Economy

If ‘reforms' is the buzz word, then electoral reforms should be on top of the list, and the funding of political parties foremost among them. Currently there is a lack of transparency in how political parties and candidates solicit, collect and disburse funds. These issues were highlighted in a widely distributed report released by two NGOs, National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms, published this September.Legally, the activity of fund-raising, expensing, accounting and reporting of funds collected by political parties fall under the ambit of various acts including the Representation of the People Act, 1951; The Foreign Contribution (Regulation)…

Inderjeet Singh Arora, a 26-year-old IT professional recently inquired about purchasing a washing machine in one of the large format retail showrooms in Bangalore. The sales executive showed him various washing machines; from semi automatics to fully automatics. Even though he had multiple choices, Inderjeet couldn't pick the best one suitable to his needs. Many of us get stuck in similar situations. Our lifestyle needs, water and power consumption, noise generated from the machine, installation area required, frequency of usage, quantity of clothes and etc. are the major factors to buy a washing machine. Often, buying decisions are driven by…

It is six months since I relocated to India from the US. I work in the IT sector for a reputed multinational firm (name withheld) in Bangalore. From outside, there is little difference between workplaces in US and India. After all, what does it take to have an IT set up - a floor divided into cubes, each cube having a four-legged desk with one or two big monitors, a keyboard, mouse and a nice ergonomic chair. Walls decorated with bright colours with inspiring quotes, conference rooms with big wooden tables and VOIP facility, a pantry area with coffee, soda…

The second season of Mahindra's Spark the Rise begins on 17th September 2012. See the Spark The Rise journey video here. The Rise Blog said, "In order to re-ignite conversations and spread the word, we're conducting an exciting three-city tour of India." Three 'Be the Spark' Meet-Ups were held over the last three Saturdays in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. Each meet had a different topic of discussion and some of the leading social entrepreneurs, change-makers and change-agents in each city were invited to be a part of panel and general discussions on the topic. Usha Rajagopalan from PNLIT was one of the panellists at the Bangalore meet and…

Two years ago, a direct selling company, RMP Infotech got its website redesigned adding new marketing initiatives, that subsequently increased company’s visibility to new customers. Likewise there are businesses, mostly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with minimal online presence or totally offline and there is a dire need to bring them online for their growth, says Sangeeta Dilip who was instrumental in redesigning the website.  Sangeeta Dilip. Pic courtesy: Sangeeta Dilip Bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Bangalore based Sangeeta, 27,  saw opportunity in this segment and found startupfreak.com to help offline SMEs go online. She left Wipro Technologies in 2009…

There was a major fire in Kleen Pack, a plastic factory off Bannerghatta Road, early morning on January 30th. I was leaving for my morning walk along with my wife at 5 am on the day, when I noticed black smoke rising up in the sky. Abandoning our walk, we rushed to the direction of smoke to check what was happening. A lot of plastic/synthetic raw materials were stored in the factory's premises and these were on fire.The factory manufactures plastic bags and is located along Arekere Bannerghatta road that leads to L&T South City.By the time we reached, the…

Susheela, a vegetable vendor at Gandhi Bazaar who was thrown out on Jan 23rd, is one of those who was allowed to return on February 9th by city councillor P N Sadashiva. Pic: Vijayalakshmi P. After being thrown out by BBMP on January 23rd, vendors of Gandhi Bazaar, Basavanagudi have set up shops again on February 9th. "Yesterday the police constables chased us, but today they allowed us. But how about compensation?", asks Venkatappa, a 35-year-old florist. The vendors allege that the BBMP never gave them any notice.The trader's association of Gandhi Bazaar had a list which was used by…

Domestic workers protest. Pic: Navya P K An appeal from DWRCDear Sir/Madam, We are working closely with the Labour Department and will be collecting the data to enrol workers for RSBY health insurance. Our organisation is also part of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) task force on domestic workers at the centre and working on the draft policy for domestic workers. We request concerned Resident Welfare Associations for support and give us permission to collect the details, fill up the forms for the RSBY scheme. We have to complete our process by December 31st. -Geeta MenonDomestic Workers Rights Collective (DWRC)…

Starting with the holiday weekend of December 24th-25th, OfferGrid, a distribution network for service and product deals for publishers is powering local deals on Citizen Matters, Bangalore's interactive newsmagazine. Deals from over 17 categories ranging from health care and dance classes to dining and education are available for nearly 24 localities in Bengaluru, at the time of launch on December 24th. All major major localities such as Jayanagar, Indiranagar, Koramangala, Malleshwaram, etc, are covered. The deals are available for readers on the Citizen Matters home page, article pages, events pages and more. Launched in Q3 2011, OfferGrid Exchange is the…

Bengaluru is one of India's more vibrant hubs for startups. But this startup near Whitefield is a firm few people would have expected. A Hoskote farmer has launched his own grocery supermarket. H Krishna Murthy, 40, a farmer who goes by the name Krishna, opened his swanky outlet, A1 Fresh World (A1FW) at Kadugodi last month. Krishna hails from Kolathur village in Hosakote and runs an 18-acre farm. Not unlike the major players in this sector, A1FW carries everything from fresh vegetables, dry groceries, diary foods, confectionary, beverages, savouries and so for. Hoskote-based farmer Krishna Murthy, who opened a supermarket…