India’s exports of fine jewellery to Hong Kong has doubled from 2013 to 2016: HKTDC

• Hong Kong Trade Development Council announces the world’s largest jewellery exhibition
• The world’s largest jewellery marketplace is set to open next month

Mumbai, January 24, 2017: Two of the jewellery industry’s leading trade fairs are set to open in Hong Kong in late February to early March. Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 4th Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show will take place from 28 February to 4 March at the Asia World-Expo, while the 34th Hong Kong International Jewellery Show will open from 2 to 6 March at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

India is today the largest exporter in the world of Pearls, Precious & Semi-Precious Stones to Hong Kong and second largest exporter of fine jewellery to Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s imports of fine jewellery from India had doubled from 2013 to 2016.

Rajesh Bhagat, India Consultant - HKTDC, highlighted opportunities for Indian companies offered by HKTDC during a press luncheon in Mumbai today. Mr Bhagat underscored the robust bilateral trade relations between Hong Kong and India, adding the twin jewellery shows created a good platform to boost business. “India and Hong Kong have a long and close business relationship. While India will continue to take the lead in regional economic growth, the HKTDC can act as an information and market intelligence hub for Indian enterprises to expand market,” said Mr Bhagat.

In Hong Kong, the HKTDC organises more than 30 fairs annually, forming 11 largest marketplaces of their kind in Asia, with electronics, jewellery, gifts, lighting and watches & clocks being the largest of their kind in the world. Given the strong gems and jewellery business in India, the Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show and Jewellery Show provide an ideal platform for Indian traders in jewellery field.

The two shows will welcome more than 4,380 exhibitors from over 50 countries and regions, forming the world’s largest jewellery marketplace. About 180 Indian companies such as Beads Paradise and Gold Star will join. The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council from India will continue to set up group pavilions. Other pavilions will come from the Chinese mainland, Japan, Korea, Tanzania, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the US, Peru, Columbia, Brazil and so on.

The Diamond, Gem & Pearl Show will focus in jewellery raw materials such as loose diamonds, precious stones, semi-precious stones and pearls. Well-known exhibitors include Paul Wild from Germany and Hong Kong’s Novel Collection Ltd, Man Sang Jewellery (Hong Kong) Ltd and Yee On Gems & Jewellery Factory Company Ltd. Several dedicated zones are set up for specific jewellery raw materials, including Hall of Fine Diamonds for quality diamonds; Treasures of Nature for precious gemstones; Treasures of Ocean for exquisite pearls; and Rough Stones & Minerals zone for unpolished and uncut precious stones.

The Jewellery Show will feature a wide range of finished fine jewellery. There will be a number of themed zones with the prominent Hall of Fame bringing more than 30 internationally acclaimed jewellery brands including Roberto Coin s.p.a. and Piero Milano Jewellery from Italy, Pranda Jewelry Public Co., Ltd. from Thailand, and Hong Kong’s Lady Heart Collections Ltd and Unrounds (HK) Limited. Hall of Extraordinary will house the most prestigious jewellery collections including Crivelli s.r.l. from Italy, Thomas Faerber SA from Switzerland, and Hong Kong’s Dehres, On Tung Company and Karen Suen Fine Jewellery Limited. Other zones will showcase various prestigious collections, jewellery craftsmanship, jade pieces, decorative items and machinery.

The biannual International Jewellery Design Excellence Award (IJDE) is the Oscars of the jewellery design industry with an aim to recognise outstanding jewellery designers and facilitate information exchange in design, professionalism and craftsmanship. The award gathers the champions of various jewellery design competitions worldwide to run for the champion of the champions. This year, 165 entries from 27 countries and regions have been received, of which 13 entries are from India. Award presentation ceremony will be held on the first day of the show (2 March) and winning entries will be on display at the show.

The shows will present a host of activities such as jewellery parades, seminars, forums and networking events that provide industry players with market insights and the latest intelligence.

Websites

Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem and Pearl Show: http://www.hktdc.com/hkdgp

Hong Kong International Jewellery Show: http://www.hktdc.com/hkjewelleryshow

About HKTDC
Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+ Twitter @hktdc LinkedIn

INORBIT MALL, MALAD CELEBRATES ITS 13THANNIVERSARY WITH CELEBRITY CHEF SANJEEV KAPOOR

Mumbai, January, 2017: Since opening of the mall at Malad in the years 2004, Inorbit has garnered a lot of love and loyalty from its customers. Known for giving the shoppers a memorable shopping experience, the iconic mall recently concluded its 13^th Anniversary celebrations. The grand celebration witnessed the presence of Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. The chef hosted a cooking challenge where participants showcased their culinary skills to impress the chef and won attractive prizes. In addition to this the Chef Sanjeev Kapoor also showed some tips and tricks of cooking to the audience. The event witnessed a full house and was very well received by the audience.

Commenting on Inorbit Mall, Malad’s 13^th Anniversary, Mr. Puneet Varma, Associate Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications said, “13 years and still going strong! Kudos to the entire team of Inorbit mall, Malad. Also I would like to thank our patrons and retail partners who have believed in us and supported us throughout for over a decade. We promise to keep the smile on faces of our customers intact by providing them a better experience.

Apart from the cooking extravaganza, the mall celebrations continued for 5 days. Shoppers rejoiced shopping as the mall offered a flat 50% off on some of the best brands. No celebration is complete without a cake cutting ceremony. On the occasion, the patrons indulged in the anniversary cake cutting ceremony followed by a treasure hunt where the participants won gift vouchers. In addition to this renowned author Radhakrishnan Pillai hosted a book reading session of “Katha Chanakya”. 

Inorbit mall, Malad today has evolved as Mumbai’s most preferred shopping and entertainment experience destinations. The mall has recently got an infrastructure facelift and added a lot of new brands like H&M, Kazo, Forever New, Steve Madden, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Twelve AM PM, and Global Desi etc.to its tenant mix. 

In addition to the popular Inorbit app, there is a new facility and first of its kind in the industry, that Inorbit has introduced recently - The Shop Online feature which is available on Inorbit website and app. This assures shoppers convenience of shopping from their favorite shops at the mall from their homes with a quick delivery at their doorstep

Shah Rukh Khan meets Raees at the Mumbai Duty Free Store

~Mumbai Duty Free associates with Raees to give their customers a chance to meet King Khan~

Mumbai 23rd January, 2017: Mumbai Duty Free Store at T2 is once again offering its customers a chance to meet the beloved Badshah of Bollywood- Shah Rukh Khan. Mumbai Duty Free has associated with Red Chillies Entertainment to provide a quintessential Bollywood experience to the people travelling in and out from International airport (T2). One of the first ones to get a dekko of the set up was Shah Rukh Khan, who visited Mumbai Duty Free Store to promote his movie and interact with the customers.

The Mumbai Duty Free Store campaign ‘Ticket to Bollywood with Raees’ calls out to all travellers at the T2 terminal to shop for a minimum of 100 USD in order to win Raees movie merchandise and autographed posters. But it doesn’t stop here! One lucky winner gets a chance to meet Raees himself.

Talking about the association, Manishi Sanwal, MD, DFS India says, “We at Mumbai Duty Free Store (T2) always ensure that we offer our customers a novel and fun shopping experience with an extra scoop of excitement. With Raees touted to be the biggest blockbuster of 2017 and SRK fans waiting anxiously for the release, it deemed right to associate with Red Chillies Entertainment once again. We look forward to repeating the ‘Dilwale’ success through our ‘Ticket to Bollywood with Raees’ campaign. We are hopeful that travellers and fans of Bollywood will see maximum participation.”

To ensure maximum participation, DFS floor at T2 has curated a special humungous photo opportunity area. The travellers have to click a selfie in the photo area and upload it on their Facebook page tagging Mumbai Duty Free Store.

So if you are travelling abroad this January let your Bollywood side show up and shop your way to happiness!

Bharti AXA Life wants to Go Beyond Insurance for consumers

• Launches first-of-its-kind service for policyholders by providing emotional counselling,  financial planning and  will related services to support the family of deceased

Mumbai, January 23, 2017: Bharti AXA Life Insurance, the private life insurance joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and AXA, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, is all set to launch a unique service proposition, ‘Beyond Insurance’. With this proposition the company aims to provide first in the market initiatives that go beyond just providing insurance benefit and support customers at critical moments.       

The first launch in this series is the ‘Grief Support Program’, specially created for the family of the customers. ‘Grief Support Program’ offers the family of the deceased; most critical services that will help the family overcome the loss and steady their lives. The services include emotional counseling to manage the grief associated with the loss; financial planning for the lump sum they receive as part of the insurance benefit and will related advice for the family who may not be familiar with legal documents.         

Commenting on the launch, Sandeep Ghosh, MD & CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance said,

“Minimizing any distress to the family during an unfortunate event is the main driver behind an insurance buy. As an insurance company we protect the family against financial distress, but we feel that addresses only part of the issue. Loss of a dear one is a very difficult phase wherein families of the deceased often feel overwhelmed, and in some cases prone to depression. Through our Grief Support Program, we aim to provide families with the necessary emotional and other support that goes beyond insurance.”

“At Bharti AXA Life, customer-centricity is at the heart of every initiative. Our newest proposition of ‘Beyond insurance’ further highlights our commitment to our customers”, he further added.

Sharing the details of the campaign, Jitin Paul, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti AXA Life Insurance said, “We are launching an integrated marketing campaign for #GoBeyond. It is going to be the biggest bang in the insurance industry and will encompass TV, digital and other interesting platforms. We are also the associate sponsors of the India Australia Test Series which will help us reach out to the male corridor of media effectively.”

Under ‘Grief Support Program’, the family of the deceased will get access to following services

To amplify the new initiative, Bharti AXA Life is launching a high decibel ATL/advertisement and digital campaign across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram slated for launch 26th January.

About Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd

Bharti AXA Life Insurance is a joint venture between Bharti, one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom, agri business and retail, and AXA, one of the world’s leading organizations with interests in financial protection and wealth management. The joint venture company has a 51% stake from Bharti and 49% stake of AXA.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage creates waves in India with 30 Cr Gross Box Office Collection

~ With an India-first premiere, Vin Diesel and Deepika Padukone starrer is a box-office super-hit ~

National, January 17: Indian audience welcomed Hollywood superstar Vin Diesel with open-arms to the country for the India-first premiere of his latest installment to the action-adventure franchise xXx. Making her Hollywood debut Deepika Padukone, has impressed all her fans as they rushed to the theatres over the weekend to watch the movie.

Viacom18 Motion Pictures held a grand India Premiere event in Mumbai on Thursday, January 12, followed by paid-previews on Friday, January 13, and the official release in 3D and IMAX 3D, in 4 languages across almost 1200 screens in the country on Saturday. Within two and a half days, the movie has successfully garnered a gross box-office collection of almost 30-crores in the country. xXx: Return of Xander Cage is scheduled to release in 2D on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

Elated on the box office performance of the movie, COO – Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Ajit Andhare said, “The box office from just 3D itself & overall response has validated our confidence in the xXx franchise and xXx: Return of Xander Cage. With Deepika Padukone' s leading act in the film and Vin Diesel’s successful India visit, Viacom18 Motion Pictures has ensured India remains one of the priority market for Hollywood movies. We will continue to grow Hollywood tentpoles in India. For Viacom18 Motion Pictures, 2017 has started with a bang and we have a lot more in store. We are now opening 2D and adding more screens.”

Vin Diesel reprises his role as the action-adventure outlaw Xander Cage in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, along with recently crowned Asia’s sexiest woman Deepika Padukone who sets the screen ablaze through her daredevilry and heart-stopping action sequences. The movie also stars Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Ruby Rose (Orange is The New Black), Chinese superstar Donnie Yen (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Thai action-star Tony Jaa (Furious 7), and Samuel L Jackson (Marvel’s The Avengers).

Distributed exclusively in India by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, xXx: Return of Xander Cage released in India before the world on January 14th 2017 in IMAX & IMAX 3D.

And nationwide in 2D on January 18th 2017 in theatres near you.

MAX DESIGN AWARDS 2016-17 Students Edition

After a whopping response over the last two years, Max Fashion is back with the third edition of Max Design Awards, a definitive platform to recognize and reward the budding Fashion Designers. The property created by Max, gives final year fashion design students a chance to showcase their best and reach out to the fashion world through their creations.

Max Fashion, being a design-driven company, is looking to support and celebrate new and upcoming fashion talents. Max Design Awards has seen a huge success since its inception with growing number of fashion design enthusiasts showcasing their creativity and taking the level of the competition to new heights. Last year the competition attracted more than 200 entries over 40 design colleges across the country. The third edition is a continuous effort to reward the young aspiring fashion designers and provide them a platform to springboard their fashion design careers!

The esteemed jury for Max Design Awards 2016-17 includes Fashion Designers Ms. Priyadarshini Rao, Mr. Varun Bahl and Mr. Nachiket Barve along with Executive Director Max Fashion Mr. Vasanth Kumar, Vice President Design Max Fashion Ms. Kamakshi Kaul and Project Head Mr. Marc Robinson.

Registration for the award programme is open. Check here to register –

http://www.maxdesignawards.com/participate.html

Who can sign up?

Final year Fashion Design students from selected and or accredited fashion designing institutes of India.

How do you participate?

The theme for the Max Design Awards 2016-17 is "The Dark Side"

Step 1: Select any one category – Men's wear or Women's wear. Prepare a mood board of your interpretation of the main theme.

Step 2: Based on your mood board, prepare two sketches.
- One sketch for prêt
- One sketch for Couture
Both sketches need to fall under any one category (men's wear or women's wear) selected by you.

Step 3: Prepare a 150 word count brief on your collection. Outline your colour pallet, fabrics, style, patterns, etc. for each of the designs

Step 4: Register yourself on www.maxdesignawards.com and file in your application OR apply by emailing high resolution scans of your sketches, mood board, along with a 150 word count brief on your interpretation of the theme “The Dark Side”. Email at maxdesignawards@gmail.com

Last Date for receiving the Entries/application is 16th February 2017

Step 5: It is mandatory to send the physical docket (Mood board, Both sketches and write up with fabric swatches to –

Krupa Kini/ Ranganathan V

Lifestyle international private limited

Max Retail division

77 degree town centre,

Building no.3 east wing

5th floor, Off old airport road

Yemalur P.O. Bangalore - 560037

Last Date for receiving the physical docket of the Entries/application is 20th February 2017

Sunburn Statement - David Guetta - Mumbai + New Delhi + Hyderabad ON

Regarding the Mumbai Show Harindra Singh, Managing Director & Chairman, Percept Limited, “We regret the cancellation of the Sunburn Arena with David Guetta this evening. We are happy to add that we have succeeded to reschedule the event for Sunday, January 15th 2017 between 1100 hrs - 1600 hrs at the same venue i.e. Jio Gardens, BKC. We are complying with all the regulatory requirements as prescribed by the authorities. The current tickets will be valid for the rescheduled show on Sunday. We regret any inconvenience caused and are grateful to all our fans for their love and support. We would like to thank David Guetta,  his team and also all the regulatory bodies for their support and agreeing to reschedule the show at such short notice.”

Regarding the New Delhi + Hyderabad Shows- Karan Singh, CEO, Sunburn, "The David Guetta Sunburn Arena show in New Delhi on the 15th and Hyderabad on the 14th will take place as originally planned. The venue for New Delhi is Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium while the venue for Hyderabad is Hitex Exhibition Center. " 

The official Twitter handle of Hyderabad police posted , "Welcome to Hyderabad David Guetta. Look forward to hosting you tomorrow. @cyberabadpolice committed to ensure a glitch free event as always."

Concur Technologies Wins CIO CHOICE 2017 Honor & Recognition in Travel and Expense category

Mumbai, India – Jan 13, 2017 – Amidst a gathering of 400+ CIOs and ICT Business Leaders Concur Technologies has been recognized with CIO CHOICE 2017 Honor & Recognition Title in the Travel and Expense category. They were awarded at the exclusive Red Carpet Night wherein CIO CHOICE celebrated its 5th Anniversary, the only independent ICT Vendor Recognition platform – Voice of CIOs in India.

This marquee 5th Annual CIO CHOICE Recognition landmark event, focusing on companies based or operating in India, was by far the most competitive in its history this year as well, with the highest number of nominations and entry submissions to date with a distinguished CIO Advisory. More than 200 entries were received this year, from a wide array of public and private ICT Vendor companies, both Large as well as Small & Medium Enterprises and from a variety of geographic regions in India.

Winners of CIO CHOICE 2017 were determined by an independent CIO voting survey from across the country on product performance, customer satisfaction and continued customer service. It is a recognition and validation that CIOs can trust because it is ‘By the CIO and for the CIO’. It offers the CIO community an authentic aid to finding and considering the most preferred and stable products, services and solutions. Having earned the honor to wear the CIO CHOICE logo, ICT vendors will be enjoying new media campaigns and amplified CIO exposure resulting in increased sales.

CIO CHOICE 2017 Honor & Recognitions were presented in 52 categories, recognizing 28 distinct ICT Brands.

Travel and expense is the second largest controllable spend for companies, after payrolls. Concur offers a comprehensive end-to-end solution that automates travel and expense management, as well as vendor invoice processing. The vast portfolio of online solutions from Concur can help companies, with frequent employee travel, closely manage policies and reduce costs associated with travel and expense.

“We are honored to receive this recognition from the CIO community as it validates the value of service we provide to business and our esteemed clients” said Mr. Anukumar Ramesh, Marketing Director, Concur Technologies, India. “It is a matter of great pride that CIOs and our partners have voted us. This recognition showcases our expertise in T&E management as well as our strength and leadership in the sector” he added.

“By being voted by CIOs Concur Technologies has proven their expertise in T&E technology areas. This places them among the top percentile of enterprise ICT vendors in India.” said Anoop Mathur President at Centre of Recognition & Excellence. “When CIOs look for an ICT partner to meet their business challenges, choosing a company that has ‘THE TRUST’ of CIO Choice Logo is an intelligent move. It is a set of CIO endorsed ICT brands with successful deployments at their customer ends.”

KPMG is the knowledge partner for CIO CHOICE 2017.

Bollywood fans bid 2016 goodbye with favourite movie stars|Star Screen Awards

New Year’s Eve was a Bollywood party right at home for 71.4 million Indian TV viewers who tuned in to watch the last Hindi movie award show of 2016. The ‘Star Screen Awards’ gave Star Plus a whopping 1.6x rise in Primetime weekend viewership compared to previous weeks in December. Zapr Media Labs tracks viewership for the show which gripped viewers up till the very last hour of the year.

Using cutting edge TV-to-Mobile mapping technology, we identified these viewers and profiled their award show consumption in 2016. Our insights reveal an audience segment who tuned into almost every major Hindi movie award show aired on Television.  

Hourly viewership breakdown of the telecast shows drastic rise from the first to the second hour as Box office hits like Pink and Udta Punjab bagged several award categories. 24.7 million viewers tuned in between 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM. The number rose to 38.1 million viewers between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM.

The rest of the telecast received highly consistent viewership maintaining 38 million viewers until the show ended.

Our viewership overlap studies at Zapr Media Labs show that significant percentages of Star Screen Awards viewers previously consumed other Bollywood award shows on Television.

33.4% watched IIFA Awards on Colors, 27.2% watched Guild Film Awards on Sony TV and 30.7% watched the Sansui Colors Stardust Awards.

Since these viewers diligently followed Hindi stars across major award shows, we were curious to know the actual shows and movies that interest them. So we profiled the Television consumption patterns of Star Screen Awards viewers and shortlisted their Top Five most watched Hindi Movies and Entertainment shows in the month of December 2016.  

The Zapr ad-tech platform enables Brands and advertisers to identify Bollywood movie buffs and viewers of specific Hindi Entertainment shows by their content consumption patterns. These viewers comprise niche interest groups in the Zapr audience pool, much like Facebook interest groups with high potential for brand engagement.

Zapr geographically maps out viewers at highly granular levels like states, cities, towns and even smaller localities. The Star Screen awards had the largest number of viewers located in Maharashtra – 10.3 million viewers. Uttar Pradesh followed closely with 9.9 million viewers. Gujarat had 6.8 million viewers. West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh made it to Top Five with very close margins of 4.5 and 4.2 million viewers respectively.