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Organized Retailers Association emerges as unified voice of large Mobile Retailing chains from South India

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

Chennai , 28thth April 2022: Organized Retailers Association (ORA), a forum that represents all leading mobile retail chains in South India, held its maiden meeting at Hyderabad. The ORA is a body created by mobile retailing chains and works for the fraternity addressing their needs and requirements, training, engaging, and developing their skills to keep pace with the changing times and technology. The first meeting of this newly formed organisation representing mobile retailing chains from South India was primarily focused on deliberations around the growth of the mobile industry and next action steps towards achieving it.

The advent of cash-rich e commerce companies has created a monopolistic and discriminatory environment in trade, making it a necessity for the mobile retail industry to have a body that could raise the concerns at various levels for smooth running and survival of the business. This is what lead to the formation of Organized Retailers Association (ORA), which is presided by Mr. T S Sridhar, who has over three decades of experience working in Sales & Distribution teams of various organizations including big corporates like Nokia and Gillette.

Speaking on the successful completion of the event, Mr. T S Sridhar, president of ORA said, “The monopolistic business practices of online sales platforms are unethical and jeopardising the future of over 1.5 lakh brick and mortar smartphone retailers across the country. We have formed Organized Retailers Association (ORA) to protect the interests of large mobile retailing chains in South India. In todays meeting, we have discussed key issues including possible solutions for current problems such as unavailability of certain models for offline sales (exclusive online models), price parity between online and offline sales, bank subvention charges etc. It was also decided to make an appeal to the government requesting to bring mobile phones in the essential category and lower the current applicable GST pricing”

“All retailers have expressed their interest to stand united and not fall a prey to the differential trade practices of brands. Also ORA & AIMRA will give representation to the Central Ministries of Finance & industry to address issues related to the industry . ORA will continue to support the efforts of All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA) to counter the online sales pattern of OPPO” added Mr. T S Sridhar, president of ORA

As part of the initiative to provide transparent communication, ORA will collaborate with all brands and AIMRA for support on festival offers for mainline customers(offline ).

ORA has been recognised by all brands as a platform to resolve challenges and concerns of the organised trade .

All India Mobile Retailers’ Association is currently pursuing its efforts against Chinese smartphone maker Oppo for indulging in “unfair trade practice by restricting a product” to online platforms and “not honouring its commitment of proper distribution support” to physical outlets, especially for its recent model K10 in the mainline market.

Ashish Chowdhry, Co-Founder, Hindustan Talkies, Arzan Khambatta and Neeraj Roy, Managing Director , Hungama

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Hefty Art Brings Celebrated Sculptor Arzan Khambatta’s artworks to the Metaverse; exclusive partner for NFTs

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

India, 28th April 2022: It’s his ‘traditional meets future sculptor’ creations that have rocketed artist Arzan Khambatta high above the crowd. One of the most loved sculptors of present India, his works have been recognised worldwide. Continuing to create new paradigms, Arzan Khambatta is now a part of HEFTY ecosystem. With this association, he joins the league of celebrated names from the field of art, culture, sports, and entertainment in the metaverse via HEFTY ART.

As part of the association, Arzan and Hefty will work together to create a limited-edition collection themed around India’s very-first aircraft carrier – the iconic INS Vikrant. The maritime warship holds a special place in the hearts of all Indians as it was the hero of the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. Many breathed a sigh of relief when the metal of the ship, sent to the scrapyard, was bought by crew members and Arzan had been commissioned to create a tribute to it, which still stands in Mumbai today.

Khambatta’s entry into the metaverse with Hefty Art — an initiative of Hindustan Talkies, a new-age media content company transforming entertainment across esports, games and blockchain technology, Hungama, one of the largest digital media entertainment companies in South Asia, and Polygon, the leading platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development— will ensure the availability of some of his rare artworks for purchase as digital collectibles in the form of utility based NFTs.

Furthermore, Hefty in its collaboration with eDao, an entertainment and creator economy focused entity, is set to bring artists from the Media, Entertainment, Fine Art and Gaming industries to the world of Web3 in a bid to create the world’s largest entertainment collective. Built in collaboration with Polygon Studios and genesis partners like Hungama and Hindustan Talkies, eDAO funds and supports NFT projects and launches that feature popular celebrities, record music labels, film studios, artists, gamers and content creators. With more high-end creations in the pipeline, Hefty Art will grant users access to the Metaverse and highlight the richness and diversity of art and culture worldwide.

Along with having Khambatta on board, Hefty Art’s much awaited auction for the MF Husain’s art piece ‘Fury’ will kick-off around the second week of May. It will be the first-of-its-kind ‘phygital’ auction for an artwork by the master, who is also known as ‘The Barefoot Picasso’. This will be followed by the foray of all Hefty Certified Artists into the Hefty Metaverse. This ever-growing association with varied creative geniuses establishes Hefty Art as a comprehensive NFT marketplace that helps create an inclusive space for all forms of art on the blockchain.

Speaking on the partnership, Neeraj Roy, Managing Director – Hungama, said, “It’s an honour to be associated with an artist like Arzan Khambatta. This is yet another huge step, after collaboration with MF Husain through his family, that will enrich the Hefty metaverse. Revolutionising how art is consumed, and artists are viewed today worldwide, NFTs are just

a step ahead in the way it unleashes new limitless possibilities to showcase their work on a global scale.”

Ashish Chowdhry – Co-Founder, Hindustan Talkies, on his part, added, “We, Deepa Pardasany and I, are happy and proud to bring a sculptor of Arzan’s calibre onto our roster. With Arzan Khambatta joining in, our world only gets better and more beautiful. We want to create a metaverse that would be an art lover’s delight. Every new association allows us to back new artists and take our vision across platforms and regions.”

Excited about his metaverse debut, artist Arzan Khambatta shared, “With changing times and booming online world, the metaverse is our future. Being able to be a part of that immersive world, I am very happy to showcase my artwork in a different realm altogether. This is going to be a new experience and learning for me that I am looking forward to. I am thankful to Hefty Art and excited for this tribute to the INS Vikrant. This will definitely help me reach out to a wider audience and art markets worldwide. For any artist, the more viewers they can connect with is better. Looking forward to responses around my sculptures in metaverse now.”

After the recent announcement of Hefty Entertainment joining hands with T Series — Hefty Art is yet another vertical under the Hefty Metaverse set to define the future of entertainment.

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Herbalife Nutrition presents Eat Right Food Summit 2022 supported by Eat Right India movement

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

India, 28th April, 2022: Herbalife Nutrition, a premier global nutrition company, presented the Eat Right Food Summit 2022 in Delhi. This strategic forum brought together stakeholders from government, politics and private sector to set the agenda for a healthier future as part of the Eat Right India campaign that aims to promote and provide safe, healthy and nutritious diet choices by upgrading the infrastructure of food outlets and enhancing the awareness and skill set of food handlers and customers.

Commenting on the initiative, Ajay Khanna, Sr. Vice President & India Country Head, Herbalife Nutrition said, “As a company, we feel privileged to work on our campaign Eat Right which is aligned with the Government of India’s National Health Policy 2017 with its focus on preventive and promotive healthcare and flagships programmes. We strongly believe in a healthy lifestyle and nutrition and this is an important step towards that goal of making India healthier.”

Sharing thoughts on this Shri Arun Singhal CEO Food Safety and Standard Authority of India said “Over the years, FSSAI has demonstrated the regulatory stewardship by taking a food systems approach to ensure the availability of safe and wholesome food for all Indians. The Eat Right India is identified as a National Movement to transform the country’s food system by ensuring safe, healthy and sustainable diets for everyone, at all times. This is not only a mechanism to celebrate the success achieved so far but is an integrated platform for all of us to think and deliberate together to come up with innovative solutions for a healthier tomorrow. Such summits and forums aim at strengthening the collaboration through open dialogues guided by stakeholders for creating a future roadmap.”

The forty campuses where Herbalife Nutrition is supporting the implementation of the Eat Right Campaign, include State Secretariats, ISRO campus, Police training centres, Air Force camps, universities, colleges and railway stations. Herbalife Nutrition also ran a series of awareness programs across the country to help educate individuals about the importance of eating right as part of a healthy life. Starting in December 2021, this project has already covered 17 mass canteens. The campuses that have already been certified include Hubbali Railway Station, Central Prison and Indo-Tibetan Police Force in Madurai, Collectors Office, IAS Academy in Pune, ISRO campus etc. showing that this initiative is aimed at wider public reach.

As a pilot, Herbalife identified Bengaluru and Mysore to implement the Eat Right awareness programs in 2021. A series of awareness videos were developed to inform about safe, healthy and balanced eating by engaging prominent speakers and promoting via social media and radio channels in Bengaluru, impacting millions of citizens.

The Eat Right Food Summit was an important forum for strengthening collaboration and open dialogue between stakeholders to create a future roadmap.

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Godrej Properties acquires 58 acres of land in Nagpur

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

Mumbai, April 28, 2022: Godrej Properties Ltd. (GPL), (BSE scrip id: GODREJPROP), one of India’s leading real estate developers, today announced that it has acquired 58 acres of land in Nagpur. The development on this land will comprise primarily of plotted residential units and will offer an estimated saleable area of 1.5 million sq. ft.

The project has good connectivity to Nagpur Airport and the Nagpur – Hyderabad highway with well-established social infrastructure in the vicinity. Nagpur has many prominent infrastructure projects like the Metro Rail project, IT and manufacturing facilities in MIHAN SEZ and Airport Cargo Hub, along with the upcoming Samruddhi Mahamarg which will further boost national connectivity and the related demand for quality residential units.

Mohit Malhotra, MD & CEO, Godrej Properties, said, “We are happy to add this new project in Nagpur to our portfolio. This fits with our strategy of strengthening our presence in key residential markets across the country. We will seek to ensure this project delivers an outstanding lifestyle to its residents.”

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PhonePe celebrates Akshaya Tritiya with exciting offers on Gold & Silver

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

National, April 28th, 2022: PhonePe, India’s leading digital payments company, today announced exciting offers on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. This festive season PhonePe is offering exciting cashback on both gold and silver purchased via the app. Customers can buy highest purity^ 24K Gold through the app and choose to either accumulate it in bank grade insured lockers with zero hassle of storage or making charges, or get delivery in the form of Gold coins or bars from a wide range of design options. They can additionally get upto ₹2,500 cashback* on their gold purchase during the offer period. Customers looking to buy silver coins or bars can also enjoy up to Rs.250 cashback*. The limited period offer will be valid till May 3rd, 2022.

PhonePe is the only digital payment app that offers highest purity gold from both MMTC PAMP & SafeGold, two of the leading players in the digital gold space. PhonePe has also tied up exclusively with SafeGold to offer highest purity silver coins and bars.

Here are the advantages of buying Gold & Silver on the PhonePe app:

Highest Assured Purityˆ: 24K Gold & Silver on PhonePe are of the best value and highest 99.99% purity. The wide range of design options and denominations make gold & silver on PhonePe the perfect choice this festive season. Customers buying gold coins also get a purity certificate against each purchase.

Convenience and accessibility: Gold can be bought 24×7, 365 days a year for as low as Re 1. Customers can also choose to get insured doorstep delivery for high quality gold & silver coins and bars that have been designed around Akshaya Tritiya.

Storage in insured bank grade lockers: Certified 24K Gold purchased for accumulation carries zero making charges and is stored in free bank-grade Gold lockers.
Customers from 19,000+ pin codes have so far bought high purity 24K gold and silver on PhonePe at transparent prices.

Here’s how you can buy Gold and avail exciting cashback on PhonePe:

Step 1: On the PhonePe homepage, click on the Wealth tab at the bottom of the page

Step 1

Step 2: Then, click on Gold in the Investment Ideas section.

Step 2

Step 3: Next, select a coin of your choice for delivery or click “Buy Gold” to purchase for saving in a gold locker

Step 3

Step 4: Proceed to add the address for delivery. In case of buying Gold for accumulation, enter the amount you want to purchase.

Step 4A

Step 5: Check the final details of your Gold purchase and click on ‘Proceed to Pay’. And it’s done!

STep 5 (2)

Your Gold coin will be shipped to your address. In case you have bought Gold for saving in the locker, you will see the updated Gold balance on the PhonePe app shortly. Post successful purchase, you could also receive a cashback* in your PhonePe wallet.

This Akshaya Tritiya, whether you wish to buy Gold to accumulate in lockers or purchase Gold and Silver coins & bars to deliver to your loved ones, PhonePe has you covered!

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JK Lakshmipat University organises Healthcare Roundtable; puts impetus on the need of accessible healthcare

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

Jaipur, April 2022: JK Lakshmipat University (JKLU) in association with The Centre for Policy Studies, an independent think tank, recently organised a Healthcare Roundtable to discuss the recommendations contained in the policy paper by Mr Ajay Shankar titled ‘A Road Map for Universal Health Care’.

Mr Shankar, the Chairperson and Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Studies, JKLU, presented the paper before a panel chaired by the Health Secretary of Rajasthan, Shri. Ashutosh A.T. Pednekar. The panellists included Shri. Pradeep S. Mehta, Founder General Secretary, Consumer Unity & Trust Society and Member of CII; and Dr Alok Saxena, CEO of BB Saxena Memorial Hospital.

Four themes from the paper were discussed at length during the healthcare roundtable. The theme were– Increasing Hospital Beds and Related Capacities, Full Holistic Free Public Health Care, Modernization/ Digital Health Technology, & Reforming Private Health Care and Insurance.

During the meet, Pednekar highlighted the healthcare policies that the Government of Rajasthan has enacted for the welfare of the citizens. He said how Rajasthan has provided free IPD and OPD services to the citizens and made use of modern technologies such as telemedicine and teleradiology to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.

“Speaking as the Health Secretary of the state of Rajasthan, there’s a lot of progress which has happened in the healthcare sector throughout the country especially in the state of Rajasthan. Things like the infant mortality rate, the immunization and institutional delivery on all those very critical aspects, the state has now performed better than the national average. But this is significant, because considering that the state has come from behind, and now doing better than the national average. And even on a significant point, like MMR, the maternal mortality rate, although we are still below the national average, our progress has been tremendous,” he added.

All the speakers highlighted the need to focus on accessible healthcare as a quintessential requirement for the nation building & human development, and the role of collaboration between the government and corporations in attaining the set healthcare goals for the welfare of citizens. The session also proposed suggestions for the education sector which would bolster health awareness and importance of preventive medicine.

Mr Shankar said since the Indian Medical System has been doctor-centric thus the participation and skilling of paramedical people should be encouraged and respected.

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Cybersecurity startup WiJungle raises seed funding at valuation of $22M from SOSV

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

Gurugram, April 2022: WiJungle- the world’s first Unified Cyber Security Platform, has recently raised its seed funding at a valuation of USD 22 Million from SOSV, a global venture capital firm based out of the United States that operates early-stage startup development programs. The company aims to leverage the capital to enhance technical capabilities and boost its sales expansion plans.

With the recent fund acquisition, Karmesh Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of WiJungle, said, “We decided to be a part of the SOSV program from the point of global scalability and the mentorship to co-work on our expansion plans. The cohort program proved to be an invaluable learning curve for us, starting from refinement in pitch and sales strategies to improvement in KPIs and growth plans. Indeed, SOSV has proved to be super founder-friendly and with this funding, we will be able to augment our technical capabilities, serve more customers across the globe and drive our sales strategies.”

Incepted by Karmesh Gupta and Praveen Gupta, WiJungle currently enables organisations to secure and strengthen their entire network through a single window. The AI and ML-driven security platform offer a comprehensive security stack encompassing multiple standalone solutions like Network Firewall, Web Application Firewall, Hotspot Gateway, SD-WAN, Data Leakage Prevention and Vulnerability Assessment, among others. WiJungle’s AI-powered capability and unified single-window network management ability empower enterprises to streamline their cybersecurity operations cost-effectively.

WiJungle is currently serving the government and private giants across industry verticals like hospitality, healthcare, education, defence, transportation, retail, BFSI and ITES, among others. The company is also among the highest-rated vendors on Gartner in network security and caters to the cybersecurity needs of businesses across multiple countries.

To serve the needs of its growing customer base and accelerate growth and development, WiJungle has recently relocated its headquarters from Jaipur to Gurugram. Additionally, the company is also planning to strengthen its leadership team to achieve a strategic scale up and facilitate expansion plans.

“Cybersecurity in the age of hybrid work and cross-border collaboration is an existential issue for companies of all sizes. WiJungle impresses us with their unwavering commitment to technical excellence and customer happiness, and we can’t hope for a better team to tackle this challenge at a global level,” says Oscar Ramos, Partner at SOSV.

Mr. Sachin Chopda, Managing Director, Pushpam Group with the Right Choice Award 2022 for the Most Trusted and Innovative Real Estate Investment Product in Maharashtra

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Pushpam Infra LLP receives a prestigious award at the Right Choice Awards 2022

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

Mumbai, 28thth April 2022: Pushpam Infra, one of the leading Real Estate & Infrastructure companies in India received the Award for the Most Trusted and Innovative Real Estate Investment Product in Maharashtra at the Right Choice Awards 2022.

Pushpam Group’s belief in commitment to offer Affordable Housing and Resort like fully furnished homes with luxurious amenities has established it as one of the leaders in this category especially in the state of Maharashtra.

Commenting on this momentous occasion, Mr. Sachin Chopda, Managing Director, Pushpam Group said, “We are deeply honoured by the award and the recognition that we have received at the Right Choice Awards 2022. We believe in our passion to work and grow continuously. We shall continue to provide a luxurious and comfortable lifestyle to all our customers by providing them more value for money invested by them in our resort homes. The emphasis has always been to achieve the best quality products accompanied by high service quality to the customers. We aim to give our best.”

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World Saraswath Conference in Mumbai on May 1, 2022

Apr 28, 2022 by Gouri 0 Comments

Saraswaths are the descendants of Saraswath Muni of Rigvedic times who lived on the banks of River Sarasvati. Saraswaths are known for preserving the Vedic culture and continuing for thousands of years. This conference will focus on the key topics such as the great heritage of Sarasvati civilization, which is world’s one of the oldest civilizations, Saraswath unity -the way forward, Saraswath temples – the repositories of art and culture, Kashmiri Saraswath history, Expounding Indus Script, Decoding River Sarasvati from Vedic texts etc.

Saraswaths have contributed significantly to the field of Art and Music, Trade, Banking, Medicines, and Education. Renowned speakers like Maj Gen G D Bakshi, Shefali Vaidya, Nitin R Gokarn, Gautam E. Thakur, Dr Agnishekar, Rupa Bhaty, Surendranath Bhat, Sampat Saraswat will be part of this conference said Pradeep G Pai, President and D Vedavyas Kamath, convener of Vishwa Saraswath Federation. Dr Ajit Gunjikar, President of AISCO and Dr Deepak Shenoy, President of GSB Sabha Navi Mumbai will be present during the press briefing.

A Confluence of Saraswaths Worldwide” on 01 May 2022 at Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Every year this conference is organized to connect and unite all Saraswaths from across the globe. This event is taking place with the blessings of Matadhipatis of all four Saraswath Math’s namely Shri Kashi Math Samsthan, Shree Gokarna Parthagali Jeevotham Math, Shree Gowdapadacharya Kaivalya Math and Shree Chithrapur Math. This year, nearly 1500 people are expected to attend this conference and already 1200 delegates have registered for the event.

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