Chief minister Siddaramaiah’s last full budget before next year’s assembly election comes garnished with freebies and leavened by savvy politics but is remarkably responsible, given this is the last chance he has to woo voters. The budget comes with a revenue surplus and a fiscal deficit of 2.65% of the state gross domestic product. This is welcome.
Apart of the state’s borrowing is from the Centre, and has to be excluded while calculating the combined fiscal deficit of the Centre and the states, meaning that Karnataka’s contribution to the combined deficit would be smaller. State budgets together account for 56% of general government expenditure, and unless the states maintain fiscal discipline, macroeconomic stability would be at risk, even if the Centre sticks to the path of rectitude. The chief minister has two substantive ideas, apart from announcing new hospitals, airports and universities. Development of Tumkur as another business hub, to take heat off from overcrowded Bengaluru.
The other is reintroduction of a local, mildly intoxicating drink, Neera, which had served as the basis of considerable business wealth in the state, besides of government revenue, before being banned, leaving the field open for beer, rum, whisky, etc. Its reintroduction would please powerful rural constituencies, besides giving the state a fresh stream of revenue. The scrapping of VAT on liquor will not make liquor cheap, in general, as it is accompanied by additional duties of excise.
Populist replication of Tamil Nadu’s cheap canteens costs little money but would prove popular. Capping multiplex ticket costs is unsound in principle; it would have been better to let greater competition and more sensible real estate policies to do the job. Free laptops are now par for the course.
Source : THE ECONOMIC TIMES
IMPORTANT WORDS FROM ARTICLE & THEIR MEANING
Garnished (सुशोमित करना) - Verb
- Meaning - serve notice on (a third party) for the purpose of legally seizing money belonging to a debtor or defendant
- Synonyms - adorn, enhancement
- Antonyms - plainness, decrease
- Example - From what distant land had they travelled together to reach this holiday-garnished city in the hills.
Freebies (मुफ्त) - Noun
- Meaning - a thing that is provided or given free of charge
- Synonyms - handout, gift
- Example - He gives them regular freebies.
Leavened (ख़मीरवाला) - Verb
- Meaning - cause (dough or bread) to ferment and rise by adding leaven
- Synonyms - lighten, raise
- Example - His remarkes leaven the tense atmosphere.
Rectitude (इंसाफ) - Noun
- Meaning - morally correct behaviour or thinking, righteousness
- Synonyms - virtue, probity
- Antonyms - deceit, evil
- Example - Jake’s rectitude prevented him from lying to the police about his actions.
Substantive (वस्तु-संबंधी) - Adjective
- Meaning - having a firm basis in reality and so important, meaningful, or considerable
- Synonyms - noun, proper noun
- Example - Why should I take the herb when there is no substantive proof it will ease my pain?
Intoxicating (मादक) - Adjective
- Meaning - (of alcoholic drink or a drug) liable to cause someone to lose control of their faculties or behaviour
- Synonyms - heady, thrilling
- Antonyms - sobering, boring
- Example - This wine's very intoxicating.
Scrapping (समाप्त करना) - Verb
- Meaning - abolish or cancel (a plan, policy, or law)
- Synonyms - discard, ditch
- Antonyms - accept, keep
- Example - The committee decided to scrap the plan altogether, and start all over.
Replication (प्रतिकृति) - Noun
- Meaning - the action of copying or reproducing something
- Synonyms - effigy, duplicate
- Antonyms - entity, original
- Example - Why would I pay a huge price for a replication of a designer handbag?
Now considering the article above as a Reading Comprehension question, try to answer the following -
- Explain the term "Free laptops are now par for the course"?
- Is macroeconomic stability of state is at risk, State with answers?
Given below are some words to check your vocabulary you can make sentences with those words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
- Revenue
- Deficit
- Excluded
