Category business

India15Ith February 2023: The MDA government is heading into the upcoming poll with a great deal of criticism. Yes, in a democratic system, it is fair to be critical; however, the NPP seem to be taking the brunt of the critique even though the coalition involved several other political parties.

Amidst its stormy adventure, the MDA has withstood several trials. Prior to 2018, Meghalaya was predominantly known for its scenic and aesthetic nature. While issues regarding law and order (that have routinely plagued Meghalaya) occasionally featured on national news coverage, governance was an outlying condition for the masses. Shirk international recognition, even national recognition, was rare.

Ampareen Lyngdoh, in her political career, has never witnessed such an unprecedented transition in the State, acknowledging, “Conrad Sangma’s government has been able to bring in significant development and shift in Meghalaya. Recognition, accolades and rankings improved drastically. In this generation, cultivating a niche is vital to stimulate engagement. The brand Meghalaya needed to be curated to draw investments and tourists, thereby promoting the State’s talents.”

The United Nations award for the Meghalaya Government’s digital initiative contributed to Meghalaya’s story-building. She continued, saying that “this was a critical effort where Meghalaya showcased to the world that while it made a late entry into digital governance, it has gained significant momentum and has caught up to the stalwarts.”

Last year, Meghalaya was awarded the best State in Startup India Awards and ranked in the top along with Karnataka and Gujarat. This is a definitive instance that, despite being a small state, Meghalaya has advanced steadily and is a contender amongst more influential States. In one of the Government run social media channels (PRIME), Coretta Sangma, a successful entrepreneur and founder of Nostalgia brand, credited PRIME Meghalaya for supporting her in building a brand for her products. Allowing her to provide employment opportunities for other women in her vicinity. Accolades in health and tourism, amongst others, support Conrad’s assertion of taking Meghalaya to its best standing in over ten years. Regardless, the Government contends that the standing is better today, and with continued momentum, it can be best tomorrow.

Concerning central schemes, the NPP-led Government’s achievements have been astonishing. A recollection made by Ampareen Lyngdoh in the past five years laments that “In the period of 2018-22, the Government constructed more roads than all previous governments did in 20 years. SHG revolution under the MDA government is never seen before achievement; from 5,000 SHGs in 2018, Meghalaya now has 43,000 SHGs. Other schemes, such as Jal Jeevan Mission (Meghalaya again awarded by Ministry of Jal Shakti), MGNREGS Meghalaya’s performance has been exemplary.”

The story of the rise is just the beginning; several initiatives have taken shape, such as the initiation of construction of infrastructures, people-led initiatives such as FOCUS and PRIME, branding of Meghalaya through tourism festivals and events and several others. These need nurturing, sharpening and continuation for a sustained period.

Practically in these five years minus two covid years, it will be hard to turn a blind eye towards the progress and strive made by Conrad’s Government.

Uttar Pradesh, February 16, 2023: Leads Connect Services, the premier Agritech data, risk management, and financial services company, proudly introduces the game-changing Agrani platform at the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit 2023 (UPGIS).

Agrani is an end-to-end SaaS-based platform developed for all stakeholders of Agriculture and Disaster Management. It aims to connect all dots spanning from Farm to Table in the agricultural spectrum for providing farmer-centric solutions using Space Tech Analytics and Artificial Intelligence.

UPGIS was a singular opportunity to launch the app. It created the perfect storm by bringing together global corporate leaders, policymakers, think tanks, and political and government leadership to raise awareness and generate more reach for the technology.

“Agrani is not just a simple market linkage app; it’s a game changer for the agriculture industry,” stresses Navneet Ravikar, Chairman & Managing Director of Leads Connect Services. “We’re proud to be launching it at UPGIS. Land, water, and soil health are witnessing stressed scenarios due to phenomenal urbanization and other allied activities.
This may create a scenario of uncertainties in the context of productivity and economic stability. Therefore, appropriate interventions are required. Through AGRANI, we’re aiming to provide stage wise agronomy advisories such as impact of weather, biophysical, and crop management practises on yield productivity. We have also assessed the need for financing and crop insurance to help strengthen the ecosystem. This requires robust and transparent
underwriting algorithms and medium. We’ve created agricultural credit and value chain scores for seamless, and efficient farm lending with electronic applications, disbursal of loans, insurance pay-outs linked to weather, field data all this aimed to benefit transfers in agriculture and help farmers struggling to get timely access to finance.

We have also enabled an omni-channel insurance platform, to provide seamless access to all relevant insurance products – health, crop, cattle, life, and motor. The platform will also deliver continuous post-sale service assistance, including claims management.

The adoption of diverse technologies can aid in the advancement of food processing and logistics. We are also establishing the right market linkages between farmers and buyers to create better transparency in pricing and better value, especially for perishable products. By bridging the gap between farmers and customers, the platform helps to expand the food product distribution network for farmers and other stakeholders in domestic markets.

Similarly, Mandis and FPOs need digitization to bring more transparency into transactions and farmers need more sales channels. Through our AGRANI Value Chain Platform, we aim to provide timely access to finance for FPOs/Agribusinesses for community infrastructure in terms of storage and transportation. We also have walk in Agrani Centres that would act as the physical outlets for all platform services to the stakeholders.”

New Delhi, Feb 16, 2023: Patel Engineering on Wednesday said that the company with its joint venture partners (JV) has been declared the lowest bidder (L1) for ₹1,567 crore projects in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra state. The Company’s share in these new orders is ₹1,006 crore.

These orders include the construction of a Pressure irrigation system to supply water through the Rising/ Gravity mains by pressurized pipeline system for micro-irrigation under Rihand Micro Irrigation Project, State of Madhya Pradesh, and investigation, design, construction, testing, commissioning of works comprising of civil and allied works under lift irrigation scheme no.1 and 2 of Krishna Marathwada Irrigation Project, Dist. Osmanabad, State Maharashtra. All the Projects are scheduled to be completed in a period of 36 months.

The continuous order inflows shall give visibility of the growth of revenues for the coming years and shall enable the Company to increase the bottom line.

Further, the Company recently received fresh funds of ~ ₹90 crores under Niti Aayog guidelines against bank guarantee for an Arbitration Award. The funds received have been utilized for the reduction of debt.

Rupen Patel, Chairman & Managing Director, of Patel Engineering Limited, said, “We are delighted to have been declared lowest (L1) for these projects which should be converted to a Letter of Award (LOA) soon. Projects worth ₹1,567 crores are further testimony to our commitment to construction and heavy civil engineering works, as the Infrastructure sector is a key driver for the Indian economy. The project underscores the trust and confidence reposed in us and going forward, it will spur the expansion of our business as we continue to work on our strategic roadmap for the future.

Further states” Over the last two years, post-pandemic the Company has more than doubled its employee base to ~ 4,300 employees. In the last 3 years, we have received new orders of ~ ₹ 12,000 crores. Plans for debt reduction through monetization of non-core assets continue to be a key focus area for us. The new draft guidelines announced on Contractual Disputes in the Budget will safeguard the company’s interest and efforts.

As on December 31, 2022, its Order Book is ₹16,809 crore and with the addition of these new orders which are currently L1, the Order Book will improve further. The majority of the Order Book comprises of projects which are awarded by Central / State Governments or other Government undertakings/ Public Sector Undertakings.

For Fiscal 2022 consolidated revenue from operation stood at ₹3,380.29 crores against ₹1,994.79 crore, a rise of 69.46%. The company has seen a turnaround from a loss of ₹272.93 Crore in FY21 to a profit of ₹68.63 Crore in FY22.

Patel Engineering consolidated net profit for 9M FY23 rose 109.89% to ₹70.44 crore as against ₹33.56 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year. Sales rose 18.11% to ₹1036.98 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2022 as against ₹ 877.94 crore during the previous quarter ended December 2021 and for 9M period sales rose 28% to ₹2,903.94 crore as against ₹2,268.64 crore in the corresponding 9M period in previous year.

Mr Abishek Bhardwaj, Chief Marketing Officer, Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited

In the current state budget, the Government has given special focus on real estate by extending the reduced stamp duty till 30th September. There has always been a steady demand in the housing segment in the Tier 2 cities as well as premium housing segments where we operate. Also, with the financial year nearing its end, this step will encourage home buyers to invest in real estate keeping in view the tax benefits.

Mr. Rishi Jain, Managing Director, Jain Group

It’s a very encouraging budget for the real estate sector. The key reform being stamp duty extension … this single reform has led to the improvement of the real estate segment significantly. West Bengal is at the forefront of the development of infrastructure and real estate. It is proof of the optimism and pro-industry sentiment that the businesses are currently experiencing. It’s an upbeat and business-friendly budget.

Bangalore, 16 February 2023: India’s leading stock exchange, National Stock Exchange (NSE), has signed a data licensing agreement with CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, allowing NSE to list, trade, and settle rupee-denominated NYMEX WTI Crude Oil and Natural Gas (Henry Hub) derivatives contracts for Indian market participants.

The addition of NYMEX WTI Crude Oil and Natural Gas (Henry Hub) contracts will expand the NSE product offering and its overall commodity segment. NSE has applied to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) seeking approval to launch the additional futures contracts.

Shri Sriram Krishnan, Chief Business Development Officer, NSE said: “On receiving approval from SEBI, NSE would make available trading in futures of these two global benchmarks, which will be settled in INR, on the NSE platform. The NYMEX WTI Crude Oil and Natural Gas (Henry Hub) contracts are amongst the world’s most traded commodity derivatives contracts generating interest from across the globe. It gives us immense pleasure to enter into this agreement, as it will help us to broaden our energy basket and we are hopeful that these contracts will be beneficial for the Indian market participants to meet their price risk management activities as well as trading objectives.”

After the remarkable success of its 7th season, BIG FM, one of the leading radio networks in the country is all set to present the 8th edition of their much-loved singing talent show – BIG Golden Voice. The first-of-its-kind on-air singing talent hunt has year after year emerged as a platform for participants to showcase their singing prowess. Adding to the excitement this year, the radio network has roped in the renowned singer Javed Ali, who will be donning the hat of mentor and judge. In the age of embracing digital, the core theme for the new season centers on ‘Iss Baar Mobile Banega Mic’ unveiling innovative formats to participate and provide a platform to talents across the nation.

BIG Golden Voice Season 8 invites participation through auditions taking place across 50+ cities. Keeping with the theme, this year, the mobile phone will play an important role in the audition process. Through the comfort of their homes, participants can submit their auditions through one of the four methods – they can either do it via social media platforms Instagram/Facebook or Whatsapp. They can also go the telephonic route with IVRS or visit the dedicated micro-site.

Javed Ali adds, “BIG FM has given a platform to many amazing talents in the country through their marquee music show BIG Golden Voice and it is an absolute pleasure for me to be a part of a show that showcases the country’s finest voices. It is interesting how the radio network has opened doors for many through its theme this year, inviting nominations from the remotest regions of the country. I look forward to mentoring, judging, and encouraging these talents and presenting them to our country.”

Making the finale even more exhilarating, the winner of the season will be announced at a spectacular on-ground event with Javed Ali. That’s not all, the winner will also get a chance to be featured in a music video with the talented singer.

Bangalore, 16 February: JUSTDOGS, India’s leading Omni-channel pet care retailer and service provider, launched its Valentine’s Day campaign ‘LoveTales’ to celebrate the beautiful bond between pet parents and their furry companions. On Valentine’s Day, JUSTDOGS encouraged everyone to consider adopting a pet and experience the unconditional love and joy they bring to our lives.

JUSTDOGS believes that pets are more than just animals, they are a part of the family and deserve to be loved and cared for. Through ‘LoveTales’, they aim to raise awareness about the importance of pet adoption and highlight the benefits of having a pet. The brand asked its customers to share their love stories of how they fell in love with their pets and created a video to encourage people to adopt a pet and spread love this Valentine’s Day.

Commenting on the campaign, Poorvi Anthony, co-founder, of JUSTDOGS, said, “For JUSTDOGS, Valentine’s Day has been a significant day as we strive to build a community and encourage pet adoption. The campaign acknowledges that pets have added a new dimension to this day and made it into a celebration of a new kind of love. With this campaign, we hope to spread and emphasize the message that Valentine’s Day can also be celebrated with pets.”

As part of this campaign, JUSTDOGS has collaborated with Yoda Rehabilitation Centre for Animals (YODA) in Mumbai for pet adoption awareness. The campaign is aimed at encouraging people to spread the love this Valentine’s Day by bringing home a pet. To ensure first-time pet parents need not worry about their newly adopted pet’s needs, for the first month, JUSTDOGS will be providing a ‘care package’ which will consist of 3kgs of pet food and a three-month spa package, for those who have adopted through YODA.

Commenting on encouraging the adoption of pets, Kashyap Sanghani, Head of Marketing, said “JUSTDOGS as a brand aims in strengthening the bond between pet parents and their fur babies. Our collaboration with YODA is a very significant focus as we want to spread the message that Valentine’s Day can be celebrated with your pet. And for all pet lovers if you intend to have a pet then we request you to please adopt a pet. We understand the anxieties of being a new pet parent and to help them bond with their pets stress-free, we will be providing a ‘care package’ to whoever adopts through YODA for the next month. We aim to spread the love this Valentine’s Day by urging people to adopt a pet and share their love tales.”

Additionally, the brand has created a hashtag #lovetales and shared the campaign video across their social media to gain a wider reach in the pet community. People can use this hashtag to create their own videos talking about their love tales with their pets and it will be featured on JUSTDOGS’ Instagram handle.

New Delhi, 16th February 2023: URBAN, a premium smart wearable brand, launches its flagship next-gen smartwatch- URBAN Fit Z in India. This advanced smartwatch has been specifically crafted to cater to the dynamic needs of modern individuals, who desire a smartwatch that seamlessly integrates into their fast-paced lifestyle while keeping them connected, healthy, and active. With advanced features such as Ultra HD fluid AMOLED Always On display, Bluetooth calling with speaker & mic, Inbuilt storage & wireless earphones connectivity along with dual sensors and Realtek chipset for 24×7 continuous health & fitness tracking, up to 10 days of battery backup, and a military-grade premium Aluminum finish, this smartwatch is set to revolutionize the market. URBAN Fit Z is available at all leading offline retail outlets, and online portals like Amazon, Flipkart & official website at an introductory price of INR Rs 5,999/-.

Aashish Kumbhat, Co-Founder, of URBAN, stated, “Our commitment is to provide premium products that are packed with innovative technology and features. The launch of the URBAN Fit Z smartwatch is a testament to our commitment. This is designed for individuals who lead fast-paced lives and are always on the go. We aim to make it easier for people to lead a healthy lifestyle and enhance their smartwatch experience. With URBAN Fit Z, we tried to craft one watch for all lifestyle and fitness needs; and all of this, at an accessible price point.”

Specifications and Features:

The URBAN Fit Z Smartwatch comes with a 1.4″ Super AMOLED Fluid HD Display with an Always On Feature. It also features a smart anti-glare screen and provides a bright display, visible even under sunlight. This smartwatch comes equipped with TWS connectivity and inbuilt memory, making it a versatile device for users. The watch also features a dedicated dual sensor for SpO2, HR, and BP, providing 24X7 continuous health monitoring. Urban Fit Z comprises multiple sports modes and an accurate step pedometer to monitor calories burnt and workouts.

In addition to its health and fitness features, the URBAN Fit Z Smartwatch offers an array of customization options, including 100+ cloud-based watch faces and an additional strap. The watch is also water and sweat-resistant, making it ideal for outdoor activities. With its fast charge capability and up to 10-day standby time, users never have to worry about running out of battery.

This newly launched smartwatch offers a unique blend of technology and style, making it the perfect accessory for modern individuals who want a smartwatch that fits their lifestyle and helps them stay connected, healthy, and active.

Price, color and availability

The URBAN Fit Z Smartwatch comes at an introductory price of INR 5,999/- and is available at leading offline retail outlets and through Amazon, Flipkart & URBAN’s official website. This smartwatch comes with dual straps and with 2 color combination options – Black silicone strap + brown vegan leather strap (black dial) and Gray silicone strap + black vegan leather strap (gunmetal gray dial).

Mumbai, February 16, 2023: EuroKids, one of India’s leading preschool chains, has bagged several awards this year, such as –

Asia’s Most Trusted Preschool Brand 2023 – Indo-Global Entrepreneurship Forum 2023

India’s Most Respected Early Childhood Education Brand Dec 22” – Education World;

Best Preschool Education in Asia – Indo-Asian Business Excellence Summit 2022

‘Best Franchisor of the Year 2022’ – Franchise India

‘The Best Education Brands Awards’ – The Economic Times

‘Best Online Children’s Learning’ – Education Innovation Awards 2022

‘Bengaluru’s Best Pre-School for the Year 2022’ – Bengaluru Pride Award for Excellence in Business and many more.

EuroKids has been rewarded for its outstanding pedagogy, passion for children’s education, business acumen, and growth in franchise business across India.

EuroKids believes in the ‘Child First, Safety First’ ideology and therefore ensures that a child’s growth and engagement needs are met in a homelike environment as they Play, Learn & Grow and imbibe essential life skills. Moving away from the traditional teaching standards, EuroKids introduced the innovative and Mindful Curriculum – EUNOIA, working towards building a Mindful School Culture with a focus on Attention. Resilience. Kindness. EuroKids also rolled out its HomeBuddy app to offer supplementary learning beyond the classroom walls as a part of the child’s home engagement and to aid the parents in being a part of their child’s learning journey. The HomeBuddy app is a treasure trove of content. It features weekly learning plans, recorded lessons, a fun zone consisting of interactive games to reinforce learning, worksheets, audio-visuals, DIY activities, EUROFIT and YOGAKIDS videos, MINDFUL+ and EURO MUSIC videos, read-along stories, live classes, and parent corner.

K V S Seshasai, CEO Pre-K Division, Lighthouse Learning, said, “We are glad to have bagged so many awards this year, and each award is a testament to the hard work our teachers, administrative staff, franchise partners, and those in the corporate office have been working round the clock to ensure that the learning never stops for our kids. To equip our children with 21st-century skills, we focus on a ‘Child First’ ideology to innovate and enhance learning outcomes.”

Mr. Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby’s International Realty.

In the backdrop of increasing home loan rates and no significant benefits announced in the union budget for FY24 for homebuyers, the West Bengal government’s decision to extend the rebate in stamp duty for another six months i.e. till September 30 is a respite. The decision will help in maintaining the demand in the housing sector. Incentives like relief in the stamp duty and registration fee can help the positive impetus in the real estate sector to continue.