Elon Musk and climate change; Joe Biden launches '100 days mask challenge'

In order to contain the further outbreak and combat the pandemic, newly appointed US President Joe Biden has launched a full-scale wartime effort against COVID-19 in the US.

Suman Singh

Kanishk Singh

Saturday January 23, 2021 , 4 min Read

Climate change has been the hottest topic of the last decade, pun intended.

And now, Elon Musk has joined the battle to fight for the planet as well. The Tesla CEO tweeted on Thursday that he is going to donate $100 million for the best Carbon Capture Technology or CCT.

CCT helps in trapping carbon dioxide at the source of its emission and transporting it to a storage facility and isolating it. This, experts believe, can pave the way for a much greener future.

The coronavirus pandemic is still raging across the world. And the United States is leading the count in both confirmed cases and deaths. So far, over 24 million cases of COVID-19 and over 400,000 deaths have been confirmed in the US.

In order to contain the further outbreak and combat the pandemic, newly appointed US President Joe Biden has launched a full-scale wartime effort against COVID-19 in the US.

Biden signed a series of executive orders to address several challenges and issued a 100-day mask challenge.

Additionally, overseas travellers to the United States will not only need to wear a mask but also get tested before they get on the plane and before they depart, and quarantine when they arrive.

The President’s plan will also launch an aggressive, safe, and effective vaccination campaign to meet the goal of administering 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office.

The Interview

The edtech industry has seen a phenomenal rise this year owing to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Mukul Rustagi and his team at Classplus found themselves in the right position to digitise the after-school coaching industry. The edtech company enables educators to set up an online identity through a SaaS platform for private coaching centres, helping them shift online and make them relevant. Within 15 months of its launch, the industry has helped digitise 1,200 coaching centres from across India.

Here are some key takeaways from the interview:

Learnings from the last 12 months
Scaling up to 100 cities
Making the edtech ecosystem sustainable
Key technologies that Classplus leverages
Strategies for the next two years

Startup Spotlight

Adtech startup ET Medialabs is helping 250 brands up their digital media campaigns

With technological advancements and the big push for Digital India, advertisement campaigns, too, have moved from television to social media. Helping businesses leverage the internet to attract more customers, adtech startup ET Medialabs uses proprietary algorithms and in-house tools for designing media campaigns for their partners, including CRED, Grofers, and Licious. Read more.

ET Medialabs snapshot — *Illustration: YS Design*

Editor’s Pick: The Turning Point

How creator monetisation startup TagMango is helping influencers earn more money

Though India boasts of around 200 million social media users, it's often very difficult for social media influencers to earn a living due to the lack of adequate infrastructure. To address this issue, Kolkata-based Divyanshu Damani teamed up with Mohammad Hasan to start TagMango— a creative monetisation startup helping influencers and celebrities to partner with different brands and scale their community. Read more.

News & Updates

Reliance Jio's revenues grew 5.3 percent to Rs 22,858 crore in the December quarter. Its profits increased 15.5 percent to Rs 3,489 crore over the September quarter, riding on a record 25.1 million subscriber additions. Jio now has 410.8 million subscribers.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he would be giving away $100 million prize money for creating the best carbon capture technology to reduce carbon emissions. CCT involves trapping carbon dioxide at the emission source and transporting it to a storage facility and isolating it.

Wakefit.co is offering its employees an ESOP buyback option worth Rs 15 crore on the sidelines of its Series B funding. The scheme will allocate six to seven percent of the startup's shares, benefitting about 15-20 employees.

Speech analytics software company Uniphore acquired Spain-based Emotion Research Lab — a software developer that uses AI and ML to identify emotion and engagement levels in real-time over video-based interactions — for an undisclosed amount.

AR Rahman has launched a new initiative called Futureproof — a high-impact conference series designed to elevate and amplify the country's diverse talent across the streams of art, science, and entrepreneurship.