20 Indian start-ups selected for business expansion to London
Bengaluru, May 18: Twenty Indian start-ups have been chosen to join London Mayor Sadiq Khan's India Emerging 20 (IE20) business programme which aims to help selected companies in setting up or expanding their business in Britain's capital.
The India Emerging 20 programme which is in its third edition this year was launched by London and Partners, which is the Mayor of London's official promotional agency, in collaboration with BDO, a major accounting and taxation network, and Lalit Hotels.
It was set up with the aim to identify some of India's most ambitious companies that are considering international expansion.
The 20 winners of 2018 were chosen from over 300 applications from some of India's leading business hubs such as Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi, London and Partners said in a statement on Friday.
The winners will have the opportunity to benefit from discounted rates on a London office and tailored expert advice on marketing, access to finance and local market analysis, it added.
"London is a truly global business centre and presents lots of opportunities for Indian companies looking to expand their business overseas," said Khan.
"I am delighted that my India Emerging 20 programme is helping some of India's fastest growing companies with their international growth and London remains open to investment, talent and collaborations with India," he added.
Among the winners selected for this year's programme are Hug Innovations of Hyderabad and Mumbai's Furtados School of Music.
Hug Innovations is a wearable tech company developing IoT platforms that allows users to complete tasks including controlling apps, electronics, VR headsets, toys and home automation using just hand gestures.
Furtados School of Music (FSM) is a music education firm with a vision to provide accessible quality music education to all. The company is currently testing a mobile application to bring together people interested in learning music and music teachers.
The other winners are Appnomic Systems, BiOZEEN, BlackPepper Technologies, Chai Point (Mountain Trail Foods), Happay, Intello Labs, Ittisa Digital Media Services, Senseforth, Chakr Innovation, Dineout/inResto, Fork Media, Lucideus Tech, Morph.ai, Videonetics Technology, Wigzo Technologies, Gaia Smart Cities, Iksula Services and SaffronStays.
In April, India and Britain announced a UK-India Tech Partnership to identify and pair businesses, venture capital, universities and others to provide access routes to markets for British and Indian entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.
"IE20 is an important element of the UK-India Technology-Partnership which was agreed by our two Prime Ministers in April and formally launched in India last week by Digital and Culture Secretary, Matt Hancock," said Dominic McAllister, British Deputy High Commissioner in Bengaluru.
"The UK and India are global leaders in technology and two of the world's most innovative countries. The new UK-India Tech Partnership will be testimony to that. A pilot soon to be launched In Karnataka will focus on augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and artificial intelligence -- technologies which a number of our winners today are already deploying," McAllister added.
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Gujarat man held for impersonating govt official, duping people with forged letters
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Ahmedabad police have arrested a 29-year-old man who allegedly posed as a senior revenue official and used fake letters claiming to be from various government departments to cheat people, an official said on Sunday.
Mehul Shah, an engineer who manages two schools at Vankaner in Gujarat’s Morbi district, is accused of making lakhs of rupees with bogus documents and false claims, said inspector (crime branch) JK Makwana.
Shah had forged an appointment letter from the Ahmedabad district education officer (DEO) to offer a computer operator’s job in a government office to a complainant’s son. He also introduced himself as a trustee of a school and did not pay a man Rs 7 lakh due to him over the painting of a school building, the official said.
“Despite holding no official position in the state or central government, he used fake work permits and NOCs to cheat people of lakhs of rupees,” the police official said.
One complainant alleged that Shah identified himself as a top revenue department official and produced a fake letter from the chairman of the “department of science and research development” to make him install a siren and curtain in a hired vehicle but did not pay for the job, he said.
Bogus letters claiming to be from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ahmedabad DEO were used by the accused to cheat the complainants, the police official said.
Police have recovered from his possession fake identity cards and letters with headings like “bharat gaurav ratna shri samman council”, “chairman of department of science and research development”, “health and family welfare department”, and “road and building department”.
“The FIR is based on complaints by three victims. We appeal to the people to come forward and submit their complaints if they have been cheated by Shah in any way,” Makwana said.
