‘Every Indian views you as a true friend’: PM Modi tells UAE president as they get down to business

Mangaluru, May 12: In a shocking development, a group of pilgrims which had travelled from Mangaluru International Airport to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, to perform Umrah has alleged that 26,432 Saudi Riyals, which were kept in a bag, have been stolen. 

In a complaint submitted to the Bajpe Police, Soukath Banu, wife of Ahmed Iqbal of Ajyad Tours and Travels, said that her husband, Ahmed Iqbal, along with 35 members, planned and scheduled to perform the Umrah and were travelling from Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) via Mumbai to Jeddah. 

Soukath Banu had given Ahmed Iqbal 2,000 Saudi Riyals for performing Umrah and other expenses. The group members were also told to bring Saudi Riyals to meet their expenses.

In her plaint, Soukath stated that the group had left for Jeddah on an IndiGo flight via Mumbai, and their return ticket to India was booked for May 13. 

At the airport, she said that 26,432 Saudi Riyals were collected in total, and they decided to keep them in baggage that had a lock. Accordingly, it was kept in the bag of Mohammad Badruddin Kadambar. The airport staff had even questioned what he had kept in the bag. 

The group reached Jeddah on May 1. To their surprise, Kadambar found that the baggage lock was broken open, the zip was damaged, and cash was stolen upon reaching Jeddah.

DCP (Law and Order) Sidharth Goyal said that following the complaint, one round of CCTV checks was conducted at the MIA along with the CISF personnel. The loading at the MIA was intact.

Further checks have to be carried out at Mumbai and Jeddah Airport as the victim found out that cash was missing only when they got the bag at the final destination, he added.

Forbes has released its ninth edition of the “30 Under 30 Asia” list, celebrating 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders, and trailblazers under 30 who are driving innovation and transforming industries across the Asia-Pacific region. 

Here's a list of Indians who made it to the Forbes list:

ENTERTAINMENT

Pavithra Chari
Pavithra Chari, a trained singer-composer, gained recognition as half of the duo Shadow and Light with Anindo Bose. Their collaboration with the Berklee Indian Ensemble earned a Grammy nomination in 2023. She is also part of the Anirudh Varma Collective, touring the US, and is skilled in Bharatnatyam dance. Ms Chari is also known for covering film hits.

Arpan Kumar Chandel (King)
Indian rapper Arpan Kumar Chandel, also known as King, became known worldwide when Nick Jonas remixed his hit song 'Maan Meri Jaan'. Mr King got famous on MTV Hustle in 2019 and has released many albums since. His latest, 'New Life', features artists like Nikhita Gandhi and Gucci Mane. He's also Sony Audio's ambassador and launched his fragrance, Blanko.

CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY

Kush Jain 
Kush Jain discovered the challenges faced by the visually impaired during a volunteering stint at a Bangalore school in 2018. Motivated to help, he co-founded ORama AI. Their innovative solution, a smart glove, helps the blind and those with reduced vision to learn Braille. The glove features an embedded camera and speaker, tracking finger movements and audibly identifying touched Braille dots.

Arth Chowdhary, Deyvant Bhardwaj and Oshi Kumari 
Arth Chowdhary, Deyvant Bhardwaj and Oshi Kumari co-founded InsideFPV, an Indian drone startup, in 2020. Their main product is an easy-to-use "plug-and-fly" drone, unlike others that require a complex setup. Based in Surat, the company also sells drones and parts online. 

Pranav Manpuria (Flux Auto)
Autonomous driving startup Flux Auto was co-founded by Pranav Manpuria in 2017. The company is working on creating self-driving software for forklifts and warehouse robots. They claim their technology can easily fit into existing systems of infrastructure.

Arun Sreyas and Gautham Maheswaran (RACE Energy)
In 2018, university friends Arun Sreyas and Gautham Maheswaran created RACE Energy. Headquartered in Hyderabad, the startup specialises in creating swappable battery packs tailored for the popular three-wheeled auto-rickshaws in India.

Harshit Jain and Abhik Saha 
Harshit Jain and Abhik Saha co-founded OnePlay, a cloud gaming startup in Mumbai in 2019. OnePlay allows users to play popular games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Palworld across multiple platforms without needing expensive hardware. 

ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY

Kunal Aggarwal
Kunal Aggarwal launched Credflow in 2019, offering cashflow management software for small and medium-sized enterprises. The platform analyses business data, sends automated payment reminders, and extends credit lines to eligible users. 

Gaurav Piyush, Mayank Varshney and Yash Sharma
Gaurav Piyush, Mayank Varshney and Yash Sharma came together to establish Blitz, a logistics startup, in 2020. Based in Gurugram, the company, formerly known as Grow Simplee, specialises in offering same- or next-day delivery services by using a network of warehouses and fulfilment centres.

Aditya Dadia
Aditya Dadia founded AIwrite in 2022, providing new digital software for India's insurance sector. Based in Mumbai, the startup uses machine learning to help insurance companies analyze risks and develop products faster. 

FINANCE AND VENTURE CAPITAL

Aalesh Avlani (CWC)
Aalesh Avlani, a Boston University graduate, co-founded Credit Wise Capital (CWC), a finance company specialising in providing loans for motorcycles. Founded in 2019, CWC received $6 million in startup funding the following year. They use technology like a WhatsApp bot to quickly assess creditworthiness, making it easier for people with no credit history to apply for loans.  

Srinivas Sarkar and Kushagra Manglik (Coupl)
Srinivas Sarkar and Kushagra Manglik co-founded Coupl, India's bank designed for couples of all types. Launched in early 2022, the startup helps couples, irrespective of marital status or sexual orientation, effectively manage their finances with joint accounts and linked ATM cards.

Aniket Damle
Aniket Damle works with Blackstone's private equity investment team in Asia, focusing on investments in India's healthcare, consumer, and industrial sectors. At just 23 years old, he made his first deal when Blackstone collaborated with Sona BLW to establish Sona Comstar, a technology platform company focused on electric vehicles, in 2018.

Yashvardhan Kanoi (Alter Global)
Yashvardhan Kanoi heads investments at Alter Global, a venture capital firm linking Silicon Valley with startups in emerging markets. Since 2019, he led investments in companies across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America like Ula, BukuKas, and CoLearn.

Manish Maryada (Fello)
Manish Maryada co-founded Fello, a fintech startup based in India. Fello offers rewards to users to make investing enjoyable. When users invest a certain amount through the app, they receive a ticket to play in-house games and win rewards and prizes. Founded in 2021, Fello has been downloaded over a million times and has raised over $5 million in funding.

Anuj Srivastava and Priyesh Srivastava (OnFinance AI)
Anuj Srivastava and Priyesh Srivastava (not related) co-founded OnFinance AI, a Bengaluru-based startup. They developed NeoGPT, a ChatGPT-like service tailored for the finance industry, which helps analyse data, generate forecasts, and conduct financial market research.

HEALTHCARE AND SCIENCE

Karan Ahuja
Google research scientist Karan Ahuja will become an assistant professor of computer science at Northwestern University starting in September 2024. With a PhD in human-computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon University, Mr Ahuja has focused on projects like body-movement sensing for smartwatches and gaze-tracking for smartphone control. His work has earned nearly 1,000 citations over the past five years. 

Aryan Chauhan
Aryan Chauhan, along with his mother Monika Chauhan, co-founded Zivov in 2021 with the aim of helping with diabetes treatment. Their solution involves a self-developed sensor that attaches to the skin to monitor blood sugar levels. Users can access the results through Zivov's smartphone app.

INDUSTRY, MANUFACTURING AND ENERGY

Akshit Bansal and Raghav Arora (Statiq)
Akshit Bansal, CEO of Statiq, got the idea for greener transportation while biking through Bengaluru's polluted streets. After a failed car-sharing venture with his friend Raghav Arora, they shifted their focus to electric vehicles. Their Gurgaon-based company, Statiq, now operates a nationwide network of charging stations for electric cars, buses, trucks, and three-wheelers. The company has raised $27.5 million from investors and expects to post its first operating profit in the next financial year.

Ankit Jain and Narayan Lal Gurjar (EF Polymer)
Ankit Jain and Narayan Lal Gurjar co-founded the agriculture startup EF Polymer in 2018. Their company has created a powder-like water-retention product made from biodegradable materials like bananas and orange peels. This product helps retain moisture in the soil and enhance crop yields by absorbing excess water and gradually releasing it.

Chirag Jain and Rama Krishna Mendu (EndureAir Systems)
Chirag Jain and Rama Krishna Mendu founded EndureAir Systems, a drone startup, in 2018. The Noida-based company has created three drone models for mapping, monitoring, and logistics. One of them is battery-powered and can carry up to 15 kg while travelling 15 km.  

Rahil Gupta (Hop Electric Mobility)
Rahil Gupta co-founded Hop Electric Mobility, an electric motorbike startup, in 2020. The company offers three products priced between ₹66,790 and ₹1,33,580. Their premium Oxo bike, for instance, can reach speeds of up to 95 km per hour and cover 150 km on a single charge

MEDIA, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

Kavan Antani

Kavan Antani is one of the co-founders of IndieFolio, a Mumbai-based on-demand talent marketplace catering to creative professionals. Launched in 2014, the platform serves as a connection hub for designers, animators, content creators, and video producers with clients seeking talent. IndieFolio boasts a talent pool of over 70,000 individuals and counts major clients like Paytm, Ogilvy, and Domino's Pizza.

Bengaluru: BJP leader Anantkumar Hegde represented Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha segment in Karnataka for six terms and now gynecologist Anjali Nimbalkar is putting up a spirited fight seeking to turn the tide and "deliver" it for the Congress.

Dr Nimbalkar is taking on former Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, who replaced Hegde, in this BJP stronghold.

A former Congress MLA, she lost the Assembly elections from Khanapur in Belagavi district last year.

The 62-year-old Kageri, a six-term MLA and a former minister, was also defeated in the Assembly polls from Sirsi.

"In the past 30 years, the voice of Uttara Kannada was not spoken and not even a single question was asked in the Parliament," Nimbalkar said in an apparent dig at Hegde.

If elected, she said her focus is to address the local issues related to forest dwellers, getting them 'patra' for their own land -- a battle they have been fighting for long.

Also on her priority list is getting a multispecialty hospital in Kumta as per people's demand, generating employment and focusing on tourism for the overall development of Uttara Kannada.

"Issues related to forest dwellers -- they want a 'patra' for their own land -- we will try and put forth these issues in the first session itself and we will see to it that maximum applications which are pending with the Central government get cleared during the first session itself," she said in an interview.

"So, our thing is that at least 50 per cent of the jobs should be given to the local Kannadigas in the Central schemes which are implemented in the district," she said.

Noting that Uttara Kannada has a combination of both beaches and temples, Nimbalkar said the district can be developed internationally in a much higher scale than "what actually Goa or Kerala is".

The Congress candidate is also banking on the five guarantee schemes launched by the Siddaramaiah-led government in Karnataka and the promises made by party in its manifesto at the national level.

Responding to a question, she expressed happiness that the Congress has fielded a total of six women candidates out of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka.

While campaigning, Nimbalkar said she was overwhelmed to see a large number of people, especially women, turning up for her rallies despite the intense heat in Uttara Kannada.

"They are very happy that the Congress has given a woman candidate and an educated candidate who herself is a doctor and a gynecologist. So they are excited that, yes, she can be our voice in the Parliament who can fight for our rights," the 47-year-old said.

"I have worked as an MLA (Khanapur), so they have seen my work in the Assembly and the expectations are like, yes, she will be the one who will be speaking for us and that faith is seen in their eyes," she said.

Nimbalkar strongly believes that when women enter any field, it brings a different perspective - be it in terms of management, policy formulation or even as homemakers.

Uttara Kannada is among the 14 constituencies going for polls in Karnataka under second phase on May 7.

Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha seats and the first phase of polling was held on April 26.