Crayons started in Delhi in 1986, when the industry said that was the wrong city and independence was the wrong model.

Four decades later, it is one of the largest fully independent advertising agencies in the country.

The Crayons Network today marked forty years in business – forty years since Kunal Lalani founded the agency in July 1986 from a basement office in New Delhi, at a time when the Indian advertising industry was concentrated almost entirely in Bombay, and when the conventional wisdom held that a truly independent, homegrown agency could not compete with the multinational networks. Crayons has spent four decades proving that wrong.

The First Bet

The first real test came early, with Baba Zafrani Zarda. The brand was a chewing tobacco product – a category that Doordarshan, then India’s only television broadcaster, flatly refused to carry. Crayons took the campaign to cinema halls and VHS instead. The film was shot at a casino in Nepal and featured Bollywood star Vinod Khanna. It achieved near-total recall across every format it ran in. The campaign worked, spectacularly. And Crayons had learned its first lesson early, that the right idea finds its audience.

Building the Network — City by City

Expansion diverged from advertising logic, Crayons started by going to markets where agencies didn’t typically go to first. Starting with Chandigarh in 1996. Jaipur, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chennai and Kolkata followed shortly after. In 2006, Crayons crossed another border altogether by opening in Dubai to serve the GCC region.

Growth brought different kinds of work.

Tourism became one of the agency’s defining strengths. From Kerala Tourism to the Incredible India’s first global digital campaign, Crayons has worked with over a dozen state tourism boards.

Integration followed. In 2011, Crayons expanded beyond the traditional agency model with specialist media, digital, OOH and events businesses. Melon Media, Ultraviolet Digital, Amber OOH, and Jade Events gave clients all the capability under a single independent roof.

More recently came some of the country’s biggest brands. From Air India’s historic return to the Tata Group to the Tata Group’s social media mandate itself.

Today, Crayons counts Air India, Tata, ITC, Kajaria, Fortis healthcare, APL Apollo and The Leela Hotels among the brands that have shaped its journey, alongside partnerships with public institutions, financial services, healthcare leaders and more than ten state governments.

Going Public, Staying Independent

In May 2023, Crayons listed on the NSE SME – a step that gave the agency access to capital markets without giving up the independence that built it. The IPO was oversubscribed 147 times.

The 40th Anniversary

The milestone was marked with a day-long leadership summit in Delhi. With branch heads and department leads from across the network, a full day focused on the years ahead. The agenda centred on Crayons’ continued investment in technology, AI, and integrated communications capabilities that extend what an independent agency can deliver.

The summit was followed by a celebration that, by all accounts, reflected the agency’s character: large, earned, and entirely its own.

New Delhi, July 2, 2026: The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) today hosted the 15th edition of its India Minerals & Metals Forum (Ferrous & Non-Ferrous) in the capital, bringing together senior government officials, steel majors and mining companies to discuss how India can build a secure, self-reliant supply chain for critical minerals even as its steel and metals industry scales up sharply over the next two decades.

The forum, themed “Minerals to Metals,” opened with Dr. Pankaj Satija, Chairperson of ICC’s National Expert Committee on Minerals & Metals, setting out the scale of the opportunity and the government’s current approach to critical minerals. India’s list of critical minerals, he noted, now stands at 31 following the recent addition of coking coal, spanning applications from clean energy and electric vehicles to defence, healthcare and advanced manufacturing, with the government working simultaneously across exploration, recycling and recovery from industrial waste.

“Critical minerals are going to play a defining role in India’s future. They are essential for everything from clean energy and electric vehicles to defence, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. India has already identified 31 critical minerals, and the government’s approach is moving on three fronts—speeding up domestic exploration, treating e-waste as a valuable resource through recycling, and recovering critical minerals from industrial waste such as steel slag and fly ash. More than 500 blocks are already under exploration, while partnerships with countries like the US and Argentina are helping strengthen our supply chain. We still have a long way to go, but if the government, industry and researchers work together, India can steadily build a secure and self-reliant critical minerals ecosystem,” Dr. Satija said.

He also pointed to recent international engagement on the subject, noting that India and the United States had deepened cooperation through the FORGE initiative on February 4, 2026, followed by the PACT Initiative on February 20, 2026, with discussions during a subsequent visit by the US Secretary of State covering lithium refining, cathode materials, recycling, feedstock corridors and synthetic graphite production. He said India was similarly expanding engagement with Argentina and other Latin American markets to widen access to mineral resources.

Mr Anupam Lahiri, Programme Director, NITI Aayog, followed with the policy think tank’s view on recycling as the most immediate lever available to Indian industry, arguing that with domestic exploration still years away from yielding proven, mineable reserves, recovery from existing waste streams offered India its fastest route to reducing import dependence.

“India’s critical minerals journey cannot depend on mining alone. Domestic exploration will take time, so we also need to focus on the resources that are already around us. E-waste, battery waste, mine overburden and tailings have the potential to become important sources of critical minerals if we can build the right ecosystem around them. That means making recycling commercially viable, creating the right incentives for industry and helping new technologies move beyond the pilot stage. Overseas partnerships will continue to play an important role, but in the near term, recycling offers India the fastest and most practical path to strengthening its critical minerals supply,” he said.

Mr Lahiri disclosed that NITI Aayog has constituted a technical committee, with presentations from Coal India, Singareni Collieries, Jindal Steel and Adani, to assess how much critical mineral value can be recovered from mine tailings and overburden dumps, citing Neyveli Lignite Corporation’s success in extracting rare earth elements from fly ash as an early proof point. He flagged unresolved policy questions around how royalties should apply when critical minerals are recovered from an already-licensed coal mine, and noted that state-run KABIL was pursuing overseas mineral assets in Australia, Argentina and, more recently, the United States, though several host countries require ore processing to happen locally before export, limiting downstream value capture for India.

Mr Sushanta Kumar Mishra, Executive In-charge of Tata Steel’s Ferro Alloys & Minerals Division, linked the critical minerals push to India’s steel expansion plans, with national output targeted to rise from current levels of roughly 150-160 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes by 2030 and 500 million tonnes by 2047. He said Tata Steel, which currently operates around 24 million tonnes of capacity against an ambition of 40 million tonnes, was steering its ferroalloys business toward high-value products, targeting nearly 80% of its portfolio in value-added segments, while research at its Sukinda Valley operations on recovering nickel and cobalt from chromite overburden had already produced successful nickel pig iron trials in India. He called for greater regulatory clarity on how minerals recovered from mine overburden should be classified under existing licensing norms.

Offering an industry-wide perspective, Mr Tushar Chakraborty, Executive Director at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, said the sector’s focus needed to extend beyond output targets to cost competitiveness and supply chain resilience.

“As demand for steel, non-ferrous metals and other industrial commodities continues to rise, the conversation has to move beyond production targets. The real challenge is ensuring that this growth remains competitive and sustainable. That means improving productivity, securing reliable access to raw materials and building supply chains that can withstand future disruptions. India has set ambitious milestones for 2030 and 2047, but achieving them will depend as much on cost competitiveness as on capacity expansion. The industry now needs to focus on creating a resilient raw material ecosystem that supports long-term growth while keeping Indian manufacturing globally competitive,” Mr Chakraborty said.

Mr N. D. Rao, President-Projects at Atha & Amalgam Steel Group, framed the debate around mineralogy, noting that iron ore grade varies sharply by mineral type, from magnetite at roughly 72.3% iron content to hematite at 69.8%, goethite at around 62.5% and siderite below 50%, directly affecting processing costs and recovery. He pointed to emerging reduction roasting technology, now being trialled at a Bhubaneswar laboratory, that can convert lower-grade goethite and limonite ores into magnetite, lifting iron content to 67-70%. Drawing on his own experience leading bioleaching trials with Professor K. A. Natarajan of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and Hindustan Zinc’s decades-old programme recovering silver from zinc processing waste, which helped make India the world’s largest silver producer, Mr Rao cited Vadodara-based Rubamin’s success in recovering lithium from e-waste as evidence of the commercial potential in India’s “waste-to-wealth” approach, while noting that the country’s beach sand rare earth reserves remained underexploited due to limited private sector participation.

Mr R R Sathpathy, Executive Director-Exploration and Beneficiation at Lloyds Metals & Energy, distinguished between scientific, sustainable and responsible mining, arguing that Indian miners had mastered the first two but were only beginning the third. He detailed the transformation of the company’s Surjagad iron ore mine in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, once known chiefly for insurgency-related instability, into a fully electrified operation, with battery-powered dumpers, shovels and loaders cutting carbon emissions from around 11-12 kg per tonne to 3-3.5 kg per tonne, with a target of 1-1.5 kg per tonne once a planned 110 MW solar-and-wind hybrid power supply comes online later this year. He said the mine’s ongoing 45-million-tonne beneficiation plant, being built in three 15-million-tonne modules with the first due by September 2027, had extended the site’s usable resource base beyond a billion tonnes by lowering the cut-off ore grade, while the surrounding community had seen sustained local employment, a company-run school and a 100-bed hospital.

~ Recognition honours her contribution to music, cultural exchange and contemporary arts education ~

India, 25^th June 2026: In a landmark moment for Indian classical music on the global stage, renowned Carnatic vocalist, academic and educator Dr Radhika Balakrishnan has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC), one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious performing arts institutions.

She is the first Carnatic vocalist to receive an Honorary Fellowship from the Conservatoire. The award was formally presented at a ceremony held at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The honour recognises Dr Balakrishnan’s significant contributions to arts, culture and education, as well as her work in bringing Indian classical music into contemporary global learning environments.

Dating back almost a century, the Honorary Fellowship places Dr Balakrishnan among an esteemed cohort of recipients who have demonstrated exceptional excellence and made meaningful contributions to their respective fields. Among previous recipients was the late John Mayer (1930–2004) who served as Composer, Professor of Composition at RBC from 1990 to 2004, and a pioneer of Indo-jazz fusion and received the award in 1999.

Over more than 15 years, Dr Balakrishnan has brought traditional Carnatic music, infused with contemporary influences, to audiences across India, the United Kingdom and internationally. Her work demonstrates how ancient Indian musical systems can enrich modern conservatoire training and prepare students for careers in an increasingly interconnected creative world. As the inaugural ICCR Chair in Indian Studies at Birmingham City University in 2023, and through her continuing contribution to RBC as a visiting artist and professor, she has also positioned Indian classical music within a broader scholarly and diplomatic framework, strengthening institutional ties between UK higher education and India’s rich cultural heritage. Dr Balakrishnan learned Carnatic music under the tutelage of celebrated vocalist and educator Vidushi Dr. R.N. Sreelatha of the distinguished Rudrapatnam music tradition.

Speaking on her achievement, Stephen Maddock, Principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire said, “It gives me great pleasure to honour Radhika with this award. Her achievements as a distinguished Carnatic vocalist and teacher, combined with her unwavering commitment to supporting our students and bringing Indian music into the core of RBC’s work, have been transformative. Radhika embodies the kind of excellence and cultural generosity that we deeply value at the Conservatoire, and we are delighted to recognize her contributions with this prestigious honour.”

Adding to this, Professor Shirley Thompson, Vice Principal (Music), Royal Birmingham Conservatoire stated, “Radhika’s time with us has been nothing short of remarkable. When she joined us as our first Visiting Chair in Indian Music, I could never have predicted the profound impact she would have on both our students and staff. Her passion for sharing the depth and sophistication of Carnatic music, combined with her pedagogical skill and warmth, exemplifies what it means to bridge musical traditions. We are thrilled that she has continued her involvement with RBC, and this honour is thoroughly deserved.”

In her own words Dr Radhika Balakrishnan says that “Receiving the Honorary Fellowship of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is an honour that extends far beyond me. It represents recognition for the transformative power of Indian classical music in global artistic discourse. For centuries, Carnatic music has embodied a philosophy of learning, growth, and human connection. My work here at RBC has been about demonstrating that these ancient Indian music traditions as living, breathing systems of knowledge that can enrich and inspire the next generation of musicians and artists. This award affirms what I have always believed: that great music transcends geography, language, and culture. I am grateful to the entire RBC community for welcoming Indian classical music with such genuine curiosity and commitment. Together, we are writing a new chapter in how the world’s musical traditions can speak to, learn from, and ultimately strengthen one another.”

Dr Balakrishnan’s award reflects the Conservatoire’s continued commitment to recognising excellence and celebrating contributions to the broader cultural landscape. She joins a distinguished lineage of artists, educators and cultural practitioners whose work has enriched the institution and the wider creative community.

Set at a time when the domestic market was heavily disrupted by smuggled goods, the narrative tracks how the founders overcame immense bureaucratic and financial resistance to build an enduring icon of Indian industry. For PR experts, the core takeaway is clear: Titan did not succeed merely by building a better timekeeping machine; it succeeded by anchoring its narrative in national pride and emotional identity.

The transition from a basic commodity to a lifestyle essential occurred when the brand tapped into a deeper consumer truth—the gifting culture of India and the collective aspiration for world-class local design. By pairing breakthrough quartz technology with an elegant, emotionally resonant branding campaign, Titan redefined what it meant to buy an Indian product. For the modern communication professional, the series underscores a fundamental rule: products are built on logic, but enduring brands are sustained on genuine human connection. True scale is unlocked when strategic messaging captures the cultural zeitgeist, transforming a functional tool into a personal milestone.

The Key Takeaway for PR Professionals Sell the Paradigm, Not the Product: When entering a market dominated by legacy players or skepticism, the primary role of PR is to alter the emotional context. Move the conversation away from functional specifications (the “what”) and firmly position the brand around identity, aspiration, and purpose (the “why”).This video highlighting a Turning Point for Titan provides a direct look at the high-stakes narrative pivots and intense conviction featured in the series.

New Delhi, June 21: Hon’ble Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla on Saturday urged IITians to suggest reforms across various sectors and contribute to finding solutions to the problems faced by the common man.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants reforms in every sector with the aim of improving the lives of all citizens, Birla said while addressing a function on the launch ceremony of the book IIT – The Story of India’s Most Prestigious Educational Ecosystem, organized by Pan IIT Alumni India at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in New Delhi.

Pan IIT Alumni India, the apex body representing over 500,000 alumni from all 23 Indian Institutes of Technology across the globe, today celebrated 75 years of the IIT ecosystem with the launch of the PanIIT Book Club and the unveiling of its inaugural publication, “IIT: The Story of India’s Most Prestigious Educational Ecosystem,” authored by Shri Prabhat Kumar, IRS, Chairman, Pan IIT Alumni India, at the Lecture Hall Complex, IIT Delhi on Saturday evening.

Widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential alumni communities, Pan IIT serves as a high-trust platform connecting academia, industry, government, entrepreneurs, investors, and the global IIT diaspora. Through flagship initiatives such as PIWOT (Pan IIT World of Technology), city summits, startup platforms, hackathons, AI initiatives, and policy dialogues, PanIIT has emerged as a catalyst for innovation, entrepreneurship, and thought leadership, contributing to India’s emergence as a leading technology and knowledge economy.

Observing that the Modi government is committed to reforms, the Lok Sabha Speaker said, “All of you, with your vast experience, can contribute significantly to overcoming the challenges faced by ordinary people.”

Shri Birla said that as Lok Sabha Speaker, he would forward all valuable suggestions to the relevant Parliament Standing Committees for consideration and deliberation.

“Our Parliament Standing Committees should benefit from your experience, especially regarding what needs to be reformed and in which sectors. Your contribution to the country is essential,” Shri Birla said at the event comprising over 400 distinguished IIT alumni, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academicians, students, and industry leaders.

He added that whenever the country faces a challenge, it looks to the IITs for solutions.

“Whether it is COVID or any other challenge; whether it is the challenge of infrastructure, the challenge of the environment, the challenges of science, the challenge of space… whether it is the challenges of the digital world, AI or robotics, solutions to all these challenges emerge from India’s IITs,” Birla said.

Shri Birla also asked the IITians to inspire the next generation with their vision and ideas so that they too contribute their bit towards solving the daily challenges faced by the common man as well as small farmers.

The Lok Sabha Speaker spoke in detail about India’s knowledge tradition, scientific temperament, innovation, and the significant role played by the IITs in nation-building. He will also share his views on the contribution of research, technology, and youth power toward building a developed India by 2047.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Prabhat Kumar, IRS, Chairman, Pan IIT Alumni India, said:

“The IIT story is India’s story. This book is both a celebration of our extraordinary legacy and a call to action for the next generation. It is time for IITians to move from Silicon Valley to the Indus Valley and build here, scale here, and create for the world.”

The evening commenced with networking and welcome interactions among distinguished guests, followed by the inaugural session and the ceremonial lighting of the lamp symbolizing the spirit of knowledge and innovation that has defined the IIT journey.

A landmark moment of the evening was the formal launch of the PanIIT Book Club, envisioned as a platform to celebrate intellectual pursuits and showcase the literary contributions of IITians. The inaugural title, “IIT: The Story of India’s Most Prestigious Educational Ecosystem,” chronicles the evolution of the IIT ecosystem over the past seventy-five years and its profound impact on India’s growth story.

In his Special Address, Rajendra Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs said: ”

Today, you have examples before us why this concept of self-reliance or Aatmanirbharta is so important in our context. If you talk about AI, today the world’s leading country has blocked access to Mythos and Fable for all foreign nationals. So, in some sense, if this kind of attitude remains, which is going to sustain for, a long time, we need to think about how we can reach that technological frontier by ourselves. And in that journey and that vision, the role of IITs needs to be really very, very important and we all need to gear up to improve our capability to reach that vision of taking our digital economy to those levels by 2047.”

The event also featured keynote addresses by eminent leaders from government, industry, and academia. A distinguished alumni leadership panel on “Celebrating the IIT Legacy: Shaping the Future of Viksit Bharat” brought together leading entrepreneurs and innovators to discuss the next frontiers of technology, startups, and economic growth.

Mr. Devesh Srivastava, IPS, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), Delhi and Mr. Gautam Kumra (IIT Delhi ’91), Chairman, McKinsey Asia Pacific, were among the key speakers.

Mr. Ravi Shankar, Founder, Decision Point; Mr. Madhur Singhal, Founder, Praxis; Mr. Neeraj Kumar, Founder, PeakMind.in; Mr. Kapil Makhija, Founder, Unicommerce, participated in a panel discussion moderated by Ms. Tanya Singhal, India Head, Global Energy Alliance.

New Delhi, 16^th June 2026: The NDTV Food Awards 2026 celebrated some of the finest names in India’s food and hospitality industry, honouring chefs, restaurants, restaurateurs, institutions and professionals who are shaping the way India eats, discovers and experiences food.

The awards brought together the many worlds that define India’s food story today – iconic restaurants, celebrated chefs, ambitious new openings, regional excellence, contemporary dining spaces, landmark institutions and professionals whose work continues to raise the bar for the industry.

This year’s winners reflected the creativity, enterprise, imagination and depth that have made India one of the most exciting food destinations in the world. They also captured the growing confidence of Indian food – rooted in tradition, but increasingly contemporary, experimental and global in its ambition.

What gives the NDTV Food Awards their distinctive credibility is the integrity of the process. Every award was decided on merit alone, with the jury process kept independent of commercial considerations, partnerships or external influence.

For NDTV, this principle is fundamental. In a landscape where recognition must earn its credibility, the NDTV Food Awards have been built on merit, discernment and trust. Commercial partnerships and event associations have remained entirely separate from the jury process and award decisions.

Over the years, the NDTV Food Awards have become an important platform for recognising the people and places that are shaping India’s food culture with originality, consistency and craft. The awards celebrate excellence across the industry while keeping the focus firmly on contribution, credibility and the quality of work.

NDTV has also been privileged to chronicle India’s changing relationship with food through iconic shows and formats such as Zaika India Ka, anchored by Vinod Dua, Highway On My Plate, Café Maria, Gourmet Central and many others. The NDTV Food Awards are an extension of that journey.

The NDTV Food Awards 2026 were adjudicated by an eminent jury chaired by Vir Sanghvi. The jury included Sourish Bhattacharyya, Asma Khan, Anindya Sundar Basu, Dr. Shabnam Banu, Ananya Banerjee, Marryam H Reshii, Kurush Dalal and Roshni Bajaj Sanghvi.

Speaking on the occasion, Rahul Kanwal, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, NDTV, said: ‘India’s food landscape is going through a remarkable moment of creativity, confidence and reinvention. The NDTV Food Awards celebrate the people and places that are adding depth, imagination and distinction to this journey. This year’s winners represent the very best of craft, originality and enterprise across the industry. For us, credibility is non-negotiable. These awards cannot be bought. They stand for merit, integrity and trust. At NDTV, we are proud to recognise the chefs, restaurants and institutions that continue to make India’s food story richer and more exciting.’

Vir Sanghvi, Jury Chair, NDTV Food Awards, added: ‘The winners of the NDTV Food Awards 2026 capture the remarkable diversity and ambition of India’s food culture. They reflect excellence, originality, consistency and a deep respect for craft. Together, they represent the richness of India’s culinary landscape and the exciting direction in which it is moving.’

The winners of the NDTV Food Awards 2026 represented the full breadth of India’s food and hospitality landscape.

Baoshuan at The Oberoi New Delhi was named Best Chinese Restaurant of the Year, while Izumi, Goa, won Best Japanese Restaurant of the Year. Seefah, Mumbai, was recognised as Best Asian Restaurant of the Year.

In the Indian restaurant categories, Chor Bizarre, Delhi, was named Best Indian Restaurant of the Year for North Indian cuisine, while Karavalli, Bengaluru, won Best Indian Restaurant of the Year for South Indian cuisine. Ethnic Table, Dimapur, was recognised as Best Indian Restaurant of the Year in the Regional category, and Sienna, Kolkata, was named Best Indian Restaurant of the Year in the Modern category.

Avartana at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai, was named Most Innovative Indian Restaurant of the Year.

Americano, Mumbai, was named Best Italian Restaurant of the Year, while The Table, Mumbai, won Best European Restaurant of the Year. Nisaba by Chef Manish Mehrotra was recognised as Best Opening of the Year. Paris My Love, Delhi, won Best Bakery & Patisserie of the Year, and The Qube at The Leela Palace, New Delhi was named Best All-Day Dining Restaurant of the Year.

The awards also honoured India’s much-loved food institutions. Aminia, Kolkata, was named Historic Restaurant of India, while Bukhara at ITC Maurya, Delhi, received the honour of Legendary Restaurant of India.

Among individual honours, Mirelle Pingfu of Masque was named F&B Professional of the Year. Papa’s, Mumbai, won Best Restaurant of the Year. Himanshu Saini was recognised as Chef of the Year – International, Doma Wang was named Best Restaurateur of the Year, and Chef Manu Chandra was honoured as Chef of the Year.

The Outstanding Contribution to Indian Food honours went to Chef Kunal Kapur, recognising his influence on the way Indian food is celebrated, interpreted and taken to the world.

As India’s food culture continues to evolve with new ideas, deeper regional pride and a growing appetite for originality, the NDTV Food Awards 2026 celebrated the people and places giving this movement its strongest expression.

NDTV Food Awards 2026 Winner list:

1. Best Chinese Restaurant of the Year: Baoshuan, The Oberoi, New Delhi
2. Best European Restaurant of the Year: The Table, Mumbai
3. Best Asian Restaurant of the Year: Seefah, Mumbai
4. Best Italian Restaurant of the Year: Americano, Mumbai
5. Best Japanese Restaurant of the Year: Izumi, Goa
6. Best Indian Restaurant of the Year (North Indian): Chor Bizarre, Delhi
7. Best Indian Restaurant of the Year (South Indian): Karavalli, Bengaluru
8. Best Indian Restaurant of the Year (Regional): Ethnic Table, Dimapur
9. Best Indian Restaurant of the Year (Modern): Sienna, Kolkata
10. Best Opening of the Year: Nisaba by Chef Manish Mehrotra
11. Best Bakery & Patisserie of the Year: Paris My Love, Delhi
12. Best All-Day Dining of the Year: The Qube, Hotel Leela, New Delhi
13. Most Innovative Indian Restaurant of the Year: Avartana, ITC Grand Chola, Chennai
14. Historic Restaurant of India: Aminia, Kolkata
15. Legendary Restaurant of India: Bukhara, ITC Maurya, Delhi
16. F&B Professional of the Year: Mirelle Pingfu, Masque
17. Best Restaurant of the Year: Papa’s, Mumbai
18. Chef of the Year (International): Chef Himanshu Saini
19. Best Restaurateur of the Year: Doma Wang
20. Outstanding Contribution to Indian Food: Chef Kunal Kapur
21. Chef of the Year: Chef Manu Chandra

Bengaluru, June 13, 2026 – In a significant step toward leveraging technology for social impact, students from the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at East Point College of Engineering & Technology (EPCET), Bengaluru, have developed an innovative “Smart Women Security System Using IoT” – a compact wearable safety device designed to provide real-time emergency assistance and improve women’s personal safety.

Developed by students Abhinav Mallappa Radder, Abhishek Gowda MS, Madhan M S, and Rekha S under the guidance of Dr. Kesavan M V, the project integrates multiple technologies including GSM, GPS, IoT sensors, cloud connectivity, and health monitoring systems into a single intelligent safety platform.

The wearable prototype is designed to detect emergency situations such as sudden falls, abnormal movement, unsafe surroundings, or distress scenarios, and instantly send SMS alerts with live GPS location to family members or emergency contacts. Unlike many existing safety applications that rely heavily on smartphones and internet connectivity, the system is capable of functioning through GSM-based communication, ensuring better reliability during emergencies.

The project incorporates several advanced safety features including real-time GPS tracking and GSM-based emergency alerts that instantly share the user’s live location during distress situations. The device is also equipped with accelerometer sensors capable of detecting sudden falls and unusual movements, while an integrated MQ-3 sensor helps identify the presence of alcohol in nearby surroundings. In addition, the system monitors vital health parameters such as heart rate and body temperature and uploads the data to the Blynk cloud platform for remote access. To further enhance safety, the prototype includes a camera activation feature for evidence collection during emergencies along with a low-voltage self-defense deterrent mechanism designed for immediate response situations.

The prototype was successfully tested under controlled conditions and demonstrated reliable GSM connectivity, GPS accuracy, emergency alert transmission, and effective sensor-based monitoring. The students noted that while the device has shown promising results at the prototype stage, additional real-world testing and regulatory compliance would be required before commercial deployment.

Speaking about the project, Dr. Manimozhi I, Head of the Department, CSE, EPCET, said: “This project reflects our institution’s commitment to fostering innovation in socially relevant domains. Women’s safety is a critical issue, and the integration of technology-driven solutions like this device demonstrates the potential of student-led research to make a real-world impact.”

Commenting on the project, Dr. Kesavan M V, Associate Professor, CSE, EPCET and Project Guide, said: “The team has successfully combined multiple technologies including GPS, GSM, alcohol detection, and health monitoring into a compact prototype aimed at enhancing women’s safety. The results achieved so far are promising and showcase the students’ technical capabilities and dedication toward solving real-world challenges.”

The project also highlights how affordable embedded systems and IoT-enabled solutions can play an important role in building safer public environments for women. With future enhancements such as AI-based threat detection, mobile app integration, and direct emergency service connectivity, the system has the potential to evolve into a scalable smart safety solution.

The cookbook was unveiled at Shared Tables, Shared Stories, an immersive culinary experience hosted at The Oberoi, New Delhi.

NEW YORK/ NEW DELHI June 12, 2026 — DoubleVerify (“DV”) (NYSE: DV), the leading software platform to verify media quality, optimize advertising performance and prove campaign outcomes, today announced the launch of AI-powered brand suitability reporting for YouTube Audio Ads campaigns, extending DV’s trusted post-bid measurement capabilities to this listening-first format.

As advertisers increasingly allocate dedicated budgets to audio environments, the need for transparency and control continues to grow. With brand suitability reporting for YouTube Audio Ads campaigns, DV helps customers confidently expand into this media category, applying consistent standards and gaining the visibility needed to drive stronger performance.

“As audio consumption continues to grow, advertisers need the same level of transparency and control they expect across the broader digital ecosystem,” said Steven Woolway, EVP of Business Development at DoubleVerify . “With AI-powered brand suitability measurement, we’re extending the same trusted insights advertisers rely on for video into audio-forward environments, giving our customers the transparency and control needed to protect brand equity while scaling investment with confidence.”

YouTube Audio Ads are designed for listening-first experiences, running as in-stream ads with lightweight creative, typically a static image or simple animation paired with high-quality audio. These ads appear across environments where users are more likely to listen than watch, including YouTube Music, podcast content on YouTube and other audio-forward inventory.

As audio becomes a more intentional part of media plans, it introduces a new layer of complexity for brand suitability. Without proper post-bid measurement, advertisers risk limited visibility into potential misalignment between their brand and the audio content surrounding their ads.

DV’s brand suitability reporting for YouTube Audio Ads is powered by Universal Content Intelligence, DV’s AI-powered classification engine that analyzes content across audio, video, text and image signals to deliver precise, scalable classification. In audio-forward environments, DV applies advanced AI models to interpret spoken language, sentiment, contextual cues and metadata. This multi-signal approach enables more accurate identification of nuanced content, ensuring brand suitability standards are consistently applied.

DV’s brand suitability offering is a key component of DV’s Media AdVantage Platform, which combines media verification, ad performance optimization and campaign outcomes measurement to maximize media effectiveness and return on ad spend. As part of media verification, DV’s brand suitability measurement provides advertisers with actionable insights into content alignment, strengthening confidence in campaign performance.

DV recently announced the launch of DV AI SlopStopper for Social, expanding protection against low-quality, AI-generated content and helping advertisers maximize media quality and campaign performance across social environments.

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PR Professionals ll Dr. Sarvesh Tiwari ll