Category business

Hyderabad, 14th February 2023: Osho Nanak Dham Mandir, Murthal (ONDM), is a spiritual scientific organization that is on a mission to reveal the spiritual and scientific base of Sanatan Dharma for happiness and bliss through various programs. ONDM will be conducting Dhyan Yoga (Meditative Living), a preparatory program for Right Mindfulness, starting from Monday, 20th February, to Saturday, 25th February at Kanha Shanti Vanam, Hyderabad.

Dhyan Yoga is a 6-day program that consists of two parts, i.e., Anand Pragya or Blissful Living, and Yoga Pragya or Divine Living. Each program is for three days. Anand Pragya, or Blissful Living, is based on the Eightfold path of Lord Buddha and solves most of the problems related to stress, relationship, and boredom. Yoga Pragya, or Divine Living, teaches various courses of Yoga. The participants listen and experience the Divine Sound (Omkar) and learn techniques of Samadhi and Divine Remembrance.

The Dhyan Yoga program will be guided by the master ‘Samarthguru Siddarth Aulia.’

Oshodhara is the only spiritual stream that has gifted the world – ‘Spiritual Science.’ by converting Spirituality into Science – which is unprecedented! It provides a practical roadmap of spirituality – its programs are designed in such a way that one can pragmatically experience specific spiritual milestones and level-wise moves ahead on the spiritual path under the proper guidance of the Master.

14th February 2023: The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Ahmedabad and NCR chapters organised a conference on SMEs – Building in India for the World at Novotel, Ahmedabad. The esteemed panel consisted of Mr Amit Moga, Co-founder, of Doctorpreneur Academy, Mr Indrajeet Mitra, Joint Managing Director, of Gateway Group of Companies, and Mr Vishal Prakash Shah, Co-founder, of Synersoft Technologies.

The conference witnessed valuable insights from several dignitaries, entrepreneurs, students, and professionals. The event was graced by the presence of Mr Shailesh Patwari, Advisory Board Member, India SME Forum and former President, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries. The session was supported by ASSOCHAM, India Mart, and Lufthansa.

Commenting on the analogy between the parallel growth opportunity of the auto-ancillary industry and defence contracting by which MSMEs in the electronic industry benefitted, Mr Vishal Prakash Shah, Co-founder, of Synersoft Technologies, said, “Indian MSMEs are the biggest beneficiaries of vendor development programmes for auto-giants like Tata, Bajaj, and Maruti, which started in Pune and Manesar and further got established in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, helping India to clinch 4th spot at the global table. So, we can expect to witness such parallel evolution of the defence industry and auto-ancillary industry in recent times. Today, Pune alone has 4,000 MSME units sustaining 5,00,000 jobs. According to market research, there are 50,000 plus MSME units across India creating eight million jobs in the auto-ancillary sector. This analogy has been suggesting that privatisation of the defence sector will provide the industry with another excellent opportunity to grow. Interestingly this sector has similar skills, plant setup, and workforce. Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Government of India will be playing the same role as the big automobile conglomerates. If we base the auto-ancillary model on getting acquainted with the defence manufacturing contract business, we shall see two differences. It will not be sensitive to the economic cycle because we have seen the consistent allocation of funds for defence in the union budget, which makes it attractive. Secondly, MSMEs will have to adapt to systems and practices in compliance with strict information security and data protection. In the electronics vertical, there is an excellent opportunity for MSMEs. India is heavily import-dependent in the sourcing of electronic components. Recent announcements about chip manufacturing in India will maximise chip manufacture. To be precise, chip manufacturing will be commoditised and expose many opportunities for MSMEs. India has a huge talent pool that earns $150 billion in software exports and very few of us know that 20 per cent of the chip designers are Indians. This provides our country a huge opportunity to grow in the electronics sector. The industrial transformation has already started through smart manufacturing, IoT, and AI-backed products. Software is India’s forte and it has the talent to make the best out of the local availability of chips and sensors, therefore, the business will focus on local consumption of the chips and sensors providing a fantastic opportunity for start-ups and MSMEs to ride this wave. But again, the MSMEs players in this industry will have to be provided with cybersecurity and insider threat mitigation. They have to be subject to strict compliance. This is a significant challenge for MSMEs. It is observed that MSMEs are reluctant adopters of software and technology and only acknowledge them during crises. MSMEs should change to unlock opportunities.”

Hyderabad: February: The premiere of ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in the capital of the southern Indian state of Telangana was an outstanding advertisement for fully electric racing. On the 2.816-kilometer street circuit at the shores of the Hussain Sagar Lake, the 22 drivers treated fans to gripping battles for positions and spectacular overtaking maneuvers. After 33 laps, both Porsche 99X Electric fielded by the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team finished in the top four.

In the drivers’ standings of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Pascal Wehrlein, the winner of both races at Diriyah, leads the drivers’ standings with 80 points after four of 16 races. António Félix da Costa has moved up the rankings to ninth place with 21 points. The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team is the new leader of the team classification with 101 points. Driving for the Porsche customer squad Avalanche Andretti, André Lotterer (GER) crossed the finish line in ninth place. His teammate Jake Dennis (GBR), who traveled to India ranking second in the world championship, concluded the event in P16 after a collision.

Race 4

Starting his 100th Formula E race from P13, António Félix da Costa made up positions in the first lap and by mid-race, had joined the frontrunning pack. Thanks to a clever race strategy and his flawless drive, he progressed up the order to take the flag in fourth place. However, a time penalty handed to a rival in front saw him inherit third place on the podium. So far, this is his best result of the season. His teammate and championship leader, Pascal Wehrlein, came from P12 to finish fourth and extend his lead in the drivers’ standings to 18 points.

Comments on the Hyderabad E-Prix, Race 4

Florian Modlinger, Director of Factory Motorsport Formula E: “The team put in a very strong performance today. António secured his first podium for the team, which I’m very pleased about. After his accident in free practice, Pascal fought his way up to fourth place in the race and increased his lead in the world championship. This is also thanks to the team who worked through the night to get his car back on the track for the race. Finishing the race in third and fourth place after a less-than-satisfactory qualifying is a strong effort that makes me proud. I want to thank the entire team. The fact that we’ve moved into the lead of the world championship is a fantastic reward.”

António Félix da Costa, Porsche works driver (#13): “That was a typical Formula E race – exciting to the finish. I got off to a good start but lost a few positions in the pack. We kept our cool and our attack mode worked perfectly. Starting from P13 and finishing third is a terrific result – especially at my 100th Formula E race. I’m supported by a great team. We’ve worked hard and progressed from race to race. We’ll continue on this path.”

Pascal Wehrlein, Porsche works driver (#94): “I started the race from the twelfth grid spot and earned points for fourth place – I’m very happy with that. After my accident during free practice, I was sent to hospital in the late evening because my back was very painful. It was still sore today but otherwise, everything is fine. I’m pleased for António. He was able to demonstrate how good he is. The fact that we missed out on an entire practice session as a result of the accident was noticeable. Some small details on the car weren’t quite right. Still, all in all it was a great day.”

Next up

The next race for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team is on 25 February with the Cape Town E-Prix – race 5 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. This is the first Formula E race in South Africa.’

Porsche in Formula E

In 2023, the squad contests its fourth season in the world’s first all-electric racing series with the new Porsche 99X Electric Gen3. Avalanche Andretti fields two Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 as the first Porsche customer team in Formula E. As an accelerator for innovative and sustainable mobility technologies, Formula E has brought thrilling motorsport to people living in major cities since 2014. With the all-electric Taycan Turbo S, Porsche again supplies the official safety car, and thus underlines the importance of Formula E for Porsche Motorsport.

London, UK – 14th February 2023 – SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment, and ventures arm has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Yabx, a company incubated by Comviva and part of the Mahindra Group, to address a deep-rooted need for responsible consumer finance in Africa.

Africa has over 700 million mobile wallets, and about 450 million bank accounts but access to formal credit remains severely constrained due to poor credit infrastructure and the slowly evolving risk appetite of financial services players, especially traditional banks. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitization in the financial sector and created a fertile environment for new and disruptive products to be taken to the market. The partnership between SC Ventures and Yabx is leveraging on this to create unique, Africa-specific products that will increase access of credit to the underbanked across Africa.

Nimble future-ready technology and data analytics combined with a deep understanding of banking will reduce the cost of delivery of innovative credit products, thereby widening inclusion across underserved segments in Africa where it is needed most. Given the scale and the complexity of the opportunity, SC Ventures and Yabx have taken a collaborative approach to jointly address the challenge. Loans will be provided to customers for specific purposes like education and skill development using an innovative data-driven scoring and analytics engine that has been built with rich experience from African markets. These loan products will be initially launched in Uganda and then subsequently expanded to other countries in Africa.

Jiten Arora, Member SC Ventures said, “We are excited at the prospect of using a data-driven, technology-enabled partnership model to serve the underbanked through purpose-driven loans in Africa, a continent for which we have a deep understanding and a strong commitment.”

Manoranjan Mohapatra, Chief Executive Officer at Comviva, commented, “Yabx has seen exponential growth over the past year, and we will continue to invest in its mission to serve millions of consumers and MSMEs in emerging markets who have limited traditional sources of funding available to them.”

Rajat Dayal, CEO at Yabx, said, “We have a lot of synergy with SC Ventures in Africa and together we are uniquely positioned to create a seamless embedded finance experience. This partnership further bridges the gaps in the current market, driving digital innovations and bringing significant benefits to the underserved population of Africa.”

Mumbai, 14th February 2023: Federal Bank today announced the launch of a mint fresh brand campaign, “Rishta Aap Se Hai, Sirf App Se Nahi TM.” The campaign brings alive the Bank’s work ethic – Digital at the Fore, Human at the Core.

This captures many a day that Customers experience in the Bank. In markets of dominant employees of the Bank are a part of celebrations as well as moments of grief of their clients. There are many instances where Customers have experienced the technological ease of transactions as well as the service with sensitivity at branches.

The campaign is inspired by real-life events and that is transposed onto the communication. The ad has been launched in seven languages – Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam to ensure reach across the country.

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The multiple narratives of the campaign are representative of the Bank’s robust franchise. On average, a client clocks in above 10 years of relationship, giving the Bank the benefit of a high lifetime value for the Customers. And during this phase, the Bank will be able to participate in the various life stages of both its retail as well as corporate banking customers. Besides, having one of the lowest attrition rates in the industry enhances customer confidence in the Brand.

M V S Murthy, Chief Marketing Officer, Federal Bank said, “Businesses across the globe need the digital chutzpah, or customer experience as it is known. However, increasingly, efficiency in technology needs to be reinforced by go to people, whom you can reach out to at all points in time. The core idea of Rishta Aap Se Hai, Sirf App Se Nahi TM comes from our secret sauce which includes Commitment, Agility, Relationship orientation, Ethics and Sustainability. It is imperative that we need to be ‘Digital At The Fore, Human At The Core’. This campaign is representative of how we conduct ourselves as a team. We have unified our physical and digital spaces with this approach.”

The campaign will be rolled out across a variety of platforms, including television, digital, radio, outdoor and social media. Community events will bring the campaign closer to the branches.

Delhi, February 14, 2023: Intents Mobi, a Gurgaon-based geospatial intelligence startup today announced that it has raised Rs 1.5 CR.  The funding was raised on “The Barbershop with Shantanu” helmed by Shantanu Deshpande, Founder – Of the Bombay Shaving Company. The round saw participation from prominent executives from various organizations.

Founded by Tabrez Alam, Naresh Kumar Kachhi, Balasubramaniam S, and Prakash Velusamy, the company is now 19 people strong with 13 members purely focussing on technology development. With a small team, the company has been able to create AI-based technology to process large-scale data. Their engines gather and process road data worth more than 4.5 crore kilometers per day with more than 5 terabytes of image data processed each month. The company utilizes a network of ‘Scouts’ which is a gig economy of over 900,000 users who contribute to the data generation for location intelligence.

Speaking on the occasion, Tabrez Alam, Founder – of Intents Mobi, said, “The new funds will be utilized to ensure the continual growth of products. We shall invest in the two major aspects of the product, which are data and solutions. With this round, we expect to launch 2 new products that are aimed at making location intelligence accessible to Market Research and Fleet Management companies”

Elaborating, Shantanu Deshpande said, ‘Tabrez and Naresh are building a disruptive technology company out of India and it is very exciting for us. They have credibility as founders, knowledge of the space, and drive. We are thrilled to partner with them on this journey.’

Intents Mobi will deploy the current fundraising to ensure an ongoing pace in its continual growth. The company is also looking at raising 3 million dollars for expedited growth. Intents Mobi has some of the biggest names in various industries as their clients, including Here Maps, TomTom, and Honda among others.

New Delhi, 14 February 2023.

Bikaner House in collaboration with India Art Fair 2023 as a parallel venue partner positioned Bikaner House as a premier art & culture destination dedicated to stimulating interest towards the preservation of heritage and promotion of Art & culture. As a unique initiative, this partnership created a synergy between the events organized by IAF 2023 and Bikaner House.

Speaking about Bikaner house, the venue partner of India Art Fair 2023, Smt. Shubhra Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, and Chief Resident Commissioner, of Bikaner House, commented, “With the inspiration of Chief Minister Mr. Ashok Gehlot, Bikaner House is being developed as a hub of art, heritage, and culture, so we have collaborated with IAF 2023 to connect the bikaner house with Art and Culture world. She said that On the third day of the ‘Bikaner House Dialogues’ series, the discussion focused on Raja Ravi Varma’s skill as an artist, the life and times of India’s master artist, and preserving the legacy of a visionary who democratized art.
The session was moderated by Archana Shenoy and the speakers included Rupika Chawla, well-known author, conservator, and restorer, along with historian and author Manu S. Pillai and Gitanjali Maini, Managing Trustee & CEO, Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation.

The speakers focused on the artist’s work and threw new light on some relevant facts and new paintings that were discovered by the Foundation during the course of its research.

On the concluding day of the ‘Bikaner House Dialogues’ series, the topic was ‘Reimagining Heritage in the context of Cultural Diplomacy’. The session was moderated by Mr. Dhiraj Srivastava, Resident Commissioner, Bikaner House. The speakers included H.E Andre Aranha Correa Do Lago, Ambassador of Brazil, H.E Muhamed Cengic, Ambassador of Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Mateja Vodeb Ghosh, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia.

The Dialogue series also included an exclusive photography exhibition titled ‘14 COUPLETS- We’re not separate races. Overall, the Bikaner House event was well attended by a new generation of art lovers leading to a phenomenal response ending on a successful note.
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Mumbai, February 14, 2023: Capacit’e Infraprojects Limited (“Company”), a fast-growing construction company providing end-to-end services for residential, commercial, and Institutional buildings with a presence in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Gandhinagar, Pune, Goa, Chennai, National Capital Region (NCR), Kochi, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru today announced its Unaudited Financial results for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2022.

Key Financial Highlights are as follows:

Performance highlights for Q3 FY23

Revenue from Operations for Q3 FY23 grew by 21% to ₹ 443 crores as compared to ₹ 367 crores in Q3 FY22.

EBIDTA for Q3 FY23 grew by 40% to ₹ 90 crores as compared to ₹ 64 crores in Q3 FY22. EBIDTA margin for Q3 FY23 stood at 20.1% as compared to 17.2% in Q3 FY22.

EBIT for Q3 FY23 grew by 51% to ₹ 56 crores as compared to ₹ 37 crores in Q3 FY22. EBIDTA margin for Q3 FY23 stood at 12.4% as compared to 9,9% in Q3 FY22.

PBT for Q3 FY23 grew by 62% to ₹ 31 crores as compared to ₹ 19 crores in Q3 FY22. PBT margin for Q3 FY23 stood at 6.9% as compared to 5.1% in Q3 FY22.

PAT for Q3 FY23 grew by 15% to ₹ 23 crores as compared to ₹ 14 crores in Q3 FY22. PAT margin for Q3 FY23 stood at 5.1% as compared to 3.7% in Q3 FY22.

Performance highlights for 9M FY23

Revenue from Operations for 9M FY23 grew by 36% to ₹ 1,352 crores as compared to ₹ 993 crores in 9M FY22.

EBIDTA for 9M FY23 grew by 59% to ₹ 275 crores as compared to ₹ 173 crores in 9M FY22. EBIDTA margin for 9M FY23 stood at 20.2% as compared to 17.3% in 9M FY22.

EBIT for 9M FY23 grew by 66% to ₹ 166 crores as compared to ₹ 100 crores in 9M FY22. EBIT margin for 9M FY23 stood at 12.0% as compared to 10.0% in 9M FY22.

PBT for 9M FY23 grew by 97% to ₹ 99 crores as compared to ₹ 50 crores in 9M FY22. PBT margin for 9M FY23 stood at 7.3% as compared to 5.0% in 9M FY22.

PAT for 9M FY23 grew by 98% to ₹ 73 crores as compared to ₹ 37 crores in 9M FY22. PAT margin for 9M FY23 stood at 5.4% as compared to 3.7% in 9M FY22.

Gross Debt stood at ₹ 387 crores with Gross Debt to Equity at 0.37x.

Net Debt stood at ₹ 214 crores with Net Debt to Equity at 0.20x

The working capital cycle (excluding retention) improved from 120 days in March 2022 to 98 days in December 2022, indicating a positive trend. We are focused on a meaningful reduction in working capital cycle during the current financial year.

The Company continued its focus on increasing execution across projects.

Order book on a standalone basis stood at ₹ 9,764 crores as of December 31, 2022. Public sector accounts for 67% while the private sector accounts for 33% of the total order book.

Other Key Updates:

•  Awarded project worth ₹ 3,313 crores (excluding GST) in 9M FY23, including the work amounting to ₹ 1,249 for MHADA BDD project, awarded by TPL – CIL JV.
•  Appeals against the Income-tax block assessment orders have been completed for the period upto March 2020. All the disallowances made by the department have been decided in favor of the Company. As a result, the contingent liability relating to income tax demand amounting to ₹ 31.15 crores as disclosed in Annual Report 2022, will no longer be required.
•  Godrej Reality has come in as a developer along with DB Reality for the One Mahalaxmi project (earlier Radius – DB Reality project). The Company has entered into a settlement agreement for ₹ 11.33 crores. Based on this, the client has released the 1st Tranche of ₹ 6.0 crores in the month of January 2023 and will be releasing the balance amount before the end of the Financial Year 2023. The Company is expecting recoveries from other slow-moving debtors as well.

On the performance Mr. Rohit Katyal, Executive Director & CFO commented, “Our progress in the quarter and nine months of the year under review reflects our resilience amid a challenging macro-economic environment.

With the healthy order book and sustained order inflow and our expertise in executing and delivering projects on time, we are optimistic that we shall witness healthy and sustainable growth. With a strong foundation in place, we enhanced our capabilities to capitalize on emerging opportunities. We will continue to expand our reach, invest in our talent pool and unlock efficiencies to deliver a robust performance year after year.

Our judicious efforts have enabled us to become an end-to-end construction service provider with a reputation for delivering impeccable quality and ensuring the timely execution of projects. Backed by a growing customer base and the dedication to hone our expertise further with the implementation of new-age processes, we are on the right track to deliver growth with prudence.

The strong impetus from the Government for the housing sector in the recent budget announcement and favorable policies are very positive for the sector and the overall economy.

The project awarding has seen an uptick and is likely to gain further momentum in the coming quarters. We are confident of achieving our guided order booking for the current financial year. Our robust execution capabilities coupled with strong repository of asset base enabling efficient execution reflected in strong revenue growth.”

New Delhi / Navi Mumbai, February 14, 2023: MapmyIndia (C.E. Info Systems Ltd.) (NSE: MAPMYINDIA, BSE: 543425), India’s pioneering and leading deep-tech, digital mapping, geospatial software & IoT company, today announced that it has made a strategic investment in Indrones Solutions Private Limited (Indrones), a leading end-to-end drone solutions startup. Indrones has been a leading drone company and drone service provider in the country and with the new funding, the company will scale up operations, expand its thousands of hours of flying experience, be able to deliver more and larger projects for customers, and build next-gen autonomous and reliable drones that push the boundaries of what is possible with drone technologies. MapmyIndia, India’s pioneer and leading deep-tech digital maps-based products, platforms, and solutions company since 1995, which services 2000+ leading enterprise customers across all industry verticals in the private and public sector, will now be able to offer customers industry-leading drones and drone-based solutions. MapmyIndia’s consumer-facing Mappls app will offer more high-definition and 3D maps, based on drone-collected data, offering unparalleled immersive and metaverse experiences to users of the Mappls app.

Indrones specializes in manufacturing drones for a variety of use cases and providing drone-based end-to-end solutions for verticals like smart cities, government, construction, oil & gas, agriculture, etc., and has developed technologies that allow for highly efficient and cost-effective data collection, data processing and analytics. Indrones has already been working with a reputed list of clientele across India in the ‘Drone as a Service’ (DaaS) model. The strategic investment from MapmyIndia will be used to improve its products and offerings further and help the company develop digital solutions in the drone sector at par with global standards.

“We are thrilled to have MapmyIndia on board who shares our vision of contributing to the growth of India’s digital economy,” said Mr. Pravin Prajapati, Founder & CEO of Indrones. “Drones today are solving some of the most complex problems across industries like mining, construction, oil & gas, infrastructure, agriculture, etc., and Indrones is here to be a part of the digital transformation journey of its customers while leveraging indigenous software maps, geospatial software and IoT technologies developed by MapmyIndia” he added.

Mr. Rakesh Verma, CMD of MapmyIndia said “Drones are a sunrise industry, with incredible potential and market opportunity. Our strategic investment in Indrones is in-line with the vision of our Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and making India a drone hub by 2030. The Indrones team is highly experienced, and we are certain that together we would be able to be a leading player in the Indian and global drone industry. We are excited to work with Indrones strategically to further augment our solutions and offerings based on drones, through which we can deliver on more use cases and needs of both our large base of enterprise customers across industry verticals and to consumers through cutting-edge capabilities of drones”, he added.

Thrissur, February 13, 2023: South Indian Bank today announced the signing of a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Maruti Suzuki. Under this partnership, the bank will provide unmatched dealer finance options and customised auto retail financing solutions for customers.

With this tie-up, South Indian Bank aims to help dealer partners streamline vehicle inventory funding and offer comprehensive retail financing solutions to the customers of Maruti Suzuki.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, MSIL, Mr. Bhuvan Dheer, Executive Vice President, Sales, MSIL, Mr. Vikas Kohli, Vice President, MSIL, Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan, MD & CEO, South Indian Bank, and other senior officials from both organizations.

Sharing his thoughts on the alliance, Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan, MD, and CEO, of South Indian Bank, said, “It is our immense pleasure to have partnered with Maruti Suzuki, the largest passenger vehicle manufacturer in India. With our diverse finance solutions, we aim to provide convenient and comprehensive finance options and are confident that this partnership will cater to the business requirements of both companies and produce a great synergistic effect.”

Speaking on the partnership, Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “We are delighted to partner with South Indian bank. This tie-up will provide financing solutions for our dealer partners as well as for our customers. Both Maruti Suzuki and South Indian bank are committed to delivering the best customer experiences.”