iWorld
SARS fells Singapore Broadcast Telecom shows
The Severe Acute Respiratory Sydrome (SARS) is not just swallowing up human victims who get ensarled in its murderous grasp. Two of the biggest broadcast and telecom related trade shows in Asia, BroadcastAsia and CommunicAsia, have fallen prey to it. Singapore Exhibition Services (SES), which is behind these two trade shows, has decided to forego the 2003 edition of the events which were scheduled to take place from June 17-20 at Suntec Singapore and Singapore Expo respectively.
Commenting on the decision, Mr. Stephen Tan, Chief Executive of SES said, “Together with our exhibitors and stakeholders, we have decided not to go ahead with the shows. This is a very difficult decision borne out of necessity due to SARS outbreak and the lack of options for a suitable time frame in which to re-schedule the events. It is also our utmost priority to safeguard the well being of our exhibitors and visitors who have shown us unwavering support all these years.”
As the SARS outbreak in Asia has not stabilised, exhibitors and visitors alike had expressed concerns about their safety at the shows. With the WHO and U.S. CDC advisories against traveling to SARS affected areas, it became clear that foreign visitorship to the shows would be severely affected.
SES says that it had considered postponing the shows to the second half of the year but no suitable alternative window was available as the world calendar for this period is already filled with other events such as BIRTV (Beijing), IBC (Amsterdam), ITU World Telecom (Geneva), CTIA Wireless (Las Vegas), InterBee (Japan) and Comdex (Las Vegas).
Tan pointed out that many exhibitors and buyers are already committed to exhibiting at and visiting these events. It would therefore be difficult to identify a suitable slot without moving them too close to next year’s shows. The next BroadcastAsia and CommunicAsia are scheduled to take place from 15-18 June 2004.
“This is the most expensive option open to us but we see this as a long-term business decision. We have to fulfill our responsibility to our exhibitors as well as to preserve the quality and integrity of the shows,” added Tan.
eNews
Paisabazaar launches Credit Premier League 2.0
Nationwide campaign rewards highest credit scores with Rs 1 lakh top prize.
MUMBAI: When credit scores become a national league, even your CIBIL report starts feeling like it’s playing in the IPL and Paisabazaar has just kicked off the second season. Paisabazaar, India’s leading marketplace for financial products and the country’s largest free credit score platform, has announced the return of the Credit Premier League (CPL) 2.0, a fun, nationwide initiative to recognise and reward individuals with the highest credit scores.
Building on the success of the first edition, CPL 2.0 introduces higher rewards and broader participation. The individual(s) with the highest credit score in the country will win Rs 1 lakh, while state champions will each receive Rs 10,000. Additionally, all participants from the winning state, the one with the highest average credit score will also be rewarded.
All winnings will be credited directly to winners’ PB Wallet, allowing them to pay credit card bills, recharge mobiles, or settle utility bills seamlessly on the Paisabazaar platform.
Paisabazaar CEO Santosh Agarwal said the campaign aims to make credit awareness more engaging and mainstream. “With CPL, we are bringing together engagement, gamification and rewards to make conversations around credit scores more mainstream,” he noted. “Our focus remains on building a financially aware and credit-healthy Bharat.”
The first edition of CPL saw over 5.5 million participants, with the highest individual score touching 861. Delhi recorded the highest average credit score of 746.
Consumers can participate simply by checking their free credit score on the Paisabazaar platform or app. The CPL leaderboard and rankings will be available exclusively on the Paisabazaar App.
In a country where financial dreams are serious business, Paisabazaar has found a smart way to turn credit scores into an exciting game – because when your financial health gets rewarded, everyone wants to play.
