Medwin Healthcare introduces “SHYCOCAN”

 

Bengaluru, 25^th August 2020 : Necessity is the mother of all inventions. The COVID-19 pandemic has unlocked India’s vast potential in the field of life sciences and biotechnology. The pandemic has acted like a catalyst in nurturing an ecosystem of innovation within the country and expanding research and development. One of the ground-breaking products that has been an outcome of this is “Scalene Hypercharge Corona Canon” (SHYCOCAN), a scientific invention, truly one-of-a-kind device with the ability to contain the spread of coronavirus. Shycocan was introduced to the public today by Medwin Healthcare, a Kolkata based company that undertakes various projects related to healthcare and social engineering, through a virtual session. Medwin Healthcare is the International Humanitarian Agreement holder to manufacture and market Shycocan for India as well as for entire South Asia. Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, the Inventor of Shycocan, eminent Indian scientist and Chairman & Chief Scientific Officer, Organization de Scalene and Scalene Cybernetics Ltd., Bengaluru along with Mr Debashis Bose, CEO, Medwin Healthcare & Mr Dhrubajyoti Bose, CFO, Medwin Healthcare were present during the virtual launch. 

 

Speaking on the workings of the device, Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, Indian scientist and Chairman & Chief Scientific Officer, Organization de Scalene and Scalene Cybernetics Ltd., Bengaluru and the inventor of SHYCOCAN, iterated, “SHYCOCAN is proven to be 99.9% effective in neutralising the Spike-Protein or S-protein that are present in coronavirus. The device is designed to release a very high concentration of environmentally safe electrons using proprietary Photon-Mediated Electron Emitters (PMEEs) made with a superalloy developed by us, to emit and excite photons with the required kinetic energy.As the high energy photons bombard bulk surfaces and suspended particles in confined environments, the electron cloud actively ‘disarms’ air and surface transmission of the Corona family of viruses. Even if an infected individual were to walk into the room, these electrons would neutralise the potency of the virus present in aerosols while sneezing or coughing. We have received approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union Confirmite Europenne.” 

 

SHYCOCAN has fulfilled the conditions laid down by European Union- CE and the device is market enabled as per the U.S. FDA’s enforcement discretion guidance during the COVID- 19 Public Health Emergency. SHYCOCAN can be used to prevent infection and is not medicine or an alternative to a vaccine that can cure infected people. It has been designed by a team led by Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, who had earlier designed Cytotron, a machine to treat cancer more effectively. The device is effective in closed spaces of up to 1,000 sq ft or in places up to 10,000 cubic metres, such as waiting rooms, offices, malls and other public areas. The basic principle behind the technology is to disable the homing mechanism on the virus and prevent infectivity. SHYCOCAN does not harm any living organism, be it a fungi or a human. It can be used in all environments and does not have any detrimental effects. SHYCOCAN does not alter or interrupt any other services and functions, be it telephone calls or internet connections. The idea of SHYCOCAN was born in December 2018, much before the pandemic hit, as a way to reduce any form of infection.  

 

During the virtual session, Mr Debashis Bose, CEO, Medwin Healthcare, said, “Medwin Healthcare has always endeavoured to help the society during these trying times. Throughout the pandemic, we have supplied various tools to authorities that can prevent the spread of the virus. We are extremely glad to be the International Humanitarian partners of SHYCOCAN. We are producing and distributing the devices across India. We are planning to sell around 1,30,000 SHYCOCAN device in the next six months. We intend to produce and distribute the device as widely as possible so that we can help humanity in the fight against this vicious virus. By the end of FY 21 we are looking for a revenue of 250 crore.” 

 

Mr Dhrubajyoti Bose, CFO, Medwin Healthcare further added, “SHYCOCAN will enable us to create a safer environment in homes, offices, healthcare facilities, schools, eateries, etc. The device has been priced, keeping in mind, that the maximum strata of our society can afford it. This Made in India, By Indians, device is bound to bring some respite. This will eventually result in lower coronavirus positive cases and help in flattening of the curve. It is a positive step towards the vision laid out by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi about Atmanirbhar Bharat.” 

 

SHYCOCAN has been priced at INR 19,999 inclusive of GST and can be bought from the official website of Medwin Healthcare. ( For any queries, please visit www.medwin.co.in or dial 6292000000). SHYCOCAN works on a plug & play mode. Medwin Healthcare has two manufacturing units in Kolkata and one in Bangalore, Pune and Gurugram and will eventually start the distribution across the country and has plans to go abroad. 

 

Punjab National Bank Q1 FY-21 Financial Results

 

Bengaluru, 24th August 2020 : India’s second-largest public sector bank, Punjab National Bank, (PNB) hosted a virtual press conference to discuss its Q1 FY 2020-21 results.  Sh CH. S. S. Mallikarjuna Rao, MD and CEO of the Bank, briefly discussed with the Media PNB’s June-quarter results as well as the recent economic developments in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.

 

While addressing the media, Rao said that overall, the economy would recover “more effectively” from October this year onwards and maintained the overall credit growth at 4-6 per cent, this fiscal.  He also spoke about MSME, QIP, net interest margin (NIM) besides other important economic and financial subjects.

 

 Here are major excerpts from the Press conference:

 

1.    Net profit of ₹308 crore - as against the expectation of a net loss - for June quarter.

2.    The Bank released key metrics for the merged entity (after amalgamating Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India).

3.    The outstanding provisions are down by 1.5% during the June quarter.

4.    Profit Before Tax down by 65%.

5.    PNB expects credit costs to remain around 2.5% for FY21

6.    PNB has guided that around 5-6% of its loan book may be restructured; the final figure would depend on the contours of the scheme - that the expert committee under Mr. K.V. Kamath prescribes

7.    Expects the overall economy to come back “far more effectively” from October 2020 onwards

8.    Maintains that overall credit growth would be 4-6 per cent, this fiscal; with this ambit, the MSME and retail segment will grow 8-10 per cent

9.    MSMEs are expected to do well as they will have a great opportunity from the restrictions on Chinese goods

10. Sectors like hospitality, tourism and aviation will take a longer period to bounce back

11. On the proposed asset restricting window, the bank board is expected to approve the scheme in the coming days and by September an idea will emerge on the number of accounts that will be eligible for this facility.

12. Not expecting the Bank’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) and Net Interest Income (NII) to get adversely impacted this fiscal despite the Covid-19

13. PNB plans to go in for Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) by the end of the third quarter or early fourth quarter. There is no plan as of now to approach the Government for capital infusion.

14. PNB has a strength of 1.03 lakh employees and, as the business grows, this employee strength will further grow

15. PNB's loan book of Rs 30,000 crore has not opted for RBI's moratorium scheme (with only 20-22 per cent of account holders opting for it)

16. Following the merger of Oriental Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of India with PNB, there will be no retrenchment of employees

17. At the end of June 2020, PNB’s loan book size stood at Rs 7.21 trillion. So, the bank expects loans worth Rs 36,000-Rs 38,000 crores to avail the restructuring window provided by the RBI

18. Out of the total loan book of Rs 7.21 trillion, Rs 1.27 trillion belongs to the MSME category. Out of this, around 14 per cent is under the non-performing assets (NPA) category.

Aakash Educational Services Limited

 

Aakash Educational Services Limited emerges as one of the leading Offline to Online (O2O) players, registering tremendous online engagement post lockdown, finds a report by leading global market intelligence firm SimilarWeb

 

·       The report says, post lockdown “Aakash.ac.in, despite being an offline heavy player, has exhibited a tremendous change in DNA by observing significant growth in the online model.”

 

Bengaluru, 20^th August 2020 : According to a recent study conducted by SimilarWeb, a global web analytics market intelligence firm, Aakash Educational Services Ltd. (AESL), the national leader in test preparation services, has emerged as one of the leading O2O (Offline to Online) players to chronicle remarkable online engagement as a major offline service provider.

 

The report titled “Understanding the Impact of Coronavirus on E-learning”, released recently, took into consideration 35 top e-learning Indian websites to gauge the growth of ed-tech space over a period of one year. AESL website aakash.ac.in has featured in the Top Ten post lockdown performers in the last 28 days by registering a 2.96% share of online website traffic.

 

Commenting on the findings of the report, Mr. Aakash Chaudhry, Director and CEO of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), said: “We are proud to be recognized as one of the foremost O2O players to register a tremendous and significant online engagement post lockdown. We are the pioneers who predicted the need for digital learning and started tailoring courses according to the requirement of the students. Without ever compromising on the pedigree of learning while upholding the position of providing best educational services on both the offline and online platforms.”

 

The SimilarWeb report finds that during the lockdown period, India has seen the maximum searches for online courses post lockdown, showing a realisation of upskill among others.

 

 

 

Travel with adequate precautions - #SafeBusTravel a Corona Virus customer safety awareness Campaign launched

Thursday, 5^th March 2020: In an effort to promote awareness as well to expand the safety net around the spread of the coronavirus, AbhiBus.com is offering to hand-deliver to their homes protection grade masks to all those who book tickets on their platforms across the country. In addition to this, AbhiBus will also provide hand sanitizers in a partner bus services.

Bus is preferred mode of travel for 63% travellers in India (according to International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and On average there are 20 million of travellers that use buses to travel from one city to another and are potentially vulnerable towards contracting the virus. However, based on various medical advisories, the virus being non-airborne makes it possible to avoid getting infected if adequate precautions are taken by every individual. These include, but not limited to, wearing of protection grade masks, constantly washing hands, use of hand sanitizers as simple steps towards mitigating the risk amongst others.

While announcing the initiative, Mr. Rohit Sharma, Chief Operating Officer - Abhibus.com said, “Prevention is best case for protection from the spread of this virus which is causing a global pandemonium. Life still needs to go on and if adequate precautions are taken by every individual then the spread of this virus can be avoided. In this context, AbhiBus.com is offering to its customers the free masks so that they become the inspiration for others to get theirs and wear the protection. On our own, we are trying to make the awareness go viral against the deadly virus.”

Further, AbhiBus.com as part of its efforts to spread awareness is providing free hand sanitizers in  the partner buses that it offers the  tickets for, and is  putting up notices in buses on proper techniques to handle personal hygiene so that they can be protected as well as orienting the bus operators and owners towards.

About AbhiBus:

Founded in the year 2008, AbhiBus Services (India) Private Limited is India’s leading Online Travel Aggregator. AbhiBus started with providing end-to-end software and other value-added solutions for the Private Bus Transport industry as well as government RTCs and currently leads the table in online bus ticketing by leveraging the latest technologies. The company also provides technology solutions to more than 500 private bus operators in India and 5 state transport corporations. The end-to-end software solutions include e-ticketing systems, fleet management solutions, vehicle tracking systems, passenger information systems, logistics management backed by a 24x7 customer support centre. Abhibus has over 4 million active users per month and more than 6 million app downloaded by the user.

 

 

SBI Card and Landmark Group launch co-branded credit cards

Bengaluru, 20th February 2020 : SBI Card has partnered with Landmark Group, one of the largest retail and hospitality conglomerates in India, to launch a unique set of retail co-branded credit cards. The three newly launched cards, Lifestyle Home Centre SBI Card, Max SBI Card and Spar SBI Card, have been introduced in partnership with four Landmark Group brands - Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max and Spar.

Designed to be a one stop payment solution for the entire family, these cards provide a rewarding shopping experience to cardholders across categories that include fashion – premium and affordable, home furnishing including furniture and grocery. The underlying value proposition of all these cards is the same. Cardholders of any of these cards can avail similar benefits at all participating Landmark brands, thus getting savings and a host of other benefits across a spectrum of categories through a single card.

The new co-brand cards are available in three variants – Base, SELECT and PRIME and cater to consumers across segments from value-for-money to premium to super premium. 

Speaking at the launch, Mr Hardayal Prasad, MD & CEO, SBI Card, said, “We are pleased to partner with Landmark Group to introduce Lifestyle Home Centre SBI Card, Max SBI Card and Spar SBI Card. Through this tie up we will offer our cardholders a strong savings proposition across key spend categories such as fashion, home furnishing, furniture and grocery on a single card. The newly launched cards bring a one stop payment solution to meet and reward purchase needs of consumers in these segments. This launch will strengthen our retail co-brand credit card portfolio which we have built to fulfil diverse consumer needs.”

According to Mr. Vasanth Kumar - Managing Director, Lifestyle International Pvt. Ltd.: “As a leading retail player in the country, we continuously endeavour to enable a joyful and rewarding shopping experience for all our customers. The co-branded credit card with SBI Card is yet another step taken to fulfil that promise. With accelerated reward points and spend based benefits, these cards will be a win-win for consumers as they shop across various Landmark brands. Offering the best of both the players, the co-branded SBI credit card program will combine the shopping experience, convenience and value that customers have come to know and love from Landmark Group backed by the best-in-class service, benefits and security of SBI Card.”

According to Mr. Shital Mehta - Executive Director & CEO, Max Fashions, “As a leading fashion brand, we want to bring more value to our customers through a co-branded card that rewards users on their purchases. This co-branded card will provide additional benefits to our valued customers thus enabling us to deepen our relationship with them while providing them yet another reason to shop at our stores. Max is very thrilled to be partnering with SBI Card.”

PRIME variant cardholders can avail total savings of up to INR 30,000 annually on this card.

Cardholders enjoy complimentary loyalty membership to Landmark Rewards Program and they also earn accelerated reward points on the SBI Card rewards platform upon shopping with these cards. Cardholders of the PRIME variant of the co-brand cards earn 15 reward points per INR 100 spent at Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max and Spar; 10 reward points per INR 100 spent on dining and movies; and 2 reward points per INR 100 spent on other retail purchases. SBI Card Reward Points can be converted to Landmark Rewards and redeemed across Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max, Spar and other Landmark Brands in India thereby rewarding loyal customers.

The cards also reward customers for their loyalty through various spend based milestone benefits as well as bonus reward points upon card renewal. Customers of PRIME variant can avail savings of up to INR 14500 on achieving milestone spends. The cards deliver value from the point of enrolment itself, offering welcome benefits worth INR 3000 on the PRIME variant.  Renewal benefits worth INR 3000 can be availed upon card renewal.

The joining and renewal fee for the Base variant is INR 499 plus GST, SELECT variant is INR 1499 plus GST and PRIME variant is INR 2999 plus GST.

Highlights of Lifestyle Home Centre SBI Card, Max SBI Card and Spar SBI Card

• Accelerated Reward Points
• PRIME variant:
• 15 Reward Points per INR 100 spent at Landmark brands (Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max & Spar)
• 10 Reward Points per INR 100 spent on Dining & Movies
• 2 Reward Points per INR 100 spent on other retail purchases (Non-fuel)
• SELECT variant:
• 10 Reward Points per INR 100 spent at Landmark brands (Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max & Spar)
• 10 Reward Points per INR 100 spent on Dining & Movies
• 2 Reward Points per INR 100 spent on other retail purchases (Non-fuel)
• Base variant:
• 5 Reward Points per INR 100 spent at Landmark brands (Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max & Spar)
• 5 Reward Points per INR 100 spent on Dining & Movies
• 1 Reward Point per INR 100 spent on other retail purchases (Non-fuel)

• Spend-based milestone benefits
• PRIME variant: Cumulative milestone benefit up to 58,000 RP worth INR 14,500
• SELECT variant: Cumulative milestone benefit up to 34,400 RP worth INR 8,600
• Base variant: Cumulative milestone benefit up to 16000 RP worth INR 4000

• Welcome & renewal benefit
• PRIME variant: 12000 bonus reward points equivalent to INR 3000 on payment of annual fees and renewal fees
• SELECT variant: 6000 bonus reward points equivalent to INR 1500 on payment of annual fees and renewal fees
• Base variant: 2000 bonus Reward Points equivalent to INR 500 on payment of annual fees and renewal fees

• Airport lounge access on PRIME variant
• Complimentary Priority Pass membership – Up to 4 complimentary visits per calendar year to International Priority Pass Lounges, outside India (maximum 2 visits per quarter)
• Domestic Lounge Membership – Up to 8 complimentary visits per calendar year to Domestic VISA Lounges in India (maximum 2 visits per quarter)

• Closed Loop Reward Redemption
• Cardholders can redeem reward points at Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max, Spar and other Landmark Brands in India 

• Fuel surcharge waiver
• 1% fuel surcharge waiver across all petrol pumps in India

About SBI Card

SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited (formerly known as SBI Cards and Payment Services Private Limited) (“SBI Card”) is a non-banking financial company that offer extensive credit card portfolio to individual cardholders and corporate clients which includes lifestyle, rewards, travel & fuel and banking partnerships cards along with corporate cards covering all major cardholders’ segments in terms of income profile and lifestyle. It has diversified customer acquisition network that enables to engage prospective customers across multiple channels. SBI Card is a technology driven company. Visit www.sbicard.com for more details.

About Landmark Group

Founded in 1973 in Bahrain, the Landmark Group has successfully grown into one of the largest and most successful retail organizations in the Middle East and India. An international, diversified retail and hospitality conglomerate that encourages entrepreneurship to consistently deliver exceptional value, the Group operates over 2200 outlets encompassing over 30 million square feet across the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian sub-continent.

The Group has also diversified in the leisure, food and hospitality with Landmark Leisure, Balance Spa & Salon, Citymax Hotels, Fitness First and Foodmark, the restaurant division, which operates the Group's own and franchise food outlets.

In 1999, Landmark Group entered India, to revolutionize retailing in the country with the introduction of Lifestyle Stores. Currently in its 21st year of retailing in India, Landmark Group has launched several innovative retail concepts in the country including Lifestyle, Home Centre, Max and hospitality concepts, Spar Supermarkets and Hypermarkets, Fun City, Citymax and Krispy Kreme.