William Penn Awards Creative Mandate For Luxury Brand Lapis Bard To Sunny Side Up

Integrated Communications Agency Will Handle Brand Strategy and Creative Execution for the Brand

Sunny Side Up, an integrated communications agency, has been awarded the creative mandate for Lapis Bard, the luxury writing instrument and accessories brand from William Penn. The agency will be responsible for developing the brand’s overall strategy, creative execution, and integrated communications across all platforms.

The appointment follows the brand's push to solidify its premium positioning and expand its market presence.

Nikhil Ranjan, Managing Director, William Penn, commented on the selection: “Lapis Bard represents the pinnacle of craftsmanship and design within our portfolio. As we look to elevate its stature, we sought an agency partner that understands the nuances of luxury and possesses the creative firepower to articulate the brand’s story effectively. Sunny Side Up demonstrated a clear strategic vision and a creative approach that aligns with Lapis Bard’s ambition.”

The mandate includes managing the brand’s creative output, digital content strategy, and campaigns for product launches.

Shyam Nair, Creative Director, Sunny Side Up, expressed enthusiasm for the new partnership: “Lapis Bard has a beautiful, intrinsic truth rooted in craftsmanship and legacy. Our job is to translate that inherent elegance into an unmistakable and contemporary visual language. The challenge, and the opportunity, is creating communication that doesn't just sell a pen or a bag, but asserts Lapis Bard's definitive role in the modern luxury narrative.”

About Lapis Bard

Lapis Bard is a luxury British brand specializing in handcrafted writing instruments and leather accessories, founded in 2012 and acquired by William Penn in 2016. The brand's philosophy is to create timeless, functional designs inspired by art and architecture, using high-quality materials. They produce unmatched pieces of artfully crafted leather bags, sleek wallets, off the cuff cufflinks, watch chests, pen cases and belts to cinch your outfits. A collection of intoxicating inks and smooth writing instruments add to their timeless pieces.

About Sunny Side Up

Sunny Side Up is a communications agency specializing in brand strategy, advertising, and integrated creative solutions.

For more information, please reach out to tashina@sunnysideup.in

Aequs Limited’s IPO Opens From December 03-05, 2025; Price Band Fixed At ₹ 118 To ₹ 124 Per Equity Share

· The Floor Price is 11.80 times and the Cap Price is 12.40 times of the face value (₹ 10 per share) of the Equity Shares.

· Bid / Offer will open on Wednesday, December 03, 2025 and close on Friday, December 05, 2025 (“Bid Dates”).

· The Anchor Investor Bid / Offer Period shall be Tuesday, December 02, 2025.

· Bids can be made for a minimum of 120 Equity Shares and in multiples of 120 Equity Shares thereafter. (“No. of Bids”)

· RHP Link: https://live.jmfl.com/od/UploadedFiles/D0456858-180C-4361-83F0-946D0B04EDA6.pdf

Aequs Limited (The “Company”), shall open the Bid/Offer in relation to its initial public offer of Equity Shares on Wednesday, December 03, 2025.

The Price Band of the Offer has been fixed at ₹ 118 to ₹ 124 per Equity Share. (“Price Band”).

Bids can be made for a minimum of 120 Equity Shares and in multiples of 120 Equity Shares thereafter. (“Minimum Bid Lot”)

The initial public offer of Equity Shares of face value ₹ 10 per share (“Total Offer Size”) comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to ₹ 6,700 million (₹ 670 crores) and an offer for sale of up to 2,03,07,393 equity shares of face value of ₹ 10 each.

The Anchor Investor Bid/ Offer Period shall be Tuesday, December 02, 2025. The Bid/Offer shall open on Wednesday, December 03, 2025 and close on Friday, December 05, 2025.

The Equity Shares offered through this Red Herring Prospectus are proposed to be listed on the Stock Exchanges being BSE Limited (“BSE”) and National Stock Exchange of India Limited (“NSE” and together with BSE, the “Stock Exchanges”). For the purposes of the Offer, NSE is the Designated Stock Exchange.

JM Financial Limited, IIFL Capital Services Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited are the book running lead managers to the Offer ("BRLMs").

All capitalised terms used herein but not defined shall have the same meaning as ascribed to them in the Red Herring Prospectus.

The Offer is being made in terms of Rule 19(2)(b) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules (“SCRR”) read with Regulation 31 of the SEBI ICDR Regulations. The Offer is being made through the Book Building Process, in compliance with Regulation 6(2) of the SEBI ICDR Regulations, wherein at least 75% of the Net Offer shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Qualified Institutional Buyers (“QIBs”) (the “QIB Portion”), provided that our Company in consultation with the Book Running Lead Managers, may allocate up to 60% of the QIB Portion to Anchor Investors, on a discretionary basis in accordance with the SEBI ICDR Regulations (the “Anchor Investor Portion”), of which one-third shall be reserved for domestic Mutual Funds, subject to valid Bids being received from domestic Mutual Funds at or above the price at which Equity Shares are allocated to Anchor Investors. In the event of under-subscription or non-allocation in the Anchor Investor Portion, the balance Equity Shares shall be added to the QIB Portion (excluding the Anchor Investor Portion) (“Net QIB Portion”).

Further, 5% of the Net QIB Portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to Mutual Funds only and the remainder of the Net QIB Portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to all QIBs (other than Anchor Investors), including Mutual Funds, subject to valid Bids being received at or above the Offer Price. If at least 75% of the Net Offer cannot be Allotted to QIBs, then the entire application money will be refunded forthwith. Further, not more than 15% of the Net Offer shall be available for allocation to non-institutional investors (“Non-Institutional Investors” or “NIIs”) (the “Non-Institutional Portion”) of which one-third of the Non-Institutional Portion shall be available for allocation to Bidders with an application size of more than ₹ 0.20 million and up to ₹ 1.00 million and two-thirds of the Non-Institutional Portion shall be available for allocation to Bidders with an application size of more than ₹ 1.00 million and under-subscription in either of these two sub-categories of Non-Institutional Portion may be allocated to Bidders in the other sub-category of Non-Institutional Portion in accordance with the SEBI ICDR Regulations, subject to valid Bids being received at or above the Offer Price.

The allocation to each Non-Institutional Investor shall not be less than the minimum application size, subject to availability of Equity Shares in the Non-Institutional Portion and the remaining available Equity Shares, if any, shall be allocated on a proportionate basis in accordance with the conditions specified in this regard in Schedule XIII of the SEBI ICDR Regulations. Further, not more than 10% of the Net Offer shall be available for allocation to retail individual investors (“Retail Individual Investors” or “RIIs”) (the “Retail Portion”) in accordance with the SEBI ICDR Regulations, subject to valid Bids being received at or above the Offer Price. Further, Equity Shares will be allocated on a proportionate basis to Eligible Employees applying under the Employee Reservation Portion, subject to valid Bids being received from them at or above the Offer Price (net of Employee Discount, if any, as applicable).

All Bidders (other than Anchor Investors) shall mandatorily participate in this Offer through the Application Supported by Block Amount (“ASBA”) process and shall provide details of their respective bank account (including UPI ID for UPI Bidders (defined hereinafter)) in which the Bid Amount will be blocked by the SCSBs or the Sponsor Bank(s), as the case may be. Anchor Investors are not permitted to participate in the Offer through the ASBA process.

About the company:

Aequs Limited is the only precision component manufacturer operating within a single special economic zone in India to offer fully vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities in the Aerospace Segment, which sets the Company apart from other contract manufacturers with selective manufacturing capabilities amongst its peers (Source: F&S Report). Aequs Limited had one of the largest portfolios of aerospace products in India, as of March 31, 2025 (Source: F&S Report).

While the Company primarily operates in the Aerospace Segment, over the years, it has expanded its product portfolio to include consumer electronics, plastics, and consumer durables for its consumer clients. The Company’s diverse consumer product portfolio includes consumer durables such as cookware and small home appliances, plastics such as outdoor toys, figurines, toy vehicles and components for consumer electronics such as portable computers and smart devices.

Aequs Limited’s key clients include Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Collins Aerospace, Spirit Aerosystems Inc, Safran, GKN Aerospace, Mubea Aerostructures, Honeywell, Eaton and Sabca in the Aerospace Segment, and Hasbro, Spinmaster, Wonderchef, and Tramontina in the Consumer Segment.

Apollo Hospitals Strengthens Karnataka’s Transplant Ecosystem With Dedicated Heart & Lung Unit

Apollo Hospitals today announced the launch of its dedicated Heart & Lung Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) Unit at Seshadripuram, in the presence of Dr Ravishankar J IAS, Managing Director, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. This marks a significant expansion of Apollo’s quaternary cardiac and respiratory care services in Karnataka.

While the group has long been a leader in transplant medicine, this is Apollo’s first fully integrated heart and lung transplant programme in the state—positioning the centre as a major hub for Karnataka and neighbouring regions, which remain among India’s most active contributors to the organ donation pool. The launch follows the widely acknowledged success of the recent heart transplant where Namma Metro played a critical role in rapid organ transport, significantly reducing transit time and supporting a favourable patient recovery.

Speaking at the event, Dr J Ravishankar IAS, Managing Director, BMRCL, said: “We are proud that Namma Metro played a vital role in the timely transport of a donor heart in this landmark initiative, demonstrating how public infrastructure can directly support life-saving healthcare. In a rapidly growing city like Bengaluru, urban mobility is becoming essential to time-sensitive emergency care. Apollo’s new programme strengthens the city’s capacity to save lives, and BMRCL is committed to supporting such advancements where every second counts.”

The new programme at Seshadripuram features specialised operating theatres, transplant-ready ICUs, advanced monitoring systems, and dedicated rehabilitation services. Patients will receive end-to-end, protocol-driven care from evaluation to long-term follow-up. The centre will offer the full spectrum of advanced therapies including:

* Heart, lung, and combined heart–lung transplantation
* Select multi-organ transplants such as heart–liver and heart–kidney
* Temporary and durable MCS and ECMO
* A specialist retrieval team capable of managing critically ill patients across the region

Dr Kumud Kumar Dhital, Programme and Surgical Director – Heart & Lung Transplantation and MCS, Apollo Hospitals, said: “Over the past two years, our teams in Chennai and Bengaluru have built a robust, clinically strong transplant service for the region. With this formal launch, we can now deliver seamlessly integrated care for patients with end-stage heart and lung disease, supported by the infrastructure and multidisciplinary expertise needed for consistently safe and successful outcomes.”

Dr Srinivas Rajagopala, Lead, Lung Failure and Transplant Pulmonologist, Apollo Hospitals, added: “Successful lung transplantation depends not only on surgical excellence but on meticulous, sustained pre- and post-transplant care. This programme enhances our ability to deliver comprehensive support backed by standardised protocols and advanced monitoring systems.”

Dr Ravi Kumar, Clinical Lead – Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist, said: “Complex cardiopulmonary conditions require tightly coordinated multi-specialty care. This programme brings greater systemisation and alignment to evaluation, stabilisation and long-term planning—critical factors in achieving predictable, consistent outcomes.”

Mr Uday Davda, Vice President, Apollo Hospitals Seshadripuram, said: “This programme strengthens Karnataka’s specialised care pathways, ensuring advanced transplant and mechanical support services are available closer to home. As one of India’s leading contributors to the organ donation pool, Karnataka stands to benefit greatly from enhanced transplant capabilities that honour every precious donation.”

Mr Akshay Oleti, CEO – Apollo Hospitals, Karnataka Region, said: “With this dedicated Heart & Lung Transplantation Unit, we are taking a major leap in advancing cardiac and respiratory care in Karnataka. Our expert clinical team, coupled with state-of-the-art infrastructure and innovative partnerships like the one with Namma Metro, will enable world-class, life-saving treatments for the region.”

Patients who have benefitted from Apollo’s transplant programmes shared their stories, expressing profound gratitude to donor families and medical teams. The recent heart-transplant recipient, whose donor heart was transported via Namma Metro, said the experience demonstrated how seamless infrastructure and skilled clinical care can converge at a critical moment, enabling a life-saving transplant that would otherwise not have been possible.

Photo Caption: Apollo Hospitals today launched a dedicated Heart & Lung Transplantation and MCS Unit at Seshadripuram, in the presence of Dr. Ravishankar J., IAS, Managing Director, BMRCL

Culturelytics Named To Forbes India & D Globalist’s “Select 200 Companies With Global Business Potential” For 2025

Women-founded, women-led AI CultureTech company joins an elite global cohort of innovators influencing the future of organisational intelligence, leadership, M&A, and ESG strategy from India to the world.

Culturelytics, the pioneering AI-driven CultureTech company transforming how organisations measure and manage culture, has been selected by Forbes India & D Globalist as one of the Select 200 Companies with Global Business Potential for 2025.

This highly regarded cohort represents over 1,000 founders, including nearly 20% of India’s unicorn leaders, and innovation-driven companies that have collectively raised more than USD 19 billion and expanded into 30+ countries. The selection places Culturelytics among a distinguished group of ventures positioned to scale globally and influence the next decade of organisational strategy.

Culture as the New Business Technology

As CEOs navigate unprecedented complexity, from hybrid work and cultural fragmentation to cross-border M&A and ESG accountability, Culturelytics is redefining culture as a quantifiable, predictive business asset.

Powered by behavioural science and responsible AI, its proprietary Culture Coherence Quotient (CCQ(R)) and multi-language analytics engine give leaders unprecedented visibility into organisational alignment, leadership coherence, risk patterns, and transformation readiness.

Culturelytics’ clients include organisations preparing for M&A integration, private equity value creation, leadership restructuring, global expansion, and ESG reporting, where culture has become both a strategic differentiator and a risk variable.

Yeshasvini Ramaswamy, Founder & CEO, Culturelytics, said, “Being part of the Select 200 reinforces a belief we held long before the world was ready: culture is a business technology. Culturelytics was built to decode culture with behavioural science and responsible AI, enabling leaders to treat culture with the same strategic rigour as financial and operational metrics. As workplaces grow more complex and globally interconnected, culture intelligence is becoming essential for CEOs — not optional. This recognition strengthens our resolve to take CultureTech from India to the world.”

Smita Tharoor, Co-Founder, Culturelytics, said, “Culture will define the next era of leadership. Around the world, organisations are struggling with belonging, trust, inclusion, and cross-cultural cohesion. Culturelytics brings clarity and science to challenges that were once addressed only through intuition. Being recognised among global-first innovators signals how urgently leaders need this intelligence — and how relevant an India-born solution can be for the world.”

Karnataka Bank Innovates With IBM To Build Future-Ready API Platform For Faster Service Delivery To Customers

Karnataka Bank Limited (KBL), one of India’s leading 'A' Class Scheduled Commercial Banks, collaborated with IBM to modernize its digital banking infrastructure using IBM Cloud Pak for Integration on Red Hat OpenShift. Implemented by IBM ecosystem partner, Fyrii, along with IBM Customer Success Team, the transformation enabled Karnataka Bank to establish a secure, scalable, and agile Application Programming Interface (API) platform while reducing total cost of ownership and reinforcing its digital foundation.

Through this collaborative innovation, Karnataka Bank developed a modern, secure, and scalable API platform that reinforces the bank’s digital infrastructure while reducing operational costs. This platform enables quicker rollout of services such as digital payments, loan processing, and third-party integrations, while maintaining secure connections with multiple systems both internally and externally.

“This marks a major milestone in our digital journey,” said Venkat Krishnan, Chief Information Officer, Karnataka Bank Limited. “With IBM Cloud Pak for Integration on Red Hat OpenShift, we now have an agile and secure platform that allows us to scale operations across India, simplify system management, and reduce costs—all while improving the overall customer experience,” he added.

The upgraded API infrastructure strengthens security while boosting scalability by 50% and cutting operational costs by 30%. These gains come from migrating to an optimized container‑based platform purpose‑built for efficient microservices. The framework enables the bank to implement digital gateways to manage all API traffic. It also allows external partners to access the bank’s AI foundation models as APIs via AI Gateway. This facilitates seamless communication between internal, external and cloud systems while ensuring smooth integration with UIDAI, CERSAI, GST, Reg-Tech and CBDT services. The streamlined implementation process supports rapid adaptation to evolving market conditions and regulatory requirements.

“Today’s banking sector is more complex than ever, comprising many systems and data sources in constant use. To stay ahead, banks require intelligent automation that not only streamlines operations but also anticipates issues before they arise. Karnataka Bank’s modernization showcases how intelligent automation and integrated systems can reduce complexity, boost efficiency and accelerate the delivery of secure, reliable digital services at scale,” said Viswanath Ramaswamy, Vice President, Technology, IBM India & South Asia.

The implementation was led by Fyrii, with IBM’s Expert Labs supporting the critical phases of the rollout. The project is a key pillar of Karnataka Bank’s broader digital transformation strategy, Startup@100, which emphasizes agility and innovation as the bank celebrates 100 years of service.

Commenting on the collaboration Padma Subramanian, Co-founder and CEO, Fyrii said, “As IBM’s implementation partner, we at Fyrii are proud to support Karnataka Bank’s modernization journey by leveraging our Unified Fintech Platform alongside IBM Cloud Pak for Integration. This collaboration with IBM and Karnataka Bank demonstrates how we at Fyrii use our platform to accelerate digital transformation with greater agility and secure API enablement, helping form a foundation for the bank to innovate and serve customers seamlessly.”

About Karnataka Bank Limited

Established in 1924 and headquartered in Mangaluru, Karnataka Bank Limited is a premier private sector bank in India. As of 2025, the bank operates a network of 957 branches, 1,188 ATMs and cash recyclers, and 588 e-lobbies/mini e-lobbies across 22 states and 2 union territories, serving over 11 million customers nationwide.

Karnataka Bank offers a comprehensive suite of digital banking solutions, including KBL Mobile Plus, KBL mPassbook, BHIM KBL UPI App, KBL POS Manager, and KBL MoneyClick Internet Banking. In its centenary year, the bank continues to embrace technology-led innovation through its 'Startup@100' vision, aiming to enhance customer experiences and drive financial inclusion across the country.

About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs, and gain a competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of governments and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more information.

Only 1 in 3 Enterprises Fully Automates Software Security, CleanStart Data Reveals

New Study Highlights Persistent Gaps in Software Supply Chain Security as 40% of Detected Vulnerabilities Remain High or Critical Severity

CleanStart, a platform that helps build secure and safe software, has recently conducted a study that highlights significant gaps in enterprise software supply chain security. The study reveals that most organizations have yet to adopt the level of automation required to secure modern CI/CD pipelines. Based on aggregated telemetry across thousands of pipeline executions, the findings show that while development velocity has increased dramatically in recent years, security practices have not kept pace.

According to the study, only about one-third of the CI/CD environments observed have implemented fully automated, policy-based validation for container images. Despite clear performance advantages such as nearly 60 percent fewer manual review cycles and patch-to-deploy timelines that are more than twice as fast in automated pipelines, the majority of organizations continue to rely on partial automation or manual approvals. This limited adoption creates a widening gap between the speed at which software is built and the rigor with which it is validated.

The report also finds that the average time from vulnerability detection to achieving policy compliance is approximately 26 days, suggesting that many organizations remain exposed to known risks for nearly a month before remediations are fully enforced. At the same time, foundational practices such as visibility and provenance remain inconsistent. Fewer than half of all analysed pipelines generate or attach a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) during the build process, and roughly one in four validated container images lacked signature verification or complete provenance metadata at the point of analysis.

Perhaps the most striking finding is the density of known vulnerabilities within container images. Across the registries studied, the average container image contained around 450 known CVEs, with roughly 40 percent classified as high or critical severity. This indicates that even widely deployed and production-bound images often carry significant, unresolved security risks, further emphasizing the need for more standardized and automated validation practices across industries.

CleanStart’s study concludes that while enterprises have made considerable progress in accelerating software delivery, the underlying security processes embedded in their pipelines remain fragmented and inconsistent. The report underscores the urgent need for greater adoption of automated validation mechanisms and stronger enforcement of policy-driven controls to reduce systemic exposure across the software supply chain.

MILKMAID Commemorates India’s Love For Kheer With World Kheer Day

Nestlé MILKMAID, a name synonymous with delicious desserts announces World Kheer Day on 30 November, a day dedicated to the dessert that every Indian home has grown up with.

Kheer is one dessert that truly unites India – divided in recipes and ingredients, united by the warmth and nostalgia it evokes. From festivals, homecomings to everyday celebrations, it continues to be a symbol of togetherness across the country. MILKMAID has helped keep this tradition alive in a way that is easy, quick and just as comforting.

Manav Sahni, Head, Dairy Business, Nestlé India, said, "World Kheer Day is our way of celebrating a dessert that connects generations across the country. Kheer is prepared differently in every region, but it holds the same warmth and nostalgia everywhere. With MILKMAID, we hope that our consumers can enjoy rich and creamy Kheer which tastes amazing."

Kheer takes on a new name and a new form in every corner of India – yet it carries the same heartbeat everywhere. In the North, it’s the creamy elegance of rice kheer. On fasting days, sabudana kheer brings comfort and devotion. Eid arrives with the richness of sheer khurma, a celebration in every spoon. Maharashtra stirs up sheviyanchi kheer with festive pride. Bengal serves payesh – an apt embodiment for its love for life. Odisha offers kheeri, rich in tradition and blessings. And the South welcomes you with payasam – from semiya to palada – the warm hugs in a bowl. The ingredients may vary, the names may change, but the emotion remains constant – a universal sweetness, shared across a nation.

Nestlé MILKMAID, known for making desserts easy and delicious for over 100 years, aims to make this celebration simple for every home. This World Kheer Day, MILKMAID invites everyone to make their preferred kheer, use MILKMAID for convenience and enjoy a dessert that continues to bring people together. Kheer recipes and preparation ideas are available on the MILKMAID website to explore and try at home.