Toyota Kirloskar Motor Salutes the Indian Armed Forces Through their ICARE Initiative

In its pursuit to bring about a positive change to the community and enrich lives, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) concluded its 16th ICARE outreach initiative today, coinciding with the 74th Independence Day. ICARE, an employee volunteer initiative of TKM which is designed to bring the employees and their families together to make a difference in the community. 

Not allowing the current pandemic to dampen their spirits, over 100 TKM employees and their families came together virtually through an e-enabled platform this Independence Day to pay tribute to the indomitable spirit of the Indian soldiers guarding our borders across Leh and Ladakh. The e-enabled event was graced by the honourable guest speaker, Air Vice Marshal B K Murali [Retd], who was a part of the Kargil War in 1999. He shared insights on the current scenario and selfless contribution of warriors who are at the forefront to save our lives.

The core theme of this initiative was to send a message of gratitude, love and best wishes to our soldiers at Leh, Ladakh, who guard our borders day and night. Towards this end, as a part of this initiative, the employees and their families sent out handmade eco-friendly Rakhis and greeting cards that will be handed over to the soldiers posted in Leh, Ladakh via the Army Post Office (APO) Northern Command. In addition, a video message was also sent for the soldiers.

Expressing his thoughts on this occasion, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Country Head & Senior Vice President, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “The bravery, spirit and enthusiasm of the armed forces to protect their motherland India is unparalleled and any tribute to this valour and devotion is not enough. Through our ICARE initiative, we pay our tribute to the soldiers by honouring them with a token of gratitude.

ICARE program has created a platform for employees to come together and make a difference in the community. The initiative actively engages employees and strives to enhance their understanding on numerous societal issues, contributing to address vital needs within TKM’s CSR framework. We are happy to see such energetic participation of our employees and their family members who are emerging as ‘Social Transformers’ in each ICARE activity. With this, we intend to expand the horizon of serving the society with our holistic approach.”

‘ICARE’– an employee voluntary initiative, is an effort aligned with the company’s commitment to sustained community development.  TKM believes that it is important for the employees to align with our morals and principles to make key contributions to the nation and society at large. This drive actively involves the employees and strives to enhance their understanding on various societal issues, contributing to address vital needs within TKM’s CSR framework. Since its launch in 2017, ICARE has grown manifold and managed to create a large impact in the society which benefited more than 40,000 lives. Currently, more than 700 employees have been registered under TKM’s ICARE initiative. So far, TKM has implemented 15 ICARE activities in the area of Education, Environment, Road Safety, Skill Development, Disaster Management and supporting special children by creating massive transformation in the society and providing enriching experience to employees every time.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor will further continue its various CSR activities keeping the development perspective of socio-economic structure of the society, providing aids to many individual’s lives to make a difference in their livelihood.

Future Generali India Insurance Announces Increment for all its Employees in Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic

In the face of an ongoing economic crisis, Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited (FGII), the general insurance arm of the joint venture between retail giant Future Group and global insurer Generali, announced promotions, annual increments & variable payouts to all its employees. The company declared that there will be no layoffs of its employees during these unprecedented and volatile times.

They also made provision of an immediate relief fund of INR 50,000 to each of its business-active agents and their families if they are tested positive for COVID-19. 

With over 125 branches across India, the company has decided not to compromise on hiring and plans to recruit employees as per the business requirement. During this lockdown phase alone, FGII has onboarded over 70 employees across various levels using various digital tools for engaging, interviewing, enrolling, and inducting. The company will continue to hire as in any other year. 

FGII has also taken multiple initiatives towards employee wellness and engagement during the lockdown period. The company has introduced a confidential counselling helpline for employees and their families to help them cope with changes brought about by the pandemic such as anxiety, stress or work-life balance. This is supplemented by live sessions promoting physical and mental health through yoga sessions. It has also organized various engagement programmes such as talent shows and conducted virtual training sessions for employees to help them connect and learn while they work from home.

Mr. Anup Rau, MD & CEO, Future Generali India Insurance said, "We are a people-first company, period. We made sure that every single employee- right from the CXOs to our housekeeping staff - got their due credit and bonuses and increments in time. I don’t believe one can be a customer-centric company without being employee-centric; they are both congruent. Now, more than ever, our employees and partners need certainty and stability in their lives. We are building an organization for the long term and have the wherewithal to handle uncertainty. We are a fundamentally strong company and have the ability to respond to the new realities of the marketplace.”

About Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited

Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Future Group – the game changers in Retail Trade in India and Generali – a 189 years old global insurance group featuring among the world’s 60 largest companies*. The Company was incorporated in September 2007 with the objective of providing retail, commercial, personal and rural insurance solutions to individuals and corporates to help them manage and mitigate risks.

Future Generali India has been aptly benefitting from the global Insurance expertise in diverse classes of products of Generali Group and the Indian retail game-changer Future Group. Havingfirmlyestablisheditscredentials in this segment and effectively leveraging on the skill set of both its JV partners, Future Generali India has evolved to become a Total Insurance Solutions Company.

*As per Fortune Global 500 Ranking (2017)

*Future Generali India Insuranceiscertified ‘Great Place to Work’ (December2019-November 2020)

About Generali Group

Generali is an independent, Italian insurance Group, with a strong international presence. Established in 1831, it is one of the largest global insurance providers present in over 60 countries with total premium income exceeding €68 billion in 2017. With nearly 71,000 employees in the world and 57 million customers, the Group has a leading position in Western Europe and an increasingly significant presence in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Asia.

Ecom Express to Hire Over 7000 Employees Across Indian Cities

Ecom Express, a leading technology enabled end-to-end logistics solutions provider to e-commerce industry, has announced that it plans to hire over 7000 employees at a time of economic and employment ambiguity in the current COVID-19 situation. The full-time openings in the next two months spans across business functions such as last-mile delivery, warehousing management, operations, information technology and data sciences.

These new positions represent around 25% of the Company’s total workforce. The hiring will be made across the country including metro cities i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru,Hyderabad as well as cities including Ahmedabad, Surat, Chandigarh, Indore, Patna, Lucknow, Kanpur, Bhopal and Jaipur.

Saurabh Deep Singla, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer, Ecom Express said,

‘’As a provider of logistics services to e-commerce industry, employees are paramount and a pivot to what we do. In these difficult times, we see increase in the demand for online shopping across cities and we need to support the scale and size for doorstep deliveries. The hiring of new employees is driven by unprecedented need to keep the supply chain running for e-commerce industry and in ensuring safe and timely deliveries.’’

Ecom Express has chalked out plans to hire around 35000 employees till the beginning of this year’s festive season in order to be prepared for the surge in online shopping backed by festival sales and increasing preference to doorstep deliveries. At the same time, the company is in a unique position to contribute towards helping our communities wade through the crisis and provide them with the opportunities to earn.

About Ecom Express

Ecom Express Private Limited is a leading end-to-end technology enabled logistics solutions provider to the Indian e-commerce industry. Headquartered in Gurugram, Ecom Express was incorporated in 2012 by T.A. Krishnan, Manju Dhawan, K. Satyanarayana and Sanjeev Saxena with their 100+ years of cumulative experience in the Indian logistics and distribution industry. Ecom Express has its presence in all 29 states of the country and operates in over 2400 towns across 25,000+ PIN-codes in India. The company is the first private logistics company in India to envision a full-state coverage strategy, offered in 20 states including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Through this deep reach strategy, the company has a capability to deliver to over 1.2 billion people i.e. 92%+ of India’s population.

75F Launches Epidemic Mode to Make Offices and Businesses Healthier During Pandemic

As offices prepare to reopen across India, buildings are the new front in the fight against COVID-19. Today, 75F announced 75F Epidemic Mode, a new HVAC software sequence that ensure commercial buildings healthier while keeping employees and customers safe. The system is based on the latest guidance from scientists, government organizations, and global industry leaders such as ISHRAE which has been adopted by the Indian Government, ASHRAE and the CDC. 

Recent studies show the spread of COVID-19 appears to be occurring through airborne transmission of aerosols, particles 1-5 microns in size which cannot be reliably filtered out using a MERV-13 or HEPA filter. While much of the focus is on droplets 100-1000 microns in size produced by coughing or sneezing, a large quantity of aerosolized infectious particles are also produced, and are more likely to be produced by asymptomatic individuals or those who do not know they are infected simply from breathing or speaking. A recent study showed that more than 1000 of these virus-containing aerosols are emitted every minute of speaking, more proof that without dilution ventilation from outside air, buildings have ahigh risk of viral build-up and exposure. 

In response to this, various organisations such as ISHRAE (Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers), ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers) and the CDC (Centre for Disease Control) have released new guidelines for the operation and control of HVAC systems to reduce disease transmission from infectious airborne particles and ensure a safe and healthy workplace. 

Epidemic Mode is updated by 75F as guidelines from these organisations evolve or new data emerges. This means it offers the most current sequences that minimize operating expense and viral transmission, while improving indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy efficiency.

Key guidelines from above recommended organisations include increasing outside air ventilation to reduce the viral load inside buildings, disabling demand-control ventilation (DCV) and increasing minimum outside air damper positions for greater outside air ratio. 

These key guidelines are available out-of-the-box when you utilize 75F’s full-stack suite of sensors and controls. The 75F Epidemic Mode does not require any manual programming and there is no risk of equipment damage from running the system outside typical parameters. The 75F Epidemic Mode achieves the directives discussed above through its specific application profiles; Smart PurgeTM and Smart Enhance Ventilation.

75F Smart Purge 

75F’s Smart Purge application profile works in pre- and post-occupancy settings and fully adheres to ISHRAE, ASHRAE recommendations to prevent re-circulation of air and to purge the air before and after occupancy. The pre-purge activates three hours ahead of expected occupancy and runs for two hours, allowing up to one hour of preconditioning before building occupants arrive for optimal comfort. Post-purge activates when the scheduled occupied period ends and runs for two hours. Overnight between these indoor air flushes, the system will keep the building at setback temperatures with minimal outside air to conserve energy and ensure relative humidity levels are maintained.

75F Smart Enhanced Ventilation 

This profile ensures the indoor environment remains as safe as possible during a building’s occupied period and reduces risk of infection from aerosolized particle. The 75F system only activates this profile during a scheduled occupied timeframe per ISHRAE directives. When the building is occupied, the OA damper is moved to the maximum position allowable based on the system’s ability to meet desired temperatures. This ensures the greatest amount of outside air is drawn in for dilution ventilation based on the system capacity and weather conditions. 

Apart from minimizing viral loads in buildings the 75F Epidemic ModeTm also delivers significant energy savings. Increasing ventilation from 20% outside air to 90% outside air can normally lead to a high energy bill, but with the 75F Epidemic Mode profiles, concentration of infectious airborne particles is reduced while energy consumption is minimized. 

 

“The world is in the midst of a pandemic with so many unknowns, where the brightest minds are developing innovative ways to modify their businesses and 75F Epidemic Mode does that for the commercial building industry,” said Deepinder Singh, CEO and Founder of 75F. 

“Being able to give companies and their employees some peace of mind that their facilities managers are taking the initiative to make their environments safe and healthy is extremely important and we believe will become the norm even when the outbreak is over”, adds Gaurav Burman, APAC President of 75F.

 

75F offers the only system on the market today currently implementing these healthy buildings measures, which are available free of charge to all customers in office buildings, retail businesses, schools, restaurants, and apartment buildings. Once the pandemic is controlled, 75F technology will allow facility managers to easily, and remotely, disable these measures, with a return to 75F's award-winning algorithms to improve the comfort of occupants. 

 

Other systems require manual programming for each sequence, which involves significant expense, and puts the equipment at greater risk of damage. For new customers, 75F has a fully automated, easy-to-install system out–of–the box, with controls that scale from simple rooftop units (RTUs) to complex air handling units (AHUs). 75F’s wireless install also eliminates the need for tearing up ducts for wiring, and offers integration with the 75F Facilisight portal and app for portfolio-wide analytics, easy scheduling, remote configuration, fault detection, and diagnostics.

Accenture on a hiring spree in India; To hire 8,000 by 2010

Global technology and consultancy firm, Accenture has said that it is going to add around 8,000 people in India by the end of next year taking its total employee base in the country to 50,000.

"We are 42,000 right now and we imagine we will be about 50,000 by the end of 2010," said Accenture Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, William D Green on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit. Indicating a recovery from the global downturn, Green said the company will continue to focus in India, specially in the areas of analytics, reports a media.

Accenture's focus in India is going to be the analytics space, which will help its clients in converting information into insights for better yields. Green added, "We believe that analytics is going to be an important trend that our customers are going to demand from us. We think India is going to be a great place for us. We have some core centres of excellence in the analytics space in the country."

Accenture, which has annual revenue of $21.58 billion for fiscal 2009, will strengthen its focus on clients in pharmaceutical, telecommunications and energy in the country.

Agencies

IT services deal signed between GE, Mahindra Satyam

Mahindra Satyam today said it has received an extension of its multi-million dollar contract with GE for next three years January 1, 2010.

GE, which is among the top five customers of Mahindra Satyam for over a decade now, gets support in the specialised areas of Application Development Maintenance, Business Intelligence and engineering services, Satyam Mahindra said in a statement.

"We thank the leadership at GE, for having reposed their confidence in us, and reinforce our resolve to excel in our deliverables to our esteemed partner, for years to come," Mahindra Satyam Global Account Executive Arvind Malhotra said.

GE has signed a similar contract with 11 other vendors. "GE recognizes the support extended over the years by Mahindra Satyam, and their commitment to delivery excellence, even during trying times," GE GDC Leader Steve Morrison said.

Satyam management had been in constant dialogue with its major clients, including GE and others to continue working with it.

"Mahindra Satyam has gained 32 new customers in the last four months," a top official had said earlier.

"Some of the large clients we had lost earlier are coming back and are reassigning new business," Atul Kunwar, the company's president of the Middle East, Europe, India and Asia Pacific regions, said on the sidelines of an industry conference.

The company, currently has about 420 clients, he said, compared with 480 in January before it was left battling for survival after Satyam's founder revealed India's biggest corporate fraud.

Satyam was acquired by Tech Mahindra in an auction in April and subsequently renamed. The number of employees the company has on reserve has come down to 7,000 from 8,500 in July, Kunwar said.

"With the business improving and new deals coming in, we have slowly started taking in employees from the virtual pool."

Agencies

Does TCS plan to hire 25,000 jobs globally?

In a move that could bring a smile to many faces, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced that it will hire 25,000 people globally in 2009, with 90 percent of them in India alone. Though the number is bigger when compared to the hiring these days, it is less than last year when TCS appointed around 35,000 people.

With this recruitment drive, TCS also plans to expand its presence into the tier-II cities in India. "We will be hiring 25,000 people this year, which means roughly 25 lakh square feet of work space required and, therefore, we need to grow outside the metros. Tier-II cities are our only focus for expansion in the country as the top rung are clogged and saturated," said Tanmoy Chakrabarty, Vice-President and Head of Government Industry Solutions unit at TCS.

Following this hiring spree, the total global manpower of TCS would go up to more than 1.8 lakh. This will put the IT services provider among large private Indian employers like Tata Steel, which has the total employee strength of two lakh. Going forward, the company, which has an estimated 32 percent market share, plans to cash in on the Indian government's plan to invest Rs. 40,000 crore on IT services.

Currently, 70 percent of the IT segment's revenue is from India, while the rest comes from the U.S., Latin America, Africa and South East Asian countries. However, the revenue contribution from Indian government businesses to the total company revenue of $6 billion is less than five percent, which the company intends to increase to more than 10 percent in the next three years.

Agencies

Is Infosys getting tougher on poor performers?

The economic slowdown has made Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest IT services firm by revenues, take a harder look at employee performance. The firm has put 2,200 employees under the scanner for non-performance this year — more than double the number last year, a senior executive said.

Last year, about 1.5% of IT services staff or about 1,000 employees figured among the bottom performers. This year, the percentage has shot up to about 3.5%. About 600 of such non-performers have left the company already this year.

Such employees are put under a performance improvement plan, provided mentoring and their performance is reviewed for a quarter. “When the times were good, people got away with things. Our tolerance of non-performance has come down now,” Infosys director (HR, education & research and administration) TV Mohandas Pai said.

Meanwhile, the IT services major has made about 20,000 job offers to college students across the country for 2009-10. The company will honour the commitment made, Pai said.

However, there could be lower or even no wage increases at Infosys next fiscal. “Wage increase next year will be subdued, if there will be an increase,” the Infosys director said.

The IT services firm said it expects IT budgets of clients to be flat or may even reduce 5-10% next fiscal. “Clients are in pain and they want us to share the pain. Their ability to spend is lower,” he said.

Economictimes