COVID-19 – Dutch Uncles

Here’s How Hotels Can Manage Revenue During The Pandemic

Aakash Sharma — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 05:35:08 +0000

Hotels and the ancillaries of the hospitality industry are coming out of the pandemic disruption with many new changes and challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, almost the entire hotel industry in India went under as they recorded near-zero occupancy for an extended period, a situation never faced before.

Despite many adaptive measures, the challenge remains – how can hotels get the best out of their rental and regular infrastructure? What new ways of selling rooms should the industry players implement to be successful in the future?

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With challenges like unsold rooms, staff maintenance, property management, and many others, hotels have become creative with their offers and packages.

Here, we delve into some perspective answers to these fundamental questions.

Revenue Optimisation

Revenue and sales optimisation is the strategic management of price, inventory, demand and sales channels to maximise long-term sales growth. By leveraging the latest auxiliary technology trends that are driving hotel revenue into the new era, hotel businesses need to focus on the challenges and opportunities that directly impact guests and the commercial hotel industry.

These include forecasting, budgeting, performance measurement, inventory and channel management, sales and event management, revenue management systems, booking engines and decision-making tools.

Creativity in generating hospitality revenue

Hotels all around the globe are forced to rethink revenue generation during the COVID crisis fundamentally. Like so often, many successful concepts have started with putting the guest at the centre and looking at what they want, not what it is that is sold traditionally, like a room night with breakfast. What guests need today is a quiet space to work, an escape from everyday life, and simply a real experience COVID recedes.

Create co-working spaces

Numerous hotel businesses are transforming their traditional spaces. Following the trend, hospitality entrepreneurs can create work-from-hotel spaces for out-of-towners, digital nomads and local business people who do not wish to be restrained by office contracts. They can also create weekly and monthly packages for such customers, including WiFi, coffee, bottled water, snacks and catered lunch.

Utilising unused professional spaces

The corporate group and netting’s markets are ramping up at a slower pace than leisure and travel. Hoteliers can utilise new conference and function spaces to offer extracurricular activities such as yoga classes, wellness programs, cooking classes, book readings, author signing events, neighbourhood craft shows, etc.

Technology adoption and adaptation

Businesses of all sorts have gone online, including hospitality and travel industry players. To succeed in a post-pandemic world, hospitality enterprises must make sure to adopt digital models and educate their staff about the same.

From giving accessible booking services, on-the-call assistance, website detailing, application for different services, and many more, a wide range of customers can be attracted to a new set of hospitality businesses‘ functioning.

The post Here’s How Hotels Can Manage Revenue During The Pandemic appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Are We Moving Towards a Hybrid Workplace?

DU Desk — Sun, 01 Aug 2021 10:35:08 +0000

Many of us have been working from home for close to two years now. Employees that cannot afford staying at home are doing quick runs to the workplace to sort things out before returning to work from home when the need doesn’t arise. Also, to reduce their risk of infection, other employees are delegated to fill in for them when a mandatory in-office presence is required. This is what a hybrid workplace looks like and companies are adopting this work model at a rapid pace.

What is a Hybrid workplace?

A hybrid workplace has been around but has come to the fore only recently. Unlike a traditional office setting, a hybrid workplace supports a more flexible mode of work among the workforce of an enterprise. It supports both remote working as well as in-office working in a way that employees can switch or choose their work mode to suit requirements. It’s a business model that works on a pre agreed arrangement where employees can pivot much quicker in case of emergencies.

How the pandemic has fuelled its adoption

Return to work has turned out to be a mere theory as the possibility of returning to the old way of working is now history. Since the long-term effects of the pandemic are still unknown, adopting a hybrid business model looks like the only right direction to move for businesses. Due to the pandemic, businesses are prioritising the needs of employees. And flexibility is one such need. Also, companies had no choice but to cut down on unnecessary travel which has fuelled the adoption of the hybrid workplace.

Are we moving towards a hybrid workplace?

Everything is achieved through virtual connect

Earlier, creative brainstorming was possible only through physical face-to-face meetings. However, with the level of sophistication available in collaboration tools, you can achieve a level of team connect that’s much more efficient. Employees are quickly developing the skill sets required to permanently communicate virtually. This points out that we are slowly but surely moving towards a hybrid workplace.

Companies cannot risk becoming irrelevant

The pace at which new technologies are emerging is increasingly rapid. In this scenario, there is a higher risk for organisations, especially start-ups, to be irrelevant if they stick to the old ways of working or nurture the status quo. This fear of being irrelevant is making companies adopt the hybrid work model more implying that the future work will be hybrid.

Prioritising both business and employee health

There has been a clear shift towards prioritising both business as well as employee health among organisations. They are unknowingly making the transition to a hybrid work setting because prioritising employee well being is fostering business health and vice versa. Businesses have also found that reskilling employees to get them adjusted to the hybrid work model has its many benefits in terms of productivity and efficiency. Companies are also investing in employee experience platforms which are providing great results. All of this indicates that a hybrid work model is emerging as a viable business model.

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This fear of being irrelevant is making companies adopt the hybrid work model more implying that the future work will be hybrid.

What’s in it for me?

When employees work from different locations, there are many factors to consider like security and governance. Hybrid working brings in the risk of internal and external threats. You also need a multi-pronged strategy on security and data management which should adapt to employees working from the office and at home on some days. You need to keep mitigating the risks and challenges that a hybrid work model imposes, consistently.

But by practising transparency, using appropriate collaboration tools, and adopting transparent internal communication strategies, employees will be able to make a smooth transition to a permanent hybrid work model. Also, by establishing new company policies that support the new style of working, you can improve employee experience in this setting and subsequently witness better results for your enterprise.

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Hanuman, Working to Ensure Emergency Healthcare Reaches Patients in Time

Vaishali Das — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 10:35:12 +0000

Taking inspiration from the mythological character of Hanuman, the figure bringing sanjeevani for Lord Lakshman and saving his life, the startup Hanuman came into existence. It is a Patna-based healthcare startup working as a last-mile delivery service provider, offering immediate healthcare solutions to the people. Providing users with a world-class platform, Hanuman brings all kinds of emergency medical services at one place. Hanuman stands for help (H), accessibility (A), need (N), utility (U), and mankind (MAN).

Why was the Startup Started?

The pandemic outbreak made Dr. Niraj Jha think about the weak emergency care ecosystem of India. Lack of required healthcare infrastructure pushed Dr. Jha along with his friend Santosh Singh to launch Medicvisor Pvt. Ltd, famous by its brand name Hanuman in 2020.

The startup in its early stage launched a toll-free number to connect with ambulance service. It also came up with e-rickshaw ambulances equipped with oxygen cylinders to meet the growing need amidst the pandemic. The duo soon realised that not having a proper online portal or application is creating confusion for the service operators. The operators failed to understand which ambulance would be nearest to the patient. This challenge led to the launch of an online portal and mobile app for ambulances.

With more than 350 ambulances under its platform, Hanuman is providing services in districts of Bihar.

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लाय सजीवन लखन जियाये । श्रीरघुबीर हरषि उर लाये ।।

Products and Services

The startup offers people to connect with the healthcare services to take good care of themselves and their family. Its services extend to:

Assessing health issues
Booking ambulances
Booking diagnostic tests
Finding the right home health care
Getting medicines
Storing health records
Learning healthier way of life

What Makes it Different from the Others?

The startup’s primary focus is to maintain the price uniformity for ambulance services. By providing ambulances for basic life support with base fare of Rs. 700 and for advanced life support at Rs. 3000 including emergency services, Hanuman maintains a standard pricing in comparison to the regular ambulance charges.

It provides ambulance service time of 15 minutes in Patna and around 30 minutes for other districts, the startup has served more than 7000 patients so far. It is also aiming for the transactional healthcare services like insulin administration, ECG checkup, fetal doppler and eye checkups at home. Hanuman also plans to launch home healthcare services later this year.

Insights For Others

Hanuman operates on a revenue-sharing model with the ambulance operators. It also works with these operators for maintenance of the vehicles and training of drivers. Fast service and affordable prices for ambulance and emergency services is what makes Hanuman stand out from the others. It plans to expand to other cities as well like Jharkhand, NCR and Mumbai.

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Machbee Innovations, Ventilators Designed to Meet the COVID-19 Crisis

Aakash Sharma — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 05:35:04 +0000

Machbee Innovations Private Limited is an Indian tech-based company that uses the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, embedded systems, Internet of things (IoT) and blockchain to create innovative solutions for easing everyday problems. Founded in 2018, Machbee offers a wide range of hardware and software products for the healthcare, consumer electronics and biomedical industries.

The start-up has come at the forefront in providing aid for battling the COVID crisis in India. Due to the virus, more and more COVID-19 patients need respiratory assistance and intensive care. So Machbee Innovations has begun commercial production of its small and affordable COVID-focused emergency ventilation equipment- the Jeeva Vaayu Series (JV-50) Emergency Ventilators.

Machbee Innovations: ‘Jeeva Vaayu’ Giving Oxygen to the Nation

The Jeeva Vaayu Series (JV-50) ventilator manufactured by Machbee is an emergency respirator specifically designed to deal with COVID-19 cases. The device is based on the automatic Ambu bag (manual or self-inflating bag) model. It is portable, compact and easy to use.

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After focusing on biomedical products during the first wave of the pandemic, the start-up has developed three versions of the Jeeva Vaayu ventilator, each an improved version of the previous one.

The latest version of the Jeeva Vaayu ventilator is more compact and portable and weighs only 6-7 kg, much less than the previous models. Furthermore, the start-up redesigned the ventilators’ mechanical system to facilitate operation with only three control systems: breaths per minute, inhalation/exhalation ratio and tidal volume. In addition, the Ambu automatic bag allows the patient to breathe independently using a gas mask, and the system can be connected to an oxygen cylinder if required.

Machbee Innovations Ventilators are Multi-beneficial

The main USP of the Jeeva Vaayu ventilators is the capped price of Rs. 50,000, which is much lesser than the purchase price of other high-quality ventilators ranging between Rs. 7 lakh and Rs. 14 lakh. Machbee’s product has received positive feedback and has even been donated to volunteer organisations and primary health centres of the Government General Hospital in Ernakulam.

While the ventilator is defined as COVID-specific equipment, a model of it has also been developed that allows clinicians to modify it as paediatric ventilators and for respiratory diseases associated with sleep apnea. The automated Ambu bag makes it compatible with ambulances and even in households with specific purposes.

India’s Current Ventilators Need

COVID-19 has exposed the many gaps in health systems across the world. In India, the COVID 19 pandemic has brought attention to a stark lack of medical infrastructure, especially oxygen plants and ventilators. According to industry figures, before the outbreak in India, there were eight ventilator manufacturers with an annual production capacity of 3,360 ventilators. During the COVID crisis, nine more players joined the league, projecting India’s annual production capacity to 396,260 ventilators.

Ventilator’s requirement has never been more than during the pandemic. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 5% of COVID-19 patients require ventilators. On 18 May 2021, during the second wave’s peak, India’s active caseload increased to 3.21 million. This would have required about 0.2 million ventilators, going by WHO’s estimate.

On May 1, last year, the Union Ministry of Health and Welfare estimated that India would need 75,000 respirators by June 2020. There is, however, no official data available in the public domain about the additions made since.

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Present Rules and Regulations Governing E-commerce in India

Anju Nambiar — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 08:32:32 +0000

The e-commerce industry in India has seen new entrants at an accelerated pace. The high demand during lockdowns has made it conducive for many new small players to grab a piece of the meat. However, the big fish are caught in a tussle with the Government regarding allegations of unfair trade practices.

As a new firm, here are the current rules and regulations governing e-commerce in India and everything you need to know about the increased Government scrutiny.

Draft rules proposed for e-commerce under the Consumer Protection Act.

FDI Policy prohibits product price tweaks

E-commerce marketplaces providing a platform for international sellers to list their products are not allowed to influence sale prices directly or indirectly as per the current Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy.

Prohibition on ‘Misleading Ads’

The government is tightening scrutiny on firms posting ads on its platform that may be misleading in nature. E-commerce firms are prohibited from displaying or promoting ‘misleading ads’.

Registration with DPIIT

Online retailers will foremost need to get registered with the Department of Promotion for Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

‘Flash Sales’ are frowned upon

The latest law proposed for the E-commerce industry in India is for a banning on flash sales. The proposal put forward by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is in favour of physical retailers across India who are listed as ‘sellers’ on popular e-commerce platforms.

E-commerce firms rely on ‘flash sales’ to obtain an overshoot of orders by targeting customers on special events and holidays. There may be a curb on these heavily discounted sales especially if they negatively impact local sellers.

Compliance Guidelines

There are also proposals in the pipeline for e-commerce companies to appoint key representatives for the following positions:

- Chief Compliance Officer
- Nodal Contact person for 24×7 availability to co-ordinate with law enforcement agencies.
- Sub compliance officers
- Resident Grievance Officer

Curbs on selling in-house products

If you are a seller-based e-commerce platform, there may be curbs on launching your in-house/private label. The latest laws governing e-commerce prohibits companies from listing their in-house brands and products. However, popular e-commerce platforms have found ways to bypass or work around these prohibitions.

Show domestic alternatives to foreign products

Companies may also be urged to be transparent on the home countries of goods listed on the platform and to supplement them with domestic sources. This will give consumers a choice to compare the imported product with its domestic counterpart.

Other compliance guidelines

Other compliance guidelines will be for firms to mandatorily join the ‘National Consumer Helpline’ and to adhere to ‘fallback liability’ (to compensate for negligent sellers).

Difference between E-Retail and E-Commerce

E-Retail refers to retail carried out on an online marketplace by a retailer who may also have a physical presence at a brick-and-mortar store. On the other hand, e-commerce refers to transactions that occur purely online in exchange of goods and services. They are both similar and often complement each other to facilitate consumer purchases on the internet.

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Online retailers will foremost need to get registered with the Department of Promotion for Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

What’s in it for me?

If the proposed rules come into force, price comparison and product reviews/recommendations will merge with e-commerce platforms. As such, it’s not recommended for start-ups to venture into these business models since they will be rendered redundant.

With greater focus on the role of BigTech in E-Commerce, be careful on how you handle consumer data. Transparency is key here to avoid being held liable by law enforcement agencies. Small e-commerce firms and SMEs may find it difficult to list on major marketplaces. Don’t rely completely on them and keep your options open.

With trouble brewing for big e-commerce firms, it will make room for smaller players to gain firm footing in India’s massive e-commerce landscape. Source local goods and prioritise them over foreign imports to find favour with the compliance guidelines. Exercise caution around consumer consent and protect consumer information from data breaches and cyber-attacks.

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Global Opportunities and Support for Indian MSMEs

Anju Nambiar — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 08:35:03 +0000

The Indian MSME sector is one of the worst impacted since the onset of the pandemic last year. This year, when hope for recovery was ripe, all attempts turned out to be futile as a devastating second wave further worsened things for them. The plight of Indian MSMEs has travelled far and there has been an outpouring of international support and opportunities for global expansion. Here are some global opportunities and support for Indian MSMEs to look forward to

Italy India Innovation Day

The first edition of the ‘Italy India Innovation Day’ will be occurring in July this year. Indian start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs with innovative technologies to showcase are invited to grab international opportunities.

An initiative organised by AIICP (Association of India and Italy for Co-operation and Partnership), this event will see large Italian companies across several sectors like Industrial Automation, Transport/Railway, Finance/Insurance meeting with Indian start-ups (including members of AIICP). The event will be an online pitching session and will see participation from embassies of both nations.

World Bank’s $500 M MSME program

The World Bank is extending loans to Indian MSMEs and 555,000 MSMEs will benefit. USD 15 B will be sanctioned as part of the Indian Government’s $3.4 B MSME Competitiveness – A Post-Covid Resilience and Recovery Programme (MCRRP). The World Bank had earlier extended similar support to Indian MSMEs during the onset of the pandemic last year which was the MSME Emergency Response Program worth $750 M. The present $500 M program is titled ‘Raising and Accelerating Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Performance (RAMP). The loan extended will have a maturity of 18.5 years and comes with a grace period of 5.5 years.

Opportunity to Trade Internationally for MSME

Online marketplaces are helping Indian enterprises get international orders. Indian start-ups can register in these global online marketplaces and list products targeting customers from the UK, US, Germany, Australia, etc. These global marketplaces are working to open up the global cross-border e-commerce market for small businesses back in India.

Consider cross-border B2C selling for your small business to mitigate some of the impact of the pandemic. Cross-border e-commerce platforms will help start-ups under the Make in India purview export their products to international markets. Tweaks to the Foreign Trade Policy along with cross-border selling will be a saviour for MSMEs impacted due to the pandemic.

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Cross-border e-commerce platforms will help start-ups under the Make in India purview export their products to international markets.

Dun & Bradstreet to support MSMEs.

Dun & Bradstreet, a B2B data provider with a global presence recently signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) to support Indian SMEs. This move is aimed at helping Indian SMEs expand to global markets. With this additional business intelligence from D&B to guide them, Indian MSMEs will grow in a conducive environment.

Indian SMEs can access D&B’s data & analytics through the ‘BSE SME & Start-up Platform’. Start-ups can also participate in D&B’s Training & Certification programs. By listing on the BSE’s SME platform, Indian MSMEs will have better access to D&B’s data.

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Navigating the Challenging Times

DU Desk — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 12:35:04 +0000

The coronavirus pandemic has drastically changed the way we used to know our world. Right from how we used to carry out our day-to-day functions to something as common as embracing the care of our loved ones, the pandemic isolated all of us to the four walls of our home. As we remain inside our houses patiently, doing the best we can to help the world fight back the virus, the past year has taken a tremendous toll on our mental health.

The psychological effects of being isolated from our dear ones, staying inside for a prolonged period of time with very few resources to help ourselves, in addition to the heart-breaking headlines we come across everyday, has generated serious health concerns such as mental health problems. Reports of individuals, especially teenagers and young people, being diagnosed with mental depression, developing ill habits and in some extreme cases self-harm tendencies have surged.

In the view of Public Mental Health awareness, Dutch Uncles spoke to the founder of Lucid Minds – Sridhar Laxman – who interacted with us on the live show under the banner ‘Navigating the challenging times’. The weekly live show is part of the company’s ‘MentorED’ series.

Below are the few highlights from the show:

What is Uncertainty?

There are no right and wrong answers, nothing good or bad. We just try to understand from a place of curiosity what uncertainty means to you. According to Sridhar, “Your meaning of what uncertainty is need not necessarily be true for someone else and that’s okay this is about you how do you learn to navigate on certain times. We are all aware that for the past 16-8 months there has been a pandemic raging and it has had a massive toll on the economy and the lives of people, especially on their mental health.”

He adds, “When there’s uncertainty there’s a sense of restlessness. There’s obviously stress. Sometimes it causes fear. There’s a feeling that you are not able to think clearly that suddenly all your resources, your mental facilities and faculties have come to a halt. It almost feels like you held back and froze. Sometimes clients tell me they’re extremely impulsive when they’re uncertain and when they’re stressed. When they’re impulsive they end up making rash choices and decisions and thereby they experience consequences or outcomes that are not pleasant.”

Further, the speaker elaborated the experience of what it feels like to move from a place of stress to a place of calm in order to achieve mental health

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“Take a moment wherever you're seated, just close your eyes, close your eyes for a minute and think about something that has happened recently that's causing you stress. Think about something that's caused you stress, revisit that particular situation or the incident, just pay attention to that incident or that event keeping your eyes closed just revisit that space. And as you revisit that space and as you revisit that situation keeping your eyes closed gently brings your awareness to your body, keep your eyes closed and gently bring the awareness to your body and notice what sensations are you observing.”

Sridhar adds, “Is there some comfort, is there some discomfort, is there a heaviness, is there a sense of lightness, or is there a stiffness, is there a tightening of certain parts of your body. Gently just observe, don’t try to correct anything. The intent is just to observe for now what you experience when you think of your uncertain or difficult or challenging situation; body and mind work together, whatever we think about has an impact on our physiology and vice versa. Gently open your eyes and come back when you’re done with your observing and make a note of it again, this is just for you to become aware.”

Audience Q& A

How do I identify my purpose in life?

Speaker: I would encourage you to do a couple of things. One, maybe sit down some time, and make notes about what it is that you love to do, what comes to you naturally.

What would you do if your needs, financial needs, security needs and other needs were met? How would you spend your time? Look at what answers come up. Next, maybe go online and look for articles related to how to develop purpose. There are numerous articles by well-known personalities, psychologists, researchers, you would get some information on that. But I think it starts with listening to your heart, understanding and getting to know yourself better. What makes you come alive? What makes you feel like you’re at your best? What would you do if given a choice to do for the rest of your life?

I hope that again gives you something to work with.

How do I find the balance between analysis, paralysis and hasty decisions?

Speaker: Chase harmony, rather than balance, when you say how many, you know everything is not equal. But they flow with each other, sometimes. One is more, one is less, sometimes this is more, sometimes that is less, we are okay with the coexistence of these different parts in different proportions, rather than everything being equal, right?

Life is uncertain, we have no control, you’re not going to have everything exactly how you want. That’s the harsh reality. So, I think harmony is important.

The point that you raise around analysis paralysis is also to ask yourself what is the need? Where is this need coming from? What is it that you are seeking? What meaning does data have for you that you need to turn over and look into so much of analysis and it leads to as you call it, paralysis? What is driving this need? Then maybe try and manage that better. Again, you know, I’m aware, these are fairly intense, deep topics and it will take time to answer them. But for now, my point is in the simplistic manner. Ask yourself, what is driving this need for analysis? What are you not sure of, what is the fear or stress that’s causing you to analyse maybe something over and over again, and attend to the fear and the stress? Do that by opening the first door, which is to manage yourself, and then come back and see if the need for analysis is as high as before.

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This is What is Trending in the Indian Drone Start-up Space

Anju Nambiar — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 06:19:40 +0000

The Ministry of Civil Aviation in May 2021 approved experimental drone flight operations Beyond the Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) for 20 start-ups and SMEs in the aerospace sector. The most notable entities in the list include BlueDart, Swiggy, Dunzo, and SpiceJet.

A conditional exemption was granted to them by MoCA from the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 for conducting BVLOS experimental trials.

Dunzo’s ‘Medicine from the Sky Project’

Drone delivery of medicines is trending in the Indian Drone start-up space. This will be a big step towards emergency medical deliveries including Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic. Case in point is Dunzo’s pilot programme called ‘Medicine from the Sky Project’. ‘Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium’ is also a part of this project.

Dunzo, a Bengaluru-based Hyperlocal delivery start-up will lead a mid-air consortium alongside industry experts to conduct experimental BVLOS (Below Visual Line of Sight) drone delivery flights for the healthcare supply chain. This programme is occurring in conjunction with the Government of Telangana, the World Economic Forum (WEF), Government Think-Tank Niti Ayog, and Health Net Global together with Dunzo Digital.

Garuda Aerospace delivering Food and Medicines.

Garuda Aerospace is a Chennai based ‘Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) start-up which designs, builds, and customises drones for multi-use applications. They are using their drones to deliver food and medicines. There were trials for drone-based delivery of medicines, vegetables, food, and for spraying disinfectants. The trials were successfully concluded with 3 of Garuda Aerospace’s ‘White Knight Drones’.

This project occurred in conjunction with ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) for the delivery of items to quarantined houses of Covid-19 patients within ISRO’s residential employee housing colony.

UAV drones for Army Surveillance

IdeaForge is a Mumbai-based, IIT Alumni drone start-up which will supply fixed-wing UAV drones (high altitude variants of the SWITCH Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)) to the Indian Army. This has rekindled the trend of UAV drone start-ups in India since 2019. The order by the Indian Army to IdeaForge is valued at Rs. 145 Cr. The fixed wing UAVs can perform vertical take-off and landing, and are designed to weather high altitudes and harsh environments.

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A conditional exemption was granted to SMEs by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) from the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 for conducting BVLOS experimental drone trials.

What’s in it for me?

The Government promoting the growth of the Indian Drone Industry ever since the Ministry of Civil Aviation gave the go-ahead for ‘No-Permission-No-Take-off (NPNT) compliant drone operations up to 400 feet above ground level (AGL) in designated green zones without the need for Air Traffic Control (ATC) permission.

The government efforts are aimed at streamlining the fledgling drone industry in India. Drone start-ups need only register on the Digital Sky Online portal to fly remotely piloted unmanned aerial vehicles.

Most of the drone aerospace start-ups are working to fight the Covid-19 health crisis through delivery of medicines and vaccines to hospitals. There is immense scope of winning defence projects for drone start-ups as well as other governmental projects. There is also demand for surveillance drones from city police departments, for sanitisation drives, and mainly for delivery of essential items.

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How Wolf Airmask is Solving the Pandemic Crisis in 30 Countries

Aakash Sharma — Tue, 25 May 2021 05:35:05 +0000

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges to the global economy and people’s daily lives. Undoubtedly, the pandemic will have far-reaching consequences, and its scale will exceed more than just the spread of the disease in future.

At the same time, the crisis is a powerful engine for creativity and innovation. If we look closely, we can see how countries of the world severely affected by COVID-19 are using, re-suing and generating abundantly innovative solutions to curb the pandemic at the national, organisational, and individual levels.

The Kerala based start-up –Allabout Innovations– has created an ion-based COVID solution through its Wolf Airmask, allowing people to breathe without the fear of catching the coronavirus. The device is unique to the start-up, and no one else in the world has come up with it yet.

Working of the Wolf Airmask

The Wolf Airmask can efficiently produce 100 per cent negative ions to an area of 1000 square ft and 10,000 cubic ft for avoiding contact with diseases. Moreover, it does not have active ions or ozone that are harmful to nature.

Wolf Armask can release up to 100 trillion negative ions per cm³, which binds and neutralises the protein spike on the coronavirus surface or other harmful viruses and germs in the air. When installed in a room, the device ensures that the entire nearby area is purified in no time.

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Research on creativity and innovation emphasises the need for time and effort for creative thinking, performance, and innovation. But the pandemic has proved otherwise.

Features of Wolf Air Mask

The Wolf Airmask is developed with German technology and Danish materials and can be used for 60,000 hours (that’s over nine years!). The mask requires no service support or replacement of spare parts; therefore, it is very dependable to use. The Wolf Airmask can deactivate germs, bacteria and fungi. Based on laboratory tests conducted by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), ozone production in the mask’s disinfecting process is considered BDL (below the detection limit).

Innovation and Life Saving Creativity During COVID-19

Allabout Innovations’ Wolf Airmask costs a maximum price of Rs 29,500 within India. It can reduce 99 per cent of the novel coronavirus in just 15 minutes by containing the airborne spread of COVID-19 through a pioneering electronic device that performs real-time sterilisation.

The air mask is the first of its kind to have gotten certification from the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology. According to tests conducted in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research, the new device can reduce the coronavirus by 99% in just 15 minutes.

International Demand and Support for Wolf Airmask

The UAE-based Aries Group of Companies said that it had provided financial support to start-up companies for the expansion process and planned to bring the products to overseas markets. Allabout Innovations has received orders for Wolf Airmask from 30 countries. Within a month after the product launch, the company received international orders for 20,000 units of this essential device.

Many Indian states are also approaching the company for the Wolf Airmask. From abroad, orders are pouring in from European countries such as Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands and middle-eastern nations like Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Nepal have also placed orders with the start-up.

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Is Digital Marketing Emerging as a Good Career Option Post Covid-19?

Anju Nambiar — Fri, 21 May 2021 06:05:04 +0000

How is Digital Marketing helping small businesses post covid-19?

The beauty about the Digital Marketing Industry is that you can learn about the latest trends and strategies in this sector through online courses. Due to Covid-19, offline businesses have gone online, and they need it to increase their outreach to consumers. As such, several career opportunities have opened up in this sector.

Digital Marketing also fits in well with the Work from Home (WFH) lifestyle. There are opportunities for job candidates and employees to skill up. The online world is driving business amidst movement restrictions as consumers can purchase products and services from the comfort of their home.

Its also levelling the field for smaller players to be on equal footing with the big fish. Brands (mainly small) and even big manufacturers are awarding duties like Social Media Management, Digital Strategy Planning, and Public Relations to agencies. This is being done to effuse the creative thought process of agencies with the brand’s ideology for results.

Media agencies are empowering small businesses through Digital Marketing. They are setting benchmarks for them through novel methods, unique approaches so that effective results can be achieved mainly by way of sales and revenue.

Trending career options in digital marketing

Digital marketing is a very big world which is mainly driven by online content. Online courses will help young and aspiring marketers to make a place for themselves in the industry. Undergraduates and graduates can upskill, make way for their career advancement and obtain business exposure.

Entrepreneurs are swearing by highly skilled digital marketers. Since the competition is tough in this space, they need to hire professionals at the top of their game to gain an edge over competitors online. Digital Marketing experts can enable start-ups and small businesses to grow through online platforms by creating the right image for them in front of millions of internet users.

Digital Marketing Management

This career path entails brand awareness strategies to market products and services using technology tools. Management professionals are responsible for improving traffic for your online presence, whether it’s a website, social profile, or business listing.

SEO Analysis

SEO Analysts drive traffic, analyse data, and consumer behaviour. This career path requires knowledge of keyword research, search engine algorithms, link building, and Search Engine Marketing.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing involves in-depth familiarity with a variety of social networking platforms, and the kind of engagement that works well on each of them. Social Media Marketing requires the creation of social campaigns, and performance reviews for these campaigns.

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Due to Covid-19, offline businesses have gone online, and they need Digital Marketing to increase their outreach to consumers.

What’s in it for me?

No matter what business you are in, you stand to gain immensely through digital marketing as a start-up. Even big financial institutions like Bank of Baroda have realised the need for a digital marketing strategy. They want to improve their online visibility through influencer tie-ups, content syndications, and new age media opportunities.

If you are a student, you can avail courses online by agencies to learn practise-oriented strategies. This will help aspirants to assist businesses (especially small) to thrive online and thus make a career in this field.

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