Stakeholders’ interest growing in non-financial performance of businesses: Report

2017年12月26日 SHLF 0 Comments

Stakeholders interest is growing in non-financial performance of businesses and there is a deep realization that sustainability issues have a clear correlation with business outcomes and the ability of companies to create long-term value, as per a report. The report noted that investors continue to be among the key stakeholder groups driving momentum around environmental, social and governance (ESG) actions and disclosures. The range of ESG issues that investors look at continue to grow, encompassing diverse aspects such as carbon emissions, human rights record and board diversity. The report-The Evolving Non-Financial Reporting Landscape- by consultancy firm EY highlighted the importance of ESG related disclosures. It focused on the trends in the current ESG reporting landscape, the drivers for change, Indian scenario of increased disclosure requirements and future design of ESG reporting, among others. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped with widespread awareness on actions pertaining to ESG issues. A strong sustainability implementation is the only way forward into the new normal. The sharp focus on ESG is a consequence of the need for building better business ecosystems and bringing greater resilience for the future, it said. Besides, it found that while financial reporting has evolved on account of internationally recognized accounting standards around the world over a longer period of time, sustainability disclosure is more complex due to several reasons. There exists no formal boundary for sustainability topics. It varies across geographies, markets, industries and sectors with newer issues and frameworks being added continuously. This complexity of addressing several issues under varied frameworks highlights the need for an effective, integrated and concise non-financial disclosure, Shailesh Tyagi, partner, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY India said. It highlighted an important initiative launched at the World Economic Forums fourth annual Sustainable Development Impact Summit in September 2020, where a set of universal ESG metrics and disclosures were released to measure stakeholder capitalism that companies can report on regardless of their industry or region

Implementation of NEP, 4-yr UG programme to come up in DU executive council meet on Tuesday

2017年12月26日 SHLF 0 Comments

Implementation of the National Education Policy, a four-year undergraduate programme and merger of College of Arts with the city government-run Ambedkar University will come up for discussion during the Delhi University executive council meeting on Tuesday, according to the agenda document. The implementation of the National Education Policy from 2022-23 and the four-year undergraduate programme were approved by the Standing Committee on Academic Matters and the Academic Council last week. They will come up for discussion in the meeting on Tuesday and are likely to be approved. The Executive Council (EC) is the highest decision making body of the university. The EC meeting takes up the proposals approved by the Academic Council and also some other matters that were pending from earlier meetings. The Delhi Cabinet in March took the decision to merge the College of Art, currently affiliated to Delhi University (DU), with Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD). The matter of de-affiliation of the College of Arts with DU will be discussed in the meeting, according to the agenda of the meeting circulated among the EC members. The setting up of DU Digital Infrastructure Support for Colleges and Departments (DUDISCAD) is also a part of the EC meetings agenda, the agenda read. The DUDISCD will be involved in assisting colleges and departments to develop in-house digital infrastructure. The university had earlier also said it will establish facilitation centres in Roshanpura in Najafgarh and Bhati Kalan in Fatehpur Beri on the land given by the Delhi government. The centres will save students residing in far-flung areas from a long commute to the university campus and will extend help in relation to examination and admission-related procedures. The university also has plans to set up a college in Fatehpur Beri for which the names of first woman chief minister of Delhi Sushma Swaraj, Swami Vivekananda, Veer Savarkar and Sardar Patel were proposed. In its meeting held on Tuesday last week, the academic council put forth five more names, including that of DU alumnus Arun Jaitley and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Council resolved that the name of these colleges\/centers may be given after the names of Sushma Swaraj, Swami Vivekananda, Veer Savarkar, Sardar Patel. The Council also suggested the names of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Savitri Bai Phule, Arun Jaitley, Choudhary Brahm Prakash and CD Deshmukh. After general discussion\/suggestions, the Council resolved that the vice-chancellor be authorised to finalize the name, read the agenda of the meeting. The vice-chancellor had constituted a committee for empanelment of Adjunct Faculty in the university departments and colleges, for value addition and internationalization of the academic activities, to engage the international adjunct faculty from their own resources to significantly enhance the teaching-learning Process in the University of Delhi. The discussion on appointment of international adjunct faculty is also included in the meeting agenda on Tuesday.

Govt launches e-SHRAM portal to maintain database of 38 cr unorganised sector workers

2017年12月26日 SHLF 0 Comments

Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav on Thursday launched the e-SHRAM portal to maintain a database of 38 crore workers in the unorganised sector. Through the portal, the government aims to register 38 crore unorganised sector workers such as construction labourers, migrant workforce, street vendors and domestic workers, among others. The registrations began from Thursday. It will not only register them but would also be helpful in delivering various social security schemes being implemented by the central and state governments. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sanctioned Rs 2 lakh accidental insurance cover to every registered unorganised worker on the e-SHRAM portal. If a worker registered on the portal meets with an accident, he\/she will be eligible for the amount on death or permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh on partial disability. A national toll free number – 14434 – was also launched to assist and address the queries of workers seeking registration on the portal As part of the initiative, the workers will be issued an e-SHRAM card containing a 12-digit unique number The objective behind the move is integration of social security schemes of the government. The details of the workers will also be shared with state governments and departments. A worker can register using his\/her Aadhaar number and bank account details, apart from filling other necessary information like date of birth, home town, mobile number and social category.

Samantha drops ‘Akkineni’: Actor speaks on social media trolls and her reaction

2017年12月26日 SHLF 0 Comments

Samantha Akkineni The duo, christened ChaySam by fans, married in 2017 in a private wedding. Now, Samantha has spoken to Film Companion The actor said she did not respond to trolls She added that she didn She said everyone wanted her to respond during There were nearly 65,000 tweets criticising her, but she said she would speak only when she had to and felt like. Samantha added that she would not be bulldozed into saying something. The Family Man 2 However, the show was well received across India. Samantha also expressed her desire for a challenging role in any language. She said that she had been scared of a new industry, which she thought was alien to her. However, she is now trying to knock off all her insecurities and finding her feet in the South. As a result, stepping into a new atmosphere was scary. However, the response to Samantha said she was still a hungry actor looking for the next challenge and was open to any challenge, wherever it might come from. As for Naga Chaitanya, the actor will follow in his wife

Ahead of festive season, Amazon to help entrepreneurs set up their delivery business under DSP programme

2017年12月26日 SHLF 0 Comments

Logistics for MSMEs: Ahead of the festive season, Amazon India is further strengthening its last-mile network. The company on Tuesday announced the launch of a new version of its Delivery Service Partner (DSP) programme in India that allows aspiring entrepreneurs to set up and launch their own package delivery business. DSPs are essentially local companies that Amazon partners with to deliver packages from a central location to the customers doorstep. The company already has over 40 such logistics businesses in the first batch of its DSP programme who would be supported through The company has also launched the new version of the programme in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, and the Netherlands. The tentative startup costs can vary from Rs 1.5 Lac to 5 Lacs depending on factors such as preferred location, team size, entity type, etc. Subscribe to Financial Express SME newsletter now: Amazon said since the launch of its DSP programme, it has invested over $1 billion in technology globally and as a result, 2,500 small logistics companies have created over In India, the programme has over 300 entrepreneurs managing 1,500 DSP stations across 750 cities and creating jobs for tens of thousands of locals. The expansion was to increase storage capacity at the company5 lakh sellers, the majority of which are MSMEs, the company had said in July this year. Along with offering 43 million cubic feet of storage space to our sellers, this will create tens of thousands of direct indirect work opportunities,

POS player for SMEs Mswipe eyes 3X growth in merchant count by 2024 target of acquiring NBFC license

2017年12月19日 SHLF 0 Comments

Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Ratan Tata-backed mobile point of sale (POS) player Mswipe, which focuses on small and medium enterprise (SME) merchants, is looking to grow 3x in its POS-merchant and QR-merchant base in the coming three years as it looks to acquire an NBFC license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in FY22 to become a digital small finance bank for SMEs, Mswipe founder Manish Patel told Financial Express Online in an interaction. 5 million POS (merchants) which is around 3x from today by 2024 and another 3x of 1.1 million QR merchants by 2024. We want to be an SME-focused bank as there is currently no bank exclusively focused on SMEs in the country today. There are banks that are consumer-focused, or large enterprise-focused but no bank largely focuses on SMEs at this point in time, Mswipe currently has 6.75 lakh POS merchants. In line with its move for the banking license, the startup had in July this year appointed former Cashe CEO Ketan Patel as the company Mswipe intends to one-stop-shop for SMEs with respect to payment or finance needs, buy now pay later, direct lending, managing inventory, micro ATMs, etc. The move to enter loan offering to customers is seen as a move to boost income for fintech companies in comparison to enabling payments or processing payments. In June this year, BharatPe had reportedly acquired the NBFC license in partnership with Centrum. Other fintech startups such as OkCredit and Khatabook were also reportedly looking at NBFC license. Subscribe to Financial Express SME newsletter now: Of approximately 20,000 merchants we onboard every month, every single merchant will have access to this e-RUPI feature, e-RUPI is a one-time cashless and contactless payment mechanism launched by PM Narendra Modi in August to strengthen the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme. The scheme was launched to enable Merchants would be able to accept the code or SMS without any app or card intervention or even internet banking through e-RUPI developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Importance of antioxidants for a healthy body post covid-19 recovery

2017年12月19日 SHLF 0 Comments

By Dr P.Swathi The path to recovery from COVID-19 is tiring, and it takes the right amount of rest and a balanced diet for the body to get back to its earlier health levels. Nutrition plays an important part in this journey for those suffering from COVID-19, as well as those recovering from the infection. As the virus comes with its complexity, the body usually weakens and takes a long time to get back to full recovery. Even during recovery, one deals with general fatigue and other complications on a day-to-day basis. Patients tend to suffer similar symptoms post-testing negative for COVID-19. They continue feeling weak, leaving them tired with even simple everyday tasks. Often they find it hard to concentrate or focus on their work, even after sufficient sleep. Around 30% of people recovering from COVID-19 are facing major complications due to various reasons. One of the major reasons is the use of steroids. Since high intake of steroids is needed to fight the virus, it leaves fewer nutrients in the body to rejuvenate it naturally. Another major reason is the deficiency of antioxidants, which affect the body in the long run. As a result, patients of COVID-19 suffer from fatigue, breathlessness, joint pains, hair loss, chest pain, weight gain, increase in sugars levels, heart palpitations, and blood infections, among others. Hence, it becomes important to make sure one consumes an adequate amount of carbohydrates, proteins and antioxidants. Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Selenium, Zinc, Glutathione, and Flavonoids, among others, are the antioxidants that the body generally needs for a healthy recovery. Regular consumption of antioxidants helps in preventing and managing heart diseases, balancing the pH levels in the body by pumping out the toxins through the kidney, thus contributing to the long life of the liver. Furthermore, antioxidants, also called free radical scavengers, boost one Antioxidants for cardiovascular diseases Flavonoids – Dark chocolates, tea, red cabbage, cauliflower P Coumaric acid – Orange, grape, papaya, barley, brown rice, cinnamon, peanuts, tomato, garlic, carrot Glutathione – Fish, chicken, egg, whey protein, nuts, legumes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, veggies Antioxidants for diabetes mellitus Vitamin A – Drumstick leaves, spinach, orange, papaya, carrot, betel leaves Glutathione – Fish, chicken, egg, whey protein, nuts, legumes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, veggies Antioxidants for Eye to meet vitamin to manage your CRP levels Good protein intake, anti-inflammatory foods, soluble fibre, nuts, fruits, antioxidants, iron, Vitamin C, Omega group (n-3, n-6 n-9), regular steam with hot water by add crystal salt and turmeric will help you manage your breathing problems A diet of low carbohydrate foods, including roots, tubers, whole grains, lentils, whole pulses, a lot of fruits, sprouts, veggies, nuts and oilseeds, will help manage your weight. Avoid foods like refined products sweets, sugars, and jaggery Complex carbohydrates, moderate protein, and food with high fibre and low fats, can help manage sugar levels. (The author is MS (D.F.S.M), Senior Dietician, Manipal Hospitals Vijayawada. The article is for informational purposes only. Please consult health experts and medical professionals before starting any therapy or medication. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the Financial Express Online.)

Sebi disposes of proceedings against Fortis Healthcare’s statutory auditor

2017年12月12日 SHLF 0 Comments

Markets regulator Sebi has disposed of proceedings against statutory auditor of Fortis Healthcare in a matter pertaining to its alleged role in diversion of funds. It was alleged against Rashim Tandon, partner, Deloitte Haskins and Sells LLP, the statutory auditor of Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL), that it had indirectly aided in misrepresentation and non-disclosure of material information in consolidated financials of FHL. An investigation was initiated in the matter of Fortis after an article published in February 2018 said promoters of FHL have taken at least Rs 500 crore out of FHL. Sebi had initiated investigation into the matter of grant of inter-corporate deposits (ICD) to three borrower companies. A forensic auditor was appointed to examine the alleged diversion of funds from FHL \/ its subsidiaries for the benefit of promoter or promoter connected entities. It was prima facie observed that Deloitte Haskins and Sells LLP were the statutory auditors of the company during the period when misrepresentation of financial statements of 2016-17 and first quarter of 2017-18 took place and being signatory to the financial statements, it failed to comply with code of ethics and conduct the audit in accordance with the auditing standards. However, Sebi found that at the time when the statutory auditor had started the auditing, there was no reason for an auditor to be alarmed with respect to the issue of the ICDs since the same were being already provided over a long period of time as a regular business practice of FHL and its wholly-owned subsidiary and there was no default in regular repayment of them. The investigation of Sebi does not allege or establish that the auditor was even aware of the fraudulent scheme. On the contrary, it is observed from the investigation of Sebi that the Noticee had refused to sign unqualified unaudited financial information of FHL Group (which included FHsL) pending clarity on recoverability of the ICDs, which were not repaid as contracted on September 30, 2017, it added. FHsL here refers to Fortis Healthcare Ltd (FHL) and Fortis Hospitals Ltd. The auditors conduct do not indicate any mala fide and Sebi concluded that the charges levelled against the entity cannot be sustained and thus disposed of the adjudication proceedings.

Usha International’s new campaign for kitchen appliances features actor Keerthy Suresh

2017年12月5日 SHLF 0 Comments

Consumer durables brand Usha International has launched a new media campaign highlighting its range of kitchen appliances starring brand ambassador Keerthy Suresh. As part of the campaign, Usha has released four TV commercials across traditional and digital mediums. Aimed at amplifying connect and engagement with consumers across India, Usha The films, upto 35 seconds each, have been launched pan-India, with a focus on growing Usha They have the actor in a modern home-chef avatar who revels in the joy of cooking with Usha products. As per the company, the TVC will be run in various languages including Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam for optimum reach and impact. It will be aired across a mix of vernacular GEC and news channels and followed by digital amplification across relevant platforms pan-India. ;list=PLhV0Uk5LDbT3zQrOZ8beOIDNcNRXFxhfyindex=24 ;list=PLhV0Uk5LDbT3zQrOZ8beOIDNcNRXFxhfyindex=25 We are making sure we reach and assist consumers in their journey of need recognition, information gathering, purchase, and post-purchase experience, by being present across all mediums of communication and ensuring an omni-channel presence for a seamless experience. South India, which is amongst the priority markets for Usha, with an evolved consumer base, high penetration of appliances, and an appreciation of the benefits of different categories of appliances and with this campaign, we are looking to further strengthen our connect with consumers and increase our brand salience not just in these markets but across the country as well, Read Also: Havas Creative launches digital campaign for JBL Follow us onTwitter,Instagram,LinkedIn,Facebook

Despite Covid-19 challenges, Indian Railways records highest freight loading & earning in August 2021; details

2017年12月5日 SHLF 0 Comments

Indian Railways records highest freight loading earning in August! Despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Indian Railways has continued to maintain the high momentum in freight figures in terms of both, loading and earning during the month of August. According to a statement issued by the Railway Ministry, during August 2021, the freight loading by Indian Railways was 110.55 million tonnes which is 16.87 per cent higher compared to the month of August last year (94.59 million tonnes of freight loading for the same period). Apart from the noteworthy improvement in freight loading, Indian Railways has also earned an amount of Rs 10,866.20 crore from freight loading during the month of August 2021, which is 20.16 per cent higher compared to August 2020 (freight earning of Rs 9,043.44 crore). According to the Railway Ministry, the important items transported by the national transporter during August 2021 includes 13.53 million tonnes of Iron Ore, 47.94 million tonnes of Coal, 3.60 million tonnes of Mineral Oil, 5.77 million tonnes of Pig Iron as well as Finished Steel, 4.16 million tonnes of Fertilizers, 6.88 million tonnes of Food Grains, 6.3 million tonnes of Cement (excluding clinker) as well as 4.51 million tonnes of Clinker. The statement by the Railway Ministry further mentions that a number of concessions and discounts are also being given in the Indian Railways network in order to make movement of goods attractive. The Railway Ministry has further claimed that the speed of freight trains services in the existing rail network has been enhanced. According to the ministry, improvement of speed in freight trains leads to saving of costs for all stakeholders. During the last 19 months, the speed of Indian Railways freight trains has doubled, the ministry stated. Besides, the Covid-19 pandemic time has been used by the national transporter as an opportunity to upgrade all round efficiencies and performances, the Ministry of Railways added.