In Brief: PM Modi’s Twitter account hacked; BharatPe irks rivals with anti-national implication

The personal Twitter account of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been hacked, multiple media outlets reported, backed by a confirmation from the microblogging platform. The social media network is taking steps to secure the compromised account and actively investigating the situation, the reports said, citing a Twitter spokesperson. Reportedly hacked by a group called John Wick, the account sent out tweets asking its followers to donate to the PM National Relief Fund through cryptocurrency, the reports said.

BharatPe claims to be the only Indian brand, irks rivals

Digital payments provider BharatPe has reportedly portrayed itself as the only Indian player in the sector, while branding Paytm and PhonePe as Chinese and US firms respectively. One of the two rivals  reported the matter to the Reserve Bank of India, The Economic Times said, citing sources. The development comes at a time when anti-China sentiments are on the rise amid the recent border conflict.

Read: PUBG, Baidu in the latest list of Chinese apps banned by Indian govt

Alpha Wave Incubation to set up India team

Early stage $300 million fund Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), managed by Falcon Edge co-founder Navroz Udwadia, looks to establish an India investment and operating team for its newly formed corpus, The Economic Times reported, citing sources. The fund is anchored by ADQ, the state-owned holding company for Abu Dhabi’s non-oil sectors, as its sole limited partner or sponsor. AWI has closed more than five deals in the past few months, with five more in the pipeline, the report said.

Read: Verloop.io raises $5 mn in Series A led by Alpha Wave Incubation, others

Amazon India offers gold, insurance products

Retail behemoth Amazon has begun to provide insurance and gold products as part of its financial services in India, The Economic Times reported. The company looks to expand its customer base and attract more subscribers to its Prime loyalty programme with the new offerings, the report said.  

Y Combinator to conduct startup lessons at IITs

Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator (YC) is set to conduct a series of online lessons at six IIT campuses -- Roorkee, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Bombay and Delhi -- in September and October, The Economic Times reported. YC partners will talk about myths around starting startups and war stories from starting their own companies, while founders will talk about fundraising and their stint at YC, the financial daily said, citing partner Kat Manalac. 

Tech Mahindra launches Microsoft Business Unit

Pune-based information technology (IT) services major Tech Mahindra on Thursday announced the launch of its Microsoft Business Unit to accelerate digital transformation. The unit will leverage Microsoft platforms and technologies to develop enterprise cloud solutions and meet customer demands, a statement said. 

BelfricsBT rolls out app to share digitised Covid-19 data

Kuala Lumpur headquartered blockchain startup BelfricsBT has launched BELshare, an app to enable secure sharing of personal data, as well as digitised Covid-19 and vaccine health records. Customers can use a QR code-based system to share and authenticate their personal data, such as health records, with organisations, merchants, residential and commercial premises, it said. 

Healthcare portfolio manager Aditya Khemka joins InCred

Healthcare portfolio manager Aditya Khemka has moved from from Delhi based investment services firm DSP AMC to financial services platform InCred Asset Management. Under Khemka’s guidance, the company plans to launch a differentiated sector-based portfolio management service (PMS), a statement said. Khemka helped DSP generate a return of over 65% over the past 12 months, it added.