Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance Launches Digital Campaign - Raho Life Ke Har Twist Ke Liye Tayyar

* Digital campaign presents iSelect Star Term Plan & its distinct features

Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance has launched an all new digital campaign highlighting the key attributes of “iSelect Star Term Plan” with a message “Raho Life Ke Har Twist Ke Liye Tayyar” to showcase term life insurance as a holistic product for customers. Through a series of short videos, the company has depicted different life stages and their respective life insurance goals.

The campaign aims to educate target audience about importance of planning for unforeseen circumstances and ways to achieve financial stability through an appropriate term plan that offers attractive features. The campaign has been initiated with a video which starts with a light hearted undertone, featuring a man enjoying a cricket match with his buddies at home. While watching the match he is suddenly interrupted by his wife’s call who’s decided to come home, a day earlier than expected. The plans of the trio (complete with war paint) get upended and “twist”. The call also reminds him to search online for the best suited term insurance plan which he had conveniently deferred, after promising so to his wife? The series of events that follow, as the protagonist and his buddies attune to this twist of life turns out to be a learning experience in the most unexpected manner. 

Link to the first video – YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLQWYkIb1wA

Commenting on the launch of new digital campaign Mr. Rishi Mathur, Chief Digital & Strategy Officer, Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance, says “We believe in presenting our key products and their benefits to our customers with novel ways of catching their attention along with a hint of humour. Our new digital campaign will run across all digital and social media assets, as the online medium has grown very significantly in the last year and hence we focused on a digital only campaign to reach our target audience Further, in the coming days, the campaign will continue to reiterate our message of “Raho Life Ke Har Twist Ke Liye Tayyar” through different films, all with a humorous touch but with an essential message of staying prepared for any unforeseen situation. With this campaign we are focusing on our premium offering – iSelect Star Term Plan which is a highly flexible term plan that can be aligned to the specific life stage and insurance need of the customer.”

Sharing thoughts on the campaign, Mr. Anuj Mathur, MD & CEO, Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance, says “Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance has always been creating innovative campaigns to apprise our customers about the relevance of insuring their life for the unprecedented times. We have come up with a digital campaign, illustrating real life situations with a comic tonality. Our new campaign features a series of videos focused on our key term offering -iSelect Star Term plan, which provides the best way to cover your risks and protect your family from unforeseen events in the future. The campaign is an attempt to magnify the perception of prospective customers around term plans and to propagate how rewarding these plans are, when bought in time post understanding the details of the product.”

Life is often known to throw the most unpredictable of situations at us, and the best plan we could adopt is to stay prepared against all the twists of life. “Life ka powerplay” is a novel approach to protect the financial future of your family against these twists of life. No matter what phase in life one is at, choosing the right partner and plan is always the best move to make, to ensure a relaxed, worry-free life. The series presented in this campaign highlight situations in the same vein, where protagonists face an unusual twist that highlights the importance of planning. iSelect Star Term Plan as the right insurance partner, protects against the twists of life! Watch out Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance’s YouTube channel for more updates on the campaign!

About Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company

Established in 2008, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Canara Bank (51%), HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Limited (26%) and Punjab National Bank (23%). The company brings together the trust and market knowledge of two big public sector banks in India i.e. Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank combined with the global insurance expertise of HSBC.

Headquartered in Gurugram, the Company has branch offices pan India. The company sells and services its customers through a well-diversified partner bank branches. With well-established distribution network in Tier 1, 2 and 3 markets combined with new-age tech servicing avenues, the company is committed to serve its customers as per their preference and needs.

Can A Robot Operate Effectively Underwater? Asks USC Researchers

* USC researchers find sea stars’ shape plays an important role in their ability to withstand dynamic water forces and remain attached to surfaces.

If you’ve ever watched Planet Earth, you know the ocean is a wild place to live. The water is teeming with different ecosystems and organisms varying in complexity from an erudite octopus to a sea star. Unexpectedly, it is the sea star, a simple organism characterized by a decentralized nervous system, that offers insights into advanced adaptation to hydrodynamic forces—the forces created by water flow.

Researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering found that sea star body shapes enable them to effectively stay attached to surfaces under extreme hydrodynamic loads. The researchers, including the Henry Salvatori Early Career Chair in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Mitul Luhar and doctoral student Mark Hermes, found sea stars create a “downforce” due to their shape. This means that instead of being lifted by the flow forces, the sea stars are pushed downward toward the surface they are on. The research was published in Scientific Reports.

Sea stars are incredibly adaptive, said Luhar, assistant professor in the USC Viterbi Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. “When exposed to high wave activity and water forces, sea stars grow skinnier and take on a lower profile. When sea stars are transported to a sheltered environment with lower hydrodynamic forces, their cross sections get bigger.”

Understanding such shape shifting could help design underwater robots that can similarly adapt to extreme hydrodynamic environments, Luhar said.

Interaction between Shape and Force

The researchers tested this understanding of sea star shape and its impact on force in the water with both computational and 3-D printed models. “Right away what we noticed,” Luhar said, “is that instead of the sea stars being pulled away from the surfaces they were on, they were being pushed down—simply because of their shape.”

Luhar said the researchers saw this downforce effect as key to how the sea star—and in the future, an underwater robot—could stay attached to a sea bed or a rock as opposed to being lifted up away from it, even in the most extreme conditions.

The researchers tested other shapes, as well. With a cone or a dome, Luhar said, the water flows up and then down, following the contours of the shape reasonably well (See figure above). With the flow ultimately moving downward, an equal and opposite force is created, resulting in an overall lifting effect. With the sea star shape—which is similar to a triangular wedge—the water flows upward, with the angles on each side acting like a ramp that pushes water away from its surface.

“As the sea star pushes the flow away, the flow creates an equal and opposite force that pushes down on the sea star,” Luhar said. “A cone or sphere does not create that same ‘ramp effect,’ and thus does not create a similar downforce.”

To get the full three-dimensional understanding of what the force fields look like, Luhar said they use the computational models to further illuminate what they witnessed with the 3-D printed shapes. Of the shapes they considered, Luhar said the spherical dome performed the worst in terms of lift versus downforce, meaning, it performed poorest in staying attached to the bottom surface or ground.

Soft Robotics

The next step is studying a soft structure than can morph in real time, Luhar said. Hermes is working on developing this structure currently. Key to its design is allowing it to be responsive in the water channel, Luhar said, thus giving it the ability to adapt its shape as needed to stay adherent to a rock or sea bed, or alternately, to allow it to lift up with the water flow.

“Let’s say the water changes speed,” Luhar said. “We can determine what shape would be best and the robot could shift its form accordingly.”

Ultimately, Luhar said, the idea is to understand how to develop a robot that will work with the flow, instead of fighting through it.

“If we can take advantage of the surrounding environment instead of battling it, we can generate efficiency and performance gains,” Luhar said.

The work was funded by the US Office of Naval Research.

This message contains information which may be confidential and privileged. Unless you are the intended recipient (or authorized to receive this message for the intended recipient), you may not use, copy, disseminate or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender by reply e-mail, and delete the message. Thank you very much.

Brookfield Mall Contactless And Ready To Delight Customers With NETC FASTag

 

* ICICI Bank engages with Bangalore’s Brookfield Mall to make parking contactless and seamless with NETC FASTag

* Brookfield mall now NETC FASTag ready to delight customers with lesser wait time at entry and exit with a complete contactless solution.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in association with ICICI Bank and ValetEZ enables Brookfield Mall as India’s first Contactless Mall in Bangalore making parking seamless and ready.

Brookfield Mall is one of the earliest malls in Bangalore, located in the Brookfield neighbourhood in the city. Popular among the Brookfield community and beyond, the mall has a fine mix of essential and lifestyle retail stores, variety of F&B options, and entertainment options such as the Inox multiplex. The mall has always sought to reinvent itself from time to time to cater to its visitors, and adopting new technology and practices have been part of this endeavour. 

ICICI Bank is the acquiring bank for this project as per the partnership with NPCI. With this, the Bank will debit parking charges from the FASTag account of the commuters and then credit them to the partner’s bank account. The Bank was the first to launch the innovative service of FASTag nationally, on the Mumbai – Vadodara corridor, way back in 2013.

After the successful implementation of NETC program for toll payments, NPCI is now geared-up to expand the contactless car parking solution across the country. It has also initiated discussions with major malls, airports and other private parking lots in, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi for the NETC FASTag powered contactless car parking solutions. The company has been receiving interests from major banks in spearheading the parking projects.

Mr. Neeraj Duggal, Brookfield Mall, said “At Brookfield Mall, we have always taken pride in bringing new innovations in our operations and visitor experience. Working with ValetEZ to have NETC FASTag enabled Contactless Parking is in keeping with this ethos and ensures a safe and better parking experience for our Brookfield community.”   

Mr Denny Thomas, Head NETC & AEPS, NPCI said, “We are pleased to partner with ICICI Bank to introduce contactless car parking solution at the Brookfield Mall with NETC FASTag. We believe this solution will offer an added layer of convenience and safety for the customers in terms of their car parking payments which would allow them to save time to park and spend more time with their loved ones at the mall. With NETC FASTag, it’s our constant endeavour to provide seamless, cashless and automated toll and parking payment solutions.”

Mr. Sudipta Roy, Head - Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank, said, “ICICI Bank has been at the forefront of leveraging technology to introduce hassle-free digital financial solutions to customers. We are delighted to partner with NPCI to enable commuters to pay parking charges using FASTag at Brookfield Mall in a hassle-free and contactless manner. FASTag has revolutionised the toll-collection industry by making it digital, quick and seamless. We believe that using this technology to collect parking charges will also increase the penetration of electronic payments thereby reducing cash transactions.”

Akhilesh Srivastava, COO IHMCL, said, “The FASTag has provided seamless experience to the highway users at the toll plazas across the country. With seamless parking service of FASTag being extended to users it will make their daily commute comfortable. NETC FASTag for parking will be a game changer and will make lives easier for everyone in the country. My best wishes to the ambitious program.”

The contactless car parking facility allows passengers and visitors the comfort of paying for parking without the need to roll down their windows. While parking lots across the country are being enabled with digital payment solutions only NETC FASTag can provide a 100% contactless solution. This leads to an opportunity to all parking providers across the country to adopt a safe and contactless payment solution by implementing the NETC FASTag solution. The application installed at the parking plaza can seamlessly integrate with NETC FASTag API model provided by Acquiring Banks and avail the benefit of an interoperable ecosystem.

How the solution works:

Customers can buy NETC FASTag from any of the 29 issuer banks. The tag employs Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology and needs to be affixed on the vehicle's windscreen.  NETC FASTag can be linked to a prepaid account or a CASA account. The subscriber can use the parking without any manual intervention, such as waiting for a parking receipt at the entry or making cash/credit card payment at the exit. There is no additional cost to customers with respect to the parking fee. One has to just purchase a onetime tag which does away with the wait time at entry and exit.

Dedicated NETC FASTag lanes are in place. When a user arrives through this lane, the strategically placed RFID reader will capture the tag with the timestamp and store the details in the local data base. While exiting, the same will be reconciled and the chargeable parking fee is automatically deducted allowing the passengers to virtually zip through the parking lot in no time. Post completion of every transaction, user will receive SMS on the deducted amount.

About NPCI

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. NPCI has created a robust payment and settlement infrastructure in the country. It has changed the way payments are made in India through a bouquet of retail payment products such as RuPay card, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC Fastag) and Bharat BillPay. NPCI also launched UPI 2.0 to offer a more secure and comprehensive services to consumers and merchants.

NPCI is focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through use of technology and is relentlessly working to transform India into a digital economy. It is facilitating secure payments solutions with nationwide accessibility at minimal cost in furtherance of India’s aspiration to be a fully digital society.

Honda 2Wheelers India Inaugurates BigWing In Bengaluru, Karnataka

* Differentiated immersive experience for premium motorcycle customers

* Delights riding enthusiast with exclusive range of premium motorcycles (300cc – 500cc)

* Exclusive one-stop sales & service centre for Honda big bikes

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI) today elevated the Go Riding spirit with the inauguration of premium big bike business vertical- the Honda BigWing in Bengaluru (Address: 665, 1st Main 100 Feet Road, First Stage, Defence Colony, Indiranagar, Bengaluru).

Speaking on the inauguration of BigWing in Bengaluru, Mr. Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales & Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. said “ Our focus is on expansion of Honda BigWing (Honda’s exclusive premium motorcycle network) to deliver a truly differentiated immersive experience closer to customer. Today, we are delighted to inaugurate BigWing in Bengaluru. Through this new premium outlet, we aim to take Honda’s fun motorcycles closer to customers in Bengaluru and bring to them our mid-size range of premium motorcycles.”

Noteworthy, that Honda 2Wheelers India laid the foundation of its premium motorcycle business network with the inauguration of BigWing Topline in Gurgaon last year. Moving forward, by the end of this fiscal, Honda will expand the number of BigWing outlets to 50 all across the country.

Diverse Product Portfolio

Honda’s premium motorcycle retail format is led by the BigWing Topline in top metros and BigWing in other demand centers. While the marquee Honda BigWing Topline will house Honda’s complete premium motorcycles range starting from the brand new CB350 RS, H’ness-CB350, 2020 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, 2020 CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP and adventure tourer 2021 Africa Twin Adventure Sports; the BigWing will be delighting mid-size motorcycle fans of Honda.

Premium Experience

Adorned with the black & white monochromatic theme, BigWing showcases the displayed vehicles in their full glory. Resolving customer’s product related queries or accessories are the well-trained knowledgeable professionals at BigWing. Easing the journey from search to purchase, the dedicated website (www.HondaBigWing.in) is available for all detailed information. The online booking option in the website ensures a quick, seamless and transparent booking experience for customers at their fingertips. Capturing real time customer feedback, Honda BigWing is also actively available across all social media platforms. Doubling the joy of riding and amplify new opportunities for customers a dedicated corner with versatile range of accessories and riding gear is also available.

Array of Exclusive Accessories for H’ness-CB350

Elevate the majestic riding experience on new H’ness-CB350 with a freshly introduced 10 optional accessories especially curated to enhance the overall style and provide the best of aesthetics. Competitively priced, these accessories comply with stringent quality norms and meet Honda’s pre-defined global quality standards. The accessories are available for both DLX & DLX Pro variants of H’ness-CB350.

Apollo 24|7 Uses Microsoft Azure To Bring Healthcare Services Closer To Indians

Apollo Hospitals today announced its increased reach with a nationwide rollout of its omni-channel healthcare platform, Apollo 24|7, which leverages the power of Microsoft Azure to transform last-mile delivery of health services in India. With the vision of providing world-class healthcare solutions using innovative technology, the platform can reach consumers across the country through an easy-to-use interface available on web and mobile. The platform combines Apollo Group’s extensive physical network and capabilities with a comprehensive and distinctive digital ecosystem that includes online medicine delivery, virtual doctor consultation, online diagnostic test booking, condition management and personal health record maintenance.

Shobana Kamineni, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals, said, “We are happy to have Microsoft working with us in our endeavor towards transforming healthcare in India and be an important support for the Apollo 24|7 platform. We are able to offer seamless customer experience with no compromise on the privacy and security of the user.”

Reimagining healthcare in the new normal combined with changing expectations of patient care and wellness has driven a rapid surge in tele-health processes. Apollo 24|7 connects different information sources to deliver a complete personalized experience for every customer. Using connected devices, a cloud-powered clinical intelligence platform and online personal health records, the Apollo 24|7 platform offers a consumer-centric health ecosystem of the future.

Backed by a network of over 7,000 doctors across Apollo hospitals and clinics across the country, the Apollo 24|7 platform offers round-the-clock virtual consultations with Apollo certified doctors within 15 minutes. With more than 4000 stores in India, the platform provides seamless medicine deliveries across 15,000 pin codes of India, with a special promise of two hours delivery in select cities. It also includes the only comprehensive condition management solution in India, which blends wellness and clinical advisories. Users can also take a quick mental health scan and read health and wellness blogs on the platform.

In view of the pandemic, the platform is offering a coronavirus cough and risk scanner, post-Covid care as well as information around vaccines. Apollo 24|7 will soon include an AI-based health predictor, wellbeing partner offerings for pre-clinical health needs and targeted health insurance programs.

Sashikumar Sreedharan, Managing Director, Microsoft India, said, “In an ever-changing healthcare environment, Microsoft is on a mission to help organizations set the course for resiliency and reimagining tomorrow. With the trusted cloud, Apollo 24|7 can enhance patient engagement significantly and provide intelligent health insights for better patient outcomes.”

Built for scale using Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Kubernetes Services and Azure DevOps, the platform enables patients to access an integrated suite of healthcare services and transact securely. The platform will also use Azure Communications Services for building rich and secure communication experiences at scale including chat, voice, video and text messaging.

About Microsoft India

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft set up its India operations in 1990. Today, Microsoft entities in India have over 13,000 employees, engaged in sales and marketing, research, development and customer services and support, across 11 Indian cities – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Microsoft offers its global cloud services from local data centers to accelerate digital transformation across Indian startups, businesses, and government organizations.

About Apollo 24/7

Apollo 24|7 is India’s largest end-to-end omni-channel healthcare platform launched on 5th February, 2020. The platform enables users from any part of the country to use trusted Apollo services from their phones, at the click of a button. Apollo 24|7 is incubated by Apollo Hospital as a new-age digital healthcare start-up. The platform currently offers a full bouquet of healthcare services – 24x7 consultation with 7000+ Apollo doctors pan-India and across 55+ specialties, seamless medicine delivery at home, diagnostic test booking and doorstep sample collection, digital health records and more. The platform recently launched Apollo ProHealth, which is the first ever preventive health management program. Apollo 24|7 has overcome the hindrance of time and place, as the services are available 24*7 and accessible by people from any location.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Registers 36% Growth In Domestic Sales In Feb 2021; Clocks 27% Growth Over Jan 2021

Toyota Kirloskar Motor today announced that the company sold a total of 14,075 units in the month of February 2021, thereby clocking a growth of 36%  in domestic sales, when compared to its wholesales in the month of February 2020. For reference, TKM had sold a total of 10,352 units in the domestic market in February 2020 and 11,126 units in the month of January 2021.

Commenting on the month’s performance, Mr. Naveen Soni, Sr. Vice President at TKM said, “We started the year on a positive note and the trend continues as we close the second month of the year, clocking a growth of 36%. Wholesales have been very encouraging and we are witnessing a high influx of customer orders month on month, thereby both significantly contributing to the growth story. In fact, sales in February have been better than sales in January, thus helping us register a 27% growth in wholesales.

Moreover, new launches like the new Fortuner & Legender introduced in January and the new Innova Crysta launched in November 2020, have received a phenomenal response and have also been contributing to significant increase in both customer enquiries as well as customer orders. Here, we would like to thank our customers for their relentless trust & faith in the brand”, he concluded. 

Citroen Launches “La Maison Citroen” 2 New Physical Automobile Showooms In Bengaluru

 ·  “La Maison Citroën” means “The Home of Citroën” and it provides a unique, seamless digital journey for customers

·  These Phygital showrooms are well integrated with  Citroën India’s ATAWADAC experience

(AnyTime AnyWhere AnyDevice AnyContent) with High Definition 360° 3D Configurator

· Pre-bookings for the new Citroën C5 Aircross SUV begins 01st March, 2021, for INR 50,000

Citroën is ready for India with the launch of “La Maison Citroën” phygital showrooms in Bengaluru. Located in the most strategic locations for auto retail in Bengaluru, the showrooms are among the first “La Maison Citroën” in India that is ready ahead of the start of pre-booking date i.e. 01st March 2021. The showrooms will also offer customers a comfortable Test Drive experience and full-fledged After-Sales services.

Welcome to "La Maison Citroën"

"La Maison Citroën" will disrupt the codes of traditional automobile distribution. It is a ‘feels like home’ comfort experience with its warm, friendly and colourful ambience. A giant screen placed on the façade attracts passers-by, encouraging them to walk inside. The warm interiors featuring a natural wood finish and colourful inscriptions invite customers to experience the Citroën brand and its century-old legacy.

A full digital ecosystem will link seamlessly the digital experience of customers and will enrich the journey at the showroom with ATAWADAC reception Bar, high definition 3D configurator, Citroen Origins touchscreen.

As part of the 360° Comfort strategy for India, Citroën will offer a range of services to build trust with consumers with unmatched comfort, never experienced before. These services will include attractive finance and leasing services through Citroën Finance and Insurance and 30 minute Guaranteed Trade-In facility.

L’Atelier Citroen, the Aftersales workshop, will offer innovative services at your fingertips as

·  Anytime Anywhere Access

·  Virtual Remote Diagnostics

·  180 Minute RSA Guarantee

·  Periodic Service & Maintenance with Pickup & Drop

·  Genuine Spare Parts availability within 24 hours

Service on Wheels will enhance customer reach and be available for service or repair jobs at the customer’s doorstep.

Commenting on “La Maison Citroën”, Roland Bouchara, SVP, Sales & Marketing, Citroën India, says, “We are excited to innovate and launch the “La Maison Citroën” in India and the Bengaluru phygital showrooms are an important milestone as we gear up towards the launch of our first car C5 Aircross SUV. The showroom will have numerous screens, debuting the ATAWADAC experience (AnyTime AnyWhere AnyDevice AnyContent) and a unique High Definition 3D configurator allowing customers to experience the product with a 360° view and personalise their product and services.”

Speaking about dealer network development in India, Joël Verany, VP, Sales & Network, Citroën India said, “Citroën is all about comfort and digital  innovation, and through this La Maison Citroen phygital showrooms, we are confident that we will be able to bring a revolution in the way an Indian car consumer looks at his car purchasing journey. At the time of launch of the C5 Aircross SUV, La Maison Citroen will welcome customers in 10 main cities in India.”

The Citroën Brand

At the heart of the automotive market, Citroën has asserted itself since 1919 as a popular brand in the true sense of the word, making people and their lifestyles its first source of inspiration. A spirit underlined by its ‘Inspired by You’ signature and embodied by cars combining unique design and benchmark comfort. Within the mainstream brands, Citroën also stands out with a unique customer experience (Citroën Advisor, ‘La Maison Citroën’, etc.). In 2019, the Brand sold 1 million vehicles in over 90 countries.

Showrooms Addresses:

‘PPS Motors’ [1S] - No. 70, Grace Towers, Millers Road, Bengaluru 560052

‘PPS Motors’ [3S] - Survey no. 4, Beratena Agrahara Village, Hosur Road, Bengaluru 560110.