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In today’s newsletter:

• Zomato serves up B2B logistics
• Govt doesn't want Big Tech to dominate Indian policies
• EC mulls DigiYatra-like voting experience

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Zomato has a tendency to come up with new business ideas every few months. 

The latest one involves providing logistics support for orders made on other e-commerce platforms.

It is looking to shore up its revenues by starting a B2B logistics service that will deliver food, pharmaceutical products, and consumer goods.

• Zomato has approached smaller food and grocery aggregators, online pharma companies, and consumer brands in the last 30-45 days, according to sources

• Moreover, the service's pilot has already scaled to a few thousand deliveries per day

Zomato is offering a price range of Rs 10 to Rs 15 per kilometre for their service, sources said.

At a time when the food delivery industry is experiencing slow growth, industry observers believe the new service will help Zomato address both growth and profitability.

• Zomato's entry into B2B logistics will help the company increase its delivery fleet utilisation and reduce friction with restaurants, according to an analyst
  
  
• Doordash, a major player in the food delivery industry in the US, has been running a similar service since the end of 2016

However, it remains to be seen how well Zomato will fare with the new launch, as a slew of new services that started in the past year, such as 10-minute food delivery, home-chef cooked meals, and inter-city food delivery, have not scaled.

A storm has been brewing within the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), with one set of startup founders alleging that the industry body parrots the views of Big Tech companies. 

However, given that IAMAI lobbies with the Union government, what is the Centre's stance on this issue?

We asked Union MoS for Electronics and Technology (MeitY), Rajeev Chandrasekhar, this exact question, and he said:

“Around the table, we have everybody present. But we will certainly not allow the Big Tech companies to corner or grab policy,” Chandrasekhar said.

In fact, the minister maintained that they will listen to all stakeholders, and Indian startups will be given just as much importance when it comes to policymaking.

This year's Budget brought an unexpected development for startups in the form of the angel tax, which may hinder investments from foreign investors.

Due to pushback from the revenue and income tax departments regarding potential misuse, the minister said that the government would need more time to find a solution to this issue.

“We are fairly clear that we do not want any policy to be a road bump in the growth trajectory of our startups. This is an article of faith for us,” he said.

Another focus for MeitY has been the upcoming Digital India bill, which will replace the IT Act. The Bill is also supposed to address emerging technologies, with artificial intelligence (AI) being a key focus. 

What is the govt’s take on this? The minister says that they won’t come in the way of innovation or disruption. 

“We are clear that we will have a framework of do's and don'ts that will allow innovators to innovate, but not cross the line as far as user harm is concerned”.

DigiYatra has changed the way air passengers travel, and if all goes according to plan, voters may also be able to avail a similar facility for elections.

• The Election Commission (EC) is now "deliberating" the use of facial recognition technology in polling booths.

The Election Commission (EC) has identified a polling booth in the Shivaji Nagar assembly segment of Bengaluru to pilot the facial recognition feature in the upcoming Karnataka elections. 

• It also enabled voters to upload a selfie and other details to the EC's Chunavana mobile application.

Hours after we broke the story about what appeared to be a plan to run a discreet pilot, the EC seemed to backtrack. The EC stated that the matter had been "taken for deliberation, and the same had not yet been finalised for piloting."

•         Reduce waiting time/long queues
  
  
•         Prevent bogus voting and electoral malpractices
  
  
•         Less polling staff required

Go deeper

On May 8, 1962, the first Atlas-Centaur rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral. Unfortunately, it experienced a second-stage structural failure and blew up at T+55 seconds.

However, this launch was still a significant milestone as it marked the first time the US used a space vehicle powered by a liquid hydrogen engine. 

• Binance has resumed bitcoin withdrawals after a second pause, even as the Bitcoin network experiences unprecedented congestion.
  
  
• The memecoin market is buzzing with excitement as the AI-assisted Turbo memecoin achieves a remarkable market capitalization of over $30 million within its first week.

It looks like billionaire investor Peter Thiel is taking the phrase "rest in peace" quite literally. 

The tech mogul has announced that he plans to be cryogenically frozen after he dies in the hopes of being brought back to life in the future. 

As for whether or not it will actually work, Thiel is keeping his cool. Find out more

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