30 000 Smart Indian Customers Made the Smartest Choice of 2020 - Booked the All-New i20

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL), country’s First Smart Mobility Solutions provider and the largest exporter since inception, today announced a truly magnetic customer response for the smartest choice of 2020 - The all-new i20 with around 30 000 Bookings in 40 days. 

Commenting on the achievement, Mr Tarun Garg, Director (Sales, Marketing & Service), Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said, “We are witnessing a truly superlative customer response for the all-new i20 that has captivated the hearts and minds of Indian customers with its futuristic design and advanced technologies. After a stellar festive season, we are happy to share, that 10 000 customers have already taken delivery of the all-new i20.” 

Mr Garg further added, “We are delighted to receive around 30 000 bookings for the all-new i20 and as Smart Indian customers are opting for smart cars, we are observing that around 85 % of these bookings are attributed to higher trims of the all-new i20.”

Through its advanced and hi-tech feature package, the all-new i20 drives customer delight and has already recorded a wholesale of around 20 000 units in a short span of 40 days making it a truly aspirational purchase for the discerning Indian car buyer. With 100 Million Views and a Reach of 270 Million across platforms, the all-new i20 has captured the interest and imagination of new age customers. Customers have also presented a strong interest in the feature loaded higher trims of the all-new i20 that offer:

v  6-Airbags, ESC with VSM & Hill Assist Control

v  Bose Premium 7 Speaker Sound System

v  Intuitive Digital Cockpit with 26.03 cm HD Touchscreen Infotainment & Navigation System

v  Hyundai Bluelink with Over the Air (OTA) Map Updates

v  Oxyboost Air Purifier with Air Quality Indicator

v  Tyre Pressure Monitoring System

v  Wireless Charger with Cooling Pad

The all-new i20 has not just established a new benchmark with its most advanced features and dynamic design language while also setting the standard for premium hatchbacks, offering customers a wide choice of powertrains that include three engine options – 1.5 l U2 CRDi Diesel BS6 with 6MT, 1.2 l Kappa Petrol BS6 with 5MT/IVT and 1.0 l T-GDi Petrol BS6 with iMT & 7DCT. 

Further, nearly 10 % customers have booked dual tone colour options offered on the all-new i20 and Fiery Red & Starry Night have emerged as popular colour choice options among buyers. 

As a Lifetime Partner of customers, Hyundai is offering complete peace of mind with Best-in-Class Product Assurance on the all-new i20 through WONDER Warranty Options - 3 years/ 100 000 kms, 4 Years/ 50 000 kms and 5 Years/ 40 000 kms. Further, customers are also being offered 3 years BlueLink Subscription + 3 Years Road Side Assistance. Hyundai is also offering customers best-in-segment lowest cost of maintenance providing customers an impeccable value proposition on the all-new i20. 

NBHC ProComm Laboratory Secures Integrated “NABL Accreditation” at Vashi, New Mumbai

NBHC ProComm, a division of National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC), India's leading provider of integrated post-harvest value chain services, is announcing the Accreditation of its Laboratory at Vashi, New Mumbai under the Integrated Assessment Scheme of NABL covering FSSAI (Food Safety Authority of India), APEDA (Agricultural & Processed Foods Authority of India) & IOPEPC (Indian Oilseed and Produce Export Promotion Council). This Accreditation of ProComm Laboratory spans over 13 Food Categories with 9 Authorised Signatories & 13 Approved Samplers. 

ProComm has already been accredited with ISO 17025 (NABL), ISO 22000 & ISO 9001 and approved by GAFTA for Quality Testing of Agri-commodities. This New Accreditation marks NBHC’s foray into the Third Party Inspection & Testing Services Business. With its wide reach covering over 1100 locations, rich experience of agri-commodities & strong relationships with over 2000 customers across India; NBHC expects to widen the access of India’s farm community to Value-added Food Processing and Agricultural Exports through its ProComm Service Offerings. 

NBHC ProComm provides specialized type of Testing and Sampling to Manufacturers, Importers, Exporters, Retailers and HORECA Industry across the country; to meet their requirements for safety, superiority and reliability. It has advanced industry-wide review criteria which are effectively implemented through continuous training to its employees & robust governance processes. NBHC ProComm Quality System and its Digitally-enabled Processes commit best-in-class, agile & on-time quality inspection & testing services to its customers. 

Mr. Ramesh Doraiswami, Managing Director& CEO, NBHC, said, “NBHC is admired as one of the most professional organizations in the post-harvest supply chain for agri-commodities. ProComm is poised to be a significant enabler to India’s farm community, as it seeks value-added food processing & export opportunities to meet enhanced customer standards. ProComm will help NBHC consolidate its leadership position in the post-harvest agricultural value chain with a wider portfolio of offerings to customers through its Audit, Assessment, Testing & Inspection Services; leveraging its synergies with other divisions of NBHC”. 

Mr. Ajit Lagoo, Business Head & VP, NBHC, said, “The Inspection & Testing Services Market is expected to grow significantly, especially because of the Make in India Campaign and Government’s key initiative towards Agri Exports along with India’s Approach towards integrating more with the global market and regulatory / customer standards.  It is vital for NBHC ProComm to realize that these services will resolve core problems like overuse, low-value testing, improper use of high-cost testing, rejections at importing country ports and supplier confusion over best test choice. One of our core values is Service Excellence marked by accuracy, agility and safety. We believe that these services will assist key growth sectors like export, retail, commodities, trade, healthcare, foods to name a few. We are optimistic about our 3rd Party Inspection & Testing Services to provide Total Quality Assurance to our Customers.” 

About NBHC ProComm: 

ProComm, A division of NBHC is an Exclusive Technical Service entailing Quality Testing, Grading & Inspection of a wide range of commodities. ProComm holds deep industry-leading commitment to deliver globally benchmarked solutions and are specialists in Offering Complete Commodity & Food Profiling (farm-to-fork), Comprehensive & Customized Inspection, Spot Testing and Lab Testing. ProComm Labs have produced innovative breakthroughs in its services and have been accredited by NABL, FSSAI recognized, APEDA and IOPEPC approved and GAFTA certified.  NBHC ProComm is ISO 9001: 2015 certified for Quality Management System and ISO 22000: 2017 certified company for Food Safety Management System. 

ProComm has achieved the milestone of 300,000+ test reports per annum. With 45+ Brick & Mortar labs, 200 + mobile labs, 5 NABL Accredited Labs and 23 offices in 19 States, ProComm is always close to its customers that includes leading Corporate Houses, Public Sector Organizations, including a wide gamut of Medium and Small-Scale Enterprises.   

About NBHC: 

National Bulk Handling Corporation Pvt. Ltd. (NBHC) is the leading integrated service provider in the agri-ecosystem in India, offering inter alia warehousing services, collateral management services, procurement & supply chain management service and other allied services such as quality assaying and certification, pest management and audit, surveillance & control. Led by its impressive track record spanning over a decade, advantages of a strong and experienced management and the positive impetus derived from its ownership - the private equity major True North, NBHC is on its path to emerge as a key player in comprehensive collateral and total commodity management solutions. 

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Launches ABSLI Assured Income Plus

Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance (ABSLI), the life insurance subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital Limited (ABCL), today announced the launch of its new plan ABSLI Assured Income Plus. ABSLI Assured Income Plus offers guaranteed monthly income to fulfil monetary requirements of an individual and their family’s recurring needs for up to 30 years while building a financial safety net. 

This non-linked, non-participating individual savings plan offers several options providing enough flexibility to customize the product as per one’s requirements. It comes with two-income benefit options and allows the flexibility of three premium paying term options of 6, 8, and 12 years. While, the Income Only Benefit option (first in the industry) enables customers to fulfil their income needs, the Income Benefit with Return of Premium option helps in creating a legacy for the loved ones, in addition to recurring income. One may opt to receive the benefits annually, semi-annually, quarterly, or monthly for a period of 20, 25 or 30 long years, according to an individual's financial milestones. It also offers flexibility to commute all future incomes and Return of Premium, if any, as lumpsum, to address an untimely monetary need. Additionally, the plan gives enhanced risk coverage with a comprehensive rider suite at a nominal cost.

Commenting on the launch, MD & CEO of Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, Kamlesh Rao, said, “ABSLI Assured Income Plus is a robust insurance policy aiming to offer guaranteed regular income that can cater to the customer's short and long-term financial requirements. It is designed specifically for customers who are looking for an additional/alternate source of guaranteed long-term income. Besides these, the policy also offers a comprehensive life cover across the policy term. The goal of this product is to assist people to upgrade their lifestyle and fulfil their financial aspirations without compromise through a guaranteed inflow of recurring income stream”.

ABSLI Assured Income Plus also offers Sum Assured in a lump-sum to the nominee, in case of unfortunate death of the Life Insured anytime during the Policy Term. Moreover, The Nominee will have the flexibility to receive the amount of Death Benefit in Annual/ Monthly instalments instead of a lump-sum, over a period of 10 years.

Vi and Bajaj Finance Launch A Unique Finance Plan in Indian Market

Vi, the newest telecom brand in India and Bajaj Finance Ltd, the lending and investment arm of Bajaj Finserv Group has entered into a strategic partnership to facilitate easy access to smartphones at affordable EMIs, along with 6 months and 1-year pre-paid plans from Vi.

Enhancing affordability in device financing, the partnership unlocks ease of 4G access for Vi customers,  by enabling them to get a smartphone of their choice and an annual or half yearly Vi prepaid recharge plan at zero down payment and Easy EMIs.

As part of the partnership the EMI will be calculated basis the total billed amount including the price of the smartphone and the recharge. Thereafter, the amount will be divided in to 6 to 12 monthly instalments to derive the EMI amount.

If customers opt for the INR 1197 Vi Pre-paid recharge for 6 months tenure, the EMI amount required to be paid by the customer will be INR 200 instead of INR 249 open market recharges. In case, a customer opts for the annual Vi recharge variant priced at INR 2399 for 12-months tenure, EMI amount required to be paid by customer is INR 200 instead of INR 299 open market recharges thereby giving customers significant savings. Here the customer gets the unique advantage of being able to save by paying the amount on affordable EMI’s.

As part of the bundled offering, Vi customers choosing the pre-paid recharge with a validity of 6 months, can get Unlimited Voice benefits along with 1.5 Gb Data/day at INR 1197. Similarly, customers selecting for 12 months recharge validity, will get 2 Gb Data/day along with Unlimited Voice benefits at a profitable INR 2399. Both the proposition also offers 100 free SMS and free national roaming, against the recharge at the time of purchasing the device.

Commenting on the partnership, Avneesh Khosla, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited said, “Enabling a better tomorrow for our consumers is at the core of our philosophy.  We have a strong 4G network which covers 1 Bn Indians and we aim to unlock 4G access for all our customers. As Covid has fast tracked digital adoption, a smartphone has become a necessity in today’s digital society. Vodafone Idea is delighted to partner with Bajaj Finance Ltd. to equip our consumers with easy access to enjoy the benefits of the GIGAnet network. This partnership, with its unique financing solution, enables ease of ownership of a smartphone of their choice and the convenience of a worry-free recharge pack; allowing consumers to seamlessly enjoy the benefits of the Digital era.” 

Customer can avail this hassle-free finance in 2392 locations of operations of Bajaj Finance Ltd. through the vast Point-of-Sale (PoS) network of 70000+ Vi customers will be able to walk into any PoS and upgrade their smartphone.

Speaking about the alliance, Manish Jain, Senior Executive Vice President, Bajaj Finance Ltd. said, “It is our constant endeavour to bring to our customers more and more unique affordability offerings. This partnership offers a first of its kind proposition to help a new mobile customer get unmatched comprehensive savings.”

Vodafone Idea’s partnership with Bajaj Finance Limited has been forged with the aim of providing easy access to the best handsets for our customers also allowing them to experience the benefits offered by GIGAnet from Vi- India’s fastest and most consistent 4G network, as certified by Ookla.

JSS Shri MCS, Hubli Clinched the National Title of the HDFC Ergo’s Insurance Awareness Award Junior QUIZ 2020!

* Harnessing the power of technology to reach out to the young minds with the knowledge on insurance this 5th edition of the Quiz was made completely digital

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, India’s leading private sector general insurance company, declared JSS Shri Manjunathewara Central School (MCS, Hubli as the winners of HDFC ERGO Insurance Awareness Award Junior - Quiz 2020. With an impressive score of 205 points, the winners Kushal Pawar and Yash Jain were bestowed with the title of ‘National Champions’ and rewarded prizes worth INR 2,25,000/- . Maharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad, team bagged the title of the first runner up team to take home won prizes worth INR 1,50,000/- and BJEM School, Bubaneshwar, team finished as the second runner up team to claim prizes worth INR 75,000/-. The other finalists were also awarded prizes worth INR 30,000/- each for their unwavering efforts. Hosted virtually for the first time, the quiz continues to inculcate the ethos of financial inclusion and drive the much-needed awareness of insurance as a necessity in life.

Launched in 2016, this unique initiative taken by HDFC ERGO intends to promote insurance literacy as a necessary life skill amongst school students and has so far ignited more than 2 lakhs young minds with the concepts of insurance. The format includes HDFC ERGO conducting workshops in schools for class 8th and 9th students and share with them fundamentals and importance of Insurance. However, the current COVID-19 situation did not permit these workshop to be conducted this year in schools and hence, HDFC ERGO took the digital route to reach out to 1000+ schools, motivating the students to learn insurance digitally using a microsite - https://www.hdfcergo.com/einsurancepedia/, created by the Company. This site remains active post quiz as well to help those who would like to understand the basics of Insurance.

In 2016, the quiz started from just one city of Mumbai and has now spread its wings across 50 cities in the country motivating kids to learn insurance and prepare themselves for the uncertainties of future. The quiz was layered in three rounds – City, Zonal and Finals. The City round winners qualified for the Zonal rounds, wherein they battled it out to secure a place in the Grand Finale. Among the winners of this year’s Zonal Rounds were Greenland Public School, Lucknow from the North Zone, JSS Manjunatheshwara Central School, Hubli of the South Zone, Maharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya, Ahmedabad in the West Zone and BJEM School, Bhubaneshwar from the East Zone. Additionally two runner teams from the four Zonal rounds; Dewan Public School, Meerut and BSRKV School, Hyderabad; directly entered the Grand Finale by the virtue of a lucky draw with 6 teams in total competing for the National Title in the Grand Finale.

Speaking at the Grand Finale of the quiz competition, Mr. Ritesh Kumar, MD & CEO, HDFC ERGO General Insurance said,“Financial literacy is an important part of learning. While growing up, we were all taught the virtues of savings and that we should start saving early in life for our future. Unfortunately, apart from keeping our assets safe, we were not taught an important part of securing our investments in these assets from event beyond our control, with the purchase of an insurance policy. This is probably the reason why general insurance penetration in India is just at about 1% of our GDP, which is half the Asian penetration and just about one-third of the global penetration. It was with this very intent, of raising insurance awareness that the HDFC ERGO Insurance Awareness Award Junior Quiz was conceptualized. Amongst the many ideas that we thought through, creating a platform for school children was a unanimous choice. What better than educating the future generation to build a financially secured society.”

About HDFC ERGO:

HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company is a 51:49 joint venture between Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (HDFC) and ERGO International AG; the primary insurance entity of the Munich Re Group of Germany. With complimentary skill sets and strengths of both the companies, the JV formed in 2008, is among India’s top 3 General Insurance companies in the private sector. HDFC ERGO offers the complete range of General Insurance products including Motor, Health, Home, Agriculture, Travel, Credit, Cyber and Personal Accident in the retail space and Property, Marine, Engineering, Marine Cargo, Group Health and Liability Insurance in the corporate space. The Company also offers a range of products for rural India, including Gramin Suraksha, Parivaar Suraksha, Crop, Weather and Cattle insurance. Innovative insurance products like Mosquito Disease Protection Policy, E@secure, Title and Solar Energy Shortfall Insurance have also set milestones in the way insurance can adapt to and cater for whatever it is that the customers need.

Over the last few years, HDFC ERGO has constantly endeavored to not just align itself to the evolving market needs, but instead be a pioneer in terms of its offerings. Having its ears to the ground has helped HDFC ERGO create a stream of highly targeted new products and AI-based tools and technology. Be it unique insurance products, integrated customer service models, top-in-class claim process or a host of technologically innovative solutions, the Company has been able to delight its customers at every touch-point and every milestone. The Company has been a market leader in using technology to advance the reach and impact of insurance in the country.

Recently, the Company announced the completion of the merger of HDFC ERGO Health Insurance (formerly known as Apollo Munich Health Insurance) with HDFC ERGO, which came in to effect on November 13th, 2020. This merger marked the second successful merger in India’s general insurance sector, following the merger of L&T General Insurance in 2017.

With a wide distribution network and a 24x7 support team, the Company has been offering seamless customer service and innovative products to its customers. Please log on to www.hdfcergo.com for more information on HDFC ERGO and the products and services offered by the Company.

VMware Commits to Building a More Equitable, Sustainable and Resilient World

 

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) today announced its 2030 Agenda, a decade-long commitment to address critical challenges facing the global community. The Company created 30 measurable goals to achieve by 2030 (30x30) that are focused on three outcomes relevant to its technology and business operations: Trust, Equity and Sustainability. The Company’s 2030 Agenda builds on VMware’s long-standing commitment to innovate for a better future.

“This year has created an even greater sense of urgency to take action on global and societal challenges so we’ve set bold goals that are core to our business and will have significant impact,” said Pat Gelsinger, chief executive officer, VMware, Inc. “In many ways, digital transformation is the backbone to building a better world. It not only creates a resilient global healthcare system, but also helps us overcome the digital divide and decarbonizes the planet. At VMware, we’re committed to building technology on a foundation of digital ethics that serves all stakeholders. We will work with our ecosystem to redefine what it means to be a force for good.”

With its technology leadership and expansive global reach, VMware is dedicated to driving tangible, measurable impact focused on three outcomes: Trust, Equity and Sustainability.

TRUST: VMware envisions a future where all stakeholders are effectively safeguarded from cyberattacks threatening our digital world. By approaching innovation from a foundation of digital ethics and stewardship, and focusing on intrinsic security, privacy-by-design and transparent business practices, VMware will build and protect trust among our people, customers, partners, shareholders and communities.

EQUITY: VMware firmly believes that technology will play a critical role in building a digital future that is equitable, accessible and inclusive for all. From our diversity, equity and inclusion commitments to our digital workspace technologies, we are redefining the workplace of the future. VMware is enabling distributed workforces to empower employees with equal opportunity, inclusive leadership and increased flexibility within our company and beyond. Through partnerships with academic institutions and nonprofit partners, we will help close the digital skills gap and make digital transformation more accessible for all.

SUSTAINABILITY: Sustainability is core to VMware’s values and future success. As a global corporate citizen, we have an opportunity and responsibility to innovate for a more resilient world by decarbonizing digital infrastructure across our customer ecosystem, value chain and our own operations. Through our collective efforts to drive net-zero emissions in our operations and Intrinsic Sustainability in our solutions, VMware will inspire the next generation of sustainable digital infrastructure.

“Our 2030 Agenda is transformative because our 30x30 goals are owned by our business leaders and built into everything we do—from the way we develop software and bring our solutions to market, to the way we build a culture of inclusion—and in this way we are aligning our core purpose with doing our part to create a more sustainable, equitable and resilient world,” said Nicola Acutt, Vice President, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). “To demonstrate our commitment, we are setting up an ESG Office to partner with our business leaders and help manage our progress.”

Some examples within the VMware 2030 Agenda include:

Protecting the world from cyberattacks by making security intrinsic to digital infrastructure.

Collaborating with our public cloud partners to achieve zero carbon operations by 2030.

Significantly increasing workload carbon efficiency in our customer’s digital operations.

Investing in transformative research that inspires the next generation of sustainable digital infrastructure.

Providing technical and durable digital skills acquisition to more than 15 million individuals through VMware IT Academy and other initiatives.

Hiring one woman for every one man and ensuring 50 percent of our managers are women or from an underrepresented community.

Achieving net-zero carbon emissions for our operations and supply chain and reduce our emissions 50 percent by 2030 from our 2018 baseline.

Engaging 75 percent of suppliers by spend to reduce their emissions by setting science-based targets by 2024.

Procuring 100 percent of our power from renewable energy sources.

VMware’s 2030 Agenda is inspired by a global call to action in the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Company’s 2030 Agenda is integrated with our technology vision and builds on VMware’s 2015 five-year Global Impact Vision.

MeitY, Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner and UN Agencies to Support the Global CyberPeace Challenge

The Cyber Peace Foundation has partnered with the Australian Government’s eSafety commissioner for organizing the Global CyberPeace Challenge (GCC). The challenge has also received the support of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. The GCC is a competition that encourages innovators from around the world to promote peace in cyberspace by solving crucial techno-social issues. The inaugural edition of the contest was organised in 2017. This virtual event features workshops, speakers, and competitions culminating on Safer Internet Day (February 9, 2021), when the winners will be announced and prizes worth up to $30,000 will be distributed.

The objective of the challenges is to identify new cyber talent and to inspire the development of innovative solutions to critical real-world problems. This year, the contest is divided into three tracks: Cyber Policy & Strategy Challenge, Peace-a-Thon: The Innovation Challenge, and Capture the Flag (CTF – IT & OT). Global CyberPeace Challenge will convene some of the world’s leading policy makers, Diplomats, CISOs, CXOs, Innovators, Students, Startups and investors to explore how Cyberspace can be used for good.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Australian eSafety Commissioner, UN Agencies like UNGCNI, UNICEF and UNESCO – New Delhi Cluster Office, FIRST, Tech Accord, Cyberdome Kerala Police, MALTEGO, Infosec Girls, HYSEA, YourStory, IETE, Indiana University - Ostrom Workshop, NLIU- Bhopal, POLCYB, Kaspersky, ICMEC, NCMEC, TAC NGO Africa, Palo Alto Networks, The Hacking Lab, SANS-ICSNetwars, VJTI, KJ Somaiya University, Autobot Infosec, Cyber Security Challenge UK and Buffalo Soldiers will be supporting and promoting the global competition across their digital Channels.

Julie Inman-Grant, Australia’s eSafety commissioner, said, “I firmly believe that global cyber issues have never been more critical. As we know, the online world has no borders. So, it is important that we work together with organizations, industry, and government, both locally and internationally, to drive this proactive change and prevent harm. Now, more than ever, we need young minds from around the globe, collaborating on finding creative solutions to combating child sexual exploitation, cyber bullying, image-based abuse, and technology facilitated abuse. This is why we were delighted to partner with the Cyber Peace Foundation on its Global Cyber Peace Challenge 2.0.”

“The Global CyberPeace Challenge coincides with lockdowns worldwide due to COVID-19, which has caused many to move their daily activities online. This change has uncovered several challenges at the national and international levels," Vineet Kumar, Founder and President of the CyberPeace Foundation said. "The Global CyberPeace Challenge aims to help solve some of the most urgent cyber issues through collective resilience and collaboration. Overall, we hope to help make cyberspace accessible and inclusive, and look forward to recognizing and rewarding innovative solutions.”

Such solutions are also the need of the hour, considering the mounting numbers of cyber-attacks in multiple sectors. Between October 1 and November 25, CPF recorded nearly 80 lakh attacks on the healthcare sector based ‘Threat Intelligence Sensors’ network specifically simulated in India. The GCC, by bringing talent to light, will also promote the discovery of ingenious ways to combat these malicious attacks, and this, in turn, will strengthen the country’s cybersecurity. 

You can learn more about the GCC 2.0 by visiting the Global CyberPeace Challenge website. Registration closes on December 15, 2020.