Takeda Appoints Serina Fischer As The General Manager For India

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a global values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader, announced the appointment of Serina Fischer as its General Manager for India operations The appointment is effective as of March 1, 2022. In her new role, Serina will lead the company's business in India, ensuring patient access to the company's highly innovative medicines.

Serina has over 17 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and is an accomplished, dynamic leader with expertise in strategy, sales, marketing, and operations. She joined Takeda in 2017 and has held various leadership roles in its US affiliate.

Commenting on her new role, Serina Fischer said, "I am honoured that the company leadership has entrusted me with this responsibility. With the second-largest population in the world and significant disease burdens in Takeda's chosen therapy areas, India is a vital market from a geographical standpoint for the company. We remain committed to serving patients in India and providing them enhanced access to our highly innovative medicines locally."

Welcoming her on board, Dr. Mahender Nayak, Area Head of ICMEA (India, CIS Countries, Middle East, Turkey, and Africa) for Takeda, said, "At Takeda, we strive to create an exceptional people experience. We aim to create a diverse and inclusive organization to develop, nurture, and accelerate talent by providing exceptional career opportunities to employees worldwide. Serina's appointment as General Manager for India is a part of this process, and I am confident that her unique experience will strengthen our valuable contributions to patients and further enhance our business in India."?

Takeda India is part of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited's group of companies headquartered in Japan. The company focuses on hematology, genetic diseases, immunology, and gastrointestinal portfolios in the country.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to bringing Better Health and a Brighter Future to patients by translating science into highly-innovative medicines. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Diseases, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in people's lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries.

For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

Hero MotoCorp Appoints Reema Jain As New Chief Information & Digital Officer

Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, has further strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of digitization and technology expert, Reema Jain.

Ms. Jain, with nearly two decades of world-class technology and leadership experience, has joined Hero MotoCorp on 1 March 2022 as the new Chief Information & Digital Officer to lead the technology driven business transformation. She will further strengthen the company's initiatives such as IT-related infrastructure, strategic planning, aligning digital strategies including the usage of new-age technologies. 

Ms. Jain will directly report to Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp.

Mike Clarke, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer – Hero MotoCorp, said, “In the relentless pursuit of our vision - 'Be the Future of Mobility', we have been embracing new technologies to bring greater agility into our working practices. As we are in the midst of a transformation, this newly created position marks an important milestone in our digital journey. Reema’s addition to the team will help us lead the digital acceleration and leverage technology to augment our innovation ecosystem together with our customers and partners.”

Reema Jain is a well-known name in the technology industry and was recently named among top 100 global CDOs across industries. Jain most recently served as Chief Digital Officer at Vodafone India.

Prior to that, Ms. Jain was associated with global corporations such as Unilever and GE in leadership roles, where she was responsible for building agile, robust, scalable and resilient technology platforms, processes, and IT Solutions.

Hero MotoCorp recently elevated Ranjivjit Singh – who has been heading Marketing - to the newly constituted role of Chief Growth Officer, with an objective to leverage the emerging opportunities in the post-pandemic world, by bringing more synergies between the key customer-facing functions of Marketing and Sales & After-Sales.

India’s e-Commerce Market Set To Increase 96 Percent To $120 Billion By 2025, New FIS Study Finds

Key facts

·         Digital wallets are projected to account for over half of e-commerce transaction value in India by 2023.

·         Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is India’s fastest-growing online payment method.

·         Digital wallets are projected to overtake cash as India’s leading point-of-sale (POS) payment method in 2023.

India’s e-commerce market continues its rapid expansion and is forecast to increase 96 percent between 2021 and 2015 to $120 billion (USD), according to a new report released today from financial technology leader FIS® (NYSE: FIS)

The 2022 Global Payments Report by Worldpay from FIS examines current and future payments trends across 41 countries in 5 regions. Regarding 2021, the report found the shift to online continued with 13.9 percent growth in global e-commerce, while the 13.4 percent growth in point-of-sale (POS) transaction value reflects the steady recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

e-commerce Payment Trends

The FIS report found:

·         The Indian e-commerce market is projected to grow by 96 percent between 2021 and 2025 when it will surpass US$120 billion in transaction value.

·         Digital wallets (45.4 percent) followed by debit cards (14.6 percent) and credit/charge cards (13.3 percent) were the leading e-commerce payment methods in 2021.

·         Digital wallets are projected to extend their lead over other e-commerce payment methods through 2025, when they are projected to account for 52.9 percent of transaction value.

·         Buy now, pay later is India’s fastest-growing online payment method. BNPL is projected to rise to 8.6 percent of e-commerce market value by 2025, up from just 3 percent in 2021.

·         Prepaid cards, bank transfers and cash on delivery market shares are in decline and are projected to collectively comprise just 8.8 percent of e-commerce transaction value by 2025.

Point-of-Sale (POS) Payment Trends

The FIS report found:

·         India’s POS market is projected to increase by 28.8 percent between 2021 and 2025 when it will exceed US$1.08 trillion.

·         Cash was the leading in-store payment method in 2021 with 37.1 percent of transaction value, followed by digital wallets (24.8 percent), and credit/charge cards (18.1 percent).

·         Digital wallets are projected to overtake cash as the most popular in-store payment method by 2023 when they are projected to account for 30.8 percent of POS transaction value.

“The e-commerce industry in India has witnessed strong growth over the last few years and this growth is showing no signs of slowing down,” said Phil Pomford, General Manager APAC, Worldpay Merchant Solutions at FIS. “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought fundamental changes in the way people shop and make their purchase decisions throughout India, and it’s now vital for merchants to provide customers with a hassle-free and convenient shopping experience. Those who offer a compelling value proposition to consumers are well positioned to thrive as India’s e-commerce market continues its dramatic growth.”

To download the complete report, including the methodology, please visit https://worldpay.globalpaymentsreport.com/

About The Global Payments Report

The Global Payments Report by Worldpay from FIS offers a snapshot of the payments landscape: globally, by region and in 41 select markets. The report tracks consumer payments when shopping online and at the point of sale, identifies key payment trends including B2B and C2B real-time payments, and projects future scenarios for payment method shares as well as market size. The report’s data was collected using a survey of 46,000 consumers, secondary research, and extensive validation by payments experts from each region; the complete research methodology is published as an appendix to the report. Published continuously since 2015, The Global Payments Report by Worldpay from FIS is an industry benchmark used by merchants, financial institutions, press and researchers around the world.

About FIS

FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. Our employees are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertise and data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS ranks #241 on the 2021 Fortune 500 and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni To ‘Captain’ WinZO’s Brand Wagon, Announced As Brand Ambassador Of The Online Gaming Giant

 

India’s largest social skill gaming platform, WinZO, hereby announces the onboarding of one of the global cricketing stalwarts who facilitated India’s emergence as a cricketing superpower and 2-time world cup winning captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador. WinZO, which has successfully garnered a massive and loyal user base of over 75 million gamers and a portfolio of 100+ games within a span of just 36 months, has cemented its position as India’s Social Gaming pioneer. As a brand that envisions establishing India as the Gaming Powerhouse of the world, WinZO joining hands with a household name and revered star in MSD is bound to elevate the awareness as well as engagement in the country’s social gaming community to the next level and pave the way for establishing social/interactive gaming as the most preferred form of entertainment. 

The partnership reiterates the company's aggressive growth and branding strategy to establish itself as the most trustworthy household interactive entertainment brand. MSD will feature as a part of WinZO’s upcoming multi-channel and multi-modal marketing and branding campaigns, the production of which is currently underway. Coming from humble origins and a small town of Ranchi in Jharkhand, MSD rose to prominence in World Cricket having led the Indian cricket team to three ICC title wins and multiple other coveted victories. MSD’s life journey is an instant connection with WinZO’s core value proposition of instilling the values of relatable, performance, and winning. Along with a gaming giant in WinZO, ‘The Thalaiva’ will be seen embarking on a journey to the top of the Global Gaming Industry in the near future by breaking barriers and altering perceptions via relevant, inclusive, and targeted campaigns. 

Speaking about his association with WinZO, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Brand Ambassador, WinZO said, “Winning is always about mindset and attitude. I am thrilled to partner with the like-minded team at WinZO in their growth journey to disseminate this attitude of winning across the country. Being an avid gamer myself, I connect very closely with the vision of the company and am excited to be associated with the leaders of this rapidly growing trillion-dollar industry. Together with WinZO, we will strive to make this Indian brand become the global powerhouse of gaming and entertainment.” 

Paavan Nanda, Co-Founder, WinZO said “Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the names that unite India in a true sense. His relatable and inspiring story and humble personality makes him a beloved and widely followed celebrity who personifies trust and success. He has won all there is to be in the world of cricket as India’s captain. We at WinZO are thrilled to have the ‘win-machine’ onboard. Partnership with Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has proved himself to be a game-changer, a composed leader, and a winner surely resonates with the aspirations of the Indian youth and WinZO’s users. Together we aspire to take social gaming to the masses of this country cutting across age and gender.” 

This announcement comes shortly after WinZO's recent announcements around roping in YouTube sensations CarryMinati and Bhuvan Bam as its digital brand ambassadors. To enhance its presence among the youth, WinZO has inked multiple partnerships with mass value properties. The company also announced its association as the sports brand partner with the movie ‘83’ asides inking principal sponsorships with two major Vivo Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) teams, Bengal Warriors and Gujarat Giants, as well as associate sponsorship for Patna Pirates. The brand also launched its multilingual brand campaign in close collaboration with Ogilvy’s Global Chief Creative Officer, Piyush Pandey.  

Practically Acquires “Fedena school ERP”, Becomes World’s First Company With A Comprehensive EdTech Product Suite

* Gains access to 40,000 institutions, 20 Million users spread across 180+ countries   

Practically, India’s first experiential learning app for students of classes 6th to 12th, has acquired Fedena (Foradian Technologies Pvt Ltd), world’s most widely used ERP.  With this acquisition, Practically becomes the world’s first EdTech company offering a comprehensive end-to-end product suite for schools. The integrated product will now offer one-in-all product and services that a school needs from experiential learning content, innovative and collaborative teaching tools, to easy-to-use administrative and support tools.  

Practically, recently recognised as a ‘Minicorn' by Tracxn, has carved a niche for itself in the immersive learning space for students through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR); Fedena on the other hand offers cloud-based technology solutions for easy administrative and resource planning for educational institutes. At present, through its open source project, Fedena’s products are used extensively in40,000 institutions, by 20 million users in 20 different languages spread across 180+ countries  with India, Middle East, Africa and SouthEast Asia being the major markets. Through its commercial and customized offerings, Fedena has served 1000+ education brands globally.  

Apart from school management software, which includes admission, HR-related operations, examination and event management, school ID card generation, the easy to use Fedena software also offers a platform for parent-teacher collaboration, fee management and online payment, grade books and reports, managing timetables, attendance and scheduling, online examinations to name a few. The acquisition has further strengthened Practically’s stature in the EdTech ecosystem, while increasing its reach in the domestic & global markets. Through this acquisition, Practically will also provide high-quality immersive content, simulations, games and its robust test-prep platform to the vast and varied network of Fedena schools globally.  

Commenting on the acquisition, Ms. Charu Noheria, Co-Founder and COO, Practically, said, “We are thrilled to announce that Practically has become the world’s first most comprehensive edtech product suite. Fedena is a globally recognized solution provider that has helped educational institutes lower the cost of administration by integrating school management functions into a single easy-to-use software. This move not only boosts our active user base but also gives us an immediate global reach, besides allowing us to offer our product and services to Fedena’s existing network of schools.” 

“Practically has meticulously built a strong presence in the school education space in India and the Middle East, gradually expanding to other territories as well. We have shared synergies of bringing the best of technology to schools across the globe. We are happy to contribute and be part of Practically’s vision of creating the most innovative edtech product for schools. By being part of Practically product and team, Fedena’s own offering will see greater adoption, more stickiness and deeper reach.” said Neelakantha Karinje, CEO of Fedena (Foradian Technologies) 

Nanotech For Sustainable Future - 12th Edition Of Bengaluru India Nano From March 7 Virtually

 
* Shri Basavaraj S. Bommai, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka to inaugurate the event 

* Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India to be

the Guest of Honour 

* Participation from Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) Partners from Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) 

Bengaluru India Nano, India’s flagship Nanotech Event focusing on Nanoscience & Nanotechnology was announced by Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Hon'ble Minister for Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, Higher Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Government of Karnataka today in the curtain raiser-press meet programme.  

The three-day event is organised by the Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology, KSTePS and JNCASR and will be conducted virtually during March 7-9.  

With the focal theme ‘Nanotech for Sustainable Future’ the summit will witness participation of over 2500 registered delegates. The event consists of Multi-Track Conference where 75 National & International Speakers will deliver lectures over 25 Sessions; Exhibition where over 40 companies will showcase Nanotech Products, Services, and Innovation and Poster Session where over 150 Young Researchers displays their research. 

On this occasion host of awards like Prof. C.N.R. Rao Bengaluru India Nano Science Award, Bengaluru India Nano Innovation Award, Karnataka DST Nanoscience Fellowships will be presented and it will also have Nano for the Young programme for graduate students; NanoSparX for Start-Up Pitching, B2B Partnering and the first ever National Nanotech Quiz. 

Commenting on occasion, Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Hon'ble Minister for Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, Higher Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Government of Karnataka, said, “Due to pandemic, many national & international experts are unable to participate in the event physically, prompting us to plan the event virtually. We are fortunate that the event is taking place under the guidance of Bharat Ratna Prof. C.N.R. Rao, who is the Honorary Chairman of the Nanotechnology Vision Group. I’m also happy that our Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) Partners Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) are conducting a session each. We desire to accelerate the journey from lab to market and we are strongly focusing on industries. This event is a platform that showcases cutting-edge innovation and provides immense opportunities for startups, SMEs and

many industries.” 

Speaking on the occasion Prof. Navakanta Bhat, Chairman, Karnataka Vision Group on Nanotechnology, Government of Karnataka; Dean, Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences; Professor CeNSE, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said, “Theme for this year’s event is Nanotech for Sustainable Future, we aim to enable innovations focusing on sustainable future for decades to come. This can be achieved by youngsters. Hence, we have many exciting sessions for youngsters- Nano for the Young and National Nanotech Quiz.  Nanotech Quiz which was held for the first time witnessed phenomenal response with participation from 23 states and

5 union territories.” 

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Ajay Sood, FRS, Chairman, Conference Executive Committee- Bengaluru India Nano 2022, Year of Science Chair Professor, Department of Physics Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said, “The Conference Sessions will focus on application of Nanotechnology across various sectors like Medicine, Manufacturing, Electronics, Hydrogen Economy, Food & Agriculture, Textile, etc. The Plenary Speakers are Prof. Federico Capasso, Harvard University, USA; Prof. Xiaodong Chen, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Prof. Peidong Yang, University of California, USA and Prof. S. Swaminathan, SASTRA Deemed University, India. This year the Tutorials which are the sessions that not only inform but educate, will focus on Nano Fabrication, Bottom-Up Synthesis, Characterization Tools, and Nano Biology. 

Speaking on the occasion Dr. E.V. Ramana Reddy, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T; Department of Commerce & Industries, Government of Karnataka, said, “After IT, Biotech and Deeptech, we believe that Nanotech is the future technology. That is why Government of Karnataka started this event in 2007, and we are proud to host now the 12th edition this year. This event is acting as a global platform for convergence of Research, Academia, and Industry to explore the emerging opportunities in this sunrise Industry. 

Mr. A.B. Basavaraju, IAS, Director (Technical), Dept. of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T; Managing Director, Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society, Government of Karnataka presented vote of thanks and Mr. Jagdish Patankar, Executive Chairman, MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications shared event overview.  

ABOUT BENGALURU INDIA NANO 

India’s Flagship Nanotech Event Bengaluru INDIA NANO is an excellent platform bridging Nanotech Research, Industry, Government, and Academia successfully over the last 11 years. The event is organised by the Department of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, Government of Karnataka under the guidance of Vision Group on Nanotechnology led by Prof. C.N.R. Rao, FRS, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). The event is aimed at giving a fillip to the growth of the Nanotech Industry in the country.  The 12th Bengaluru INDIA NANO will enable Nanotech Experts, Scientists, Researchers, Industry, and Start-Ups to meet and exchange notes on tomorrow's Nanotechnology. This annual event will be a congregation of Academia, Research, and Industry featuring Inspiring Talks, High-Quality Poster Paper and a platform to showcase innovative & groundbreaking Nano-applications.  

Photo Caption ; Mr. Jagdish Patankar; Prof. Ajay K Sood; Dr. CN Ashwath Narayan, Honourable Minister for Electronics, IT, BT & ST, Higher education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, GoK; Dr E. V. Ramana Reddy; Prof. Navakanta Bhat and Mr. A B Basavaraju gathered at the Bangalore India Nano 2022 curtain raiser press meet today in Bengaluru.

Three Day FinTech Festival India Is Being held Between March 1-3; Organized By Constellar And Supported By Niti Aayog

* Discussions to revolve around CBDCs, De-Fi, Data Analytics, RegTech, Lending

FinTech Festival India, the country’s largest FinTech event is underway with its digital edition between March 1 and 3, organized by Constellar Exhibitions (a subsidiary of TEMASEK and Singapore Press Holdings which organizes Singapore FinTech Festival) and supported by Niti Aayog and six central government ministries.

Speaking on the second day of the conference, Suhail Sameer, CEO, BharatPe, said, “If the BNPL ecosystem is targeted well towards the population who still don’t possess credit cards, it is a massive opportunity, and we can leapfrog the number of cards present in the country given the fact that there are 2.5 million card terminals as compared to 25 million QR code terminals.”

“One of the challenge that BNPL solves is accessibility to smaller but frequent loans, which banks do not cater to as there is a high cost of underwriting, process, and infrastructure.” he added.

On financial inclusion, Mr. Sameer further added, “Last five to six years have laid down the backbone of financial inclusion in the country; UPI has reached everywhere, digital banking licenses are being talked about. The combination of credit on UPI, BNPL, branchless banking will drive the next big leap on inclusion… I do see credit inclusion at a minimum, investment product inclusion at a minimum likely to go multiple fold over the next four to five years.”

Talking about the success of Buy Now and Pay Later model over credit cards, Vikas Bansal, Director, Amazon Pay India, said, “Buy Now and Pay Later model is online and it’s completely embedded into the purchase and retail journey of consumers. It is completely digital and instead of paperwork, one can sign up in less than 60 seconds. Finally people who could not be underwritten earlier because of data are now getting into the credit fold owing to BNPL. It’s good for customers as one can now get into the credit system early and build the credit profile.”

The three day digital conference is being  attended by some well-known stalwarts such as Suhail Sameer, Chief Executive Officer, BharatPe, Sonal Kapoor, Director - Financial Services, Flipkart, Vikas Bansal, Director, Amazon Pay India,  Sabyasachi Goswami, Chief Business Officer, Perfios and Siddharth Dhamija, Chief Growth Officer, Signzy; amongst others.

The digital conference will be followed by the Physical Edition from 20th to 22nd July, 2022 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

FinTech Festival India is the country’s largest FinTech confluence. It is witnessing participation from over 500 Indian and global leaders and 12,000+ delegates. Representatives from Brazil, Israel, UK, Russia, Canada, Finland, Japan, and Singapore among others also attended.

The conferences are being supported by Government of India’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Ministry of Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME),

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited ( A Government of India Enterprise – Under Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) and Startup India (Department for promotion of Industry and Internal Trade & Invest India). It has also received support from the Government of Tamil Nadu, Government of Karnataka and Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT).

Earlier FinTech Festival India organized physical and digital format Micro Experience Conferences in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Gift City (Ahmedabad) and Pune.

In addition to the government, FFI which aims to unleash the power of FinTech across the country, has also drawn interest from industry including Powered By sponsor CoinSwitch Kuber, Gold Sponsors Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Bharat Pe, MoEngage & Rapyder Cloud Solutions, Silver Partners Amber Group, CM.COM, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority, Nucleus Software, SafeXpay & Zimperium, Sales Acceleration Partner Vymo, Payments partner In-Solutions Global Ltd., Identity verification partner IDFy, Bronze partner Morningstar and Digital Edition Partner JuicyScore.

About the Organiser:

Constellar: Charting a new MICE Age

Constellar connects a global eco-system of event partners and consumers through a holistic portfolio of intellectual property (IP) in the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry.

As Asia's partner of reference for curating innovative event and venue experiences, Constellar activates impactful networks to bring global markets, businesses, and consumers together for sustainable growth. With our expertise and dedication, we are invested in helping you build trusted relationships with stakeholders for the long term and enabling cross-industry collaboration through world-class audience engagement solutions.

Constellar is headquartered in Singapore. Founded in 2021, it brings together decades of experience with an intrepid team of experienced specialists around the world.