The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal launched the US Startup SETU – Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling programme in the Bay Area of San Francisco.

The initiative would connect start-ups in India to US-based investors and start-up ecosystem leaders with mentorship and assistance in various areas including funding, market access and commercialization.

“One of the key takeaways is that the Bay Area is very bullish on India, very excited about the potential that India, Indians and Indian startups and Indian businesses have to offer. Very excited about the talent available in India. They see huge potential in the large market that India is, 1.3 billion aspirational Indians,” said Goyal.

He added, “There were suggestions about mentorship. We’ve launched the SETU programme where we are looking at supporting entrepreneurs through transformation and upskilling intiatives. We’re also looking at a programme that the startup advisory council had initiated in India in which mentorship is being initiated particularly in tier-2, tier-3 and tier-4 towns and remote areas. Lot of good suggestions have been brought to the table.”

SETU is designed to break the geographical barriers between mentors based in US that are willing to invest in entrepreneurship and sunrise startups in India.

The interaction will be supported through the mentorship portal under the Startup India initiative MAARG, or the (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth) program, which is a single-stop solution finder for startups in India.

Besides, the portal has been developed with the idea to be accessible from every corner of the country to connect with a mentor.

“A mentor will offer human intelligence in guiding the startups. It may be noted that till date, more than 200 mentors have been successfully onboarded on MAARG across the globe,” said Ministry of Commerce & Industry in a press statement.

The core functions of MAARG are to improve ease of access, use Artificial Intelligence for Matchmaking, schedule meetings virtually, host masterclasses, provide a custom dashboard for relevant information, analytics, features, etc., host cohort-based programs that will allow startup ecosystem enablers to be become a part of the program and enable outcome driven activities.

It is estimated that about 90% of the start-ups and more than half of the well-funded startups fail in their early days. Lack of experience in handling the business is a key issue, and founders require the right guidance for taking a decision and moral support.

MAARG is inviting applications from Mentors across the world. Till date, more than 200 mentors have been on-boared on MAARG across the globe.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who embarks on ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ from Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari today, will be staying in a container for the next 150 days.

In what is being seen as a Congress’ “masterstroke” to take on the Narendra Modi government in the upcoming 2024 elections, Congress is launching the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ on Wednesday in which Rahul Gandhi will start the 3,570 km journey lasting about 150 days from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

As the party begins the nationwide yatra, some pertinent questions arise about the lodging and flooding of Rahul Gandhi. However, the party has made it clear that he will not stay in any hotel but rather will complete the entire journey in a simple manner.

Rahul Gandhi is going to stay in the container for the next 150 days. Sleeping beds, toilets and air-conditioners are also installed in some of the containers. During the journey, the temperature and environment will differ in many areas.

The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.

“About 60 such containers have been prepared and sent to Kanyakumari where a village has been set up in which all these containers have been placed. The container will be parked in a new place every day in the shape of a village for night rest. Full-time Yatris who stay with Rahul Gandhi will eat together and stay close,” said the sources.
The sources further said that Rahul Gandhi considers the Bharat Jodo Yatra journey as a way to connect with the common people.
“So he wants to complete this entire journey in a simple way away from the glitz and glamour. Rahul Gandhi calls it a journey but political analysts consider it a preparation for 2024,” the sources added.

Earlier today, Rahul Gandhi attended a prayer meeting at the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial in Sriperumbudur on Wednesday. Sriperumbudur is where his father Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a bomb blast on May 21, 1991, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul Gandhi paid floral tribute at his father’s memorial. “I lost my father to the politics of hate and division. I will not lose my beloved country to it too. Love will conquer hate. Hope will defeat fear. Together, we will overcome,” he tweeted.
Local Congress leaders including Karnataka state party chief DK Shivakumar were present at the prayer meeting.
After the prayer meet, Rahul Gandhi left for Kanyakumari where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin will present him the Tricolour. The Congress leader will address a rally while officially kickstarting the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress party’s general secretary, on Tuesday asserted that through the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ people will be united on issues like inflation, and unemployment among other matters of public importance.
“We are starting a positive politics. We want to hear from you, we want to solve your problems. We want to unite our beloved country. Let us unite India together,” Priyanka said in a Facebook video.
Politics today has turned a blind eye towards people and their issues, she added.
“Political discussion today isn’t focusing on the people of the country, it has taken a different turn altogether. Politics today has turned a blind eye towards people and their issues. Through this ‘yatra’ we want to bring out the problems and concerns of the common man,” Priyanka said.
The senior Congress party leader urged people to join the ‘yatra,’ adding that people should unite to make the country prosperous.
The yatra will proceed mainly through 12 states, including Himachal Pradesh, where Assembly polls are due later this year.

NEW DELHI, Sept 7: Job creation and equitable income distribution are our top red-letter priorities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the U.S.-India Business Council’s India Ideas Summit, on Wednesday.
Inflation is also a priority but not a red-letter one as we have been able to bring it down over the last couple of months, she said.
India doesn’t have the luxury of sequencing priorities and efforts to tackle them must take place simultaneously, the Finance Minister added.
Speaking at the summit, she further said the government will review the functioning of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to make it more robust.
“We will be taking over the G-20 chair at a very challenging time, but it is equally heartwarming that Indonesia, India and South Africa are all emerging markets. This is important because emerging markets are showing potential to lead the global economy in the next 50-60 years.
These are the economies that will give you both demand and supply-side solutions. They are going to be the central focus. We will soon be releasing our focus (areas at G20) soon,” she said.
A new Data Privacy Bill which will be a product of consultations and which will address stakeholders’ concerns, will be out soon. The (IT) Minister has been working very diligently and has assured us the new bill will be ready soon, she added. (Agencies)

NEW DELHI, Sept 7: The income tax department on Wednesday launched raids in multiple states as part of a tax evasion probe against registered unrecognised political parties (RUPP) and their alleged dubious funding, official sources said.
The searches are being conducted in Gujarat, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and some other states, they said.
A coordinated action has been launched by the tax department against the RUPPs, their linked entities, operators and others, the sources said.
The surprise action is understood to have been taken by the department on the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC) which recently struck off 87 entities from its list of RUPP after they were found non-existent during physical verification.
The poll panel had announced that it was taking action against more than 2,100 registered unrecognised political parties for flouting rules and election laws, including those related to filing of monetary contributions, failing to update their address and names of office bearers.
It had said some of these parties were indulging in serious financial impropriety. (Agencies)

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha has said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s visit to Delhi to meet leaders of various opposition parties was an effort to explore “policy-oriented political alternative” and not for a person-oriented alternative to the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Nitish Kumar, who met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday, has also met Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

He also met Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala. Jha said Nitish Kumar has made it clear that he has no personal ambition for the post of Prime Minister. He targeted the BJP and said prices of essential commodities were rising.

“Unemployment is on rise and people are suffering due to rising prices, the economy is not in good shape. Whatever data you may try to hide under, you are unable to do it. There should be an policy-oriented alternative to this. Nitish Kumar coming to Delhi and meeting leaders of different parties is a step in that direction,” Jha told ANI.

He said personality-oriented politics has always not been successful and asked who was the face in 1977, when Indira Gandhi was deposed?

“Which face was there in 1989? Who was the face in front of Atalji in 2004? If there is face, there will be person-centred politics. We need to take democracy to collectiveness. As for the face of opposition, it can be anyone,” Jha said.

Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the BJP in August and formed the government with RJD in Bihar.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao also visited Bihar and met Nitish Kumar, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as part of efforts towards opposition unity.

Jha took dig at the government and said problems caused by its policies cannot be solved by changing names of roads. The government has decided to rename Rajpath as Kartavya Path.

“Race Course Road was renamed Lok Kalyan Marg, but what is happening for public welfare? Now it is Kartavya Path also. What is the duty of a government? Make fun of history? Create a ‘name changing ministry, change the name of every road in India in one go, but do some work,” he said.

New Delhi, Sept 7: Those sitting in the back of a car and not wearing a seatbelt will be fined soon, announced Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday, two days after Cyrus Mistry died in a car crash near Mumbai.
Mr Mistry, former Tata Sons Chairman, was sitting in the back seat and was not wearing a seatbelt as his speeding Mercedes crashed into a divider in the Palghar district of Maharashtra on Sunday.
“Already, it’s mandatory to wear seatbelt at the rear seat but people are not following it. There will be a siren if the people at the rear seat don’t wear belts like for the front seats. And if they don’t wear belts, there will be a fine,” said Mr Gadkari in an exclusive interview to NDTV, stressing that “at any lost, lives have to be saved”.
Taking fines is not the motive but spreading awareness is, said Mr Gadkari on the compulsory use of seatbelts for those sitting in the back. He said by 2024 the goal is to reduce the road fatalities by 50 per cent.
Answering a direct question on what the fine for not wearing a rear seltbelt would be, the Minister said, “The minimum fine is ₹ 1,000.”
Asked whether enforcement of a fine will be problematic since state governments have a say in the matter, the Minister said, “No. I don’t think so. They always support us.”
“There are cameras and anywhere people who aren’t following can be caught easily,” said Mr Gadkari.
Asked if compulsory installation of airbags in the back seat will drive up the cost, the Minister underscored that saving lives is vital.
“Cost of 1 airbag is 1,000, for 6, it’s 6,000. With more production, the cost will be reduced. Cost is not important, people’s lives are,” he emphasised.
As per the regulations, airbags are mandatory for the front passenger and the driver in India. As of January 2022, the government has made it mandatory to install 6 airbags in each passenger car with a passenger limit of up to 8.
Celebrities are campaigning for road safety, said the Minister, adding that he seeks cooperation from media.
“I am really very sorry and feeling bad. We should take the lesson and learn from it,” said Mr Gadkari on Cyrus Mistry’s death in car accident.
More than 59,000 people have died and 80,000 seriously injured in road accidents in Maharashtra in less than five years, the data released by the highway police revealed today.
According to the report titled ‘Road accidents in India – 2020’, more than 11 per cent of deaths and injuries were caused due to non-usage of seat belts, while 30.1 per cent of deaths and 26 per cent of injuries were caused due to non-usage of helmets in 2020.

New Delhi, Sep 7: India saw a single day rise of 5,379 coronavirus infections, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,44,72,241, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.
Active Covid cases have declined to 50,594, while the death toll has climbed to 5,28,057 with 27 fatalities, including 11 deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active cases comprises 0.11 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.70 per cent, the health ministry said.
A decline of 1,742 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.67 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,38,93,590, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry, 213.91 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.
The 16 new fatalities include two each from Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal among others. (AGENCIES)