MAM
WPP Stream India’s view into the future of communication and creativity
MUMBAI: WPP Stream India, the unconventional (un) conference organised by WPP Group Company has announced its return in the pink city, Jaipur. Being held in India for the second time, Stream will witness a diverse crowd of 250+ CEOs, senior marketers, senior leaders from media and creative, future thinking leaders, start ups/entrepreneurs and digital evangelists from the creative, media and technology space. The attendees would come together from 4 to 7 February to celebrate and explore the future of communications, creativity and digital innovation in South Asia.
WPP Stream is a unique thought leadership initiative designed by WPP group to bring together the industry leaders on a single interactive platform in order to exchange and provoke ideas about the future of digital media, communications, creativity, business and society. With over one hundred discussion sessions, Ignite talks (15 slides in 15 seconds), pitch show and more, Stream India stands to be an exclusive opportunity for individuals to test their ideas and tap into the wisdom of the masses. Moreover, the participant will also get a chance to meet Yossi Vardi, the globally acclaimed hi-tech investor who is also the co-host of Stream 2015 India edition.
Ranjan Kapur – WPP Country Manager India, who will be hosting the STREAM 2015 India on behalf of WPP said, “We are absolutely delighted to announce the return of WPP Stream India. By the way of this initiative, WPP aims to foster entrepreneurship in the industry and bring an upsurge in the disruptive technologies and innovation. Stream 2014 was a great success and we are confident that this year is going to be even more exciting.”
Stream being an (un)conference, follows rules distinct from the usual conference model, with no keynote speeches or PowerPoint presentations. The (un)conference is vastly focused on active involvement of participants and spontaneous discussions and conversations leading to explosion of ideas and thoughts. Stream recognizes role of technology & start-ups in shaping our future and taking it a notch higher this time, WPP has partnered with NASSCOM 10K startups wherein technology startups under the programme will demonstrate futuristic & next-gen technologies, through the STREAM tech-lab.
Speaking on the same, Rajat Tandon, Senior Director, NASSCOM 10,000 Start-Ups Program said, “Resonating with our mission to nurture tech start-ups and make them meet F.A.M.E., our partnership with the Tech Lab at WPP Stream 2015 is all about manufacturing magic, a fantastic opportunity to expose the 10ksuperstars to new ideas, demystify technology and foster creative partnerships between tech startups, designers, and media professionals in a highly interactive unconference format.”
Tushar Vyas, Managing Partner, GroupM expressed, “At a time when the entire world is moving at such a fast pace and everything is going digital , it becomes imperative to thrust South Asia’s marketing and media industry into a era of unconventional and out of the box concepts, thinking and creativity and therefore the introduction of WPP Stream. Stream brings together brand marketers with various industry leaders to think about our digital future and what that means for communications, creativity & business.”
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
