Seasonal Magazine - Muthoot Microfin IPO - Cover Story by John Antony

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VOLUME 21 ISSUE 12 DECEMBER 2023

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MAGAZINE

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INDIA HAS SOME UNIQUE CAPABILITIES, BUT THESE AREN’T WHAT MOST PEOPLE THINK.

Managing Editor Jason D Pavorattikaran Editor John Antony Director (Finance) Ceena Associate Editor Carl Jaison Senior Editorial Coordinator Jacob Deva Senior Correspondent Bina Menon Creative Visualizer Bijohns Varghese Photographer Anish Aloysious Office Assistant Alby CG Correspondents Bombay: Rashmi Prakash Delhi: Anurag Dixit Director (Technical) John Antony Publisher Jason D Pavorattikaran

If you think that India becoming the fourth nation ever on this planet to successfully land an unmanned probe on the moon is one such capability, you are right, but in a very superficial kind of way. The real Indian achievement behind this is something else, something much deeper. But to appreciate that, you should realise why most of the world stopped sending probes or people to the moon.

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EDITORIAL

For instance, after the US put the first two people on the moon on Apollo 11 in 1969, and despite being in the height of the cold war and space war back then, the Soviet Union or China or any other such capable nation didn’t ever try to put a man on the moon. The reason is simple enough to understand - exorbitant cost. The US itself pursued the moon landings vigorously, in the 6 subsequent missions from Apollo 12 to Apollo 17 in 1972. Of these, except for Apollo 13, all the other five missions succeeded in placing people on the moon. But it is noteworthy that despite having financially well-off allies like the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Israel etc, none of them invested seriously in any of the Apollo programs. Again, the reason was the same - exorbitant cost. Finally, NASA itself was forced to call off further moon missions as the Apollo missions were becoming prohibitively expensive for even a country like the US. At the same time, benefits from the moon missions were tapering off, and the US realised that it is far better

While the ties of many of these companies with ISRO predates PM Narendra Modi’s tenure, there is no doubt that PM Modi’s political leadership and his vision behind the ‘Make in India’ initiative have played a crucial role in the success of Chandrayaan. And even more importantly, it will play a greater role going forward, as many of these companies and their peers may emerge as export powerhouses in space and ancillary space business as India markets its newfound space prowess.

from a research point of view to create a manned space station and thus happened Skylab in 1973. The Soviet Union did a one-up on the monolithic design of Skylab, by creating the first modular space station, assembled in space, the Mir in 1986. Meanwhile, the US had perfected the reusable Space Shuttle in 1981, and the cold war was ending, and the US and Russia decided to cooperate on creating a common space station along with Japan, European Union & Canada, and thus was established the International Space Station (ISS) in 1998. ISS was indeed more bang for buck, compared with manned or unmanned moon missions. This is where the Indian genius behind the Chandrayaan program shines through. For instance, the Chandrayaan3 that finally succeeded in placing our own unmanned probe on the moon in 2023 cost merely Rs. 615 crore or around $75 million. As someone recently pointed this out in X / Twitter, it is less than half of the $165 million it cost for making the Hollywood space thriller ‘Interstellar’ in 2014, nine years back! This unbelievable cost-effectiveness of India was appreciated even by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and owner of both X and SpaceX, the world’s most successful private spaceflight company. What contributed to this world-beating cost effectiveness of ISRO and Chandrayaan is undoubtedly the lean nature of ISRO and the moon mission’s ‘made in India’ nature. Several Indian companies - from both public & private sectors - including L&T, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Bharat Electronics, Bharat Heavy Electricals, MTAR Technologies, Godrej Aerospace, Ankit Aerospace, Walchandnagar Industries, Centum Electronics and more have contributed significantly to the Chandrayaan mission.

Of course, much more can be done, like bettering the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme to bring in more high-technology manufacturing with real transfer of technology that matters. As former RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram Rajan had pointed out recently, India has much more talent and innovation to create world beating companies in the manufacturing design arena like chip designers Arm and Nvidia (that doesn’t manufacture chips on their own), rather than chip manufacturing giants like TSMC of Taiwan. Incidentally, the strength of the UK based Arm is now out in the open, as every tech giant from Apple, Amazon, Intel, Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft, Samsung and TSMC are vying for a pie in the upcoming $7 billion Arm IPO in NASDAQ, under the 10% client category, in a desperate attempt to control their competitors’ influence over this unique chip designer that designs over 99% of mobile processors and the majority of cloud & AI processors in the world. Nvidia’s attempt to buy Arm from the current owner SoftBank for $40 billion had failed in 2020 due to antitrust issues, but the upcoming IPO may see Arm ending with a $70-80 billion valuation, just three years later. While India can definitely create companies like Arm if it puts its mind and soul to the task, it can do even better in the healthcare sector, especially now, as the post-Covid world is moving to Health 5.0 standards that stress on preventive protocols, rather than the expensive and aggressive last minute treatments. Almost on a weekly basis, medical researchers worldwide are ‘discovering’ breakthroughs that have been millennial old practices in Ayurveda and Yoga. Just two recent examples are how isometrics lower blood pressure and how gut ill health is behind almost all lifestyle diseases - facts that Ayurveda and Yoga had figured out long back. If these systems are properly leveraged, India stands to not only lower its disease burden dramatically, but to end up as the world’s wellness destination. John Antony SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

10 Reasons to Consider Muthoot Microfin’s IPO Leading microfinancing institution, Muthoot Microfin will launch its IPO on December 18 to raise Rs 960 crore, which comprises of a fresh issue of Rs 760 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) amounting to Rs 200 crore by selling shareholders that include the promoters and long term backer Greater Pacific Capital, a UK based fund. Belonging to Muthoot Pappachan Group, the company is a major player in financial inclusion of the unbanked and underbanked, by providing micro-loans to women and self help groups in rural, semi-rural and urban regions. Its loan products include group loans for livelihood solutions, individual loans, life betterment solutions, health and hygiene loans, as well as secured loans like lending against gold. ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, JM Financial and SBI Capital Markets are the book running lead managers of the IPO that opens on December 18 and closes on December 20. Here is a close look at 10 reasons that make Muthoot Microfin’s IPO worth considering.

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WHEN WILL MARKETS REALISE LIC OF INDIA’S TRUE POTENTIAL? Life Insurance Corporation of India’s stock might not have performed as per investors’ expectations after its IPO. But the underlying organisation is fighting fit as it has never been, with its renewed focus on growing its nonparticipating products, tech-led customer acquisition and premium

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IPO

10 Reasons to Consider Muthoot Microfin’s IPO

Thomas Muthoot Managing Director

Leading microfinancing institution, Muthoot Microfin will launch its IPO on December 18 to raise Rs 960 crore, which comprises of a fresh issue of Rs 760 crore and an offer-forsale (OFS) amounting to Rs 200 crore by selling shareholders that include the promoters and long term backer Greater Pacific Capital, a UK based fund. Belonging to Muthoot Pappachan Group, the company is a major player in financial inclusion of the unbanked and underbanked, by providing micro-loans to women and self help groups in rural, semi-rural and urban regions. Its loan products include group loans for livelihood solutions, individual loans, life betterment solutions, health and hygiene loans, as well as secured loans like lending against gold. ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, JM Financial and SBI Capital Markets are the book running lead managers of the IPO that opens on December 18 and closes on December 20. Here is a close look at 10 reasons that make Muthoot Microfin’s IPO worth considering.

1) Microfinance Business is Booming After a long period of challenges, including the pandemic led struggles, microfinance companies have made a strong comeback by way of credit growth, asset quality improvement and profit growth. This trend is seen in both microfinance led Small Finance Banks (SFBs) as well as microfinance institutions structured as nonbanking finance companies (NBFC-MFIs). As the country’s fifth largest microfinance NBFC by way of loan book size, Muthoot Microfin is at the forefront of this microlending resurgence.

2) Muthoot Microfin’s Unique Pedigree Muthoot Microfin Ltd belongs to the Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG), branded as Muthoot Blue, one of India’s largest and most diversified financial conglomerates. Muthoot Microfin is one among the three subsidiaries of MPG’s flagship, Muthoot Fincorp, which is still an unlisted giant and the country’s third largest gold loan provider among other businesses. The Group is no stranger to the capital markets either, being home to the listed small cap auto loan provider, Muthoot Capital Services, which has almost doubled in value during the past 12 months.

3) Muthoot Microfin is Growing Fast & Healthily During the last full fiscal of FY’23, Muthoot Microfin grew its revenue by 72% to Rs 1,446.34 crore, and its net profit had soared 245% to Rs 163.89 crore. While last fiscal’s performance was

Thomas John Muthoot Group Chairman

extraordinary due to the post pandemic turnaround in business fortunes, on a longer basis, Muthoot Microfin has been growing its loan book at a CAGR of 36%. At the same time, the asset quality at Muthoot Microfin is one of the best in the industry, with Gross NPA ratio at 2.37% and Net NPA ratio at just 0.33%, which is impressive for a largely unsecured portfolio.

4) Muthoot Microfin is Strong in Digital

in 339 districts. At the same time, it has leadership in microfinance strongholds of the country like Tamil Nadu which accounts for 25% of its AUM. It is the largest MFI in its home state of Kerala, a significant player in Karnataka, and growing fast in key markets like UP & Bihar.

6) Muthoot Microfin is Right Sized for Investments

In 2021, as a means to overcome the pandemic induced challenges and to accelerate digital channels, Muthoot Microfin launched its ‘Mahila Mitra’ mobile application. This app became a major hit among women microfinance customers, quickly scaling to more than 1.5 million users nationwide, which is impressive given that many of its customers are from rural areas. Among its many capabilities, the Mahila Mitra mobile app enables digital payment methods such as QR codes, website based payments, SMS-based links and even voice-based payment methods.

While microfinance companies greatly vary in their size and scope, Muthoot Finance is right sized for investors not too small to be risky or not too big for poor returns. As of September 2023, Muthoot Microfin had Assets Under Management (AUM) of Rs 10,800 crore with a customer base of 3.2 million and an employee strength of over 12,200 that renders it big enough to be de-risked. At the same time, at the upper end of its IPO price, Muthoot Microfin is demanding a market capitalization of less than Rs. 5000 crore, which makes it attractive as a small cap to mid cap opportunity.

5) Muthoot Microfin is Geographically Diversified

7) Prudent & Conservative Approach

A major risk in microfinance is geographic concentration, which renders such companies more vulnerable to local issues and activism. However, Muthoot Microfin is geographically diversified with 1340 branches spread across 18 states & union territories of India, with presence

Starting out way back in 1992 as one of India’s microfinance pioneers, Muthoot Microfin has always followed conservative and prudent strategies that helped it weather the multiple storms that this industry faced during the next four decades. It de-risks itself by lending primarily to women and self-help groups and by keeping a high Capital to Risk Assets Ratio (CRAR) which is way

above statutory requirements. For instance, even while going for this major fund raise through an IPO, Muthoot Microfin enjoys a CRAR of 20.46% much above the mandatory level of 15%.

8) Group Synergies of Muthoot Blue Muthoot Microfin has a sizeable presence in the Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG) also called Muthoot Blue. For example, while the flagship NBFC of the Group and Muthoot Microfin’s immediate parent, Muthoot Fincorp has a gold loan portfolio of over Rs. 18,000 crores, Muthoot Microfin has an AUM of Rs. 10,800, making it significant in size. Even more importantly, Muthoot Microfin is most important for the Group, as it is MPG’s main customer onboarding platform, as customers first ask for micro loans before progressing to gold, auto, home & SME loans.

9) Reasonable Valuations At the upper end of its IPO price band - Rs. 291 - Muthoot Microfin is asking for a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple

of 24.96 times its FY’23 Earnings Per Share (EPS). This compares well with listed peers like CreditAccess Grameen Ltd which has a P/E of 32.47. Due to such reasonable valuations, there is likely to be strong demand for Muthoot Microfin’s shares during the IPO. Already, the unofficial grey market price for its shares, as of today, is showing a nearly 33% upside from its IPO price.

10) Highly Experienced Leadership Muthoot Microfin is led by its Managing Director Thomas Muthoot, one of India’s microfinance pioneers, along with Group Chairman Thomas John Muthoot and Director Thomas George Muthoot, all three of them being promoters with more than three decades of experience in various financing businesses. Muthoot Microfin’s independent directors include former LIC Chairman TS Vijayan, while its CEO is microfinance industry specialist Sadaf Sayeed, an MPG veteran who was earlier with HDFC Bank and Spandana Sphoorty.

Thomas George Muthoot Director

When Will Markets Realise LIC of India’s True Potential? LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA’S STOCK MIGHT NOT HAVE PERFORMED AS PER INVESTORS’ EXPECTATIONS AFTER ITS IPO. BUT THE UNDERLYING ORGANISATION IS FIGHTING FIT AS IT HAS NEVER BEEN, WITH ITS RENEWED FOCUS ON GROWING ITS NON-PARTICIPATING PRODUCTS, TECH-LED CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND PREMIUM COLLECTION, GROWTH IN ITS BANCASSURANCE CHANNELS, AND BETTER RETURNS FROM ITS HUGE INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO. LEADING THIS CHANGE AT THE LIFE INSURANCE GIANT IS CHAIRMAN SIDDHARTHA MOHANTY, GOVERNMENT NOMINEE DIRECTOR SUCHINDRA MISHRA,AND MANAGING DIRECTORS M JAGANNATH, TABLESH PANDEY AND R DORAISWAMY. LIC REMAINS THE MASTER OF INNOVATIVE PRODUCT DESIGN AS IS EVIDENT FROM ITS NEW JEEVAN KIRAN PRODUCT THAT NOT ONLY COVERS YOUR LIFE, BUT REIMBURSES THE FULL PREMIUM ON MATURITY. WITH INDUSTRY LEADING PERFORMANCE ACROSS ALL METRICS THAT MATTER - REVENUE GROWTH, PROFIT GROWTH, PROFIT MARGINS AND RETURN ON EQUITY - AND AT THE SAME TIME WITH THE LOWEST PRICE-TO-EARNINGS BASED VALUATION, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE LIC OF INDIA GETS POSITIVELY RE-RATED BY THE MARKET.

“M

arkets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent,” remarked John Maynard Keynes, the Father of Macroeconomics, during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Due to the wry humour and the great experiential truth embedded in this quote, this has been requoted often by numerous luminaries including Warren Buffett in the modern age. Keynesian economics is credited with pulling the Western nations from the Great Depression, and though its popularity waned by the 1970s, the world revisited and relied on it again in

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the aftermath of the Global Economic crisis of 2009, with leaders including Dr. Manmohan Singh and Barack Obama calling for a return of the policies of John Maynard Keynes. While the specific quote mentioned above is most often used by Buffett and other celebrity investors to discourage retail investors from taking on excessive leverage, expecting the market to start behaving rationally regarding a stock, there is also a reverse wisdom hidden in it. This wisdom is nothing but the long-term observational insight that one day markets are going to behave rationally, that is, value

life insurer and its peers fare in growth. The second largest player SBI Life Insurance has a 3 year profit growth rate (CAGR) of 9.99%. For HDFC Life, the profit CAGR for the same period is 2.69%, and for ICICI Prudential Life the 3-year profit growth rate is -12.68% (profit degrowth).

something as per its real value. Look no further than the stock of Life Insurance Corporation of India to see a modern day example. LIC is the sector leader, being the largest life insurance company in the country, by a good measure. Usually, sector leaders command the most premium valuation when compared with peers. But when it comes to LIC of India, it trades at an unbelievably low price-to-earnings multiple of just 9 times. While 9 is an attractively low P/E by any measure, wait till you hear how LIC’s

peers are valued. India’s second largest life insurance company by revenue and profits, SBI Life Insurance, trades at a P/E of 70 times. The country’s third largest, HDFC Life Insurance, trades even higher at a P/E of 96 times, making it the second most valuable life insurer by market cap, above SBI Life. And the fourth largest life insurer, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, trades at a P/E of over 95 times. The knee jerk reaction of almost anyone reading this would be to put the blame on either LIC’s profit growth or its return ratios. Let us first see how India’s largest

Now, coming to LIC, you will have to hold your breath before hearing the 3year profit CAGR. It is over 266%. Coming to return ratios too, LIC is way ahead of all its peers by a good margin. Against SBI Life’s Return on Equity of 13.21%, HDFC Life’s RoE of 10.53% and ICICI Prudential’s RoE of 8.09%, LIC’s Return on Equity is simply breathtaking - 79.69%. While critics may cite that it is a one-off performance in FY’23 due to LIC’s exceptional profit in the last fiscal, the correct way to look at this is whether peer insurance companies’ RoE in the fiscal year before this, is any match to LIC’s RoE. Here too, there is no comparison in performance, as the best performer, SBI Life’s FY’22 RoE was only SEASONAL MAGAZINE

12.95% as against LIC’s 38.84% recorded in that fiscal. What is even more interesting is that this FY’22 RoE of LIC was its lowest in the last 5 years, but which was over 70% higher than the best RoE performance recorded by any of its peers during these last 5 years, which was the 22.64% RoE achieved by HDFC Life in 2019! When it comes to revenue growth too, LIC exhibits a predictable and steady growth, whereas most of its peers are struggling to register a meaningful topline growth, whereas some like ICICI Prudential is witnessing steady degrowth. Profit margins are another area where LIC outshines and outperforms all its peers by an unbelievable margin. LIC’s Gross Profit Margin, Operating Profit Margin and Net Profit Margin are 5.57%, 5.51% & 4.05% respectively. For SBI LIfe, these figures are 2.54%, 2.54% & 2.13%, whereas for HDFC Life it is even poorer at 2.12%, 2.01% & 1.94% during the last fiscal. ICICI Prudential fares better than SBI Life & HDFC Life in Gross & Operating Profit Margins with 3.17% & 3% respectively, but in Net Profit Margin fares worse at 1.64%. From the above apple-to-apple comparison, it should be clear that LIC stock’s underperformance in the market since its IPO days is a case of the market not awarding it its due valuation. And the even stranger fact is that it is not an apple-to-apple comparison really, but an apples-to-golden-apple comparison. LIC is not just India’s largest life insurer, but its largest institutional investor in equities and debt. This makes LIC a double-engined locomotive, an advantage which the company is yet to fully demonstrate to the market, and hence something the market is not accounting for now. Market returns from its massive equity investments are never going to be a linear source of growth, but when it starts coming in, expect LIC to deliver outsized returns to investors. The market got a whiff of it in Q1 when its equity portfolio yielded substantial profits. LIC is continuing its investment strategy of making incremental investments in SEASONAL MAGAZINE

both equity and debt, with the stated objective of creating enhanced value for all its stakeholders. While its total equity portfolio is Rs 10 trillion, its total investment portfolio is Rs 46 trillion, with the majority being in debt, including central and state government securities. This structure gives LIC’s portfolio great stability as well as deep pockets to draw from during any emerging market opportunities. When it comes to its core business of Life Insurance, LIC’s stature is not just national but global. It is the fifth-largest life insurer in the world in terms of life insurance gross written premiums (GWP). LIC is also the tenth-largest insurance company in the world by total assets.

When compared to the second-largest life insurer in the Indian market, SBI Life, LIC has the largest market share margin among all market leaders in the top 7 markets worldwide. The company has 13.35 lakh agents and services policies worth Rs 27.80 lakh crore, making it the third strongest insurance brand globally. With LIC’s core performance and relative valuations with peers being such, what exactly is preventing LIC from attaining its rightful position in the Indian equity markets? Some market analysts attribute it to LIC’s product mix, and this may be partly true. Conventionally, LIC's product portfolio has been largely dominated by the socalled participating products, where

rules, the promoter holding needs to be brought down to 75% eventually, which means the supply of LIC shares to the market may surge in the future via an OFS or FPO.

WITH LIC’S CORE PERFORMANCE AND RELATIVE VALUATIONS WITH PEERS BEING SUCH, WHAT EXACTLY IS PREVENTING LIC FROM ATTAINING ITS RIGHTFUL POSITION IN THE INDIAN EQUITY MARKETS? SOME MARKET ANALYSTS ATTRIBUTE IT TO LIC’S PRODUCT MIX, AND SOME OTHERS TO THE HIGH PROMOTER HOLDING THAT MAY NEED PARING.

profits are shared as dividends and bonuses with policy holders. But since its public listing, and its newly assumed responsibilities to its public shareholders, LIC is now concentrating more on increasing premium contributions from its non-participating products. In the first quarter of FY'24, the proportion of non-participating premiums in LIC's total annualised premium equivalent (APE) was 10.22%, as compared to 7.75% for the same period in the previous financial year, and it also marked the first time LIC has gone above a double-digit non-participating APE. This will definitely benefit its margins, which is already at double of its peers. Another overhang on the stock might be the exceptionally high promoter holding of 96.5% by the Government of India. This must be troubling to the market, as according to market regulator SEBI’s

But the Government is highly unlikely to offload such a huge stake in one go due to the insurmountable practical difficulties involved in such a huge share sale, and will approach it in a phased and highly calibrated manner. Meanwhile, LIC continues to be a high return investment for the Government. Recently, LIC Chairman Siddhartha Mohanty and a core team had visited Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hand over a dividend cheque of Rs. 1831 crore. LIC’s dividend yield is now only 0.46%, and if LIC improves its dividend payout policy much like some of its peer PSUs, the dividend income itself will be a major source of return for its shareholders including the Government of India. Several PSUs, ranging from Coal India to Oil India to ONGC are known to pay hefty dividends with yields going above 8-6%. The Government on its part has been supporting LIC and its commendable work force consisting of employees and its unique agent army. Recently, the Finance Ministry had unveiled a series of welfare measures for the benefit of agents and employees of LIC of India. The measures are related to the amendments to LIC (Agents) Regulations, 2017, enhancement of the gratuity limit, and uniform rate of family pension among others. More than 13 lakh agents and more than 1 lakh regular employees, who play a pivotal role in the growth of LIC are expected to benefit from these welfare measures. Under the visionary leadership of Chairman Siddhartha Mohanty, LIC is pursuing a three pronged strategy of fortifying its agents, bancassurance and digital channels, to boost its growth and margins. Towards this, it has already initiated an ambitious project for a technology overhaul, which should boost product sales and enhance the customer experience. Strategic changes in terms of product

mix and distribution are also eyed. A comprehensive digital transformation project is underway at LIC, which is aimed at transitioning all processes to a digital mode. A digital customer onboarding project is scheduled to take effect from December this year. Even now, LIC collects 52% of its premiums digitally, but with such a tech overhaul in place, this percentage will move even higher up, resulting in faster growth and better profitability. LIC will also continue with its often stated objective of matching or even slightly exceeding the overall life insurance industry’s growth rate. In FY'23, it had achieved a growth of 16.47% in New Business Premiums (NBPs), which is one of the overall industry’s best ever performances. The fact that all of its three major competitors - SBI Life, HDFC Life & ICICI Prudential - are banking majors is not lost on LIC. It has rightly understood the importance of the bancassurance channel, and is now emphasising the promotion of premiums through such tie-ups. Innovative product design is another area where the insurance giant is focusing on. LIC had recently launched a new product, Jeevan Kiran, the design of which sent competitors scrambling for cover. It has been well received by consumers and not without reason. Jeevan Kiran is an innovative product that provides not only coverage for life risk, but at the policy’s maturity, the total premium is refunded. Thus it offers a risk cover at no cost, as the total amount paid is reimbursed.With such innovations and growth strategies in place, LIC of India’s stock is likely to get re-rated eventually by the market. John Maynard Keynes who wryly commented on the time it may take for markets to do such things, was not just an economist, but an astute investor himself who kept on outperforming the overall market by 8%, for several years. His strategy was simple - picking undervalued stocks like LIC. Decades later, Buffett and several other celebrity investors continue to follow this timeless principle. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MAZAGON DOCK SHIPBUILDERS

THE PSU MULTIBAGGER PSU Multibagger might sound like an oxymoron, as despite their best intentions, many listed PSU companies have traditionally struggled to emerge as multibaggers for their investors, as they try to do the delicate act of balancing their nation building mandate with the kind of returns that markets appreciate. However, in recent years, spurred on by the government’s focus on defence manufacturing, a few stateowned defence stocks have turned multibaggers in the market, and leading this niche pack is India’s largest defence shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders.

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Sanjeev Singhal Chairman, MD & CFO

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On October 12, 2023, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL), completed three years as a listed entity. After a blockbuster IPO that was oversubscribed by over 157 times, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders started trading on October 12, 2020, opening at around Rs. 215 in NSE as against its final issue price of Rs. 145, and saw hectic trading before closing at around Rs. 172 levels. The irony of the stock market is that both the buyer and the seller in any stock at any level are hoping that their decision is the right one. Obviously,

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only one of them can be right, and the other will be sorely wrong. In the case of October 12, 2020 and MDL, it was a date and counter that the sellers would badly regret for the rest of their lives. Because, MDL stock has appreciated by over 17 times from its IPO price within three short years! While most brokerages and analysts had advised to subscribe to MDL’s IPO, and the market had heeded that call too, it is clear that almost none of them could have predicted Mazagon’s march from Rs. 145 to as high as Rs. 2484 within less than 36 months. This was

especially so, as the MDL public issue happened when the pandemic was raging on, and there were big uncertainties surrounding how this manufacturing business will cope, as shipbuilding can’t be done remotely or on a work-from-home basis! What is actually driving MDL’s stupendous march on the bourses? It is not an easy answer in any way. Several factors have come together synergistically to catapult the market value of MDL from just Rs. 2693 crores during the IPO time to over Rs. 45,783 crores now. But to cut a long story

Cdr. Jasbir Singh, Director (Submarine & Heavy Engineering)

Shri Biju George Director (Shipbuilding)

Cdr Vasudev Puranik IN(Retd) Director(Corporate Planning & Personnel)

short, Mazagon’s rise is both a case of incredible revenue and profit growth, as well as an incredible rerating it received due to that growth, like how the best and unbelievable multibaggers are made.

despite delivering an unbelievable quantum of growth during these three years.

MDL’s annual revenue had soared from Rs. 4047 crores in FY’21 to Rs. 7827 crores by FY’23. And its annual profit had surged even higher, from Rs. 453 crore in fiscal 2021 to Rs. 1046 crore in fiscal 2023. In terms of compounded annual growth rate, this translates to a three-year revenue CAGR of 26.33% and a three-year net profit CAGR of 66.54% And that was not all. If the quantum of growth was this impressive, its quality was even more astounding to the market. MDL’s return ratios were very good during its IPO time itself, with its FY’20 consolidated Return on Equity (RoE) being 15.00%, its Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) being 23.86% and Return on Assets (RoA) being 2.25%. But during the next three years, all these three core ratios surged further, with FY’23 consolidated RoE being 25.97%, FY’23 RoCE being 32.70% and FY’23 RoA being 3.78%. This kind of high quality growth from a complex manufacturing industry was rare in the market, and especially so in the public sector. There were other quality factors too that were unique to MDL. For one, it was a zero debt company during the IPO time, and it has remained a zero debt company

Secondly, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders has consistently worked on bettering its margins, and has come across as a strong winner in this regard too. While MDL’s Gross Profit Margin (EBIT) has improved from 15.26% in FY’20 to 18.00% in FY’23, its Operating Profit Margin has fared even better, rising from 3.69% in FY’20 to 9.15% in FY’23. But it is in its Net Profit Margin that MDL has really stunned the market, with NPM surging by 49.03%, from 9.59% in FY’20 to 14.30% in FY’23. This kind of blistering performance is something the whole MDL team and especially its top management can be proud of. MDL has almost always enjoyed a high quality of leadership, and this has turned even better in recent quarters. From February 1 2023, its Director (Finance) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Sanjeev Singhal was given the Additional Charge of being Chairman & Managing Director of MDL. Sanjeev Singhal is a veteran finance professional with over 35 years of experience in PSUs including as Director Finance at Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited and prior to that at Steel Authority of India Limited. A Cost Accountant by profession from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, Sanjeev Singhal has been associated with MDL since its IPO days as he was SEASONAL MAGAZINE

chosen by the firm in January 2020 to helm the IPO among other responsibilities. This CMD & CFO is ably assisted by a core team of full-time Directors who are all thoroughbred defence & engineering professionals in their respective fields. They include Cdr. Jasbir Singh, IN (Retd.), an alumnus of NDA / JNU, who is the Director in charge of MDL’s Submarine & Heavy Engineering Division; Mr. Biju George, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, who is the Director in charge of the company’s Shipbuilding Division; and Cdr. Vasudev Puranik, Indian Navy (Retd.), an alumnus of INS Shivaji / JNU / Pune University, who heads MDL’s Corporate Planning & Personnel Departments. The beauty of the stock market is that when a company outperforms itself under the leadership of such veteran professionals, the market doesn’t stand still, waiting for the earnings to grow, but rewards it by re-rating it to a higher

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valuation. As mentioned earlier, that is how unbelievable multibaggers are made within the shortest possible time, and the case of MDL too was not different. Still, in the case of MDL it was a bit surprising, as such rapid re-rating is usually seen in the case of bluechip private sector companies. But then, MDL’s performance on most metrics were even better than the best of the private sector manufacturing leaders. When MDL went in for its IPO, its promoter the Government of India, acting through its Ministry of Defence, had asked for only modest valuations. The MDL IPO was offered at a price-toearnings (P/E) multiple of just 6.39 times on a fully diluted post issue basis on its FY’20 earnings. While this may sound grossly underpriced by today’s standards, this was not so, considering the fact that the market was reeling from the pandemic onslaught back then, and MDL’s comparable peer group consisting of

Cochin Shipyard, GRSE & Reliance Naval were trading only at an average P/E of 7.5 times. The issue was also reasonably priced at a price-to-book-value (P/BV) of 0.95 times based on its Net Asset Value (NAV) or Book Value Per Share (BVPS) of Rs. 152.17 per share as on June 30, 2020, and as calculated based on the upper limit of the price band. But as of FY’23, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders’ BVPS stands at Rs. 207.13. While this is a healthy appreciation within 3 years, it is obvious that it alone was not enough to propel the stock’s exponential growth during the last three years. And this is precisely where the magic of rerating kicked in. From an IPO time P/E of 6.39 times, MDL now trades at 40 P/E and from a P/BV of 0.95 times during its public issue, MDL now commands a P/BV multiple of nearly 11 times. Most investors, especially retail investors, fail to understand the power

of this kind of rerating when it is coupled with earnings expansion too. As an old tongue-in-cheek remark in the stock market goes, price is nothing but the result of earnings multiplied by price-to-earnings. But there is hidden wisdom in that joke, as price skyrockets only when both these multiplicative factors soar. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders’ stock is now taking a breather after its blistering rise, especially during the past 12 months when it soared over 6 times from a 52-Week Low of Rs. 411 to a recent 52-Week High of Rs. 2484. This breather is much in line with almost all other defence stocks, both in the private and public sectors, that have run up. But most analysts don’t expect MDL to lose its momentum as the fundamental business remains as strong as ever, and with new opportunities emerging too for it. MDL has recently signed a master ship repair agreement (MSRA) with the US Government, represented by US Navy’s NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Yokosuka. While this is a nonfinancial agreement, the agreement is expected to open-up voyage repairs of US Navy Ships at MDL. Currently apart from MDL, only one private

sector shipyard in the country has signed an MSRA with the US Government. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders continue to perform well on a quarterly basis. For the most recent published quarter ended June 2023, MDL reported a 39.84% YoY jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 314.34 crore, and 30.51% YoY jump in EBITDA at 404.35 crore, while revenue was flat, falling 2.58% percent to Rs 2,172.76 crore. The sluggishness in revenue and EBITDA signals execution challenges before the company, as shipbuilding is a complex and time consuming affair. Some of Mazagon Dock’s core products like the highly specialised ships and submarines with large project size, take years to execute. But MDL is gearing up for faster execution by planning a capex of Rs. 500 crore for a new floating dock, among other such infrastructural expansion. This would help the company to construct eight nextgeneration destroyers for the Indian Navy. MDL has acquired a strong order book, which provides robust revenue visibility

till fiscal 2025. The current order book size stands at Rs 39,117 crore, which is almost 5 times its annual revenue. The order pipeline too has been good. MDL has submitted bids for six submarines, tying up with the Germany-based TKMS. It is also expecting three add-on submarines that are part of the Scorpene platforms. MDL’s trackrecord in delivering complex ships and submarines over the past few decades will keep it in good stead. Its current product portfolio encompasses a diverse range of products for both domestic and International clientele. During its chequered existence since 1960 when it was nationalised, MDL has built a total of 801 vessels, including 27 warships, ranging from advanced destroyers to missile boats as well as 7 submarines. For both national and global clientele, MDL has also provided cargo ships, passenger ships, supply vessels, multipurpose support vessels, water tankers, tugs, dredgers, fishing trawlers, barges, and border outposts. Jackets, wellhead platform main decks, process platforms, jack up rigs, and other products have also been manufactured and delivered by MDL.

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MANAPPURAM FINANCE

THE REWARDS OF D With a pan India network of over 5200 branches on a consolidated basis and over 45,000 employees, Manappuram Finance is bigger than most small finance banks and even a few universal banks in the country. Over 2.4 million active customers have entrusted their household gold jewellery, amounting to 59 tonnes of gold, to Manappuram Finance, as collateral for gold loans. The company has been India’s first listed player in the gold loan sector, with its IPO happening way back in 1996. Manappuram has several firsts to its credit in the gold loan business, like online gold loans and the cellular vaulting mechanism. It is one of the strongest NBFCs operating in India by way of capitalization with its Tier 1 Capital Adequacy Ratio at 30.5%, strong Asset Liability Management and access to diversified source of funds. Yet, around 10 years back, under the guidance of its Founder, MD & CEO, VP Nandakumar, Manappuram Finance embarked on a diversification spree, which now stands at an inflection point, due to the proposed Rs. 1500 crore IPO of its subsidiary Asirvad Microfinance Ltd. Its other diversifications too have been faring well with its vehicle financing and home financing operations growing at a CAGR of 27% and 23% respectively since the last 5 to 6 years. Once regarded as one of the Indian market’s fastest wealth creators, growing 30X between FY’08 & FY’12, Manappuram stock has since then been consolidating, and the Asirvad IPO may be the trigger it has been waiting for, for a breakout.

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar Managing Director & CEO SEASONAL MAGAZINE

DIVERSIFICATION

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Most investors choose companies and stocks based on their graphs. This is true of retail investors who don’t know the nitty gritty of valuation metrics, as well as institutional investors who know all that stuff but still prefer to choose graphs that keep on soaring northwards. The reason for this behaviour is simple. All kinds of investors migrate from fixed income instruments to equities in the hope of making a quick buck. If a stock is consolidating and consolidating with no end in sight, this ambition of making fast money is not fulfilled, and hence the forever flight to northward graphs. But a sobering fact is that practically no company in the world can keep on satisfying investors, especially new investors who come to own its shares, every passing year. This is true of even highly prospective biggies like Reliance Industries or Bajaj Finance or Eicher Motors or midcap companies like Page Industries or Dr Lal PathLab. More often than not, even the most wellperforming companies will pass through a phase in which the companies would seem to be doing nothing special to pursue growth, when looking from the investors’ angle. But the billion dollar question is whether this is really true, or whether the company is strategically repositioning itself through diversifications and other such means. Discerning institutional investors understand this game well and either enter such companies during such seemingly lacklustre spells or stick with those companies through such phases.

Foreign Institutional Investors in Manappuram include Bank of America Securities, BNP Paribas and APG Emerging Markets, and domestic mutual fund majors include SBI MF, Axis MF & DSP MF.

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Classic examples are how discerning mutual funds continue to back Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance & Eicher Motors, without these stocks doing anything spectacular for some time now. Manappuram Finance is another such company from India’s smallcap space. Historically one of the biggest wealth creators in the country’s listed realm, Manappuram’s stock has been consolidating for the last four years or more, neither registering a positive nor negative breakout from its long-term trading range. Still, a clutch of marquee institutional investors have either entered or continued to hold Manappuram stock during this seemingly lethargic phase. They include overseas institutions including Bank of America Securities, BNP Paribas and APG Emerging Markets, as well as domestic mutual fund majors including SBI MF, Axis MF & DSP MF. What is making such discerning and high quality investors remain invested in Manappuram? While the long answer to that question is the subject of this story, the short answer is without doubt Manappuram’s earnings yield and dividend yield. In this overheated bull market where yields are running quite thin, Manappuram enjoys an earnings yield of over 14%, which is double than that of some of its peers and most fixed income instruments. Its dividend yield now stands at 2.14%. Earnings yield is the rate of return of earnings you get when you buy a stock at a specific price. It is calculated as earnings-per-share (EPS) divided by current price (E/P) and can thus be thought of as the reciprocal of the commonly used price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Discerning institutional investors always look for the earnings yield, as ultimately that is the return ratio to which they get locked-in at their investment price for that stock. If the earnings or the numerator improves, the yield becomes even more attractive, and it will invariably drag the price or denominator up, and such patient investors win. On the contrary, even if the price or denominator only

Shailesh. J. Mehta, Chairman

improves without the earnings improvement, they are the winner as even though the earnings yield comes down, the price is moving up. In other words, a high earnings yield provides a greater margin of safety. For instance, if the price increases without matching earnings rise, and Manappuram’s earnings yield falls to 10%, it is still way above most of its peers. Now, to the long story why Manappuram has been ticking all the right boxes in the strategic and sustained growth of the organisation. But to appreciate this, you will have to first understand how Manappuram became a rapid growth story between FY’08 to FY’12, resulting in 30 times wealth creation for its equity investors within these four years that led to the forever high expectations from the company’s stock. Gold prices had nearly tripled between FY’08 and FY’12. Being a primarily gold loan focused NBFC back then, Manappuram used this window of opportunity to grow its branch network exponentially. From just 436 branches in FY’08, which were all mainly in Kerala and South India, Manappuram rapidly spread across all of India to register 2,908 branches by FY12!

With such rapid growth in its branch network, Manappuram’s Assets Under Management (AUM) also soared at over 90% CAGR during those four years, propelling its stock to grow by 30X in value. But such a hectic growth phase for the industry was sure to attract stricter regulations, and that is what happened when RBI decided to control the gold loan industry by removing its priority sector status as well by limiting the Loanto-Value Ratio to 60% for NBFCs like Manappuram. All gold loan companies took a hit from this move, and it was soon followed by

a sharp correction in gold prices, which proved to be a double whammy. Manappuram registered around a 30% reduction in gold loan AUM and tonnage during the next two fiscals, with stability coming back only by the beginning of FY’15 with gold prices stabilising and RBI removing some curbs. Manappuram did grow healthily on the gold loan front ever since, but it could never be at the scorching pace witnessed during those four years. To ensure that only high quality growth is pursued, Manappuram turned

Dr. Sumitha Nandan, Executive Director

extremely judicious in its branch expansion, and this can be seen from the fact that it added only 692 branches during the next 9 years, from 3293 branches in FY’14 to 3985 branches in FY’23. The gold loan branches now stand at 4039. Now, this phase marked a clear divergence in strategy by Manappuram Finance vis-a-vis most of its peers. While most of them waited out the lull in gold prices and the regulatory hurdles, and while some of them also pursued their public listing and other such stages, Manappuram being a listed entity for long, and being far ahead of the curve, decided to branch out bravely into diversifications including in home loans, microfinance, MSME credit, vehicle loans and more. This vision was personally led by Founder and Chairman of the Group, VP Nandakumar, who also took back the executive reins of Manappuram Finance into his own hands as its Managing Director and CEO during this period. For Nandakumar, a postgraduate in science and a career banker earlier, navigating the vagaries of gold price as well as the sectoral regulations on an adhoc basis was too much of a long-term risk, especially as the company was answerable to its public investors. Having 100% of its AUM in gold loans didn’t come across as a sound strategy for Nandakumar, as then the company would remain a slave to gold prices and the ever changing gold loan regulations. Nandakumar strategised that diversifying its AUM or loan book with at least 50% participation by other buzzing credit sectors like home loans, microfinance, MSME and vehicle loans would hugely de-risk Manappuram Finance for the long-term. While some industry observers felt that it was practically not possible within a few years, Manappuram under Nandakumar’s detailed vision, did prove that it was an eminently workable solution. By the end of Q1 of this fiscal, which ended June 30, 2023, Manappuram’s gold AUM had come down to 55.53% from the nearly 100% it was when this diversification drive began almost a SEASONAL MAGAZINE

decade back. The non-gold AUM is led by microfinance at 25%, vehicle loans at 8%, MSME credit at 6%, housing finance at 3% and on-lending at 2%. While these figures - except for microfinance - may appear small, some of them like vehicle finance and housing finance have been growing at a quick pace.

some of its bigger peers have grown during this period, there is a possibility that Manappuram too would have fared better in absolute growth metrics if it had remained with only gold loans. But then, Nandakumar knows that for a company of the size of Manappuram, the challenge is never to win a sprint, but a marathon.

Now, one obvious question is whether Manappuram Finance would have fared better if it had stuck to its original core competence in gold loans without any such diversifications. Looking at the way

Corporate strategies come in different shapes and sizes, and their objectives too differ. While some strategies are geared for the continuous achievement of topline and bottomline growth, some others sacrifice short-term growth for the

even-greater future potential. Both models can’t be criticised, as their objectives differ. For instance, when Reliance Industries created Jio in 2016 with a hefty initial investment of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore, many analysts were sceptical of the eventual returns, as the telecom sector had this reputation for sinking huge investments without any kind of meaningful returns. But today, Jio is the crown jewel of RIL, valued at over Rs. 5 lakh crore, with its demerger or IPO one of the most eagerly awaited events in the Indian capital markets. Another such jewel in the RIL crown is Reliance Retail. Manappuram and its investors are also likely to reap rich dividends from one of its crown jewels, Asirvad Microfinance, a company that it acquired in 2015 to jumpstart its microfinance business. After nearly 8 years of mentoring and nurturing by Manappuram, Asirvad Microfinance has scaled its business to be the country’s largest microfinance institution in the NBFC sector (MFI-NBFC) by geographic reach and the third-largest by AUM, and has recently filed the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for its IPO. Asirvad Microfinance’s Rs 1,500 crore IPO will feature issue of 100% new shares by the company, with no Offer-

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For-Sale (OFS) component by the promoter, Manappuram Finance, which now owns 98.61% stake in Asirvad with the rest 1.39% belonging to the earlier promoter. Hence, the entire proceeds from the IPO will be used to augment the capital base of the firm to meet future business requirements. With it already being well capitalised as far as regulatory norms are concerned, Asirvad is obviously eyeing a surge in future credit growth. Leading domestic and overseas investment banks including JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Nomura and SBI Capital are the bookrunning lead managers for the IPO. Asirvad’s IPO filing comes at a time when the microfinance industry has emphatically come out from the Covid blues, and also when the regulatory winds are blowing once again in favour of NBFC-MFIs. Until last year, banks and NBFCs active in the microfinance space have been regulated separately with the norms being tougher for NBFC-MFIs. But now the regulator of the sector, RBI, has harmonised regulations for microfinance as an asset class, across both banks and NBFCs, and this augurs well for players like Asirvad. As mentioned earlier, Asirvad Microfinance is the absolute leader

among NBFC-MFIs when it comes to geographic reach, with the firm present in India’s 450 districts across 22 states and 4 UTs through a network of 1684 branches. Apart from being the third largest player by AUM, it is also the third largest NBFC-MFI by clients, with over 3.25 million active borrowers now. During FY’23, Asirvad Microfinance had an AUM of Rs 10,041 crore as against Rs 7,002 crore for the previous fiscal. Its Profit After Tax stood at Rs 218.13 crore in FY’23 as compared to Rs 15.26 crore in FY’22. This performance by Asirvad in FY’23 made it the second-best microfinance institution in terms of yearly growth among its peers. While Asirvad Microfinance is the first major subsidiary which will witness huge unlocking of value, some of Manappuram’s other businesses too are fast approaching inflection points. Its vehicle loans business had grown rapidly at 27% CAGR from FY’17 to FY’22. Around 62% of Manappuram’s auto loans are for commercial vehicle purchasing, 18% for two wheelers and the remaining 20% for passenger vehicles. The housing finance business of Manappuram is an equally compelling growth story. It focuses on the mid to low income self-employed customers, with nearly 90% of its home loan customers being self-employed, which is a segment that many housing finance companies are not focusing on due to perceived risks, but having better

During FY’23, Asirvad Microfinance had an AUM of Rs 10,041 crore as against Rs 7,002 crore for the previous fiscal. Its Profit After Tax stood at Rs 218.13 crore in FY’23 as compared to Rs 15.26 crore in FY’22. profitability. Thanks to this strategy, its home finance AUM has grown at a CAGR of 23% during the same period. In its core gold loan business, Manappuram has been the company to unleash innovation after innovation. It was the first company to start online gold lending in 2015, and online gold loans account for 50% of its overall gold loans now. Manappuram has been the country’s second largest gold loan player among lenders with gold loan as the core product. Apart from its diversifications, due to its diversified borrowing pool too, Manappuram has a de-risked business model. Its borrowing pool includes approximately 23% from bonds and NCDs, 53% in the form of term loans, 23% from working capital and cash credit facilities, and 1.1% from ECBs and commercial papers. Recently, it has hit the market with two bonds maturing in 539 days and 724 days to raise Rs 600 crores. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

KARUR VYSYA BANK

KVB EMERGES AS A SUCCESSFUL BLEND OF TRADITION & INNOVATION

When it comes to banking stocks, the ongoing result season which coincided with a sharp correction in the markets, has been a telling time. Before the correction set in, almost all banking stocks were on an upward spiral. And the banking sector results too were almost all good, propelling the stocks further up. But when the swift and painful correction set in, the stocks of even many of the well performing banks in Q2 tumbled down sharply. That led analysts to look more deeply into the numbers, beyond what the headline figures suggested. And the truth was there in the fine print for all to see. One of the best performing stocks even during the overall correction was Karur Vysya Bank (KVB). Under the proactive leadership of its MD & CEO, Ramesh Babu, the bank’s net profit grew a robust 51% to Rs.378 crore for the quarter ended September 30, compared with Rs.250 crore in the corresponding year-ago period. The bottomline was also up sequentially, over Q1. The bank’s Net Interest Income (NII) grew by 11% to Rs. 915 crore from the Rs. 821 crore it was in the corresponding year-ago quarter. The Non Interest Income or the Fee Income for the September 2023 quarter rose even faster at 40% to Rs.339 crore as against Rs.242 crore. While all these growth numbers were quite good, the reasons why Karur Vysya Bank could put up an impressive price performance during the market rout were something else - including its asset quality, its overall business momentum and its attractive valuations. KVB’s Gross NPA ratio declined sharply to 1.73% during the September 2023 quarter compared with 4.02% a

year ago and 1.99% in the June 2023 quarter. Net NPA too fell impressively to 0.47% compared with 1.38% in the year-ago quarter and 0.59% in the preceding quarter. This kind of performance on the asset quality front was missing in most of the banks that fell sharply during the recent correction. One reason why KVB has been able to perform this well on the asset quality front, is its cautious stance on the booming segment of unsecured loans. As a 107-year old private sector bank, KVB is quite conservative when it comes to diversifying into such new age products that come with high growth prospects but immense risks. But that doesn’t mean that KVB won’t bite the bullet ever when it comes to unsecured loans, but it will do so only at its own terms and timing. The bank, which has become increasingly tech savvy over the past decade, has acquired the capabilities to analyze digital surrogate data on customers, based on which better decisions can be taken in products like unsecured loans. Secondly, it is planning to test the waters with its existing customers, like its current account customers who still don’t have a loan product with KVB. And thirdly, the bank is planning a careful and well planned foray into the domain of unsecured business loans in the MSME segment, where the bank already has tremendous expertise. With this Q2, the bank has crossed Rs.1,50,000 crore in total business, which may not come across as a big number when compared to new gen private banks, but for a prudent and high quality bank like KVB, it is remarkable to say the least. And all these achievements still come at attractive valuations, with KVB still available at a TTM P/E multiple of 8.84 times and a P/B of just 1.41 times, which is way more safer than most comparable private sector banks now.

GRSE RECORDS BEST EVER PERFORMANCE IN Q2 UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF ITS CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR CMDR. HARI PR (IN RET’D), THE DEFENCE SECTOR SHIPBUILDER IS CONTINUING THE INNOVATIVE MOMENTUM IN Q3, WITH A RECENT LANDMARK MOU SIGNED WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS TO CONSTRUCT ELECTRIC TUGBOATS.

Kolkata headquartered defence sector shipbuilder Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) has come up with robust growth numbers for the second quarter and the first half of this fiscal. Q2 was especially memorable for GRSE as it recorded its best ever quarterly performance in its history. Under the strategic leadership of its Chairman and Managing Director Commodore Hari PR, (Indian Navy, Ret’d) GRSE put up strong fundamental performance in all segments of operations during H1, the highlight of it being the launch of the 10 out of the 19 warships under construction in its dock. Net Sales of GRSE grew 31.66% to Rs 897.91 crore in the September 2023 quarter, up from Rs 682.01 crore in the September

Cmde PR Hari, IN (Retd.) Chairman & Managing Director 2022 quarter. The quarterly net profit growth was even more impressive at 37.48% in Q2 to reach Rs 80.74 crore, from Rs 58.73 crore in September 2022. As there was no dilution in GRSE’s equity during this past year, its Earnings Per Share (EPS) also increased proportionately by 37.48% to Rs 7.05 in September 2023 from Rs 5.13 in Q2 of last fiscal. The PSU shipbuilder’s EBITDA rose to Rs 120.32 crore in September 2023, up by 35.07% from the Rs 89.08 crore it was in September 2022. Q2 continued and bettered the growth momentum GRSE had set in Q1 of this financial year. Thus, this first half of the fiscal saw GRSE recording Rs 1,654 crore as revenue from operations, which was an increase of 31% over the corresponding H1 of the last fiscal. The warship builder earned a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 209 crore in H1, while its profit after tax (PAT) was Rs 157 crore, a 45% rise over the first half of the previous fiscal. EPS for H1 stood at Rs 13.74, an increase of 45% over the same period in FY’23. Under the visionary leadership of its CMD Cmdr. Hari PR, GRSE is continuing its innovative momentum in the current

quarter of Q3. It recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Shift Clean Energy, Seatech Solutions International, and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), to develop electric tugboats named E-Volt 50. The landmark agreement seeks to mitigate carbon emissions, enhance operational efficiency, and establish new benchmarks for performance and environmental sustainability within the fast emerging global electric tugboat industry and is a bold step towards India’s aspiration to become the global hub for green shipbuilding by 2030. While GRSE will construct the electric tugboats based on the design by Seatech, Shift will provide the energy storage solutions and ABS will oversee the construction and design process, thereby ensuring adherence to all applicable regulatory standards of safety, reliability, and compliance, in tune with global requirements. GRSE could land this agreement because it has already made significant strides towards the development of green vessels, most notably its ongoing construction of a zero-emission electric ferry for the West Bengal Government, capable of accommodating 150 passengers. Upon its completion and commissioning, this ferry will bring green travel along the Hooghly and other major river routes in the region.

BANK OF INDIA Q2 PROFIT RISES 52 ON SHARPLY BETTER ASSET QUALIT

2%, TY

Bank of India has registered a 52% rise in its net profit to Rs 1,458.43 crore in the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal, as compared to the corresponding year-ago period’s net profit of Rs 960 crore. The state-owned lender achieved this on the support of a sharp improvement in the asset quality and increase in margins. The asset quality of the bank improved sharply with gross nonperforming assets (GNPA) ratio falling to 5.84%, from the 8.51% it was in the corresponding period last year. Net NPA ratio also fell to 1.54% as on September 30, 2023, as against 1.92% in the year ago period, and 1.65% in the preceding June quarter. Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) improved by 62 basis points (bps) year-onyear, with the PCR of BoI standing at 89.58% as on September 30, 2023, as against 88.96% in the year ago period. The net interest income (NII) of the bank in Q2 rose 13% year-on-year to Rs 5,740 crore, as compared to Rs 5,083 crore it was in the corresponding quarter. The Net Interest Margin of Bank of India inched up by 4 bps in the reporting quarter to 3.08% from the 3.04% in the yearago period, and the 3.03% in the quarter ago period.

BANK OF MAHARASH REMAINS AHEAD OF

HTRA PEERS IN Q2 PSU lender Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) has maintained its leadership among peer banks in both loan growth and deposit growth during the second quarter of the current financial year. It had earlier topped its peers in performance in Q1. Both the deposit and advances of the Pune-headquartered lender grew over 20%, making it the highest in percentage terms by any PSU lender in Q2. With a growth rate of 23.55%, BoM’s gross domestic advances rose to Rs. 1,83,122 crore in Q2. In deposits, Mahabank witnessed a 22.18% rise by raising Rs. 2,39,298 crore in Q2. Bank of Maharashtra also retained its top position in the lower-cost Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) deposits at 50.71%. Powered thus by its high growth in loans and deposits, the bank’s total business also recorded the highest growth in percentage terms, at 22.77%, to touch Rs. 4,22,420 crore.

BANDHAN BANK’S PROFIT SOAR ASSET QUALITY YET TO STABILI

RS, IZE

Bandhan Bank’s Profit Soars,”Asset Quality Yet to Stabilize””Private sector lender Bandhan Bank has registered a massive jump of 245% in its second-quarter profit for the financial year 2023-24. Profit after tax (PAT) stood at Rs 721 crore in Q2 FY24 as compared to Rs 209 crore in Q2 FY23. The microlender turned universal bank’s total income rose 11.77% to Rs. 2983 crore in the September 2023 quarter from Rs. 2669 crore in the year-ago period. Of this, its Net interest income has grown to Rs. 2443 crore in Q2 FY24 from Rs. 2193 crore in Q2 FY23. Its total deposits came in at Rs. 1.12 lakh crore, growing by 12.8% YoY, while its CASA (Current Account and Savings Account) ratio improved to 38.5% in Q2 FY24, up from 36 per cent in Q1 FY24. However, the Kolkata’s based bank’s asset quality is yet to improve significantly. While its Gross Non-Performing Assets (GNPA) remained steady at 7.3% as on September 30, 2023, against 7.2% in the year-ago period, on a

sequential or quarter-on-quarter basis, the bank saw a 57 bps uptick in the ratio. This followed a 190-bps spike in its GNPA ratio to 6.8 percent in Q1, making it one of the largest GNPA level among its peers. On a sequential basis, its Net NPA (NNPA) ratio also inched up sequentially. However, the the bank’s collection efficiency has improved to 98% in September and its postCovid portfolio looks much better with a GNPA ratio of just 2.6%. The pain point seems to be in Bandhan’s pre-Covid pool of unsecured loans falling under the Emerging Entrepreneurs Business (EEB) segment, which accounts for over 50% of its loan book. However, as per historical trends, the bank is expected to put up a better performance in terms of both slippages and recoveries in the ongoing quarter & H2, and the bank has a long term goal of growing its secured book to 50%. It now stands at 44%. Meanwhile, Bandhan Bank’s board has approved the reappointment of Chandra Shekhar Ghosh as MD & CEO for 3 years, and if approved by its shareholders and RBI, this will ensure continuity in leadership.

COAL INDIA CONTINU GROWTH MOMENTUM AND ITS SUPERIOR DIVIDEND TRAJECTOR

UES M,

India’s largest coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) has registered a 13% increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 6,814 crore for the second quarter of this fiscal. Factors that helped Coal India’s performance include the higher power demand, especially due to the weak monsoon. Usually power demand in India peaks during Q1, but this time around, due to the weak monsoon and extreme summer heat, it remained high in Q2 too. The weak monsoon also caused a drop in hydroelectric output. CIL had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 6,044 crore in the year-ago period. The profit growth was despite Coal India’s total expenses growing 9.4% to Rs 26,000 crore on the back of higher employee and contractual expenses. However, it benefitted from the falling raw materials cost by 15.1% and it raising the prices of non-coking coal by 8% for the higher grades. The higher prices alone are expected to add an extra revenue of Rs 2,703 crore for the remaining part of the fiscal. The coal major posted a 10% rise in consolidated revenue from operations at Rs 32,776 crore as against Rs 29,838 crore in Q2FY23. Continuing its superior dividend trajectory, Coal India announced an interim dividend of Rs 15.25 per share on face value of Rs. 10.

CENTRAL BANK OF INDIA’S PROFIT SOARS BY 90%

S Q2

PSU lender Central Bank of India has registered an impressive 90% rise in its net profit to Rs. 605.4 crore for Q2 of this fiscal, as against Rs. 318.2 crore in Q2 FY 23.The profit jump was secular in nature, led by a robust growth in core income and bettering asset quality. During Q2, Central Bank’s total income rose to Rs. 8,412 crore from Rs. 7,065 crore in the corresponding year ago period. The bank’s gross non performing asset (GNPA) ratio improved to 4.62% in Q2 from the 9.67% it was in Q2 of last fiscal. Its Net NPA (NNPA) ratio also improved to 1.64% in the second quarter of this fiscal from the 2.95% it was in the year ago period. The bank’s interest income during the September quarter grew to Rs. 7,351 crore as against Rs. 6,155 crore in the year-ago period. Net Interest Income (NII) increased by 10.23% to Rs. 3,028 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal as against Rs. 2,747 crore a year ago. Due to the sharp fall in NPAs, Central Bank’s provision and contingencies declined to Rs. 967 crore as against Rs. 1,125 crore in the same period osf last fiscal. However, its Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) improved to 92.54% in the quarter from the 89.20% it was in the corresponding period last year. Central Bank’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) also edged up to 3.53% as against 3.12% last year. The large sized PSU bank’s total business grew by 11.51% to Rs. 6,02,284 crore as against Rs. 5,40,130 in the second quarter of previous fiscal. Despite strong growth in advances, its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) increased to 14.82% as compared to 13.56% last year. The growth at Central Bank during this quarter was led by Retail, Agriculture and MSME sectors, which grew by 14.24%.

SOUTH INDIAN BANK'S Q2 S OVERALL HEALTHY GROWTH

SHOWS H

Thrissur, Kerala headquartered South Indian Bank (SIB) has registered a 23.3% rise in its Q2 net profit at Rs 275 crore, up from the Rs 223 crore it was during the same quarter last fiscal, mainly on better asset quality. This was the last quarter under the leadership of Murali Ramakrishnan who served as its MD & CEO for three years. The bank has appointed PR Seshadri as its MD & CEO effective from October 1, and the ongoing Q3 will be the first quarter under his leadership. PR Seshadri brings with him nearly 25 years of banking experience spanning domestic and international markets. Seshadri has held senior leadership positions at various institutions, including Karur Vysya Bank and Citigroup. Prior to joining SIB, Seshadri was KVB’s MD & CEO. The traditional private sector bank’s operating profit during the period was up by 8.2% at Rs 460 crore. The bank’s gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio came down by 71 basis points (bps) from 5.67% to reach 4.96% on a year-onyear basis. The bank’s net non-performing assets (NNPA) too dropped by 81 bps from 2.51% to reach 1.70%, year-on-year. Recovery and upgradation in NPA accounts increased from Rs 374 crore in Q2 FY23 to Rs 475 crore in Q2 FY24. Apart from this improvement in the portfolio quality, the bank’s net interest income (NII), net

interest margin (NIM), return on equity (RoE), return on assets (RoA) and customer addition all witnessed healthy growth during the quarter. The bank’s net interest income during the period went up from Rs 726 crore to Rs 830 crore, registering a growth of 14.3% on a year-onyear basis. Its net interest margin (NIM) increased by 35 bps from 2.98% to 3.33% on a YoY basis. The bank’s return on equity improved by 262 bps from 10.81% to 13.43% on a year-on-year basis. Its return on assets increased by 20 bps from 0.65% to 0.85% on a year-on-year basis. The bank also put up decent growth on both the deposits and credit side. The bank’s retail deposits grew 7.3% or Rs 6,337 crore from Rs 87,111 crore to Rs 93,448 crore on a year-on-year basis, while its NRI deposits grew by Rs 1,285 crore or 4.7% from Rs 27,500 crore to Rs 28,785 crore YoY. Due to being a Kerala headquartered bank, and due to the state’s strong show in overseas remittances, SIB has natural strengths in garnering NRI deposits. Its Current Account & Savings Account (CASA) segment grew by 1.8% on a year-on-year basis with growth in savings bank by 1.8% and current deposits by 1.7%. Gross advances grew 10.3% or Rs 6,984 crore from Rs 67,963 crore to Rs 74,947 crore, driven mainly by a strong show of 33.2% on a year-on-year basis in corporate loans. Percentage-wise, SIB’s personal loan book grew faster by 48.1% or Rs 684 crore from Rs 1,423 crore to Rs 2,107 crore. The gold loan portfolio another Kerala based strength - went up by 16.2% or Rs 2,087 crore from Rs 12,911 crore to Rs 14,998 crore.

AU SFB DELIVERS HEALTHY GROWTH EVEN AMID INTENSE COMPETITION

AU Small Finance Bank has reported a Q2 net profit of Rs. 401.8 crore, 17.3% higher as compared to Rs. 343 crore reported in the corresponding year-ago period. AU SFB is the largest bank in the small banking space and its net interest income (NII) came in at Rs. 1,249 crore in the September 2023 quarter, higher by 15.3% as against Rs. 1,083.4 crore reported in the corresponding period. Asset quality performance was mixed with the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of AU Small Finance Bank improving to 1.76% in Q2FY24, from 1.91% in the preceding quarter, but with the the net NPA ratio increasing to 0.60% in the second quarter as compared to 0.55% in the June 2023 quarter. Despite the intense competition among all banks for deposits, AU SFB’s overall deposits crossed the Rs. 75,000 crore-mark, growing by 30% on a year-on-year basis and 9% on a quarter-on-quarter or sequential basis. Of this, the low-cost and attractive segment of Current Account / Savings Account (CASA) deposits grew 6% on-quarter to Rs. 25,666 crore, with the CASA ratio now at a reasonable 34%. AU SFB continued its customer acquisition momentum with new customers acquired being at 3.65 lakhs, of which 45% were onboarded digitally.

ASTER DM’S Q2 REVENUE RISES AROUND 18%, DIVESTS GULF BUSINESS FOR $1 BILLION Hospital chain major in India and GCC countries, Aster DM Healthcare posted a 17.77% increase in its consolidated revenue from operations during the quarter ending on September 30, 2023, which came in at Rs 3,316.63 crore, in contrast to Rs 2,816.30 crore it was in Q2 FY23. This is largely attributed to the successful ramp-up of Aster’s new hospitals in India, initiated during the last two financial years. Aster also undertook various cost-saving initiatives, emphasizing its commitment to operational efficiency. Reflecting this, Aster’s EBITDA grew 21% on an year-on-year basis in Q2. However, the healthcare major reported a net loss of Rs 30.79 crore in Q2 of this fiscal as against a net profit of Rs 46.21 crore in Q2 FY23, due to a sharp increase in total expenses, primarily financing costs. Hence, post the publishing of the Q2 numbers, as a part of shedding debt, and focusing more on Indian operations, Aster DM divested its stake in its relatively more debt heavy GCC operations for $1 billion, with the proceeds expected to be distributed as dividend as well as being utilized for growth capital.

CAN FIN HOMES Q2 PROFIT UP BY 12%

Can Fin Homes Ltd, the housing finance associate of public sector lender Canara Bank, has registered an 11.5% year-onyear (YoY) rise in net profit at Rs. 158 crore for the second quarter of this fiscal. In the corresponding quarter last year, Can Fin Homes had posted a net profit of Rs. 141.7 crore. The housing finance specialist’s core business seems to be on a sound growth track, as seen from its Net Interest Income (NII) that jumped 26.1%, coming in at Rs 316.8 crore against Rs. 251.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY23. However, the HFC’s asset quality slipped slightly with its gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio standing at 0.76% in the September quarter as against 0.63% in the June quarter. Net NPA (NNPA) ratio came in at at 0.43% as against 0.34% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Still, Can Fin Homes remains a top performer in asset quality compared with almost all its peers.

CITY UNION BANK’S Q2 INTEREST INCOME GROWS BY 10%

Tamil Nadu headquartered City Union Bank (CUB) has registered a 10% growth in its Interest Income grew to Rs. 1,304 crore during the second quarter. The traditional private sector bank’s Non-Interest Income also grew by 5% to touch Rs. 182 crore. Based on both of these, City Union Bank’s Total Income during the July-September period increased to Rs 1,486 crore as against Rs 1,355 crore in the same quarter a year ago, which is a rise of 9.7%. However, City Union’s Net Interest Income (NII), which is the difference between the interest obtained and interest given, declined by Rs. 30 crore to Rs. 538 crore

on a YoY basis. This sluggishness in NII also resulted in City Union Bank registering only a marginal rise in net profit during Q2, to Rs. 281 crore from the Rs. 276 crore it was during the corresponding period of the last fiscal. On the asset quality front, the bank performed reasonably well with improved recovery and reduced slippages. The effect of the fresh slippages of Rs. 225 crore was offset by the cash recovery which stood at Rs. 299 crore. Post the results, City Union Bank’s MD & CEO N Kamakodi has guided the market that, going forward, the bank expects the recoveries to be more than the slippages. The bank’s net non-performing assets (NNPA) ratio declined to 2.34% from 2.69% on a YoY basis. Its gross nonperforming assets (GNPA) ratio was a mixed bag with it worsening to 4.66% of total advances from 4.36% on a YoY basis, but improving from 4.91% on a sequential or QoQ basis. The bank made a provision of Rs. 293 crore as against Rs. 402 crore in Q2 of last fiscal, with Provision Coverage Ratio (PCR) rising to 71% from 66%. Total business at City Union grew to Rs. 96,402 crore from Rs. 92,580 crore, with advances growing to Rs. 43,688 crore from Rs. 42,702 crore. Deposits grew to Rs. 52,714 crore, with Current Account & Savings Account (CASA) standing at Rs. 15,590 or 30% of all deposits. The bank is well capitalized for growth with a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 22.21%. Under the visionary leadership of MD & CEO N Kamakodi, the bank has successfully weathered the pandemic and NPA storms, and is now aiming for double digit business growth in the current fiscal itself, with deposit and credit growth to be in tandem.

UCO BANK MARKS TURNAROUND WITH Q2 PROFIT RISING OVER 80% Qo

PSU lender UCO Bank has registered an over 80% growth in its net profit to Rs. 402 crore for the quarter ended September 2023 from the Rs. 223 crore it recorded in the preceding quarter ending June 30 2023. This marks a strong turnaround in the Kolkota headquartered bank’s bottomline which had hit an atypical bottom in Q1 of this fiscal due to the confluence of multiple factors. However, the leading public sector lender couldn’t surpass the profit level it achieved in Q2 of last fiscal. UCO Bank had reported a net profit of ¹ 505 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, which makes the current Q2’s profit 20% down. But the Total Income of the UCO Bank during the July-September period rose to Rs. 5,866 crore from Rs. 4,965 crore in

the year-ago period. Interest Income during Q2 FY24 also rose to Rs. 5,219 crore as against Rs. 4,185 crore, signaling that the bank has started its turnaround on a yearon-year basis too, with it yet to be reflected only in its bottomline. Improving asset quality also bore witness to this turnaround, with the bank’s gross NPA (GNPA) ratio dipped to 4.14% compared to the over 6.58% it was in the previous fiscal. Net NPA (NNPA) ratio too came down to 1.11% as compared to 1.99% a year ago. Post the results, UCO Bank’s MD & CEO Ashwani Kumar has guided the market that the bank is aiming at bringing down NNPA below 1% by the end of this fiscal itself. The bank’s total provisioning for Q2 stood at Rs. 336 crore, down from Rs. 400 crore during last fiscal. Generally for banks the second half of the year (H2) witnesses better recoveries and upgrades, and UCO Bank has also followed this pattern generally. This time around, the bank is aiming for Rs 2,000 crore in recoveries and upgrades during H2FY24. During the second quarter, UCO Bank has sanctioned around Rs 14,000 crore of corporate loans with Rs. 9000 crore in disbursements, and more than topline growth the bank is now aiming for sanctions that are of better quality or in other words accretive to its current margins. UCO Bank is a key player in India’s overseas transactions and it has opened six Vostro accounts, including with five Russian banks, including large ones like Russian Regional Development Bank, Russian Universal Banking, Exobank, Moscow Bank as well as with Belarus Bank and for Gazprom.

Federal Bank Q2 Net Up Over 3 Subsidiary Fedfina Lists Succes

35%, ssfully

Private sector lender Federal Bank has performed well in Q2 according to the guidance provided at the end of Q1. Under its MD & CEO Shyam Srinivasan’s experienced leadership, the bank is now gearing up for an even better Q3 and Q4. The ongoing third quarter also saw the successful listing of its subsidiary Fedbank Financial Services through its IPO. The bank has registered a 35.5% year-on-year surge in net profit at Rs. 954 crore in Q2, powered by multiple factors led by lower provisions. Federal Bank’s other income grew 20% year-on-year to Rs. 730 crore, and its net interest income (NII) grew 17% y-o-y to Rs. 2,056 crore in the second quarter, signaling healthy performance in its core lending business. Federal Bank maintained its profitability with net interest margin (NIM), rising one basis point QoQ to 3.16%. The traditional private sector lender noted for its conservative stance even while pushing for growth, saw its asset quality improving as its gross bad loans (GNPA) ratio dipped to 2.26%, from 2.38% in the June quarter and 2.46% in the September quarter of FY23. Federal Bank’s total provisions were at Rs. 371 crore, down 27% year on year. On the deposits and advances front, the bank continued to be a strong player in Q2. The bank’s gross advances stood at Rs. 1,96,000 crore as on 30 September, as against Rs. 1,64,000 crore on 30 September 2022, registering a growth of 20%. The bank’s wholesale book stood at Rs. 87,788 crore, and retail loans were at Rs. 1,08,000 crore. Federal Bank’s total deposits increased 23% y-o-y to reach Rs. 2,33,000 crore, of which, the Current Account and Savings Account (CASA) deposits reached Rs. 72,589 crore as on 30 September. While CASA deposits showed a growth of 5% over the same period last year, CASA ratio dipped 524 basis points to 31.17% owing to other deposits outpacing it. This is more of a reflection on how finely calibrated is the bank’s deposit interest policy to compensate for the current inflationary pressures.

GIC RE’S GROSS WRITTEN PREMIUM J STOCK CONTINUES STRONG UPTREN

JUMPS 32%, D IN Q3

It is said that profits move stocks up, and losses push them down into pits. But here is a gravity defying stock that shoots up when its profits are falling! General Insurance Corporation of India Ltd., more commonly known by its brand name, GIC Re, is India’s national reinsurer, besides having a substantial and ever growing global reinsurance business. Being primarily in the reinsurance business, it is highly sensitive to mass catastrophes be it pandemics or floods or earthquakes. That is how it swung to losses in FY’20, but since then it has been on a remarkable turnaround. But the advent of more recent disasters including the unprecedented Sikkim floods have taken the sheen off its profits in Q1 and Q2 of this fiscal. But the surprising fact is that it has not affected its stock price trajectory, with it getting only accelerated. In fact, the stock price had an exponential rise of over 50% in the recent months. One reason for this phenomenon is how well GIC Re has been conducting both its core business as well as its substantial investment operations. Secondly, while disasters affect profits of reinsurers, it ultimately creates more insurance policies and more reinsurance business for companies like GIC Re. For instance, GIC Re has reported a net profit of Rs 1605 crore for the quarter ended September 2023, which is a decline of 14% from Rs 1860 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

However, in the same period it registered a 32% increase in gross written premium to Rs 10762 crore, from the Rs 8106 crore it was in the corresponding quarter last year. There was also a slight decrease in the combined ratio by 1.75%, which reveals an improvement in the underwriting and operational efficiencies. Investment Income of GIC Re for the first half year of this fiscal was Rs 5,590.37 crore as compared to Rs 5,111.19 crore for the corresponding half year of last fiscal. GIC Re’s net worth too is on an upswing, with H1 net worth being Rs 36,498.86 crores as against Rs 31,091.00 crore in H1 of last fiscal. There has been a topmost level leadership change at GIC Re recently, with it appointing Ramaswamy Narayanan as Chairman and Managing Director, effective from October 1. Narayanan had joined GIC Re as a direct recruit officer in 1988 and has since managed a full spectrum of non-life insurance classes, including Fire, Engineering, Miscellaneous, Motor, Liability, Aviation, Marine, and Agriculture. Earlier, he had also headed GIC Re’s UK branch, where he played a key role in the establishment of the Lloyds syndicate of GIC. The ongoing Q3 will be the first reporting quarter under the new CMD’s leadership.

JYOTHY LABS’ Q2 NET RIS STOCK CONTINUES ITS DR

SES OVER 59%, REAM RUN FMCG major Jyothy Labs has registered a consolidated net profit of Rs 103.98 crore for the second quarter, which is up 59.1% from the Rs 65.35 crore it was in the corresponding period last year. At a time when many FMCG majors are struggling to grow revenue, the owner of leading brands including Ujala, Exo, Pril, Margo etc also registered a 11.09% year-on-year rise in consolidated revenue from operations at Rs 732.34 crore compared with Rs 659.20 crore year ago. EBIDTA for the quarter was at Rs 135 crore growing by 69%, driven mainly by EBIDTA margin expanding to 18.5% percent from 12.1% in the year ago period. The performance speaks volumes about the leadership prowess of MR Jyothy, Managing Director, Jyothy Labs. Under her guidance, Jyothy Labs has focused on continuously

expanding their distribution footprint, which has resulted in consistent growth in revenues and profits. The Jyothy Labs stock too has been on an upswing, and in the recent quarters the stock price growth has turned exponential, doubling in this fiscal itself. Of its various product segments, fabric care sales increased by 10.6%, dishwashing products by 10% and the personal care segment, which includes body soap and toothpaste, witnessed an impressive 22.3% growth year-on-year. The weakest growth was in household insecticides, including mosquito repellent coils, liquid vaporizers, and incense sticks, where sales increased only by 3.4%. Overall, Jyothy Labs under the dynamic leadership of MR Jyothy has managed impressive feats like zero debt and a return on equity above 15%.

KALYAN JEWELLERS Q2 STOCK REMAINS IN STR

2 HEALTHY, RONG UPTREND Kalyan Jewellers has delivered yet another quarter of strong growth. For the second quarter, the Thrissur, Kerala headquartered jeweller with a pan India presence, as well as a sizable footprint in the Middle East, recorded a consolidated revenue growth of over 27% YoY. The consolidated net profit for the quarter grew 27.6% from Rs. 105 crore to Rs. 134 crore YoY. For the first half of the ongoing financial year. Kalyan posted a revenue growth of 29% YoY. Kalyan Jewellers’ stock has been on a strong uptrend in the recent quarters with it more than tripling in value during the past 12 months.Kalyan’s India operations performed better than the overseas business, with it clocking a revenue growth of 32% on account of healthy same-store-sales growth across key domestic markets as well as the launch of new shops in the non-South regions. For the first half of the current financial year, the domestic revenue growth was 33%, when compared to H1 of last fiscal. Kalyan had successfully forayed into franchised showrooms, and while this has been a driver of revenue growth, it has also resulted in the blended gross margin declining both YoY and QoQ. Kalyan has traditionally been a South India based jeweller, but this is fast changing with non-south markets recording higher revenue growth due to the greater number of showrooms launched in that region over the last twelve months. Kalyan Jewellers added 13 new branded showrooms across non-south markets during the second quarter. Keeping to its guidance given earlier, Kalyan is continuing a fast-paced showroom rollout plan. Coming to its overseas business, revenue growth for Q2 was around 4% YoY, while for the first half taken together, it stood at 13% YoY. In Middle East too, Kalyan has begun its franchised showroom model, with the first such showroom getting launched during Q2. Middle East contributed 14% to Kalyan’s consolidated revenue for the quarter.

GWP OF NEW INDIA ASSURAN GROWS 6.20%, HEALTH AND MOTOR PORTFO REGISTERS GROWTH

NCE

OLIO

The Gross Written Premium (GWP) of India’s largest general insurance company increased by 6.20% in the second quarter to Rs 9397.2 crore from Rs 8848.41 crore of the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal year. However, the country’s only listed PSU general insurer registered a one-off loss in Q2 amounting to Rs 199.99 crore as compared to a net profit of Rs 33.45 crore in the year ago period, mainly due to CAT losses due to floods, as well as a rare confluence of multiple domestic and international factors. The net profit of the non-life insurance major was Rs 260.23 crore in the first quarter of financial year 2024. Since the Q2 loss was a one-off event, Chairman & Managing Director Neerja Kapur is confident of New India Assurance bouncing back soon, supported by its growing motor and health portfolios. Other factors that contributed to this quarter’s loss include higher expenses. The expenses of the general insurer jumped 20.84% to Rs 10652.83 crore in the reporting quarter from Rs 8815.39 crore yoy, mainly due to increase in the operating expenses, commissions & brokerage. Apart from the higher expenses and CAT loss due to the floods amounting to Rs 301 crore, the aviation portfolio also took a Rs. 50 crore hit. The foreign operations also reported losses of about Rs. 71 crore due to risk losses in Dubai operations and CAT losses in UK operations. Despite such setbacks, there remain many positives for New India Assurance, one being the agency channel starting to grow at a healthy pace. Shrugging off the one-off losses due to CAT issues, the market took New India Assurance stock to exponential levels in Q2 and especially in Q3 after the results were announced.

LIC HOUSING FINANCE’S Q2 PROFIT ZOOMS FOUR-FO

OLD

Leading housing finance company, LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL) has registered an almost four-fold jump in Q2 net profit at Rs 1,188 crore, year-on-year. The housing finance subsidiary of LIC of India, also recorded an 83% year-on-year rise in its core Net Interest Income to Rs 2,107 crore in Q2. Apart from the topline and bottomline, growth was visible on margin parameters too. Net Interest Margin (NIM) expanded to 3.04% from 1.78% year-onyear which drove up pre-provision operating profit. Improvement in NIM was led by stable credit costs, which were limited to 60 basis points. This was despite technical write-offs of Rs 925 crore during the quarter, mainly from developer loans. On the asset quality front, there was overall improvement led by LICHFL’s gross nonperforming assets (GNPA) ratio improving to 4.3% from 4.9%year on year. Net NPA (NNPA) ratio declined to 2.59% from 2.83%. There was a notable decline in Stage-3 exposed assets due to higher write-offs. LICHFL has guided the market on observed positive trends in the ongoing festival season, which should help it maintain the growth trajectory in Q3 & Q4. However, some challenges too were visible, especially the sluggish loan growth which stood at 6% year-on-year on a consolidated basis. Even when individual home loans only are considered, the loan book growth rate was only 8%. The challenge appears to be lower disbursements and higher rundown rates, which the company needs to address and provide guidance on going forward. On a sequential or QoQ basis, LIC Housing Finance’s disbursements stood at Rs 14,665 crore for the second quarter, as against Rs 16,786 crore for the first quarter. The home loan major’s total expenses also increased 12%, including an 18% rise in finance costs.

NBCC’S EBITDA & MARGINS UP IN Q2

NBCC, the construction and real estate development major, has registered a mixed set of numbers for the second quarter. The PSU firm’s Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) was up 8% at Rs 95.5 crore, while its margin was up at 4.7% percent, both YoY. However, the revenue growth of the company in the second quarter was flattish, just up by 1.2% at Rs 2,053.3 crore, as against Rs 2,029.7 crore, YoY. Also, the company posted a 16.7% fall in its second quarter net profit at Rs. 79.6 crore as against Rs 95.5 crore in the same quarter last year. The fall in profit was mainly due to higher provisioning against a Gurugram project that has run into trouble, and with the company undertaking to refund the advances from homebuyers there. The said project is a residential real estate project, NBCC Green View, for which the company has since then followed technical directions from IIT Delhi for corrective measures, and is now in the process of amicable settlement

with homebuyers under the aegis of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). But on the orders front, NBCC continued to register reasonably strong order wins. In the first month of the ongoing Q3, the construction major won an Rs 80-crore order from the Visakhapatnam Port Authority. The order is for the renovation and refurbishment of office buildings located at Visakhapatnam Port. It also won an order worth Rs 25.19 crore from Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities (Divyangjan), AYNISHD, Mumbai, for the construction of a permanent building of their newly approved composite regional center at Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh. NBCC is also planning to monetise some of its commercial and residential projects across the country to raise around Rs 600 crore by the end of 2024. The company’s stock has soared by more than 2.5 times during the last 12 months, even though it is yet to scale its previous highs.

SKM EGG PRODUCTS DELIVERS A STRONG QUARTER, STOCK CONTINUES MULTIBAGG PERFORMANCE

, GER

SKM Egg Products Export (India) Limited, the leading egg powder exporter from India has registered a strong set of growth numbers for the second quarter of this fiscal. The Tamil Nadu headquartered egg processor revenue was up by 9.5% at Rs. 170 crore, on a year-on-year basis. SKM Egg Products’ profit margin surged to 16% in the second quarter from the 7.6% it was in the corresponding period of last fiscal. Driven by revenue growth and margin expansion, the net profit soared 134% year-on-year to touch Rs. 28.41 crore. The Earnings Per Share of the listed player also shot up by an identical percentage, as there was no dilution during these intervening 12 month period. Earlier, in Q1, SKM Egg Products had delivered an even higher set of numbers, making this H1 one of the best ever performances from this unique player in egg processing exports. In the first quarter, SKM’s revenue had shot up over 61%, while its profits and EPS had went over the roof to the tune of 417%. Still, when the Q2 results came, this egg processor that exhibits some amazing capabilities in the egg processing industry, demonstrated growth on a sequential or quarteron-quarter basis too. While revenue was up by over 11%, net profit had managed to spike over 18% QoQ. With such stunning fundamental performance during the past 12 months, the firm led by industry pioneer and veteran SKM Shree Shivkumar as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, had a dream run in the bourses, appreciating by over 4.6 times during the past 52 Weeks.

NITTE DEEMED UNIVERSITY

OVER FOUR DECADES OF CONSISTENT PROGRESS IN ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE Under the visionary leadership of its Founder Chancellor N Vinaya Hegde, Pro Chancellors Vishal Hegde and Prof. Dr. Shantharam Shetty, and Vice Chancellor Dr MS Moodithaya, Nitte Deemed-tobe University has been ranked among India’s Top 100 universities for the 5th consecutive year in the NIRF rankings, and it has also jumped 10 ranks this year to the 65th position. Two of Nitte’s eminent scientists Dr Indrani Karunasagar and Dr Iddya Karunasagar have also bagged top ranks of 11 and 13 respectively in the field of microbiology by Research.com. Nitte alumni like Vidya Kamath Pailodi and Dr. Saritha Arunkumar have brought global accolades to the university recently, while on the national stage two of Nitte students have won the 1st and 6th rank in the Joint CSIR-UGC NET Examination under the Life Sciences category.

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iebel Scholars program needs no introduction among cutting-edge universities in the world and their graduate students and startup entrepreneurs. Established by the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation in 2000, the Siebel Scholars program selects around 90 graduate students each year from some of the finest universities in the world to be a Siebel Scholar. So far only 1800 Siebel Scholars have been selected and they form an elite club of researchers, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists and top rung of managers.

N Vinaya Hegde Chancellor

There are only 16 universities from which Siebel Scholars have so far been selected and they include prestigious names like Harvard, Stanford, John Hopkins, MIT, Princeton, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, Wharton, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which is also incidentally the alma mater of billionaire businessman Thomas Siebel, one of the world’s most successful tech entrepreneurs who founded Siebel Systems which was later acquired by Oracle. Recently, the Siebel Scholars Foundation announced its 2024 Class of Siebel Scholars, honouring 83 exceptional graduate students from top universities around the world in the fields of bioengineering, business, energy science, and computer science. Five Computer Science students from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were named to this year’s class, and among them is Vidya Kamath Pailodi, a second-year graduate student working with Professor George Chacko to explore the field of Computational Scientometrics. Before arriving at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Vidya worked as a software engineer in the thermotechnology department at Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions in Bengaluru, India. This was shortly after Vidya graduated as a Gold Medalist in ECE from the NMAM Institute of Technology in Nitte, India where she earned an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Vidya’s achievement is something about

which Nitte Deemed University can be proud of as Nitte Mahalinga Adyanthaya Memorial Institute of Technology (NMAMIT) is a constituent engineering college of Nitte Deemed University. This achievement is all the more impressive as 4 out of the 5 students from University of Illinois who won this prestigious scholarship are from India, from prestigious institutions including IIT Indore, IIIT Hyderabad & Manipal Institute of Technology.

Oscars of Engineering.

Vidya’s and Nitte Group’s achievement in this regard is by no means a one-off phenomenon on the world stage. Recently, Dr. Saritha Arunkumar who holds the position of IBM’s Public Cloud World Wide Technical Leader in Security, in the United Kingdom, won the prestigious award, The Princess Royal Silver Medal, often called the

Earlier, Dr. Saritha has been recognised as an IBM Master Inventor, an IBM Super Hero, Financial Times' Top 100 BAME Technology Leaders Award, and The Inc Magazine’s Top 10 Business Women to Follow in 2022. Her achievement of winning the The Princess Royal Silver Medal is regarded as an achievement for India, and of course for Nitte Group as

Bestowed by the United Kingdom’s Royal Academy of Engineering, the award was presented to Dr. Saritha by none other than HRH Princess Anne, Sister of King Charles, in London. The award was in recognition of this leading cyber-security expert’s invaluable and critical contributions to shaping security in emerging areas such as the cloud, blockchain, and biometrics.

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Dr. Saritha had graduated from the NMAM Institute of Technology in 2000 as an Electronics & Communication Engineer, and was also the topper of her batch. Vidya’s and Dr. Saritha’s education and grooming at NMAM Institute of Technology happened much before it became a constituent college of Nitte University. But this only goes on to add further sheen to the farsighted vision and care accorded by Nitte Educational Trust led by its Chancellor N Vinaya Hegde, years or even decades before it became a formal university. Nitte Deemed University is a part of Nitte Group run by Nitte Education Trust, which was founded in 1979 by Justice Kowdoor Sadananda Hegde, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Offering education in diverse areas of learning, Nitte today offers a total of 130+ programs including medicine, engineering, management, hospitality, allied health sciences, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, physiotherapy, speech and audiology, media & communication and architecture. The Trust has established 40+ institutions spread across three campuses at Nitte, Mangalore and Bangalore and has over 20,000+ students and 4500+ faculty in its campuses. Equipping its students for outperformance continues even to this day at Nitte University. In the national level Joint CSIR-UGC National Eligibility

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Vishal Hegde Pro Chancellor Test (NET) exam conducted a few months back, a total of 78,168 students had appeared under the Life Sciences category. NET exam is conducted to determine the eligibility for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and Lectureship (LS) / Assistant Professor post in Indian universities and colleges. Among these over 78,000 students who appeared under the life sciences category, there were students from the Nitte University Centre for Science Education & Research (NUCSER) too. And guess who won the national level top ranks? Twin sisters, Rhea Kishore and Reena Kishore, MSc Biomedical Science students at NUCSER, achieved the 1st

Prof. Dr. Shantharam Shetty Pro Chancellor

and the 6th Rank nationally! It was an incredible performance by these Nitte students as Rhea scored a total percentile of 99.94 whereas Reena scored 99.66. Both of them were mentored at the university by Dr. Akshath US, Scientist G-II, and Dr. Anirban Chakraborty, Professor & Director of NUCSER, and the achievement of these twin sisters has become another proud moment in these recent times for Nitte University. Such mentoring in both the academic and leadership aspects is a culture that permeates the entire university starting from the very top rungs. Vice Chancellor

there were only three to four orthopaedics, including myself, in Mangaluru, while at present, there are over 200 orthopaedics in the city, which is a tremendous growth in this field. Yes, we all want to earn money but always remember to serve your patient first and then think of money. Practice for need and not for greed,” added Dr Shantharam Shetty.

N Vinaya Hegde and Pro Chancellor Vishal Hegde have been known to intervene for the student community at every appropriate forum. Such an instance happened during the university’s 2022 convocation, when Vinaya Hegde requested UGC Chairman and Chief Guest Prof. Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar to upgrade the Mechanical, Civil and Electrical Engineering courses with components from computing and electronics to make them relevant at the changing workplace. NMAMIT that produced winners like Vidya and Dr. Saritha today offers both conventional and advanced engineering branches like Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Robotics & AI, Biotechnology, Civil, Computer & Communication, Electrical & Electronics, Electronics & Communication, Information Science, Mechanical Engineering etc. Pursuit of values is another dimension where the Nitte University leaders excel, starting right from the Chancellor. Recently, pioneering orthopaedic

Dr MS Moodithaya Vice Chancellor surgeon and Pro Chancellor of Nitte University, Prof. Dr. Shantharam Shetty, who was the Chief Guest of OASISCON 2023, a 3-day Conference Of Orthopaedic Associations Of Six South Indian States Hosted By Karnataka Orthopaedic Association, delivered such a value based lesson for fellow orthopaedic surgeons. Said the Nitte Pro Chancellor, “During those years (when I started my practice),

Startup incubation is another domain where Nitte University is starting to make impressive gains. Recently, an innovative betel leaf tea bag product was developed by young startup entrepreneur Sandeep Eshanya with the support of Nitte University’s DST Technology Enabling Center and Dr Mamatha BS, an expert in food technology and faculty at Nitte University Center for Science Education and Research. While the nutritional value of betel leaf is noteworthy, being rich in fibre, vitamins A, B, C and minerals like calcium, iron and potassium, it was an arduous and time-consuming process that took several iterations of laboratory studies and consumer acceptance trials to ready a process for preparing tea bags from betel leaves without losing nutrients, medicinal properties and in the original flavour as well as incorporating additional flavours as per user preference. Entrepreneur Sandeep Eshanya was all praise for Nitte University’s support, when he said, “NITTE University boosted my confidence when I pitched my idea. They have been a constant support to convert my dream into reality. I have now sent samples to 10 countries such as Sri Lanka, United States, UK and many more.” There is more to Nitte University’s support for such startup entrepreneurs than in product development. Under the guidance of Prof. Dr Iddya Karunasagar, Advisor - Research and Patents, at Nitte University, the process of producing the betel leaf tea bags has been protected by a shared patent, and Nitte University has authorised Eshanya Beverages, the concerned start-up to commercialise the technology through an agreement, so that the product is effectively made available in the Indian and overseas markets. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Nitte Deemed University also has a robust research program that offers Fulltime and Part time Ph.D Course in the faculties of Medicine (including PreClinical, Para-Clinical & Clinical), Dentistry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Allied Health Science, Nursing, Biological Sciences, Speech & Hearing, Engineering, Commerce & Management, Applied Sciences, Business Administration and Humanities. Meritorious Full Time candidates receive Nitte PhD Fellowships of Rs. 20,000/- per month as per the University’s guidelines. Nitte takes the quality element of its PhD program quite seriously, and there is an impressive lineup of Research Guides, and the selection of candidates is based on a national-level entrance test, statement of purpose and personal interview. Nitte University organises various workshops and seminars to bring industry experts right into the campus. A similar workshop to mark the World Food Safety Day was organised by Nitte DST Technology Enabling Center in association with CII, FSSAI & KCCI, and was moderated by Nitte faculty Dr. Indrani Karunasagar. She emphasised the need to understand the basis for food safety standards and the best practices that food business operators from farm to plate need to follow to comply with the standards. The discussions covered improving food hygiene and food safety in all segments of the food industry including street vendors, quality control, certifications and accreditations required by food

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testing laboratories. Nitte is also forever forging meaningful tie-ups with select industry majors in training and certification for the employability of its students. A few months back it forged such a tie-up with upGrad Campus, the higher education arm of upGrad, one of Asia’s largest integrated career skilling, workforce development & placement companies.Under this collaboration, UpGrad Campus will support Nitte BTech students with one of the hottest coding skills today - Full Stack Development (FSD) - so that they are adept with the tech requirements of the modern day workplace. Spread over a period of 4 years, the FSD specialisation begins in the first year integrated within the university

curriculum and has been designed for engineering aspirants who aim to build a career in the Information Technology domain. It will cover around 1400 hours of learning content with over 300 live sessions, 11 projects and case studies, in sync with the B.Tech syllabus to ensure learners get higher experiential learning. It will also encourage live & interactive faculty engagements, alumni networking, and industry-specific sessions/simulations to enhance the overall subject understanding to further enable them with the expertise required to succeed in the said industry. The tieup is aimed at making Nitte students stand out from the lakhs of Engineering students in India. Management education is another domain where Nitte Deemed University is a force to reckon with, thanks to its longstanding experience through its Justice KS Hegde Institute of Management (JKSHIM). This highly ranked MBA institute recently welcomed its 26th batch of MBA students, with a unique value-add. A guest of honour at the event was former alumni Sajan Murali, who is now the CEO of Turtle Wax Media Ltd. Sajan belongs to the 1999-2001 batch of MBA at JKSHIM, and called upon the current batch of MBA aspirants to focus on imbibing the soft skills.

JKSHIM which recently celebrated its Silver Jubilee, had Dr. Debashis Chatterjee, Director, IIM Kozhikode, delivering the Silver Jubilee lecture on the theme of ‘Leadership Challenges'. Noting that Nitte Founder Justice KS Hegde was a visionary with values, Dr. Chatterjee said, “Principle and value centred leadership is the need of the hour. Life has no meaning without values and principles. Integrity is the hallmark of life. These virtues need to be imbibed during schooling and college days.” Bengaluru based Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT), which is promoted by Nitte Education Trust, but which is not technically part of Nitte Deemed University yet, recently hosted its 1st International IEEE conference on ‘Networks, Multimedia and Information Technology’, NMITCON 2023. Sponsored by the AICTE, the conference brought together experts and enthusiasts from across the domain of information technology, including AICTE Chairman Dr. T. G. Sitharaman, Dr. David Camacho from the Technical University Of Madrid, Spain, and Ms. Namrata Dutta, Senior IT Auditor, from Mumbai, whose keynote addresses at the event was a great source of inspiration to the participants. Authors from countries including the USA, the UK, and Germany, and also from premier Institutions like IISc., IITs, IIITs,

and NITs presented their papers at this Conference. Also marking the occasion was the inauguration of the AICTE-IDEA Lab by Dr. T. G. Sitharaman. The focus of the lab is to encourage students to apply Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fundamentals on ideas for enhanced hands-on experience and even product development. The AICTE has also sanctioned Rs.15 lakh to NMIT to help establish the lab. Nitte Institute of Communication (NICO), another constituent college of Nitte Deemed University, is also acing its game above peers with international industry certifications. Recently, it received the prestigious Godox Certification under which Godox, a world leader in professional and studio

quality lighting, will conduct workshops on lighting for students, where they will learn from the Godox Team about latest lighting techniques and practices. With this tie-up, NICO has become India’s Only Godox Certified Training Centre. Besides the Godox partnership, NICO also hosts workshops by experts in photography, feature writing, video editing, VFX, and short filmmaking. These workshops give students exposure to real-world challenges and opportunities in the media industry. Besides offering five comprehensive programs in media and communication, the institution also organises the Nitte International Film Festival (NIFF), which is one among the few student-managed film festivals in the country. Nitte communication students thus get an opportunity to interact with filmmakers, technicians, actors, cinematographers, scriptwriters who participate in the festival, which is so characteristic of the way Nitte Deemed University grooms all its students. With such initiatives across the campus and all its constituent colleges, it is no wonder really that MNCs and large Indian corporates have been placing students from Nitte Campus. These include renowned names like Mercedes Benz, Toyota Kirloskar Motors, Hitachi, ABB Power Grids, Juniper Networks, Intel, Novo Nordisk, L&T Technology Services, Syngene International, JSW Group, Prestige Construction, JK Cement etc. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

replacement," says Chapman. 3. They don't take a long time The latest study found blood pressure reducing benefits from doing just four twominute contractions a few times a week. Compared to a 60 minute class, that's pretty damn impressive bang for your buck.

How to do isometric exercises Isometric exercises may be all about stillness, but that doesn't make them easy. Instead, you have to focus on contracting the muscles and working against gravity - hard work. Most of us will have to build up to longheld moments of stillness, says Chapman. "The easiest approach is to pause at the highest point of tension, for example pausing for three to five seconds at the bottom of your squat and building up over time until you can hold a wall sit for minutes.This technique helps to build mind-body connection allowing you to recruit your muscles more efficiently – improving the way you move in daily life," she explains. If you want to do isometric work separately, you are best pairing it on the end of more dynamic work to ensure your muscles are ready and warm. "You might choose to hold a plank at the end of your workout for 20-60 seconds or as long as you can maintain proper form," says Chapman. Holding time does matter. "The length of time you should hold an isometric exercise for will vary depending on ability and desired result and there is nothing set in stone. I advise holding for a long as you can without compromising your form," explains Chapman. Remember: improvements come from progressive overload, so hold for longer as you get stronger.

4 best isometric exercises to adopt 1. Side plank "This is one of my favourite core exercises as it works key muscle groups often neglected when you think core - your hips, shoulders and obliques all work together to improve balance, posture and stability," explains Chapman. The side plank puts less stress on your lower back than the front plank, the expert goes on, SEASONAL MAGAZINE

so if you have a weak back this is an excellent option. "Having a strong core is crucial in improving and preventing back injury and pain," says Chapman. Aim for 45 seconds to a minute. Rest and repeat four to five times. 2. Wall sits Wall sits are - surprise, surprise - what the name suggests, a simple sit with your wall flat against a wall. "These are great as they work your glutes without putting stress on your knees and back," explains Chapman. "They also fire up your calves, quads and core. Used in rehabilitation to help you with everyday activities like standing up from a seated position or climbing stairs." Aim for 45 seconds to a minute. Rest and repeat four to five times. 3. Glute bridge hold A simple yet effective exercise for building both core and glute strength. "This is a knee-friendly way to target your hamstrings and glutes - often neglected and hard to work - as well as strengthening your pelvic floor or rehabilitating conditions such as a prolapse. That improves your ability to perform everyday tasks and posture." 45 seconds to a minute. Rest and repeat four to five times. 4. Bear plank hold Last but by no means least, a beginner to intermediate exercise that requires only your bodyweight and works various muscles in your hips, glutes, and core. "I love, love, love this for full body strength," shares the PT. "It's an excellent exercise to engage the deep core muscles that stabilise the spine and pelvis. Remember to exhale on the effort move to the bear plank and inhale as you lower." Even just a three to fivesecond hold repeated ten times would be a great place to start, shares the expert. For a quick recap, what do isometric exercises do for the body? Good question. As above, they've recently been found to lower blood pressure, but alongside that, they can help build muscle tone, physical endurance, and strength. (Credit: Chloe Gray)

ZARA BILLIONAIRE ORTEGA BUYS CHICAGO APARTMENT TOWER FOR $232 MILLION Amancio Ortega, the billionaire founder of the Zara clothing chain, snapped up a luxury apartment building in Chicago for $232 million to add to his growing US property portfolio. Ortega’s family office Pontegadea acquired 727 West Madison from a joint venture of Ares Management and F&F Realty, according to a company spokesperson

GOOGLE TECHIE WORKS 1 HOUR A DAY, EARNS RS 1.2 CRORE A YEAR: A 20-something-year-old software engineer with Google has said that he works for only an hour a day and earns a salary of $150,000 (about Rs 1.2 crore) a year. What's more, the techie -- identified only by the pseudonym Devon -- received a signin bonus and is expecting a year-end bonus, Fortune reported.

CHINA URGENTLY NEEDS TO ADDRESS ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY - EU BUSINESS GROUP CHIEF The head of an influential European business lobby in China said Beijing needs to send a clear message on how it plans to revive its economy and provide clarity on a national security crackdown that is unnerving the foreign business community. The world's second-largest economy grew at a frail pace in the second quarter, prompting top leaders to promise further policy support and analysts to downgrade their growth forecasts for the year.

FITNESS

THE PERFECT PLANK EVER STRUGGLED WITH HOLDING A PLANK, WONDERING HOW MUCH LONGER YOU NEED TO KEEP ON GOING TO GET RESULTS? LET’S FIGURE IT OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Optimal plank duration: Now, coming to the big question — the answer isn’t that simple. Experts believe that maintaining proper form is crucial, even if it means holding the plank for a shorter time. Ideally, the length of time you should hold a plank for can vary from 10 seconds to a minute.

id you know there’s a simple yet highly effective isometric exercise that has gained immense popularity for its ability to sculpt a strong core, enhance posture, and improve overall body stability? Whether you are a fitness enthusiast or a beginner on the wellness journey, incorporating planks into your workout routine can yield remarkable results. But then, the biggest question that often arises is, "How long should you hold a plank to truly reap the benefits?" Before we get into details, let’s understand what a plank exercise is and how to perform it with perfection. What is planking? The plank exercise is a static corestrengthening workout that engages multiple muscle groups simultaneously. The primary target is the transverse abdominis (abdominal muscles extending between the ribs and the pelvis), which acts as a natural corset, supporting your spine and maintaining stability. Planks also engage the rectus abdominis

Beginners may start with 20-30 seconds and gradually work their way up to 1 minute or a little more. Once you are sure you’re in the right position, start with a comfortable time frame and gradually increase it. It's better to maintain proper form for a shorter duration than to compromise your technique for a longer time. Inhale and exhale deeply throughout the exercise. Proper breathing helps you maintain stability and control while holding the plank. (front of the abdomen), the obliques (side abdominal muscles), the erector spinae (back muscles), and the glutes. This comprehensive engagement makes planks a fundamental exercise for building a strong and stable core. How to perform a perfect plank? While many people focus on how long they can hold a plank, in reality, it is more important to perfect the posture while performing this exercise. Here’s how to tap into all those core strengthening and balancing benefits by performing the perfect plank. Begin on your hands and knees. Place your hands directly beneath your shoulders, slightly wider than shoulderwidth apart. Extend your legs straight behind you, balancing on your toes. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your heels. Engage your core muscles to prevent your hips from sagging or rising. Look down at the floor, with your gaze slightly in front of you. Now, tighten your abs, quads, glutes, and hold.

The benefits of planks: 1. Increased core strength: Planks are exceptional for building core strength. A strong core contributes to improved posture, reduced risk of back pain, and enhanced overall stability. 2. Improved posture: As you strengthen your core, your posture naturally improves. This can alleviate strain on the spine, reduce the risk of injuries, and boost your self-confidence. 3. Enhanced flexibility: Planks engage muscles that affect your flexibility, such as the shoulders, collarbone, and shoulder blades. Regular practice can lead to increased range of motion in these areas. 4. Increased muscle definition: Engaging multiple muscle groups during planks helps define not only your abs but also your back, shoulders, and glutes. 5. Injury prevention: By stabilising your spine and improving your core strength, planks can reduce the risk of lower back injuries and provide better support during other workouts. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

COVER STORY

HOW JGU STAYS AHEAD OF THE CURVE Imagine a higher education institution in India that brings together faculty from over 50 countries. No, not visiting or part-time faculty, but full-time faculty. A campus where students themselves come from 70+ countries. This deemed university in the National Capital Region - Delhi (NCR-Delhi) has also forged collaborations with leading institutions in 70+ countries so far to enable a truly international learning experience. With multiple

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engagements spanning over the world, this university based in Sonipat, Haryana, has collaborations with 400+ leading institutions worldwide. No wonder then that when the Government of India’s Ministry of Education chose a creamy layer of universities to be ‘Institutions of Eminence’ in 2020, O.P. Jindal Global (JGU) was a natural choice. Today, JGU offers a variety of programmes to cater to the diverse needs of Indian and overseas students.

With over 45+ programmes available, including 30+ undergraduate programmes, 15+ postgraduate programmes, and doctoral programmes, JGU with its 12 Schools, 3 Research Institutes, 2 major Research Initiatives and 60+ Interdisciplinary Research Centres, is a force to reckon with in most domains, even on a global stage. JGU has unique institutions like the Jindal Institute of Leadership Development and Executive Education (JILDEE) under its fold. JILDEE has had unparalleled success in providing quality training and education to student officers of India’s public and private sectors. Since its inception, JILDEE has trained over 6,000 student officers and conducted 250 programmes in collaboration with 12 universities across the country. Eminent educational

institutions like JGU will invariably have eminent leaders and academicians behind them, and JGU is no exception with its Founder & Chancellor, Mr. Naveen Jindal, former Member of Parliament, billionaire industrialist and philanthropist, and its Founding Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, a Rhodes Scholar, trained at both Oxford & Harvard and an accomplished legal scholar with nine books and over 200 publications to his credit. JGU's 12th Convocation Ceremony and Founder's Day was held recently, for which the Presidential Address was by Hon. Mrs. Justice BV Nagarathna, Judge, Supreme Court of India, and the Convocation Address was by Dr. Joanna Newman, MBE FRSA, Chief Executive & Secretary General, Association of Commonwealth Universities, UK.

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uality is never an accident, and the emergence of O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) proves it yet again. A non-profit, multidisciplinary and research oriented university founded in 2009, JGU was established as a philanthropic initiative of its Founding Chancellor, Mr. Naveen Jindal in memory of his father, Shri. OP Jindal, who was one of India’s pioneering industrialists. JGU maintains a 1:9 faculty-student ratio and appoints faculty members from India and different parts of the world with outstanding academic qualifications and experience. Mr. Naveen Jindal, who was only 39 years old, when he decided to start a university, entrusted the job to an even younger scholar of eminence. The Founding Vice Chancellor of JGU, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, was appointed as VC at just 34 years, and conceived the idea of establishing India’s first Global University. With the visionary leadership and philanthropic support of Mr. Naveen Jindal, JGU was established in Sonipat, Haryana in 2009. Under this duo’s tireless leadership, within 10 years, JGU became one of the only 20 universities in India and the only nonSTEM university, to be declared as an ‘Institution of Eminence’ by the Government of India.

been recognised among the Top 150 universities globally under the age of 50 years by the QS Young University Rankings 2022 and among the Top 500 Universities as per the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022.

When it comes to global rankings, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is one of the world leaders and it has rightly recognized JGU under several categories. JGU is ranked as India’s Number 1 Private University in QS World University Rankings 2023, for the third year in a row. JGU has also

JGU has steadily grown in its 14 years of existence, to claim some impressive stats now. With 10,000+ students and 1100+ full time faculty members, studying and living on a fully residential campus, JGU has 12 renowned Schools, and a unique institute for Executive Education, the Jindal Institute of

Mr. Naveen Jindal Founder Chancellor

Leadership Development and Executive Education (JILDEE). The two other institutes at JGU are the International Institute for Higher Education Research & Capacity Building (IIHEd) and the Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (JIBS). The two research initiatives in the campus are Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition, and the Jindal Centre for Social Innovation + Entrepreneurship.

JINDAL GLOBAL LAW SCHOOL Jindal Global Law School (JGLS) has been the flagship Global School of JGU. In April 2023, JGLS retained its position as the No. 1 Law School in India as per the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023. JGLS is committed to provide global legal education to its students. To fulfil this objective, the curriculum and pedagogy are designed to give extensive exposure to domestic, international and comparative law courses. JGLS has also entered into collaborations, exchange programmes,

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research partnerships and other forms of engagements and interactions with leading law schools, such as Harvard, Yale, NYU, Sydney, Keio and many others. Prof. (Dr) C. Raj Kumar is the Dean of JGLS, and it delivers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level programmes.

JINDAL GLOBAL BUSINESS SCHOOL

Prof. (Dr.) Mayank Dhaundiyal Dean, JGBS

Jindal Global Business School (JGBS) is a leading private business school in the country renowned for its premier education in business management, with research and industry partnerships as high priority areas. JGBS offers a multidisciplinary global business education to foster academic excellence through industry partnerships and global collaborations, and seeks to make an impact through its various undergraduate, postgraduate, integrated and doctoral level programmes, as well as executive education, research and consulting. A globally focused faculty deliver globally relevant courses and curriculum, strengthened with global research and collaborations. Prof. (Dr) Mayank Dhaundiyal is the Dean of JGBS.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), founded in 2011, is India’s first global policy school, and has remained as its foremost international affairs institution. JGU established this pioneering institute, as India’s rising economic and military strength must be complemented with a world class

Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor

students are regularly finding placement in reputed think tanks, MNCs, Media and PR groups, UN and multilateral bodies, diplomatic missions, NGOs, and other such organisations. Dr. Sreeram Sundar Chaulia is the Dean of JSIA, which offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level programmes.

Prof. (Dr.) Sreeram S. Chaulia Dean, JSIA

international affairs and social sciences base that will generate and test theories and present a customised Indian variant of global studies. JSIA is enriched by its diverse faculty – comprising academics, scholars, researchers, social scientists, authors, practitioner lawyers and diplomats and other such eminent experts – drawn from both India and abroad. It is a matter of satisfaction that for many years running now, JSIA

JINDAL SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP) is India's first public policy school and strives to keep that lead. JSGP equips its students to become public policy practitioners, capable of constructively shaping public policies that contribute to overall human development, empower marginalised and disadvantaged groups, and eliminate poverty. JSGP faculty use their theoretical knowledge and practical expertise to deliver a multidisciplinary

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Prof. Sudarshan Ramaswamy Dean, JSGP pedagogy, whereas JSGP students will create, expand and assimilate this knowledge to become future leaders, pursuing interdisciplinary practice. Prof. Sudarshan Ramaswamy is the Dean of JSGP, which delivers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level programmes in public policy.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS & HUMANITIES

standard. The aim is to educate young adults to become informed citizens of the world who are best equipped to solve the complex problems of our times, approaching them from multiple perspectives and with creativity. Faculty chosen from some of the best institutions across the world facilitate rigorous classroom study combined with experiential learning. Prof. Kathleen Modrowski is the Dean of JSLH, which delivers four different undergraduate programmes and a postgraduate diploma programme. One of the undergraduate programmes is a unique four-year dual degree programme with Rollins College, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the United States.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & COMMUNICATION

Founded in 2013, Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities (JSLH), is India’s first transnational humanities school. The school provides an interdisciplinary liberal arts education of a global

schools or global media organisations or MNC communication departments, after the three BA (Hons.) programmes. JSJC provides a vibrant and scholarly setting for the study of journalism, film and new media studies. The JSJC studio with its extensive infrastructure including editing bays and sound labs enable the learning of practicals as well as theory making the students great storytellers in any global setting like radio, film, or TV production. Prof. Kishalay Bhattacharjee is the Dean of JSJC.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF BANKING & FINANCE Jindal School of Banking & Finance (JSBF) is a research-led, future oriented and interdisciplinary global school focused on developing a new generation of leaders for the financial services industry. With the increased sophistication of corporations and demand for competitive, complex, fast and reliable financial services and solutions on a national and global scale, there is a need for highly trained recruits in the areas of technology, innovation, analytics, finance, accounting and banking. The fundamental strength of

Prof. Kishalay Bhattacharjee Dean, JSJC

Prof. Kathleen A. Modrowski Dean, JSLH

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Jindal School of Journalism & Communication (JSJC) is the country's first global media school, with hands-on multimedia training, a rigorous writing programme in the interdisciplinary social sciences, making its students compatible with international media

Prof. (Dr.) Dayanand Pandey Dean, JSBF

JSBF is its cutting edge curriculum and interdisciplinary education with global exposure. Prof. (Dr) Dayanand Pandey is the Dean of JSBF, which delivers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level programmes in banking and finance related areas.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF ART & ARCHITECTURE The Jindal School of Art and Architecture (JSAA) has a vision and strategy to emerge as one of the foremost schools of learning of the visual, material and the built environments. The school follows internationally accepted best practices of the academia and is supported by an acclaimed faculty. JSAA pursues research and innovative excellence that fosters interdisciplinary research initiatives cutting across academic programmes, thereby allowing students and faculty to actively engage in addressing the most pressing issues facing our world today. JSAA has ample facilities including a fabrication lab, a construction yard & lab, an environment research lab and a digital centre. JSAA is headed by its Dean, Prof. (Dr) Jaideep Chatterjee, and offers undergraduate and

doctoral programmes as well as the unique Jindal Adelaide Architectural Pathway programme.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

Prof. Dr. Maharaj K. Pandit Dean, JSES.

Prof. (Dr.) Jaideep Chatterjee Dean, JSAA

perspective, through faculty drawn from around the world. The school provides interdisciplinary environment and sustainable development education through innovative teaching, impactdriven research, and practice-based engagement. The aim is to allow students to widen their horizon and develop skills required for solving the complex environment and sustainability challenges of our times. Interestingly, JSES offers two undergraduate programmes in Environment & Sustainable Development, as BA (Hons.) and BSc (Hons.) programmes. Prof. (Dr) Maharaj K. Pandit is the Dean of JSES.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY & COUNSELLING

The Jindal School of Environment & Sustainability (JSES) is India’s first environment and sustainability school for undergraduates. JSES fosters curriculum, research, and collaborations of the highest standards, and with a global

Prof. (Dr.) Derick Hall Lindquist Dean, JSPC

Jindal School of Psychology & Counselling (JSPC) has been developing a new generation of thought leaders in the fields of psychology and counselling thanks to the world-class interdisciplinary education delivered here, that enhances the students' prospects for employment and higher SEASONAL MAGAZINE

education. Students are encouraged to select from a large and customizable set of courses based on their specific interests. The research oriented faculty employs experiential and goal-based learning strategies based on a course curriculum structured along the latest theory and practice from the frontiers of psychology. Prof. (Dr) Derick Hall Lindquist is the Dean of JSPC.

JINDAL SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES & LITERATURE

collective future. JSLL currently offers two undergraduate programmes - BA Honours English and BA Honours Spanish. Prof. (Dr) Denys P. Leighton is the Dean of JSLL . Prof. (Dr.) Denys P. Leighton Dean, JSLL.

The Jindal School of Language and Literature (JSLL) provides an environment for holistic study of languages, literature and culture with organic connections to other JGU schools and centres. JSLL gives attention to not only multiple languages and their literatures but to comparative literature, world literature and cultural studies. Students in JSLL programmes will encounter not only languages and texts but other cultural forms such as performing arts and cinema. JSLL is devoted to the proposition that language and literature matter today more than ever for human fulfilment and a safe

JINDAL SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Professor (Dr.) Stephen P. Marks Dean, JSPH

The Jindal School of Public Health and Human Development (JSPH) was founded in 2020, right amidst the pandemic, and aspires to be a worldclass public health institution, that meets the constantly-evolving and dynamic needs of public health in India, and across the world. JSPH with its research driven approach and interdisciplinary studies aims to create leaders who can bring thought leadership to create a constantly-evolving, adaptable and sustainable public health ecosystem for India and the world. Prof. (Dr) Stephen P. Marks is the Dean of JSPH, which currently offers as its flagship programme, the Masters in Public Health (MPH), which is a highly innovative and specialised programme of study that leverages JGU’s extensive engagement in the field of public health in India.

JINDAL INSTITUTE OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES Established in 2014, the Jindal Institute of Behavioural Sciences (JIBS) stands as a cornerstone of value-driven research within JGU. This institute also proudly bears affiliation with the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS), as a testament to its international academic standing. Dedicated to the intricate realm of behavioural sciences, JIBS is committed to the pursuit of empirical research that interweaves various disciplines. With an unwavering emphasis on applied and

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Organizational Development, and Leadership. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Organizational Behaviour. He possesses an extensive and rich experience of 32 years in Academia, Industry and Governmental Sector. His industrial expertise and extensive research allow for a more pragmatic approach in teaching, thus narrowing the industryacademia gap.

Prof. (Dr.) Sanjeev P Sahni, Principal Director, JIBS experimental methodologies, JIBS’ primary spheres of exploration encompass a diverse array of subjects: mental health, competency mapping, neurosciences, neural decision sciences, psychobiology, management sciences, forensic studies, social psychology, and the complexities of criminal behaviour. Collaborating with leading scholars across an array of fields and working in concert with both domestic and international researchers, the JIBS’ mission is to understand the complexity of human behaviour. Through this multifaceted lens, JIBS addresses the pressing issues with a keen awareness of their interdisciplinary nature. Prof. (Dr.) Sanjeev P. Sahni is the Principal Director of JIBS. He is also the Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor of JGU and the Member of the Governing Body of the university. As a founding member of the management team, he was instrumental in establishing the university in the year 2009 along with the Vice Chancellor. Dr. Sahni fosters collaboration across the university and manages changes in policies and practices that affect the academic and administrative life of the university as a whole. He also serves as a Professor in the university and as the Director of the Centre for Victimology and Psychological Studies, Centre for Leadership and Change, and Centre for Community Mental Health. Dr. Sahni is a distinguished scholar in the field of Psychology and his research interests span in the areas of Criminal Psychology, Cognitive and Neuropsychology, Competency Mapping,

JINDAL INSTITUTE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND EXECUTIVE EDUCATION From its very outset, JGU’s motto has been ‘A Private University Promoting Public Service’, and this reflects in the university’s ethos to foster academic excellence, intellectual engagement and social responsibility, across all its schools, institutes and research initiatives. But nowhere is it more seen than in its executive education initiative, the Jindal Institute of Leadership Development and Executive Education (JILDEE). In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, the need for effective leaders has become more crucial than ever. With a vision to promote leadership development and executive education within various sectors, JILDEE collaborates with its 12 schools and national and international academic partners to provide topnotch programmes tailored to mid and senior-level career officers. These programmes cater to professionals in areas such as Financial Management, Law and Corporate Governance, Leadership and

Lt Gen Dr Rajesh Kochhar, Senior Director, JILDEE

Professional Development, Project and Process Management, Economics, Marketing and Sales, Technology, Innovation, Strategy, Government and Public Policy, Taxation, Diplomacy, and International Affairs. One of the main strengths of the executive education at JGU is its globally focused faculty. The faculty members are highly qualified and trained, with expertise drawn from leading institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and more. Their diverse backgrounds and experiences bring a global perspective to the programmes, enriching the learning experience for all participants. Some of the domains where JGU offers unparalleled expertise for executive education include Strategic Management, Technology Based Programmes, Quantitative Research Methods, IS and Analytics, Digital Transformation, Data Visualization, Machine Learning, AI, Leadership, Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management. A recent instance of JILDEE’s success was the first Online Certificate Executive Education Programme with CAG for 25 officers of a Maharatna Public Sector Undertaking, the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited. This programme was a resounding success and received positive feedback from all participants. In June 2023, JILDEE collaborated with Jindal School of Government and Public Policy (JSGP) to conduct an on-campus training programme for officers of the Indian Forest Service. The programme aimed to provide specialised training to officers in various areas such as forest conservation, wildlife management, and sustainable development. The programme was well-received by all participants and helped enhance their skills and knowledge in their respective fields. JILDEE’s commitment to providing quality education and training to student officers across India is SEASONAL MAGAZINE

commendable, as its efforts have helped bridge the gap between academia and industry, thereby creating a skilled workforce that is well-equipped to tackle the challenges of the future. The Chief Administrative Officer of JGU, Lt Gen Dr Rajesh Kochhar, also heads JILDEE as its Senior Director . The Office of Executive education in Jindal Global Business School (JGBS), provides programmes that are designed to tackle real-world business problems and enable executives to generate the best return on investment. JGU collaborates with industry practitioners, experts, and organisations to resolve real world business issues, build diverse capabilities, and prepare for a dynamic future.

THE OUTSTANDING SUPPORT FROM THE FOUNDER CHANCELLOR The outstanding DNA of a high-flying institution like JGU can definitely be traced back to its Founding Chancellor and Founding Vice Chancellor. JGU’s Founding Chancellor Mr. Naveen Jindal also serves as the Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited, and has been an active campaigner for population stabilisation, women’s empowerment, environmental conservation, healthcare and education. After graduating in Commerce from Hans Raj College, Delhi University, in 1990, Mr. Jindal completed his MBA at the University of Texas at Dallas in 1992. He was the President of the Student Government and recipient of the Student Leader of the Year Award at the University of Texas. Later on, as an

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acknowledgement of Jindal’s donations to his alma mater, the University of Texas at Dallas renamed its School of Management to Naveen Jindal School of Management in 2011. Mr. Naveen Jindal is most famous in India as the leader who won the right to display the National Flag on all days of the year for all Indians, after a protracted legal battle with state and central governments, that he finally won at the Supreme Court.

THE EMINENT VISION & SCHOLARSHIP OF THE FOUNDING VICE CHANCELLOR Founding Vice Chancellor of JGU, Prof. (Dr) C. Raj Kumar, was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford, UK, where he obtained his Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree; a Landon Gammon Fellowship at the Harvard Law School, USA, where he obtained his

Master of Laws (LLM) degree and a James Souverine Gallo Memorial Scholarship at Harvard University. Later on, he received his Doctor of Legal Science (SJD) from the University of Hong Kong. He has also obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Delhi, India; and a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree from the Loyola College, University of Madras, India. He served as a faculty member at the School of Law of City University of Hong Kong, where he taught for many years. Professor Kumar has held consultancy assignments in the field of human rights and governance. He has been a Consultant to the United Nations University (UNU), Tokyo; United Nations Development Program (UNDP); UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, Geneva; and the International Council for Human Rights Policy (ICHRP), Geneva. He has advised the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) in Sri Lanka and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in India on issues relating to corruption and good governance. Professor Kumar is also an Attorney at Law and is admitted to the Bar Council of Delhi, India, and the Bar of the State of New York, USA.

THE GANESHA COLLECTION BY LOTUS ARTS DE VIVRE IS AN ODE TO EXQUISITE CRAFTSMANSHIP BY THE DESIGN ATELIER

CULTURE, CUISINE AND TURKISH SPLENDOR CONVERGE AT THIS MULTIFACETED RESORT IN ABU DHABI.

The home decor collection features four beautiful variants of the much-loved God. Rolf Von Bueren, founder of Lotus Arts de Vivre, has a penchant for finding hidden surprises in Asian culture. Thanks to his astute sense of the exquisite, the man has amassed a generous collection of artistic gems and treasures. The art collector’s unique perception has surely enhanced Lotus Arts de Vivre’s new collection. With their latest assortment titled ‘The Ganesha Collection’, his fascination with India has finally found its expression. His love for Indian culture is understandable as indeed the country has been home to myriads of cultures and astonishing art.

Immersed in the tranquil embrace of the sea, I find myself suspended with my head half immersed in the water, enveloped by a mesmerizing symphony of sights and sounds. Beneath the surface, the gentle crackling of fish feeding creates a delicate melody, enhancing the ethereal ambiance that surrounds me. As I float there, entranced by the magical world below, my gaze is drawn ahead to a breathtaking tableau of blues. The shallows shimmer with a soft cerulean hue, gracefully transitioning into a beguiling shade of turquoise, which in turn deepens into a rich azure as the vast ocean stretches out towards the distant horizon. The perfect expanse of the celestial sky hovers above, painted in a serene celeste tint, its untouched canvas only interrupted by the radiant silver crescent

ADD THE NEW 82°E LAUNCHES – CUCUMBER QUENCH AND MANJISHTHA MUD – TO YOUR CART

Alongside the new breathable Cucumber Quench moisturizer, the Manjishtha Mud (clay mask) can effectively rejuvenate to provide quenched and soft skin. Dyson haircare's newest brand ambassador Deepika Padukone’s skincare brand recently dropped Cucumber Quench. As an addition to the Cleanse-Hydrate-Protect routine, the new product is an innovative moisturizer featuring a clear gel formulation. Following the launch of Ashwagandha Bounce, it is their second moisturizer.

ZOYA’S NEW JEWELLERY COLLECTION IS ALL ABOUT EMBRACING YOUR INDIVIDUALITY Fashion diva Sonam Kapoor Ahuja launched ‘My Embrace’. Zoya, the luxury jewellery brand from the House of Tata, has launched its autograph collection, ‘My Embrace’, with its newest brand ambassador actress Sonam Kapoor Ahuja. The star featured in the campaign film to promote the new collection. Zoya's "My Embrace" collection is an invitation to find beauty in simplicity through the pieces that have been designed to subtly enrich your every day. The inspiration of the collection is channeled through its fine and sleek lines. The design is further SEASONAL MAGAZINE

TRAVEL

AROUND

THE WORLD ONROADAND

RAIL

MEET THE MAN WHO VISITED EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD WITHOUT BOARDING A PLANE. AT 34, TORBJØRN PEDERSEN EMBARKED ON A SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEY THAT WOULD TAKE 10 YEARS – AND INVOLVE CEREBRAL MALARIA AND BEING HELD UP AT GUNPOINT. HE REFLECTS ON THE HIGHS, THE LOWS AND THE JOY OF GETTING MARRIED EN ROUTE orbjørn Pedersen has always dreamed of being a famous adventurer. He spent his childhood building dens in the woods, pretending to be his hero, Indiana Jones. Even as an adult, he couldn’t shake the sense that he was destined for greatness. There was just one problem. “I was born at least 100 years too late,” he tells me over video call from his home in Copenhagen. “I had a profound feeling that everything had been done. The great adventures took place in the past. It was all over.” SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Things reached a tipping point in 2013. He was 34 and had a successful career in shipping and logistics. He had just bought a flat and started a serious relationship. It was time to give up his childish dreams. Then his dad sent him an article about people who had travelled to every country in the world. “I didn’t know you could do that,” he says. “Certainly you would have to be a millionaire.” But here were ordinary people walking, cycling and hitchhiking around the globe on shoestring budgets. Then came his eureka moment: “I discovered that no one had ever gone to every country

in the world completely without flying [in one unbroken trip].” (A British man, Graham Hughes, has set foot in every country without flying, but took two breaks from the journey for personal reasons.) Pedersen was already obsessed with world firsts: “The first to go to the north pole, the south pole, the deepest sea, the highest mountain, the longest river.” Now he had a chance to set a world record himself. “It was right in front of me,” he says, eyes gleaming. “It could be Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo … Thor Pedersen! I could do something of significance with my life, something worth putting in a book, something worth remembering. And it would be a great adventure!” Pedersen spent the next 10 months planning the journey – the route, budget, what to pack – without ever making a conscious decision to go. It was only

when he turned down an opportunity to work in South America that he realised he was fully invested in the project, as he had started to call it. He set himself three rules: at least 24 hours in each country; no visits home; and absolutely no flying. His list of countries included the 195 states recognised by the UN, plus extras such as Kosovo and Taiwan – 203 in total. He figured the journey would take him about four years. His budget was $20 a day, funded by savings, supporter donations and sponsorship. He would be acting as a goodwill ambassador for the Danish Red Cross, raising awareness of its work in 199 countries and encouraging people to give blood. He also aimed to share something positive about every single country – “even the ones we hear horrible things about” – on social media. What made him think he had even a hope of completing such an epic task? “I was born to do this.” Pedersen had lived in three countries by the age of seven – Denmark, Canada and the US – and spent holidays in a fourth, Finland (his father is Danish, his mother Finnish). “I was uprooted a lot as a child,” he says. After school and business school, he completed military service and became a UN peacekeeper, stationed in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. But he says it was his first overseas logistics job after leaving the army that really shaped him. He went to Libya, then still under Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. “I can barely recognise the person who was sent to Libya and the one who came back,” he says. “I was green, lacking in self-

confidence. I came back after two years with proper life experience.”

to stay,” he says. They agreed to give things a go.

He started to work all over the world: in Bangladesh, Greenland, the Arctic Circle, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as well as Florida and a number of European countries. He also trained in humanitarian aid and volunteered at a homeless shelter.

Pedersen left Denmark on 10 October 2013, heading first to Europe and then North America. “These continents were very easy in terms of logistics and bureaucracy,” he says. The difficulty in Europe was sticking to the budget. He got a rail pass that allowed him unlimited travel for a month, and travelled as quickly as possible within the 24-hoursper-country rule. “I lost about 10 kilos in the first month. I was skipping meals, I didn’t get a lot of sleep. I was so exhausted.” He realised that moving on so quickly was impossible and he settled on a minimum of three days in a country.

His parents, who had divorced when he was 15, each reacted differently to his project. His dad was convinced he was throwing away a glittering career. Pedersen had to explain to him that this wasn’t an extended gap year; he would not be “sitting on a beach with long hair, playing a guitar and smoking something I shouldn’t”. His mum, who had taken a young Thor mushroom hunting and told him tales about trolls, accepted the idea. “I also like to travel,” was all she said. It was a lot harder breaking the news to his girlfriend, Le. They had been together less than a year, and now he was going into self-imposed exile. “I have had previous experience with long-distance relationships and it’s hard. I was trying to warn her against it while wanting her

AFTER SCHOOL AND BUSINESS SCHOOL, HE COMPLETED MILITARY SERVICE AND BECAME A UN PEACEKEEPER, STATIONED IN ETHIOPIA, ERITREA AND DJIBOUTI.

As he ticked off countries, moving into Central and South America and to the Caribbean, his “no flying home” rule began to bite. “My grandmother died and I couldn’t come back for her funeral,” he says. A close family friend also died. “He was on his bicycle and his heart stopped. That was someone I wasn’t expecting to lose.” Then there were friends who were struggling. “I have had people really close to me who experienced depression, and I wasn’t there. I had to weigh out: do they have enough support without me? Can I support them from a distance? Or should I be there with them?” His relationship with Le wasn’t plain sailing either. “We had some rough patches and came pretty close to breaking up,” he says. “But we found a way to fix it. We paid more attention and she came to visit me more frequently. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Le visited him 27 times, but they still spent nine-tenths of their time apart. He puts the survival of their relationship down to trust and honesty. “I trust her and that gives me peace. And she knows she can trust me. If that trust isn’t there, it will poison the relationship,” he says. Pedersen in Fiji in 2023.

Things got a lot better.” So much so that on her 10th visit Pedersen proposed, on top of Mount Kenya, in a snowstorm. “I was so nervous and scared – what if she said no? But she said yes.” That was one of the happiest moments of the entire journey. He also has a fond memory of being on top of a truck in the Republic of the Congo. “I was on this truck for two days, with 40 or 50 people. It was slow, super-dusty, really hot and unbelievably uncomfortable,” he says. “As the sun was setting, the woman next to me started banging her water bottle rhythmically. Then she started singing. Another woman joined her, and then a man, and suddenly the whole truck was singing. It was beautiful, powerful, emotional – one of those moments where you realise: you could not buy a ticket for this.” It was also incredibly satisfying when he crossed a border that had felt impossible. “I genuinely felt pleasure every time I entered a new country. That high was the best feeling in the world.” But if the highs were dizzying, the lows were devastating. “I was living a

PEDERSEN HAD BEEN TRAVELLING FOR MORE THAN SIX YEARS WHEN HE AND LE SET A DATE TO MARRY IN NEW ZEALAND. HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO THEIR WEDDING, VIA FOUR DAYS’ TRANSIT IN HONG KONG, IN MARCH 2020. YOU CAN GUESS THE REST:

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nightmare at times. There were hundreds of difficult checkpoints; I had to recover from cerebral malaria; I was held up at gunpoint many times,” he says. “I should have been dead. I should’ve quit even more times.” There is one incident which haunts him, when he was stopped by drunk, armed, hostile men in military uniform in the jungle near the Cameroon/Republic of the Congo border at 3am. He recently relived the experience when filming a documentary. “Suddenly, I was back in that situation; my heart started racing and I had tears in my eyes. I feel it coming back again now,” he says. “I have trauma in my body that is buried so deep, I know I’m going to have issues with it at a later point. I need to find a way to deal with it.” Did he come close to giving up? “Oh yeah. I realised that I had imprisoned myself. I was in physical pain, emotional pain, I had no motivation and it felt like the world couldn’t care less about what I was doing.” How did he find the strength to carry on? “I didn’t want to be a person who quits.” Pedersen had been travelling for more than six years when he and Le set a date to marry in New Zealand. He was on his way to their wedding, via four days’ transit in Hong Kong, in March 2020. You can guess the rest: Covid hit, the territory locked down and he didn’t leave Hong Kong for two years. She was back home in Denmark, but after they married online she managed to get a spousal visa and visit for 100 days, after restrictions had eased. The couple later had a ceremony on a beach in Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

He kept fit on the road by doing 30 pushups and a one minute plank every day, and running when he could. Where did he most enjoy the food? “I had laksa for the first time when I got to the Malay area and it blew my mind. I had some really good food in Peru as well. In central Africa, you would get grilled fish on the roadside with some manioc (cassava), onion and a secret sauce … It was fantastic.” And the worst? “Take your pick. I had snake, dog, horse, camel, a variety of different insects, cow’s skin, which was really gelatinous. The worst could be goat’s brain in Nigeria; I didn’t care much for that. Nigeria had amazing food too, though, such as suya – they cut meat into small strips, barbecue it, pour chilli on, add small pieces of onion, and serve it like fish and chips on newspaper with a toothpick.” It’s unusual for someone completing a

flight-free challenge to talk so little about the environment. Was he conscious of travelling sustainably? “The environment wasn’t a motivation, but I am very proud to look back at a project like this and say my carbon footprint was at a minimum,” he says. “In 2013, the climate debate wasn’t at all what it is today. I think people should definitely limit flying when they can.” Pedersen is open about his willingness to fly in the future – and, of course, he benefited from family and friends flying to visit him. But overland travel has become more difficult, he says, thanks to increased border security, stricter rules on container ships and disappearing ferries. He gives Iran as an example. “They were perplexed that I wanted to enter overland when they have international airports where you can get a visa on arrival. It took me a good three weeks to get one.” Travel has changed in other ways, too. “Twenty years ago, when I travelled in south-east Asia, you would wave down a tuk-tuk auto rickshaw and negotiate a price. These days, you use an app. The world is super-super-connected.” As the end of his journey approached, he struggled. It had taken far longer than planned – nearly 10 years – and, he

says, he experienced “burnout and had seen what is on the other side. I felt nothing when I reached the last two countries. Nothing at all. The smiles that I posted online were fake.” He chose a slow, 33-day voyage home from the Maldives to prepare himself. “The last three days, coming towards the port of Aarhus, I have never had more doubt in my life: He walked down the gangway on 23 May 2023 to find his wife, father, two sisters, assorted journalists and 150 wellwishers. “People had come from abroad to be there because they wanted to witness history. There was so much love and support.” He says his reception was “ace”, but perhaps after a decade away, it could never be enough. “It could have been tens of thousands of people, you know, but it was 150 people and it was nice and positive and good.” He pauses. “And then my doubts came back. But I’m starting to figure things out now.” What big lessons did he learn on his travels? “We are far more similar than anyone would ever believe. But we are so quick to see the differences.” Most people, he thinks, are good. “Chances are if you need help, and it is not too costly to them, people will help you. There are very few people who actively want to harm you. I can definitely say that I had help and support from someone in every country in the world.” Still, he was more optimistic about the future of humanity before the pandemic. “And then I saw rich people buying up all the vaccines. There are still a lot of countries that are just getting their Covid vaccines now. That breaks my heart.” Power and money can corrupt anyone, he believes. If anything, his quest to become a heroic explorer has taught him to rely on others. “The solution is not necessarily in you. A lot of solutions in life are found through other people. If you feel you have reached the end of the line, you just haven’t met the right person yet,” he says. “You might have to try 1,000 closed doors, but there is always an open door somewhere. Never, ever give up.”

‘PLACATING RUSSIA’: ELON MUSK TOLD PENTAGON HE SPOKE TO VLADIMIR PUTIN DIRECTLY

Elon Musk told Pentagon’s top policy official during an October conversation about Ukrainian forces losing connection to Starlink service. SpaceX’s chief executive officer Elon Musk told Pentagon officials that he had spoken personally to Russian president Vladimir Putin about the satellite-based internet SpaceX supplies to Ukraine’s military, the New Yorker reported. Elon Musk told Colin Kahl, then the Pentagon’s top policy official, during an October conversation about Ukrainian forces losing connection to Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s Starlink service as they entered territory contested by Russia, the report claimed.

NORTH KOREA'S KIM BLASTS 'IRRESPONSIBLE' TOP OFFICIALS FOR FLOOD DAMAGE SEOUL, Aug 22 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has lashed out at top officials for their "irresponsible" response to flood damage, saying they had "spoiled" the national economy, state media reported on Tuesday. Kim inspected a tideland on the west coast on Monday after seawater recently destroyed an embankment with inadequate drainage system, flooding more than 560 hectares of land, including over 270 hectares of rice paddies, news agency KCNA said.

(Credit: Rachel Dixon) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Courses Open for Admission at SRMIST Now ARE YOU WORRIED THAT YOU MISSED THE BUS THIS ACADEMIC YEAR, BY NOT JOINING ANY PROFESSIONAL OR JOB ORIENTED DEGREES, PGS OR DIPLOMAS? WELL, YOU CAN STILL STUDY IN SRMIST, ONE OF INDIA’S TOP RANKED DEEMED UNIVERSITIES IF YOU ACT NOW.

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One-third of August is over, and admissions for most courses like BTech & MBBS for the academic year 2023-24 are over at leading universities like SRM Institute of Science & Technology (SRMIST). However, this flagship deemed university of SRM Group, which is known for its huge student contingent of over 50,000 students and unparalleled breadth of courses, still offers selective admissions for the academic year 2023-24. Here are some of these professional and job-oriented courses that can still be applied for at SRMIST’s various campuses near Chennai. Under the faculty of Engineering & Technology, the available courses now are M.Tech, B.Arch, B.Design, M.Arch, M.Des, Part time B.Tech, Part time M.Tech, and Advanced PG

Diploma in Life Sciences. Under the faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, the available courses now are Health Science UG, Health Science PG and Health Science Post PG. Under the faculty of Management, the only available course now is BBA. Under the faculty of Hotel & Catering Management, undergraduate degree and postgraduate diploma programs can be applied for now. Under the faculty of Law, available courses now are LL.B, LL.M, B.Com LL.B and B.A LL.B. Under the faculty of Agricultural Sciences, the time for application to all courses is now. Distance Education and Research

(Ph.D) are two other departments where all courses can be applied for now. Finally, under the faculty of Science & Humanities, many undergraduate and postgraduate courses are now available including in Basic Sciences, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Commerce, Corporate Secretaryship and Accounting & Finance, Computer Applications, Computer Science, Defence Studies, Education , English, Fashion Designing, Journalism & Mass Communication, Visual Communication, Physical Education, Yoga, Psychology, Economics, Statistics, Tamil, Social Work, Triple Majors and Certificate courses.

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DIFFERENT SLEEP POSITIONS FOR DIFFERENT WELLNESS GOALS Which is the best position to sleep in? Some swear by a night on their side, others on their back. But which sleeping position is the best for a good night's rest depends on your own health issues and wellness goals.

f you live anywhere affected by the recent heatwaves, you may well have spent your nights tossing and turning, trying out different sleeping positions in an attempt to get comfortable. But what does the evidence say about which sleeping positions are actually the best? Studies on everyone from seafarers on container ships to welders in Nigeria might be able to help us, although given how important sleep is to us it's surprising how few large-scale studies have been conducted. First you need a way of working out which position people are sleeping in. You can ask them of course, but we only really remember the way we were lying when we were trying to fall asleep and the position we wake up in. To find out more, researchers have tried a variety of techniques including filming people while they sleep or getting them to use wearable technology that monitors their movements. In Hong Kong researchers are developing what they call the "Blanket Accommodative Sleep Posture Classification System", which uses infrared depth cameras that can detect a SEASONAL MAGAZINE

person's sleep position even through a thick blanket. Researchers in Denmark used small motion-sensor detectors attached to volunteers' thighs, upper backs and upper arms before they went to sleep to establish their favoured sleeping position. They found that during their time in bed, people spent just over half their time on their sides, around 38% on their backs and 7% on their fronts. The older the people were, the more time they spent on their sides. This bias towards sleeping on our sides is something we develop only as we become adults, because children over the age of three spend on average an equal amount of time sleeping on their sides, back and fronts. Babies, meanwhile, sleep mainly on their backs because they're put in their cots this way for safety reasons. So sleeping on your side is the most common position and we could trust the wisdom of the crowd to choose the position where they sleep best, but what about the data? A very small observational study in which people could sleep however they preferred found that those who slept on their right

side slept slightly better than those on their left, followed by those on their backs. If you find it easy to sleep on your side, then it's probably also best for anyone else trying to get to sleep nearby. On one occasion, while touring a submarine for a radio programme I was making, the submariners showed me their sleeping quarters, where the bunks were stacked so closely on top of each other that it was hard to turn over. That meant they tended to sleep on their backs, so they told me it was a race to get to sleep first before the whole cabin was full of snoring men. Another small study looked at seafarers working on merchant container ships and found that respiratory disturbances such as snoring were more common when the seafarers were sleeping on their backs. Some snoring is caused by severe obstructive sleep apnoea, where breathing stops and starts while the person is sleeping. This has been found to be more common in people who consistently sleep on their backs. By contrast, lying on your side helps to clear the upper airway and prevents the

uvula (the fleshy bit that hangs down in the back of your throat) and the tongue from obstructing the throat, leading to less snoring. Indeed, in some cases, a move from sleeping mainly on your back to mainly sleeping on your side has been shown to solve the problem of sleep apnoea altogether. Sleeping on your side may well have other benefits too. For instance, research into the sleep patterns of welders on container ships in Nigeria showed that those who slept on their back were more likely to suffer back pain, compared with those who slept on their sides. But this doesn't mean sleeping on your side works for everyone or is a panacea for all aches and pains. It depends on your ailment and the exact position you adopt during sleep. Researchers in Western Australia monitored volunteers' bedrooms for 12 hours a night using automatic cameras and found that those who said they regularly woke up with a stiff neck spent more time sleeping in what the researchers refer to as "provocative side sleeping positions".

ascertain of course is whether sleeping in the "provocative" position was causing the neck pain or whether people were adopting this position because it was the only way they could get comfortable because of neck pain. So how about if you got people to trial a new sleeping position and then followed them to see if it made a difference to the pains they experienced?

is known as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, which can have serious consequences. Why this should have happened is not entirely clear, but one possible explanation is that sleeping on the left keeps the junction between the stomach and oesophagus above the level of the gastric acid. Sleeping on the right relaxes the lower oesophageal sphincter, allowing the acid to escape.

In a study conducted with older people taking part in a fitness programme in Portugal, people with back pain were instructed to sleep on their sides and those with neck pain to try sleeping on their backs. Four weeks later 90% of the participants said their respective pains had reduced.

Whatever the answer, if you do suffer with heartburn, it might be worth trying to sleep more on your left side in future.

This looks like an impressive result, but there is a caveat. Only 20 people took part in the study – a small sample – so it's not possible to conclude that this simple change of sleeping position would have such a positive effect on everyone who suffers from back or neck pain. As ever in scientific research, more studies are needed.

Well, to start with, one study suggests it’s not a good idea if you suffer with jaw pain, which is perhaps not very surprising.

This phrase might conjure up all sorts of possibilities in your mind, but what it means in this context is sleeping on your side in a twisted position, for example, with your top thigh reaching across the other thigh, twisting the spine. By contrast, people who slept in a straighter, more supported side position reported having less neck pain.

For one medical issue, it's not just a question of whether to lie on your back or side, but rather, which side you lie on. In acid reflux, gastric juices come up from the stomach, causing an intense burning in the chest. Sometimes doctors advise people to try sleeping on propped-up pillows in an attempt to relieve this very unpleasant kind of pain.

What the design of this study couldn't

If the discomfort happens repeatedly it

So far I've concentrated on sleeping on your side or your back because that is what the majority of people do. But what about those people – a small minority – who sleep on their fronts?

And what about wrinkles? Surely, lying with your face squashed into your pillow makes wrinkles worse? Writing in Aesthetic Surgery Journal, a group of plastic surgeons suggest, rather poetically, that the skin on your face is best preserved if it is treated like "seaweed that sways while tethered to a stalk". So the idea is to impose the least strain possible on your face while you sleep and that rules out sleeping face down. And if preserving your skin is most important to you than sleeping better or dealing with aches and pains or reflux, then sleeping on your side isn't ideal either. What then can we conclude from all this? First that, all other things being equal, sleeping on your side seems to have several advantages, but your precise posture can have an effect on neck and back pain – and the side you sleep on can increase or reduce acid reflux. Snoring increases if you sleep on your back, but we all vary so it could still be the way you sleep best. It's worth trying out new sleep positions and keeping a diary if your current position isn't giving you a good night's sleep. But remember not to obsess too much about different positions or you may keep yourself awake worrying. (Credit: Claudia Hammond for BBC Future) SEASONAL MAGAZINE

REALTY

...And Then There is SOBHA.

MR. PNC MENON | CHAIRMAN EMERITUS SEASONAL MAGAZINE

There is no dearth of high quality real estate developers in India. The realty boom during the first decade of this millennium also ensured that many of them got listed and became highly valuable, publicly traded companies. These are developers who execute at a scale that most others can only dream of. And then there is SOBHA. A real estate developer so different in quality and scale that their unique backward integration model that enabled it became a case study at Harvard. Imagine a residential project with not sixty units, or six hundred units, but 6262 homes. That is SOBHA Dream Acres at Bengaluru, spread across 5 towers and 51 acres of greenery. Such a project is beyond conception for most developers in India. Now, imagine this - making such a project fully sold out! That is Brand SOBHA for you. What is more, Dream Acres at Panathur Main Road in

RAVI PNC MENON | CHAIRMAN

India’s Silicon Valley, is also the country’s largest onsite precast project, and speaks volumes about the vision of SOBHA Founder & Chairman Emeritus PNC Menon and Chairman Ravi PNC Menon. The SOBHA engineering team had acquired this German engineering technology in concrete precast and it goes on to illustrate the unparalleled execution capabilities this listed developer has garnered under the executive leadership of its Managing Director Jagadish Nangineni, an IIT/IIM trained long-term Group veteran despite his young age. His formidable team of 15 Business / Division Heads are all well-versed with the unique quality pursuit and strategies at this one of a kind developer in the country. If you thought for a moment that Dream Acres is the epitome of achievement for SOBHA, wait till you read the rest of the magical projects that characterise its DNA.

JAGADISH NANGINANI | MANAGING DIRECTOR SEASONAL MAGAZINE

hat will an average realty development firm do, if it encounters a natural water body in the land where it is planning its next big project? Forget average developers, even most of India’s best developers would fill it up with earth for convenience, if the law allows it. Because, water bodies take up resources for their upkeep, besides ‘wasting’ precious land for development. But that is not what PNC Menon did when he embarked upon his magnus opus in his home state of Kerala, the SOBHA City at Thrissur that spans 55 acres. Under this veteran developer’s vision and the design and execution capabilities of its engineering team, SOBHA went out of its way to design and create a 6.5-acre man-made lake at the centre of this project that can hold 191 million litres of water. Such innovations rarely go without rewards and that is how SOBHA City became India’s first and only operational residential project to be awarded ‘Platinum’ status for being net water positive. Such sustainability features are not accidents, as SOBHA is the only Company to have its own environmental engineering team that is involved in its projects from concept to post-handover.

Bengaluru-based leading national real estate company SOBHA is a brand preferred by customers who seek international quality homes and living experiences, delivered consistently on time. Being the only real estate company in India to have a completely backward integrated strategy, SOBHA continues to establish new benchmarks in design, engineering, and execution of world-class properties with a wide geographic presence across the country. SOBHA has a compelling growth story, beginning in its founding years. The Company was founded by visionary par excellence, PNC Menon, whose singleminded mission has been ‘To transform the way people perceive ‘Quality’. This is the very foundation of SOBHA’s compelling growth, brand recognition and formidable presence across 27 cities across 14 states, having completed 128 mn. sft. spanning 528 developments, including residential and contractual projects. Apart from setting the highest industry benchmarks for quality and ontime delivery, ‘transparency and integrity’ - two of SOBHA’s five uncompromising core values - have been instrumental in gaining customer trust and confidence. At SOBHA, nothing happens by

chance. Meticulous detailing, obsession with perfection and customer centricity, along with strong operational and financial models are integral to how the company excels. This is what makes SOBHA uniquely distinct, as it continues to set the highest benchmarks in quality, design, engineering and execution, and sustainability practices. Walk into any SOBHA property and the first thing you will experience is exceptional quality all around. Every nook and corner of a building, from the basement to the rooftop, is immaculately and thoughtfully designed, in addition to delivering class-leading amenities that are exemplary by all standards. To comprehend how a 28-year-old company continues to maintain its reputation for quality and on time delivery, one must first understand that SOBHA is the only real estate company in India to have a completely backward integrated business model. Every required competency, from design and engineering, to manufacturing, to construction, to finishes, are all available in-house, making the company selfreliant without overt dependency on external partners. This allows SOBHA better control over quality and timely deliveries. This self-

SOBHA DREAM ACRES BANGALORE

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MARINA ONE KOCHI

reliant backward integration model is a Harvard case study, which is nothing short of international recognition for SOBHA’s quality and its strong emphasis on systems, standards, and processes. The Company is also taking great strides now in augmenting its digitalization efforts to streamline and optimise processes further that will surely improve its overall efficiency and productivity even further. In addition to its self-reliant backward integration model, the magic behind SOBHA’s consistency and excellence are the robust processes, systems, standards, and its highly skilled and trained workforce. SOBHA takes it so seriously that it has its own technology manual for all the stages of construction, including 1456 checkpoints across 28 activities that are to be completed before every project is handed over to customers. And to ensure that SOBHA’s high quality standards remain undiluted, the Company established the SOBHA Academy that imparts training and certification of teams on a regular basis. SOBHA has repeatedly proven its strong brand equity and customer preference, and it is not only because of its world class portfolio of residential properties and contractual projects. It is also due to the Company’s solid financial and operational performance, and strategic and geographical expansion. SOBHA’s track record of excellence is proven time and again given the numerous awards and honours it has received for its projects, corporate excellence, CSR and sustainability. From its inception in 1995, SOBHA has maintained its primary focus in Bangalore, where it is headquartered. But at the same time, it has also strategically expanded its geographical presence to 12 cities, and is strongly associated with luxury apartments, villas, row houses, and plotted developments that are in high demand. In FY 2022-23, SOBHA witnessed the overall completion of 6.4 million square feet of developable area and 4.59 million square feet of saleable built-up area in its real estate and contractual verticals. Undoubtedly, SOBHA has

proved itself to be an aspirational brand of international repute. The Company’s performance during the financial year 2023 clearly indicates the momentum that it has built over the years. SOBHA continued to deliver a solid fourth quarter and fiscal, with consistently higher sales, its highest ever collections and healthy customer deliveries. The enhanced focus on driving operations at higher and higher scales and higher and higher efficiencies helped the Company boost its sales and operational performance even further. What is most incredible however is the fact that SOBHA has tremendously reduced its net debt over several consecutive quarters now, with its DebtEquity ratio down to a healthy 0.66. The Company achieved record real estate sales during the year with sales value up 34% YoY, sales (SBA) up 15% YoY to 5.65 mn. sft. and its highest ever average price realisation which was up 17% YoY. Presently, SOBHA is executing 35.84 million square feet of developable area and 25.99 million square feet of super built-up area in its real estate and contractual verticals, put together. The luxury segment (> ¹ 20 million) contributed to 36% of sales, up from 25% in FY’21-22 while the SOBHA Dream Series segment (< ¹ 10 million) also continued to see good traction. SOBHA also delivered 3.96 mn. sft. across the country, even with its highest price realisation ever. SOBHA had launched nine projects during the year with its largest market of Bengaluru alone accounting for seven project launches. The Company made

its residential debut in Trivandrum (its fourth city in Kerala) and Hyderabad (first ever residential project in Telangana) with each quarter registering sales of over 1 mn. sft. The success secret behind SOBHA’s enormous national footprint in the residential and contractual segment is indeed its backward integration model. In addition to in-house competencies that span all areas of design, engineering, and project execution, the Company has also invested in setting up four main revenue generating divisions which form the backbone of SOBHA’s integrated ‘design to delivery’ model. These include an interiors division with one of India’s largest wood working factories, a glazing and metal works division, a concrete products division, and a mattress division. Interestingly, some of these divisions are major suppliers to other leading real estate brands in the country. Excellence at SOBHA extends to other significant and pertinent areas of modern day business. Sustainability and technology investments have been deeply embedded in the Company. A case in point is the SOBHA City at Thrissur project that is India’s first and only operational residential project to be awarded ‘Platinum’ status for being net water positive. This is no ordinary feat by any stretch of imagination. Taking it to the next level is the fact that SOBHA is the only Company to have its own environmental engineering team that is involved in its projects from concept to post-handover. They conduct audits and suggest improvements on a regular basis and have their own water testing laboratory. SEASONAL MAGAZINE