India's first halal cosmetics firm set to expand outlets

May 2, 2015

Ahmedabad, May 2: Mauli Teli has people coming up to her often and asking what 'halal' has to do with cosmetics. "Are such cosmetics only for Muslims?" they sometimes enquire.

halal cosmeticsTeli is not a Muslim, but the smart, suave, CEO of a company whose Iba product - India's first halal-certified cosmetic brand - is more than ready with her answers. Thanks to this, Iba's consumer base is growing steadily, and not just among the Muslim community.

"Halal has a deep meaning. It means it's pure, safe, and healthy. What it means in terms of our cosmetics range is that our products are organic, free of animal fat and animal-derived products like keratin, collagen and gelatine, and alcohol free. They are free of any harsh chemicals and animal cruelty. Therefore they are good for everyone," Mauli explained in an telephonic interview .

In 2012 Mauli and her sister Grishma Teli started their company, Ecotrail, which was a manufacturing unit and research lab. In September 2014, after a thorough market research and talks with consumers, salon owners and others, the duo launched Iba Halal Care.

"I moved back to India in 2011 after studying and working in the US for seven-and-a-half years. I have a technical background and was into management consulting. My sister had studied biotechnology in the UK. Both of us have always wanted to start something on our own...that we come from a family of entrepreneurs helped a lot," Mauli said.

Personal care products, she said, were of interest to both the sisters. Their father is into equipment manufacturing for the cosmetics industry.

"Since I had worked with (market research agency) AC Nielson, I knew that the field of personal care was very competitive and in order to succeed we had to make a unique proposition. In the US, natural, ethical products are much sought after and we found that halal cosmetics was a niche field that could be explored," she said.

Considering that India has a large Muslim population, the sisters realised that there was a need for such products.

"Halal certified products are popular in Southeast Asia like Malaysia. Britain also has a few small brands. But, in the Indian context, we had to take care that ours was not a high-end brand, but something that the market could bear."

As they launched Iba with their first stand-alone store in Ahmedabad it triggered a lot of interest.

"People were curious. They would come and ask me all kinds of questions. Sometimes even Muslims did not understand what halal had to do with cosmetics. Once we told them about the fat free lipsticks and alcohol free perfumes, they understood," Mauli said.

The concept also appealed to people from the Jain community and those who opt for a vegan way of life. "Actually, 35 percent of our consumers are non-Muslims, and the interest is increasing," Mauli said.

Her products - priced between Rs.40 and Rs.250 - are no less effective on the skin or hair, she says. They have the same look and feel like any other modern cosmetic product with no side effects, she adds. From lipsticks, face sprays and face creams to shampoos, conditioners and perfumes, it's a wide range.

With two stand alone stores in Gujarat, they are now opening outlets in Aurangabad in Maharashtra, before venturing into Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Baroda and Surat. They are getting into the franchise model as well as have their products available online, on shopping portals like Amazon and Flipkart.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Washington D.C: One of the greatest spectacles of modern art is still thriving in the Australian outback as confirmed by satellite imagery of NASA. The Marree Man is a massive geoglyph depicting an aboriginal hunter, that spans over 2.6 miles in the Southern Australian region.

Discovered by a pilot in 1998, its origin still remains a mystery even to this date.

The Marree Man was given a new lease of life in 2016 when a group of people from the neighboring town of Marree plowed its lines to avert its fading due to erosion.

After NASA shared the image of the art-work that was taken in June, the efforts of the good samaritans turned out to be a total success, reported CNN Travel.

The restoration team believes that the refurbished Marree Man would last longer than its original version.

According to NASA, "They [the team] created wind grooves, designed to trap water and encourage the growth of vegetation. They hope that eventually, the man will turn green."

In a previous article, CNN reported that an entrepreneur by the name of Dick Smith took upon himself to unravel the geoglyph's mystery in 2016. His team combed through all the available evidence but couldn't find anything conclusive.

In 2018 he even offered a 5,000 Australian dollar reward for anyone who knows the identity of its creator.

Nobody turned up with an answer but it was speculated that unknown artist lives in Alice Springs or even might be an American.

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Agencies
June 28,2020

The US space agency has thrown open a challenge to win over Rs 26 lakh, calling the global community to send novel design concepts for compact toilets that can operate in both microgravity and lunar gravity.

NASA is preparing for return to the Moon and innumerable activities to equip, shelter, and otherwise support future astronauts are underway.

The astronauts will be eating and drinking, and subsequently urinating and defecating in microgravity and lunar gravity.

NASA said that while astronauts are in the cabin and out of their spacesuits, they will need a toilet that has all the same capabilities as ones here on Earth.

The public designs for space toilet may be adapted for use in the Artemis lunar landers that take humans back to the Moon.

"Although space toilets already exist and are in use (at the International Space Station, for example), they are designed for microgravity only," the US space agency said in a statement.

NASA's Human Landing System Programme is looking for a next-generation device that is smaller, more efficient, and capable of working in both microgravity and lunar gravity.

The new NASA challenge includes a Technical category and Junior category and the last date to send designs is August 17.

NASA's Artemis Moon mission will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024.

The Artemis programme is part of America's broader Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which astronauts will explore the Moon and experience gained there to enable humanity's next giant leap, sending humans to Mars.

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Agencies
May 19,2020

Cybersecurity researchers on Monday warned of a Trojan malware campaign which is targeting India's co-operative banks using COVID-19 as a bait.

Seqrite, the enterprise arm of IT security firm Quick Heal Technologies, detected the new wave of Adwind Java Remote Access Trojan (RAT) campaign.

Researchers at Seqrite warned that if attackers are successful, they can take over the victim's device to steal sensitive data like SWIFT logins and customer details and move laterally to launch large scale cyberattacks and financial frauds.

According to the researchers, the Java RAT campaign starts with a spear-phishing email which claims to have originated from either the Reserve Bank of India or a nationalised bank.

The content of the email refers to COVID-19 guidelines or a financial transaction, with detailed information in an attachment, which is a zip file containing a JAR based malware.

Upon further investigation, researchers at Seqrite found that the JAR based malware is a Remote Access Trojan that can run on any machine which has Java runtime enabled and hence it can impact a variety of endpoints, irrespective of their base operating system.

Once the RAT is installed, the attacker can take over the victim's device, send commands from a remote machine, and spread laterally in the network.

In addition, this malware can also log keystrokes, capture screenshots, download additional payloads, and extract sensitive user information, Seqrite said, adding that such attack campaigns can effectively jeopardise the privacy and security of sensitive data at the co-operative banks and result in large scale attacks and financial frauds.

To prevent such attacks, users need to exercise ample caution and avoid opening attachments and clicking on web links in unsolicited emails.

Banks should also keep their operating systems updated and have a full-fledged security solution installed on all the devices, Seqrite advised.

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