Programmes to support early-stage startups, women entrepreneurs to be launched: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Feb 16: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his budget speech on Friday proposed to launch three new programmes aimed at maintaining Karnataka's top position in the startup ecosystem, particularly to support early stage startups and women entrepreneurs.
Presenting the state budget for 2024-25 in the legislative assembly, Siddaramaiah announced Rajiv Gandhi Entrepreneurship Programme an early-stage funding programme that nurtures ideas and innovations to promote innovative endeavours and startups founded by students or inexperienced entrepreneurs.
These programmes will also include a new initiative to support early stage women entrepreneurs with a sector-wise and targeted approach. To promote agriculture startups in the state, five acres of land will be provided to C-Camp Agri innovation Park, the chief minister said.
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"Karnataka has been a pioneering state in the field of technology. To expand the state's footprint in this sector, a Centre of Excellence in Fintech, Space-tech and Automation Tech at a cost of Rs 10 crore will be set up over a period of five years in collaboration with entrepreneurs and educational institutions," the chief minister said.
Bengaluru has more than 400 Global Capability Centres. In order to attract higher investment in this sector, it is proposed to introduce a new Global Capability Centre Policy in the current year, he said.
"Karnataka Innovation of Technology Solutions, in collaboration with KEONICS, will establish skilling and innovation centres in emerging technologies across Kalaburagi, Shivamogga, Hubbali, and Tumakuru, at a budget of Rs 12 Crore," he added.
An Institute of Advanced Genome Editing and Gene Therapy will be established to promote study and research in genomics in the state which aims to become a hub for cutting-edge research in health, agriculture and other areas of life sciences, he said.
The Karnataka government will launch a AVGC-XR Policy 3.0 for the period 2024-2029, with an ambitious aim of generating 30,000 new high-quality jobs in this sector. There will be a new investment of Rs 150 crore towards this, Siddaramaiah said.
To showcase the growth of science and technology and to promote science education, a science city at Bengaluru will be established in association with the Government of India at total cost of Rs 233 crore.
"Karnataka holds the top position in terms of industrial growth. To maintain its top position and to attract more investment, New Industrial Policy will be formulated in the current year. Global Investors Meet will be organised in February-2025 to attract greater foreign investment into the state," Siddaramaiah said during his speech.
The industrial estates existing in various districts will be upgraded through Karnataka State Small Industries Development Corporation in collaboration with the central government at an estimated cost of Rs 39 crore.
An industrial node will be developed near Dharwad in 6,000 acres of land under the Bengaluru-Mumbai economic corridor programme in collaboration with the central and state government. This will resolve the unemployment problem of the North Karnataka region and encourage economic development, he said.
The New Textile Policy 2024-29 will be formulated for the development of the textile and weaving sector, the chief minister announced. Through this, a capital investment of Rs 10,000 crore is expected along with generation of two lakh jobs. This policy will also promote greater investment and employment opportunities, he added.
The chief minister also announced that mini textile parks will be set up in 25 districts of the state for which subsidy will be provided with the existing policy.
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Krunal's rare IPL fifty helps RCB beat DC and extend unbeaten away run
RCB jump to top of IPL 2025 points table
New Delhi, Apr 27 (PTI): Krunal Pandya recorded his first fifty in IPL since 2016, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru pull off a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on a challenging Feroz Shah Kotla track here on Sunday.
Krunal (73 not out of 47 balls), who has part of every IPL season since his debut in 2016, paced his innings perfectly while batting alongside chase master Virat Kohli (51 off 47).
The duo shared a 119-run stand off 84 balls as RCB chased down 163 in 18.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run away from home.
RCB bowlers put a squeeze on Delhi Capitals in the middle overs through Josh Hazlewood and the spinners to limit the home team to 162 for six.
For RCB, it was their seventh win in 10 games while DC suffered only their third loss in nine matches. Both teams are on course to make the play-offs.
At 26 for three, RCB felt the heat before Krunal and Kohli bailed them out.
In his maiden season for RCB, Krunal has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball.
On Sunday night, Kohli played the perfect anchor as Krunal came up with timely hits on a difficult surface to deliver a fine win for his team. His straight hit through the line off Mukesh Kumar and an aerial drive over cover off the wily Kuldeep Yadav stood out among his four sixes.
Kohli's consistency has been remarkable this season and the knock against DC was his sixth 50-plus score in 10 innings. The highlight of his solid effort was the straight drive off Mitchell Starc.
The night, however, belonged to Krunal who collected only his second 50-plus score in 116 IPL innings.
Earlier, K L Rahul (41 off 39 balls) was the top-scorer for DC but it was Tristian Stubbs (34 off 18 balls) who helped the hosts post a fighting total.
RCB put the opposition in to bat, expecting better batting conditions during the run chase.
Faf du Plessis (22 off 26 balls) returned from injury to join Abhishek Porel (28 off 11) at the top of the order but it was the latter who ensured DC reached 52 for two in the powerplay.
The southpaw, who has been in fine form this season, came up with a couple of sizzling sixes in his entertaining cameo. Both came off Bhuvneshwar Kumar -- one was a left-handed hit over mid-wicket and the second was a pick-up shot over fine leg.
As veteran du Plessis struggled to get going at the other end, Porel found the ropes with relative ease.
Lead RCB pacer Hazlewood, who has been relentless with his hard lengths, took three balls to get the breakthrough as he cramped Porel to have him caught behind down the leg side.
Karun Nair, who began with a short arm pull off Hazlewood for a boundary, played an ordinary shot off Yash Dayal in the following over and his mishit was pouched at mid-wicket.
The spinners got into operation after the powerplay and overs 7-10 was the phase when RCB were able to stem the flow of runs, conceding just 20 runs off the four overs from Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya, who got rid of du Plessis in that period.
It was only towards the end of the innings that DC managed to get some momentum, all thanks to the blitzkrieg from Stubbs.
The 18th and 19th over from Hazlewood and Dayal yielded 17 and 19 runs, enabling DC to cross the 160-run mark.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals: 162 for 8 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 41; Bhuveshwar Kumar 3/33).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73, Virat Kohli 51; Axar Patel 2/19).
