People Web International

By Ashis Dutta, PWI Reporter Karnataka

BANGALORE, INDIA - The world over, the city of Bangalore in India has become synonymous with Information Technology (IT). So much so that the term ‘Bangalored’ has been coined in the United States and also inspired a soap opera there.

But a question mark has been put on the city’s remarkable technology journey since the year 1991. The reason being the recent Union Budget where the fiscal incentive of tax rebate so far enjoyed by the IT industry has been withdrawn. The effect is a whooping 30 % plus cess and surcharge in tax.

Mr. Vivek Kulkarni, a former top bureaucrat responsible for the growth of IT in Bangalore, has been critical of the government’s policy of withdrawing the tax benefit of the IT industry terming it as killing the goose laying golden eggs.

Kulkarni puts forth the example of China, which, despite its phenomenal growth from a struggling economy in 1978 to the manufacturing hub of the entire world, continues to offer tax incentive to the manufacturing industry.

Due to this tax burden, the most affected among the IT fraternity in India is going to be the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, as large IT companies have already relocated most of their operations to the tax free SEZ (Special Economic Zone). For an industry which provides high quality employment to more than two million people and supports secondary and tertiary employment of another ten million, the tax has certainly come as a dampener.

As for the city of Bangalore, once the fastest growing city of Asia, whose predominant economic activity hovers around IT – be it real estate or retail, transportation or recreation, it is to be seen as to how the city copes with this new fiscal burden.

-- by Ashis Dutta - PWI Reporter Karnataka - karnataka@peoplewebinternational.com

MANGALORE, KARNATAKA, INDIA - Muniraj packed his small pained tin-suitcase and boarded the already crowded overnight bus. Muniraj was not alone. Thousands of migrant industrial and agriculture workers like him embarked in the exodus from the port city of Mangalore (Karnataka, India) and around on the coast of Arabian Sea to the safe haven of their home deep inland in the Indian peninsula. The reason: the Supermoon.

On Saturday, March 19, the moon came liltingly close to the earth, earning for itself the sobriquet - Supermoon. Man from ancient times has observed the effect of moon on the cycle of tide and ebb in the sea. This scientific causality has also spawned myths and folklores, awe and admiration over centuries and across continents.

The elk of Muniraj, who form a substantial part of the workforce in the relatively prosperous costal region of Karnataka, have been apprehensive of a potential Tsunami because of the Supermoon. The one that devastated Japan has convinced many rational arguments from their employers did not win the day.

When I visited the popular beach at Malpe, 60 km (37 miles) north of Mangalore on the day, it was nearly deserted. Only a handful of young boys from the adjacent fishing colony were swimming and having a good time. “Aren’t you all worried?” I asked. “The sea is our life,” said a boy of 15 something, his dark body wet and shimmering, “we are not going to flee on some superstition and rumour.”

Was this the new India speaking?

-- by Ashis Dutta - PWI Reporter Karnataka - karnataka@peoplewebinternational.com