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PHDCCI organized a Roundtable on “Future of India’s Shipbuilding and Ship Recycling: Decoding Budget Announcements to power India’s Maritime Future”

New Delhi, Mar 13: Shri Susanta Kumar Purohit, IRSEE, Chairperson of V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority, addressed a high-level Roundtable on the “Future of India’s Shipbuilding and Ship Recycling,” outlining a transformative roadmap to elevate India’s maritime standing. Speaking to distinguished delegates and industry leaders, Shri Purohit detailed how the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the strategic direction provided by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, have created the fiscal architecture necessary to shift India into a dominant maritime power.

The Chairperson highlighted that the comprehensive policy framework, championed by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, is built upon four strategic pillars: financing, capacity expansion, policy reform, and skill development. Central to this vision is the ₹69,725 crore Maritime Revitalisation Package, the ₹25,000 crore Maritime Development Fund, and the extension of the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Scheme through 2036. Shri Purohit emphasised that the 48 per cent surge in the Ministry’s budget allocation to ₹5,164.8 crore signals a clear sovereign intent to reduce the ₹6 lakh crore annual freight drain to foreign shipping lines, fulfilling the Prime Minister’s vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat in the maritime sector.

A cornerstone of this industrial expansion is the newly announced Shipbuilding Project, to be executed through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named the ‘National Shipbuilding & Heavy Industries Park, Tamil Nadu’. This ambitious project is a 50:50 Joint Venture between the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority and the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT). With an estimated project cost of ₹30,000 crore and spanning a total land area of 2,000 acres, this facility will serve as a primary engine for India’s domestic maritime manufacturing and heavy engineering.

Significant focus was also placed on the integration of the circular economy through the Shipbreaking Credit Note Scheme. This innovative policy offers vessel owners a credit note equivalent to 40 per cent of the scrap value of ships recycled at Indian yards, redeemable against the cost of new domestic construction. Shri Purohit noted that under the guidance of Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, India has positioned itself as the world’s most responsible and regulation-ready recycling destination, with 106 yards at Alang already compliant with the Hong Kong International Convention.

The Chairperson also showcased V.O. Chidambaranar Port as a model for the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. As India’s first port to produce green hydrogen and the first to exceed one megawatt of rooftop solar generation, the port is currently executing a ₹15,000 crore Outer Harbour project. This expansion is set to establish Southern India as a premier transhipment hub capable of competing with major international ports such as Singapore and Colombo.

In his concluding remarks, Shri Purohit extended his gratitude to the PHDCCI for its catalytic role in bridging policy intent with industry action. He urged all stakeholders to move from deliberation to execution, seizing the global moment of supply-chain realignment to propel India into the top five shipbuilding nations by 2047.

With linear TV data now live alongside digital and CTV, the born-digital platform tracks more than $174 billion in U.S. digital ad spend and $51 billion in U.S. linear TV spend from a single cross-media view

New York, NY — March 13 — BIScience, the company behind AdClarity, the world’s leading AI-driven ad intelligence platform, today announced the launch of its TV Intelligence Suite, bringing U.S. linear TV coverage into AdClarity’s existing digital, social, video, and CTV capabilities. The platform now delivers cross-media intelligence using one consistent methodology and consistent performance metrics.

Most legacy ad intelligence providers were built around linear TV and have gradually expanded into digital. AdClarity took the opposite path: born digital, the platform built best-in-class digital coverage before adding television, addressing a need that has intensified since digital ad spend surpassed linear TV around 2019.

 

As advertising budgets continue migrating from linear television to digital channels, organizations that lack cross-media visibility cannot determine whether they are overspending or underspending relative to the market. For senior marketing leaders, media planners, analysts, and operations teams, this gap creates significant operational overhead and an inability to set strategy with confidence. AdClarity covers more than 250 leading categories and industries in the U.S., including top spending sectors such as CPG, financial services, news and media, technology, and others. 

According to AdClarity data, total tracked U.S. digital advertising spend reached $174.4 billion in 2025, up 5.5 percent year over year, with CTV the fastest-growing channel at $38 billion (up 8.1 percent). Adding approximately $51 billion in U.S. linear television spend gives customers visibility into how budgets shift across the full media mix.

AdClarity’s Linear TV coverage spans more than 100 U.S. networks and local affiliates, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and leading cable, news, and sports channels, with breakdowns by Designated Market Area (DMA), daypart, program, and creative execution. By pairing DMA-specific digital insights with local TV data, the platform delivers what BIScience describes as the most granular picture of U.S. local advertising available. 

The platform is powered by AdClarity’s proprietary data infrastructure, spanning 52 global markets and 30 million opt-in panelists. Data is updated daily, with point-in-time data available from 2018 onward.

AdClarity offers capabilities no other solution provides, including real CTR analysis for each ad and campaign and Ad Objective attribution that classifies ads as performance or brand awareness. The platform also provides DMA-level spend analysis and AI-driven insights with a chatbot for automated competitive and media mix analysis.

“Until now, understanding where advertising budgets are moving between digital and television required stitching together disconnected tools with incompatible metrics,” said Dorit Kaplan, VP Product and Strategy at BIScience. “With the TV Intelligence Suite, AdClarity delivers what the market has been waiting for: a single cross-media view, built on consistent methodology, that enables teams to see the complete picture and make decisions with confidence. Our digital-first foundation gives us a distinct advantage as we bring every major advertising channel into one platform.”

AdClarity serves more than 2,000 customers worldwide, including 27% of the Fortune 500. The platform is used by global brands such as Adidas, Amazon, Booking.com, Disney, Shell, Sony, and Wix, and is trusted by partners including Nielsen, Kantar, WPP, and MediaRadar.

The TV Intelligence Suite is available now for enterprise customers in the United States. CTV coverage is currently available in the U.S., Germany, Canada, the U.K., and Australia.

Organizations Reduced Certificate-Related Incident Costs by $2.4M and Cut Renewal Effort from 30 Minutes to Seconds with the AppViewX Platform

 

NEW YORK, March 12 — AppViewX, a leader in automated Certificate Lifecycle Management (CLM) and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) software, today released findings from a commissioned February 2026 Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study quantifying the operational and financial impact of lifecycle automation as SSL/TLS validity periods begin shrinking March 15 under the CA/Browser Forum schedule.

The study, available here, found that a composite organization representative of interviewed customers using the AppViewX platform achieved:

• 302% return on investment (ROI)
• $3.9 million in total three-year, risk-adjusted benefits
• $2.4 million reduction in certificate-related incident costs (three-year, risk-adjusted present value)
• Less than six months payback

“There were 15 major outages the year before, which dropped to three the next year after implementing AppViewX. In fact, these three outages were caused by certificates that we had decided not to migrate to AppViewX,” said a Senior Vice President of Data Protection at a financial services organization interviewed for the study.

As certificate lifespans compress and renewal frequency increases, the study highlights the operational risk of manual processes and fragmented tooling. Forrester found that manual certificate renewals required approximately 30 minutes per certificate, while automated renewals through AppViewX reduced that effort to approximately 0.25 minutes.

“The March 15 milestone signals more than a compliance change, it marks the beginning of a structural workload shift,” said Stephen Tarleton, Chief Operations Officer at AppViewX. “As validity periods shrink, renewal frequency accelerates and fundamentally changes the operating model for certificate management. Without centralized automation, enterprises risk diverting skilled engineers from higher-value security initiatives just to prevent certificate expirations.”

Operational Impact of Shorter Validity Periods

Under the CA/Browser Forum’s phased reduction schedule, certificate lifespans will continue to shorten in stages, increasing renewal frequency across hybrid, cloud, and machine identity environments. The Forrester study found that enterprises adopting centralized lifecycle automation materially reduced both the frequency and cost of certificate-related incidents while scaling certificate management without proportional staffing increases.

Organizations that adopt modern certificate lifecycle management benefit from:

• Greater protection against certificate-related outages
• Faster mean time to resolution
• Reduced application deployment cycles
• Improved audit and regulatory compliance

To address this complexity, the AppViewX platform centralizes and automates certificate lifecycle management through:

• Automated certificate discovery and inventory
• Policy-driven renewal and re-enrollment workflows
• Centralized governance and compliance reporting
• API-driven integration with DevOps and infrastructure pipelines

See 47-Day Readiness at RSA Conference 2026

AppViewX will demonstrate how enterprises are preparing for accelerated certificate renewal cycles at RSA Conference 2026, North Expo Booth #4236. Attendees can see how centralized lifecycle automation reduces renewal effort, mitigates outage risk, and strengthens governance as validity periods shrink.

New Delhi, Mar 12th: Voltas Limited, a Tata Enterprise, has entered a strategic partnership with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to strengthen industry–start-up collaboration and accelerate innovation in India’s cooling and smart appliance ecosystem. The partnership was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Dr. Sumeet Kumar Jarangal, Director, DPIIT, and Mr. Mukundan Menon, Managing Director, Voltas Limited, in the presence of senior officials from both organisations.

The collaboration aims to support start-ups working on next-generation technologies across areas such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), advanced control systems, power electronics, artificial intelligence and machine learning-based diagnostics, IoT-enabled smart appliances, and digitalisation across manufacturing and service operations. As part of the collaboration, Voltas Limited and Startup India will explore organising innovation challenges under the Bharat Start-up Grand Challenge platform and hosting targeted hackathons aimed at solving industry-specific challenges.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Sanjiv, Joint Secretary, DPIIT, said the collaboration reflects the Government’s continued focus on strengthening industry–startup partnerships and promoting indigenous innovation in advanced manufacturing and deep-tech sectors. “Connecting start-ups with leading industry players will enable entrepreneurs to translate innovative ideas into scalable products and solutions with real-world applications,” he added.

Dr. Sumeet Kumar Jarangal, Director, Start-up India, said DPIIT will facilitate deeper engagement between Voltas and the broader Start-up India ecosystem. “This will include expanding programme outreach, encouraging participation from DPIIT-recognised start-ups, and enabling collaborative initiatives such as innovation challenges, hackathons, and pilot programmes focused on emerging technologies,” he said.

Mr. Mukundan Menon, Managing Director, Voltas Limited, said the partnership reflects Voltas’ commitment to strengthening India’s innovation ecosystem and supporting the development of next-generation cooling technologies. He further elaborated, collaboration with start-ups can play a key role in advancing energy-efficient cooling solutions, smart appliances, predictive diagnostics, and digital service platforms while enabling emerging technology entrepreneurs to scale their innovations.

Under the partnership, Voltas will work closely with the Startup India initiative to identify and support high-potential start-ups aligned with emerging industry needs. Startups selected under the programme will gain access to mentorship, technical guidance, research and testing infrastructure, and market linkages to help accelerate product development and commercial adoption. These may include areas such as energy-efficient cooling systems, air-quality monitoring and filtration technologies, advanced inverter controls, predictive maintenance solutions, refrigerant safety systems, and digital tools for installation and servicing.  Selected start-ups may also participate in structured Proof-of-Concept (PoC) programmes, where they will collaborate with Voltas engineering teams for product validation and technology integration. The partnership will also facilitate field trials through Voltas’s service network to support testing, refinement, and eventual commercialisation of innovative solutions.

New York, NY, March 12 — Modani Jewels, Soham Diamonds, and S.N.J. Creations are pleased to announce the appointment of Andrea Lucille Pooler as Chief Operating Officer for the group’s divisions.

With more than 25 years of experience in the jewelry industry, Pooler combines strategic leadership with a deep understanding of both the artistry and business of fine jewelry. Her expertise spans manufacturing, retail, and wholesale channels, bridging creative direction with data-driven execution to help jewelry companies grow with structure and purpose.

 

Andrea began her career as a bench jeweler and designer and later owned her own retail jewelry store, gaining firsthand insight into craftsmanship, design, and customer experience. She went on to hold senior operations roles for one of the world’s largest B2C e-commerce jewelry brands, overseeing production, logistics, customer success, and process optimization for high-volume operations. Most recently, as Principal Consultant at Hill & Co., she led end-to-end business transformation and strategy projects for manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and designers, spanning operations and process improvement, financial strategy, branding, merchandising, technology implementation, and team development.

Beyond her executive work, Pooler remains an active voice in the industry. She currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of THE SOURCE for the Community for Ethical Jewelry, Chair-head of the Women’s Jewelry Association NY Metro Chapter, resident volunteer jewelry appraiser for a retail hospice store, and Business Coach. A passionate advocate for education, mentorship, networking, and leadership, she is committed to empowering individuals and organizations to thrive within a more connected and transparent jewelry ecosystem.

A frequent writer for industry publications, speaker, and educator.  Pooler has presented at JCK Las Vegas, international jewelry trade shows, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and a range of entrepreneurship and networking associations. Andrea will be presenting two talks at the upcoming JA NY  show, titled “AI without the Overwhelm” on March 15th at 1 pm, and “Curate Less, Run Lean: Why Merchandising and Operations Must Move Together” on March 16th at 1 pm.

“Modani Jewels is pleased to welcome Andrea Lucille Pooler as its new Chief Operating Officer, strengthening the firm’s leadership team as it continues to scale operations and accelerate growth,” said Sumit Modani, CEO. “Pooler brings extensive operational and strategic experience and will play a key role in driving Modani Jewels, Soham Diamonds, and S.N.J Creations next chapter of expansion.”

“I’m thrilled to join Sumit and the incredible team at Modani Jewels, Soham Diamonds, and S.N.J. Creations,” said Pooler. “This company has an inspiring heritage and a vision for the future that honors both tradition and innovation. I look forward to helping scale our operations, strengthen global systems, and expand our presence in key markets.”

Led by Sumit Modani, Soham Diamonds is a third-generation family enterprise known for its craftsmanship, innovation, and integrity. Over the past several decades, the company has evolved from a traditional gemstone and diamond business into a vertically integrated jewelry manufacturer and global organization through its three core divisions: Modani Jewels, Soham Diamonds, and S.N.J. Creations, with offices in New York, Ohio, Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Dubai.

Chemical pesticides remain a cornerstone of modern agriculture because they are reliable and effective. However, growing concerns about environmental impact, increasing resistance, and long-term sustainability have intensified the search for safer alternatives. Biological pesticides offer clear advantages, yet many fail to perform consistently in the field, breaking down under strong sunlight or proving difficult to integrate with existing agricultural practices.

At National Kaohsiung Normal University, researchers set out to address this gap by rethinking how biological crop-protection agents are developed. Rather than relying solely on laboratory screening, the team focused on microorganisms that have already adapted to demanding natural environments. Led by Professor Chien-Yan Hsieh, the researchers isolated a strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens from mud volcano environments in southern Taiwan—areas characterized by intense sunlight and chemically challenging conditions.

These harsh environments act as a natural filter. Microorganisms that survive there must tolerate stresses similar to those encountered in open agricultural fields. The selected bacterium produces iturin A, a naturally occurring antifungal compound widely reported to be effective against plant diseases and to have low toxicity to humans and animals. While iturin A has been studied internationally for many years, producing it efficiently at scale and ensuring stability under real-world conditions have remained persistent challenges.

To overcome these barriers, the research team optimized fermentation processes across both solid-state and submerged systems, improving production efficiency while incorporating agricultural by-products, such as rice bran, to support more sustainable manufacturing. The formulation was also designed to tolerate ultraviolet exposure and remain compatible with commonly used chemical pesticides, allowing farmers to integrate the biological product into existing pest management programs rather than replacing them entirely.

Goa, Mar 12th: Sarvam, a Goa-based workplace culture and POSH awareness initiative committed to promoting safe, respectful and equitable workplaces, successfully hosted Dignity Dialogues 2026 – The Uncomfortable Truth Lab on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2026. The national level virtual conclave brought together professionals, leaders and workplace advocates to discuss dignity at work, gender equity and the importance of POSH awareness in organisations. Participants joined the dialogue from states like Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Delhi, reflecting the growing national interest in conversations around safe and inclusive workplaces. The organisation has also recently expanded its presence with new chapters in Maharashtra and Karnataka, strengthening its engagement with companies across regions to build workplaces rooted in dignity, accountability and inclusion.

The conclave was initiated by Shivani Panigrahi, Regional Head – Karnataka at SARVAM for PoSH, and moderated by Ashwini Patwardhan, Founder of SARVAM for PoSH. The dialogue was thoughtfully conceptualised and curated by the SARVAM team under the expertise of Amit Jadhav, Regional Head – Maharashtra, reflecting the organisation’s continued commitment to meaningful conversations around workplace dignity.

A key highlight of the conclave was a live social experiment conducted through anonymous audience polls, allowing participants to reflect on their own workplace experiences. The findings revealed common professional patterns, reinforcing the need for deeper conversations around workplace behaviour and culture.

Insights from the social experiment conducted during the dialogue revealed a clear shift in workplace expectations: dignity at work is no longer seen as merely a compliance requirement. Instead, participants emphasised that the future of workplace culture will be defined not by the absence of complaints, but by the presence of dignity, trust and accountability embedded in everyday organisational behaviour.

Speaking during the session, she said, “Sarvam was created with the belief that workplace dignity should never be treated as a checklist item. Our goal is to help organisations build cultures where people feel safe to speak, leadership takes accountability, and respect becomes a lived workplace value. What emerged from this dialogue is that employees today are no longer willing to accept silence as the price of professionalism — the real shift now is the expectation that dignity at work must be visible, measurable and actively upheld by leadership.”

Opening the discussion, CA Pallavi Salgaocar, Finance Director at Geno Pharmaceuticals and Goa State President of Laghu Udyog Bharati, shared candid insights into the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and professionals. She highlighted the persistent gender bias in venture funding, noting that women founders are often asked personal questions unrelated to business performance during funding meetings.

Reflecting on these experiences, she emphasised the need for inclusive decision-making spaces where women leaders are respected for their expertise and vision from the outset.

“Women should not have to prove their credibility every time they enter a room. The room itself must be inclusive enough to recognise competence and leadership without bias,” she said.

Salgaocar further stressed that organisations must go beyond measuring productivity to actively assess fairness and representation, encouraging men to play a role in building inclusive cultures.

“Dignity at work is not a privilege it is a fundamental right. Conversations like these must continue beyond Women’s Day if we want to transform workplace culture in a meaningful way,” she added.

The dialogue also featured CA Priyanka Chaturvedi Agrawal, Director and Co-Founder of Ally of Inclusion, former Director at KPMG India and ESG Director at BNP Paribas Global. She spoke about the role of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) framework in strengthening workplace safety and highlighted how sexual harassment often stems from unchecked power dynamics and repeated microaggressions.

“In many workplaces, silence has been normalised. People hesitate to call out behaviour because they fear being misunderstood or labelled difficult. But silence allows microaggressions and power misuse to continue unchecked,” she said.

She further emphasised that prevention requires organisations to look beyond formal procedures.

“True prevention is not only about having policies or committees in place. It is about creating environments where employees feel heard and safe enough to speak even when the issue is still unformed or uncomfortable to articulate,” Priyanka added.

Notably, the session also saw strong participation from male professionals, reflecting the growing understanding that creating safe and respectful workplaces is a shared responsibility.

Amit Jadhav, Regional Head – Maharashtra, Sarvam, emphasised the importance of continuing such conversations across organisations.

“Workplace dignity cannot be built through policies alone. It is shaped by everyday behaviours, leadership accountability and the courage to question what has long been normalised. Conversations like Dignity Dialogues are meant to open that space where organisations can move beyond compliance and begin building cultures where respect and safety are lived values,” he said.

Following the dialogue, speakers also noted that conversations around workplace dignity are gaining urgency as organisations revisit their compliance frameworks. Recently, the Government of Maharashtra directed workplaces in the state to conduct a PoSH compliance audit within 30 days, reinforcing the intent of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to ensure safe and respectful workplaces.

Responding to this growing need for awareness and compliance support, SARVAM for PoSH continues to work with organisations through training, advisory and culture-building initiatives. The organisation has also recently expanded its presence with new chapters in Maharashtra and Karnataka, strengthening its engagement with companies across regions to build workplaces rooted in dignity, accountability and inclusion.

Through initiatives like Dignity Dialogues, Sarvam continues to work with organisations across sectors to strengthen POSH awareness, conduct training programmes and facilitate leadership conversations that build safe and inclusive workplace cultures.

With participation from professionals across industries, the event concluded with a collective call for organisations to embed dignity and accountability into workplace culture, ensuring that conversations on gender equity and workplace safety continue long after International Women’s Day.