Chinese Wok Launches ‘Wok FM’, India’s First QSR-Owned Music Universe

Chinese Wok amps up its youth push with India’s first QSR-owned music universe, launching two original albums across 250+ outlets and digital platforms.

Chinese Wok, India’s largest home-grown Desi Chinese QSR chain, has unveiled Wok FM, a first-of-its-kind, brand-owned music universe that marks a bold new chapter in how QSR brands engage with youth culture. The launch kicks off with two original albums – Get Wok’D Tonight, a high-energy playlist designed to crank up cravings and match the Chinese Wok mood, and Cricket & Cravings, celebrating the joy of India’s favourite sport best enjoyed with Desi Chinese bowls.

Spanning multiple genres, moods, and regional languages, Wok FM transforms the in-store experience into an immersive, culturally resonant space. With Wok FM now playing across 250+ high-street stores nationwide, Chinese Wok is building one of the largest youth-facing in-store soundscapes in the Indian QSR sector. From cricket anthems and festive tracks to quirky brand-led numbers and regional songs in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Punjabi, and Marathi, the music reflects Chinese Wok’s youthful, playful personality while creating a distinctive and recognizable sonic identity, shaped by the brand’s deep cultural insights and creative curation.

Conceived as a long-term brand platform and scalable owned media asset, all Wok FM tracks are fully original in melody and lyrics. With this, Wok FM becomes a brand-owned media channel that is independent of campaigns or platform, giving Chinese Wok a direct, always-on cultural voice with young consumers, while placing the brand among a small set of QSR and retail players globally to build a proprietary, multi-language music ecosystem at scale.

Taking the experience beyond physical stores, Chinese Wok has officially launched Wok FM playlists on Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and more, allowing fans to tune in anytime, anywhere. This opens a new digital engagement channel, deepening brand recall by integrating music into consumers’ everyday lives and evolving with fan input and live collaborations. Going forward, new music will drop every season, campaign and festival, making sound as integral to the brand as menu innovation.

Speaking on the launch, Aayush Madhusudan Agrawal, Founder & Director, Lenexis Foodworks, said, “As a brand built for young India, we believe food today is as much about experience as it is about taste. Wok FM allows us to own a cultural space that goes beyond the plate, creating a strong emotional connection with our audience. This is not a one-time idea, but a long-term platform that will evolve with our brand, our campaigns, and our consumers.”

Sharing the marketing vision behind the initiative, Vikas Iyer, Marketing Head, Lenexis Foodworks, added, “Music is the language of Gen Z, and Wok FM is our way of speaking it authentically. By creating original, brand-owned music across genres and languages—powered by human insight and AI efficiency, we are building a powerful sonic identity that lives in our stores and travels into the digital world. It’s a new form of brand storytelling, where Chinese Wok isn’t just seen or tasted, but heard and remembered.”

Future phases of Wok FM will invite fans, creators and communities to co-create and collaborate, turning it into a living cultural platform rather than a static playlist.

Link to Playlist –

Youtube:

· Get Wok’D Tonight – https://bit.ly/4pDAxeo

· Cricket & Cravings – https://bit.ly/3Zdzmrn

Spotify:

· Cricket & Cravings - https://open.spotify.com/album/40vIiRPxO00p3gm3IkOjKO?si=6pSLdj_OQrO4PZMrZqrG4A

· Get Wok’D Tonight - https://open.spotify.com/album/5gCKqGQppkXPACL7vl0e6b?si=25iXK2_aToyzvW-7KotS5A%0A

About Lenexis Foodworks

Lenexis Foodworks is a leading quick service food company in India, dedicated to crafting exceptional culinary experiences through its restaurants across high streets and malls. It operates a portfolio of distinct brands - Chinese Wok, The Momo Co., and Big Bowl that cater to a wide range of tastes and preferences, making it a trusted name in the food and beverage industry.

Founded in 2015, Chinese Wok is the flagship brand under Lenexis Foodworks and stands as India’s largest Chinese QSR brand. It is transforming the way Chinese cuisine is enjoyed by staying true to its founding principles of offering high-quality, hygienic Desi-Chinese dishes at affordable prices. It has a footprint of 260+ outlets in 45+ cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Vadodara, Pune, Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad. With a decade of leadership and innovation behind it, Chinese Wok has played a defining role in shaping the Desi Chinese category for modern India. As Lenexis Foodworks looks ahead, it is set to expand into new concepts and culinary formats—bringing fresh, flavour-forward experiences to consumers across the country.

S&P Global Upgrades Biocon Biologics Credit Rating To ‘BB+’ Revises Outlook To “Stable”

Biocon Biologics Limited, a fully integrated, global biosimilars company and subsidiary of Biocon Ltd. (BSE: 532523, NSE: BIOCON), today announced that S&P Global Ratings has upgraded the Company’s long‑term issuer credit rating to ‘BB+’ from ‘BB’, and revised the outlook to “Stable”. The rating on the senior secured notes issued by Biocon Biologics Global PLC has also been upgraded to ‘BB+’.

This positive development follows Biocon’s recent equity issuance to settle compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) issued to Viatris Inc.

S&P Global provided the following Rating Action Rationale:

· Biocon has simplified its capital structure. The company reduced its outstanding structured debt liabilities, and a US$1 billion CCPS issued to Viatris has now been removed through a mix of equity share swaps and cash consideration. Biocon funded the cash payout through fresh equity of about US$460 million that it raised earlier this month.

· New product launches and favorable industry trends will support Biocon's earnings. Pharmaceutical sector will continue to register healthy growth through 2027, especially for GLP-1s and treatment for oncology and rare diseases.

· Biocon's financial policy underpins its credit strength. Biocon's management remains committed to reverting its balance sheet position to levels before its acquisition of Viatris' biosimilars portfolio. In November 2022, Biocon acquired Viatris' biosimilar business for US$3.3 billion. The transaction pushed up the group's debt-to-EBITDA ratio to about 7x in fiscal 2024 from about 2x in fiscal 2022.

S&P said that the stable outlook reflects its view that Biocon's earnings will grow steadily over the next 12-24 months on the back of growing demand for generics and biosimilars in key international markets and new product launches, which will help the Company to maintain its improved financial position.

About Biocon Biologics Limited

Biocon Biologics Limited, a subsidiary of Biocon Limited, is a unique, fully integrated, global biosimilars company committed to transforming healthcare and transforming lives. It is capitalizing on its ‘lab to market’ capabilities to serve over 6.3 million patients across 120+ countries by enabling affordable access to high quality biosimilars. The Company is leveraging cutting-edge science, innovative tech platforms, global scale manufacturing capabilities and world-class quality systems to lower costs of biological therapeutics while improving healthcare outcomes.

Biocon Biologics has commercialized 10 biosimilars from its portfolio which are addressing the patients’ needs in key emerging markets and advanced markets like U.S., Europe, Australia, Canada, and Japan. It has a pipeline of 20+ biosimilar assets across diabetology, oncology, immunology, ophthalmology, bone health and other non-communicable diseases. The Company has many ‘firsts’ to its credit in the biosimilars industry. As part of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitment, it is advancing the health of patients, people, and the planet to achieve key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Website: www.bioconbiologics.com; Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): @BioconBiologics and LinkedIn: Biocon Biologics for company updates.

Biocon Limited, publicly listed in 2004, (BSE code: 532523, NSE Id: BIOCON, ISIN Id: INE376G01013) is an innovation-led global biopharmaceutical company committed to enhance affordable access to complex therapies for chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune. It has developed and commercialized novel biologics, biosimilars, and complex small molecule APIs in India and several key global markets as well as Generic Formulations in the U.S., Europe & key emerging markets. It also has a pipeline of promising novel assets in immunotherapy under development. Website: www.biocon.com Follow-us on X (formerly Twitter) @bioconlimited and LinkedIn: @BioconLimited for company updates.

Coming Soon: A New Layer Of Privacy Five Years In The Making

A new front line for privacy to keep your moments truly yours

Our phones are our most personal space, but we use them in the least private places. On the bus, in the elevator, and wherever we’re waiting in line, our digital laundry gets aired in plain view. And as phones become more tailored to our routines and preferences, concerns about privacy are only growing.

That’s why Samsung will soon unveil a new layer of privacy to shield your phone from shoulder surfing wherever you go. You’ll have the space to check your messages or enter a password on a packed commute without thinking twice about who might be watching.

Flexible Protection Built Over Years

Not everyone needs the same level of privacy. This new layer gives you the choice to decide what works best for you. You can customize it to raise your guard with specific apps, or when entering access details for more private areas of your phone. With multiple settings for adjusting visibility, you can limit what others can see based on the level of privacy protection you need.

You can also choose to protect specific parts of your experience, such as notification pop-ups. It’s a tailored approach that you can fine-tune or switch off entirely, rather than a blanket one.

It took over five years of engineering, testing and refining to get here. We studied how people use their phones, what they consider private, and how security should feel in everyday life. The result is a fusion of hardware and software expertly calibrated to protect you without getting in your way.

A New Standard for Mobile Privacy

This is the latest in a series of Galaxy innovations designed to keep you safe. There is no privacy without strong security. For more than a decade, Samsung Knox has established layers of protection for Galaxy devices, from dedicated security hardware like Knox Vault to ecosystem defenses such as Knox Matrix. This latest safeguard builds on that commitment to security, introducing privacy at a pixel level.

This is privacy you can see and security you can feel – and it’s coming to Galaxy very soon.

CEEW And Artists Thukral & Tagra Unveil The Third Edition Of Sustaina India

This edition of Sustaina India will run from 1 to 15 February 2026 at Bikaner House, New Delhi.
Preview: 31 January, 5 PM onwards

Featuring projects by Sustaina Fellows Vedant Patil, Anuja Dasgupta, and Mrugen Rathod

The exhibition will also feature artworks and installations by invited artists, including Abhinand Kishore, Lakshita Munjal, Sidhant Kumar, Smita Minda, Harmeet Singh Rattan, Pooja Kalai and Ankur Yadav.

Following the success of its first two editions, Sustaina India—an exhibition where science meets art to inspire collective climate action—returns with its third edition, from 1 to 15 February 2026 at Bikaner House, New Delhi. A collaborative initiative by think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and acclaimed artist duo Thukral & Tagra, Sustaina India III, titled “Bitter Nectar,” examines climate change through the lens of fruiting cycles, food systems, and abundance.

This year, “Bitter Nectar” takes centre stage as a thematic anchor, reshaping how we perceive everyday elements such as food, taste, labour, and seasonal abundance. The core section of the third edition will feature three Sustaina India Fellows, whose practices are rooted in distinct geographies and materials:

Vedant Patil, a filmmaker and PhD candidate based in western Uttar Pradesh, traces the fragile journeys of milk across rural and urban landscapes, revealing the invisible labour, infrastructure, and ecological pressures that sustain everyday consumption.

Anuja Dasgupta, an artist and agripreneur based in Ladakh, uses the apricot—a keystone of the region’s ecology—to explore interdependence, seasonal knowledge, and climate vulnerability in high-altitude communities.

Mrugen Rathod, a visual artist and educator from Gujarat, reflects on mango monocultures, forest ecologies, and human and animal displacement through a sculptural installation rooted in the Gir landscape

Across India, rising temperatures and erratic rainfall due to climate change are already reshaping food systems in quiet but consequential ways. Recent CEEW research shows that tehsils experiencing declining southwest monsoon rainfall over the last decade are concentrated in agriculturally critical regions such as the Indo-Gangetic Plain, Northeast India, and the fragile upper Himalayan belt. Heat stress is also diminishing labour productivity, particularly for outdoor and informal workers, weakening household incomes and economic resilience. With global temperatures temporarily surpassing the 1.5°C threshold in 2025, what was once considered a distant tipping point is now shaping everyday choices and trade-offs.

Against this backdrop, Sustaina India III reflects on a seemingly simple impulse—the pursuit of ripeness, nourishment, and sweetness—and reveals the complex socio-ecological and political conditions that now shape it. Heat and harvest no longer arrive in agreement; erratic rains interrupt ripening, winters soften or arrive out of turn, and long-held agricultural knowledge is unsettled. Through these temporal mismatches, the exhibition traces how fractures in climate systems travel outward, affecting labour, ecology, consumption, and community life.

Thukral & Tagra, curators of Sustaina India, said, “In its third year, Sustaina peels through urgent questions of climate change, tracing the shifting knowledge of fruiting cycles strained by extreme heat, erratic rainfall, and uncertainty by the means of the artistic practice. Bringing together works from across India, from Ladakh to Kerala and Assam to Gujarat, the exhibition maps a shared ecology of climate action and inquiry into our desire for sweetness, into the nuances of nectar collection.”

The third edition will also feature an expansive line-up of conversations, workshops, performances, closed-door sessions, and interactive engagements. A lively programme of talks, workshops, theatre, and learning experiences unfolds over the weekends with over 15 partners, featuring speakers such as Shrayana Bhattacharya (Author & Economist), Anirudh Kanisetti (Author & Historian), Pragya Kapoor (Actor & Film Producer), Thomas Zacharias (Chef), Shubhra Chatterji (Writer & Director), Anupama Mandloi (Impact Producer), and Kevin Kenneth Lee (Media Leader). Hands-on experiences include zine-making, upcycling, material literacy, data storytelling, and content creation with a climate hook.

Mihir Shah, Director of Strategic Communications at CEEW, added, “Amidst the turbulence of geopolitics and a reordering of the world order, climate change continues to remain a critical risk. 2025 was the third hottest year on record. Climate impacts are already reshaping what India grows, consumes, and relies on. Sustaina India 3 grounds climate conversations in lived experience, showing how disruptions to food systems and seasonal rhythms directly affect communities and livelihoods. Effective climate action must engage with these realities and the knowledge embedded within them as we look for more solutions.”

Alongside the Fellows’ projects, Sustaina India also invites an extended selection of artists whose works engage with climate change through diverse lenses:

Abhinand Kishore examines urbanisation and climate stress in Kochi through layered visual archives that trace water, land, labour, and infrastructure across the city’s fragile edges.

Lakshita Munjal explores material memory and heat adaptation through sculptural seating objects rooted in everyday practices of cooling and care.

Sidhant Kumar addresses labour, pollution, and visibility in the city through a performative film that reflects on construction bans, air quality, and precarity.

Smita Minda brings a deeply personal perspective through animation, tracing the emotional weight of climate anxiety as it permeates intimate, everyday moments.

Harmeet Singh Rattan collaborates with his father, a sign painter, to explore memory, taste, and preservation through a material dialogue with the desi keekar tree.

Pooja Kalai engages with textile waste and indigenous weaving practices, reworking discarded yarns to foreground care, continuity, and ecological possibility within systems of material excess.

Ankur Yadav responds to extractive landscapes in Rajasthan through eco-poetry created at abandoned mining sites, allowing time and erosion to reveal environmental loss as an ongoing process.

Sustaina India will also continue to explore partnerships to reach wider and younger audiences, including dedicated engagements for students and early-career practitioners.

Exhibition Details: Sustaina India will be on view from 1–15 February 2026 at Bikaner House, New Delhi, with a preview on 31 January from 5 PM onwards. The exhibition will be open to visitors daily from 11 AM to 7 PM during the exhibition period.

About Sustaina India

As scientific evidence about the alarming impacts of climate change keeps emerging, we face the need to reimagine habitable futures. Sustaina India stems from this urgency to catalyse pollinations across art, science, and policy-making through annual fellowships, exhibitions, and public programs. A first-of-its-kind initiative of Thukral and Tagra and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, Sustaina India mobilises creators to integrate decentralised climate awareness and sustainability conversations into the cultural fabric of India and beyond.

About CEEW
The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) — a homegrown institution with headquarters in New Delhi — is among the world’s leading climate think tanks. The Council is also often ranked among the world’s best-managed and independent think tanks. It uses data, integrated analysis, and strategic outreach to explain — and change — the use, reuse, and misuse of resources. It prides itself on the independence of its high-quality research and strives to impact sustainable development at scale in India and the Global South. In over 14 years of operation, CEEW has impacted over 400 million lives and engaged with over 20 state governments. Follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @CEEWIndia or on LinkedIn for the latest updates.

About Thukral and Tagra

Thukral and Tagra are a Delhi-based artist duo comprising Jiten Thukral (b. 1976, Jalandhar, Punjab) and Sumir Tagra (b. 1979, New Delhi). Driven by the artistic methodologies of painting, gaming, archiving, and publishing, their multifaceted studio practice reflects the scope of engagement in the cultural and political landscape of India and the world. While their early career work dealt with the intricacies of consumer culture globally, their recent interest in ecology and climate change is a revisiting of their family histories of migration and farming in the Indian state of Punjab. Through and beyond their studio practice, Thukral and Tagra create new formats of public engagement and attempt to expand the threshold of what art can do.

How Surgical Oncology Improves Survival And Quality Of Life

Dr. Santosh Basavantappa Chikaraddi, Consultant Surgical Oncologist, HCG NMR Cancer Centre, Hubli

Surgery has been a major part of cancer treatment, and its role has become more prominent with the continuous advancements, offering patients a chance at improved survival and a better quality of life by removing tumors and affected tissue, surgeons can significantly impact the disease’s progression. It is considered as the most powerful approach when tumors are found at an early stage.

What is Surgical Oncology

Surgical‍‌‍‍‌ oncology focuses on the surgical treatment of tumors that are cancerous or even precancerous. It includes the operations aimed at ridding the body of the abnormal growth, assessing the spread of the disease, and determining treatment plans by working closely with medical and radiation oncologists.

Why Surgery Plays a Central Role in Cancer Treatment

The‍‌‍‍‌ cancer treatment constitutes a network of different treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted treatments. Despite the power of these treatments, surgery is still a fundamental element for various reasons, such as:

It is the direct method to get rid of the tumor.

It offers useful information for correct diagnosis.

It aids in determining the accurate stage of the disease.

When combined with other treatments, it enhances their efficiency.

Core Functions of Surgical Oncology

Diagnosis and Staging

Surgery provides means to find out and to understand the type of cancer

Biopsy Methods

A biopsy is done by taking few tissues from a part or the total tissue of a suspicious lump. The subsequently result clarify whether the growth is benign, malignant or pre-cancerous.

Accurate Staging

Surgeons evaluate tumor size, infiltration, and metastatic spread during an operation. The precise staging is the basis of most effective treatment plans, the effect of which on patients’ recovery is very ‍‌‍‍‌significant.

Tumor Removal (Curative Surgery)

In many cases of cancer, removing the tumor is the main way to achieve a cure. Surgical oncologists aim to cut out not only the whole tumor but also a small part of the healthy tissue to lessen the risk of cancer coming back. If cancers are caught at an early stage and have not spread, surgery alone might be enough to get rid of the disease.

Debulking Surgery

In situations where tumors are so large or located in such a place that they cannot be removed completely, the debulking method is used. The reduction of the cancerous tissue volume causes:

the cancer drugs to be more effective; radiation treatment can be more accurately directed; the symptoms resulting from the tumor pressing on organs may be alleviated.

Debulking becomes quite effective, for example, in ovarian cancer, where the reduction of tumor mass makes the cancer cells much more sensitive to the systemic ‍‌‍‍‌treatments.

Palliative Surgery

Palliative procedures are used to enhance a patient’s quality of life in advanced stages, where a cure may not be possible. These operations aim to:

Ease pain

Control bleeding

Decrease blockage (e.g., bowel or airway blockage)

Raise day-to-day comfort

While these measures are not curative, they play a crucial role in the overall well-being of the patient.

Reconstructive Surgery

Once the large tumors or cancer-affected parts of the body have been removed, reconstructive surgery is used to regain the lost function and beauty. Some of the examples are:

The reconstruction of the breast after mastectomy

The restructuring of the facial bones

The restoration of the movement after the removal of a bone ‍‌‍‍‌tumor

Modern Advancements Transforming Surgical Oncology

The surgery methods that came as a result of innovation in the recent years made the procedures safer, more precise, and less invasive.

Minimally Invasive Surgery

Operations can now be performed in the affected area through a robotic-assisted surgery or laparoscopy tool without the need for a large incision. The effects are:

Pain is reduced

Recovery is quicker

Bleeding is less

The time spent in hospital is reduced

Image-Guided Surgery

Precise and safe operation is always the goal of any surgeon, and advanced imaging tools like CT, MRI, and ultrasound help them by showing the exact locations throughout the procedure.

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

By using this method, the first lymph node (“sentinel node”) that the cancer will spread to, is located. That single node is removed and tested; thus, fewer lymph nodes removal is done and less cases of complications occur.

Why Early Surgical Intervention Matters

In general, time is very important in the fight against cancer. As a result of surgery performed at an early stage, it is usually:

Possible to remove the tumor in total treatment

Chance of cancer spreading is very low

Less aggressive therapy may be enough after the surgery

Long-term prognosis is very good.

Cancer treatment would not be complete without surgical oncology which is crucial for treatment of most patients. It is the core of many treatment regimens that involve surgery to diagnose and stage the disease, remove the tumors, and improve the patient’s quality of life. 

HDB Financial Services Partners With Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India As Preferred Financier

HDB Financial Services, a leading Non-Banking Financial Company that caters to the growing needs of an Aspirational India announced a partnership with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), under which HDB Financial Services will serve as a preferred financing partner across HMSI’s dealer network in India.

The partnership is designed to enhance customer convenience by offering flexible, affordable and quick financing solutions for the complete range of Honda’s two-wheelers, addressing the needs of both mass and premium customer segments.

As part of this collaboration, customers can benefit from a simplified financing experience with customized loan-to-value (LTV) offerings for individual customer profiles, minimal documentation based largely on basic KYC, and fast turnaround times.

Firstlevel credit approvals are completed within 5–7 minutes, and the full financing process typically concludes within 20 minutes. A paperless customer journey is currently a work in progress.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Karthik Srinivasan, Chief Business Officer, HDB Financial Services, said, “This collaboration with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India allows us to deepen our presence in India’s rapidly growing two-wheeler segment. By combining our financing expertise with Honda’s strong market reach, we aim to deliver speed, simplicity and value to customers at the point of purchase.”

Mr. Yogesh Mathur, Director – Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, added, “This association with HDB Financial Services marks a significant milestone in Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India’s journey toward building a robust and futureready financing ecosystem. By combining HMSI’s deep understanding of customer needs with the strong financial expertise of HDB Financial Services, this partnership will help create seamless and accessible financing solutions for a diverse customer base across India. It further strengthens our commitment to delivering superior value, greater convenience, and enhanced trust, ensuring that more customers can experience Honda’s mobility with ease and confidence.”

Together, HDB Financial Services and HMSI aim to drive greater financial ease for customers, support business growth and reinforce their shared focus on trust, innovation and customer-centric solutions.

About HDB Financial Services Limited:

Incorporated in 2007, HDB Financial Services (HDBFS) is a retail-focused Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC). As a financial services provider, HDBFS offers products and service offerings to suit its customers’ requirements, across Consumer Finance, Asset Finance, and Enterprise Finance. The Company is accredited with CARE AAA and CRISIL AAA ratings for its term loans from banks and financial institutions, and a CARE A1+ rating for its commercial paper. HDBFS has a wide omni-channel distribution network comprising 1,771 branches in over 1,170 cities as of March 31, 2025.

To know more about HDB Financial Services, please visit: https://www.hdbfs.com

NBA And Department Of Culture & Tourism – Abu Dhabi Announce Long-Term Renewal To Bring More NBA Games And Activities To UAE

Extension Will Feature Preseason NBA Global Games, Launch of NBA Global Academy, Additional Youth Development and Fan Programming, and

Expanded Experience Abu Dhabi Sponsorship

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) today announced an extension of their existing collaboration that will feature preseason NBA Global Games, expanded marketing activities, and the launch of an NBA Global Academy in the UAE capital. The long-term extension will also bring additional youth development and fan programming to Abu Dhabi and surrounding communities for years to come.

NBA Global Academy, which will be based in Abu Dhabi and serve as the global hub for the league’s NBA Academy program, will be a year-round elite basketball development and academic program for top high-school-age student-athletes from the UAE, the Middle East and around the world. The academy will include elite development programming for up to 20 local boys, basketball development activities for local girls and residential programming for up to 24 male prospects from the rest of the world.

“Extending our partnership with the NBA further strengthens Abu Dhabi’s position as the new home of basketball in the Middle East and reinforces our commitment to our youth, inspiring our community, diversifying the economy, and elevating the emirate’s standing as a global destination,” said HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi. “The establishment of the NBA Global Academy in Abu Dhabi will open pathways for Emirati and UAE-based athletes, coaches and sports professionals to learn from the world’s best, while our long-term hosting of the NBA Global Games will inspire the next generation. Beyond bringing world-class sporting events to our capital, the NBA’s youth programs and grassroots initiatives encourage healthy, active lifestyles and connect our residents to the universal values of sport. This multiyear commitment reflects Abu Dhabi’s ambition to be a hub for culture, entertainment and excellence, for both our residents and visitors alike.”

“Our collaboration with DCT Abu Dhabi has been instrumental in growing basketball participation and fandom in the UAE and across the Middle East,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum. “We look forward to building on those efforts in the years to come, including through the launch of an NBA Global Academy that will help develop elite-level players from the region and around the world.”

Additional details about future NBA preseason games in Abu Dhabi, including the schedule and participating teams, will be announced at a later date.

The collaboration will see DCT Abu Dhabi, through its destination brand Experience Abu Dhabi, once again serve as the Official Tourism Destination Partner of the NBA in the Middle East, China and Europe while expanding the territories in the destination partnership to also include Africa, Asia Canada and Latin America.

The extended collaboration between DCT Abu Dhabi and the NBA will also feature the expansion of youth development programming that has reached more than 20,000 boys and girls since 2022, including plans to expand from the four existing Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA leagues in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Region to six leagues this fall and 12 leagues by 2028.

Abu Dhabi will also host two annual basketball tournaments featuring top youth and elite players from around the world, starting with the 2025 NBA Academy Showcase in Abu Dhabi, which was held at the NYU Abu Dhabi campus from Sept. 25-27 and featured top high-school-age players from four elite basketball programs: NBA Academy Africa (Senegal), IMG Academy (U.S.), INSEP (France) and the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence.

The NBA Academy program provides a holistic approach to player development and a predictable pathway to maximize their potential. The program emphasizes health and wellness, character development, and life skills and gives athletes the opportunity to learn the game from coaches with professional, collegiate and international experience. More than 150 NBA Academy student-athletes have represented their national teams at various levels, more than 100 have committed to or gone on to attend NCAA Division I schools in the U.S., and more than 40 have played, are playing, or have signed to play professionally, including 15 who have advanced to the NBA.

The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2025 presented by ADQ featured two sold-out preseason games between the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 2 and Oct. 4 at Etihad Arena on Yas Island. The games were part of a multiyear collaboration between the NBA and DCT Abu Dhabi that features preseason NBA Global Games, the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Abu Dhabi League, a variety of interactive fan events featuring appearances by current and former NBA players, an NBA 2K League exhibition event and a series of Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA and NBA Cares clinics promoting health and wellness while teaching the fundamentals of the sport and instilling core values including teamwork, respect and sportsmanship.

NBA games have aired in the UAE since the 1987-88 season. Eight NBA teams have played preseason games in Abu Dhabi since 2022. Since the inaugural NBA Abu Dhabi Games, basketball participation has increased by 60% in the UAE and basketball’s fanbase in the country has grown by more than 25%, according to YouGov research.

Fans can follow the NBA on Instagram and X (@NBAArabic) for the latest updates, news and content in Arabic. NBA fans in the UAE and across the Middle East can shop online at NBAStoreME.com and at the NBA Store at Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi for the widest selection of official NBA merchandise in the region.

About the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi 

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi’s culture and tourism sectors, fuels economic progress and helps achieve Abu Dhabi’s wider global ambitions. By working in partnership with the organisations that define the emirate’s position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of the emirate’s potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture and tourism industries.

DCT Abu Dhabi’s vision is defined by the emirate’s people, heritage and landscape. We work to enhance Abu Dhabi’s status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought.

For more information about DCT Abu Dhabi and the destination, please visit dct.gov.ae and visitabudhabi.ae. For Abu Dhabi Calendar, please visit inabudhabi.ae.

About the NBA

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a global sports and media organization with the mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the power of basketball.  Built around five professional sports leagues:  the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and Basketball Africa League, the NBA has established a major international presence with games and programming available in 214 countries and territories in more than 50 languages, and merchandise for sale in more than 200 countries and territories on all seven continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2025-26 season featured a record 135 international players from a record-tying 43 countries.  The NBA’s digital assets include NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA League Pass.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 2.5 billion likes and followers globally across all leagues, team and player platforms.  NBA Cares, the NBA’s global social impact platform celebrating its 20th year, drives change on issues facing fans and communities in the areas of health and wellness, civic engagement, social justice and inclusion, and sustainability.