Latest news with #Kavitha
Observer
a day ago
- General
- Observer
Oman-India ties deepen through art and yoga
MUSCAT: Under the leadership of Dr Kavitha Ramakrishna, the Tamoghna Foundation, headquartered in Bengaluru, has emerged as a transformative force not just in India but also across borders - most notably in Oman. With a deep commitment to wellness, cultural revival and civic engagement, Dr Kavitha has forged meaningful connections between the two nations through her unique blend of Tanjore art, yoga mentorship and cross-cultural initiatives. In Oman, she has earned recognition as a cultural ambassador, particularly for her efforts in introducing and teaching yoga and mindfulness to local women, and for showcasing traditional Indian Tanjore painting enriched with Omani cultural motifs - including inspirations drawn from national monuments and traditional jewellery. These works have not only captivated art lovers, but also created a new dialogue between ancient Indian artistry and Omani heritage. Back in India, her foundation recently collaborated with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to conduct a special yoga session for sanitation workers on International Yoga Day, reinforcing her mission to uplift underserved communities. The event, part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, highlighted the importance of mental and physical well-being for frontline civic workers.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
41st anniversary of The Times of India, Bengaluru: Where delivery never stops
On any given morning in Bengaluru, the city begins to hum well before office towers light up. Long before the first cappuccino is poured in a Koramangala café or a family logs into its online grocery app, hundreds of thousands of gig workers are already in motion, delivering breakfasts, ferrying commuters, restocking shelves in micro-warehouses, or setting up kits for doorstep salon bookings. They are the quiet, relentless machinery behind the city's digital convenience. Over the past decade, Bengaluru has come to define not just India's tech ambition but also the shape of its informal, app-driven labour force. If Mumbai is the city of finance and Delhi of politics, Bengaluru today is the capital of platform work, a city where the future of jobs is being prototyped real time. Estimates vary, but industry insiders say there are upwards of 2 lakh active gig workers operating in and around Bengaluru. These are individuals tied to no single employer, governed instead by the push and pull of algorithms, location density, and dynamic demand. From 10-minute grocery deliveries to 30-minute repair jobs, their work is fragmented, flexible, and often physically exhausting. What keeps them going is the promise of daily income and the hope that, someday, they'll find a more stable alternative. You Can Also Check: Bengaluru AQI | Weather in Bengaluru | Bank Holidays in Bengaluru | Public Holidays in Bengaluru Ravi, 29, is one such worker. He moved to the city from Hassan in 2021 and now juggles delivery gigs across three platforms. On a good day, he says, he makes close to Rs 2,500. On a bad one, it could fall under Rs 900. His schedule stretches from 6 in the morning till past 10 at night, with barely a break. 'It's like the app knows when I pause. I stop for too long, and the order flow disappears,' he says. A blend of autonomy and pressure is central to the Bengaluru gig economy. The city -- with its dense clusters of tech-savvy consumers, high urban sprawl, and startup-rich ecosystem -- has become the ideal test bed for gig platforms. Many of India's largest and fastest-scaling service startups either launched in or first expanded into Bengaluru. The city's early adopters have made it a natural destination for pilots, whether it's instant grocery models, hyperlocal parcel services or premium beauty-at-home offerings. Beneath the scale and speed lies a more complex reality. For most workers, the benefits of flexibility are offset by deep unpredictability. There are no guaranteed earnings, no paid leave, no fallback options in case of illness, and very little visibility into how compensation is structured. Several workers report that platform payouts have gradually declined over time, while performance expectations, such as order acceptance rates or customer ratings, remain rigid. Some like Kavitha, a 33-year-old home-services professional, say they entered platform work for the flexibility it offered. As a single parent, the idea of choosing when to work was appealing. 'But there's a catch,' she says. 'The platform gives priority to workers who are available more often, so if I work only a few hours, I get fewer bookings the next week. Flexibility comes at a cost.' In a city like Bengaluru, where formal job creation hasn't kept pace with population growth, gig work is increasingly seen not just as stop-gap employment but as a primary income stream for thousands. This shift has prompted a policy rethink at the state level. Earlier this year, the Karnataka government issued an ordinance aimed at bringing gig and platformbased workers under a formal social security net. While the Karnataka Platform-based Gig Workers' (Social Security and Welfare) Ordinance, 2025, is yet to come into effect, it lays the groundwork for a contributory welfare fund that will cover accident insurance, health benefits, and other protections for gig workers. The proposed system involves a 1-5% welfare cess on transactions facilitated by aggregators, structured in a way that platforms, consumers, and even gig workers themselves can contribute. 'The act has been framed in such a manner that all three stakeholders can contribute to the welfare fund, and even the gig worker can top up on his social security by paying extra towards the board,' said additional labour commissioner Manjunath , adding the rules were in the final stages of being framed. However, he acknowledged that in practice, the cost may ultimately fall on end consumers. Once operational, the ordinance is expected to apply to an estimated 30,000 platform workers initially. Under the draft rules, platforms will be assigned to different cess slabs depending on the nature of their business -- be it delivery, personal services, or mobility. The annual corpus from this framework is expected to touch Rs 150 crore. Experts, however, advised caution. 'It's a longoverdue intervention,' said Balaji Parthasarathy, principal investigator at Fairwork India, 'but the devil is in the details. The legislation outlines the terrain, but execution will hinge on how wage protection, dispute resolution, and algorithmic accountability are addressed.' Parthasarathy pointed out that the ordinance does not mandate a minimum wage, leaving workers exposed to fluctuations in per-task earnings. 'Transparency in deductions is a start, but without wage-floor guarantees or clear limits on unilateral payout cuts, platforms can still reduce per-task payments to offset the cess,' he said. From a legal standpoint, the ordinance offers a degree of clarity. According to Vikram Shroff, partner at law firm AZB & Partners, the framework reduces the risk of worker misclassification by formally recognising platform labour relationships. But he cautioned that some provisions, such as the conditions under which platforms can terminate or deactivate workers, may come under legal scrutiny, especially if they conflict with existing service contracts. Shroff flagged a potential compliance headache for companies once the central government notifies the national Social Security Code. With both state and central frameworks addressing gig worker rights in parallel, platforms could face overlapping obligations. Despite concerns, some platforms have responded favourably. One senior executive at a leading urban logistics company said the ordinance represents a 'welcome shift towards recognising gig work as essential labour,' and noted that many responsible platforms are already offering accident coverage and health insurance schemes. 'What we now need is clarity on how the cess will be calculated and whether compliance will be linked to worker volume or total payouts,' they said. Beyond policy and payouts, the future of gig work in Bengaluru may lie in its ability to evolve. A growing number of workers are testing out hybrid models, taking on a mix of physical gigs and remote tasks like customer support, transcription, or AI data tagging. Others are exploring skill-based platforms that offer entry-level white-collar roles with more predictable hours, even if at lower pay. Still, the majority remain on the road, working long hours to keep pace with fluctuating demand. As Karnataka moves to formalise protections, Bengaluru stands at a critical juncture. It can choose to lead India in shaping a digital labour framework that is both scalable and humane, or risk normalising a system where efficiency continues to outpace equity.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Sport
- New Indian Express
BRS leaders behind Hyderabad Cricket Association mess: TCA
HYDERABAD: The Telangana Cricket Association (TCA) on Thursday filed a complaint with the Crime Investigation Department (CID), seeking a probe into alleged irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA). The complaint named former minister KT Rama Rao and MLC K Kavitha, alleging that they had exerted influence over the HCA's functioning. TCA president Yendala Laxminarayana and secretary Guruva Reddy met CID Additional DGP Charu Sinha and submitted documents, forensic audit reports and other material. They sought an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of public funds, irregular team selections and related violations. The submission also included court orders, videos and news clips said to reflect the prevailing situation in the HCA. The TCA alleged that funds between Rs 500 and Rs 600 crore, sanctioned by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the past decade, had not been used to develop cricket infrastructure. 'There is no visible development of cricket infrastructure in Hyderabad, nor has the HCA built or acquired any clear assets to date. However, examining the personal asset growth of several HCA office bearers over the last 10 years suggests widespread corruption,' the complaint stated. The complaint alleged that ever since the formation of Telangana, Kavitha and Rama Rao had been influencing decisions at the HCA. The complaint claimed that contracts for IPL ticket sales were awarded to companies linked to Rama Rao's brother-in-law, while catering and travel contracts were handed to relatives of Kavitha, Rama Rao and HCA president Jaganmohan Rao.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Kavitha backs Telangana government on BC quota, slams BRS for opposing ordinance
HYDERABAD: BRS MLC and Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha on Thursday supported the state government on BC reservations while slamming her own party for opposing the move. During an informal chat with reporters, Kavitha said that the draft ordinance prepared by the state government for BC quota was 'absolutely correct' and the BRS leaders opposing it was 'wrong'. Kavitha went a step further and said that the BRS had no other option but to toe her line on BC reservations. 'The BRS leaders may take four days' time to accept it,' she said. 'Amending the 2018 Act and bringing the ordinance to provide 42 per cent reservations to BCs in local body elections was justified,' Kavitha added. 'I have supported the ordinance only after discussing it with legal experts,' she said. The former MP lamented that the BRS leaders did not respond to the derogatory comments made against her by MLC Ch Naveen Kumar alias Teenmaar Mallanna and added that she would leave it to the wisdom of the BRS leaders. Meanwhile, at a press conference, Kavitha demanded that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy should lead an all-party delegation to Delhi, coinciding with the commencement of the Parliament session next week, to bring pressure on the Centre to protect the interests of Telangana regarding the Banakacherla project. The delegation should also make all possible efforts to ensure early clearance for the Bill on 42 per cent reservations for BCs in education, employment and public life, pending with the President.
Hans India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Probe role of KTR, Vanka & Kavitha in HCA fraud: TCA
Hyderabad: The Telangana Cricket Association (TCA) on Thursday sought 'deeper investigation' and also to take criminal action against the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) President A Jagan Mohan Rao (now under arrest) and other Apex Council members of HCA along with BRS leaders KT Rama Rao, Kavitha, and former HCA director Vanka Pratap as conspirators of major corruption in selections and financial crimes happening in the association for the last ten years. The TCA has submitted further information to support the ongoing investigation on HCA criminal cases, attaching the two Forensic Audit Reports that were on the recommendations of Justice Anil Dave Committee in 2017 as well as Justice L Nageshwar Rao Committee in 2023 and more relevant information and more documents that would expose the connivance and criminal intent behind the consistent fraud that happened in HCA. Apart from the irregularities and corruption identified in mismanagement of public funds, cheating and corruption in team selections, exploitation of cricketers parents for money and other favours in exchange of selections, leaving the infrastructure development aside, playing with careers of cricketers instead of conducting fair and transparent Cricket in the State. The TCA representatives alleged that KT Rama Rao and Kavitha were influencing and running the show at HCA from behind the scenes ever since they were in position. The IPL tickets sales contract was given KTR's brother in law Raj Pakala's companies and several other vendorships like the food contract during IPL matches was given to Surabhi Caterers, a relative of both Kavitha, KTR and close relative of Jagan Mohan Rao, the travels contract, hotel bookings ets were also managed by the same batch of people. With regards to Vanka Pratap, Justice NA Kakru, in his report submitted to the Supreme Court had clearly narrated and expressed the fraudulent, corrupt, high headed and arrogant attitude of Vanka Pratap who was indirectly encouraging corruption in team selections, manipulation of proceedings and as a person of concocted storytelling. The TCA said that the above mentioned persons were main conspirators and kingpins behind the monopolistic and manipulative administration, corruption and forgery, breach of trust by encouraging withdrawal of funds from HCA Bank Accounts without Authorization from HCA General Body. The TCA has demanded investigation and taking necessary action against the perpetrators and help the Telangana state cricket to survive and grow without any prejudice.
