Brands
playR continues to be CSK’s global merchandising partner for 2024 season
Mumbai: In an exciting development, playR will once again collaborate with Chennai Super Kings for the 2024 season. As the global merchandise partner, playR offers a diverse range of merchandise including apparel, sports equipment and accessories, enabling CSK fans to showcase their unwavering support for their beloved team.
playR co-founder and iCOREts Pvt Ltd director Ravi Kukreja expressed his enthusiasm, saying, “We are thrilled to renew our collaboration with CSK. CSK boasts a massive and loyal fanbase, and through this partnership, we acknowledge and respect each and every CSK fan. We at playR are working diligently towards catering to each and every CSK fan both domestic and international. From Team-wear Jersey, Fan-wear, Cricket Gear, Fitness and accessories products playR strives to create an almost exhaustive range of products that a CSK Fan can experience as part of their daily life, year-round.”
Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd CEO Kasi Viswanathan said “We are delighted to have signed up playR as our Global Official Merchandise Partner. We are confident that with playR we can provide our legion of fans exciting and quality CSK merchandise that they can proudly sport.”
Established in 2021, playR is committed to inspiring creativity, confidence, and fearlessness in its customers through stylish and unique offerings. From clothing like t-shirts, jackets, and shorts to sports equipment such as bats, balls, and protective gear, playR caters to a wide range of interests. The brand prioritises building lasting relationships with customers and employees, supporting community service initiatives, providing continuous employee education, and giving back to the community. With a vision to become a global leader in lifestyle, sports, and service management, playR continues to push boundaries and deliver excellence.
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.
