The Central Board of Secondary Education (<keyword id="6356155" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="cbse">CBSE</keyword>) on Sunday announced a partnership with <keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> to provide training on <keyword id="2757862" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-safety">digital safety</keyword>, online well being and training on augmented reality (AR) to students and <keyword id="6356089" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="teachers">teachers</keyword>. The training modules are for the secondary <keyword id="9020" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="school-students">school students</keyword>. The curriculum is now available on the CBSE website. The curriculum on digital safety and online well-being cover aspects such as safety, privacy, mental health and Instagram's guide for building healthy digital habits, Facebook said in a statement. The module has been designed to guide students to become responsible digital users, identify and report threats and harassment as well as report misinformation. At least 10,000 students will be covered in the training to be imparted by the Centre for Social Research (CSR). "I congratulate CBSE and Facebook on its partnership to introduce certified programs in augmented reality for teachers and digital safety and online-wellbeing for students," said Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Also, as part of the collaboration, Facebook will support CBSE in its first-ever initiative to introduce AR as a curriculum. In the first phase, 10,000 teachers will be trained while 30,000 students will undergo the same in the second phase. The three-week training, to be conducted in batches, will cover fundamentals of AR and ways to utilise Facebook's software, Spark AR Studio in order to create augmented reality experiences. The objective is to give the learners an opportunity and platform to conceptualise, create and brand their own AR experiences. The hands-on learning experience of AR will help in preparing the students for a career in the digital economy. According to the US tech giant, the teachers who successfully complete the training in the first phase will train 30,000 students in the second phase. "Through our 'Facebook for Education' programme in India, we wish to support the educational agencies in the country in enabling lessons on fostering safe online experiences," said Ankhi Das, Director, Public Policy, India, South and Central Asia. "We are excited to partner with CBSE, and hope that this collaboration grows to support more teachers and students in the country," Das added. --IANS bu/na

CBSE partners with Facebook to teach students and teachers about digital safety

New Delhi, Mar 17 () Following are the top business stories at 1850 hours: DEL75 BIZ-LD YES BANKAbsolutely no worries on liquidity front, says Yes Bank CEO-designateMumbai: Yes Bank CEO-designate Prashant Kumar on Tuesday said there are absolutely no worries on the liquidity front and that complete operational normalcy would be restored from 6 pm on Wednesday. DEL74 BIZ-LD STOCKSNo respite: Sensex collapses in fag-end selloff, Nifty ends below 9,000Mumbai: Stock indices erased early gains to sink deeper into red on Tuesday as the global equity rout intensified amid the coronavirus-triggered recession fears. DCM25 BIZ-COMPANIES BILLGovt proposes decriminalising offences, direct overseas listing in cos lawNew Delhi: Decriminalising offences, allowing direct overseas listing of companies, relaxing CSR norms and setting up National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) benches are among the proposals in the latest bill to amend the companies law.DCM6 BIZ-MUTUALFUNDS-DEBTHit by pullout from liquid schemes, debt MFs see Rs 28,000 cr outflow in FebNew Delhi: Mutual funds focussed on investing in fixed-income securities saw an outflow of nearly Rs 28,000 crore in February, after registering an infusion of over Rs 1 lakh crore in the preceding month, mainly on account of a massive pullout from liquid funds. DEL82 CORONAVIRUS-AVI-GOAIRCoronavirus: GoAir suspends int'l services, offers leave without pay programme for employeesMumbai: Budget carrier GoAir on Tuesday announced suspending international operations and offering leave without pay programme for its staff on a rotational basis, amid sharp decline in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. DCM33 BIZ-ONGCONGC starts pumping gas from KG blockNew Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has begun gas production from its most promising block in the Krishna Godavari basin in the Bay of Bengal and is planning a ramp up production in coming weeks, officials said. DEL95 BIZ-RUPEE-CLOSERupee settles marginally down at 74.28 against US dollarMumbai: The rupee pared its initial gains to settle marginally lower at 74.28 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday amid continued meltdown in equity markets and sustained foreign fund outflows. DCM34 CORONAVIRUS-BIZ-AMAZON INDIAOut of stock on some popular items, working with partners to ensure availability: Amazon IndiaNew Delhi: Amazon India has said it is working extensively with seller partners to ensure product availability, and bringing on additional capacity for delivery, after stocks ran out on some popular items, especially in the household staples category. DCM31 CORONAVIRUS-BIZ LD FORDCoronavirus: Ford asks 10,000 employees in India to work from homeNew Delhi: US auto major Ford has asked its 10,000 employees in India, except those in business-critical roles, to work from home with similar steps being taken by Swedish luxury car maker Volvo and Fiat Chrysler India in the wake coronavirus pandemic. DCM12 BIZ-INDIAINC-OVERSEAS INVESTMENTOverseas investment by Indian cos in Feb at USD 2.37 bnMumbai: Overseas investment by domestic firms stood at USD 2.37 billion in February 2020, as per RBI data. SHWSHW

Business highlights

<ul><li><keyword id="6355261" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="finance-minister">Finance Minister</keyword> <keyword id="129243" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nirmala-Sitharaman">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> said the move will make it easier for companies to raise funds during these times of cash crunch.</li><li>The government also reduced the burden of compliance by decriminalisation of minor violations of Companies Act provisions.</li><li>7 compoundable offences have been dropped while penalties for small/one-person/producer companies and start-ups have been lowered.</li></ul> The Narendra Modi administration’s fifth set of reforms amidst the COVID-19 crisis included some sweeping changes to the Companies Act, which include allowing firms to raise money overseas and decriminalisation of minor violations. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that these measures will improve the ease of doing business in India. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="75784571" title="India's Finance Minister reveals the final lot of Modi's economic stimulus programme" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Companies can now directly list their securities in foreign jurisdictions Sitharaman also made it easier for Indian public companies to raise funds by allowing them to directly list their securities in permissible <keyword id="169209" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="foreign-markets">foreign markets</keyword>. Private companies which list their non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on stock exchanges will not be regarded as listed companies. This will help private companies in raising funds without having to deal with the additional compliance requirements for listed companies. Sitharaman also announced relief for small companies, one-person companies, producer companies and startups by lowering penalties. No punishment for minor violations The decriminalisation of Companies Act violations relate to minor technical and procedural defaults like shortcomings in CSR reporting, inadequacy in board report, fixing defaults, delay in holding annual general meetings (AGM) etc. "The reforms announced in relation to Companies Act to decriminalize minor procedural and technical infractions and shifting bulk of compoundable offenses to internal adjudication mechanism will help Indian corporates especially start-ups in multiple ways including by disentangling them from these procedural hurdles which in turn will positively impact their valuation and boost investor sentiments who are looking to invest in such companies with good health from a compliance perspective," said Prasenjit Chakravarti, Partner, Khaitan &amp; Co. 7 compoundable offences dropped Apart from this, Sitharaman also announced that the government has dropped 7 compoundable offences, while 5 others will be dealt with by an alternative framework called Internal Adjudicating Mechanism (IAM). For this purpose, Sitharaman has enhanced the powers of Regional Directors – now, 58 sections of the Companies Act, 2013 will be dealt with under IAM by the Regional Directors, increasing from the 18 sections earlier. This will help the government de-clog the criminal courts and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). In turn, this will help these courts and the NCLT to focus on the more pressing matters before them. The government will pass an ordinance (order) in this regard, as the Parliament is not in session right now. The exact details of the compoundable offences that have been dropped will be revealed only then. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/finance-minister-nirmala-sitharaman-final-stimulus-plan-to-boost-gdp-of-india/articleshow/75784571.cms">India's Finance Minister reveals the final lot of Modi's economic stimulus programme</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/power-utilities-in-union-territories-will-be-privatised/articleshow/75774658.cms">Modi government privatises power utilities in Union Territories ⁠— wants states to follow suit</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/bajaj-finance-share-price-and-earnings-expectation/articleshow/75751469.cms">Bajaj Finance’s quarterly earnings may not reflect the real potential for rebound⁠ after Sitharaman’s big push for MSME</a>

Indian firms can now directly list in foreign markets – there are a few more big changes to Companies Act

<ul><li><keyword id="466302" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="workplace-stress">Workplace stress</keyword> and mental well-being of employees has been a key issue that is being addressed by employers. </li><li>Workplace anxiety causes low productivity in employees — costing the global economy nearly $1 trillion, every year.</li></ul>Workplace anxiety has been causing low productivity amongst employees, and — <a href="https://www.healthnewsoffice.com/who-says-1-trillion-is-lost-annually-to-workplace-depression-and-anxiety-disorders/">costing the global economy</a> nearly $1 trillion annually, according to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In India, which is the most overworked country in the world, work-related stress can have serious consequences. Portrayed as a ‘<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/ResponsibleFuture/can-companies-stand-up-for-mental-health/">silent killer</a>,’ stress has been reportedly termed as the root of depression and workplace anxiety in India. The ‘Sick’ work culture So why are Indian workers so stressed? According to a recent <a href="https://learning.linkedin.com/blog/advancing-your-career/stress-at-work-report--who-is-feeling-it-the-most-and-how-to-com">LinkedIn report</a>, majority of the workforce in India is stressed due to workload, fear of job loss and office politics. “By a sick or dysfunctional culture I mean they can’t talk about their problems. Tech distraction is just a problem like any other and what we find is the companies that struggle with technological distraction have all kinds of other skeletons in the closet, all kinds of other things that people don’t want to talk about,” said <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/barnabylashbrooke/2019/04/15/your-smartphone-is-a-sinkhole-where-productivity-goes-to-die/#2e1c9eaf7547">author Nir Eyal</a>. A few companies are now brushing up their Human Resource (HR) practices to create a work-life balance for their employees. “Workplaces that promote mental health and support people with mental disorders are more likely to reduce absenteeism, increased productivity and economic gains,” WHO said. Amit Sharma, Group CEO eExpedise.com believes that there needs to be a mindset change towards wellness. “Corporates need to have a dedicated department and skilled professionals to run this programme, and should be accountable for the same.” “The approach should be to manage complete lifecycle, from assessment to intervention, implementation and monitoring,” he added. Nearly 80% of top 200 companies in India invest their funds under CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) in health or education. However, prioritising mental wellness is still a milestone, according to an <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/ResponsibleFuture/can-companies-stand-up-for-mental-health/">ET report</a>. Startups and global companies including WeWork, E&amp;Y, American Express and Accenture have put policies in place to cope with <keyword id="3501789" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="employee-stress">employee stress</keyword> and thereby, absenteeism. E&amp;Y made a cultural shift by encouraging employees to communicate personal challenges and problems within the organisation. Indian startup WeWork <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/companies/were-off-duty-will-not-reply-to-email-wework/articleshow/69087683.cms">initiated </a>a programme called the ‘right to disconnect.’ The startup floated policies which allow employees to feel free and switch off on weekends and non-working hours — from 9 pm to 7 am. Other global giants — Hindustan Unilever, Pidilite Industries — have been strongly opposing ‘Late working policy’, to support employees. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indians-will-prefer-to-learn-a-new-skill-if-they-have-a-four-days-work-week-survey/articleshow/68516702.cms">Indians were asked what they would do in their free time if they could work for four days a week — and their answers are unexpected</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/in-india-flexibility-overpowers-pay-hike-on-job-change/articleshow/67975325.cms">In India, employees are prioritising ‘remote work policy’ while taking up a job — and will even take a pay cut</a>

Indian companies still have a long way to go to combat workplace stress

<ul><li><keyword id="1096883" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Villgro">Villgro</keyword>’s annual conference will witness the culmination of iPitch – Villgro’s annual deal discovery platform, with investments of over INR 4 Crores being announced</li><li>Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and Villgro to launch ‘Powering Livelihoods’, a multi-million dollar programme to support large-scale commercial deployment of clean energy-based livelihood solutions </li><li>‘Farming Futures: Emerging Social Enterprises in India’ to be released at the event </li></ul><keyword id="153607" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-entrepreneurship">Social entrepreneurship</keyword> is the need of the hour in India, where innovation needs to reach out to the depths of the country. Villgro, India's oldest and one of the world’s largest social enterprise incubators, enables these entrepreneurs and is back with its annual Unconvention conference. Slated to be held at Taj Yeshwantpur, Bangalore on 6th-7th December 2019, the event will witness the confluence of over 700 delegates comprising <keyword id="484405" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Social-entrepreneurs">social entrepreneurs</keyword>, CSR professionals, impact investors, policymakers, and academia, to discuss the present and future of social entrepreneurship in India and globally. Themed ‘Innovation for All’, this year’s event will highlight the power of low cost innovations and making them accessible to the next billion. The two day conference’s second day is focused on parallel sector tracks of Education &amp; Employability, Agribusiness, Healthcare, and Energy &amp; Cleantech and deep dive into innovations in technology, partnerships, financing and policy for start-ups across agribusiness, health, education and energy domains. It will provide the backdrop for the launch of the joint initiative of Villgro and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) – ‘Powering Livelihoods’. The multi-million dollar programme will focus on bridging the commercial valley of death by providing financial, capacity-building, and sectoral growth support to enterprises deploying clean energy-based livelihood solutions. . The unique, paradigm-shifting program will be launched by Arunabha Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, Council on Energy, Environment and Water. Numerous innovative and interactive sessions including Investor Speed Dating, Mentoring Forum, Innovation Hallway, and masterclasses on Being Compliance Ready by SpiceRoute Business &amp; Data Protection Law by Gamechanger Law Advisors will make Unconvention a hard-to-miss opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to connect, network and grow. The conference will also mark the culmination of Villgro’s iPitch – a unique investment discovery platform that identifies and invests in for-profit social enterprises across sectors of medtech, edtech, employability, cleantech, and agritech. Upto 10 investments, to be announced at the event, will receive a total of over INR 4 crores in investment along with capacity-building support. Speaking on the event, Srinivas Ramanujam, COO, Villgro Innovations Foundation, said, “Villgro has been championing social innovations for 20 years now, and the theme of this year’s conference, therefore, came from our approach and will focuses on insightful conversations about the need for holistic innovation – technological, financial, value chain and policy – to help promising start-ups across sectors thrive in the competitive Indian and subsequent global markets.” Unconvention will also feature insightful keynote sessions by Dr. Devi Shetty, (Founder - Narayana Health), NK Chaudhary (Chairman &amp; MD, Jaipur Rugs), Bindu Ananth (Chairperson, Dvara Trust), Shobhini Mukerji (Executive Director, J-PAL), Varun Jhaveri (Officer on Special Duty to CEO, Ayushman Bharat - PMJAY, Government of India), Sridhar Venkat (CEO, The Akshaya Patra Foundation), Sharad Sharma (Co-Founder, iSPIRT), Reshma Anand (CEO, Hindustan Unilever Foundation) and Joe Madith (Chairman &amp; Founder, Gram Vikas), among 80+ other key names. It will also witness a book launch - Farming Futures: Emerging Social Enterprises in India – by Ajit Kanitkar and C. Shambu Prasad. The event will present a unique opportunity for new and established entrepreneurs to catalyse the ecosystem through exhibiting and networking with potential partners, investors, mentors or even customers. Note: Business Insider India is the media partner for the event

This conference wants to farm the future for India’s social entrepreneurs

New Delhi, May 8 () Employers' associations on Friday demanded suspension of labour laws barring some key provisions across the country for next two-three years to help the industry come out of the crisis induced by the lockdown to combat COVID-19 pandemic.Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar on Friday held a webinar with employers' bodies such as CII, Ficci and Assocham to discuss issues like restarting economic activities, job creation and measures to improve the situation of MSMEs to enable them to discharge their liabilities under labour laws.The industry bodies suggested a slew of measures and sought relaxations such as increasing working hours to 12 hours per day from the existing 8 hours per day to help them revive operations, according to a release by the Labour Ministry.The release said the industry associations suggested "to suspend the labour laws for the next 2-3 years except for provisions like minimum wages, bonus and statutory dues, to help the industry come out of the present crisis".The suggestion follows the Uttar Pradesh government's move to bring an ordinance on Thursday to suspend all labour laws barring some provisions for the next three years to give relief to the industry hit by the existing lockdown.Labour is a concurrent subject and states can amend certain labour laws for their regions.The industry bodies also suggested "to increase working hours to 12 hours per day", the release said.They also demanded that power to the industry may be supplied at subsidized rates."Instead of different zones like red, orange and green, there should be (2) zones viz. containment zone and non-containment zones to facilitate easy movement of workers and goods. Allow all activities in the non-containment zones."The employers' organisations also sought relaxation of the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act to treat the lockdown period as lay-off.Employers wanted that keeping in view the difficulties being faced by the industry and liquidity crisis, the wages paid by to workers may be covered under expenses under CSR funds.They asked to increase the maximum limit of 33 per cent workforce to at least 50 per cent of the workforce after the reopening of the industry to allow an increase of goods and services to the optimum level.Industry bodies asked the minister to waive the PMGKY's condition of covering only those enterprises whose 90 per cent or more employees were drawing monthly wages less than Rs 15,000 under the Scheme so that more workers can be covered under the scheme. They said that the status of migrant labour is a matter of serious concern. Employers' bodies suggested that a programme may be formulated for return of these migrant labour to work by providing counselling to alleviate their fears on COVID-19, providing financial help for their transportation, providing free groceries for about six months, etc.They also suggested to create a databank of migrant labour and to create a national epidemic fund to help the workers of the unorganised sector and daily wagers.They also pitched for reducing social security costs on both employees and employers.Concluding the discussion, Labour Secretary H L Samariya stated that the focus should now be on reviving the industry and opening of economy, to fully revive the economic activities and employment opportunities. He assured that the Ministry of Labour and Employment is committed to provide all the help in case of any problems faced by the industry and also to protect the interests of the workers. As many as 12 employers bodies participated in the webinar including CII, FICCI, PHDCCI and ASSOCHAM. KKS MR

Lockdown-hit industry demands suspension of labour laws for 2-3 yrs

(Eds: Adding details) New Delhi, Mar 26 () The government on Thursday announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore stimulus that included free foodgrain and cooking gas to poor for three months, and cash doles to women and poor senior citizens as it looked to ease the economic impact of the nationwide lockdown.While over 80 crore poor ration card holders will each get 5 kg of wheat or rice and one kg of preferred pulses free of cost every month for the next three months, 20.4 crore women having Jan Dhan bank accounts would get one-time cash help of Rs 1,500 spread over three months.Over 8.3 crore poor women, who were handed out free cooking gas connections since 2016, will get free LPG refills for the next three months, while poor senior citizens, widows and disabled will get an ex-gratia cash of Rs 1,000."Since the lockdown has been in force (since Wednesday) and therefore we have come out with a package which will immediately take care of the concerns and welfare of poor and suffering workers and those who need immediate help," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at a news conference here.The package, she said, is being announced within 36 hours of the 21-day nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Miniter to protect the nation's 130 crore people from the fast-spreading coronavirus. "We do not want anyone to remain hungry."She hinted at more announcements if a need arises."So, today's measures are very clearly aimed at reaching out with food and money that they need to have it in their hands. We will obviously think about other things. I will gradually address if there is more to attend," she said.The package included advancing the payment of one-third of the Rs 6,000 a year pre-2019 general election cash dole scheme for farmers, government contributions to retirement funds for the next three months of small companies with 90 per cent of staff earning less than Rs 15,000, and a Rs 50 lakh insurance cover to healthcare workers.For rural workers, the daily wage under the MNREGA employment guarantee programme has been increased to Rs 202 from Rs 182, benefiting 5 crore workers of about Rs 2,000 in all.India joins countries -- from the US to Singapore -- that have pledged spending to contain the economic fallout of the pandemic that has infected almost 5 lakh people globally and left over 21,000 dead.The pandemic has infected 649 persons in India and has killed 13 so far.While the free food grains and pulses would cost Rs 45,000 crore, Rs 2,000 payment to 8.7 crore farmers under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana will cost Rs 16,000 crore.The cash to women Jan Dhan account holders will cost Rs 31,000 crore and another Rs 13,000 crore is estimated to be the expenditure for providing free cooking gas.Sitharaman, however, evaded a reply to questions on how the government will finance the package given that the impact of the closure of businesses across the country will be felt over the next few months and would have a direct bearing on already strained tax collections.She also did not say if the government will relax budget deficit targets or resort to additional borrowings to fund the programme.The revised fiscal deficit - the gap between revenue and expenditure - has been put at 3.8 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal. For the fiscal starting April, the government is targeting a 3.5 per cent fiscal deficit."Today's measures are very clearly aimed at reaching out to the poor," she said. "At this stage, I am more concerned about reaching out to those who need help."With businesses closed during the lockdown, the government will contribute employees as well as employer's contribution to the provident fund for the next three months of companies with up to 100 employees with 90 per cent earning not more than Rs 15,000. The contribution will be a total of 24 per cent of eligible wages.Also, workers will be allowed to draw a non-refundable advance of 75 per cent from credit in provident fund account or three months salary, whichever is lower, she said.Sitharaman said the limit of collateral-free loans to 63 lakh women self-help groups is being doubled to Rs 20 lakh, impacting 7 crore households.The free foodgrain and pulses are over-and-above the existing entitlement through the public distribution system (PDS). The ration card holders can take the foodgrain and pulses from the PDS in two installments, she added.The government had previously relaxed timelines for meeting tax and other statutory filing requirements as well as allowed companies to divert their philanthropy or CSR funds to support the fight against coronavirus.These measures and the ones announced on Thursday will be topped up by the expected announcement of interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its bi-monthly monetary policy review meet slated next week.Commenting on the package, Anil Talreja, Partner, Deloitte India said the announcements are is expected to give reprieve to the mass sections of the population. "This is a good way to ensure that the poor and needy get what they deserve. It has ensured that the farmers, poor senior citizens, widows and specified sections of the society as well as people who are attached to the healthcare sectors get rewarded for their hard work and sacrifices". DP ANZ BAL

Govt unveils Rs 1.7 lakh cr stimulus to help poor hit by lockdown

<keyword id="95677" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jubilant-FoodWorks">Jubilant FoodWorks</keyword>, the parent firm of Domino's Pizza in India, has come up with a programme because of which one can expect differently-abled employees in the company’s managerial roles in the coming years. 
 As a part of the programme, the company plans to have one differently-abled worker in tier-1 city outlets with 25 or more employees, said <keyword id="3371193" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Biplob-Banerjee">Biplob Banerjee</keyword>, executive VP (HR and CSR), Jubilant FoodWorks. 
 
Jubilant FoodWorks is now one of the several companies in the country that want to hire people with disabilities and train them for managerial roles. 
 
IBM India, for example, has four-hour sessions for senior employees, making them aware about unconscious bias while also stressing on the need to include more differently-abled employees in the workforce. 
 
"Differently-abled employees bring in a diversity of thought to the organisation, and hiring such persons is a business imperative for us, not a CSR activity," DP Singh, vice-president of HR (India/South Asia) at IBM, told ET. 
 
EY India hires differently-abled talent through the Ability Foundation in Chennai, and the whole process is governed by a special mechanism. 
 
Other companies that in the recent past have come up in favour of hiring differently abled staff include Infosys, Dell, IBM, HCL and Accenture. 
 
<a href="http://www.edu-leaders.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_image/public/Quota-for-differently-abled.jpg?itok=B3nnkS-H">Image source</a>

Companies are chalking out plans to train differently-abled people for managerial roles

<ul><li>The largest allocation for the Department of Space during the Union <keyword id="7836802" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Budget-2020">Budget 2020</keyword> will be towards <keyword id="6797456" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaganyaan">Gaganyaan</keyword>. </li><li>The benefits of more money for space projects will spill over to the private sector. </li><li>Business Insider spoke to Chaitanya Giri from Gateway House, a Delhi-based think tank, about his expectations from the budget this year. </li></ul>This week, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman will announce the Union Budget 2020 and many people will have their eyes trained on the allocation towards India’s Department of Space (DoS). This will be the first budget where you have expansive projects like Gaganyaan with funding across different government departments. Experts also believe that the DoS will exceed funds from last year of ₹12,000 crores. "The largest constituent in the space budget this year will be Gaganyaan," Chaitanya Giri, a fellow of space and ocean studies programme at Gateway House, told Business Insider. "Being a multi-ministerial, multi-agency megaproject, its allocations will come not only via the Department of Space but via the Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Defence too," he added. More money for space projects in the budget means more money for public-private partnerships as well. "The more the budget, the greater the number of projects — and the numerous opportunities for public-private collaboration open up," he explained. The budget isn’t just an allocation — it’s a seed fund for private players Benefits of projects in the space sector aren’t restricted only to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). They will also spill over to the private sector. "The growing space budget must be viewed not merely as an allocation but as a seed fund," said Giri. For instance, India is part of a 30-meter telescope project being built in Hawaii is using software from Persistent Systems in Pune. Godrej Aerospace and L&amp;T are a part of commercially manufacturing PSLVs. It’s essentially a trickle-down effect. More money in the budget means more contracts and, ultimately, more research and development. "As the government increases the budget, the R&amp;D agencies of the government reach out to the private sector with the same money for co-development, turn-key solutions, and supplies," Giri explained. It’s a win-win situation for both stakeholders. ISRO doesn’t have the manpower and workforce to build everything on its own and the private sector’s research needs a boost. Components required by ISRO have been provided by large companies, who — over the years — have built competencies to build them. "I am sure the private sector is using such contracts to build their innovation and invention portfolios. That will help them and the nation in the long run," he said. The need for a national space policy For the private sector to play a more active role in India’s space sector, the government needs to pass the Space Activities Bill, which is still under consideration. It would allow private players to participate in the launch market after obtaining the relevant license from the government. "In the coming years, as India forms specific parliamentary legislation for space activities, things will change completely for the private space industry. India is slowly beginning to view space as a major economic undertaking and for now, that is a really good sign," said Giri. And the private sector also has a little bit of catching up to do. There is a lot of scope of new-age startups an companies in India. They need not supply competencies that ISRO and the existing ecosystem already provides. Instead, the more novel their product, the higher their chance of assimilation in the space ecosystem. "The government has been very proactive in comprehending the changing space technological paradigm around the world. But, it’s synergies with the private sector are huffing and puffing to keep pace with the rapid scientific and technological strides caused by Industry 4.0 revolution," explained Giri. He recommends that the private sector needs to invest more heavily in R&amp;D, preferably through CSR to scout for technology that can be applied to on a large scale. It is no longer enough for companies to get into agreements with foreign players and assemble their products here in India. "This huff-and-puff is due to a weak public-private ‘lung capacity’ on innovation," said See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/budget-2020-isro-needs-rs-666-cr-for-chandrayaan-3/articleshow/73462546.cms">Exploring space is expensive — and ISRO needs more money from the 2020 Union Budget</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/isro-outlook-2020-indian-private-sector-eyes-30-billion-space-launch-pie/articleshow/72812429.cms">ISRO outlook 2020: Indian private sector eyes $30 billion space launch pie</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/budget/news/isros-got-a-long-way-to-go-before-it-generates-revenue-from-spin-off-technologies/articleshow/73584343.cms">ISRO's got a long way to go before it generates revenue from spin-off technologies</a>

Union Budget 2020: 'Allocation to space exploration should be considered a seed fund'

(<keyword id="3164477" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Umeed-1000">Umeed 1000</keyword> Cyclothon flagoff at Mumbai) “A woman is the root of a family; she nurtures and strengthens the family. Girls being the staunch bearers of the society need to be educated, so that they can educate their family and the society,” believes <keyword id="3164478" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Nirmala-Tandon">Nirmala Tandon</keyword>, the CEO of Gurgaon-based non-profit organization <keyword id="1938562" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="IIMPACT">IIMPACT</keyword>. 
 
Present in 11 states, with over 30 learning centres, IIMPACT has been working towards providing quality <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=primary+education">primary education</a> to the <keyword id="6366837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="girl-child">girl child</keyword> in remote communities since 2003. 
 And, for Tandon, the journey to ensuring all girls in the country receive quality <keyword id="6366135" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Primary-education">primary education</keyword> has just begun. 
 
Approximately 45,000 girls have been educated till Class V through IIMPACT’s learning centres, wherein volunteers teach the girls basic subjects, apart from counseling parents to be in favour of sending their kids to school. 
 
“No amount of awareness is really enough. And, this year, we intend to reach to 1000 more girls and get them started on their primary education,” Tandon tells me. 
 
This might seem like a job easier said than done. It not only requires massive amount of funds, but also a whole lot of awareness. 
 This is where Mumbai-based cycling enthusiast and Microsoft employee <keyword id="2610228" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Jasmeet-Singh-Gandhi">Jasmeet Singh Gandhi</keyword> came in. 
 
In a bid to raise funds for supporting the cause of girl child education, Gandhi, a strong supporter of the cause himself has undertaken the Umeed 1000 Cyclothon 2015 and is<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=cycling"> cycling</a> 1000 kilometres spanning the distance between Mumbai to Delhi with the aim to complete it in 10 days. 
 
 
 
Gandhi started his cycling odyssey from Mumbai on 7th December and will pass through Vapi, Surat, Vadodra, Ahmedabad, Himmatnagar, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur, Gurgaon before finally making it to Delhi on the 17th December. 
 
Gandhi however is not new to undertaken expeditions such as this. Last year, he cycled from Mumbai to Bangalore for raising money for eye-cancer patients. And, this year, he aims to guarantee the education of a girl child, through the power of his cycle. 
 
“It takes Rs 3,000 a year to educate a child. My mission is to raise funds to support 1,000 children," said Gandhi, who will have a medical support team travelling with him. 
 
Along his way, Gandhi will also participate in various events to help raise awareness and educate people on the importance of basic education for girls. 
 
The event is being sponsored by RBL bank and according to Shanta Vallury Gandhi, Head Human Resources, CSR and Internal Branding at RBL Bank, the reason for their tie-up with IIMPACT is because women empowerment and education is one of the core pillars of RBL Bank's CSR programme. 
"While IIMPACT is run by professionals it is run for charity. They have been instrumental in brightening the lives of many children by providing educational opportunities to girls, from socially and economically disadvantaged communities of India. When you educate a girl, you educate a nation and this is very much part of our ethos. We are particularly happy to partner with IIMPACT for this noble initiative as it fits in well with the DNA of our organization," she added.

This NGO is
providing primary education for girls and now has a man cycling from Mumbai to
Delhi to raise awareness for it

<ul><li>In our latest interview series, we talk to brands to understand how they are coping with the new normal and their strategies towards navigating these difficult times.</li><li><keyword id="878756" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sandeep-Walunj">Sandeep Walunj</keyword>, CMO, Nippon Life India Asset Management shares with us a few advantages of selling a digital product, why there is a need to change the marketing strategy to help consumers through these unprecedented days, and the importance of empowering your employees to be prepared for a crisis. </li><li>He further helps us understand how the <keyword id="6357979" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mutual-funds">mutual funds</keyword> industry has been shaping up in the past two months, how long it will take to recover and what its future holds. </li></ul><keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> has altered the way we walk, work, communicate with people or shop. It has pushed us to accept digitalisation at a rapid pace. Companies that offer digital solutions have seen an accelerating growth due to this sudden shift in consumer behaviour and nationwide lockdown. Being associated with a virtual product, Sandeep Walunj, CMO of Nippon Life India Asset Management has seen this trend emerge up close. The company was equipped well in advance to face the crisis and smoothly shifted to the work-from-home format. Now, after doing some social listening, it changed the course of its conversation to offering long-term solutions like securing long-term wealth, focusing on children’s education, well-being products and upped its short-term recovery-linked solutions. It has also seen an uptick in engagement on social media and consumers are reaching out to the company with their queries, not the other way round. As a result, Nippon Life Asset Management has doubled its content pieces to help them choose the right product in a crisis that is thrown in our way. Walunj further shared with us how the BFSI industry is bound to change after the pandemic, why the brand continues to invest more in television and digital mediums, and how the companies need to do their bit to help the society in this tough time. Excerpts: Q. How has the last month been for you? How have you observed the consumer behaviour changing? Thankfully, we design and market a virtual product that can be propositioned remotely, explained over audio-video and easily traded digitally. Being always ahead of the curve on digital readiness (be it as a social forum for explaining the products, a transaction platform for buying and selling as well as digital customer care solutions for post-purchase service) we have been seeing more and more investors interacting with us digitally; over the last 5-6 years. So, in a way, I can say that we were prepared for this – we just had to scale up fast. Key changes I observed in investor behaviour are three: much higher traffic on our social and digital assets due to anxiety as well as curiosity, deeper interaction at almost every social touch-point (as a result of more time at their disposal) and a change in product mix towards both opportunistic short and very long-term products. As I said, some of it we anticipated and were ready for and a good part of it was down to quick and thorough adaptation by the team and the ecosystem. I must say a few words about the intermediaries – the mutual fund distributors/ advisors. We call them partners. They have been adapting very fast to digitization. Adoption of our digital transaction platform Business Easy, attending various training sessions to upskill/ refresh themselves as well as engaging very meaningfully on social media with their investors; they have been quick, comprehensive and positive. Q. In these uncertain and stressful days, how are you communicating with your audience? They are finding us rather than we finding them! Our social handles are buzzing with an unprecedented number of conversations, our partners are sharing almost double the usual number of content pieces with their investors and our sales teams are strengthening our distribution partnerships with stronger and deeper content integration. The focus is on product knowledge, correct usage, right investment habits in a situation like this and innovative products that address some opportunities that this crisis has thrown up. On another note, I want to talk about a very successful and deeply appreciated initiative, ‘Wealth of Talent’. This is aimed at our distribution (channel) partners and their families. We have encouraged them to shoot videos or photographs of themselves (or their family members) singing, dancing, drawing, exercising, cooking etc and upload the same on FB page called Wealth of Talent. We have an overwhelming number of videos on the page but more importantly, very grateful partners who are happy that their hidden talent (as well as their sons’ and daughters’) was recognised by the world; thanks to Nippon India Mutual Fund! Q. Have you introduced any new tools to empower your employees to deal with consumer queries? We were digitally-enabled to a large extent. Our IT team was quick to roll-out robust video interaction solutions that could easily handle larger number of participants. Our partners across social listening, ORM as well as marketing solution development were quick to scale up to higher volume, frequent reporting and higher output. We also rolled out many internal initiatives aimed at team bonding, connect and relaxation. All this ensured that our response, as an organization, has been as good as ever, if not better than ever! Q. Are you using this time to upskill them? Yes, there's suddenly more time on everyone’s hands. In a city like Mumbai, where a large number of us are based, one easily saves between 3-5 hours everyday due to work from home. Add to that less time wasters like extended lunch hours, and there is more time on everyone’s hands. Hence, even the regular work reviews are deeper, with concepts explained patiently, doubts asked freely and more data analysed. Add to that the very pertinent training sessions curated by the HR team and various vendor partners, and we have a rich menu of options to choose from. We also encouraged teammates to enroll for outside certification programmes (many institutions and universities have offered a wide range of courses) and many have opted for those too. Q. How do you see the BFSI industry shaping up after the lockdown? Parts of it like Insurance – which will have the least impact – will actually benefit from better appreciation of life’s uncertainties and increased saving/ reduced spending. They will be ready with innovative products, go-to-market processes and impactful communication solutions. Investment Services like ourselves will have to wait a little longer before the recovery is apparent before the volumes are back but then, in the meanwhile, we need to adapt quickly to changing consumer behaviour like securing long-term wealth, focusing on child education and well-being products and short-term recovery linked products. Asset financing and NBFC related business have a longer road to recovery but I am sure keeping in close touch with consumers and being on the toes for quick adaptation will help the more agile ones recover faster. Q. Tell us a bit about your partnership with business channels. What role do you play there? Television is a medium with the largest reach as well as considerable impact. We have been successfully partnering with them to get the right solutions to investors which are tailor-made for the current market scenario. I played the matchmaker here between the channel editors that wanted appropriate, relevant content to guide their viewers (in terms of right products to invest in) and our business team that wanted these products to be presented well and made visible. So briefing the editorial teams, liaising with them to shape powerful content and developing appropriate ads to leverage the association; were the key tasks, apart from the media buying and spot scheduling part. These partnerships are now growing beyond television and towards quality, respectful print publications that want to bring the cutting edge, more relevant products to their readers. Q. What does your media plan look like? Which medium gets your lion's share? Digital and Television, quite understandably. However, we keep observing, evaluating all media alternatives and deploy the most appropriate one given the communication and business task. Q. How are you doing your bit to help the society in these certain times? Nippon Life India AMC was the first Mutual Fund and amongst the first BFSI companies to donate a sum of Rs 5 crore to PM CARES as well as CM Relief Fund. Apart from our CSR funds, each and every employee contributed a minimum one day’s salary towards this. Many of us still proudly display badges on our social media profiles that show how proud we are for having achieved this feat. As mentioned above, we are among the first BFSI companies to fully enable our partners to work from home (digital platforms and scaling up) and also among the most resourceful ones in terms of marketing materials that help them to generate and fulfil leads. We have been regularly putting up useful and impactful communication to facilitate healthcare workers. We have also trained our employees (when our branches reopened) in guiding our investors properly about COVID-19 control measures and we actively called them ‘COVID Warriors’.

Marketing in the times of COVID-19:  Nippon India Mutual Fund

Union <keyword id="6355261" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Finance-minister">Finance Minister</keyword> <keyword id="42575" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Arun-Jaitley">Arun Jaitley</keyword> presented his first budget today. He started his budget speech with a reality check amid high expectations by saying no miracle should be expected in the very first budget and he expected growth to rise to 7-8% over three to four years. He also said that achche din will definitely come but it will not happen overnight and will take some time. 
 During his budget speech, Jaitley asked Speaker <keyword id="6354934" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sumitra-Mahajan">Sumitra Mahajan</keyword> for a five-minute break, which was granted. It was perhaps for the first time that a finance minister asked for a break while presenting the budget. Later, he complained of breathlessness when he resumed his speech and was asked by the Speaker to deliver the speech sitting down. 
 
Jaitley said the people below poverty line want to raise themselves above it. While higher growth is important, we cannot ignore the fact that the poor suffer the most. Emphasising on poverty alleviation, he said slum development would be included in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. 
 
Here are the key points of his maiden budget speech: 
 
· No changes in tax rates for individuals · Personal <keyword id="6354751" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Income-Tax">income tax</keyword> limit increased by Rs 50,000 for people below 60 years 
· Tax exemption limit for small and marginal, and senior tax payers changed from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh 
· Investment limit under 80C raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh 
· Rs 100 crore for modernisation of madrasas 
· Development of Metro rails in PPP mode; Rs 100 crore set aside for Metro scheme in Ahmedabad and Lucknow 
· Rs 500 crore for digital India programme to ensure broadband connectivity at village level, transparency in governance · Govt proposes to set up five new IIMs, four new <keyword id="40458" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="AIIMS">AIIMS</keyword> and five new IITs 
· Jaitley announces 'Beti padhao, beti badhao yojana', sets aside Rs 100 crore for this 
· 15 new Brail presses to be established and revival of 10 existing announced 
· Rs 200 crore set aside to support Gujarat govt in the Sardar Patel statue installtion: Jaitley 
· Sanitation: Government intends to cover every household in the country by 2019 
· Govt to provide finance to five lakh landless farmers through NABARD 
· Rs 100 crore set aside for Kisan Television to provide real time information on various farming and agriculture issues 
· Trade facilitation centre to promote handloom work in Varanasi 
· New airports to be developed through PPP mode in tier-II and tier-III cities 
· Rs 4200 crore set aside for 'Jal Marg Vikas' project on river Ganga connecting Allahabad to Haldia, over a distance of 1620km 
· Retrospective tax amendment to be undertaken with extreme caution 
· Rs 3600cr set aside for National Rural Drinking Water 
· Rs 2.29 lakh crore allocated for defence sector 
· Hope to implement goods and service tax this year 
· Annual PPF ceiling to be raised to Rs 1.5 lakh, from Rs 1 lakh · FM announces '<keyword id="2412683" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Namami-Ganga">Namami Ganga'</keyword> - an integrated Ganga Development Project; Rs 2037 crore set aside for this 
· Sports university to be set up in Manipur, Rs 100 crore to be provided for this 
· FDI in insurance to be hiked to 49%

Union Budget 2014: 25 Key Points

<ul><li>As the number of Covid-19 cases keep going up in India, various brands and business tycoons have come ahead to donate to help the government in its drive to control the spread of the virus.</li><li>While many companies have created funds to contribute to the PM Cares Fund, a lot of other brands are contributing by donating sanitizers, masks and even food, to help those in the need.</li></ul>The world, as we knew it even till a month back, has changed. With the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">Coronavirus</keyword> outbreak, our country, along with many other countries across the world has announced complete lockdown. The effects of this pandemic, both on the economy, and on human life, will be massive. At the time of writing this report, the number of positive cases in India crossed 1,050, and the death toll stands at 29. And the number is growing with each passing day. While governments across the globe are working tirelessly to come up with ways of minimizing the impact of this pandemic, we have seen many brands come forward, and contribute in different ways, to help out in these trying times. Since we are seeing a lot of brands come up with many initiatives almost every day, we will keep updating this space with the latest happenings. Tata Group: <keyword id="6360722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ratan-tata">Ratan Tata</keyword>, Chairman <keyword id="6383155" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-Trusts">Tata Trusts</keyword> and Chairman Emeritus Tata Sons, pledged Rs 500 crore to protect and empower all affected communities. The money will be spent on personal protective equipment for medical personnel, respiratory systems for treating increasing cases, testing kits to increase per capita testing, setting up modular treatment facilities for infected patients and knowledge management and training of health workers and the general public. <div type="twitter" handle="RNTata2000" handlename="Ratan N. Tata" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1189494401359208448/AwbXHtpn_normal.jpg" favoritecount="199569" retweetcount="59205" status="The COVID 19 crisis is one of the toughest challenges we will face as a race. The Tata Trusts and the Tata group co… https://t.co/GQ6H6sSFcF" createdat="1585392484000" id="1243852348637605888"></div> Mahindra Group: <keyword id="46425" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anand-Mahindra">Anand Mahindra</keyword>, Chairman, Mahindra Group said he will donate 100% of his salary to create a fund to help small businesses and self-employed people who are expected to be impacted the most due to the outbreak. He also urged our businesses to also set aside contributions for those who are the hardest hit in their ecosystem. <div type="twitter" handle="anandmahindra" handlename="anand mahindra" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1053583782584807425/-7IRmY5u_normal.jpg" favoritecount="48372" retweetcount="13478" status="Going by various reports from epidemiologists, it is highly likely that India is already in Stage 3 of transmission… https://t.co/hBSwnUb9Vp" createdat="1584860752000" id="1241622104778268672"></div> ITC: ITC is setting up a Contingency Fund of Rs 150 crore to address and manage the challenges arising out of the Covid-19 outbreak. The fund will be utilised primarily to provide relief to the vulnerable and most needy sections of society who have been harshly impacted by the pandemic and have faced significant disruption in their livelihoods. Additionally, the fund will collaborate with District Authorities to provide assistance to the district health and rural healthcare eco-system that reaches out to the weakest sections of society. Furthermore, the brand added that the resources under this fund could also be channelised towards the protection and well-being of the ground forces doing commendable work to reach medicines, groceries, other essential goods, sourcing of agri-commodities and so on for people across the country during the lockdown, by providing protective personal gear and hygiene products to such frontline warriors. Reckitt Benckiser: Reckitt Benckiser has launched the RB Fight for Access Fund to improve access to health, hygiene and nutrition for all. As part of this fund, an additional £32 million has been mobilized to address the urgent collective fight against the spread of Covid-19 by breaking the chain of this fast-spreading infection. In India, the brand will be distributing 10 million units of Dettol Soap to the most vulnerable. RB will also be donating 1 million litres of its disinfectant products including Lizol disinfectant liquid and Harpic toilet cleaners to aid India’s states in fighting this crisis especially in public health institutions and at the frontline with health and sanitation workers. It will donate critical protection equipment, 3.5 million N95 masks with a focus on pharmacists and health care workers. These will be distributed across their major markets. Dettol is also partnering with Bollywood actress, Madhur Dixit to release an engaging public service announcement #ApniSurkashaApneHaath to encourage viewers to practice handwashing. Godrej Group: The Godrej Group announced that it is earmarking a fund of Rs 50 crore for community support and relief initiatives in India. This is an initial outlay and the corporate said that it hopes to supplement it over time. It has been buying and supplying medical equipment and protective supplies for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). As a part of the initiative, the group has donated Rs 5 crore to the BMC, donated 115 hospital beds to Maharashtra government hospitals and helped set up a 75-bed quarantine center at the Seven Hills Hospital. Moreover, it has supported the free distribution of 1 million packets of Godrej Protekt Mr. Magic powder-to-liquid hand wash in Maharashtra through partnership with the BMC and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), partnered with communities linked to their CSR programmes to support 1.12 lakh beneficiaries across 8 states with hand wash, sanitisers and soap, donated sanitisers to the Mumbai police force, begun ramping up capacity to meet the demand for soap, hand wash and sanitisers and initiated outreach through various networks and hand wash education programmes. Reliance Group: <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> has pledged to donate Rs 5 crore to Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Led by Nita, Ambani Reliance Foundation has promised to provide a free meal to needy people across the country. Additionally, Ambani has also donated a hospital for the patients battling with infection of Covid-19 and will set up a dedicated 100-bed centre at Seven Hills Hospital in Mumbai, along with a fully-equipped isolation facility in Lodhivali, Maharashtra. Paytm: Paytm said that it is aiming to contribute ₹500 crore to the PM CARES Fund. For every contribution, or any other payment done by consumers on Paytm, the online payment app said it will contribute an extra up to ₹10. <div type="twitter" handle="Paytm" handlename="Paytm" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1242803598083395585/4cWZptzw_normal.jpg" favoritecount="9431" retweetcount="2966" status="Paytm is aiming to contribute ₹500 Crore to the PM CARES Fund. For every contribution, or any other payment done… https://t.co/JrSAJTnO1J" createdat="1585411759000" id="1243933194556248064"></div> PhonePe: PhonePe has launched a #100CrorePledge, urging 10 crore Indian citizens to donate to the PMCARES Fund to show their solidarity in fighting the menace of COVID-19. PhonePe has pledged to contribute Rs 10 for every Indian who donates even Rs 1 to the PMCARES Fund via the PhonePe App using UPI by April 30, 2020. In total, PhonePe has pledged to contribute a maximum of up to Rs 100 crore. <div type="twitter" handle="PhonePe_" handlename="PhonePe" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1228394203421372416/4X3QZazb_normal.jpg" favoritecount="834" retweetcount="306" status="Join our #100CrorePledge &amp; donate to the PMCARES FUND using contactless UPI payments. Remember no contribution is t… https://t.co/b6Z4yD3rMh" createdat="1585405072000" id="1243905146087542785"></div> Zomato: Along with announcing measures to help its partner restaurants, delivery staff, and other daily wage workers in India who are currently income-starved due to the lockdown, Zomato set up ‘Feeding India’, a fund to support families of the daily wage workers in India in the absence of employment opportunities. Known as ‘Feeding India’, the initiative has successfully received more than Rs 6 crore in funds. <div type="twitter" handle="deepigoyal" handlename="Deepinder Goyal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/980757579360972800/TWg-KSki_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1727" retweetcount="1399" status="Please help by donating to 'Feed the Daily Wager' by Zomato Feeding India (@FeedingIndia) and provide food support… https://t.co/8vQRliTLtM" createdat="1585054814000" id="1242436058748317697"></div> Parle: Parle, makers of the much loved Parle-G biscuits announced that it is joining hands with the government to give away 3 crore packets of Parle-G to people in need over the next 3 weeks. The brand made the announcement after PM Narendra Modi made an announcement of the country’s lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Diageo: Diageo India, the liquor firm that sells McDowell’s whisky and Smirnoff vodka, will produce 3 lakh litres of hand sanitizers to help overcome its shortage in the country due to the Covid-19 outbreak. A stock exchange filing by the company stated that 15 of the liquor firm’s manufacturing units are being repurposed to manufacture hand sanitisers and donation of extra neutral alcohol (ENA). Kansai Nerolac: Kansai Nerolac Paints has announced that it will do an early disbursement of funds to its painter community falling under the Nerolac Premium Painter Pragati (NPP Pragati) Programme. Over 30,000 painters can benefit from Nerolac’s initiative, upto Rs 36,000 approximately. Mankind Pharma: Mankind Pharma has pledged to donate Rs 51 crore to CM Relief fund to manage the outbreak. The brand will be donating ventilators, Personal protective equipment (PPE) and medicines to the states reporting maximum number of positive cases. Mankind Pharma will be working closely with the Governments of Kerala, Maharashtra, UP, Uttrakhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, AP, Telangana, Delhi, Haryana, HP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, West Bengal J&amp;K and Orrisa.

How brands are contributing to the fight against Coronavirus

December 2016 marked 15 years since the designation of <keyword id="4497764" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="International-Volunteer-Day">International Volunteer Day</keyword> by the <keyword id="6355833" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="united-nations">United Nations</keyword>. The feeling of optimism, community spirit, and happiness in service that the act of volunteering evokes is in stark contrast to unfortunate reminders of hate and carnage that we witness across the world today. 
 
As Abraham Lincoln, arguably America’s most famous President said, “He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.” While philanthropy typically is associated with monetary actions, volunteerism symbolizes social responsibility. It is perhaps the oldest form of personal giving and cuts across societal and economic barriers. Manifestations of the spirit of volunteerism can be found in human society whenever there was a country forming or heightened human suffering. For example, in the U.S., it could be traced to the times when the west was being conquered. From the need to produce food to adjusting to new climate and combat diseases, community volunteerism was vital. What is impressive is that the wonderful community spirit continued to exist in the American society, thereafter. 
 
In 1736, Benjamin Franklin founded the first volunteer firehouse in the U.S. To this day, many small towns and cities have a volunteer fire department or more than 70% of firefighters in America are volunteers. Data presented in September 2015 showed that 62.2 million Americans, across all demographics and educational attainment had served as volunteers during the previous year. Many were engaged in food distribution; 9.2% in tutoring and teaching; a similar fraction in coaching and supervising in sports activities and helping in local hospitals in small communities. These volunteers are professors, doctors, small-shop owners, tradesmen, judges who come from all walks of life. The point is volunteerism is pervasive in all aspects of community life in the U.S. It is worth noting that volunteering work while at high school is a metric in most American college admissions. It is also a metric to go tuition free at some state community colleges. With such encouragement, there is a good chance that the volunteerism will continue to shape American society for ever. 
 In India, a much older and complex civilization, renunciation and charity are two highly venerated values of life. Volunteerism is an outcome of this and has therefore been more shaped by traditions and value systems rooted in the religion and cultural interactions. The tradition of shramdaan, offering to work in the service of humanity continues to be practiced by millions of Indians and thereby continues to create social capital. To cite some notable examples, Swami Vivekananda and his followers created the Ramakrishna Mission served by a new order of <keyword id="6470263" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Social-workers">social workers</keyword> to address the issues of poverty, disease, and ignorance that were widely prevalent. Later during the freedom movement, the unique leadership of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar and many others was instrumental largely in creating greater awareness about the role of voluntary or selfless service. They laid great emphasis on the role of voluntary social workers in nation building. 
 
Institutionalising volunteerism 
According to a global Gallup survey of 2010 that measured volunteerism across countries, India ranked a not very flattering 28 on a civic engagement score, much below the US that was ranked at the top with a civic engagement score of 60. The score was calculated on three parameters including ‘donation of money’, ‘volunteered time’ and ‘helping a stranger’ where the allocation for India was 28%, 18% &amp; 39% respectively. Our neighbours including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh ranked much higher than India (with scores of 51, 42, 35 and 32 respectively). China however had a score of only 20, ranking it among the lower quadrant of nations. 
 
Corporate volunteerism has slowly emerged as a relevant and viable form of ‘giving’ and has emerged as an integral form of corporate CSR. In India a trend that began with MNCs has increasingly been replicated by Indian companies. While Indian laws have made a 2% contribution of profits to charity by corporates above a certain size mandatory, employee volunteerism is over and above that. For corporates, offering their most valuable asset counts for more than just financial support to needy communities. By giving back, businesses can drive social change and employ their skills, resources and manpower to support organizations and working in the social sector. Benefits that companies can reap through corporate volunteer programs go beyond creating positive social and environmental impact. Volunteer programs also not only help organizations attract the best talent but also keep them engaged through causes and initiatives that they may be personally invested in. A transformative relationship between the organisation and the community ultimately helps enhance the triple bottom line that is framed on social, environmental and financial indicators. 
 
Volunteerism and the National Skills Development Mission Another important consideration is that around 60% of India’s population will be in the working age group by 2020. Can we see corporate volunteerism create enduring partnerships with the National Skills Development Mission to help meet the government’s target to skill and employ 500 million people by 2022? Given that <keyword id="46431" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India-Inc">India Inc</keyword>’s biggest concern is creating a funnel for skilled manpower, perhaps a new roadmap to addresses this requirement can be considered. I see volunteerism addressing this need very effectively. While the states have some aspirational targets, there is serious doubt about if they are doing everything required to succeed. Efforts to realign this can help develop a fool-proof institutional and delivery model that can screen and evaluate the rapidly scaling programmes at the state level. This convergence of engagement will utilise technical and non-technical manpower that India Inc is best equipped to provide (in combination with academic institutions). The network would thereby integrate universities and vocational training centres and India Inc along with the 30 industry-led sector skills councils (SSCs). These SSCs would then link up district head-quarters with state capitals and metros (where representatives of India Inc are located) and leverage or set-up e-learning centres to engage with relevant youth in need of these initiatives. 
 
Conclusion 
Volunteerism at the individual level needs to be encouraged and inculcated as a structured approach right from school and then through university and finally at the workplace to become an institutionalised and integral part of an individual’s life. HR professionals, should consider volunteerism as an important element while finalizing their selection of the candidate. There exists a huge opportunity for professionals across the value chain to volunteer their time and services – not just limited to doctors and teachers but also lawyers, architects, ad-professionals, engineers, scientists and several others. Due to healthier lifestyle, people live longer but the retirement age has not changed much; a lot of men and women have plenty to offer or volunteer to their community after retirement. The true potential of volunteerism can only be leveraged when it is recognised as an intrinsic part living in a community of people and of bringing about positive social change. India may be one the fastest growing economies but also has glaring disparities in terms of human development when looked at indicators of income, health, education and opportunity. Volunteerism, both institutional and individual can play an inexpensive and rewarding role in helping reduce some of these disparities. 
 
References 
• <a href="http://charity.lovetoknow.com/History_of_Volunteerism_in_America">History of Volunteerism in America</a> 
• <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/145589/civic-engagement-highest-developed-countries.aspx">Civic Engagement Highest in Developed Countries</a> 
 
(Image Credits: Flickr) 
 
(About the Author: This article has been contributed by S.N. Balakrishnan – Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University)

Volunteerism & India Inc – Yeh Dil Maange More!

<keyword id="153607" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="social-entrepreneurship">Social entrepreneurship</keyword> is the application of business acumen, strategies and entrepreneur skills not for profit but to improve the conditions of human beings and the environment, and India does need it for effective social change, growth and reforms. 
 
Despite the best efforts of the government and other organisations, about 400 million Indians live on less than $1 per day. The 2012 HDI (human development index) report for countries indicates a poor ranking of 136 out of 187 for India. 
 
India has been concentrating on a growth index through manufacturing and IT sectors but the resulting benefits have not gone to the bottom of the pyramid. Income inequality has doubled in the last 20 years. 
 
India is unique in the diversity of its regions and people. Often local problems need local solutions. It is here that social entrepreneurship or social entrepreneurs or SOCENTS come into the picture and build bridges to social improvement. 
 
Combine this with the Indian spirit of Jugaad and there have been innumerable instances of simple inventions and adaptations that have changed life for the better not just economically, but on the comfort level also. 
 
A growing change in the perception of life goals has led to a large number of educated, highly trained professionals turning into SOCENTS. This is desirable as they bring their professional and business acumen and can create and put into place working, sustainable and profitable solutions to local problems. 
 Harish Hande, co-founder of <keyword id="1535069" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Selco-Solar">Selco Solar</keyword>, has over the past 18 years through his company installed over 1.35-lakh solar systems. He went a step further and created an entire ecosystem, including finance and farmer co-operatives to create income generating activities. The Selco Incubation Centre mentors social entrepreneurs. Selco Foundation, the philanthropic segment of Selco, provides the rural poor with renewable energy services that they can use for income generating activities. 
 <keyword id="168701" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Verghese-Kurien">Verghese Kurien</keyword>, father of the Milk Revolution, turned India form a milk importer to the world’s largest milk producer and today AMUL is a byword in milk and dairy products. 
 
Interestingly, many of the projects have not been single product innovations but have led to all-round related growth and development. They have transformed not just individuals but communities and in the case of Kurien the whole country. 
 
Eye care was one of the most neglected health sectors in India. Doctor G Venkataswamy founded the Aravind Eye Hospital, which is today one of the world’s largest facilities for affordable, top-quality eye care. 
 
Vaatsalya Healthcare brought healthcare to the rural poor. 
 
Doctor Sugata Mishra’s Hole in the Wall experiment with computer accessibility to untrained poor children was a success in making computer knowledge available and was a starting point for other social enterprises for furthering computer education amongst the poor. 
 
The list is endless. India is the global centre for social entrepreneurship. 
 
However, the biggest boon has been the rise of ‘Microfinance’. Vikram Akula established SKS Microfinance in 1988 paving the way for several social microfinance set ups such as Milaap at the grass root level. 
 
The tremendous contribution made by SOCENTS should be encouraged. The government should make it easier for Indian and foreign investments in Socents via easy taxation policies, regulatory frameworks and guidelines. The government could also create social impact bonds like in the United Kingdom to encourage social innovation. Another project that can be emulated is the Singapore Impact Investment Fund that provides private and public platforms for raising capital efficiently for social enterprises. 
 
The corporate sector has also contributed and the Tata group has been in the forefront through their various trusts and the Tata School of Social Sciences in fostering social entrepreneurship. The Shell Foundation-funded Husk Power Systems in its enterprise to obtain power from rice husk. 
 
The government has now made it mandatory through the CSR Bill (corporate social responsibility in the new Companies Act) for big corporations to set aside 2% of their profits for social programmes that include investments in social business ventures. This will open up funding of more than a billion dollars for Socents and further growth of social entrepreneurship in India. 
 
India should take into account depleting natural resources and focus on environment-friendly and sustaining social innovations to balance growth with environment concerns. The China example of economic growth at the cost of rising pollution should serve as a deterrent. Pollution has become one of the major causes of social unrest in China. 
 
The changes in economic models from capitalism to a more socially responsible capitalism have thrown the focus on social entrepreneurship. 
 
Social entrepreneurship is here to stay and could well be the major economic growth factor for India and to achieve the ‘Indian dream - sarvajana sukhonobhava’, ie, let everyone be happy.

Social Entrepreneurship In India Is The Panacea For Social Change And Improvement

India has witnessed rapid growth in recent years driven by the increase in new-age industries. The increase in purchasing power has resulted in the demand for a new level of quality of service. However, there is a growing shortage of skilled manpower in the country. In the wake of the changing economic environment, it is necessary to focus on inculcating and advancing the skill sets of the young population of the country.
 
India lags far behind in imparting skill training as compared to other countries. Reports indicate that only 10% of the total workforce in the country receives some kind of skill training (2% with formal training and 8% with informal training). Further, 80% of the entrants into the workforce do not have the opportunity for skill training. But all that is changing. 
 
The other day when I was at speaking at the African Development Conference at Harvard, I was excited to share the present government’s interest in the skill building in India. Our Prime Minister has become the brand ambassador of skilling as he passionately mentions ‘Skilling India’ in each of his speeches without fail during his tours beyond the shores of the country. The new government has also been able to recognize the disparities in the extent to which young people have been able to acquire formal skills. 
 
Realizing this need the government has made provisions for upgrading skills under multiple disciplines and allocated resources across the length &amp; breadth of the country. To list a few, the centre is taking efforts to come up with a legislation to set up a <keyword id="6418027" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Skill-development">Skill Development</keyword> University. Further, a separate Ministry for Skills Development &amp; Entrepreneurship has been tasked to coordinate and streamline multiple skill development initiatives undertaken by the government to build a skilled &amp; employable India. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, recently gave its approval for the Pradhan Mantri KaushalVikasYojana (PMKVY) with an outlay of Rs1500 crore. 
 
Being the largest partner of <keyword id="6380206" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="NSDC">NSDC</keyword> for the second year in a row, we harbor dreams to provide workforce to power global youth. Our youth is our biggest strength and we have to entrench ‘dignity for labor in the minds of Indians. As a country, India has a strong surplus in working population (age 15-50), which has helped the nation to maintain the momentum in the growth story. A significant portion of this demographic dividend lies in rural areas, which is Centum Learning’s primary area of focus. With presence in 383 districts in India, we are now customizing training as per the requirements of the industries and doing our bit to bridge the skills shortage. 
 
 
Have the promises made by the industry been fulfilled? 
 
There has been visible effort by the Government to meet their promises on skill development in the country for empowerment of its citizens. The Finance Minister has rightly recognized the most critical aspect, which is taking a step towards effective implementation of the Right to Education Act. Also, the allocation to National Skill Development Fund will aid in capacity building and developing skilled human resource to meet growing demand for India Inc. Another major highlight is the provision of fiscal incentives to the private sector for setting up vocational and skill development institutions. This has motivated a lot of private sector organizations to lay emphasis on the sector. 
 
An increase in budgetary allocation for primary education is a long awaited requirement that been met. National Skill Development Agency is encouraging innovation in skills development and promoting entrepreneurship in the country. The newly set up Skills Ministry is determined to encourage innovative ideas and modules in skill development landscape and at the same time assist the youth of the country in the skilling and entrepreneurial domain, to translate the vision of the Government into a concrete reality. With focus on self-employment as a key aspect to job creation, the Government has chalked out a plan to set up incubation centres at all districts across the country to train budding entrepreneurs. 
 
The Government has also decided to revamp the antiquated industrial training centres that will skill over 20 lakh youth annually and devise special courses based on industry needs. All these are positive signs to show that the government’s promise of skilling 500 million will be achieved in due course of time. 
 
Now, the Govt should incentivize industry to spend 50% of their CSR funds on skills training and Government should match the same. 
 
Ground reality of skill development industry 
 
Unemployment of youth is a ticking time bomb that is perilously close to exploding with the young population that we have. Soon, three of every four people will be 20 years of age. Despite growing as a developing country, the economy has not created youth friendly labor market where millions of young Indians descend every year, creating rising youth unemployment. 
 
The lack of jobs or a limited number of jobs, ineffectual vocational training, lack of skills development, unrealistic expectations from jobs, lack of entrepreneurship, absenteeism in school, early dropouts and a myriad of other factors have given rise to youth unemployment. Growth in economies has not led to a resultant increase in formal jobs or a youth-friendly labor market. The situation is further exacerbated with an influx of youth from rural areas to populous urban centers. 
 
As in other developing countries and countries that have recently bridged the chasm to become developed nations, the problem perhaps also lies in perception and inadequate transition from school to the workplace. Youth are keen to get employment in formal sectors to get full-time employment, which may even offer benefits such as healthcare and paid holidays, instead of pursuing jobs in the informal or traditional sectors that may be seasonal. 
 
Our leaders have recognized this crisis and the Indian Government has taken steps to initiate action to tackle this flashpoint before it explodes. But these are not enough, and the government in isolation cannot tackle such a mammoth problem. The biggest challenge in the Indian ecosystem lies in finding out how to make skilling programmes aspirational? How do you create a desire or need in the mind of people to get pursue skill development programmes vis-à-vis a pure educational course? 
 
As our skill development minister, Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy recently said, “the day I find a matrimonial advertisement where the bride or groom is vocationally skilled, I would feel that our initiatives have made some impact.” A welcome step in this direction is the recent announcement where over 11,000 ITIs and other apprentice &amp; training divisions, which were earlier with Ministry of Labour, will now be integrated with the Ministry of Skill Development &amp; Entrepreneurship. 
 
Another big challenge facing the implementation and execution of any skills development-related scheme is reaching out, educating and motivating youth in the rural and remote parts of the country. With over thirty years of experience in Training &amp; Development, we have realized that the only way to increase the efficiency of the employees in the corporate sector is through innovative training methodologies which need to be upgraded from time to time. At Centum Learning we have adopted off-beat training modules which can be as simple and varied as story telling or Team building using theatre workshops. Depending on the clients, Centum Learning, which believes in the mantra of “Business of positive transformation”, has devised training modules which can enhance business results and develop skills as per industry requirements. 
 
There cannot be a more opportune time to consider how closely a nation’s growth agenda is aligned with the skill-level of its manpower. We are playing a key role in evangelizing skilling like a religion in India and making youth job-ready so that in turn they can make India a manufacturing hub in order to fulfill PM’s vision of ‘Make in India’. 
 
Manufacturing cannot become a growth driver if the lack of skilled workers continues to be the greatest constraint in this journey. A survey conducted in 2014 reveals thataround 78 per cent of the surveyed employers said they are concerned with the growing skills gap in India while 57 per cent said they currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates. So, the Government needs to pursue the two pronged approach of creating jobs in the manufacturing sector and encouraging multi-stakeholder partnerships to impart relevant, “employment worthy” skills. It is good that Skill development is garnering so much interest from both the government and the industry. The fact that this space is growing and large players with pedigree and Governance standards are entering is good for the sector. 
 
Government should make vocational education mandatory for women not pursuing full time education. Jobs and hiring in India needs to shift from being 'qualification based' to 'skill based'. With ‘BetiBachao, BetiPadhao’ and ‘Digital India’ schemes being rolled out by the Government, youth and especially women must be compulsorily taught to use computers and be skilled (in any field) in order to get acquire an id card (maybe something like a BPL card) . Government also needs to take specific steps for differently-abled people and help create job opportunities for them by building relationships with employer and industry groups. If the Government can get the major chunk of the above target groups in its umbrella, the dream of empowering and transforming lives will be achieved to a great extent. 
 
 
Challenges galore 
 
The tragedy is that less than 2% of India's workforce has formal skills and even among those who have some sort of training or qualification, only a third today, are armed withemployable skills amounting to a colossal waste of our biggest asset: people power. The perception of educated parents that everyone had to be either a doctor or an engineer -- a hangover to the mindset of the 1960s and 70s -- has tragically hamstrung efforts at skill building at its most important stage -- during school. Admittedly there has been realization that school-level skilling can lead to satisfying, lucrative careers. CBSE now offers some 50 vocational courses and the school management is now encouraging students to discover original or innovative talents in themselves. 
 
A trishul of talents need to coalesce before skills can be translated into gainful employment: technical skills, domain knowledge, and soft skills. The first two are a matter of training and application. The final, presents some rather nuanced, challenges and the needless roadblocks need to be addressed with sensitivity. 
 
Today whether you are a beautician or a tour guide or a taxi driver, a working knowledge of English is a force multiplier when it comes to employability. In Bengaluru, which is home to the largest number of MNC tech companies in India, a headhunter tells me, a licensed driver, maintenance engineer or a nursing assistant who can speak and read English, can straight away add 50 percent to his or her pay packet. This is something that Governments- both at the State and Central levels are beginning to take cognizance of. 
 
But the biggest bottleneck in the skills space is getting the students to the classrooms and retaining them there. Government and training partners need to work together to ensure that the candidate is incentivized to attend classes through industry aligned courses, relevant training methodology, deeper connect with jobs and industry so that they themselves can see their career path ahead. 
 
The larger training players also need to harness technology wherever available -- digital solutions, smart tools, Internet-driven delivery -- to achieve the required scale and maybe even for large scale mobilization. 
 
We must also recognize that at basic levels, one has to contend with low aspiration levels, coupled with lack of capacity to pay. This has to be addressed with sensitivity that can be best achieved by government-funded programmes, executed by large training partners who have the ability to scale up. For mid-level skills, both government and private enterprises can join in the funding -- but we need to recognize that corporates tend to skill as per their requirements. 
 
It is time to recognize that a placement need not necessarily be accompanied by a wage. Many skills, from electrician to care giver for the aged, lend themselves to gainful self-employment and can account for as much as 30-40% of all skill acquirers. 
 
Skilling India to empower her citizens and to equip them to compete and excel on a globalmaidan is a multi-pronged challenge. We need our engineers and doctors and business executives and we also need many times those who bring a rainbow of heterogeneous skills to drive the engine that is India. And sometimes we discover in ourselves skills and talents for which we were not necessarily trained, but which constitute a coming together of head and heart. 
 
The article is authored by Sanjeev Duggal, CEO and MD of Centum Learning, a corporate training firm.

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