Coronavirus updates for April 14
Here's a roundup of YourStory's coverage today of how India and the world are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
In an address to the nation on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3. The Prime Minister said that the lockdown will be strictly implemented till April 20, while areas outside coronavirus hotspots may be given conditional relaxation to resume important activity after April 20.
The announcement comes as India's coronavirus count nears 11,000, with 368 deaths reported, as per Worldometer. Several states including Punjab, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Mizoram had earlier announced an extension of the lockdown. The announcement followed after the Prime Minister discussed India's coronavirus situation with all chief ministers in a video conference on Saturday.
Thousands of migrant labourers gathered at Mumbai's Bandra station hoping to return home as they expected the lockdown to end today. The daily wage earners demanded arrangements of transport facilities to head back to their villages in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. In Surat, hundreds of migrant workers staged a protest, demanding that they be sent back to their native villages.
IMF's Chief Economic Adviser Gita Gopinath termed the economic downturn resulting from the coronavirus pandemic the worst since the Great Depression of 1929. Terming it 'The Great Lockdown', IMF projects that the global growth in 2020 will fall to -3 percent — a downgrade of 6.3 percentage points since just three months ago. The cumulative loss to global GDP could be around $9 trillion — greater than the economies of Japan and Germany combined.
IMF also cut India's GDP growth to 1.9 percent for financial year 2021 — its worst growth performance since 1991 liberalisation. It also said that India and China were the only two major economies to register a growth, while all other economies are forecast to be contracting.
Here's a roundup of YourStory's coverage today of how India and the world are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
How this startup is fuelling Swiggy, Bigbasket, and Flipkart during coronavirus lockdown
On-demand fuel delivery startup MyPetrolPump, which supplies fuel to OYO, Treebo, and delivery startups, is ensuring that the fleet stays on the ground during coronavirus lockdown.
During YourStory’s SMB week, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), industry leaders from the BFSI sector came together on a WhatsApp chat to discuss how SMBs can start adopting cloud services during these uncertain times to ensure business continuity.
Coronavirus: How Swiggy distributed over 20 lakh meals across 18 cities during lockdown
Amid the coronavirus lockdown, Swiggy has partnered with several commercial kitchens, NGOs, and state governments to provide daily meals to thousands of underprivileged people.
Mumbai-based ideaForge is deploying drones to monitor social distancing during coronavirus lockdown
Drone manufacturer ideaForge has deployed drones at Sangli in Maharashtra and Guwahati in Assam to monitor crowds to help control the spread of coronavirus.
One in four MSMEs may shut if coronavirus lockdown extends beyond eight weeks: PHDCCI President
While PHDCCI has submitted inputs to the government for boosting the performance of small businesses (MSMEs) during coronavirus crisis, a lot more needs to be done to give a lift to the struggling sector.
Coronavirus: Amazon says its top concern is ensuring the health and safety of its employees
Ecommerce giant Amazon has come out in support of its employees and customers to fight the coronavirus by creating some global processes, which is being implemented in India and other countries.
Coronavirus: Zomato raises Rs 1.5 Cr for its Gold Support Fund
Earlier this month, Zomato launched Gold Support Fund to give all the proceeds from the purchase of Zomato Gold annual memberships in April towards supporting restaurant housekeepers, cooks and servers as well as their families.
Coronavirus: InMobi revises salary structure, to provide stock options instead of cash
InMobi gets around 75 percent of its revenue from overseas markets with North America contributing 50 percent and China 25 percent.
Uber announces Uber Essential for urgent travel in select cities amid coronavirus lockdown
Uber has announced the launch of Uber Essential to facilitate essential travel for residents of Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram, and Nashik. It is a limited mobility solution approved by the government authorities for hospital and pharmacy visits.
Govt of Telangana deploys US-based healthtech startup’s app to track COVID-19 cases in the state
Vera Smart Healthcare uses GPS and Geotagging to identify, track, monitor and provide real-time analytics to the Chief Minister and Health Department of Telangana.
What Indian startup founders and VCs can learn from China on battling the COVID-19 pandemic
A unique webinar by Venture Gurukool Capability Fund, in partnership with YourStory & AWS, saw entrepreneurship and industry experts from Shanghai and Beijing share their learnings from the way the Chinese startup ecosystem battled challenges of COVID-19 and how India can take notes from it.
COVID-19 lockdown blues? Here are some online activities to keep your social life going
Miss hanging out with your friends? No plans for the weekend? Here’s how people across the world are in touch and have been keeping the fun alive.
Coronavirus: Shah Rukh Khan provides 25,000 PPE kits to Maharashtra’s frontline medical staff
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, medical staff and health workers are facing a shortage of PPE kits.
After a tigress in the US fell prey to the novel coronavirus, the National Tiger Conservation Authority in India has ensured the setting up of isolation wards in India’s tiger reserves.
Tips for entrepreneurs to weather the COVID-19 storm
Unanimity and mutually-shared responsibility are crucial for startups in the slow return to normalcy during coronavirus crisis.
The pandemic and restrictions on the sale of non-essential products have taken a toll on online sellers like Rishabh. A significant portion of his income came from the sale of cosmetics. Today, he is hard at work fulfilling orders for essentials like sanitisers and soaps so that people can stay safe.
COVID-19: Facebook launches resources for educators, partners UNESCO
Social media giant Facebook on Monday said it has launched an online resource guide on how to collaborate and continue the learning process using Facebook products, tools, and programs amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Modi extends coronavirus lockdown till May 3
PM Narendra Modi lauds country’s cooperation and extends coronavirus lockdown till May 3. States will ensure strict enforcement of lockdown regulations till April 20, and there could be an easing depending on the situation after that.
Coronavirus: Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald's serve meal to medical, frontline staff at govt hospitals
Fast food brands such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC have committed to serving meals to medical and frontline staff at government hospitals across cities as part of their COVID-19 relief initiatives in India, the companies said.
Airtel, Apollo Hospitals Group team up to support India's battle against COVID-19 pandemic
Bharti Airtel on Monday said it has teamed up with Apollo 24/7, the digital business unit of The Apollo Hospitals Group, to support India's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Extended lockdown to cause $234.4 B economic loss, says Barclays
The extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 will inflict an economic loss of $234.4 billion, and result in stagnant GDP for calendar year 2020, a British brokerage said on Tuesday.
Coronavirus: SoftBank Group forecasts $7B full-year net loss
Struggling Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group on Monday forecast a $7 billion net loss for the fiscal year ending March 2020 due to the negative impact of coronavirus and losses related to WeWork.
Coronavirus: Govt committed to support MSMEs in distress due to lockdown, says Nitin Gadkari
The Union Minister for MSMEs said that discussions are already underway for financing 10 percent of the working capital for MSMEs amid the coronavirus-led lockdown.
Govts should support news media as 'essential service' to stop coronavirus "disinfodemic": UNESCO
UNESCO has said news media should be recognised and supported by all governments as an "essential service" to stop the COVID-19 "disinfodemic" that is putting lives at risk.
Government sets up 20 control rooms to address migrant workers' plight amid coronavirus lockdown
The workers, especially migrant labourers, are the worst hit due to the coronavirus lockdown as a large number of them either faced pay cut or job loss.
All domestic and international scheduled airlines operations shall remain suspended till 11.59 pm of May 3, 2020, the ministry tweeted.
Coronavirus: Hero MotoCorp to provide 60 custom-built mobile ambulances for COVID-19 patients
These bike ambulances can be set up on any Hero motorcycle 150 cc and above.
Coronavirus: Gadkari raises turnover limits for MSMEs, urges India Inc to clear dues
Union Minister asks India Inc to clear huge outstanding payments to MSMEs to ease distress and inject liquidity into market in times of coronavirus crisis.
The automotive industry accounts for nearly 50 percent in India's industrial GDP and is one of the biggest employers - both through direct and indirect employment.
Designer Anita Dongre's label has started the production of 7,000 reusable masks every week for distribution to NGOs, hospitals and residents.
Coronavirus: India Inc stands by lockdown extension; seeks stimulus package to rebuild economy
India Inc on Tuesday said the nationwide lockdown extension was necessary to avert a humanitarian crisis, but insisted on the need for a stimulus package to rebuild the economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
IMF projects India's growth rate at 1.9pc in 2020, forecasts global recession due to coronavirus
With a subdued forecast due to coronavirus, India is likely to record its worst growth performance since the 1991 liberalisation, the IMF said.
