India’s Own Electric SUV, Nexon EV, Is All Set To Record The ‘Fastest’ K2K Drive By An EV

* Nexon EV Takes On The Kashmir To Kanyakumari Challenge

* To complete 4000 kms in 4 days with an enhanced range of 453kms, backed by the robust Highway Charging infrastructure 

Tata Motors, India’s leading automobile manufacturer and the pioneer of India’s EV evolution, today announced that its electric SUV – the Nexon EV will embark on a challenging journey from Srinagar to Kanyakumari.  Starting 25th February, the Nexon EV will traverse through 4000 kms in 4 days in a non-stop drive (stops to be made only for charging the vehicle), to create the record for the fastest K2K drive by an EV. While Tata Motors has enhanced the range of the Nexon EV to 453 kms for a stress free experience, Tata Power has systematically enhanced highway charging infrastructure across the country, making public charging omnipresent and easily accessible.

On this journey, the Nexon EV will cut through the harsh weather conditions and a multitude of difficult terrains of the Indian subcontinent. This exercise is aimed at showcasing the prowess of the Nexon EV in managing high speed and long distance travel and also highlight the availability of public charging network through the length and breadth of the country. 

Commenting on this exciting expedition, Mr. Vivek Srivatsa, Head, Marketing, Sales and Service Strategy, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd., said, “Being a new evolving technology, it is important to demonstrate the capabilities and possibilities of EVs in real world and in real time conditions. By setting out on this ambitious journey with the Nexon EV, we want to inspire existing and prospective EV owners by offering them a conclusive proof of the benefits of the Nexon EV’s long range, accompanied by the growing charging stations, installed by our ecosystem partners at Tata Power.

We are excited to kick-start this enthralling journey with the Nexon EV, offering an enhanced range of 453km, in which a team of auto enthusiasts, EV believers along with my colleagues and I will be navigating through 4000 kms from North to the South of India, in the least possible time. We are aiming at clocking a 1000kms per day and I am sure that the Nexon EV will just breeze through. I am confident that this K2K drive will boost EV adoption in India, making it a mainstream choice for buyers.”

With its inherent capabilities and ‘go anywhere’ attitude, the Nexon EV is a perfect partner for this remarkable expedition as it provides an electrifying performance coupled with an indulgently smooth driving experience. Not only does it offers more range and power but also supports fast charging, facilitating uninterrupted long-distance travel with ease.

Powered by the high voltage state-of-the-art Ziptron technology, the Nexon EV is built on pillars of comfort, reliability, performance, technology, and charging. The Ziptron EV architecture is driven and proven over 800 million kms across diverse and challenging Indian terrain. The feature and spec advantages of the Nexon EV with an enhanced range of 453km ensure uninterrupted inter and intra-city travel. With instantaneous torque delivery, ESP with i-VBAC, hill descent control, IP 67 rated battery pack and motor, auto-dimming IRVM, high ground clearance, high-water wading capability, electronic parking brake and auto vehicle hold, the Nexon EV is capable of being driven in any road conditions across the country. The multi-mode regen feature especially helps in adding some range bank to the vehicle through braking.

It is also compatible with multiple charging options such as DC fast charging, AC fast charging or regular charging from any 15 A plug point, allowing the user to operate in remote areas as well. Its luxurious interiors such as ventilated leatherette seats, rear AC vents, and jeweled control knob with active display and rear AC vents make such challenging drives smooth and comfortable.

Follow this electrifying journey through our social media handles: @TataMotorsEV on Twitter and @TataMotorsEvolveToElectric on Instagram.

To know more about Nexon EV, call your nearest dealership or visit https://nexonev.tatamotors.com.

Expect Digital Revenues For The IT Companies To Grow In The Range of 25-30%: Emkay Wealth Management

* Near-term headwinds offer investors an opportunity to accumulate

* Investors should invest in a gradual manner with a minimum horizon of 3 years

* Indian IT is a structurally resilient and a long-term growth-oriented sector

Emkay Wealth Management Global Financial Services has released a note on the Indian technology funds, the investment opportunity, scale, and the fundamentals of the tech companies. The research house expects the Indian IT companies to do well basis their experience over the past two decades in handling disruption, changing geographical presence, currency gains, attractive valuation, economic recovery in the west, and relatively unchanged tech spending. Emkay Wealth Management expects digital revenues for IT companies to grow in the range of 25% to 30%.

Expanding contribution to the economy and growth

The Indian tech sector has been gaining prominence in terms of its contribution to the overall economy, employment, innovation, and resilience. The relative share of the sector in Inda’s GDP is 7.40% and the share in service exports is 51%. The sector employs more than 5 million people, and the trend of employment is gradually accelerating, and the sheer size of the employment is going to be of astounding proportions.

India is already the third-largest start-up hub for tech start-ups with close to 2500 new startups and 45 unicorns. Digital revenues are likely to grow at 25-30%. All major segments of the industry are growing at a double-digit rate, IT services are growing at around 17%. Whether it is infrastructure management, cloud-based testing services, cloud migration, consulting, etc. all are growing at a decent pace.  The other growth areas are networking services, AI and analytics, platform-based services, etc. ability to respond to customer needs, focus on creating future-ready solutions, and accent on customer centricity are some of the interesting features of the business approach.

Fundamentally strong domestic companies

The domestic tech space is fundamentally stronger today than it was at any time in the past. This is due to a number of factors that have actually evolved over the last two decades. 

(i) Experience of the past to handle disruption: The tech companies have faced recessionary conditions and sluggish economic conditions at least thrice during the last two decades and have already weathered the storms and the business models are stable at present. The experience of the last decade has provided these companies with enough data to plan things ahead more effectively. 

(ii) Geographical diversification: The geographic diversification of business was more skewed towards the US and America, and this has undergone changes with the exposure to the US coming down by almost half of what it was before as business expanded to Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East too.

(iii) Currency gains: The Rupee has been weaker and those who would plan their receivables with an appropriate budgeted rate for the receivables and a sound hedging policy would tend to gain in the future too. The forex gains cannot be ignored in the overall scheme of things.

(iv) Attractive valuations: The last few months have seen a significant amount of price correction in the tech stocks ranging from 25-30%. The price correction makes the relative valuations attractive as the mid-cap companies where the valuations were overstretched have moved down. The Nasdaq has been declining with each passing day in the last three months and this trend may continue for a little more time as the tech platform companies could face some more rough weather due to the evolving business models, competition, and the gap between delivery and customer expectations.

(v) Economic recovery in the West: The macroeconomic headwinds emanating from persistently high inflation and the resultant hike in policy rates and the rise in market yields could eventually result in a slowdown in economic activity. However, many estimate the slowdown in the US or Europe might be rather weak and transient and it may not affect economic activity too badly.

(vi) Technology spending is required even when the economy may not be too sound. Businesses need to run, and the experience of the pandemic is that technology gained more prominence mainly through online platforms covering a host of things like digital content, social media, gaming, and e-commerce. The global technology spending, excluding hardware, was close to US$ 1.70 trillion in 2021, close to 10% growth. The global sourcing market during the same period showed a growth of 12-14%, that is, US$ 240 billion in 2021. This shows the resilience of the industry.

The IT sector has been facing the perfect storm at the global as well as domestic levels over the past few months. The sharp run-up in inflation globally, and the resultant aggressive monetary policy actions by central banks in the developed economies (the major market for IT companies) to contain inflation resulted in recessionary expectations gradually gaining ground.

The expectations of a slowing economy transforming into lower digital spending were reflected in the price performance of domestic IT companies. The high attrition rates and cross-currency movements (while INR depreciated against USD, it appreciated against other global majors such as GBP and Euro) created margin pressures. The double whammy of risks to revenue, as well as margin, has led to valuations easing in the IT space.

The near-term headwinds offer investors an opportunity to accumulate assets from a structurally resilient and long-term growth-oriented sector. As has been discussed earlier, IT spending can moderate over the near term but the maintenance of existing IT infra and digital transformation of businesses across sectors and size of businesses will keep demand for Indian IT services strong. Given the near-term headwinds, investors would be advised to invest in a gradual manner with a minimum horizon of 3 years.

Revenue Minister R Ashok Inaugurates 2-Day CREDAI Karnataka State-Conference

* Real estate body puts forth expectations for the sector with policy makers

Against the backdrop of the country becoming a USD 5 trillion economy, the Karnataka Chapter of CREDAI hosted a state conference themed, ‘Realty in a 5-Trillion Economy’, in the city on 20th and 21st February, which was inaugurated by Revenue Minister, Govt of Karnataka, Shri R Ashok.

Inaugurating the 2-day event, R Ashok said that the government has undertaken many programs for the betterment of the sector along with CREDAI. “Act 79 A & B has been removed which will benefit the industry. Act 109 removal too has helped in Karnataka land lock release. Even land conversion time has been brought down to 7 days,” said R Ashok while addressing the members of CREDAI Karnataka.

During the 2-day event, the industry body connected with policy makers and relevant stakeholders of the industry. Eminent speakers from across the country participated in the deliberations spanning over the two days.

Viewed largely as an unorganised sector in terms of labour mobilisation and employment, the real estate industry is currently faced with multiple challenges. Given this scenario it is perceived to be a difficult task to meet the requirements and demands posed by a 5 trillion economy by merely addressing the major metros. This is more so given that Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology and other new-age innovations finding minimal utilisation in the real estate sector even though they harbour high potential and being used extensively in other fields.

“We sincerely appreciate infrastructure development that the State government continues to do in Karnataka. To further the pace of development, we request suitable policy changes to enable Ease of Doing Business, including a single window clearance for approvals with a time limit cap for the sanctioning process”, stated Mr Bhaskar T Nagendrappa, President, CREDAI, Bengaluru.

If efficiency and responsibility in terms of deliverables need to be in place without hampering cost, there needs to be a movement from the unorganised to the organised in the space of human resource segment while specific areas will need to be identified to make the real estate industry more credible, Mr. Nagendrappa added further. 

In keeping with this sentiment, CREDAI Karnataka Chapter put forth to the State Government its key expectations as takeaways from the conference.

·         Creation of single window for approvals to ease transactions between builder and end consumer

 ·        Reduction of Stamp Duty and Registration fees from the current 6.6 per cent to 3 per cent on the                    

          lines of World Bank policy

·         Establishing a common forum between CREDAI and government to take cumulative divisions/decisions                     

          whenever required

·         Greater awareness of RERA and the opening of 5 more branches in the Northeast, South and West

·       Creating greater awareness of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

·       Enabling participation of private sector in developing Affordable Housing in the State

Besides the interaction with policy makers during the conference to bring in the suitable and necessary policy changes for the industry, CREDAI Karnataka Chapter also forged collaboration with Apartment Owners’ Welfare Associations to extend services by builders beyond their mandatory period. The conference also hosted a Buyer-Seller Meet to connect with end consumers.

As a citizen friendly initiative, the conference also saw the demonstration of Kaveri 2.0, by Inspector General, Registration & Commissioner of Stamps, Govt of Karnataka, Dr Mamatha BR. The online registration system is currently in pilot mode in the Chincholli Sub Registrar’s office in Kalaburagi District. Developed by the Centre to initiate Smart Governance, Kaveri 2.0 will be facilitated under the e-governance department of Karnataka.

"For the first time in the history of the country Kaveri 2.0 will revolutionise registration process by making it very citizen friendly and simple busting the myth that registration is a cumbersome process. Kaveri 2.0 is integrated with land records software Bhoomi, e-Asthi and e-Swatthu thereby ensuring fraud proof safe transaction," explained Dr Mamatha BR.

About CREDAI BENGALURU

Established in 1999, CREDAI Bengaluru are the organisers of the Real Estate sector for the Bengaluru Chapter. With 233 dedicated, reputed members, it has been key in making Real Estate more authentic and simple.CREDAI Bengaluru is part of State Level Federation and National Confederation. CREDAI Bengaluru work towards creating a more transparent, corruption free market for both builders and consumers.CREDAI Bengaluru closely work with government representatives, policy makers, investors, finance companies, consumers and Real Estate professionals.

For more details log on to https://www.credaibengaluru.com/

FC Goa’s ISL Campaign Concludes With Defeat To Bengaluru FC

FC Goa bowed out of this season's Indian Super League as a brace by Sivasakthi Narayanan and a goal by Pablo Perez powered Bengaluru FC to a 3-1 win over the Gaurs, in the sides' final league game at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Iker Guarrotxena scored his 11th goal of the season for the Gaurs, but in the end, it offered them nothing but consolation.

Earlier in the day, FC Goa Head Coach Carlos Pela made just one change to the playing XI that started against Chennaiyin FC, as Devendra Murgaokar made way for Redeem Tlang. The Meghalayan forward responded with a series of attacks on the Bengaluru goal in the first half, thereby justifying his selection.

Despite enjoying more ball possession and starting the match on a strong note, the Gaurs conceded a shock lead in the 6th minute from a corner-kick. Sivasakthi, who was unmarked in the six-yard box made easy work of his chance as he headed past Dheeraj Singh to score for the Blues.

Pena’s boys, in turn, responded with renewed vigour, with Tlang, Noah Sadaoui and Iker Gurrotxena testing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu on several occasions.

Guarrotxena eventually restored parity on the scoresheet in the 33rd minute. Sadaoui directed a lovely cross at the far post area, which was then redirected into the net by the Spaniard with a glancing header.

The Men in Orange continued to create chances at will, but a lack of bite in the final third meant the scores remained level till half-time.

Late surge helps Bengaluru win 

Following the change of ends, FC Goa continued to keep the ball for longer periods, and a major portion of the game was played in Bengaluru’s half.

But it was the Blues who regained their lead, with Sivasakthi finding the back of the net once again in the 76th minute. Replays indicate that the Tamil Nadu youngster was a touch offside while the final pass was played to him, but the goal stood to give Simon Grayson’s boys the upper hand.

Pablo Perez’s strike in the 82nd minute made the result a foregone conclusion, with BFC winning 3-1 at full-time. The defeat also brought FC Goa’s ISL 2022-23 campaign to an end, with the Club finishing in 7th place with 27 points from 20 games.

FC Goa Dev Team extend unbeaten run in GPL 2022-23

In other news, the FC Goa Development Team beat Vasco SC 2-1 in the ongoing Goa Pro League 2022-23 season, at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Thursday.

Leewan Castanha opened the scoring for the Young Gaurs in the 6th minute, and Malsawmtluanga doubled their lead two minutes into the second half. Although Altamash Sayed cut short Vasco’s deficit with a strike of his own in the 60th minute, his suspension handed the team a setback in the later stages of the match.

Deggie Cardozo’s boys now have 15 points from nine matches, and remain unbeaten in the league with three wins and six draws to their name.

About FC Goa

FC Goa is a professional football club based out of Goa that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL). Nicknamed the Gaurs, FC Goa has been one of the most consistently successful teams in the ISL - reaching 4 semi-?nals and 2 ?nals in 8 seasons.

Heading into the 2022-23 season of the HISL, FC Goa holds the record for most wins, most goals, most golden boots and most number of playoff appearances in the history of the competition.

FC Goa became the first team from India to qualify for the league stages of the AFC Champions League in 2021 by virtue of winning the first-ever Hero ISL League Winners Shield in the 2019-20 season.

The Gaurs trophy cabinet is also adorned by the 2019 Super Cup, the 2018-19 GFA Pro League,  and the 2021 Durand Cup.

Co-owned by Mr Jaydev Mody, Mr Akshay Tandon and Mr Virat Kohli, FC Goa is one of the few Indian Clubs to have a complete youth development ecosystem. Its U14, U16, U18 and Developmental Teams compete at the highest levels in Goa and India.

Fabindia’s Festive Gift Hampers: Let’s Make Holi Brighter Than Ever

What’s Holi without gujiya, gulaal and thandai! These are the day’s main highlights that add vibrance and craziness to the festival of colours. Keeping the essence of Holi alive, Fabindia has brought special hampers for you to meet all your gifting needs.

Available in different combinations, these hampers are to die for and make a perfect pick for all your near and dear ones. These hampers come in quirky yet upbeat packaging -- you can choose from the boxes of thandai mixture with four packets of gulaal or a box of ceramic glass and four packets of gulaal.

Made with 100% natural ingredients, the packets of gulaal offered by Fabindia are skin-friendly and free from all kinds of chemicals. These are made by women from the marginalised community by hand grounding dried flowers collected from temples and fresh ingredients sourced directly from local farmers.

Organic and eco-friendly -- these colors are prepared with natural ingredients giving these holi hues the right pigment and fragrance.

Wait this isn’t all -- not just the organic gulaal, Fabindia also has an exclusive thandai powder with no additives, artificial flavours, or preservatives. Made with ingredients like Almonds, Cashews, Green Cardamom and Dried Rose Petals, this powder can be added to milk for a traditional Thandai drink or even to Kheer.

You can enjoy this delectable Thandai with their brass and ceramic glasses for a complete Holi experience!

This Holi, bring home these special Fabindia hampers to make the festival of colours more memorable than ever!

LG Begins Rollout Of 2023 Soundbar Lineup In The Indian Market

* LG’s New Soundbars Deliver Immersive, High-quality Audio,

* User-friendly Features, and Eco-conscious Design

LG Electronics India announced the rollout of the 2023 LG Soundbar lineup, delivering a range of stellar, new models that elevate the home entertainment experience with immersive sound, convenient features, and stylish, eco-minded design.

Taking home cinema to a whole new level, LG’s latest high-end soundbars1 provide powerful and precise multi-channel audio that leverages the world’s first center up-firing speaker to create an exceptionally realistic soundstage. The center up-firing speaker enhances the clarity of dialogue and ‘positions’ sounds more accurately in space to make movies and other content feel more lifelike.

The flagship model of the 2023 lineup, the S95QR is the complete package and an ideal solution for home cinema buffs, offering an 810W output, 9.1.5 channels and center up -firing speakers. LG’s top-of-the-line soundbar features a total of five up-firing channels – three on the soundbar itself, and two in the wireless rear speakers – to create an expansive, dynamic soundscape that surrounds users and draws them deeper into the onscreen action and to make Meridian, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and IMAX enhanced content even more immersive.

The premium S95QR also features upgraded wireless rear speakers this year, sporting six channels compared to the four of its predecessors. With triple up-firing drivers complementing four front/side drivers, S95QR’s rear speakers distribute sound evenly across an impressively wide 135-degree angle. This enhanced capability gives users more flexibility when it comes to speaker placement and is especially helpful for those with limited space.

The S95QR, and other select 2023 LG Soundbars, are equipped with a more sensitive receiver that allows for greater distances between the soundbar, subwoofer and rear speakers without adversely affecting audio quality. LG’s premium models also ensure uninterrupted viewing and listening pleasure thanks to improved wireless connection stability that largely prevents any drops or lag in audio output. Meanwhile, Music Mode featuring Meridian Audio’s Horizon technology enables the 2023 soundbars to up-mix two channel audio to 9.1.5-channels for more realistic acoustic surround sound.

LG’s latest high-end models support IMAX Enhanced3, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X2, allowing movie buffs to enjoy authentic cinematic experiences from the comfort of their own living room or private theater. New for this year, LG’s soundbars welcome MERIDEAN support, which delivers a new level of audio three-dimensionality when playing compatible content.

In addition to variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM), which help make console gaming more immersive by perfectly syncing the sound with the gameplay on screen4. It is also equipped with 4K/120Hz pass through, which will provide the best image quality.

The WOW Orchestra feature of the soundbar provides rich surround effect by using TV speakers. It also comes with an improved volume UI design for external audio devices connection. The 2023 soundbars are equipped with AI Room Calibration which intelligently adjusts low-frequency performance to the room’s dimensions for optimized sound delivery. Its frequency band is expanded from 200Hz to 400Hz to improve the balance and loudness of voice.

Commenting on the launch, Hak Hyun Kim, Director- Home Entertainment, LG Electronics India said, “LG constantly works on innovating products with cutting-edge technology and advanced features to offer an immersive experience to our customers. The latest range of soundbars are equipped with the world’s first Center Firing-Up speaker, thus offering a high-end audio experience. We are confident that this innovation will cater to the varied needs of our consumers and will be a game changer in the industry.”

LG Soundbar continues to set the standard for environmentally-conscious design, employing reused and easily recyclable materials, consuming a minimal amount of power during operation, and shipping in eco-friendly packaging. All 2023 models have received SGS Eco-Product recognition from SGS Société Générale de Surveillance SA of Switzerland for their minimal environmental impact, and feature polyester jersey fabric made from recycled materials that meets the Global Recycled Standard (GRS).5 Furthermore, LG’s sustainably designed soundbars contain parts fabricated from recycled plastic resin and have been validated by UL’s Environmental Claim Validation Procedure (ECVP). LG’s 2023 soundbars are ENERGY STAR® certified thanks to their minimal and efficient use of power.

For more information on the 2023 LG Soundbar lineup, visit LG.com.

Vikas Gupta Joins Vitesco Technologies As “Head of Finance For India Business”

* With a rich background in automotive industry along with 18 years of experience in the field of financial accounting and management 

* Vikas Gupta is excited to take Vitesco Technologies to newer heights 

Vitesco Technologies, a leading international supplier of advanced powertrain technologies and solutions for e-mobility, announced recently that it has appointed Vikas Gupta as the Head of Finance for the India business. He will be in charge of the financial operations which include financial planning & analysis, reporting, taxation, risk management and treasury operations for the overall Vitesco business in India.  

Prior to this, Vikas Gupta was the Chief Financial Officer at Napino Control Systems Limited, a JV company of Napino Auto and Vitesco Technologies. He played a pivotal role for the joint venture set up on the financials and the commercials side. Vikas is a qualified Cost and Works Accountancy (CWA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) with 18 years of experience in Paper, Power, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Automobile in the field of Accounting, Costing, Business Controlling, Budgeting/Forecasting, Taxation and Treasury. He was also associated with Genpact and Carlsberg Group in the past.  

Talking about the new role, Vikas Gupta said, “Vitesco Technologies has a great work culture and keeps their values on priority in every decision making. Vitesco Technologies understands its responsibilities towards industry, environment and mankind. It gives me immense pleasure to be working in the esteemed organization and take the responsibility to sustain the values created.” 

Anurag Garg, Managing, Director & Country Head, Vitesco Technologies, India said, “Having collaborated with Vikas in the past, I have a great deal of trust and confidence in Vikas’s abilities and his leadership skills. He is truly passionate about the vision of Vitesco Technologies, and I am grateful to have his support to advance our organization on its future growth trajectory. His vast experience in financial management with strong strategic expertise will help us accelerate towards our next phase of business growth.