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Here’s how the government's new lockdown rules will affect your day if you live in a city

New Delhi, Mar 27 () To ensure that farmers do not face problem in harvesting of rabi crops in the coming days, the Centre on Friday exempted mandis, procurement agencies, farm operations, agri machinery hiring centres as well as intra- and inter-state movement of farm implements from the lockdown rules. The government has also exempted farm workers as well as manufacturing and packaging units of fertilisers, pesticides and seeds from the lockdown order, according to the latest directive issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Fertiliser shops and custom hiring centres of farm machineries have also been allowed to function during the lockdown period, it said. "Agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products, including minimum support price (MSP) operations, mandis operated by APMC or as notified by the state government have been exempted," the statement added. The directive comes in the wake of farmers facing problems in harvesting their rabi crops and bringing them to the mandis in the wake of a nationwide lockdown to contain spread of coronavirus. Harvesting of rabi (winter) crops such as wheat, mustard, corn and pulses has begun in some places and will pick up in the coming months. LUX HRS

Govt exempts procurement agencies, mandis, farming operations, farm workers from lockdown rules

New Delhi, Mar 31 () The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship on Tuesday said all establishments under designated and optional trade will pay full stipend to apprentices engaged with them. "Additionally, reimbursement of stipend to establishments under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) shall be paid by the government for the lockdown period as per guidelines," an official statement said. Apprentices Act, 1961 and the Apprenticeship Rules under it state that if a trade apprentice is unable to complete the period of apprenticeship training due to strike or lockout or layoff in an establishment where he or she is undergoing training and is not instrumental for the same, the period of his/her apprenticeship training shall be extended for a period equal to the period of strike or lockout or layoff, as the case maybe, and shall be paid stipend during the period of such strike or lockout or layoff or for a maximum period of six months.Currently, there are 24,884 establishment engaging 2.42 lakh apprentices in both designated and optional trade. As per the provision under NAPS, the government reimburses 25 per cent of the stipend amount to be paid to apprentices subject to a maximum of Rs 1,500 per month. During the lockdown period due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Centre will be paying approximately Rs 36.3 crore to the establishments which would be claiming reimbursement for engaging apprentices under NAPS during this period. Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey stated that all the establishments have shown full commitment in this regard and are cooperating with the government for the smooth delivery of services in a critical time like this. RSN MKJ

Apprentices to get full stipend during lockdown: Govt

Chennai, May 2 () Following the Centre's freshguidelines on COVID-19 lockdown, the Tamil Nadu government onSaturday eased restrictions in non-containment areas andallowed resumption of construction activity, road works,opening of SEZs ,among others, from May 4.The cabinet gave its nod to the extension of thelockdown till May 17 and issued new guidelines to be followedduring the third phase.While ruling out any relaxation in rules in thecoronavirus containment zones, the Cabinet meeting chaired byChief Minister K Palaniswami said it permitted certainactivities in the non-containment zones.They include: Resumption of construction activity,road works, opening of SEZs, export units with minimum of 20employees or 25 per cent of staff strength.IT or ITES firms can function with minimum of 20employees or 10 per cent staff strength, the new guidelinessaid.Also, grocery shops selling essential commodities canfunction between 6 am and 5 pm and restaurants (only fortakeaways) between 6 am and 9 pm.The functioning of saloons or beauty parlours isprohibited while service providers such as plumbers,electricians, AC mechanics and tailors can work. These comewith a rider - all these activities are permitted in areasoutside the containment zones.Regarding non-containment zones in rest of Tamil Nadu,in the zones falling under municipal corporations andmunicipalities, the Cabinet has permitted re-opening of allfactories including textile mills with 50 per cent of staffstrength (minimum of 20 employees).In town panchayats with over 15,000 population, thetextile mills can function with 50 per cent staff strengthafter obtaining clearance from the district Collectors.SEZ, EOU, industrial estates / clusters in rural andurban areas can work with 50 per cent staff strength. Nopermission has been granted to textile mills located inindustrial estates ofurban areas.Collectors have been authorised to decide onre-opening of export units in urban areas with 50 per centstaff strength and units of designing and production ofsamples for exporting garment and leather products with 30 percent staff strength.The Cabinet permitted re-opening of hardwaremanufacturing firms with 50 per cent staff strength besidesspinning mills in rural areas with an equal staff strength.Shops, selling materials for infrastructure industryand repair shops for mobile phones and computers, can be keptopen from 9 am to 5 pm.The first phase lockdown in India was from March 25 toApril 14. The second phase commenced on April 15 and would endtomorrow. The third phase lockdown is from May 4 to 17.Chennai is among the Red Zones owing to the highnumber of COVID-19 cases and tight restrictions are in place.Chennai has 1,081 cases (till Friday) and the stateaccounts for about 198 containment zones and 5 clusters havealso been identified in the city. COR VGN SS BNWELCOME BNWELCOME

Lockdown: TN govt eases restrictions in non-containment areas

New Delhi, Mar 27 () The government has decided to give more time to renewable energy (RE) projects for completion of work in the wake of the 21-day lockdown to fight COVID-19. According to a statement by the renewable energy ministry, the spread of coronavirus has not only disrupted the supply chain of components used in RE projects but has also impacted the availability of workforce. In this context, the announcement of the extension of time will provide great relief to all the stakeholders in RE sector, it said."MNRE Secretary Anand Kumar has stated that all RE projects under implementation will be given extension of time considering period of lockdown and time required for remobilisation of work force," the statement issued on Thursday said.As per the rules, RE developers have to complete the projects in a time-bound manner. But due to the virus outbreak, timelines may get impacted. ABI ABI ANUANU

Govt to extend timeline for completion of RE projects due to lockdown

New Delhi, Apr 29 () The government has pinned its hope on the farm sector to keep the economy running amid the COVID-19 stress, saying the agrarian industry is functioning "smoothly" and would be less impacted unlike manufacturing and services. Lauding farm workers working tirelessly for ensuring the country's food security even during the current crisis, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said many of the rabi (winter-sown) crops have been harvested taking safety precautions, and procurement of some crops such as wheat, rice, pulses and oilseeds at minimum support price (MSP) is underway. Farmers have started sowing rain-dependent kharif (summer) crops like rice, and the acreage has gone up to 57.07 lakh hectares so far this year from 41.31 lakh hectares a year ago, he said adding that there has been no shortage of foodgrains, vegetables and dairy products in the country. Farmers are getting better rates in mandis, Tomar claimed. Stating that many other sectors are hit due to the lockdown, the minister said, however, "the agriculture sector will not be impacted much". The government has taken several measures to ensure smooth operations of the agriculture sector and exempted farm activities from the lockdown rules, he added. Government think-tank Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand asserted that at a time when 60 per cent of the Indian economy is closed and not working due to the lockdown, the agri sector alone will play a key role in giving normal growth to the Indian economy. "Our estimates are that agriculture this year will have at least 3 per cent growth rate, which is a long-term growth rate of Indian agriculture despite prevailing adverse circumstances," he said. The farm sector growth stood at 3.7 per cent during the 2019-20 fiscal, he said and pointed, "If you look at the growth rate in current prices, then that growth rate comes to be 11.3 per cent, which is 60 per cent more than the growth of the non-agricultural sector." Asserting that the agriculture sector will come to the rescue of the Indian economy amid "depressing" forecasts by many agencies including the IMF, the Niti Aayog member said it is because the support of agriculture is so strong, the share of agriculture in the GDP is 17 per cent. This is higher than even manufacturing, he said. "In the case of agriculture, things are happening. And with that kind of growth, you find agriculture alone to give something more than 0.5 per cent to a little more growth rate to Indian economy," he said. In an otherwise gloomy picture due to the environment prevailing in India and across the globe, the agriculture sector will "rise to the occasion and play a role in giving a normal growth to Indian economy" in this difficult and distressing time, he added. Drawing attention to various indicators, Chand said forecast of normal southwest monsoon, 40-60 per cent increase in water level in reservoirs in first quarter of this fiscal for kharif crops, uptake in sale of fertilisers and seeds and better price for farm produce in mandis will encourage farmers to invest more. "Farmers invest more when prices and terms of trade are favourable. One can expect better growth," he explained. "All those stories and forecasts that Indian economy is going to shrink, I think that will not hold mainly because support for agriculture is strong," he added. Chand also mentioned that gloomy economic forecasts by some agencies including IMF is causing serious worries among politicians, decision makers and ordinary citizens about the future of the Indian economy, jobs and food security. Highlighting measures taken to ensure farmers not affected during the lockdown period, the government said it has disbursed the first installment of Rs 2,000 to 8.13 crore beneficiaries in the first fortnight of April itself under the PM-KISAN scheme. Under PM-KISAN, the government gives Rs 6,000 per annum in three equal installments directly into the bank accounts of farmers. That apart, the government has launched 'Kisan Rath' mobile app to help farmers find transportation for movement of farm produce to mandis. All India Agri Transport call centre has also been put in place to resolve inter-state movement of farm produce and Kisan Rail was started on 67 routes for supplying essential commodities at fast speed. The government also said new features have been added to the electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) to encourage farmers to trade online during this lockdown. It also said it plans to connect 1,000 mandis to eNAM by May-end, taking total to 1,585 mandis. LUX MKJMKJMKJ

Lockdown: Agri sector running smoothly, to be less impacted unlike other segments, says govt

(Eds: Adds details) New Delhi, May 17 () The Centre on Sunday allowed inter- and intra-state movement of public vehicles with conditions and reopening of all shops except those in malls and COVID-19 containment zones as it extended the nationwide lockdown till may 31, during which flight and Metro services and all kinds of public gatherings will be barred. Immediately after the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the nodal department, announced lockdown 4.0 to check the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued fresh guidelines to allow further resumption of economic activities. It allowed e-commerce platforms to deliver all goods, including those considered non-essential, in all areas except containment zones. All shops, except those in containment zones and malls, will be allowed to open from Monday with staggered timings during lockdown 4.0 which includes barber shops and parlour except in containment zones. It allowed inter-state and intra-state movements of passenger vehicles and buses from areas other than the containment zones. However, the guidelines made it clear that bus services will be allowed with mutual consent of states and union territories involved. All necessary standard operating procedures which includes social distancing, wearing of masks, availability of sanitiser need to be ensured. The government also decentralised delination of Red, Green and Orange zones -- marking of areas based on COVID-19 case load -- to state and union territories but said that the same should be done after taking into consideration of parameters shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.Night curfew shall continues to remain in place from 7 PM to 7 AM and local authorities shall ensure strict compliance with it, the order said. The government directed persons above the age of 65 years, persons with co-mobbities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years to stay at home as they are more vulnerable to the deadly virus. Domestic air travel of passengers, metro rail, schools and other educational institutions, hotels, restaurants, gyms shall remain closed and all social, political and religious gatherings will be barred. Religious places shall be closed to public and there shall be no congregation allowed. The Centre has, however, opened sports complexes and stadia but banned entry of spectators. Taking a view of limited air services opened for bringing stranded Indians home and taking people through trains, the centre allowed running of canteens at bus depots, railway stations and canteens.Restaurants shall be allowed to operate their kitchen for home delivery of food items.Issuing a nine-page guidelines, the Union home ministry listed the dos and don'ts during the lockdown 4.0 that has been clamped in the country to break the chain of coronavirus infection.Local authorities should ensure that shops in markets, except in containment zones, open with staggered timings so as to ensure social distancing.All shops shall have to ensure 6 feet distance (2 gaz ki doori) among customers; not allow more than 5 persons at one time.Allowing the states and union territories to decide of coding of various zones, the home ministry said that inside the red and orange zones, containment and buffer zones will be identified by the district administration or local urban bodies. Within the containment zones, strict perimeter control shall be maintained, and no movement of persons would be allowed, except for medical emergencies and for maintaining supply of essential goods and services. Buffer zones are areas around each containment zone, where new cases are more likely to appear. In the buffer zones, more caution needs to be exercised."The Lockdown measures in place since March 25, 2020 have helped considerably in containing the spread of COVID-19. It has therefore been decided to further extend the lockdown till May 31, 2020," the home ministry said.The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 2,872 and the number of total positive cases climbed to 90,927 Sunday morning, according to the Union Health Ministry.In order to facilitate the movement of persons, various modes of transport have already been opened up which includes limited train services since May 11.Further, evacuation of foreign nationals from India, return of stranded Indian nationals from abroad, sign-on and sign-off of Indian seafarers, and intra-State and inter-State movement of stranded persons by bus and train, will continue to be allowed.Under these guidelines, wearing of face covers is compulsory, spitting will be punishable with fine, and social distancing is to be followed by all persons in public places and in transport. Rules barring not more than 50 persons for marriage and 20 for funeral will continue to remain in force.The practice of work from home (WFH) should be followed to the extent possible and staggering of work hours should be adopted in respect of all offices and other establishments. With a view to ensure safety in offices and work places, employers should ensure that Aarogya Setu app is installed by all employees having compatible mobile phones, it said. State and UT Governments shall continue to strictly enforce the lockdown guidelines and they shall not dilute these guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in any manner, the home ministry said. ACB NES SKL SMNSMN

Lockdown 4.0: Govt allows movement of buses with riders; no Metro, flight till May 31

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) The Delhi government issued guidelines to its schools on Wednesday for the assessment of students up to Class 8, ruling out offline examinations and instead, asking them to grade the students on the basis of projects and assignments. The guidelines of the Directorate of Education (DoE) have been issued to the government-run and aided schools for assessment for the 2020-21 academic session, during which schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and all teaching and learning activities were conducted online. According to government officials, private schools will prepare their own schedule and decide on the modalities on their own. "Since no classroom teaching and learning has taken place at the primary and middle level, the formal mode of pen-and-paper assessment will be replaced by a subjective assessment of projects and assignments for Classes 3 to 8," the DoE said in an official order. According to the guidelines, for Classes 3 to 5, 30 marks will be for assessment based on worksheets, 30 for the assignments given in winter breaks and 40 for the assignments and projects provided from March 1 to 15. Similarly, for Classes 6 to 8, 20 marks will be for assessment based on worksheets, 30 for the assignments given in winter breaks and 50 for the assignments and projects provided from March 1 to 15. "In case a student does not have access to a digital device or internet, the assignments and projects will be given in hard copies by calling his parents to the school while following the COVID-19 guidelines. "While allotting the assignments and projects, the subject teachers will explain the nature and method of attempting the worksheets. They will also keep in mind that words hurting religious sentiments related to caste, contradictory statements having double meaning etc. will not be part of the assignments and projects," the order said. The DoE also said the students should not be called to school for the results, which should be intimated to them through digital means, text messages or phone calls. "Private schools will take their own decision about assessment and act accordingly," another senior government official said. The DoE has also issued guidelines for assessment of students from the KG level to Class 2. "The students of Classes KG to 2 will be given grades on the basis of the winter break assignments and responses to the worksheets shared during the pandemic through WhatsApp or any offline means. "All the currently enrolled students of Classes nursery to 2 shall be promoted to the next class. However, the purpose of the assessment is to understand the impact of the alternative-learning approach that needed to be adopted under the prevailing circumstances this year. The teachers will not ask the students or parents to submit or resubmit any worksheet issued previously," the DoE said. Schools were closed in March last year, ahead of a nationwide lockdown, to curb the spread of the coronavirus. While several states reopened schools from October onwards, the Delhi government has allowed reopening of Classes 9 to 12 from January 18. The board examinations for Classes 10 and 12 will be conducted from May 4. The students of Classes 9 and 11 will have offline exams in accordance with the schedule decided by the schools.

No offline exams up to Class 8 in Delhi govt schools

By Kushan Sarkar New Delhi, May 24 () Tax exemption for future global cricket events in India has once again become a bone of contention between the BCCI and ICC as the former gears up to host the 2021 T20 World Cup and 50-over showpiece event in 2023. The ICC and BCCI have had a long standing feud on tax exemptions since the 2016 World T20 in India. An ICC spokesperson said that both parties are trying to reach an amicable solution. "The ICC and BCCI have been working in partnership to address the issue of tax exemptions for ICC events that is a requirement of the host agreement signed by all parties at the beginning of the cycle in 2015 and this work is ongoing," the spokesperson tod . "There are certain timelines within the agreements that we collectively work towards to ensure we can deliver successful world class events and continue to invest in the sport of cricket. "In addition to this the ICC Board agreed clear timelines for the resolution of the tax issues which we are guided by," the spokesperson added. While the outgoing ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and chief executive Manu Sawhney have been in constant touch with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, the BCCI top-brass didn't like the tone of mail sent by the parent body's legal head Jonathan Hall. Hall, in his mail, has written about the BCCI not adhering to timelines on committing to tax exemptions as per the agreement. "The tax structure is not decided by the BCCI but by the Indian government. It is our government that decides whether exemption will be possible or not. For the record, Formula One also wasn't given tax exemption," a senior BCCI official told . Prior to 2016 World T20, the BCCI got tax exemptions for global events, as stated in an earlier documentation of the erstwhile Committee of Administrators (COA). Normally, the ICC seeks exemption on excise duties for importing TV production equipment and ticketing. But in this case, Star Sports, which also has the BCCI's home match rights, has a set up in India. This had been the bone of contention during 2016 Word T20 also and that matter is up for hearing in the ICC tribunal. "We understand that as the nomination process of new ICC chairman starts on Tuesday, suddenly there has been a flurry of communication. You can be rest assured that T20 World Cup in 2021 and 2023 ODI World Cup is going nowhere. "As far as timeline is concerned, we had told ICC that unless lockdown is lifted, we can't have discussions with government officials," the influential member said. Even an ICC Board member said that discussions should be on to find a plausible solution as the first deadline for tax exemption was December, 2019. The tax issue finds mention in a COA document of July 6, 2019, when the BCCI legal team was asked to get in touch with a British law firm as legal cases pertaining to ICC falls under the UK law. KHS BS BS

BCCI vs ICC tax issue: Exemptions unlikely as per Govt rule, global body cites 'promised timeline'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A minister defended <keyword id="11911533" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="boris-johnson" source="Orion">Boris Johnson</keyword> from claims he broke lockdown with a birthday party.</li><li>Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Prime Minister 'didn't organise to be given cake.'</li></ul>A minister attempted to defend Boris Johnson after Downing Street admitted that he attended a birthday celebration with his wife when rules banned social gatherings.Johnson's now-wife Carrie Johnson and his wallpaper consultant Lulu Lytle gave the prime minister a cake on his birthday on June 19, 2020, with up to 30 people in attendance, <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2022-01-24/boris-johnson-had-birthday-bash-during-lockdown-itv-news-understands">ITV News reported on Monday</a>.The event involved up to 30 people, per the report.Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Tuesday said he did not seek to "defend" the gathering but suggested the prime minister was not to blame."The prime minister didn't organise to be given cake," Shapps told Sky News. "Some people thought it would be appropriate and came forward on his birthday."The prime minister faced particular criticism in light of a resurfaced tweet from March 2020 in which he praised a seven-year-old for postponing her birthday party due to lockdown rules. "Josephine sets a great example to us all by postponing her birthday party until we have sent <keyword id="11893194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus" source="Orion">coronavirus</keyword> packing," he wrote in the tweet, which was published three months before he celebrated his own birthday."Together we can beat this. In the meantime let's all wish her happy birthday (twice) whilst washing our hands." Shapps later told BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme that he shared the public's sense of "unease" about the gathering but insisted people should wait for the outcome of a report by civil servant Sue Gray into allegations of numerous parties in Downing Street, which is due to be published this week.He said that the people in attendance at the gathering were "working together all day," adding that Lytle "happened to come by at the end of it."Downing Street has not denied the birthday celebration took place and <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boris-johnson-held-two-birthday-parties-in-first-lockdown-jrpskjq9l">said in a statement to The Times</a>: "A group of staff working in No 10 that day gathered briefly in the cabinet room after a meeting to wish the prime minister a happy birthday. He was there for less than ten minutes."Lawyer Adam Wagner said on Twitter that if the facts of the ITV News report were accurate "I can't see how it could have been lawful." Indoor gatherings of 2 of more were banned unless they fell within a list of exceptions. Social gatherings were not included in that list."It's an indoor social gathering — it lasted 30 mins and the PM apparently stayed for 10," Wagner said on Twitter."Pre-arranged in a particular room and food was bought. It's obviously not within the rules and nobody from the govt at the time would have said for a moment it was."

Minister insists Boris Johnson 'didn't organise to be given cake' amid fresh outrage over lockdown birthday party in Downing Street

<ul><li>The pandemic brought with it a lot of fears and anxiety among all stakeholders, and <keyword id="9793034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="effective-communications">effective communications</keyword> help in making things simpler and clearer.</li><li>Corporate Communications has to put out the best foot forward for the organisation internally and externally, and ensure all changes are towards the greater good, writes <keyword id="9793035" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="nikhil-bharadwaj">Nikhil Bharadwaj</keyword>, Head – <keyword id="2209559" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="corporate-communication">Corporate Communication</keyword>, <keyword id="113665" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bajaj-Allianz-General-Insurance">Bajaj Allianz General Insurance</keyword>.</li></ul> The role of an effective communications team is to drive change management throughout the organisation, and its ecosystem, consisting of employees, partners and customers. There has been no change greater than what we are going through right now with the Covid-19 pandemic. I think one of the toughest parts of this was that there was no playbook, no previous experience to go by! We all made the rules as we went along and pivoted as the situation evolved. There was a large amount of uncertainty, anxiety and fear amongst all stakeholders. As a communicator, where everyone saw negativity and anguish, we had to see the silver lining on the grey cloud. We had to ensure that there was transparency and cut out the irrelevant noise. Thus, far we have been able to achieve significant impact for all our stakeholders, which I will break down as below: Employees &amp; Channel partners: With a lot of information around this pandemic, it was and is difficult to determine what’s factual and what’s not, what should you believe and what not. Such a situation naturally creates anxiety and panic amongst people. The challenge here is to ensure that the right communication goes out amongst stakeholders, providing them with much needed guidance wherever required. Employees of our company were naturally very apprehensive about the virus and there was over information on social media, which led to further panic. To mitigate this, we created a sort of ready reckoner for employees which gave information on COVID-19, this spoke about signs, symptoms, how to detect, test centres, Govt. Helplines and even hospitals that were treating COVID19. As insurance falls into essential services, we still had limited staffing for office work, and for them instructions needed to be crystal clear in terms of dos and don’ts. We went about creating dos and don’ts posters as well as instruction posters on the safety measures in office and even the smallest things about how to wash hands, and how to use the sanitiser. Similar communication was also sent to our channel partners &amp; our distributors who are our backbone. Another critical element to note here is that, all other communication to employees that was not pertaining to Corona or relevant information thereof, was put on hold. To keep the employees engaged, we came out with a Work from Home digest in a pdf format, which had curated content, comprising of leadership podcasts, handpicked ted talks videos, articles, and even Jokes &amp; riddles. This gave employees something to look forward to, which was a change from their day to day work and provided much needed optimism. Customers and Citizens at large: In this stage, thinking that we would be able to serve our customers exactly how we did, when we worked from office would have been a wrong approach. We have always been a forward thinking, digitally capable organisation, which stood us in great stead to bring all customers onto a digital platform, especially when all offices were shut. But merely having digital platforms wasn’t enough, this had to be communicated effectively to current as well as potential customers. One of the best modes which we chose, was their trusted source of information i.e. media. We shared relevant pitch noteswith media charting out clear proposition of what we were doing to ensure customers are serviced well. This resulted in participation in multiple stories clearly highlighting the changes in the customer journey from a service, renewal and sales perspective. All our Leaders and spokespersons ensured that they spoke about this in all their interactions on print, television or even social mediaably led of course by our MD and CEO. As an organisation we sent out email, SMS and app notifications to all our customers about these changes and they were displayed on our website as well. The results were amazing, we saw customers move to Digital channels, get self help from WhatsApp and our mobile app. And what’s more, we were able to issue close to 3 million policies and settle close to 1.5 million claims. I strongly feel that expanding industry interest and product awareness goes a long way towards increasing penetration of any product/service. If you’re brand is strong enough, you will be a part of the consideration set of the customer, as long as they have trust in the base product offering of the industry. We felt that the time was right to also create more awareness on importance of health insurance, though this may seem opportunistic, I would like to think of it as topical. At the same time, we participated in a lot of industry stories about insurance with a sea change of regulation centred around giving customers more breathing space in terms of a delayed premium payment etc. In times of changes like the one that Covid brought about, Corporate communication played a key role in change management. In times like this, I would now say that it is ok to communicate more than normal, even at the risk of over communication, especially when it comes to employees and current customers. A good communicators role is to be the wingman for marketing functions and help with the 1st and 2nd stage of AIDA (attention interest desire action) &amp; play a complimentary role. Corporate Communications has to put out the best foot forward for the organisation internally and externally, and ensure all changes are towards the greater good!

You Searched For "govt lockdown rules" and got 11 results

Here’s how the government's new lockdown rules will affect your day if you live in a city

Govt exempts procurement agencies, mandis, farming operations, farm workers from lockdown rules

PTI

Apprentices to get full stipend during lockdown: Govt

PTI

Lockdown: TN govt eases restrictions in non-containment areas

PTI

Govt to extend timeline for completion of RE projects due to lockdown

PTI

Lockdown: Agri sector running smoothly, to be less impacted unlike other segments, says govt

PTI

Lockdown 4.0: Govt allows movement of buses with riders; no Metro, flight till May 31

PTI

No offline exams up to Class 8 in Delhi govt schools

PTI

BCCI vs ICC tax issue: Exemptions unlikely as per Govt rule, global body cites 'promised timeline'

PTI

Minister insists Boris Johnson 'didn't organise to be given cake' amid fresh outrage over lockdown birthday party in Downing Street

Thomas Colson

A brand's perspective on the critical role effective communication played during Covid-19

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