Puma top global lifestyle brand in India

German sporting lifestyle major Puma has quietly emerged as the top international brand in India by revenue, upstaging its direct rivals like Adidas and fashion apparel names such as Benetton and Zara, according the regulatory filings.

BENGALURU: German sporting lifestyle major Puma has quietly emerged as the top international brand in India by revenue, upstaging its direct rivals like Adidas and fashion apparel names such as Benetton and Zara, according the regulatory filings.

The local operations of Puma SE, part of the French luxury goods conglomerate Kering now, reported domestic revenue of Rs 766 crore during the calendar year 2014, showed the company's filings with Registrar of Companies last week. This was ahead of Adidas (Rs 719 crore), Nike (Rs 624 crore), Benetton (Rs 594 crore), Levi's (Rs 599 crore) and Zara (Rs 580 crore) in FY14.

Puma follows calendar year for reporting business numbers, while most of the other brands like Benetton and Zara follow April-to-March financial year, and their latest numbers are not yet in public domain. A recent media report said Zara reported Rs 721 crore and Benetton is said to have clocked Rs 802 crore in FY15. Puma, growing at about 30% in the first six months, is on pace for Rs 900 crore revenue this calendar year. Puma will be marginally trailing homegrown Madura Fashion & Lifestyle's Louis Phillipe in the overall brand sweepstakes by company revenue.

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Vietnamese users prefer low-cost tablets: GfK

About 582,000 tablets were sold in Viet Nam in the first five months of the year, registering a 34 per cent year-on-year increase, GfK market research agency said.

Apple's iPad Mini Wifi 16GB with a 7.9 inch screen. Vietnamese customers have a high demand of low-cost small-screen tablets in the first five months of the year, GfK market research agency said. Photo thegioididong.com

In a report released on July 6, GfK said the growth was fuelled by high demands for low-cost small-screen tablets.

As many as 76 per cent of the tablets were priced lower than US$300, compared with 50 per cent during the same period last year. In the high-end segment, tablets costing more than $500 accounted for 14 per cent, compared with 29 per cent in the same period last year.

In the middle segment, tablets costing $300 to $500 comprised 11 per cent of the sold units, marking a 11 per cent year-on-year fall. The number of brands in the Vietnamese tablet market dropped from 56 to 49.

Customers preferred tablets with screens measuring 7.9 inches or smaller. Seven out of 10 tablets sold during the period were of this segment, higher than that in 2014.

GfK Vietnam Managing Director Tran Khoa Van said the tablet market would witness higher sales in the third quarter with many promotions to be offered on the occasion of the opening of the school year in September. He said the sales of tablets this year might reach about 1.9 million units.

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Chronic constipation affecting urban India's quality of life: Survey

• IANS, Kolkata
| 
• Updated: Jun 17, 2015 22:04 IST

FMT involves the delivery of stool from a healthy pre-screened donor to a person with gastrointestinal conditions associated with changes in the gut flora. (Shutterstock)

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Bhaskor Banerjee had a tough time dealing with it in Piku, but in reality, chronic constipation has significantly affected urban India's quality of life, a survey claimed on Wednesday.

Chronic constipation significantly impacts people's quality of life due to lack of sleep, and mental and physical stress, compared to those who do not have constipation, according to the "Gut-Health Survey".

It said 14% of India's urban population suffer from chronic constipation, an inability to pass stool for more than three times a week and for more than three months at a stretch.

The findings showed 60% of people with chronic constipation opted for home remedies as the most preferred treatment option for relief.

However, half the people who self-medicate eventually visited a doctor for cure, said the survey.

Irritability, lack of interest in work, mood swings, worry and embarrassment were the most common effects, noted among 3,500 individuals across six Indian cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Coimbatore.

The findings highlighted that incidence of constipation was higher in India than the worldwide average of 10%.

Leading causes for constipation were significantly higher frequency of eating non-vegetarian food, low water intake, snacking and eating fried, oily, spicy, junk and processed food.

The survey said: "Three out of four people with chronic constipation said it leads to other medical problems/complications with piles and haemorrhoids, ulcers, abdominal pain and anal fissures as the leading issues."

"While the relief to this nagging issue is easy, people with constipation generally try out multiple self-medication options and come to a doctor only after the issue has become chronic.

"Untreated constipation can lead to complications like faecal incontinence, haemorrhoids and anal fissures. Greater awareness, timely action, lifestyle modifications and eating right can help people lead a healthy and active life," said Jyoti Ranjan Mohapatra, consultant gastrointestinal and liver diseases, associated with Peerless/Apollo Hospital.

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Rural Indian children receive wrong treatments for deadly ailments: Study

DURHAM, NC - Few health care providers in rural India know the correct treatments for childhood diarrhea and pneumonia – two leading killers of young children worldwide. But even when they do, they rarely prescribe them properly, according to a new Duke University study.

Medical practitioners typically fail to prescribe lifesaving treatments such as oral rehydration salts (ORS). Instead, they typically prescribe unnecessary antibiotics or other potentially harmful drugs, said Manoj Mohanan, a professor in Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and lead author of the study.

Diarrhea and pneumonia accounted for 24 percent of deaths among children 1 to 4 years old, totaling approximately 2 million deaths worldwide in 2011. Bihar, India – where the study was conducted – has an infant mortality rate of 55 per 1000 live births, the highest in the country.

“The Know-Do Gap in Quality of Health Care for Childhood Diarrhea and Pneumonia in Rural India” will be published online Feb. 16, 2015, by JAMA Pediatrics.

“We know from previous studies that providers in rural settings have little medical training and their knowledge of how to treat these two common and deadly ailments is low,” Mohanan said.

“Eighty percent in our study had no medical degree. But much of India’s rural population receives care from such untrained providers, and very few studies have been able to rigorously measure the gap between what providers know and what they do in practice.”

The study involved 340 health care providers. Researchers conducted “vignette” interviews with providers to assess how they would diagnose and treat a hypothetical case. Later, standardized patients – individuals who portrayed patients presenting the same symptoms as in the interviews – made unannounced visits. This strategy enabled researchers to measure the gap between what providers know and what they actually do – the “know-do” gap.

Providers exhibited low levels of knowledge about both diarrhea and pneumonia during the interviews and performed even worse in practice.

For example, for diarrhea, 72 percent of providers reported they would prescribe oral rehydration salts– a life-saving, low-cost and readily available intervention – but only 17 percent actually did so. Those who did prescribe ORS also added other unnecessary or harmful drugs.

In practice, none of the providers gave the correct treatment: only ORS, with or without zinc, and no other potentially harmful drugs. Instead, almost 72 percent of providers gave antibiotics or potentially harmful treatments without ORS.

“Massive over-prescription of antibiotics is a major contributor to rising antibiotic resistance worldwide,” Mohanan said. “Our ongoing studies aim to understand why providers who know they shouldn’t be prescribing antibiotics for conditions like simple diarrhea continue to do so.

“It clearly is not demand from patients alone, which is a common explanation, since none of our standardized patients asked for antibiotics but almost all of them got them,” he said.

Providers with formal medical training still had large gaps between what they knew and did, but were significantly less likely to prescribe harmful medical treatments.

“Our results show that in order to reduce child mortality, we need new strategies to improve diagnosis and treatment of these key childhood illnesses,” Mohanan said. “Our evidence on the gap between knowledge and practice suggests that training alone will be insufficient. We need to understand what incentives cause providers to diverge from proper diagnosis and treatment.”

Mohanan also holds appointments with the Duke Global Health Institute and the Department of Economics. His co-authors are Marcos Vera-Hernandez and Soledad Giardili of University College London; Veena Das of Johns Hopkins University; Jeremy D. Goldhaber-Fiebert of Stanford University School of Medicine; Tracy L. Rabin and Jeremy I. Schwartz of Yale School of Medicine; Sunil S. Raj of the Indian Institute of Public Health; and Aparna Seth of Sambodhi Research and Communications.

Funding for the study was provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Bihar Evaluation of Social Franchising and Telemedicine (BEST) project.

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Thailand and Malaysia emerging as global economic leaders in the medical tourism industry .

The world medical tourism map is changing spatially and economically. This highly advanced and ever-growing industry serves millions of patients every year, with clinics, treatments and healthcare available more cheaply and readily in developing countries than ever before. A clear industry leader is emerging in South East Asia, overtaking countries in America, Africa and Eastern Europe to become the first port of call for many seeking low-cost procedures abroad.

The worldwide medical tourism industry is work an estimated $100Bn (USD) and covers many aspects of health procedure including dentistry, cardiology, cancer treatments, orthopaedics and cosmetic procedures. There is much debate about whether health tourism can be included under the 'medical tourism' remit, as an increasingly lucrative market in spas, natural remedies and wellbeing treatments is also emerging. This is particularly true for South East Asian countries, whose warm climate and natural resources have long been used to great effect in treating stress-related conditions and general wellbeing needs. How such 'medical tourists' are charted is also emerging as a contentious issues, with definitions of a 'medical tourist' changing according to the country in which they are situated; reason for visiting; time spent in the area; and if a surgical procedure is carried out.

Yet, tourism as an already major economic contributor to South East Asia is emerging as an obvious driver in the growth of medical tourism currently being experienced by the region, with is currently worth an estimated $8.5Bn (USD). Lower cost airline travel as well as ease of access to other Asian tourist destinations has undoubtedly contributed to the influx of patients seeking healthcare solutions in the area. This is particularly true of Thailand, whose long-established tourist credentials give it an edge over medical tourism rivals such as Singapore and South Korea. Yet, Malaysia is catching up with their rivals in terms of healthcare industry growth, offering low-cost medical care in an increasingly more inviting environment.

Malayisa reported a 29.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in patient arrivals since 2013. An improvement in available medical technology, increasingly more advanced tourism infrastructure and better marketing techniques such as innovative use of social media ensure the Malaysian health tourism industry is increasingly more appealing to those seeking treatment abroad. The Thai government too are overtaking rivals such as Singapore in their drive to fund marketing campaigns aimed at medical tourism; the gap in quality of care between the two countries has also narrowed in recent years.

Indeed, the 25% decline in medical tourist revenue generated by Singapore between 2012 ($1110Mn USD) and 2013 ($832Mn USD) is creating ample space for other South East Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia to exploit this ever-growing industry. Ease of access in both healthcare and tourism due to legal restructuring by the ASEAN Economic Community combined with the high cost of medical treatment in places such as the USA is increasing the demand in some of South East Asia's biggest private hospitals.

It remains to be seen whether other emerging countries in the region such as South Korea and the Phillipines exploit this market advantage effectively. Thailand and Malaysia are applying promotional tactics effectively to counter this potential threat to their standing as a top healthcare destination, whilst moving the map of medical tourism away from its traditional layout.

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China eyes more private, foreign capital in inspection, certification sector

China is set to increase the screening of unqualified inspection and certification agenciesand encourage more private and foreign capital to enter the industry of accreditation toincrease competition, officials said on Thursday.

Xie Jun, deputy head of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China, saidin a conference in Beijing that the authority will encourage social capital to set upaccreditation agencies and provide the public service.

The authority will also reduce the restrictions placed on foreign investor to set up qualityinspection and test agencies in China, and will provide them same treatment as domesticinvestors, he said.

China currently has 28,300 officials certified accreditation agencies, among them 140agencies are foreign ventures. However, the foreign ventures take up more than 30 percentof the market. The industry registered a total revenue of close to 14 billion yuan in 2014.

Sun Dawei, vice-minister of General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspectionand Quarantine, said there are a number of problems in the country's certification andinspection industry, including poor management, lack of credibility and trust, andunprincipled competition.

"We need to increase the accreditation of the inspection and certification agencies toensure a healthy development of the industry and push forward the transformation ofgovernment function," he said.

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100 Indian cos invest $15 bn in US, create 91k jobs

(Getty Images)

A total of one hundred major Indian companies created more than 91,000 jobs in the US by investing $15 billion in a wide range of sectors across 35 American States, according to a latest report.

The southern State of Texas received the maximum ($3.84 billion) foreign investment from Indian companies followed by Pennsylvania ($3.56 billion), Minnesota ($1.8 billion), New York ($1.01 billion) and New Jersey ($1 billion), said the report titled "Indian Roots, American Soil" by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Grant Thornton (GT).

More than 20 top lawmakers including Senators, John Cornyn and Mark Warner, attended the report released on Tuesday at the Capitol Hill.

"As India surges forward to become the fourth fastest growing source of FDI into the US, it is critical that we recognise the positive impact of Indian business investments in the country," said Senator Warner, co-chair of the Senate India Caucus.

A cornerstone of relations between India and US is the thriving commercial exchange between the countries, Warner said.

According to the report, the top five states where the Indian companies have generated maximum employment are New Jersey (9300 jobs), California (8400), Texas (6,200), Illinois (4,800) and New York (4,100).

The CII study draws attention to the growing contribution and influence of the Indian industry, which forms an important component of our growing and vibrant relationship with the United States, said Indian Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh.

"Today Indian companies are not just investing and creating jobs, they have also become significant stakeholders in the growth and prosperity of their local communities," Singh said.

Though Indian companies have made tangible investments in 35 US States, they are have physical presence in all the 50 US States, the report said, adding that the average amount of investment received from Indian companies per state was $443 million.

"The friendship between the United States and India has grown stronger over the past year. And both our nations are better for it," said Congressman George Holding, Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans.

According to the report 84.5 per cent of the companies plan to make more investments in the United States.

Ninety per cent of the companies plan to hire more employees locally in the next five years.

The US-India relationship is in many ways best exemplified through these Indian companies in America that have Indian roots, but are completely enmeshed into US soil, said Sumit Mazumder, CII president.

According to the report, sizeable investment (40 per cent) is in the IT and related sector, but the emergence of a significant number of companies in the life sciences (14 per cent), manufacturing (14 per cent) and automotive (four per cent) sectors is a remarkable development as a major contributor to job creation.

Major investments in energy, including conventional sources such as oil and gas, as well as renewables, have also contributed to the increasing diversity of Indian companies' operations in the US.

Indian companies have also made investment in the tourism and hospitality, food and agriculture, as well as in the media and entertainment sectors.

"India is now the fourth fastest growing source of investments into America - this is a very critical aspect of the burgeoning bilateral US-India business story and one that has an immediate and visible positive impact on the local communities where these companies operate. It's a story that needs to be told and re-told," said Chandrajit Banerjee, CII director general.

Congressman Bera, Co-Chair of Congressional Caucus on Indian and Indian Americans, said the growing the economic partnership between India and the US will benefit both economies and bring new jobs to his Sacramento County in California.

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