Bengaluru, May, 28, 2020: V-Guard Industries Limited, India’s leading consumer electricals major pledges support towards India’s fight against COVID-19. Reasserting its commitment and support towards society, V-Guard has donated various protective equipment to Dehradun Traffic Police at a function conducted in Maharana Pratap Stadium.
Rajiv Sharma, Branch Head, Dehradun on behalf of V-Guard Industries Limited handed over 8000 3-Ply Masks and 6000 Cotton Gloves to Prakash Chandra, Nodal Officer, Garhwal region & Superintendent of Police (Traffic), Dehradun. Sanjay Gulati, State President, Uttarakhand Electrical Trade Association, Naresh Gupta, Secretary, Uttarakhand Electrical Trade Association and Sanjeev Tyagi, Sub Inspector, Dehradun were also present during the function.
Commenting on the initiatives, Sumit Jha, Sr.General Manager & Northern Regional Head,V-Guard Industries, said, “Given the uncertainty over the ongoing crisis, V-Guard Industries believes in helping and supporting the people and frontline warriors with a meaningful contribution. We are also providing masks to the migrant labourers in Dehradun. Our initiative is designed to help those in need and contribute to society, at this critical juncture in a positive way”.
Projects Today, India’s largest online database of new and ongoing projects in India, conducted a nationwide survey of experts in the project fraternity to pick their brain and learn their views on the current situation and the likely projects investment scenario in major sectors during the post-lockdown period. In all, 233 leaders, a part of the Indian project fraternity (promoters, architects, consultants and contractors) selected from across India participated in the Survey.
A majority of the participants agreed that barring pharmaceuticals and healthcare all other sectors are affected by the current lockdown and it would take a while for these units to restart functioning after the lockdown is lifted.
The 60+ days’ nationwide lockdown has brought the entire economy to a standstill. Producers, Consumers and the Government all are uncertain when the pandemic will slow down or when factories and offices can commence functioning.
India witnessed one of the longest and unprecedented lockdowns seen across the world, and also saw reverse migration of millions of labourers from their worktown to hometown fearing hunger, exposure to the virus and uncertain future.
As per the Survey, for promoters the main hurdles in kick starting their halted projects are getting adequate funds at reasonable interest, finding labourers matching the skills of those who have left for their hometown and procuring the required raw materials and machineries at the project site. The nationwide lockdown has completely disintegrated the supply chain network. It will take a while to reorganise the same. The other three constituents of the projex world – Architects, Consultants and Contractors — said their immediate priority would be, to complete the projects in hand and try to retain their current clients.
The Survey participants expect the “Work from Home” culture to continue during the post COVID-19 era. Hence, they see demand for housing (bigger houses) to go up in the long run. On the other side, they think demand for Commercial space will undergo some change as large companies would look for disintegrating their offices – instead of having one centralised office, setting up more smaller offices to reduce the commuting time and adopt the new norms work culture.
As far as Advantage India is concerned around 27.9 percent of the Survey participants said there is no advantage India, because the country will take at least next two to three years to come out of the current economic moribund. Further, they opined that India does not possess the key advantages China has – high-class infrastructure, liberal labour laws and very industrial-friendly policies. On the positive side, a whopping 69 percent of the Survey respondents agreed that India does have an opportunity to emerge as a winner on the other side of COVID-19 at least in a couple of sectors like Pharmaceuticals, Medical Equipment, Automobiles, Textiles, etc.
To re-boot the economy, the Government of India presented a whopping Rs 20,00,000 crore economic stimulus involving both fiscal and monetary measures. It also proposed some path breaking reforms in the agriculture, mining, power distribution, health and education sectors. It has also assured to bring in the long-delayed labour reforms soon. How far all these measures will mitigate the current economic pain and will put India once again on the growth path will depend on the timely and effective implementation of the proposals and revival in the domestic demand.
Projex in Hotspot Districts
As per Projects Today, of the 130 Red Zone districts, 108 have projects investment and as of 31 March 2020, there were 29,255 projects entailing a total investment of Rs 51,07,831 crore. Of this, 8,917 projects worth Rs 21,11,985 crore were under various stages of implementation, but are currently halted due to the nationwide lockdown. Around 62.9 percent of such projex are owned by government agencies and the balance 37.1 percent is by private companies.
Among the hotspot districts, Mumbai and Mumbai Suburban together account for 12.5 percent of the total under-execution projects found in the hotspot districts of India. Mumbai is also the leading district in terms of virus-affected people and death toll.
Free health cover of up to INR 50,000 for one year; no co-payment required during claims
This will bring insurance benefits to lakhs of Amazon.in sellers
Bengaluru, 27.05.2020 Amazon.in today announced that it is providing a COVID-19 health insurance, completely free of cost for its sellers in India. The insurance will help cover the expenses related to COVID-19 hospitalization and treatment as well as ambulance assistance and ICU charges of up to INR 50,000, and it will be valid for one year after activation. Amazon will fully fund the premium for this health insurance and has partnered with Acko General Insurance (Acko) to manage the policy delivery and handling of claims and reimbursements. This will benefit lakhs of Amazon sellers – anyone who has had an active product listing on Amazon.in between January 2019 and 26 May 2020.
Gopal Pillai, VP Seller Services, Amazon India said, “We are facing an unprecedented situation that has affected the lives of millions of people around the world. In these difficult times, the health and safety of our sellers is of utmost importance to us and we are completely committed to support them. Good health is the foundation for our sellers to run their business and are rolling out a group health insurance benefit to help them cover for medical expenses in case of hospitalization and treatment due to COVID-19. While we sincerely hope none of our sellers need to use this, we want to make sure they have a sense of security and one less thing to worry about and can focus on developing their business.”
Gunjeet Singh who’s been selling Home Décor items on Amazon.in said, “I am happy to know that Amazon is providing its sellers like me a COVID-19 health insurance as oftentimes, it is not the disease or the ailment but the cost of treatment that worries people. While we are taking all safety precautions to stay safe in these times, an insurance cover does bring a sense of security and peace of mind. These are challenging times for everyone and being in good health is important as we work on our business.”
How can sellers register for the insurance policy?
Amazon will open a 7 day enrolment window wherein sellers can enroll themselves by providing basic personal particulars and KYC documents. No medical tests will be required for registration. For each seller account, only one person will be covered under the insurance policy. Once the requisite details are processed, a Unique Health Identification (UHID) number will be issued to the sellers by Acko, which they can use to file their claims and reimbursements. To claim COVID-19 related hospitalization and treatment expenses, registered sellers will have to intimate Acko. A standard waiting period of 15 days will be applicable at the start of the insurance policy. Amazon.in sellers can click here to learn more about additional eligibility criteria and other details regarding this free COVID-19 health insurance.
Bengaluru, May 22, 2020: As India continues to maintain social distancing to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon India firmly believes it has a unique role to play providing a critical service for the community; to help them get the items they need for their families without leaving their homes. Amazon India today announced that it has opened close to 50,000 seasonal roles to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service, particularly those most vulnerable to being out in public. This will be a variety of roles in their fulfilment centres and delivery network including part-time flexible work opportunities as independent contractors with Amazon Flex.
The associates will join other thousands of associates across Amazon India’s fulfilment and delivery network and assist them to pick, pack, ship and deliver customers’ orders more efficiently.
“One thing we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is how important a role Amazon and ecommerce can play for our customers as much as for small businesses & the economy. We take this responsibility seriously, and we’re proud of the work our teams are doing to help small and other businesses deliver to our customers through this difficult time. We want to continue helping customers all over India get everything they need so they can continue to practice social distancing. To enable this, we are creating work opportunities for close to 50,000 seasonal associates across our fulfilment and delivery network. This will also keep as many people as possible working during this pandemic while providing a safe work environment for them.” said Akhil Saxena, VP, Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA & LATAM, Amazon.
While creating these opportunities, Amazon remains committed to the health and safety of its associates, partners, employees, and customers, and has implemented a number of measures towards their well-being. The company has made close to 100 significant process changes in their operations for the safety of its people which include mandatory face covering, daily temperature checks in buildings, increased frequency and intensity of cleaning at all sites including regular sanitization of frequently touched areas, and awareness-building among associates on safety requirements around hand-washing and hand sanitization.
For those interested to apply for these seasonal opportunities, they can call 1800-208-9900 or send an email to seasonalhiringindia@amazon.com.
Bengaluru – May 23, 2020: There was a chaos in palace ground on Saturday where migrant workers from Odisha and north-eastern states gathered in large numbers to get back to their home states. Medical Education Minister Dr.K.Sudhakar who was on his way to Chikkaballapur rushed to the spot and calmed down the situation. The minister interacted with the people of the Northeastern states and Odisha and said that there was no need for panic as travel will be arranged for all migrants at government expense. An appeal to Railway Minister for providing additional compartments will be made he said. Minister urged them to maintain social distancing and not to gather in large numbers.
There was confusion among migrants after thousands of people from Manipur and Odisha had gathered due to misinformation. 1500 people gathered to register themselves to return back to their respective states. A message via ‘Seva Sindhu app has been sent to all registered. But the confusion happened as people started forwarding the messages to others as well.
The minister, who was on his way to Chikkaballapur, noticed the heavy congestion near the Palace Grounds and rushed to the spot. He immediately spoke to the Chief Secretary and senior officials and instructed them to resolve the confusion. The Minister, who is also a Doctor, came to the rescue of Arshad who suffered fits attack. Dr.Sudhakar urged them to co-operate with the administration as Karnataka government is doing everything to send them back safely.
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