Generating Tech Smart Seniors

Nobody teaches a toddler how to use a phone today, they grow accustomed to it. Born into the lap of technological advancements, today’s generation has befriended technology. As humans and technology work hard to make each other smarter every second, we might miss out those who were born a little before this rapidly growing technology.

‘Smart Seniors’ a social initiative by ResPublica Consulting conducts classes across Kochi with the aim of empowering the aged with smartphones. As the demand for it increases in the city and media across the globe has reached out with queries, the team has decided to expand their area of action. The expert panel of ResPublica Consulting conducts the sessions with a set module. Training is provided for the basic functions like text messaging to advanced functions like paying bills online, booking an online taxi and using social media platforms.

“Is Uber available on this phone?”.  “Does Whatsapp facilitate video-calling?”. “Can I see my grandchild through this?”. “Is it true that electricity bills can be paid through mobile phones? Can you teach me how?”. “How do I schedule an Uber ride for tomorrow?”. “How do I create a Whatsapp group?”. The doubts seem never-ending but if taught with a little patience, it could make their life easier and independent.

The aged might have all access to these technologies; they might own the latest smartphone with advanced features as well. Nevertheless, most of them use their phones merely to place calls and to attend them. With little technological assistance to help them stay connected with their friends and family, life after the retirement of these seniors could be definitely made more joyful.

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‘Smart Seniors’ a Fulfilling Experince for Team ResPublica

Ageing is a natural phenomenon and it is better to age smartly.  With the technological advancements and globalization, the biggest challenge faced by our generation senior citizens is their inability to cope up with the smart world. Digital era has forced them to blend with the smartphones and devices.

Though they are bound to many nuances in using these devices, they are also trying their best to be part of the system now. ‘Smart Seniors’ is a social responsible initiative by ResPublica Consulting in association with our NGO partner, Karuna Social Charitable Trust (Karuna Communications) to empower the senior citizen community to familiarize with the smartphones and various apps.

‘Smart Seniors’ is a humble initiative of ResPublica Consulting to help them bring the world closer to them by using smartphones to be easily in touch with their children grandchildren, family or friends abroad. As the initiative has grabbed ample attention, Team ResPublica plans to conduct more such sessions in different parts of the city.

Article appeared in The Times of India, Kochi edition on 25th April 2018.

Freestyle Football Artists Enthrals Kochi

 

Aylin Yaren, Kitti Szazs and Agnieszka Mnich, world’s best football artists in town on a special invitation from Apollo Tyres to popularise the sport and engage with enthusiastic fans.

Freestyle Football is about performing tricks with the football using any part of the body, where coordination, balance and control of the ball are the vital elements.

“India is transforming from a football loving nation to a football playing nation. People here are appreciating our shows;” says Aylin Yaren.

Kudos Ibrahim! We are Proud of You!

Some years ago, a friend of the ResPublica family decided to sketch an illustration to accompany a blog post- a piece of fiction penned by one of our team members. This friend kept doodling away happily and we were only too happy to be awestruck. Ibrahim Rayintakath, illustrator par excellence, went on to graduate summa cum laude in Art Direction from FTII. He carved out quite a career in design and was based out of Delhi for a while. Recently, he added a feather to his cap- a colourful one at that. Ibrahim’s design was featured as the Google Doodle honouring India’s 69th Republic Day celebrations!

Kudos Ibrahim! The ResPublica family is truly proud!

Check it out at:

https://www.google.com/doodles/indias-republic-day-2018

This achievement was reported by Mathrubhumi online:

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/technology/tech-plus/republic-day-google-doodle-designed-by-ibrahim-rayintakath-malayali-illustrator-1.2560606

We also share here, that cherished keepsake he drew for us:

https://respublicaconsulting.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/morning/

Tourism Policy 2017: A Makeover to Kerala Tourism

 

God’s own country is prospective to have new dimensions in the tourism sector, the most profit-making domain of the state. Kerala that woos tourists across the globe with its beauty, culture, cuisine and Ayurveda is all set to upgrade the overall facilities for its guests. The new Tourism Policy of 2017 unveiled by the Government of Kerala is likely to be a milestone that can indeed start up a new phase in the sector.

The policy aims at catering the national, international as well as domestic tourist groups by offering better facilities and experience. The Government has also proposed to establish Kerala Tourism Regulatory Authority to ensure quality service for tourists and to control unhealthy practices in the tourism sector. This policy envisages active participation of transgender’s and differently abled citizens thereby encouraging them as well. Reportedly, a person of international repute will be made the brand ambassador of Kerala Tourism to appeal the travellers from different parts of the world. The department’s decision to implements the Green Protocol would turn destinations clean and plastic free.

The State’s innovate move to include tourism in school curriculum is aimed at educating the children as well as promoting domestic tourism to a large extent. Tourism clubs will be also activated along with introducing grading system for promoting human resource development in the sector. The department will cooperate with the mega-festivals such as international book festivals, music festivals, The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) and also State festivals like Onam, Thrissur Pooram etc for bestowing a better experience of Kerala to the tourists. It has been proposed to have 1,000 new classified homestays and develop programs of international significance such as the Kochi Biennale. Certain unpopular spots across the state will be identified and developed to promote weekend tours of Keralites.

The new advancement of the tourism sector is expected to double the arrival of foreign tourist by 2021.  The policy aimed to address the key issues of the tourism industry in co-operation with the local bodies is sure to entice the travellers and make them fell in love with God’s own country.

 

 

 

 

 

Kochi Corporation All Geared For Metro Status

Kochi, The Queen of Arabian Sea has turned grander and glorious over the last century. As Kochi Corporation celebrates its Golden Jubilee this year, the city has a lot to narrate about its evolution from a very small princely state in India to one of the fastest growing cities in the country today.

The history of Kochi is quite intriguing. For centuries now, Kochi has served as a seat for many foreign rulers who have contributed in shaping the city. The King of Kochi always remained as a title head only, as the city persisted under foreign invasion for several years. Prior to independence and joining the Indian Union, the city was being colonized by Portuguese, Dutch as well as English. Fort Kochi and Mattancherry still cherish the reminiscence of its eventful past by preserving its antique essence even today.

The progress of the city post-independence is indeed envious to many a tier II city of the country. In the recent days, Kochi has marked its place in global sports map by being the venue of Under 17 World Cup of 2017 and the most electrifying ground of ISL seasons. The city’s annual tourism influx equals about four times its population. The International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadam, makes Kochi the premier port gateway to South India. Greater connectivity, first Indian tier II city to propose metro rail, venue of two submarine cables landing in India etc; the chart of credits goes on. CBRE has termed Kochi as the next real estate hub of the country scrutinizing the fact that the city has outstanding facilities and it the favorite tier II destination of International IT Corporates.

Kochi which is a cocktail of modernity as well as ethnicity, still has a lot more to achieve; especially when it comes to some basic facilities like housing, waste management, water supply and roads. Other projects like Kochi-Mattancherry-Central City, Inland Waterway Development, Integrated Public Transport Mode, Smart City (Second phase) which are in pipeline is expected to add pride to the Queen, who over the years and still continue spreading her splendor, bestowing wealth and welfare to her folks.

Kerala to Create Land Bank of 5,000 Acres to Promote Industries

The Dearth of industrial land has been a major hurdle that kept the investors aloof from the state of Kerala. Now, the Government of Kerala is finding a new way out to sort out the issue.Mr. A.C. Moideen, Minister for Industries, said the state will be rolling out a comprehensive solution for the land scarcity and would create a land bank of 5,000 acres. An Investor Promotion and Facilitation Act is being planned to catalyze the process as well.

Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) will be the nodal agency to eradicate obstacles faced by the industries in the State and Kerala Investment Fund Board (KIFB) would be brought into for the financial support of the programme.

This announcement is against the backdrop of several engagements to turn Kerala the most investor-friendly state in the country.It is anticipated that, using the land bank, integrated manufacturing clusters would be developed at key locations across the Industrial corridors with world class infrastructure, road and rail connectivity for freight movement.

The statement sprinkles hope on the upcoming endeavors which essentially require a considerable area of industrial land. The announcement which is likely to boost up the industrial atmosphere of the state has opened up vast opportunities to those players across sectors such as Petrochemical, IT & Electronics, Power, Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Allied industries.

Blue Whale Suicides: India Needs to Focus More on Teen Mental Health

In the last few weeks, many of the Indian cities were shaken up and taken aback by a series of teenage suicides that all linked to the deadly blue whale game. The shocking reports have created reasonable alarm among parents as well as authorities. The questions raised by these ill-fated incidents aren’t trivial. The teen suicides point to a carelessly overlooked portion of our public health agenda – teen mental health.

Teenagers generally take up deadly risks because they are vulnerable and prone to seek attention as well as acceptance. Apparently, the teenagers who were addicted to such lethal games might be going through psychological issues like lack of focus, interest, feeling inadequate or incompetent. Such individuals are tempted towards the so called deadly adventures that give them a sense of self-satisfaction. This particular urge for the teens to defy the socially accepted norms might end up in disasters.

Parents and schools have a very vital role play in supporting the disturbed teen minds. If a child is seemingly lost, lonely and depressed, parents and school managements must be potent enough to identify it and discuss it with the child. All possible measures to get them involved socially and divert their mind by providing activities or giving them something new to learn.

World Health Organisation (WHO) survey in 2007 in India revealed that 25 percent of boys and 24 percent of girls between 13 and 15 years of age experience depression. The suicide rate among the age group 15-29 is 35 per 100,000 people. India’s National Mental Health Survey released in 2017 revealed that 150 million Indians including teenagers need mental health services.

All these figures underpin the need of allocating more funds on teen mental health service. Though there are counseling departments working in a few district hospitals and medical colleges, its number has to be considerably increased. Opening more health departments to address adolescent mental health disorders is thus the need of the hour.  The government is suggested to seriously look into teen mental health, a disregarded yet a very important aspect in building up a psychologically healthy country.

 

 

 

Can Celebrities Take the Responsibility for Erroneous Endorsing?

Celebrity branding has been a time tested campaign mode for the last several decades. Direct endorsement and even surrogate ads create a sense of authenticity for the product. At the same time, there have been several criticisms against these celebrity endorsements. The major allegation was that the celebrities take little responsibility for the quality of the product, whether it is a safety pin, soap, shampoo, beverage or a high end Sports Utility Vehicle. Moreover, they may not be even using the brands they are endorsing. But at the other end, the customers go after the product, blindly attracted to his or her popularity and believing the words of the sports star or film stars in the ad. When we analyze it closely, a certain amount of cheating is involved in these endorsements.

Numerous issues related to celebrity branding have led to a thought of even establishing a censoring mechanism for ads. There have been several law suits in the courts, challenging the quality of products and hollow claims in advertisements.

Do brand ambassadors be made liable for misleading ads? When the company and advertisement agencies are solely responsible for the service/product quality and the ad concept respectively, the celebrities stands as an appropriate medium to promote the concept. A large number of customers tend to blindly believe brands promoted by celebrities, purely out of the emotional bonding with them.  Owing to this reason, the stars cannot runway from their responsibility to these customers. In this scenario, whether stars have to be penalized for the misleading advertisements need to be pondered over by considering every side of the topic. Noting that celebrities honoured with Padma awards are brand ambassadors of several products, the subject has to be well-considered to eradicate this unfavorable inclination in the advertising industry.

Reportedly, the government has said that a Parliamentary Committee’s recommendation of penalties against endorsers of misleading advertisements is under consideration. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution recommends a fine of Rs. 1 million and imprisonment up to two years or both for first time offence and fine of Rs. 5 million and imprisonment for five years for the second time offence for celebrity endorsers.

The crux of all these is that, stringent provisions to tackle misleading advertisements, as well as to fix liability on endorsers/celebrities are soon to be enforced. An execution wing of the government will be entrusted to monitor the credibility of the advertisements as well as it would not be open to a consumer to independently press charges against the ambassador in a court for false and misleading ads. Prior to implementing all these measures, it is very significant for the government to clarify the definitions relating to misleading, false and objectionable advertisements.

 

 

 

 

Digital Marketing Surges as Traditional Ads Face Brunt of GST

Advertising is a high-demand requisite to promote business growth. Markets use this unique tool to educate customers about the brands. Goods and Services Tax (GST), the revolutionary tax reform, would probably result in major transformations in India’s advertising trends. Advertising agencies that come under the broad umbrella of service sector are liable to pay 18 percent tax for traditional advertising under the GST regime, up 3 percent from the previous rate of 15 percent.

GST has indeed negatively impacted on print and TV advertising in the country.  The brands that are the ultimate benefactors of the service are the obvious payers of this tax. Thus, traditional advertisements have turned out to be an additional expense for several companies.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Thus the burden of extra tax on traditional advertising unlocks the endless opportunities of a much cost effective alternative – digital advertising.  Reportedly, digital advertising which is growing at a fast pace of 14 percent per annum in India has entered the club of $1 billion or above industries.  With the decline of traditional advertising, the overall advertising share of the digital media is expected to double by 2020, means 100 percent more of the Pre-GST era.

As India is celebrating a digital revolution, the nation is expected to have 800 million smartphone users by 2020 and this is likely to catalyse digital advertising in the coming days. Having an edge over TV and print advertising on the basis of more interactive and engaging content, advertising on a digital platform becomes cost effective as well as highly penetrating. Moreover, the unprecedented progress of social media, native advertising, and content marketing on a comparatively low cost is luring both customers and marketers towards digital advertising.

Advertising industry have been facing certain hiccups and teething problems after the rollout of GST. The leading brands have already felt the major drift in the advertising sector. It’s high time for emerging brands to turn into utilizing the seamless opportunities of digital advertising and marketing. In this scenario of extra tax on conventional advertising, digital advertising can play a counterbalancing act as it is equipped with smart and cost effective solutions. In order to rationalize advertising goals, big and medium companies are ready to spend their major chunk of advertising budget for digital advertising, thus opening up new vistas.