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Hyderabad, Nov 15 (IANS) Veteran Tollywood actor Krishna passed away at a hospital in Hyderabad early Tuesday while undergoing treatment after he suffered cardiac arrest. He was 79. <keyword id="1515523" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="superstar-krishna" source="Orion">Superstar Krishna</keyword>, one of the last legends of Telugu film industry, breathed his last at Continental Hospital, where he was admitted late Sunday night after he suffered cardiac arrest. According to doctors he was brought to the hospitals in an unconscious state but was revived after 20 minutes of CPR. He was put on a ventilator and his condition was critical. Krishna's son and popular actor Mahesh Babu and other family members were present at the hospital. Ghattamaneni Siva Rama Krishna Murthy or Krishna, as he was popularly known, acted in more than 350 films in a career spanning five decades. He also produced and directed a few films. Born on May 31, 1942 at Burripalem in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Krishna entered the film industry in early 1960s with small roles. He debuted as the lead actor with the 1965 movie aThene Manasulu', which became a hit. 'Gudacchari 116' (1966), a spy film, proved to be a superhit, making Krishna one of the most sought after actors. With this success, he got offers for 20 films. He subsequently acted in at least six James Bond like movies. 'Sakshi' (1967) won critical acclaim at the Tashkent film festival. His 1972 movie 'Pandanti Kapuram' bagged the national film award for best feature film in Telugu for that year. Krishna is known for many landmark movies like 'Alluri Seetharama Raju' (19767), which was the first cinemascope movie in Tollywood, 'Eenadu' (1982), first Eastman color film and 'Simhasanam' (1986), the first 70 mm film. The superstar founded Padmalaya Studio in 1970 and produced some highly successful movies. Krishna married Indira Devi in 1965. They had two sons including Mahesh Babu and three daughters. In 1969, he married actor Vijaya Nirmala and had one son from her. She died in 2019. The superstar was reported to be depressed since the death of his wife Indira Devi in September. Early this year, he lost his elder son Ramesh Babu. Krishna was considered close to former Prime Minister Rahiv Gandhi. He joined the Congress party in 1984 and was a critic of legendary actor N.T. Rama Rao and his Telugu Desam Party. Krishna had made few films criticising NTR and his government. Krishna was elected to Lok sabha from Eluru in 1989 but lost the election in 1991 from the same constituency. After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, Krishna distanced himself from politics He received several awards including NTR national award in 2003. In 2009, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to Indian cinema.

Veteran Telugu actor Krishna passes away at 79

<ul><li>Speaking at the <keyword id="824043" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Business-Insider">Business Insider</keyword> Global Trends Festival, <keyword id="32047" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahesh-Babu">Mahesh Babu</keyword>, the Managing Director and CEO at <keyword id="6243674" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahindra-electric-mobility">Mahindra Electric Mobility</keyword> spoke about the role of technology to make electric vehicles more feasible for countries. </li><li>Safety, sustainability and enhancing user experience are the three important levers that auto manufacturers are focussing on when it comes to smart and connected mobility.</li><li>Mahindra Electric is the pioneer for EV in the Indian space. Under the Mahindra Electric brand, the group has launched over 5 EVs, ranging from cars to three-wheelers and three-wheelers mini to cargo vans.</li></ul>With governments setting sustainable green goals, automakers around the world are working towards achieving a zero emission future. Incremental innovations have brought about a whole lot of disruptive changes in the sector. With technology and changing consumer preferences playing a big role in this transformation towards sustainable mobility. “The auto sector is no longer a sector of manufacturing; we are looking at mobility as a new paradigm,” said Mahesh Babu, the Managing Director and CEO at Mahindra Electric Mobility. Speaking at <keyword id="10150239" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-business-insider-global-trends-festival-2020">the Business Insider Global Trends Festival 2020</keyword>, Mahindra Electric chief explained how technology could make electric vehicles (EV) more feasible for countries to achieve the goal of sustainable mobility. And he highlighted the three important pillars that OEMs are working around in the EV industry for connected mobility. <div type="twitter" handle="BiIndia" handlename="Business Insider India🇮🇳" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1232926719016718336/sfffJHNV_normal.jpg" favoritecount="3" retweetcount="0" status="#WATCH | &quot;The auto is no more a sector of manufacturing, we are looking at #mobility as a new paradigm&quot;:… https://t.co/d0WbnmqlDM" createdat="1603115065000" id="1318186242928898048"></div> “How do we make the customers productive, how do we make the vehicles safe, and how do we make them sustainable— are the three important levers, I would say OEMs are looking at, to do it,” said Mahesh Babu. He also emphasised on the critical role that digitalisation plays in the auto sector, with companies ditching the traditional ways of reaching out to customers and shifting the focus to digital sales. “There are a lot of digital transformations happening, digital particularly— which is good to have,” he added. <div type="image" title="Connected mobility Market Size (USD Billion)" msid="78803582" hostid="261"></div> These are the three important levers of connected mobility, according to Mahesh Babu. #1 Safety is the priority Safety of the customers is the most important factor, according to Babu. People consider the best of the safety features when they plan to buy a car, and according to Babu, there are a lot of “fatal accidents” happening around the world, which need to be stopped by integrating technology. “If you look at safety— I think autonomous has a different level, you have level 5, level 3 and level 2. Ultimately it is aimed at two things: one is to avoid pollution, to take care of the safety,” he added. <div type="image" title="image (12)" msid="78803603" hostid="261"></div> #2 Sustainability — electric car as a power station “The second one is about sustainability.” According to Babu, “EVs are no more isolated from the grid. Now look at EVs as a part of the grid, then we have V2G (Vehicle-to-grid) and G2V (Grid-to-vehicle) technologies.” In Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) an electric car can return the electricity to the grid or by throttling their charging rate and filling the need of the grid. “And we can bring a lot of efficiency in both vehicles and the grid, and it will complement each other.” Giving an example, Babu explained that if a city has 1000 EVs and each of those have an average 50 KW battery, then actually through connected cars we can make it viable to feed the grid if the cars are not being utilised — at an appropriate time when the grid needs it. <div type="image" title="image (13)" msid="78803623" hostid="261"></div> #3 Enhancing user experience “The third one is customer comfort and time,” added Babu. In cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, with road infrastructure woes, traffic logjams, and excessive rush during peak hours, people spend around 3-4 hours (on an average) commuting to work; and that is ‘very unproductive.’ People are looking for ‘connected travel’, which allows them to work even during the commute. And that’s where OEMs can bring about a change, they are focussed on bringing wifi and home-like experience to make it easier for the travellers to stay productive even during their long commute. “Like you need wifi, you need connectivity for people in the car. And how we can utilise the time if it’s family or if it’s products in the office, we need to create the ambience of the office or house in the car,” Babu said. How digital transformation has changed the automobile industry over the last decade! From concept to customer acquisition in the auto industry — the digital push is playing a vital role. Babu highlighted that nearly 10 years ago, electronics and software formed about 10% of the manufacturing activity. However, as they progressed into EVs, that percentage shot up to 30-35%. Smart and connected mobility is the future. “I would say, actually bringing efficiency is bringing in improvements in the product, and with autonomous EVs, I think that value will substantially grow from 30% to 50% plus. I would say, the auto industry is going towards the industry for providing mobility,” he added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/former-tesla-cio-raises-150-million-for-his-saas-automotive-retail-startup-enters-the-unicorn-club/articleshow/78800958.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Former Tesla CIO raises $150 million for his SaaS automotive retail startup, enters the unicorn club</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/kumar-mangalam-birla-says-cement-industry-is-recovering-and-analysts-find-evidence-of-it-outside-ultratech-too/articleshow/78791281.cms">Kumar Mangalam Birla says cement industry is recovering and analysts find evidence of it outside UltraTech too</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/uber-bus-pradeep-parameswaran-says-india-and-apac-will-follow-egypt-success/articleshow/78788982.cms">Uber Bus in India soon? Head of Mobility in APAC says he is ready to import the Egypt experiment</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/sadhguru-advice-government-should-give-tax-relief-for-sustainable-businesses/articleshow/78790522.cms">Sadhguru’s advice: Government should give tax relief for sustainable businesses</a>

EXCLUSIVE: Mahindra Electric chief explains the three important elements of connected mobility

<ul><li>“In India, if you look at the <keyword id="409965" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-auto-component-industry">Indian auto component industry</keyword>, there is no specific incentive you get to develop EVs,” said Arvind Goel, <keyword id="9477285" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tata-autocomp-systems-chief">TATA AutoComp Systems chief</keyword>.</li><li>This came after Union minister <keyword id="26680" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nitin-gadkari">Nitin Gadkari</keyword> last week said the country has the potential to become a major manufacturing hub for electric vehicles in the next five years.</li><li>China supplies key components for EVs, including Lithium-ion battery cells. Large parts of these imports from China (except alloy wheels) are sourced by vendors, whereas tyres are sold in the aftermarket, according to Motilal Oswal.</li><li>According to Goel, India can certainly become an EV leader without importing manufacturing parts from China, but for that, Indian original equipment manufacturers (OEM) need to look at the collaborative effort to localize everything.</li></ul>While India is propelling its plan to become a major electric vehicle market in the next 20 years some auto industry players think there isn’t enough support from the government for the EV making companies. “In India, if you look at the Indian auto component industry, there is no specific incentive you get to develop EVs,” said Arvind Goel Managing Director and CEO of TATA AutoComp Systems at ETAuto EV Conclave. “China started making EVs in 2007, and 2008 and the Chinese government saw to it that local investments were made and youth support and local R&amp;D benefits and so many benefits in terms of tax were given to local industries,” he added. Here’s what China did to promote EVs <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">China </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">India </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">China started the "863 EV Project" in 2001 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">India unveiled the 'National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020' in 2013 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">As of 2019, China has invested $60 billion in subsidies and incentives for EVs. </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">India released a two-pronged strategy aimed at both buyers and manufacturers, in which it offers $1.4 billion in subsidies to buyers. </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">The subsidy for EV customers is RMB 60,000 (₹6,40,000) for battery electric vehicles (BEV) and RMB 50,000 (₹533,000) for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV). </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">India offers a purchase subsidy of ₹10,000 per kilowatt to which CEO's want to be extended to ₹15,000 per kilowatt. </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">China has over 1.2 million charging points as of 2019 and it plans to add another 600,000 charging points </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Charging infrastructure in India is at a nascent stage </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">China extended a 10% purchase tax exemption on EV sales until 2022. </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.9960975000000001pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Indian government also lowered the GST rate on electric vehicles to 5% from the previous high of 12% </td></tr></tbody></table> Gadkari also revealed that the Centre is looking at initiating a pilot project for developing an electric highway on the upcoming Delhi-Mumbai green corridor. READ ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/checkout-the-list-of-indian-startups-working-on-electric-vehicles-and-batteries/slidelist/76562429.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Here are the startups fuelling India’s electric vehicle dream</a> India’s EV industry wants more from the government But the industry wants more. “You have to start thinking about it for eight or ten years in advance. You can’t start in two years, decide to switch to EVs, and say that I want to localize. What happens then is you start importing the technology and components from outside. So everything has a timeline that requires support and regulatory push from the government,” he said. One of the pending demands from the EV makers is for a 50% rise in purchase subsidy to ₹15,000 per kilowatt. “The government and OEMs have to work together to reduce the cost by making in India and making it locally, even the batteries and cells. If it happens, we will win the race and become the largest EV market in the world," <keyword id="191133" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sulajja-Firodia-Motwani">Sulajja Firodia Motwani</keyword>, founder and CEO of Kinetic Green, <a href="https://www.autocarpro.in/news-national/kinetic-green-sulajja-firodia-motwani-india-ev-story-remains-very-strong-and-we-can-convert-the-pains-into-gains-56536">earlier told AUTOCAR professionals</a>. Union minister Nitin Gadkari last week said the country has potential to become a major manufacturing hub for electric vehicles in the next five years and the Centre is trying to extend best possible concessions to this sector. The final assembly is just one part China is a key<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/products-like-air-conditioners-cars-electric-vehicles-tv-and-even-medicines-are-highly-dependent-on-material-from-china/articleshow/76618654.cms"> supplier for sub-components used in an engine, electrical /electronics, alloy wheels, tyres</a>, etc. It supplies key components for EVs, including Li-ion battery cells. Large parts of these imports from China (except alloy wheels) are sourced by vendors, whereas tyres are sold in the aftermarket, according to Motilal Oswal. <div type="image" title="EV charing" msid="76669371" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Hindustan Petrolium corporation limited Launch Electric vehicle Charging Station in 2017&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The other major barrier for EV adoption in India is the unavailability of public charging infrastructure (PCS). However, the government has plans to install charging infrastructure for EVs in 70 cities and 20% of highways by 2025. Collaboration is the way to being Atmanirbhar (self reliant) <keyword id="9210258" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="atmanirbhar-bharat">Atmanirbhar Bharat</keyword> is the campaign, a series of reforms, declared by the Indian Prime Minister <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/pm-narendra-modi-announces-a-20-lakh-crore-financial-stimulus-for-a-self-reliant-india/articleshow/75700217.cms">Narendra Modi to make India a self-reliant nation</a>. According to Goel, India can certainly become an EV leader without importing manufacturing parts from China, “but for that, Indian OEMs need to look at the collaborative effort to localize everything. You can’t put a factory requirement; the factory needs to be for an international market. For example, some capes (capital expenditure) is put by Mahindras and some by Tatas, and they utilize each other’s facility to reduce the total investments into space” Whereas <keyword id="32047" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahesh-Babu">Mahesh babu</keyword> CEO &amp; MD of Mahindra Electric thinks self-reliance has been misunderstood by other market players and asserted that India should go hand in hand with other countries. He said, “self-reliant is not about making it in India; I think it’s a misconception. In self-reliant, I believe you have to collaborate. We collaborate with European companies that help us in designing some of the hardware. We collaborate with American suppliers and some Chinese suppliers today, we are collaborating with Japanese and Korean suppliers. The collaboration has to be international.” SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-needs-over-600000-buses-for-25-million-commuters-daily-to-follow-social-distancing-norms-in-times-of-coronavirus/articleshow/76417090.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">India needs over 600,000 buses for 25 million commuters daily to follow social distancing norms, according to a study</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/pidilite-brands-fevicol-mseal-and-dr-fixit-make-over-3000-crore-a-year-in-revenue/articleshow/76623265.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Fevicol, MSeal, and Dr Fixit make over ₹3,000 crore a year in revenue — but that’s not enough for Pidilite to recover from COVID crisis</a>

What CEOs say India can learn from China to get more electric vehicles on the road

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The year 2022 saw the Telugu film industry losing some of its biggest stars. The deaths of superstar Krishna and 'rebel star' <keyword id="239827" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="krishnam-raju" source="Orion">Krishnam Raju</keyword> came as big blows to <keyword id="6354765" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="tollywood" source="Orion">Tollywood</keyword>, and the end of the year brought the news of the passing of veteran actors Kaikala Satyanarayana and <keyword id="306306" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="chalapathi-rao" source="Orion">Chalapathi Rao</keyword>. The year began on a tragic note with the death of actor-producer <keyword id="207378" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="ramesh-babu" source="Orion">Ramesh Babu</keyword>, elder brother of popular actor Mahesh Babu, in January. Ramesh Babu was known for films such as Bazaar Rowdy, Mugguru Kodukulu and others. After his retirement from acting in 1997, he had become a producer. April saw the death of three veteran Tollywood personalities. Director Sarath passed away at the age of 74 after battling cancer. Sarath, who made his directorial debut in 1986 with Chadastapu Mogudu, made over 20 films in his career. He predominantly worked with actors Nandamuri Balakrishna and Suman. While he delivered superhits such as Vamshanikokkadu, Sulthan, Peddannayya, and Vamshoddharakudu, he directed Suman in films Bava Bavamaridi, Peddinti Alludu, and Chinna Alludu. The same month, veteran actor M. Balayya passed away at the age of 94. He had acted in more than 300 films and was popular for playing the role of the elderly and other important roles in several super hit movies. Veteran director Tatineni Rama Rao's death came as another loss to Tollywood. He passed away in Chennai at the age of 84. He started his career in the film industry as an assistant director and made his directorial debut with Navarathri (1966), starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Savitri in the lead roles. He directed more than 65 films in Telugu and Hindi. He directed blockbusters such as Brahmachari (1966), Manchi Mitrulu (1969), Jeevana Tarangalu (1973), Dorababu (1974), Yamagola (1977), Anuraga Devatha (1982) and Pachchani Kapuram (1985). In September, Tollywood lost legendary actor U. V. Krishnam Raju. He passed away at the age of 83. Known as the 'rebel star' of Telugu cinema, he was the uncle of popular actor Prabhas. In a career spanning 50 years, Krishnam Raju acted in more than 180 films. He was also a recipient of five Filmfare south awards as well as three Nandi awards. His most famous works include Jeevana Tarangalu, Krishnaveni, and Bhakta Kannappa among others. Raju served as the Union Minister of state in various ministries in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government between 2000 and 2002. He was elected to the Kakinada and Narasapuram constituencies in the 12th and 13th <keyword id="6355187" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="lok-sabha" source="Orion">Lok Sabha</keyword> on a BJP ticket. In November, Tollywood suffered a huge loss with the death of legendary actor Krishna. He died of cardiac arrest at the age of 79. Ghattamaneni Siva Rama Krishna Murthy or Superstar Krishna, as he was popularly known, acted in more than 350 films in a career spanning five decades. He also produced and directed a few films. Father of actor Mahesh Babu, Krishna was credited with introducing many new trends in Tollywood. He is known for many landmark movies like 'Alluri Seetharama Raju', which was the first cinemascope movie in Tollywood, 'Eenadu' (1982), the first Eastman colour film and 'Simhasanam' (1986), the first 70 mm film. The superstar founded Padmalaya Studio in 1970 and produced some highly successful movies. The superstar was reported to be depressed since the death of his wife Indira Devi in September. Early this year, he lost his elder son Ramesh Babu. Considered close to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Krishna joined the Congress party in 1984. He was elected to Lok Sabha from Eluru in 1989 but lost the election in 1991 from the same constituency. After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, Krishna distanced himself from politics He received several awards including NTR national award in 2003. In 2009, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan for his contributions to Indian cinema. The last month of the year saw Tollywood losing two more veteran actors. Kaikala Satyanarayana passed away on December 23 at the age of 87. Known for his roles as a villain and character artist, he acted in over 750 films. In a career spanning 60 years, he worked with over 200 directors. A close friend of former Chief Minister N. T. Rama Rao, he was elected to Lok Sabha from Machilipatnam in 1996 on the ticket of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He later quit politics. Even before Tollywood could recover from this shock, another veteran actor Tammareddy Chalapathi Rao passed away on December 25. He died of cardiac arrest at the age of 78. Known for his comic and villainous roles, he acted with three generations of top stars in a career spanning over five decades. He acted in more than 600 films. Chalapathi Rao made his debut in 1966 with 'Ghodachari 116'. He acted in supporting roles with leading actors like N. T. Rama Rao, Krishna, Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi and Venkatesh. He also produced a few films. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/starry-rise-of-the-videocon-group-which-ended-in-a-meteoric-fall/articleshow/96564699.cms">Starry rise of the Videocon group which ended in a meteoric fall</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/shivam-mavi-selected-for-india-vs-sri-lanka-three-match-t20i-seriesall-about-the-young-all-rounder/slidelist/96566474.cms">Shivam Mavi selected for India vs Sri Lanka three-match T20I series—all about the young all rounder</a>

As the year ends, Tollywood mourns the loss of legends like Krishna, Krishnam Raju and more

<ul><li>The platform has come up with a simple solution to help build a safe driving environment for <keyword id="20566" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="senior-citizens">senior citizens</keyword>.</li><li>Company’s brand ambassadors Akshay Kumar, Mahesh Babu, Rahul Dravid and K. L. Rahul have also joined the new initiative.</li></ul>CarDekho has launched a campaign ‘E’ for Elderly, to promote a safe driving environment for senior citizens. Because of the pandemic, commuters are choosing personal mobility options over shared mobility. The campaign aims to promote greater responsibility towards self-driving senior citizens and to create awareness about sensitive social issue of <keyword id="87280" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="road-safety">road safety</keyword>. Company’s brand ambassadors Akshay Kumar, Mahesh Babu, Rahul Dravid and K. L. Rahul have also joined the new initiative. The campaign launched across all digital platforms, has been conceptualized and executed by <keyword id="131262" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Leo-Burnett">Leo Burnett</keyword>. Due to the pandemic, the elderly are reluctant to take cabs and have started driving, and the company wishes to create a safe driving environment for them. Just like ‘L’ stands for learners, ‘E’ will be for elders. The campaign is targeted towards all the eligible drivers to take extra caution while driving close to a car with an ‘E’ symbol on it. It, thus, asks family members to put an ‘E’ symbol on the windshield/back glass of their senior citizen’s car to warn other drivers that the vehicle is driven by an elderly person. <div type="Youtube" id="qTUC45w6fg8" title="CarDekho Gaadi Store stands for 'E for Elderly' in the newest TVC ad!" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qTUC45w6fg8/mqdefault.jpg"></div> At the launch of the campaign, Gaurav Mehta, Chief Marketing Officer, CarDekho Group, said, “This campaign reflects an ideology that the brand stands for –developing an inclusive and caring personal mobility environment for everyone. There has been a huge change in the way we live now. We want to make everyone feel safe and have a hassle-free driving experience, especially senior citizens. We hope this campaign will promote simple, incremental behavioural changes and more empathy towards elders driving on the road.” Adding further, <keyword id="2289556" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajdeepak-Das">Rajdeepak Das</keyword>, CEO&amp; Chief Creative Officer – South Asia, Leo Burnett says “E for elderly” is a great example of how a simple idea can create a big change. With the pandemic we have seen the rise in people taking personal transport, including our senior citizens who have taken to driving once again. But how to make people compassionate towards elderly who getting back to driving after years.So we created “E” as the sign for Elderly drivers. You can write on a paper, print, use tape, as long as it’s an E it does the job. We are very proud to be a part of this initiative with CarDekho and hope to make a positive difference with this campaign.”

CarDekho’s latest campaign talks about building a safe driving environment for senior citizens

<keyword id="6354743" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-India">Amazon India</keyword> on Tuesday said it has deployed nearly 100 Mahindra Treo Zor three-wheelers in seven cities in the country as part of its broader goal. The Mahindra Treo Zor vehicles have been deployed in seven cities so far, including Bengaluru, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore and Lucknow. In 2020, <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> India had announced that its fleet of delivery vehicles will include 10,000 <keyword id="6354973" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="electric-vehicles">electric vehicles</keyword> (<keyword id="312660" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="EVS">EVs</keyword>) by 2025 in India. These EVs are in addition to the global commitment of 100,000 electric vehicles in the delivery fleet by 2030 announced in the Climate Pledge signed by Amazon. "The partnership between Amazon India and <keyword id="3583860" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahindra-electric">Mahindra Electric</keyword> is a welcome step, which reaffirms India's significant progress in the e-mobility industry and highlights the role of auto makers and e-commerce companies to achieve our environmental sustainability goals," said Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. "We are confident that the government's efforts to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles in the country, and steps taken towards setting up of infrastructure backed by policy measures will help more companies adopt e-mobility," he added. The Mahindra Treo Zor was launched in October 2020 and provides an advanced Lithium-ion Battery and ease of charging, making it easy for delivery partners to charge the vehicles in various locations. "The expansion of our Electric Vehicle fleet to 10,000 vehicles by 2025 is an integral milestone in our journey to become a sustainability leader in the industry. We continue to work with several OEMs to build a fleet of 'Made in India' electric vehicles," said Akhil Saxena, VP, Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA &amp; LATAM, Amazon said. Mahindra Treo Zor has been designed and developed in India and offers best-in-industry performance and the longest-in-industry wheelbase offers a very safe and stable ride "We are proud to partner with Amazon in deploying Mahindra Treo Zor EV in their delivery partners' fleet. We believe, this will redefine India's logistics and last-mile delivery needs and at the same time help Mahindra and Amazon to achieve our sustainability goals," said Mahesh Babu, MD &amp; CEO, Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd. Treo Zor offers a unique customer value proposition with best-in-industry power of 8 kW, and highest-in-class payload of 550 kg.

Amazon India partners with Mahindra Electric to add EVs to its fleet of delivery vehicles

<ul><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink">Global Trends Festival</a> is one of the world's most prestigious events which will be live from Oct 19-23.</li><li>While nobel laureates, some of the biggest political and corporate icons will provide thought leadership, it's a great platform to network with CXOs from around the world.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink">Global Trends Festival 2020</a> is presented by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/" data-type="tilCustomLink">AWS</a>.</li><li>Register for the Global Trends Festival <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsform_2020.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.</li></ul> The <keyword id="9732021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-insider-global-trends-festival">Business Insider Global Trends Festival</keyword> is a virtual event taking place from the 19th to 23rd of October 2020. Its main theme will be the impact of COVID-19 on global business. Each day of the event also has a theme: Welcome to the Future, Shifting Societies, Sustainability, Technology, and Organization. On October 19, speakers at the event will discuss consequences of the pandemic and actual measures that the world's top leaders and businesses have taken in response. Over 250 prominent speakers will appear on the event's five virtual stages, made up of a global stage and four regional stages (United States, Europe Warsaw, Europe Berlin, and Asia/Pacific in New Delhi and Tokyo). Who can you see on the Business Insider Global Trends Festival stages during the first day of the conference? On Monday, October 19, the global stage will host: Henry Blodget, CEO of Insider Inc.; Nouriel Roubini, world-famed economist who predicted the 2008 crisis; Werner Baumann, CEO of Bayer AG; Özgür Burak Akkol, CEO of MESS; Hiltrud Dorothea Werner, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG for Integrity and Legal Affairs; Gisbert Rühl, CEO of Klöckner &amp; Co SE; Michael Miebach, Designated CEO of Mastercard; Manny Maceda, CEO of Bain &amp; Company; Lord Grimstone of Boscobel, UK’s Minister for Investment; Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of Aditya Birla Group; Adena T. Friedman, CEO of NASDAQ; Roksana Ciurysek-Gedir, Artist, Banker and Founder of Possible X; and Josina von dem Bussche-Kessel, Global Sales Director at Fabergé. On the Europe Warsaw Stage attendees will find: Jovan Protić, COO, Ringier Axel Springer Media; Nassim Nicholas Taleb, professor of New York University, author of bestselling books “Black Swan” and “Antifragile"; Margarete Schramböck, Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, Austria; Paweł Borys, CEO of the Polish Development Fund; Kelvin Tay, Managing Director, Regional Chief Investment Officer at UBS Global Wealth Management and Grzegorz Zawada, Head of Investments and Private Banking Division at Bank PKO Bank Polski. The Europe Berlin Stage will host: Markus Duesmann, CEO of AUDI; Dr. Philipp Peitsch, CEO of idealo; Alexa von Bismarck, Country Manager of Adyen, Germany; Thomas Plantenga, CEO of Vinted; Tarek Müller, CEO of About You; Ambassador Prof. Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman, Munich Security Conference; Shéhérazade Semsar - de Boisséson, CEO of Politico EU; Dr. Nick Redman, Director of Analysis Oxford Analytica; and Shada Islam, Brussels-based specialist on European Union affairs. “Welcome to the future” on the United States Stage will include presentations by Kamila Chytil, COO of Moneygram; Helen Shan, CFO of Factset; Phil Snow, CEO of Factset; Simon Freakley, CEO of AlixPartners; Steve Voorhees, CEO of Westrock; and Lee Olesky, CEO of Tradeweb. The Asia/Pacific Stage in New Delhi and Tokyo will welcome attendees of the first day of the conference with presentations by: Rishi Jaitly, CEO, Times Bridge; <keyword id="1702989" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Byju-Raveendran">Byju Raveendran</keyword>, Founder of Byju’s; Guenter Butsheck, Global CEO, Tata Motors; Lord Adair Turner, Baron Turner of Ecchinswell; Asish Dhawan, Managing Director – Enterprise at Amazon Internet Services Pvt. Ltd; Mahesh Babu, CEO of Mahindra Electric; Seiko Noda, Japan’s Executive Acting Secretary General, the first female chair of the Lower House Budget Committee. For a detailed scheduled and more information on the speakers please visit our <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink">website</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://onlinexperiences.com/scripts/Server.nxp?LASCmd=AI:4;F:QS!10100&amp;ShowUUID=C2915884-30BB-442E-97B5-C4FC9AF811A7&amp;GroupID=PLUS" data-type="tilCustomLink">You can register on our event platform and create profile to enjoy uninterrupted streaming of the event</a> SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/kumar-mangalam-birla-chairman-aditya-birla-group-will-share-the-secrets-behind-successful-acquisitions-at-the-global-trends-festival-2020/articleshow/78681327.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Kumar Mangalam Birla will share the secrets behind successful acquisitions at the Global Trends Festival 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/hear-from-the-fashion-icon-sabyasachi-on-the-concept-of-luxury-and-the-future-of-fashion-at-the-global-trends-festival-2020/articleshow/78662238.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Hear from the fashion icon Sabyasachi, on the concept of luxury and the future of fashion, at the Global Trends Festival 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/trendsfestival" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/catch-lord-adair-turner-the-technocrat-who-is-devising-ways-and-means-to-move-towards-a-zero-carbon-economy-at-the-global-trends-festival-2020/articleshow/78661710.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Catch Lord Adair Turner, the technocrat who is devising ways and means to move towards a zero-carbon economy, at the Global Trends Festival 2020</a>

“Welcome to the future” – The first day of the Business Insider Global Trends Festival discusses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on business

The who's who of Indian film industry took to Twitter to wish good health and <keyword id="793351" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="speedy-recovery">speedy recovery</keyword> for megastar <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword> and son <keyword id="499" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="abhishek-bachchan">Abhishek Bachchan</keyword>, after the two tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Bachchans, who are at Nanavati Hospital, shared their health update on Twitter, on Saturday night. "I have tested COVID positive. Shifted to Hospital. Hospital informing authorities, family and staff undergone tests, results awaited," Amitabh, 77, tweeted. "All that have been in close proximity to me in the last 10 days are requested to please get themselves tested," he added. Abhishek, 44, said both his father and he had had mild symptoms and requested everybody to be calm and not panic. "Earlier today both my father and I tested positive for <keyword id="8764728" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID 19</keyword>. Both of us having mild symptoms have been admitted to hospital. We have informed all the required authorities and our family and staff are all being tested. I request all to stay calm and not panic. Thank you," he tweeted. Bollywood celebrities, including Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Taapsee Pannu, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Shahid Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh among others took to Twitter and wished the duo good health. Amitabh's "Pink" co-star Taapsee wrote, "And you shall be back to health and happiness soon... champ!" Madhuri hoped for a quick recover of the veteran star. "Wishing you speedy recovery Amit ji," she wrote. Filmmaker Hansal Mehta said he was "praying" for the megastar's "early recovery." Actor Shahid Kapoor posted on the microblogging site, "Wishing you the speediest recovery Amitji and Abhishek. Wishing the entire family the best of health. Much love." "Take care sir. Love you. Awaiting your tweet when you say you're fine &amp; going back home," wrote filmmaker Kunal Kohli. Director Sudhir Mishra tweeted, "What a man ! Look at the matter of fact way he announces . So correct . Nothing will happen to him . He's been through tougher times . Prayers for the speedy recovery of Amitji and Abhishek." "Get well soon sir," said veteran Malayalam actor Mammootty. Actor Bipasha Basu said she was praying for speedy recovery. South superstar Mahesh Babu and Dulquer Salmaan as well as actors Pankaj Tripathi, Nimrat Kaur and Rajkummar Rao were among those who sent him their wishes. "Get well soon Amit uncle. All my love and prayers," actor Sonam Kapoor replied on his tweet. Actor Riteish Deshmukh said he's praying for the family's health. "Get well soon my brother - @juniorbachchan - praying for the family's well-being and good health- love you man," the actor wrote. Veteran actor-host Simi Garewal said she is sure the father-son duo will be fine soon. "Dearest Abhishek..so so sorry to hear about this - but I know you both will be fit and fine soon - you have our prayers and love to see you through,"she tweeted. Actor Preity Zinta said,"Get well soon Amitji Praying for your speedy recovery. Love you loads @SrBachchan" Actor Vicky Kaushal also wished good health to the duo. "Get well soon AB. Wishing you and @SrBachchan Sir a very speedy recovery," he wrote. Amitabh was last seen in Shoojit Sircar's "Gulabo Sitabo", which released on streaming platform Amazon Prime Video last month. Abhishek made his digital debut on Friday with Amazon's "Breathe: Into the Shadows". The actor's performance in the series is receiving positive reviews. JUR SHD SHD SHD

Bollywood wishes a speedy recovery to Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek after they test COVID-19 positive

<ul><li>This year, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> is going all out to attract consumers to its Big Billion Days sale, with a high-decibel campaign featuring actors like <keyword id="6354486" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword>, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhat, <keyword id="6357912" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-bachchan">Amitabh Bachchan</keyword>, Sudeep Kiccha and Mahesh Babu. </li><li>It is also making sure that it has content that people will connect with, for better engagements and <keyword id="1974006" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Consumer-experience">consumer experience</keyword>.</li><li><keyword id="6361106" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="vikas-gupta">Vikas Gupta</keyword> - Head of Customer, Marketing and Digital Businesses at Flipkart tells us about the platform's marketing strategies during the TBBD sale to make sure all stakeholders are able to make the most out of the exercise.</li></ul>With the <keyword id="36208" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="festive-season">festive season</keyword> just round the corner, ecommerce platforms have launched their festive sales. Owing to the fact that this year has been challenging, most platforms are going all out to woo consumers with different offers, discounts, coming up with high decibel campaigns, and making the overall experience more engaging and interactive. And there is reason for all the noise. A recent report by consultancy firm RedSeer suggested that there will be a huge jump in the number of online shoppers during the festive months. If RedSeer’s data is to be believed, it is expected that the number will jump to around 50 million from 28 million in 2019.It is also expected that sales from Bharat will drive the growth. Therefore, its not surprising that ecommerce platforms have a strong plan in place to make the most out of these few months. We recently caught up with Vikas Gupta - Head of Customer, Marketing and Digital Businesses at Flipkart to understand how the platform plans to woo consumers, given its competitors will also be going live with the sales. Making communication around TBBD relevant for the new world order The last few months have led to a huge shift in our country’s socio-economic situation. To get over the pandemic-induced environment, Flipkart says its been working relentlessly with its ecosystem partners to bring resilience back into the community and expects the upcoming festive season to accelerate growth across its business ecosystem. “We pride ourselves in being close to customers and intimately understanding their needs and expectations. The role of engagement and communication has never been more important, especially in today digital-first world. Our goal for this year’s TBBD is to instill a feeling of togetherness among our customers. With the central theme of celebrating TBBD as a cultural event, our campaign this year highlights the ways in which the annual occasion is celebrated by the entire country,” shares Gupta. This year, due to the pandemic, Flipkart’s marketing approach has hinged on rebuilding the confidence of customers, wishmasters, and sellers. “We have done that through transparent communication that let the authenticity of the brand and our deep care for customer needs and well-being shine through across all touch points. The strategy behind this year’s marketing efforts is to encourage participation from the customers and our media mix has been designed keeping in mind these crucial aspects,” he adds. The lockdown led to people spending more time indoors which also led to them spending more time on various social media platforms. “This gives us the opportunity to engage the audience meaningfully on a platform that they are seeking to spend time on, daily. In partnership with Facebook, we are not only engaging the metro audiences but are customising campaigns in vernacular languages to reach consumers in Tier II regions and beyond. All this is driven through very personalized communication at scale, which drives efficiency from an engagement perspective. For us, the role of marketing is to deepen our relationship with customers through hyper-personalized experience across various touch points in the customer journey. This is enabled through deep technology integrations and a bias towards innovation,” explains Gupta. Expectations from the festive season and TBBD this year A lot of hopes rest on this year’s festive season. While consumer sentiments have slowly been improving, there are many who are still cautious about spending a lot in the year. However, Gupta expects the festive season to be a good one this year. “We expect that the upcoming festive season will usher in economic revival. An increasing number of brands, customers and sellers are embracing e-commerce for new opportunities as well as <keyword id="2410018" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-continuity">business continuity</keyword>. Our ecosystem collaborations and upcoming special festive launches will help various businesses make a strong comeback through e-commerce. Another important factor that we believe will add to the consumer excitement is <keyword id="3705309" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="The-Big-Billion-Days">The Big Billion Days</keyword> Specials which was launched first in 2019 to create curated special collections, that are thematic or have industry-first innovations, to make the consumer shopping experience a memorable one, while meeting their growing aspirations. This year, we have 100 Big Billion Days Specials brands with 200+ customised products, across categories such as fashion, electronics, mobile phones, large appliances, personal care, handicrafts, and others”, shares Gupta. Since the lockdown restrictions were lifted in June, Flipkart has also been working on expanding its offerings across categories to make sure its consumers are equipped with not just essentials but even the non-essentials. “Besides essentials, the demand during the past few months has been driven by the growing need of kitchen, home improvement, work-from-home requirements and health and safety equipment. Moreover, by swiftly modifying our approach in terms of scaling up the supply chain, taking precautionary measures to ensure safe delivery and providing various affordability constructs, we were able to meet our consumers’ evolving demands,” he shares. About whether consumers are ready to splurge this festive season, Gupta says, “The consumer sentiment towards festive is positive. This includes a good mix of all categories including mobiles, large appliances, fashion, furniture, home improvement products and you name it. And our teams have worked very closely with sellers and brand partners to bring the selection and offerings as per consumer demand. Industry reports suggest that this year as we kick off the festive season, 40-50 million new users will come onboard the ecommerce platform, and majority of these will be from emerging Tier III and IV towns. The constructs that Flipkart has worked on or we can say differentiates us have been built over years as we are totally committed to bring forward India-first innovations that keep these users in the centre stage.” So how is Flipkart working on ensuring they break the clutter during the sales days this year? “Over the years, TBBD has transformed from a calendar to a cultural event that is celebrated across the country. From forging strategic partnerships, to the externalisation of the Big Billion Days, to curating Big Billion Days Specials, enabling easy pre-ordering and convenient wishlisting - we are focusing on exciting and novel offerings in partnership with the best brands and sellers in the country,” he shares. Going all out with this year's TBBD campaign This year, Flipkart has collaborated with McCann and the campaigns would see numerous celebrities and influencers in a unique double role, sharing endearing human stories about TBBD. The aim was to make sure the audience was able to connect with these stories. This year’s campaign theme is designed to showcase how TBBD brings together families and friends and will feature Virat Kohli, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhat, Amitabh Bachchan, Sudeep Kiccha and Mahesh Babu. The platform has also partnered with 20 influencers across categories including tech, fashion, beauty and entertainment as a part of its Big Billion Days Muqabala celebrations on both YouTube and its platform where they will be competing against each other to win exciting deals and offers. Speaking about what this year’s high-decibel campaign would entail, Gupta shares, “This year’s campaign comprises a series of TVCs showcasing India’s most-loved celebrities in unique ‘double avatars’. They are bringing to life engaging personas that the entire Indian audience can relate to, especially during a much-awaited shopping festival. The campaign leverages the underlying element of friendly competition and light-hearted rivalry between near and dear ones, to get the best deals and outdo one another,” he elaborates. Engaging with consumers through gamification Over the past few years, more and more platforms have been experimenting with gamification to ensure they build a deeper connect with an engaged audience while also adding a fun element to the entire experience. This year too, Flipkart has launched a gaming show, ‘BBD Muqabala’ which is hosted on the Being Indian channel on YouTube. The show has a two-pronged approach where selected influencers will be participating in a quiz to answer questions and earn interesting deals during The Big Billion Days. The same quiz show will also be available to our customers on the Flipkart app. By answering questions, consumers will be able to earn SuperCoin and use them to avail benefits on their purchases. Throwing light on some of its other plans for the year, Gupta says, “Flipkart Video and Games is going to be a part of the Big Billion Days experience in a bigger way this year, giving consumers access to enjoy video content and play new games with great rewards, while providing an elevated shopping experience. For the upcoming festive season, we have an array of interactive shows and games lined up. By participating in these on-app offerings, users stand a chance to win rewards that can be redeemed by shopping on the Flipkart app itself. This way, we are giving them the best of entertainment, rewards and shopping, all on a single app.” Besides gamification, Gupta shares that tech innovations has played is the backbone of the platform and it has worked hard to make sure that first-time users are at ease while shopping on Flipkart. “We launched two new technology features to handhold first-time users through the purchase journey – a search and voice assistant, and regional-language interfaces. These features were launched on the back of intensive research and data-driven insights on aspects such as e-literacy, consumer behaviour, and consumption patterns,” he adds. Flipkart’s Big Billion Days sale has gone live on October 16 and will end on October 21.

Our goal for this year’s The Big Billion Days is to instill a feeling of togetherness among our customers: Vikas Gupta, Flipkart

<ul><li>Edtech unicorn Byju’s has turned profitable in 8 years. </li><li>The startup has reported a revenue of ₹14.3 billion for FY18-19. </li><li>It’s online paid user base now stands at 2.4 million.</li></ul>India’s first edtech unicorn Byju’s has achieved yet another of its firsts – it has reportedly turned profitable. The startup <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/byjus-claims-to-have-tripled-its-revenues-to-rs-1430-crore-in-fy19/69583803">reported</a> that its revenue has tripled to reach ₹14.3 billion in the financial year ending March 2019, though it has not shared the net profit numbers. However, these swollen revenues come at the back of increase in its paid user base, which now stands at 2.4 million. This number has doubled from last year, when it stood at 1.26 million in June 2018. The ability of this online tutorial startup to capture paying public, enabled its entry into the super exclusive profiteers club. “The growth in revenue was fuelled by deeper penetration across India and significant growth in the number of paid subscribers,” said the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/byju-s-turns-profitable-in-8-years-gears-up-to-enter-us-in-a-big-way-119053100043_1.html">company</a>’s statement. While it has never officially reported it, Byju’s has reached breakeven last year, within eight years of its existence. Global Ambitions It now plans to enter the global market and more specifically, the US. Recently, Byju’s acquired a US-based platform for educational games for $120 million. It is also partnering with Walt Disney to introduce a new early learning app for kids. Byju’s last <a href="https://yourstory.com/2019/03/byjus-funding-general-atlantic-tencent-2yv8bkk19e">reported</a> valuation was at $5 billion after it raised funding of ₹214 crores (MILLION) in March 2019. The investment came from NY-based General Atlantic and Chinese VC firm Tencent. The eight-year old startup was founded by a teacher named Byju Raveendran. Over the years, the startup has steadily gained popularity and had even signed bigwigs like Bollywood’s Shah Rukh Khan and Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu as brand ambassadors. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/byjus-and-disney-partner-to-roll-out-early-learn-app/articleshow/69532987.cms">Byju's will now teach kids using Disney characters from Frozen and Cars</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Sachin-Bansal-rides-a-bet-on-electric-bike-startup-Ather-Energy/articleshow/69546251.cms">Sachin Bansal rides a bet on electric bike startup Ather Energy</a>

Byju's turns profitable as millions pay for its classes

<ul><li>Since the beginning, BYJU’S secret has been to focus on engagement and effectiveness. It has made learning fun for students by adding videos, interactive media, and gamification on its platform.</li><li>It all started when Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, identified a gap between how the concepts are learned and how it should be learned by students in India. </li><li>BYJU’S plan now is to ‘expand to international markets, achieve scale and build a global brand while simultaneously working on creating learning programs in regional languages to provide access to quality content and teachers to the students even in the remotest parts of the country.’ </li><li>Mrinal Mohit, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Sales and Marketing, BYJU’S shares his vision for making the platform an industry leader, content marketing mantra, and revenue goals for the year. </li></ul>For a relatively non-existent segment that started shaping up a decade ago, BYJU’S has come a long way in a short span of time. India has around 3500 edtech startups and BJYU’S has an edge for it is the fourth-highest valued company -- placed at $5.7 billion. BYJU’S added 40 million registered users onto its platform and 2.8 million paid subscribers this year; nearly doubling from 1.26 million in June 2018. It also became profitable in 2018 – cut down its losses by over 76% to ₹8.8 crore from ₹37.1 crore. It is now eyeing to be a ₹3000 crore brand by end of the fiscal year. It is all set to become the leader of edtech industry. The company plans to do so by adding more regional languages, spreading awareness around its platform with omni-channel approach, and deeper penetration across India. Mrinal Mohit, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Sales and Marketing, BYJU’S – The Learning App shares the secret of achieving fame so soon, advantages of tying up with cricket tournaments, developing a brand from scratch on the back of strong marketing tools, leveraging the strength of population by going deeper in markets, revenue goals, and much more. Excerpts: How has the year been so far for BYJU’S? Earlier in the year you announced that you had become profitable, a first in the consumer internet start-up space. What helped you achieve this, which is no mean feat? At BYJU’S, we understood the challenges the ecosystem faces and one of the key challenges we could address immediately and effectively is the method with which students consume knowledge and information. We began the journey with conviction and understood the potential to bring in transformational change with respect to the format for interaction and learning. The core challenges traditional education formats face are (a) good teachers are hard to find at scale (b) ability for personalization is limited (c) format of learning (rote memorization vs. wanting to learn). Our approach from a content creation perspective has always been to focus on engagement and effectiveness i.e., if it will be useful to students and it will be used by students. We approach subjects by first identifying concepts and curriculum that need to be covered and then identifying the best mode to teach these concepts be it through video, gamification or interactive media. With over 40m downloads, 2.8m paid users, and average engagement time ~ 71 minutes, our approach, both in terms of engagement and effectiveness, has been received positively by students, parents and education providers which is helping propel our growth. We have been fortunate to reach scale relatively quickly due to our student and learning-focused approach and are increasing year-on-year which is helping us achieve progressively higher earnings, enabling us to invest more organically in improving engagement and effectiveness in the product. There is no real playbook for success here and our approach has been based on first principles, especially since this was a relatively non-existent segment a couple of years ago. Everything we learnt was first hand – from business model tinkering, expansion, to raising funds. BYJU’S has been aggressively marketing itself in the recent past, be it the advertising during this year’s world cup or replacing Oppo to find a place on the jerseys of Indian players. As a learning company, we have always recognised the critical role that sports play in a child's development. They teach you unmatched life-skills and crucial lessons like teamwork and collaboration. Cricket is the heartbeat of India and as a platform, gives us unmatched reach to even the deepest parts of the country. Our focus is to go deeper into India and make better learning experiences accessible to students who need it the most. We are thrilled about being the jersey sponsors of the Indian Cricket Team. Just as cricket inspires a billion budding dreams across India, we too as a learning company hope to inspire the love of learning in every child's heart. What kind of investments are you keeping aside for marketing this year? Your FY18 advertising spends was up 77% at Rs 188.5 crore. What kind of money did you spend in the current financial year? What was the percentage increase? During our campaigns around cricket matches, we have noticed a big spike in the number of downloads we see. In fact, our last set of advertisements with Shah Rukh Khan received the highest recall among celebrity endorsements during the 2019 ICC World Cup Cricket, according to a survey by the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB). Our daily organic downloads are close to 50,000-60,000 and the marketing expenditure has gone up over the year, on the back of an increase in revenue. However, the cost of customer acquisition has dropped to 25%. For digital, we use a combination of channels including display, banner besides advertising on YouTube. Additionally, we also use TV, print and outdoor. What role has advertising played in cementing a place in the hearts and minds of Indian consumers? Our advertisements celebrate the power of visual learning and is aimed at helping our end users understand how it could be beneficial for them. TV has helped us reach out to our primary and secondary customers - i.e.; children and their parents, across geographies. Advertising on TV has primarily helped us with customer acquisition, i.e. increased downloads, while we have specifically used print medium to explain the how and the why of the app to our target audience. From the very beginning, we were able to measure the ROI from our ad campaigns, through downloads, subscriptions, etc. Our campaigns were based solely on where the product stood at a certain time and if it made sense for us to scale up or reach out to a wider audience then. We are very paranoid about the performance of an ad; if we see it performing well, we are ready to invest. There is a direct link in how downloads spike with ad campaign releases. With regards to mediums, we have seen that TV when used simultaneously with social media amplifies our ROI. Hence, we also share timely and relevant communication across our social media handles to reach out to a large set of audience and create awareness about our brand offerings. Considering you had taken on Shah Rukh Khan as an ambassador pretty early on in your journey. You also roped in actor Mahesh Babu to target Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. How did this help in winning your consumer’s trust? It was great to have Mahesh Babu and Mohanlal associate with us and spread the message that conceptual and life-long learning is far superior to learning by rote. We believe that every region, especially in South India, is really unique and it is crucial that we customize our message to truly gain mindshare here. Both the ad campaigns highlighted evolving learning habits of students and celebrated the long-term benefits of conceptual understanding. Our TVCs were specially targeted at the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Kerala respectively to connect with parents and help them understand real, tangible benefits of technology powered learning. The core objective of our TVCs was to address the apprehension among parents and show them the real advantage of learning through a product like the BYJU’S Learning App. Mahesh Babu and Mohanlal’s immense popularity and credibility amongst parents and children in the respective regions made them a perfect fit for our brand. What kind of uptake has BYJU’S been seeing among parents and children? Can you share some user figures with us, and where do you aim to take this number to, in the next few years? Today we have over 40 million registered users and 2.8 million paid subscribers; nearly doubling from 1.26 million in June 2018. The average number of minutes a student spends on the app has increased from 64 minutes to 71 minutes everyday from across 1700+ towns/cities. More than 60% of our students are from outside the top 10 cities. But there is still a long way to go before we call this a learning revolution. India today has the largest K-12 education system in the world, with around 300 million school going population. Going forward, there will be a strong focus to further accelerate our reach and create awareness about digital learning in deeper parts of India. This is one segment where the real fun is not in creating a billion dollar company, but in creating a billion thinkers and learners. When you launched the platform, what was your vision? How has that vision evolved over the years? What BYJU’S stands for now for you and what is the BYJU’S of the future? The main idea behind starting BYJU’S was to make learning accessible, effective, engaging and personalized for everyone. We noticed that there was a huge gap in the way students learn and how concepts should be learnt. In a traditional, face to face learning set up, access to high-quality education and personalization of learning has always been an issue. In our system, children are still getting trained to solve questions and not ask questions. Learning happens because of fear of exams, and not for the love for learning. Students memorize and forget after exams. The need of the hour is for a product that brings the childlike curiosity back in students and makes them look forward to learning something new everyday. When we launched, learning was not actively taking place through digital media, even though children were browsing on the internet and watching videos online. This medium was not viewed as a reliable learning source. We have managed to change that and have created and established the ‘app learning’ segment. Our vision is to now be viewed as not just a ‘digital learning’ medium but the leaders of the ‘learning at home’ segment. By 2020, we would like to transform into a learning at home platform. Everything a student needs to learn at home, BYJU’s will be able to provide that. You are looking at expanding to international waters now. Can you throw some light on your strategy to navigate these markets? When can we expect you to launch and are there markets other than the US and the UK that you are considering currently? We are in the process of building a product for international markets. Our recent acquisition of Osmo, the US-based award-winning playful learning system, is also aimed at bolstering our international plans to innovate, explore and set new benchmarks for tech-enabled personalized learning solutions. Currently, there are no products like the BYJU’S learning app which can reach out to such a large number of students and create great engagement at the same time. We strongly believe that such a product can come out of India. The market opportunity is huge and we believe our product can create the kind of engagement one has never seen before What kind of growth have you been witnessing? What kind of growth do you hope to achieve this year and what are the factors that will help you achieve it? In terms of revenue, the company has been growing at 100% year-on-year for the last 3 years and have tripled our revenue to INR 1430 crore in FY 18-19 and also turned profitable on a full year basis. We are estimating a revenue of over INR 3000 crore this year. Today we have over 40 million registered users and 2.8 million paid subscribers. Our numbers and growth over the past few years speak for themselves. Where will the next phase of growth for BYJU’S come from? While our focus is to expand to international markets to help achieve scale and build a global brand, we are also working on creating learning programs in regional languages to provide access to quality content and teachers to the students even in the remotest parts of the country. We have also launched language switch option in Hindi, that will not only help in on boarding the platform but also help gain a better foothold in English. Going forward, there will be a strong focus to further accelerate our reach and create awareness in deeper parts of India. We are also working on creating learning programs in other regional languages. The availability of BYJU’S learning programs in multiple vernacular languages will make quality learning accessible for children in every nook and corner of the country and fulfill their aspirations of building better lives. Tell us a bit about your partnership with Disney and what more can we expect out to this partnership? Can we expect some more similar partnerships with other global players too? The Disney.BYJU’S Early Learn app is specially crafted for young children aged between 6 to 8 years old (classes 1- 3) in India. This app offers personalized learning programs while entertaining them with Disney’s timeless stories and characters from Disney Princess, Frozen, Cars, Toy Story franchises and more. BYJU’S pedagogy and content expertise are enhanced by the compelling storytelling of Disney in this app and provides a strong head start to the way young children learn their first concepts in India. The Disney. BYJU’S Early Learn App offers a first-of-its-kind integration of offline to online learning experience through BYJU’S acquired Osmo platform. Where do you want to see Byju’s three to five years from now? Our vision is to be one of the largest education brands in the world. While starting a mission company is easy, sustaining a mission-led organization is challenging. The market needs standardized education and new methodologies/formats to be introduced so as to engage students. To move from the traditional classroom system where teaching is one-way traffic to the one where teachers are facilitators of learning and also, mentors for discussions in classrooms is essential. At BYJU’S, we have made small strides in this direction and with increased traction we believe this is possible in the near future.

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