Startup news and updates: daily roundup (April 28, 2021)

Covaxin found to neutralise 617 variant of COVID-19: Dr Fauci

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. Fauci was speaking to reporters during a conference call on Tuesday.

Amazon, Facebook, Vivo, others extend support for COVID relief efforts

Enterprises across the board -- including Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Oppo, and Vivo -- are extending support in India's fight against COVID-19, donating oxygenators, breathing machines, and ventilators amid the deadly second wave of the pandemic in the country. Amazon India on Tuesday said it has procured 100 ventilators through its global resources to immediately import these into the country.

Zomato IPO: Info Edge to sell stake worth Rs 750 Cr

Info Edge on Tuesday said it would sell stake worth Rs 750 crore in the initial public offering (IPO) of its investee company Zomato. In a regulatory filing, Info Edge said Zomato, an online food delivery platform, 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.

COVID-19 vaccine: Registration for above 18-years to start at 4 pm today

All those aged 18 and above can register themselves on the CoWIN portal or using the Aarogya Setu app to get vaccinated against COVID-19 starting 4 pm on Wednesday, April 28, the Union Health Ministry said as the government gears up to launch the third phase of the vaccination drive from May 1, amidst a raging second wave.

Dating app TrulyMadly launches matchmaking feature, but this time for plasma donors and COVID-19 patients

Indian dating app TrulyMadly has launched a plasma matchmaking feature on its Corona Clusters platform to help match COVID-19 positive patients with plasma donors on the basis of their blood group, diagnosis date, and location. Patients who require plasma can visit the website, and click on 'register request' to fill out a form, while plasma donors between the ages of 18 and 60 years old can sign up to get listed on the website. Nearly 290 plasma donors have registered so far, and 467 plasma requests have been raised on the platform.

New Zealand to give 1M NZ dollars to Red Cross to assist India in COVID-19 fight

New Zealand will give 1 million NZ dollars (about $ 7,20,365) to the Red Cross to assist India as it grapples with a COVID-19 surge, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said on Wednesday. The assistance was announced as India saw a record single-day rise of 3,60,960 coronavirus cases, which pushed the total tally to 1,79,97,267, while the death toll crossed two lakh, following 3,293 fresh fatalities.

Blackstone commits $5M to help India fight raging COVID-19 resurgence

Wall Street-headquartered alternative investment management giant Blackstone, which has over $20 billion in live-investments in the country, on Wednesday announced $5 million (close to Rs 40 crore) aid to help India to fight the raging coronavirus pandemic. The announcement by Stephen A Schwarzman, the Founder and Chairman of the fund, comes on the heels of close to 40 major American companies committing millions of dollars to help the country fight the pandemic.

No vaccination drive in Maha from May 1; restrictions extended

The COVID-19 vaccination drive beginning May 1 cannot be launched in Maharashtra because of the unavailabily of sufficient doses of vaccines even as the state on Wednesday extended the current lockdown-like restrictions till May 15 given the rise in the COVID-19 cases. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope also said people in the age group of 18 to 44 years will receive free vaccines at state-run centres but citizens will have to pay for the jabs at private facilities.

PM sanctions procurement of 1 lakh portable oxygen concentrators

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sanctioned the procurement of one lakh portable oxygen concentrators from the PM Cares Fund. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the measures needed to improve Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) supply for COVID management.

Bhutan to provide liquid oxygen to India to help combat COVID-19

Bhutan will supply life-saving liquid oxygen to India, which is battling an unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, signalling a practical manifestation of the uniquely close and friendly bilateral ties, the Indian embassy in Bhutan said. Every day, 40 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen produced by the oxygen plant will be exported to Assam using cryogenic tankers, the embassy said in a statement.

Jio Platforms, BYJU's in Time Magazine's first-ever list of 100 most influential companies

Two Indian firms, Reliance Industries' technology arm Jio Platforms and e-learning startup BYJU's have figured in the 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. To assemble it, TIME solicited nominations across sectors including healthcare, entertainment, transportation, technology and evaluated each one on key factors, including relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, ambition, and success.

Serum cuts vaccine price for states to Rs 300/dose

Serum Institute of India (SII) -- the maker of the most used COVID-19 vaccine in the country -- on Wednesday announced a cut in price of the jab it plans to sell to states to Rs 300 per dose from the earlier Rs 400. This follows widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it had sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.

Canada to provide $10M to support fight against COVID-19 in India: PM Trudeau

Canada will provide 10 million Canadian dollars to India to support the country in its fight against the unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced. Addressing a press conference, Trudeau said the Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau had direct conversations with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar about how Canada can best help, including the donation of extra medical supplies.