Local Business

Translated by Sandhya Raju தினந்தோறும் காலையில் நம் வீட்டு வாசலில் போடப்படும் செய்தித்தாளை எடுக்கையில், அது எவ்வாறு நம்மை வந்தடைகிறது என சிந்திப்பதில்லை. உலகின் நிகழ்வுகளை நாம் அறிந்து கொள்ள, பத்திரிக்கை விநியோகிஸ்தர்கள் மற்றும் அதைச்சுற்றி இயங்கும் சங்கலித்தொடர் பெரும் பங்கு வகிக்கின்றன. புயல், மழை, வெய்யில் எதையும் பொருட்படுத்தாமல் , ஏன் இந்த பெருந்தொற்று காலத்திலும் செய்த்தித்தாள் விநியோகம் தொடர்ந்தது. செய்தியை தரும் பத்திரிக்கையாளர்களுக்கு நிகராக விநியோகிஸ்தர்களும் முக்கியம். ஆனால், துரதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக, செய்தி விநியோகத் துறையில் உள்ளவர்களுக்கு எப்போதுமே அரசாங்க நலன்கள் அல்லது அங்கீகாரம் கிடைப்பதில்லை. 2500 அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்ட முகவர்கள், துணை முகவர்கள்/விநியோகஸ்தர் மற்றும் விநியோக பணியாளர்கள் பலவீனமான சமூக பாதுகாப்பு வலையில் உள்ளனர். எந்தவொரு நலவாரியத்திலும் இவர்கள் சேர்க்கப்படவில்லை, அல்லது தமிழக அரசாங்கத்தால் எந்தவொரு திட்டத்திற்கும் கருதப்படவில்லை. "ஐந்து வருடம் முன், விநியோக பணியாளர் பணியில் இருக்கும் போது சாலை விபத்தில் இறந்தார். ஆனால் ஒழுங்கமைக்கப்பட்ட ஏற்பாடு…

The sparkling clean aquariums with some exquisite species of ornamental fish look spectacular. The line-up of shops selling beautiful accessories and equipment for aquariums add to the vibrancy of the place, yet there is something missing. A sense of uncertainty engulfs the air in Kolathur, the North Chennai locality that has emerged as the hub of an industry developed around ornamental fish breeding and related exports.  Outside an aquarium shop here, M Sanjay sits, hoping that he finds at least one customer before he pulls down the shutters of the shop. He sells aquarium stones and business hours are about…

The pandemic has not only been a health emergency, but also a huge blow on the economic front. Many people lost their jobs while many more have faced pay cuts. Some like R Sunitha stepped up to the challenge by starting their own business ventures. Sunitha, who lost her job, became a home chef during the lockdown. "I took it very hard initially when I lost my job. But I knew I had to pull my act together to earn during the pandemic. I applied for a trade licence and started my own food business and became a home chef,"…

As another lockdown began in Bengaluru, the entire day’s hustle and bustle found itself compressed into the four-hour window from 6 am to 10 am. That's when even the most paranoid of folks leave their homes to buy everything from chicken to cigarettes to chat masala. Some are taken aback when asked to pay Rs. 100 for 5-odd cigarettes while others sigh as they queue up to buy beer at 7:30 in the morning.  Read More: Will your neighbourhood grocery store recover from COVID lockdown? My daily morning ritual was a walk to the main road, to buy newspaper and…

Off the busy NSC Bose Road opposite the Madras High Court building, run two streets parallel to each other. On any work day, you would find a stream of loadmen carrying wrapped packages on bullock carts and rickshaws on these streets, even as two-wheelers snake their way in and out and shoppers walk leisurely past. There's not much to distinguish the streets from any other commercial locality on Broadway just by the looks of it.  The real uniqueness lies elsewhere. These two streets -- Prakasam Salai and Baker Street host hundreds of wholesale optical stores.  From the cutting of lens…

Delhi is perhaps the only state government so far to set up a committee specifically to help revive the city’s economy. Headed by Jasmine Shah, a technocrat,  the 12-member Committee on Economic Revival of the City, comprising representatives from the government, municipal corporations and trade and industrial bodies, is drawing up plans to enable the informal sector, small shops and businesses in particular get back on their feet. In its first meeting on July 8th, the committee, decided to focus on revisiting licensing norms and increasing demand to push trade and industries. Jasmine is an M Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras and…

Through the years that saw it transition from being an industrial nerve centre to the country’s best-known hub of coaching centres for all kinds of competitive and other exams, Kota has seen a lot of action. But COVID-19 has brought the city to a screeching halt. Once known for its flourishing manufacturing units, the local economy suffered a large negative ripple effect with the closure of its biggest unit JK Synthetics in 1997, which rendered 5000 people jobless. Other units like Oriental Power cables, Rajasthan metals and Samtel Group soon followed suit. With the shutdown of government-owned Instrumentation Ltd in…

Splashes of water welcome you when you enter the rather silent Conran Smith Nagar, Purasaiwakkam. Follow the sharp whiff of detergent, and you will reach the grounds of the traditional washer community, who have been in the profession for over a century. As I enter the narrow lanes of the Dhobi Khana Housing Board, frothy streams of water  trickling down lead me to the maze of flogging stones with three compartments, blue drums and paraphernalia. It is only 5.10 am, but the men, women and children are already up for the day and will work till 1 pm. They make their…

Mumbai, known for long as the city that never sleeps, is now that in the literal sense too. One of the first decisions that Aaditya Thackeray, the new state cabinet minister of tourism and environment, took to promote tourism, generate employment and revenue was a pilot project that allows select malls and eateries to stay open all day and night. With the experiment on for over a week now, the reaction of citizens and shop owners has been mixed. The criteria to stay open includes commercial establishments in non-residential areas, gated communities with CCTV surveillance, those with parking facilities, security…

A houseboat stay, once a major attraction of Kashmir tourism, could soon become just a memory. For two reasons. One, the strict High Court guidelines that prohibit increasing the number of houseboats in Dal and Nigeen lake, the second famous lake in Srinagar city. Two, there are just three master craftsmen left, who can build houseboats. All the others have passed away in the last six decades, taking their knowledge with them. It takes these master craftsmen one to two years to build a normal house boat, called floating palace in local parlance. The houseboats are categorised in five groups—Deluxe…