Blinkit 10-minute ambulance service: Goyal advises firm to follow law of land
New Delhi, Jan 3: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said quick-commerce companies like Blinkit, which is launching a 10-minute ambulance service, must make sure that they meet the law of the land.
Blinkit on Thursday launched a 10-minute ambulance service in select areas of Gurugram as a pilot project.
Users will be able to see the option to call for an ambulance on the Blinkit app, according to a company statement.
"As regards Blinkit doing ambulance services or medicines being delivered, my only submission would be that they have to make sure that they meet the law of the land and whatever the legal requirements should be properly taken care of. No laws of the land should be broken," Goyal told reporters when asked about the company's decision.
Asked about issues raised by small retailers about quick-commerce or e-commerce firms, he said the government is monitoring that and the CCI (Competition Commission of India) has already taken actions in some cases and wherever they found anti-competitive practices.
"As far as I know, investigative actions have also been taken on some companies, who have violated laws and misused them," he said.
Replying to a question about a sharp dip in valuations of certain unicorn startups, Goyal said there are very few such cases.
"We have been monitoring, but we did not find too many cases," he said.
He added that market forces determine the valuations and the government does not interfere in that.
"We neither interfered when Zepto becomes a unicorn in less than three years nor did we interfere if somebody's value fell...could be for mismanagement or lack of financial prudence," he said.
However, the minister added that in case of financial mismanagement or managerial incompetence, "we picked up those cases and asked the National Startup Advisory Council to study what has gone wrong and come up with some guidelines for auditors, or guidelines by which all the startups can be encouraged to be aware of such practices and investors to keep their eyes open and the council has done a good job on that".
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had constituted the council in January 2020 to advise the government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start-ups in the country.
When asked about startups shifting bases in India, he said it is a welcome sign and also "very" satisfying that more and more startups want to come back home and register in India and possibly list in India.
It reflects on the government's decisive leadership, pro-active policies and stability.
It all has helped in making India an attractive destination, he said adding the stock market in India is one of the best performing in the world, having consistently given positive returns.
He invited feedback if any steps are required to make the journey of startups back home easier.
He informed that Startup India had several funds and budget provisions had already been made earlier and provided to SIDBI.
"So we do not need annual allocation. SIDBI is the operating agency and they keep disbursing the fund. SIDBI has also now started getting back money...Rs 1,600 crore started coming back into the SIDBIs corpus," he said.
He added that India can host more data centres because it has an ideal ecosystem to support those centres in the country.
"India is a choice of the world today because of government policies...huge investments have either come in or are on the way to come in...Everybody talks to invest in billions and not in millions," he said.
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Spanish woman returns to India in search of her biological mother
Bhubaneswar, Jan 5: Sneha, a Spanish citizen, has returned to India in search of her biological mother, who had abandoned her and her brother 20 years ago.
However, 21-year-old Sneha is running out of time as she has to return to Spain on Monday for her educational commitments.
The researcher in children's education wanted to trace her roots and reached India with scant information about her past.
Her Spanish parents Gema Vidal and Juan Josh supported her in her quest and Gema accompanied Sneha to her home state Odisha. They had adopted Sneha and her brother Somu in 2010 from an orphanage in Bhubaneswar, where they were sheltered after their mother Banalata Das abandoned them in 2005.
"The purpose of my journey from Spain to Bhubaneswar is to find my biological parents, especially my mother. I want to find her and meet her. I am fully prepared for the journey even if it is difficult," Sneha told PTI.
Asked if she would chide her biological mother for abandoning her, Sneha remained mum. She was only over a year old, and her brother was just a few months old at that time.
Sneha said her Spanish parents have given the siblings everything in life and never made them feel like they were adopted, ensuring the best education and freedom to make their own choices.
"They have given us unconditional love," she said.
Accompanied by Gema, a yoga teacher in Zaragoza city of Spain, Sneha arrived in Bhubaneswar on December 19 last year and they have been staying in a hotel. Somu, however, could not come as he was busy with some work in Spain.
If they do not find Sneha's biological mother by Monday, they will come back in March for a longer stay.
"We have to return to Spain as Sneha has joined a training programme which should not be discontinued. If we do not get Banalata in the next 24 hours, we will come back to Bhubaneswar in March," Gema said.
Banalata had abandoned Sneha and Somu at their rented house in Nayapally area in Bhubaneswar in 2005. Banalata's husband Santosh, who worked as a cook in a private firm, had earlier abandoned his family, which comprised his wife, and four children, including Sneha and Somu.
Later, Banalata also left the rented house with another son and daughter, leaving behind Sneha and Somu. The house owner later informed the police and they were shifted to an orphanage.
In 2010, Sneha, then around five years and nine months old, and Somu, over four years old, were legally adopted by the Spanish couple.
"Sneha is very responsible and educated. She is the joy of our house. She is our life," Gema said.
Gema had earlier revealed to Sneha and Somu about their roots in Odisha and that they were adopted.
"She is well educated and conducting research, so she decided to locate her biological mother and I accompanied her to this place," Gema said.
"I told Sneha that her Indian mother and father are surely nice people because you are good," she said.
Recalling her experience during the legal adoption of Sneha and her brother, Gema said that they had to wait for three months to adopt the siblings.
"When we reached the orphanage to adopt Sneha and Somu, she was waiting for us with a flower in her hand. From that very moment, the siblings became a part of our life," she said.
During their frantic search in Bhubaneswar, Gema and Sneha came across a retired teacher of Rama Devi Women's University, Sneha Sudha Mishra, who helped them find out the names of her parents.
"We found out about her parents' names from the house owner in Nayapally and later the names were verified with the police and the orphanage," Mishra said.
Gema and Sneha were monetarily exploited by some people during their initial days in India.
"In fact, Sneha's mother cried in front of me, seeking help to locate Banalata. Together, we searched for her parents before approaching the police for help. Gema is a noble and affectionate woman having an in-depth understanding of Indian culture and philosophy," Mishra said.
Mishra said language was a major problem for Gema to communicate with locals but she has been helping the mother-daughter duo.
With the help of Mishra, Sneha and Gema met city Commissioner of Police Dev Datta Singh, who assigned the job of locating Banalata Das and Santosh Das to two police personnel Anjali Chhotray and Gangadhar Pradhan.
"We have found out that Banalata Das and Santosh are from Badamba-Narsinghpur area in Cuttack district. We have engaged police and panchayat functionaries to locate them," Inspector Anjali Chhotray said.
"People here, especially the media and police, have helped us a lot," Sneha said.
