Axis Bank Focusses on Contactless Payment Solutions: Launches Axis Tap & Pay

By Tricitynews

Chandigarh 11th October:- Axis Bank, the country’s third largest private sector bank, today introduced ‘Axis Tap & Pay’, a mobile application that will allow its customers to make transactions by just tapping their NFC-enabled android mobile phones on contactless merchant terminals. This feature will be available for all MasterCard and Visa, debit and credit cards issued by Axis Bank. The Bank has leveraged HCE (Host Card Emulation) technology for this feature to make the payment process safer and faster, thereby enhancing the overall customer experience.

In order to use this service, the customer has to download the Axis Tap & Pay app from the Play Store and add the details of Axis Bank credit and debit cards on the application to activate the contactless payment facility. After linking the card/s on the app, the customer can just tap the NFC-enabled mobile phone on contactless POS machines to make the payment without the need of carrying a physical plastic card.

All payments through Axis Tap & Pay are secured as the solution generates a token-card for the transactions, which is separate from the actual debit/credit card number, thereby increasing customer privacy and security. Also, the merchants can benefit from increased transaction volume as well as quicker checkout times and thus reducing queues at cashiers. 

Speaking on the launch,  Sanjeev Moghe, Head of Cards & Merchant Acquiring Business, Axis Bank said that the payments market is evolving, accompanied with a shift in consumer behavior. We see a tremendous growth opportunity for the contactless payments adoption and therefore, our new offering, ‘Axis Tap & Pay’ is designed to cater to this segment. This proposition will enhance the customer experience by expediting the payment process and making it more secured and eliminating the need of carrying a physical plastic card.

Porush Singh, Division President, South Asia, Mastercard said that Mastercard has always focused on making digital payments convenient, safe and secure for users and the launch of this application is another step in this direction. Today, the Indian market has over 15 million contactless cards and is expected to cross the 50 million mark by 2020. Mastercard is excited to be at the forefront of this revolution and our partnership with Axis Bank bears further testament to this. Going forward, Tap & Go will emerge as one of the most convenient, safe and secure payment methods across categories for digital payments.

Adding to it,  T.R. Ramachandran, Group Country Manager-India and South Asia, Visa said that Visa is proud to partner with partners like Axis Bank for creating innovative payment solutions. The recently launched Instant Credit Card of the bank has empowered the consumer to get a card digitally and now the Tap and Pay solution will enable them to use it for contactless transactions at retail outlets. Global Trends indicate that the proliferation of contactless significantly increases card usage and replaces cash transactions thus complementing our country’s efforts to move millions of citizens into the digital economy.

As per the Reserve Bank of India guidelines on contactless payments on a card, a maximum of Rs. 2000 per transaction is allowed. Thus, one can make payment upto Rs 2000 per transaction using Axis Tap & Pay. 

World Sight Day: School Children Screened for Refractive Errors

By Tricitynews

Chandigarh 11th October:- On occasion of World Sight Day, Rural Health Training Centre, Naraingarh organized a screening camp at Government Senior Secondary school (Boys), Naraingarh. A total of 51 children in age-group of 8-15 years were screened out of which 6 children were found to have low vision. These children were referred to Civil hospital, Naraingarh to undergo refraction and further management. The screening was carried out by Dr Gurmeet Singh, Junior Resident, Community Medicine, Dr Ashwini K, Junior Resident, Paediatrics, Rai Singh, Public Health Nursing Officer (PHNO) and Jagdish, MPHW (M) under supervision of Dr Bashar, Senior Resident, School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh. Further, a health education session was also organized in which the audience, students and school teachers, were made aware about the problem of refractive error and other preventable causes of low vision and blindness, its various sign and symptoms and when to contact a eye specialist. A total of 20 teachers and 80 students attended the session addressed by Dr Bashar. Principal, Dr. Sudha thanked the PGIMER team for organizing the camp and requested to organize such camps in future too for benefit of students and teachers of the school.

PGIMER is organizing 18th Current Perspective in Liver Diseases on 13th -14th October

By Tricitynews

Chandigarh 11th October:- The Department of Hepatology PGIMER, Chandigarh in collaboration with Department of Gastroenterology, AIIMS, New Delhi, are jointly organizing the 18^th Current Perspective in Liver Diseases (CPLD–2018) at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh on 13th -14^th October, 2018 covering various aspects of liver diseases. 

The Department of Hepatology has been organizing these conferences by alternating the venue with AIIMS, New Delhi each year since 2001 and this is the 18^th PGI-AIIMS joint Conference which will be attended by more than 450 Doctors working in the field of Hepatology, Gastroenterology, Radiology and Internal Medicine informed Prof. RK Dhiman, Organising Chairperson of the conference.

The venue of the conference is Lecture Theatre 1, PGIMER, Chandigarh and will be inaugurated at 9 AM on 13^th October by Prof Arvind Rajwanshi, Dean (Research), PGIMER, Chandigarh and Prof YK Chawla, Ex Director PGI will be the Guest of the Honour, informed Prof. Ajay Duseja, Organising Secretary of the conference.

They further informed that national experts are coming from all over the country and include stalwarts in Hepatology like Dr SK Acharya, Ex-Head of Gastroenterology and Dr Anoop Saraya present head of Gastroenterology and Dr Shalimar from AIIMS, New Delhi; Dr SK Sarin, Dr Manoj Kumar, Dr V Pamecha, Dr Vikram Bhatia, Dr Rakhi Maiwall and Dr Amar Mukand from ILBS New Delhi; Dr YK Chawla, Ex Director and Head of Hepatology, PGI, Chandigarh; Dr Vivek Saraswat, Dr Rakesh Aggarwal and Dr Gaurav Pandey from SGPGI Lucknow; Dr CE Eapen from CMC, Vellore; Dr Harshad Devarbhavi from Bangalore; Dr SP Misra and Dr Manisha Dwivedi from Allahabad; Dr Rajshekhar Perumalla from Chennai; Dr Akash Shukla from Mumbai; Dr Anil Arora, Dr Pankaj Puri and Dr Ashish Kumar from Ganga Ram Hospital New Delhi; Dr Randhir Sood, Dr A Soin, Dr SS Baijal, Dr Sonal Krishan, Dr S Saigal, Dr Neeraj Saraf and Dr Narendra from Medanta, Medicity, Gurgaon; Dr Subash Gupta, Dr Kaushal Madan and Dr Shweta Singh from Max Hospital, New Delhi; Dr Ajay Kumar and Dr Manav Wadhawan from Fortis-Escorts hospital, New Delhi; Dr S Nijhawan form Jaipur; Dr Sunil Dadhich from Jodhpur; Dr SS Sidhu, Dr Vandana Midha, Dr Varun Mehta and Dr Omesh Goyal from DMC Ludhiana in addition to the local faculty form PGIMER, Chandigarh and GMCH, Chandigarh.

Liver diseases related to alcohol, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatitis B and C are very common in this part of the country. On the first day experts will discuss various management issues related to alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis C virus, vascular diseases of the liver (Budd Chiari syndrome) and liver transplantation. Whereas second day of the meeting will focus on the management of conditions such as Hepatitis B, acute-on-chronic liver failure, other complications of cirrhosis like ascites, acute kidney injury, hepatic encephalopathy, gastrointestinal bleeding, liver cancer and biliopancreatic diseases.

The program is specially crafted for hepatologists, gastroenterologists, physicians, residents and research scholars and will be a mega academic feast for them.A

Chitkara International School Shines in CBSE Cluster XVIII Football Tournament: Wins Both Boys U-17 and U-19 Titles

By Tricitynews

Chandigarh 11th October:- It was a golden day for boys  football team of Chitkara International School, when they claimed victory in both Under 17 & Under 19 finals of CBSE Cluster XVIII Football Tournament, played at St Soldier School, Sector 28 Chandigarh.

Chitkara International School, Sector 25, Chandigarh beat Sri Guru Harkrishan School, Sector 38, 4-0 in the boys’ U-17 final to bag the coveted CBSE Cluster XVIII Football Tournament in U-17. Gopal (15, 35) struck twice, while Hira (10) and Tushar scored a goal each to help Chitkara International claim the U-17 title. Earlier in the semifinals, Chitkara boys blanked Vivek High School, Sector 38, 2-0, while Sri Guru Harkrishan School overcame the hosts St Soldier School 5-3.

In the boys’ U-19 category too Chitkara International registered a 2-0 win over the hosts St Soldier School, Sector 28. Nitin (40) and Jaspal (50) scored a goal each for Chitkara. In the semifinals, Chitkara boys had earlier drubbed St Soldier School, Mohali, 3-0.

Anmol of Chitkara International School & Sahil of Guru Harkrishan School were named the Best Goalkeepers in the U-17 boys category, while in the U-19 category, Nitin of Chitkara School was adjudged the Best Player & Rupesh of Chitkara School was named the Best Goalkeeper.

GIM to host WIEF IdeaLab 2018: International Conference Featuring 300 Start-Ups

By Tricitynews

Chandigarh 11th October:- Shortlisted by the NITI Aayog, as one of the 13 institutes nationwide to host the prestigious, innovation-oriented Atal Incubation Centre (AIC), the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), one of the premier B-Schools in India, will host its AIC's first initiative, IdeaLab 2018, an international event featuring over 300 start-ups.

IdeaLab 2018 is one of the several initiatives undertaken by GIM to celebrate its completion of 25 years of imparting knowledge to the country’s future corporate leaders.

IdeaLab 2018 is an initiative of the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation’s Young Leaders Network (WYN) and the Goa conference is the event’s fourth edition.

It is a distinguished start-up conference that cultivates entrepreneurs and assists in the development of start-up ecosystems. IdeaLab's relevance is from its assorted features, that spur key players in the global start-up ecosystem to network, share experiences, find ways to sustainably scale up and explore business collaborations.

After three successful editions in Kuala Lumpur, IdeaLab has expanded beyond ASEAN with its first regional edition to be held at the GIM campus in Sanquelim, on October 16-17, 2018 with a primary focus in early stage start-ups.

Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman of WIEF Foundation, said that  this is the first time WIEF’s IdeaLab has travelled out of its home city, Kuala Lumpur. We started IdeaLab in 2015 and aimed for it to become a startup empowerment platform. Goa fits the bill perfectly for IdeaLab 2018 as Goa’s government has proclaimed to make Goa not just a national startup hub, but the top 25 startup hub in Asia, by 2025.

Added Prof. Ajit Parulekar, Director, GIM said that the Atal Incubation Center (AIC) at GIM will serve as an active knowledge and resource catalyst for the development of promising entrepreneurs and will aid in accelerating the growth of early stage organizations from ideation to marketplace success. Goa Institute of Management (GIM) in its 25th year of operation has taken on this initiative.

IdeaLab 2018 would also provide an excellent platform for promoters of young Goan start-ups to network, learn more about the global start-up ecosystem, while also enabling them to engage with resource persons and experts invited to the conference to deliberate on new trends, trouble-shooting, nurturing and expanding young businesses.

Some of the top names who have confirmed attendance at the event are former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Chairman of WIEF Foundation Tun Musa Hitam, Managing Director of TransAfrix Holdings, South Africa Ebrahim Patel, Portfolio Manager, 500 Startups, United States, Betty Kux, Chief Executive Officer, Joompa, Singapore Anisa Hassan, President, Mumbai Angels Network, India, Sachin Karnik, etc.

Startups in India are hitting new highs in terms of their valuations. Global investors are ploughing funds into the sector. In the past, the startup scene has been defined by consumer-driven ventures. Lately, there has been a shift in that ecosystem as India’s startups begin to focus on technology and product innovation.

This trend is largely being driven by India’s expanding economy, rising disposable income, and the technology boom. India has seen a wave of entrepreneurs trying to tap the market with new ventures. India’s GDP grew at 7.7 per cent in the first three months of 2018, making it the world’s fastest growing major economy.

According to data from Nasscom, the number of startups funded and funding deals actually went up marginally in 2016. VCs raised US$2 billion for investment in seed or early-stage startups. Student entrepreneurs formed 350 startups in 2016, a 25 percent rise from 2015. With reference to industry body, Assocham’s numbers, India ranked third in the world – just after the US and the UK – when it comes to the number of tech startups .

IdeaLab 2018 will also provide a good opportunity for GIM to showcase world class incubation facilities at its AIC, which is the third incubation centre to be set up within the state.