Economy

The Karnataka government budget for 2023-24 was predicted to be a pre-election gift to Bengaluru. However, it is a gift that not everyone approves of. The majority of the funding is being given to roads and related infrastructure. Meanwhile, education, health, housing sectors, and other bodies like the BWSSB and the BMTC are set to see another year of neglect. In his budget speech on February 17th, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced a whopping Rs 9,698 crore grant for the comprehensive development of Bengaluru. A majority of these funds are going into construction and repair of city infrastructure, primarily roads.…

The Karnataka Budget for 2023-24, presented by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, primarily focuses on the comprehensive development of Bengaluru, combatting traffic congestion, tackling floods, managing waste disposal, developing the sub-urban railway project, and providing affordable healthcare services. Bommai had earlier said that his government's top priorities are education, employment and empowerment and that he was committed to easing traffic in the city. These aspects were highlighted in the budget. Economic revival In his budget speech, the Chief Minister stressed that the state's economy has "recovered beyond pre-COVID level" as per the 2021-2022 numbers by the National Statistical Office. Quoting the…

On a regular Wednesday morning, Prem* reached his office ready to take on his tasks for the day at an IT company in Chennai. He found himself denied access to his office as he had been laid off from the job he had held for the past six months. There were a few other workers like him who knew about the termination only after reaching the office that day. The ramifications of a global slowdown in the IT industry have begun to be felt in India, with over 21,000 techies facing layoffs in the last quarter. Employees in Chennai have…

What's better for the average middle class income tax payee, the old regime of exemptions or the New regime, that this government has created? The latter is now the default, meaning that is the form that  you will see on your screen when you get online to file your income tax returns. Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman, and some economic analysts, insist the new rebates and tax slabs will reduce the tax burden on salary earners. But an important part of the Sangh parivar, the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, a staunch opponent of globalisation, says otherwise. In a statement on February 3rd, Manch convener…

Earning a livelihood in Bengaluru is becoming increasingly difficult for street vendors because of the actions and sometimes inaction of the BBMP. The civic body appears to have done very little planning to accommodate street vendors. It has even been flouting the law, according to vendors in the city. Street vendors, who are a ubiquitous part of Bengaluru, face constant harassment from the police, resident welfare associations as well as city officials for occupying public spaces. The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 was passed with the intention of protecting vendors from constant harassment…

Adar Ali Sheikh, 38, came to Bengaluru two years after the devastating 2002 cyclonic storm hit his hometown in Nadia district, West Bengal. It wrecked his home and the fields he worked in as an agricultural labourer, entrapping him in debt. He travelled almost 2,000 kilometres to find a job as a car washer in Bengaluru so he could pay off his lenders.  “I had to leave because we couldn’t save the harvest, and the landowner (who he had leased the land from) demanded we pay the agreed amount. What would I have done?” he asks. Adar lives in a…

According to Hindu mythology, God’s first avatar on earth was a fish. And now scientists reveal that life first developed in the oceans. Whether related to that or not, trading in fish has been an important source of human livelihood and nutrition for aeons. But none of that was even remotely in my  mind when I tucked into four nicely cut and cleaned Silver Pomfret fish pieces I had bought from a local fish seller.  With several grocery and fresh meat apps on my phone, it has been a while since I visited a fish shop. As a kid, buying…

In a narrow gully in Thane’s Vartak Nagar, a small home-based unit of a contractor is also the assembly point for the area’s women to gather and take raw materials to make keychains. The contractor weighs and counts the keychain parts before wrapping them in a plastic bag. He notes the quantity in his diary and a small notebook that each woman carries with her. “Kal ka kitna bana (How many did you make yesterday),” the contractor asks each woman, who deposits the previous day’s keychains with him as he again records the quantity they have submitted. The women take…

Citizens in Bengaluru are taking to the circular economy with thrifting, buying used or second hand goods instead of brand new ones. The underlying principle is to reuse and recycle what already exists rather than producing new products with more resources. Thrift stores are common in western countries, where they are seen as good sources of unique, vintage, and sometimes even valuable items no longer available in mainstream markets. The concept of thrifting or buying second-hand or pre-loved products is not entirely unheard of in India. Second hand book stores, for example, are quite common and often well loved in…

Gone are the days we paid in cash for every other purchase. With the increasing use of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, almost all shops ranging from roadside stalls to big supermarkets tend to facilitate UPI payments. As much as it seems to have made our lives easier, there has been an increasing trend of scams related to UPI payments and digital transactions in Chennai and across the country. A recent study shows that the country has around 35 crore transacting users across various digital platforms, including e-commerce, shopping, travel and hospitality. The number is set to hit 70 crore…