4, Feb 2023
Southwest Tennessee Community College hires Chuck Thomas III and John Churchill to top leadership roles
(Memphis, Tenn.) – Southwest Tennessee Community College recently announced two new leaders to its senior leadership team. Chuck Thomas III has been named the College’s chief government and external relations officer and John Churchill, community liaison for Southwest Workforce and Community Solutions.
“We are excited to have John and Chuck join the Southwest family,” Southwest President Dr. Tracy D. Hall said. “They are outstanding leaders with a history of success and leadership in the Memphis and Mid-South community. They will play a critical role in advancing our strategic plan and efforts to position Southwest as a workforce development leader in the Mid-South.”
As the chief government and external relations officer, Thomas will build community support to advance the college’s initiatives and collaborate with government, civic, and community leaders to increase awareness and develop intervention and remediation strategies to address issues that impact the future health and safety of the Southwest community.
“I’m excited and honored to join the Southwest Tennessee Community College leadership team,” Thomas said. “I look forward to building and strengthening alliances with the greater Memphis and Shelby County community, state legislators, local elected officials and key business leaders.”
Thomas joins Southwest after a 40-year telecommunications career that spanned several account management positions. His most recent post was regional director of external and legislative affairs at AT&T, a position he held from 2009 until his retirement from AT&T this past December after more than 23 years of service. During his tenure in external affairs, he advanced the telecommunications giant’s public policy initiatives in Greater Memphis and 15 surrounding West Tennessee counties. His efforts ensured successful small cell and AT&T Fiber deployments and successfully positioned AT&T’s FirstNet, SLED and National Account teams with key stakeholders throughout the region. Thomas also served the Greater Memphis community as a board member of the Memphis Federal Reserve (Chairman 2014), Greater Memphis Chamber, The United Way of the Mid-South, Memphis Rotary (vice president), Teach For America, LISC Memphis, Bartlett Chamber and LeMoyne-Owen College. A native Memphian, Thomas grew up in Orange Mound and attended Melrose High school, Mississippi Valley State University, Southwest Tennessee Community College and the University of Memphis where he studied Criminal Justice and Political Science.
Churchill will be instrumental to the rollout of the Southwest Workforce Solutions Center (SWCS) as he works with community stakeholders to increase career pathways through a diversity of high-quality workforce programs that promote economic mobility for Southwest students.
“Coming back to Southwest feels like coming home,” Churchill said. “I am privileged to be able to work with a great staff as they develop innovative programs to provide local companies and industry with a skilled workforce. When you see a community that has a strong economy and great jobs for its workforce, typically, there is also a strong community college planted within that community,” he said. “I hope that I can contribute to the quality of Southwest’s workforce development programs and help increase the community’s awareness of Southwest as a strong economic driver in Memphis.”
Churchill began his career as a member of the United States Navy, where he served for 20 years. During his military service, he supervised testing and assessment systems for the Navy Trident submarine facility and directed operations for an advanced electronic training school. After the military, he joined the Kimberly Clark Memphis tissue manufacturing plant as supervisor of electrical maintenance and technical training. He also served on the startup team for Kimberly Clark’s first fully self-directed facility in Tulsa, OK. After stints in maintenance operations leadership with Champion Paper and Nabisco in Houston, Texas, Churchill joined Gerdau Ameristeel where he oversaw leadership and technical training at 20 North American steel mills.
Along with manufacturing, Churchill has extensive experience in workforce and economic development. In Memphis, he served as executive director of Corporate Training and Continuing Education at Southwest Tennessee Community College (2011-2015) and later as vice president of Business Services at the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce. His most recent post is chief operations officer for Technology Education to Go, LLC, where he helps area K-12 school districts, nonprofit organizations and businesses develop education pathways to livable-wage careers. Churchill also works with area businesses to improve work culture and increase employee skill levels.
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- By Rabindra
3, Feb 2023
Budget Reaction: Sangeet Shirodkar- CEO and Co-founder, 27th Sports
“The sports sector in India has been granted the largest budget allocation in its history and from a venture capital perspective will be positive as it is helpful towards entrepreneurs that are solving real pain points in the sports industry.
The massive increase of over 300 Crores in the Union Budget effectively shows a steady rise for the Indian Sports and Venture Capital Industry as it helps startups gain more support in funding and mentorship programs. The budget will help to focus specifically on emerging markets and sports such as cricket, golf, beach sports, and e-sports among others.
India’s growth being the highest among major economies is a powerful aspect that will aim to encourage participation of youth and women in the sports activities in our country.”
3, Feb 2023
NTPC to host G20 International Seminar on ‘Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage
Bangalore, February 3rd, 2023: India has assumed the presidency of G20 from 1st December 2022 for a period of one year. In its presidency, 1st Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) Meeting is scheduled to be held from 5th February to 7th February 2023.
NTPC, India’s largest integrated power utility, on behalf of Ministry of Power, Govt of India, will be hosting a side event in form of an International Seminar on Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (CCUS) on 5th February 2023 at TajWestend, Bengaluru. This seminar is likely to be attended by industries, policy makers, scientists and academicians of different countries.
The seminar will focus on underlining the importance of CCUS for achieving “clean energy transition” and subsequently moving towards Net Zero.
3, Feb 2023
Budget Reaction: Mr Girish Nagpal, CEO & Co-Founder, MetroRide
“Government’s focus to encourage manufacturing of products locally will boost the national manufacturing infrastructure. It’s great to see a clear focus & plan to achieve the net-zero carbon emission target by 2070. The Green Growth initiative & announcement of Rs 35,000 crore for priority capital investments towards energy transition and net zero objectives are a welcome move.
An outlay of ₹19,700 crore National Green Hydrogen Mission will reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports in the long run. Batteries are a key component in the sustainability sectors. Basic Import duty on goods and machinery used in the manufacture of lithium-ion cells has been waived which will encourage production of EVs & batteries locally and will benefit the ecosystem immensely.
The current budget is well structured with provision for every sector. With proper allocation of resources, the future economic growth of the country seems promising.”
3, Feb 2023
Post Budget Reaction !uote- BharatPe and Moglix
Nalin Negi- CFO and Interim CEO, BharatPe
“We warmly embrace the Union budget 2023. Fintechs have come a long way over the last few years, and the Government’s initiatives to drive financial inclusion and enable digital payments have been one of the key drivers of the growth journey of this sector. Fintech services in India have been facilitated by India’s digital public infrastructure including Aadhaar, PM Jandhan Yojna, video KYC, India Stack and UPI, and digital payments have grown by 76% in transactions in 2022. In this budget, FM Nirmala Sitharaman has reimagined the government’s Digilocker services for the fintech sector. This will further aid the growth of the sector, along with the Government’s continued support to drive digital payments. Also, the government’s plans for encouraging countries looking for digital continuity solutions to set up data embassies at the GIFT City will further help position India as a global leader in the fintech industry.
Technological advancements can give us the edge as we strive to become a US$ 5 trillion economy. The announcement of setting up of Centres of Excellence for AI will fuel the focus on technology and innovation. Also, the National Data Governance Policy that will bring in innovation and research by startups and academia will enable access to anonymized data.”
Rahul Garg, Founder & CEO, Moglix & Credlix
“It’s encouraging to see that despite the global recessionary waves, India’s economy is growing. The Union budget 2023–24 builds upon the foundation established by the previous budget, with a vision of a prosperous, inclusive India where the fruits of growth reach all sections. Overall, this budget continued focusing on promoting exports, boosting domestic manufacturing, enhancing domestic value addition, encouraging green energy and mobility, streamlining the supply chain, and providing economic support to MSMEs across the country. Lowered tax rate of 15% for new companies starting manufacturing activities by March 31, 2024, will act as a catalyst, driving the public-private partnership investment in infrastructure, including railways and roads. The thrust on manufacturing & infrastructure will enable the country to achieve the target of achieving a manufacturing potential to export goods worth $1 trillion by 2030. National Green Hydrogen Mission will facilitate the transition of the economy to low carbon intensity and reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports, thus contributing to green growth. According to our commitments at COP26 and COP27 on climate action, the Union Budget signaled the beginning of the decarbonization of India’s inbound supply chain. The National Data Governance Policy will unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia, enabling access to anonymous data. The Unified Skill India Digital Platform would facilitate demand-based formal skilling, employer linkage (including MSMEs). Revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs to infuse Rs. 9000 crore into the corpus. The budget has brought about entrepreneur-friendly measures on the policy and legal fronts to drive operational excellence across sectors. Access to entrepreneurial initiatives to further bolster the economic and human resource foundation of the country will drive start-up ecosystem in the country.”
2, Feb 2023
Post Union Budget 2023 Reactions
Arpit Jain, Founder, and CEO of GreedyGame say “We are glad that the budget has given some relaxation for individuals, MSMEs, and enterprises. The finance minister has laid focus on technology by launching an agri-tech accelerator fund for the first time, which is encouraging for the development of the country in the long run. The government has provided relief to start-ups in carrying forward and setting off losses and also extended tax benefits for start-ups which are incorporated till March 31, 2024. We think this is a welcome step and the government has asserted the importance of entrepreneurship for the economic development of the country.”
Mr. Ramesh Jhajharia, Co-Founder and CEO of Tradexa, says “The 2023-24 budget has laid clear emphasis on prioritizing economic growth with a focus on capital spending to generate growth and employment. The announcement relating to MSMEs and the thrust on digital banking will further go a long way in supporting the economy. It is good to see the government’s focus on facilitating the growth of the MSME sector in this year’s budget. MSMEs to get 95% of the forfeited amount for contract failure during Covid-19 which is a highly appreciative move. Another much-needed move by the government is the credit guarantee for MSMEs where the revamped scheme will take effect from April 1, 2023, with an infusion of ₹9,000 crore corpus. This will enable additional collateral-free credit of Rs 2 lakh crore to MSMEs. A much-required move for MSME’s recovering from the effects of the pandemic.”
Shiv Bhambri, Country Manager, RS India, says, “We appreciate the emphasis on green growth in the Union Budget 2023. The budget is well-thought-out. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges in today’s world, and everyone must take action to decarbonize, reduce risks and invest in opportunities to accelerate the vision of a low-carbon ecosystem.
We, at RS India, intend to bring a positive environmental change to the global industrial sector by developing a cleaner and greener distribution model and bringing together the world’s leading suppliers of innovative and sustainable products & technologies”
Mr. Gaurav Gandhi, Founder and CEO at Echelon Edge Pvt Ltd, Says “The 5G ecosystem in India will get further stimulus from this budget. 100 labs for developing applications using 5G services are to be set up in engineering institutions. These labs will effectively develop 5G services to be implemented in a variety of fields. This holds some potential for private 5G deployment in these institutions and further growth of private networks for research purposes. The setting up of these labs will also help the telecom sector which has been at the center of mobile telephony distribution in India. More than 50 cities in the country have access to 5G services, so these labs will help them cover applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport system, and healthcare.”
Ms. Pritika Singh, CEO Of Prayag Hospitals Group says “We welcome FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement regarding establishing 157 new nursing colleges in core locations. In addition, the proposal for a multidisciplinary course for medical devices for skilled manpower is also praiseworthy. The dedicated multidisciplinary course for medical devices will be supported in existing institutions to ensure the availability of skilled manpower for futuristic medical technologies and high-end manufacturing and research. The health budget has been increasing yearly, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. In Union Budget 2022-23, 86,200 crore rupees were allocated to the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, a 16.5 percent increase over the previous year. Apart from that, we also laud the new program for pharma research proposed by the FM. The program will be formulated and the industry will be encouraged to invest in research. The pharmaceutical industry has been asking for incentives to promote R&D investments.”
2, Feb 2023
Kotak Mahindra Bank Participates in RBI’s Pilot Launch of Digital Rupee (e₹)
Bengaluru, 2nd February 2023: Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (“KMBL”/“Kotak”) today announced that it has implemented the first phase of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s Digital Rupee (e₹). KMBL is among the eight banks shortlisted by RBI to implement a pilot project for the issuance of Digital Rupee, a legal tender that is similar to banknotes and coins, issued in a digital form by RBI. KMBL today rolled out the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to a Closed User Group (CUG) of customers, which includes retail consumers and businesses.
Deepak Sharma, President & Chief Digital Officer, of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “We are delighted to be a part of RBI’s initial pilot of Digital Rupee. CBDC aligns with the RBI’s vision of developing a digitally powered economy, promoting digital transactions, and reducing dependency on cash. At Kotak, it has been our constant endeavor to offer a wider choice of financial products and world-class banking experience to our customers by leveraging our technology infrastructure. Digital Rupee will give a huge fillip to the Government of India’s vision of Digital India and CBDC will act as a change agent for the finance ecosystem in the country.”
KMBL will launch the Digital Rupee pilot in Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad. Limited KMBL customers will be sent an email/SMS invite to download the Digital Rupee app. The digital rupee wallet operates in a similar fashion as a physical wallet but in a digital form, and will be accessible for download on Android operating system smartphones.
Step-by-step procedure to be on-boarded on the e₹ app:
- The customer opens e₹ app.
- He/she is shown the terms and conditions. Once he/she accepts it, an introduction screen is visible.
- After he/she will click on ‘Next’, the SIM binding process begins.
- Users will be asked to set up an app PIN, enter name and select recoverable wallet type.
- He/she is asked to set up a digital wallet pin and then a wallet address is created.
- The customer will be asked to link a bank account to the wallet.
2, Feb 2023
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