Archives March 2023

Mangaluru, March 10, 2023. BMW India announced the opening of the Varsha Autohaus dealership in Mangaluru, Karnataka. The dealership offers immersive sales, service, and brand experience along with access to BMW Premium Selection (BPS) – the used car division of BMW Group India. The fully-fledged facility is located at Survey No.27/-16P4, Near Kannur Old Check Post, Mangaluru, Karnataka 575007. The dealership is headed by Mr. Kapil Kanuri, Dealer Principal, Varsha Autohaus.

Mr. Vikram Pawah, President, of BMW Group India, said, “As part of our vision for sustainable growth, BMW India is committed to the development of a robust BMW dealer network of international standards at all important commercial centers across the country. Mangaluru is one of the fastest-growing non-metro cities in South India and will play an important role in BMW’s market offensive in India. With the launch of Varsha Autohaus, we will continue to set new standards in the luxury car market in the region and provide high-quality services to our customers and prospects in Mangaluru and the Karnataka region.”

Mr. Kapil Kanuri, Dealer Principal, Varsha Autohaus said, “We are delighted to represent BMW India in Mangaluru. Varsha Autohaus reflects our commitment to offering the ultimate luxury experience to our clientele and further tapping the growing luxury automobile market in the region. Situated at a prime location and equipped with the latest technologies, this facility will play an instrumental role in creating an unrivaled sales and service experience for our discerning customers.”

Strategically located, the new ‘Fully Fledged’ facility is spread over 33,400 sq ft, the new dealership has an ultra-modern showroom integrated with an after-sales service facility featuring service bays and a spare parts inventory. The showroom can display four cars and the workshop is equipped with eight service bays that can service up to 20 cars per day. The latest

March 10, 2023: Citykart, one of India’s largest value retailers focusing on family fashion retail in tier-II and tier-III cities, has launched its much-awaited Spring-Summer collection of vivid and vibrant summer colours and prints. The collection is only available offline at Citykart stores in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and the North Eastern regions.

Curated on Citykart’s core philosophy of offering affordable and aspirational fashion that holds value for money, the Spring-Summer collection includes several trending fabrics and the latest silhouettes that are distinct and exclusive. Made with comfortable, cotton-knit materials that are durable and high-quality, the Spring-Summer collection of apparel is bringing back the brand’s 99/- price point aspect with something for every budget.

The collection includes a wide variety of apparel for every category, including newborns, teenagers, men and women. Citykart’s Spring-Summer collection for women has everything from comfy tees and tops to jeans, trousers, and palazzos and a trendy ethnic wear line comprising of Kurtis, Kurta sets, dupattas, and sarees. Similarly, the men’s range includes fashionable t-shirts, comfortable home and loungewear knit bottom wear, shirts, and stylish, trendy, and comfortable jeans.

Sudhanshu Agarwal, Founder and CEO, Citykart said, “We are excited to announce the launch of our Spring-Summer collection of apparel, which is based on our core value of providing affordable fashion. We felt that this collection is special and can only be justified by its offline-only presence, so it isn’t available online. A majority of the products in this collection are at entry price points, giving customers the best value for their money. We are looking forward to seeing our customers’ response to the Spring-Summer collection, and we’re confident that it will be a hit.”

Citykart’s Spring-Summer collection is available in stores.

Bengaluru, 10th March 2023: GenWorks has entered a strategic partnership with Browndove Healthcare, Renalyx, Critical Care Hope, Panacea Medical Technologies, and Karkinos Healthcare on the occasion of its 9th anniversary this year. In a bid to leverage technology and connected care, GenWorks expands its operations into women’s wellness, critical care, renal care, and oncology care via these partnerships to build and deliver a unique distribution platform for customers.

Mr. S Ganesh Prasad, Founder, MD & CEO of GenWorks said, “Today, we mark an important milestone in the history of GenWorks, as we look to reinvent ourselves and expand our medical and healthcare offerings for the people of India. With customer centricity at the heart of our operations, we aspire to create a connected care ecosystem that is holistic, affordable, and widely accessible. The strategic partnerships with Browndove Healthcare, Renalyx, Critical Care Hope, Panacea Medical Technologies and Karnikos Healthcare will enable diversification, expansion, and technological prowess that will commence a new chapter in efforts to enhance India’s healthcare system. Our collaborations are bound to open up several opportunities, and we look forward to working closely with our partners.”

The company’s strategic partnership with Browndove Healthcare will enable GenWorks to add nephorology consumables manufacturing capabilities, while the collaboration with Renalyx further strengthens its nephrology care portfolio, helping the digital medical and healthcare service provider serve India’s highly underserved dialysis market. To augment its connected care ecosystem, GenWorks has partnered with Critical Care Hope, availing its services and platform to enable access to affordable healthcare for people across the country. Moreover, GenWorks will work with Panacea Medical Technologies to provide state-of-the-art radiotherapy equipment, and will aim to advance its oncology care offerings via the association with Karnikos Healthcare.

Mumbai, 10th March, 2023: After a bright and colourful campaign last year, COLORS and Imperial Blue, in partnership with Wavemaker India, were back with another joyful campaign for Holi this year. Kicking off the campaign was a light-hearted video that showcased popular stars of the Hindi GEC market along with a host of Marathi stars.

The campaign effectively captured the revelry around Holi and built on Imperial Blue’s classic brand tonality. The team reprised their ongoing association with Hindi television stars Rubina Dilaik, Karan Kundra, Prateek Sehajpal, Nishant Bhat, and Marathi celebrities Jay Dhudhane, Meenal Shah, Vikas Patil, and Vishal Nikam. Further amplifying the glam quotient were special cameos from the enchanting leading lady of Ishq Mein Ghayal – Reem Shaikh, along with the always charming Amruta Dhongade, a former finalist of Bigg Boss Marathi. The dazzling duo of divas joined the gang and played integral parts in subtly integrating the brand ethos of “Men will be Men”.

Commenting on the 2nd year of the campaign, Vivek Mohan Sharma, Head- of Branded Content, Viacom18, said, “Our aim when collaborating with a brand is to create incremental value not only throughout the year but year on year as well. We focus on the intent and build brand image and visibility most relevant to the ethos of the brand. For Imperial Blue we have tapped into the festival landscape and positioned the brand where it owns the space with the narrative of youthful, wholesome fun. This is the second consecutive year we’re partnering with them for Holi and continue to build the brand story with a content-backed, targeted strategy which maximises the impact and engagement with consumers.”

Talking about the association, Ishwindar Singh, Pernod Ricard India, said, “Imperial Blue celebrates the lighter side of a man’s life. Holi, the festival of colours, brings alive the free spirited fun while being a great occasion for conviviality. This festival lends us an opportunity to bring forth a light hearted take inspired by our unique and consistent focus on encouraging our consumers to embrace life with a smile. Our partnership with Viacom has helped us create interesting ways of engaging around the key festivals and occasions.”

We are excited to launch this campaign this year as well and hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Holi!”

Mansi Datta, Chief Client Officer & Office Head – North & East, Wavemaker India, said “As Holi is synonymous with fun and mischief, collaborating with both powerful brands is a sure-fire way to spread the brand’s message. At Wavemaker, we are proud of this successful collaboration running for the fourth association in a row. We believe the campaign will reach people on a broad range of platforms and resonate with them.

Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, The Soul Company, and Ardbeg bring you a Taste of Japan with Yakimono Night with Chef Son Pham. Yakimono is a Japanese term that refers to dishes cooked over direct heat. With this series, the finest chefs come together to create an enjoyable celebration of food cooked over fire: crispy, smoky, and savory!

With Episode 1 and 2 now complete, the curtain is raised for the finale of Yakimono Nights which will be held at the stylishly modern, pan Asian restaurant San:Qi at Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai. Guests can experience some of Japan’s most popular Yakimono dishes made by Chef Son Pham, who has rich culinary experience with a stint at NOMA and has set up restaurants in Hong Kong and Singapore. Chef Son Pham has always had an eye for the spectacular, and guests can enjoy his culinary flair in the season finale of this Yakimono journey.

India March 10, 2023: To celebrate World Backup Day, which falls on March 31^st, Western Digital has launched an exciting digital campaign “Backup Effortlessly” to encourage consumers to back up their digital content.

The inertia of backing up digital content runs deep in consumers as they consider it a cumbersome job. Therefore, the 360-degree, integrated, campaign aims to reiterate the need and significance of backing up and preserving content. The campaign also highlights how backup can be done effortlessly using storage solutions such as external SSDs, external HDDs, and mobile Pen Drives from WD and SanDisk brands.

The month-long campaign started on March 1^st with an awareness phase, across the company’s social media channels, and digital media focused on news, entertainment, sports, lifestyle, etc. The company will also run exclusive brand days with top retailers and e-tailers across the country introducing special consumer offers. The campaign videos will also be played at Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru airports covering 123 screens.  Over 1500 retail stores across 25 top cities will be covered through point-of-sale-materials (POSMs) to create awareness about backup.

Commemorating the campaign, Mr. Jaganathan Chelliah, Senior Director, Marketing, India, Middle East, and TIA, at Western Digital said, “PCs and smartphones have become a part and parcel of our daily lives and unfortunately so has the data loss. So, this World Backup Day we have introduced an educative campaign to remind everyone about the importance of backing up data and offering solutions to do it effortlessly.”

As part of the campaign, Western Digital has created four videos and multiple rich media formats that highlight the importance of data in various real-life scenarios and how it can be backed up effortlessly. The “Backup Effortlessly” campaign is live and will run until April 4^th, 2023.

Mumbai, March 2023: On the occasion of “International Women’s Day 2023”, the lady’s wing of India Bullion & Jewellers Association (IBJA) presented their first ever Golden Girls Awards to recognise & reward all those Women Entrepreneurs, who with their sheer skill & passion have attained success in each and every curve of Jewellery Manufacturing, Processing, Designing & Trading Nationally. It is a salutation for the brave and brilliant female entrepreneurs, who defied all odds through sheer passion and determination to attain success through all the Cs such as confidence, concentration, consistency, collaboration and cooperation.

IBJA conceptualized The Golden Girl Awards in association with “Heera Zhaveraat Group”, with the sole purpose of motivating the highly talented pool of women workforce in India, who had been creating their own mark in the complete ecosystem of Gem & Jewellery sector nationally. The first edition had a good representation & garnered a tremendous response from every corner of the country, going forward the Golden Girls Award will be an annual affair

The “Golden Girls Award” winners were Nishtashri Srinivasan,Coimbatore,Rakhee Biswas Deb, Guwhati, Abirami Santhosh, Salem, Vandana Saraf,Gorakhpur, Piyusha Nyati,Kota, Mona Shah,Mumbai, Dr Renisha Chainani,Ahmedabad, Ambika Burman, Hyderabad, Aishwarya Guptha,Coimbatore, Preeta Agarwal, New Delhi & Pooja Mehta, Mumbai

Mr. Prithviraj Kothari (National President, IBJA) hosted the glittering GGA show at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai, in the august presence of Ms. Hetal Vakil Valia (National Chairperson, Ladies Wing-IBJA) & distinguished stalwarts from the industry such as: G&J Industry Icon Mr. Sanjay Kothari (former Chairman-GJEPC), Dr Chetan Mehta (National Vice President – IBJA), Mr. Surendra Mehta (National Secretary- IBJA), Mr. Ashish Pethe, (of Waman Hari Pethe and former Chairman-GJC), Mr. Rajesh Bajaj, (Head, HZ International & HZ Trade Media Group Enterprises) & Mr. Neeraj Gaba (Creative Entrepreneur & Motivational Speaker) among others. The GGA event was sponsored by Laxmi Diamonds (Diamond and Jewellery sponsor), Emerald Jewel Industry India Ltd. (Branding partner) and Shringhar House of Mangalsutra Pvt. Ltd. (Mangalsutra partner). Ms Reena Shukla was the Convener of the GGA Award

Mr. Prithviraj Kothari (National President, IBJA), said, “IBJA is known to help its members and the community at large for the promotion & regulation of the bullion trade. Our Industry has women who are so powerful, yet gentle, so learned & still humble, so fierce and still compassionate, rational, disciplined, yet free. Now they are marching ahead carrying national sentiments and economical aspirations of India. GGA is dedicated to those talented women of India who have been instrumental in bringing the G&J industry this far in its evolutionary journey and holds within them the power & potential to enable Prime Minister Modi’s vision of activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of “Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

Ms. Hetal Vakil Valia, National Chairperson, Ladies Wing-IBJA said, “GGA is being specially crafted for those upcoming & progressive luminaries of our Gem & Jewellery (GJ) industry who have yet to receive their due recognition. IBJA believes that such courageous entrepreneurs deserve true accreditation. IBJA acts as an instrument to give them their rightful due! GGA will be all about the unsung and hardworking women who work tirelessly in this tough yet exciting industry. Their existence and presence gives IBJA the opportunity to recognize and reward their work and dedication in front of their peers and industry experts.”

IBJA plays a key, pivotal role in interacting with all the Government departments on behalf of bullion traders, dealers and jewellers in its implementation of new policy matters, import export issues and also helps in the economic growth of the country. IBJA addresses disputes and arbitrations between dealers & provides a neutral & correct platform for weighing precious metals acceptable to the trading community. It interacts with different executive agencies and provide reliable & correct reports of assaying of precious metals acceptable to the parties involved.

Weis brings nearly 10 years of insurance industry experience to the company.

(St. Louis, Mo., March 10, 2023) Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a cohesive family of more than 160 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois, recently hired Brett Weis as Personal Lines Coach.

In this position, Weis will work with the alliance’s development team to achieve technology and revenue goals. He will coach new and existing team members on best practices for all property and casualty insurance issues including coverages, claims, carriers, and processes.

Weis has worked in the insurance industry for nearly 10 years. Prior to joining VIAA, he served as a personal lines department manager at an independent insurance group that served doctors nationwide. Weis earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. He holds licenses in Property & Casualty Insurance, as well as Life & Accident and Health or Sickness Insurance. Weis also has a Personal Lines Coverage Specialist (PLCS) designation.

“Brett brings the industry knowledge and experience our alliance members need to increase their revenue,” said VIAA’s co-founder Henry Powers. “His customer service background, along with the working relationships he builds with clients and carriers, make him an excellent addition to our growing team.”

Founded in 1991, Powers Insurance & Risk Management provides personal and business insurance, surety, risk management, and employee benefits. Founded in 2006, sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance generates more than $600 million in written premium and is the regional founding member for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a $11 billion national alliance. The companies are headquartered at 6825 Clayton Ave. For more information, call (314) 725-1414 or visit www.powersinsurance.com or www.viaa4u.com.

New Delhi, March 09, 2023: YES BANK announced that it has partnered with Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd to offer home loans at competitive interest rates.

Aadhar Housing Finance is one of India’s largest affordable housing finance companies. With this partnership, both entities aim to provide, convenient home finance solutions such as Home Loan for Salaried Employees, Loan for Plot Purchase and Construction, Home Improvement Loan, Loan Against Residential Commercial Property, Balance Transfer and Top Up, among others, to customers from lower and middle-income groups.

This partnership is in accordance with the co-lending framework of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that enables banks and non-banking companies to jointly bring forth financial solutions that cater to the requirements of the unserved and underserved sections of the society.

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Lavesh Sardana, Country Head – Retail Assets, YES BANK said, “Home loan penetration in India is relatively lower as compared to the most developed economies of the world. This offers an opportunity for lenders to bridge this gap with their product offerings. We are happy to partner with Aadhar Housing Finance, to bring forth a slew of affordable home finance solutions that will largely benefit individuals from lower-and middle-income groups by helping them fulfill their dream of building their own home. Given our vast network of banking relationships, we aim to cater to the financial requirements of customers across a wide socio-economic spectrum, in line with the Government’s vision of encouraging inclusive growth within the country.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rishi Anand, CEO and MD, Aadhar Housing Finance said, “YES BANK’s wide reach and trust in the market, coupled by our own network and digital, state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, improved control, underwriting functions, and increasing customer reach and distribution capability, will help provide efficient and economical home loan solutions to a wide gamut of customers across geographies, socio-economic groups and yield spectrum, to enable optimum growth.”

This is in context of ANSR collaborating with Hy-Vee, a $14 billion US Retail chain to set up it’s first ever offshore capability centre in Bangalore, India. The Hy-Vee team inaugurated the one-of-its kind GCC today, with the grace of BV Naidu, Chairman of Karnataka Digital Economy Mission. Please find attached the press release for the same, which includes statements from Mr Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s Executive Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, Mr BV Naidu and Mr Lalit Ahuja, CEO of ANSR.