Archives April 2024

Mumbai, 27th April 2024: Amazon miniTV, Amazon’s free video streaming service, is all set to take audiences on a journey of sisterhood, self-discovery, and the complexities of teenage life with its upcoming series, ‘Amber Girls School’. The streaming service today announced the coming-of-age teen drama series by unveiling its gripping trailer, which offers a glimpse into the world of Amber Girls School (AGS), an all-girls institution that focuses on grooming ‘Sanskari’ young women, where tradition clashes with the desire for freedom. The upcoming series is certain to captivate the audience with its hard-hitting narrative, compelling characters, and authentic portrayal of teenage struggles. Produced by Reliance Entertainment Studios and directed by Rajlaxmi Ratan Seth, it features Celesti Bairagey, Kajol Chugh, Adrija Sinha, Ishika Gagneja, Harsh Khurana, and Shruti Panwar in pivotal roles. This series is helmed by the acclaimed writer Garima Pura Patiyaalvi, known for her exceptional work in the 2022 Oscar-winning documentary ‘Elephant Whisperers’.

The trailer follows the story of Ojaswini, a 15-year-old sincere and sanskari girl, who is amongst the most promising students of her grade. In pursuit of her dream to be the Vice Head Girl of her school, she maintains discipline and focus until teenage rebellion and desires come to the fore. The conflict between exploring all things ‘grown up’ and dealing with the financial crisis her family is going through puts Ojaswini in sheer confusion as she navigates through the challenges of teenage life. As the school’s strict rules clash with her desire for individuality and freedom, it will be interesting to witness how Ojaswini paves her way through the obstacles that arise in her journey.

“We are delighted to add yet another engrossing story to our content library, which exemplifies the quality and diversity of content that we offer to our audience. Amber Girls School beautifully captures the essence of teenage, portraying the complexities of identity, rebellion, and friendship in a compelling narrative.” shared Amogh Dusad, Head of Content, Amazon miniTV.

“We are pleased to bring ‘Amber Girls School’ to the viewers on 1st May,” said Sweta Agnihotri, Producer, Reliance Entertainment. “It’s a story that reflects the universal struggles of adolescence, and with the talented cast and crew, we are confident that the series will leave a lasting impact.”

Celesti Bairagey, who plays the character of Ojaswini, shared her thoughts, saying, “I am incredibly honored to be a part of Amber Girls School and bring the character of Ojaswini to life in this teen drama. This series is a powerful exploration of the teenage experience, and Ojaswini’s journey of independence and self-discovery is one that, I believe, will resonate with each viewer. Working alongside such a talented cast and crew has been an unforgettable experience, and I am excited for audiences to join us on this adventurous yet relatable ride.”

Amber Girls School will premiere on 1st May 2024, exclusively on Amazon miniTV for free within Amazon’s shopping app, on Prime Video, Fire TV, Smart TVs, or download the app from Play Store.

SMIORE has signed a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with an entity affiliated with ADV Partners, an Asia-focused private equity firm to acquire a controlling interest in Arjas. The transaction has been agreed at an Enterprise Value of ₹ 3,000 Crore and will be subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. Through this transaction, ADV will fully divest its interest in Arjas marking another successful exit from its India portfolio.

This strategic business acquisition accelerates SMIORE’s forward integration plans into steel & value-added products, and unlocks the potential for numerous synergies and integration. Arjas is among the top 5 special steel manufacturers in India supplying to the automobile sector.

Arjas operates out of 2 plants spread across nearly 950 acres, its flagship manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh and another facility in Punjab through its wholly-owned subsidiary Arjas Modern Steel Private Limited. Arjas is currently undergoing a major expansion at both its facilities, which will enhance its consolidated capacity as well as expand its downstream facilities.

India is one of the fastest-growing steel & automobile markets in the world, Arjas is geared up to benefit from the ample opportunities for the alloy steel industry in India. Apart from automobiles, Arjas caters to a host of other industries such as energy, railways, defense, engineering, material handling, and agriculture.

Commenting on this milestone, Bahirji A. Ghorpade, Managing Director, SMIORE said:

“This acquisition marks a significant milestone for SMIORE as we venture into steel and value-added products manufacturing. It not only unlocks numerous synergies but also represents a meaningful forward integration for SMIORE. The acquisition will take us another step closer to our strategic transition from a merchant miner to an integrated commodity producer.

Arjas is a well-established player in the special steels segment, serving a host of critical industries that align with the government’s growing focus on infrastructure and India’s rapidly growing manufacturing economy. This acquisition, coupled with our recent mining expansion, positions SMIORE on a robust growth trajectory for the years ahead.

We look forward to working with the existing team of Arjas under the leadership of Sridhar and Visweswaran and welcome them to the Sandur family. To the customers of Arjas, we are committed to ensuring that the highest standards of quality and service that Arjas has been delivering is maintained, and by combining the strength of our mining capabilities with Arjas’s expertise in steel production, we will ensure a reliable and high-quality supply of products. I want to emphasize our unwavering commitment to preserving the long-term vision of Arjas to emerge as a prominent special steel company in India and we will continue the growth trajectory that had been set in place by ADV Partners.”

Commenting on this milestone, Suresh Prabhala, Managing Partner, ADV Partners said:

“The acquisition of erstwhile Gerdau India and subsequent transformation into Arjas Steel was a unique control investment in a conventional industry. This investment is representative of ADV’s focus on India’s manufacturing sector, ability to take a long-term view and support managements in organic and inorganic growth initiatives. The management team led by Sridhar, under the guidance of the Company’s esteemed Independent directors, has done an excellent job navigating through challenging times while delivering growth. We believe that the partnership with SMIORE is a natural next step in Arjas’ journey to establish itself as a leader in the alloy steel industry in India and wish the company and the SMIORE group success in this journey.”

Commenting on this transaction, Sridhar Krishnamoorthy, Managing Director, Arjas said:

“Over the past five years, ADV and its team have contributed immensely to the successful transition of Arjas Steel into an independent entity from the erstwhile Gerdau India. They have supported the Company through the difficult COVID period and helped implement organic and inorganic growth through investments in downstream facilities including Kocks Block, Garrett Coiler, setting up of a 20 MW solar power plant and several other initiatives and through acquisition of the business of Modern Steel in the state of Punjab.

These investments provide a great platform to enable Arjas to achieve its vision of becoming one of the larger special steel manufacturers in the country. The synergistic acquisition of Arjas by the SMIORE group will provide enhanced access to raw materials and further support capacity expansion to achieve our long-term goals. With the support and resources of SMIORE, Arjas will be well-positioned to enhance our offerings, and capabilities and deliver greater value to our customers. This acquisition represents a new chapter in our journey and my team, and I welcome and look forward to working with the leadership of the SMIORE.”

New Delhi, 27th April 2024: Direct-to-customer (D2C) merchants from Delhi-NCR, such as the hair extension and wigs platform provider HairOriginals, homegrown fashion brand Little Box, and footwear brand Bacca Bucci, today announced that they have witnessed up to 5-10x growth in demand after the Shark Tank India episode went live. These developments were shared by the founders on the sidelines of the 23rd Chapter of Simpl’s D2C Unlocked, a flagship community-led founders event held on April 25th.

The event included Jitendra Sharma, founder of HairOriginals, Natwar Agrwawal, Founder of Bacca Bucci and Rimjim Deka, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Little Box, Nikhil Rajpal of Hero Electronics who spoke to dozens of D2C founders from the state. They spoke about knowledge sharing, brand building, and several other important business aspects to building a successful brand. Thousands of such brands have been working with Simpl to improve their business and the company wants to onboard over 10,000 merchants from New Delhi-NCR in the next 2-3 years.

The event, which was organized by Simpl, was also attended by Manu Sharma, Sauce VC, Arush Chopra, Just Herbs, and many others.

Mumbai,27th April 2024: Vitesco Technologies, a leading international supplier of modern drive technologies and electrification solutions, and Sanden International (Europe), a leading global supplier of automotive thermal management technology, have joined forces to develop an Integrated Thermal Management System for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). Within the future-oriented pre-development project, Sanden develops the compact refrigerant unit with the natural refrigerant propane (R290), while Vitesco Technologies develops the heat energy distribution system realized by a coolant distribution unit with water/glycol. The building blocks of the coolant unit are the coolant pumps and Coolant Flow Control Valves (CFCV) plus sensors. Depending on the application, the coolant valve can have between 5 and 13 ports to connect heat sinks and heat sources.

By integrating the entire thermal management functions and features into one indirect system, several advantages such as flexible adaptation, reduced complexity, reduced effort in the vehicle manufacturing process, system cost reduction for the OEM, and conformity to regulations, including the upcoming per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) ban in Europe, can be achieved. Furthermore, the new technology will increase driving range in cold conditions, enable fast charging, and provide thermal comfort inside the cabin.

“The new thermal management system makes BEV heating and cooling more sustainable. It also helps to maximize vehicle range under cold conditions. At the same time, we intend to achieve significant cost benefits to increase the economy of thermal management,” says Dr. Gerd Rösel, Head of Innovations Electrification Solutions at Vitesco Technologies.

For the vehicle manufacturers, the Integrated Thermal Management System will offer simplified assembly because a lot of the current complexity of heating and cooling will be integrated with the preassembled module.

“Holistic thermal management is the more sustainable approach. That is why we prepare green technology for a system solution together with Sanden that will be ready for the natural refrigerant propane,” Rösel adds.

The new Integrated Thermal Management concept is presented to a technical audience for the first time at the 45th International Vienna Motor Symposium.

Bhubaneswar, Odisha/April 26, 2024: Shreyas Webmedia Solutions, a leading digital publishing company, in collaboration with Rajdhani Engineering College (REC), is proud to announce an exciting initiative aimed at fostering intellectual growth and creativity among students. The essay competition will be held on Saturday, April 27, at Rajdhani Engineering College in Bhubaneswar. This initiative marks a significant step towards encouraging young minds to articulate their thoughts and ideas on contemporary issues said by Mr. Neelakanth Achary, CEO of Shreyas Webmedia Solutions. The competition aims to provide a platform for students to showcase their writing skills, critical thinking abilities, and depth of understanding on a wide range of topics.

Mr. Neelakanth Achary also mentioned, “We are delighted to collaborate with Rajdhani Engineering College for this initiative. It’s crucial to offer students opportunities to nurture their creativity and critical thinking skills. Through this essay competition, our aim is to inspire and empower the future generation of innovators and leaders.”

The essay competition is open to students only for Rajdhani Engineering College, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Participants will have the chance to compete for prestigious awards and recognition for their essays.

Bengaluru, 26 April 2024: Bowring Institute announced the first edition of Cue Sports Premier League (CSPL), a national-level Snooker tournament in the city today. The tournament will be held at the South Pavilion Snooker Arena, Bowring Institute, Bengaluru from 4th May to 10th May 2024. Noted champions including Padma Bhushan and 27-time World Billiards Champion, Pankaj Advani, and Arjuna Awardees including Aditya Mehta, Sourav Kothari, and National Women’s Champion Vidya Pillai will feature in the first edition of CSPL.

Embassy Group will be the title sponsor of the inaugural edition of Cue Sports Premier League. The organizers have also roped in Audi as a co-sponsor.

The tournament which will be played at one of the best Snooker Arena in the country at Bowring Institute will be telecasted live on the Club Liv app.

A total of 56 players including both international and national players from across the country will participate in the first edition of the Cue Sports Premier League. These players were selected via auction held in Bengaluru on 20th April 2024, by eight teams that will be competing in the first edition of CSPL 2024.

The eight teams competing in the league are named Lightning Legion, Cyclone Crusaders, Summer Tuskers, Hurricane Hawks, Thunderstorm Titans, Tornado Tigers, Whirlwind Warriors, and Monsoon Mavericks.

Speaking on the idea behind CSPL, Pankaj Advani said, ” The CSPL is a unique event which is aimed at integrating players of 3 different categories – National, State and Club levels. I’m delighted that Bowring Institute is hosting one of the most exciting snooker tournaments India will witness. As the conceptualiser, ambassador and player of CSPL, I’m looking forward to wearing several hats. I am certain that a championship of this magnitude will attract more players to cue sports and inspire the aspiring cueists to further improve their game.”.

Raghavindrra Y R , Chairman Billiards and Snooker at Bowring Institute said, “CSPL is designed in such a way that the tournament will give the upcoming players a chance to showcase their skills at the highest level and compete with the best players in the country. We want to provide amateur players with the opportunity to learn, enjoy and succeed with the use of their minds and skills. The league has received a great response, and I am sure that the league will help to promote the sport further and more players will take up the sport professionally”.

The CSPL will be played in a league format where all the teams will play against each other once and the top 4 teams will play in the semi-finals and the final will be played on 10th May 2024. The matches will be played in a 7-frame format, with the first six frames having a mix of Singles and Doubles involving the National, State, and Club Categories. The match format has the best National Players playing alongside the State and Club Players, allowing them to pass on their experience and knowledge. The league also introduces a one-of-a-kind shootout as the 7th frame of every match which brings added and new excitement to the game of Cue Sports.

The Bowring Institute South Pavilion features a state-of-the-art snooker arena that boasts of 7 snooker tables, with a seating capacity of 140+ with live streaming facilities for the matches. The league will be played on World Championship Star Xingpai and Rasson Tables.

Hyderabad, 26th April 2024: SBI Card, India’s largest pure-play credit card issuer, has launched three variants of its first travel-focused core credit card, ‘SBI Card MILES’, in Mumbai today. The card is aimed at bringing holistic travel benefits to travelers of all kinds – from travel aspirants to frequent fliers to travel aficionados. SBI Card MILES offers compelling features that include conversion of Travel Credits to Air Miles and Hotel Points, accelerated rewards on EVERY travel booking, and airport lounge access among others. Empowering cardholders with absolute choice of redemption, the card partners over 20 airline and hotel brands including Air Vistara, Air India, Spicejet, Air France-KLM, Etihad Airways, Air Canada, Thai Airways, Qantas Airways, ITC Hotels, IHG Hotels & Resorts, and Accor among others.

According to Mr. Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman, State Bank of India, “The strong economic growth and robust consumption landscape has accentuated India’s position in the world. Even in travel sector, today, India is considered amongst the key source markets for outbound travel in many countries including those in Asia and Europe. I congratulate SBI Card on the launch of SBI Card MILES, a strong product that will redefine the travel experiences for Indian consumers.”

Indians are increasingly becoming open to more and varied travel experiences. The three variants, SBI Card MILES ELITE, SBI Card MILES PRIME, and SBI Card MILES, have been designed to elevate these experiences through curated travel benefits. Cardholders can earn up to 6 Travel Credits on every INR 200 travel spend and up to 2 Travel Credits on spending INR 200 on other categories. The offerings under ‘SBI Card MILES’ bouquet enable cardholders to carry out an easy and seamless Travel Credits redemption across multiple renowned flights and hotel partners. One can convert these Travel Credits into Air Miles/Hotel Points of respective partners or directly use them to book air tickets and hotel accommodations by visiting the SBI Card mobile app or website https://www.sbicard.com/. Alternatively, one can redeem them on SBI Card’s Rewards Catalogue as well.

Speaking at the launch Mr. Abhijit Chakravorty, MD & CEO, SBI Card said, “Our customer-centric approach has always driven us to design innovative products, solutions, and services that address the evolving and diverse lifestyle needs and offer customers an extremely rewarding experience. Indian travellers are large global spenders and naturally, with increased and more robust travel plans, consumers are looking for curated benefits to enhance their travel experiences. SBI Card MILES is our endeavour to offer our customers the best of all the travel benefits. The card has been designed to become one true travel partner for the cardholders. We are sure that our cardholders will enjoy the exclusive benefits offered by our travel-centric core card.”

SBI Card MILES ELITE comes with multiple and varied spends milestone benefits. These include up to 5000 Travel Credits on reaching spends of INR 1 lakh in 60 days of enrollment; up to 20,000 Travel Credits on spends milestone of INR 12 lakh; and spends-based fee reversal on reaching spends milestone of INR 15 lakh.

With airport lounge access being an important part of the overall travel experience, SBI Card MILES ELITE offers Priority Pass membership. Using the card, cardholders will be able to enjoy up to 8 complimentary domestic lounge visits and up to 6 international airport lounge visits in a year. What’s more, the card also enables users to earn additional domestic lounge access. Every time a cardholder achieves a cumulative spends of INR 1 lakh, cardholders will receive 1 gift voucher for lounge access that can be used by either the cardholder or the guest.

Importantly, SBI Card MILES ELITE cardholders will also enjoy a low foreign transaction markup of 1.99% and travel insurance cover. The card will be available on Mastercard and RuPay network. The joining and annual fees of SBI Card MILES ELITE are INR 4,999 plus applicable taxes while SBI Card MILES PRIME and SBI Card MILES have a fee of INR 2,999 and INR 1,499 plus applicable taxes respectively.

Key highlights of SBI Card MILES Cards:

26th April 2024, Noida, National Capital Region: UFlex Limited has entered into a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Amplus Phoenix Private Limited to source renewable power under a group captive power policy. The plant will provide solar power to UFlex’s Packaging Films manufacturing plant in Dharwad, Karnataka. In line with UFlex’s goal of being net zero by 2035, or earlier, this move will strategically reduce UFlex’s carbon emissions by app. 19000 tCO2e.

UFlex’s Dharwad facility is home to a state-of-the-art packaging films plant, commissioned in Q2, 2022. Equipped with a BOPET line, a CPP line, and plasma-enhanced high-barrier metallizers, with a combined capacity of 93,000 TPA, the facility is an addition to UFlex’s global manufacturing footprint — spread across nine countries.

This agreement signifies UFlex’s commitment to adopting renewable energy for its operations and fostering a sustainable future. This strategic agreement, under the group’s captive power policy, aims to play a pivotal role in reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions and is aligned with UFlex’s overarching vision for sustainability.

Mr. Apoorvshree Chaturvedi, Director of Global Operations, UFlex Group, affirmed that the company’s investment in renewable energy is a crucial and bold move toward reducing its carbon footprint and fulfilling its commitment to environmental stewardship. “UFlex has a robust and well-defined energy optimization transition strategy for reducing emissions. The organization believes that every company is responsible for adopting sustainable practices that are beneficial for the environment, long-term business success, and stakeholder value. UFlex is a pioneer in recycling multi-layer mixed plastics and aseptic packaging waste and has taken the onus to share its knowledge and expertise with corporations and economies worldwide. The investment in renewable

Brussels, Hong Kong, Montreal, Munich, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toulouse, Washington D.C. [26th April 2024 ] –Significant and ongoing transformations in the High Throughput Satellites (HTS) market are confirmed in the 7th edition of the ‘High Throughput Satellites’ report from leading space consulting and market intelligence firm Novaspace, a merger between Euroconsult and SpaceTec Partners. The report underscores the pivotal role of Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) constellations in reshaping the satellite connectivity industry, with the latter to emerge as the primary driver in coming years.

Novaspace’s report reveals that to date, approximately three-quarters of the 50+ active satellite operators have invested in HTS systems. The vast majority of HTS players have satellites in GEO orbit. Despite the NGSO potential, high capital expenditure (CapEx) requirements remain a significant barrier for most players, with investments typically between $2-4 billion and exceeding $10 billion for a mega-constellation. As a result, only a select few of the ‘leading’ satellite operators are pursuing plans for full NGSO constellations, with three expected to be operational during 2024. This includes SpaceX’s Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb and O3b mPOWER from SES.

Recent NGSO dynamism has been mainly supported by the aggressive launch campaign of SpaceX’s Starlink LEO constellation. Overall, HTS supply tripled between 2021 and 2023 to 27 Tbps, with Starlink accounting for 90% of net new supply during the period.The significant increase in supply has been accompanied with strong growth in Starlink’s customer base with the operator reporting >2.7 million customers globally in April 2024.

The emergence of NGSO constellations has forced HTS operators to adapt their strategies. The past few years witnessed an increase in partnerships among satellite operators, with NGSOs featuring in most of them. The rise in NGSO constellations has triggered a wave of ‘multi-orbit’ collaborations among operators, partnering with cross-orbit players in the industry to maximize reach among their customers and to provide them better services across orbits, showcasing the industry’s innate adaptability to embrace evolving demands and technologies.

The report forecasts a remarkable nine-fold growth in HTS capacity supply from 2023-2028, with NGSO constellations driving 97% of the net increase. HTS demand doubled in 2023 to 6 Tbps, with NGSO accounting for close to 90% of growth and surpassing GEO in total demand. Consumer broadband, corporate networks and civil government are projected to remain the leading demand drivers.

Novaspace Managing Consultant Dimitri Buchs commented: “The HTS market is undergoing unprecedented shifts driven by the rapid expansion of NGSO constellations and evolving consumer demands. Interestingly, the influx of subscribers across a variety of verticals for Starlink has led to HTS market expansion, not pure cannibalization, which is a positive indicator for the industry, as it shows that the improved economics enabled by lower HTS capacity pricing should unlock new opportunities both for GEO and NGSO in coming years, as they will allow for better services.”

He added: “The influx of NGSO constellations has not only expanded market supply but has also fostered market competition. This has pushed GEO HTS operators to adapt their strategies and, in response, there has been a limited number of GEO HTS orders in recent years as operators adopt a cautious ‘wait and see’ approach or opt for fully software-defined satellites.”

Small GEO HTS satellites have gained traction in recent years, accounting for half of the eight GEO HTS orders in 2023. Operators favor small satellites due to their lower CapEx requirements, which make financing less challenging and increase the likelihood of recouping investments.

In addition to supply and demand dynamics, the report delves into revenue projections, forecasting a quadrupling of HTS capacity revenue from 2023-2032 to $22 billion in 2032. Despite the dominance of mega-constellations, the report notes that growth remains positive across the market sector. The fastest-growing segments for HTS include land mobility, corporate networks and civil government, with further substantial growth rates expected over the forecast period.

Renowned TV actor Mayank Verma, known for his notable performances in shows like “SaddaHaq” (Channel V), “Parvarish 2” (Sony), “BaateKuchAnkahee Si” (DD1), “ChikuYehIshqNachaye” (Star Plus), and “Meet” (ZEE TV), is all set to grace ZEE TV’s screens once again in their upcoming serial “Main HoonSaathTere.”

In this new venture, Mayank Verma will be stepping into the shoes of a negative character named NishantBundella. The show is scheduled to premiere on April 29th, 2024 at 7:30 PM, airing daily. For viewers who prefer online streaming, the episodes will also be available on ZEE 5.

Having previously appeared in over 100 episodes of ZEE TV’s “Meet,” Mayank expresses his excitement about portraying a negative role for the first time. He shares, “I’m thrilled to delve into the realm of villainy as it allows me to explore different facets of my acting abilities.”

Mayank extends his gratitude to Rahul Barve and ZEE Entertainment for their unwavering support throughout his journey in the industry.

Fans eagerly anticipate MayankVerma’s performance in this new show, and we extend our best wishes to him for his upcoming venture!