70% Of Citizens From Southern India More Likely Purchase Health And Home Security Gadgets Now

* This data was revealed in a recent survey called ‘Cocoon Effect on Home and Health Security’ by Godrej Security Solutions A  recent study called the ‘Cocoon Effect on Home and Health Security’ by Godrej Security Solutions, a business of Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, has revealed that 70% of citizens from Southern India are now prioritising purchase of Health and Home Security gadgets. 

The study found 84% people agreed that post the pandemic and the subsequent national and state lockdowns, protecting their health and wellbeing has become a priority for them. This has further become the need of the hour since South India, and particularly its rural area, has been severely impacted.

The report further shows that respondents from Kochi unequivocally agree that staying at home, protecting their health and wellbeing is a priority in the current times. This was followed by Hyderabad (95.08%) and Bengaluru (86.89%). 

This shift towards health was also reflected in the purchasing priorities.  Prior to COVID-19, more than 1 in four respondents from southern India (25.88%) cited they were 'most likely' to purchase a smartphone or tablet from a given list of consumer products, including kitchen appliances (22.87%), Jewellery (18.26%), and health devices such as UV sterilizers (12.22%). 

With rising cases and lockdowns, there has been a 49% rise in the adoption of home security gadgets amongst residential owners across Southern India states. The study also revealed that 61% of Indian women have taken the lead in raising their understanding of different home and health security parameters, product benefits and usability. The study revealed women are taking charge of researching on the importance of using UV based products which are certified by a competent authority such Indian Council of Medical Research to safeguard loved ones from photo-biological risks of over or accidental direct exposure.

Commenting on the research, Mehernosh Pithawalla, Vice President, Godrej Security Solutions explains that the research was commissioned to assess the impact of the pandemic – as well as the subsequent restrictions and lockdown – on Indians' inclination towards of health safety and security. "It is heartening to see how majority of our respondents from Southern India are willing to take responsibility of their well-being and adopt health and home security solutions. The pandemic has led to a Cocoon Effect among citizens. It has forced them to shift focus and re-evaluate their home and health security preparedness. Our research highlights that India's 'security deficit' is now undergoing a stark change as consumers are adopting an inside-out approach by taking charge of their home and health security. As a trustworthy brand that has been securing Indian homes for several decades, it was incumbent on us to take strategic steps to support the country in the fight to secure homes and health of every Indian by making solutions available at the right time.”

While the authorities are initiating lockdowns and social distancing norms, it is necessary for citizens to adopt additional health security measures in order to eliminate or minimise any exposure to this highly contagious virus, even while at home. This has to the emergence of the health security market. Godrej Security Solutions estimates the total addressable health and home security market for FY 2021-22 in the country will reach around INR 450 cores with a CAGR of 20%, given the rising adoption rate and demand for home and health security products.

About Godrej Security Solutions:

Godrej Security Solutions is a division of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd and part of the USD 4.1 billion Godrej Group. A pioneer and leader in the business, Godrej Security Solutions Division is the largest manufacturer and marketer of Security Solutions in India. It is the largest supplier of security solutions to several prestigious banking, corporate and public institutions. For the first time in the category and the industry, Godrej Security Solutions Division has been awarded the Superbrand status. It has also won the “Most Preferred brand” award in the Home Segment. The Division currently exports its products to over 45 countries including Middle East Asia, South East Asia, Far East Asia, East Africa, the US, Europe and the SAARC Countries.

 

TECNO Launches SPARK 7 Pro Featuring 48MP Triple Rear Camera & Powerful Helio G80 Processor Starting @ INR 9,999

* Available in two variants 4GB/6GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage at INR 9,999 and INR 10,999 respectively

* Get SPARK 7 Pro at just INR 8999 with additional 10% off on SBI credit cards & credit card EMI transactions (Limited Period Offer).

* It will be available on Amazon (shorturl.at/akAX0) for sale starting from 28th May, 2021

TECNO, the global premium smartphone brand, today announced the launch of its all new SPARK 7Pro smartphone, further expanding its existing ‘all-rounder’ SPARK 7 series. Catering to the needs of its over 1 crore+ happy consumers, the SPARK 7 Pro is designed for the tech savvy millennials in India. The smartphone serves as a one-stop-solution that will suffice for all their daily needs such as a high-end camera quality, robust performance and a best-in-class design. The TECNO SPARK 7 Pro is equipped with a superlative 48 MP AI Triple Rear Camera with Quad Flash and supports 2K recording. The 180Hz touch sampling rate and 90 Hz refresh rate combined with the powerful Helio G80 processor provides for an overall seamless smartphone experience.

With the advent of the ongoing neo-normal, consumers across India continue to have an increased dependence on their smartphones for most of their everyday professional & personal requirements. The BIG 6.6” HD + Dot in Display along with a massive 5,000 mAh Battery of SPARK 7 Pro will enable consumers to have a seamless and an immersive viewing experience for longer durations. The TECNO SPARK 7Pro is in line with the brand’s philosophy of ‘Stop at Nothing’ delivering innovative products of sensory excellence for the Indian consumers, that has also helped the brand to consolidate its position among the top 5 handset players in the 5K - 10k segment in India.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Arijeet Talapatra, CEO -TRANSSION India, said, “Since its inception, TECNO’s offerings and initiatives have upheld its absolute commitment to create real value for its consumers. And this is reflected in TECNO’s achievement of 1 crore+ consumers in India. Continuing to live up to our consumers’ expectations, the new SPARK 7Pro smartphone has been designed keeping in mind the requirements of the new-age multi-tasking users and pro-level gamers including BIG Display, superlative performing camera and a powerful processor at an aggressive price point.”

India’s First Social Finance Platform SaveIN Raises Funding From Leading Investors, Set To Disrupt Personal Finance

India’s first social finance-based neo bank, SaveIN has raised an undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding round from a clutch of Indian and international angel investors and industry stalwarts across banking, consulting, blockchain, credit bureau and fintech. SaveIN is a first of its kind platform that aims to organize India’s largest personal loans market – lending / borrowing amongst family / friends and acquaintances (with or without interest) and aims to disrupt the personal finance market with its innovative products.

“Over 75% of Indians lend and borrow money among each other, especially for their short-term loan requirements, we have created India’s first and only social finance platform, that aims to organize this large market of transactions amongst friends, family and acquaintances facilitating discovery, matchmaking and record keeping of such transactions,” said Jitin Bhasin, Founder and CEO, SaveIN.   Jitin Bhasin has been leveraging his expertise and experience in personal finance segment to create a new ecosystem in the country.

“We want to positively impact the financial health of Indians, by leveraging their own trusted network and providing access to need-based and contextual financial products. The company is looking to use recently raised funds to expand its market reach, accelerate product development, and strengthen its in-house team. We aim to reach over 5 lakh users by the end of this fiscal year,” informed Jitin Bhasin

According to a Survey by CMIE's Consumer Pyramids, there is a paradigm shift in the way people borrowed, especially during the pandemic in 2020. Rather than approaching banks and financial institutions, people relied more on family, friends, acquaintances (including shopkeepers) for their short-term needs.  SaveIN identified this gap to develop India’s first social finance platform to tap the potential of large market of lending and borrowing among family, friends, acquaintances and in the process, also creating large alternate credit assessment data pools

The company launched the beta phase of its operations in April 2021 and has already recorded over ten thousand downloads of its mobile app on Google Playstore.“As part of its growth plans, SaveIN aims to offer a full scale, hyper-personalized, financial experience to its customers in association with partner institutions like banks, insurance and mutual fund companies, thereby offering a comprehensive suite of products and services in the retail personal finance domain,” concluded Bhasin.

Previously, Bhasin was the CEO of fintech lending company Rupeeredee and Non-Banking Financial Company Fincfriends. He has also held senior positions in Bankbazaar and Indusind Bank.SaveIN was set up in 2020 by Bhasin who had teamed up with EY Hong Kong senior executive Anurag Varma and Gaurav Luthra, Founder of Whatsup Life to start India’s first social finance-based neo bank. The company also roped in Rahul Gupta as Chief Financial Officer (former VP-Finance at Stashfin) and Karan Jain as Chief Operating Officer (former Director at Bankbazaar). With a very strong team, SaveIN aims to disrupt the way Indians transact, bank and save money.

About SaveIN

Established in late 2020 by seasoned banker and Fintech professional Jitin Bhasin, SaveIN aims to disrupt the way Indians transact, bank and save money. SaveIN, as the name suggests, is a financial services/neo-banking platform, made exclusively for Indians, with an aim to revolutionize their experience across daily financial transactions and banking. Bhasin has teamed up with EY Hong Kong senior executive

Anurag Varma and Gaurav Luthra, founder of Whatsup Life to set up SaveIN.The company has further strengthened its leadership team, adding Rahul Gupta as CFO (ex Stashfin) and Karan Jain as COO (ex Bankbazaar). SaveIN aims to offer, novel products in the personal finance domain, supplemented by a full suite of traditional banking products and experiences, but in a never seen before avatar, thereby making it a fun, simple, secure, and unbelievably rewarding experience. In due course, SaveIN also aims to create large alternate credit assessment data pools for its users, using social finance transactions clubbed with other alternate data, enabling them to graduate up the formal credit curve thereby expanding the pool of creditworthy Indians All this and more are at just the click of button, in a 100% digital and paperless, mobile

first ecosystem. At the core of building this truly exceptional financial platform lies a humble, albeit fierce intent of team SaveIN, to solve problems faced by Indian customers while using traditional banking services and making daily financial decisions.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Provides Vital Medical Equipment To Strengthen Fight Against Second COVID Wave

 * Oxygen concentrators, bedside monitors, Glucometers, Ambu bags among other medical equipment and supplies handed over to health authorities in Ramanagara district

* Toyota Kirloskar Motor will continue to support the Government of Karnataka to tackle the ongoing crisis through various measures in the months ahead

Extending its efforts to supplement the healthcare infrastructure, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today handed over essential medical equipment and supplies to the local health departments Ramanagara district in the presence of Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister Dr. C N Ashwathnarayan. TKM operates two manufacturing plants in Bidadi, Ramanagara district close to Bangalore.

The medical equipment included oxygen concentrators for treating critical patients at various Government of Karnataka facilities in Ramanagara district. Apart from oxygen concentrators, TKM has provided Ambu bags, bedside monitors, oximeters, Glucometers, masks, sanitisers and other essential materials to the District Health Officer of Ramanagara for their immediate requirements. Additionally, TKM also extended support by providing masks and sanitizers to Police and other Government Departments of Bangalore and Ramanagara. Further, TKM is in discussion with the Health Department, Ramanagara to support the vaccination drive in line with the National Health Mission, by providing transportation facilities to medical staff and beneficiaries. The future activities in pipeline include further essential materials like CT scanner and accessories, additional oxygen concentrators and other necessary items that will be handed over in due course.

Dr. C N Ashwathnarayan, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister who was present on the occasion of the handover, said, “In addition to the state government’s ongoing measures, with the cooperation of the industry we are working tirelessly to further strengthen  medical facilities for the timely treatment of the needy patients. It is heartening to see the support we are getting from the corporate citizens in the state in creating the additional healthcare infrastructure at a rapid pace. TKM has been an active participant in community initiatives for many years now; in particular, they have been complementing our efforts in the times of crises. Their latest contribution will help us meet the treatment requirements during this critical time and in the future too. “

Talking about the initiative, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Governance, TKM, said, “By providing necessary medical equipment, we hope to strengthen the efforts of the Government of Karnataka to rapidly boost the healthcare infrastructure in line with the growing requirements. It is our continued commitment to our local communities to help overcome the current crisis and contribute in a manner to save as many lives as possible. We are continuously monitoring the emerging needs of our communities with the help of the relevant Government departments so that we can contribute effectively. We are hopeful the current crisis will near its end soon with the combined efforts of the Government and all stakeholders. “

TKM is also working with industry bodies towards rapidly building healthcare infrastructure for the treatment of affected people in the state.

Covestro Launches First Global D&I Report For The Indian Market

 Today, Covestro launches its first global diversity and inclusion (D&I) report. It contains information on the company's D&I strategy, facts and figures, and regional examples documenting Covestro's progress toward an even stronger focus on diversity and inclusion.

“The recipe for success in business is committed employees: collaborative and full of ideas. The more diverse people are, the better – this is our conviction and what we aspire towards,” says CEO Dr. Markus Steilemann. “We want to establish a true culture of diversity and inclusion across the whole company, anchored in every aspect of our activities. This document is another milestone in our journey and I would like to thank everybody involved.”

Record of progress on a yearly basis

The “Covestro Global Diversity & Inclusion Report 2020” is the first of its kind and includes a review of activities in 2020 with consolidated information on how diversity and inclusion at Covestro contribute to the company's success. This includes, among other things, diverse team structures and the establishment of an inclusive and supportive work environment and corporate culture. From now on, Covestro will publish a global D&I report annually.

“As you'll see in this report, we started a journey five years ago to understand the identities, interlinks, differences and experiences of Covestro employees worldwide,” says Sophie von Saldern, Head of People & Culture. “Looking forward, we will continue to use data-informed efforts to support D&I as we grow and change the company in these transformative times. We will keep working to reach our goals even as we address disruptive challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Strategically embedded: Promoting diversity and inclusion

Covestro wants to make the world a brighter place and is committed to an inclusive, diverse and respectful working environment. That's why the Group advances the topics of diversity and inclusion as core elements of its corporate culture. Covestro derives its diversity and inclusion strategy from its corporate values, focusing on three areas of activity:

Colleagues: Build, engage and develop a strong, diverse workforce.

Company: Establish an inclusive, supportive work environment and culture for everyone.

Community: Develop genuine relationships and expand opportunities for achieving business objectives through community engagement, supplier diversity and customer interactions.

Covestro will continue expanding its diversity activities in the future to strengthen diversity and representation of employees worldwide. This will include defining D&I metrics and enhancing processes and systems to capture and measure these efforts.

MIM, ATAL Academy Organized 5-Day Online Faculty Development Program (FDP) On “Structural Equation Modelling.”

 

AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy and Manipal Institute of Management (MIM), Manipal Academy of Higher Education organized a five-day online Faculty Development Program (FDP) on “Structural equation Modelling” from 17 May 2021 to 21 May 2021. The objective was to impart theoretical and practical knowledge on structural equation modeling from 17 May 2021 to 21 May 2021. SmartPLS 3 and Jamovi (lavaan package) were used to learn the statistical techniques.

The program included fourteen sessions by a galaxy of leading experts in the areas of management such as finance, marketing, organizational behavior, human resources management, and statistics. More than 200 faculty and research scholars have registered for the FDP from various parts of India.  The workshop was inaugurated online by the Honorable Union Education Minister Sri Ramesh Pokhrival on 17th May 2021 at 3.30 pm. Prof. Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of AICTE, and Prof. M.P.Poonia, Vice Chairman of Aicte were present.

Dr. Raveendranath Nayak, Director & Professor, Manipal Institute of Management (MIM) says, “It was our immense please to organize the five-day online Faculty Development Program (FDP) on “Structural equation Modelling” in collaboration with AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL). We would extend our regards to the Honorable Union Education Minister Sri Ramesh Pokhrival, the panelist, faculty members, and the resource persons who shared their valuable insight throughout the sessions. This session aimed to create an intensive educational experience and propound the significance of research to a larger number of faculty and research scholars. It is a great way to share knowledge and teach hands-on skills on statistical techniques and tools because it offers participants an opportunity to systematically analyze their research practices and use these techniques in their research studies. It also created a sense of community or common purpose among its participants.”

The session was done under the supervision of Dr. Raveendranath Nayak, Director, Manipal Institute of Management and this was coordinated by Dr. Savitha, Manipal Institute of Management. The resource persons for the session were Dr. Shirshendu Ganguli, TAPMI, Dr. Asha Kamath, and Dr. Vani Lakshmi from Prasanna School of Public Health, Dr. Nandana Prabhu, Dr. Suhan Mendon, and Dr. Savitha from Manipal Institute of Management and Dr. Preethi D’Souza, Mangalore University.

Epson Partners With National Geographic To Encourage Consumers And Businesses In Fight Against Climate Change

 Epson has joined forces with National Geographic to promote the protection of the world's permafrost - the frozen ground beneath the polar regions of the earth - in its newly launched 'Turn Down the Heat' campaign.

The campaign comes as scientists predict the world's permafrost will thaw entirely by 2100, drastically changing ecologies, raising global sea levels, and releasing over 950 billion tonnes of methane into the atmosphere. Together, Epson and National Geographic aim to raise awareness of how people can reduce their own impact of global warming, from homes to offices and other businesses.

'Turn Down the Heat' is fronted by National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Katey Walter Anthony, who oversees arctic observatories in Alaska and Russia to monitor the long-lasting impact of climate change. Her pioneering research into the protection of permafrost is featured in a series of videos, infographics and online content in collaboration with Epson and National Geographic and can be found at heatfree.epson.com.

Dr. Anthony commented: "The Arctic is literally melting before our eyes. We estimate that up to 10% of the projected global warming this century could come from thawing permafrost, and that affects the entire Earth. What happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. Our choices really do matter in work and in life. And when businesses and people make smart decisions about what technology we use, that will also make a positive difference for our environment."

Saving energy is essential in the fight against global warming, but numerous technologies in both businesses and homes consume significant volumes of it on a daily basis. Epson's pioneering range of printers with Heat-Free Technology buck this trend, reducing environmental impact by using low energy and few replacement parts.

Epson global president Yasunori Ogawa commented: "Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at Epson, and we are committed to not only lowering our own environmental footprint but helping customers to do so too. We hope to make a difference in overcoming global environmental issues with our customers and business partners through our technologies."