'We Must Take Ownership And Take Remedial Measures To Restore The Ecosystem': Anil Lala

By Manu Sharma

The theme of World Environment Day 2021 is 'Ecosystem Restoration'. ‘Mankind has been abusing the environment since hundreds of years - industrialisation, chemical effluents, petroleum and plastic products, air pollution and hazardous emissions have all taken a toll on "Mother Earth". We human beings should take ownership and understand that this earth belongs to us and take appropriate remedial steps to restore the ecosystem and aim for a better environment and lessor pollution.’  Manu Sharma, Editor of Silicon Village caught up with serial entrepreneur, industrialist and Managing Director of a luxury fan brand, Mr Anil Lala who feels environmental laws are acts that guide us towards following best practices to reduce the pollution and help this earth become cleaner.  Mr Lala talks about this and much more in an email interaction. Excerpts: 

Manu Sharma: How to reduce your carbon foot print at the office/factory? Over the years what steps have/will you take(n)? 

Anil Lala: a. We should generate least quantity of garbage for which we need to use reusables 

b. Consume least or no plastic. Try to use only recyclable products

c. Follow minimalistic lifestyle with least wastage 

d. Learn to donate things that we don't use 

e. Minimise water consumption

f. Make sure that all left over food scraps are composted  

M S: Your inputs on the loss of forests area, more concrete buildings coming up everywhere and global warming affecting the country?

A L: Urbanisation will always be at a cost of losing our forests and green cover. More the concrete jungles come up, there will be more pollution by human beings, chemical & plastic waste, industrialisation, polluting vehicles, waste of water etc. Global Warming is a result of urbanisation and if we the human race do not contain it now, it will be too late and our coming generations will curse us for leaving a filthy world for them.

M S: As an industrialist, what efforts are you taking in reducing the carbon footprint in your organisation?

A L: Before being an Industrialist I am a human being who has received the gift of living on this earth and personally I am involved in planting urban forests thru my Rotary Club where we have earmarked an ambitious project to plant urban forests and so far, we have successfully planted more than 90000 trees. In terms of our workplace, we educate our work force to follow best practices in terms of conservation of water, minimise wastage in every way, we use all LED lights and use maximum cross ventilation for fresh air. 

M S : How eco-friendly are your products i.e. fans today? Going forward what changes would you like to bring in your products to make them more eco-friendly?  

A L: Our products are very energy efficient compared to comparative brands. About 50% of our models come with DC motors which consume about 30% of the electricity consumed by a conventional local fan. There are many models for which we use wooden blades instead of plastic. 

Our target is to have 100% models with DC motors for energy efficiency and minimise use of plastic. There is a study if all fans in India are changed to DC motors, we can save up to 3 MW hours of electricity which can result into a huge power saving annually. In fact, there would be no shortage of power in any state any longer.

M S : Presently what kind of cars do you own? Are you considering switching to a hybrid or electric vehicle? If yes please give the details?

A L: At the moment we have petrol and diesel vehicles but surely, we plan to change all of them to electric vehicles. We are just waiting for the ecosystem within the country to get set up with the charging stations. I believe Tatas have tied up with one of the leading fuel pump company to set up 2000 charging stations all over India and I am certain other companies will follow suit. Hence it is a matter of time when we will all start making the switch.

M S: Since you often travel to more advanced countries in Europe and America, what kind of green changes would you like to see in your country/city in order to save the environment and reduce pollution?

A L: If you drive around Germany, you will notice hundreds of homes sporting solar panels on the roof of their homes, they not only generate and consume their own electricity they are also able to pump in the excess energy into the Grid and get paid for it. I believe there are similar regulations in India where you can set up solar panels on your rooftops, use your own energy and sell the excess. I will be extremely happy if our government educates the population and develops a seamless system for individuals and commercial buildings to follow this path. This can generate many MW of renewable electricity and reduce our carbon foot print significantly. I also think that our pollution control boards should tighten and enforce laws for industries and control the illegal pollution specially in the disorganised sector.

M S : Have you undertaken planting trees in your locality/office?

A L: We have planted lots of trees at our plant at Tamil Nadu and we have also planted trees in our office building and warehouse compounds. We have changed all our light fixtures to LED and fans to DC motor fans in all our ware houses to conserve electricity. We also are actively looking to set up solar panels above our buildings to make us self-sufficient in generating our own electricity. We also actively support various green initiatives. If each one of us takes these steps in a responsible manner I am certain we can change our world and make it a much better and pollution free place to live in and breathe purer air quality. 

A Shot In The Arm In India’s Fight Against Covid: Samsung Vaccinating Over 50,000 Employees & Beneficiaries

Samsung India has got the ball rolling on vaccinating over 50,000 employees, adding a shot in the arm for India’s united fight against Covid.

This week, on-site vaccination camps were organised for employees at the Company’s Southwest Asia headquarters at Two Horizon Centre in Gurugram, at SRI-Noida, one of Samsung’s three R&D centers in the country, at Samsung Opera House in Bengaluru, the world’s largest mobile experience center and several branch offices around the country. A vaccination camp was also organised at the Sriperumbudur factory, near Chennai.

Employees came to the vaccination sites with great enthusiasm, with the Company ensuring strict Covid protocols and appropriate Covid behaviour. In some locations such as the Gurugram RHQ, family members of the employees also joined the vaccination programme. More vaccination drives have been planned over the next few weeks across cities.

As part its people welfare initiatives, Samsung will cover the vaccination costs for over 50,000 eligible employees and beneficiaries in India. This will also include all Samsung Experience Consultants (store promoters), who work at electronics retail stores across the country.

This is in addition to Samsung India’s CSR initiatives, announced last month, which included Covid care support through oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and innovative Low Dead Space syringes, and donations to the Centre and state governments to support their own Covid care programmes.

“I am very happy to see the enthusiasm of our employees in the vaccination program and contributing to this fight against Covid. At Samsung, we are driven by the idea that a company is its people. Post Covid-19, Samsung India has taken several initiatives for employees and their families, which includes medical care, home assistance as well as mental wellness support. The vaccination drive will cover employees and some other beneficiaries and ensure their safety and wellbeing as nobody is safe till everyone is safe,” said Sameer Wadhawan, Senior Vice President & Head of Human Resources, Samsung India.

“It is a great feeling when you know that your employer will not only take care of you, but your family as well,” says Indu Kapoor from the Consumer Electronics division at Samsung India.

“It is a feeling of security when your employers care for you. I salute our HR colleagues who have throughout this pandemic, especially during the recent crisis, worked day and night to ensure that the employees could get the care they so much required in terms of oxygen, hospital beds, medicines, and even emotional support,” says Hasit Mankodi from the Customer Service team at Samsung India.

At Samsung, employee health, safety and well-being are absolute priority. To help employees and their families with information and access to medical supplies as well as hospital facilities and home-care, we have set up in-house facilities and teams across the country. Samsung has also offered medical care, home assistance and mental wellness support by experts on personal loss, grief, vaccination myths, stress as well as pandemic fatigue.

To provide extensive medical care support, Samsung has partnered with Dhani Healthcare to provide employees with free online consultations at any time of the day with a year-long validity. Samsung is also running a home assistance program to support employees by sharing verified contacts for emergency services like hospitals, oxygen suppliers, chemists, blood banks, testing centers and ambulances.

In addition, employees have been assisted with health insurance top-up for Covid care and homecare treatment cost has been included in the group health insurance policy for employees and their dependents. Samsung is also providing a corporate health insurance buffer equal to the base policy amount for any employee in need.

Kylas, An Enterprise-Grade SaaS CRM For SMBs Priced At $99, Launches In India

* Uniquely designed for Indian SMBs to enable their digital transformation journeys

Kylas, a new age enterprise-grade Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product, has been launched in India. Kylas is an agile, easy to use and customizable SaaS product that is uniquely positioned to help small and medium businesses streamline their sales efforts, engage with customers effectively and grow faster. During the last one year, SMBs in India have been severely impacted with the uncertainties of start-stop lockdowns, unreliable cashflows and disrupted supply chains. Covid-19 has forced SMBs to accelerate digital adoption and ensure business continuity in this challenging environment. Kylas was launched with a vision to make an high quality CRM software accessible to small businesses with a differentiated pricing of USD 99 (INR 7499) per month with unlimited features, unlimited users, and no hidden costs so that the SMBs can focus on reviving their businesses without the additional burden of increase in technology costs.

Kylas comes built-in with a host of productivity and collaboration features to improve sales team productivity. It seamlessly integrates with commonly used lead generation platforms such as– Facebook, Whatsapp, IndiaMART, Shiksha.com and many more to accelerate the end-to-end customer journey of Indian SMBs. Additionally, Kylas is launching a unique ‘SMB Upskilling Program’ with an aim to educate, enable and advise growing businesses about their digital transformation roadmap and operations. This is a special 4-week program, during which SMBs will learn about using technology and platforms for business continuity & resilience, marketing (including digital and social media), lead generation and overall digital transformation. The program will be led and conducted by the leadership team and subject matter experts at Kylas.

Ketan Sabnis, CEO and Founder, Kylas, said, “While large enterprises have the resources and wherewithal to undergo rapid digital transformation, SMBs face various challenges such as lack of accessibility to technology, cost constraints and shortage of talent with relevant digital skills. To bridge this gap and to help SMBs to digitize their end-to-end customer journey, we have built Kylas: The Honest CRM. It has been designed keeping in mind the needs of the SMBs and we believe that our customers can benefit from its enterprise-grade CRM capabilities at an all-inclusive value-pricing. Additionally, our customer service, SMB upskilling initiative and our future product roadmap will further strengthen the key value propositions of Kylas.”

As a startup, Kylas resonates with the ‘Make in India’ goals of empowering the SMBs in the country with high-quality digital technologies. Over 150 businesses have signed-up for Kylas in the past few weeks leading up to the commercial launch. Kylas draws on the learnings and legacy of its predecessor, Sell.do (co-founded by Ketan Sabnis), India’s award-winning end-to-end CRM solution for the Real Estate sector, with over 600+ clients across key global markets. 

About Kylas:

Kylas Sales CRM has been designed and engineered to help growing businesses streamline their sales efforts, engage with customers effectively and convert deals faster! Kylas is an enterprise-grade SaaS tool that is intuitive and easy to use and aims at improving product adoption by sales teams. Businesses can try Kylas for free for 15 days. With a slew of productivity and collaboration features within the app, Kylas, is a unique solution for growing businesses aiming to digitally transform their businesses. 

Manipal Hospitals Acquires 100% Stake In Vikram Hospital, Making Its 10th Hospital In Bengaluru

Manipal Hospitals, the second largest hospital chain in India, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement with Multiples Private Equity Fund for a 100% acquisition of Bengaluru based multi-specialty hospital, Vikram Hospital, making this its 10th hospital in the city. The announcement comes close on the heels of its acquisition of the India operations of Columbia Asia Hospitals in April 2021.

Set up in 2009, Vikram Hospital is a 200 bedded high end tertiary care facility located in the central business district and is best known for its clinical expertise in the fields of Cardiac and Neuro Sciences.

Commenting on the deal, Dr Ranjan Pai, Chairman of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) said “We are delighted to welcome Vikram Hospital into our network. Manipal Hospitals has been the top ranked healthcare provider in Bengaluru for over two decades and this addition is reiteration of our commitment to meet the healthcare needs of the city and the region. There are two greenfield hospitals that are currently under construction and once they are complete in the next 24 months, our network of 12 hospitals with over 2,300 beds would be best placed to provide ease of access and comprehensive care to everyone across this fast growing city.”

Sharing her views on the transaction, Renuka Ramnath, Founder, Managing Director and CEO of the Private Equity Firm Multiples said “We salute the doctors, the outstanding management team and the staff of Vikram Hospital who built an iconic hospital in the city of Bengaluru. We are very pleased that we are handing over this marquee asset to an extremely worthy Manipal Hospital Group. With this larger canvas our doctors will have the ability to have a deeper impact on the healthcare needs of the city.”

With this latest addition, Manipal Hospitals now has 27 hospitals spread across 14 cities, more than 7,300 beds and a talented pool of 4,000 doctors and over 11,000 employees. The Hospital Group is also scouting to expand its footprint in eastern India and to further enhance its presence in the existing geographies.

Allegro Capital acted as financial advisors while PwC served as financial and tax diligence advisors and Trilegal as legal advisors for Manipal Hospitals on this deal.

About Manipal Hospitals

As a pioneer in healthcare, Manipal Hospitals is among the top healthcare providers in India serving over 4 million patients annually. Its focus is to develop an affordable, high quality healthcare framework through its multispecialty and tertiary care delivery spectrum and further extend it to out of hospital care. With the completion of acquisition of 100% stake in Columbia Asia Hospitals in India and addition of Vikram Hospital, the integrated network today has a pan-India footprint of 27 hospitals across 14 cities with 7,300+ beds, and a talented pool of 4,000 doctors and an employee strength of over 11,000. 

Manipal Hospitals provides comprehensive curative and preventive care for a multitude of patients from around the globe. Manipal Hospitals is NABH, AAHRPP accredited and most of the hospitals in its network are NABL, ER, Blood Bank accredited and recognized for Nursing Excellence. Manipal Hospitals has also been recognised the most respected and patient recommended hospital in India through various consumer surveys.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa Inaugurates Vedanta Cares COVID Field Hospital In Chitradurga

* COVID Field Hospital at Chitradurga equipped with critical care facilities with 12 ICU beds with Ventilators and 88 oxygenated beds

* Vedanta setting up second field hospital in Karnataka at Hubli, adding total 200 COVID care beds in the State.

* Company delivering on its commitment to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in the State

Delivering on its commitment to enhance the healthcare infrastructure in Karnataka and support communities in the fight against Covid-19, Vedanta today commissioned its first state-of-the-art 100-bed Covid Field Hospital in the State, in Chitradurga. The Vedanta Cares Field Hospital was inaugurated virtually by Shri BS Yediyurappa, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, in the presence of Shri. Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta.

Other dignitaries present at the inauguration included Shri B Sriramulu, Minister Social Welfare & District Minister Chitradurga, Shri Narayana Swamy, Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Shri GH Thippareddy, MLA Chitradurga, Shri P Ravi Kumar, Chief Secretary Govt. of Karnataka, Shri. M Chandrappa, Hon'ble MLA , Shri. Manjunath Prasad, ACS, Revenue, Ms. Radhika, SP Chitradurga, Smt. Kavitha S Mannikeri, District Collector, Chitradurga.

The COVID Field Hospital in Chitradurga is equipped with best-in-class medical infrastructure including oxygen and ventilators for critical patients. 

Vedanta is also setting up a second Covid Field Hospital at Hubli in Karnataka with 100-beds which is in the final stages of completion. The two Vedanta Cares hospitals in Karnataka with a total of 200 Covid care beds are in line with Vedanta’s commitment to set-up 1,000 COVID care beds across India to support the Government in combatting Covid-19.

Appreciating Vedanta’s endeavour to join hands with the Government of Karnataka to counter the second wave of Covid-19, Karnataka CM Shri. B S Yediyurappa said, "I am extremely happy to note that Vedanta Group has joined hands with Government to fight against Covid-19 pandemic. On behalf of Government of Karnataka, I extend my heartful thanks to Vedanta for helping to set up Covid Care Hospital in Chitradurga. Thank you, Anil Agarwal ji and  team, for your continued support and extensive efforts."

Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta said, “I am anguished to see the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 and loss of precious lives. Vedanta is committed to beef up the medical infrastructure and is working closely with government bodies and local administration to strengthen the country’s fight against Covid-19. The Vedanta Cares field hospital in Chitradurga is a testimony to our commitment to serving communities through state-of-the-art medical facilities. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Honourable Chief Minister Shri BS Yediyurappa Ji for taking out time from his busy schedule to inaugurate the field hospital and compliment him for providing the much-needed support to people whose livelihoods have been hit by the pandemic.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sauvick Mazumdar, CEO, Iron & Steel Business, Vedanta Limited, said, “Upgradation of healthcare infrastructure is incredibly important in response to the Covid pandemic which has put tremendous stress on existing healthcare infrastructure. Our 100-bedded Covid field hospital equipped with critical care support at Chitradurga will help to take some stress off the healthcare system in Karnataka and will help to ensure the safety of our local communities around Chitradurga. We are committed to support the Karnataka Government in combating Covid and will soon be completing second Covid Field hospital at Hubli thereby adding 200-beds medical infrastructure in the state of Karnataka”

Mr. Krishna Reddy, Director, Vedanta’s Iron Ore Karnataka said, “At Vedanta we are committed to the health and safety of all our stakeholders and communities around. In this unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vedanta is providing relief to people through various community outreach initiatives by supporting the State & District administrations. This Covid field hospital is the testimony to our philosophy of care, and we will continue in our endeavour to partner with Karnataka Government and our country at large, to overcome this health crisis.”

During the first wave of Covid-19 last year, Vedanta Iron Ore Karnataka provided relentless support to the people of Karnataka and frontline warriors by contributing to the CM relief fund, providing masks, sanitizers and supplying groceries during the lockdown. Vedanta group is working on several initiatives to support the fight against the second wave as well and has supplied 8.26 Lakh litres of medical oxygen and set up three oxygen plants.

Talisma, Active.AI Partner To Enable Improved Customer Experience In BFSI Using Conversation AI Enabled Chatbot

Talisma Corporation Pvt. Ltd., a leading provider of customer experience solutions, today announced that it has partnered with Active Intelligence Pte Ltd, a Singapore Fintech start-up. The partnership strengthens Talisma’s technology products and solutions enabling it to integrate a next-gen conversational AI chatbot into its platform and offer it to its BFSI customers.

This partnership brings together Talisma, an industry leader in offering Customer Relationship Management & Digital Engagement Platform for Enterprises and Active.Ai, provider of comprehensive Conversational AI BFSI focussed platform, deployed at numerous Financial Institutions across the globe. The solutions from Talisma and Active.Ai can be leveraged by BFSI enterprises on their Conversational AI journey. The collaboration provides a plethora of use cases across Retail and Commercial Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets, with solutions readily available on channels including WhatsApp and also ensures full-proof seamless fallback for human help, if the need arises.

An immediate outcome of the partnership has been a win at one of the top tier banks in UAE and the future that lies ahead, looks promising for this collaboration.

With predictions from a study that suggest 90% success rates in banking interactions by 2022 using chatbots, Talisma and Active.AI are perfectly positioned to accelerate digital transformation in the industry. The partnership ensures quickest time to market solutions focusing on digital and personalized interaction resulting in increased customer engagement and considerable cost-savings for banks and financial institutions.

“This synergistic partnership brings together Talisma, an industry leader in offering Customer Relationship Management & Digital Engagement Platform for Enterprises and Active.Ai, provider of a comprehensive Conversational AI BFSI focussed platform deployed at numerous Financial Institutions across the globe. The complementary set of solutions from Talisma and Active.Ai provides a full suite of solution offerings which can be leveraged by BFSI enterprises to leapfrog on Conversational AI journey. The collaboration provides a full set of pre-built use cases across Retail and Commercial Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets, readily available on channels including WhatsApp and ensures seamless fallback for human help as well. Our partnership has borne early results, with a win at one of the top tier Banks in UAE and the future, that lies ahead, looks promising for this collaboration,” says Ravi Shankar, Co-Founder & CEO of Active.Ai.

“Talisma has always been at the forefront of transforming customer experience for enterprises. With this partnership with Active.AI our solutions fit into the strategic and tactical directions needed in the industry to continue to transform customer experience and engagement,” said Rajendra Mruthyunjayappa, Managing Director, Talisma Corporation. “Our recent win of a top tier bank in UAE is one among many we see coming up in the future.” he added.

About Talisma Corporation

Talisma Corporation is the leading provider of Digital Customer Engagement platforms & enterprise CRM Solutions for a wide range of industries. Talisma’s end to end customer journey transformation solutions addresses your toughest digital transformation challenges across all stages of the customer journey, from customer acquisition, engagement to fulfilment with the power to integrate data and insights for profitable outcomes. Talisma serves a variety of industries through its wide range of vertical specific solutions through a combination of advisory / consulting, implementation and support services and is present in over 30 countries with a direct presence in India, UK, Brazil and United States.

About Active.AI

Active.Ai is the leading conversational Ai platform for digital financial services. Active.Ai helps Banks accelerate their digital experience with omni-channel enterprise grade Conversational AI finance as a service platform built from ground up for Financial Services. Banks can deploy and scale rapidly with 150+ use cases pre-built out-of-the-box to increase customer acquisition, reduce customer service turnaround time and deepen customer engagement on Whatsapp, Messaging, Smart IVR, Mobile apps, Web, VoiceBots and IOT devices.

WhiteHat Jr Expands Product Portfolio With The Launch Of Music

Online education has seen an exponential rise in the last two years; the pandemic further accelerated online learning across categories, making it a more acceptable format to learn. These circumstances have led to added emphasis on building life skills and creative abilities among children to prepare them for life. WhiteHat Jr that has led live one-on-one online classes for Coding and Math has announced the launch of its Music curriculum. This launch aligns with the brand’s strategy to inspire a generation of children to create versus consume. The company also plans to make Music commercially available in the USA and India after incorporating feedback from the beta testing phase.

In a short period, WhiteHat Jr pioneered coding as a category in India. It is now attempting to replicate the success they achieved with Coding, to make Music learning mainstream for kids. As one of the world’s largest online live one-on-one learning platforms (having conducted more than 8.5 million live classes to date), WhiteHat Jr is in a unique position to offer seamless delivery of Music classes, specifically piano and guitar, online.

Karan Bajaj, Founder and CEO, WhiteHat Jr, said, “Multiple studies show that music ignites all areas of a child’s development. From academic development to a transformation in self-esteem, learning to create music fundamentally transforms a child’s life. The insights received from conducting thousands of live classes every day on their tech-enabled platform explicitly built to deliver live online one-on-one classes gives us the confidence to extend this capability to deliver a seamless experience with Music as well.”

WhiteHat Jr has selected two of the most preferred instruments in international markets - Guitar and Piano— and expects huge traction globally as these are the two most popular beginner instruments. Overall, WhiteHat Jr is excited that learning the guitar and piano will now become accessible to millions of kids all over the world, giving them the absolute freedom and creativity in creating music.

Moreover, it’s interesting to note that no large-scale player has attempted to create their own curriculum. “We see this as a huge opportunity to set the benchmark for online music learning. Like in coding where kids learnt coding by creating their own digital products e.g. animations, games and apps, we’re following the same philosophy of learning by creating. Kids will learn music by creating their own signature tunes, compositions and albums.” signs off Karan.