On 16 March 2020, India had recorded sixty cases of Covid-19. The pandemic had only just begun to imprint itself on the national psyche. Th...
On 16 March 2020, India had recorded sixty cases of Covid-19. The pandemic had only just begun to imprint itself on the national psyche. The World Health Organisation had declared Covid-19 a global pandemic just five days prior, on 11 March, when the number of cases had reached 118,000 across 114 countries.
Some optimistic forecasts predicted that Indians with their mighty immune systems that had been hardened by disease as well as their capacity for endurance thanks to scorching summers, would stop the virus in its tracks. As a precautionary measure, India had already banned incoming flights from the European Union, Turkey and the UK. Some states like Delhi had prohibited gatherings of more than fifty people. The government machinery had started to move on other fronts too.
When the Prime Minister of India announced a Covid-19 Solution Challenge on 16 March, nearly 500 kilometres away in Kanpur, Professor Amitabha Bandyopadhyay sent out news of the challenge as an SOS to all IIT Kanpur-incubated startups, hoping a few would have the products or services necessary to fight the pandemic. Several came forth with solutions ranging from hand sanitisers, PPEs, N95 face masks, diagnostic kits and portable respirators.
Then came the pitch for a...
