Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021 Ed 2

MARCH 2021

www.swiftnlift.in Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

WOMEN’S RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN SafetiPin: Creating Safe Public Spaces for Women

MS. RASHMI KWATRA CEO

Special Edition for International womens day 2021

Xeina Drugs

w w w. t r e n d y p a p e r. c o m

Swiftnlift Media And Tech SwiftNLift is the Best Business Magazine across the globe for enterprises.

From t he E d itor …

I

’ve wanted to be there not just by virtue of being the editor but because I had something to say something that might join us for a moment in that miraculous way words can. It gives me an immense pleasure to present this magazine to all our readers on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Many thanks to my team for the work undertaken.

Some print pieces have complementary components such as additional coverage, advertisements and still photography.

There are regular columns by the editors with reflective articles to provide a window onto violence against women and their rights.

The cover story has featured Ms Rashmi Kwatra (Founder) of Xeina Drugs. It is a young dynamic firm specializing in the sourcing, representation and marketing of pharmaceutical and allied products.

SwiftNLift magazine is not just a print or digital anymore but everything we do derives from its long-standing character, approach and quality - while we continue to produce the print publication with as much dedication as ever.

- Nilesh Sabe Nilesh Sabe Chief Editor

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March 2021 For Marketing & Advertising Reach us at: sales@swiftnlift.in Follow us on

CONTENT

Cover Story

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Xeina Drugs

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Triphase Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd

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Abha Narain Lambah Associates

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ACREATY

24

Handicraft Studio

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Azuke Personal Finance Advisory

30

Saar Interior Design

34

Cubit Space

36

Neelitech

38

SDL Globe

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WOMEN’S RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

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SAFETIPIN: CREATING SAFE PUBLIC SPACES FOR WOMEN

MS. RASHMI KWATRA Founder & CEO

Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

"Feminism isn't about making women stronger.

Women are already strong, it's about changing the way the world perceives that strength."

G.D. Anderson

Xeina Drugs A young dynamic firm specializing in the sourcing, representation and marketing of pharmaceutical and allied products. Xeina Drugs has taken a focused approach by organizing a team of experts with relevant industry expertise under each vertical. This has led to the creation of enhanced value for the clients who are looking for very specific and highly technical products. The company was incorporated in March 2017. Ms Rashmi Kwatra is the founder.

Its offices are located at Noida (UP) and Kesklinna linnaosa Estonia, European Union.

It was a wonderful experience to interview Ms Rashmi Kwatra for our magazine. We are glad to share this exclusive conversation with all the readers.

Would you tell us about Xeina Drugs (Vision and Mission)?

Latin America and Europe through our well established network, we are kept abreast of the challenges and the changes prevailing in the Xeina Drugs is a young and markets. dynamic company which focuses Furthermore, we strongly believe on licensing of rare, challenging and that flexibility is a critical factor. highly specialized formulations to That’s why we do not follow a pharmaceutical companies across generic standard strategy for the emerging markets markets. Rather, we adapt to as Over the years, XEINA DRUGS has developed strong relations with customers and manufacturers alike, making it the partner of choice for major pharmaceutical companies wishing to expand their footprint across the emerging markets. as we state in our vision -

“We aspire to make unique finished dosage forms accessible to the emerging markets”

per the market’s need and clients requirements giving us much needed agility to respond to changing scenarios.

What do you think about Challenges & Opportunities faced by a Woman Entrepreneur in the Industry?

Every entrepreneur (irrespective of gender) is faced with multiple challenges, even more so in a specialized industry like pharmaceuticals, where the gestation period from effort to revenue result is long! Challenges vary from having sufficient working capital, to hiring good talent but the biggest challenge is to have continual unnerving, firm belief in you.

How do you stay on top of changes in the process, changes in thought of industries that you are support/ going to look at more now? What change should Women Xeina has always had a strong connect with the market which is Entrepreneurs need form key in the dynamic pharmaceutical today’s professional world? industry. Since we have presence A mindset shift from investors would in various regions like Russia CIS,

MS. RASHMI KWATRA Founder & CEO

vaccines, 40% of generic demand in the US and 25% of all medicine in the UK and emerging markets.

The country also has a large pool of scientists and engineers with a potential to steer the industry ahead to greater heights.

be very welcome! Having attended multiple “women oriented” events for funding purposes, it never ceases to amaze me how the people typically assume that as a woman your funding requirement is minimalistic and limited to home /lifestyle products. Even today, the government sponsored funds for women entrepreneurs have a really low capping on the value which would not be sufficient for a technology or pharmaceutical start up company.

Why choose Xeina Drugs?

Xeina Drugs is the partner of choice for pharmaceutical companies that are looking at portfolio expansion or geographical expansion. With our in depth knowledge, hands on experience in the market and well established channels of sales, we can provide sustainable business revenues in lucrative, but challenging markets like Brazil, Mexico and Russia. Our clients can always expect to find some unique product or super specialized

formulations offered by Xeina to fit their portfolio. At Xeina, Quality is as important as having a differentiated portfolio. Today, Xeina has instilled a high level of trust and confidence in our partners across the emerging markets because of the high quality norms that we implement internally (not just for the product but also for the documentation). This coupled with a very proactive mindset and business model flexibility makes Xeina Drugs the partner of Choice.

What are your views on today’s industry scenario?

What is your strategy to reach new industries and new customers?

Indian Pharmaceutical Industry has been growing steadily over the years. Currently standing at around 50 billion USD the industry is expected to grow at a rate of 9%.India is also the largest provider of generic drugs globally. Indian pharmaceutical sector supplies over 50% of global demand for various

Going forward global pharmaceutical markets like US and Europe are in the midst of major discontinuities.

While growth in developed markets will slow down, emerging markets will become increasingly important in the coming decade. The Indian pharmaceuticals market, along with the China, Brazil and Russia, will spearhead growth within these markets.

Xeina has already identified strategies to capitalize on these changes. The key strategy is to have differentiated business models aptly suited for each market. For example in Latin America, we have adopted a B2B model, in CIS a front end operations is in process of being established and in Europe we have established a 100% owned subsidiary to expand our base into Europe.

How does Xeina Drugs work on making the industry better? What can be expected from Xeina Drugs in the upcoming years?

Xeina’s vision is to make unique, super specialized therapies more accessible to emerging markets like Latin America, Asia Pacific (India) and Russia CIS. It is this endeavour which has led us to provide highly specialized biosimilars, liposomal technology products and certain orphan drugs to these countries.

Over the next few years, Xeina will be bringing an innovative mesenchymal autologous stem cell therapy for Critical Limb Ischemia to India, we will be having on ground operations in CIS and will be launching 2 new subsidiaries in India to target 2 very specific therapeutic categories. It’s an exciting time for Xeina and we can’t wait to take it to the next level!

Tell us about the CEO/Founder of the company. Also tell us about the constraints you faced at the time of inception.

It was at an early, impressionable age that Rashmi Kwatra, Founder CEO of Xeina Drugs, envisioned herself working in the pharmaceutical industry. After completing her education (Delhi University and her MBA from SIMS) she started her pharmaceutical career with Dr. Reddy’s. Over the last 20 years, she has amassed rich and varied experience in the industry across various therapeutic categories, business models and geographies. Having worked with leading companies like Ranbaxy, Dabur Pharma and Jubilant Life Sciences, it gave her a holistic understanding of various nuances of the industry ranging from business development, technical (regulatory and Quality compliances), financial modelling to deal structuring in international operations. It was with this experience that she found a need gap existing in the market which eventually led her to establish Xeina Drugs Like any entrepreneurial venture, challenges have been aplenty.

Persistence, Perseverance and tremendous support from family and Team Xeina is what helped Xeina tackle the initial challenges we faced.

“We as a company always believe in having integrity passion and high levels of energy This is just the beginning for Xeina and as Robert Frost said which holds true for us “But I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep”

Year of Founding: March 2017 Directors : Ms. Rashmi Kwatra (Founder), Mr. Shashank Mohan, Mrs. Sharda Kwatra Office Locations: Corporate Office: Xeina Drugs Pvt Ltd, Office no 8, Tower B, Logix Techno-Park, Sector 127, Noida (U.P.) 201301 International Office : Xeina Drugs OU, Tallinn, Kesklinnalinnaosa, Ahtritn12, 10151 , Estonia, European Union Website: www.xeinadrugs.com

Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021 MS. SHRILAKSHMI DESIRAJU CEO

Triphase Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd

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riphase Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. is an innovative Tell us about your company. Its vision and and budding enterprise primarily believing in mission. the prevailing scientific emphasis on Health and Wellness and embodies the vision and concept of Triphase Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. is an enterprise where our domain of research focuses on robust scientific “Prevention over Cure” to help manage a disease. foundations of maintaining sound health by wellTriphase was founded in 2009 by Shri. Aditya Desiraju established natural mechanisms that we are bestowed and Dr. Shrilakshmi Desiraju, whose far-sighted vision with. Driven by innovation and creativity, we strive is the present stature of Triphase. Since its inception, towards developing newer, revolutionizing products that Triphase has been instrumental in delivering conceptual help prevent and combat diseases. solutions in the field of healthcare, an extremely sensitive Triphase has a deep rooted ambition of developing province in India. scientific approach to enhancing the quality of human It was a wonderful experience to interview Ms. life. We believe in proof of facts, with well documented Shrilakshmi Desiraju for our magazine. We are glad to clinical trials, to substantiate our claims. We believe in share this conversation with you. plausibility and certainty in our research.

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We exist as “By the nature (Probiotic products & its techniques), to the nature (sustenance) and for the nature (eco-friendly)”.

Its vision is to become a globally accomplished health and wellness R&D organization to improve quality of life & its mission is to be recognized as leaders in the field of research and innovation in Life Sciences.

What followed was a decade of rapid growth in my chosen domain. With this studious attitude and dedication I went on to do two Post-Doctoral fellowships. One at one of India’s most prestigious Chemical Labs, The National Chemical Laboratories, Pune and the other one at India’s premier institution for Science – The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Further I continued to gain the knowledge. I got MBA degree in Technology Commercialization from University What incident triggered you to choose this of Alberta, Canada. I do have a strong publication record in both scientific and business publications and is field as a career?

My parents were academicians and especially my dad recipient of several international awards. After relocating from Canada to India, I started my journey of innovation was a chemist so it became my obvious choice. with Triphase in the field of Probiotics in 2009. The first big challenge that Triphase solved was in eliminating the What do you think about the challenges cold chain from the Probiotics industry.

and opportunities faced by a woman entrepreneur in the Industry?

What are your achievements?

The women entrepreneurs are hard worker, dedicated and learners so the opportunities are immense. Well!

Challenges I find, as long as you love what u do there are fewer challenges, whether she is woman or a man. The gender doesn’t play any role as long as your passion is what drives your work.

Triphase was awarded a US and European PATENT for the technology by which Probiotics bacteria’s could withstand temperatures of up to 250 degrees. This is the first time in the world that a disruptive platform innovation has been successfully completed. In one single stroke the company had eliminated any need for cold storage – a huge cost saving in probiotic industry.

Triphase recently got in collaboration to work with JSS Academy of Higher education and research for their preclinical and clinical research collaboration to bring cost effective pharma probiotic products with their JV The important thing in today’s time is the gender diversity partner in the market with a patented technology to its and that can be possible when women are given equal credit, Triphase is making a significant strides in the opportunities. It can be like having women in the board pharma and nutraceuticals. rooms taking decision. Financial independency is not women empowerment. Women empowerment is only possible when she takes her decision for betterment of What are your upcoming projects?

Triphase teams are looking for bringing in innovative herself and her family. products in the field of probiotics.

What support/change should Women Entrepreneurs need from today’s professional world?

Tell us something about yourself.

Well! Struggle is a part of life. Everyone has to go through some impediments to achieve something better.

I grew up in Ujjain, a small and historical town in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Being born in a family where both parents were Teachers, I actually grew up in an academic environment. My passion for chemistry inspired me to gain a Doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Vikram University, Ujjain.

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Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

A

Abha Narain Lambah Associates

bha Narain Lambah Associates is a leading architectural firm in India, specializing in Architectural Conservation, Building Restoration & Retrofit, Museum Design, Historic Interiors, Preparation of Urban and Regional Level Conservation Management Plans, Conservation Assessment Studies, Urban signage and Street furniture.

struggle and achievements.

I am an architect, alumnus of the School of Planning & Architecture New Delhi and worked with Joseph Allen Stein at the beginning of my career as I was inspired by his architecture.

Did my masters in Conservation and moved to Mumbai in 1995, where I decided to work in the field, but at the grassroot level. So my initial It was a wonderful experience to interview Ms projects were with citizen groups, working on Abha for our magazine. We are glad to share this urban conservation projects such as the Kala exclusive interview with all the leaders.

Ghoda Revival, Streetscaping for Dadabhai Naoroji Road, Horniman Circle Restoration. I feel that rather than working on a top down approach, Tell us about your company. Its vision my career trajectory was grassroots involvement and mission. of stakeholders in conservation and that was both Abha Narain Lambah Associates is a boutique a struggle and my greatest achievement. architectural firm that has been the leader in the field of Museum Design, Conservation, Architecture & Urban Conservation for the last What incident triggered you to choose 23 years. We have received 10 UNESCO Awards this field as a career? in heritage conservation, 3 successive HUDCO Architecture is the most palpable of careers; all you Best Restoration Awards and Architect of the Year need to do is look around you. I always felt that Award 2019 by Architectural Digest. the urban landscape of a city like Delhi, Calcutta, Our vision has always been Excellence. The firm Srinagar, Chandigarh – cities where I grew up, has stayed true to its ideals, of working on projects was influenced by their architecture. Especially as diverse as ancient sites like Ajanta caves and growing up as a teenager in Chandigarh and Delhi, Bodh Gaya, to Mughal Serais, medieval forts, I encountered the architecture of Corbusier, Stein palaces and colonial buildings as well as cutting and Charles Correa and these were awe inspiring edge new museums and new build projects, but and inspirational. I read Fountain Head and with the aim of being contextual, striving for the wondered, why it was always a man who was the highest levels of architectural restoration and iconic architect…why not a woman? Perhaps that authenticity and creating a design solution that is led me to this career. pioneering.

Tell us something about yourself. Your 18

What are your upcoming projects?

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Abha Narain Lambah Principal Architect Market, a 3 lacs sq ft holistic development of wholesale markets within the historic footprint of Asia’s oldest market and creating a 1 acre urban space as a central plaza. Another project that is underway is the construction of the Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial. A very exciting project is the Redesign of the Gateway of India plaza. We are also restoring the Maharashtra State Police HQ, David Sassoon Library and working on the interiors of the Willington Club.

What do you think about the challenges and opportunities faced by a woman entrepreneur in the Industry?

own skin and of your own capabilities, people treat you with respect and don’t sideline you. We as women have to create our own paradigms, not put our selves in a box because we feel we need to conform.

What support/change should Women Entrepreneurs need from today’s professional world?

We are half the world’s population and should not feel intimidated claiming our space in the sun.

I can confidently say that not once in my career did I ever feel disadvantaged being a woman. As an architect, I am a professional first, a woman later. I feel that if you are truly confident in your MARCH 2021

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Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

ACREATY NEERU ANAND DIRECTOR

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creaty Management Consultant Private Limited is an organization that provides an entire spectrum of service-solutions for the basic foundation of any organization - Human Resource. The core set of offerings include Business Strategies, Process and People Outsourcing, Recruitments and Training.

It was a wonderful experience to interview Neeru Anand (Director) of Acreaty for our magazine. We are glad to share this conversation with all the readers.

Tell us about your company. Its vision and mission.

Started in 2001, Acreaty has evolved into one of the most valued consultanting companies in India. Almost 2 decades ago, the founding members of Acreaty saw a vision and a gap in the HR service delivery market. From there on, it has been a journey filled with determination, persistence and perseverance till the present day. From Recruitment & Manpower Outsourcing to Payroll Services, Acreaty has earned credibility and recognition across the entire spectrum of HR solutions.

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As a manpower consultant, Acreaty had also been lauded with a variety of prestigious awards for its contribution to Human Resource Service industry. Acreaty has a presence in major metro cities of India and in international markets like USA, African countries and UAE. Vision: Our vision is to be a leading HR consulting firm operating worldwide. Our success is measured by the value we deliver to clients, the quality of the staff we employ, and our strength and spirit as a firm. We nurture our core values and they shape the culture of our business and define the character of our firm. They guide our decision making, our interactions with our clients and our relationships with each other. Our people adopt, own and apply our values in their work.

Our Mission: Acreaty as an organization aims at helping businesses grow by matching the right talent to their specialized staffing and consulting needs and build rewarding careers for the professionals they place. The company adheres to a philosophy of "Ethics First" in everything it does and creates a work environment where employees can thrive and innovate. Acreaty inspires its employees to be a socially responsible corporate citizen and an active participant in the MARCH 2021

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communities in which we live and work.

Tell us something about yourself. Your struggle and achievements.

Though my qualification, skills and passion lied in different field of classical music. But my destiny put me into Human Resource field. My husband Paramjit Anand started this consulting business and I joined him in 2003 when my kids were just five and one year old. Being into nuclear family it was difficult to take care of kids while working but there was the passion to achieve something. In fact I studied and completed the HR degrees while handling the complete backend operation and the different teams (Sales, Marketing, HR, accounts) of Acreaty. I started considering this company as my third baby and furthered and pampered equally with my quality time to each. Today we can see all three have grown up giving me support and making me proud with their achievements.

Awards  100 HR Super Achievers (INDIA): TIMES ASCENT  TOP HR LEADERS: World HRD CONGRESS  HR VENDORS: CHRO ASIA  Girl Child Empowerment: Mr Kailash Satyarthi– Child Rights Activist and Nobel Laureate.

stepping out for work.  Less Education: Women outside metro cities are less educated as compared to men.  Lack of financial awareness: Even though there are many institutions that are offering financial perks to women entrepreneurs, women are less aware about them.  Lack of respect from their male employees: It has been noticed that women in small cities fail to achieve same level of respect from the men working under them as a male entrepreneur is entitled to.

The above listed challenges are few noticeable hurdles among a long list of challenges that a women entrepreneur has to counter.

What support/change Entrepreneurs need professional world?

should from

Women today’s

Some of the steps that could be taken for supporting our women entrepreneurs are:  Recognition of problem: The professional world needs to recognize the barriers that these women face at the grassroots level and take cognitive steps.

 Attended as a Panel speaker (Horizon 19): IIT Delhi: Department Of Management Studies

 Financial Support: A women entrepreneur who has been denied financial help from family members would definitely make good use of any financial help.

What incident triggered you to choose this field as a career?

 Training programs: Women have proved time and again that are well receptive to any training programs that have been offered to them. We must provide those skills training as well as entrepreneurial training to gear them up for the challenges ahead.

The major push factor was to support my husband in all ups & down and the zeal to be a working women.

What do you think about the challenges and opportunities faced by a woman entrepreneur in the Industry?

There are many challenges that an average woman entrepreneur face like

 Gender sensitization programs: These programs must be held at regular intervals to make our social fabric more acceptable of a woman’s entrepreneurial dreams.  Government support: Government should provide supports in terms of land, infrastructure and financial aid to budding women entrepreneurs.

 Lack of Confidence: They lack the confidence to set up What are your upcoming projects? a business by themselves. They usually depend upon We started our company from a table and a laptop from home and with the God blessings today we have our the support of a male member.  Social barriers: Our society has been a major obstacle presence not only in INDIA but in Africa & USA. The in women entrepreneurship. Women are expected to upcoming project is that we would be having Acreaty fulfil their family and home responsibilities before presence very soon in Canada MARCH 2021

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WOMEN’S RIGHT TO AN ADEQUATE STANDARD OF LIVING The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights mentions the right to adequate food, clothing and housing, and the continuous improvement of living conditions as part of the right to an adequate standard of living for oneself and one’s family. Women’s rights to land, property, food, water and sanitation, as well as work and social security, are intrinsically linked to the right to attain an adequate standard of living. All these rights are guaranteed under international human rights law, including the right to enjoy these rights on an equal basis with men, without discrimination. Women’s access to services, to education and to productive resources is paramount to the realization of the abovementioned rights.

legally or customarily defined, among people, individuals and groups, with respect to land.

According to general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, tenure takes a variety of forms, including rental (public and private) accommodation, cooperative housing, lease, owner-occupation, emergency housing and informal settlements, including occupation of land or property. Regardless of the type of tenure, all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats.

Discriminatory legislation on and lack of control over property, land and housing also mean that women are excluded from community decisionmaking processes that are led by men who normally are the landowners. In rural communities, Land, Property and Housing ownership of land determines both social status Rights to land, housing and property are essential and the way in which control is exercised over to women’s equality and well-being. Women’s a household’s resources and income. Women’s rights in, access to and control over land, housing disadvantaged economic position in this regard and property are a determining factor in their creates a structural dependence on men for access living conditions especially in rural economies, to resources, which in turn can subject women to essential to women and their children’s daily insecurity and violence. survival, economic security and physical safety. Cultural and religious practices, as well as Despite the importance of these rights for women customary practices, can also have an impact and female-headed households, women still on women’s rights related to land, property and disproportionally lack security of tenure. This is housing. These practices often exist in parallel often because property is registered in a man’s with statutory laws. They may discriminate against name; the father, husband or brother. In the event women regarding property, land and housing, and of separation, divorce or widowhood, the man or sometimes trump national laws (these practices his family often retains rights to the property or are never codified but can in practice supersede the land whereas the woman becomes homeless laws, for instance when implemented locally or or will have to share the property with her in-laws when used as interpretation of statutory laws). without gaining control or rights over it. Access to This happens in particular in rural areas, where land and housing is governed through land tenure customs and practices still shape and influence systems. Land tenure is the relationship, whether 22

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” Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.”

family matters and determine the position of women. Most often, these customs or practices make women’s access to or control over land, property and housing dependent on a man— the husband, father or brother. In practice, the interpretation of statutory laws is influenced by customary laws or practices to the detriment of women’s rights. Customary forums for decisionmaking are normally dominated by men. Women can rarely participate in decision-making with respect to land, property and housing even though these issues affect them directly and seriously.

Gender bias within the official administration also leads to the exclusion of women from decisionmaking on policies and programs on housing and land.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes the right of everyone to own property regardless of sex, the right to an adequate standard of living including housing and to security in the event of a lack of livelihood, and states that everyone should have equal rights as to marriage, during MARCH 2021

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marriage and at its dissolution. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in its broad non-discrimination provision, guarantees equality before the law and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. This applies equally to legislation and policies on property, housing and land rights.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also guarantees the right to adequate housing. Furthermore, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women specifically requests States to undertake all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against rural women, and to guarantee their enjoyment of adequate living conditions, including housing. It also stipulates that State parties should undertake all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations, and in particular to ensure the same rights for spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management, administration, enjoyment and disposition of property.

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Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

Handicraft Studio

successful woman entrepreneur in the arts, crafts, and design sector.

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n the age of machines and the internet our mundane heart craves for handcrafted merchandise as their design and craftwork reveals the beauty of our culture and heritage. Understanding the true classification of beauty in the cultural traditions of our country and to make it a well-known phenomenon of Indian households, Deepali Tharkude is renovating the concept of handcraftsmanship through her unique innovation ‘The Handicraft Studio.’ With a broad range of products including textiles, home décor, home improvement accessories and gifts which are conventionally traditional, and some with a twist of contemporary, The Handicraft Studio is gradually emerging as a new identity of the Indian Handicraft sector under the able guidance of Deepali Tharkude.

A new-age woman entrepreneur, Deepali Tharkude has always been a successful corporate professional throughout her career who was intrepid enough to take a break and pursue her dream of starting an e-commerce portal to vendor handcrafted products, textiles and home ware. Women Entrepreneur India engages in an exclusive interaction with Deepali Tharkude to further explore her journey as a 24

come from a business family. Being passionate about the various types of arts and crafts in India and with my background in IT, I decided to start an e-commerce portal through which I could sell handcrafted products – home ware and textiles. Over the last few years, I have managed to build a strong customer base through the portal and my brick and mortar store in Pune.

An accomplished professional in a leadership role, with a demonstrated history of working in the eLearning industry, Deepali Tharkude is skilled in Business Planning, Operations Management, Retail, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Team Building. A new-age leading entrepreneur Deepali is a strong business development “Deepali Tharkude is renovating professional graduated from the concept of handcraftsmanship University of Pune. through her unique innovation ‘the handicraft studio’”

Along With Your Educational And Professional Background, Tell Us About Your Entrepreneurial Journey.

After completing my Masters in Computer Management worked in eLearning Design and Development for 15 years. I was heading a team of eLearning professionals for about 5 years in my last job and my overall experience in the corporate world, interacting with large teams and international clients has helped me a lot in business. I decided to take a break from work as I wanted to spend some time with my daughter. Starting a business was something that I had never really thought I would do. I neither have an education in business nor do I

Tell Us About The Handicraft Studio Along With The Services That You Offer. Also, Tell Us How Do You Uniquely Run The Functions Of The Company?

The Handicraft Studio is a curated collection of handcrafted tableware, serving ware and home ware as well as hand-woven stoles, dupattas and menswear accessories. We specialize in products that beautify you and your homes. Best suited for festive and lifestyle gifting, we provide exclusive gifts such as wedding favors as well as festive gifting for domestic and international clientele.

We try to work with natural materials like wood, metal and stone for our homeware collection. The MARCH 2021

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Deepali Tharkude Founder philosophy behind the brand when we started was to blend different cultures to create products that were aesthetic as well as useful. That’s why you’ll find a salad bowl, which is a western concept but with an Indian mynah bird design enameled on it or a pizza platter in bright red and gold or a chip and dip platter in natural metal and indigo paisley designs. This way, our product range appeals to contemporary as well as traditional tastes.

What Were The Major Challenges Faced By You While Establishing The Handicraft Studio And How Has Your Journey Been So Far? The journey has been amazing – a series of challenges and achievements, small and big celebrations and lessons learned. The challenge has MARCH 2021

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primarily been (and continues to be) getting international exposure and communication with craftspeople.

Of course, technology has helped in a big way, but there are still some times when communicating with craftspeople is difficult. Personally, the biggest challenge was a change in my mindset. Like I said, having had no background in business, the decision to take a risk like this to start and build a business that is completely new in terms of area/field of expertise was a very tough one, but I’m glad I took it!

The Coming Days?

In the next few months, we are planning to delve deeper into both aspects – the art and design side as well as the customer side. We have started actively looking to build relationships with international B2B customers. At the same time, we are trying to discover arts and crafts that are losing ground in the modern world and working on how they can be adapted to suit contemporary taste. As we go international, we would like to keep our crafts alive and garner appreciation for the “The handicraft studio is a curated skilled craftsmanship that has been collection of handcrafted tableware, passed down from one generation to serving ware and homeware as well the next. as hand-woven stoles, dupattas and menswear accessories”

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Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

CHAITALI DUTTA, Founder & owner

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t was in the mid-1990s, history records, India had implemented full economic and commercial liberalization, and leading to several reforms, the country had experienced an increase in foreign investment and high economic growth during 1990- 2000. With the participation of several domestic and international players in the market, culmination of numerous mergers, acquisitions and consolidations in the market, the new millennium witnessed a robust growth in GDP. However, in the face of overwhelming globalization, we soon realized that the system that plays a significant role in supporting the economic growth of the country is the strong financial services sector. The whole sector witnessed a stellar expansion and growth in the following decades. Financial consulting/ advisory services to the retail clients responded to this call of the times and played a decisive role in shaping India’s growth story.

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Azuke Personal Finance Advisory Over the last two decades, financial consulting space has indeed covered an impressive distance from being a mere bookkeeper and basic tax advisor to becoming an expert solution provider across an array of services needed by individuals.

As we adapt to the new normal, where women are making their presence felt in diverse services as well as boardrooms, financial consulting segment is no exception. Today, we can find many women leaders determinedly leveraging intellectual financial advisory to their clients. Outshining amidst several such professionals, Chaitali Dutta (Founder & Owner, Azuke Personal Finance Advisory) is a trailblazer in the personal financial consulting sector who challenges any remaining skepticism about a woman’s competence by providing valuable and objective financial advice. Chaitali believes that her empathy for her clients, focus to deliver exceptional service, coupled with her over 30 years MARCH 2021

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of experience in the financial sector, is the secret to Azuke’s success. In an exclusive conversation with CEO Insights, Chaitali gives readers a sneak peek into her role at Azuke Personal Finance Advisory and how it caters to the needful.

A graduate in Strategic Investment Management, London Business School; Masters in Global Finance from HKUST/NYU Stern (2018), and Certified Black Belt in Six Sigma from IASSC, Chaitali believes she has found her reason for being- Ikigai in Japanese. Azuke is the culmination of her passion and expertise providing boutique solutions for family units. Since its inception, this clarity of purpose has been instrumental in Azuke's evolution as a sustainable enterprise.

What Is Azuke Personal Finance Advisory? Brief Us About The Inspiration Behind Establishing The Company. Also, Mention The Challenges Encountered.

Azuke is a boutique personal financial advisory firm focused on financial wellness of the family unit. We thoroughly understand the client’s situation, aspirations and risk-taking capability as the first step. Our advice therefore is molded to suit the particular client and is developed individually.

We therefore standout amongst the sea of financial product sellers for whom the motivating factor are a sale rather than the suitability of the product to the purchaser. We bring a family from scattered, directionless investments into stable, disciplined finances and making them future ready.

“Azuke is a boutique p e r s o n a l fi n a n c i a l

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advisory firm focused on financial wellness of the family unit” I observed the gap between what people needed and what was in offer by the product-driven Indian financial markets. Agents/ Distributors ruled the market, and the end users were often duped by smooth talking sellers who were driven by commissions. Hence, I ensconced Azuke as a crusade to talk for the client. I understand that building a relationship based on trust is the hallmark of a sustained, long-term association, hence associating the clients with our proficient Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), we together try to understand the psyche and mental profile of the client, and offer a solution exclusively aligned for them. For each client, the advantage of unbiased and correct advice is multiple times the value of the fee paid in retainer ship. Our model is truly efficient. We are an ideal proof of it. We also have a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Financial Analyst in our team who bring their expertise to the table to provide a holistic, well rounded advisory to our clients.

The mindset of the Indian audience is to get free advice.

Always having viewed advisory as part of a commission driven market, they are reluctant to write out a fee cheque. In my experience, free advice lacks quality, authenticity, and reliability. With the evolving AMFI and SEBI regulatory guidelines, the public is becoming financially savvy and understands that good advice comes at a cost.

Moreover, this cost is miniscule compared to the comprehensive growth of their net-worth in a fundamentally correct way.

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As An Entrepreneur And Founder Of Azuke Personal Finance Advisory, What Is That Significant Achievement You Brought Into Being With Your Over 30 Years Of Experience In The Field? Also, What Is Your Take On Mentorship And Keeping Pace With The Evolving Financial Trends & Technology?

Azuke is a journey. I have not set-out to change the industry or alter the way this market operates.

I work at the grass root level. I am trying to change the way a family takes financial decisions- avoiding knee-jerk investments, understanding long term growth, taking informed decisions. Encouraging the woman of the house to participate in the family financial decision-making process is another change I am passionate about. Having worked with large organizations like SBI and Barclays Bank in diverse capacities (corporate finance, foreign exchange, rural banking, administration), I understand the need of discipline and method towards work; the importance for each piece of the machinery being geared towards the mission and vision of the entity. I happened to realize my passion in Personal Finance during my years as Personal Banking Head at a SBI branch. In 2007 I resigned as Chief Manager at the branch to pursue my passion. I have been providing unbiased and customized advice for more than a decade now, thriving amidst the chaos of overcrowded product space. Over the years, with the endorsement of growing clientele at Azuke, we are a living proof that we are in the right space. Interestingly, we do not spend a penny on advertising. The wordof-mouth of our satisfied clients has contributed to the growing popularity of our services. My fortnightly column in the Financial Express helps me to reach a wider audience facilitating correct money decisions.

effective and appropriate. These interactions are a two-way learning process where the students gain from the experiences from my repertoire and I learn vibrancy, curiosity, passion from these youngsters.

What Did It Take To Position Azuke Personal Finance Advisory At The Current Heights In The Indian Finance Advisory Segment And What Are Your Thoughts On The Present Scenario And Future Of This Space?

Azuke is the result of my passion and I assume that if people see the value in what we are doing, may be, this snowflake sized Azuke will turn into a blizzard of change in the future. The industry needs to change from the seller driven market to a buyer driven market. Keeping the consumer at the center of this play.

After completing my Masters in Global Finance from HKUST/NYU Stern in 2018, I understand the need to diversify into Global investments. With increasing number of GenZ having an international career and life, their investments reflect this diversity. For our clients based in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, Germany, USA, and Canada, who were earlier holding piecemeal country wise portfolios, we are now rolling out seamlessly integrated service, straddling countries, currencies and asset classes.

Office: Mumbai

Ingenious Faces provides mentoring services globally, to students, aiming to provide assistance in accelerating their growth and knowledge by interacting with a network of Entrepreneurs, Mentors, Start-ups, and Universities. I work with their students to help them understand real life problems and think of solutions which are cost 28

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www.drcomputer.in

Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

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Saar Interior Design

s the corporate world is gradually getting accustomed to the dominance of feminine talent, very few personas stand apart in the industry by completely defying the relevance of gender in achieving someone’s goal. These women through their talent and dedication revealed to the world that success doesn’t inquire about individuality but only hard work, passion, and perseverance. One such name is Dhara Tank Patel, who is celebrated for her finest design services through her firm Saar Interior Design. Founded by Dhara Tank Patel and Hiren Patel cooperatively in 2014, Saar Interior Design is dedicated to creating spaces that provide elevating experience, inspiring both minds and lives.

A fashion graduate from NIFT, Gandhi nagar, Dhara Tank Patel now enjoys her position as Co-founder and Interior designer at Saar Interior Design owing to her varied experiences in the field of design, craft & design education since 2005. With Women Entrepreneur, she took a walk down the memory lane illuminating various ups and downs in her professional expedition.

Tell Us About Your Journey So Far. What Encouraged You To Wear The Entrepreneur Hat? Back in my college days, I studied various design subjects that were offered related to art, architecture and design history, human anatomy, crafts, textiles, graphics, and materials. Post my graduation, I worked in the fashion industry in my initial years. I not only gathered varied experience in my association with fashion brands, boutique and design houses but I also got to work as a design expert with craftsmen of various craft clusters. I always aspired to come up with a design practice, doing 30

projects that are contextual and rooted to our culture yet are also contemporary and innovative.

When I met Hiren in 2011, he was already into designing spaces. I felt our thoughts resonated quite well and that reconfirmed my leanings towards architecture and design. And so, we together conceived Saar Interior Design in 2014.

Tell Us About The Services Offered By Saar Interior Design And How You Uniquely Run The Functions At The Company?

Saar Interior Design is a Vadodara based design consultation firm for an end to end design needs; offering a tailored approach to a wide variety of residential, commercial & retail, corporate, hospitality and institutional interior design projects. Today, in the office, my involvement has been at every important stage of the project including concept design, design development, onsite execution, procurement visits, styling and many more. A few of my creative responsibilities also include understanding of client’s needs and converting them into design solutions, study of trends, to interpret, design and recommend solutions through selection of finishes and materials in order to address a certain design context.

"Saar interior design is a Vadodara based design consultation firm for an end to end design needs; offering a tailored approach to a wide variety of residential, commercial & retail, corporate, hospitality and institutional interior design projects"

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Dhara Tank Patel Founder Sector Of India And Where Is Saar Interior Design Positioned?

Currently, interior design industry has been going through technological revolution like never before. In such times of future, an online application will be used by a lot as an option to in-person design consultancy. As interior design professionals, we believe there will be a whole new segment of clients who will look further for innovation and distinctiveness and prefer custom-built items as per their taste. A promising design house that caters diverse spatial experiences, Saar Interior Design has built up a dependable image in the industry since its inception. Our design studio and projects have been showcased on various interior design platforms.

Tell Us About The Procedure You Adopt While Working On A Project. Could You Highlight About The Recent And Upcoming Projects That You Have Under Your Belt?

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religious manner. Ever since the launch of Saar Interior Design, we have enjoyed our late brainstorming hours at the studio as well as onsite interaction with the carpenters, stoneworkers, fabricators, artists and craftspeople. Our initial in person conversations with clients and site visits formulate almost the entire design context for us which relates to the client’s needs and lifestyle as well. We recently completed a villa at Vadodara which was an end-to-end project designed in a simple yet luxurious style. Along with a few other projects, we are currently working on an educational space coming up in Nadiad.

Tell Us About Your Plans For The Future.

We wish to make more and more sustainable spaces in the coming times. Secondly, these times of pandemic has made us introspect like many other creative. As we always have been doing, we will continue co-creating with local artisans and significantly including regional crafts into spaces. A whole tribe of designers in our country is working towards translating our age-old craft knowledge into many commercially viable options and that is where we see Saar Interior Design heading.

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN T he Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women defines “violence against women” as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”

Since the beginning of the 1990s, violence against women has gained much attention in the human rights discourse. However, it took a long and persistent struggle by the women’s rights movement to persuade the international community to discuss violence against women as a human rights concern and recognize that gender-based violence is a serious violation of human rights of global importance which poses a threat to human development as well as international peace and security.

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Women in all countries, irrespective of status, class, age, caste or religion, experience violence in virtually all spheres of life, whether in the home, at work, on the street, in government institutions, or in times of conflict or crisis. Violence is also present throughout the lifetime of a woman, affecting girls and older women too. Specific groups of women suffering from various forms of discrimination, such as women with disabilities or migrant women, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women are particularly vulnerable to violence. Understanding that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, a human rights analysis posits that the specific causes of such violence and the factors that increase the risk of its occurrence are grounded in the broader context of systemic gender-based discrimination against women and other forms of subordination. Vulnerability to violence is MARCH 2021

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understood as a condition created by the absence or denial of rights.

Violence against women in the family can take the form of domestic violence or harmful or degrading practices that are violent to and/or subordinate women. Country visits by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women have shown that domestic violence remains widespread and affects women of all social strata.

Harmful and degrading practices, such as dowry-related violence or so-called honour crimes, also continue, without systematic monitoring, punishment or redress, despite advances in legislation prohibiting them.

Other examples of violence in the family are domestic assault (physical, psychological, emotional, financial or sexual violence), marital rape, femicide or gendermotivated killings (domestic murder, ritual killings or killings of women accused of witchcraft, lynching, as well as gender identity- and sexual orientation related or ethnic or indigenous identity-related killings), child marriage, female genital mutilation and sex-selective abortion. Other forms of violence against women occur in the community. Examples of such violence can be rape/sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence within institutions, violence against women migrant workers, witchcraft or sorcery-related violence or killings.

Although in the majority of cases younger women are at higher risk of witchcraft-related violence, Also women are more vulnerable to sorcery-related femicide owing to their economic dependence on others or the property rights that they hold.

Violence against women is also perpetrated or condoned by the State. This type of violence can include

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gender-based violence during conflict, disappearance or extrajudicial killings, custodial violence, violence against refugees and internally displaced women, or women from indigenous or minority groups. As will be explained below, State responsibility can also be invoked for private acts, i.e., when State officials are not the direct perpetrators of the violence.

The Special Rapporteur on torture mentions rape and other forms of sexual violence such as threats of rape, touching, “virginity testing”, being stripped naked, invasive body searches, insults and humiliations of a sexual nature, as well as forced abortion and denial of access to safe abortion to women who have become pregnant as a result of rape, as forms of violence that could constitute gender-based torture. According to the Special Rapporteur, the powerlessness of the victim and the purpose of the act are the most decisive elements to determine whether an act amounts to torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Special Rapporteur has further pointed out that, given the particular vulnerability of women with disabilities, forced abortions and sterilizations of these women if they are the result of a lawful process by which decisions are made by their “legal guardians” against their will, may also constitute torture or ill-treatment. Violence in the name of honour, sexual violence and harassment, as well as slavery-like practices often of a sexual nature, domestic violence (in the form of intimate partner violence), female genital mutilation and human trafficking can also constitute gender-based torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

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Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

Cubit Space VRINDA MURTHY Founder

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he pandemic has taken us to a juncture in life, wherein even ‘work-from-bed’ has hit boredom – something that we wouldn’t have imagined even in our wildest of dreams.

Many of us are slowly falling into the monotony of the new normal and it even feels like a curse that comes with the nine-to-five jobs. But with this epoch making us all realize the volatility of our lifeplans, if you are a go-getter with entrepreneurial dreams, it’s high time you break all the shackles and start travelling in pursuit of your dreams and passion. The anecdote of Vrinda Murthy (Founder, Cubit Space), a Telecommunications Engineerturned-interior designer, is poised to ignite an inspirational-spark in such minds.

Having kick-started her corporate career in 2013 as a software engineer, Vrinda only took a couple of years to feel the void created by the lack of passion in her career. She took a U-turn to salvage her passion for interior designing, and incepted 34

Cubit Space – a Bangalore-based interior design & build firm – in 2015.

“My choice of undergrad and in turn the IT career clearly lacked enough deliberation.

Looking back, maybe I’d have enjoyed Arts or Architecture much more, but everyone makes mistakes. What matters is if you learnt anything from them, and most importantly, if you acted,” asserts Vrinda.

She adds, “I was passionate about helping people in setting up a home. There is a sense of peace, meaning, and most of all, the delight of crafting happiness for others.

I worked on the math, came up with a simple business model. Yes, it looked risky, but it looked right. I guess my risk appetite was high.”

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Vrinda is a Telecommunications Engineer who graduated from RV College of Engineering. After a short stint in the corporate world as a software engineer, she set off in pursuit of her passion for helping people in setting up a home. She built Cubit Space from scratch and today it is one of the fastest growing companies in the interior design industry.

Learning It the Hard Way The risk-factor, however, is also associated with the way challenges are perceived. For a young entrepreneur trying to build credibility in the marketplace, it was a mountain to climb for Vrinda.

Managing & working with daily wage workers, establishing a new set of work attitudes & ethics, and vendor operation problems were only the tip of the iceberg. But the Young Turk confronted them with persistence and by being a jack of all trades - be it Sales, Operations, Design, or HR. Above all, she made sure that realizing customers’ dreams and personalizing things for them are of paramount importance for every member of the team.

also has established its own factory that allows the company to personalize & control all the build & manufacturing and suit a wide range of budgets.

The company’s reputation as one of the finest ‘solution’ providers stems from this ability to bring in unique & novel materials, finishes, and concepts from far & beyond and meet the most premium demands at a reasonable price. Moreover, the SOPs and agile back-end delivery infrastructure translate to the much sought after flexible customer engagement model.

En Route to the Future with Passion There is no denying the fact that the real estate and home décor space has been hit very hard by the pandemic. But that is a temporary market situation.

Within the next six-to-eight months, people will get back to owning houses and furnishing them.

“Words like Luxury, Valuable, Material Novelty, and Unique setups, Rarity-in-design, Boutique, and Bespoke are not just for the rich anymore.

Those who can provide it reasonably are becoming important players in the market. Our customers’ want it; we couldn’t be more excited,” adds Vrinda.

With Cubit Space diversifying within the real estate interior segment over the recent three years, and in turn continuing on its healthy growth track, Vrinda has her eyes set on new challenges. Having mastered the art of working seamlessly across the wide budget ranges, she is busy democratizing the company’ services through a number of ongoing projects. “Of the many projects that we are working on, there are two specific ones that are close to my heart. One has serenity as its theme and other has a fast-paced Familia theme. We’ve adopted Acrylics, Charcoal, Linen & Clean lines to complement each After five years, Cubit Space today is a full-fledged other and the lifestyle aspirations of the owners,” turnkey interior design solutions company. Give concludes Vrinda. it an empty set of walls of your house, Cubitsians would make it YOUR home by designing and building literally everything that it takes – from layouts to accents, personalized modular furnishing, bespoke furniture, wall & ceiling works, flooring, civil and whatnot. The credit goes to the robust infrastructure Vrinda has built over the years. Cubit Space not only has a carefully nurtured dedicated design team that caters to even the unseen/latent needs of a customer, but “The respect & empathy towards those who help us deliver the happiness to customers is something that is not valued enough by many in this field.

People and our relationships with them play a huge role in ensuring long term success, especially when the folks you are working with aren't sitting in front of a Laptop or have the white-collar lifestyle,” adjoins Vrinda. While establishing an inhouse culture based on respect & empathy became instrumental in her way forward, the constant experimentation and willingness to fail and learn had its rewards too.

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Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

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Neelitech

e it life or be it business, persistence and dedication is constant in the mind of a visionary. And a visionary who is blessed with the seed of technology is not only precious but an asset for the society. The innovations in technology have been successful in disrupting the business sector as a whole and transforming how technology is providing solution to real life business problems. Various technological human minds have come up with integrated IT solutions and services (universal and customized) for every possible business domain and ensured better transparency of operations.

and abroad.

Tell us about NeeliTech along with the services that you offer. Also tell us how do you uniquely run the functions of the company?

In 2019, the opportunity to grow this team and pivot into software development and delivery presented itself.

Empowered by the addition of my co-founder Arvind, a Someone among these minds has perfected the art of technical genius, friend and ex-colleague NeeliTech took delivering IT solutions for close to two decades from the shape. experience in corporate companies and has channelized "In our short stint of one and a half years we have more all these learning into own IT services firm with a global than 10 logos and enterprise customers like Myntra, outreach. : NeeliTech in 2019 that provides cutting-edge Arvind brands and many more to our credit" technology services that majorly include automation and We slowly grew the team with projects from enterprises artificial intelligence. That someone who is the primary and customers abroad, always with the focus to include point of discussion here is Jyothi Noronha who started more and more women into NeeliTech family. The her entrepreneurial journey back in 2015 in the domain company works in highly agile, customer-focused of skill development and staffing but finally pivoted into but flexible way. We started off with a ‘no-office’ mode the area of her expertise with her new venture. The focus from day 1. We completely encourage flexible, remote always was to build a strong women-oriented company working. It’s easy since the team is very dedicated and with a global presence. Women Entrepreneur engages takes ownership of their deliveries very seriously. The with Jyothi over a coffee table discussion to know more camaraderie and trust built within the team has been about NeeliTech and her views as an entrepreneur. responsible for amazing productivity and it’s a privilege Jyothi is a Digital Transformation Evangelist and to work with such a spirited and positive team. an industry veteran with over 18 years of corporate experience in the domains of Telecommunication and Business Process Automation. RPA is her passion and Where is NeeliTech positioned in the current she is heading the RPA practice in NeeliTech which it sector market of India and what are your has expertise in multiple RPA Platforms like UiPath, thoughts on the present scenario and future Automation Anywhere, and Microsoft Soft motive. of this space?

Spearheaded by her, the team has delivered highly effective BOTs to some of the enterprise giants in India NeeliTech is one of the leading system integrators in 36

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Jyothi Noronha CEO and Co-Founder the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Intelligent Automation space. In our short stint of one and a half years we have more than 10 logos and enterprise customers like Myntra, Arvind Brands and many more to our credit.

RPA is a much in-demand technology today, but the way ahead is “Intelligent Automation”. We are well prepared for the future by seamlessly integrating Artificial Intelligence, Natural language Processing, Machine Learning, data analytics into our solutions and take on more enterprise clients within India and abroad to deliver automation solutions.

success has ensured that we now work with them as their exclusive automation partner on multiple projects to achieve digital transformation Recently, we won a deal with a huge account in the retail sector, one of the Indian e-commerce market leaders.

They had earlier worked with a global System Integrator but preferred a boutique RPA solution provider and reached out to us for scaling their RPA projects.

This has been an affirmation of our goal to provide focused service beyond customer expectation. It is the only way to ensure we are unique and a preferred partner.

Could You Highlight About The Recent What are your future plans? Where do you And Upcoming Projects That You Have see the company moving in the coming Under Your Belt? What Are Your Strategies days?

And Methodologies In Achieving The Best Entering the RPA market as pure-play RPA experts gained Of The Results? us a foothold in this exciting world of automation. But One of our early clients is a leading Global Business Services company, providing a range of professional services and solutions in consulting, and operations management. Their clients include some of the bestknown global brands. NeeliTech helped them provide automation solutions for their key clients with enormous cost-saving and process efficiency at the same time. This MARCH 2021

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the way ahead is “Intelligent Automation” by integrating Artificial Intelligence, Natural language Processing, Machine Learning, and data analytics into our solutions

Our aim for the coming year is to build cost-effective, intelligent ready-to-use BOTs for some of the most useful use cases from our customer experience and scale to enterprises across the globe.

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Most Fascinating Women Entrepreneurs in India to Follow – 2021

VANI SATHVIK, Founder & CEO

SDL Globe

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he digital transformation is driving organizations to new avenues of opportunities. Every function within an organization now contributes on a different level. Even the Human Resources (HR) function needs to contribute to the organizational growth, securing time out of the run-of-the-mill tasks mundane employee documentation. Revolutionizing the way different organizational functions perform and hence enabling them to contribute to the organizational growth is SDL Globe - one of the leading Software Development companies in India, providing Enterprise Solutions and Consulting Services. Thanks to the leadership & multi-domain expertise of Vani Sathvik (Founder & CEO, SDL Globe) and the technical expertise of Mahesh Kumar Parvathareddy (Founder & CTO), SDL Globe has developed a couple of revolutionary products, SmartH2R & SDL ERP. The first-of-its-kind comprehensive solution, SmartH2R promises to take the pain out of HR Management all the way from Hire to Retire, while SDL ERP improves efficiency of different functions within the organization.

Having kick-started her professional journey with Unilever Group, Vani thrived her career monitored by 38

global leaders. Recognized as a Fast-Tracker throughout her career, she was instrumental in supporting several startup organizations in defining business processes and work culture to create stimulating environments to achieve their business goals. Her wisdom today spans across three continents and multifarious industries, ranging from FMCG to Electronics, Manufacturing, Consulting, and cutting-edge IT. Vani’s result-oriented approach, and finesse in interfacing with stakeholders & collaborating with multidisciplinary teams have enabled SDL to successfully manage complex projects and have fast growth in a short span of time. Women Entrepreneur India engages in an exclusive interview with Vani to know more about her exciting journey Vani possesses close to three decades of transcontinental experience with the HRMS industry. A passionate professional, she has manifested excellent leadership skills to take SDL Globe to become one of the leading Software Development companies in India.

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the recent name change of the company?

My experience with international markets and globally leading organizations provided me with an insight into multifarious industries and the gaps and issues faced by the companies while using the HRMS/ERP tool.

The passion to bridge this gap inspired me to become a technopreneur. Meeting Mahesh Kumar Parvathareddy, who was employed with a competitor at a NASSCOM meet and realizing that we shared the same passion was a turning point. He brought in technological expertise and I brought in domain expertise which resulted in a revolutionary product SmartH2R. With the experience of Smart H2R, we brought forth another product SDL ERP. As a part of expansion, we have moved to our own office in Bangalore and have rebranded from SmartDrive Labs to SDL Globe, which is synonymous with our global presence. And we now officially are SDL Globe.

What are the factors that make smart h2r & SDL ERP a unique proposition?

We kick-started our journey with an aim of developing a state-of the-art, innovative product majorly in the HRMS segment, wherein technology and humans coexist across industries to enable them grow and compete in a global environment. This embraces the story of Smart H2R, which is a revolutionary system that promises to take the pain out of HR Management - all the way from Hire to Retire (H2R). The employees can access their information from anywhere and at any time.

We are the first company to offer the same architecture in both license and cloud version. The employers get holistic data about their knowledge force, wage bills and a lot more at their fingertips, which aids them in fast decision making. We have clients across the globe and almost all industries. On the other hand, SDL ERP, which is our recent gem, is used by many multinational manufacturing companies across the globe. By encrusting everything from relationship management to accounting, core HR, invoicing, sales, purchase and supply chain management, as well as enabling custom module combinations to fit the client needs, it improves the efficiency of every functional unit.

How do you craft and deliver overwhelming holistic experience to clients?

window solution for functional excellence, we deliver unmatched business value to our customers through a combination of process excellence, quality frameworks and service delivery innovation. This approach also makes the products highly economical without compromising on the quality. Customer satisfaction is our priority. We understand their sophisticated requirements and convert it into reality by adopting technologies the project demands and going that extra mile to exceed the norms and maintain happy clients forever. We take pride in the fact that our initiatives in client and employee satisfaction have been recognized nationwide today.

Organizations are still healing from the effects covid-19. How do you plan to address the unique challenges that the customers are facing right now?

The COVID-19 crisis is not only disruptive to every company, but it has engendered a ‘big reset’ across the industries. Going digital has become imperative. Our attendance module and timesheet management help the employers to keep a track of their workforce’s attendance and define tasks and measure the same for the day. It helps the employees to log in from wherever they are and also manage & complete the given tasks efficiently. Our payroll module helps employers to process the salaries based on the hours and number of days the employees worked irrespective of whether they are permanent or temporary staff, while our responsive dashboard with analytics and graphs, gives a snapshot of information at their fingertips. We are glad that during this pandemic our Smart H2R has made a minuscule difference in our client’s work. Our exponentially & swiftly augmented client base is a strong testament.

What is your future roadmap?

Thanks to the efficiency of our tool, we are becoming outsourced payroll partners with a plethora of companies, but we keep on upgrading our skills. Technology is constantly changing the industry perceptions and we have some ideas up our sleeves. It will take some time to get that plan into action, but yes, we have ideas that can create ripples. Right now, our focus is on opening branches in top-tier cities across different countries.

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SafetiPin: Creating Safe Public Spaces for Women

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exual violence has rarely been so high on the news agenda. It is estimated that one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence, with 120 million girls around the world having been forced into sex acts. The repercussions go beyond the physical and psychological toll on individuals who have been attacked. Harassment and fear of violence can impede free movement of girls and women and stop them reaching their full 40

potential, both socially and economically. “If women feel afraid, it could undermine their ability to work or go to school or university which affects their empowerment, their rights.” Fear of attack is a bar to women escaping poverty.

Many of us would have witnessed the long-term impacts first-hand. “If girls are harassed and tell

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their parents about it, their parents will tell them not to go to school. They’re not going to try to solve the problem. It’s a massive social issue.”

To help make the app’s data comprehensive, SafetiPin’s crowd sourced data is augmented using photography.

“We use an app on a windscreen of a moving car which automatically takes photographs every 50 meters,” says Viswanath. “We map the entire city using photographs, and supplement that with user data.” Google Earth and Street View are also consulted for extra perspectives but SafetiPin’s data is dynamic, Viswanath says, responding to a constantly changing city.

While sprawling metropolises cannot simply be razed and rebuilt, a number of measures can be taken to make streets feel safer and to keep women more secure when moving around the city. And more than ever, women are being consulted in In Delhi, the team identified about 7,800 dark planning new urban developments. spots where the lighting score was zero. Based In June, a panel of world experts polled on global on this information, says Viswanath, government women’s issues by the Thomson Reuters Foundation departments in charge of lighting in the city found India to be the most dangerous country for “improved 90% of the lighting deficit”. SafetiPin women. The vicious gang rape and murder of the has now been contracted by local authorities to medical student Jyoti Singh on a Delhi bus in 2012 make recommendations on how to make metro brought women on to the streets to protest, and stations, bus stops, tourist spots, public toilets and along with their fury, grief and fear came powerful parks more woman-friendly. ideas for change.

The free app can be used anywhere in the world.

In 2013, Kalpana Viswanath co-founded SafetiPin, So far there has been significant participation in 50 an app that aims to help women stay safe by letting cities (25 in India) and SafetiPin is advising local user’s rate streets and areas for safety criteria such as authorities or organizations in 10 of them. In Hanoi, lighting, visibility, people density, gender diversity, for instance, says Viswanath: “They’re building a security and transportation. It also aggregates new metro line and before building it they’ve asked safety data, partly provided by its users, for use by us to do an audit of where they’re going to have local government and planners. SafetiPin now has their stations. They’re including women’s safety 51,000 points of data for Delhi alone, and offers in the design.” In Bogotá, SafetiPin data has been users “safest routes”, helping them navigate the city consulted to make bike trails safer, “determining with less risk. where to improve lighting, place CCTV and place Another function of the app allows women to have bike stands so women will feel comfortable using someone they trust track their journey. “We find them at night,” says Viswanath. SafetiPin will team a lot of women are able to travel at night using up with a number of local organizations to map these two features,” says Viswanath. “It gives them areas of safety – and are particularly keen to address confidence to travel around the city.” And the more the unsafe minibus taxis that many women have to women venture out, the busier – and safer – the use to travel to work. streets become.

MARCH 2021

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