1. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will present the State budget today at 12 noon, which will be the first since Congress came to power in Karnataka following the May 10 Assembly elections. This will be his record 14th budget. All eyes are on the budget since there is much curiosity on how Mr. Siddaramaiah will make the allocations required to fulfill the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress. It is is also expected to focus on increasing revenue generation, which will be crucial to fund the promises. There is speculation that the government would do away with or merge some old schemes to reduce the burden on the exchequer. Eyes are also on allocation for Bengaluru development, a portfolio held by Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar.
2. The budget session continues without a Leader of Opposition, with the BJP failing to pick a name for the role. This situation is unprecedented in recent history.
3. Indian Academy of Sciences is holding its 34th mid-year meeting today. As part of the two-day event, there will be a public lecture on ‘Health, Education and Communities - The Future of a Nation’, by Dr. Kavery Nambisan, surgeon and novelist. The event will be held in the auditorium, Biological Sciences department, Indian Institute of Science, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
