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Growth Protocol, backed by Nazara and Lysto, debuts its mainnet on Avalanche

India – 21 May 2025 – Growth Protocol has officially launched its purpose-built Layer-1 blockchain today, backed by Nazara Technologies and Lysto.The platform is designed to propel the future of advertising on-chain, with real-time engagement through tokenizing digital advertising campaigns. Growth Protocol is signaling a major shift in how global brands connect with 150K+ daily active users already on the platform post the private testnet launch.

Growth Protocol is a blockchain marketing protocol that removes ad intermediaries, enforces radical transparency, guarantees equitable payouts, and restores sovereign digital identity to users—powering trustless Web3 campaigns.

Thanks to the Avalanche tech stack, Growth Protocol delivers sub-second finality and 10,000+ transactions per second to support high-throughput, fraud-proof marketing at scale. “Growth Protocol delivers exactly the kind of real-world adoption we envisioned Avalanche enabling—low-latency, high-speed infrastructure powering proof-of-performance at global scale,” said Emin Gün Sirer, Founder and CEO of Ava Labs. “It raises the bar for transparency in a trillion-dollar industry.”

Nazara Technologies, early backer of Growth Protocol and India’s only publicly listed gaming company and a leader in mobile gaming and esports is bringing its marketing applications on chain. Two Nazara titles are already live on-chain. “Nazara has spent 25 years putting fun into the hands of players,” said Nitish Mittersain, CEO and Founder of Nazara. “Now, with Growth Protocol, we’re helping advertisers and publishers reach and reward our players with absolute trust and efficiency. This is the future of game marketing.”

Growth Protocol replaces centralized, opaque ad-tech stacks with smart contract-based, real-time settlement. “Digital advertising still loses a substantial chunk of every dollar to intermediaries,” noted Sadiq Ahamed, Co-Founder of Growth Protocol. “We’re rerouting that value back to creators, publishers, and gamers—while giving advertisers and auditors an immutable ledger of truth.”

IMS Noida to Host Job Fair This Saturday

Noida: The Institute of Management Studies (IMS), Noida, is set to organize a Job Fair on the upcoming Saturday at its campus located in Sector 62, Noida. The event is being conducted in collaboration with the Model Career Centre, under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, and the National Institute for Career Services (NICS). More than 40 reputed companies from across the country will participate in the job fair, conducting recruitment drives for various positions across different sectors.

Prof. (Dr.) Vikas Dhawan, Director General of IMS Noida, stated, “The job fair will not only provide employment opportunities to students but also help them understand the expectations and work culture of the corporate world. It is an excellent platform for students to showcase their abilities and engage directly with working professionals, thereby gaining insights that can guide their career paths.”

Ms. Aarti Sabharwal, Head – Training & Placements at IMS Noida, shared that the primary objective of the job fair is to connect the youth with prominent companies and offer them diverse employment opportunities across sectors. The event will also witness the presence of Ms. M. Latha Gautam, Director of Employment, NICS, along with Prof. (Dr.) Vikas Dhawan. Students from around 50 leading academic institutions across Delhi-NCR are expected to participate in the job fair.

GS1 General Assembly 2025 hosted by GS1 India with a vision for Trusted Data, Better Tomorrow

Chennai, 21st May 2025: The GS1 General Assembly 2025 hosted by GS1 India with a vision to build a future powered by trusted data and a better tomorrow, especially as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digitisation gain momentum.

“The world is relying on digitisation more than ever. The growing use of AI is leading the way, and in this AI-driven economy, data quality is not an option – it’s mandatory. It’s everything,” said Mr. Mark Batenic, Chairman of the GS1 Management Board, in his address at the Assembly.

“When data can be trusted and shared seamlessly, the possibilities are infinite – for society, for businesses, for consumers, and for patients in healthcare. This week is important to discuss how we respond to this challenge and build a future together,” Batenic added.

This year’s theme for the GS1 General Assembly 2025, ‘Building bridges for a better tomorrow’, underscores the importance of trust, collaboration, and digital transformation in today’s AI-driven economy. As GS1 celebrates 50+ years since the adoption of the barcode, it looks ahead to GS1 Vision 2030 – a future where trusted data empowers businesses, consumers, and society at large.

 This is the first time GS1, a global not-for-profit standards development organisation, is holding its General Assembly in India. The gathering brings together global leaders, innovators, and delegates on a shared mission of data integrity and collaboration.

 “Today, how can we thrive in an AI world where trusted real-time data is essential to operate, trade and innovate? This is possible if we work collaboratively with industry, with governments, and across the GS1 organisation. We need to address the challenges industry faces globally across sectors such as retail and healthcare, and also expanding into agriculture, construction, rail, transport and logistics,” said Mr. Renaud De Barbuat, President and CEO of GS1.

“We also need to strengthen the foundation of GS1 standards and services anchored in trusted identification, building a future of high-quality, interoperability and trusted data sharing,” De Barbuat added.

GS1 has been working closely with the retail industry to build registries.

“When GS1 India started in 1996, retailing was at a very nascent stage. Now, organised modern retailing is at about 13–14%. Trusted data is a need today in every area, every sector. So GS1 has been working closely with the industry to embark on the journey of building registries for the last decade. A centralised registry is a crucial ask from the industry as we ensure trust within the ecosystem,” said Mr. S Swaminathan, CEO, GS1 India.

“Also, we are seeing an increase in digitisation and regulations, which is demanding more than ever for the next generation to be barcoded,” Swaminathan added.

“India is on the cusp of becoming the third-largest economy in the world, and along with this rapid economic growth comes a transformation in every sector – from healthcare and logistics to retail and e-commerce. As a nation, India is not only embracing digital technology, but also leading. GS1 India has been actively contributing to this vision, ensuring that global standards underpin the robustness and efficiency of the system,” said Mr. Vimal Anand, President, GS1 India and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

“India is at an age which is the cusp of growth. The Indian retail industry is set to grow from US$1.2 trillion to US$2.5 trillion by 2030. GS1 is synonymous to trust and innovation. We have made a lot of innovations with the help of GS1 in India and GS1 has a great future ahead to provide something which is unprecedented and unique, and which can be adopted across the world. Ultimately it’s all about data and how we use the data to grow businesses, making GS1 a part and parcel of our daily lives,” Mr. V. Subramaniam, Director, Reliance Retail said.

Mr. Srikanth Velamkanni, Co-Founder, Fractal Analytics highlighted AI’s shift from pre‐training models to reasoning systems and autonomous agents, drawing on Kahneman’s System-1 and System-2 thinking framework. He also outlined how leading companies are reimagining processes, upskilling talent, redefining roles, increasing technology investments, and embedding responsible AI principles to harness this revolution.

Mr. Sandeep Hardikar, CEO of Network Science emphasised that building trust through transparency must be the cornerstone of AI-enabled systems, underscoring GS1’s role in creating a single, transparent data signal for all stakeholders. He stressed on the need for integrated technologies—AI, blockchain, IoT—paired with people, processes, and culture. He contrasted the siloed “use-case” approach with a “metric-backward” strategy, urging organisations to define clear outcomes and architect solutions towards those metrics.

Mr. Himanshu Chakrawarti, CEO, Stellaro Brands praised GS1 India for its innovation and seamless collaboration in enabling e-commerce businesses. He emphasised the vast opportunity in India’s value segment where 1.4 billion consumers are transitioning into the middle class and creating a market for aspirational yet affordable D2C fashion brands. He spoke of GS1’s impact on inventory accuracy and interoperability, and urged further enhancements such as integrating QR-codes.

Dr. Maluk Mohammed, Co-founder, VP Research Twin Health highlighted the profound uniqueness and dynamism of human metabolism, noting that no two individuals or even a single person over time share the same metabolic profile. He explained that traditional medicine treats symptoms rather than addressing the root cause of chronic conditions, resulting in lifelong, progressive disease management.

The GS1 General Assembly 2025, which attracted more than 150 leaders from GS1 Member Organisations, industry partners, regulators, and technology experts will conclude on Thursday (22nd May 2025) in Mumbai. Over four days of deliberation, collaboration, and inspiration, the Assembly reaffirmed GS1’s commitment to accelerating global digital transformation in support of sustainable, transparent, and resilient supply chains—placing Vision 2030 at the very heart of every discussion.

Spices Board Invites Applications under SPICED Scheme for FY 2025–26 to Boost Exports, Value Addition & Farmer Empowerment

Kochi, May 21, 2025: The Spices Board, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, has announced financial assistance under its flagship scheme “Sustainability in Spice Sector through Progressive, Innovative and Collaborative Interventions for Export Development (SPICED)” for the financial year 2025–26. The scheme is designed to strengthen the Indian spices sector by focusing on sustainability, innovation, and export development. Online submission of application will start on 26th May 2025. Application under the export development and promotion components of the SPICED scheme for spice exporters can be submitted online until 30 June 2025, while applications for development components under other categories for farmers and FPOs can be submitted until 30 September 2025.

 The SPICED scheme, approved by the Government for implementation up to the end of the Fifteenth Finance Commission cycle (till FY 2025-26), is a comprehensive initiative aimed at enhancing the productivity of small and large cardamom, improving the quality of post-harvest processes, and encouraging the production and export of value-added, GI-tagged, and organic spices. The scheme is also focused on enabling compliance with global food safety and phytosanitary standards and boosting the capacity of stakeholders across the value chain.

 The scheme offers support for activities such as replanting and rejuvenation of cardamom plantations, development of water resources, micro-irrigation, promotion of organic farming, and expansion of good agricultural practices (GAP). In addition, it supports the installation of improved post-harvest infrastructure, such as modern dryers, slicers, dehullers, and grading machines to ensure superior product quality. The “Mission Clean and Safe Spices” component addresses critical gaps in food safety compliance by promoting adoption of food safety and quality certifications.

 For the benefit of farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), the SPICED scheme provides financial assistance to procure essential post-harvest machines such as spice polishers, turmeric boilers, mint distillation units, and threshing machines. It also emphasizes the establishment of on-farm composting units, adoption of organic certification, and promotion of GI-tagged spices, particularly in the North Eastern Region, to create export-ready spice clusters. The scheme further supports the creation of Spice Incubation Centres and promotes entrepreneurship and product development initiatives aimed at enhancing market access and branding for startups and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

 In the domain of export development and promotion, the scheme provides assistance for participating in international trade fairs, buyer-seller meets, and other market linkage programs. Special emphasis is given to supporting first-time exporters and small businesses, enabling them to showcase Indian spices in global markets. Through capacity-building efforts, including training and extension services, the scheme aims to empower spice farmers, SHGs, and FPOs with the latest technical know-how, best practices, and market intelligence.

 SPICED scheme reflects the Spices Board’s continued commitment to making India a global leader in spices through innovation, quality enhancement, and inclusive development. Regional, divisional, and field offices of the Board will extend necessary support to stakeholders in completing the application process and implementing the approved projects.