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Standard Chartered and Dun & Bradstreet launch Women Entrepreneurship Optimism Index

MUMBAI, India, March 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Standard Chartered Bank and Dun & Bradstreet, a global leader in business decisioning data and analytics, today released the first-ever edition of Women Entrepreneurship Optimism Index (WEOI). The composite Women Entrepreneurship Optimism Index for Q4 2024 stood at 68.93 (up by 97 basis points from 67.90 in Q3 2024), indicating that women entrepreneurs had anticipated improved prospects in the last quarter of 2024.

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The WEOI has been launched as part of the SC WIN – the Women’s International Network programme of Standard Chartered Bank that supports women-led businesses with funding, cash management, dedicated managers, and a community for supporting them in their growth journey.

This first-of-its-kind index is based on a survey of more than 200 women entrepreneurs across a wide range of industries and cities, and presents effective insights into the outlook, opportunities and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs. It focusses on five key dimensions that shape women entrepreneurs’ confidence: business performance, access to finance, skill development, digital adoption, and support of government policies along with personal and professional networks.

Some of the key findings of the survey are:

  • Thriving business confidence among women entrepreneurs can be attributed to the projected increase in domestic orders, which in turn reflects buoyant demand for their products and services in domestic markets.
  • Women entrepreneurs in Tier 1 cities were more optimistic than those in Tier 2 cities, especially regarding digital adoption and confidence in their skills.
  • Entrepreneurs in health services and those engaged in production of basic and intermediate goods exhibited lower optimism, and those in consumer goods sector seemed to be most optimistic about Q4 2024.
  • In Q4 2024, 64% of the women business owners surveyed expressed interest to digitise their business operations – including Financial Management – to modernise processes and improve efficiency.
  • With the goal of expanding customer base, they also displayed strong preference towards investing in tech tools, with 70% women entrepreneurs planning to invest more on digital tools and processes for customer acquisition in Q4 2024.
  • For growing their business, women business leaders placed topmost importance on leadership and management skills, along with an entrepreneurial mindset.
  • There is also a growing demand for government-backed skill development programs and support initiatives, with 2 in every 5 conveying optimism about the value of these resources.
  • 71% women entrepreneurs did not expect to find access to finance easy.

Launching the WEOI Q4 2024 report, Aditya Mandloi, Managing Director, Head, Wealth and Retail Banking, India and South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, said, “Women entrepreneurs are a powerful force in India’s business landscape, yet systemic barriers continue to hinder their progress. SC WIN reflects Standard Chartered’s commitment to breaking these barriers by equipping women with the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. The Women Entrepreneurship Optimism Index further reinforces this commitment, providing data-driven insights to shape policies and initiatives that drive meaningful change.”

Avinash Gupta, Managing Director & CEO – India, Dun & Bradstreet, said, “The Women Entrepreneurship Optimism Index is an essential resource for policymakers, financial institutions, and other key players to create strategies that help women entrepreneurs thrive as it pinpoints factors that either boost or hinder growth. The Index is expected to serve as a barometer to gauge the tone and direction in which our women entrepreneurs perceive their business would grow.”

About Standard Chartered:

Standard Chartered Bank has been operating in India with a continuous presence of over 165 years making it one of the oldest foreign banks in the country. The Bank has a network of 100 branches across 42 cities. Key business segments include Corporate and Investment Banking and Wealth and Retail Banking. For more information, visit https://www.sc.com/in/

Globally, we are a leading international banking group, with a presence in 52 of the world’s most dynamic markets. Our purpose is to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, and our heritage and values are expressed in our brand promise, here for good.

Standard Chartered PLC is listed on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

For more stories and expert opinions, please visit Insights at sc.com. Follow Standard Chartered on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

About Dun & Bradstreet: 

Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, enables companies around the world to improve their business performance. Dun & Bradstreet’s Data Cloud fuels solutions and delivers insights that empower customers to accelerate revenue, lower cost, mitigate risk and transform their businesses. Since 1841, companies of every size have relied on Dun & Bradstreet to help them manage risk and reveal opportunity. For more information on Dun & Bradstreet, please visit www.dnb.com

Dun & Bradstreet Information Services India Private Limited is headquartered in Mumbai and provides clients with data-driven products and technology-driven platforms to help them take faster and more accurate decisions across finance, risk, compliance, information technology and marketing. Working towards Government of India’s vision of creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) by supporting the Make in India initiative, Dun & Bradstreet India has a special focus on helping entrepreneurs enhance their visibility, increase their credibility, expand access to global markets, and identify potential customers & suppliers, while managing risk and opportunity. 

Visit www.dnb.co.in for more information. Click here for all Dun & Bradstreet India press releases. 

 

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Reliance Digital Launches ‘Baaptaa’, a Father’s Day Campaign Celebrating the Many Expressions of Fatherhood

MUMBAI, India, June 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Reliance Digital has launched ‘Baaptaa’, a Father’s Day campaign to celebrate the many expressions of fatherhood. Built around a simple cultural observation, while “Maa ki Mamta” has long been a part of India’s collective vocabulary, there has never been a word that captures the distinct ways fathers express love, the campaign introduces ‘Baaptaa’ as a tribute to the many shades of fatherhood.

Conceptualised as an original music-led campaign, Baaptaa celebrates fathers not as idealised figures, but as they are experienced in everyday life, protective, dependable, emotional, quirky, practical, occasionally embarrassing, and always present. Through a relatable narrative, the campaign acknowledges the countless ways fathers care for their families, often through actions rather than words.

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/9XyUsJB33Ds?si=PM67vhxrzth1JEkz 

At the heart of the campaign is an original music video told from a father’s perspective, capturing the different roles he plays across life’s moments and milestones. The film brings to life the humour, warmth and unspoken affection that characterise father-child relationships, while giving a name to a form of love that many recognise but few have articulated.

The campaign stems from a simple insight: while motherhood has often found expression through familiar phrases and popular references, the unique language of fatherhood has remained largely undefined. Baaptaa seeks to fill that gap by creating a term that reflects the everyday gestures, practical wisdom and quiet sacrifices that fathers make.

Father’s Day communication often leans into familiar emotional territory, but Reliance Digital’s campaign celebrates fathers in a way that feels more culturally authentic and relatable. The idea for ‘Baaptaa’ came from a simple observation — mother’s love has been immortalised in a number of heartfelt, emotional songs, there needed to be an anthem dedicated to dad’s love. And thus was born Baaptaa – a love language that is often awkward, practical, protective, humorous and deeply felt, even if rarely verbalised. It’s a celebration of fatherhood in all its wonderfully imperfect forms immortalized by a song that you won’t be able to stop humming.

Shop for the widest range of electronics at Reliance Digital and thank your father for his Baaptaa.

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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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