During the inaugural program, Dr. Swati Mujumdar, Pro-Chancellor of SSPU,  emphasized that the STEM program is not just a training course but a mission for SSPU to actively contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Maharashtra. She also spoke about the commitment by SSPU to providing continuous mentorship and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship among students of diverse backgrounds and age groups.

Mr. Anjani Kumar Srivastava, General Manager and Regional In-charge of SIDBI delivered an inspiring address, congratulating the 30 selected participants. He praised SSPU for its proactive approach to developing entrepreneurship and emphasized the importance of such initiatives in creating sustainable businesses that contribute to economic growth. He said that The Launchpad 30 program is a great step towards nurturing talent and fostering innovation in Maharashtra,”  Dr. Rajesh Ingle, Vice Chancellor of SSPU, was also present during the event.

The selection process for Launchpad 30 was both comprehensive and rigorous. Applicants underwent an Entrepreneurship Acumen Detection Test (EADT) followed by interviews to assess their entrepreneurial potential. The selected participants come from diverse educational and professional backgrounds, ranging from recent graduates to individuals with informal businesses in their early stages. Their ages vary from 20 to 40 years, reflecting the program’s wide appeal.

The 3-month training will be followed by a year-long incubation support, where participants will have access to resources, networking opportunities, and expert guidance. This combination of training, mentoring, and funding aims to give participants the best possible chance of building successful, sustainable enterprises.

The Launchpad 30 program offers free training, including meals and hostel accommodation for participants. In addition, the program provides hands-on mentorship and guidance to help them develop viable business plans and navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship. Successful ventures emerging from the program will receive a seed funding amount of Rs. 30,000 to kickstart their businesses.

This initiative reflects SSPU’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, creating a new generation of business leaders who will contribute to the growth of the Country’s economy.

The post Unveiling the “Skill to Enterprise Model”: A Transformative Joint Initiative by SIDBI and Symbiosis Skills and Professional University appeared first on NRI News.

PUNE: Pi42, India’s first Crypto-INR Perpetual Futures Exchange, is committed to raising awareness about crypto trading and investment among 150,000 citizens across Pune in FY25. With the rising interest in cryptocurrency investments across the city, the company endeavors to educate new-age investors about crypto derivatives trading, and the best practices that one can leverage for derivatives trading. Additionally, Pi42 aims to onboard a significant portion of these users on its platform and achieve a transaction volume of half a billion dollars from Pune by the end of FY25.

India is the largest crypto market in the world, however, Indian investors never really had an opportunity to participate in crypto derivatives trading owing to the lack of any exchange that offered derivatives trading in INR. Pi42 aims to address all these challenges by offering Indian investors a solution that not only provides a range of derivatives but also ensures compliance, tax efficiency, and convenience.

Commenting on the growth of crypto investors in Pune, Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder and CEO, of Pi42, said, “As crypto adoption surges in Pune, Pi42 recognizes the need to create awareness among investors about the potential benefits of crypto derivatives and equip them with the knowledge and best practices for trading in crypto futures. Our aim is not only to facilitate transactions but also to empower investors with the tools and insights necessary to navigate this evolving market landscape effectively. By demystifying the complexities of crypto derivatives trading and highlighting the opportunities they present, Pi42 endeavors to foster a culture of informed decision-making among investors. Through educational initiatives and comprehensive resources, we seek to enable investors to harness the full potential of crypto derivatives, thereby contributing to the city’s growing digital asset ecosystem while mitigating associated risks.“

The exchange has received registration from The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), yet another key step in safeguarding the interest of the investors on its platform. It also offers an extensive array of up to 70+ live trading pairs wherein Doge, Shiba Inu, and Matic are the most actively traded crypto pairs among investors. Pi42 aims to grow as the largest compliant crypto futures platform in the world and boasts over 18000+ investors on its platform.

The growth in customer base in Pune aligns with findings from Chainalysis’ 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index, which positioned India as the global leader in grassroots crypto adoption. Furthermore, recent reports state that Pune has witnessed a significant surge in crypto participation.

The post Pi42 Aims To Educate Over 150000 Citizens In Pune about Crypto in FY25 appeared first on NRI News.

NEW YORK: California-based lead generator Response Tree LLC and its president, Derek Thomas Doherty, will be banned from making or assisting anyone else in making robocalls or calls to phone numbers on the FTC’s Do Not Call (DNC) Registry under a proposed order settling Federal Trade Commission charges that they operated more than 50 websites designed to trick consumers into providing their personal information for supposed mortgage refinancing loans and other services.

The defendants allegedly sold the personal information of hundreds of thousands of consumers as leads to telemarketers who used them to make millions of illegal telemarketing calls, including robocalls, to consumers nationwide.

Telemarketing campaigns allegedly assisted and facilitated by the defendants’ illegal lead generation operations were used to sell a multitude of products and services, including solar panels, hearing aids, and extended auto warranties. These campaigns, which made robocalls and calls to numbers on the DNC Registry, were illegal, as the telemarketers did not have consumers’ consent to be called, according to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice on referral from the FTC.

“Response Tree fueled millions of illegal telemarketing calls by tricking consumers into turning over their personal information and selling that information to telemarketers,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will continue to target every corner of the illegal telemarketing ecosystem to protect consumers and hold wrongdoers accountable.” 

The complaint alleges that the defendants’ websites—including PatriotRefi.com, AbodeDefense.com, and TheRetailRewards.com—were actually “consent farms” that used deceptive and manipulative “dark patterns” to induce consumers to provide their personal information, obscuring hard-to-find and inadequate disclosures about how the information would be used. The defendants claimed that, in providing this information, the consumers consented to receive telemarketing calls. Third parties then bought the defendants’ leads and used the personal information to conduct illegal telemarketing campaigns, according to the complaint.

Through their PatriotRefi.com website, for example, the defendants allegedly duped consumers into providing their personal information under the guise of requesting a quote for a home mortgage refinance loan. After consumers input their personal information and click a button labeled “GET YOUR FAST FREE QUOTE,” the defendants captured the information and stored it in a database to sell to telemarketers and others.

Many or all consumers who provided their personal information to PatriotRefi.com never received home refinance quotes, according to the complaint. Instead, PatriotRefi.com was designed to compile lead lists by harvesting and selling consumers’ personal information without consumers’ informed consent. The complaint further alleges the defendants sold the leads they obtained, knowing that they did not obtain the requisite consent to receive telemarketing calls, including robocalls.

According to the complaint, at their peak, the defendants’ consent farm operations offered an average of 10,000 “real-time” leads for sale every day, and on some days had up to 50,000 illegally farmed leads for sale. In all, between 2019 and 2022, Response Tree and Doherty sold millions of deceptively collected leads.

The proposed order settling the complaint, which must be approved by the court before it can go into effect, bans the defendants from initiating or helping anyone else initiate telemarketing robocalls. It also bans them from calling, or assisting anyone else in calling, phone numbers on the DNC Registry and from selling, transferring, or disclosing consumer information in connection with lead generation activities.

The order also imposes a $7 million judgment against the defendants, which will be suspended based on their inability to pay. If they are later found to have misrepresented their financial condition, however, the full amount will immediately become due.

The Commission vote approving the complaint and stipulated final order and referring it to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for filing was 3-0. The DOJ filed the complaint and proposed a final order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Central District of California.

The staff attorneys on this matter are Karina A. Layugan, Matthew H. Fine, and Jeffrey Tang of the FTC’s Western Region Los Angeles office.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

The post California-based Lead Generator Agrees to Settlement Banning It from Making or Assisting Others in Making Telemarketing or Robocalls appeared first on NRI News.