The 24th annual Belfast Film Festival is back with a host of exciting events taking place right up until November 9. Belfast Film Festival is an international festival running since 1995 dedicated to screening the best in new, short and classic cinema from all over the world. The Festival proudly boasts a diverse and wide-ranging…
NewsVoirPune (Maharashtra) [India], November 2: Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited, one of India’s leading producers of industrial & mining chemicals and fertilisers (“DFPCL” or the “Company”), announced its results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024. The company reported a remarkable 237% year-on-year surge in net profits.Also Read | Srinagar Encounter: 2 CRPF Troopers, 2 Policemen Injured in Gunfight Between Terrorists and Security Forces in Jammu and Kashmir (Watch Video).*Q2FY24 includes the impact of NBS subsidy on channel inventories of Rs 106 Cr and Rs 87 Cr on account of stabilization of Ammonia Plant Key Highlights for Q2FY25* EBITDA Margin Growth: Improved to 18% compared to 12% year-over-year.Also Read | Gujarati New Year 2024: PM Narendra Modi Wishes People for Nutan Varshabhinandan; Amit Shah, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel Meet Supporters.* Record Sales Volume in Bulk Fertilizer: Achieved an 83% year-over-year increase in sales volume of manufactured bulk fertilizer, marking the highest sales in a quarter.* Anti-Dumping Duty Implementation: USD 217 per metric ton Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD) on IPA for a period of 5 years.* In-House Capture of Ammonia Price Hikes: Increases in global ammonia prices are now fully captured internally.* Capacity enhancement of approximately 10% resulting from debottlenecking of the TAN plants, delivering an additional 50 KTPA and bringing the total TAN capacity volumes to 587 KTPA to support the growing needs of India’s Mining sector.* Debt Reduction: Prepaid Rs. 200 crores in debt, improving the Net Debt to EBITDA ratio from 2.66x to 1.64x.* Change in key RM Prices in Q2FY25: Ammonia: ~11% YoY; MOP: ~40% YoY; Gas: ~9% YoY Commenting on the performance, Sailesh C. Mehta, Chairman & Managing Director said, DFPCL has shown impressive performance in Q2 FY25, achieving a 13% growth in revenue. This growth was primarily driven by the Crop Nutrition business, which experienced an 18% YoY increase in revenue, while the Chemical business grew by 8% YoY despite a lean quarter for the chemical sectors. Fertilizer and Chemical businesses acted as a natural hedge, enabling the company to deliver consistent and improved performance.There has been a consistent increase in the proportion of revenue from specialty products, along with an overall rise in revenue, driven by the strategic move of transitioning from commodity to specialty.- Crop Nutrition Business (CNB) achieved a remarkable 83% YoY increase in sales volume of manufactured bulk fertilizer, which is highest ever sales.- Mining Chemical: Monsoon is a lean period due to slowdown in mining activities. Accordingly, we had taken a planned shutdown of Technical Ammonium Nitrate (TAN) plant for maintenance and capacity enhancement of 50 KTPA, taking total capacity to 587 KTPA.- The Industrial Chemicals business experienced a healthy revenue growth of 9%, despite marginal decrease in volumes. This performance underscores our strategic shift from commodities to specialty chemicals, which has effectively mitigated price volatility.- The ammonia plant has enabled all our businesses to reap substantial benefits from backward integration, effectively mitigating supply chain risks and price volatility. As a result, we are now able to capture the increases in global ammonia prices within the group. As India continues to grow, the chemical and fertilizer sectors are poised to thrive. The demand outlook for the Crop Nutrition, Mining Chemicals, and Industrial Chemicals Business is well aligned with India’s growth story, providing strong and positive tailwinds. We are actively working on the execution of the TAN Project and the Nitric Acid Project in Gopalpur and Dahej, respectively, to capitalize on future growth.Chemicals Review* Mining Chemicals (Technical Ammonium Nitrate):- In Q2 FY25, our premium product LDAN’s sales volume soared by 16% YoY and rose by an impressive 20% in H1 FY25 compared to H1 FY24- Overall sales volume was down by 21% YoY in Q2 due to a planned shutdown and lean seasons due to monsoon. The volumes were down by 1% in H1 FY25 compared to H1 FY24.- Business Outlook: The mining and infrastructure is expected to pick up post monsoon as demand for Power (Coal), Cement & Steel is expected to increase thereby providing robust support for TAN demand.* Industrial Chemicals: – Nitric acid volumes was marginally down by 1% on YoY basis and up by 13% on QoQ basis.- The specialty stainless steel grade nitric acid has received positive feedback from customers.- IPA volumes experienced a 10% YoY decline due to process constraints and a plant shutdown. However, the recent implementation of an ADD at USD 217 per metric ton for a period of five years is anticipated to enhance both demand and pricing moving forward.- Business Outlook: For Nitric Acid, the demand and margins are expected to be stable over the next few quarters. Propylene-based IPA demand and margins are expected to be stable and improve following the implementation of the ADD on Chinese suppliers over few quarters.Crop Nutrition Business (Fertilisers) Review* In Q2 FY25, manufactured bulk fertilizer has achieved highest ever sales volume of 268 KMT, an 83% YoY increase, driven by improved demand from above-average rains, which led to 102% Kharif crop sowing and positive market sentiment across all regions.* Sales volume of Croptek surged to 37 KMT, reflecting a 70% YoY growth, with continued focus on providing crop-specific solutions for targeted crops, including cotton, soybean, sugarcane, corn, grapes, pomegranate, and banana.* The company has recently launched premium water-soluble fertilizer grades.* Sale of specialty fertilizer Bensulf was 9 KMT, up 7% YoY.* Business Outlook: Above-normal monsoon rainfall in our core states has significantly enhanced groundwater table as well as water reservoirs for irrigation, which will help promising rabi season ahead.* We expect the acreages under rabi cash crops to go up especially for Sugarcane, Onion, Potato etc.Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Ltd. (DFPCL) is among the India’s leading manufacturers of industrial chemicals and fertilisers. With a strong presence in Technical Ammonium Nitrate (mining chemicals), Industrial Chemicals and Crop Nutrition (fertilisers), the Company supports critical sectors of the economy such as infrastructure, mining, chemicals, pharmaceutical and agriculture. DFPCL is a publicly listed, multi-product Indian conglomerate and has plants located in four states, namely Maharashtra (Taloja), Gujarat (Daher), Andhra Pradesh (Srikakulam) and Haryana (Panipat).DFPCL is Leading manufacturer and marketer of Iso Propyl Alcohol (IPA) in India and Largest Manufacturer of Nitric Acid in Southeast Asia. The Company is developing specialised grades of Nitric acid and IPA to meet specific requirements to cater needs of the industry/consumer.DFPCL is one of the leading manufacturers of Technical Ammonium Nitrate in the world, it is the only producer of pilled Technical Grade Ammonium Nitrate solids and medical grade Ammonium Nitrate in India. The Company has commenced best in-class Technical Services to drive downstream productivity benefits for the mining end consumers.CNB Segment (fertilisers) offers a basket of 48 products which include bulk fertilisers, Crop nutrient solutions, specialty fertilisers, water-soluble fertilisers, bio-stimulants, micro-nutrients, and secondary nutrients, catering to every crop’s nutrient requirement. Enhanced-efficiency speciality fertilisers are developed basis rigorous R&D efforts and product trials at over 50,000 farmer demo plots. The R&D efforts have shown distinct yield and quality improvements for crops across segments such as cotton, sugarcane, onion, fruits and vegetables. Over last three years, value-added nutrition products have benefitted 6 million farmers.(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
It has been nearly 70 years since Francis Thomas Bacon developed a source of clean green energy that would help power the first moon landing and change the course of history.Yet, few are aware of the Cambridge-based engineer, known as Tom, whose invention of the first working hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell helped send Apollo 11 to the moon. His pioneering work is still a source of inspiration for scientists working on renewable energy solutions today.Now, the charity Cambridge Past, Present & Future is seeking to shine a light on Bacon’s remarkable achievements by honouring him with a blue plaque at his former home in Little Shelford, Cambridgeshire.Bacon’s fuel cells – nicknamed “Bacon Cells” by Nasa in his honour – provided secondary power for the Apollo missions, producing electricity for the communications, air conditioning and lights, as well as water for the astronauts.“Normally, in the course of time, a battery runs down and you’ve got to recharge it,” Bacon told BBC Radio 4, shortly before the moon landings in 1969. “Now, [with] this device, as long as you go on feeding hydrogen and oxygen into it, and you remove the water formed, it will go on generating power indefinitely – and the astronauts drink the water.”View image in fullscreenThe efficiency and high energy density of the fuel cells played such an integral role in the success of the Apollo missions that President Richard Nixon told Bacon: “Without you, Tom, we wouldn’t have gotten to the moon.”Sam Stranks, professor of energy materials and optoelectronics at Cambridge University, said: “He was a pioneer. Fuel cell technology was extremely important to the space programme, because as long as you can continuously supply the gases, you can keep producing electricity.” This is vital in a remote location like outer space. “Obviously, there’s no easy means to get electricity there.”Bacon’s legacy is still inspiring scientists working on new technologies for solar power, hydrogen generation and battery storage today, Stranks said, and fuel cells remain “very relevant” as a potential way of providing green electricity and emergency power, particularly in remote places.They could also power the electric engines of long-haul trucks and ships in the future, avoiding the need for impossibly large and heavy rechargeable batteries and fulfilling a dream Bacon shared in his BBC radio interview. “I always hoped it would be used for driving vehicles about,” he said, before predicting: “In a modified form, it is going to come.”Stranks said: “I see him very much as a visionary and an unsung hero. The fuel cell is a sustainable power solution that foreshadows today’s clean energy efforts and was decades ahead of its time.”A direct descendent of the Elizabethan philosopher and empiricist Francis Bacon, he began researching fuel cells while working for an engineering firm in 1932, a few years after graduating from Cambridge with a third-class degree in mechanical sciences.Nearly a century earlier, the physicist William Grove had demonstrated the theoretical concept of fuel cells in 1839, but failed to generate much electricity. Excited by the huge potential, Bacon secretly started conducting experiments with the highly flammable gases, on his employer’s premises.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionTold to either stop or leave, he quit his job and devoted his life to engineering a solution to this complex problem, working first at Cambridge University, then Marshalls, a local manufacturer.He later revealed in his BBC interview that it was unclear for decades what the practical use of his invention would be, and he struggled to fund his research as a result. Then, in 1962, Nasa decided to develop his alkaline fuel cell for the Apollo programme and a US company invested $100m in the project.“British engineers have some of the most brilliant ideas, but turning those ideas into commercial successes is what then often fails, and Bacon faced this,” said Cambridge professor Clemens Kaminski, head of the chemical engineering and biotechnology department where Bacon once worked. “Yet he persevered.”After they returned to Earth, astronauts Neil Armstong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins met Bacon at Downing Street and presented him with a signed photograph of Armstrong’s famous first “small step” on the moon.Outside the scientific community, however, Bacon, who died in 1992, is not very well known, Kaminski said. “He was an incredibly modest and quiet man. His delight was solving problems and coming up with real solutions for the benefit of society.”
Health
A 102-year-old shares her simple, science-backed skincare secrets — and they don’t include antiaging creams
Serafina Kenny
2024-11-02T10:02:02Z
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Deborah Szekely shared her skincare secrets.
Rancho La Puerta
Deborah Szekely is 102 years old and works three days a week.She attributes her fitness and plump skin to her lifestyle.She shared the things she does that have helped her reduce wrinkles and sun spots.
Real Estate
Residents of a picturesque London street clash with Airbnb after tourists flock to home turned into ‘Paddington’ film set
Eve Crosbie
2024-11-02T10:47:53Z
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Locals told Business Insider they’re tired of tourists flocking to the street.
Studio Canal, Business Insider/Eve Crosbie
Airbnb is running a competition for families to win a free stay in a house in Primrose Hill, London.The property has been transformed to look like the home from the “Paddington” movies.Locals told Business Insider they’re tired of tourists flocking to the street.
Running a food business, however, has come with its challenges. Kainaz acknowledged the difficulties of stepping back and allowing a professional team to manage operations.Kainaz Messman Harchandrai, co-founder of Theobroma, a renowned bakery chain, encountered a life-altering experience at age 24. A trained pastry chef, her career took an unexpected turn after a severe accident left her confined to bed rest. Having studied at the Institute of Hotel Management in Mumbai and the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development in Delhi, Kainaz previously worked at Oberoi Udaivilas in Udaipur. Reflecting on that difficult time, she shared, “I loved my job, and being told I couldn’t continue as a chef was devastating because it required long hours on my feet.” Despite this setback, Kainaz and her sister, Tina Messman Wykes, pursued their shared dream, founding Theobroma in 2004.
To launch their venture, the sisters borrowed Rs 1 crore from their father, who had only one request: instead of repaying the loan, they should use the funds for a cause he supported. Almost 20 years later, Theobroma has blossomed into a beloved brand, with 78 outlets across major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, NCR, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru.
By the fiscal year 2021, Theobroma reported a remarkable revenue of Rs 121 crore, with plans to double in the near future. Kainaz reminisced about the early days, saying, “We only made what we loved to eat and promised to do it well and keep things simple. Our business has evolved over time, but we didn’t have a detailed plan when we started.”
Running a food business, however, has come with its challenges. Kainaz acknowledged the difficulties of stepping back and allowing a professional team to manage operations. Despite these hurdles, she finds fulfillment in creating a brand that resonates deeply with loyal customers.
Skywalk (Photo: Marko Jukić -Majkl/CC BY-SA 4.0)
On 31 October, Biokovo Nature Park officially closed its doors for the season, including its popular attraction, the Skywalk.
Image Credits: djkemmy/Pixabay | Cropped by GBN Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) has launched its promotional campaign for the Celebrate Bahrain 2024 season, which is set to boost the tourism sector of the Kingdom. Celebrate Bahrain 2024 season will feature a lineup of events and entertainment activities throughout December. The Heritage Village Festival, Muharraq…
Starting a business while working a full-time job is challenging. Both your time and your resources are limited, which means you need to manage them properly in order to stay organized and productive. Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) tools have emerged as powerful resources that can make this entrepreneurial balancing act more manageable, allowing side hustlers to manage their ventures efficiently alongside their day jobs. Here’s a look at just some of the ways AI can help you maximize productivity and simplify tasks so that you can manage a side hustle more efficiently.Automate repetitive tasksImplementing AI tools can be particularly useful for repetitive tasks. Tools such as Zapier and IFTTT allow you to automate everything from social media posts to customer emails. Other AI-powered customer support platforms such as chatbot services can handle customer inquiries while you’re at your 9-5. This way, your customers receive consistent communications from your business, even if you’re not readily available. Efficiently track tasksAI-powered project management tools such as Trello, Notion, and Forecast have smart automation capabilities that can remind you of deadlines, suggest which tasks to prioritize, and automate project updates. This frees up your time to focus on what matters most in your side hustle, while minimizing task overload. Create content for social mediaIf your side hustle depends on social media, creating engaging content on a regular basis can be challenging and time-consuming. AI tools like Canva can give you automated design suggestions to accompany your post captions, while tools like ChatGPT and Jasper AI can help generate post ideas, captions, and even longer content like blog posts. These tools can even help you to create ad copy that is tailored for your business and target audience.
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Optimize marketing and customer targetingYou can leverage AI to help optimize your marketing strategies through advanced data analysis and predictive analytics. This means you’ll end up reaching the right audience without a lot of guesswork. Platforms like Google Analytics and Meta Ads use AI to analyze customer behavior, preferences, and trends, giving entrepreneurs insights that would otherwise take hours to sort through the old fashioned way. Financial managementFinancial management is important for any business, but especially for side hustlers who have to be smart about their cash flow. Tools such as QuickBooks and Xero offer AI-driven insights, automating bookkeeping, expense tracking, and generating cash flow forecasts. All this means you’re able to stay on top of finances without spending hours in spreadsheets or having to pay a professional to do the work. Enhance customer engagementMaintaining strong customer relationships is important for establishing and growing your side hustle, especially if your business is in a competitive market. AI-enabled customer relationship management (CRM) tools like HubSpot and Salesforce can manage customer interactions by sending automated follow-ups, managing email lists, and even helping segment customers based on their engagement level. Competitor and market analysisHaving a solid understanding of your competitors and market trends is important for putting together your business strategy, but is a time-consuming task. AI-powered tools such as Crayon and SEMrush can automatically monitor your competitors, giving you insights into their strategies, pricing, product offerings, and marketing tactics. Website optimization and SEO Having an optimized website that ranks in search results can help your business to attract new customers. AI-powered tools like Surfer SEO, Clearscope, and Yoast provide you with keyword and SEO recommendations, and can even analyze your content quality to improve your website’s visibility without the need to spend hours on SEO research. Optimizing your time managementUnfortunately, time is a highly limited resource when you’re working a full-time job and running a business on the side. AI-powered scheduling tools such as Calendar and Google Calendar can help you to prioritize tasks, block out time, and sync schedules across multiple devices. These tools can even look at your availability, and then suggest the best times for meetings. You can even set them up to book appointments automatically based on preset criteria.
For small business owners, time is one of the most valuable – and limited – resources. Running a business often means juggling multiple tasks, from customer relations to finances, marketing to production, and about 101 other things. Fortunately, recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing time management, allowing small business owners to automate tasks, streamline workflows, and reclaim valuable time. Here’s a closer look at how AI is transforming the way small business owners and solopreneuers manage their time.Automating routine tasks to reduce daily workloadOne of the biggest time-sucks when running a business is completing routine, repetitive tasks. AI tools like Microsoft Co-Pilot and Zapier excel at automating these tasks, from scheduling emails and posting on social media to taking care of data entry and generating reports. By leaving the repetitive tasks to the robots, you can free up hours of your time to focus on the strategic aspects of your business.For example, Microsoft Co-Pilot can automatically draft replies to common customer emails, as well as integrate with your calendar. The AI can take a look and suggest meeting times, draft agenda points, and create follow-up tasks discussed in meetings, saving you from having to worry about every detail.AI-enhanced project management for task prioritizationPrioritizing tasks effectively can be challenging, especially for small business owners juggling several projects at once. AI-enhanced project management tools such as Asana, Trello, and Monday.com use machine learning to analyze past data and project statuses to recommend the best order for completing tasks. For instance, in Asana, AI can analyze your tasks and deadlines to suggest the best order to complete them. This ensures that the most urgent and impactful tasks are completed first. This intelligent prioritization takes the guesswork out of what to do next and reduces the mental fatigue of running your business.
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Improving decision-making with AI-driven data insightsSmall business owners often need to make quick, data-informed decisions. However, analyzing data manually can take hours, especially if you don’t have a dedicated analytics team. Tools like Microsoft Power BI and Tableau use AI to process large datasets, generate insights, and visually present trends. With AI-generated recommendations, business owners can make more informed decisions in less time.Boosting communication efficiency with AI-powered assistantsAI assistants like Microsoft Co-Pilot, Google Assistant, and other virtual agents can handle a range of communication tasks, from responding to emails to scheduling meetings. They can even handle basic customer service queries. AI tools are great for these tasks as they can respond quickly, work around the clock, and ensure nothing slips through the cracks. With AI handling scheduling requests and reminders, business owners are less likely to miss important meetings or deadlines.Streamlining finances with AI in bookkeeping and expense managementFinancial management is an important part of running a business, but it’s also complicated and time-consuming – especially if you don’t have a financial background. AI-powered tools like QuickBooks and FreshBooks streamline the bookkeeping process by automating tasks like expense categorization and cash flow tracking. For example, QuickBooks can automatically categorize transactions or alert you when cash flow dips below a certain threshold. It can also generate and send invoices based on recurring payments. Simplifying customer relationship management (CRM)Customer relationship management (CRM) is important for business growth, but keeping track of customer interactions and feedback can be overwhelming. AI-powered CRM tools like HubSpot and Salesforce offer intelligent insights into customer behavior, automate follow-ups, and recommend the best times and methods to reach out, so you can nurture relationships more efficiently. These recommendations can drive customer engagement without the need for hours of manual CRM management.Enhancing marketing with AI for targeted and efficient campaignsBuilding and managing marketing campaigns requires creativity and time. AI tools like Jasper, Canva, and Hootsuite can streamline the marketing process by generating content ideas, designing on-brand visuals, and automating social media posting. Additionally, the AI analytics within these tools give you insights into campaign performance, so you know which ads and posts resonate most with your target audience.Enhancing team collaboration and productivityFor small business owners managing remote teams or freelancers, collaboration can be a challenge. AI-driven platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams streamline communication by automating reminders, assigning tasks, and integrating with other business tools, ensuring that everyone stays aligned without the need for constant check-ins.
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