Author: Liton Paul

D2C personal care brand mCaffeine has raised Rs 240 crore in its Series C round at a nearly $200 million valuation (Rs 1,000 crore). The investment round was led by Paragon Partners with participation from Singularity Growth Opportunities Fund, Sharrp Ventures, and existing investors Amicus Capital Partners and RPSG Capital Ventures. The company claims that at the present valuation it is the most valued single-ingredient brand globally and is eyeing global expansion this year. This marks a significant surge in valuation for mCaffeine from its previous round that took place in September 2020, where it had raised Rs 42 crore…

A meeting was held between the Assam government and AASU leadership on the implementation of the Assam Accord on Thursday. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be reviewed and done afresh. “We had said earlier also that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) should be reviewed and done afresh. Our discussion with the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) is going on,” CM told reporters on Sunday. Earlier on Thursday, Assam Agriculture Minister Atul Bora had said that the state government has decided to move the Supreme Court seeking re-verification of…

The Assam BJP has sought a postponement of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) elections that are scheduled to be held on April 19. The BJP party has written to the state election commission seeking a postponement of the GMC elections, citing the week-long Rongali Bihu celebrations. A delegation of the Assam BJP, led by state general secretaries Pulak Gohain and Diplu Ranjan Sarma, submitted a memorandum to the state election commission on Thursday on the matter. The Assam BJP, in the memorandum, cited that due to Bihu celebrations in the Guwahati city, it would be a difficult task for the parties…

People familiar with the matter said Ola will buy founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s brother’s firm, Avail Finance, for $50 million in a share swap deal, even though some investors were hesitant about signing off on the transaction because it involved related parties. Avail has been struggling as its lending business was hit during the pandemic. It also laid-off employees. The merger is a lifeline for Bhavish. Some investors were apprehensive about pushing this through because it would become a related party transaction. But Bhavish only needs a simple majority and will be able to push the deal through, “one…

IIT Guwahati, has established the “Chair of Jal Jeevan Mission” for Water Treatment Technology. The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019 from the ramparts of the Red Fort. It aims to enable every rural household to have a functional household tap connection (FHTC) by 2024. The institute has appointed Professor Mihir Kumar Purkait, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, as the first occupant of this chair. The tenure of the professor’s chair will be five years. Professor Mihir Kumar Purkait has a portfolio of diverse innovations and developments in basic and…

The low-cost carrier SpiceJet has announced two new daily connecting Guwahati to New Delhi and Chennai starts daily flights service. These flights will operate all weekdays from the airport. With a sharp rise of flyers at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, SpiceJet has announced two new daily flights connecting Guwahati with New Delhi and Chennai. As per the report by a local media house, the airline is deploying a narrow-body Boeing aircraft with single class configuration offering 189 seats in economy class. low-cost carrier SpiceJet has announced two new daily connecting, SpiceJet starts daily flights service to…

Admissions to undergraduate courses in all 45 central universities in India will be based on the CUET score. This will effectively do away with staggering cutoffs. UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar said the central universities will have to use Common University Entrance Test scores to admit students to undergraduate programmes this year and not the Class 12 scores. In all likelihood, it will be conducted in the first week of July.  In a public notice released later in the day, the UGC said the application process for undergraduate CUET will commence from the first week of April. From the 2022–23…

Aavenir and Canary Mail raise Rs. 71 crore

The terms of the deal are unknown, Google acquires microLED startup Raxium at $1 billion, according to a report from The Information.  microLED is similar to OLED in that it doesn’t use a backlight, instead, each pixel emits its own light. Two years ago it acquired North, a pioneer in human-computer interfaces and smart glasses, which has built a strong technology foundation. After failing to impress people with the consumer edition of its $1500 Glass, Google earlier brought the second edition of its eye-wearable device – Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, with an improved camera, USB-C type port and safety…

The antiquities come from different time periods, with the earliest ones dating back to 9-10 century CEIn a historic move, Australia Returns 29 Antiquities to India. These antiquities range in six broad categories according to themes – Lord Shiva and his disciples, worshipping Shakti, Lord Vishnu and his forms, Jain tradition, portraits and decorative objects. The antiquities come from different time periods, with the earliest ones dating back to 9-10 century CE. These are primarily sculptures and paintings made using a variety of materials – sandstone, marble, bronze, brass and paper. Representing a large geographical region in India, the antiquities…