Tag: President

News

11 differently abled and underprivileged couples tie knots, vowing to wear masks at the 35th mass wedding ceremony

Dec 28, 2020 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Mr. Prashant Agarwal, #Narayan SevaSansthan, #President

Udaipur, 27th December 2020: Narayan SevaSansthan (NSS) as an organization has always contributed towards community upliftment for the overall wellbeing of differently-abled individuals and the underprivileged. NSS in particular has worked towards the upliftment of individuals suffering from polio and disabilities by-birth. The organisation in an attempt to help these individuals – organised 35th Mass wedding ceremony in Udaipur, where 11 differently-abled couples tied the knot and pledged by the ‘Say No To Dowry’ Campaign promoted by NSS abiding by the norms of social distancing during their mass wedding ceremony.

 

In a unique initiative by all 11 young couples, where they take an oath to wear masks until they are vaccinated and ask people to wear masks for family protection.

 

Due to COVID-19, the mass wedding ceremony was a personal affair with only the relatives of the couples attending the ceremony. NSS’s donors came forward by gifting home appliances and gifts as a KanyaDaan to all married couples.

 

A case of Pooja and Kamlesh who tied the knot at the recent 35th mass wedding ceremony shared their experiences with NSS. Pooja who is the youngest daughter in her family said, “I lost my leg in an accident. I was treated free of cost at the Narayan SevaSansthan through a surgery that would have cost me and my family a lot. I am happy that I can now lead a good life because of this surgery. I am very happy to meet my life partner Kamleshji.”

 

Kamlesh on the other hand has led a life full of challenges where he was affected with Polio at the age of 3 years. He was operated and can walk with the help of crutches today. After many hurdles, Kamlesh continued his studies with excellent results in 2017. He secured a job as a Panchayat Assistant.

 

Kamlesh says, “The disability is just a physical disorder, it’s not an illness. I have always been emotionally very strong and have strived with challenges which have made me stronger. I began my own business with a grocery store and later on secured a job as a Panchayat Assistant. I am very happy that organisations like NSS exist that help people who are underprivileged and show them a way of life. I am glad I have met a life partner who is so supportive.”

 

Mr. Prashant Agarwal, President, Narayan SevaSansthan said, “The mass wedding ceremony is closer to our hearts. Our ‘No Dowry Campaign’ is a flagship campaign which has been organised for 18 years. We are very happy to have 2098 couples settled in their lives to date. To offer a sustainable livelihood to all we offer services right from free corrective surgeries, skills development classes, talent nurturing activities along with mass wedding ceremonies. We at Narayan SevaSansthan have served the differently-abled and the underprivileged people by empowering them and offering them a sustainable livelihood.” 

 

Couples from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat and several other states approached NSS for assisting them to support their weddings. 

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Yearly Round-up and Outlook for 2021 for the real estate sector

Dec 22, 2020 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Mr Ashok Mohanani, #NAREDCO Maharashtra, #President

By Mr. Ashok Mohanani, President, NAREDCO Maharashtra

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring it a global health emergency and pandemic on March 11, 2020, due to COVID-19, the sentiments of businesses worldwide were severely impacted and were mostly negative in their outlooks. The outbreak created a great deal of uncertainty regarding trade and imports across the globe.

The real estate sector, too, touched the lowest of lows during the almost three-month-long nationwide lockdown. While construction activities came to a sudden halt, reverse migration of labourers made the resumption of work difficult. Developers faced severe liquidity constraints and homebuyers lost a significant appetite to buy a property. Home sales and new property launches suffered a great deal as the nation struggled to battle the pandemic.

Government and apex bodies came up with plenty of fiscal measures to deal with the major challenge of liquidity funding. The various measures introduced by the RBI and Union finance minister injected liquidity into the market so that the economy can recuperate quickly. The Central Government and the various State governments would do well to stop further proliferation of the virus and handhold the Indian real estate sector in the times of crisis.

Six months into the situation, real estate demand has piqued with genuine homebuyers willing to take advantage of value propositions coupled with payment plans given by a vast set of developers. Development work across construction sites, too, has begun, although at a slower pace.

As there is a major shift towards digitization due to the pandemic; people who favour offline property search now prefer online real estate portals to search their dream homes. Online home sales have begun to gain traction and leading developers with a good track record will be the main beneficiaries of this change. There has also been a huge demand for virtual tours wherein home-buyers are opting the same either to shortlist or to finalise their homes. In a significant trend seen during Covid-19, unlike before many respondents seeking property from investment perspective prefer ready-to-move-in (RTMI) homes. The consumer preference has predominantly shifted towards affordable and mid-segment properties.

There are several initiatives taken up to support the real estate sector by the Maharashtra Government which has already spurred demand and revived confidence in the industry. Also, the unanimous decision by NAREDCO Maharashtra to waive stamp duty completely on the sales of residential properties has added to the home buying euphoria and supported the Government’s efforts to push housing demand in the state. It has not only pushed stagnant housing sales northwards but also made home buying cheaper and supported the State exchequer mop up a whooping stamp duty in revenues in just two months. Such initiatives should be emulated by other state governments as it will be a good booster for realty at Pan India level.

Knight Frank India, leading international property consultancy estimates that home sales volume in Mumbai recorded at 9,301 units in November 2020 registering a whopping 67% year-on-year (YoY) rise over the same month last year boosted by stamp duty cut and festive period of Diwali. This strong growth of 17% month-on-month (MoM) in November 2020 comes after a robust 42% MoM growth during October 2020 and massive 112% MoM growth during September 2020, when sales of residential property started to show an upward trend after months of COVID-19 induced slowdown.

Mumbai has witnessed a cumulative residential sale of 22,827 units after the stamp duty cut during September-November 2020. The monthly run rate in this period after the stamp duty cut is approximately 135% or 1.35 times the monthly average of 2019.

With steady decline in the number of COVID-19 infections across the country and the vaccine around the corner, we expect better days for the economy going forward along with the GDP growth to turn positive in Q4 this financial year The Repo rate cuts, lower home loan interest rates and newly announced affordable rental housing policy open new avenues for the segment.

The industry players anticipate the upcoming Budget for Financial Year (FY) 2020-21 to relax income tax norms, offer single-window clearance and GST reforms. The helpful measures like easing out of the liquidity issues that are being faced by the sector can aid the buyers to make investments, thus lending a positive push to the vision of ‘Housing-For-All’.

Our Real Estate fraternity is hopeful that with the full support from the Government, we will be able to implement much needed measures to boost the real estate sector in 2021 and further. Every calamity is an opportunity to scale new heights. Indian real estate and allied manufacturing industries must find positivity in the current recovering scenario of the economy and should try to benefit by increasing local production and indigenous innovation.

Business World

Reducing Role of Monsoon in Farming is Important for Agrochemicals Growth

Dec 17, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #By Mr. Pradip Dave, #PMFAI, #President

Mr. Pradip Dave President PMFAI and Chairman Aimco Pesticides LtdBy Mr. Pradip Dave, President, PMFAI

At present, agri inputs like agrochemicals are one of the sectors that may have narrowly escaped the debilitating onslaught of the pandemic. According to the Department of Chemicals & Fertilizers, fertilizer sales in April this year was 2.06 million tonnes, as against 1.42 million tonnes in the last April while the sale of urea grew by 36.2 percent in that month over the corresponding month last year.[1] The rabi harvest this year also put up a good show – major states harvested 80 to 90 percent of wheat crop while paddy sowing increased by 27 percent riding on the hope of an adequate monsoon. The ‘above normal’ monsoon this year will ensure that rabi crops do not face a scarcity of water. Together, this looks like a good year for the agrochemical sector, but it also underlines the heavy dependence of the sector on a natural phenomenon. Industry players will remember the mayhem in 2014-15 and 2015-16 caused by monsoon deficits of 12 percent and 14.5 percent, respectively. The Economic Survey of India found that the agriculture sector grew by 1.1 percent in 2015-16.[2] There is no denying the fact that monsoon will remain a critical factor that also plays a role in the growth of the agrochemical sector. But if it aims to grow, concerted efforts must be taken to reduce the impact of monsoon on the uptake of agrochemicals by farmers.

Mitigating the ‘make-or-break’ role of monsoon

A monsoon season off balance spells doom for the agricultural sector in India. While more than normal rain floods the kharif farms and results in serious crop damage or loss, it helps the rabi season by ensuring the reservoirs have enough water. Poor monsoon, on the other hand, means drought and crop loss in the kharif season that affects next cycle and year’s uptake too, while poor water reserve for rabi crops makes it’s future uncertain. Policymakers must devise ways to reduce the impact of monsoon on the growth of the agrochemical sector and following suggestions may help:

Better availability of institutional credit can help farmers a lot in taking the adverse monsoon impact head on. Despite institutional credit facilities being available for farmers, private moneylenders are a go-to resource for a majority of them – the NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17 found that 30 percent of the agricultural households borrow money from non-institutional sources like money lenders and relatives. Most of the farmers choose them over a bank or a non-banking financial institution (NBFI) due to their absence within accessible distance and the mounds of paperwork, a huge task for barely literate farmers. Easy access to farm loans is instrumental in improving a farmer’s capability to acquire good quality agrochemical for his farms.

Improving coverage of irrigated land and increasing their share as compared to exclusively rain-fed ones can help in continuing farmers sow crops at regular intervals. Besides, research has found that insecticides applied through a drip irrigation system can reduce the number of foliar insecticides sprays, which in turn, reduces the risk to non-target species.[3] It is a more common practice among vegetable growers as many of them already use drip irrigation for water management, and can add an injection pump and the required safety equipment to inject the soluble pesticides.

Educating farmers on agrochemicals and their use in terms of appropriate kind, dosage, quantity and application frequency are a less-organised and utilised tool. This not only helps farmers realise their need, but also prevents wastage and use of spurious varieties. Owing to gaps in regional languages and dialects and the fear of possible risks of crop failure make it difficult to reach out to many farmers. Developing resources that can fill such gaps will remain critical in the coming days.

Making agriculture climate-resilient is the most critical step. Several measures can be taken to ensure this, including enhanced carbon sink in soils, precision farming that enables farmers to make accurate decisions on the need and application of agricultural inputs regarding soil, weather and crop, access to market intelligence for timely decision, and efficient use of water and energy. The National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is a commendable step to this end while several startups are doing promising work, especially in precision farming, and steps must be taken to promote them.

Promoting weather-resistant crop varieties can be another effective way to reduce the impact of monsoon on the Indian agriculture sector and thereby, on the growth of the agrochemical industry. The research in India in this direction has been able to develop flood- and salinity-resistant varieties of rice and drought-resistant varieties of pulses. This will also ensure India’s food security goals are met.

However, only lowering agriculture’s dependence on monsoon may not be enough to foster the growth of agrochemicals in India. Being an important agri input component, it is important to introduce import substitution for the success of “Make in India” in the agrochemical sector that also holds the key to support the growth of Indian agriculture. Developing end-to-end manufacturing competency with backward integration till technical stage is the key to achieve self-reliance in the agrochemical sector. It will also need regulatory policy changes for compulsory registration of Technical Grade Pesticides (Active Ingredient) before registration of the Formulation – it is a must for the benefit of Indian farmers due to improved availability and affordability of agrochemical products as well as to support growth in the sector.

[1] https://www.fortuneindia.com/opinion/agrochemicals-shining-bright-amid-the-gloom/104575

[2] https://www.icfa.org.in/assets/doc/reports/sou_pp.pdf

[3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321309962_DRIP_IRRIGATION_OF_PESTICIDES_AS_A_PEST_MANAGEMENT_TOOL

News

India Reinforces Position as Innovation Hub in South and South East Asia, Says New Clarivate Report

Dec 17, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Clarivate, #IP Group, #Jeff Roy, #President

New Delhi, December 17, 2020 – Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CCC), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today announced the release of a new report on Innovation in South and South East Asia. The report Innovation in South and South East Asia revealed that 64% of the 235 leading innovators are Indian organizations, reinforcing India’s position as a regional research and innovation hub. Governments and academic institutions in the region are pivotal to enabling innovation. They constitute 57% of the top innovators in the report.

Science, technology and innovation are at the forefront of South and South East Asian countries’ national agendas. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plan of Action on Science, Technology and Innovation (2016 to 2025)[1] and ASEAN IPR Action Plan (2016 to 2025)[2] show why and how science, technology and intellectual property (IP) can contribute to national and regional socio-economic development goals. At a national level, the Indian government has identified innovation as a priority, with initiatives such as Innovate India, a platform for showcasing innovation. The concerted policy push by governments and new initiatives from IP offices in the region to encourage IP investment and make IP protection more affordable are encouraging a culture of innovation and IP.

South and South East Asian innovators identified in the report saw their inventions rise by 10% year on year between 2014 and 2018.

Jeff Roy, President, IP Group, Clarivate, said, “South and South East Asia are of the most dynamic and diverse regions in the world and innovation is key to their future growth. At Clarivate, we believe that human ingenuity, through innovation, can change the world. We focus on better serving innovation hubs and helping our customers and partners around the world to more effectively operate in fast-growing regions and hubs when it comes to Intellectual Property. As a trusted partner to academic institutions, government organizations, nonprofits and corporations in the region and worldwide, we will continue to support our customers to deliver life-changing innovations.”

Download the report ‘Innovation in South and South East Asia’.

Business World

World’s biggest problem is the world’s biggest business opportunity: Dr Peter H. Diamandis

Dec 12, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #and Executive Chairman, #Dr Sangita Reddy, #Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, #FICCI, #Founder, #President, #XPRIZE Foundation

Hyderabad, 12 December 2020: Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Founder, and Executive Chairman, XPRIZE Foundation and Executive Founder and Director, Singularity University, today said, “Education and healthcare are the two biggest industries that AI is going to transform.”

Addressing the virtual session ‘The Future is Now’, organized during FICCI’s 93rd Annual Convention, Dr. Diamandis said that COVID-19 has brought in significant financial and health concerns. However, it is upon the entrepreneurs to identify the great problems and convert them into business opportunities while making the world a better place.

Dr. Diamandis highlighted that essentially there are 4 kinds of mindsets- exponential, abundance, longevity and moonshot that differentiate a visionary from the rest. He further elaborated that the exponential mindset of a true visionary is the key asset for success.

Addressing the session, Dr. Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI said that Peter’s knowledge on dematerializing, demonetizing, and democratizing and the whole abundance mindset is to create wealth and solve major global problems.

Appreciating Peter’s ability to create an impact, Dr. Reddy stated that Dr. Peter’s greatest gift is his ability to get people and organizations to think boldly and when they do so, abundance is created.

The session was attended by Entrepreneurs and CXO level decision makers who benefitted from the vast knowledge and experience of the man who believes that ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.’

Health, News

While the world reeled under the Covid pandemic, India witnessed 38 billion U.S. dollars inflow of FDI: NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

Dec 10, 2020 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Bharat Biotech, #Chairman, #Chairman & MD, #CNBC TV18 Nisha Poddar, #Ctrls&Cloud4c, #Dr Krishna Ella, #Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, #NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, #President, #Sridhar Pinnapureddy, #Sridhar Reddy, #TiE Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Post the opening of TiE Global Summit, much concurrent session held. In a session titled ‘Transformation of India with a focus on entrepreneur ecosystem’ in conversation with CNBC TV18’s Nisha Poddar, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that India has grown as a technology country. India has world’s second-largest start-up ecosystem, he said. While the world reeled under the Covid pandemic, India witnessed 38 billion U.S. dollars inflow of FDI.

He spoke about various fronts on which the Government is working to leverage technology for the benefit of India’s 1.3 billion populations. The solutions will not only benefit 1.3 billion but the next 4-5 billion people who will move over from poverty to middle class, he said.

He said that Niti Aayog has taken up various measures to attract FDI and has pushed limits in innovation. India is becoming an innovation-driven economy by removing regulatory barriers. He propounded various measures such as Aadhaar, DBT, UPI, Aayushman Bharat, etc. He said that India can build a number of tech products as it has skilled manpower and unique problems. The Post Covid-19 era will be a world of technology, he said. India can be a tech garage for the world, he added. India has worked on a range of products solving problems, he said.

Speaking on data culture, data economy and A.I. competence, Mr. Amitabh Kant said that it is an evolving and fast-changing digital landscape. Though data privacy has been in the limelight, India needs data protection and data empowerment too, he said.

Using data history is very critical to us. A framework to share data easily and reliably with control is needed. We can use data for machine learning, artificial learning, data empowerment and responsible artificial intelligence. Personal Data Protection Bill is under scrutiny by the Parliament, he informed.

India is data-rich but it has to be data-intelligent, find solutions to problems, Mr. Amitabh Kant said.  Artificial Intelligence can help add up to $957 billion to the Indian economy by 2035. The opportunity for AI in India is massive, he said. The focus should be on finding A.I. solutions and adopt them at scale. We should use A.I. for social good, he opined. Development and deployment of A.I. are mode critical, he added.

Answering a question on women entrepreneurship, Amitabh Kant said that the next big disruption in India will be led by women entrepreneurs. To transform India, we need to give a huge fillip to women entrepreneurship, he said. Speaking on the Startup ecosystem on India, Amitabh Kant called upon Indian companies and Indian family businesses to invest in the ecosystem. India should learn to support startups, he said.

WEALTH CREATOR DNA

Wealth Creator DNA session hosted by Sridhar Pinnapureddy, President, TiE Hyderabad with entrepreneurs Ritesh Agarwal (CEO, OYO), Sumant Sinha (Chairman and Managing Director of ReNew Power) and Yashish Dahiya (Group CEO, PolicyBazaar) threw up interesting stories of their journey and growth on becoming an entrepreneur.

The premise of the session in a Q&A format was on what makes these entrepreneurs special and where they born to create wealth? The session revealed the thought process behind their success and what it takes to become what they are.

Sharing his thoughts, Sumant Sinha said that question oneself and introspection play a vital role. He said that he saw himself as a builder/creator who wants to create something that has a lasting value. Ritesh Agarwal too opined that ability to reflect is critical. The most important thing was that he aspired to create value out of nothing. Yashish Dahiya said that self-awareness is a very important trait for entrepreneurship.

They shared the start of their journey to entrepreneurship and their biggest moments.

Sumant Singh disclosing his experiences said that he comes from a family were doing the job in the private sector a very daring thing to do. He opined that comfortable life, job, etc. are straight-jackets. It becomes difficult to start something. I first thought of becoming an entrepreneur sometime in my mid-30s, he said.

Answering a question on who their favorite wealth creators (with whom they are fascinated) were Sumant Sinha said that he admired Elon Musk and said that he was ahead of humanity and was a visionary and a problem solver. Ritesh Agarwal said that Bill Gates and Azim Premji were his role models as they not only created wealth but also gave back to society. Yashish Dahiya said that he is fascinated by Sanjeev Bikhchandani, his first investor for his guts. It takes a lot of guts to invest into an idea, he said.

Delivering the Vaccine: The Big Opportunity

Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman MD, Bharat Biotech was in conversation with Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Chairperson, Biocon, on delivering the vaccine: the big opportunity. Speaking to Kiran, Dr. Krishna Ella said India is one of the best Vaccine Industries in the world. One in every three children is vaccinated by Indian Vaccine Industry. In the past, R & D was not so much as it is in the Vaccine industry. Thanks to Pandemic, the industry got good recognition. India has the experience of polio immunization. But the number there is small just 125 million. Now in case of the Corona, it is 7bn adults, which is a huge challenge.

Replying about their plans, he said intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to enter phase 1 trials next month. We are setting up two more facilities for vaccine manufacturing including Covaxin, a vaccine for the coronavirus, that is when we will know our installed capacity well.

It  is going to be a single-dose vaccine. The clinical trial process is also going to be faster,” he said to Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of Bengaluru-based Biocon Limited with whom he was in conversation.

We have  tied up with Washington University School of Medicine in St.Louis for a novel “chimp-adenovirus” (Chimpanzee adenovirus), single-dose intranasal vaccine for COVID-19.

On the pricing he said Indian vaccines will be much cheaper when compared to other countries.

So many manufacturers are working on at a faster pace with limited data and safety, efficacy, no information on long term efficacy, how does he address these concerns?  We as manufacturers safety is our priority. Safety is the most important in the pandemic. Among different platforms based on which vaccines are manufactured, we are working on inactivated vaccines, informed Krishna Ella.

Speaking on the deployment Mr. Krishna Ella shared with Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson Biocon Ltd, that we need to vaccinate 1.3 billion people and they need to be vaccinated twice. So we need 2.6 bn syringes and needles. And we are worried about the pollution these devices generate.

The double doses of vaccine with a gap of one month in between may add more complexity to the distribution, he observed.  Besides that, he says, it is the largest ever vaccination program in the history of entire mankind.

Another huge challenge will be the availability of medical devices such as auto disposable syringes, needles required for the delivery of the vaccine. While demand is more, the supply is not in commensuration with the demand as companies have been working with far fewer resources.

The Art of Living as Entrepreneurs

In another session, Sridhar Reddy, Chairman, Ctrls&Cloud4c was in conversation with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Attendees from all over the world from Korea, Singapore, the USA and others asked questions on a wide range of subjects relevant entrepreneurship.

Replying to those questions, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, the pandemic is going to end very soon says Gurudev Sri Ravi Shankar while interacting at the TiE Global Summit on the of its inauguration.

Replying to a question from a business owner from Singapore on how business owners have to manage the tough times the whole world is going through currently, he said it is a passing phase and it will end very soon. This too will pass. Take for example how some countries who lost everything in the past two world wars and were reduced to rubbles and woke up from ashes, rebuilt everything. This is also something similar to that. Take this as an opportunity

To construct a tall building you go so deep and down only to put up a massive structure. There is enough humanity, human values to support each other. Hold on the ground. This pandemic is going to end very soon, GurudevSri Sri Ravishankar said

Speaking about entrepreneurship he said, the name entrepreneur indicates that you are here to bring something new to the world. And if you fail to do so, you are no good he said

Talking on failures in the entrepreneurial journey he said, take failures as challenges. To do that you need a lot of inner strength. If you are stressed out, you can’t handle small problems or challenges. Train your mind to accept challenges, failures. Stand up for criticism. And always be ready to accept criticism. Don’t shun it, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar said.

News

Acceptance of 3 Point demands by Farmers will Bring Agriculture 2.0

Dec 10, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #President, #Rashtriya Kisan Mahashangha, #Shiv Kumar Sharma

Legalize MSP, Paradigm shift in the Agricultural institutions to provide better Extension services and Modern technology and option of going to Courts to end resentment beyond SDM. In the wake of government suggestion as a clause by clause response for further negotiation over the three Farm Bills, RashtriyaKisan Mahshanga with other leaders of SanyukaKisanMorcha has sought for 3demands.

The agriculture community is riddled with several challenges. The biggest difficulty is that the farmers do not get the price they deserve for their produce. This is mainly because of multiple intermediaries. Lower returns force them to take loans that they cannot service, pushing them further into poverty. They do not have access to the effective and superior quality of Crop Protection solutions and technology like Drones, Robotics, etc. Additionally, Indian farmers lack the means to strengthen their groups and reach the global market to export their commodities directly.

Addressing the issues of the farmers, Shiv Kumar Sharma, President, Rashtriya Kisan Mahashangha added, “Apart from legalising MSP issue, there are other two issues in the context of the farmer’s bill. One of them is the SDM court being the final authority. Farmers are demanding that SDM court should not be the final authority for all issues related to the case of resentment. Two the need to create a robust environment for access of latest technology in agro-inputs such as new advancements in technologies ranging from robotics and drones to Artificial Intelligence. Use of technology in agriculture will improve farmers access to markets, input data, advisory, credit, and insurance

What do the farmers need?

To get the legal status for MSP because Mandis are regulated by State government. Union government extends financial support to state government. At least we need an executive order for this. Verbal promises won’t work. Farmers need statutory support.

Access to new and better technology: Since the Contract between Farmer and Procurer is going to revolve around quality, Grades, and the standard of the Produce. There is a huge availability of Spurious and fake agro-input in the market which drains our income. In this system, we require a robust environment to access cutting edge technology. “We don’t know why we farmers pay 18 percent GST on Pesticides and why the government is creating such an environment where no latest technology is coming to the country,” says Abhimanyu Kohad the Spokesperson of RKM. Further, He says if Government cannot provide extension services then why don’t they allow it to happen in PPP mode to ensure proper stewardship. There is huge corruption among officials involved in agricultural administration where we need probity and transparency. We demand Data protection for new technology in crop protection and a transparent process for registration to end fly by night operators and ghost companies.

The key focus points will redress some of the long-standing demands of the agriculture sector and bring our farming practices up to speed with the farming regulations in developed economies. We will end the current stalemate if the Government accepts these demands and address our issues.

News

350 tribal artisans to be handpicked under ASSOCHAM TEDP program

Dec 4, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Arjun Munda, #ASSOCHAM, #Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, #Honourable Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, #President

New Delhi: With an aim to uplift the tribal community and instill the idea of entrepreneurship, the national industry body-The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India in association with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has kick-started their ‘Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme (TEDP), with a target to identify at least 350 tribal artists and help them expand their enterprises before 31st December 2020.
The tribal community comprises nearly 8 percent of India’s population. The central government initiated the program to get the tribal communities in the mainstream, leverage their strength, and to help them contribute to the process of Nation building. This is in line with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan announced by the central government to initiate self-sustenance and would help in creating employment-generating opportunities for the tribal community.

Shri. Arjun Munda, Honourable Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Government of India stated that there is a huge amount of ignorance about the tribal heritage and products. “Skill development and training is the need of the hour, so as to make them confident, self-reliant, financially independent and to develop and build resilience in them,” he said.

The minister explained that the program designed to develop entrepreneurial skills in tribal artisans by the ASSOCHAM is a kind of value proposition that they were looking at. “Hopefully, it will alter the path towards growth and inclusiveness for the tribal community in the country,” he said.

The program would identify artisans engaged into segments like Tribal Textiles, Paintings and Wall art, Superfoods, Traditional Medicinal Plants and Products, and Forest Produce. The artisans would be selected for the program from all across the country.

Each selected one amongst the tribes’ pan-India will be assessed and the training module will be designed on the basis of this assessment. The training will be aimed at improving the skillset based on the area of their expertise and developing new designs for their products as per market demand. Skills such as how to market their products on various platforms, how to maintain checks and balances, better accounting practices for managing finances would be taught and emphasized upon.

Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, President, ASSOCHAM said that the program will ensure that no one remains without the opportunity to progress and grow. “To support India’s vision of becoming Aatmanirbhar, the ‘Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Programme’ would try and optimize the contribution of tribal community to the growing economy of our country,” he said. The training that will be given at the CoE will make sure that the potential of approximately 8 percent of our population must be fully developed and leveraged,” added Dr. Hiranandani.

Mr. Deepak Sood, Secretary-General, ASSOCHAM, said that there are several challenges and bottlenecks that inhibit the growth process of creating self-sustainable enterprises. “These artisans face challenges such as lack of financial linkage and market access. At the center, we are trying to explore avenues of propelling the process and creation of robust tribal brand identity and in the process – build and enhance the entrepreneurial capabilities of the tribal artisans,” he explained.

The program is a sustained multi-stakeholder, multi-institutional collaborative initiative by the apex industry body ASSOCHAM to address the needs and to work for the upliftment of the tribal communities in the country.

Business World

Focus Edumatics to recruit 2000+ candidates nationwide

Sep 11, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Focus Edumatics, #Mr. U K Rana, #President

New Delhi: Focus Edumatics, an industry leader in e-learning solutions, offering Content, Media, and IT-enabled services worldwide, today announced that it will be hiring 2000+ Graduates and Post-Graduates as online-tutors by the end of December 2020. The certified applicants will be on-boarded
as online tutors to teach Math, Science and English to the US-based K12 students during the USA day shift.

Focus Edumatics will provide one-month free online training to all the candidates who will be selected for the Online-tutor position and they will also get certified by Focus Edumatics as an Online-tutor. They will be hired as full-time employees with all statutory benefits.

Speaking on the ramp-up of hiring, Mr. U K Rana, President, Focus Edumatics said, ” We are fortunate to be in a position to create so many rewarding jobs and career opportunities, especially in this current environment. This pandemic has brought hard-times for many people. We understand this very well and thus have planned to hire over 2,000 tutors. Also, Considering the huge spurt recently in the Online-education in the Indian Market due to the COVID-crisis, we also plan to shortly introduce a Customised Online-tutoring platform for the Indian Schools and Colleges as well”.

Tutors have always been attracted to Focus’ teaching philosophy, and work from home model. These have become even greater selling points over the last few months as teachers look for ways to stay connected to students and their love of teaching. For most companies, adding 300 new employees while working remotely would be a challenge, Focus’ training and evaluation program is designed to be entirely virtual.

Focus Edumatics Pvt Ltd, with its vast array of 1200+ Online-tutors employed currently working in Bangalore, Coimbatore, Mohali and Chennai. The company started its operations 10 years back with just around 100 Online-tutors at Bangalore and then expanded its operations to Coimbatore in 2017. Within a short span of 3 years, it has added 1000+ Online-tutors at Coimbatore by reaching out to all the Tier-1, 2 & 3 colleges in Tamilnadu and conducting campus-drives and other hiring events all over Tamilnadu.

Business World

India-Nepal Economic Ties are Strong and Faring Well, says Policy-makers in PHDCCI India-Nepal Centre Webinar

Sep 4, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Dr D K Aggarwal, #India-Nepal Centre Webinar, #India-Nepal Economic Ties, #PHDCCI, #President

With Covid-19 outbreak and prolonging lockdown, the lives and livelihoods have been adversely impacted in unprecedented manner. As the crisis has global nature, India and Nepal are severely impacted as well with the crisis created by the global pandemic and prolonging lockdown. In a trying time like this, the economic cooperation between India and Nepal should be further accelerated. For the economic rebounding in both the countries, the performance of MSMEs sector is going to be one of the decisive factors. Against this backdrop, under aegis of its India-Nepal Centre and in association with the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Nepal SBI Bank Ltd (NSBL), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) has organised the webinar “Enhancing Cooperation for MSMEs in Nepal”.

Mr. Maha Prasad Adhikari, Governor, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) in his Keynote Speech called the MSMEs sector as the growth engine of Nepal’s economy. Highlighting on the recent policy measures, he assured the industry that Nepal’s MSMEs are on way to emerge stronger and can partner for registering positive outcomes.

Mr. Sushil Bhatta, CEO, Investment Board Nepal (IBN) recognised the challenges MSMEs are facing with the demand and supply shocks with the ongoing crisis emerged through the pandemic. He highlighted the importance of MSME for Nepal’s economy and job creation. He stressed on the need of creating awareness in MSMEs for the skill development,
entrepreneurial advancement, innovative practices, new technology to give them a competitive edge at the regional and global platforms.

“In the recent past, the trade between India andNepal has reached to around 85% peak of pre-Covid times both in terms of exports and imports, mentioned Mr. Kapidhwaja Pratap Singh, Commercial Representative, Indian Embassy in Nepal. He highlighted many importers in India are dependent on exports of Nepal, making it a two-way flow of commodities between India and Nepal. He added that localized trade is happening at a fast pace. This shows the immense networking and supply chain management development by business between India and Nepal.

Mr. Anukool Bhatnagar, MD & CEO, NSBL in his presentation discussed financer’s perspectives on the MSME’s in Nepal. He presented a nuanced view on key pressing policy issues that are impacting the way banks are landing to MSMEs. While the credit gap is still there, Nepal has evolved as a country with robust ecosystem for the old and new businesses. Bhatnagar has appreciated the regulatory measures of NRB that are particularly sensitive to the concerns of MSMEs.

Dr D K Aggarwal, President, PHDCCI shared about India’s unique and deep relationship with Nepal. He calls for an enduring partnership among the MSMEs both sides where PHDCCI as the National Apex Chamber of India along with its partner CNI will provide the much needed platform. Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Senior Vice President, PHDCCI said that it is high time that the MSMEs be given their space as the Covid-19 has made a form ground for strengthening bilateral relations between India and Nepal and these business can play pivotal roles in economic rebounding. Mr. Anil Khaitan, Former President, PHDCCI presented a global overview about the effect of the pandemic on the economy and the required response to mitigate the challenges being faced by MSMEs. In these adverse times, it is utmost important that businesses adopt the ways for frugal innovation, he added. He said that the MSMEs need a clear definition that will be immensely helpful for letting them avail the market conditions efficiently.

The webinar was moderated by Amb K V Rajan, Chairman, India-Nepal Centre, PHDCCI & India’s Former Ambassador to Nepal and Mr. Nirvana Chaudhary, Chairman, India-Nepal Centre (Nepal), VP, CNI & MD, Chaudhary Group. Among other key participants were Mr. Anil Khaitan, Former President, PHDCCI; Mr. Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHDCCI; Mr. Atul K Thakur, Nodal Coordinator, India-Nepal Centre, PHDCCI;
Mr. Madhav Lal, Former Secretary, Ministry of MSME, Government of India; Mr. Ashutosh Bharadwaj, MD, Noveau Manufacturing Pvt Ltd; Ms. Praveena Kala, Director, Paramount Cables Pvt Ltd & Former CGM-SBI; Dr Binod Atreya, MD, BFIN.

It was hailed how PHDCCI’s India-Nepal Centre has taken the initiative for hosting this webinar as well as preceding two: Strategising Economic Rebounding and Cooperation in India and Nepal (30th April 2020); Exploring Hydroelectricity Potential in Nepal (23rd July 2020). The virtual conferences were attended by hundreds of participants from the government, industry, media, Think Tanks and Economic Diplomacy fraternity.