JK Tyre’s Subsidiary Cavendish Industries Records 16% Growth In Sales And Highest Ever Profit For FY21

Cavendish Industries Ltd. (Cavendish), a subsidiary of  JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. has reported a record performance for Q4 and the year 2020-21:

i)                  Sales at Rs.2571 crores up by 16%

ii)               EBITDA at Rs.398 crores jumps by 54%

Dr Raghupati Singhania, Chairman, stated “we have achieved all time high capacity utilization and the best ever operating efficiencies on several parameters in second half of the year following the business disruption in first half due to Covid-19 pandemic. Increased volumes in all categories,  Operational excellence apart from tighter control on costs led to best ever profitability”.

He further mentioned, “the recent surge in Covid-19 is a cause of worry.  Our first priority is safety of the people and the Company is leaving no stone unturned to ensure this”.

He further mentioned that, “the Company expects to maintain the tempo of growth despite current pressures on costs due to commodity price rising significantly in the last 3 months”.

About Cavendish Industries Ltd:

Cavendish Industries Ltd. (CIL), houses 3 Tyre Business Undertakings of Birla Tyres and was acquired by JK Tyre in 2016.  The plants are located at Laksar (Haridwar) which manufacture a range of tyres, tubes and flaps.  With this acquisition, JK Tyre now has 12 tyre plants - 9 tyre plants in India & 3 in Mexico.

CIL is a subsidiary of JK Tyre with majority shareholdings through direct holdings and the balance through its subsidiaries & Associates.  

Cold-Chain Marketplace Celcius Raises Undisclosed Amount In Seed Funding Round

* The round saw participation from EVAN, MaGEHold, Keiretsu Forum and other investors

Cold-chain marketplace startup, Celcius, announced that they have received an undisclosed amount as seed funding in a round led by Mumbai based Eaglewings Ventures Alliance Network (EVAN), Venture Capital & Private Equity firms MaGEHold, Keiretsu Forum and other investors.

The six-month old startup was founded by Swarup Bose along with co-founders, Rajneesh Raman, and Arbind Jain in November 2020 with a vision to bridge the gap between shippers and transporters across the country by effectively utilising the existing infrastructure. The Celcius platform serves as a unique aggregator platform that offers solutions for both Reefer logistics and cold storage warehousing. With the business model validated, this round of seed funding will be utilized to further scale up the partner base, enhance the tech platform, and expand geographically.

“We are ecstatic to announce our seed funding round and are thankful to all our investors. In a short span of six months, we have transported over 2800 tonnes of perishable cargo for sectors like Dairy, Pharma, Fruits, and Seafood across 85 cities in India and have also ventured outside the country. Our aim is to build a technology-driven solution to the problems of the conventional cold-chain network in India.”, said Swarup Bose, Founder and CEO, Celcius.

There has been an increase in demand for cold chain solutions in India in the wake of the pandemic. The nation’s most pressing requirement - the COVID-19 vaccine is heavily dependent on a robust and seamless cold-chain network for effective distribution. Apart from this, most customers have also moved online in pursuit of contactless options to procure their day-to-day needs. Therefore, it is also a crucial requirement at this point to ensure that people can stay indoors and yet have access to fresh provisions.

Commenting on the investment, Atul Javeri, CEO, EVAN, Mumbai said, “As our first foray into the cold-chain logistics segment, we are extremely delighted to support the Celcius mission of seamless and efficient deliveries of temperature sensitive products. From incubating the company to becoming investors on board this year, we want to stay committed to the team and look forward to actively supporting their growth.”

"India lacks the Cold chain infrastructure and now with the backdrop of COVID, Celcius is at the right place at the right time. From facilitating vaccine delivery, curbing food wastage, empowering regional transporters to building a last mile delivery network, Celcius is ensuring an impactful presence in the ecosystem. With an experienced and mature team, there is a tremendous potential for them to grow.”, added Poojit Jain, Angel Investor, EVAN.

Bowie Lau, MD, MaGEHold Pte. Ltd, Singapore added, “Cold storage supply chain is a critical yet challenging part of a country’s growth infrastructure. It ensures a longer shelf life for perishable and temperature-sensitive goods and allows the distribution of such products even to the hinterlands. The team at Celcius have uniquely solved this challenge by establishing a pioneering Cold-Chain Online Marketplace for a complete cold storage supply chain in India. Also, within a short period we were able to establish a good working relationship with the founder and are excited to become part of the Celcius story. We look forward to actively supporting their growth and expansion plans in India and beyond.”

Celcius, India’s first online cold-chain marketplace, offers a technology-driven approach to build a well-connected network of shippers and transporters across the country while accounting for the time spent in transit.

About Celcius:

Celsius is a cold-chain marketplace startup, based out of Mumbai. It is the only aggregator platform in India offering solutions for both Reefer logistics and cold storage warehousing. Its key target markets include Dairy, Pharma, Fruits, Seafood, and also the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Within just 6 months of operations, Celcius had transported over 2800 tonnes of perishable cargo, covering more than 85 cities across India. Celcius has also raised an undisclosed 8 figure amount as seed fund from Eaglewings Ventures Alliance Network (EVAN), MaGEHold, Keiretsu Forum and other investors.

EaseVenture Helps Business Organizations To Maximize Their Sales And Revenue

EaseVenture Pvt. Ltd., an Indian enterprise headquartered in Chennai, invests and builds businesses with sustainable futuristic technologies through its portfolio companies. EaseVenture is committed to build robust technology solutions to serve the hospitality, travel and digital media industry using cutting-edge AI and smart solutions. This helps the Hotels and all types of stay providers to get all the solutions that they need at one place and be a leader in the market.

The company also provides smart and intelligent customer acquisition solutions and tools for enhancing hospitality and travel sector with focussed Digital marketing and social media advantage. Current EaseVenture portfolio companies provide end-to-end technology solutions to hotels so that hotels can save cost and serve their customers efficiently, thereby increasing their profitability.

·  EaseRoom: A smart Hotel operating solution that helps hotels to distribute and manage its inventory across all channels.

·  EaseMedia: A Digital marketing agency focussed at smart customer acquisition and Digital brand building across all social media platforms.

·  EaseTours: A comprehensive Tour & MICE operator with curated and unique Tour offerings.

·  MysoftIndia:  An intelligent PMS (Property Management System) for smart Hotel & other stay properties management. 

EaseVenture is helping business organizations to sustain and grow more efficiently with future ready technology solutions.

Mr. Alok Jha, Managing Director & CEO, EaseVenture, says “Our focus is to partner or invest in technologies that will help and grow Hospitality, Travel and Digital Marketing businesses. We understand the currant situation is tough, and our effort is to help companies survive and fight this phase for a better tomorrow.”

About EaseVenture:

EaseVenture Private Limited (EVPL), as an enterprise is committed in investing in businesses and technologies to help the Hotels and Travel Industry to build in efficiency and futuristic outlook to serve their customers effectively and grow their business. At the same time EaseVenture also, invests and build in, proactive and robust marketing and communication platform and services. Currently, it has a growing portfolio of companies serving Hotels, OTAs and Travel segments.

MIT, MUTBI Conducted National Technology Day & MIT Foundation Day

* Opportunities for Technology Development in all Domains: C N Raghupathi, Senior Vice President & Head, India Business, Infosys

“There is a lot of opportunity for technology development not only in the digital domain but also in other areas of Science & Engineering” said Mr. C N Raghupathi, Senior Vice President & Head, India Business, Infosys. He was delivering the keynote address during the Online National Technology Day & MIT Foundation Day program jointly organized by Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) and Manipal Universal Business Incubator (MUTBI), Manipal on May 11, 2021. He shared his experience of technology development in the areas of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, and Chemical Engineering. He also explained how technology has advanced in the field of cancer diagnosis & treatment and other fields of medical science. He narrated how digital revolution was possible because of simultaneous development of IC technology and software domain. Mr. Raghupathi also highlighted, how the type of problem, associated cost, scalability and ecosystem development could lead to success of technology.

As a remembrance of Pokhran nuclear tests of 1998 and India's technological advancements, National Technology Day is celebrated every year on May 11. The theme for this year is “Science & Technology for a sustainable future”. 

Presiding over the function Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M. D. Venkatesh, Vice Chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) mentioned about contribution of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India during the last 50 years. He also urged faculty, students and alumni to come forward and make use of facilities at MAHE & its Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) and develop technologies for the benefit of society.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr. D Srikanth Rao, Director, MIT narrated the story of genesis of MIT, way back in 1957 on this day. He continued to share the story of development of Innovation Center and MUTBI to support Innovation, technology development and startups. Today, not only students, but also faculty and alumni of MIT are involved in technology development and have their startups in the campus. MAHE has two TBIs supported by DST, Government of India and Government of Karnataka. More than 50 technologies have been developed at MAHE and currently 30 startups are working in the campus on technology development in various domains of Health Science and Engineering. He narrated a classic story of how a faculty PhD work was converted into a startup towards commercialization of technology. 

Dr. B H V Pai, Joint Director, MIT welcomed the gathering and Dr. Mohammad Zuber, Assistant. Director (Innovation & Incubation), MIT proposed vote of thanks. Dr. Y Shrihari Upadhyaya, CEO, MUTBI moderated the program. 

Fino Payments Bank Goes Live With Enhanced Deposit Limit Of ₹2Lakh

* Encourages financial inclusion, benefits MSMEs, small traders and retail customers

In line with RBI’s revised guideline Fino Payments Bank has increased the end of the day account balance limit to ₹2 lakh for its customers. The bank, which became profitable in the fourth quarter of FY20, went live with the enhanced limit effective 1st May 2021.

As per the initial payments bank guidelines issued by RBI in 2014, the deposit limit was set at ₹1 lakh. A notification from RBI dated 7th April 2021 stated, “After reviewing the performance of payments banks and to encourage their efforts for financial inclusion it was decided to enhance the limit of maximum balance at end of the day from ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh per individual customer.”

Announcing the roll out of the new deposit limit Mr. Ashish Ahuja, COO, Fino Payments Bank said, “Following RBI directive, we have updated our processes and systems and went live on 1st of May. The increased deposit limit allows our customersto save more money in their account. Further, our existing sweep account mechanism continues with our partner bank wherein customers can save funds in excess of ₹2 lakh.”

Up to ₹2 lakh in Fino account, existing savings interest rate will be applicable. Funds in sweep account will get interest rates as set by Suryoday Small Finance Bank, the partner bank. It may be noted that the Bank deposits are insured under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.

“The raise in limit also enhances the cause of financial inclusion as more people will join the banking fold. MSMEs, small traders and merchants are expected to make use of this offering to save time and better financial planning,” added Mr. Ahuja. 

Fino Payments Bank’s micro ATM and AePS enabled financial services distribution network brings banking closer to the masses. At these banking points, people can open a new bank account, get debit cards, do deposit, withdrawal or money transfer transactions, pay utility bills, loan EMIs, and buy health, life and motor insurance. All in the neighbourhood, completely paperless and Hamesha!.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Announces The Customer Connect Program 2.0

 

Driven by the commitment of providing the highest level of quality service, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced “Customer Connect Program 2.0” to support and provide a sense of assurance to customer in the uncertain times.

With the objective to maximize support and in line with the ‘Customer First’ philosophy the company announced a host of initiatives to ensure hassle free maintenance and benefits such as:  

- *Extension of Vehicle Warranty & Customer paid Extended Warranty

- *Extension Free Maintenance Services

- *Extension Pre-Paid Service Package [SMILES]

Safety is one of the key priorities, TKM has been implementing measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections. As a part of this customer connect program 2.0, the company is offering Toyota Bactaklenz, a non-chemical fumigation treatment, at a special price for both Toyota as well as non-Toyota vehicles. Further, all dealerships are being informed to strictly follow preventive protocols by adopting highest standards of safety and hygiene practice. TKM is also encouraging contactless service where customer can book service appointment through TConnect mobile App, WhatsApp or Website and choose to pick up & drop services, and dealership will make all the efforts to delight and meet customer requirements. Additionally, extensive outreach to engage and educate our customer on tips for protection of parked vehicles and the importance of periodic maintenance has been undertaken.

Commenting on the new announcement, Mr. Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President, TKM said, “We are aware of the extreme difficulties faced by our customers during this pandemic and the uncertainties it has brought. Our “Customer Connect Program 2.0” is a step further to build confidence and show our commitment to our valued customers by ensuring seamless communication and hassle-free processes to ensure customer convenience & utmost safety. Our dealerships will continue their efforts to support our customers, and as a responsible corporate citizen we are extending our support to even take care of vehicle sanitization used by frontline warriors. Taking this opportunity, we would also like to sincerely request all our customers to stay at home and follow the guidelines announced by the Government.”

*In case of lapse then, validity extension of these products / programs will be upto 1 month, in the cities/states where the lockdown or movement restrictions are imposed.

Keysight Enables Customers To Test Performance Of Millimeter-Wave Innovations In 5G, Aerospace/Defense And Satellite Communications

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced the Keysight N9042B UXA X-Series signal analyzer solution, which enables customers to test the performance of millimeter-wave (mmWave) innovations in 5G, aerospace & defense and satellite communications.

At mmWave frequencies, signals are more susceptible to impairments that affect the signal quality, such as IQ modulation errors, phase noise, distortion, signal-to-noise ratio, amplitude, and phase linearity. Keysight’s new N9042B UXA X-Series signal analyzer provides wide analysis bandwidth and deep dynamic range to help customers solve their most difficult mmWave challenges including tight design margins and timelines, complex modulation and stringent standards.

“Understanding signal fidelity is critical to the performance of products in 5G, aerospace and defense, satellite and automotive radar markets,” said Kiran Unni, vice president, industrial technologies practice, Frost & Sullivan. “At mmWave frequencies, signals are more susceptible to impairments that affect the signal quality, such as IQ modulation errors, phase noise, distortion, signal-to-noise ratio, amplitude and phase linearity.  For designers and manufacturers, addressing these challenges is crucial when characterizing and testing the true performance of mmW products.”

Keysight’s N9042B UXA X-Series signal analyzer delivers the following customer benefits:

· A picture containing text, indoor, electronics, computer

Description automatically generatedEnsures designs meet the latest standards with ready-to-use measurement applications and signal analysis software.

· Sees signals clearly with an unbanded, preselected sweep from 2 Hz to 110 GHz and up to 11 GHz of analysis bandwidth.

. Tests the true performance of a 5G new radio (NR) transmitter with an advanced error vector magnitude (EVM).

· Finds out-of-band emissions or spurs quickly in radar designs with superior swept displayed average noise level (DANL).

Develops high-throughput satellite communication designs with 4 GHz of corrected analysis bandwidth.

“With the increasing demand for data, higher frequency and bandwidth, Keysight’s signal analyzer and generator solutions embody our deep expertise in mmW design and measurements, for the latest 5G wireless, radar, aerospace defense, satellite and communications research,” said Joe Rickert, vice president and general manager of high frequency measurement R&D for Keysight’s communications solutions group. “We’re excited to partner with our customers on their test and measurement needs to accelerate industry innovations.” 

Test Application Software

To ensure designs meet the latest standards with ready-to-use measurement applications for cellular communication, wireless connectivity, and aerospace/defense, the company integrated PathWave X-Series measurement applications with the UXA X-Series signal analyzer.  These applications simplify complex tasks and deliver repeatable results.  In addition, the 89600 PathWave Vector Signal Analysis software,  a comprehensive set of tools for demodulation and vector signal analysis, offers support for more than 75 signal standards and modulation types, and enables customers to explore every facet of a signal and optimize their most advanced designs.

Cellular Communications

Testing 5G components and devices per the 3GPP 5G New Radio (5G NR) standard Releases 15 and 16 requires a solution with higher accuracy, sensitivity, and bandwidth capability.

The N9042B signal analyzer tests the true performance of transmitter designs with error vector magnitude (EVM) and 5G NR signal analysis software which perform transmitter downlink and uplink measurements with one-button simplicity.

Satellite Communications

Today's satellite communication systems require a sophisticated approach to wideband component characterization. Customers need to characterize amplifiers and components at bandwidths wider than the target application. The N9042B UXA X-Series signal analyzer provides a wide analysis bandwidth and unbanded, preselected frequency range to help customers characterize the performance of their satellite designs.

The N9042B UXA X-Series signal analyzer solution enables customers to reach high levels of measurement accuracy with:

· The innovative Keysight V3050A Signal Analyzer Frequency Extender which delivers unmatched measurement accuracy of wideband signals at very high frequencies. It provides outstanding sensitivity, unbanded and preselected frequency coverage up to 110 GHz, high dynamic range and a seamless interface to the N9042B UXA signal analyzer.

· Keysight’s RCal receiver calibrator corrects system path losses and frequency responses up to 5 GHz IF bandwidth without the need for an external vector network analyzer, cabling and manual test-plane characterization. The palm-sized RCal seamlessly transfers precision factory calibration data to the Keysight X-Series signal analyzer over a USB connection, reducing the effort and complexity required to improve measurement accuracy for the test receiver system.

· Keysight's companion VXG microwave signal generator offers high output power with ultra-low phase noise and wide bandwidth for demanding wireless, as well as aerospace and defense applications. The VXG's dual-channel architecture, quickly switches from blocker and interferer tests to dual channel MIMO and beamforming tests.