SUMMARY
PM Modi said that the next big ideas from India should find global relevance and application
Ecommerce companies have been barred from delivering non-essentials till May 3
Zomato and Swiggy food delivery banned in Telangana in lockdown
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“Every crisis brings with it an opportunity. COVID-19 is no different” — Prime Minister Narendra Modi
For a change, PM Modi took to LinkedIn instead of Twitter to express his thoughts on Covid-19 and talked about the opportunities that lie infront of the country and its entrepreneurial mindset. PM Modi talked about developing business models that attach primacy to care for the poor as well as our planet.
“We should invest in innovations to make sure our farmers have access to information, machinery, and markets no matter what the situation, that our citizens have access to essential goods,” PM wrote.
Modi said that the next big ideas from India should find global relevance and application. “They should have the ability to drive a positive change not merely for India but for the entire humankind,” he added.
“India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual, can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post-COVID-19 world,” said PM Modi.
At the same time, ecommerce entrepreneurs have had a reality check as the government notified that in line with the consolidated revised guidelines on lockdown restrictions, the supply of non-essential items through ecommerce will be prohibited in the lockdown, even after April 20.
Food Delivery Under Watch
Another hit today came for food delivery companies— Zomato and Swiggy. The Telangana government has extended the state-wide lockdown to May 7 and has barred food delivery services till further notice.
The development surfaced after a food delivery rider tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. The rider is said to have contracted the disease from his father, who returned from Markaz on March 18, and the delivery executive is said to have delivered food to 25 people on March 19 and 20.
Telangana chief minister K. Chandra Shekhar Rao said that companies delivering groceries such as BigBasket and Grofers will be allowed to ply in the state while no one will be allowed to order cooked meals from apps like Swiggy and Zomato from April 20.
Further, the travel tech businesses may have to readjust their hopes for revival as well. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed airlines to stop taking bookings until further notice. DGCA said there has been no direction or clearance from it allowing airlines to start ticket bookings for journeys from 4 May onwards.
“…the Airlines may note that they shall be given sufficient notice and time for restarting of operations,” the regulator said.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar further said that the central government has so far not taken any decision on starting train or airline services for passengers, asserting that any discussion on the issue is futile.
On the timeline of restarting passenger transport services like trains or airlines, Javadekar said, “It has to start one day but which is that one day you don’t know at this moment. Discussion about it is futile because we are examining the situation every day and drawing new lessons.”
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