Startup news and updates: daily roundup (Feb 20, 2021)

Centre, states need to work closely to boost economic growth: PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a strong case for repealing archaic laws and making it easier to do business in India, stating that the centre and states need to work closely to boost economic growth. Addressing the Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog, the prime minister said that the private sector should be given the full opportunity to become a part of the government's Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme.

Elon Musk’s interest in Dogecoin is attracting attention to the cryptocurrency ecosystem

TeslaFounder and CEO Elon Musk has been turning heads with his increasing interest in cryptocurrency. Amidst all this, Japanese dog breed Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, also gained special interest from the SpaceXfounder. Musk has been sharing a series of tweets, promoting Dogecoin, which initially began as a cryptocurrency joke.

Meghalaya CM announces Rs 125 Cr corpus fund to help state entrepreneurs

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said a corpus fund of Rs 125 crore will be constituted over the next two years to aid the entrepreneurs in the state. The chief minister said this while addressing the PRIME Entrepreneurship Awards held at the Convention Centre on Friday. "A corpus fund of Rs 125 crore will be constituted over the next two years as PRIME Fund to aid the efforts of the entrepreneurs of Meghalaya," he said.

LIC Housing Finance disburses Rs 1,331 Cr of home loans via mobile app

LIC Housing Finance on Friday said it has disbursed Rs 1,331 crore worth of loans through its mobile banking app in the last year. It said the 'HomY' app facilitated 14,155 customer home loan applications since its launch on February 14, 2020. More than 7,300 of these customers have had their home loans sanctioned. Of these, loans were disbursed to 6,884 customers, amounting to Rs 1,331 crore so far, it said in a release.

Centre releases Rs 1 lakh cr GST compensation to states since Oct 2020

The Centre has released Rs 1 lakh crore to states and UTs in four months since October 2020, to meet GST compensation shortfall, the Finance Ministry said on Saturday. The ministry on Friday released the 17th weekly instalment of Rs 5,000 crore to 23 states and three Union Territories (Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir & Puducherry), taking the total amount released so far under the special borrowing window set up in October last year to Rs 1 lakh crore.

India's first Digital University comes up in Kerala

Kerala took a major step forward in its progress towards a knowledge society with the inauguration of the country's first Digital University, based in the Technocity at Mangalapuram on Saturday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presided over the function, where Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is also the Chancellor of the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation, and Technology (KUDSIT), unveiled the varsity plaque.

Kaleyrato acquire mobile messaging solution provider mGage for $215M

Kaleyra Inc, a cloud communications software provider, recently announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire mGage — a mobile messaging provider — for $215 million in a cash and stock deal. The two US-headquartered tech companies have global operations, including a presence in India.