Kesari 2 has more style than substance on its mind, feels Sukanya Verma.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lauded the Union Budget as a "people's budget" that fulfills the dreams of every Indian and said that it is a "force-multiplier" that will boost consumption, investment and growth. He highlighted a host of measures for different sectors, including welfare initiatives for gig workers, tax relief for the middle class, and support for the manufacturing sector.
India's gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore by 2029-30 from 77 lakh in 2020-21, a NITI Aayog report said on Monday, and recommended extending social security measures for such workers and their families in partnership mode as envisaged in Code on Social Security. The report titled 'India's Booming Gig and Platform Economy' further said gig workers are expected to form 6.7 per cent of the non-agricultural workforce or 4.1 per cent of the total livelihood in India by 2029-30. Gig workers can be broadly classified into platform and non-platform workers.
The demand for white-collar gig roles saw an 11 per cent uptick year-on-year in March, amid muted hiring across industries due to global headwinds and job cuts, according to a recent report. The month saw white-collar hiring in India rise 2 per cent in terms of job posting activity compared to the same period the previous year, according to the report by staffing portal foundit.in (formerly Monster APAC and ME). Sectors such as retail, telecom, and Travel and Tourism saw the biggest growth in demand on an annual basis.
The two-wheeler giant had only 14 per cent of the electric two-wheeler market in May this year, but its 26.8 per cent in December
Sukanya Verma captures everything Reema Kagti has created so far and where you can watch it.
'The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there.'
'We don't know which bus is coming next. I know for sure whatever bus comes next, it will miss that too.'
Do we have enough trained oncologists and medical professionals in India to man these over 4,500 beds in the public sector?
Comedian Samay Raina has removed all episodes of his YouTube show "India's Got Latent" following a controversy sparked by influencer Ranveer Allahbadia's comments. Raina said he will cooperate with investigating agencies and apologized for the controversy. The show faced widespread criticism after Allahbadia's remarks about parents and sex went viral. The incident has led to police investigations and summons from the National Commission for Women.
Amid the ongoing festival season in the country, the hiring of gig workers has zoomed across sectors as the businesses have begun opening up leading to an uptick in consumer sentiments and rising pent-up demand, according to experts. "In the third quarter, with the onset of festive season, we are witnessing a 400 per cent spike in the hiring for gig workers. Earlier, in the first quarter of this year, as many businesses and companies were not operating at full strength, growth was muted. "However, things began picking up and became more promising from the second quarter, as the demand for gig workers across sectors grew," Taskmo, a subsidiary of Quess Corp, co-founder Prashant Janadri told PTI.
The Union health ministry has been allocated Rs 99,858.56 crore in the Budget 2025-2026, an around 11 per cent hike over the Rs 89,974.12 crore in the budget (revised estimates) of 2024-2025 with the government announcing setting up daycare cancer centres at all district hospitals over the next three years.
Australia great Ricky Ponting revealed that Shreyas Iyer, Arshdeep Singh, and Yuzvendra Chahal were his top priorities for Punjab Kings in the IPL 2025 mega auction.
The Code on Social Security, 2020 gives a lot of comfort to gig firms which recognise cab drivers or food delivery executives as 'independent contractors' who directly do business with customers with the help of their digitised platforms.
Indeed has seen an increase in listings for drivers, food delivery runners, and other service providers.
According to draft Code on Social Security, 2019, gig and platform workers will be entitled to life and disability cover, health and maternity benefits, among others.
'Unless a comedian is involved in something society deems unforgivable...'
Experts say, these leave many matters to the discretionary powers of bureaucrats, rather than providing them explicitly in the rules.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
Hollywood's biggest night was high on glitz and glamour but lacked the edge and excitement of the movies it was celebrating, observes Sukanya Verma.
"The new structure will substantially reduce taxes on the middle class and leave more money in their hands, boosting household consumption, savings and investment," Sitharaman said presenting what was dubbed as 'reformist' budget for the next fiscal in Lok Sabha.
Delhi's crime rate against women stood at 144.4 in 2022 -- the highest among all states and Union Territories.
The gig economy can serve up to 90 million jobs in the non-farm sectors in India with a potential to add 1.25 per cent to the GDP over the "long term", a report said on Tuesday. The gig economy, where workers get hired typically for short durations, can lead to transactions of over $250 billion over the long term, the report by the consultancy firm BCG said. The firm said gig economy is not a new concept but has seen greater adoption following the advent of technology.
Over the past week, several unusual partnerships among start-ups, traditional businesses and hospitals have been announced, and several more are likely to materialise soon. The trend could see increased importance of gig workers, who are taking considerable risk to deliver goods to people in the time of a pandemic.
According to the law, the contribution "should not be more than 5 per cent of the amount paid to gig workers. The government is likely to start seeking contribution from gig companies towards the fund from April 1, 2021.
Ricky Ponting and his longtime teammate Justin Langer could potentially miss out commentating on the opening Test against India at Perth
Here's a glimpse of India's new faces and veterans sweating it out...
'During his stint as prime minister, he got 270 million people out of poverty.' 'This, according to the World Bank, is the fastest compression of poverty anywhere in the world.' Arvind Mayaram, the former finance secretary, recalls his encounters with Dr Manmohan Singh.
By June 2025, financial freedom will be just an ATM away. Pleasantly surprised? But there's more, says Ramalingam Kalirajan
Sukanya Verma lists 10 shows that have her (Korean finger) heart.
Employees are finding the 9 to 5 work cycles engaging anymore and are looking for greater flexibility, more challenging work, and new learnings.
Bring out the popcorn, Sukanya Verma promises that there's *tons* to catch up on OTT this week.
The stadium hosted the 'Dil-Luminati' concert on Saturday and Sunday and drew nearly 40,000 fans each night.
Despite the mediocrity at large, these films had me in raptures for the emotions they evoked within as a cheering audience, critic and cinephile.
'In the current scenario e-commerce delivery is flourishing, driving demand.'
Don't worry about volatile, erratic cash flows, freelancers. Vishal Dhawan explains how you can invest and achieve your financial goals despite irregular income.
What was once a solemn Vedic ritual is today a celebration for the entire extended family. And why not? With families living in distant cities, even continents, weddings are seen as an occasion for cousins and uncles to congregate under one roof for two or three days, observes Ambi Parmeswaran.
Sukanya Verma remembers some of his greatest solo numbers in our fondly curated playlist.
Gig workers are usually spoken of in the context of the sharing economy, like Uber, Ola drivers, delivery persons for Zomato and Swiggy and so on. This is the first time such workers will be covered under India's social security law.
India will have to regroup quickly and iron out the imbalances in team combination when they face arch-rivals Pakistan in a crucial second group A match of the Women's T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday