All posts by Neel Achary

Delhi, 4 May 2023: Skills Caravan – a SaaS-based B2B edtech platform has recently integrated Artificial Intelligence backed by robust features in its state-of-the-art experiential learning platform. This aligns with the platform’s goal to provide enhanced LMS, Live Classroom, Offline Training and External Content powered by generative AI and analytics.

Employees are the fundamental unit of an organization and they need to be constantly adaptive to adjust to the present age of technology. Skills Caravan utilises Generative AI models to understand the context of dialogues and enhance personalization within the platform.

The AI integration helps Skills Caravan to better engage the users and also understand and process the learning requirements of their workforce. It understands the context of the user’s learning path and their learning abilities. This set of information keeps growing with user activity which leads to further fine-tuning for every user action.

Improved targeting and upskilling can lead to significant, long-term impacts on employee engagement and performance, ultimately contributing to an organization’s business growth.

Commenting on the announcement, Sarita Chand, Founder of Skills Caravan said, “Today’s world determines competency by the smallest of competitive advantages. Companies strive to keep their employees engaged and ahead of the learning curve. At Skills Caravan, we strive to move from a monolithic to a modular learning approach through a technology-enabled and AI-embedded system.”

Launched in 2022, Skills Caravan is recognized as one of its kind platform that provides B2B learning and development solutions to listed BFSI, Real Estate and Automobile companies and Unicorn startups. It focuses on bite-sized learning and its daily micro-learning recommendations (like the Instagram and TikTok reels) have higher adoption rates.

Today’s world has become ultra-competitive which generates a massive demand for organizations to gamify employee training and learning programs. Skills Caravan stimulates progress by gamifying employee training and learning programs, fostering social learning and friendly competition.

As part of gamification, Skills Caravan leverages analytics to gain insights into human potential. It tracks KPIs that matter with 50+ points of data tracking. It further tests the skill competency of organizations’ workforce against industry and fulfils the learning goals and interests of employees.

Skills Caravan provides the most flexible LMS that features compatible content for learners. The platform boasts Blockchain certifications, Integrations with HRMS, Quiz and Quick Assessments and dedicated human assistance for L&D troubleshooting. Furthermore, the platform emphasizes on leadership learning programs featuring curated learning content from internal or external sources while also setting deadlines to monitor and guide employees to get there. To enable transformative leadership learning experiences, the edtech platform offers Live Classroom training with pre-reads and post surveys and performance tracking.

Integration of AI in Skills Caravan proves to be a game changer in the B2B learning landscape. The platform aims to provide a transformative learning environment to users with personalized learning experiences.

goEgo Network, India’s leading EV charging solutions provider, is inching closer to its vision of electrifying India’s commute needs by making EV transportation a mainstay. In line with their notable partnerships with revolutionary EV-promoting brands, goEgo Network has just announced a path-breaking development wherein they have partnered as the OEM vendor with Adani Total Gas, to provide them with EV charging infrastructure across Adani-owned and managed premises pan India.

As part of the agreement, goEgo Network is now a registered vendor with Adani for the supply of end to-end EV charging infrastructure required by Adani’s EV Charging Stations. As the OEM service provider for Adani EV Charging Stations, goEgo Network will provide them with their Make In India products for 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler charging stations. goEgo Network has already completed a few premium installations of Adani EV Charging Stations at IIT Powai, Adani Corporate House Ahmedabad, and Adani Managed Airports. Adani has further earmarked key locations across the country to set up their EV Charging Stations.

Excited about the partnership, Pravin Kumar, Co-founder, goEgo Network, voiced, “We thank Adani Group for having vested their trust in us as we emerged to be undisputed by the competitors while going through Adani Group’s rigorous vendor selection process. As one of the pioneering Make In India EV charging companies, we secured the OCPP 1.6 (Open Charge Point Protocol) certification as the first Indian company, having a dedicated manufacturing facility with state-of-the-art assembly and testing facility with potential for multifold future growth, which has led us to be at the forefront of providing all the stakeholders with thoroughly tested and quality products only. goEgo Network has installed more than 1700 charge points across 50+ cities in India. We at goEgo Network have already completed the flagship installations for Adani at IIT Powai, Adani Corporate House Ahmedabad, Adani Managed Airports, etc. We are bullish on completing the upcoming Adani EV Charging Stations as per the set timelines.”

Adding to Pravin’s comments, Dheeman Kadam, Co-founder, goEgo Network, said, “Adani group’s decision to put their trust on our company is special for us. The focus will be to deliver a world class product of Indian origin for the EV customers of Adani group. We are looking forward to the future and forging/strengthening this alliance.”

Washington D.C, Texas & Mumbai, May 4, 2023: JSW Steel USA Ohio, Inc. a subsidiary of JSW Steel Ltd. (India’s leading steel company and the flagship business of US $22 billion JSW Group), with over 750 employees in the United States, announced its plans to invest US$ 145 million in new projects to upgrade its manufacturing operations in Mingo Junction, Ohio. JSW Steel USA aims to meet the demand for quality steel products that are “melted & manufactured in the US”. This is in alignment with President Biden Administration’s Buy America policies. The new investments were announced at the SelectUSA Investment Summit held in National Harbour MD.

Announcing the new investments, Parth Jindal, Director of JSW Steel USA said, “These new investments reiterate JSW’s commitment to a sustainable & green future. The operational upgrades being made at JSW Steel USA are a progresive step towards achieving our long term ESG goals. These investments & projects will help us in producing high quality ‘melted and manufactured in USA’ steel products required by our customers in the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors.”

“JSW Steel’s continued investment in Mingo Junction demonstrates the company’s confidence to grow its global footprint with talent from Ohio,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, “Choosing Ohio for this expansion brings good-paying jobs to Jefferson County while helping secure a stronger domestic supply chain for steel manufactured in the United States.”

“Ohio has always been home to ingenuity and innovation that makes this State a destination for investment from companies such as JSW Steel, which is advancing its manufacturing to meet evolving market demand,” said J.P. Nauseef, JobsOhio President and CEO, “The investment at JSW’s Mingo Junction facility will bring new jobs and the latest technology for more sustainable methods of steel production.”

“This capital expenditure ensures not only job retention and creation but adds an element of economic sustainability to JSW Steel USA Ohio, Inc.’s footprint in Jefferson County,” said Robert Naylor, executive director of the Jefferson County Port Authority. “The Port Authority also appreciates the contributions of OhioSE and JobsOhio to assist the project and facilitate the steel maker’s future expansion.”

“We thank JSW for the investment in new jobs and capital in the Southeast Ohio region, and we’re proud to support the company’s efforts through the JobsOhio Revitalization Grant program,” said Mike Jacoby, President of Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE). “JSW’s commitment to grow and invest is a great opportunity for the people and businesses in the area.”

According to Samir Kalra, CFO of JSW USA, “These new projects will enable JSW Steel USA to serve its customers across several end-markets with steel products that are melted in USA in a facility with low carbon emissions. The improvement in JSW Steel USA’s domestic slab production capabilities through these new investments will mitigate risks associated with importing slabs, improve profitability of the business and create employment opportunities in the US.”

According to Mike Panzeri, COO of Mingo Junction facility of JSW USA, “We look forward to the successful completion of these upgardes. It will provide JSW Steel USA additional momentum for growth while ensuring our commitment to sustainability in our markets. This will also be a significant step towards achieving our emissions goals. We appreciate the assistance of Jobs Ohio and the Jefferson County Port Authority in partnering with JSW on our continued expansion.”

According to Cory Raimondi, Chief Commercial Officer of JSW USA, “JSW Steel USA’s investment is in line with President Biden’s Buy America policy, and the company’s focus on reducing emissions and achieving our sustainability goals. These projects will strengthen JSW Steel USA’s manufacturing capability, widen its product portfolio, and help us to streghten our service capabilities to meet the growing needs of the renewable energy and infrastructure segments.”

JSW Steel USA has long championed the Department of Energy’s (DOE) emission reduction priorities and applauds its recent efforts to promote infrastructure that reduces the carbon footprint of the iron and steel industry through pivotal legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act. The proposed investments by JSW Steel USA will be deployed to establish various projects to upgrade its operations including the installation of one of the largest Vaccum Tank Degasser (VTD) in the world and upgrade of supporting facilities including the manufacturing infrastructure. The proposed VTD has substantially lower carbon emissions profile compared to a traditional steam ejector vacuum technology. It will help JSW Steel USA to reduce hydrogen content in its steel products through electrification of metallurgical processes. As part of this investment plan, JSW Steel USA is also implementing Dynamic Soft Reduction (DSR) technology in its casting operations.

The proposed investments will enhance JSW’s manufacturing capabilities in the USA while enabling the company to produce “Made in USA” slabs for end use by the Renewable Energy and Infrastructure sectors. The proposed upgradations will also enable JSW Steel USA to promote centerline soundness of the casted steel slabs which will not only widen its product portfolio but will also help produce wide range of high quality and sophisticated grades of steel slabs in USA. This will help expand its “Made in USA” product portfolio and replace imports into the USA. The portfolio expansion will help JSW Steel USA to adequately service the growing needs of the renewable energy customer segment by providing “Made in USA” products they need. These new projects are expected to be completed & commisioned in FY26.

May 4, 2023, Bangalore, India – Today, Lenovo (HKSC: 992) launched its first-ever ‘Smarter Data Management Technology Playbook’ that captures insights from 550+ CIOs across Asia Pacific. The IDC led report highlights the current state of the data management landscape, digital maturity and readiness of CIOs to meet the data challenges and priorities now and in the future. Commissioned by Lenovo, the IDC study provides critical insights on infrastructure readiness, data innovation, sustainability, and selecting the right storage partner.

Key Highlights:

Digital Maturity

Businesses in AP expect 52% revenue to be digitally driven by 2027, but only 39% are at Stage 3/4 of Digital Maturity. Stage 3 or 4 indicates a well-defined multi-year execution roadmap of an organization.

India falls behind with 48% of businesses at Stage 1 of digital maturity. Lack of competitive pressure and cultural resistance to change hinder the transformation journey.

Digital Infrastructure Readiness

Majority of AP businesses (84%) consider digital infrastructure to be mission–critical or important for achieving business goals. However, only 38% are exceptionally or sufficiently prepared to maintain standard service levels, security and cost-optimization during events of unexpected business demands.

Nigel Lee, Director of Storage – AP, Lenovo ISG, said “Data innovation acts as a compass for CIOs, providing guidance to unlock new business opportunities and achieve digital success. By harnessing the power of data, companies can gain valuable insights to improve productivity and stay ahead of the competition. Lenovo’s open, reliable, and secure infrastructure solutions are helping customers modernize their data management infrastructure.”

A similar trend is in India, where digital infrastructure is either mission-critical or important for 87% of businesses, but in reality, only 33% are exceptionally/sufficiently prepared. To attain stage 3 or 4 of digital maturity, organizations must leverage future-ready IT driven by Hybrid Cloud platforms to utilize real-time business insights that lead to investment-focused outcomes.

Data Innovation

Data-driven innovation is critical for digital success and driving myriad business outcomes. However, lack of cyber resiliency, growing AI/ML workloads and limited data mobility in hybrid cloud impede data innovation.

Of 36% of the organizations in AP that are driving data innovation strategically or fairly strategically, 33% are investing in it to improve supply chain operations. The top two investment priorities for businesses in India are towards product & services engineering by 39% and driving competitive differentiation in products and services by 37%.

97% CIOs in India plan to accelerate their data-innovation journey in the next 2 years. To become digital natives CIOs will need to accelerate IT modernization and transformation. This also addresses the key challenges around data security and cyber resiliency, the growing mix of AI/ML-powered high-performance, and energy costs to support data explosion.

“It is interesting to see the majority of CIOs in India committed to accelerating their data innovation journey in the next two years,” said Amit Luthra, MD – India, Lenovo ISG. It presents a great opportunity for Lenovo to offer the best of data management systems and solutions to help organizations become digital natives and achieve their investment-focused outcomes.”

Information Management

Increasing deployment options, whether public, private, hybrid, or multi-Cloud, have led to challenges around data residing in silos. Businesses in AP are significantly investing in data storage and information management technologies for Hybrid cloud, Public cloud, and Software-defined storage.

Data Management platform for hybrid/multi-cloud is the #1 investment priority (53%) for CIOs across all AP geos, with the exception of India, which follows an inverse pattern. More than half (52%) businesses in India are looking to invest in software-defined storage solutions, followed by 44% in public cloud for data backup & business continuity, and 42% in data management platform for hybrid/multi-cloud.

Unified Data Management

Unified Management Platform is key to securing competitive advantage. Only 16% of the organizations in AP indicated that they have managed to build a single data management platform. 29% organizations have managed to minimize the number of data management platforms and made significant progress, opines IDC.

Businesses in India appear to be lagging with only 18% managing to reduce multiple Data Management platforms down to a few. Nearly 50% businesses still use multiple data management systems to independently manage block, file, and object data types with limited data mobility between public and private cloud, and edge locations.

Sustainability

93% of the organizations in AP indicated a strong focus on sustainability. 35% see a significant impact on brand reputation as the younger generation becomes much more concerned about climate change.

The sustainability wave is strong in India, with 94% businesses including it in their business agenda. Regulatory and compliance requirements, improving resource utilization, and attracting or retaining talent have become key business drivers of the sustainability agenda.

Amit Luthra added, “As Lenovo advances efforts towards a more sustainable world, we are delighted to see the growing importance and focus on sustainability in business priorities.”

To continue the focus and improve sustainability goals, CIOs and line-of-businesses (LOBs) need to collaborate to build a set of discrete business outcomes, beyond social branding and regulatory compliance requirements. Here’s how organizations in India see infrastructure and data management technology investments to drive sustainability:

AI/ML-based management, provisioning and orchestration software to increase storage capacity utilization levels
Inline compression & deduplication technologies to reduce storage capacity requirements
Consolidate departmental and workgroup storage with private cloud

Lenovo provides Data Management systems, platforms, and software solutions that enable customers to efficiently manage their data and information assets, from the edge to the core data center, as well as across myriad cloud deployments. Lenovo’s Data Management solutions underpin data mobility across the vast expanse of the heterogeneous IT infrastructure landscape, powering next-generation data and AI/ML powered business applications.

The Smarter Data Management Playbook studied 100+ IT and business decision makers (ITBDMs) from India.

03 May, New Delhi, India – Sightsavers India, a leading NGO that works towards eliminating avoidable blindness and promoting equality for people with disabilities, has developed an online app called “Student Tracking Assessment and Reporting (STAR)” to track the progress of visually impaired children in their inclusive education program. The tool has been designed to collect basic information, set baseline data of the children, capture progressive data of the Children with Visual Impairment (CVI), and generate reports based on monitoring of field-based activities.

Inclusive education is a key focus area for Sightsavers India, and the organization aims to ensure that children who are visually impaired are included in mainstream education for their overall development and inclusion. Blindness creates a cycle of illiteracy, poverty, and social exclusion for visually impaired children, making them one of the most vulnerable groups in the world. Sightsavers India supports inclusive education to break this cycle, promoting a positive and enabling environment in schools, families, and communities to support the holistic education of children with visual impairment. This is facilitated by the availability of assistive devices and accessible educational material, provision of compensatory skills training, infrastructure accessibility, and building education management and leadership, among others.

The STAR app will be used by the IE Facilitator (Inclusive Education), who will be responsible for collecting the information from the child through the app. The District Project Coordinator will be responsible for monitoring the data entries and ensuring timely submission of the data of their district, maintaining timeliness, completeness, accuracy, relevance, and reliability through the tool.

The STAR app has several features, including the ability to capture data both in offline and online mode, capture data on a real-time basis, mandatory fields that the user must fill in, the requirement to save data to move to the next page/section to avoid loss of data, the ability to review and verify data before submission, and the inbuilt functionality of the device.

Sightsavers India is currently implementing the inclusive education program in seven states, namely Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chattisgarh., with the district as a unit of intervention. The program focuses on training general and specialist teachers to aid the inclusion process in the classroom, prepare visually impaired students for the classroom, provide one-on-one help to children in the classroom, and teach visually impaired children skills such as Braille.

“The STAR app is a significant milestone for us in our inclusive education program,” said RN Mohanty, CEO of Sightsavers India. “We believe that this tool will help us track the progress of visually impaired children more effectively and support our mission of promoting inclusive education in India.”

New Delhi, May 3, 2023: Shreya Poonja(22), the first Runner-Up in Femina Miss India-2023 pageant finale held recently in Imphal, draws her strength from her ‘never-to-be-defeated’ spirit.

“I believe that a never-to-be-defeated spirit helped me win the Femina Miss India-2023 first runner-up crown. It is a quality I have built into my personality and this certainly is the most crucial aspect that helps me overcome obstacles in life. I believe in constantly working on myself and evolving into the best version every single day and this I focused on religiously,” said Shreya on Monday during a media interaction held at Essex Farms, Aurobindo Road, IIT Gate, here. Shreya returned to her home town Delhi on April 28 from Imphal.

Sharing her feelings on winning the first runner up spot in the coveted national pageant, Delhi University’s Deshbandhu College’s Economics graduate Shreya said: “The feeling is settling in day by day. There were a lot of efforts that were put in the past few years and to have finally been able to achieve this makes me feel accomplished. The efforts have validated my victory.”

Poonja’s alma mater is St. Anthony’s Senior Secondary School, Hauz Khas and she will be visiting both her school and college on May 4. Shreya has been busy after landing in Delhi. She has had a meeting with Delhi’s Chief Fire Officer in the Fire Headquarters at Connaught Place among other social engagements. Reflecting about the Miss India journey so far, Shreya said: “I have evolved every single day of my 40-day journey. Learning new things about myself along the way. There were tight schedules and discipline of the self-played an important part. Each individual had something great that they offered towards my journey and I truly cherish the time now.”

Shreya gives credit to her parents – mother Bharti Poonja and father Sanjay Poonja – for the feat. “My parents have been instrumental in my win. I have not had an easy path to victory. However, my close friends and family members continued to support my vision and gave strength and encouragement to me whenever necessary.”

Talking about her future plans, she said: “I have always been in love with the camera, for as long as I can remember! I am keenly interested in the entertainment and show business and have already been working in the same since I was 17. I’m looking forward to commencing work soon.” When asked to share tips for young girls preparing for the title, Shreya said that the most important thing I believe is to be truly happy with what you do and not let short-term wins or defeats sway you away.

“Have a clear vision of why you want to do something and then work towards it every second of every day. Soon things are bound to work your way. Do not get impatient with the results of your efforts. Please know that it is not the win but the habit of pushing yourself to the limit that will in time bear fruit,” she concluded.

Hyderabad: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India), a joint venture of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel, two of the world’s leading steel manufacturers, signed an MoU with Work Integrated Learning Programmes (WILP) division of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, an Institution of Eminence (IoE), to leverage their MBA Manufacturing Management Programme for some of its professionals.

The agreement with BITS Pilani WILP will help facilitate leading higher education opportunities in manufacturing management for some of AM/NS India’s engineers, while not needing them to take a career break. Besides providing a unique upskilling opportunity, which will help professionals hone their management and technical skills, it shall also help address AM/NS India’s need for a wider talent pool of professionals, who can take up leadership roles with a holistic understanding of technology and management.

The MBA Manufacturing Management is a four-semester Work Integrated Learning Programme, with online classes conducted during the weekends, thereby helping professionals to study, while continuing to work. The learners, with access to highly engaging study material, can learn at their own pace. They can also attend the lectures from any location using the state-of-the-art digital technology and will also be able to access recorded lectures later. The programme also emphasizes on experiential learning and will empowerthe learners to applyconcepts learnt in the classroom in real-work situations.

Dr. Anil Matoo, Head of Human Resources, IR &Administration at AM/NS India, said, “We are elated to announce our collaboration with BITS Pilani WILP for the two-year MBA Manufacturing Management programme, with an aim to develop and groom our manufacturing leaders. AM/NS India believes in providing continuous learning opportunities to employees through leading institutions and this collaboration is another step in this direction. BITS Pilani is an Institution of Eminence, especially known for providing technicaleducation of the highest standards. With its robust curriculum, this programme will help in grooming our engineers to handle challenging assignments and in creating a competitive edge for us.”

Elaborating about the collaboration, Prof. G. Sundar, Director, Off-Campus Programmes & Industry Engagement, BITS Pilani, said, “It gives me great delight that the working professionals of the joint venture of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel (both among the leading steel manufacturers in the world) will be enrolling in the MBA Manufacturing Management programme. Continuing higher education, reskilling and upskilling of professionals are critically important in helping them adapt to the rapid developments and manage various key aspects, such as production, new technologies, strategic planning, and operations, in a holistic and effective manner —thereby, aiding their organization in gaining the edge too in today’s highly competitive manufacturing sector.”

Road To Valor: Empires is KRAFTON’s latest strategy game where players compete with one another while commanding mythical gods, beasts, heroes and army units.

Players can choose between Roman, Persian, Norman, and Japanese Guardians and battle units to assemble their troops.The Romans were one of the most powerful empires in the ancient world, and their strength is reflected in their units in Road to Valor: Empires. Led by Caesar, the Roman faction is disciplined, efficient, and well-organized. There are three Roman guardians available with both passive and active skills:

CAESAR

As the great general who led the empire at its zenith, Caesar’s strategic mind and leadership are unmatched by others. He inspires his followers to fight with valor.

Passive Skill: Increasing the attack power of all Roman units by 10%

Active Skills:

1. Catapult Launch: Caesar calls forth a barrage of six catapults from the rear lines, launching massive stones at the target area every second, each dealing 377 damage. When the enemy tower or keep has low HP, a catapult launch is an effective way to destroy the buildings without having to spend MP and sending units all the way across the battlefield

2. Heroic Presence: Caesar charges forward to the front lines, accompanied by four trained Auxilia soldiers, who are summoned periodically. He inspires all allied units on the battlefield and gains increased movement speed and attack damage for 18 seconds. This power is an effective way to overwhelm your opponent when the battlefield is already filled with your units.

HADES

The emperor of the underworld, Hades commands the eternal fires of hell to set everything in sight ablaze.

Passive Skill: Gains 1 Commander Point when ally Guard Tower is destroyed

Active Skills:

Definite Strike: Ally units in the target area have a 60% increased max HP and Attack Damage, but HP reduces by 5% every 1 second in return. When you have only the keep left to destroy, Definite Strike is a great way to add that extra power to your leading units, helping them destroy buildings faster.
Hellfire: All units and buildings are destroyed by hellfire. When the hellfire is gone, MP recovery increases by 100% for 7 secs. When you have 30 secs left in the game and you have more HP than your opponent, using Hellfire is a sure way to win the game

ATHENA

The goddess of war and justice, Athena protects and fights alongside her followers until the battle is won

Passive Skill: Activates Goddess’s Protection when Keep and Guard Towers have less than 50% HP

Active Skills:

Goddess’s Protection: Blesses the target area and grants invulnerability to all ally units and buildings for 3 seconds.
Incarnation: Athena, the Goddess of War appears for 16 seconds and deals massive damage to units and buildings
Best usage of Athena’s Powers:

Incarnation: While Athena has high HP and deals massive damage, her presence in the field is limited to 16 seconds. This power is best used in an empty or a less crowded side, so there are less obstacles for her to encounter. Athena’s presence is also a great way to defend your tower against attacks when their HP is low.

Mumbai, 03 May 2023 – According to a recent report by PropTiger.com, housing prices in India have surged during the first quarter of 2023 with the average price rise across all the major realty markets being close to 7% YoY.

The report indicates that all the markets covered in the analysis showed an upward movement in average rates of new homes.

The report highlights that the average rate of properties in Bengaluru saw a 10% appreciation in the past one year, making it the market with the sharpest uptrend in property prices. Pune and Ahmedabad were close behind this southern market in terms of price increase, with these markets witnessing an 8% and 7% rise in their average property rates, respectively.

Mr. Vikas Wadhawan, Group CFO, PropTiger.com, Housing.com & Makaan.com, said,” Real estate has consistently been one of the best-performing asset classes over the long term, and with prices expected to go up further, it might be a good time for fence-sitters to take the jump and buy their dream home. Having said that, one needs to keep in mind that buying a home is the most expensive purchase decision a family typically makes. So, it is important to weigh all the pros and cons carefully before making a final decision.”

The report highlights that the cost of buying a house in India continues to rise due to several factors, including the continuous rise in the cost of raw materials and labour, the growing demand for homes post-COVID, and the cessation of government-funded subsidy schemes in March this year.

Furthermore, while the Reserve Bank of India has taken a pause in hiking rates for now, inflation remains a concern, and the central bank may increase the benchmark lending rate in the next cycle, which could further amplify costs for the buyer because of increased borrowing costs on home loans.

Discussing buying trends, Ms. Ankita Sood, Head of Research, PropTiger.com, Housing.com & Makaan.com said: “Property prices in Indian cities have been growing at a fast pace of 6-7% since the past year with a renewed thrust on homeownership. Apart from a rise in input costs, limited supply of the right product & ready to move in projects for the end-user have led to an upward push in prices.

Ms. Sood added “Interestingly, while the weighted average prices have grown by 6 per cent YoY, in the March quarter, key micro-markets in cities of Gurugram, followed by Bengaluru have seen YoY growth of 13 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. Given the current market trends of demand-supply mismatch, we expect property prices to continue to rise albeit within a close range, where the quality ready-to-move-in segment will trade at a premium.”

The report indicates that the average price per square foot in cities such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, and Pune has witnessed a significant increase.

03 May 2023, New Delhi: ORGAN India, The Organ Receiving & Giving Awareness Network (ORGAN) India, an initiative of the Parashar Foundation hosted a press conference on the 2nd of May at Juniper Hall, Habitat Center. The conference welcomes back our transplant athletes from their successful participation at the World Transplant Games in Perth Australia. World Transplant Games to be held in Perth, Australia in 2023. This was the largest contingent of 32 players ever to go from India to the WTG, and Team India athletes won 35 medals in the World Transplant Games 2023, which concluded in Australia’s Perth on 21st April 2023. It is the highest tally ever for India.

The conference hosted players who represented India at the World Transplant Games, including Mr. Vijaybahadur Yadav, a kidney donor to his wife, and Outstanding athlete of the World Transplant Games in the donor category; 13-year-old Varun Anand who won 3 gold medals; Mr. Karhun Nanda, Captain, Indian Contingent at the World Transplant Games and winner of 2 silver medals; Mr. Digvijay Singh Gujral, Squash Player & World Transplant Games Medalist; Heera Singh Daspa, Winner of Gold in Javelin Throw amongst others.

The Guest Speakers include Ronjan Sodhi, Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee and Dr Amit Bhalla, Vice President of Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MREI) who met the players and congratulated them for their wonderful performance. Speakers also included Ms Anika Parashar, Chairperson, Parashar Foundation; Ms Kunti Jhaveri, Managing Trustee, Dinesh Vyas Public Charitable Trust; Dr. Vipin Koushal, Nodal Officer, ROTTO North (Regional Organ & Tissue Transplant Organization), Ms. Priti Agarwal, Director, Geekay Winding; Satyajit Gupta, Head Legal & CSR, EXL, Dr. Ashish Sharma, HOD Renal Transplantation, PGIMER Chandigarh, and Team Manager Shankar Arora. The press conference also witnessed a soulful performance by Raag Suri from whistling Woods International who sang the Team Song Hissa Bann for the audience.

Dr Amit Bhalla, Vice President of Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MREI), who helped train the athletes – “I am thrilled with the performance of Indian Athletes at the world Transplant Games 2023. Their participation and winning performances have made India proud. These athletes are a shining example of resilience and the power of the human spirit. We welcome them back with hearts filled with pride and joy.”

“We are overwhelmed with the amazing performance of the Indian transplant athletes at World Transplant Games. Our collective effort has put India firmly on the map at the Games, and this conference is to celebrate this brilliant innings. The athletes’ participation in WTG 2023 has created more awareness about organ donation across India and we are confident that their victory will inspire all Indians”, shared Sunayana Singh, CEO ORGAN India & Country Representative from India at the World Transplant Games Federation (WTGF).

Anika Parashar, Founder Chairperson, ORGAN India shared, “It was a privilege to take the Indian delegation of Athletes for The World Transplant Games in Perth in April 2023. The participation of Transplant patients or Donors in this International event was not only a of patriotism but also a demonstration of the limitlessness of the human spirit in overcoming adversity whilst inspiring others and their stories deserve to be heard.”