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ITC empowers Women across industries with HerStory campaign
MUMBAI: Marking International Women’s Day, ITC has launched the HerStory campaign, celebrating the vital role of women across science, agriculture, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship. This initiative underscores ITC’s commitment to gender equity by showcasing women breaking barriers across its diverse operations.
The campaign kicks off with a video honouring women scientists at ITC’s Life Sciences and Technology Centre (LSTC) in Bengaluru, highlighting their contributions to innovation. With women making up nearly 47 per cent of LSTC’s workforce, ITC continues to challenge gender imbalances in STEM.
ITC is also transforming shopfloors, with its Pudukkottai factory in Tamil Nadu employing 67 per cent women and the Khordha facility in Odisha operated entirely by women. These milestones reflect ITC’s efforts to increase female participation in the industrial sector.
Beyond corporate spaces, ITC empowers women in agriculture through Itcmaars, facilitating over 1,700 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), ensuring at least one female director in each, and forming 25 all-women FPOs. More than 7,500 women farmers have been supported, driving sustainable agribusinesses. Additionally, ITC’s Women-Managed Agri-Business Centres (WMABCs) have enabled over 6,000 rural women across 12 states to become entrepreneurs.
At the grassroots, ITC’s women’s empowerment programme focuses on financial literacy, social security, entrepreneurship, and livelihood support. With over 6 million women benefiting from various initiatives including self-help groups, education, and health interventions the programme is fostering financial independence and community resilience.
Watch the video here
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MS Dhoni joins Cars24’s Crashfree India as Goodwill Ambassador
Cricketing legend lends his voice to the fight against road fatalities in India.
MUMBAI: MS Dhoni has traded his cricket whites for a new kind of captaincy, one that aims to save lives on India’s roads. The former India captain has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Crashfree India, Cars24’s national road safety initiative. The move brings one of the country’s most trusted and disciplined public figures to a cause that desperately needs both credibility and urgency.
India continues to record the highest number of traffic fatalities globally. In 2024 alone, 1,80,000 people lost their lives on Indian roads, one every three minutes. The country has roughly 1% of the world’s vehicles but accounts for 11 per cent of global road deaths. Shockingly, 66 per cent of those killed were between 18 and 34 years old, the most productive age group, and nearly 10,000 were school students. Seven in ten fatalities were linked to overspeeding.
Dhoni, known for his calm judgment under pressure, did not mince words when speaking about the issue. “A vehicle gives you freedom, but it also gives you responsibility,” he said. “On our roads, too many people still see safety as a rule to follow only when someone is watching. That mindset has cost us far too much.”
He added: “We already know what is going wrong. We know how many lives are being lost. What we need now is not more excuses. We need more responsibility, more discipline, and more respect for life.”
For Cars24, the association goes beyond a celebrity endorsement. Founder and CEO Vikram Chopra described Dhoni’s involvement as a game-changer: “His understanding of Indian roads is grounded in lived experience. He holds us to a higher standard and his involvement challenges us to push this mission further.”
Crashfree India aims to shift the national conversation on road safety from reaction to prevention, from accepting deaths as routine to treating them as the urgent failure they are. With Dhoni on board, the initiative gains a powerful, trusted voice that transcends statistics and connects directly with millions of Indians.
In a country where dangerous driving is too often mistaken for confidence, Dhoni’s message is refreshingly clear: true strength lies in control, discipline, and respect for life. When one of India’s most respected captains decides to lead this fight, the conversation suddenly becomes much harder to ignore.
The roads just got a new captain. And this time, the goal is not to win a trophy but to save lives.
