Kaspersky And Airtel Join Forces To Make Online Journeys More Secure For Customers

* Airtel customers now purchase Kaspersky security solutions for PC and Smartphones via Airtel Thanks app 

Global cybersecurity company Kaspersky has partnered with Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”) – India’s premier communications solutions provider, to ensure instant security for internet users in India. 

The collaboration between the two companies will allow Airtel customers to purchase Kaspersky Total Security solution directly from the Airtel Thanks app in a matter of few clicks. What’s more! Airtel customers also enjoy exclusive deals on these advanced solutions from Kaspersky. 

Airtel customers simply need to download the latest version of Airtel Thanks app> Go to ‘Shop’ section> Go to lifestyle offers> Click on the Kaspersky banner and get started. Airtel Thanks also enables seamless payments through cards, net banking and UPI.      

The alliance is formed with the aim to increase the cybersecurity awareness amongst Indian internet users and encourage them to practice cyber safety in the wake of growing cyberthreats. 

Cyberthreats are constantly evolving and cybercriminals in the past 2 years have been actively targeting internet users in India. In the first quarter of 2021 Kaspersky products detected 37,650,472 different Internet-borne cyberthreats. Mobile users are also at risk as cybercriminals are constantly targeting them for financial gains, as well as to obtain important private data. Mobile threats in India have drastically increased since 2019 and are becoming more targeted and sophisticated in nature. India ranked 7th amongst the countries attacked with Mobile Threats in 2020. 

The top mobile threats targeted at the smartphone users globally were, Adware which topped the list with 57% (3,254,387 detections).Talking about the other threats, the number of backdoors detected almost tripled from 28,889 in 2019 to 84,495 in 2020. The number of detected Android exploits increased seventeen fold, and the number of Trojan- Proxy threats had increased by twelve times. Kaspersky solutions detected 156,710installation packages for mobile banking Trojans in 2020, which is twice the number of attacks detected in 2019. However, a decline in ransomware trojans was witnessed as we found 20,708 installation packages for ransomware Trojans in 2020, a decrease of 3.5 times as compared to the previous year. 

Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky, said: “We’re very much looking forward to supporting Bharti Airtel, the leading global telecommunications company and one of the biggest mobile service providers, in its goal to protect their users, create a more secure internet, and build a safer digital world together with Kaspersky. I’m convinced that this partnership will further contribute to establishing Airtel as an innovational pioneer and a leader in its industry." 

Pradipt Kapoor, CIO, Bharti Airtel said: “As customer lifestyles become increasingly integrated with digital platforms, it becomes paramount for all of us to secure these journeys with the right solutions. Airtel is working round the clock to deliver a secure network experience through world-class infrastructure and partnerships. We are delighted to partner with Kaspersky and make their solutions easily accessible for Airtel customers, who can purchase and install these in a matter of minutes and enjoy complete peace of mind.”     

“Malicious apps, to spyware, mobile banking trojans, adware, phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, etc, are some of the most risky threats that a smartphone user has to be safe and secure from at all times. In a time when data privacy has become one of the most supreme criteria of our lives, smartphones become the greatest and most important source of our personal and sensitive data. Keeping this in mind, protecting our phones from the various online threats should be our highest priority. The first and the easiest step towards practicing cyber safety is by installing a reliable security solution to our devices. Increasing our cyber maturity and being aware of the constantly evolving threats is also the responsibility of an online user, in order to protect themselves from the nefarious cybercriminals”, said Mr. Dipesh Kaura, General Manager, Kaspersky (South Asia). 

Mr. Dipesh added, “Our association with Airtel is not only a strategic business partnership for us, but is also an important collaboration in order to increase cyber awareness amongst the growing number of smartphone users, who also may be potential targets of cybercriminals. With an affordable and accessible internet connection available today, we have opened our gates to a great digital future, and we have taken yet another step towards securing this digital future with the help of Airtel. We look forward to our association with them, and hope to instil an increased sense of cyber awareness amongst Indian users as much as possible”. 

Through this association with Airtel, Kaspersky looks forward to a positive reaction from the users, and hopes to encourage them to take a step forward towards securing themselves. Both the companies are trying to ensure instant security to the users and contribute towards making Digital India a lot more safe and secure. 

Consumers can now conveniently avail of Kaspersky Total Security solution on the Airtel Thanks app and move closer to achieving cybersecurity. 

TKM Registers 143% Growth In Domestic Wholesales During July 2021

* Clocks a total of 13105 units thereby registering a growth of 49% when compared to sales in the previous month in June 2021

Toyota Kirloskar Motor today announced that the company sold a total of 13,105 units in the month of July 2021, thereby registering a growth of 143% when compared to the domestic sales in the month of July 2020. The company also clocked a 49% growth in domestic sales when compared to sales made in June 2021. For reference, TKM had reported wholesales of 5386 units in the month of July 2020 and 8801 units in the month of June 2021.

Commenting on the monthly sales, Mr. V. Wiseline Sigamani, Associate General Manager (AGM), Sales and Strategic Marketing, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “July has been a good month for us as we have witnessed a significant surge in both demand as well as wholesales numbers, second month in a row. Our pending orders were already very encouraging since June and in July, our retail sales have also been promising thereby drastically bringing down the gap between wholesales and retail figures. The Innova Crysta and the Fortuner deserve a special mention here as both these models have significantly contributed to our total sales, thereby reiterating their segment leadership positioning in their respective segments. Even the Glanza and Urban Cruiser are doing consistently well month on month, especially owing to the need for personal mobility in the post Covid era.

We understand that such a surge in demand cannot be attributed to pent up demand alone, but also to the fact that there is a clear sign of positive momentum in the market. Having said that, some parts of the country are still under restrictions and once these restrictions are curbed, we hope that it will further aid demand as well as sales.  The company’s aim right now is to cater to pending orders of our customers as well as focus on vaccination of both our employees, their families as well as dealer & supplier staff, so as to be able to minimise the risk of infections in the future. Companywide, 97% of our employees have received their first dose of vaccination and we are in the process to complete vaccination for all our employees, including the ones ‘working from home”, concluded Mr. Sigamani.

Gen Z Indians Are Swiping Right On New Pals To Beat The Corona Blues: Tinder

* ‘New connections’, ‘fun hangouts’, and ‘friends within communities’ among top 5 reasons to swipe

* 90% of Gen Z Indians are using their dating apps to find new people or simply stay connected

* Virtual connections are here to stay; 47% of Indian singles say they feel more virtually creative today when compared to 2020

For over a year-and-a-half, the quarantine has left Gen Z Indians craving for a social life glo-up. Sure, we saw interesting trends to stay distracted. But, unfortunately, the Dalgona Coffee only took us so far. Tinder’s recent survey spills that every 1 out of 3 surveyed Gen Z Indian today feels lonely due to lack of social interactions (35%); and believes they’ve had to hit pause on their entire lives (34%).

But many young singletons are embracing the corona blues by getting onto their dating apps, hoping to simply socialise from the comfort of their couches. This Friendship Day, Tinder India highlights the Gen Z outlook towards making new connections when social swiping today.

Yeah romance is cool, but have you ever swiped right on a friend?

Tinder’s recent study reveals that 9 in 10 Gen Z Indians are using their dating apps to find new people or simply stay connected, without worrying about romantic potential. “No surprise,” some would say, what with the pandemic robbing us of the opportunity to socialise or go out and about. In addition to finding romantic relationships and long-term partners, Gen Z Indians cited ‘making new connections’, ‘finding friends in their communities’, and ‘looking for fun hangout buddies’ as the top reasons to swipe today. Goes to show that meeting new people is just as important as finding romantic partners for this audience.

Food, jest, and movies on the minds of young singletons

“Finding my kinda weird” has been a dating essential for as long as we know. In Tinder’s survey  profiles with these passions are most likely to pass the vibe-check this Friendship day. While 41% Indian singles are open to matching with ‘a food lover, just like me’, around 36% hope to match with ‘the one with a sense of humour’ ,  and 32% hope to meet ‘movie enthusiasts’.

Gen Z Indians feel more virtually creative in 2021, but are also making bucket lists for IRL moments with their connections

The lockdown blues have made one thing certain: virtual dates and meaningful connections made online are here to stay. With over a year of online dates and conversations, 47% of Indian singles say they feel more virtually creative today when compared to 2020. In fact, as per Tinder’s ‘Future of Dating report’*, 7 in 10 Gen Z Indians surveyed admitted it was easier to make connections online (68%), while also agreeing that meeting new people online was liberating (67%)*.

While virtual dates and connections are a part of life, as many as 3 in 5 Indian singletons surveyed are looking forward to dipping their toes back into IRL moments and their ideal IRL dating bucket lists now feature simple yet meaningful activities such as ‘walks in parks’ (37%), ‘cooking meals together’ (31%), and ‘outdoorsy activities’ (25%).

Data as per survey conducted by Tinder in June 2021, capturing responses from 400 individuals in India, aged 18-25 years old.

*Future of Dating Survey data comes from 2000 singles surveyed in India fielded between September and November 2020

Hero Motocorp Further Augments Its Global Business Operations In Mexico

* Offers A Wide Range Of Products For Customers Through An Extensive Distribution Network

In keeping with its aggressive expansion plans in its global business, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, has started retail sales in the key market of Mexico. 

The Company has introduced an extensive portfolio of products, including motorcycles and a scooter, thereby catering to the diverse segments of customers. These include popular motorcycles such as the Xpulse 200, Xpulse 200T, Hunk 190, Hunk 160R, Hunk 150, Eco 150 TR, Eco 150 Cargo, and Ignitor 125, and the Dash 125 scooter.

Sanjay Bhan, Head of Global Business, Hero MotoCorp, said, “This is an important development in our international business growth story. Mexico will be a key market for us in the future and this is the first step in this direction. The range of products that we have introduced here should excite and cater to a wide segment of customers.”

The product portfolio will be available across the country through the retail arm of the distributor, agencies and dealers, and will have attractive financing options. There will also be a wide network of service centers spread throughout the country. The products will be available with a warranty of three years or 30,000 kilometers.

Hero MotoCorp has a renewed Global Business strategy of R4 - Revitalize, Recalibrate, Revive and Revolutionize. With this strategy the Company has significantly enhanced its global operations both in terms of volumes and presence.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hero MotoCorp registered its highest-ever monthly dispatch to global markets in March 2021. Carrying forward the positive momentum, it has witnessed growth in the current financial year (FY’22) too.

Sify Reports Revenues Of INR 6451 Million For First Quarter Of FY 2021-22

* EBITDA for the Quarter stood at INR 1454 Million

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:

· Revenue for the quarter was INR 6451 Million, a growth of 23% over the same quarter last year.

· EBITDA for the quarter was INR 1454 Million, an increase of 26% over the same quarter last year.

· Profit before tax for the quarter was INR 440 Million, an increase of 65% over the same quarter last year.

· Profit after tax for the quarter was INR 329 Million, an increase of 91% over the same quarter last year.

· CAPEX during the quarter was INR 917 Million.

· Cash balance at the end of the quarter was INR 3515 Million.

MANAGEMENT COMMENTARY

Mr. Raju Vegesna, Chairman, said, “Lessons learned from dealing with the first wave of the pandemic have stood us in good stead as we continue to provide mission-critical ICT services in a challenging environment.  India has quickly bounced back from the second with Enterprises slowly returning to at-office business. Mid-sized business, which bore the brunt of the pandemic, are becoming more active in the market for automation solutions. Sify is proud to have played a small role in helping Indian Enterprises to sustain their operations and become more resilient.

This year, critical requirements like the National data policy and continued remote access will push security to the top of the priority list for Enterprises. This is also expected to accelerate the interest in data center space on a pan-India basis.”

Mr. Kamal Nath, CEO, said, “With industries and people steadily returning to work, digitalization decisions are being accelerated. The trends of the previous quarters continue to be relevant, resulting in sustained interest in our Cloud@core portfolio of services. Work from anywhere, migration to hosted DC and hybrid cloud platform, strengthening of disaster recovery plans to enable business continuity, application modernization – all these market trends are reflected in our current customer engagements.

Data Center colocation business is one of the fastest growing segments in India. It is led by Hyperscale Cloud Providers, followed by Enterprises and supporting telecommunications players. We expect this to drive our future growth, alongside Cloud, Network and Digital services business”.

Mr. M P Vijay Kumar, CFO, said, “The operating performance has been stable. We continue to invest in expansion of our data centers, network connectivity and digital services. We will stay focused on our cost efficiency and liquidity management, given that the economic recovery is still regaining lost ground due to the pandemic. 

Cash balance at the end of the quarter was INR 3515 Million”.

GROWTH DRIVERS

The pandemic has accelerated the primary growth drivers in the market for cloud adoption, led by digital initiatives and transformation. This trend is triggering movement of workloads from on-premise Data Centers to Hyperscale Public Cloud and hosted Private Cloud in varied degrees, based on the digital objectives of Enterprises. This results in transformation of the traditional network architecture and transformation at the edge which connects the end user. The need for digital services like analytics, data lakes, IoT, etc are shifting the focus toward adoption of Hybrid and Public Cloud vs Private Cloud. Collectively, these trends are generating opportunities for full scale Cloud, DC and Network service providers with digital services skills.

KEY WINS

A summary of the major categories of customers who are signing up with Sify include:

Customers choosing Sify for migration of their on-premise data center to multi-cloud platforms like Cloudinfinit, AWS, Azure and Oracle. They also often entrust Sify with management and security.

Customers choosing Sify as their DC Hosting partner as they embrace hybrid cloud strategy.

Customers choosing Sify as their multi-service Digital Transformation partner.

Customers choosing Sify as their Network Transformation and Management partner as they migrate to Cloud-ready networks. 

A consolidated summary of the key highlights during the quarter is noted below:

Data Center centric IT Services highlights include:

A subsidiary of one of the oldest Indian MNCs contracted to migrate their on-premise DC to AWS Cloud, while another subsidiary contracted to migrate their SAP Workload to AWS Cloud.

A couple of startups, among them a gaming company and an OTT platform provider, signed up to migrate to a global CDN platform.

A nodal agency implementing payment related activities for the Central bank migrated to Sify Data Center.

A major paint manufacturer and a digital transformation startup focused on the financial sector contracted to move from their on-premise DC to Sify DC.

One of the country’s largest Private banks and a prominent Public sector finance institution contracted Sify to commission Private Cloud at their Data Center.

A State data center contracted to augment their Data Center and deploy non-IT services.

A Public sector bank migrated to Sify DC as part of their consolidation and expansion exercise.

Sify’s Cloud-based backend supply chain integration platform signed a prominent player in retail and another in healthcare, an online education platform, a financial services company and multiple non-banking financial companies.

Multi-year contracts for building and augmenting Security Operations Center came from two Public Services Insurance majors.

A Regional bank signed up to implement Digital certification for the universal ID and a private bank signed up for managed services.

Sify was accredited as an Independent Software Vendor for WhatsApp for Business.

Network centric services highlights include:

Sify added 53 new Network Services customers in the quarter.

One of the largest Private banks in the country contracted to connect their network to Near line Disaster Recovery.

A Private scheduled bank signed up for network consolidation and a large cooperative bank signed up to connect a few hundred locations.

A global retail major and a generic pharmaceutical multinational contracted with Sify for managed and secure SD-WAN services.

A Fortune Global 500 consulting major signed up for Cloud based collaboration services.

One of the country’s oldest MNCs contracted Sify to commission their Network Operation Center.

A social media major and a global OTT platform signed up for network nodes and connectivity expansion.

Sify invested in upgradation of the core backbone to 100G to support the next phase of growth and also in fresh capacity in key cities.

90+ My Tuition App Raises USD 5 Million In Series A Funding

* Edtech grew by 1.5 times in customer base, 3.75 times in monthly addition of customers

90+ My Tuition App, India’s best in-class Tuition App helping students to achieve exceptional grades through digital visualization announced that it has raised USD 5 million in Series A funding from Directors of Pearl Investment LLC , Dubai based business group members. The company will deploy the funds raised in market expansion, brand building, and product development across key cities in India.

“The growth potential for online primary and secondary education is projected to grow at a CAGR of 60 percent at USD 773 million by 2021 according to Online Education in India: 2021 report by KPMG. The growth has been driven by changing consumer needs wherein students are looking for interactive content at affordable prices. This change in consumer need has been fueled by access to smartphones and increasing internet penetration, especially in Tier 2-3 cities of India. Our aim is to digitize tutoring, for that we are providing focused textbook oriented animated video content. Students generally are afraid of scoring in Math and Science but we want to change this perception by making these subjects easy to learn using animated content that imprints on the young minds,” said Co-Founder and Vice President of 90+ My Tuitions App, Vingish Vijay.

“We are in a midst of an Edtech revolution and the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technology in education overnight. We are excited to partner 90+ My Tuition App’s journey and help them bring about transformative change in how students learn,” said Azmal Jaleel, CEO at Pearl Investment LLC

90+ My Tuition app provides digital tuition to 5th-12th standard students of state education boards. Learners get to learn concepts of Math and Science using animated content and can assess their learnings through self-verifiable evaluation tests available on the app. The app also helps parents track the progress of their child using the ‘Parents Corner’ feature available on the app. Students can download videos and play later without the use of internet.

About 90+ My Tuition App

90+ My Tuition App is India’s best in-class Tuition App helping students to achieve exceptional grades through digital visualization in an affordable way. With start of lean operations in 2018 and launch of classes in May 2020, the App has touched the lives of more than 4.5 lakh student within a year.

With the vision of “Educating India Affordably”, 90+ My Tuition App provides most simple and accessible content pedagogy for state boards and NCERT curriculum for 5th to 12th division. With an 86% program completion rate, robust tech platform, outcome-based learning approach, state board and NCERT curriculum, testament of students with exceptional grades, strong mentorship, 90+ My Tuition App has established its position as a substitute for physical tuitions in the Indian education system.

90+ has recently launched its second premium product 90+ Top Rank for students aspiring for competitive examinations. Its first initiative is coaching for PSC aspiring students in Kerala. The upcoming modules will be for training SSC and Railway aspirants. 

Garware Hi-Tech Films Continues Strong Growth Trajectory In Q1FY22, Reporting 80% Growth On YOY With Revenue Of ₹305.60 Cr

* Another stellar bottom-line Performance as Q1FY22 PAT stands at ₹35.83Cr, reporting 163% YoY growth

Garware Hi-Tech Films Ltd. (formerly Garware Polyester Ltd.), the flagship company of the Garware Group and a leading player in specialty Polyester Films in India declared its results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 on July 29th,2021.

Highlights for Consolidated Q1 FY22 (April-June’21)

Revenue at ₹ 305.60 Cr (vs ₹ 169.44 Cr in Q1 FY’21 up by 80 % on YoY basis)

Exports contributed ₹ 249.06 Cr (vs ₹ 141.35 in Q1FY21) up by ₹ 76 % on YoY basis

Net Profit for the period after tax at ₹ 35.83 Cr (vs ₹ 13.61 Cr in Q1 FY21) up by 163 % on YoY basis

Earning per share (EPS) at ₹ 15.42, up by 163 % over the corresponding quarter in FY 2020-21

Unique Products, Global Patents, Focus on Value Added Films, Higher Share of Consumer Products, Focus on Export Markets, etc. have further improved the company's financial results. GHFL announced a Capex of ₹135cr for the new lamination window film line to materialize the company’s aim to expand the window films category across safety, architectural and front window screen glasses.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, & Amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter stood at ₹ 65.86 Cr (vs ₹ 30.88 Cr in Q1 FY21) reflecting a 21.56% EBITDA margin. EBITDA margin up by 334 Bps on YoY basis due to increase in revenue including specialty products.  

“GHFL’s performance in the first quarter was robust across all financial metrics,” said Ms. Monika Garware, Vice-Chairperson, and Jt. Managing Director, GHFL. “As the markets are opening up, we hope to maintain the growth momentum. We continue to put efforts into growing our revenue share through exports, which witnessed a growth of 76%% in Q1 on a YoY basis. Consistent improvement in our operating metrics reflects our relentless rigor of execution & our increased focus towards niche high margin specialty products, which has resulted in PBDT Margin reaching 20.1% in Q1FY22.  The outlook for the rest of the year is promising with an anticipated incremental revenue contribution from our newly launched PPF line. Given the current visibility and a promising demand landscape, we foresee better times for us going ahead helping us realize our growth aspirations.”

About Garware Hi-Tech Films Limited

Garware Hi-Tech Films Limited (formerly Garware Polyester Ltd.) (BOM: 500655) is the flagship company of the Garware Group co-promoted by the Chairman and Managing Director Mr. S.B. Garware in the year 1957 along with the Founder-Chairman Late Padmabhushan Dr. Bhalchandra Garware. The company makes Hi-Tech specialty performance polyester Films in India and has its State-of-the-Art manufacturing facilities at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, India. GHFL is the pioneer and one of the largest exporter of Polyester Films in India and the winner of top exporters’ awards for continuous 33 years from PLEXCOUNCIL.

Garware Hi-Tech Films Ltd.’s (GHFL) manufacturing facility in Aurangabad is vertically integrated, from manufacture of polyester chips to the finished product of polyester films with four independent manufacturing lines and a business that spans the globe.  Polyester Films are used for variety of end-applications such as PET Shrink films for Label application, Low Oligomer PET films for insulation of hermetically sealed compressors motors, Electric motor insulation and cable insulation, sequin application films, TV and LCD screen application, Packaging applications etc. GHFL is also the market Leader and India’s only manufacturer of Sun Control window films for Building, safety and auto applications. The company has facilities for manufacturing various coated products and co-extruded products for specialty application, apart from its capacity to design the recipe for raw material of PET films to suit the end application of the product.  The company has also developed surface-protection films and Paint Protection Films designed to deliver the highest level of protection and impact resistance which has applications in many sectors.  

Red Hat, Nutanix Announce Strategic Partnership To Deliver Open Hybrid Multicloud Solutions

* Red Hat OpenShift becomes the preferred enterprise full stack Kubernetes Solution on Nutanix Cloud Platform with AHV

* Collaboration enables customers to more easily build, scale and manage containerized and virtualized cloud-native applications

Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, and Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, today announced a strategic partnership to enable a powerful solution for building, scaling and managing cloud-native applications on-premises and in hybrid clouds. The collaboration brings together industry-leading technologies, enabling installation, interoperability and management of Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Nutanix Cloud Platform, including Nutanix AOS and AHV.

Key elements of the partnership include:

Red Hat OpenShift as the preferred choice for enterprise full stack Kubernetes on Nutanix Cloud Platform. Customers looking to run Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift on hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) will be able to use an industry-leading cloud platform from Nutanix, which includes both Nutanix AOS and AHV.

Nutanix Cloud Platform is now a preferred choice for HCI for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift. This will enable customers to deploy virtualized and containerized workloads on a hyperconverged infrastructure, building on the combined benefits of Red Hat’s open hybrid cloud technologies and Nutanix’s hyperconverged offerings.

Nutanix AHV is now a Red Hat certified hypervisor enabling full support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenShift on Nutanix Cloud Platform. The certification of the Nutanix built-in hypervisor, AHV, for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and OpenShift offers enterprise customers a simplified full stack solution for their containerized and virtualized cloud-native applications. This certification delivers Red Hat customers additional choice in hypervisor deployments, especially as many organizations explore innovative, modern virtualization technologies.

Joint engineering roadmap providing robust interoperability. Red Hat and Nutanix will focus on delivering continuous testing of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift with Nutanix AHV to provide robust interoperability. The companies will also collaborate to deliver more timely support by aligning product roadmaps.

More seamless support experience providing faster resolution times for joint customers. Customers will be able to contact either company with support issues. The two companies are collaborating to deliver a best-in-class support experience for the interoperability of the certified products.

Because of its distributed architecture, Nutanix Cloud Platform delivers an IT environment that is highly scalable and resilient, and well-suited for enterprise deployments of Red Hat OpenShift at scale. The platform also includes fully integrated unified storage, addressing many tough challenges operators routinely face in configuring and managing storage for stateful containers.

Supporting Quotes

Rajiv Ramaswami, president and CEO, Nutanix

“This partnership brings together Red Hat’s industry-leading cloud native solutions with the simplicity, flexibility and resilience of the Nutanix Cloud Platform. Together, our solutions provide customers with a full stack platform to build, scale, and manage containerized and virtualized cloud native applications in a hybrid multicloud environment.”

Paul Cormier, president and CEO, Red Hat

“We have a vision to enable open hybrid clouds, where customers have choice and flexibility. Our partnership with Nutanix brings a leading hyperconverged offering to the open hybrid cloud, driving greater choice for our joint customers in how they deploy their containerized workloads and backed by a joint support experience.”

Eric Sheppard, research vice president, IDC

“Organizations around the world are deploying an increasingly diverse mix of modern and cloud-native workloads. This Red Hat and Nutanix partnership, and in particular the collaborative support agreement between the two companies, helps to bring virtualized applications and Red Hat OpenShift-based containerized workloads running on Nutanix’s Cloud Platform together in a way that will benefit exactly these types of organizations and help to drive increased simplicity, agility, scalability within today's complex hybrid-cloud world.”

Ritch Houdek, senior vice president, Technology, Kohl’s

“We are thrilled to see two of our technology partners announce this strategic relationship. As we manage the complexities of hybrid cloud, we believe this relationship will unlock new hosting and deployment options for VM and container-based workloads. These new options will support our goals of being fast, efficient and friction-free as we deliver new experiences to our customers.”

Gautam Roy, chief technology officer, Unum

“The insurance industry is in the midst of a transformation to rapidly adapt to customers’ demands,” said. “We protect 39 million lives around the world with our products and services. As we work to modernize our IT infrastructure to support a seamless digital experience for our customers and employees, Nutanix and Red Hat help simplify our technology stack and advance our cloud transformation. ”

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver reliable and high-performing Linux, hybrid cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Red Hat helps customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize on our industry-leading operating system, and automate, secure, and manage complex environments. Award-winning support, training, and consulting services make Red Hat a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500. As a strategic partner to cloud providers, system integrators, application vendors, customers, and open source communities, Red Hat can help organizations prepare for the digital future.

About Nutanix

Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software and a pioneer in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions, making clouds invisible, freeing customers to focus on their business outcomes. Organizations around the world use Nutanix software to leverage a single platform to manage any app at any location for their hybrid multicloud environments. Learn more at www.nutanix.com or follow us on social media @nutanix

Red Hat’s Forward Looking Statement Language

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are based on the company’s current assumptions regarding future business and financial performance.  These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially.  Any forward-looking statement in this press release speaks only as of the date on which it is made.  Except as required by law, the company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Red Hat logo and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

Dealer Viability Is The Biggest Concern Of Auto Dealers Across All Segments Of The Industry

* Kia in 4W Mass, BMW & Mercedes in 4W Luxury, HMSI in 2-Wheeler, Bajaj in 3-Wheeler and VECV-Eicher in Commercial Vehicles hold Pole positions 

Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the apex national body of Automobile Retail in India today announced the outcome of Dealer Satisfaction Study 2021 results which was undertaken in association with PremonAsia, a consumer-insight led consulting & advisory firm based out of Singapore. 

Commenting on the release of the study, FADA President, Mr. Vinkesh Gulati said, “FADA’s Dealer Satisfaction Study 2021 was initiated to examine the health of the relationship between Auto Dealers and their OEMs. The survey was undertaken to reflect the prevailing issues faced by the Auto Retail Sector at large, thus making it the true Voice of the Dealers. OEMs need to be cognizant of the evolving dealer expectations. While issues of concern such as dealership viability, support on sales and after-sales, openness to dealer inputs in decision making and designing long term policies are fundamental needs, there are clear signs that dealers expect their respective OEMs to go beyond. For example, there is a need to have technology solutions and analytics to intelligently mine transaction data for business gains. Also, creating a digital platform to measure the effectiveness of marketing expenditure is reflective of a changing mindset.” 

FADA Secretary & Chairman DSS-21, Mr C S Vigneshwar said, “I am thrilled to say that FADA took more than 2,000 samples, the highest ever number which has been used for such a study in India. The survey being filled entirely by the Dealer Principals, or their CEOs is a testimony of its accuracy and coverage of all aspects of dealerships in detail. DSS 2021 also has an equal distribution of samples from all 4 zones coupled with the right urban and rural mix. I am thankful to the entire dealership fraternity for devoting a sizable time. I am also grateful to all OEMs who persuaded their dealers to do the needful.” 

PremonAsia Founder and CEO, Mr Rajeev Lochan said, “The industry average satisfaction score of 657 indicates that OEMs have a significant headroom to improve in meeting the needs of their channel partners, particularly for the 2-wheeler and commercial vehicle segments. Kia Motors’ performance is commendable with segment and industry leading ratings across all the factors. Not only are Kia’s dealers satisfied on most of the hygiene needs, but they are also truly delighted with the product and their business viability.” 

At the Overall Industry Level, Dealers attach high importance of 27% on Business Viability, making it a highly critical aspect where OEMs need to exhibit greater sensitivity, particularly since the current satisfaction level on this factor is weak.  

On the positive side, dealers feel that products, both in terms of quality and range by and large meets the expectations of end customers’ current needs though its evolution in the future will require more frequent refresh. While Dealers of mass market PV remained most satisfied with an average of 720 on a scale of 1,000, 3-Wheeler segment scored the lowest, 610 on a scale of 1,000 amongst all segments.  

In 4-Wheeler Mass Market Segment, while Dealers raised their concerns about OEMs not being receptive to their inputs for keeping viable and long term policy in mind, they also said that OEMs provide adequate training for frontline sales & service staff thus keeping the end customer satisfied. 

In 4-Wheeler Luxury Segment, the study found that training cost sharing arrangement by the OEMs was unsatisfactory and OEMs ability to fulfil vehicle order in correct specifications and quantity coupled with non-flexibility to choose workshop equipment’s were cause of major concerns. The study also found that extended warranty policy & customer handling process were at satisfactory levels. 

In 2-Wheeler Segment, the biggest concern which the study highlighted was OEMs were not open to Dealer inputs in terms of improving dealership cost structure from viability and policy point of view. Similarly, there was no support from OEMs on buy back of dead stocks of parts. On the positive side, the study found that OEMs were fair in acceptance and rejection of warranty claims. 

The study for Commercial Vehicle Segment showed that while OEMs need to handhold dealers in improving sales efficiency & controlling cost of sales, they were quite happy about the overall product range and quality of fully built vehicles. Dealers were also satisfied as they could directly communicate with OEMs senior leadership team for discussing business viability and long term policies. 

Dvara KGFS Strengthens Its Digital Platform For Rural Customers

Dvara Kshetriya Gramin Financial Services Pvt Ltd (Dvara KGFS), an NBFC operating in remote rural areas of India, has announced the acquisition of ‘TransactNow’ digital platform from Transact Nexus Tech Private Limited, an early phase tech start up providing digital financial services to the unbanked & underserved population of India through an acquihire mode.  With this, Dvara KGFS is starting a new Channel – KGFS Digital which will foray into the agent driven business model providing a vast array of financial services to rural customers through Agent Touch Points located in close proximity to the villages in line with the Omni-Channel Strategy envisaged by Dvara KGFS.  

The Covid-19 pandemic has played a major role in Dvara KGFS’s operations to adapt and evolve digital technology based on its observations in customer behavioural patterns. As per IMAI, India has more rural internet users than urban users and thus this upgradation is to ensure that banking process are made easy and simple for the people in the rural areas with technology.  

Dvara KGFS intends to on-board over 40,000 retail agents across the operating districts in the next 3 years who would be using its agent app KGFS Mitra, to  offer a wide array of services  including Mobile & DTH Recharge, payment of Water, Electricity & LPG Bills, Bus & Train Ticket Booking, Domestic Money Transfer Cash withdrawals  & Balance Enquiry using AEPS (Aadhar Enabled Payment System) and many more apart from customer being able to avail & service Dvara KGFS offerings- loan, savings, insurance & investment products through these Digital Agents. The Digital Agents are typically small kirana store owners located in the middle of the village & this solution would act as an additional income source to these small retailers. The application will soon be added with features to accept digital payments using UPI & Aadhar Pay so that merchants are able accept all their payments through digital mode.  

Mr. Joby C O, CEO, Dvara KGFS comments, “We are excited about the acquisition of TransactNow. The team and technology will help us to scale up our Digital channel - a network of agents offering all our products with great amount of transaction convenience to customers in the close proximity of their village. We are hoping that this initiative would help customers avoid travel during the pandemic and avail all financial services in their village. KGFS Digital, the new channel led by Mr. Sathishkumar, will start scaling up the agent network very soon.” 

Commenting on the development, Mr. LVLN Murty, Deputy CEO, Dvara KGFS said, “We are happy to see the kirana store owners become our digital agents for the same. They have eased out operations by helping us with the execution at the ground level & becoming our extended hands at the village level and we are able to truly provide door step services to our customers. The response at which rural people are adapting to these digital transformations is commendable and this progress gives us hope that even the rural India is heading towards a technology driven section of the society.” 

Mr. Sathiskumar, CEO, Transact Nexus Tech Pvt Ltd commented, “There is a huge potential for financial services in rural India which remains untapped because of the reach. We decided to help Dvara KGFS to tap that by developing a software which will help the rural population carry out all their financial transactions on digital mode through the agent network. Dvara KGFS’s great rural reach will help millions of people to carry out financial transactions now digitally in close proximity through the agent network.”  

Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund Launches ‘Mahindra Manulife Flexi Cap Yojana,’ For Investors Seeking Long-Term Capital Appreciation

*   Selection of around 500+ investible ideas from the domestic stock-scape studied by team of  analysts

*    Active allocation across market capitalization based on  macro-economic indicators, policy environment, valuations,  market conditions

*   Bottom up stock selection across market caps. Active portfolio management for suitable weights and appropriate  entry/exit levels

Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited, a 51:49 joint venture of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (MMFSL) and Manulife Investment Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (‘Manulife Singapore’) launches ‘Mahindra Manulife Flexi cap Yojana,’ an open ended dynamic equity scheme investing across large cap, mid cap, small cap stocks. The scheme is suitable for investors who are looking for long term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of equity and equity -related securities across market capitalization.

Mahindra Manulife Flexi cap Yojana (‘Scheme’) will have portfolio allocation based on top-down approach and bottom-up stock selection. The fund will have flexibility to invest in opportunities across market capitalization, and aim to construct the portfolio with a mix of core investment opportunities (medium to long term compounding stories), and tactical investment opportunities (for eg. cyclical sector, commodities cycle, etc.). The flexi cap fund will have minimum 65% investment in equity and equity related instruments.

Mr. Ashutosh Bishnoi, MD and CEO, Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited, said “Indian equity markets have sustained their rally upwards notwithstanding the fierce second wave of covid-19 pandemic. The benchmark indices have almost doubled since the declaration of nationwide lockdown at the end of March 2020. However, it’s very likely that equity markets may remain volatile owing to various uncertainties prevailing across global economies. The flexi cap funds are capable of delivering steady returns across market cycles, and are appreciated for their diversified approach that ensures balance between risk and return. The flexibility to switch, if and when needed to mid and small-caps, which are better positioned to capture any potential upside from expected economic recovery make these funds well acclaimed.”

The New Fund Offer opens on July 30, 2021 and closes on August 13, 2021. The scheme will reopen for continuous sale and repurchase from 25th August, 2021.

Mahindra Manulife Flexi cap Yojana would invest 65% in equity and equity related securities, and will have an option to invest upto 35% in debt and money market securities including tri-party repo, reverse repo, and upto 10% in units issued by REITs & InvITs.

Mr. Krishna Sanghavi, Chief Investment Officer – Equity, Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited said “The Mahindra Manulife Flexi cap Yojana is ideal for investors looking for an agile diversified fund. The fund will have robust GCMV process, an internal investment framework used for determining fair valuation of stocks which further helps in estimating valuation gaps (fair valuation vis a vis market price), if any. Opportunities are identified based on the identification of Catalysts that helps in bridging the valuation gaps by re-rating of the stocks.”

This product is suitable for investors who are seeking:

·         Long term capital appreciation

·         Investment in diversified portfolio of equity & equity related instruments across market capitalization.

* Investors should consult their financial advisers if in doubt about whether the product is suitable for them.

Strong Financial Performance For Union Bank of India In Quarter Ended June 30, 2021

The Board of Directors of Union Bank of India today approved the accounts of the Bank for the Quarter ended June 30, 2021. 

Key Highlights in Q1FY22 

Strong Financial Performance: 

Operating Profit and Net Profit of the Bank improved by 31.45% and 254.93% respectively on YoY basis during Q1FY22. Net interest income of Bank grew by 9.53% on YoY basis during Q1FY22. 

2.    Bank continues to demonstrate a strong liability franchise 

The CASA deposits have increased by 11.23% YoY. We now have a total deposits base at Rs.9,08,528 Crores as at the end of Q1FY22. CASA ratio improved to 36.39% from 33.30% on YoY basis. 

3.    Credit in Retail, Agri and MSME (RAM) segments grown by 8.92% on YoY basis 

Bank registered 10.61% growth in Retail, 12.70% growth in Agriculture and 3.33% growth  in MSME advances on YoY basis. RAM advances as % of Domestic Advances improved by 451 bps on YoY basis to 56.08%. 

4.    Reduction in NPA:- 

Gross NPA (%) reduced by 135 bps on YoY basis to 13.60% and Net NPA(%) reduced by 28 bps on YoY basis to 4.69% as on 30.06.2021. Credit Cost reduced by 135 bps QoQ for Q1FY22. 

5.    Cost to Income ratio of the Bank improved by 320 bps on YoY basis 

Cost to Income ratio of the Bank improved by 320 bps on YoY basis from 48.71% during Q1FY21 to 46.51% during Q1FY22. 

6.    Improved capital ratios 

CRAR improved from 11.62% as on 30.06.2020 to 13.32% as on 30.06.2021. CET1 ratio improved to 9.77% as on 30.06.2021 from 8.40% as on 30.06.2020. 

Tech Mahindra Revenues And EBIT Beats Estimates In Apr-Jun ’21 Quarter Results

 Actual vs. expectations

Revenues and EBITM both were ahead of our and consensus estimates.

Likely stock reaction

Positive

Key positives – Broad based growth, strong deal intake (USD815mn), EBITM beat.

Result Summary

·         TechM reported revenues of USD1.38bn, up 4.1%/14.6% QoQ/YoY (CC 3.9%/10.8% QoQ/YoY), ahead of our expectations of USD1.36bn. Revenues from Communications and Enterprise segments grew 2.9% QoQ CC and 4.5% QoQ CC respectively.

·         EBITM fell 80bps sequentially to 15.2% and came 120bps ahead of our expectations on account of lower depreciation and SG&A costs.

·         Adj. Profits at Rs13.85bn (25.1% QoQ, 39.2% YoY) was 18% ahead of our estimates on account of revenue and EBIT beat, higher other income and lower taxes.

·         Net new deal intake was robust at USD815mn (Communications – USD352mn and Enterprise – USD 463mn).

Relative performance compared to Tier-1 cos in Jun’21:

·         Revenue growth - TCS US$ 6.15bn, 2.4% CC QoQ; Infosys US$3.78bn, 4.8% CC QoQ; Wipro US$2.4bn, 12% QoQ CC (organic 4.9%); HCLT US$2.72bn, 0.7% QoQ CC.

·         EBITM - TCS Adj. EBITM fell 130bps QoQ to 25.5%; Infosys Adj EBITM declined 80bps QoQ to 23.7%, Wipro IT services EBITM declined 320bps QoQ to 17.8%; HCLT adjusted EBITM declined 80bps QoQ to 19.6%.

Growth by Verticals

·         Telecom: 12.6%YoY ( V/s -0.2% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

·         Manufacturing: 12.2%YoY ( V/s -5.2% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

·         Retail, transport & logisitcs:  16.4%YoY  ( V/s 6.2% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

·         Technology, media & entertainment: 22.7% YoY( V/s 27.8% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

·         Banking, financial services & insurance: 19.7% YoY (V/s 10.3% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

·         Others: 11.1% YoY (V/s -3.4% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

Growth by Geographies

·         US: 8.4%YoY ( V/s -2.1% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

·         Europe: 20.5%YoY ( V/s 2.7% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

·         ROW: 20.7% YoY( V/s 11.5% YoY in Mar’21 quarter)

Manpower details

Total Headcount: 126,263 up 4.3% QoQ

LTM Attrition: 17%, V/s 13% in Mar’21 quarter and 12% in Dec’20 quarter.

Manipal Institute Of Virology, Kasturba Medical College Created Awareness On World Hepatitis Day – Attended Over 300 Participants

Manipal Institute of Virology (MIV) organized an online international webinar on World Hepatitis Day, in the honour of Dr. Baruch Blumberg, a Nobel Laureate, well known for his exceptional work on the discovery of Hepatitis B virus and vaccine, jointly with Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Department of Immunohematology and Blood Transfusion of Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal on 28th July and the webinar was attended by more than 300 participants across the globe.

 The webinar featured expert talks from scientists across the globe. Dr. Sharath Kumar Rao, Dean and Professor, KMC, MAHE, Manipal stated that “this day marks the celebration of the progress made against hepatitis”. The Chief Guest of the webinar, Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M.D. Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor, MAHE inaugurated the session and addressed the participants emphasizing this year’s theme, “Hepatitis Can't-Wait!”. He also mentioned the importance of awareness programs and webinars in sending a message against Hepatitis during this pandemic period and the global objective of eliminating Hepatitis by 2030. 

Dr. Chiranjay Mukhopadhyay, Director, MIV gave a brief overview of the achievements of MIV and KMC in quality research. He also spoke about the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of quality-assured serological tests, the dearth of low-cost virological in-vitro diagnostics, and limited facilities for testing hepatitis.

 Dr. Shiran Shetty, Professor, and Head of, Department of Gastroenterology, KMC, MAHE, Manipal intrigued the crowd with ‘Case capsules on Hepatitis-B related liver diseases. Dr. Shetty enlightened the participants about the mitigation of Hepatitis A and D viral infections with equitable emphasis on sanitation practices. He explained the phases of chronic Hepatitis B infections, the complications like cirrhosis associated with chronic HCV infections, and the dynamicity of hepatotropic infections. He spoke about how surveillance and monitoring are indispensable for keeping these infections in check. 

Dr. Pradip Devhare, Assistant Professor, MIV, MAHE, Manipal, presented an elaborative overview about ‘COVID-19 and Liver disease’. He started off by giving statistical data showing liver disease causes 2 million deaths/year worldwide, out of which 1 million deaths are due to liver cirrhosis and the remaining deaths are due to viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. India accounts for 1/5th (18.3%) of all cirrhosis deaths globally. Chronic injury to the liver may be due to viral infection, alcohol consumption, obesity, drug-induced injuries, etc. He discussed the hepato-tropism of SARS-CoV-2 and the potential mechanisms of COVID-19 associated liver injury based on clinical and experimental data. 

Dr. Devhare presented some case studies where the mortality rates of COVID-19 infected patients with Chronic Liver Disease (CLD) were compared with that of patients without CLD. Case reports where Hepatitis B virus reactivation was observed after the administration of immunomodulatory drugs were also discussed. He expressed concern that due to the pandemic and lockdown restrictions the surveillance of CLD patients has been reduced and that the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines must be studied in patients with CLDs. He concluded that “according to mathematical models, a 1-year delay of Hepatitis C treatment administration may yield a mortality up to 44,800 because of hepatocellular carcinoma and 72,300 liver-related deaths”. 

Dr. Shyamasundaran Kottilil, Professor of Medicine and Co-director, Institute of Human Virology (IHV), University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA, presented a detailed ‘Historical perspective of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)’, with milestones such as the first description of non-A and non B hepatitis in 1975, followed by the first confirmation of transmissible agent in non-A, non-B hepatitis in 1978; the first report of treatment with interferon-α in 1986; discovery, identification and isolation of HCV and antibody in 1989 by Alter and Houghton; cloning of infectious HCV in 1997; to the awarding of Nobel prize to Harvey Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles Rice in 2020 for their work on Hepatitis C. Dr. Kottilil explained the progression of HCV in hepatocytes, its mechanism of escaping the immune system, and how it exists as quasispecies.

 “Hepatitis C is a major prevalent disease and 1% of the global population is at risk. It is the major cause for liver transplant in patients”, quoted Dr. Kottilil. He emphasized that “Hepatitis C is curable and can be treated even after reinfection by Directly Activating Antivirals (DAA) for viral clearance”. The highly interactive webinar was concluded by Dr. Piya Paul Mudgal, Associate Professor, MIV, MAHE, Manipal which was attended by 300 participants across the globe.

The New OPPO Reno6 5G Goes On Sale: India’s First Phone With MediaTek 900 Chipset

 

·   Comes with OPPO’s exclusive Reno Glow design and five-layer gradient process which gives it a shimmery look

·    The device boats of Industry-first cinematic Bokeh Flare Portrait Video, AI Highlight Video, OPPO's exclusive Reno Glow design, ColorOS 11.3, 4300mAh battery with 65W SuperVOOC 2.0

·    OPPO Reno6 5G will be available today onward, at a retail price of INR 29,990

After the successful launch of the Reno6 Pro 5G and the Reno6 5G on 14th  July, OPPO, the leading global smart device brand, announces the sale of OPPO Reno6 5G, starting today on Flipkart and mainline retailers.

In line with Reno’s legacy of industry-first customer-centric technology innovations, the OPPO Reno6 5G is an all-rounder superphone that features India’s first MediaTek Dimensity 900 chipset with 8GB RAM, 128GB ROM and support for internal RAM expansion by OPPO.

Bundled with some exciting offers the OPPO Reno6 5G will come in two dazzling colour variants Aurora and Stellar Black. The OPPO Reno6 5G will be available for INR 29,990 on Flipkart along with attractive offers, with the first sale starting today.

The Reno6 5G is a must-buy for video creators this season, packing in the industry-first Bokeh Flare Portrait Video, a cinematic Bokeh Flare Effect that captures professional-grade videos, along with superlative imaging capabilities and editing tools that makes the phone your own mini personal studio.

The new Reno flagship features OPPO’s exclusive Reno Glow design and five-layer gradient process which gives it a stunning shimmery look. The unique AG glass process makes the smartphone fingerprint-resistant while providing a matt in-hand feel. The Aurora colour of the phone boasts a diamond spectrum design that reflects different colours when viewed from different angles. The sleek and stunning performance powerhouse is just 7.59mm thin and weighs only 182g while including 65W SuperVOOC 2.0, which can charge its powerful 4300mAh battery to 100% in about 28 minutes.

The smartphone comes with OPPO’s ColorOS 11.3, equipped with productivity-improving features such as the System Booster, Freeform Screenshots along with some other key features for a seamless experience.  The phone is also equipped with a built-in app, O Relax, containing a suite of soothing sounds to calm your mind.

OFFERS

The new OPPO Reno6 5G will be available with attractive schemes and offers. Cashback up to ₹3000 on HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Bank on Credit Cards/ Debit Cards EMI Transactions valid till 31st July, 2021. Customers can also avail 15% instant cashback when they make payments through Paytm. Attractive cashback up to ₹3000 is also on offer from Bajaj Finserv first time with OPPO, while a single EMI Cashback is available from IDFC First Bank. Besides, Zero Down payment and Long Tenure EMI schemes are also available from all the leading financers. Loyal OPPO users can also avail of an Exchange bonus—up to INR 3000 valid till July 31st, 2021—with the purchase of Reno6 series along with Complete Damage Protection for 180 days.

OPPO Premium services including 80% assured payback other attractive offers for loyal OPPO customers. For detailed information, visit the official website or nearest store.

Happiest Minds’ Reports US$ QoQ & YoY Revenue Growth Of 9.6 & 41.4 Percent

* Revenues at ₹ 254 Crores and Profit Before Tax at ₹ 51 Crores

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE:HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, digital transformation and IT solutions company, today announced its consolidated results today for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021 as approved by its Board of Directors.

Joseph Anantharaju, Executive Vice Chairman, Happiest Minds Technologies said, “With our positioning in the market as a go to digital partner and the demand environment remaining buoyant, we have been able to record a good performance in this quarter. Our net headcount addition was strong as we on boarded 310 Happiest Minds, which reflects our ability to attract and retain good talent with our compelling people engagement programs”

Venkatraman N, MD & CFO, Happiest Minds Technologies talking on the financials said, “We have begun the fiscal on a solid footing with good growth and performance. Our operations and delivery remain resilient in the face of supply side pressures and the pandemic situation. Our financials this quarter has an exceptional expense on account of fair valuation of warrant liability in our balance sheet. The original liability represented the probable future payout obligation basis growth and profitability of PGS Inc. Fair valuation of the original liability basis performance of the acquired asset, and changes, either debit or credit, must be routed through the P&L. Basis increasing probability of payout on account of performance, we have fair revalued the liability leading to an exceptional expense of ₹ 6.1 Crores.

Our improving profitability means higher effective income-tax. Compared to the same quarter previous year wherein we had a significant tax credit by accounting for ‘deferred tax asset’, this quarter we have a full charge or expenses in line with our profits.

Separately, I am happy to state that we have been able to settle an earlier reported employee discrimination suit in the US leading to a credit to our P&L of ₹ 2 Crores”.

Financial highlights for the Quarter ended June 30, 2021

• Operating Revenues in US$ terms stood at $33.2 million (growth of 9.6% q-o-q ; 41.4% y-o-y)

• Total Income of ₹ 25,387 lakhs (growth of 13.5% q-o-q ; 35.8% y-o-y)

• EBITDA of ₹ 6,615 lakhs, 26.1% of Total Income (growth of 12.4 % q-o-q ; 38.3% y-o-y)

• PAT of ₹ 3,573 lakhs (decline of 0.9 % q-o-q; 28.8% y-o-y)

• Free cash flows of ₹ 6,569 lakhs for the quarter,

• EPS (diluted) for the quarter of ₹ 2.45 (decline 1.2% q-o-q; 34.1% y-o-y )

• RoCE & RoE (quarterly annualized) of 30.7% and 24.7%

Our Business:

Ram Mohan, Member of the Executive Board, Happiest Minds Technologies said, “Enterprises are rapidly scaling up their digital infrastructure through their Core Transformation, Everything-on-Cloud and Cloud Migration initiatives. Our quarterly results validate the commitment to our clients as we help them build and create seamless digital experiences across multiple channels.”

Clients:

• 180 as of June 30, 2021

• 18 additions in the quarter

Our People - Happiest Minds:

• 3,538 Happiest Minds as of June 30, 2021 (net addition for the quarter 310)

• Trailing 12 months attrition of 14.7%

• Utilization of 82.1%, from 82.6% in Q4 FY21

Key Project Wins:

• For a multinational company, Happiest Minds was chosen as a partner to accelerate their Digital roadmap

• For the software business group of a Fortune 500 company, Happiest Minds was chosen as a partner to consult on the API strategy for their on-prem and cloud products

• For a leading US electric vehicle infrastructure company, Happiest Minds was chosen as a partner once again to build a real-time scalable Edge Analytics Solution for Asset Monitoring and Monetization

• For a large US leasing company, Happiest Minds was chosen to upgrade their cloud based leasing and origination services

• For a large US based Telecom supplier, Happiest Minds has been chosen as a partner for their Cloud Security programs

• For a leading European GameTech company, Happiest Minds has been chosen to build & deliver the Automation framework and services

• For a leading Australian retailer, Happiest Minds was chosen as a partner for security incident response automation

Awards:

• Winner of “Golden Peacock Business Excellence Award” for the year 2021

• Happiest Minds is among India’s Top 25 Best Companies to Work for in 2021 by Great Place to Work® Institute

• Happiest Minds is among Asia’s Best Workplaces 2021 by Great Place to Work® Institute

• Analytics India Magazine: Top 50

• Happiest Minds is ranked among Top 50 Companies for Data Scientists to Work For -2021 by Analytics India Magazine

• Happiest Minds wins Times Ascent - World HRD Congress Global HR Excellence Awards 2021

• Happiest Minds Technologies Wins 2021 IBM Geography Excellence Award for APAC Best in Class - Build on IBM Cloud Partner

• Happiest Minds’ two case studies recognized with 2021 ISG Digital Case Study Awards™

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.

Tata Motors Launches All-New Ace Gold Petrol CX At Rs. 3.99 Lakh; Making It India's Most Affordable 4-Wheel Commercial Vehicle

* The Ace Gold Petrol CX will aim to reinforce its position as the most preferred mini-truck for budding entrepreneurs

Key highlights:

Available in two variants: flat bed and half deck load body, priced at Rs. 3.99 lakh* and Rs. 4.10 lakh* respectively

Powered by powerful, reliable and efficient 694cc petrol engine

Available at the lowest EMI of Rs. 7,500^

Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, today launched an all-new variant of its most popular small commercial vehicle (SCV), the Ace Gold Petrol CX starting from Rs. 3.99 lakh*. Available in two variants, the flat bed variant is attractively priced at Rs. 3.99 lakh* while the half deck load body variant will cost Rs. 4.10 lakh*. Its new price point, coupled with easy financing options, make it a great option for first-time commercial vehicle users, in both rural and urban areas. For further ease of buying and increased accessibility, Tata Motors has partnered with the State Bank of India to make its customers avail of a never-before offer with lowest EMI of Rs. 7,500^ and up to 90% on-road finance.

The Tata Ace Gold Petrol CX Variant is the only four-wheel SCV powered by a 2-cylinder engine and a gross vehicle weight of more than 1.5 tonne in India, to be available below the Rs. 4 lakh price point. It is powered by the same fuel-efficient and reliable Ace Gold Petrol 694cc engine, mated to a four-speed transmission; the new variant is engineered for maximum profitability. Developed on the back of enhanced customer-focused strategies and introduction of path-breaking technologies and innovations by Tata Motors, the Ace Gold Petrol CX variant will prove to be a gamechanger in the SCV segment.

Speaking about the pioneering mini truck, Mr. Vinay Pathak, Vice President, Product Line – SCV & PU, Tata Motors, said, “The launch of the new Ace Gold Petrol CX marks another milestone in the spectacular journey of the ‘Chota Haathi’. The Tata Ace continues to be a strong, reliable and multipurpose vehicle having provided means of livelihood to over 23 lakh Indians to date. Resonating the Government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision, Tata Motors aims to inspire an entrepreneurial mindset through the launch of this vehicle. Tata Motors has effortlessly remained astride the commercial vehicle market by continuously upgrading its product offerings keeping pace with constantly evolving transportation needs. The Tata Motors’ Ace platform has exponentially evolved over the last 16 years, focusing on bringing safer, smarter and valuable offerings to its customers in last-mile transportation. With our latest addition, we hope to stand behind the aspirations of the Indian entrepreneurs, making the Tata Motors Ace Gold Petrol CX the most affordable 4-wheel commercial vehicle in India.”

The new Tata Ace Gold Petrol CX promises to be at the forefront of last-mile delivery because of its versatility across applications, which include market logistics, distribution of fruits, vegetables, and Agri products, beverages & bottles, FMCG and FMCD goods, e-commerce, parcel & courier, furniture, packed LPG cylinders, dairy, pharma and food products, refrigerated transport, as well as waste management applications. The Tata Ace Gold Petrol CX is poised to ensure a sustainable and profitable last-mile distribution, in the Indian trucking space and generate millions of success stories for years to come.

Like all other Tata Motors commercial vehicles, the latest Ace Gold Petrol CX will be backed by the Sampoorna Seva 2.0 initiative, offering various vehicle care and service promise programs, annual maintenance packages and resale opportunities. It additionally comes with a promise of 24x7 roadside assistance – Tata Alert, a time-bound complaint resolution promise at workshops – Tata Zippy and a 15-day accident repair guarantee – Tata Kavach to ensure quick service turnaround time.

*Prices ex-showroom, Pune. ^with SBI 90% on road LTV scheme

About Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM; BSE: 500570 and 570001; NSE: TATAMOTORS and TATAMTRDVR), a USD 35 billion organization, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, pick-ups, trucks and buses. Part of the USD 113 billion Tata group, Tata Motors is India’s largest and the only OEM offering extensive range of integrated, smart and e-mobility solutions. It has operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia through a strong global network of 103 subsidiaries, 10 associate companies, 3 joint ventures and 2 joint operations as on March 31, 2020.

With a focus on engineering and tech enabled automotive solutions catering to the future of mobility, Tata Motors is India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and amongst the top four in the passenger vehicles market. With ‘Connecting Aspirations’ at the core of its brand promise, the company’s innovation efforts are focused to develop pioneering technologies that are sustainable as well as suited to evolving aspirations of the market and the customers. Tata Motors strives to bring new products that fire the imagination of GenNext customers, fueled by state of the art design and R&D centers located in India, UK, US, Italy and South Korea. Internationally, Tata commercial and passenger vehicles are marketed in countries, spread across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, CIS, and Russia.

GE Healthcare's India Edison Accelerator Announces Launch Of Its Third Cohort

* Comprises Six Startups Ffrom Fields of Oncology, Cardiology, Genomics & Remote Patient Monitoring, From Across India & Singapore

Recognizing the emergent need for next generation technologies and diagnostic solutions in Oncology, Cardiology, Genomics and Remote Patient Monitoring, GE Healthcare’s India Edison™ Accelerator has announced its Cohort 3 comprising of six start-up companies from these areas. Based out of India and Singapore, these companies- 4basecare, Haystack Analytics, zMed Healthcare Technologies, Tricog, AIRA Matrix and Qritive - will spend six months with healthcare industry experts from within and outside GE who will help them build and scale up their solutions for new market segments.

Mr. Girish Raghavan, VP, Engineering – GE Healthcare South Asia said “At the India Edison Accelerator we collaborate with innovators to develop technologies that facilitate access while improving operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. In the post-pandemic phase, as the healthcare industry relies increasingly on technology to bridge gaps in patient care we are excited to welcome six high-tech start-ups to our Accelerator. Over the next six months, they will work alongside GE’s healthcare engineers and scientists to make their healthcare solutions accessible to more communities around the world.”

Dr. Shravan Subramanyam, President & CEO of GE Healthcare – India & South Asia region and Managing Director – Wipro GE Healthcare said, “At GE Healthcare, we continue to strengthen our portfolio in clinical care areas like Cardiology and Oncology while expanding our expertise into Virtual Care and Remote Patient Monitoring. The Edison platform is at the core of GE Healthcare’s strategy. It has helped us accelerate innovations. The start-ups in Cohort 3 have smart artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions. When integrated with the Edison platform, these solutions can scale up to help doctors, clinicians, care professionals and ultimately patients.”

Applications from start-ups for Cohort 3 were shortlisted using evaluation criteria such as the strength of the business idea, maturity of product and team capabilities, among others. The India Edison Accelerator provides start-ups with mentorship, skill development programs, commercial and regulatory guidance as well as data provisioning.

About the six start-ups in Cohort 3:

1.      4basecare: Through unique patient-centric solutions in Genomics and Digital Health, 4basecare is building the largest resource of comprehensive, longitudinal clinic-genomics data of cancer patients from Asia. https://4basecare.com/

2.      Haystack Analytics: Enables simplifying complex genomic analysis for a better clinical decision in terms of comprehensive and accurate diagnosis. https://haystackanalytics.in/

3.      zMed Healthcare Technologies: Provides comprehensive clinical data integration and advanced clinical AI for predicting clinical events and supporting all inpatient units of the hospital from the ICU to an Emergency Unit. https://zmed.tech/

4.      Tricog: Makes virtual cardiology services available to remote clinics via AI and machine learning algorithms.  https://www.tricog.com/

5.      AIRA Matrix: Provides AI-based solutions to automate image and data analysis in drug discovery/ development and healthcare. https://www.airamatrix.com/

6.      Qritive: CE marked digital pathology platform and AI help pathology labs cater to more patients at a substantially higher quality. https://www.qritive.com/

The India Edison Accelerator’s Cohort 2 graduated in June 2021. It included six promising health-tech start-ups – Aarogya AI, Brain Sight AI, InMed Prognostics, Onward Assist, Fluid AI and Wellthy Therapeutics. These companies continue to engage with the India Edison Accelerator in the areas of market expansion and technology.

About India EdisonTM Accelerator

GE Healthcare unveiled the India EdisonTM Accelerator in August 2019 with a focus on nurturing the start-up ecosystem. Start-ups collaborate with GE Healthcare to arrive at solutions that improve patient outcomes and experience, efficiency of clinical practices and that of the healthcare facilities, reduce waste and inefficiencies, and eliminate costly and harmful errors.  

About Edison platform

The Edison platform is an advanced intelligence offering used by GE Healthcare’s internal developers and strategic partners to develop new healthcare applications, services and AI algorithms. It comprises applications, smart devices and a cloud-based platform. There are over 100 applications currently available on the Edison platform.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare is the $16.7 billion healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE). As a leading global medical technology and digital solutions innovator, GE Healthcare enables clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications and services, supported by its Edison intelligence platform. With over 100 years of healthcare industry experience and around 50,000 employees globally, the company operates at the center of an ecosystem working toward precision health, digitizing healthcare, helping drive productivity and improve outcomes for patients, providers, health systems and researchers around the world. In India, GE Healthcare operates in a JV (Wipro GE Healthcare WGE)) with Wipro Limited. WGE is focused on some of the country’s toughest healthcare challenges– lowering maternal and infant deaths, enabling early detection of cancer and addressing heart diseases early. WGE pioneered innovation of healthcare imaging technologies ‘In India for India and the world’ to enhance access to quality healthcare at affordable costs to more people. 

Prime Day 2021 Marked The Most Small Medium Businesses Selling Ever On Amazon.in

* 126,003 SMBs including Local Shops participated this year in over two weeks of lead up and 48 hours of Prime Day

* Prime members from over 96% pin codes of India shopped across categories this Prime Day

* This Prime Day, more customers signed up for Prime membership, with more than 70% of new members from Tier 2-3-4 cities

* Personal Computing, Beauty, Apparel, Home & Kitchen, Smartphones and Pantry categories were among those that saw the most success in terms of units sold

* 68% of the SMB sellers receiving orders in over two weeks of lead up and 48 hours of Prime Day this period were from Tier 2-3-4 cities

* Prime members loved the incredible savings on Amazon Devices. Fire TV Stick was the highest selling product on Prime Day

* Alexa answered over 3MM requests from customers during Prime Day on the Amazon Shopping app (Android), guiding them to the products, best deals, new launches, bill payments, Prime Music and much more

* During Day 1 of Prime Day this year, 3X more Prime members used Amazon Pay products to purchase on A.in

Prime Day 2021 marked the most Small Medium Businesses (SMBs) selling on Amazon.in ever, as they saw an overwhelming response from Prime members.  With customers from over 96% pincodes of India placing orders and with the month leading up to Prime Day marking the highest viewership for Prime Video and highest number of listeners for Prime Music, Prime members enjoyed the best of what Prime Day has to offer with the unique SMB selection, new launches, great savings, and engagement with various Prime benefits.

During lead up and on Prime Day, Prime members shopped from 126,003 sellers including artisans, weavers, women entrepreneurs, start-ups and brands, local offline neighbourhood stores. This included sellers zxdfrom all over India including those from Tier 2-3-4 cities like Barnala (Punjab), Champhai (Mizoram), Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu), Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), Valsad (Gujarat), Shajapur (Madhya Pradesh). 31,230 sellers saw their highest ever single day sales and nearly 25% more sellers’ grossed sales over INR 1 crore as compared to the last Prime Day.

Prime Day continues to be a unique opportunity for brands of all sizes to launch new products. Members loved the selection of new product launches from over 300 top Indian and global brands. Prime members loved brands like OnePlus Nord 2 5G, Samsung Galaxy (M31s) boAt Airdopes, Mi 3i 20000 mAh power bank, Pigeon mini handy and compact chopper among many others. More than 70% of new Prime members shop from outside of the top 10 cities including towns like Ananthnag (Jammu & Kashmir), Bokaro (Jharkhand), Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), Mokokchung (Nagaland), Hoshiapur (Punjab), Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu), Gadag (Karnataka) and Kasargod (Kerala). 

“We dedicated this Prime Day to SMBs and local stores and are humbled by their participation. Prime members shopped from more than 126,000 SMBs and stores from across 6,800+ pin-codes, making it the biggest ever sales for Small Medium Businesses (SMBs) on A.in. We are also excited that the month leading up to Prime Day became Prime Video’s best ever viewership period, firmly establishing that India loves free, fast shipping, exclusive shopping and digital benefits that Prime offers,” said Akshay Sahi, Director - Prime and Fulfillment Experience, Amazon India.

“We started our business 2 years back in Amazon Karigar, prior to which we were selling only in local markets catering to limited customer base and had limited income. We are extremely delighted with our sales and saw great response for our Block Printed Kurtis selection during Prime Day 2021 and our exclusive products launched specifically for Prime Day saw great sales. Events like Prime Day are a great boost for our small scale business which directly helps revive the lives of our rural artisan community from Rajasthan,” said Salman Ali, ‘Star Fashion JPR’ from Jaipur.

"We have been operating for the last 4 years and recently came online in 2021. Our team is so excited after seeing huge growth in daily orders during our first ever Prime Day. We saw over 5X spike in order volume. We received orders across Chennai and Kanchipuram in 71 pin codes during the event. Being our First Prime Day, we are positively surprised with the love our customers have shown us. This has helped in sustaining our livelihood during these tough times," said Brijesh Mishra, Home UPS, Chennai part of Local Shops on Amazon program.

Highlights from Prime Day 2021

Shopping

Personal Computing, Beauty, Apparel, Home & Kitchen, Smartphones and Pantry categories were among those that saw the most success in terms of units sold.

Work/Study from home purchase trends continued with members purchasing laptops, Printers, Monitors, TVs, Wearables and storage. Top brands were HP, Lenovo, Dell, Asus, Apple in laptops; Samsung, Lenovo in tablets; Epson, HP, Canon, Brother in printers; LG, BenQ in monitors; boAt, Zebronics in audio; Mi, FCUK, Amazfit in Wearables; Sony, Canon in Cameras, SanDisk, Seagate, WD in data Storage and TP Link in Networking; in TVs the best-selling brands were Mi, Redmi and Sony

Large appliances found favour with members, with top selling brands being LG, Samsung in washing machines; Whirlpool, Samsung in refrigerators; Samsung in microwave in kitchen and home appliances.

Members purchased mixer grinders, choppers and water purifiers from brands like Ganesh Chopper, Pigeon, Prestige, Butterfly, Kent and Eureka Forbes. Vacuum cleaner brands like Philips and Dyson were also a hit with members.

Sanitization, Health & safety continued to be top priority for members. Top selling brands in health and personal care products were Himalaya, Dabur; Top selling brands in sanitization and safety essentials were Savlon, Dettol, Lifebuoy and Lizol.

Summer wear and home/ loungewear were among the most sought after in apparel with Jockey, GoSriki, Biba and Max as top-selling apparel brands. Beauty and self-care were also on the mind of members. Top-selling beauty brands were Nivea, Biotique, Dove, WOW, L’Oreal, Mamaearth, Himalaya, Vaseline, Parachute, Lakme and Nivea. 

Top selling brands in smartphones were OnePlus Nord 2 5G, One Plus Nord CE 5g, Redmi Note 10 series, Redmi 9, Samsung Galaxy M31s, Samsung Galaxy M21 and realme c11.

Prime members loved the incredible savings on Amazon Devices. Fire TV Stick was the highest selling product on Prime Day, and Echo Dot was amongst top 10.

Almost 3 out of 4 Echo customers got started on their smart home journey this Prime Day with Alexa smart home bundles. Alexa is making homes smarter.

One in every 10 smartwatch and one in every 6 smartphone sold this Prime Day was Alexa built-in.

Customers loved upgrading their TV viewing experience – Onida Fire TV was among the best-selling smart TVs during Prime Day.

#JustAsk Alexa

Alexa answered over 3MM requests from customers during Prime Day on the Amazon Shopping app (Android), guiding them to the products, best deals, new launches, bill payments, Prime Music and much more

Entertainment & More

Within 7-days from launch, Toofaan was watched by more customers on Prime Video India than any other Hindi Film in its opening week.

Our local language movies – Narappa (Telugu), Sarpatta Parambarai (Tamil) and Malik (Malayalam), were each watched in over 3,200 towns and cities in India and in over 150 countries and territories globally, highlighting the growing viewership and popularity of local language films not just in India but also around the world

Hostel Daze (S2) emerged as one of the most loved shows amongst Young Adults within just a week of its launch, with viewership from over 3,600 towns and cities in India and from over 100 countries and territories around the world

Amazon Prime Music India saw the highest listeners ever in the week leading up to Prime Day, with Prime members listening to music in over 50 languages (20+ Indian and 30+ International language) during this period.

Amazon Music exclusively released 3 songs from the hugely popular Mixtape Rewind series first for Prime Members during the Prime Day lead-up. All the 3 songs featuring prominent artists - Sachet and Parampara Tandon, Shilpa Rao, Yasser Desai, Darshan Raval and Prakriti Kakar debuted on the 50 Most Played Hindi charts within the first week of release.

In the lead up to Prime Day, the most streamed songs on Prime Music were ‘Thoda Thoda Pyaar’ by Stebin Ben, Nilesh Ahuja & Kumaar in Hindi, ‘Levitating’ by Dua Lipa feat. DaBaby in English, ‘Waalian’ by HARNOOR in Punjabi, ‘Vaathi Coming’ by Anirudh Ravichander & Gana Balachandar in Tamil and ‘Saranga Dariya’ by Mangli feat. Naga Chaitanya, Sai Pallavi in Telugu.

Prime members streamed podcasts in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and other languages. Top 5 podcasts streamed during lead up were Woice with Warikoo Podcast, Sadhguru, TED Talks Daily, Gita For Daily Living and Ponniyin Selvan.

Prime Reading eBook borrowing customers increased by 50% with over a 50% increase in first time borrowing. Indian authors like Amish Tripathi, Devdutt Pattanaik and Preeti Shenoy were the most read. Prime Day Kindle exclusive eBooks by best-selling authors Devdutt Pattanaik (Adi Purana: Entire Veda as a Single Story), Preeti Shenoy (Thanks For Your Time), and Ambi Parameswaran (Negotiation Magic) were amongst the top eBooks borrowed.