Brands
Hush Puppies unveils a larger-than-life installation of its iconic mascot
Mumbai: To commemorate the timeless elegance and comfort of Hush Puppies on its 65th birthday, Bata India organised a unique month-long celebration across all touchpoints to spread the message of living life on a brighter side. The celebrations commenced with a restorative yoga session with puppies, special discount offers at HP stores and bata.com, and were culminated by the unveiling of a larger-than-life installation of the brand’s iconic mascot – the Hush Puppies Basset Hound.
A gigantic Basset Hound-themed van circled the streets of Gurugram capturing eye-balls, leaving a trail of smiles and wonder. Its vibrant and playful design drew the attention of both young and old, sparking conversations and igniting curiosity. As captured in the film, the excited faces of the passersby were a reminder that a touch of creativity and whimsy can bring unexpected delight in the midst of daily life. To share this moment with cherished consumers, the van visited the homes of select consumers distributing smiles, cakes & special offers.
Speaking on the campaign Bata India head of category and communications Ullas Vijay said, “The initiatives for Hush Puppies’ 65th Birthday go beyond just brand activations. The brand’s mission is to inspire individuals to live life on the bright side and we, at Bata India, wanted to celebrate in a way that reflects the brand values of Hush Puppies: ‘Be True, Be Comfy, Be Bright, Be Bold.’ We commend Hush Puppies’ 65-year legacy of impeccable craftsmanship and innovative design. Here’s to more style, comfort, and positivity!”
Speaking on the occasion, Xperia Group managing partner and CEO Saibal Gupta said, “Having carved a distinct niche for itself on key parameters such as comfort and style, brand Hush Puppies from Bata has been enjoying a huge recall and love from its customers for several decades. Hence our campaign was aimed to create a larger-than-life installation of the brand’s iconic mascot – the Hush Puppies Basset Hound which we took on the streets of Gurugram to capture and touch the emotions of people with smiles, remembering their association with the brand. Indeed, it has evoked massive eye-balls and has resonated with the sentiments of all Hush Puppies lovers.”
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
