ICICI Lombard introduces innovative Face Scan Feature In Indian

* A new-age feature enables monitoring of vitals in a matter of minutes on its flagship

* IL TakeCare App

In line with its digital-first approach for consumers, ICICI Lombard has introduced an innovative face scan feature to its signature app, IL TakeCare (ILTC), enabling the checking of vitals in couple of minutes.

An industry first, the innovative solution, introduced under the 'Know Your Health Vitals’, the banner of the app, helps users keep track of vitals such as blood pressure, SpO2(oxygen saturation), heart rate, respiration rate, heart rate variability, and stress level, all without any additional devices and from the comfort and safety of their homes. With the recent spike in COVID cases, there is an increasing awareness of the need to monitor these vitals regularly. Users can check these vitals using only the app, avoiding the cost and hassle of maintaining multiple gadgets like a blood pressure monitor, an oxygen meter, and so on. The app is seamless, with a comprehensive wellness solution that promotes a preventive rather than a curative approach. Along with the primary owners, this disruptive platform can be used by their family members too.

Significantly, digital solutions have witnessed an accelerated acceptance during the pandemic. The ILTC app, which recently witnessed a milestone of one million downloads, has added new features to the application, including mental well-being, easy-renewals, post-policy health check-ups, contactless motor claims services, health booster renewals, health risk assessment, and wellness goals.

Product innovation that is tied to a deep understanding of customers’ emotional and practical needs and wants, coupled with the ability to quickly get those products to customers, is at the core of all solutions by ICICI Lombard. The ILTC app has shown promising consumer adoption, with customers benefitting from the program's diverse features spanning insurance and wellness.

In the past, the company has introduced several innovative, new-age solutions, for its customers, including cloud-based insurance, easy online renewals, teleconsultation for policy purchase, easy claims registration, and more. ICICI Lombard is committed to developing technological solutions that make it easier and more convenient for insurance customers to purchase or renew their policies, as well as simplify their service needs.

Sanjeev Mantri, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard said, “ICICI Lombard flagship IL TakeCare App, has been one such step of our commitment to customer centricity rooted in their overall wellbeing and governed by empathy. In a highly competitive scenario, we believe long term value creation will depend more on delivering differentiation through digital first, DIY and immersive approaches for new age customers. Face Scan feature is a powerful innovation to democratise health checks, going beyond the realm of a transactional relationship to delivering a frictionless and engaging experience in the current times. Furthermore, our ILTC app has seen encouraging traction and growth with over 1.2 mn downloads, over 25% MoM growth on new policies, over 200 teleconsultations daily and over 1/3rd of our health claims now being settled through the app. We envision to provide the best- in-class digital experience to our customers and partners and many more breakthrough innovations in the time to come.” 

The ILTC App has multiple unique features being rolled out for both retail and corporate customers. They include heart rate, oxygen level, and stress level checks in less than a couple of minutes using a face scan, access to teleconsultation at the customer’s convenience via audio, video, and chat, wellness blogs, and cloud-based storage for all policy-related documents. The app facilitates the booking of post-policy check-ups with only a few clicks, real-time claim tracking through the app, and a customized CHI renewal flow, to name a few.

In addition to this, the app can also schedule medical tests and receive results. Through this app, OPD customers can avail cashless visits to doctors and clinics and order medicines with home delivery via this app. The software runs on Android and iOS phones. Customers can access this service by downloading the ILTC app from the App Store or Google Play.

About ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Ltd

We are one of the leading private sector non-life insurers in India. We offer our customers a comprehensive and well-diversified range of products, including motor, health, crop, fire, personal accident, marine, engineering and liability insurance, through multiple distribution channels. More details are available at www.icicilombard.com.

ON PURPOSE Introduces New Inclusive Parental Leave Policy

* Launches campaign #TwoIsTooLittle to address all forms of new parenthood

ON PURPOSE, a creative communications consultancy, launched a landmark parental leave policy offering inclusive employee benefits to new parents, primary and secondary caregivers as well as pet parents.

ON PURPOSE understands the realities and needs of modern day parenting and recognises the integral role of securely bonding with their baby/child/ pet  in the first critical weeks in order to give them the best possible start in life.

While the industry standard for paternity leave is just two weeks, the agency introduces a new 12-week leave policy for fathers and partners. Through the #TwoIsTooLittle campaign, ON PURPOSE hopes to inspire other workplaces in the country to adopt similar inclusive policies

The new parental policy aims to cover all instances of new parenthood as it extends to new parents who choose birth, adoption, surrogacy, or IVF as well as compassionate leave for parents who experience loss during pregnancy

Key features of the policy

ON PURPOSE’s New Paid Parental Leave Policy Gives Employees upto:

* 26 weeks paid parental leave at full pay for birthing people

* 12 weeks paid paternity leave

* 12 weeks paid leave for parents by law (adoption and surrogacy)

* 6 weeks of paid leave In the event of a miscarriage or stillbirth during anytime of the term

* Employee with breastfeeding/chestfeeding infants are also entitled to time-off or time away from their desks(work)

This is not all. ON PURPOSE celebrates families and believes that having a pet comes with responsibility and is a family member who needs care and  love equally. The organisation has curated leaves for pet parents, offering a 7-day time-off when an employee adopts a new pet.

Speaking about the initiative, Girish Balachandran, Founder, ON PURPOSE said, “Social change must start at home. As an organisation committed to driving social change in India, the launch of our new parental policy is an integral milestone to challenge gender stereotypes and build an inclusive workplace.  It’s time to share the load, share the ??? (laad).”

In May 2021, ON PURPOSE also introduced ‘Period Chutti’, a menstrual policy which offers an additional 6 days of paid leave for all employees who menstruate. This was initiated with the intention to support its employees to rest, while not having to use their sick leave, since periods are not a sickness. Additionally, the policy aims to remove the stigma surrounding menstruation and make it a normal conversation at the workplace. 

75F Introduces HyperStat, The Industry's Most Advanced Thermostat And Humidistat

Building automation leader, 75F announced the newest addition to its suite of software-defined hardware, the 75F® HyperStat™. Its eight onboard sensors and industry-leading connectivity make the device the most advanced thermostat and humidistat on the market today.

The HyperStat senses temperature, humidity, CO?, occupancy, light, sound, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and optional particulate matter, making it an affordable one-stop device for WELL Building Standard support. Data from these sensors feed wirelessly into a real-time analytics package and inform 75F's built-in, Guideline 36-compliant control algorithms.

Additionally, the HyperStat comes packed with four analog inputs, three analog outputs, and six relays that leverage software-defined control capabilities for all types of standalone multi-stage and modulating packaged HVAC equipment, from PTAC units to heat pumps and fan coils found in commercial buildings. It can also act as the local interface and sensing for VAV controllers.

Combined, these features mold the HyperStat into an energy and indoor air quality management powerhouse capable of servicing more people and buildings than ever before.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Deepinder Singh, Founder & CEO, 75F, said, "The HyperStat brings IAQ data forward by bundling eight digital sensors into a single affordable, connected device. This coupled with software-defined control sequences opens vast possibilities for better building operation. Our customers can breathe easy — we'll do the rest."

Built-in sequences for occupancy detection include auto-away and force-occupy settings that, along with a door and window opening sensor, give the HyperStat flexibility to optimize indoor environments — no matter the current building schedule. Key card integration for large hospitality customers and a more user-friendly interface allows fine-grained individual zone control.

HyperStat works out of the box with 75F's IoT-based Building Management System or can be integrated into other BMS solutions via Modbus/BACnet. The device allows constant recommissioning and creates its own network, reducing cost barriers and bringing far more points to HVAC sequences of operation to reduce energy consumption and improve occupant comfort, health, and productivity.

About 75F:

75F designs and manufactures the world's leading IoT-based Building Management System, an out-of-the-box, vertically-integrated solution that is more affordable and easier to deploy than anything on the market today. The company leverages IoT, Cloud Computing and Machine Learning for data-driven, proactive building intelligence and controls for HVAC optimization. Investors include some of the biggest names in energy and technology. 75F's mission is to improve occupant productivity through enhanced comfort and indoor air quality — all while saving energy and the environment. Learn more at www.75f.io.

Zoho Workplace Achieves Exceptional Growth Spurred By Market Demand And Record Migrations From Competitor Suites

* The ongoing migration from Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 results in an influx of new customers for Zoho's collaboration and communication platform

Zoho, a global technology company offering the most comprehensive suite of business software applications in the industry, today announced that its enterprise collaboration and communications platform, Workplace, now serves more than 16 million users globally. The company attributes this substantial growth to increasing business demand for contextual applications with utmost standards for user privacy as well as rising costs from other collaboration platform providers. Since the start of the pandemic, Zoho Workplace adoption has accelerated as businesses of all sizes transitioned to digital-forward, remote work.

"Zoho has always been about persistent long-term execution, and our investment in Zoho Workplace attests to that. As competitors continue to raise prices or eliminate free editions for those who need them most, Workplace continues to serve businesses and professionals with a feature-rich suite that increases productivity while remaining broadly affordable," said Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder, Zoho Corporation. "Our ad-free approach and respect towards user privacy will add to the overall experience that our solution provides."

Unparalleled Growth

Zoho Workplace experienced 34% year-to-year growth in 2021, with more than 40% of new customers making the switch from Google and Microsoft. Growth was strong in all segments, with the SMB customer base increasing 40%, mid-sized by 36%, and enterprises by more than 20%. In India, Workplace saw 40% growth. Carnival Group, Equitas Bank, and VIVA Group are a few among the thousands of Indian businesses that have successfully onboarded to the Workplace platform in recent years.

Demand is largely driven by businesses still facing harsh realities of the pandemic, and its impact on their growth and budget. Unforeseen hikes in operational costs to support collaboration makes it more difficult for these businesses to recover and thrive. Within days of Google announcing that it would be ending the free edition of Workspace, Zoho's Workplace platform experienced a 120% increase in migrations from Google-hosted domains. 

Analyst Quote

"Zoho is unique amongst its productivity suite competitors for not rolling out a cost increase for 2022, nor removing their freemium offerings," commented Thomas Randall, Senior Research Analyst at Info-Tech Research Group. "Other providers have justified price add-ons and increases to reflect the additional value they believe their customers have received over the pandemic for using their tools. Yet freemium offerings and price consistency have been central for many customers and businesses to stay afloat during lockdowns. Now that such offerings are in short supply, Zoho will likely see increased demand for their Workplace services as customers seek strong ROI for productivity and collaboration software.” 

Pricing and Availability

Zoho Workplace is available in three editions: Standard (?99 per user, per month, billed annually) Professional (?399 per user, per month, billed annually) and Mail-only (~?59 per user, per month, billed annually). For more information, please visit: https://www.zoho.com/workplace/pricing.html

Zoho Privacy Pledge

Zoho respects user privacy and does not have an ad-revenue model in any part of its business, including its free products. More than 75 million users around the world, across hundreds of thousands of companies, rely on Zoho every day to run their businesses, including Zoho itself. For more information, visit https://www.zoho.com/privacy.html

About Zoho

With 50+ apps in nearly every major business category, including sales, marketing, customer support, accounting and back-office operations, and an array of productivity and collaboration tools, Zoho Corporation is one of the world's most prolific technology companies. Zoho is privately held and profitable with more than 10,000 employees. Zoho is headquartered in Chennai, India. Additional offices are in the United States, Japan, China, Canada, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, the Netherlands, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. For more information, visit www.zoho.com/

MAHE Declares 2022 As Year Of Innovation & Entrepreneurship To Encourage Spirit Of Entrepreneurship Amongst Students

 

With an aim to encourage and foster culture of innovation, startups and entrepreneurship, Manipal Academy of Higher Education has declared 2022 as the year of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Following the guidelines of the Ministry of Education, Govt. of India, MAHE has adopted the National Innovation and Startup Policy 2019 for Students and Faculty: A Guiding Framework for Higher Education Institutions. The policy has been designed by the Ministry of Education and apex regulatory bodies such as the University Grant Commission (UGC) and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). It intends to guide Higher Education Institutes in promotion of student-driven innovations and startups. The aim of the policy is to enable HEIs to build, streamline and strengthen the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the campus.

Keeping this in mind, in the year 2022, MAHE will celebrate the legacy of their alumni who are successful entrepreneurs, bring them to campus to inspire students and develop a culture of entrepreneurship across all MAHE institutions.

Dr Ranjan R Pai, President, MAHE Trust and Chairman MEMG said “MAHE as an institution has not only strived to focus on research and innovation in education but also has made consistent efforts for the betterment of the society. We believe one of the most effective ways of societal development is to encourage entrepreneurship in the young minds& talent of our country. Following the guidelines, The National Innovation and Startup Policy 2019, we aim to fuel an entrepreneurial ecosystem across all our institutes. This will undoubtedly help in mentoring and nurturing the innovative and creative potential of students and faculty alike. We will provide all the support required for students to tap into their business-oriented skills.

Speaking on this initiative Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M. D. Venkatesh, VSM (Retd), Vice Chancellor MAHE said “To mark the 15th year of Innovation Center of MAHE, 12 years of Manipal Universal Technology Business Incubator (MUTBI), 4 years of Manipal-Government of Karnataka Bio incubator and 75th year of India’s independence, I am happy to declare 2022 as the Year of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at MAHE. During this year we will celebrate the legacy of our Alumni who have started successful enterprises, providing employment and human development in society, and bringing great pride to our MAHE community. Further, we will develop a leadership seminar series, bringing our Alumni innovators and entrepreneurs to campus, to inspire, engage and mentor our students and faculty. With the help of the MAHE family, we will build a strong ecosystem for Innovation, Leadership and Entrepreneurship at MAHE. Soon, we hope to come up with a state-of-the art Technology Research Park at MAHE, Manipal.  

Dr HS Ballal, Pro-Chancellor, MAHE said “Higher Education institutes play a key role in promoting student-driven innovations. We have dedicated the year 2022 to emphasize the importance of innovation, skills and entrepreneurship amongst students and faculty. MAHE has a strong legacy of producing successful entrepreneurs and we will continue to encourage budding innovators and entrepreneurs in all our campuses. This step will play a crucial role socio-economic development of the country and pave way for creating successful paths for students”

Pristyn Care Doubles Its Surgical Centres And Drosses 1Mn Patient Interactions. Becomes The Leader In Secondary-Care Surgeries

* Patient interactions have crossed the one Million mark, making Pristyn Care a leader in Secondary-care surgeries.

* In line with its commitment of enhancing access and ensuring high quality secondary-care surgeries through an innovative care delivery model, Pristyn Care doubled its surgery care centres to 800 in 2021

Pristyn Care, a health technology start-up specialising in secondary-care surgeries, has doubled its surgical centres to 800 in 2021. Pristyn Care surgical centres are now functional across the 7 metro cities – Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata – and  35 tier 2 & 3 cities across the country. Operating in over 12 surgical categories such as General Surgery, Ophthalmology, ENT, Urology, Gynaecology, - Pristyn Care has successfully treated over 60k patients and completed 1Mn+  patient interactions.

Pristyn Care operates on an innovative full- stack Care Delivery model to ensure that high quality surgical care is offered to patients at an affordable cost. It achieves this through its policy of using the under-utilised OT and bed capacity available at its partner hospitals. The company invests in high end medical technology like diode lasers, Microdebriders, phaco-lasers, 3D meshes, coblators and mini-port laparoscopy kits and many more such advanced equipment.

The company has ~ 400 full time expert doctors who have a wealth of experience of performing surgeries for 50+ diseases using the most advanced surgical technology and equipment. The highly trained surgeons and dedicated nursing and paramedical staff follow standardised care modules and undergo regular specialized training led by the quality & medical directorate team at Pristyn Care. Till date, the company has trained over 10,000 such nursing and paramedical staff with the aim of improving surgical outcome and patient experience.

Pristyn Care co-founder Dr. Vaibhav Kapoor, said, “We would continue to expand our services, invest in high end medical equipment, train our surgeons and nursing and paramedical staff and maintain a strict adherence to protocols set by the Govt. of India. Our surgeons conduct surgeries using high end miniport laparoscopy kits, advanced lasers, 3D meshes etc. Such superior quality surgeries to patients in Tier 2 & 3 cities would be a great service to our nation. Our model of free post-op consultation and 24x7 Personal Care Buddy are path-breaking initiatives and highly patient centric.”

A rock-solid technology backbone and a dedicated Personal Care Buddy assigned to each patient at Pristyn Care strengthens its’ patient-first initiatives including billing transparency, maintaining medical records through EMR and hassle-free admission-discharge at hospitals. Pristyn Care has set up a 24/7 in-hospital patient helpline to address patient queries any hour of the day during their hospital stay.

The company has partnerships with health insurance companies and financing providers. These partnerships help in easy and faster cashless claim approvals and EMIs facilities at 0% interest.

Pristyn Care co-founder Harsimarbir (Harsh) Singh, said, “The Government of India through Union Health Ministry's National Telemedicine Service – eSanjeevani, and many international medical federations are encouraging digital modality of seeking health services. We are a tech-enabled surgery provider and work with an aim to offer the highest quality surgery that is easy on the pocket too. Through our partnerships with the insurance companies and health-financing providers and our strong technology driven ecosystem, we want to ensure that the costs of surgery do not become a burden. Through these options, our patients and caregivers would not have to dig deep into their household savings. ”

Indian healthcare delivery infrastructure is highly skewed and is centred in metros and larger urban centres. This leads to large scale migration from Tier 2/3 cities and towns to larger urban centres and metros for seeking quality healthcare.

Dr Garima Sawhney, Co-founder, reiterates Pristyn Care’s commitment to expanding the surgical services and following standard treatment guidelines, “Accessing quality healthcare is a challenge for most of our population and at Pristyn Care we are working to bridge this gap. We offer high quality surgery, at an affordable cost while adhering to standard practices set by NABH, MCI and Govt. of India.”

About Pristyn Care

Founded by Harsimarbir (Harsh) Singh, Dr. Vaibhav Kapoor and Dr. Garima Sawhney in August 2018, Pristyn Care (pristyncare.com) is a leader in Secondary Care Surgeries.

The company has a team of 400+ expert surgeons, performing advanced Surgeries for over 50+ diseases using the latest Advanced Medical technology.

Pristyn Care has differentiated itself by ensuring a 24/7 Personal Care Buddy is allotted to every patient. This coordinator ensures A to Z of surgery - allocating the right doctor to patient, diagnostics, remote insurance clearance, admission & discharge formalities, cab pick-up & drop, Free meal for attendant, Patient Financing (EMI) and Free post-surgery follow-up - is taken care of. This ensures patients & their family members focus on recovery rather than running around.

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films Presents An Eerie-ly Intriguing Short Film, ‘Manoranjan’, Starring Actor Gul Panag

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films today premiered ‘Manoranjan’. The short film features critically acclaimed actor Gul Panag, who is also the producer of the film, as Lalita, a simple homemaker whose captivating storytelling ability forms the essence of this psychological thriller. The short film, directed by Suhail Tatari, who has directed critically acclaimed films like Ankur Arora murder case and Summer 2007, narrates the story of Lalita who lives a fairly ordinary life in a small town in Rajasthan until the arrival of an unplanned guest thwarts the family’s travel plan and stirs up a series of spooky events, leaving the audience wanting for answers at every step.

The highlight of the film is the well-defined character sketch of the protagonist, Lalita, who singlehandedly keeps the audiences at the edge of their seats at all times. The movie successfully creates a sense of mystery and spook, without any ‘jump scares’ and the credit for the same sits with the writer of the movie, actor-writer Sukhmani Sadana. Sukhamni has written films for Bollywood, OTT platforms and has acted in several popular web-series in the past. From Lalita’s unpretentious relationship with her husband Satyanarayan, a railway station master, to her confident demeanour with 18-year-old houseguest Chirag, the movie Manoranjan successfully manoeuvres through varied relationships of Lalita while maintaining a sense of intrigue. 

Talking about the film, actor Gul Panag said, “I’m quite glad that a platform like Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is allowing such contemporary stories to see the light of the day. This movie is a riveting suspense that will keep the audiences hooked till the last frame. It’s definitely a refreshing take on the spooky genre and I am confident that the audience will enjoy every second of this film. This is my second movie with Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films and post the success and reaction to my last film, it was an obvious choice from my end to associate with the platform again for ‘Manoranjan’. I am looking forward to more such future associations with them”.

Talking about the movie, Director Suhail Tatari said, “I am thrilled to present Manoranjan to my audience and I am more than privileged to release it with Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films. It’s an intricate web- like plot woven around the life of the character Lalita and the mystery unfolds slowly and steadily in the film, keeping one intrigued till the end. I believe that Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is the perfect platform to celebrate such fresh scripts and the platform has truly been the catalyst  for the evolution short films in India.”

“Gul came up with the concept for Manoranjan, which was subsequently fleshed out from there. As soon as I heard the idea, I was on-board, especially given the genre being my personal favourite. It's a multi-layered tale with a spooky feel to it. The Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is a remarkable platform for such unique and contemporary storytelling,” said writer, Sukhmani Sadana.

The movie will be first exclusively premiered on Royal Stag Barrel Select’s Large Short Films Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/LargeShortFilms , a platform to watch the most original and inspiring short films made by some of the finest directors in India. 

WATCH ‘Manoranjan’ HERE: https://www.youtube.com/user/LargeShortFilms

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films:

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has become ‘the’ destination for Indian short films where viewers can experience the taste of great films. The platform has collaborated with successful storytellers from Bollywood who truly stand for originality and creativity. Large Short Films has evolved to create an ecosystem for aspiring directors to feature along mainstream Bollywood directors and still be able to create a niche for themselves in the industry.

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has released some of the most prodigious award-winning short films with renowned artists and directors from the industry which truly reflects originality, imagination and perfection.  Ahalya, Interior Café - Night, Ouch, Chutney, Anukul, Mumbai Varanasi Express, Khool Aali Chithi, The School Bag, Bruno and Juliet, ‘Shunyata’, Juice, Maa, Chhuri, Her First Time and Iktarfa are some of the phenomenal films that have been released on this platform. Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films as a platform for original short films has been the pioneer in popularizing this genre of filmmaking.

Follow us on:

Website: https://www.largeshortfilms.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LargeShortFilms

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LargeShortFilms

YouTube: https://youtube.com/LargeShortFilms

About Royal Stag Barrel Select:

Royal Stag Barrel Select is the premium offering of Royal stag for the discerning consumer who seeks an evolved taste. It is for the young, confident, progressive and inspiring individuals who have tasted their first success, want to be seen as the one with discerning taste, evolving in their journey of life.