Category Archives: Business & Economy

The Richie Rich of Bengaluru

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Garden City, tech hub, pub city… And now most preferred city for business headquarters for young wealth creators.

Nikhil Kamath,  co-founder and CIO, Zerodha and True Beacon

Bengaluru : 

The recently-released IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 & Under Self-Made Rich List 2020 has a ranking of the self-made Indian-origin entrepreneurs with a wealth of Rs 1,000 crore, aged 40 years and under. Bengaluru figures as the city with the highest number of persons on the list. As many as nine entrepreneurs from the list of 17 are city-based, with Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath from Zerodha, ranking first with a wealth of Rs 24,000 crore. 

Sharing his thoughts on the findings, Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun India, said some of the names on the list have fully or partly exited their core businesses and are setting up investment funds and backing other young entrepreneurs. “This will have a compounding effect on the growth of disruptive entrepreneurship in India,” he said in a statement. 

The 17 Indian-origin entrepreneurs have together added wealth close to Rs 45,000 crore. The list also includes Media.net’s Divyank Turakhia in second place, Bengaluru-based Udaan’s Amod Malviya and Sujeet Kumar in third position, Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in seventh rank and Zomato Media’s Deepinder Goyal in the 13th position. 

The only woman on the list is 39-year-old Devita Saraf, who ranks 16th with a wealth of Rs 1,200 crore. Saraf derives her wealth from Vu Technologies, a television manufacturing company, which she founded in 2006.

Richie Rich in Namma Ooru

Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath 
(rank 1; Rs 24,000 cr)Co-founders of online trading platform Zerodha, which grew to become India’s largest stockbroker by the number of clients.

Amod Malviya and Sujeet Kumar 
(rank 3; Rs 13,100 cr) Co-founders of B2B commerce company Udaan.

Riju Ravindran (rank 6; Rs 7,800 cr) 
Brother of Byju Raveendran, who co-founded Byju’s in 2011 with his wife Divya Gokulnath. All three have stakes in the online edtech company.

Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal (rank 7; Rs 7,500 cr) 
Co-founders of Flipkart. Since their exit from Flipkart, Binny Bansal has been investing in several start-ups as an angel investor and Sachin Bansal has co-founded and is the CEO of Navi, a neo-bank start-up headquartered in Bengaluru.

Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati (rank 10; Rs 3,500 cr and rank 14; Rs 1,600 cr) 
Co-founders of Ola. In July 2020, Ola incentivised Aggarwal and Bhati by way of issuing equity shares at a nominal price of Rs 10 per share – resulting in a 13% increase in their wealth compared to last year.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / October 14th, 2020

Chuku Buku dream on track

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Railway activists celebrate green-lighting of project after campaigning for five years

Bengaluru :

The excitement of the Chuku Buku brigade was palpable, as members tweeted their joy and shared their hopes on WhatsApp groups. Ever since news broke that the Suburban Rail project had been cleared, railway activists who played a crucial role in the campaign, have been celebrating.

Sanjeev Dyammanavar, urban transportation expert and founder of Praja.in, told TNIE, “It is a long-pending project. The dream of all Bengalureans has become a reality today. It was pursed by various departments and K-RIDE showed its keenness in executing it by beginning preliminary work in this connection.”

The ‘Chuku Buku Beku’ campaign, which began in Bengaluru in 2015, an initiative on social media and offline, fetched a great deal of publicity for the project nationwide. Srinivas Alavilli, who coordinated the campaign involving citizens and NGOs, said, “I am cautiously optimistic.

After it was announced in the Union Budget a year ago, it has taken so long for the cabinet nod. We are keen on seeing the actual running of trains and physical infrastructure like stations. Priority needs to be given to Whitefield and Outer Ring Road where traffic congestion is the maximum.”

Rajkumar Dugar, convener, Citizens for Citizens, said, “I am extremely delighted. But I wish an official announcement too had been made. On highest priority is the KSR-Devanahalli line as connectivity to the airport is very important.”  Zibi Jamal of Whitefield Rising said, “It has been a long, hard campaign with so many people contributing, including Praja and Citizens for Bengaluru. Politicians across parties supported us.” 

Proposed fare structure

Minimum: Rs 13 (for less than 3 km) to a maximum of Rs 100 at 2025  price levels.
Price level to be escalated by 10% every two years.

Airport connectivity

 Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna-Yesvantpur-Yelahanka-Devanahalli-Kempe Gowda International Airport: 41.4 km

 Land required 15.96 acres.

Cost Rs 251.9 cr

Length: 5.5 km

Train operation plan
 Six-car trains  
19 hours a day operation from 5 am till midnight with 30-second stop  at each station

Average speed 33 kmph with a maximum speed of 90 kmph

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / October 08th, 2020

Udupi artist’s KSTRC bus model rewarded with real bus for village school

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Prashanth Achar and his brother Prakash met KSRTC MD Shivyogi C. Kalsad on Monday to present the models.   | Photo Credit:  Sudhakara Jain

KSRTC places order for models, which will be displayed or gifted as mementos

Instead of sitting idle during the lockdown, artist Prashanth Achar, 30, from Kundapur taluk in Udupi district, started building models of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses. First, he built a model of an ‘Airavat’ bus.

Elated by the response from his friends and relatives, he built other models of buses, such as ‘Karnataka Sarige’. His effort has been recognised by the transport corporation.

After meeting him on Monday, KSRTC MD Shivyogi C. Kalsad has placed an order for 10 models of various brands of buses operated by the Corporation.

But that is not all. During his meeting with KSRTC officials, Mr. Achar sought help to improve the infrastructure of the government school in his village Bagwadi.

“There was one more reason for visiting Bengaluru, and that was to seek help to improve the infrastructure of the government school in my village where 85 students are enrolled. I am planning to meet the Transport Minister who is also the Deputy Chief Minister. Improving infrastructure at Bagwadi school will help children from rural areas.”

Mr. Kalsad decided to provide an old bus of the KSRTC that can be converted into a classroom for the benefit of school children.

“I am very happy with the MD’s offer of a bus. He has asked us to come up with innovative ideas to make use of the bus,” Mr. Achar said.

“During the lockdown, I had a lot of free time. I was always fascinated by KSRTC buses. I thought why I should not use the free time to build models of these buses. First, I made a model of an ‘Airavat’ bus and posted photos of the bus on social media. The work received very good response from the general public. Even higher ups in the KSRTC took note and contacted me,” he added.

He uses foam sheets to build the models and takes eight days to build a model.

An official of the KSRTC said, “The models of buses designed by Mr. Achar are really good. They are lightweight and easy to carry. We have placed orders for 10 models. We will display them. We are also planning to present them as gifts to dignitaries visiting our office.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – October 06th, 2020

Initiative to gift a meal to those in need

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The pandemic has not been easy for anyone, more so for the economically and socially disadvantaged. While there have been several instances of an outpouring of help, now, you can do your bit too. Soon, when you walk into a few restaurants in the city, after you order your meal, you can also buy a token which will be used to provide a meal for people who may not be able to afford it.

This is an initiative of Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association and will begin on a pilot basis in around 30 restaurants in the city from October 2. The initiative is called Sanchigondu — one for the bag. The tag line of the project is ‘gift a meal, bring a smile’.

P.C. Rao, president of the association, said each hotel would fix a price of the token. “The customer can pay either for a meal or a beverage. We have told hotel owners to cap the token to a maximum of ₹100,” he said. He said they would conduct a sensitisation workshop for all the restaurant owners. “We want these tokens to help daily wage labourers, poor students, differently abled persons, and those who are unemployed,” he said.

Veerendra Kamat, treasurer of the association, said they started this project as they wanted people who were unable to afford food to get access to quality food. “During the pandemic, many people do not have a steady source of income and our effort is to help such people,” he said. He said once they finish the pilot project and understand the challenges, they would think of scaling this to other hotels in the city.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – September 27th, 2020

It’s official: Bengaluru will have 243 wards

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He explained that the October 3 notification mentioned that the number of wards can be increased to anywhere between 225 and 250.

Bengaluru :

Three days after the government issued a gazette notification on the amendments to the Karnataka Municipalities Act, setting the stage for delimitation of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) wards, it has been decided that the civic body will now have 243 wards based on the population, against the present 198.

The chairman of the joint legislature committee on restructuring of BBMP, MLA S Raghu, told The New Indian Express that the decision was taken at a meeting with the Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department Additional Chief Secretary and the BBMP Commissioner on Tuesday. 

He explained that the October 3 notification mentioned that the number of wards can be increased to anywhere between 225 and 250. “With the population size of each ward at 35,000, we arrived at the number 241. But, since the size of families can vary, it was decided that there will be 243 wards,” he said. 

Separate Act for Bengaluru in the works

The government will issue final orders soon and the first meeting on the delimitation exercise will be held immediately after, he said. “It will be held mostly by Friday, and after this, the delimitation will be done by the BBMP on the basis of the population. The older order of ward reservation will also cease to exist and a revised list will be announced,” Raghu added. 

Amendments to the KMC Act, to create a separate Bengaluru Municipal Act, is also under progress, he explained. The committee members are keen on completing the delimitation exercise and preparation of voters’ list by November 30, the time set by the High Court and the Election Commission, he pointed out. 

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Bosky Khanna / Express News Service / October 07th, 2020

The Big Brother of Bangalore

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Janopakari Doddanna worked selflessly and tirelessly for Bengaluru

K. H. Ramaiah, a prominent personality of yesteryear Bangalore, often referred Gubbi Thotadappa as a fatherly figure (appa), Janopakari Doddanna as (Anna), elder brother. The services they rendered encompassed a very large strata of the city irrespective of class, cast and creed.

A vivid description of the life and contribution of Doddanna to Bengaluru is found Prof. V Krishna Setty’s book (1997), who had a long association with the institution founded by Doddanna.

Doddanna Shetty was born on February 3, 1840 to a pious couple Nanjundappa and Siddamma. They belonging to a vegetable oil extracting and trading community. They lived in Commercial Street in Cantonment area during 1830s. In addition to being god fearing and spiritual, the couple were also widely known for their charity and hospitality. Nanjundappa was the head of the community and was referred to as ‘Yajaman’.

Doddanna, got the education required for the family business, and after the death of his father assumed the post of Yajaman, and continued the family trade. He had also inherited the parents’ trait of charity and hospitality and without any bias, helped the downtrodden to live with dignity.

He used to go during night with a few of his associates to distribute good food and blankets to help the destitute and vagabonds on the streets and also the wandering monks who took shelter at Poornaiah Choultry which was located next to Tulasi Thota near Dharmambudi Tank, the present day Kempegowda Central Bus stand.

Paramount Theatre  

He renovated the Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple, his family deity, on Old Poor House Road in Cantonment and liberally donated for such work undertaken by other temples in Bengaluru. He had also given away a portion of his land near Bangalore East Railway station for the use of Buddha Centre. Because of these liberal contributions he used to be even referred to as ‘Daanashoora Karna’, a prominent character known for such charitable acts in the epic, Mahabharata. In spite of being benevolent to the society, as if to test his inner strength to face the adversities, he lost three wives, one after the other. Though two sons were born to the fourth wife she too died soon.

Yet, he recovered from these onslaughts of the fate and continued to serve his city. During 1898, there was severe plague attack in Bengaluru and the first son Lakshminarayana fell a victim for the pandemic. Realising that isolation is the sole solution to prevent the spread of the disease, Doddanna got about two hundred shelters built in a village Venkatapura for the benefit of the members of his community. The plague had also deprived the education to many downtrodden children. To groom the future generation on proper moral and ethical grounds, he took some space near the present day KR Market in 1900 and started a lower secondary school to impart free education especially for poor children. He treated these kids as his own and took personal care even in giving them oil bath, food and clothing.

Pouring a major chunk of his wealth he also started to construct a huge building to run the school. He wanted this structure to represent the culture and ethics of the land and should also be big enough to serve the purpose of a school, choultry, theatre and assembly hall. Later, his building became a landmark in the city as Doddanna hall and also as Paramount theatre.

Around the year 1900, the Mysore Government had started the construction of the building of Revenue Survey Office in Cubbon Park, near KR circle. The contractor, Tatayaa had given the responsibility of the construction to Rangappa. Everyday, while walking from Cantonment to his school in the City Market area, Doddanna used to pause a little and observe the construction and used to discussthe details with Rangappa. Finally, when the building was completed, he liked the elegant front elevation of the structure and the excellent quality of work. He wanted his building also to represent the native culture and tradition. He engage d Rangappa to give his dream a realistic shape.

Inspiration for Doddanna Hall  

The construction work under his personal supervision was going on. At this juncture, fate shot another major blow by taking away the life of his second and the only surviving son, Lakshminarasimha. Since the son died at the beginning of the construction, some elders advised him not to continue the work as his planetary positions were not in his favour. But, he accepted the adversities as challenges and proceeded with the work.

Doddanna’s philanthropic activities and his persisting efforts for the welfare of the downtrodden in spite of stumbling blocks, were known to the elite of the city.

Some other elders told him that his walking all the way from Cantonment to the City Market area was strenuous, Doddanna did not agree. “I can afford to have a personal coach for my movement. But, I feel, the money I spend for the same can be used to get few more cups of milk or oil to give bath to the poor little ones in my school…”

To continue…

sureshmoona@gmail.com

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment> Art / by Suresh Moona / October 01st, 2020

Exhibition-cum-sale to revive purchase of handmade products made by rural women

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy
A file photo of Gandhi Bhavan in Kumara Park East, which will be the venue of the first exhibition-cum-sale of handmade products.   | Photo Credit: K_MURALI_KUMAR

The slogan is ‘Come in as a consumer, go out as an activist’

The Heggodu-based Charaka and Desi Trust, which had shut down operations due to huge losses and lack of sales due to the pandemic and the lockdown, is organising a series of exhibition-cum-sale of handmade products to get back on its feet. The first such exhibition will be held at Gandhi Bhavan, Kumara Park East from October 2 to 4.

Charaka, the largest naturally-dyed handloom fabric manufacturer in the country being run as a co-operative by women, is saddled with a whopping 87,000 metres of unsold fabric and about ₹16 lakh worth of garments.

Desi, which markets products of Charaka through 15 stores in Karnataka, has a stock of garments worth around ₹1 crore. “We continued working during the lockdown to ensure the women do not lose jobs. But there was no sale, which has left us with unsold stock. We have run out of cash and were left with no choice but to shut down operations,” said theatre person Prasanna, the key force behind Charaka and Desi Trust.

Grama Seva Sangh has now taken up ‘Save Gramodyog’, a two-part initiative which will include a rural campaign where villagers will picket panchayat offices seeking answers as to why the rural economy is in dire straits, and an urban campaign led by consumers to encourage the purchase and support of handmade products.

The exhibition at Gandhi Bhavan is the first of a series of exhibitions, which will be held across the State. The slogan for the exhibition is ‘Come in as a consumer, go out as an activist’

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – September 29th, 2020

8000 disposable railway sleepers used to build goods sheds at Bidadi

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This will help with loading and unloading activities at the yard and also boost gypsum trade from Chennai Port to Bidadi, nearly 30 km from Bengaluru. 

The goods shed surface improvement was planned for 600mx15 m area. In the first phase, 390m x 15 m areas has been made ready.

Bengaluru :

 A total of 8,000 disposable railway sleepers have been put to efficient use by the Bengaluru Railway Division by building a goods shed at Bidadi from scratch within a month.

This will help with loading and unloading activities at the yard and also boost gypsum trade from Chennai Port to Bidadi, nearly 30 km from Bengaluru. 

Thousands of railway sleepers are released by the Railways annually as new sleepers are laid when tracks are renewed.

This is the third such goods shed made in the Division with the previous ones made at Nelamangala and Penekonda.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, Divisional Railway Manager A K Verma said, “The Pre-Stressed Concrete (PSC) sleepers have been utilised to develop a 360 metre unloading platform. This has been done on the request of the Chennai Division of Southern Railway.”

The three goods sheds have been developed from scratch by utilizing 30,000 released sleepers, he added.

Sleepers are sturdy and can withstand a great load which makes them excellent material to develop roads or any surface which is likely to carry much weight.

Saint Gobain has a huge manufacturing facility at Bidadi.

“Gypsum from Chennai Port can be transported here. There is a potential of loading 2,00,000 Metric Tonnes per year,” he said.

“We got rich dividends in the form of substantial increase in NMG loading and first ever Roll On–Roll Off service of South Western Railway,” Verma added.

Senior Divisional Commercial Manager A N Krishna Reddy said, “Usage of sleepers is cost effective. Being M55 PSC, the surface can withstand movement of heavy machinery and loaded lorries. It has saved us much transportation cost.”

The goods shed surface improvement was planned for 600mx15 m area. In the first phase, 390m x 15 m areas has been made ready.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by S. Lalitha / Express News Service / September 30th, 2020

Ambulances donated

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Continuing its CSR initiatives, HAL on Tuesday donated one ambulance each to the State-run Institute of Nephro Urology situated on the Victoria Hospital campus and Sir C.V. Raman General Hospital.

“Considering the pandemic, we are doing whatever we can to strengthen the health infrastructure,” said R. Madhavan, CMD, HAL.

The ambulances are equipped with facilities like air conditioning, basic life support system, analog oxygen delivery system, auto loader stretcher trolley with floor mounting mechanism, and a doctor’s seat. They are particularly useful for patients who require medical monitoring in transit and non-invasive airway management.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Bengaluru – September 30th, 2020

IKEA sets up its global office in Bengaluru

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An IKEA, India spokesperson told TNIE that the company is in the middle of a hiring process and will continue to recruit more talent targeted at setting up a digital framework in the country.

Customers stand outside Ikea’s store in Hyderabad, India. (File| AP)

Bengaluru :

Swedish furniture giant IKEA will set up its new global office in Bengaluru and hire for key roles as the company is planning to expand its digital footprints in line with the new consumer shopping trends shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

An IKEA, India spokesperson told TNIE that the company is in the middle of a hiring process and will continue to recruit more talent targeted at setting up a digital framework in the country.

The company is investing in a new global office to operate within the areas of Global Business Operations (GBO), Digital, and Centres of Expertise (CoE) which will help streamline, simplify, and standardise ways of its operations, while diversifying the overall digital footprint, IKEA said in a statement.

The office will operate from the Karle Special Economic Zone, in Bengaluru. Bengaluru will be the first Indian city which will be the key partner for the group functions such as Finance, Digital, Procurement and People & Culture to continuously improve ways of working. Currently IKEA’s GBO centers operate in cities including Poznan (Poland), Shanghai (China) and Baltimore (US).

“India is not only a growing retail destination for us but also one of the strongest markets when it comes to global business operations capabilities. We have long-term growth plans to expand over time,” said Lalitha Indrakanti, Head of GBO for IKEA Retail (Ingka Group).

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Business / by Bismah Malik / Express News Service / September 18th, 2020