16
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (Arvind Bhaardwaj )
With great hospitality comes in guest loyalty and with
guest loyalty comes in good recommendations, which
ultimately leads to greater revenues.
It is easy for larger chains to have more customer &
performance data which they can use, but the mid-
sized to smaller operators usually have a tough time
with maximizing reputation, revenue and customer
experience. Artificial intelligence is here to change it
all..!
With its ability to streamline processes, provide
valuable insights and optimize experiences, AI is
driving the new wave of responsive, guest-centric
hospitality for super big, big, small, all types of
hospitality businesses.
Here are just some of the ways AI is reshaping
hospitality as we know it:-
1. Personalization
Artificial Intelligence levels
the playing field for all
t y p e s o f h o s p i t a l i t y
businesses. It is able to
ident i fy the persona l
touches that can pul l
people to your hotel.
P h o t o C u r t s e y : -
racetrack.ai
2. Room Occupancy and Rate Optimization
Artificial Intelligence can gather data from multiple
s o u r c e s o f
information to
give your hotel
business greater
detail into the
hotel occupancy
patterns of your
area. This will help you to adjust your pricing from day
to day, season to season.
PhotoCourtesy:- racetrack.ai
3. Room Booking and Staff Interaction
AI-fueled chatbots
when integrated into
y o u r w e b s i t e c a n
reduce the friction of
people dropping off
from individual hotel
w e b s i t e s w h i l e
p r o v i d i n g a
personalized experience. The best part? Your guests
will be able to place their room service requests to
your AI, thus freeing up your staff.
Photo curtsey:- rolandberger.com
4. Updates and Maintenance
Artificial Intelligence uses
occupancy data, guest
feedback and self-reported
guest data to understand
which upgrades or repairs
in the hotel rooms to
implement first. It can also
predict ive ly recognise
patterns to highlight potential issues before they
arise.
5. Reputation Management
Artificial Intelligence
has the quality to
parse reviews and
social-media posts
quickly, and at scale
to give hotels insight
into what people are
saying about the
business,allowing
you to respond. Feedback, both positive and negative,
can be dealt with easily.
6. Informing Competitive Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence can
parse hospitality related
d a t a b a s e s t o p rov i d e
context that can help drive
the future direction of your
bus iness . Mapping o f
population density data
against hotel availability data can identify areas where
demand is exceeding availability. This data can power
the next expansion decision. Likewise, demographics
data can tell which amenities are in demand to include
in the hotel.
7. In-Person Customer Service
Artificial intelligence is able to deal with basic
customer-facing situations. The best example of AI is a
ro b o t c a l l e d ' C o n n i e ' ,
adopted by Hilton. The
robot is able to provide
tour is t in format ion to
customers who interact
with it. Most impressively, it
is able to learn from human
speech and adapt to individuals. Ultimately, this
means the more customers speak to it, the better it
will get.
8. Chatbots and Messaging
AI is extremely effective
when it comes to direct
messaging and online
c h a t s e r v i c e s ,
responding to simple
questions or requests.
Almost instantaneous
responses can be given
24 hours a day, seven days a week which is almost
impossible to maintain with human-to-human
interaction.
9. Data Analysis
Artificial Intelligence can
be used to quickly sort
through large amounts
o f d a t a a n d d r a w
important conclusions
about customers, or
potential customers.
You can sort through
d a t a c o l l e c t e d v i a
surveys, online reviews etc. and the AI will then analyse
this to draw conclusions about overall performance.
These were the 9 ways, Pragmatic Voice thinks artificial
intelligence will benefit the hospitality industry. AI is
working far beyond imagination for hotel systems, a
breakthrough we all have been anxiously awaiting.
Current Highlights
ISA Tourism (India Sales Associates, ISA) has been
appointed as the India Sales representative for Small
Luxury Hotels of The World (SLH), with immediate
effect. ISA is a boutique Sales and Marketing
Representation Company for the hospitality and
tourism industries based in Delhi.
Accor has recently announced the advent of its new
brand, Raffles in India in Jaipur and Udaipur. Jean-
Michel Cassé, COO - India and South Asia, Accor,
elaborates on the brand and how India might see
some more Accor brands in the coming years.
InterGlobe Hotels to explore opportunities with
Novotel brand in India
Domestic hotel operators dominated signings over
international operators with the ratio of 68:32 in the
first half (H1) of this year, revealed the Hotel
Momentum India (HMI) report released by JLL. The
report revealed that 36 per cent of new signings are
conversions of old hotels. Also, it was seen that
Gujarat had the highest number of branded hotel
signings (1593) amongst all states, while West Bengal
had highest number of branded hotel openings (926)
from January to June, 2019.
AVIATION INDUSTRY (Chitra Kapoor)
After a period of
turbulence, the
Aviation Sector
finally sees clear
Sky
After a year of
distress that saw
the grounding of
Jet Airways and
decommissioning of the entire Boeing 737 MAX fleet,
dark clouds finally seem to be parting on the Indian
aviation sector.
According to IATA's global aviation results, India's
domestic air passenger volume-measured in revenue
passenger kilometres (RPKs)-was the third-highest
among the major aviation markets, rising 7.9 percent
compared to the corresponding month of the
previous fiscal.
The massive void left behind by the demise of the
Naresh Goyal-led airline also seems to be filing up as
other major players such as SpiceJet, IndiGo and
Vistara introduced extra flights to take on the severe
flight crunch.
The grounding of Jet has also bolstered the business of
its competitors, who posted robust earnings in the
quarter ended June 2019.
IndiGo, which took over 30 percent of Jet's domestic
slots available in Delhi and Mumbai airports, posted
its highest-ever quarterly profit at Rs 1,203 crore in
Q1FY20. This was 43 times higher than the profit in the
year-ago period.
Spice Jet , which acquired 63 domest ic and
international slots of Jet, also posted its highest-ever
quarterly profit in Q1FY20, after reporting a loss in the
corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.
Since the grounding of Jet, players like Indigo, SpiceJet
have taken a front seat and are filling in the slots of Jet.
Market share gain along with lower crude price has led
to the improvement in their financial performance.
Further, it would help players in gaining further
market share leading to higher operating leverage as
occupancy increases coupled with better passenger
tariffs at competitive rates.
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/mar
kets/after-a-period-of-turbulence-the-aviation-
sector-finally-sees-clear-sky-4329791.html
Air India becomes first Indian airline to fly
over North PoleThe Air India flight from Delhi to San Francisco usually
flies over the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean but on
August 15, it flew over zero degree north.
In a major feat, Air India operated its flight over the
North Pole on Independence Day and has become the
first Indian airline to operate commercial flights over
the polar region.
As per the online source, Air India's operations
department had formulated two flight plans
beforehand, ahead of its polar route debut. This is due
to Pakistan airspace closure on August 15. To reach
San Francisco, flight Al-173 took off at 4am from New
Delhi with around 243 passengers. It flew over
Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Kazakhstan, Russia and
the North Pole by 12.27
p m . T h e fl i g h t w a s
o p e r a t e d b y C a p t
Rajneesh Sharma (with
spectacles in photo) and
his team - Capt Digvijay
Singh with first officers
Capt Siddesh Dadarkar
a n d C a p t K a r a n
Aggarwal on the flight deck.As per the online source,
Capt Rajneesh Sharma told about his experience,
"When we crossed Russia, we left all the air traffic
behind. For close to nine hours we saw no traffic, no
aircraft, just endless expanse of snow and ice. As we
crossed over the North Pole and went down the other
side of the planet, the
n a v i g a t i o n d i s p l a y
swung 180 degree to go
from North to point
South. It was quite a
sight." Really Bravo and
Hats off to Air India Team
Hours before reaching
the top of the world, the
commander had made
an inflight announcement, giving a full brief of the
flight. The commander's address said: on the occasion
of our 73rd Independence day, it's a gift from Air India
to all travelling public. We will be flying over the North
pole, we will come over to the other side and then
proceed to San Francisco. After the Boeing 777
crossed over, the cockpit made a sat comm call to Ai
chairman and managing director and later they
received a congratulatory call from their operations
department The flight landed in SFO at 6.32 am local
time, about half-an-hour before its scheduled time of
arrival, 7 am.
Till now, AI used to operate the Delhi-SFO flight,
launched in December 2015, over Atlantic and Pacific.
The Indian aviation regulator and the US regulator
cleared AI to operate the polar route recently. AI's
Delhi-SFO might be the only flight in the world which
has three routing options that take it over the Atlantic
or Pacific or the North Pole. The Atlantic or the Pacific
route today, the flying time would have been 16 hours,
45 minutes. But on the polar route, the flying time was
14 hours 59 minutes. On landing, AI gave each of the
passengers on board a certificate, which marked the
commencement of AI's commercial flights over the
North Pole.
A i r I n d i a fi r s t
operated this route
in 2007 when its
pilots flew a brand
new Boeing 777
f ro m S e a t t l e t o
D e l h i . T h e f u e l
savings on the polar
route are expected be in the region of 2 to 7 tons,
depending on the wind conditions. The resultant
decrease in carbon emissions will be about 6 ton to 21
ton per flight.
Called the "Santa's short-cut" back then, among the
challenges in operating the polar route today are:
limited choice for diversion alternate airports, solar
radiation, fuel freezing, passenger and aircraft
retrieval in case of diversion. Finnair was the first
airline to fly the polar route, said an AI official. Among
the airlines that fly the polar route, which are four
routes north of 78 degree latitude, are Emirates,
Capt. Digvijay Singh (Left) withCapt. Rajneesh Sharma (Rigth)
United, Air Canada, Aerochina etc, he added.
In 2018-19, Air India had made a loss of around Rs
7,600 crore and had debt of Rs 58,300 crore.
The government has moved closer to a complete exit
from Air India, with the committee of secretaries (CoS)
led by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha agreeing in principle
to sell 95 per cent in the national carrier as on 16th
August 2019.
The proposal will now be put up for approval of the
committee of ministers in the next 15 days, it is learnt.
As the message from the top is that the Air India sale
must be a success and for that the conditions should
be eased, the government is taking several steps that
range from reducing the debt burden for the potential
buyer to rewriting the rules of the privatization.
https://www.indiatoday.in/lifestyle/travel/story/air-
india-becomes-first-indian-airline-to-fly-over-north-
pole-it-was-quite-a-sight-says-pilot-1581680-2019-
08-17
Futuristic 'Flying-V' airplane concept puts
p a s s e n g e r s
i n s i d e t h e
wingsA V - s h a p e d
airliner that seats
passengers in the
wings instead of a
central fuselage could make long-distance air travel
more sustainable - and it's more than pie in the sky.
The Dutch airline KLM announced Monday that it
would team up with Delft University of Technology to
develop the lightweight, fuel-efficient "Flying-V"
aircraft.
No plans for building the concept craft have yet been
announced, but KLM said it would unveil a scale model
and full-size section of the plane's interior at
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in October.
Forgoing the fuselage as well as the tail of
conventional airliners would cut the plane's weight
and reduce aerodynamic drag, resulting in significant
fuel savings. KLM said the plane should consume 20
percent less fuel than an Airbus A350, a twin-engine
airliner that is now in
wide use around the
world
"This airplane is a lot
more efficient because
you create a synergy of the fuselage and the wing,"
said Justus Benad, who came up with the concept in
2015 when he was a university student in Berlin and an
intern at the airplane manufacturer Airbus. The
plane's cargo holds and fuel tanks would also be
incorporated in the Flying-V's wings.
The plane would be shorter and lighter than an A350
but could carry just as much cargo and could
accommodate 314 passengers, just like the Airbus
plane. Its 212-foot wingspan would also be identical to
that of the A350, which means the Flying-V could use
existing runways and gates, according to KLM.
A scale model will launch in October 2019 whereas
commercial flying of "Flying V" to enter will be between
2 0 4 0 a n d 2 0 5 0 i f e v e r y t h i n g g o e s w e l l .
https://www.sciencealert.com/fuel-efficient-v-plane-
plans-to-seat-passengers-in-its-wings
WELLNESS TOURISM TAKING A STEP
FORWARD(Bhupinder Singh)
Wellness tourism has the
potential of being the top most
driver of the growth of the
Indian tourism industry. In a
consistently growing economy
where people are facing a fast
changing life, wellness tourism
becomes even more important as it rejuvenates the
body, mind and soul by detoxification provided by
various healthcare therapies. India is perceived as one
of the true spiritual homes of the modern wellness
movement globally with its ancient practices of
ayurveda, yoga, meditat ion,\ acupuncture,
naturopathy, panchakarma and holistic health are
among the experiences sought by wellness travellers
in India.
Globally, wellness tourism is growing with 6.5 per cent
annually, more than twice as fast as tourism overall
(3.2 per cent), and it was worth US$639 billion market
in 2017. This segment is forecasted to grow even faster
through 2022 (7.5 per cent yearly), to reach US$919
billion, according to Global Wellness Tourism
Economy report by Global Wellness Institute.
Current Scenario
In 2017, India ranked 7th in the top 20 wellness
tourism markets, and 10th among the top 20 spa
markets in the world, while ranking 3rd in both the top
10 wellness tourism markets and top 10 spa markets
in Asia Pacific. According to reports, Indians made 56
million wellness-related trips, both domestic and
international, in 2017 (a growth of 45 per cent over
2015), which included
Expenditures worth $16.3 billion. Also, India ranked
2nd in terms of leading growth markets for wellness
tourism, depicting an average annual growth rate of
20.3 per cent from 2015 to 2017, adding a little over 17
million wellness trips in the same periodThe Indian
wellness tourism industry thrives majorly on the key
segments like ayurveda, yoga, meditation and
rejuvenation amongst others. As per industry
speculations, Indian wellness tourism is set to reach
US$ 9 billion by 2020.
The Global Wellness Summit (GWS), the foremost
gathering of international leaders in the USD4.2
tr i l l ion g lobal wel lness economy, today
announced the location of the 2019 GWS will move
from Hong Kong to Singapore. The event Will now
take place at Grand Hyatt Singapore; conference dates
remain the same- 15-17 October, 2019. Additional
details will be provided as soon as possible.
"In an effort to ensure travel is as seamless as possible
in and out of the Global Wellness Summit, our GWS
leadership, advisory board and partners felt this shift
in location was important for the collective wellbeing
of everyone involved with the Summit," said Susie Ellis,
chairman and CEO of GWS. "We are working closely
with event organizers and the host sponsor to ensure
the event remains first-class and there is little
interruption for all attendees and presenters."
Vistara To Fly Daily To Bangkok From 27 August
Vistara has announced Bangkok as the third
international destination to its network and opened
bookings for daily flights between Delhi and Bangkok
starting 27 August 2019. The airline will use its Airbus
A320neo aircraft with three-class cabin configuration
to fly to and from Bangkok, making Vistara the first
airline to offer the choice of Premium Economy class
for travel between India and Thailand in addition to
Economy and Business Class.
Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said,
"Bangkok is a city that remains to be favorites among
travelers all year long. Besides, as a key gateway to
Thailand, Bangkok continues to boost international
commerce, trade and tourism in the country, making
the business case more promising for us. Vistara today
is the most-loved Indian airline for countless
travellers; with our unique product and world-class
service, we hope to make a significant difference to the
flying experience of people travelling between India
and Thailand, as well as to other geographies we step
into."
M a k e M y T r i p h a s
a n n o u n c e d t h e
appointment of Suni l
Suresh as its new Chief
Marketing Officer (CMO)
S u n i l w i l l d r i v e t h e
company's marketing efforts
to support overall strategic
objectives, overseeing all
initiatives across the marketing funnel, including
brand, social, performance and innovation marketing
tracks.
Previously, Sunil was Chief Marketing and Strategy
Officer at Capillary Tech for two years and was
responsible for driving growth and profits through the
strategic transformation of the company. Prior to
that, he held the crucial positions of Chief Digital
Officer and Chief Marketing Officer at Yum! Brands
(Pizza Hut). He also worked with Unilever.
SOURCES
https://www.traveldailymedia.com/global-wellness-
shifts-location-from-hong-kong-to-singapore/
https://www.traveltrendstoday.in/news/india-
tourism/item/7482-wellness-tourism-taking-a-step-
forward
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (Indu Sharma)
1. Google's Tech Initiatives Transforming
Industries By AI
Google, beyond being the
l e a d i n g s e a r c h e n g i n e
worldwide, is also one of the
largest and most innovative
c o m p a n i e s . T h r o u g h i t s
innovations, Google along with
other Alphabet companies
(parent company of Google and its subsidiaries) is
transforming various industries by empowering them
with technology. Its solutions have reached diverse
industries such as agriculture, manufacturing,
healthcare, energy, and fishing, among others.
Source: www.eos-intelligence.com
2. Machine Learning will Shape AI
In 2019, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence is
implanting in the business platform creating and
empowering savvy business operations. In the
Artificial Intelligence space, China is going to leave the
US behind, rising as an innovator in AI advancements
and applications. Advances in Machine Learning
innovation and algorithm training will result in new
a n d f u r t h e r
d ev e l o p e d A I .
A u t o n o m o u s
v e h i c l e s a n d
r o b o t i c s
technology are
the two ventures
that will see the
m o s t r a p i d
improvements during 2019.
Source: www.cbinsights.com
3. Quantum Sensors Market by Product (atomic
clocks, gravity sensors, photosynthetically active
radiation (PAR) quantum sensors, magnetic
sensors), Verticals (automotive, oil and gas,
military and defense, agriculture and healthcare),
Region (North America Europe, Asia Pacific, The
Middle East & Africa (MEA), Latin America) - Global
Forecast to 2023
Quantum technology has been highly anticipated due
to its immense potential. Features such as high
accuracy and credibility are making the technology
popular in various industrial domains. Quantum
technologies such as quantum cryptography find
various types of industrial application. They are also
being used in development of next-generation sensor
technology.
The IoT boom is also auguring well for the global
quantum sensors. This is owing to the need for
extremely precise sensing capabilities in connected
devices. GPS is also an important space for quantum
sensors. GPS is being widely used in the aerospace
and automotive sectors. The aforementioned factors
are providing an impetus to the market.
Source: www.marketresearchfuture.com
4. IBM Unveils World's First Integrated Quantum
Computing System for Commercial Use IN January
2019
Quantum Computing, still a rising innovation, is a
standout amongst the most intriguing things analysts,
companies, and governments have been working on
this century up until now. The race toward coming up
w i t h t h e fi r s t
c o m p l e t e l y
u s e f u l , f u l l y -
w o r k i n g
q u a n t u m
c o m p u t e r
(additionally called supercomputer) is on.
First-Integrated-Quantum-Computing-System
IBMQSystemOne
At the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), IBM
(NYSE: IBM) unveiled IBM Q System One, the world's
first integrated universal approximate quantum
computing system designed for scientific and
commercial use. IBM also announced plans to open its
first IBM Q Quantum Computation Center for
commercial clients in Poughkeepsie, New York in
2019.
IBM Q systems are designed to one day tackle
problems that are currently seen as too complex and
exponential in nature for classical systems to handle.
Future applications of quantum computing may
include finding new ways to model financial data and
isolating key global risk factors to make better
investments, or finding the optimal path across global
systems for ultra-efficient logistics and optimizing
fleet operations for deliveries.
Quantum computing in a nutshell:
Quantum computing is all about qubits, or quantum
bits. These are the basic units of information used by
quantum computers. Unlike regular bits, which store
data as either 1s or 0s, qubits take advantage of the
quantum phenomenon known as superposition.. The
advantage of this in computing is that it exponentially
increases the amount of information you can process.
A pair of qubits that can exist as either 1s or 0s can
embody four possible states. Three qubits can
embody eight. But three hundred qubits can embody
more states than there are atoms in the Universe.
Source: newsroom.ibm.com
5. Block Chain Technology
The global market for Blockchain Technology is
projected to reach US$2.6 billion by 2022, driven by
the growing confidence in blockchains's disruptive
abi l i ty to decentral ize the internet and Iot
Networks.Asia -pacific is poised to grow at the fastest
CAGR of 45.7% over the analysis period , driven by the
emergence of internet based economies in the region
such as China, India, Singapore and Australia and
esuing strong interest in blockchain technology for
securing Internet engagement and growing efforts of
enterprises of all sizes to digitize operations and
unlock the potential of blockchain to enable friction-
free ,peer-to-peer transactions.
Source: Global Industry Analysts , Inc.
6. AT&T, Dell Team Up To Tackle Open-Source
Edge Computing, 5G
Dell is joining the Airship open infrastructure project,
an AT&T-led initiative aimed at automating the
provisioning telecom cloud infrastructure for 5G.
The two companies will develop and further open
infrastructure technology that can support new use
cases at the edge of the network, especially as more
customers rely on cloud-based applications and soon,
5G. Specifically, Dell is joining the Airship open
infrastructure project, an AT&T-led initiative founded
in 2018 alongside SK Telecom, Intel and the OpenStack
Foundation.
The Airship project aims to automate the provisioning
telecom cloud infrastructure for 5G. That's because
next-generation technologies such as 5G will require
distributed architectures that use disaggregated and
open infrastructure to provision mobile services,
something that hardware won't be able to deliver,
according to Dallas-based AT&T. Source: www.crn.com
Reliance Jio propels growth of KaiOS in India
The emergence of KaiOS has led to the growth of a new
category of devices -- smart feature phones.
Devices powered by KaiOS have been in the market
only since mid-2017. But thanks to the huge popularity
of Jio phones from Reliance, this light Linux-based
operating system today has a greater market share
than iOS in India.
Built by San Diego, California-headquartered start-up
KaiOS Technologies and led by CEO Sebastien
Codeville, KaiOS is the third biggest operating system
globally after Android and iOS.
Data from StatCounter show that while Android has
over 91.5 per cent share in India, iOS has over 2.6 per
cent share as of July 2019. KaiOS has over 4.3 per cent
share in the country.
The emergence of KaiOS has led to the growth of a new
category of devices -- smart feature phones. For those
who cannot afford a smartphone, these devices have
proved to be a boon as they allow users to connect to
the Internet, thereby bridging the digital divide.
www.crn.com
1. Ebix acquires Yatra for an enterprise value of
US$ 337.8 million
Ebix Inc., which is a supplier of on-demand software
and e-commerce services acquired online travel portal
Yatra Online Inc., for an enterprise value of US$ 337.8
million, in an all-stock transaction
This is beneficial fit for both companies, with Ebix's
expertise in the B2B (business-to-business) segment
and Yatra's leadership in corporate travel bookings.
This deal is expected to help Yatra enter more than 60
countries that it is present in. Though, Yatra will
remain to be independently run and will maintain its
brand and status in India
Source: www.m.economictimes.com
Infosys announces strategic partnership with
Toyota Material Handling Europe
NEW DELHI: IT major Infosys announced a long term
strategic partnership with Toyota Material Handling
Europe (TMHE). As an IT
services partner, Infosys
will help TMHE in its
digital transformation
journey by facilitating
t ra n s f o r m a t i o n t o a
scalable digital hybrid
cloud platform, providing
application services, digital workplace, infrastructure
management and a dedicated data center operation.
MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT (Preeti Saini)
Website of Film Facilitation Office (FFO)
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,
Government of India, set up the Film Facilitation Office
in the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC)
with a view to promote and facilitate film shootings by
foreign filmmakers in India. The services rendered by
the Film Facilitation Office have now been extended to
Indian filmmakers as well.
https://ffo.gov.in/en
Massive Campaign to be launched to make India free
of one time use plastics: Shri Prakash Javadekar
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change and Information and Broadcasting Shri
Prakash Javadekar, who is in Sao Paulo, Brazil to
attend the Ministerial meetings of BRICS and BASIC
countries, said that with the Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi has renewed his appeal to the people,
in his Independence Day speech, to make India free of
one time use plastics
In response to Prime Minister's call on India's 73rd
Independence day, to make India free of single use
plastics, a massive public campaign will be launched
engaging all stakeholders. In this regard a series of
meetings will be held with all stakeholders including
state governments to chalk out a concrete plan to
make it a people's campaign to realise the ultimate
target," Mr Javadekar said while addressing a
gathering to celebrate 73rd Independence Day at a
function organised by the
Indian Consulate in Sao
Paulo, Brazil.
E a r l i e r , i n a t w e e t
message the Minister
s a i d : " P M
@narendramodi today
called for a campaign to
make India free of single
use plastics. Let us all
strive together to make it
happen".
In response to Prime Minister's call on India's 73rd
Independence day, to make India free of single use
plastics, a massive public campaign will be launched
engaging all stakeholders. In this regard a series of
meetings will be held with all stakeholders including
state governments to chalk out a concrete plan to
make it a people's campaign to realise the ultimate
target," Mr Javadekar said while addressing a
gathering to celebrate 73rd Independence Day at a
function organised by the Indian Consulate in Sao
Paulo, Brazil.
Earlier, in a tweet message the Minister said : "PM
@narendramodi today called for a campaign to make
India free of single use plastics. Let us all strive
together to make it happen".
" We have now achieved 'One Nat ion, One
Constitution'; we had already achieved 'One Nation,
One Grid'. Now people should debate on 'One Nation,
One election'. The Prime Minister has also announced
large scale infrastructure development plans with an
investment of Rs 100 lakh crore in Road, Rail, Airport,
Port, Waterways and other infrastructure. While listing
out achievements of the government, the Prime
Minister also discussed about ever-increasing
population in India and the need to check it through
public participation" Mr Javadekar said addressing the
gathering comprising of Indian diaspora, NRIs and
eminent citizens of Brazil.
Application form for grant of permission for setting up
community radio station
You can find the application form for grant of
permission for setting up community radio station
(FM) radio. This form is provided by the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting. Applicants need to
read the form carefully and fill up as per the
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9-Day National Tribal Festival "Aadi Mahotsav" ready
for A Colourful Start at Leh-Ladakh on 17th August,
2019
Posted On: 16 AUG 2019 12:24PM by PIB Del
Aadi Mahotsav (National Tribal Festival), a joint
initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of
India & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development
Federation of India (TRIFED) is all set for a colourful
start tomorrow i.e. 17th August, 2019 at Polo Ground,
Leh-Ladakh.
The 9 day event from 17th August till 25th August,
2019 will be inaugurated by the Governor of Jammu
and Kashmir, Shri Satya Pal Malik, Governor at 6pm on
17th August 2019 in the presence of Shri Arjun
Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs ; Smt Renuka
Singh, Minister for State for Tribal Affairs and Shri R. C.
Meena, Chairman TRIFED.
The theme of the festival is : "A celebration of the spirit
of Tribal Craft, Culture and Commerce". TRIFED
essentially is to play the role of a 'Service provider' &
'Market Developer.'
The event will see around 160 Tribal artisans from
more than 20 states across the country, actively
participating and showcasing their masterpieces. The
product range will comprise of Tribal Textiles from
Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal; Tribal
Jewellery from Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh
and North East; Tribal Paintings like Gond art from
Madhya Pradesh, Warli art from Maharashtra; Metal
craft from Chhattisgarh; Black pottery from Manipur,
and Natura ls and Organic products f rom
Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
INDIA HAS SET AN EXAMPLE IN ACHIEVING
I T S N A T I O N A L L Y D E T E R M I N E D
CONTRIBUTIONS: UNION ENVIRONMENT
MINISTER (Preeti Saini)
B R I C S N a t i o n s c o m e t o g e t h e r f o r U r b a n
Environmental Management
Posted On: 16 AUG 2019 11:23AM by PIB Delhi
A c k n o w l e d g i n g t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f u r b a n
environmental management for improving quality of
life in cities, the Environment Ministers of BRICS
countries today, agreed to work together to resolve
the multifaceted environmental issues faced by BRICS
cities. These discussions and announcements were
made during the 5th BRICS Minister of Environment
Meeting held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This meeting was
preceded by two-days meeting of BRICS Joint Working
Group on Environment.
Highlighting the path breaking work done by India in
a c h i e v i n g i t s N a t i o n a l l y D e t e r m i n e d
Contributions(NDCs) Union Environment minister,
Shri Prakash Javadekar said that India under the
dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
is walking the talk on NDC's. "We have achieved
reducing energy intensity by 25% and already 78GW of
renewable energy has been made possible, while at
the same time forest cover has increased by nearly
15,000 sqkm and tree cover outside the forest is
increasing rapidly" said the environment minister.
Stressing the key role played by BRICS countries Shri
Javadekar said that BRICS is a very good platform for
all five countries for co-operation and development.
"All five countries are rising and have many
experiences to share and these experiences will
definitely help all the economies to improve further in
our climate action efforts and protecting environment
while ensuring growth at the same time", added the
Environment Minister. In a tail of ministerial meetings,
the minister iterated that India has set an example in
achieving its NDC's and all countries need to walk the
talk.
The Ministerial Declaration highlighted key initiatives -
Partnership on Urban Environmental Sustainability
Initiative (PUESI) to share knowledge and experience
on important issues as waste management,
cogeneration, reverse logistics, sanitation, urban air
quality, urban green areas, BRICS Environmentally
Sound Technology (BEST) Cooperation Platform for
innovations, knowledge sharing and capacity building,
and Clean River of BRICS program for improvement of
r iver ecology and combating marine l i t ter.
Environment Ministers agreed to establish and
strengthen concrete mechanisms of implementation
of the cooperation initiatives with special focus on
action-oriented cooperation. The key themes of urban
environmental management, contaminated areas
and soil remediation, water quality, circular economy
in context of sustainable consumption and
production, marine litter and biodiversity were agreed
to be integrated into BRICS cooperation initiatives.
S o u r c e :
http://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID
=1582127
THE PRIME MINISTER, SHRI NARENDRA
MODI ADDRESSED THE NATION FROM THE
RAMPARTS OF THE RED FORT ON THE 73RD
INDEPENDENCE DAY (Preeti Saini)
Following are the highlights from his speech
1. I extend warm greetings and best wishes on the
73rd Independence Day and on the auspicious festival
of Raksha Bandhan to all the countrymen, brothers
and sisters.
2. As the country is celebrating the festival of
Independence, people in several parts of the country
are facing difficulties due to floods. Centre, States and
other organizations are striving hard to bring the
situation back to normal.
3. To revoke Article 370 and 35A within 10 weeks of
the formation of the new Government is a significant
step towards fulfilling the dream of Sardar Vallabh
Bhai Patel. The task that was not done in the last 70
years has been accomplished within 70 days. The
abrogation of Article 370 and 35A was passed in both
Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha by two-thirds majority.
4. If we can abolish Sati system, make stringent laws
against female foeticide and take action against child
marriage and dowry, we can also raise our voice
against Triple Talaq.
Similarly, we have enacted law against Triple
Talaq to protect the rights of our Muslim women.
5. Radical amendments were made in laws relating
to terrorism and were made more stringent and
powerful.
6. In a significant step, transfer of about Rs. 90,000
crores to farmers' bank accounts is in progress to
those who are beneficiaries of PM Kisan Samman
Nidhi Yojana.
7. Pens ion scheme to farmers and smal l
entrepreneurs has been put in place which was never
imagined earlier.
8. To address challenges of water crisis, a new
dedicated Ministry of Jal Shakti has been created.
9. In coming days, Centre and States will together
take forward the Jal-Jeevan Mission and an amount of
more than Rs. 3.5 lakh crores has been earmarked for
this.
10. There is a pressing need for doctors, health
facilities and systems in the country. In order to make
Medial Education transparent, important laws have
been enacted.
11. The country has enacted strong laws for
protection of children.
12. While 2014-2019 was an era of fulfillment of
needs, the period beyond 2019 is that of fulfillment of
aspirations and dreams.
13. It is our responsibility that the aspirations of the
citizens of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are fulfilled
and dalits living there should get equal rights as
enjoyed by the rest of the dalits in the country.
Similarly, communities like Gujjars, Bakarwals, Gaddis,
Sippies or Balties should get political rights. After
partition, lakhs of people got displaced and settled in
Jammu & Kashmir were devoid of basic human rights
and citizenship rights.
14. J&K and Ladakh can become role models of peace
and prosperity and contribute significantly towards
India's development. The state can greatly contribute
to India's development. Today every Indian can
proudly say 'One Nation, One Constitution'.
15. GST achieved the dream of 'One Nation, One tax'.
We successfully attained 'One Nation, One Grid' in the
power sector. We also developed 'One Nation, One
Mobility Card' system and today there is a discussion
in the country for 'One Nation, One Poll' and it should
happen in a democratic manner.
16. Population explosion can create new problems
specially for the future generations. But there is also
an enlightened section of society which is aware of this
challenge. We have to ponder on this issue taking
along all the sections of the society.
17. Corruption and nepotism have harmed the
country beyond imagination. We have taken several
steps driven by technology to fight this menace.
18. Ease of living is the necessity of independent
India. We should build an eco-system in which there
should be less Government interference in daily life.
19. The country can no longer wait for incremental
progress but should strive for giant strides.
20. For development of modern infrastructure, an
amount of Rs. 100 lakh crore has been earmarked for
this period which will create new job opportunities
besides improving the living standards.
21. India dreams of a 5 Trillion Dollar Economy. In the
70 years of independence, the country became a 2
Trillion Dollar Economy but in the last 5 years, we have
made it a 3 Trillion Dollar Economy and at this pace, we
can become a 5 Trillion Dollar Economy.
22. By 75th year of independence, farmers' income
should double, every poor should get a pucca house,
every family should get electricity connection and
every village should have optical fibre network and
broadband connectivity besides facility of long
distance education.
23. We have to lay stress on Blue Economy (Ocean
resources). Our farmers should become exporters
and every district of the country should be an export
hub. Value added goods from every district should
reach global markets.
24. As a Tourist Destination, India can become a
wonder in the world. All Indians should promote
tourism, because tourism sector provides more jobs
with less investments and also strengthens economy.
25. A stable government provides for policy
predictabi l i ty and a stable system creates
international trust. The world is looking at India with
admiration for its political stability.
26. It is a matter of pride for India that we are
progressing at a high growth rate with price rise under
control.
27. The fundamentals of our economy are very strong
and reforms like GST & IBC have created a new faith in
the system. Our investors should invest more, earn
more and generate more jobs. We should stop viewing
our Wealth Creators with suspicion: they deserve
greater respect. Greater wealth creation will lead to
greater distribution and help in the welfare of poor
people.
28. India is strongly fighting against the forces
spreading terrorism. India in league with other
nations of the world will expose those harbouring,
promoting and exporting terrorism. To abolish the
menace of terrorism, our security forces and security
agencies have played an exemplary role and I salute
them.
29. India's neighbours - Bangladesh, Afghanistan and
Sri Lanka are suffering from terrorism. Our good
friend in the neighborhood - Afghanistan is going to
celebrate its 100th independence day in four days to
come. From the ramparts of the Red Fort, I give my
greetings to the people of Afghanistan who are
marking 100 years of freedom.
30. I had flagged the issue of Swachhata from the
ramparts of Red Fort in 2014 and a few weeks from
now on the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October, India will become
an open defecation free nation.
31. Our country has been debating for long about
reforms in Armed Forces and many commissions and
their reports underline the same. To further sharpen
coordination between the forces, India will have Chief
of Defence Staff, CDS which will make the forces even
more effective.
32. I wish the countrymen to pledge to make India
free from single use plastic by 2nd October. For this
every citizen, municipalities and gram panchayats
should come together.
33. Our priority should be a 'Made in India' product.
For a better tomorrow, can we think of consuming
local products and also help improve rural economy
and the MSME sector.
34. Our digital payment platforms are evolving
strong. We should lay stress on digital payments for
our village shops, small outlets and smaller city malls.
35. We are spoiling health of soil by use of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides. When Gandhiji has already
shown us the path, can't we reduce by 10%, 20% or
25% use of chemical fertilizers. I am sure our farmers
will oblige my wish.
36. Indian professional are recognized globally. Our
scientists have proved their mettle in Chandrayaan
which is reaching the uncharted territory of the moon.
37. In the coming days, 1.5 lakh wellness centers will
be created at villages. One medical college in the midst
of three Lok Sabha constituencies, housing for two
crore poor people, drinking water supply in 15 crore
rural households and 1.25 lakh km roads in rural
areas, besides connecting every village with
broadband and optical fiber network are some of the
targets to be achieved. More than 50,000 new start
ups are also being planned.
38. Indian constitution is completing 70 years, the
dream of Baba Saheb Ambedkar and this year is also
important for the 550th birth anniversary of Guru
Nanak Devji. Let us move forward by imbibing the
teachings of Baba Saheb and Guru Nanak Dev for a
better society and a better country.
Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar speaking at the
inauguration of 10th Jagran Film Festival at Siri Fort
Auditorium, New Delhi on 18.7.2019
20 July 2019 Current Affairs: Union Minister of
I n f o r m a t i o n a n d B r o a d c a s t i n g P r a k a s h
Javadekarinaugurated the 10th edition of the Jagran
Film Festival.The Delhi chapter has been scheduled
from 18 to 21 July atSiri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi.
Important Film personalities like actor Anil Kapoor,
choreographer Farah Khan, film producer Shobu
Yarlagadda, director Ketan Mehta and film critic
Rajeev Masand were present at the inauguration.
In the first day of the film festival, there were two panel
discussions in the Cinema Summit category, on:
?
Future of Cinema and Breaking Language Barriers in
Indian Cinema with Yarlagadda and Mehta
? Changing Landscape of Bollywood with Khan.
The festival will travel its way from Delhi through
various places like Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad,
Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Dehradun, Hisar, Ludhiana,
Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Gorakhpur, Raipur, Indore
and Bhopal. The festival will end on September 29 in
Mumbai.
" Union Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar and Goa
Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant visiting venues of
IFFI in Goa on 14.7.2019.
Government is committed towards the preservation
of country's cinematic heritage, says Prakash
Javadekar
NFHM is a landmark initiative to preserve the
Country's cinematic heritage, says I&B Minister
NFAI to add new film preservation and conservation
facilities as part of NFHM, says Prakash Javadekar
Posted On: 30 JUN 2019 6:29PM by PIB Mumbai
The National Film Heritage Mission is an important
initiative of the I&B Ministry to preserve and conserve
country's cinematic heritage. The Government is
committed towards its implementation in a time
bound manner. Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of
Information and Broadcasting and Minister of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change, mentioned
this during his visit to National Film Archive of India,
today.
Shri Javadekar reviewed the Ministry's prestigious
project of 'National Film Heritage Mission', and various
activities undertaken under this project. Shri
Javadekar after review said "film condition assessment
work of nearly 1.32 lac film reels has been completed
and the preventive conservation work is underway.
The work on digitization of film reels will commence
soon." Shri Javadekar further added, "the Government
is setting up new preservation facilities (vaults) at 3
acres of land. Also, NFAI will have a dedicated children
film club, benefiting children of different age groups."
While mentioning about the restoration of Jaykar
Bunglow, Shri Javadekar said "the restored Jaykar
bunglow will have a new digital library and personal
viewing space for film researchers".
On the sidelines of the review meeting Shri Javadekar
also met with film federation personalities and
addressed their requests. The broader objectives
under NFHM are to undertake film condition
assessment and preventive conservation of around
150,000 film reels, Digitization of around 3500 films,
picture & sound restoration of around 2000 landmark
films of Indian cinema, construction of preservation
and conservation facilities (vaults), training and
workshops and creating a comprehensive Web-based
End to End IT solution.
MANAGEMENT (Medha Gupta)
Reliance to sell 20% stake in oil-to-chemicals arm to
Saudi Aramco
Reliance Industries on 12 august 2019 (Monday)
signaled a tectonic shift in its decades-long, successful
business model of going it alone by proposing to
offload stake in its oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi
Arabian giant Aramco for an enterprise value of $75
billion (around Rs 5.3 lakh crore). Saudi Aramco has
agreed to buy 20% in the oil-to-chemicals division, the
core business of RIL. However, the global oil giant will
only have an economic interest for the first five years,
not a direct equity stake. The oil-to-chemicals business
will function as a division of RIL. Aramco will pick up a
direct stake after five years, when the division will be
spun off into a separate company and become a
subsidiary of RIL.
(Source economictimes.indiatimes.com)
JAMMU & KASHMIR TO ORGANIZE FIRST
GLOBAL SUMMIT FOR INVESTORS FROM
12-14 OCTOBER 2019 (Medha Gupta)
News agency ANI quoted NK Chaudhary, Principal
Secretary (Commerce & Industry), Jammu and
Kashmir, as saying that the Investors Summit would
take place in the erstwhile state between October 12
and October 14. "J&K has decided to host Investors
Summit from 12-14 October. This will be first-ever
global summit hosted here till date. The inaugural
session of the summit will be held in Srinagar on
October 12," . Summit will attract investments in
various sectors of the economy of the state and to
showcase Jammu and Kashmir as a favorable
investment destination.
It was further informed that the State Government has
already hired Ernest &Young (E&Y) as the Knowledge
partner and Price Water House Cooper (PWC) as the
Media management partner through transparent
bidding process. E&Y will be responsible to do the
documentation of various policies, sectoral policies
and other incentives available in the state
(Source-https://www.crosstownnews.in)
INDIA RECEIVED HIGHEST-EVER FDI
WORTH USD 64.37 BILLION IN Fy19 (Medha
Gupta)
India received the highest-ever FDI inflow of USD 64.37
billion during the fiscal ended March 2019, said a
government report. According to the Annual Report
2018-19 of the Department for Promotion of Industry
and Internal Trade (DPIIT), foreign direct investments
(FDI) worth USD 286 billion were received in the
country in past five years. "In the current financial year
(2018-19), the country registered highest ever FDI
inflow of USD 64.37 billion," the report said.
(Source- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com)
INDIAN AUTOMOBILE SECTOR SLOWDOWN
India's $57- Billion auto components industry is
expected to shed down 500k jobs losses over next
quarter. Front end sales jobs and those related to
technical, painting , welding , production technology
are primarily at risk.
As slowdown in the auto industry continues,
companies halted production temporarily includes
Mahindra, Suzuki, Toyota and Ashok Leyland, Tata
Motors, Hero MotoCorp as well as TVS Group
companies Sundaram-Clayton Limited (SCL) and
Lucas TVs, among others.
(Source: https://www.prokerala.com & Economic
times)
FINANCE MINISTRY ASKS PSBS TO DO
MONTH-LONG CAMPAIGN TO HELP THE
C O U N T R Y A C H I E V E $ 5 - T R I L L I O N
ECONOMY IN FIVE YEARS. (Simranjeet Kaur)
According to a communication by the ministry to the
heads of PSBs, it will be a bottom-up consultative
process from the branch level onwards which will
involve discussions at the branch or regional level,
state level and national level. Suggestions emerged
will be used as inputs to prepare a road map for the
future growth of the banking sector. The review will be
based on 16 parameters, including efficiency and
potential, said a senior banker.
(Source: https://www.livemint.com)
ONGC to invest ?83,000 crore in 25 projects
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) to boost oil and gas
production, chairman and managing director Shashi
Shanker said that Fifteen of these projects are
currently under execution and will directly contribute
to oil and gas production.
The cumulative oil and gas gain from these projects is
expected to be over 180 million tonnes of oil and oil
equivalent gas in their life cycle. ONGC envisages a
natural gas output of over 32 billion cubic metres by
FY24. Speaking on ONGC's business performance, he
said the company earned the highest-ever revenue of
?1,09,655 crore in 2018-19, a 29% increase over the
previous financial year. It also logged a record net
profit of ?26,716 crore in first Quarter, an increase of
34%.
(Source:livemint.com)
SEMBCORP INJECTS 516.9 CRORE IN
ENERGY BUSINESS IN INDIA (Medha Gupta)
Sembcorp Energy India Limited (SEIL) injected
around $101.6 million in equity to raise its stake in its
India energy arm to 94.05 per cent from 93.73 per
cent.
Through its subsidiary Sembcorp Utilities (SCU), the
group subscribed for an additional 275 million
additional shares in SEIL to support the growth of its
India renewable energy business.
The equity injection was funded through a mix of
internal funds and borrowings. The balance of
shares in SEIL, meanwhile, is owned by SCU's Indian
partner Gayatri Energy Ventures.
(Source: https://www.businesstimes.com)
AMAZON SETS UP LARGEST DELIVERY
STATION IN TN (Nitish)
Amazon deliveries for Tamil Nadu will get more
efficient as the e-commercemajor launched its
"largest" delivery station in the state till date The e-
commerce giant said it wasn't witessing any
slowdown in the market, which has hit FMCG and
consumer facing sectors, and has "doubled" its
delivery network in the state in the past few months,
and has expanded its delivery network in cities and
towns such as Namakkal, Tiruchengodu, Sivakasi,
Krishnagiri, Tiruvallur, and others. Amazon now
covers around 1,200 pin codes in the state with a
"significant number" of the state's customers
enjoying one-day and two day-delivery promises.
Amazon has over 32,000 sellers based in the state.
The new station, located in Chennai, is spread across
24,000 square feet.and expected to help Amazon
strengthen its last-mile delivery network to ensure
faster deliveries across the city. With this expansion,
Amazon now has six fulfilment centers in the state
covering storage space of almost 1.8 million cubic
feet. It has around 120 own and service partner
delivery stations to monitor deliveries. It also has
three sort centers - the link between fulfilment hubs
and customers- with more than 80,000 square feet
of processing area aggregate.
Source:-
https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com
INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER FOR SERVICE INDUSTRY(Govt. - Corporate - NRIs Business Interface)
www.icsiindia.in | [email protected]
