Business Bureau

Sterling Holiday Resorts has  expanded its footprint in North-East India with the launch of Sterling Mount Olive Gangtok, a contemporary city hotel located in the heart of Gangtok. The new property marks Sterling’s second hotel in Sikkim and its fourth across the North-East region. Situated in Development Area, Gangtok’s key business and administrative hub, the hotel is designed to cater to business travellers, professionals on short stays, and leisure visitors seeking proximity to the city’s commercial and cultural centres. Guests will have easy access to government offices, business districts and the popular MG Marg promenade. The hotel also complements Sterling’s…

Craft Collective, an institution-led initiative focused on strengthening India’s craft ecosystem, on Tuesday announced its first-ever Craft & Culture Forum, to be held in Kolkata from January 29 to February 1, 2026. The announcement was made at a press meet at the Press Club, Kolkata. The four-day forum is being organised by Foundation for MSME Clusters in partnership with Karu, Red Strategy Partners and The Red Bari, with support from Cisco under its India Cash Grant Program. The forum aims to connect artisans, designers, buyers and institutions with contemporary and global markets. The event will feature curated exhibitions, a marketplace,…

CDSL Ventures Limited (CVL), India’s first and largest KYC Registration Agency (KRA), has crossed a major milestone by surpassing 10 crore KYC records, marking a significant achievement in the country’s financial market infrastructure. The development underlines CVL’s growing role in strengthening the Know Your Customer (KYC) framework across India’s securities ecosystem. The milestone reflects the scale, efficiency, and reliability of CVL’s operations, as it continues to support intermediaries, investors, and regulators with robust KYC services. As a critical backbone of the securities market, CVL enables seamless onboarding, compliance, and data integrity, contributing to greater transparency and investor confidence. The expanding…

The Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2025 concluded its latest edition after delivering a series of immersive and high-impact fashion showcases across Gurugram, Jaipur and Kolkata, setting new benchmarks for experiential fashion in India. Conceptualised around the theme “Making Fashion Move”, the tour brought together technology, design innovation and cultural storytelling, positioning fashion as a dynamic, evolving form rather than a static showcase. The tour opened in Gurugram with “The Futureverse of Fashion”, where designers Falguni and Shane Peacock blended haute couture with advanced technology, including humanoid robots and holographic projections, featuring actors Shahid Kapoor and Tamannaah Bhatia. In Jaipur, “High…

Tata AIA Life Insurance has launched Tata AIA AURA, a platform designed to transform life insurance advisory into a full-fledged entrepreneurial career, as the sector witnesses a growing influx of young professionals. The move comes at a time when India has over 31.5 lakh life insurance advisors, yet life insurance penetration stands at just 3.7% of GDP in FY24, indicating vast untapped potential. Tata AIA AURA seeks to empower advisors with digital tools, structured training, mentorship, and strategic guidance, enabling them to operate as independent business owners rather than transactional intermediaries. The initiative aligns with the national vision of achieving…

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was celebrated with enthusiasm across India and in several countries on Thursday, with events organised by Indian missions worldwide to honour the contributions of the Indian diaspora. On the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended greetings to Indians living overseas, describing them as a strong bridge between India and the world. Indian missions marked the day through cultural and interactive programmes. India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva hosted a large gathering of people of Indian origin. In China, the Consulate General of India in Shanghai focused on promoting Indian entrepreneurship. Consul General Pratik Mathur…

As the globally popular series Stranger Things draws to a close, Samsung Electronics and Netflix have announced a special collaboration for fans across the world. From January 12, Samsung Galaxy users in 186 countries can download an exclusive “Stranger Things” theme and wallpapers from the Galaxy Store at no extra cost. The offer is available for a limited time to users who download or launch the Netflix app. The special theme is inspired by Season 5 of the series and includes one custom theme and five wallpapers featuring well-known characters and settings such as Hawkins and the eerie Upside Down.…

The original FIFA World Cup Trophy returned to India after a gap of twelve years as part of the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola, ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The Tour marks another milestone in Coca-Cola’s long-standing partnership with FIFA, spanning over five decades. The Tour began with a FIFA Charter Landing, followed by the official unveiling of the Trophy at Taj Mahal Hotel. The event was attended by Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, FIFA legend Gilberto D’Silva, sports historian Boria Majumdar, and senior leadership from Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia. Addressing…

Allied Blenders and Distillers Limited (ABD), India’s largest domestic spirits company by volume, has appointed globally renowned Scotch whisky expert Dr. Martin Leonard as Consultant to advise on the commissioning of its malt distillery and the company’s foray into single malt whisky. Leonard brings over three decades of experience across distillation, maturation, blending, bottling and supply chain operations in the global Scotch whisky industry. He most recently served as Managing Director of Inver House Distillers, where he oversaw five single malt distilleries in Scotland and managed inventories exceeding 600,000 casks. He has also chaired the Scotch Whisky Research Institute and…

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay has announced the launch of a Certificate in Generative AI, aimed at equipping professionals with hands-on skills to design and deploy real-world GenAI applications. The five-month, online certificate programme will be offered by the Technocraft Centre for Applied Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with Great Learning as the edtech partner, with registrations now open for the 2026 intake. Designed and delivered by IIT Bombay faculty, the programme follows a practical, LLM-first approach across five modules. It covers fundamentals of artificial intelligence, large language models, prompt engineering, model adaptation using proprietary data, and the development of copilots…