Blog

Agra, Mar 20th: Hettich Poddar Woodworking Institute (HPWWI) has achieved a remarkable milestone in its first-ever WorldSkills preparation initiative, with all six of its candidates securing medals at the Regional competition – resulting in a 100% success rate.

The journey began with the launch of HPWWI ‘s WorldSkills preparation camp on September 11, 2025, aimed at identifying and nurturing high-potential talent in woodworking trades. Sixteen candidates were initially shortlisted across three skill categories (Joinery, Cabinet Making, and Carpentry) and underwent intensive, industry-aligned training.

Following District and State-level competitions, six candidates advanced to the Regional stage, emerging from a highly competitive pool of over 700 participants across the North Zone.

Held in Agra from March 11 to 14, 2026, the Regional competition brought together more than 300 participants and was attended by senior dignitaries from the skill development ecosystem, including the Hon’ble Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. Demonstrating exceptional skill and preparation, all six HPWWI participants secured podium finishes:

●      Lucky Kumar (Joinery) – Gold

●      Lavkush (Joinery) – Silver

●      Shubham Jangra (Joinery) – Bronze

●      Ankit Vishwakarma (Cabinet making) – Gold

●      Rahul Jangra (Cabinet Making) – Silver

●      Junaid (Carpentry) – Silver

Five of these candidates have qualified for the National competition, scheduled later this month, where they will compete for a chance to represent India at the WorldSkills International stage in Shanghai.

Highlighting HPWWI’s role in this maiden achievement, Mr. Amit Prasad, Director,  HPWWI and Chief Human Resources Officer, Hettich India, said – “This milestone reflects the growing recognition of our efforts across the woodworking and manufacturing ecosystem, and reinforces our commitment to strengthening India’s skilled workforce pipeline. It has been made possible through sustained support, clear vision, and a shared belief in the impact of this initiative.”

As a center of excellence in Woodworking training, HPWWI continues to focus on building future-ready professionals by combining technical expertise with real-world application. The institute’s training philosophy is aligned with the broader goal of fostering self-reliant careers and contributing to India’s ‘Make in India’ vision through a strong, skill-driven workforce.

Mumbai, Mar 20: In a country where cricket inspires devotion and prayers are part of everyday life, Zed Black is bringing the two together once again. Zed Black, the flagship fragrance and devotional products brand from MP-based Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH), has launched a new television commercial featuring MS Dhoni, unveiling its latest campaign ‘Sab Shubh Hoga’ for Zed Black Samarpan Pure Camphor and Bhimseni Camphor.

The launch coincides with the first day of Chaitra Navratri on 19th March, an auspicious period when millions of devotees across India begin nine days of prayer and spiritual observances. The campaign introduces Zed Black’s Pure Camphor and Bhimseni Camphor range, with Dhoni also appearing on the product packaging. The campaign will roll out across national television, digital platforms, social media, and retail touchpoints across India.

The TVC features MS Dhoni as a narrator, weaving together slices of everyday life of a student, an office-goer, and a shopkeeper, each hoping for a better tomorrow. The film ultimately reinforces the reassuring belief that “Sab Shubh Hoga.” The campaign has been conceptualised by Oberoi IBC.

The initiative marks the company’s strategic push to strengthen its presence in the growing camphor and pooja essentials market, expanding beyond its core incense portfolio. In India, cricket and faith share a deep emotional connection, and Dhoni’s calm persona aligns with the campaign’s message of optimism and belief. The campaign also seeks to resonate with younger audiences through a simple and comforting sentiment much like the idea that “all is well.”

Speaking about the campaign, Ankit Agrawal, Director, Mysore Deep Perfumery House, said,

“With ‘Sab Shubh Hoga,’ we wanted to capture a sentiment rooted in faith, positivity, and the belief that every sincere prayer brings hope. Our decade-long association with MS Dhoni reflects these values of trust and belief, making him a natural fit for the brand. With Zed Black Samarpan Pure Camphor and Bhimseni Camphor, we aim to strengthen our presence in the devotional products market, lead the Bhimseni camphor category, and make it widely accessible as we move towards the ₹1,000 crore milestone.”

The campaign highlights Pure Camphor and Bhimseni camphor, traditionally used in prayer rituals across Indian households and valued for their purifying and wellness properties, including antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory benefits.

Offered in multiple formats including jars, zipper packs, and pouches ranging from 2 gm to 500 gm, the range represents one of the most comprehensive camphor portfolios in the market, designed to cater to diverse consumer needs across retail formats.

With the launch, Zed Black is positioning Pure Camphor and Bhimseni camphor as a mass-premium offering, aiming to build strong category leadership by ensuring availability across general trade, modern retail, and quick commerce platforms.

The campaign also builds on Zed Black’s long-standing partnership with Dhoni, which began in 2017 and has produced several widely discussed campaigns. One of the most notable was the “#PrarthnaHogiSweekar” campaign directed by Farah Khan in 2021, which featured Dhoni in a retro Indian cricket jersey and gained strong traction across digital platforms.

Commenting on the company’s growth strategy, Anshul Agrawal, Director, Mysore Deep Perfumery House, said,

 “The company continues to invest in expanding manufacturing infrastructure and strengthening its distribution network to support new categories such as camphor and pooja essentials. Our broader focus remains on building a fragrance-led FMCG portfolio backed by innovation and sustainable manufacturing initiatives.”

Speaking on the campaign, brand ambassador and ace cricketer MS Dhoni added,

“With Zed Black, the message has always been simple ‘Do your best and believe.’ ‘Prarthana Hogi Sweekar’ celebrated that thought, and ‘Sab Shubh Hoga’ will continue to inspire people to stay positive and move forward with faith.”

Over the years, Zed Black has grown from a small incense venture in Indore into one of India’s leading fragrance and devotional product brands. Today, the company’s portfolio spans incense sticks, dhoop, pooja essentials, lifestyle fragrances, and camphor products, serving millions of consumers across India.

With a distribution network reaching over 10 lakh retail outlets and a presence in 40+ international markets, the company continues to deepen its market reach.

Zed Black is now gearing up for its next phase of growth and has set a target to cross the ₹1,000 crore revenue milestone by FY28, while aiming to build leadership in emerging devotional product categories such as Pure Camphor and Bhimseni camphor.

Founded in the early 1990s as part of Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH), Zed Black has grown into one of India’s leading incense and fragrance brands. The company operates a 9,40,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Indore and employs a 4,000-strong workforce, nearly 80% of whom are women, producing over 4.5 crore incense sticks daily.

Chennai, Mar 20: TTF Chennai 2026 opened today at the Chennai Trade Centre, reinforcing  South India’s growing importance as a key travel market. Organised by Fairfest Media, the event has drawn strong participation from across the travel and tourism ecosystem, including tourism boards, travel companies, and hospitality brands.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by key representatives from the travel and tourism industry, including Ms. J. Innocent  Divya.  I.A.S.,Commissioner,Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, & Managing Director Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation, Dr. B.N. Patil, IAS, Director, Directorate of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra and Mr. D. Venkatesan, Regional Director, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, underlining Chennai’s strategic role as a gateway market for tourism promotion in South India.

With over 250 exhibitors representing 12+ Indian states and 5 countries, the exhibition reflects the increasing interest among tourism stakeholders to engage with this dynamic regional market. The show commenced with focused B2B networking, enabling meaningful industry interactions and business discussions on the first one and a half days. It will subsequently be open to all, including  B2C visitors, offering travellers access to a diverse range of destinations and travel options. Entry is free for all visitors.

TTF Chennai brings together leading tourism boards, with Nepal Tourism as the Partner Country, Goa Tourism, and Kerala Tourism as Partner States. Telangana Tourism, Maharashtra Tourism, Tamil Nadu Tourism, along with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India (Incredible India), participated as Featured Partners.

The exhibition also features international destinations such as the  UAE, Sri Lanka, Singapore, China, and Bhutan were part of the showcase, supported by a strong contingent of private exhibitors, including Beijing Nimbus, Briar Tea Estate, Colours of India, Jenny’s Residency, Marigold Regency Hotels Pvt. Ltd., Matrix Cellular (International) Services Pvt. Ltd., Purple Palms Resort & Spa, Quality Inn Rama Ayodhya, Riverine Luxury Houseboats, Select My Flight, SOTC, The Woods Resorts, W15 Collection, Yercaud Hotel Owners Association, among others.

The event is supported by leading travel and tourism associations, including OTOAI, ETAA, TAAI, TAFI, ADTOI, IATTE, SKAL International – Chennai, ABTO, TIA, NIMA, TOAI, SIGTOA, TTTHA,  SIMA, Tamil Nadu Travel Mart Society, FOTO, TAAT, TAAC, ATTOI, ETOA, reflecting the strength of industry collaboration and partnerships.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjiv Agarwal, Chairman & CEO, Fairfest Media, said “Chennai is an important market for us, and TTF offers direct access to a wide network of travel agents and potential travellers. The quality of interactions and business engagements has been very encouraging.”

Rising Travel Demand Positions Chennai as a Key Industry Hub

Chennai continues to emerge as one of India’s key travel source markets, driven by strong demand across both outbound and domestic segments. The city’s well-established network of travel agents, tour operators, and corporate travel planners, coupled with increasing consumer interest in diverse travel experiences, has positioned it as a strategic hub for tourism growth in South India.

In this context, TTF Chennai provides a unified platform for destinations and travel stakeholders to connect, enabling high-value B2B engagements while also offering consumers direct access to a wide spectrum of travel options.  The event plays a critical role in facilitating business partnerships, enhancing destination visibility, and supporting the sustained growth of the travel and tourism industry in the region.

Mar 20: Stylz, an AI-powered personal styling intelligence platform built for Indian consumers, announced the launch of its mobile application designed to personalise fashion decisions based on an individual’s identity, including face shape, skin tone, body proportions and style personality. Founded by Sai Kiran Vemuri and headquartered in Hyderabad, the platform combines artificial intelligence with human stylist validation to create what the company describes as India’s first identity-first styling platform.

 For two decades, fashion technology has optimized one thing: how to sell clothes faster. Every recommendation engine, every virtual try-on, every trend algorithm shares the same logic: start with inventory, find a buyer. Start with a garment, place a body inside it. No platform built for India has ever started with the Indian body, the Indian face, the Indian sense of self. 

Stylz launches to change that.

Before a single product appears, Stylz builds a persistent style identity: face shape, skin tone, body proportions, style personality. Not a quiz result. Not a mood board. A persistent identity layer built using proprietary AI trained on millions of Indian images and validated by professional stylists who understand India’s cultural nuances, from Kashmiri woolens to Tamil cottons, from festival dressing to climate-specific comfort. It runs beneath every fashion decision: what to buy, what to wear today, how to score an outfit, what to build from what you already own. 

Existing fashion platforms often provide only fragments of personalisation. Virtual try-ons show products on generic bodies, style quizzes expire once the session ends and subscription boxes rely heavily on past purchases. None build a persistent identity that understands who a person is across contexts: meetings, festivals, weddings and everyday dressing.

Stylz closes this loop by beginning where good style has always begun: with self-knowledge. A personalised Style Report and Colour Palette translate identity into immediate action. A Digital Wardrobe remembers what users own, while an Outfit Calendar helps plan outfits across days, events and occasions. 

“We exist to make millions of Indians confident in their everyday life by making personal styling accessible to every Indian. Stylz merges AI innovation with human stylists and deep cultural empathy to deliver truly personalised fashion guidance,” said Sai Kiran Vemuri, Founder and CEO, Stylz. 

Stylz delivers a complete style profile in under 30 seconds. A face and body scan captures key dimensions while a personality questionnaire surfaces style archetypes. Unlike platforms that rely entirely on automation or delay recommendations through manual curation, Stylz combines real-time AI with stylist validation to ensure recommendations remain instant, personalised and culturally grounded.

Stylz is available on both iOS and Android platforms and is free to download, with Pro, Glo and VIP subscription plans available for users seeking deeper styling support. VIP members also receive direct access to a personal human stylist. During its pre-launch beta phase, the platform recorded more than 10,000 downloads. 

Alongside the consumer application, Stylz is also launching Stylz Sense, a plug-and-play AI styling engine designed for D2C fashion brands. 

Stylz Sense can be embedded directly into a brand’s existing e-commerce store without requiring any platform rebuild. The engine personalises the shopping experience at the identity level, helping brands recommend products based on a customer’s style profile while improving conversion rates and reducing returns.

“Every other platform knows your purchase history. Stylz knows you,” added Sai Kiran Vemuri. 

India’s energy transition is entering a decisive phase, driven by strong policy direction, rapid capacity expansion, and a clear focus on Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance), Union Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy Shripad Naik has said.

Highlighting India’s progress in the power sector, he noted that the country is not only expanding its clean energy capacity at record speed but also strengthening its position as a global leader in renewable energy transformation.

Rapid Growth in Clean Energy Capacity

India’s installed power generation capacity has more than doubled since 2014, with the share of non-fossil fuel sources rising to over 51% by October 2025. This milestone has enabled India to achieve its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target of 50% non-fossil capacity nearly five years ahead of schedule.

In FY 2025–26 alone, the country added a record 47.3 GW of non-fossil energy capacity, reflecting strong momentum in solar, wind, and other renewable sources.

Solar energy, in particular, has seen exponential growth—from just 2.8 GW in 2014 to more than 140 GW by early 2026—making it one of the fastest-growing segments in India’s energy mix.

Strengthening Energy Independence

A key focus of India’s strategy is reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels through large-scale electrification and clean energy adoption. The government is pushing electrification across mobility, agriculture, and industry to reduce oil imports and improve long-term energy security.

Officials estimate that these combined efforts could save over ₹1 lakh crore in fossil fuel imports by the end of the decade.

India is also targeting 30% electric vehicle penetration by 2030, signalling a strong shift towards cleaner transport systems.

Boost to Domestic Manufacturing

The push for clean energy is being matched with efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing capabilities.

Under the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) framework, India has developed:

• Around 172 GW of solar module manufacturing capacity

• Approximately 27 GW of solar cell production capacity

This expansion is aimed at reducing import dependency and building a strong domestic renewable energy supply chain.

Social Inclusion Through Energy Access

Alongside industrial growth, the transition is also focusing on inclusive development. Key government programmes are improving energy access for rural and underserved communities.

The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) is supporting electrification of 13.6 lakh vulnerable tribal households, strengthening rural infrastructure and energy access.

Similarly, the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana aims to bring rooftop solar power to 1 crore households by 2027. So far, over 32 lakh households have already adopted rooftop solar systems under the scheme.

The PM-KUSUM scheme is also transforming agriculture by promoting solar-powered irrigation, benefiting millions of farmers while reducing diesel dependency.

Green Hydrogen and Future Energy Vision

India is also positioning itself as a global leader in the emerging green hydrogen economy. The National Green Hydrogen Mission, with an outlay of ₹19,744 crore, aims to achieve:

• 5 million metric tonnes of annual production by 2030

• 125 GW of dedicated renewable energy capacity

• Creation of nearly 6 lakh jobs

• Capture of around 10% of global green hydrogen demand

This marks a major step toward building a future-ready clean energy ecosystem.

From Capacity Building to System Strength

Experts note that India’s energy policy is now shifting from rapid capacity expansion to strengthening grid systems, improving integration, and enabling market reforms.

New regulatory mechanisms such as dynamic solar and non-solar pricing windows and virtual power purchase agreements are being introduced to reduce congestion and improve efficiency in the power grid.

Conclusion

India’s energy transition reflects a combination of scale, speed, and strategic planning. With record renewable expansion, strong manufacturing growth, and increasing focus on self-reliance, the country is steadily shaping its role as a global clean energy leader.

As policy evolves from capacity creation to system optimisation, India’s power sector is expected to become more resilient, efficient, and globally influential in the years ahead.

Bengaluru, Mar 20: Bluspring Enterprises Limited announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bluspring New Horizon One Private Limited (“BNHOPL”), has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% shareholding in STEAG Energy Services India Private Limited (“STEAG India”). STEAG India is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of STEAG Power GmbH, a leading energy company in Germany. STEAG India has two subsidiaries which will become step-down subsidiaries of BNHOPL. The transaction is expected to close within the next 60–90 days, subject to customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2001, STEAG India is a leading service provider of Operations and Maintenance (O&M), Digital Solutions, end-to end Engineering & Management Advisory Services to the conventional and renewable power/ energy industry across India, Botswana, Middle East and other overseas markets. Supported by a team of close to 2,000 professionals, the company generates annual consolidated revenues of over INR 600 crores and is led by a highly experienced and long-tenured management team with deep sector expertise.

Backed by strong technical credentials, STEAG India provides end-to-end services to power plants across a wide spectrum of fuel types and generation capacities. Steag India currently manages nearly 7 GW of power assets and 2,200 TPH of process steam supply capacity, including supercritical power plants and refinery utilities, with demonstrated capabilities across the electricity value chain.

The acquisition significantly enhances Bluspring’s capabilities across upstream and downstream power services, and will accelerate its expansion in the rapidly growing power infrastructure market in India and internationally. STEAG India’s established Digital capabilities in Performance Monitoring, Predictive Analytics, Diagnostics and Training Simulator with Flexibilization, Simulation studies etc. will further enhance Bluspring’s ability to deliver high-value, technology-enabled O&M/ Digital system solutions to its global client base.

Kamal Pal Hoda, Executive Director & CEO, Bluspring Enterprises Limited, said:

“This acquisition marks a significant milestone in our long‑term strategy to build a comprehensive, end‑to‑end infrastructure management services platform. With India’s installed power generation capacity now exceeding 500 GW, the sector offers substantial growth opportunities for Bluspring. STEAG India is widely respected in the power industry for its strong technical capabilities and proven track record. This acquisition will further strengthen our presence in the industrial services segment while expanding our O&M, engineering and digital capabilities. We expect the transaction to be margin and EPS-accretive, enhancing our return on equity profile over the near to medium term while creating long-term value for our shareholders.”

Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya, Managing Director, STEAG Energy Services India, said:

“STEAG India has built a strong reputation in the power sector through its deep technical expertise, high operational standards, and long-standing relationships with utilities and industrial clients. We are confident that Bluspring, with its growing infrastructure services platform and strong engineering and asset management capabilities, is well positioned to take the business into its next phase of growth. This transition brings together highly complementary strengths and creates a strong foundation to deliver greater value to customers, while continuing to build on STEAG India’s technical legacy.”