Swiggy buys out AI startup Kint.io; Alexa is teaching rural kids

Daily Capsule | 5th Feb Hello It’s not so difficult to do away with plastics! Don’t believe us? You might be inspired by this one-of-its-kind supermarket in Amsterdam that just opened the “world’s first” plastic-free aisle to its customers. The store in the Dutch city, a part of supermarket chain Ekoplaza, will display more than 700 grocery products, minus a single plastic packaging. From meat, vegetables to fresh fruits to rice, dairy products, and even chocolates, a range of products will be displayed in containers made of either glass, metal or cardboard. And don’t get fooled by some of the materials that look like plastic – they are actually decomposable biofilm. Thrilled with this, environmental campaigners are now urging retailers in the UK to do the same. But how long before India follows suit? What do you think? Cheers, Team YourStory Stories you shouldn't miss Have you ever tried getting Alexa to do chores for you while giving commands in Hinglish? If not, try doing it and you might be pleasantly surprised. [A year since introducing Alexa in India, Amazon is now trying to integrate Alexa deeper into the day-to-day lives of Indians.]( may not be a winner-takes-all market, but the one who speaks to Indians in a language they understand and respects the quirks of the market will stand above the rest. Amazon reckons Alexa is on course to take this pole position. Swiggy has made the first acqu-hire of the year. [The online food delivery platform recently announced that it has acqui-hired Kint.io, a Bengaluru-based AI startup. With this, the team of Kint.io, founded in 2014, is all set to join Swiggy]( boost its computer vision technology and superior consumer experience. The founding members - Jagannathan Veraraghavan and Pavithra Solai Jawahar - will also join the Swiggy team soon. A joint survey by LocalCircles and Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) has revealed that the problem of Angel Tax for startups has been quite widespread. [According to the findings, more than two-thirds of startups in India that have raised funding since inception have received notices from the Income Tax Department under the provision of Angel Tax.]( the startups that received notices, 73 percent had raised capital between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 2 crore, 17 percent in the Rs 2-10 crore range and six per cent under Rs 50 lakh. Google has taken down a slew of “beauty camera” apps in an attempt to clear the Play Store of malicious applications and content. [Altogether 29 apps, these were found to be stealing users’ photos, promoting pornographic content and carrying out nefarious activities on Android devices.]( was also found that these apps were mostly downloaded from Asia, particularly in India. In case you are still using any of these apps, it’s advisable to uninstall them right away. Bhubaneswar-based micro-financier (MFI)[Annapurna Finance has raised Rs 137 crore as a primary equity investment from Asian Development Bank (ADB).]( will allow the MFI to extend micro-credits to women members of Joint Liability Groups (JLGs). Annapurna Finance has diversified its portfolio in the MSME finance and affordable housing segment. It has opened 60 branches that are exclusively financing the MSME and housing segment. [Google is finally shutting down its social media service, and the purging date of all Google Plus accounts and pages is set for April 2.]( will take away the option for users to “create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities or events”. But what prompted this move? As it turns out, a slew of reasons - including low usage of Plus services, failure to meet consumers’ expectations, and, a massive security breach – resulted in Google taking this step. But before it all goes down, the tech giant is urging users to download and save their content. Come immerse yourself in culture with over 100 speakers, more than 40 culturalperformances, and 25+ workshops conducted by 40+ award winning craftspersons. Sample the varied cuisines and handicrafts on India at Arth - A Culture Fest. [Register for free now.]( Considered as a difficult feat to pull off, Harness has built a platform that makes Continuous Delivery fairly simple. And, with niche product at the top of its game which is already being used by big names in retail, financial and tech sector as well as smaller startups, the San Fransisco headquartered startup is gearing up to grow faster. Read all about the engineering side of this tech solution that is solving a missing link in software delivery and why they are excited about building their R&D team in Bengaluru. [Register here.]( Rally driver Garima Avtar is a shining example of the new Indian woman trying to move past traditional gender roles to chase her dream. Which is the reason why she features in the new campaign for #CourtyardbyMarriott, which believes that the new definition of success is to be #FueledByPassion, fearless and undaunted by challenges. [Watch the video here.]( -- [Click Here]( to unsubscribe from this newsletter.