Author: Neel Achary

International Day of Rural Women: Stories of Empowerment Through Skill-Building

India, 16th october 2025: The vision of a future-forward, inclusive, and economically vibrant India is incomplete without the participation of women in the workforce. With equal access to education, economic opportunities, and safety, women can drive social change, overcome socio-cultural barriers, and confidently run businesses. Initiatives like Mudra Yojana and Stand-Up India have contributed to an increase in the Female Labour Force Participation Rate, from 23.3% in 2017–18 to 41.7% in 2023–24. However, the Economic Survey 2024–25 highlights that women still own only 22% of India’s MSMEs, most of which are micro-enterprises.

To empower aspiring women entrepreneurs, Transform Rural India (TRI), a development design organisation, is working to transform India’s bottom 100,000 villages into thriving localities. Through scalable and grounded solutions, TRI is creating entrepreneurial ecosystems that provide counselling, skill development, financial literacy workshops, and peer group meetings to foster collaboration and resource sharing within communities. Many rural women have emerged as inspiring examples of resilience and enterprise.

1. Padma Patel

Padma (35) from Kari village, Barwani district, Madhya Pradesh, is now the proud owner of Muskan Saree Shop & Silai Centre. Born into a family engaged in agricultural labour and goat herding, she initially ran a small bangle shop to support her family. Her journey took a transformative turn when she joined TRI’s Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP) through the Enterprise Facilitation Hub.

With guidance from TRI’s Nari Adhikar Kendra, she strengthened her financial literacy and business skills. Padma expanded her shop to include sarees and a sewing counter. Today, she enjoys a thriving business during festive and wedding seasons and plans to establish a dedicated sewing centre on newly acquired land. She actively inspires other women to acquire skills and leverage resources to realise their dreams.

2. Anita Wagh

Anita (32), from Kansul village, Pansemal, Barwani district, could not complete education beyond Class 10. Yet, she turned her tailoring skills into a profession after marriage, starting the Jai Dasha Mata Silai Center. With support from a self-help group and guidance from TRI’s Pansemal Enterprise Facilitation Hub and Nari Adhikar Kendra, she trained under TRI’s Accelerated Entrepreneurship Development Program (AEDP) to gain marketing and strategic skills.

Relocating her centre to Pansemal, Anita serves women from nearby villages, focusing on quality, versatility, and timely delivery. Today, she runs a successful enterprise and plans to expand into a cloth shop, gaining financial independence and respect within her family and community.

3. Rukhsana Bi

Rukhsana (33) from Julwaniya, Barwani, has established her own Ayesha Collection Cloth Shop. Limited education and social constraints initially restricted her to household duties. With the support of her husband and in-laws and guidance from TRI’s Enterprise Facilitation Hub, Rukhsana developed a business plan, identified a market gap, and secured support through a self-help group.

Her shop now serves families in Julwaniya and surrounding villages, providing her with financial independence and social recognition. Rukhsana contributes to family decisions, educates her children, and plans to expand into a full-fledged shop in the near future.

PerformAce partners with mFilterIt to Redefine Ad Performance in India

New Delhi, India, 15 October 2025: PerformAce Media, India’s leading precision MarTech specialist, has entered a strategic collaboration with mFilterIt, a global frontrunner in digital ad-trust solutions. This partnership empowers brands and agencies with advanced, performance-driven advertising—layered with robust fraud protection and sophisticated Attention Metrics to reveal true audience engagement.

Addressing the New Age of Digital Advertising

Today’s digital world demands more than outdated metrics like CTR. The surge in AI-driven bots and invalid traffic means advertisers face greater risks of digital fraud, while the challenge of ensuring brand safety is greater than ever. Moreover, viewability rates, while important, are simply not enoughbrands need assurance that their messages are truly absorbed by a real, engaged audience.

Through this partnership, PerformAce and mFilterIt will equip advertisers to move beyond conventional measures, integrating:

• Invalid traffic and brand safety protection
• Attention-based measurement models
• Transparent, actionable campaign insights that maximize ROI

What’s New: Key Innovations

• Ad Fraud Prevention & Brand Safety: Every rupee spent is safeguarded by eliminating invalid traffic and avoiding unsafe placements.
• Performance Optimization: Data-driven insights allow brands to fine-tune creative, targeting, and placements on the fly.
• ROI Maximization: Identifies top-performing platforms and formats for high-impact conversions and scalable growth.
• Next-Gen Attention Metrics: Tracks advanced engagement signals—time spent, ad positioning, active interactions (clicks, sound, screen orientation) and video quartile progression.
• Custom Audiences & Retargeting: Enhanced targeting powered by real user-intent scores enriches campaign precision and effectiveness.

Real-World Outcomes

In a recent OTT campaign analyzed by mFilterIt, optimizing for invalid traffic and unsafe environments, coupled with attention-based creative adjustments, resulted in tangible ROI gains, actionable audience insights, and improved content strategies. By bringing this intelligence into PerformAce’s proprietary stack—VisionTV, AudienceX, NativeHub, InsightX, and ConnectX—advertisers gain unparalleled campaign clarity and transparency.

Leadership Perspectives

Saurabh Gaur, Co-Founder & CEO, PerformAce Media, said:

“At PerformAce, we’re committed to not just delivering reach at scale, but also to ensuring genuine accountability, brand safety, and attention-led performance. With mFilterIt, we’re empowering advertisers to demand more: real ROI, real trust, and real results.”

Amit Relan, Co-Founder & CEO, mFilterIt, added:

“Attention is fast becoming the new currency for advertisers. Together with PerformAce, we ensure every impression is verified and every campaign is optimized for meaningful engagement.”

TEAS Winner Meenakshi Debuts Solo Exhibition at Anupa Mehta Contemporary Art

Anupa Mehta Contemporary Art’s TEAS award recipient Meenakshi has launched her first solo exhibition 

Mumbai: October 15, 2025 : To celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 156th birth anniversary, the Anupa Mehta Contemporary Art (AMCA) gallery is showcasing the debut project of its award-winning artist Meenakshi Nihalani till October 25. The art project titled ‘Seven Yards of Blue’ which is inspired by Gandhi’s letters around the Champaran Satyagraha and chronicles its impact on the farmers of India, is scheduled till October 13 at the art gallery. 

Artist Meenakshi Nihalani was the recipient of AMCA’s first ever ‘The Emerging Artist Solo’ (TEAS) award that recognises emerging artists whose work focuses on subjects of socio-political and economic relevance. The exhibition is curated by Anupa Mehta and supported by Hampi Art Labs, where Meenakshi recently completed her residency.

The Champaran movement, led by Gandhi in 1917, was India’s first significant civil disobedience campaign focused on ending forced indigo cultivation. Meenakshi’s immersive installation works, combining textiles and sculpture, explore the plight of indigo farmers, chronicling their resilience amid colonial oppression and creating a nuanced dialogue between the past and present. 

“We are very excited to display Meenakshi’s impactful work at AMCA as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi during this very special month that celebrates his birth anniversary. This exhibition allows us to reflect on the enduring relevance of resistance, justice, and self-reliance. We look forward to having many more meaningful conversations in the years to come with the TEAS award and we hope to keep inspiring fresh new talent to express their views on relevant socio-political and economic events through contemporary art,” said Anupa Mehta, gallerist and curator. 

As an annual event, the TEAS award and exhibition program aims to launch and nurture emerging talent, fostering vital cultural dialogues both within India and internationally. The highly anticipated opening is expected to attract artists, collectors, critics, and audiences eager to experience a powerful confluence of art, history, and activism.

Roots at Mahindra University reveals stellar line-up bridging tradition and youth

Hyderabad, 15th October 2025: Mahindra Group’s newest cultural initiative, Roots at Mahindra  University – a one day festival bridging ancient traditions with today’s youth – has finally unveiled its  line-up of diversely talented artists. With this new IP, Mahindra is breaking ground by empowering  students to create a living, breathing ecosystem where heritage becomes an active, two-way dialogue.  The festival will place the next generation at the very heart of cultural sustainability.  

India’s cultural heritage is diverse, and shifting every few hundred kilometres. But what happens  when this thriving culture faces the danger of becoming a niche? For a generation of digital natives,  these traditions are not just about history but a piece of identity shedding away. So, they want to  extend their efforts towards sustaining these traditions and confluence it into the mainstream. And  from this desire, Roots at Mahindra University was born. The students’ mission is simple but  profound: to give unique legacy art forms a stage in the here and now. 

And the line-up of the festival reflects this very philosophy with: The Raghu Dixit Project, pioneers  of India’s folk-rock movement who have redefined Kannada folk poetry for global audiences.  Swarathma, who turns music into environmental, social and cultural activism with electrifying  performances. Bringing a northern flavour is Alif, aka, Mohammed Muneem Nazir, a poet, singer 

songwriter from Kashmir. His work on Coke Studio Bharat and Made In Heaven is steeped in ideas of  identity, longing, and resilience. Not to forget Hamza Rahimtula + Rajasthan Folkstars’ rare  dialogue between DJing and Manganiyar traditions led by Khartal virtuoso Jaisa Khan and Firoz Khan  on the Bhapang and Morchang. It started as a spontaneous collaboration that has pushed Rajasthani  folk into global dance circuits.  

Meanwhile, there’s Gotte Kanakavva, the 65-year-old daily-wage worker and farmer who is now a  folk icon, awarded and celebrated for keeping Bathukamma songs alive. Lastly, Arko and Friends ft.  Gaboo’s fresh collaboration will bring together Bollywood with indie experimentation, bridging  popular and alt music.  

“Young people often express the need to reconnect to India’s artistic traditions, and believe they must  shoulder the responsibility to both preserve and reinvent them. Roots is a manifestation of this belief.  This is not nostalgia but a generational mandate. It is their way of saying that culture is not a museum  exhibit but alive, and belongs in the present to the young. By bringing forgotten art forms through  authentic acts in contemporary spaces, Roots is not just preserving traditions but evolving them,” said  Jay Shah, Vice President, Head – Cultural Outreach, Mahindra & Mahindra

Dr. Yajulu Medury, Vice Chancellor of Mahindra University, added, “Roots is not a festival planned  from the top down for the attendees. The very generation it endeavours to inspire is the one building it  piece by piece from the ground up – not just as volunteers but as cultural entrepreneurs. And the line-up  of the festival embodies this ethos of not just preserving the past but making it relevant for the future.” 

Roots at Mahindra University promises not just performances but a cultural movement  demonstrating how the youth has the power and the responsibility to keep the chain of memory alive,  and become guardians of India’s cultural future.