Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Minding our minds during the COVID-19 pandemic

These can be difficult times for all of us as we hear about spread of COVID-19 from all over the world, through television, social media, newspapers, family and friends and other sources. The most common emotion faced by all is Fear. It makes us anxious, panicky and can even possibly make us think, say or do things that we might not consider appropriate under normal circumstances.

Understanding the importance of Lockdown
Lockdown is meant to prevent the spread of infection from one person to another, to protect ourselves and others. This means, not stepping out of the house except for buying necessities, reducing the number of trips outside, and ideally only a single, healthy family member making the trips when absolutely necessary. If there is anyone in the house who is very sick and may need to get medical help, you must be aware of the health facility nearest to you.

Handling Social isolation
Staying at home can be quite nice for some time, but can also be boring and restricting.

Here are some ways to keep positive and cheerful.
1. Be busy. Have a regular schedule. Help in doing some of the work at home.
2. Distract yourself from negative emotions by listening to music, reading, watching an entertaining programme on television. If you had old hobbies like painting, gardening or stitching, go back to them. Rediscover your hobbies.
3. Eat well and drink plenty of fluids.
4. Be physically active. Do simple indoor exercises that will keep you fit and feeling fit.
5. Sharing is caring. Understand if someone around you needs advice, food or other essentials. Be willing to share.
6. Elderly people may feel confused, lost and need help. Offer them help by getting them what they need, their medicines, daily needs etc.
7. If you have children at home, keep them busy by allowing them to help in the household chores - make them feel responsible and acquire new skills.

Focus on facts, reject rumours and theories
1. Knowledge is power; the more you know about a certain issue, the less fearful you may feel. Make sure to access and believe only the most reliable sources of information for self-protection.
2. Do not follow sensational news or social media posts which may impact your mental state. Do not spread or share any unverified news or information further.
3. Do not keep discussing all the time about who got sick and how. Instead learn about who got well and recovered.
4. Stick to the known advice- hand hygiene and keeping a physical distance from others. It is being careful about yourself, and also about care of others.
5. A common cold is not Corona infection. The symptoms of Corona have been well described. Follow etiquette of sneezing, coughing, avoiding spitting in public places etc.
6. In most people, the Corona infection causes mild symptoms and the person only needs to follow social distancing till he/she stops being infective, usually 2 weeks. Mild infection does not require a person to be admitted in hospital. Only people who have breathing difficulties need to be in hospital. Most people recover.

Handling emotional problems
1. At times of anxiety, practice breathing slowly for a few minutes. Try and distance the thoughts that are making you anxious. Think of something calm and serene, and slow down your mind.
2. When feeling angry and irritated, calming your mind, counting back from 10 to 1, distracting yourself helps.
3. Even when feeling afraid, deal with it by asking yourself:
a. What is under my control?
b. Am I unnecessarily worrying about the worst thing that can happen?
c. When I have been stressed in the past, how have I managed?
d. What are the things I can do to help myself and be positive?
4. Feeling lonely or sad is also quite common. Stay connected with others. Communication can help you to connect with family and friends. Call up people whom you haven’t spoken to and surprise them. Discuss happy events, common interests, exchange cooking tips, share music.
5. If any of these emotions persist continuously for several days, despite your trying to get out of it, talk about it with someone. If the feelings worsen, a person may feel helpless, hopeless and feel that life is not worth living. If that happens, call at helpline number (080-46110007) for advice from a mental health professional or contact your doctor / mental health professional.

What is NOT advisable
1. Avoid tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Use of tobacco or alcohol or other drugs to cope with emotions or boredom can worsen physical, mental health and reduce immunity. People who already have a substance use problem may require professional help, especially when they feel low in mood or stressed.
2. Do not shun or judge people with a CoVid infection. While you need to maintain a physical distance and keep yourself safe to prevent such infection, remember they need care and concern. If you know someone who might have the infection, tell them about precautions, and how to get medical assistance, if required.
3. If you happen to get infected with Corona, remember most people get better. Do not panic. Practice self-isolation and take medications that are advised.

Emotional issues after recovery
1. While it is wonderful to recover from Covid infection, you may actually face stress after you have recovered and wish to get back into the community. You may have fear about your loved ones falling ill.
2. People who do not understand the illness well may actually keep you at a distance, which is also very stressful and isolating.
3. You may experience feelings of guilt that you were not able to work or care for others. This may lead to feelings of depression, helplessness or frustration.
4. Use the ways mentioned earlier to deal with these feelings. Share your positive story that it is possible to recover from Covid infection.

Recognise mental health problems in your near and dear ones Just as you can recognise your own mental health problems, be sensitive to such problems in your near and dear ones, which may include:
1. Changes in sleep patterns
2. Difficulty in sleeping and concentrating
3. Worsening of health problems
4. Increased use of alcohol, tobacco or drugs
Be supportive to them. If the problems persist, please contact the helpline (080-46110007) or contact your doctor or a mental health professional.

Persons with mental illness

Persons who had previous mental illness may face newer challenges during self- isolation or Covid infection:

1. They would also have the same fears and stress as others which may worsen their previous mental health condition
2. Social isolation may make them more withdrawn, moody and irritable
3. They may not seek/ get easy access to medicines and counselling Help and support is vital for persons with mental illness from their families and other care givers. Health helplines can provide support, in addition to regular taking of prescribed medication, a regular daily routine, keeping engaged and positive.

Remember, good mental status in the difficult times may win you the battle more easily!

Avinash Bagdi, Head Of Finance, Covestro on RBI Monetary Policy

With COVID-19 crisis which is impacting the Indian and global economy at large, it has become utmost important to monetize the deficit and ensure cash flow and liquidity in the market. A 75 bps rate cut (bringing down current the repo rate to 4.4%) combined with a reduction of 90 bps in reverse repo rate along with other measures to infuse liquidity into the system are significant moves taken by the governor to ease liquidity.

Government of India is taking critical moves under consideration to address this global pandemic by announcing several comprehensive packages. These measures will bring liquidity and relief to the cash flow of organizations giving them financial relief. as part of the overall initiative along with the 3-month moratorium on all term loans by financial institutions will alleviate the concerns of small and medium organizations and individuals alike.

These bold moves, along with zero collateral loans, will encourage banks to lend, giving succour to organisations helping mitigate the financial distress facing them.

Quote on COVID - 19 of Mr. H.S. Karangle, General Director, Indian Chemical Council

The novel Coronavirus which originated in Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province in December 2019 has taken away nearly 7000 lives and have infected over 2 lakh people globally. In India, till now there are 3 mortality cases and around 147 people have been affected by COVID 19. Not only this, but with Coronavirus, there has been far reaching impact on various industries including chemical and petrochemical industry. 

The petrochemical and chemical industries have been traditionally among Hubei's pillar industries, also contributing much to China's chemical exports. India depends on China for chemicals across the value chain with the latter's share in imports for broad categories ranging between 10 and 40%.

The Indian chemical sector needs to be future-ready for situations like these and there is a need to strengthen India's domestic Chemical production base, which is the backbone of India's industrial and agricultural development. 

The chemical industry needs to better its feedstock allocation policy, government investments in chemical clusters across the country, easier access to capital due to its capital intensive nature, and simpler pollution compliance laws. Policies favoring the chemical sector will give a fillip to all industries dependent on this industry, from Led lights to electronics, from EVs to apparels, thereby giving a boost to the entire Indian economy.

Medicalwale.com launches 'Night Owls' to make delivery of Medicines and Health essentials available 24 hours to citizens

- Ties-up with over 5000 local pharmacies for doorstep delivery of medicines round the clock
- Facilitates online Doctor consultancy via Video call and Chat to address health-related queries along with a Coronavirus expert on board

Medicalwale.com, a futuristic Omni-channel healthcare platform aimed at putting India at the top of the global healthcare chart by making the best of the services accessible and affordable for people, launched several initiatives to help people get through the tough lockdown times that India faces today due to the Coronavirus pandemic. In a bid to contain the spread of Coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-days-long nationwide lockdown. Medicalwale.com has tied-up with over 5000 local pharmacies in Mumbai to enable residents of the vicinity to get access to medicines and health essentials while staying quarantined safely in their homes. Users can now easily order medicines, OTC products and daily essential products as the platform works tirelessly round the clock with pharmacy stores, distributors and manufacturers. 


As the country grapples to get access to medicines during the day, Medicawale.com also launched a service called 'Night Owls' which delivers medicines at the doorstep even after dusk. "Access to medicines 24 hours is a basic right of all the citizens, as a medical emergency can never be pre-determined. With our Night Owls service, we will now be able to deliver medicines at the doorstep of users at ease at any hour during the night as well", says Mr. Obaid Abdul Aziz, Founder, Medicalwale.com. 


With the growing risk of Coronavirus and the availability of limited labs for authorized COVID19 tests the difficulty for the users increases. Thus the government has authorized a few private labs to conduct COVID19 tests. Medicalwale is helping its users by providing test facilities where symptoms are very evident in patients. "With the outbreak of this pandemic, a horde of people are worried about their health and mistaking other symptoms as a sign of Coronavirus. To help them get professional consultation from our panel of qualified doctors, patients can now connect over a video call or chat with our onboard doctors to get free advice instantly. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO), Medicalwale has created an AI Autobot where users can quickly pre-diagnose themselves whether they should get more help from a doctor or get themselves tested. This is FREE in public interest for all the people - whether Medicalwale user or not!" adds Obaid. 

Many people are looking at various ways to set their 21 days goal in order to have a positive outlook and make best use of the time they have during the lockdown period. But, it will be essential that everyone starts building their immunity during the time in hand to fight Coronavirus beyond these 21 days as well. Medicalwale's online dietician Miss Belly provides its users with a diet plan that is customized to boost immunity of an individual to fight against diseases like Covid19. To build a better immunity for a healthy future, Miss Belly is also popular for her pregnancy diet plan, family diet plan, therapeutic diet plan and bridal diet plan. 


Founded in 2016, Medicalwale.com is a futuristic health-care platform, designed to ease all health related queries. Medicalwale has over 50 ways for our users to take preventive and curative measures in Saathi App. With over 5000+ strong partner associations, Medicalwale.com is an economical and affordable health service on one click (Online) or via Bachat Health Cards (Offline), providing O2O2 service.  In 2018, Medicalwale.com acquired Doctronic and later in 2019 it has been awarded for Excellence in Healthcahre App by Radio City. Medicalwale.com has recently launched ambulance app just like Uber model to help people by providing them fast and reliable services. 

Punjab National Bank cuts interest rates


PNB has decided to pass on the full benefit of recent RBIs policy rate cut of 75 bps to its borrowers covered under External Benchmark linked product of Repo Linked Lending Rate (RLLR) in respect of Retail/ MSME portfolio w.e.f 01.04.2020.

Further, Bank has also reduced its MCLR rates by 30 bps across the tenor for better monetary transmission of policy rate cut benefit to the borrowers. The rates shall be applicable for the amalgamated entity. The bank has also reduced its base rate by 15 bps from 9.05% to 8.90%.

Bank has further reduced its term deposit rates in various maturities bucket with maximum rate of 5.80% for deposits maturing in 1 year and above.

Ayurveda’s immunity boosting measures for self care during COVID 19 crisis

 In the wake of the Covid 19 outbreak, entire mankind across the globe is suffering. Enhancing the body’s natural defence system (immunity) plays an important role in maintaining optimum health. We all know that prevention is better than cure. While there is no medicine for COVID-19 as of now, it will be good to take preventive measures which boost our immunity in these times.

Ayurveda, being the science of life, propagates the gifts of nature in maintaining healthy and happy living. Ayurveda’s extensive knowledge base on preventive care derives from the concepts of “Dinacharya” - daily regimes and “Ritucharya” - seasonal regimes to maintain healthy life. It is a plant-based science. The simplicity of awareness about oneself and the harmony each individual can achieve by uplifting and maintaining his or her immunity is emphasized across Ayurveda’s classical scriptures.
Ministry of AYUSH recommends the following self-care guidelines for preventive health measures and boosting immunity with special reference to respiratory health. These are supported by Ayurvedic literature and scientific publications.
 General Measures
  1. Drink warm water throughout the day.
  2. Daily practice of Yogasana, Pranayama and meditation for at least 30 minutes as advised by Ministry of AYUSH (#YOGAatHome #StayHome #StaySafe)
  3. Spices like Haldi (Turmeric), Jeera (Cumin), Dhaniya (Coriander) and Lahsun (Garlic) are recommended in cooking.
 Ayurvedic Immunity Promoting Measures
  1. Take Chyavanprash 10gm (1tsf) in the morning. Diabetics should take sugar free Chyavanprash.
  2. Drink herbal tea / decoction (Kadha) made from Tulsi (Basil), Dalchini (Cinnamon), Kalimirch (Black pepper), Shunthi (Dry Ginger) and Munakka (Raisin) - once or twice a day. Add jaggery (natural sugar) and / or fresh lemon juice to your taste, if needed.
  3. Golden Milk- Half tea spoon Haldi (turmeric) powder in 150 ml hot milk - once or twice a day.
 Simple Ayurvedic Procedures
  1. Nasal application - Apply sesame oil / coconut oil or Ghee in both the nostrils (PratimarshNasya) in morning and evening.
  2. Oil pulling therapy- Take 1 table spoon sesame or coconut oil in mouth. Do not drink, Swish in the mouth for 2 to 3 minutes and spit it off followed by warm water rinse. This can be done once or twice a day.
  During dry cough / sore throat
  1. Steam inhalation with fresh Pudina (Mint) leaves or Ajwain (Caraway seeds) can be practiced once in a day.
  2. Lavang (Clove) powder mixed with natural sugar / honey can be taken 2-3 times a day in case of cough or throat irritation.
  3. These measures generally treat normal dry cough and sore throat. However, it is best to consult doctors if these symptoms persist.
The above measures can be followed to the extent possible as per an individual’s convenience.  These measures are recommended by following eminent Vaidyas from across the Country as they may possibly boost an individual’s immunity against infections: Padma ShriVaidya P R Krishnakumar, Coimbatore, Padma Bhushan Vaidya Devendra Triguna, Delhi, Vaidya P M Varier, Kottakkal, Vaidya Jayant Devpujari, Nagpur, Vaidya Vinay Velankar, Thane, Vaidya B S Prasad, Belgaum, Padma Shri Vaidya Gurdeep Singh, Jamnagar, Acharya Balkrishnaji, Haridwar, Vaidya M S Baghel, Jaipur, Vaidya R B Dwivedi, Hardoi UP, Vaidya K N Dwivedi, Varanasi, Vaidya Rakesh Sharma, Chandigarh, Vaidya Abichal Chattopadhyay, Kolkata, Vaidya Tanuja Nesari, Delhi, Vaidya Sanjeev Sharma, Jaipur, Vaidya Anup Thakar, Jamnagar
Disclaimer: The above advisory does not claim to be treatment for COVID 19

LIC Contributes Rs.105 Crore to PM CARES Fund for COVID-19 Relief


LIC of India has contributed Rs.105 Crore to PM CARES Fund for supporting the efforts of the Government of India in fighting COVID -19 caused by Novel Corona Virus, the biggest pandemic the world has witnessed since more than a century. Out of the Rs.105 Crore, Rs.5 Crore has been donated from LIC’s Golden Jubilee Fund.

In a statement released to the media, LIC’s Chairman, M R Kumar said, “India is facing a huge challenge in wake of the global pandemic which is unprecedented in its severity. LIC is committed to the welfare of India and her people. Living up to our motto ‘Yogakshemam Vahamyaham’, meaning ‘Your Welfare is My Responsibility’, we promise our solidarity with the efforts of the Government of India and will take every step to ensure safety and security of people and relief for the affected. 

LIC of India is a public sector life insurance company that was established in the year 1956 in national interest by nationalizing 245 private insurance companies. Headquartered at Mumbai, LIC operates through a network of more than 4000 offices across India. It is the largest life insurance company in India, serving over 29 Crore policies, with an asset base of over  Rs.31 lakh crore and over 70% of market share.

For further information, please contact –
Executive Director (Corporate Communications)
LIC of India, Central Office, Mumbai. Email id ed_cc@licindia.com
Visit us at https://licindia.in

Cyient to Support Manufacturing of Critical Medical Technology in the Fight Against COVID-19


- Cyient’s Mysore facility to support manufacturing of Covid-19 diagnosis units and X-ray system assemblies

Cyient, a global engineering and technology solutions company, today announced that it has received clearance for its Mysore facility to run its MedTech manufacturing lines to support the production of medical equipment that is critical in the fight against COVID-19. 

Cyient is producing assemblies that are used in X-ray generators from GE Healthcare and diagnosis units from Molbio Diagnostics to enable rapid disease testing in India.

Mr. Rajendra Velagapudi, Senior Vice President and CEO, Cyient DLM, commented, “We are proud to support our customers in the healthcare industry at this critical time. We will continue to do everything we can to help reduce the impact of this crisis on our customers’ operations as they focus on delivering the technology needed to fight Covid-19 at a national and global level.”  

Cyient’s factory in Mysore, India, is dedicated to electronic manufacturing processes, including printed circuit board assemblies, cable harnesses, and box-builds that closely align with our core competence in electronic systems design, integration, and manufacturing services.

About Cyient:
Cyient (Estd: 1991, NSE: CYIENT) is a global engineering and technology solutions company.  As a Design, Build, and Maintain partner for leading organizations worldwide, Cyient takes solution ownership across the value chain to help customers focus on their core, innovate, and stay ahead of the curve. The company leverages digital technologies, advanced analytics capabilities, and its domain knowledge and technical expertise, to solve complex business problems.

With over 15,000 employees globally, Cyient partners with customers to operate as part of their extended team in ways that best suit their organization’s culture and requirements. Cyient’s industry focus includes aerospace and defense, healthcare, telecommunications, rail transportation, semiconductor, geospatial, industrial, and energy.

For more information, please visit www.cyient.com
Follow news about the company at @Cyient.

Amidst the lockdown, PayPoint ensures basic banking services at essential neighborhood shops

Further to the directives of the Indian Finance Minister to keep banking services operational, PayPoint micro-ATMs installed at its retail partners help citizens withdraw cash, transfer money, and deposit cash at no extra charges. The facility can be availed with other essential services such as grocery, medicine and food.

As the country comes to a standstill due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, PayPoint India puts the best effort to keep all its Customer Service Points (CSPs) operational so that the essential Banking Services may be delivered to banks’ customers, as per the directives of the Finance Minister - Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. It may be recalled that even in the complete nationwide lockdown to avoid the spread of the pandemic, Banking Services are required by the Central Government to be operational so that people may withdraw money to purchase essential items of need.
For this purpose, the government and banks have mandated that the Business Correspondents (BCs) of banks, which are present in the remotest of villages and towns of the country, must remain operational. PayPoint India, a BCs network delivering last-mile financial services, has more than 42,000 retail outlets across the nation, including in the farthest and difficult to reach hamlets in the North-east. The company’s retail partners, where micro-ATMs are installed, offer banking services such as withdrawal, transfer money, and deposit cash at no extra charges while availing other essential services such as grocery, medicine and food.

Mr. Ketan Doshi, Managing Director of Pay Point India, said, “it is very important that the Customer Service Points of Business Correspondents remain operational and their cash requirements are met by the Banks to enable them to serve the people in these times of acute crisis. Especially when the Government of India has announced such a huge relief package worth INR 1,70,000 crore for the people, it is of paramount importance that all the Customer Service Points remain functional so that people may withdraw the money being transferred by central and state governments in their accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer.”

"Having said this, I would also like to put forth the point that every PayPoint outlet abides by the government's mandated safety protocols and appropriate hygiene," he added.
However, it is being reported that at the ground level, the Customer Service Points are not being allowed to function in some districts despite very clear guidelines issued by the government. This matter has already been escalated to the government agencies and it is expected that the situation will improve very soon.
About PayPoint India
PayPoint is a technology-enabled Distribution network of Financial Services. The company's digitally connected network of 42000+ offline stores offers various Financial services like Banking (PMJDY accounts), micro-ATM services, Wallets (Paypointz), Remittances, Bill payments, insurance, Merchant QR and many more. Apart from Financial services, PayPoint also offers consumer services to the underserved like Travel booking, Recharges, Amazon assisted shopping, Gift Cards, etc. through its strong network of retail stores spread across the country. Company’s retailer-driven assisted model helps customers make an informed decision for availing services from their trained partners and its digital platform.
PayPoint offers a bouquet of services through its plug-and-play platform. More than 100 Services providers are plugged into the company's system and interacts with them on a real-time basis catering to more than 4 million customers month on month. The primary objective is to bridge the financial inclusion gap between developed urban India and under-served rural India.

For more information, please visit: paypointindia.com
Pay Point Social media handles:image002@PayPointIndia  image003  linkedin.com

FGII announces a benefit of INR 50,000 each for their business active agents against COVID-19 infection

Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited (FGII), the general insurance arm of the joint venture between retail giant Future Group and global insurer Generali, announced to provide a relief fund of INR 50,000 each to their business active agents if they, their spouses or their children are tested positive for COVID-19.

FGII has introduced this practice to support their business active agents who continued to work amid the coronavirus outbreak. There are over 8000 agents and Future Generali India Insurance promises to look after each one of them if they face any unforeseen situation.

Mr. Anup Rau, MD & CEO,Future Generali India Insurance said,“While the world is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, our agents have been instrumental in creating awareness and getting so many people insured so that in the time of need, they are taken care off. So it’s our turn now to take care of them. We will be transferring INR 50,000 to their bank accounts in case they, their spouses or their children are diagnosed with the infection.They can get this lump sum amount, without any waiting period.

Future Generali India Insurance had been constantly supporting employees on a one to one basis if they have been detected with COVID-19or have been quarantined.

About Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited

Future Generali India Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Future Group – the game changers in Retail Trade in India and Generali – a 189yearsold global insurance group featuring among the world’s 60 largest companies*. The Company was incorporated in September 2007 with the objective of providing retail, commercial, personal and rural insurance solutions to individuals and corporates to help them manage and mitigate risks.

Future Generali India has been aptly benefitting from the global Insurance expertise in diverse classes of products of Generali Group and the Indian retail game-changer Future Group. Havingfirmlyestablisheditscredentials in this segment and effectively leveraging on the skill set of both its JV partners, Future Generali India has evolved to become a Total Insurance Solutions Company.

*As per Fortune Global 500 Ranking (2017)
*Future Generali India Insuranceiscertified ‘Great Place to Work’ (December2019-November 2020)

About Generali Group
Generali is an independent, Italian insurance Group, with a strong international presence. Established in 1831, it is one of the largest global insurance providers present in over 60 countries with total premium income exceeding €68 billion in 2017. With nearly 71,000 employees in the world and 57 million customers, the Group has a leading position in Western Europe and an increasingly significant presence in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Asia.

Monday, March 30, 2020

TECHNOLOGY BY PUNE BASED STARTUP INCUBATEE OF SCITECH PARK TO DISINFECT MAHARASHTRA HOSPITALS IN COVID 19 FIGHT



The negative ion generator titled Scitech Airon helps to control the virus, bacteria, and fungal infections in a closed environment

It can clean up the air and disinfect areas exposed to the infection through Covid 19 positive cases and suspects

It could ensure wellbeing of the staff, doctors, and nurses working in the quarantine facilities by enhancing their disease resistance power and ability to fight the virus

DST has released Rs 1 crore to manufacture and scale up the product

1,000 of them will soon be ready for installation in various hospitals in Maharashtra

A technology has been developed by an incubatee company of Scitech Park, Pune which offers an effective solution for India’s fight against Covid 19 by reducing the viral load of infected areas within a room significantly within an hour.  The technology has been developed under the NIDHI PRAYAS program initiated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

DST has released Rs 1 crore to manufacture and scale up the product, and 1000 of them will soon be ready for installation in various hospitals in Maharashtra. JCLEAN WEATHER TECHNOLOGIES, a Pune based company, is manufacturing the product.

The negative ion generator titled Scitech Airon, which helps to control the virus, bacteria, and fungal infections in a closed environment, could clean up the air and disinfect areas which are exposed to the infection through Covid 19 positive cases and suspects. Hence it could ensure the wellbeing of the staff, doctors, and nurses who are working round the clock in the quarantine facilities by enhancing their disease resistance power and ability to fight the virus.

 Its usefulness in killing disease-causing viruses and bacteria has been scientifically tested by various globally renowned labs in different types of closed environments like houses, hospitals, schools, farms, industries, and so on. One hour of operation of Ion generator machine reduces viral load within a room by 99.7% depending on room size.

The Scitech Airon ionizer machine generates negatively charged ions at approx hundred million per 8 seconds (10 ions per sec). The negative ions generated by the ionizer form clusters around microparticles such as airborne mold, corona or influenza viruses, mite allergens, bacteria, pollens, dust and so on and render them inactive through a chemical reaction by creating highly reactive OH groups called hydroxyl radicals and H O which are highly reactive and known as atmospheric detergents.

 The detergent property generated by the ion generator helps in the breakdown of the outer protein of the allergens, viruses, and bacteria, which helps in controlling airborne diseases. It increases the body's resistance to infections and harmful environmental factors. This resistance could be helpful for the next 20-30 days outside the ion atmosphere. It also decomposes gaseous pollutants like Carbon Monoxide (1000 times more harmful than Carbon dioxide), Nitrogen dioxide, and Volatile Organic Compounds.

 The efficacy of the Ion generator has also been observed on different types of pathogens like the Influenza virus, Coxsackie virus, Polio virus, Human Corona virus, a range of allergens, bacteria, and fungi. It could also be useful against floating viruses in the air on public transport, train stations, or airports, or especially within a confined space like a plane cabin, house, hospital ward, and so on.

GiveIndia launches mission to support COVID-hit families


Issues appeal for contributions and donations

GiveIndia (www.GiveIndia.org), one of the best regarded online giving platforms in the country, has started a mission to support families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in India, which is likely to result in loss of livelihoods for a very large number of people, especially among the daily wage workers. About 80% of those employed in India are in the unorganised sector and will be deeply affected in the coming months. Even as the government is stepping up in several ways, including providing income support, to help such families in the coming months, families living on the margins will require additional support to tide over these difficult times. Towards this, GiveIndia has partnered with the most credible non-profits to help families in need and prevent the spread of the coronavirus in India.

Under the mission, GiveIndia has launched two initiatives to help the disadvantaged and support families - to provide a safety net for the economic toll and to provide protection against the virus. While one will help daily wagers put food on the plate, the second, #IndiaAgainstCoronaVirus will provide hygiene kits to underprivileged families across India who do not have access to soaps, sanitisers, and masks. This initiative also aims to support people at the frontline in hospitals as well.

Every donation will go a long way in stemming the spread of the virus and supporting vulnerable families to tide over COVID-19. In the three days since it launched the campaign, GiveIndia has raised over Rs 1.5 crores from over 6000 donors.

GiveIndia has partnered and is working closely with trusted NGOs such as CRY, Helpage, Goonj, Bhumi, Oxfam, ActionAid, Team Everest, SPPD, Vidya Poshak, St Jude, Habitat for Humanity, and Sevalaya among other reputed not-for-profit organisations. GiveIndia’s corporate partners, including Omidyar Network India, McKinsey, AU Small Finance Bank, Meesho, Genpact, Flipkart, Myntra and Jardine Llyod Thompson among many others, have also initiated employee giving campaigns with GiveIndia. Most of the corporates will match the donations made by employees in response to the COVID-19 crisis. 

Speaking about the initiative, Mr Atul Satija, Chief Executive Officer, GiveIndia, said, “We have launched this campaign as an emergency response - to help provide a safety net to casual labour families. With this fund, we aim to directly support these families by providing a minimum wage in cash, hopefully with your support till the virus abates and they are in employment again.”
Mr Satija urged people to come forward and donate generously. “The whole world is suffering, but those without any job security or savings are the most vulnerable. Please consider this as an appeal for help and we urge everyone to Give generously to those hit hardest by COVID-19.”

GiveIndia has duly verified unemployed individuals through its NGO network and has committed to give 100% of all funds raised directly to the families. All donations through this platform are exempted from tax under Sections 80G & 501(c)(3).


About GiveIndia

GiveIndia exists to alleviate poverty by enabling the world to give. Established in 2000, GiveIndia is India’s most trusted giving platform. Our suite of products enables individuals to donate conveniently to any cause, directly on our platform, at their workplace or through one of our partners. Our community of 1M+ donors and 150+ corporate partners have supported 1250+ trusted nonprofits, impacting 4M+ lives across India.

For more information, please contact:

Priyanka Prakash
Head of Online Giving & Partnerships
GiveIndia
Mobile: 8861277136

ICICI Lombard and BharatPe partner to launch industry-first Coronavirus cover for shopkeepers

BharatPe, India’s largest merchant payment & lending network has partnered with ICICI Lombard to roll out 'COVID-19 Protection Insurance Cover' for shopkeepers. Amid the contagious pandemic, this policy on a diagnosis of COVID-19 (+ve) will pay 100% of the sum insured, irrespective of hospitalization expenses. The new product is a step forward in BharatPe's endeavour in introducing industry-first initiatives for shopkeepers. It is also a ‘first of its kind’ sachet product by ICICI Lombard that will cover merchants.
The health cover is priced affordably at a premium starting at nominal amount of ₹ 199 and provides a sum insured for ₹ 25,000 and value-added benefits such as Health Assistance and CHAT/Virtual assistance, teleconsultation and ambulance assistance, as part of the offering. The unique benefit of the COVID-19 Insurance Protection Cover is the coverage across the age group of 18-65 years.
On the introduction of the new COVID-19 insurance, Ashneer Grover, CEO & Co-Founder, BharatPe said, "Merchants’ well-being is our immediate focus, and as Coronavirus turns into a pandemic, we have designed a unique insurance cover with ICICI Lombard to provide financial support to merchants. Shopkeepers will get 100% of the opted Sum Insured as a lump sum in the event of the first diagnosis itself. The small businesses are the most affected financially and shopkeepers are at the most risk from risk of infection. The insurance is available on the BharatPe app and we hope to cover lakhs of our merchants digitally over the next few days." 
On the tie-up Sanjeev Mantri, Executive Director, ICICI Lombard said, “At ICICI Lombard, we are committed to go the extra mile and introduce relevant and timely solutions for customers. With the current threat on account of coronavirus pandemic, we have introduced a dedicated policy – Covid-19 Protection Insurance Cover. Further, our association with Bharat Pe enables us to reach out to their merchant base which could be vulnerable to the virus given their business activity. This tie-up is aligned with our brand ethos of ‘Nibhaaye Vaade’ (Keeping Promises) and our commitment to meet the insurance related needs of consumers and businesses.”

Centre-State lack of coordination delivers the medical supply chain a sucker punch

Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), which represents leading research-based medical technology companies that have a large footprint in manufacturing, R&D and healthcare worker training in India, is in constant engagement with the government to tackle the current COVID-19 situation in India.
MTaI in a statement released said, “The central government has expeditiously moved through the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DOP) Secretary as well as through the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and the Health Ministry to underscore the exemption of Medical Devices and Equipment manufacturing, warehousing and distribution from the lockdown. The centre is a disseminator of directives however, the implementation rests with state governments and local level administrators. The latter it seems have not understood that this 21-day lockdown is to prepare the hospitals and are clamping down manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, of medical devices and equipment. Transport trucks carrying these vital preparatory materials are stuck at city and state borders. The manufacturing and warehousing staffs, though armed with copies of the exemptions, are hitting a wall explaining to SHOs and local bodies that their products are needed in the hospitals and their units need to run.
These companies are fully compliant with the lock down as all their offices are closed as commanded by the government and all personnel are working from home. But without their manufacturing units, warehouses, transporters and courier companies working, this lockdown will do nothing for the preparation of hospitals and healthcare system which it is meant for.
We would like to reiterate that in the absence of a vaccine or proven drug it is the medical devices industry that is shouldering the war against COVID-19. We appeal the state government and local level administrators that medical device supply chain be immediately resuscitated by issuing e-passes and facilitating medical device movement between cargo-manufacturer-warehouse-distributor-hospital.”
About Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI)
Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) is an association of research-based medical technology companies who have made remarkable investments in Manufacturing, R&D and Health Care Workers Training in India. MTaI represents a wide spectrum of the medical device industry with global experience in innovation and manufacturing. All the time stressing on the three hallmarks of healthcare - Quality, Consistency and Patient Safety, MTaI wants to be a responsible voice of the industry. The association is committed to improving access to affordable and quality healthcare for patients.
Join MTaI on Facebook: @mtaiorg | Twitter: @mtaiorg | Website: http://mtaiindia.org/

HCL Technologies COVID-19 Status update

HCL Technologies Ltd (HCL) has been monitoring the Covid-19 outbreak since late January and had invoked its Business Continuity Plan and Risk Management Framework quite early to minimize the impact on its employees and clients. The situation arising out of this outbreak and its rapid spread across the world is unprecedented and is extremely dynamic. The economic impact is visible with varying degrees of intensity across multiple countries where we operate.

HCL has had a well-defined and structured pandemic policy in place which is resilient, pragmatic and accords paramount importance to employee safety & health and client commitments. We are actively engaged with our clients and have executed the client-specific and HCL internal operations-centric Business Continuity Plan that ensures continuity in delivering to our client and employee commitments. HCL is constantly reviewing the situation at hand with utmost priority and fully complying with all government advisories and recommendations. Given the extended nature of this situation, we have looked at ensuring that we put in medium-term sustainable measures in place to ensure continuity of all our operations and client deliverables. We have been successful in achieving this as of today. A large number of our clients have expressed their deep appreciation of our efforts and speed at which we have been able to achieve the current state.

As of today, 76% of our India-based employees and 92% of our employees in other geographies are enabled to work from home. In certain geographies, a limited set of our employees are working from our offices, wherever it is permissible by the government and local authorities. It is noteworthy that we have not witnessed any outages or major disruption in operations with this newer format of work from home delivery. We would like to use this opportunity to thank our clients, industry bodies and government officials who have been very supportive in our efforts so far.

Likely Impact on business
While the impact on this quarter’s numbers is yet to be quantified, we don’t expect it to be significant. Our exposure to the more impacted verticals are not significant. Booking during this quarter has largely been on track as significant part of closures happened in January.
Our business model is a healthy mix of recurring product revenues, managed services and discretionary spend led professional services. From a vertical perspective, our exposure to verticals like Oil & Gas, Travel & Hospitality, High-End Retail is in single digits.
We recognize our investments in risk management systems and processes over the last several years are helping us to minimize the short-term impact and to be adequately prepared for the medium term, if it gets worse. We are also confident our business model will help us to emerge stronger in the longer term as it has been built for resilience during tough times.
Our wishes of safety and best of health to everyone out there and we hope and pray for the earliest end to the crisis. Keep a safe distance.

About HCL Technologies image001

HCL Technologies (HCL) empowers global enterprises with technology for the next decade today. HCL’s Mode 1-2-3 strategy, through its deep-domain industry expertise, customer-centricity and entrepreneurial culture of ideapreneurship™ enables businesses to transform into next-gen enterprises. 

HCL offers its services and products through three business units - IT and Business Services (ITBS), Engineering and R&D Services (ERS) and Products & Platforms (P&P). ITBS enables global enterprises to transform their businesses through offerings in areas of Applications, Infrastructure, Digital Process Operations and next generational digital transformation solutions. ERS offers engineering services and solutions in all aspects of product development and platform engineering. Under P&P, HCL provides modernized software products to global clients for their technology and industry-specific requirements. Through its cutting-edge co-innovation labs, global delivery capabilities and broad global network, HCL delivers holistic services in various industry verticals, categorized under Financial Services, Manufacturing, Technology & Services, Telecom & Media, Retail & CPG, Life Sciences & Healthcare and Public Services. 

As a leading global technology company, HCL takes pride in its diversity, social responsibility, sustainability and education initiatives. As of 12 months ended December 31, 2019, HCL has a consolidated revenue of US$ 9.7 billion and its 149,000 ideapreneurs operate out of 45 countries. For more information, visit www.hcltech.com

Forward–looking Statements image001

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the statements containing the words 'planned', 'expects', 'believes’,’ strategy', 'opportunity', 'anticipates', 'hopes' or other similar words. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding impact of pending regulatory proceedings, fluctuations in earnings, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services, business process outsourcing and consulting services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, customer acceptances of our services, products and fee structures, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, our ability to integrate acquired assets in a cost-effective and timely manner, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-timeframe contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, the success of our brand development efforts, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies /entities in which we have made strategic investments, withdrawal of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property, other risks, uncertainties and general economic conditions affecting our industry. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made herein will prove to be accurate, and issuance of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company, or any other person, that the objective and plans of the Company will be achieved. All forward-looking statements made herein are based on information presently available to the Management of the Company and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company.