Netafim India Introduces Revolutionary “Portable Drip Kit” For Today’s Farmer

* The company, through the kit aims to cover 10,000 hectares of land under drip irrigation and reach 25,000 marginal farmers across India in the upcoming year

* The cost-effective, all-in-one irrigation solution brings several Netafim products under one umbrella and offers modular system that save installation cost

Netafim India, a leading smart irrigation solution provider, has unveiled revolutionary “Portable Drip Kit” – a comprehensive all-in-one irrigation solution that is easy to install and comes at an affordable price. The kit is designed, particularly for small farmers with farmland up to one acre that offers installation assistance without additional labour. The Portable Drip kit is available across India through Netafim’s dealer network. It is suitable for all types of Rabi and Kharif crops varieties including vegetables, cucurbits, close spacing crops etc. 

The company through the launch of the Portable Drip Kit aims to cover 10,000 hectares of land under irrigation and reach 25,000 farmers across India in the upcoming year. In Karnataka, the company intend to reach additional 5% of the farmer community and cover ~1500 hectare of the marginal farmland under drip irrigation. 

Addressing the diverse operational and environmental needs of today’s farmers, the kit with several Netafim systems under one umbrella provides user-friendly, lightweight and moveable solutions to match their unique requirements. Designed for irrigation of 4500 m2 fields, all the products and parts can be easily installed and dissembled after use to relocate at a convenient storage space. Additionally, the kit is integrating advanced durable drippers that provide excellent operational performance. 

The key component of the kit is FlexNet™ - a ground-breaking leak-proof flexible mainline and manifold piping solution that offers precise water delivery solution and increases water savings as well as improves crop performance potential through enhanced system performance. It reduces weeding and muddy spots thanks to perfect sealing between the patented outlets and the pipe, which guarantees to provide top performance over many years. It offers a full line of lateral connectors compatible with all Netafim systems. The white colouring offers thermal resistance and can withstand high chemical and UV exposure. 

Speaking about innovation, Mr. Randhir Chauhan, Managing Director - Netafim India, commented, “Netafim India focuses its energies on simplifying cultivation process for farmers and empowering them on the road to growth. We understand that most farmers in India hold fragmented land pieces smaller than 1 acre. Such conditions make crop cultivation a daunting and challenging task for them. The debut of Portable Drip Kit is a result of Netafim’s continued commitment to offer convenient technology, especially to marginal farmers for improved yield potential and productivity, while reducing costs, labour and bring efficiency to water use.” 

The Portable Drip Kit includes all needed components for field installation and operation that comprises of Screen filter, FlexNet pipe, Dripline and Connectors. 

About Netafim India 

Netafim India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Netafim, the global leader in smart irrigation solutions for sustainable productivity. Established in 1997, Netafim India offers a wide range of micro-irrigation, greenhouse, digital farming solutions and Community irrigation projects. Netafim India with 3 manufacturing plants, over 1000 employees and an exclusive network of over 2500 dealers across all the major states have provided an irrigation system for over 10 lakh hectares of land over the years covering a wide range of crops. The company has successfully offered extensive agronomic, design, after-sales support, and agri-extension services to ensure sustainable prosperity to over 9.5 lakh farming families to date. Netafim India is an active partner in several government projects like GGRC, APMIP and TANHODA. 

Paytm, HDFC Bank Announce Strategic Partnership For Delivering Financial Solutions To End Consumers And Merchants Across India

* To launch innovative products across Digital Payments, Lending and POS solutions  

* Combining HDFC Bank’s retail products/network with Paytm’s technology platform to drive financial inclusion 

India’s leading digital ecosystem for consumers and merchants (1), Paytm and India’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership. 

This brings together two market leaders who will drive innovative digital solutions for financial transformation in the country by combining their strengths in the banking, lending, and digital payments space. 

The fusion of HDFC Bank’s network, products and credit appraisal capabilities and Patym’s technological platform will accelerate digital transformation in semi-urban and rural India while bringing more people into formal banking channels. Paytm is India’s largest payments platform* with 333 million users and 21 million merchants onboard (1).  

With over 50 million card customers (both credit and debit cards) HDFC Bank is a strong player in the payments ecosystem with leadership in both credit card issuing and acquiring businesses. It has a footprint of over two million merchant acceptance points and 48 per cent business  market share on  merchant acquiring volume. It remains the number one credit card issuer in the country with a spend share of over 27 per cent.  

Through this partnership, Paytm & HDFC Bank will build comprehensive solutions across Payment Gateway, POS Machines and Credit Products including Paytm Postpaid which is Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution, Eazy EMI and Flexi Pay, and more. 

The first leg of the partnership will include Payment Gateway and POS Solutions for Indian merchant partners. 

The partnership between Paytm and HDFC Bank will aim to empower the new businesses, which have recently ventured online, and enable them to scale up further.  

Paytm and HDFC Bank are coming together for two broad POS offerings: 

* HDFC Bank will drive merchant partnerships across India, to whom Paytm will offer its existing range of Android POS devices. Through the partnership, HDFC Bank's salespersons will start selling Paytm’s payment solutions in the market. HDFC Bank will be the payment partner, while Paytm will be the distribution and software partner. 

* Paytm and HDFC Bank will jointly launch a co-branded POS product in the retail segment, which Paytm will have the option to offer it to its own customer base. 

Talking about the partnership, Bhavesh Gupta, CEO, Paytm Lending said, “We are extremely delighted to partner with HDFC Bank, which has been one of the leaders in the retail lending space in our country for the last two decades. Together we aim to provide innovative digital lending & payment solutions for consumers and merchants alike. This partnership will further strengthen financial services ecosystem by bringing together our technology and digital solutions and HDFC Bank’s retail and credit prowess.” 

Renu Satti, COO, Offline Payments, commenting on the partnership said, “Paytm’s reach in the offline & online merchant space and HDFC Bank’s retail influence, will aim for dynamic growth in the payments space. Paytm has a history of launching innovative products that have made way for the adoption of retail payments among various merchant partners. This partnership aims to bring innovative products focusing on affordability.” 

Parag Rao, Group Head – Payments, Consumer Finance, Digital Banking & IT, HDFC Bank said, “As India’s largest issuing and acquiring bank, we have always endeavoured to personalise our offerings to customers-consumers, businesses and corporate houses. Through this partnership, we will also be jointly delivering enhanced SmartHub solutions to the market.  We believe that this is the start of a great partnership and the cumulative strength of both HDFC Bank and Paytm will help us strengthen our respective leadership positions”. 

HDFC Bank SmartHub solutions is an integrated platform offering merchants a one-stop solution shop for all their business needs-payments, banking, lending and segment-specific business solutions. 

KJS Cement Ltd, FY 2020-21 Net Profit Up 6.43% To Rs. 65.44 Crore

* EBITDA Up by 5.54% to Rs. 199.44 Crores 

* Cash Profit rises to Rs 122.16 crore 

KJS Cement (I) Limited reported a profit of Rs 65.44  crores for the year ended March 31, 2021, a 36.43% increase over Rs 47.96 crores registered for the last fiscal. EBITDA stood at RS 199.44 crores for the year against 188.96 crore in the corresponding period. Total sales and income from operations rose to Rs 1,165.63 crores. The company reported a cash profit of Rs 122.16 crores against Rs 96.94 crores last year. 

During the FY, KJS Cement (I) Limited registered cement sales of 1718019.72 MT and 593250.64 MT of Clinker sale, a considerable increase over the last fiscal, enabled through streamlining of sales and marketing on the ground. This was further fuelled by increased demand due to many infrastructure projects of the government and private entities. 

Speaking on the results, Vice Chairman and Director, Mr Pawan Kumaar Ahluwalia said, “KJS Cement has recorded strong performance across all parameters this year; despite the challenging ecosystem due to the pandemic. The company is consistently enhancing shareholder value through growth initiatives and innovative strategies. We are leveraging our ability to engineer technology to produce environment-friendly products and taking them to markets where the demand, customer preference and knowledge for such products are at a nascent stage. On a year to year basis, for the year ending March 31, 2021, the cash profits of our company have grown to Rs. 122.16 crores. Going forward, combining a lean and learning culture with strong engineering capabilities, KJS Cement is geared to capitalize on the emerging opportunities in the infrastructure sector.” 

About KJS Cement 

KJS Cement (I) Limited is a part of KJS Group of Industries which has a presence in Cement, Mining, Iron & Steel, Power, Media, Logistics, and Infrastructure development such as Housing, Hotels and Commercial space development. A leading cement manufacturer, KJS cement started production in 2012 and is catering to markets in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. KJS Cement has one of the most ultra-modern cement plants in India with machinery and technology imported from FL. Smidth& Co, Denmark and Loesche Germany. The cement plant is located at Satna, Madhya Pradesh. The company produces both premium and all-purpose use cement. With a strong network of 4,500+ dealers and retailers supported by a strong marketing team of 100 officers and a well-equipped team of 150 technical support officers, the company is committed to serving the multi-faceted needs of consumers. 

Sonu Sood Backed GoodWorker Appoints Ex QuikrJobs - Amit Jain As Chief Executive Officer

Backed by the Lemmatree Group, noted actor, Sonu Sood and Schoolnet; GoodWorker, a digital platform aiming to help blue/grey collar workers in India and transform their lives through career enhancement opportunities, has fortified its senior leadership with the appointment of Amit Jain as its CEO. 

In a career spanning over two decades, Amit has led large cross-functional teams across industries. He is passionate about the technology space and believes in the potential of digital platforms to transform lives. He is a business leader with a strong understanding of how to build and make business sustainable. In his previous stint, with Quikr, Amit Jain was instrumental in building QuikrJobs from scratch and turning it into a profitable business. Along with his focus on key departments he was also spearheading the HR function 

Glenn Gore, Group CEO, LemmaTree said, “Finding a CEO who has strong alignment to the GoodWorker vision was critical to deliver the impact that GoodWorker can have on  blue/grey collar workers, this was a search that we were not going to rush or compromise on. 

We wanted to make sure that the person we get to lead the company is not just result driven but is aligned with our core objective of 'transforming lives' of millions of youth across India. Amit is the perfect choice for the role, given his strong understanding of the industry and his belief in the purpose. Looking at his strong leadership skills and empathetic attitude, we are confident that his ideas and strategies would accelerate GoodWorker’s growth." 

On his appointment, Amit Jain, CEO, GoodWorker said, “GoodWorker's vision for becoming an all-encompassing digital life partner for the youth in India in the blue/grey collar job space is both inspirational and ambitious. Realising this vision requires a multi-pronged approach with a strong ability to invest & execute in a sustained manner; I believe, this is something that we would be able to deliver on, especially with the partner ecosystem, the team that we have put together & given the strong backing of the Affinidi group.” 

Amit Jain has graduated from Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi and has done his PGDBM in Sales & Marketing from XLRI, Jamshedpur.  

About GoodWorker 

GoodWorker is a digital platform, which aims to transform the lives of youth in India by providing direct, trusted & efficient access to blue/grey collar entry level jobs and quality of life services. It harnesses Affinidi’s digital verifiable credential technology to enable the youth to access various lifestyle services such as identity, finance and more. The company’s vision is to create value for youth and employers, impacting 100 million lives by 2030 

GoodWorker is headquartered in Bengaluru, India, and Affinidi Group in Singapore with a hub in India, Berlin and Germany. 

Wahab Yusoff Joins On The Board Of Cybersecurity Firm Vehere In Singapore

Cyber Situational Awareness firm Vehere announced the appointment of Wahab Yusoff as an Advisor to the Board. He will be based out of Singapore and shall be assisting Vehere in building its presence across the ASEAN Region. 

Yusoff has over three decades of rich experience in Cybersecurity and Information Technology, with a focus on assisting organizations to scale operations in the Asia Pacific Region. He has expertise in IT Security and a proven track record of driving corporate growth and development in the APAC region. 

Yusoff is the Vice President of the Asia Pacific and Japan region for Forescout Technologies. Prior to that, he worked for reputed companies such as Palo Alto Networks, McAfee, Dell EMC, and Documentum. Additionally, he also serves on the Boards of Changi Airport Group, Workforce Singapore, EZ-Link Pte Ltd, and Rekanext VC. 

Praveen Jaiswal, Founder & CSO of Vehere, said, “With his nuanced understanding of the industry and business, Wahab adds great value and dimension in furthering Vehere’s growth ambitions in the ASEAN Region. His years of experience in business development in the region makes him highly suitable to open newer markets for our products and attest the company’s command and ascendancy.” 

On his part, Yusoff said, “I’m pleased to join Vehere and be part of the company’s exciting journey. I’m hopeful of a meaningful collaboration that will bolster Vehere’s vision of enhanced presence and expansion in the region.” 

Yusoff holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the National University of Singapore and a Post Graduate degree in Finance, Strategic Planning, Marketing, and HR from Heriot-Watt University. 

Medikabazaar Launches Covid ICU Package To Facilitate Augmentation Of Critical Care Facilities Across The Country

Medikabazaar, India’s pioneering and largest online platform for medical supplies, has launched special COVID ICU packages that will help hospitals, nursing homes and medical establishments across the country augment their critical care facilities in a convenient manner. The special ICU packages, curated by Medikabazaar’s medical experts, will help to address the gaps in the critical care infrastructure that were seen in the first and second wave of the COVID pandemic, especially in the Tier II/III cities and in rural areas. As the country emerges from the second wave, Medikabazaar’s meticulously designed emergency Paediatric ICU and COVID ICU packages will help the nation’s healthcare infrastructure to easily and conveniently prepare for future health epidemics and pandemics.

Vivek Tiwari, Founder & CEO, Medikabazaar said, “India’s critical care infrastructure has to be brought at par with that in the developed countries. Data on the number of ICU beds in the country indicate that India has just 2.3 critical care beds per 100,000 population as against 10 to 11 beds per 100,000 population in developed countries like South Korea and Singapore[1]. Intensive care units for children are even more limited in India. With heightened sensibilities towards medical care, the government’s focus on augmenting healthcare infrastructure and corporate India’s commitment to rising to the challenge, a revolution in critical care is surely on its way. We are introducing these special ICU packages that will be a game changer and help to offset the acute shortage for ICUs in the pandemic and post-pandemic era. The packages will enable emergency ICUs to be created fairly quickly within days at any site where a large hall or room exists or even within a temporary air-conditioned structure, like COVID centres.”

Many resources are required to adequately treat a critically ill patient with COVID-19, such as an ICU bed with a full-featured ventilator, personal protective equipment ­­­­­­including isolation gowns, N95 respirators, gloves, and adequate hospital staffing. The ICU packages will help to rapidly augment the ICU infrastructure. The Paediatric ICU Package includes a BiPAP machine, Nebulizer, Patient monitor, Portable suction machine and Ventilator. The Adult COVID ICU Package includes a BiPAP machine, ICU bed, Oxygen concentrator, Patient monitor, Pulse oximeter and Ventilator.

Hospitals and nursing homes wanting to set up ICU facilities but facing financial issues need not worry as Medikabazaar offers easy financing options and credit lines in partnership with various finance companies. Medikabazaar Freedom’s smart and flexi payment solutions with limited documentation are tailor made to the needs to each medical establishment.

About Medikabazaar:

Medikabazaar is India's pioneering and largest online B2B platform for medical supplies. Founded in 2015 by Vivek Tiwari and Ketan Malkan, the company has been growing exponentially and is now clearly the most prominent digital platform in India's medical procurement and supply chain.

It started with a simple idea to help improve Indian healthcare by making it accessible and affordable. The company devised a website coupled with additional value-added services via which medical establishments can search for their required supplies, order them at the right price and time, and receive them at their doorstep irrespective of their location.

For more information, log on to: www.medikabazaar.com

Lava Probuds 2: Sound So Good That It Will Make You Want To Break Your Old Buds

Lava International Ltd announced the launch of its latest true wireless earbuds – Probuds 2 along with a unique BYOB (Break Your Old Buds) contest that will give some lucky participants a chance to win free buds.

Lava Probuds 2 stands out with its 14 mm dynamic drivers which deliver powerful sound along with thumping bass. The ear buds come with an instant wake and pair technology and Bluetooth v5.0 that ensures seamless connectivity. In terms of battery, the Probuds 2 delivers up to 23 hours of audio bliss- 5 hours from buds battery and 18 hours from the charging case. There is also an IPX5 certification which makes the buds sweat and splash resistant. Probuds 2 sale will go live on 26th August on Lava E-store, Amazon & Flipkart. The product will be launched at a special introductory price of Rs.1399 and will be later sold for Rs 1699.

To participate in the BYOB contest, the participants will have to just register themselves on Lava website and pledge to break their old earphones (wired or wireless). The winners will be chosen via lucky draw. This offer to avail free Probuds 2 will go live on 23rd August at 12:00 pm and end on 26th August at 12:00 pm.

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Tejinder Singh, Head-Product, Lava International said, “We at Lava always strive to bring the latest technologies and high-performance devices at value price points to our customers. Our latest offering, Probuds 2 is big on performance, lightweight, trendy, and one of the most pocket-friendly earbuds in the market today. It is a perfect audio accessory for modern music lovers who seek superior performance and stylish design at a budget.”

Lava Probuds 2 are ergonomically designed after performing various trials and studying inner ear contours which makes them ideal for prolonged use. The button-like design of the buds fits perfectly in the ear and provides a secure fit. Probuds 2 come in a classic black colour with a stunning matte finish that gives it a premium yet trendy look. The buds are compatible with both Google and Siri voice assistance and come with intuitive gesture control which provides an easy touch & access control from the buds for music and calls.

Click here to participate in the BYOB contest and win free Probuds 2: https://www.lavamobiles.com/byob/

Probuds 2 purchase links:

·         https://www.lavamobiles.com/accessories/probuds2

·         https://www.amazon.in/dp/B098XPQT29

·         https://www.flipkart.com/lavaprobuds2bluetoothheadset/p/itm8f0a5f83786cd?pid=ACCG4VNWHTPJPHAR

About Lava International Limited

#ProudlyIndian l Made in India, Made for India

Lava International Limited is a leading Indian Mobile Handset Company with operations in 20+ countries. In the international markets the company is growing rapidly and is already among the top players in many of these countries it operates in.

Lava has always been at the forefront of Govt. of India’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Lava was the first mobile brand to take a lead in support of this important nation building program and had set up a design team in India, becoming the first brand to design phones in the country. With this ‘Design in India’ initiative, Lava is now the only Mobile handset company that makes truly ‘Made in India’ phones with complete control on design and manufacturing within the country.

With the vision to “Empower people to do more, to be more” the company was established in 2009. Lava International Limited is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The company has its manufacturing facilities and a repair factory in an approximately 300,000 square feet area in Noida. The manufacturing plants have a capacity of manufacturing 40 million phones per annum.