Dr Gaurav Aggarwal, Consultant Uro-Oncology and Robotic Surgeon at HCG Cancer Centre, Kolkata, explains how subtle urinary symptoms are frequently misread, delaying diagnosis and treatment
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Early Warning Signs of Urological Cancers Often Go Unnoticed, Say Specialists at HCG Cancer Centre
Urological cancers affecting the kidneys, bladder, prostate, testicles, and urinary tract are among the most commonly delayed cancer diagnoses, largely because their early symptoms are subtle and often mistaken for routine health issues. Specialists say early detection plays a decisive role in treatment outcomes, yet many patients seek medical attention only after the disease has progressed.
Medical observations in India indicate that working adults frequently delay consultations due to time constraints, while older individuals often attribute symptoms to ageing. As a result, diagnosis may occur only when symptoms begin to interfere with daily life, by which time the disease may be at a more advanced stage.
Persistent changes in urination are another key indicator. Increased frequency, difficulty starting or maintaining urine flow, a weak stream, or the sensation of incomplete bladder emptying may point to prostate or bladder conditions. While such symptoms can result from benign causes, persistence should prompt further investigation.
Recurrent urinary tract infections, particularly in men or older adults, can also signal an underlying obstruction or malignancy rather than repeated infection. Specialists advise that repeated infections should be evaluated beyond routine antibiotic treatment.
Early detection does not always require complex or invasive procedures. Initial evaluation may involve urine tests, blood tests, ultrasound imaging, and physical examinations. For prostate health, structured discussions with a doctor help determine whether further screening is appropriate based on age and risk factors.
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Contact Centre Modernisation Using Amazon Connect Gets Added Weight Through NTT DATA and AWS
Abhijit Dubey, President and CEO of NTT DATA, and Greg Pearson, Vice President Global Sales at Amazon Web Services, say the agreement will scale AI-driven customer experience platforms across regulated and enterprise environments
Contact centre modernisation has emerged as a key focus area within enterprise digital transformation as organisations seek to improve customer experience while operating at scale across regulated environments. Against this backdrop, NTT DATA has signed a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Amazon Web Services, placing AI-driven contact centre platforms and cloud modernisation at the centre of the engagement.
The agreement was announced at Wings India 2026 in Hyderabad and reflects a shared intent to help enterprises modernise legacy systems, deploy agentic AI responsibly, and scale innovation across industries. A significant component of the collaboration focuses on modernising contact centre environments using Amazon Connect, enabling enterprises to adopt AI-enabled customer experience platforms that operate securely and at global scale.Under the agreement, NTT DATA and AWS will work across four priority areas, including AI-driven cloud transformation, industry-specific cloud solutions, modern managed services, and digital sovereignty. Within customer experience transformation, the companies will support enterprises in moving from fragmented legacy contact centre systems to integrated, cloud-based platforms capable of supporting intelligent routing, analytics, and AI-assisted interactions.
NTT DATA brings expertise in cloud transformation, cloud-native modernisation, and agentic AI, while AWS provides the underlying cloud infrastructure and services. The collaboration is designed to support enterprises operating in regulated and high-growth sectors, where contact centres often serve as critical interfaces between organisations and customers.To support execution at scale, NTT DATA has established a dedicated AWS Business Group aligned with AWS sales and delivery teams. The group currently includes close to 11,000 AWS-certified professionals, with plans to certify nearly 10,000 additional experts over the next three years, strengthening delivery capacity across cloud and AI programmes.
Commenting on the agreement, Abhijit Dubey, President and CEO of NTT DATA, Inc., said cloud and AI have become central to enterprise transformation, and the collaboration with AWS is aimed at helping organisations move beyond experimentation to deploy AI responsibly at scale, including in customer-facing environments such as contact centres.Greg Pearson, Vice President Global Sales at AWS, said the collaboration will support enterprises in modernising operations and building digital customer experiences through industry-aligned architectures and AI-driven platforms, while also addressing evolving regulatory requirements.
The partnership builds on existing delivery experience. Honda Trading Asia recently migrated its systems to AWS with support from NTT DATA, modernising its infrastructure and creating a foundation for AI-driven initiatives. According to Somya Mayuraskoon, Director at Honda Trading Asia Co., Ltd., the migration enabled a smooth transition within defined timelines and budgets while opening up new growth opportunities.Beyond customer experience platforms, the collaboration will also see NTT DATA develop industry-specific AI-driven cloud solutions on AWS through its Industry Cloud platform. These offerings will span financial services, healthcare and life sciences, public sector, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and energy, supported by innovation environments such as sandboxes and dedicated labs on AWS.
NTT DATA will support these initiatives through end-to-end services covering advisory, cloud transformation, implementation, and managed services, enabling enterprises to adopt cloud and AI technologies with operational confidence and long-term resilience.At Prittle PrattleNews, featuring you virtuously, we celebrate the commitment and innovation. Led by Editor-in-Chief Smruti Bhalerao, our platform is dedicated to sharing impactful stories that inspire change and create awareness. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more stories that matter.
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Fragrance Becomes the Medium as Kimirica Interprets Bridgerton Through Design and Ritual
Rajat Jain, Co founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kimirica, and Kimi Jain, Co founder and Head of Brand Experience, Kimirica, say the Netflix collaboration reflects a shift toward deeper cultural partnerships
Kimirica has entered a fragrance led cultural collaboration with Netflix and Shondaland’s globally popular series Bridgerton, signalling a deeper, more considered approach to pop culture partnerships by Indian lifestyle brands.
Rather than treating the association as a licensing exercise, Kimirica has positioned fragrance as the primary medium through which Bridgerton’s narrative, emotion, and ritualistic elegance are interpreted. The Kimirica x Bridgerton collection translates the series’ mood into a multi category self care and home fragrance experience, anchored in scent, design, and daily rituals.The collection is structured around three distinct fragrance stories inspired by the Bridgerton universe. Mayfair Soirée offers a fresh daytime profile, built around bright citrus notes of orange rind balanced with a woody cedar base, intended for everyday use. Lady in Silver takes a softer and more restrained approach, centred on white wisteria and designed for quieter, intimate moments. Midnight Masquerade introduces a deeper, evening oriented fragrance, blending neroli and thyme to create warmth that extends naturally into home fragrance formats.
These fragrance stories span body and hand washes, body and hand lotions, body mists, soy candles, reed diffusers, room sprays, curated hand caddy sets, and luxury gifting formats. Body mists occupy a central role in the collection, reflecting growing consumer preference for lighter and more flexible scent applications that can be layered across the day.The hand caddy sets emerge as a distinctive design element within the range. Conceived as refined sink side accessories, they combine everyday function with visual appeal, reinforcing Kimirica’s broader strategy of building lifestyle ecosystems rather than isolated products. The approach allows fragrance to move fluidly across personal care and living spaces, strengthening continuity across categories.
Speaking on the collaboration, Rajat Jain, Co founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kimirica, said, “With Kimirica x Bridgerton, we wanted to create something truly larger than life. Fragrance has always been our strongest expression, and this collaboration allowed us to build an entire world around it, one that feels emotional, immersive, and indulgent at every touchpoint.”Design plays a central role in shaping this world. Regency inspired illustrations, metallic foiling, and carefully calibrated colour palettes give the collection visual depth while maintaining everyday usability. The packaging is positioned as collectible yet functional, reflecting the brand’s philosophy that luxury should feel lived in rather than ornamental.
Kimi Jain, Co founder and Head of Brand Experience, Kimirica, said, “A truly premium product is a holistic experience. It cannot force a choice between luxury, wellness, and responsibility. This collection reflects our belief that indulgence today must be thoughtful, where design, fragrance, formulation, and ethics coexist seamlessly.”Every product in the collection is vegan, cruelty free, dermatologically tested, IFRA certified, and manufactured in India. Formulations are free from SLS and parabens, developed using responsibly sourced ingredients through Kimirica’s in house research and manufacturing capabilities. These commitments extend across the brand’s wider portfolio spanning fragrance, bath and body, skincare, home fragrance, and personalised gifting.
With presence across more than 100 locations in India and a strong direct to consumer platform, Kimirica continues to expand its footprint in fragrance led self care and home experiences. The Bridgerton collaboration reflects a growing maturity in India’s lifestyle brand ecosystem, where cultural relevance is shaped by depth, intentionality, and long term brand equity rather than novelty.At Prittle PrattleNews, featuring you virtuously, we celebrate the commitment and innovation. Led by Editor-in-Chief Smruti Bhalerao, our platform is dedicated to sharing impactful stories that inspire change and create awareness. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more stories that matter.
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After 15 Years and Five IVF Failures, a Breakthrough Emerges at Birla Fertility and IVF Hyderabad
Dr. Alimileti Jhansi Rani, Consultant and Centre Head, Birla Fertility and IVF Hyderabad, explains how reassessment and embryo donation helped overcome long standing infertility in a high risk case
Birla Fertility and IVF Hyderabad recently treated a couple whose infertility journey spanned 15 years and multiple unsuccessful treatment cycles across countries. When they arrived at the centre, the 43 year old woman and her 45 year old husband had already undergone five failed IVF cycles, four in Australia and one in India, without the formation of viable embryos.
Their history included repeated pregnancy losses even before assisted reproduction. Two spontaneous abortions occurred at around three months, while another pregnancy ended at six weeks. Both natural conception and ovulation induction had failed to result in a sustained pregnancy. By the time they sought care in Hyderabad, age related risks were evident, particularly the increased likelihood of embryo aneuploidy.A comprehensive reassessment at Birla Fertility and IVF Hyderabad revealed a critical factor that had not been sufficiently addressed earlier. The male partner was diagnosed with severe oligoasthenoteratozoospermia, a condition that significantly affects fertilisation potential and embryo quality. This, combined with advanced maternal age, sharply reduced the chances of success using the couple’s own gametes.
According to Dr. Alimileti Jhansi Rani, Consultant and Centre Head at Birla Fertility and IVF Hyderabad, repeating the same protocol was unlikely to change the outcome. “When a couple has had repeated cycles with no embryo formation at all, it is important to pause and reassess rather than push forward with the same approach. In this case, the male factor was playing a much larger role than initially recognised, and combined with maternal age, the chances with self gametes were extremely limited,” she said.The couple was counselled extensively on available options. These included another IVF attempt using their own gametes with genetic testing, or proceeding with embryo donation to improve the probability of a healthy pregnancy. After careful consideration, they opted for embryo donation, acknowledging both the emotional complexity of the decision and the clinical realities of their case.
Prior to embryo transfer, a diagnostic hysteroscopy was conducted to evaluate and optimise the uterine cavity. Endometrial preparation followed in the next cycle, and a single embryo transfer was performed under close medical supervision.The pregnancy test returned positive, marking a significant turning point after years of repeated disappointment. For the couple, the outcome underscored the importance of personalised decision making rather than persistence alone.
The case highlights a broader reality in fertility care. In long standing infertility, particularly beyond the age of 40, success often depends on recognising biological limitations, reassessing earlier assumptions, and selecting the option that offers the most realistic path forward rather than repeating approaches that have consistently failed.At Prittle PrattleNews, featuring you virtuously, we celebrate the commitment and innovation. Led by Editor-in-Chief Smruti Bhalerao, our platform is dedicated to sharing impactful stories that inspire change and create awareness. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more stories that matter.
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A New Aircraft Maintenance Training Pathway Takes Shape Through Air India and HIET
Dr. Anand Jacob Verghese, Chairman, and Dr. Ashok George Verghese, Pro-Chancellor of Hindustan Group of Institutions, say the DGCA-approved AME Cadet Programme with Air India will train Category B1.1 and B2 licensed engineers
A Memorandum of Understanding between Air India Limited and Hindustan Institute of Engineering and Technology, part of the Hindustan Group of Institutions, has set the foundation for a new Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Cadet Programme aimed at training licensed aircraft engineers. The MoU was announced at Wings India 2026, India’s civil aviation exhibition held at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.
The programme is designed to address the growing requirement for licensed aircraft maintenance engineers as airline fleets expand and operations scale up. HIET, a DGCA CAR 147 Basic approved institute, will deliver structured training for Category B1.1 Aeroplane Turbine and Category B2 Avionics engineers selected by Air India.The collaboration brings together Air India’s operational and maintenance expertise with HIET’s regulatory approved training infrastructure. According to the institutions, the programme will follow industry aligned curricula, standardised selection processes, and practical exposure linked closely to airline maintenance requirements.
The MoU was announced during the Hindustan Group of Institutions’ participation at Wings India 2026, where the Group presented its aviation education portfolio spanning pilot training, aircraft maintenance engineering, and allied disciplines. The Hindustan Group stall at the event was inaugurated by Shri B. C. Janardhan Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Roads and Buildings, Infrastructure and Investments, Government of Andhra Pradesh.Speaking at the event, Dr. Anand Jacob Verghese, Chairman, Hindustan Group of Institutions, said that Wings India 2026 offered a platform to demonstrate how education and industry collaboration can support the long term growth of India’s aviation sector. He said the partnership with Air India is focused on building a pipeline of skilled, licensed engineers aligned with global standards and operational needs.
Dr. Ashok George Verghese, Pro-Chancellor, Hindustan Group of Institutions, said the pace of expansion in Indian aviation has increased demand for trained pilots and licensed maintenance engineers. He said the Group’s approach centres on creating training to employment pathways that combine quality education, practical exposure, and industry relevance.In parallel with the MoU announcement, Orient Flights Aviation Academy, the Group’s pilot training arm, outlined plans to enhance training capacity through fleet expansion. The Academy announced the induction of a new Tecnam training aircraft and shared plans to add next generation aircraft including the Tecnam P2010 and Piper Archer DX.
The Academy also highlighted its simulator based training infrastructure, including ALSIM AL250 simulators for single engine and multi engine operations, supporting DGCA approved, weather independent training. Student led drone projects and advanced avionics exposure were also presented as part of the Group’s broader focus on future ready aviation technologies.Other institutions under the Hindustan Group, including Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, KCG College of Technology, and Hindustan College, Mysuru, presented programmes in aeronautical engineering, aerospace engineering, aviation management, defence technology, and allied fields, reinforcing the Group’s position across aviation education and training.
At Prittle PrattleNews, featuring you virtuously, we celebrate the commitment and innovation. Led by Editor-in-Chief Smruti Bhalerao, our platform is dedicated to sharing impactful stories that inspire change and create awareness. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for more stories that matter.