A Growth Story for Kingston Technology During 2018

Kingston Technology, the largest manufacturer of memory and storage products, continues to achieve excellence by creating new industry benchmarks with constant focus on innovation, discipline and the commitment of delivering an amazing experience to customers. With over 60% market share for DRAM memory and over 22% market share for SSDs in Channel Market, Kingston Technology continues to be the leading manufacturer of Storage and Memory products globally. It has become a dominant force among consumers, enterprises and corporate organizations, for new systems and for system infrastructure upgrades. Kingston Technology provides memory and secure storage solutions that work together to give a more complete solution for servers, corporate and even SMEs. With their knowledge and expertise, Kingston Technology has helped businesses in managing a smooth transition and become future proof in the era of digitalization. Currently, the company has more than 2,000 products in its portfolio including flash storage, servers, and embedded solutions which are used in more than 20000 systems. With embedded solutions, the company is further aiming to significantly reduce the design-in complexity in products, shorten the qualification cycle and enhance the system performance at an affordable cost. This division is quickly becoming a core part of Kingston’s overall business as embedded memory solutions can be found in products as diverse as smart watches, fitness bracelets, digital signage, smart appliances, slot machines, smart beds and tableside machines in restaurants where you can order, pay or play games. In coming years, it is expected that most digital devices would have a Kingston’s embedded solutions integrated in it.

The success mantra of Kingston could largely be attributed to delivering a best-in-class quality proposition to the customers at a value price without compromising on After sales services. Apart from developing top notch technology, the company has also taken purposeful efforts in enhancing the customer service and achieved 80% of reduced turnaround time, low lead time and has initiated a personalized service to handpick products from customers and deliver it to their service centers. In 2018, the brand has also begun several initiatives to understand the end user better creating a positive vibe for the partners and customers across the country. Soon, the company will stick to providing a better experience to the users and making reliability as the cornerstone of the product strategy to maintain a long-term relationship with customers and partners.

Nathealth Announces the New Leadership Team for the year 2019-20

 

India’s healthcare apex body NATHEALTH announced its new Leadership Team for the year today. Dr. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman, Manipal Hospitals, Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt Ltd has been elected as the President of the federation.  He succeeds Mr. Daljit Singh, President, Fortis Healthcare Limited.

Dr. Sudarshan Ballal thanked the outgoing President of NATHEALTH, Mr. Daljit Singh and warmly welcomed Mr. Rajit Mehta as Senior Vice President-NATHEALTH, along with the other members of the NATHEALTH Leadership Team – Ms. Preetha Reddy as Vice President-NATHEALTH, Dr. Badhri Iyengar as Secretary-NATHEALTH and Dr. Harsh Mahajan as Treasurer-NATHEALTH.  Mr. Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Secretary General, NATHEALTH will lead the federation with this team, towards its goal of creating a robust platform for long term growth and sustainability of India’s healthcare sector.

Speaking on emerging priorities President, NATHEALTH, Dr. Sudarshan Ballal said, “this has been a truly tumultuous year for healthcare and the events of this year will certainly shape the future of healthcare in India. The greatest and biggest news and development of 2018 is the rolling out of NHPM or Ayushman Bharat by the central government providing Rs.5 lakh coverage to about 500 million poorer sections of the society. Stringent governmental regulations, increased public and media attention on the cost of healthcare will substantially affect the delivery of healthcare in our country. The effect of demonetization, GST and capping of prices would further impact healthcare in a big way. The greatest challenge for the healthcare sector is to” deliver 1st world healthcare at 3rd world costs.” 

Given these challenges in the healthcare scenario NATHEALTH should focus on a much broader participation by various stake holders and be the “Voice and Face of Healthcare” in the country.

We should work along all the other forums for healthcare in the country at least in some critical areas and be the interface between the government and private sector in advising models for affordable, quality but viable healthcare for the masses. It would be crucial for NATHEALTH be an advisor and knowledge partner to the government on their policies regarding  preventive care, primary care, management of NCD, digital health, skilling and expanding the pool of specialists both in the public and private sectors.

We should also be the torch bearers for safe guarding the interests of the healthcare sector in these difficult times.

Mr. Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Secretary General-NATHEALTH said, “We welcome our new leadership team which will continue to work towards the development of the healthcare sector to benefit the people, address relevant healthcare issues and champion the progress and development of this sector.”

Padmashri Saalumarada Thimmakka Comes Forward to Advocate Sowparnika for its Go Green Initiative

Sowparnika Projects, a key real estate player in the sensibly priced housing segment, conducted a panel discussion with Sowparnika Projects with an aim to announce a collaboration with famous social workers in their initiative to make the nation a better place.

Padmashri Saalumarada Thimmakka, popular social workers Anantha Lakshmi and Urmila Chanam have come together to help Sowparnika in this mission. The association will focus on improving the quality of life of the people in need and simultaneously help them with necessary aids.  Since these famous dignitaries have worked on-ground with various communities, they will be able to guide Sowparnika in their impact-driven CSR activities.

The discussion dealt with the journey of the three women, their contribution to society and how one can get associated with Sowparnika’s CSR initiative -- Sowparbee, so as to bring about an impactful change in the society.  The panel discussion concluded with Padmashri Saalumarada, Anantha and Urmila taking an oath towards guiding Sowparnika towards impact driven CSR activities for the year.

Sowparnika’s CSR initiative Sowparbee, a community change driver of Sowparnika Projects and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. felicitated the three well-recognised social workers.

Padmashri Saalumarada Thimmakka is an environmentalist from Karnataka; Anantha Lakshmi is currently spearheading the Bharatiya Grameen Mahila Sangh, a National Association of Rural Women in India, founded in 1955 by her grandmother Late Padma Bhushan Yashodhara Dasappa and Late C Sharada and Urmila Chanam is a journalist and a knowledge management and communications professional, social activist, a gender rights activist, a blogger and a public health professional.

At the discussion, Raja Mukherjee, CMO at Sowparnika Projects and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd., said, “It is indeed an overwhelming moment for me to share a platform with three women leaders who have marked their presence in the society through their noble deeds. Their contribution to the society is remarkable and we look forward to a sustained association with them in our drive to help the society and make it a better place. I am grateful to Thimmakka for extending her support to Sowparnika and guide us through our journey towards the ‘Go Green’ movement.”

In line with this discussion, Padmashri Saalumarada Thimakka said, “We are all children of God and all our activities are nothing extraordinary, but our responsibilities. The nation needs a change for the betterment and contribute towards that is our duty. I would happily serve the nation till my last breath and would love to take up associations having a strong social cause.’’

Raja Mukherjee, CMO at Sowparnika Projects, further addressed saying, ‘’We, at Sowparnika, feel ourselves fortunate to have come across and felicitate these powerful women leaders who have made impactful transformations to the society. It would be our pleasure to offer them Sowparnika units and greet them to be a part of our housing community.”

Embassy Office Parks REIT, India’s First REIT to Open IPO From March 18-20, 2019

The initial public offering (IPO) of Embassy Office Parks REIT (“Embassy REIT”), the first ever by a Real Estate Investment Trust in India, will open on March 18, 2019 at a price band of Rs 299 to Rs 300. Embassy REIT is issuing Units aggregating up to Rs. 47,500 million (the “Issue”). This Issue will constitute at least 10% of the issued and paid-up Units on a post-Issue basis in accordance with Regulation 14(2A) of the REIT Regulations. The issue will close on March 20, 2019.

The Units of the Embassy REIT are proposed to be listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (the “NSE”) and BSE Limited (the “BSE”, together with the NSE, the “Stock Exchanges”). The Embassy REIT has received in-principle approvals from the NSE and the BSE for listing of the Units pursuant to letters dated October 11, 2018 and October 9, 2018, respectively. NSE is the Designated Stock Exchange for this Issue. This Issue will constitute at least 10% of the issued and paid-up Units on a post-Issue basis in accordance with Regulation 14(2A) of the REIT Regulations. The Manager, in consultation with the Lead Managers, may retain oversubscription in the Issue in accordance with the REIT Regulations and the SEBI Guidelines.

The Net Proceeds from the Issue will be used for (i) Partial or full repayment or pre-payment of bank/ financial institution debt of certain Asset Special Purpose Vehicles (“SPVS”) and by the Investment Entity, (ii) Payment of consideration for acquisition of the Embassy One Assets currently held by Embassy One Developers Private Limited (“EODPL"), and (iii) General purposes.

The Issue will include participation by Strategic Investors in accordance with the SEBI Guidelines.

The Issue is being made through the Book Building Process and in compliance with the REIT Regulations and the SEBI Guidelines, wherein not more than 75% of the Issue (excluding the Strategic Investor Portion) shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Institutional Investors, provided that the Manager may, in consultation with the Lead Managers, allocate up to 60% of the Institutional Investor Portion to Anchor Investors on a discretionary basis in accordance with the REIT Regulations and the SEBI Guidelines.

Further, not less than 25% of the Issue (excluding the Strategic Investor Portion) shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Non-Institutional Investors, in accordance with the REIT Regulations and the SEBI Guidelines, subject to valid Bids being received at or above the Issue Price

Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 800 Units and in multiples of 400 Units thereafter by Bidders other than the units subscribed for by Anchor Investors and Strategic Investors.

Axis Trustee Services Limited is the Trustee to the Issue while Embassy Office Parks Management Services Private Limited is the Manager to the Issue. Embassy Property Developments Private Limited and BRE/ Mauritius Investments are the Sponsors to the issue.

The Global Coordinators and Book Running Lead Managers (GCBRLMs) to the offer are Morgan Stanley India Company Private Limited, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, J.P. Morgan India Private Limited and DSP Merrill Lynch Limited. Book Running Lead Managers (“BRLMs”) to the Offer are Axis Capital Limited, Credit Suisse Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Private Limited, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Private Limited, IIFL Holdings Limited, JM Financial Limited and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Private Limited.

Idea Offers One Year of Amazon Prime with Nirvana Postpaid Plans

Idea Nirvana postpaid plan customers now enjoy a one-year Amazon Prime membership with access to unparalleled shopping and entertainment benefits

Vodafone and Amazon already have an existing relationship that allows Vodafone Red customers free access to Amazon Prime membership as part of pack benefits

Amazon Prime offers unlimited FREE, fast shipping on millions of items from India’s largest online store, early access to top deals on Amazon.in, ad-free music listening through Amazon Prime Music and access to unlimited streaming of the latest and exclusive movies, TV shows, stand-up comedy and groundbreaking Amazon Prime Original series through Prime Video

Activate through the Idea Movies & TV app to enjoy the best of Prime – at no additional cost

Amazon and Vodafone Idea announced today that all Idea Nirvana postpaid customers are eligible to receive a year of Amazon Prime (worth INR 999) at no additional cost – providing customers the best in entertainment and shopping: Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading and unlimited free, fast shipping on millions of items along with early and exclusive access to deals on Amazon.in.

With this offering, Idea customers with a Nirvana postpaid plan of INR 399 and above can enjoy unlimited streaming anytime, anywhere. They’ll have access to premium movies and TV shows on Prime Video including the latest and exclusive blockbuster Hollywood, Bollywood and Indian Regional movies, top TV shows, stand-up comedies, kids programs and critically acclaimed Prime Original series like International Emmy Award nominated Inside Edge, Breathe, The Remix, Comicstaan, Hear Me. Love Me., Mirzapur, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, multiple award winning The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Homecoming and Four More Shots Please! And with Amazon Prime Music, Idea customers also have access to ad-free music streaming and unlimited offline downloads across tens of millions of songs in over 20 languages to enjoy at no additional cost to Prime membership. Idea customers can enjoy their favorite music hands-free using voice, just by asking Alexa for music based on genre, artist, album, mood, activity or create a playlist/add a song to an existing playlist. In addition, customers can get access to free eBooks and unlimited free 1 and 2 day delivery, exclusive launces, early access to sale events and many more discounts on Amazon.

Vodafone Red and Amazon Prime already has an existing relationship under which Vodafone postpaid customers will continue to enjoy access to Amazon Prime membership (worth Rs. 999) as part of their plan benefits.

Commenting on this collaboration, Avneesh Khosla, Operations Director Marketing, Vodafone Idea Ltd said “Today’s customers are digitally savvy and want more freedom and flexibility in the way they consume content. We understand the need to offer a great content experience to our consumers. Through this strategic relationship with Amazon Prime, we are further strengthening our content proposition and our commitment to offer the best to our customers. It provides them access to an extensive library of diverse and high-quality original content - thousands of movies, videos, TV shows and ad-free music on the go. We are confident that this association will provide both Vodafone and Idea customers a seamless on-the-go shopping and entertainment experience to our customers.”

Gaurav Gandhi, Director and Head, Business, Amazon Prime Video India said, “Prime Video continues to entertain and delight customers across the length and breadth of the country.  We are delighted to partner with Idea and believe that this association will further expand the reach of Prime Video to an even larger base of customers who can enjoy our Prime Originals, Blockbuster Films and other Premium content on a screen of their choice - be it their mobile device, their personal computer or the television in their living room”

Akshay Sahi, Director and Head of Amazon Prime India said, “We are pleased to collaborate with Idea and make Amazon Prime available to even more customers. Idea Nirvana postpaid customers can now experience Amazon Prime as a part of their plan, which provides customers an unparalleled combination of shopping and entertainment benefits. We believe these subscribers will love the many benefits of Prime; from listening to ad-free music across multiple languages on Prime Music, to watching the latest Bollywood, Regional and International video titles on Prime Video, from shopping exclusive deals on items they love most on Amazon.IN, to enjoying free fast delivery on millions of products, and a lot more”

The annual Amazon Prime membership can be activated through the Idea Movies & TV app.  Access to Prime Video is available after downloading the Prime Video app on supported devices. By downloading the Amazon Music App, one can enjoy hundreds of hand-curated Playlists and Stations specially curated by Amazon Prime Music’s editors across moods, activities, genres, artists and decades. They can also avail shopping benefits by logging in with their Prime account details on Amazon.in.

Similarly, one can enjoy hundreds of hand-curated Playlists and Stations specially curated by Amazon Prime Music’s editors across moods, activities, genres, artists and decades, by downloading the Amazon Music app and avail shopping benefits by logging in with their Prime account credentials on Amazon.in.

Idea Nirvana postpaid customers can activate their Amazon Prime membership in three easy steps:
·       Upgrade to an Idea Nirvana postpaid plan of Rs399 or above
·       Download the Idea Movies & TV app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store. Generate OTP & validate by entering mobile number
·       Click on the special Idea – Amazon offer banner and activate without any extra cost.

Complaint Resolution Just Got a Lot Easier Across Indian Market

Resolver India, a free online platform for resolving consumer issues announced the launch of Resolver.in. The website enables consumers to connect with companies in a structured manner and helps businesses to understand customer grievances better - thus empowering both to amicably sort out unresolved matters.

The organization has a proven track record and is the preferred resolution tool of millions of consumers in the UK with over 3 million case files closed and a customer satisfaction rate of over 98% in the UK. Resolver India (previously known as Expertily) which is an Indian startup has received funding from Resolver Group UK. Resolver India has also received a seed round of investment from Manish Gupta, Chairman of JIMS and UINCEPT Incubator. Even before Resolver UK invested in Resolver India, the UK website was flooded with over 15,000 queries from India per month. The UK website was visited by over 2.5 lakh people from India in 2018. When someone registers an issue on Resolver.in, they are explained their consumer rights, assisted in preparing, recording their email/ chat communication and create a case file of their complaint, and the next steps in the process of issuing their resolutions. India being the 3rd largest consumer market in the world, Consumer Complaint Resolution market is therefore many times bigger than the UK.

“I am delighted to see Resolver launch in India today. The business promises to help both consumers and businesses all across India resolve all manner of complaints more effectively. I hope to see it soon become a household name in India” said Sir Dominic Asquith, British High Commissioner.

At the launch, Pratyush Singh, CEO at Resolver India said, “Resolver is a free and independent complaints platform allowing consumers to raise issues with organizations efficiently and effectively. Our mission is to break down the walls between consumers and businesses – building trust and understanding through fast, jargon-free issue resolution. Resolver.in is powered by Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) which guides consumers and supports organizations by making recommendations on what their next steps should be and when to take them.”

“We love India - and we can't wait to share what we've learned by helping people across the country get the results they need. We are extremely proud to partner with Pratyush and his team to bring this new tool to India and can’t wait to replicate our UK success by starting to help Indian customers and businesses. With India leading to grow into one of the top 3 consumer markets in the World from $1.5 trillion at present to nearly $6 trillion by 2030 (According to the Jan 2019 Bains- WEF report), we see India as a tremendous opportunity,” said James Walker, CEO & Founder, Resolver Group UK.

Resolver.in is a guided, supported web platform for consumers to create, store and track business complaints with an aim to deliver better outcomes for Indian consumers and businesses. Resolver India expects to initially receive the majority of complaints related to travel, banking, insurance, telecom, and real estate.

“Resolver India explains consumer rights to you, helps you prepare your emails, creates a case file for you, lets you record all your communications, lets you know when to escalate your complaint. This is all automated with zero manual interference, which is the most important thing to deal with a market as big as consumer complaint resolution, in India.”, added Pratyush, CEO Resolver India.

The explosion of India's internet user base, which is expected to reach 627 million in 2019, (according to IMRB), Resolver India sees immense growth potential in the future. In India, Resolver.in aims to deliver better outcomes for Indian consumers and businesses and end the days of hunting around a website to find the “Customer Service” link or waiting endlessly on hold for a customer representative. The website’s streamlined process makes filing an effective complaint as easy as a few clicks.

K7 Computing Appoints K. Purushothaman as The New Chief Executive Officer

K7 Computing Private Limited, today announced the appointment of its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). K Purushothaman joined as the new CEO from the 1st of March 2019.

Purushothaman joins from NASSCOM, where he served as Senior Director for over a decade. In his previous roles; he has been the Head of Communications for Aircel and has also been associated with Hyundai Motor India Limited. He brings with him strong experience of over two decades in Sales & Marketing.

Commenting on the new appointment, J Kesavardhanan, Founder & CTO, K7 Computing said; “On behalf of the entire team; I welcome Mr. Purushothaman to K7 Computing and wish him great success in his new role.” He further added; “As the first indigenous cybersecurity solutions provider; K7 Computing has always been driven by a strong focus on technology. I am confident that with his experience, Puroshothaman will also induce Marketing and Sales focused work culture; which is equally important for the overall brand reputation and growth of an organization.”

Kesavardhanan, who is the Founder of K7 Computing and was also, shouldering the responsibilities of the CEO; will now be the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). As a passionate technologist, Kesavardhanan has always worked closely with the product development teams and with this new role he will get an opportunity to focus on technological advancements and research in a better manner. He has always aimed to establish K7 Computing at the pinnacle of cybersecurity research and development work.

Kesavardhanan has also been appointed as the first CEO of AVAR. AVAR is the Association of Anti-Virus Asia Researchers established in June 1998 with the objective of countering the spread of malware and mitigating its impact. Read more

Commenting on his appointment, K Purushothaman, Chief Executive Officer, K7 Computing said; “It is my privilege to be associated with the pioneer of cybersecurity solutions in India. K7 Computing has a robust product line and superior support services for the consumer segment. Building on this success, I aim to establish K7 Computing as the most preferred brand for the enterprise segment.” He further added; “With the recent repositioning and expansion into the enterprise segment with new offerings; K7 Computing is well positioned to enter into an era of growth and expansion.   I look forward to contribute to this growth and serve our customers with world class products, solutions, and services and ensure them superior levels of security.”