16.2 M Indian Workers Need To Be Upskilled And Reskilled In AI And Automation

* 16.2 million workers need to be upskilled and reskilled in AI and automation to meet India’s skill deficit according to new ServiceNow research

* New research outlines how AI will transform employment landscape, augment digital skill sets and create millions of new tech jobs 

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) and Pearson today announced new research that AI and automation will require 16.2 million workers in India to reskill and upskill while also creating 4.7 million new tech jobs. The study conducted by Pearson and commissioned by ServiceNow, uses machine learning to predict how technology will transform the tasks that make up each job* and presents an unprecedented chance for Indian workers to reshape and future proof their careers.

Job postings in India that require ServiceNow platform technical skills grew 39% in the past year – the fastest growth seen anywhere in the world, according to labor market data from Lightcast - with Bangalore seeing the highest demand for talent of any city, globally. 

India’s digital skill ecosystem is also poised to grow in tandem, with ServiceNow’s research revealing that additional Application Developers (75,000), Data Analysts (70,000), Platform Owners (65,000), Product Owners (65,000), and Implementation Engineers (55,000) will be needed by 2027, to meet the tech deficit.

As India’s “techade” accelerates, businesses are working full steam ahead to capture the economic value and inclusive development that AI will bring. 

ServiceNow is connecting talent to technology through its global skilling initiative ‘RiseUp with ServiceNow’, enabling workers gain the skills they need to move into a role using the ServiceNow platform. There are thousands of local and global roles on offer across ServiceNow’s growing ecosystem. 

Kamolika Gupta Peres, Vice President & Managing Director, ServiceNow Indian Sub-Continent, said, “India’s decision-makers and industry stalwarts understand the potential of AI. We’re working with every industry across the country to showcase best practice use of AI to drive meaningful business change and ensure these changes bring about meaningful, quality and secure careers for people while also enhancing productivity.” 

The research by ServiceNow analyses the current status quo of India’s workforce, impact of AI and automation across industries and roadmap to how stakeholders can equip the workforce with the relevant digital skills to bridge the demand-supply gap. 

“The pace of progress has never been swifter, with businesses driving large-scale transformation across diverse industry sectors that will play a decisive role in India's rise towards a $1 trillion digital economy,” said Gupta Peres.

Liberating talent for in-demand roles

While AI and automation’s influence will reshape a substantial number of repetitive and technical jobs, many workers currently in non-technical roles possess abilities that can be applied to high-quality, more technical work profiles.

For example, the research found that India’s deep sea fishery workers possess 64% of the skills typically required of helpdesk support agents using the ServiceNow platform. Areas with high concentrations of fisheries, such as Kerala and West Bengal, can harness such opportunities and fulfill careers for their citizens.

ServiceNow’s study predicts that Manufacturing will witness the biggest disruption, with 23% of the workforce primed for automation and skill augmentation, followed by Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (22%), Wholesale and Retail Trade (11.6%), Transportation and Storage (8%), and Construction (7.8%).  

AI’s multiplier effect

The impact of AI and automation is expected to necessitate 4.6 million workers to augment their capacity between now and 2027. Even traditional technology roles such as Computer Programmers—which ServiceNow research shows will be impacted by the rise of generative AI capabilities like text to code—can reskill and evolve to become Flow Automation Engineers, Product Owners, Implementation Engineers, Master Architects in the ServiceNow ecosystem. India’s tech hubs, which have the largest concentration of computer programmers, Karnataka (331,200), Tamil Nadu (323,700), Telangana (171,300), can gain a significant competitive advantage. 

The shifts illustrate the positive effects AI and automation can have on India's growth, particularly in terms of multiplying productivity and creating high-value jobs. 

"The macro environment dictates that business’ focus on delivering clear value in the digital economy – and this can be achieved at scale with right technology to help you to grow fast, while taking cost out. Building strong digital foundations will also help your people build skills today that will be needed in the future," said Gupta Peres.

The digital transformation of India hinges on a future-ready workforce community. As part of the 'Skill India Digital' campaign', the Government has announced its vision to create a better future for the youth. And according to a recent nasscom study, AI and automation has the potential to add up to $500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025.

Today there are more clear, direct paths for the workforce to build rewarding digital careers. ServiceNow offers more than 600 free training courses and 18-job related certification paths available to anyone in India who is interested in a digital career. There is national demand for ServiceNow platform skills and opportunities for individuals to gain on the job training with leading enterprises and partner organisations across the nation.

ServiceNow is investing in India’s skills growth with a series of State and National programs to deliver equitable paths to digital careers. The company has announced more than 13 academic partnerships with India-based organisations in the past year to help fill roles across ServiceNow’s growing India customer and partner ecosystem.  

In August, ServiceNow also announced its partnership with FutureSkills Prime – a MeitY nasscom digital skilling initiative to build a future-ready workforce and address critical business needs.

About ServiceNow 

ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is making the world of work, work better for people. Our cloud-based platform and solutions deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity for employees and the enterprise. For more information, visit: www.servicenow.com.

Research Methodology: 

To understand AI’s effect on jobs and tasks, ServiceNow’s research partner, Pearson, modelled the impact of 16 technologies on more than 6,000 roles in India and five other markets around the world.

Using its proprietary data model (“occupations ontology”), each role was divided into a subset of 26,000 tasks; machine learning models then predict the effect on each task from 16 technologies that drive automation and augmentation. The models are validated by various global academic institutions and are rated as 80-99% accurate.

To keep its technology impact projections current, Pearson identifies current and emerging trends by analysing 10 million job ads per month. Its natural language processing models identify which of 8,000 skills are present in an advert, alongside occupation, to generate insights into how the jobs and skills landscape is evolving.

Arvind SmartSpaces Ltd. Announces Q2 & H1 FY24 Financial Results

Highlights

Highest Ever Quarterly Sales Value of Rs. 369 Cr; YoY growth of 95%  

Highest Ever Quarterly Collections of Rs. 263 Cr; YoY growth of 133%  

Highest Ever Half Yearly Sales Value of Rs. 504 Cr; YoY growth of 64%  

Highest Ever Half Yearly Collections of Rs. 467 Cr; YoY growth of 90%  

Net Debt remains negative, at Rs. (141) Cr as on Sep 30, 2023

Signed a new high-rise project at Banerghatta, Bengaluru with a topline potential of Rs. 400 Cr

Q2 FY24 Revenue increased 44% YoY to Rs. 73 Cr

Q2 FY24 PAT increased 79% YoY to Rs. 9 Cr

Arvind SmartSpaces Limited (ASL), one of India’s leading real estate development companies announced its financial results for the quarter and half year ended Sep 30, 2023.  

Performance summary of H1 FY24: 

Bookings grew by 64% YoY; Rs. 504 Cr vs. Rs. 307 Cr last year 

Collections improved by 90%; Rs. 467 Cr vs Rs. 245 Cr last year 

Revenue from Operations grew by 26% YoY; Rs. 140 Cr vs. Rs. 111 Cr last year  

Adj. EBITDA grew by 73% YoY; Rs. 36 Cr vs. Rs. 21 Cr last year  

PAT grew by 38% YoY; Rs. 17 Cr as against Rs. 12 Cr last year   

Performance summary of Q2 FY24: 

Bookings grew by 95% YoY; Rs. 369 Cr vs. Rs. 189 Cr last year 

Collections increased by 133% YoY at Rs. 263 Cr vs Rs. 113 Cr last year 

Revenue from Operations grew by 44% YoY; Rs. 73 Cr vs. Rs. 50 Cr last year  

Adj. EBITDA grew by 177% YoY; Rs. 20 Cr vs. Rs. 7 Cr last year  

PAT grew by 79% YoY; Rs. 9 Cr as against Rs. 5 Cr last year   

Net Debt (Interest bearing funds) decreased to Rs. (141) Cr as on Sep 30, 2023 from Net debt of Rs. (87) Cr as on Jun 30, 2023 primarily due to strong internal accruals. Net Debt (Interest-bearing funds) to Equity ratio stood at (0.30) as on Sep 30, 2023 as against (0.18) as on Jun 30, 2023 

Acquired new high-rise project in Bengaluru with a top-line potential of ~Rs. 400 Cr. The project is spread across 4.3 acre and has a saleable area of 4.6 lakh sq. ft. The project is acquired on an outright basis under HDFC Platform 2.  

Concluded first platform with HDFC Capital Advisors through HCARE- 1 fund. The platform delivered strong returns in the two and half years of its operations.  

Commenting on the Q2 FY24 performance, Mr. Kamal Singal, Managing Director and CEO, Arvind SmartSpaces commented, “We are delighted to share that the Company has recorded the highest ever quarterly bookings and collections. For the first time, we have crossed the Rs. 300 Cr milestone quarterly bookings. Our half yearly performance, has also been best ever both in terms of bookings and collections. Our operations cycle remains strong with operating cash flows of Rs. 160 Cr during the quarter and Rs. 271 Cr during the half year.  

We had a new launch Uplands 2.0 in Adroda, South Ahmedabad during the quarter, which received an outstanding response. The entire phase 1 inventory of more than Rs. 300 Cr was sold out within three days. It is heartening to see all our new launches over the last several quarters in several different micro markets have resonated strongly with homebuyers across cities.  

During the quarter, we added a high-rise project with a topline potential of Rs. 400 Cr Banerghatta, Bengaluru.  This will mark our geographical expansion into the key market of South Bengaluru. With this acquisition, the cumulative new business development topline potential stands at more than ~Rs. 2,800 Cr for the current year to date. 

The structural demand theme for residential real estate as well as overall macroeconomic indicators remain healthy. We are well on track to conclude our ongoing business plan of Rs. 1000 Cr new investment.  We remain focused on augmenting and diversifying our business development pipeline addressing both horizontal and vertical developments.  We are progressing well to end the year on a strong note with a slew of launches in the pipeline.”

Atlassian Acquires AirTrack And Unveils New Innovations For Its Jira Service Management

Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAM), the maker of Jira, Confluence and Bitbucket, has acquired AirTrack, a maker of leading IT data quality management technology. This acquisition builds on Atlassian’s previous investments designed to help enterprises take a comprehensive approach to asset and configuration management. The combined offering - AirTrack + Jira Service Management - will let them better account for and track all critical assets within their organizations, minimizing operational risks, costs, and attack surfaces. 

This combination will help enterprises manage all critical assets with: 

30+ out-of-the-box data connectors: IT Operations teams will now be able to aggregate and cleanse data from multiple asset discovery tools, databases, and component parts, across their entire organizations' IT landscape. 

Rapid data reconciliation: The combined solution will quickly surface inaccuracies across different systems of record, pinpoint potential issues, and fast-track remediation. 

An accurate picture of all service dependencies - across dev and IT - driving smarter, safer changes and incident response: The combination of AirTrack, Jira Service Management, and Compass will provide teams with greater visibility into both the infrastructure that supports critical services, and the engineering components. 

Data that goes beyond IT: This acquisition builds on Atlassian’s ability to help enterprises rethink asset management beyond traditional IT use cases. It lets enterprises aggregate information related to a broad array of assets, so they can address a wider range of challenges around security and compliance, inventory and billing, forecasting and planning, and much more. 

Atlassian has also unveiled new innovations to Jira Service Management, its market-leading service management solution. These include: 

The virtual agent capability in Jira Service Management is now generally available, and more AI-powered features will be coming to Jira Service Management soon. 

A vision for a unified help experience - leveraging AI to make it easy for anyone to give and get help, regardless of the underlying help system. 

The acquisition of Melbourne-based AirTrack to bolster Jira Service Management’s asset management capabilities. 

AI-powered virtual agent levels up employee and customer experiences 

Virtual agent capabilities are now generally available with the Premium and Enterprise Editions of Jira Service Management. By integrating AI-powered virtual agent technology with Jira Service Management, support teams will be able to deliver exceptional service even faster and more importantly, at scale. The built-in AI engine analyzes and understands intent, sentiment, context, and profile information to personalize interactions. The technology learns from every interaction by leveraging a Natural Language Processing (NLP) engine. During setup, support teams can easily configure the virtual agent experiences to match the way they deliver service, without writing a single line of code. 

The virtual agent also uses generative AI to dynamically generate answers from sources within your enterprise, like knowledge base articles, onboarding guides, and Frequently Asked Questions. And if necessary, it can seamlessly transition the conversation to human experts to complete the request – without losing context. This reduces friction and helps resolve cases faster.  

In addition to the virtual agent capabilities, innovations powered by Atlassian Intelligence will reduce cognitive load and manual tasks for support agents.  

Unified Help Experience - a vision for better employee support 

Atlassian’s vision is to provide a unified help experience. It centers around building an experience that coordinates the routing of all employee requests to the right tools and teams to solve problems fast. This “intelligent front door” will have the smarts to gather requests from an employee’s preferred channel, including web portals, email, chat, and even embedded experiences within other products and tools. 

It will use Atlassian Intelligence to evaluate the context and intent of the request to provide concise answers, and even suggest the right team or tool for resolution, which might even be a third-party solution. 

For more information on the acquisition, read this blog. 

For more about AI-powered innovations coming to Jira Service Management, read this blog. 

Join us for Atlassian Presents: High Velocity! 

High Velocity, our premier service management event of the year, will be available digitally on November 8, 2023. In addition to unveiling these announcements, those who register will hear from industry disruptors like Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, NRMA, and Breville about how they are transforming service management in their organizations. Register here to get access to the digital experience. 

About Atlassian 

Atlassian unleashes the potential of every team. Our agile & DevOps, IT service management and work management software helps teams organize, discuss, and complete shared work. The majority of the Fortune 500 and over 260,000 companies of all sizes worldwide - including NASA, Kiva, Deutsche Bank, and Salesforce - rely on our solutions to help their teams work better together and deliver quality results on time. Learn more about our products, including Jira Software, Confluence, Jira Service Management, Trello, Bitbucket, and Jira Align at https://atlassian.com.  

Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation Holds 24th AGM In Delhi

The 24th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF) was held in Delhi on 31 Oct 2023. 

Following Directors were re-elected to the Board during the AGM:

1)     Mr. K. Madhavan

2)     Mr. Punit Misra

3)     Mr. I. Venkat

4)     Mr. Rajat Sharma

The other Directors on the Board of Directors of IBDF are:

1)    Mr. Rahul Joshi

2)    Mr. Aroon Purie

3)    Mr. N. P. Singh

4)    Mr. Nitin Nadkarni

5)    Mr. Punit Goenka

6)    Mr. R. Mahesh Kumar

7)    Mr. Gaurav Banerjee

The Office Bearers of the Foundation are:

1)    Mr. K. Madhavan, President-IBDF

2)    Mr. Rajat Sharma, Vice President, IBDF (News & Current Affairs)

3)    Mr. Rahul Joshi, Vice President, IBDF (Govt. & Regulatory Affairs)

4)    Mr. Punit Misra, Treasurer, IBDF

In the IBDF Board of Directors meeting that followed the AGM, Mr. John Brittas and Mr. Kevin Vaz were Co-opted to the Board.

IBDF also hosted a lunch in honor of Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Hon’ble Minister for Information & Broadcasting.  Shri Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Shri Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary (P&A), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting also joined the IBDF members on the said occasion.

Addressing the members during the AGM, IBDF President, K. Madhavan said, “despite the ongoing geo-political issues like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle-East due to the Israel-Hamas war and accompanying economic volatility, the Indian economy in general and the Media & Entertainment industry, in particular, have shown extreme resilience”. 

He added that “India has firmly embarked on a digital transformation journey with 868 mn broadband users in India, and within a year of launch, 5G services have been rolled out across 97% of Indian cities resulting in internet speeds going up by 3 times. Connected TV continues to grow  with 90% of TV sets sold in India being smart TVs. 2023 will be a defining year for the Indian M&E industry with digital ad revenue expected to surpass ad revenue on traditional media”.

Mr. Madhavan also spoke about the Linear TV penetration in the country and said “with 900 channels,  Linear television continues to enjoy an unparalleled reach of 900 million viewers and is the largest media platform in India. Unlike in other developed markets, there is significant growth potential for the Linear TV as one-third of households in India do not have access to television. It will require the collective might of the IBDF members to connect the left out 100mn households to our fold.”

About IBDF:

Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF) is the largest body of Television Broadcasters in India. Set up in 1999, IBDF represents and is dedicated to the promotion of television broadcasting in, to and from India. IBDF members provide channels and programmes that deliver about 90% of television viewership in India. Member offerings cater to most of India’s diversity and plurality in every language and in every genre of television viewing. IBDF has, over the years, achieved the unique position of the accredited spokes-body of the television broadcasting industry. IBDF endeavours to work closely with and align industry, policy makers, regulators and partners so that the television sector in the media and entertainment industry grows to its fullest potential in an equitable manner.

Godrej Interio Launches Posture Perfect - A Breakthrough Chair Design

* Posture Perfect is world’s most advanced chair that supports sitting postures in all positions of recline

* Its ‘TrackBack’ technology has been globally patented across over 13 countries

Godrej & Boyce, the flagship company of the Godrej Group, announced that its business Godrej Interio, India’s leading furniture and interior solutions brand, is expanding their portfolio of office wellness products with the launch of seating solution called ‘Posture Perfect’. Godrej Interio announced a breakthrough in chair design, based on the unique “Trackback” technology that has been patented across 13 countries. Posture Perfect is world’s first chair to give complete back support in all positions of recline. This revolutionary product for workplaces highlights Godrej Interio’s design philosophy which is based on a human-centric approach and adaptive space solutions. The Wellness Seating solutions category is expected to grow by 50% in FY23-24 and the Posture Perfect Chair is expected to contribute 10% of the category sales. The chair has been designed by Jimmy Unwalla, a well-respected designer in the community. The product was unveiled in the presence of Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman & Managing Director of Godrej & Boyce, Anil Verma, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Godrej & Boyce along with Swapneel Nagarkar, Senior Vice President and Business Head, Godrej Interio and Sameer Joshi, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing (B2B), Godrej Interio.

Godrej Interio has been researching ergonomic risk factors faced by today’s knowledge workers. In a recent study commissioned by the brand, it was unveiled that over 50% of Indians suffer from work related musculoskeletal disorder. The study further revealed that sitting is a predominantly major risk factor in office jobs where 67% of users sit for more than 10–11 hours of a workday making them prone to back injuries Godrej Interio has a well experienced team of doctors to offer Wellness awareness consultancy services to Corporates. Godrej Interio has launched several wellness solutions such as Height Adjustable Desks and Active Seating Solutions. Posture Perfect Chair is the latest launch in this series. 

Speaking about the importance of a healthy workforce, Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman & Managing Director of Godrej & Boyce said, “For the last 126 years we have been driven by the purpose of pioneering progress for generations. An ergonomic design for seating is essential for office productivity. Wellness at work is an important design criteria that ensures a healthy and fit workforce. Godrej have pioneered many innovative solutions for seating keeping in mind the need for ergonomic design and comfort at work. The Posture Perfect chair is a solution that always ensures that ergonomic features of the design are available for every position of recline while sitting. We have pioneered the concept of good & green design for all our products and this is a unique and special example of this concept."

The Posture Perfect chair is designed to support user’s back in all positions of recline. It is built to be sturdy and long-lasting, meeting rigorous testing standards set by BIFMA. The Chair is designed keeping Sustainability in mind and has received global certifications such as GREENGUARD. The Posture Perfect chair boasts of a sleek design and offers users the flexibility to customize it to their preferences, office decor, and personal style, with a selection of more than 24 available finishes & variants. The upholstery comes in three splendid variations, each of which can be further personalised with a choice of four colors. These variants and colors cover a broad spectrum from classic to contemporary, making Posture Perfect a seamless and impactful addition to the office space, interior, and architecture.

Swapneel Nagarkar, Senior Vice President and Business Head, Godrej Interio said “Over the last 3 years, Godrej Interio has launched numerous products in the office space with a focus on wellbeing and sustainability. Over 18% of our annual revenues result from new products and solutions in this space. Our office seating solutions from our stable have a market share of 14%. We plan to increase this share to 18% by FY25 by continuing to be a customer first brand. The Posture Perfect chair range will revolutionize the seating industry not only in India but globally. Thereby providing unmatched comfort and an ideal back support in all positions of recline to the health-conscious knowledge workers who spend long hours sitting at their desk. It is one of the most advanced chairs in the world and we have patents in 13 countries including US and EU and are planning to launch this chair in global markets.”

The posture perfect product range will be available pan-India, through Godrej Interio website and stores at MRP starting from Rs. 50,000 INR to 90,000 INR.

About Godrej Interio

Godrej Interio is India’s leading premium furniture brand in both home and institutional segments with a strong commitment to sustainability and centers of excellence in design, manufacturing, and retail. 

Led by the largest in-house design team in the country in the furniture category and awarded with 34 India Design Mark Awards till date, GODREJ INTERIO aims to transform spaces with its thoughtfully designed furniture to create brighter homes and offices with products that have the highest design quotient in aesthetics, functionality, and technology. With consistent pursuit of excellence and a special focus on health and ergonomics, GODREJ INTERIO’s product portfolio comprises of a wide range of solutions.

Today, Godrej designs and manufactures furniture for office spaces, homes, educational institutes, healthcare facilities, laboratories and more. Along with furniture, the company offers Audio Visual and 360 Degree Turnkey solutions. Each of our product ranges revolves around comfort and aesthetics.

while delivering well-designed, long lasting, and functional furniture solutions. In short, Godrej Interio helps the consumers to make every space the perfect setting for their myriad moods and moments.

Currently present in over 450 cities with 450 exclusive showrooms and 520 dealer outlets, is one of the largest divisions of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., part of the Godrej Group, one of India's largest engineering and customer product groups.

Godrej Interio has 7 manufacturing facilities situated at Mumbai, Khalapur, Haridwar, Shirwal, and Bhagwanpur. GODREJ INTERIO is widely known for its comprehensive sustainability certifications for its products in the furniture category..

Star Health India Registers 35% A Jump During PAT in Q2FY24

* Registers a net profit of Rs. 125 crore for Q2FY24

* Maintains robust solvency ratio at 2.lx

* Operating expense to GWP ratio was at a healthy 16.0% in Q2FY24

Star Health and Allied Insurance one of India's leading Health Insurance Company records double-digit growth in both gross written premium and PAT in the second quarter of FY2024 as compared to a year ago. Gross Written Premium grew by 17% to Rs. 3,732 crore versus Rs. 3,193 crore in Q2 of the previous fiscal. The company posted a 35% growth in PAT to Rs. 125 crore in Q2FY24, compared to a profit of Rs. 93 crore in the same period a year ago.

The company's retail health premium witnessed impressive growth, reaching Rs. 3,430 crore in the second quarter of the financial year. This substantial 17% increase compared to the same period last year reflects the company's commitment to meeting the insurance needs of its customers, spanning across the country with heightened focus in tier 3 and tier 4 regions.

In the first half of FY24, Star Health saw 38% growth in fresh digital business, over the same period last year. Also the company registered a 57% fresh banca growth in H1FY24. To increase ease of access, the company redesigned its website to include multilingual support and drove growth through a robust customer awareness digital campaign. Star Health also revamped its payment process to enhance the customer experience and to provide easier access to quality health insurance. During the quarter, a dynamic UPI QR code based payment option was launched that saw rapid adoption by customers.

Commenting on the results, Mr. Anand Roy, MD and CEO of Star Health and Allied Insurance, said, "We've witnessed strong growth in the second quarter of FY23-24 in line with our strategy, resulting in a 17% increase in our Gross Written Premium (GWP). We saw increased demand in retail insurance during the quarter and expect this trend to continue in the coming months. Star Health is dedicated to improving customer experience and we've recently introduced a convenient UPI QR code-based payment system to streamline the process of purchasing and renewing health insurance. In addition, we closely examined our partnerships with network hospitals during the quarter, working collaboratively to ensure that our policyholders receive high-quality medical care at reasonable prices. We also initiated new bancassurance partnerships to expand access to top-notch health insurance for individuals nationwide."

The Operating expense to GWP ratio was at 16.0% in Q2FY24 versus 15.8% in Q2FY23. The solvency ratio continues to remain robust at 2.lx in the second quarter, higher than the minimum regulatory requirement of 1.5x.

Star Health has a diversified distribution network comprising of strong digital channels, leading bancassurance partners, agency channel, corporate agents, brokers, point of sale persons (POS), insurance marketing firms, web aggregators, and direct business.

As of 30 September 2023, Star Health has 14,230 network hospitals and a wide presence of 869 branches offices spread across 25 states and 5 union territories in India.

ASICS India Honors Hockey Icon Manpreet Singh For His Stellar Achievements

ASICS India, the renowned sportswear giant, celebrated the stellar accomplishments of Manpreet Singh, Indian Hockey player, at a special felicitation ceremony held on October 31, 2023. The grand honoring event took place at the ASICS Exclusive Store in Jalandhar, situated in the heart of Punjab, India

The event commemorated not only Singh's impressive performance in a historic gold medal victory at the Asian Games 2023 but also marked the beginning of an exciting collaboration between the celebrated athlete and ASICS India. The Indian hockey team clinched a spectacular gold medal win at the Asian Games 2023, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in a thrilling finale. Singh's exceptional play throughout the tournament earned him the prestigious title of 'Player of the Tournament,' further cementing his position as a true icon of Indian hockey.

The felicitation event served as a heartfelt homage to Singh's exceptional talent, unparalleled commitment, and inspiring leadership. It also highlighted ASICS India's dedication to championing and honoring the nation's sporting heroes.

Reminiscing about this milestone, Manpreet Singh shared, "This victory is a testament to the collective efforts and resilience of our team. I am immensely grateful and privileged to be associated with ASICS India, a brand that shares my commitment to greatness and truly embodies the spirit of sporting excellence. Their unstinting encouragement and faith in my abilities have been pivotal in my progress as a hockey player. Together, we share a mutual aspiration to inspire future generations of athletes and take Indian hockey to even greater heights."

"Manpreet Singh is an embodiment of athletic prowess, embodying the true spirit of dedication, determination, and sportsmanship. His exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to the sport have been crucial to the Indian hockey team's stellar accomplishments. ASICS India is honored to be partnered with such an inspiring athlete and we are committed to supporting his journey as he further cements his legacy in the annals of Indian sports history," said Mr. Rajat Khurana, Managing Director, ASICS India and South Asia.

ASICS India expresses its heartfelt appreciation to the media for their support in covering this significant occasion and highlighting the recognition of a genuine athletic icon.

About ASICS:

Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, meaning ‘A Sound Mind in a Sound Body’ is an old Latin phrase from which ASICS is derived and the fundamental platform on which the brand still stands. The company was founded in 1949, more than 70 years ago by Kihachiro Onitsuka and is now a leading designer and manufacturer of running shoes, as well as athletic and SportStyle-inspired footwear, apparel, and accessories.

ASICS currently has 91 stores across India. More details can be found at https://www.asics.com/in/en-in/store-locator. For more information, visit www.asics.com/in/en-in