Archives July 2023

Mumbai,13th July 2023Ghirardelli Chocolate Company today announced it will reopen its flagship store, the Original Ghirardelli Chocolate & Ice Cream Shop, at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. After a six-month renovation of the historic building, the store celebrates Ghirardelli’s history and craftmanship as a U.S. chocolate pioneer and the company’s legacy in San Francisco dating back to the 1850s. The new design features North America’s largest flowing chocolate wall, the original, 19-foot “G” from the historic marque Ghirardelli sign, a replica San Francisco cable car that doubles as a seating area, antique chocolate-making equipment on display, and much more for guests to discover.

“We can’t wait for the public to experience our redesigned iconic flagship store at Ghirardelli Square. This shop is located where in the 1960s we first served what is now our World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae,” said Joel Burrows, Ghirardelli’s President and CEO. “After being 171 years in business in San Francisco, we are proud of our deep roots in the city. We remain committed to helping Bay Area visitors and locals alike create sweet memories with their families and friends for many more chocolate-loving generations to come.”

Ghirardelli will celebrate the Original Ghirardelli Chocolate & Ice Cream Shop’s grand reopening on July 13 starting at 10:00 am with live music from Sueños, outdoor games and experiences throughout Ghirardelli Square. The newly renovated flagship store will officially reopen at 11:00 a.m. after Multiple Grammy Award© winning artist, singer, actor, producer and best-selling writer Kelly Rowland leads the ceremonial ribbon cutting with the Ghirardelli management team and community partners. The public is invited to join the festivities, and in honor of Ghirardelli’s 171-year history, the first 171 people in line to enter the store will receive a free Ghirardelli World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae.

“As a true chocolate lover, I can’t wait to help ring in Ghirardelli’s next chapter,” said Rowland. “No visit to San Francisco is complete without a delicious sundae at Ghirardelli Square. And now there’s an even more gorgeous setting for having that unique Ghirardelli chocolate experience.”

Introduced in 1966, the Original Chocolate and Ice Cream Shop was Ghirardelli’s first location that focused on sundaes. When it reopens, the menu will feature 15 different sundaes, including Ghirardelli’s World-Famous Hot Fudge Sundae. Additionally, the renovated store format will showcase other fountain and bakery favorites like milkshakes, hot chocolate, brownies, cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Among other elements of the elevated retail experience, visitors will get to enjoy a re-designed Pick n’ Mix space where they can customize souvenirs featuring their favorite Ghirardelli chocolate squares. The new space also embraces Ghirardelli’s rich San Francisco history with a tiled mural of the San Francisco skyline on the second floor, as well as vintage Ghirardelli advertisements in the warmly vibrant Sun Room.

Guests will be able to see the original, 19-foot Ghirardelli “G” up close. The Ghirardelli marquee sign, an icon that many travelers and locals identify with San Francisco, turns 100 this year. Aside from being rewired and outfitted with efficient, low-wattage bulbs, the sign components look just as they did in 1923 when illuminated displays were much more novel. Today’s sign is equipped with a Color Kinetics LED system that enables each letter to independently display a variety of colors.

The Original Ghirardelli Chocolate & Ice Cream Shop redesign is the second part of a multi-phased renovation project for the brand at Ghirardelli Square. Last year, the company unveiled a completely reimagined Chocolate Experience Store, Ghirardelli’s other flagship retail space at Ghirardelli Square. The store concepts and design of the multi-phase renovation project have been led by Bay Area firm Eight Inc.

Asia’s largest platform for the Experiential Marketing, MICE, LIVE Entertainment, and Wedding industries – WOW Awards Asia is thrilled to announce its 14th edition taking place on July 13th and 14th, 2023, at the Jio World Convention Centre. Presented by Saudi Tourism Authority, Powered by Inventum Global & Rixos, and Co-Powered by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Motus One, this extraordinary event is all set to celebrate excellence and set new industry standards.

Curated by Nautanki Co. and an initiative of EVENTFAQS, this two-day extravaganza represents the pinnacle of success for businesses across Asia and will attract 5000+ industry professionals, exhibitors, participants, and live artists. The WOW Awards Asia 2023 will also honor outstanding achievements in 115 categories across five distinctive groups. Not just this, the event also promises to be truly remarkable with notable names such as Ranveer Brar, Sunil Grover, Armaan Malik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sukhwinder Singh, Colonial Cousins, and Harshdeep Kaur in attendance.

Sharing about the grand event and what one can expect, Deepak Chaoudhary, Managing Director, WOW Awards Asia shares, “We are thrilled to announce the 14th edition of WOW Awards Asia, Asia’s largest platform for the event and experiential industry. This year, we are set to take participants on an extraordinary journey, showcasing the best-in-class talent, remarkable innovations, and groundbreaking solutions that continue to shape our diverse industry. It is truly an honor to celebrate the achievements and creativity that drive the success of this dynamic field.”

With so much planned, WOW Awards Asia 2023 offers participants the opportunity to push the boundaries of event innovation through interactive workshops and enlightening sessions in the WOW Garage. WOW, Labs will showcase cutting-edge event tech and AI advancements, while #ShowURWOW invites visionary individuals and enterprises to redefine the industry’s future.

So get ready to witness the best of the experiential industry at the Jio World Convention Centre and be part of an extraordinary celebration where imagination meets achievement, propelling businesses to unprecedented heights.

By Jagannadh Kanumuri, President & CEO, ACI Infotech

In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, cybersecurity has become indispensable. As technology advances and data permeates every aspect of society, protecting sensitive information and systems is paramount. Cybersecurity acts as a crucial shield against malicious activities, ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, and availability. Cyber threats have grown in complexity, with hackers and cybercriminals exploiting vulnerabilities to breach defenses and compromise valuable data.

The consequences can be devastating, leading to financial loss, reputational damage, and even national security risks. Robust cybersecurity measures are essential for organizations of all sizes, involving proactive measures like firewalls, encryption, and regular security audits.

Individuals also play a vital role in safeguarding their data by using strong passwords, updating software, and being cautious of phishing attempts. Governments and regulatory bodies have a responsibility to establish cybersecurity policies and frameworks, while collaboration between public and private sectors is crucial to combat cyber threats globally.

Why is Cyber Security Important?

The occurrence of cybercrimes is experiencing a rapid surge, and a report by Cybersecurity Ventures highlights the alarming trend. In 2015, the annual cost of cybercrime worldwide amounted to USD 3 trillion, and it is projected to escalate to USD 10 trillion per year by 2025. This substantial increase in cybercrime can be attributed to the widespread impact of Global Digital Disruption, which has made cyber-attack a paramount concern for companies on a global scale.

Cybersecurity is important for various reasons. It protects sensitive information, ensuring its confidentiality, integrity, and availability. By safeguarding privacy, it reduces the risk of unauthorized access and identity theft. Cybersecurity also prevents financial losses by deterring theft of intellectual property and financial fraud. It ensures business continuity by detecting and responding to threats, minimizing disruptions and maintaining productivity.

Additionally, it defends critical infrastructure, safeguarding public safety and national security. By combating cybercrime, it prevents phishing, malware attacks, and data breaches. Moreover, cybersecurity promotes trust in digital systems, encouraging online transactions, data sharing, and technological innovation. Prioritizing cybersecurity is crucial in navigating the digital world with confidence and resilience.

Scrutinizing the Current Landscape of Cybersecurity

The growth of the market is being driven by several factors, including:

•  The increasing number of cyberattacks. In 2021, there were over 623 million cyberattacks worldwide, a 12% increase from the previous year.
•  The growing digitization of businesses and governments. As more and more businesses and government agencies move their operations online, they become more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
•  The increasing sophistication of cyberattacks. Cybercriminals are constantly developing new and more sophisticated ways to attack computer systems and networks.
• The cyber security landscape is categorized into multiple segments including:
•  Security services: This segment includes services such as threat intelligence, vulnerability assessment and remediation, and incident response.
•  Security software: This segment includes software such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and antivirus software.
•  Hardware: This segment includes hardware such as security appliances and security-hardened servers.

In 2022, security services dominated the cyber security market, capturing more than 50% of the total revenue share, making it the largest segment. The security software segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period.

The cyber security market is a highly competitive market, with several major players, including Cisco Systems, IBM, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec.

The cyber security souk is rapidly growing and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. The increasing number of cyberattacks, the growing digitization of businesses and governments, and the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks are all driving the growth of the market.

Rising Need for Cybersecurity Expertise: Meeting the Increasing Demand

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the demand for cybersecurity professionals due to the growing importance of protecting sensitive information and systems from cyber threats. Organizations are allocating larger budgets to enhance their cybersecurity measures, resulting in a surge in the number of job opportunities in this field. According to the latest Cyber Security Report by Michael Page, companies are actively seeking skilled cybersecurity talent to address their security challenges.

The report reveals that globally, more than 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs are expected to remain unfilled in 2023 due to a shortage of qualified professionals. This shortage has created a sense of desperation among companies, as they struggle to find suitable candidates to fill these critical roles. India is projected to have over 1.5 million vacant cybersecurity positions by 2025, underscoring the immense potential for career growth in this field.

Fortifying Cybersecurity: Building a Robust Defense Program

To effectively address the ever-changing risks of digitalization and increasing cyberthreats, it is crucial for organizations to implement a continuous security program. However, many organizations tend to merely “tick the boxes” when establishing a security capability. This approach involves generating extensive documentation and investing heavily in technology while neglecting to focus on establishing effective governance or the ability to assess and interpret risks accurately.

To improve this situation, organizations should prioritize the following key areas when implementing a security program:

•  Governance: Effective governance involves establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability for security across the organization. This includes executive leadership support, defining security policies and procedures, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and standards.
•  Risk Assessment: Organizations must develop the ability to assess and interpret risks effectively. This involves identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities, evaluating their potential impact on the organization, and determining the likelihood of their occurrence. Regular risk assessments should be conducted to stay proactive in addressing emerging risks.
•  Security Culture: Creating a strong security culture is essential for fostering collective responsibility for cybersecurity within the organization. This includes raising awareness among employees, providing training and education on security best practices, and promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
•  Incident Response: Establishing a well-defined incident response plan is crucial for effectively managing and mitigating cybersecurity incidents. This plan should include clear procedures for detecting, responding to, and recovering from security breaches or other incidents.
•  Continuous Monitoring and Improvement: Organizations should implement mechanisms for continuous monitoring of their security posture. This includes real-time threat intelligence, vulnerability management, security analytics, and regular security audits. By continuously assessing and improving security measures, organizations can adapt to new threats and minimize the risk of potential breaches.

Implementing a strong cybersecurity strategy is vital for organizations to protect themselves against threats. The cybersecurity framework underscores the importance of assessing risks, setting goals, and taking proactive measures to mitigate potential dangers. It recognizes the significance of training employees and raising awareness about cybersecurity, as well as fostering collaboration within the organization. By following this roadmap, organizations can safeguard sensitive information, minimize the impact of cyber incidents, and maintain the trust of their customers. In a constantly evolving threat landscape, adopting this comprehensive strategy enables organizations to adapt, strengthen their resilience, and navigate the digital world with confidence.

New Delhi, India –13th July 2023– According to Statista, the revenues in the Indian apparel market are expected to reach an astounding US $96.47 billion in 2023, with an annual growth rate of 3.34% (CAGR 2023-2027). Remarkably, India’s apparel market has secured its position as the fourth-largest globally, trailing only China, the USA, and Japan. As India’s economy continues to flourish, experts predict a significant increase in per capita income, projecting it to rise from the current US $ 2,278 to an impressive US $ 5,242 by 2030. In its endeavour to support India’s prestigious mission to become global apparel and textile hub, Apparel Sourcing Week (ASW) 2023, Asia’s premier sourcing show for the global fashion and retail industry is poised to create a wave of excitement with its much-awaited third edition.

With participation from over 15 countries and the presence of more than 5000 visitors from across the globe representing buyers, sourcing heads, industry professionals and retail brands from the fashion and retail industry, ASW 2023 is set to become the biggest platform in the region. The highly anticipated 2023 edition of ASW is scheduled to take place on July 20th-21st at the iconic Hotel Sheraton Grand and Convention Center in Bengaluru, this transformative event will provide an unprecedented platform for industry stakeholders to tap into the immense potential of the booming Indian fashion retail market.

The global fair as it is, with 150 exhibitors from countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Mauritius, Hong Kong, and Australia; 50-plus fabric and accessories manufacturers; and 30-plus sponsors offering specialised fabrics to sustainable technology, ASW 2023 will be the veritable one-stop sourcing solution for the supply chain players. Among the key exhibitors at ASW 2023 are Aitken Spence Apparel, and Timex Garments (Pvt.) Limited, Sarasavi Exports, Colmans Garments Group (all from Sri Lanka); Azim Group, Pakiza, Mitali Fashions (all from Bangladesh); PratibhaSyntex,SCM Garments, Creative Garments Pvt Ltd., Texport Industries (all from India), apart from many others presenting their innovative product ensembles and manufacturing capabilities.

“The Indian market stands as a beacon of hope amidst the global economic challenges, and ASW 2023 offers a gateway to this extraordinary growth story,” expressed MayankMohindra, CEO of ASW and Director, Apparel Resources, adding, “Our vision is to provide an unparalleled and enriching experience in the vibrant fashion retail landscape of India.”

An awe-inspiring line-up of speakers comprising industry experts and thought leaders including Bruce Atherley (Executive Director, Cotton Council International), Arjun Puri (Director, KAS Asia), Dr.NareshTyagi (Chief Sustainability Officer, ABFRL), Anant Ahuja (Head of Organisational Development, Shahi Exports), Jayesh Kothari (President – Sourcing, V-Mart Retail), WicrantGambhir (Head – Sourcing, Product Integrity & Quality, Babyshop Concept Landmark Group), Ranjan Mahtani (Executive Chairman, EPIC Group), Shreyaskar Chaudhary (Managing Director, PratibhaSyntex), SaikatMitra (Sr. VP – Design & Creative Director, Van Heusen), Abhishek Bansal (Head of Sustainability, Arvind Ltd.), Pranav Jha (Director of Sourcing, Myntra), Shirish Srivastava (Head of Apparel Sourcing, PUMA India), Chippy Mehta (COO, Bombay Shirts Company), and many others will engage in thought-provoking discussions to delve into tomorrow’s changing paradigms in the fashion retail landscape.

The highlight of Day 1 of ASW 2023 is the SustainableNXT Conference & Awards, dedicated to fostering circularity, green building, sustainable materials and practices in the fashion industry, promoting the agenda of sustainability and a greener future. Committed as it is towards driving positive changes ASW through SustainableNXT Awards will honor 20 individuals and entities across five categories for their exceptional efforts in the realm of sustainability.

Around 5000 plus attendees including buyer delegates, representing leading national and global retail chains and e-commerce platforms, ASW 2023 will once again reiterate its standing as the foremost sourcing platform, captivating the attention of top industry players, only to consolidate its position as the global hub for fashion retail.

BPTP Astaire Gardens, the esteemed township project located in Sector 70A, Gurugram, recently announced the grand opening of DMart, the city’s largest store spanning across 1 acre. This significant milestone marks DMart’s entry into Gurugram, providing residents with a contemporary and comprehensive supermarket experience.

The introduction of DMart at BPTP Astaire Gardens perfectly aligns with the demands and expectations of the residents, elevating their convenience and shopping experience. The 1-acre store, situated in Sector 70A near BPTP Astaire Gardens, is the largest DMart store in Gurugram. The two-story DMart store will offer a wide range of daily needs items, including food, toiletries, beauty products, garments, kitchenware, bed and bath linen, and home appliances.

“The opening of the DMart store at BPTP Astaire Gardens is a momentous occasion for both our township and the residents of Gurugram,” said Mr. Rohit Mohan, Senior Vice President, BPTP. “We recognize the need for a comprehensive supermarket that caters to the diverse needs of our community. This collaboration with DMart ensures that residents can access a wide range of daily necessities under one roof.”

BPTP, promoted by Mr. Kabul Chawla, was the first brand to introduce DMart in Haryana, with their first store opening in Faridabad in 2021. The opening of the DMart store at BPTP Astaire Gardens is a testament to the company’s commitment to providing residents with the best possible amenities and experiences.

Mumbai,13th July 2023 With a view to providing comprehensive, and all-round protection to its customers, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance has launched Zindagi Protect, a term insurance plan that offers a range of unique benefits to meet the ever-changing financial needs of the customer.

Subhrajit Mukhopadhyay, Executive Director, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance said, “Life insurance forms the foundation of financial planning and term insurance, especially, is critical for every income-earning individual. Our effort over the years has been to offer comprehensive, all-encompassing products that have the means to address the varied requirements of our customers. Simply put, we want to offer need-based, and customizable solutions to everyone. Zindagi Protect is aligned with that goal.”

What makes Zindagi Protect a unique offering are its 3 optional benefits – Child’s Future Protect Benefit, Better Half Benefit, and Premium Break Benefit.

The Child’s Future Protect Benefit allows the policyholder to increase their life cover for the period until their child turns 25 years old and ensure enhanced financial security for the family.

The Better Half benefit, a first-of-its-kind innovative optional benefit that allows the policyholder to provide a life cover for their spouse after the policyholder’s death without any future premium requirements. This benefit was borne from the insight that in case of a spouse’s death, the other spouse usually inherits the financial and household responsibilities and therefore a term cover is critical for them.

The Premium Break Benefit allows the policyholder an option to select Premium Break which gives them flexibility to skip up to 8 premiums depending on the premium payment and policy term.

Additional Features include:

Flexibility to choose limited pay or regular pay premium payment options

Option to get back all your paid premiums (towards Life Cover and Premium Break Benefit) at a specific point during the term of the policy for Life Cover Option with limited pay through the Special Exit Benefit

Avail a discount of 6% on First Year Premium if the medical examination is completed within 7 days from the date of login

This plan is available for purchase offline as well as online

Option to avail life insurance cover up to age 100

Favazza named Commercial Lines Risk Management Advisor at one of St. Louis’ largest family-owned insurance agencies.

(St. Louis, Mo., July 12, 2023) Powers Insurance & Risk Management, one of the largest family owned and operated independent insurance agencies in the bi-state region, recently hired Giovanni “Johnny” Favazza as Commercial Lines Risk Management Advisor. His responsibilities include generating new leads, as well as handling existing commercial accounts, in the property and casualty marketplace. Favazza will focus on enhancing business development by creating the most fitting insurance and risk management service solutions for each client.

Favazza grew up in his family’s business, Favazza’s Restaurant on the Hill. Prior to joining Powers, he worked as a Senior Account Executive at one of the largest insurance brokerages in Texas. He previously served as an Associate for a California-based investment advisory firm. Favazza earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Managerial Finance from the University of Mississippi located in Oxford, Miss.

“Gio brings the strong analytical skills and detail-oriented credentials it takes to work in our fast-paced insurance environment,” said Powers Insurance & Risk Management’s president JD Powers. “He has already achieved extensive industry success, and we are excited to have him on our team so he can generate long-lasting benefits for our clients.”

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 is a cohesive family of over 160 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois that generates more than $600 million in written premium. VIAA is the regional founding member for SIAA – The Agent Alliance, a $12.5 billion national alliance. The companies are headquartered at 6825 Clayton Ave. For more information, call (314) 725-1414 or visit www.powersinsurance.com.

Mumbai – 12th July 2023– New Relic, the all-in-one observability platform for engineers, announced it has been named a Leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring and Observability. The report provides an assessment of 20 application performance monitoring (APM) and observability vendors based on specific evaluation metrics, including current product/service capabilities, market understanding and responsiveness, innovation, and strategy. For the 11th consecutive time, New Relic is recognized for its Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute.

Only New Relic provides an all-in-one observability platform that is purpose-built as a unified experience for all engineers, allowing companies to get ahead of problems, service customers, and outpace the competition. The platform’s capabilities extend beyond metrics, events, traces, and logs, allowing engineers to incorporate security data and data from open source standards, such as Open Telemetry. New Relic has a long history of innovation, most recently being first to market with an OpenAI monitoring solution and observability-first generative AI assistant, New Relic Grok.

“We are honored to be recognized by Gartner as a Leader in every APM and Observability Magic Quadrant published. Since transforming our platform and business model, we have dramatically accelerated our pace of innovation, surpassing that of our direct competitors, and built a product-led growth engine that customers value,” said New Relic Chief Product Officer Manav Khurana. “Our growth outpaces hyperscalers, which we attribute to the value our customers realize from New Relic including faster innovation and improved customer experience and value.”

In the Gartner Peer Insights™, New Relic received an overall rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.0 based on 1,327 verified customers, with 90% recommending the platform as of July 7, 2023. Sixty-four percent of verified reviewers rate New Relic 5.0 stars for APM and observability. Here is what a few of these customers said about New Relic:

“New Relic has caught major issues within our platform before they spiraled out of control, as well as giving us the analytics on how to prevent them in the future. It is a fantastic tool for monitoring, and provides enough data to be a one-stop shop for every engineer building software.” – Principal Software Engineer

“New Relic is our preferred monitoring solution for application and infrastructure. Using the rules and flows, we are able to have New Relic access application pages in critical user flows and check if they function correctly and if not alert us via multiple channels. It is easy to script these rules in New Relic including set minimum thresholds. I highly recommend New Relic as [a] monitoring solution.” – Senior Software Engineer, construction industry

“New Relic helps us minimize our time to recovery during incidents by getting the right information in front of our engineers without the need for lots of expert knowledge about how New Relic works.” – Principal Site Reliability Engineer, media industry

“New Relic is a feature-rich monitoring tool that provides you with tools to monitor your websites and applications in real time. It plays a vital role in ensuring the performance of our apps is optimal and issues are resolved as fast as possible.” – Operations Executive, IT industry

“[New Relic] monitoring is very useful to proactively catch application performance dip or response time slowness. We can setup alerts for crucial portions of the site and have [New Relic] alert us through multiple channels. The usage is not just limited to websites but can also be setup for web services and APIs to track the availability.” – Technical Account Manager, IT industry

To learn more, download a copy of the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring and Observability and read the blog post.

Gartner Disclosure

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Application Performance Monitoring and Observability, Gregg Siegfried, Mrudula Bangera, Matt Crossley, Padraig Byrne, 5 July 2023.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, MAGIC QUADRANT and PEER INSIGHTS are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

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12th July 2023 – Boulder, Colo. – A new report from Guidehouse Insights explores the smart energy for smart cities technology market.

While still a developing market space, smart energy communities (SECs) are emerging at a time when there is growing demand and a growing pool of resources for their deployment. According to a new report from Guidehouse Insights, the smart energy for smart cities technology market is anticipated to grow from $36.7 billion in annual revenue in 2023 to $73.3 billion by 2032, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.0%.

“SECs offer a more modular, more resilient, and cleaner approach to how residents interact with the energy infrastructure around them. Active SECs have proven their success at improving the quality of energy for vulnerable communities,” says Grant Samms, research analyst with Guidehouse Insights. “While SECs today are generally considered a novel approach to meeting energy challenges, growing emphasis on the need to improve energy performance will drive considerable adoption in the coming decade.”

Reducing costs and improving energy stability, especially for isolated or otherwise vulnerable communities, continue to be the largest drivers of SEC adoption. Governments and communities are also using opportunities presented by EV adoption, like vehicle-to-grid services, to improve SEC performance and sustainability. Financially supporting these drivers are large infrastructure and climate investment packages that have been passed by numerous governments. However, SECs also face barriers related to regulatory structures, complexity, lack of standardization, and public engagement, according to the report.

The report, Smart Energy Communities, analyzes the global market for SECs, exploring market issues, emerging trends, drivers, and barriers for SEC deployments. Smart energy for smart cities market analyses are included for all world regions through 2032 and are broken out by advanced energy and smart grid technology segments. An executive summary of the report is available for free download on the Guidehouse Insights website.

Mumbai, 12th July 2023 – The prestigious School of Commerce at SVKM’s NMIMS Dhule Campus is delighted to announce that applications are now open for the highly sought-after B.Com. (Hons.) (Accounting and Finance) program for the academic year 2023 – a first for the city of Dhule. This three-year undergraduate program is designed to provide students with in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge, equipping them with the essential skills for a successful career in the field of commerce.

Admission to this program requires a minimum of 55% marks in 12th grade, and no entrance exam is required. This program is ideal for students from non-mathematical backgrounds who have a keen interest in pursuing a career in accounting and finance.

This program offers a unique blend of courses that go beyond a mere overview of subjects. Students will be taught the intricacies of commerce, economics, and management, cultivating a broad perspective and a strong foundation in their chosen field. The curriculum encompasses cutting-edge subjects such as Financial Markets and Institutions, Investment Analysis, Portfolio Management, Wealth Management, and Banking and Insurance, providing students with practical insights into equity markets, futures and options markets, bond markets, currency markets, and the dynamic world of finance.

One of the key highlights of the program is its focus on application-based learning. Students will gain exposure to real-world scenarios through projects, presentations, case studies, and interactive classroom sessions. They will also develop essential skills in areas such as filing income tax returns, financial modeling using Excel, stock market analysis, business communication, and soft skills training.

CA Kunal Pasari, I/C Associate Dean, NMIMS School of Commerce, Dhule, “B.Com. (Hons.) (Accounting and Finance) is a program under the Finance domain, suitable for students pursuing professional finance courses such as Chartered Accountancy, Cost and Management Accountancy, or seeking careers as Financial Analysts, Investment Bankers, and in Capital Markets, among others. Classroom learning is complemented with internships, expert talks, workshops, and exposure to the practical world. The courses are delivered by professionals and highly experienced faculty members.”

The B.Com. (Hons.) (Accounting and Finance) program at the School of Commerce is a gateway to a multitude of career opportunities. Graduates can pursue professional courses such as CA, CIMA, CS, CFA, CPMR, Actuarial Science, Business Analytics, and Data Science. Moreover, the program provides excellent compatibility and synergy with these professional courses, enabling students to seamlessly prepare for parallel professional exams while earning their degrees.

NMIMS Dhule Campus provides students with a distinctive chance to acquire practical experience through mandatory internships. This hands-on training equips them with the necessary skills, confidence, and industry exposure to thrive in their future careers. It takes great pride in its strong history of assisting graduates with internships and job placements. With a robust network of industry connections, renowned companies from various sectors actively recruit fresh graduates from our campus.

The Training and Placement Cell in Mumbai offers dedicated support to current third-year students, ensuring they have access to the best recruitment opportunities. This year, approximately 35 companies from diverse industries participated, all eager to hire talented graduates. Prominent organizations such as PwC, Byju’s, Ernst and Young India, Godrej & Boyce, Accenture, Vodafone Idea Limited, CRISIL, Tata Strategic Management, and Planet Sparks conducted campus placements for 2023. Graduates have secured highly competitive salary packages ranging from 6.5 to 7.25 lakhs per annum.