Emirates Welcomes Its First of Three A380s to be Delivered in Dec 2020

Emirates has welcomed MSN A6-EVL, its 116th A380 as the first of three A380s to join its fleet in 2020. The aircraft arrived in Dubai in the early hours of Saturday morning, powered by a blend of conventional jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel.

Emirates is scheduled to receive two more A380 aircraft later this month, one of which will feature its long-awaited signature Premium Economy product.

Since its entry into the Emirates fleet 12 years ago, the A380 has been the airline’s flagship and a customer favourite, captivating the imagination of travellers by providing an unmatched travel experience. Signature elements such as A380 Onboard Lounge and Shower Spa, continue to be talked about around the world.

The Emirates A380 experience remains highly sought after by customers, with many ensuring they book their travel on this aircraft to experience its spaciousness, quietness and comfort across every cabin. Emirates has recently reinstated its iconic products for customers to enjoy, balancing an elevated experience during the pandemic with measures that prioritise the health and wellbeing of passengers.

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline said: “The A380 has been a success story for Emirates, and this is reflected in the strong customer interest wherever we’ve deployed the aircraft over the years. The A380 has helped us efficiently serve customer demand at slot constrained airports and also on trunk routes, supporting our long-haul hub operations. Importantly, with the space and technology on this aircraft, we’ve been able to introduce new concepts onboard that have transformed the flying experience for the better. We look forward to introducing our Premium Economy experience on which will make its debut on an A380 in the coming months, and we will continue to invest in our world-class A380 product experience. The A380 will remain our flagship for the next decade, and we will re-deploy it on more routes as travel demand returns.”

The A380 currently flies to Cairo, Amman, Paris, London, Guangzhou, Manchester and Moscow and recently services have been ramped up to four daily A380s on London Heathrow and daily flights to Moscow. The double-decker is also demonstrating its versatility by being utilised as a ‘mini-freighter’ on select cargo charter operations to transport urgently required cargo across the Emirates network.

The delivery flight for the newest member of the Emirates fleet was powered by a blend of jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This is the first time the airline is using sustainable aviation fuel to power an A380. The biofuel used for the flight was produced from used cooking oil in Finland.

Sir Tim commented on the airline’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact: “Sustainability remains very much on our agenda at Emirates. We are watching developments in sustainable aviation fuel very closely, and we look forward to a time when it can be produced at scale, and in a cost competitive manner. Our latest A380 delivery flight was partially powered by sustainable aviation fuel and this is a positive step towards reducing our overall emissions.”

Emirates continues to support initiatives that contribute to the development of the SAF industry and wider deployment of biofuels. The airline is part of the Steering Committee of the Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition, established by the World Economic Forum to promote the development of SAF. Emirates has also supported a series of webinars on the future of SAF in the UAE, hosted by Khalifa University. A third of Emirates’ crew transportation buses in Dubai currently are powered by biofuels, with its one of its main crew bus transport contractors, Al Wegdaniyah, adopting biofuel supplied by Neutral Fuels.

Emirates continues to take significant steps towards emissions reduction. In addition to operating modern and fuel efficient aircraft with an average age of 6.5 years, Emirates also has a comprehensive fuel efficiency programme that has implemented a range of initiatives including working with air navigation providers on “flex tracks”, or flexible routings that create the most efficient flight plan for each flight.

Emirates also runs a robust fuel monitoring system. On the ground, the airline implements fuel-efficient practices where possible, such as the use of power units that consume less energy, and switching one or two engines off while taxiing in after landing. Other operating initiatives include idle reverse thrust on landing, loading efficiency improvements, aircraft weight management, and the introduction of electronic flight bags for cockpit crew.

SBI Life Unveils Power Packed ‘Smart Future Choices’ Savings Product

Key highlights of ‘Smart Future Choices’:

* ‘Power to Choose’ various product features throughout the policy term

* Option to choose ‘Premium amount, Policy Term and Premium Payment Term

* Option to choose Cash Bonus without the wait of maturity or Defer Cash Bonus

* Special “Money on Demand” feature offering survival benefit payouts at particular intervals

SBI Life Insurance, one of most trusted private life insurers in the country, announced the launch of a power packed 'SBI Life - Smart Future Choices’ savings product. Tapping into the rising consumer awareness on the need for insurance, the individual, non-linked, participating life insurance savings plan empowers consumers with the ‘Power to Choose’ various options and benefits as per their changing needs from time to time throughout the policy term.

SBI Life’s- ‘Smart Future Choices’ aims to allows consumers to select options like choosing the premium amount, term policy or premium payment term along with the capacity to review the features of the life insurance plan as per their changing needs and requirements. The plan provides a unique opportunity to choose benefit pay-outs in lump sum or flexibly. One can also avail regular cash bonus and pay-outs as per their evolving requirements. This "DIY" nature of the product essentially caters to specific requirements of millennials who do not want to remain confined to product benefits opted in past but look for freedom to choose benefits during policy term or at maturity thereby filling this intrinsic need which existed in life insurance market.

Commenting on the launch of ‘SBI Life- Smart Future Choices’, Mr. M. Anand, President, Zone II, SBI Life Insurance said, “As we’ve learnt from our recent ‘Understanding consumer attitude towards Financial Immunity’ survey, consumers are increasingly choosing to stay financially protected. Having the power to choose, is often associated with a sense of independence over the way in which our life progresses. Today the consumer is looking for choices at every step and looks at insurance through the same lens. SBI Life’s ‘Smart Future Choices’ has been designed keeping this in mind, to cater to the unique needs of every consumer. SBI Life’s ‘Smart Future Choices’ aims to fulfil the unique aspirations of multitude of consumers, with the objective of giving them the power of choices so that they can accomplish their financial goals.”

In tandem with their customer-centric approach, SBI Life through ‘Smart Future Choices’ seeks to give its consumers the autonomy to shape their life insurance policy as per their needs, right from the very start of the policy and throughout their policy term too, enabling them to effectively carve their future plans.

Key features of SBI Life- ‘Smart Future Choices’ plan:

1.      The plan comes with two benefit options, ‘Classic Choice’ and ‘Flexi Choice’

2.      The ‘Classic Choice’ benefit offers a lump sum maturity benefit at the end of policy term and life cover throughout the policy term, while the ‘Flexi Choice’ offers a basic sum assured as survival benefits at determined intervals along with a maturity benefit at the term-end and life cover

a.      One can switch from one option to other option even after premium payment term is over*

3.      The plan allows one to choose between the options of receiving Cash Bonus on a year on year basis or Defer Cash Bonus, as per consumer choice. The bonus stays as a corpus that will be paid on demand of the policyholder, at any point during the term of the policy, acting as a saving that comes handy, whenever the need arises.

a.      The deferred pay-outs also earn interest linked to Reverse Repo Rate during deferment period

b.      Additionally, under its unique Auto Cover feature, life risk is covered for 1 year after payment of 2 years premium and for 2 years after 5 years’ premiums are paid in case of non-payment of further premium. 

4.      The plan provides consumers with ‘Survival Benefits’ or ‘Lumpsum Benefits’, basis the benefit option chosen

5.      Maturity Benefits: ‘Classic Choice’ gives guaranteed sum assured on maturity (maximum of 138%), based on premium payment term, age and opted policy term. Consumers can avail maturity benefits under ‘Flexi Choice’ from either Lumpsum, complete maturity benefit or Pay-outs, maturity benefit amount in instalments or buy Annuity.

6.      Special ‘Money on Demand’ feature offering: 

a.      Option to choose Cash Bonus payout every year** or Defer Cash Bonus and withdraw as and when required while it also earns interest

b.      Option to withdraw Survival benefit payouts when payable or withdraw as and when required while it also earns interest

* 9 months after Premium payment term

** After bonus eligibility i.e. after payment of 2 years’ premium .

ICICI Lombard and PLUM Partner to Provide India’s First Technologically Powered Group Health Insurance Products

* Launch of India’s first technologically backed group health insurance products

* The partnership will solve four major areas of group health insurance - Real time pricing, onboarding, policy management and claims.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance, India’s leading private sector non-life insurance company has partnered with Plum, India’s fastest growing employee health insurance startup, to re-imagine and co-create India’s first technologically backed group health insurance products. With the use of latest technologies, ICICI Lombard and Plum intend to solve four major areas of group health insurance – real time pricing, onboarding, policy management and claims.

The penetration of health insurance across India is abysmally low, with 0.29% of GDP being spent on the health sector. Not surprisingly, India witnesses one of the highest out-of-pocket expenditures. There is an enormous unmet demand for healthcare, with only 2% of the total healthcare expenditure being currently covered by insurance providers. Several initiatives introduced by the Indian government like Ayushman Bharat, IRDAI’s Sandbox and National Health Stack are initiatives in the right direction. When it comes to the group health insurance market, which covers about 15% of the overall insured population and witnesses 25% year over year growth, it has been largely following the status quo. In light of this, this partnership between ICICI Lombard and Plum is aimed at benefiting the group insurance market thereby increasing insurance coverage in this sphere.

Real time pricing

It currently takes anywhere between five days to a couple of weeks for a company to receive a price estimate for a group health insurance policy. This happens due to a largely manual process of going through the data set and assessing the risk. ICICI Lombard and Plum in close collaboration, have built automated processes around data cleaning, validation, fraud detection, and underwriting thereby reducing the time taken to receive price estimates to a few minutes.

Companies can now visit www.plumhq.com, answer a few simple questions about their team, and get a price estimate in real time. From thereon, the company can upload the data on the portal, make the payment, and activate the policy instantly.

This will reduce the overall time from an average of a month to less than an hour.

Onboarding

Another challenge when it comes to employee health insurance is that most employees largely remain unaware of the policy and the benefits that it entails. A company invests a substantial budget on wellness of their employees, however, if the employees aren’t able to use it, the efforts go in vain. ICICI Lombard and Plum have worked together to ensure that employees are onboarded instantly as soon as the group policy is purchased. Employees are taken through a digital onboarding process wherein they understand their insurance benefits in simple English (rather than a long legal document).

Policy management

The third big challenge that organizations face is managing the employees that are part of the insurance. In fast growing organizations, employees are recruited almost on a daily basis. ICICI Lombard and Plum have built a real-time endorsement product that allows organizations to activate the health insurance of employees as soon as they join the company. Employees don’t have to wait for weeks to get a health ID card anymore.

Claims

Lastly, providing a seamless claims experience is one of the most crucial elements of any insurance. The two companies are now building an online claims submission tool for employees along with a real time tracking system.

Each of the above four products are industry-first for corporates. The goal is to offer employers and employees flexibility, transparent pricing, and exceptional healthcare experience.

ICICI Lombard and Plum together have been able to onboard more than 100 companies within the first six months of launch. These companies include startups like Fampay, StayAbode, Posist, Jiny, Revv, Swiflearn, The Label Life, and GrowFit. In addition to that, MNCs like Twilio, Instawork and Livongo, and companies like Lambda Group, Sunidhi Group, Rosmerta Group have also been onboarded.

On the partnership, Alok Agarwal, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard General Insurance stated, “Group Health Insurance is a pivotal part of any organization’s employee benefits framework.  In these unprecedented times, with the pandemic far from over, this initiative will not only help us safeguard our group insurance clients but will also ensure that each and every covered individual is prepared to restart the new normal, the right way. Additionally, this program will act as a facilitator towards the government's efforts to increase the overall health insurance penetration in the country.”

Abhishek Poddar, Co-founder & CEO of Plum added, “The group insurance health market in India is projected to grow to INR 100,000 crores by 2025, and will see the rise of innovative insurance products not available in advanced markets. With partners like ICICI Lombard, we hope to provide 700 million people with employer-sponsored insurance and become the de facto health insurance platform for one million corporates in India.” ICICI Lombard has always been a pioneer in introducing revolutionary technologically inclined product solutions for its customers. This strategic partnership strengthens this commitment of the insurer to its people and its commitment to individual well-being above all.

About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd

We are the leading non-life insurer in India based on gross direct premium income in fiscal 2020 (Source: IRDAI). We offer our customers a comprehensive and well-diversified range of products, including motor, health, crop, fire, personal accident, marine, engineering and liability insurance, through multiple distribution channels. 

Murari Jalan, Kalrock Consortium Announce “Revival of Jet Airways”

Consortium led by Mr. Murari Lal Jalan and Kalrock Capital, has announced the revival of India's premier airline – Jet Airways as a full-service carrier. The Jet 2.0 program is aimed at reviving the past glory of Jet Airways, with a fresh set of processes and systems to ensure greater efficiency and productivity across all routes. As per the resolution plan, Jet Airways intends to operate all of its historic domestic slots in India and restart international operations. If everything goes as per plan and the Consortium receives the NCLT and regulatory approvals on time, Jet Airways would be back in the skies by the Summer of 2021.  

The Consortium's vision is to regain the lost ground, set new benchmarks for the airline industry with the tag of being the best corporate full-service airline operating on domestic and international routes. The Jet 2.0 hubs will remain Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru like before. The revival plan proposes to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by creating sub-hubs in such cities. This would boost the economy in these cities, help Jet Airways stand back on its feet fast, and support the overall vision of the Indian Government to promote aviation business through Tier 2/ Tier 3 Cities in India.  

In addition, the Consortium's vision for Jet 2.0 includes plan to increase cargo services to include dedicated freighter service, a market currently underserved by any Indian carrier. Given India’s position as a leading centre for global vaccine manufacture, cargo services have never been more required. 

The Consortium had evaluated the option of starting a new airline but some of the inherent strengths of Jet Airways like the optimal flight slots, brand value and reputation for best-in-class inflight service and safety, giving Jet 2.0 an edge over others, were too tempting to resist. The Consortium decided that it would be advantageous to re-energise and start Jet Airways on a clean slate with an established brand.  

Commenting on the revival of the airline, Mr. Manoj Narender Madnani, Board Member of Jalan Kalrock Consortium said, “Jet Airways has been a brand with a glorious history of over 25 years, and it is the vision of the Consortium to put Jet Airways back in the skies at the earliest opportunity. We aim to re-energise the brand by infusing energy, warmth, and vibrancy into it while making it bigger and better. Over the years, the brand has created loyal customers and we wish to bring in freshness by adding value – an Indian brand with a global outlook, warm yet professional which symbolises the New India, Young India. With the revival of Jet Airways, it will restore the confidence among the Jet customers to fly again and experience its world class facilities.”  

Jet Airways is a well-known household aviation brand in India and the oldest private airline with an operating history spanning more than 25 years. The aviation sector was deeply hit by COVID-19, but that helped the sector as it underwent substantial correction and created that opportune time for the Consortium members to enter the sector. The Consortium's biggest strength is human capital, and it is putting together the best of aviation professionals with Global experience for running and managing the operations of Jet 2.0. 

Harvard University Announces Fund from Vijay Shekhar Sharma for Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute

Harvard University is delighted to announce a new gift from India’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, which will support the activities and research performed by the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute (LMSAI). With this gift, every year two bright and promising students from India would receive a scholarship to pursue their research at Harvard and work towards transforming the lives of millions in India and abroad.

By enabling scholars from South Asia to work in a cross-disciplinary fashion with faculty, researchers, and students across Harvard on critical questions and issues related to the region, Sharma’s gift will significantly enhance the goals of the Institute to deepen the teaching and research on significant cultural and global issues related to South Asia.

“Recent months have confirmed that the most pressing societal challenges are global in nature,” said University Provost Alan Garber. “We are deeply grateful to Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Through his generosity, he has affirmed our shared commitment to advancing cross-disciplinary research and learning in our interconnected world. His vision for a more collaborative future has never been timelier. We are proud to partner with him.”

“Further expanding Harvard’s work and partnerships in India is a major priority for the University,” said Vice Provost for International Affairs Mark Elliott. “This fund, which will provide leading South Asian scholars in all fields with new opportunities to pursue their research at Harvard, will bring benefits to them and their home institutions as well as to the Harvard community. In this way, this new program will do much to strengthen and broaden the kinds of academic connections we depend upon to help deepen our engagement with South Asian partners and to advance our academic mission globally,” he continued.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the Founder CEO of India's largest payments company, Paytm. He has played a critical role in developing the mobile payments and digital age financial services ecosystem in India. A strong believer in the power of technology to uplift underserved, Sharma founded Paytm in August 2010. Paytm counts Alibaba, Ant Group, Softbank and Berkshire Hathaway as its shareholders. He has a bachelor's degree in electronics and communications from the Delhi College of Engineering.

"I believe that good education can change an individual's life in the most profound ways. My father, who was a teacher, believed that the world can be positively changed through education. His teachings are my inspiration to make this contribution to Harvard University. Harvard’s integrity, diversity, and commitment to excellence are exemplary. I hope this gift will help future leaders attain the global vision that would help in transforming the lives of millions for the better in India and beyond,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Sharma has seen firsthand the transformational powers of education. Inspired by the work of his father, he has helped students in their pursuit of a promising future through his support for several foundations that assist the educational pursuits of thousands of students. Additionally, Sharma has been named the UN Environment's “Patron for Clean Air,” where he helps to drive greater environmental action and awareness, and advocates for the goals of UN Environment's global “BreatheLife” campaign.

Tarun Khanna, Director of the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute and Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School, highlighted the importance of creating a robust platform for knowledge-sharing, connecting those who may not otherwise have had the chance to interact. “We continue to increase the number of interdisciplinary programs and fellowships offered at the Mittal Institute, welcoming scholars of South Asia to share their research and partner with Harvard’s faculty and students. Thanks to Vijay’s generosity, we move closer to a critical mass of diverse perspectives and ideas at the Institute that deepen the world’s understanding of South Asia, from all disciplines and angles,” he said.

Each year, the Mittal Institute supports the research endeavors of numerous scholars from South Asia, providing them with opportunities to interact with Harvard’s faculty, students, and larger community for knowledge-sharing and the potential formation of new research partnerships. “This gift from Vijay will make it possible for young scholars of South Asia — who may have limited access to resources, but are highly talented — to have the opportunity to engage with the intellectual community at Harvard in ways that would make a lasting impact on their personal and professional development,” said Meena Hewett, Executive Director of the Mittal Institute.

With this generous gift, the Mittal Institute will continue to build its hub of scholars across all disciplines to further enrich the understanding of South Asia both in Cambridge and abroad. 

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Brings ‘Dream Car Art Contest’ to Indian Children

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today announced the introduction of ‘Toyota Dream Car Art Contest’ in India to provide an opportunity for children to draw their dream car.

The Toyota Dream Car Art Contest kicks off with the National Contest to be held online from December 2020 to January 2021 for children in three age categories. The top three winners of the National Contest in each category will have the opportunity to represent India at the World Contest to be held at Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan in March 2021. The online contest is open to children below 15 years and they can use any standard drawing medium to create their artworks.

Talking about the initiative, Mr. Naveen Soni, Senior Vice President, Sales and Service, TKM, said, “The thinking behind the contest is that every great idea is born in the glimmer of a dream and at TKM, the intention is to help nurture the creativity of the future generation of great inventors, thinkers and dreamers. In this quest, we hope to find the next auto visionary. Further, we want to spread our philosophy of creating ever-better cars with better technologies that are environment-friendly. We hope children will enjoy the platform provided by the contest to share their ideas about the future of mobility by drawing their dream cars.”

Since its inception in 2004, the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest has been conducted as part of Toyota’s social contribution initiatives. Globally, as many as 6.2 million children from 100 countries/regions have participated in the contest since 2004 to share their thoughts about a dream car that is good for society. In 2019 alone, there were about 9,50,000 entries from 86 countries and regions around the globe.

“World of Christmas at Phoenix Marketcity “- The Tree of Jubilation

With Christmas round the corner, it’s that time of the year again when Santa visits us and fills our homes with happiness and goodies. Yes, Its Christmas time! Phoenix Marketcity Bengaluru is all set to take Christmas celebrations to a whole new level this year with its mesmerising Christmas décor to spread the festive cheer! Be fascinated by the shimmering display of lights adorning this gigantic Christmas treewith an inimitable European design! The larger than life magnificent Christmas tree is making people go ‘woooow’ in amazement, also creating a wonderful photo opportunity for people to take memorable selfies. The mall is exquisitely lit, with Christmas jingles and sounds of hope filling the air. Festive offers, gifts, laughter, and happy people complete the picture.  

The tree is beautifully decorated with lit motifs, Christmas greens and baubles. Witness this beautifully laid out Christmas surprise all December at the mall and explore a wide variety of trees, baubles and festive trinkets at our Christmas pop ups, with exciting products curated from across the world. Get clicked and post your Christmas selfies to spread the magic of Christmas! 

Shoppers will be spoilt for choice as ‘World of Christmas’ at Phoenix Marketcity this year promises to be bigger and better than ever before with trending accessories, cute artifacts, home decor products and other exciting festive merchandise. This Festive Season gets more rewarding with INR 1cr worth prizes to be won on shopping, It is pouring deals at Phoenix Marketcity where customers can stand a chance to win grand prizes like Car, Bike and much more. That’s not all, Santa will be welcoming every visitor at Phoenix Marketcity to spread the festive spirit by handing out presents to little ones. 

Mr. Gajendra Singh Rathore, Senior Centre Director at Phoenix Marketcity Bengaluru said “We are delighted to wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and a very happy new year. Christmas at Phoenix has always been a special affair, we always try to do something unique and different every year to surprise our customers and have outdone what we did last year by setting up a magnificent ‘World of Christmas’ décor. That’s not all, we are also setting up a European themed Christmas market that will showcase Christmas products from all over the world which will be on sale so it is a great time to take home some Christmas goodies. We have gone one step further to ensure our customers are safe at the mall with our SOPs in place. We invite you to be a part of “World of Christmas at Phoenix Marketcity and experience the magic of Christmas! 

The Highlights:  

World of Christmas Bazaar: 

The Christmas flea market boasts of everything from chocolates to home décor, and red-nosed reindeer. There’s everything you can imagine here, from Christmas trees, Santa Claus toys, sparkling baubles and beautiful tinsels to snowflakes and icicles, artistic Christmas balls, handmade décor, stockings, wooden birds, home décor lights and tons more. 

‘World of Christmas at Phoenix Marketcity’ is a world marked by the sparkle and magic of the season in every single aspect. So be sure you don’t miss out on the most happening and lively Christmas celebration in Bengaluru this year!  

Christmas Carols and Gifting Santa: 

Acclaimed artists sing carols, while a generous Santa hands out gifts to lucky visitors spreading joy and smiles. 

Step in Out Food Festival on 12th December 

Phoenix Marketcity truly understands the privilege of meeting friends, eating at favourite restaurants & indulging in some entertainment. The Step in Out Food Festival is one of a kind experience packaged with all the favourite restaurants that comes with contactless dining, safety protocols, entertainment and a whole lot more! Get ready for a day full of scrumptious food, groovy music, entertainment and lots more on the 12th of December at Phoenix Marketcity to indulge in gluttony , extravagant experiences with great music , pop ups by  city's best restaurants and their Instagram able dishes at the day long food festival! 

Shop and Win: EOSS in the 3rd & 4th week of December.  

About Phoenix Marketcity Bengaluru  

Classified as a “Larger Lifestyle Engagement Destination”, Phoenix Marketcity Bengaluru offers visitors, an array of unforgettable experiences. With its truly international look and feel, tastefully done interiors and the best of food, fashion, and entertainment from the world over, Phoenix remains ‘The’ destination for the premium discerning customers of the city as well expats. With over 300 stores, representing an exhaustive mix of International, National and Regional premium brands, the mall offers the most comprehensive and compelling lifestyle shopping experience in Bangalore. More than just a Mall, Phoenix Marketcity, Bengaluru is in fact a veritable melting pot of fascinating cultures, beautiful clothing and high-end couture. It is a city within a city, an urban space where retail, entertainment and leisure offerings co-exist.