Brands
Sachin Tendulkar launches ‘ShuddhPaani, Swastha Bharat’
MUMBAI: “According to national healthcare survey 2013, less than one-third of households in India drink purified water which is disturbing given the progress India has made otherwise since Independence,” said cricketer Sachin Tendulkar while launching ‘ShuddhPaani, Swastha Bharat’, a Livpure Foundation initiative.
The cricketer has joined hands with Livpure Foundation, which works as a catalyst in policy advocacy, technological innovations and mobilisation of health providers and communities on clean drinking water and launched CSR campaign ‘Shuddh Paani, Swastha Bharat’.
“Since worldwide infectious diseases such as waterborne diseases are the number one killer of children under five years of age, I feel proud to be associated with this initiative to safeguard children’s health to the best of my abilities for the wellbeing of every child in order to reduce/ eradicate child mortality in India,” added the cricketer.
Livpure Foundation also helps develop partnerships that pool competencies and resources, particularly in its role as advocate, facilitator and coordinator, helping stem the spread of water-borne diseases.
SAR Group founder Rakesh Malhotra said, “Access to safe drinking water on sustainable basis constitutes a fundamental and inalienable human right for everyone in India. Livpure Foundation has been established to bring into focus this critical problem facing a large population globally and especially India since as per WHO more people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence including war.”
According to WHO, an estimated 5,02,000 Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually. 3,61,000 children under the age of five die each year from diarrhea. Clean drinking water is the only solution to this epidemic problem.
“There is an immediate need for more such movements/ initiatives/ campaigns because of consequential water contamination in the country. Inadequate drinking water is an important risk factor, particularly in low-income settings. ‘ShuddhPaani, Swastha Bharat’ will restore the cleanliness of the water bodies and will help in maintaining the ecological balance of the environment and we can look forward to a clean and green country,” Tendulkar further added.
The Livpure Foundation endeavours for a pan India presence with thrust in urban slums and the selected states which confront acute water crisis or water pollution. The focused states are; Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Brands
Godrej clarifies ‘GI’ identifier after logo similarity debate
Says GI is not a logo, will not replace Godrej signature across products.
MUMBAI: In a branding storm where shapes did the talking, Godrej is now spelling things out. Godrej Industries Group (GIG) has issued a clarification on its newly introduced ‘GI’ identifier, addressing questions around its purpose and design following a wave of online criticism. At the centre of the debate were two concerns: whether the new mark replaces the long-standing Godrej logo, and whether its geometric design mirrors other corporate identities.
The company has drawn a clear line. The Godrej signature logo, it said, remains unchanged and continues to be the sole logo across all consumer-facing products and services. The ‘GI’ mark, by contrast, is not a logo but a corporate group identifier intended for use alongside the Godrej signature or company name, and aimed at stakeholders such as investors, media and talent rather than consumers.
The need for such a distinction stems from the 2024 restructuring of the broader Godrej Group into two separate business entities. With both continuing to operate under the same Godrej name and signature, the identifier is positioned as a way to differentiate the Godrej Industries Group at a corporate level.
The rollout, however, triggered a broader conversation on design originality. Critics pointed to similarities between the GI mark’s geometric composition and logos used by companies globally, raising questions about distinctiveness.
Responding to this, GIG said its intellectual property and legal review found that such overlaps are common in minimalist, geometry-led design systems. Basic forms such as circles and rectangles appear across dozens of brand identities worldwide, the company noted.
It added that the identifier emerged from an extensive design process and was chosen for its simplicity, allowing it to sit alongside the Godrej signature without competing visually. While acknowledging that elemental shapes may appear less distinctive in isolation, the group emphasised that the mark is part of a broader identity system that includes a custom typeface, sonic branding and other proprietary elements.
Following legal and ethical assessments, the company said it found no impediment to using the identifier, reiterating that the GI mark is a corporate tool not a consumer-facing symbol.
In short, the logo isn’t changing but the conversation around it certainly has.
