Troika 2018 to be held at Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC)

PUNE, JANUARY 2018: Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC) is celebrating the eighth edition of its Annual Cultural Fest, TROIKA 2018 from January 15^th to January 17^th, 2018 at its campus in Deccan. The fiesta celebrates the joy of enjoying a great college-campus life and aims at becoming the ultimate go-to destination for college students across Pune.

Troika meaning “THREE” in Russian is a collaboration of three events – Business Talent Hunt, Beyond Horizon and Technotainment.

With a participation of over 3000 people and a foothold of 8000 people, TROIKA has become one of Pune City's biggest College Fest for a reason. Apart from the formidable figures of the past year, TROIKA also comes with bearing a social cause - Happiness to, of and for all.  

With unique events every year, TROIKA attracts large number of participants. This year they have over 20 different events spanning from cultural to literary, art to sports, entertainment to intellectual - all making TROIKA a treat for everyone, allowing diverse groups of people to come together in celebration.  They have also introduced new events like IPL Auction, which has gained amazing response for its first time, and are super excited to play host for their first ever super Car Show. 

A plethora of people coming together to compete as well as socialize and leave with the illuminating spirit of Troika is what BMCC aims to fulfill this year.

Troika 2018 is ready. Are you?

IDSA partners and participate in Maharashtra Consumer Day celebrations

Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) proudly partnered and participated in ‘National Consumer Day’ celebrations, held in Mumbai on 9th January 2018. Organized by Maharashtra State Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, the conference was themed around Emerging Digital Markets: Issues & Challenges in Consumer Protection’. During this one-day events, the government touched upon the issues such as misleading advertisements on digital platform, Consumer complaints redressal mechanism and need to protect consumers in the digital era.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was the Chief Guest at the event, said “In today’s digital world, new avenues of distribution models are emerging such as e-commerce & Direct Selling. The Department of Consumer Protection is working on a mechanism to regulate these industries in the interest of consumers”.

Principal Secretary for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Mahesh Pathak said that the Department is developing an online portal to address the complaints related to the Direct Selling distribution model and thanked IDSA and FICCI for lending support in developing the portal. Pathak also appreciated the efforts of IDSA in helping the Department organizing the National Consumer Day event.

“Direct Selling has emerged as a popular non-store retail model for the consumers to buy products. However, in the past, a lot of fraudulent players operated under the garb of Direct Selling, duping consumers of their hard-earned money, thus bringing bad name for the legitimate Direct Selling Industry. The Central Guidelines has now drawn a clear distinction between legitimate Direct Selling and fraudulent players, bringing much relief for the Industry. These Guidelines have been adopted by the states of Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Telangana & Andhra Pradesh and we have now requested the Maharashtra Government to also issue the Guidelines in the state,” said Amit Chadha, Secretary General, IDSA.

On 5th January 2018, the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan tabled the Consumer Protection Bill 2018 in the Parliament, taking a giant step towards a strong National level consumer protection policy. The new Bill, has provision for redressal of complaints regarding the defect in goods and deficiency in services.

“Direct Selling is a business run by the consumers, for the consumers as the Direct Sellers are the primary consumers as well. In this context, safeguarding the interest of consumers has been a priority for all Direct Selling entities. Central Consumer Affairs Ministry tabling the Consumer Protection Bill 2018 in the Parliament is the apt step forward towards consumer protection. The Bill has provision of establishing an authority to safeguard the interest of the consumers and facilitating faster consumer redressal mechanism, an utmost necessity in the current scenario,” opined Vivek Katoch, Chairman, IDSA.

The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, for a long, has been stressing upon the need of a strong and exhaustive Consumer Protection Mechanism and the Consumer Protection Bill 2018 paves way for the same.

deAsra joins hands with Tata Trusts and OSDA to encourage entrepreneurs across the country

deAsra Foundation, an organization aimed at empowering budding entrepreneurs has collaborated with Tata Trusts and Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) to promote entrepreneurship across the country. There has been a strategic focus on improvement of technical education, developing the right infrastructure for skills-based training and more importantly, entrepreneurship development.

OSDA is primarily engaged with skill development in Odisha, encouraging entrepreneurship among the skill trained youth. OSDA will be providing entrepreneurship education and training, and deAsra will provide the platform for information & handholding support to candidates, and will even provide youth the ability to create business plans that are fully functional and easy to understand and use.

Tata Trusts and deAsra together have collaborated to promote entrepreneurship and help unemployed youth to start their own businesses. deAsra Foundation with the support of Tata Trusts will be providing aspiring candidates guidance to develop a viable business plan, facilitate funding and execute a profitable business.

Ms. Pradnya Godbole, CEO, deAsra Foundation said, “Our collaborative approach with two established institutions, will help all of us together reach a big audience who can be guided in the right direction which helps with entrepreneurship development and provide youth with self-employment & employment opportunities”.

deAsra, Tata Trusts and OSDA together can help solve the problem of unemployment and provide youth with opportunities to help build their future.

India Intimate Fashion Week Launches India’s hottest calendar ‘Black Magik’

India Intimate Fashion Week (IIFW) launched its much-awaited calendar ‘Black Magik’ at an event filled with glitter and glamour at The Play Lounge, Mumbai on January 08, 2017. Black Magik is the newest and the most glamorous intimate & beach /swim fashion calendardedicated to Intimate wear featuring the hottest models posing in the exotic locations of Forest Hills Tala.

Conceptualised by Niraj Jawanjal, Director and Chief Ideator, India Intimate Fashion Week, the calendar has been shot by celebrity fashionphotographer Mrunal Kalsekar, who has done a marvellous job once again with his lenses and creative vision.

Talking about Black Magik, Niraj said, “Our intention is to re-write the definition of fashion calendar in India by creating an extraordinary platform to showcase astounding fashion lines by Indian and International brands and designers.”

“Simultaneously it’s a very smart and highly sophisticated branding opportunity for them. We, the Team IIFW are extremely happy to unveil this high fashion initiative which would ignite inspiration for the talents in the fashion sector,” Niraj further added.

Black Magik by IIFW is an endeavour to set new trends in Indian Fashion Industry especially when it comes to Intimate Wear category in which India is still in the nascent phase of growth. With Black Magik’s success India Intimate Fashion Week is intended to bring more to the Indian Fashion Industry with the coming seasons.

Birla White poised to help customers realize their dream home

Company has enhanced its products range to provide end-to- end solutions

Birla White, a twenty nine years old pioneer company in cement industry which is a part of the US $41 billion Aditya Birla Group, has added new range of products like Terrazzo Flooring, Pointing (With Stone and Glazed Tiles), Mosaic Tiles, Decorative Plasters, Textura, etc to add color to the dreams of its customers. These products are being directly sold to customers via retail shops in India.

Through continuous research & innovation, Birla White has come up with several end-to- end solutions & products. Continuing on this journey, the company has maintained the highest NPS (Net Promoter Score) in the category, has continuously taken ideas from the markets & basis these, Birla White has forward integrated in surface coating solutions space, which has predominantly been a Paint bastion. Birla White has a state of the art R & D center at Kharia where it has enhanced its products range from being just a white cement supplier to end-to- end solutions provider offering brands such as Birla White Wall Care Putty, Textura, Level Plast, GRC (Glass Reinforced Concrete) Brands.

‘‘Birla White has moved up the value chain and currently we are offering a wide range of value added products in addition to white cement and wall care putty. says Anurag Angrish, Joint executive president, marketing, Bilra White.

Birla White considers its customers in the highest regard. To this effect, the company has been proactive in understanding its customer’s needs. The company has pioneered the creation of an entirely new category of Wall Care Putty in India as a substitute to the expensive Acrylic Putty and inferior quality traditional product -Laambi. Company has also created water, algae and fungi resistant, high adhesive strength products that resists weathering effects and offer durability to fulfill consumers’ desires to enhance consumer experience.

Birla White boasts of the best in category products in white cement with superior whiteness and higher coverage. With intensive research they have added technical sophistication through Extra HP Polymers which enhance the water resistance property and adhesive strength for wall care putty.

Birla White invests lot of time and resources to train its partners (both men and women) to achieve certification which provides them a better future and enhanced skillability. A world class training module has been established known as‘Vikas Training’ across India with the first center developed at KhariaKhangar, Rajasthan, where the first Birla White plant is located. A special painter-engagement program ‘Kaam perfect, toh naam perfect’ was undertaken to educate painters on the right wall-finishing- processes and the uniqueness of Birla White Wall care as the ultimate solution to long lasting smooth walls.

Pune Fashion Week – The Fashion Finale of 2017

The seventh season of the Pune Fashion Week came to a roaring end on Sunday, 24th December. The three-day extravaganza was high on luxury, elegance, and grandeur and was attended by the crème de la crème of the city

The Luxury Expo was all about opulence and glamour. It showcased luxury fashion trends and curated the best of luxury, fashion, and lifestyle, making it an élan experience. The Fashionable Bharat Pavilion at the Luxury Expo was one of the key highlights of the fashion week, which was a platform for handicrafts, Indian indigenous products and traditional textiles from all over the country, to broaden its horizons and truly capture the essence of Bharat. The concept was much appreciated by all.

Another aspect of the Pune Fashion Week was the Fashion Knowledge Series where experts from the fashion industry conducted workshops and lecture series on topics related to the field of fashion. Some of the experts present to share their knowledge were Hollywood Designer Danielle Pettee, celebrity designer Nivedita Saboo, and Mr. Vikram Kotnis from Amura Technologies. The audience was intrigued by their knowledge and listened with rapt attention.

PFW Season 7 aimed at making Pune fashionable with a social cause and had a Super Bike Rally on 20th December supported by a biker community called BOLT (Bikers of Low Tolerance) for road safety. Moreover, in association with SMILE foundation, day 1 of the fashion week also witnessed a charity walk by the ladies. The funds raised through this were donated for the education of 10 girl children for a year

Day 1 began with a bang; the students of iNIFD showcased their unisex designs with bold motifs and floral prints. The designs were incredible, reflecting the inimitable talent of the GenNext designers, followed by a combined show by Sharad Raghav and Ginny Wadhwa.Sharad showcased his designs that were experimental and inspired by Batik as he feels Pune is more fashion-conscious than other cities and is willing to adopt new style and trends. 

The designer from Pune, Ginny’s designs which were lovely and pleasing to look at were adorned beautifully by the models. The showstopper for Ginny’s show was actress Rashmi Desai, who looked fabulous as she walked the ramp in a beautiful lehenga. This was succeeded with a ladies charity walk for Smile Foundation.The funds raised through this walk were donated for the education of 10 girl children for a year. The curtains closed on Day 1 with the Rina Dhaka collection of BIJOUS_A Story. Rina showcased jewelry, but on clothes.The silhouettes were graceful in their softness and sensuality and the designs featured voluminous pieces boldly parading the drama and opulence of royalty. Hues of Golden and Silver blended into the theme to bring out the elegance of a regal time. The creation was a salute to the attires of the past, and seeks to inspire the modern contemporary fashion world. Showstopper Divya Khosla Kumar left everyone mesmerized with her grace and elegance on the ramp.

In this chilly winter, Pune Fashion Week managed to heat things up quite a bit.

Day 2 commenced with a Ying Yang Show which was a hair make up & beauty show by the students of ISAS. The makeup done for the models were intricate and detailed. Next up was Amin Farishta who displayed fashion on Khadi and other handwoven materials on the ramp. The showstopper was “Chak de” girl ChitrashiRawat who walked the ramp with a lot of confidence. Shikha Kothari, a Pune based designer and SumitDasgupta showcased their designs as well.

Shikha’s collection paid tribute to the girl child, the feminine spirit of nurturing, strength, dignity and freedom and was aptly titled ‘PINK’ that was inspired by the unequal sex ratio of our country. It was a call to create awareness, transform deep-rooted attitudes about the girl child and take action towards modifying this imbalance. After all, anything is possible with sunshine and a Lil ‘PINK’. Showstoppers Rutuja Shinde and Waseem Amrohi for Shikha and Sumit respectively were vibrant and energetic on the ramp, adding sparks of glamour to the different collections and looked amazing. The pre-finale, showcased Stile, ethnic men’s wear by designer duo Ghulam Ali, another Pune based designer. The models wore their sherwanis which were hand woven and delicate. They all looked royal and powerful. Founders of Pune Fashion Week BadalSaboo&NiveditaSaboo being from Pune themselves provided an extraordinary platform for these super talented Pune based designers at the seventh edition of the fashion week.

Day 2 ended with designer Ashok Maanay whose royal designs left everyone spellbound. The showstarter was NoyonitaLodh and the showstopper was model LopamudraRaut. They dazzled the ramp with their walk. Ashok showcased classic with an undertone of glamour. The ensembles exuded sheer elegance and in colors of a sunny day offset with vintage hues of gold and ivory. He teamed voluminous silhouettes with intricate satin embroidery on silk, with the sheers nude hues giving each garment an element of mystery and enigma — symbolic of today’s modern elegant woman. In short, Silken Masquerade celebrates an esoteric romance, woven in silken threads and beaten metallic hues. The masquerade stands as the finest example of the art and culture of Venetian renaissance; he aspired to reflect poetic flow in volume, layering and impeccable garment construction. Most importantly, this collection provided a classic alternative to the festive season with Venetian masks adding a touch of intrigue and mystery.

Day 3 began with the collection of the MIT students. The first collection was distortion. The collection distortion for autumn/winter 2018, spoke about the journey of the disproportionate and asymmetric garments. Inspiration was taken from skewed images, broken mirrors and knots by incorporating twists and knots and tie-ups and skewing the fabric. Collection 2 was “cut to suit”. The module ‘Cut to Suit’ introduced students with the ‘craft of tailoring’, which included off the rack, bespoke and made to measure. It encouraged them to take a more experimental and individual approach to design work. Next up, showcasing her collection was NishitaMantri Gupta, a plus size designer. Her designs were all about self-love. Actress Pushtiie Shakti was the incredible showstopper. Their inspiration was every woman who believes in herself. The color GREEN is incredibly evocative as it depicts a TREE OF LIFE; which stands strong with a sense of solitary calmness as she knows when the roots are deep there is no reason to fear the wind. Using unique shades of green they bring out the versatility & the undiscovered power that lies within women. Followed by Santhosh Kumar whose collection was inspired by handlooms.

In the second sequence, there was Kirti Agarwal whose collection “Mom & Me” saw mothers walking with their children. The showstopper was actress Nia Sharma who was named Asia’s second sexiest woman alive along with Kirti’s little daughter who stole the show. The pre-finale was by Rohit Kamra. His ethnic menswear collection was subtle, elegant, and graceful. Actor Sanjay Suri & model, actress and dancer Nora Fatehi were his showstoppers and walked the ramp with mind-boggling beauty and panache. The last but not the least! Season 7 ended with a grand finale by the one and only NiveditaSaboo. There were two collections. One was inspired by superheroes, Interstellar- An ode to the Superhero within’, dedicated to nurturing and celebrating the superhero in all of us. Representing power that is impressionable yet unwavering, the collection explores the sublime reality of human potential by pushing boundaries and tapping into the omnipresent source every day; thereby living your highest truth and purpose.It was bold and experimental.

The other one was a bridal collection which had lots of metallic designs interspersed with beautiful fabrics perfect for your D-Day. The showstopper for the grand finales was actor ArjanBajwa who looked like superheroes in these outfits and stole the show with his beauty, glamor and style. Everyone was mesmerized by this glitzy affair.

This event was beyond successful in #MakingPuneFashionable

“Become” – A New Leadership Book Becomes A Bestseller Within A Few Hours Of Launch On Amazon

Become: The 5 Critical Conversational Practices that Shift ‘Who You Be’ as a Leader, a new leadership book authored by Pune based bestselling author Sameer Dua was officially released on Amazon on the 25^th of December 2017. By 6.30pm, “Become” was already:

#1 Amazon Bestseller in Business Communication

#1 Amazon Bestseller in Economics Text Books

#1 Amazon Hot New Release in Business Communication

#1 Amazon Hot New Release in Economics

#1 Amazon Movers and Shakers

#Bestseller Badge by Amazon within the first 6 hours of being released

#33 Overall Kindle Rank 

This is an incredible performance for any book. Sameer Dua, author of the bestselling book “Declaring Breakdowns”, and now “Become” stated:“The conversational practices in Become are non-discretionary. Leaders need to either learn to have these conversations, or then pay a price for not having these conversations, which is, not delivering results that matter.” Sameer further adds: “Become is an invitation to choose a powerful posture in your leadership and life. You don't ‘become’ by knowing more. You ‘become’ by shifting your leadership practices, and with respect to leadership, by shifting and creating new conversational practices.” 

The book has extremely valuable contributions from Bob Dunham, Founder, Institute for Generative Leadership, USA.

In addition. Umang Bedi, MD (India and South Asia) of Facebook and Sheeja Shaju, Somatic Leader and Coach at Institute for Generative Leadership, India have also contributed to this book. 

The foreword for “Become” has been written by Marshall Goldsmith, the #1 Executive Coach and #1 Business Thinker in the world. This is what Marshall Goldsmith has to say about Become in his foreword: “This is Powerful stuff. I suggest you try it for the sake of your colleagues, family, friends, and yourself”.

Here is some feedback on “Become” from some acclaimed global experts:

“Sameer Dua’s passion to help us see our conversational blindspots is evident in his in-the-face writing style.”

Judith E. Glaser, Author of bestselling book “Conversational Intelligence”

Sameer Dua’s “Become” grabbed me by the eyeballs. Leaders at all levels need to put on the coach’s hat to bring out the best in their teams.”

Robert Hargrove, Author of bestselling book, “Masterful Coaching”

“Become delivers beautifully on its promise of enabling leaders and managers to generate meaningful results.”

Ashok Soota, Executive Chairman, Happiest Minds Technologies 

“Sameer Dua has combined intellect with practice, insight with action, and depth of thought with ease of reading. The result is a powerful and inspiring book.”

Professor Andrew St. George, Author, Navy Way of Leadership

“This book will open up the eyes and mindset of very reader.”

Klaus Trescher, MD and CEO, Seimens Technology and Services

“Sameer Dua’s Become is a potent guide to the being and doing of exceptional leadership. Reading Become, itself, is a long, engaging and transforming experience.”

Charles Feltman, Author of bestselling book “Thin Book of Trust” … amongst many others.

The 336 pages book, published by Harper Business, an imprint of Harper Collins, is priced at Rs.395 and is available on www.amazon.in amongst other digital and physical retailers.

Sameer has begun working on his third book in the area of generative leadership, and his third book will be released by the end of 2018.