Implementing reforms for gig workers; Foreign policy through a feminist lens

Hello,

Indian startups are making themselves heard. 

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has allocated a significant part of the Rs 10,000 crore second fund of funds to support deep-tech innovation by early-stage startups, following his remarks last week on the country’s startup ecosystem.

At the Startup Mahakumbh event, the Minister said SIDBI would disburse Rs 2,000 crore this year. Besides, he launched a dedicated Startup India Desk to serve as a helpline for budding entrepreneurs across India.

In other news, FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent company of Nykaa, expects strong Q4 FY25 revenue growth, driven by its beauty vertical. Read more about what the beauty retailer said. 

Meanwhile, Zomato, now Eternal Limited, and Mamaearth parent Honasa Consumer saw managerial exits.

And Swiggy received its second IT notice in April, this time from the Office of the Profession Tax Officer, Pune, which has alleged a violation of Rs 7.59 crore for the April 2021 to March 2022 period.

ICYMI: From the world of Meta AI, here comes Llama 4. 

Meet Llama 4 Scout, Llama 4 Maverick, and Llama 4 Behemoth—all trained on “large amounts of unlabeled text, image, and video data” to give them “broad visual understanding.” 

The AI game is only getting fiercer. 

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Implementing reforms for gig workers
• Foreign policy through a feminist lens

Here’s your trivia for today: Where does the game Chinese Checkers find its origins?

In-depth

Implementing reforms for gig workers

Gig workers, especially those associated with last-mile deliveries, work across platforms. For instance, a worker might deliver groceries in the morning, shift to ecommerce deliveries in the afternoon, and fulfill dinner-time food deliveries. 

While moonlighting enables them to earn more, it also creates a headache for governments, platforms, and policymakers seeking to access records or make regulations. The government also faces a fundamental challenge: who qualifies as a gig worker?

Key takeaways:

• In Budget 2025, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced steps to extend social security cover for gig workers. However, the changing employment structure and the dynamic nature of gig work make it a challenging proposition.
• Platform aggregators are also required to register in the e-Shram portal and then onboard the platform/gig workers associated with them. The workers get issued a Universal Account Number, which they can use for social security schemes such as PM JAY, explains Ashok Varma, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat. 
• Since gig workers don’t have a stipulated number of minimum working hours, and delivery partners operate across platforms and shift frequently, the scope for the platform’s misuse is wide.

Social Impact

Foreign policy through a feminist lens

Foreign policy has long been perceived as an elite, insular field—shaped in high-level summits, diplomatic circles, and networks of power. In response, Ambika Vishwanath and Priyanka Bhide founded Kubernein Initiative, an independent policy think tank that focuses on feminist geopolitics.

“We realised that while policy was being shaped in research centres, universities, think tanks, and government spaces, there were critical gaps—particularly in integrating a gendered perspective across different policy areas,” says Vishwanath.

Making a change: 

• Kubernein Initiative intended to challenge the rigid, top-down approach that traditional foreign policy followed, which is often inconsiderate of how gender fundamentally shapes the way global challenges are experienced and addressed. 
• For many, ‘feminist foreign policy’ remains a vague, misunderstood term. But at its core, it advocates for inclusivity, intersectionality, and a recognition of how policies impact people differently based on gender and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Its flagship project, ‘An Inclusive Indian Foreign Policy’, focuses on integrating gender mainstreaming and human security into decision-making. This initiative has led to valuable research, including the paper ‘Inclusivity in Action: Evolution of Feminist Principles in India’s Foreign Policy.’

News & updates

• Bull vs bear: China investors are bracing for a grim Monday as the nation’s markets return from an extended weekend and factor in its retaliation to US tariffs. A gauge of Chinese stocks listed in the US plunged 8.9% on Friday, the most since October 2022, after Beijing announced 34% tariffs on all imports from the US.
• Unity: EU countries will seek to present a united front in the coming days against the US tariffs, likely approving a first set of targeted countermeasures on up to $28 billion of US imports from dental floss to diamonds. The 27-nation bloc faces 25% import tariffs on cars, steel and aluminium, and “reciprocal” tariffs of 20% from Wednesday for almost all other goods.
• MENA: Main equity benchmarks in Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, sank the most since 2020 on Sunday as investors reacted to the risks of a fresh global trade war and depressed oil prices. Stocks on the kingdom’s main exchange fell as much as 6.1%, while gauges in Qatar and Kuwait dropped more than 5.5%. 

What you should watch out for

• The RBI’s monetary policy committee will take its first policy decision of the financial year in review meetings starting Monday. A Reuters poll of economists forecasts a 25 basis-point cut in rates at the meeting.
• Corporate earnings will kick off next week, starting with TCS reporting its Q4FY25 numbers. Monthly inflation and key industrial production figures will be released on April 11. 
• Indian stock markets will remain shut on April 10, Thursday, for Mahavir Jayanti.   

Where does the game Chinese Checkers find its origins?

Answer: In 1892, Germany, where it was first called “Stern-Halma”. 

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