Pledge Taking Ceremony at the PNB HQ on Vigilance Awareness Week

The nation’s leading public sector bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) with 1 lakh employees across the nation participated in the Integrity Pledge taking ceremony as a part of Vigilance Awareness Week from 27th October to 2nd November 2020. The pledge is a commitment for highest standards of honesty and integrity at all times and to support the fight against corruption. The pledge was administered by Sh. CH SS Malikarjuna Rao, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer and Sh. Vijay Kumar Tyagi, Chief Vigilance Officer. Messages from Honourable President of India, Prime Minister of India, Vice-President of India and Central Vigilance Commission were echoed during the ceremony by Executive Directors. 

Theme for this year’s Vigilance Awareness Week is ‘सतर्क भारत, समृद्ध भारत “Vigilant India, Prosperous India”. While taking the pledge, Sh. CH SS Malikarjuna Rao, MD & CEO said that “Everyone must imbibe the quality of being vigilant in day to day routine to protect against untoward incidents. Preventive vigilance takes a very important stage for any organisation, if an organisation is vigilant it will always be strong. Preventive Vigilance is basically a checkpoint to understand if we are adhering to the laid down guidelines. In the interest of newly recruited POs & management trainees, CVC in consultation with PSB’s has issued guidelines to ensure that new staff members are imparted 1 year classroom training as well as on the job training before deployment in to credit division. The scheme was inaugurated by the Honourable Finance Minister, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman.” 

Sh. Rao also emphasized on the need to reinforce our commitment every year & think about incidents happened in last one year. The celebration of the VAW 2020 is to be cautious and alert in our professional and personal lives against all potential risks. The core theme of Preventive Vigilance helps and reminds us to create an atmosphere or an ecosystem wherein members of the PNB parivar do not bring any risks upon themselves or the organisation. 

Sh. Tyagi, Chief Vigilance Officer reiterated message from CVC highlighting that all organisations must focus on enhancement of internal processes & activities. Systemic improvements may be carried out to improve the delivery of services to the public. 

Castrol India Announces Third Quarter (Jul-Set 2020) and 9M (Jan-Sep) 2020 Results

 

·    Revenue from operations increased by 4% (INR 883 Crs vs INR 849 Crs of 3Q 2019)

·     Profit before tax increased by 17% (INR 278 Crs vs INR 237 of 3Q 2019)

·     Growth across all spaces

Sandeep Sangwan, Managing Director, Castrol India Limited says, "I am pleased to say that Castrol India has recorded a strong performance in the third quarter of 2020, while being focused on three priorities during this continuing pandemic – protecting our people, supporting communities and protecting the financial health of our business.

Partial revival of pent up demand, a robust supply chain and distribution network, investment in our brands along with judicious working capital management contributed to us delivering a good set of numbers, including growth across all spaces.

Our team has displayed exceptional commitment to ensure uninterrupted production at our three manufacturing plants, aligned with government safety and health advisories, to meet customer demand as well as new customer wins, acquisitions and virtual customer engagements have been made possible by teams working from home during the lockdown.

Robust working capital management which saw us generate INR 624 Crs net cash from operations in 9M 2020 which is more than 150% of PAT, along with judicious cost and efficiency management programmes have helped us maintain a current strong liquidity and financial position to be able to meet any near-term challenges.

We have focused on brand building initiatives this quarter with our power brands on television and digital media including Castrol Activ, Castrol CRB range and Castrol MAGNATEC.

Two new variants were launched in the cars and two-wheeler category with Castrol GTX SUV and Castrol Activ CRUISE respectively in the thinner oils segment.

Several external recognitions came our way during this quarter. Our Patalganga plant was recognized with the National Safety Council of India Award for its leadership and implementation of HSSE programmes while our Paharpur plant won a platinum award at the Apex India Occupational Health & Safety Awards 2020 and gold at the National Occupational Health & Safety Awards 2020 organized by Indian Chamber of Commerce. We also celebrated a double win at the prestigious Asia Pacific Effie Awards where our marketing campaigns for Castrol Super Mechanic and Castrol Activ nonstop democracy were recognized.

Similarly, we received accolades from our OEM clients with Ford recertifying the Silvassa plant with the Ford Q1 certification, making Silvassa plant the only lubricants plant in Asia Pacific region to hold this coveted award. Castrol India also received the highest rating in Schaeffler’s supplier evaluation on quality, delivery, environment and HSSE criteria. 

In this quarter, we relaunched our CSR community programmes through virtual training initiatives for truckers and mechanics. The trainings have been modified bearing the pandemic in mind and focus on emotional and physical well-being, awareness on health and hygiene practices along with methods to effectively manage finances.

The business has been able to adapt and respond well to the dynamic external environment which is reflected in our third quarter results. The results also highlight our strong fundamentals and give us confidence that we are on track with our strategic sustained profitable business growth as and when economic activities return to normal.

The Board of Directors of the Company has at its meeting held on 27 October 2020 recommended an interim dividend of INR 2.50 per share (2019: First interim dividend INR 2.50 per share; Second interim dividend INR 3.00 per share). The record date for the purpose of said interim dividend is 6 November 2020 which would be paid on or before 26 November 2020.

About Castrol India: Castrol, is one of the world’s leading lubricant brands and has a proud heritage of innovation and fuelling the dreams of pioneers. Castrol India Limited is one of India’s leading lubricants company and has established itself as a pioneer and innovator in the Indian lubricants industry. Its iconic brands such as Castrol CRB, Castrol GTX, and in more recent times power brands like Castrol Activ, Castrol MAGNATEC and Castrol VECTON, are used by millions of consumers and customers across the country. The company also has a presence in select segments like High Performance Lubricants and metalworking fluids in industries as varied as automotive manufacturing to mining to machinery and wind & energy.

Castrol India has a large manufacturing and distribution network in India with three manufacturing plants and a distribution network of 350 distributors who sell to consumers and customers through over 100,000 retail outlets. Castrol sub-distributors also reach additional outlets in rural markets whilst Castrol India also directly services over 3,000 key institutional accounts.

Along with providing world class products and services, Castrol India is focused on safety, compliance and quality as its number one priority.

Harley-Davidson & Hero Motocorp Announce Agreements for Sales and Service in the Indian Market

Embarking on a new journey together, Harley-Davidson, Inc., the legendary motorcycle manufacturer and Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest maker of  motorcycles and scooters in terms of unit volumes, today announced that the two will ride together in India.

Per a distribution agreement, Hero MotoCorp will sell and service Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and sell Parts & Accessories and General Merchandise riding gear and apparel through a network of brand-exclusive Harley-Davidson dealers and Hero’s existing dealership network in India. 

As part of a Licensing agreement, Hero MotoCorp will develop and sell a range of premium motorcycles under the Harley-Davidson brand name.

These actions are aligned with Harley-Davidson’s business overhaul, The Rewire, and the company’s announcement in September to change its business model in India.

This arrangement is mutually beneficial for both companies and riders in India, as it brings together the iconic Harley-Davidson brand with the strong distribution network and customer service of Hero MotoCorp.

About Hero MotoCorp Ltd.

The New Delhi (India) headquartered Hero MotoCorp Ltd. is the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, in terms of unit volumes sold by a single company in a year — the coveted position it has held for the past 19 consecutive years. The Company has sold over 95 million motorcycles and scooters in cumulative sales since inception. Hero MotoCorp currently sells its products in more than 40 countries across Asia, Africa, Middle East, and South and Central America. Hero MotoCorp has eight state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, including six in India, and one each in Colombia and Bangladesh. Hero MotoCorp has two world-class, state-of-the-art R&D facilities — the Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, and Hero Tech Centre Germany GmBH. Hero MotoCorp is one of the largest corporate promoters of multiple disciplines of sports, including, Golf, Football, Field Hockey, Cricket and Motorsports. Fifteen-time major winner Tiger Woods is Hero’s Global Corporate Partner.

About Harley-Davidson

Harley-Davidson, Inc. is the parent company of Harley-Davidson Motor Company and Harley-Davidson Financial Services. Our vision: Building our legend and leading our industry through innovation, evolution and emotion. Our mission: More than building machines, we stand for the timeless pursuit of adventure. Freedom for the soul. Since 1903, Harley-Davidson has defined motorcycle culture with an expanding range of leading-edge, distinctive and customizable motorcycles in addition to riding experiences and exceptional motorcycle accessories, riding gear and apparel. Harley-Davidson Financial Services provides financing, insurance and other programs to help get Harley-Davidson riders on the road.

Paytm Money Launches ETFs to Help New Investors Diversify and Improve Returns on their Portfolio

 

- ETF can be bought at as low as Rs 16 for Equity & Gold ETFs starting at Rs 44  

- Builds a simple interface on mobile to invest in ETFs or for intra day

- Aims to equip every Indian with an ETF

- Aiming 1 lakh users to invest in ETFs in the next 12 to 18 months

India’s homegrown digital financial services platform Paytm today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary 'Paytm Money' has launchedExchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)on its platform, post-approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). These are passive funds that are listed on NSE /BSE and traded like regular equity shares proving the merits of mutual funds along with the return potential of stocks. With this inclusion, the company becomes a comprehensive platform wherein investors from across all financial and knowledge backgrounds can conveniently access ETFs and start investment journey to accumulate wealth for their various financial goals.

Paytm Money believes that ETF is an essential part of an investor's portfolio and all Indians must invest in it. Therefore, the company has made it convenient for new investors by facilitating ETF investments for as low as Rs. 16 in Equity, Rs. 44 in Gold and Rs. 120 for NIFTY. The platform's interactive and easy to use interface helps to track the price changes in the preferred ETFs along with the flexibility to set a price alert. It also updates the live prices of an ETF and empowers investors to place a sell order during the open market hours and receive the money directly in their bank account. Advanced investors can even execute intra day trades in ETF and the simple stop loss/target price orders allow users to automate their risk management.The investor also gets the flexibility to invest via both the Paytm Money app and the Paytm Money website.

Investments in ETFs through Paytm Money is relevant for first-time investors who may initiate an investment with a simple nominal amount. As opposed to actively managed mutual funds, ETFs are a relatively low-cost option since passive fund management results in the funds having a lower expense ratio. For investors putting in smaller amounts, the benefit of compounding, coupled with low fund management costs would enable them to boost the portfolio returns. The app is also tailored to serve as a good long term strategy helping experienced investors diversify their portfolio on a broad-based level. It allows them to raise exposure to both the market leaders of today as well as the prominent sectors poised to grow in future.

Varun Sridhar, CEO - Paytm Money said, “ETFs are investment avenues that everyone should add to their portfolio to earn index or market-linked returns at a lesser cost. At Paytm Money, our efforts have been to democratize and simplify wealth management for all and in the case of ETFs also we have simplified investing for everyone. We are offering a user-friendly interface along with necessary factors that the user may need to make an informed decision and invest in ETFs of their choice conveniently. We are targeting 100k users to invest in ETFs in the next 12 to 18 months through the platform.”

In India, there are 69 different kinds of ETFs available across the index, gold, equity and debt categories with top-performing ETFs such as Aditya Birla Sun Life Gold ETF, Nippon India Nv20 ETF, LIC G-Sec Long Term ETF among others. They have delivered returns to the tune of 18.67%, 10.29% and 8.43%. 

Samhita-CGF, USAID, MSDF and Omidyar Network India Along launch ‘REVIVE’, a $6.85M Facility to Boost COVID-19 Impact in India

In a bid to restore livelihoods lost during the COVID-19 crisis, Samhita-Collective Good Foundation (CGF), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) and Omidyar Network India have collaborated to launch a $6.85 million blended finance facility called REVIVE.

The financing facility, also supported by corporates such as Arvind Limited and Godrej Consumer Products Limited and foundations like Brihati Foundation powered by Claris, will provide accessible and affordable capital in the form of grants, returnable grants* and loans to previously employed or self-employed workers and at-risk nano and micro enterprises to either restart and sustain their work or find alternative business opportunities. The facility is expected to reach between 60,000-100,000 workers and enterprises and will give preference to youth and women. REVIVE will also undertake upskilling activities for laid-off youth and informal sector workers.

Priya Naik, Founder and CEO, Samhita said: “In order to alleviate the livelihood crisis and kick-start the economic recovery process, REVIVE will work with companies and foundations to plug the gap around timely, affordable and accessible capital for entrepreneurs and micro enterprises that form critical backbones of businesses and the national economy. This will have a positive impact on economic activity, self-employment, and household consumption, giving families and small businesses the agency to pay their dues, buy daily business supplies and invest in protective gear and other operations to sustain and thrive.”

Ramona El Hamzaoui, USAID/India Acting Mission Director, stated: “The United States and India have a long history of collaboration in the health and development areas, and our cooperative response to COVID-19 builds on this strong partnership.  The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant negative impact on the global economy, including India and its citizens. The impact on women and youth has been higher. USAID is proud to support REVIVE and its noble effort to help these vulnerable groups with the economic recovery process and to contribute again to their families and their country’s growth and development.”

Rahil Rangwala, Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, added: “COVID has displaced so many workers in the informal sector, and has had a tremendous impact on our economy. REVIVE is a powerful platform aligned with our goal to support programs that bring people back to a road to recovery and reignite the economy. “

Siddharth Nautiyal, Partner, Omidyar Network India, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has most impacted the vulnerable sections of India and a large chunk of India’s “Next Half Billion”- the vendors, gig-economy workers, small businesses and daily wage earners and low-middle income Indians, whom we seek to serve through our investments. This segment of the population needs immediate financial support to reskill, restock inventories and rebuild resilience. Through REVIVE, we aim to restore livelihoods through accessible and affordable capital thereby giving a much-needed impetus to small businesses and aiding economic recovery’’

The REVIVE Alliance will initiate partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including companies and foundations as fundraising partners, and business chambers, non-banking financial companies, social organisations and prominent sector influencers who will provide robust expertise and implementation support.

Among the companies and foundations that have come onboard, Arvind Limited will support workers from the textile industry who have lost their jobs; Godrej Consumer Products Limited will support beautypreneurs; and Brihati Foundation powered by Claris will support farmers and street vendors.

Vu Unveils the New Masterpiece 85-Inch Screen TV with Armani Gold Finish and QLED Technology

The Vu Group has played a pioneering role in bringing high luxury and solid craftsmanship into televisions since it began operations over 10 years ago. As part of its commitment to impeccable design and a no-holds-barred approach to build quality, the company announces its latest flagship television – the exquisitely crafted Vu Masterpiece TV – a landmark not just for Vu Televisions but for the entire industry.

Vu’s new 85-inch flagship TV features class-leading QLED technology, beautiful craftsmanship in terms of a stunning bezel-less screen and exquisite build quality. The Vu Masterpiece TV has been designed with great attention to detail, and is clad in a striking black and Armani Gold finish that has hints of rose gold and champagne. Additionally, there is an emphasis on stylised textures such as the diamond-cut accents on the sides, and a metal alloy grill at the base, which also houses a powerful and discreet soundbar.

The flagship television can optionally be upgraded to The Vu Group’s revolutionary all-in-one video conferencing system, Meeting by Vu that includes a 4K wide or sharp camera with autofocus, a built-in Core i5 PC running Windows 10, a wireless beamforming microphone and a wireless keyboard with a built-in trackpad.

The Vu Masterpiece TV offers compelling technical features such as an 85-inch, 4K HDR screen based on quantum dot i.e. QLED technology, a backlight with full array local dimming, and a 10-bit panel that can accurately reproduce over one billion colours. The TV comes with an integrated 50-watt soundbar and sports a high brightness of 1,000 nits. It also features Vu’s celebrated Pixelium Glass technology that enhances the brightness by optimising light reflections by 40%.

“A person who chooses the Vu Masterpiece TV understands sophistication and luxury, and this exquisitely crafted television stands for success and makes an authoritative design statement. Vu Televisions is the pioneer of luxury technology in the world, starting in 2006 in California. Beautiful design encasing pathbreaking technology has always been our forte, and we are proud to present another product that would make a stunning statement in any home or office.” says Devita Saraf, Chairman and CEO, The Vu Group.

The Vu Masterpiece TV – features and pricing

●        The Vu Masterpiece TV sports the industry-leading quantum dot (QLED) technology. This allows for superlative contrast ratios and inky blacks that rivals much more expensive technologies like OLED.

●        1,000-nit brightness makes it ideal for watching jaw-dropping HDR10+ or Dolby Vision footage

●        10-bit panel and support for DCI-P3 wide colour, it can accurately reproduce over 1 billion colours

●        Custom-designed LED backlight is divided into 256 zones. Each of these zones can be switched on and off individually for much greater control over brightness and contrast

●        50-watt integrated soundbar has been expertly engineered to provide an immersive experience. It comprises 6 speakers including two sets of woofers and tweeters for deep bass and crystal-clear highs

●        Displays content at 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz Motion Rate 

●        Full smart TV functionality via Android 9.0 Pie operating system that gives access to certified streaming apps such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc. Other features include support for Dolby MS12 and DTS Virtual X surround sound

●        The Masterpiece TV is also optionally upgradeable into the Meeting by Vu – an all-in-one Windows 10-based video conferencing system, which will work with a variety of apps including Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex.

●        Price: Rs 3.5 lakh across retail stores nationwide

About The Vu Group

Founded in 2006, The Vu Group is a new age technology conglomerate focused on the display industry. The lifestyle brand of the group, Vu Televisions, is a Rs 1000 Cr ($130 Million) revenue company and the leader in premium televisions in India. The workstyle division is responsible for the newly launched Meeting by Vu that is focused on working smarter. The group has been built on the values of innovation, quality, sustainability, design and luxury. Vu is pronounced as “view”, inspired by one’s vision and view of the future.

About Devita Saraf

Devita Saraf is the Chairman and CEO of The Vu Group, a new age technology conglomerate. Devita studied management at Harvard Business School and is one of Fortune’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women in India.

Dream11 Achieves 5.3 Million+ User Concurrency in Dream11 IPL 2020

●      The Dream11 App received ~60 million requests per minute

●      The App experienced a surge of 44.4% traffic volume of active users during the opening match

As of 14th October, Dream11, India's Biggest Fantasy Sports Platform, achieved a technology milestone of 5.3 million+ concurrent users. The Dream11 platform experienced a surge of 44.4% traffic volume as against the final match of IPL 2019. As a sports tech brand dedicated to provide a seamless digital sports fan engagement to each and every one of its 9 crore users, Dream11 applies advanced technology and has built a robust back-end infrastructure to manage high traffic of users right before the match start time.

Notable Tech Stats of the Dream11 App:

●      Achieved 5.3 million+ user concurrency

●      Seamlessly managed 60 million requests per minute

●      Witnesses 8000+ contest joins per second

●      18 million+ contest joins in a single match

●      20000+ team updates per second

●      ~7.9 million entries in a single contest

Dream11 enhanced the technology behind the platform for the “Dream11 IPL” to manage the ever-growing incoming traffic and ensure a seamless digital sports fan engagement experience fantasy sports platform a seamless experience for all the users.

Notable Tech Innovations this IPL by Dream11:

●      Creating Infrastructure Backbone: Dream11 created a system/unified infrastructure that supports efficient auto-scaling to handle over 1.5X the baseline workload

●      Performance Improvement: Compared to IPL 2019, the ball-to-ball analytics time was reduced from 56  - 120 sec to just 20 - 25 sec in Dream11 IPL 2020

●      User interface (UI) Optimisation: For users who are on a 2G connection with low-end devices, Dream11 tech team created a UI that helps users complete their interactions 15-20% faster than before. It also helped in reducing the app start time by 7% and decreasing the screen load time

●      Inception of Data Highway: A novel system in-house was created that followed the Lambda architecture, allowing horizontal scaling and providing more flexibility to offer 360-degree realistic analytics on user concurrency, transaction rates amongst other tasks

●      Iron-Clad Security System: To make the system more resilient, self-aware and intelligent, the Dream11 tech team created an automated anomaly detection, correction and alerting system

Commenting on the technology behind Dream11, Abhishek Ravi, Chief Information Officer, Dream Sports & Dream11 said, “The IPL is one of the biggest sporting extravaganzas in India. Every year it gets bigger than the last and presents a fantastic opportunity for the Dream11 technology team to innovate and achieve industry-first milestones. This IPL was even more special as it was the “Dream11 IPL”. As India’s biggest fantasy sports platform in India with over 9 crore users, it is sacrosanct for us to provide a seamless and secure app experience to our users. Dream11 Tech has in-sourced most of the services and created new applications and software customised specifically for the needs of Dream11 users.”

Dream11 is the Title sponsor of IPL 2020 and the flagship brand of Dream Sports, India’s leading sports technology company. Dream11 offers Fantasy Cricket, Football, Kabaddi, Basketball, Hockey, Volleyball, Handball, Rugby & Baseball. Dream11 offers a freemium model of fantasy sports, where users have a choice to participate for free or pay and participate in contests.