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Day 2 of India Global Forum Middle East & Africa: A Spotlight on AI, Innovation, Sports and Cross-Regional Collaboration

NEW DELHI and ABU DHABI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The India Global Forum Middle East & Africa (IGF ME&A), in its 4th edition, continued its exploration of new and thriving economic opportunities in a rapidly evolving global landscape. As India advances its global trajectory under the newly elected government, Day 2 of IGF ME&A brought together global leaders to identify and unlock collaborative potential between India, the UAE, the Middle East, and Africa for a limitless future.

The day began with a compelling conversation with Mina Liccione, Comedian, Co-Founder, Dubomedy, UAE, discussing how humour can challenge stereotypes and open dialogue on social issues. “People tend to listen to comedians more because there is truth, and it’s a bit lighter, and we all need a bit of a sense of humour. As someone who is in a field which has more men, I personally like being called a comedian, not a female comedian or a woman in comedy.”

Preparing for an (AI)pocalypse: Building Resilience in Technology

Later on, an insightful TownHall session, ‘(AI)pocalypse Now – Insulating Against a Tech Crash,’ addressed contingency planning in an era of widespread AI integration. Mohamed AbuHamra, Chief Operating Officer, Digital Technology, DP World GCC, set the tone with an incisive scene-setter, emphasising the importance of preparedness in the face of potential disruptions.

The panel discussion featured Dr. Jacques Ludik, Founder, Cortex AI Group, South Africa; Rajesh Nambiar, President, NASSCOM, India; and Alexander Khanin, CEO, Polynome Group, UAE. “Today AI is re-shaping and re-imagining how industries work. We are speaking about a lot of benefits it brings specifically to the trade and logistics industry. Digital technology and AI are embedded in every part of the supply chain. Our aim, with the support of AI, is to simplify the import and export process, creating those digital corridors that will boost the trade and logistics sector in Dubai” said, Mohamed AbuHamra as he underscored the session’s relevance to today’s AI-driven world.

Crafting Winning Business Strategies

In ‘The Anatomy of a Winning Pitch,’ top entrepreneurs and investors shared their expertise in mastering the art of business communication. Sanjay Nayar, Founder and Chairman, Sorin Advisors LLP, India; Somdutta Singh, Founder and CEO, Assiduus, UAE; and Prashanth Prakash, Partner, Accel India, India, highlighted the critical elements of persuasive storytelling in business. Sharing his thoughts on the theme, Sanjay Nayar said, “How do you differentiate from a good idea to a bad idea?  Is it a real idea and will it really scale up to a real business that solves real problems? That’s a (good) idea for me. If it’s disruptive in a way and is a solution to traditional business models or traditional solutions. Lastly, if it’s leveraging technology to scale up then even better.”

Transforming Healthcare with AI

The session on ‘AI and the Future of Healthcare Delivery’ brought forth discussions on how AI is revolutionising the healthcare sector. Experts including Michael Schelper, SVP Corporate Development, Caresyntax, UAE; Marwan Abdulaziz Janahi, SVP, Dubai Science Park, TECOM Group, UAE; Khalid Shaikh, Founder & CEO, Prognica Labs, UAE; and Siddharth Shah, Co-Founder & CEO, API Holdings (PharmEasy), India, shared practical use cases of AI in diagnostics and patient care. “AI has significantly impacted the healthcare sector by making it affordable and accessible. Software as a service (SaaS) tools empower doctors to consult patients where the time to undertake the patient’s symptoms, findings, history, diagnosis and treatment, which used to happen in 10-12 minutes, using AI and predictive algorithms, now happens in under 1 minute.” as Siddharth Shah encapsulated the session’s visionary outlook.

Sustainability and Profitability in Focus

As a part of IGF’s ClimB (Climate and Business) Forum, a critical conversation on ‘Greening the Bottom Line – Financial Strategies for a Sustainable Future’ emphasised the alignment of business objectives with sustainability goals. Panellists, including Harish K. Ahuja, Head of Sustainability Carbon & Power Markets, NSE India; Dharnesh Gordhon, Former CEO, Godrej Consumer & Nestle, UAE; Hanan Bakr Sakr, CEO and Founder, Al ARD Sustainability Consultancy, UAE; and Sameera Fernandes, CSO & Board Member, Century Financial, UAE, discussed actionable strategies for sustainable growth. “We can look at Africa as a business opportunity rather than as a borrower. This narrative has to change in the context of climate finance and the climate crisis. We are all aware that the climate crisis is a global urgency, and Africa represents one of the green lungs of the world,” said Hanan Bakr Sakr.

Reimagining Indian Sports

In the session ‘Lessons from the Field – Cultivating the Future of Indian Sports,’ experts shared insights into nurturing sports talent and infrastructure. Moderated by Monish Shah, Founder & CEO, DreamSetGo, the panel included Anurag Dahiya, Chief Commercial Officer, International Cricket Council, UAE; Mahesh Bhupathi, Director, SG Sports Private Limited, UAE; and Pasha Gademan, Head Coach, Hyderabad Toofans, India.  Mahesh Bhupathi said, “Starting sports leagues is not the challenge; sustaining them is. Sustaining a league requires star players, especially Indian stars for Indian leagues. Cricket succeeds in India because it has 50-60 superstars, not just 11, which drives: Viewership, leading to Sponsors, supporting Broadcasts,and sustaining the entire ecosystem.Leagues without star players often fail, as seen in the slow demise of some leagues over the years.”

Beauty, Wellness, and Social Media in the Spotlight

Akash Mehta, CEO & Co-Founder, Fable and Mane, UK, led a solo conversation on ‘It’s My Life(Style) – Changing the Face of Beauty and Wellness,’ redefining innovation in lifestyle industries. “I wanted to create a brand that celebrated our culture. For us, it’s about honouring heritage and culture. We always give an image to our roots. We do a lot of content on going back to India and learning from our elders. It’s about capturing the essence of India and preserving it for generations,” captured his forward-thinking vision.

The day concluded with a session on ‘Content is King – Creativity and Influence in Social Media’ featured Charul C Jaitly, Co-Founder, Maiti Group, UAE; Suhel Seth, Managing Partner, Counselage India, India; Vivek Oberoi, Chairman, Oberoi Family Office, India; and Amish Tripathi, Bestselling Author, India. It provided an inspiring conclusion to the day’s discussions.

Unlocking a Limitless Future

The conversations on Day 2 of IGF ME&A reaffirmed its mission to foster partnerships and collaborations across borders, addressing global challenges while building pathways to shared success.

Featuring over 200 speakers and 1,000 participants across nine streams, IGF ME&A 2024 offers exclusive networking opportunities, engaging panel discussions, and inspiring keynote speeches.

About India Global Forum

India Global Forum tells the story of contemporary India. The pace of change and growth India has set itself is an opportunity for the world. IGF is the gateway for businesses and nations to help seize that opportunity. Find out more here.

Social Media Handles & Hashtag to Follow

Twitter: @IGFUpdates & @manojladwa

LinkedIn: India Global Forum

#IGFUAE

 

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Harper Collins Publishers India is Delighted to Announce the Recent Publication of ‘People We Love’ by Preeti Shenoy

NEW DELHI, June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — HarperCollins Publishers India is delighted to share the recent publication of People We Love by bestselling author Preeti Shenoy. At once tender and sharp, this collection of stories offers intimate, truthful and relatable portraits of the people we cherish, the ones we lose, and the people we become.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The people we love never truly leave our story…

In these tender yet piercing stories, Preeti Shenoy returns to some of her most beloved characters to reveal who they were before they appeared in her bestselling novels It’s All in the Planets and The One You Cannot Have.

Aniket, a coder, carries the weight of a longing for Trisha that he cannot bring himself to act on. Nidhi abandons her corporate life to teach pottery, only to discover that clay is far more forgiving than the people she loves. A quiz competition sparks an unlikely romance between Aman and Shruti, one that must withstand parental disapproval and class divides. And Anjali, a journalist, is so busy chasing stories that she almost misses the one unfolding in her own life.

Set against the pulse of contemporary India, People We Love explores the tug-of-war between duty and desire, family and freedom, who we are and who we dare to be. Intimate and deeply felt, these are stories about love that stays, leaves and almost slips away … love that quietly and irrevocably shapes the people we become.

Preeti Shenoy, author, says, “People We Love is a collection of three long stories, prequels to my bestsellers It’s All in the Planets and The One You Cannot Have. If you have read those books, you already know how these characters’ stories unfold. But what you don’t know yet is where it all began, the loves they carried, the choices they made, and the people they were before life shaped them into who you met on those pages. Writing these prequels felt like returning to a home I hadn’t realised I missed, and discovering rooms I had never been in before.”

Rashmi Menon, Associate Publisher – HarperCollins India, adds, “Preeti Shenoy has an extraordinary gift for finding the heartbeat of ordinary lives. People We Love is a warm, wise and deeply humane collection of short stories that reunites readers with favourite characters from her bestselling novels It’s All in the Planets and The One You Cannot Have, weaving them into fresh, deeply satisfying narratives. These characters feel like people you know, and their journeys will move, comfort and surprise you. This uplifting, thought–provoking collection reminds us why we turn to stories in the first place. We couldn’t be more excited to share it with our readers.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Preeti Shenoy is among the highest-selling authors in India. She was featured on the Forbes longlist of the most influential celebrities in India. Her books include When Love Came Calling, Wake Up Life, Is Calling, Life Is What You Make It, The Rule Breakers, A Hundred Little Flames, It’s All in the Planets, Why We Love the Way We Do, The Secret Wish List, The One You Cannot Have and many others. Her work has been translated into many Indian languages. Preeti is also a motivational speaker, an avid fitness enthusiast, and an artist specializing in portraiture and illustrated journalling. Preeti lives in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS INDIA

At HarperCollins Publishers India, we believe in telling the best stories and ensuring they reach the widest readership. We publish around 250 new books every year across 10 imprints, adding to a diverse catalogue of more than 3,000 titles in print and digital formats, with an array of genres and voices that ensure there is a book for every reader. Our authors have won some of the most prestigious literary awards, and we are proud to publish many acclaimed writers, alongside new and emerging voices shaping contemporary literature. We are also the publishers of The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, winner of the Booker Prize 2008, and Girl in White Cotton by Avni Doshi, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2020, and HarperCollins India itself has been awarded “Publisher of the Year” several times. In addition, we represent some of the finest global publishers such as Harvard University Press, Lonely Planet, Oneworld, Nosy Crow, Usborne, and National Geographic Children, bringing Indian readers access to world-class books and ideas. We are also proud to be certified as a Great Place to Work for two consecutive years, a recognition of our culture, people, and values that make HarperCollins India a truly inspiring workplace. 

PRESS CONTACT:

Nandini Tripathi, Manager – Marketing (Commercial)

Email: nandini.tripathi@harpercollins.co.in | Mobile: +91 9718928839

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Fulfilling PM Modi’s Dream of Atmanirbhar Bharat: India’s AI Writing Startup Kreativespace Incubated at IIT Kharagpur

  1. Kreativespace, an Indian AI-powered writing platform founded by Vinet Kakadea, has been incubated at IIT Kharagpur and recognized by SVNIT University, Ministry of Education under Bodhan AI Conclave also through the NVIDIA Inception Program, AWS Startup Program, and DPIIT under Startup India.
  2. The platform unifies 8 AI-powered writing tools, along with AI Humanizer and Message AI feature being the latest addition into a single ecosystem, so you can generate and refine content all in one place.
  3. The company reports more than 50,000+ signed-up users, 75,000+ anonymous users, and roughly 100,000 monthly website visitors, positioning itself as the only Indian company operating at scale in the global AI writing market.

SURAT, India, June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Kreativespace, an AI-powered writing platform, is building out its position as the only homegrown alternative in a market long dominated by international tools such as Grammarly and QuillBot. Founded by Vinet Kakadea and incubated at IIT Kharagpur, the company has aligned its growth with the broader push behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) initiative, which encourages indigenous technology development capable of competing on a global scale.

Kreativespace Incubated at IIT Kharagpur

As AI adoption accelerates across India’s education, research, and enterprise sectors, Kreativespace is among a small group of Indian startups building writing technology designed to compete directly with established international platforms.

Kreativespace’s progress has been recognized by several institutions central to India’s startup and technology ecosystem. The company has been incubated at IIT Kharagpur, selected under SSIP 2.0 through SVNIT University, and chosen by the Ministry of Education to present its work at the Bodhan AI Conclave. It has also been accepted into the NVIDIA Inception Program and the AWS Startup Program, and holds DPIIT recognition under the Startup India initiative.

Where many writing-tool users rely on separate subscriptions for content generation to refinement for grammar correction, paraphrasing, plagiarism checking, citation generation, and editing, Kreativespace brings these functions into a single platform as a super-app for AI writing tools. The company says its approach centers on affordability and accessibility alongside performance, aiming to make advanced AI writing assistance available to a wider range of users regardless of geography or budget.

The idea for Kreativespace took shape while founder Vinet Kakadea was studying at New York University and Marymount University in the United States, where he experienced firsthand how students, researchers, and professionals often need multiple paid subscriptions to cover writing-related tasks. That fragmented experience led him to build a super-app offering each of these capabilities together, at a more accessible price point.

Kreativespace combines 8 AI-powered writing tools with AI Humanizer and Message AI feature being the latest addition, allowing users to generate, rewrite, refine, and humanize content without moving between separate platforms. The product is available via web platform, mobile apps on the App Store and Google Play, browser extensions for Chrome, Mozilla, and Edge, and a Google Docs add-on.

Vinet Kakadea, Founder of Kreativespace, said, “Kreativespace’s vision is to digitalize the entire Indian education ecosystem to support PM Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme.”

About Kreativespace

Kreativespace with the Motto of Making Writing Accessible for Everyone: Kreativespace is an AI-powered writing platform built to make AI writing tools accessible, affordable, and effective for students, researchers, educators, professionals, content creators, startups, and enterprises. Founded by Vinet Kakadea, the company is incubated at IIT Kharagpur and has been recognized by AWS Startup Program, the NVIDIA Inception Program, and DPIIT under Startup India. For more information, visit kreativespace.com.

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Santokbaa Humanitarian Award 2026 Marks 20 Years of Compassion and Service

SURAT, India, June 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Santokbaa Humanitarian Award 2026, instituted by Shree Ramkrishna Knowledge Foundation (SRKKF), the philanthropic arm of Shree Ramkrishna Exports (SRK), marked 20 years of honouring individuals who have made a lasting difference through compassion, service and leadership. The awards were presented recently in Surat.

This year’s Santokbaa Humanitarian Award was conferred on Padma Shri Dr. Gullapalli N. Rao, renowned Indian ophthalmologist and Founder-Chair of the LV Prasad Eye Institute, and Padma Shri Smt. Reema Nanavaty, development worker and Director of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). Their work has touched millions of lives through healthcare, empowerment and community development.

In a significant addition this year, SRKKF introduced the Social Entrepreneur Award to recognise leaders who combine business excellence with measurable social impact. The inaugural award was presented to Shri Srikanth Bolla, Founder of Bollant Industries, a sustainable manufacturing company known for disability-inclusive employment and environmentally responsible practices.

The event was graced by Chief Guest Shri Harivansh Narayan Singh, Hon’ble Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and Guests of Honour Shri Harsh Sanghavi, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat; along with several other distinguished personalities.

Established in 2006 by Shri Govind Dholakia, Founder & Chairman Emeritus of Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. and SRKKF, the award reflects the legacy of compassion and selfless values embodied by his mother, Santokbaa. Over the past two decades, it has become a platform to honour individuals whose lives and work continue to inspire society.

The awardees are selected through a rigorous and transparent process led by an independent jury comprising leaders from diverse fields. The 2026 jury included Shri Govindan Rangarajan, Director, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru; Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, Former Chairman, ISRO; Admiral R. Hari Kumar (Retd.), Former Chief of the Indian Navy; Shri Rishabh Shroff, Partner, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas; and Shri Shreyans Dholakia, Entrepreneur and Brand Custodian, SRK.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Guest Shri Harivansh Narayan Singh said that the SRK Foundation is carrying forward Santokbaa’s legacy to the next generation by celebrating service, sacrifice and compassion over wealth or fame. He added that the family’s effort to connect this legacy with social entrepreneurship reflects the values of nation-building.

Shri Harsh Sanghavi said the Santokbaa Award reminds us that true achievement lies not only in personal success, but in bringing light and happiness to others. Shri Govind Dholakia said his mother Santokbaa spent her life guided by truth, love and compassion, and that her values continue to inspire the family’s work. He added that the award’s 20-year journey is a tribute to changemakers whose efforts have strengthened communities across the country.

Speaking on the honour, Dr. Gullapalli N. Rao said it was a privilege to receive the recognition on behalf of all those working to expand access to quality eye care. He said restoring sight restores dignity and opportunity, and praised SRK’s world-class operational systems. Smt. Reema Nanavaty said the award belonged to the millions of women whose resilience and entrepreneurial spirit continue to inspire SEWA’s mission. She noted that when women are empowered, they become agents of change for their families and communities. Shri Srikanth Bolla said his journey has shown that limitations often exist more in perception than reality, and that the award is a reminder that with the right support, every individual can contribute meaningfully to society.

Over the past 20 years, the Santokbaa Humanitarian Award has honoured 20 of India’s most distinguished humanitarian and social leaders, including Shri Ratan Tata, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Dr. Sudha Murty, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Shri Shiv Nadar, Dr. Abhay Bang and Dr. Rani Bang, Dr. Verghese Kurien, Shri Kailash Satyarthi and Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar. With the introduction of the Social Entrepreneurship Award in 2026, the milestone celebration reaffirmed the importance of empathy, service and purposeful leadership in building a better future.

About Santokbaa Humanitarian Award:

Over the past 20 years, the Santokbaa Humanitarian Award has honoured 19 of India’s most distinguished humanitarian and social leaders, including Shri Ratan Tata, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Dr. Sudha Murty, Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Shri Shiv Nadar, Dr. Abhay Bang and Dr. Rani Bang, Dr. Verghese Kurien, Shri Kailash Satyarthi and Shri A.S. Kiran Kumar, among other eminent personalities. In 2026, SRKKF also instituted the Santokbaa Social Entrepreneurship Award, with Shri Srikanth Bolla becoming its inaugural recipient.

As the Santokbaa Humanitarian Award completed a remarkable 20-year journey, the milestone celebration reaffirmed the enduring importance of empathy, service and purposeful leadership in shaping a better future. The journey endures, contributing to nation-building through compassion, innovation and service to humanity.

For more information, visit: https://srk.foundation/honours

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