Archive: March 31, 2022

Simpl makes Buy Now more convenient with its easy Pay-in-3 option

Mumbai, March 31, 2022: Simpl, the market leader in 1-tap checkout, announced the Pay-in-3 option, the latest product addition to its pay later platform. ‘Pay-in-3’ is a unique offering from the Simpl product family, to benefit D2C brands and their loyal customers. It comes with a host of value-added features that enable spend management while combining transparency, speed, ease of use, and best of all, a smooth payment experience.

“At Simpl, our endeavour is to constantly improve the consumer experience. With Pay-in-3, consumers can conveniently split their current payments into 3 tranches, at no extra charges. We believe this option will help strengthen the trust factor between merchants and their end customers, enabled by intelligent machine learning decisioning at the backend,” said Nitya Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO, Simpl.

The distributed payments facility may be availed in an instant by loyal customers, as recommended by their respective D2C merchants. Immediate benefits to buyers include an interest-free credit period on their D2C purchases, with a well-balanced repayment option. D2C retailers that offer Pay-in-3 can benefit from better ties with their trusted customers and strengthen loyalty.

Enhancing transparency, convenience, and efficiency with Pay-in-3

Pay-in-3 has been developed on 3 key pillars: high payments transparency and superior speed of transactions, at scale. With product simplicity as a core tenet, there is no tedious paperwork; no lengthy forms that need to be filled; no need for any additional verification information and no hidden charge. And it’s a simple 3-step process:

● Users can discover Simpl Pay-in-3 on various merchant platforms

● Existing users can access Pay-in-3 on our merchant platforms

● Eligible users can repay their credit purchases with select D2C merchants in 3 equated instalments

Simpl Pay-in-3 option is available on several leading retailers including Healthkart, Beast Nutrition, Villain, Paaduks, Pawfectlymade, Urbancart, Crossbeats, Flatheads, Athletive, Auravedic, Superkicks, Tupperware, Bums on the Saddle, Bluetokai Coffee, Headphone Zone and Zlade.

The heart and craft of diamonds: Suraj Popley, Founder of Popley Eternal

A symbol of promise, steadfast love, and loyalty diamonds are a woman’s dearest treasure trove. Adorned right from the iconic age of Marilyn Monroe’s music ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’ to the new age aesthetic being Meghan Faux’s ‘Almond-shaped thorn ring.’ These precious gemstones are unforgettable, hence passed on as heirlooms to signify the testament of one’s life. However, searching for opulent and timeless jewellery can be overwhelming as every cut and design is unique.

With that being said diamond is considered to be an invincible gem hence, acquiring the best quality will serve your luxe and versatile taste. To cater to this exigency, Popley Eternal- a house of brilliant and pure jewellery, brings to you its fine quality and designer jewellery. The brand shines just like its beautifully crafted diamonds, as one of the largest stockists of quality diamonds.  The legacy of Popley has been taken forward by Mr. Suraj Popley, hence, this jewellery house has been bustling with superior designs and time-tested brilliance.

Suraj Popley believes that “Since jewellery has the finest craftsmanship and whimsical designs, it will never lose its charm. It is an asset that people will always invest in, and it’s handed down from one generation to the next, which is why Popley strives to take you towards that good investment personally, accompanied with exceptional quality.”

About Popley Eternal: Founded in 1927, spearheaded by Mr Suraj Popley with the vision to make this jewellery house bustling with superior designs and time-tested brilliance. Popley Eternal, glimmers as the largest stockist of diamonds and solitaire, with exclusive quality under one roof. The brand is world-renowned for its timeless and classic designs, serving a luxe experience while giving flair to one’s persona.

Wiggles.in and Pet Practitioners Association of Mumbai step up their commitment towards pets and community animals

March 31, 2022; Mumbai, India: Award-winning petcare start-up Wiggles.in offering innovative pet products continues to add value and open the platform for new ideation in the petcare industry.

‘Joining Hands’ an initiative, powered by Wiggles.in in collaboration with Pet Practitioners Association of Mumbai (PPAM) was held on 27th March in Mumbai. The initiative encourages open dialogue between veterinarians to work towards the betterment of pets and community animals and exchange knowledge while growing hand in hand together. Its vision is to explore the latest veterinary practices that will benefit the future of veterinary medicine and elevate the lifespan of animals by including new technologies.

Backed by a scientific approach to solving problems and with support from leading veterinarians across India, Wiggles and PPAM will now be able to step up its commitment to serving pets across the country. PPAM is the largest association of leading veterinarians across the country and is a trendsetter in arranging awareness programs, seminars and knowledge sharing programs to add value, knowledge and clinical ability to every pet practitioner. While being a registered trust for the pet and the veterinary fraternity it is the only organization in India that works to elevate pet medicine and its use.

Dr. Dhananjay Bapat, President, PPAM, a renowned, practicing vet with a rich experience of over 24+ years was quoted saying, “We always want quality products that are made in India. Wiggles is focused on supreme quality and has developed highly palatable cat food Kittibles, apart from their pet food range for dogs which is also highly balanced and nutritious. Their products are unique and superb while their pharma range is economical and effective. Ms. Anushka Iyer, being a pet parent herself, knows the importance of a complete range of petcare. We are happy to extend our full support to her and hope she continues striving towards the betterment of pets and community animals.”

Dr. Makarand Chavan, Secretary, PPAM & WSAVA Representative said, “Wiggles.in and PPAM held a very promising initiative, ‘Joining Hands.’ The guest speakers, Dr. Rajiv Gaikwad, HOD of Veterinary Medicine, Mumbai Veterinary College spoke on the management of epilepsy and levetiracetam and Dr. Chandrakant Galdhar, Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Mumbai Veterinary College spoke on the use of doramectin for small animals. The topics were clinically relevant and this was a very good session to upgrade our skills and knowledge for day-to-day clinical practice. We were very happy to look at the bouquet of products and upcoming plans from Wiggles.in.”

Dr. Anil Vade, Treasurer, PPAM, said, “Wiggles.in’s ‘Joining Hands’ alliance is definitely a boost to the petcare fraternity and small animal veterinarians. We are happy to be a part of this initiative.”

Dr. Jairam Ramani, MC Member, PPAM & FASAVA Representative added, “Joining Hands is an excellent initiative by Wiggles. Wiggles.in led by Ms. Anushka Iyer is the new veterinary pharmaceutical company to watch out for. Wiggles.in has an excellent portfolio of a wide range of products tailor-made to suit the needs of the small animal veterinarian.”

Dr. Hitesh Swali, MC member, PPAM said, “The ‘Joining Hands’ initiative started by the young and dynamic Team Wiggles headed by the enterprising Anushka Iyer is a good step towards a brighter future between the veterinarian and the company.”

Adding to the conversation, Anushka Iyer, Founder and CEO at Wiggles.in said, “Solving problems and addressing the needs of pets and pet parents has always been a priority for us at Wiggles. ‘Joining Hands’ is an initiative that brings veterinarians together to open dialogue on exploring new technologies to elevate the future of pet medicine. We will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to ensure pets are provided the necessary care they require through this initiative.”

The initiative was a resounding success and received an overwhelming response from the Mumbai veterinary community. The audience participated with enthusiasm and there was a considerable exchange of knowledge. The intent is clear, the dialogue will continue to build a healthier and safer future for pets and community animals.

CBRE Launches Specialised Healthcare and Education Real Estate Services in India

National, March 2022: CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd, India’s leading real estate consulting firm, announced the launch of specialised business services to support healthcare and education real estate services in India, offering significant growth potential and investment opportunities.

CBRE plans to strengthen the function, with an aim to capture the dominant market position in the relatively large, and underserved sectors.

The sectors are expected to witness significant growth, with healthcare expected to reach US $400 billion by 2023, and education sector to amount to US $225 billion by FY2025. Several factors are driving the growth within these sectors, including a growing middle class, an increased emphasis on public-private partnerships as well as accelerated adoption of digital technologies, including telemedicine, ed-tech – along with increased FDI inflows over the last two decades.

With cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai expected to fuel further expansion, CBRE plans to offer diversified, best-in-class services that will help reimaged real estate deliverables expected by key businesses within these domains. The specialist team will provide strategic advisory, market analysis, feasibility studies and valuations, as well as transactional services.

“We are witnessing considerable interest in both the healthcare and education sectors with substantial growth projected over the next decade,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO – India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE. “We are prepared to deliver unparalleled solutions and comprehensive real estate consulting advice to healthcare facilities, and businesses in the education space in India. In line with rapid population growth, increasing life expectancy, growing affluence, the sectors are set to experience growth in the coming years.”

CBRE’s team of industry leaders are equipped to resolve unique challenges and leverage opportunities anticipated within the healthcare and education sectors. From advisory and transaction to portfolio optimization, risk mitigation, and benchmarking operations – CBRE is committed to support clients deliver outstanding patient experiences in safe, engaging & high-performing environments.

“Keeping top seven cities as priority, the service offerings will help deliver superior outcomes to full-service hospitals, single speciality players and diagnostic, wellness, pharma and health-tech players.” said Ram Chandnani, Managing Director, Advisory & Transactions Services, CBRE India.

“With education being one of the key focus on India’s national agenda, we aim to offer clients comprehensive and value-based solutions that span the entire life cycle of their real estate asset. CBRE plans to combine real estate advisory services and education sector expertise into a full-service integrated offering at every asset scale and market position.” added Chandnani.

“Our focus on the healthcare and education sectors will support clients in providing exceptional services and achieving greater financial efficiencies. Taking the lead on these specialized services, I’m positive we’ll continue to add further value to the business, and to all relevant stakeholders.” said Peush Jain, Senior Executive Director, Investment Sales, Health Care & Education, CBRE India.

CBRE is committed to offer strategic advantage to educational entities with tailored account management approaches for variable solutions that aid the growing demands for digitization and collaboration.

Healthcare offerings:

Education offerings:

Drawing upon CBRE’s expertise in consulting, research and analysis, site selection, project management and facilities management, CBRE will enable investors and clients in the sector to secure strategic locations, lower occupancy costs and increase market presence.

CBRE has already managed over 19 million sq. ft., and over 10 million sq. ft. in the healthcare and education domain respectively – servicing over 50 clients each.

Dracul – Of the Father Named 2021 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist

Las Vegas, Nevada — Today, Histria Books is pleased to announce Dracul – Of the Father: The Untold Story of Vlad Dracul has been recognized as a Finalist in the 24th annual Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.

As part of its mission to discover, review, and share the best books from university and independent publishers, Foreword Magazine, Inc. hosts an annual awards program each year. Finalists represent the best books published in 2021. After more than 2,500 individual titles spread across 55 genres were submitted for consideration, the Finalists were determined by Foreword’s editorial team. Winners will be decided by an expert team of booksellers and librarians—representing Foreword’s trade readership—from across the country.

The complete list of Finalists can be found at:

https://www.forewordreviews.com/awards/finalists/2021/

“Being able to revisit the best of a year’s books—titles that are either familiar to us, or that we have the joy of seeing for the first time during judging—is always a pleasure,” says Editor-in-Chief Michelle Anne Schingler. “This year’s entrants represented a thrilling influx of books that we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with. We’re proud of every book that’s moving on to our finalist round.”

“Our goal for Foreword’s INDIES Book of the Year Awards is to be one of the premier programs for independent presses to be recognized for their work,” said Victoria Sutherland, publisher. “After 24 years, I continue to be so very proud of the integrity of our judging process and so grateful to our volunteer librarians and booksellers who will make the winner’s determination based on their knowledge of what their current reader patron pleasures are.”

“Histria Books is honored that Dracul – Of the Father has been recognized for this honor. The work of distinguished historian A.K. Brackob, the book tells the remarkable, never-before-told true story of Vlad Dracul, the father of Vlad the Impaler, an important figure in East European history,” said Dana Ungureanu, Manager of Histria Books. “We appreciate the important work that Foreword Reviews does to support independent publishers.”

As of July 1, 2022, titles published under the various imprints of Histria Books are distributed worldwide by the Independent Publishers Group. For information on publishing with Histria Books, please visit HistriaBooks.com or contact us at info@histriabooks.com

Smart investment and tax tricks to use before the financial year ends

Jyoti Roy, DVP- Equity Strategist, Angel One Ltd.

As the financial year 2021-22 nears its end, it is time to reevaluate many things around the finances. You will have to look at ways to claim deductions, save taxes and boost net gains. Since the deadline is just a few days away, you have to double your efforts at managing your finances as efficiently as possible. You must make your tax-saving investment by 31st March to claim an income tax deduction.

Ideally, it is best to do the tax planning at the beginning of the year to avoid making any hasty decisions towards the end. Planning tax-saving investment at the beginning of the financial year enables you to choose suitable investments and savings products to achieve the financial goals. It also helps you avoid putting the strain on finances in one month as the investment-related expenses get bunched up.

However, if you haven’t made the investments throughout the year, a few tricks and investments can help you. Firstly, you have to assess your income for the year. It will help you figure out the amount you need to invest in the tax-saving instruments. The next step is to collect all the documents of your big purchases that may count as investments during the year. After this, calculate how much more investments you need. Once you have the figure, here are the following investment and tax tricks that you can use:

Make contributions to NPS and PPF

Contributing to the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Public Provident Fund (PPF) are the most common ways of claiming tax benefits while saving. PPF provides double benefits of tax-free interest and yearly deductions of Rs 1.5 Lakh. NPS is a pension scheme where you can claim a tax benefit of around Rs 2 Lakh through Sections 80CCD(1), 80CCD(2), and 80CCD(1B).

Saving tax on stock investment of Rs 1 Lakh

As a long-term investor, you may be opposed to the idea of booking profits. However, you must also know that your long term capital gains will be taxed if they exceed Rs 1 Lakh. The idea here is to book the profit now if you are at the threshold of Rs 1 Lakh in LTCG. It is an intelligent move to book the gains below the threshold of Rs. 1 lakh and save on the taxes. You can buy back the stocks at the beginning of the next financial year.

Health and Life insurance premiums

One of the easiest ways to save tax is health and life insurance. Paying the health insurance premiums for policies covering your medical care are tax-deductible. It reduces your taxable income, thereby reducing tax liability. If you are a sole earner in the family paying for the parent’s health insurance policy and spouse and children, you are qualified for deduction under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. You are allowed to claim a tax deduction of up to Rs 25,000 per financial year for self, spouse and dependent children. If you pay health insurance premium for dependent parents, you are qualified for an additional deduction of Rs 25,000 if they are not senior citizens. In case, either or both of your parents are senior citizens, this limit escalates to Rs 50,000. Effectively, one can get up to Rs 75,000 in tax deductions on purchasing a health insurance policy for self and parents.

Similarly, taking life insurance offers tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act 1961. An individual can claim up to Rs 150,000 per year against a life insurance policy’s premium. The tax can be saved on premiums of plans for yourself, spouse or children.

Home Loan

Suppose you have taken a home loan and are now repaying the loan amount with interest. In that case, you must know that you’re eligible for tax deductions of up to Rs 1.5 Lakh on principal repayment under Section 80C and up to Rs 2 Lakh on the interest repayment under Section 24B.

While these are some of the hacks for saving taxes, you must also clear any pending tax returns that need to be filed as missing a deadline is never a good idea and only means an additional penalty. Follow the checklist and save whatever you can. For next year, plan ahead.

Experience an Aussie Barbeque with a beach view at Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach!

Music, barbeque, drinks and grills, is there a better way to bring in the summer? Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach is hosting an Australian-themed BBQ with a beach view hosted by MasterChef Australia 2019 contestant Sandeep Pandit, MasterChef India 2019 Season 6 contestant Natasha Gandhi and the hotel’s Executive Chef Jerson Fernandes.

You can enjoy a mesmerising sunset view, with a glass of wine or beer along with a delightful BBQ combo. The Aussie Live BBQ station will serve everything from BBQ chicken drumsticks and wings to cottage cheese and vegetable skewers to lemon and chilli rubbed corn on the cob. The event also has a charcoal grill counter offering a variety of mouth-watering dishes such as Peshawari Murgh Tikka, Tawa Prawns, Mushroom Galouti Kebab, Paneer Punjabi Tikka and much more. If your stomach isn’t rumbling of hunger yet, there’s also an assortment of burgers, pizzas and rolls to be followed by a variety of desserts.

Enjoy live music while you treat your taste buds to a variety of food prepared by the experts in the culinary field! Come in with your friends and family at the Aussie Sundowner BBQ event for an unforgettable Friday evening.

Date: Friday, 1st April, 2022
Venue: Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach
Timing: 6 pm onwards
Entry Fee: INR 2599 plus taxes per person (includes unlimited food and one glass of wine/ beer)
For reservations and more details: +91 91679 98960/ h6926-fb1@accor.com

This Summer beat the heat with the coolest offers from Symphony Air Coolers, exclusively available on Symphony e-Shop

Hyderabad, India, March 2022: Symphony Limited, world’s largest manufacturer of air-coolers has recently launched its Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) website. At a time when more consumers prefer ordering online, Symphony ltd wants to ensure that the brand is omnipresent and is easily accessible across all touchpoints by their consumers. With the launch of the D2C website, the company has gone one step further with multiple offerings. The brand has offered a special discount of 250 INR for the first-time users who can avail it with coupon code WELCOME250 and get free delivery of the coolers across India.

Staying true to its ethos, Symphony has become synonymous with technology, innovation, and great customer service since 1988. Consumers can now buy genuine Symphony air coolers with just a click from the comfort of their homes and enjoy fast delivery and easy replacement options. The brand has taken care of all needs and requirement of consumers while going digital. In case if there is any issue with the products, consumers can raise product replacement request within ten days of purchase.

Commenting on the launch of D2C website, Mr. Achal Bakeri, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director, Symphony Limited said, “In today’s fast-paced world, going digital is crucial to meet with the growing consumers’ demand. The need for quality products and increased disposable incomes are some of the key factors driving the direct to consumers (D2C) space in India. As per data by Technopak, the D2C channel has grown around 20% in the past two years, led by the pandemic-infused demand, and it is expected to grow 15-20% in the next five years. We are thrilled to launch our D2C website that will help consumers place an order with just a click. We look forward to expand our horizons through this digital journey and offer seamless experience to our customers.” 

Consumers can find a wide range of air coolers on the website starting from personal cooler with 22-liter tank to a large space cooler with 200-liter tank. Symphony offers a unique combination of eco-friendly air-coolers saving up to 90% electricity as compared to any other cooling device. Whether one is looking for a cooling solution for a small area or a commercial space, or a cooler with a remote or digital screen, the brand has made sure that there is a product for any and every kind of requirement. The brand has multiple blog posts on the website which can help consumer select the perfect air cooler as per their needs and requirements.

SEBI Announces Ideathon “Manthan” To promote Innovation in the Securities Market

Mumbai/Bengaluru, March 31, 2022: SEBI in association with the other market infrastructure institutions & QRTAs, has announced the launch of ‘Manthan’, an Ideathon for supporting new ideas and innovations in the securities market. The Ideathon was formally launched by Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch Chairperson, SEBI, at a function held in Mumbai on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.

Launching the Ideathon, Ms. Buch highlighted that the adoption of Financial Technology (FinTech) in the securities market presents significant opportunities for stakeholders.

Adoption of FinTech can go a long way in democratizing financial services, making services cheaper and more accessible to the masses, thereby laying the cornerstone for financial inclusion. Similarly, Regulatory Technology (RegTech) and Supervisory Technology (SupTech) present opportunities to have effective regulation of the market while lowering the cost of compliance for the market participants. Ms. Buch pointed out that, backed by a rich tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation, India is well-positioned to leverage technology in the securities market, to deliver customised solutions at very low costs, to individuals even in the nooks and corners of our country.

SEBI has already facilitated the market and innovators to explore new ideas through the sandbox framework, which provides access to various test environments. Ideathon is another step in this direction. Ms. Buch stated that the focus of Manthan is on ideation, that it is SEBI’s belief that every single idea is worth evaluating – participants are encouraged to bring out any idea, even those which may not be achievable immediately.

SEBI Whole-time Members, Executive Directors, various SEBI committee members and officials from the Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) and QRTAs also attended the launch event and expressed their optimism on the role that Ideathons and Hackathons can play in fostering innovation.

More about Manthan and Who can Participate:

Manthan is a 6-week long Ideathon by SEBI in association with BSE, NSE, NSDL, CDSL, KFintech, CAMS, Link Intime and MCX to promote innovation in the securities market. Manthan will facilitate the creation of a pool of ideas and innovative solutions revolving around the securities market. Going forward, workable ideas emanating from Manthan may translate into possibilities and prototypes through a Hackathon.

Anyone over 16 years of age- students, start-up founders, professionals from any field -can participate by submitting their ideas at https://manthan.devfolio.co/. The event is open for registration from March 30, 2022 to May 14, 2022.

Registered participants need to submit their ideas in a video format, not more than 5 minutes in length. Each entry will be evaluated by an esteemed jury on criteria such as completeness, viability, functionality, Originality and impact.

As part of the Ideathon, interactive knowledge sharing sessions will be organized for registered participants through webinars to facilitate the submission of strong and truly innovative ideas. Top 10 winners of the Ideathon stand to win cash prizes worth a total of Rs. 5,00,000/-

Key Themes for Manthan:
The key themes for Manthan have been chosen to promote /ensure a healthy and safe growth environment for investors and to keep up the spirit of the Government’s thrust towards digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

The themes are:

• Investor Education, Protection and ease of investing: the focus of this theme is on fraud prevention, investor education and inclusive growth through product innovation
  Securities Market Development: While securities market investment is one of the oldest forms of retail investment products, Manthan invites ideas that revolve around use of technology to support product innovation, increasing access to new customers and in the commodities markets
• Market Regulation: financial services are increasingly being offered as combination of multiple financial products on tech enabled platforms. Such offerings while convenient for the customers, often are not clear on regulatory requirements. Manthan invites RegTech and SupTech ideas to help bridge the regulatory gap while using new business models and tech platforms for securities market
• Integration within the Financial ecosystem: it is important integrate to securities market integration with other financial services ecosystem to support growth. Manthan encourages ideas that supports the integration by reducing duplication of processes such as KYC and onboarding and other challenges faced by investors.

For further media queries, please contact:
Nisha Khetan: +91-98203 48387; Saleela Kappan: +91- 99801 88398

Make this summer stylish with MiniKlub’s Loungewear

Miniklub the house of quality fashion apparel for the lil ones introduces ‘lounge wear’ for kids this summer.

Gone are the days of wearing jeans, cotton pants, and shirts, your baby’s new season wardrobe must embrace cool loungewear.

This versatile high on fashion yet comfortable range is made from a combination of light cotton fabrics with elasticity to give extra comfort for kids to suit their active lifestyle. The lounge wear collection is designed with trendy solids, textured fabrics to make them stand out in the clan for sure. Kids can just carry them off with ease for fun times or even a casual outing.

This cozy loungewear range will be a must have essentials for this summer. So add these pieces to your cart right away!

Range starts from Rs.999 onwards for kids of Age 1- 6 years

Accessibility:

Available at exclusive Miniklub brand outlets across 2 cities and (https://miniklub.in/)

Also available on leading online shopping sites

About Miniklub:

Miniklub started its retail journey in the year 2013 with the vision of providing international quality apparel in India. In just a few years, Miniklub has established 85% coverage across India. 450+ multi-brand outlets, leading to large and regional large-format stores. They have a strong market presence with Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart, and Ajio. One can shop online on miniklub.in as well. We launched Miniklub with an apparel range for new born to 2 years, and as we started our exclusive outlets across India, we extended our offerings from new born to 8 years, adding non-apparel to our range to be a complete baby solution brand. In partnership with John Lewis, the largest co-operative in the UK, Miniklub also launched its sub brand Mini Cuddles in the UK. Mini Cuddles has a comfortable fashion line for newborns to two-year-olds.