Ride hailing company Uber and Bangalore Political Action Committee have urged the Karnataka government to allow aggregators to legally aggregate shared cabs, shared autos, bike pools, private shuttle services and feeder buses in Bengaluru, within the ambit of the existing contract carriage permit rules. In a joint report, titled “Sustainable mobility for Bengaluru”, they have […]
Edtech firms offer free access to their learning platforms amid COVID-19 outbreak
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Education technology platforms Byju’s and Vedantu have said they would offer free access to their learning platforms to all students after some states ordered primary schools to remain shut due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak. Both companies said their paid versions will be available free for students going into the upcoming school […]
The 9/11 Analog
If you were an investor during 9/11 or worked in the business, then you feel the parallels between this moment and that one very acutely. Then, as now, the life and death issues of the moment overrode concerns about market volatility, although the volatility became expected each morning when we opened our eyes and went […]
Coronavirus brings no-contact food delivery to United States
Illustration: Rahul Awasthi Leaving bags of food on doorsteps or texting your delivery driver a picture of where you want your meal dropped off – these are new methods for U.S. consumers to get their orders as the coronavirus spreads. The virus led McDonald’s, Starbucks and other companies in China, where the outbreak originated, to […]
Hero MotoCorp’s Pawan Munjal invests $1 million in Ola Electric Mobility
Pawan Munjal, the chairman and managing director of Hero MotoCorp, has invested about $1 million in Ola Electric Mobility through his family trust. Hero MotoCorp, which sells one of every two motorcycles locally, said recently it would spend Rs 10,000 crore on alternative mobility solutions. Pawan Munjal Family Trust has been allotted 18 preference shares, […]
SoftBank falls most in 7 years on concerns over coronavirus, investment in startups
By Pavel Alpeyev SoftBank Group fell by its most in more than seven years, after worsening sentiment around the coronavirus outbreak and the value of its global portfolio stung Masayoshi Son’s investment group. The shares fell 10% Monday, marking their biggest decline since October 2012 and wiping out gains since Paul Singer’s Elliott Management revealed […]
Airbnb makes tweaks to refund policy amid spread of coronavirus
By Olivia Carville and Eric Newcomer Airbnb is making adjustments to its refund policy in an attempt to balance the needs of hosts and guests on its home-sharing site amid the global coronavirus outbreak that has severely reduced travel demand. Because Airbnb operates as an online platform — connecting people who want to rent out […]
Coronavirus outbreak: Google recommends all North America employees to work from home
Alphabet’s Google is recommending all of its North American employees to work from home if their roles permit, the search giant said on Tuesday, aiming to minimize the risk of spreading the coronavirus. The new recommendation is an expansion of a similar guideline it gave to employees in San Francisco Bay area. Most of the […]
Maharashtra caps Ola, Uber surge pricing at three times taxi fare, but defers rule till April 6
In a mixed bag for Ola-Uber users, the Maharashtra state government has capped the fares of app-based cabs at three times the fare of kaali-peeli taxis. At present, the fare of black-and-yellow taxis is fixed at Rs 14.84/km, so aggregator cab fare cannot surge over Rs 44.52/km even on days of very high demand. The […]
CarTrade plans NBFC foray, may buy small firms to beef up operations
Online car buying portal CarTrade will apply for a non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence, a top company executive said, in a bid to muscle into the $30 billion used car market in the country. The online automobile classifieds firm has also set aside ₹400-₹450 crore to acquire a string of small companies, said Vinay Sanghi, […]