Metro Mart Daily

Local medical heroes will have the chance to receive a complimentary two-night stay at one of 12 Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in the Middle East, India, Europe and the Americas, offer 100 room-nights for medical workers

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has launched a global Heroes Campaign to celebrate and recognise the tireless work medical workers are undertaking around the world.  The campaign, which will run until the end of June will see the company donate 100 room-nights at 12 participating hotels to key medical workers across the Middle East, India, Indian Ocean, Europe and North America, in a show of appreciation for the heroes helping to keep everyone safe, as well as giving them a chance to find their own Shangri-La, a utopian perfection, during this challenging time. Each medical worker will receive a two-night complimentary stay including breakfast at hotels located in eight of the group’s destinations, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Paris, London, Istanbul, Mauritius, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Muscat, Toronto and Vancouver.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts’ Heroes Campaign is an interactive campaign where travellers, guests, customers and partners will be encouraged to nominate a local medical hero to give them the chance to win a stay at the Shangri-La hotel or resort located in their respective region, valid for one year. Nominations will be facilitated through a seamless online branded form, which will capture the name of each local hero and their unique story until 30th June. 

A raffle will be organised on 1st July, and those receiving complimentary stays will be personally contacted on the 5th July. Once the heroes have been notified, Shangri-La, with the winners’ consent, will share their incredible achievements and inspirational stories across the hotels’ social media channels to gain further recognition for the great work of these heroic individuals.  

Shangri-La’s Heroes Campaign will be promoted across social media channels to help raise awareness and encourage nominations. All nominees must work for the medical sector in one of the following countries (Canada, France, India, Mauritius, Oman, Turkey, United Kingdom or UAE) and they will need to provide proof of employment.  To nominate your chosen medical hero, please follow the link here.  

The ‘Big Demo Day’ for startups, organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), will get underway here on Thursday, offering a platform for the industry to tap into innovative and affordable products and services from the startup ecosystem.  
The five-day programme, being held in association with state industry bodies, aims at introducing pioneering ideas and technological prowess of startups to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and corporates, and help them leverage the technology to strengthen and scale-up their businesses. 
The Cross Sell platform, www.business.startupmission.in, which facilitates enrolling of both startups and industry, will also be launched on the occasion.   
Startups can display the brochure of their products on the platform, and if the products match with the requirement of the industry, the industrialists can interact with them in a win-win situation. 
Besides, the industry can post their requirements on the Cross Sell platform and startups will come forward with suitable solutions. The platform also offers an opportunity for investors to interact with startups to scale up their businesses.  

‘Big Demo Day’ is aimed at making technologies available for industrialists in an affordable and reasonable manner, thus creating better businesses for startups. The programme will set the stage for an interaction of industries, corporates, associations, investors, consultants and international agencies with startups. 
One-to-one pitching and product showcasing will be held as part of the event, which concludes on June 30. It has the backing of IT entrepreneurs’ organisation G-Tech and various Indian corporate firms.  Selected startups during the programme will get an opportunity for an online interaction with the representatives of corporate firms.   KSUM, in association with various industry bodies, is collecting information to study the needs and problems of industries. 

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.For more details, contact: Sawad Sayyid, Business Coordinator, KSUM, phone: 7736495689, email: sawad@startupmission.in.

• We Love Travel! – a tourism recovery pop-up event from 16 to 18 October 2020 at Arena Berlin
• A three-day in-person and virtual programme of events for trade visitors and the general public

Over the past few months the tourism industry has faced enormous challenges. Nevertheless, the desire to travel connects people everywhere across borders – even in what is often called the “new normal”. ITB Berlin and the Berlin Travel Festival are now joining forces and from 16 to 18 October at Arena Berlin are organising a unique platform in order to show the industry ways in which they can exit the crisis together. At this hybrid event entitled ‘We Love Travel - a tourism recovery pop-up’, the decades-long experience of ITB Berlin, the World’s Leading Travel Trade Show, will encounter the fresh, dynamic spirit of the festival.

“During the coronavirus crisis the thing that struck us most was that nothing can replace the magic of personal contact – a smile, a handshake, proximity to one another. Tourism is and always will be a “people's business”, said Julia Sonnemann, the PR manager of ITB Berlin. “What we now need more than ever is a physical platform to revitalise the industry, make new contacts and re-establish relations.”

Thus the three-day event will gather all the players – tourism professionals, hoteliers, restaurateurs, travellers and content creators, along with Instagrammers and bloggers. Together they can look back and give an initial assessment of events, while also looking forward and gaining inspiration for new ideas. We Love Travel! for the first time will also provide a platform for an open and constructive discussion on what travel may look like after this unprecedented break.

“Right now, how travel will change exactly is something we can only guess at”, commented Bernd Neff, the co-founder and managing director of the Berlin Travel Festival. “That makes it all the more important to take an early look at the various scenarios in terms of priorities, safety needs, sustainability and other considerations and work on innovative strategies together.”

That is also why the pop-up event offers a unique combination of in-person and virtual formats. The agenda features exhibition areas, networking formats, presentations and discussion panels. On Friday, 16 October the focus of ITB Berlin will be on its own programme formats aimed at trade visitors, while on 17 and 18 October the Berlin Travel Festival’s programme will be devoted mainly to the interests of consumers and travellers. The event’s hybrid concept will enable visitors to attend in person as well as experience fascinating content in a virtual space. Accordingly, exhibitors can opt for presenting themselves in person and via virtual formats.

The safety and health of everyone involved has the utmost priority. “We are in close contact with the authorities, are closely monitoring developments and are working on a comprehensive concept for hygiene rules and safety measures”, said Dr. Martin Buck, senior vice president, Travel & Logistics at Messe Berlin GmbH. ”We will provide information on our specific measures on our website in the near future.”

Startups can showcase products on Cross Sell business platform before industry, corporates  
Providing a virtual marketplace for startups to showcase their products to industry, a startup Cross Sell digital business platform under Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) was launched here today.
Mr M Sivasankar, Principal Secretary (Electronics and IT), Govt. of Kerala, launched the innovative platform, www.business.startupmission.in, which facilitates enrolling of both startups and industry. 
On the occasion, Mr Sivasankar said, “It’s indeed a very big leap through which we are providing entire services to entire stakeholders. It’s also a very big day as it is happening during this phase of corona-induced disruption.”
The launch of Cross Sell business platform was part of KSUM’s high-profile ‘Big Demo Day’ monthly event for startups, offering a platform for the industry to tap into innovative and affordable products and services from the startup ecosystem.
Startups can display the brochure of their products on the platform, and if the products match with the requirement of the industry, the industrialists can interact with them in a win-win situation.
Besides, the industry can post their requirements on the Cross Sell business platform while startups will come forward with suitable solutions. The platform also offers an opportunity for investors and stakeholders to interact with startups to scale up their businesses. 

The five-day ‘Big Demo Day’ programme, which began here on Thursday, is being held in association with state industry bodies. It aims at introducing pioneering ideas and technological prowess of startups to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and corporates, and help them leverage the technology to strengthen and scale-up their businesses. 

The programme will set the stage for an interaction of industries, corporates, associations, investors, freelancers, consultants and international agencies with startups. Around 60 live interactions were held on the platform, which had the presence of more than 350 visitors on the first day. 

One-to-one pitching and product showcasing will be held as part of the event, which concludes on June 30. It has the backing of industry association and various Indian corporate firms. 

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state

Debut Arabian Travel Market Virtual event registers 11,977attendees
Participants represented 140 countries

Travel trade professionals from across the world gathered in their thousands to attend the three-day Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Virtual, which debuted on 1-3 June 2020.  The online event which attracted almost 12,000 attendees from 140 countries around the world, focused on the ME region’s tourism sector, addressed emerging trends, as well as the opportunities and the challenges which are directly impacting the travel and tourism industry amid the COVID-19 global health pandemic and beyond.
In total, the event facilitated11,301 prescheduled one-to-one meetings, of which over 92% were rated four or five, out of five stars. A series of one-to-one pre-scheduled 30-minute meetings between editors, exhibitors, and buyers also took place, and 23 live video sessions included Q&As and polls which ran alongside the presentations to enable audience interaction. Overall, the webinars had more than 24,000 views over the course of three days. Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), said: “Considering that this was a debutevent, the outcome clearly validated our strategy to virtually support and guide the region’s travel and tourism industry. The resilience and determination to get through these challenging times was clearly evident.
“It also underscored our commitment to organise an event with positive and constructive business insight and opinion, as well as offering networking opportunities across the entire community.
“There were so many highlights during the event, that it would be extremely difficult to single out any particular session. The event was seamless, each session complemented the next and it is also fair to say that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.” The highlight of the opening day was an interview with Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline. During a discussion with aviation expert John Strickland, Sir Tim predicted a degree of tourism recovery during the course of 2021, and expectations for Emirates to be operating its network prior to COVID-19 by 22/23, 23/24. 

Another key event that took place on the first day was the Arival-run OTAs & Distribution for Tours & Attractions Post-COVID session,which explored the changes amid the rise of online travel agencies (OTAs), the re-opening of operations and what this means for tour and attraction operators across the Middle East. The much anticipated The Virtual ATM China Forum took an in-depth look at the potential of the Chinese outbound leisure market post COVID-19’s closed borders and what overseas destinations and attractions can do to reassure and convince Chinese tourists, of whom 45% are willing to travel overseas, that their destination is safe to visit.  

Other issues discussed included, technology, the role of international industry associations and the need for destinations to change their propositions, with a focus on safety, trust, and consumer confidence. Another highlight of the second day was the live webinar ‘Bouncing Back: Tourism Strategies for the Future’where Keith Tan, CEO, Singapore Tourism Board, underscored the importance of governments implementing ‘green lanes’ to aid tourism recovery and promote bilateral travel agreements. He cited the common standards Singapore and China have implemented to allow travel between the two countries. 

The third and final day included the interview with Wizz Air CEO, JoszefVaradi where he confirmed his ambitions for the low-cost carrier’s impending move to operate out of Abu Dhabi, and their plans to have 100 aircrafts serving the GCC markets by 2035. Other highlights on the final day included theInternational Travel Investment Conference summit, the responsible tourism session, ‘The Implications of COVID-19 for Responsible Hospitality’, and the Influencers’ session, ‘Make Your Connection: Influencers as a Key Part of the Marketing Mix – COVID-19 The Road to Recovery.

“As an organiser we have learnt a lot from this virtual experience and to give our seminar programme broader reach and greater inclusivity, we will certainly be looking to integrate more virtual elements into our physical show next year,” said Curtis. The sessions and other content are now available on demand via the WTM Global Hub. To view, please go to: https://hub.wtm.com/atm-virtual/

Kerala has decided to effectively leverage e-Sanjeevani telemedicine service as a sustainable solution for patient care while avoiding direct interface with doctors during Covid times. An integrated telemedicine application that offers a suite of high-utility features, the facility was launched on the 10 June, 2020 with Kerala becoming one of the first few states to join the telemedicine platform e-Sanjeevani, developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) as an effective consultation platform.
Health Minister Smt. K K Shailaja Teacher said telemedicine has every possibility to emerge as a viable and efficient solution in Kerala.  “It has a definite advantage as it precludes the need for a patient to go to hospital and it provides the services at the fingertips. Since the elderly and other vulnerable people are advised against going outside their homes during the covid times, the health requirements of these people can be met with this innovative solution”.
 “If telemedicine picks up the way we anticipate, then probably the Government would want to strengthen this by offering health consultations 24/7, round the clock on all days of the year,” Smt. Shailaja said.  "Because of the presence of COVID many non-COVID patients are not getting treatment. Kerala  being a high morbid state this can lead to a lot of hardships to non-COVID patients. Telemedicine can help such patients in a big way," Planning Board Member Dr B Ekbal said, adding that e-Sanjeevani offers teleconsultation to the public both for general and speciality consultations free of charge."

He said the public and private hospitals have offered their cooperation to make e-Sanjeevani a success. NHM Kerala Mission Director Dr Rathan Kelkar, IAS, said e-Sanjeevani service has received a very good response from the people of kerala since its launch and each day more than 125 consultations are being recorded which is the highest in the country. He further said “ we have held discussions with centres of excellence like the RCC, MCC, IMHANS, SCTIMST, CCRC, IID for providing specialist consultations services and the same would be started very soon wherein the people can avail services of the specialists online on dedicated days”. 
With the platform receiving huge number of calls daily, which are being attended by more than 30 doctors, the telemedicine venture will move to the districts in about a month’s time with specific spokes being established. “Then we will need services of more doctors, for which we have already started training sessions. The services of private doctors will also be used in the coming days based on the volume of calls” said Dr Divya V S, State Nodal Officer, Training and now in charge of                 e-Sanjeevani. 
A person can use the facility by logging in to esanjeevaniopd.in/kerala from 8am to 8pm and can call DISHA on 1056 , 0471-2552056 for any queries.

UST Global, a leading digital transformation solutions company,today announced the launch of BlueConch Technologies (BCT), a portfolio company that specializes in product and platform engineering services.  BlueConchhas been in the business ofhi-tech and next-gen product development and engineering services for over 23 years under the name of ‘Xpanxion International’.  In its new avatar, BlueConch Technologies will strive to elevate its customer experience by making productsand platform engineering easy,leveraging its proprietary engineering frameworks and technology expertise.  The new brand reflects the company's wider commitment and its expertise in driving innovations needed to shape the future of customers through digital technology solutions. 

Speaking on this, S. Ramprasad, President, BlueConch Technologies said, “We are excited at the brand launch of BlueConchTechnologies. In our 24th year of delivering Hi-Tech engineering servicesand havingbuilt more than 200 technology products for our customers, we look forward to carry-forward our heritage of building world-class products and platforms.”  “I’ve outsourced in an offshore model at many companies and none have been as successful as what we’ve accomplished with Xpanxion’s products and platform engineering division. The team built a world-class, feature-rich platform of tools that are being used by thousands of agents around the world.  They maintained high-quality standards and cared about the product to the degree that they learned and mastered our business and domain. This didn’t just happen overnight and wasn’t accomplished because it was easy. The team made it happen through hard work, commitment, and skill; and most of all because they cared. They have been an extraordinary team,” said Mary Henderson, Head of CRO Technologies at IHG.

“I am very pleased with the progress made by Xpanxion’s products and platform engineering team, who has been helping us in developing our product right from inception. The team was able to understand the business requirement quickly and worked on the right technical solution. We have been working like one team and we never felt that we wear different badges. I am looking forward to many more engagements like this,” said Mahesh Pradhan, Chief Executive Officer& Founder Scope Systems.  “It gives us immense pleasure to recognize Xpanxion’s global product and platform engineering division as BlueConch Technologies. Beyond growth and deep technology skills, what is impressive is that each one of their blue-chip customers is willing to vouch for them as references.They are truly a jewel in the UST Global portfolio of companies that gives our product development efforts a powerful differentiator,”said Niranjan Ramsunder, Chief Technology Officer,UST Global.

BlueConch Technologies is a partner for top software product engineering, concept design, business assurance services, and agile digital solutions. They endeavor to build innovative, breakthrough products and provide an elevated engineering experience through disruptive technology, hyper-agility, and hi-touch engagement. 

As a prelude to the 4^th edition of Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF 2020), scheduled to be held from May 16 to 20 in Angamaly, a curtain raiser event was organized by FICCI in association with the Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) the organizers of the 4^th Global Ayurveda Festival, at the SushmaSwarajBhawan in New Delhi on March 5.

The 4th edition of Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF 2020), is scheduled to be held from May 16 to 20. The vision for this global event is to tap Global Markets, Research & Medical Tourism Potential, have focussed sessions on African, ASEAN & European Nations, address Ayurveda and Child Health and Tap Global Market Place, Research and Medical Tourism Potential.

PiyushGoyal, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry, ShripadYessoNaik, Union Minister of State for AYUSH, and V Muraleedharan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs, held interactions with the delegates including diplomats and industry chieftains at the curtain raiser event, Sangita Reddy, Chairperson- FICCI, T S Tirumurti, Secretary-Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, also addressed the gathering. Ambassadors and diplomats from over 50 countries attended this event along with industry, academia and media.

Speaking at the gathering, PiyushGoyal, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Railways, said, the curtain raiser event held at the SushmaSwarajBhawan is a tribute to the late SmtSushmaSwaraj, the visionary behind the Ministry of Ayush. It is to her credit that she revitalised the idea of Ayurveda which was long forgotten, Goyal said.

Adding that it is the holistic vision of Prime Minister Modi to promote various forms of traditional healthcare system, the Minister said Global Ayurveda Festival will be a step forward towards this effort of promoting Ayurveda. The real rich offering of Ayurveda is that all should remain happy and healthy. Without innovation in Ayurveda we cannot get global recognition, he added.

Speaking at the GAF 2020 curtain raiser event, ShripadYessoNaik, Union Minister of State for AYUSH, said that his ministry has signed 22 federal level MoUs for cooperation in the field of traditional medicine.

V Muraleedharan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, pointed out that Ayurveda can play an important role in curing the diseases rising out of modern lifestyle and that there is a need for global mainstreaming. International cooperation is significant here and to push this further experts have been deputed in Indian missions abroad to promote it internationally, he added.

TS Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations), Ministry of External Affairs, who spoke at the forum, said the Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF) has played a considerable role in being a bridge between Ayurveda and the global fraternity and in opening new opportunities for businesses in this sector. This year an expected participation of 5000 delegates from over 50 countries is expected, he said.

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Union Ministry of AYUSH said that Ayurveda is undergoing a transformational evolution and in the next 5 years we will witness a global resurgence of Ayurveda.

Dr Sangita Reddy, President, FICCI, opined that Ayurveda has evolved, become contemporary and will be introduced to the world through the Global Ayurveda Festival. Ayurveda will soon no longer be alternative healthcare, but will be mainstream healthcare, she said adding that Ayurveda and Yoga are not just health initiatives but happiness initiatives.

Dr GGGangadharan, President, CISSA & Secretary General, Global Ayurveda Festival 2020, said thathealthcare in India is unique and the country stands as one of the largest healthcare providers in the world. Adding that Ayurveda has been underutilised and that it can play a greater role in lifestyle related chronic diseases, he said that GAF 2020 will galvanise Ayurveda sector with a focus on Ayurveda Medical Tourism.

At the heart of GAF is the idea of promotion of ‘authentic’ Ayurveda across the world and foster meaningful collaborations between modern and traditional sciences for effectively taking on the unique health challenges of the

The Global Ayurveda Festival will have several more entities from various ministries including AYUSH, Commerce and Industry, MSME, Tourism, External Affairs etc., which will take the event to a higher plane. The Festival looks towards putting in place an International Cooperation Conclave so as to tap the potential of the global market place, research initiatives and medical tourism opportunities.

The GAF 2020 will have three major components – an International Seminar, a Global Ayurveda Exhibition and an International Cooperation Conclave. Serious efforts will be initiated for the integration of Indian Ayurveda with the ASEAN, African and European counterparts in the Festival.

The Global Ayurveda Festival 2020 will witness presence of the best among the international Ayurveda fraternity, who would converge in Angamaly to learn, experience, collaborate, progress and expand. GAF 202 is being lined up as an event that would meet the needs of all - from students to scientists, from practitioners to policy makers and from educationalists to entrepreneurs.

Ayurveda Exhibition at GAF will have exhibits like drugs, technologies, products and services in medical tourism, medicinal plants, research etc. Planned as a truly global festival, GAF 2020 will be a platform to coordinate the efforts of all committed members from various countries to place Ayurveda as a global system of medicine.

Ayurveda Medical Association of India (AMAI), Ayurveda Hospital Management Association, Ayurveda Medicine Manufacturers Organisation of India, Ayurveda Drugs Manufacturers Association are some of the other partners of the event.

IBS Software, a worldwide leader of SaaS solutions to the aviation industry, has announced a contract with Japan Airlines (JAL) for the implementation of iCargo, a comprehensive cargo sales, inventory and reservations system that manages air cargo operations and movement globally and powered with business capabilities that are tailored for the unique Japanese Air Cargo market.

JAL will replace multiple legacy systems with IBS’s iCargo Terminal Operations solution for Japan, the workhorse that will manage the entire operations process covering the import, export, transfers, warehouse operations and airports operations across the network. Along with significant savings in legacy system maintenance costs, JAL will also benefit from major efficiency improvements through the iCargo solution. iCargo is the industry leader in Japan and the only non-Japanese system in this market today that has full Japanese Customs NACCS reporting capabilities. The real time availability of operational information through iCargo also helps generate actionable intelligence to understand the overall utilization of assets and thereby improve operational efficiencies.

iCargo is an integrated solution that supports the end-to-end business functions such as cargo reservations, rating, manifesting, import & export operations, warehouse management, revenue accounting, air mail handling and revenue management of cargo carrying airlines and ground handlers. iCargo follows the air cargo industry best practices and is fully compliant with global industry standards and initiatives such as Cargo iQ, C-XML, OneRecord, e-AWB and e-Freight in general.

IBS offers enterprise class availability of the iCargo business solution to all its customers with the solution hosted in IBS’s data centres around the world. Deployed globally with many of the world’s leading airlines and ground handlers, 5 of the top 15 global cargo airlines have deployed iCargo to manage their air cargo business.

“JAL is an iconic name in the airline industry and we are proud to welcome them to the iCargo community. Their aim is to drive efficiency improvements and iCargo, the leader and IT platform of choice for airlines especially in the Japanese market, will help their transformation into digital freight” said Ashok Rajan, Senior Vice-President & Head, Cargo & Logistics Solution Business, IBS Software

All chef buddies of UDS Hotels will join hands in the creation of the world’s Biggest Miscellaneous Dessert Pudding. They will also demonstrate their culinary skills and passion for baking and making the desserts.

The massive treat will be unveiled by 10.00 am on the 14^th of February 2019 at The UDS Hotel, Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram. The desert aiming the world record will weigh 1500 kg (3307 lb).

The Miscellaneous Dessert Pudding is a cake pudding that will be made out of crumbs from sandwich cookies and puddings, in combination with other ingredients. The desert will portray an amazing landscape view with garden, water body and mountains.

UDS Hotels Group has registered this event in the Universal Records Forum and from there it will be taken to the  Guinness book of World Records