Startup incubation centre unveiled in Karnataka's Huballli
Hubballli (Karnataka), July 18: NITI Ayog Chairman Amitabh Kant on Thursday unveiled a startup incubation centre in this north Karnataka town to promote entrepreneurship in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
"India needs disruptive innovation to tackle challenges in health, education and agriculture sectors. We have to take a leap in social innovation to make 60 per cent of the population in rural areas a part of the growth story," he said after dedicating the hi-tech facility to the nation.
Built by Sandbox Startups, a technology business incubator and promoted by the US-based technocrat Gururaj Deshpande, the startup facility can house about 100 companies at a time.
Noting that real solutions for the country's problems should come from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, Kant said Indian could become a role model for the world if it could find solutions for the challenges faced by its 1.3 billion population.
"We can lead the world with our innovations," he said.
Stressing on inclusive growth, Kant said 8-10 per cent GDP growth rate per annum cannot be achieved if majority of the people living in non-metros were not part of the growth cycle.
"The Central government is supporting 25 incubation centres and hand-holding them to find solutions to many challenges facing the country," he said.
As part of its inclusive growth strategy, the NDA government has identified 115 most backward districts, which are being monitored with real-time data for actionable intelligence needed to improve social indicators.
"The governments have to work with non-profit organizations to deliver impact at the ground level," Kant added.
Spread in 6.09 acres of land situated on Gokul Road near the Hubballi Airport, the new facility is the first of its kind in India with full-fledged facilities including a MAKERS LAB and the ESDM Cluster. It also has all amenities that are needed for a robust startup ecosystem to flourish.
"Sandbox has supported 80 ventures with sustainable, scalable and resilient business models and generated Rs 70 crore for the local economy over the last 8 years," said the startup in a statement here.
About 50 patents were filed in the technology space by the startups incubated at Sandbox.
The companies are involved in image processing, agri-tech, Internet of Things (IoT), logistics, E-commerce, healthcare and service sectors.
A dedicated team of Sandbox Samvida is supporting not-for profit ventures and high social impact startups.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
