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Agoda reports growing interest in India’s spiritual destinations

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Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai are leading domestic destinations for spiritual travel during the last quarter of the year  

NEW DELHI, Dec. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — During the final quarter of the year, India witnessed an increase in interest from both domestic and international travelers looking to explore popular spiritual destinations. This is according to recent accommodation search data from digital travel platform Agoda. 

For check-ins between October and December, searches for spiritual hubs across the country have increased, reflecting the growing allure of India’s cultural and religious landmarks. Compared to the same period in 2023, Agoda reports a 4% increase in inbound searches and a 10% rise in domestic searches for these destinations. 

Agoda’s data reveals that Bangalore, the garden city with a spiritual heart, Hyderabad, the city of pearls and spiritual heritage, and Chennai, the cultural and spiritual hub of South India, have emerged as popular domestic destinations for spiritual travel during the festive season. These southern cities, known for their distinctive blend of spiritual tranquility and cultural richness, form a spiritual cluster.

For inbound travelers, Kochi and Varanasi are among the most popular spiritual destinations. Both destinations attract international spiritual travelers because of their deep-rooted cultural, historical, and religious significance. Travelers from the USA, Singapore, Japan, and Australia are contributing to the rise in inbound interest, drawn to India’s unique fusion of spirituality and culture during the festive period. 

Krishna Rathi, Senior Country Director, India Subcontinent and MEA at Agoda, commented on the growing trend, saying, “As the year draws to a close, the festive season offers the perfect opportunity for travellers to connect with India’s rich spiritual and cultural traditions. The rising interest in spiritual destinations throughout India reflects travellers’ evolving preferences for more enriching and culturally immersive experiences.” 

Agoda offers travelers in India access to a wide range of holiday properties, flight routes, and activities, all of which can be seamlessly booked together. Travelers looking to explore top spiritual destinations, among others, can visit the Agoda website for more information and booking options. 

About the Data

Rankings and search insights are based on Agoda accommodation searches, made on the digital travel platform in September 2023 and September 2024, for check-ins between October and December in the respective years.

About Agoda

Agoda, a digital travel platform, helps anyone see the world for less with its great value deals on a global network of 4.5M hotels and holiday properties worldwide, plus flights, activities, and more. Agoda.com and the Agoda mobile app are available in 39 languages and supported by 24/7 customer support.

Headquartered in Singapore, Agoda is part of Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) and employs more than 7,000 staff in 25 markets, dedicated to leveraging best-in-class technology to make travel even easier.

 

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Johns Hopkins University Athletics Partners with Prospect HQ to Expand Career Opportunities for Student-Athletes

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Partnership connects Johns Hopkins student-athletes and alumni to a growing national talent network and employers seeking the attributes and skills developed through sport

BALTIMORE, Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Johns Hopkins University Athletics has partnered with Prospect HQ, the hiring platform connecting current and former student-athletes with employers seeking culturally aligned talent possessing the dynamic attributes developed through sport.

The partnership reflects the philosophical alignment and shared mission of supporting student-athletes on their career journey and life after sport.

“We are excited to provide all current and former Blue Jays with a platform that will challenge them to reflect on their own personal values, strengths and purpose, as well as provide them curated access to professional organizations that have done the same work and are seeking to hire former athletes who have developed the leadership and teamwork skills uniquely formed by sport,” said Jennifer S. Baker, Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Director of Athletics. “This is a natural complement to all the support provided by our Life Design Lab and will further help our scholar-athletes navigate their unique career journeys. In particular, we’re enthusiastic about connecting the outcomes from our LEAD program to meaningful employment post-Hopkins, and to supporting our Blue Jays as they find a professional path that allows them to continue to grow and thrive, as they’ve done during their years at Homewood.”

“Jen Baker and the team at Hopkins are the vanguard in college athletics in terms of their commitment and approach to supporting student-athletes on their path to purpose,” said Cory Carlesimo, CEO of Prospect HQ. “Prospect HQ and Hopkins are committed to helping student-athletes find the right opportunities that allow them to thrive professionally and personally. We are grateful and excited to have such purposeful and dynamic partners.”

Through Prospect HQ, Johns Hopkins student-athletes and athletic alumni will have access to a growing national network that now includes student-athlete membership from more than 700 colleges and universities. Launched in January 2026, Prospect HQ is built on three principles: aligning hires, elevating cultures and transforming lives.

Prospect HQ is an active community of current and former student-athletes networking with one another while connecting with a diverse range of employers seeking this curated talent pool. Companies subscribe to Prospect HQ to access this distinctive roster of talent and identify candidates aligned with their culture and hiring needs.

The platform also delivers open job opportunities aligned with each candidate’s self-described goals, attributes, skills and cultural fit. This process empowers student-athletes to identify opportunities relevant to who they are and where they want to go.

At the center of Prospect HQ is Purposeful Intelligence, which coaches and guides candidates throughout their career journey while helping them reflect on their own unique experiences and attributes. The platform is designed to help student-athletes convey their authentic story in a way that resonates with prospective employers.

Prospect HQ’s recently launched iOS app makes the platform even easier for student-athletes to access, allowing them to engage with the network, manage their profiles, explore opportunities and build connections wherever their journey takes them.

Through the Johns Hopkins partnership, Blue Jay student-athletes and alumni become part of a community that extends beyond a single campus, connecting current and former athletes across institutions, industries and generations.

Prospect HQ is free for student-athletes, athletic alumni and universities.

About Johns Hopkins Athletics
Johns Hopkins boasts one of the most successful athletic programs in the nation. The winner of two Learfield Directors’ Cup titles in the last five years with nine top-five finishes to its credit since 2014, Johns Hopkins has produced more than 300 all-time Academic All-Americans and more than 60 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients. Blue Jay teams have collectively earned 57 national championships, including 10 NCAA titles since 2012, and won more than 300 all-time conference titles. Quite simply, Johns Hopkins offers one of the nation’s premier combinations of academics and athletics.

About Prospect HQ
Prospect HQ is a digital community and hiring platform connecting current and former student-athletes with employers seeking culturally aligned talent possessing the dynamic attributes developed through sport. The platform is built around three principles: aligning hires, elevating cultures and transforming lives. Prospect HQ combines an active athlete network, employer connections, personalized job opportunities and Purposeful Intelligence to help student-athletes navigate their journey from sport to career. The platform is free to student-athletes, athletic alumni and universities and is supported by candidate-seeking employers.

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SOURCE Prospect HQ

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PRA Group Celebrates 30 Years of Business by Ringing Nasdaq Opening Bell

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NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — PRA Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRAA), a global leader in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans, today celebrated its 30th anniversary by ringing the Nasdaq Stock Market Opening Bell in New York City’s Times Square.

PRA Group President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Sjolund rang the bell alongside co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Board Steve Fredrickson, the company’s senior leadership team and employees representing PRA Group’s global workforce.

“Celebrating 30 years of business is especially meaningful because this milestone belongs to the people who have helped make PRA Group what it is today,” said Sjolund. “Our people are the reason we’ve grown from a startup in Virginia into a global company, and they are the reason we’re excited about our next chapter.”

Founded in Norfolk, Va., in 1996, PRA Group has grown into one of the most globally diversified companies in the nonperforming loan industry, with portfolio operations in 18 countries. The company has been publicly traded since 2002 and continues to play an important role in the financial ecosystem by returning capital to banks and other creditors while working directly with customers to help them resolve their debt.

“As proud as we are of our first 30 years, we’re even more excited about what comes next,” Sjolund said. “Together, we’re advancing our new PRA 3.0 strategy introduced earlier this year, which is focused on helping us become a high-performing, technology-enabled global allocator of capital. I am proud of what our team has accomplished, and we look forward to continuing to deliver value to our customers, employees, partners and shareholders.”

About PRA Group
As a global industry leader with more than 30 years of experience, PRA Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRAA) specializes in acquiring and collecting nonperforming loans. PRA Group purchases portfolios from banks and other creditors and, through its subsidiaries, collaborates with customers to help them resolve their debt. Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, PRA Group has operations in the U.S., Europe and other markets. For more information, please visit www.pragroup.com.

Media Contact:
Allison Herman
Manager, Public Relations and Strategic Communication
(757) 381-5205
MediaInquiries@PRAGroup.com

Investor Contact:
Najim Mostamand, CFA
Vice President, Investor Relations
(757) 431-7913
IR@PRAGroup.com

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SOURCE PRA Group, Inc.

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Abbott Risk Consulting Ltd. Joins ISASecure to Strengthen Adoption of ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Standards

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DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The International Society of Automation (ISA) — the leading professional society for automation — announced that Abbott Risk Consulting (ARC) Ltd. has officially joined ISASecure®, the globally recognized certification program that validates conformance to the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards for industrial automation and control systems (IACS) cybersecurity.

ARC offers consultancy services across the UK and Australia including risk management; safety engineering, assurance and verification; independent safety assessment; training; functional safety; cybersecurity; and more. ARC focuses on supporting clients with the design, operation, and decommissioning of facilities, plants, and assets in high-risk industries including oil and gas, nuclear, defense, rail, mining, and clean energy.

This new partnership with ISASecure reflects ARC’s ongoing mission to strengthen their knowledge and assistance in providing additional operational technology (OT) cybersecurity consulting and assessments — including ISASecure’s Security Development Lifecycle Assurance (SDLA), Component Security Assurance (CSA), System Security Assurance (SSA), and Automation Control System Security Assurance (ACSSA) — for their clients.

“It is an honor to welcome ARC Ltd. into the ISASecure program, and we look forward to engaging with them as students in the next IC49 ACSSA for Evaluators training course,” said Mark DeAngelo, ISASecure program manager. “Today’s critical infrastructure demands comprehensive, rigorously validated cybersecurity. We look forward to collaborating with ARC Ltd. as we advance our mission of partnership, certification, and standards-based product development to help achieve a more secure world.”

Tom Abbott, who leads ARC’s Cyber Security team, said: “Control system security standards are a fundamental part of the architecture of resilient systems. By joining ISASecure, we’re fully committed to upholding these standards now and influencing their development in the future.”

About ISASecure®

Founded in 2007 by the International Society of Automation (ISA), ISASecure® is a globally recognized certification program that provides assurance for the cybersecurity of industrial automation control systems (IACS). Through rigorous conformance to the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards, ISASecure certifications validate that products and supplier practices meet internationally recognized benchmarks for OT security. ISASecure is a wholly owned subsidiary of ISA.

ISASecure’s global ecosystem includes leaders such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, GSK, Saudi Aramco, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Schneider Electric, Trane Technologies, and Yokogawa, among others.

For more information, visit isasecure.org.

About Abbott Risk Consulting Ltd.

Abbott Risk Consulting (ARC) is a dynamic safety engineering consultancy with a world-wide reputation for delivering quality solutions to their clients. It is an independent, employee-owned company. ARC is consistently recognized as one of the best places to work in the UK by the Sunday Times and in Australia, by The Australian.

From offices throughout the UK and Australia, with headquarters in Edinburgh, ARC supports clients and projects globally. ARC’s flexible and innovative approach allows the company to deliver the highest quality services to major international corporations, government bodies, and small- to medium-sized enterprises alike.

Their specialties include safety engineering and risk management, hazard and operability studies (HAZOP), quantitative risk assessments (QRA), safety case, CFD, fire and explosion analysis, facilitation, safety integrity level (SIL) assessments, hazard identification (HAZID), management consultancy, clean energy, sustainability, green hydrogen, renewables, human factors, change management, defense, nuclear, transportation, and hydrogen.

About ISA

The International Society of Automation (ISA) is a nonprofit professional association founded in 1945 to create a better world through automation. ISA’s mission is to empower the global automation community through standards and knowledge sharing. ISA develops widely used global standards and conformity assessment programs, certifies professionals, provides education and training, publishes books and technical articles, hosts conferences and exhibits, and provides networking and career development programs for its members and customers around the world. Learn more at www.isa.org.

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SOURCE The International Society of Automation

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