Connecting For Peace With Heartfulness On “World Peace Day”

The Heartfulness Institute celebrated the “International Day of Peace” with purposeful interactions and live meditation. This event was broadcast worldwide in 28 different languages on the Heartfulness YouTube Channel. This year Heartfulness reached out to eminent personalities from around the world to participate as messengers of peace and share their peace message with the world. The event hosted interactions between Heartfulness Guide Kamlesh Patel (Daaji) and notable peace messengers such as Jeremy Gilley, founder of Peace One Day, award sessions -winning film director Shekhar Kapur, and actor Kabir Bedi on the themes #Connecting for Peace and #PLANeT PEACE. The celebrations continued with free live group meditation sessions for all. 

The International Day of Peace, also known as World Peace Day, was established by the United Nations General Assembly and is observed across the world on 21st of September since its initiation in 1981. Since then, 21st of September is devoted as the day to strengthen the ideals of peace. Each year Heartfulness brings the community together to share the message of peace across the globe, through live meditation sessions, purposeful discussions, and more. A peace anthem - Hearts full of love - was unveiled during the celebrations.  

The President of Peace OneDay, Jeremy Gilley, said, “Peace Day is an initiative to create awareness among governments and individuals around the world. In the last 10 years, we have created awareness among 1.4 billion people. We hope to touch half of the hearts across the world by 2025. It is a huge impact created by a small initiative of one day of ceasefire. It is an idea where the world comes together as one in the name of peace, where in, we talk about how we can manifest a more peaceful and sustainable world, just being where we are, be it our schools, homes, communities, and places of work. Peace Day truly presents an opportunity for us to galvanise and show our commitment towards a more peaceful and sustainable world.” 

Speaking on the occasion, Heartfulness Guide Kamlesh Patel (Daaji), said, “Peace is a universal concept. It extends beyond human life to nature and other life as well. Maintaining peace means maintaining a balance within ourselves and around us. If you observe nature, it also maintains peace by maintaining a balance throughout our ecosystem. The past year has been a difficult one not just for us humans, but also for the planet. Through this initiative we invite everyone and send out a clarion call to take care of humanity and our planet. Our planet needs to heal. So let us all pledge to do our part in sharing the message of love and peace.”  

International Actor, Kabir Bedi, said, “I wish everyone a very happy World Peace Day. Most of us are not responsible for national or international peace. But we are responsible for the peace within. In my personal experience, meditation, especially Heartfulness meditation, lends great strength and desire for personal peace. I believe that most people in this world are peace-loving. If all of us are collectively peaceful from within, it will inspire others to do the same and peace will prevail in the world. Let us meditate, pray, and radiate the desire for peace so that we can truly celebrate a happy World Peace Day.” 

During the event, Daaji also launched HeartinTune app, a guided meditation app to support people in making meditation a daily habit. This free to use unique meditation app encourages everyone to embark on an inner journey of self-growth that offers lasting transformation, and improved quality of life. It enables the People can experience 15-minute, 30-minute, and 45-minute guided programs suited for beginners and serious meditators to cultivate the meditative habit. 

Heartfulness has partnered with over 50 Hospital practices all over India to spread the message of Peace. This is because the frontline workers and their patients have gone through extremely stressful times in the past two years. Heartfulness is constantly getting requests from many medical professionals to be Messengers of Peace with it. 

About Heartfulness: Heartfulness offers a simple set of meditative practices and lifestyle changes, first developed at the turn of the twentieth century and formalised into teaching through Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1945 in India with a goal to bring peace, happiness and wisdom one heart at a time. These practices are a modern form of Yoga designed to support contentment, inner calm and stillness, compassion, courage, and clarity of thought, as the first step towards a purposeful life. They are simple and easily adopted and are appropriate for people from all walks of life, cultures, religious beliefs and economic situations, who are over the age of fifteen. Training in the Heartfulness practices is ongoing at thousands of schools and colleges, and over 100,000 professionals are meditating in corporations, non-governmental and government bodies worldwide. More than 5,000 Heartfulness Centers are supported by many thousands of certified volunteer trainers and millions of practitioners in 160 countries. 

Salesforce Achieves Net Zero Across Its Value Chain And 100% Renewable Energy

* Sustainability Cloud 2.0 launches to help customers reach Net Zero, faster

* In partnership with Global Citizen and 1T.org, Salesforce funds an additional 30M trees this year  to reach its goal of 100M trees by 2030; donates $1M to American Forests and One Tree  Planted

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the global leader in  CRM, today announced that it is a Net Zero company across its full value chain and has  achieved 100% renewable energy for its operations. Salesforce developed emissions reductions  strategies across Scope 1, 2, and 3 in four key categories—work from anywhere, infrastructure,  business travel, and supply chain. 

Salesforce is also unveiling Sustainability Cloud 2.0 to accelerate customers’ path to Net Zero,  empowering organizations to track and reduce their carbon emissions and become a  sustainable business. New innovations include Slack-First Sustainability for better collaboration  with suppliers, a carbon-offset ecosystem, and industry specific climate action plans. 

“Climate change is one of the most pressing crises we face as a planet, and each one of us has  a responsibility to help,'' said Marc Benioff, CEO and Chair, Salesforce. “I'm proud that  Salesforce is one of the few companies to have achieved Net Zero and 100% renewable  energy, but we can’t stop until we embrace every solution and get every business on board.  Together, we can sequester 100 gigatons of carbon by restoring, conserving or growing 1 trillion  trees; energize an ecopreneur revolution to develop innovative climate solutions; and accelerate  the Fortune 1000 to reach Net Zero."

“Climate change impacts everyone and everything, and it disproportionately impacts the poorest  and most vulnerable, amplifying global inequality,” said Suzanne DiBianca, Chief Impact Officer  and EVP of Corporate Relations at Salesforce. “Sustainability Cloud supercharged our path to  Net Zero, and we’re empowering customers with the transformational tools and trusted data  they need to reduce their carbon emissions and take climate action.” 

Sustainability is essential to becoming a trusted enterprise. Customers want to do business with  companies that are fully committed to climate action. In fact, 58% of people are willing to spend  more with businesses that fight climate change. 

Salesforce Expands Net Zero to its Entire Value Chain (Scope 1, 2, and 3) Salesforce is continuing to drive towards a 1.5°C future by focusing on six sustainability  priorities: emissions reduction, carbon removal, trillion trees & ecosystem restoration, education  & mobilization, innovation, and regulation & policy. 

Today, the company is releasing its Climate Action Plan to offer a blueprint for others to  accelerate their journey to Net Zero.

“We need bold and urgent action if we are to deliver the promise of Paris and a healthier,  cleaner, more resilient zero carbon world in time. Salesforce has shown significant leadership in  climate action through their innovation, supply chain decarbonisation and policy advocacy work,  and I encourage businesses around the world to step up now and join us in the Race to Zero  emissions,” said Nigel Topping, UN High Level Climate Champions for COP26. 

Salesforce achieved Net Zero emissions by: 

● Committing publicly to the shared, global goal of achieving a just and equitable transition  to Net Zero, in line with a 1.5°C future.

● Prioritizing reducing emissions as quickly as possible and aligning its own full value  chain emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3) to the global trajectory of ~50% emissions  reductions by 2030, and near-zero emissions by 2040. With Sustainability Cloud,  Salesforce identified the most impactful opportunities to lower its carbon footprint.

● Compensating for any remaining emissions by purchasing renewable energy and carbon  credits of high credibility, impact, and co-benefits. In the long-term using removal credits  only and in the near term using a combination of avoidance and removal credits.

In 2021, Salesforce achieved 100% renewable energy, purchasing enough renewable energy to  match all electricity it uses globally. Since first committing to this goal in 2013, Salesforce has  been working to accelerate the global transition to clean and renewable sources of electricity  with the aim for a future where renewable energy is powering the world around the clock.

To address climate change, businesses need to decrease emissions and increase carbon  removals from the atmosphere. Salesforce is focused on deploying natural carbon removal  tools, including trees and oceans, while scaling technology-based carbon removal solutions.  From ecopreneurs to enterprises—innovation is needed to expedite the path to decarbonization.

Sustainability Cloud 2.0 Accelerates Companies to Net Zero, Faster

More than 70% of people believe emissions reduction should factor into business operations,  yet tracking a company’s full value chain emissions is complex and time consuming. With  Sustainability Cloud, Salesforce was able to reduce its carbon accounting process from more  than six months to just six weeks. 

Sustainability Cloud is designed to help customers track and reduce their emissions and take  action through a full view of their environmental footprint with investor-grade data for  customizable ESG reporting. This data is essential for third-party audits, financial filings,  corporate reputation, and building trust with all stakeholders. Customers including Clif Bar &  Company, ISDI, MillerKnoll, Uhuru, and XERO are already beginning to use Sustainability Cloud  to track their carbon emissions and take action.

Today, Salesforce is introducing Sustainability Cloud 2.0 to help businesses accelerate to Net  Zero by making progress on the six sustainability priorities and turning commitments into action.  In the next generation of Sustainability Cloud, companies will see the following: 

● Suppliers are a significant part of the carbon reduction equation. Companies will get  investor-grade scope 3 reporting with Slack-First Sustainability, allowing them to  effortlessly connect and securely collaborate at scale with suppliers around science based emission reduction targets through Slack Connect.

● Every industry has unique needs. Businesses will be able to visualize their fastest path  to Net Zero with Climate Action Planning, which includes forecasting, scenario  planning and built-in decarbonization plans.

● Climate action needs everyone to mobilize and collaborate. Salesforce is investing in  building an Open Exchange Ecosystem, in which customers will be able to purchase  and manage high-quality carbon credits from ecopreneurs, advocate for science-based  climate policies, and democratize sustainability by educating teams.

“At Clif Bar, we are guided by our values, like striving to create a healthy and sustainable food  system. We know that fostering collective climate action, in partnership with our suppliers, is key  to our success,” said Roma McCaig, Senior Vice President of Impact and Communications, Clif  Bar & Company. “We’ve committed to creating a net positive impact on climate. That's why  we're leveraging Salesforce’s Sustainability Cloud to further enhance visibility into our carbon  footprint while also helping our suppliers reduce their own.” 

Nature-Based Solutions Are Critical to Addressing the Climate Crisis At Salesforce, the environment is a key stakeholder, and trees are one of the most effective  solutions to pull carbon out of the atmosphere. That’s why Salesforce is a founding partner of  1t.org, a movement to conserve, restore, and grow 1 trillion trees by 2030.

Through Dreamforce Gives, Salesforce is donating $1M to American Forests and One Tree  Planted to advance tree equity and urban canopy in lower income communities and  neighborhoods, and to reforest disaster-affected areas. 

● Dreamforce Gives: American Forests will focus its efforts in Dallas, Phoenix, and  Rhode Island — areas that are grappling with extreme heat and have been identified by  American Forests’ Tree Equity Score as having high disparities in tree canopy — and  plant more than 1,700 trees in underserved communities across these areas. One Tree  Planted will plant trees globally to support urban reforestation and tree equity in lower  income communities and neighborhoods.

● Global Citizen: As part of the company’s commitment to the planet, Salesforce is  partnering with leaders and activists for Global Citizen, a movement to mobilize millions  of people around the world to defend the planet and defeat poverty. Inspired by the  actions of global citizens and as part of the Global Citizen Live event, taking place on  September 25th, and in partnership with 1T.org, Salesforce will fund the restoration,  conservation, and growth of an additional 30 million trees by this year driving forward its  overall goal of 100M trees by the end of the decade.

● Trees for Jane: Salesforce is also a proud supporter of Trees for Jane, a new campaign  to protect and restore the world’s trees and forests, inspired by Dr. Jane Goodall. Trees  for Jane aims to stop deforestation while also empowering individuals to plant and care  for their own tree or trees in their backyards, rooftops, or with local community groups.

The protection of our planet requires everyone — governments, investors, businesses,  individuals — working together, today, to take climate action.

Happiest Minds Wins Two Awards At Asiamoney Asia’s Outstanding Companies Poll 2021

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital . Born Agile’, Mindful IT Company, today announced it has won two awards at Asiamoney Asia’s Outstanding Companies Poll 2021:

1. Most Outstanding Company in India under Small / Mid-Caps category

2. Most Outstanding IPO in India

The Asia's Outstanding Companies Poll is designed to acknowledge the listed companies that have excelled in areas such as financial performance, management team excellence, investor relations and CSR initiatives. It received overwhelming support from over 1,071 fund managers, buy-side analysts, bankers, and research analysts, totaling over 5,787 individuals that voted for 190 companies in their industry sector across 13 markets in Asia.

Venkatraman Narayanan, MD & CFO, Happiest Minds Technologies said, “When we started the Company, one of our key vision components was to achieve a successful IPO on or before FY 2023 and I am very happy that we could fulfill this ahead of time.  This feat and recognition would not have been possible without the support of investors, bankers, analysts, customers, partners and our very own Happiest Minds who continue to deliver high quality outcomes for our customers.”

Sunil Gujjar, Head of Investor Relations, Happiest Minds Technologies said “Happiest Minds always had a great story, be it our positioning in the market, our differentiators, and strong corporate governance practices. The IPO was clearly a defining moment in our journey as it validated our positioning in the public markets. The Asia Money awards are a recognition of our efforts over the years to continuously enhance our stakeholder engagement program. “

About Happiest Minds Technologies:

Happiest Minds’ Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a Mindful IT Company, enables digital transformation for enterprises and technology providers by delivering seamless customer experiences, business efficiency and actionable insights. We do this by leveraging a spectrum of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, digital process automation, internet of things, robotics/drones, security, virtual/augmented reality, and more. Positioned as ‘Born Digital. Born Agile’, our capabilities span digital solutions, infrastructure, product engineering and security. We deliver these services across industry sectors such as automotive, BFSI, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, edutech, engineering R&D, hi-tech, manufacturing, retail, and travel/transportation/hospitality.

A Great Place to Work-Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is headquartered in Bangalore, India, with operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and the Middle East.

Jaipur Rugs Announces Their Biggest Annual Festive Sale, The Rug Utsav

* Celebrate the festive season with the biggest carpet sale of this year, offers upto 60% off on its iconic collections

Jaipur Rugs announces its annual sale, The Rug Utsav to uplift the festive spirit with iconic rugs for homes. With the festival of rugs, it celebrates the artistic expression of the weavers, crafted artistically, for every home.

Jaipur Rugs has enhanced the festive shopping experience by offering hundreds of handmade carpets to customers according to their unique needs, on their website, which customers can buy from the comfort of their homes. They are also providing access to experts who can guide customers on making the perfect selection. With expertly crafted unique and innovative designs, the sale is curated to make the shopping experience seamless, through sale offers on Jaipur Rugs website and stores ranging from 20% to 60% off, customers can choose from an array of designs to revive their homes with the festive energy.

The highlight of Rug Utsav is some of the iconic collections that would be on discount for the first time ever. Bring home the age-old art and pieces reviving an era lost in vintage design and craft, with the latest collection, Someplace in Time that is on 20% discount. For those seeking royal finish, the classic Jaipur Wunderkammer collection is on discount upto 30%. The bestselling Aakar collection designed for those with a quirky and contemporary aesthetic would be on 20% discount too. With the winters approaching, its time stock up on pure silk and wool rugs which would be on discount as well. For customers looking to decorate a kid’s playroom, nursery or bedroom, the Confetti collection will not only be cozy underneath the kids’ feet but also to help them play and learn. Available on the Jaipur rugs website at a discounted rate, the collection is designed to brighten up a kid’s room and stimulate their vivid imagination.

With Rug Utsav, the festive season has officially begun. The Rug Utsav sale is live on the Jaipur Rugs website and stores across Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Check out the unique rug collection on https://www.jaipurrugs.com/in/ starting 20th September 2021.

About Jaipur Rugs

Jaipur Rugs is a family business strengthened by the purpose of protecting ancestral know-how and connecting rural craftsmanship with global consumers. By placing the human aspect at its core, the company has grown to become the largest network of artisans in India. It uses the age-old art form of handmade carpets as a tool to bring prosperity into the homes of 40,000 rural artisans of which 80% are women. Founded in 1978 by Nand Kishore Chaudhary with just two looms, it now has over 7000 looms and sells in over 60 countries. Today the company creates contemporary works of art by collaborating with creative talents capable of showcasing this ancestral craft with a new vision.

Garware Hi-Tech Films Ltd Bags Silver At India Green Manufacturing Challenge Award 2020-21

Mumbai Headquartered Garware Hi-Tech Films Ltd. (GHFL), India’s largest manufacturer of Sun Control films, 3rd largest brand in USA & Europe for automotive sun control films and the only company to make Paint Protection Films (PPF) for vehicles in India, has won silver medal at India Green Manufacturing Challenge Award 2020-21 hosted by International Research Institute for Manufacturing (IRIM) for its Chikalthana plant at Aurangabad.

Ms. Monika Garware, Vice-Chairperson and Jt. Managing Director, GHFL observed, “I am extremely delighted that GHFL has bagged this award as sustainability is core to our vision of making our planet healthier. The endorsement from IMIR underlines GHFL’s consistent efforts in reducing carbon footprint & our commitment to manufacture products in one of the most sustainable manners.”

Fully aligned to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 2030 of Climate Action (SDG #13), GHFL has created many sophisticated and well-designed programs that enable technology to blend in with various innovations to achieve zero waste. GHFL is fully compliant with product testing and certifications requirements for supporting sustainable and green movements for various global applications.

India Green Manufacturing Challenge (IGMC) is an award platform that assesses and evaluates the units which exhibit sustainable Green Manufacturing Processes on their journey to inclusive growth. The winners of the award are the companies who have exhibited excellence in the adoption of Green Processes beyond the standards and have established a new benchmark for others to follow.

The India Green Manufacturing Challenge (IGMC) Awards 2020-21 was focused on encouraging manufacturers to adopt greener, more environmentally responsible solutions for manufacturing to help future generations live on a healthy planet. It applied a Green Manufacturing Framework comprising of four elements (human, input, operations, and product) based on which the entrants were evaluated for the awards. In the previous IGMC Awards listed organizations like (Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group companies, JSW Steel, Larsen and Toubro, ITC, Sun Pharmaceuticals etc) have been recognized.

GHFL has been innovating on ‘Green Fuel’ Biomass briquettes used for steam generation to further reduce environmental impact. The company has enhanced its reproducibility, safety and sustainability through installations of advanced technologies. GHFL’s screw press technology is one such example that eliminates use of sludge drying beds in the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) reducing the ground water contamination and air pollution due to its vaporization. GHFL uses processes like blowdowns to convert liquid to solid wastes with reduced efforts in handling and disposal of wastes. Using environment friendly films used in consumer product packing, has also made post-consumer recycling much easier.

About Garware Hi-Tech Films Limited

Garware Hi-Tech Films Limited (formerly Garware Polyester Ltd.) (BOM: 500655) is the flagship company of the Garware Group co-promoted by the Chairman and Managing Director Mr. S.B. Garware in the year 1957 along with the Founder-Chairman Late Padmabhushan Dr. Bhalchandra Garware. The company makes Hi-Tech specialty performance polyester Films in India and has its State-of-the-Art manufacturing facilities at Aurangabad in Maharashtra, India. GHFL is the pioneer and one of the largest exporter of Polyester Films in India and the winner of top exporters’ awards for continuous 33 years from PLEXCOUNCIL.

Garware Hi-Tech Films Ltd.’s (GHFL) manufacturing facility in Aurangabad is vertically integrated, from manufacture of polyester chips to the finished product of polyester films with four independent manufacturing lines and a business that spans the globe.  Polyester Films are used for variety of end-applications such as PET Shrink films for Label application, Low Oligomer PET films for insulation of hermetically sealed compressors motors, Electric motor insulation and cable insulation, sequin application films, TV and LCD screen application, Packaging applications etc. GHFL is also the market Leader and India’s only manufacturer of Sun Control window films for Building, safety and auto applications. The company has facilities for manufacturing various coated products and co-extruded products for specialty application, apart from its capacity to design the recipe for raw material of PET films to suit the end application of the product.  The company has also developed surface-protection films and Paint Protection Films designed to deliver the highest level of protection and impact resistance which has applications in many sectors.

Artisan To Exhibit Of Exclusive Handwoven Textiles From Across India From September 21-22

* By Antaran (An Initiative of Tata Trusts)

Antaran, Transforming Crafts an initiative of Tata Trusts, cordially invites you to the ‘Artisan Exhibit of Handwoven Textiles’. Handcrafted with love for the upcoming festive season, the first exhibit in Bangalore will showcase an exclusive collection of Weft Ikat from Maniabandha – Odisha, Fine Tussar silks from Gopalpur, Zari Jamdani technique of Venkatgiri, Cotton and Eri of Kamrup – Assam and Loin Loom weaves of Dimapur and Phek – Nagaland.

The exhibit will have a wide range of handwoven exquisite, beautiful sarees, fashion accessories, fabrics and home textiles for all your festive and everyday need.

Antaran aims to rejuvenate the handloom sector by empowering artisans to support their journey into entrepreneurship.

Date: Tue. September 21 – Wed. September 22, 2021

Time: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Venue: RainTree, Opp, ITC Windsor, No. 4, Sankey Rd, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560052

Details: Free entry, open to everyone

Products will be available for sale and Artisans will be present to take you through the journey.

2021 Indian Premier League Season, Nestlé MILO, Royal Challengers Bangalore Are Joining Hands To Bat For The Planet

This Indian Premier League season, Nestlé MILO and Royal Challengers Bangalore are joining hands to bat for our planet, with the launch of paper straws for the MILO beverage packs.

Mr. Mehernosh Malia, Director - Dairy, Nestlé India, said, “This Indian Premier League season, Nestlé MILO and Royal Challengers Bangalore are joining hands to bat for our planet, with the launch of paper straws for the MILO beverage packs. These paper straws are responsibly sourced from renewable sources and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). MILO beverage packs with paper straws are now available nationally. We have also made this transition for the packs of our NESCAFÉ range of cold coffees. Annually, we will be eliminating 30 million plastic straws with this initiative . This is one more step towards driving a positive environment impact. We are now working on ways to replace the plastic sleeve with a paper sleeve for the straws on the pack. RCB, our partners, have always promoted environmentally responsible solutions and behavior. They are our natural partner of choice to launch this initiative.”

Rajesh V Menon, Vice President & Head of Royal Challengers Bangalore, said, “We are delighted to partner with Nestlé Milo in their efforts further sustainability including pioneering paper straws with MILO ready to drink packs. RCB has always been a conscious brand about the environment and sustainability and is proud to collaborate with brands who share the same ethos.”