< Back Govt approves health insurance for Senior Citizens aged 70 and above 12 Sept 2024 Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, or AB PM-JAY, will offer ₹5 lakh health insurance coverage to approximately six crore Indian citizens. Besides new enrolments, those already enrolled under AB PM-JAY will receive an additional health coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per annum per family. This amount cannot be shared with family members below the age of 70. The beneficiaries from around 4.5 crore families will be issued a new ID card under the scheme. Citizens enrolled in CGHS, ECHS, or CAPF can choose between their existing coverage and AB PM-JAY. Those with private insurance or enrolled with Employee State Insurance (ESIC) will also be eligible for this scheme. Citizens and families of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AWWs and AWHs) will also be eligible. AB PM-JAY is the world’s biggest government-funded health insurance scheme for secondary and tertiary care hospitals. Secondary care involves expert medical services offered after referral from a primary care provider, while tertiary care offers highly specialised services for complex health conditions. Previous Next

< Back Phone, car, and FMCG sales rise ahead of the festive season Ishita Nigam 2 Oct 2023 FMCG sales grew by up to 12%, car sales by 5%, and smartphone sales by 2% in July and August. Continuing the annual trend, FMCG, phone, and car sales rose in the quarter ending September 2023. FMCG sales, which experienced a major decline since the second half of 2021 due to pandemic related demand and high inflation, rose by up to 12% by value and by 15% by volume in the last quarter. Rural India has been a steady contributor to this growth. Eatables and washing products, like detergents, sold well, while personal care products weren’t far behind. Mid to premium range electronics drove sales growth in India. High valued items like TVs and washing machines saw a jump in sales, while entry level products didn’t budge. Vijay Sales and Reliance Retail reported sales growth in double digits. Consumer demand for SUVs, combined with enhanced availability of semiconductors, pushed the growth figures past 5% for the auto industry. Among them, Maruti Suzuki alone witnessed an uptick of 24% around Onam. Previous Next

< Back Govt assessing 3D Scanners' utility for Indian airports 16 Dec 2024 It is evaluatin how useful the 3D computed tomography X-ray (CTX) and Full Body Scanners (FBS) will be for Indian airports. 3D CTX scanners, commonly used in the US and Europe, allow passengers to keep liquids and electronics in their cabin luggage while screening. While earlier these were expected at Indian airports by May 2024, an influential multi-agency committee set up by the government is evaluating whether 3D CTX and FBS scanners can address the nation’s specific security and cultural requirements. Indians often wear religious items like metallic bangles, which are sometimes difficult to remove. The agency is in discussions with the manufacturers about making India-specific scanners and guidelines. Their utility guidelines will also be customised to suit the Indian perspective. The committee is evaluating an FBS especially tailored for India that will promote less intrusive security checks and eliminate the need for physical pat-downs. Indian airports face long queues and a constant supply of plastic trays, which increases during winter when an additional tray is needed to keep the jackets. Previous Next

< Back Trump’s $5 million Gold Card may replace EB-5 visa 27 Feb 2025 It will be implemented if the Trump administration receives Congress and the Senate approval. The EB-5 visa introduced by the Congress in 1990, allows foreigners to invest $800,000-1 million in incorporating a company in the US and employing at least 10 people. Between September 2021-22, 8,000 people obtained this visa. However, the EB-5 visas carry the risk of fraud and difficulty in verifying the source of funds. The Trump administration plans to introduce the ‘gold card’ to replace EB-5 within two weeks. It is a green card offering permanent legal residency, or US citizenship, and cancels any taxes on foreign income earned outside the US. The $5 million citizenship fee will ensure only the ultra-rich apply. For business owners, tax savings on significant foreign income can easily cross the $5 million threshold within a few years. Trump aims to reduce the $35-trillion government deficit with it. However, EB-5 is a law. He will have to amend the citizenship law to introduce gold cards. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back Iran-Israel War: Indian oil imports, exports to EU impacted 16 Jun 2025 The Middle Eastern war entered Day 4 with neither Iran nor Israel ready to back down. An Israel-Iran war can impact the Indians present in the two fighting nations and the Indian economy. India has strong relations with two countries as energy partners. India imports 85% of its crude oil. Disruptions in the Middle East, especially the Strait of Hormuz, which carries 20% of global oil trade, could hike prices. Along with the Red Sea, this route carries Indian exports to Europe and Russia. India doesn’t directly import oil from Iran. Still, the impact was visible in the Sensex, which dropped 573 points on Friday when Israel launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’ against Iran’s key military figures and nuclear infrastructure. Crude oil prices spiked by 8% on Friday. Using the Cape of Good Hope adds around 20 days per trip and USD500-1,000 per container, thus leading to a 50% hike in overall logistical costs. Around 20,000 Indians are in Israel, and 10,765 are in Iran, including students. Never miss another post from SalestorrsNews150. Follow Salestorrs on WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , and Instagram . Previous Next

< Back Russia plans to manufacture trains and components in India 30 Nov 2024 Moscow wants to set up manufacturing facilities in India to cater to domestic demand. As Russia aims to cater to its growing domestic demand, it is considering investing in train and component manufacturing in India. Moscow already has a few supply contacts from India that it intends to expand. The news came a week after Indian Railways awarded the contract for making the new version of Vande Bharat Express trains to three companies, including Kinet Railway Solution – a joint venture between Transmashholding (TMH), which is a Russian rolling stock company, and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited. Kinet will manufacture and maintain 1920 coaches for Vande Bharat sleeper coaches for 35 years, as per a ₹55,000 crore agreement. TMH CEO Kirill Lipa outlined three reasons why Russia wants to manufacture trains in India. The first is the favourable investment climate, including low interest rates. TMH plans to develop facilities in India to manufacture trains and components to serve the Indian market and abroad. Previous Next

< Back How Cuemath is changing the rules of sales Ishita Nigam 6 Sept 2023 The $400 million worth edtech platform, Cuemath is defying the rules of selling in the industry by converting salespeople into tutors and relying on referrals for selling. Indian edtech industry suffered from the aftereffects of obsessive selling and misselling. While running to get millions of dollars of funding, it lost touch with the fundamentals of its product - quality education. That's what prompted Cuemath founder, Manan Khurma to take the reigns back from Vivek Sunder, a former P&G and Swiggy. Khurma asked all its employees, including the salespeople, to start teaching so they could understand the product better. To refine the system, Cuemath fired around 300 employees between May and August this year. Defying the industry practices and the lead generation channels Sunder created, Khurma is moving away from using his tutors as salespeople, rather focus on referrals. He is relying on AI integration to make a successful product that sells itself. Previous Next

< Back NVIDIA partners with Indian conglomerates for AI expansion 28 Oct 2024 It is partnering with key tech companies to boost India’s AI capabilities and make it more affordable and accessible. To accelerate AI adoption in India, NVIDIA has partnered with Reliance Industries to build a large-scale AI infrastructure with NVIDIA’s GB 200 supercomputer and other tech deployed for developing scalable AI set-up. It has collaborated with Tech Mahindra to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) to develop sovereign large language models (LLMs) and agentic and physical AI infrastructure. Tata Communications and Yotta Data Services will embrace NVIDIA’s Hopper and Blackwell AI chips to power the largest supercomputers, while Infosys will adopt NVIDIA’s AI Stack to create smaller LLMs for different industries. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) will partner with it to fuel AI adoption across industries and launch industry-specific solutions. NVIDIA formed alliances with Flipkart and Zoho to build LLMs in Indian languages. Hanooman AI introduced Everest 1.0, a generative AI foundational model built using NVIDIA’s GPUs. It supports 35 languages with expansion plans for up to 90 languages. Previous Next

< Back Govt planning wider coverage under social security schemes 15 Oct 2024 The revised Jan Suraksha model may provide higher insurance and pension coverage, doubling life and accident cover limits. The Centre is planning to upgrade the Jan Suraksha model to offer wider coverage for life and accident insurance and pension by linking all Jan Dhan account holders. It is also considering increasing the minimum guaranteed pension under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), which is currently ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 per person. Under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), the insurance cover is ₹2 lakh. Currently, insurers and banks have to settle claims within 14 days of receipt, giving one week each to the bank and the insurer. Centre plans to hike premium rates and push prompt claim payment. Banks are advised to proactively inform deceased account holder nominees by identifying the corresponding customers from core banking solutions. Centre had revised annual premium rates to ₹436 for PMJJBY’s life insurance scheme and ₹20 for PMSBY’s accidental death and disability scheme in 2022. Source: ET Previous Next

< Back PepsiCo, ITC vying for Balaji’s 10% stake 12 Sept 2025 Rajkot-based Balaji Wafers has been valued at ₹40,000 crore. Several companies, including PepsiCo, ITC, Temasek, and TPG, have queued up to buy a 10% stake in Balaji Wafers. PepsiCo had similar discussions in 2013 to buy a 49-51% stake, but Balaji resisted then. The Viranis, owners of Balaji Wafers, are eyeing professionalising management for the organisation, a move similar to Vadilal’s recent CEO appointment. 80% of their revenue comes from sales in Gujarat alone. Balaji Wafers is known for products like chips, noodles, and wafers, and is a prominent name in Western and Central India. Temasek acquired a 10% stake in Haldiram’s for $1 billion in March this year. It was the largest deal in the Indian packaged food sector. The IMARC Group predicts the Indian snacks market to double from ₹42,695 crore in 2023 to ₹95,521.8 crore in 2032, growing at an 8.63% CAGR. Local brands like Balaji are dominating the space compared to international brands. Check out my new book, THE BLACK FLAMES , on Amazon Kindle. A gripping, high-stakes novel Previous Next

Le syndicat Ver.di demande une augmentation de salaire de 8 % et des restrictions sur les contrats temporaires. < Back Une grève syndicale touche 13 aéroports allemands Le syndicat Ver.di demande une augmentation de salaire de 8 % et des restrictions sur les contrats temporaires. Après l’échec de la deuxième série de négociations, le syndicat allemand Ver.di a annonce une grève d’une journée, y compris un débrayage de 24 heures, le lundi 10 mars. 13 aéroports sont concernés, dont Francfort, Munich, Berlin, Hambourg, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, Hanovre, Brême et Leipzig-Halle. Le conflit porte sur les salaries et conditions de travail. Ver.di réclame une augmentation de salaire de 8 % ou un revenu supplémentaire d’au moins 350 euros par mois, une prime, trois jours de vacances supplémentaires et des contrats temporaires de moindre durée pour près de 2,5 millions de travailleurs publics. Les autorités aéroportuaires jugent ces demandes économiquement irréalisables. Les fonctionnaires, le personnel au sol et les gens de sécurité ont organise un débrayage de 24 heures lundi, entraînant des annulations massives de vols. Ver.di soutient les réformes fiscales annoncées par la futur chancelier Friedrich Merz, estimant qu’elles contribueront à moderniser les infrastructures allemandes. Ne manquez pas un autre article de SalestorrsNouvelles150. Suivez Salestorrs sur WhatsApp , LinkedIn , Facebook , X , et Instagram . Previous Next

< Back Govt to mandate ISRO-built navigation system, NavIC, for smartphones Ishita Nigam 15 Sept 2023 NavIC is an Indian alternative to the American Global Positioning System (GPS) and is used by our military. It already has seven dedicated satellites and will increase to 12 in a few years. The Indian government is planning to mandate integrating Navigation with Indian Constellation, or NavIC, with all smartphones. NavIC is India’s alternative to the American GPS. Although NavIC will not replace GPS in smartphones, it will provide another option for geo-positioning software. The devices can support NavIC-enabled chips or install NavIC chipsets in the smartphones. All 5G phones will need to start offering mandatory support for NavIC by January 1st, 2025, and all other L1 band phones will have to embrace it by December 2025. This ISRO-developed technology was launched in 2018 and is currently used by the Indian military and in some mobile devices and cars. The government has been discussing the possible rollout of NavIC-integrated mobile devices from assembly lines. The mobile makers raised concerns about increased manufacturing costs. However, Apple has agreed to integrate the technology into some newly launched iPhone 15 handsets. Previous Next