Happiest Minds Run 2023: Uniting Community For A Noble Cause

Happiest Minds Technologies Limited (NSE: HAPPSTMNDS), a ‘Born Digital . Born Agile’, Mindful IT Company, unfolded the Happiest Minds Run 2023 at HSR BBMP Ground, Bengaluru on Sunday 17th Dec, 2023. The event, which saw preparations kick off at 4 AM, provided a platform for participants to engage in a collective effort to support children with Type-1 Diabetes through the Idhayangal Charitable Trust. In addition to Bengaluru, the Run was also simultaneous held at Noida, Pune and Bhubaneswar. In total, 1300 participants contributed towards the success of the Run.

At Bengaluru, the program commenced with an invigorating Zumba session by Sweta and Anusha from Happiest Health, setting an energetic tone for the day. Our Happiest Minds sponsor, Vinay Menon welcomed the audience enthusiastically, creating an electric atmosphere. Joseph Anantharaju, the executive vice chairman, shared insightful words, emphasizing fitness's pivotal role in his life and showcasing a harmony between corporate excellence and dedication to health.

Venkatraman Narayanan the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Happiest Minds, took the stage, illustrating his dedication to fitness through floor exercises and weight training. The dynamic run committee, led by Vinay, Kiran, Paul, Hemantha, Mathew, Smita, Anchal, and Prity, added a colorful touch to the event by releasing vibrant balloons, symbolizing the commencement of the run. Happiest Minds demonstrated a commitment to fostering a culture of wellness and celebrating a healthy lifestyle.

Venkat and Joseph officially flagged off the run, initiating the much-anticipated event. Over 1000 participants enthusiastically began their run at 6:30 AM, contributing to the event's resounding success.

The event's climax featured the acknowledgment of participants' achievements, with Pratham and Shriraksha securing the first prizes in the 3 Miles category and Chandrashekhar and Seema emerging as runners-up. In the 6 Miles category, Shivaji and Basava Lingama claimed the first prizes, while Ganapati and Puneeth secured the runner-up positions.

RBL Bank, Global Insurance, ICICI Bank, Classic Technologies, proudly stood as sponsors. Fitness partner – Gold Gym, Corp Gifting Partner - Offineeds. FM Partner - Fever 104 FM and Beverage partner- Milkymist also contributed to the event's success. Significantly, all proceeds from the Happiest Minds' Run were dedicated to the Idhayangal Trust, a beacon of support for underprivileged children with type-1 diabetes, exemplifying the impact of small acts of kindness over the past 5 years.

The organizers expressed gratitude to volunteers, Mello Events, sponsors, and the behind-the-scenes contributors who worked tirelessly to ensure the seamless execution of the run.

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,etc. Positioned as ‘Born Digital . Born Agile’, our capabilities span Product & Digital Engineering Services (PDES), Generative AI Business Services (GBS) and Infrastructure Management & Security Services (IMSS). We deliver these services across industry sectors such as automotive, BFSI, consumer packaged goods, e-commerce, EdTech, engineering R&D, healthcare, hi-tech, manufacturing, retail, and travel/transportation/hospitality. The company has been recognized for its excellence in Corporate Governance practices by Golden Peacock and ICSI. A Great Place to Work Certified™ company, Happiest Minds is headquartered in Bangalore, India, with operations in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and Middle East.

Bisk Farm Boards Rashmika Mandanna As New Brand Ambassador

Bisk Farm, one of India's leading Biscuit & Bakery brands today announced its partnership with leading actress Rashmika Mandanna as their Brand Ambassador. The versatile, award-winning actress will be face of the ‘RUSKIT Brand’, which offers a delicious range of crunchy baked toast in 4 variants for a perfect tea-time partner. Bisk Farm is known for its innovation, quality and flavor, and with Rashmika Mandanna by its side, the brand is all set to create a significant buzz in the market and soar to new heights on its quest to become a household name across India.

With her infectious energy and lively personality, Rashmika mirrors Bisk Farm's commitment to bringing joy and happiness to consumers through its delectable range of products. Bisk Farm is focusing on strengthening its position in the Rusk category, a significant contributor to the company's total revenue. Taking the first mover advantage of adding pedigree to the local Rusk, BISK FARM RUSKIT has successfully made deep inroads into the Indian Palates.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vijay Singh, Managing Director of Bisk Farm, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, "We are delighted to welcome Rashmika Mandanna to the Bisk Farm family as our Brand Ambassador. Her undeniable charm and widespread appeal perfectly embodies the spirit of Bisk Farm – a brand synonymous with fun, freshness, and deliciousness. Her strong connection with the millennial audience makes her the perfect choice to represent our brand and further strengthen our presence in key markets. We look forward to an exciting journey with Rashmika as a key partner in shaping the narrative and engaging with consumers on a deeper level across the nation for substantial revenue growth."

Expressing her excitement about the association with the brand, Rashmika Mandanna said "Bisk Farm is one of the fastest-growing FMCG brands in India, and their commitment to growth and innovation resonates deeply with me. I believe that this partnership will be a fruitful one, and I look forward to connecting with my fans through Bisk Farm's delicious and wholesome products."

SAJ Food Products, which is India’s fourth-largest biscuit and bakery brand, aims to achieve a revenue milestone of Rs 5000 crore by FY29, aligning with its vision to transform its flagship brand, BISK FARM, into a truly national brand. The strategic move to rope in actress Rashmika Mandana, “The National Crush of India” as the face of its RUSKIT brand is a significant step towards achieving this goal.

Coinciding with this announcement, Bisk Farm has also unveiled an exciting 360-degree campaign celebrating the perfect pairing of RUSKIT's satisfying crunch with Rashmika Mandanna's versatility and playful charm. The campaign introduces the celebrated actress as the protagonist named Meena Bhai—a feared don terrorizing a busy market. The campaign takes viewers on a hilarious journey as Meena Bhai reveals magic in every cup with #TheresNoTeaWithoutRUSKIT. The tagline perfectly captures the essence of the campaign, highlighting how Ruskit's irresistible flavors and satisfying crunch are the essential missing piece to a perfect cup of chai.

With an eye on a pan-India presence, SAJ Food is also gearing up for deeper market penetration, with a special focus on key markets in Karnataka and other southern states. To fuel its growth ambitions and expand its reach, SAJ Food commissioned its sixth facility in Bengaluru, Karnataka in March 2022. With a strong brand vision, strategic expansion plans, and popular celebrity endorsements, SAJ Food is poised for significant growth in the years to come.

Watch the TVC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ionV3gradmc

The RUSKIT brand features four enticing variants—Butter RUSKIT, Milk RUSKIT, Cake RUSKIT, and RUSKIT Gold.

ABOUT SAJ Food Products

SAJ Food Products Pvt Ltd, headquartered in Kolkata is one of India’s leading FMCG Companies. Founded in 2000, SAJ Food has attained the position of becoming India’s fourth-largest biscuit and bakery manufacturing company with a presence across 23 states in India. Currently, SAJ operates with six state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities spread across three states – Maharashtra (Nagpur), Karnataka (Bengaluru) and West Bengal (Siliguri, Uluberia, Dhulagarh) with an annual production capacity of 1.80 lac MT (Metric Ton). The company’s FY23 turnover was Rs. 2,100 crores.

Bisk Farm, the flagship brand of the company is one of India’s most loved biscuit & confectionery brands known for its delectable Biscuits, Cookies, Cakes, Wafers and Rusks.

Indiaah is the brand for its Namkeen and Sweets category. It has products like Bhujia, Moong Dal, Chana Dal, Chira, Masala Mixture and Rasgulla, Gulab Jamun, Soan Papdi etc.

Through the retail chain of Just Baked outlets, SAJ Food offers delectable Savouries, Confectionaries and Breads topped off with a range of hot and cold beverages.

Technology Predictions 2024 And Beyond: Rajeev Rajan, CTO, Atlassian

Collaboration has always been human-to-human, but now it’s humans plus AI. AI is already delivering huge personal productivity gains by summarizing meeting notes, tracking updates, and completing code. Once AI learns deeply about a company, its teams, and how it works, the possibilities are endless. This means employees can get up to speed in minutes or hours. Imagine the impact across enterprises and industries working on complex problems. Could AI help NASA identify the cause of anomalies that are hindering a mission, and would that mean the mission could be accomplished on a faster timetable? These are the kinds of possibilities we’re excited about, as time saved by AI provides human teams more freedom and flexibility to come up with great ideas faster. 

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Toyota Kirloskar Motor’s 28th iCARE initiative Significantly Enhances Government School Students Educational Experience

Coinciding with International Volunteer Day, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM), conducted an impactful iCARE initiative on 17th December 2023. The endeavour underscores TKM's unwavering dedication to sustainable community development, striving to create a conducive learning environment for the students from Government High School,Thoredoddi, Ramanagara. TKM employees and their families joined, in a collective effort to support to this cause. The primary objective of the activity was to create Science Models and Teaching-Learning Materials (TLM) for school students.

Deepening the educational impact, TKM’s passionate volunteers, their family members and about 90 school students engaged in building Science Models and developed TLMs  at Government High School, Thoredoddi, demonstrating a strong sense of social responsibility. Each volunteer who contributed by developing two Science Models and two TLMs. Science Models covered topics like Speed and Direction, Earth and its motion, Newton's colour disc, Windmill, and more. Complementing these were TLMs featuring insightful depictions of  Source of food, Water cycle, Rainwater harvesting, Human digestive system, among others. This comprehensive collection fostered a holistic and interactive learning experience for students, which is in line with Toyota's commitment to educational advancement and commitment to giving back to society, thereby, significantly augmenting the educational experience.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vikram Gulati, Country Head and Executive Vice President of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, “We at TKM, firmly believe in the transformative power of education as the key to unlocking limitless potential of our country’s children. By creating and distributing these Science Models and Teaching-Learning Materials, we go beyond imparting knowledge in cultivating a future where every student possesses the tools to enhance knowledge through experience and practical application. Our commitment to driving positive change remains unwavering, as we continuously engage in educational initiatives that make a lasting impact to our state and nation. Through the iCARE initiative, we not only strengthen the bonds within our Toyota family but actively contribute towards betterment of society, fostering a brighter future for all."

Since its inception in 2017, the iCARE (I Community Action To Reach Everyone) TKM’s volunteering platform initiative has witnessed a resounding response, with over 1,760 employees passionately engaging in more than 27 multifaceted endeavours. These encompass domains such as Education, Environment, Road Safety, Skill Development, Disaster Management, and providing support for special abled children. This collective endeavour has fostered transformative experiences, touching the lives of both employees and about 63,150 community members through iCARE. This initiative embodies TKM's vision of empowering and inspiring its employees to partake in endeavours, signifying their commitment to uplifting communities through impactful initiatives.

BITS Pilani WILP Wins Prestigious QS Reimagine Education Bronze Award In Lifelong Learning Category

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani’s Work Integrated Learning Programmes (WILP) division became the only Indian institution to be bestowed with an Award in “Lifelong Learning Category” at the prestigious Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Reimagine Education Awards 2023 hosted recently in Abu Dhabi. The WILP division, which received the Bronze Award, is an innovative model of higher education; its degree/certification programmes are designed and developed exclusively for the working professionals (in collaboration with their employers) to address specific learning outcomes.

QS is highly popular among the educators and learners around the world, especially for the impact they have had in collaborating with the latter to change the face of higher education over the years. These awards by QS have been serving as a reputed platform to recognise the pioneers of education across the world, fostering a vibrant community of innovators who are dedicated to redefining learning for future generations.

Future readiness — preparing learners for new and unforeseen challenges

For over a span of more than four decades, the WILP model of BITS Pilani has been helping the professionals across various industries or sectors in gaining a formal degree/diploma/certificate in a discipline that is related to their current role or profession, thereby enabling them with ability to remain relevant and address future challenges as well. The flexibility and seamless access related to students’ participation in lectures, structured self-study, and remote and virtual labs, have also helped the professionals in enhancing their learning experiences even further.

Reflecting on WILP’s impact on working professionals, Prof. S Gurunarayanan, Deputy Director, Off-Campus Programmes & Industry Engagement, BITS Pilani, “Till date, more than 114,000 working professionals have leveraged BITS Pilani’s work integrated learning programmes in key areas, such as computer science and information systems, management, core engineering, and electrical & electronics engineering. I wish to congratulate everyone associated (in one way or the other, both in the past and present for the last 43 years) with BITS Pilani WILP and urge them to take immense pride for the impact they have had in enriching the learning experiences of working professionals and thereby their employability as well.”

Delighted with this recognition for the institution, Prof. G. Sundar, Director, Off-Campus Programmes & Industry Engagement, BITS Pilani, said, “BITS Pilani is well known for its several innovations in higher education in science and engineering. The WILP division of BITS Pilani is one such significant innovation, and has been the choice of thousands of working professionals and several industry partners for quality higher education. WILP not only builds formal knowledge, but also helps develop requisite professional skills and competencies, which ensures that the graduates are set on a path of lifelong inquiry and learning. It is indeed immensely satisfying that this has been recognized by a reputed independent organization such as QS through this Bronze award in the lifelong learning category.”

About BITS Pilani:

BITS Pilani is an Institution of national repute, known for providing technical education of the highest standards and is well recognized for its innovations, and strong links with industry. It is consistently ranked as the best private engineering & technology institution by leading ranking agencies and publications. MHRD, Govt. of India, in August 2018 announced BITS Pilani as one of the first six Institutions of Eminence in the country. It is one of the few universities that has created an institutionalized framework for achieving a vibrant environment that successfully inculcates an ambience for experiential and cooperative learning and education. BITS Pilani views education as a continual engagement and experience, and ensures that the learning experience is integrated seamlessly not only across its classrooms and laboratories, but also in the industry, as exemplified by its Practice School, and Work Integrated Learning Programmes.

About BITS Pilani Work Integrated Learning Programmes (WILP):

India has a large and qualified professional workforce, which must and will continue to grow in size, complexity, and quality. Given the nature of modern professions, and the acquired reputation of Indian professionals in these roles, continual learning and higher educational qualifications are necessary tools for the nation to succeed within, and compete globally. Work Integrated Learning Programmes of BITS Pilani (WILP) are degree/diploma/certificate programmes, which are developed and conducted by BITS Pilani in association and jointly with organizations representing various industry sectors. 

Vedanta Appoints Sukanti Ghosh As President - Global Policy & Communications, Chairman’s Office

Vedanta Resources today announced the appointment of Sukanti Ghosh as the President of Global Policy & Communications, Chairman’s Office effective December 4th 2023. He will be driving the strategic communications and public policy initiatives for the Chairman office in support of the group’s vision to become a $100 Bn global conglomerate. Sukanti will be based out of the company’s London office.

He joins Vedanta with extensive experience in global policy, business consulting, advocacy and strategic communications across the United States, India, the broader South Asia region, and the Middle East over the past 33 years. Notable amongst his former roles was his position as Senior Vice President and South Asia Practice lead at the Albright Stonebridge Group based in the United States and Managing Director of the India operations of APCO Worldwide. Earlier in his career, Sukanti held senior corporate affairs roles with Barclays Bank in India and BankMuscat in the Middle East.

Sukanti holds two Master's degrees, the first from Jadavpur University in India and the second from the University of Lugano in Switzerland.

About Vedanta Resources

Vedanta Resources Limited (“Vedanta”), headquartered in London, is a diversified global natural resources company spanning across India, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa, Liberia, UAE, Korea, Taiwan and Japan. The Vedanta Group has significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, Nickel, Aluminium, Power, & Glass Substrate. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on various social impact programs. Vedanta Ltd. has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 2022, conferred Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance 2022 and certified as a Great Place to Work 2023.

Eight-Year-Old Annika Miriam Justin Weaves Whimsical Worlds in Debut Book, "Rainbow: A Bag of Seven Stories"

Prepare to enter a realm where dreams take flight and imaginations soar.  Eight-year-old Annika Miriam Justin, a student at TCIS – The Cambridge International School, unleashes her debut book, "Rainbow: A Bag of Seven Stories", a vibrant collection of short stories ready to captivate readers of all ages.

Annika, a budding wordsmith with a passion for storytelling, has crafted seven enchanting tales that brim with colorful characters, whimsical settings, and valuable life lessons. From fearless adventurers to cunning animals and kind-hearted friends, each story unlocks a unique world brimming with excitement and wonder.

 "I love to read and I've always been amazed by the power of stories," shares Annika. "Writing feels like magic, and I'm so excited to share my own stories with the world!"

Whether you're a child yearning for adventure or an adult seeking a nostalgic escape, "Rainbow: A Bag of Seven Stories" offers a delightful journey for every reader. Prepare to be swept away by:

A tale that dictates dynamic sibling relationship between a girl and her mischievous brother with a series of playful yet troublesome incidents.

The story of a lonely girl's enchanting friendship with a talking star which brings unexpected joy and positive changes to her life.

And much more!!!

Annika's vivid imagination and heartwarming narrative style shine through every page, making "Rainbow: A Bag of Seven Stories" a must-read for anyone who believes in the magic of storytelling.

About the Author:

Annika Miriam Justin is an eight-year-old bookworm and fourth-grader at TCIS – The Cambridge International School. Passionate about both reading and writing, Annika spends her days dreaming up fantastical adventures and weaving them into enchanting stories. "Rainbow: A Bag of Seven Stories" marks her exciting debut as a published author, and she can't wait to see where her writing journey takes her next.

 "Rainbow: A Bag of Seven Stories" is available now through amazon.in, Dive into Annika's magical world and let your imagination take flight!