Latest news with #NoBoundaries
The Hindu
09-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
From corridor of uncertainty to stability: tracing the growth of women's cricket in India
Stars from three generations — Shantha Rangaswamy, Mithali Raj, and Shreyanka Patil — engaged in a lively discussion at The Hindu Huddle on Friday on the growth of women's cricket in India. Shantha, the first Indian women's team captain, spoke about her pioneering role. 'We laid the foundation. We may not have seen the likes of Mithali and Shreyanka if we had faltered in the initial stages. What drove us was the passion for the game,' Shantha said in a session titled 'No Boundaries: Growth of Women's Cricket in India', moderated by K.C. Vijaya Kumar, Sports Editor, The Hindu. In a glittering international career, which spanned over two decades, Mithali moved the needle in terms of popularising women's cricket. Mithali said the turning point for the sport came in 2006, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took control of women's cricket. 'In my early days, when the Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI) ran the sport, the financial aspect was not great. It was a struggle to get investors and endorsements for us to have an international series. Coming under the BCCI was huge, because that opened access to better infrastructure, resources, equipment, and domestic structure,' Mithali said. Coming under the BCCI umbrella gave Mithali and others access to top-class facilities like the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. At the NCA, interactions between women cricketers and stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid proved to be invaluable. 'When you have a dialogue with the likes of Sachin and Dravid, you learn a lot,' Mithali said. The 42-year-old recalled a time when she sought the help of Tendulkar. 'When I was a bit older, I had trouble picking fast bowlers. I asked Tendulkar for advice, and he told me to practice on 18-yard pitches instead of 22-yard strips. This helped me a great deal, as I went on to win the T20 'Player of the series' award in South Africa,' Mithali said. Shreyanka, the modern-day star, paid tribute to her predecessors. 'Shantha madam laid the foundation. They had to face challenges initially because not all families allowed girls to play. And then came Mithali. People talked about Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar as the big names. But in women's cricket, Mithali was the biggest name for us. Our generation cannot thank our seniors enough for what they have done for women's cricket. We are now in a stage where we get everything — infrastructure, facilities, exposure and much more,' Shreyanka said. The Hindu Huddle 2025 is presented by Sami-Sabinsa Group Co-powered by: Government of Karnataka, Government of Telangana; Associate Partners: ONGC, Presidency University, TAFE, Akshayakalpa Organic; Energy Partner : Indian Oil Corporation Limited; Realty partner: Casagrand; Knowledge partner: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham; State partner: Meghalaya tourism and Haryana government; Luxury car partner: Toyota; Radio partner: Radio City; Gift partner: Anand Prakash; Broadcast partner: Times Now; Outdoor media partner: Signpost India
Axios
09-04-2025
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Walmart AI tool speeds up fashion trends amid trade war
Walmart is tapping into generative AI to speed up how fast it rolls out on-trend fashion items, the company shared exclusively with Axios. Why it matters: Speed matters in the highly competitive battle for consumers — especially with sweeping tariffs spiking fears of a recession. Walmart's announcement Wednesday comes a day after the Trump administration said it plans to triple the planned levy on cheap goods from Chinese retailers like Shein and Temu. The big picture: The world's largest retailer is digging deeper into artificial intelligence to transform the business. It previously added a generative AI -powered search, an AI-powered product replenishment service and other tools. Walmart-owned Sam's Club is employing AI to resolve long lines for receipt verification at club exits. Walmart's Trend-to-Product AI tool Driving the news: Walmart executives tell Axios the new Trend-to-Product, a "trend-sensing design tool," shortens the production timeline for fashion items by as much as 18 weeks. The proprietary tech solution developed in-house uses AI and Gen AI to "create cool for customers." "I think of this as going really from transforming the mundane to magical," Vinod Bidarkoppa, chief technology officer for Walmart International, tells Axios. The news was publicly unveiled during the company's investment community meeting in Dallas Wednesday. How it works: Bidarkoppa said it takes a process that used to take six months and revises it to brings trendy items to customers within six weeks. The Trend-to-Product tool analyzes trends by pulling information from the internet and social media. It then creates mood boards, which designers and merchants use to create the pieces. Parts of the process shrank from days and weeks to minutes, Bidarkoppa said. Walmart AI strategy and tariffs Zoom in: The company has been looking for opportunities to innovate, improve productivity and impact customers, Andrea Albright, Walmart executive vice president, sourcing, tells Axios. "We knew it would work in apparel. That's one of our hardest to bring to life," Albright said, Walmart used the tool to create items in the $2 billion No Boundaries brand, which were released in February, Albright said. What they're saying: "We don't need speed for the sake of speed," Albright said. "Not everything needs to be delivered in stores in six weeks." The products are coming from different countries depending on the category and "the speed that we need," Albright said. " Tariffs would also be a consideration in that," Albright said. "The closer that we are into need from a customer standpoint, we'll make better business decisions." Yes, but: Albright said what Walmart is doing is different than "fast fashion." "We didn't compromise on our standards of ethical, socially responsible sourcing," she said. Artificial intelligence to guide more Walmart products What's next: Walmart plans to use the tool beyond fashion, Albright said. Trending seasonal items and general merchandise products are priorities in the future. "I think that there is the opportunity for us to really think differently and then start to bring those things to life in a much faster and an accelerated way," Bidarkoppa said.
