Harpic Mission Paani to Spread Awareness on Need for Saving Water for Improved Hygiene Across India

Harpic Mission Paani through its new campaign ‘Swachhta aur Paani’ (Hygiene and Water) aims to reinstate the importance of water in maintaining hygienic practices and emphasizing on how there is an increased urgency for efficient usage and conservation. Over the years, the focus for water-conservation has been understandably more on saving drinking water, but with the COVID-19 outbreak it has become clear that an increased need for water is also evident to maintain best-in-class hygienic practices to combat diseases.

Water is an issue that is affecting the daily lives of many Indians. As per Water.Org, 99 Million Indians lack access to safe water and 541 Million Indians lack access to improved hygiene. Until now, our water-conservation narratives had been focused on making drinking water accesssible, but with COVID-19 we have realized that water is equally important for maintaining hygiene and combating diseases.

Harpic has been pioneering the cause of hygiene and sanitation in Indian homes for decades and has been working towards driving behaviour change through awareness campaigns. Harpic Mission Paani’s new strategic pivot of ‘Swachhta aur Paani’ (Hygiene and Water) rests on the critical components of both water and hygiene, and the aim is to bring everyone together in this mission for a safe, hygienic and sustainable tomorrow.

Speaking about the pivot, Mr. Narasimhan Eswar, Senior Vice President, RB Hygiene, South Asia said, “RB’s purpose- to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world- has never been more relevant. Harpic Mission Paani is one of our key campaigns aimed at raising awareness and driving behavior change on water conservation and sanitation in India.  At this point, the need for hygienic sanitation alongside efficient water management is absolutely critical for our country. Through Mission Paani, we are now keen to encourage all our citizens on driving optimum utilization of this crucial resource for improved hygiene and sanitation that will help save lives. Harpic with this strategic shift continues to play the role of an enabler in providing superior hygiene and healthier homes.”

RB India in collaboration with News 18, launched Harpic Mission Paani, a nation-wide water conservation drive in 2019. In wake of the critical challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Harpic Mission Paani Campaign has been re-calibrated with an objective to save water for improved hygiene and focus on efficient water management.

Ms. Sukhleen Aneja, CMO & Marketing Director, RB Hygiene, South Asia supporting the cause as well as the new direction said, “Our fight is to make access to the highest quality of hygiene, wellness and nourishment a right and not a privilege. Harpic has been at the forefront to raise awareness and educate people on the importance of hygiene and sanitation. For over a year now, Harpic’s Mission Paani campaign has been solely focused on water conservation. During the ongoing pandemic, there has been an increased need for water consumption to enable the fight against Covid-19. It is now more important than ever to save water so that there are more people who can use this resource to keep themselves and their homes healthy and germ and virus free.”

We stand at a critical threshold today, where we are facing a pandemic and are witnessing the ever-depleting level of water. A precious natural resource, that is imperative for our survival and overall wellbeing needs to be nurtured, cared, protected, and preserved.

It’s urgent. It’s important. And it’s imperative for a better future. Let’s all pledge together for a more equitable, more sustainable tomorrow, by focusing on water as well as hygiene.

Fourth Edition of UTT Postponed to 2021 due to Coronavirus Pandemic

The fourth edition of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) has been deferred to 2021 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) authorities and the UTT management have jointly taken the decision to postpone India's premier table tennis event, keeping in mind various concerns, foremost being the safety and well-being of the players and other league stakeholders.

"We must avoid any risk to the health and safety of the players and other stakeholders, especially with 2021 being an Olympic year. Furthermore, international travel restrictions are still abound with clarity awaited on the same. So after evaluating the current situation and after due deliberations with TTFI, we have arrived at a mutual consensus to not conduct UTT in this calendar year. We are optimistic that 2021 will be healthier and happier, and in due course of time we hope to announce the dates for UTT to be held next year," UTT co-promoters Vita Dani and Niraj Bajaj said in a joint statement.

UTT has been a launchpad for many Indian paddlers while also supporting domestic tournaments and the larger ecosystem of the sport in our nation. The league has also given the sport a platform to showcase top-quality table tennis in India, as our country's finest rub shoulders with the world's best.

"We have been very keen for table tennis to resume, however there are various issues to be considered and addressed. And under such circumstances, conducting UTT with the presence of foreign players doesn't seem feasible. However, we are really looking forward to the fourth season of the League in 2021. We will identify a window to conduct UTT at the earliest next year, with the situation surrounding the pandemic also hopefully improving," TTFI General Secretary MP Singh said.

With the sporting world gradually moving towards resumption of live action, the fourth season of UTT next year will be a welcome boost for Indian table tennis.

Great Offers on Huawei Device During Amazon Great Indian Fest Sale

 * With the onset of festive-season , consumers stand a chance to get great offers and discount on industry leading Huawei wearable products during Amazon Great Indian Festival sale

* Huawei Watch GT 2, Huawei Watch GT 2e, and Huawei Band 4 will be available in exciting offers

* Huawei Freebuds 3i is available at a jaw dropping discount of INR 3000

As the festival season is right around the corner, customers can avail exciting deals and offers on a wide array of Huawei devices, at the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale starting from 17th October, 2020 and from 16th October, exclusively for Amazon Prime users to 22nd October 2020. Some of these include Huawei Watch GT 2, Huawei Watch GT 2e, Huawei Band 4, and Huawei FreeBuds 3i.

There are a range of offers that are applicable during the sale. It’s more alluring for those who are looking at an immediate purchase, as the Huawei Watch GT 2e (Black, Green and Red variants) will now be available at a price of only INR 9,990. The Huawei Watch GT 2 Sport will be available at a price of INR 12,990, Huawei Watch GT 2 Classic at INR 14,990 and Huawei Watch GT 2 Premium would be available at INR 18,990.

Buyers can also get the Huawei Band 4, an ergonomically designed device fitness tracker which promises upto 9 days of power on a single charge and a 24/7 Continuous Heart Rate Monitor at a discounted price of INR 1799. One can get the world’s only open fit active noise cancellation wireless earbuds, HUAWEI FreeBuds 3i, at jaw dropping discount price of INR 6,990.

Furthermore, customers can get these premium products at extra discounts offered by banking partners as offered by Amazon. In addition to the discounts, cashback offers as well as No-cost EMI offers are also available on these purchases. Huawei revolutionised the wearable segment in India by launching Huawei GT 2 followed by Huawei GT2e. Also, the company’s latest technological innovation Freebuds 3i has set an industry benchmark in the TWS segment.

Interested customers can check these enthralling deals on Amazon starting from 15th October 2020 to October 22nd, 2020 and enjoy the upcoming festive weeks filled with offers, discounts and gifts. 

HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 CLASSIC

Huawei Watch GT2 (46mm) classic comes in a Pebble Brown colour with 1.39 inch AMOLED Display 390 x 390 HD, has evolved a great deal both in terms of ergonomics and technology innovation. The watch is powered by Kirin A1 chipset, world’s first chipset exclusively designed for wearables, with excellent battery life of up to two weeks. Abiding by the popular demand of more and more health conscious users, Huawei’s TruRelax functionality will track stress levels, along with providing 15 workout modes. The new watch can also store music in its 2GB memory. The Huawei Watch GT2 is also one of the first smart-watches to have integrated features such as 150 metres of Bluetooth connectivity and sleep tracking feature. To make the user experience even better, the Amoled touchscreen in the Huawei Watch GT2 supports slide and touch gestures.

HUAWEI WATCH GT2HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 SPORT

Huawei Watch GT 2 46mm for the sport edition is available in black colour. It is a breakthrough smartwatch in personal training and tracks your workouts with precise positioning systems and monitors your heart rate with the accurate TruSeen™ 3.5. It is the professional companion for your indoor and outdoor activities. The watch is powered by Kirin A1 chipset, world’s first chipset exclusively designed for wearables, with excellent battery life of up to two weeks.

The smartwatch can also store music in its 2GB memory. The Huawei Watch GT2 is also one of the first smart-watches to have integrated features such as 150 metres of Bluetooth connectivity and sleep tracking feature. To make the user experience even better, the Amoled touchscreen in the Huawei Watch GT2 supports slide and touch gestures.

HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 PREMIUM

Huawei Watch GT 2 Premium provides a new level of convenience by supporting notifications from SMS messages, Email, Calendar, and other social media apps. It comprises of other features like the Weather, Alarm, Timer, Stopwatch, Flashlight and Find My Phone. It is integrated with a high quality 3D glass face to create the bezel-less vision.

HUAWEI WATCH GT series is always exploring the limits of smart watch battery life. With HUAWEI's self-developed wearable chip Kirin A1, the dual-chip design and intelligent power saving technology, it serves day and night for up to 2 weeks.

HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e, Long Battery Life, Sports Watch | HUAWEI GlobalHUAWEI WATCH GT 2e

The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e comes with a spectacular design,       inspiring an active lifestyle. The HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e is powered with a massive battery life of two weeks. The Huawei Watch GT series now has an important health parameter measuring application - the SpO2 feature. With this feature, users can monitor the oxygen levels in blood easily. HUAWEI WATCH GT 2e boasts of a 1.39-inch AMOLED high precision touch display supporting a Retina-grade resolution. The vibrant display assists clear viewing even in strong sunlight during summers.

Huawei’s FreeBuds 3i's latest technology advancements set it apart in design, sound quality, ANC capabilities, and easy to carry. With its wearing detection technology, the FreeBuds 3i syncs with the users every move. With its 10 mm large dynamic drivers it delivers powerful bass, giving audiences a ‘True Noise Cancellation, True Wireless Stereo’ listening experience. The earbuds design gives it a premium look, with dimensions which are a perfect fit for the ears, it comes with 4 silicone tips in different sizes for comfort and a secure fit. Offering better sound quality because of its shape. The weight of each earbud is about 5.5g and the charging case is about 51g, making it light and easy to carry at one's convenience. . With its IPX4 water-resistant technology, the user can easily use this in rainy weather. The Freebuds 3i also gives a playback of up to 3.5 hours.

HUAWEI Band 4, heart rate monitoring, smart wearable | HUAWEI GlobalHUAWEI BAND 4

The Huawei Band 4 features a built-in USB plug that helps to charge the device without requiring a specific cable or charger. The fitness tracker is powered by a 91 mAh battery which promises upto 9 days of power on a single charge. Unlike other fitness bands available in the market, the band 4 has a 24/7 Continuous Heart Rate Monitor and its scientific sleep mode detector can identify 6 most common sleep-related issues, providing over 200 potential solutions and suggestions, designed to help you sleep better. The Huawei Band 4’s 8 built-in colourful and customizable watch faces make it a unique choice for the consumers.

About Huawei Consumer BG

Huawei’s products and services are available in more than 170 countries and are used by a third of the world’s population. Fifteen R&D centres have been set up in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India and China. Huawei Consumer BG is one of Huawei’s three business units and covers smartphones, PC and tablets, wearables and cloud services, etc. Huawei’s global network is built on almost 30 years of expertise in the telecom industry and is dedicated to delivering the latest technological advances to consumers around the world.

Food and Nutrition Security is the Need of the Hour Across India

By Dr. Ezhil Arasan Ramanan | Nutrify India | Roots

WORLD FOOD DAY 

According to the Chairperson of Nutrify India's Medical Community Roots, Dr. Ezhil Arasan Ramanan,“Food and nutrition security is the need of the hour.   It is achieved when all people at all times have physical, social and economic access to food, which is consumed in sufficient quantity and quality. Quality also denotes the nutritional value and hence there is a need for fingerprinting of agriculture to enable and empower the quality fo nutrition in food. The finger printing is something that should be promoted for consumer awareness, so that people take conscious decision of what they are buying. This may sound little futuristic, but the need to start this is now to realize this in the future.

We don’t need crop surplus. We need quality nutrition crops and the same should be traceable and fingerprinted. Entrepreneurs of India are taking initiative at their level supported by international players like Euro alliance enabling finger printing of quality crops that are sustainable and scalable in quality.

A good quality crop will positively impact consumer’s health and nutritional profile and assist in bringing down lifestyle disease burden of the country. India witnessed 61.8 per cent deaths due to non-communicable diseases which form part of lifestyle diseases. The new guideline from ICMR has upgraded average Indian weight by 5 kg. This puts additional stress on agriculture to nourish each extra kg of human weight. The need is not crop surplus but fingerprinted nutritionally rich crop that can be sustained and scaled up. This fingerprinted crop will assist in partially lowering the lifestyle disease burden of India. 

Lets move from quantity to mindful quality."

Signify Adds An Extra Layer of Safety With New UV-C Disinfection Lighting Products For The Professional Market

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, is accelerating the development of UV-C based disinfection portfolio with the launch of new luminaires and equipment for the professional market in India. UV-C lighting is effective in disinfecting air, surfaces, and objects at homes and workplaces, and especially adding an extra layer of safety in elderly homes, schools, food outlets, hotels, retail outlets, industrial complexes, airports and public transportation. The effectiveness of Signify’s UV-C light sources on the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-has been validated by Boston University and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru

Professional customers in India can now order Philips UV-C disinfection upper air luminaires to disinfect air, Philips UV-C Disinfection linear and Philips UV-C disinfection trolleys to disinfect surfaces, and Philips UV-C disinfection chambers to disinfect objects.

Signify is helping by contributing with an extra layer of safety in a world where organizations are seeking ways to continue operations and provide services to customers. “Now more than ever, disinfecting air, surfaces and objects is critical,” said Sumit Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Signify Innovations India Limited at Signify. “To support offices, schools, public transportation, retail outlets and many businesses as they strive to disinfect their spaces, we’ve leveraged our knowledge and experience in UV-C lighting, making multiple product ranges available for professionals.”

The UV-C based disinfection solutions can also be customized as per the unique requirements of an organization for example for use in airports and hotels for luggage disinfection, packages, and deliveries in (office) buildings, or for disinfection of larger objects such as shopping carts.

In India, the following solutions are now available for use across industries and public spaces:

Air disinfection solutions

* Philips UV-C disinfection upper air luminaires: Signify offers wall-mounted and ceiling-mounted UV-C luminaires to disinfect the air. These UV-C upper air luminaires are installed at a height of at least 2.3 meters which, in combination with shielding and optics, ensures people can continue to work in the lower sections of a room. The UV-C disinfection upper air luminaires can continuously disinfect the air.

Ideal for: elderly homes, offices, retail, food outlets, hospitality, schools, banking, cinemas, theaters, opera houses, gyms, washrooms, hospital waiting areas and other high-contact areas.

Surface disinfection solutions

* Philips UV-C disinfection linear: Fixed installation of luminaires (with sensor) on the ceiling to disinfect high contact areas outside of opening hours and can also be used with a control system based on Philips Dynalite technology, like the Philips Dynalite PDUVCC control system. Multiple safeguard controls are available using authorized activation with sensor monitoring, door monitoring and emergency override with visible and audible triggers during operation.

Ideal For: Disinfection of surfaces in offices, hotels & restaurants, educational institutes, retail outlets, etc.

* Philips UV-C disinfection trolley: The UV-C trolley, without sensor, with 1- or 2-arms version, is designed to disinfect up to 36m2 of circular coverage area/20m2 of square area. Integrated safeguard controls include a timer to plan disinfection for a predefined period, remote control, and voice alarm.  Single and double arm lamp variants; rotatable up to 180 degrees. Additional containment safeguards (such as user manual and mounting instruction) should be deployed together with the UV-C trolley in order to ensure that no people or animals are exposed to the UV-C rays. 

Ideal For: for disinfection of surfaces in retail outlets, schools, universities, offices, banks, barber shops, spas, hotel guest rooms, industrial sites, restaurants, hospitals, industrial kitchens and on buses and trains. 

Objects disinfection solutions

* Philips UV-C disinfection chamber: This UV-C disinfection chamber is used for disinfection of objects for professional use. It’s available in 2 variants currently: small (66 liters) & medium (112 liters) and it can be used for objects in pharmacies, shops, schools, universities, offices, mail rooms, reception areas, banks, barber shops, spas, restaurants and industrial kitchens.

These products are not intended for and must not be used to disinfect the surfaces of medical devices or for medical purposes.

UV-C breaks down the DNA and/or RNA of micro-organisms, including viruses and bacteria, rendering them harmless. Signify’s UV-C lamps emit a radiation peak at 254 nm which is near the germicidal efficiency peak and therefore ideal for disinfecting air, surfaces, and objects.

UV-C light should always be used by professionals in accordance with the safety requirements and instructions to avoid humans and animals from being exposed to it since it can damage their skin and eyes.

For more than 35 years, Signify has been at the forefront of UV technology, and has a proven track record of innovation in UV-C lighting. Signify’s UV-C lighting is designed, installed, and used according to the product-specific safety instructions, and manufactured using well-controlled industrial processes. 

Now Do Banking at BPCL Petrol Pumps with Fino’s Human ATMs

For people living near Hebbal Housing and Industrial area, be it small business owners, workers, daily wagers or residents, a neighbourhood petrol pump is doing great service by providing access to banking at their convenience.

M/s Sri Varaprada Fuels, a Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) outlet located on Hebbal Ring Road, also works as a banking point of Fino Payments Bank. Equipped with Fino’s Micro ATM and Aadhaar enabled payment system (AePS) devices, the staff at the outlet transform into a human ATMs, helping people deposit, withdraw, transfer money and even open new accounts.

In addition to BPCL outlets, around 3000 neighbourhood small business owners such as kirana, mobile repair, dairy outlets are part of Fino’s banking network spread across South Karnataka.

Biswajeet Sinha, Senior Divisional Head, Fino Payments Bank (South) said, “Towards our endeavour of making banking simple and convenient for people, we are focussing on three critical elements. Firstly, improve access in villages to avoid travel by transforming the neighbourhood kirana, dairy and other shops into banking points. Secondly, provide the convenience of digital banking with micro ATMs. Thirdly, we have partnered with NBFC companies wherein their customers can pay their EMIs at our points without having to go to a bank branch.”

“We intend to penetrate deeper into the interiors of the state by doubling our banking network to over 6000 points this year,” added Mr. Sinha

“The advantage of the local shops and BPCL outlets is that they are close by and are open till late in the evening allowing customers transact at their convenience either using a debit card or through Aadhaar authentication. Importantly, customers can focus on their work or business, while merchants can earn on every transaction.  Also, cash is always available at these outlets unlike at some ATMs,” said Praveen Kumar, State Head, Fino Payments Bank

Along with banking, at these neighbourhood outlets and BPCL points, customers can also purchase insurance (health, life, Covid and motor) pay utility bills, do mobile and DTH recharge. Beneficiaries of government DBT schemes found the human ATMs convenient to withdraw cash. 

Speaking about the two-year old BPCL-Fino banking partnership, VVS Gunnaji Rao, Territory Manager (Retail), Mysore, BPCL said, “The association isunique in the oil industry as it allows our petrol bunks to facilitate banking services for customer convenience. During the COVID pandemic, our dealer network added tremendous value by providing ATM services to customers all the time.  Various NBFCs also appreciated EMI collection services offered at BPCL retail outlets which otherwise would have been very difficult. All India we have around 5786 petrol pumps that provide banking facility clocking a GMV of Rs 2208 crores. During the first half of the year, 48.16 lakh transactions were done with around 15 lakh people in the South states and around 3 lakh people in Karnataka using this facility.”

Since the start of FY 20-21, Sri Varaprada Fuels has been facilitating customer transactions worth over Rs 2 lakh per month. During the same period, Fino’s network in South Karnataka facilitated transactions worth around Rs 200 crores!

Dining Out Numbers Projected at 70% this Festive Season Across India

COVID has impacted the F&B industry like never before in the history of mankind. Restaurants are struggling to get back to their feet by gradually adapting to the new normal. As the lockdown is lifted in most of the Indian cities, restaurants are welcoming the people for dine-in services. 

Dineout, India’s largest reservation and restaurant tech platform, has recovered 60% of its business compared to pre-COVID times. Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad are moving fastest towards normalcy with a 70% recovery rate projected to be achieved in this festive quarter, followed by Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur and Hyderabad with a 55% recovery rate. Mumbai and Pune that opened up last week have seen a promising 10 fold increase in Diner count compared to the previous week’s numbers. 

This growth curve can be credited to restaurants that are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the safety of their customers and staff. Restaurants are promoting QR Code driven digital menus as well as digital payments to minimise contact at the outlets. As per Dineout partner data, 65% partner restaurants have already switched to QR code based digital menus in the last 3 months. Mobile ordering is expected to grow further as more consumers view mobile ordering a safer and convenient option. 

Ankit Mehrotra, CEO & Co-founder, Dineout, commenting on the update, “It’s amazing to see restaurants aligning their operations to the new normal and adapting to new strategies to secure a strong comeback. We’ve recovered 60% of our pre-covid business numbers and expect to reach 100% by the end of this year. The use of digital payments via Dineout pay at partnered restaurants have also increased to 80% as more & more users are opting for digital means for settling the bill.”

Restaurants are paving the way by introducing new and innovative initiatives to make it #SafeToEatOut again for their customers while attributing utmost importance to social distancing and hygiene. 

Robot Experience - Restaurants like Robot(Porur) & Moti Mahal - Robot Themed Restaurant in Chennai, Robot Restaurant in Bangalore and Jaipur are serving food with the help of Robots to reduce the human contact. People can enjoy an unforgettable Robot experience with exquisite cuisines and mocktails. 

Private Dining pods - Dragonfly restaurant at Aerocity Worldmark, New Delhi ensures a safe dining experience with its specially created private dining pods. These pods are made up of Hard acrylic walls and can accommodate a group of 10 to 12 people. People looking for a safe and new experience in times like this can choose to dine-out with family and friends. 

Drive-In and  Drive-Through Restaurants - People anxious about social distancing within the restaurants can also opt for drive-in and drive-through restaurants across the country. Ping’s Orient in Kolkata and Just FoodInn in Ahmedabad offers diners a special drive-in menu from within the comfort of their own vehicle. At DLF Cyber hub Gurgaon,  diners can pre-order food using the Dineout app and choose for self-pickup at these specialty created Drive through. 

Food Conveyor: Cloves restaurant in Ahmedabad, Gujarat came up with India’s first Techno-Dining Experience. Here Food is delivered in covered bowls through a food conveyor right from the kitchen to the customer’s table without any human-contact in between. Customers can pick up their own bowl that has their table numbers mentioned therefore eliminates handling of food in between by stewards.

UV sterilised cutlery and Plexiglass barriers: Mocha and Smokehouse Deli cafe across India are using UV sterilised cutlery wrapped in paper before serving the diners. Along with sterilised cutlery, restaurants have also installed Plexiglass barriers following the social distancing norms while serving clean and hygienic food to its customers.

Nano Disinfection Treatment -  Madras Canteen and grill in Chennai uses Graphene-Based Nano disinfection treatment which assures 24*7 anti-viral and anti-bacterial protection to its customers and staff. All surfaces of the entire restaurant including the floors, walls, kitchen cutlery, the counters, food service areas, toilets, lounge bar, smoking zones and the security area are being disinfected on a daily basis. 

About Dineout

Dineout is India’s largest dining out and restaurant tech solutions platform in B2C and with inresto in the B2B front, processing more than 100M diners and $900M worth of transactions for its partner restaurants across its network of 50,000 restaurants in 20 cities, providing a collective savings of more than $100M on restaurant bills annually. Founded in 2012 by Ankit Mehrotra, Nikhil Bakshi, Sahil Jain and Vivek Kapoor, Dineout is a pioneer in Contactless Dining with the easiest way to discover the best restaurants in the city, save time & hassle by booking a table in advance, get discounts, enjoy 1+1 privileges on Food, Drink & Buffets through Gourmet Passport, as well as earn instant discounts on every restaurant bill payment via Dineout Pay. For more information, please visit –  https://www.dineout.co.in/

Amazon.in Great Indian Festival Starts October 17 – Deals Preview

* The Great Indian Festival (GIF) starts from October 17; Prime members to get 24 hours early access starting tomorrow, October 16

* 6.5 lakh+ sellers offer crores of products to customers on Amazon.in; Customers can shop from over 4 crore products from Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs) and products from over 20,000 local shops across 100 cities

* Customers can look forward to over 1,100 new product launches from top brands. They can shop for deals every day across a wide range of categories including smartphones, large appliances & TVs, consumer electronics, home & kitchen products, fashion & beauty and more

* Up to 40% off on the latest Smartphones from top brands; Up to 75% off on Home Appliances and TVs; Up to 80% off on Amazon Fashion and Home & Kitchen products

* 6,000+ deals on Consumer Electronics and Accessories; Up to INR 30,000 off on Laptops; up to 70% off on Headphones; up to 60% off on camera devices

* Customers can avail up to 50% off on Amazon Devices - Echo, Fire TV and Kindle  

* Stretch your budget with 10% instant discount with HDFC Bank Debit & Credit cards; no-Cost EMI on Credit and Debit Cards; exchange offers

* Win daily shopping rewards worth INR 500 using Amazon Pay UPI, send Amazon Pay gift cards and extend your budget with Amazon Pay Later and Amazon Pay ICICI bank Credit card

* MSME buyers can save big on their business purchases with bulk discounts and exclusive deals on a wide range of commercial selection on Amazon Business

* Prime members can enjoy streaming an entertaining festive lineup of Indian and International titles on Amazon Prime Video

Amazon.in’s biggest celebration the Great Indian Festival brings a host of never-seen-before deals & offers on unique products from lakhs of sellers, Small & Medium Businesses (SMBs) and popular brands. Customers can get amazing deals on the widest selection of products from top brands across categories including smartphones, appliances, TVs, consumer electronics, fashion & beauty, Amazon Devices, home & kitchen and more.

Customers will also have the opportunity to shop for unique products from thousands of Amazon sellers under various programs such as Local Shops, Amazon Launchpad, Amazon Saheli and Amazon Karigar and enjoy deals & offers extended by lakhs of small businesses.

Great Indian Festival starts from October 17, 2020. Prime members will get early access starting tomorrow, October 16, 2020.

Here are some top deals & offers by participating sellers & brands this Great Indian Festival –

Smartphones and Mobile Accessories

·         Up to 40% off on smartphones on ‘India’s No.1 Online Smartphone Store’ (Source: Counterpoint India Handset Marketing Analysis Q2, 2020)

·         Exciting exchange offers up to INR 6,000; No cost EMI up to 12 months

·         Much awaited sale of the latest Amazon Specials smartphones - OnePlus 8T, Samsung Galaxy M31 Prime and OPPO A15. OnePlus Nord available with a new colour variant this festive season

·         Limited period offers: Additional Amazon pay cashback up to INR 1,000 on Redmi 9, Redmi 9 Prime, Samsung Galaxy M31

·         Festive deal of the year: iPhone 11 available at only INR 47,999

·         New price – up to INR 5,000 less on OnePlus 8 series. Additional exchange benefits of INR 3,000 on OnePlus 7T series.

·         India’s first 7000mAh smartphone Samsung Galaxy M51 available with at a discount of INR 6,500 and 12 months no-Cost EMI. Bestselling sAMOLED smartphones from Samsung M will be available starting at a never before price of INR 12,999.

·         Samsung M31 Prime, the new variant launch of M31, will be available starting INR 16,499 and will have 6 month no-Cost EMI offers and complimentary 3-month Amazon Prime membership

·         New price – up to INR 34,000 less on Samsung flagship smartphones

·         Up to 20% off on Xiaomi smartphones. Redmi 9A will be available on flash sale every day. Powerhouse Note 9 series available with first ever price revision of up to INR 3,000 less and no-Cost EMI up to 12 months.

·         Budget smartphones Redmi 9 and 9 Prime available with limited period Amazon Pay cashback of INR 500. Redmi 9 Prime available with a new price of up to INR 3,000 less

·         Up to 30% off on Vivo smartphones with an additional cashback up to INR 4,000 on exchange

·         Up to INR 23,000 off on OPPO smartphones with up to 12 months No cost EMI

·         Great offers on popular brands like Tecno, iTel, Coolpad and Lava

·         Mobile Accessories starting as low as INR 49

·         Up to 80% off on Power banks

·         Headsets starting at just INR 149

Appliances & TVs

•         Up to 75% off on TVs & appliances with additional cashback, no-Cost EMI starting INR 291/month, 1 Year Extended Warranty starting INR 99, Total Protection Plan starting INR 169 and 48-hour installation with safe, scheduled deliveries

•         Offers from top TV brands including OnePlus, Xiaomi, Samsung, LG, Sony and more

•         Upgrade to 4K TVs starting at just INR 19,999. Large screen (50 inches) TVs starting at INR 18,999

•         No Cost EMI on TVs starts as low as INR 833

•         Smart TVs starting at just INR 8,999

•         Offers from top brands in appliances including Samsung, LG, Whirlpool, Bosch, IFB and more

•         Side-by-side refrigerators starting INR 29,999 with No Cost EMI starting INR 2,500 per month and exchange up to INR 12,000

•         Double door refrigerators starting INR 15,990 with exchange offers and no-Cost EMI starting INR 666 per month

•         Fully Automatic Top load washing machines starting INR 8,499 with No Cost EMI starting INR 941 per month

•         Up to 45% off on split air conditioners with No Cost EMI starting INR 1,166 per month

•         Dishwashers starting INR 18,999

•         Microwaves starting INR 3,699 with No Cost EMI starting INR 433 per month

•         Up to 60% off on Chimneys with No cost EMI starting INR 403 per month

Consumer Electronics

•         Up to INR 30,000 off on top laptops and up to INR 35,000 off on gaming laptops; enjoy up to 12 months No Cost EMI on Laptops from top brands and up to INR 25,000 off on exchange

•         Truly wireless headphones from Boat, Sony, Boult, Bose, Noise and others starting at just INR 999

•         Soundbars with subwoofers from Boat, JBL, Sony and others starting at INR 3,699

•         Noise cancelling headphones from Bose, Sony, Sennheiser and JBL starting INR 5,399 and No Cost EMI from just INR 625

•         Speakers from Boat, JBL, Sony and others starting at just INR 499

•         Mi Smart Band 5 will be available at a special price of INR 2,399 for Prime Members on 16th Oct

•         Flat INR 17,000 off on Samsung Galaxy watch 46mm LTE. No Cost EMI starting at just INR 50/day

•         Up to 60% off on camera devices from Canon, Fujifilm, Sony & more

•         Wireless security cameras - Starting INR 1,499 from Mi, TP link & more

•         Pianos & Keyboards starting INR 1699

•         Fitness Tracker and Smartwatches starting at just INR 999

•         Pen Drives and Memory Cards starting as low as INR 199

•         1 TB and above Hard Drives starting INR 3,199 from WD and Seagate. No Cost EMI available on 4 TB and above Hard Drives

•         Wireless Ink Tank Printers starting at INR 12,299 with 6-month No Cost EMI starting INR 2,050 per month

•         All-in-One colour printers starting INR 2,599

•         Up to 65% off on shredders, note counting machines and office supplies

•         Gaming accessories starting as low as INR 349

•         Computer accessories from top brands starting at just INR 199

•         Up to 60% off on Computer components, minimum 40% off on Samsung solid state drives

•         Networking: high-speed WiFi router for work from home starting INR 1499

Amazon Fashion

·         Up to 80% off on India’s largest online fashion store across 50 lakh+ styles

·         Enjoy up to 75% off on over 1000+ brands

·         Pocket friendly fashion starting under INR 349

·         Up to 70% off on top clothing brands and top footwear brands

·         Up to 60% off on top watch brands

·         Up to 80% off on ethnic and fashion jewellery

·         Up to 80% off on luggage and handbags

·         Enjoy up to 70% off on designer boutique with designers like Ritu Kumar, Ashima Leena, Shaze

Satya Paul and many more

·         Enjoy up to 50% off on RIVER - an affordable, multi-designer brand created in partnership with some of India’s most celebrated designers - JJ Valaya, Ashish Soni, Suneet Varma & Manish Arora

·         Enjoy up to 70% off on plus size clothing

·         Enjoy up to 40% off on premium watches like Michael Kors, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, Seiko, Oris and more; premium luggage like Samsonite, Victorinox and more; premium eyewear like Tom Ford, Mont Blanc, Victoria's secret and more; premium handbags like Aldo, Tommy Hilfiger and more

·         Best prices on big brands including Max Fashion, Bata, Puma, UCB, Levi’s, Mothercare, CASIO, Biba, American Tourister and many more

Home and Kitchen

•         Up to 80% off on Home & Kitchen with lowest prices of the year on 50,000+ Home & Kitchen products

•         Up to 75% off on over 10,000 kitchen & home appliances

•         Up to 45% off on top brands including Prestige, Eureka Forbes, Milton and more

•         Up to 80% off on Kitchen and Dining products | Dinner sets starting at just INR 999

•         5 Lakh+ home products from top brands including Wipro, Bombay Dyeing, Nayasa and more at half price

•         Premium Diwali string lights starting at just INR 99

•         Up to 80% off on Diyas, Candles and Candle holders

•         Up to 70% off on Bedsheets, Curtains and more. Double bedsheets starting at just INR 299

•         Gifting Made Easy with Clocks starting at INR 150 and Live Plants starting at INR 299

•         Up to 60% off on Pots and Gardening tools, Live Plants, and Solar Products

•         Gardening essentials: Live plants, pots & planters and more starting at just INR 79

•         Safety products, Sanitizers & more starting at INR 99 and up to 70% off on Masks

Offers by Small & Medium Businesses and Local shops:

·         Up to 70% off on chairs & bean bags by Orka

·         Up to 20% off on Sofas by Furny

·         Dinnerware, serveware & casseroles starting at INR 999 by Classic essentials

·         Juicer mixer grinder starting at INR 949 by Sunmeet

·         Up to 80% off on baby bedding and safety products by Dearjoy; Up to 70% off on mattresses by Durfi and Boston Basics

·         Up to 60% off on WFH furniture by Graphitos

·         Minimum 40% off on dumbbells & home-gyms by Aprodo

·         Up to 40% off on immunity boosters from Upakarma Ayurveda 

·         Kitchen storage containers starting at INR 153 from Nano nine

·         Up to 50% off on TouchBeauty Essentials

·         Up to 60% off on Luxura Sciences, Cubelelo Cubes and Puzzle  

Explore great deals and offers from more small Indian manufacturers:

·         Minimum 60% off on traditional jewellery by Jewel Pari

·         Up to 80% off on occasion wear Sarees by Yipsy Fashion & Cotton Shopy

·         Up to 50% off on Klikfit exercise bikes & dumbbells

·         Up to 45% off on orthopedic memory foam mattresses by Insleep

·         Up to 60% off on bedsheets & pillow covers by Urban Magic

·         Up to 50% off on herbal teas by Yogafy

·         Up to 80% off on women's dresses by Klook and Kurta & tops by Banas

·         Minimum 60% off on men’s casual t-shirts and sweatshirts by Tfortees

·         Minimum 60% off fashion blouses and unisex apparel by Tinsie

·         Minimum 60% off on comfort slippers by The Slipper Factory

·         Minimum 50% off on hats & shields by Coreteq

Buy hand-crafted heritage products from artisans and weavers from Amazon Karigar:

·         Flat 20% off on handloom Sarees from Tantuja, West Bengal

·         Up to 70% off on handcrafted shoes from Agra

·         Up to 50% off on home furnishings from Blocks of India

·         Up to 70% off on Sambalpuri Sarees from Odisha Handloom

·         Up to 60% off on Blue Pottery home décor from Jaipur

·         Up to 60% off on handloom Sarees from Morvi

Shop from exciting deals and top offers by women entrepreneurs from Amazon Saheli:

·         Up to 15% off on dry fruits and nuts from Sahana Spices

·         Up to 40% off on office and stationery products by Greensouls

·         Up to 50% off on fashion jewellery from Swara Creations 

·         Up to 20% off on electronics and wireless accessories from Brain Freezer

·         Up to 15% off on healthy grocery products by SIRIMIRI

Grab exciting deals and offers from emerging brands and start-ups from Amazon Launchpad:

·         Minimum 80% off on handbags and combos by Lapis O Lupo

·         Flat 22% off on Dr. Vaidya's immunity products

·         Up to 55% off on home décor products by iHandikart

·         Up to 30% off on baby products by Softsens

·         Up to 40% off on gardening equipment by Bio Blooms Agro India Private Limited

·         Minimum 50% off on men's sleepwear by Dream of Glory Inc

·         Up to 35% off on PC and wireless accessories by Adcom

·         Up to 25% off on anti-theft laptop backpacks by Gods

Daily Essentials & Personal Care

·         20% -70% off on over 40,000 daily essentials products across Grocery, Beauty, Baby, Toys, Healthcare & more

·         Up to 15% extra savings with over 15,000 combos

·         Collect & save up to 20% on 80,000 products

·         Save minimum 20% extra on top brands with repeat delivery & free shipping - Subscribe, set, forget!

·         Up to 70% off on the largest selection of remote-control vehicles, educational toys, soft toys, toddler toys, games & more

·         Up to 60% off on 50,000+ products across baby shampoos and lotions, strollers, walker, carriers, wipes and diapers

·         Up to 70% off on grooming & wellness devices form top brands Philips, Omron, Dr. Trust & more

·         Up to 40% off on health essentials like apple cider vinegar, vitamin supplements & ayurvedic products

·         Up to 70% off on the largest selection of Skincare, Haircare, Premium Perfumes, Deos and Makeup products. Get additional INR 1,000 cashback on purchase of Luxury Beauty products

·         Pet Food from Pedigree, Whiskas, Royal Canin & more at the lowest prices of the season. Up to 65% off on wide range of bestselling Pet Accessories, grooming & healthcare

Amazon Business

•         Amazon Business customers can get access to exclusive deals, new launches and special offer prices on business relevant selection through their Amazon Business account

•         Additionally, businesses can save more on account of bulk purchase discount and GST invoice for input tax credit

•         Amazon Business customers can also avail a special 5% cashback on a purchase of above INR 1 lakh

•         Amazon Business customers can buy from among a wide variety of Corporate Gifting selection a few of which are listed below-

o   Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Film Camera starting at INR 2,999

o   Cello Signature Carbon Gift set - Premium Metal Ball Pen with Keychain & Passport Holder with attractive quantity discounts starting at INR 377

o   Premium dry fruits combo from Happilo starting at INR 778

o   Nonstick cookware starting at INR 499

·         Amazon Business customers can also avail big savings by availing the business exclusive offers on commercial selection

·         Much awaited launch - Philips 600 Series 4K Ultra HD LED Smart TV

·         New Launch - Affordable Mini PC under INR 30,000 with Win 10 Professional  

·         Epson EB-U05 Full HD Projector (White) at INR 63,345

·         boAt Stone 1401 Portable Wireless Speaker at just INR 4,299

·         Lenovo ThinkPad E14 i5 Thin and light laptop at an amazing price of INR 58,490

·         Lenovo V14 Intel Core i3 Laptop at INR 31,490

·         HP Neverstop Laser Printer at INR 17,499

Amazon Devices and Alexa Exclusives

·         Get top offers on the bestselling Amazon Devices this Great Indian Festival

·         Flat 65% off on Echo Dot (3rd Generation) + Wipro smart bulb. Get it for just INR 2,299

·         Lowest price ever on Amazon Echo (3rd Generation), available at just INR 6,999

·         Flat 50% off on Echo Plus, get it for just INR 7,499

·         First time on sale - get flat INR 1,250 off on Echo Dot (4th Generation)

·         Lowest price ever- get Echo Show 5 for just INR 5,000

·         Get newly launched Amazon Smart Plug for just INR 499 when purchased with any Echo smart speaker

·         First time on sale - Flat 50% off on Fire TV Stick (Latest Gen, 2020) INR 4999 2499, lowest price for Fire TV Stick Lite (Latest Gen, 2020) INR  3999 2099

·         Flat 40% off on Fire TV Stick (3rd Gen, 2019) at INR  3999 2399, and Fire TV Stick 4K at INR 5999 3599

·         Fire TV customers to get exclusive offers on subscription on 10+ popular apps. Up to 60% off on Voot, Zee5, SonyLIV, Discovery+ and more.  

·         Get additional Alexa exclusive incentives up to INR 1000 on select Echo devices & smart home products when you shop using your Amazon Echo device. Just say, “Alexa, buy Echo Flex” or “Alexa, buy Amazon Smart Plug” or “Alexa, buy Wipro Smart Bulb”

·         Explore more with Alexa on the Amazon shopping app (Android only). Just say, “Alexa, what are my deals?”, "Alexa, take me to the Small Business store", "Alexa, take me to the Great Indian Bazaar" or pay your utility bills by saying “Alexa, pay my postpaid bill”

·         Up to INR 4000 off on Kindle e-readers

Books, Hobbies, Gaming and Toys

·         Up to 50% off on Fiction, Non-fiction and Children’s Books

·         Up to 60% off on Academic Books

·         Buy 3 or more Books and get additional 10% savings

·         Up to INR 3000 off on latest gaming consoles

·         Up to 65% off on Games & up to 50% off on Video Game Accessories

·         Up to 70% off on antivirus and business software

·         Minimum 40% off on Treadmills & exercise bikes

·         Dumbbells & Home Gyms starting at just INR 199

·         Up to 60% off on Sports bestsellers

Amazon Prime Video

•         Starting October 15, stream seven new, exciting titles across Indian and International movies and TV shows on Amazon Prime Video including the latest Amazon Original Series, Amazon Original Movies and global premieres of Indian language titles.

•         The festive lineup includes:

o   Halal Love Story (Malayalam) – October 15

o   Amazon Original Movie Putham Pudhu Kaalai (Tamil) – October 16

o   Amazon Original Series Mirzapur 2 (Hindi) – October 23

o   Amazon Original Movie Borat (English)– October 23

o   Bheema Sena Nalamaharaja (Kannada)- October 29

o   Soorarai Pottru (Tamil)- October 30

o   Chhalaang (Hindi)- November 13

Leather Sector Skill Council Launches SCALE India Android App for Enhanced Quality Assurance Under Skill India Mission

In an endeavour to provide a single platform to integrate quality assurance across all its services, the Leather Sector Skill Council (LSSC) today announced the launch of Skill Certification Assessment for Leather Employees (SCALE) India android app. Operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship(MSDE), LSSC is committed to strengthen its digital capabilities on quality assurance across training delivery, monitoring, assessments, verification and linkages to ASEEM portal. Synonymous with assessments, the cornerstone of quality assurance and the one of the main functions of LSSC, this unique initiative aims to provide a one-stop solution for the skilling, learning, assessment and employment needs of the leather and leather products industry.

The android app was launched by Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship at a virtual event organized by LSSC that witnessed participation of Mr. P R Aqeel Ahmed, Chairman, LSSC and Mr. Rajesh Rathnam, CEO, LSSC. The platform caters to the need of all the stakeholders of the skilling and employment ecosystem namely – candidate/trainee, employer, employee, assessor and trainer all at one place. The services are accessible through the web and android application that virtually works on any smart handheld device, desktop/laptop, smartphones, tablets or phablets. Apart from providing end to end quality assurance across training, assessment, and certification services, the app will also help employers engage with other stakeholders seamlessly and provide a marketplace for human capital for the leather industry.

Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said, “The launch of SCALE India platform by LSSC will boost our relentless efforts to strengthen the leather skilling ecosystem and help us inch closer to fulfill our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of making an ‘Aatmnirbhar Bharat’ the ‘Skill Capital of the World’. By leveraging technology to bring in efficient and intelligent tools to drive demand-driven and future-relevant skilling programs, this platform will ensure seamless convergence and coordination across various schemes and programs as a single point interface. It will play a crucial role in providing quality assured services to all stakeholders by aggregating demand and connecting supply to demand, all through one platform.”

SCALE will help candidates in the skilling ecosystem to get assessed and certified on their knowledge, skills and behaviour on a specific qualification pack. It also enables access to micro-learning modules for bridging the skill gaps that are identified and can be re-assessed and certified at the end of the learning on the specific qualification pack. It further assists the candidate to become a productive resource who is readily employable in the industry. The candidates can search for employment opportunities and connect with employers post completion of their certification. The assessments are currently available in English, Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali, with plans to add more regional languages in a phased manner.

From an employer standpoint, the platform will serve as a job portal with access to a certified talent pool of candidates to hire from, leading to increase in productivity and profitability. Employers also get to share their skill gap requirements and check for suitable training modules available to bridge the skill gap of their workforce and raise training requests for short term/customised training that would be serviced by the LSSC. The employment demand aggregation works through the integration of the ASEEM portal with the SCALE platform. Facility to raise requests for trained resources and Apprenticeship implementation based on NAPS has also been provided to promote adoption of NAPS by the employers. Further, requests for implementing RPL at the employer establishments can also be raised through the SCALE platform.

Employees across the leather and leather products industry can also register themselves to explore e-learning content for upskilling and get certified post learning, leading to improvement in productivity, better perks, and upward career movement. The SCALE platform assists employees to upgrade their skills basis changing market dynamics and evolving industry demands and get certified on the new skills acquired, with the facility to create a certification stack that acts as a key element of their curriculum vitae. For assessors, the platform provides centralised access to batches tagged to a qualification pack for conducting assessments on the scheduled date as the results are available instantaneously to the assessor and real time data of the candidates assessed are available to the LSSC as the assessing and certifying body.

The platform will also help trainers get complete access to all the learning and training resources required for effective delivery of standardised training for batches on schedule. The resources such as presentations, video clips, quizzes, classroom activities, on the job training exercises and activities are made available to the trainer as per the training session plan. This assists trainers by ensuring uniformity in learning and adherence to quality norms. The platform facilitates capturing attendance of the trainees, progress of training, feedback and other documentation required for compliance. This enables the trainer to manage time effectively and focus on the core job of training candidates to become skilled and employable resources.

‘It’s A Girl Thing’ Partners with UN Women for its India Edition

 

Brought to India for the first time by Zee Live in partnership with Branded, ‘It’s A Girl Thing’ is a platform with a purpose, to empower young women worldwide and encourage them to explore and achieve their dreams. To ensure the Indian audiences are provided with a unique experience and a powerful platform to express themselves, ‘It’s A Girl Thing’ has taken the initiative a notch higher announcing its recent partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women. 

The festival is hosted virtually over three days, from Oct 16 to Oct 18 and has International and Indian influencers in a live show engaging in talks, panel discussions and performances that enables young women to engage and interact with the top influencers and discuss various subjects including Fashion, Health, Education and Self Love. Featuring some of the well-known influencers in the country, the platform will also host performances by renowned singers and stand-up comedians.

Speaking on this association, Mohammad Naciri, the Regional Director for UN Women in Asia-Pacific said, “We are delighted to associate with a powerful  and one of its kind platform like ‘It’s A Girl Thing’ which will help us in reaching out to a large number of audiences, especially young girls in India. Young women in India and other Asian countries have immense potential to achieve their dreams provided they have a nurturing and conducive environment to unleash their talent. This is going to be a historic year as we aim at working towards Generation Equality and are targeting young people to celebrate women’s rights activism, women’s empowerment and youth leadership to achieve transformative change for women and girls globally. We look forward to the beginning of a great partnership through this platform.”

Swaroop Banerjee, COO and business head, Zee Live said, “It is incredible news for us at Zee Live that UN Women is now a partner to IT’S A GIRL THING INDIA. This purpose driven all girl global platform was created to inspire and empower young women worldwide. This partnership strengthens our resolve and effort in creating the IAGT community in India where young female fans and creators share their opinions on a plethora of topics.”

Jasper Donat, Co-Founder and CEO, Branded said, “We are extremely honoured to associate with UN women which is helping us drive such an important cause. This platform is going to open up countless opportunities, conversations and avenues for the young girls of India and around the globe.”

The festival will be held on a virtual platform from October 16-18, 2020 from 7 pm onwards.

Phalada Pure and Sure Join with Amrita Raichand to Support Cause By Signing a Petition on Change.Org, Requesting #CleanFoodForAll

Taking forward its vision to create awareness and availability of clean food, Phalada Pure and Sure, India’s leading organic and clean food brand joined hands with ChefAmrita Raichand to support  a petition on Change.org, requesting the government to ban the use of pesticides and ensure #CleanFoodForAll.  

Mothers play a pivotal in nurturing children, making sure they receive the right nutrition. Children need a holistic diet for their health and overall development. The food we consume today contain harmful chemicals like Carbendazim, Chlorpyriphos, Monocrotophos and Dimethoate. Exposure to pesticides and other pollutants in food obstruct cell development and can damage certain vital organs in the long run. Given the current scenario, it is of utmost importance to help a child build good immunity levels and guard them against the virus. It is imperative to ensure clean food for children, which means it is free from harmful chemicals. 

Speaking on the importance of clean food, Mr. Surya Shastry, Managing Director at Phalada Organic Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd. says, “At Phalada Pure and Sure, we believe that everyone deserves food that is clean – free of pesticides, additives or artificial ingredients. I believe this is a cause, which if dealt well will become a movement soon that honours our commitment of creating awareness and availability for #CleanFoodForAll. More so, in the wake of current pandemic, it is important to strengthen resilience and immunity in all of us. Our petition is to bring these harmful chemicals to the forefront and urge the government to ban these substances to ensure clean and healthy food for children. We are positive that we will receive support from across the industry and many people will join the movement by signing this petition. 

Commenting on the new association, Mr. Shastry said, “No one understands the importance of healthy food for children, other than a mother. Chef Amrita Raichand relates best with Pure and Sure’s vision towards clean eating and her connect with mothers of young children is unmatched. This opportunity connected all the dots together for us and made its way to Chef Amrita. And then, there was no looking back. We hope that as this campaign progresses, more parents will join and want clean food for their children.” 

Speaking on the association, Celebrity Chef, Amrita Raichand says, “ I am pleased to file this petition as this is very much aligned to the vision I have. Today, I believe this is the right time to initiate something as important as this cause. As a chef, a mother and a proponent of clean food, I always questioned myself and thought of ways to provide clean and healthy food to our children. It is every child’s right to consume food i.e. free of chemicals, pollutants, artificial ingredients and harmful additives. By highlighting harmful effects of adulterated food and how it effects children’s health, this petition provides a sensible path to advance the nation towards clean and healthy eating by empowering consumers with critical information. We are positive that our efforts will pay-off and we shall achieve our goals successfully.” 

Pure and Sure, and Chef Amrita Raichand urge people across the country to visit Change.org and sign the petition. With enough signatures, this can then be taken forward with the concerned authorities for a better future for our children. 

Hero Motocorp Furthers Strengthens Scooter Segment with Launch of New Pleasure+ PLlatinum

Delivering its commitment of providing customers with an appealing and comprehensive range of products, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, today launched the new Pleasure+ Platinum.

The new Pleasure+ Platinum comes in quick succession after the recent launch of the Maestro Edge 125 Stealth. Thus, highlighting the Company’s focus on further expanding its presence in the scooter segment and delighting the customers with its premium and youthful portfolio.

The Pleasure+ Platinum adds to the ever-growing appeal of the iconic Pleasure brand. The new scooter offers a differentiated experience with its enhanced aesthetics, accentuated Retro Design & Premium Chrome Elements

The new scooter will be available at all Hero MotoCorp dealerships across the country at an attractive price of Rs.  60,950/*.

*(Ex-Showroom, Delhi).

Naveen Chauhan, Head – Sales & Aftersales, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The iconic Pleasure brand enjoys a strong connect with the customers. The new Pleasure+ Platinum with its enhanced design elements is surely going to strengthen our scooter portfolio and provide a perfect combination of riding comfort with style.”

Pleasure+ Platinum

New Style & Design

The Pleasure+ Platinum, is available in a new Matt Black color scheme which is combined with brown inner panels which imparts a luxurious look to the design. The chrome additions including Mirrors, Muffler Protector, Handle Bar ends and Fender Stripe further enhance its retro style and relays the brand trust of quality.

The Pleasure+ Platinum also comes with Low Fuel indicator feature, a seat back rest for added comfort, a dual-tone seat with Platinum hot stamping, white rim tape and premium 3D Logo badging, which enhances the aesthetic appeal of the scooter.

BS-VI Compliant FI Engine

The Pleasure+ Platinum comes with a 110cc BS-VI Compliant Programmed Fuel Injection engine with ‘XSens Technology’ (Eight Sensors) - delivering a remarkable power output of 8 BHP @ 7000 RPM and torque-on-demand of 8.7 NM @ 5500 RPM. The Pleasure+ Platinum gives 10% higher fuel efficiency, with better performance and up to 10% faster acceleration.

F5 Introduces AI-Powered Solution that Blocks Fraud Missed by Existing Technologies and Improves Online Experiences for Users

F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) today introduced Shape AI Fraud Engine (SAFE), a new SaaS solution that eliminates fraudulent online transactions that get past existing fraud tools. Leveraging Shape’s industry leading expertise, SAFE utilizes a battle-tested AI engine to evaluate each online transaction across a variety of telemetry, environmental, and behavioral signals to accurately understand user intent and block human fraudsters—before the fraud occurs.

Legacy fraud tools rely on weak data signals and static rules to try to catch increasingly clever fraudsters. Often, these tools can’t clearly determine if the user’s intent is good or bad, and resort to putting additional burden on good users to prove their legitimacy through hurdles like multi-factor authentication (MFA) challenges. The result: bad experiences for good users, as well as financial losses and frustration when fraudsters get by ineffective defenses.

In contrast, SAFE is a fully managed, AI-powered offering that stops fraudsters in real time, resulting in up to 90% less friction for known good users. As a fully managed service that can detect and block evolving threats, SAFE protects modern and traditional applications, helping organizations accelerate digital efforts and lessen the often-overwhelming workload on fraud teams.

The Impact of Modern Fraud

Businesses need a totally new approach to online fraud prevention. Most find they are still losing tens of millions of dollars annually to online fraud, despite a growing collection of fraud tools in their arsenal. Juniper Research estimates that online fraud losses—from sources including new applicant and account fraud, account takeover fraud, loyalty program fraud, and digital payments fraud—are projected to exceed $48 billion per year by 2023.

“The need for innovation in fraud prevention becomes more urgent when you factor in the accelerated shift to online channels driven by the current global health situation,” said Sumit Agarwal, Vice President, Analytic Products at F5, and co-founder of Shape. “We’re seeing fraudsters launch increasingly sophisticated attacks that take advantage of COVID-driven shifts and overall economic distress.”

SAFE overcomes today’s industry challenges in the following ways:

Stops fraud, faster: SAFE identifies fraudulent transactions along the entire user journey, from new account creation and login to checkout, send payment, and other actions. SAFE uses AI to accurately detect and block malicious intent, and has the intelligence to help applications scale and adapt performance, security, and other important services as needed. SAFE typically identifies twice as much fraud per month when compared to other current fraud tools. One large North American bank detected 250% more account takeover fraud in 60 days with SAFE than with their existing tools, resulting in the elimination of an additional $10M in fraud losses per year.

Reduces friction for real customers: Fear of fraud can cause organizations and application owners to impose friction on legitimate users because their existing fraud tools can’t accurately distinguish real customers from fraudsters. Through a combination of proprietary telemetry and advanced AI, SAFE significantly reduces friction on legitimate activity by safely removing MFA challenges for known good users.

Increases effectiveness of fraud teams: SAFE actively blocks fraud without the need for fraud teams to write or maintain rules, and is delivered as a fully managed service, with ongoing tuning done by Shape fraud experts. In addition, by stopping fraud at the application perimeter, SAFE reduces the amount of time and resources fraud teams have to expend on manual investigations. For one customer, SAFE identified that 67% of fraud cases could be safely blocked instead of investigated. For another, SAFE identified 33,000 malicious transactions in a six-week period that could be blocked instead of investigated.

Leveraging the Power of the Shape Network

Application owners face two core sources of online fraud against their applications: bots and other forms of malicious or abusive automation, and real humans with bad intent. Through machine learning, Shape distinguishes automated traffic (bots) from humans as well as malicious traffic from benign, and provides dynamic defenses to prevent fraud and abuse, while enhancing user experience. SAFE leverages analytic insights gained from defending many of the largest and most attacked applications in the world to accurately identify and stop fraudsters in real time.

SAFE is part of a comprehensive solution set from F5 that helps modern applications protect themselves with the aid of AI. Today’s adaptive applications grow, shrink, defend, and heal themselves based on the environment they’re in and how they’re being used, which can enable organizations to increase revenue, reduce costs, improve operations, and better protect users.

Availability

Shape AI Fraud Engine is now available. Please contact a local F5 sales office or visit ShapeSecurity.com for additional product and service availability information.

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F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) is a multi-cloud application security and delivery company that enables our customers—which include the world’s largest enterprises, financial institutions, service providers, and governments—to bring extraordinary digital experiences to life. For more information, go to f5.com. You can also follow @f5networks on Twitter or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook for more information about F5, its partners, and technologies.

F5, Shape, and Shape AI Fraud Engine are trademarks or service marks of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Mamaearth Targets Planting One Million Trees in Five Years in India

 Mamaearth, a toxin free personal care brand, announced its initiative #PlantGoodness with a commitment to plant saplings towards every order made on www.mamaerth.in and is set to plant one million trees in the next five years in this endeavour. 

A brand that is built on the promise of Honest, Natural and Safe care, Mamaearth believes that goodness starts with the small choices that each one of us makes every day. Mamaearth has made these choices in their products that are made from the best of nature, have no toxins, no harmful chemicals, are animal cruelty free, and plastic positive. Further strengthening their brand purpose of “Goodness Inside”, they’re now looking to grow and sustain more than a million plants that will improve air quality, soil quality and even the ground water levels.

Mamaearth is looking towards setting a new benchmark in transparency through technology enabled solutions. Once an order is placed on the website, the brand commences the process of linking it to a newly planted sapling, through its partner SankalpTaru. After the sapling is linked to the order, the brand will share with the customers a picture of the sapling, it’s specie, along with its geo-tag for the consumers to easily track their plant. Through its partner, the brand will nurture the tree for the first 3 years after which the tree would be strong enough to self-sustain. 

Commenting on the initiative, Ghazal Alagh, Co-Founder and CIO, Mamaearth said “We at Mamaearth strongly believe in our philosophy of Goodness inside and believe that we serve a bigger purpose with our brand, its offerings and all initiatives we undertake. Being toxin free and plastic positive were our first steps towards the betterment of our community. It was time for us to up the ante with our environmental initiative and hence we decided to pledge planting one million trees. What differentiates us from others is how we use technology to display honesty and transparency about the process and allow consumers to track their sapling. We commit to staying honest to our principles and consumers, hence connect with the millennials and the Gen Good. "

The brand purpose of Goodness Inside comes from what Mamaearth has stood for all along since its inception. It is also an environmentally conscious brand working towards the conservation of Mother Earth for future generations by recycling more plastic than they use. Their toxin-free products promise purity and natural goodness which is better not just for people but for the planet as well.

SBI Card Gives Customers Added Reason to Celebrate With Its “Festive Offers for 2020”

* Wide range of 1000+ offers across 2000 cities to create customer delight 

* Exclusive credit card partner for Flipkart`s  ‘The Big Billion Days’ shopping festival  in Oct’20 

* 300+ National offers; 700+ Regional & Hyperlocal offers; 900+ offers in store 

* Customers can avail EMI facility at 84500 merchants & 1.3 Lakh+ stores 

SBI Card, India’s largest pure play credit card issuer, is all set to add to the festive cheer of its cardholders this festive season. With 1000+ offers across 2000 cities, specially curated to meet the changing trends and consumer preferences, SBI Card endeavors to bring customers a “rewarding shopping experience” on their festive season purchases.  

The wide range of offers include 300+ national and 700+ regional & hyperlocal offers. The delightful spread of offers range across a wide set of categories such as fashion & lifestyle, electronics, mobiles, jewelry, departmental stores and travel & online marketplaces. Offers are available nationally across marquee brands such as Amazon, Brand Factory, Croma, Caratlane, Fabindia, FirstCry, Grofers, Homecentre, Lloyds, More Hypermarket, More Supermarket, Pantaloons, Samsung Mobile and Tata Cliq. These strategic partnerships will enable the customers to derive benefits across all the relevant shopping categories. Offers include attractive cashbacks as well as instant discounts ranging upto 10%.   

SBI Card is also the exclusive credit card partner for Flipkart`s ‘The Big Billion Days’ online shopping festival, one of the largest online sale events in India.  SBI Card customers can avail 10% instant discount on Flipkart during the offer period, in addition to the plethora of deals on the platform, from the safety of their homes.  

Commenting on the festive offers, Mr. Ashwini Kumar Tewari, MD & CEO, SBI Card,  said “Every year our endeavor is to bring our consumers a superior experience and maximum savings on their festive shopping through carefully designed national and regional offers This year we have curated over 1000 offers, with national and local merchants, both in store and online, across 2000 cities, to enable our cardholders enjoy great benefits across all the categories. In addition, to make festive purchases more affordable, SBI Card customers can avail EMI purchase facility at over 1.3 lakh stores. EMI at no extra cost  is also available on larger ticket items with popular brands in  electronics and mobiles. Through these offers, we are pleased to bring our customers a safe and rewarding shopping experience, thus adding to their celebrations.” 

In addition to the national offers, SBI Card has also curated several region-specific and hyperlocal  offers for customers across small towns and cities. For instance, SBI Card has partnered with regional brands during the Durga Puja and Navratri festivals that will enable customers to avail great savings through cashback offers  across 1100+ stores and 120+ discount offers across 17 cities. 700+ hyperlocal offers with discounts ranging from 10% to 55% have been curated across 46 cities.  

Further, to ensure affordability, SBI Card customers can avail EMI facility at 84500 merchants & 1.3 Lakh+ stores. Also, EMI at no extra cost is accessible across 14 brands in electronics & mobiles categories. 

The festive offers is till November 15th , 2020. 

Edukemy Introduces Four “New Online Courses for UPSC Aspirants”

With an aim to maximize marks by attaining an edge above the rest, Edukemy, India’s first test prep EdTech company in the non-STEM segment today announced “four new courses for UPSC aspirants”. These courses are designed meticulously and will help students prepare thoroughly for the upcoming MAINS 2020.  

The four new courses are as follows: 

Edukemy Sociology Mains Support Program - A fast tracked 60day program including important topic revision, discussion of model questions and answers, test series & test series discussion.   

Edukemy Geography Mains Support Program- A fast tracked 30-day program covering important topics and discussion of model questions and answers relevant for this year’s exam.   

Edukemy Essay Mains Support Program- A power packed Essay support program to brush up your essay writing skills with test series and test discussions.  

Edukemy General Studies Mains Support Program- A fast tracked 60-day program covering major GS sections through Questions and Answers.  

Sharing his views on the addition of courses Mr. Chandrahas Panigrahi, CEO and Co-Founder, Edukemy, said, “At Edukemy we stand true to our commitment of guiding students by offering immersive classes and encouraging an enabling learning environment. We have carefully put together a right mix of experienced teachers and young faculty to impart best in class training for all our students.” 

Edukemy has formulated techniques taking into consideration the dynamic nature of the Civil Services Exam. The unique features are handholding students to read the reference text books, developing the analytical skills of the student, supporting students with class synopsis on daily basis, live classes to clear doubts of the students and a commune system that students enjoy the company of serious aspirants.  

About Edukemy 

Edukemy is India’s first EdTech company in the non-stem segment that has developed an evaluation model based on AI and cutting-edge technology. Our priority is to scale the learning experience for every individual by offering an insightful and enriching environment for students with a focus on live classes, handwritten notes, and an interactive platform. With more than 50 years of cumulative experience at teaching and mentoring students, Edukemy strives each day, with every single student, to make the difference. We intend to democratize education by delivering quality content, valuable mentorship we believe in disrupting the normal and bring in innovation in methods of teaching.  

TVS Eurogrip Celebrates Cricket Season with Social Media Campaign #TheSpecialistLeague

TVS Eurogrip, India’s leading 2 & 3-wheeler tyre brand announced a digital and social media campaign #TheSpecialistLeague. The campaign aims to celebrate cricket and leverage the frenzy around the Indian Premier League and unite fans of the sport as the most awaited cricket tournament returns to the pitch this year.  

The campaign has gone live with a series of posts and videos broadcasted by the company across their social media platforms. The highlight of the campaign is the brand’s idea to come up with quirky names for the teams such Boom Bikers, Kings XI Racers, The Royal Bikers, The King Sooperiors, The Royal Wheels, The SunRiders, The Night Riders and The Dilli Cruisers. With a lot of topical content, polls and contests, the campaign intends to innovatively entertain and engage audiences with posts celebrating all achievements and milestones of the cricketers on the pitch during the IPL season. As part of the campaign, the brand has also released a series of short digital films set in a context of gully cricket with smart one liners that connect cricket with the two wheeler tyre category. The campaign has garnered a high engagement rate and has resulted in an increase in the followers of the brand’s social handles by over 10% so far. 

Speaking on the campaign, Mr. P Madhavan- EVP, Sales and Marketing, TVS Srichakra Ltd said, “For Indians, cricket is not just a sport, it’s beyond that. To most, it is religion! This campaign celebrates exactly that, in a fun, quirky way. A good bike ride and a good cricket match are similar in many ways from thrill, fun and delight point of view. We have attempted to bring this alive through our #TheSpecialistLeague campaign.” 

Post the COVID lockdown, a long bike ride will be on the cards for many and TVS Eurogrip ‘The Bike Tyre Specialist’ will be there to make that journey memorable.  

The campaign will run till the end of this cricketing season and the brand will continue to put out content and videos on their social media platforms to rejoice sports, entertainment and the positivity with which the nation is moving forward. 

United Nations India, NITI Aayog and Discovery India Join to Celebrate India’s Selfless Heroes of Covid-19

* The three-part documentary ‘Bharat Ke Mahaveer’ showcases stories of extraordinary kindness shown by people at a time of the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis

* 12 stories showcasing India’s spirit of solidarity and unity will air on Discovery Channel and also stream on Discovery Plus in the month of November

* Indian film industry actors Dia Mirza and Sonu Sood will co-host the series

Recognising India’s unsung selfless heroes who have gone out of their way to help those in need during the COVID19 pandemic, the United Nations in India and NITI Aayog, in partnership with Discovery channel, are launching #BharatKeMahaveer. The campaign will celebrate Indians who have shown extraordinary kindness - extending a helping hand to the vulnerable, going that extra mile - selflessly and without any expectation.

As part of the campaign, Bharat Ke Mahaveer, a three-part series will air on Discovery Channel to celebrate the actions by 12 champions from across India who, through their exemplary actions have been spreading a ray of hope, coming together in strength and solidarity. The series will be co-hosted by the UN Secretary-General’s SDG Advocate Dia Mirza and actor Sonu Sood, who was recently conferred the ‘Special Humanitarian Action Award’ by the Government of Punjab for his humanitarian efforts during the COVID-19 crisis.

Speaking about the initiative, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said, “Throughout this global crisis, we have seen countless stories of individuals across the country who have gone beyond their call of duty. Even in the Aspirational Districts, despite facing greater developmental challenges, people came forward in a tremendous display of humanity. We are happy to have come together with Discovery and the UN in India for this initiative to recognize these stories”.

Bharat Ke Mahaveer celebrates luminous stories of solidarity – where, whether through food distribution, providing medical care, donating their life savings or feeding a stray animal – India – of all ages, and today still - has shown a strong sense of togetherness in times of crisis.  

Renata Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator in India said, “As COVID-19 continues to upend our lives, these unsung heroes are an inspiration and solace to us all. They remind us that it is only working together, with kindness and compassion, that we can succeed – a truth that underpins the message of United Nations, especially during this 75th year since our founding. Through Bharat Ke Mahaveer, we wish to honour those individuals, who despite all odds, have gone out of their way to show extraordinary selfless kindness to help those in need.  They rekindle our faith in humanity and our hope for a better future. They make us proud, here in India and globally.”

Megha Tata, Managing Director – South Asia, Discovery Communications India, said, “Bharat Ke Mahaveer is not just a TV show – it is reflection of India’s gratitude to so many of the unsung heroes who became a shining beacon of hope and inspiration. We are proud to partner NITI Aayog and UN India in this prestigious project.”

Bharat ke Mahaveer co-host and UN Secretary-General’s SDG Advocate Dia Mirza said, “Over the past few months, India has shown the world that when people come together, they can overcome any adversity. Instead of self-interest, we have seen an outpouring of solidarity during the pandemic. People are banding together to spread love, compassion and positivity through their actions, thereby ensuring that the most vulnerable are not left behind. I am proud to call myself an Indian and proud to be part of this excellent initiative.”

“The recent time has been painful for humanity. During this time, some individuals with extra-ordinary sense of empathy for fellow citizens gave away everything they had,” said Sonu Sood, who is also the face of the campaign, along with Dia Mirza. “The almighty has been benevolent to me, and has given me means to help others, and I tried in my small way, but some of the stories I have read are of individuals with limited means but who with their strong will – moved mountains. The world will know more about these heroes through Bharat Ke Mahaveer.”

Bharat Ke Mahaveer has attracted premium advertisers on-board. The series is Co-powered by Amazon.in, MI TV, Dell while Amul, Kia Sonet and Hicks, Hot Water Bottle are the Associate Sponsors.

Bharat Ke Mahaveer will commence with Phase 1 in the month of November on Discovery and Discovery HD Channels. Viewers can also stream the show on Discovery Plus app.