The start of a New Chapter with a Zippo Click this Indian Winter

Wedding season comes with loads to look forward to. With colorful clothes to countless sweets, there is happiness all around. It is undoubtedly the most special day for the couple and the start of a new chapter in their lives. But what precedes these celebrations is the quest for the perfect gifts – something that the newlyweds would remember you by.

Zippo offers the perfect solution to this predicament with Zippo Windproof Lighters. These elegant lighters with their all metal build and stunning designs are sure to leave the groom in awe. Featuring intricate design details engraved into the high quality metal gives the lighters a premium feel. These lighters come with a lifetime warranty making them a lifelong memento of your love for them.   

Choose from an array of new designs available on the Zippo India website http://www.zippo.in/, and in the 28 William Penn stores and 3 shop-in-shop operations across 10 cities.

Zippo: more than a lighter
With over 80 years of history, Zippo has an influential and dedicated fan base. The brand has transcended its functional benefits to become a cultural icon and regularly features in films around the world.

The unique designs, date stamping, affordability and rich history of the Zippo lighters make them a great item to collect, and the vast number of collectors and lovers of Zippo lighters continues to increase daily. In the United States alone it is estimated that there are around 4 million Zippo Windproof Lighter collectors and there are 11 official collectors’ clubs worldwide. The full range of new designs are available on the William Penn Online Shop https://www.williampenn.net/, and in 28 William Penn stores and 3 shop-in-shop operations across 10 cities.

Zippo Windproof Lighters Model Price

Love
SKU:29060 INR 2,750

Black Ice - Photo Image
SKU:49059 INR 4,000

Candy Apple Red
SKU:21068 INR 3,050

Black Matte - Color Image
SKU:29989 INR 3,000

Anvayaa Kin Care Emphasizes Need of Elder Care During the “5th World Congress on Geriatrics & Gerontology- International Conference”

During the 5th World Congress Geriatrics & Gerontology- International Conference on Healthy Ageing in Changing World, award winning senior care platform Anvayaa Kin care announced a range of AI-based and technology-driven elder care services which Anvayaa provides to over 800+ customers based across Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai.

Emphasising on the need of elder care in India, Mr. Prashanth Reddy, Founder-Director of award winning senior care platform Anvayaa Kin Care highlighted, 98% of urban senior citizens who need care do not prefer to move or live in old age homes and senior living communities, but love to live in their own homes.  In addition to this, the nuclearization of families, career aspirations and other modern day pressures for their kids, the couple end up going to work. This adds to the even more growing gap for providing care to seniors. Hence to bridge this gap and provide healthy and peaceful life, Anvayaa has developed solutions and is providing a range of services: Eldercare. Leisure care, household chores and Payments care.

The 5th World Congress on Healthy Ageing in Changing World – 2019 with the theme "Advancing the Elderly Care Practices for Promoting Healthy Aging “, Concluded here. The event had an overwhelming participation by the world’s leading experts along with more than 800 multidisciplinary scientists, clinicians, students, and Research Scholars, Professor, and public health experts eager to engage about Promoting Healthy Aging. The proceedings and outcomes of the conference were submitted to various Government bodies such as Ministry of Health, Govt. of India, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) as well as to many national and international research organizations and NGO’s working on Geriatrics which will help them in identifying grey areas of the field and also in accelerating their research in the field of Geriatrics and Gerontology.

About Anvayaa Kin Care: Anvayaa Kin Care is an award-winning one-stop senior care provider founded in 2016 by Mr Prashanth Reddy and his wife Deepika Reddy with a vision to provide personalised tech-enabled senior care.  India's first 360 degree technology enabled personalized senior care platform provides one-stop elder care services like health care assistance, daily care services, leisure care, payment care, emergency care and additional services like visa, passport, ticketing and legal assistance for seniors citizens. Anvayaa Kin care, an App-based service exclusively designed for the Senior Citizens allows one to not only keep a tab on the well-being of their loved ones past their prime, but also help them with essential services. Anvayaa assists with dedicated support staff who can offer round-the-clock service. Customised care plans for Senior Citizens are available on subscription based model. Since the launch in October 2016, Anvayaa has provided elder care support to over 800+ families. 

On World Cashew Day, Emirates Spotlights the Perfect Inflight Snack

The sky is the limit for Indian cashews, and its reach now extends way beyond the country’s shores to over 150 destinations across 85 countries and territories. A success story on World Cashew Day, celebrated every year on 23 November, involves the largest international airline – Emirates – and the largest cashew producer in the world – India. It is also a story about the meticulous efforts of an airline to cater to the preferences and needs of its passengers.

Every year, India exports over 80,000 tonnes of cashew kernels, valued at more than US$900 million. Around 22% of this revenue comes from cashew exports to the UAE, where Emirates is based. In 2017-18, UAE imported 21% of India’s total cashew exports and became the largest importer of the nut.

Emirates uses this popular buttery nut extensively in its international and regionally inspired cuisine, gracing its sumptuous dishes in many avatars - whole, sliced, and as paste. Whether used as a delicious base or as a sizzling garnish, cashews lend its distinctive taste and flavour to Emirates’ dishes from butter chicken, khaju badam diya macher and pongal to shahi paneer, murgh korma and many more. Across the straits, Sri Lankans can enjoy it in a potato and cashew curry and as devilled cashews.

The airline specially prepares masala cashews, Indian style, sourced from Tamil Nadu to get the perfect snack that is neither greasy nor sticky for its First and Business Class passengers. These snacks can be enjoyed by passengers in their spacious, well-appointed seats, drink in hand or working at their laptops, and at the luxurious Onboard Lounge on the A380s.

Every year, Emirates serves around 33 tonnes of masala cashews around its global network, and 125 tonnes mixed nuts of which cashew is a key ingredient, besides almonds, pistachios and macadamia. This is not counting the tonnes of cashews the airline buys to include in its regional and international dishes.

While cashews cross the seven seas mainly by ocean freight, Emirates SkyCargo, the cargo division of the airline, steps in quickly to transport urgent shipments. This year for example, SkyCargo transported more than 50,000kgs of cashews from Kochi to Los Angeles during the months April to October. Indian cashews on Emirates’ global services of 159 destinations has piqued interest, created awareness and more opportunities for Indian farmers and industry. The airline recognises its significant role in connecting communities and fostering trade.

Emirates’ 34 years in India have been defined by progressive investment, partnership and growth. In the 2015 study by The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), Emirates’ Indian operations contributed over US$848 million annually to the nation’s GDP, supporting over 86,000 jobs and generating about US$1.7 billion in foreign exchange earnings. The Emirates Group currently employs more than 13,700 Indian nationals globally – constituting 21% of its workforce, most of them in high-skilled employment.

In India, Emirates serves nine cities: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram, with 170 weekly services. From Dubai, Emirates connects customers to 159 global destinations in 85 countries and territories, spanning six continents. Renowned for providing an exceptional flying experience, Emirates’ customers travelling in all classes can enjoy regionally inspired cuisine, more than 4,500 entertainment channels on ice – the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment system – and up to 20MB complimentary Wi-Fi to stay connected with friends and family during the flight.

Redefining the Nearby Neighbourhood at the Orion Avenue Mall

Neighbourhood shopping centers are usually small-scale malls serving the needs of the local area. Orion Avenue Mall is one such neighbourhood mall, optimally sized, yet uniquely positioned in its services to deliver the lifestyle aspirations of East Bengaluru’s upmarket neighbourhood.

The mall prides itself on the multi awarded credentials of the Orion Mall at Brigade Gateway that includes being awarded as South India’s best mall. Orion Avenue Mall offers its shoppers an extensive mix of fashion, entertainment and dining options. The mall’s portfolio of brands has been thoughtfully curated to give shoppers the signature Orion experience.

Conceived and developed on the lines of a neighbourhood mall, Orion Avenue Mall promises to redefine the neighbourhood shopping centers in the country. The mall comprises of a good mix of shopping, leisure, F&B (food and beverages) and entertainment outlets. The surrounding areas include Frazer Town, Cox Town, Benson Town, HRBR Layout, Ulsoor, Kammanahalli among others.

Orion Avenue Mall is ideally located on Banaswadi Main Road. This location is comfortably accessible from the busy surrounding areas, as well as from central Bangalore. Before the development of Orion East Mall, there was never a Mall in Banaswadi. This marks an initiation of commercial activity in this area, providing a forum and thereby allowing customers from nearby areas to come and shop peacefully. The surrounding populace consists of a very stark cosmopolitan crowd, comprising army folks, and people from other different cultural backgrounds.

The mall aims to redefine neighbourhood shopping centers in the country by optimizing space planning and design. With a basket of more than 350 brands, Orion Avenue Mall boasts a fine mix of international and Indian brands that serve the aspirational needs of its consumers. The effort of the team at Orion is to ensure that the mall is soon rated as the best neighbourhood shopping center in the country following the Orion Mall at Brigade Gateway.

India’s leading departmental store chains Shopper Stop and Westside are the mall’s premium lifestyle anchors.  The mall consists of an impressive basket of international and Indian brands, including Apple, Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Hidesign, Body Shop, Sunglass Hut, Levi’s, Puma, Adidas, Sketchers, Pepe, Arrow, US Polo, Soch, Mothercare, Global Desi and many others.

The world’s fourth largest cinema operator, Cinepolis, is present inside, offering their award winning cinema experience over 5 screens that will enthrall the audience. Supported by a rich contemporary design and delivering an international shopping experience, Orion Avenue Mall provides efficient spaces to consumers along with high grade infrastructure.

Now Purchase FASTag at Airtel Payments Bank and Makes Road Travel Friction Less

Airtel Payments Bank offers Rs 50 cashback on purchase of FASTag from Airtel Thanks App. Airtel Thanks customers will soon be able to enjoy exclusive benefit of an additional Rs 50 cashback from the bank.

Airtel Payments Bank, in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL), has made FASTag available across its digital and retail touch points. FASTag enables automatic cashless payments at toll plazas across India, making road travel frictionless and time efficient.

FASTag can be purchased in a matter of few clicks on the Bank section of Airtel Thanks App. Airtel Payments Bank is offering a special benefit of Rs 50 cashback on FASTag purchase made via the app. Airtel Thanks customers will soon be able to enjoy an additional benefit of Rs 50 cashback on the online purchase.

FASTag can also be purchased from select banking points of Airtel Payments Bank. To buy a FASTag customers need to share a copy of the vehicle’s Registration Certificate (RC) and registration number.

FASTag is linked to a registered Airtel Payments Bank account or wallet to enable instant automatic deduction of toll charges. There is no need to recharge FASTag separately and bank/Wallet balance is good enough. FASTag users also get 2.5% cashback from NHAI on all Toll payments done using FASTag

Mr. Ganesh Ananthanarayanan, Chief Operating Officer, Airtel Payments Bank, said, “We are delighted to partner with NPCI to offer FASTag as part of our endeavour to bring a range of popular services to our digital platforms and promote cashless payments. We believe that upcoming use cases from NPCI such as digital parking payments and even challan payments will add to customer convenience and add to the vibrant digital ecosystem that India is building.”

Ms. Praveena Rai, Chief Operating Officer, NPCIsaid, “It is good to witness that Airtel Payments Bank is making FASTag available to vehicle owners for convenient and seamless toll plaza experience. Given the fact that we are just few days away for the mandatory FASTag implementation on 528+ toll plazas, it becomes crucial to create awareness among vehicle owners about its process and advantages. We would like to acknowledge the efforts of Airtel Payments Bank for creating a platform for its customers by giving them a hassle free toll payment experience with FASTag, and also contributing towards digitisation of toll payments.”

Airtel Payments Bank Ltd.

Airtel Payments Bank, launched in January 2017, now boasts of a physical presence in all 29 states of the country through its 500,000+ banking points. Out of these, over 60,000 focus on insurance and pension products in an attempt to reach the underserved. India’s first payments bank, it currently facilitates transactions worth 500 billion annually with a user base of over 40 million customers. In addition to its physical banking points, Airtel payments Bank also offers its banking services through its Android and iOS apps. In line with the Government’s vision of Digital India and Financial Inclusion, Airtel Payments Bank is striving to take digital banking services to the doorstep of every Indian, even in the remotest of rural areas. 

The festive Season Brings Deceptive Cheer for the “Forging and Auto Component Industry”

Highlights

* The Indian Automobile Manufacturers reported a surge of 5-7% retail sales during this festive season
* However, October 2019 wholesale still shows a decline 7-8% versus October 2018 for passenger vehicles
* 60-65% of the capacity of the forging industry caters to the Auto sector which has witnessed a weakening demand of around 25 to 30% on an average across sectors, with the highest drop being experienced in the offtake by the Commercial Vehicle segment at a level off 15- 18% of last year.             
* If the current scenario persists the industry anticipates further production and job cuts as some OE’s (Original Equipment) have already announced further curtailment of production for November viz October 2019

This Festive season the Indian Automobile Manufacturers have reported a rise of 5-7% sales during Navratri, Dussehra and Dhanteras. The uptick comes after a double-digit drop in sales each month from April to September driven by higher than previous discounts offered by the OE’s (Original Equipment) to enable liquidation of inventory. Thus, the overall Auto- Components and forging industry have not seen an improvement in their order books.

That car sales for top three manufacturers have raised this festive season. In the Navratri, to Dussehra period the country’s largest car manufacturers, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai, reported 7% and 10% growth respectively. For the same period, Mahindra registered a 100% spike in the sale of utility vehicles on Dhanteras. However, this spike in the sale at the retail/dealer’s level has failed to bring in any cheers for the forging industry, which continues to reel under the auto production cuts and pressure for liquidation of inventory that has built-up due to the changeover to BS-VI norms from 1st April 2020 onwards.

The apex body of the forging industry in India, the Association of Indian Forging Industry (AIFI) expressed concern over the lack of demand with respect to fresh orders from the automotive sector. With the ripple down effect of slumping automobile sales, the forging industry is facing the heat with a sharp decline in demand which has resulted in substantial production cuts.

The Indian Forging Industry primarily caters to the $57 billion Indian Automotive Industry, which accounts for 60-70% of the forging production, with the auto sector witnessing the worst ever slowdown the forging industry has witnessed a corresponding average slowdown to the tune of 25 -30%.

Speaking on the issue Mr. S Muralishankar, President- AIFI said, “The recent slew of festivals saw few car manufacturers reporting a decent increase in sales at the retail level. As a result, we witnessed inventory clearance at the dealer level. The figures during the festive period clearly indicate higher retail sales than the number of wholesales. This increase comes after a drop-in sale for last two quarters, driven by higher discounts offered by the OE’s (Original Equipment) to allow the liquidation of inventories. The production and demand at the manufacturing level haven’t seen any upward movement because of which the forging and auto-component sector continue to reel under the Auto slowdown. Currently, there is a huge inventory build-up due to poor demand and to curb this, many forging units have been making proportionate cuts in terms of working hours and production. If this scenario stretches further, we anticipate more production loss and job cuts.”

The industry is additionally grappling with various other concerns which could have further negative impact besides the fall in demand for forged parts. Some of the major threats looming over the forging industry due to the auto sector slowdown are part obsolescence on account of the looming changeover to BS-VI norms from BS-IV with effect from 1st April 2020, drop in the value of currently non-moving inventory due to downward commodity price corrections, difficulty in meeting repayment requirements of loans and interest liabilities due to the reduction in capacity utilisation.

The auto slowdown figures

The industry produced a total 21.76 lakhs vehicles including Passenger Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Three Wheelers, Two Wheelers and Quadricycle in Oct 2019 as against 24.93 lakhs in Oct 2018, registering a de-growth of -12.72 percent over the same period last year.

The Automotive Sector has been hit by several factors like increase in acquisition costs of vehicles due to legislative changes, the impact of which is compounded by the high GST rates, farm distress and liquidity constraints, besides unemployment and underemployment putting pressure on the household disposable income, new BS-VI emission norms, uncertainties regarding regulations and government policy, fluctuating fuel prices and the delay in scrappage policy are some of the key reasons for the slowdown.

Apart from this, the industry is also dealing with many other challenges that seem to hamper the overall growth in the long run. Issues like the rising steel prices and demand-supply gap, high electricity tariff rates in Maharashtra region, rising fuel prices, government’s thrust on electric vehicles and technology up-gradation & modernization.

Strict lending norms - Banks have set up a few measures that reflect their cautious approach to new vehicle loans. Firstly, Banks have limited the funding from the usual practice of financing on-road costs to a vehicle's ex-showroom rate. This has increased the cost of ownership for new car buyers.

MSMEs in trouble - The sector's financial health went from bad to worse. Issues with payments and lack of demand, combined with market issues, threaten MSMEs ' survival in the country. In a recent development, the RBI instructed state-owned banks not to declare stressed assets of MSMEs as non-performing assets (NPAs) until March 31, 2020, as the current norms stipulate that if over 90 days, any default should be listed as NPA. But industry feels declaring NPA after 91 days is not practical as most customers don’t pay to MSMEs on time, causing immense liquidity issues and few smaller associations have highlighted this the RBI requesting seeking an extension up to 180 days.

“We believe that the government needs to take a holistic approach to revive the reeling auto sector and give a necessary push. The industry is hoping for a few immediate steps to be taken by the government like cut in GST rates, reducing the overall cost of ownership and time-bound implementation of scrapping policy amongst others. The revival will play a critical role in strengthening the Forging Industry and shall provide collaborative platforms to address the challenges faced by the industry.” concludes Mr. S Muralishankar

With an annual output of about 30 Lakh MT, the Indian forging industry has about close to 400 forging units, of which 83 percent can broadly be categorized as Tiny and Small Enterprises. While 9 percent are Medium Sized, the remaining being Large Scale.

While SMEs contribute 30 percent of forging production, the Medium and Large-Scale units contribute 70 percent.  With a total production worth INR 45000-50000 crore the forging industry provides direct employment to more than 300,000 people in the country along with an additional 60000 contract labourers.

Accenture Introduces Offering to Help Financial Institutions Combat Financial Crime and Comply with Regulations

Accenture has introduced a compliance-as-a-service offering to help financial institutions, fintech and technology companies cost-effectively combat financial crime and comply with related regulations.

Navigating the regulations that combat financial crime can be very expensive, and financial institutions have incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties for failing to prevent parties from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income. It is estimated that financial services firms globally will spend 4% of total revenues, on average, on compliance-related activities, with that figure expected to rise to 10% by 2021.

Accenture’s compliance-as-a-service (CaaS) offering provides an end-to-end capability that leverages  SynOps — Accenture’s human-machine operating “engine” that synergizes data, applied intelligence, digital technologies and exceptional talent — to help financial institutions manage the scope and complexity of the ever-changing regulatory and compliance environment.

Designed to serve the compliance departments of banks, insurers, capital markets and other organizations, the CaaS offering —which expands Accenture’s managed service capabilities — delivers a variety of comprehensive managed services, including:

Know Your Customer (KYC): Tools and capabilities that help businesses verify the identity of clients and assess their suitability, along with the potential risk of illegal intentions in a business relationship. One large bank using this capability reduced case processing times by 15% and significantly reduced false positives.

Anti-Money Laundering (AML): Intensive measures to enable low- and high-risk customers to comply with AML regulations, including transaction monitoring and alert management.  For example, newly fortified AML controls recently helped a large bank achieve quality ratings greater than 95% and eliminate future quality assurance backlogs.

Compliance and controls testing, combined with governance, analytics and continuous reporting.

Contract lifecycle management, improved by transformational technologies, process and data strategies for London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) contracts.

Privacy data management, to ensure data practices keep pace with changing privacy regulations.

“Today’s compliance officers need to be agile and transform from reactive to strategic in an increasingly complex environment,” said Bob Bradley, who leads the CaaS offering for Accenture Operations.

“Although the cost of compliance continues to rise, compliance budgets remain stagnant. By moving compliance-related functions to a flexible operating model, our comprehensive offering will enable clients to manage risk with efficiency and speed, freeing them up to focus on higher value-added opportunities as part of their journey to intelligent operations.”

Steve Culp, a senior managing director at Accenture and head of the company’s Finance & Risk practice, said, “In addition to facing intense cost-pressure, compliance functions must also find talent with the full array of required skills needed to thrive in this new compliance environment, making technology-centered approaches essential. This new offering helps compliance employees enhance their skillsets, improve their productivity, and contend with emerging challenges such as data privacy.”

Accenture’s CaaS offering was recently recognized as a leader in Everest Group’s “2020 Financial Crime and Compliance Operations PEAK Matrix assessment.”