The RBI delivered a textbook policy announcement today – one that is frontloaded and aggressive in response to inflation that remains high while the growth momentum remains reasonably positive. Accordingly, the RBI kept its inflation forecast unchanged at 6.7%, sounding caution on uncertainty around inflationary pressures despite the recent moderation in global crude oil and metal prices. The central bank kept its stance unchanged at “withdrawal of accommodation” signalling yet again that the notion of stance is being defined by the liquidity in the system and in turn the overnight rate.
Unlike previous policies, the central bank also focussed on the resilience of external balances implicitly communicating its preference for not just a less volatile rupee but also perhaps some resistance towards very sharp depreciated levels of the rupee.
We expect the RBI to continue with its rate hikes in the upcoming policies taking rates up to 5.75% by the end of the year. The bond market rally seen over the last few days is likely to reverse and we expect the 10-year paper to trade closer to 7.3-7.4% by the end of the quarter as markets reprice in RBI action and the supply of both SDL and central government bonds this year.
telugusupernews,august,India SME Forum (ISF), India’s largest non-governmental, not for profit organisation for small and medium businesses, announces a first of its kind seller awards, the ‘Best Sellers of India Awards 2022 – Recognising Phygital Excellence in Southern India.’ The award will honour outstanding achievements and excellence of retailers across South India who have leveraged the latest technologies, credit facilities and digital solutions to serve the interests of the consumers with best possible deals while recording growth. Nominees will be evaluated for their performance from April 2020 to March 2022.
MSMEs, particularly from Southern India, have increasingly transformed their business with the adoption of omnichannel solutions. This has helped thousands of merchants increase footfalls, improve customer experience, enhance payment acceptance ecosystem, improve store conversions, and generate more sales. In line with this, ISF aims to recognize and celebrate those smaller sellers from the six South Indian states, i.e., Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Goa, as well as amplify the best practices of successful entrepreneurs and sellers, enabling millions of aspiring entrepreneurs to segment & grow their businesses.
The awards in each category will be judged by a jury comprising eminent dignitaries including former bureaucrats, Dr. Aruna Sharma, IAS, Former Secretary, Govt. of India, Shri Dhanendra Kumar, IAS, Former Chairman CCI & Former Secretary Govt. of India, Shri Ramesh Abhishek, IAS, Former Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Prahlad Kakar, Brand Guru, Shri T K Arun, Editor, Economic Times, Ms. Shriti Malhotra, CEO, Quest Retail – The Body Shop, Shri Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum and many more. Each entry will be evaluated on the basis of both financial and non-financial indicators such as growth performance, financial soundness, future proof orientation, and digital journey among others.
A total of 32 awards will be presented to retailers across 8 sectors including Best Smart Store in Electronics, Best Smart Store in Appliances, Best Smart Store in Home & Kitchen, Best Smart Store in Furniture, Best Smart Store in Fashion & Apparel, Best Smart Store in Grocery, Best Smart Store in Sports & Lifestyle, and Best Smart Store in Food & Beverage. These would aim to recognize one winner and one runner-up from each of the 8 sectors who have successfully adopted a combination of in-store and online retail sales.
Additionally, the ceremony will also look at felicitating retailers across 5 special categories – Best Fintech User of the Year, Best OmniChannel Seller of the Year, Best Digital Retailer of the Year, Best E-commerce Seller of the Year and Best SMARTSTORE of the Year. Two awards, one winner and one runner-up, will be given for each of the five categories. 1 Best Seller Award from each of the 6 states will also be presented. The retailers may nominate themselves for multiple categories if they meet the specific nomination criteria.
The nominations for the awards open on 4th August, 2022. Those interested in participating can log on to www.indiasmeforum.org/bestsellers and submit their nominations. The last date for submitting the entries is 10th September 2022.
Speaking on this, Mr. Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum, said, “ISF is always looking for ways to encourage and support the seller ecosystem. We are thrilled to organise the Best Seller Awards for the first time in South India to celebrate those sellers who have innovated with the adoption of smarter ambivalent solutions to keep up with the changing consumer demands. We look forward to the participation of highly successful merchants and amplifying their stories to the whole of India.”
Telugusupernews,5thAugust,2022: With an aim to accelerate the development of high-potential tech startups and promote innovation in the market, OPPO India successfully completed the second edition of the OPPO Elevate Program. The 2022 edition of OPPO Elevate witnessed 2x growth in the number of participants. During the Demo Day held today in Hyderabad, the top 10 technology startups from India got the chance to present their proposals for innovative tech solutions in digital health and accessible technology to an esteemed Jury members from the industry. The top four India winners will present their innovations at the OPPO Research Institute Innovation Accelerator’s global final, held later this year, and stand a chance to win $46,000.
Tasleem Arif, VP and R&D Head, OPPO India, commented on the event, saying, “We need companies with a core value to support virtuous innovation and are trying to look at the world differently. Startups have an inherent DNA of innovation and utilising the best technology can offer. OPPO will be working with these startups not just to guide them to succeed but to also deliver their humanistic innovations to the customers and transform lives. We aim to be a springboard for India’s startups success and add value to the ecosystem. Through the OPPO Research Institute Innovation Accelerator and OPPO Elevate program, OPPO will continue mentoring the fantastic tech startups and spur a new wave of innovation empowering people to live healthier and happier lives.”
The OPPO India Elevate program serves as an incubator for a hub for driving ideas, innovation and action. Over the last year, OPPO Elevate has empowered several start-ups to build innovative solutions leveraging state-of-the-art equipment, global mentorship, and access to OPPO’s rich network of partners, helping them drive and fast-track their way to reaching out to consumers. In addition to mentorship and technical project support, the elevate program includes deep dives and workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and founders’ leadership development. This year OPPO Elevate program has been aligned with the global innovation accelerator program initiated by OPPO Research Institute to bring together resources and expertise from around the world. Focusing on two main areas of innovation, OPPO will provide both financial and technical support to aid the development of innovative technological solutions and bring them to more users worldwide.
All proposals submitted to the OPPO Research Institute Innovation Accelerator are evaluated under the supervision of a professional Judging Committee against their ability to meet four key criteria: Feasibility, Innovation & Originality, Social Value, and Long-term Potential. Three of the ten proposals shortlisted for the Demo Day in Hyderabad were selected to progress to the global final later this year. The winners (displayed in no particular order) are:
YogiFiBy Wellnesys Technologies: The brand synergises technology with ancient Indian Yoga techniques to build a healthier India and help users with medical care. Being the first patient treated through this method, the founder Muralidhar Somisetty aims to enable access to state-of-the art digital health and wellness solutions to users even from tier 2 and 3 cities.
TinkerTech Laboratories Private Limited: Developed by team of people who have experienced hearing loss in some form in their lives, the TinkerTech Lab solution is the world’s first truly affordable heads-up captioning display. The product aims to solve the challenges of expensive medical treatments, uncomfortable devices and medical procedures and revolutionise the world for patients sufeering from hearing loss.
Backyardcreators: The innovative offering by the company will help do away with surgeries for hearing impaired patients. This will help avoid the need for pre and post sugery care and expenses related to such surgeries. With the help of the world’s first Adhesive non-Surgical hearing device for by birth and totally hearing loss patients, Backyardcreators aims to provide the opportunity to hear again for patients who may lost the hope to be able overcome the loss of hearing. The offering will have a significant impact on the lives of 140 million children around the world.
CogniAble International Private Limited: CogniAble aims to empower children with special needs and their caregivers alike through data and affordable care. The platform helps differently abled childern acquire skills across multiple areas like social skills, academic skills, speech skills, language skills etc. through therapy and digital screening. It offers the families across socio-economic status to help their children lead an independent life.
PhonePe, India’s leading fintech platform announced the launch of its Smart Speaker for reliable and convenient payment tracking at stores. The Smart Speaker has currently been launched in 8 cities, and over 100k devices are already being used by PhonePe merchant partners.
The PhonePe Smart Speaker provides payment notifications in 11 Indian languages, comes with up to 4 days of battery life, doorstep installation at just Rs.50 as an initial set-up cost and a low monthly rental of Rs. 50/month. As part of the launch offer, both the initial set up and the monthly rental is available at just Re.1, provided the merchant does more than 25 transactions per month. The device also comes with lifetime free replacement against any manufacturing defects.
Speaking on the launch Vivek Lohcheb, Head of Offline Business at PhonePe said, ’At PhonePe we are constantly building new offerings to make it easier for our merchant partners to run and grow their business. We are excited to launch the Smart Speaker and are rolling it out Pan-India. We have kept the setup and installation costs very affordable as our goal is to make the Smart Speaker accessible to every merchant across India.’’
IndiGo, India’s leading carrier, today introduced a new revolutionary Three Point Disembarkation process which will enable its customers to exit the aircraft faster than ever before. The new Three Point Disembarkation process will be carried out from two forward and one rear exit ramp, making IndiGo the first airline in the world to use this process.
This novel Three Point Disembarkation process will help IndiGo set new standards in customer experience on its 16th anniversary.
Commemorating the 16th anniversary of IndiGo, Ronojoy Dutta, CEO and Whole-time Director, said, “It brings us immense pride to be the first airline in the world to use a three-point system. At IndiGo, we constantly and dynamically keep reinventing our internal standards to enable a hassle-free customer experience as well as contributing to operational efficiencies for all stakeholders including airport operators and ground handling companies.”
At the historic occasion, Sanjeev Ramdas, Executive Vice President – IndiGo, said, “At IndiGo, we have always looked at newer ways to enhance our customer experience and make flying, as well as our ground operations, efficient and hassle-free. Adding a third ramp for disembarkation is a simple yet effective way to complete a smooth travel experience for our customers. We have always been known for setting new benchmarks in innovating travel and our 16th anniversary is the perfect occasion to make the experience a little sweeter for our customers – as they can get to work or meet their loved ones quicker.”
IndiGo has conducted trials and have received encouraging feedback from customers. The cabin crew shall make the necessary announcements to inform customers at the time of deboarding. This new disembarkation procedure will be implemented on IndiGo’s A320 and A321 fleet for flights arriving at remote stands at Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru airports to begin with, and will be progressively deployed across the network.
WhatsApp’s ease of use, simple interface and ability to operate the app on even the most basic smartphones undoubtedly makes it a lifeline for over 400 million Indians who are using the platform to stay connected with their loved ones, promoting last-mile connectivity across the remotest parts of the country.
With digital payments on the rise across the globe, India today is the largest market globally for digital payments, boosted by UPI growth. The payments interface has seen a volume increase of 33% YoY between 2021 and 2022, thereby resulting in the introduction of a host of digital payment solutions by various players. That said, while India is seeing exponential growth of digital payments, parts of the rural and semi-urban population still remain untouched by its effects and benefits. This indicates that the next tranche of digital products need to be more accessible and inclusive, which is where payments on WhatsApp can have a significant role to play.
WhatsApp’s reach can help accelerate the adoption of UPI with users across geographies, generations, literacy levels and socio-economic segments, including those at the bottom of the pyramid – democratizing access to digital payments.
Here are four ways in which ‘payments on WhatsApp’ is winning the digital payments game and working towards making digital payments everyone’s cup of tea:
1. Simple user experience: Making payments on WhatsApp is as easy as sending a message as it allows users to seamlessly make UPI based payments in one convenient place – their chats! All that a user needs to do is tap the ₹’ icon within a chat to initiate a payment to one of their contacts. Fund transfers can be initiated without providing the bank account details and IFSC code – all you need is a saved contact number.
2. Safe and reliable: Payments on WhatsApp uses the government’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), making transactions quick and free of multiple layers of approvals. With user safety at its core, ‘payments on WhatsApp’ is designed with a strong set of security and privacy principles, including entering a personal UPI PIN for each payment.
3. Accessible: Payments on WhatsApp can be operated even on the most basic smartphones, with ease of use, trust of users, and reliability of the platform creating democratised access to digital payments. Its security and simplicity takes away user inhibition towards technology, often making it the first digital gateway for first time digital users, thus, creating a seamless transition for the adoption of digital payments to send money to trusted contacts or enable paying at more than 20 million stores in India by scanning any QR code.
4. Personalized payments experience – WhatsApp has introduced iconic and recognizable symbols within WhatsApp’s Chat Composer to drive the adoption of payments, which are also India-first features. The Rupee symbol in the chat composer makes sending payments using WhatsApp easier for people and is beneficial in a diverse country like India where one symbol is recognised regardless of any language barriers. Additionally, payments on WhatsApp can be used in 10 Indian languages. WhatsApp has also introduced culturally relevant stickers and thematic backgrounds that are based on India’s cultural nuances which personalize the experience and make sending money just as seamless and natural as everyday conversations on WhatsApp.
telugusupernews3rd,August 2022: Samsung Electronics will showcase new technologies and products during the Galaxy Unpacked on August 10, 2022. Ahead of the marquee event, Tae Jong Jay Yang, EVP & Head of Health R&D Team at Mobile Experience Business, Samsung Electronics, deliberates on the brand’s focus on holistic wellness and healthy habits and on setting new standards for health experiences through the upcoming Galaxy Watch series. He added, “For holistic wellness and healthy habits, it is important to understand themselves better. And it starts from Samsung’s groundbreaking Bioactive sensor.”
Many people worldwide have adopted new habits and interests in the last few years. For many, these include greater physical, mental and sleep health awareness. To meet this demand, Samsung is excited to continue expanding the Galaxy Watch lineup to better cater to the many unique needs of its users — especially those with a passion for the outdoors.
Samsung is focused on setting new standards for health experiences through the Galaxy Watch series and across the broader product portfolio. The brand has established three key pillars to help people reach their goals: sensor innovation, connected wellness and industry collaboration.
Advanced Sensors for More Meaningful Insights
To create healthier habits and reach goals, we must know ourselves better, and this journey starts with Samsung’s groundbreaking BioActive Sensor. The BioActive Sensor delivers accurate and comprehensive health data and provides actionable insights and guidance that users can leverage during their health and wellness journey. First introduced with the Galaxy Watch4, the BioActive Sensor uses a unique single chip that combines three powerful health sensors — Optical Heart Rate (PPG), Electrical Heart Signal (ECG) and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) — into one compact unit. Its streamlined design enhances performance and fits comfortably for increased accuracy and 24/7 usage. This helps users deepen their understanding, encourages action and strengthens good habits to help them achieve their goals.
The BioActive Sensor also measures body composition, which deepens users’ knowledge of their physical health, far beyond merely losing weight. The sensor sends microcurrents to measure weight maintained, skeletal muscle gained, body fat loss and body water levels relative to the goals set, helping users hit targets and keep track of what matters to them.
Wellness That Spans All Devices
Samsung provides tools that allow consumers to track overall health and wellness — at home, in the gym, or on the road. The Samsung Health app, with more than 200 million active global users, is at the centre of Samsung’s health experience across an extensive range of devices, from smartwatches to smartphones to tablets and even TVs. The app is a holistic health hub that consolidates fitness, wellness and health data and presents them intuitively for the user to leverage and maximize results. The collected information is comprehensive, easy to understand and encourages positive action.
Open Collaboration Means Better Health Experiences
To give users the best experience possible, Samsung has partnered with other leaders in technology and wellness. We have built a strong foundation with our technology, and we welcome collaboration on our open ecosystem — one that often serves as an incubator for exciting new applications, services and features. In collaboration with Google, we co-developed Wear OS and Health Connect so that more users can join the unified platform and take advantage of new services and solutions to meet everyone’s needs.
Samsung is also working extensively with third-party experts, research centres and universities to further advance wearable tracking and insight capabilities, including the National Sleep Foundation for sleep, the University of California San Diego Sleep Laboratory and the University of California, San Francisco Hypoxia Research Laboratory for sleep and blood oxygen research and Louisiana State University, Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center for BIA research, to name a few.
telugusuper news,3August 2022: Kia India, one of the fastest-growing carmakers in the country, has announced today that its most popular SUV in the Indian market, Kia Seltos, is now the first car in its segment to get six airbags as standard across all variants, offering superior safety to the occupants. Besides the Kia Seltos, six airbags as standard fitment are also offered on the Kia Carens, making Kia India the only mass segment manufacturer offering this important safety feature as standard. The decision to provide six standard airbags on the Seltos emphasizes Kia’s commitment to offer the best products for its customers and is in line with the increased focus on safety.
Hardeep Singh Brar, Vice President and Head of Sales & Marketing, Kia India said, “Seltos is a special product for Kia India as it marked the beginning of our journey in this vibrant country. Since then, Seltos has created many benchmarks in its segment and beyond; and has proved to be the flag bearer of Kia’s ‘Make in India, for the world’ prowess. Seltos has contributed close to 60% to our overall sales in the country. With the Seltos, Kia brought in many firsts in the segment and by giving six airbags as standard, we want to keep that momentum.”
He further added, “At Kia, it is our constant effort to update our products at regular intervals, basis our market research and understanding of the ever-evolving demands of customers. India is an important market for Kia globally, and the Seltos, a very important product. We will always strive to better our products regularly and cater to the unmet and unfelt needs of customers here.”
The Kia Seltos is the most popular Kia product in India, accounting for close to 60% of the company’s total sales in the country. The model immediately connected with new-age buyers upon its introduction because of its revitalising design, class-leading connectivity features, and exceptional customer experience.
The demand for the petrol and diesel variant of the Seltos is balanced, with around 46% of the customers preferring the diesel variants of the Seltos. While 58% of the Seltos sales come from its top variants, the automatic options of the vehicle contribute to around 25%. The revolutionary iMT technology became an instant hit amongst buyers, with 1 out of every 10 Seltos buyers opting for it in 2022. Also, Kia is the first manufacturer to provide iMT on a Diesel vehicle. For customers, the most popular variant is HTX Petrol, and the most popular colour is White when driving the Seltos home. Kia India recently crossed the 5-lakh sales milestone in the country in less than 3 years, thus making it the fastest car manufacturer to achieve this feat.
telugusupernews New Delhi, August3, 2022: Bharti Airtel (Airtel), India’s premier communications solutions provider, today announced that it has signed 5G network agreements with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to commence 5G deployment in August 2022. Airtel has had a long-standing relationship for connectivity and Pan-India managed services with Ericsson and Nokia while the partnership with Samsung will begin this year onwards. The 5G partnerships follow closely on the heels of spectrum auctions conducted by the Department of Telecom in India, where Airtel bid for and acquired 19867.8 MHZ spectrum in 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 3300 MHz, and 26 GHz frequency
Speaking about the agreements, Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Airtel said, “We are delighted to announce that Airtel will commence roll out of 5G services in August. Our network agreements are finalized and Airtel will work with the best technology partners from across the world to deliver the full benefits of 5G connectivity to our consumers. India’s transition into a digital economy will be led by telecom and 5G presents a game-changing opportunity to drive the digital transformation of industries, enterprises and the socio-economic development of India.”
Choice of multiple partners will enable Airtel to roll out 5G services spanning ultra-high-speeds, low latency and large data handling capabilities, which will enable a superior user experience and allow the pursuit of new, innovative use cases with enterprise and industry customers.
Speaking about the agreement, Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, said: “We look forward to supporting Bharti Airtel with its deployment of 5G in India. With Ericsson’s unrivalled, global 5G deployment experience, we will help Bharti Airtel deliver the full benefits of 5G to Indian consumers and enterprises, while seamlessly evolving the Bharti network from 4G to 5G. 5G will enable India to realize its Digital India vision and foster inclusive development of the country.”
The multi-year deal will see Nokia provide equipment from its market-leading AirScale portfolio along with solutions and services for network management, deployment, planning and optimization services to ensure the best end-user experiences.
Speaking about the partnership, Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia said, “This landmark deal reinforces our long-standing partnership with Bharti Airtel. We are delighted that they have chosen Nokia’s best-in-class AirScale baseband and radio portfolio to deliver superior 5G performance in one of the world’s largest networks. I look forward to our continued successful long-term collaboration in this vital and dynamic market.”
Airtel will also bring in South Korean Major Samsung as a network partner to deploy #Airtel5G. This is the first time that both companies will work together.
Speaking about the partnership, Paul (Kyungwhoon) Cheun, President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics said, “5G will have a powerful impact on India’s consumers and businesses—taking mobile experiences to a new level, introducing a gamut of enhanced capabilities and expanding what is possible. As a global leader in 5G, Samsung is excited to embark on this 5G journey with Airtel to deliver innovative solutions that will help advance India’s entrepreneurial spirit and open up a new paradigm for the country.”
Over the past year, Airtel has led the industry and spearheaded 5G technology in India testing several use cases with multiple partners at many locations. From demonstrating India’s first 5G experience over a live 4G network in Hyderabad to India’s first rural 5G trial to the first cloud gaming experience on 5G to the successful deployment of India’s first captive private network on the trial spectrum, Airtel has created and nurtured a vibrant ecosystem of partners and start-ups to support faster adoption of next-generation technologies.
telugusupernews New Delhi, August 3, 2022: Maruti Suzuki India Limited today celebrated the 2nd anniversary of its comprehensive & unique loyalty program – ‘Maruti Suzuki Rewards’. The first-of-its-kind loyalty program offers a bouquet of delightful services to the customers and is designed to keep customer-centricity at its core. Maruti Suzuki Rewards comes with a range of benefits on the purchase of additional Maruti Suzuki – cars, service, Insurance, Genuine Accessories, customer referrals and several other association benefits.
While strengthening and celebrating the ever-growing relationship with customers, Maruti Suzuki Rewards aims to build a strong emotional connect with customers by providing a premium, reliable and benefit-driven post-purchase experience. This program offers a lifetime membership validity and maximum points validity tenure of 10 years. Celebrating the successful 2 years of the Maruti Suzuki Rewards Program, Mr. Shashank Srivastava, Senior Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “We are extremely happy and proud to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the Maruti Suzuki Rewards Program with our family of more than 7 million Maruti Suzuki Rewards customers. This is a befitting testimony of our customer’s trust in us and our inseparable bond with them.
We are overwhelmed with the response the program has received and is proud that Maruti Suzuki Rewards Program is one of India’s foremost and highly rewarding loyalty programs in the four-wheeler passenger vehicle industry where customers enjoy a wide range of exciting benefits. Maruti Suzuki Rewards program is a card-less & unique tier-based loyalty program with no penalty of tier downgrade. The program offers some of the finest benefits to our customers and we are glad to be a part of their car buying journey and all the post-sales needs.”
Under the program, the customers are classified into four tiers – Member, Silver, Gold and Platinum, and they earn points on all transactions they do at Maruti Suzuki sales & service network and digital platforms. The Maruti Suzuki Rewards Program is a one-of-a-kind gamified loyalty program in the automotive industry rewarding exclusive badges, a gamification feature which makes customers’ interaction with Maruti Suzuki even more rewarding and gives them a chance to unlock access to exclusive events and offers.
The card-less loyalty program provides a 100% digital experience to customers with all information and transaction alerts sent digitally to the customer’s registered mobile number. The Maruti Suzuki Rewards program is fully integrated in the form of Maruti Suzuki Rewards mobile app (available for both iOS and Android users) and Maruti Suzuki Rewards exclusive webpage, which is a unified platform to engage and enrol customers for the Maruti Suzuki Rewards program.
