Amazon Prime Video today released the trailer of their new Prime Original series – Comicstaan. Produced by Only Much Louder (OML) and hosted by ace comedians Abish Mathew & Sumukhi Suresh, Comicstaan is a talent hunt to discover India’s next big comedic talent. The show brings together seven of India’s best comedians – Tanmay Bhat, Kenny Sebastian, Sapan Verma, Naveen Richard, Kaneez Surkha, Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath, to guide, mentor and judge the budding talent, as they compete each week to win the coveted title. Comicstaan will be available exclusively to Prime members across 200 countries and territories starting July 13, 2018.
Speaking about Amazon’s latest Prime Original series, Vijay Subramanian, Director and Head, Content, Amazon Prime Video India, said, “Comedy is already one the most watched genres on Amazon Prime Video and customers, across age groups & geographies want to see more. Comicstaan will take customers on a hilarious journey alongside some of today’s most recognizable comedians, to search for India’s next big comedian. Unique, fresh and packed with jokes, the series will make you crack up. The future looks funny indeed!”
Ajay Nair, COO, Only Much Louder, said, “Comicstaan is the exciting next step in our long and fruitful relationship with Amazon. It ties all the best parts of Indian stand-up together into something fresh. Getting the country's top comedians to nurture and mentor new talent is an idea that excited us, and it's been extremely rewarding to see it all come together."
Get ready to laugh with Comicstaan – a nine episode series where ten contestants from across the country are chosen to compete for the winning title and mentored by comedian judges who are experts in their respective genres of comedy. Comicstaan is laugh-out-loud funny with carefully plotted jokes, quick witted dialogue and hilarious memorable moments that are relevant in pop culture today. The first four episodes are available to stream on July 13, followed by new episodes weekly.
Amazon Prime Video has the largest selection of latest & exclusive movies and TV shows, stand-up comedy, biggest Indian and Hollywood films, US TV series, most popular Indian & international kids’ shows, and award winning Amazon Prime Originals, all available, ad-free, with a world class customer experience.
To watch Comicstaan and the newest releases in Hollywood & Bollywood, the latest US TV shows, kids’ favorite toons and Amazon Prime Originals, please visit www.PrimeVideo.com or download the Amazon Prime Video app today and sign-up for a Prime membership.
Atlas Copco Oil-free Air and Compressor Technique Service Divisions, leading providers of sustainable productivity solutions held a global sales event in April with over 900 participants from 68 countries. Several product innovations in compressed air and gases were launched for the low, medium and high pressure markets. The new products will set new standards in reliability, energy efficiency and serviceability and are all part of the smart AIR solutions concept.
Smart AIR Solutions are complete air or gas solutions designed to provide our customers with the lowest life cycle costs for their equipment. They combine compressors, blowers and boosters with quality air solutions such as air dryers, coolers, nitrogen generators, filters or energy recovery solutions, fully optimized to operate together in the most efficient and reliable way. Our smart AIR solutions apply for all our customers and not only include products but also services.
A total of 12 new products were launched with each individual product being optimized for the best possible performance in energy efficiency, reliability and air quality.
New low pressure blower ranges include ZB and ZM centrifugal products, ZS rotary screw blowers and ZL lobe blowers. These products are extensions of the existing ranges with new compact designs increasing installation flexibility.
The brand new ZT 90-160 VSD/ ZR 90-160 VSD+ and GA 90+-160 (VSD+) air compressors provide compressed air with significant energy savings compared to previous generations. The new ZH 1000-3150 centrifugal compressors were introduced, extending the flow ranges and energy savings for larger customer, and the new ZP high pressure air cooled pack range for customers requiring pressure up to 42 Bar.
To complete the product launch, three new quality air products were introduced with a new innovative range of MDG rotary drum dryers with a guaranteed dewpoint of -40 0C and minimal energy consumption. New space saving twin filter design, and a new activated carbon tower range.
In order to maximize control and monitoring for complete compressed air systems, Atlas Copco developed its new Optimizer 4.0 central control and monitoring system. It optimizes a compressed air system through a selection of the most efficient combination of air compressors and dryers while assuring supply of the required pressure or having balanced running hours to minimize service intervals.
Moreover, Optimizer 4.0 is fully Industry 4.0 compatible, enabling the Internet of Things and the digital integration of the air compressed system with other intelligent networked devices to improve equipment performance, enhance predictive maintenance and further increase energy efficiency.
ITC Infotech, a global scale, full service provider of technology solutions and a fully-owned subsidiary of ITC Ltd., has been ranked a ‘Leader’ in the Global Outsourcing 100 report, for the 12th consecutive year by IAOP. ITC Infotech has also been identified as a ‘Super Star of the Global Outsourcing 100’ for its ‘Sustained Excellence’ consecutively this year.
IAOP annually produces The Global Outsourcing 100 list to help companies in their outsourcing decisions. This year IAOP continued its focus on programs for innovation and corporate social responsibility as these two elements are central to customer’s outsourcing decisions. IAOP has recognized ITC Infotech with sub-list honors in several categories including Customer References, Awards & Certifications, Programs for Innovation and Programs for Corporate Social Responsibility.
“We are proud to be consistently acknowledged for our excellence in outsourcing services for 12 consecutive years,” said Sushma Rajagopalan, CEO & MD, ITC Infotech. “We are delighted this report recognizes our commitment and excellence in delivering innovative differential solutions and an array of comprehensive outsourcing services. With our continued innovative creations such as Digitelligence@work and innoruption labs, we strive to provide best of class solutions for our clients and enhance their business operations.”
“In today’s economy, it is more important than ever for outsourcing buyers to be able to easily identify and select the right company for their outsourcing needs,” said IAOP CEO, Debi Hamill. “The Global Outsourcing 100 and World’s Best Advisors lists are the essential tools companies reference to make smarter decisions. We are proud to recognize ITC Infotech for being among the highest rated companies in customer references, company awards and certifications, programs for innovation, corporate social responsibility.”
Companies were judged on five critical characteristics for the rankings: Size and Growth as measured in revenue, employees, and global presence, Customer References as demonstrated through the value being created at the company’s top customers, Awards & Certifications, Programs for Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The aggregate scores from the five areas mentioned determine inclusion on the lists. The final scores are reviewed and allotted by an independent panel of IAOP customer members with extensive experience in selecting outsourcing service providers and advisors for their organizations.
The full version of the Global Outsourcing 100 rankings and lists of categories will be published on June 1, 2018 in a special issue of FORTUNE magazine.
Niki.ai, a pioneer in conversational commerce, integrated Amazon Pay into their app and SDK to facilitate seamless payments for transactions within a single chat window interface. Niki.ai has witnessed over 80 per cent repeat customers using Amazon Pay across 15+ services and 5+ platforms over the past 6 months, creating a unified digital payments success story for both the companies.
Driven by the shared philosophy of customer-obsession, these tech-first companies have joined hands to provide utmost convenience to the users by removing the friction on each step from choosing to discovering to paying for products and services.
With Amazon Pay, consumers transacting through Niki on its own apps (iOS, Android, Web) or on its SDK partners’ apps can use the same payment gateway across multiple services and platforms. Transactions happen primarily through Amazon Pay balance, leading to a one-step checkout. Besides Amazon Pay balance, customers can also use their stored cards on Amazon, thereby reducing payment friction to a great extent.
From the consumer's point of view, this ease of use and freedom of payment were habit-forming, and have led to an exponential growth in the number of transactions being carried out using Niki. About 80% repeat customers were using Amazon Pay to make bill payments, bus, hotel, movie ticket bookings and more, thanks to the lightning-fast checkout experience offered across platforms.
A pioneer in the conversational commerce space, Niki provides a simple and easy to use chat interface to shop for numerous products and services like movie and bus ticket booking, hotel and cab booking, utility bill payments, mobile recharges, local deals and laundry service, to name a few. To the businesses, it provides a plug and play technology in the form of Niki SDK that can be easily integrated everywhere, including operating systems, on messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, and on the brand’s applications (Android, iOS and web).
With the simple integration, a brand can offer 25+ services provided by 60+ merchants on board, to its customers. The utility of SDK is already evident across sectors with some of the recent tie-ups with brands like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, iReff, Karbonn Smartphones, to name a few.
TPG Capital (TPG), the global private equity platform of alternative asset firm TPG, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Wind River, a leader in delivering software for the Internet of Things (IoT). TPG’s acquisition of Wind River from Intel was announced on April 3, 2018. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
For nearly 40 years, Wind River has helped the world’s technology leaders power generation after generation of the safest, most secure devices in the world. The company’s software runs the computing systems of the most important modern infrastructure and is accelerating the evolution from automated to autonomous systems across a diverse range of use cases — from collaborative robots to commercial and military drones, connected cars to the connected factory floor — as well as the intelligent communication networks that support these applications.
The newly independent company will be led by Wind River President and now Chief Executive Officer Jim Douglas. Nehal Raj, Partner and Head of Technology investing at TPG, will serve as Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors.
“Wind River is leveraging the power of IoT, intelligent devices, and edge computing to fundamentally transform critical infrastructure sectors,” said Raj. “This acquisition provides the company with the additional resources and focus needed to further differentiate itself as a market-leading provider of software for Industrial IoT. We look forward to working closely with management to identify and execute on opportunities to invest in organic and inorganic growth.”
“This is an exciting day for Wind River. Through this partnership with TPG, we will have new opportunities to innovate and evolve our industry-leading software portfolio, creating additional value for our customers and partner ecosystem,” said Douglas. “This acquisition is a clear endorsement of the unique value our software provides for accelerating digital transformation across critical infrastructure sectors, and we are thrilled to work with TPG in this next phase of our growth trajectory.”
TPG has a history of partnering with dynamic companies that are changing and enhancing different markets through innovative technology. Across platforms, select investments include C3 IoT, CCC Information Services, IQVIA (formerly QuintilesIMS), Intergraph, McAfee, Mediware Information Systems, Noodle.ai, and Zscaler.
Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and RBC Capital Markets acted as financial advisors to TPG. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to TPG.
MobiKwik, one of India’s leading digital financial services platform, announced the appointment of Vinayak N as the Head of the Lending Business at MobiKwik. Vinayak is responsible for kick-starting the lending business for MobiKwik. His role will include designing relevant products to cater to the credit requirements of millions of Indians, forging relevant partnerships, launching the products in the market and ensuring a profitable and sustainable business. MobiKwik is in the process of conceptualizing a portfolio of lending solutions, in partnership with leading banking institutions and NBFCs.
Vinayak has over 15 years of experience with reputed Multinational and Indian Banking & Financial Services companies. Vinayak has joined Mobikwik from Fullerton India Credit Company Limited where he was Head of Alliances and was focusing on both digital and non-digital partnerships. In his earlier stint, Vinayak has held diverse portfolios in risk and product domains at Bajaj Finance Limited. He has also been the Head of Business and Insurance at Capital First, where he launched the cross-sell business.
Speaking on the appointment of Vinayak, Upasana Taku, Co-Founder and Director, MobiKwik, said “We are extremely delighted to welcome Vinayak as a part of the MobiKwik family. Digital financial services in India will disrupt the market just like China. MobiKwik will be at the forefront of this disruption and bring the power of digital credit to the masses. Vinayak has extensive experience in the financial services industry. I am confident that his business acumen and deep risk and control orientation, coupled with digital lending expertise will be extremely beneficial as MobiKwik creates its digital lending portfolio that can address the credit deficit problem in the country.”
“Mobikwik has been the flagbearer of the digital wallet industry with a huge customer base, with varied financial needs. I believe we have a great opportunity to offer credit solutions to the millions of users who have access to the internet and digital technology. We are working on creating an end-to-end lending product portfolio that will provide instant credit solutions to the masses, digitally. We hope to create a best-in-class Fintech lending ecosystem at MobiKwik. We have a great team in place and I am confident that we will be one of the leaders in the lending industry in the times to come”, added Vinayak N, Head- Lending Business, MobiKwik.
Shriram Transport Finance Company Limited, one of the largest asset financing NBFC in the country, with a primary focus on financing pre-owned commercial vehicles is proposing a public issue of Rs 5,000 crores by issuing 5,00,00,000 (five crore) Secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) of the face value of Rs. 1,000 each.
Through Tranch 1 Prospectus dated June 25, 2018 the company is offering to public for subscription 5,00,00,000 (five crore only) NCDs of face value of Rs. 1,000 each aggregating to Rs. 5,000 crore with a Base Issue consisting of 1,00,00,000 (one crore) NCDs of face values of Rs. 1,000 each aggregating to Rs. 1,000 crore with an option to retain over-subscription upto the Shelf Limit of Rs. 5,000 crore.
The issue will open on June 27, 2018 and close on July 20, 2018, with an option of early closure, subject to the Base Issue size being fully subscribed prior to such early closure and/or extension.
The proposed NCDs under this Issue have been rated ‘CRISIL AA+/Stable’ by CRISIL and ‘IND AA+: Outlook Stable’ by India Ratings and Research for an amount of upto Rs. 5,000 crore. These ratings indicate high degree of safety regarding timely servicing of financial obligations and carrying very low credit risk.
The funds raised through this issue will be used for onward lending, financing, and for repayment/ prepayment of interest and principal of existing borrowings of the Company and for general corporate purposes.
Options of investment tenors are 3, 5 and 10 years, with coupon of 9.10% p.a., 9.30% p.a. and 9.40% p.a. respectively with monthly, annual & cumulative payment options.
These NCDs, bearing a fixed rate of interest, are being offered under seven different series:
Series I and II are monthly options, having tenure of 5 years and 10 years respectively, and the Coupon shall be 8.93% p.a., 9.03% p.a. respectively.
Series III, Series IV and Series V are payable annually, having tenure of 3 years, 5 years and 10 years, respectively, and the coupon shall be 9.10% p.a., 9.30% p.a. and 9.40% p.a. respectively.
Series VI and VII are cumulative options, where face value and interest accrued are paid at the end of the tenure. Effective yield shall be 9.10% p.a., 9.30% p.a. respectively.
Additional incentive of 0.10% p.a for the individual investors across all series. Further, Senior Citizens (initial allottees) are entitled to additional incentive of 0.25% per annum across all series i.e 0.35%.
High Net-worth Individuals and Retail Individual Investors are collectively referred to as “Individuals”.
The NCDs are proposed to be listed on BSE Limited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited.
Axis Bank Ltd, AK Capital Services Ltd, Edelweiss financial Services Ltd, JM Financial Services Ltd, and Trust Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd are the Lead Managers to the Issue. Catalyst Trusteeship Limited is the Debenture Trustee to the Issue, while Integrated Registry Management Services Private Limited is the registrar to the Issue.
