Archives May 2023

29th May 2023, New Delhi  While Analysts are reviewing various schemes and programs of Govt. of India on completion of nine years of Modi Govt. in center, Analyst 5 Jewels Research (5JR) believes that India Stack which is a product of ‘Digital India’ Program of Govt. of India has potential to become one of the World’s largest digital brand. Various public digital infrastructure platforms like Aadhaar, UPI (United Payments Interface), DigiLocker, ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) are when stacked and integrated together then technically it termed as India Stack.

While ‘Aadhaar’, the national identity program of India, was under formation since year 2009-10, other public digital infrastructure platforms were initiated as part of Digital India program, which was launched in year 2015 by Modi Govt.

While giving his opinion on completion of nine years of P.M. Modi Govt. on 26th May 2023, Chief Analyst of 5 Jewels Research Mr Sumant Parimal said “Digital India Program which was launched under the leadership of P.M. Modi in year 2015 is not only creating various digital infrastructure platforms like UPI, ONDC, DigiLocker for digitally transforming India’s governance and citizen lives, but it is also churning out digital product brand under unified frameworks of India Stack, which has potential to become one of the largest digital brand of the World. Brand value of digital products and digital platforms are directly dependent on factors like uses cases, scalability, usability, adoption, global demand, underneath data volume, algorithms, and innovative IPs (Intellectual Property) along with high level patronages for its wider success. And when we see various public digital infrastructure platforms of India, which together forms India Stack, we find that all these factors and along with many other factors are in favorable conditions for positioning India Stack as one of the World’s largest digital brand”.

“While country is aspiring for achieving $10T+ GDP, making India top three economies of the World in years to come and with already ranked as top five global economy, but in term of consolidated brand valuation of Indian brands, India is still far behind at position nine in global ranking, with an estimated consolidated brand valuation much below half trillion$ mark. With help of Digital India-India Stack and other digital- tech. brands of Indian startups and enterprises, it may be possible for India to get ranked among top three consolidated brand valuation country in par with U.S., China, and Japan. Thus, I see India Stack as one of the strongest emerging Indian brand having potential to become world’s largest digital brand, which I further see as one of the biggest accomplishments of Modi Govt.” Sumant Parimal said.

Point to be noted here that components of Indian Stack like UPI digital payment platform are already in Global demand, and recently countries like Singapore, Bhutan, UAE, Mauritius, Indonesia already expressed their interests for integrating with UPI platform of India.

29th May 2023 Kolkata: iLEAD Films, the production unit of Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development (iLEAD), is thrilled to announce the upcoming iLEAD Film Festival from May 26th to May 30th, 2023 at 5 pm onwards every day. The festival will be held at the iLEAD Auditorium, Topsia, Kolkata, offering film enthusiasts a unique opportunity to witness the finest works produced by iLEAD Films so far. The movies will range from showcasing human emotions to exploring the glorious history of our nation.

The Festival Lineup:

iLEAD Films will present an impressive number of thought-provoking films with educative, meaningful and socially significant content. The festival schedule is as follows:

May 26th: “1971-India’s Finest Hour” – A film on India’s spectacular military victory in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to the liberation of Bangladesh. Lauded as the ‘must watch film for every Indian’, it showcases the brilliant roles played by all departments of Govt. of India in the most co-ordinated way.

May 27th: “Before You Die” – Kavya is a young girl from Rajasthan who arrives with her father in the beautiful hills of North Bengal. She meets Kuldip, a boy who works at the tea estate of Darjeeling. She gradually finds love in him. However, when she is proposed to by Kuldip, she decides to run away leaving him in a devastated state. But Kuldip decides not to give up. He has to find out why she left. It is a passionate story about love and life.

May 28th: “Kusum Ka Biyaah” – This yet to be released film is based on a true story exemplifying and facts are stranger than fiction – a story that shows the determination of the human spirit to defy all odds and overcome. It is a story of how the poorest of poor coped with Covid pandemic lockdown – a story about the eternal rivalry between the states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

May 29th: “Transfer of Power” – The story of how India achieved independence from 200 years of British dominance. Live the time with authentic footage and content which leads you through the single most remarkable event in history.

May 30th: “INDiRA” – It is a documentary feature film that narrates the story of the lady who led India’s future through extremely rare archived footage. BBC referred to her as the ‘Woman of the Millennium’ and Time Magazine called her as one of the world’s 100 powerful women who defined the last century.

iLEAD Films has continuously demonstrated an unwavering commitment to cinematic excellence. The film festival is a testament to our dedication in producing exceptional storytelling and showcasing diverse narratives that are socially significant. Film enthusiasts, critics, industry professionals, students, parents are all cordially invited to the iLEAD Film Festival from 26th May to 30th May 2023 at 5 pm every day.

New Delhi,29th May 2023 KRAFTON, Inc., the South Korean video game developer has today announced the first Road To Valor: Empires Open Championship with a total prize pool of INR 10 lakhs. Strategy gaming in India has witnessed a surge in emerging talent, and this tournament aims to provide a platform for players to refine their skills and make a mark in the world of Esports.

Speaking on the recent developments, Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of KRAFTON, Inc. India, said, “We are thrilled to announce the Road To Valor: Empires Open Championship and the launch of KRAFTON INDIA ESPORTS channels. We believe India has a strong talent pool in strategy gaming, and we hope this tournament provides a platform for all aspiring players in this segment. India has always been an important market for us, and we are committed to nurturing the Esports ecosystem in the country.”

Road To Valor: Empires Open Championship is set to commence in June. Dates and additional details regarding the tournament will be announced soon.

In addition to the tournament announcement, KRAFTON has unveiled dedicated Esports channels as part of its ongoing commitment to fostering the growth of the Esports ecosystem in the country. The KRAFTON INDIA ESPORTS YouTube Channel will serve as a hub for all Esports enthusiasts, offering engaging content, thrilling competitions, and updates on KRAFTON’s Esports events.

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Pune, 29th May 2023 Gera Developments, pioneers of the real estate business and the award-winning creators of premium residential and commercial projects in Pune, Goa, Bengaluru and California, has announced the appointment of Gulzar Malhotra, as its Chief Executive Officer. For the first time in its 52 years of operations, Gera Developments has hired a professional CEO to successfully drive company’s operations with continued focus on customer centricity. This is a big move considering that the company is at an inflection point of witnessing exponential growth in the Pune realty market and transformational changes within the organisation. Gulzar Malhotra will report to Rohit Gera, Managing Director, Gera Developments.

Commenting on the CEO appointment, Mr. Rohit Gera, Managing Director of Gera Developments, said, “We are excited to welcome Gulzar Malhotra as our first CEO. Mr. Malhotra brings with him a wealth of experience in the real estate industry, having previously held leadership positions in several prestigious companies. Gulzar’s comprehensive understanding of the development value chain, from project feasibility to construction management and sales, real estate advisory & valuation positions him well to steer Gera Development’s to scale greater heights. It is a milestone for any family business when the mantle is handed over to a non-family member to take the business to greater heights. I am confident that his strategic approach, coupled with his ability to motivate and communicate, will contribute significantly to our continued growth and success. I wish him all the best as he embarks on this journey of steering the company to create a sustainable business with sales and profit growth and value for all stakeholders in the coming decade.”

“I am delighted to join Gera Developments which has been at the forefront of driving innovation in the real estate industry for over five decades,” said Mr. Gulzar Malhotra, the company’s newly appointed CEO. “It’s an honor to get an opportunity to lead this exceptional team, which has augmented Mr. Rohit Gera’s vision over the years. I look forward to building upon Gera Developments’ brand philosophy of Let’s Outdo whilst embracing the company’s core value of always putting the customer first. Collectively, we shall continue to innovate, create and deliver quality with a focus on trust and transparency. Over the years, integration of technology across the development value chain, has helped us in redefining real estate industry standards and we shall continue to improvise on the same to create bespoke spaces which enhance our customer’s living experience.”

With over two decades of experience across the entire real estate value chain from concept to delivery, Gulzar Malhotra brings a wealth of knowledge of development, finance, risk management & advisory across asset classes. As a part of the senior management of various national & multinational organizations, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills & business acumen. His understanding of real estate & methodical approach to development has aided in devising & implementing efficient organizational systems and processes which have optimized project evaluation, cash flow management, sales & marketing, construction planning and resource management.

India, 29th May 2023— Barracuda Networks Inc. (Barracuda), a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-enabled security solutions, today published its 2023 spear-phishing trends report, which shows that 53% of Indian organizations studied were victims of spear-phishing in 2022 — and on average, 24% had at least one email account compromised through account takeover.

The report presents propriety spear-phishing data and analysis, drawing on a data set that comprises 50 billion emails across 3.5 million mailboxes, including nearly 30 million spear-phishing emails. The report also features survey findings from Barracuda-commissioned research. The survey, conducted by independent researcher Vanson Bourne, questioned IT professionals from frontline to the most senior roles at 150 Indian companies with 100 to 2,500 employees, across a range of industries.

Overall, the research revealed that cybercriminals continue to barrage organizations with targeted email attacks, and many companies are struggling to keep up. While spear-phishing attacks are low-volume, they are widespread and highly successful compared to other types of email attacks.

Spear phishing is widespread: 53% of Indian organizations analyzed were victims of spear phishing in 2022, and overall, a typical organization received 5 highly personalized spear-phishing emails per day.

These attacks are highly successful: Spear-phishing attacks make up only 0.1% of all e-mail based attacks, according to Barracuda data, but they are responsible for 66% of all breaches.

Organizations are feeling the impact: 63% of Indian respondents that experienced a spear-phishing attack reported machines infected with malware or viruses; 61% reported having stolen login credentials or account takeover; and 56% reported having sensitive data stolen.

Threat detection and response remains a challenge: On average, organizations take nearly 100 hours to identify, respond to, and remediate a post-deliver email threat — India organizations take 67 hours to detect the attack and 53 hours to respond and remediate after the attack is detected.

Remote work is increasing risks: Users at companies with more than a 50% remote workforce report higher levels of suspicious emails — 12 per day on average, compared to 9 per day for those with less than a 50% remote workforce.
Having more remote workers slows detection and response: Companies with more than a 50% remote workforce also reported that it takes longer to both detect and response to email security incidents — 55 hours to detect and 63 hours to response and mitigate, compared to an average of 36 hours and 51 hours respectively for organizations with fewer remote workers.

“Even though spear phishing is low volume, with its targeted and social engineering tactics, the technique leads to a disproportionate number of successful breaches, and the impact of just one successful attack can be devastating,” said Fleming Shi, CTO, Barracuda. “To help stay ahead of these highly effective attacks, businesses must invest in account takeover protection solutions with artificial intelligence capabilities. Such tools will have far greater efficacy than rule-based detection mechanisms. Improved efficacy in detection will help stop spear-phishing with reduced response needed during an attack.”

27th May 2023  After two marvellous days of Knowledge Seminars, and Conclaves by industry experts and creative minds battling it out at the ABBY One Show Awards, the final day of Goafest 2023 is here. We kickstarted the day in the most spectacular way, yet again! Papon, an Indian Playback Singer, assured the crowd was mesmerised by his voice and persona! The crowd swayed from beginning to end as his tunes, lyrics, harmony, and glorious voice captivated them!

We commenced the final day at Goafest with a Knowledge Seminar by Anymind, titled, Seven Principles For The Future Of Creativity led by Nick Law, Global Creative Chairperson – Accenture Song. This session deep-dived into the necessity of establishing and embodying principles as a brand; to this end, Nick stated, “Every company needs to have consistent principles and dynamic practices. Sometimes, our industry sometimes forgets that it needs to be dynamic.”

Nick has crafted a compelling set of principles that ignite a fresh perspective on the future of creativity. His principles act as a guiding light, illuminating the path forward for artists, designers, marketers, and anyone seeking to harness the power of creative potential. Law offered profound insights and a deep understanding of the ever-changing landscape.

The seven principles for the future of creativity, guided by Nick Law, emphasize the importance of embracing creativity, technology, and its collaboration to drive innovation, create meaningful experiences, and deliver effective creative solutions in the evolving digital landscape, ultimately transforming the way brands connect with audiences and shape the future of advertising.

Following this session, we closed the first half of this eventful day with a sumptuous lunch break.

The first half of Day 3 also witnessed two masterclasses; the first one laid emphasis on storytelling, which was presented by Bharat Avalani, the visionary founder and CEO of Connecting the Dots Marketing Consultancy. With the AFAA’s ‘Communicators as Storytellers’ as its focus, the session discussed the art of becoming a business storyteller and the profound role that stories play in shaping brand experiences. As compared to brands, people are naturally interested in people, which is why the masterclass focused on consumer insights, strategy, and brand communication through storytelling.

The second masterclass, Silverpush — Dynamic Video Optimization: Unlocking the Full Potential of Video Advertising by Rahul Joshi, explored Dynamic Video Optimisation, unveiling the immense potential of video advertising and sharing strategies to optimize and leverage its impact for maximum results. A major focus of Rahul’s was to build sustainable technology to make marketers excited about videos and drive conversions from them. In addition, the masterclass discussed how advertisers can boost conversions through videos and create tremendous impact through DVO and storytelling. The session ended with Rahul demonstrating how DVO helps advertisers present their products based on region, language, or user behaviour based on Silverpush’s Himalaya face wash use case.

Stay tuned for Day 3. To know the agenda for Day 3, please log on to: https://www.goafest.com/goafest2023/event-schedule.php

27th May 2023, New Delhi: Asian Footwears, a renowned Indian shoe brand, has recently launched an affordable and unique range of color-changing shoes, which are a first-of-its-kind product in the fashion industry. When worn indoors, the shoe boasts a clean and classic full white color, but as you step outside into the sunlight, it transforms into a vibrant combination of blue, pink, and yellow color”. Priced under INR 1000, the Magic Series Collection is not only fashionable but also comfortable.

The shoes come in various designs and patterns, making them a must-have accessory for fashion-conscious millennials and GenZ. The color-changing unique feature is a magical and eye-catching aspect that alters the shoe color based on the temperature and surroundings, due to presence of a photochromatic coated PVC rexine. This shoe has already received over 1000+ mentions from users across various social media platforms & its video has also gone viral with over 3 crore views. Seeing the popularity & success of color changing sneaker for girls (Asian Trendy 21 magic Girl’s sneakers), the company has also launched color changing magic collection in men’s sneakers (Asian Thunder-01 Magic Mens Sneakers), women high ankle sneakers and sliders (Asian Slider-25 magic Sliders), hereby launching India’s first color changing slider under 1000 price point.

The company provides clear and simple cleaning instructions for these shoes. To keep them looking their best, avoid using any chemicals or detergents and instead opt for a gentle clean with a damp cloth.

Asian Footwears was founded by Shri Rajinder Jindal and his wife Kiran Jindal in 1994 & has been providing modern and fashionable shoes at affordable prices since then. The company’s vision is to improve the quality of its products continually and introduce new technologies to make its shoes even better. Asian’s 100% made-in-India products are aligned with Prime Minister Modi’s vision of achieving self-reliance and boosting the local economy.

Last year Motilal Oswal’s private equity arm, MO Alternates invested INR 225 Crores in Asian Footwears. This capital infusion will accelerate growth of the company through investments in brand, distribution, people and supply chain infrastructure. Endorsed by legendary cricketer Virender Sehwag and official footwear partners of the Delhi Capitals cricket team, Asian is one of the most loved footwear brands in the country. Asian offers more than 500 active styles of shoes between INR 500-1,500 price points. The Company retails its products across all leading e-commerce platforms, Asian exclusive brand outlets and through an offline network of 200+ distributors and 10,000+ retailers.

According to Research and Markets, the global footwear market is predicted to reach $530.3 billion by 2027. The increasing demand for comfortable and attractive footwear, increased health & fitness awareness, higher spend on lifestyle products, rising disposable incomes, and the popularity of e-commerce are some of the factors contributing to the market’s expansion.

Asian Footwears has leveraged the latest technological advancements under Aayush Jindal, the CEO of Asian Footwears and an IIT Delhi graduate, to develop world-class manufacturing processes, resulting in superior quality shoes. The company has been constantly bringing latest technological innovations in footwear development & global trends for the mass India consumers. Additionally, the brand has been committed to sustainability, utilizing eco-friendly materials and processes in its manufacturing units.

Asian Footwears has established itself as a promising brand in the Indian shoe market, providing customers of different age groups and genders with stylish, trendy and comfortable footwear. With the launch of the Magic Series Collection, the brand has set a new standard for fashion and innovation, and customers can look forward to what other exciting products Asian Footwears will introduce in the future.

Bengaluru,27th May 2023: With the onset of summers, Simpl, India’s only 1-tap checkout platform, partnered with BookMyShow, India’s leading entertainment destination, joining its #MySummerBucketList campaign and enabling seamless access to scores of adventure sports and other fun- filled activities across the country.

From thrilling water sports to scuba diving, camping, backpacking trips, an increasing number of customers in the age group of 16-40 years have been spending heavily on gaining new experiences in the summers over the last few years. To cater to this growing demand and streamline the booking experience for customers, Simpl’s integration with BookMyShow will offer a one-tap access to the widest range of activities with over 1000 options across multiple categories including adventure, amusement parks, kids activities, workshops, tourist attractions, nightlife and unique experiences.

Metros such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai are amongst the cities opting for most summer activities such as amusement parks and adventure across formats and age groups while cities such as Kochi, Pune, Jaipur, Lonavala lead the charge for treks and camping, cycling, heritage walks, monuments and unique experiences.

Commenting on this development, Nitya Sharma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Simpl said, “As a customer focused organisation, we are committed to fulfilling the evolving requirements of customers in a seamless fashion. With travel and its experiences gaining prominence since the last few years, we are delighted to partner with BookMyShow as our entertainment and activities partner for their #MySummerBucketList campaign, to offer the widest selection of adventure sports and other activities this summer. Customers will be able to pre-book their tickets to amusement parks, treks, camps and scores of other activities with just one-tap with Simpl, eliminating any transaction failures, which is a key pain point for them.”

According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the travel market in India is projected to reach US$ 125 billion by FY27 from an estimated US$ 75 billion in FY20. This opens up huge opportunities for organising this by offering a seamless booking and checkout experience which is key to maintaining customer experience. The partnership with Simpl will simplify customers’ journey and contribute to bringing more customers online.

New Delhi, 26th May, 2023: Gateway Distriparks Limited (GDL), a leading integrated inter-modal logistics facilitator in India, today announced its audited financial results for the March quarter of the current financial year.

Note: The Company was operating CFS Punjab Conware in Nhava Sheva for 10 months in FY22 after which the O&M agreement expired. Punjab Conware FY22 revenue was Rs. 87.52 crores and EBTIDA was Rs. 15.84 crores. However, after payment of license fees Rs. 16.44 crores to Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, it was a loss making facility for the company. For a like-to-like comparison, excluding Punjab Conware CFS from the Company’s throughput and financials, on a YoY basis, the total throughput grew by 6.91% , total revenue grew by 10.5% and total EBITDA grew by 1.2% for the full financial year.

Prem Kishan Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, commented, “We are pleased to report healthy financial performance for the company for the quarter and year ending 31st March 2023. While there has been a slowdown in Export volumes in the past six months, signs of recovery are now being seen from April onwards. Import volumes have been growing to a large extent. Our focus remains on improving efficiencies and expanding our network. In the beginning of FY23, we had allocated Rs. 500 crores towards capital expenditure to be utilised by fiscal year 2025, with about Rs. 200 crores already invested thus far towards the acquisition of ICD Kashipur and land procurement and initial development of ICD Jaipur. Our goal is to invest the remaining amount in new projects and we are actively exploring both greenfield and acquisition options in Northern and Central India to expand our network of ICDs in the next two years.”

27th May 2023: Patel Integrated Logistics Ltd, one of the leading logistics service providers in India, announced its financial results for the quarter and twelve months ended March 31st, 2023, at the Board Meeting held on 25th May 2023.

Financial Highlights for the year ended March 31, 2023:

Total Income at Rs. 280.29 crores, growth of 18.35% yoy

EBITDA increased by 20.82% yoy to Rs. 12.33 crores

Operating EBITDA increased by 34.05% yoy to Rs. 10.33 crores

Profit after Tax jumps 1.15x yoy to Rs. 4.90 crores

FY23 operational highlights:

Total volume increased by 22.06% YoY to 54,231 tones.

The company is in the process of complete digitalization of its operations .

Temporary closure of Go First Airlines will not affect the company operation.

Air India being privatized, creates a lot of synergy between Vistara, Air Asia and Air India giving an overall boost to the cargo sector.

Aviation sector is now quickly reaching the growth cycle of the pre-pandemic levels paving an opportunity for growth in the overall business.

As per Aviation Ministry, airlines are going to add 100 to 110 aircrafts per year. Total number of aircrafts by 2027 is likely to be around 1200 from the current level of 700.

New airline FLY91 is expected to be operational by September’23 .

Aviation industry is growing at 22% as per Honorable Minister Nitin Gadkari.

In the recent Union Budget, Mission UDAN gets a lift, 50 small airports to be revived.

Logistics is among the top 5 priority sectors identified by India for its G20 presidency.

Speaking about FY23 performance, Mr. Mahesh Fogla, Patel Integrated Logistics Ltd. commented, “We have continued with our growth momentum and delivered a robust performance in FY23. For FY23, the Total Income grew 18.35% yoy while PAT witnessed 1.15 times yoy improvement. Over the last few years, the company has been consciously reducing debt on the books. This has helped us in lowering the interest cost and in turn improving the profitability.

We are confident that with positive headwinds and favorable macro environment for the logistics business, we should be able to maintain this momentum and create value for our stakeholder”