Speeches

Proud to join Rajasthan CM when she launched Rajasthan Startup Policy. Pretty progressive! Fantastic 2 days at Jaipur, as Rajasthan Startup fest rocked!

“For entrepreneurs to succeed, they need inspiration, innovation and scale,” said Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Rajasthan.

“India’s biggest strength for entrepreneurs is its wide range of problems to solve,”  Nagaraja Prakasam, co-founder of IAN Impact.

From sand to silicon: the first ever Startup Rajasthan Festival!

Jaipur was host to two terrific startup events this week – YourStory’s TechSparks city meetup (more on that later!) and the first ever Startup Rajasthan Festival, with two days of expo, conference and workshops. The government announced a Startup Policy, becoming the fourth state in India to have such a policy (after Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat).

“Entrepreneurship is in the blood of Rajasthan,” said Arun Nanda of the Mahindra group.  Rajesh Agarwal, MD, MicroMax, offered a range of lessons from his own startup journey, with included India-specific innovations such as a dual-SIM phone and a low-cost QWERTY phone. “Love what you do and build it further. Quickly learn from your mistakes,” he said.

“India’s biggest strength for entrepreneurs is its wide range of problems to solve,” joked Nagaraja Prakasam, co-founder of IAN Impact. India also has a huge youth dividend, which bodes well for its startup ecosystem. “70% of India’s population is less than 32 years old,” said Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Industries Minister, Rajasthan.

“For entrepreneurs to succeed, they need inspiration, innovation and scale,” said Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister, Rajasthan. In addition to the high-level pronouncements from government, there was lots of energy at the startup exhibition area outside.

---

 Vasundhara Raje ‏@VasundharaBJP Oct 9

Excited to launch the first ever #Startup Policy with the aim of setting up about 500 startups by 2020 in Rajasthan.

---

Rajasthan unveils start-up policy

BS Reporter/Jaipur 10 Oct 15 | 12:39 AM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Friday released the state’s first start-up policy to promote entrepreneurship, to loud cheers by aspiring entrepreneurs and students who had gathered in large numbers for a two-day Rajasthan Startup Fest 2015 in Jaipur’s Sitapura area.

The start-up policy, unveiled by Raje while inaugurating the event, aims to strengthen the start-up eco-system in the state by setting up 50 incubators/accelerators, supporting 500 start-ups, creating 100,000 square feet of incubation, and mobilising Rs 500-crore angel/venture capital funding in the next five years.

Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Industries Minister, Rajasthan; Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad; Rajesh Agarwal, Co-founder & Managing Director, Micromax; and Nagaraj Prakasam, Partner, Acumen Fund  also spoke on the occasion.

Lumiere has a new address… We are at Sarjapur Main Road now !! Our 4th store in Bangalore was inaugurated today, 6th November 2016 @ 12 noon.

The store was inaugurated by Shri Ricky Kej, Grammy award winner musician, composer and conservationist, who also expressed his views on Organic cultivation, which were in alignment with Lumiere’s ideology and principles.
‘During his address to the small gathering at our new store, Shri Ricky highlighted that organic cultivation in simple terms means the way our ancestors grew food – ‘the natural way’ -just as nature intended it to be. He also expressed the irony, that in today’s world we have to label the organic produce which is pure and natural. However, there is no labeling required for the inorganic produce – in terms of pesticides and artificial fertilizers which are used to grow them. He also referred that in present times the Government would bring about radical changes only if the same is supported by the masses. Hence, it is pertinent that more and more people are made aware about supporting, cultivating and consuming nothing but pure and Organic food’.

IIMB offers helping hand to transgenders

Students of the Executive Postgraduate Programme at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore organised ‘Prayaas Day’, a day-long programme to promote inclusivity, at the institute on Sunday.

Members of the transgender community, who participated in the programme, were encouraged to become self-sufficient by starting their own ventures and offered support from IIMB’s start-up cell, the Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL).

NSRCEL mentor Nagaraja Prakash welcomed transgenders to bring their ideas to the incubation cell.

“The number of start-ups we are supporting and the response we get from them is wonderful. We have helped women come into the field of business by teaching them for three weeks. Of these, 12 were selected and given Rs. 40,000 a month for a year to start their venture. We want to include socially-excluded communities like that of transgenders as well,” said Mr. Prakash. Shashi, a transgender who lives with other members of her community, said she was skeptical of the help offered.

“Everyone talks about helping but nobody does anything when the time comes. Let us see if they do,” she said.

She became tearful speaking about how she ended up with her ‘guru’, a member of the community who took her in. “When I was a child, everything was fine. But as I grew I started to dress like a girl but my father would not accept it,” said Shashi. “My teachers would make fun of me,” she said.

Shashi earns a living by painting and applying henna during functions. Her parents till date do not want to see her face.

Children from underprivileged communities interacted with transgenders in group activities like poster making and drama.