During Lockdown, Vodafone Idea is Enabling Customers in Karnataka to Avail Services and Recharge Online

Highlights

* Reaching out to customers to familiarize and access assistance through digital platforms
* Enabled recharge through Bank ATMs
* Helping 2G users to do Quick Recharges through SMS
* Customer Service personnel going the extra mile to assist customers, given that retail outlets are non- operational
* Vodafone customers can now recharge at Idea retail outlets and Idea customers can avail recharge at Vodafone retail outlets

To ensure customers in Karnataka remain connected during the lockdown, Vodafone Idea is enabling its customers to avail services and recharges on the digital platform.

Vodafone Idea customer service teams are creating awareness among customers on accessing and taking the benefit of digital platforms through video links, GIFs, dockets that explain the process for undertaking recharge and effecting bill payments. Recharge process details are also being communicated via my Vodafone app, my Idea app and enabled via digital wallets. Pre-paid customers can also undertake recharges through their nearest Bank ATM. Additionally, Vodafone Idea is requesting digital savvy customers to #RechargeforGood and help their friends, relatives and neighbors who are not familiar with digital platforms.

With retail outlets being inoperational during the lockdown, Vodafone Idea is helping its 2G customers using feature phones, to access Quick Recharge through SMS and Missed call. The process is simple and easy to understand. Customers just need to send a SMS from their registered mobile number. In some cases customers will have to complete the process by giving a missed call to a designated number.

Quick Recharge through SMS

•      E.g. SBI Bank : SMS to 9223440000

SMS Format: StopupUseridMPINVODAFONE/IDEA10 digit Mob         NoAmount

•      ICICI Bank: SMS to 9222208888 : MTOPUPIDEA/VODAFONE10 digit Mob NoAmountLast 6 digits of Bank Acc

•      Axis Bank: SMS to 9717000002 / 5676782 : MOBILE10 digit Mob NoIdea/VodafoneAmountLast 6 digits of Bank Acc

•      Kotak Bank : SMS to 9971056767 / 5676788 : REC10 digit Mob No VODAFONE/IDEAAmountLast 4 digits of Bank Acc

•      IndusInd Bank : SMS to 9212299955: MOB10 digit Mob No VODAFONE/IDEAAmountLast 4 digits of Debit card

Quick Recharge through SMS and Missed call

•      E.g.  HDFC Bank : SMS and Call to 7308080808

     1st Step SMS:  ACT VODAFONE/IDEALast 5 digits of Bank Acc

    2nd Step SMS: FAV98XXXXXXXXAmount

   Confirm your recharge by giving a call

    3rd Step: Give missed call to 7308080808

The facility is already live and can be used by customers using their registered mobile numbers.

As an additional convenience factor, Vodafone pre-paid customers can now recharge at Idea retail outlets and Idea customers can avail recharge at Vodafone retail outlets.

Covid-19: LAVA’s Three-Pronged Approach for its People Across India

The dramatic spread of COVID-19 and the subsequent countrywide lockdown has disrupted communities and businesses worldwide. Organizations around the world, including LAVA, are coming forward with innovative ways to minimize the impact of the pandemic on its employees.

Here is the three-pronged approach that LAVA is following for its employees during these tough times.

Empathy & Care- Lava’s top management made phone calls to each and every employee to show solidarity, to comfort them and to know if they needed any help. A comprehensive employee communication program to allay fears and anxieties of its employees also included email messages from leadership, virtual Town Hall and many other initiatives.

Earlier, 20% advance salary was paid to the factory workers to support their expenses during this lockdown period.
Work Engagement- Lava has formed small working committees to ensure that its employees are connected and normal work can be carried out from home. Lava employees find unique and creative ways to keep contributing to the Country while they work from home.

Learning & Development- Lava is running virtual Learning & Development programs for its employees to groom them for the role ahead. The company identified many internal trainers, called Dhronacharyas, with different areas of expertise who conduct online sessions for its workforce in batches. Additionally, Lava is encouraging its employees to read books as a part of its 3D contest which the company started last year for the all-round development of its employees. Under this ongoing program employees are also encouraged to stay fit and healthy.

“At the moment safety and well-being of our employees is our top most priority and we believe that an empathetic approach is the best way to deal with the current situation. From outreach programs to capability building initiatives we are ensuring that our people are not only engaged on daily basis but also fully equipped to deal with the post-lockdown challenges.” -Sunil Raina, President and Business Head, Lava International.

Earlier, the company ran extensive awareness drive for its employees by arranging interactive sessions with expert doctors, placing 1 lakh+ posters at retail shops for awareness.

Lava employees voluntarily contributed 1 day’s salary to the #PMCaresFund.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Extends its COVID-19 Relief Support in India

Highlights

* Deploys 14 buses to support the health department of Government of Karnataka
* Hands over Hazmat suits to Government Health Volunteers

In the wake of growing number of coronavirus cases in India and implications brought about by the COVID-19 across the nation, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced its continued support and some specific measures to aid the State Government in its fight against the pandemic. As doctors, paramedics and other hospital staff are at the frontlines during this unprecedented public health emergency, they are susceptible and require Personal Protective Equipment Kits as well as other support to carry out their duties effectively. In order to support the efforts of the Government, TKM today pledged transportation support to the health department workforce in addition to handing over of 1000 Hazmat suits to Government Health Volunteers thus ensuring care for the caregivers.

TKM deployed 10 buses to the Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute (BMCRI) while Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) provided another 4 buses to the Health Department of Ramanagara district to enable convenient, hassle free and safe mobility for healthcare workers. These buses will be available 24*7 till 30th of April for the medical staff including doctors, nurses, security team and other public health workers for their mobility purposes such as visit to hospitals, field work and other coordination. Furthermore, 1000 number of Hazmat suits were today handed over to Dr. C R Jayanthi, Dean, Director & Principal at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore. Additionally, the company will hand over another 2000 of such Hazmat suits to the Government.

Commenting on the extension of relief measures, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Country Head & Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility & Corporate Governance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “In such uncertain circumstances and juncture of social distress, Toyota Kirloskar Motor as a responsible and committed corporate is steadfast in its resolve to continue its support to the Government of Karnataka in tackling this nationwide emergency. Toyota’s motto of providing utmost safety and security doesn’t just end with its cars or stakeholders but transcends the boundaries of our offices and factories. Accordingly, in these turbulent times it is important for us to help each other and the Government.

We have been closely monitoring the evolving situation and have also taken necessary countermeasures to safeguard the health and safety of our people. We will continue to explore more initiatives that can roll out at the earliest and support the Government to the required extent in its fight against the repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Representing TMF, Mr. Pras Ganesh, Program Director for Asia Region, said, “The aim of TMF is to provide the best possible mobility solution for our valued healthcare workers, allowing them to have a safe, expedient and free commute at this uncertain time. This should give these heroes, who are on the frontlines of this battle, some convenience and peace of mind. We are rolling out similar services in some South East Asian countries as well”

TKM recently distributed 1000 essential kits and food supplies to daily wage workers, benefitting over 5000 members in the community. TKM has been encouraging ICARE [an employee volunteerism platform volunteers to utilize digital platforms to spread awareness on hygiene practices and techniques to combat COVID-19, while staying at home.

Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue to Decline 0.9% in 2020 Due to Coronavirus Impact

Due to the impact of the coronavirus on semiconductor supply and demand, worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to decline 0.9% in 2020, according to Gartner, Inc. This is down from the previous quarter’s forecast of 12.5% growth.

“The wide spread of COVID-19 across the world and the resulting strong actions by governments to contain the spread will have a far more severe impact on demand than initially predicted,” said Richard Gordon, research practice vice president at Gartner. “This year’s forecast could have been worse, but growth in memory could prevent a steep decline.”

Overall, 2020 global semiconductor revenue has been reduced from the previous quarter’s forecast by $55 billion, to $415.4 billion (see Table 1). 2020 total market growth has been reduced from 12.5% to a decline of 0.9%, with nonmemory expected to decline 6.1%, while memory is forecast to grow 13.9%.

Within memory, NAND flash revenue is forecast to grow 40% in 2020 due to severe shortages persisting from 2019, which keeps pricing firm. “NAND flash supply will remain historically low in 2020 due to fab delays and technology transitions, but the demand will diminish later in 2020,” said Mr. Gordon. “Initial price increases of 15.7% during the first half of 2020 will reverse to a 9.4% decline during the second half of the year. However, average pricing levels will still enable NAND flash revenue to achieve growth this year.”

Strong demand from cloud service providers in the first half of 2020 will push pricing and revenue higher in server DRAM. However, this growth will be more than offset by weak demand and falling prices from the smartphone market. For the DRAM market overall, Gartner analysts estimate DRAM revenue will decline 2.4% in 2020.

“Non-memory semiconductor markets will experience a significant reduction in smartphone, automobile and consumer electronics production and be heavily impacted across the board,” said Mr. Gordon. “In contrast, the hyperscale data center and communications infrastructure sectors will prove more resilient with continued strategic investment required to support increased remote working and online access.”

Gartner clients can learn more in the report “Forecast Alert: 2020 Semiconductor Revenue Downgraded by $55 Billion due to COVID-19 Impact.”

Learn more about how to lead organizations through the disruption of coronavirus in the Gartner coronavirus resource center, a collection of complimentary Gartner research and webinars to help organizations respond, manage and prepare for the rapid spread and global impact of COVID-19.

Trend Micro Research Finds Misconfiguration as Number One Risk to Cloud Environments

Trend Micro Incorporated, the global leader in cloud security, today released the findings from research into cloud security, which highlights human error and complex deployments open the door to a wide range of cyber threats.

Gartner predicts that by 2021, over 75% of midsize and large organizations will have adopted multi-cloud or hybrid IT strategy. As cloud platforms become more prevalent, IT and DevOps teams face additional concerns and uncertainties related to securing their cloud instances.

This newly released report reaffirms that misconfigurations are the primary cause of cloud security issues. In fact, Trend Micro Cloud One – Conformity identifies 230 million misconfigurations on average each day, proving this risk is prevalent and widespread.

“Cloud-based operations have become the rule rather than the exception, and cybercriminals have adapted to capitalize on misconfigured or mismanaged cloud environments,” said Greg Young, vice president of cybersecurity for Trend Micro. “We believe migrating to the cloud can be the best way to fix security problems by redefining the corporate IT perimeter and endpoints. However, that can only happen if organizations follow the shared responsibility model for cloud security. Taking ownership of cloud data is paramount to its protection, and we’re here to help businesses succeed in that process.”

The research found threats and security weaknesses in several key areas of cloud-based computing, which can put credentials and company secrets at risk. Criminals capitalizing on misconfigurations have targeted companies with ransomware, cryptomining, e-skimming and data exfiltration.

Misleading online tutorials compounded the risk for some businesses leading to mismanaged cloud credentials and certificates. IT teams can take advantage of cloud native tools to help mitigate these risks, but they should not rely solely on these tools, the report concludes.

Trend Micro recommends several best practices to help secure cloud deployments:

Employ least privilege controls: restricting access to only those who need it.
Understand the Shared Responsibility Model: Although cloud providers have built-in security, customers are responsible for securing their own data.
Monitor for misconfigured and exposed systems: Tools like Conformity can quickly and easily identify misconfigurations in your cloud environments.
Integrate security into DevOps culture: Security should be built into the DevOps process from the start.

ITC Provides Meals, Food Products & Hygiene Essentials to the Needy Across 17 States

Highlights

• 10 lakh pieces of Savlon soaps
• 6 lakh packets of Sunfeast Biscuits
• 3 lakh packets of YiPPee! noodles
• 1.5 lakh packets B Natural Juices distributed so far
• ITC’s Foods Business has curated special boxes of Aashirvaad and Sunfeast for children and elderly
• ITC Hotels and ITC Paperboards Divisions distributing meals and hygiene products
As part of the multiple initiatives undertaken by ITC in India's fight against the Coronavirus, the Company is working closely with district administrations across 17 states in the country to provide essential food items like atta, noodles, biscuits & juices and hygiene products like soaps for people in distress. 

This initiative is currently going on in full swing with more than 1 million pieces of Savlon soaps, 3 lakh packets of YiPPee! noodles, nearly 6 lakh packets of Sunfeast biscuitsand 1.5 lakh packs of B Natural fruit juices being delivered to district authorities till date. In some parts, the police administration has requested for soaps for their personnel which has also been provided. Savlon soaps have also been provided for district health centres in some states including West Bengal.

ITC Foods Distributing food items to children and elderly:

To provide support to the children and senior citizens across Indian households, ITC Foods is sending food supplies across the country through its ‘Aashirvaad Box of Hope’ and ‘Sunfeast Box of Happiness’ initiative. ITC has joined hands with 3 leading NGOs building a seamless network to deliver essential food supplies to those severely impacted by the current lockdown. With support from the State Government, ITC’s Foods Division has also provided help to the residents of Bhilwara district in Rajasthan, one of the worst affected districts by distributing 10 kilograms of Aashirvaad Atta to cover approximately a month-long staple requirement and some snacks like Bingo! for the members of some of the families from the region. 

Distribution of cooked meals:

Given the urgent requirement to provide cooked meals to migrant workers and needy people across the country, ITC Hotels as well as ITC factories are providing extensive support to Governments across different states, based on the requirements of the local administration as well as hospitals. ITC Maurya and Sheraton in New Delhi have been providing over 1500 meals daily for distribution to migrant workers.  ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru is lending its support with 1000 food packets daily for 15 days (15000 meals) to the Municipal Corporation. ITC Grand Central in Mumbai has made arrangements to deliver meals to doctors in MG Hospital. Food has also been catered to doctors at the Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai by ITC Grand Central. Fortune Hotel in Lucknow is also lending assistance through the provision of more than 1000 meals per day. This initiative will be progressively rolled out in other metros based on the need. ITC’s Paperboards Business has been distributing over 1400 meals to migrant labourers around the factory in Bhadrachalam.  In addition, ITC factories in Saharanpur, UP well as ITC teams in Patna have been providing more than 3500 cooked meals per day in proximate areas.

Distribution of Hygiene Products:

In addition to providing meals, ITC Hotel properties in Jaipur and Goa have made meaningful contributions by providing shower caps for doctors and healthcare workers as well as ensuring availability of sanitisers.

In Bhadrachalam, ITC’s Paper and Paperboards Divisiondistributed masks and hand gloves to truck drivers as well as sanitisers to public health workers in Secunderabad. The Business also disinfected around 18 villages around the Bhadrachalam factory. Awareness programmes were also conducted by the Well Being out of Waste Teams in 16 districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

ITC’s Corona Contingency Fund of Rs 150 crore:

As an organisation committed to serving national priorities, ITC has taken several other initiatives over the last few weeks to support lives and livelihoods during the unprecedented crisis posed by the Coronavirus pandemic. ITC has set up a Contingency Fund of Rs 150 crore to provide relief to the vulnerable and most needy sections of society who have been harshly impacted by the pandemic. In support of the Government’s efforts in mitigating the crisis, ITC pledged its contribution of Rs 100 crore to the #PMCaresFunds

Ensuring Distribution of Essential Commodities to Consumers:

To ensure the availability of essential items such as ITC’s different Food products and Savlon hygiene products across the country, ITC's entire supply chain right from agri sourcing to production to distribution is working tirelessly battling all odds to ensure that consumers are not inconvenienced on account of shortages or unavailability. ITC has also been working closely with Government authorities and local administration to ensure that manufacturing and distribution of ITC’s essential commodities continue uninterrupted with minimum people. ITC has redoubled its efforts to ensure a heightened level of precaution and have implemented strict protocols for personal hygiene, sanitation and social distancing in its factories that are producing essential commodities. For those who have to work in factories or maintain supplies in markets, every safety precaution including supply of sanitizers, protective gear, masks, regular temperature checks, staggered work timings and availability of 24x7 medical support have been implemented.

Snapchat Launches the Donation Lenses to Support COVID-19 Response Efforts by WHO

In these testing times, Snap Inc. has taken a proactive approach to ensure Snapchatters have access to credible, fact-based information on their platform. In line with this, Snapchat introduces new augmented reality - donation lense in India for Snapchatters who want to support COVID-19 response efforts.

When a Snapchatter views an INR 500 currency note in the Snapchat camera and taps on it, an AR experience will trigger that shows how a potential donation could support the World Health Organization’s immediate response efforts, which include tracking the spread of COVID-19, ensuring patients get the care they need, and providing frontline workers with critical supplies.

These lenses are being launched in partnership with the United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund in support of the WHO, and will direct Snapchatters to the donation page for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO. Snapchatters will be able to access these lenses in several ways, including in the lens carousel, via Snapcode, or by using Scan. You can donate any amount in supported currencies. The AR experience will show you how your potential donation could support WHO’s work to track and understand the spread of the virus; to ensure patients get the care they need and frontline workers get essential supplies and information; and to accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests, and treatments. The Donation lens is active on other currencies as well such as pound, euro, dollar.

These new AR lenses build on Snap’s efforts to support Snapchatters and the partners to navigate this unprecedented challenge together. Snap has believed that Snapchatters play a critical role in stopping the spread of the virus; and has seen increased engagement across the platform, including in Snaps sent between best friends, voice and video calling.

This is the latest feature launched by Snap as the team continues to focus on providing a seamless in app experience to help the Snap community communicate with loved ones while being physically distant, stay informed, share vital safety information with their friends, and more.

Additional on Snap’s COVID-19 efforts:

Snap ensures that the community has access to the latest news and information on COVID-19, from trusted and credible sources. The WHO and CDC are publishing regular updates to their users from their Official Accounts; more than 40 media publishers around the world are covering every angle of the pandemic; and Snap is onboarding new editorial partners. Snap’s own news team is also regularly producing coverage and continuously updating Discover with tips and information about COVID-19, including Q&As with medical experts. To date, over 445 Discover Stories or Shows have been produced on COVID-19, and over 68 million Snapchatters worldwide have viewed COVID-19-related content on Snapchat.

Snapchat introduces creative tools to share safety tips with their close friends and loved ones.  These tools include a new Snappable mythbusting game based on guidance from the WHO; an informational lens in partnership with the WHO that lets Snapchatters share safety tips in a visual way; Bitmoji that enforce key health and safety messages; and new features in Zenly app (by Snapchat)

About the COVID-19 SOLIDARITY RESPONSE FUND

The COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO allows companies, organizations, and people everywhere to donate to WHO’s COVID-19 response efforts. Donations go into a fund to support: Tracking and understanding the spread of the virus; Ensuring patients get the care they need, and frontline workers get essential supplies and information; Accelerating efforts to develop vaccines, tests and treatments.