In Brief

India’s social security coverage up at 64% from 15% in 2015

New Delhi: India’s social security coverage has increased to 64.3 per cent in 2025 from 19 per cent in 2015, according to the ILO data.

As per the International Labour Organisation (ILO), India now ranks second in the world in terms of beneficiary count, providing social protection to around 94 crore citizens.

“This marks the fastest expansion in coverage, reflecting the government’s unwavering commitment to ‘Antyodaya’,” said Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

To cut costs, Google offers staff buyouts

Washington: Google has offered buyouts to staff in several divisions in a fresh round of cost cutting, according to a company statement and reports from several news outlets.

It’s not clear how many employees are affected, but the offers were made to staff in Google’s search, advertising, research and engineering units. The tech company started trimming its headcount in 2023, when let go off 12,000 staff as the economic boom that fuelled demand for online services during the Covid-19 pandemic started to fade.