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.

Is UBS cutting 5,000 management jobs?

Switzerland's biggest bank UBS plans to cut up to 5,000 senior and management jobs in the next few weeks, a media report said on Sunday.

The report said that according to its own research up to 2,500 management positions could go in UBS's dominant and profitable wealth management division, which accounts for 50,000 of the bank's total 77,000 staff.

A UBS spokesman declined to comment on the report. UBS said last week that it was restructuring its Swiss business structure into four regions from eight, and trimming its top management. But it said the changes did not mean any more job cuts than the 600 to 800 positions it already planned to cut in Switzerland as part of the thousands of job losses globally it had already announced.

UBS said in February that after a record loss it would cut 2,000 jobs to take staff to about 75,000 by the middle of this year.

UBS is struggling to rebuild its once powerful brand and focus on its core Swiss business after massive investments in risky US assets forced it to make more writedowns than any other European bank and accept government backing.

Agencies