Hero Motocorp Launches E-Commerce Portal to Retail Hero Genuine Parts in India

Hero MotoCorp Ltd., the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, has set a new benchmark in the two-wheeler market by launching an e-commerce portal to retail Hero Genuine Parts and Accessories.

www.hgpmart.com​- an exclusive e​-commerce platform dedicated to Hero customers – will enable them to purchase Hero Genuine P​arts and Hero Genuine Accessories online directly from the Company. The will allow them to buy the correct parts for their motorcycles and scooters, at the click of a button, from the comfort of their homes.

As the market leader, Hero MotoCorp is focused on innovation across its service offerings. Through this is e-commerce website, the Company plans to reach its customers across the country efficiently.
Hero MotoCorp will use a hub and spoke model to ensure deliveries to customers are swift and timely. The Company will service the customers through its extensive reach of close to 100 Parts distributors across the country. Thus, ensuring smooth supply and easy availability of fast-moving parts.

Designed to ensure a simplified purchase experience, the platform will allow customers to buy their products in 3 easy steps –
1.      Select the two-wheeler make/ model
2.      Select the Part Category
3.      ​Select Part  & Click to purchase

The Company has partnered with Delivery, a pan India e-commerce logistics service provider, to deliver parts and accessories to customers across the country.  
Hero MotoCorp had earlier partnered with Snapdeal, through which the company sold over 500,000 two-wheelers, in just over a calendar year.

ALC India Announces its 2nd Batch for ‘Transforming India Initiative’ - India’s 1st Fellowship Social Entrepreneurship Programme

ALC India (www.alcindia.org), has announced the 2nd Batch for ‘Transforming India Initiative’ (TII), a unique 2-year social entrepreneurship programme. The programme is open for anyone with a graduate degree: start-up enthusiasts, corporate professionals who nurture entrepreneurial aspirations and young professionals who want to make an impact for the country.

The 2-year programme has been designed to give in-depth entrepreneurial experience and practical knowledge of how to run a social venture before the candidates start their own ventures. After completion of the programme, each individual will receive incubation and funding support for a period of 6 years to set up a profitable social enterprise. TII is supported by the NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission and is offered in partnership with the prestigious Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA).

The first batch of the program witnessed enthusiastic response from 418 candidates from across India. ALC India selected 10 candidates after much deliberation and with a rigorous screening process. The current batch includes people who were earlier working in eminent corporates, start-up founders, educational and environmental enthusiast, etc. and wanted to start up their own enterprise that would tackle pressing social concerns.

ALC India is a 12-year old social enterprise that has been incubating companies belonging to the economically marginalized. Last year, it was recognized by the NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission as an established incubation centre and received scale-up support of Rs 10 crores to incubate social enterprises, including support to the Transforming India Initiative (TII).

Since, its inception in 2005, ALC India has impacted 65,000 households in 17 States through 300 Projects. The organization has helped people in the unorganized sector build sustainable livelihoods and double their incomes. ALC India helps incubate enterprises that the communities own - typically cooperatives or producer companies and develops their technical, managerial and entrepreneurial skills, as they move up in the value chain from just being a producer to an entrepreneur.

Speaking about the success of Transforming India Initiative, Krishnagopal Grandhi, CEO, ALC India said, “In the current economic scenario, entrepreneurs are key to job creation, at the same time they need to evolve solutions that can address the most pressing challenges facing the country today. With the Transforming India Initiative, we are looking for talented youngsters who have the passion and grit to become social entrepreneurs. We will support them with not just education and practical understanding but also with incubation support to set up their enterprises after completing the programme.”

USPs of the Transformation India Initiative (TII)
Transforming India Initiative (TII) is a comprehensive 2-year programme that will equip the fellows to establish profitable social enterprises. Setting it apart from other academic and incubation programmes, TII is designed to enable the fellow students to first understand the developmental challenges of the country. It enables you to develop an entrepreneurial solution, test and evolve the design and establish an enduring enterprise rather than expect to have an innovative idea at the beginning of the programme itself. TII’s uniqueness lies in the integration of academics & incubation. 
Some of its notable USPs are:
·      6-month facilitated learning module certified by the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), including practitioner interactions and reflection workshops
·      18-month experiential learning module certified by the Development Management Institute Patna, where the fellows will work directly with the founders of social enterprises
·      End-to-end incubation support, including seed funding for setting up an enterprise for select entrepreneurs, as decided on merit by the independent committee, will receive a financial grant totaling Rs 30 Lacs as seed fund for their social ventures
·      Each individual will be placed with an enterprise in their preferred sector and be paired with a successful social entrepreneur as a mentor who is aligned to their interests and aspirations.
·      Fellows will be placed with an already existing social enterprise, where they will work directly with the CEO to solve five key organizational challenges and accelerate the enterprise growth.
·      ALC India provides access to seed fund of INR 40 Crores, Incubation Space of 20,000 sq.ft, over 30 Industry Experts, and 350 partners for the initiative

Who is it for?
The first cohort had individuals coming from across India with different background and experiences: corporate professionals, fresh graduates, start-up founders, educational and environmental enthusiast. A graduate degree is a minimum requirement to apply for the programme. Graduates from any discipline or professionals with work experience are eligible to apply for this programme. Interested people of any age group are encouraged to apply and their experience will be taken into account when they are placed with an enterprise during the experiential learning module.

Application Process
Each applicant will go through a four-step process that involves Online Application, Psychometric & Aptitude Test, Telephonic Interview and a 2-day direct Assessment. Interested candidates can know more about the programme and apply, on or before April 26th 2018 by visiting https://www.alcindia.org/tii. For any queries, they can send an email to tiiadmissions@alcindia.org.

The Pioneering Cohort (2017 Batch)
The pioneering cohort of 10 individuals joined Transforming India Initiative’s Social Entrepreneurship Programme in October 2017. The cohort comes from the age group of 21 – 29 years from across India with diverse interest in the social space: education, health, finance, agriculture, livelihoods & policy. Over the course, they have developed skills, mindsets and knowledge required to lead and establish a responsible social-enterprise.

Texas Instruments India host’s “DIY with TI” in Bangalore; Recognizes Best Do-It-Yourself Projects Created by TI Engineers

Texas Instruments (TI) India, today, hosted the “DIY with TI” event designed to encourage its engineers to build innovative solutions for real-life problems, using technology and TI devices. The theme this year was to build projects that help ‘Make the world a better place’. The event saw several innovative solutions – such as driver assistance for preventing accidents, assistive technology for the visually challenged, a low cost and low power solution to enable monitoring and remote control of home appliances for efficient energy usage and much more.

The first prize went to the team that had devised a wearable technology, a belt, to help visually challenged people navigate easily. This device uses a single radar sensor to detect the obstacles around and is connected to smart phone which will be used to navigate the person to the desired location. The belt uses vibration motors and buzzers to warn/navigate the user. The devise is a step towards making the world a better place for visually challenged people.

“Do It Yourselves (DIY) at TI celebrates the spirit of experimenting with technology to build innovative solutions to real-world problems. The event is about stretching your imagination to identify real world problems and find interesting technology solutions for them. Most engineers at TI have hobby projects across diverse interest areas and DIY gives them an opportunity to showcase their ideas – not just through charts and presentations, but working demos. It also drives an ‘innovation’ mind-set. Maybe someday we will see a DIY project evolve into a game changing business idea!, said Santhosh Kumar, President and Managing Director at Texas Instruments India.

‘DIY with TI’ is a global event held across TI’s U.S., Germany, China and India offices. The event aims to nurture a culture of innovation in TI by providing a platform to TIers that helps them explore alternate and newer ways to solve a problem by doing what they love.

Yes Bank Recognized for Equipping Workforce with ‘Future-Ready’ Skills in Dubai

YES BANK has been felicitated with the coveted ‘Golden Peacock National Training Award’ at the ‘28th World Congress on Leadership for Business Excellence & Innovation’ & Golden Peacock Awards, organized by Institute of Directors (IOD) in Dubai. YES BANK was recognized for Best Practices in institutionalizing innovative Training programs aimed at equipping the workforce with ‘Future-Ready’ skills. The Award was presented by H.E. Mr Vipul (Consul General of India in Dubai), Dr. Tayab Kamali (Chairman IOD India UAE Chapter Director General Education and Training Development Ministry of Interior USE) and Lt. Gen. J.S Ahluwalia (President, Institute of Directors India).

The Golden Peacock National Training Award evaluates applications basis organizational needs, training objectives, training design, delivery, outcomes and eventually organisational benefits. Golden Peacock Awards Framework is designed to help explore organizational beliefs and strategy, to look for linkages and measurable activity to test results for long-term success. The Framework is based on IOD Business Excellence Model and is comparable with similar frameworks around the globe (including the Baldrige and European models) and contains all of the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard series.

Commenting on this achievement, Deodutta Kurane, Group President, Human Capital Management at YES BANK said, “With the onset of an ever-changing, fast-paced and tech-focused work environment, it has become increasingly critical to empower, stimulate and action employees with latest tech and non-tech skills to create a workforce that is ‘Future-Ready’. The award is a testament of YES BANK’s relentless efforts to proactively develop and implement new-age sustainable talent development programs via interactive training sessions and workshops, aimed at accelerating a Future Ready work environment.”

YES BANK focuses on building a high quality robust Human Capital talent pool by adopting a Knowledge & hands-on Training driven approach for giving the bank a sustained competitive advantage. Training initiatives such as YES D.I.C.E Workshop (Design Thinking, Innovation, Creativity led Entrepreneurship) for senior leaders aimed at reinforce and reiterate the value addition of DICE; Mobile Gamification learning modules; Professional Certifications for workforce across business units; Role based certifications and most importantly ‘Future-Ready’ skilling initiatives including new-age tech skills that let employees skill-up at an organizational level.

YES SCHOOL OF BANKING (YSB), the Learning & Development function of YES BANK, ensures conceptualization and deployment of learning solutions that meet business, employee and customer requirements through continued improvement in employee skillset, tech and service quality. Key Human Capital, Organizational Development and Learning initiatives at YES BANK are domiciled under the aegis of YES SCHOOL OF BANKING (YSB), institutionalized in 2007 with a vision to build the Capacity, Capability and Confidence of our Human Capital for making YES BANK the 'Finest Quality Large Bank in India by 2020'.

CRY’s Analysis Reflects A Steady Rise In Sexual Offences Against Children in India; Every 15 Minutes, a Sexual Offence is Committed Against a Child in India

The country rages over the horrid instance of the gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old in Kathua, and similar incidents that were reported from other parts of the country. These, however, are not stand-alone incidents, as for a long time now sexual offences against children have been on a steady rise, reports CRY – Child Rights and You.

In a cumulative analysis, it revealed a significant increase in crimes against minors of more than 500% over the past 10 years (1,06,958 in 2016 over 18,967 in 2006). Further retrospective comparison within the mentioned timeframe points at a sharper rate of rise in the latter quadrennium (2012 to 2016) than that recorded in the former lustrum (2006 to 2011). National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data suggests that crime against children in India has increased by a staggering 14% between 2015 and 2016.

As per a 2016 analysis of crimes under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, sexual offences accounted for 1/3rd of all crimes against children in India. It is alarming to note that a sexual offence is committed against a child in India every 15 minutes.

Going by the nature of crimes and categories those were booked under, child rape is the second largest category of crime against children in terms of number of reported cases, amounting to more than 18% of all crimes, while kidnapping and abduction (K&A) tops the list accounting for more than half of the total number of crimes (51.1%, number of crimes 54723) as recorded in 2016. All crimes under POCSO Act constitute around 33% of total crimes against children. The number of sexual offences registered against children increased by an alarming 300% over the last 5 years.

Speaking about the worrying trend of crime against children, Komal Ganotra, Director Policy & Advocacy at CRY said, “Though the topic has been debated and deliberated at length for quite some time now, in the wake of increased incidences of crime against children , what we really lack is an all-encompassing concerted action by all duty bearers . We have consistently fallen short with not having robust prevention mechanism, poor awareness on the issue, failure in rolling out rigorous policies and programs, poor conviction rates and in inadequate budgetary allocation for child protection”   “It is non-negotiable for the state and other duty bearers to equip themselves in recognising the risks involved, and put robust preventive and responsive systems and processes to assess and eliminate the same,” she added.

Top 5 states for sexual offences (NOT ONLY POCSO)
Uttar Pradesh
Accounts for 14% of all sexual offences in the country
Maharashtra
Accounts for 13% of all sexual offences in the country
Madhya Pradesh
Accounts for 13% of all sexual offences in the country
West Bengal
Accounts for 6% of all sexual offences in the country
Odisha
Accounts for 5% of all sexual offences in the country

Looking at the concentration of reported incidents across the states, more than 50% of crimes against children have been recorded in just five states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi UT and West Bengal. While Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 15% of recorded crimes against children, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh closely follow with 14% and 13% respectively. It is also a matter of grave concern that in 11 out 36 states and UTs, more than 50% of the offences against children are sexual offences and in 25 out of 36 states and UTs more than 1/3rd of the crimes against children are sex crimes. 

BRITZO Unveils 'Make in India' Mobile Phone Brand iVVO; Priced Between Rs 649 and Rs 5,999

In a landmark move that intends to catalyze rural digitization, BRITZO has launched its smart mobile phone brand ‘iVVO’ in India. The brand launch has been followed by the rollout of eight smart 2G feature phones by iVVO that are segmented across five product categories, namely BEATZ, PRIMO, SELFEE, TUFF, and VOLT. The company will also be launching of its first 4G feature phone ‘Skipper’ along with two Android Go 4G smartphones belonging to the smartphone series ‘Storm’. All of the launched products are priced from Rs. 649 to Rs. 5,999 and extend superlative features aimed at the rural population – including multilingual support, feature phone-based WhatsApp and Wi-Fi tethering, facial recognition, shatterproof smartphone screens.

As part of the initial product rollout, three smart feature phones have been launched under the product category BEATZ, two each under PRIMO, one each under TUFF, VOLT, and SELFEE. The entire product range comes with a mix and match of unconventional features such as smart applications, K-type box speakers, shock-proof designs, wireless FM, long-lasting battery life, automatic call recording, and one-touch music access. iVVO is also planning to launch its first 4G feature phone ‘Skipper’ with WhatsApp and Wi-Fi tethering capabilities. In order to boost digital adoption and customer convenience, the company has provided multilingual support for English & several regional languages such as Hindi and Urdu and supports other 22 Indian languages in a readable format.

The brand is also rolling out its visually-appealing and feature-intensive 4G smartphones ‘Storm Lite’ and ‘Storm Pro’. The two smartphones host top-of-the-line specs including the latest Android Oreo (Go edition), 8MP front camera with dual selfie flash, 8MP rear camera with flash and auto-focus, shatterproof screen. They also come loaded with ‘face unlock’ facial recognition feature that enables its users to unlock their smartphones by merely looking at it. The two variants are available with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage space and 2GB RAM and 16GB storage space (expandable up to 128 GB). Both of the devices are based on the Android Go operating system that extends the latest Oreo 8.1 software with an assured OS version update and have been priced at Rs. 4,999 and 5,999 respectively.

Commenting on the launch, Pradipto Ganguly, CEO & Co founder, BRITZO said, “BRITZO has recognized critical pain points of rural consumers and extensively worked towards developing more evolved alternatives to traditional mobile phones. We are very delighted to announce the launch of iVVO, which is a direct outcome of our research and innovation-driven approach, and are confident that the brand will emerge as the flag-bearer of digitization in rural India.”

He added, “Besides offering unmatched features, we have also worked on the pricing and have simultaneously enhanced our channel partnerships and aftersales services to offer a superb customer experience to our end-users. The brand launch also comes in tandem with the rollout of our first smart 4G feature phone and two evolved 4G smartphone offerings, which is in line with our vision of making superior technology accessible to every Indian.”

iVVO customers will be able to enjoy a huge repository of songs and videos, bundled with the brand’s exclusive 201-day replacement warranty as well as 12+3 month product warranty. BRITZO has already established a strong channel network with 200 direct and indirect partners, 20,000 retailers, and over 900 service outlets. In line with its innovation-driven approach, the company has also introduced multiple industry-firsts such as its program ‘iVVO Smart Parivar’ (a single-point solution for all of its partner distributors for on-boarding, training, and tracking), offer credit insurance and allowing an in-bill settlement of the claims. It is, additionally, going to set up an assembling unit in Greater Noida and is planning to mobilize Rs. 100 crores towards the Make in India initiative.

Zeven’s AEON Unveils New Range Footwear Packs in Fun, Fashion and Functionality

With temperatures set to sizzle this summer, Zeven, a multidimensional sportswear brand is revving-up the affordable fashion circuit with an ‘athleisure’ collection for women – AEON. AEON which means “life” is synonymous to the spirit of women worldwide.

The brand’s 2018 spring summer athleisure collection for Women highlights its distinctive philosophy of making sport a part of everyday life. The AEON collection offers the best of athleisure, a growing trend of sporting athletic attire. 

Designed to perform, the AEON collection fits right into the bandwidth of a customer with minimalistic yet functional footwear choices, who likes the elements of being sporty yet enjoys the feel of perfectly fitting shoes that can be worn for light activity or a fun evening out.

AEON is all about Fun, Fashion & Functionality!
Aeon’s minimalist design packs in a surprising amount of functionality that is suited for a wide age range of customers – from sprightly teens to active middle aged women. Weighing just 220 grams, the light weighted pair is made with a stretchable mesh in the forepart, making the shoes fit comfortably like a pair of gloves. Strategically placed elastic around the topline holds the foot of various widths. Perforated insole underneath the foot along with EVA midsole with rubber pods enables the person to walk with a good grip. The punched upper allows breathability and ensures the foot is odorless and perspiration is all natural in hot & humid Indian conditions. The contours are soft and feminine with some distinct design details in the forepart that along with the ZEVEN logo, give it an athleisure look. 

AEON comes in five subtle colors that suits a wide range of summer attire. The athleisure collection is priced at Rs 2150 a pair.