Bengaluru 4th Feb 2023: NITKonnect, a platform created by NITK Alumni Association Bangalore Chapter has announced its annual flagship conference, NITKonnect’23, on Feb 4th,2023. The 2nd edition of this annual event will feature a power-packed line-up of Indian and global business leaders, experts, strategists, and policymakers. The summit will focus on the theme –“Engineering the New Bharat”, keeping in mind the rapid growth trajectory that India is on in its quest to become the no.3 economy in the world by 2030. 400+ Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs will be participating in the deliberations spread out between the plenary sessions, keynotes, panels and sectoral huddles.

Mr.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Hon’ble Minister for Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, IT & Electronics. said ” Thank you for inviting me for the NIT Alumni Konnect. I am sure that after passing out of NITK, a prestigious institution for high-quality technical education and research, you all have charted your own lives in the manner you always wished.

I am happy that many of you have become entrepreneurs and run successful startups. Our government has always been supportive of such initiatives and has worked towards providing an enabling policy framework.

Today India is the third largest startups ecosystem in the world. Our Government under Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi ji has put in place well-calibrated policies & programmes that are catalyzing India’s Techade while nurturing a vibrant startup and innovation ecosystem.

Events such as NITKonnect are in my opinion an important element of fulfilling the vision of New India. At many places, alumni associations are helping entrepreneurial growth by incubating and handholding startups. As a government we intend to encourage and co-partner with such associations and drive India’s progress during the Amrit Kaal.

The plenary session will feature Mr.Aravind Melligeri(Chairman & CEO, Aequs Group and a NITK Alumnus) & Mr.Koshy(CEO, ONDC) who will outline the key imperatives and policy initiatives that are essential for the country to progress towards the vision of “Amrit Kaal” over the next decade.

Key speakers participating in the event include other NITK Alums who are at the helm of affairs in global corporations like Mr.Rajesh Rege, President-HoneyWell India, Mr.Ravindranath Gumaste, MD-Kirloskar Ferrous, Mr.Lingaraju Sawkar, President-Kyndryl India, Mr.Kaniappan, MD-ZF CV India and Ms.Srishti Sofat, SVP-Oracle Fusion CX. They will be outlining what it will take for ‘Bharat’ to become the Innovation Engine of the World by 2030.

To complete the innovation spectrum, celebrated start-up founders like Mr.Aprameya Radhakrishna (Koo), Mr.Utham Gowda (Captain Fresh), Mr.Krishna Kumar (Simplilearn) and Mr.Raghunandan (Zolve) will share insights from their experiences on navigating the funding winter and staying afloat with startup founders.

Top-notch organisations and emerging blue chip companies such as Effigo, Capstone Ventures, IMML, Koo, Peps, Kyndryl, Saint-Gobain, ZF, eSumudaay, Simplilearn, Smart Q, DriveU, Aequs, Poise Motors, Kirloskar Ferrous and Good Meetings have provided the much-needed support for hosting this event.

Key Highlights

• NITK Alumni have founded exceptional startups in the last 5-6 years. The startups have achieved valuation in excess of USD 10 bln. To sustain this momentum, NITKonnect organised a Start-up Pitch session to identify budding entrepreneurs within the community. Over 50 start-ups participated in this challenge, of which the Top 5 promising start-ups that demonstrated innovation, viability and novelty were selected via a stringent evaluation process run by a Global Investor Panel. These start-ups attracted a commitment of upto USD 1.5 Mln from investors and will be accorded special recognition at the event.
• The Curtain Raiser event for the Summit saw the launch of a unique cross-border collaboration between Bengaluru and Bay Area via the ‘𝑵𝑰𝑻𝑲 𝑩𝒂𝒚 𝑨𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒖 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕’ Initiative. This will be a common platform for global NITK alumni to leverage synergies for business growth, market expansion, and access to funding.
• NITKonnect also announced the inking of two powerful collaborations with TiE Bangalore and Your Story respectively. Commenting on these collaborations, Mr.Niranjan M, President-NITK Alumni
• Association(Bangalore Chapter) opined “At NITKonnect, our vision is to set up an investment syndicate and an incubation centre which will groom and mentor start-ups to set up sustainable ventures, with potentially a Unicorn in the next 5 years. We are absolutely thrilled at the prospect of partnering with two giants of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in TiE Bangalore and Your Story. We are eagerly looking forward to working closely with both of these organizations in realising this dream.”
• NITKonnect has signed a MOU with TiE Bangalore to jointly further the growth of the start-up ecosystem in Karnataka. Early-stage start-up founders will be able to draw upon the collective expertise of the 1000+ strong community for mentorship, access to funding, and capability enhancement through knowledge-sharing sessions and networking for business growth. To facilitate this, TiE Bangalore will be offering membership at a special price to start-up founders associated with NITKonnect. Commenting on this development,

Mr.Madan Padaki, President-TiE Bangalore said “ We are really excited to partner with NITKonnect on this unique initiative. Enabling access to funding & investors and providing support to entrepreneurs by way of mentorship, access to markets and customers are key pillars of TiE Bangalore. This collaboration with NITKonnect will provide a great fillip to the combined efforts of both organizations in expanding the ecosystem further by way of a larger pool of mentors & investors.”

NITKonnect’s collaboration with Your Story, a leading media technology company for startups, entrepreneurs, investors, innovators and change-makers, will focus on coverage of the various initiatives undertaken by NITKonnect as well as mutual speaking/workshop opportunities. The phenomenal reach of Your Story’s digital platform will be leveraged to capture compelling stories of entrepreneurial ventures launched by the NITK alumni.

Kamdhenu Jeevandhara Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Kamdhenu Group has begun a computer donation program as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The program is aimed at empowering poor children enrolled in it free computer training program who have excelled in the program but could not afford to buy a computer.

For more than a decade now, Kamdhenu Jeevandhara, has been directing its CSR activities to empower children from the poorer sections through education and computer training programs. More than 1000 children have benefitted from the free-of-cost education program with a nominal registration fee.

The program will be run out of the foundation’s computer center in Chakarpur, Gurugram, and will supplement other CSR initiatives including the school for underprivileged children, basic computer education, and free meal.

“The computer training course has been instrumental in ensuring better job prospects and hence better quality of life for many. Taking the initiative a step further, Kamdhenu Jeevandhara Foundation has taken the initiative to distribute desktop computers to bright yet needy children so that they can make the most of the computer training course”, elaborated Ms. Radha Agarwal, Chairperson, Kamdhenu Jeevandhara Foundation while talking about the desktop distribution programme.

Kolkata, West Bengal, 4th February 2023: Linc Limited (Formerly Linc Pen & Plastics Limited), one of the most trusted names in the writing instruments & stationery business, announced its Q3FY23 results today. The Board of Directors of Linc Limited at its meeting held on 3rd February 2023 took on record the Unaudited Financial Results for the third quarter of Financial Year 2022-23. Linc has a robust domestic and international presence spreading more than 40 countries and the brand is respected for producing world-class and innovative products.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Deepak Jalan, Managing Director, Linc Limited said:

“Continuing on our strong performance in the previous quarter, Q3 FY23 has also been a landmark quarter as we have achieved highest ever profit in the history of our company. Total Income for Q3 FY23 amounted to ₹12,495 lacs as against ₹9,575 lacs in Q3 FY 22, cloaking a YoY growth of over 30%. Better product mix, along with stable raw material prices during the period resulted in sharp increase in operating margin. Gross margin increased from 30.5% in Q2 FY23 to 33.1% in Q2 FY23. EBITDA margin also improved to 14.9% and was up 744 basis points YOY and 201 basis points QoQ in spite of higher manpower and advertisement costs.

Our sales network continues to spread as we added over 2500 + touchpoints in the quarter gone by. This coupled with the slated launch of a new Rs 40 pen under Pentonic stable in the current quarter, as well as increased thrust on brand strengthening augers well for our topline growth. In spite of the slight uptick in polymer price of late, margins are expected to remain stable in the coming quarters due to improving product mix. This along with strong demand for Company’s product should help us in growing our profits.”

Milestones Achieved for Q3 FY 23

 Total Income:

• ₹12,495 Lacs, registering a growth of 30.5% YoY and -2.2% QoQ
• Share of ‘Pentonic’ at 30.3% inQ3 FY23 as against 25.5% in FY22

Gross Profit:

• All time high of ₹4,126 Lacs, up 70.7% YoY & 6.5% QoQ. Gross Margin was at 33.1%

EBITDA:

• All time high of ₹1,859 Lacs, up 160.4% YoY & 13.3% QoQ. EBITDA Margin was at 14.9%

PAT:

• All time high of ₹1,113 Lacs against full year FY22 PAT of ₹813 Lacs, up 299.6% YoY & 16.5% QoQ. PAT Margin was at 8.9%
• EPS stood at ₹7.48 inQ3 FY23 vs ₹1.87 in the same period last year

Net Debt: 

• Debt has come down to zero and Net Debt stood at (₹1604) lacs as against ₹290 lacs in FY 22
• Net Debt / EBITDA improved further to (0.27) from 0.12 in March 2022. It stood as high as 2.43 in March 2018

L-R – John Churchill and Chuck Thomas [photos Courtesy of Southwest Tennessee Community College]

(Memphis, Tenn.) – Southwest Tennessee Community College recently announced two new leaders to its senior leadership team. Chuck Thomas III has been named the College’s chief government and external relations officer and John Churchill, community liaison for Southwest Workforce and Community Solutions.

“We are excited to have John and Chuck join the Southwest family,” Southwest President Dr. Tracy D. Hall said. “They are outstanding leaders with a history of success and leadership in the Memphis and Mid-South community. They will play a critical role in advancing our strategic plan and efforts to position Southwest as a workforce development leader in the Mid-South.”

As the chief government and external relations officer, Thomas will build community support to advance the college’s initiatives and collaborate with government, civic, and community leaders to increase awareness and develop intervention and remediation strategies to address issues that impact the future health and safety of the Southwest community.

“I’m excited and honored to join the Southwest Tennessee Community College leadership team,” Thomas said. “I look forward to building and strengthening alliances with the greater Memphis and Shelby County community, state legislators, local elected officials and key business leaders.”

Thomas joins Southwest after a 40-year telecommunications career that spanned several account management positions. His most recent post was regional director of external and legislative affairs at AT&T, a position he held from 2009 until his retirement from AT&T this past December after more than 23 years of service. During his tenure in external affairs, he advanced the telecommunications giant’s public policy initiatives in Greater Memphis and 15 surrounding West Tennessee counties. His efforts ensured successful small cell and AT&T Fiber deployments and successfully positioned AT&T’s FirstNet, SLED and National Account teams with key stakeholders throughout the region. Thomas also served the Greater Memphis community as a board member of the Memphis Federal Reserve (Chairman 2014), Greater Memphis Chamber, The United Way of the Mid-South, Memphis Rotary (vice president), Teach For America, LISC Memphis, Bartlett Chamber and LeMoyne-Owen College. A native Memphian, Thomas grew up in Orange Mound and attended Melrose High school, Mississippi Valley State University, Southwest Tennessee Community College and the University of Memphis where he studied Criminal Justice and Political Science.

Churchill will be instrumental to the rollout of the Southwest Workforce Solutions Center (SWCS) as he works with community stakeholders to increase career pathways through a diversity of high-quality workforce programs that promote economic mobility for Southwest students.

“Coming back to Southwest feels like coming home,” Churchill said. “I am privileged to be able to work with a great staff as they develop innovative programs to provide local companies and industry with a skilled workforce. When you see a community that has a strong economy and great jobs for its workforce, typically, there is also a strong community college planted within that community,” he said. “I hope that I can contribute to the quality of Southwest’s workforce development programs and help increase the community’s awareness of Southwest as a strong economic driver in Memphis.”

Churchill began his career as a member of the United States Navy, where he served for 20 years. During his military service, he supervised testing and assessment systems for the Navy Trident submarine facility and directed operations for an advanced electronic training school. After the military, he joined the Kimberly Clark Memphis tissue manufacturing plant as supervisor of electrical maintenance and technical training. He also served on the startup team for Kimberly Clark’s first fully self-directed facility in Tulsa, OK. After stints in maintenance operations leadership with Champion Paper and Nabisco in Houston, Texas, Churchill joined Gerdau Ameristeel where he oversaw leadership and technical training at 20 North American steel mills.

Along with manufacturing, Churchill has extensive experience in workforce and economic development. In Memphis, he served as executive director of Corporate Training and Continuing Education at Southwest Tennessee Community College (2011-2015) and later as vice president of Business Services at the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce. His most recent post is chief operations officer for Technology Education to Go, LLC, where he helps area K-12 school districts, nonprofit organizations and businesses develop education pathways to livable-wage careers. Churchill also works with area businesses to improve work culture and increase employee skill levels.

“The sports sector in India has been granted the largest budget allocation in its history and from a venture capital perspective will be positive as it is helpful towards entrepreneurs that are solving real pain points in the sports industry.

The massive increase of over 300 Crores in the Union Budget effectively shows a steady rise for the Indian Sports and Venture Capital Industry as it helps startups gain more support in funding and mentorship programs. The budget will help to focus specifically on emerging markets and sports such as cricket, golf, beach sports, and e-sports among others.

India’s growth being the highest among major economies is a powerful aspect that will aim to encourage participation of youth and women in the sports activities in our country.”

Bangalore, February 3rd, 2023: India has assumed the presidency of G20 from 1st December 2022 for a period of one year. In its presidency, 1st Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) Meeting is scheduled to be held from 5th February to 7th February 2023.

NTPC, India’s largest integrated power utility, on behalf of Ministry of Power, Govt of India, will be hosting a side event in form of an International Seminar on Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (CCUS) on 5th February 2023 at TajWestend, Bengaluru. This seminar is likely to be attended by industries, policy makers, scientists and academicians of different countries.

The seminar will focus on underlining the importance of CCUS for achieving “clean energy transition” and subsequently moving towards Net Zero.

Bangalore, February 3rd, 2023: India has assumed the presidency of G20 from 1st December 2022 for a period of one year. In its presidency, 1st Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) Meeting is scheduled to be held from 5th February to 7th February 2023.

NTPC, India’s largest integrated power utility, on behalf of Ministry of Power, Govt of India, will be hosting a side event in form of an International Seminar on Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (CCUS) on 5th February 2023 at TajWestend, Bengaluru. This seminar is likely to be attended by industries, policy makers, scientists and academicians of different countries.

The seminar will focus on underlining the importance of CCUS for achieving “clean energy transition” and subsequently moving towards Net Zero.

“Government’s focus to encourage manufacturing of products locally will boost the national manufacturing infrastructure. It’s great to see a clear focus & plan to achieve the net-zero carbon emission target by 2070. The Green Growth initiative & announcement of Rs 35,000 crore for priority capital investments towards energy transition and net zero objectives are a welcome move.

An outlay of ₹19,700 crore National Green Hydrogen Mission will reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports in the long run. Batteries are a key component in the sustainability sectors. Basic Import duty on goods and machinery used in the manufacture of lithium-ion cells has been waived which will encourage production of EVs & batteries locally and will benefit the ecosystem immensely.
The current budget is well structured with provision for every sector. With proper allocation of resources, the future economic growth of the country seems promising.”

Nalin Negi- CFO and Interim CEO, BharatPe

“We warmly embrace the Union budget 2023. Fintechs have come a long way over the last few years, and the Government’s initiatives to drive financial inclusion and enable digital payments have been one of the key drivers of the growth journey of this sector. Fintech services in India have been facilitated by India’s digital public infrastructure including Aadhaar, PM Jandhan Yojna, video KYC, India Stack and UPI, and digital payments have grown by 76% in transactions in 2022. In this budget, FM Nirmala Sitharaman has reimagined the government’s Digilocker services for the fintech sector. This will further aid the growth of the sector, along with the Government’s continued support to drive digital payments. Also, the government’s plans for encouraging countries looking for digital continuity solutions to set up data embassies at the GIFT City will further help position India as a global leader in the fintech industry.

Technological advancements can give us the edge as we strive to become a US$ 5 trillion economy. The announcement of setting up of Centres of Excellence for AI will fuel the focus on technology and innovation. Also, the National Data Governance Policy that will bring in innovation and research by startups and academia will enable access to anonymized data.”

Rahul Garg, Founder & CEO, Moglix & Credlix

“It’s encouraging to see that despite the global recessionary waves, India’s economy is growing. The Union budget 2023–24 builds upon the foundation established by the previous budget, with a vision of a prosperous, inclusive India where the fruits of growth reach all sections. Overall, this budget continued focusing on promoting exports, boosting domestic manufacturing, enhancing domestic value addition, encouraging green energy and mobility, streamlining the supply chain, and providing economic support to MSMEs across the country. Lowered tax rate of 15% for new companies starting manufacturing activities by March 31, 2024, will act as a catalyst, driving the public-private partnership investment in infrastructure, including railways and roads. The thrust on manufacturing & infrastructure will enable the country to achieve the target of achieving a manufacturing potential to export goods worth $1 trillion by 2030. National Green Hydrogen Mission will facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon intensity and reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports, thus contributing to green growth. According to our commitments at COP26 and COP27 on climate action, the Union Budget signaled the beginning of the decarbonization of India’s inbound supply chain. The National Data Governance Policy will unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia, enabling access to anonymous data. The Unified Skill India Digital Platform would facilitate demand-based formal skilling, employer linkage (including MSMEs). Revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to infuse Rs. 9000 crore into the corpus. The budget has brought about entrepreneur-friendly measures on the policy and legal fronts to drive operational excellence across sectors. Access to entrepreneurial initiatives to further bolster the economic and human resource foundation of the country will drive start-up ecosystem in the country.”

Bonn Group of Industries, one of India’s leading manufacturers of FMCG Food products, is focused on establishing connections and building bonds of trust and successful partnerships with its massive channel partners’ network. The brand organized an exclusive channel partners’ meet in Gwalior, MP. Coming together to acknowledge performance and construct plans, the event was marked by insightful discussions and guidance by leaders. Besides being appreciated for achieving sales objectives through the hygienic distribution of products, the channel partners were also celebrated for being an integral part of the company’s progress journey.

The channel partners were also acknowledged for their efforts in helping the company to meet its Sales objectives by ensuring the hygienic distribution of Bonn Products across the state. The top deck from Bonn Group shared its vision to target double-digit growth and build the MP market as one of its prime markets. The objective of the meeting was to make the channel partner feel that they are very much a part of the Bonn Group of Industries and that their growth is an integral part of the company’s progress.

“With a well-established network in India, we endeavor to penetrate urban and semi-urban areas of MP through our highly committed channel partners & Sales Team; Distribution is the core of any FMCG business; therefore, we always make a conscious effort to align channel partners with Company’s way forward’’, said Mr. Dawinder Pal, Head of Marketing, BONN Group of Industries.

“Gwalior channel partners’ meeting has helped us in identifying challenges & market gaps Madhya Pradesh market. Despite our good performance amid COVID, we want to take the game ahead by making the best of the coming quarter. The channel partners have been about our new products with which they can help us achieve pre-COVID sales numbers,” said Mr. Navdeep Chadha, VP Sales, Biscuit.

Guest of Honor

1. Navdeep Chadha (VP Sales)
2. Dawinder Pal (Head of Marketing Bonn Group)
3. Rakesh Sharma (AGM Sales)
4. Dinesh Sharma (Sr Sales Manager)
5. Sukhpreet S. Naz (Assistant Brand Manager)