Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Mar 18 (ANI): India has moved down 13 spots in the latest global home price index to finish last at 56th rank in the quarter ending December 2020, according to international property consultancy Knight Frank.
Against its 43rd rank in Q4 2019, India saw a decline of 3.6 per cent year-on-year in home prices, leading to the drop in global position, it said in the research report titled ‘Global House Price Index Q4 2020.’
The index tracks movement in mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide using official statistics.
In the 12-month percentage change for the period Q4 2019 to Q4 2020, Turkey continues to lead the annual rankings with prices up by 30.3 per cent YoY followed by New Zealand at 18.6 per cent and Slovakia at 16 per cent.
India was the weakest-performing country in Q4 2020 with a decline of 3.6 per cent in home prices followed by Morocco with a drop of 3.3 per cent.
The report showed that 89 per cent of countries and territories saw prices increase in 2020 with several emerging markets performing strongly, including Turkey, which leads the index for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Mainstream residential prices across 56 countries and territories worldwide rose at an annual rate change of 5.6 per cent on average in 2020 compared to 5.3 per cent in 2019.
According to the report, markets like New Zealand (19 per cent), Russia (14 per cent), the United States (10 per cent), Canada and United Kingdom (both 9 per cent) have recorded accelerated growth in rankings in the last three months due to a growth in housing demand.
In the context of Asia Pacific, the performance remains surprisingly anaemic given its relatively efficient handling of the pandemic. Although New Zealand stood in second place, the region’s next highest ranking is Japan (5 per cent) in 27th place.
Hong Kong and Malaysia both saw annual price growth slip into negative territory and even Singapore’s growth rate was muted at 2.5 per cent.
(ANI)

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 18 (ANI/NewsVoir): While a nation mourns a soldier lost in the line of duty, we soon forget the bereaved mother or the desolate widow who will still send her child to the Army in spite of a personal loss.
What death brings to them is unspeakable grief and trauma. GiveIndia, a Bengaluru-based nonprofit donation platform, in collaboration with VeerNari Shakti Resettlement Foundation is all set to raise Rs 50 lakh in funds with the hope to provide a dignified source of livelihood to 55 martyr families.
Through a sustainable kitchen model that can be replicated, VNS’s food production programme will bring together martyr widows and families from lower-income backgrounds, giving them salaried jobs and a secure income to sustain themselves.
Reports suggest 1,600 Indian soldiers die in the line of duty every year and 97 per cent of widows are of men from the lowest ranks i.e, jawans and sepoys from rural India. With their husbands lost, they at times find it hard to cope mentally and sustain their family financially. This is where VeerNari Shakti Resettlement Foundation comes in.
They reach out to these brave women in their time of sorrow and not only help them overcome the trauma through counselling, but also provide them with a sustainable livelihood through their resettlement programmes. VNS is also the only NGO in India working officially with all three Indian Armed Forces to support the families of martyrs.
“The brave widows of martyred soldiers have sacrificed much to safeguard our country, and this Women’s Day, they deserve to be honoured for their fortitude,” said Priyanka Prakash, Director, Head of Online Giving, Marketing and Partnerships at GiveIndia. “We hope to play our own small part in changing the lives of these women for the better by bringing the commendable work that VeerNari Shakti Resettlement Foundation is doing to the notice of potential donors through our crowdfunding platform.”
“The soldiers who attain martyrdom have only one hope in their hearts…that after they are gone, the citizens will protect and care for their families in the same manner. Soldiers receive training on how to attain martyrdom. But his wife in the village has had no such training on how to become a veer naari. Her whole life changes” says Prashant Tewari, President of VeerNari Shakti Resettlement Foundation.
Fundraiser link: fundraisers.giveindia.org/fundraisers/help-prashant-support-widows-of-indian-soldiers-to-earn-for-their-families
GiveIndia is India’s most trusted giving platform. It exists to alleviate poverty by enabling the world to give. It’s a suite of products & solutions that enables all givers – individuals and organisations – to donate conveniently to any cause directly on the platform, at their workplace, or through one of GiveIndia’s partners. Its community of 1.5M+ donors and 150+ partners have supported 1,800+ verified nonprofits, impacting 10M+ lives across India.
VeerNari Shakti Resettlement Foundation is a government-registered and renowned nonprofit, focusing on and supporting the resettlement of war/martyr widows (VeerNaris), including dependants of war-disabled and battle/peace casualties soldiers.
It is the only NGO working exclusively with the Indian Armed Forces and paramilitary forces across India and Nepal to support martyr widows and dependants to have dignified livelihoods as per their interests, attitude, and skills.
This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], March 18 (ANI): PhonePe said on Thursday it has taken up six different sponsorships for IPL 2021 and is an official co-presenting sponsor for broadcast on Star Sports Network.
PhonePe is also an associate sponsor for digital broadcast of IPL on Disney + Hostar. It is also sponsoring four IPL franchises – Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals.
PhonePe is co-sponsoring IPL for the third consecutive year as IPL continues to be the biggest sporting event in India offering advertising partners considerable national reach. Its campaign will run equally aggressively across multiple platforms including television, digital and social media platforms.
The company’s marketing interventions will run through the year with a focus on upcoming IPL 2021. The focus will largely be on expanding the user base from currently 28 crore to 50 crore by December 2022 and drive preference for PhonePe among millions of new-to-digital users.
“We are kicking off our most aggressive national marketing campaign ever, starting with IPL 2021 next month. We have invested even more heavily on IPL this year taking up six different sponsorships,” said Sameer Nigam, Founder and CEO at PhonePe.
“As the category leader, it is our vision as well as our ambition to bring digital payments to every Indian household. Our aggressive marketing efforts are in line with this strategic priority,” Nigam added.
PhonePe is India’s largest digital payments platform with over 28 crore registered users. Using PhonePe users can send and receive money, recharge mobile, DTH, data cards, pay at stores, make utility payments, buy gold and make investments. (ANI)

By Firescore-Interactive-Game
New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI/PRNewswire): Firescore Interactive, a leading game development studio in Mumbai has announced the first mentorship program as part of its hyper-casual gaming hub ‘CrazyHubs India Program’.
Tailored for aspiring game programmers, designers, artists, game development studios, gaming school graduates and youngsters in the field of game development in different cities across India, the program aims to build and develop the hyper-casual gaming eco-system in India.
Firescore Interactive had raised USD $500,000 funding led by CrazyLabs last year to launch the first-ever Hyper Casual Gaming Hub for game studios in India. The CrazyHub is operated by Firescore Interactive and, together with CrazyLabs, offers aspiring candidates everything they need in order to create the next chart-topping Hyper Casual mobile game.
Scheduled to start on April 19th 2021, this first-ever 3-months training program will allow hands-on guidance to the candidates who become part of the CrazyHubs India program. Participants will be offered a stipend as well as an additional profit share that could go beyond INR one crore for any published games they create during the duration of the program. The innovative games accelerator, branded as the CrazyHub, is located in Mumbai and will allow hands-on guidance for local developers and studios, along with financial support, advisory meetings and mentorship sessions they need in order to make the next #1 hit games.
Gaming enthusiasts from all over India can apply to join the first physical hub in Mumbai with immediate effect via the following online registration for a full training program:
https://www.crazylabs.com/crazyhubs/india/
Minimum requirements for participation in the program include:
* A team that includes a Unity developer – a must
* Submission of gaming portfolio, casual/hyper causal – a must
* 3D experience – a must
* Willingness to participate in the program full time for a minimum of 3 months
Commenting on the training initiative,Surojit Roy, co-founder at Firescore Interactive, “We are providing a nudge to all aspiring game developers, designers and artists with the expectations to create industry-ready professionals and thriving start-ups in the booming game development industry. We believe that this is a rare opportunity and will help build world-class game studios here in our country.”
Excited about the partnership, Guy Tomer, CrazyLabs, COO, said, “Further to our mutual work on the Christmas #1 ‘Soap Cutting’, we knew Firescore has the capability and attitude to carry the weight of a gaming hub. We have no doubt that Mumbai is the perfect location to launch the next CrazyHub, and that Firescore Interactive are the perfect partners for our mission to find the next game development superstars.”
CrazyLabs and Firescore Interactive’s partnership began when the teams worked together to create the Christmas #1 hit game Soap Cutting and Acrylic Nails!, Soap Cutting was an instant triumph, and the game has already surpassed 70M downloads. Further to their game’s success, the companies decided to launch a new entrepreneurial initiative in Firescore Interactive’s hometown and open the 1st ever CrazyHub in India. More such Hubs are underway and will be announced soon.
This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire)

New Delhi [India], March 18 (ANI): Video-integrated social gaming platform Chirrup said on Thursday it has raised a pre-seed round of 300,000 dollars (about Rs 2.17 crore) from Titan Capital, iSeed, First Cheque and 3.0 Fund to further strengthen the product and provide a world-class user experience.
Chirrup was founded in 2020 by IIT Delhi batchmates Vipul Garg, Sourav Lashkari and Mehul Mittal. It enables friends and families to engage in a relaxed manner over multiplayer games and video call. The start-up wants to digitally recreate the experience of offline banter with people that people care about.
“Offline interactions centre on activities like board games, movies, cat videos that fuel conversations and engagement. We want to recreate this living room experience and enable people to hang out in a laid back manner,” said Co-founder Mehul Mittal.
The start-up plans to add another ten games over the next six months. Chirrup currently offers nine multiplayer games ranging from local favourites ludo, chess and rummy to global hits like draw-it, war vessels and crazy 8.
All games have an in-built video call feature. Users can also auto-capture their fun moments like capturing a friend’s ludo token to re-watch later or share with the world.
“Fantastic founders of Chirrup are making it possible for friends and family to chat over video calls alongside playing multiplayer games like Ludo, Uno and Rummy,” said Bipin Shah, Partner at Titan Capital.
Chirrup has moved them from ‘aurbatao’ saga to ‘time just flies with you’ which is evident from data as people spend around six hours a week on average on the app. Families who do not live together and long-distance couples are early adopters of the product. (ANI)

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], Mar 18 (ANI): Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) said on Thursday it has raised a 1.35 billion dollars (about Rs 9,785 crore) debt package for its under-construction renewable asset portfolio through definitive agreements signed with a group of leading international lenders.
The revolving project finance facility will initially finance the 1.69 gigawatt hybrid portfolio of solar and wind renewable projects to be set up in four special purpose vehicles in Rajasthan.
According to the agreement, 12 international banks — Standard Chartered Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Cooperatieve Rabobank UA, DBS Bank Ltd, Mizuho Bank Ltd, BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens Bank GmbH and ING Bank NV — committed for the facility which will be the first certified green hybrid project loan in India.
The new pool of liquidity strengthens AGEL’s strategy to fully fund its under-construction asset and augurs well for its vision of scaling capacity to 25 GW by 2025.
The facility is an important element of AGEL’s overall capital management plan and is key to fully funding its growth aspirations. The definitive agreement sets out a financing framework of agreed principles and procedures under which AGEL will engage with the financiers to raise financing efficiently and expeditiously for all future projects as per the agreed threshold parameters.
The facility underlines the overall development philosophy of Adani portfolio companies implemented through in-house developed project excellence framework committed to follow equator principles and the highest standard of due diligence covering all international standard environment, social and governance (ESG) aspects.
“We see this as yet another validation of our execution ability in the renewable space. We are committed to producing the least expensive green electron and the pace and scale we have embarked on puts us well ahead on this path,” said AGEL CEO Vneet Jaain.
“We believe that establishing depth and diversity in our funding resources is critical for AGEL’s vision to become the largest renewable player in the world.”
Jaain said the banks that have committed to this strategic transaction are company’s key partners in ensuring seamless access to global capital for its underlying renewable asset portfolio. The facility will also ensure capital recycling needs of the banks and make the same capital available for future projects of AGEL.
This revolving nature of the facility will help AGEL to achieve its goal of a 25GW portfolio by 2025. In addition, it positions AGEL well to capture growth in the attractive Indian renewable sector, said Jaain. (ANI)