The Union Minister of Ayush and Ports, Shipping & Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated the International Conference on “Diet and Nutrition in Unani Medicine for Good health & well-being” in Srinagar. On this occasion, the Minister announced that the Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine will be developed as a Centre of Excellence. The MoS for Ayush and WCD Dr Munjpara Mahendrabhai also attended the conference.

Speaking at the occasion, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal said that the importance of a balanced and nutritious diet is key to a healthy life and prevention as well as treatment of disease. Unani physicians recommend treatment by suitable modifications in diet before treatment with drugs. Shri Sarbananda Sonowal said that in this regard, the Ministry wants to upgrade the Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine into an Ayush Center of Excellence in Ilaj bill-Tadbir (Regimental Therapy). The Minister informed the World Health Organization and Ministry of Ayush has published Benchmarks for the Training of Unani Medicine and this document will address the aspects like training requirements for good-quality Unani medicine services.

The inaugural session witnessed the release of conference souvenir and eight books published by the CCRUM, the release of two Unani e-books developed by the National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage functioning under CCRAS at Hyderabad, distribution of YCB certificates to felicitate yoga instructors, exchange of Yoga MoU and live yoga performance, the release of CCRUM Apps and presentation of NABH Accreditation Certificate to RRIUM Srinagar. With the launch of mobile apps on Single Unani Drugs, Unani treatment guidelines and know your temperament application, the Union Minister was appreciated all stakeholders as it was the first of its kind initiative of CCRUM, Ministry of Ayush in the field of Unani Medicine.

In his address, Dr Munjpara Mahendrabhai said that Unani Medicine provides detailed guidelines for healthy food habits to maintain health and prevent diseases. He lauded the role of the Ayush system in immunity enhancement through drugs and medicinal foods and fighting against COVID-19. He also appreciated the contributions of CCRUM in research and development in Unani Medicine.

The titles of the CCRUM books released are ‘Orientation Guidelines for Community Health Officers (Under Unani Stream)’, ‘Antiarthritic Plants in Unani Medicine’, ‘Hepatoprotective Plants in Unani Medicine’, ‘Glimpses of Activities and Achievements of Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine’, ‘Advanced Analytical Methods for Quality Control of Unani Drugs – Araqiyat (Distillates)’, ‘Riyad al-Adwiya (Urdu translation)’ ‘Adwiya Kabidiyya: Qadeem-o-Jadeed Tahqiqat ki Raushni mein’, ‘National Formulary of Unani Medicine, Vol. IV, 2nd Edition’.

Deep Nordic ApS, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based technology company acquired a majority stake in AQFIT, an Indian tech startup based in Delhi. It is a fast-growing consumer brand in the smart wearable and audio industry.

Deep Nordic ApS is developing advanced wearable technology products across the globe and in the Indian market; the bet has been placed on the outstanding AQFIT team. Deep Nordic ApS also plans to use India as a manufacturing base for local and international market products in the future.

AQFiT fundamental values of ‘Originality, Quality, Experience, and Service’ are reflected in each of its products. AQFiT is committed to developing gadgets that promote a healthy lifestyle and include unique designs to meet the needs of users all around the world. The company’s research and development departments are cutting edge. This investment strengthens AQFiT’s mission of contributing to a healthy future in which innovation and technology are in sync with human values.

On commenting on this collaboration, Mr Michael Bruun-Larsen, Director, Deep Nordic Aps, said, “We are elated to share the great news with everyone, that we have partnered with AQFIT. Originating from Delhi, the AQFiT brand has proven itself viable and capable to grow fast in the wearable and audio segments in the Indian market, from talent alone.”

Over the next two years, Deep Nordic Aps acquired a majority stake in AQFiT, to support marketing, supply chain, and R&D in AQFIT, to become one of India’s top three smart wearable companies.

Deep Nordic ApS supports AQFiT’s aim of assisting in the development of a healthy future in which innovation and technology are in harmony with human values. The strategic partnership will yield technology ahead of the market and state of art manufacturing infrastructure.”

Danish Ambassador to India, H.E. Freddy Svane, said, “This investment is a prime example of strategic collaboration between Denmark technology expertise and Indian talent empowering health and smart living locally. There will be trade enhancement and efficient bilateral relations between the two countries. The strategic partnership will result in cutting-edge technologies and manufacturing facilities in India. India’s start-up AQFIT will benefit immensely from technology advancement and foray into IoT and specialized wearable products.”

Manish Pengoriya, Co-Founder and Director, said, “The strategic collaboration between the AQFIT & Deep Nordic will build a strong relationship between the two countries. The strategic partnership will also emphasize the made in India incentive announced by the Finance minister in the recent budget for smart wearable and audio products.”

Sanjeev Singh, Co-founder and CEO of AQFIT, said, “Our Customer First approach and Quality Offering was a key parameter for this investment and with this new collaboration we continue to build outstanding quality and technology-driven products to our customers across India and beyond. This collaboration further helps us to expand our distribution footprint across our channels, especially offline and Large Format Retail. Our team is quite excited about this collaboration.”

In its constant endeavour to empower and extend support to budding women entrepreneurs from various walks of life, Ghoshak, an organisation that empowers small and medium businesses (SMBs) across India, has joined hands with Matrangal, a Chennai-based platform that works towards exclusively helping women entrepreneurs to create a brand identity through the promotion and generation of business by way of empowering each other.

The Ghoshak-Matrangal partnership came into effect on March 8,2022, International Women’s Day, at an event which had Ma. Subramanian, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu, addressing women entrepreneurs. The event was attended by Karunanithi J, MLA, T-Nagar; Mylai T Velu, MLA, Mylapore; Sai Dhanshika, film actress; and Akshara Reddy, Miss Super Globe – World 2019, and actress-model.

In tune with the way technology has been penetrating every sphere of life, Chennai-based Ghoshak has enabled more than 15,000 small and medium sized businesses in India. From creating an online store, booking appointments, digital payments, inventory management, and offering discounts, Ghoshak’s plug-and-play technology solutions enable shop owners to sell from anywhere and everywhere. Saas-based startup Goshak was founded by Rajesh Subramanian in 2020.