The accelerator programme in partnership with US Consulate General, Hyderabad; Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and BASIX Sub-K, seeks to support ten growth stage start-ups providing lending, payment and insurance solutions with focus on agriculture, healthcare and energy sectors.
The unique offerings of this accelerator are access to research and insightful data at ISB and an opportunity to co-innovate with established ventures and organizations. The Knowledge and Investor Partners will come together to support the selected startups to identify their challenges and provide complementary strengths to scale operations.
ISB is inviting applications from startups to pitch their ventures in the following categories
Scale – Early stage startups with solutions in lending, payment and insurance, seeking to accelerate/scale their solution/product to the next level.
Co-Innovate – Startups willing to expand or pivot their agritech, healthcare, fintech or energy solution to provide alternate banking solutions by partnering with a well-established organization.
The selected startups will be provided with mentorship, advisory and networking opportunities to meet each of their respective business goals through February 2019 to June 2019.
Interested start-ups can apply at envision.isb.edu. Last date for application – December 15, 2018. For more details about the Envision programme and selection criteria, you can email the team at envision@isb.edu or call (040) 23187032
About DLabs
DLabs is the incubation and acceleration arm of Indian School of Business set up in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. It aims to support the creation of a vibrant and high impact entrepreneurial ecosystem focused on innovation in key sectors including technology commercialization. DLabs leverages the vast resources, expertise and networks of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at ISB through mentorship, education and investor connect.
There are a lot of sayings about the awesome feeling called ‘Love’. Many say that marriages are made in heaven and there is only one happiness in this life – ‘to love and to be loved‘. This concept has been depicted in many Indian movies and it also brings a feel-good factor in the audience present in the theater. Many novels have also been written on the same theme and surprisingly, most of them portray frustrated love and the upheavals it causes in life. If you ask any of your friends or colleagues about their ideal life-partner, the first quality that most of them look in their partner is ‘loving & caring attitude’. Many times, that feeling of everlasting love dies with time and the reason should be introspected by ‘the couple who was once madly in love with each other’.
The point to ponder over here is ‘If love is such an overwhelming emotion in human society, then why it does not last?’. Why is humanity losing faith in the existence of true love? Why are people losing faith in the institution of marriage? These are some of the important questions that would come to your mind when you hear the word ‘True Love’.
As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of books that preach about love or showcase ‘rosy things’ about that amazing feeling, but sadly you cannot employ their learnings in real life since situations are completely different in reality. This is what prompted noted author Shubha Vilas to come up with a book that explores the idea of eternal love, love that withstands the test of time. Unlike other books in a similar genre that only depict fictional love stories, his book ‘Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship’ is a thought-provoking narrative that presents six attributes of relationships that can make your love story a phenomenon that lasts a lifetime.
Shubha Vilas holds a degree in engineering and law with a specialization in patent law. But in essence, he is an author, a motivational speaker, lifestyle coach, and a storyteller par excellence. You can find more about him here
Detailed Review
Since childhood, many of us have been listening to mythological stories like the Ramayana, Mahabharatha, etc. and characters & learnings are in someway etched in our minds. There are many characters in each of these series that are ‘ideal portrayal’ of real love. Like Shubha Vilas’ previous books where he utilized the medium of ‘mythology’ to come up with stories & learnings that can still be implemented in today’s era, the stories in this book is primarily derived from the Mahabharatha, the Srimad Bhagavat, and the Kathasaritsagara. The book comprises of selected six stories that have nail-biting twists and turns with edge-of-the-chair adventures. These are the tales of adventure and intense love, love that tests the limits of patience in lovers who find their faith in unconditional trust, compassion, and forgiveness.
Nala and Damayanti, Krishna and Rukmini, Shakuntala and Dushyanta, Udayana and Vasavadatta, Satyavan and Savitri, Draupadi and the five Pandava brothers – these are the accounts we may have heard many a time but not had an opportunity to understand in such depth and detail, and with such empathy. These stories are narrated in a beautiful manner, which keeps the readers engaged & connected, even if you have no prior knowledge about mythology or the central characters mentioned in the book. The stories are written in a simple, yet artistic manner so that it strikes a chord with the audience. In case you already have prior knowledge about these mythological characters, the book would add a fresh perspective to your understanding. Each chapter/story in the book ends with a crisp write-up about the learnings from the same. This is a similar format followed in his other books and we are glad that Shubha Vilas has stuck to the same format 🙂
The title mentions 5.5 ways and not 6; the primary reason is that the sixth way is a half-truth, which can be twisted either way. Below is the list of chapters in the book
Wheel of Fortune
The Golden Letter
A Silent Voice
The Other before Oneself
The Woman who Chose
A Condition about Conditions
There are many one-liners in each chapter and each word in the one-liner conveys a lot of meaning that makes you ponder about love, life, and yourself. Some of the notable one-liners are below:
Just like birthmarks on your body reveal your identity, your values are birthmarks on the soul that reveal your character.
When you jump to conclusions, you land in the quicksand of confusion. Ask rather than bask in conclusions.
Love is planted by active care, rooted in trust, watered by words, nourished by struggles together, protected by commitment, decorated with fond memories and made to blossom with reciprocation.
When you don’t make choices, life will not give you options.
To accept reality one needs dignity and humility. Dignity to stand after a fall and humility to say, ‘I tried’.
Attachment and detachment are twins that look alike but have completely different natures.
The cost of love can only be paid by the currency of sacrifice.
A disturbed person is looking for hope, not advice.
The only thing that is predictable about the future is that it’s unpredictable.
Just as one ant in the ear of a huge elephant throws it off completely, sometimes a tiny defect in a human being, amongst oodles of good qualities, messes up his life completely.
It is these small factors that add a lot of punch in each story and this is what makes the book ‘Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship’ a read whose learnings can be incorporated in real-life. You can refer to these learnings when you are at a crucial & critical juncture of your love-life!
Closing Thoughts
Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship is a book that can be read again and again since it reveals many profound thoughts that can nurture a different aspect of your life. This is one thing that is true for any book written by Shubha Vilas.
You may ask that in an era when the institution of marriage itself is being questioned, does it make sense to read a book that talks about love stories of stable marriages from an ancient age? You can find out the reason by delving deep into this book. Combing powerful story-telling with deep philosophical truths, ‘Perfect Love: 5.5 Ways to a Lasting Relationship’ is a treasure trove of scriptural wisdom for the modern age.
For beginners, terms like intraday trading, technical analysis, trades, may seem confusing and complicated. But, these terms are the very basis of trading in the market. Well, here is a handy guide for intraday trading beginners.
Image Source – Trading
What is intraday trading?
Intraday or day trading is a type of trading strategy in which shares are bought and sold on the same day. This means, the net profit or loss on the transaction immediately accrues to the trader, on the same day. In contrast, in delivery-based trades, the stock gets credited to the account of the investor, with full payment being made. The same process is done for a sale transaction, where the consideration is received when the share is debited from the demat account of the investor.
In intraday trading, since the stock is bought and sold on the same day, the trader immediately gets to know the net profit or loss on the transaction. He does not have to pay for the entire trade. He either earns the net profit or has to pay the difference.
Things to consider before you start intraday trading
Intraday trading is inherently risky. Predicting the direction in which the market and the prices for a particular stock will swing is difficult. If you are not a risky investor, then it is best to not try intraday trading.
Intraday trades may be profitable on one day, but may also bear losses the next day. Since all open positions are closed in intraday trading, it is important to calculate returns over a period of time and not daily. Over time, with good strategies, intraday trading can turn out to be very profitable.
Intraday profits and losses are treated as speculation incomes under Income Tax Act. The taxation rules for them are different. Before getting into intraday trading, it is best to read through the rules.
How to begin with intraday trading?
Intraday trading is only possible with a demat account. So opening a demat account is the obvious first step. You can open a demat account with any reputed depository participant like Kotak Securities who will be able to service your trades and provide you support and insights as well. One factor to consider for brokers is to choose the one who provides low brokerage.
The next important point to consider is the stocks to pick for intraday trading. It is best to pick a few stocks to trade in. For beginners, it is best to pick stocks that are liquid, such as large cap stocks that have constant demand. Picking these stocks will ensure there will be sellers and buyers for the stock.
Picking a few right strategies for intraday trading is essential. Before getting into intraday trading, it is best to study the company and pick the right stock for the purpose of trading. Deciding a few strategies such as the entry and exit price will help to ensure losses are minimized.
Conclusion
Intraday trading is a high risk high reward investment strategy. With the right broker and the right support, it is possible to make a decent return from this. Beginners are recommended to do their research before they get into this form of trading. But by picking a broker like Kotak Securities who provides exhaustive support and knowledge, it is possible to turn intraday trading to your benefit.
CLOUDSEC India 2018,hosted by Trend Micro Incorporated, attracted more than 650 business and technology leaders this year, making it one of the most important cybersecurity conferences in India. During the event, Trend Micro highlighted security-as-code and security automation as two important trends defining the future of cybersecurity. These two trends are in line with application development in the cloud computing era. By moving security into the early stages of the development lifecycle – or implementing DevSecOps, bugs can be discovered and fixed quickly before they make it to production.
Trend Micro has seen tremendous growth in India this year, especially in its cloud security business, which now contributes to nearly 40% of its overall revenue in the country. The company observes strong uptake of private cloud from the banking, financial services, and insurance [BFSI] sector; and that of public cloud from manufacturing, e-commerce, IT and IT-enabled Services [ITeS] sectors, and born-in-the-cloud businesses. New local customer acquisitions from 2017 to 2018 include the State Bank of India (SBI], the Syndicate Bank, Lupin Pharma, Bandhan Bank, PolicyBazaar, and Capillary Technologies, to name a few.
Addressing the crowd, Nilesh Jain, Vice President, Southeast Asia and India, Trend Micro said
India presents a huge and strategic opportunity for our business, and we will continue to invest in the country. In fact, early next year, we will be launching a Certification Program in IT Security [CPITS] in India. The program aims to equip recent computer science graduates with hands-on experience and skills, helping them kickstart a career in the cybersecurity industry with Trend Micro. We have successfully run CPITS in Egypt and Brazil, and India will be the first Asian testbed for this exciting initiative.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this October, Trend Micro has always evolved with the industry andconsistently expanded into new growth areas. Today, the company operates three major solution categories: hybrid cloud security, network defense, and endpoint security. At the same time, Trend Micro keeps a close pulse on emerging threats with the help of its threat research teams located across the world. For the next ten years, the company’s mission is to secure the connected world, giving enterprises the agility and freedom for adopting new technologies.
About CLOUDSEC
Founded in 2011, CLOUDSEC has established itself as a global community for cyber security experts and professionals. The CLOUDSEC tagline ‘Have a Safe Journey’ aims to inspire technology professionals and users to embark on a continuous learning journey to explore and learn about industry trends, best practices, and new technologies to secure the digital infrastructures, and manage the technological risks of their organizations in safely supporting their corporate goals. For more information, please visit CLOUDSEC.
About Trend Micro
Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud workloads, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and investigation, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 6,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat research and intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their connected world. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.
Pitney Bowes, a global technology company that provides commerce solutions in the areas of ecommerce, shipping, mailing, and data, published key findings from the 2018 Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce Study. As online retailers and marketplaces prepare for record volumes of ecommerce orders this holiday season, the study found that 61% of consumers globally felt let down by their online shopping experience during the last holiday season. This figure is up significantly from 47% in 2017, and 41% in 2016.
Consumers pointed to post-purchase experiences, including items arriving late, expensive shipping, tracking inaccuracies, confusing returns policies, and lost or incorrect items as reasons for their dissatisfaction.
Lila Snyder, President of Commerce Services at Pitney Bowes, said
More and more, consumers are telling us that the post-purchase experience – what happens after the order – is every bit as important, if not more, than the shopping experience that occurs before the order. The silver lining for retailers: consumers are giving you the blueprint for how to get it right, and those who get it right will be rewarded with customer loyalty and revenue growth.
Consumers in India are shopping online more frequently, and they prefer marketplaces. Nearly everyone is shopping online – 94% of consumers globally; unchanged year-over-year. But, the frequency with which consumers shop online is accelerating. Globally, 35% of online shoppers make an online purchase at least weekly. In India, 68% of online shoppers are purchasing from a marketplace, as opposed to a shopping with an online brand.
Lila Snyder, President of Commerce Services at Pitney Bowes, added
The uptick in shopping frequency, while welcome news for retailers, is also contributing to the rise in consumer dissatisfaction. Individual consumers are spending more time shopping online and waiting on products, creating a greater probability for a bad experience. As volumes rise, retailers are struggling to keep up with the demand in terms of physical infrastructure and the technology to manage it effectively.
India prefers fast and free shipping
The study shows that consumers start to make judgements on the post-purchase experience even before placing their orders. At the same time, consumers are becoming more demanding in their expectations for ‘fast and free’. Only 47% consider 2-day free shipping ‘fast’.
Lila Snyder, President of Commerce Services at Pitney Bowes, further added
If there is one finding for retailers to pay attention to, it’s this one: fast and free shipping is a must. Retailers invest millions of dollars in marketing to drive consumers to their ecommerce sites, but all of that expense and effort is for naught if they don’t also invest in attractive fast and free shipping offers that meet consumer expectations.
Consumers still rank ‘free shipping’ as more important than ‘fast shipping’. Globally, 76% of consumers prefer ‘free’ over ‘fast’. In India, 56% of consumers prefer free shipping over faster delivery.
A bad post-purchase experience can cost retailers multiple customers
According to the study, 90% of online shoppers in the US will take an action that can hurt a retailer’s brand in response to a bad post-purchase experience. Their reactions range from sharing their frustrations on social media to never purchasing from the offending site again. Among millennials, 30% will go public about their poor experience, complaining in an online review or social media post, potentially affecting the buying decisions of their entire social networks.
The importance of the post-purchase experience voiced loud and clear by consumers was further validated by the results of retailer surveys. Successful high-growth retailers [25% or greater YoY revenue growth] place a greater emphasis on the post-purchase consumer experience than their slower growth competitors. This includes providing services like free returns and day-definite guaranteed delivery. 54% of high-growth retailers offer 2-3 day free shipping, while 60% of low-growth retailers [10% or less YoY revenue growth] offer 4-7 day free shipping. High-growth retailers also tend to meet or exceed consumer demands for accurate, real-time tracking, free and fast shipping, easy returns with pre-printed labels, prompt refunds and even attractive branded packaging.
One trend that may be influencing expectations around quality of packaging is the growth of subscription box services. 27% of online shoppers are subscribed to at least one such service, including 51% of millennials and 47% of households with children.
Lila Snyder, President of Commerce Services at Pitney Bowes, said
Successful high-growth retailers and brands not only exceed their customers’ expectations on the post-purchase experience, but they leverage every consumer touchpoint to build brand awareness, further strengthening customer loyalty.
In the battleground for consumer attention, the study found that marketplaces continue to soak up 60% of online purchases, but it also found opportunity for retailers who invest in their brand and delight consumers throughout the shopping and post-purchase experience. 61% of online shopping occurs when the consumer knows specifically what brand and product they are looking to buy. In these cases, more than half [54%] prefer to buy from a retailer website over an online marketplace. This presents an opportunity for brands and retailers to build customer loyalty and trust by repeatedly delivering exceptional post-purchase experiences.
The same rules apply for cross-border shopping
The cross-border ecommerce market continues to mature. For the first-time, fewer consumers said they were shopping cross-border dropping from 70% in 2017 to 64% in 2018. The US, China and Japan were the only countries where the number of cross-border shippers increased in 2018. Still, the market continues to grow because those who are shopping cross-border are doing so more frequently. This was true in nearly every country we surveyed. Twelve-percent of consumers globally are now shopping cross-border at least weekly, up from 10% in 2017.
Consistent with the results of the study, frustrations with shopping cross-border can be attributed primarily to shipping that is too slow, or too expensive. Other frustrations include the inconvenience of returning unwanted items and poor customer service.
The 2018 Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce Study is based on surveys of more than 13,000 consumers in 12 markets, combined with surveys of 650 retailers in the US, UK, India, and Australia. The report is intended to help guide retailers and marketplaces in their investment decisions and go-to-market strategies.
The Department of AYUSH was set up by the Government of India in 2003, and this was done to raise awareness about the benefits of traditional medicine. Medical health insurance companies are slowly making coverage policies to include AYUSH in order to benefit the common man.
So, what is AYUSH? This term encompasses all of Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy; the entire alternative forms of medicine as compared to conventional medicine. Once the Indian government set up the department of AYUSH, it paved a way to the setting up of the Ministry of AYUSH in 2014.
One of the major advantages of AYUSH is the low cost of medicine and treatment. This is one of the major reasons that people are switching over to AYUSH as compared to conventional medicine. Of course, the effectiveness of the medicine from natural methods is also a major reason as to why people are switching to AYUSH.
Because the Ministry of AYUSH has become a part of the central government, it has become easier for almost all medical health insurance companies to provide policies and coverage for alternative medicine.
In the year 2012, it became obligatory for all the medical health insurance companies to provide coverage for alternative medicine as requested by the IRDA [nsurance Regulatory and Development Authority].
Coverage and limitations
Medical health insurance providers offer coverage for all the medical expenditures that are incurred on all inpatient treatments at the hospital under AYUSH.
Some medical health insurance companies have a certain fixed amount of insured money which can be settled under AYUSH; and usually, in most cases, these companies do not offer cashless payment methods. The majority of the declarations or claims are reimbursed only when the insurer submits the necessary documents that are needed.
An important thing to take notice about would be that in order to get insured under AYUSH, the treatment must take place in a government hospital accredited by either the National Accreditation Board or the Quality Council of India.
There are some medical health insurance companies that have already set a pre-determined limit for the amount of insured money which can be settled under AYUSH.
It is essential to take note that AYUSH coverage policy provided by the medical health insurance company is for the cost of the treatment alone and not for hospitalization charges in terms of evaluation or investigation. If the treatment process is taking place at a healthcare facility and not a hospital, the insurer will not be able to claim the payment.
It is essential to read the entire document to fully understand the complexities of the contract as well as to avail the advantages of it.
The Bottom Line
If you are looking for buying an AYUSH medical insurance cover, it is necessary to pay the extra amount, more than what you would’ve paid under any other medical insurance policy. Furthermore, it is important to note that if an insurer already has a declaration under AYUSH, it is not possible to get the same treatment covered under conventional therapy methods.
Kolkata’s Diverse Non-Veg Menu Makes it a Meat Lovers Food City. However, Meat procured from butcher shops, local vendors & supermarkets is often from animals raised under the unhygienic and inhumane condition of common feedlots, and grossly overburdened slaughterhouses.
Finding fresh and chemical free meat has now become a challenging task. Those who don’t have secret local butchers or nearby delis who sell cold cuts and special cuts of meat, have to make do with frozen packaged goods. However, there’s a new service in town called Kolkata Meat, which can deliver the 100% fresh meat right to your doorstep.
With a mission and aim to change the meat buying experience for the meat lovers, Kolkata Meat has come up with a technology integrated platform to solve all the issues of finding safe and 100% halal meat. The startup aims at delivering the best quality of meat through an e-commerce based platform, making it convenient for the customers to get quality meat in any place.
From the past 2 years, the team of Kolkata Meat was indulged in their research and analysis on how to deliver the best quality meat to their customers. Therefore, they are confident that their products will be fresh and preservative free and also free from all kinds of antibiotics and hormones, which are sourced from the farms daily.
Kolkata Meat’s products include fresh chicken in a variety of forms, mutton chops and cuts, kebabs, seafood, sausages, and cold cuts.
How the service is Impeccable?
Kolkata Meat partners with high quality farms to bring the freshest meat from only the best breeds, bypassing local mandis, wholesalers and butcher shops. Meats are delivered hygienically through a unique end-to-end cold chain supply that ensures consistent freshness from farm to table without freezing or exposing meats to any preservatives or water. Kolkata meat guarantees same day stock delivery within 2 hours or on prescribed schedule.
With the strong ties to a network of expertise, we are able to distribute the higher level of value and freshness. Therefore, our products that arrive at your doorstep are the best quality and most delicious obtainable, where every product of ours are being examined, tasted, and then screened by our teams having a couple of years of experiences. So when it comes to your dining plate you enjoy each bite of it with great satisfaction.
The distinguishing factor about Kolkata Meat is, it will deliver the meat in a vacuum pack where the meat will remain fresh and in a hygienic form. Kolkata Meat is the first exclusive online meat delivery company in Kolkata which is having an android and iOS for the convenient consumers, who can order meat on their fingertip.
About the Founders
Startup founders Alam Brothers built their business using hard-won survival skills not only in Indian railway water projects but is all set for the Kolkata meat with their different strategy and business tactics.
Blockchain implementations are mostly POCs being done in the hope to convert them to fully fledged projects. The main real world implementations are still not mainstream. There are many factors in play but one of the most prominent one is positioning of technology itself.
Image Source – BlockChain
Satoshi Nakamoto and his Bitcoin are for sure the reason for the popularity of the Blockchain or DLT in general. Blockchain technology professionals understood the problems with Bitcoin technology, its positioning and moved on with furthering the idea with new innovations.
The activists and enthusiasts are however still fixated with promises of the Bitcoin’s whitepaper, and would want to eliminate the intermediary with Blockchain technology. One should acknowledge that the activists helped a lot to keep Blockchain active in public memory for a decade when there was no real impact on the ground. One can understand their enthusiasm and motivation.
The problem is with good intention people in business and technology community who are still in the awe of the promises of Bitcoin. They are now hurting the cause and becoming the burden by forcing the one thought or one defined checklist for any Blockchain implementation. I think technology should be allowed to evolve organically and is not made the prisoner of the ‘original idea’.
I believe ‘Identifying the business problem you want to solve‘, and will be the key to the success of any Blockchain implementation [rather than the phrase ‘Blockchain implementation’ it should rather be ‘Blockchain network setup’ and ‘application implementations’ on that setup].
Eliminating intermediaries is Utopian idea where one is asking to get into business transaction wherein one has to believe set of programmers of Blockchain platform rather than entity that can be dragged in the court of law in the situations of dispute.
I think the right approach is to eliminate the frictions in business processes where multiple parties are involved. Intermediary could still be there as entity to ensure accountability, but Blockchain could minimize the inefficiencies by redesigning the business processes where entire chain is acting on same platform as a distributed workflow. And this workflow is not owned by a single entity but by all in the network.
One also has to start thinking of building capacity within organization to setup the necessary infrastructure so that business processes can be redesigned. The second good thing one has to attempt is to choose the ‘right platform’ to setup Blockchain network and build applications.
