Archives January 2026

“Gadchiroli is rich in natural resources, yet communities here face increasing challenges from climate change, declining forest cover, and erratic rainfall. With over 32 years of experience across Maharashtra, WOTR considers Gadchiroli a key focus area. Our collaboration with the Hindustan Unilever Foundation will drive meaningful change and foster sustainable development in the region.”

“Empowering communities in Gadchiroli is more than a programme, it is a transformational commitment to inclusive growth, resilience, and dignity. By combining sustainable water solutions with diversified livelihood opportunities, we aim to nurture a future where every drop counts and villages thrive.”

Astrotalk reported a strong financial performance in FY25, led by higher user engagement, an increase in paid consultations, and better monetisation across its app-led services in India’s major urban markets.

Total income rose 85% year-on-year to INR 1,214 crores in FY25, compared with INR 656 crores in FY24. Revenue from operations stood at INR 1,176 crores, indicating continued demand across core astrology consultation services. Tier-I cities accounted for the majority of platform activity, aided by higher usage frequency, improved conversion metrics, and stronger repeat behaviour.

To manage higher volumes and maintain service quality at scale, the company sustained investments across marketing, technology infrastructure, operations, and customer experience. Total expenses increased to INR 1,129 crores in FY25 from INR 542 crores in FY24. The increase largely reflected talent acquisition across technology and operations, undertaken as part of organisational expansion and long-term capability development.

Additionally, FY25 expenses included a one-time exceptional employee-related expense of around INR 120 crores, a majority of which was non-cash. Reported profitability was also affected by a non-cash mark-to-market technical adjustment of approximately INR 80 crores on CCPS instruments, with no cash outflow. This was due to IndAS adoption by the company.

Consequently, adjusted for one time impact of exceptional employee benefit expense and non-cash expense on account of CCPS valuation, PBT for FY25 was INR 285 Crores as against PBT of INR 127 Crores in FY24 registering an increase of approximately 125% demonstrating efficiency in operations at scale.

Commenting on the results, Anmol Jain, Co-founder & CBO, Astrotalk, said,

“FY25 represented a year of steady and consistent revenue momentum for Astrotalk, underpinned by deeper engagement, higher repeat usage, and enhanced monetisation across our app-led services, particularly in urban markets. As volumes increased, we made measured investments in our technology platform and team expansion to ensure service reliability, quicker turnaround times, and a seamless customer experience. These investments were undertaken with a long-term perspective and position us well to improve operating efficiencies and support sustainable growth.”

User engagement increased by 27% year-on-year, with the platform recording higher repeat usage and deeper interaction across services, reinforcing the strength of its app-led model in India’s major cities. As part of its revenue diversification strategy, Astrotalk Store, the company’s e-commerce vertical, generated over INR 140 crores in CY25, within a year of its launch, supported by growing demand for astrology-linked products.

Astrotalk is backed by New York-based venture capital firm Left Lane Capital and Indian growth-stage investor Elev8 Venture Partners. The company last raised approximately INR 117 crores at a pre-money valuation of INR 2,400 crores in June 2024 in a bunch of primary and secondary transactions.

Say Hello to ‘Hello Mallows’, the Single-origin Chocolate Coated & Gelatine-Free Marshmallows Packed With Unique Flavo

Mumbai, Jan 29: Who said marshmallows can’t be for everyone? Hello Mallows, a new gourmet brand, is redefining this classic treat with a modern twist—soft, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth marshmallows that are 100% vegetarian, gluten-free, and gelatine-free, crafted with premium ingredients and unique flavour combinations. Designed to delight both kids and adults, Hello Mallows offers an indulgent yet wholesome snacking experience perfect for gifting, savouring, or sharing.

Hello Mallows introduces two signature categories:

• Classic Mallows: Soft marshmallows coated in single-origin dark chocolate with flavour pairings like Dark Chocolate & Flaked Sea Salt and Dulce de Leche & Flaked Sea Salt, finished with a delicate sprinkle of Maldon Sea Salt.

• Caramel-Filled Mallows: A pillowy marshmallow dome with a gooey caramel centre, enrobed in single-origin dark chocolate and creamy dulce de leche, available in Dark Chocolate & Salted Caramel and Dulce de Leche & Salted Caramel.

“Our vision is simple,” says Sumeet Wadke, Director, Bright Treats Pvt Ltd. “We want to make indulgence more inclusive and imaginative. Over the next three years, we aim to position Hello Mallows as India’s leading gourmet marshmallow brand, experimenting with new fillings, textures, and flavours that go beyond the expected—reinventing comfort food for a generation that loves to explore taste.”

Looking ahead, Hello Mallows plans to expand its omni-channel presence across modern trade, D2C platforms, and strategic B2B partnerships with cafés, gourmet stores, and e-commerce platforms. With seasonal launches, new flavour innovations, gifting formats, and plans for international exports, Hello Mallows is set to bring its signature indulgence to more corners of India and beyond—because joy, like marshmallows, is best shared across cities, cultures, and celebrations.

New Delhi, Jan 29: Awsum, a new-age functional bakery brand, has secured a Rs 1 crore investment on Shark Tank India Season 5 from Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals, and Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & Group CEO of OYO, at a Rs 75 crore valuation. The partnership marks a major milestone in Awsum’s mission to build India’s first “Better Bakes” category—everyday cakes and brownies made with wholesome, functional ingredients.

Founded by Pranav Sharma, Awsum is redefining the Rs 11,000+ crore packaged cake market by replacing refined flour, white sugar, and heavily processed ingredients with traditional Indian staples such as atta (whole wheat), gur (jaggery), and honey. Its 100% eggless portfolio is enriched with Ayurvedic ingredients like Brahmi, Ashwagandha, and Ginseng, offering indulgence alongside functional benefits that support focus, immunity, and overall wellness.

“For decades, consumers have had to choose between taste and health. With Awsum, we’re levelling that playing field,” said Pranav Sharma, Founder, Awsum. “Today’s young India reads labels, cares about ingredients, and wants mindful choices without compromising on flavour. Our goal is to make better-for-you baking mainstream, not premium or niche. Partnering with Namita and Ritesh accelerates that mission and helps us bring wholesome indulgence to every shelf across the country.”

Awsum strategically partnered with Namita Thapar and Ritesh Agarwal for their complementary expertise across health, wellness, and large-scale consumer businesses. The collaboration combines health-focused consumer brand insights with proven experience in nationwide distribution networks, positioning Awsum to accelerate retail expansion and strengthen brand reach.

The fresh capital will be used to:

• Expand distribution across Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities

• Deepen presence in retail and quick-commerce platforms

• Strengthen manufacturing capacity to meet rising demand

• Introduce new functional SKUs under the Better Bakes portfolio

• Invest in supply chain and technology infrastructure for consistent freshness, quality, and scale

Awsum has already achieved over Rs 3.4 crore in monthly revenue, with a growing presence across leading quick-commerce platforms and modern retail outlets. Operating from an in-house manufacturing facility in Noida, the company maintains tight control over production, enabling faster innovation cycles and just-in-time manufacturing that ensures freshness while minimizing inventory waste.

The brand’s portfolio includes brownies and cakes in contemporary flavours such as Orange Pistachio, Lemon Blueberry, Banana Walnut, and Carrot Cake, all packaged in ready-to-eat formats for on-the-go consumption. Awsum is steadily trending toward profitability while championing the functional, better-for-you bakery segment in India.

Greater Noida,  Jan 29: Galgotias University has been featured in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2026 by Subject, earning global placements in Business, Computer Science, and Life Sciences. The recognition underscores the University’s commitment to academic excellence, research outcomes, and industry-aligned learning.

The rankings highlight Galgotias University’s continued focus on delivering high-quality teaching, practical learning experiences, and globally benchmarked curricula that prepare students for professional success across key disciplines.

Speaking on the achievement, Dr. Dhruv Galgotia, CEO, Galgotias University, said:

“This recognition reflects our continued focus on strengthening academic quality across key disciplines. We have built robust teaching frameworks, relevant curricula, and learning environments that prepare students for real-world professional roles. Galgotias University remains committed to delivering globally benchmarked education while staying closely aligned with industry and student aspirations.”

Subject-wise Global Performance:

• Business and Economics (601–800 band): Demonstrates strength in management education, cultivating analytical, decision-making, and business skills for corporate and entrepreneurial roles.

• Computer Science (601–800 band): Highlights focus on computing education and core technologies, preparing students for the digital and technology-driven global workforce.

• Life Sciences (801–1000 band): Reflects progress in life sciences education, aligned with healthcare, research, and innovation.

In an increasingly competitive global landscape, this recognition reinforces Galgotias University’s growing academic credibility, its emphasis on teaching excellence, and meaningful engagement with the professional world. By equipping graduates with the skills to adapt, contribute, and lead, the University continues to support India’s future-ready talent ecosystem and strengthen higher education outcomes.

Kolkata, Jan 29: Don Bosco Alumni Liluah (DBL) organized REUNION 2026 – Back to School, a grand homecoming event at the Don Bosco School, Liluah campus, bringing together alumni from the batch of 1970 to the present. The event celebrated nostalgia, fellowship, and the enduring values of the Salesian mission.

Addressing the gathering, the President of DBL highlighted that Reunion 2026 was dedicated to 100 years of Salesian presence in Kolkata. On 11 November 1925, three Salesian priests arrived at Howrah Station, carrying Don Bosco’s vision—a mission that has since transformed thousands of lives through education and social service.

The sprawling Liluah campus warmly welcomed alumni, many of whom travelled from across India and abroad, rekindling memories with former classmates and teachers.

Empowering Women 2026 and DBL Achievers’ Awards

As part of the celebrations and continuing the Adult Literacy Project initiated in 1961, a panel discussion on “Empowering Women 2026” was conducted. Mentored by alumnus and film producer Mr Amit Agarwal, the session featured eminent personalities including Mr Ashoke Vishwanathan (Moderator), Dr Shyamal Samanta, IPS, Ms Smita Roy Chowdhury, Ms Manoshi Roy Chowdhury, Ms Ekavalli Khanna, Ms Mamta Binani, Ms Kanak Lata Datta, and Ms Richa Sharma.

The event also marked the launch of the first-ever DBL Achievers’ Awards 2026, recognizing distinguished alumni—particularly women—who have excelled in their fields. Women awardees included:

• Manoshi Roy Chowdhury (Education)

• Smita Roy Chowdhury (Media)

• Mamta Binani (Corporate)

• Dola Banerji (Sports)

• Kanak Lata Datta (Fashion & Lifestyle)

• Ekavalli Khanna (Film & Entertainment)

• Dr Rupali Basu (Healthcare)

• Tarrunum Malik Jain (Music)

• Richa Sharma (Fashion & Lifestyle)

• Sangeeta Maheshwari (Social Service)

Men achievers included Dr Shyamal Samanta (Public Service), Ashoke Vishwanathan, and Amit Agarwal (Film & Entertainment). Amit Agarwal became the first alumnus to receive the DBL Achievers’ Award in its inaugural edition.

Additionally, past pupil doctors and chartered accountants were felicitated for their professional contributions under the “Recognising Alumni 2026” session.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Biswanath Trivedi expressed gratitude to Amit Agarwal (Batch of 1993) for his support in organising the reunion. “When we approached Amit to recognise his achievements, he suggested we also honour women achievers. This idea was embraced by the committee and has now become one of the most impactful elements in the history of DBL reunions,” said Biswanath. He also announced the formation of profession-based alumni groups to foster collaboration, business opportunities, and employment support.

Alumni shared heartfelt reflections: Avinash Agarwal (1995 ISC Batch), who travelled from Birmingham, UK, said, “I feel rejuvenated returning to my alma mater after 30 years. I’ll take back memories and motivation, and hope to return every year.”

Amit Agarwal, emotional on receiving the DBL Achievers’ Award, recalled his school days and shared, “This recognition motivates me to continue performing at my best. My favourite spots remain the auditorium stairs and the church, where I spent countless hours with friends.”

Fr Sanjay Manohar Kujur, Rector Principal, welcomed the guests and reaffirmed the Salesian commitment to uplifting women and youth from marginalized communities. Rev Fr Joseph Pauria, Provincial of the Kolkata Province of the Salesians of Don Bosco, lauded the alumni’s sustained social initiatives, particularly Free Medical Camps and the Adult Literacy Project.

The evening concluded with a live orchestra and a sumptuous dinner, as alumni departed with the promise of returning “Back to School” next year.

Bengaluru, Jan 29:  Perfios.ai, India’s leading B2B SaaS TechFin, today announced the launch of ‘Journey Builder’, an AI-Powered visual journey orchestration platform for financial institutions to design, launch, and optimise product journeys. Journey Builder empowers financial institutions with rapid product innovation and agility, leading to a direct 60%+ reduction in turnaround time to develop and launch new journeys.

Financial products require continuous evolution and upgradation, driven by shifting customer behaviors, new regulations, and market opportunities. Traditional development cycles, however, are often slow, rigid, and resource-intensive, especially as lending and onboarding journeys span multiple tightly coupled systems such as KYC, credit bureaus, consent, fraud checks, and underwriting. Perfios’ Journey Builder addresses the critical need for speed and adaptability in a rapidly changing financial landscape.

Journey Builder enables financial institutions to create, orchestrate, and refine end-to-end customer journeys across fragmented systems without manual intervention and without writing a single line of code. It uses journey-native, step-level analytics to not only measure journeys but also to directly power how journeys evolve in real time.

Key Features and Benefits of Perfios Journey Builder:

• Visual Journey Composition: A drag-and-drop workflow builder allows product teams to visually map and link data inputs, validation steps, and decisioning logic into a unified process, designed for rapid iteration.
• Modular & Reusable Components: Journeys are built from modular components and pre-built templates for lending, insurance, CASA onboarding, and more. Common elements like KYC, fraud checks, and underwriting can be reused across products.
• Pre-Integrated Ecosystem: Features a range of 50+ pre-built connectors for digitisation, document classification, credit bureaus, KYC, and fraud checks, streamlining complex workflows.
• Journey-Native Analytics: Built-in analytics provide real-time visibility into drop-offs, delays, and bottlenecks at every stage, allowing teams to identify where time is lost and track the conversion impact of each step. Insights are directly actionable, allowing immediate reordering, removal, parallelization, or replacement of steps.
• Versioning, Governance & Compliance: Built-in versioning, sandbox testing, and audit trails allow institutions to experiment safely without disrupting live journeys, while maintaining regulatory control and compliance readiness.
• Designed for Business Users: Product managers can design journeys using visual tools, significantly reducing reliance on engineering teams and accelerating development.
• Domain-Native & India-First: Specifically designed for financial services with built-in risk controls, compliance checkpoints, and regulatory logic. It offers native support for Indian digital rails and compliance, including Account Aggregator, DPDP Act, RBI guidelines, Aadhaar, DigiLocker, and video KYC.

“Financial institutions don’t struggle with insight, they struggle with converting that insight into customer facing journeys. Journey Builder closes that gap by turning real-time signals into configurable journeys that can be changed in days, not months,” said Krishna Chaitanya, Chief Product Officer, Perfios. “By shifting from fixed workflows to living journeys, we’re helping institutions learn faster, adapt continuously, and stay ahead of both customer expectations and regulatory change.”

Perfios has spent over 15 years powering financial decisions for over 1,000 institutions across 18 countries, processing billions of transactions monthly. Journey Builder leverages this extensive experience, turning intelligence into instant action.

Early pilot results for the Journey Builder application have been highly encouraging, delivering a 60% reduction in turnaround time to build and launch new journeys (2.5× faster), a 70% reduction in engineering effort, and 3X faster product iteration. By shifting from ‘fixed workflows’ to ‘living journeys’, organizations can continuously refine and adapt experiences based on real-world behavior.

Bhopal, jan 29: ICICI Bank has set up a new branch at Danish Kunj in Bhopal. This branch, the Bank’s 35th in the city, is equipped with an ATM and a Cash Recycling Machine.

Shri Jai Narayan Chouksey, Founder & Chairman of LNCT Group, inaugurated the branch.

The branch offers a comprehensive range of accounts and deposits, including savings and current account, demat and trading accounts, fixed and recurring deposits and loans like education loan, gold loan, home loan, auto loan, loan against property, personal loan, business loan, and forex services along with card services. It provides locker room facility at its premises.

It operates from 9:30 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. on Monday to Friday, and on the first, third and fifth Saturdays of the month.

The branch also offers Tab Banking facility that provides nearly 100 services at the customer’s place by an employee through a tablet device. The services include opening of accounts and Fixed Deposit (FD), raising cheque book request, generation of e-statements and change of address, among others.

ICICI Bank has more than 330 branches, and over 400 ATMs and CRMs in Madhya Pradesh.

ICICI Bank services its large customer base through a multi-channel delivery network of branches, ATMs, call centres, internet banking (www.icici.bank.in), and mobile banking.

Moscow, Jan 29:  RUSAL, a global leader in aluminium production, is rolling out non-formed materials (NFM) developed using its own patented technology for electrolyzer assembly. The new materials simplify installation, reduce costs, and allow the reuse of materials, compared to the usual bricks and slabs used in the industry.

Traditionally, lining an electrolyzer’s cathode shell is a lengthy and labor-intensive process involving multiple layers of bricks and slabs. To find a more efficient alternative, RUSAL’s Engineering Department developed proprietary technology to apply non-formed materials – a material derived from coal processing by-products – along with specialized compaction equipment.

This advancement has enabled RUSAL to replace a substantial quantity of traditional bricks and slabs, halving both material and installation costs for electrolyzers.

By the end of 2025, RUSAL had introduced non-formed materials across 5,100 electrolyzers at its Bratsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novokuznetsk, and Sayanogorsk aluminium smelters. This constitutes about 80% of the company’s total, marking a decisive company-wide operational shift.

A key environmental benefit is that during major repairs, at least 50% of the non-formed materials can be processed and reintroduced into the production cycle. This recycling ыsignificantly reduces waste, cuts disposal fees by hundreds of thousands of dollars per plant, and advances a closed-loop economy.

Protected by 40 international patents, RUSAL’s technology has already delivered $13 million in savings through lower material costs and faster installation.

Ghaziabad, Jan 29: Migsun Mall has announced the signing of a leasing agreement with global fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger. Spanning 2,040 sq ft., the addition marks a significant step in strengthening Migsun Mall’s premium fashion offering and reinforces its focus on attracting internationally recognised lifestyle brands.

Known for its classic American style with a modern edge, Tommy Hilfiger’s presence is expected to elevate the mall’s appeal among fashion-conscious consumers seeking global trends and contemporary retail experiences. The brand’s entry aligns with Migsun Mall’s strategy of curating a well-balanced tenant mix that combines aspirational labels with strong consumer recall.

Rajeev Srivastava, Leasing Head, Migsun Group, said,

“Global brands today are highly selective about where they expand, and their choices reflect confidence in both the market and the platform. Tommy Hilfiger’s decision to open at Migsun Mall reinforces our belief that well-planned retail destinations still hold strong relevance. Our focus has always been on creating spaces that feel contemporary, accessible and aligned with how consumers want to shop today. This partnership adds significant depth to our fashion portfolio and strengthens the overall brand narrative of the mall. We see this as part of a larger journey towards building a retail environment that delivers consistency, experience and long-term value for both brands and shoppers.”

As retail continues to evolve into a more experience-driven format, the inclusion of iconic brands like Tommy Hilfiger reflects growing confidence in the mall’s location, design sensibility and long-term growth potential.