State Government Should Provide Soft Loans, Interest Subsidy Schemes For MSMEs

By Nishank Kariappa

On March 4, the focus will be on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as he will present the state budget. Inspite of the severe economic challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic for the past 2 years, revenue collection has improved allowing for some big ticket announcements.

Improvement of Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) plays an important part to  reduce the economic stress. The government should provide soft loans and interest subsidy scheme for MSMEs and other affected industries in the budget this year

The educational sector hopes for funding in technology in schools and education systems, considering challenges posed in online education. The government must take steps for bigger funding on education, push greater digitization and reducing the gap between rural and urban education. The increased funds will ensure better quality education in government schools which educate a majority of children.

The education sector is facing enormous challenges due to the pandemic and the budget is going to play a important role in uplifting the education system. The government must issue funds for upgrading technology in educational institutions in rural areas so the education of students studying in these institutions are well equipped to face the pandemic challenges.

(The author is General Manager, Vogue Institute of Art and Design, Bengaluru)

Students of MIT, MAHE Exhibit Agritech Work At The World Expo 2020 In Dubai

The students are members of Lakshya - the Agricultural entity of MIT dedicated to providing technical support for farmers.

Their innovative work on hydroponics brought them an invitation at the World Expo 2020

Students of Manipal Institute of Technology, MAHE added yet another feather to their cap by exhibiting their exemplary work at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, held on 03rd March 2022, at the India Innovation Hub. The students are members of Lakshya- a first of its kind entity that amalgamates technology with agriculture. Lakshya was initiated by students of MIT to provide technical support for farmers.

Based on their innovative contributions in the field of agriculture, Lakshya was invited to the World Expo 2020 to exhibit their work. The World expo 2020 provides a platform for showcasing country’s growth strengths and opportunities across different areas of Agriculture and Allied Sectors to the global investors.

The Team of students lead by Pratik Shewkani, President, Lakshya, displayed their works on hydroponics and showcased its developments, which was witnessed by 192 countries

Lakshya is the agricultural technical and service club in Manipal institute of technology, which is dedicated to provide technical support for farmers and create awareness in the student community about the farmer’s needs, potential and difficulties. They develop prototypes of various equipment and devices used in farming and also organize debates, competitions and lectures to capture students’ interest in agriculture.

Speaking about Team Lakshya participating in the World Expo 2020 Commander (Dr) Anil Rana, Director, Manipal Institute of Technology said “We at MIT are extremely proud of the efforts of Team Lakshya. Seeing our students perform at the global forum and exhibiting their phenomenal work fills our hearts with joy. Their work with hydroponics is exceptional and has the potential of shining the light of innovation back onto the usually unaspiring and neglected field, of agriculture. I would like to congratulate them and hope their work creates more awareness and aspirations amongst other students, to opt for the agricultural sector as a career option”

Lakshya has also developed several setups across the MIT campus and is under works of automating them. These major accomplishments have ignited a spark in agriculture towards what once seemed unconventional. The high potential was sensed in the sister schools of MIT, where in students have started integrating their fields of studies with agriculture to further propel this development forward.

NIESBUD Signs An MoU With Ministry Of Rural Development For Implementing The Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme

National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) — an organisation under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) to develop a sustainable model for promoting entrepreneurship at the grass roots by initiating the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP).

SVEP is a sub-component of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development. It aims to support entrepreneurs in rural areas to set-up enterprises at the village-level in non-agricultural sectors. The partnership will enable the rural community by helping them set up their trades and provide complete support till they are stabilized. This pragmatic intervention will provide knowledge, advisory and financial support to the public and will help create village-level community cadre.

Under the partnership rural entrepreneurs will be able to access banking systems for receiving financial support for starting their enterprises, including support from MUDRA bank. Integrated ICT techniques and tools will also be provided for training and capacity building along with enterprise advisory services to augment the entrepreneurship ecosystem in India’s villages. The beneficiaries of the project are from the Self-Help Group (SHG) ecosystem of DAY-NRLM and the scheme not only supports existing enterprises but new enterprises as well.

On the partnership, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entreprenuership said, “Our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has highlighted that Indians should dream of becoming job creators from job seekers and in this regard, SVEP will help create an innovative ecosystem, accelerating economic and social gains at the community level. The scheme also aims at building an inclusive society by providing equal opportunities to all along with the required financial support. India is a land of opportunities and by helping our youth access these prospects, we are catering to their aspirations. I am confident that this partnership will help in training the rural community and will provide them with necessary resources for entrepreneurship to increase their income and will pave the way for building Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

Rural entrepreneurship can play a significant role in the overall economic development of India. A huge number of employment opportunities can be generated because of the rural entrepreneurship for the people who are living in rural or remote geographies. The old-age artistic heritage has also been conserved by protecting as well as promoting the rural entrepreneurship. Economists too have stressed on how economic backwardness of a region can be attributed to its lack of entrepreneurs. Therefore, in the past few years, Skill India has been working persistently to bridge the skill gap by giving entrepreneurs easy access to funding, providing the right mentorship, and improving ease of doing business in the country. 

About Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)

MSDE was formed on 9th November 2014, by the Government of India to focus on enhancing employability of skills. Since its inception, MSDE has undertaken significant initiatives and reforms in terms of formalizing the policy, framework and standards; launching of new programs and schemes; creating new infrastructure and upgrading the existing institutions; partnering with States; engaging with industries and building societal acceptance and aspirations for skills. The Ministry aims to bridge the gap between demand and supply of skilled manpower to build new skills and innovation not only for existing jobs but also for jobs that are to be created. Till date, more than three crore people have been trained under Skill India.

About National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD)

The National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development is a premier organization working under the guidance and overall supervision of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, engaged in training, consultancy, research, etc. in order to promote entrepreneurship and Skill Development. NIESBUD has provided training to over 12 lakhs people till date through more than 45 thousand different training programmes since inception including 5000 plus international participants hailing from more than 145 countries.

About Ministry of Rural Development( MoRD)

The Ministry of Rural Development, a branch of the Government of India, is entrusted with the task of accelerating the sustainable and inclusive growth of rural India through livelihoods opportunities, social safety net and developing infrastructure.. Being the nodal Ministry for most of the development and welfare activities in the rural areas of India, the Ministry of Rural Development plays a pivotal role in the overall development strategy of the country. The vision and mission of the Ministry is sustainable and inclusive growth of rural India through a multipronged strategy for eradication of poverty by increasing livelihoods opportunities, providing social safety net and developing infrastructure for growth. This is expected to improve quality of life in rural India and to correct the developmental imbalances, aiming in the process, to reach out to most disadvantaged sections of the society.

FADA Releases February’22 Vehicle Retail Data Across Indian Market

Highlights

* On YoY basis, total vehicle retail for the month of February’22 decreases by -9.21% and -20.65% when compared to February’20 (a regular pre-covid month).

* On YoY basis, 3W and CV were up by 16.64% and 7.41%. 2W, PV and Tractors fell by   -10.67%, -7.84% and -18.87% respectively.

* 2-Wheeler category continuous to face the brunt of rural distress and high cost of ownership.

* While demand for PV continues to remain strong, the segment is still facing the heat of semiconductor shortage thus impacting supplies.

* Infrastructure spending by the Government increases demand for HCV and Tippers.

* The ongoing Russia – Ukraine war brings new set of challenges for Indian Auto Retail as raw materials for semiconductor will disrupt supplies and crude breaching * * * US$ 110 mark will act as a hinderance on customer sentiment.

 The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) released Vehicle Retail Data for February’22.

February’22 Retails

Commenting on how February’22 performed, FADA President, Mr. Vinkesh Gulati said, “Indian Auto Industry during February continues to remain in red as total retails were down by -9.21% YoY and -20.65% when compared to February’20, a regular pre-covid month.

The 2-wheeler segment is showing no signs of recovery as Bharat continues to play spoil-sport. With cost of acquisition continuously going north, inquiry level remained weak. As corporates and educational institutions continued operating from home, urban demand also took a hit.

Even though the PV segment saw some launches and slight respite in supply due to better production, it was not enough to meet customer demand. Vehicle waiting period thus remains similar to what it was in last few months.

While commercial vehicles are not at similar levels when compared to pre-covid months, slight recovery on yearly basis was visible majorly due to low base effect. This coupled with increase in government’s infrastructure spending saw continued traction in HCV and Tipper segments. Fleet operators who were earlier being missed have slowly started purchasing vehicles.”

Near Term Outlook

With omicron passing away without much impact and supplies showing signs of recovery, it looked as if Indian Auto Industry was at the cusp of recovery until Russia invaded Ukraine. This will once again have ripple effects on the global automobile supply chain.

Russia is one of the largest producers of rare-earth metals especially Palladium, which is an essential metal for semi-conductors. Ukraine on the other hand is one of the biggest producers and exporter of Neon Gas, which is used in the manufacturing of semiconductors. Due the ongoing war, we once again fear the shortage in semi-conductors which will create additional supply side issues for PVs.

With crude breaching US$ 110 mark, the government will not be able to hold prices of petroleum products for long. Post state election results, oil marketing companies will increase fuel prices by at least Rs. 10-15. While this will act as an obstacle for 2-wheeler sales, with educational institutions and offices now fully open and Gudi Padwa round the corner, we may see some increased interest in 2-wheeler as well as the Bus segment (which has witnessed a long dry spell of almost 2 years).

Till the time Russia – Ukraine conflict doesn’t come to an end, FADA changes its outlook from ‘neutral’ to ‘negative’.

Key Findings from our Online Members Survey

Inventory at the end of February’22

Average inventory for Passenger Vehicles ranges from 12 – 15 days

Average inventory for Two – Wheelers ranges from 25 – 27 days

Liquidity

Good                     45.7%

Neutral                 35.6%

Bad                        18.6%

Sentiment

Good                    38.8%

Neutral                 34.0%

Bad                        27.2%

RFPIO Launches Industry’s First Online Training Program to Advance User Adoption and Increase ROI

* RFPIO University Enhances The Customer Experience With Free, Tailored Learning Experiences

RFPIO, the leading AI-first response management platform, has launched the industry’s first response management training program, RFPIO University. As RFPIO looks to further enhance the customer experience, RFPIO University is designed to help customers learn and master the platform and accelerate user adoption. The online collection of on-demand courses, engaging tutorials, and quick microlearning are free for customers and allows them to see increased ROI from RFPIO’s robust solution.

As RFPIO continues to build a vibrant community of response management professionals, there has been an overwhelming response to RFPIO University. Since launching in early December 2021, RFPIO University has 1,209 logins, more than 9,000 courses started, and 4,300 course completions.

“We designed RFPIO University to help our customers get the most out of our intuitive and easily adaptable solution,” said RFPIO’s chief product and information officer, AJ Sunder. “We are honored to be the first response management platform to provide this level of training to all our customers as we augment the customer experience.”

With its individual, tailored courses, RFPIO University helps relieve the administrative burden of busy proposal managers through a self-service learning and training platform. With guided learning paths, RFPIO University simplifies customer onboarding and ongoing training requirements with courses such as:

Foundations of project management

Foundations of content management

How to use response templates, section templates, custom fields, and other features

Taking projects from intake to completion

Organizing the Answer Library, RFPIO’s AI-enabled knowledge management system

“RFPIO University adds incredible value to the customer experience by teaching best practices on the most efficient and effective uses of RFPIO’s features,” said Stephen Peterson, customer education manager at RFPIO. “New users can now learn the RFPIO platform quicker than ever while veteran users can expand their existing knowledge base.”

At RISE UP 2022, RFPIO’s annual conference which hosted nearly 700 attendees from 18 countries, RFPIO University organized a certificate event for project management and content management. As a result, 303 participants joined RFPIO University. The event was keynoted by Christina Brady, chief strategy officer at Sales Assembly, where she highlighted how to engage expert peers and begin the important work of community building. AJ Sunder led a customer-only session highlighting RFPIO’s 2022 product roadmap.

As the market leader in response management software, RFPIO helps hundreds of thousands of users streamline their response processes to RFx (e.g., request for proposal, or RFP), security questionnaires, due diligence questionnaires (DDQs), and more.

RFPIO users can check out RFPIO University and its current curriculum, https://university.rfpio.com/. To access on-demand content from RISE UP 2022, visit, https://www.riseupconference.com/.

To learn more about RFPIO, please visit www.rfpio.com/.

About RFPIO

RFPIO is the market leader in response management software, trusted by some of the world's smartest companies to support RFP and security questionnaire response, create and manage sales proposals, and resolve inefficiencies rooted in decentralized and inaccessible content and knowledge. The software's robust and bi-directional integrations, along with an open API, allow teams to digitally transform response management processes and to harness the power of the knowledge and content across their teams. RFPIO supports response management for growing organizations of all sizes including Google, Adobe, Atlassian, Microsoft, Tenable, Zoom Video and others. 

Kellogg Executive Education Launches Online Certificate Program In Product Management To Upskill Indian Professionals

* Delivered through Eruditus in India, the program will empower professionals to efficiently manage the end-to-end product life cycle and deliver business success with the Kellogg edge. 

Kellogg Executive Education at Northwestern University, ranked #1 for marketing by U.S. News & World Report (2022) and acclaimed for having 19 alumni serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, has launched a 36-week online Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management. This program has been launched to meet the increasing demand for trained product managers who can align all the stakeholders involved in developing and marketing a product while ensuring customer and commercial success for their products. This is the second executive education program from Kellogg in collaboration with Eruditus in India. Earlier, Kellogg Executive Education launched the Post Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing in India.

Products are the foundation of growth for any company, whether it is a large multinational firm or an early-stage technology startup. Digital disruption has propelled organizations to refocus their product offerings and leverage analytics to respond to evolving customer expectations. Developing and managing a product throughout the lifecycle has become increasingly complex, and the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this digitalization of product experiences. 85% of products fail because they are not aligned with customer needs (Forbes, 2021), underscoring the importance of effective product management.

A fully optimized product management approach can result in a 34.2% jump in company profits (280 Group Report, 2022). The growing recognition of the importance of product management is evidenced by the fact that 16% of CEOs come from Product backgrounds, and 31% of companies have an official Chief Product Officer role (The Future of Product Management Report, 2021). Product management is emerging as a key function for driving business growth. Product managers act like mini-CEOs, aligning diverse stakeholders with customer needs to deliver profitable growth.

The Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management program provides a 360-degree mastery over the process of defining, developing, and delivering products and experiences across a wide range of industries. The program will be led by Professor Mohanbir Sawhney – a globally recognized scholar, educator, and author in driving product innovation and customer-centricity to deliver business success. The program is designed for mid- and senior-level professionals with over eight years of work experience who want to upskill their product management career to keep abreast of rapidly changing industry standards or professionals who want to switch into the field of product management. The program, spread over 36 weeks, has an industry-aligned curriculum with 20 modules, software tools, real-world case studies, industry examples, a capstone project, marketing simulations, and certifications to ensure a comprehensive understanding of product management. Participants will get an end-to-end understanding from Product Ideation and Innovation to Go-to-Market Strategy (GTM), while exploring cutting-edge concepts like Growth Hacking and AI/ML. Upon successfully completing the program, a verified digital certificate of completion from Kellogg Executive Education will be granted to the participants.

Renowned Kellogg faculty, Professor Mohanbir Sawhney, said, “Product managers need to think like the CEO of their product or service to succeed in a dynamic business landscape. This program harnesses the best practices, frameworks, and hard and soft skills to be a successful product manager, whether you are already working in this field or switching from an adjacent field. Participants will master the end-to-end strategic and tactical skills needed to become a professional product manager, develop a broad overview of the product management landscape, and gain certifications in product management tools and methodologies to equip them for success in this fast-growing field.”

Commenting on the program, Mohan Kannegal, CEO, India and APAC (Consumer), Eruditus, said, “We are all aware that some of the highest-paid professionals in Silicon Valley are no longer Engineers – they are Product Managers. Today, a quick LinkedIn search alone shows 32,000+ positions unfilled for just base-level Product Managers. With such a high demand for the role and as a step towards bridging the existing skills gap, Eruditus is pleased to collaborate with Kellogg Executive Education. The launch of this Product Management online certificate program will help Indian professionals become skilled, full-stack product managers, confident in driving business growth and revenue with the Kellogg advantage”.

The program starts on March 31, 2022, and has a fee of INR 2,62,500 + GST, with flexible payment options and discounts for multiple enrollments. The program is offered through Eruditus, a global leader in making high-quality education accessible and affordable, offering digital-first, seamless learning, and a high engagement experience. Visit the program page for more details, and interested applicants should apply by March 8, 2022, to avail a discount of INR 13,125 + GST on the program fee.

About The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University is a premier global business school committed to its mission to educate, equip, and inspire leaders who leverage creativity and innovation and bring empathy to every decision. Based just outside of Chicago, our vibrant, global community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni shapes the practice of business and organizations around the world.

About Kellogg Executive Education

Kellogg Executive Education empowers business leaders to foster growth in themselves, their teams and their organizations. Our renowned faculty, consisting of the world's best researchers, educators, and practitioners, provide practical insight that participants can apply as soon as they return to work. Providing a collaborative, immersive environment for our executive development programs, we serve a variety of businesses and executives from a myriad of industries and geographies.

About Eruditus:

Eruditus Executive Education offers customized and open programmes in India, Singapore, Dubai, and other global locations in collaboration with Kellogg Executive Education, MIT Sloan, Columbia Business School, INSEAD, Harvard Business School (HBS), Berkeley Executive Education, Wharton Executive Education, IIM Lucknow Executive Education, IIM Calcutta Executive Education and Emeritus. Our world-class executive education programmes, supported by eminent programme experts, provide an immersive learning experience integrated with actionable insights and practical business applications. The meticulously curated programmes are delivered in a different range of formats; in-class, online, as well as blended programmes. Our extensive portfolio also includes short 2-4 day in-class workshops, online courses of 2-3 months duration as well as comprehensive learning journeys that run over 6-9 months, customized to an organization’s requirement.

1,00,000th ‘Made-In-India’ Car Rolls-Out Of BMW Group Plant Chennai

* #100kBMW #BMWPlantChennai #SheerDrivingPleasure

Setting a new milestone in its India presence, BMW Group Plant Chennai has rolled out the 1,00,000th car locally produced in the country. A BMW Individual 740Li M Sport Edition has received this special badge.

Mr. Thomas Dose, Managing Director, BMW Group Plant Chennai said, “It is a day of great joy and pride for us as the 1,00,000th ‘Made-in-India’ car drives out of our assembly lines. This accomplishment is a result of the team’s hard work, efficiency and consistency which ensures that every BMW or MINI car locally produced here in Chennai is of the same international quality standards as any other BMW plant across the world. Highly skilled employees, advanced manufacturing processes along with state-of-the-art technology and a strong focus on sustainability provided the necessary ingredients for this success. At the same time, increased localisation of up to 50 per cent and a robust collaboration with local supplier partners has created more value for everyone in the ecosystem. BMW Group Plant Chennai looks forward to raising the bar in sustainable manufacturing excellence further as the India story grows.”

BMW Group Plant Chennai started operations on 29 March 2007 and is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The BMW Group has continuously increased the number of its locally produced car models. Currently, 13 models are locally produced - BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe, BMW 3 Series, BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine, BMW M340i, BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo, BMW 7 Series, BMW X1, BMW X3, BMW X4, BMW X5, BMW X7 and MINI Countryman. Making sustainability a top priority, the plant runs on 100% green electricity. The total number of employees at BMW Group India is over 650.

Deepika Padukone Launches India’s First New-Age Saree Brand Navyasa By Liva

* Liva from the house of Aditya Birla has now ventured in retail after their success as a fabric bran

Today is the nationwide launch of navyasa by Liva; a contemporary saree brand from the Aditya Birla Group. Deepika Padukone will be the face of this much-awaited creative fashion retail brand. The first four stores launched today are in India’s top cities; Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore that will open doors to a world of artful and fashionable sarees.

Explaining the thought behind the launch of this brand, Mr. Rajnikant Sabnavis, Chief Marketing Officer, Grasim Industries (Pulp and Fibre), said, “Aimed at perceiving sarees as the new “cool” and making it the preferred attire for the modern Indian women, brand navyasa by Liva is coined from navya which means new, and rasa, which is the art of everything we do. With a national brand like ABG and Liva venturing into sarees, I am hoping to see a much larger shift in the perception and adaptability to sarees especially among the younger generation and urban women. The brand is an ode to true contemporary, cosmopolitan Indian women who believe that style is a combination of fashion and comfort.”

navyasa by Liva sarees are fluid, flowy and are made with nature-based fabric Liva. They will allow women to move around with spirited optimism and #freetobe in their element as well as explore life comfortably whether at work, party, lunch or a cafe.

The collection features ethereal prints and chic styles. Each saree tells a colour-rich story with a modern twist. The unique bold designs and diverse themes are designed to allow style to converge with fashion.  Renowned designers Abir and Nanki, along with the internal design team at Liva have been instrumental in bringing the collection alive.

Talking about the first collection of the brand, Designer Nanki said, “We have taken it upon ourselves to break the social stigma of sarees perceived as dated attire for older women or occasional wear. To alter the misconception of physical barriers associated with it, we havedesigned free form drapes that are subtle yet make a statement encouraging women to push boundaries, blur the edges, and reach a limitless sky. With finesse as its essence, navyasa by Liva is designed to empower women with freedom of expression; enabling adventure, boldness and their vibrant personality with versatile prints.” 

Ranging from Rs. 5000-15,000, navyasa by Liva currently offers 17 collections in 5 different varieties of nature based Liva fabrics. There is a saree for each sensibility including printed, embroidered, embellished and woven styles.

Designer Abir added, “It’s easy to get bogged down by the pre-conceived notion of the effort it takes to wear a saree. However, draping those nine yards of elegance can be magical if we allow it to be. Today’s woman wants the saree to feel good, look good and be so comfortable that it feels like second skin. navyasa by Liva does that for the wearer. The nature-based fabrics are extremely breathable. With this launch, I foresee a revolution in Indian fashion as young women will find it very easy to express their sense of fashion through this under-rated beautiful attire called saree. The wide range of bold and vivacious prints will inspire many women to adopt sarees in their wardrobe.” navyasa by Liva flagship stores are now operational at Ambience Mall Vasant Kunj, DLF Saket in Delhi, Orion Mall in Bangalore and Inorbit Mall in Mumbai.

About LIVA: LIVA is a new age fabric from the Aditya Birla Group. Unlike other fabrics, that are boxy or synthetic, LIVA is a soft, fluid fabric which falls and drapes well.  A promise that is delivered through accredited value chain. The new-age naturally sourced fiber made into fabric in pure or blended form, transforms not just the garment but also the person wearing it. It is comfortable, soft, natural, and eco-friendly. The brand recently launched their eco-enhanced version of the fabric, called Livaeco, which made of wood pulp sourced from FSC certified forests.

o9 Solutions Announces Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore As Keynote Speaker At aim10x Global 2022

* o9’s Annual Digital Transformation Event Will Take Place Virtually April 5-7, 2022

o9 Solutions, a leading enterprise AI software platform provider for transforming planning and decision-making, today announced Generation Investment Management co-founder and chairman, and former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, as a keynote speaker for aim10x global 2022.

Held virtually from April 5-7, aim10x global 2022 will be o9 Solutions’ largest digital transformation event to date. Top leaders across planning, decision-making, and analytics will share their insights on leveraging the power of data and AI to help companies make better, faster decisions across industries. 

Gore will present ‘The Case for Optimism on the Climate Crisis’ on April 5 and discuss the Sustainability Revolution that is beginning to reshape the world. This revolution—when coupled with technological advances—will have a deeper global impact than the industrial revolution and will unfold faster than the digital revolution.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome the co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management and former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore, as a keynote speaker at aim10x global 2022,” said Chakri Gottemukkala, CEO and co-founder of o9 Solutions. “He has dedicated his career to raising awareness and inspiring action against climate change.  Social impact and sustainability is a core value and an important part of o9. We are eager to help large companies make better decisions for their company and our planet and are looking forward to hearing Al Gore speak more on that topic at aim10x global 2022”. aim10x global takes place virtually from April 5 to April 7. Click here to register for the free event or view the agenda.

About o9 Solutions, Inc.

o9 Solutions is a leading AI-powered platform for integrated business planning and decision-making for the enterprise. Whether it is driving demand, aligning demand and supply, or optimizing commercial initiatives, any planning process can be made faster and smarter with o9’s AI-powered digital solutions. o9 brings together technology innovations—such as graph-based enterprise modeling, big data analytics, advanced algorithms for scenario planning, collaborative portals, easy-to-use interfaces, and cloud-based delivery—into one platform. For more information, please visit www.o9solutions.com.

Insurtech Platform, Zopper Delivers Stellar Business Performance, Achieves $100 Million Annualized Insurance Premium Milestone

* Key partners include Amazon, Ola, Cars24, Xiaomi, Croma, Titan Eye Plus, StoreKing, IIFL, Chaitanya, and more

* Zopper, backed by marquee global investors, Tiger Global and Blume Ventures has presence in over 1200+ cities

Zopper, India’s largest embedded insurtech platform, today announced accomplishment of new business milestone – $100 million in annualized insurance premium. The acceleration in digital transformation has helped the company to deliver stellar business performance. The demand for digital solutions is on the surge across the insurance value chain, from quote issuance to claim settlement. And, the ecosystem partners are collaborating with Insurtech players to innovate and build future capabilities to meet the protection needs of customers. 

Zopper’s Insurtech platform is backed by marquee global investors – Tiger Global and Blume Ventures. The company offers end-to-end insurance solution to its distribution partners through its API platform. Zopper and has over 60 plus distribution partners, which include some of the India’s largest brands – Amazon, Ola, Cars24, Xiaomi, Croma, Titan Eye Plus, StoreKing, IIFL, Chaitanya, and more. The company has presence in over 1200+ cities across India meeting the surging demand of new-age digital customers.

Commenting on new milestone, Surjendu Kuila, Founder and CEO, Zopper said, “Achieving $100 million in annual insurance premium is significant moment for stakeholders. We at Zopper aim to increase insurance penetration in the country by leveraging the marvels of new-age technology. We know for a fact that the world is embracing digitalization at a much faster pace than expected, especially owing to the pandemic. The share of digital insurance is anticipated to grow to 19 percent by 2027, and we look forward to scaling to 50 million policies over this period.”

Since Zopper came into being, its aim has been to create India’s largest embedded insurtech API platform to help B2C company sell insurance seamlessly to its customers. Zopper provides its services to a large set of ecosystem with partners belonging to digital, financial, and lifestyle segments. The insurtech platform offers a wide range of products such as health insurance, life insurance, motor insurance as well as lifestyle protection.

About Zopper:

Zopper is India’s largest embedded InsurTech platform that aims to democratise access to insurance distribution via its Application Programming Interface or API platform. Zopper, backed by marquee global investors, Tiger Global and Blume Ventures has presence in over 1200+ cities. The company helps B2B and B2C organisations adopt various insurance products and provides end-to-end technology and service offerings to insurers. It is a company that joins the missing pieces in the Insurance Eco system by combining technology and product solution to deliver results.

RBI Chooses Cloud-Native Intellect Quantum Core Banking Solution Upgrade For Powering Digital Transformation Journey

* Cloud hosted solution built on API-first micro-services architecture and advanced analytics with real-time multi-dimensional dashboards to power the digital transformation agenda of RBI

Intellect Design Arena Ltd, a cloud-native, future-ready multi-product FinTech company for the world’s leading central banks, financial and insurance clients, announced that the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank of the country and one of the largest in Asia region, has chosen Intellect to implement the upgraded version of the award-winning Cloud-Native Intellect Quantum Core Banking solution to power the next stage of their digital transformation agenda. Intellect continues to be the trusted partner for the Central Banking Transformation at Reserve Bank of India.

One of the largest and most complex central banks in the world with a balance sheet size of INR 57076.69 Billion, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provides the financial backbone for the world's sixth largest economy by implementing various monetary policy tools. Managing foreign exchange reserves, managing currency in circulation, regulating the banking industry and managing public debt, collections, and payments to the federal government, state governments, and union territories through RBI’s 30 regional offices.

The entire central banking operation of RBI is currently being supported by Intellect’s Quantum Central Banking Solution, popularly called as e-Kuber in RBI, Government of India & in the Indian Financial Systems. Benchmarked to support over 100 million transactions and 30+ million ISO20022 payment messages on a peak day, the platform supports 250+ commercial banks, 35 state government and union territories along with a number of Central Government ministries.

The next generation Intellect Quantum solution is built on cutting edge API first, cloud-native and cloud-agnostic microservices architecture supported by a rich set of packaged business components. The solution enables the RBI to seamlessly manage multiple activities such as supporting India’s Treasury Single Account with real-time balance position for various government entities, India's national GST backbone, and a wide range of Govt. Services and Banking Services, Currency circulation through 3000+ currency chests, Depository for Govt. securities including public debt auction management,  sophisticated Monetary Policy Operations, MNSB settlements for various market infrastructures, the support for financial inclusion by facilitating a wide range of Government direct benefit schemes for the public and Govt. Payment and Receipt Gateway with the support for 24x7 RTGS, NEFT payments and settlements, enterprise General Ledger with real-time balance sheet among others. 

With the launch of the Digital India initiative by the government, various direct benefit schemes of government, digital payments, GSTN & other varied monetary policy implementations, RBI transaction volumes are expected to grow several fold over the next decade and the next stage of the bank’s digital transformation project, e-Kuber 2.0 has to be designed & engineered to support this growth. RBI will deploy the entire QCBS platform-with API first micro-services architecture-on a cutting-edge large scale private cloud enabling a contextual modern user experience. Intellect will also provide a new Government Portal for Govt. entities with real time multi-dimensional dashboards along with modernising the existing commercial banking portal. 

Commenting about the prestigious deal win from Reserve Bank of India, Rajesh Saxena, Chief Executive Officer, Intellect Global Consumer Banking said “Intellect Quantum Central Banking Solution underlying MACH –enabled architecture will enable RBI to stay future-ready, with the ability to quickly and easily upgrade their systems, and navigate through the ever-changing economic landscape. We are excited for RBI to leverage the present-day best practices and the best of innovation from across the world with the latest version of our award winning central banking solution. It has been an honour for us to see our partnership with the Reserve Bank of India grow rapidly over the years. The collaboration, which began in 2011, and bagged accolades such as the Asian Banker ‘Best Central Bank Technology Project’ award along the way, is set to become even stronger with the implementation of our QCBS upgrade.”

BLive Partners With Bangalore Based OTO Capital To Facilitate Easy Financing Of Electric Scooters And Bikes

* Partnership to offer easy financing options of EVs on lease basis to increase demand

BLive, India’s premier multi brand EV store with online and offline presence has partnered with OTO Capital, a platform providing affordable plans for bike and scooter ownership, to make EV ownership much quicker and easier for EV enthusiasts across the country. The partnership between OTO Capital and BLive is for sale, marketing and promotion of multiple 2wheeler EV brands on lease model on BLive platform. 

This one of a kind opportunity, allows audiences across the country to exercise choice, option and easy availability of Electric Scooters and Bikes at BLive stores, both offline and online, through OTO Capital.

Commenting on the announcement, Samarth Kholkar, Co-Founder, BLive, shared, “As India’s first EV experience platform, our vision is to offer customers easy and affordable ways to explore, experience and purchase escooters and ebikes. With a vision that EVs will replace the fuel vehicles soon, we have partnered with the leader in vehicle leasing. We firmly believe that our partnership will cater to the demand for EVs and help in adoption of the category in India, giving a boost to the industry.”

Customers can choose from amongst Kinetic Green, Techo Electra, Batt:RE, LML - Detel, and others brands on BLive stores, wherein OTO Capital will finance vehicle on a lease basis and BLive will be the single point of contact of the transaction between OTO Capital, Manufacturer and Customers.

Sumit Chhazed, Co-Founder and CEO of OTO Capital, expressed his thoughts saying, “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with India's leading EV Experience platform, BLive. EV financing has been a challenge in the country and one of the key roadblocks in EV ownership. Our vision is to bring in better options of commuting, while helping customers with easy financing options. We look forward to our partnership and helping people own their dream electric vehicle like never before.”

The partnership between BLive and OTO Capital will spread across 12 months and will apply to all the models of escooter and ebikes available at the BLive store. 

About BLive

BLive is India's first Electric Vehicle Experience platform. It follows an experiential approach of driving adoption of Electric Mobility through BLive EV Tours and the BLive EV Store. BLive EV Tours offers curated, authentic, and immersive local tours that can be experienced on smart, savvy, electric bikes. Customers can experience the joy of effortless riding and collect memories as they ride a new adventure off beaten trails. BLive is a top ranked activity on TripAdvisor across India and a recipient of the TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award 2020. BLive EV Stores showcases multi-brand EV Two Wheelers and has already sold to customers in over 50 cities across India. BLive will soon launch its offline stores with a focus on Tier2 and Tier3 cities across India.

About OTO Capital

Welcome to the future of Bike Ownership!

OTO aims to provide affordable plans for your dream bikes at 35% lower EMIs than banks. We at OTO put our customers first and use technology to simplify the buying process. We are a small team, but we dream big of making bike ownership flexible, pocket-friendly & hassle free.

I have also attached the images of the newly opened store for your reference. Request if the same can be carried in your esteemed publication.

156th SLBC Karnataka Meeting Scheduled On March 02, 2022

156th SLBC meeting held under chairmanship of Sri P Ravi Kumar, Honorable Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka through video conference where Canara Bank Executive Director Sri. Brij Mohan Sharma, Smt. Vandita Sharma, Addl. Chief Secretary & Development Commissioner, GoK, Sri R Gurumurthy, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Shri Niraj Kumar Verma, Chief General Manager, NABARD and State Controlling heads of banks and heads of line department of GoK have attended the meeting.

Sri Brij Mohan Sharma, Executive Director, Canara Bank during his key note address said that Government of India had initiated a number of schemes under Athmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan namely ECGLS 1.0 to ECGLS 4.0, PMSvanidhi first and second tranche, PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) with ODOP-One District One Product concept. Agricultural infrastructural Fund scheme which plans to cover 10,000 FPOs, Support for post-harvest storage, AIF, Animal Husbandry etc.  He urged upon the bankers to achieve the target allotted under AIF, PMSVANidhi, PMFME etc., which will contribute in big way in enhancing farmers’ income and meeting the needs of the most vulnerable sections of the society.

He also informed that in order to ensure maximum coverage of farmers engaged in Animal Husbandry and Fisheries activities under KCC, the Government had launched a special saturation drive in the form of weekly “District-level Camp” for a period of 3 months w.e.f 8th November 2021.  Though there was covid pandemic situation, majority of the banks have fared well and requested all Banks to continue this trend.

He also informed the house that Karnataka state ranked 4th under Mudra and PMFME sanctions & disbursements and 5th position in case of PMSVANidhi scheme. He requested for a better performance in implementing 2nd tranche of PMSVANidhi in our state.

He informed that FRUITS team, e-Governance, GoK in coordination with SLBC and NABARD has trained all the state nodal officers and bank master trainers and majority of the bankers have already on boarded to the FRUITS portal. Revenue department, GoK has issued GO for sub registrar offices for implementation of FRUITS portal and

GoK has made all SROs live for implementation of FRUITS Portal and with effect from 01.11.2021.

Total Priority Sector Advances (PSA) target for FY 2021-22 is 2,92,392 crores and achievement during December quarter 2021 is 148958 crores (50.94%). Out of total PSA, Agriculture Achievement is 80176 crores (63.64%) and MSE/MSMSE is 56279 crores (50.33%).

ABB India Introduces A Gender-Neutral Parental Leave Program

·      The program grants 4 weeks of paid leave to secondary caregivers, in addition to the parental leave for 26 weeks for the primary caregiver

·      The parental leave program cuts across genders, age, and sexual orientations

ABB India has announced a gender-neutral and inclusive parental program recognizing the need for both parents to be present with their newborns or a new adoptive child under 3 years of age. The inclusive approach, one of the firsts in the Indian manufacturing sector, extends similar benefits to LGBTQ couples and co-habiting partners, adoptive, and surrogacy commissioning parents.

The parental leave program forms part of ABB’s “Global Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2030”, and is in line with the company’s global parental program introduced last year. This program is envisioned to offer much-needed support to families so as to help them bond with their children and balance their personal and professional responsibilities. As part of this program, each employee who is the secondary caregiver will be entitled to take 4 weeks of parental leave while the primary caregiver is eligible to take 26 weeks, as per the country’s maternity law.

Sanjeev Sharma, Country Head and Managing Director, ABB India said, “At ABB, we are committed to creating a diverse and equitable workplace where our employees feel valued and cared for. This gender-neutral and inclusive approach, we truly hope, will provide our people the much-needed time to be fully invested in their families and be present for important milestones. We believe the focus on such gender-neutral programs will cascade across various sectors to build more inclusive workplaces, as the Indian industry strides into the next level of sustainable growth.”

As part of ABB’s 2030 sustainability strategy, the organization is committed to driving social progress, along with our suppliers and in our communities. Within the workplace, ABB India has introduced various initiatives to foster the culture of Diversity and Inclusion which includes the gender-neutral focus. For the last couple of years, a series of unconscious bias workshops have been conducted for all employees to raise awareness around the biases we may have but are not conscious of. Local diversity councils function as a support group for women and ABB has been consistently increasing women’s representation across businesses. Various initiatives are also in progress to enhance awareness, increase access and make the workplace more inclusive.

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation, and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB’s success is driven by about 105,000 talented employees in over 100 countries. www.abb.com

Health And Wellness Start-Up RisamPure™ Launches AtmoPure Air Purifiers

RisamPure™ owned by the former promotors of Bharat Serums & Vaccines Ltd. (BSVL), which is one of the leading health care organisations with over 4 decades of experience in this segment, has launched AtmoPure™ range of air purifiers. Aimed at providing the best health care and well-being products in India, RisamPure™ will be introducing two variants - Medical Grade Hepa 14 Range and Advanced Grade Hepa 13 Range. The air purifiers will be available to consumers starting from Rs. 14,990 on https://risampure.com/.

onwards on.

AtmoPure™ air purifiers are built to proactively protect your health by ensuring no air-borne threats escape into the air you breathe. Atmopure™ air purifiers with its State of the Art 5 stage purification system inside, eliminates all kind of air-borne threats, as they come with built-in Pre-Filter + Activated Carbon Filter + ‘3D Attack’ Technology.

Our innovative and revolutionary ‘3D Attack’ Technology is designed to ensure that the air in every corner of your home is free of all types of allergens, bacteria & viruses. ‘3D Attack’ Technology comprises of 3 powerful technologies – MEDICAL GRADE HEPA 14 + UV-C + IONIZER, making it a unique combination to remove all air-borne particles (as small as 0.3 microns) like hair & dust, gases, odours, VOCs, pollen, mould, allergens, mildew, fungi, bacteria’s & viruses.

Having all 5 technologies together makes AtmoPure™ Air Purifers unique and powerful for your rooms.

“Air pollution is worsening by the day, and we are constantly breathing in toxic air even inside our homes without even realizing it. The launch of AtmoPure™ state-of-the-art air purifiers is a step towards realizing our vision of bringing the best of healthcare and well-being products to India in order to build a healthy nation,” said Mr. Bharat Daftary, former Chairman of Bharat Serums & Vaccines Ltd.

Going forward, the company plans to conduct extensive research to come up with more innovative healthcare solutions. RisamPure™ plans to expand its portfolio by bringing in more products in the purification range targeting B2B and other segments. The cornerstone of our product portfolio strategy is Purity, and this will be represented in every product that we introduce and launch.

Vaikunth Ganapathy, Commercial Director of RisamPure™, said: “The LEAF in our logo symbolizes this purity. It integrates our belief and strategy together. Consumers are making healthier choices to strengthen their immunity and upgrade their overall lifestyle. With increasing dust, pollutants, and lessening of green cover, the air quality has substantially depleted, and consumers are moving to more health-oriented solutions like air purifiers. AtmoPure™ air purifiers incorporate highly advanced technologies that ensure the air you breathe in your homes and offices is safe and clean.” 

Boys And Machines Adds Three New Luxury Cars To Their Diverse Inventory

* Pre-owned luxury Car Company showcases flagship sedans from BMW and Mercedes-Benz

Gurugram: Pre-owned luxury car company Boys and Machines announced the addition of three new luxury cars to its inventory over the past one week. These are one unit each of BMW X7, BMW 730Ld and Mercedes-Benz S450.

The BMW X7 is priced at INR 1.09 crore, while the BMW 730Ld is to be priced at 75 lakh whereas Mercedes-Benz S450 is available for INR 1.01 crore. This does not includes Logistics, TCS, and RC transfer cost.

The cars can be seen via a virtual tour on Boys and Machines website-https://boysandmachines.com/collection/?page=1

The cars are located at the Gurugram headquarters of Boys and Machines and can be purchased pan India. Over and above this, the company has cars available from INR 25 lacs to INR 3 crores across brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo, Range Rover, Rolls-Royce, BMW among others. 

Mr. Akash Chaturvedi, CEO, Boys and Machines said, “These cars have gone through a robust quality check and we have done our due diligence to ensure that our customers get peace of mind. We are sure they will enjoy their purchase and the ownership journey. We are witnessing an ever-increasing appetite for pre-owned flagship sedans across India and we look forward to cater the growing market demand.”

Founded in 2020, Boys and Machines has studios in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, and the company has its plans to establish studios in several more cities. The company’s inventory is available online on their website and the vehicles can be purchased anywhere across India with an option of doorstep delivery.

Wealthy.in Appoints Ex-Citibanker Jaya Singh As Chief Of Strategy

Bengaluru-based FinTech firm Wealthy appoints ex-Citibanker Jaya Singh as the Chief of Strategy. With over two decades of experience across product development and sales, Jaya is a known leader in the wealth and asset management industry. She was the Head of Investment Products for Citi Consumer Bank in her last assignment, where she was responsible for product development, fund diligence, client engagement and sales management. This news comes days after the Wealthy team announced their series A financing of $7.5million from marquee investors like Alpha Wave (formerly known as Falcon Edge Capital), Emphasis VC, Venture Highway, Good Capital and others.

As Chief of Strategy at Wealthy.in, Jaya will drive product innovation, partnerships and identify new business opportunities for scale. Wealthy’s platform is helping thousands of wealth professionals focus on clients' interests and deliver quality wealth management. The Company will benefit from the expertise of Singh, who will drive new initiatives to expand the portfolio and incorporate innovative strategies.

"We are delighted to have Jaya who is a well respected wealth management professional on board with us at Wealthy. She will help us improve the client experience, and work on product addition and network expansion," said Prashant Gupta, co-founder of Wealthy.in.

“I have been working with Aditya, Prashant, and the rest of the Wealthy team in the past couple years and I am impressed with their high energy, agility and willingness to experiment. I am delighted to expand my association with this team,” said Jaya Singh.

About Wealthy

Wealthy (Wealthy.in) is a Bengaluru-based FinTech firm making Wealth Management more accessible. Founded by two IITians, Aditya Agarwal and Prashant Gupta, the company provides 150+ products, a fair earnings structure, and everything a wealth professional needs to help clients meet their life goals. The company aims to serve 99% of the consumers untouched by institutional wealth management services and change the status quo through its modern approach.

India’s First Interstate Perishable Food Delivery Service, JustMyRoots Is Coming With Its Signature Dishes

For the first time in India, food lovers will be able to order their favorite dishes cooked by their favorite chefs. With an aim to revolutionize interstate food delivery in India, JustMyRoots is set to announce a unique & one of its kind collaboration with top celebrity chefs catering to the wishes of the consumers, enabling delivery of made to order dishes by their favorite celebrity chefs and influencers. With a robust network of delivery system and a rock solid supply chain JustMyRoots is the only brand in the country to have developed this concept of taking meals cooked by celebrity chefs to the end consumer, across cities. JustMyRoots is India’s first inter-state home delivery service that facilitates delivery of perishable cooked food/others across cities with packaging that keeps the food fresh for more than 26 hours. Over a period of three years JustMyRoots has been delivering cooked meals, unique & authentic to a particular region across the country to customers in over 25 cities.

Touted to be a game changer in the field of food delivery, under this collaboration, customers will be able to place live orders while the celebrity chef is cooking. Whether the chef is cooking on any platform, be it on social media channels or OTT, their fans can place order on the JustMyRoots App and get that favourite dish delivered right at their door step. They need to simply login and choose from the celebrity chefs listed on the JustMyRoots App to demand what they would like to eat cooked by their favorite chef. Multiple celebrity chefs will be streaming live onto the JustMyRoots App, where you watch them cook your “on-demand” dish. JustMyRoots will then ensure that the food is delivered to you in time. JustMyRoots is working with multiple cloud kitchen partners across different cities to ensure ease of delivery.

“At JustMyRoots we have always considered food as an emotion that brings people and families’ closer. Therefore, we have tried creating a business model where people can enjoy their favourite meals/dishes from their favourite food outlet from across any part of the country. This collaboration is a step closer to our vision, where it will be possible for our customers to order a signature dish directly from their favourite ccelebrity chef’s kitchen to their homes.” shared Samiran Sengupta, CEO and Co-Founder, JustMyRoots.

With this novel concept JustMyRoots has taken yet another step towards breaking barriers in the food delivery ecosystem by attracting new demographies and creating what can be called as the mother of all food delivery programs! 

Tata Motors Goes #Hyperlocal For Its Passenger Vehicle Buyers

* Launches ‘Anubhav’ Mobile Showrooms to offer enhanced customer experience in rural India

Tata Motors, India’s leading automotive brand, today introduced ‘Anubhav,’ showroom on wheels, a door step car buying experience for the rural customers. In line with its rural marketing strategy, this initiative will help increase reach in Tehsils and Talukas, which have high potential in terms of rural population, and economy. A total of 103 mobile showrooms are being deployed across the country, to enhance the Tata Motors brand awareness in rural India. These mobile showrooms will help existing dealerships to offer a doorstep sales experience to customers and assist them with information about the New Forever range of cars & SUVs, accessories, avail finance schemes, book a test drive and evaluate existing cars for exchange.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rajan Amba, Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Customer Care, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. said, “We are delighted to commence the Anubhav Initiative. This is a significant step towards taking the brand to the hinterland and making our New Forever range of cars & SUVs more accessible while reducing our dependability on the traditionally followed model of a brick-and-mortar facility. These mobile showrooms will be a one stop solution for rural customers seeking information about our cars, finance schemes, exchange offers etc. They will also derive important consumer insights and data for us to further improve our customer outreach. Rural India sales contributes around 40% to the total passenger vehicles sold in India and with this concept we are confident of expanding our reach, and increasing our customer base in these markets.”

With the expertise of Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles Fully Built Vehicles (FBV) Division, the Anubhav – Showroom on Wheels has been developed on the very reliable, Tata Intra V10. These mobile showrooms will be operated by dealerships under Tata Motors’ supervision and guidance. All the dealerships will define monthly routes for these vans on which they will ply and cover the targeted village or tehsil. These mobile showrooms come equipped with GPS trackers to monitor the movement for better utilisation.

About Tata Motors

Part of the USD 109 billion Tata group, Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM; BSE: 500570 and 570001; NSE: TATAMOTORS and TATAMTRDVR), a USD 34 billion organization, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, pick-ups, trucks, and buses, offering extensive range of integrated, smart, and e-mobility solutions. With ‘Connecting Aspirations’ at the core of its brand promise, Tata Motors is India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and amongst the top three in the passenger vehicles market.

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. With a focus on engineering and tech enabled automotive solutions catering to the future of mobility, 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. The company is pioneering India’s Electric Vehicle (EV) transition and driving the shift towards sustainable mobility solutions by preparing a tailor-made product strategy, leveraging the synergy between the Group companies, and playing an active role liaising with the Government in developing the policy framework.

With operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia, supported by a strong global network of 103 subsidiaries, 9 associate companies, 4 joint ventures and 2 joint operations as on March 31, 2021, Tata Motors’ commercial and passenger vehicles are marketed in countries, spread across Africa, Middle East, South & Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, Russia, and other CIS countries.

Hershey India Celebrates International Women’s Day With Limited Edition Packaging, Celebratory Rap Song And Strategic Partnerships

* The brand amplified its popular ‘HERSHE’ campaign further this year by launching commemorative packs that celebrate Six ‘Unsung Sheroes’ and a one – of - its kind celebratory rap song

Hershey India is proud to recognize, honor and uplift women and girls this month through activations in India and around the world in celebration of International Women’s Day (March 8) to continue to advance its gender equity commitments. The campaign will be going live across seven international markets, aimed at making the invisible woman visible.

The Hershey Company’s award-winning [#HerSHE] campaign, which originated in Brazil in 2020, will be brought alive in India in a never seen before avatar. The renowned chocolate brand has collaborated with six women achievers whose accomplishments have been custom illustrated on the iconic HERSHEY'S chocolate bars. Hershey’s salutes these women and their efforts towards choosing and succeeding in unconventional careers.

As the first step towards unveiling the campaign, Hershey India has taken a unique route of a power-packed celebratory rap song by American Indian Rapper Raja Kumari & Indian musician Meba Ofilia. You can listen to the exciting anthem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZbSgIxRg3U. This year the brand is leveraging technology to create an online community for curating and showcasing inspiring stories by women and connecting to offline channels via QR code on the packaging. Consumers can scan the QR Code printed on the packaging of HERSHEY’S Bar that will link them to the microsite https://www.hershe.co.in/  The microsite has curated templates, with personalized messaging, that consumers can use to celebrate and share the stories of Sheroes who have inspired them.

Hershey India has joined forces ‘Sheroes’ such as Aishwarya Sridhar, Dhvani Kothari, Sandhya Rai, Rukmini Vijayakumar, Pooja Taparia, and Falguni Vasavda Ojha from diverse fields including Photography, Performing Arts, Social Work, Sports, and Feminism, and dedicated Hershey’s Bars packaging to feature, celebrate and showcase achievements of the Sheroes. To learn more about them, consumers can scan the code on the packs and read about them on the microsite.

Sharing his insights on the renowned global campaign, Herjit Bhalla, VP India and AEMEA, The Hershey Company said, “Diversity and Inclusion has always been at the crux of the Hershey ecosystem. It has been a key focus area for the organization across countries, and the HERSHE campaign brings it all together beautifully for us. This campaign gives a voice to what The Hershey Company truly believes in. By elevating the role played by the sheroes around us we want to make the ‘invisible visible’ through this campaign. While we have featured six sheroes on our packs there are countless number of sheroes out there and the ones we come across in our daily lives. Their determination and grit make them truly extraordinary, and Hershey’s appreciates that.

Expressing her thoughts on the HER-SHE campaign Geetika Mehta, Managing Director, Hershey India said, “As a build up to the International Women’s Day, we have taken a unique voice of celebrating and highlighting HER & SHE, through the #HerShe campaign. The campaign strives to celebrate inspiring stories of Sheroes in our society, who have displayed excellence by either taking the path less travelled or by simply creating a positive impact on people around them. Our idea is to bring alive galvanizing stories by making the ‘invisible visible’!”

Commenting on the campaign’s big idea, Ankit Desai, Marketing Director, Hershey India stated, “The HerShe campaign brings alive unique perspective of make the ‘Invisible Visible’, in line with brand purpose of ‘Celebrating Togetherness’. We have envisioned the ‘HER-SHE’ campaign with an intention to not only celebrate women leaders and achievers but also Sheroes all around us, be it family members, friends, mentors or colleagues. The initiative, which deserves to go to maximum people, leverages an Integrated Experiential approach, spanning packaging take-over of the entire Hershey’s Bar portfolio, personalized and interactive tech-based micro site, AR filters, first of its kind celebratory rap song and influencer outreach to drive education, engagement and thus celebration. Lastly, we intend to have fireside chats on IWD, to enable conversations around d career journeys and many such encouraging stories”

“As a company that embraces diversity and equality, we saw a unique insight into how we can make visible the role of forgotten or somewhat invisible women who make such an important difference in our society,” said Santhi Ramesh, CMO for Hershey International.  “These campaigns celebrate women while communicating our brand values and the values we share with our consumers. The user generated content is real and authentic, and as a result is able to break through and resonate strongly with consumers.”

Further to this, the campaign will culminate with a mentorship session conducted with the six sheroes which will be further amplified by Girl Up.

Hershey’s Ongoing Commitment to Gender Equity

Gender equity is a central focus of The Hershey Company’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Hershey is proud to be led by female CEO Michele Buck, who recognizes her fifth year at the helm this month, and to be named the #1 World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies by Forbes in 2021, recognized for its efforts to create an inclusive culture with benefits such as its Women’s Business Resource Group and a commitment to equal pay. By 2025, Hershey aims to achieve aggregate dollar-for-dollar pay equity for salaried employees worldwide. The company currently reports 48% female representation globally and remains committed to achieving equal representation across its workforce. To learn more about The Hershey Company’s efforts to advance gender equity, click here.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8.9 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese’s, Ice Breakers and many more.

For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

Intellimation.ai Launches Its NLP And ML Based Product ADEPT For Insurance Sector

Intellimation.ai, a Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning based cognitive fintech company is launching its product ADEPT for the insurance and insurance brokerage industry.

ADEPT is an extension of their core AI platform Vector into the insurance sector. Through this product insurance brokers can embed and operationalise AI through an automated assembly line to ingest and interpret all types of structured and unstructured data, across a range of products related workflows.

ADEPT is a culmination of one year of analysis, testing, creation of corpora and writing their own proprietary NLP and ML algorithms for contextual understanding of the insurance sector.

Intellimation CEO – Mr. Har Pulak Bahadur stated “After disrupting the global markets space in the Investment Banking and Asset Management sector, Insurance came as a natural extension for our product. Bringing our already existing technology and adding the insurance domain layer gives us significant ability to disrupt this market and create value for insurance companies and insurance brokers. We have looked at some of most complex problems and take a futuristic demand approach to come up with ADEPT. The adoption of our technology will no doubt level the playing field for small and medium sized brokers and insurance companies to compete with larger and new age well-funded companies”

The use cases already configured for ADEPT include:

Request for quote automation using SLIP

Facilities Management

Claims processing

Contract Certainty

Next generation drilldown Dashboards

Machine learning based intelligence

Intellimation.ai aims to replicate its success it has seen in Investment banking where it increased straight through processing to >98%+, which has helped them scale with rapidly changing market environments as well improve customer experience significantly.

NKGSB Bank Accelerates Digitalization Efforts Using The Nutanix Cloud Platform Across Indian Market

 

* The bank transformed its IT and can now offer a seamless digital experience to customers

Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX, a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, today said NKGSB Bank, one of India’s premier cooperative banks, accelerated its digitalization efforts using the Nutanix Cloud Platform.  The move enabled the bank to roll-out new applications that are providing a seamless and improved digital experience for customers, and to help drive increases in productivity and revenues.

NKGSB was able to transform digitally because the Nutanix Cloud Platform helped it shift to a 100-percent virtualized environment and leverage hyper-convergence to scale resources as customer demand heightened. Nutanix’s technology also aided in significantly reducing the bank’s time spent managing workloads and its rack footprint, thereby reducing colocation charges and ongoing power costs. Nutanix also brought industry intelligence that helped the bank to do away with resource allocation on routine and mundane tasks and implement automated business processes.  

“One of the great things about Nutanix is the ability to gain greater visibility, combined with advanced analytics, to give us actionable intelligence to proactively manage service levels, optimize resource usage and help ensure configuration compliance across physical, virtual and cloud environments,” said Amit Jaokar, chief digital officer and chief information security officer, NKGSB Bank.

“Banks need an agile IT foundation that can help them compete with fintechs and digital startups, and cope with the complexity of burgeoning regulatory requirements. We are proud the Nutanix Cloud Platform continues to be preferred by leading banks globally and in India because it helps them drive agility and customer-focused innovation. Nutanix’s hybrid multicloud platform unifies divided operations, accelerates time to market, and breaks down expensive silos with a solution that delights stakeholders, businesses, and developers alike. Additionally, its architecture grants enterprises the flexibility to adopt and scale various applications and microservices that are imperative in today’s fluid business landscape to meet ever-growing customer expectations.” said Rajesh Krishnia, Business Head – BFSI & Enterprise, Nutanix India. 

Many banks today face significant technical and business challenges, ranging from contact center and branch productivity delays, downtime due to frequent upgrades and updates, complex and under-utilized legacy infrastructure, and limited automation of IT processes. The Nutanix Cloud Platform is enabling the BFSI sector to overcome these issues and achieve accelerated digital transformation with agile, automated IT.

About Nutanix

Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software and a pioneer in hyper converged 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.

Toyota Teases Glimpses Of Its Most Affordable Offering: The All-New Toyota Glanza

Toyota Kirloskar Motor today shared a sneak peek into its newest and most affordable offering from its stable- the Cool New Toyota Glanza. Scheduled to be launched this month, the new Glanza boasts of a plethora of new & unique design features, exclusively created by designers at Toyota. Moreover, the new Glanza is also equipped with a technologically advanced connected feature, making it an irresistible choice for the Indian Market and helping Toyota reach far more value seekers in the segment. For more details, log onto the Toyota Bharat website: https://www.toyotabharat.com/showroom/glanza/

Encouraging More STEM Education For Girls, Olay Funds Scholarships With India School EdTech Unicorn LEAD To #STEMTheGap

Why are young girls presented with kitchen sets on their birthdays while boys are given toy robots or construction sets? Are our unconscious gender biases holding girls back? According to United Nations, in India women make up only 14% of the workforce in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). As a brand of science, but simultaneously proudly also a brand of women, leading skincare brand Olay believes the world needs more women in STEM and believes it’s time to change the STEM gender gap equation in India.

Rooted in cultural barriers and stereotypical gender roles, women are often stereotyped as caregivers or homemakers and restricted in their fields of study to teaching, nursing, fine arts and home economics amongst the like. That’s why Olay has launched its #STEMTheGap initiative, as part of which the brand is encouraging more Indian girls to fearlessly pursue STEM education and careers. To action this, Olay has launched a STEM scholarship program for girls in partnership with LEAD, India's foremost School EdTech player.

LEAD works with over 3000 schools, most of which serve low-income families, to deliver international standard education to 1.2 million+ students. Specifically, LEAD transforms schools by helping teachers design the curriculum and find ways to better convey the concepts to students, whilst also securing books and other quality resources. It’s exactly this commitment to high quality education in geographical areas that may not otherwise have access that makes LEAD the ideal partner for Olay’s STEM scholarship programme. The girls who are recipients will be enabled with a very good experience and education, allowing them to pursue their passions and interests.

Since 2021, Olay is sponsoring tuition fees, as well as tablets and data packs for girls across 6 states in India. The latter two are particularly critical with the backdrop of the pandemic – many families don’t have multiple smartphones or devices at home, so providing tech-enabled solutions to ensure the girls can continue learning, even in an online or hybrid environment of physical and digital classrooms, is hugely meaningful.

Speaking on the #STEMTheGap initiative, Priyali Kamath, Senior Vice President, Skin & Personal Care – Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Procter & Gamble (P&G) said, “Olay is a brand deeply rooted in science, and with 50% of our scientists being women, we know that girls have the potential to become amazing scientists. With more and more jobs becoming STEM-based, we believe it’s our collective responsibility to prepare girls for the jobs of the future. That is why we are committed to helping close the gender gap in STEM. Our scholarship program with LEAD is already making a real and meaningful difference today, and we are excited to be part of driving a positive future for girls in India. Together, let’s #STEMTheGap.”

Sumeet Mehta, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, LEAD said “Olay’s scholarships are extremely meaningful and will enable the girls to pursue their passions and interests. Our mission at LEAD is to take excellent education to every child by transforming schools, especially in small towns. Our partnership with Olay will further allow us to create value for students and democratize learning irrespective of where one goes to school. The early years are foundational for girls, and we are proud to be partnering on this cause to make a positive difference and work towards closing the gender gap in STEM.”

Ranjit Bute, parent of scholarship recipient Riya Bute (9) from Mangaon, District Raigad Maharashtra, said “I am a bus driver and my daughter Riya is currently in the 3rd standard. We were struggling to pay our daughter’s school fees during the pandemic and were worried she will fall behind in her education. When LEAD introduced us to this initiative by Olay, to help support our daughter’s entire education, we were so happy and relieved! We will always be grateful to Olay and LEAD for providing this huge support for us in our child’s education during these stressful times”

With the launch of its meaningful initiative #STEMTheGap, Olay India is committing to help close the gender gap in STEM. The brand has also unveiled a hard-hitting film highlighting how our unconscious biases teach girls that STEM is not for them and invites us to collectively address this to #STEMTheGap.

Link to the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz0AA0O6MmU

Radhe Shyam Ss The Most Anticipated March Release According To IMDb Fans In India

Last month, films like Khiladi and Gangubai Kathiawadi hit the big screen and are witnessing a roaring success. Filmmakers and audiences are excited for the big hits slated to release in March 2022. Among the Indian movies and webseries releasing in theatres or on streaming platforms during the month of March, these 15 titles were consistently most popular during a set pre-release window determined by the actual page views of IMDb fans in India. The rankings and release date information are based on data as of February 23, 2022.

Radhe Shyam - A romantic drama set in Europe during the 1970s.

Director: K.K. Radhakrishna Kumar | Stars: Prabhas, Pooja Hegde, Bhagyashree Patwardhan, Krishnamraju

Releasing on March 11, 2022

Bachchhan Paandey - A budding director tries to research a merciless gangster for making a film on gangster-ism. But his secret attempts to conduct the research fail when he gets caught for snooping.

Director: Farhad Samji | Stars: Akshay Kumar, Kriti Sanon, Arshad Warsi, Pankaj Tripathi

Releasing on March 18, 2022

Rudra: The Edge of Darkness - In the crime-ridden streets of Mumbai, journeying through the maze of psychopathic minds is brilliant super-cop Rudra Veer Singh.

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Raashi Khanna, Atul Kulkarni, Esha Deol

Releasing on March 04, 2022

Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar

The Kashmir Files - The Kashmir Files' is a story, based on video interviews of the first-generation victims of the Genocide of Kashmiri Pandit Community In 1990.

Director: Vivek Agnihotri | Stars: Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Darshan Kumaar, Pallavi Joshi

Releasing on March 11, 2022

Etharkkum Thunindhavan - How the protagonist, a social fighter in the film, will be fighting the crimes against women?

Director: Pandiraj | Stars: Suriya, Priyanka Arulmohan, Pugazh, Sathyaraj

Releasing on March 10, 2022

Bheeshmaparvam - "Bheeshma Parvam" tells the story of Bheeshmavardhan, a former gangster turned marine exporter from Fort Kochi. Ensuing a series of unfortunate events and death threats to his family, he is forced to revisit his past.

Director: Amal Neerad | Stars: Mammootty, Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Farhaan Faasil

Releasing on March 3, 2022

Jhund - Based on the life of Vijay Barse, a retired sports teacher who founded an NGO called Slum Soccer. He managed to rehabilitate street kids by keeping them off drugs and crime by turning them into soccer players and building a whole team.

Director: Nagraj Manjule | Stars: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhinay Raj Singh, Ganesh Deshmukh, Vicky Kadian

Releasing on March 04, 2022

James - James also called Santhosh Kumar, who works as a manager in a security company and finds himself up against the big bad guys.

Director: Chethan Kumar | Stars: Puneeth Rajkumar, Priya Anand, Mukesh Rishi, Meka Srikanth

Releasing on March 17, 2022

Hey Sinamika - The lives of Mouna, a weather scientist who falls in love with Yaazhan, a quirky and loving guy. What happens to their relationship after a couple of years and how things take an unexpected turn after the arrival of Malarvizhi?

Director: Brinda Master | Stars: Aditi Rao Hydari, Dulquer Salmaan, Kajal Aggarwal, Yogi Babu

Releasing on March 03, 2022

Don - Follows the life of a youngster from college to his marriage.

Director: Cibi Chakravarthi | Stars: Sivakarthikeyan, S.J. Suryah, Samuthirakani, Priyanka Arulmohan

Releasing on March 25, 2022

Rama Rao on Duty - Rama Rao On Duty is an action entertainer movie directed by Sarath Mandava. The movie casts Ravi Teja and Divyansha Kaushik are in the main lead roles.

Director: Sarath Mandava | Stars: Ravi Teja, Rajisha Vijayan, Divyansha Kaushik, Nassar

Releasing on March 25, 2022

Aadavaallu Meeku Johaarlu - Director Tirumala Kishore's much-awaited Telugu family entertainer 'Aadavallu Meeku Johaarlu', featuring actors Sharwanand and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead

Director: Thirumala Kishore | Stars: Rashmika Mandanna, Radhika Sarathkumar, Kushboo, Sharwanand

Releasing on March 04, 2022

Night Drive

Director: Vysakh | Stars: Roshan Mathew, Siddique, Anna Ben, Indrajith Sukumaran

Releasing on March 11, 2022

Pada

Director: Kamal K.M. | Stars: Kunchacko Boban, Vinayakan, Joju George, Dileesh Pothan

Releasing on March 10, 2022

One Story Many Ends - An aspiring actress, a Don and a common guy; where the actress is stuck between career and love. How will she manage both? To add a twist, there is also a haunted flat with evil spirits. A mystery to unfold.

Director: Sanjay Niranjan | Stars: Usha Bachani, Rana Jung Bahadur, Deepak Bhatia, Brandis

Releasing on March 04, 2022