MAM
SBI Life Insurance & Mirchi return with Spell Bee edition 14
Mumbai: SBI Life Insurance in collaboration with Mirchi, launched the 14 edition of the SBI Life Spell Bee 2024— ‘Bee Spellbound.’ The competition returns with a broader vision, empowering India’s young spellers to become future leaders by celebrating learning, creativity, and progress.
The 14th edition spans across 30 cities and over 500 schools, engaging more than three lakh students. The top 50 students will qualify for the national finale, with the ultimate champion earning the prestigious title of ‘Spellmaster of India 2024.’ The winner will receive a prize of Rs one lakh and a trip to Disneyland, Hong Kong.
The theme ‘Bee Spellbound!’ reflects the competition’s mission to nurture leadership alongside spelling excellence. SBI Life aims to equip students with the tools of empowerment, encouraging them to excel academically and in life. The competition highlights that words are not just letters but vehicles of confidence and progress.
SBI Life Insurance’s chief of brand, corporate communications and csr, Ravindra Sharma emphasised, “At SBI Life, we are always striving to create opportunities that enable individuals to unlock their true potential. Collaborating with Spell Bee has allowed us to extend this vision to young minds nationwide. Last year’s overwhelming success reaffirmed our belief in the transformative power of this platform. Through our continued association with Spell Masters of India, we are helping shape not just excellent spellers but future leaders who are empowered to make a meaningful impact in society.”
He added, “Each participant in this competition embarks on a journey that not only sharpens their intellectual abilities but instils a deeper understanding of values like courage, integrity, and innovation. Through this platform, we are discovering India’s best spellers and shaping future leaders who will embody the core values that go beyond spellings: Transparency, Courage, Humility, Integrity, Innovation, and Sustainability. These are formative values in every student’s life which help them develop their personalities while respecting those of their peers.”
Mirchi, EVP & national director – IPs, Pooja Gulati commented, “Engaging with schools through meaningful and wholesome edutainment-based properties has been a top priority for Mirchi. Spell Bee is our flagship property that we are proud to have scaled over the past 13 seasons. This year we look forward to bringing so much more value driven experience to students, parents and teachers across India. This year the property will showcase a new level of spellers who will leave audiences spellbound. In addition, we will also focus on creating engaging content across mediums to make spelling fun and interesting for everyone thereby growing the community. Season 14 will be the most stellar season of the property so far involving more than 500 schools across India.”
The Spell Bee competition represents SBI Life’s dedication to fostering intellectual growth and leadership skills in India’s youth. This initiative serves as a celebration of words, ideas, and progress, while reflecting SBI Life’s commitment to nurturing dreams and aspirations—one word at a time.
Brands
AI becomes key tool for Indian travellers, Agoda report finds
68 per cent plan to use AI for trips as 33 per cent already rely on it.
MUMBAI: Holiday planning is getting a software upgrade less “Where should we go?” and more “What does the algorithm say?” Indian travellers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to map their journeys, with new data from Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook Report suggesting that AI is fast becoming central to how trips are imagined, planned and booked.
While 33 per cent of respondents said they already use AI tools for travel planning, a far larger 68 per cent indicated they are likely to rely on it for their next trip pointing to a sharp acceleration in adoption in a market already comfortable with digital-first travel.
What travellers want from AI, however, goes well beyond basic search. The report shows 38 per cent are looking for recommendations on local attractions and activities, while 37 per cent expect personalised itineraries. Destination discovery remains a key use case at 29 per cent, with dining suggestions (23 per cent) and budget management (22 per cent) also emerging as practical applications.
The shift reflects a broader change in expectations AI is no longer a novelty but a planning companion expected to work across every stage of the journey, from inspiration to execution.
Trust levels appear to be keeping pace. Nearly 88 per cent of respondents said they either trust or feel neutral about AI-generated recommendations, including 53 per cent who expressed clear confidence. This builds on earlier trends, with Agoda’s 2025 survey showing nine in ten Indian travellers already using apps to book travel suggesting AI adoption is more evolution than disruption.
The company has been testing this appetite through initiatives such as its 2025 AI-powered Vacation Planner campaign, which generated customised itineraries and visuals based on user inputs, delivered with a layer of celebrity-led engagement.
For platforms like Agoda, which aggregates more than 6 million properties, over 130,000 flight routes and 300,000 travel activities, AI offers a way to navigate scale without overwhelming users turning abundance into relevance.
As AI continues to embed itself into everyday decision-making, India is emerging as a market where travel planning is not just going digital, but decisively intelligent.
