Jan 9, 2022 | CSR, Environment, Finance, Real Estate
IIFL Home Finance Ltd. (IIFL HFL), in collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB), organised its flagship event Kutumb which is an initiative to promote Green Affordable Housing in India. The event took place at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on December 14th, 2021 with the presence of Mr. S.K. Hota (MD, National Housing Bank) & Mr. Nirmal Jain (Founder & Chairman, IIFL Group) as chief guests. The event also had speakers from development finance institutions (DFIs) such as Asian Development Bank and Proparco (an arm of Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group).
Under the project ‘Resilient & Green Affordable Housing for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low-Income Group (LIG) categories in India’, IIFLHFL, with the support of ADB, will be hosting series of it’s flagship event ‘Kutumb’ at various locations across the country. The objective of Kutumb is to enable and support the green building ecosystem in the affordable housing sector in India. Kutumb, Delhi Chapter, titled ‘Climate Resilient & Green Affordable Housing in India’ focussed on affordable, low-carbon and resilient homes. The programme witnessed over 120 attendees, a mix of housing developers, financiers, subject matter experts and consultants.
Mr. Monu Ratra (ED and CEO, IIFLHFL) said, “The pandemic has brought in high consciousness towards green and sustainable construction amongst the developers, as well as the homebuyers. Also, considering buildings contribute around 35% of carbon emissions and with the vast majority of housing stock yet to be built in India, it is imperative to hold platforms such as Kutumb to build an ecosystem to foster green, sustainable and affordable housing in India.”
Sharing her views, Ms. Susan Olsen, Senior Investment Specialist for South Asia, ADB said, “Building climate-resilient and sustainable communities begins by giving access to affordable and green homes, particularly for lower income groups that are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. IIFL HFL is our partner in broadening the scope of green affordable housing in India.”
The event witnessed discussions and deliberations between industry experts such as Priya Sunder (Senior Investment Officer, Asian Development Bank), Diane Jegam (Directrice Régionale PROPARCO Asie du Sud chez Proparco), nationally renowned architect Ashok B Lall (Principal Architect, Ashok B. Lall Architects), Mohua Mukherjee (Economist & Green Finance Professional, Independent Director, IIFL Home Finance Ltd.), Dr. Sejal Patel (Professor & Chair, Faculty of Planning, CEPT), Ravi Aggarwal (Co-founder & MD, Signature Global Group of Companies), and Saswat Bandyopadhyay (Project Director, CEPT). The event was conducted in a panel discussion format supported by presentations. The panels focused on subjects ‘Sustainable Finance in Affordable Housing’ and ‘Importance of Climate Resilience in Affordable Housing’ in India.
In the series of Kutumb, the next event is likely to be scheduled in Ahmedabad, in the first week of February, where IIFLHFL and ADB aim to bring together the affordable housing developers, planners, architects, consultants and potential homebuyers on one forum and address subjects relevant to green affordable housing in the area.
About IIFL Home Finance Limited:
Incorporated in 2006 and registered in 2009 with the National Housing Bank (NHB), IIFL Home Finance Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IIFL Finance Limited. The Company is one of India’s leading housing finance companies and is a preferred choice for affordable home loan requirements. Through our affordable home loans, IIFL Home Finance makes people’s aspirations of owning a home a reality. As a technology-driven housing finance player, we endeavour to make our customer experience as seamless as possible. We have made the entire life cycle of our housing loans i.e., from origination to closure, completely digitized. We have managed this through our state-of-the-art IT infrastructure which has helped in reducing costs, enabled real-time analysis of customer data, and improved our control and underwriting functions, while increasing customer reach and distribution capability.
We operate a financially inclusive customer-centric lending business and strive to ensure that our business model contributes significantly to the upliftment of the EWS and LIG segments. As of March 31, 2021, 74.90% of our live accounts were from customers who belonged to the EWS and LIG segment. Through the provision of loans for the purchase of homes to a customer segment that is not serviced by the mainstream financial services sector and our employment of personnel in rural and semi-urban locations across India, we are fulfilling an important social objective of economic upliftment for these segments of the Indian economy.
We offer our customers a range of mortgage-related loan products, these include (i) housing loans, for purchase of ready built residential units, under-construction property by approved builders, self-construction, home improvement on pre-owned property, and purchase of land for construction of residential property; (ii) secured business loans, for primarily meeting working capital requirement, business use and purchase of commercial property; and (iii) affordable housing project loans, to meet construction expenses of affordable housing projects of reputed developers. For more details, please visit www.iiflhomeloans.com
Jan 9, 2022 | CSR, Real Estate
Looking at the rising cases of Omicron variant in the country, M3M Foundation with support from Health Dept, Haryana Government and Doctors For You has started a free 100-bedded Covid Care Center at M3M My Den in Sector-67 Gurugram. Support seekers can avail the facility by contacting the free helpline number 0124-4085480. The center is fully equipped with all the medical facilities, doctors and medical staff.
“The cases of the Omicron are rising exponentially and swift collaborative actions are required to ensure the gains against the pandemic are not lost. The free Covid Care Center will support the patients in Gurgaon battling the disease and will be a great support to the people from various communities who don’t have access to medical care. Being a responsible organization, we will take every possible step to support the country, frontline workers and citizens in these testing times. I also want to thank the Health Dept, Haryana Govt for supporting us in this cause,” said Dr Payal Kanodia, Trustee, M3M Foundation.
It is noteworthy that M3M Foundation had previously established a 300-bedded Covid Care Center during the second wave of Covid which helped many patients combat the disease. The Center is a part of the organisation’s “Kartavya” initiatives that seeks to empower the underprivileged. Earlier, the M3M Foundation has also taken encouraging steps for food security by providing meals to more than 1 lakh beneficiaries since the onset of the pandemic across the country.
M3M Foundation, the philanthropic arm of M3M Group, is working towards bringing equitable development for attaining a brighter India. Education, environment, health, disaster management and socio-economic development are its key areas. The Foundation believes in taking an innovative approach to address social issues by developing self-sustained programmes.
Jan 9, 2022 | CSR, Hospitality
PT Usha, the undisputed queen of the track and field, is a sports icon and an inspiration to many. Known for her humble beginnings, determination and hard work, PT Usha has won hearts across the globe. She was recently spotted in a never-seen-before avatar featuring in a KFC campaign film, to launch their new Express pick-up service with a 7-minutes promise. In the film she doubled-up as a high-speed chef, preparing and packing an Express pick-up order in 7-minutes. Because when it comes to speed, who better than PT Usha to launch an express service!
And like the KFC 7-minutes promise, here are 7 quick things we bet you didn’t know about the Payyoli Express:
- She defeated all the boys she practiced with: When PT Usha was young, and had just started training, her coach would try to make her practice with boys younger than her, but most of them would refuse to run against her, because most of the time she ended up beating them.
- How she won her first national race is quite the story: PT Usha attended her first ever national championship in Trivandrum, and she was competing in the under 14, 100m race. At the starting block, the athlete to her left false started, which was marked to PT Usha as a foul and this happened one more with the athlete to her right, because of which she was disqualified from the race. But since she wasn’t at fault, and the audience raised a hue & cry about this, the race had to be repeated, which of course she won! No harm, no foul indeed.
- Speed is her mantra – even when it comes to cooking: Speed is something we invariably associate with PT Usha, but did you know she’s equally fast in the kitchen? PT Usha loves cooking and is quite the talented chef. When in the kitchen, she loves cooking, especially recipes from Kerala, and can fix a full-fledged meal within merely 30 mins. This includes fish curry, vegetable curry and fish fry or chicken fry, rice with papad. *Mind blown*
- PT Usha loves fried chicken: Not many may know, but the Golden Girl of India loves KFC’s Hot and Crispy Chicken. When travelling overseas for international competitions, PT Usha preferred eating at KFC, as it was easy to find in new locations, and felt familiar. In fact, she has always been fond of KFC, and a fan of its signature taste and also appreciates how easily accessible the brand is. Even now, when travelling abroad, she seeks out a KFC for a quick bite of her favourite chicken.
- Gardening is her jam: From running through the lush green landscapes in Kerala, to nurturing some of her own plant babies. PT Usha is a plant parent and loves to do some gardening when off the track.
- She’s inspiring many girls around her to realize their dreams to win medals for India: PT Usha started her all girls sports academy called Usha School of Athletics, in 2002 in Balussery, Kerala. Since then, the academy has produced two Olympians and won 79 international medals to this day.
- The one word that drives her that she would like young athletes to build into their dictionary for success: As one of the most celebrated, and legendary athletes in the country, her advice for youngsters and young athletes boils down to a singular word – Focus. She strongly believes that to never lose focus is to win. Working hard and staying dedicated to the dream that one has set out to achieve with pure focus, is her key to success.
Dec 30, 2021 | CSR, Education
Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM) and Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW), a renowned premier educational institution, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today. The collaboration is primarily aimed for developing and setting up a State-of-Art testing lab and equipment and Electric Vehicle battery charging station in the IGDTUW premise to carry out various research and consultancy work.
| DETAILS OF MoU- OSM AND IGDTUW JOINTLY WORKING ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE TECHNOLOGIES |
| Area of cooperation |
Part of vehicle |
Target to achieve |
|
Technology |
Battery & BMS |
Chemistry and materials selection for Li-Ion battery. |
| Thermal management for India. |
| Charge/discharge rate and performance, life enhancement. |
| Communication with the vehicle control system. |
|
Powertrain |
Selection and design of Motor. |
| Drive train design for optimisation. |
| In-wheel motor technology development. |
| Electronics |
Power electronics design and development for our all EVs. |
| Charging system |
New charging system development for our vehicles. Protocol and communication system. |
| Telematics |
Telematics to capture vehicle data, users data on real time basis. |
| Overall vehicle architecture |
Design and simulation on chassis, body. FEA for suspension. |
|
Performance |
Battery & Drivetrain |
How to achieve Higher km/wh. End of life battery usage. |
| Efficiency enhancement of drivetrain. NVH reduction. |
| Mileage increase to 300 km single charge. |
|
Racing car |
Complete vehicle development, testing and performance evaluation as per design criteria |
As per design criteria agreed.
Complete design, development and sample manufacturing as per the technology mandate to the students. |
On signing of the MoU, Mr. Uday Narang, Founder and Chairman, Omega Seiki Mobility said “I firmly support women empowerment. Our association with IGDTUW is a step forward towards building a brighter future for women engineers. OSM’s State-of-the-Art R&D centre is offering internship opportunities to deserving students from the Institute. We strongly believe that a wonderful combination of their educational capabilities and real life experiences at OSM will create wonders in the EV industry and this will further encourage young women engineers to be part of the electric revolution.”
Talking about the collaboration with IGDTUW, Mr. Narang added “I would like to thank Honorable Vice Chancellor of IGDTUW, Dr. Amita Dev for giving us an opportunity to join forces with IGDTUW. Partnering with the best premier university will not only contribute to India but to the whole world, through excellence in scientific and technical education and research, which will ultimately serve as a treasured resource for industry and society as a whole.”
Honorable Vice Chancellor of IGDTUW, Dr. Amita Dev said, “The collaboration between OSM and IGDTUW will reinforce the research and development in the field of Electric Vehicles technology. This collaboration will be very promising in the development of state of art curriculum in the field of latest Automotive and Mobility technology which will further open a plethora of opportunities for the IGDTUW fraternity to work and solve real time industrial and research problems in the area of upcoming Electric Vehicle technology. I am very optimistic and hopeful that the collaboration between IGDTUW and OSM will go a long way and the combined efforts of both organizations will reap long lasting benefits for the society and our country in a true manner.”
Under the alliance Omega Seiki Mobility will be working on Design, simulation, testing, product development, prototyping and production of automotive components and full vehicle development for Electric Vehicles, Battery packs, telematics and including efficiency and performance improvement of OSM’s existing vehicles with the students of IGDTUW. The company will be also working with the students of IGDTUW in designing, developing and sample manufacturing a racing car model for contesting in various competitions globally.
Omega Seiki Mobility believes in creating sustainable mobility solutions with an integrated approach of connecting Automobiles and the Society. The brand’s focus is to eventually create a clean ecosystem with eco-friendly, safe and congestion free mobility. OSM is one of India’s leading clean energy incubators and has become synonymous with India’s sustainability success. The electric vehicle manufacturing company aims to fast-track future mobility, with green energy at its core, by implementing data-driven, smart engineering.
Dec 25, 2021 | CSR
The Adani Group, India’s fastest-growing portfolio of companies, will institute the Adani Prize for Social Enterprise – India’s biggest annual prize in the social sphere. This was announced by Mr Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, at the first-ever Green Talks, an Adani talk-series initiative to provide social entrepreneurs a platform to present their ideas and secure support for their work.
Beginning in 2022, the Adani Prize for Social Enterprise will be awarded to five outstanding social entrepreneurs for their impact in India and other parts of the developing world. The Adani Prize will provide a total of Rs 5 Crores in funding for the five chosen social enterprises. The winners will be chosen by an international panel of eminent personalities drawn from different fields of expertise, including science, business and governance.
“I am humbled by how social entrepreneurs devote themselves to the difficult, often underappreciated but essential work of helping those who are less privileged,” said Mr Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group. “While we must invest heavily in enabling the transition to a greener, low carbon world, that transition must also include plans to enable the social upliftment of people. The green shoots of recovery for the planet can be truly green only if we create a climate of faith and optimism for even the world’s most socially deprived people. I am optimistic that the Adani Prize and the Green Talks series will lay the foundation for this process of discovering social entrepreneurs who are making major impacts and help to fund their best ideas.”
The Adani Group will invite other partners, including corporates, to join an initiative to create a collaborative fund for social enterprises that will help to expand the number of social upliftment projects that could be funded. As the first step, the Group will drive an open-source innovation platform as a unifying force for the best of ideas from social enterprises across the developing world.
Five social enterprises, selected from over 25,000 social enterprises that participated in the 2021 TiE Sustainability Summit in October, were felicitated and honoured today at the Adani Green Talks in Ahmedabad. They included Arunachalam Muruganantham, better known as Pad-Man, healthcare innovator iKure, prosthetics technologist RoboBionics, automation developer GenRobotics and DharaviMarket founder Megha Gupta. The first-ever Green Talks was attended by several dignitaries including Ambassador Dr Claudio Anso Rena of Costa Rica and Deputy Ambassador Ms Rony Yedi Dia-Clein of Israel.
Dec 23, 2021 | Business, CSR
Blancco Technology Group (LON: BLTG), the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions, today announced that the company has been named a 2021 SEAL Business Sustainability Awards winner, a designation celebrating leadership, transparency, and commitment to sustainable business practices. Specifically, Blancco has earned a Sustainable Service Award, which showcases innovative services that set a new standard for sustainability. The applicants for this category were judged on the following criteria: impact metrics, innovation/uniqueness of the services, and ability to inspire sustainable change.
Blancco’s recognition is based on the company’s achievements in addressing the global e-waste challenge through its data sanitization software solutions, which eliminate the need for physical destruction of IT assets as a means to protect sensitive data. Blancco’s technology solutions securely overwrite sensitive data contained on IT assets while also providing a tamper-proof and audit-ready erasure report. The report provides the proof that organizations, including enterprises, mobile operators, ITADs, and channel partners, need to show data privacy compliance for older IT equipment that may be reused, resold, recycled at end-of-life, or donated to a worthy cause. The ability to safely repurpose equipment helps to alleviate the planet’s colossal e-waste crisis.
“We are humbled to be recognized by the SEAL Awards organization for Blancco’s efforts in mitigating the e-waste challenge worldwide,” said Adam Moloney, CFO at Blancco. “The United Nations has set a target to increase e-waste recycling to 30% by 2023 – a vital goal as toxic substances such as mercury and BFR are found in many types of electronics and pose severe risk to human health. Unfortunately, businesses contribute to this problem, as many old devices are physically destroyed to prevent sensitive data from being recovered and used for malicious purposes. In FY21, Blancco’s software solutions enabled global organizations to securely sanitize 54.5 million devices, classifying 150 million lb (68.2 million kg) of electronics ‘safe’ to reuse or recycle in compliance with data security standards. We look forward to driving change and doing our part to support the circular economy in 2022.”
The SEAL (Sustainability, Environmental Achievement and Leadership) Awards honor the organizations and leaders dedicated to making real progress on the most pressing issue of our time. SEAL Award winners are determined by a holistic methodology that measures applicants against established benchmark metrics that demonstrate true impact and progress towards a healthy planet and a sustainable future. The SEAL Awards celebrate the visionary leaders and organizations that embrace the responsibility to drive change, and power the innovation that will secure the future of our planet – leaving behind a lasting legacy for generations to come. Past winners have included global brands such as Burberry, Cisco, Colgate Palmolive, Salesforce and General Motors.
We believe that recognition is a form of accountability – and that companies and organizations across the globe have a unique opportunity to drive environmental progress,” said Matt Harney, founder of SEAL Awards. “We’re delighted to recognize Blancco’s impressive achievements in driving solutions to encourage businesses to recycle in the effort to curb the global e-waste crisis.”
Blancco has continued to support its customers in maintaining high standards in business ethics and ensuring robust governance practices, including customer data security, when using Blancco solutions. The company was among the first recipients of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Green Economy Mark, an accreditation that is awarded to companies listed on the LSE’s main and AIM markets that generate at least 50% of total annual revenues from products and services that contribute to the green economy.
To understand more about how Blancco is enabling companies to engage with the circular economy, supporting its employees and local communities, and maintain best in class governance practices, read the full 2021 ESG report here: 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance Report.
-ENDS-
Notes to editors
If you have any questions or would like to speak to a Blancco representative about the role of software-based data erasure for IT assets and its influence on the circular economy, please contact blancco@ccgrouppr.com.
About Blancco Technology Group
Reduce Risk. Increase Efficiency. Be Sustainable.
Blancco Technology Group (AIM: BLTG) provides organizations with secure, compliant, and automated solutions that accelerate the transition to the circular economy. Each year, tens of millions of Blancco erasures allow top-tier organizations to protect end-of-life data against unauthorized access, safely redeploy data storage assets, and firmly comply with increased data protection and privacy requirements. Our precise device diagnostics help move used IT assets confidently into the circular economy, enabling enterprises, IT asset disposition (ITAD) vendors and recyclers, and mobile industry stakeholders to operate more sustainably.
Globally approved, recommended and certified by governing and industry bodies around the world, Blancco is the industry standard in data erasure and mobile lifecycle solutions. With 35+ patented or patent-pending ideas, we continue to grow the number of innovative solutions global companies can rely on to accelerate operations, secure their data, and grow their businesses. Read more about us at www.blancco.com.
Contacts
Blancco Technology Group
Liz Adams, Global Marketing Director
T: +44 (0) 7762 446179
E: liz.adams@blancco.com
CCgroup for Blancco Technology Group (International)
Florie Lhuillier / Adam Millar
T: +44 (0) 20 3824 9214
E: blancco@ccgrouppr.com
CCgroup for Blancco Technology Group (North America)
Natasha Grach / Lori Scribner
T: +1 619 798 0043
E: blancco@ccgrouppr.com
