City NGO gets Rs 15 lakh grant
Nagpur: Underprivileged Advancement by Youth (UPAY), a Nagpur-based NGO, has secured the Silver Award at Social Venture Partners (SVP) India's Fast Pitch event last week, receiving a Rs 15 lakh grant to enhance their
educational programmes for disadvantaged children
. The organisation leads initiatives for providing education to underprivileged children in the city.
Established in 2010, UPAY has achieved notable success in educational development, community enhancement, and skills training. Speaking to TOI, founder Varun Shrivastava revealed that UPAY operates 10 centres in Nagpur, with primary facilities at Wardhaman Nagar and Cotton Market. "The organisation works closely with families, identifying children from underprivileged backgrounds — especially child beggars — and bringing them to the centres with parental consent. Children are picked up daily at 8.30am, provided with quality education, engaged in sports activities, served two nutritious meals, given clothing, and then dropped back to their homes by 3.30pm," he said.
Discussing the organisation further, Shrivastava explained their primary initiative, 'Footpathshala', launched in 2014 to support street children. "Beyond Nagpur, UPAY manages 10 more centres in Mouda and several others in nearby villages. In all, UPAY operates 44 centres across India and has touched over 2.5 lakh lives through its efforts in education, health, sanitation, disaster relief, and community development," said Shrivastava.
UPAY additionally focuses on creating economic independence in disadvantaged areas. The organisation identifies and develops local talents and abilities, aiming to establish small-scale industries for sustainable community employment.
Shrivastava, an IIT Kharagpur graduate, said, "Our vision is a future where every child will have a dignified childhood and equal opportunity to live, learn, and grow."
He collaborated with fellow alumni from various IITs and NIITs to develop one of India's largest volunteer-based NGOs, supported by over 400 active contributors and more than 7,000 volunteers, operating across Delhi NCR, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and West Bengal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
21 minutes ago
- India Today
Delhi startup founder says salary stagnation is breaking India's middle class
India's middle class is quietly slipping under financial pressure as rising expenses, stagnating incomes, and lack of policy focus leave millions squeezed, warns Delhi-based startup founder Madhav Kasturia in a LinkedIn post that has sparked widespread conversation.'I met a friend last week, works at a top IT firm, Rs 30 lakh salary, lives in Whitefield,' Kasturia wrote. 'On paper? Doing well but in reality, he's quietly losing ground.'To illustrate the growing strain, Kasturia detailed his friend's monthly expenses: Rs 47,000 in rent, Rs 29,000 EMI for his parents' home, Rs 18,000 on daycare and transport, Rs 10,000 on groceries, and Rs 8,000 in minimum credit card dues. 'This isn't rare. It's becoming the norm.'advertisementHighlighting a troubling trend, Kasturia noted that salaries between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 1 crore have grown just 0.4% annually over the past decade. Meanwhile, food prices have jumped 80% since 2013, and India's personal debt has surged to 43% of GDP. 'It's not like we're struggling in the traditional sense,' Kasturia wrote. 'But there's this constant hum of pressure and no real safety net.'He criticised India's economic policies for overlooking the salaried middle class, who contribute heavily to tax collections and consumer demand but receive little in return. 'You're not poor enough for help. You're not rich enough for wealth creation. And you're definitely not top-of-mind when policies are being designed.'Kasturia added: 'We are spending more to feel stable, and slipping deeper into debt to maintain the illusion.'advertisementCalling the middle class a 'silent contributor,' he said, 'What I'm seeing now both as a founder and a consumer, is a system that treats India's middle class as a silent contributor.'He urged targeted reforms, including predictable taxation, improved social safety nets, and policies promoting long-term affordability, warning that without change, India risks undermining its most productive demographic.'We'll end up scaling a nation where the most productive people are also the most anxious,' Kasturia concluded. 'That's not the India we want to build.'
Economic Times
38 minutes ago
- Economic Times
HDFC Securities maintains Reduce call on Sundaram Finance; target price Rs 4,410
HDFC Securities has maintained a Reduce call on Sundaram Finance with a revised target price of Rs 4,410. The current market price of Sundaram Finance is Rs 5,180. Sundaram Finance, incorporated in 1954, is a Large Cap company with a market cap of Rs 57579.58 crore, operating in the NBFC sector. ADVERTISEMENT Sundaram Finance's key products/revenue segments include Interest, Dividend, Fees & Commission Income, Lease Rentals, Income From Sale Of Share & Securities, Bad Debts Recovery and Other Services for the year ending 31-Mar-2024. Financials For the quarter ended 31-03-2025, the company has reported a Consolidated Total Income of Rs 2300.22 crore, up 4.21% from last quarter Total Income of Rs 2207.35 crore and up 6.63% from last year same quarter Total Income of Rs 2157.27 crore. The company has reported net profit after tax of Rs 553.53 crore in the latest quarter. The company's top management includes Mr.S Viji, Mr.R Venkatraman, Fernandes, Balasubramanian, Mr.R Raghuttama Rao, Mr.L Ganesh, Mr.S Mahalingam, Mr.T T Srinivasaraghavan, Ram, Mr.A N Raju, C Lochan, Viji, Rao. Company has B K Khare & Co. as its auditors. As on 31-03-2025, the company has a total of 11 crore shares outstanding. Investment Rationale ADVERTISEMENT Sundaram Finance (SUF) reported a steady set of earnings with sustained reflation in NIMs and muted provisioning (-1bps), offset by lower other income. AUM growth marginally moderated further to +17% YoY (Q3FY25: 19% YoY; FY24: +27% YoY), driven by subdued disbursements (+11% YoY; +9% YoY for FY25) across segments, except cars and CE segments. Disbursement uptick remains a key monitorable as the overall CV and PV cycles remain soft. SUF?s product diversification strategy and interest rate reduction environment are likely to aid further reflation in NIMs. While SUF remains a pristine franchise with steady growth and profitability metrics (core RoE of 19% for FY25), current valuations provide limited upside amidst growth headwinds. HDFC Securities expects moderation in loan growth over FY26-FY27E (16% CAGR vs. 20% CAGR over FY23-FY25). The brokerage has tweaked its FY26E/FY27E earnings estimates for lower cost of funds and maintain a REDUCE rating with a revised SoTP-based target price of Rs 4,410 (standalone entity at 3.4x Mar-27 ABVPS; 17% discount to CIFC). (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel) Disclaimer: Views and recommendations given in this section are the analysts' own and do not represent those of Please consult your financial adviser before taking any position in the stock/s mentioned.
Economic Times
43 minutes ago
- Economic Times
VCs smell a big opportunity as petcare expands beyond food
A surge in pet adoption since the Covid pandemic, coupled with the rapid expansion of petcare services and the rise of quick commerce, is prompting both risk-capital and strategic investors to seek opportunities in the petcare startup space. ADVERTISEMENT On Monday, Swiss multinational Nestlé SA announced a minority investment in Drools, turning the Bengaluru-based pet food brand into a unicorn, or a privately held firm valued at $1 billion or more. Supertails, a digital petcare platform backed by Fireside Ventures, is in talks to raise $24–25 million in a fresh round, people aware of the matter said. Heads Up For Tails, a petcare brand and retail chain backed by Peak XV Partners, is also in discussions for a new round of funding, sources a Gurgaon-based veterinary care startup, recently closed a $26-million funding round led by Bessemer Venture the last five years, petcare startups — which are broadly categorised as either product-driven offerings or services — have raised $198 million in funding across 20 deals, according to data provided by Venture Intelligence. ADVERTISEMENT Petcare startups have raised $198 million 20 deals over five years. 'Investors see this as a very healthy category because on the one side, there is growth and on the other side, it is a pure retention-based category with good margins,' said Vineet Khanna, cofounder of Supertails. ADVERTISEMENT Founded in 2021, Supertails has raised $30 million so far, including $15 million from RPSG Capital Ventures in February 2024. Prior to the Nestlé investment, Drools had raised $60 million from L Catterton in 2023. ADVERTISEMENT India's petcare market, currently valued at $3.5 billion, is expected to reach $7–7.5 billion by 2028, according to a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants. The number of pets in Indian households has grown from 26 million in 2019 to 32 million in 2024, the report noted.'Higher disposable incomes, delayed marriages, and lower fertility rates are contributing to increased demand for companionship (of pets),' Khanna said the industry is growing consistently with strong retention of consumers, 'especially as people spend more across categories.' ADVERTISEMENT Legacy FMCG players and consumer companies have also entered the fray. In August 2023, Godrej Consumer Products committed Rs 500 crore to the category through a joint effort with Godrej Agrovet. Earlier, Nestlé India acquired Purina Petcare India from its global parent for Rs 125.3 crore, and Emami picked up a 30% stake in petcare brand Cannis Lupus Services India. Currently, Mars, the maker of Pedigree and Royal Canin, remains the market leader in pet nutrition in larger players, startups like Heads Up For Tails, Supertails, Goofy Tails, and Just Dogs have built product-led offerings, while Vetic, Petmojo, The Pet Nest, and Happy Pettings are focused on services like vet care, grooming, and product purchases are increasingly made online, especially on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and quick commerce services like Blinkit and Zepto.'Ecommerce created the initial demand, but quick commerce is what's taking it to the next level,' said Renu Bisht, founder of brand consultancy Commercify360. 'Now, even in tier-II cities, pet owners can access a wide range of products without visiting niche offline stores.'Non-food categories such as grooming, supplements, toys, and accessories are now growing faster than core pet food, industry experts said.'If food is growing at 18–20% year-on-year, non-food segments like healthcare and accessories are clocking over 25% growth,' Khanna noted. 'Pet parents today are far more aware of their pets' needs.' Prayag Mohanty, principal at Fireside Ventures, said, 'The pandemic was a clear tailwind. People were at home and started looking for companionship. That growth has continued across the category.'
