Brands
Havmor flies high this Uttarayan with a folk-powered festive campaign
NATIONAL: Havmor Ice Cream has rolled out a culture-first Uttarayan campaign, pairing a high-energy folk anthem with festival-specific value packs as it looks to own Gujarat’s most visible kite-flying season.
The centrepiece is a specially produced Uttarayan song featuring Gujarati folk star Kirtidan Gadhvi, built around the familiar “Kai Po Che” refrain and designed to play out across rooftops, terraces and family gatherings. The track positions Havmor not just as a dessert brand, but as part of the festive soundtrack.
“Havmor has always been about the moments we share with loved ones,” said Havmor Ice Cream head of marketing Rishabh Verma. “With Uttarayan 2026, we are embedding ourselves into one of Gujarat’s most cherished traditions through an authentic cultural collaboration.”
To convert buzz into baskets, Havmor has also launched festival combo packs. These include choco brownie at Rs 129 (down from Rs 155) and butterscotch at Rs 99 (from Rs 125) in 700 ml packs. The brand is also pushing its zulubarrange at Rs 160 for a three plus one offer, including zulubar dark crunch, to drive volume during the peak season.
The push comes as parent Lotte India Corporation ramps up capacity, having recently commissioned a Rs 500 crore ice-cream plant in Pune, one of the largest in the country, to fuel Havmor’s national expansion.
Brands
Uidai partners with Google to help users locate Aadhaar centres
Verified Aadhaar centres to appear on Maps with services and access info
MUMBAI: Finding an Aadhaar centre may soon be as easy as finding your favourite café. In a move aimed at making public services more accessible, the Unique Identification Authority of India has partnered with Google to display authorised Aadhaar centres on Google Maps. The feature, expected to roll out in the coming months, will allow residents to locate verified centres quickly and confidently.
More than 60,000 Aadhaar centres, including state of the art Aadhaar Seva Kendras, will be mapped. When users search on Google Maps, they will be directed to authorised facilities rather than unverified listings, helping curb misinformation and confusion.
The listings will do more than drop a pin. Users will be able to see the nature of services offered at each centre, whether it is adult enrolment, child enrolment, or limited to address and mobile number updates. Details such as operating hours, parking availability and divyang friendly infrastructure will also be shown wherever applicable.
Uidai CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, said the collaboration is part of the authority’s continued effort to improve ease of living for Aadhaar holders by making authorised centres simpler and faster to navigate.
The partnership will deepen in its next phase, with Uidai using Google Business Profile to manage information and respond directly to public feedback. Looking ahead, the two organisations are also exploring the option of enabling appointment bookings through the Google Maps interface, potentially allowing residents to plan their visits with greater efficiency.
Google India country head, strategic partnerships Roli Agarwal, said integrating verified Aadhaar centres would help millions access trusted services with confidence, bringing essential government infrastructure closer to the people who need it most.
If all goes to plan, a routine Aadhaar update may soon begin not with a queue, but with a search bar.
