Archive: September 20, 2022

25 years into conservation Wetlands International South Asia marks silver jubilee

New Delhi, 20th September, 2022: Wetlands International South Asia completes 25 years and is all set to celebrate its silver jubilee on 29 September 2022 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs and Education Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh would grace the occasion as the chief guest.

Since its inception in 1996, Wetlands international South Asia with its office in Delhi is working for sustaining and restoring wetlands, their resources and biodiversity in South Asia region. The non-government organisation is a part of Wetlands International network which has over 20 offices across the globe and has a presence in more than 100 countries. Wetlands international has its headquarters in Netherlands.

Climate change has resulted in major catastrophes worldwide like floods and droughts which in turn is affecting the lives of the people. This in turn has amplified the need for awareness about conservation of nature and wetlands in particular.

Wetlands are fragile aquatic ecosystems covered with water, either permanently or seasonally. They are a vital part of the hydrological cycle, highly productive and support rich biodiversity. Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services, such as food, water, fiber, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation.

Wetlands are severely threatened due to anthropogenic activities like reclamation through drainage and landfill, discharge of domestic and industrial effluents and solid wastes, changes in water inflow and outflow patterns, excessive water withdrawal and over-exploitation of their natural resources. This would enforce our commitment towards conservation and wise use of these fragile ecosystems.

“Wetlands and ubiquitous ecosystems are critical for humans and the Planet. Unfortunately, not many people are aware of the existing dangers that these wetlands face, not just in India but across the world. Wetlands are a unique, important water source and offer a thriving ground for humans, plants and animals. Local ecosystems depend largely on these wetlands, which are now facing unprecedented threats and risks. Wetlands International South Asia has been working in the field of wetland conservation for 25 years now, and we are so happy to announce our silver jubilee celebrations,” Dr. Sidharth Kaul, President of WISA, said in a statement.

Wetlands International South Asia is focussing on the involvement of youths and their active participation in the conservation of wetlands. As the organisation completes 25 years it aims at bringing a behavioural change in the young generation about the way they see and perceive wetlands.

“We held a number of online contests for youth and School children, and we hope to get more people involved through our programmes. We also organised webinars and discussions featuring prominent wetland practitioners and conservationists, besides involving policy makers. The Silver Jubilee celebrations are an effort to shed spotlight on the immense value of these ecosystems,” – Dr. Ritesh Kumar, Director of Wetlands International South Asia said in a statement. 

With its focus on future Wetland International South Asia aims to expand its research further to various parts of South Asia focusing on deltas, coastlines, and urban wetlands.

After Gurgaon and Goa, Supermoon ft. Imran Khan – Unforgettable Club Tour comes to Mumbai!

Screaming fans and encore shouts packed the clubs in Gurgaon and Goa as Imran Khan performed his greatest hits. It is now time for Mumbai’s club music lovers to witness a similar eventful night as Supermoon feat. Imran Khan – Unforgettable Club Tour is all set to fire up the stage in the city. The event will be held at Dragonfly Experience Club, Mumbai, on September 21, 2022.

The much-anticipated, high-octane club show promises a line-up of chart-topping hits from the superstar artist himself. From audiences’ favorites like Amplifier, Satisfya, and Bewafa, he would have the people move to Let’s Celebrate, Ni Nachleh, and many more!

So are you ready Mumbai as here comes your favorite, Imran Khan! Get ready for this musical surprise!

The Sharks are back for Season 14 only on Voot Select and Colors Infinity – Shark Tank Season 14

India, 20th September 2022: Voot Select and Colors Infinity (premieres on 24th September at 9 PM – The show will air every Saturday at 9 pm – less than 24 hours after the US telecast as part of ‘Instant Premieres’) announces the launch of the new season of Shark Tank with its season 14, a critically acclaimed and multi-Emmy® Award-winning business-themed series that celebrates entrepreneurship. Over 13 seasons, the Sharks have achieved more than 700 deals, over 8 billion dollars in total retail sales, and 4 consecutive Emmy Wins.

Shark Tank Season 14 welcomes two new guest Sharks, Gwyneth Paltrow, CEO and founder of goop, and Tony Xu, CEO of and co-founder of DoorDash, who appear alongside long-standing Sharks – Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, and Kevin O’Leary in various episodes. Emma Grede, CEO, and co-founder of Good American, founding partner of SKIMS, and co-founder of Safely; Peter Jones, Dragon on BBC’s “Dragon’s Den”; Daniel Lubetzky, founder of KIND and co-founder of SOMOS Foods; and Kendra Scott, founder, executive chairwoman & chief creative officer, Kendra Scott, LLC, also return this season as Guest Sharks.

Gwyneth Paltrow – CEO & Founder of GOOP, a wellness and lifestyle brand. An Academy award, Golden Globe award and a Primetime Emmy award-winning actress, she was even nominated for a Grammy. Gwyneth Paltrow is also known for her role as Pepper Potts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

1. Tony Xu – CEO & Co-Founder of DoorDash, an online food ordering and food delivery platform. A Chinese-American billionaire, Tony’s net worth is currently estimated at $2.8 billion, as of April 2021.
2. Emma Grede – Co-Founder and CEO of Good American, an apparel company co-founded with Khloe Kardashian. She is also the Founding Partner of Skims i.e., Kim Kardashian’s brand of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear, along with being the Co-Founder of Safely, Kris Jenner’s green home-cleaning brand.
3. Peter Jones – a British entrepreneur, is one of the “Dragons” from the British show ‘Dragon’s Den, the British counterpart of ‘Shark Tank’. With an extensive portfolio of businesses ranging from telecoms to publishing all over the world, he is often referred to as “Mr. Global”.
4. Kendra Scott – Founder, Executive Chairwoman, and Chief Creative Officer of Kendra Scott LLC, a billion-dollar Jewellery brand.
5. Daniel Lubetzky- The visionary social entrepreneur, is the Founder and CEO of the multi-billion-dollar healthy snack food company, Kind.

TrueFoundry raises US$2.3m seed funding to enable startups to deploy machine learning models at the speed of big tech companies – in hours instead of weeks

Bengaluru, India, 20 September 2022 – TrueFoundry, a machine learning (ML) developer platform today announced its US$2.3m seed funding led by Sequoia India and Southeast Asia’s Surge. Other participating investors include Eniac Ventures and prominent angels like AngelList Co-founder Naval Ravikant. The new funding will be used to expand its specialized technology team and further product development.

Machine learning offers immense opportunities for businesses, yet the development and launch of ML models is a time-intensive and complex process for software engineers, ML engineers, and data scientists. As a result, almost 90% of ML models do not end up in production. For the models that make it to deployment, 50% fail due to the absence of monitoring systems and 30% have to be reverted due to scaling and latency issues that are often overlooked during the data training stage. While large companies can bridge this gap by deploying large, high-end ML platform teams to design and launch ML models, it is less feasible for smaller companies and startups to commit such high investments while building their companies.

TrueFoundry aims to automate repetitive tasks in the ML pipeline such as infrastructure and deployments so data scientists and ML engineers can focus on higher-value, more creative tasks. This enables businesses to continuously upgrade existing models and release new ones to gain a competitive edge.

“TrueFoundry was born out of the idea that no business – big or small – should miss out on the opportunities of machine learning. With our automated platform, data scientists and engineers are able to deploy machine learning models at the speed and maturity of big tech, cutting their production timelines from several weeks to a few hours. Data is the new oil, and we want to enable companies to use machine learning faster and generate greater business value. Our investors and team share the belief that TrueFoundry is paving the way for innovation that will propel businesses for the future ahead, and their participation in our pre-launch funding is a great testament to that,” said Nikunj Bajaj, Co-Founder, and CEO of TrueFoundry.

From Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Tensorflow to Kubernetes, TrueFoundry is platform agnostic and easily integrates with your existing stack for seamless implementation. ML developers need less than five minutes to put models into production as hosted endpoints along with auto-scaling and monitoring dashboards are automatically available from the get-go. TrueFoundry’s platform enables ML teams to be 10x faster as a result.

Headquartered in the USA, TrueFoundry was founded in June 2021 by Abhishek Choudhary, Anuraag Gutgutia, and Nikunj Bajaj. Abhishek and Nikunj have experienced software and ML engineers who have witnessed, built, and scaled large engineering systems to drive product excellence at Facebook. During their time at Facebook, the co-founders recognized that smaller companies in-market required a significantly longer time to build and deploy machine learning models as compared to big tech companies. This led to the founding of TrueFoundry which automates repetitive tasks in the ML pipeline to accelerate ML deployment and live endpoint monitoring.

Nikunj attained his Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and comes with deep experience in machine learning deployment and infrastructure implementation as ML Tech Lead at Facebook and Reflektion. After completing his education at IIT, Abhishek led projects as a software engineer at Facebook, eventually leading the Videos organization. Anuraag was a member of the CEO office and Vice President of Portfolio Management at WorldQuant. He is also an angel investor in over 22 startups. Abhishek, Anuraag, and Nikunj are undergrad batch-mates from IIT Kharagpur. They also cofounded EntHire, an AI-based recruitment platform acquired in 2021 by Info Edge.

Other angel investors include Deutsche Bank Global CIO Dilip Khandelwal, Head of GitHub India Maneesh Sharma, Greenhouse Software CTO Mike Boufford, and Kaggle Founder Anthony Goldbloom.

Surge 07 is currently in progress and founders are going through a 16-week hybrid program. Past speakers and mentors in the program include Siu Rui Quek (Carousell), William Tanuwijaya (Tokopedia/GoTo), Chatri Sityodtong (ONE Championship), and Doug Leone (Sequoia Capital).

Philanthropist Sudha Reddy to Be Honoured at 10th Annual First Ladies Luncheon

Hyderabad: September 20, 2022 – Fashion, philanthropy, and first ladies will come together for the Fashion 4 Development (F4D) 10th anniversary of the Annual First Ladies Luncheon during the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Week.

A slew of influential figures in entertainment, fashion, activism, politics, and business from around the world will gather to support both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and F4D’s efforts to promote positive strategies for sustainable economic growth. As part of the event, F4D will be presenting Agents Of Change Awards to those addressing food security, extreme poverty, education, and those taking action for a healthier planet, preservation of culture, and the empowerment of women and children.

For the first time ever in the history of F4D, a luminary of Indian origin has been handpicked to attend the prestigious event as well as to be bestowed with a coveted honor. Making it to the event this year will be none other than the philanthropist, businesswoman, and fashion icon, Sudha Reddy from Hyderabad.

Evie Evangelou, President and Founder of Fashion 4 Development says, “I am thrilled to bring together global leaders and change-makers from around the world to leverage the expression of fashion for sustainable economic growth and independence of communities worldwide. Sudha Reddy is an extraordinary human being and she inspires goodness we are pleased to welcome her at this year’s event to share ideas and inspiration for how we can improve sustainable systems – inspiring responsible social change from what we wear to what we eat and how we live.”

Sudha Reddy who chairs the charity office of MEIL and Sudha Reddy Foundation states, “I have always believed that fashion is a vehicle by which culture and heritage are reflected and formed. It’s truly an honor to be invited by Fashion 4 Development for this premium gathering consisting of thought leaders from across the world. I look forward to discussing how India can contribute to sustainability in economic growth.”

As part of her itinerary, Reddy will be attending the 2nd Annual Sustainable Goals Ball which recognizes the importance of sustainable fashion and lifestyle practices. Further, she will be felicitated at the 10th Annual First Ladies Luncheon which gathers first ladies and royals from around the globe to celebrate the unprecedented cooperation between diplomacy and fashion. She will be felicitated with the Fashion 4 Development Philanthropy Award at the hands of New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi for her extensive humanitarian work and contributions to sustainability.

Over the years, global celebrities like Charlize Theron, Diane Kruger, Arianna Huffington, Diane Von Furstenberg, Naomi Campbell, Amber Heard, Ellie Goulding, Victoria Beckham, and Donna Karan amongst others have been bestowed with awards at this significant event.

The fashionista of Hyderabad will be donning a bespoke Tarun Tahliani ensemble, a royal ivory-lavender kalidar lehenga saree with Resham-Dori work highlighted with 3D flowers, crystal sequin embellishments and pearls that she will team up with a vintage 15-row Basara pearl Mughal-era inspired necklace for the luncheon. For the ball, she will be wearing a pristine white tipper bow back gown in brocade by veteran Japanese fashion designer Tadashi Shoji accompanied by a pearl head veil by couturier Neeta Lulla. Her statement accessories for the outing will include an embellished Dolce & Gabbana shoulder bag and the Heart Of The Ocean necklace, a tanzanite blue diamond neck piece.

The 2^nd Annual Sustainable Goals Banquet will be MCed by F4D Founder Evie Evangelou and co-MCed by Founder, CEO, and Chief Mentor of ThreeEQ Jason Ma. It will feature specially curated plant-based cuisine, a fashion exhibit on preserving culture, a floral fashion runway dance by Princess Lockerooo, and a live musical performance by Grammy Award winner Dionne Warwick, who will perform the song “Free,” written by award-winning songwriter Diane Warren and produced by Dionne Warwick’s son, Grammy Award-winning producer Damon Elliott. The song is part of the initiative Musicians in the Key of Free, in support of refugees worldwide. At the banquet, F4D presenters including Earthday Network President Kathleen Rogers, Film Producer Michael Simkin, and Education Above All Foundation’s Youth Advocate Ayan Said will present honorees with the Agents of Change awards. The honorees include – Hugh Evans and Simon Moss of Global Citizen, Impact to End Extreme Poverty Award, accepted by Liza Henshaw, President of Global Citizen – Yunus Dogan, Chairman of Texas Biotech, Impact in Food Security Award – Odessa Rae, Filmmaker, and Producer, CNN Film “Navalny”, Impact Through Film Award – Richard Kane, Verijet – Green Travel Award – Education Above All (EAA), Impact Through Education Award. Mubarak Al-Thani, EAA Head of Development, will accept the award on behalf of the Foundation, founded by Her Royal Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.

The 10th Annual First Ladies Luncheon will be MCed by F4D Founder Evie Evangelou and co-MCed by Keynote Speaker and Angel Investor Dame Didi Wong, who will also be inducted into the exclusive F4D Leading Ladies club at the event. The luncheon will feature a “green carpet,” cocktail reception, awards ceremony, and fashion runway show highlighting “Ten Decades of Fashion 1920-2020,” curated by New York Vintage founder Shannon Hoey and designer Bonnie Young of BY.Bonnie Young. The first-of-its-kind fashion show will open with an original song from artist and producer Celia Babini AKA CIB and will feature a mix of pieces from the BY. Bonnie Young collection paired with vintage designer pieces from Shannon Hoey’s New York Vintage. The runway will showcase a modern twist on fashion from various decades – all while focusing on zero waste, locally made and upcycled materials. The luncheon will also present an installation of mannequins, each representing a different decade with iconic pieces from various notable designers. The luncheon will feature remarks by a special speaker New York State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, and remarks by Kim Macharia, executive director of Space Prize. There will also be a special presentation of the song “Applause” – written by Diane Warren and performed by Sofia Carson. The song is from the film Tell It Like A Woman, which is produced by Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment in association with We Do It Together, a non-profit film production company dedicated to gender parity. The performance will be presented by Chiara Tiles, founder of We Do It Together. Closing the luncheon with a musical performance will be Sirintip, an award-winning experimental trilingual singer and composer with clout in both the pop and jazz worlds. Her new album “Carbon” was recorded at carbon-neutral Manifold Recording and centers around climate change. The event gathers first ladies and royals from around the globe, as well as diplomats, philanthropists, fashion VIPs, and other key influencers to celebrate the unprecedented cooperation between diplomacy and fashion. Award presenters include Sen. Biaggi and Philanthropist and F4D Ambassador for Africa, Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, and will honor: – Grammy and Emmy winning and 13-time Oscar-nominated Songwriter Diane Warren and Actress, Singer, and Activist Sofia Carson, Women’s Champion Award – Gina Diez Barroso, Founder of Grupo Diarq, Founder and President of Centro University, and Dalia Empower, Women’s Empowerment Award – Aslaug Magnusdottir, Founder and CEO of Katla and Co-Founder of Moda Operandi, Fashion 4 Development Award and will be announced as F4D Goodwill Ambassador – Sudha Reddy, Director, MEIL, and Founder of the Sudha Reddy Foundation, Philanthropy Award – BrieLee Lu, Model, and Student, will be named F4D Youth Goodwill Ambassador

Veteran leaders gather for creation of National Young Legislators’ Conference 

National, 20 September 2022: A first-ever working committee of eminent parliamentarians from various political parties and Vidhan Sabha/Council Speakers/Chairmen from many States and Union Territories met in Pune to decide on the organization of the National Young Legislators’ Conference (NYLC or Rashtriya Yuva Vidhayak Sammelan).

The working committee meeting was co-chaired by the noted former Speakers of Lok Sabha – Shri Shivraj Patil, Smt. Meira Kumar and Smt. Sumitra Mahajan. The incumbent and former Speakers of State Assemblies and Chairpersons of Legislative Councils from more than 15 states, former Chief Election Commissioners, and a few former bureaucrats also participated in the deliberations.

As India celebrates Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav currently and in another 2 years, India will be entering into the 75th year of implementation of the Constitution. The NYLC will connect these two memorable achievements in the history of our country by bringing young legislators from all across the country on one platform in a historic effort.

The NYLC once established will be organized jointly by the legislative bodies, non-governmental institutions and civil society with active support from the MIT School of Government, Pune. The NYLC will seek support from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UNESCO.

NYLC will aid in the creation of a cohesive ecosystem among leaders of all ideologies for the common cause of development beyond party politics, instilling the spirit of nationhood, encouraging clean leadership for enhancing good governance, and creating a model to be reckoned with globally. It will foster peer-to-peer learning aimed at designing innovative development solutions, in addition to developing ethical, spirited, and competent public leadership for formulating pro-people policies.

The proposed dates for the organization of NYLC are 16, 17 & 18 June 2023 in either Goa or Mumbai, Maharashtra. Shri Shivraj Patil, Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha said – “There are three very important aspects which are expected out of the legislature. The first is policymaking, the second is to make laws and the third is to check that laws are implemented.  If young legislators are imparted knowledge of the law, policy making, and administration at an early stage, this would, in turn, change the democratic shape of the country and yield good outcomes for society.”

Smt. Meira Kumar, Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha said, “It was a wonderful conference and the interaction we had in the evening both were positive and successful. I congratulate Mr Rahul Karad and pay respect to his father Mr Vishwanath Karad. They are the guiding spirit behind NYLC.

Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha said, “NYLC shouldn’t be an end in itself but a means to obtain a bigger purpose where we sensitise our young legislators of the responsibility that they have ahead as they start their journey to serve the people of this country.”

Shri Rahul V. Karad, Chief Initiator, MIT-SOG said “The time has come for our country’s Young Elected Representatives to rise above partisanship and work toward the creation of a Unified, Strong, and Developed Bharat that will address the aspirations of countless young, old, and women alike. Only a united Bharat, led by a strong democratic leadership, can face the challenges of an increasingly divided world and show the international community the path to world peace. NYLC will act as a catalyst of ideas and as a concept that will ignite and strengthen the sense of national unity and responsibility among the young legislators who will be the future of Bharat.”

The outcome of the legislators’ conference will be to assist the National Leadership in understanding the pros and cons of policies, as well as the challenges of governance and development at the grassroots level, and in spreading the progressive imagery of the National Leadership around the world.

The National Young Legislators’ Conference is being held under the aegis of MIT School of Government (MIT-SOG). MIT-SOG has been at the vanguard for fostering innovative and flagship events in the past such as Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad, National Women Parliament, National Panchayat Parliament, and National Youth Parliament among many other events.