Category: business

Focus on enhancing yield for sustained all-round development holds the key; Rice industry needs a comprehensive strategy : Infomerics

New Delhi, October 7, 2021: Despite some significant region-specific differences, generic factors, such as, government support in rice production, favorable monsoons, rising number of rice processing companies and increasing exports have positively impacted the Indian rice industry reports Infomerics Valuation and Rating Pvt Ltd, the noted SEBI-registered and RBI-accredited financial services credit rating company. It underlines the need of immediate attention to the industry risks – container shortage, scanty rainfall and low MSP coverage.

The report Rice Industry – Emerging Contours released today is optimistic about the future of the rice industry in India. It highlights the need of a comprehensive rice strategy, with focus on new systems, technologies and new rice seed varieties. It lists the government initiatives on bringing about structural changes in the sector and the efficient ways to reduce the extent of dependence on the vagaries of the monsoon.

Key highlights include:

Positive outlook of the industry –

• India is the world’s second largest producer of rice after China with production of roughly 120 million tonnes
• In both kharif and rabi seasons, rice production has been seeing an increasing trend over the years. The total production rose by almost 15 per cent from FY 14 to FY 21
• Rice (including basmati and non-basmati) occupy a major share (more than four-fifth) in India’s total cereals export
• The quality of Indian Basmati is world renowned, and India exports its basmati to the world. It is interesting to see that almost two-third of the basmati export is accounted for by five nations – Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Yemen Republic and UAE

Government initiatives –

• Increasing Cultivation Area – Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh constitute over 80 per cent of the total area under paddy cultivation, which rose from 30 lakh hectares in FY 20 to 35 lakh hectares in FY 21.
• Rice Fortification – The government is fortifying rice distributed under government schemes, viz., Public Distribution System (PDS) and Mid-Day-Meal scheme by 2024. The government distributes over 300 lakh tonnes of rice under the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Centre allocated 328 lakh tonnes of rice for Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), Mid-Day-Meal (MDM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) under National Food Security Act (NFSA) in FY 22.
• Increased Rice Procurement – Total rice procurement rose by 14 per cent from marketing year 2019-20 (50.58 million metric tonnes) to marketing year 2020-21 (57.82 million metric tonnes).
• Increasing Minimum Support Price (MSP) – The MSP almost doubled in the last decade. Recently, the government announced the MSP at ₹1940 per quintal for ‘common paddy’ and ₹1960 for ‘Grade-A paddy’ for the marketing year 2021-22.

Industry Risk –

Rice production is beset with a variety of risks. High fertilizer price, plummeting water table, soaring agricultural input prices and asymmetric market price information constitute risk factors. Other issues include high rent charges of agricultural machinery, poor transportation, poor consultancy facilities and adequacy, timeliness and cost of credit.

Diverse setting significantly impacts seasonal concentration, spatial spread, and loss of about 10 per cent of paddy/rice in processing, storage and transport. Heterogeneity of rice milling mills in terms of kind, capacity location, services and ownership make the application of any standard investment, cost and return template difficult.

Some specific industry risks relate to the following three aspects:

• Container Shortage – About 25,000-30,000 containers are lying at ports because of disputes with Customs, etc. Basmati rice exports have been hit hard because 80 per cent is routed through containers.
• Scanty Rains – Erratic rainfall could affect crop production. Farmers have planted hectares of land with rice this year with fears of scarce rainfall[1] although the Indian Meteorological Department has forecast the country will receive normal monsoon rains in 2021.
• Low MSP Coverage – Insufficient MSP realization is reflected in paddy households selling their produce to the APMC reducing from 17 per cent (2013) to 2.7 per cent (2019) because of poor participation of private traders, low infrastructure, unawareness, etc.

Way Forward –

Paddy/rice production in India cannot be considered in silo; it is inextricably linked to the broader question of land rights and land ownership, food security, political stability, preservation of natural ecosystems and agricultural diversification. Stringent international food quality and safety standards of E.U., U.S., and Japan can help to enhance the quantity and quality of organic production.

Since the Indian agriculture continues to be a gamble in monsoon, risk mitigation measures, crop insurance, price stabilization measures, stress on geographical indicators (GI) of basmati rice in India and optimum use of agro-climatic conditions can reduce the dependence on the monsoon.

About Infomerics

INFOMERICS Valuation and Rating Private Limited is a SEBI-registered and RBI-accredited Credit Rating Agency.  Run by a pool of industry experts, Infomerics does a free and fair analysis and evaluation of creditworthiness and Ratings of Banks, NBFCs, Large Corporates and Small and Medium Scale Units (SMUs) while providing deep insights to Investors and Financial Institutions. Infomerics plays a key role in serving the financial market by minimizing information asymmetry amongst lenders and investors and facilitating borrowers/issuers to various fund-raising opportunities/avenues. With Mr Vipin Malik, a professional Chartered Accountant as the Mentor, corporate governance and compliance is the driving force behind all its activities. Besides in-depth sectoral reports, Infomerics has enabled several smaller and mid-sized firms to scale up to next-generation large size firms also. The agency is technologically advanced and uses AI analysis tools to predict the probability of default to mitigate any human error and is the only company where Credit Ratings are carried out by an autonomous committee independent of the Board of Directors.

Infomerics has its Registered Office in New Delhi with a pan-India presence and ambitious expansion of going global.

Wentzville Elementary Teacher Releases Newest Children’s Books

Author Julie Turnipseed holds book signing to introduce latest books in the Adventures of Charlee and Magnolia series

(St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 6, 2021) Wentzville School District English Language Learner (ELL) elementary school teacher Julie Turnipseed recently announced the introduction of two new books to her Adventures of Charlee and Magnolia series. Turnipseed’s easy-to-read rhyming children’s books were published by Inovie Books and illustrated by Muthuhari Attanayake.

Turnipseed will hold a book signing event for her recently released books on Wed., Nov. 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Bake House located at 205 E. Allen in Wentzville, Mo. Readers will have an opportunity to meet the author, as well as her daughters and dogs who are featured in the series. Children will have a space to read and then create their own book reviews.

The series’ first book Becoming Friends was released in April 2021 and focuses on Turnipseed’s dogs meeting for the very first time. Released this Sept., the second book Snow Much Fun! highlights how Charlee and her family help Magnolia overcome her fear of snow.

Don’t Give Up, Magnolia and Charlie and Magnolia Meet Chico are scheduled for release this November. The books feature the timid Magnolia trying to conquer stairs, as well as learning Spanish from a new neighborhood Chihuahua.

Turnipseed is an elementary school teacher at Prairie View Elementary in Dardenne Prairie, Mo. The more than 20-year teaching veteran currently works with students from Brazil, China, Honduras, India, Mexico, and Pakistan in the Wentzville School District.

For more information, call (314) 393-7767 or visit www.charleeandmagnolia.com.

People of Sri Lanka will get better financial access provided by Robocash.lk

6.5 million customers in Sri Lanka lack full access to finance due to the impact of the pandemic and increased consumption. International fintech holding Robocash Group has entered the consumer lending market in Sri Lanka with its new online lending service Robocash.lk, providing instant financial access.

Sri Lanka’s GDP per capita amounts to 13.2 k USD, which is higher than in the neighbouring Philippines, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. However, there is a marked income gap among the country’s population. 21.1% comprise both the rural people with low income and the unemployed young citizens aged 15-24 with limited options for financing. At the same time, internet and mobile penetration in Sri Lanka is at 50.8%, which is lower than in Southeast Asia and globally, but foreseen to accelerate in the long term.

“The increased volume of consumption in Sri Lanka, exceeding 53 Bn USD in 2020, and the third wave of the pandemic are spurring the growing demand for alternative financing. Therefore, lending is expected to increase by 25% in 2021, with the demand for additional funds continuing to rise every year onward. According to our research, 6.5 million creditworthy individuals are already in need of alternative financing this year. The launch of Robocash.lk offering consumer loans marks Robocash Group’s entry into the fast growing lending market in Sri Lanka, where we aim to facilitate financial inclusion and meet the urgent spending needs of Sri Lankans”– shared Sergey Sedov, Chief Executive Officer at Robocash Group.

The service is designed to provide simplified and fast processing of short-term personal loans for creditworthy individuals having limited access to finance. The customers of Robocash.lk will be able to borrow up to Rs 60,000 (300 USD) automatically without any additional charge. Owing to the use of in-house automated technologies, the loan will be issued in mere minutes after filling out an application. In contrast to traditional credit companies, Robocash.lk customers are required to provide a minimum set of documents and can apply for a loan without leaving home or work any time of the day and throughout the week, including holidays.

Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) received Rajbhasha Award

Chennai, October 06, 2021: Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has received Rajbhasha Keerti prize under the category of officers where staff strength is less than 800 for the year 2020-21, from Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. The award was received by MD & CEO Shri Partha Pratim Sengupta from Honorable Minister of State for Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Shri Nisith Pramanik at an event organised by the Ministry at New Delhi on 14.09.2021.

About Indian Overseas Bank

Founded on February 10, 1937 by M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar with the twin objectives of specialising in foreign exchange business and overseas banking, Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has ever since created various milestones in Indian Banking Sector.

IOB is today a leading public sector bank headquartered in Chennai (India). The bank has the distinction of simultaneously commencing operations in three branches at Karaikudi, Chennai and Yangon (Myanmar). Since the bank aimed to encourage overseas banking and foreign exchange operations, it soon opened its branches in Penang and Singapore. Today, Indian Overseas Bank covers a vast domain in the banking sector with over 3216 domestic branches, 3223 ATMs and 4 overseas branches.

IOB is now aggressively focussing on ‘Digital Banking’, with a view to doing away with all the paperwork like cheques, pay-in slips, demand drafts and so on, through its robust digital platform. Through Digital Banking, IOB wants to give its customers the luxury of freely accessing and performing all traditional

banking activities 24×7 without having to personally go to a bank branch to get one’s work done. Digital Banking with IOB is possible through a laptop, tablet or one’s mobile phone. Over the last few years, Digital Banking has drastically changed the way IOB and its customers interact with each other. More and more IOB customers are today being connected to its Digital Banking platform with each passing day.

Women’s Weekend with WICCI

Delhi Corporate Governance Council affiliated to Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) hosted it’s first-ever event- Women’s Weekend, in collaboration with Yuvaan Literature & Film Festival, Delhi Technological University, and UN Foundation’s initiative- GirlUp Chapters. The event was held on 25th-26th September 2021 and saw a participation of 3000+ students from 700+ institutes PAN-India.

The event comprised of two competitions- Women at Work; A Case Study competition in which participants worked on a live case study of a women-led not-for-profit organisation, Srujna Charitable Trust, a platform that provides livelihood opportunities to women in low-income communities- empowering them to become role models and change-makers in their families. Team Aces, IIM Shillong secured the first position followed by Team Orion, IIM Bangalore, and Team Breaking Bad, Shri Ram College of Commerce as runner-ups. The second competition was Stanza; An Article Writing Competition in which participants were required to write an article on Breast Cancer Awareness among women in India in light of Breast Cancer Awareness month in October. Sanjeevani Singh, FORE School of Management secured the first position followed by Nivea Philip and Akshaya from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar as runner-ups. The articles were published on the WICCI website.

The event concluded with a keynote session by Ms. Sujata Pawar, Founder of Avni, a holistic menstrual care initiative. Ms. Pawar, an alumna of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), who is also the Founder of Publicare India, a healthcare agency working towards co-creating scientific brand campaigns, spoke about her journey as an entrepreneur and the issues faced by her while working in a male-dominated field. She also shared valuable insights on menstrual health and breaking many taboos surrounding this subject matter.

The council also launched The Pink Ribbon; We Can-cer Vive, a fundraiser aiming towards Breast Cancer Awareness, to provide financial aid to Srujna Charitable Trust and help them facilitate awareness drives and campaigns for Breast Cancer. “Breast cancer is the most common female cancer worldwide, including India, where advanced stages at diagnosis, and rising incidence and mortality rates, make it essential to understand cancer literacy in women. Barriers such as ‘low cancer awareness’, also referred to as ‘awareness deficit’ or ‘scarcity of awareness’ among women, the presence of stigma, fear, gender inequity, and reduced engagement in screening behaviors, such as breast self-examinations, contribute to high mortality rates. It is the need of the hour to initiate conversations around this as many lives can be saved in the future just by raising awareness around Breast Cancer. Awareness is Power.” says Jahnvi Sangal, State President, Delhi Corporate Governance Council, one of the youngest Office Bearers of Women’s Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI) and a student at Ramanujan College, University of Delhi.

Tata Chemicals bags three Platinum level awards at CII “Six Sigma National Competition” Award 2021

Mumbai, October 6th, 2021: Tata Chemicals, one of India’s leading science-led products and solutions companies has received three Platinum level awards at the 15th edition of the CII National Six Sigma Competition, 2021, held recently for some of the company’s Project Case Studies on technical innovation and plant operational efficiency improvements which were showcased at the competition.

Tata Chemicals teams emerged at the top for their Project Case Studies on ‘Monohydrate Plant Throughput Enhancement’, ‘To improve life of STD support roller’ and, ‘To reduce heat losses by improving heat recovery and heat transfer in Power plant processes’.

The company’s project case study titled ‘To improve life of STD support roller’ was also ranked as a second runner-up in the competition. There were a total of 18 teams from different organisations across industries participating in the competition. These awards are a national recognition for Tata Chemicals’ ongoing commitment to efficiency, sustainability, and continuous creation of stakeholder value.

Commenting on the achievement, Mr R Mukundan, MD & CEO, Tata Chemicals, said “We are delighted and honoured to see Tata Chemical teams win top honours at the 15th edition of CII’s National Six Sigma Competition. Three of our teams winning top spots is testimony to the company’s relentless pursuit of efficiency and competitiveness in operations.”

“At Tata Chemicals we are strong believers in using the principles of six sigma as a tool for better quality control and consistency in manufacturing, production and improving efficiency” Mr Mukundan added.

All the three top spots awards were won in the category titled Improvement Projects in Manufacturing/ Operations. While the team on ‘Monohydrate Plant Throughput Enhancement’ was led by Mr Manish Babhale, the team working on the project on heat loss and heat transfer in power plants was led by Mr Devang Thaker, Mr Gaurang Raiyani led the team on ‘To Improve Life of STD Roller.’

In 2020 Tata Chemicals teams had won the prestigious CII- National Six Sigma Competition in the Gold level. The Six Sigma National Competition, was started by CII back in 2007, and every year the winning teams are chosen by an esteemed jury after presentations made by them.

India’s First and Largest student run start-up accelerator Conquest provides 10 lakh equity-less cash to the winners of the 17th edition of Conquest

New Delhi, October’ 6th, 2021: BITSians successfully hosted the 17th edition of Conquest, India’s first and largest student-run start-up accelerator. Backed by Canara Bank VC and Icertis, the 6-week accelerator program culminated in a high-impact Demo Day on 1st August. The event provided promising start-ups with incubation possibilities, networking with industry leaders, and funding opportunities to navigate a highly competitive and challenging start-up environment.

Conquest Demo-day is a celebration of all start-up industry stakeholders coming together in one place and creating a collaborative and encouraging atmosphere. With distinguished industry leaders such as Anil Agarwal (Additional Secretary for Startup India & the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade), Rajeev Misra (CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisers), Kunal Bahl (CEO and Co-founder of Snapdeal), and Anirudh Singla (Co-Founder & CEO of Pepper Content), as keynote speakers, the Conquest Demo Day concluded on an awe-inspiring high note.

During the final stages of the accelerator program, top-10 start-ups pitched their ideas to a decorated jury composed of VCs and industry experts. After a meticulous process, the top-three winners were given a whopping INR 10 lakh equity-less cash prize. Newsreach, an Ahmedabad-based digital media tech start-up took the winning Conquest 2021 award home. The brand enables local content publishers in rural regions to go online. It is emerging as a new-age news-publishing platform that empowers local reporters and news publishers to go digital and expand their reach. Earlier this year, the platform raised USD 300,000 from JITO Angel Network, ShuruUp Ventures, and FAAD Network to head strongly towards the future.

The runner-up was Ecovia, a progressive, sustainable packaging company revolutionizing the packaging industry. Likewise, the second runner-up award went to Backyard Creators, an innovative tech start-up addressing environmental, social, and medical problems, specifically health care and disability sectors. Backyard Creator’s advanced adhesive non-surgical hearing device, Impulse, is specially designed for patients with total hearing loss by birth or otherwise. In addition, Valerio Electric, a one-stop center for future-ready EV charging solutions, took the BITSian Track award home.

This year, it is pertinent to note that 30 companies were chosen from a total of 1,000 registrants to attend one-on-one mentorship sessions over a week, meeting industry professionals in design, UI/UX, product management, growth, operations, sales, and marketing.

Conquest 2021 was an ideal launchpad for emerging entrepreneurs, with investment, mentoring, and extensive networking possibilities all in one place. With eminent industry experts such as Anirvan Chowdhury (Investments, Blume Ventures), and Brijesh Bharadwaj (Director of Product, Dunzo), as mentors, entrepreneurs could share/discuss their ideas, queries, and scope for the future directly with the pioneers who have been there, done that.

Aritra Guru, CEO – Conquest, said, “We are delighted to provide a platform to the start-ups dedicated to bringing disruptive innovation and propelling them towards success. This year’s event was a resounding success, and we saw several of the industry’s brightest minds convene to share their mantras for success with aspiring entrepreneurs. It has been a delightful experience, and we look forward to the next edition of Conquest as we continue to empower and inspire many more business owners.”

The event featured Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) sessions with established YouTuber, content creator, and influencer Ankur Warikoo (Founder – Nearbuy and Groupon). Leveraging his vast experience as a leader and content creator for blooming start-ups, Ankur shared nuanced insights about the initial growth of modern-age start-ups. The session was hosted by Ayush Wadhwa, the founder of Owled Media.

Simultaneously, a competitive pitching session was also organized for the Top 15 start-ups to help develop their pitching skills. Representatives from India’s top VCs, including Arali Ventures, Antler, and Stellaris Venture Partners, graced the session and shared their in-depth knowledge and comprehensive experience with entrepreneurs. They asked start-up owner’s hard-hitting and relevant questions to prepare them for real-world business challenges.

Over six weeks leading up to the Grand Finale (demo day), Conquest organized multiple panel discussions on a wide range of topics with front-running members of the ecosystem. Distinguished personalities such as Richa Kar (Co-founder of Zivame) and Shradha Sharma (Founder & CEO of YourStory) attended a discussion on the Evolution of the start-up ecosystem. Since the topic was closely related to the contemporary entrepreneurial world, it had in-depth insights and industry-centric perception.

In addition, Conquest, a unique bouquet of start-up tailored initiatives, brought India’s top Venture Capitalists Rishab Malik (Venture Partner at Jungle Ventures), Sameer Brij Verma (Managing Director at Nexus Venture Partners), and Rajesh Raju (Managing Director at Kalaari Capital) on a single table. They shared visionary ideas about the current Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) race, economic fluctuations, and start-up trends.

Launched in 2004, Conquest was initially a B-plan competition within the institute. However, the students gradually realized that Conquest’s current functionality and methodologies are limited and not adding real value to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In 2011-12, BITSians started brainstorming and came up with a thorough roadmap. On the back of out-of-the-box thinking, ideation, and planning, the program gradually began connecting established industry players as mentors with up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

In 2018, BITSians decided to add actual value to this mentorship venture and transformed Conquest into a full-fledged accelerator program. This gave rise to funding opportunities, as Conquest became a space where entrepreneurs could find co-working and co-living spaces. By 2019, Conquest had revamped itself as a shining beacon for new-age entrepreneurs. It wasn’t a eureka moment that brought Conquest where it is today, but the years of blocks put together as a comprehensive and continuous learning process.

It’s a testament to the Conquest accelerator program that numerous notable start-ups rising from here have seen tremendous growth and impacted millions of lives across India. This includes Social Cops (an avant-garde data intelligence company), Vadoo (an ultramodern video solution mitigating buffering and latency issues), Gamezop (computer game start-up), JoGo (health and wellness start-up), and Trell (India’s largest lifestyle social commerce platform).

Shri Dilip Kumar Mohanty joins as Director (Production) of NMDC Ltd

Hyderabad, 6th October, 2021: Shri D.K. Mohanty assumed charge on 05.10.2021 as Director (Production) of NMDC Limited, a Schedule “A” Government of India Enterprise, with Navaratna Status, under the Ministry of Steel.

In the year 2015, he joined NMDC Limited in the prestigious green field 3 MTPA NMDC Iron and Steel Plant (NISP) at Nagarnar, Bastar, Chhattisgarh. He was In-Charge of major packages and has played significant role for execution of works at NISP Project.

As Chief General Manager (Operations) he has prepared the strategy for operation of plant by giving direction to various O&M contracts, AMCs, manpower planning, budgeting, raw materials, spares, consumables etc. which are required for commissioning and operation of NISP, Nagarnar.

Shri Mohanty started his career in Vizag Steel Plant, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited as Management Trainee (Technical) in the year 1987 after completing his BSc Engineering (Metallurgy) from NIT Rourkela. He has rich and varied experience spanning over 33 years in steel plant operations & projects. He has gained a reputation to solve critical issues in Steel Making and Project Executions.

Megan Fox starrer, “Till Death” to premier on Lionsgate Play

India, 6th October 2021: Lionsgate Play, a premium streaming platform has announced the release of action thriller movie “Till Death”. The American horror thriller action film directed by S.K. Dale in his directorial debut, starring Megan Fox, Callan Mulvey, Eoin Macken, Aml Ameen, and Jack Roth is all set to release on Friday, 8th October 2021 exclusively on Lionsgate Play. Lionsgate Play app can be downloaded on Google Play Store, Apple app store and Amazon Firestick at a monthly and yearly subscription of INR 99 and INR 699 respectively.

Till Death chronicles the life of a couple Emma and her husband who are out for romantic evening in their secluded lakehouse. Emma awakens to realize that she has been handcuffed to her dead husband. Being trapped and isolated in the dead of winter, she has to fight off hired killers to escape her husband’s twisted plan.

S.K Dale was immediately drawn to this storyline after coming across thie script. When he first read the script he thought he would just read the first 20 pages and go to sleep. However, he ended up reading the entire story till 2 am. The Coatmaker and Tommy are some of the previous works of Dale. Megan Fox dazzles the screen with her magnetic performance.

Known for its curated content, Lionsgate Play recently premiered critically acclaimed movies such as The Father, Wrath of Man, Dr Death, Vigil, WeWork documentary to name a few. Lionsgate has been expanding its content library with titles releasing every Friday and localizing content based on the audience preferences. Currently, the platform has content available in six local languages like Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bhojpuri.