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  • Reliance sets up India’s 1st dedicated Covid-19 hospital, to pay contract workers wages

    Reliance sets up India’s 1st dedicated Covid-19 hospital, to pay contract workers wages

    Reliance Industries on Monday said it will pay contract and temporary workers wages even in case of no work due to coronavirus outbreak, set up India’s first dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Mumbai, ramp up face-mask production capacity and provide

    Reliance Industries on Monday said it will pay contract and temporary workers wages even in case of no work due to coronavirus outbreak, set up India’s first dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Mumbai, ramp up face-mask production capacity and provide free meals and fuel to deal with the crisis.

    To deal with the pandemic, India’s largest company in a statement said it has “initiated a multi-pronged prevention, mitigation, and ongoing support strategy” which can be ramped up further to scale as required.

    Sharing the measures, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate said it has set up “India’s first dedicated Covid-19 hospital”.

    “In a short time-span of just two weeks, Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has set up a dedicated 100-bedded centre at Seven Hills Hospital, Mumbai for patients who test positive for Covid-19.
    “This first-of-its-kind-in-India centre is fully funded by Reliance Foundation and includes a negative pressure room that helps in preventing cross-contamination and helps control infection. All beds are equipped with the required infrastructure, biomedical equipment such as ventilators, pacemakers, dialysis machine and patient monitoring devices,” it said.

    Also, Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai has also offered to set up special medical facilities to quarantine travellers from notified countries and suspected cases identified through contact tracing. “This will quickly augment additional facilities for isolation and treatment of infected patients.”

    Reliance has built a fully-equipped isolation facility in Lodhivali, Maharashtra and handed it over to the district authorities even as Reliance Life Sciences is importing additional test kits and consumables for effective testing.

    “Our doctors and researchers are also working overtime to find a cure for this deadly virus,” the statement said.

    With 415 cases of the coronavirus and seven deaths, several cities and states have declared lockdown to check the spread of the virus. India Inc has joined the government effort to deal with the crisis.

    Reliance said it is raising its production capacities to produce 100,000 face-masks per day and a large number of personal protective equipment (PPEs), such as suits and garments, for the health-workers to equip them further to fight the coronavirus challenge.
    “Reliance will provide free fuel for all emergency service vehicles used to transport Covid-19 patients and quarantined people,” it said.

    In addition, Reliance Foundation will provide free meals to people across various cities in partnership with NGOs to those whose livelihood has been impacted by the current crisis.
    The firm said it “will continue to pay contract and temporary workers, even if work has halted due to this crisis.”

    For its employees earning below Rs 30,000 per month, salaries will be paid twice a month to protect their cashflow, the statement said.

    “Reliance has moved most of its employees to its Work-From-Home platform except for those who are manning critical roles in maintaining the Jio (telecom) network for nearly 40 crore customers and for providing an uninterrupted supply of fuel, grocery and other essential items of daily consumption.”

    On its retail business, the company said: “all the 736 grocery stores of Reliance Retail across the country will ensure sufficient supply of essentials, including staples, fruits and vegetables, bread, breakfast cereals and other items of daily use so that citizens need not stock up.”
    “Grocery stores to open longer – from 7 am to 11 pm – wherever possible,” it said adding the firm is activating ordering from home and delivery for senior citizens as well as activating order and pick-up from storefront so that the consumers and store staff are not exposed.

    Reliance Retail will ply vehicles with essential items in certain areas for sale to customers at their doorsteps during the complete lockdown, the statement said adding the firm’s petrol pumps will remain open to customers to ensure there is no shortage of fuel.

    All store staff are adequately trained and protected with masks and follow a strict hygiene regime, it added.

    To enable India remains connected during the lockdown, Reliance’s telecom arm, Jio is combining its digital capabilities with Microsoft Teams, the unified communication and collaboration hub for teamwork in Office 365, to enable individuals, students, educational and healthcare institutions to continue their professional lives while still practising social distancing.
    Its broadband service, JioFiber will provide 10 Mbps of connectivity, wherever geographically feasible, without any service charges, for the lockdown period. “Jio will also provide home gateway routers with a minimum refundable deposit.”

    “Jio will provide double-data across its 4G data add-on vouchers. It will also bundle non-Jio voice calling minutes in these vouchers at no additional cost, to meet the increased need of these services,” the statement added.

  • Hero Cycles ties up with Muthoot Microfin to give bicycles to poor people in South India

    Hero Cycles ties up with Muthoot Microfin to give bicycles to poor people in South India

    Hero Cycles has partners with micro-loan provider Muthoot Microfin to provide bicycles to low income households and women entrepreneurs in rural areas, especially in South India. The partnership is aimed at making bicycles easily accessible to poorer

    Hero Cycles has partners with micro-loan provider Muthoot Microfin to provide bicycles to low income households and women entrepreneurs in rural areas, especially in South India.

    The partnership is aimed at making bicycles easily accessible to poorer households through the availability of microfinance facilities, an official statement said.

    Under the scheme, Hero Cycles has made separate bicycle models available for women and men.

    Through this arrangement, Muthoot Microfin’s over 6,00,000 clients across 150 branches in Tamil Nadu will have access to affordable mobility through Hero Cycles.

    Hero Motors Chairman and Managing Director Pankaj M Munjal said: “Bicycles are often an underrated yet powerful tool of empowerment for the marginalized. Making bicycles easily accessible to a large number of people can bring about significant improvement in the state of their livelihoods and earnings.”

    Unfortunately, gathering enough money to spend on buying a bicycle remains a challenge for a large number of households despite it being the most affordable mode of transport, he said, adding that providing microfinance is therefore one of the most viable ways to increase penetration of bicycles among the rural and urban poor.

    For micro entrepreneurs, owning a bicycle can boost their earnings by expanding their catchment areas for work, he said.

    “We have had similar arrangements with microfinance providers in the past. We are happy to be part of another such initiative that will empower the rural and urban poor,” Munjal added.

    Speaking on the initiative, Muthoot Microfin CEO Sadaf Sayeed said: “Together we aim to empower our clients with access to mobility. Muthoot Microfin has been fostering a spirit of entrepreneurship by providing timely credit to more than 1.8 million women across India and with this partnership we are further enabling clients to earn their livelihood.”

    A study undertaken by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and All India Cycle Manufacturers’ Association estimated that for marginal unskilled workers who walk to work every day, a 50 per cent substitution of walking trips above the average distance of 3.5 km can result in travel time savings worth Rs 112 billion collectively.

  • Elpro ties up with Shiksha Seva Foundation to empower girl child

    Elpro ties up with Shiksha Seva Foundation to empower girl child

    Elpro International has partnered with Shiksha Seva Foundation for supporting education and well-being of underprivileged children, especially girls, as part of its CSR initiative. The initiative aims at donating funds to provide a safe and nurturing

    Elpro International has partnered with Shiksha Seva Foundation for supporting education and well-being of underprivileged children, especially girls, as part of its CSR initiative.

    The initiative aims at donating funds to provide a safe and nurturing environment where children can access education, nutrition and healthcare.

    Elpro will be educating around 50 girls under this initiative.

    Elpro International Chairman and Managing Director Deepak Kumar said: “As a responsible corporate, we have been continuously evolving at the CSR front and devising action-based solutions to bring in a societal change along with our customer-centric initiatives.”

    The company is delighted to partner with Shiksha Seva Foundation on this project to educate and empower the girl child.

    Elpro International has Elpro City Square Mall as well as Elpro International School under its umbrella.

  • TSC donates barcode printers to 20 hospitals in China to fight Cornovirus

    TSC donates barcode printers to 20 hospitals in China to fight Cornovirus

    Taiwan-based TSC Auto ID Technology (TSC) has donated 300 pieces of barcode printers to nearly 20 hospitals among different cities in China to fight the deadline disease Novel Coronavirus. The donation has been made as part of the CSR drive. It has been done along

    Taiwan-based TSC Auto ID Technology (TSC) has donated 300 pieces of barcode printers to nearly 20 hospitals among different cities in China to fight the deadline disease Novel Coronavirus.

    The donation has been made as part of the CSR drive. It has been done along with its Chinese partner, TSC said in a statement.

    TSC barcode printers will support healthcare frontline for varied application including patients ID tracking, hospital admission, hospital nursery, specimen/blood labeling, medication tracking, staff ID stamp, access control and healthcare materials management to enhance healthcare workforce and medical treatment efficiency.

    On this occasion, TSC president Sam Wang said: “We should all join hands to fight this epidemic and help the people in China suffering from this severe outbreak in whatever possible way we can.

    And we really hope this small gesture of lending a helping hand to the hospitals can help the authorities to facilitate the treatment facilities in a better and efficient way,” he said in a statement.

    TSC has three decades of experience dedicated to barcode and label printers, with more than five million installed in over 90 countries. The company is among the top five manufacturers of thermal label printers in the world.

  • Legrand begins tele-medical health centre in Haridwar & Jalgoan

    Legrand begins tele-medical health centre in Haridwar & Jalgoan

    French electrical equipment maker Legrand’s Indian subsidiary has kickstarted a tele-medical health centre for the people in Haridwar in Uttarkhand and Jalgaon in Maharashtra. The company has collaborated with Mumbai-based Nanavati Hospital for setting up of a tele-medicine centre as part

    French electrical equipment maker Legrand’s Indian subsidiary has kickstarted a tele-medical health centre for the people in Haridwar in Uttarkhand and Jalgaon in Maharashtra.

    The company has collaborated with Mumbai-based Nanavati Hospital for setting up of a tele-medicine centre as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative in India, an official statement said.

    The Centre will aid in free super-speciality tele-consulting for patients for whom specialist healthcare is difficult to reach, it said.

    The facility will enable patients to connect with the doctors on a real-time basis through audio/video technology.

    Patients can diagnose and submit their health data such as BP, blood test, X-Ray online which will be remotely made available to the doctor sitting at Nanavati Hospital with the help of paramedical staff available at the centre.

    Doctor and patient can then be connected real-time through audio-video. This technology also enables doctors to use a digital stethoscope to listen to the heart, lungs similar to a physical examination and subsequently prescribe relevant medicine.

    This CSR project is designed to be sustainable and scalable considering it can be replicated in other locations for Legrand.

    Mumbai-headquartered Legrand has three state-of-the-art manufacturing units, seven training centers and two R&D center in India. The group has manufacturing facilities in 90 countries and its products are sold in over 180 countries.

  • Music industry ties up for national movement on water conservation

    Music industry ties up for national movement on water conservation

    ‘Panni ka Teeka’, an initiative of IdeaHive Media, has partnered with legends of advertising and music – Piyush Pandey and Louiz Banks – for a music based project to create awareness about water conservation. ‘Paani Ka Teeka’ project focuses on water, education and job creation

    ‘Panni ka Teeka’, an initiative of IdeaHive Media, has partnered with legends of advertising and music – Piyush Pandey and Louiz Banks – for a music based project to create awareness about water conservation.

    ‘Paani Ka Teeka’ project focuses on water, education and job creation.

    The music duo are reuniting after the iconic ‘Mile Sur’ anthem. They have garnered the support of musicians like Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, Shreya Ghoshal, Shaan, Vishal Dadlani, Harshdeep Kaur, Neha Bhasin, Pankaj Udhas, Salim Merchant, Sivamani, Mame Khan, Rakesh Chaurasia, among others for a campaign on conserving water, an official statement said.

    “PaanikaTeeka is a great initiative and a step in the right direction to create long-term sustainable ways of preserving water and promoting water-protecting ecosystems,” said veteran musician Louis Banks.

    He said music has the capacity to bridge cultures and create a momentum unlike any other art form, he added.

    “The objective of the campaign is to make this project a citizens’ movement and work towards a water-secure India,” said Dilip Moorkoth, Founder PaaniKaTeeka and the Director of IdeaHive Media Pvt Ltd.

    PaaniKaTeeka has designed an integrated project, which will work at multiple levels of advocacy and impact at the grassroot level. It is aimed to bring support to over 1000 villages of India as one of its major impact mechanisms, besides working on bringing a behavioural change across the nation.

    PaaniKaTeeka has partnered with Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) as its knowledge partner, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Emergy Enviro (ASINE IIT Bombay Company) as its Advisory and Technical partners who will work closely to make this project into a national movement.

  • Tata Trusts forced to give up registration in 2015: Taxman

    Tata Trusts forced to give up registration in 2015: Taxman

    Tata Trusts’ 2015 move to “surrender” registrations that gave them tax exemptions was “not voluntary”, the Income-Tax Department had told the Bombay High Court in August 2018. The department claimed that the trusts were “forced” to surrender the registrations after an I-T appellate authority

    Tata Trusts’ 2015 move to “surrender” registrations that gave them tax exemptions was “not voluntary”, the Income-Tax Department had told the Bombay High Court in August 2018.

    The department claimed that the trusts were “forced” to surrender the registrations after an I-T appellate authority order in March 2014 “established” tax violations by them.

    The tax department’s submission in the court had come in response to a writ petition filed by one of the trusts, Jamsetji Tata Trust, which had challenged the department’s move to cancel the registrations, claiming that they had themselves surrendered the registrations in 2015.

    Justifying its move to seek cancellation of registrations, the tax body had told the court that Tata Trusts “were left with no other option” but to surrender following the appellate authority’s ruling over various violations for the 2010-11 assessment year. ET has seen the department’s 2018 response, which has not come in the public domain so far.

    In October 2019, the tax department cancelled registrations of six Tata Trusts — Jamsetji Tata Trust, RD Tata Trust, Tata Education Trust, Tata Social Welfare Trust, Sarvajanik Seva Trust and Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust.

    Tata Trusts in a statement at the time said the cancellation order was “a culmination of the decision taken by these six trusts in 2015 to surrender, of their own volition, their registration under the I-T Act and to not claim the associated tax exemptions.” Tata Trusts had withdrawn the writ petition in the high court a year earlier, in October 2018.

    The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) order, referred to by the I-T department in its response to the court, was passed on March 23, 2014. The department’s affidavit, filed by principal commissioner of income tax, Mumbai, Lekha Kumar, claimed that Jamsetji Tata Trust “itself agreed that decision to given up benefits was based on ITAT’s decision” in its case. “So, the surrender is not voluntary,” it said.

  • Govt considering providing CSR relief to businesses in 2020

    Govt considering providing CSR relief to businesses in 2020

    The government is considering a high-level committee’s recommendation on tax deduction on CSR funding and making non-compliance with CSR norms a civil offence, a senior Ministry of Corporate affairs (MCA) official said. The committee chaired by Corporate Affairs Ministry Secretary

    The government is considering a high-level committee’s recommendation on tax deduction on CSR funding and making non-compliance with CSR norms a civil offence, a senior Ministry of Corporate affairs (MCA) official said.

    The committee chaired by Corporate Affairs Ministry Secretary Injeti Srinivas in its report submitted on August 2019 has recommended that in case of violation of CSR provisions, penalty may be imposed instead of imprisonment.

    In respect of tax benefit for CSR activities, the committee has recommended that all activities listed under Scheduled VII of the Companies Act, 2013 to enjoy uniform tax benefit and CSR expenditure to be made deductible from the income earned for the purpose of taxation.

    “The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is considering these recommendations for implementation,” the official said.

    During the monsoon session of Parliament, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Ministry Anurag Singh Thakur had informed that the government was looking into the committee’s recommendations.

    The committee has also suggested a provision to carry forward unspent CSR balance for three to five years.

    According to the new CSR norms under Section 135 of the Companies Act, a company has to earmark a part of its profit for social activities and transfer all unspent amount to an escrow account if it is an ongoing project.

    This account will be opened by the company concerned in a bank and be called the unspent corporate social responsibility account.

    The CSR expenditure which remains unspent in three years would be transferred to any fund specified in Schedule VII of the Companies Act such as the Swachch Bharat Kosh, the Clean Ganga Fund, and the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.

    The central government funds should be discontinued as CSR spend, the committee report said and instead a special designated fund should be created for transfer of unspent CSR money beyond three to five years.

    The committee has recommended that Schedule VII be aligned with the sustainable development goals to include sports promotion, senior citizens’ welfare, welfare of differently abled persons, disaster management, and heritage protection.

    According to the government data, of the total 21,337 companies liable for CSR 9,753 companies did not report CSR activity in 2017-18.

    The other recommendations of the committee include developing a CSR exchange portal to connect contributors, beneficiaries and agencies, allowing CSR in social benefit bonds and promoting social impact companies.

    The committee constituted in October, 2018 has among its members N Chandrasekaran, chairman, Tata Sons, and Amit Chandra, managing director, Bain Capital Private Equity, among others.

  • AirAsia earns high praise with its (RED) corporate social responsibility project on HIV/AIDS

    AirAsia earns high praise with its (RED) corporate social responsibility project on HIV/AIDS

    All things being equal. They are not. AIDS is the leading cause of death among young women worldwide. Yet it is treatable. Every two minutes, a teenager is infected with HIV. Yet it is preventable. Today 500 babies will be born with HIV. Same thing tomorrow. And the next day. AIDS no longer has

    “All things being equal. They are not. AIDS is the leading cause of death among young women worldwide. Yet it is treatable. Every two minutes, a teenager is infected with HIV. Yet it is preventable. Today 500 babies will be born with HIV. Same thing tomorrow. And the next day. AIDS no longer has to be a death sentence. One pill a day. For just 20 cents can stop mothers from passing on the virus to their babies. #EndAids.”

    The manifesto above comes from one of AirAsia’s global partners, (RED), a not-for-profit organisation based in the US, fighting for AIDS and HIV prevention around the world.

    Signing an agreement with the organisation at the end of 2018, AirAsia wanted to bring awareness to its message across the ASEAN region and develop products and activations to help raise and contribute funds to (RED) and the Global Fund.

    Using AirAsia’s reach and platform as an opportunity to raise funds for the cause, the company has dedicated the past year to designing key programmes; ensuring that all money raised goes towards supporting HIV/AIDS testing, counselling, treatment and prevention programmes.

    AirAsia’s year-long campaign included five potentially life-saving projects.

  • L&T Tech to give disaster resilient shelter homes to cyclone Fani hit people

    L&T Tech to give disaster resilient shelter homes to cyclone Fani hit people

    L&T Technology Services (LTTS) has launched a project ‘Neelachala’ a CSR program for providing disaster resilient shelter homes to those affected by cyclone Fani. As a part of the project Neelachala, LTTS will provide skill development programs for residents in various construction activities

    L&T Technology Services (LTTS) has launched a project ‘Neelachala’ a CSR program for providing disaster resilient shelter homes to those affected by cyclone Fani.

    As a part of the project Neelachala, LTTS will provide skill development programs for residents in various construction activities, the company said in a statement.

    The training provided by LTTS will ensure the affected people have an additional means of livelihood in the longer run.

    The company’s CEO and Managing Director Keshab Panda laid a foundation stone along with Puri District collector Balwant Singh.

    Puri collector said: “The people of Odisha have shown immense strength and resilience in recovering from the after-effects of cyclone Fani. This initiative undertaken by L&T Technology Services is a welcome step since rebounding from such a massive natural calamity requires contribution from all including the business community.”

    What makes the project Neelachala an unique CSR initiative, LTTS MD and CEO said is that in addition to providing shelters to those in need, the training that the company imparts as a part of this program enables the beneficiaries to attain financial independence.

    LTTS is a listed subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited focused on Engineering and R&D services. It has over 16,700 employees spread across 17 global design centers, 28 global sales offices and 49 innovation labs.