“HCL Uday” Organised Seed Ball Project at Mayasandara Govt School

In an initiative for building a greener future, HCL Foundation’s urban CSR program “HCL Uday” recently organized the seed ball program event at Mayasandara Government School, Anekal Taluk in the esteemed presence of Mr. Vittal Vijayakumar (Operations Director, HCL Technologies) along with Mr. Ramesh (Block Education officer. Seed ball programme is a process that involves making golf ball-sized mixture of soil, seeds and compost, and scattering it in suitable places for trees to grow. It primarily focusses on increasing the green cover across India.

Almost 230+ students along with 22+ HCL volunteers participated in the program and prepared 11200+ seed. Continuing the momentum and working with commitment to contribute in the ecological restoration, HCL Uday has already successfully executed the same program in 18 schools in the month of July and August and disbursed 65,000 seed balls so far. The vision of undertaking this initiative is to achieve 1,00,000 seed balls in the current financial year.

Aakash Sethi, Shanti Raghavan and Dipesh Sutariya Selected as Finalist of SEOY 2019

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organisation of the World Economic Forum and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation, a not for profit organisation of Jubilant Bhartia Group  announced the finalists of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY)- India 2019 award. The finalists were identified following an intensive search and selection process, including expert reviews, background research, reference checks and site visits.

The seven finalists of the award are:

1.           Shanti Raghavan and Dipesh Sutariya of EnAble India, Bengaluru
2.           Aakash Sethi of Quest Alliance, Bengaluru
3.           Mukteshwari Bosco of Healing Fields Foundation, Hyderabad
4.           Nand Kishore Chaudhary of Jaipur Rugs, Jaipur
5.           Bijal Brahmbhatt of Mahila Housing SEWA Trust, Ahmedabad
6.           Sanjeev Kumar of The Goat Trust, Lucknow
7.           Gaurav Mehta of Dharma Life, New Delhi

Of the seven finalists, the winner will be chosen by a distinguished jury. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs & Ministry of Civil Aviation and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Government of India will present the award at a special ceremony on Thursday, 3rd October, 2019 which is part of the India Economic Summit organised by World Economic Forum and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The winner of SEOY India will join the world’s largest network of social enterprises affiliated with The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

The finalists of the SEOY India award are the tech-enabled social entrepreneurs who are helping in bridging the gap between the marginalized and the mainstream, by working in fields of livelihood generation for rural women, livestock entrepreneurship, creating safe & sustainable habitats, improving rural health, empowering people with disabilities and art preservation through empowerment of artisans. These social entrepreneurs have brought disruption in their respective fields with their innovative ideas. They have demonstrated that through empowerment of marginalized rural women, people with disabilities, small livestock farmers and grassroots artisans, India can move closer to inclusive growth.

Over the years, SEOY India award has established itself as one of the most reputed and coveted award for social entrepreneurs in India. This year the award celebrates its 10th year. In 2010, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and Jubilant Bhartia Foundation came together to promote social innovation in India through the Social Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOY) India Award.

The annual award recognizes entrepreneurs who implement innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions to solve social problems. These entrepreneurs address pressing issues faced by under-served communities.

The SEOY India award 2019 opened in March this year and received over 120 applications from 19 cities. This year saw over 30 applications from women social entrepreneurs. The categories of intervention include enterprise development, disability, water & sanitation, labour conditions, micro finance, housing, fair trade, energy, sustainable farming, communication media, clean technology and nutrition. In this year’s applications, health sector (43%) lead the nomination tally followed by education (40%), environment (27%) and rural development (26%).

Brief Descriptions of the Finalists:

Shanti & Dipesh,  Shanti Raghavan and Dipesh Sutariya
EnAble India, Bengaluru (www.enableindia.org)

India’s First Integrated Platform - Wellcurve.in for Healthier Nutritional Choices and Info Goes Live

To meet the fast-growing need for high quality, healthier food and nutrition items, Wellcurve.in, India’s first integrated platform of leading brands, products and information have unveiled its online showroom, offering nutrition alternatives for a simplified healthier lifestyle.

Wellcurve’s tagline ‘Healthier Lifestyle Simplified’ encapsulates its two-fold mission. For the consumer, it brings together both relevant insights for your nutritional needs and selected products from a curated set of brands. For the brands, it offers an opportunity to connect with the right audience and reach out to the consumer looking for healthier choices.

Wellcurve.in is the brainchild of Nikhil Mehra, who has had an excellent journey across the Banking and Fashion Retail space, building hugely successful key account relationships.

Speaking about how Wellcurve.in will meet the expectations of the health-conscious, cognizant consumer, Nikhil Mehra, founder and CEO, Wellcurve said, “The old adage that health is wealth, is gaining momentum again. All of us want to make healthier lifestyle choices as nothing can be achieved with a body that does not perform to the best of its ability. There is no greater luxury than 'luxury within' hence investing in it is the most crucial choice one can make in life. Keeping this philosophy in mind, we started this online platform, which is a curation of the best brands in the nutrition space. A one-stop solution for our clients.”

The journey of Wellcurve.in has begun with 17 brands including Mom’s Love, Poshtick, Mojorbar, Yogabar amongst others, and will soon expand to over 60 brands in the next few weeks. Over 250 carefully curated products are spread across some of the popular categories, which include Breakfast, Snacks, and essential Staples.

Moreover, to make it simple and easy for consumers to search for products, Wellcurve products are categorized as per health goals such as Weight Loss, Improve Digestion, Increase Protein Intake, Boost Immunity/Energy and more. Another interesting category classification is as per trends with Vegan, Keto, Organic, and Gluten-free, which makes it very easy for the visitor to search for products as per diet preferences. The platform has a regularly updated, informative blog that provides useful nutrition-related information. Tips for healthier living are offered under “Did You Know” snippets, interspersing the product showcase that makes it very interesting for the user to browse Wellcurve.

The platform will continue to add to its list of curated offerings. Wellcurve.in has already received keen interest from some High Networth family offices. 

New Jaguar Design Studio Led by Design Director - Julian Thomson

Key Highlights

* New Jaguar Design Studio led by Design Director, Julian Thomson, opens at redeveloped Design and Engineering Centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire, UK
* The studio is built around a ‘Heart Space’, putting people at the centre of the design journey, supporting a seamless workflow between creative and engineering teams
* Six key design disciplines, operating across Interior and Exterior teams, develop innovative solutions and define future trends
* The most technologically advanced design studio in the world, featuring industry-leading modelling robotics, Virtual Reality and an 11-m 4K digital display wall
* New Design Studio allows 20 full-size clay models to be worked on simultaneously with a 33% increase in floorspace compared to prior site

Jaguar has unveiled its new dedicated design studio in Gaydon, bringing the entire design team into one purpose-built creative space for the first time in the marque’s 84-year history.

Led by Jaguar Design Director, Julian Thomson, the new studio is the most advanced automotive design centre in the world, developed to enhance the human creative design process with world-leading technologies.

The ‘Heart Space’, a collaborative hub at the centre of the new Jaguar Design Studio, will bring together the diverse and creative 280-strong team as it designs future generations of Jaguars.

Surrounding the Heart Space are bespoke working environments for the Interior, Exterior and Colour and Materials teams, plus Design Visualisation and Design Technical disciplines.

Jaguar Design is made up of designers from across the globe and from a range of industry backgrounds, including fashion, watch-making, sports and gaming. Being drawn from such different spheres of design helps the team deliver its ‘Jaguar’ interpretation of Britishness using contemporary materials and processes. Those processes utilise industry-leading technology, including custom-made clay modelling machines allowing 20 models to be worked on at once, virtual reality (VR) systems and an 11-m K digital display wall known as ‘The Electric’. The floor area of the new Jaguar Design Studio measures over 12 000m2 – an increase of around 33% of the total previous studio spaces based in Whitley.

Julian Thomson, Design Director, Jaguar, said: “Jaguar has a unique heritage as a design-led brand and this will always be a central pillar of our DNA. The design values and philosophy that were created by Jaguar’s founder, Sir William Lyons, remain the same and this building will allow us to design the very best cars for our customers, far into the future. In the design team, we understand the issues that are facing the automotive industry and can respond accordingly through innovation and creativity.

“The new facility brings the entire design team together in one hugely creative space. We truly believe that inspiration comes from interaction and collaboration. Our studio is fitted with the latest technologies but, just as important, is the diversity of human expertise and our passion for Jaguar which helps us design the extraordinary.”

The main studios are named Studio 3 and Studio 4, taking inspiration from the numbers of the Le Mans-winning Jaguar D-types of 1957 and 1956 respectively, as well as paying homage to studios 1 and 2 at Whitley, which was the home of Jaguar Design from 1985. The considered naming approach is continued in the meeting rooms, with half named after iconic Jaguar models and the other half taking their names from important people in Jaguar history, including founder Sir William Lyons, designer Geoff Lawson and the actor Steve McQueen.

Studios 3 and 4 house a total of ten clay modelling plates, each measuring 20-m long and capable of accommodating two clays, with a load capacity of 4.5-tonnes. For the first time, designers can now place interior and exterior models next to one another to improve synergy and collaboration between the two disciplines.

Each plate is fitted with floor-integrated machine rails to allow double-sided processing of models by the 3+2-axis Kolb Concept Line CNC clay milling machines, each fitted with a 1 kw motorised spindle capable of 16 000rpm. The advanced system can switch between measuring and milling both quickly and easily.

The plates also feature floor-integrated lifts for the clay models. These provide continuous height adjustment, enabling the most ergonomic working positions for the Jaguar modellers.

The studios are fully temperature controlled to ensure clay remains in the ideal state to be worked by the 46-strong team of sculptors, while lighting is provided at exactly the right brightness and colour temperature for optimal vision.

Alister Whelan, Interior Design Director, Jaguar said: “The whole studio has been conceived to refine the design process and make it even more dynamic while maintaining the heart and soul of Jaguar. We consulted the entire design team to create our new home together as a family. That’s a key part of our ethos because we want to encourage even more collaboration and synergy between different design disciplines in the studio, with the community Heart Space at its core.”

Studio 4 faces north to ensure the purest light flowing in from the outdoor viewing area through huge glass doors. Models can easily be taken outside to be viewed in natural light and from a range of distances and angles. In total, the new Jaguar Design Studio has 906m2 of glazing, including three full-length skylights which flood the studio with natural light. The deliberately light and warm nature of the studio is completed by the extensive use of structural wooden beams.

Viewing models from various heights is as crucial as lighting, with the plan view of Jaguars historically incredibly important to designers, from the early sketching stages through to model-making. Now, for the first time, designers will be able to scrutinise the models from alternative heights from the Mezzanine, View Room and The Steps – an amphitheatre-style seating area.

In addition, VR plays an increasingly important role in Jaguar Design with digitalisation teams appearing at every stage of the process from sketching through to launch animations. A VR rig enables designers and studio engineers to test ideas in the virtual world much faster and more efficiently than ever before. From the early conceptual stage, the Computer-Aided Surfacing (CAS) team convert the design sketches into digital 3D models while the in-house Design Visualisation and Animation (DVA) team works closely with designers and data teams to render and animate the sketches and 3D models.

The new Jaguar Design Studio will place a greater importance on advanced material technologies, too. The Colour and Materials team have more space and technology to investigate and test new and sustainable resources that continue to demonstrate the heights of luxury and tactility for the next generation of vehicles, while meeting Jaguar’s demanding quality standards.

The Colour and Materials team work across both the exterior and interior, playing a vital role in creating each vehicle, from devising new paint colours, to conceptualising the smallest beautiful interior details – the Jaguar print in an E-PACE centre console, for example.

The Jaguar Design Studio, designed with Bennetts Associates, is part of the wider Gaydon Engineering and Design Centre redevelopment.

The Reality of Real Estate Financing in Indian Market

By Ramesh Nair, CEO & Country Head- India, JLL

Real estate for many years seemed like a Teflon sector – moving towards greater heights with every passing year, unaffected by everything which happened in other industries. Unlike other assets where investors evaluated entry price to the nearest fraction before making a decision, real estate seemed to be exempt from the golden rules of investment. The past two – three years have shown us that the relative de-coupling of the sector no longer exists. Since returns have become more to scale so has the mad rush to invest in the sector.

Over these few years, as affordability declined, home sales followed suit. Project delays and lack of regulation led to erosion of buyer confidence. In previous years, buyers thought of not one but more houses as a safe haven for capital appreciation – as should be clear now, this is no longer the case.

Other challenges

Regulations such as RERA, GST, and the Amendment in Benami Transactions Act which sought t o correct the anomalies in the sector, helped restore buyer confidence too. However, they also caused some disruptions for the operational and financial stability of some players. The changes essentially encouraged financial discipline and ushered in greater accountability and transparency. People who lacked the required discipline had to resort to high yield refinance to get things in order. As buyers exercised their right to opt out of projects which developers had delayed, recovery – especially with high coupon debt became more challenging. With the NBFC crisis, another reliable source of funds dried up.

All this combined has made funds for investment in real estate scarcer. Land was often considered the only raw material for real estate growth. But as things have progressed capital is proving why it is one of the only two basic factors of production (the other being labour).

The question on everyone’s mind: What’s the solution?

When dealing with a sector as large and important as real estate – no single player can move the needle. The entire ecosystem needs to take the onus of financing recovery on itself.

The government is doing its part and has already announced a host of measures to put the economy as well real estate sector back on track.

Recently it announced an INR 20,000 crore fund to help developers complete projects that are stalled due to last mile cash shortage. Since RERA has already helped restore buyer confidence – we have seen that home sales recove ring since 2018. A look at the top seven cities reveals housing sales are up from 96,358 in 2017, to 136, 518 in 2018, a growth of 41 percent. In H1 2019 residential real estate stood at 78,427, a Y-o-Y growth of 22 percent.

The government has also provided relief to NBFCs by infusing an additional INR 10,000 crore in NBFCs. If developers focus on incentivising sales by passing on the recent tax benefit, then sales could go up even further.

Projects and developers which have shown consistent improvement need to be given additional time to repay debt or restructure their loans. Further, funding from government fund could help. This will help revive construction of projects and faster delivery. Projects of developers who are not financially viable need to be taken over by NBFC and transferred to other devel opers.

Other players need to invest in the recovery as well.

Institutional funds can come in: There is enough interest from international PE fund for this distressed equity, if NBFCs and HFCs are willing to take a haircut on their loans. New sources of capital could come from distressed asset funds and private equity funds.

The industry may not mentally be ready for distressed investing. But if some such deals happen in the future – it could pave the way for recovery. PE firms and distressed funds are after all, mean to be premium sources of capital. When they make investments at the right numbers – it signals confidence in the system.

The way ahead

Money is still available to people who know how to manage it. No one is willing to throw good money after bad. There is a clear distinction between people who want to and can do business in the right way and who cannot. This is in a sense the new normal. Quality and consistency trumps all else.

Increased completion of projects, improvement in economic growth and lower interest cycles will increase the sales momentum and provide much needed long term finance for projects. This could also help to reduce debt thereby improving NBFC and overall market position.

UK Based Tech Firm - vyn - Opens AI Lab & R&D Centre in New Delhi

vyn, an AI tech company headquartered in London announced the launch of an International AI Lab and R&D centre in New Delhi, India.

Founded with the purpose of simplifying work-life for busy professionals in the field, vyn’s unique SmartVideoNotes technology is fast gaining international recognition with its new

AI-ready visual intelligence platform.

As part of its India operations, the company will work on areas such as Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision and Video Analytics & Enterprise grade secure cloud technologies. vyn’s India development team will work towards forging partnerships with local academia such as IITs to drive research initiatives and digital transformation services specialists.

vyn is accelerating the digital disruption & transformation objectives into Network Infrastructure, Utilities, Manufacturing and Homecare services sectors in the UK and EMEA markets for global clients. Since 2013, vyn has invested in research and development in the UK, to bring to market a simple-to-use short video technology, with smart data analytics critical to enable the trillion-dollar AI-powered transformation market.

Speaking at the launch, Kapil Singhal, CEO & Co-Founder, vyn, said, “India’s workforce is ready to move from services to a high-quality product mindset. Most importantly, government policies are now more conducive for businesses to 'make' in India and our strategy is to build intellectual property to help the country leapfrog ahead.”

He further added, “We strongly believe that combining human intelligence and AI to drive capability building solutions such as training and upskilling will be the next big revolution. Being a mobile-first solution targeting company, we are excited about the opportunities this will bring in for every worker in India.”

Arti Khanna, Co-founder & CTO, vyn, said, “It is a special moment for me to see  a dream I saw way back in 1990 being fulfilled - that of reshaping India from a services industry into a centre of innovation."

A mobile-first solution, vyn is up-skilling every single worker in the field to use digital technology and share with pride, their job completion notes or videos of site surveys audio-guided by automated ‘vyn prompts’. vyn improves customer engagement leading to higher upsells, reduces costs with fewer truck rolls (site visits) and improved workforce productivity & upskilling.  vyn SmartVideoNotes technology has been granted US patents for Smart Data Capture, Ranking and Delivery of Insights. 

Airtel Payments Bank Partners with HDFC ERGO for Mosquito Disease Protection Policy

Highlights

·         At just INR 99 per annum the policy provides cover against seven common mosquito-borne diseases
·         Policy is currently available to remittance customers of Airtel Payments Bank

Airtel Payments Bank, India’s first Payments Bank, and HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s leading private sector general insurance company, under the corporate agency tie-up launched an innovative Mosquito Diseases Protection Policy (MDPP) as a part of their objective to drive insurance adoption in the country through affordable and easily accessible products.

The partnership aims to bring together the deep distribution network of Airtel Payments Bank and the strong innovation pipeline of HDFC ERGO to contribute to financial inclusion in the country. 

Mosquito Disease Protection Policy offers cover against seven common mosquito-borne diseases - Dengue, Malaria, Chikungunya, Japanese Encephalitis, Kala-azar, Lymphatic Filariasis (Elephantiasis) and Zika virus. The product, which is a part of the ‘Wallet Insurance Portfolio’ of HDFC ERGO, will be offered to the remittance customers of Airtel Payments Bank at a nominal cost of Rs 99 per annum.

Designed after extensive consumer research, the policy is currently available to the over 4 million remittance customers of Airtel Payments Bank. This segment of customers mostly comprises of migrant workers, who usually are the lone breadwinners of the family, and even a single day’s pay or wage loss impacts them in a big way.

The policy offers financial security for loss of pay or loss of savings in case of hospitalisation due to any of the above mentioned diseases. This pocket friendly product stands apart in the industry by being the only policy offering the sum assured benefit to the insured even if he/she is hospitalised for 24 hours for treatment.

Mr. Anubrata Biswas, MD and CEO, Airtel Payments Bank said, “We are delighted to offer an affordable innovative insurance product, customizing it to the end customer’s requirements. Through this product construct we aim to introduce easy and sachet size paperless insurance solutions to millions of customers spread across the nation. This association is an important step in our journey towards building a comprehensive product portfolio customized to each segment for a financially inclusive society.”

Commenting on the partnership with Airtel Payments Bank, Mr. Anuj Tyagi, Executive Director & Chief Business Officer, HDFC ERGO General Insurance said, “HDFCERGO is committed to bring innovative and relevant products to the insurance buyers. Our PING group (Providing Insurance for Next Generation) has been developing products under the umbrella of ‘Wallet Products Portfolio’. In our assessment, wallet products will change the way customer perceive or buying insurance products. These are low ticket, extremely relevant products which provide ease of buying, simplicity of coverages and simplest claim procedures, thereby providing maximum value to the insured. In our opinion, these products would also prove to be very efficient in creating awareness about the insurance products, since these are simple and insured can connect with these products, immediately.

Airtel Payments Bank provides us in-roads to offer innovative products through their enormous and spirited distribution platform. Since, the Mosquito Disease Protection cover is a wallet product, it will ride on the strength of a  digital sales channel for a seamless and smooth buying experience to the customer and in Airtel Payment Bank, we have a partner whose core distribution and service model is based on digital platform, thereby it makes it a special partnership of like-minded corporates. We are confident that the combined strength of our brands will draw great appreciation amongst their wide and rich contactable customer base. Through this partnership HDFC ERGO is yet again enforcing our commitment of reaching out to customers’ and making our products available to all possible sections of the society.”

Airtel Payments Bank’s distribution network comprises of 500,000 neighbourhood banking points that reach even the remotest rural pockets and improve access to formal banking and financial products.