Shine Jacob And Peerzada Abrar

Stories by Shine Jacob And Peerzada Abrar

India's first Covid-19 patient speaks up!

India's first Covid-19 patient speaks up!

Rediff.com   28 Apr 2020

The survivor from Thrissur, who returned from Wuhan -- the epicentre of the pandemic -- recounts her road to recovery and her future plans. Shine Jacob reports

Why shale holdings of RIL, GAIL are under pressure

Why shale holdings of RIL, GAIL are under pressure

Rediff.com   25 Apr 2020

American refiners closed some of their production, leading to futures trade benchmarked to the West Texas Intermediate going negative.

Classes in Cloud: Online teaching in lockdown times

Classes in Cloud: Online teaching in lockdown times

Rediff.com   16 Apr 2020

With the lockdown in force, live online teaching has become the order of the day, report Peerzada Abrar and Sai Ishwar.

Ecommerce cos hit roadblock as lockdown set to continue

Ecommerce cos hit roadblock as lockdown set to continue

Rediff.com   11 Apr 2020

What is aggravating the situation is that e-commerce firms are facing huge shortage of delivery personnel. They have not been able to bring back their staff to work, despite offering higher pay and Covid-related insurance packages.

Ecommerce firms ask govt for 6-month curfew passes

Ecommerce firms ask govt for 6-month curfew passes

Rediff.com   8 Apr 2020

The companies have asked for digital curfew passes as e-retailers feel if more lockdowns are ordered after April 14, it is extremely difficult and time-consuming process to acquire the passes from local authorities.

Consumer internet start-ups brace for salary cuts, layoffs

Consumer internet start-ups brace for salary cuts, layoffs

Rediff.com   2 Apr 2020

For now, Bounce, Shuttl, Fab Hotels, Instamojo, Zomato, Curefit, and HealthifyMe, among others, are going for salary deductions. Most of the consumer internet start-ups, besides those who are in the grocery delivery, education tech, and video conferencing business, would ultimately lay-off people and cut back salaries.

Beam me up, Scotty! Indian tech firm helped in Wuhan's Covid-19 fight

Beam me up, Scotty! Indian tech firm helped in Wuhan's Covid-19 fight

Rediff.com   30 Mar 2020

Thanks to technological support provided by BlinkIN, a Bengaluru-based intelligent visual-assistance company, engineers in Wuhan were able to remotely install air ventilation systems in two hospitals in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, reports Peerzada Abrar.

E-grocers resume work as states step in

E-grocers resume work as states step in

Rediff.com   27 Mar 2020

However, many of these firms were facing an uphill task of convincing the people on the ground to return to work, as many are apprehensive of their safety.

E-commerce deliveries come to a grinding halt

E-commerce deliveries come to a grinding halt

Rediff.com   25 Mar 2020

There is a lot of police action on the ground and even inter-state movement has been stopped, because of which deliveries of essential items via platforms, such as Flipkart, Amazon, Grofers, and Milkbasket, aren't happening. Food-delivery firms -- Swiggy and Zomato -- are facing similar challenges, according to the sources.

Start-ups scrape the bottom of the barrel

Start-ups scrape the bottom of the barrel

Rediff.com   22 Mar 2020

According to a survey by community platform LocalCircles, early-stage start-ups, funding dependent start-ups and many small businesses will soon be fighting for survival as the spurt in coronavirus cases hits them hard.

Online shopping sees spurt thanks to coronavirus fears

Online shopping sees spurt thanks to coronavirus fears

Rediff.com   15 Mar 2020

E-commerce companies are seeing an increase in demand for products such as fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, flour, rice, and lentils, and personal hygiene items like sanitisers and soaps and household cleaning products. Other products include instant noodles, baby food and Ayurvedic items. "There is even a huge spike in pet food," said a person.

How PhonePe restored its UPI after Yes Bank blow

How PhonePe restored its UPI after Yes Bank blow

Rediff.com   8 Mar 2020

After a gruelling 24 hours, the PhonePe team has fully restored UPI on the payment platform. The app is up and running again with ICICI Bank as its new partner with all payment instruments enabled.

Govt to offload entire BPCL stake valued at Rs 46,300 cr

Govt to offload entire BPCL stake valued at Rs 46,300 cr

Rediff.com   8 Mar 2020

The sale is key to meeting the government's disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 trillion in the financial year 2020-21. So far, the disinvestment exercise has fetched the government Rs 34,845 crore during the current financial year.

ONGC seeks new petroleum exploration licence

ONGC seeks new petroleum exploration licence

Rediff.com   4 Mar 2020

RIL and Shell ceased production from the fields in 2016, and ONGC has already been using Tapti infrastructure for its other fields for better optimisation.

New technology adds zing to Indian Railways

New technology adds zing to Indian Railways

Rediff.com   4 Mar 2020

Globally, London's Tube and French railway networks are already using this technology in their corrosion-prone areas.

It's official: Ola will go for IPO in next few years

It's official: Ola will go for IPO in next few years

Rediff.com   4 Mar 2020

The Bengaluru-based firm competes with US rival Uber whose lukewarm IPO last year has contributed to the lag in valuation trend among the unicorns across the Indian start-up ecosystem.

Nadella 'decodes future', calls to protect AI from bias

Nadella 'decodes future', calls to protect AI from bias

Rediff.com   26 Feb 2020

The Hyderabad-born Nadella says it's not the AI engine, but the teams that build it as well as the algorithms to make it intelligent have to be diverse and inclusive, so that the solutions they build do not show up any sort of 'unconscious bias' that they may have.

Google to wind down free WiFi services globally

Google to wind down free WiFi services globally

Rediff.com   25 Feb 2020

Google had started the Station as a five-year partnership with the Indian Railways and RailTel in 2015 to provide fast, free WiFi in over 400 stations by mid-2020.

Amazon, trade bodies' courtroom battle may impact e-commerce policy

Amazon, trade bodies' courtroom battle may impact e-commerce policy

Rediff.com   24 Feb 2020

The case may drag for a few years, experts say, as CAIT and DVM have said they will appeal against the interim relief granted to Amazon.

Post devaluation, Quikr is no longer a unicorn

Post devaluation, Quikr is no longer a unicorn

Rediff.com   20 Feb 2020

Major shareholder Kinnevik, a Swedish investment firm, devalued Quikr by 45%, referring to the exaggerated revenue resulting from fraudulent transactions that rocked the company. Quikr is now valued at about $577 million.