HCL Digital Concerts - India’s 1st Talent Identification and Nurturing Platform for Indian Classical Performing Arts Unveiled

HCL Concerts, an initiative dedicated to promoting Indian classical performing arts, today unveiled HCL Digital Concerts. A first-of-a-kind initiative, HCL Digital Concerts is aimed at identifying, nurturing and supporting the next generation of talent in the Indian classical performing arts space. It will provide a platform to young and aspiring artists to showcase their talent to the world through a digital medium. HCL will also support the artists in their journey to emerge as the next generation of performers as well as build their web presence.

The selection process for HCL Digital Concerts comprises:

• Inviting entries – artists from all sub-genres including vocals, instrumental and dance across classical, semi-classical, fusion, Sufi-fusion and classical-fusion from across the country are invited to submit their entries at - https://www.hclconcerts.com/digitalconcertsapplication/
  
  
  
  • There is no application fee
  
  
  
  


• Identifying talented performers - 36 artists will be identified by specialized agencies from the overall entry pool, over 12-months.
  
  
  
  • These artists will perform at 12 HCL Digital Concerts (over 12 months) – with three artists or bands per Concert.
  
  
  
  


• Performing with the legends – HCL Digital Concerts will further shortlist the 36 artists to identify Nine top performers who will get an opportunity to share the stage with established legends.
  
  
  
  • Maestros of Indian Classical performing arts - Amaan Ali Bangash, Ayaan Ali Bangash, Anil Srinivasan and Purbayan Chatterjee are part of the jury that will identify these nine performers
  
  
  
  

Sitar Maestro, Purbayan Chatterjee said, “India has had a long-standing ‘guru-shishya’ parampara that has ensured that senior artists mentor young talent to nurture and sustain the classical arts from generation to generation. I have had the good fortune to do this in my personal capacity, but the opportunity to do this with an entirely new generation of upcoming talent under the aegis of HCL Digital Concerts takes this to an altogether higher level. A platform like HCL Digital Concerts will give emerging artists an opportunity with truly global scale and reach, that was not possible earlier.”

Sundar Mahalingam, Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Corporation said “HCL Digital Concerts is a first-of-a-kind talent identification and nurturing platform that will help connect the younger artists with the connoisseurs of Indian Classical performing arts. I am hopeful that over the next 12 months, we will be able to identify hidden gems and nurture them to eventually emerge as torchbearers of India’s glorious legacy of classical arts.”

HCL Digital Concerts initiative is also creating a program to help these talented artists maximize their potential. This will include building compelling artists’ portfolios, giving them sustained exposure on the HCL Concerts web platforms and helping them connect with other platforms and agencies. HCL Digital Concerts will also train them to leverage the power of social media to engage with and increase their followers.

About HCL Concerts

The conservation and promotion of India’s art and cultural heritage is very close to HCL’s heart. To this end, HCL has been organizing HCL Concerts for 21 years, dedicated to nurturing and promoting talent rooted in the glorious heritage of Indian classical performing arts. Concerts under the umbrella of HCL Concerts are organized at Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Nagpur, Madurai, and Chennai in India and at New York and San Francisco in the US regularly throughout the year. Over 600 artists have graced this platform and have contributed towards reinvigorating the Indian classical performing arts.

Over the years, more platforms have been developed to contribute to the growth of the Indian performing arts ecosystem. Most notable of these are the HCL music App, allowing music lovers across the world a chance to enjoy the most comprehensive collection of classical music from the comforts of their home for free, and HCL Digital Concerts, a talent identification and nurturing program aimed at showcasing the talented and upcoming classical performing artists to a global audience through a digital medium.

~ BusinessWire India

Delhi, NCR, Bengaluru Beat Global Bigwigs Now Rank in Top 10 Startup Cities Globally

HexGn released a study of the funding trends in the global Startup ecosystem in 2019; the team analyzed over 60,000 deals and one million data points for the report. Globally, the total funding for technology Startups this year dipped by 22 percent to $293 billion from $375 billion in 2018, with a 27 percent drop in deals.

India Grows while Global & Asian Funding Declines

 

 

Asia is bearing the brunt of global slowdown with Startup funding in Asia, dropping by a whopping 56% from $158 billion to $83 billion. Despite the turmoil, Investments in Indian Startups grew by 18% to $14 billion in 2019, defying the global Startup funding downturn. India has performed better both in the number of deals as well as funding in value terms. While the number of Startup deals in India fell by only 15% (down 27% globally and in Asia), Startup funding in value terms rose by 18% (down 22% globally and down 56% in Asia).

Delhi NCR & Bengaluru among “Global Top 10 Cities for Startup Funding” for 2020

Cities have always been central to the Startup ecosystem because of entrepreneurial culture, acceptance of failures, easy access to investors and people. It takes time and an amalgamation of enterprising people, tech-savviness, an investor with risk appetite, and in some cases government encouragement for such centers to emerge, India is doing well on this front too, for the first time, we have two Indian cities, New Delhi and Bengaluru, debuting in the HexGn “Global Top 10 cities for Startup funding”. This is no small feat, considering that quite a few global heavyweights didn’t make it, including Hong Kong, Berlin, Boston, Paris, and Shenzhen.

India also joins a select group of only three countries, with more than one city in the top ten along with the US and China. Bengaluru moved up one rank from 11th in 2018 to 10th in 2019. However, the biggest surprise has been New Delhi, which leapfrogged Bengaluru, to debut for the first time in the top 10 at the 6th place. The emergence of New Delhi as the new Startup capital of India has been steered by the likes of Paytm, Oyo, and Zomato, among others. New Delhi attracted $7.4 billion in Startup funding compared to $4.4 billion attracted by Bengaluru.

Indian Startups Attract Funding Across Sectors

While E-commerce has customarily been the sector to attract the most funding in India, this year, too, it has continued its strong march, attracting $2.2 billion in funding. Transportation and Logistics Startups, riding on the success of bike-sharing, mobility, and freight aggregators, have gathered pace in 2019, attracting funding of over $2.4 billion.

However, Fintech remained the leader garnering over $4.1 billion in funding, given the huge potential of the Sector and thrust towards transparency and digital payments from the Government of India.

The Indian Government’s push for digital payments and globally acknowledged initiatives like the UPI is probably the most significant game-changer in Fintech and a model system for other countries to follow. Many Global players, including Google, have been urging their home countries to adopt a system similar to the UPI payment system.

As per HexGn, this was one of the most significant initiatives launched by any government across the globe in digital payments. With new initiatives, like FASTag for digital highway toll collection, Emergence of UPI payment system, and a continued increase in Digital transactions, it means that Fintech will remain the Sector that will see the considerable interest in 2020 as well.

Although all seems spot-on, Indian Startups in emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and Cybersecurity attracted minuscule investments both at the seed and Series A stage in 2019.

Top Ten Startup Cities for 2020

In the 2019 annual Startup report, HexGn announced the Top Ten Startup Cities for 2020. In the order of global ranking, they are, San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Beijing, London, Shanghai, Delhi NCR, Singapore, Los Angeles County, Hangzhou, and Bengaluru. These top ten cities from five countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, India, and Singapore, account for 58 percent of global funding, signifying its standing.

About HexGn

HexGn, through its global research, industry events, and online programs, equips individuals and businesses to tap into new opportunities, Start new ventures and Future Proof themselves.

~ Newsvoir

Local Kirana Stores Get their Own E-store - NeoMart

A brand-new digital platform is a buzz with overwhelming response from street vendors and local small shopkeepers. Now merchants in mohallas and colonies can get their own e-store on mobile phone screen. Even a kiosk vendor can avail all benefits to stay connected with existing customers and add new new clientele without burning a hole in his pocket.

NeoMart, is an e-retail platform that allows local vendors and retailers an opportunity to digitize their business hassle-free. India with a retail market of over 700 Billion dollars comprising food, grocery, clothing etc, has only 10% of the market being modern trade while the rest 90% of traders are usually small retailers and vendors who cannot afford or do not have the technical know-how to have e-platforms.

Developed by Gurugram based Phantom Codes and launched in November 2017, NeoMart is one stop shop for the entire trade market that helps them achieve sales even during least footfall of consumers. NeoMart lets local vendors and retailers connect with their consumers digitally allowing them to choose their own geographical and product parameters. NeoMart is founded by Mr. Ashwini Kharbanda, is an alumnus of Delhi University, Western International University, and IIM Kozhikode and worked as one of the top brass in these 20 years for top retailers like Bharti Wal-Mart, OMG India, Villa Market Thailand, The Corner’s Bookstore company to name a few.

[caption id="attachment_140375" align="alignleft" width="300"] Mr. Ashwini Kharbanda, Founder, NeoMart[/caption]

Mr. Ashwini Kharbanda, Founder, NeoMart said, "Odd and long working hours and then waiting in long queues to buy daily supplies can be further tiring and inconvenient for the people making them vary of visiting local kirana stores. At the same time, a small shop in a lane or mohalla can define its catchment area and scale up the business by increasing the delivery radius of its services and does not have to be satisfied with the limited number of customers. The application helps vendors and retailers to display the availability of the products, their selling price and generates e-bill without any POS or software. Cashback schemes and other incentive programs are regularly updated for vendors making it lucrative and attractive for them. Consumers can connect with the local retailers via NeoMart where they can order groceries, stationary, medicines etc. NeoMart only charges a minimum affordable subscription that comes in quarterly/half yearly/yearly plans with price bands of 897/1794/3574 respectively."

"Technology usually frightens people but this application allows consumers connect with their known vendors via digital medium with complete verification. Initially we started from Gurugram region and soon will be entering Delhi followed by other cities becoming a pan India player," further added Mr. Kharbanda.

~ Newsvoir

FNP Gardens - a Unit of Ferns N Petals - Launches Its Wedding App With Unique Features

FNP Gardens (A unit of Ferns N Petals) has launched an app with several user-friendly & unique features to help users plan their wedding. It gives its users a 360-degree experience right from the selection of the venue, taking inspiration from the latest trends to sharing the invitations digitally to their guest through this app itself.

This app has been designed in sync with the requirements of planning an Indian Wedding where there are generally two generations of decision-makers. Elder generation user can easily navigate & choose the venue as per their requirements from the best in the town & for others it has some unique features as one can simply choose to see the list of venues which further details into the specifics, photos as well as client reviews, else somebody can just simply dive in some inspirations, for their dream day, they have Inspiration Gallery and curated blogs at disposal. And to add to this one can simply bookmark the pictures that will be added to their favorites to be revisited later.

Talking about the features, this app has My Wedding which is a feature that allows the users to set up their wedding with venue, date & time-wise details of their wedding functions which can be shared through the app itself with their friends and families using a secured code. There is also a provision to create a checklist for the tasks for a smooth wedding planning process.

One of the biggest challenges that this app solves is catering which is available as Menu in an app. This is a feature which is very unique & has been well researched before launching in this app. With this users can choose menu items & curate their Menu as per your requirement & budget that too at an ease of a click. This curated menu can also be shared with your friends & family for their views. This app also enables a user to contact other vendors like Photographer, Makeup Artist, etc.

FNP Gardens app is designed in such a way that it functions not only as of the user’s companion throughout the wedding planning process but it will also be at service after the event wherein users can upload the pictures at My wedding section which again can be shared securely with their friends and family that can be accessed and liked on the go.

To download this awesome app click: http://onelink.to/fnpgardens

This app is our effort in this digital era to give our clients complete ease of booking & executing their weddings at the movement of their thumb. As our Founder & MD - Mr. Vikaas Gutgutia says- “The whole idea behind this app to make wedding planning a piece of cake.”
About FNP Gardens

FNP Gardens is a unit of Ferns N Petals that have 10 weddings venues in South Delhi, NH-8 and Gurgaon. This vertical was started by Mr. Vikaas Gutgutia in 2007 with its flagship venue, The Kundan at NH-8. The brand has now 10 venues to serve every kind of social and corporate gatherings. They believe in making timeless memories for your special occasions. Their premium venues in Delhi NCR offer perfect settings for the weddings that you have always dreamt of. The quintessential spaces offered by them have been trusted by almost 3000 couples for their most special day. They also offer Designer Weddings where they tie up with critically acclaimed national and international designers to keep abreast of the latest trends in wedding designs. We have a selection of designers for an impeccable occasion. All venues are duly approved by state Government and MCD to legally host any kind of social, cultural and corporate events.

~ BusinessWire India

Fintech Startup Sqrrl is on ‘Mission 200’ for the Betterment ofUnderprivileged Children

 

Sqrrl, a savings and investment startup, has partnered with GiveIndia, India’s largest online donation platform, to help 200 underprivileged children get access to education and mid-day meals across 19 states in India. Named ‘Mission 200’, this campaign allows Sqrrl users to contribute to the welfare of these children, simply by transacting on the app. Each time you use the Sqrrl app, the Sqrrl team will sponsor the education and mid-day meals of 1 child. 

The Founder of Sqrrl, Samant Sikka, says “As we turn the year and look forward to the new year with hopes and aspirations, we thought it best to use this opportunity and share our abundance with people who need them. We invite you to join this Mission 200 and take a small step to spread Big Smiles”.



The team at Sqrrl also says that sharing and caring is in the fabric of the app itself. It is India’s 1st personal finance app where users can invest their money directly into tax-saver donation funds, powered by GiveIndia. 

Co-founded by Samant Sikka, Sanjeev Sharma, and Dhananjay Singh, the Sqrrl app was launched in the year 2017 and has more than 3,50,000 users across India. The app is available in 9 local languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada and Malayalam. It has a unique feature, Sqrrl Away, to round up a user’s spends to the nearest Rs. 100 or Rs. 500. This feature is designed to especially make saving money easier for the youngsters. 


About Sqrrl

Launched in March 2017, Sqrrl is an investment and wealth management platform aimed at helping young Indians develop the habit of savings and investments. 

This app has taken on the challenge of making savings truly micro by automating and simplifying the process of investing in mutual funds. The users can do goal-based investments in mutual funds. Users can save for specific purposes such as tax savings.  The intelligent algorithms allow uses to create an investment portfolio customised for their risk appetite. Users can also start SIPs or make lumpsum investments. 

At present, the Sqrrl app has more than 350,000 downloads across Android and iOS platforms. Over 76% of Sqrrl users are under the age of 35, and 51% of its user base are beyond the top 30 cities.

CES 2020 - India Tech Park to Promote Indian Startups Globally

Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist, Asha Jadeja Motwani has announced the launch of India Tech Park at CES 2020, the largest and most influential technology event worldwide, which is going to be held in Las Vegas from January 7-10, 2020.

India Tech Park is a platform for Indian startups working towards a sustainable future utilizing technological innovation and creating products that tackle pressing global problems.

The purpose of the first ever India Tech Park is to showcase India’s blooming consumer electronic systems startups globally and provide them exposure to the international startup ecosystem. The startups chosen are driven by responsible young entrepreneurs with sensitivity to climate, water, and sustainable food practices.

Sharing her vision about the India Tech Park, Asha Jadeja Motwani, Founder of

[caption id="attachment_140325" align="alignright" width="300"] Asha Jadeja Motwani, Founder of Motwani Jadeja Foundation[/caption]

Motwani Jadeja Foundation, said, "The startup ecosystem in India is still evolving. The promise shown by Indian startups is incredible. Buoyed by bold, fresh economic policies and reduced red tape, Indian startups can truly lead the world and can contribute to the goal of a $5 Trillion economy by 2025 and even overshoot it to reach a $10 Trillion economy if nurtured and supported well.

The government has taken a lot of initiatives to provide a push to the startup culture in the country but the international exposure to the enterprising startups is still relatively low. Indian policy makers need to be part of the macroeconomic world and talk in global terms to compete in the world economy."

At the time, when connectivity and reach are no longer problems, the government must take a stride forward and push the startups to get the global exposure which would benefit the country as a whole and India Tech park is igniting the spark. She further added.

Few of the startups promoted by India Tech Park in CES 2020 are - Calamus, Hyper Lychee, Wagr, Altifarm, Strom Motors and Stempedia.

About Asha Jadeja Motwani

Asha Jadeja Motwani is a Silicon Valley based Venture Capitalist, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and Change agent for “exponential change” in the world. She is an influencer with a humanitarian vision to uplift the downtrodden masses and tackle global power inequalities.

As a Venture Capitalist, she has invested in over 100 startups, some of which have gone on to become public companies including Kaltix (now Google), Jareva (now Veritas) and Mimosa Systems. She has been a speaker at TiE Global Summit, Stanford University, Ink Talks, World Economic Forums to name a few.

About Motwani Jadeja Foundation (MJF)

Motwani Jadeja Foundation (MJF) is a non-profit organization which has created a network of entrepreneurs in South Asia trained to think and drive exponential change. The areas of work include disruptive entrepreneurship, poverty alleviation, gender parity, and sustainable development. Motwani Jadeja Foundation supports a global network of entrepreneurial thinkers, artists, writers and tech innovators driven by the values of individual freedom and excellence. Most of the projects are designed from the ground up to become self-sustaining social movements fuelled by local communities.

MJF’s main initiatives are education, the maker movement, and women’s rights. Based out of the Bay Area, NYC, and India, the foundation has a strong global footprint across various tech sectors and academia.

~ Newsvoir

Softbank, Sequoia, Tiger Global Highest VC Newsmakers of 2019 -Wizikey Report

• Softbank investments in the topmost unicorns in India was the highlight of 2019


• Sequoia and Tiger Global were true angels of the early stage startups this year 


• Tencent and Accel also made their mark in the list

Venture Capital is an important cog of the startup ecosystem in India. Wizikey, Asia’s first PR and communication platform has collated interesting trends across industries using its AI and ML-based Technology and created a report on the top newsmakers of 2019 in the VC ecosystem. The report has been created after a thorough study of all the news published in the sector from 1st of January till date. 

The most common theme for all big VC players was either about their funding announcements or the exits they made. Overall, it was a good year with lots of investments taking place regardless of the economic slowdown.

The top 5 Newsmakers in the category were:

 

 Anshul Sushil, Co-Founder and CEO of Wizikey said, “Venture Capital firms have evolved in stature in the last few years. People just don’t look at them for just capital requirement but for guidance at each and every aspect of the business. Hence it becomes interesting to see what is perceived image of these firms in media."

SoftBank, the Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company is one of if not the biggest venture capitals operating today. With its fingers in almost all kinds of pies, the Japanese giant has been in the news on its own merit and for being mentioned alongside its star portfolio companies like Oyo Rooms, WeWork, Paytm and Ola. Being an industry leader in its field, the media follows SoftBank’s steps with keen interest, which means almost every investment or activity it carries out is covered extensively.

Sequoia, a leading California based venture capital firm had substantial visibility in 2019. In terms of investments, Sequoia had an active year which kept the venture firm in the news constantly throughout the year. Articles pertaining to the star investees of the firm like Oyo, Cred, Freshworks, and Druva ensured Sequoia had enough mentions throughout the year.

Additionally, a shift in the top leadership of the firm coupled with the launch of its Surge program ensured the firm was never out of the media’s spotlight.

Tiger Global is one of the biggest names in the investment community till date. The firm has a rich history of investing in some of the biggest unicorns and up and coming startups across the globe. Thus, it is no surprise that it is in the top 5 Newsmakers in the investment sphere. With investee companies like Ola Electric, CleverTap, and NoBroker, Tiger Global has had a healthy amount of visibility across 2019.

The Chinese mega-conglomerate, Tencent is probably most widely known for its games, PUBG being the most prominent of those lately. What people not keenly following the Venture

Capital space doesn’t know is that it also operates one of the world’s largest venture capitals. So much so that Tencent has invested in more Unicorns than even SoftBank. It is also a prominent player in the Indian investment space with portfolio companies like Ola and Udaan. While Tencent may not be as visible as SoftBank or Sequoia, it is still one of the biggest players and Newsmakers in the industry.

Accel, a US-based venture capital firm has had a very active year in terms of investments having participated in funding rounds for the likes of Acko, Blackbuck, Ninjacart to name a few. The firm works closely with early-stage startups and has had a considerable amount of visibility, enough to help the firm differentiate itself from the clutter and be included in the top five Newsmakers in the investment space. This was made possible through Accel’s frequent funding announcements across 2019.

About Wizikey:

Wizikey is a PR Software-as-a-Service that uses data and AI to simplify PR, making it transparent and measurable for Fortune 500 companies and startups alike. It enables users with features like realtime media intelligence, helping delivering stories to the right journalist while saving spam, hours of scrutiny and giving brands the voice they need.

Wizikey’s co-founders Anshul and Aakriti have spent over a decade in the communications industry, identifying key problems as they served 300+ businesses. These first principles form the foundation of Wizikey - to make the communications industry efficient, transparent and measurable through the power of data and AI tech. With investors like Ajai Chowdhry (Co-founder, HCL), Alok Mittal (Co-founder and CEO, Indifi), Ambarish Raghuvanshi (ex-CFO, Info Edge), Keshav R Murugesh (CEO, WNS), Raman Roy (Chairman, NASSCOM and Chairman, Quattro), Sanjiv Bajaj (CEO, Bajaj Finserv) and the Indian Angel Fund among others, we strive each day to make PR accessible and simple - for everyone.

World Trade Center Chandigarh to become Nodal Point for Trade Business Services

• WTC Chandigarh will give fillip to the business competitiveness in the region.


• WTCA agricultural committee in association with Argo Industry bodies intends to setup a value based agro market in Tri-city

World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) plans to establish World Trade Center (WTC) Chandigarh as a nodal point for Trade and business services. Though WTC Chandigarh PH-1 would become operational by 2021 but through its Accelerator Centre, ‘V@C’, it has already incubated more than 300+ startups with a success rate of 86%, facilitating trade and business services in the region.

[caption id="attachment_140316" align="alignleft" width="215"] Mr. Scott Wang, Vice President, Asia Pacific World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)[/caption]

Mr. Scott Wang, Vice President, Asia Pacific, World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), “WTC Chandigarh is set to become a nodal point for trade and business services. Chandigarh holds great potential and offers the right mix for investment and business opportunities. The presence of a World Trade Center will give a fillip to the business competitiveness in the region eventually attracting foreign business and multinational companies."

He further added, “India is one of the fastest-growing markets for World Trade Centers Association; WTCA is looking forward to strengthening its base in Asia - Pacific with a key focus on northern India. We are also planning to invest a significant amount of efforts and money to establish more WTCs in the region and adjoining agricultural hubs which will collaborate with WTC Chandigarh in taking this initiative forward. We look forward to announce two locations by 2020."

Col. Arun Kotwal, Head, WTC Chandigarh said, “The construction of the physical facility at WTC Chandigarh is in full swing and would be completed within the stipulated timeline. We are hopeful to welcome business delegations in WTC Chandigarh by 2021."

WTC Chandigarh is set to catalyse the Indian farming market which is expected to double-up by 2024. WTCA agricultural committee in association with agro industry bodies intends to setup a value based agro market in Tricity.

Agriculture contributes more than 17% of India’s GDP. Punjab has evolved as a start-up hub for food and agriculture. Owing to its strategic location and proximity to Punjab, WTC Chandigarh is leveraging government platforms like Paramparagat Krishi Vikas, Yojana, Pradhanmantri Gram Sinchai Yojana, Adarsh Gram Yojana to drive future growth in the sector.

As a nearest commercial complex located in the vicinity of city Airport, WTC Chandigarh is a future-ready infrastructure designed in an energy-efficient manner, resulting in higher financial benefits to the owners. The global network of World Trade Center makes it a preferred destination for Fortune 500 companies as a place to work and conduct trade shows, meets, international conferences and endless seminars.

Chandigarh is the first planned city in the country and still maintains its status as one of the best managed cities in the country. The excellent social infrastructure, larger green spaces and its compact size makes Chandigarh an ideal work destination.

About WTC Chandigarh

World Trade Center, Chandigarh is the first institution in the Tri-city (Chandigarh Mohali Panchkula) that brings with the 75 year legacy of the World Trade Center Association and a powerful medium for enterprises to give maximum exposure to their business, taking it to a new level of competitiveness. World Trade Center, Chandigarh offers the physical and virtual infrastructure that businesses need to connect global corporations and access the best opportunities in business.

Sridhar Pinnapureddy (Founder of CtrlS) is New President of TiEHyderabad

Global entrepreneurial network The IndUS Entrepreneurs (TiE) Hyderabad Chapter has announced Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Founder and CMD of CtrlS Datacenters as its new President. Sridhar takes charge from Suresh Reddy, CMD Brightcom Group as the TiE Hyderabad President effective January 1, 2020.

Initiatives of TiE Hyderabad’s benefit a community of 600 startups and 6000+ students. Around 150 charter members are Hyderabad based and volunteer for mentoring, education, providing customer and investor connect access to numerous entrepreneurs and professionals through the global network. The organization conducts 130+ of events & activities under 20+ themes each year.

[caption id="attachment_140311" align="alignleft" width="350"] Sridhar Pinnapureddy[/caption]

Welcoming Sridhar Reddy as the new President of TiE Hyderabad, Suresh Reddy, said, “Being a first-generation entrepreneur Sridhar built great brands of repute from this city and successful business models of global scale in the last 2 decades. TiE Hyderabad Community will benefit immensely from his leadership to leap into the next level of success.”

Setting the agenda for in 2020, TiE Hyderabad new President Sridhar Reddy stated “Next couple of years are going to be the inflection point for our startup community. Telangana State is rightly poised to see significant progress in establishing itself in the big league. TiE is anticipating marquee brands emerging out of Hyderabad, and global customers, VCs investors, networking platforms & bigger forums will come here looking for them.”

Commenting on how startups in India have evolved in the past few years Sridhar said, “The recent initiatives taken by the Government of India and other states are gaining traction to support an active entrepreneurial eco-system in the country. In Telangana, Government is surging ahead in providing a favorable climate through policy push and building large facilities to foster innovation. Organizations like TiE can play a major role in providing the most important direction and the right exposure for the startup innovators through timely mentoring and right global connects to scale their enterprises.”

Sridhar Reddy founded CtrlS, operates Asia Pacific’s Largest Tier-4 Datacenters, while Cloud4C provides cloud managed services with presence in 20 countries spread across the Americas, Europe, Africa, APAC with plans to double its footprint in coming years. The group spearheaded over 200 innovations including most energy-efficient Tier-4 DCs, DR as a service, 4Copy Cloud, Banking Community Cloud (Bank in a Box), ERP as a service among others. Sridhar is also the Founder and Chairman of Pioneer Group of companies that have interests in the Internet, IT services and IT Infrastructure Solutions.

The new board constitutes:

• Sridhar Pinnapureddy, Chairman, MD, CtrlS as The President of TiE Hyderabad.


• Manohar Reddy, Founder & CEO, Feuji Inc. as Vice President.


• Suresh Reddy, CMD, Brightcom Group Limited as Past President.


• Ashok Reddy, Founder, GrabOn.com


• Murali Kakarla, CEO, Innobox Systems


• Narasimhan Venkatesh, Sr. VP, Advanced Technologies, Redpine Signals Inc,


• Rajesh Pagadala, Managing Director Pagadala Constructions


• Rashida Adenwala, Founder Partner at R & A Associates


• Srini Chandupatla, Co-Founder Manjeera Digital Systems


• Srikanth Tirumala, Founder, and CEO, Hooper Labs


• Srinivasu Satti, Founder and MD, Finvista Advisors


• Subba Raju Pericherla, Co-Founder and CSO CrossBorders and RealShoppee.


• Viiveck Verma, Chief Strategy Officer at Srinivasa Farms

Welcoming the new board of Directors, Phani Pattamatta Executive Director, TiE Hyderabad reaffirmed “TiE Hyderabad continue to provide access to over 15000+ Global network of entrepreneurs in 63 chapters across 14 countries, through this organization founded in Silicon Valley in 1992. In Hyderabad around 150+ Charter Members volunteer 2400+ hours of their time annually for mentoring, education, providing customer & investor connects to nurture next-gen and generate new entrepreneurs.

About TiE Hyderabad: TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Hyderabad Chapter is a go-to network of 150+ successful Charter Members and a vibrant and most recognized chapter worldwide, each year TiE Hyderabad impacts over 600 startups and 6000+ students, conducts 130+ of events & activities under 20+ themes viz. TiE Grad, TiE Young Entrepreneurs, TYE Summer, Open Mic, Mentor Advisor, Deeptech SIG, Investor Connect, Knowledge Series, Leadership Series & My Story to encourage, nurture next-generation entrepreneurs. TiE organization comprises successful entrepreneurs & accomplished professionals, volunteering to support startups, with an aim of fostering entrepreneurship across industries, at every stage of the entrepreneurial life cycle. Handholding start-ups & enterprises to the next level of growth through mentoring, education, funding & connecting customers & Student initiatives in a big way.

India Now has Its Own Blockchain Platform 'VAJRA' for Automated Payment, Clearing & Settlement

 

Reserve Bank of India promoted National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has recently announced its permissioned blockchain-based platform, Vajra, to make the payment process easier, faster and more transparent.

Vajra is a permissioned blockchain platform which means its an closed-ecosystem platform or say "an invite-only" members club. Such permissioned blockchain network is not accessible to any random participants. Only a registered party under the network administrator can be part of the blockchain network. There will be three types of nodes on the platform.

The team at NPCI researched 'Distributed Ledger Technology' (DLT), a new technology that promises to provide highly secure and tamper-evident transactions stored in a distributed and immutable database which is also versatile enough to be adapted to various case.

The Vajra framework aims to derive advantage from the Blockchain framework to achieve the following goals -

1. Zero/Minimal - Vajra framework will reduce manual processing, FTE for reconciliation.


2. Dispute Redcution - Vajra framework provides faster resolution of disputes.


3. Increased Security - Vajra framework implements cryptography, which will increase the security of payment transactions.

Vajra platform uses the notifications or otherwise can be called the distributed ledger transaction (DLT) message for handling the communication between the nodes.

The current clearing and settlement lifecycle was assessed by NPCI, post which it defined a DLT based processing that focuses on automation of clearing and reconciliation process at NPCI and its partner banks/ASPs.

How Clearing & Settlement works on the DLT platform

Use of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Vajra platform, says NPCI, detect frauds using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) as well to connect to external Fleet Risk Management System (FRM) systems. These are external API’s which are going to execute against ledger data.

Other Important Features

• Permissioned Vajra network will use cryptography security for protection of data.


• Transactions to be encrypted by digital signatures (public and private keys) to prevent unauthorized parties from reading or corrupting transaction data.


• Communication between Vajra and external users to be encrypted to make Vajra data unintelligible to the latter.


• Use of off-chain DB for storing confidential data and storing only the hash pointers to those data on the DLT ledger will ensure data privacy

To recall, in March this year IBM launched IBM World Wire, a blockchain based real-time global payments network for regulated financial institutions.

Last year in October, India's ICICI Bank became only bank from India to have joined JP Morgan's proprietary blockchain platform called Interbank Information Network (IIN), which is built using Quorum, a permissioned (closed ecosystem) variant of the Ethereum blockchain.

The National CSR Award Winning Program of Spark Minda Enabled 1000 Persons with Disability

• 1335 assistive aid provided to Persons with Disability in 7-day camp organised at Chambali Phata, Pune


• 118 employment and 162 UDID registration facilitated during 20th to 26th Dec 2019.

Spark Minda with their special program "Saksham - Empowerment of Persons with Disability Camp" under the CSR arm of the Group - Spark Minda Foundation, has organized a 7 day Empowerment of  Persons with Disability Camp at Chimbali Phata, Pune from 20th - 26th December, 2019.  The Group is striving to bring change, however big or small, in the lives of 1000 persons with disabilities this year.

In past five years, the Group has enabled changes to more than 8000 lives of persons with disabilities. This year, the scope of the program has been expanded and the foundation has tied up with CII (Confederation of Indian Industries) and a job fair was organized to facilitate the employment of persons with different types of disabilities in empaneled companies of CII such as Minda Corporation, Aegis Global, Godrej Agrovet, Sodexo, Sarovar Hotel and Accor Group. Employment of 118 Persons with disabilities was facilitated during the camp. Collaboration has been established with respective Sector Council for Persons with Disability, Government of India for the camp, who facilitated the skill linkages to the aspiring youth. Unique Disability Identification (UDID) desk was also created during the Camp, where 162 registrations were done.

Overwhelming footfall of the Persons with Disabilities from different parts of Maharashtra in the National CSR Award Winning Program of Spark Minda

One of the main purposes of the camp is to provide assistive devices to persons with locomotive disability by providing end-to-end support in Limb fitment, Calliper fitment, providing Walkers, Elbow Crutches etc. all in same day. Skilling and employment support and facilitation is also planned for persons with other types of disabilities. These all services were offered free of cost to the beneficiaries.

Passionate CSR Team of Spark Minda enhancing sustainability of persons with disabilities

‘Saksham’ - A CSR program started in year 2015 by Spark Minda Group to help Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) has also won National CSR Award 2019 conferred by Honourable Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman in the presence of the President of India. Under Saksham, the Group aims to provide accessible and assistive technology, impart skill training through OJT (On the job training), create inclusive workplace and ergonomics, train them for 5s and life skills, employ PWDs (Persons with Disability). During the camp, more than 118 persons with disability were also provided employment linkage and more than 162 persons were facilitated to obtain UDID Card, which is a unique identification of Person with Disability in India to avail related benefits.

Speaking at the Felicitation Ceremony of Empowerment of Persons with Disability Camp, Mr. Ashok Minda, Group CEO, said, “This is indeed a moment of great pride for Spark Minda Group to reach to the Persons with Disability in the rural bends of Maharashtra. He also thanked more than 30 program partners for supporting the camp selflessly."

Adding to Mr. Minda, Mrs. Sarika Minda, Chairperson, Spark Minda Foundation, said, “Our association with Pune has now been well known and long established. Starting with putting up a production belt in Yerwada Jail and now setting up “Saksham-Divyang Empowerment Center” in Chimbali Phata, we have enabled to provide a sustainable life to community at a whole. Spark Minda Foundation has been enigmatically working to provide better life, means and income support to people who have been left alone in different strides of life. We are proud to say that within a span of 7 days we have been able to reach out to more than 1000 people in and around Pune. Jaipur Foot has been indispensable part of our Empowerment of Persons with disability camp; we believe such associations are made once in lifetime with a common aim for rehabilitation of citizens to the best of their capacities."

Gracing the occasion Chief guest Mr. Pradeep Shrivastava, Executive Director, Bajaj Auto Limited added, “I must compliment the efforts of Spark Minda to make the life sustainable for persons with disability."

Key Highlights about Spark Minda Foundation

The vision of Spark Minda Foundation is to build a sustainable society through improving the quality of life, protecting the planet through affirmative action and establish integrated and inclusive growth of people and environment.

Russia Announce World's 1st Hypersonic Inter-Continental Missile 27x Faster Than Sound

 

Representative Image

Russian military says its new hypersonic intercontinental weapon 'Avangard' has become operational and is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound. According to analysts, Russia is World's first country to put into combat service intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with hypersonic weapons.

Hypersonic speed is one that greatly exceeds the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. Hypersonic weapons are those that can travel more than five times the speed of sound, or around one mile (1.6km) per second.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday had told that the nuclear-capable weapon would be deployed by late 2019. He touted the Avangard’s ability to evade U.S. missile defense systems. Russia showed the missile system to U.S. inspectors last month as part of a bilateral arms control treaty ahead of its deployment.

“This weapon of the future can penetrate both existing and any future missile defense systems,” Putin said at an annual defense meeting Tuesday.

This is what’s called a “boost-glide” system. The vehicle is “boosted” to high altitude and velocity on top of a rocket, where it then separates from the booster and performs a controlled, high-speed, low-altitude “glide” to the target. It’s like riding a roller coaster. pic.twitter.com/McRggdyQXl

— Christopher Combs (@DrChrisCombs) December 27, 2019

Besides being hypersonic, Avangard is a unique weapon because of the fact that it can fly lower in the atmosphere, avoiding ballistic missile defense radars. It is mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile, allowing the warhead to be initially carried toward a target on a traditional piece of technology. But as it gets closer to the target, it is designed to fly at hypersonic speeds in an unpredictable path — making detection, tracking and interception extremely difficult.

According to Moscow officials, the weapon flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound. During the last known tests that took place in December 2018, the Avangard hit a practice target 6,000 kilometers away.

"This is the first intercontinental ballistic missile with the hypersonic glide vehicle in the world," Vasily Kashin, a senior research fellow at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, told AFP.

Russia's hypersonic missile system #Avangard enters combat duty. pic.twitter.com/U5CX3BZY8s

— Saptak Mondal (@saptak__mondal) December 28, 2019

Meanwhile, the New York Times has reported that US Air Force has two hypersonic prototypes in testing and while development is on an accelerated pace, the weapons are not scheduled to be operational until 2022. Other parts of the Pentagon -- the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, have other hypersonic initiatives, but they are many years down the road.

Over 1000 Applications Received for the 1t Cohort of Turbostart by InnovationQore

• Startups from over 25 countries applied


• Women entrepreneurs accounted for over 150 applicants

Bengaluru-based InnovationQore has received an overwhelming response from startups for its Turbostart programme. A total number of 1016 startups applied for funding from Tier I, Tier II and Tier III Indian cities. The majority of applications came from Karnataka followed by Mumbai and New Delhi. Startups from 29 countries across the globe were also part of the those who applied to the programme.

“We are upbeat with the kind of response that we have received from startups both within the country and from abroad. An eminent panel will begin the shortlisting process by mid-December and the winners will be announced by the end of January 2020. The final ten start-ups will be funded up to Rupees Two Crores each. We will also provide these start-ups with assistance in product positioning, entity structuring, brand and digital strategy along with services spanning tax, legal, marketing and sales,” said Ganesh Raju, Founder and CEO, Turbostart.

Startups from healthcare, education, finance, food, agriculture, HR, logistics, travel and hospitality, automotive, beauty cosmetics and wellness, energy, fashion, retail, gaming, sports, construction, telecom and legal applied for the Turbostart programme. Women entrepreneurs accounted for over 150 applicants. A large number of startups pitched ideas in emerging technologies including Electric Vehicles, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Cybersecurity and Drones.

 

UrbanClap, CRED and Dunzo among Top 5 Soonicorns Newsmakers of 2019

• UrbanClap was in the limelight for Investment announcements and expansion to international markets.


• CRED has made huge strides towards becoming a household name.


• BharatPe to secure funding from one of the biggest Venture Capitals in today’s world

Wizikey, Asia’s first PR and communication platform has collated interesting trends across industries using its AI and ML-based Technology and created a report on the top newsmakers of 2019 in the Soonicorns world. The report has been created after a thorough study of all the news published in the sector from 1st of January till date.

The number of India’s potential unicorns—a term to describe startups valued at $1 billion—more than tripled from 15 last year to 52 in 2019, becoming the world’s largest pipeline of unicorns in the making, Nasscom said in its report ‘Indian Tech Start-up Ecosystem – Leading Tech in the 20s’.

The top 12 Soonicorns who were shortlisted on the basis of news they made are as follows: UrbanClap, BharatPe, Vedantu, Pharmeasy, Dunzo, Medlife, OkCredit, Chargebee, Sharechat, Dailyhunt, Rupeek and FreshtoHome. 8 Soonicorns moved up the ladder to become Unicorns and many more are expected to do the same in 2019.

“Indian startups have created a lot of benchmarks this year. Two common themes that defined why these companies were at the top of the category in terms of making news was about their Funding Announcement and Strategic Partnerships,” said Anshul Sushil, Founder and CEO of Wizikey.

Here are the top newsmakers in the Soonicorn category for the year 2019:



UrbanClap has had a good year in the limelight. Investment announcements and expansion to international markets were the major highlights for the year. The new range of offerings

from time to time also made sure that they remain in the media limelight. A careful analysis shows that the business was in the news for more than one reason. The most common news buzzwords for UrbanClap were Tiger Global, Flipkart and Home Services.

Since its conception almost a year back, CRED has made huge strides towards becoming a household name and it seems to be succeeding. In just one year CRED has been able to create

huge waves in the investing space. CRED has received substantial media coverage thanks to its sudden rise to fame with majority of it coming from the funding it received and Kunal Shah’s own funding activities. This soonicorn made news on the buzzwords Credit Reward, Credit Card Payments and Tiger Global.

BharatPe has had a stellar year in the spotlight. Having had a quiet couple of months at the very beginning of the year, BharatPe’s visibility started its upward trend after it entered talks with Sequoia to secure funding from one of the biggest Venture Capitals in today’s world. BharatPe has now become a household name and a force to be reckoned with in the digital payments space. The company has since launched various features and offerings to cement its position as a market leader in this space. The most common buzzwords for BharatPe were Digital Payments, QR Payments and Sequoia.

Dunzo had consistent visibility throughout the year. The highlights of the first half of the year came from the launch of Swiggy stores which sited Dunzo as a major competitor. There was also a fair amount of speculation regarding Dunzo’s plan to raise funds. The latter half saw Dunzo getting higher coverage thanks to their partnership with Google and Airtel acquiring Vahan. Dunzo also announced a fresh round of funding during the latter half of the year. The most common buzzwords for this newsmaker were Google Funding, Home Delivery and B2B Logistics Services. 

Vedantu, a relatively new entrant in a booming ed-tech industry has been able to make a name for itself in the news this year. Vedantu has been in the news consistently this year owing to its various funding announcements and feature releases. The biggest announcement the company made by far was about receiving funding from Tiger Global, a leading venture capital firm. One blip on an otherwise positive year for Vedantu was when they received considerable publicity for a hack of their platform.

About Wizikey:

Wizikey is a PR Software-as-a-Service that uses data and AI to simplify PR, making it transparent and measurable for Fortune 500 companies and startups alike. It enables users with features like realtime media intelligence, helps delivering stories to the right journalist while saving spam, hours of scrutiny and giving brands the voice they need.

Wizikey’s co-founders Anshul and Aakriti have spent over a decade in the communications industry, identifying key problems as they served 300+ businesses. These first principles form the foundation of Wizikey - to make the communications industry efficient, transparent and measurable through the power of data and AI tech. With investors like Ajai Chowdhry (Co-founder, HCL), Alok Mittal (Co-founder and CEO, Indifi), Ambarish Raghuvanshi (ex-CFO, Info Edge), Keshav R Murugesh (CEO, WNS), Raman Roy (Chairman, NASSCOM and Chairman, Quattro), Sanjiv Bajaj (CEO, Bajaj Finserv) and the Indian Angel Fund among others, we strive each day to make PR accessible and simple - for everyone.

Alrosa, Tencent and Everledger Launch WeChat Mini Program for Blockchain-Enabled Diamonds

Alrosa, Tencent and Everledger are launching a new WeChat Mini Program e-commerce solution to Chinese retailers, demonstrating the power of blockchain technology to seamlessly enable the purchase of diamonds with full transparency of their origin, characteristics and ownership history.

Created by the world’s largest diamond producer Alrosa and independent technology company Everledger, this new Mini Program pilot will put transparent and secure diamond information at the fingertips of potentially a billion active WeChat users. It is also the first product to capitalise on the synergy between Everledger and their new investor Tencent, creator of WeChat – one of the world’s largest social media and e-commerce platforms.

The WeChat Mini Program pilot will showcase diamonds from Alrosa, enabling full traceability from mine to consumer. It will be offered as a white label API for jewellery manufacturers and retailers in China who wish to offer consumers more innovative and insightful stories about their products and their brand, and so expand their ecommerce proposition. This enables a better informed and more secure purchase for consumers as well as a more seamless online-to-offline user experience. By enabling new touch points between consumers, jewellery manufacturers and retailers, the Mini Program will encourage brand differentiation in the highly competitive Chinese luxury market.

Consumers will be offered unprecedented levels of transparency and trust around the origin, characteristics and authenticity of the jewellery they purchase. Using the WeChat Mini Program on their smartphone, consumers can check an individual diamond’s full provenance and unique certificate information, purchase the diamond in the Mini Program using WeChat Pay, and also attest its ownership through the Everledger blockchain platform.

The world leader in diamond mining, Alrosa, will provide information from their diamonds extracted in Russia, thus enabling consumers to know the exact origin of each stone and have certainty around its sustainable and ethical footprint. Last month, Alrosa launched its independent sustainability benchmark report, demonstrating the company’s leading position in responsible sourcing within the global market.

Alrosa’s commitment to community-focused and environmental mining – with a particular emphasis on championing the role of women in the workforce – reflects Everledger’s own pioneering mission to improve sustainability throughout value chains. Everledger harnesses a symphony of technologies, including blockchain, AI, IoT and nanotechnology to make asset provenance ever more accessible and transparent.

Pavel Vinikhin, Head of “Diamonds of Alrosa” (the company’s polishing branch), commented: “We are delighted to support this WeChat Mini Program with Everledger, as it reinforces our pursuit for sustainable mining and transparent supply chain information. Chinese consumers will be certain of the origin of their diamond. We believe demonstrating full provenance of our diamonds on the most popular social media platform will help us to further strengthen our sales base in China.”

Evgeny Gokhberg, Head of Europe at Everledger, notes: “This is a groundbreaking initiative with the titans of the diamond and internet industries. We’re glad to partner with Alrosa, as we share the same goal of enabling more transparency to the market. By providing 100% certainty of a diamond’s origin and journey to the consumer, in an easy-to-experience online platform such as WeChat, we are confident that this innovation will set a new standard when it comes to traceability and responsible business practices.”

Commenting on the importance of this pilot for Everledger’s expansion, Chris Taylor, Chief Operating Officer, said: “This exciting development mobilises our strong partnerships with Tencent and Alrosa to bring provenance and authenticity of diamonds to a new level of transparency in China. Making this information available to consumers’ fingertips via WeChat enables them to be sure about the source and the credentials of each item being purchased.”

Leanne Kemp, founder and CEO of Everledger, adds: “This pioneering collaboration is exactly why we launched Everledger – and it shows how far we have come since our humble beginnings in 2015. Our blockchain and IoT solutions will enable key stakeholders in the jewellery industry to bring secure and reputable information to consumers in China and beyond. The WeChat Mini Program delivers on our scalable vision for more transparent, frictionless, and sustainable value chains, providing a new benchmark for customer focus and transparency in the diamond industry."

About Alrosa

ALROSA is the world's largest producer of rough diamonds in carats, accounting for more than 26% of the global market. Effectively, every fourth diamond in the market is mined in Russia. ALROSA also operates its polishing branch, DIAMONDS of ALROSA, being one of two diamond miners with an in-house cutting division. The Company's operations are located in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Arkhangelsk Region of Russia. ALROSA’s trading and representative offices are located in the world’s major diamond trading centers: Antwerp, Ramat Gan, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, Mumbai. ALROSA is an absolute industry leader in terms of investments in social programs directing to social spending on average 3% of its revenue. In 2018, the company’s social investments totaled $155 million. Moreover, about $100 million are spent on the environment protection measures annually. The company's achievements are marked by high positions and presence in the ratings of FTSE4Good, MSCI ESG, WWF Russia.

About Everledger

Founded in 2015, Everledger is an independent technology company helping businesses surface and converge asset information, using a symphony of secure technologies, including blockchain, artificial intelligence, intelligent labelling and Internet of Things. Our purpose is to contribute greater clarity and confidence in marketplaces where transparency matters most.

We digitally streamline our clients’ compliance processes, to help them demonstrate the lifetime story of an asset with greater efficiency and accuracy. As technology partners, we also support in powering resilience and sustainability. With information out in the open, we believe the value of many industries – from diamonds, to fine wines, to e-waste lifecycle management – will be shared by all stakeholders throughout the value chain.

Everledger is certified with the ISO 27001 standard by the British Assessment Bureau, a testament to our robust, ongoing and systematic approach to information security.

Everledger has been nominated a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in 2018.

Best Mutual Fund App for Easy Investing Online through Mobile

 

If you’re looking forward to growing some idle income, in the long run, mutual fund investment would be one of the best ideas. At present, there are forty-four AMC's in total that are Asset Management Companies in India and innumerable schemes to select from. There are more than nearly two AMC’s at present, however not all shall provide satisfactory returns. It is imperative to track the schemes individually to make the most out of it. But that is not a feasible idea as it shall be quite an unwieldy task for anybody. This is precisely where the importance of the mutual fund investment app comes into action. There are several useful mutual fund investment applications that shall help you effectively manage and invest in several mutual funding schemes with no hassle at a single platform. Take a look. 

1. InvesTap application for Mutual Fund offered by SBI Mutual Fund

This app is run by SBI Mutual Fund. It allows you to browse through funds, invest, switch, redeem and track performances of schemes. It helps you to plan your investments as per your financial goals. The investors even get alerts for real-time tips and notifications regarding NAV of the fund. The quickest part is that with your PAN number, you can start investing in mutual funds. Another good feature is that you can use SIP calculator, which can help you to know the SIP returns. This is the best app for mutual fund investment if you want to invest in some of the SBI funds like SBI Blue Chip Fund, SBI Balanced funds etc.

As the name already suggests, this direct mutual fund app application is operated by none other than the renowned SBI mutual finding. There are several advantageous features that this application comes with which includes efficient browsing via funds, switching, investing, redeeming as well as tracking the performances of the schemes. It aids you in planning investments according to the investor’s financial goals. With the help of this application you will be able to attain real-time tips, alerts and notifications about the NAV of your fund. 

Also, the aspect that usually takes most of the time which is the investment procedure, will get much quicker. Just with the help of your PAN number, you will be able to begin to invest fast. Another advantage that deserves mention here is you will be able to use the SIP calculator. This will be very helpful for increasing your returns of SIP. If you have plans to invest in SBI-based funding such as SBI Balanced funds, SBI BlueChip Fund, and more, this would be probably one of the best apps to invest in mutual funds for you. 

2. MyCams Mutual fund application
   

This application has really good ratings which say 4.4 out of 5. One of its main functions is to schedule the options for transactions that let investors set long-term find transactions. The platform is based on zero brokerage charge and one can even invest in the newly emerging funds of a mutual fund. Unlike other applications, via this one can invest a comparatively hefty amount in the mutual fund. This application also allows users to check the PAN level. This is quite helpful in case any member of your family is investing in your account. It is compatible with both IOS as well as droid systems. This application is a very reputed one as it won the Best Financial App Award at GMASA since 2015 for two consecutive years. 

3. Simply Save App from Reliance Mutual Funds

This application is yet another reputed one that you can definitely take into account. This application is presented by the renowned Reliance Mutual fund. It is a very easy to use application that lets you invest with as much least amount and there are also multiples available for you to choose. It enables one to redeem the investments at maximum thirty-minutes of time, twenty-four-seven for 365 days. One of the best aspects of this application is that you will be able to invest idle money in order to attain some extra returns. However, users need to keep in mind that they will only be able to invest liquid fund via this application and shall be unable to invest in any other mutual fund scheme with the help of this application. 

4. KFinKart- Investor Mutual Funds

The main purpose of this particular application is to abridge the efforts of an investor in case of mutual funding. It is a single-touch login application that allows you to invest along with a series of mutual funds and provide an entirely new medium to invest your money. It focuses on a one-point view of one’s investments, making decisions, managing profiles without requiring several applications offered by different funding houses. This application is to create a substantial percentage of time and money by interlinking and tracking the investor’s family portfolios through AMCs invest in the NFOs, reinvest, transact, stop or start the SIPs, etc. 

5. Groww Mutual Fund Application

Groww is one of the fastest-growing and currently the largest platform for mutual fund investors. It is a highly advanced application with incredible features. There are zero commission items and products allowed on this particular platform to customers which indicate that beginners can use it. New investors would not need to open a new Demat account. The BSE star MF is utilized by Groww for easing transactions. It has many other flexible features like this. Also, another point to be noted it’s that it is a secure application. It has a reputation of keeping user's applications 100% secured and there has been no negative rumor regarding the same. The investments re-dealt directly with the AMC and hence there are no chances for any challenges or insecurity. There are also SIP Calculator facilities for users available which one of the foremost requirements nowadays is.  It can be considered as all mutual funds in one app that has been remarkably meeting the needs and requirements of investors so far. 

So, make the most of your investment by saving time and effort with the help of this highly reputed and trending mutual fund investment application today. 

Codevidhya Offers a Foundational Futuristic Coding Curriculum to Empower the Underprivileged Students

An Isha Vidhya Education initiative by Sadhguru’s Isha Foundation and ​Codevidhya​ - one of India’s promising Edu-tech start-ups have joined forces to instil ‘Next level of literacy’ among the less privileged rural section of our country, with Codevidhya’s curriculum offerings acting as a continuation of both ventures’ commitment and dedication to the cause.

Codevidhya’s Phygital (Physical + Digital) annual coding curriculum is structured and has been designed to include comprehensive learning in the form of curriculum books, training for teachers, workshops for students, an online platform for regular assessments, projects, code challenges, mentoring and support. In addition to this, the EdTech start-up offers after school programmes, summer and winter clubs, a suite of curated online courses and tutorials that are focused on introducing learners to and engaging them in emerging technologies such as AI, Robotics, Raspberry Pi, 3D modelling & printing, ML and IoT. The functionality and the course content make the curriculum future proof.

[caption id="attachment_140129" align="aligncenter" width="808"] Isha Vidhya children with certificates[/caption]

With a focus on English and Computer based education, complemented by innovative methodologies for overall development and evolution of each individual, Isha Vidhya Schools empower rural children to meet future challenges​. Codevidhya​ together with Isha Vidhya envisages to advantage the rural child population with the essential 21st century skill-Coding.

Codevidhya has partnered with Isha Vidhya Schools to implement their annual curriculum to teach coding to its 3500+, grade 4th to 7th students across ten ​schools around the Southern region of India. The schools are spread covering districts of Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Kanyakumari, Tuticorin, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Chittoor and Karur, with an average of 50+ hours spent on training by the team of Codevidhya.

“Codevidhya differentiates itself by offering a futuristic Computer Science curriculum that empowers the future generation. Students are encouraged to find out the problems of the real world in their surrounding and solve it with the help of technology. Moreover, the future will be written by Code. We need to educate every student of nation with Computational Thinking skills right from elementary classes. More than 80 % of the jobs of tomorrow will be in tech domain, so let's give them the power to create technologies,”​ explains, Shivram Choudhary, Founder, Codevidhya.

Codevidhya is known for integrating tools in their platforms and practices that hone students’ learning and knowledge. With its unique online as well as offline approach, the start-up is committed to uplifting and empowering students in rural India with quality coding education.

Commenting on the start-up’s brilliant effort, Manish Maheshwari, Managing Director, Twitter India says, “Met the team at Codevidhya, which is dedicated to teaching kids to code in the small towns of Rajasthan as a way to solve problems and improve their life. I never expected a start-up from Sikar to be so good."

About Isha Education

Isha Education, a Public Charitable Trust is an initiative started by Sadhguru with the broad objective of bringing quality education to the often-neglected rural areas. Isha Vidhya Schools under this Trust, spread across districts of Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Kanyakumari, Tuticorin, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Chittoor and Karur are committed to raising the level of education and literacy in rural India and to helping disadvantaged children realize their full potential.

About Codevidhya

Codevidhya is an education company dedicated to converting classrooms of Indian schools into programming powerhouses with a vision to empower the new generation to innovate. We believe in the future that would be written by Code. In fact, the ability to code could be the “Next level of literacy".

~ Newsvoir

growX Ventures Invests in Ex -ISRO Engineers' Startup Cell Propulsion as part of Huddle’s EV Accelerator Program

growX ventures has invested in Cell Propulsion (CP), a forerunner in the deployment of Electric LCV & electric Bus solutions, as part of the EV Accelerator program being conducted by Gurgaon based, Huddle. Other investors that have invested in CP include Endiya Partners, Sangam Ventures, CIIE (IIM-A).

The EV accelerator program by Huddle is the first dedicated acceleration program for EV companies in India. As part of this program, CP will work closely on strategy with Huddle team and gain access to contextual business development and pilot opportunities while also getting to work with other Huddle partner companies, which include corporates and organizations working in and towards the EV ecosystem.

Quoting Paras Kaushal, Founder & COO of CP - “A major obstacle for the adoption of Electric Commercial Vehicles is the lack of local support ecosystem and the indigenous availability of core technologies. We are focused on solving these issues and this investment will enable us to quickly bring our solutions to the market."

Throwing light on the opportunity, Ishaan Khosla, Co-Founder & Partner at Huddle, stated, “By targeting use-cases around commercial vehicles, Cell Propulsion is bringing value to one of the most important segments of the EV value chain. We will be working closely with the team to partner with the right set of organizations to drive this revolution in India.”

“Solid team; real problem; large opportunity, mostly unaddressed. We're happy to be part of this journey,” added Sheetal Bahl, Partner at growx.

Cell Propulsion is led by Nakul Kukar, Paras Kaushal and Supratim Naskar, all former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) engineers. With a strong background in EV component technology, the company is working towards developing integrated electric powertrains for electric buses and electric LCVs. Under a single interface, Cell Propulsion integrates all the critical attributes of Electric mobility solutions to provide economically viable EV solutions for Commercial Vehicles. 

growX is a B2B and deep tech focused early-stage venture fund, which works closely with investee firms at both strategic and operational levels to drive scale and success. Its investments are focused on seed and pre-Series A stages across a wide range of sectors. growX has invested in over 30 companies, including Doxper, Fynd, Locus, Mad Street Den, Quandl, Wellthy Therapeutics, and Zipolan among others.

Huddle is one of the leading sector-agnostic incubators in India. With a rich pool of dedicated experts and mentors to support the growth of early stage ventures, Huddle enables the ventures to take their business to the next stage. With an active portfolio across industries, Huddle identifies and works closely with companies across India to build front runners in their segment. 

Rockwell Automation Launches 1st Digital Transformation Experience Centre in India

Rockwell Automation today announced the launch of its first Digital Transformation Experience Centre in India, a state-of-the-art, collaborative hub, designed to inform and inspire Indian businesses about creative ways to spark productivity gains using automation.

The Gurgaon-based Centre is the first of its kind in India to fully demonstrate the integration of key technology platforms for IT-OT convergence, enabling customers to understand the benefits of the Connected Enterprise and the positive impact that it can have on their business. The Centre also illustrates how solutions and services offered are entirely scalable and can be tailored to businesses.

Inaugurating the Centre, Rockwell Automation CEO Blake Moret said, “This is a hugely exciting time for a whole range of industries in India who stand to unlock trillions of dollars in value over the next decade as a result of rapid advancements in automation technology. It’s also a complex moment, when leaders have an exceptional number of decisions to make about how and where to invest their resources to achieve the best results. With this Centre, we’re inviting businesses across the country to come and get informed and inspired about what the future could look like and how to get there.”

Dilip Sawhney, Managing Director, Rockwell Automation India said, “We believe that embarking on the journey of digitalisation and the Connected Enterprise is key for businesses to realise their full potential. Our new Digital Transformation Experience Centre enables us to show, rather than tell our customers, how our technology can help to bridge the gap between traditional plant floor technologies (OT level) and enterprise level demands (IT level). Using our technical expertise and industry know-how, we can demonstrate how we can help our customers maximise performance, advance innovation, and drive growth by unlocking new business models and adding value to existing products.”

Visitors to the Centre can experience first-hand the synergy of key technology platforms such as Network, Cybersecurity, Industrial Data Centre, Machine Learning as well as AR and VR. They can also experience scenarios showcasing how a business could fix problems faster and with less disruption to production by combining data on machinery faults, production commitments, and availability of parts along with insights into how long it would take a technician to fix the problem with the support of augmented reality.

The experience centre will also demonstrate how Rockwell Automation integrates solutions seamlessly from the plant floor up through the enterprise in collaboration with Strategic Alliance Partners like PTC, Cisco, Microsoft, and Endress+Hauser to accelerate innovation and convergence for operational and information technologies through digital transformation.

A team of Rockwell Automation domain experts will be on hand at the Digital Transformation Experience Centre to demonstrate the transformative potential of the Connected Enterprise. Experts will use real-world examples, based on anonymised Rockwell Automation customer interactions.

~ BusinessWire India

Airtel Payments Bank Enables 24x7 NEFT Transfers

In-line with the Reserve Bank of India’s guidelines, Airtel Payments Bank customers will now be able use the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) facility at any time of the day. The facility will be available to customers on 24x7 basis even on holidays enabling then to receive or send funds to any bank from anywhere, anytime. 

Airtel Payments Bank customers can transfer funds via NEFT using the banking section of the Airtel Thanks app or website of Airtel Payments Bank. They need to select ‘Transfer Money’ option followed by ‘transfer to Bank’. A screen to register beneficiary will appear. Once the beneficiary registration process is completed, customer can easily transfer the money.

Mr. Ganesh Ananthanarayanan, Chief Operating Officer, Airtel Payments Bank, said, “We are committed to provide customers with an efficient and smooth banking experience. We welcome the RBI mandate as it will allow our customers to easily transfer the money to any bank account at any time using NEFT mode. This will add to the overall online banking experience for the customers."

Airtel Payments Bank offers a host of solutions like UPI, IMPS, debit card and wallet to make digital payments and money transfers. 

Airtel Payments Bank, launched in January 2017, now boasts of a physical presence in all 29 states of the country through its 500,000+ banking points. Out of these, over 60,000 focus on insurance and pension products in an attempt to reach the underserved. India’s first payments bank, it currently facilitates transactions worth 500 billion annually with a user base of over 40 million customers. In addition to its physical banking points, Airtel payments Bank also offers its banking services through its Android and iOS apps. In line with the Government’s vision of Digital India and Financial Inclusion, Airtel Payments Bank is striving to take digital banking services to the doorstep of every Indian, even in the remotest of rural areas. 

Home Jiny the Worlds’ 1st E-commerce Platform with Household Products and Services Disrupts the On-demand Home Delivery Market

• A bootstrapped start-up is aiming to raise Rs. 100 million in the coming months.


• The first-of-its kind on-demand market place comes with a guaranteed delivery of Milk to Maid, Oil to OTG Repair, Daal to Driver, Celery to Chef, Potato to Painter.


• A hassle-free experience across 1,000+ products and over 200 services that are not offered by any of the E-comm incumbents so far.

Home Jiny, the e-commerce products and service aggregator has made its debut in Delhi-NCR with an aim to disrupt the segment by offering a single app that provides over 1000 products and 220+ services by trusted service providers in the area. Targeted at the busy urban households of Delhi-NCR, Home Jiny is the only application available on Android and IOS so far that allows a buyer to choose and select myriad products and services such as dairy products, grocery, fruits and vegetables along with frequently used Services like Maids, Drivers, Cooks, Laundry and many more. The brand focuses on targeting housing societies and building density and penetration in each micro-cluster before moving on to the next one.

Home Jiny has already started holding its experiential events in select localities to give the customers a taste of quality, comfort and flexibility that the app offers. Already available in select areas of Faridabad, Gurgaon and Delhi, the brand seeks to cater 80% of the Delhi-NCR region by Dec 2020. The brand is already receiving 250 orders per day and has a run rate of 7000 orders per month.

The initiative has already received a funding of Rs. 25 Million and is already in talks for another round of funding worth Rs. 100 Million for this mould-breaking venture. The team behind this initiative is leveraging their market insights and in-house technology platform to customize experiences for the ever-growing demand of the customers in the region.

Speaking on the launch, Kuldeep Pandit, Founder & CEO, Home Jiny said, “We are excited to launch Home Jiny in the buzzing e-commerce space. Delhi-NCR is world’s 2nd most populous urban agglomeration that buys their frequently used items and services from unorganised sector, that has no guarantee on the supplies and the price also fluctuates. We at Home Jiny are committed to ensure the availability of supplies through our 1000+ products and 200 plus services through our tie-ups with over 60 service providers that allows us to deliver goods and services that are of superior quality, are delivered timely to the consumers at their door-step through our app while promoting the digitisation and hyper localisation of the neighbourhood stores."

He further added, “According to our survey, Indian households spend around 45 days (450 Hours/Year) in a year, to procure frequently used products and services. Home Jiny wants to free up lives of thousands of households and bring quality products and services reduce that time and allow the customers to utilise those precious moments in something that they really want to do in life. We look forward to catering over 5000 households by end of Feburary 2020."

About Home Jiny

Home Jiny is the first online e-commerce platform in the world that provides all frequently used products and services a household needs through a single app. It offers virtually everything a customer wishes for, whether it is products such as Milk, Bread, Fruits, Vegetables, Non-veg & FMCG products and frequently used services such as Maids, Drivers, Cooks, Laundry and many more or services (1000+ frequently used products in 16 categories and 200+ frequently used services in 19 categories). Instead of juggling with multiple vendors, shops, service providers and apps, the customer will have the freedom to get everything on one app. The products are sourced from the best vendors through rigorous buying and quality processes. The services are delivered by authorized, certified and trained service partners across the spectrum.

The blue color of Jiny signifies freedom that households will have from negative labour of daily buying. The yellow color signifies magical power to make virtually anything available at the click of a button on an app and thus provide convenience and reliability to build trust. The red color signifies the energy, excitement, and passion of Home Jiny team to delight customers and fulfill their household wishes and give them the freedom to do what they always wanted to do in life.

~ Newsvoir

Agritech Firm Ninjacart Celebrates Farmer’s Day through Nationwide Empowerment Festival

Ninjacart rewarded 300 farmers for exemplary contributions, besides conducting knowledge sessions and health camps.

On the occasion of Farmer’s Day, Ninjacart, India's largest fresh produce supply chain company furthered its mission of empowering farmers with a nationwide Farmer’s Festival.  Held across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, the festival rewarded 300 farmers. For their exemplary contributions to the nation, they were awarded with a certificate of appreciation, as well as treated to a scrumptious, and nutritious lunch, availed free agricultural tools, and a box of sweets. The Farmer’s Day celebrations also saw Ninjacart hold a health check-up, and knowledge session on related issues. 

As Ninjacart pledges to empower the farmers, the company conducted a health awareness and check-up drive in Chikka trupathi, Malur taluk, Karnataka, At the programme, farmers were educated on how to handle emergencies such as snake bites, cardiac arrests, epilepsy, fire safety, and more. They also underwent check-ups which covered BMI, blood pressure, sugar, and tests to identify their blood groups. 

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Speaking about the Farmer’s Festival, Thirukumaran Nagarajan, CEO and Co-founder of Ninjacart said, “It was heart-warming to see our efforts pay off, and hear our farmer-partners share their experiences of working with us. Through the Farmer’s Festival, we were also able to address redressal on indent problems, and pricing, and work towards mutually beneficial solutions. Our efforts to empower farmers go beyond just the occasion of Farmer’s Day, and we have already conducted knowledge sessions in 65, out of 147 collection centres across 11 states. Over the course of the next year, we will take this programme to all our centres, and truly enrich our farmer-partner lives."

The celebrations of Farmer’s Day comes as a part of their on-going knowledge management sessions where Ninjacart has been working with their farmer-partners to raise awareness on modern farming techniques and technologies, including tillage practices, cropping patterns, use of fertilisers, methods of pest control, and best irrigation practices.

Ninjacart is India’s largest fresh produce supply chain company. A pioneer in the tech-driven supply chain space for fresh vegetables and fruits in India, Ninjacart has raised over $150mn from Tiger Global, AccelUS, Accel India, Syngenta, and others. Recently they have also received an investment from Flipkart & Walmart. Over the last 4 years, made-for-India technology and India centric solutions have disrupted the way fruits and vegetables move from farms to consumers plate. Today, Ninjacart source fruits and vegetables from farmers across 20+ Indian states and deliver to 60,000+ local kiranas and restaurants across 7 major cities, in less than 12 hours.

Vision is to build India’s most efficient and largest supply chain company, improving the lives of producers, businesses & consumers in a meaningful manner. Our focus is to make the Ninjacart innovation more accessible and leverage our strengths to innovate for new product categories and customer segments while solving complex supply chain problems.

Smartwatches: The Next Alternative to Playing Online Games?

Few would have even thought that technology can change the very concept of human living. Some decades ago, humans played indoor games and outdoor games in their leisure time. Neither children nor professionals get time for leisure. But, recently, things have become more modernized. No wonder many new casino websites where Indian people can win real money have popped up. With such sites, playing games online have become more convenient, anywhere and anytime. 

For example, while travelling by public transport, there are many who play online games through mobile. But will the same continue for the future? As per scientific experts, the answer lies in the next set of years to come. The alternative has been found for playing online games anywhere and everywhere. Device to be used? It is surprising to see smart watches considered the best alternative to playing online games than mobile.

Smartwatches for Playing Online Games

There are many who had different notions about usage about buying an Android smart watch. But with many developers designing online games for smart watches, they are in for a pleasant surprise. However, still many doubts linger in the players’ minds. The mobile is a larger device than the smart watch. So, the actions for playing online games on watches have to be limited, such as swipes or simple taps. There are many smart watch games designed only with only the swipe action (game - Castle Stormer).

Development in Designing Smartwatch Games

It is always the same – a new technology will face challenges in the beginning. But the same technology will survive if customers around the world accept the changes with open arms. Online games in smartwatches are facing a few hiccups such as in performance levels and interface decisions. The same events unfolded when mobiles ushered in a new era of playing online games on their screen. To be honest, mobiles were first designed for the sole reason for being just a communication tool. To be specific, they came as an alternative to the pager.

Will history repeat once again? The watch, which many of the human ancestors used as a device only for watching time – will the same device become an alternative to the recent mobile when it comes to playing online games?

The best scientific minds are optimistic and predict that watches can serve two purposes – that of giving information on time and becoming an easy device to play online games. Smart Watches Having Features For Playing Online Games

• Casio
• Pebble
• Gear S2 3G/4G
• Minecraft Gameband
• Fossil FTW5037 Smartwatch
• Zeblaze THOR S
• Bosch X5

Please find the best Smartwatch Games For Android Wear

• Space War
• Infinity Loop
• Lifeline 2: Bloodline
• PaperCraft
• Rubik’s Cube
• Galaxia
• Wearable Chess
• Wear Droid
• Oreo Ocquarium and Nougat Land
• Tilt

Best Smartwatch Games for Apple Watch

• Rules!
• Trivia Crack
• Field Day
• Letter Zap
• Snappy Word
• Bubblegum Hero
• Pocket Bandit
• [offbeat] - NetBet casino India

The Pre-requisites of Online Games in a Smartwatch

How do the online games work in mobile? Via the apps. Correct? So, the online games should be designed in such a manner that it should work both with Android as well as iOS devices. Heard about the Apple Watch? It can work only in tandem with the iPhone. The same goes for Android Wear watches which can support only the other platform. There are very few online games which can work with full satisfaction on both platforms. With a mobile phone, it is possible to respond with ease to a call, answer to a text, change the music and play online games. The customers may want all these features even in a smart watch with online game facility. Other than these features, there are expensive mobiles which come with sensors to check your heart rate, have WiFi, BlueTooth, battery life and water resistance.

Related - Spider Solitaire Masters Card Games Play Free Online

Conclusion

So, the next round of years, customers can expect to purchase a smart watch not only with the online game facility but also a lot of other features.