26, Feb 2026
India Inc Embraces Smarter Benefits and Preventive Healthcare Amid Talent Race
MUMBAI, Feb 26: With health cost trends in India projected to reach 9.9% in 2026, organisations are overhauling benefits strategies, prioritising preventive healthcare, flexible benefits and digital enablement to attract and retain talent, according to the findings from Mercer Marsh Benefits’ Future of Benefits 2026 and Beyond report.
The study draws on perspectives from over 700 organizations, representing more than 3.5 million employees and 8.5 million insured lives across 14 industries. In parallel, the voices of over 82,000 employees were captured across career stages, generations, function and geographies providing a 360-degree understanding of benefit priorities, emerging trade-offs, and the strategic levers organizations must now deploy.
Sanjay Kedia, CEO and President Marsh India said,
“India is at a structural inflection point where regulatory reform, demographic shifts and rising healthcare costs are converging to reshape the employer–employee compact. Benefits are no longer a peripheral HR lever; they are becoming the foundation of workforce resilience, trust and productivity. The message from our data is clear, employers want to care for their people in ways that are compassionate yet financially sustainable, while employees are ready to share responsibility when benefits deliver real value.”
As a result, employers are moving away from fully employer-funded models towards shared funding, smarter plan design and flexible benefits to balance cost pressures with employee value. This shift is already visible: Co-sponsorship of parental insurance premiums has climbed to 29%, from just 4% three years ago, underscoring a growing focus on shared accountability.
The report also reveals organisations are prioritising preventive healthcare to support workforce longevity, with 62% operating a defined wellbeing framework and greater emphasis on early intervention, Outpatient Department (OPD) care and structured wellbeing frameworks. 43% of employers now offer OPD coverage, three-quarters of which are fully sponsored.
42% of organisations now offer health cover between INR 6 lakhs and INR 10 lakhs, while 41% have increased sum insured levels in the past year. At the same time, flexibility and digital enablement are accelerating this shift. One in three organisations has rolled out flexible benefits programmes, while 55% use benefits platforms and 25% are deploying AI-led solutions to manage compensation and benefits.
Commenting on the findings, Prawal Kalita, Managing Director, Mercer Marsh Benefits, India Leader, said,
“The future of employee benefits is increasingly being shaped by digital experience. Employees expect seamless, on-demand access to their benefits, clear navigation during moments of need and personalized guidance across health and wellbeing journeys. What we are seeing is a shift from fragmented platforms to integrated, technology-led ecosystems where data, automation and human support come together to make benefits simpler, more relevant and more impactful.”
The report also highlights the growing influence of Global Capability Centres (GCCs), which are raising benchmarks across the market. One in two GCCs now offers OPD insurance, and one in three has embedded mature flexible benefits models, intensifying competition for skilled talent.
From the employee perspective, expectation is to receive meaningful benefits. While one in three employees still reports limited flexibility, 85% are willing to spend out of pocket for benefits they value, reinforcing demand for more personalised, value-driven designs.
As India’s services economy continues to expand, the Future of Benefits 2026 and Beyond report calls on organisations to reimagine how they support their people, aligning preventive health, flexibility and digital enablement with long-term business resilience.
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- By Neel Achary
26, Feb 2026
Pentair Foundation and Safe Water Network India Partner to Install Water ATMs in Noida
Noida, Feb 26: Safe Water Network India, along with Pentair Foundation, today inaugurated Water ATMs at Composite Sr. Primary School, Navada Rasoolpur, Noida, and Primary School, Sarfabad, Noida. The Water ATMs were inaugurated by Mr. Ajit Tulo, Vice President, Global Engineering Centre, Pentair, in the presence of Mr. Ravindra Sewak, Country Director, Safe Water Network India, and Ms. Poonam Sewak, Vice President, Programs and Partnerships, Safe Water Network India, along with other officials and dignitaries.
Speaking on the inauguration Mr. Ajit Tulo, Vice President, Global Engineering Centre, Pentair said,
“At the very outset, every citizen of the country has a right to have access to clean and safe drinking water, especially our young citizens who are the future of the country. We are pleased and honoured to have a partner like Safe Water Network India, with whom we have successfully commissioned similar water ATMs in 49 Government schools across NOIDA, Telangana, and Haryana which have benefitted about 20,000 students, 760 teachers and support staff across these states. We look forward to continue this partnership further, and have an intervention program in every district in the country.”
Elaborating further, Mr. Ravindra Sewak, Country Director, Safe Water Network India said,
“We have had a great start to 2026 with the inauguration of two Water ATMs in the first month itself and we hope to maintain the momentum throughout the year. With this successful commission, the students, teachers and support staff of both schools are assured of a dependable and clean supply of drinking water. My heartiest congratulations to everyone and a special thanks for Pentair for all their support over the years.”
The inauguration was marked with fun, frolic, and festivities. The students presented a skit on drinking safe water for good health and saving water, amongst other activities.
Pentair Foundation has been a core partner of Safe Water Network for the past 15 years, enabling innovative technological solutions for safe drinking water in underserved communities in India. In addition to Water for Schools and Institutions, Pentair has supported 17 decentralized safe drinking water stations called iJal stations, which bring water access to 55,000 people across 17 communities, and 19 ACOM – Automatic Chlorination and Online Monitoring Systems for piped water safety, delivering safe drinking water to 18,700 people across 19 communities.
26, Feb 2026
Solar Service Searches Rise 43% Across India: Justdial Data Reveals
Bengaluru, Feb 26: Justdial Limited has reported a significant year-on-year increase in searches for solar-related and electrician services across India, based on an analysis comparing search volumes between February 2024 – January 2025 and February 2025 – January 2026. The data reflects rising consumer interest in energy upgrades, infrastructure readiness and long-term power solutions across both metropolitan and emerging cities.
At a national level, Solar-related Services recorded a robust 43% growth, indicating heightened adoption of solar installations and allied solutions. Electrician Services followed with a 9% increase, suggesting parallel demand for technical expertise to support installations, upgrades and maintenance requirements.
City-wise data reveals sharp momentum in select markets within the Solar-related Services category. Patna registered a remarkable 206% increase, more than tripling year-on-year search interest. Delhi followed with a 153% surge, while Bangalore recorded an 81% rise. Hyderabad saw a 53% increase, and Chennai posted a 35% growth. Pune (+21%), Surat (+17%), Lucknow (+14%), Mumbai (+13%) and Nagpur (+32%) also reported steady upward trends, signalling widespread traction across regions.
Within Electrician Services, Ahmedabad led with a 14% increase in searches. Chennai, Pune and Surat each recorded a 12% rise, while Delhi, Mumbai and Indore posted 11% growth respectively. The data indicates consistent demand for skilled electrical services across urban centres.
The parallel growth in solar and electrician-related searches points to a broader shift towards energy-conscious investments and infrastructure preparedness. Rising electricity costs, increased awareness of renewable energy benefits and a growing focus on long-term operational efficiency may be contributing factors. The trend may also reflect commercial and industrial expansion alongside sustained residential demand.
The findings underscore evolving consumer behaviour, with users actively exploring structured energy solutions and professional services to support power transitions across India.
26, Feb 2026
Indian School of Hospitality Launches B.Sc. in Global Business & Entrepreneurship
Gurugram, Feb 26 : The Indian School of Hospitality has launched a four-year B.Sc. in Global Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership, expanding its academic portfolio beyond hospitality-focused pathways into integrated business leadership education aligned with India’s evolving economic structure.
India’s services sector contributes over half of the country’s GDP and is supported by complex networks of logistics, digital infrastructure, capital flows and consumer markets. As enterprises operate within increasingly interconnected environments, industry demand is shifting toward graduates who understand how pricing, supply chains, working capital and governance decisions influence one another.
The new program has been structured around that integrated view of business.
Rather than organising learning around isolated management functions, the B.Sc. in Global Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership (GBEL) is designed to help students understand how business decisions create consequences across an entire enterprise. Students will examine how consumer demand shapes revenue models, how operational design affects margins, how capital allocation influences growth and how governance frameworks shape long-term performance.
Academic progression moves from foundational business literacy in the first year to enterprise-level strategy and capstone integration in the final year. The curriculum includes structured internships and applied decision exercises across all four years.
The degree will be awarded by Gurugram University and operates under academic direction from Les Roches, part of the Sommet Education network.
Kunal Vasudeva, Managing Director and Co-founder of the Indian School of Hospitality, said the launch reflects a broader institutional alignment.
“India’s next phase of growth will be shaped by professionals who understand how complex enterprises function. Business is not a collection of subjects. It is a chain of consequences. Pricing affects demand. Demand affects operations. Operations affect cash. Cash affects growth. Education must prepare students to think in that interconnected way. This program extends our liberal hospitality philosophy into broader business leadership aligned with India’s economic direction.”
With this launch, ISH extends its academic framework beyond hospitality-focused pathways into integrated business leadership education while sustaining its liberal hospitality philosophy and allied services foundation.
26, Feb 2026
Africa’s Green Economy Summit 2026 Charts a Course from Vision to Viability
The gathering is built on a singular premise, that Africa’s environmental challenges are, in fact, its greatest economic opportunities
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb 26– The Africa’s Green Economy Summit (AGES) 2026 opened its doors in Cape Town today, marking a pivotal moment in the continent’s economic trajectory. Convening a powerful coalition of policymakers, financiers and innovators, the summit signals a decisive shift from conceptual ambition to concrete, bankable action in the pursuit of a sustainable African future.
Under the banner of “From Ambition to Action: Scaling Opportunities in Africa’s Green and Blue Solutions,” AGES 2026, proudly sponsored by Sanlam Investments, is not merely a forum for discussion but a catalyst for deal-making and partnership. The gathering is built on a singular premise, that Africa’s environmental challenges are, in fact, its greatest economic opportunities.
“Ambition lights the path, but it does not pave it. To transform our economies and uplift our communities, we must move beyond rhetoric to robust execution,” said Lerato Mbele, Summit Moderator. “This summit is a marketplace of ideas where we connect visionaries with investors, ensuring that Africa’s green transition is not just sustainable, but also scalable and profitable.”
The strategic focus of this year’s agenda is underpinned by compelling data. The summit is shining a spotlight on the blue economy, a colossal yet often under-leveraged asset that already injects nearly $300 billion annually into the continent’s GDP and sustains 46 million livelihoods through fisheries, tourism and logistics. Simultaneously, the green economy, with agriculture and renewable energy at its core, is projected to unlock a staggering $10 trillion in global business value over the next decade, positioning Africa to generate an estimated 300 million new jobs for its burgeoning youth population.
These are not distant prospects, but immediate frontiers for investment and innovation.
Echoing this sentiment, the Honourable Naren Singh, Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, addressed delegates with a call for holistic progress. “Our journey towards a low-carbon future must be defined by a fundamental truth: sustainability is a three-legged stool, balancing the health of our planet, the prosperity of our people and the creation of shared value,” he stated. “By investing in our natural capital, we are investing in the most resilient infrastructure of all our communities.”
Over the next two days, the summit floor will be a hive of activity. Attendees will engage in high-level interactive sessions, witness live project pitches from Africa’s most promising green entrepreneurs, and participate in curated networking forums designed to fast-track collaboration and knowledge transfer.
AGES 2026 is more than an event, it is a declaration that Africa is ready to build a future where economic resilience and environmental stewardship are the same.
26, Feb 2026
Odisha State Museums: Budget Push, Preservation Efforts and the Road Ahead
Odisha’s 2026–27 state budget has placed renewed emphasis on cultural preservation, with major announcements centered on heritage conservation, museum development and digitization initiatives. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, while presenting the budget in the state Assembly, proposed the establishment of a world-class Shree Jagannath Museum and Library in Puri, reinforcing the government’s stated priority of preserving and propagating Jagannath culture.
A World-Class Museum in Puri
- The proposed museum in Puri will complement the historic Shree Jagannath Temple, one of India’s most revered 12th-century shrines. With an allocation of ₹1,000 crore for initiatives linked to Jagannath culture, the project aims to:
- Create a global-standard museum and research library
- Digitally connect devotees through the ‘Samarpan’ digital hundi platform
- Restore the spiritual and architectural heritage of the Gundicha Temple
- Undertake conservation work at Emar Mutt, Pramod Udyan and Raghunandan Library
- Prepare a detailed inventory of the Ratna Bhandar ornaments
This initiative signals a broader shift toward integrating heritage conservation with tourism development and digital accessibility.
Condition of Odisha’s Existing Museums
Odisha houses several state-managed museums that preserve its rich maritime, tribal, artistic and archaeological heritage. However, many institutions face infrastructural and modernization challenges.
1. Odisha State Museum, Bhubaneswar
The Odisha State Museum holds valuable collections of palm-leaf manuscripts, sculptures, inscriptions, coins and folk art. While it remains a key cultural institution, sections of the museum require upgraded galleries, improved lighting, climate control systems and digital cataloguing facilities. The budget allocation of ₹10 crore for maintenance of galleries is a step toward modernization.
2. Odisha State Maritime Museum, Cuttack
Located at Jobra in Cuttack, the Odisha State Maritime Museum highlights Odisha’s ancient maritime trade links across Southeast Asia. Recent maintenance activities, including work on its aquarium facility, indicate ongoing infrastructural needs. Although operational, the museum requires technological upgrades, interactive displays and enhanced visitor services to meet contemporary standards.
3. District and Thematic Museums
Several district-level and thematic museums across Odisha face common issues:
- Limited funding for upkeep
- Shortage of trained museum professionals
- Lack of digitization of collections
- Minimal public engagement and outreach programs
Central Scheme for Museum Development: Objectives and Scope
The broader national scheme for museum development aligns closely with Odisha’s current initiatives. The scheme aims to provide financial assistance for:
Objectives
- Setting up new museums at regional, state and district levels
- Strengthening and modernizing existing museums
- Digitizing art objects and creating online catalogues
- Capacity building and training of museum professionals
Scope
Financial assistance covers museums managed by Central and State Governments, societies, autonomous bodies and trusts. The scope includes:
- Museums with collections of antiquities, numismatics, paintings, ethnology, textiles and crafts
- Online Virtual Museums
- Theme-based museums
- Virtual Experiential Museums (VEM)
- Projects of National Importance
Monitoring Mechanism
Museums receiving assistance must report annual visitor footfall for five years after project completion. A Project Monitoring Committee under the Ministry periodically reviews progress to ensure effective implementation.
Steps Toward New Museums in Odisha
The proposal for a Shree Jagannath Museum reflects a strategic cultural vision. Discussions around new museums in Odisha increasingly focus on:
- Digitization and Virtual Access
- Creating online archives and virtual walkthroughs to attract global audiences.
- Experiential and Theme-Based Museums
- Developing immersive storytelling spaces around Jagannath culture, maritime history and tribal heritage.
- Capacity Building
- Training curators, conservators and archivists in modern museum management practices.
- Public-Private Partnerships
- Involving trusts, academic institutions and autonomous bodies to strengthen governance and funding.
- Tourism Integration
- Linking museums with pilgrimage and heritage circuits to boost visitor engagement and revenue.
The Way Forward
Odisha stands at a critical juncture in cultural infrastructure development. While existing museums preserve invaluable heritage, many require modernization to remain relevant and engaging. The proposed Jagannath Museum in Puri could serve as a benchmark for future museum projects in the state—combining tradition, technology and tourism.
If effectively implemented, the new initiatives may transform Odisha into a leading cultural hub, where heritage preservation coexists with digital innovation and global outreach.
26, Feb 2026
Colliers Identifies 30 Emerging Industrial & Warehousing Growth Hubs Across India
Colliers identifies 30 high-potential industrial & warehousing hotspots across India, driven by infrastructure expansion, manufacturing growth and policy push
New Delhi, Feb 26: India’s industrial and warehousing market is entering a phase of accelerated transformation, driven by strong policy support, infrastructure augmentation, evolving consumer behavior, supply-chain recalibration, and rapid technology adoption. With India’s manufacturing sector currently contributing around 17% to GDP and projected to reach approximately 25% by 2035, the industrial and warehousing sector is emerging as a high-growth frontier supported by rising demand for modern Grade A facilities and growing institutional investments.According to Colliers’ latest report, India’s Emerging Industrial & Warehousing Corridors: Mapping the Next Growth Frontier, multiple cities are poised to lead the next wave of industrial and logistics growth. This momentum is backed by corridor development programmes, the PM Gati Shakti initiative, the National Logistics Policy, and infrastructure investments spanning industrial corridors, smart cities, multimodal logistics parks (MMLPs), textile parks, and greenfield ports and airports. Sector-focused interventions such as the BioPharma SHAKTI Scheme and Semiconductor Mission 2.0 are further expected to catalyze growth in smaller industrial hubs.30 Cities Identified as Future Industrial & Warehousing HotspotsColliers assessed over 100 cities using a proprietary analytical framework based on five key parameters:
- Enhanced connectivity along strategic industrial and freight corridors
- Upcoming industrial smart cities
- Proposed Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs)
- Expansion of sea and airport linkages
- Development of large integrated textile hubs
Additional factors such as maturity of industrial ecosystems, manufacturing cluster presence, infrastructure completion stages, multimodal connectivity, availability of Grade A stock, MSME activity, and e-commerce penetration were also considered. The final shortlist includes 30 high-potential cities categorized into Prime, Emerging, and Nascent hubs.Cluster-Wise ClassificationPrime Hubs (8):
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, PuneEmerging Hubs (12):
Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow, Nashik, Patna, Rajpura, Surat, VisakhapatnamNascent Hubs (10):
Amravati, Guwahati, Hosur, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Nagpur, Prayagraj, Raipur, VijayawadaThe geographical distribution reflects balanced growth across Northern, Southern, Western, Eastern, and Central India. Prime hubs are established demand centers expected to absorb new supply rapidly. Emerging hubs are likely to gain momentum as key infrastructure projects near completion, while nascent hubs are anticipated to scale gradually with continued policy and infrastructure support.Infrastructure to Drive Grade A Warehousing UptakeIndia’s industrial and warehousing transformation is anchored in cohesive national programmes such as the National Industrial Corridor Development Programme (NICDP) and the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan.Infrastructure Development Snapshot:
- 11 Industrial Corridors under development
- 5 Dedicated Freight Corridors
- 20 Industrial Smart Cities
- 35 sanctioned Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (5 approved)
- 7 PM MITRA textile parks
- 800+ projects under the Sagarmala Programme (200 completed)
- 8 international airports under construction
This infrastructure push is expected to significantly boost Grade A warehousing demand.Demand Outlook: 50+ Million Sq. Ft. Annual Uptake by 2030Driven by strong demand from 3PL players and sectors such as automobiles, engineering, FMCG, and e-commerce, annual Grade A space uptake across the top 8 cities is projected to exceed 50 million sq. ft. by 2030.Market Trends & Long-Term Outlook:
- Demand expected to grow from ~37 million sq. ft. in 2025 to 50+ million sq. ft. by 2030
- Total stock projected to increase from ~300 million sq. ft. in 2025 to ~500 million sq. ft. by 2030
- Long-term potential to reach over 2 billion sq. ft. by 2047
Vijay Ganesh, Managing Director, Industrial & Logistics Services, Colliers India, said:
“The next wave of industrial and warehousing growth will be strengthened by expanding industrial and freight corridors, multimodal logistics parks, smart industrial cities, and major sea–airport expansion projects. Budgetary allocations and sector-focused interventions will not only boost established markets but also unlock investments across emerging and nascent hubs.”
Vimal Nadar, National Director & Head, Research, Colliers India, added:
“Policy-driven domestic manufacturing growth and infrastructure expansion will remain pivotal to the sector’s transformation. Grade A warehousing stock across the top 8 cities is projected to cross 500 million sq. ft. by 2030 and could potentially scale to 2 billion sq. ft. by 2047, fostering balanced regional growth and positioning smaller cities as new growth frontiers.”
With sustained infrastructure development, demographic shifts, and strengthening consumption patterns, India’s industrial and warehousing sector is poised for exponential expansion over the coming decades. The evolution of the sector will be marked by increased efficiency, automation, supply chain integration, sustainability, and advanced technology adoption, reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of India’s long-term economic growth trajectory.
26, Feb 2026
Benin Tourism agency to join ITB Berlin 2026 to advance Benin’s international reach and tourism growth
Cotonou, Feb 26 — Benin Tourism announces its participation in ITB Berlin, the leading trade show for the global travel and tourism industry, taking place March 3–5, 2026, in Berlin, Germany. Through this strategic presence, Benin aims to further strengthen its position as a forward-looking destination on the international stage by combining institutional visibility, industry engagement, market development of its tourism offering, and the promotion of its cultural identity. This participation builds on Benin’s recent presence at major international tourism events, following its participation in IFTM in Paris and FITUR in Madrid in recent months. It extends the country’s broader international outreach strategy to enhance Benin’s attractiveness, deepen relationships with travel industry stakeholders, and accelerate the commercialization of the destination across priority markets.
ITB Berlin: A key international platform for promoting Destination Benin
ITB Berlin is a must-attend event for any destination seeking to build a lasting position on the global tourism stage. Since 1966, the show has established itself as the world’s leading platform for the travel industry, and the 2026 edition will be especially significant as it marks the event’s 60th anniversary, taking place March 3–5 in Berlin under the theme, “Discover the stories behind 60 years of legacy.” With its structure organized both geographically (by destination) and by market segment (including adventure tourism, business travel, luxury travel, medical tourism, travel technology, and more), ITB offers a unique environment for visibility, strategic intelligence, and business development. The scale of the event underscores its importance: the previous edition brought together more than 170 countries and territories, 5,800 exhibitors, and nearly 100,000 trade visitors. Benin’s participation in 2026 is the result of long-term planning: after attending last year as an observer, Benin Tourism returns this year with a fully structured pavilion, building on preparatory work launched in 2025.
A delegation structured around experience and commercialization
For the 2026 edition of ITB Berlin, Benin Tourism has chosen to work alongside partners that reflect the growing strength of Benin’s tourism ecosystem, bringing together complementary stakeholders from across the value chain. The Benin pavilion will feature Benin Tours S.A., which is being mobilized to support the commercialization of Destination Benin and the structuring of its tourism offering, with the goal of expanding distribution opportunities and partnerships with international travel professionals. Alongside it, Ouidah Golf Club will highlight Benin’s potential across leisure, experiential tourism, and hospitality segments, while Sofitel Cotonou Marina Hotel & Spa, a flagship property, will showcase the rising quality of the country’s hospitality infrastructure and its ambition in the high-end travel segment. Together, these partners reflect a clear objective: to present in Berlin a destination that is not only inspiring, but also market-ready, programmable, and well-positioned for integration into international tour operators’ catalogs and travel offerings.
A pavilion designed as a living showcase of Benin
Beyond its institutional dimension and B2B engagement, the Benin pavilion will offer an immersive discovery experience designed to leave a lasting impression on visitors, spark the
interest of travel professionals, and embody the full richness of Beninese hospitality. A dedicated tasting area will be set up to introduce visitors to flavors and products from Benin as part of a sensory storytelling approach to the destination. This tasting experience will play a central role in telling Benin’s story, highlighting the quality of its products, the diversity of its culinary traditions, and the refinement of its culture of hospitality. The goal is to give visitors a tangible first encounter with Benin through an experience that engages the senses and creates lasting recall. Conceived as a space for exchange, discovery, and projection, the pavilion will bring together the cultural, tourism, and commercial dimensions of the destination within a scenographic concept aligned with Benin’s positioning.
An artistic and cultural program at the heart of the pavilion’s identity
Benin’s presence at ITB Berlin will be brought to life through an ambitious artistic and cultural program designed as a central driver of differentiation, visibility, and appeal. The program is intended to make the Benin pavilion a vibrant, recognizable space deeply rooted in the country’s cultural expressions.
In this spirit, Pépit’Arts will play a major role in the pavilion’s artistic and musical programming through the presentation of FAADJI, a percussion-based creation presented in formats tailored to visitor flow and the trade show environment. This performance concept will establish a strong sonic and stage presence, creating an experience that is immediately distinctive and memorable.
The pavilion will also welcome Akonhoun Delidji, a cultural ensemble from Abomey renowned for its traditional dance performances, including Zinli and the Akonhoun dance. The sequences presented will highlight the expressive power, symbolic depth, and heritage significance of these dances, echoing the history of the Danxomè Kingdom and the imagery of strength, courage, and pride associated with the Amazons. Through this presence, Benin will deliver a powerful cultural performance that is identity-driven, visually striking, and fully aligned with the story it is bringing to the international stage.
More broadly, these cultural performances will strengthen the identity of the Benin pavilion, showcase the country’s intangible cultural heritage, and affirm Beninese artistic creation as a core pillar of the national narrative presented in Berlin.
A clear objective: elevating and selling Destination Benin
Through its participation in ITB Berlin, Benin Tourism is pursuing a clear ambition: to combine international visibility with the market development of the destination. The trade show will provide a strategic platform to engage with tour operators, travel agencies, key industry influencers, specialized media, and institutional partners, while presenting a tourism offer that is more clearly defined, more competitive, and more distinctive.
Benin’s participation in this major international event reflects a resolutely modern approach to destination promotion, one that goes beyond simply showcasing assets. It is an approach that builds connections, creates emotion, structures commercialization, and establishes a lasting brand image. By leveraging the complementarity between public and private stakeholders, and between hospitality, culture, and distribution, Benin is affirming its ambition to claim its full place in the global tourism conversation.
Sindé CHEKETE, CEO of Benin Tourism, said: “Benin’s participation in ITB Berlin 2026 is part of a consistent strategy to strengthen our presence on the world’s leading tourism stages, following our participation in IFTM in Paris and FITUR in Madrid. It reflects our determination to steadily advance the visibility, credibility, and commercialization of Destination Benin. In
Berlin, we will present a structured tourism offering, supported by complementary stakeholders from across our ecosystem, and a pavilion designed as a space for engagement, experience, and forward-looking dialogue.”
26, Feb 2026
Best Companies to Work For in India 2026: NVIDIA, Google, and Apple Lead Employee Satisfaction Rankings
Feb 26: Workplace community platform Blind has released its 2026 rankings of the Best Companies to Work For in India, revealing key insights into employee satisfaction, employer desirability, compensation trends, and job market sentiment.
Highest-Rated Companies in India (2026)
Based on overall satisfaction, the top 15 highest-rated companies in India this year are:
NVIDIA, Google, Apple, Akamai Technologies, VMware, Adobe, Target, CRED, Nokia, ThoughtWorks, Airbnb, Lowe’s, Autodesk, Zoho, and ServiceNow.
Compared to last year, NVIDIA, Google, Apple, Akamai Technologies, VMware, Target, Zoho, and ServiceNow maintained their top-rated status, while Adobe, CRED, Nokia, ThoughtWorks, Airbnb, Lowe’s, and Autodesk newly entered the top 15.
Lowest-Rated Companies in India (2026)
The 15 lowest-rated companies based on overall satisfaction are:
DP World, Ola, Sprinklr, Groupon, Tekion Corp, Paytm, OYO, Zeta, Samsung Electronics, HCL Enterprise, Deliveroo, Compass, Rippling, Infosys, and Cashfree.
DP World, Paytm, Tekion Corp, Zeta, and Sprinklr remained on the lowest-rated list, while the other companies newly appeared in 2026.
Best to Work For vs. Most Desired to Work At
Blind also analyzed where Indian professionals most aspire to work. The most desired employers in 2026 are:
Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Atlassian, Flipkart, Zeta, InMobi, Tekion Corp, Uber, Walmart, Salesforce, Adobe, Meta, Oracle, and ShareChat.
While there is overlap, some globally recognized firms such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta rank high in desirability but do not feature among the top satisfaction leaders. Conversely, NVIDIA, Apple, and Akamai Technologies lead in satisfaction but do not rank among the most desired employers — suggesting brand perception and prestige influence job interest independently of employee experience.
Top Paying Companies and Satisfaction Correlation
The companies reporting the highest median total compensation packages in India for 2026 include:
Meta, Broadcom, Apple, Amazon, Uber, Google, LinkedIn, AMD, Atlassian, Salesforce, Intuit, Confluent, Palo Alto Networks, VMware, Cohesity, Twilio, NVIDIA, Walmart, Adobe, and Intel Corporation.
Fewer than a third of the top-paying companies appear among the highest-rated employers, highlighting that compensation alone does not consistently translate into employee satisfaction.
Search Trends: Layoffs, Mobility & Global Aspirations
The most searched companies by India-based professionals over the past year were:
Microsoft, Google, Uber, Amazon, Salesforce, Meta, Atlassian, Apple, Qualcomm, and eBay.
Trending search keywords included “layoff,” “offer,” “H-1B,” “Meta India,” “Google India,” and “Meta London,” reflecting job security concerns and strong global mobility aspirations.
Since May 2020, Blind has collected verified employee reviews and compensation data across approximately 248,000 companies worldwide, enabling professionals to make informed career decisions.
Methodology
The rankings are based on 40,686 cumulative verified employee reviews submitted through 2025 by Indian professionals on Blind. Only companies with at least 50 reviews were included. Companies were evaluated across overall satisfaction, career growth, work-life balance, compensation and benefits, company culture, and trust in management.
The “Would you work here?” rankings reflect cumulative poll responses visible only to non-employees of the evaluated company.
Compensation rankings reflect median total compensation submissions through 2025 from companies with at least 100 verified entries.
Search rankings reflect the most searched companies and workplace-related keywords by India-based Blind users across web and app platforms over the past year.
26, Feb 2026
Lightrun Launches Industry’s First AI SRE With Live Dynamic Runtime Context
NEW YORK, Feb 26 — Lightrun, a leader in software reliability, announced the industry’s first and only real-time AI SRE built on live, in-line runtime context. This allows AI agents and engineering teams to create missing evidence dynamically without redeployments, prove root causes with live execution data (“ground truth”), and validate fixes directly in live environments.
The mass adoption of AI agents and coding assistants has accelerated code generation, outpacing reliability. This has shifted developer time from writing code to verifying and fixing issues, and moved the development bottleneck to runtime, where behavior is complex and often non-deterministic. As enterprises accelerate investment in AI-driven reliability and autonomous operations, this has created a market for AI SREs valued at billions of dollars.
Despite this growth, most available ‘AI SRE’ tools are optimized for post-incident workflows and limited to relying on traditional, static telemetry that was already captured. When logs are missing, traces are incomplete, or execution context is unclear, teams are left to guess. Engineers are forced into long reactive cycles of redeploys, rollbacks, and manual validation.
Lightrun’s AI SRE closes this gap by bringing live, code-level runtime context directly into the reliability loop. Lightrun has been recognized in the 2026 Gartner® Market Guide for AI Site Reliability Engineering Tooling.
Instead of passively observing telemetry, the Lightrun AI SRE can safely interact with live systems via Lightrun’s patented Sandbox to create new evidence, test hypotheses, and validate outcomes against real execution behavior. This capability transforms AI SRE from a reactive post-incident advisor into a trusted, runtime-verified autonomous engineer that ensures reliability by design.
Built on Lightrun’s Runtime Context engine, the AI SRE supports reliability across the entire SDLC, from proactive issue detection during development and testing (“peace time”) to autonomous investigation and remediation during live incidents (“war time”). It enables teams to understand how code truly behaves in runtime, close visibility gaps without redeploying, and resolve issues with confidence. Lightrun is designed for every team responsible for the behavior, reliability, or outcomes of running software.
“Lightrun addresses a structural visibility gap in the emerging AI site reliability engineering workflows (SRE) market,” said Jim Mercer, Program Vice President, Software Development, DevOps, and DevSecOps at IDC. “By integrating dynamic instrumentation into SRE workflows, the company enables validation of root cause and remediation against live execution, reducing reliance on static, pre-instrumented telemetry and strengthening reliability across the software development lifecycle.”
With Lightrun’s AI SRE, engineering and reliability teams benefit from:
● Root cause analysis based on new evidence from live environments, without requiring prior instrumentation.
● Runtime-validated code changes to eliminate guesswork and reduce rollback-and-redeploy cycles.
● Live issue debugging in safe remote sessions with execution-level behavior inspections.
● Dynamic telemetry to running systems to fill visibility gaps that traditional observability tools cannot address.
● Reduced reliance on expensive war rooms, due to autonomous remediation and the ability to receive a code fix of incidents before escalating to a human.
● Resilience to “unknown unknowns” introduced by multiple AI agents across the SDLC.
Zahi Kapeluto, AVP Engineering, AT&T, stated, “Modern, AI-driven software reliability depends on connecting telemetry to real execution context. Without understanding how code behaves in live environments, alerts and metrics alone don’t tell the full story. Lightrun helps our teams close that gap by exposing runtime behavior directly, enabling faster investigation and more confident remediation.”
“AI cannot resolve what it cannot see. Lightrun’s runtime context engine allows AI to see application behavior at a single line level of granularity, which positions us to streamline remediation for any software issues in real-time,” added Ilan Peleg, CEO of Lightrun. “Trusted by Fortune 100 companies and the largest enterprises in the world, Lightrun is proud to lead the way in making self-healing software a reality.”
