Archive: November 30, 2020

News

Aaryan Banthia’s fourth single ‘Paar’ hails the brave who are turning adversity into opportunity during the pandemic

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Aaryan Banthia

Mumbai: Popular young musical sensation and singer-guitarist cum composer Aaryan Banthia’s fourth new single Paar released on 21st November and within 2 days has garnered around 250K views! The track, speaks about the struggles of people from different strata of the society during the pandemic, how they have fought them bravely, and what the journey ahead holds. The singer with the magic touch has been steadily climbing the charts ever since he released his first single Yaadein.

Aaryan is backed by his rock-solid talent alone and has three back-to-back hit songs to his credit. He also has the merit of being one of the few independent artists to have received widespread acclaim within a short time. Apart from a huge fan and audience base in India, about 20% of his Spotify listeners are from the US and another 5% from Germany, UK, and even Ukraine, etc.

Speaking about his song, Aaryan Banthia, said, “Before I say anything about this song, I would like to quote my favorite lines from the lyrics of another song: There should be laughter after pain; there should be sunshine after rain; these things have always been the same; so, why worry now. This is the essence of my song ‘Paar’ which talks about how this too shall pass. The pandemic has been difficult on everyone. From the daily wage workers struggling to earn and the LGBTQ community trying to get an equal status, and those who have lost their jobs, there is something that everyone has been fighting for. They have all done their best, and are continuing to face the times with bravery. There is a long way to go but there is also light at the end of the tunnel.”

Aaryan’s debut Hindi track ‘Yaadein’ was a rock ballad with a subtle touch of blues and was released by Zee music. He made his second appearance in a song called ‘Back in the Day’, an English track, which, despite belonging to the rock music genre, resonated with the young and elderly alike. Both his singles crossed the one million mark on YouTube in a short span of time. His third single called ‘Hey Betty’ depicted old school love and romance and crossed half a million views within just 8 days of release.

Aaryan is an ardent guitar lover and all his solos including the recent “Hey Betty” make extensive use of this instrument. Having grown up looking up to renowned guitarists like Mark Knopler, John Mayer, BB King, and Paul Gilbert, Aaryan has immense passion for the instrument. In times to come post the pandemic, Aaryan plans to rewrite live shows and bring forth his musical style through various musical compositions and performances.

Business World

GSITI witnessed record breaking participation amidst Pandemic

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Geological Survey of India Training Institute, #GSI, #headquartered in Kolkata

Geological Survey of India Training Institute (GSITI), the premier Geo-scientific Training Institute which is imparting training for the last 44 years with its headquarters in Hyderabad, creates a record with over 15000 participants taking part in 140 e-training programs during corona era i.e. from April to October 2020. As compared to this, it was ranging between 3000-5000 participants throughout the year in the pre-corona days.

GSITI has been imparting this training in order to develop the skills of the participants which would help them to grasp their field of work better in the long run.

The participants include its own GSI employees along with geoscientists from Central Govt. Departments like AMD, IBM, etc., PSUs such as CIL, ONGC, OIL, MECL, NMDC, etc., State DGM, and other State Govt. Organizations and many academic institutions.

A special drive has also been taken by GSITI, as per the Ministry of Mines directives to impart online training, to the Faculty/Research Scholar/PG and Post PG Students of various academic institutions including IITs, NITs, Central Universities, State Universities and colleges. So far 30 online pieces of training on different geoscientific themes have been imparted to 243 academic institutions across India. The participants include Faculty including Professors, Research Scholars, PG and Post PG Students.

About Geological Survey of India:

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) was set up in 1851 primarily to find coal deposits for the Railways. Over the years, GSI has not only grown into a repository of geo-science information required in various fields in the country but has also attained the status of a geo-scientific organisation of international repute. Its main functions relate to creating and updating national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment. These objectives are achieved through ground surveys, air-borne and marine surveys, mineral prospecting and investigations, multi-disciplinary geoscientific, geo-technical, geo-environmental and natural hazards studies, glaciology, seismotectonic study, and carrying out fundamental research.

GSI’s chief role includes providing objective, impartial and up-to-date geological expertise and geoscientific information of all kinds, with a focus on policymaking decisions, commercial and socio-economic needs. GSI also emphasises systematic documentation of all geological processes derived from the surface and subsurface of India and its offshore areas. The organisation does so by using the latest and most cost-effective techniques and methodologies, including geophysical and geochemical and geological surveys.

GSI’s core competence in survey and mapping is continuously enhanced through accretion, management, coordination, and utilization of spatial databases (including those acquired through remote sensing). It functions as a ‘Repository’ or ‘clearing house’ for the purpose and uses latest computer-based technologies for dissemination of geoscientific information and spatial data, through cooperation and collaboration with other stakeholders in the Geo-informatics sector.

GSI, headquartered in Kolkata, has six regional offices located in Lucknow, Jaipur, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Shillong and Kolkata and state unit offices in almost all states of the country. Currently, GSI is an attached office to the Ministry of Mines.

News

After ‘Pachtaoge’, Jaani & B Praak back another heartbreak song ‘Besharam Bewaffa’ featuring Divya Khosla Kumar

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Besharam Bewaffa

After ‘Pachtaoge’, Jaani & B Praak back another heartbreak song ‘Besharam Bewaffa’ featuring Divya Khosla Kumar!

With lyrics by Jaani and music by B Praak, Pachtaoge released last year crossed over 500 million views across YouTube and continues to remain one of the most loved songs of all time. Even though they have collaborated on several songs, B Praak and Jaani are set to bring back another intense heartbreak song ‘Besharam Bewaffa’ featuring the talented Divya Khosla Kumar.

Divya Khosla Kumar’s Besharam Bewaffa carves a path to bring intense heartbreak songs that create a benchmark in the independent music scene. The hard-hitting ‘Besharam Bewaffa’ will be a poetically intense song by the hit composer-lyricist jodi, who’ve delivered some of the biggest chartbusters within the emotional heartbreak music space.

This will be Divya’s first sad and melancholic song directed by Radhika Rao & Vinay Sapru.

Business World

Indian Exporters on Amazon Global Selling gear up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Amazon.com, #Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale

More than 70,000 Indian exporters on Amazon’s Global Selling program are geared up to showcase millions of Made in India products to customers across the world on the annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale on Amazon.com, announced the Company today. The exporters are launching thousands of new products on Amazon’s global websites for the upcoming holiday season. The Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale starts on Thursday, Nov 26th and ends on Monday 30th Nov. Amazon customers globally will able to discover and enjoy a range of products including gifting options like STEM Toys, Fashion Jewelry, Teas and Beverages, Beauty products, Leather journals and bags by exporters from across India. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are significant events marking the beginning of the holiday season in the USA and customers at this time are looking at items for use at home and for gifting to friends and family.

Amazon works with Indian exporters to help them identify key holiday shopping trends to bring in relevant product assortment; supports them with logistics solutions to get their inventory ready, and guides them to market their products through a range of deals and advertising options.

Abhijit Kamra, Director – Global Trade, Amazon India commented, “Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) is an important time of the year for Indian MSMEs on Amazon Global Selling as it marks the beginning of the global holiday season. Coming right after the festive season in India, it has traditionally been a key growth period for our selling partners and with more and more people relying on e-commerce for products globally, we believe that the 2020 BFCM sale period will help accelerate the exports business for our sellers.”Abhijit added, “Exports will continue to play a critical role in the revival and growth of Indian economy and Ecommerce Exports helps lower the entry barrier for Indian MSMEs to build and scale their exports business. Through Amazon Global Selling, we will continue to make exports easy and accessible for MSMEs across India and contribute to the Government’s vision of boosting exports”.

Some of the globally popular Indian brands from Amazon Global Selling who would be offering their unique products and creations this holiday season include Jackinthebox Toys which aims to bridge the gap between the changing attention span of children through different kinds of toys such as craft kits and bookmaking kits; Jewellery brands like Aheli and Jewel Zone will be catering to customers’ love for heart-butterfly and turtle pendants as well as crafted Indianjhumkas, chandbalis, silk thread bangle sets, etc; and SVA Organics, an essential oils manufacturer will be showcasing their range of natural products including carrier oils, herbal extracts, fragrances, as well as floral absolutes and taxes amongst others.

“In 2015 when we decided to come online, Amazon was a natural choice to build our exports business. The team helped us with all the support and insights on market trends and made the whole process seamless. Today, we have lakhs of customers across the world and our products are listed in the US (Amazon.com), Canada (Amazon.ca), UK (Amazon.co.uk), Australia (Amazon.au) and The Netherlands (Amazon.nl). We have grown 10X in the last 4-5 years on Amazon Global Selling and have even added 50 people to our team. This holiday season, we are making sure our inventory is stocked up to ensure people around the world continue to enjoy our traditional Indian designs”, said Aakar Jain, Founder of Rajrang – a Jaipur-based Tapestry brand.

In the beginning of 2020, as the world faced an unprecedented situation that necessitated people to stay at and work from home, thousands of Indian MSMEs helped serve customers globally through e-commerce exports. Made in India products across categories like Health and Hygiene, Nutritional Supplements and Home essentials saw heightened demand from customers in markets like the United States of America, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Japan, Australia amongst others.

More About Amazon Global Selling
Launched in 2015 with about 100 exporters, Amazon Global Selling today enables more than 70,000 Indian exporters to sell millions of ‘Made in India’ products to customers worldwide through its 15 international websites in countries such as USA, UK, UAE, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey, Brazil, Japan, Australia and Singapore. It took the program three years to hit cumulative exports of $1 billion and it has grown 100% to hit the next $1 billion in the next 18 months, to cross the $2 billion milestone in cumulative exports from India. The program is rapidly boosting exports from India and helping build global Indian brands. In 2019, more than 800 Indian MSMEs on the program surpassed $131, 375 (INR 1 crore) in e-commerce exports sales.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Business World

Bharti Axa Life Insurance Posts 10% Growth in Renewal Premium to Rs 594 Crore in H1 FY2020-21

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Bharti AXA Life Insurance, #Bharti Enterprises, #Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, #Mr. Parag Raja

Bharti AXA Life Insurance, a joint venture between Bharti Enterprises, one of India’s leading business groups, and AXA, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, today said the company registered 10 per cent growth in its renewal premium to Rs 594 core in the first half of the financial year 2020-21 from Rs 541 crore in the corresponding fiscal period a year ago.

The COVID-19 crisis and subsequent disruptions hit the company’s new business premium income which stood at Rs 318 crore in the half-year ended September 30, 2020, as compared to Rs 415 crore in the same period during 2019-20. Its annualized new business premium was Rs 207 crore in the first six months of the financial year 2020-21.

Total premium income fell moderately to Rs 912 crore in the April-September period of this fiscal from Rs 956 crore in the first six months of the last financial year.

The ongoing pandemic notwithstanding, the company recorded a surge of 25 per cent in its asset under management at Rs 7,987 crore in the first half of 2020-21 against Rs 6,404 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

Commenting on the company’s business performance in the first half of the current financial year, Mr. Parag Raja, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, said, ‘’The spread of COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the economy and the business sentiment in the short-term. Despite the challenging macro-environment affecting the new business adversely, we registered steady performance on many parameters and achieved double-digit growth in the renewal premium collection in the first six months of the current financial year. Further, our asset under management saw a strong growth amid the slowdown triggered by the COVID uncertainty. With the economic activities picking up after the easing of restrictions, we are confident about our business recovery and growth in the second half of this fiscal.’’

Bharti AXA Life Insurance, which has 261 branches and 36,526 advisors, plans to expand its distribution footprints across the country and strengthen its multi-channel architecture.

The company is focusing on digital innovation within its distribution bandwidth to meet the rising bar of higher service standards and growing customer expectations. It maintained business momentum amid uncertainties by embracing new digital tools and capabilities and enhanced experiences of customers, employees, partners and other stakeholders.

‘’We are also looking at potential enhancements to the customer experience and additional opportunities for growth and scalability, apart from creating awareness about life insurance and capitalising on growth opportunities,’’ said Mr. Raja.

He noted that the ongoing pandemic has invigorated the awareness about life insurance across India and made protection as a stronger segment for future financial security of the people.

‘’Our long-term outlook towards the life insurance business remains positive. We are building a robust and digitally-enabled frame of operations to adapt to the new normal. In addition to our robust digital architecture for seamless and smoother services to the customers, we are also very sensitive and focused about claims management in these critical and challenging times to ensure customer satisfaction,’’ Mr. Raja added.

Business World

SafeStorage® expands its footprints; launches operations in Chennai & Pune

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #CEO & Co-Founder, #Chennai, #Mr Ramesh Babu M, #pune, #SafeStorage®, #storage solution provider

Chennai/Pune: SafeStorage®, India’s leading storage solution provider in its efforts to expand its business recently launched operations in Chennai & Pune. The Chennai warehouse, located in Vaanagaram and the Pune warehouse, located in Wagholi are both 10000 square feet facility. The company has over 3.2 lakhs square feet space spread across 30+ warehouses.

SafeStorage® is a one-stop destination for all self-storage needs. If one is traveling, renovating the house, running out of space or looking for self-storage space on rental forhouseholds and automobiles, SafeStorage® is the place to go. The items are packed at the customer’s house, picked up from doorstep, stored in warehouse with an extremely diligent tagging process and delivered back to the customer when required. All the warehouses are secure with stringent security processes and CCTV cameras to ensure safety of goods.

Owing to the lockdown and ‘Work from Home’ scenario for a foreseeable future, self-storage facilities have seen a significant rise in demand; as people have moved out of their rented apartments back to their native places. The numbers enquiries have also seen a big surge.

Sharing his thoughts, Mr Ramesh Babu M, CEO & Co-Founder, SafeStorage®, said, “I’m really excited to take our brand SafeStorage® to Chennai & Pune. We started in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with IT Professionals being our main target audience. After we received great response, our research indicated that in Chennai & Pune are the other top two markets where there is demand for self-storage facilities. SafeStorage® is one of the pioneers in the storage facility sector in the country and we are committed to offer our services to our patrons through the nation. Our aim is to be present across nine cities in India by end of 2021. As a part of our growth strategy, we will also be venturing into the packers and movers business by early next year.”

SafeStorage® strives to provide a safe, secured and insured space, making self-storage experience easy with all the necessary care, using fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and periodical pest control. The company provides short term, long term and temporary storage space that are designed to offer economical and easily accessible.

Business World

AppInventiv witnesses 75% growth in H1 FY20-21 over H1 FY19-20

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Appinventiv, #end-to-end digital transformation

New Delhi: Appinventiv, a leading global end-to-end digital transformation service provider in India today, announced that it has clocked over 75% growth in revenue in H1 FY 2020-2021 vis-à-vis H1 of FY19-20 when the company’s revenues stood at 40 Cr.. The growth is largely driven by the spike in demand for on-demand digital transformation services in the Fintech and Healthcare sector. Seeing the inclusion of technology in various new sectors, Appinventiv has grown competence in the last one year to serve the demand. Known for its high-end engineering, Appinventiv has been clocking steady growth since its inception.

When the entire economy was grappling to survive because of COVID-19, Appinventiv grew its clientele in the last 6 months and bagged multiple Government projects including some key digital solutions for the Indian and Qatar governments. Data security and client confidentiality remained the utmost priority for the company even during this period. AppInventiv’s IT team ensured that all security protocols are being followed with 100% compliance across the organization. Achieving outstanding results for its clients leading to business continuity for new and existing clients alike, AppInventiv has emerged as their trusted partner steering towards growth.

Commenting on the overall growth, Saurabh Singh, Director, Appinventiv, says, “We saw additional opportunities for our business in the year 2020 and were confident that our strategies will lead us to significant growth. We are a one-step-ahead solutions provider to transform the technology world. The pandemic has accelerated the shift to fully-digital business models in banking, insurance, medicine, and retail, among others. As a result, there is an emerging need for these businesses to develop after-sale support with digital technology, employing software and AI to make corrections and adjustments in order to keep physical products running smoothly. Consequently, we have seen a faster-than-anticipated growth in some of the leading sectors and heightened interest from the government on account of increasing digital adoption. On a high-growth trajectory, we are positive to clock 100 Cr. in revenue this fiscal.”

With its preceding contingency plan, a few new policies, as well as its fiscal readiness, AppInventiv ensured a seamless transition to Work from Home for its 600+ people. The company’s remote working and agile culture allowed it to sustain a 100% operational capacity in less than 24 hours and today the company is truly acclimatized to the future of work.

About Appinventiv

Established in 2015, Appinventiv, a leading global end-to-end digital transformation service provider. It has been empowering disruptive startups and Fortune 500 companies in bridging the gap between ideas and reality through end to end product development solutions. Starting from idea validation to the concept and product design, multi-platform development, and testing.

Appinventiv has served over 700 clients across multi-industries’ SMEs and establishments. Some of the notable clients in the list include Dominos, KFC, IKEA, ABP Live, Supertech, KPMG, amongst others. The company is run by a great leadership team and backed by 600+ extremely-talented mobility experts who have successfully designed, developed, and delivered more than 900 mobile applications translating Appinventiv into global recognition. Setting new benchmarks, AppInventiv has developed some of the most-downloaded, and highly-rated apps on the Google Play Store. They have been awarded for the most promising mobile apps solution providers globally by CIO Review, top global leaders in mobile app development by Clutch, and top blockchain app development company by MAD, etc. It is serving clients across the USA, Australia, UAE region, and has a global presence.

Education

Next Education strengthens personalized learning for students through its smart learning app LearnNext+

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Beas Dev Ralhan, #Co-founder & CEO, #Next Education

To facilitate a comprehensive self-learning experience for every student, India’s leading smart learning solutions provider, Next Education Pvt. Ltd., has recently come up with a new feature, LearnNext+. A go-to-companion for K-12 students, LearnNext+ is a smart learning app that helps students achieve academic excellence and develop strong conceptual foundations in all subjects.

The award-winning course content has been specially researched and created by a team of experts at Next Education. Covering more than 20 subjects, LearnNext+ offers 2000+ hours of interactive and engaging HD video lessons and exhaustive practice tests. It is available on all platforms and can be accessed from anywhere, anytime making learning flexible.

Further, the smart learning app follows an activity-based curriculum that is in line with the NCF (National Curriculum Framework) and CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation) guidelines. It has 600+ simulations and experiments stitched together with important concepts in Science to foster hands-on learning and provide better clarity on different topics.  LearnNext+ has more than 3. 2 lakh happy users on its platform.

For online doubt clarification, the smart learning app is also integrated with NextGurukul through which students can get their doubts clarified within 48 hours. To date, a total of 131,664 doubts have been solved.

Speaking on the development, Beas Dev Ralhan, Co-Founder & CEO, Next Education said, “Learning from textbooks may not always fulfill the learning needs of every student. This is because textbooks primarily focus on curriculum-based content and lack detailed conceptual knowledge. To stay ahead of others in this competitive world, it is the need of the hour that students have a clear understanding of concepts and their applications. LearnNext+ is here to offer the same in an interesting way for students to retain the concepts as well as enjoy the teaching-learning process.”

He added, “We are further modifying the learning app for a more holistic learning experience. More and more topic-wise and chapter-wise questions along with sample papers and exhaustive solutions will be added. Our aim is to provide a personalized learning experience for every student. At LearnNext+, learners will receive comprehensive feedback on the learning process that will help them discover their strengths and identify their areas for improvement.”

Using LearnNext+, students can take All-India Test Series that will cover extensive syllabi from all boards including ICSE, CBSE, IGCSE, 29 State Boards, and Army Board. To make learning engaging, it will also provide gamified modules to help students enhance their understanding of concepts across multiple subjects.

Business World

7th India Sweden Innovation Day 2020: Strengthening collaboration to deepen bilateral ties between the two countries

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #7th India Sweden Innovation Day 2020, #Sweden-India Business Council and Confederation of Indian Industry

New Delhi: The 7th India Sweden Innovation Day 2020 themed at “The New Normal” was hosted today by India Unlimited in association with Embassy of India in Sweden, Sweden-India Business Council and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The event was attended by over 500 participants from across the world.

On 17th April 2018, India and Sweden signed a Joint Innovation Partnership to deepen the collaboration between the two countries and contribute to sustainable growth and new job opportunities. The partnership was signed during the visit of Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi to Sweden.

The one-day virtual event brought together government officials, think tanks, institutions, prominent industrialists, as well as renowned company Presidents and CEOs from both Sweden and India to explore, identify and work together for shared prosperity. The speakers discussed ways to deepen bilateral ties between the two countries covering various sectors and actions needed to navigate this crisis and how to work together for creating a sustainable future for both countries. The speakers also deliberated on how the Sweden-India partnership in Technology-based solutions, in the 4th Industrial Revolution & Globalization can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Speaking on the occasion, HH Klas Molin, Ambassador of Sweden to India said, “The India Sweden Innovation Day highlights the important role of innovations, one of the absolute cornerstones of relations between Sweden and India. The innovation partnership between our countries has strengthened since its announcement in 2018. Both our governments have allocated funding for multi-million calls under our partnership. As a consequence, business links between our countries will continue to grow stronger and deeper, drawing us closer together and creating jobs and prosperity.”

“Research, innovation, commercialisation and it is EXPORT promotion of cleantech innovations is a cornerstone with our collaboration with India. The fact that we have some 50 companies being introduced to the Indian market should be seen as a success and we hope that we can deepen the collaboration in the future. The pandemic is truly troublesome and worrying in many ways but I am glad to see that private investors have increased during the pandemic and the new normal would be able to speed up the market introduction of clean energy innovations and create much deeper collaborations with the business community. The way forward is about cross-border collaborations to fight this pandemic and build on mobility and Sweden has been both bilaterally and internationally on the forefront;” said Robert Andren, Director General, Swedish Energy Agency.

During the event Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon. Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways congratulated the team for organising this 7th India Sweden Innovation Day 2020. He was quoted saying, “Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Science & Technology, R&D, skills, knowledge, and conversation of knowledge into wealth is the Future. The mutual cooperation, coordination and communication among the stakeholders in India & Sweden will strengthen, survive and grow in new normal. When it comes to innovation, both Sweden and India have a lot in common to share for their mutual good. There are immense opportunities that exist on the two sides and we need to identify those opportunities and promote them for each other’s benefit.”

The Minister also appreciated Sweden for being the 5th country in the world for India’s ‘Make in India’ mission and 22nd largest investor in India with the inflow of USD 1.63 Billion.

Adding to this, Shri Prakash Javadekar, Hon. Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change of India said, “We place great value on our bilateral partnership with Sweden, our ties go back a long way and have become stronger over the year. I am pleased to say that Sweden and India are working together on different global environmental issues including industrial conditional leadership. As a responsible nation for the future; we want to be part of the solution, though we are not part of the problem. India has achieved its voluntary target of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 21% over 2005 levels by 2020 and is poised to achieve a 35% reduction well before the target year of 2030. In this very challenging point in history, it is very important that Sweden and India are upholding to their commitments and we must all work together to bring out a real change and that is what is needed.”

Sweden-India Business Council (SIBC) played a very important role in the event. SIBC is country to country organisationS. SIBC is the secretariat on the Swedish side for India Sweden Business Leaders’ Roundtable (ISBLRT). Marcus Wallenberg, Chairman of SEB and SAAB, is the Co-chair of ISBLRT. On participating in India Sweden Innovation Day, Marcus shared, “Pleased to note that Swedish companies increasingly are looking to India for R&D, innovation and human capital. We have together entered an era of concrete collaboration and innovation partnerships.”

Robin Sukhia, Sweden-India Business Council’s President and Secretary General added, “We work with concrete structures to ensure progress in the initiatives we are engaged in, such as Sweden India Transport Innovation & Safety partnership (SITIS), Sweden India Tech Community (SITEC) and India Sweden Business Leaders’ Roundtable (ISBRLT), thus ensuring engagement from corporates, academia and government.”

During the closing session Sanjoo Malhotra, CEO India Unlimited said, “Despite the disruptions, there is great expectation that the decade ahead will be dominated by innovation. Innovation cooperation is the most important element in the bilateral relationship between India and Sweden, which is progressing well within the ambit of a joint innovation partnership. This is an ideal platform to make full use of Sweden and India’s complementary strengths for the mutual benefit of both countries.”

The other distinguished speakers included Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister and Hon Minister for Environment and Climate of Sweden, Ibrahim Baylan, Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation of Sweden, Peter Engberg, Vice President, Head of Traffic Management, Business Area Industrial Products and Services, SAAB, Micael Johansson, President & CEO, SAAB, Kamal Bali, President and MD Volvo Group India, Malini Agarwal, Co-founder and Creative Director, MissMalini Entertainment, Arati Davis, VP, Sweden-India Business Council, C.P. Gurnani, CEO and MD, Tech Mahindra, Leif Johansson, Chairman Astra Zeneca & Cecilia Oldne, VP, Sweden-India Business Council who shared their perspective on how their Joint Leadership and Innovation can help in tackling other global crisis which is unfolding in parallel with the pandemic.

The event had never before seen as an impressive line-up of speakers and participation.

Looking forward, both sides discussed opportunities for new bilateral cooperation on shared strategic priorities such as sustainable development, start-ups, healthcare, transport etc. The event concluded with the vote of thanks to all the stakeholders for collaboration between the governments of Sweden and India based on a mutual commitment to drive prosperity and address global challenges.

About India Unlimited:

India Unlimited was founded in 2013 to promote cross-cultural ties between India and Sweden in association with Embassy of India in Sweden and Sweden-India Business Council. In the last seven years the organization has hosted a number of events in Stockholm and Gothenburg showcasing the diversity of Indian cultural, economic and social life.

In association with the Indian Embassy in Stockholm, India Unlimited has been a part of events including the visit from the former Indian President, H.E. Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the Swedish Royal family; an exhibition of works by Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray; business seminars in collaboration with CII and Sweden-India Business Council on subjects ranging from gender and diversity to energy, transportation, smart cities, space, innovation and infrastructure under the Make In India promotion; fashion shows by Vogue India, Tarun Tahiliani and NIFT students; design exhibitions: Pecha Kucha tiger photo exhibition: a film festival with speakers including Aparna Sen, Shonali Bose and Ketan Mehta; an Innovation Hackathon across universities in Sweden; and the day-long festivals – Namaste Stockholm and Namaste Gothenburg in collaboration with Incredible India, that drew thousands to come together and discover the variety and multiculturalism of India.

They were the proud partner and organizer of Stockholm Culture Festival Theme India in 2017, which was attended by 650000 Stockholmers presenting Zakir Hussain, Papa CJ, Bollywood Musical, Yoga, Indian cuisine and much more.

Business World

Paytm Money launches IPO investments, empowers investors to participate in initial public offerings

Nov 30, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #CEO - Paytm Money, #Paytm Money, #Varun Sridhar

Mumbai: India’s homegrown digital financial services platform Paytm today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Money now facilitates investments in Initial Public Offers (IPOs) in India. This launch will benefit retail investors with wealth creation opportunities, as they will be able to seamlessly apply and join the growth story of rapidly expanding companies. The company has made the process of IPO application completely digital & simple for retail investors across the country to apply for IPOs. It will continue to innovate and add new tech-savvy features for enhanced user experience.

Paytm Money has enabled investors to instantly apply for all the latest IPOs via UPI ID, linked to their bank accounts to quickly complete the IPO application process. The company is leveraging the convenience of UPI infrastructure to offer a faster turnaround time reduced to 3-4 days for completion of the entire process.

The platform offers a seamless interface to make changes, cancel or reapply the bidding application within the IPO window. It is equipped with features enabling investors to track upcoming IPOs, view company history & details, download prospectus, and also check the performance of past IPOs. This service is available on both the Paytm Money app and website.

Varun Sridhar, CEO – Paytm Money said, “The Indian start-up ecosystem has a growing appetite for entering the capital market, now more companies want to raise capital from a broader set of investors with a public listing. Likewise, investors are also increasingly willing to diversify their portfolios. This presents a big opportunity and we intend to make the process more accessible to our fellow citizens. In near future, we plan to launch IPO funding, derivatives trading, margin finance, and a host of other value-adding features to make investing seamless and convenient. This is aligned with our mission to drive financial inclusion across the country.”

In the period March-November 2020, the country’s stock exchanges (both NSE and BSE combined) witnessed 12 IPOs and raised proceeds worth Rs.249.73 billion (or Rs 24,973 crores) in total. Some of the successful IPOs of 2020 were SBI Cards, Mazagaon Dock, Rossari Biotech, Happiest Minds, and CAMS among others. Within these, Happiest Minds and Rossari Biotech were oversubscribed by 150.98x and 79.37x and have delivered a listing day return of 111% and 77% respectively as per NSE’s data.

About Paytm Money:

Paytm Money is a wholly-owned subsidiary of One97 Communications that owns India’s homegrown financial services platform Paytm. It is the largest online investment platform in the country and has now added Stocks also to its current offerings of Direct Mutual Funds & NPS for its users. Paytm Money aims to become a full-stack investment and wealth management platform and bring wealth creation opportunities to millions of Indians. Headquartered and operating from Bengaluru, the team is 300+ member strong.