Coronavirus updates for April 20
Here's a roundup of YourStory's coverage today of how India and the world are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
While the Minister of Home Affairs had earlier come out with guidelines on how to relax lockdown for specific industries and sectors post-April 20, many states are choosing not to let the guard down.
In the wake of the rising number of coronavirus cases, Telangana became the first state to extend the lockdown till May 7. While announcing the start of rapid testing, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also decided not to relax the lockdown for at least a week. This comes as the number of coronavirus cases crossed 17,600, with 559 deaths reported across the country, according to Worldometer.
Meanwhile, other states have seen an increase in people and vehicular movement as the lockdown gets relaxed for certain industries. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha secretariats have resumed functioning with a limited staff, while people were reportedly crowding the streets in Chennai and Mumbai. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned against any overcrowding, violation of Home Ministry guidelines, and requested people to follow social distancing.
On the world stage, China has rejected a call from Australia for an investigation into how the coronavirus pandemic began and the country's response to the disease. This comes as several countries including the US, the UK, and France blamed China for the outbreak, which has taken over 166,000 lives globally. A German newspaper also called for China to foot a bill of around $162 billion for damages caused due to economic stagnation in the country.
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Here's a roundup of YourStory's coverage today of how India and the world are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
In a conversation with YourStory Founder Shradha Sharma, Shesheer Kumar, Director of Operations, Huwel Lifesciences, talks about the challenges around coronavirus testing, and its ICMR-approved kit that is all ready to be deployed immediately.
A promise must be kept: This woman entrepreneur gave 50 employees raises in the time of coronavirus
As businesses face uncertainty in the time of COVID-19 and are bracing for the economic fallout, Mandeep Kaur Sidhu, Founder of Simba Quartz, has decided to give her employees up to 30 percent hike and pledge that she won't lay off any people.
Coronavirus: Ola Emergency launches in Mumbai; rolled out in 15 cities across India
Ola Emergency will provide transport for medical trips to and from hospitals that are not related to coronavirus and do not require an ambulance.
YourStory SMB Week: Optimising cost during Covid-19 starts with communicating with your stakeholders
During YourStory’s SMB Week, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), technology experts came together on a WhatsApp chat to discuss how Indian SMBs can tide over these difficult times.
During YourStory’s SMB Week, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), industry leaders from the pharma and healthtech sector came together on a WhatsApp chat to discuss how SMBs make supply chains more resilient using technology.
Coronavirus: Telangana bans Swiggy and Zomato till end of lockdown
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has banned operations of foodtech platforms Swiggy and Zomato till the coronavirus lockdown ends. The ongoing lockdown in the state is likely to be extended till May 7, he says.
Coronavirus: Facebook launches Fundraisers in India, users can raise money for 70+ charities
Facebook has opened donations for charities engaged in coronavirus relief work. Users can create fundraisers for the causes they support and invite friends to donate.
Alibaba Cloud to invest $28 billion as companies focus on digital economy amid coronavirus
The Chinese company said it is committed to offering enhanced cloud services to its clients across the globe, aiming to help businesses speed up their digital transformation.
Healthcare startup MedIoTek's IoMT device helps prescreen COVID-19 patients
Chennai-based healthcare startup MedIoTek Health Systems’ IoMT prescreening tool VinCense can identify and prioritise patients who need to take COVID-19 tests.
How taxi rental platform Instacar is navigating the coronavirus roadblock
Instacar, a marketplace for outstation taxi rentals, started as a pre-booked, chauffeur-driven service. As mobility takes a hit during the coronavirus-led lockdown, the online marketplace is offering critical travel within Bengaluru.
Founded in 2016 by Kunal Malik and Maneesh Dhooper, PlanetSpark aims to help the children of frontline workers get tutored online for free while their parents help the nation fight the coronavirus spread.
[WATCH] Online marketplace Jumbotail’s unlikely hero in coronavirus fight: the kirana
Ashish Jhina, Co-founder of wholesale online marketplace Jumbotail, reveals how coronavirus and the lockdown have affected the supply chain, how it is working with kiranas to resolve operational complexities, and why small stores will emerge stronger.
Is the coronavirus pandemic pushing restaurants and cloud kitchens to point of no return?
Karan Tanna, Founder of Ghost Kitchens, a fund that invests in cloud kitchens, details out the impact the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent nationwide lockdown have had on an industry that employs close to 10 million people.
Coronavirus: BigHaat is helping farmers across India during lockdown
BigHaat is working with various stakeholders in the supply chain ecosystem to address the breakdown of supply and logistics.
Cloudnine Hospitals and Dunzo partner to deliver essential medicines
Cloudnine Hospitals and Dunzo have partnered to deliver essential medicines to pregnant women and newborns at their doorstep.
Collaborating against coronavirus – 80 quotes of the week from India’s COVID-19 battle
In this new compilation series, we present powerful quotes from the week of April 13-19 that frame India’s coronavirus health challenge, and preparation for economic recovery.
Members researching ways to get the economy back on track after the coronavirus threat abates includes Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, IBM, Google Cloud, The Data City, Truata, Rolls-Royce and ODI Leeds.
These 7 TV shows on Netflix, Hotstar will ensure your travel fix in the time of coronavirus
Do you watch shows and series for the actors and plots? In the time of coronavirus, when travel is off the radar, we suggest you zero in on TV shows where the location plays a starring role. This list will help you get your travel fix during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Coronavirus: Indian startups bag top honours at global hackathon meet
Hack the Crisis – India initiative received more than 15,000 applications and 2,500 team submissions, of which 300 were selected for the global meet.
PM Modi's AEIOU: ‘vowels of a new normal’ in post-coronavirus world
Urging Indians to take the lead in defining a post-coronavirus world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlines five principles the new business and work culture should be based on, labelling them the ‘vowels of a new normal’.
From making rotis to cooking dishes with ingredients available in your pantry, these women YouTubers are cooking up sumptuous meals from their kitchens.
How ClearTax is using AWS to help you file GST returns during COVID-19
Bengaluru-based ClearTax has seen a significant increase in the adoption rate of their GST compliance platform during COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown announcements
Beyond just survival: How can small businesses emerge from the COVID-19 and emerge stronger
The webinar held on April 13 brought together key stakeholders to discuss and deliberate upon how to solve problems for a post-COVID-19 world for small entrepreneurs.
The post-COVID-19 world will open new opportunities for lenders
In the post-COVID-19 world, the new-to-credit segment will be impossible to ignore for any lending institution.
LIVE: Health Ministry updates on COVID-19 crisis
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India talks about the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19
Coronavirus: Govt unlikely to exempt GST on masks, ventilators, PPEs
GST exemption on such items would lead to blocked input tax credit (ITC), increasing the cost of manufacturing and a higher price for consumers.
NBFCs, MFIs, HFCs get Rs 1 lakh Cr liquidity boost by RBI
RBI announced a new scheme, TLTRO, under which it will pump in Rs 50,000 crore into the system and made it mandatory for banks to invest 50 percent of the money in lower-rated debt being issued by small and medium NBFCs, HFCs and MFIs.
Small, medium enterprises should act prudently, avoid over-leveraging: SBI chief
State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar on Sunday urged small and medium enterprises to act prudently and avoid over-leveraging during the current situation where there is a lot of uncertainty.
Fitch Solution cuts India's FY21 GDP growth forecast to 1.8 pc
For India, it said the real GDP growth rate for 2020-21 (April 2020 to March 2021) has been revised down to 1.8 percent from 4.6 percent, previously.
Coronavirus: ICICI Bank launches voice banking services on Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
Through voice assistance-based banking services, ICICI customers can check balance, seek credit card details and ask other queries, amid coronavirus lockdown.
Open bookings only after govt decides on resuming services: Aviation Minister to airlines
The Ministry of Civil Aviation clarified that so far no decision has been taken to open domestic or international operations
Edited by Suman Singh
