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unravelingwires · 1 year ago

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Indigencies

My father grew up dirt-poor in a village in India. My grandmother valued education, and with her prompting, he managed to get an engineering degree and an educated wife, coming to the United States.

Alternatively: my mother’s mother was the most hardworking woman in the world, running multiple businesses, doing the housework, and raising her children. As a high schooler, she held an (unsuccessful) hunger strike to promote her right to an education. She passed on that determination to her daughter. Between my mother’s ludicrous work ethic and terrifying ambition, she found a husband with her goals and gained a medical degree in two countries, settling in the United States.

Either way, my mother and father, through luck and hard work, came here with the skills to better this great country. My mother maintained throughout my childhood that there was nowhere to gain success like the US. She worked at a hospital until the administrators determined that an endocrinologist wasn’t profitable enough to justify on staff, at which point she opened her own practice. My father worked at a bank until one of his college friends suggested an entrepreneurial software-producing business, and as such, Multicoreware was born. Both of them brought new jobs to Sunset Hills and provided a necessary service that wouldn’t have existed if they weren’t there.

The word “indigenous” means “native to the land one is living on,” but the term “indigency” simply means “poor.” My family is, under some definitions, indigenous to India, but according to all definitions, we suffer indigence nowhere. We have, in fact, never suffered indigence in our lifetimes. My dad got his education through scholarships, but he did get his education. My mother was even more privileged. Don’t get me wrong, she didn’t have air conditioning or pasteurized milk. She was still wealthy by most Indian metrics, though, and that wealth allowed her to get a degree, which was fundamentally important in getting her green card.

That’s important. Regardless of how you spin their rags-to-riches story, neither of my parents literally started in rags. My father got closer than my mother, but ultimately, neither of them were starving on the street, and there are a lot of people in India starving on the street. Those people don’t end up in the US.

Did you know that not all Asian Americans are wealthy? I don’t mean that literally, obviously some Indians start gambling recklessly or get trapped by a lack of universal healthcare. I mean that “Asian American” is a demographic so large as to be useless. If you break down the overall group, you’ll find we’re harshly divided between people who immigrated like my parents and refugees, making up the top 10% and bottom 10% of US earners. Isn’t that funny?

My family’s from Missouri, Saint Louis specifically.

In the meantime, my parents bought a suburban house and had two daughters. Becoming a doctor or engineer is well-known in India as a ticket to success, but my parents taught my sister and I to value the opportunities this country had, so we followed our hearts instead. My sister bounced around for a while, studying psychology and sociology, but she settled on educational nonprofit work, helping kids in India succeed. She works in fundraising, convincing potential philanthropists that their cause is a good enough one to sponsor. My sister is, I’ve been told, very good at her job; listening to all the office politics is always amusing. I became an ecologist and conservationist. It’s less of a non-sequitor than you’d think: my family adores national parks and hiking, and there’s something so fundamentally beautiful about this continent. Come to the Midwest: we have the best thunderstorms in the world. My job is something I would never get to do in India, and it’s good chunk of the reason I’m so grateful for this country.

On a related note, I said that indigenous means “native to the land one is living on,” but it is more complicated than that. Indians living in India, for example, are rarely called indigenous. It’s a specific kind of colonization that creates the concept of indigeneity. The settling of other people on your land is a necessary step of the process.

Even if that wasn’t true, I wouldn’t be indigenous anywhere. I was born in Missouri: even if I return to India, I will be an American returning to the place of her forefathers, not an India returning to their home country.

There’s actually a thriving Tamilian community in Saint Louis. That’s the reason my parents chose to move there. Of course, by the time I was old enough to really notice social atmospheres, we’d ended up alienated from said community through common drama, so that didn’t affect me much.

By the time I was born, my family had established a pattern of traveling to visit India every year or every other year. Though it is important to understand your roots, we go there for more practical reasons. My grandparents deserve to know me, and my mother runs a charity organization.

The organization has warped over time. At first, we helped fund a school. Then, my mother began running diabetes clinics for rural Tamilians. Nowadays, my mother has been campaigning for an increase in millet-based diets instead of white rice-based diets.

I don’t think either of my parents want to move back to India. It’s still important to take what we’ve learned in the US and return it to India. We owe the country that much.

The result of all of this is that it’s accurate to say my family is from a colonized culture, not an indigenous one, but I am from neither. Within the US, we are primarily aligned with a colonizer culture, enjoying its luxuries and upholding its narratives. I’ve been saying for years that I am more American—using “American” to mean “from the United States,” which is its own can of worms—than I am Indian. I was born in the US, and I was brought up here. These are the opportunities that I have most enjoyed. This means that, regardless of my genuine love for this country, I am a colonizer that has put down roots.

I wonder, sometimes, if I would have connected more with India if I connected more with the community in Saint Louis. I probably would have, I think. I barely know how to celebrate Diwali, and I don’t know any of our other holidays. I’m Hindu in a lazy, abstract way. I don’t speak Tamil.

On the other hand, I’m Indian enough that I don’t get to be American, not all the way. I’m not a pie chart—70% American, 25% Indian, 5% something else—but I might as well have been, the way people used to talk to me.

I’ve gotten something else from our trips to India, though. I’ve knelt in stone temples and before my great-grandmother. I’ve wandered through drip-irrigated farmland and watched my mother bring reusable bags from India because there was nothing like our woven bags in this country. Frugality, sustainability, humility, and spirituality all mean the same thing to me, nowadays. As we were bringing our Western education to our home country, I brought pieces of my home country back to the West.

As an ecologist, this is tricky. In a lot of ways, my field is simply an attempt to gather the knowledge that indigenous people already knew, and we have a bad habit of writing off their credits or overwriting their narrative. On the other hand, my family is from a colonized culture, and there’s a chance my perspective will be worth something because of that. I cannot turn my back on this field. It’s my duty, as somebody who has a chance of understanding the tangles in the connection between culture and conservation, to remain in this field, attempting to help where I can and uplift marginalized voices.

I went to India in high school then again just after the pandemic, and I think I found something worthwhile there. I mean, at first I had to really search for it; I don’t know how my sister finds it so easy to love that country. I really did try, though, and I did find something. I went to this farm vaguely connected to the school my family used to help fund—I don’t think we’re involved anymore, and my mom’s current charity efforts are leaning more chaotic than anything—and I noticed that they were using drip irrigation. After that, I started looking for that sort of thing, and I found it absurdly common. The average Indian I’ve met has no concept of conservation, but they do understand waste and how to avoid it, and often there’s heavy overlap. There are also cultural values surrounding the concept of duty, mindfulness, and practicality that I think really are valuable: I doubt Rama would have much time for fast fashion, prince or no.

As an adult who knows how to look at the world through a cultural lens, I’ve been trying to learn about other culture’s views on conservation as I do my research. UC Davis is trying to include more information on Native American views on sustainability in its curriculum, and I’ve been reading Braiding Sweetgrass in my free time. It’s important to weave scientific methods with indigenous knowledge when promoting sustainability.

Still, I’m worried that I’ll become as complicit, as academia isn’t always built to further true understanding. We have a way of talking as though we have knowledge and indigenous groups have practices, when in reality it’s much more complicated than that.

After that, I started putting real effort in, and I think I’m doing a good job of it. I read the Gita, which was a very good book, and Sundara Kanda, which really wasn’t. I’ve been wearing churidars the last few years, and I bought a Saraswati statue to put next to my Ganeshas. I started meditating. I learned to make chapathi. How many pieces can you put together before you’ve made one whole Indian?

And I really am trying to take this understanding of why culture is important and use it to reach out to others. Solidarity is really important. Did you know that it’s an Indian who attacked affirmative action most recently, the idiot? How do they not realize that racism chips at us all—

Anyways. I inexplicably started with Judaism—well, not inexplicably, I got guilty when I realized I knew more about Nazis than Jewish people—trying to get a shape of what cultural practices look like in the US. I don’t think I did an amazing job, but there’s only so much you can get from books. After that, I started reading more international authors, which I’m not certain did anything, but I enjoyed The Locked Tomb series immensely, so maybe it’s alright.

Cultural understanding is incredibly important work and, in ecology, time bound time bound. We are embedded in a mass extinction of our own making, and we need to work immediately to prevent everything from getting worse. As such, I’m getting a Masters degree, the a PhD, then I’ll get an entry-level government position and work steadily to—

Of course, leaving academia and moving to direct activism would be the most morally correct thing to do, but I’m not certain I have the personality matrix for it. Perhaps I should invest more of my free time into volunteer work.

Most importantly, I really am trying to understand the Native American perspective on the United States, specifically from within California because understanding one culture well seems better than stereotyping a million, but that’s such a massive undertaking, and I really don’t want to come off too white savoir-like as I do it, and if understanding Judaism from a book is impossible I don’t know why I’m trying with Potawatomi culture, Jesus Christ at least I’ve met a Jewish person before—

It’s not about understanding every culture on earth; I understand that. My curiosity drives me to understand everything, but from most people, all that I have are whispers. An rudimentary understanding of Chi from Iron Widow overlaid with giant mechs and messy polyamory. The Peruvian Sacsayhuaman, meaning vulture feast, after the mass of bodies that lay there after the conquistadors had finished their work. The layer of powder on temples in India, leftovers from the stuff that’s supposed to go on your forehead.

It just feels wrong to know so little about the land I’m walking on. A’nowara’kó:wa means Turtle Island, and according to Braiding Sweetgrass, that’s the actual name for North America. I learned that a month ago.

I kind of hate India, but I know it’s mine. It’s not like the US which I’ve had to claim over and over again. The US had to be imprinted on to me through birth certificates and accents and yelling “I am a patriot!” at disruptive times. I was Indian the moment I was born; the land itself is pressed into my skin.

The land I was born on belongs to someone else. It’ll always belong to someone else. That’s not okay, but it has to be.

The work we’re doing is difficult, but it’s the only practical way to make a difference.

We need a revolutionary change, and soon. Continually spinning my wheels like this is useless.

You know how the word “Indian” doesn’t mean actual Indians in the US? I mean, it might be different nowadays, but when I was a kid, “Indian” meant Native American first. I have, in the 20 years of my life, refused to refer to Native Americans as Indians, even when that was their preference. I don’t care that it wasn’t their fault, that “Indian” was as imposed on them as it was stolen from us. It’s our word.

Well, recently I learned that “Indian” wasn’t created by Indians either. The Greeks saw people living around the Indus River and started calling them Indians, but even “The Indus River” was a Greek term: the original word for it was Sindhu.

That’s not why my parents named me Sindhu. They wanted a Tamil name, and for us, Sindhu means “music,” and music is something transcendentally meaningful. It’s funny: that’s not an Indian thing, I don’t think, but it still feels Indian. All of this feels Indian. When I think of India, I think of grime and exhaustion, but when I think of Indians, I think of bright colors and music and how God connects us to the natural cycle. No wonder their country was named after a river, after music. No wonder I am named after my country.

One of the frustrating things about engaging with culture is that it’s the kind of work that’s never finished. It feels like mental health upkeep: it’s vitally important, and if you ignore it long enough you collapse, but lord is it exhausting. We need to put the work in to understanding each other, and colonialism is so baked into the fabric of the US that I don’t think we can progress without addressing it. That doesn’t make it easier to lose and gain appreciation for your country on loop. When an immigrant assimilates, how do they differ from the colonizers that surround them?

I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with my relationship to India. There’s always something more I could be doing, another revelation on the horizon. I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with my relationship to A’nowara’kó:wa either. I just live on it.

#Indigence means poverty.#This is the best thing I've written for library of babel hands down #i'll almost certainly edit it to make a real piece #fun fact: the color scheme was originally black-red-green but I switched it for the sake of color blind people #this started from a scholarship essay #the gist of which is written in the black text #I do agree with what I said in that essay but I also agree with the other two narratives I put down #Or not agree with precisely #things can be emotionally true without being literally true #colonialism #us imperialism #immigrant daughter #immigration #indian american #tamilian #the american dream is killing me #creative writing #my writing #library of babel #unedited #original works #new writers on tumblr #ecology #i don't want to put anything in the indigenous tag considering im not indigenous #so i guess we'll end it there

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nirmala7210 · 1 year ago

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Charity Donations: Transforming Lives and Communities

Charity donations, also known as philanthropic contributions, are voluntary acts of giving that aim to support a cause or organization deemed worthy of assistance. These donations can be in the form of money, goods, or services, and they play a vital role in addressing societal challenges, promoting social justice, and empowering individuals and communities.

The Significance of Charity Donations

In a world grappling with complex issues ranging from poverty and hunger to environmental degradation and healthcare disparities, charity donations stand as a beacon of hope, providing a means to alleviate suffering, promote sustainable development, and foster a more equitable society.

Charitable giving extends far beyond the immediate impact on beneficiaries. It serves as a catalyst for positive change, inspiring individuals and organizations to collaborate in addressing critical societal issues. The collective power of charity donations can drive innovation, mobilize resources, and amplify the voices of marginalized communities.

The Impact of Charity Donations

Across diverse sectors and causes, online donations have a profound impact on lives and communities. Here are a few examples:

Education: Charity donations support educational initiatives, providing scholarships, funding teacher training, and expanding access to quality education for underprivileged children.

Healthcare: Donations fund medical research, support healthcare infrastructure, and enable access to essential healthcare services for those in need.

Environmental Protection: Charitable contributions support conservation efforts, promote sustainable practices, and raise awareness about environmental issues.

Disaster Relief: Donations provide immediate assistance to communities affected by natural disasters, offering food, shelter, and medical aid.

Social Welfare: Charity donations support organizations working to combat poverty, provide food assistance, and promote social welfare programs.

Types of Charity Donations

Charity donations can be made in various forms, each with its own advantages and considerations:

Monetary Donations: The most common form of charitable giving, monetary donations provide organizations with the flexibility to allocate funds to their most pressing needs. Online donation platforms have made it easier than ever to make secure and convenient monetary donations to a wide range of causes.

In-Kind Donations: Donations of goods, such as food, clothing, and medical supplies, can provide direct and tangible support to those in need. In-kind donations require careful coordination and logistics to ensure they reach intended beneficiaries effectively.

Volunteerism: Volunteering time and skills is a valuable form of charity donation, providing organizations with human resources and expertise. Volunteer opportunities exist in diverse areas, from mentoring and tutoring to fundraising and event management.

80G Tax Benefits in India

In India, charity donations are recognized for their positive impact on society and are encouraged through tax incentives. Donations made to specified charitable organizations are eligible for tax deductions under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.

80G deductions reduce an individual's taxable income, thereby lowering their tax liability. This tax benefit serves as an incentive for individuals to contribute to charitable causes, supporting social development and empowering organizations to make a difference.

Making a Difference Through Charity Donations

Every act of charity, no matter the size, contributes to a larger movement of compassion and collective action. Individuals and organizations can make a difference by:

Choosing Reputable Charities: Researching and selecting reputable charities with a clear mission, transparent operations, and demonstrated impact.

Donating What You Can: Contributing what is financially feasible, whether it's a small monthly donation or a one-time gift.

Spreading Awareness: Encouraging others to donate and support causes they care about, amplifying the impact of charity.

Volunteering Time and Skills: Sharing time and expertise to support organizations directly, making a personal contribution to the cause.

Conclusion

Charity donations, in their diverse forms, are a powerful tool for positive change. By supporting worthy causes, individuals and organizations can contribute to a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. The act of giving, whether through monetary contributions, in-kind donations, or volunteering, is a testament to the inherent compassion and collective spirit that drives positive transformation. As we navigate the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, online donations will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping a brighter future for all.

#charity #donation #india #ngo #csr #funding #csr initiatives

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mariacallous · 1 year ago

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In 2020, Nazia was working at a data entry office in Hyderabad, but dreamed of being a beautician. Then, on YouTube, she saw a video about Urban Company, a platform similar to the US site TaskRabbit, which promises to connect workers—plumbers, electricians, painters, beauticians, and others—with clients who need their services. Workers who join the platform as beauticians often pay upward of $500 to register and receive a salon equipment kit. For Nazia, it felt like an investment worth taking.

When it launched in 2014, Urban Company was revolutionary for India’s disjointed home services market, providing customers with vetted and trained workers through an easy-to-use interface. Nazia was one of tens of thousands of workers who joined the platform, which grew and grew thanks to consecutive rounds of fundraising from investors including Tiger Global and Prosus Ventures, becoming the largest home services provider in India, valued at almost $3 billion. Then it expanded into the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. In 2023, it launched in the US.

For workers it promised an opportunity to work flexibly, and earn well. In 2020, Fair Work, a research group that studies gig work companies, rated the company the best for workers in India, giving it a score of eight out of 10 on parameters that include fair pay and working conditions. (Uber scored one out of 10).

Nazia got stellar ratings and reviews from customers on the platform—so much so that she was invited to pay $300 to upgrade her account to Prime, which gave her access to better-paying jobs.

“Everything was going great,” she says. “With the money I made, I was able to help my family, buy a two-wheeler, and save money for my wedding.”

Urban Company fostered an identity for itself that was different from other gig work platforms, particularly for women. But since the start of the year, things have gone downhill, fast. Thousands of workers have found themselves arbitrarily dumped from the platform for not meeting new targets that they say have been set unattainably high. Nazia is among them. The platform, it seems, is subject to the same cycle of “enshittification” as its peers, sacrificing the incentives it had offered to get workers onto the platform in order to turn a profit—and abandoning its promises of flexibility in the process.

Urban Company declined to comment.

The first sign of trouble at Urban Company started in 2021, as the pandemic hit the home services business. The company slipped in Fairwork’s rankings, scoring five out of 10. Workers twice held protests demanding lower commissions and safer working conditions. After a media storm, Urban Company published a Medium blog introducing a “12 point program” to “improve partner earnings and livelihood”—which included lowering commissions and introducing an SOS helpline for women’s safety. In an attempt to be more transparent, the company started publishing a partner earnings index, but it also filed lawsuits against four protesters for “illegal and unlawful” actions.

But things got really difficult for Urban Company’s workers in 2023. The platform introduced a new rule stipulating that workers had to maintain an acceptance rate of at least 70 percent, a customer rating of at least 4.7 out of 5, and cancel fewer than four jobs per month. Failure meant being blocked from the app. Nazia managed to keep her ratings above 4.8 until May 2023, when they slipped to 4.69. She was temporarily blocked and put into “retraining”—an online video course followed by 10 bookings that she had to take free of charge in an attempt to boost her rating. Unfortunately, for Nazia, her rating did not budge from 4.69. Since then, she’s been out of work.

“It all happened so quickly,” Nazia says. Now she’s stuck with $2,500 in loans.

I spoke to more than a dozen women like Nazia, all of whom asked for anonymity to protect themselves from retribution and say they were blocked by the platform after failing to meet what they believe were unrealistic expectations.

In Bengaluru, Shabnam—who used a friend’s credit card to pay the $500 joining fee—found that Urban Company started assigning her jobs farther and farther away from home. With rising costs and high commissions, taking these distant trips was “as good as earning nothing,” she says. She turned down the jobs that weren’t economically viable, and soon her response rate—the number of jobs she accepted—dropped to 20 percent. In June, she was dropped from the platform.

Seema, who had worked for Urban Company for five years, had a miscarriage earlier this year. As she was being rushed to the hospital, she didn’t have time to mark in the Urban Company app that she wasn’t able to work that day. Her acceptance rate of bookings fell to 30 percent. She couldn’t get her rate back up to the mandated 80 percent, and she was permanently suspended from the platform. “I went to the office with the doctor’s prescription and everything. They still did not agree to reinstate my account,” Seema says.

In Hyderabad, Sunanda says her account was deactivated earlier this year after a death in the family meant she had to cancel some jobs. She pleaded with a company representative on its helpline and in person—she even submitted the death certificate, but she’s still blocked. “They said they cannot reinstate my account because my rating is not 4.7 or above. I told them my rating is 4.69 and if they give me a chance I will bring it back up, but they refused,” Sunanda, 42, said. “They have given the customers this one weapon: ratings.”

As well as the stick of targets and quotas, Urban Company also offered a carrot for workers: shares in the business.

In 2022, the company announced its Partner Stock Options Program (PSOP), granting shares worth $18 million over the next five to seven years. The following November, they awarded stocks worth approximately $635,000 to 500 partners. But while the PSOPs seemed to be almost guaranteed for workers, the process of accessing them is heavily gamified.

Pratima, an Urban Company beautician, was very excited at the end of 2022 when she realized she’d made it to the top 10 list of workers in her category in Bengaluru. If she continued to stay in the top 10 until April, she was told she’d be granted the company’s stock options that following November. “They call us partners, but don’t treat us like it,” said Pratima, requesting to be referred to under a pseudonym. “I was hoping that if I get a share in the company, maybe then I will be treated like a partner.”

By February, Pratima had completed more than 200 jobs, and she was still in the top 10. Then, a series of low ratings by disgruntled customers pulled down her overall rating, blocking her temporarily and dropping her off the leaderboard. She kept at it, worked back-to-back jobs, and got herself unblocked and back into the rankings. April came around, and she was in the top 10. But then the company seemed to have extended the contest—the leaderboard has kept on counting, but the workers don’t know what’s going on. “It’s like they are making us run a marathon in the name of shares,” she says.

For women who were sold Urban Company’s promises of flexibility and empowerment, the shock of losing their livelihood or being forced to work longer and longer hours has been exacerbated by a sense of betrayal.

“For women especially, a lot of times they have care responsibilities at home, and so there’s hope to find work that’s flexible, that allows them to pick up their kids from school or take junior to the doctor,” says Alexandrea Ravenelle, an author of two books on gig work and a sociology assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. “A lot of these platforms are playing off of that need for flexibility because, for many of the workers who are coming to these platforms, an alternative isn’t a white-collar job in a tech office where they can bring the play pen and set the kid up.”

The mismatch between the promise of these platforms and their reality becomes clear when the businesses move from their early growth phase, in which they are able to burn investors’ cash, to one where they have to start to turn a profit.

When two-sided marketplaces that match workers with clients grow, they try to make things as comfortable as possible for workers to create a deep pool of available services. “The shortcut way to do this is to offer incentives to them—be it sellers, drivers, or other gig workers—showing them that this is a lucrative business,” says Rutvik Doshi, a general partner at VC firm Athera Venture Partners.

Companies spend big on marketing as they try to grow as fast as possible (during the 2021–2022 financial year, Urban Company spent close to $30 million on marketing and clocked a loss of over $60 million), working on the assumption that one day the demand for their services will become organic, the suppliers will start making enough money without incentives, and the platform will be able to raise the commissions it takes off its workers.

But when this doesn’t happen, companies desperately rework their models. When they need to curb spending, or when they struggle to raise new funding, marketing is the first thing they cut. Demand drops, creating an oversupply of workers on the platform. “And the excessive supply on the platforms feels the pinch. That’s the typical cycle with a two-sided marketplace,” Doshi says.

On July 10, Urban Company CEO Abhiraj Bahl released a video to the company’s workers explaining the new strict policies. He said that each year, 45 percent of customers use the platform just once and don’t make a second booking, while 15 to 20 percent of workers leave. “And as a result of all of this, Urban Company is still a loss-making company,” he said in the video, part of which has been viewed by WIRED. “So we are losing customers and we are also losing money.”

He blamed the decline in customers on “poor quality service” and “off-platform jobs”—that is, workers making private arrangements with clients and taking their work off Urban Company, something that’s a serious risk to the company’s model. “It’s kind of an existential question: They need the workers and the customers to stay on their platform in order to remain an intermediary,” says Ambika Tandon, a tech and labor researcher at the Center for Internet and Society think tank.

All of this has led the company to push its workers into a mold that essentially has all the downsides of regular employment but few of the benefits. For workers who joined the platform for its flexibility and autonomy, this reality of platform work becomes difficult to reconcile with.

“Urban Company is trying to imagine an ideal worker for this particular model to be someone who is always available, gives their 100 percent, [doesn’t] cancel at all, has no family responsibilities,” Tandon says. “But a lot of these workers are single parents, who have family responsibility and children to take care of. These are not folks who will fit into this model of having a 80 percent, 90 percent acceptance rate.”

In June, WhatsApp groups used by Urban Company workers were flooded with messages about one of their peers, who had reportedly died by suicide after the company deactivated her account—leaving her with no source of income. Several workers I spoke with said that while the news was shocking, none of them knew the victim. “We were vexed,” Seema from Bengaluru says, “But the problem is that all of us are so isolated from each other. The platform doesn’t have any get-togethers, nothing. We all don’t have any relationships, which is a plus point for Urban Company.”

But, like their peers across the platform economy, Urban Company workers are now getting organized. In June and July, hundreds of Urban Company workers took to the streets in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata. Shabnam was present at one of the protests last month in Bengaluru, demanding that the company reinstate her account. With this, they have joined thousands of Indian gig workers from Uber, Ola, Swiggy, Blinkit and more.

There have been at least half a dozen such protests across different cities in India since the beginning of the year—all of them essentially fighting for the same reasons: better pay and working conditions, a ban on unfair practices, and laws governing gig work that workers can lean on for safety and protection. “It’s not just Urban Company that has been blocking accounts,” said Shaik Salauddin, founder of Telangana Gig and Platform Worker Union. “Ola, Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon, Flipkart—all aggregator companies are doing this.”

Rikta Krishnaswamy, a coordinator with the All India Gig Workers Union, said that the union has had conversations with the labor departments across different cities, including Delhi and Pune. Another meeting is coming up in Mumbai. “We have raised complaints against these illegal dismissals, and the labor departments in Delhi, Noida, and Gurugram have sent notices to the company for a meeting,” she said. “Let’s see if they actually show up.”

Some of the workers whose accounts were blocked have been able to get it reinstated, provided their rating was not lower than 4.7 and they weren’t blocked for trust and safety issues. But, if the video shared by Bahl is any indication, things are only going to get worse by the end of the year. The company has launched a salon quality improvement program called Project Shakti, under which, by December, the performance metrics are going to get even stricter for beauticians: an acceptance rate greater than 80 percent, no more than three monthly cancellations, and “100 percent orders delivered on UC app only.” The rating threshold will continue to be at a minimum of 4.7.

The new policy is being hammered home. Workers whose accounts have been reinstated and those already active on the platform are being called for a meeting to the Urban Company office in small groups of around 10. Some have to watch Bahl’s video. Then they are presented with new terms and conditions to sign, which include consent for them to be permanently blocked from the platform if they miss their targets.

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bmv1 · 15 minutes ago

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Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal gets VC funding for new startup Nurix AI

Mukesh Bansal, the co-founder of online fashion major Myntra and Cult.fit, has secured $27.5 million in his new fundraising for artificial intelligence firm Nurix AI. This funding round combines seed investment and series A funding and was supported by Accel and General Catalyst.

Vision and Strategic Partnerships of Nurix AI

Nurix AI is primarily interested in offering AI-based customer communication tools. The kind of AI it seeks to incorporate into companies and organizations is to become functional agents within enterprises, boosting the effectiveness of their communication with an enterprise’s customers. Bansal believes that in the not-too-distant future, advanced intelligent agents supported by the human knowledge base will perform a great portion of work, generating unheard-of levels of efficiency and an increase in product quality.

Nurix AI intends to forge strategic collaborations with AI hardware and product makers. These partnerships help the company aim at the implementation of state-of-the-art AI technologies into the solutions, offering a competitive advantage in the market. Moreover, for Nurix AI, the improvement of the firm’s research & development functions will be vital so that its solutions remain cutting-edge in the field of AI.

Funding Details

The $27.5 million raised shall play a critical role in accelerating the operations of Nurix AI. The collected funds will be utilized for the company’s improvement of its technological portfolio, strengthening research and development, and for the development of strategic collaborations with AI hardware and product providers. The strategic investment has been informed by the growing demand for artificial intelligence solutions across Asia & North America markets and its ability to address this space squarely will be strategic for Nurix AI.

Mukesh Bansal said, “At Nurix, we envision a future where AI agents, guided by human expertise, handle a significant portion of tasks, driving unprecedented gains in productivity and quality.”

Entrepreneurial Journey of Mukesh Bansal

Mukesh Bansal co-founded Myntra in the same year and will be one of India’s most popular fashion e-tailers. Mukesh Bansal in 2014 managed to sell Myntra to his biggest rival Flipkart. Later, he started Curefit, a fitness services firm in 2021. It was renamed Cult.fit after receiving funding from Tata Digital. Mukesh Bansal was also the President of Tata Digital before he started his two-year sabbatical from the company in 2023.

Market Potential and Unique Approach

The overall AI market is rapidly growing and enterprises are choosing AI solutions more frequently to improve customer productivity and interaction. The market research shows that the AI market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 42.2% within the years 2020 to 2027. This growth of improvements in AI technology, growing investment, and the ever-growing need for AI solutions in various organizations.

Nurix AI has the opportunity to stand out as the company offering customer experience services enhanced by artificial intelligence, yet implemented jointly with human contributors. The first service offering is in the BPO sector and the company aims at helping enterprises have highly involved and productive conversations with their customers. With AI integration Nurix AI hopes to minimize the time and energy that customers have to spend interacting with the AI itself.

Conclusion

The new startup founded by Mukesh Bansal, Nurix AI, will be the next major player in AI and customer engagement. After receiving $27.5 million in funding from Accel and General Catalyst, the firm is prepared for increased expansion of operations to meet demand. With the growth and development of Nurix AI, the field of customer interaction with companies through artificial intelligence will be influenced.

#NURIX #ai #tumblr milestone

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news365timesindia · 2 days ago

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[ad_1] CurveAi, a pioneering generative AI startup based in Gurugram, has announced the launch of DealSpy, India's first AI shopping agent suite designed to enhance the online shopping experience. This innovative AI agent framework is set to transform how consumers navigate the digital marketplace by scouting the best deals, prices, and offers across multiple online platforms through a suite of WhatsApp bot, Chrome extension, and web store. In photo (L) Amiit Deep Kumarr and (R) Kschitiz Mathur DealSpy empowers users to compare prices across different e-commerce websites, view deal histories, and receive price predictions for their selected products, all in one convenient interface. "DealSpy is your personal AI-enabled shopping assistant that spots the smartest deals for you in real time, powered by AI agents-saving you money, time, and the drudgery of visiting multiple marketplaces," stated Amiit Deep Kumarr, Founder and CEO of CurveAi. He further added, "As the e-commerce market in India continues to grow at over 21% CAGR and is expected to reach USD 300 billion, the demand for AI agents that personalize shopping experiences has never been greater." Key Features of DealSpy: Comprehensive Deal Scouting: Automatically finds the best prices and offers across various online marketplaces. Price Comparison and History: Users can easily compare current prices and track price changes over time. Multiple Platforms: Enjoy seamless services either at the DealSpy Store, via WhatsApp Bot, or through the DealSpy Chrome extension. Price Prediction: Provides insights on when prices are likely to drop or rise, helping users make informed purchasing decisions. DealSpy supports shopping across categories such as phones, laptops, and watches. Future releases will include a mobile application with enhanced features for an improved shopping experience across additional categories. DealSpy will also raise more capital in the coming months to expand its engineering team and AI capabilities. Kschitiz Mathur, Co-founder and CDO of CurveAi, emphasized the platform's potential for vendors as well, "DealSpy not only benefits consumers but also serves as a valuable tool for vendors by providing AI insights that can enhance product placement strategies." He added that CurveAi is actively developing multiple AI agents that will work together to further personalize the shopping experience. Since its inception in August 2024, CurveAi has focused on building a robust network of AI agents aimed at solving complex business challenges and quickly launched DealSpy. The company secured pre-seed funding from a leading Swiss family office fund led by Mr. Israr Ali Khan, which will continue backing them in all future fundraising activities. Mr. Israr expressed confidence in CurveAi's potential, "We believe in the talent of the CurveAi founding team and are excited to support their journey in all future fundraising plans towards becoming a leading AI company on the global stage with their speed of execution as the catalyst of their operations." In photo (L) Amiit Deep Kumarr and (R) Kschitiz Mathur. For more information about DealSpy or to schedule a demonstration, please visit www.dealspy.ai. . !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments); if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window,document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '311356416665414'); fbq('track', 'PageView'); [ad_2] Source link

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fundraising-services-startups · 6 months ago

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Fundraising Consultant | Best Funding Solutions for Startups in India | StartupFino

StartupFino offers expert fundraising consulting services for startups in India. As a leading fundraising consultant, we help businesses secure capital by crafting effective business plans and financial projections. Our Virtual CFO services ensure streamlined operations and optimized financial performance.

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yourlegalconsultant · 23 days ago

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Effective financial management is critical for small businesses to thrive in today’s competitive markets. Accurate bookkeeping ensures that businesses maintain precise financial records, enabling better decision-making and long-term growth. Whether you’re a startup or an established enterprise, embracing professional bookkeeping services can significantly enhance your financial accuracy and organizational efficiency. Read.

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news365times · 2 days ago

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ecomadvisor · 8 days ago

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Why CRY America is One of the Best Charities for Children

When it comes to making a difference in the lives of children, it’s crucial to support organizations that truly prioritize their well-being, education, and future. Among the best charities for children, CRY America stands out for its dedication to improving the lives of children across the globe. By focusing on essential aspects like education, healthcare, and child protection, CRY America ensures that children in need receive the opportunities they deserve to lead healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives.

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Supporting the best charities for children like CRY America is a powerful way to make a meaningful impact on the lives of vulnerable children. Whether through a one-time donation, monthly giving, or fundraising efforts, your contributions can help support education, healthcare, and child protection programs that create lasting change. Even spreading the word about CRY America’s mission can inspire others to get involved and make a difference.

Conclusion

In conclusion, CRY America is undoubtedly one of the best charities for children, offering a comprehensive approach to addressing the most critical needs of children in underserved communities. By supporting CRY America, you’re not only helping to improve the lives of children today but also investing in a better future for generations to come. If you want to make a tangible difference, consider supporting this incredible organization and watch how your contribution transforms the lives of children who need it most.

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licit360 · 9 days ago

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Transforming Legal Support in India – Licit360’s Client-Centric Approach

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#legal services in india #legal services provider in india #legal services #law serices

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mantrassblog · 16 days ago

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Seamless Financial Leadership: Elevating Business Success with Expert CFO Services

In today's dynamic business environment, financial expertise is the foundation of sustained growth and success. At Mantraa, we recognize the indispensable role strategic financial leadership plays in shaping a business's future. Our tailored CFO services are designed to equip companies with expert guidance, innovative strategies, and unrivaled proficiency to thrive in an ever-changing market.

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