FCM unveils bold new brand identity and “signals game-changing tech offering”

Bengaluru, 10^th March 2021 : A rapidly evolving business travel landscape has been the catalyst for award-winning global travel management company FCM to transform its brand identity and take a fresh approach to developing a new tech platform. 

With the global pandemic causing a seismic shift in the business travel industry, FCM has made it a priority to address customers’ pain points and their travel programmes by investing in new technology, rapid implementation, enhanced account management and sustainable and secure travel. 

FCM’s bold new look is designed to showcase the brands’ distinctively flexible and unconventional approach to providing agile travel management services to its customers globally and locally. The end-to-end rebrand has been launched in 97 countries across all websites, customer communications and social media platforms.   

A core component of the announcement is that FCM is forging ahead with development of a ground-breaking proprietary technology that directly targets customers’ pain points with current and legacy corporate travel technology. The in-house platform is an omnichannel offering that is being developed following extensive research globally among customers to understand the different concerns of their bookers, travellers and managers. Findings of this research revealed customers need an all-encompassing platform that is consistent across all markets, but also fully flexible with a positive user experience and simple user interface.   

FCM’s Global Chief Technology Officer Adrian Lopez said the vision for the platform is based on addressing six key pillars: a globally consistent booking experience; always available travel assistance; traveller safety and wellbeing support; sustainability; AI powered reporting and savings, and flexible integration capabilities.  

“The development of FCM Platform’s core experience is already well advanced, including a new proprietary online booking solution planned for key markets and integration of AI enhanced chatbot tool Sam as the digital ‘avatar’, providing live chat and real-time assistance across all of the platform’s channels,” said Lopez. 

With powered-up features like AI powered reporting, allowing a search experience similar to that of Google for actionability of data, customers in several regions around the globe have a lot to look forward to as they begin testing the FCM Platform prior to the first phase of onboarding later this year.
 

“We are very excited to unveil FCM’s new brand and also to reveal that 2021 will be a landmark year with the launch of our ground-breaking proprietary technology platform,” said Marcus Eklund, Global Managing Director, FCM.  

“Our customers tell us that FCM is unlike any other TMC, that we have a flexible approach and don’t box them into solutions. Our DNA is very different and we have always prided ourselves on having an alternative mindset. But that wasn’t historically reflected in our brand identity. It was time for FCM to stand out in the market as a true alternative to the traditional service offering of large global TMCs, or the digital-only business travel offering of the tech disruptors.”  

“We are proud of our long journey and humbled by the constant support and encouragement received from our partners and customers. The identity refresh is just the beginning of a wave of strategic initiatives ready to be rolled out, both internal and external, by leveraging our technological expertise to create solutions and practices that will help our stakeholders at large. With this development we aim to honour the community and help them meet their expectations.  It’s not just a colour change, it also represents our ethos, our people and our alternative mindset that makes us stand apart” said Rakshit Desai, Managing Director, India, Flight Centre Travel Group.  

 

Notes for Editors  

• A video introducing FCM’s new identity can be viewed here. 

About FCM: 

Discover the alternative 

FCM is one of the largest travel management companies in the world, and the flagship global business travel division of Flight Centre Travel Group –so when we say global network, we mean it.  Operating in over 97 countries across the world, our team exists on a global scale. We’re all about supporting each other and staying connected so that you know you’re in good hands, no matter where you are in the world.  Globally connected, flexible, and a little unconventional — we make sure that wherever you’re going, you can always go your way. Whether you have regular international travel needs, take single trips at the last-minute, or want to consolidate your business travel services and costs across multiple countries — FCM’s global network has the experience, reach and negotiating strength you’re looking for in a travel partner. Discover the alternative at www.fcmtravel.com 

“Eleven Students from Aakash Institute in Bengaluru” secured 99 percentile and above in the February session of JEE Mains 2021

 Bangalore,10^th March 2021 : Eleven students of Aakash Institute from Bengaluru have made the state and the institute proud by scoring an impressive 99 percentile and above in the February session of JEE Mains 2021 Examination. Notable students among them are Shiva Sudhan Rajamani securing 99.73 percentile, Sn Sooraj Skanda securing 99.7 percentile, Ankita Harsha Murthy securing 99.6 percentile, Akash Sinha securing 99.4 percentile and Praveen K securing 99.2 percentile. 

The results were announced by the National Testing a short while ago. This was the first out of four Joint entrance exam for Engineering scheduled to be held this year. 

Other achievers who have scored above 99 percentile includes Vignesh Pai scored 99.91, Yukta Rajapur 99.49, Bharath N Gowda 99.34, Chinmaya Sahu 99.18, Anirudh Rao 99.1 and Karthikeyan Jaganathan 99.04.  

Congratulating the students on the impressive feat, Mr. Aakash Chaudhry, Managing Director, Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) said, “It is a matter of great pride for us that our 11 students from Bengaluru have excelled in the first session of JEE Mains 2021 entrance exam. The credit goes to the hard work of our students, the support of their parents and instructors who have guided the students throughout their journey. Our quality test preparation is renowned in the industry for preparing students to excel in medical and engineering entrance exams. I wish them the best for future endeavours.” 

The students credited their outstanding performance to hard work and the excellent coaching provided by Aakash IIT-JEE instructors for the examination, which is considered among the toughest in the world. The JEE Mains Exam is applicable for admission to NITs, IIITs and CFTIs. 

This is an impressive feat considering that more than 6.5 lakh students have registered for JEE Mains from across the country. 

About Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) 

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL) provides comprehensive test preparation 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 preparation industry, the company has a large number of selections in Medical & Engineering Entrance Exams and several Foundation level Scholarship exams/Olympiads, a pan India network of 200+ Aakash Centres (including franchisee), and a student count of more than 250,000. 

AESL also owns the famous K-12 EdTech brand, Meritnation.com. 

Website: www.aakash.ac.in 

Paytm launches Soundbox 2.0 & Smart POS; targets 50 Lakh IoT payment devices

 India's leading digital financial services platform Paytm today introduced its latest Internet of Things (IoT) based payment devices, Soundbox 2.0 and Paytm Smart POS for Android phones. The company that started its journey by being the pioneer of QR-code based payment technology has expanded into IoT payment devices with Paytm All-in-One Android EDC devices, All-in-One Android Pocket POS, Soundbox among others. It has built the country's largest network of over 2 crore merchant partners and has helped them grow their business exponentially by empowering them to accept digital payments via Wallet, UPI, Cards and net-banking. It continues to lead offline retail payments with over 9 lakh merchants benefiting from Paytm IoT devices. The company is on a mission to bring 5 crore merchants into the mainstream economy and equip businesses with 50 lakh IoT devices over the next few years. 

 

Presenting SoundBox 2.0, the latest advanced version of Paytm’s innovative IoT device that enhanced the trust in digital payments 

Paytm Soundbox has played a pivotal role in establishing digital transactions as a safe & secure mode of payments, enhancing the trust of businesses and consumers to move digitally. With this IoT-based device, merchants do not need to keep checking their mobile phones for confirmation helping in increasing efficiency and reducing queues & customer waiting time on the shop floor. Instant voice-based confirmations of payments help merchants keep track of all transactions protecting them from getting duped by customers showing fake screens and false confirmations. Small merchants with feature phones, do not need to depend upon SMS confirmations. It has also enabled smooth & seamless digital payments for home delivery as the delivery executive can get instant voice confirmation after a QR-code based payment is made using the device. 

 

The positive impact on the lives of small merchants and hawkers was clearly visible during a recent interaction of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with a woman fruit-seller Preeti. When asked about the device placed on her cart, she confidently displayed the Paytm All-in-One Soundbox explaining how it helped her to accept digital payments and get confirmation instantly. She said, "Achaa hai na? Saamne Waala Paagal Nahi banaa Sakta". ("It's good no? No one can make a fool of me"). 

 

With its success, Paytm has now introduced an all-new Soundbox 2.0, a 'Made in India' advanced IoT device that is powered by Paytm's All-in-One payments & reconciliation technology. This new device comes equipped with a digitally enabled screen that gives instant visual confirmation of the paid amount along with the voice-based response. Merchants can also tap the 'function button' twice to fetch the payment summary for the entire day. This device is beneficial for merchants starting from street hawkers, medium to large retailers as it helps them in maintaining records of all transactions and streamlines all payments made during the day. 

 

Paytm Soundbox 2.0 smart device also empowers merchants to record the net amount corresponding to the merchant's collection along with voice-based confirmation. For example, the device during the closing hour would play the following message, "Today's summary for Paytm QR code: Received 10 payments of Rs 100, done 3 refunds of Rs 20, Net amount to be settled is equal to Rs 80." It also announces when the device has a full battery life of running out of charge. The device comes equipped with a 2000 mAh battery, has a SIM card slot and can be operated without a wifi connection.  

 

While it is available in five languages including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu & Kannada, the company plans to add more regional languages including Marathi over the next few months. It comes equipped with Paytm All-in-QR, which enables merchants to accept unlimited payments at zero percent fees directly into their bank account. There are several easy payment plans which the merchant can choose from to acquire a Soundbox. Also, as it is battery operated that helps street hawkers with no stable power source to accept digital payments on the go. By incorporating technological advancements the company has brought in the next wave of digital payments in IoT devices. 

 

Paytm Smart POS for Android phones: Empowering merchants to accept card payments through their smartphones 

 

After enabling digital payments with QR-code technology and democratising financial services in the country with a host of services, the company has now launched yet another technological milestone, the Paytm Smart POS for Android phones. This application transforms a smartphone into a device that accepts debit & credit card payments just like a normal EDC machine. Supported by the Paytm for Business app, the one application to manage all business, the Smart POS enables merchants to seamlessly start accepting contactless card payments anytime, anywhere. The company has partnered with leading financial services institutions including Visa & MasterCard for facilitating card payments for Smart POS. It would soon be live with Rupay as well. 

 

Paytm aims to equip millions of street hawkers, small merchants, MSMEs, tuck-shop owners, kirana stores who have smartphones with this service. 

 

Merchants simply need to sign up on the Paytm for Business App, after which they will be required to download the ‘Paytm Smart POS’ on their Android-based mobile phones. Once downloaded, merchants can start collecting payments from their customers by tapping the card on the back of their smartphones. The payment is then successfully collected and transferred to the merchant’s account along with the other QR payments. This provides the businesses with a single-point easy reconciliation.  

 

Extensively used by over 1 crore merchants, the Paytm For Business app is the one application to manage all business needs, view all their transactions in one place, order Paytm QR merchandise and also transfer payments instantly to their bank accounts at any time. They can also avail multiple business services & financial solutions such as loans, insurance, among other services. 

 

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO of Paytm said, "Paytm is committed to bringing new-age financial technologies and services to 5 crore small and micro-merchants in India. Today’s launch of Soundbox 2.0 and Smart POS for Android phones expands opportunities for small businesses to experience these latest technologies at the most affordable price. Our in-store payment offerings including the pioneering All-in-One QR are examples of the best Made in India technology." 

 

TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa said, “Contactless payments or tapping to pay with a contactless card or mobile device, have fast emerged as the preferred way to pay globally with nearly 60 percent of Visa transactions outside of the U.S. occurring with a tap. Paytm’s foray into the contactless card payment ecosystem will truly help propel the adoption and usage of contactless cards across India. As a pioneer of the Tap to Phone solution with EMVCo, at Visa we are particularly excited about Paytm Smart PoS’s ability to offer a seamless, convenient and interoperable solution for merchants that will help them accept payments securely from millions of contactless cards in the market” 

 

Dilip Asbe, MD and CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said, "Paytm has played a vital role in the country's payments revolution & has initiated the digital journey of millions of Indians. To give an example, a few days back for my local purchases, I was paying by scanning Paytm interoperable QR code using BHIM UPI. After the successful transaction, as a normal practice I asked the shop owner whether she received the payment. At the same instant, I heard “50 rupees received” and she smiled and said ‘Aunty ne bola – Aa Gaya’. I believe, this kind of frugal innovations truly connects Indian small merchants with digital payments and aids tremendously to create trust. NPCI strongly believes that our dream of enabling a billion transactions a day can only be achieved if all of us come together to help the ecosystem grow." 

 

Paytm recently announced that it has achieved over 1.2 billion monthly transactions led by the massive growth in offline payments and financial services. It has the highest market share in offline payments with 15% M-o-M growth. Close to 50 percent of its merchant partners hold a Paytm Payments Bank account and benefit from its new-age digital banking services.  With this achievement, the platform has consolidated its leadership position as the largest digital enabler promoting all payment methods including Wallet, UPI, cards and net-banking. It has been the main driving force behind encouraging digital payment adoption in villages and has trained lakhs of merchants helping in the proliferation of online transactions. Through these initiatives, the company continues to be one of the key contributors of Atmanirbhar Digital Bharat. It has successfully led the digital journey of millions of Indians and guided them through the process of making online transactions to availing all banking financial services on the app. 

 

About Paytm: 

Paytm is India's leading financial services company that offers full-stack payments & financial solutions to consumers, offline merchants and online platforms. The company is on a mission to bring half a billion Indians into the mainstream economy through payments, commerce, banking, investments, and financial services. One97 Communications Limited that owns the brand Paytm is founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and is headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. 

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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