Category business

Mr. Hardeep Singh Ahluwalia, started his banking career as Agricultural Field Officer on 30.03.1992 at Allahabad Bank (now Indian Bank). He is a graduate in Agriculture and a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers. He has Certification in Credit Management from NIBM Pune & Diploma in Computer Applications in Financial Management.

He has rich banking experience for more than three decades in various functional areas of Banking system (Rural/Semi-Urban/Urban/Metro geographies) in India and abroad (HK) more particularly in strategic positions as Lead District Manager, Head of the International Branch, Zonal Head, Chandigarh & FGM/CGM Kolkata and various other verticals at administrative offices. He has also contributed immensely to the Sports Field as the President of Indian Bank Cultural & Sports Committee.

His proven ability to build productive teams and deliver exceptional results was reflected in all his assignments. As an avid learner he has attended various training programmes and completed Leadership Development Programme of IIM, Bangalore, curated by Banks Board Bureau in consultation with IBA.

Before his elevation as Executive Director of Canara Bank, he was General Manager of the Recovery Department at Corporate office of Indian Bank.

7th February 2023: PW (Physics Wallah), India’s leading and most affordable edtech platform, has entered the MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission) prep domain with the launch of MPSC Wallah. Building on its promise – ‘Student hai jahaan, PW hai wahaan – the platform is offering a comprehensive preparation opportunity to students.

Slated tentatively for 4th June 2023 (prelims) and 30th Sep 2023 (mains), the MPSC exams are sought after by several aspirants. Around 20 lakh students prepare and about 3-4 lakh students appear every year. While around 6000 students qualify for mains, MPSC Wallah aims to increase this number by offering a course that prepares students with quality content and end-to-end preparation.

After gaining a strong foothold with UPSC Wallah, PW will build on the highest quality content, India’s top-renowned faculty, and teaching expertise to train students across Maharashtra. With top-notch mentorship and subject-matter expertise, the platform will offer the industry’s best preparation. The course is also made affordable in line with PW’s core promise of widespread accessibility, with prelims preparation being free and mains preparation available at disruptive pricing.

Through the course, students will get access to detailed class notes, mock tests, live lectures, mentorship programs, test series, doubt-solving discussions and problem-solving sessions, daily practice papers, weekly tests, and access to magazines like Manthan – Current Affairs Gatiman- History of Maharashtra, and Sampurn- Science & technology. PW also responded to student demand by conducting an offline counselling session for aspirants at its Vidyapeeth center at FS Road, Pune.

Alakh Pandey, Founder & CEO, of PW (Physics Wallah), said, “The launch of MPSC Wallah will help PW expand its ambit and offer affordable and holistic preparation for a number of competitive exams. The MPSC exams are one of the most challenging and critical exams for students in Maharashtra and we look forward to creating success stories through our top quality affordable and accessible course available in Marathi language.”

PW’s UPSC Wallah is already a big hit among students. The vertical offers multiple courses for the 2023 and 2024 UPSC exams in Hindi, English, and ‘Hinglish’, starting at Rs 7000. There are three live batches: Prahaar, Sankalp, and Titan, covering subjects like history, geography, economy, polity, environment, science, and current affairs.

MPSC Wallah is being launched on similar lines of providing students with high-quality course material and sessions at an affordable price.

PW is on a growth spree, having forayed into several competitive exams, including state boards, GATE, CDS, NDA, UPSC, CTET, SSC, CDS, Railways, Banking, CA, Commerce, MBA, and more, apart from JEE and NEET preparation. It has also launched post-graduate courses and PW Skills for career building and tech skilling.

NEW DELHI, February 07, 2023 – Mercom India, a clean energy research and communications firm, will be hosting its first startup pitch competition for cleantech companies, bringing together the most innovative startups in India’s clean energy industry. The competition will be held at the Mercom India Renewables Summit on April 27, 2023, at 10:30 am in New Delhi. This competition will be open to Indian entrepreneurs or companies with a great cleantech idea or who have developed an early-stage technology that will further India’s energy transition. The deadline to submit an entry is March 31, 2023.

Eligibility criteria for the competition include:

• The startup must own a product or innovation that contributes to clean energy.
• Company is not older than seven years.
• Company has never previously sponsored Mercom India Summit
• Company should have raised less than $10 million in capital
• Product/solution should be in the pre-commercialization phase
• Company should be based in India

Additional details can be found at: https://mercomindia.com/event/renewables-summit-2023/start-up-pitch/

Ten companies will be selected from the entries and shortlisted to present their ideas during the conference.

Priya Sanjay, Managing Director at Mercom India, commented, “this competition is the first of its kind in the Indian cleantech sector, and we expect to see a range of companies with disruptive technologies that will further the nation’s energy transition and net zero ambitions. The Renewables Summit is the ideal venue to not only evaluate new technologies but is also a great way to get new innovative companies and technologies the exposure they need in front of the industry’s investors and decision-makers.”

Submissions will be accepted until March 31, 2023. To submit your entry, visit: https://mercomindia.com/event/renewables-summit-2023/startup-registration-2023/

Flipkart’s service arm, Jeeves, strengthens its partnership with Samsung, opens service centers for Samsung in multiple locations across the country

Bengaluru – February 07, 2023:
Flipkart’s service arm, Jeeves, today announced the opening of authorised service centers for Samsung in multiple locations across the country. The operations of these service centers in Lucknow, Gurgaon, Moradabad, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Durg, and Raipur will be managed by Jeeves, which provides end-to-end after-sales service solutions to consumers and businesses. These service centers will offer after-sales support for all Samsung products irrespective of where it was purchased.

The collaboration between Jeeves and Samsung has grown over the years. From two ASCs (Authorised Service Center) in Lucknow and Gurgaon, Jeeves now manages seven ASCs that provide after-sales services for the installation and repair of Samsung products that are both under warranty and out of warranty. To ensure the customers get the best service all technicians in these service centers are trained by Samsung.

In addition to recently opened service centers, Jeeves also plans to open three more ASCs for Samsung in Ahmedabad and Surat in the coming month.

Speaking about the opening of the service centers, Dr. Nipun Sharma, CEO at Jeeves, Flipkart Group, said, “With its extensive experience in servicing national and international brands, Jeeves is well equipped to provide a comprehensive after-sales service to Samsung’s customers. The opening of these service centers for Samsung has reinforced Jeeves expertise in delivering superior quality after-sales service for a wide range of products. With these service centers, Samsung’s customers will now have access to a hassle-free after-sales service from skilled professionals.”

Jeeves has a deep network of proprietary services and partner networks. The wide range of comprehensive after-sales solutions such as repair, maintenance, installation, demo, and VAS (Value-added service), including protection and extended warranties, inbound, outbound, and non-voice customer care services spanning across 40+ product categories, has helped Jeeves scale. Recently, Jeeves also launched Home Product Services for customers to meet their product repair, maintenance and installation service requirements.

Bengaluru, February 7, 2023: Meta today announced its partnership with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for the G20 Stay Safe Online Campaign. As part of the partnership with MeitY, Meta will create and share helpful resources in multiple Indian languages through various channels, to spread awareness on how to stay safe online.

The resources under the G20 Stay Safe Online will cover themes such as tackling online frauds, how to report harmful content, tips to keep yourself safe when interacting online and more. India is at the cusp of becoming a $ trillion digital economy and at the time when India is holding the G20 presidency, this strategic partnership will not only support and equip the existing Internet users but will also be beneficial for the rapidly increasing new Internet users in India.

Speaking on the partnership, Akash Tripathi, CEO, MyGov said, “Under PM Modi’s vision of India’s Techade, we are witnessing rapid digital adoption and with this growth, there is a need to create easy to access tools and resources to protect users from increasing cyber crimes. We, at MeitY, have designed a Stay Safe online campaign in this year of India’s G20 Presidency and we are glad that tech companies like Meta are taking a lead in supporting the government’s vision of building an inclusive digital space which is free of severe online threats.”

On Safer Internet Day, Meta has also launched #DigitalSuraksha campaign builds on the company’s efforts to offer a safer and inclusive internet to everyone. The first phase of #DigitalSuraksha includes a partnership with Delhi Police to provide digital literacy to users in Delhi. The current phase of #DigitalSuraksha also includes a slew of measures on enabling digital education and literacy across youth well-being, child safety, tackling misinformation as well as the overall education of users towards various safety tools and resources available across Meta platforms.

Natasha Jog, Head, Public Policy, Instagram and Policy Programs, Facebook India (Meta), said, “The G20 Presidency opens up a great opportunity for India to design and create an ever-inclusive Internet model for the world, and we are excited to partner with the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology in this endeavor. Creating a $1 trillion digital economy requires an ecosystem that is safe and empowering and we will support the government’s campaign by providing users with education, tools and resources to protect themselves in this rapidly evolving digital world.”

Providing Digital Literacy

Law enforcement agencies are a critical partner in ensuring online safety, under its #DigitalSuraksha campaign Meta will work with the Delhi Police on a 2-month long programme to provide digital literacy to 10,000 students across various schools and colleges in Delhi. Further, Meta and Delhi Police will jointly build resources to educate users about protecting themselves against online/ digital scams. As part of this partnership, Meta will also train Delhi police personnel on Meta’s various safety tools.

The #DigitalSuraksha campaign finds expression through a Digital Nagrik Pledge, which was also launched by Meta today, encouraging people across India to become responsible digital citizens (Nagriks). Built on Meta’s partnership with CBSE to provide Digital Citizenship course to 10 million students and 1 lac teachers, Digital Nagrik Pledge will further support the Indian Government’s objective to ensure an open, safe, trusted and accountable internet. The goal of the program will be to get 1 million people to pledge and to become safe digital citizens over the next one year.

Building Consumer Awareness

Underscoring the critical importance of educating users, Meta has also unpacked a series of consumer awareness initiatives on the tools and resources available for people to stay safe.

Building on the partnership with Delhi Police, for a period of one month, Meta will wrap one train on Delhi Metro’s Yellow line to educate users about safety tools available for them on Meta’s platforms. Commuters will be redirected to Meta’s safety tools through a QR code.

A new ‘Help protect children. Don’t Share. Don’t Comment. Report.’ campaign was also launched, to prevent the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and encouraging people to report such content instead. The campaign will educate users on the harm of sharing CSAM, and the impact it has on the victim and will encourage anyone who sees harmful videos and images of children to protect the victim by reporting it immediately to Facebook. The new campaign builds on the ‘Report it, don’t share it,’ campaign launched by Meta last year.

This year’s theme for Safer Internet Day underlines a crucial aspect of supporting young children by having conversations on life in the online world. With an aim to support and encourage meaningful conversations between parents and children around critical topics like use of social media, mental health and digital wellbeing, Meta has launched UnGap. A series of six episodes, UnGap is a chat show featuring pairings of well-known parents and children that includes actor Sheeba Chaddha and daughter Noor, actor Ahsaas Channa and mother Kulbir Badesron, comedian Abhishek Kumar and father Sundar Baalaji and entrepreneur Roshan Abbas and daughter Ayatal Abbas, among others.

Additionally, an awareness campaign on ‘tips for tackling misinformation’ was also launched with Yuvaa, through short videos. Available in Hinglish, 15-second campaign videos will feature six simple tips and tricks on tackling and identifying misinformation.

Meta will continue to add more initiatives to the #DigitalSuraksha campaign over the year. These will be geared towards reaching a larger set of users by educating them, creating more awareness and advancing India’s agenda of digital inclusion and growth.

7th February 2023, New Delhi:

IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited, a leading manufacturer of pharmaceutical (APIs) and specialty chemicals reported results for the 3rd quarter and nine months ended 31st December 2023 as highlighted herein below:

Operational highlights

• Granted a patent for “an improved safe process for the preparation of Sartan drugs of Formula I” by Indian Patent Office
• Recently received EUGMP Certification from National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Hungary, which will help the Company in more penetration in European market for its products.

Commenting on the quarterly performance, Dr Sanjay Chaturvedi, Executive Director & CEO said, “The quarterly performance reflects our commitment to control our costs and improve our margin trajectory. For the third quarter, EBITDA and Net Profit margins – both have improved sequentially. Apart from cost rationalisation, we have completed our capacity enhancement of Paracetamol by 1,800 MTPA to take total capacity to 3,600 MTPA with Backward integration of Para Amino Phenol (PAP) and we expect this capacity enhancement to boost volume growth from next quarter onwards.”

About IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IOLCP)

Company was established in 1986, listed on National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (Code: IOLCP) and BSE Ltd (Code: 524164) is one of the leading pharmaceutical (APIs) Company and is significant player in the specialty chemicals space with world class facilities. IOLCP has wide presence across major therapeutic categories like, Pain Management, anti-convulsants, antidiabetes, anti- cholesterol and anti-platelets.

The Company’s product portfolio includes APIs; Ibuprofen, Metformin, Fenofibrate, Clopidogrel, Lamotrigine, Pantoprazole, Paracetamol and specialty chemicals such as Ethyl Acetate, Iso Butyl Benzene, Mono Chloro Acetic Acid and Acetyl Chloride.

Company is World’s largest producer of the Ibuprofen with an installed capacity of 12,000 TPA and having backward integrated manufacturing facility. The Company has DSIR approved R&D which is fully equipped to validate existing processes.

The Central and State Government approved Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) had been set up with Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system along with 17 MW captive Co-Generation plant for self -reliance. The Company is ISO 9001:2015, 14001:2015 and BS OHSAS 18001:2007 certified.

IOLCP’s overseas customers are spread out across several countries including UK, Belgium, Hungry, Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Ireland, USA, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, Turkey, U.A.E., China, Hong Kong, Egypt etc. Products are sold primarily to Branded Generic formulators both in India & Overseas.

7th February, 2023: Make this Valentine’s special with a quick getaway to Goa’s Divar Island for two days of fun and fashion. The Island of Love is a one-of-its-kind pop destination for the ninth edition of the India Beach Fashion Week (IBFW) which flags off at Mercure, the Goa Devaaya resort, on February 13. Presented by Ikonic and powered by Timex, it is India’s first Island Week & Fashion Festival.

IBFW is Asia’s largest and one of its most prominent calendar events. “We target young and bold fashion enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, designers, content creators and artists, fresh graduates and early innovators. Their vision and outlook, design aesthetics and technology can help build India’s biggest creative ecosystem with consumers and brand custodians who stand up for green space energy and a circular usage economy,” says co-founder Pallav Ojha.

“Ikonic is elated to be joining hands with India Beach Fashion Week. As title sponsors, we look forward to being part of this vibrant event about all things fashion,” asserts Rayed Merchant, co-founder, Ikonic Professional.

Timing it right
Deepak Chhabra, Managing Director, Timex Group India, states, “Watches are no more just time telling devices, but a fashion accessory and a statement piece which completes your look. We at Timex understand the ever-evolving futuristic fashion industry and applaud the disruptive fashion trends. And IBFW provides the perfect platform for this bold community. We are super excited to be a part of the IBFW. It will be a great place for us to empower the young and brave new designers of this era, staying abreast with the latest innovation, creative outlook and technologies in the fashion world.”

With Goa Devaaya Mercure Resort, Divar, as its ‘Hospitality’ partner and GATSBY as its ‘Men’s Grooming’ partner, IBFW opens at 3 pm on the eve of Valentine’s Day.

At 5 pm, there is a meet and greet session with all the guests. The sunset session is on the riverfront. The open-air press conference followed by live music and cocktails.

At 8.30 pm, Vikram Phadnis makes his debut in resort wear. His curtain-raiser show is set in the lap of nature, in the Tropical Garden.

India’s largest creative ecosystem
An upbeat Puneet Motiani, Designated Partner, Gardenia Cosmotrade LLP (GATSBY), avers, “We are thrilled to partner as the ‘Men’s Grooming Partner’ at the India Beach Fashion Week (IBFW) Showcase 2023 that is tailor-made for GenZ. We’re quite kicked about the association and even more kicked about the similar vision we share of creating a niche in style and fashion. GATSBY and IBFW both believe in the ‘Power of Young’ and we’re excited to make a splash at India’s largest creative eco-system in Goa.”
The 18th-century island with its lush tropical forests, a vast expanse of emerald green paddy fields and meticulously restored colonial-style Portuguese villas is a picture-perfect setting for IBFW. Open-air ramps, including India’s longest ramp and the first one facing the sea, makes it a one-of-its-kind fashion festival. There are designated festival areas and brand engagement booths, makeover zones and experience zones with 15 by 15 store installations and villa blocks within the man show area and even an after-party conclave zone. Pop-up companies will also be setting up a flea market which should be another crowd-puller.

The resort itself has a gym, spa, beauty parlor, and the Malar restaurant, besides the mandatory swimming pool, coveted Maharaja Suite and a personal jetty with yacht park space.

Day One wraps up with Eliferous, a collaborative show presented by Timex. The designer, Srishti Kaur, was also Miss Teen Universe.

Valentine vogue
Valentine’s Day, February 14 flags off with the ‘Future of Fashion Conclave – Meet The Leaders’ at noon. Featuring the managing directors of the festival’s title sponsors. Timex, Ikonic and Samsonite, IBFW co-founder Pallav Ojha and Sasha Revanker, the founder of One Minute Sarees, the hour-long session will be moderated by Jitin Hingorani from Los Angeles.

Our vibrant, colourful, and trendy bags are tailored to ensure that it is also of the highest quality and in vogue. What better time to join forces with India Beach Fashion Week, where the industry’s leading designers and models gather to honour the evolution of the design,” says an exuberant Pradnya Somesh Popade, Head of Marketing & Communications, Samsonite, the ‘Travel’ partner.

The ‘Business Outreach’ partner is COMO Designers Collective and the ‘Event’ partners Goa Design Project, Johnny Walker Blonde, Dive Resort Collective, Mercure Hotel, Goa Devyaa Resort, The Fashion Design Council of Rajasthan (FDCR), Frizzano Sparkling Wine and PE3R, In the Spirit of Mixing, The ‘Media and Outreach’ partners are Media Solutions, Creative Joule, Drool Mnky, Trive Studios and Dive Resort Collective.

Royal Musical experience
The ‘Experience’ partner is the Royal Falcon Music Production which opens the festival on Day 2 with a live stage on the Green Lawns at 2 pm. “Royal Falcon is a Dubai-based music label that brings the world together with the fusion of international musicians and world music,” attests electrified filmmaker Aziz Zee.

This royal musical experience will be followed by fashion shows from a bunch of young designers, starting with Isha Khanna and Ken Ferns to Moonshine by Swapnila and Meeami Fashion by Amit Bharadwaj at the colonial villas. All shows are in the open air, beautifully integrated with the island’s tropical setting. Also scheduled are shows of Anuthhi by Nishant and Preeti, RipciBhatiya, Solo and FDCR. The collaboration with FDCR, highlights the Rajasthani cultural ecosystem.

Past perfect
IBFW has showcased ace designers in earlier editions, including Wendell Rodricks, Pallavi Jaikishan, Suneet Varma, Falguni & Shane Peacock and Varun Bahl. Other prominent names that come to mind are James Ferreira, Rocky Star, Pria Kataria Puri, Arjun Khanna, Rina Dhaka and Saisha Shinde to name a few. Among the showstoppers and brand influencers were Sushmita Sen, Bipasha Basu, Kiara Advani, Lisa Haydon, Kriti Sanon, Sunny Leone, Aditi Rao Hydari and Rana Daggubati. It has launched over 200 fresh designers and exhibitors over the years. It has the distinction of being acknowledged as Asia’s largest platform to showcase young talent and revolutionary trends

Fashion revolution with sarees
This year, the only Indian-American brand on the 2023 runway is the Los Angeles-based One Minute Saree. A direct-to-consumer online saree brand, it will unveil its eclectic collection on a fashion ramp for the first time at IBFW. It is a homecoming for founder Sasha Revankarwho is originally from Goa. Rooted in tradition but crafted for the modern woman, these custom-stitched sarees have sparked a fashion revolution for the next generation of Indophiles, helping them drape the fabric immaculately in under a minute.

Trauma to trends
Sasha admits that after being a little bit traumatized from the experience of wearing a saree to a wedding while handling two little kids in 2018, she had basically given up on the idea of ever putting one on again. “Even though I spent an hour perfecting my drape, the saree repeatedly came loose throughout the evening,” she confides. She admits it was a bit disheartening because she loves the concept of a saree for the tradition and elegance it represents. “But it was just too complicated, especially for someone living in the States. Where would I even go to buy a petticoat!” she exclaims. Sasha found an answer to her saree woes in the One Minute Sari. It maintains the flow and drape of the garment while staying true to the authenticity of the traditional Nivi Sarees, the Gujarati sarees and the Kanjivaram sarees, with inclusive sizes for all body types, from extra small to extra-large.

Avant-garde game-changer
Explaining why IBFW chose to include the line in their destination-wedding-themed fashion show, co-founder Neha Asthana Ojha reasoned, “We have always believed in the power of the young and the bold and have created a niche in the fashion segment since 2015. One Minute Saree is exactly the kind of avant-garde game-changer that will excite fashionistas and claim its rightful space in the millennial market.” The brand will present 14 looks on the runway. On the same day, Prashant Majumdar and House of Nivii by Pankhnivi will helm the COMO Collective. The sundowner will be followed by another riverfront show at 9.30 pm with Gavin Miguel bringing the curtains down. The grand finale, presented by Ikonic, will be followed by an afterparty.

Hair-raising adventure
One of the highlights of IBFW is a funky hair show presented by Ikonic. “When it comes to fashion, it is a term that goes hand in hand with hair. A great hairstyle always adds that finishing touch of panache to any person’s fashion sense,” points out Ikonic Professional co-founder Rayed Merchant. He elaborates, “Hairdos can not only elevate your persona, they can also spark stylistic confidence inside you. At Ikonic, we firmly believe that hair is to fashion, what creativity is to art. The two are inseparable.”

Going beyond fashion
Run as both a business-to-business and a business-to-customer event, the India Beach Fashion Week brings together designers and brands, creatives and exhibitors in the beach, resort, and travel destination wear categories. Over two days, they will showcase their latest collections and network to increase brand awareness amongst the general public.However, what sets it apart is that IBFW is designed to go beyond fashion. It promotes Goa as a travel destination, building a large-scale platform for lifestyle tourism around it.

Tropical Eden along the Mandovi river
The idyllic Divar Island, separate from the mainland, is an enticing getaway as the Island of Love is still largely unexplored. A tropical Eden tucked away along the Mandovi river, it is blissfully quiet and very 8th-century in the meticulously-restored Portuguese villas with their colonial-style architecture and old-world feel. Divar is home to three scenic villages. Piedade sits at the bottom of a hillock on whose crest is the picturesque Church of Our Lady of Compassion. The second, Malar, was earlier called Sao Matias by its Portuguese residents. The third village, Naroa, was once a popular pilgrimage site, but today has a population of barely a thousand and just about 80 homes. And while the island gives the impression of being cut off, it is just a 15 to 30-minute ferry ride from Old Goa, Naroa and Ribander.
So, Go, Goa, Gone, what are you waiting for? The countdown has begun. Just six days more to go!
Media registrations are open onwww.ibfwgoa.com

Bangalore, 7th February 2023: Sony Artisan and Profoto Mentor, photographer Amrita Samant’s Motherhood and Childhood Photography studio – Mommy Shots by Amrita celebrated their first-anniversary last evening. With two studios in India – in Chennai and Bangalore, and a presence in India and Singapore, Amrita is providing new parents and children with a treasure trove of memories frozen in time for posterity. Mommy Shots by Amrita celebrated their first anniversary at Mommy Shots by Amrita Studio in Bangalore in the presence of happy customers, friends, family and actress, influencer, and mother, Sameera Reddy.

The acclaimed photographer has to her name over 20 international awards in the category of motherhood & childhood photography. Amrita is also credited with popularising the concept of Maternity & Newborn portraiture at a time when the subject was a deeply-rooted taboo across the country. Since 2013, she’s been a pioneer in the space and often finds herself ahead of the industry in creating ground-breaking imagery in this niche to bring out the human element and the real bond between the parent and the child. The acclaimed, award-winning photographer is sought-after internationally and has travelled to over 10 countries for shoots in the last few years.

Beyond her entrepreneurial nature, Amrita feels very strongly about giving back to society and making an impact, using the means of photography. Be it the latest campaign on acid-attack victims (mothers) to supporting children with autism, she has generously taken the time and effort to better the lives of children and women across the country. Amrita has been instrumental in raising awareness and connecting over 200 NICU babies with their breastmilk donors. She has also supported education through her app and has helped women become independent by teaching them the art of photography.

In addition to completing a record-breaking number of shoots in a short span of time, Amrita is in the process of opening two more studios – in Mumbai and Hyderabad later this year.

For more details, please visit: www.mommyshotsbyamrita.com

Bangalore/Mumbai, 7 Feb 2023 – Fraud management has become a massive headache for banks and fintechs worldwide. As digital payments become more popular, projected to grow 12%, reaching US$ 14.8 trillion by 2027, payment frauds are also expected to rise.

India follows the international trend. UPI transactions increased by 91% last year. Meanwhile, complaints on the NCRP rose by 34% between Q1 and Q2, 2022.

Pismo, all-in-one, cloud-native financial services platform, has worked with Drona Pay, cloud-native risk-scoring platform for next-gen lending and payments, to integrate both solutions. Both collaborate to increase real-time protection against fraud, scams and laundering in payments and lending.

“With fraudsters becoming more sophisticated, ML and proprietary data sets from Drona Pay are a perfect fit for Pismo’s next-gen platform. When integrated, banks and fintechs can speed up their go-to-market strategies, knowing that their digital transactions are highly secured,” says Vishal Dalal, CEO (North America, EMEA, and APAC) at Pismo.

Founded in 2021, Drona Pay delivers real-time protection using ML and alternate data sets to defend institutions against ever-increasing fraud in payments and lending. The platform protects BNPL, Realtime payments (UPI, App, Wallet etc.), credit and debit card transactions from frauds, scams, laundering and delinquency. The company has received investments from Varanium Capital, Credit Saison and fintech veterans Kunal Shah, Jitendra Gupta, and Amrish Rau.

“New age risk scoring platforms need to be cloud-native, leverage alternate dataand adopt ML to help banks and fintechs solve emerging challenges. Reducing delinquency in new-to-credit (NtC)/thin files, managing risk in new merchant categories, preventing laundering and minimising phishing attacks in real-time payments, are the new-age challenges that Drona Pay is tuned to handle. Our strategic partnership will help customers leverage Pismo’s breadth and global presence with Drona Pay’s niche skills in risk scoring,” adds Satish Kashyap, CEO Co-Founder at Drona Pay.

Founded in 2016 in Brazil, Pismo raised US$ 108 million in 2021 in a series B round led by Softbank, Amazon and Accel. Pismo provides next-generation technology to help banks, fintechs, and non-financial institutions offer best-in-class financial products for their global customers. It has global operations with offices in São Paulo (Brazil), Bristol (UK), Austin (USA), Singapore, and Bangalore (India). With more than 450 employees, Pismo manages 69 million accounts, processing US$ 195 billion in annual transactions.

Mumbai, 07 February 2023: Clix Capital Services Pvt Ltd (‘Clix Capital’) – one of India’s leading non-banking financial services companies, under a new leadership has made huge strides in turning around its business this year. Challenged by COVID and the associated lock-downs, several NBFCs and lending institutions struggled to manage growth and asset quality, and Clix was no different. However, over the past 18 months, it has turned profitable owing to its sharp focus on key businesses driving India’s growth trajectory, such as MSMEs, Healthcare and School Financing. With this pivot towards sustainable growth, Clix is eyeing a profit of INR 100 crore in FY24.

The post-pandemic period saw massive pent-up demand amongst sectors severely impacted due to COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns, such as travel & tourism, education, healthcare and automobiles. Clix Capital diligently utilized the COVID-induced disruption as an opportunity to reassess its business strategy as well as digitalize its core-operating model at scale.

This singular focus played an instrumental role in helping the brand evolve as a dedicated digital MSME lender. Backed by deep domain expertise in Healthcare and School Financing and its ability to forge seamless partnerships with fintech partners who bring in specific capabilities, Clix is now positioned strongly to ride the growth wave. Aided by a young, agile and resilient leadership team under its new CEO, Rakesh Kaul, Clix is receiving huge recognition for the pace at which it has bounced back to scale and sustainable profitability.

Clix Capital is poised to cross an AUM (Assets under Management) of INR5000 crore by the end of this fiscal and aims to surpass INR 9000 crore by FY25. By servicing consumers and MSMEs, Clix has loaned more than INR 18,000 crore to date. Most of the company’s disbursements have gone to underserved MSMEs who have received a lion’s share of these funds. Clix is committed to addressing the huge credit gap hindering the growth of MSMEs through products customised for their needs and enabling credit by leveraging technology and alternate data in assessing them.

Mr Anil Chawla, Founder, Clix Capital commented, “Ever since our inception, we have been redefining the lending space in India by creating products and services that meet the financial needs of customers. We are driven by the vision of enabling financial inclusion for all underserved segments. Under the exemplary leadership of our new CEO, Rakesh Kaul, and a resilient young leadership team, the company has carved its niche in focused business segments in line with India’s growth trajectory in the MSME, Healthcare and Education space. Providing credit for the growth of these segments is imperative if India is to realise its ambition of becoming a US$5 trillion economy by 2025.”

A sustained focus on MSMEs in the healthcare and education space has helped the lender witness a 4X volume growth in the past 12 months. The core retail AUM growth was 1.4X, supported by a strong growth of 1.8X in debt raising.

On its ambitious turn-around target for the year, Mr Rakesh Kaul, CEO, Clix Capital noted, “Today, Clix is powering ahead in its chosen segments, backed by unparalleled technology and strong distribution capabilities. While we will continue investing in digitalization with an emphasis on agility and automation, moving ahead we would also be focusing on developing a strong co-lending ecosystem to supplement the debt raise needed to fund our growth ambitions.”

From 5% in March 2022, the company’s GNPAs stood at less than 3% in October, with a target of closing this financial year at around 2%. It has also drastically increased its collection efficiency, which is now better than the pre-pandemic levels – rising from 88% collection efficiency in September 2021 to 96% in September 2022.

Mr Utsav Baijal, Partner & Head of India Private Equity at Apollo and the largest investor at Clix Capital said, “Clix Capital has benefited greatly under the new leadership team led by Rakesh, and they have helped create a performance-oriented culture and brought an intense focus on execution. Given the company’s strong capital base, it was able to absorb COVID-induced portfolio losses smoothly and is well positioned to fully pivot back to profitable expansion. More importantly, we believe that this turnaround is sustainable and we have a path to double digit ROE as we scale this business further.”

Technology has been a key enabler in the growth of fintechs in India, thanks to the digital revolution happening by building virtual highways and the India stack infrastructure. As technology continues to obliterate barriers, Clix has been leveraging it to create cutting-edge solutions for customers and build a new-age NBFC promoting financial inclusion. Technology has been Clix’s biggest capital expenditure since its inception. One of the company’s greatest strengths is its ability to apply data analytics across risk, underwriting, collections and client growth. It has also made major investments in ML (machine learning) engines to keep refining tech capabilities, which has resulted in optimizing risk-reward decisions. The platform today is extremely agile and, like a Lego box, it can plug and play to stitch new partnerships and operate seamlessly in an ever-changing regulatory landscape.