Corteva Agriscience Launches Novixid Herbicide To Manage Weeds In Rice Fields

* The product’s fast-acting formula ensures healthy crop and better yield by minimizing crop weed competition

Corteva Agriscience®, a global pure-play agriculture company, today launched its Novixid™ herbicide to manage weeds in rice fields. The product’s fast-acting formula ensures healthy crop and better yield by minimizing crop weed competition resulting in increased productivity and farmer profitability.

Rice growers face many challenges, and weeds present a significant challenge as they compete for the same nutrition and resources young rice plants need. The Novixid™ rice herbicide’s unique combination of Rinskor® active has proven very beneficial in weed management. The product effectively controls weeds that are tolerant to ALS(Acetolactate synthase), ACCase( Acetyl- coenzyme A carboxylase), and HPPD( Hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase) HPPD inhibitor herbicides as well. It also has a favourable toxicology and ecotoxicology profile which benefits soil health and the environment. This makes Novixid™ a distinctive product which performs across variable conditions and water management environments effectively. 

Commenting on the company's commitment to bring sustainable and innovative agricultural products to India, Mr. Ravinder Balain, President - South Asia, Corteva Agriscience® said, "farmers are looking for modern solutions to address their challenges and improve productivity. Corteva® strives to bring the most innovative and sustainable product solutions to the market. With the introduction of Novixid™, farmers will be able to effectively overcome the weeds that impede crop productivity. The product’s positive toxicology profile also makes it ideal to retain soil health and enable healthier crop cycles.

Speaking about the challenges in the weed management, Dr V K Choudhary, a renowned scientist in the field of weed science said, “herbicide resistance is one of the biggest issues faced by Indian farmers who grow rice. Herbicides with a single mode of action contribute to resistance development, giving rise to the increase in weeds on the crops. However, the use of herbicides with alternate modes of action can manage the resistance issue faced by many. Rinskor® active is one the molecules that may deter resistance development and help with weed management in current scenario.”

Corteva Agriscience® is committed to helping farmers adopt sustainable and holistic agronomic practices. Corteva® believes in enriching the lives of farmers ensuring progress for generations to come. With innovation at its core, Corteva creates solutions that deliver high-quality yields and long-term sustainability for farmers’ prosperity.

About Corteva-

Corteva, Inc. (NYSE: CTVA) is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that combines industry-leading innovation, high-touch customer engagement and operational execution to profitably deliver solutions for the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges. Corteva generates® advantaged market preference through its unique distribution strategy, together with its balanced and globally diverse mix of seed, crop protection, and digital products and services. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and a technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to maximizing productivity for farmers, while working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. More information can be found at www.corteva.com

Kotak, METRO Cash & Carry India Launch Credit Card For Millions Of METRO Customers Including Small Retailers And Kiranas

* METRO Kotak Credit card will provide easy, interest – free credit for up to 48 days to over 3 million registered METRO customers

* Customers can earn cashback up to Rs 10,000 per month

Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (“KMBL”/Kotak) in association with METRO Cash & Carry India, India’s leading organized wholesaler and food specialist today launched a new co-branded Credit Card – ‘METRO Kotak Credit Card’. This card will provide easy, interest-free credit facility, for up to 48 days to over 3 million registered METRO India customers. The card has been launched on the RuPay network.

METRO’s customer base includes small traders, Kirana owners, MSMEs, small restaurants, HoReCa (Hotels, Restaurants, and Caterers) players, offices, companies, institutions, as well as self-employed professionals.

The new METRO Kotak Credit Card can be used across METRO’s network of 31 wholesale distribution centers (stores) located in 21 cities in India, as well as the METRO Wholesale App – the ecommerce platform.

Features and Benefits:

METRO Kotak Credit Card is designed to fulfil credit needs of the retailers, who buy in bulk to stock their retail shops, from METRO

Attractive credit facility in the B2B segment – interest-free credit to METRO’s business customers for up to 48 days

Credit limit range – from Rs 25,000 onwards to a maximum credit based on the customer’s purchase pattern with METRO

Flexible repayment options through cash or online transfer

Card users can earn cashback up to Rs 10,000, per month, subject to their monthly spends at METRO

METRO business customers, who do not have a bank account, can also apply for the card

Minimum documentation and easy process to apply for the card

No ‘joining’ or ‘yearly’ fees

“We are delighted to launch a credit card tailor-made for the millions of small traders, Kirana store owners, and MSMEs – who form the backbone of the retail industry in the country,” says Mr. Frederick Dsouza, Business Head – Credit Cards, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited. “Unorganized players constitute about 80% of the fast-growing retail market. Through this unique offering, we are catering to the credit and finance needs of this segment. It is a sizeable market opportunity."

Speaking about METRO’s commitment towards being the voice of Kiranas & MSMEs, Mr. Arvind Mediratta, MD and CEO, METRO Cash & Carry India said, “As Champion for Independent Business, we have always been committed to support the local businesses and MSME eco-system and empower them to make their business more profitable and successful. We are elated to join hands with Kotak Mahindra bank to provide more liquidity line to small retailers, kiranas and MSMEs, who form the backbone of the Indian retail economy. This reiterates our commitment to provide customized and hassle-free financial solution to address their working capital needs.” He further added, “Our digital intervention for kiranas is to add value on both demand and supply side; on the supply side, we offer convenience of buying a wide array of goods everything under one roof and at competitive price, whether in-store or through our ecommerce offerings. This has led to tremendous time and cost saving for them along with faster fulfilment, and doorstep delivery service within 24 hours. In addition, we act as a catalyst to drive demand for kiranas; we help them grow their revenues and bottom line via digitalization and modernization through our Smart Kirana program as well as facilitate credit availability to enhance their working capital efficiency. Liquidity interventions like these help them grow their topline, bottom line, improve cash flows and nurture their business more sustainably.”

Commenting on the launch, Denny V Thomas, Head – RuPay, NPCI said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Kotak Mahindra Bank, Metro Cash and Carry in launching the METRO Kotak Credit Card on the RuPay network. We believe this card has been diligently designed to meet the needs of retail store operators and help them move the needle w.r.t profitability and day-to-day operations.  Accordingly, the card has been enabled to provide a credit line to retail store operators up to 48 days for payment. We are happy to work along with the ecosystem to innovate and provide innovative payment solutions which are relevant and useful to all customer segments.”

About Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited:

Established in 1985, Kotak Mahindra Group is one of India's leading financial services conglomerates. In February 2003, Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd. (KMFL), the Group's flagship company, received banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), becoming the first non-banking finance company in India to convert into a bank - Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.

The Bank has four Strategic Business Units – Consumer Banking, Corporate Banking, Commercial Banking and Treasury, which cater to retail and corporate customers across urban and rural India. The premise of Kotak Mahindra Group’s business model is concentrated India, diversified financial services. The bold vision that underscores the Group’s growth is an inclusive one, with a host of products and services designed to address the needs of the unbanked and insufficiently banked. As on 30th September, 2022, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd has a national footprint of 1,710 branches and 2,802 ATMs, and branches in GIFT City and DIFC (Dubai).

About METRO Cash & Carry India:

METRO is a leading international wholesale company, with food and non-food assortments, which specialises in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants, and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent merchants (Traders). Around the world, METRO has some 17 million customers who benefit from the wholesale company’s unique multichannel mix. Customers can choose between shopping in one of the large stores in their area or delivery (Food Service Distribution, FSD) – all digitally supported and connected. At the same time, METRO MARKETS is an international online marketplace for professional customers that has been growing and expanding continuously since 2019. Acting sustainably is one of the company principles of METRO, which has been listed in various sustainability indices and rankings for many years, including FTSE4Good, MSCI, CDP and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. METRO operates in more than 30 countries and employs over 95,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2020/21, METRO generated sales of €24.8 billion.

METRO entered the Indian market in 2003 with METRO Cash & Carry stores. The company currently operates thirty-one wholesale distribution centres under the brand METRO Wholesale including six in Bangalore, four in Hyderabad, two each in Mumbai and Delhi, and one each in Kolkata, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Zirakpur, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Indore, Lucknow, Meerut, Nasik, Ghaziabad, Tumakuru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Hubballi.  For more details, log on to www.METRO.co.in   

About National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. NPCI has created a robust payment and settlement infrastructure in the country. It has changed the way payments are made in India through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC FasTag) and Bharat BillPay. NPCI is focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through the use of technology and is relentlessly working to transform India into a digital economy. It is facilitating secure payments solutions with nationwide accessibility at minimal cost in furtherance of India’s aspiration to be a fully digital society.

For more information, visit: https://www.npci.org.in/

Tata Steel Opens Registration For The Ninth Edition Of Its Flagship Technology Mentorship Programme - ‘Mind Over Matter’

~A one-of-a-kind platform for the brightest young minds to test their theoretical knowledge and practical applications~

~For the first time ever, the programme invites 1st year M.Tech and 4th year dual-degree students from the country’s premier tech schools~

~Winners get cash prize and a six-month mentorship opportunity with Tata Steel’s R&D leadership~

Tata Steel’s flagship technology mentorship programme, Mind Over Matter, is open for participant registrations from December 15, 2022 until January 14, 2023. Mind Over Matter is a one-of-its-kind technology mentoring programme that challenges the sharpest and smartest engineering students in the country's top institutes that addresses real-life problems related to steel-making and new materials. 

For the first time since its inception, Mind Over Matter challenge is open to 1st year M.Tech students and 4th year candidates of 5-year dual degree courses (B.Tech + M.Tech). The programme aims to boost creativity, foster a culture of cutting-edge research, and inspire them to join the manufacturing industry.

Atrayee Sanyal, Vice President, Human Resource Management, Tata Steel, said: “Indian technology institutions, both at the national and regional levels, groom some of the brightest minds who will be leading the industry of tomorrow. Mind Over Matter is our flagship technology programme that taps into their immense potential, not only to build a competitive advantage for the Company, but also to ensure that these bright young minds get the best opportunity to express themselves."

Dr. Debashish Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Technology & New Materials Business, Tata Steel, said: “Technology has emerged as one of the key differentiators for steel manufacturers to win in the global market. The technologies we are pursuing today in the steel sector not only aim to create new products & applications and more efficient manufacturing processes, but also help us deal with the challenges of climate change. As in the past eight editions of the Mind Over Matter programme, we expect to create amiable ecosystem for India’s young and bright engineering minds. We intend to achieve this by mentoring the participants under some of the best tech leaders in the steel sector and having them gain work experience in one of the world’s most technologically progressive steel making companies.”

The participation in the 9th edition of Mind Over Matter will be open to 37 national and regional technology and engineering academic institutions including 14 IITs, 10 NITs and several regional engineering/tech colleges.

In the first stage of the programme, top 10 teams based on the case-study submission will be offered a 6-month internship along with a stipend and a certificate of internship. In the next and the final stage, post completion of the internship, the internship projects will be evaluated, and winners will be decided.

The top 3 teams – the winner, first and second runners up will receive a cash prize of ? 100,000, ? 75,000 and ? 50,000 respectively. A certificate and a pre-placement offer (PPO) will also be given. The 4th to 10th ranking teams will be offered pre-placement interviews (PPIs). The winners will be invited to Tata Steel to create prototypes of their ideas under the mentorship of the Tata Steel’s formidable R&D leadership. 

Tata Steel’s promise to the young minds

At Tata Steel, we believe in the ability to revolutionise, create, and transform the future. There are many elements that make Tata Steel so brilliantly unique. Arguably, the most significant of these is our ability to balance Human Values and Human Potential.

About Tata Steel          

Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 34 million tonnes per annum. It is one of the world's most geographically diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. The group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $21.06 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2021.

A Great Place to Work-CertifiedTM organisation, Tata Steel Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, associates, and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000. Tata Steel has been a part of the DJSI Emerging Markets Index since 2012 and has been consistently ranked amongst top 10 steel companies in the DJSI Corporate Sustainability Assessment since 2016. Besides being a member of ResponsibleSteelTM and worldsteel’s Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has won several awards and recognitions including the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse recognition for its Jamshedpur, Kalinganagar and IJmuiden Plants, and Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2016-17. The Company, ranked as India’s most valuable Metals & Mining brand by Brand Finance, featured amongst CII Top 25 innovative Indian Companies in 2021, received Steel Sustainability Champion recognition from worldsteel for four years in a row, ‘Most Ethical Company’ award 2021 from Ethisphere Institute, RIMS India ERM Award of Distinction 2021, and Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting FY20 from ICAI, among several others.

Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation Signs Agreement With Tata Motors’ Subsidiary For Operating 921 Electric Buses In Bengaluru

Key Highlights:

·         Order is a part of the larger tender by Convergence Energy Services Limited

·         This will cover supply, operations and maintenance of 921 low-floor, 12-metre electric buses

·         Tata Starbus Electric offers superior design and best-in-class features for comfortable travel

Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, today announced that Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has signed a definitive agreement with its fully owned subsidiary, TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Ltd. for operation of 921 electric buses in the city of Bengaluru. As part of the agreement, TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Ltd. will supply, operate and maintain 921 units of 12-metre low-floor electric buses for a period 12 years. Tata Starbus Electric is an indigenously developed vehicle with superior design and best-in-class features for sustainable and comfortable commute.

Commenting on the announcement, Ms. G Sathyavathi, IAS, Managing Director, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation said, “We are pleased to have signed an agreement with TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Ltd. for operating 921 electric buses in Bengaluru. We are confident that the induction of the zero-emission, eco-friendly buses will benefit all stakeholders and help in curbing air pollution. Tata Motors’ vast experience in the electric mobility domain will certainly assist in providing uninterrupted, safe and comfortable commute in the city.”

Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Asim Kumar Mukhopadhyay, CEO and MD, TML Smart City Mobility Solutions Limited said, “It is a momentous occasion for us as we sign the first definitive agreement under the larger CESL tender and are delighted to have partnered with BMTC in their effort to modernise and electrify the public transportation in the city of Bengaluru. We, at Tata Motors, continuously endeavour to develop smart, green and energy efficient mass mobility solutions. We are confident that the electric buses will provide sustainable, safe and comfortable public transportation to the commuters of Bengaluru.” 

Tata Motors’ state-of-the-art research and development facilities have steadily worked to engineer innovative mobility solutions powered by alternate fuel technology, including battery-electric, hybrid, CNG, LNG and Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology. Till date, Tata Motors has supplied more than 730 electric buses across multiple cities in India, which have cumulatively clocked more than 55 million kilometres, with an uptime of over 95%.

About Tata Motors

Part of the USD 128 billion Tata group, Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM; BSE: 500570 and 570001; NSE: TATAMOTORS and TATAMTRDVR), a USD 37 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 liasoning with the Government in developing the policy framework.

With operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia, Tata Motors’ vehicles are marketed in Africa, Middle East, South & South East Asia, Australia, South America, Russia and other CIS countries. As of March 31, 2022, Tata Motors’ operations include 86 consolidated subsidiaries, two joint operations, four joint ventures and 10 equity-accounted associates, including their subsidiaries, in respect of which we exercise significant influence.

Multi-Cloud Has A Positive Impact On The Financial Growth Of Enterprises In India: Vanson Bourne-VMware Research

~71% of enterprises surveyed by Vanson Bourne believe that multi-cloud is absolutely critical to success of a business

~ New global research from VMware reveals that strategic approach to cloud could fast-track business growth in India

~ The transition from cloud chaos to cloud smart is inevitable for organizations in the multi-cloud journey

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, recently released a global research report on the Multi-Cloud Maturity Index.  The new global study from Vanson Bourne in collaboration with VMware identifies the top challenges of those in the midst of cloud chaos. In contrast, cloud smart organizations reveal what they’re doing differently as they capture strategic advantages. The report that includes and covers regions in Asia Pacific, elaborated on the challenges and opportunities that Indian enterprises face as a part of their digital transformation journey, and their strategic approach to multi-cloud adoption. According to the report, 71% of Indian enterprises believe that multi-cloud architectures are absolutely critical to business success, particularly those organizations that are in advanced stages of their cloud journey. However, most enterprises surveyed in India do raise concerns about data sovereignty.

As per the study that was conducted with a sample size of close to 2,000 professionals interviewed during April, May, and June 2022 across the Asia Pacific market, the majority of APJ respondents (90%) say that their organization uses apps that were built to run across multiple public clouds. However, 83% of Indian respondents have had apps built to run across multiple public clouds for more than a year.

There are seven key findings from the report that highlight the multi-cloud journey of Indian enterprises. 

•             Apps built to run across multiple public clouds: 83% Indian respondents are most likely to have had apps built to run across multiple public clouds for over a year

•             Financial impacts: 98% and 100% of those surveyed across India report positive impacts of multi-cloud in terms of revenue and profitability growth, respectively

•             Data monetization as a source of revenue: 66% respondents from India believe that data monetization will be a “significant” source of revenue in 2 years’ time

•             Data Sovereignty: 60% of Indian respondents show significant concern over data sovereignty

•             Managing and securing data: Although a concern, 90% of Indian organizations generally find it easy to manage and 85% of Indian organizations find it easy to secure data in whichever nation it resides

•             Impact on business success: A large majority of respondents (71%) believe that multi-cloud architectures are absolutely critical to business success.

•             Cost visibility: 94% of Indian respondents report that improvements are required for visibility over operational expenses

As dependencies over digital infrastructure increased during lockdowns, cloud computing technology played an integral role in driving digital acceleration and innovation and helped enterprises enhance speed, agility, and responsiveness. Furthermore, the report states that it is expected that by 2027, businesses all over the world will on average rely on more than two public cloud vendors. Currently, only 19% of surveyed businesses worldwide identify as "cloud smart." The complexity of multi-cloud, security issues, and a lack of internal experience in multi-cloud deployment and administration are major obstacles for businesses.

While multi-cloud brings with it many advantages, there are also several challenges associated with it. The complexity of multi-cloud, security risks, and a lack of in-house expertise in multi-cloud deployment and management are some of the key challenges enterprises are facing due to increased cybersecurity risks. Along with this, organizations will face challenges related to skills gaps.

Pradeep Nair, Vice President & Managing Director, VMware India, said, “The study confirms that multi-cloud is already a reality for Indian enterprises and is critical to drive greater profitability and revenue growth. However, concerns around data sovereignty, cost and security remain. VMware is uniquely positioned to help enterprises become cloud-smart – move faster and spend less - as they harness the power of multi-cloud.”

Pippa Thirkettle, Senior Research Manager, Vanson Bourne, said, “The results of this research piece are fascinating and really highlight the need for organizations to best utilize their multi-cloud operations in order to get the best out of their business. With just 19% of those surveyed globally falling within the most advanced cloud smart maturity group, it goes to show how much ample opportunity there is for others to improve. With organizations within that most mature group experiencing more favorable business outcomes such as revenue and profitability growth, it demonstrates the positive impacts organizations lagging behind can expect to experience if and when they get there.”

About VMware

VMware software powers the world’s complex digital infrastructure. The company’s cloud, networking and security, and digital workspace offerings provide a dynamic and efficient digital foundation to customers globally, aided by an extensive ecosystem of partners. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough innovations to its global impact. For more information, please visit

https://www.vmware.com/au/company.html

About Vanson Bourne

Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research for the technology sector. Their reputation for robust and credible research-based analysis is founded upon rigorous research principles and their ability to seek the opinions of senior decision makers across technical and business functions, in all business sectors and all major markets. For more information, visit www.vansonbourne.com

WNS Acquires Two Firms To Enhance Digital Analytics And Procurement Capabilities

WNS (Holdings) Limited (WNS) (NYSE: WNS), a leading provider of global Business Process Management (BPM) solutions, today announced it has acquired The Smart Cube, a leader in platform-driven research and analytics (R&A) focused on procurement and supply chain, and OptiBuy, a leading European provider of procurement platform consulting and implementation solutions. These assets are complementary to WNS’ existing offerings and strengthen the company’s capabilities in both high-end procurement and advanced analytics.

The Smart Cube

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in London, UK, The Smart Cube provides digitally-led market intelligence and analytics solutions. The company’s offerings span four key areas including procurement and supply chain, commercial sales and marketing, digital and analytics, and strategy and investment research. The Smart Cube leverages their proprietary digital AI knowledge management platform called “Amplifi Pro” to help clients drive improved procurement and market intelligence and insight-based decision making. They also bring strong front-end advisory capabilities and a large European footprint to the WNS portfolio. The company has over 800 global employees including a seasoned leadership team with CXO-level relationships, and more than 600 talented R&A specialists with approximately 2/3 holding a Master’s degree. The acquisition of The Smart Cube was completed today. Consideration for the transaction is $125.0 million including up-front payment and expected earn-outs, and excludes adjustments for cash, debt, and working capital. Based on The Smart Cube’s revenue generated in calendar 2022, the acquisition is expected to add approximately $9 million to WNS’ net revenue* in fiscal 2023, and to be dilutive by $0.01 to WNS’ fiscal 2023 adjusted diluted earnings per share**.

"The Smart Cube is proud to become part of WNS, an industry leader in global Business Process Management. Both of our firms share a common philosophy of partnering and growing with clients, and believe our businesses continue to have huge growth opportunities ahead,” said Gautam Singh, Founder and CEO of The Smart Cube. “Over the last 20 years, we have built a strong business based on delivering value for our clients leveraging our unique AI+HI (artificial intelligence + human intelligence) methodology. We are delighted to now join WNS in the next phase of our growth journey.”

OptiBuy

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, OptiBuy is a leading European provider of procurement platform consulting and implementation solutions. The company helps clients leverage the capabilities of leading 3rd party procurement and supply chain platforms including Ivalua, Jaggaer, and O9, and complements WNS’ existing offerings with platforms such as Coupa and Ariba. In addition, OptiBuy also provides consulting, optimization, outsourcing, and training services to their clients. Currently focused on the EMEA market, the company has approximately 90 employees including more than 40 senior-level certified platform implementation professionals based in Poland. WNS views expansion of these capabilities into the North American market as a significant opportunity. The acquisition of OptiBuy was completed on December 14, 2022. Consideration for the transaction is €30.0 million including up-front payment and expected earn-outs, and excludes adjustments for cash, debt, and working capital. Based on OptiBuy’s revenue generated in calendar 2022, the acquisition is expected to add approximately $2 million to WNS’ net revenue* in fiscal 2023, and to be neutral to WNS’ fiscal 2023 adjusted diluted earnings per share**.

“On behalf of the entire team at OptiBuy, we are excited to become part of WNS and believe that the combination of our two firms will enable the creation of differentiated, end-to-end digital procurement and supply chain solutions for the global marketplace,” said Mateusz Borowiecki, Managing Director of OptiBuy. “We look forward to building on the capabilities we have created over the past 12 years and working with the WNS team as we help clients leverage digital technologies to drive long-term business value.”

WNS has funded the up-front payments for these acquisitions with a combination of cash on hand and £83 million of long-term debt.

“Both of these companies possess unique, digitally-led/human intelligence capabilities which are complementary to WNS’ existing procurement and analytics offerings, and are also complementary with each other. The Smart Cube and OptiBuy bring experienced leadership teams, highly specialized resources, and differentiated technology offerings to the WNS portfolio. These companies also have blue-chip customer bases with extensive cross-selling opportunities, and proven track records of delivering strong top line growth, healthy margins, and high levels of customer satisfaction. We believe that The Smart Cube and OptiBuy will significantly enhance our WNS-Denali (procurement) and WNS-Triange (analytics) solutions, and help accelerate our positioning and growth in these strategic areas. On behalf of myself and the entire WNS team, we are excited to welcome the talented teams of The Smart Cube and OptiBuy to the WNS family,” said Keshav R. Murugesh, WNS’ Chief Executive Officer.

About WNS

WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS) is a leading Business Process Management (BPM) company. WNS combines deep industry knowledge with technology, analytics, and process expertise to co-create innovative, digitally led transformational solutions with over 400 clients across various industries. WNS delivers an entire spectrum of BPM solutions including industry-specific offerings, customer experience services, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, and research and analytics to re-imagine the digital future of businesses. As of September 30, 2022, WNS had 57,503 professionals across 60 delivery centers worldwide including facilities in Canada, China, Costa Rica, India, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. For more information, visit www.wns.com.

Air India Launches Its First Ever Non-Stop Service Between Mumbai And San Francisco

* Flight to operate three times a week

* India-US frequency to be bolstered to 40 non-stop flights per week

Air India, India’s leading airline and a Star Alliance member, is spreading its wings further in the United States with the launch of its first-ever non-stop service between Mumbai and San Francisco from 15th December 2022. This closely follows the launch of its three times a week flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco on 2nd December 2022. This new flight is in line with Air India’s vision to enhance its global footprint and provide the highest levels of service and convenience to its customers.

Air India continues to develop Mumbai as an important hub for international as well as domestic traffic. The launch of the Mumbai-San Francisco route will be followed by Mumbai-New York City (JFK), Mumbai-Frankfurt, and Mumbai-Paris. Additional domestic flights originating from Mumbai will also be added.

The flight will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays with the newly-inducted Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. This will take Air India’s India-US frequency to 40 non-stop flights per week. Presently, Air India operates non-stop flights from Mumbai to Newark, from Delhi to New York, Newark, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Chicago, and from Bengaluru to San Francisco. This will be the third Indian city after Delhi and Bengaluru to have a direct flight to San Francisco.

The first flight AI 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco left Mumbai on time at 1430 hrs to arrive in San Francisco at a convenient 1700 hrs (local time) on the same day. The return flight AI 180 will depart from San Francisco at 2100 hrs (local time) to arrive in Mumbai at 0340 hrs+2 days.

The Hon’ble Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, and Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri Eknath Shinde graced the virtual inauguration ceremony of the flight. They flagged it off along with Mr. Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Civil Aviation, and Mr. Vinod Hejmadi, Chief of Finance, Air India.

The flight witnessed a grand launch with the auspicious lamp-lighting ceremony followed by cake cutting, ribbon cutting, and handing over the boarding pass to the first passenger to have checked in, at the Boarding Gate of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai by Mr. Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India; in presence of senior officials of Air India, Mumbai Airport, other organizations and passengers. The two senior-most citizens on the flight were also present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Speaking on the new flight launch, Hon’ble Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said, “Today is a historic day for Maharashtra, India, and Air India. The Civil Aviation sector in India is on the cusp of transformation, and India is the third largest civil aviation market in the world with a growth of 10.6% CAGR in the last ten years. Air India has played a significant role in the sector's transformation in the past and will continue to contribute to the growth of the industry. With Air India’s legacy, culture, and vision, the airline will take Indian Civil Aviation to newer heights.”

Speaking at the occasion, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Eknath Shinde said, “Today is a great moment for the people of Maharashtra, as Air India bridges the distance between Maharashtra and San Francisco. The government is focused to boost the civil aviation sector, and build many more airports, and helipads in other parts of Maharashtra. I appreciate Air India launching its service from Mumbai and eagerly await the launch of their other locations from the city.”

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Wilson said, “As part of our five-year transformation plan, Vihaan.AI, we plan to significantly enhance connectivity between India’s major cities and prime global destinations. The non-stop flight between India’s financial capital and Silicon Valley is a step towards achieving enhanced customer experience. With the launch of this route, we will have a weekly availability of 40 non-stop flights that will bolster India’s connectivity with the USA.”

The passengers on the inaugural flight from Mumbai to San Francisco were treated to a specially curated goodie bag by Air India.

For more information, passengers can log on to: www.airindia.in, visit our booking offices or contact your travel agent.

About Air India:

Founded by the legendary JRD Tata, Air India pioneered India’s aviation sector. Since its first flight on October 15, 1932, Air India has an extensive domestic network and has spread its wings beyond to become a major international airline with a network across USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Far-East, South-East Asia, Australia and the Gulf. Air India is a member of Star Alliance, the largest global airline consortium. After 69 years as a Government-owned enterprise, Air India and Air India Express were welcomed back into the Tata group in January 2022. The present management at Air India is driving the five year transformation roadmap under the aegis of Vihaan.AI to establish itself as a world-class global airline with an Indian heart.

Vihaan.AI is Air India’s transformational roadmap over five years with clear milestones.  It will be focussing on dramatically growing both its network and fleet, developing a completely revamped customer proposition, improving reliability and on-time performance. The airline will also be taking a leadership position in technology, sustainability, and innovation, while aggressively investing in the best industry talent. Vihaan.AI is aimed at putting Air India on a path to sustained growth, profitability and market leadership.

About the Tata Group:

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata group is a global enterprise, headquartered in India, comprising 30 companies across ten verticals. The group operates in more than 100 countries across six continents, with a mission 'To improve the quality of life of the communities we serve globally, through long-term stakeholder value creation based on Leadership with Trust’.

Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. Sixty-six percent of the equity share capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts, which support education, health, livelihood generation, and art and culture. In 2020-21, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was $103 billion (INR 7.7 trillion). These companies collectively employ over 800,000 people. Each Tata company or enterprise operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own board of directors. There are 29 publicly-listed Tata enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of $314 billion (INR 23.4 trillion) as on December 31, 2021. Companies include Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Tata Consumer Products, Titan, Tata Capital, Tata Power, Tata Communications, Indian Hotels, Tata Digital and Tata Electronics.

Godrej Appliances Launches Air Conditioners With Hot & Cold Technology In Indian Market

~Keeps you cool in harsh summers and warm in sub-zero winters

Godrej Appliances, business unit of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group has launched Godrej Hot & Cold Air Conditioners to maintain the desired room temperature in both summers and winters. The AC can cool your room in the scorching summer heat when temperatures can soar higher than 50°C, and can warm the room in chilling winters even as the ambient temperature reaches sub-zero temperatures as low as -7°C. The ACs are well suited for territories which tend to use heaters during winters.

Godrej Hot and Cold Air Conditioners are available in 1.5 Tr. 3-Star with Twin Rotary Inverter Compressor for efficient refrigerant flow. It uses Quick Defrost Technology for a shorter defrost cycle and its 5-in-1 Convertible Technology gives you 5 different cooling levels to set your desired cooling/ heating requirement basis the weather, number of people in the room and your personal temperature preference. Other key features include Nano Coated Anti-Viral filter that eliminates 99.9%*+ viral particles from the air to provide safety to the consumers, 100% Copper coils and connecting pipe for more efficiency and durability, Anti-corrosive blue fins that resist corrosion for a longer time. In keeping with Godrej’s commitment to the environment, this AC uses eco-friendly R32 refrigerant that has zero ozone depletion and low global warming potential.

Speaking about the new offering, Kamal Nandi, Business Head and Executive Vice- President at Godrej Appliances, a flagship company of Godrej & Boyce, said, “Our new Hot & Cold ACs will provide greater comfort to consumers throughout the year and have been designed thoughtfully with a curated set of features. Our strength in service is an added advantage for us when it comes to this segment. Owing to its relatively niche nature, this segment has lesser offerings and we wanted to give more options to the consumers. The offering is more efficient and in sync with consumer’s lifestyles compared to the currently used option of heaters.”

Additionally, Sabyasachi Gupta, Product Group Head- Air Conditioners, Godrej Appliances said, “We are delighted to introduce Godrej Hot & Cold Air Conditioners and offer our consumers greater convenience at the click of a button. The segment accounts for 8-10% of the room AC market in India. And with growing uncertainties in weather conditions experienced in several seasons and territories, as well as change in consumer’s lifestyles, the demand for Hot & Cold Air Conditioners is expected to grow. With this product launch, we expect to capture 10% market share of the Hot & Cold Air Conditioners by end of FY 22-23.”

The AC comes with 1-year comprehensive warranty, 5-years PCB warranty and 10-years of compressor warranty. It is currently available at Rs.65,900 MRP across stores pan-India and can soon be purchased through popular ecommerce platforms as well.

About Godrej Appliances

Godrej Appliances, a business unit of Godrej & Boyce, is one of the leading Home Appliances players in India. Godrej & Boyce was the first Indian Company in 1958 to manufacture Refrigerators and since then Godrej Appliances has expanded its portfolio across many other categories like Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Microwave Ovens, futuristic Thermo-electric cooling solutions, Air Coolers, Deep Freezers, highly specialized Medical Refrigerators, UVC Technology-Based Disinfecting devices, Dishwashers and more recently InsuliCool product range, all powered by the driving philosophy of 'Things Made Thoughtfully’.

This thought extends from human-centric design to planet centric design. Environment is a core value at Godrej. Both manufacturing units of Godrej Appliances became the first in the country to win the coveted Platinum Plus Green Co certification for their pioneering green manufacturing practices. The brand takes pride in not just its carefully designed products and environment-friendly technologies, but also best in class after-sales service delivered through over 680 service centers and more than 4500 SmartBuddy service experts spread all over the country.

To learn more visit: https://www.godrej.com/godrej-appliances

Airtel Announces Winners & Runner Up Of First “Airtel IQ Hackathon”

Gurgaon Based Green Receipt Declared Winners, Frazor BFSI from Udaipur declared second runner up and Delhi’s Vizard info announced third runner up

* Winners selected from a pool of over 9000 entries received from Students, Corporates and Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s)

* Hackathon winners to work with Airtel on their product, engineering and GTM.

Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s premier communications solutions provider today announced winners of first ever “Airtel IQ” hackathon. Gurgaon based Green Receipt, Frazor BFSI from Udaipur and Delhi’s Vizard Info were declared winners by the jury. The hackathon was launched in September this year with the objective of identifying and building new- age business solutions across five key sectors of economy such as BFSI, Retail & Ecommerce, Travel and hospitality, Ed-Tech and Contact centre which can potentially improve livelihoods and contribute to the sustainable and economic growth of the country.

The Hackathon received over 9000 entries confirming participation, from students, corporates and ISV’s. These were further shortlisted to 300 then to 23 in semi-finals from which 10 teams were invited to participate in a two-round finale. The finale saw teams present their solution to a jury comprising Mr Vineeth R Nair, Director – IT, Byju’s, Ms Jigyasa Kishore, Chief Strategy Officer – Moglix and Mr Gaurav Agnihotri from Airtel.

The winners received a sum of Rs. 20 lacs as cash award and the best ideas amongst them are eligible to receive potential funding from Airtel’s Start-up accelerator program. All the participants can leverage Airtel’s core platform strengths of data, distribution, network and payments besides its partner ecosystem.

The Hackathon witnessed number of ground-breaking solutions aimed at solving real-world business and customer experience problems- from providing travel convenience, delivering English literacy curriculum to the students in the remotest locations of India, to enabling single-click payment of gas bills and others.

Speaking about the Hackathon, Mr Abhishek Biswal – Business Head, Airtel IQ said, “We are delighted with the scale and level of entries received in this hackathon. We are looking forward to working with all the participants- ISVs, developers to build innovative solutions. These robust, scalable solutions will help Enterprises, MSMEs to deliver world-class customer experience and further boost the ease of doing business in India.”

The Winners

Green Receipt – Gurgaon, Category – BFSI & Retail

Frazor BFSI – Udaipur, Category – CRM

Vizard Info – Delhi, Category – Retail and Hyperpersonalisation

The hackathon is part of a range of projects Airtel has initiated with the goal of developing and enhancing India’s technology talent and it will become an annual feature going forward.

About Airtel: Headquartered in India, Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 500M+ customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India’s largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa. Airtel’s retail portfolio includes high speed 4G/5G mobile broadband, Airtel Xstream Fiber that promises speeds up to 1 Gbps with convergence across linear and on-demand entertainment, streaming services spanning music and video, digital payments, and financial services. For enterprise customers, Airtel offers a gamut of solutions that includes secure connectivity, cloud and data centre services, cyber security, IoT, adtech and cloud-based communication. For more details, visit www.airtel.in.

5 Start-Ups That Created Secure Community For Sexual Health In 2022

* Since talking about sexual health is considered taboo in India, in 2022 we have witnessed a surge in the number of start-ups that are helping people to address the issues in a secure and confidential community.

These companies are filling a crucial gap in the market, and are making a positive impact on the lives of their users. Along with this, they are educating people with the right information, products, and services, which are available in the market. The rise of these start-ups is a positive step towards improving the sexual health of the Indian population. Below mentioned are 5 sexual health start-ups for the year 2022 that are contributing to society:

Kindly: Kindly is India’s first home-grown brand working towards nurturing candid conversations around reproductive and wellness health. Kindly is on a mission to offer discreet, non-judgmental, convenient, end-to-end research-backed solutions. Co-founded by Nilay and Raj, Kindly’s journey started from a small room as a reproductive wellness brand that offered end-to-end solutions around fertility health. Today Kindly is a one-stop solution for all lifestyle issues connected to one’s health. From lifestyle dysfunctions to hormonal imbalances, Kindly provides a wide range of services that make people feel comfortable talking about intimate wellness. Kindly’s supplements are specially curated and a perfect blend of age-old ayurvedic traditions and modern science. As a health tech start-up, Kindly recently received seed funding of $3.5 Mn in the latest funding round from Y Combinator, DG Daiwa, Olive Tree, Soma, Goodwater, and Gaingels in 2022.

Gynoveda: Gynoveda was established in 2019 by the husband-and-wife team of Rachna and Vishal Gupta with the goal of assisting Indian women in finding ayurvedic therapies that address their needs for reproductive and intimate health care. The Mumbai-based business claims that one in ten Indian women have serious PCOS illnesses, which can cause a variety of health issues in women, from uncontrollable weight gain to diabetes. The business supported by Fireside Ventures, raised $1 million in 2019. The firm not only addresses women's reproductive health concerns, but also a variety of skin, fitness, and wellness issues. It is a direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform for women's reproductive and general wellness requirements that gives women access to professional consultations and products that the brand is able to provide to Indian women across the length and width of the nation.

Mosaic Wellness: Mosaic Wellness, which operates digital-health clinics intends to provide wellness services to Indians. Currently, Mosaic runs two clinics: Bodywise, which focuses on women's health and well-being, and Man Matters, which caters to men's health and fitness. The wellness brand provides products and services to more than 150,000 users each month and claims to perform more than 100,000 telehealth consultations each month in a variety of therapeutic areas. Mosaic Wellness was established in May 2020 and has attracted a number of renowned investors, including Sequoia Capital, Elevation Capital, and Matrix Partners India. The start-up in November 2021 raised $24 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital India. In December 2019, the Mumbai-based business secured $10 million in early funding.

My Muse: MyMuse strives to normalise conversations about intimacy. It was co-founded by married couple Anushka and Sahil who sought to challenge the taboo around sex. They desired that all genders would be able to enjoy their enjoyment products, which are fun and stylish. The brand's product line is divided into three key categories: mood, play, and kits, which make date nights much more enjoyable. The start-up wants to release brand-new goods in a variety of categories, including lifestyle, enjoyment, and body care. In September 2022, MyMuse raised $1.2 million in capital from a group led by Saama Capital, which also included Sauce VC and Whiteboard Capital. MyMuse wants to use the money to build its staff, introduce a variety of novel items, develop its brand position, and widen its distribution. Products of My Muse are available only on their website and social media pages.

Bold Care: Four friends, Rajat Jadhav, Rahul Krishnan, Harsh Singh, and Mohit Yadav, founded the men's sexual health and wellbeing firm Bold Care in July 2020. The Mumbai-based firm offers solutions for everyday nutrition, hair care, and sexual wellness that have undergone laboratory testing. In addition to its own website, the products may be found on well-known e-commerce sites including Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, CRED, and e-pharmacies. The direct-to-consumer (D2C) healthcare firm offers free online doctor consultations and guarantees secure two-day delivery. Bold Care closed their Pre-Series A funding from Sharrp Ventures, Anthill Ventures, Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs, ShipRocket, and previous investors NB Ventures and Huddle in February 2022 for an unknown sum. The money will go toward product development and the company's expansion strategies geared toward securing Series A financing.

Tata Power-DDL To Organize Special ‘Lok Adalat’ On December 18 For On-The-Spot Settlement Of Electricity Theft And Disconnection Cases

* Lok Adalat will be held at the EAC office, Sector-3, Rohini, Delhi

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL), a leading power utility supplying electricity to a populace of 7 million in North Delhi, will organize a ‘Special Lok Adalat’ in collaboration with Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA), on Sunday, 18 December from 10 AM to 4 PM at the EAC office, Sector-3, Rohini. The adalat will offer on-the-spot settlement of Electricity Theft and Disconnection Cases.

To participate in the upcoming Lok Adalat session, all litigants need to register before the Lok Adalat by dialling – 19124 or writing to eac.care@tatapower-ddl.com. Litigants need to carry their photo ID and a copy of their theft bill as well.

Cases that are pending or yet to be filed in any Court of Law will be taken up in the upcoming Lok Adalat session. Those wanting of settling their electricity theft cases can either attend in person or through their authorised representatives carrying authorisation letter.

Consumers who look forward to settling their power-theft cases can use this opportunity for an amicable and on-the-spot settlement of unsolved cases. In case of a default, the company will be compelled to initiate criminal proceedings against these consumers under the relevant provision of the Electricity Act, 2003. Consumers can pay their bills through various modes such as Demand Draft, Cheque, Credit Card, Debit Card, Online Modes or Cash.

To ensure the success of the Lok Adalat, Tata Power-DDL is actively informing customers through various channels.

Post-Unlock Contact Center Agents Are Under High Stress: Ozonetel Study

* Abandon rates have risen 200% since 2019: The State of Contact Centers Report 2022 uncovers contact center challenges and reiterates the need for an AI-based, omnichannel strategy

A study undertaken by Ozonetel, a leading omnichannel customer communication platform provider, has unveiled new insights pertaining to the contact center industry in 2022.

The study is an analysis of 22 million calls made on Ozonetel’s CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service) platform by over 160,000 active agents in 2022. The report covers inbound and outbound contact center calls across E-commerce, Restaurants & Food Delivery, Insurance & Fintech, Banking, Healthcare & Pharma, Real Estate, and Logistics contact centers.

The analysis found that contact centers struggled this year to meet customer expectations: 

·       Callers had to wait longer: ‘Average Time in Queue’ is the amount of time callers wait in a call queue before they connect to a business representative. This is an important customer experience metric as the longer customers wait, the less satisfied they are likely to be. When compared across the same sectors, Ozonetel’s report reveals that, on an average, callers waited 56 seconds to get connected to an agent as opposed to 45 seconds in 2021.

INSIGHT: Queue times decrease when sufficient agents are available to answer calls. The spike in average queue times indicates that businesses either need to increase the number of agents or improve their efficiency—and consequently their availability—with features like single-click dispositions. Alternatively, contact centers could deflect calls to WhatsApp or other digital channels via their IVR. 

Agents must work longer to wrap calls: “Wrap time’ indicates how fast contact center agents can complete actions after a customer interaction and be available to attend the next call. This metric affects both queue time and agents’ productivity. The time taken for After Call Work increased from 40 seconds in 2021 to 46 seconds in 2022.

INSIGHT: In efficient contact centers, agents can tag calls with the correct disposition within a few seconds. When they are required to add more detailed notes or when they struggle to find the right disposition code, the Wrap Time increases. The average wrap time reported in 2019 was 25 seconds. This increase in Wrap Time either indicates an increase in agents’ post-call responsibilities or a failure to provide agents with disposition codes relevant to today’s customer queries.

Agents hustle to cope with the demand: ‘Average Agent Speed of Answer’ is the average time a contact center agent takes to answer inbound calls. This includes the duration for which the agent’s phone rings but does not include the time the caller spends in the IVR or waiting in a call queue. This metric has reduced to 7.7 seconds in 2022, as compared to 8 seconds in 2021.

INSIGHT: While agents spend more time on post-call work, the time they take to answer calls has decreased, indicating that they may have less idle time between calls.

The improvement in pickup time suggests that most contact centers are using an auto-answer feature to automatically connect calls to available agents without any downtime. However, this measure alone has not improved Average Queue Times sufficiently this year. Businesses may need to rethink their contact center strategy more holistically. They will need to invest in an AI-based, omnichannel self-service approach to reduce agent workloads and improve customer experience.

Average Talk Time remains consistent: ‘Average Talk Time’ indicates the time an agent spends talking to a caller. In 2022, this number is 3.7 minutes, which stands the same as in 2021.   

INSIGHT: In most sectors, we see that talk time was an average of 3.7 minutes. It is unlikely that conversations of this length could take place via digital channels reiterating the relevance of voice as an important support and consultative sales channel. However, the study did also note that transactional conversations have successfully moved to digital channels such as chat and WhatsApp. The coexistence of these findings underlines the need for an omnichannel, rather than a single-channel strategy for contact centers. 

Average Call Pickup Rate declines: In outbound calling, a lot of calls dial to busy lines or go unanswered. Average pickup rates inform us how many calls get connected to a contact. The average pickup rate this year saw a drastic decline, i.e., 39% as compared to 46% in 2021. However, in the restaurant & food delivery industry, 96% of calls connected to a prospect as compared to 54% in 2021.

INSIGHT: Low Average Call Pickup Rates suggest that prospects are unwilling to answer calls. The study noted that this was true for promotional calls from unknown phone numbers, the high connection rates within the restaurant, food delivery and e-commerce industry indicate that customers were happy to answer relevant, transactional calls and a verified business caller ID  can ensure higher customer attention and lower call rejection.  

Customer expectations are higher than ever: ‘Abandonment Rate’ tells us how many calls went unanswered by agents as callers disconnected while in the call queue. On an average, in 2022, 34% of calls were disconnected by the caller when in queue, compared to 29% in 2021. This shows a 200% increase since 2019 when an average of only 12% of calls were abandoned in queue.    

INSIGHT: This year, we have an increase in average queue time and consequently the abandonment rates are also higher. However, when compared year-on-year this study also observed a rise in customer impatience. In 2019, on an average, 82% of callers were willing to wait in a call queue for 79 seconds. This year, 34% of callers were unwilling to wait in a call queue even though queue times were lower (56 seconds).   

The study noted that a small percentage (3-5%) of these calls offered a self-service or callback option within the IVR. In such cases, call abandonment may not correlate to customer dissatisfaction, however, these best practices are not prevalent industry wide.

Customer calls are a valuable source of feedback and data, businesses need to offer shorter queue times to their customers if they wish to capture this data and resolve queries before it affects brand loyalty and reduces customer lifetime value.

The Vertical Report Card:   

2022 has turned out to be a challenging year for the contact center industry. Customers are fundamentally different post-Covid, and their expectations of brands have changed.

Sectors like restaurants, food delivery, and e-commerce have kept their service standards high whereas sectors like education have struggled to keep up. Here is a list of verticals that outperformed and struggled under different parameters.

CarDekho Group To Offer An Immersive Experience Of Auto Expo 2023 To 45 Million People

·         CarDekho’s dedicated platform for Auto Expo 2023 to host 145 videos and 120 articles

·         The platform is expected to benefit 45 million auto enthusiasts who are otherwise unable to attend the event

Auto Expo, Asia's largest automotive event, will return in 2023 after a hiatus of three years and CarDekho Group, the country’s leading Auto-tech company that operates top automotive sites like CarDekho.com, Zigwheels.com, Powerdrift and BikeDekho.com, has geared up to bring an immersive experience of this event to millions of auto-enthusiasts in the country. The company will be setting up a dedicated platform to host content from the Auto Expo 2023 and make it accessible to petrolheads and automobile lovers across the country free of cost.

CarDekho's dedicated platform for Auto Expo 2023 will provide viewers with all the essential information about Asia's largest automotive event, including new launches, vehicle showcases, concept displays, and more, becoming a one-stop destination for those who will not be able to attend the event slated from 13 January to 18 January 2023 in Greater Noida. CarDekho anticipated that this platform will benefit around 45 million viewers who will not be able to physically attend the event.

Mayank Jain, CEO, New Auto Business – CarDekho Group, said, "The Auto Expo is returning after three years and there is a lot of excitement among automobile enthusiasts. However, things have changed post pandemic and there is still some apprehension among people to physically attend the event. For such people, and for those from other parts of India who cannot travel to Auto Expo, CarDekho is bringing the event to them. Our editorial teams will be present at the event and provide high-quality coverage from the expo to the people on their smartphones and computers at a one-stop destination."

The editorial teams from PowerDrift, Zigwheels, CarDekho, and BikeDekho will extensively cover the automobile expo to curate content that will be hosted on CarDekho's AutoExpo 2023 platform. Enthusiasts, OEMs, and auto aficionados will have access to over 145 videos and 120 articles hosted on this platform. They will also be able to view live streaming of important launches and unveilings at the convenience of their smartphones and laptops, thereby not missing out on important events at the coming Auto Expo.

This year's Auto Expo marks the return of Asia's largest automotive show after a hiatus of three years. It will see participation from a variety of carmakers such as Maruti Suzuki, Kia, Hyundai, Tata Motors, MG Motor India, etc. The event will also see participation from two-wheeler makers such as Okinawa, Hero Electric, Tork Motors, and more.

ReshaMandi Empowers Silk Farmers Of Karnataka With Cutting Edge Technology

* ReshaMandi is transforming the traditional sericulture sector with its technology, making it a lucrative profession

ReshaMandi, India’s first and largest digital ecosystem  for natural fibres supply chain, has been steadily empowering small-scale farmers through technological developments. Through innovative and breakthrough technologies, it has revolutionised the way  farmers in Karnataka practise silk farming and assists them in reducing crop failures by 80%. By enabling smart precision farming with its IoT, ReshaMandi has created an effective technique to aid better yield and higher profits, transforming farmers into successful entrepreneurs.

The impact created by ReshaMandi in the silk farmers' lives is evident from numerous success stories. One such story is of two brothers, Anand and Devraj, farmers from Siddlaghatta, Karnataka. With a diploma in IT, Anand quit his government job and took the plunge to pursue his passion - sericulture. He credits ReshaMandi for bringing technology to their farm gates and revolutionising the way they practise silk  farming.

Sharing their experience, Anand and Devraj say, “We have been practising sericulture now for 10 years. We would wake up at 4 AM in the morning to travel to mandis to sell cocoons ensuring all the while that the quality of cocoons does not deteriorate in transit and price fluctuations in the market does not affect our revenues. Partnering with ReshaMandi has not only given us easyaccess to markets, but the advisories sent via their app has helped us improve our mulberry produce and cocoon quality . Today we are producing 10 tons of cocoons every year across 13-14 crop cycles. Through  digitisation of business processes in the natural fibre sector, we now conduct business with convenience and also enjoy higher profitability.”

Mayank Tiwari, Founder & CEO. ReshaMandi said, “Through convenient, time-saving, and technologically enabled solutions, we are reducing the issues faced by farmers and enabling them to increase their revenue. Our primary focus is offering farmers technical support and insights into their crop productivity. Our Internet of Things (IoT) devices not only analyse the silkworm rearing process but also suggest the optimal irrigation methods to boost mulberry leaves production. We are also facilitating easy access to the market for farmers, removing roadblocks created by middlemen, and boosting fair and ethical business processes."

ReshaMandi's continued efforts to empower stakeholders by giving   them access to a wider range of business options are evident from the degree of engagement the app has witnessed over the past two years. The app has been used to trade 0.02 MT of cocoon, 0.0015 MT of raw cotton, 0.006 MT of cotton bales, 8 lakh sarees, 5 lakh pieces of clothing, and 150 lakh metres of fabric. The company recently launched its super app for iOS devices as a part of its continued efforts in connecting more farmers and bringing them tech-driven benefits.

About ReshaMandi 

ReshaMandi is India’s first and largest farm-to-fashion digital ecosystem for the natural fibre supply  chain. The company began with a focus on silk and has diversified by adding other natural fibres to its  portfolio such as cotton, jute, coir and banana. ReshaMandi works?with 60,000 farmers, more than  10,000 weavers, 7,500+ yarn manufacturers and 3500 retailers in the entire natural fibre supply chain  to improve productivity, boost their bottom line and eventually be instrumental in transforming the  quality of their lives. 

ReshaMandi also has a  D2C  e-commerce platform weaves.reshamandi.com,  which caters to end consumers, bringing them exquisite sarees from different parts of India. Today  the company manages the entire ecosystem for all natural fibres catering to a diverse set of  stakeholders such as farmers, reelers and weavers on one side and retailers, mills, manufacturers,  exporters, corporates, designers and end consumers on the other. It is now serving the whole Indian natural fibres industry as a result of becoming the ecosystem's chosen sourcing partner for all of its stakeholders. With its recent debut into the Middle East & North Africa and SouthEast Asia, it aims to become a one-stop destination for all natural and recycled  fabrics globally. 

Website: https://ReshaMandi.com/  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReshaMandi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inReshaMandi/

Majority Of Genz Students Keen T Take Tech Jobs: NASSCOM Indeed Future Of Workforce Report

The workforce of tomorrow will be existing in an increasingly multi-generational world. Understanding new generations thus is becoming critical for organisations as they form a major section of today’s working population. To better understand the evolving needs and trends shaping the current workforce and their preferences on work models and workplaces, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in partnership with Indeed, has today released a report titled “Gen Z and Millennials: Reshaping the Future of Workforce” Further, to make the analysis more comprehensive, leadership interviews were conducted with technology CHROs and HR heads to understand the various efforts they have taken to cater to the younger workforce, along with best practices that are making their journey mutually rewarding.

India is witnessing a higher share of Millennials and Gen Z as a percentage of the total population, while the developed economies of the world are witnessing a shrinking younger generation. As of 2021, India’s share of Millennials and Gen Z stood at 52%, higher than the global average of 47%. This trend is expected to maintain momentum till 2030, where the share of India’s Gen Z and Millennial population will be 50%, higher than the world average of 46%. The technology industry in India is mirroring this trend, and becoming increasingly multi-generational because of the recent increase in fresher hiring. Around 380K freshers have been hired by the Indian Tech Industry in FY22.  Significant fresher hiring over the last few years in the tech Industry has pushed the share of Gen Z to 18-20% and Millennials to 68%-70% of total employee base in FY22.

The technology sector continues to be the sector of choice for Gen Z with over 70% of Gen Z’ students surveyed finding the technology sector very aspirational and interested in taking up tech jobs. This further signifies that the tech industry will continue to attract quality talent. In fact, 79% of Gen Z are willing to spend more than 2 years in their first job provided employers provide them with the right value proposition.

Sangeeta Gupta, Senior Vice President, and Chief Strategy Officer, NASSCOM said, “The workforce is changing and so are the workplaces. With newer perspectives and ideas, Gen Z and Millennials are setting the future course of employee engagement, retention, and acquisition strategies. It will be interesting to see how these newer generations shape India’s future as the talent hub of the world”

Sashi Kumar, Head of Sales, Indeed said “The time for GenZ in tech has never been riper. We want to support the aspirations of Gen Z and Millennials who will make up a large part of the workforce soon. We foresee the need to help this group of workers navigate the jobs sector whilst staying true to their beliefs. Gen Z workers prioritise a positive work-life balance. They seek work environments that are empathetic and diverse, offer learning opportunities, and align with their core values. It’ll become increasingly imperative for enterprises to continue to foster this through purpose driven work which includes initiatives around diversity and inclusion, and sustainability as well as benefits like flexibility and learning and development to continue to retain quality talent. "

While brand value tops the chart for both Millennials and Generation Z, Culture & Ethics and Learning & Growth are important criteria for the Gen Z population in selecting a company. As businesses formulate the playbook to attract and retain talent, better financial benefits, career growth and Job satisfaction are the key parameters for Gen Z to continue working in an organization. For Millennials, job stability and flexibility are important parameters in choosing to continue working with an organisation. Further, while the future of work will continue to be hybrid, the survey found that Generation Z is more willing to be in the office with 85% highlighting the preference to either completely work from the office or in a hybrid model.

Attracting and retaining quality talent has been a critical area for organisations. Companies are focusing their investments on reskilling and forming partnerships with learning platforms to conduct offline and online training for existing employees and freshers. Along with this, they are also putting emphasis on creating a good work environment whilst redesigning office spaces and policies to enhance employee experience.

Going forward, designing the future of the workforce requires the creation of an engaging partnership between both employees and employers. Building a consistent employee value proposition based on the foundation of trust, transparency, and understanding, will help them form a long-lasting and mutually rewarding relationship.

About NASSCOM

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM®) is the premier trade body and chamber of commerce of the Tech industry in India and comprises over 3000-member companies. Our membership spans across the entire spectrum of the industry from startups to multinationals and from products to services, Global Capability Centres to Engineering firms. Guided by India's vision to become a leading digital economy globally, NASSCOM focuses on accelerating the pace of transformation of the industry to emerge as the preferred enablers for global digital transformation. Our strategic imperatives are to reskill and upskill India's IT workforce to ensure that talent is future-ready in terms of new-age skills, strengthen the innovation quotient across industry verticals, create new market opportunities - both international and domestic, drive policy advocacy to advance innovation and ease of doing business, and build the industry narrative with focus on Talent, Trust and Innovation. And, in everything we do, we will continue to champion the need for diversity and equal opportunity.

About Indeed

More people find jobs on Indeed than anywhere else. Indeed is the #1 job site in the world (Comscore, Total Visits, September 2021) and allows job seekers to search millions of jobs in more than 60 countries and 28 languages. Over 3 million employers use Indeed to find and hire new employees, making Indeed the largest job site in the U.S., Canada, and the world. More than 300 million users each month search for jobs, post resumes, and research companies on Indeed, and Indeed delivers 2.5X more hires than other branded job sites combined (Among BreezyHR clients, Sources of Hire Report 2021, U.S.). For more information, visit www.indeed.com.

Jana Small Finance Bank Hikes Interest Rate On Regular Fixed Deposits; Senior Citizens Can Earn Upto 8.80% Interest Rate On FD

·         The Bank offers up to 8.80% Interest rates to senior citizens on FD

·         The Bank has hiked interest rate on Regular fixed deposit from 7.55 % to 7.85%

·         Jana SFB’s rates are one of the highest across the industry

·         New tenor is effective from 15th December onwards

Jana Small Finance Bank, one of the leading small finance banks in India, announced a hike of interest rates on regular fixed deposits from 15th December, 2022 onwards. With this increase, the bank is offering one of the highest interest rates across the Banking space.

Customers will now get an interest rate as high as 7.85% on deposits for a tenure of 2-3 years. Senior Citizens can reap the benefit of 8.80% on a FD for a tenure of 2-3 years.

Speaking on this development after the launch of 736th Branch of the Bank at Vijaynagar, Bangalore Shrinivas Murty, President and Head of Branch Banking and Marketing said, “We are fast expanding our footprints across the nation to be able to cater to a large & varied segment of customers. We believe that with our superior customer experience, sharp turn-around-time of delivery & extremely competitive interest rates on deposits, we are well placed to meet the ever-growing Banking products & services needs of customers we serve. This increase in interest rates across tenures would directly help our customers to plan their investments better & help further align returns to their financial goals.”

Existing customers of Jana Small Finance Bank can also enjoy the benefits of booking or investing in FD from the comfort of their homes or offices through internet banking. With this online process, customers can book the FDs instantly in a hassle-free manner.

Instor India Appoints Prashant Jain As New “Chief Operating Officer”

Instor India, a leading provider of retail, industrial & specialized fixtures, has appointed Prashant Jain as the new Chief Operating Officer. Prashant has more than 20 years of experience in the retail industry, specifically in the expansion of COCO (Company Owned Company Operated) and FOCO (Franchise Owned Company Operated).  

As the newly appointed Chief Operating Officer, Prashant Jain brings with him an extensive background in the retail industry, manufacturing efficiency management & operations, and business expansion. Before joining Instor, Prashant has experience working with leading retail, manufacturing, and new-age companies as a strategic planner and core team member, helping achieve overall operational efficiency and business growth.  

Speaking at his appointment, Ms. Ritika Mehta, Director, Instor by Kider India Pvt. Ltd., said, “Prashant’s appointment couldn't have come at a more opportune time, as he will help guide the company through this transformative period. In this role, he will lead the growth of Instor’s retail, industrial and warehouse fixtures ecosystem, including operations, manufacturing, customer acquisition & onboarding, business operations & strategy, dealers and channel partnerships, and most importantly, improving customer experience.” 

Prashant has been a retail industry veteran for many years and has headed a global retail and manufacturing company as the Vice-President. He is also credited to have played a pivotal role over the years in setting up manufacturing facilities of an NSE-listed company for their metal & business verticals, while also designing the company’s go-to-market strategy across corporate & institutional business. He was responsible for expanding the company’s footprint in crucial Government sales, enabling the company’s diversification from retailing to manufacturing.  

Mr. Prashant Jain, Chief Operating Officer, Instor by Kider India Pvt. Ltd., said, “I am very excited to join Instor by Kider India’s team and take on this new challenge and responsibility. They have a great team with industry-leading infrastructure and reputation. The company is uniquely positioned given its manufacturing & technological leadership, and I believe that I will be able to further Instor’s vision with the right strategy, collaboration, and approach, as I foresee exciting growth opportunities. The retail industry is expected to witness remarkable growth in the coming years with the advent of hybrid business models. I look forward to increasing our market share, focusing on innovation, research, and development of new product categories and business verticals.” 

Instor by Kider India Pvt Ltd is India’s largest retail store fixtures and specialized solutions company, offering modern retail fixtures, fire and steel doors, healthcare products, smart warehousing solutions, hospitality solutions, custom product design, and other specialized fixtures and solutions for industrial and automotive applications. The company’s design, engineering, manufacturing, logistics, installation, and servicing capabilities are critical for the opening, refreshing, and remodeling of retail stores as well as the constant roll-out of new products.  

About Instor by Kider India Pvt Ltd: 

Instor is a leading manufacturer and exporter of customized fixtures and solutions for retail, industrial, and other special applications. Instor has a global presence with 10,000+ happy customers, 12,000+ uniquely designed stores, 10,000,000 square ft. retail space covered with its products, 80,000+ products across various segments and industries, and the capabilities to design stores across multiple categories.  

Instor provides 360-degree customer-centric innovative solutions to help its customers to deliver the best customer experience at every touchpoint and grow their retail footprint in all urban and rural markets. Instor is trusted by India’s leading retail store brands and has been delivering solutions and products to such as D-Mart, Patanjali, Reliance Retail, Big Bazaar, Decathlon, Aditya Birla Group, etc. 

Women’s World Banking Brings Industry Players To Discuss “Fairness” In Lending To Women MSMEs

Gender-inclusive finance solutions organization Women’s World Banking (WWB) hosted their event “Unmasking Bias, Unlocking Credit for Women” on Thursday to deliberate lending to women in India’s MSME sector. Representatives from WWB, MasterCard, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Lendingkart, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Sa-Dhan talked about the challenges in the credit ecosystem when it comes to lending to women and the opportunities for change.  Shri. Arup Kumar, Chief General Manager, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) delivered the keynote address at the event.

In India, women-owned businesses as a share of all MSMEs have grown by 50% in the past decade. Non-performing assets are 40% lower for women-owned MSMEs, indicating women are better at repaying their loans. And yet the financing need of an estimated 70% of women-owned businesses goes unmet. The Indian missed opportunity for financing for women is 20 Billion Dollars while the global gender credit gap is $1.7 trillion dollars. Women find it challenging to receive adequate financial support to run and scale their businesses because of pre-existing biases in the credit ecosystem and being “thin file”.  

Fairness is an intricate and multidimensional concept, and its definition should be dependent on both context and culture. Considering gender-based bias in lending, it becomes critical for a Financial Institution (FI) to discuss and adopt a definition (or definitions) of fairness and to examine how they balance fairness with efficiency in their credit operations. Institutions pursue fairness through credit offers (loan approval), credit scores, loan terms (loan amount, interest rate, and collateral), loan maturity, and reasons for rejection. Todays was platform to give voice

Ms. Kalpana Ajayan, Regional Head, South Asia, Women's World Banking said,

"Today's platform facilitated players from diverse backgrounds to examine the biases that exist in lending and share their perspectives to ensure women have equitable access to credit. We believe that financial service providers can unearth new business opportunities by committing to fairness, being gender-intentional and using data & technology to assess biases across value chains."

The Check Your Bias Scorecard developed by Women’s World Banking was also revealed at the event, which has questions related to six dimensions of fairness 1) credit score, 2) approval rate, 3) loan amount, 4) interest rate, 5) collateral size, and 6) characteristics of rejected candidates. The complete descriptions of these dimensions and how to measure them are reflected in the scorecard. To use this scorecard FSPs need individual-level data on past loan applicants including credit score, decision, loan terms, and any relevant control variables.

About Women’s World Banking

Women’s World Banking designs and invests in financial solutions, institutions, and policy environments in emerging markets to create greater economic stability and prosperity for women, their families, and their communities. With a Global Network reach of 61 financial services providers in 34 countries serving more than 136 million women clients, Women’s World Banking drives impact through its scalable, market-driven solutions; gender lens private equity fund; and leadership and diversity programs. womensworldbanking.org.