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February 09, 2023, Indore. OYO is providing accommodation for the players, support staff, and officials participating in the Khelo India Youth Games in Madhya Pradesh. The flagship sporting event is currently underway in the state in eight cities. More than 6,000 players are competing and showcasing their talent in 27 sports disciplines.

As part of the partnership, OYO is arranging over 1300 room nights in 160 rooms in various hotels such as Collection O and Super OYO in Indore, Bhopal, and Gwalior.

Khelo India is an annual national-level multidisciplinary grassroots game in India held for two categories – under-17 school students (Youth Games) and under-21 college students (University Games). Every year thousands of young athletes are given an annual scholarship of ₹5 lakh for 8 years to prepare them for international sporting events.

Speaking on the development, Pankaj Kumar, Head-Government Relations, OYO said “OYO has been associated with this flagship event since its inception and has successfully handled accommodation for all the previous editions of the games. The prior experience of handling accommodation for Khelo India Youth Games gives us a unique advantage. We will use the learnings to offer the best services during the event. Hygiene and safety will remain top priority”.

OYO is confident of meeting the expectations with the help of its unique inventory and availability of hotels, quality of accommodation, the price competitiveness of its offerings, ease of use of its app, personalization, the trust and safety of the OYO platform, and the quality of its customer support through Yo! Chat, OYO’s real-time chat assistance.

Khelo India Youth Games is a transformational initiative by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to create a vibrant sports ecosystem, revive sports culture at a grass-root level and establish India as a great sporting nation. The first edition of the games was held in New Delhi in 2018. The second was held in Pune in 2019 and the third edition was held in 2020 in Guwahati.

09 February 2023: SBI General Insurance, one of India’s leading General Insurance companies, has extended its support to Inspire Winter Sports Excellence Programme (IWSEP), a new association with JSW Inspire Institute of Sport (JSW IIS), which will train, guide and support athletes in gearing up for the upcoming Winter Olympics 2026, thereby strengthening SBI General’s contribution to the unwavering spirit of Indian sports. This support extended to prepare and enable athletes for Winter Olympics is the first of its kind.

Commenting on the association, Shri Anand Pejawar, Whole-time Director, SBI General Insurance said, “India is a land with diverse talent from all walks of life. Indian sportspersons have been excelling at various international events and in various kinds of sports. We, at SBI General, believe in encouraging the pursuit of excellence in sports, especially in those sports which do not have huge visibility currently, which then translates in poor financial support. In this connection, SBI General is pleased to support and boost Winter Sports in India, by supporting young athletes who will leave a rich sporting legacy for our country. We believe our support to this category of sports will enable
athletes participating & representing India in realising their true potential and represent the country at the highest level of sporting excellence, especially for winter sports.”

Welcoming the association with SBI General Insurance, Mustafa Ghouse, CEO of JSW Sports said, “Through our support of alpine skier Arif Khan in the build-up to the last Winter Olympics and the subsequent success we’ve seen him achieve, we got the confidence to delve deeper into the development of winter sports. The Inspire Winter Sports Excellence Programme is the off-shoot of that phase with Arif. Since founding the Inspire Institute of Sport, we have been able to elevate the performances of our athletes, boxers, wrestlers and judokas, and the introduction of the Inspire Winter Sports Excellence Programme is a big step in the same direction. We are delighted to have SBI
General share our vision and partner us, as together, we attempt to provide our winter sports athletes with the fillip they need.”

Through this association, under its CSR programme, SBI General extends its support to 4 athletes including Arif Khan, the face of winter sports in India and the only Indian athlete to compete at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The other athletes are Zain Syed, Faizan Ahmad Lone and MehRaj Khan. The Company has entered into a long-term association with JSW Sports to enable India’s representation of winter sports at international sports events. The chosen athletes will go through a tailored coaching programme designed by international professionals, with sports science support and off-season conditioning training at the Inspire Institute of Sport. The professional coaches will
evaluate the athletes’ physical and technical progress, including travel and participation in high-quality events, on a regular basis to prepare them for their competitions.

By Suvodeep Rakshit, Senior Economist, Kotak Institutional Equities

“The RBI as expected hiked the repo rate by 25 bps. The split mandate of 4-2 was also as expected. The stance too was unchanged which is in line with the excess liquidity continuing to be tightened. We see the RBI remaining concerned about inflation, especially core inflation. We expect inflation to average around 5.2% in FY2024 with adverse risks to growth likely to increase. The RBI will likely become increasingly data-dependent and look at the impact of past rate hikes on inflation-growth dynamics. We expect the RBI to pause from the next policy onwards with a likely shift in stance to neutral as the liquidity tightens further over March-April.”

By “Lakshmi Iyer, CEO-Investment Advisory, Kotak
, “The rate hike was in line with expectations. However, markets were expecting an explicit statement suggesting a
pause which has not happened. This suggests the tug-of war-between growth and inflation continues. While chances of pause still remain, the uncertainty may persist. Expect range bound yield movement till then – oscillating between
global data and domestic cues.”

New Delhi, 9th February 2023: In a move to reward customers for being financially fit, Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd. is offering as high as a 7.5%* discount on insurance premiums to customers who have high credit scores and good credit reports. Customers buying new or renewing their existing Reliance Health Infinity Policy can avail of this unique benefit based on their good credit score.

A good credit score indicates the financial discipline of a customer. To encourage such disciplines and good financial habits, Reliance General Insurance has introduced a credit score-based discount.

Reliance Health Infinity Policy also offers discounts on a premium basis Body-Mass-Index (BMI) to reward healthy living. Customers with Normal** BMI can avail of discounts on premiums.

Besides, the Company promotes preventive vaccination among its customers by offering a 2.5* percent discount on insurance premiums (on new policy and renewal**) to those who have taken the COVID-19 vaccines or Booster shot or even other vaccines like the Human Papillomavirus vaccine or Pneumococcal vaccine.

Reliance Health Infinity Policy comes with limitless benefits*; high sum insured up to ₹5 Crores, features like MoreGlobal Cover*, Maternity Cover, OPD Cover, unlimited restoration of the sum insured, and fifteen plus useful add-on benefits.

Mr. Arun Kumar, VP and Head of Research, FundsIndia

“Today’s rate hikes were in line with market expectations. We may be close to peak policy rates driven by fall in domestic inflation in recent months. The current repo rate at 6.50% is comfortably above RBI’s inflation expectation of 5.3% in FY24. There are early signs of US inflation easing and slowing pace of rate hikes by the US FED. Overall, we expect RBI to go for a long pause in rate hikes from hereon. Future policy actions will be guided by the evolving domestic inflation / growth dynamics and the US Fed rate hike trajectory.”

Ramesh Nair, CEO, India and Market Development, Asia, Colliers

“The Reserve Bank of India increased the repo rate by 25 bps in February 2023. This sixth increase in a row adds to the 225 basis points increase seen in 2022 alone. This rate increase, which is lower than last time, reflects the government’s unwavering attempt to tackle inflation over the last few months. The retail inflation rate started easing in the latter part of 2022 now hovering within the government’s target below 6%, although core inflation continues to be sticky. If inflation continues to show positive outcomes combined with encouraging high-performance economic indicators, we hope to see fewer rate hikes or negligible rate hikes by the RBI, going ahead. Home loan interest rates are already in the higher bracket of 8-9% in recent times. Further, housing prices are expected to largely remain firm in the upcoming quarters. On the optimistic side, we hope not to foresee a further rise in the repo rate and a resultant increase in loan rates. This will help sustain the demand and confidence of homebuyers in the market”
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Mr. Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby’s International Realty

The rate hike of a quarter basis point by the central bank is on expected lines. Inflation is still above RBIs comfort levels and considering the evolving inflation outlook, it’s important to ensure inflation remains within the tolerance band and progressively aligns with the target. The good news is that amid volatile global developments, the Indian economy remains resilient and is expected to grow at 7% in FY23.

While an increase in the repo rate will certainly increase the home loan interest rates, we are optimistic and expect the housing demand to remain intact.
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Mr. V Swaminathan, Executive Chairman, Andromeda Sales, and Apnapaisa.com, India’s largest loan distributors.

Repo rate is directly linked to loan rates offered by lenders so an increase in the repo will increase the borrowing cost and vice-versa. The rate hike of 25 bps today will make EMIs expensive by approx 2-4%. Borrowers will either have to shell out extra money to repay their loans or will have to extend their tenure.
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Mr. Pradeep Aggarwal, Founder, and Chairman, Signature Global (India) Ltd

“The increase of repo rate by 25 bps the apex bank is aimed to give an extra cushion to curb inflation in the face of geopolitical uncertainties. It is an accommodative move as per current micro and macroeconomic conditions globally as well as in domestic markets. Controlling inflation is the RBI’s mandate, and the apex bank is showing prudence in taking corrective measures to curb rising inflation.”

He further added, “However, considering the growth-focused fiscal budget announced by the Government earlier this month, combined with the positive market sentiments, it is quite evident that the affordable and mid-segment housing is going to witness a significant upsurge in demand in the coming months. We are confident that residential sales would increase at least 20 percent in this quarter and at least 30 percent on a YOY basis overall”.
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Mr. Saransh Trehan, Managing Director, Trehan Group

With the latest increase in repo rate, home loan rates will cross the level of 9% per annum. So far the demand in the housing sector remained unimpacted by past increases, but any further hike in interest rates will certainly put a break on the demand in the housing sector.

Kolkata, 09th February 2023: The 46th International Kolkata Book Fair to organise the three-daylong events of the 9th edition of Kolkata Literature Festival 2023. This event will be held on the 9th, 10th, and 11th February 2023 at the SBI Auditorium, in the Boi Mela Prangon, Central Park, Salt Lake. The event will be inaugurated by His Excellency, the Governor of West Bengal, Dr. C. V. Ananda Bose, and the Hon’ble Education Minister, Government of West Bengal Shri Bratya Basu.

The sessions will witness insights from the esteemed delegates on fiction, history, biographies, cinema, the arts, culture, music, and politics. The key focus of the discussion will be on the evolving idea of India as the nation moves forward into its 76th year of independence. Many eminent thinkers, including Dr. Sanjaya Baru, Dr. Rudrangshu Mukherjee, and Sumantra Bose, will be participating in the discussion. David Davidar, author-publisher, will be talking about the trajectory of Indian literature over the last century. This year the festival will highlight two discussion panels on Indian literature from the East and North-East with powerful voices involving Manoranjan Byapari, Chuden Kabimo, Manaswinee Mahanta, and Raman Shrestha. Stalwarts involving Sanjib Chattopadhyay and Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay will also be present at dedicated sessions to delight readers of Bangla literature. Barry O’Brien, Nilanjana Bhowmick, and Lucy Hannah will be discussing the ever-burning question of identity. Dr. Samir Parikh, Akash Khurana, and Amit Nagpal will talk of matters of the mind. Authors such as Anupama Mohan, Bernhard Kammel, and Iffat Nawaz will talk about weaving words into stories, and writer-biographers Anirudha Bhattacharjee, Ram Kamal Mukherjee, and Sangeeta Datta will discuss writing about famous lives. The Annual Apeejay Jit Paul Memorial Lecture, the highlight of the Kolkata Literature Festival 2023, will be delivered by Dr Kunal Sarkar. There will be two-panel discussions on cinema with Rahul Bose, Arindam Sil, Dhrubo Banerjee, Ushasie Chakraborty, and Biswanath Basu sharing insights on the continuous fascination of the International Kolkata Book Fair with the silver screen. There will be regular, engaging Bangla sessions with distinguished delegates involving Pracheta Gupta, Ullas Mallick, Pabitra Sarkar, and Saikat Mukhopadhyay. The festival will be followed by concerts during the evenings. An Indo-Spanish concert will be led by Sahil Vasudeva, followed by Babul Supriyoon’s electric performance on day two. The concluding day will witness the music of the maestro, Pt. Ajoy Chakrabarty. Many eminent speakers like Shuvaprasanna, Arshiya Sethi, Sunil Bhandari, and Indrajit Lahiri will be part of this grand event. The entire three-day long sessions will be streamed live on the Kolkata Literature Festival Facebook page, YouTube channel, and Kolkata Book Fair website.

Commenting on the event, Director Kolkata Literature Festival, Ms. Sujata Sen, said, “The Kolkata Literature Festival has been at the forefront of celebrating the city’s rich literary and cultural heritage for almost a decade now. The 2022 edition witnessed the attendance of over 65 writers, both established and new. KLF is organised as an integral part of the Kolkata International Book Fair, which has, over the years, attracted almost 2.4 million visitors.”

Bangalore, 9 February 2023: Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, announced that its business Godrej Interio, India’s leading furniture solutions brand, in-home, and institutional segments, launched a unique healthcare birthing bed – ‘Solace’. The Solace Bed is a unique concept that facilitates ease of movement and enables alternating between different postures during the Labour, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum (LDRP) process. With the new range, Godrej Interio is addressing the need for making the birthing experience healthy for the mother and caregiver. The brand currently generates over 13% of Institutional revenue from the healthcare industry and provides furniture solutions to over 100 hospitals and healthcare institutions across the country.

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, quality of care is increasingly recognized as a critical aspect of the unfinished maternal and newborn health agenda, with over 40% of death witnessed among new mothers and children at the time of labour and delivery. [1] The LDRP journey for the mother needs the best of medical care and support. For a smooth and safe delivery, it’s essential to ensure a less strenuous journey for both the mother and the caregiver. Addressing the concern, Interio – a reputed healthcare furniture brand has come up with a bed that aims to better the birthing procedure.

Godrej Interior’s feature-loaded Solace Bed is designed to offer comfort to the mother and hospital staff during birthing procedures. Considering the varying stages of giving birth, the bed has been designed to deliver a smooth and safe experience during childbirth. The key features include an electronically controlled backrest and height, 360° adjustable calf supports, manual & electronic CPR for emergencies and in case of power shutdown and retractable leg rest. It also comes with a synchronous TR-height movement feature that brings the back bed to its horizontal position after Trendelenburg. The adaptability and simplicity of the Solace bed make it a useful, affordable option for the contemporary, progressive labour suite while providing warm, comfortable, and ergonomic care in the hospital.

On the new product launch, Sameer Joshi, Vice President, of Marketing (B2B), at Godrej Interio said, “At Godrej Interio, it has been our mission to enrich the quality of life every day and in every way. Godrej Interiors Healthcare’s business focuses on creating healthcare spaces that deliver ergonomically safe, healing experiences for the patient, family and caregiver. The newly launched Solace bed highlights our human-centric approach towards design using thoughtful design solutions for enhancing the maternity experience. Solace bed is the one-stop solution catering to all stages of the birthing process providing comfort & support to mothers and caregivers. We take great pride in continuously innovating to uplift the quality of the healthcare experience across India. Further, we plan to launch 5 new healthcare variants to our healthcare range of furniture in FY23-24 and target revenue growth of 30% in our Healthcare business.”

Peachtree City, GA (February 9, 2023) ― Wencor Group (“Wencor”), a leading solutions provider to the aerospace and defense markets, today announces the acquisition of Aero-Glen International, LLC.

“We are excited to welcome Aero-Glen International and their talented team of employees to Wencor. This acquisition is an excellent fit that accelerates our strategy to provide best-in-class distribution and value-added services to both the defense and commercial aerospace markets. It also enhances our aftermarket hardware offering, allowing us to provide our customers with more comprehensive options to meet their repair needs,” says Wencor Chief Executive Officer, Shawn Trogdon.

“The addition of Aero-Glen rounds out our capability to offer creative and differentiated supply chain solutions, value-added services, and customized kitting solutions to both OEM and aftermarket customers in the defense marketplace. This acquisition aligns with our product line expansion strategy, providing additional premier authorized distributorships including Howmet, HPF, Lisi, and Monogram,” adds Wencor’s President of Defense, Scott Herndon.

Aero-Glen International, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and celebrating its 47th year servicing the aerospace market, is a full-line stocking distributor offering value-added services and kitting solutions that include aerospace fasteners, fittings, machined parts, and other specialized hardware. The company serves a diverse and global customer base, including domestic, international, commercial, and military customers.

Aero-Glen is the first company in the United States to successfully complete the Joint Surveillance Voluntary Assessment Program and effectively meet the stringent requirements of CMMC 2.0 Level 2 compliance.

“We are thrilled to be joining the Wencor team, who like us, shares a culture dedicated to providing customers with exceptional service and solutions at the highest levels of quality and reliability,” says Tyson Kay, Vice President and General Manager of Aero-Glen International. “We are excited to join Wencor as we look to leverage their extensive in-house technical capabilities and overall scale to drive continued growth across our distribution and value-add services business.”

BMO Capital Markets served as the exclusive financial advisor to Aero-Glen International and Hallett & Perrin PC served as legal counsel.