Archive: February 28, 2023

SOTC Travel expands retail presence in Gujarat

Gujarat, February 28, 2023: SOTC Travel, a leading omnichannel travel and Tourism Company inaugurated its new retail store in Anand. The new store will serve as a hub for nearby areas of Nadiad, Dakor and Khambhat as well, thus reiterating the Company’s strategic focus to expand its footprint in the state. Gujarat features as an important source market for SOTC Travel and offers the company a range of valuable segments like Gen Z/new age travellers, millennials/young professionals, families, couples and business owners/traders.

The Company’s internal survey highlights insightful travel trends from Gujarat. A significant 70% of Gujaratis are keen to take a holiday and to cater this high potential market, SOTC Travel has introduced an array of offers like special Gujarati tours Gurjar Vishwadarshan, Early Bird discounts, complimentary cruise experience on Europe Holidays, ready to book and customized holidays. Customers are also displaying growing interest for experiential holidays, adventure holidays, domestic tours and cruises.

Contact Details
SOTC Holiday World
202, Maruti Skand, V.V Nagar Rd,
Above Metro Shoes, near Sony Centre,
Anand, Gujarat 388001

Mr. Daniel D’souza President & Country Head – Holidays, SOTC Travel said, “Gujarat has been a strong source market for us at SOTC, and we continue to witness high uptick in demand. We are delighted to open our new franchise store in Anand that also caters to nearby locations of Nadiad, Dakor and Khambhat. The store is centrally located thus allowing us to target valuable segments like Gen Z/new age travellers, millennials/young professionals, families, couples and business owners/traders. Our expanded portfolio of holidays have something for everyone – from customized holidays to luxury and premium holidays, also group escorted tours. We extend a warm welcome to our customers and forward to plan your next holiday with us.”

Top international and domestic destinations in demand – Europe’s Switzerland, France, Finland, Austria; Turkiye, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA (for visa holding customers), South Africa, Japan, South Korea, Abu Dhabi, Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore; also Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andamans, Kerala, North East; and Bhutan, Sri Lanka in the Indian subcontinent.

SOTC Travel’s new outlet offers end-to-end travel solutions with an array of services, including: International & Domestic Holidays (Group tours, Personalised Holidays, Cruises, etc.), Value Added Services like Travel Insurance; Visa Services, etc.

Paramount Group gifts flowers and plants to workers of Paramount Golfforeste in Greater Noida

NCR’s leading real estate company Paramount Group organised a special day and gave flower bouquets as an earnest gesture to workers and staff support at its residential project, Paramount Golfforeste, located opposite the Zeta sector in Greater Noida. The special occasion was dedicated to the cleaning staff, security personnel, and various groups of workers who have tirelessly worked to keep society clean and safe.

They were gifted with flowers and plants as a token of gratitude. They were praised by the residents for their proactive services and management. The workers also extended their warm-heartedness at receiving encouraging appreciation and validation for their work.

Talking about the special day, Dheeraj Bora, Marketing Head, Paramount Group, Paramount Group, said, “We decided to honour the workers who have kept great care of the Paramount Golfforeste society. They have always shown a sedulous work approach and executed their tasks in a proper manner. We gave them flowers and plants, symbolising our gratefulness and respect for them.”

ESIC Hospital in Sanand, Gujarat to be built with the Design and Plan by Prateek Parashar

Union Minister Govt. Of India Bhupendra Yadav awarded the first prize in the National level competition

New Delhi, 28 February 2023. Prateek Parashar, a student of Poornima University (PU), Jaipur was awarded by the Union Minister of Employment and Labour, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupendra Yadav for preparing the best plan and design of an upgradeable ESIC hospital from 350 to 500 beds. On the occasion of ESIC Foundation Day, Prateek was honored with a cheque of one lakh rupees and a citation as wining the first prize at a grand function organized at Dr. Ambedkar International Center, New Delhi. Based on this design of Prateek, a hospital will be built in Sanand town, in Gujarat State in short while. It is notable that Prateek Parashar is pursuing his Master in Urban Planning from Poornima University (PU), Jaipur.

In this regard entries from all over the country were invited for this design competition organized by the Employees State Insurance Corporation, Government of India. Out of which the plan and design prepared and presented by Prateek Parashar was declared the first winner by the Jury members. Prateek hilighted the concept and salient features of the Plan that this hospital can be upgraded from 350 beds to 500 beds. In this campus three blocks of the hospital building will be constructed. In this plan blocks of OPD; Emergency and Mother Child care & IPD are proposed serving different purposes for segregating the patient’s and visitors with interconnection by bridges at different levels. Hence there will be no unnecessary crowd of patients and their relatives in the single building. In this design, separate spaces have been fixed for green area, buffer space and shops of medicine, other useful shops. Along with this, special attention has been given to other important points including sustainability, natural light, solar energy and rain water harvesting and storage.

It is notable that Prateek’s father Sri Chandra Shekhar Parashar has retired from the post of Additional Chief Town Planner in the Government of Rajasthan and is currently working as ACTP & Coordinator in Nagar Nigam Jaipur Heritage.

All you need to know about prostate gland

Changes in urinary pattern after 50’s may be a sign of enlarged prostate

– Dr Vipin Sisodia, Consultant- Urology, Yatharth Super Specialty Hospital, Greater Noida

Prostate gland is the most talked about organs in men that usually enlarges with aging (especially after 50 years of age) and obstruct the urine flow. There is a dire need to raise awareness about the importance of the effective functioning of this gland, and if someone notices a change in the pattern of the normal passage of urine, it is important to seek urologists’ opinion. A urologist would categorize your symptoms and run some tests like urine exam, ultrasound, uroflowmetry and Prostate-specific Antigen (PSA).

For most of the mild symptoms one may not need any treatment but only lifestyle changes would help. But in case if the symptoms are bothersome, affecting sleep or disturbing daily routine, further group of medications may help in subsiding the symptoms. The first group of medicines helps in relaxing the muscles outlet and the second group of medicine is prescribed to reduce the size of the prostate.

“In some patients’, despite medications the symptoms worsen leading to blood in urine, recurrent Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) or changes in the backpressure in the kidneys, and a prostate surgery remains the only option. The surgery is different from the one done for treating prostate cancer, it is an endoscopic surgery done by passing an endoscope through the urethra, a tube inside the penis and prostate is removed in chips to create a lumen for smooth passage of urine. Energy to cut the prostate may vary from electric current to laser energy, and as the procedure is done under anaesthesia, the patient may require hospitalisation for 2 to 3 days.

The second common problem of the prostate is cancer. 15% of all men have chances to develop prostate cancer with the increasing age (after 80 years of age) irrespective of the genetic condition. In such cases the progression of the disease is slow with high survival rates in comparison to prostate cancer caused due to gene mutation.

Despite the fact that the prevalence of prostate cancer among Indian men is 25 times less than those in the western countries, it is still the 12th leading cause of mortality and morbidity in India.

Prostate cancer being one of the most common types of cancers among males usually grows slowly and during the initial stages remains confined to the glands. In comparison to other cancers that are highly metastatic in nature, prostate cancer is less common under the age of 50 years.

As the stages progress, the condition worsens and may lead to bone fractures, spinal pain, fecal and urinal incontinence and weakness in legs. Those vulnerable need to undergo PSA test to confirm or rule out the possibility of prostate cancer, and if the prostate levels are high, MRI of the prostate followed by prostate biopsy may be done. Once the diagnosis of the prostate cancer is confirmed, then imaging in the form of bone scan or PSMA PET CT is done to check if the disease is localized within the prostate or metastasized to other body parts.

If cancer is localized to the prostate, then surgical treatment is the best option particularly if the patient has symptoms. Radiation and hormone therapy is an alternative to surgery. For surgery, the whole prostate is removed instead of channelling done for non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate. The robot is used by the surgeon to facilitate the removal of the prostate and it is not done by the robot as commonly perceived. Surgery may affect men’s sexual power and may cause temporary urine leaks for which they have to wear diapers for 2 weeks to 3 months. 98% of men get better as for as continence is concerned by one year.

Retail Leaders Discuss Strategies to Build Sustainable Retail Businesses at RAI Retail Leadership Summit 2023

February 2023, Mumbai: The retail industry came together at the Retailers Association of India’s (RAI) Retail Leadership Summit (RLS) 2023, on February 22 & 23 in Mumbai, for a deep dive into building sustainable omnichannel retail businesses.

The 2023 edition of the summit was presented by Reliance Retail.

Speaking about the RLS 2023, Kumar Rajagopalan, Chief Executive Officer, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said, “Retail in India is showing signs of good growth. However, global issues around inflation as well as the Russia-Ukraine war have created a source of constant worry. Technological adoption, coupled with infrastructural progress helps Indian retail keep a sense of positivity. RLS is a good platform for retailers and retail service providers to come together, converse, and connect to create better standards of retail.”

The tone of the summit was set by Bijou Kurien, Chairman, Retailers Association of India (RAI). Speaking about the opportunity for small retailers, he said, “There is a great opportunity for small retailers to digitally transform their businesses. Technology can be adopted in batches, on a revenue model; rather than as a large capital investment. UPI has revolutionized payments and ONDC can do the same for commerce. Small retailers can attain the capability of large retailers, and achieve a sustainable advantage.”

The highlights were the keynote address delivered by Ashwin Khasgiwala, Chief Operations Controller, Reliance Retail Ltd. & Director, Reliance Brands Ltd. (day 1- Feb 23) and the in-depth one-on-one discussion of Peyush Bansal, Co-Founder, Chief Executive & People Officer, India, SE Asia, Middle East with Bijou Kurien.

Speaking about Retail as a profession, Bansal, said, “I think we need have pride in the fact that retail is a profession. Today, most B-school graduates want to pursue careers either in consulting companies or in the FMCG space. I feel that a chunk of them need to start joining the retail industry, which will make retail as a profession shine, and to make this change of mindset to happen will take a lot of work. And this is the area where I want to impact the most.”

Special addresses were delivered by B S Nagesh, Chairman, Shoppers Stop and Founder – TRRAIN, on; and Sagar Daryani, Co-Founder & CEO, Wow! Momo Foods.

Other highlights included Knowledge Reports by RAI with BCG titled “₹400 Bn EBITDA Opportunity with Advanced Analytics and AI in Retail,” which offers a comprehensive look at the potential opportunity in the Indian context was unveiled and presented by Abheek Singhi, Managing Director and Senior Partner at BCG; and with ANAROCK titled ‘India Retail Real Estate: REvived, REshaped, & REinforced: providing an outlook of the retail real estate sector’, was also unveiled and presented at the RAI Retail Leadership Summit 2023 by Anuj Kejriwal, CEO & Managing Director – ANAROCK Retail.

The Summit saw the participation from several retail leaders, as well as top names in the retail service provider space.

Speaking about the outlook of the garment industry in India, Kulin Lalbhai, ED, Arvind Ltd., commented, “One of the negatives of this online hypergrowth is that it has been stimulated by using discounts as a crutch. Hopefully, over time as the market matures this excessive reliance on discounts to grow the business should subside. Secondly, brands should work to have a unique personality and value proposition, which will be good for the market.”

Speaking about the retail landscape of India, Venu Nair, MD & CEO, Shoppers Stop Limited, said, “The shift in shopping behaviour during the pandemic has made omnichannel a key way of shopping, where retailers and brands have now brought in the convenience of phygital shopping, and that in itself is leading to a significant amount of both change and increased consumption.”

Speaking about the potential of the footwear segment, Gunjan Shah, MD & CEO, Bata India Ltd, said, “We should see a lot more production happening in India from pack-end sourcing and a supply chain perspective. I think for brands this will also give great opportunities in terms of bringing technologies into products as well as big export opportunities.”

Speaking about the evolution of the Indian retail industry, Abhishek Ganguly, MD, Puma India & South East Asia, said, “Brands and retailers that will evolve faster and understand the consumers’ needs better and faster and solve for that will stand to gain.”

The summit had a plethora of captivating panel discussions on topics such as:-

▪ Retail Strategy: Scenario Planning to Build a Sustainable Business

▪ Building Powerful Retail Brands: Implementing Your Unique Value Proposition

▪ Online + Offline = Unified: The India retail growth story

▪ Tech-enabled 360-degree collaboration: Success in an omnichannel world

▪ Collaborative efforts in promoting sustainability in retail: Lessons learned and best practices

▪ Reimagining digital Consumer Engagement – Going beyond just the Shopping Journey

▪ Recreating the Magic of Retail: Technology’s role in enhancing Customer Experience

▪ Digital Transformation and its impact on Retail Growth and Customer Experience

▪ Retail Platforms and the Future of Consumer Shopping Behaviour

▪ Innovative Retail Marketing Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Customers

▪ Scaling a retail startup with shark investment: Strategies for leveraging investment to grow their businesses

▪ Win your Customer through Conversation: How CX impacts Business Growth

Roundtable discussions at RLS 2023 included topics such as:-

▪ Simplifying Retention for Retail & CPC Industry

▪ Retail Disruptors: Economy, Consumers, Data, Ecosystem & Innovation. What is Your Big Bet?

▪ Future of Retail: Navigating the Evolving Landscape and how to Drive Growth in 2023 and Beyond

▪ Understanding & Adopting Non-linear Customer Intelligence to accelerate Business growth

▪ Integrating Payment Technologies in Point of Sale: Strategies for CFOs to Drive Business Growth

▪ Future of Talent Acquisition in Sourcing Retail Growth

The first day of RLS 2023 came to a close with the grand felicitation of the crème de la crème of the retail industry with India’s Retail Champions Award 2023 and the Retail Start-up Awards 2023—both evaluated by eminent personalities from the industry as the Jury.

Winners of India’s Retail Champions Awards 2022 were:

Auretics Witnessed 50 percent Growth in the Month of December- 22 & January-23

February 2023: Auretics Limited, a retail platform that deals in natural and top-quality health and wellness products while empowering individuals through Direct Selling Marketing Model witnessed 50% growth in the months of December 2022 & January 2023.

Madhurodhi (topical spray-based solution for Sugar Management) remained the No. 1 choice of everyone, followed by MultiAmmrit, HBP Care, VigourSure and Speedex. Seeing such trust of people, Auretics plans to revive its strategy to give more incentives to new distributors along with increasing retail margins on new launches to provide better income and savings to its distributors.

For the near future, the platform plans to increase its CareVed Range (ayurvedic supplements range) by 15% by adding new and innovative products.

Commenting on the same Arjun Gupta, CEO Auretics Limited said, “We, at Auretics are envisioning to grow and expand our network with our associates and assist them in leading a bright future with good health and financial freedom. Also, we are also committed to being an environment-friendly, socially, and morally conscious organization that shall comply with all the relevant legislation and regulations of our beloved country and shall establish a sense of trust and integrity through its mission to achieve proficiency in the direct selling industry.”

The credit won’t be a hurdle in the businesses of industry: Shri Atul Kumar Goel, MD & CEO, PNB & Chairman, IBA

28 February 2023, NEW DELHI: During the interactive programme the “Power Evening” Punjab National Bank- An Industry Interaction with Punjab National Bank’s Leadership organized by Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) Committee of PHD Chamber in collaboration with Punjab National Bank at PHD House, New Delhi, Shri Atul Kumar Goel, MD & CEO, Punjab National Bank & Chairman, Indian Banks Association (IBA) promised the industry that credit won’t be a hurdle in their businesses.

Mr. Goel sincerely thanked PHDCCI for such an opportunity to connect directly with the industry and create a win-win situation. He appreciated PHDCCI’s pioneering role in promoting industry and acting as a catalyst for the economy.

Mr. Goel said that this was one of the best times for the industry to do business, given the transforming business environment and evolving banking support. Mr. Goel added that the Indian economy has been one of the fastest growing economies and the MSME sector has been the driver of this growth. He said that credit growth in the last year has increased by almost 17% which is a record high and MSMEs registration on the Udhyam portal has doubled from 64 lakhs in 2021 to more than 130 lakhs in 2022.

Mr. Goel talked about the numerous challenges faced by the MSMEs in obtaining financial assistance and how over the years government schemes like CGTMSE, ECGLS, PMEGP, PSB loan in 59 minutes, Stand-up India etc have been instrumental in overcoming such challenges. He even added that how budget 2023 has been trying to kick start the MSME sector post pandemic with funding of 9000cr in CGTMSE fund, presumptive taxes changes, Vivad se vishwas scheme etc.

He also indicated his vision of transforming PNB into an IT Company providing banking services. Mr. Goel also highlighted how the financials of the bank have been improving given its consistent decline in gross and Net NPAs on a quarter on quarter basis. Lastly, he initiated a conversation for a Bank-Industry connection via reputable chambers like PHDCCI so as to create a win-win situation for all the parties.

Shri Binod Kumar, ED, Punjab National Bank briefed about the Punjab National Bank and detailed about the Large Credits of the bank.

Shri M. Paramasivam, ED, Punjab National Bank said that Punjab National Bank will provide a facility of single point of contact to serve the members of PHD Chamber. He also briefed about the mobile application of Punjab national bank having 235 products.

Shri Saket Dalmia, President, PHD Chamber said that the Industry-Banking Partnership will improve economies of scale by encouraging small firms to grow and become larger enterprises. Amongst other things, this will require effective mutual understanding that allows us to derive ‘collective efficiency’ from local & external economies.

He also mentioned that the banking industry is one of the most essential financial pillars of the financial sector. It is critical for a country’s economic development that its trade and industrial funding needs are handled with greater commitment and responsibility.

Shri Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, BFSI Committee, PHD Chamber said that in today’s scenario access to information is easy and banks can use the data analytics modelling for underwriting process. He discussed venture capital and debt capital.

Shri Saurabh Sanyal, CEO & Secretary General, PHDCCI gave vote of thanks & concluding remarks for the session and Shri Ashish Agrawal, Co- Chairman, BFSI Committee, PHDCCI moderated the session.