Airbus expands India COVID-19 relief, delivers more

                                Airbus expands India COVID-19 relief,
                    delivers more oxygen plants, ventilators, mobile ICUs

 #Airbus #AirbusIndia #AirbusFoundation

Airbus has doubled down on its response to the COVID-19 crisis in India, delivering more than 36 tonnes of additional medical equipment to the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) and deploying humanitarian flights to move supplies from abroad as well as within the country.

Airbus is delivering oxygen plants, ventilators, oxygen concentrators, BPAP breathing machines and mobile intensive care units (ICUs), further boosting its individual contribution to the global humanitarian effort to tackle the second wave of COVID-19 infection in India. An A350 test aircraft delivered a part of the consignment comprising oxygen concentrators and ventilators from Airbus’ headquarters in Toulouse, France, on Wednesday. The remaining materials are sourced from India. 

The latest mission is Airbus’ second tranche of support to the country. The Company has already contributed with funds to a consolidated response coordinated by the French embassy in India, which included the delivery of eight large oxygen generators, ventilators, electric syringe pumps, anti-bacterial filters and patient circuits as part of a 28-tonne consignment. Much of the equipment has been deployed, and it is helping save hundreds of lives across India.

“Airbus stands behind India in solidarity and service. Our focus is to support not only our employees, customers, and partners but also as many people of India as we can,” said Rémi Maillard, President and MD of Airbus India & South Asia. “This is our common fight against the virus and we at Airbus are committed to doing our best to help in these challenging times for India and the world.”

The latest contribution from Airbus comprises two oxygen generator plants, 250 oxygen concentrators, 30 ventilators, 100 BPAP breathing machines and four ICUs-on-wheels. Airbus is working with the Indian government and the IRCS, the nodal agency for handling of international aid, to ensure the smooth deployment of the materials.

Additionally, the Airbus Foundation is in touch with international and Indian NGO partners to support any need for transportation of relief materials from Europe. Airbus Foundation has also secured helicopter flight hours to move aid within India.

“The crisis is still unfolding. Its fallout will have to be managed over the coming many months,” Maillard said.

“Our Indian NGO partners are already evaluating the knock-on impact of the crisis on livelihoods and children’s education. Airbus will expand support to them to meet the additional challenges.” 

Finolex Industries extends support to

Finolex Industries extends support to dealers 

and staff in the face of COVID 19

 Finolex Industries Ltd (FIL), India’s largest manufacturer of rigid PVC Pipes & Fittings took a slew of initiatives to reassure employees, dealers and associates amid the lockdown that has taken a toll on businesses.

 In a first of its kind initiative, FIL has increased the Turnover Discount Scheme (TOD) across its dealer network which is in addition to the TOD that the company pays to incentive's its dealer network. This was the result of week-long deliberations that the company had with its dedicated network of dealers and employees based across the country.  The company has a network of over 18,000 retailers, dealers and sub-dealers.

The additional TOD is being paid to the dealers who have achieved their target and for those who could not, will be paid a token amount as a gratitude to cushion the impact of the challenging business environment.

Second, to reassure employees, the company has taken a progressive step by not deducting staff salaries. This gesture was widely appreciated by employees across the rank and file of the organization.

 Speaking on these initiatives, FIL Chairman, Mr. Prakash P. Chhabria, said, ``The success of Finolex is the result of the hard work and excellence of our partners—dealers and retailers, and our skilled workforce who have delivered the finest products in the industry. We as a company will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them and have reassured them of our commitment.’’

FIL is also known for its philanthropic initiatives and during the lockdown their CSR partner Mukul Madhav Foundation rose to the occasion and handed over PPE suits, ventilators, disinfectants, grocery kits and other essential commodities to hospitals and organizations.

The lockdown also disrupted the lives of the most vulnerable sections of the society namely the migrants and the daily-wage workers and the foundation extended all possible support to them in Pune.

Mr Chhabria added, ``this was our way of extending support to the needy who had no other hope in such difficult times.’’

Finally, In the midst of this pandemic, the company never lost sight of its shareholders and paid dividend in the month of March this year.

Overall the company lived up to its commitment as laid down by its founder, the late Mr Pralhad P. Chhabria who would always say that one has to look for opportunities to help people even if that service demands sacrifice.

RAJASTHAN GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTING MEASURES

RAJASTHAN GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTING MEASURES 

TO BRING THE ECONOMY BACK ON TRACK

Apart from undertaking stringent measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and to ensure the welfare of those grappling with the crisis at the ground-level, the Government of Rajasthan has announced few impactful measures to steer the state out of the economic juggernaut that the proliferation of COVID 19 and the subsequent lockdown is likely to bring in.

While the Government of Rajasthan, led by Mr. Ashok Gehlot had imposed total curfew in Bhilwara municipal area and a state-wide complete lockdown days before the nation-wide lockdown was imposed by the centre, its economic implications on the State had been critical. With demand plummeting and with lesser availability of labour force, it will take at least 3 months for the industry to recoil to normalcy.

Speaking on the economic impact, the Government had stated that, while the revenue is almost nil, expenditure has multiplied exponentially. The realized revenue between March 10 and March 31, 2020 is roughly Rs 3500 crore less than the revenue in the same period a year earlier, ie. 2019. Also, between 1st and 7th April, the revenue collected is Rs 300 crore less than the revenue collected between April 1 and April 7th, 2019. The collection of commercial tax, excise and other taxes which normally take place in the last week of March, has also been severely impacted due to the lock down. In terms of expenditure, over Rs 2600 Crore has been spent on PPE equipment, ventilators, an increase in the number of testing of patients and in other welfare measures such as the distribution of wheat through PDS’s, etc among 5 crore people. While 5Kg of wheat is provided by the central Government, the state Government is also distributing another 5Kg for free, to the needy. Apart from this, social security pensions have also been increased.

Besides, a special group has also been set up under the chairmanship of the former finance secretary who is currently an advisor to the Chief Minister. This said group is working on specific activities that are to be taken up to minimize the economic impact of COVID 19, once the lockdown is lifted in a phase-wise manner.

Further, the Chief Minister has written letters to the Prime Minister, demanding the release of grants from the PM Cares fund, deferment of loan payments sans interest and several other measures to meet the state's financial requirements in these times of slowdown. The CM has also requested for a Rs 1 lakh crore package to be given to all states, basic criteria such as the size of the population and the number of COVID 19 positive cases in the concerned State. As per the calculation, Rajasthan's share in the package is approximately around Rs 5,000 crore. Additionally, the Chief Minister has also requested the centre to allocate the state share in central taxes for the month of April at the beginning of the month. In the normal course, the share is given at the month-end.

To tackle the impending financial insolvency, the Government has also requested to escalate the state's borrowing limit by two percent and to expeditiously release pending GST compensations. The Rajasthan Government has already announced the partial suspension of gross salaries across four key segments (70 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent, and 30 percent) from the level of the chief minister to employees, except for those in medical and healthcare services, police constables, class IV employees, and contractual workers, for the month of March.

The Government has also deployed a number of measures to help the farming community. For example, a 21-day advance payment has been given to the farm labourers so that they can purchase essential items and food, in the midst of lockdown and social distancing.

Also, since harvesting of crops starts in Kota from 15th March onward and in the rest of the state, from April 1 onward, procurement from Kota will start from 16th April, while for other districts, registration will start from 16th April.  In order to stagger the crowd and to reduce the transportation distance, the Government has doubled the number of collection centres. Earlier Mandis were the regular collection centres, now, 400 GSS (Gram Seva Samiti) have been roped in and many more mandis. It has also requested the center to increase the limit of 25% of procurement for MSPs to 50%, so that farmers and the needy are benefitted and also those who are living in the quarantine camps, including the destitute. The administration is putting in all possible efforts to ensure that none of the State’s residents face any problems in gaining access to essential items. The State Government has asked the centre to make FCI food stocks available for all as the warehouses are currently full to the brim.

Inspite of the lockdown and sealed borders, the transportation, and supply of essential commodities has been consistent across the State. In order to ensure this, the Government had earlier issued a revolutionary order wherein it granted automatic permission to all already permitted industries to operate without the need for any separate permission, with strict instructions to take all precautionary measures against the spread of COVID 19. There are around 200 such continuous industries, including manufacturers of food, drugs, Ayush drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, coal and minerals, and hygiene products as well as the industries that are providing raw material to these industries, among others. Rajasthan also supplies raw materials and other supplies to many other states.

I-Sec supports IIT Kanpur to develop indigenized

I-Sec supports IIT Kanpur to develop indigenized, portable, affordable and invasive ventilators in fighting Covid-19

ICICI Securities, India’s leading retail-led equity franchise today said, as a part of its CSR initiatives, it has joined hands with the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur as a ‘Technology Development Partner’, to develop indigenized, high-end yet affordable invasive ventilators.

The ventilators are essential life saving devices that are critical for COVID-19 affected patients. It becomes critical for a country like India to start designing and manufacturing completely indigenized and low-cost invasive ventilators. To achieve this, the country must encourage Indian innovators to come to the fore, especially nimble-footed start-ups.

IIT-Kanpur, along with Nocca Robotics (a start-up incubated at Start-up Incubation and Innovation Centre IIT Kanpur - SIIC IIT Kanpur), has created a consortium with bio-medical engineers, doctors, R & D leaders, supply chain, MedTech business heads, etc., to develop a completely indigenized, invasive, portable and affordable mechanical ventilator. Under this fast-track project, by mid-May 2020, the product will be ready for market, post design, development and testing of prototypes at multiple centres.

“Covid-19 has created a pandemic and has affected the entire ecosystem. While the research work on diagnosis and cure are being done, the immediate need is ensuring affordable and low-cost life saving devices. At ICICI Securities, healthcare is one important area that we focus on CSR. We are happy to partner with IIT Kanpur, as part of our CSR initiative, in the R&D and testing of prototypes of indigenized, portable affordable and invasive ventilators. The project team has some of the brightest technical minds and they have set for themselves a very tight deadline so that the nation at large is benefitted. We are hopeful that the project meets the expectations of price and functionality,” said Mr. Vijay Chandok, MD & CEO, ICICI Securities.

“At IIT Kanpur, we are doing our bit towards global efforts on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. We learnt that ventilators will be in short supply as the number of affected patients rise and our team rose to the challenge by taking on themselves the responsibility to design ground-up an affordable yet fully functional ventilator. We are happy to partner with ICICI Securities as a Technology Development Partner to bring this project to light,” said Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director of IIT Kanpur.