Category business

New Delhi: Lateworks of Akbar Padamsee, an Iconic exhibition showcasing the recent most 19 paintings of Padma Bhushan Awardee Late Akbar Padamsee. “Human head, the human body & landscapes, with an occasional foray in to still-life”, Late Akbar Padamsee’s work on display. Padma Bhushan awardee, Late Akbar Padamsee’s 19 drawings are being showcased in Delhi. ‘Thinkers Artist’, Late Akbar Padamsee’s art work put on display. Bhanu Padamsee, Wife of Akbar Padamsee Organisng this exhibition. The exhibition is being held at the Triveni Kala Sangam, 205, Tansen Marg, Mandi House Delhi. The exhibition kicked off on 5th Feb and will go on till 18th Feb and is open for public viewing between 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM. 19 of his drawings are showcased which were made by him 2013-2017.

Late Akbar Padamsee, considered as one of the pioneers in modern India painting. In the ‘70s, he had been alternating between the luminous metascapes, his signature works and the human figure which he imbues with an arresting presence. Till the moment of his demise on 6th January 2020, he continued working constantly pushing boundaries.

During his very first solo show at the Jehangir Art Gallery he was embroiled in a controversial court case on charges of a painting called ‘Lovers’ for obscenity. His second show sealed his reputation as one of India’s most formidable artists.

He is still fondly remembered as the ‘thinkers’ artist.’ Over the course of years, he applied several mediums in his art work including oil painting, plastic emulsion etc. Though widely spoken of as a modernist, Akbar Padamsee continued to resist being labeled. He worked as a film maker, sculptor, photographer, engraver & lithographer. He was awarded with the third highest civilian honor-Padma Bhushan along with several other awards including Rockefeller III Fund Fellowship, Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship, 1969-70, Kalidas Samman from the MP Government, 1997, Lalit Kala Ratna, 2004.

Late Padamsees wife, Bhanumati shared few stories of the times when her husband used to reminisce old times when he was in Delhi, his wonderful friends and his exhibitions at Triveni Kala Sangam. She opened by quoting Padamsee “dream is constant in the region of the heart physically present as a dull ache forms without ache are futile.” The exhibition gives a sneak peek of how an artist thinks and his motivation to draw. Padamsee said “Art for me is to express the invisible”. His paintings included human heads, landscapes, mirror images and several other portraits in pencil and charcoal.

Mumbai, February 07, 2023: In a bid to enable 100,000 MSMEs turn ESG compliant in the next 24 months, Bizongo, a leading vendor digitization platform with embedded financing for brands and enterprises has launched Bizongo environmental, social, and governance (ESG) Scorecard. This will help bolster ESG consciousness among Indian MSMEs and larger enterprises. With this, Bizongo has also become the first B2B marketplace to offer ESG-related intelligence.

Aniket Deb, Co-founder & COO, Bizongo, said “In its essence, ESG is a framework that helps businesses build customer loyalty, attract investors, make operations sustainable, and improve financial performance. In line with this, Bizongo’s ESG Scorecard will enable MSMEs on its platform assess their ESG performance and help them integrate it into their internal policies and practices.”

The scorecard will allow MSMEs to monitor and track their compliance across various ESG components, including social parameters, such as minimum wage policy, Child labor and Forced labor, Harassment and Discrimination, and product quality and testing. It will also focus on environmental parameters, such as the Environment Management System (or ISO 14001, energy management process/policy, policies/processes for optimum, water consumption/ water conservation, circular economy/ recycle/reuse program, management of solid/liquid waste, and GHG emission. On the Governance front, the tool will assess compliance on grievance redressal/whistleblowing, code of conduct, anti-bribery, frauds/malpractice incident, and sub-contractors’ due diligence.

Leveraging Bizongo’s digital vendor management platform, the scorecard will help MSMEs on the platform validate their credibility in following mandatory compliances, especially when applying for Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) certification. It will also simplify availing ZED benefits, such as subsidy on cost of tech adoption, reimbursement on acquisition and installation of Plant & Machinery/ Testing equipment, and concessions in Pricing/processing charges by banks, among others.

The MSME sector in India is characterized as resource intensive with 19.4 million MSMEs in the manufacturing industry consuming 25% of the total energy in the industrial sector and generating 110 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This consumption is expected to further increase as India continues to boost manufacturing activity.

“India being the incumbent host of the G20 Presidency for 2023, the country would like to pioneer the cause of sustainable development goals during the current term and support climate change protection policies. This makes it even more imperative for the sector to invest in ESG. The Government of India has also been advising MSMEs to observe aggressive green practices and manufacture goods with ‘zero defects’ so that they have a ‘zero effect’ on the environment. In line with this Bizongo has taken a mandate to enable MSMEs to ensure that this transition happens, and this scorecard is a starting point that is available for every MSME to use and adopt,” Aniket added.

Most MSMEs either do not track their ESG compliance or still rely on manual processes to collect internal ESG data on water consumption, workforce demographics, and code of conduct, amongst others. This leads to unorganized storage of data resources across databases in different formats, which delays decision-making and ineffective tracking of ESG preparedness.

“The size of the enterprise, a profit-first mindset, informal nature of operations, and challenges in assessing and selecting sub-vendors/suppliers based on ESG performance are some of the overarching internal challenges preventing ESG adoption. Some of the external factors obstructing the adoption include lack of motivations through more regulatory compliances and absence of push from larger enterprises and customers,” he said

As ESG becomes the core conversation in corporate boardrooms and for the allocation of capital, it is compelling brands and enterprises to improve their sustainability performance. Also, the growing demand for a sustainable supply chain is putting pressure on SME vendors to increase resource productivity, reduce emissions, and improve their ESG score.

“Bizongo’s scorecard will help MSMEs meet the demands of global-level customers by driving more environmentally friendly and inclusive business operations and manufacturing products with the ethos of ESG. Simultaneously, it will also help large enterprises to monitor their ESG profile and expedite decision-making by assessing the compliance levels of suppliers, vendors, and other supply chain partners.” Aniket said. Further, the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) mandate for the top 1,000 listed entities by market capitalization to file business responsibility and sustainability reporting (BRSR) and disclosures from FY 2023 has triggered large corporations to think about ESG as a value preservation measure. Following the implementation of Bizongo’s scorecard, international and domestic enterprises with a large portfolio of third parties will be able to combat new risk levels and improve their sustainability performance as they onboard partners from Bizongo’s large base of ESG-compliant manufacturers and vendors.

Bizongo’s ESG scorecard comes on the heels of a preliminary study conducted by the vendor digitization platform to understand the current scale of adoption of ESG-compliant practices by MSMEs and their intent to implement them. Bizongo has been helping MSMEs scale their business by digitizing supply and procurement and offering tailored solutions that will enable the sector to achieve the Government of India’s vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

07th Feb. 2023, New Delhi/Noida/Lucknow, India

Just two days ahead of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) Global Investors Summit 2023, today U.P. Govt. signs an MoU with Innogress for setting up India’s first Quantum Computing Data Center, ‘IQDC’ (Indraprastha Quantum Data Center), at Greater Noida, U.P. proposed in JV with GAN Tech. UK.

Recently U.P. attracted many Data Center projects, particularly in Noida/Greater Noida area, but this is the first time a new data center is proposed on innovative Quantum Computing Technology. So far, all data centers in India are based on classical computing technologies, which (classical computing) having own technological and performance-related limitations. Data Centers based on classical computing shall have huge energy and space requirements, and at the same time have huge information security risks due to recent Quantum Computer-based algorithms discovered by Chines scientists which is believed to be good enough to break RSA-based data encryption, hence leaving the present day classical data centers vulnerable to Quantum Computer-based security attacks.

Commenting on a recent proposal sent to the state Govt. of U.P. under U.P. GIS2023 for setting up India’s first Quantum Computing Data Center at Gr. Noida, Founding Partner of Innogress Mr. Sumant Parimal, said “Present Data Centers likely to hit redundancy in the future due to performance/speed, energy, space, and data security concerns, as the whole computing and data storage architecture is based on classical computing which is bits (0,1) based built on semiconductor chips. However, Quantum Computers built on quantum chips perform computation and storage of information using Qubits, which are much faster in speed and store a higher volume of data on the same chip size and require lesser energy for performing computing. Quantum Computing technology is recent innovation and fast evolving and having capabilities to sustain future A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) applications and emerging Apps. higher computing resource requirements”.

“Keeping this latest Tech. innovations in mind, we at Innogress in collaborating with our UK Partner GAN Tech. UK Ltd. and prospective investors, proposing to set up India’s first Quantum Computing Data Center, Indraprastha Quantum Data Center, at Gr. Noida U.P. under the framework of incentives launched by U.P. Govt. during ongoing U.P. Global Investors Summit2023 progg. We are aligning our proposed Quantum Tech. Data Center Project ‘IQDC’ with the vision of Hon’ble CM of U.P. and Hon’ble PM of India for developing U.P. and India as innovative Technologies hub. Our proposed data center is going to be quantum-safe and going to enable high-performance computing requirements of New India” Sumant Parimal said.

AlUla, February 2023: Cloud7 Residence AlUla, the lodge-style resort with 150 modern bungalows is the region’s newest lifestyle hotel/residence from where travellers and adventurers will be able to enjoy a variety of cultural events, the world’s largest outdoor museum, heritage sites, art exhibitions, sport events, concerts, and adventure sites. For remote workers and business visitors, Cloud 7 offers a stay that facilitates your independence with all conveniences required, and the team works hard to curate human connections through inviting and connecting the local vibrant community of artisans, artists, talent, adventure guides and hospitable families with Cloud 7 guests.

Cloud7 Residence AlUla is a unique destination offering locals and guests a community-driven and connected stay revolving around unique experiences tailored to each and every taste for adventure. The essence of the space is to create ongoing local, regional and national collaborations with artists, entrepreneurs, food-preneurs, yoga and outdoor gym instructors and any other talented, creative, passionate individuals to enhance the humanization of the Cloud7 neighbourhood.

The Community and Culture Manager in charge of the events’ programming – a native from AlUla himself – primes the activities at the property that are a combination of live local traditional Kanoon and Oud music, as well as Jazz and live DJ gigs on weekends. Additionally, the authentic local experience is enriched by a collaboration with a home-grown food and beverage concept that will serve AlUla’s most cherished cuisine – hearty breakfast with dates and flat breads, savoury shakshooka and charcoal barbecue dinners by the pool side. Serving Saudi coffee, which is considered a social phenomenon in the Kingdom, is a central part of the welcome ritual at the welcome Beduin tent. Here, the ritual involves an educational element about the traditions and rich heritage. Guest at Cloud7 can also enjoy a homecooked meal prepared in the bungalows fully-equipped kitchenette, cosy up in the spacious living-room which extends into an outdoor private terrace, surrounded by mini herb gardens, making it the ideal location for a holiday, workcation or to move in for a while.

Cloud7 Residence AlUla is quickly becoming the home for those planning to stroll through majestic rock formations, canyons and cliffs by bike or, car or buggy visiting the most picturesque sites in AlUla, home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hegra. With its proximity to Pastry Boutique and the AlUla Old Town, Cloud7 Residence offers opportunities to meet artisans, purchase locally sourced souveniers and enjoy Saudi-inspired cuisine. The property is the latest addition to AlUla’s hospitality landscape providing mid-scale accommodation to travellers and guests who are seeking to work or stay for shorter or longer periods of time. The country’s transformation to a global tourism destination is now welcoming a growing number of visitors, consultants and employees from organisations that support the growth of this space working remotely from different places in the Kingdom. These visitors have already become one of the biggest contributors to the placemaking of AlUla globally.

This new Lodge is part of Kerten Hospitality’s global footprint of 50 projects. Recently, Kerten Hospitality, a mixed-use and ESG-focused lifestyle operator, announced new Cloud7 projects in Europe and the Middle East as part of the brand’s global expansion.

February 7, 2023 – Singapore – Algorand Foundation, the organization focused on growing the ecosystem for the world’s most advanced, secure and reliable layer-1 blockchain, announced broad-reaching partnerships in India.

With India set to surpass China as the world’s most populous country this year, the Foundation is committed to supporting the creation of employment opportunities and solutions that serve India’s vibrant population.

Algorand is the first layer-1 blockchain protocol to partner with T-Hub, India’s premier innovation hub with 600+ corporate partners, including Intel, AWS, Boeing, Meta, Microsoft, Cisco, among others. This partnership will support startups and established companies building high-impact, scalable blockchain-based solutions.

“T-Hub and Telangana state are committed to supporting a Web3 ecosystem of entrepreneurs, developers and creators. Our new partnership with Algorand, especially given the sustainability and real world utility of its blockchain in a market like India, is strong evidence of that,” said M. S. Rao, T-Hub CEO. “This partnership will help our ecosystem scale globally and access capital from around the world.”

Through partnerships with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad and the Indian School of Business, the Algorand Foundation will soon launch faculty development programs, student developer training, and a master class series for companies looking to transition critical business processes to Web3.

In addition, Algorand will act as a technology partner for the new $50 million Global Climate Resilience Fund – launched by the Clinton Foundation and its Clinton Global Initiative, with SEWA as a founding partner – geared towards helping women micro-entrepreneurs address climate change. SEWA is the largest trade union in India with more than 2.1 million female workers. For 50 years, SEWA has improved the livelihoods of self-employed women workers from the informal economy through initiatives including technical training.

In celebrating the new fund, the Algorand Foundation and its CEO Staci Warden have joined Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and The Clinton Foundation in Ahmedabad. The fund, in part, will help local entrepreneurs connect with the carbon markets and monetize carbon credits that their activities generate. Through business accelerator programs and seed investments, Algorand will support women-led enterprises building solutions to increase financial inclusion and empowerment of SEWA members and low-income working women across India.

“At the Algorand Foundation, we are deeply committed to ensuring blockchain lives up to its potential in creating a more inclusive economy in India and across the globe,” said Warden. “I am thrilled to be back in India, and especially to see the embrace and enthusiasm by people across the country for technology that can so significantly and positively impact their quality of life.”

Algorand’s focus on India follows the Foundation’s recent appointment of Anil Kakani as India Country Head.

“The partnerships we are formalizing this week with India’s most respected institutions and organizations are reflective of the reliability, scalability and real world utility of Algorand’s blockchain technology,” said Kakani. “Our mission is built around sustainable impact. We are ready to take center stage in India and across the globe to fuel world-changing solutions to improve access to financial services, health care, education and so many other critical applications.”

Startups and developers interested in learning more about Algorand and opportunities to take part in this initiative can apply to join a 3-day mini accelerator experience in Hyderabad taking place March 24-26, 2023.

Mumbai, 7th Feb 2023: Delhivery Ltd., India’s largest fully integrated logistics provider, has partnered with eSamudaay, a software solution provider, to enable rural businesses to scale by serving customers across India.

Coming together of Delhivery and eSamudaay, network partners of ONDC, effectively broadens the footprint of local products and aligns with the government of India’s plans of ‘Make in India, for the world’.

Bengaluru-based eSamudaay has launched a tech-enabled platform called TyohaarForever Platform to curate India’s vast range of hyperlocal products produced by local artisans. Through the partnership, eSamudaay will leverage Delhivery’s extensive pan-India network of 18,400+ pin codes to make these local products accessible across the country.

The platform enabled the first set of cross-country orders for raw, unpasteurized Himalayan Honey produced by Tenacious Bee Collective. A Delhivery field executive picked up the products from Jia valley, located in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, to ship to Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

Tenacious Bee Collective is a start-up that brings local farmers on a single platform with apiarists and scientists. Their aim is to spread the use of raw and unpasteurized honey and help local beekeepers enhance their incomes. Tenacious Bee Collective is in the process of being onboarded on the ONDC network.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. T Koshy, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, ONDC, said,” ONDC, with its agenda of democratizing digital commerce, aims to bring the smallest of sellers onto the network and provides them with a level playing field. I’m delighted to see two network participants, Delhivery and eSamudaay, enable ‘Tenacious Bee Collective,’ a small company from Kangra, Himachal Pradesh on-board onto ONDC to take its products to customers across India.”

AjithPai, Chief Operating Officer, Delhivery, commented on the partnership, “We are excited to collaborate with ONDC network enablers such as eSamudaay to open up new vistas for delivering value and creating wealth at the grassroots level using digital technologies. With Delhivery’s technology-enabled, fully-integrated logistics solutions, entrepreneurs and businesses from the remotest villages and settlements can serve customers across the country. India has huge demand from different tiers of economy, and ONDC will truly unlock the growth potential of digital commerce in India.”

Commenting on the platform, SunjayKeswani, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Commerce Business, eSamudaay, said, “Taking off from our mission of creating decentralized digital communities, TyohaarForever is one such platform that enables the curation of best of the products from rural communities from the deepest of locations In India. We work with them so that these very sellers and artisans can take charge of their own livelihood improvement and economic betterment. The core beneficiaries of our initiative are sellers in informal settlements and tier-2, tier-3, and tier-4 cities. In fact, we are driving ONDC initiatives in what we know as Bharat.”

The Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon is back with its 9th edition and this time, it’s not just a run but a movement towards health and the environment. Milind Soman, a fitness icon, will serve as the brand ambassador and will lead the way, starting the event with a ceremonial flag-off.

Hiranandani, as a brand, has always been committed to the well-being of the environment and has introduced numerous green initiatives in all its townships. The #RhymeForEarth initiative is a testament to this commitment and the Hiranandani Thane Half Marathon is taking this cause a step further.

So don’t just run, but run with a purpose—pledge to be mindful of your carbon footprint and join the movement to protect mother earth. Let’s #RunForEarth

HTHM9 will be flagged off on February 12, 2023, from Hiranandani Estate, Thane. In this edition there will be three categories:

•  Half Marathon – 21.097 km
•  Green Run – 10 km
•  Family Run – 4 km

Date: 12th February 2023

Time: 5.30 am onwards

Website: https://hthm.co.in/

Venue: HTHM9 will be flagged off from TMC ground, near New horizon, Hiranandani Estate, Thane.

Bengaluru, 7th February 2023: Cashfree Payments, India’s leading payments, and API banking solutions company, launched ‘Co-lend’, India’s first fully automated escrow management solution for co-lending. ‘Co-lend’ has been developed in line with the digital lending guidelines announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It facilitates instant disbursal with auto reconciliation and a dashboard for managing multiple partnerships. Additionally, it requires no manual intervention, automatically notifies the loan management system, and eliminates reconciliation efforts.

Currently, in co-lending partnerships, the reconciliation of funding to the escrow accounts for disbursement and repayments is done manually, resulting in errors and delays. The lender and originator pool money into the Co-lend escrow, and then disbursals and collections happen from and into the escrow. In this process, the Loan Management System (LMS), the Loan Origination System (LOS), and the actual loan disbursal, as well as repayment, are disconnected, resulting in reporting delays and challenges in accounting and reconciliation for each player in the partnership. Cashfree Payments’ ‘Co-lend’ addresses all these challenges and makes the entire process automated increasing efficiency and accuracy.

Cashfree Payments’ ‘Co-lend’ provides a robust platform for co-lending originators and lenders, especially the ones sanctioning high volumes of loans, where real-time disbursement, repayment, and reconciliation are primary requirements. Cashfree Payments has also partnered with Loan Management Services and Loan Origination Service providers as well as banks to enable a plug-and-play offering for lenders to manage all their co-lending and add new partners with ease. The current set of banks that already support a Co-lend integration are ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Axis Bank.

Akash Sinha, Co-founder and CEO of Cashfree Payments, said, “With the exponential expansion in digital lending, there is a tremendous demand for compliant and scalable solutions. We are pleased to announce that Cashfree Payments now offers a co-lending platform to provide NBFCs and banks with a one-stop solution for escrow management, disbursal, and repayment, with a focus on automating payments and complex reconciliation involved. As an innovator in the API banking and payments space, we have strived to deliver this solution at a vital juncture to assure continuity and development for our merchants while maintaining compliance at the forefront.”

With over 50% market share among payment processors, Cashfree Payments today leads the way in bulk disbursals in India with its product Payouts. Recently, India’s largest lender, SBI invested in Cashfree Payments, underscoring the company’s role in building a robust payments ecosystem. The company works closely with all leading banks to build the core payments and banking infrastructure that powers the company’s products and is also integrated with major platforms such as Shopify, Wix, Paypal, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and Google Pay. Apart from India, Cashfree Payments’ products are used in eight other countries including the USA, Canada, and UAE.

The 20th edition of BioAsia – The Marquee Healthcare and Life Sciences event, organized by the Government of Telangana, has announced that the coveted Genome Valley Excellence Award for the year 2023 will be conferred upon Prof. Robert S. Langer, in light of his pioneering research that has led to the development of the first commercial mRNA vaccines used for a variety of infectious diseases. Langer is currently the David H. Koch Institute Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He is also being acknowledged for his exemplary research in human health, including the detection, monitoring, and treatment of cancer. A veteran in his field, his remarkable contributions to biomedical and therapeutic research include developing long-term and controlled-release drug delivery systems used for a variety of applications including cancer therapy, insulin, and vaccines.

February 7, 2023, New Delhi: Lumenore, a platform that develops advanced analytics and business intelligence solutions incorporated with intuitive and AI-Powered modules, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with iQ Innovation Hub LLP, an integrated technology partner specializing in consulting and delivering enterprise solutions. This move will help Lumenore increase business momentum and expansion into the U.S., EU, and Indian markets.

Lumenore is conceptualized to make analytics simple and flexible to help organizations achieve more with data with faster access to actionable business insights. The platform’s unique features, like NLQ-powered conversational analytics (‘AskMe Anything’), AI-recommended insights (‘Do you know’), self-service solutions and building a data universe have helped enterprises across the globe accelerate their data transformation journey and empower data-driven decision-making across industries.

Under the agreement, Lumenore has authorized iQ Innovation to purchase and/or license products and to grant access to resell them in the regions. iQ Innovation provides end-to-end support in intelligent automation, cloud solutions, cloud migrations, web development, mobile development, API development, ETL, and automation testing & blockchain in industries like healthcare, automobile, and e-commerce. Through this partnership, Lumenore expects to add more than 10,000 no.s of userbase in the IT and healthcare sector in the next two quarters.

Talking about the partnership, Mr. Naren Vijay, EVP – Growth, Lumenore said, “Brands nowadays are looking to access the availability of near real-time data for analytics. At Lumenore, we have the expertise and have changed how organizations of any size in any industry do things. We are happy to partner with iQ Innovation which strives to build intelligent business solutions like us. With their strong presence in the healthcare and technology sector, we are looking forward to further accelerating our go-to-market strategy and reaching new organizations in India, U.K and U.S region.”

“After observing the evolution of hyper-automation in the post-COVID-era, we decided that now was the right time to develop a new range of services to respond better to the industry needs. Lumenore is a great brand to bring under the iQ Innovation banner and offers us potentially in all the markets we serve. The intelligent BI Analytics platform will bolster our core offering and further defines our footprint globally,” said Ms. Gayatri Dandekar, Business Development Lead, iQ Innovation.

Lumenore is making its entire dashboard and conversational analytics available to end users to help them make better use of the data collected. Using Lumenore’s BI platform will help organizations reduce their overall reporting and dashboarding cost by 30% while improving the efficiency of reporting operations by 50%.