PR - December performance helps NMDC end the year on a good note

 

Chennai, 3^st January, 2020: NMDC, the country's largest Iron Ore producer, and a Navratna Company, continued the impressive performance run in the month of December 2020 also. This is the 5^th month in 2020, when production and sales showed an uptick when compared to the CPLY.

Iron ore production for the month of December 2020 is 3.86 MT (Million Tonnes) against the production level of 3.13 MT in December 2019, thereby registering a growth of 23.3%.

Iron ore production in Q3 of FY20 is 9.61 MT against the production of 8.56 MT in Q3 of FY19, thereby registering a growth of 12.3% (CPLY).

Iron ore sales for the month of December 2020 is 3.62 MT against the sales level of 3.04 MT in December 2019, thereby registering a growth of 19.1%.

Iron ore sales in Q3 of FY20 is 9.44 MT against the sales in Q3 of FY19 is 8.44, thereby registering a growth of 11.8% (CPLY).

NMDC is steadily improving its performance every month and continues to enhance the production level month on month. The performance of the last few months and December showcases production and sales will exceed last year’s performance, despite the adverse circumstances of 2020. The performance proves NMDC’s ability to battle any challenge and maintain its leadership position in the industry.

Shri Sumit Deb, CMD, NMDC commented “The steady growth in performance has helped us end the year on a good note. We are on our way to better the cumulative figures both physical and financial parameters of the previous year. Indian steel industry revival needs support to tide over the crisis and we are doing our best to cater to it. Team NMDC has always kept the nation’s interest in mind, and we hope to continue this excellent performance in the new year.”

PR - Zara Hayaat - Launched in India on the Fashion Station

 

The Fashion Station – Original & Premium Salwar Suits Store in India is pleased to announce its tie-up for distribution of the Zara Hayaat Women’s Brand to shop for incredible Salwar Kameez with hand-made tassels in India.

 

The Creative Director at the Fashion Station, MS Saba – told us that – the House of Zara Hayaat is one of the most premium quality luxury brand. Zara Hayaat is coming up with its latest premium organic cotton collection for this summer and winter 2020 wardrobe. Inspired by blossom blush of this season and its color hue. A complete range, for all occasions. Intricate self-jacquard is crafted aesthetically by layer of fancy embroidery and embellishment. Appealing use of gold and silver zari, added a attractive sense of design. Adorned on the premium organza canvas. Trims accessories every garment. Ornamentation of attractive lace, fancy handmade tassels, glass crystal, fancy pearl and shining sequin energize and emphasize this collection. Love wearing your designer as we loved creating them.

 

Every product you buy from this collection – you will receive in Box Packing – all tassels included.

 

Similarly, they are launching – the new Winter Velvet Collection for winters and Upcoming Wedding Season. Each salwar kameez is crafted using pure velvet and not synthetic velvet, having 10 designs this each suit is Unique in itself – and first time, customers will see a design using White Velvet.

Regarding the Fashion Station we want to tell our readers that the Fashion Station is one stop destination to shop for Original and Branded designer Salwar Suits from Global leading brands, specially – Lawn Dresses – Lawn is a form of purest form of cotton – perfect for summers. The customers get Cash on Delivery, Free Shipping and offer easy returns.

 

Their upcoming collections will be available at pocket friendly price on https://www.thefashionstation.in/

PR - TISS-UNDP launch iCALL public helpline for COVID psycho-social counselling

 14th December, New Delhi, India: As part of their COVID-19 socio-economic response, UNDP India and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) recently launched a technology-assisted psycho-social counselling service “iCALL” for vulnerable populations in 13 states of India. This service will provide accessible, affordable, and quality counselling services through telephonic, email and chat-based facility to individuals in distress; particularly to those who belong to the marginalized communities. It will also support their referral and linkages to different social protection schemes, jobs and livelihood. 

An individual, experiencing psycho-social distress across 13 states covered by UNDP can avail of these services. Given the challenges being posed to the personal, social and professional lives, the distress could be related to difficult or negative emotions (sadness, anxiety, loneliness, boredom, anger, uncertainty, hopelessness or helplessness) and thoughts (thoughts about contracting Coronavirus, losing loved ones, worries about future). It may involve crisis situations including abuse, violence, suicide, and self-harm. 

The helpline was launched by Mr. Shingo Miyamoto, Minister, Head of Economic Section (Economic & Development), Embassy of Japan in presence of Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India and Prof. Surinder Jaswal, Professor & Deputy Director, TISS Mumbai. 

“Medical workers who are day in and out fighting the crisis, are at the same time facing stigmatization from the society, even though they are the people who are trying to help. Therefore, we all need to make sure that as a society, we all have access to help when needed. Through this facility, we can help people who are in vulnerable situations including our frontline workers, elderly, women, and other marginalized groups access information related to mental health and psychosocial support”, said Mr. Shingo Miyamoto.

“Emotional impact of COVID-19 doesn’t exist in isolation but is nested in everyday life. COVID-19 has given an opportunity to move mental health care to psychosocial support by adopting the human rights framework while addressing the biggest need of inequities of basic needs and appropriate information. This service will be a great milestone in addressing these unmet needs,” Said Prof Surinder Jaswal, TISS.

To observe the occasion of the International Human Rights Day 2020, the helpline launch was followed by a panel discussion on addressing the psycho-social and economic needs of vulnerable populations to help them recover better from the pandemic. 

“The iCALL helpline can identify the caller’s location or state and can guide them towards appropriate help as well as link them to social protection schemes. This will not just focus on mental health support but also integrate livelihood issues which is typical of UNDP’s approach of picking up emerging issues as part of its work,” remarked Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India

Number of the helpline: 9152987825

Timing: Monday-Saturday 10m to 6:00 pm

Languages Available: English, Hindi

About UNDP: UNDP works across 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty while protecting the planet. We help countries develop strong policies, skills, partnerships, and institutions so they can sustain their progress. UNDP has worked in India since 1951 in almost all areas of human development, from systems strengthening to inclusive growth and sustainable livelihoods, as well as sustainable energy, environment, and resilience. UNDP’s programmes continue to integrate a global vision for catalytic change with India’s national priorities. With over 30 projects on the ground in almost every state, today, it works to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by transforming traditional models to do development differently.

For more information, please visit https://www.in.undp.org/

Follow UNDP India on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

PR - Dineout goes bold with an open challenge of #BestOffersForFree with the Great Dineout Challenge!

 Dineout goes bold with an open challenge of #BestOffersForFree with the Great Dineout Challenge! 

• Get minimum 20% off at top restaurants - no paid memberships, OTPs, coupons or conditions

• Get a free meal in case you find a better deal on dining out on any other platform

• A 10 day open challenge from Dec 10 to Dec 20, 2020 at 3000+ restaurants

New Delhi, December 15th ‘20: With the F&B industry making a comeback this festive season welcoming patrons to restaurants for a safe & hygienic dining experience, Dineout, India’s largest dining out and restaurant tech platform has put out an open challenge to users with their Great Dineout Challenge to further help boost the restaurant industry. Dineout has challenged users to find a better deal on any other dining out platform from 10th to 20th Dec and they will give users a free meal! 

They are offering:

• Minimum 20% Instant Discount via their payment feature Dineout Pay 

• With an additional 10% off using PromoCash in users' Dineout wallet 

• And a Rs. 500 cashback on minimum bill payments of Rs.1000 

at participating restaurants across 20 cities. So for a bill of Rs. 1000, a user saves Rs. 800 which is by far a very bold move by Dineout and offering a competitive offer without affecting the restaurant’s earnings. With the Great Dineout Challenge, they’ve set a high benchmark for all their competitors where they are providing offers to users for free with no strings attached, without any paid memberships, coupons, OTPs, etc. This challenge is available at popular restaurants like Mamagoto, Cafe Delhi Heights, Punjab Grill, Lord of the Drinks, Barbeque Nation, SodaBottleOpenerWala & more.

Additionally offers at their premium restaurant partners on Dineout Passport, a premium member subscription program, have been made free for trial to all users during this 10 day sale. This will enable access to their 100M+ users to the most luxurious dining experiences and give them a taste of what being a premium user feels like. 

“The restaurant industry needed an added boost to survive this brutal year with the majority of the businesses affected or shut. Everyone loves a challenge and cannot resist the temptation to give it a try. So we at Dineout put on our thinking hats and laid out an open challenge to foodies across India with the best offers for free with no strings attached minus the hassles of paid memberships, OTPs, coupons codes, conditions or referrals! Through this campaign we are giving people a reason to dine out and enjoy the festive season.”, Ankit Mehrotra, CEO & Co-founder of Dineout said.

 

Dineout is playing an instrumental role in enabling #SafeToEatOut for its users at their partner restaurants by enabling Contactless Dining with QR codes. Also ensuring safety of the diners by creating awareness about safety measures taken by partner restaurants. 

 

About Dineout

Dineout is India’s largest dining out and restaurant tech solutions platform in B2C and with inresto in the B2B front, processing more than 100M diners and $900M worth of transactions for its partner restaurants across its network of 50,000 restaurants in 20 cities, providing a collective savings of more than $100M on restaurant bills annually. Founded in 2012 by Ankit Mehrotra, Nikhil Bakshi, Sahil Jain and Vivek Kapoor, Dineout is a pioneer in Contactless Dining with the easiest way to discover the best restaurants in the city, save time & hassle by booking a table in advance, get discounts, enjoy 1+1 privileges on Food, Drink & Buffets through Dineout Passport, as well as earn instant discounts on every restaurant bill payment via Dineout Pay. For more information, please visit –  https://www.dineout.co.in/

Jumboking: Indian Railways launches its 1st food truck at Pune railway station

 

'Jumboking', one of India’s most trusted QSR brands has opened it's food truck at the Pune railway station premises. The brands’ interesting and varied choice of menu suits all tastes. Passengers can choose from the best of combo deals, burgers, fries, wraps, coke and thick shakes. Also, the JK super saver combo and JK loaded sides are a must have.

 

Dheeraj Gupta, founder of Jumboking says, “ the vision of the IRSDC and Indian Railways has always been to serve the passengers.  Indian Railway Stations Development Cooperation Ltd. (IRSDC) has been at the forefront of transforming the landscape of Indian Railways. Going further, we hope to be of service to the IRSDC, which promises to be an integral force in launching many more unique initiatives and services for  the improved satisfaction of the passengers.”

 

Sanjeev Lohia, Managing Director and CEO, IRSDC said, " We are proud of what IRSDC has achieved so far in Facility management segment.We have launched some of the firsts in Indian Railways like ‘Air to Water kiosk‘at Secunderabad railway station, Fit India Squat kiosk’ & ‘Digital Cloak Room’ at Anand Vihar station in New Delhi. Going further, we are committed to work for passenger satisfaction and offer them best of amenities at affordable prices. We are also working steadfastly towards station re/development i.e. building rail malls across the country. With the support of MoR, we shall achieve our mission in near future."

About Jumboking

Jumboking is India’s largest chain of homegrown Quick Service Restaurants, incepted on 23rd August 2001 by Dheeraj Gupta. This asset-light company is one of the pioneers in franchising in India.

Jumboking is a favourite on-the-go eating option in Mumbai, among college students and young working professionals, with 115+ outlets in Mumbai, New Bombay, Thane & Pune. In 2019, Lucknow became a new market for the company.

The company leverages technology to propel its customer facing and internal control systems, and has delivery tie-ups with Swiggy and Zomato to service out -of-store orders.

Webpage: https://www.jumboking.co.in  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JumbokingIndia/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jumboking_india/

My Publishing Experience with the BookMedia Publishing Company

 

I have had always lived under the impression that writing a book is enough. I would be getting media attention and will find my book in any random book store of India. But the reality is way different than dreams. And authors are no exception to this. Immediate fame and instant bestsellers – all these feats are real – but it happens only with a handful of authors in a decade or so. The last two authors who got this feat in the last decade in India are, I think everyone knows them, Chetan Bhagat and Amish Tripathi.

The list is fairly long enough to do some research on this topic i.e. how to become a national bestseller author. Well, I did some terrific research and found out that those who are writing books/novels consistently are now giving tough competition to Chetan Bhagat books. For example Preeti Shenoy, Durjoy Datta, Nikita Singh, Ravinder Singh, Ajay Pandey, and some more names.

Consistent authors with remarkable success are igniting hopes in millions of struggling and new and aspiring authors like me. So, the point is not to lose hope and keep writing good books.

So the journey began! I wrote a book! A fiction–novel. I prepared synopsis and blurb for the back cover. Also wrote an author bio. Polished first 3 chapters. Next, I made a list of traditional publishers of India. I sent them email, with valid attachments. It’s a history now. I never got reply and I couldn’t find a literary agent as well. As an author, I felt I am too lonely to get published via a right and traditional method.

Another side of the publishing industry is seeking best and trustable self-publishing companies. As soon as I Googled best self-publishing companies in India, I got to see only sponsored company names like Notion Press, White Falcon Publishing, Blue Rose Publishers, and a few more. I browsed their websites, one by one. Their offered packages were higher for my set budget. I emailed them but did not get proper response. But one thing was common, all these companies asked me to take their premium package for a gamut of facilities and good sales record. I took my time and did some research on each one of them. I found something startling – these companies were not marketing their books properly. I could hardly find blog reviews or coverage on Goodreads or Quora. On the name of book marketing, I found some coming soon/released now book posters and teasers on YouTube. I was not convinced. I tried Pothi…but their paper quality was too bad…they just printed books on bond paper, in addition to that they offered around 5 rupees royalty on a book priced at INR 150.

I made a list of self-publishing companies in India and browsed their websites and social media accounts. Checked some reviews on Google. All these companies were forcing me to opt for premium packages. I gave up on these big names. My next search option was Quora. I did extensive research and stumbled upon BookMedia Publishing Company, to my surprise it has many offices in India. I checked some of the books published by them have substantial social media coverage with relevant #hashtags and blog reviews were cool.

From the website, I got the number. I called and explained my motive. Immediately, I got response on WhatsApp. I chose to pick up a starter package due to my budget constraint. They had no problem, rather encouraged me to take that. First thing I realized that they are here for longer duration and are not greedy. My basic concern with them was book marketing support and publishing assistance. They happily provided me the following things:

·         Cover design and typesetting with ISBN number.

·         They provided two rounds of copy editing.

·         My royalty was set 80 percent. So, on a Kindle when my book was priced as 100. Amazon took 30 rupees. From the 70 rupees, I got my royalty as 56 INR. It was fair enough.

·         For the book marketing, they did cover my book on Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram, Book Review Blogs, Press Release and Author Interview on a news portal website, with YouTube teaser video. In addition, they did promote my book on more than 50 Facebook groups with relevant keywords. My book had healthy sales.

·         Their distribution is great! I never saw my book getting out of stock on Amazon. Whenever my friends ordered, they get it on time. It means they maintain a strong inventory of books.

I personally liked their response or TAT (turn around time).

Overall, I fairly had a good time with BookMedia publishing company. Now I am about to finish my next book and will go with them once again. Anyone looking for an honest publishing deal can definitely pick them up. You can know more about them at their website: https://bookmedia.co/