NSE IFSC International Exchange Physically Settled US Stocks For The First Time

* Settlement was completed flawlessly in all symbols which had been launched for trading. This marks a historic moment for NSE IFSC as it marks the beginning of physical settlement of US Stocks (in the form of Unsponsored Depository Receipts) in GIFT IFSC

NSE International Exchange (NSEIFSC) launched trading in NSE IFSC Receipts (unsponsored depository receipts on US Stocks under IFSCA’s regulatory sandbox framework) on March 3rd, 2022. The product offers Indian retail investors to trade in global stocks using the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) route. To start with, NSE IFSC commenced trading in major US stocks (Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Tesla) to be settled on a rolling T+3 day basis through its Clearing Corporation Ltd (NICCL). 

NSE IFSC and NICCL announced that the first physical settlement of NSE IFSC Receipts has been completed on March 8, 2022. According to their press release, “settlement was completed flawlessly in all symbols which had been launched for trading. This marks a historic moment for NSE IFSC as it marks the beginning of physical settlement of US Stocks (in the form of Unsponsored Depository Receipts) in GIFT IFSC."

Wordle was developed by a Brooklyn-based software engineer, Josh Wardle. It is a website-only word game played on mobile phones and tablets

As per the press release, this is the first time when the trading, settlement, as well as Demat holding related to an investment in US Stocks, has been facilitated in GIFT IFSC through the international depository. It added that the first Indian retail investor to trade at NSE IFSC using the LRS route on 3rd March, 2022 was Satish Agarwal, a client of Globe Capital (IFSC) Limited.

The entire trading, clearing, settlement and holding of US Stocks will be under the regulatory structure of IFSC Authority.

As per NSE IFSC’s press release in August 2021, this route makes the entire process of investment internationally easy and at a low cost for Indian retail investors. Investors will be provided with an option to trade in fractional quantity / value when compared to the underlying shares traded in US markets making it affordable to them.

Indian retail investors can trade in select US stocks via NSE-IFSC platform

The trading in unsponsored depositary receipts -- NSE IFSC Receipts -- has been launched in association with HDFC Bank, under the regulatory sandbox framework prescribed by the IFSCA

NSE IFSC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India, on Thursday said it has launched trading in unsponsored depositary receipts, which will offer Indian retail investors an opportunity to invest in the US stocks listed on bourses like NYSE and NASDAQ in an easy and affordable way.

The trading in unsponsored depositary receipts -- NSE IFSC Receipts -- has been launched in association with HDFC Bank, under the regulatory sandbox framework prescribed by the IFSCA, according to a statement.

Following this launch, Indian retail investors will be able to transact on the NSE IFSC platform under the liberalised remittance scheme (LRS) prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

NSE IFSC Receipts are an innovative first-of-its-kind product offering to Indian retail investors, by providing them with an opportunity to diversify their investment in top-performing companies of global economies.

These receipts will make the entire process of investment in global stocks seamless and at a low cost. Investors will be provided with an option to trade in fractional quantity when compared to the underlying shares traded in global markets.

Starting with US stocks, NSE IFSC will soon widen its offering to other global markets, the statement noted.

HDFC Bank's IFSC Banking Unit in the GIFT City (HDFC Bank-IBU) in its role of NSE IFSC Receipts Custodian to this newly launched UDR programme will issue the NSE IFSC Receipts. The bank will undertake related activities besides opening the depositary accounts of investors as a depository participant registered with IFSCA registered depositaries.

Further, NSE IFSC Clearing Corporation Limited will offer its robust risk management framework, facilitate the clearing, and settlement of all trades in depositary receipts and provide the settlement guarantee with respect to all trades executed on the NSE IFSC platform.

Moreover, all the trades will also be covered under the investor protection framework at NSE IFSC. Investors will be able to hold the NSE IFSC Receipts in their own demat accounts opened in GIFT City and will be entitled to receive corporate action benefits pertaining to the underlying stock.

"Today's launch of trading in NSE IFSC Receipts is a good initiative to attract retail participation under the liberalised remittance scheme of the RBI and develop a vibrant capital market ecosystem in India's sole International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City," IFSCA Chairman Injeti Srinivas said.

According to him, this innovative offering from NSE IFSC enables retail resident investors to transact in select US stocks through the NSE IFSC platform initially under the regulatory sandbox framework and eventually as a regular product on the exchange for all international and domestic investors.

"With this launch, we have unlocked significant value to Indian retail investors and brokers, and we look forward to building on our position as an Integral and Innovative International IFSC exchange," NSE Managing Director and CEO Vikram Limaye said.

HDFC Bank Executive Director Kaizad Bharucha said the bank has been a pioneer and has been playing a catalytic role in transforming the Indian financial services space.

The NSE IFSC Receipts framework will also make these investments affordable and transparent, thereby paving way for retail participation, he added.

Glance Active User Base Surges To 173 Million In Q4 2021; Further Boost Expected In 2022 From New OEM Deals

* Glance active users grew 24% from 140 million in Q1 2021 to reach 173 million in Q4 2021

* Two-thirds of newly launched smartphones in Q4 2021 had Glance lockscreen platform preinstalled

* The company entered agreements with realme and Jio Platforms for integration of its lockscreen platform with their phones

* The $150-$250 price band continued to be the largest for Glance active users

Glance’s active user base in India surged to 173 million in Q4 2021, according to Counterpoint Research’s Quarterly Mobile Application Tracker. The platform added 33 million total active users to grow 24% from Q1 2021 to Q4 2021.

Counterpoint Research Glance Active User Base, Q1 to Q4 2021

Commenting on Glance’s performance, Research Analyst Arushi Chawla said, “Pioneering the use of the smartphone lockscreen, Glance has become the first touchpoint for users interacting with their devices, removing barriers such as search and multiple app downloads. This has uniquely positioned Glance for growth driven by high engagement. In addition, the AI capabilities of Glance have been helping users discover relevant content, further increasing stickiness to the platform.”

On the content strategy, Chawla noted, “Glance has been diversifying across genres and languages. Glance has accumulated content from top creators and developers across categories including sports, fashion, gaming, fitness, commerce and entertainment to enhance the experience for users. Glance has also made a foray into the live interactive content category, further diversifying its offerings. This is becoming even more relevant, as content consumption and creation on smartphones are on the rise.”

In terms of OEMs, Glance has been expanding its partnerships with top brands and devices across price segments. In October 2021, Glance partnered with the third-largest smartphone brand in India – realme. Further, as of Q4 2021, two-thirds of the newly launched smartphones in India had the Glance lockscreen platform preinstalled.

In terms of share across price bands, $150-$250 continued to be the largest segment for Glance. Close to two-thirds of Glance’s active user base falls in the $150 and above price band. The average selling price of smartphones in India is increasing. Penetration in the higher price segments positions Glance well to capture the increasing replacement demand in the Indian smartphone market in the future.

Counterpoint Research Price Band Split for Glance Active Users, Q4 2021

Looking forward, Glance will continue to expand its OEM partnerships in India. It has signed an agreement to raise $200 million from Jio Platforms. Concurrent with this funding deal, Glance has entered a partnership with Reliance Retail Ventures under which Glance’s lockscreen platform’ will be integrated into Jio’s Pragati OS (the JioPhone Next operating system). This will further expand its market reach. Glance will also seek to strengthen user touchpoints and expand to key international markets beyond Asia.

Methodology

Glance’s mobile application presence is calculated from our panel database of over a million smartphone active users. Model-level Glance penetration data and active user ratios were extrapolated to our monthly smartphone installed base data using various parameters such as brand, model, and price band to predict Glance’s active user base. We expect the results to have a statistical precision of +/- 5% at the confidence interval of 90%.

Happiest Minds Partners With OutSystems, A Global Leader In Low-Code Application Development

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’ digital transformation and IT solutions company, announced a strategic partnership with OutSystems, a pioneer and leader in the low-code application development market.

Happiest Minds and OutSystems share the vision to transform how enterprise software is delivered to their customers. This partnership will add a world-class, low-code platform to Happiest Minds' portfolio, enabling companies to develop, deploy, and manage omnichannel enterprise applications that run in the cloud, on-premise, or hybrid environments.

Mr. Ram Mohan C, Executive Board Member, CEO, Infrastructure Management & Security Services, Happiest Minds Technologies, said, "Happiest Minds Technologies has always had a customer-centric business approach. We continually equip ourselves with digital tools to meet the ever-changing demands of our 'digital-first' customers. This partnership is a major step towards providing enterprises with end-to-end automation and powerful low-code application development without the complexity and unproductive time spent on manual processes and hand-coding."

This partnership with OutSystems enables Happiest Minds’ customers to

* Streamline internal operations and optimize front-office and back-office processes

* Deliver robust web and mobile workforce apps, employee portals, workflows, and operational dashboards to support any process, regardless of its complexity.

* Integrate existing systems with a smooth user interface, and manage through constant software change with ease and speed.

“This is a really exciting time for us as we continue to grow our footprint in APAC. Together, OutSystems and Happiest Minds can offer enterprises the freedom to think big and innovate with no limits. Our platform addresses critical issues like increasing demand for new enterprise applications, aging legacy systems that need to be modernized or replaced, field services, and omnichannel digital customer experience.”, said Mr. Saravanan Subramaniam,RVP, APAC Channels & Alliances, OutSystems.

Mr. Sundar Ramaswamy, SVP & Head of Digital Process Automation CoE, Happiest Minds Technologies,  said, “Happiest Minds has always been at the forefront of bringing the latest and best technologies to help our clients get the most out of their Digital Transformation investments. Leveraging the OutSystems platform, we will be able to help our clients modernize their core legacy applications, build applications quickly to serve new business needs, as well as simplify operations & maintenance of all their applications.”

Mr. Dinesh Ramachandran, SVP & Head of Global Alliances, Happiest Minds Technologies, said, “The OutSystems partnership is aligned with our focus on emerging, disruptive technologies. This alliance brings together the power of a leading low-code platform along with Happiest Minds’ services track record with Fortune 1000 clients, to help us tap into this growing market opportunity”.

About Happiest Minds Technologies:

Happiest Minds’ Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a Mindful IT Company, enables digital transformation for enterprises and technology providers by delivering seamless customer experiences, business efficiency and actionable insights. We do this by leveraging a spectrum of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, digital process automation, internet of things, robotics/drones, security, virtual/augmented reality, and more. Positioned as ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, our capabilities span digital solutions, infrastructure, product engineering and security. We deliver these services across industry sectors such as automotive, BFSI, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, edutech, engineering R&D, hi-tech, manufacturing, retail, and travel/transportation/hospitality.

A Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is headquartered in Bangalore, India, with operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and the Middle East.

Bitbns Partners With QuantInsti To Launch Online Education Platform – Bitbns Academy

* Aims to introduce 50 mn Indians to crypto investing by FY25

Bitbns, the country’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, has partnered with QuantInsti to launch Bitbns Academy, an all-new dedicated online education platform that offers scholastic tutorials, resources and educational content on Cryptocurrency and Blockchain. 

A comprehensive digital education platform, Bitbns Academy offers globally accredited certified courses that not just teaches the fundamentals of crypto but help candidates to develop an in-depth understanding of the subject. The coherent content has been carefully curated to serve users across the board, inclusive of beginners, enthusiasts as well as mature investors. The current program is offered under four distinct modules – ‘Introduction to Crypto’, ‘Risk Management’, ‘Margin Trading’ and ‘Technical Analysis. Each module entailing a series of chapters that has been specifically designed to enable the user to progress through the course in terms of his knowledge and understanding.

To ensure a seamless and quality learning experience, Bitbns has tied up with QuantInsti, a leading ed-tech platform that specialises in offering quantitative-based learning courses since a decade. A pioneer Algorithmic Trading Research and Training Institute, QuantInsti conducts professional programs in the contemporary fields of Algorithmic and Quantitative Trading.

Commenting on this development, Gaurav Dahake, Founder & CEO, Bitbns, said, “India has been one of the fastest growing markets of cryptocurrency trading. Besides a rapidly growing base of mature investors, our country is home to a massive chunk of the young and tech-savvy population who are increasingly adopting crypto as an alternative asset class. However, the technical nature and non-tangibility of the asset class has restricted its adoption among retail investors. Bitbns Academy offers a robust curriculum that has been tailored to decrypt several technical concepts while offering an in-depth understanding on Cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology. It aims to strengthen the country’s digital economy through an educational revolution by building trust among new entrants and enabling mature investors to grow their portfolio through knowledge-driven and informed decision making.”

Commenting on the development, Nitesh Khandelwal, CEO, QuantInsti, said, “In lines with our mission to up-skill investors and traders, we are excited to partner with Bitbns to empower crypto enthusiasts with the essential knowledge required to make smart trading decisions. Quantra learning management system (LMS) brings a unique combination of learning by doing and implementation using seamlessly integrated paper trading and backtesting platform, which allows learners to apply learned concepts in real-life trading experiences.”

The course has been designed and curated in such a way that it highlights the best practices involved in crypto trading while offering a step-by-step guide in building in-depth understanding around the subject. The modules offered under the program encompasses infographics, articles, tutorial videos and other content that suits the needs of users at all levels.

Catering to beginners’, crypto enthusiasts and seasoned traders the modules will have three different states - beginner, intermediate and advanced. Starting from as basic as Understanding crypto to learning complex Python APKs the courses would serve as a complete go to guide for crypto investment.

The academy is open to all the users on the Bitbns platform who can seamlessly avail the certified courses for free. Additionally, Bitbns Academy aims to add new certification courses and more resourceful content under the program in the future. To ensure optimum outreach the courses have been provided for free post a simple registration with Bitbns platform.

Bitbns is known for providing unique offerings and safest way to carry crypto transactions and bringing exclusive benefits to its customers, as it constantly endeavors to improve the overall user experience. With this feature, Bitbns aims to create more and more informed crypto investors beyond the urban areas.

About Bitbns

Bitbns is India's most versatile exchange. With over 4 million users, it is today a one-stop shop for a diverse suite of crypto-based products and services. With varied products such as Bitdroplet, SIP in bitcoin, FIP which is fixed deposit for crypto, the exchange caters to a wide variety of audiences inclusive of traders and long-term mature investors among others. The exchange also offers advanced trading capabilities like margin trading which can be leveraged by sophisticated traders and automated trading options through API for users. Bitbns has Bitbns Quick Swap which offers over 400 cryptocurrencies which can be traded - the highest in India. Founded in 2017, Bitbns is the fastest and easiest way to buy & sell Bitcoin (BTC) at the lowest trading fee.

https://bitbns.com/

https://learn.bitbns.com/

NSDC, LetsEndorse Announce Strategic Partnership To Create Micro/Nano Entrepreneurs Across India

* Enabling over 50,000 micro/ nano entrepreneurs in the next three years

With an aim to support Skill India Mission, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and LetsEndorse have entered a strategic partnership to create a mass and rapid micro/ nano-entrepreneurship movement across India through a tech-and-touch model developed by the latter. 

The collaboration will impact the lives of rural and urban individuals looking to set up new enterprises or scale-up their existing ventures in more than 165 segments, across manufacturing, services, trading and new-age digital entrepreneurship. LetsEndorse’s Udyamita model, which has shown promising results in enabling micro/ nano entrepreneurs till the last mile through its 100-day intervention, will be leveraged in this partnership as well. The tech-enabled model assures scalability and provides end-to-end support to foster enterprise success and sustainable income, from idea building, business plan creation, enabling affordable credit under various government schemes and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) norms to mentorship after the enterprise is set-up.

The two organisations will work towards the goal of boosting entrepreneurial capacities, enabling access to affordable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) capital and ensuring overall micro-enterprise success at scale pan-India.

Announcing the partnership, Ved Mani Tiwari, Chief Operating Officer (& Officiating CEO), National Skill Development Corporation said, "This partnership is aligned to the objectives of Skill India to create a skilled workforce, empowering them to become entrepreneurs. It is our constant endeavour to skill manpower from across the country and enable sustainable livelihoods. Entrepreneurship is one of the crucial pillars in that journey. NSDC's collaboration with LetsEndorse will create an impactful framework and democratize micro-entrepreneurship till the last mile.”

Monika Shukla, Co-founder & CEO, LetsEndorse Development said, “We believe that India has an opportunity to end poverty by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, and building sustainable livelihoods is a powerful way to achieve that goal. Solving for livelihoods has a trickle-down impact on social challenges such as education, health, nutrition, sanitation, housing, among others. And creating impact at scale requires shifting the dynamics from a philanthropic/ welfare-led approach to a market-led approach where people develop the paying capacities for products and services. We are passionate about building sustainable livelihoods through micro-entrepreneurship and are excited to partner with NSDC to scale-up the reach of the model. We are looking at enabling over a million micro/nano entrepreneurs by 2027 and ten million entrepreneurs by 2030. UDITI, our horizontal platform solution for driving and delivering the Udyamita model has been developed over the last two years and we are looking at integrating it with DESH-Stack as well.” 

Honasa Consumer - Mamaearth - Appoints Anuja Mishra As The New Chief Marketing Officer

Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (HCPL), parent company of Mamaearth, and The Derma Co., and the fastest growing House of Brands for personal care, appointed Ms. Anuja Mishra as Chief Marketing Officer. In her new capacity, Ms. Mishra will oversee the marketing strategy for Honasa Consumer group brands – Mamaearth, The Derma Co., andBblunt. 

Anuja has been recognized amongst the Top 100 Marketers (20-21) and awarded the “Pitch Best CMO'20-21 and brings with herself over 17 years of experience across Marketing and Sales. She has led Brand Management, Innovation Strategy and Sales across 3 of the largest blue- chip FMCG organizations and some of the world's most loved brands. As the CMO of Honasa Consumer, she will be responsible for accelerating the brands awareness and growth across the D2C ecosystem.  

Speaking on her role, Ms. Anuja Mishra said, “I am absolutely thrilled and honored to join Honasa Consumer in its exciting journey of becoming a powerful house of brands. Honasa has proven to be a trailblazer across the D2C landscape, and I have tremendous respect for the organization’s ability to innovate disruptively and meaningfully.I look forward to joining this talented team and contributing to the growth mission.”

Commenting on this crucial onboarding, Mr. Varun Ghazal, Co-Founder and CEO, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. said, “Honasa has emerged as the fastest growing D2C brand and being a digital first brand, it is critical to constantly innovate and stay ahead of others in this excessivelydynamic digital ecosystem. Anuja comes with extensive experience in managing millennial brands and she joins us at a time when the group has attained a great milestone and with her expertise, she will elevate and support the strategy to the next one. We are excited to have a seasoned professional like heron board and look forward to growing the organization with her.”

Along with being a seasoned marketing professional, Anuja is an avid sportsperson who enjoys marathons, adventure sports, kickboxing and indulges in reading in her leisure time. 

Ms. Anuja Mishra will be taking the baton from Mr. Sambit Dash, who has been elevated to head Brand Factory Team where he will be responsible for crafting, launching, and building new brands business for Honasa. She will be based out of the Honasa Consumer head office in Gurgaon.  

TKM- MoRTH Propagates The FCEV Mirai During Pilot Study In Delhi

India's leading automobile company Toyota has unveiled the much-awaited 'Mirai' during the pilot study which is taking place at Delhi. The Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Mr. Nitin Gadkari, unveiled the vehicle in Delhi yesterday. 

“We at Toyota are committed towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Our key goal is to achieve net zero carbon (CO2) emission throughout the entire lifecycle that goes well beyond vehicles, addressing our entire value-chain including manufacturing activities. Further, we have adopted a holistic approach, and are actively engaged in sustainable initiatives that covers shift to renewable energy, promoting a recycling-based society, reduction in water consumption and nature conservation activities. Thus, reinforcing our commitment to build a better, smarter, future, creating a net positive impact on the planet and society.

Given India’s energy mix and unique consumer needs, we believe carbon neutral and electrified vehicle technologies are required to achieve practical and sustainable reduction in fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Based on Toyota’s business philosophy and belief in multiple technology pathways, our practice has always been to study and evaluate advanced powertrain technologies in a sustainable manner to meet the diverse consumer needs and usage conditions across countries.

It is also necessary to work in collaboration with various stakeholders including government, testing & research agencies, and industry associations. We have entered into an MoU with the Government automotive testing agency, iCAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology), to study and evaluate the world’s most advanced fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Mirai which runs on hydrogen, on Indian roads and climatic conditions.

We are very excited & grateful that Hon’ble Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has kindly consented to propagate the FCEV Mirai during this pilot study which is taking place at Delhi. We strongly believe that this will provide great encouragement and tremendous boost to all the stakeholders who are beginning to work towards hydrogen-based society in support of our national goals and are confident that India can lead in this direction in future. We applaud the Indian government’s relentless efforts towards promoting carbon neutral and electrified technologies and remain fully committed to supporting the national objectives.”