How Indians are fighting COVID-19 together

India is in the middle of a second COVID-19 wave. 

Countries across the world have shown solidarity with India and its citizens — sending medical equipment, ventilators, and oxygen tanks, and concentrators, among other aids in large numbers. 

But, the country itself is rallying together to fight this deadly second wave — one step at a time. 

From preparing home-cooked meals for COVID-19 patients in quarantine to helping allocate oxygen cylinders, and ICU beds for more serious patients — in almost every corner of the country — Indian citizens are stepping up to help each other.

India is surviving on acts of kindness, amplified on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp, where requests for hospital beds, medicines, injections, plasma, and oxygen are flowing, and sometimes, overflowing. 

Read about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

The Interview

Dr Ritesh Malik, Founder and CEO of Innov8 Coworking, has been on the frontline of the COVID-19 fight at his family-owned hospital in Delhi, Radix Healthcare. 

In this unfiltered chat, he talks about where we went wrong as a nation, when the second wave of COVID-19 will peak, what to expect from the third wave, and most importantly, how you can save yourself and your family at this time, among several other important things. Read more.

Editor’s Pick: Product Roadmap

In December 2013, Albinder Dhindsa and Saurabh Kumar started Grofers out of Gurugram. They wanted to solve the on-demand pick-up and drop-off services for Indian consumers in partnership with local stores, which were struggling to solve this problem. 

Now, the Softbank-backed e-grocer, which is focusing on private label products to drive overall sales growth, is expecting its gross merchandise value to grow 4X to around Rs 30,000 crore by 2022. Read more.

Startup Spotlight

Building a hostel chain out of Goa for young travellers

While doing a semester abroad in Portugal, a road trip through Spain where he stayed in a couple of hostels inspired entrepreneur Ryan Prazeres to start something similar in India for young travellers. 

In May 2019, he launched Piggy Hostels in Goa — a backpacker hostel startup that provides clean, affordable, and safe accommodation for travellers, with a focus on guest experience through events and activities. Read more.

News & Updates

• India's home-grown COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin has been found to neutralise the 617 variant of the deadly virus, White House chief medical adviser and America's top pandemic expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said.

• Homegrown dating app TrulyMadly has launched a plasma matchmaking feature on its Corona Clusters platform to help match COVID-19 positive patients with plasma donors based on their blood group, diagnosis date, and location.

• Serum Institute of India (SII) — the maker of the most used COVID-19 vaccine in the country — on Wednesday announced a cut in the price of the jab it plans to sell to states to Rs 300 per dose from the earlier Rs 400.

• Info Edge on Tuesday said it would sell its stake worth Rs 750 crore in the IPO of its investee company Zomato. In a regulatory filing, Info Edge said Zomato was proposing an IPO of its equity shares, comprising a fresh issue of equity shares by Zomato Ltd and an offer for sale by Info Edge (India) Ltd.

• Reliance Industries' technology arm Jio Platforms and e-learning startup BYJU'S have figured in Time Magazine's first-ever list of 100 most influential companies. On its website, Time said companies shaping the future are at the heart of the first-ever TIME100 Most Influential Companies.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“Social Media has become a temporary healthcare support. It's the humanity and the compassion on social media and the internet that is really shining through in these times.” 

— Masoom Minawala, Entrepreneur, and Fashion and Lifestyle Influencer.

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