COTPA 2003 Amendments: Threat to the livelihood of 65 lakh home-based Women Beedi Rollers

 Bangalore, 7^th March 2021 : 44000 Women Beedi Workers from Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu staged 55 all women rallies decrying the proposed amendments to COTPA 2003. They appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exclude Beedi from the proposed amendments which threaten to wreck the livelihoods of over 80 lakh beedi rollers across the country, most of them women working from home.

 

State	City	No of Rallies	No of women beedi workers participated
Jharkhand	Pakud, Sahibganj, Deoghar	20	3000
Madhya Pradesh	Satna, Tikamgarh, Katni, Sagar, Damoh, Chattarpur, Banda, Bina	14	7000
Telangana	Nizamabad, Siddipet, Medak, Jagithyal, Karimnagar, Sircilla, Kamareddy, Nirmal, Metpally, Jharmoor	12	21000
Bihar	Jamui	8	3000
Tamil Nadu	Vellore	1	3000
Karnataka	Mangalore, Belthangadi and Udupi.	3	7000

 

 

 

The Ministry of Health, Government of India, on 1.1.2021, has proposed to add several stringent new amendments to the already harsh rules of the ‘Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act’, 2003, popularly known as Cigarette & Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA).

The 200-year-old ‘Hand-Made in India’ beedi industry, an indigenous cottage industry, faces overnight closure should the amendments become law, putting the livelihood of over 30 million workers associated with this industry in grave peril. There are around 8 million home-based beedi rollers across India, of whom 6.5 million are women. Homemakers, mothers and grandmothers, these multi-generational women earn their livelihood rolling beedis from home while their husbands go out to work and their children attend school. With no viable, alternative employment available these women beedi workers, an icon of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, fear destitution and penury, should the COTPA amendments be applied to their industry.

At the rallies, disconsolate women workers entreated the government to segregate beedis from cigarettes and chewing tobacco, which do not generate this scale of employment, and reformulate separate rules for beedis under COTPA 2003 to save this indigenous, high employment-generating, Swadeshi industry. They urged the government to reconsider the proposed amendments in the interest of the livelihood of 80 lakh beedi rollers, 5 lakh packers, 40 lakh women and tribal Tendu leaf pluckers, 30 lakh bidi tobacco farmers and workers, and 75 lakh small retailers dependent on the beedi industry.

 

For more details, please follow: @BeediLivelihood

 

TresVista announces INR 50,000 as bonus to analysts and associates across the board for outstanding performance in 2020 despite the pandemic

 Bangalore, 5^th March 2021 : TresVista, a leading provider of high-end outsourced support to corporates, asset managers, and entrepreneurs, has announced a one-time bonus of INR 50,000 to every Analyst and Associate (equivalent), across review cycles, as a gesture of thanks for outstanding performance despite the 2020 pamdemic. Tresvista will also undertake a firmwide pay revision exercise by July 2021, and plans to invest heavily in training and technology. At the current CAGR of ~30%, TresVista expects to have a strength of ~2,500 people in four years. 

 

Sudeep Mishra, Managing Director and Co-Founder TresVista, commented on the announcement, "TresVista has always been an employee-centric organization and we strive to constantly do better. The bonus is a way of us thanking our employees who have stepped up despite the challenging circumstances caused by the pandemic. Our aim is for TresVista’s impact to be far wider and deeper, and be associated with excellence, thereby enhancing opportunities for all employees who have spent years at the firm.”



In 2020, Tresvista hired close to 300 employees for its delivery centres in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. It also introduced a slew of employee-friendly measures to support employees during COVID-19 like Caregivers’ Special Leave, COVID+ve paid leaves, and WFH setup reimbursements.



About TresVista

Founded in 2006, TresVista has been the leading provider of high-end outsourced support for asset managers, entrepreneurs & corporates for over a decade. TresVista’s support functions include business plan development, all aspects of fund administration, portfolio management, valuation & research, and deal sourcing & execution. With over 700 employees across offices in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New York, Pune, and Singapore, TresVista delivers cost and operational efficiencies for over 1,000 clients across geographies and asset classes, who collectively manage over $10 trillion in AUM.

https://www.tresvista.com/

Paytm empowers “Bangalore Metro Rail commuters with smart card recharges on the app”, enables safe city travel

Bengaluru, 4^th March 2021: India's leading digital financial services platform Paytm today announced that it is now enabling the smart card recharge facility for Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) on its app. The brand new service empowers Garden City commuters to travel safely, seamlessly & avoid long queues to buy smart card top-ups at metro stations. Paytm has been extensively working with Metro Rail Corporations all over the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, empowering them with digital payments, seamless recharges and QR-based ticket buying services.  

          

• This feature will help commuters maintain social distancing and promote safe travel during transit. Paytm has launched a host of innovative services for Metro Rail partners across the country. It enabled QR-code based metro ticketing system in a strategic partnership with Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited. This service enables commuters in Hyderabad with a QR ticket on their Paytm app, which can be displayed at the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates to proceed for the journey. It has in partnership with Jaipur Metro equipped all ticketing windows, across all metro stations with Paytm UPI QR. With this, the commuters can simply pay from any UPI app to purchase tickets or recharge their smart cards.
  
  Abhay Sharma, Senior Vice President Paytm said, "The Smart card recharge feature launched exclusively in partnership with the Bangalore Metro Rail on Paytm app will help create a safe and seamless card recharge experience for the daily commuters while avoiding long queues and have a more seamless and pleasurable transit experience. We will continue to work towards the digitization of the transit ecosystem in the country while driving the adoption of smart mobility solutions.
  
  BMRCL spokesperson said, "Namma Metro commuters can now recharge their smart cards through Paytm App. This facility is an additional step towards the continued efforts of BMRCL to provide convenient means of recharging their smart cards. For smart cards recharged through these online channels, the balance update on the card will take place automatically when a commuter shows the smart card at the AFC Gate at any Namma Metro stations.
  
  Namma Metro has also provided the facility of updating their balance without any delay after online recharge of the smart cards by placing their cards at the RVCT terminals provided at the station Customer Care Centre of the newly commissioned five stations from Konanakunte Cross to Silk institute. This facility will be available in all the upcoming Phase-2 stations and will also be made available soon for the 40 operational stations of Phase-1.  
  
  Paytm provides multiple products & services like Metro Card recharges, mobile-based ticketing and trip pass for Bengaluru Metro, Hyderabad Metro, Delhi Metro, and Mumbai Metro. Also, it is the first company to launch QR-based tickets for Mumbai Metro and is expanding this service to other major cities as well. 

 

MIT-WPU leads in Digital Transformation; becomes “India’s First University to offer Blockchain-Anchored Digital Degrees to its students”

 Bengaluru, 4^th March 2021: MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU) has added another feather to its cap and has become India’s first university to offer Blockchain-anchored digital degrees and diplomas to its students. MIT-WPU has signed a partnership agreement with CertOnce to implement its platform to offer Blockchain-anchored digital degrees and diplomas to over 2,568 students across programs from this year.  

This includes students from the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Commerce & Economics (PG), Faculty of Science (PG), Faculty of Management (UG and PG), Faculty of Education (UG and PG), Faculty of Governance (UG and PG), Faculty of Pharmacy (PG) and Faculty of Liberal Arts, Commerce & Science (UG). This is a hallmark initiative that marks a giant step in the digital transformation journey of MIT-WPU as a leading university in India.   

Driving Towards Digital Transformation 

Elaborating further on this path-breaking initiative, Shri Rahul V Karad, the visionary educationist, and the Managing Trustee & Executive President, MAEER’s MIT Group of Institutions & Executive President, MIT-WPU, shared, "Our university is always striving towards digital transformation and we are dedicated to finding new avenues to lead in this digital transformation journey and create new, inspiring ways of empowering our students. As our students continue to pass out with flying colours and secure jobs at the world's leading organisations in India and internationally, we wanted to empower them with a Credential that would put them at par with the best in the world – a document that embodies trust and global academic competence." 

Also speaking about the university’s digital transformation initiative was Dr N T Rao, Vice Chancellor, MIT-WPU, who explained, "CertOnce solution of Blockchain Anchored Digital Degrees that are tamperproof and instantly verifiable with One Click provide our students absolute control of their Credentials. Implementing this solution also allows us to automate the manual process of responding to several requests from potential employers of our students. Employers can now verify our students' degrees on Blockchain instantly, shortening their hiring cycle.” 

Instant Credentials Sharing & Verification 

The Background verification process that used to take weeks or even months at times can now be achieved in seconds, and that too without paying to any intermediaries or waiting for snail mail replies. “It required a personal favor from a friend, 30 dollars and 5 weeks, before my MBA school in US could get verified degree certificate from my undergrad school in India. That's when I knew that I wanted to solve this problem. This gave birth to CertOnce – solving the problem of Credentials Sharing & Verification," shared Rajesh Ranjan, Founder and CEO of CertOnce. 

Adding further to this, Pawan Khurana, Co-founder and COO of CertOnce, noted, "Blockchain is the future of Credentialing: secure, opensource, verifiable and tamperproof. Many institutions around the world are already deploying it." Beyond Diploma Certificates, MIT-WPU will also use the system to issue student transcripts, publish academic research papers, project reports, among many others. MIT-WPU has been setting global standards, whether it is by building global industry relationships or driving digital transformations. Implementing a Digital Verifiable Blockchain Anchored Credentialing system adds another one to the long list of its many firsts. 

About MIT-WPU 

With a 40-year legacy in education, MIT World Peace University (MIT-WPU) offers 100+ study programs (both UG and PG) and is the go-to destination for students looking to pursue higher studies. 

With a sprawling campus in the heart of Pune city, which is also known as the Oxford of the East, MIT World Peace University believes in delivering a value-based education, which not only exposes students to the best of opportunities but also promotes their holistic development. 

The university boasts of a global alumni network of over 1 lakh, has 1000+ faculty members, over 15,000 students on campus and offers 100+ study programs. 

About CertOnce 

CertOnce is a digital records creation platform for issuing verified digital credentials for high stake credentials using Blockchain and low stakes Open Badges, that are easy to share and verifiable with one click, with its most prominent uses being academic records, online learning, employee records, and recognition, health care, legal, government, and financial services industries. Founded in Princeton (NJ, USA) in 2019, with a vision to bring trust in every digital document, the company is fast changing the way the world creates digital credentials.  

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Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) partners with Airtel DTH; Organizes Largest Counselling Session for NEET in India on Aakash Paathshala

 Bengaluru, 26^th February 2021: Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), the national leader in test preparatory services in partnership with Airtel DTH has recently launched the Aakash Paathshala - A Counselling series exclusively for Airtel DTH subscribers. The upcoming episode on ‘How to Score 600+ in NEET’, to be aired this Sunday, 28th February is poised to address key issues regarding the preparation for NEET. 

 

After the phenomenal success of the first two episodes of Aakash Paathshala, aired on February 14 and 21, on popular demand of the students, the Aakash Paathshala ‘Gurus’ are all set to help students prepare and plan their strategy for the highly competitive NEET UG (National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test) for admission into MBBS/BDS and other undergraduate medical courses in approved/recognized Medical/ Dental Colleges/ Institutes in India.   

 

Highlights of the Episode on NEET to be Aired on 28th February 

• Format of the Paper - marking scheme, important subjects/ topics 
• Scoring 600+ Do I have it in me? 
• Is preparing from NCERT textbooks sufficient? 
• How should I choose a college? What rank should I aim for? 
• How can I improve on my weak subject? 
  
   
  
  Commenting on the value that these sessions bring to a student’s life, Mr Narasimha Jayakumar, CEO, Aakash Edutech Pvt Ltd (AEPL) said, “The response to ‘Aakash Paathshala’ has been very encouraging so far. The series has generated massive viewership & excitement among students and parents. We see a very healthy engagement of students via comments and chats and it clearly outlines the need for ‘Counsellors’ and experts who can guide these students as they work their way towards their dream careers”. 
  
   
  
  Through Aakash Paathshala, the panel experts from Aakash Institute will guide students with the important subject matters, what career opportunities students should explore post completion of Class X depending on their strengths, ways to improve time management and identifying practices to secure higher scores in competitive exams. The series will also underline the pivotal role of parents in helping students identify the right career and how they can be a prime source of inspiration and encouragement for the students who are in a sensitive stage owing to the high level competition across the world. 
  
   
  
  Subscribers of Airtel DTH can watch Aakash Pathshaala on Aakash EduTV - channel #467 for JEE and #478 for JEE.  
  
   
  
  The Aakash Paathshala episodes will also be streamed live on the official YouTube channel of Aakash Digital - https://www.youtube.com/aakashdigital. 
  
   
  
  About Aakash EduTv 
  
  Aakash EduTV is India’s first dedicated TV channel for Medical and Engineering entrance exams preparation. Launched by Airtel Digital in collaboration with Aakash Educational Services Limited, Aakash EduTV is available exclusively on Airtel Digital TV and provides high quality coaching sessions to students across India who are preparing for entrance exams such as JEE/Advanced and NEET. Best-in-class faculty of Aakash will teach the students through LIVE interactive classes and help students learn key concepts and solve problems. 
  
  Starting at just Rs 8.23/ day, Aakash EduTv - JEE and Foundation is available on Airtel DTH Channel No. 467 and Aakash EduTv - NEET is available on Airtel DTH Channel No. 478. To subscribe, customers can give a missed call on 8800990055. 
  
  About Aakash Edutech Pvt. Ltd. 
  
  Aakash EduTech Private Limited(AEPL) is a leading online learning platform that caters to the K12 segment and also offers comprehensive online test preparation services for students preparing for Medical and Engineering Entrance Examinations. A subsidiary of the prestigious AESL group (Aakash Educational Services Limited), AEPL comprises two distinct divisions namely, Aakash Digital and Meritnation. 
  
    
  
  Aakash Digital powerfully leverages the over 30 years of Aakash academic legacy and discipline to bring to the students an edu-tech platform that helps them prepare for JEE, NEET and other competitive exams online by bringing quality coaching, similar to that being offered in Aakash classroom, to their laptops, desktops, tablets and mobiles. Aakashdigital.com offers powerful online courses for JEE, NEET and Foundation (Class 8-10) to help students prepare for these competitive exams from the comfort of their homes. 

Sunteck Realty Limited rating affirmed ‘AA-’ with the outlook upgraded to ‘Positive’

 Bengaluru, 26^th February 2021: Sunteck Realty Limited, Mumbai’s premium real estate developer announced its long-term issuer rating affirmation of ‘AA-’ with the outlook upgraded to ‘Positive’ by India Ratings & Research (Fitch Group). The short term issuer rating has been affirmed “A1+”. 

 

The upgrade in Outlook reflects the credit rating agency’s expectation of an improvement in the business profile of Sunteck due to acceleration in the already consolidating residential real estate market, with the pandemic-related disruptions having constrained demand and supply from unorganised real estate developers. The outlook upgrade is also supported by the resilient operating performance of Sunteck despite the pandemic. The price point diversity across completed, ongoing and new project launches, prudent financial policies, strong credit metrics and cashflow visibility also provided conviction to the outlook upgrade.  

 

Commenting on the same, Mr. Kamal Khetan, Chairman and Managing Director, Sunteck Realty Ltd. said: “This affirmation of ‘AA-’ credit rating with upgrade in outlook to ‘Positive’ by India Ratings is a reflection of our continued focus on prudent cash flow management along with financial discipline. Strong operating cash flows has aided us in the further reduction of our already negligible debt. We intend to maintain this discipline going forward and focus on financial flexibility to grow our business. Our ongoing focus on execution driven by our strong in-house construction capabilities will continue to generate sustained cash flows for us. The availability of inventory across our brands and pricing spectrum creates flexibility to offer projects based on needs of various customer segments. With a strong uptick on sales front across our portfolio of projects, especially in the mid-income and aspirational segments, we remain confident of emerging as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the ongoing consolidation in the industry basis our balance sheet strength, established track record and operational cash flow visibility.” 

 

   

About Sunteck Realty 

Sunteck Realty Limited (SRL) is one of the fastest growing Mumbai-based luxury real estate development companies. SRL has an immaculate track record of having one of the lowest net Debt/Equity ratios, financial prudency and sustainable growth. The company focuses on a city centric development portfolio of about 38 million square feet spread across 27 projects. Sunteck Realty has differentiated its projects under five brands - ‘Signature’: Uber luxury residences, ‘Signia’: Ultra luxury residences, ‘Sunteck City’: Premium luxury residences, ‘Sunteck World’: Aspirational luxury residences, ‘Sunteck’: Commercial & Retail developments. The company has been a trendsetter in creating iconic destinations such as the flagship project, Signature Island at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), Sunteck City in Oshiwara District Centre (ODC), Goregaon and SunteckWorld at Naigaon - the largest township of MMR’s western Suburbs. 

 

Disclaimer 

Certain statements in this document may be forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties like regulatory changes, local political or economic developments, technological risks, and many other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the relevant forward looking statements. Sunteck Realty Limited will not be in any way responsible for any action taken based on such statements and undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. 

An impressive 135 students from Aakash Institute qualify the Indian Olympiad Qualifier in Mathematics (IOQM) Exam; Now Eligible for INMO

 Bengaluru, 22^nd February 2021: An impressive 135 students from Aakash Institute, the national leader in test preparatory services, have cleared the prestigious Indian Olympiad Qualifier in Mathematics (IOQM) Exam. The assessment was jointly conducted by the Mathematics Teachers Association of India (MTAI), Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) – HBCSE (TIFR). 

The qualified students will now compete nationally in the stage 2 of the Olympiad known as the Indian National Mathematic Olympiad (INMO). 

The number of students clearing the IOQM exam from Aakash Institute has increased consistently year on year, with this year seeing 15 students from Class 9^th clearing the exam, 42 from Class 10^th, 61 from Class 11^th and 17 from Class 12^th. In 2019, 90 students from Aakash Institute had cleared the exam, 115 in 2020 and 135 in the recently declared result. 

Congratulating the students on the impressive results, Mr Aakash Chaudhry, Managing Director, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) said: “We are very proud of our students who have made exemplary results even in this tough situation. We would like to congratulate all our students who have cleared the IOQM exam 2021. This is a huge step towards achieving their JEE dreams. We would also like to thank the parents for extending their support. The credit goes to the hard work put in by our students and faculties as well as the quality test preparation imparted at the institute. I wish them all the best for the next round.” 

Previously known as Pre-Regional Mathematical Olympiad (PRMO) and Regional Mathematical Olympiad (RMO), the National Olympiad Programme in Maths has changed the name of PRMO/RMO to IOQM for the year 2020-21. There are certain modifications made in the examination pattern and also the number of stages has been reduced to 5 which were earlier 6.   

The student undergoes some theoretical and experimental sessions and only 35-40 students from all over India compete against each other to Qualify for International Mathematical Olympiad Training Camp (IMOTC). The camp provides the orientation at all levels of theoretical, experimental, and observational (for astronomy) tasks to students. Emphasis is laid on developing conceptual foundations and problem-solving skills.  

 

Moving forward, only 4-6 students who qualify for Pre Departure Camp undergo some rigorous training programme at HBCSE for which special laboratories have been developed. To help the students, resource persons from different institutions across the country are invited to the training camps. 

The last stage which is International culminates with the participation of the Indian students (4-6) in the International Mathematical Olympiad. The students are accompanied by 2-4 teachers or mentors. 

Aakash Institute aims to help students in their quest to achieve academic success. It has a centralized in-house process for curriculum and content development and faculty training and monitoring, led by its National Academic Team. Over the years, students from Aakash have proven selection track record in various Medical & Engineering Entrance Exams, Competitive and Olympiads. 

About Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) 

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) provides comprehensive test preparatory services for students preparing for Medical and Engineering Entrance Examinations, School/Board Exams and Competitive Exams such as NTSE, KVPY, and Olympiads.  AESL believes that the “Aakash” brand is associated with quality coaching and a proven student selection track record in various Medical and Engineering Entrance Examinations, Scholarship exams & Olympiads. 

With over 33 years of operational experience in the test preparatory industry, the company has a large number of selections in Medical & Engineering Entrance Exams and several Class 9th and 10th level Scholarship exams/Olympiads, a pan India network of 215+ Aakash Centers (including franchisee), and a student count of more than 250,000. 

The Aakash group also owns the famous K-12 EdTech brand, Meritnation.com as well.