|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

India’s most trusted diagnostics partner CORE Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd is supporting a comprehensive discussion platform for Oncologists and medical experts to talk in depth about the Indian perspectives on genetic mutation and its role in augmenting cancer risk at the 2nd chapter of the Indian Cancer Congress.  Over 3500 oncologists have converged at the conference to talk about latest strategies in treatment and prevention against cancer.

Image Source – CORE Diagnostics

The event is being held from Nov 8th~12th in Bengaluru and has experts in medical oncology deliberating upon the Indian as well as global perspectives in the incidence of different types of cancers and the causes of their rising prevalence.  A rapidly expanding start up and an expert in Oncology testing, CORE have constantly differentiated themselves by their innovative edge in the diagnostics market.

Keeping up with the newest technologies in the cancer detection and prevention space, CORE has an entire section dedicated to the latest buzz in the segment called COREtalks at their booth. Some of the featured talks include BRCA: An Indian perspective on incidence and patterns, Liquid Biopsy: An answer to when tissue is an issue and Next Generation Sequencing and beyond in the management of Cancers – Where do we stand?  CORE is also hosting a Lunch Symposium on Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence in Oncology – The Myth & the Reality as well as participating on several debates and panel discussions.

CORE Diagnostics has also initiated a one of its kind effort to boost innovation as a means to usher in potentially game changing ideas in the field of Indian healthcare.

Underlining the need for promoting innovation in healthcare, CORE Diagnostics’ Founder & Managing Director, Zoya Brar said

Putting appropriate thrust on innovation can bring about revolutionary solutions in healthcare. This is particularly important for a country like India where dynamic ideas are needed to expand the reach of quality healthcare to rural as well as remote areas. In this direction, for the first time ever at a conference, with a platform as great as the ICC, we are hosting a unique ‘Startup Pitch Fest’. This fest will provide a one of its kind platform to boost brilliant ideas in the healthcare domain that can play a pivotal role in diagnosis and positively impact patient treatment. The winner gets cash prizes worth INR 3 lakhs. I am very excited and look forward to hearing from the selected finalists for COREcatalyst on November 10th.

About CORE Diagnostics

CORE Diagnostics is a clinical laboratory focused on next generation diagnostics for disease stratification and therapy selection. The company focuses on bringing the most advanced testing techniques and expertise to India and is the destination for all of India’s high-end diagnostic needs. CORE Diagnostics has a rich menu of high-end tests; provides a second opinion on every test from a global panel of pathologists; and has the shortest turnaround time. For more information, please visit CORE Diagnostics

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 2 Comments

India is perceived as the most exciting market by major brands and global conglomerates. Whether it’s for shopping, education, or employment opportunities; the country and its people present a promising picture. As the country grows, so do the aspirations of its people. Changing aspirations now include pursuing higher education from an institute of global repute, a wish to own a car, a perfect picture of an exotic vacation, or a house with a great view and decor. These growing aspirations and desires make way for a flourishing economy and an exciting future for the country.

Finance is a mere makeshift arrangement that one needs to do for achieving larger goals or fulfilling some long cherished dreams.

Kiara, a Senior Business Analyst, loves the way her career is going with a reputed financial services company. She makes good money and has set milestones for the future. While she is busy pursuing her career, she is absolutely thankful to her parents for their support and encouragement throughout her education and job. She felt it is the right time in her life to do something for them and also spend some quality time with them. Travel is a great passion that she has always shared with her parents, so she decided to take a trip to Europe along with them.

She decided to surprise them and started checking with some travel agencies for a good deal on the Europe package. After doing the needful, she had a figure in mind that she needed to arrange for booking the package. Considering her finances had gone into multiple investments; she decided to approach a financial institution to avail a personal loan for travel. Eventually, this trip turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences for Kiara and her parents.

There are many aspirations that keep us awake through the night and dreams that never leave our thoughts even during a busy and hectic workday. Ryan had a similar objective in his life that he could stop thinking about even for a second. He is a software engineer from an acclaimed organization in Bangalore and is doing well for himself.

However, after completing his Bachelor’s in Engineering he wanted to pursue MS at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). While he was planning to appear for GRE, he was worried about financing this further education. Yet, he decided to go ahead and attend GRE classes and eventually got a good score. He did some research online and decided to take an education loan under the Personal loan category to fund his MS.

Financial independence can work wonders for individuals who have defined their goals and aspirations. Whether it’s for owning a house, a car, a gadget, a piece of equipment, or taking up a long pending business expansion; personal loans are a way of fulfilling what you thought was difficult but not impossible to achieve. You can calculate how much you repay using a personal loan EMI calculator.

Aditya always wanted to take up photography as his career choice and make it big as a wildlife photographer. However, due to family pressure and commitments, he had pursued MBA in finance and today he is a successful Investment Banker at a global consultancy. Yet, his dream for pursuing photography never went away.

He still takes up those weekend drives to sanctuaries and wildlife reserves to pursue his passion. While on a photography trip with his gang he realized that he needed to desperately upgrade his camera lenses for a better experience and image quality. Finances were not a hiccup for him, however, all his finances were locked up in multiple investments such as home loan, mutual funds, and so on. Hence, Aditya decided to go online and take up a personal loan to provide for his aspiration to become a much better photographer.

Aspirations give hope and hope gives a reason to live a fulfilling life and push on. Present-day financial institutions such believe that finance is a minor hiccup in the way to achieve your goals. So, we bring for you a seamless digital platform that enables you to get an easy access to any kind of personal loan – Travel loan, Home renovation loan, Education loan, and even a Medical loan.

|In: Business|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

As an entrepreneur, it would be your dream to drive your business growth profoundly. While doing so, you might make some severe mistakes for which your business ends up being in the dead zone. The situation gets even worse when you can’t figure out the effective solutions to fix things hotfoot. Sounds critical, right? Well, it’s indeed a matter of concern!

Image Source – Business Failure

It would be a great idea to identify the main reasons for which things are not going your way. Knowing this would also help you to figure out how to cope with those complexities.

First of all, ask yourself the following questions

Do I have sufficient resources available for my business? Unless your business gets financially secured, things can become too much challenging in the midway.

But there’s more to be resolved tactically… Even with right kind of investment, having top-notch management skills become a major issue. This can streamline your scattered efforts into the path of success. So, don’t ever forget to employ people with outstanding managerial skills.

While thriving on your business venture, look closely whether things are going according to the plan. Focus on the core aspects and try to meet customer needs efficiently. Having the right idea about customer needs and market knowledge can help to increase your brand awareness significantly.

However, there are many more reasons that hinder your business growth. Want to know those reasons with effective solutions?

Here’s how you can do it:

Just go through the infographic on the 18 common problems of business failure and effective solutions. It has been developed by MyTasker, a leading virtual assistant company. It sheds light on several aspects such as:

  • Inadequate profit
  • Premature scaling
  • Not having a Plan B
  • Choice of location

and much more…

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Exotel, one of Southeast Asia’s largest cloud telephony platforms have announced capabilities that can help stock brokers record calls and be compliant in a matter of minutes without any IT help or hardware infrastructure.

To prevent unauthorised trading activities, market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India [SEBI] has directed stock brokers to compulsorily keep a call record of all orders placed by clients from 1 January 2018. This is to ensure that there is a definite proof of customer orders that can be accessed in case of a dispute which is  a result of complaints about unauthorised trades from customers.

Speaking on Exotel’s initiative, Shivakumar Ganesan, CEO & Founder, Exotel said

There is a limited time frame for stockbrokers to become SEBI compliant. Given this scenario, Cloud Telephony is the best way to record calls in a safe, secure and easy to use manner.

Exotel helps businesses manage their business phone system via a virtual phone system.

Exotel’s cloud telephony platform

  • Records every single conversation – Calls routed via Exotel are recorded and available for access via a simple to use dashboard. The calls are stored on the cloud. The storage is safe, secure and easy to use.
  • Is cost effective – Pay as you go. No maintenance cost. Get started with a simple mobile phone. The system scales and upgrades as per your needs.
  • Allows work On the Go – Don’t be chained to a desk. Take customer calls from anywhere without compromising on compliance
  • Enables speedy setup – Calls need to be recorded starting Jan 1st, 2018. Very little time to set up a robust system. Exotel does this with ease.
  • Allows easy retrieval – Calls are stored in a safe and secure way on the cloud. These recordings can be retrieved from our dashboard, downloaded and shared as per your convenience.
  • Is feature rich – Exotel offers a lot more than a simple call recording. Set up IVR systems, add agents as you grow, keep track of your daily conversations, etc. You can build complex call flows with a simple drag and drop interface.

To help stockbrokers better understand the offerings, Exotel has set up a micro-site to provide information. Please log in to this page to learn more about this.

|In: Funding|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Noida based startup, AHA Taxis [a division of WAAH Taxis Pvt Ltd], India’s leading online aggregator for outstation travel, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Series A funding from ah! Ventures and Lead Angels Network. The company plans to use the funding to expand its reach to newer geographies, and further strengthen the operations and service offering to customers.

The  IIT-IIM team led venture, AHA Taxis is set out to make inter-city travel easy, convenient and enable a user to save 40~50% on outstation taxis in over 350 cities across India, with 24*7 availability on mobile and web.

Amit Grover, Founder of AHA Taxis said

Three years back, we set out to solve a uniquely Indian problem of affordable and available outstation taxis. I am proud to have built a solution which caters to thousands of customers and drivers every day. Our investors’ show of confidence in our approach, despite the presence of biggies like Ola/Uber, is a big positive.

Traditionally, inter-city taxi operators charge a return fare from customers even for one-way trips, as they are not assured of passengers on the return journey. AHA Taxis addresses the issue of double fare charges for outstation taxi travel by integrating technology, marketing and operational efficiency, leading to a highly viable alternative to trains and buses.

Giving an investors’ perspective, Harshad Lahoti, Founding Partner & CEO of ah! Ventures, said

Since ah! Ventures’ seed round investment in AHA Taxi, the company has grown over 10X to 1,000 cities and 10,000 routes. Besides, despite the immense competition through applications such as Ola and Uber, AHA Taxi has created their own space and doing consistently well in maintaining the set standards and providing satisfaction to their customers. The positive reactions from their customers is a clear indication that AHA Taxi is on the right track and will create their own niche space in the near future. We are positive of their service offering & technology and also of their ability to create significant shareholder value.

In 2015, AHA Taxi had raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from ah! Ventures platform. Besides ah! Ventures now backing them again in the current Pre Series-A round, more new investors from Lead Angels Network have also participated.

Sushanto Mitra, Founder – Lead Angels Network, said

The estimated $12B market of inter-city taxi services market has seen many causalities, however, with their focus on unit economics and frugal operations AHA Taxi has ensured its place in this high potential market.

Post it’s seed funding round in 2015, AHA Taxis has grown 10X on key metrics and already achieved operational break-even on monthly basis. Its taxi network today covers far-flung areas including Haldwani, Kasol, Kharagpur, Rameswaram, Somnath apart from all metros. AHA Taxis has developed key technologies for automatic driver allocation, auto-pricing, vehicle tracking, number masking and all of this has been done by its in-house technology team.

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Daiwa committed to bring the latest technology to India at budgeted prices, announces the launch of its service app ‘My Daiwa’. This is in line with Daiwa’s strategy to provide the best in class customer experience with 24/7 on-demand after sales service to the end consumers, among various other utilities.

The highly differentiated and interactive customer experience aims to demystify the experience of accessing after sales service. The app shall allow scheduling installation/repair appointments and estimating service costs, accessing service history/current status, one call connection to Daiwa emergency assistance service, notification inbox for latest updates, service feedback mechanism & also allows you to Register your product for standard/extended warranty.

Speaking on the launch of the app, Arjuun Bajaj – Director, Daiwa, said

We strongly believe the key to every successful brand is ‘After Sales Service’. Effective After sales allows brands to build stronger connect with the consumers. Not only this extension assures a peaceful buy but also brings a stronger connect with the consumer. We hope we are able to serve our customers better in an Industry where brands are many but when it comes to building relations with customers they become handful. We are here to change the stereotyped perception of the TV Industry.

The Daiwa app can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

About Daiwa

With over 33 years of experience in TV industry, under the Group company ‘Videotex International Pvt. Ltd.’ Daiwa entered the TV Segment in India with one purpose; offering unprecedented, groundbreaking technology with unmatched quality products and prices.

The brand ensures consistent quality and uniformity in its offerings; its SMT [Surface Mounting] for making motherboards in India, Clean Room for Panel assembly, MI [Manual Insertion] line, Automatic FA [Final Assembly] line sets new benchmark for manufacturing quality and facilities in India. For more information, please visit Daiwa

|In: Finance|Last Updated: | 1 Comment

Life today isn’t as easygoing as it used to be in the past, where people lived well into their nineties. On the contrary, the life expectancy in the country has gone down drastically to about 70 years.

Image Source – Health Insurance

This can be owed to the fast-paced life we live, where most of us are subject to daily stressors, pollution, and even a sedentary lifestyle. Bearing this in mind, a lot of us invest in health insurance policies, also known as medical insurance, in order to safeguard our finances in case our health takes a toll on us.

With regard to medical insurance, a lot of us assume that the only benefits of a health insurance policy are having our hospitalization costs covered. However, that is not true. As a matter of fact, there are several other advantages that you probably aren’t aware of. And we are here to shed light on the seven hidden benefits of a health insurance policy.

Free health check-ups

Some health insurance companies offer free health check-ups from the first year when you buy any of their health insurance plans. These health check-ups are not only free but also cashless, provided the insured undergoes a check-up at a hospital that is predetermined by the insurance company.

Attendance allowance

In the case of your children being hospitalized, insurance companies also grant something called ‘attendance allowance’ to the adult accompanying them, as part of mediclaim benefits. However, this benefit is only for children who have a health insurance policy.

Daily hospital allowance

When a person is hospitalised, apart from the costs of hospitalisation, there are many other expenses that come into play. Some of these are daily food and travel expenses that the family members of the patient have to incur. And at the end of the patient’s hospitalisation tenure, these expenses amount to quite a bit. As part of their mediclaim benefits, a number of health insurance companies grant ‘daily hospital allowance’ where a daily allowance is provided

Domiciliary treatment

On several occasions, when a patient has outdone his time in the hospital, the family decides to take him home and treat him there. While you may not be aware of this, many health insurance companies today also cover these home-care costs, known as the domiciliary costs of the insured patient. However, the costs and the number of days that are covered under this benefit are limited. This is one many medical insurance benefits that you need to know about.

Recuperating benefits

One of the most challenging phases for both the patient and the family is when the patient has been discharged. This is where the convalescence or recuperating benefit comes into play. Here, the insurance company pays the insured patient a lump sum if he has been hospitalized for about 7 to 10 days at a stretch. This amount covers costs like loss of income due to hospitalization and, in a few cases, family member visits to the patient.

Bariatric surgeries

These days, obesity is not only a common phenomenon but also a life-threatening condition. Understanding this, several insurance companies even cover the costs for bariatric [weight loss] surgeries. However, the cost of such a surgery is covered only if it is done for purely medical purposes.

Fitness rewards

This benefit will motivate you to get fitter. Some health insurance providers reward you with fitness points – the fitter you are, the more points will you earn. These points can then be redeemed against your health insurance policy at the end of the year or even used against medical check-ups or medical bills. Insured individuals need to sync their pedometers or fitness bands with their health insurance provider’s fitness app, where all their activities and the number of calories they have burned while performing these are monitored. If that isn’t reason enough to work out, we don’t know what is!

It is advisable to avail of a health insurance at an early age in order to gain the maximum medical insurance benefits. So, opt for a health insurance now and take advantage of all these benefits!

|In: Technology|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Wisdomjobs, one of India’s leading end to end online recruitment and career solutions portals, have released a report on How companies are striving to improve the quality of hirings. Wisdomjobs surveyed 120 companies across Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Pune to understand their focus on improving quality of hire, and the metrics they employ to improve the quality of their hires. This survey includes companies from IT, E-Com, Retail, FMCG, Real Estate, Pharma and Manufacturing sector.

Image Source – Quality Of Hiring

Companies have different hiring methodologies. Some focus on cost-effectiveness and quick turnarounds while others prioritize long-term success of their hires within the organizational template. Whatever the methodology, the single-most effective parameter to measure the success of a company’s hiring process is ‘quality of hire’. While some companies also place emphasis on ‘time to hire’, it is the quality of their hires that impacts organizational performance over time.

Quality of Hire [QoH] helps companies measure the long-term value of a new hire. While it is a vague and often subjective measure, it offers the best indicator of an organization’s ability to onboard quality talent through its hiring processes.

Companies use several metrics such as performance of new hires, turnover and retention ratios, and satisfaction ratings by hiring managers to quantify the quality of their hires. However, certain aspects like employee engagement and cultural fit are intangibles that are difficult to define and measure. Figures like cost per hire, volume of hires etc. measure the effectiveness of the recruiting process but not the quality of employees hired through that process.

Upon releasing the report, Ajay Kolla, Founder & CEO, Wisdomjobs said

The single-most effective parameter to measure the success of a company’s hiring process is ‘quality of hire’. In the long run, companies need to develop an effective quality of hire measurement based on parameters defined by all organizational stakeholders. Standardized assessments and realistic expectations can help companies to quantify the quality of their hires to the extent possible.

The Quality of Hire Measurement

  • 45% of respondents agree that Quality of Hire is the single most valuable metric to evaluate team performance.
  • However, only 29% of them feel that their Quality of Hire measurement is effective, while only 10% feel that their metrics are best-in-class.
  • 52% said that they use Performance Reviews as the key metric to measure Quality of Hire.
  • 32% said that they use Retention Rates as a key metric to measure Quality of Hire.

16% use Hiring Manager Satisfaction to measure Quality of Hire.

Has measuring QoH improved hiring quality ?

Measuring QoH will help companies to understand how their recruitment practices are impacting the quality of employees being hired by them. However, several companies are unable to utilize these measurements to create a significant change in the way they hire.

  • Nearly 40% of companies said that measuring QoH had a significant impact on their hiring processes.
  • 25% of companies said QoH measurement had only a moderate impact on the way they hire.

10% of companies said that QoH measurement had no impact on their hiring processes.

What channels are companies banking on to improve QoH ?

Most companies are making conscious efforts to improve the quality of the candidates they hire by opening several channels of engagement with potential hires. From social media engagement to employer branding, companies plan on investing more in the following channels to improve QoH:

  • Social Media – 50%
  • Employer Branding – 46%
  • Employee Referrals – 41%
  • Campus Recruiting – 27%
  • Job Boards – 26%
  • External Agencies – 13%

Other tools used by companies to improve QoH

Assessments

Companies are increasingly using assessments conducted before interview rounds to identify quality candidates, map their competencies etc. To this end, they use offline/pen-and-paper, and online assessments, both. Almost 50% of companies surveyed use assessments to improve their QoH. Among those who use assessments:

  • 86% said they use pre-hire assessments for candidate screening.
  • 73% rely on assessments to determine job fit or competency gaps.
  • 60% use assessments to evaluate leadership potential.
  • 52% use assessments to build employee development plans.

Background Checks

Background checks have long been used by companies to weed out fraudulent candidates. But they also play an important role in helping to improve the quality of their hires.

  • 54% of companies said that background checks help in improving their QoH.
  • Other benefits mentioned by companies were more secure workplaces [41%] and improved regulatory compliance [30%].
  • Among the checks conducted by companies are:

About Wisdom Jobs

Started in 2010 and headquartered in Hyderabad, Wisdomjobs is one of India’s leading job portals providing end-to-end recruitment solutions to organizations and career opportunities to individuals. Within a short span of 5 years, Wisdomjobs has developed a database of over 30 million profiles spanning experience levels, skill sets and industries, thereby providing a huge pool of relevant candidates to various organizations. For more details, please visit Wisdomjobs