Archive: June 8, 2022

“Bhalo Basa”: TV9 Bangla honored leading real estate players of Bengal to boost the entire eco-system

Kolkata, June 8, 2022- The real estate sector is a unique and significant part of the economy that concerns both the broader economy and the individual in equal measure. While it is directly linked to the fortunes of multiple labour-intensive sectors such as iron and steel, cement, brick, paint, chemicals, electricals, sanitaryware, interior design items thereby proving employment, it also concerns the individual customer since it is easily the biggest transaction a common citizen conducts in his lifetime and involves a lot of planning and ‘dreaming’ that one nurtures over the years.

While the pandemic affected the real estate sector in the country, a gradual return to normalcy is triggering new growth in this crucial sector, even triggering new patters of demand.

It is to recognise and honour the efforts of real estate developers — people play a crucial role in straddling the domains of the broader economy as well as giving shape to people’s dreams — that TV9 Bangla organised an awards ceremony on May 31 in Kolkata.

TV9 Bangla that is a part of the TV9 Group, the undisputed number one news organisation in the country, organised Real Estate Excellence Award 2022 titled “Bhalo Basa” at ITC Sonar where different real estate companies across various segments were felicitated. A total of six real estate and allied companies were awarded in the evening for their outstanding and exemplary work in the field during the past one year.

” The real estate sector plays a huge role in urban planning. Government of West Bengal has extended all possible help to the real estate companies to make the city world class. Specially after the Covid pandemic, a lot of relaxation and support were given to all the players on behalf of the state government,” said Firhad Hakim, Minister-In-Charge, Transport, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs and Housing, Government of West Bengal.

Minister of State for Finance, Health and Family Welfare, Land and Land Reforms, Refugee and Rehabilitation of the Government of West Bengal Chandrima Bhattacharjee was also present at that event on Tuesday evening.

She lauded TV9 Bangla’s initiative for hosting such an important event. “Real estate infrastructure is very important for a state. And we behalf of the state government have extended all possible support to the real estate companies during and after the pandemic. We are currently under RERA and our Hon’ble Chief Minister gave us clear instructions to support the real estate sector since this sector plays a huge role in boosting the state’s GDP.” she said.

The awards went to the following categories: In luxury residential segment, Jain Group won TV9 Bangla excellence award. In mid segment Merlin group won the award. The Sun group won the best MIG housing project award and Unimark group won the award for best commercial projects in the state.

Excellence in Affordable Housing award was awarded to Raghav Griha Nirman Pvt Ltd and Ms Urvashi Basu’s Excellence in Interior Designing was also recognised with an award.

Two interesting panel discussions were held during the evening. While one was titled ‘Kathamor Karigor’, the other was named ‘Swapner Bari’. Prominent personalities such as artist Suvaprasanna, architect Milan Dutta, interior designer Urvashi Basu participated in Swapner Bari that dealt with the need for aesthetics in designing homes at a time when people are spending more and more time indoors due to the exigencies of the pandemic. In Kathamor Karigar, Gaurav Beriwala from Shyam Steel, Nirmalaya Kumar from Berger Paints and Bidisha Sarkar from SBIHM ( Subhas Bose Institute of Hotel Management) were the speakers.

In his welcome speech Amritanshu Bhattacharya, Managing Editor, TV9 Bangla said, “The real estate is a sector that has huge multiplier effects. It involves the most expensive transactions of an average citizen’s life. The sectors that are directly impacted by real estate sales are by themselves big employers. These are, Iron and steel, Cement, Paints, Electricals, Sanitaryware, Interior decoration items and others.”

The event was co-presented by Dear Lottery and Co-powered by Shyam Steel. Associate Sponsors of ‘Bhalo Basa’ were Benarasi Niketan and Damro.

The Hospitality Partner of the event was Subhas Bose Institute of Hotel Management and Beverage Partner was Dewar’s Highball Soda Water.

Khadim Unveils New Range of Footwear in Business Partners’ Meet 2022

Khadim India Ltd. India’s leading footwear retail brand organised their Business Partners’ Meet 2022 recently in Kolkata. The meet was attended by around 400 Business Partners from across the country. The occasion was graced by Ms. Namrata A Chotrani, CEO, Khadim India Ltd along with other senior officials of the company. The interactive meet commenced with lamp lighting followed by performance review & appreciation basis the last financial year and sharing of future plan and vision of the company for FY 2023 with the business partners.

The meet was designed with lots of glitz and glamour with a fashion walk unveiling the new launches by the company for the upcoming festive season. The gorgeous employees of Khadim showcased the trendy range from across brands of Sharon, Cleo, Lazard, British Walkers and PRO. Following the fashion walk 600 plus new shoe lines were displayed to the business partners to provide a touch & feel of the products. The audience enjoyed the stylish fashion walk along with dance and musical performances.

Commenting on the event, Ms. Namrata A Chotrani, CEO, Khadim India Ltd said,” We are glad to being able to bring all our retail business partners together in one platform making it easier for them to benefit from each other’s experiences and feedback. We have seen the demand of our new range of fashionable products to be strong and we want to keep that momentum up for the rest of the year. Also, we have unveiled a fresh assortment for the upcoming festive season which will be in the shelves very soon.”

She further added, “We are very excited to witness the excitement of our business partners for our new product range as it is true appreciation and motivation for the hard work put in by the team internally.”

The daylong event was quite engaging for the partners as they were entertained with many fun filled activities. The event concluded by felicitating the business partners, employees and the high profile customers of Khadim.

To encourage the Khadim Parivaar some of our customers shared their experiences:

Mr. Soumya Shuvra Roy, an elite customer of the company said,” I am very satisfied with the products of Khadim. All the products are very good including shoes, bags and belts. Some of the brands like British Walker, Softouch and Lazard have wonderful products. I am a very happy customer of the company”.

Resonating the same feeling, Ms. Ritu Mukherjee, another elite customer said,” Since childhood me and my family are very happy wearing the Khadim footwear. Today, we saw that the company has launched some stylish yet comfortable footwear range. I am looking forward to explore the new collection soon. My best wishes to Khadim India.”

Extending appreciation some of Khadims’ business associates shared their views: 

Mr. Santosh Saha, a business partner from Agartala said,” I always feel that I am a part of Khadim family and not only a business partner. The seamless processes of the company make doing business transaction hassle free and a pleasant experience. Also, the company has taken our feedback to improvise on the fashionable range of footwear and launches them for the upcoming festive season. I am happy to do business with them and would like to continue our long term relationship. Thank you for your appreciation and recognition.”

Sharing his experience Mr. N Ramji, a business partner from Vishakhapatnam, said,” I am glad to be associated with Khadim India. I always feel as an integral part of the company and would like to continue our fruitful association for years to come. They give utmost importance to the customers’ feedback and try to implement them on their product range. Thank you for all your support and acknowledgement.”

With an aim to elevate the happiness and foster a culture of inclusivity, Khadim encouraged their employees to walk the ramp showcasing the new product range. The participants walked the ramp with lot of energy and each of them put their best foot forward to make this initiative a success.

Extending gratitude, Ms. Debjani Bhaduri of Khadim India said,” Working with Khadim is a great pleasure for me. It provides enough opportunity to work in a pleasant multicultural atmosphere with supportive team members. I thank the entire Khadim Parivaar for this opportunity as it is motivating and gives a feeling to be an integral part of Khadim Parivaar.”

Echoing similar feeling, Mr. Manas Roy Burman of Khadim India shared, “I’m really very happy and grateful to Khadim for this initiative. It is motivating and push us to achieve the next level. This organization is like an extended family to me as there is always someone to support me. I thoroughly enjoy working in a collaborative working environment.”

Overall the event was a fun filled and motivated each one of the participants.

Third Wave Coffee marks the opening of its 50th store at Lavelle Road

*The new flagship store also features a live roastery that is a delight to all your senses. The premium brand plans to take the aroma of its specially-curated Arabica coffee, range of milk and non-milk beverages, baked goodies and freshly prepared food to 10+ Indian cities by 2023.*

Bangalore: June 08, 2022 -Not one, but two exciting news from Third Wave Coffee this month. The café, which has created a niche for itself in the Indian Coffee scene has now opened doors to its Flagship store in Bangalore, at Lavelle Road.

Spread across 2,300 sq.ft., the flagship outlet emanates a cozy warmth with its modern and minimalistic interiors and the sensory aroma of coffee welcoming each visitor. One of the most loved cafés Third Wave Coffee is 27 outlets strong in Bangalore and has 50+ outlets spread all across the country, including cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, and Coonoor. With further expansion plans, Third Wave Coffee continues to create a strong community of coffee aficionados.

“It’s a proud moment for the brand to open our 50th cafe in India and our flagship at an iconic location in Bengaluru. It’s a one-of-a-kind cafe that transcends the customer experience – from the coffee roastery to the range of specially curated coffee and beverage pairings, this TWC store is a must-visit for all coffee patrons. Our thoughtfully put-together menu of savory and sweet food products & specialty coffee continues to delight customers. Lavelle Road has been the home for several Indian and international brands in Bengaluru, and we are excited to launch TWC here.” said Ayush Bathwal Co-Founder, Third Wave Coffee.

Popular for its freshly prepared iconic beverages like Classic Cappuccino, Signature Filter Kaapi, and Classic Cold Coffee created by their talented baristas, the café also serves freshly prepared delicious eats like Hummus & Pita Platter, Baked Chili Cheese Toast, and fresh bakes like Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll to Banana Walnut Tea Cake.

What’s more? The Flagship store also features a live roastery. The aim is to provide a recognizable identity for the flagship space, which is as comfortable as a cup of Cappuccino, subtly highlighting the coffee and elevating the whole cafe experience.

The coffee foam beige walls and repetitive use of signature terracotta tile create an ownable visual identity that intuitively reminds one of coffee. While there is a single primary color, the many textural differences add movement. We wanted the customers to explore and discover their favorite spots, so the space is designed for different personas – workers, friends, family, and those who just want to enjoy a cup of delicious coffee.

The Roastery is introduced up-front, parallel to the main bar counter, while the outdoors offers a snug atmosphere, and is modeled after the Laal Bagh botanical gardens providing local context. A library corner, a central amorphous bench seating, and comfortable yet stylish furniture blend well with the interior on the second floor. Other details, including the mug shot wall and the floating mocha display, bring forth the three principal design intentions – Coffee, Compassion, and Community.

RBI Monetary policy | Colliers | India Sotheby’s International Realty

Ramesh Nair, CEO, India and MD, Market Development, Asia, Colliers

On expected lines, RBI hiked repo rate by a further 50 bps to 4.9% while continuing to move away from its accommodative stance. The hovering inflationary concerns amidst the resilient domestic economy supports this RBI’s aggressive move. Despite the challenging global environment, Indian economy is strongly placed and on the path to recovery and GDP growth is pegged at 7.2% for FY 2022-23. On a cumulative basis, this translates into an almost percentage point increase in repo rate in the last 1 month. However, it remains lower than the pre-pandemic level of 5.15%. We expect banks to gradually pass on this rise in the form of higher home loan rates in the coming months. An opportune time for homebuyers to take advantage of the prevailing home loan rates at a time when prices are also expected to rise in most of the markets led by revival in demand.

Amit Goyal, CEO, India Sotheby’s International Realty 

RBI decision to hike the policy rates is on the expected lines. With inflation lingering obstinately high, RBI had little choice. We hope the hike in repo rate would rein in rising commodity prices and ensure sustainable growth in the long term. At the same time, we don’t see any major impact of the demand side in the housing market, which continues to remain strong. We are hopeful with the supply side measures taken by the government, inflation will cool down by the year-end, and the central bank will revert to a lower interest rate regime.

India’s biggest poker platform- PokerBaazi.com, extends its exclusive association with Asia’s premier poker tournaments brand – The Asian Poker Tour

New Delhi, June 2022: PokerBaazi.com, India’s biggest poker platform, has extended its exclusive India partnership with the Asian Poker Tour – Asia’s premier poker events brand for another two years continuing the successful association. In the last two years of the partnership, PokerBaazi has hosted three successful APT India Online events.

The extension of the partnership comes along with the next APT India online edition slated to begin on July 1, 2022, the details of which will be released by the brand tomorrow and promises to be bigger than the previous edition held in January 2022. The partnership will allow Indian poker players to participate in the online events hosted on PokerBaazi.com and fight for the coveted APT trophy.

Commenting on this association, Mr. Navkiran Singh, Founder & CEO of Baazi Games said, “PokerBaazi has been thoroughly dedicated to bringing world-class Poker action at the fingertips of India’s poker players. With PokerBaazi.com completing a Billion Hands in April, we are continuously looking to up the ante with larger tournaments, IPs, and more opportunities for Indian players. The extension of our exclusive India partnership with the Asian Poker Tour only furthers our commitment in this direction. We are looking forward to the partnership and strongly believe that this is another important step in our vision of creating a seamless Poker ecosystem in India.”

Asian Poker Tour is one of Asia’s leading tournaments which announced the first-ever exclusive online series for Indian players, in 2020, in partnership with Pokerbaazi.com. The third edition of the APT India Online series was hosted in 2022 between Jan 30, 2022 – February 6, 2022 and saw a massive turnout of over 56000 entries from across the country with a total prize pool of INR 7 Crore.

With physical poker tournaments steadily returning to action post the pandemic, APT plans to host its events in destinations like Vietnam and Philippines. With more Indians being attendees at global Poker events, this exclusive partnership will also unlock opportunities for Indian players to compete online on PokerBaazi.com and win packages to the global APT tournaments.

Views of Mr. Abheek Barua, Chief Economist, HDFC Bank on the monetary policy announced by RBI earlier today

Today’s monetary policy announcement was aggressive and moves beyond just “frontloading” of interest rates increases. The central bank seemed far more concerned about inflation — reflected in its upward revision in its inflation forecast by 100bps to 6.7%—and relatively more sanguine on domestic growth impulses.

Clearly the RBI is concerned about the broad-based nature of the increase in inflation and the risk of the second-round impact on inflation expectations. Therefore, the policy rate is likely to be raised well beyond the pre-pandemic level, close to 6% by fiscal year-end.

Bond yields saw an initial relief rally post the policy announcement as the rate hike was broadly priced-in and the fear of a larger rate increase or a CRR hike has been alleviated. That said, with elevated oil prices and rising global yields, this rally is likely to be short-lived and yields could march north yet again.

Tech Avant-Garde to strengthen AICTE approved colleges to transform into Hybrid Learning Spaces

National,  June 2022, AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) has sent a circular AICTE/NEAT/ 2021-22 to all its approved Institutes and Colleges addressing the Vice-Chancellors / Principals/ Director to Implement of Hybrid Learning uniformly in Technical Colleges in India.

Tech Avant-Garde (TAG) has been appointed to handhold and mentor AICTE approved educational institutions to successfully transform from physical to Hybrid Learning centers.

Dr. Buddha Chandrasekhar, Chief Coordinating Officer, AICTE said, “The reason for this circular was – COVID-19 pandemic radically disrupted every aspect of life, including education. This disruption left educational institutions clamoring for systems and structures that ensure a continuation of learning for all students. In this context, initiative by AICTE recommending Hybrid Learning in technical colleges to make them robust and lockdown proof which is much essential.”

Implementation of Hybrid Learning should be uniform and must follow certain standards viz., Learning environment, Class community, Lesson design, Engagement and interactivity and Assessment and feedback.

TAG is an ISV of Microsoft and award winning Global Training Partner of Microsoft and specializes in Hybrid Learning. Till date TAG has trained close to 40000 educators and 10000 plus Heads of Education Institutions on Hybrid Learning. TAG has initiated a program called Knowledge Worker program. In this program teachers are encouraged to teach each other to become Hybrid Educators.

Ali Sait, CEO, Tech Avant-Garde said “The hybrid model combines the best of in-school and remote learning, with digital engagement. It’s more than a quick fix. It is a way to enhance and accelerate learning by providing student-centered approaches to meet diverse learners’ needs.”

TAG will audit and advice free of cost. For any clarifications, colleges can call #91-8139999211 or email to tagconneet@t-a-g.com.

In order to transition to a dynamic hybrid learning model, colleges and universities need to build whole-system resilience in their institutions.

Three strategies that aid in creating such resilience include:

Collaborative Capacity-Building: Institutions can leverage technology to support leaders and instructors in collaborating with one another as they transition to a hybrid model.

Standardize Digital Platforms: Colleges and universities should select technology tools that lead to a cohesive and engaging student learning experience and standardize the implementation of these tools in order to streamline communications and workflows. With a standardized digital platform, students are able to quickly become proficient with the tools and can focus on their learning rather than navigating the technology.

Utilize the Chosen Digital Platform for Change Management: College systems must implement their standardized digital platform to support change management across all stakeholders in their systems.

TAG has expertise in the following area: 

Auditing: TAG will ascertain the readiness of the existing traditional educational institutions to go digital.

Advice: TAG can define the road map for digital transformation of an Educational Institution

Assist: TAG can help educational institutions to reimagine education by introducing empaneled vendors for the following activities viz., Classroom Design, IT Infrastructure Design, Hardware, Implement of Learning Community (CLC) Platform. Sourcing financial assistance. Training of Staff. Training of Parents. Implementation of Digital Pedagogy, Implementation of NEP 2020. Implementation of Academic Credit Banking, Learning Devices, Amplifying achievement of educational institutions regarding Digital Transformation on digital platform and overseeing end to end implementation.

Accreditation: TAG will help educational institutions to achieve ISO 21001 certification, Cyber Academe Accreditation, Carte Blanche Certification. Showcase school etc.,