Puducherry Lt. Gov. Kiran Bedi Kick-Starts Virtual Talent Hunt for Seniors - Platform 2020 by Columbia Pacific Communities

The past few months of national lockdown and the ensuing physical distancing measures due to the COVID-19 crisis have adversely affected community engagement and social activities. Senior citizens, who are the most vulnerable section of society battling the pandemic, have been worst-hit as self-quarantining has become the norm.

Keeping this in mind, Columbia Pacific Communities, India’s largest independent senior living operator, has initiated ‘PLATFORM 2020’, a month-long virtual talent hunt initiative for its residents across nine communities located in five cities. The inter-community talent hunt was digitally inaugurated by Puducherry Lieutenant Governor, H.E. Dr. Kiran Bedi, at 11 AM on July 18.

Bringing together residents from across communities in Bengaluru, Puducherry, Chennai, Coimbatore and Kanchipuram, PLATFORM 2020 invites participation under various categories such as music – vocal and instrumental, dance, photography, painting and crafts with the central theme of ‘Hope amidst COVID-19’. The competition goes on for a month with the winners from each category being announced on August 21, World Senior Citizens Day.

PLATFORM 2020 aims to instil hope and build resilience among seniors during these uncertain and difficult times by keeping them active, stimulated and engaged.

Dr. Kiran Bedi, who graced the occasion as the Chief Guest said, "I'm very happy and honoured to be a part of Platform 2020, by Columbia Pacific Communities, where senior citizens, my peers are encouraged to reenergize themselves through activities like painting, dancing, and singing. It is scientifically proven that art, culture and creativity heals oneself. In these difficult times when all of us are constantly trying to fight back and keep us safe and protected, this comes as a wonderful initiative where the community is fighting all odds and helping each other survive the pandemic positively. I am proud to be part of such community and humanity.”

Commenting on the initiative, Mohit Nirula, CEO, Columbia Pacific Communities, said, “Our residents have been an inspiration to us over the last many months. With their support and enthusiastic participation, we have shunned “social distancing”, embraced “physical distancing”, and while remaining mentally, intellectually and socially engaged. And for those, who believe this generation is technologically challenged, I invite you to come online and support this unique celebration of positive ageing by the residents of Columbia Pacific Communities”

The competition will be streamed live and is open for viewing for anybody who wishes to celebrate the concept of positive ageing. Viewers can join through this link https://call.lifesizecloud.com/4665942.

In the recent past, Columbia Pacific Communities launched #TheLivingRoom, a virtual talk show initiative that urges seniors to make the most of the lockdown period, and helps them stay inspired and motivated through meaningful conversations. The series has given seniors access to interact with stalwarts, experts, professionals and popular personalities such as Anuvab Pal, medical, Charu Sharma, Nandita Das, Prakash Belawadi, Prahlad Kakkar, Kabir Bedi and Vasundhara Das.

About Columbia Pacific Communities

Columbia Pacific Communities (CPC) is India’s largest and most experienced senior living community operator with close to 1600 residential units under management in 5 cities and 9 locations across south India. As the pioneers in this category it is committed to reimagining the concept of senior living in India and create world-class practices that exceed these expectations of all our stakeholders. It is part of the Columbia Pacific group, one of the foremost developers of senior living communities in the United States, Canada and South East Asia. Founded by Dan Baty, Columbia Pacific has more than 40 years of experience and expertise in designing, building and managing senior housing communities around the world. The team, with the expertise of their principals in the United States of America and our partners in India, brings together rich experience in senior housing design, development and management.

Bengaluru’s Residential Prices Fell by Almost 3% in Last Quarter: Magicbricks Propindex Report Q2 2020

COVID-19 Effect

* Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Bellary Road and Electronic City were the top 4 micromarkets in the city

* Strong demand for smaller size 2 & 3BHKs; together accounting for 88% of the property searches

* COVID-19 induced a price decline of 1-3% across most budget segment

Amidst COVID-19, Bengaluru’s residential prices have witnessed a QoQ decrease of approx. 3% in the second quarter of 2020, revealed the latest edition of Magicbricks’ PropIndex (Q2, 2020). Bengaluru residential market maintained a steady momentum in the last 5 years with 17.7% and 33.3% surges in ready to move and the under construction segment prices, respectively. However, the QoQ 2.8% price decline in the ready-to-move segment washed away the gains made during the previous six quarters.

The under-construction segment had a decent 33% growth in the last 5 years, but the recent pandemic brought a decline of 0.8% in Q2 2020.  Shortage of labour, supply chain disruption and extension in the RERA deadline by 3 months in Bengaluru is likely to shift delivery of some under construction projects by a few months.

According to the Propindex, Bengaluru thrives on a healthy mid-segment demand, with both 2 and 3 BHKs each accounting for more than 40% of the demand and supply. Together they account for 88% of the property searches and 92% of the supply. However the market is slowly shifting to the affordable segment, and a small demand-supply mismatch is emerging in the less than INR 5,000 per sqft price bucket. The demand for 1 BHK and 2 BHK configurations is likely to further increase due to the reduction of stamp duty between 3% to 5% for properties costing upto INR 35 lakh.

Commenting on the PropIndex, Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, said, “India’s real sector is gradually adopting to the new normalcy. The economy had almost come to a stand-still in March but now hopefully we are on the road to recovery. At a pan-India level, the price decline has been just 1.5% QoQ while repo rates have been lowered by more than 100 points. This augurs well for the industry. Our data also suggests that consumer interest has not tapered off and developers have to grab the attention of the home buyers through attractive deals and offers. There is a pent-up demand for ready-to-move in properties as our data suggests that the 80% of searches are happening in this segment and the rest for under-construction.”

Post COVID-19 pandemic, government has allowed partial sales of plots In the layouts to ease the liquidity situation of developers and accelerate the layout development process. State government allows the regularization of over 75,000 land parcels, which were initially a part of the BDA development scheme but were under unauthorized possession for more than 12 years, by payment of penalty.

Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Bellary Road and Electronic City were the top 4 micromarkets in the city, supported by factors such as affordability, better access to IT hubs and sound connectivity to the airport. The extension of metro lines from Baiyappanahalli – Whitefield and RV Road – Bommasandra is likely to boost the demand for the economic hubs of Whitefield and Electronic City in the future

However, it will be interesting to see how these factors play out as the market recovers from the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ensuing national lockdown. Magicbricks data indicates that overall, consumers are back to the marketplace, albeit in lower numbers. Developers are running various schemes and promotions to entice home buyers and drive transactions. The next three to six months will remain key to determine any developing trend in prices and transaction volumes. It has become even more of a buyers’ market with the onus on sellers to make the right interventions to enable the real estate market bounce back.

About Magicbricks: India's no 1 property site

Magicbricks is India’s No.1 property site. With monthly traffic exceeding 20 million visits and with an active base of over 1.4 million+ property listings, Magicbricks provides the largest platform for buyers and sellers of property to connect with each other in a clear, transparent manner. With this in mind, Magicbricks has innovated several product features, content and research services, which have helped us, build the largest audience pool.

It’s Time Now to Look Ahead at Life Confidently with Corona Kaavach by HDFC ERGO

HDFC ERGO, the country’s third largest non-life insurance provider in the private sector, announced the launch of ‘Corona Kavach’ policy. This new indemnity health policy will offer cover against medical expenses incurred due to hospitalization of individuals seeking treatment for COVID-19, on positive diagnosis for the virus in a government authorized diagnostic centre. In addition, the policy will also cover expenses incurred on treatment of co-morbidity along with the treatment for COVID-19.

The current pandemic is a grave threat to the health of individuals, whilst also affecting their financial well-being due to the high cost of COVID-19 treatment. But, we must slowly gather the pace to ‘Look Ahead’and move towards the new normal, with confidence. The ‘Corona Kavach’policy indemnifies policyholders for medical expenses on hospitalization for the treatment of the virus and includes the expense incurred on treating co-morbidity along with COVID-19. The policy will also cover road ambulance expenses, in case the service is opted for the purpose of hospitalization due to COVID-19. Home Care Expenses benefit (upto a period of 14 days) will also be covered in the policy for those seeking treatment within the comfort of their own homes, on the advice of a medical practitioner. Additionally, expenses incurred for inpatient care treatment taken under Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) systems of medicines will also be covered under the policy. Policyholders will also be liable for Hospital daily cash, which will be 0.5% of sum insured per day for a maximum upto 15 days, during a policy period.

Commenting on the launch of the new product, Mr. Ritesh Kumar, MD & CEO, HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd., “COVID-19 has brought life to a standstill with many feeling the financial pinch. In such unprecedented times, Corona Kavach by HDFC ERGO will provide customers with the much needed financial respite giving them the confidence to ‘Look Ahead’ in life. We are fully committed in this battle against COVID-19 and will provide our customers with the much required ammunition like access to a wide network of over 11,000 cashless hospitals, swift & hassle-free claim settlements, several services available digitally on HDFC ERGO’s my:health App; all of which will be available to them with our policy.”

The Corona Kavach policy by HDFC ERGO will enable customers to experience superior customer service whereby they can reach out to the Company through various digital platforms which are easily accessible. HDFC ERGO has a robust digital service architecture that has enabled the Company to put in place processes, which are largely paperless. Customers can register their request for filing a claim, policy renewals, and changes in the existing policy, among others through various means like the web portal, mobile apps, IVR, chatbotsand email bots from the convenience of their homes. HDFC ERGO’s settlement of pre-authorized cashless claims withinan average of 14 minuteshas further enhanced customer satisfaction and delight.

As an added advantage, existing indemnity health policyholders can avail a 25% discount and our Health Warriors, i.e. the Health care professionals, especially will be offered an additional 5% discount on purchase of this policy. The policy is available for a minimum sum insured of INR 50,000/- up to a maximum of INR 5,00,000/-. Customers may logon to the Company website www.hdfcergo.com or reach out to HDFC ERGO representatives for more details or purchase the Corona Kavach policy.

About HDFC ERGO:

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Ltd. is a 51:49 joint venture between the Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC); India’s premier Housing Finance Institution and ERGO International AG; the primary insurance entity of the Munich Re Group of Germany. HDFC ERGO, the third largest General Insurance provider in the private sector, offers the complete range of general insurance products including Motor, Health, Home, Agriculture, Travel, Credit, Cyber and Personal Accident in the retail space and Property, Marine, Engineering, Marine Cargo, Group Health and Liability Insurance in the corporate space.

Over the last few years, HDFC ERGO has constantly endeavoured to not just align itself to the evolving market needs, but instead be a pioneer in terms of its offerings. Having its ears to the ground has helped the Company create a stream of highly targeted new products and AI-based tools and technology. Be it unique insurance products, integrated customer service models, top-in-class claim process or a host of technologically innovative solutions.

With a wide distribution network and a 24x7 support team, the Company has been offering seamless customer service and innovative products to its customers.For more information on HDFC ERGO and the products and services offered by the Company.

Rs 300,000cr package to boost Indian economy

The government on Sunday announced major tax cuts across the board to boost demand and allocated additional funds and incentives for exports, housing, textile and infrastructure to stimulate the economy, hit by the global financial crisis.

"The government has been concerned about the impact of global financial crisis on the Indian economy
and a number of steps have been taken to deal with this problem," an official statement said.

The package, coming on the back of fresh monetary measures announced by the RBI on Saturday, includes a four per cent cut in ad-valoram duty across the board, to boost additional spending, besides enhanced credit for exporters, along with a Rs 10,000 crore mop up for India Infrastructure Finance Company.

The measures include additional plan expenditure up to Rs 20,000 crore in current year; total spending in four months till March expected at Rs 300,000 crore. A series of steps to boost exports; Rs 350 crore additional funds for export incentives; back-up guarantee to ECGC for up to Rs 350 crore; to be allowed refund of services in some areas.

The package also includes import duty on Naptha for use in power sector as well as export duty on iron ore to be eliminated. India Infrastructure Finance Company to raise Rs 10,000 crore through tax-free bonds by March 2009. PSU banks to soon announce package for borrowers of home loans upto Rs 20 lakh. An across-the-board cut on ad valorem rate to encourage additional spending; additional Rs 1,400 crore for textile sector.

Source: Agencies