Inspired by people’s craving of hugging their loved ones in the recent times, McDonald’s India – North and East has introduced double patty variants in its all-time favouritesMcAlooTikki, McVeggie, McChicken, McSpicy Paneer, McSpicy Chicken, Filet-O-Fish and Dosa Masala burgers, which include two patties hugging each other tightly. The company has launched the ‘Big Hug’ campaign highlighting people’s emotional desire to hugging their loved ones, something that has reduced in recent times. Keeping the same in mind, the new burgers are named as big Hug’burgers. Starting at INR 59 (plus applicable taxes), the double patty variants are surely every burger lover’s delight.
With ‘Big Hug’burgers, McDonald’s is offering its customers double the pleasure of enjoying their favourite burgers, whether it’s their favourite juicy McVeggie or McChicken or classic McAlooTikki or the signature Filet-O-Fish burger or tangy rasamsauce filled Masala Dosa burger or McSpicy Chicken or McSpicy Paneer.
“We are excited to give our customers new ways to enjoy the burgers they love and satisfy their cravings with our all-new double patty variants, giving them a sense of familiarity as well as newness. With this new addition to our menu, we are offering more craveable options to our customers,” says, Robert Hunghanfoo, Head, CPRL (Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. operates McDonald’s restaurants in North and East India).
With Food safety and quality always at the core, all McDonald’s products go through comprehensive quality checks, from farm to table, so that the customers can enjoy safe and delicious food every time they choose McDonald’s.
Furthermore, as a commitment to quality and safety in the current times, McDonald’s India – North and East has introduced the Global ‘Safety+’ program that includes nearly 50-plus process changes in the restaurant operations. Safety+ is a Global system of enhanced hygiene and safety practices that help ensure that every part of the McDonald’s experience is safe for its customers and employees. It builds on more than six decades of safety-first leadership in McDonald’s restaurants.
Reiterating its commitment as a ‘Total Beverage Company with strong local roots’, Coca-ColaIndia continues to invest in the essence of India by advancing beverage localization, celebrating farmers and catering to the evolving needs of the Indian consumers. Today, the company under its master brand Minute Maid, introduced two new products delivering some of the daily essential nutrition requirements, made with fruits grown by Indian farmers. Minute Maid Nutriforceand Minute Maid Vita Punch offer much needed benefits of, mental agility and immunity, demonstrating a commitment to expand the company’s portfolio of delightful nutrition for everyday occasions.
Expansion of brand Minute Maid with the introduction of the new beverages also underlines Coca-Cola India’s focus on the ‘Fruit Circular Economy’ initiative, enabling farmers to increase their yield by sourcing fruits to launch fruit-based beverages. Coca-Cola India has also committed an investment of $1.7 billion towards creating a Fruit Circular Economy to aid the Indian Agri-ecosystem until 2023.
Speaking at the launch, T. Krishnakumar – President, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia, said, “Coca-Cola remains grounded in its purpose to craft meaningful brands and offer its consumers a choice of drinks that refresh in body and spirit. Our long-term strategy entails offering more and more fruit-based beverages in line with consumer preferences. The expansion of our portfolio of nutritious juices under Minute Maid is in line with our aim to nourish every Indian and become India’s first choice in Fruit Nutrition. This also marks another step towards our commitment to the nation and its farmers.”
Minute Maid Vita Punches a range of delicious fruit cocktails crafted from Indian fruit recipes that provide 100% of ones’ daily requirement of Vitamin C to support immunity. This also marks Coca-Cola India’s entry into the nascent category of immunity-boosting beverages. Minute Maid Nutriforceis designed especially for Indian mothers, who are seeking nutritious choices for their growing children. Minute MaidNutriforce blends the great taste of Kashmiri apple juice with Iron, Zinc and other essential vitamins that support cognition and mental acuity and helps children learn faster, which is an important need in these times.
Vijay Parasuraman – Vice President – Marketing, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia, added, “With the changing times, consumers are now opting for beverage options with health benefits – as their approach towards health and wellness is also transforming drastically. The new beverages were developed keeping in mind consumers’ requirements as they also adapt to the ‘new normal’. Made with fruits grown on Indian soil by Indian farmers, the latest additions to our delightful nutrition portfolio under Minute Maid Masterbrand are focused on solving real problems of our consumers in these times.”
For the last two years, Coca-Cola’s portfolio of beverage offerings has expanded in a segmented manner. The company has focused on listening acutely to the consumers and offering beverages to match their evolving preferences by going hyperlocal. Coca-Cola India has also optimized manufacturing and distribution networks to find the best ways to regionalize its business and create more opportunities for its local bottling partners.
Mumbai, August 4, 2020: Growel’s 1O1 Mall, suburban Mumbai’s favourite Family destination, is all set to welcome its customers back from August 5, 2020 onwards as the Maharashtra Government allows malls to reopen after more than 4 months of closure due to the spread of the deadly pandemic. Growel’s 1O1 Mall is strictly adhering to all the SoPs laid down by the Government authorities and has further enhanced the protocols of the New Normal with further improvements to the cleaning and pest control standards.
Growel’s 1O1 mall has ensured that from the entry points of the mall to within the mall till the exit is made 100% safe for their staff and customers. There will be mandatory checks for the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app at the entry points. Enhanced procedures at the entry points include UV lights in the baggage scanners for disinfecting and hand sanitizing stations are placed at the entry points and at various touchpoints across the mall.
Special thermal cameras have been installed to track footfalls and movement throughout the mall to ensure that there is only 1 person in every 75 square foot as mandated by the authorities.
From entry to exit the mall has been made contactless at all touchpoints with the automation of the Parking Entry Ticket Dispenser & contactless digital payments for parking, QR-code based food ordering, sensor-based contactless lift operations, contactless soap dispensers, sensor-based taps, contactless water spouts, among others.
For COVID-19 emergencies the mall has facilitated isolation rooms, Ambulance and Doctor on-call service, and formally trained First Aid Certified front line staff members for handling emergencies in every shift.
Moreover, a specially trained staff force has been formed that will assist and guide customers to follow the Do’s and Don’ts one of the new norms within the mall. This specially trained staff will be stationed at various checkpoints in the mall.
Sachin Dhanawade, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Retail & Real Estate, Grauer & Weil (India) Limited, which operates Growel’s 1O1 Mall said, “We are delighted to open after more than four months of lockdown and are looking forward to welcoming our customers. It’s in our continuous endeavour to provide a safe shopping environment for our customers and a safe place to work for our employees.”
Growel’s 101 Mall is committed to playing an active role towards the betterment of the society and surroundings they operate in. Over the years, Growel’s 101 Mall has taken many social initiatives like donating anti-pollution masks to Mumbai Traffic Police, engaging customers to support Solar Lamp donation to the tribal residents of the SGNP, and also beautification of the flyover wall overlooking the mall entrance gates.
We are very excited that the world of fashion, technology and sustainability is coming together on the Women Inspiring Network platform. Ms. Stuti Jalan, Founder, WIN quotes, “Sustainability is the present and the future, it’s time that we have this conversation with the students and young professionals who will adopt sustainable fashion as a lifestyle inspired by an amazing set of panellist’s who are going to take the concept of sustainability forward.” Further, she adds, “The focus of the discussion will be on the changing face of fashion and how technology is now playing a role in it, Digital transformation which has taken place in the fashion industry, digital fashion weeks and share case studies, blockchain fashion system which designers are adapting in India.”
We are ecstatic to take the conversation forward with Ms Bandana Tewari, a lifestyle editor, a sustainable fashion activist and formerly the editor-at-large as well as the fashion features director of Vogue India.
We are glad to have Ms Roma Narsinghania, Artisanal Jewelry Designer who is participating in the Helsinki Fashion Week with this year’s focus on 3D Technology and Digital Sustainability. She quips, “Reimagining design to bring functionality and innovation is not a choice, it is a necessity. During this time, as brands, we need to imagine a better future which encourages conscious and ethical practices and use that to design for a new kind of consumer and environment. While we are moving away from certainty, it is also opening up an abundance of new opportunities such as integrating digital tools starting from the brands’ decentralized supply chain where handmade can become more efficient to visual communication with a completely new way of storytelling.”
Mr Adhiraj Singh, Art Director, Lota Design LOTA is an exploration into the intersection of sustainability, fashion and emerging technology. It aims to give a new life to tones of fabric waste discarded every hour by the mainstream fashion industry by collaging it into newer experiences.
He says “There’s a paradigm shift happening within the visual communication landscape as the tools for 3D, UI/UX, AR/VR and publishing continue to improve and get more democratized. It’s extremely exciting as the traditional dependence on physical systems, be it, photographers, set designers, environments or models can be replaced by photorealistic digital ones. More importantly, besides being a less wasteful way to create the imagery, it has opened up its key value- The possibility for untethered storytelling. This was once restricted by cost, teams and physical restraints but are now only being restricted by our imagination. The pandemic seems to have only accelerated this shift as brands continue to realize its value. I am happy to see this initiative bridging the gap between the creative and technology communities.”
Every year, the International Day of Friendship is honoured by traditional meet-ups, cute boomerangs, and super long paragraphs about how long people have been friends – either from when they were in diapers or the good days in college. And while on the topic, why not talk about some of the best movies on friendship Bollywood & Hollywood has given us over the years. While the concept of friendship is not very different here from anywhere else in the world. And yet the Bollywood movies have never failed to add an emotional factor and give a relatable touch to the film. So if you have no plans this friendship day, here is a list of some movies you could watch with your gang and cherish the bond you share.
The fundamentals of Caring ( 2016)
A writer Paul Rudd retires after a personal tragedy and becomes a disabled teen’s caregiver. When the two embark on an impromptu road trip, their ability to cope is tested as they start to understand the importance of hope and friendship. The movie has an amazing IMDb rating of 7.3 out of 10.
Get The Gringo (2012)
A career criminal nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison. He befriends a boy who has fallen foul of a violent inmate. The two work together in order to survive in prison. This movie has an IMDb rating of 7.0 out of 10.
Scent of a Women (1992)
A prep school student, who is in need of money, agrees to be the caregiver of a blind man while his family is away but the job is not at all what he anticipated. Having an amazing IMDb rating of 8, the movie gives and shares a plot filled with emotions.
Margarita with a Straw (2012)
Released in2014 Indian drama film directed by Shonali Bose. It stars Kalki Koechlin as an Indian teenager with cerebral palsy who relocates to America for her undergraduate education and comes of age following her complex relationship with a blind girl, Having an IMDb rating of 8.0, the movie stands on top of many people.
A Dog’s Journey (2019)
Bailey is living the good life on the Michigan farm of his boy, Ethan and Ethan’s wife Hannah. He even has a new playmate: Ethan and Hannah’s baby granddaughter, CJ. The problem is that CJ’s mom, Gloria, decides to take CJ away. As Bailey’s soul prepares to leave this life for a new one, he makes a promise to Ethan to find CJ and protect her at any cost. Thus begins Bailey’s adventure through many lives filled with love, friendship, and devotion. Having an IMDb rating of 7.5, it’s a must-watch for all the dog’s lover out. Available on AmazonPrime videos.
The Intern (2016)
Seventy-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin. With an IMDb rating of 7.1, it is among some of the best movies to watch, a movie filled with compassion and feeling of friendship.
Zindagi na Milegi Dobara (2011)
Friends Kabir, Imran and Arjun take a vacation in Spain before Kabir’s marriage. The trip turns into an opportunity to mend fences, heal wounds, fall in love with life and combat their worst fears. The movie is available on OTT platforms as well, such as Netflix and Hotstar and shares an amazing IMDb rating of 8.1.
Bengaluru, August 4, 2020: redBus announces the launch of a digital-led campaign, #journeyfordreams that inspires people to persevere in their endeavours, by undertaking their journeys with fortitude, while redBus ensures the safety of their travel. The campaign is aimed at restoring optimism for bus travel as the nation traverses its path to normalcy.
The nationwide lockdown has not only brought lives but also dreams and aspirations for the future to a grinding halt. As a brand that’s all about enabling journeys and connections, redBus seeks to reassure bus travellers that they can still move forward towards fulfilling their dreams during these tough times, as redBus strives to ensure their safety during the journey with its Safety+ programme.
redBus had launched ‘Safety+’, which is a unique certification for bus operators who follow all the necessary safety and sanitization protocols. All operators and buses with a Safety+ tag next to their listing on the redBus app or desktop platform, have implemented strict measures outlined by redBus, to ensure the safety of the passengers.
As part of the campaign, the company has launched an ad film that relies on the emotions associated with the safety of near and dear ones, especially while undertaking inter-city bus travel during these times, in order to highlight the proposition. The ad-film is set to be promoted extensively on digital and social media, including, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, apart from e-mailers and other push notifications.
Unlike the earlier campaigns of the brand that largely utilized humour as a means to attract and drive the message, such as the ones with MS Dhoni, this campaign relies on emotions to connect at a deeper level.
About the ad-film:
Set inside the house of a small family, involving two middle-aged parents and their young daughter who is about to begin her career, the film evokes a sense of nostalgia and affection with a heart-warming portrayal of a father’s apprehension for his daughter’s safety and vice versa. The story hinges on the poignant, yet ubiquitous scenario of parents or children having to travel to a different city on account of work and the emotional farewell associated with it, which in the given COVID scenario, is all the more affecting. The mood soon transforms to cheer with a narrative on the ‘safety’ of travel, brought about by redBus with various measures and checks in place, thus allowing people to bid farewell to their dear ones with a smile and a sense of fearlessness.
Viewers witness a young woman who has decided to step out in order to pursue her career but is faced with the dilemma of informing her father of her decision to travel, given the present circumstance, resulting in a commotion with her mother. A match cut then takes them back in time when the father was apprehensive about informing his young child about his work-related travel to a different city and avoids confronting her by packing his bags and leaving while she is asleep. It clearly highlights the common emotions, irrespective of the roles assumed in the journey of life and the message that life moves on, despite occasional hurdles. Getting back to the present, the daughter is able to convince her anxious father to permit her to travel, by showcasing the safety aspects introduced in buses by redBus, much to his satisfaction.
The role of the father, mother and daughter has been played by popular television artists, Nitesh Pandey, Tanuka Laghate and Prachi Bansal respectively. The film has two edits, a 62 second and a 30-second version and will be seen in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali versions.
Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Pallavi Chopra, Vice President, Brand, and Head of Marketing, redBus, said, “As an enabler of journeys, it has been our constant endeavour to help travellers reach their destinations in the safest and easiest way possible, especially in the present circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only disrupted the business of establishments, but also the dreams and aspirations of millions of individuals out there, who are longing to travel in pursuit of their goals. We thus envisaged a subject or scenario that resonated with households across the country in order to shape the campaign. The result is a very strong and emotional narrative around one of those important journeys in life, projected through the love and concern between a father and daughter, to drive home the message of #journeyfordreams.”
Dileep Ashoka, EVP, South, McCann Worldgroup, said, “We have been in partnership with redBus for the last few years. Being in the businesses of facilitating life’s journeys, and being the custodian of the online bus ticketing category, we felt the imperative to comfort customers by making travel safe in these uncertain times. The story narrative seeks to demonstrate this in a manner that drives brand affinity.”
Shared office spaces have become quite popular in India in the last 5 years. Its massive growth has disrupted the conventional work environment and helped India to get on a modern track.
Steady economic development and burgeoning startup community in India is driving the flexible workspace industry. In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market, India has the 2nd largest flexible workspace market, second only to China. CBRE report has found out that in the last 4 years, US$3 billion has been infused in the shared office space market, making it one of the fastest growing emerging markets.
The concept of shared office spaces is catching up in metros and now in tier II and tier III cities in India.
There are multiple ways in which this pandemic has changed the way we work. One of the major transformations would be, with more people working remotely companies will plan to open regional hubs or provide access to co-working/shared office spaces wherever their workers are concentrated rather than have the majority of their workforce at one central office.
Few of the popular startups who are helping businesses to smoothly open their new offices or provide shared spaces are listed below.
1. MyBranch: Searching for the right office space can cause a lot of stress. In a bid to resolve this conundrum, The company helps you to have local sales and virtual office space in your preferred location in 25+ cities across India. This envisages to provie you Instant Business Presence and Expansion across PAN India with Best-in-Class Offerings – Sales Office Spaces, Managed Services, Virtual Office And Meeting, Conference, Training Rooms. The company incepted in the year 2016 as a business unit within the prestigious Narayan Bhargava Group that has been serving the BFSI sector for over 20 years.
2.Qdesq: A coworking aggregator Qdesq, founded in November 2015, is a premier destination that offers a tech-enabled platform for the workforce to search and book flexible workspaces. Offering an easy, effective, and brokerage free solution, the company serves as a true marketplace to make an informed choice for workspace seekers. Whether it is co-working spaces, shared workspaces, managed workplaces, virtual offices, or individual offices, Qdesq offers them all.
3.Flipspaces: Founded in July 2015, Flipspaces is a tech-enabled venture in interior design, products, and projects for commercial spaces. Flipspaces follows a differentiated approach through its tech-suite which creates efficiency and enhances the customer experience in every step of their interior design and build journey. Flipspaces was co-founded by IIT alumni, Kunal Sharma and Ankur Mucchal, both serial entrepreneurs with a history of build, scale, and exit.
Pune, 04th August 2020: Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery that affects every demographic worldwide. Sex trafficking is one of the ugliest truths of our society. A truth that often comes dressed in layers of entertainment, glamour and ignorance. But this grave human right’s violation needs to be spoken about for what it is. Not just because it’s the right thing to do but because there are millions of individuals who woke up this morning, only to breathe life into this truth.
The campaign built by Mukul Madhav Foundation is bold and in your face, calling out sex trafficking for what it is. Mukul Madhav Foundation has taken this bold unconventional route to hit people hard, raise awareness and drive a change in their mindset. We often tend to ignore the ugly truth and hence the campaign attempts to bring it to the forefront.
Sunitha Krishnan, Founder, Prajwala says, “For far too long we have tolerated this crime either by our apathy or our silence. Over the years this scourge has destroyed millions of lives worldwide. We cannot hide it under the carpet anymore.
We need to confront it head-on and in that course perhaps challenge our own attitudes and perceptions. Prajwala joins hands with MMF & Schbang For Good to kickstart a campaign that will force us to look within…a campaign to collect our strength and a campaign to proclaim ‘zero tolerance’ to this modern-day form of slavery”.
Through this campaign designed by Schbang For Good, Harshil Karia, Founder at Schbang says “we want to raise awareness about how plagued our society is with this issue and how many innocent lives we sacrifice to flesh trade every single year.” The campaign seeks to get people to support the initiative and turn awareness to action.
Every donation helps prevent, protect, rescue, rehabilitate & reintegrate the victims of sex trafficking in India Help us shape a world where we systematically break free from the shackles of sex trafficking so we no longer lose innocents to the dehumanizing flesh trade
Hyderabad, August 04, 2020…Rotary Club of Secunderabad Sunrise embarks on a novel and need of the hour project, ‘COVID Care For The Elders’ as gratitude and concern for the elderly.
As part of this project, the club will be distributing Medical Equipment and Medicines to help Home for the Aged fight against the COVID -19 battle.
The distribution kits include Oxygen Concentrators, Oximeters, BP Machines, Nebulizers, contactless sanitizer dispensers and assorted medicines among others.
A total number of beneficiaries will be 2000 inmates of 40 Homes located at various places in Hyderabad & Secunderabad.
Some of these beneficiaries include Home for the Aged, Musheerabad; Mother Theresa Old Age Ashram, Musheerabad; RK Mother Theresa OAH, Karkhana; Sai Vinay Old Age Home, Banjara Hills; Happy Old Age Home Organisation, Tirmulgherry; Jain Sevashram, Karwan; Krishna Sada, Shamirpet; Integrated Welfare Society, Suchitra Junction; PP Reddy Old Age Home, Saroornagar; Fatima Old Age Home, Falaknuma; Kinnera Welfare Society, Mehdipatnam; Anurag Human Service, Mehdipatnam; Sri Laxmi Narasimha Oldage Home, AS Rao Nagar; Bharatha Mata Social Service Society, Bod Uppal; Karunaradham Home, Medpally; Sri Karthikeya Oldage Home, LB Nagar; Sree Ushodaya Sevashramam, Dundigal; Annapurna Old Age Home, Medipally; Aram Ghar, Shivrampally; Shiridi Sai Old Age Homes, Miyapur; Mother & Father Old Age Home, Karmanghat; Old Age Welfare Centre, Miyapur; Durga Bai Deshmukh, Hydershakot; Mata Pitrula Samastha, Ibhrahimpatnam; Habeeb Old Age Home, Bhadurpura.
The cost of the project is Ra 11 lakh.
President of the club Vijay Rathi long with the District Governor, NV Hanmantha Reddy of Rotary District 3150 along with volunteers and members of the club will be flagging off distribution of Medical equipment and Medicine to the Home for the Aged in a brief function to be held here in the city at Evolution Contemporary Arts, next to Lalitha Jewellery, Somajiguda Main Road on 5th August 2020 in the morning.
Rotary Club of Secunderabad Sunrise which falls under Rotary District 3150, taken up this project. It is taken up under the banner of Rotary Sunrise Service Trust a leading service-oriented club. It has taken up many services in the past.
We have taken up this project now, in the middle of a Pandemic, to express our gratitude and concern for the elderly
A rigorous enquiry was conducted before identifying the beneficiary Homes and ascertained the needs before raising the funds required for the purpose shared Vijay Rathi.
Director Community Services, Praveen Jain informs that this year number of activities will be conducted by Rotary Club of Secunderabad Sunrise which will include health care, sanitation and education.
“DEXAMETHASONE, a lifesaving drug for the severely ill COVID cases” has been the news all over media and social media recently. There no doubt that it is great news that a low-cost medicine can help moderate to serious cases of COVID. But Dexamethasone or any Corticosteroid has no proven role what-so-ever in mild, asymptomatic or doubtful COVID cases or in the prevention of COVID illness as on today.
DEXAMETHASONE belongs to a group of medication called Corticosteroids (which are Hormones) and is commonly used for various medical ailments such as asthma, allergies, skin problems, certain arthritis and many other inflammatory conditions. They are also used to treat corticosteroid deficiency and in some cases of sepsis.
It is important to remember that whilst corticosteroids can be lifesaving and can aid in the treatment of many ailments when used by qualified doctors, they can cause very serious side effects and have to be used strictly under medical supervision only.
Corticosteroids have been abused by quacks over the decades and this is a well-known fact. Side effects of Dexamethasone and other Corticosteroids such are Prednisolone and Methylprednisolone are weight gain, water retention, easy bruising, elevated blood glucose, delayed healing of wounds and increased risk of various infections, high blood pressure, thinning of bones and fractures, muscle weakness, glaucoma, cataracts, stomach ulcers, mood swings and psychosis, steroid dependence, and sometimes even death if abruptly stopped after prolonged unsupervised usage.
Hence, it is important to refrain from self-medication with Dexamethasone or any corticosteroid!
Dr Ravi Sankar Erukulapati
Senior Endocrinologist, Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills.