MAM
P&G to support UK athletes during 2012 Olympics
MUMBAI: P&G, the company behind brands such as Fairy, Gillette, Pampers and Pantene has announced that it will be supporting a number of the UK‘s athletes in the build-up to and during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In addition to supporting the Mums of Team GB through its ‘Thank You Mum‘ campaign, the company will also be sponsoring 11 leading UK athletes who will serve as ambassadors for P&G‘s individual brands through 2012.
P&G UK VP, MD Irwin Lee said, “We‘re very excited to welcome to the P&G family an impressive line-up of athletes who will help us celebrate the London 2012 Games and the role that Mums and families play in raising great kids and great champions. We are delighted to be part of the Olympic movement and to support Team GB and their families here in the UK.”
The athletes, who will be supported by leading P&G brands are Mark Cavendish (Road Cycling), Jessica Ennis (Athletics), Sir Chris Hoy(Track Cycling), Jeanette Kwakye (Athletics), Keri-Anne Payne (Swimming), Victoria Pendleton (Track Cycling),Paula Radcliffe (Athletics), Jenna Randall (Synchronised Swimming), Ben Rushgrove (Paralympic Athletics), Liam Tancock (Swimming), and Sophia Warner (Paralympic Athletics).
Lee added, “Each of these athletes is leading the way in their individual fields and embody the values of leadership, integrity and passion for winning that we set for ourselves and our brands at P&G.”
Earlier this year, P&G UK launched its ‘Thank You Mum‘ campaign to celebrate and recognise the contributions of all mums. This was followed in October 2011, with the announcement of its ‘nearest and dearest‘ partnership with the BOA and BPA to support the friends and families of athletes leading up to and during the Games.
P&G will also ensure every Team GB athlete‘s mum gets to see their son or daughter compete by providing free tickets to their first appearance at the London 2012 Olympic or Paralympic Games.
P&G‘s sponsorship and marketing activity for London 2012 is an important step in a decade-long, global partnership with the IOC spanning the next 10 years until 2020.
The partnership begins with London 2012 and continues with the subsequent four Olympic Games: Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018 and the 2020 Games. The newly unveiled GB athletes will feature in a variety of sponsorship, marketing and advertising campaigns for P&G‘s individual brands in the run-up to and during London 2012.
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
