HGS Strengthens Global Executive Leadership Team to Help Drive its Growth Agenda

Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS), a global leader in business process management, has announced senior leadership appointments, aligned to support the company’s vision and growth agenda.

Natarajan Radhakrishnan (Nat) has been appointed as President and Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), HGS, a newly-created position responsible for managing Enterprise IT and Automation, fostering innovation across the organization and developing new industry-oriented solutions.

Natarajan has over 29 years of industry experience in diverse areas such as investment banking, information technology, consulting, solution/ IP development and business development. His core strengths are in aligning business and IT initiatives, change management and digital business transformation. Prior to joining HGS, Natarajan was engaged in Public-Private-Partnership initiatives with two of the Indian State Governments in the Healthcare and Transportation sectors. He has also held senior management positions in organizations like IBM, Capgemini, Cognizant and Deutsche Bank group.

Shilpa Sinha Harsh has been named as Sr. Vice President – Global Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I). Her key responsibility will be to further strengthen the HGS brand across strategic areas such as media and industry relations, employee communications, digital communications, corporate branding, recruitment marketing, community relations and diversity & inclusion.

Zippserv Launches ‘Group Buy’- A Tool for Group Negotiations in Real Estate for Home Buyers

Zippserv, India’s first comprehensive Real-Estate Risk Assessment startup has launched “Group Buy” – a platform which empowers serious home buyers to leverage the power of groups to get the best discounts and deals within the same project. ‘Group Buy’ is a free product by Zippserv, that is designed to promote and create transparency for open dialogue and honest negotiation. This product has been conceived from the reality that builders typically offer different rates to different customers depending on factors such as demand supply, negotiation, amenities, etc. ‘Group Buy’ is a unique opportunity to negotiate the best deal possible with minimum effort and in a transparent manner, without bias or influence from third parties.  Currently over 20% of the apartment buyers in Bangalore are using the various free products and tools built by Zippserv over the years.

Using the ‘Group Buy’ feature, Zippserv users can create or join an existing group on the website for RERA approved projects. Once verified, they are linked to other home buyers within the same project. The group is live for a period of twenty days wherein more buyers can join the group. After the end date, the group is closed and Zippserv acquaints all the participants who can then drive conversations, visits and negotiations with the builder to get the best deal possible. Zippserv has also made it convenient for builders and customers alike by letting builders offer instant group discounts to these serious buyers.

“Group Buy empowers apartment buyers to get the best deal by leveraging the power that comes with forming a group. This is first of its kind in the real estate sector to have an organised group approaching builders to make a bulk purchase.”-adds Mr. Sudeep Anandapuram, Co-founder & CEO of Zippserv.

“Property buyers often find themselves in situations which make them very uncomfortable. We have strived to create products that assist consumers in their decision making considering it is probably one of the largest transactions of their life. This is an attempt to empower them so as to enable them to negotiate from a strong vantage point”, adds Mr. Debashish Hota, Co-founder & COO with Zippserv

Studies have shown that home buying is lengthy process which could take up to two months or more. Zippserv helps to condense this purchase journey for a buyer. It lists out all the information a home buyer needs in order to begin their property search. Buyers can start their home buying journey by looking at a curated list of approved projects in the locality/ neighbourhood where they intend to buy. Projects that have been vetted by professionals have detailed reports with the exact next steps to be taken by the buyer. Group Buy, the biggest disrupter in the home buying market, will now further enable a buyer to leverage the power of the group and get the best deal possible. Thus, Zippserv is effective in bridging the entire process to less than two months helping buyers to avoid all the hassles they have to face while buying properties. In July 2018, Zippserv, raised a Pre-Series A funding of Rs. 3 crore (around $440,000) from their existing investors – Info Edge (India) Ltd.

The initiative also resonated with Mr. Om Ahuja, Ex- CEO Brigade Residential and JLL, a key investor of Zippserv. Commenting on the initiative, he said, “Zippserv's Group Buy is a first of a kind platform where like-minded buyers conglomerate to approach buying within the same apartment project. This group buy platform creates transparency for open dialogue and honest negotiation while giving comfort and confidence to home buyers. This in turn also helps builders improve their conversions, reduces closing cost which can be passed on as a benefit to home buyers.”

Classic Legends Begins Delivery of Jawa Motorcycles as Per Online Booking Sequence

Classic Legends Pvt. Ltd. is proud to announce the commencement of delivery of Jawa motorcycles to its customers from today. The motorcycles will be handed over to customers who had made bookings online from November 15, 2019 as per the booking sequence.

Handing over the first motorcycle, a Jawa, Mr. Anupam Thareja, Founder, Classic Legends Pvt. Ltd. and Founder and Managing Partner, Phi Capital, said, “This is the most important milestone yet in this journey as the first Jawa motorcycles hit the road today. Since we launched the brand and our motorcycles in November last year, it was not just a tremendous response that we received from our customers, but also unparalleled trust in the form of bookings, starting from day one. Today, we enter the next phase of our journey where we set out to begin fulfilling our commitment towards our customers.”

Mr. Ashish Joshi, Chief Executive Officer, Classic Legends Pvt. Ltd. said, “The last few months were really action packed for us at Jawa Motorcycles as we worked round the clock to set up our dealership network across India and start production simultaneously to meet our delivery commitments. Now that we are ready with our network, we begin deliveries of motorcycles to our customers and appreciate their trust and patience. As we move ahead, we will be reaching out to customers who have booked their Jawa motorcycles online as their names comes up in the delivery sequence.”

Prior to this delivery announcement, Classic Legends followed an aggressive approach towards setting up its sales and service network. The company now operates 95 Jawa Motorcycles dealerships across 77 cities in India. The brand has made this massive expansion across the country in a span of just three months, making this the fastest for any automobile manufacturer in India. With this vast nationwide dealership base, Classic Legends is now best poised to deliver the motorcycles to its customers from every part of the country as per the committed timeline. Customers can continue booking the motorcycles by visiting a nearby showroom.

The company also announced an industry first motorcycle exchange program across all its dealerships through Mahindra First Choice Wheels – India’s No. 1 pre-owned vehicle brand. This will allow interested customers to walk into the dealership with any old bike and get it exchanged for a brand new Jawa.

The company will also be offering the largest number of financial tie-ups with best in class finance schemes for its customers. The list of financial partners includes HDFC Bank, Tata Capital, ICICI Bank, Mahindra Finance, Capital First (now IDFC Bank), L&T Finance Limited and Hinduja Leyland Finance at the national level in addition to regional partners.

The Jawa Motorcycles are powered by an all-new 293cc, liquid cooled, single cylinder, DOHC engine nestled within a double cradle chassis that is tuned to bring out the superlative handling and class leading stability, making the new Jawa a true modern classic. The Jawa and Jawa forty two are priced at INR 1,64,000/- and INR 1,55,000/- respectively (ex-showroom, Delhi) and the Dual Channel ABS variants will be priced at INR 1,72,942/- & INR 1,63,942/- respectively. The motorcycles are manufactured at the company's Pithampur plant in Madhya Pradesh.

Ola Cabs Expands UK Operation to Liverpool, Reading, and Birmingham

Taxi-hailing app Ola on Friday said it has expanded its service footprint to three more cities -- Liverpool, Reading, and Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

“We are delighted to launch our services in Birmingham, Liverpool and Reading, thus solidifying Ola’s presence across 7 large metropolitans in the UK,” Ben Legg, Managing Director of Ola UK, said in a statement.

In Birmingham and Reading, the platform is set to go live on April 1, and driver onboarding is already underway, the company said. Ola started Liverpool operations by offering free rides on green tuk-tuks last week for a limited time period, as a part of the promotional campaign.

Vijaya, Dena Bank to Integrate as Bank of Baroda from Today

In a first three-way amalgamation, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will merge with Bank of Baroda (BoB) from April 1 to create the third-largest lender of the country.

As a result, branches of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will function as BoB outlets from Monday onwards.

“Customers including depositors of Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will be treated as customers of Bank of Baroda with effect from April 1, 2019,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said in a statement on Saturday. To make the merger a smooth affair, the government last week decided to infuse Rs 5,042 crore in BoB to enhance its capital base to meet the additional expense.

According to the Scheme of Amalgamation, shareholders of Vijaya Bank will get 402 equity shares of BoB for every 1,000 shares held. In the case of Dena Bank, its shareholders will get 110 shares of BoB for every 1,000 shares.

The government in September last year announced the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in India, with a combined business of Rs 14.82 lakh crore, making it the third-largest bank after State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank.

The announcement of the three-way merger was among several reforms initiatives undertaken by Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar to make public sector banks (PSBs) healthy, robust and globally competitive.

As part of the reform process, the government had also announced transfer of majority 51 % stake to Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in IDBI Bank in August last year to transform the Mumbai-based lender.

Besides, the Department of Financial Services made a record capital infusion of Rs 1.06 lakh crore in the PSBs in the current fiscal. As a result, five public sector banks including Bank of India, Corporation Bank, and Allahabad Bank were out of the prompt corrective action framework of the RBI earlier this year. NPAs have shown a negative trend in 2018-19 .

Huawei Releases its 2018 Annual Report: Bullish Growth in the Face of Adversity

Huawei released its 2018 Annual Report today. According to the report, the company maintained strong business growth in 2018. Its sales revenue rounded off at CNY721.2 billion, up 19.5% year-on-year; its net profit reached CNY59.3 billion, up 25.1% year-on-year.

In 2018, Huawei invested CNY101.5 billion (14.1% of its sales revenue) in R&D, ranking fifth globally in The 2018 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. Over the last ten years, Huawei's R&D expenditure has reached more than CNY480 billion. According to official data released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Huawei filed 5,405 patent applications to this organization in 2018, ranking first among all companies globally.

At the release of its annual report, Guo Ping, Huawei's Rotating Chairman, said, "Information communications technology is rapidly working its way into every industry. This has triggered a digital, intelligent transformation – the driving force behind our digital economy. Through heavy, consistent investment in 5G innovation, alongside large-scale commercial deployment, Huawei is committed to building the world's best network connections. Throughout this process, Huawei will continue to strictly comply with all relevant standards to build secure, trustworthy, and high-quality products. As we work towards this goal, we have been explicitly clear: Cyber security and user privacy protection are at the absolute top of our agenda. We are confident that the companies that choose to work with Huawei will be the most competitive in the 5G era. And countries that choose to work with Huawei will gain an advantage for the next wave of growth in the digital economy."

Guo emphasized, "The easiest way to bring down a fortress is to attack it from within. And the easiest way to reinforce it is from outside. Moving forward, we will do everything we can to shake off outside distractions, improve management, and make progress towards our strategic goals. We will continue to strengthen operational compliance, ensure business continuity and sustainability, and cultivate an open ecosystem where all players collaborate and prosper together. In addition, we will continue our organizational transformation to inspire greater passion and vitality across the organization."

In its carrier business, Huawei launched its latest 5G and SoftCOM AI solutions, focusing on making them as simple as possible to use and maintain. 2018 also saw ongoing innovation in domains like premium home broadband and the Internet of Things (IoT), helping carriers seize new growth opportunities. In 2018, the sales revenue of Huawei's carrier business reached CNY294 billion, roughly the same as the year prior.

In its enterprise business, Huawei continued providing cloud, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and IoT solutions, as well as a range of products for data centers, all-flash storage, and WiFi. By integrating these technologies into its digital platform, Huawei has facilitated the construction of smart cities, safe cities, and smart campuses, and has helped drive the digital transformation of its customers in the finance, transportation, and energy sectors. In 2018, the sales revenue of Huawei's enterprise business reached CNY74.4 billion, up 23.8% year-on-year.

In its cloud business, Huawei launched 160 cloud services and 140 solutions, and worked with its partners to serve customers worldwide with 40 availability zones across 23 regions. Huawei has grown its list of partners to more than 6,000 in this domain, and is actively exploring the use of its AI services in more than 200 projects across 10 major industries.

In its consumer business, Huawei further increased its share of the global smartphone market and has further enhanced the positioning of its high-end devices. It has also made major breakthroughs in building an intelligent ecosystem for all user scenarios. In 2018, the sales revenue of Huawei's consumer business reached CNY348.9 billion, up 45.1% year-on-year.

Financial statements in the 2018 Annual Report are independently audited by KPMG, an international Big Four accounting firm. To download the 2018 Annual Report, visit www.huawei.com/en/press-events/annual-report/2018

Note 1: All CNY figures in the Annual Report were converted into USD using the closing rate at the end of 2018, US$1.00 = CNY 6.8561

Note 2: Growth rates are calculated based on CNY figures.

Synechron Partners with Insurtech UK to Promote Innovation in the UK Insurance Sector

Synechron Inc., a leading Digital IT Consulting firm for financial services, has today announced a strategic partnership with Insurtech UK, in an effort to help promote the need for innovation within the UK insurance sector.

Insurtech UK, formed in November 2018, is the UK’s newest trade alliance in the sector with a mission to come together to speak with one voice about specific Insurtech-related issues and needs arising out of the technological revolution in the sector. The Alliance is comprised currently of 42 members and partners, including leading Insurtech start-ups, Tapoly, Honcho and Worry & Peace, as well as top-tier firms, Lloyd’s of London and Hiscox Insurance.

As the fourth largest insurance market globally, the UK insurance industry is due for innovation. In partnering with Insurtech UK, Synechron will help advise the Alliance on best practices and to help it achieve its mission to champion the vast potential of the wider UK digital economy. Synechron will help Insurtech UK develop its operational and communications strategy in utilising its expertise across the insurance landscape from a media, regulatory and technology perspective. Synechron can advise Insurtech start-ups and insurers on how they can adopt newer technologies into their strategies and additionally can help them accelerate their digital roadmaps via Synechron’s award-winning accelerator programs. 

Tony Clark, Managing Director at Synechron UK said, "We are delighted to be included in Insurtech UK’s first wave of partnerships and members as an associate partner amongst a winning combination of established firms and start-ups. With our expertise, we are here to help Insurtechs and insurers alike, reach the next level of their digital journeys.”

Matt-Hodges Long, Interim Council & Founding Member of Insurtech UK said, “We were very keen to ensure that the associate members and partners who joined us had the credibility and experience in the sector to contribute effectively to our work, and we are delighted that Synechron has signed on as one of our consulting partners. We look forward to working together collaboratively on various initiatives to help the Insurtech sector reach its true potential.”