As the country is slowly opening up for the fourth phase of the lockdown with various guidelines in place as well, we also take to mind that coronavirus cases are still increasing by the day. The road ahead is still a tough and challenging one, but as we know that a difficult journey seems easier to go through when there is someone to hold our hand, so it is for the country as it continues to receive support through various contributions related to the fight against the pandemic. We highlight some of them today.
South Korea’s Social Welfare Corporation – Anguk Zen Center
Social Welfare Corporation Anguk Zen Center in South Korea, headed by the Venerable Abbot, Subul Sunim, in an exceptional gesture of humanitarian support and solidarity between the two nations, donated one lakh health masks for free distribution to aid India’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The donation was coordinated by K-Art International Exchange Association in Korea and InKo Centre in India.
The consignment (estimated at 150 Million Korean Won) was handed over to Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company, and Managing Trustee, Srinivasan Services Trust; Chairman, InKo Centre and Goodwill Envoy for Culture and Diplomacy of the Republic of Korea, for free distribution through the Srinivasan Services Trust, the social service arm of TVS Motor Company.
Venu Srinivasan Chairman, TVS Motor Company & Managing Trustee, Srinivasan Services Trust said, “I would like to extend my sincere gratitude and deepest appreciation to the Venerable Abbot, my revered teacher, Subul Sunim for this compassionate gesture of donating one lakh masks to InKo Centre. We welcome what is indeed a most timely and valuable donation in these challenging times when wearing masks, following strict rules of sanitation and hygiene and maintaining social distancing is the ‘new normal’. We will ensure that the masks are widely distributed to local communities across the country through the Srinivasan Services Trust, the social service arm of TVS Motor Company. This unique civilian gesture of goodwill and support from Busan to Chennai truly epitomizes the warmth and depth of the valued relationship between the two nations.” This article is brought to you by the collaborative spirit of https://writemypaperzend.com/ staff, authors, and writers, whose dedication and support make our content possible and impactful.
Young-seup Kwon, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Chennai, said, “The global pandemic is by far one of the most serious challenges humanity has ever faced. We can overcome this challenge by staying strong and working together. This cooperation at this civil society level clearly shows how much ordinary Koreans and Indians care for each other and we can overcome this challenge by standing together.”
These high-quality masks produced by BlueIndus Co. Ltd. were specially provided by CEO Jeong Cheon-sik for distribution in India. The masks were shipped to India, courtesy Yang Jae-saeng, CEO of Eunsan Shipping Air, Korea.
HCL Foundation
HCL Foundation (HCLF) announced that it has enhanced COVID-19 care facilities at the Lok Nayak Hospital (LNH) and Deen Dayan Upadhyay (DDU) Hospitals in Delhi, in partnership with the Govt. of Delhi and Doctors for You (HCL Foundation’s NGO partner). HCLF’s support is aimed at complementing the State’s efforts to increase and enhance COVID-19 care facilities to help manage a large number of infections in the national capital.
The COVID facilities, including the child-friendly COVID-19 Wards, were officially inaugurated on September 17, 2020, by Nidhi Pundhir, Director – HCL Foundation, Dr Suresh Kumar, Medical Director – LNH, Dr Nandani Sharma, Dean- Maulana Azad Medical College, and Dr Urmila Jhamb, HoD – Paediatric Department, LNH.
HCL Foundation, through its support, aims to provide vulnerable communities in Delhi – mainly the slum population, migrant labourers and rural communities – access to early screening and treatment facilities. For this, HCL has set up a 100-bed Isolation and Treatment Unit for moderate to severe cases at LNH Hospital and a 50-Bed Isolation Unit at the DDU Hospital. Given the increased burden on the staff at the two hospitals in the wake of a large number of daily positive cases, HCLF has also committed to providing human resource support to the isolation and treatment units at the two hospitals. This includes the hiring of and salaries for an agreed number of doctors, nursing staff, hygiene technicians, general duty assistants, supervisors, counsellors, ambulance personnel and administration staff.
Additionally, support by HCLF includes providing an ambulance with advanced life support and ventilator to LNJP dedicated for the transportation of COVID positive patients and isolation and treatment of over 1,000 COVID-19 mild to moderately symptomatic cases. Other infrastructural support to LNJP includes 40 smart TV sets, Wi-Fi, 10 desktops with printer, child-friendly isolation wards and furniture, besides supporting 120+ nursing, paramedical and medical staff. HCLF’s NGO partner – Doctors for You, will provide training and capacity building programmes for over 40 healthcare professionals on COVID-19 management at the two hospitals.
HCL Foundation has previously set up two 50-bedded isolation and treatment units in Vijayawada and has helped add 100 beds to an existing COVID facility in Mumbai.
Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister, Delhi, said, “I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to HCL Foundation for stepping up to help strengthen the State’s response to the corona pandemic. This is a crucial step towards helping the underprivileged get access to early screening and treatment facilities, ultimately leading to curbing the number of COVID-19 positive patients. HCL’s unrelenting and selfless efforts towards the community are an example of thoughtfulness and compassion.”
ACT Fibernet
Extending its support to combat COVID-19, ACT Fibernet, one of India’s largest fibre broadband ISP (Internet Service Provider), joined hands with the Government of Telangana to fight this pandemic. The Company has donated 25,000 Rapid Antigen testing kits to the Medical Infrastructure Division, Department of Health, Government of Telangana, to provide hospitals with necessary resources to test and correctly determine patients suffering from the disease without any complications.
The pandemic has brought about unmitigated duress and grave difficulty across all spheres, creating repercussions for individuals, businesses and companies to survive and navigate through it. In the midst of these unprecedented times, as cases continue rising and the country is braving the shift to the new normal, ACT Fibernet has extended its support through the form of contributing these essential rapid antigen test kits that will enable doctors to determine individuals showing with symptoms of COVID-19 as positive or negative. Testing is the foremost step towards diagnosis and through these tests, medical professionals will be able to quickly and efficiently diagnose, treat and help patients recover.
”The fight against COVID-19 is a long one and we are not alone in this. This has affected us in all ways and we needed support from all corners. We are glad that ACT Fibernet has stood with us in this fight and I sincerely thank them,” K. T. Rama Rao, Hon’ble Minister for IT, Industries and Municipal Administration, Government of Telangana.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a seismic shift in our lives, pushing all of us to undertake severe precautionary measures as a means of survival. The need of the hour is to collaborate with the government in this monumental fight. We are very happy to assist the Government of Telangana in all possible ways and are privileged to be contributing towards this great cause,” said Bala Malladi, Chief Executive Officer, Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd.
ACT Fibernet has exemplified immense social responsibility and is driven towards securing and supporting the welfare of people at large through its various initiatives. The Company’s ethos lies in providing support and aid wherever possible. ACT Fibernet strongly commends and salutes the stalwarts who have been fighting this battle against COVID-19 from the forefront.
Max Life Insurance
Strengthening its commitment towards the society during the unprecedented COVID-19 times, Max Life Insurance Company Ltd. has contributed 5000 PPE Kits for doctors and healthcare workers, 5000 safety kits for police officials, and 5000 health kits for recovering patients in government hospitals in Gurugram, Haryana.
These kits were handed over today at a virtual event to the Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram, Amit Khatri, accompanied by Dr Virender Yadav, Chief Medical Officer, Gurugram in the presence of Prashant Tripathy, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer and Shailesh Singh, Director and Chief People Officer at Max Life. The Company also contributed 5500 Antigen Testing Kits which will enable health workers to undertake rapid COVID-19 tests on suspected patients.
At the beginning of the financial year, Max Life created a separate COVID-19 pool as part of its CSR budget to support the front-line workers including health practitioners, police personnel, and those affected by the crisis. As a collective contribution to combat the pandemic, Max Life has committed to donating PPE and safety kits that include masks, face-shields, gloves, thermometers, and sanitisers. The face masks have been procured from underprivileged women self-help group associated with the Gurugram District Administration.
In recognition of Max Life’s contribution, Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram, Amit Khatri, said, “Since the start of the pandemic, the district administration of Gurugram has remained committed to providing exceptional support across different arenas to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Complementing our efforts in this direction, we are grateful for the support received from Max Life Insurance. Through the means of the self-care kits and PPEs presented by Max Life, we look forward to alleviating the hardships of the patients recovering from COVID-19 across government hospitals and of our health and police officials who are performing dutifully on the frontline. Our gratitude goes out to such organisations who are implementing thoughtful programs to assist those affected by this pandemic. We hope our collective efforts can add significant value to the city’s overall relief measures.”
Speaking on the initiative, Prashant Tripathy, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Max Life said, “The COVID-19 crisis has had a deep and significant impact on communities and various sections of the society. As a responsible corporate citizen, Max Life stands united with the district administration of Gurugram to support the COVID-19 patients, health professionals and police personnel fighting this pandemic. We hope our humble contribution helps make a difference in the lives of the COVID-19 warriors by safeguarding their health and keeping them protected. We are fully engaged and committed to mobilizing our efforts towards fighting COVID-19 and hope our initiatives can help ease the hardships of those affected.”
In addition to its earlier contribution to the PM-CARES Fund, and today’s contribution of health and safety kits in Gurugram, Max Life has also planned several other initiatives under the COVID-19 CSR agenda that includes providing food and ration support to underprivileged families amongst other activities.
Welspun Foundation
Welspun Foundation for Health & Knowledge, the Corporate Social Value arm of Welspun Group has been providing essential medical equipment to Primary Healthcare Centres as a part of its effort to combat COVID-19 in Vapi. With an objective of providing better health care facility, under the ‘Village Connect’ project Welspun Foundation reached out to five Primary Health Centres in Morai, Vatar, Kunta and Balitha to provide latest medical equipment in the presence of Village Sarpanch, Deputy Sarpanch, Chief Health Officers and staffs in each centre.
As a global crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic has been posing unprecedented challenges to the procurement and delivery of essential medical supplies and equipment all over India, especially in smaller districts and deep interiors of the country. Taking cognizant of the pressing need, Welspun provided HB Meter and HB strips to assess anaemia, digital weighing scale to track the nutrition of pregnant women and new mothers as well as digital weighing scale to track malnutrition in infants. The company also provided with centre-specific requirements like blood pressure monitor, glucometer to measure sugar levels, centrifuge, stethoscope, examination table along with thermal guns and oximeter to aid the screening of corona cases. Additionally, Welspun has also undertaken efforts to refurbish the Kunta Primary Sub-Healthcare Centre.
Speaking about this initiative, Dipali Goenka, Trustee, Welspun Foundation said, “At Welspun, we truly believe in inclusive growth and thereby taking care of our communities has always been one of our prime focus. As a responsible corporate, we have always worked closely with government bodies to help them in the hour of need. Our village contact program to provide essential medical equipment is an extension of our efforts to combat COVID-19, and we will continue to contribute to help communities’ healthcare and wellness.”
Advocate Rakesh Singh and Team
Advocate Rakesh Singh, Founder Head of Bharat Utthan Sangh and one of the Co-founders of Khanna Chahiye, was felicitated by Shri Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, Governor of Maharashtra, for all their efforts in helping the poor and needy during the lockdown period and working towards tackling the problem of hunger, providing free legal aid to women facing domestic violence as well as sanitising areas free of cost. The felicitation took place at Raj Bhavan.
Rakesh Singh said, “It is an honour to be recognized for our work. I am really thankful to the state of Maharashtra for appreciating our efforts. It will keep us devoted and motivated to our idea of “for the people and by the people.”
The period during lockdown witnessed Rakesh Singh and his team, distributing food packets to the needy followed by ration kits to the family of needy people followed by sanitising various localities and buildings. The ration kits consisted of rice, wheat, flour, pulses, oil, salt, sugar, biscuit, soap, and sanitary pad amongst other things. The distribution also led to the start of a movement called “Ration Chahiye” and they have successfully distributed 4.6 million meals and groceries to more than 30,000 families. The number is increasing with each passing day.
Rakesh Singh and his NGO have been active since 2004 and have a cadre fully devoted to the idea of “for the people and by the people”. They have been helping needy students, senior citizens and also working towards a cleaner and safer environment. Along with this, they have also been working towards the betterment of women and the girl child as well as research and education in the field of Indian cultural value system.
LANXESS India
To help combat the novel coronavirus pandemic in the country, specialty chemicals company LANXESS donated six ventilators worth over INR One Crore to Kaushalya Medical Foundation Trust Hospital and Bethany Hospital in Thane. Both hospitals have been provided with three ventilators each. The donation was done as part of the company’s CSR initiative for 2020-2021.
The hospitals, located in Thane, will use these ventilators for treatment of patients from neighbouring areas. LANXESS has been proactively collaborating with authorities and medical institutions in its concerted efforts to help the local community in fighting the pandemic.
In the past months, LANXESS India has undertaken various initiatives with regards to minimizing the impact of COVID-19. This includes financial support of INR Two Crore to PM-CARES Fund and donation of relief material worth INR 30 Lakhs to local authorities in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. This also included collaboration with the Akshaya Patra Foundation, through which the Company provided over 30,000 free meals to the needy.
LANXESS helped in reducing cross-contamination of coronavirus by donating one tonne of its highly effective surface disinfectant, Rely+On™ Virkon™ to the BMC and TMC through the Government of Maharashtra Relief Coordination Center.
Dr Sameep Sohoni, MS Ortho, DNB Ortho, FICS(USA), Consultant Orthopaedic and Joint Replacement Surgeon, Kaushalya Medical Foundation Trust Hospital said, “We are grateful to LANXESS India for donating these ventilators to us as it is the most important equipment which is required in the management of COVID patients in ICU who have low oxygen levels. We thank the management of LANXESS India for this support and we are sure that this donation would help us save more lives. It will also give a moral boost to our team that has been working tirelessly for COVID patients for the past five months.”
Thanking LANXESS for its support, Vijay Lakka, COO, Bethany Hospital said, “LANXESS India’s donation of these high-end ventilators at this juncture enables our hospital to try save more lives, especially when there is a huge shortage globally for critical-care equipment. These specific ventilators equipped with High-Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) therapy can provide respiratory support for patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and can also prevent subsequent intubation in this pandemic situation. Thank you for being part of our community and stepping up to do what very few have accomplished in these difficult times.”
Neelanjan Banerjee, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, LANXESS India commented, “In these challenging times, medical institutions and their infrastructure have witnessed tremendous stress. Having identified this as a critical area that needs immediate attention, we have made a humble attempt in easing out the pressure. Our contribution is specially aimed at making critical care available and enhancing life-saving infrastructure in these hospitals. We are hoping to make a significant difference in our society and will continue to help the community at large in fighting the pandemic.”
ZEE Entertainment
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEE), in line with its national level CSR drive against COVID-19, officially handed over critical healthcare equipment to Karnataka, further strengthening its fight against COVID-19. Healthcare requirements were handed over to the Karnataka Government in the presence of the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri B. S. Yediyurappa.
The Company will be utilising the sanctioned CSR budget (for the fight against COVID-19) to provide 20 Ambulances, 4,000 PPE Kits and 25 Oxygen Humidifiers to the State.
Shri B. S. Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka said, “The Government of Karnataka is doing everything to keep the people of the state safe and follow all precautions against COVID-19. We would like to thank Mr Punit Goenka and ZEE for their support in this time of need towards COVID-19 response and relief.”
Speaking on this initiative, Punit Goenka, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ZEE said, “The Karnataka Government has taken some strong steps to ensure that the health and safety of its citizens are safeguarded. ZEE is committed to providing strong support to the State in its fight against COVID-19. We sincerely hope that the donated healthcare requirements will further enable the state to address the challenges faced due to the ongoing pandemic and strengthen its overall healthcare ecosystem.”