Broadband
SCTE launches awards for technical excellence & innovation in broadband
MUMBAI: With an aim to raise the standard of broadband engineering in the telecommunications industry, SCTE India has launched awards to honour technical excellence and innovation in broadband for India.
This initiative is an effort towards promoting excellence in broadband as well as create a skilled pool of technicians to drive India’s broadband movement.
SCTE India national secretary Rahul Nehra and SCTE president Dr Roger Blakeway announced the awards at IBC 2015 in Amsterdam allowing entries for nominations as well.
Opening the floor for nominations, SCTE invited submissions from individuals, business leaders and companies that have launched new product, method of technical excellence and innovation and new ways of improving technology till 31 December 2015. The entries will be assessed by an international jury.
“Those who have demonstrated outstanding performance with categories such as Technological Innovation (in several sub-categories), Best Headend Management Services and Network Management Services; Best Convergent Services Provider; Best DAS Compliance and Maximum Upskilling Activity Over the Year will be awarded,” said SCTE India national secretary Rahul Nehra.
“The SCTE India awards will set in motion a new wave of thought leadership and reward innovation as well as fostering the adoption of best practice in the industry,” said SCTE India president Prem Behl.
“The awards will recognise innovation in the cable and broadband domain having the potential for long-term with a significant impact in India at national and regional levels. The innovation may be technological or economic in nature and, preferably, should have created a broad or globally recognized benefit for the telecommunications industry,” he added.
There will be a separate set of individual awards to recognise the individual SCTE India Technician of the Year, SCTE India Member of the Year, Best Customer Manager, Outstanding Services to Broadband Engineering, Honorary Fellowship of SCTE India and SCTE India Engineer of the Year.
The televised SCTE India awards ceremony will take place during the 24th Convergence India conference on 22 January, 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Broadband
Zoff Foods extends Shilpa Shetty partnership into ninth year
Spice brand reinforces trust-led positioning amid growth and funding push.
MUMBAI: Nine years, one flavour and the recipe clearly still works. Zoff Foods has extended its long-running association with Shilpa Shetty, marking nine consecutive years of her as brand ambassador as the company scales its presence across Indian households. What began as a digital-first collaboration has gradually evolved into a defining element of the brand’s identity. Over nearly a decade, the partnership has mirrored Zoff’s own journey from an emerging challenger to a fast-growing FMCG player with a widening footprint across e-commerce, quick commerce and offline retail channels.
The logic behind the continuity is straightforward. In a category where trust and familiarity drive purchase decisions, particularly in spices and ready-to-cook segments, long-term associations tend to carry more weight than short bursts of visibility. Shetty’s positioning as a fitness-conscious, health-aware public figure aligns with the brand’s emphasis on purity and quality factors that are increasingly shaping consumer choices in modern Indian kitchens.
The extension also comes at a time when Zoff Foods is entering a more aggressive growth phase. The company recently raised $2 million in a Pre-Series B funding round led by JM Financial Private Equity, with participation from Aman Gupta, signalling a push towards expanding distribution, product innovation and market reach.
Company executives have positioned the continued partnership as a strategic anchor amid this expansion, reinforcing brand recall while entering new markets. For Shetty, the association remains rooted in shared values around authenticity and ingredient integrity attributes that resonate strongly with increasingly mindful consumers.
In a market crowded with new-age brands and shifting loyalties, Zoff’s approach suggests a different playbook: build slowly, stay consistent, and let familiarity do the heavy lifting. Because sometimes, in both branding and cooking, it’s not about reinventing the dish, it’s about perfecting it over time.
