OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2018 VOLUME XI, ISSUE III
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Message from MD & CEO
Story: 6 Cover e-bidding for DGH underway
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11 mjunction organises 12th
15 mjunction CSR at
Coal Conference
Chhattisgarh
mjunction sells Hero MotoCorp auto scrap for first time...
mj in the News...
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Editorial...
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Featured This Quarter: Rimi Ghosh...
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Client Corner: SAIL BSP News...
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mjunction wins SUFI Digital India Award...
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mjunction holds Strategy workshop at Hanoi...
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mjunction signs up BSMC for coal e-distribution...
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MD addresses Bihar Ideathon...
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mjunction Annual Picnic...
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Junctionites run at TSK 25K...
mj in the 2 Volume XI, Issue iIi
news
Dear junctionites, s I write this, we have already stepped into the last quarter of this financial year. The New Year of 2019 began with the launch of the second phase of e-bidding for the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy. The first phase was conducted in early 2018 resulting in successful allocation of all 55 oil blocks. I am upbeat about this prestigious project and I wish the team great success. We are about to turn 18 soon and I am excited about this milestone. I am upbeat about the new possibilities and new vistas, and determined to keep the growth flag flying high. I believe mjunction’s strength lies in its people and its ability to adapt to changing situations, especially in latest technologies. Efficiency in operations is something we are constantly striving for, and these technologies are enablers in helping us achieve that. We have already employed Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Process Automation in making some of our processes more efficient. For instance, our Online Vessel Chartering Platform, which is an online bidding platform to procure ocean freight, we have adopted an Artificial Intelligence driven Ocean Freight Prediction model. We are using Robotics Process Automation for repetitive and transactional tasks in some of our other businesses. This is just a beginning and we hope to make our operations more seamless, more cutting edge and more efficient by prudent use of such technologies. In the last few years, we have got into several new categories. Among them, are some categories, where the online method has been used for the first time, as in cricket media rights. I believe we are on a growth path - not just in our financials but also in our reach. As we are about to soon end FY19, I look forward to a new growth period, for mjunction and for the country. Regards,
A MESSAGE FROM
MD & CEO
Mr Vinaya Varma
Volume XI, Issue iIi 3
FROM THE
EDITOR’S DESK
Project Jyoti: Transforming Lives
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met Aarzoo Banu for the first time in her class in a government school in Raipur. She is a special student, studying in Class 9. She reads and writes in Braille. She had complained to me that her hands pain while taking class notes in that language. Another teething problem that she faces is the lack of adequate books in Braille available in her school library. Four or five of them have to share a book.
Dr Mahul Brahma Editorial Advisor Head-CSR, Corporate Communications & Branding
Her classmate Yadeshwar Kumar Sahoo made me aware of another intriguing problem. English spellings are very complicated and they become all the more difficult in Braille. Her junior Dinu Patel, a student of Class 8, told me that the reading speed in Braille is very slow and that creates problem for him to complete the course work.
Editorial Team:
But this was last year. History. Cut to today, ejunction, in partnership with the Chhattisgarh government, has come up with an innovative CSR initiative where Madhuchanda Dasgupta Editor
Debal Ray Designer
Sobhan Jas Designer
50 students like Aarzoo and her friends are given freedom from Braille. They are all provided mobile phones which has all their course material converted as accessible books in the form of apps which “talk back” to them. In two phases they were given trainings on the usage of the touch phone so as to understand the navigation better. These visually-impaired students took to touch phone just like fish to water. The deftness with which they use the mobile phone, no one would be able to make out that these special students are visuallychallenged. It is a visual treat to watch them demonstrate how playful their studying has become. It is not every day that one gets a sense of fulfilment from the work one does. All credit goes to these beautiful smiling faces. I urge all junctionites to come and actively volunteer in mjunction CSR initiatives and help transform lives. #touchinglives #transforming30K
We would love to hear from you: mjpost@mjunction.in
Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the prior permission of mjunction services limited. Please inform us if any copyright has been inadvertently infringed. Disclaimer: This document is for information purpose only. Certain information herein has been acquired from various external sources believed to be reliable. While we have taken reasonable care to compile this report, we in no way assume any responsibility for any error or discrepancy in regards to information contained herein. Readers are requested to make appropriate judgement without any prejudice or compulsion.
mjunction’s Guiding Force
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mj CLIENT CORNER
SAIL BSP crosses 200 mt of hot metal production
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AIL Bhilai Steel Plant crossed the historic landmark of 200 million tonnes of hot metal production on January 21, 2019. In his address, Mr A.K. Rath, CEO of SAIL BSP & Chairman of mjunction, congratulated everyone associated with the iron making process. ‘’BSP has kept its flag flying high through many ups and downs that the organization has gone through. Today our Plant is going through a phase when we are striving to perform exemplarily in each shift. In a large organization like ours, there are so
many things happening at the same time and we are making daily achievements. Celebrating each achievement gives us the energy and drive to excel further. The plant was conceived by the founding fathers of our nation. It was to play an important role in nation building, which it continues to do even today. We have now taken up the task of achieving 7 million tonnes production capacity as part of our call for Rising Bhilai,” he said. A congratulatory message was read out from Chairman of SAIL Mr A.K. Chaudhary.
mjPost has started this segment to foster exchange of news with our clients. If you wish to feature your story here please write to Dr Mahul Brahma, Head-CSR, Corporate Communications and Branding, at mahul.brahma@mjunction.in. The Editorial Board will evaluate it for publication in mjPost.
SAIL ISP material sold in adverse market conditions
Mr Deepak Bhattacharyya, who heads the Coal and Tea businesses at mjunction, has been nominated as a Member of the National Expert Committee on Minerals and Metals by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Mr Bhattacharyya has long years of experience behind him in the coal and minerals space and is one of the guiding forces behind mjunction’s coal business. He has been with mjunction for the last 15 years and has been instrumental in the launch of some key services such as e-distribution of coal and sand management services.
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last Furnace Granulated Slag is a major raw material for manufacturing of Portland Slag cement (PSC), and mjunction received a mandate from SAIL ISP to sell 4,000 tonnes of the material. With most cement players shifting from Slag cement to Fly Ash based cement, the current market dynamics did not support even the prices achieved as recently as August 2018, with demand for Granulated Slag going downhill. Also, the cement market was down and plants were running at under capacity. Cement plants were not showing interest to book material even at reduced prices.
“Please accept my appreciation for the entire mjunction team in the sale of Blast Furnace Granulated Slag from our plants, mobilising the maximum number of vendors in a short time, and conducting a really successful auction.” KBS Singh GM Marketing, SAIL ISP
What did mjunction do? mjunction identified the sale as critical, and all major cement players from various regions were identified and contacted. The market was identified as weak and not many cement players evinced interest in the event. Also they were quoting really low prices. An exhaustive market visit was done to understand the dynamics of the current cement raw material pricing. A detailed market report was made and submitted to client. The market report helped our client to set their reserve price in tune with the market. The Outcome A total of 11 cement manufacturers participated in the auction. The auction took place in English no-ties mode. There was stiff competition across the lots and the maximum price reached much above what was originally quoted by the cement players.
mjunction sells SAIL ISP defective ferrous material
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n an auction event which saw aggressive bidding, as much as 4845 tonnes of defective ferrous material was sold on the mjunction platform from SAIL ISP Burnpur. The material consisted of assorted non-rollable Billet, assorted non-rollable bloom, rejected wire rod coil and rejected TMT coil. For mjunction, it was a challenge to predict prices in a volatile market and also because the material was not available for inspection. Therefore, even the client was not able to suggest market prices for the material. After extensive research and survey, mjunction shared its feedback on the material with the client as it approached 40 buyers during this time. Out of these, 16 buyers participated in the auction and the event saw aggressive bidding. Volume XI, Issue iIi 5
Cover Story
mjunction MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma at the launch along with DGH Director General Mr Atanu Chakraborty, IAS, EPS Head Mr Partha Kumar Chakraborti and other senior executives of DGH and the Petroleum Ministry.
mjunction’s e-bidding platform for DGH underway; completes one round under HELP
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n July 2017, mjunction was awarded a five-year contract to build, operate and maintain an electronic bidding platform to facilitate e-tendering of Oil and Gas blocks by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Since then, it has successfully conducted one round of bidding for 55 oil blocks under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) policy in early 2018. Background DGH is engaged in promoting sound management of the oil and natural gas resources in the country. Government of India has already launched its new “Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy” (HELP) and DGH has been entrusted with the task of implementing this and a transparent, secure and user friendly bidding mechanism for HELP. In HELP, Government will be inviting bids for conventional and non-conventional
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hydrocarbon blocks. Through the additional production which is expected to come on stream as a result of this policy, the Government of India is targeting an annual reduction of 10% of India’s oil import bill by 2022, which translates to $8 billion per annum. The Government has decided to initiate bidding for larger oil blocks twice-ayear under the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP). Smaller oil blocks are also tendered under the Discovered Small Fields (DSF) scheme from time to time. Thus, there are expected to be three tendering cycles every year. DGH, being an entrusted agency, selected mjunction for development of National Portal for e-bidding for oil and gas fields. mjunction was required to develop, host and do maintenance of the e-bidding
The stakes in this are really high. Billions of dollars of investment, at an average of $500 million per oilfield, is hinging upon timely and correct operations of the e-bidding platform. The nation’s and the international oil industry’s eyes are on us. As a team, we are aware of the responsibility that is resting on us.
Vinaya Varma MD & CEO, mjunction
portal. The application was needed be hosted in the certified infrastructure as mentioned in the tender document. The system is fully encrypted using asymmetric encryption. All users log in using a Class 3 Digital Signature for signing and encryption. What did mjunction do? mjunction has successfully completed the implementation, and the platform has been STQC certified in early 2018. It supports floating of tender for each blocks, bidding process, online evaluation using complex algorithm of allocation of blocks followed by system driven automated reports. It had to provide a complete online application for doing e-tendering of oil blocks, involving complex online evaluation followed by system driven reports for oil blocks allocation. A dedicated threemember team was stationed at the site for more than a month, where it studied the current business process and captured client requirements. Till date, mjunction has successfully conducted one round of bidding for 55 oil blocks under the HELP policy in early 2018, known as OALP Round 1 and one round of bidding under the DSF policy is currently underway, known as DSF Round
Not just another e-tendering implementation
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sually, e-tendering implementation for a client involves enabling a two-part tendering – where the first part involves various pre-qualification and technical parameters, while the second involves the price bid, where the bidder quotes a per unit or a per lot price. Price bids of only the prequalified and technically suitable bids are opened, and the best bid will be either the best priced quote, or the bid that has the highest combined score on technical and price parameters. However, in case of DGH, the Government of India does not seek any price from the bidders. There is no price element in the “price bid”. The bidders have to promise a revenue share at Lower Revenue Point (LRP) and Higher Revenue Point (HRP). The e-tendering system has to convert this into a score, based on complex modelling and Net Present Value (NPV) calculations.
Features of the Portal The e-bidding portal has the following functionalities: Bidder Registration Tender creation Originator, Originator Consortium, Bidder Consortium, Parent-Subsidiary bidding enabled Bid Submission Evaluation of Pre-Qualification Criteria Tender Opening, decryption & evaluation Generation of comparative statement with score of work program and revenue share Block Allocation as per Net Worth 24x7 dedicated support team to help/ train the buyers and bidders.
2. The next round of bidding under HELP policy has begun on January 7, 2019. The system complies all government guidelines. All sensitive information are encrypted using asymmetric encryption and digitally signed using class 3 digital certificate. Users login requires Class 3 Digital Signature.
mjunction Achievements Well planned and seamless execution of the OALP Bid Round 1 leading to successful allocation of all the 55 oil blocks worth $25 billion; Successful launch of DSF Bid Round-2, in September 2018; Round-the-clock support in close coordination with DGH; Roll-out of last minute customisation.
We are privileged at being chosen to assist the Ministry of Petroleum in their endeavour to make giant strides towards India’s energy self-sufficiency by tendering out a large number of Oil fields to Private and Public sector companies companies in the exploration sector. The team is leaving no stone unturned to ensure smooth operations. Manish Mathur Head, Government Projects The pace is relentless and exhilarating. Within a short span of time, we have assisted the Government of India in launching the OALP bid round 1, the DSF bid round 2 and the OALP bid round 2. The OALP bid round 3 is expected to be launched shortly. This has only been possible with strong support from DGH. Partha Chakraborti Head, EPS Mapping the complex processes involved in bidding, evaluation and selection of bids within a short period of time, was both challenging and exciting. I am proud of what we have achieved so far. Sutanu Sinha Lead, Technology
Volume XI, Issue iIi 7
Customers take centre stage at Strategy workshop
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he senior and top management of mjunction met at Hanoi in Vietnam for a two-day Strategy workshop in November. The entire workshop was based on a customer immersion process, which preceded the workshop and which strived to identify both stated and unstated customer needs. Each business and functional unit presented their clients’ needs at the workshop, and their key insights derived through a rigorous process of keen observation by a cross-functional team. The group deliberated on mjunction’s mediumterm and long-term strategies, and it was the customer-centric approach that prevailed over all else. The “outside-in” approach, which lets customer needs decide how our businesses should exist, evolve and grow, is what we will continue to follow.
mj NEW DEAL
mjunction signs up BSMC for coal e-distribution
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fter West Bengal and Maharashtra, mjunction will now implement coal e-distribution in the state of Bihar. The Bihar State Mining Corporation (BSMC) has appointed mjunction for the service, which would enable MSME consumers to avail the facility of buying coal from BSMC in a fair and convenient manner without middlemen or agents. The allocated quantity for e-distribution from BSMC will be 3.85 lakh tonnes per annum.
As part of the service, mjunction will set up an efficient and transparent mechanism in Bihar to distribute coal to MSMEs of the state. This should enable such MSMEs to get direct access to coal at competitive prices, without having to rely on traders. mjunction will build a web-enabled online system and manage all processes encompassing consumer registration, coal allocation, order booking, payment collection, invoicing, refund and MIS reporting.
mjunction helps sell 2,000 tonnes of Thick Plate-Transfer Bar for Tata Steel
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ata Steel produces Thick PlateTransfer Bar at both its Jamshedpur and Kalinganagar plants. mjunction received a mandate for the first time to sell 2,000 tonnes of this material after Tata Steel decided to adopt the online route for the sale. In fact, Tata Steel had only a single buyer who bought this material and they wanted mjunction to identify more in order to arrive at a better price. What challenges did mjunction face? The mandate for mjunction was primarily to get new buyers on board in order to reduce dependency on a single buyer. One of the main challenges that mjunction faced was with regard to the price. Since 8 Volume XI, Issue iIi
it was till then sold in offline mode, there was no idea about the exact price or the size of the market. It was a challenge to approach the buyers also because the material was not in stock and was on arising basis, and thus there was lack of information regarding the material with buyers. Also interest from buyers in both eastern and northern regions was low and only local and northern region buyers were showing interest in the auction. What did mjunction do? mjunction contacted 25 buyers, covering both the eastern as well as northern regions. Seven buyers participated in
the auction, out of whom four were unique buyers. The buyers hailed from Ahmedabad, Bhilai, Delhi, Faridabad, Kanpur, Kolkata and Ludhiana. The Outcome mjunction’s efforts bore fruit as the final price was much above the client’s expected price. There were more than 80 bids and the entire quantity of 2,000 tonnes was sold at one go, making this a successful event in every way. A greater outcome is a satisfied client, who has repeated the business in the last three months and made it a part of their monthly selling process.
Vinaya Varma addresses Bihar Ideathon 2018
Other dignitaries present at the event included (from left to right) Mr Ravindra Prasad, Director – Technical, Department of Industry, Government of Bihar, Mr Ramendra Verma, Partner, KPMG, Mr Dipak Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Labour, Government of Bihar, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Bihar and Dr Vineeta Sahay, Director, IIM Bodhgaya.
m
junction MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma addressed the inaugural session of the Bihar Ideathon 2018 on an invitation from the Government of Bihar as a Special
Guest. Organised by the state’s Department of Information
Technology in association with CII, TiE and Nasscom, the event focused on showcasing innovative digital products or solutions. Mr Varma focused on the positive impact of innovative, transparent and efficient digital solutions on our lives.
MD shares stage with Wharton profs on innovation talk
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junction MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma was an esteemed panellist at an event to mark 50 years of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata on January 7, 2019. The topic: “Innovate in India: How Companies from India and Bengal can Leapfrog to Lead,” saw some interesting points being made on both innovation in general and innovation in India and Bengal in particular. Mr Varma shared some interesting
facets of building a business in West Bengal, and the role that the location has played in the success of mjunction. He went on to share mjunction’s unique take on innovation and the adoption of emerging technologies. Among others, the panellists included Prof. Saikat Chaudhuri, Executive Director of Wharton, University of Pennsylvania and Prof. Harbir Singh, Co-Director, Mack Institute of Innovation Management. Prof. Chaudhuri held forth on innovation
in India and said efficiency and execution is finally the key to all business problems. He especially concurred with Mr Varma’s point on the importance of knowing the needs of the customer deeply in order to build an innovative solution. Prof. Chaudhuri also mentioned how proud he felt when he came that know that India’s largest e-commerce company is from West Bengal. Prof. Singh cited the example of Apple as the perfect innovation as anticipated the needs of the customers before being stated by the customers themselves. Volume XI, Issue iIi 9
mj FIRST
mjunction sells Hero MotoCorp auto scrap for first time
Quiz session at mjunction
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or the first time on October 31, 2018, mjunction helped sell automotive scrap from Satyam Auto Components, a Hero MotoCorp associate company, at Ludhiana in Punjab, once again proving its competency in organised selling of automobile scrap in Northern India. The inaugural event happened with a small amount of 180 tonnes of scrap. With all buyers used to the direct traditional mode, it was imperative for mjunction to understand their mindsets and purchasing patterns. It was also important to understand the product to be sold and its application industry in order to approach the buyers, and explain to them the special features of the product which would be beneficial to them. The mjunction team conducted an extensive market research prior to the event by sending executives all over India to the respective markets in order to identify the right buyers as per client expectation. Eight unique buyers finally participated in the auction on mjunction’s platform.
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he MJ Quiz on December 14, 2018, witnessed participation from 10 teams, comprising junctionites from various business and functional units. Conducted by quizmasters Debasish Mukherjee and Abhishek Kar, the event saw a hard-fought 12-question prelims, where four teams made it to the final. The teams were KaKa, consisting of Kallol Ghoshal and Koustav Chowdhury, Yet Again consisting of Chandrashish Dasgupta and Nitish Anand, MJ Rockers consisting of Mahul Brahma and Uzair Faruqi and Inquest consisting of Kamalika Chanda and Abhishek Prasad. The final was a six-round event, with topics ranging from business, geography, history, sports,
At the end of the event, which saw 164 bids, all the material was booked, and all buyers were happy with the way the auction was conducted. After completion of the event, the client also appreciated mjunction’s efforts in getting buyers and smooth conduct of the event.
Customer meets held for steel business
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ustomer meets were held at Rourkela, Kolkata and Ghaziabad which were attended by nearly 100 buyers. The products in question were Products FP and Melting at Rourkela, Tubular Scrap in Kolkata and FP Tinplate at Ghaziabad. With representatives from both mjunction as well as client side, they were informative and enriching sessions for the buyers where they could resolve their queries. 10 Volume XI, Issue iIi
entertainment as well as our very own city, Kolkata. From the beginning, Teams KaKa & Inquest took the lead, with the other two teams in close pursuit. It was a very close finish, where Team Yet Again edged past Team Inquest to create a tie with Team KaKa. A seven-round tie breaker also could not break the tie and therefore both teams were declared joint winners. The event also witnessed a very high attendance from junctionites, who did not miss any chance to answer the audience questions and win prizes as well. MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma gave away the prizes and also recognised the quizmasters.
mjunction organises
12th Indian Coal Markets Conference in Kolkata
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hirty-eight speakers and more than 300 delegates from over 10 countries discussed threadbare the recent trends in the Indian and global coal markets at the 12th Indian Coal Markets Conference 2018, held on November 2628, 2018, in Kolkata. Organised by mjunction services limited in association with Argus Media, UK, the conference had as its theme “The return of shortage,” which highlighted the coal shortage facing the thermal power plants of the country, after a period of plentiful supply witnessed during 20152017. Speaking on the occasion, Vinaya Varma, MD & CEO, mjunction services limited, said: “The primary reason behind the shortage, it is said, can be traced to the reluctance of power plants to procure coal (as per fuel supply agreements) during the days of plentiful supply. This led to increased coal stock at mine pitheads,
which in turn compelled the producers, especially CIL, to bring down its production growth in 2017-18 to 2.4 percent from 9 percent in 2015-16.” The conference had a dedicated session on the Indonesian coal industry, which was addressed by F. Hary Kristiono, VP of Indonesian Coal Mining Association, and other stalwarts acquainted with this south-east Asian market.
Other eminent speakers who addressed ICMC 2018 included Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Secretary General, Indian Steel Association (ISA); Rahul Tongia, Fellow, Brookings India; H S Bajwa, Director – TT, Railway Board; Uma Shankar, Sr. VP, India Mining Business, Adani Enterprises; P Saidev, ED, RMD, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL); Supriyo Gupta, VP, SBI Caps; Subrata Mitra, Jt. MD, M
N Dastur & Co; Sujogya Dash, MD, Southeast Asia and India, Xcoal; Rohit Kumar, Director, KPMG; Ravi Chopra, Director, Interocean; Biplav Kumar, GGM/BD, Dedicated Freight Corridor of India; and Nitin Ambhaikar, MD, Exotron Thermal Pvt Ltd, among others. ICMC 2018 also had a special attraction in the form of the Awards Night which was held on November 27. The awardees in various categories of the coal vertical included Coal India Ltd, Indian Railways, Adani Enterprises, KCT Group, Mundra Port, Cotecna, State Bank of India and Shah Coal.
Volume XI, Issue iIi 11
RIMI GHOSH
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imi Ghosh has had an illustrious and eventful journey in mjunction since 2008 – achieving some personal and professional milestones along the way. When she joined mjunction, she was a starry eyed first-time professional, with dreams to change the world. She did manage to change her own world though as she traversed these years through ups and downs. mjunction selected Rimi through campus placement in Kolkata after she finished her MBA. She worked in Kolkata for three years before moving to Jamshedpur in 2011 and then to Delhi in 2013. Rimi remembers her initial days in mjunction fondly as she worked on various internal improvement projects of diverse functions, and she believes these are the ones which gave her the initial understanding of business applications and processes. Later another huge learning opportunity came her way as she worked with now mjunction MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma as his Executive Assistant. In 2011, Rimi moved to Jamshedpur as a Buyer for Tata Steel Ltd, and this is the assignment which gave her immense knowledge of client handling, sourcing and procurement processes. In 2013, Rimi entered a new phase
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of her life as she got married and relocated to Delhi. It is here that she got her next big assignment as the account manager of PGCIL and after some time BHEL was added to it. Rimi is all praise for her clients as she started meeting them regularly, visiting regional offices, listening to their concerns and issues. She believes these created a special bond between her and her clients. She was part of the core team to face World Bank Audit, which finally led to mjunction being World Bank certified e-reverse auction service provider to PGCIL. Rimi is also the account manager of DGH and part of the core team for facilitating International Competitive e-Bidding platform
for Oil and Gas blocks for DGH. According to Mr Manish Mathur, Head, Government Projects, who spearheads DGH operations for mjunction, “Rimi has an ability to plan and pace the workload in such a manner that there is no last minute crisis. She is able to put her point across amicably, and plays a key role in relationship building with the client.” According to EPS Head Mr Partha Kumar Chakraborti, “Rimi is a highly motivated and proactive person. She is ready to take on any challenge with a positive frame of mind and we are proud to have her in our team.” Facing the STQC Auditors all by herself was another high point of Rimi’s stint. In her own words, there was a sense of accomplishment after the quick closure of this audit. She considers herself lucky to have had supportive team members, and seniors who have provided continuous guidance. Beyond work, Rimi is a simple and cheerful person, who loves her music and her travel. As a mother now, of course, most of her free time is spent with her son pursuing some activity – sports, art and craft or even gardening. In her own words, there is really no short cut to success, and it is sincerity, commitment and faith in one’s own self that pays off in the long run.
mjunction wins SUFI Digital India Award
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junction has been awarded the "SUFI Digital India Award" 2018 by the Steel Users Federation of India. The award was presented at Mumbai by Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh, Honourable Steel Minister, Government of India and Cabinet Minister, Government of Maharashtra, Mr Raj K. Purohit.
mjunction won the CEO Magazine “Company of the Year 2018” Award for Excellence in e-commerce
Dr Mahul Brahma, Head-CSR, Corporate Communications and Branding, has received the prestigious “Best Communication Strategist of the Year” Award in Corporate Communications and PR Summit 2019, held in Delhi.
Mr Soumen Baral, Head, Account Management (North & West) of mjunction, with the assessors’ team which assessed Voltas, at the Business Excellence convention on November 26 and 27 in New Delhi. The convention was attended and addressed by Group Chairman, Mr N. Chandrasekaran, along with other senior executives from the Tata Group and outside. Assessors and companies were recognised for their contribution to the Business Excellence Process. The Voltas assessors’ team was recognised by MD of Tata Global Beverages, Mr Ajoy Misra. Volume XI, Issue iIi 13
Fun and Games at
mjunction Annual Picnic T
he first weekend of the New Year began with mjunction’s Annual Picnic – a fun event with families and colleagues – at the serene Vedic Village Resort nestled right outside the city of Kolkata. It was a perfect winter setting – the sun was mellow and the picturesque surroundings just added to the charm of the day. MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma joined in the fun along with everyone else. It was a fun day out especially for the children with a plethora of activities planned for them.
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Badminton, cricket and football were the chosen games which they played in the sprawling fields amid the lap of nature. Some other fun games included Kill the Rat, Fishing the Bottle and Ball Pool. A tattoo artist added to the magic of the day. The tug-ofwar was a huge draw. The other main attractions were the mehendi artist, Filmy Tambola, Spoon Race and Release your Partner. Delectable meals and varied gastronomical delights were other attractions of the evening.
mjunction, Chhattisgarh provide education using mobile phones to visually-impaired students
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or 50 visually-impaired government school students aged between 14 and 16 years in Chhattisgarh, it marked the beginning of new hopes and a freedom from Braille. With the help of latest mobile technology, these excited children were trained to study their textbooks, helping them overcome their physical challenge in a way they did not think was possible before this. Each of them got a phone which had preloaded accessible textbooks, and they were taught to study these textbooks using latest mobile applications. This innovation in CSR was made possible in one of its kind initiatives by mjunction services limited, India’s largest B2B e-commerce company, in collaboration with the Chhattisgarh government. mjunction first procured the smartphones and then uploaded all Chhattisgarh government school textbooks for the intended age group into these smartphones. The third and last phase happened recently in Raipur when these 50 students were not only given these smartphones but also trained extensively on how to study their textbooks from these phones. The programme gains greater importance in view of the limited availability of textbooks in Braille, where students had to share the books.
The reactions from the excited students were spontaneous and heartfelt, and sometimes exceeded expectations from the programme. Dinu Patel of class 8, said, “What I could read on Braille in three days, I can now do in one day. I can also carry my books anywhere I go now as they are all on my mobile phone.”
Varma, MD & CEO of mjunction said, “We are glad to collaborate with the Chhattisgarh government on this. This programme is a part of mjunction’s social responsibility activities, and will be run as a pilot project. In the next phase, this will be extended to more students of Chhattisgarh government schools.”
Aarzoo Banu of class 9 said, “My hands used to ache earlier while taking down class notes on Braille. Now with the recording facility on the phone, I can record my class notes and listen to them later with the ‘talk back’ facility.”
Mr Dwivedi said, “I am happy to partner with mjunction on this. The children were extremely enthusiastic about using new devices and trying new technology solutions to overcome their disability.” Mr Nandanwar said, “The initiative was a success and I hope to work with mjunction once again in the near future for the benefit of an even greater number of students.”
Yadeshwar Kumar Sahoo of class 9 said, “This is especially useful when English spellings get complicated and it becomes difficult on Braille. I want to thank everyone associated with this as it really makes life easy for me.” The students were handed certificates and felicitated at the end of the training programme at an event attended by top mjunction officials associated with the programme, Mr Gaurav Dwivedi, Secretary of School Education, Chhattisgarh Government and Mr Vinit Nandanwar, IAS, Mission Director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Dr Homiyar Mobedji, Disability Expert, Program Management Benetech India, conducted the training process.
“The initiative of mjunction and Sarva Sikhsha team was really fruitful and we hope to work together in future and benefit more students,” he added. mjunction has been working in the field of digital literacy for the underprivileged for the last 11 years and has taken the pledge of ‘Transforming 30K’ lives in the next two years. With this project, it forays into the field of providing education via mobile literacy, and is just the beginning of more such initiatives which will touch lives positively, Mr Varma added.
Welcoming the initiative, Mr Vinaya Volume XI, Issue iIi 15
Junctionites run for a cause
N
early 40 junctionites ran for a cause - the Tata Medical Centre - under a mellow winter sun on December 16 in Kolkata at the 5th edition of the TSK 25K Five bravehearts ran the 25 km stretch, while 14 ran the Open 10K. The others ran the 5 km Ananda Run, MD & CEO Mr Vinaya Varma was present to encourage the junctionites and himself ran the 10 km stretch.
Surya Bhushan of mjunction ran the full marathon of 42 km at the Tata Mumbai Marathon on January 20, 2019. He achieved a timing of 5 hours and 17 minutes. Congratulations to him.
16 Volume XI, Issue iIi
Surya Bhushan and Sandip Thapa topped the 25 km run with timings of 2 hours & 24 minutes and 2 hours & 28 minutes respectively, while Samya Mukherjee topped the 10 K runners with a timing of 1 hour & 3 minutes. Soumen Baral, Rohit Singh and Amit Surana ran the 25 km stretch too. Others who ran 10 km included Homanjan Das, Mayank Tripathi, Amit Kumar, Rakesh P. Nair, Akhil Kapoor, Govind Kumar Aditya and Prabir Kr Ghosh.
We are unable to carry the “Quiz Corner” in this issue due to unavoidable reasons. The inconvenience is regretted.
The winner of last quarter’s quiz is
Ruchi Jain
Congratulations
Printed at: florenceoffset@yahoo.co.in
The changing face of the sky this is what Arunima Banerjee captures in her series of photographs. Taken in various parts of the state of Kerala, this magic in the skies could have happened anywhere in the world, and would be just as enthralling.
For Private Circulation Only Regd. Office: mjunction services limited, Tata Centre, 43 Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Kolkata 700 071, Website: www.mjunction.in Corporate Head Quarters: Godrej Waterside, 3rd Floor, Tower 1, Plot V, Block DP, Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700091, Tel: +91 33 6610 6100, Fax: +91 33 6610 6187 CIN: U00000WB2001PLC115841
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