All posts by Neel Achary

Dot & Key Expands Its Moisturiser Range With New Dragonfruit Bounce Jelly Moisturiser

Sep 07: Dot & Key, India’s fastest-growing D2C skincare brand, has expanded its moisturizer range with the launch of its new Dragon Fruit Bounce Jelly Moisturiser. Designed for oily and combination skin that craves hydration without the heaviness or grease, the new light-weight moisturiser offers deeply layered hydration and visibly plumps skin with lasting bounce.

This new launch reflects the brand’s continued focus on innovation with unique fruit-backed formulations that address evolving skincare needs of Indian consumers. Finding effective hydration for oily yet dehydrated skin without a greasy residue can be a constant challenge. The Dragonfruit Bounce Jelly Moisturiser solves this with a quick-absorbing, cushiony jelly texture that glides on effortlessly, leaving skin feeling fresh and dewy without the unwanted shine.

The moisturiser is powered by three key hero ingredients, Plant-PDRN, Niacinamide and multi-peptides, which work together to support collagen, improve skin elasticity and balance excess oil. The formula is further enriched with multi-weight Hyaluronic Acid, Ectoin and a Ceramide-Cholesterol lipid matrix, which help lock in moisture and strengthen the skin’s barrier while protecting against environmental stressors.

The fast-absorbing formula layers effortlessly under sunscreen and makeup, making it ideal for everyday wear. Thoughtfully formulated for Indian heat and humidity, the fragrance-free moisturiser is suitable for daily AM and PM skincare routines.

Priced at ₹499, the Dot & Key Dragon Fruit Bounce Jelly Moisturiser is now available across Dot & Key’s website, leading online marketplaces, quick commerce platforms and offline retail stores. Dot & Key’s Dragon Fruit range also features the Dragon Fruit Bounce Sunscreen launched earlier this year. 

Retail Investors Urged to Look Beyond IPO Buzz and Focus on Long-Term Value

New Delhi, Sep 7: With activity in India’s primary market remaining strong, retail investors are being advised to approach initial public offerings (IPOs) with caution and avoid viewing them as a quick route to making money.

The warning comes amid heightened interest in new public issues, with many individual investors closely tracking IPOs in the hope of earning listing gains. Market experts, however, say strong demand for an issue does not guarantee similar performance once the shares begin trading.

Investors should instead assess a company’s business model, financial performance, future growth prospects and valuation before deciding whether an IPO fits their investment goals.

Market volatility has also made it important for investors to avoid decisions driven by short-term trends or market headlines. A disciplined approach can help investors deal with sudden price movements and reduce the risk of chasing stocks simply because they are attracting attention.

A closer look at company fundamentals can help investors distinguish between businesses with sustainable growth potential and those whose valuations may be difficult to justify. At the same time, maintaining a long-term perspective can help investors avoid being overly influenced by short-term market fluctuations.

The strong participation of retail investors in both IPOs and the secondary market has made valuation awareness increasingly important. Investors are therefore encouraged to conduct proper research and consider the risks involved before committing their money.

The broader message is simple: an IPO should be viewed as an opportunity to invest in a business, not as a guaranteed source of quick returns. A careful assessment of fundamentals, valuation and long-term prospects can help retail investors make more informed decisions.

Walplast Products Reports Strong Q1 Growth Across Key HomeSure Categories, Driven by Expanding Product Portfolio and Manufacturing Capabilities

Sep 07: Walplast Products Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturer of building and construction materials in India, has reported robust year-on-year growth across key categories of its HomeSure portfolio during the first quarter, April-June 2026. The performance reflects strong market demand, increasing adoption of value-added construction solutions, and the company’s continued investments in product innovation, manufacturing capabilities, and distribution expansion.

The company recorded its strongest growth in HomeSure GypEx Walbond at 157%, followed by HomeSure GypEx Gypsum Plaster at 97% and HomeSure TileEx Tile Adhesive at 75%. Other key categories also registered healthy growth, with Textures growing 55%, HomeSure Wall Putty 40%, HomeSure TileEx Tile Cleaner 40%, and HomeSure TileEx Cementitious Tile Grout 25%.

The strong performance reflects Walplast‘s ongoing transformation into a comprehensive building materials company. Over the past few years, the company has consistently expanded the HomeSure portfolio across gypsum products, tile adhesives, waterproofing solutions, construction chemicals, paints and surface finishes, while simultaneously strengthening its manufacturing footprint and distribution network. This integrated growth approach has enabled Walplast to capture emerging opportunities across multiple segments of the construction materials market.

Commenting on the performance, Kaushal Mehta, Managing Director, Walplast Products Pvt. Ltd., said:

“The strong growth recorded across our key HomeSure categories reflects the strength of our diversified product portfolio and the trust customers place in our solutions. Products such as Walbond, Gypsum Plaster and Tile Adhesives continue to witness strong demand as builders, contractors and homeowners increasingly seek quality-driven, application-specific solutions.”

Further elaborating on the company’s growth strategy, he added:

“Over the past few years, we have consistently expanded our product offerings, strengthened our manufacturing footprint and enhanced our distribution reach to cater to evolving market needs. What is particularly encouraging is that growth is being witnessed across multiple categories, validating our strategy of building a comprehensive building materials portfolio. We will continue investing in innovation, capacity expansion and channel partnerships to accelerate growth and strengthen our position as one of India’s leading integrated building materials companies.”

Walplast continues to deepen its presence across high-growth markets including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while steadily expanding into newer geographies. The HomeSure portfolio today offers a comprehensive range of construction and finishing solutions, including Wall Putty, Tile Adhesives, Tile Grouts, Gypsum Plasters, Gypsum Boards, Textures, Decorative Paints, Construction Chemicals, Waterproofing Solutions and Admixtures, addressing the evolving needs of homeowners, contractors, architects and builders.

Backed by 25 manufacturing facilities, NABL-accredited R&D laboratories, an extensive distribution network of over 800 distributors, 6,000 dealers and 65,000 influencers, and exports to more than 23 countries, Walplast remains focused on strengthening its product portfolio, expanding manufacturing capacities, and increasing market penetration. The company continues to invest in new product development, category expansion and capacity enhancement to cater to India’s growing construction sector and drive the next phase of sustainable growth.

iQOO Launches Z11xa 5G with 7200mAh Battery and MediaTek Dimensity 7400-Turbo

New Delhi, Sep 07: iQOO, the high-performance smartphone brand, today launched the iQOO Z11x 5G, designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s students. Built for multitasking students who seamlessly juggle online classes, research, assignments, entertainment, gaming and staying connected on the go, the smartphone combines smooth performance, long-lasting battery life, enhanced durability and AI-powered features to support their fast-paced, digital-first lifestyles.

Strengthening iQOO’s Z-series lineup, the iQOO Z11xa 5G brings together a MediaTek Dimensity 7400-Turbo processor built on a 4nm process, a 7200mAh battery with 44W FlashCharge, and IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance. The smartphone features a 6.76-inch FHD+ LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50MP Sony camera main sensor with a 32MP front camera, and runs on OriginOS 6 based on Android 16.

The iQOO Z11xa 5G is priced at INR 28,999 for the 8GB + 128GB variant. Available in two colour options – Titan Black and Prismatic Green – the sale will start from 14th September, 12 Noon onwards on Amazon.in, iQOO.com, select vivo exclusive stores, and other retail outlets.

Customers purchasing the iQOO Z11x 5G on Amazon.in can avail the following offers:

Customers purchasing the iQOO Z11x 5G on iQOO.com can avail the following offers:

• Flat ₹1,500 coupon discount on select ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank credit cards
• Up to 6 months No Cost EMI

Powerful Performance with MediaTek Dimensity 7400-Turbo

The iQOO Z11xa 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7400-Turbo processor, built on an advanced 4nm process. Its octa-core architecture combines four Cortex-A78 performance cores with four Cortex-A55 efficiency cores, enabling smooth app usage, multitasking and everyday performance while helping manage power consumption. It achieves a 890k+ AnTuTu benchmark score.

The smartphone comes with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB UFS 2.2 storage. With support for up to 8GB Extended RAM, users can run multiple applications more smoothly and switch between tasks with greater ease.

The device supports stable frame rates, Dual 10x Super Touch Control, Monster Mode, Customizable Game Timer, and Gaming HyperSense Audio, along with features such as in-game overlay notifications, game vibration, and a Game Voice Changer for more immersive gameplay. Connectivity is supported by AI SuperLink for smoother network connections, along with Bluetooth 5.4, while dual stereo speakers with up to 400% volume deliver an immersive audio experience.

Long-Lasting Power with a 7200mAh Battery

A standout highlight of the iQOO Z11xa 5G is its 7200mAh battery, designed to support extended usage across everyday activities. Under single-app usage conditions, the device delivers up to 40 hours of video playback, up to 15.4 hours of gaming, 10.7 hours of continuous live streaming, 51 hours of 4G voice calls, and 13.9 days of ultra-long standby time.

Complementing the large battery is a 44W FlashCharge, enabling quick power top-ups with 10 minutes of charging delivering up to 6 hours of talk time, while the device can charge from 1% to 50% in just 43 minutes and 1% to 100% in 91 minutes. The smartphone also supports bypass charging, delivering power directly during use to improve efficiency, reduce heat, and ensure a safer and smoother experience.

Additionally, the Overnight Charging Protection feature intelligently learns the user’s sleep patterns, pausing charging once the battery reaches 80% during the night and resuming shortly before the user wakes up to ensure a full charge by morning while helping slow down battery aging. With up to 6 years of battery health, the iQOO Z11xa is designed to maintain dependable battery performance over extended usage cycles.

Immersive 120Hz Display

The device features a 6.76-inch Dotch LCD display with FHD+ resolution and a 2344 × 1080-pixel resolution. With a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, the display delivers smoother scrolling and more responsive interactions across applications, social media and video content.

With up to 1200 nits High Brightness Mode (HBM), the display automatically boosts brightness in strong lighting conditions, ensuring clear visibility even under direct sunlight. Designed with user comfort in mind, the display comes with TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light certification and a newly upgraded Eye Comfort system to help reduce eye strain during prolonged usage. It also features Sleep Comfort Mode, which gradually adjusts the screen’s colour temperature before bedtime to reduce blue light impact and support better sleep quality. For users commuting or traveling, the Anti-Motion Sickness Mode introduces animated on-screen cues that follow vehicle movement, helping reduce motion-related discomfort and enabling a more comfortable viewing experience on the go.

Advanced Camera Capabilities

The camera system features a 50 MP Sony IMX852 AI-powered main camera paired with a 2 MP bokeh camera, designed to capture detailed photos. It is complemented by a 32 MP front camera that supports high-quality selfies and clear video calls. The device supports 4K recording at 30 FPS on both the front and rear cameras, along with Video Electronic Image Stabilization for smoother footage.

Users can switch between the front and rear cameras while recording, while features such as Dual-View Video, 4K video–to–Live Photo conversion, and video frame cropping enable more engaging storytelling and vlogging. The experience is further enhanced by a Smart Imaging Assistant with features like AI Erase, AI UHD, and Ultra HD Document, alongside Live Photo, Underwater Photography, and Smart Editing tools, making it easy to capture, edit, and share high-quality photos and videos.

Industry-Leading Durability

The device also comes with military-grade durability for added structural strength and is equipped with IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, helping protect against dust exposure, splashes, and challenging environmental conditions to ensure reliable performance in everyday use. It also supports wet-hand and greasy-hand touch, along with one-tap water and dust ejection for added convenience in demanding conditions.

OriginOS 6: Smooth and Personalised Experience

The iQOO Z11xa 5G runs on OriginOS 6 based on Android 16, offering a smooth, smarter, and intuitive software experience. The smartphone also offers 2 years of OS upgrades and 4 years of security updates, ensuring long-term reliability and system stability for users.

The system introduces a range of AI-powered productivity features, including Circle to Search, which enables users to search for information directly from their screen by circling or highlighting text and objects; AI Captions, which provides real-time transcription and translation of content; AI Creation, which helps users summarise information, refine text, translate content and brainstorm ideas; and AI Transcript Assist, which converts recorded audio into text and helps organise lengthy transcripts into concise notes. Additional tools such as Screen Translation, Free Transfer, and Private Space further enhance convenience by simplifying search, cross-language understanding, and secure file management.

OriginOS 6 also introduces intuitive features such as Snap-up Engine, Origin Island with Drag & Go, and Copy & Go, enabling quicker access to information and seamless multitasking. Complementing these intelligent features are system-level optimizations, including Ultra-Core Computing, Dual Rendering, and Memory Fusion, which help deliver faster response times and smoother performance across apps and multitasking scenarios.

Continuing iQOO’s commitment to ‘Make in India’, iQOO Z11xa 5G devices will be manufactured at vivo’s Greater Noida facility. To offer a hassle-free after-sales service experience, iQOO customers can visit any of the 700+ company-owned service centres across the country.

John Crane helps German sugar producer save more than 6.2 million litres of water during a six-month production season

India, Sep 07: John Crane, a global leader in flow-control technologies and an innovator in solutions for rotating equipment, and a business of Smiths Group plc, has helped a German sugar producer reduce the water required for mechanical seal cooling and lubrication by approximately 80%. Across a full six-month production season, the reduction is equivalent to saving more than 6.2 million litres of water.

Water use has fallen from 8 to 12 litres per minute to approximately 1 to 2 litres per minute on each converted application. Across four pumps, this represents a calculated saving of at least 34,560 litres for every 24 hours of operation and more than 240,000 litres over seven days. With all four pumps operating continuously throughout an 180-day campaign, the savings exceed 6.2 million litres.

In the sugar industry, a production campaign is the seasonal period during which the crop is processed, and the factory operates around the clock. The result demonstrates how targeted changes to industrial equipment can strengthen water resilience without compromising operational performance.

Before the retrofit, competitor seals were failing every three to four months. High heat generation and poor lubrication, combined with abrasive and crystallising media, caused recurring damage and increased maintenance. Several parts of the process also relied on large volumes of water to cool and lubricate the mechanical seals. The customer wanted to improve mean time between repair while reducing water use.

The programme covers four pump applications handling thin juice, thick juice and recirculation or distillation process streams. Operating conditions range from 80°C to 133°C and 1 to 4 bar, with the pumps running at 960 rpm. Each application required a configuration suited to its process conditions, existing pump and seal support arrangement.

John Crane engineers measured the available installation space on each pump and selected Type 587, Type 5620 and SB2 Upstream Pumping seal configurations. The solution set included 65 mm and 95 mm SB2 USP designs, with API Plan 52 or John Crane SafeUnit SFD barrier-fluid support used where appropriate. This allowed the existing equipment to be upgraded without replacing the pumps.

Planning and preparation for the first conversions took approximately one year. John Crane began converting the pumps progressively around seven years ago, enabling the customer to validate the technology in operation before extending the programme to further applications.

In addition to the 80% reduction in water use, the four applications have operated without a reported seal failure since 2019. Seal service life has increased from a previous average of three to four months to several years, and the customer is planning further conversions.

“Saving more than 6.2 million litres of water during a single production campaign is a significant result, but this is also a compelling reliability story. These pumps operate in hot, abrasive process conditions where seals had been failing every three to four months. With no reported seal failures since 2019, the customer is seeing measurable value in water efficiency, maintenance and long-term performance.” said Aziz Sallie, Vice President, Commercial and Service, John Crane.

As pressure on water resources increases worldwide, manufacturers are looking for practical ways to reduce consumption without comprising production. This project demonstrates how targeted upgrades to existing equipment can deliver substantial water savings while improving reliability, reducing maintenance and supporting more resilient industrial operations.