The speech reflected growing trend in TDP to position Nara Lokesh as successor to his father & CM Chandrababu Naidu. Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan got lone mention.
Monthly allowance for women, housing for the poor, subsidised gas cylinders, increased pensions, and 2 lakh govt jobs feature in both the Congress and BJP manifestos.
Revenue surplus has been estimated at Rs 1,700 cr. Water resources, women & child development, MSME, cow welfare & happiness departments see major hikes in outlay. No new taxes announced.
For FY25, Bihar's assumption of revenue surplus seems optimistic, while UP's seems doable. In Punjab, main concern is that targeted reduction in fiscal deficit is to come by cutting capex.
In his maiden budget, state finance minister Thangam Thennarasu also announced a housing scheme to make the state 'hut-free' by 2030 & project to reduce water pollution in North Chennai.
Data reveals that states with a lower variance between their estimates and their actual expenditure do better in terms of governance outcomes. Spending less isn't the solution.
While a higher capital outlay has been budgeted for FY 23-24, trends of last FY suggest states have underspent on capex & are unlikely to achieve their targets for 2022-23.
A poor Muslim man from Kurnool, selling khoya buns during the Medaram Jatara in Telangana, was harassed by some YouTubers and surrounded by a mob over allegations of 'food jihad'.
Indian refiners are testing Venezuelan barrels again as Russian supply sinks, but analysts say volumes will remain limited due to refinery constraints & supply capacity.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
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