65% Children Do Not Have Healthy BMI in Bangalore, Reveals the 10th Annual Health Survey by Sportz Village

Sportz Village’s 10th Annual Health Survey (AHS) reveals that children are displaying poor fitness levels across India. The nationwide survey has covered 1,49,833 children in the age groups of 7 years to 17 years from 364 schools across 250 cities and towns.  The Bangalore city health survey recorded alarming results with 65% children having unhealthy BMI.

The AHS was launched 10 years ago to understand the overall health and fitness levels of children in private schools. The survey assessed the children on different fitness parameters of Body Mass Index (BMI), Aerobic capacity, Anaerobic capacity, Abdominal or Core strength, Flexibility, Upper body strength and Lower body strength.

At a national level the survey reveals that 1 in 2 children do not have healthy BMI. The number of children with healthy levels of Aerobic capacity, Upper body strength and Lower body strength is also low. Although this is a matter of concern, the number of children with healthy levels of Abdominal strength and Sprint capacity have increased in comparison to last year.

Saumil Majmudar, CEO, Sportz Village Schools, says, “The AHS indicate that the health of children in India is not what it should be. Although this is a cause for concern, we know what we have to do, to address this problem. The amount of time a child spends in physical activity is directly correlated to the fitness parameters of Upper body strength, BMI and Aerobic capacity. School leaders need to ensure that there is an adequate number of physical education periods factored into a school's timetable. There is also a need to implement structured in-school physical education programs that are age-appropriate, inclusive and engage all children meaningfully. Moreover, an adequate number of qualified physical education trainers are also required to ensure that all children get ample attention and equal opportunities to play and learn.”

Girls versus boys

The survey reveals that boys have slightly better BMI than girls. The boys also have better lower body strength and Aerobic Capacity. The girls, one the other hand, have fared better than boys in Upper body strength, Abdominal strength and Flexibility.

Fitness levels comparative (National) analysis:

Girls versus boys

The survey reveals that boys have slightly better BMI than girls. The boys also have better Upper body strength and Flexibility. The girls, one the other hand, have fared better than boys in Lower body strength and Aerobic capacity. The health levels of boys and girls in the remaining parameters i.e. Abdominal strength (84% healthy) and Anaerobic capacity (66% healthy) were the same.

Public schools versus Private schools

AHS further compared the fitness levels of children in public/government schools to the children in private schools. According to the survey, children in private schools have much better BMI (47%) compared to children in government schools (35%). Children in private schools have also fared better in the parameters of Upper body strength, Lower body strength and Abdominal strength. Children in government schools, on the other hand, have fared better in Aerobic and Anaerobic capacity as well as Flexibility.

Effect of number of P.E (Physical Education) classes per week

According to AHS, the number of weekly P.E periods also impacts the health of the children. The survey further shows that children with more than 2 physical education periods per week, have significantly higher Aerobic capacity. These children also fared slightly better in the fitness parameters of BMI and Lower body strength.

Impact of student-teacher ratio

The survey analyzes the effect of student-teacher ratio on the health of children. Low student-teacher ratio allows a teacher to better manage the physical education class. A class with fewer students enables the teacher to give his or her attention to each and every child. Therefore, the lower the student-teacher ratio, the healthier the children in all the parameters.

Schools that incorporated a structured in-school sports program have observed a consistent improvement in the BMI of their students.

Parameters description:

Body Mass Index (BMI): A value derived from the weight and height of an individual and is used to gauge whether a person is within a healthy weight range.

Aerobic capacity: The ability of the heart and lungs to get oxygen to the muscles.

Anaerobic capacity: The total amount of energy from the anaerobic (without oxygen) energy systems. It is useful during high intensity short duration exercises or tasks such as sprinting.

Abdominal or Core strength: The strength of the muscles of the torso which helps to determine posture.

Flexibility: The ability of one's joints to move freely.

Upper body strength: The strength of muscles such as Pectorals (chest), Rhomboids (upper back), Deltoids (outer shoulder), Triceps (back of upper arm) and Biceps (front of upper arm).

Lower body strength: The strength of muscles in the legs such as quadriceps (the muscles on the front of the upper leg), Hamstrings (the muscles on the back of the upper leg), Gluteals, Hip Flexors, and Calf muscles.

Anvayaa Kin Care wins Best Pitch Award at the E-Summit 2020 Organised by IIT Madras

Anvayaa Kin Care, India’s leading, Artificial-Intelligence (AI) enabled, holistic & personalised, one-stop, senior care provider, today announced their emergence as the winners of the best pitch awards in the top start-ups category at a recent event that concluded on 19th January 2020. The summit was conducted by the entrepreneurship cell of IIT Madras where the event also witnessed a gamut of other renowned start-ups and a larger investor community from across India.

The E-Cell of IIT Madras conducts the summit every year to bring together India’s budding start-ups with the aim of discovering and featuring the latest innovation as well as entrepreneurship. Aiming to prop the start-up development, the summit concentrates on providing networking and experimental learning opportunities. Additionally, the summit provides a great networking platform for founders, investors and various start-up enthusiasts.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Prashanth Reddy, Founder & Director of Anvayaa Kin Care, said, “We are extremely delighted that Anvayaa has bagged the prestigious award of top start-ups Pan India with the best pitch at E-Summit 2020 with its unique potential and viable business idea along with creating a substantial social impact by serving the elder population. It’s a proud moment for all of us at Anvayaa especially for our team of professionals and a result of the blessings we get from our existing elder families we support”

Anvayaa Kin Care aced the competition after successfully completing three difficult selection rounds that involved around 150 start-ups and won the top start-up with the best pitch award at the event.

About Anvayaa Kin Care

Anvayaa is a Hyderabad based tech start-up conceived in the year 2016 by 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 Kincare, 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.

Orion Mall Shines on Republic Day with Spectacular Sand Art

When Bangalore celebrates Republic Day as usual, Orion Mall at Brigade Gateway opted to do things a bit differently. The mall organised a one-of-kind sand Sculpture exhibition to celebrate the spirit of the occasion. Featuring works of renowned international artist Sudam Pradhan, the exhibition was held from Jan 24th till 31st. The event received immensely positive reaction from patrons and garnered significant footfalls, especially on Republic Day.

“It gives me great pleasure to say that the event was a glorious success on so many levels. Our patrons as well as casual customers were highly appreciative of the sand art exhibits. On a personal level, I feel that artist Sudam Pradhan did a phenomenal job of capturing the feel and character of Republic Day. Judging from the reaction of our patrons, it was evident that the exhibits evoked a palpable sense of patriotism. Also, as indicated by audience feedback, the mall served as the apt setting for a celebration that aroused such strong feelings of national pride.” opines Vijay Kumar Bhatia, Sr. GM, Orion Malls.

Connecting with You on Behalf of McAfee, the Device to Cloud Cybersecurity Company

Throughout 2019, India witnessed a slew of data breaches that made headlines, ranging from theft of bank account credentials, personally identifiable information, medical data and sensitive enterprise data. On the occasion of International Data Privacy Day observed on 28th January, below is a quote on behalf of Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director, McAfee India, emphasising the importance of being cognizant of one’s private data, and its security in a data driven world.

“The more technology we adopt in our lives, the more our privacy seems to slip away. The irresistible urge to share everything we do on social channels is actively providing an expanse of unnecessary information about our personal lives to everyone out there. Online advertisers and marketers are using “supercookies” to relay information about you and your web browsing habits. While mobile apps implement permission-based models to protect access to personal user data, parallelly, they can bypass these permissions to gain access to sensitive user data without consent.

There’s little doubt that the digital world provides speed, convenience and time-efficiency for a better consumer experience. However, as companies collect more and more customer data and with third parties desperate for the said data, we run the risk of handing over our sensitive personal information to cyber criminals. Data has now become a commodity for organisations that look to monetize it by selling it to advertisers. 

This Data Privacy Day is a stark reminder of the importance of managing our digital footprint, encouraging safe online practices and raising awareness about the need for data privacy. Privacy and security complement each other. People need to  take control of their data by exercising privacy controls on all devices and accounts. As a rule, only download apps from a trustworthy source and only give apps and services the permissions they absolutely need to function. In addition, it is best to avoid using the same password for multiple accounts, because if one account is compromised in a data breach, all accounts using the password are vulnerable. While transparency may seem to be the current fad, users must recognize the potential for data to be misused and limit the amount of information shared on social media. While India’s Personal Data Protection Bill is step in the right direction to empower consumers, the onus lies equally on the users to be aware, informed and vigilant about how their data is being harnessed.”  - Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director, McAfee India.

Naveen Chander, Co-founder, NuTy Asks FM to Accommodate Budgetary Allocations in Three Important Areas for a Healthier India

India’s has a burgeoning young working population with a median age of 28.4, making the needs of nutrition and health through good quality food the most urgent need of the country. While many in urban India are calorifically sufficient, nearly 70% are nutritionally deficient, which causes several long-term health problems and diseases. The availability of a balanced diet for working adults is of utmost importance to individuals, as it is to the nation.

The critical need for India is for affordable, tasty, nutritional, and hygienic food made accessible to working millennials in an easy and convenient manner so they do not have to make compromises on health due to the type of food they consume daily.

At the same time, India’s food wastage is estimated to be around 67,000 million tonnes every year valued at Rs. 92,000 Crores, which can and must be saved with modern food preserving technologies.

We urge the Hon’ble Finance Minister to accommodate budgetary allocations in three important areas for a healthier India; 

(1) Income Tax rebate for three years for companies helping reduce food wastage using modern food preserving technologies like cold-pasteurization High Pressure Processing (HPP) who can give assurance of extended shelf life of ready-to-eat, cooked meals of upto 4 months or more.

(2) Zero GST bracket for food processing companies that source agri-produce directly from farmers, fishermen and poultry farmers, creating farm-to-table access for agri-produce by eliminating the agricultural middleman. 

The Esports Club Partners with Ahmedabad’s First-Ever Comic Con to Create Exclusive Gaming Experience Zone

Highlights

* The gaming zone is a central part of the first-ever Comic Con in Ahmedabad which will be held at the Gujarat University * Convention and Exhibition Centre, Ahmedabad on February 1st and 2nd
* Passes for the event start from INR 599 and are available at www.comicconindia.com

Pop culture lovers in Ahmedabad are in for a treat as the city gets ready to host its inaugural Comic Con. Ahmedabad Comic Con will feature an exclusive gaming zone in partnership with The Esports Club (TEC), an initiative focused on developing India’s esports community – in addition to the complete Comic Con experience which includes creators, performances, experience zones and geekiest shopping from leading brands, creators and artists across India and the world.

Speaking for Comic Con, Ahmedabad, Jatin Varma, Founder, Comic Con India said, “Comic Con is the greatest celebration of pop culture and entertainment not just in India, but the world. At Comic Con India, we offer our fans the best experience possible and given its rapidly growing community, gaming has become a very critical part of the Comic Con experience. We are excited about working with TEC to launch The Esports Club Arena at our first show in Ahmedabad.”

The gaming-focused zone has been designed to create various fun and engaging activities for Comic Con attendees and gaming fans alike. The Esports Club Arena powered by LG Ultragear will feature booths from industry leaders like LG, ZOTAC Gaming, ACT Fibernet and World of Warships, amongst others, offering fans a peek into the latest and greatest gaming equipment and tech. Fans at the event will have an opportunity to play the latest games on the best hardware including premium gaming monitors from LG, showcasing the company’s wide range of products that feature 4K displays and high refresh-rate devices, making them the perfect choice for all types of games and gamers.

Players can also to take part in multiple daily tournaments featuring games like FIFA 20, Tekken 7 and Counter Strike Global Offensive with prizes up to INR 15,000 up for grabs across each title every day. The Esports offering doesn’t stop there as the event will also serve as the finale for TEC’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Tournament with a prize pool of INR 1.5 lakhs up for grabs.

Ishaan Arya, the co-founder of The Esports Club, focused on the importance of building India’s esports communities, saying, “Our aim is to nurture the esports community in India beyond just the top two or three games that most people focus on. This wider scope and audience make a partnership with Comic Con a natural fit for us; An exclusive gaming zone at the event is a testament to the growth of India’s gaming ecosystem.”

Ravi Karthik, Head of Marketing, Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd said, “Gaming is an important segment for us and we’ve been working across the country in our efforts to reach gamers in an engaging way. Now partnering with The Esports Club for online and offline events such as The Esports Club Arena is the next step in this journey as it presents great value in terms of what a gaming event can offer brands ”

Rajeev Girdhar, European Publishing Director for World of Warships and India Operations Lead, said, “We’ve seen great growth in India thanks to our partnership with ACT Fibernet and our foray into Indian esports with The Esports Club. We had significant success at our partnered booth during Comic Con Delhi and now we’re looking at an even more focused audience with The Esports Club Arena at Comic Con Ahmedabad.

 Deepak Gupta, Country Head at Zotac Technology Limited, one of TEC’s partners for this event, sees the growth of such focused programs driving the future of India’s gaming industry. He said, “Gaming is in our DNA, and we are strongly behind any initiative that seeks to build this ecosystem in India. From an outreach standpoint, The Esports Club Arena offers a much bigger platform and opportunity than anything else available in India today.”

TEC partners for the event include

LG Ultragear
Wargaming
ACT Fibernet (service)
ZOTAC Gaming
Games The Shop, India’s leading specialist retailer
In addition to a peek into the latest and greatest in gaming, attendees can expect to get exclusive offers from partners available on ground and online, product walkthroughs, game demos, exclusive tournaments, and even a chance to win some merchandise. Comic Con 2020 will be held in Ahmedabad on February 1 and 2 at GUCEC, Memnagar. Passes start from INR 599 and are available on www.comicconindia.com

About The Esports Club (TEC)

The Esports Club (TEC) is an initiative that is focused on building India’s esports ecosystem through events, communities, and partnerships. TEC works with a wide range of industry-leading companies across verticals to drive its vision of realizing Indian gaming’s immense potential at the professional, semi-professional, and even amateur level. The Esports Club works with leading hardware brands like LG, Lenovo, ZOTAC and service providers like ACT Fibernet to drive esports growth and opportunities across multiple games and genres.

This is the Right Time to Buy a Two-Wheeler in the Indian Market

With the domestic two-wheeler industry all set to transition to the new BS-VI emission norms from April 1, 2020, all the manufacturers are racing against time to liquidate the inventory of their BS-IV vehicles.

Recently many two-wheeler manufacturers have launched BS-VI compliant products and the prices of these products are 12-15% higher than their BS-IV variants. So, for a motorcycle or scooter that costs Rs. 50,000, the price would increase by around Rs. 7000 – 8000, and for a vehicle costing Rs. 100,000 the price would increase by Rs. 12000 – 15000.

Thus, right now, is the most opportune time for customers to buy their motorcycles and scooters and save 12-15% on the purchase cost.

For instance, Hero MotoCorp, the country’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer has already launched two BS-VI compliant motorcycles, including the Splendor iSmart and HF Deluxe.

The HF Deluxe BS-VI is now priced at Rs. 55,925 (ex-showroom Delhi).  So, if a customer purchases a BS-IV version of this motorcycle today, he/ she can save nearly Rs. 10,000 including the ongoing discounts.

Thus, today there is a significant cost-benefit of buying a BS-IV two-wheeler. The sustained benefit will also include a higher resale value for BS-IV two-wheeler later given the higher price range of new BS-VI models.

Manufacturers like Hero MotoCorp are also fast discontinuing the production of BS-IV inventory, thereby making stocks of BS-IV two-wheelers very limited. These two-wheelers are being sold on attractive offers until inventories last.

According to a Hero MotoCorp dealer, “The Company is aggressively replacing all the stocks of BS-IV vehicles with BS-VI vehicles. There is little stock of BS-IV vehicles coming from the Company and we are also exhausting our inventories very quickly. By February, we may not have a lot of BS-IV vehicles left with us.”

Hero MotoCorp is in good stead for a transition of its entire product range to BS-VI emission norms. It has already discontinued over 125 variants of its BS-IV range of motorcycles and is only producing BS-VI scooters. The Company introduced India’s first BS-VI motorcycle, the Splendor iSmart in November last year and launched the HF Deluxe BS-VI within a few weeks after the first introduction.