MAM
Niine asks India to run for period-positive vision on Women’s Day
MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, whose movie Pad Man had shared an important about menstrual hygiene in India, has joined forces with the Niine movement, to mark International Women’s Day 2019, announcing the launch of Run4Niine in 500 cities on the 8 March. He will flag off the run from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Run4Niine partner Junior Chambers International (JCI), the non-profit organisation encouraging young people to be active responsible citizens, will help take the ‘Let’s Talk About Periods’ message to the streets of India and in up to 500 cities, made possible through JCI’s chapter networks.
Niine Movement and Niine Sanitary Napkins co-founder Amar Tulsiyan said, “I am delighted to be launching Run4Niine. The first event of its kind, we aim to galvanise the population into action and hope to get every woman, man and child running to break the taboos around menstrual hygiene. I would like to thank JCI and FOGSI for their support to help extend the reach of Run4Niine further and to thank Akshay Kumar for his continued support. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to work with such esteemed organisations and brilliant minds and we look forward to expanding our partner footprint further to truly create a Chain of Niine.”
Speaking about his association with Run4Niine, Akshay Kumar said, “When I made the movie Pad Man, I was hoping for it to turn into a conversation. But today, after a year, I can proudly say that it has grown to become a phenomenal movement, truly at a grassroots level. I am therefore excited to announce my partnership with the Niine Movement to take this to the streets of India and invite my fellow citizens, compatriots, change makers and path breakers to join me for Run4Niine, to raise awareness and initiate action on menstrual hygiene. Each of us, when joined together, will form a chain – an unstoppable force fighting an improbable stigma.”
He added, “International Women’s Day is a significant day for women and girls across the world; a day when not only women are celebrated for their achievements and contributions in all sectors of life but a cold reminder of the inequalities that exist in our society which have kept girls and women back for centuries. International Women's Day serves as a fitting day for Run4Niine, where everyone can come together in solidarity to tackle menstrual taboos.”
Brands
OpenAI hires Nitin Bawankule as head of enterprise sales, India
Former AWS, Google and Disney+ Hotstar leader to drive AI adoption at scale
MUMBAI: OpenAI has appointed Nitin Bawankule as head of enterprise sales for India, strengthening its leadership bench as it deepens its push into one of the world’s fastest-growing AI markets.
Bawankule, who will join in mid-May, brings more than two decades of experience across cloud, media, and digital ecosystems. Most recently, he served at Amazon Web Services, where he led multiple high-growth verticals and helped accelerate enterprise adoption of cloud and AI solutions in India.
Announcing the move, OpenAI head of enterprise sales, India Nitin Bawankule said he is looking forward to helping organisations transition from “isolated AI pilots to company-wide transformation” and embedding AI into everyday workflows to unlock productivity and better decision-making.
Before AWS, Bawankule held senior leadership roles at The Walt Disney Company, where he led ad sales for Disney+ Hotstar and television networks, driving revenue growth across major sporting and entertainment properties. He also spent over eight years at Google, including a stint as country director for Google Cloud in India.
His appointment comes at a time when Indian enterprises are rapidly scaling AI adoption, moving beyond experimentation to integrating AI into core business functions. OpenAI’s decision to bring in a seasoned enterprise leader signals its intent to capture this opportunity and build deeper partnerships across industries.
With a strong track record in navigating major technology shifts, Bawankule is expected to play a key role in translating AI’s promise into practical, business-ready solutions for Indian companies.
As the race to operationalise AI gathers pace, OpenAI’s latest hire suggests it is gearing up not just to participate, but to lead from the front in India’s enterprise AI story.
