KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY LEADS CHANNEL SSD SHIPMENTS IN 2019, STRONG BUSINESS POSITION CONTINUES INTO 2020

MUMBAI, INDIA – APRIL 29, 2020 (HPN): Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced its SSD business continues to grow at a strong rate following an astounding 2019. SSD demand through Q1 2020 remained high due to continued growth in the client, enterprise and OEM sectors. Since 2019, Kingston has broadened its SSD portfolio with three new client SSDs, five data center-specific drives ― two of which achieved VMware Ready^™ status ― and launched its first U.2 NVMe PCIe solution.

Market share data for 2019 from analyst research companies Forward Insights and TRENDFOCUS showed Kingston in a strong leadership position. Forward Insights ranked Kingston in first place in worldwide channel SSD shipments with 18.3 percent market share, ahead of semiconductor manufacturers Western Digital and Samsung (16.5 percent and 15.1 percent, respectively). According to Forward Insights, almost 120 million SSDs were shipped in the channel in 2019.

“Demand in the channel remained very high as overall shipments increased 36 percent from 2018,” said Gregory Wong, president and principal analyst, Forward Insights. “Kingston’s competitive product portfolio and extensive distribution enabled it to outgrow the market by a factor of two.”

TRENDFOCUS placed Kingston as the third-largest supplier of SSDs globally, with 10.4 percent market share, behind Samsung and Western Digital. In 2019, TRENDFOCUS reported that 276 million SSDs were shipped worldwide, an increase of 36 percent year over year. NAND consumption remained high as SSD shipments continued to surge in both units and average capacities throughout the year.

Favorable pricing for a good portion of 2019 helped drive demand in the client space, enabling increased SSD-attach rates from the OEMs,” said Don Jeanette, vice president, TRENDFOCUS. “Moving forward through the rest of 2020, SSD-attach rates in PCs will remain strong, with continued strong demand for SATA SSD in various data center deployments, as well as continued increases with Hyperscale buildouts for PCIe.”

“The 2019 research findings from both analyst firms validate Kingston’s growing presence and position in the SSD market,” said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston. “We continue to solidify our presence in the client space with strong SATA offerings as well as distinct NVMe solutions optimized for notebooks and desktops. In addition to the growth in OEM and partner manufacturing, we are proud to deliver several new enterprise solutions with predictable performance and greater dependability for a variety of applications and host environments.” ENDS

Kingston can be found on:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kingston

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kingstontechnologyindia

BALCO’s COVID-19 prevention efforts reach over 2,50,000 people

Mr. Abhijit Pati, CEO & Director, BALCO

KORBA, 28 APRIL, 2020 (HPN):India’s iconic aluminium producing company BALCO, engaging with various stakeholders, has reached over 2,50,000 people through its Covid-19 prevention and safety measures. Vedanta BALCO is taking extensive steps to ensure that the community, associate partners, employees, other stakeholders and all their families are equipped and sensitized to respond to COVID-19. The team has made generous contributions to the community by distributing PPE kits, sanitizers, food, as well as conducting sanitization drives in the district.

While the BALCO plant is running operations with minimum workforce and limited resources, adhering to all the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the central and state authorities, the organization has marshalled all its resources to undertake preventive measures for its eemployees, business associates and community at large in, around and far beyond its plant area.

BALCO has extensively supported the local communities with safety kits, dry ration as well as cooked food for the needy, fumigation and sanitization of public places, supporting local livelihoods, supporting local hospitals with critical medical gear and equipment and much more.

There has been much appreciation and acknowledgment from key policy makers and government officials on BALCO’s rigorous efforts. The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Shri Bhupesh Baghel, has appreciated BALCO’s timely and generous support to the state for COVID preparedness. Mr. Abhijit Pati, CEO & Director, BALCO expressed his gratitude to the CM and assured him that BALCO stands firmly with the state administration in the fight against COVID-19 as they monitor the situation closely and remain committed to extend all help possible.

The company has undertaken several measures for COVID response and prevention in BALCO and surrounding areas:

● Set-up of a 100-bed isolation ward at ESIC Hospital, Korba, following the guidelines & support of district health authorities & two other venues of Isolation wards at hotels at Korba.

● Over 20,000 masks,1000 PPE kits, 500 bottles of sanitizers and 5000 surgical masks distributed freely to the peripheral communities and local hospitals.

● A month’s supply of ration provided to over 500 families in need, old age homes etc.

● Local livelihoods are also being supported when sources of livelihoods are scarce. Over 25 self-help group members are being provided free of cost training, sewing machines and raw materials as required to sew reusable masks, so they have a regular source of income to support their families at this time. Similarly, local farmers who have been trained by BALCO in modern agricultural practices are supplying fresh produce to the Balconagar residents in what is an effective symbiotic association.

● Regular screening of suspected cases being conducted by competent officials with due reporting to District Collector and Chief Medical Health Officers. Medicines being delivered at doorstep to minimize public movement.

● 1000 litres of WHO-grade sanitizer prepared inhouse when there was a shortage in the local markets and consumed by the plant, distributed to hospitals, communities, and used in sprinklers at the plant entry gate.

● Thermal-gun temperature screening, provision of proper Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs), social-distancing, frequent handwashing, heightened standards of sanitation & hygiene and other preventive measures have been undertaken for all personnel entering and working in the plant.

• Over 1000 employees of BALCO have voluntarily contributed one day’s salary for COVID-19 relief.

● Enhanced surveillance and restricted movement inside the plant and township premises to protect the employees and their families.

● Fumigation and disinfection of all prominent public places, local areas, public offices and township are being undertaken.

● ​Immuno-boosting food and supplements have been made available and provided to employees, associate partners, and community members.

● Over the past month, the local populace has been sensitized through systematic campaigns while also providing counselling sessions on COVID prevention. All digital and print communication mediums have extensively been used to disseminate information on COVID-19, as well as deploying vehicles for audio broadcasts.

Other noteworthy stakeholders like Amarjeet Bhagat, Minister – Food, Civil Supply, Consumer Protection, Planning, Economics & Statistics, the Mayor of Korba, all the sarpanches of the various peripheral villages, law & order professionals, the media fraternity and industry bodies such as the CII have echoed their sincere appreciation towards BALCO for being the strongest support partner to the government machinery and district administration.

The company is continuing its preventive measures for the local populace in collaboration with the district administration, health workers, its employees and their families, business associates and NGO partners for wider sensitization to fight the pandemic. Several employees have volunteered to take care of food and medicine requirements of underprivileged families that have been adversely impacted by loss of livelihood due to social-distancing. ENDS

TV Celebrities supports “REAL Heroes – Real Diamonds of India” Campaign, An Initiative to honour Health Workers, PoliceWomen, Social Workers amongst others

MUMBAI, 27 APRIL, 2020 (HPN): Fiona Diamonds has launched a campaign called “Real Heroes – Real diamonds of India” to appreciate and express our gratitude as a society to the true heroes of the coronavirus battle. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the course of our lifestyles drastically over the last few weeks by affecting people across the globe. This has not just cooped us all up in our houses but also made us ponder upon several things. One being the fact that during a crisis as such, one can truly identify the real diamonds amongst us, the true heroes; the frontline workers.

We are all in this together and we will have to remain united against the virus while maintaining due distance in order to sail through and emerge victorious out of this battle. Healthcare professionals, public servants, essential service workers are at the front end of this battle fighting it out with the pandemic up close, placing their lives at risk from time to time to ensure that the rest of us remain safe and sound at home. The campaign puts forth the idea that out of respect for these warriors, the absolute least we can do is stay at home and observe the quarantine guidelines.

Actress Delnaaz Irani expressed her gratitude towards the frontline warriors. “They are the real heroes, the real diamonds of India. Thank you Fiona diamonds for making me a part of this grand initiative, I pledge to shine as a responsible citizen of my country.” she said.

Actress and social media influencer, Vahbiz Dorabjee said, “I feel extremely proud of our front-line workers and essential services workers that are fighting the deadly virus. They are the real diamonds. I’m glad to be a part of this initiative by Fiona Diamonds.”

Fiona Diamonds has always stood for the humanitarian sense of responsibility as the company in itself deals in lab grown diamonds that are not just Eco-friendly but also absolutely conflict free. Fiona has always urged its audience to ‘Shine Responsibly’, a concept that takes into account our actions as human beings and the effect rippled across through those actions. Similarly, with this campaign, Fiona aims to highlight the real time stories of people that they believe are the Real Diamonds. Several women healthcare professionals, social workers, policewomen, lawyers and other front-line workers from across industries were identified and were gifted an exclusive Fiona Diamond Jewellery piece as a token of gratitude. The awe inspiring stories of these heroes will unfold the magnitude of this situation to the audience. Fiona aims to spread positivity and hope through this campaign and by bringing these amazing stories to their audience they hope to motivate them to get through this situation by maintaining all safety protocols and ascertaining the importance of staying at home.

Actress Mouli Ganguly said, “We’re all trying to be responsible citizens, taking all precautions, staying at home. There are people working relentlessly day and night for betterment of us all and yet some of us are sitting in the comfort of our homes still cribbing and complaining. This is a great inititiative by Fiona, to remind us that we’re all in this together, to remind us to be grateful. The least we can do to help is to stay at home.”

Parag Agrawal, Co-Founder and CEO of Fiona Diamonds said, “It’s a long and tough battle against the pandemic and those brave hearts are putting forth all their energy into keeping the rest of us and the world at large safe. We can do our bit by helping people in need and most importantly while maintaining social distance and staying at home and most importantly, saying thank You to all those warriors there.” ENDS

Khimji Jewels releases second music video Haathon mein Haath in their #DiscoverYourLove world music album globally

MUMBAI, APRIL 27, 2020 (HPN):Khimji Jewels, a jewellery and lifestyle brand that always promises its audiences to be with them through good times and not-so-good times, has launched a global musical retreat during the ongoing pandemic. Khimji Jewels and Digital Dogs collaborated with musicians from across the world to spread a message of hope and love.

The content led programme, developed in a rapid-fire time frame, ropes in artists and musicians, composers, singers and producers from across the world. Creative talent from the UK, Kazakhstan and India have come together to create a beautifully compelling music that spreads a message of hope, faith and love. 

Nishit Nanda, Executive Director,Khimji Jewels says, “As a brand, we have always stood by our audience. Over 80 years, we have been partnering our customers and people in every aspect of their lives. When this corona virus crisis hit us all, it was but obvious that we needed to say something that was relevant as well as authentic.”

Khimji Jewels has worked with Digital Dogs Content and Media and Chennai and Los Angeles based PressPlay Collective to create this project. Digital Dogs, a venture set up in April 2020 by Ambarish Ray and Anjali Rawat, swears by the power of authentic storytelling.

Anjali Rawat, Co-Founder and Director of Design Thinking,Digital Dogs sheds more light on the concept: When we realised the sheer scale of what the world is going through, we had to build an idea that was not just big but also big on heart. The core insight came from a simple human truth – when you make people spend limitless time and space with the ones they love, they end up discovering beautiful new things about one another. #DiscoverYourLove tells that story. Through music. 

The latest video has London based singer and composer Ananya (NYSZA) crooning in her beautifully enchanted voice. Through modern jazz and Latin fusion music, she assures us that though the world may be shut now, we will all get through this hand in hand. As we discover love. ENDS

Mr. Rajeev Thakkar, CIO, PPFAS: The difficulties of managing debt funds in India

Mr. Rajeev Thakkar, CIO, PPFAS

MUMBAI, 24 APRIL, 2020 (HPN / Authored by Rajeev Thakkar): We have been asked numerous times as to the reason why we do not have a debt fund with the sole exception of a liquid fund that we run. Even the liquid fund that we run was launched after much foot-dragging and on the back of persistent demand from clients and advisor partners.

We do not have a short term fund, medium-term fund, credit risk fund, gilt fund or for that matter even a balanced/hybrid fund.

While we have spoken about the reasons for this in the past in short sound bites, I believe it makes sense to articulate this at one place so that investors/advisors have a perspective on this.

I DO NOT believe in 100% equity allocation

Just because we do not have a debt fund does not mean that I am against fixed income/debt investing. A retired person of advanced age, depending on regular income from accumulated savings needs a lot of fixed income/debt options. Depending on the financial plan, risk appetite based asset allocation for many individuals may have a debt allocation. Almost everyone needs some allocation for emergency funds.

Our having or not having debt funds has nothing to do with the need for debt investments in individual investment portfolios.

Death of real yield globally

One challenge that debt managers/investors have been facing is the low-interest-rate environment. As I write this, an estimated $ 13 Trillion worth of bonds globally are trading at negative yields. This is currently not a problem in India. While interest rates are somewhat low when compared to the past, they are still in the positive territory both in nominal and in real (post inflation) terms.

Our biggest competition is the Government / RBI

While negative rates are not a challenge in India, a different sort of a challenge exists. That challenge is the dramatically higher interest rates on offer on “small” savings and direct bond issuances from RBI.

As I write this, the 10 year Government of India bonds are trading at a yield of 6.44% p.a.. AAA PSU Bonds with 10-year maturity are trading at a) PFC 7.26% and b) IRFC at 7.32% (adjusted for annual vs. semi-annual compounding difference).

At the same time, RBI is directly issuing bonds to the public at 7.75% p.a. for a 7-year tenure.

Please realise that the yields on the tradeable GOI bonds and PSU bonds are before fund expenses. There would be some management expenses for each fund. These can range from 0.5% p.a. to 1.5% p.a. and would further reduce the returns to the investors. After deducting say an optimistic 0.5% from the pre expense returns, we would be left with 5.94% on the 10 year Government of India bonds and say 6.8% on AAA PSU Bonds.

Why should any investor take market risk/interest rate risk/credit risk and so on if risk-free bonds are directly available at higher yields of as much as 1.8% p.a.?

Even at the short end, we have many banks which offer 6% to 7% on savings bank account. Savings bank account balances are protected up to Rs. 1 lac per account and hence for many investors they make good alternatives to liquid funds.

What about liquidity and taxation?

It is not that the higher yields on small savings and RBI bonds are hidden. Probably the only selling points for debt mutual funds have been liquidity and taxation. Let us look at these ones after the other.

Liquidity

Sometimes liquidity is desired, at other times it is not. If an investor desires only regular income and does not require liquidity of the principal amount RBI bonds just work fine. Bank deposits may also work well.

Taxation

Coming to taxation, there are avenues to save tax which are even better than mutual funds depending on the circumstances.

For long term/retirement savings, EPF, PPF and NPS are among these. Firstly there is no monetary limit on EPFO contribution. The employee can also avail of voluntary provident fund contribution and get returns up to 8.6% p.a. tax-free. Even businesspersons and professionals can set up their own organisations and become employees of that organisation to get Provident Fund / NPS benefits.

There are of course tax-free bonds for medium-term or income generation needs.

All these are factors which make debt funds not that attractive from an investors’ perspective when considering the alternatives. Now let us look at it from the fund house perspective.

Instant liquidity to investors for investing in illiquid paper

The promise to investors of open-ended funds is that they can redeem funds anytime and get the NAV linked amount in at maximum a few days. However, debt investments beyond the most liquid government paper may get to be pretty illiquid. In such a scenario and especially where there is some adverse news on a corporate issuer, the early redeemers have an advantage on the remaining investors. Unlike banks, mutual funds have no provider of liquidity. Even if there is a genuine desire on the part of a fund house to value a defaulted or a downgraded paper at fair value there is no reasonable basis to do so. If a corporate borrower defaults, should the bond be valued at 75% or 50% or 25% or should there be a complete write-off? There is no right answer to such questions in the absence of a traded price/estimate of ultimate realisation on the bond/time taken for resolution.

We cannot have an investment-grade bond market in the absence of a junk bond market

No matter how efficient auditors are or how vigilant rating agencies are. There will always be cases where an erstwhile investment-grade bond gets downgraded to junk and/or defaults. This is not to absolve auditors/rating agencies of their recent lapses. They surely need to improve their game but even in an ideal situation, there would be cases of business failures or well hidden corporate frauds. We need a liquid junk bond market where risk-taking buyers are there to buy downgraded/defaulted bonds at a price. This would enable funds to properly mark to market or sell downgraded and defaulted bonds. In the absence of a junk bond market, the liquid market gets restricted to just government bonds and maybe a handful of non-government borrowers.

We cannot have a junk bond market in the absence of a well functioning insolvency/bankruptcy law

Who would buy downgraded and defaulted bonds? There is no dearth of risk-takers and bargain hunters if a well-established framework exists to recover money. If a debenture is secured by assets and there is a quick and easy mechanism to seize those assets and sell them, there would be a market for junk bonds (below investment grade bonds). While we have bankruptcy laws in place, there is currently a lot of litigation involved and some strange decisions like placing unsecured operational creditors at par with secured creditors. The timeline for resolution is also very long. Till these things get ironed out, it is difficult to have a thriving junk bond market.

Access issues for bond investors

In the equity market, each investor irrespective of size has equal access. An individual shareholder can sell 1 share to a foreign pension fund looking to buy millions of shares via the electronic anonymous order matching system. To enable this equal access, exchanges and regulators removed the minimum fill and all or none based orders facility to enable equal access to small investors. The fixed income market is in complete contrast. Even where some paper is liquid, minimum fill and All or None (AON) orders are rampant and we have situations where a buyer wanting Rs. 5 crore worth of investments cannot buy because the seller will sell only in lots of Rs. 25 crores. While any investor can open a Demat account and brokerage account and buy shares, the access to bond and money markets is still quite restrictive.

Why should anyone care?

Long story short, why should we care? A well functioning debt market is essential if we are to fund our infrastructure and growth needs especially when the banking sector is creaking. We need it for the insurance and the mutual fund sector to grow. We need to offer uniform yields to all investors and not selective high yields to individuals. If at all senior citizens need to be subsidised, that should be through targeted pensions and not by offering indiscriminate high yields on “small” savings. High small savings rates are a reason why RBI rate cuts are not transmitted through the system effectively. There will need to be a quick resolution process in case of defaults and the access to the debt and money markets has to be broadened rather than keep it a closed club.

I have not lost hope, some day you might yet see a debt fund from PPFAS.ENDS

Khimji Jewels launches a digital music campaign globally #DiscoverYourLove

MUMBAI, 21^st April, 2020 (HPN): Khimji Jewels, a jewellery and lifestyle brand that always promises its audiences to be with them through good times and not-so-good times, has launched a global musical retreat during the ongoing pandemic. Khimji Jewels and Digital Dogs collaborated with musicians from across the world to spread a message of hope and love.

The video talks about discovering your love whilst staying at home and spending time with your near and dear ones. When was the last time you discovered something about what your love? Our current circumstances may be forcing us to stay indoors. But it is also giving us unlimited opportunities to spend quality time and space with the ones we love. The loves of our lives.

The brand, together with Digital Dogs Content and Media, has collaborated with artists and musicians across the UK, Kazakhstan and India to create original music that intends to spread a global message of hope, faith and love. Bringing it all together is PressPlay Collective, a Chennai and Los Angeles based production house with teams across continents and capabilities.

Talking about the campaign, Nishit Nanda, Director, Khimji Jewels says, “We as a brand have always stood for a lasting promise. A promise to always partner our audiences through thick and thin. In these challenging times, it was obvious that the brand needed to send out a message. An authentic message of optimism and the power of the human will that defeats all adversities eventually. The COVID19 situation is not just a state or country crisis. It is a global crisis. And we wanted to send out a message to everyone globally that we are in this together. And we will emerge victorious together as well”. 

Speaking on coming up with this idea, Ambarish Ray, Co-Founder and CEO, Digital Dogs wraps it up by saying, “The human spirit is a teflon dog. You can’t kill it easily. And it is exactly this message that we wanted to broadcast to the whole world. The unifying power and healing potential of music is limitless. As a venture, our blood is poured into what we do. And what we do has to be authentic. Bleeding raw, if need be. But 100% authentic. And we are hoping that this music album, this labour of collaborative hope and love called #DiscoverYourLove – that has brought together jewellers, marketers, musicians, tech nerds and social creators, will be able to bring more people from across the world together”.ENDS

LANXESS INDIA donates INR 20 million to PM CARES Fund to combat COVID-19

MUMBAI, 10th APRIL, 2020 (HPN)-To help fight the current coronavirus pandemic in India, specialty chemicals company LANXESS today donated INR 20 million to the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) as part of its CSR initiative. 

The company has adopted a multi-pronged approach to support the fight against the spread of the Coronavirus. The comprehensive support includes product donation (Rely⁺On™ Virkon™) and essential supplies donation, besides the financial support to the PM Cares fund.

LANXESS India has pledged an additional INR 3 million for donation of material such as face masks, disinfectants, hand sanitizers, liquid soaps, groceries, etc. in the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, around the areas in which its sites operate. Based on the local requirements, the material will be procured locally at each location and will be handed over to the respective Municipal Corporations and Government agencies. 

LANXESS India had recently donated its highly effective surface disinfectant Rely⁺On™ Virkon™ to Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) to reduce cross contamination of COVID-19 in civic hospitals and other establishments.

Commenting on the contributions, Neelanjan Banerjee, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, LANXESS India said, “The coronavirus continues to cause new fatalities every day across the globe. We hope that our contribution to the PM CARES Fund and material donation will support the government in fighting the disease and help communities get immediate relief from COVID 19. We believe that the current crisis needs our undivided support and are doing our best to help the Government in its efforts.” ENDS