Bayer Vapi Private Limited.

“The new plant at Vapi will expand Bayer’s global production volumes for Ethiprole and enable us to introduce innovative products to help growers secure their yields and grow healthier, high-quality crops,” said Dr. Udo Schneider, Head of AI Manufacturing Product Supply, Crop Science at Bayer AG.

Ethiprole-based insecticides have been in use since 1994. In 2010, Bayer expanded its portfolio of Ethiprole insecticides to include broad acre crops such as sugarcane, soybean, corn and cotton. In rice, they are used extensively for control of three major insect pests – hoppers, weevils and stinkbugs.

Ethiprole can not only eliminate insect pests from standing food crops in the field, it can also extend the shelf life of crops such as peanuts, citrus fruits, wheat and corn during storage. Ethiprole’s mode of action involves a rapid breakdown of the insect’s central nervous system, thus preventing damage to crops and minimizing the spread of diseases from insect carriers.

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2019, the Group employed around 104,000 people and had sales of € 43.5 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to € 2.9 billion and R&D expenses to € 5.3 billion.

Trane Introduces New Suite of Solutions in India to Reduce Virus and Bacterial Spread in Buildings

Trane®, a brand of global climate innovator Trane Technologies, and a leader in HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning), announces it has launched a new suite of air cleaning solutions in India. The solutions apply advanced technologies to help reduce pathogens and other contaminants in indoor environments, including particles, gases and viruses. The technologies are PCO+UVGI (PhotoCatalytic Oxidation+ UltraViolet Germicidal Irradiation), high voltage electrostatic filtration, and Trane Catalytic Air Cleaning System (TCACS). 

As India enters the reopening phase of Unlock 6.0, these innovative solutions will help people get back to offices and popular hangout places like malls and restaurants with added safety and comfort during the pandemic. As a trusted partner, Trane is assisting its customers, including building owners, to improve indoor environmental quality, in line with guidelines on preventive measures from the India’s Ministry of Health and ASHRAE’s guidance on Indoor Air Quality. 

According to Kishor Patil, Trane Technologies HVAC & Transport, India & SAARC country leader explained, “As an American originated multinational company, Trane has a long history of industry-defining innovations for indoor environmental quality and sustainability, going back to 1913. We are committed to helping communities and businesses create safer, healthier and more efficient indoor environments during this pandemic, and beyond.  As the nation works towards opening the economy while keeping people’s health and wellbeing at the center, we are confident that our new solutions help support this objective. “ 

“We have made great strides in enabling businesses build healthier and more efficient environments with Trane. Our newly launched solutions not only can reduce the spread of a variety of bacteria and many viruses, but also improve air quality by effectively degrading toxic and harmful gases and odors, and filtering particulate matter in the air.” Kishor added. 

Healthier Indoor Environments with Trane’s Lab-Tested Solutions 

Trane's latest suite of innovative Air Cleaning Systems uses both PCO +UVGI along with high voltage electrostatic filter technology. The combined filtration and PCO+UVGI help remove pathogens and particulates from the air in all types of buildings. 

Photo-Catalytic Oxidation (PCO) technology uses ultraviolet radiation to create powerful agents to oxidize many biological contaminants and break them down. In this process, these harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are converted to simpler chemicals, such as carbon dioxide and water.  

Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) has a dual purpose. Its primary function is an energy source for the catalytic reactions of the PCO process, while it also provides a germicidal effect on microorganisms by using ultraviolet light in the “C” band (UVC) to inactivate a wide range of micro-organisms, including fungi, bacteria and viruses commonly found in buildings.  

These solutions are applicable for both new buildings and retrofits in a wide range of environments, such as business centers, healthcare facilities, offices, educational institutes, and industrial sites. The solutions can be installed in multiple ways, such as plug-in mounting, internal and external full cross-section.  

As tested, the PCO+UVGI solutions are effective in improving indoor environments with more than 99% effectiveness in removing both H1N1 virus and microbial contaminants (e.g. Staphylococcus albus bacteria). Separately, high voltage electrostatic filter has the capability to remove 99.9% of PM2.5 “respirable” particles. 

In addition, Trane's solutions have low air resistance and almost no additional impact of energy consumption air-conditioning systems, making them sustainable options. 

Trane as A Trusted Partner for A Better Indoor Air Quality  

As people focus more on indoor environmental quality (IEQ), especially during the ongoing global pandemic, Trane's industry leading solutions have been well-received. To date, Trane has received more than 3,000 enquires in the Asia Pacific region and more than 230 orders from customers across different industries. 

In India, some leading companies in IT services and real estate have shown their trust in Trane Air Cleaning System, and have installed the solution for their employees, customers and consumers.  

Additional Information  

There is evidence from The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and other sources that HVAC technologies can mitigate the risk of exposure to infectious aerosols in built environments; however, the transmission and mitigation of COVID-19 in buildings is yet to be tested and confirmed. 

About Trane

Trane – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – creates comfortable, energy efficient indoor environments for commercial and residential applications. 

About Trane Technologies

Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane® and Thermo King®, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes and transportation.

Radiance Renewables Chooses Prescinto to Monitor its Solar Asset Portfolio Performance

Prescinto Technologies, a leading data platform used to improve performance of solar energy assets announced that Radiance Renewablesa developer of cost-efficient, renewable energy solutions for commercial, industrial and residential customers, will be leveraging Prescinto as its primary monitoring and performance analytics software partner. Prescinto’s unique ability to aggregate data from all types of energy sources into one single analytics platform will enable Radiance to monitor its solar asset portfolio efficiently 

Prescinto will provide an Enterprise level software to Radiance Renewables that will collect renewable energy plant data, apply data science models to identify causes of underperformance & suggest work-orders to the plant crew to rectify problems and increase generation. By aggregating all project data on a single analytics platform, Prescinto will help Radiance improve the productivity, quality and the consistency of their asset management process. 

Speaking on the partnership, Mr Amit Kumar Mittal, SVP & Head of Operations at Radiance Renewables  said, “We have chosen Prescinto to be our Digital Partner for our solar asset portfolio that we intend to expand aggressively in the coming 2-3 years. Prescinto was onboarded after a rigorous selection process that included both national & international players. Prescinto’s advanced analytics tools allow problems to be identified at portfolio, plant & device level. Another distinguishing feature that was in favour of the Prescinto platform was its customized dashboards & reporting tools/technology. Our association with them so far has been seamless & we would continue to partner with them in our growth aspirations.”  

Puneet Jaggi, Founder and CEO at Prescinto said, “At Prescinto, we believe in unlocking the true potential of people and assets through actionable intelligence using our deep understanding of the Clean Energy domain and technology. While the industry is at the data capture and visualization stage, Prescinto provides actionable intelligence to improve generation and RoI based on advanced analytics and Big Data. Instead of being a cost centre to the CIO, Prescinto acts as a profit centre to the CEO. We are excited to partner with Radiance Renewables and help them in their digital transformation seamlessly.” 

With its patent pending platform, Prescinto conducts root cause analysis on generation loss and provides actionable intelligence to improve generation resulting in higher RoI for plant operators/owners. The platform also provides a unified interface, Computerized Maintenance & Management System (CMMS), for capturing status on action items, accessing document repository and capturing non sensor data points. 

About Radiance Renewables:  

Radiance Renewables Private Limited (“Radiance”), incorporated in 2018, is a developer of low-cost, renewable energy solutions for commercial, industrial and residential customers helping them to simultaneously save money and achieve their sustainability goals. Radiance Renewables integrates in-house development, operational management and asset financing expertise to optimise life cycle cost of ownership and competitiveness. It aims to develop 1.5 GW of solar, wind, hybrid or storage capacity in the next three to five years under a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT or OpEx) model. Radiance is poised to play a pivotal role in achieving this target of 40 GWs rooftop solar power and is committed to contribute towards the overall aim of 175 GWs renewable energy capacity. Radiance Renewables is a 100% subsidiary of the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF), an alternative investment fund managed by EverSource Capital. 

About Prescinto: Prescinto is an IIoT Platform designed for vendor agnostic connectivity and real-time insights for Solar plants. It is currently the most advanced solution in an industry which is still at the data acquisition and visualization stage. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services including data acquisition & visualization, advanced analytics, and O&M automation, with a strong pipeline of IPs in the domain. Supported by a proven founding team, Prescinto has already demonstrated itself with customers like Macquarie (Stride Climate Investments), Essel Infrastructure, GMR etc, to achieve a traction of 3X annual growth reaching 8,000+ MW Solar Plants across 14 countries. For more information, visit: https://prescinto.com/  

Diwali Celebrations Begin on a Grand Note at Phoenix Marketcity

Phoenix Marketcity is all set to welcome its patrons with a gorgeous décor to make sure Diwali brings even more charm to the festivities. Diwali and Dhanteras are festivals of lights, celebration, happiness, and a time to indulge in shopping and soak in the festive spirit with family and friends. Keeping this in mind, Phoenix Marketcity has come up with “Royal Gazebo “– the dual installations at the mega mall are inspired by the royalty and richness of Indian heritage and jewels. The décor is infused with the core elements of Diwali with the intricacies of Indian architecture and jewellery design by using crystals, metallic shades, rich acrylic, lights and handmade flowers.

The outside installation offers a splendid impression of a royal gazebo, with its motifs inspired by Indian architecture. Rich and ostentatious in the truest sense of the words, the structure presents an awe-inspiring entry visual right outside the mall. The inside installation exhibits 2 swallow birds, representing love, care and affection towards family and friends, beautifully perched and encrusted with crystals on the surface!

People from across the city are thronging to catch a glimpse of the opulent décor. The bright colours and floral arrangements is stunning and a larger than life visual treat making it the perfect place and time to celebrate Diwali festivities with family and friends in royal style!! 

About Phoenix Marketcity Bengaluru

Classified as a “Larger Lifestyle Engagement Destination”, Phoenix Marketcity Bengaluru offers visitors an array of unforgettable experiences. With its truly international look and feel, tastefully done interiors, and the best of food, fashion, and entertainment from the world over, Phoenix remains ‘The’ destination for the premium discerning customers of the city as well as expats. With over 300 stores, representing an exhaustive mix of International, National and Regional premium brands, the mall offers the most comprehensive and compelling lifestyle shopping experience in Bangalore. More than just a Mall, Phoenix Marketcity, Bengaluru is in fact a veritable melting pot of fascinating cultures, beautiful clothing, and high-end couture. It is a city within a city, an urban space where retail, entertainment and leisure offerings co-exist.

Online Rummy Industry in Full Support of Regulating Online Gaming

This is further to the recent statement made by the Additional Advocate General (AAG) Mr. M. Sricharan Rangarajan informing the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that the State Government was actively considering regulating the online skill gaming sector. While The Online Rummy Federation (TORF) welcomes this progressive initiative by the government, we want to ensure that any new regulation is not prohibitive and builds in protection for consumers and operations of legitimate operators.

The government is worried about the recent suicide reports related to online gaming. These recent events are of grave concern to TORF and its members. Over the last two years, TORF members have taken extraordinary and voluntary steps to self-regulate and give players the tools to play responsibly.

Key areas include

o   KYC verification

o   Minimum Age

o   Player Protection requirements,

o   Mandatory Responsible Playing features like setting daily monthly limits, self-exclusion etc.

o   Advertising guidelines,

o   No BOTS on sites

o   SSL level encryption

and other such requirements to ensure player experience is Safe , Fair and enables responsible gaming.

We strongly feel that the Government should regulate this sector to ensure only legitimate, legal operators who follow strict protocols are allowed to operate and a clear distinction drawn from those who try and operate above the law. Tens of thousands of players from Tamil Nadu enjoy playing online rummy safely and responsibly. Effective regulation will let the vast majority of the players who play responsibly continue to enjoy the game, protect the players that are vulnerable, and lead to substantial additional revenues for the government.

Jurisdictions around the world that have chosen prohibitive measures over regulation have had to deal with a large underground economy. A case in point is the recent INR 1,000 crore gambling scam in Telangana which surfaced after it chose to ban skill gaming in 2017. In the absence of regulation, and in case of any prohibitive action that doesn’t draw a clear line between legitimate skill gaming and illegitimate operators, the government would unintentionally exacerbate the problem it is trying to solve by encouraging uncontrolled illegal online gaming.

The Government of Tamil Nadu should set up a committee to review, discuss and propose a regulatory framework for games of skill similar to Nagaland and Sikkim. A discussion for a proposal to regulate this industry can address many concerns including following key points:

1.  Setting time and monetary limits for players on a daily/weekly/monthly basis;

2.  Stronger KYC checks & social profiling of users to ensure that players are financially stable adults

3.  Strict advertising standards to promote gaming as entertainment and not a way to earn money

4.   An annual license fee and a player support contribution to help vulnerable players

TORF is committed to provide its full support to the government in creating a safe and responsible gaming industry. We have already made an official representation to the Honourable Chief Mister to kindly consider regulating the sector as a win -win solution.

EPL Limited to Acquire 72.5% Stake in Creative Stylo Packs Pvt. Ltd.

Highlights

* Part cash and part stock transaction: EPL to purchase 72.5% stake in cash, balance through shares.

* Strategic acquisition to strengthen presence in Beauty & Cosmetics categories.

EPL Limited (formerly known as Essel Propack Limited), the world’s largest specialty packaging company, today announced that its Board of Directors have approved the acquisition of Creative Stylo Packs Pvt. Ltd. in a part-cash and part-stock transaction. Creative Stylo Packs Pvt. Ltd. is an established manufacturer of corrugated boxes, laminated tubes, plastic co-ex tubes and caps-primarily serving personal care, cosmetic, pharmaceuticals and FMCG markets in India.

The transaction entails purchase of 72.5% stake in Creative Stylo Packs Pvt Ltd through cash. The remaining 27.5% stake will be purchased through issuance of EPL shares to the founders of Creative Stylo Pack post the merger. Mr. Bhavik Shah and Darshan Shah, the founders of Creative Stylo Packs Pvt Ltd. will join the EPL management team post the acquisition.

With this acquisition, EPL plans to make a much stronger play in the beauty and cosmetics categories which are growing rapidly. The richer product portfolio will allow it to serve both existing and new customers better, driving both volumes and value. The acquisition will also boost EPL’s plastic tube capabilities, which, combined with EPL’s strong equity in laminate tubes, gives the company a vibrant platform for growth. The transaction will accelerate revenue and EBITDA growth for EPL.

EPL’s Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Sudhanshu Vats, said: “EPL is committed to Leading the Pack; simultaneously driving market leading revenue growth as well as capital-efficient and consistent earnings growth. A stronger play in Beauty & Cosmetics is key to this vision. We believe that our acquisition of Creative will enrich our portfolio, enabling us to advance our ambition in personal care. This will also strengthen us further in AMESA (Africa, Middle East and South Asia), a key growth region for us.

He further added; “I am personally delighted to welcome Bhavik and Darshan to the EPL fold. Their entrepreneurial spirit and youthful energy will help us move forward with greater purpose & agility”.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Bhavik Shah founder of Creative Stylo Packs Pvt Ltd, said, “Darshan and I are extremely proud of what we have created thus far through innovation and customer centricity and now we have an opportunity to continue and accelerate the growth path through the EPL platform.  We are really excited and look forward to working with the EPL team in furthering their cause of being a leading speciality packaging company in the World.”

EY was the exclusive financial advisor on the transaction. Trilegal was the legal advisor for EPL and Cyril Amarchand was the legal advisor for Creative. KPMG provided transaction advisory services.

About EPL

EPL Limited (formerly known as Essel Propack Ltd.) is the world’s largest specialty packaging company, manufacturing laminated plastic tubes catering to the FMCG and pharma spaces. Employing 3158 people from 25 nationalities, EPL operates through twenty state-of-the-art facilities in eleven countries, selling about 8 billion tubes per annum. 

With a market leading Oral Care volume share of 36% globally, EPL has units operating across the USA, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, Germany, Egypt, Russia, China, Philippines and India. These facilities cater to 5 core categories of Oral Care, Beauty & Cosmetics, Pharma & Health, Food & Nutrition and Home Care; offering customized solutions through constant innovations in materials, technology, design and processes.

Paytm Mall Announces Top Deals, Discounts, Cashback During Its Final Leg of Diwali Special Maha Shopping Festival

* Citibank to offer a 10% cashback on all credit and debit card transactions

* Smartphones from leading brands starting at Rs. 4,749, laptops, discounts on work from home 

* Consumer electronics, Apparels, Home & Kitchen, Health & Grocery, among other categories see massive cashback  

India's homegrown e-commerce O2O (Offline to Online) platform Paytm Mall (owned by Paytm Ecommerce Private Limited) which is empowering SMEs across the country with e-commerce services, today announced the final leg of its Diwali Special Maha Shopping Festival from November 13 to November 16. The company has partnered with Citibank to offer a 10% cashback up to Rs 3,000 on Citibank debit and credit card payments. The sitewide offer is applicable on a minimum order value of Rs. 1,500.

The sale offers smartphones from best-selling brands including Samsung, OPPO, and more at highly affordable prices starting Rs. 4,749. A cashback of 10% up to Rs. 5,000 would also be available to the customers. Further, leading laptop brands such as Lenovo, HP, Dell, Asus, and others will be offered at the best prices online along with a cashback up to Rs. 10,000.

Paytm Mall would also offer generous discounts on leading apparel, footwear, and accessories range. Menswear from Mufti, Van Heusen, Park Avenue among others would be available at a 50% minimum discount throughout their online collection. Womenswear across 10,000 SKUs will be offered at half the list price. A minimum 50% discount on footwear brands including Red Tape, Puma, Adidas and Lotto on over 5000 SKUs will also be offered. The latest smartwatches from top brands such as Apple and Garmin are also available at attractive prices.

A flat 15% cashback is available on consumer electronics such as wired and Bluetooth headphones, speakers, hard disks, power banks, and more across popular brands including boAT, Boult Audio, Portronics, San Disk, Seagate, etc. Paytm Mall is also offering up to 60% discount on personal grooming products as well. The company is also offering heavy discounts and cashback across Home and Kitchen products. 

Abhishek Rajan, COO, Paytm Mall said, “Customers have a lot of reasons to shop this Diwali at Paytm Mall. This year throughout the festive seasons we have managed to bring the best of deals from banks & brands. We will keep the momentum going in the coming months. Our tie-up with Citibank is helping customers add more cheer to the festive fervour by availing exclusive cashback on each transaction.”

Consumers Set to Actively Indulge in Smart Shopping and Value Spending This Festive Season

InterMiles, a leading loyalty and rewards programme, released their 2020 InterMiles Festive Consumer Sentiment Index recently, showcasing insights and identifying trends with regards to consumer spending patterns & priorities this festive season. The report is based on responses received from more than 10,000 InterMilers across India.

This report follows closely on the heels of the InterMiles Travel Consumer Sentiment Index, and decodes three core areas of the average Indian consumer’s festive spending budget, namely: major planned expenses, shopping, retail & dining preferences.

Key Insights from the InterMiles Festive Consumer Sentiment Index:

Traditional gifting set to take a backseat 

The maiden InterMiles Consumer Sentiment Index report released in September 2020, revealed that 60% Indians were raring to travel before February 2021. This corroborates the ‘travel due to pent-up demand’ trend predicted by experts, as Indians seek to break out of mundane routine and rejuvenate. The festive report reiterates this strong travel intent with 56% respondents listing travel as their top planned expense this festive season.

Home Décor has been highlighted as the second most important expense by 45% respondents, who are choosing to invest in this category. As pandemic-induced safety measures and social distancing regulations come into play this year, consumers who are confined to their homes – at least for the near future – seem to want to optimize levels of comfort and aesthetics in their own nests.

Where usually the festive season meant gatherings and personal gift exchanges with family, friends and neighbours, this year there is a noticeable dip in gifting sentiment this year. Nearly 48% respondents have listed festive gifting as third within their planned expenses consideration list make it the lowest priority for them.

Shopping priorities & platforms to be determined by price & value points | Bargain-hunting to dominate festive shopping lists

Marketers and brands are aware of the impact the pandemic has on consumer spending capacity. They are, thus, putting together deals & discounts like never before, as consumers are keen on ensuring they derive the most value out of every spend.

Consumers are seeking a bang for their buck, through direct methods – for instance, 77% respondents of the InterMiles’ Festive Consumer Sentiment Index listed great prices, discounts and offers as the most preferred factor when choosing a shopping partner, be it online or offline. 

However, consumers are also actively seeking out indirect methods to make spends earn for them, with 62% stating that earning loyalty rewards points was the second most preferred factor for them, when it came to identifying an appropriate shopping partner for their needs.

This indicates that while consumers are willing to splurge on festivities, their choices are primarily dictated by options that help them get the most value for their money, as well as ensure they earn on spends by way of virtual currencies and cashbacks, or loyalty points. Consumers are seeking to use their current spending smartly so as to be able to save, as well as fund their future spends.

Safety & hygiene predicted to dominate food ordering preferences

Online food aggregators are set to have a sparkling festive season, with nearly 81% respondents of InterMiles Festive Consumer Sentiment Index stating that they would prefer using online food delivery platforms as they dine in. 12% would rather order directly from their local restaurants, and a minor set – 6%, would rather not order in at all, given the pandemic.

When asked to rank top three factors that play a role in choosing a restaurant to order online from, safety & hygiene stood out as the topmost factor on the priority list. This trend has been observed across most service and product categories, and stands in contrast to the traditional preference drivers of price points & discounts.

Customer ratings, deals & discounts and brand reputability – in that order of priority – also rank high in the consideration set.

About the InterMiles Festive Consumer Sentiment Index:

The InterMiles Festive Consumer Sentiment Index was created to understand how consumers are planning expenditures this festive season, along with the expenses they are foreseeing. The programme which has a 10mn plus member base, is committed towards understanding the pulse of consumers across various travel & lifestyle categories. Data collected through these surveys will not only enable InterMiles as a programme to create unique and compelling value propositions for its members, it will also create meaningful business opportunities for its partners. 

The member base for the InterMiles Festive Consumer Sentiment Index comprises of multi demographics – with 60% respondents between the ages 19 to 44 – as well as diverse payment, lifestyle and travel preferences.

About InterMiles

InterMiles is a leading Travel and Lifestyle Rewards Programme. Its ubiquitous rewards and recognition currency, also called InterMiles, helps its 10mn plus InterMiles members fulfill their travel and lifestyle aspirations. The InterMiles (formerly JetPrivilege) programme empowers and rewards its members for all their travel and lifestyle needs as well as for their daily activities. This includes everything from shopping to dining and fueling up, or any spends done using the InterMiles co-branded cards, be it for flight bookings, hotel stays and a lot more. 

Members can redeem these accumulated miles for online subscriptions, merchandise, free fuel, dining, free flights across airlines as well as free hotel stays. 

Japan Foundation Adopts Digital Edition: Launches Japanese Film Festival 2020 In India

Japan Foundation New Delhi announces the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) 2020 in India to go virtual amid the pandemic. The fourth edition of the festival in India has an expansive list of 30 select Japanese films from genres of varied formats and subjects.

The festival is slated for an opening at the end of 2020, bringing critically acclaimed award-winning titles along with mainstream entertainment: films such as One Night, Lady Maiko, Production I.G Short Animation: (Pigtails), Stolen Identity, and Our 30-Minute Sessions from the Japanese showbiz for the Indian patrons. The film catalogue includes titles selected specifically to cater to varied ages and tastes across categories like animation, feature drama, romance, thriller, classic and documentary.

“We are thrilled to screen the 2020 edition of the festival on an absolutely new, exciting, and bigger scale. Keeping consumer safety utmost, the virtual platform will help us reach a wider audience base. Popularity of Japanese content has been distinctly growing in the Indian landscape which has been fueled by the recent increase in online content consumption,” said Mr. Kaoru Miyamoto, the Director-General of the Japan Foundation New Delhi.

He added, “We are bringing the best of Japanese films which have garnered critical praise along with audience love to offer an enriching experience to our Indian viewers. We are confident the festival will be successful and bigger with the online platform.”

The Japanese Film Festival 2020 Film catalogue includes marquee titles; Sumikkogurashi: Good to be in the corner, Production I.G Animation: Tokyo Marble Chocolate, Production I.G Short Animation: (Drawer Hobs), One Night, 0.5mm, Ecotherapy Getaway Holiday, Our 30-Minute Sessions, Little Nights, Little Love, Stolen Identity, Tremble All You Want, The Great Passage, RAILWAYS, Café Funiculi Funicula and more.

The Festival watch page, https://watch.jff.jpf.go.jp/ for details on the movie line-up, registration, festival schedule and dates.

About Japan Foundation

The Japan Foundation is Japan’s only institution dedicated to carrying out comprehensive international cultural exchange programs throughout the world. With the objective of deepening mutual understanding between the people of Japan and other countries / regions, our various activities and information services create opportunities for interpersonal interactions. The Japan Foundation develops programs in three different fields—arts and cultural exchange, Japanese Language education overseas, and Japanese studies and intellectual exchange.

The Japan Foundation has a global network consisting of the Tokyo headquarters, the Kyoto Office, two Japanese-language institutes, and 25 overseas offices in 24 countries (including two Asia Center liaison offices).

The Japan Foundation New Delhi was officially established in January 1994 and since then has been carrying out the Foundation’s programs thoroughly. 

Trend Micro Launches Hassle-Free, Cloud-Ready Network Security As Per Customer Demand

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), the leader in cloud security, today announced global availability of its cloud-native network security solution, Trend Micro Cloud One – Network Security. As the latest addition to its holistic cloud security platform, it delivers simple, comprehensive protection of virtual private clouds at scale to support compliance requirements, with zero disruption to applications or traffic. 

Many organizations taking their first steps in the cloud need effective network security for business, governance and compliance reasons, yet they are poorly served by existing solutions. These may be hard to deploy, feature slow inspection speeds and are often riddled with inefficiencies: perhaps requiring multiple appliances, load balancers and instances to inspect ingress and egress traffic. 

Trend Micro Cloud One – Network Security is tailor-made for these environments, backed by Trend Micro's years of experience in cloud security for its global Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and AWS customers and expertise in network security with TippingPoint. 

According to Gartner, "Enterprises will migrate to a new model where they will consolidate multiple cloud network security services with one vendor to reduce complexity." This continues to be true as organizations move into hybrid cloud models with varied security needs. With Trend Micro Cloud One, this consolidation can be easily achieved - it provides a simplified approach to hybrid cloud security with visibility by delivering multiple security tools in a single platform for visibility across an organization's cloud infrastructure. 

"We know that many network security solutions aren't designed for the cloud: they're painful or impossible to deploy, disrupt key business processes and may leave organizations exposed to threats," said Wendy Moore, vice president of product marketing for Trend Micro. "Users can deploy our cloud-based network security in minutes for simplified protection to securely deliver business outcomes and meet compliance requirements." 

Trend Micro Cloud One – Network Security offers: 

Comprehensive cloud protection at the network layer to support compliance, including virtual patching, IPS capabilities and egress network filtering—backed by threat intelligence from Trend Micro's Zero Day initiative 

Identify threats at runtime to protect a diverse set of services (from EC2 to Lambda) and inspection of any network traffic traversing Internet Gateways, Transit Gateways or Virtual Private Gateways 

Simple, transparent deployment within minutes, without the need for additional infrastructure and with zero IT/business disruption 

Flexibility in payment options—pay only for what is used in dynamic environments, or purchase with annual license-based pricing for a more static architecture 

Holistic, centralized cloud protection from a single console to simplify management of overall cloud security posture.

Gland Pharma IPO: Issue Oversubscribed by 2.05 Times

 

Highlights

* Rs 6480-crore issue is the largest in pharma industry 

* Gland Pharma raised Rs 1943.86 crore from Anchor Investors

* Gland Pharma allocates 12,959,089 equity shares at the upper price band of Rs 1500 per equity shares to anchor investors

* 70 marquee global and domestic funds came in as anchor investors

* IPO price band fixed at Rs 1490 to Rs 1500 per equity share 

* Gland Pharma to raise Rs 6,480 crore through the IPO

* IPO include Rs 1,250 crore fresh issue and the rest being Offer for Sale 

* Gland Pharma to use Rs 1,250 crore fresh funds for capital expenditure & working capital requirements 

* Gland Pharma is an integrated manufacturer of complex injectable products.

VMSIIHE Invites Entries for Diwali Themed the “Culinary Competition”

The festival of lights, Diwali is here again. The festival conjures up images of festivities, fireworks and most importantly an array of sweet treats.   

Goa based V. M. Salgaocar Institute of International Hospitality Education (VMSIIHE) is organizing a culinary competition inviting students to participate and submit a recipe of their favourite Diwali sweet treat. 

Submissions are invited from students of class XII from Goa as well as other states across the country.  

To participate in the contest, students should submit the recipe along with a photograph of the prepared sweet as well as a short video of the preparation process.  

Submissions can be sent to  sebastian.breitinger@vmsiihe.edu.in on or before Friday, November 13, 2020. One can whatsapp (9822807814) for competition rules and evaluation schemes and other further details.  

Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund Collects Rs. 409 Crore

Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (a significant non-bank financial services’ conglomerate), and investment manager to Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (ABSLMF) has collected Rs. 409 crore from its new fund offering Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund (an open-ended equity scheme following special situations theme) during its NFO period between October 5 – 19, 2020. Attracting investors from across the country, the fund in its 2 weeks NFO period garnered over 44000 applications.

Speaking on the interest received by the fund, A. Balasubramanian, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, said: “Despite the logistical challenges posed by the pandemic, we have attracted over 44000 applications from more than 360 locations. What is also noteworthy is the contribution coming from diversified channels across the board exhibiting our distribution strength as a fund house. Our technology strength has also come in handy to beat the logistical constraints. The interest received in this new fund is also a reflection of the growing appetite of equity investments in the country, further propelled by India’s potential of future growth. It must be noted that this is a thematic fund with a very unique and nuanced investment proposition, so it is encouraging to see this kind of participation and investor maturity. The timing of our launch was perfect, some of which we are already seeing play out in the markets and we believe there are several unique opportunities to leverage going forward”.

Events like change in management, business restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, Government policy change, regulatory changes, disruption due to a new entrant, macro-economic changes, geo-political developments, global events etc., can create special situations in a market, business, sector or company and thus special opportunities for investment. It is a wide range of possibilities and the Fund is well positioned to play these themes and special opportunities emerging in recent times like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Covid led Disruptions, massive digital adoption, Government’s disinvestment plans, changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns, technology upgrade, and others. Aditya Birla Sun Life Special Opportunities Fund looks at spotting these very opportunities.

The fund is managed by Senior Fund Manager Anil Shah who brings with him nearly three decades of experience in equity research and investments. The fund management team also includes Chanchal Khandelwal and Vinod Bhat.

Hero Motocorp Delivers 751 Units of ‘Glamor’ Motorcycle to Karnataka Police Department

Following successful partnerships with state police departments across the country, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, the world’s largest manufacturer of two-wheelers, today delivered 751 units of Hero Glamour BS-VI motorcycle to Karnataka’s police department.

Shri B. S. Yediyurappa, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka and Shri Basavaraj Bommai, Hon'ble Home Minister of Karnataka; flagged off a rally of Hero Glamour motorcycles delivered to police department of the state from Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Hero Glamour BS-VI

Recently launched in its BS-VI avatar, the flagship Hero Glamour 125cc motorcycle offers a seamless city riding experience.

In addition to Hero’s revolutionary i3S (idle start-stop system) for enhanced mileage; the Hero Glamour runs on a 125cc engine with XSens Programmed Fuel Injection technology with a power output of 10.73 BHP @ 7500 RPM and torque of 10.6 Nm @ 6000 RPM, thus providing a swift and powerful throttle response.

The front 240mm disk brakes and ground clearance of 180mm ensure assertive reliability and all-day comfort while helping the rider navigate over any obstacles day in and day out.

The contemporary and muscular design with the utility of its best-in-class features; delivers on the brand promise of Hero with performance, comfort and style.

Emirates SkyCargo Introduces Airbus A380 'Mini-Freighter' Charter Operations

Emirates SkyCargo has started utilising its Airbus A380 aircraft on select cargo charter operations to transport urgently required cargo across its network. The first dedicated Emirates A380 ‘mini-freighter’ successfully transported medical supplies between Seoul and Amsterdam via Dubai.

Working collaboratively with the Engineering and Flight Operations teams within Emirates, the air cargo carrier has optimised the cargo capacity of the Airbus A380 to safely transport around 50 tonnes of cargo per flight in the bellyhold of the aircraft.

Emirates SkyCargo has introduced dedicated cargo operations on the A380 aircraft in response to the surge in the demand for air cargo capacity required for the urgent transportation of critical goods, including medical supplies for combatting COVID-19 in regions experiencing a second wave of the pandemic.

Emirates SkyCargo is working on further optimising the capacity of its Airbus A380 aircraft through measures such as seat loading of cargo and has planned more dedicated cargo flights on aircraft for the month of November.

Support Street Side Vendors During Covid - 19 Shut Down - Help Them Tide Over The Impact & Restore Their Businesses

 

Udhyam Vyapaar, a Udhyam Learning Foundation’s programme that is focussed on mentoring existing micro and small-scale entrepreneurs to scale and succeed - has rolled out a campaign for these small business owners this Diwali, ‘Donate a cart & uplift small businesses’.

The campaign is live and accepting donations via Give India - Donate a cart & help street side vendors from the burden of exorbitant daily rentals during pandemic.

Udhyam Vypaar’s target is to facilitate 100 push carts + 100 stools to these small business owners

Location - Bangalore

Link: https://fundraisers.giveindia.org/campaigns/donate-a-cart-and-help-street-side-vendors-from-the-burden-of-exorbitant-daily-rentals-during-pandemic

Twitter Handle: https://twitter.com/UdhyamVyapaar

Happiest Minds Partners with Io-Tahoe to Deliver SmartData with a Single Enterprise Data Automation Platform

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE:HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital . Born Agile’, digital transformation and IT Solutions Company and Io-Tahoe have entered a strategic partnership to provide their esteemed clients with effective Data Discovery and Governance solutions. This will help improve data security and maturity within companies and minimize their data risk exposure. Happiest Minds, as a Reseller Partner of Io-Tahoe, is committed to enhance data protection programs and improve business performance for its customers.

Priya Kanduri, CTO-IMSS, Vice President, Cyber Security, Happiest Minds Technologies said, "We have strong offerings and credentials in data compliance, including GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA and other similar guidelines within the sensitive data protection space and this partnership with Io-Tahoe will strengthen it further by adding the capabilities of Data Governance, Sensitive Data Discovery across platforms and Hybrid Cloud Environments with AI-driven Data Cataloging features."

Leveraging Io-Tahoe's SmartData platform powered by AI/ML technologies, Happiest Minds' 'Data Compliance as a Service' solution will be able to accelerate your organization's data privacy & compliance lifecycle by implementing data discovery, data quality management and facilitate deep analytics & governance. Some of the key solution features include:

·      Automated Data Discovery - across heterogeneous data sources/platforms

·      Auto-Generated Smart Data Catalog – removing manual effort

·      Automated Data Flows & Data Lineage

·      Data Quality Assessments Regulatory Compliance & Policy Mapping

·      Automated & Continuous Data Governance

Ajay Vohora, Chief Executive Officer, Io-Tahoe, "Happiest Minds is at the forefront of helping the world’s smartest enterprises strategically transform their businesses to become more agile and more digital. Together with Happiest Minds we will addresses the challenges organizations face as they attempt to unleash the power of data and capitalize on new digital market opportunities while also ensuring their data assets are protected and compliant with regulatory policies and security controls. This partnership is another endorsement of our data automation technology and our business, and an even bigger opportunity for our joint customers. Together, we combine the three pillars needed for success - outstanding technology, the right skills, and the business smarts to deliver excellent results.”

About Happiest Minds Technologies:

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a Mindful IT Company, enables digital transformation for enterprises and technology providers by delivering seamless customer experiences, business efficiency and actionable insights. We do this by leveraging a spectrum of disruptive technologies such as: artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, digital process automation, internet of things, robotics/drones, security, virtual/augmented reality, etc. Positioned as ‘Born Digital . Born Agile’, our capabilities span digital solutions, infrastructure, product engineering and security. We deliver these services across industry sectors such as automotive, BFSI, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, edutech, engineering R&D, hi-tech, manufacturing, retail and travel/transportation/hospitality.

A Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is headquartered in Bangalore, India with operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia and Middle East.

Garmin India Brings More Joy To This Festival With All-New Venu SQ Smartwatch

Illuminating this festival season more for the fitness enthusiasts, Garmin India, a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today launched their pocket friendly yet feature loaded latest GPS smartwatch: Venu Sq and the Venu Sq Music Edition.

The Venu Sq is built with bright color display, sleek design and best suited for every part of your day while keeping a track of your health and fitness activities.

The new Venu Sq series boasts over 20 built-in indoor and outdoor sports apps including Pilates, yoga, strength training, running, pool swimming, cycling, golf and many more supporting its users with extensive workout required to inspire movement. Adding more to it, the Music edition features on-device music storage for phone-free listening.

Apart from the sports app, the smartwatch also comes loaded with health monitoring features including advanced sleep with Pulse Ox2, respiration tracking, abnormal heart rate alerts (high and low), menstrual cycle tracking, stress tracking with relax reminders, hydration tracking and more.

Bringing more convenience to the users, the Venu Sq supports battery life of up to six days in smartwatch mode, and up to 14 hours in GPS mode.

Sharing his excitement with the all new Venu Sq during this festive season, Mr. Ali Rizvi, Director, Garmin India said, “We at Garmin have always focused on fulfilling the needs of our customers with the best of quality products and high end technological innovations. Today, with the launch of Venu Sq, we are now entering into a new market segment under which people can buy a Garmin smartwatch at a competitive price with premium features including 20 built-in sports apps, on-device music storage, advanced sleep with Pulse Ox2 with the broadest range of 24/7 monitoring features available on the market.”

Venu Sq’s robust suite of workout options also include preloaded workouts on the watch, preset workouts available to download from Garmin Connect, and “create your own” customizable workouts. Whether training for a 5K or something longer, the Venu Sq is compatible with Garmin Coach, free training plans adapted to a runner’s goals and performance, complete with a virtual personal trainer for added motivation. 

Innovative Body BatteryTM energy monitoring also lets users monitor their energy level which can help with scheduling workouts, rest times and sleep.

The Venu Sq series provides all-day connection and convenience with a host of smart features including:

Notifications: Receive smart notifications1 for incoming calls, text messages, social media updates, calendar reminders and more. Android users can reply to text messages from the device.

Music storage: With Venu Sq Music Edition, download songs or playlists2, including those from third-party music services like Spotify and Amazon Music right to the wrist.

Safety and tracking: Incident detection (during outdoor walks, runs or rides) and assistance send real-time location to emergency contacts.

Personalisation: Add personality by downloading apps, widgets, watch faces and more from the Garmin Connect IQTM store. Users can even upload their own photos and turn them into watch faces.

Compatibility: Use the Venu Sq with almost any smartphone (compatible with AndroidTM and Apple® devices).

Price:

The new series Venu Sq will be available at an attractive price of Rs. 21,090 and the Venu Sq Music will be available for Rs 26,290.

Availability:

Offline: Helios Watch Stores, Garmin Brand Stores-Pan India, Just in Time, Lifestyle Stores, Kamal Watch, Malabar Watch

Online: Amazon.in, Myntra, Flipkart, Tata CliQ, Paytmmall

About Garmin: Garmin International Inc. is a subsidiary of Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq: GRMN). Garmin Ltd. is incorporated in Switzerland, and its principal subsidiaries are located in the United States, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Garmin, Instinct and Trackback are registered trademarks, and Garmin Connect, Garmin Explore, and UltraTrac is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Discovery Plus Commemorates the 102nd Anniversary of the End of World War-I with Latest Offering India: The Forgotten Army

Discovery Plus, India’s first aggregated real-life entertainment streaming app, today announced the digital premiere of India: The Forgotten Army. Commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the end of World War 1, the gripping documentary traces and documents the courage of Indian soldiers, shipped to distant shores to live and fight in deplorable conditions during the First World War, featuring expert insights by Dr. Shashi Tharoor. The film is an adaptation of the book World War Sikh: Memoirs Of An Indian Cavalryman 1913-45 by Rana TS Chhina; and also uses first-person accounts to tell the story of the war and the circumstances that Indian cavalrymen faced, as revealed in the letters they wrote to their families, more than a hundred years ago.

India: The Forgotten Army looks at the crucial yet unnoticed role played by the Indian soldiers during World War I with expert inputs of notable personalities, including Dr. Shashi Tharoor- Former Minister of External Affairs, India, Tony McClenaghan- Military Hostorian, England and Dr. Santanu Das- Professor of English Literature, King’s College London amongst others. The documentary brings to light the extraordinary contribution of the Indian soldiers in the war, bringing to the fore many overlooked sacrifices.

Dr. Shashi Tharoor said, “It is not widely appreciated that World War I also involved soldiers from faraway lands that had little to do with Europe’s bitter traditional hatreds. Of the 1.3 million Indian troops who served in the conflict, you hear very little. As many as 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war and another 67,000 were wounded. Their stories, and their heroism, have long been omitted from popular histories of the war, or relegated to the footnotes.” He adds, “These men were undoubtedly heroes: pitchforked into battle in unfamiliar lands, in climatic conditions they were neither used to nor prepared for, fighting an enemy of whom they had no knowledge, risking their lives every day for little more than pride. Yet they were destined to remain largely unknown once the war was over: neglected by the British, for whom they fought, and ignored by their own country, since they were fighting a colonial war. History had orphaned them. This film is a valuable contribution to their overdue rehabilitation.”

“The brave feats by Indians during the First World War had so far, gone unnoticed. We are humbled to be able to shine a light on their tales of courage and sacrifice with  the release of India: The Forgotten Army on Discovery Plus. Our users have repeatedly expressed their interest in knowing more about the storied past of our brave soldiers and this release reaffirms our brand’s commitment to listen to our users, ” said Issac John, Business Head – Digital (South Asia), Discovery. “At Discovery Plus, we aim to bring meaningful and relevant content for our passionate users. It is our constant effort to offer world class documentaries to discerning Indian fans who are looking for such content which not only entertains but also encourages and inspires them.”

India: The Forgotten Army brings together military and history experts and takes the viewers to the battle sites with animations and footages. Adapted from the book World War Sikh: Memoirs Of An Indian Cavalryman 1913-45 by Rana TS Chhina, India: The Forgotten Army is now streaming on Discovery Plus.

Bentley Systems Commits $100 Million of Venture Funding to Accelerate Infrastructure Digital Twins

Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Nasdaq: BSY), the infrastructure engineering software company, today announced the establishment of Bentley iTwin Ventures to invest in promising technology companies addressing the emerging opportunity for infrastructure digital twin solutions for roadways, railways, waterways, bridges, utilities, industrial facilities, and other infrastructure assets. 

Bentley iTwin Ventures is a $100 million corporate venture capital fund which fosters innovation by co-investing in startups and emerging companies that are strategically relevant to Bentley Systems’ objective of advancing infrastructure through going digital. The fund will target investments in transformational digital twin solutions supporting the design, simulation, construction, and/or operations of physical infrastructure. 

Bentley iTwin Ventures will invest in early and mid-stage companies that demonstrate ability to develop applications and solutions that leverage and extend infrastructure digital twin opportunities, particularly in the public works and utilities, and industrial and resources, infrastructure sectors.  The fund will invest in opportunities which can leverage Bentley’s iTwin Platform and open-source toolkits, supporting subject matter expertise, commercial teaming, and/or global reach and relationships within the infrastructure engineering community.  

"Taking advantage of the momentum from Bentley Systems’ initial public offering, we are excited to expand our Acceleration Initiatives by formally launching the Bentley iTwin Ventures fund to support the growth of entrepreneurial companies dedicated to infrastructure digital twin solutions," said Greg Bentley, CEO of Bentley Systems.  "Our iTwin Platform provides a scalable open-source foundation for technical and commercial innovation that will empower a vibrant ecosystem to creatively combine and connect what digital twins now make possible for infrastructure constituents. Proprietary analytics, data services, benchmarking, and infrastructure-as-a-service commercial models, for instance, are not in Bentley Systems’ direct scope, but we are glad to have a stake in bootstrapping these future successes.  Here’s to the fullest going-digital ecosystem for infrastructure digital twins!” 

Bentley Systems worked with corporate venture capital firm Touchdown Ventures to establish Bentley iTwin Ventures.  An initial investment in FutureOn a.s. (www.futureon.com) was announced on October 16, 2020.

About Bentley iTwin Ventures  

Bentley iTwin Ventures is a corporate venture capital fund sponsored by Bentley Systems, Incorporated. It invests in and helps catalyze the growth of companies developing innovative technologies, products, and services which intensify the infrastructure digital twin ecosystem. For more information, please visit www.BentleyiTwinVentures.com

About Bentley Systems’ Acceleration Initiatives 

Bentley Systems’ Acceleration Initiatives was launched in 2020 to invest in new and incremental participants in open ecosystems to advance infrastructure digital twins. The Bentley Systems Acceleration Initiative is chartered to accelerate the creation and curation of digital twins, and to foster technologies and innovations so enabled, by nurturing new ventures, making minority investments through Bentley iTwin Ventures, and acquiring and expanding digital integrators. Wholly owned investments to date include Digital Water Works, Digital Construction Works (joint venture with Topcon Positioning Systems), Virtuosity, and The Cohesive Companies. Bentley iTwin Ventures is a $100 million corporate venture capital fund which co-invests in entrepreneurial companies that are leveraging and expanding the infrastructure digital twins ecosystem; co-investments to date include FutureOn. Chief Acceleration Officer Santanu Das welcomes queries from potential ecosystem participants at www.BentleyAccelerationInitiatives.com  

About Bentley Systems  

Bentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY) is the infrastructure engineering software company. We provide innovative software to advance the world’s infrastructure – sustaining both the global economy and environment. Our industry-leading software solutions are used by professionals, and organizations of every size, for the design, construction, and operations of roads and bridges, rail and transit, water and wastewater, public works and utilities, buildings and campuses, and industrial facilities. Our offerings include MicroStation-based applications for modeling and simulation, ProjectWise for project delivery, AssetWise for asset and network performance, and the iTwin platform for infrastructure digital twins. Bentley Systems employs more than 4,000 colleagues and generates annual revenues of more than $700 million, in 172 countries. www.bentley.com 

Bentley, the Bentley logo, and Digital Construction Works (DCW) are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. 

ANSR Partners with Google Cloud to Accelerate Enterprise Digital Transformation in India

ANSR, the global market leader in designing, establishing and operating Global Capability Centres (GCCs), today announced a partnership with Google Cloud that will enable enterprises to build ‘at-scale’ digital transformation capabilities.

GCCs are now a mainstream transformative strategy for global companies to leverage collaborative, distributed global teams. In fact, nearly 1,000 captives are now hosted in India, which represents 50% of the world’s GCCs. An estimated 150+ new ones are also expected to be set-up over the next two years as global businesses accelerate execution of strategic digital technology narratives to stay relevant. 

ANSR’s partnership with Google Cloud will enable enterprises to accelerate their transition to a ‘cloud first’ strategy in support of the emerging business and technology transformation agenda.  With a focus on maturing GCCs competency narratives, ANSR will provide enterprise cloud enablement solutions on Google Cloud to its customers so they can build at scale. Existing ones will also be able to rapidly adopt the cloud as they look to digitally transform their infrastructure, application and data stack for success.

“As companies are being challenged to reimagine their customer engagement strategies, product relevance and services excellence, GCCs continue to play a pivotal role in transforming business platforms. Our partnership with Google Cloud will now enable them to play an even more important role in scaling enterprise digital competencies and cloud capabilities”, said Salil Punalekar, Global Head of Business, Corporate Development and Marketing at ANSR.

“Businesses today are gearing up to build stronger technology foundations and optimise cost. With Google Cloud at the core, enterprises can develop flexible, agile and robust technology to transform at speed and scale,” said Amitabh Jacob, Head of Partnerships and Alliances at Google Cloud India.

ANSR and Google Cloud will establish a one-of-a-kind Collaboratory that will allow enterprises to significantly accelerate their cloud adoption journey from ideas to execution. The Collaboratory will provide a secure sandbox environment to evaluate and adopt Google Cloud use cases for cloud transformation, application modernisation, infrastructure modernisation and deep analytics solutions.

About ANSR

ANSR is a global leader in establishing & operating Global Capability Centers for global enterprises. Enterprises across industries and markets have relied on ANSR's expertise in building world class technology and innovation capabilities in India and Eastern Europe. ANSR’s unique industry leading approach enables our clients to integrate digital platforms capabilities and global teams within the enterprise Global Capability Centers.  Since its inception, ANSR has established over 60 GCCs aggregating to over 65k enterprise talent with over $1.5B in investment and using over 7M sq.ft of workspace.