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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sweden has dropped plans for 13 wind farms in the Baltic Sea due to security concerns.</li><li>Wind turbines could interfere with radar and slow Sweden's missile response, its army said.</li></ul>Sweden has quashed plans for 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea over concerns that they could impede its response to a missile attack.Sweden, which joined NATO earlier this year, shares a coast on the Baltic Sea with Russia."With war in close vicinity, Sweden finds itself in a serious security situation," Pål Jonson, Sweden's defense minister, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/PlJonson/status/1853393931876106541">wrote on X</a> on Monday.Jonson shared a graphic to illustrate how a cluster of wind turbines could impede the country's ability to detect incoming cruise or ballistic missiles. A recent study produced by the Swedish Armed Forces concluded that an extra minute could be added to the country's response time to an incoming missile due to the turbines, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/forsvarsmakten-vill-stoppa-planerad-vindkraft-i-ostersjon">Swedish national broadcaster SVT reported</a>.It said that the towers and their blades produce radar echoes and interference both in the air and underwater, making missiles and submarines in their vicinity harder to detect.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-nato-alliance-new-ways-strike-russia-targets-kaliningrad-stpetersburg-2024-3">Sweden's accession to NATO</a> earlier this year has seen it step up its military readiness in the Baltic, including beefing up security around <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-both-eyes-crucial-baltic-island-gotland-sweden-army-chief-2024-5">the strategic island of Gotland</a>.Jonson, in his posts, said it was "important" to note Sweden's proximity to "heavily militarized Kaliningrad" — a Russian exclave that borders Lithuania and Poland and has a coastline on the Baltic Sea.Offshore wind power is a priority for Sweden's government, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.barrons.com/news/sweden-s-defence-concerned-by-planned-offshore-wind-power-c0a8c95f">Jonson told AFP</a>.The 13 wind farms would have been placed along Sweden's eastern coast, stretching from the Åland archipelago in the north to Öresund in the south, outlet <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://svenska.yle.fi/a/7-10066739">Yle reported</a>.The government did approve one farm, off Sweden's western coast, it said.Monday's decision is a blow to Sweden's renewable energy plans. A 2022 Swedish Energy Agency report <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/business/energy/swedish-power-demand-could-double-by-2035-amid-electrification-drive-idUSL8N3352RH">seen by Reuters</a> estimated that the country's energy consumption could double by 2035.Wind farms were seen as one of the major ways to plug that gap, Reuters reported.

A NATO country rejected offshore wind farms it said could slow its response to a Russian missile attack

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla says AI will handle 80% of work in 80% of jobs.</li><li>Khosla argues AI will reduce labor value, making expertise nearly free and driving down costs.</li></ul>Famed Silicon Valley investor <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-investor-vinod-khosla-says-he-works-80-hour-weeks-2023-12">Vinod Khosla</a> thinks artificial intelligence will be able to do 80% of the work of 80% of jobs.That will mean humans have a lot more free time because the value of our labor will fall. One way to cushion the blow: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-ubi">universal basic income</a>.Khosla, who cofounded Sun Microsystems and who has invested in OpenAI, wrote in a lengthy <a target="_blank" href="https://www.khoslaventures.com/ai-dystopia-or-utopia/?campaign_id=4&amp;emc=edit_dk_20240923&amp;instance_id=135030&amp;nl=dealbook&amp;regi_id=71823306&amp;segment_id=178573&amp;te=1&amp;user_id=f058385abc0a81f5ba25805ecd26bcd9#02-c">post</a> on the website of his eponymous venture capital firm that AI would reduce costs and make expertise nearly free.That means everyone from doctors to those in sales to people who work on farms and assembly lines could see AI take over much of their work — and mostly do it better, he wrote."As AI reduces the need for human labor, UBI could become crucial, with governments playing a key role in regulating AI's impact and ensuring equitable wealth distribution," Khosla said.Advocates of universal basic income, including Silicon Valley luminaries like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-universal-basic-income-ubi-ai-automation-unemployment-quotes-2024-6">Elon Musk</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-basic-income-study-results-2024-7">OpenAI's Sam Altman</a>, have said it could help blunt disparities that threaten to widen as AI absorbs aspects of jobs — or replaces some roles altogether.<h2 id="6a04d866-50b9-42fc-8746-90fe77e0cc70">AI isn't like other technological advances</h2>Khosla, who described himself as an "unapologetic capitalist and technology optimist," contends that widespread payments to supplement income will likely be necessary, at least for a time, because AI isn't like many recent technological advances.The microprocessor, the internet, and the mobile phone emerged as tools humans could use, he said, but "AI, by contrast, amplifies and multiplies the human brain much as the advent of steam engines and motors amplified muscle power."He expects AI to drive down costs well beyond what the microprocessor could. In addition to making all expertise broadly available and nearly free, Khosla expects AI will usher in everything from bipedal robots to cheaper materials — including metals and drugs by supercharging science and the discovery of materials.He understands concerns over the idea of handing out cash to people who are pushed out of jobs by AI. Khosla wrote that it might seem "impractical" because of economic constraints. And, he added, ignoring those problems had led to "disasters" in places like Argentina and Venezuela.Yet Khosla expects the breadth of gains from AI will gradually reduce the economic constraints that animate some criticisms of UBI.One of those is that UBI programs could remove an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-ubi-dave-ramsey-show-karl-marx-playbook-2024-7">incentive to work</a>. Since 2019, more than 100 municipalities in the US have tried a version of handing out money. So-called <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/which-states-cities-have-guaranteed-basic-income-programs-low-income-2024-4">guaranteed basic income programs</a> are focused on lower-income households as a means of fighting poverty.A recent study found that rolling out a worldwide UBI would <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/universal-basic-income-carbon-taxes-global-gdp-sustainability-2024-6">increase global GDP</a> by 130%. Last week, Pope Francis reiterated his <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pope-francis-universal-basic-income-ai-jobs-automation-2024-9">support for UBI</a> because, he said, it could help lift some people who haven't seen the benefits of globalization.<h2 id="8fb8a474-c7fd-4d44-ae62-8c81e9a83a5d">Discussion is needed</h2>Khosla also said it's important to be careful when making recommendations for any particular policy fix or premature moves at a national scale that would be drastic or irreversible."Debate and discussion are definitely called for," he said.Yet interventions are needed to help those hurt by broadening income disparities, Khosla said. That will mean watching these changes closely and making "small policy changes" in this decade.He noted that even if AI continues to make rapid gains in its abilities, the impact and adoption might be slower, "much like the flat part of an exponential curve."<h2 id="8ff6a9db-1d25-4be3-8202-3942bc44e308">A billion robots</h2>Khosla predicted that robots will produce sufficient value to "support the people they replace." He said that in 25 years, there could be one billion two-legged robots handling various tasks.That could eliminate the need for people to handle sometimes-grueling tasks like working on an assembly line or a farm, and such a market could become larger than the auto industry, Khosla said."Few are preparing for how this will radically change GDP, productivity, and human happiness and free people of the servitude of these assignments we call jobs," he wrote.

Vinod Khosla says universal basic income may be needed as AI takes over jobs and drives wealth disparity

Stepping inside TapOut Sports Zone Bar and Grill in Boquete, Panama, is like stepping inside suburban America.The menu features American staples like cheeseburgers, barbecue chicken sandwiches, and Philly cheesesteaks. Flat-screen TVs sit above the bar, airing the latest game. On Friday nights, you might catch a band performing hits like "Take It Easy" by the Eagles. On Mondays, locals stop by for karaoke and $1 beers.I visited TapOut in April — not for the bacon-wrapped shrimp but to see the Boquete Community Players, a theater group that hosts shows in the back room of the restaurant. On a Saturday afternoon, the small room was bustling with a dozen Americans preparing for an upcoming performance.As they debated curtain colors and stage lighting, a waiter dropped off a round of piña coladas. Another passed by with two bottles of Panama Light beer. Since arriving at TapOut, it was the first reminder that I was far from the heart of America.<div type="image" title="TapOut Sports Zone in Boquete, Panama." height="1365" width="2048" msid="112650986" hostid="261" sizebytes="494876"></div>Seeing Americans — especially those around retirement age — is standard in Boquete. The town's year-round cool temperatures and the affordable cost of living have earned it recognition for being one of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-ten-countries-for-a-comfortable-retirement-2023-9">best places to retire</a>.While some people moved because <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-moving-abroad-cost-of-living-too-expensive-debt-retirement-2024-4">retiring in the US was too expensive</a> — if not impossible — others told me they came to avoid America's divisive political climate. Regardless of why they ended up in Boquete, the town has changed drastically in the past two decades because of retirees, and the influx doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.<h2>Boquete wasn't always a retiree's paradise</h2>Founded in 1911, Boquete remained a quiet town for decades. The region was known for its coffee plantations and an annual flower festival. Beyond beans and blooms, Panamanians were lured to Boquete for its comfortable weather.Situated about 4,000 feet above sea level, Boquete's temperatures hover around 70 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. The town has long been a weekend escape for Panamanians living in nearby cities like David, where temperatures can reach the 90s.Thalia Velasquez, who grew up in David, remembers begging her mom to take her to Boquete every weekend."Boquete, at the time, was a very, very simple, little town," Velasquez told me about her childhood visits there. "The stores would close by 4 p.m. The bakery would close by 5 or 6 p.m., maybe even earlier. There were very few cars in town. A lot of people still rode their horses."Landreth Laws, who owns <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/iwannaboquete/">Iwanna Boquete Tours</a>, has similar memories from growing up in Boquete.<div type="image" title="A view of Boquete, Panama." height="1536" width="2048" msid="112650990" hostid="261" sizebytes="253526"></div>The 42-year-old said the town's busiest time was during an annual flower festival. He remembers his family home teeming with people. There weren't enough hotels in town to accommodate visitors in the '80s and '90s. Back then, there were few tourists and even fewer foreign retirees.In the 1990s, Velasquez took her partner at the time, Samuel Walker Taliaferro, on a tour of Panama. They stopped in Boquete, and Taliaferro, an American inventor, engineer, and investor, fell in love with the town.They moved to Boquete, along with Velasquez's two children, and the couple opened a real-estate business, bought land, and spent their days riding horses.During one ride, Taliaferro took her Velasquez to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.valleescondidoboquete.com/">Valle Escondido</a>, a former coffee plantation and "the most beautiful place in the valley," Velasquez said. The couple bought the land, and Taliaferro eventually transformed it into a $100 million residential resort community. The property opened in 2003, with a chapel, café, restaurant, hotel, and 150 condominiums. Taliaferro set out to promote both his property and Boquete as a retirement haven. He worked with International Living magazine to advertise the destination, and retirees arrived with suitcases in tow.It helped when AARP named Boquete the No. 1 foreign retirement destination in the Western Hemisphere. In 2005, <a target="_blank" href="https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/07/11/8265242/index.htm">Fortune Magazine</a> featured the town as an idyllic place to retire."Taliaferro sold Boquete like a new destination, like it was one of the most beautiful places to retire," Laws, who worked for Taliaferro as a bartender in 2003, said. "He pushed Boquete to be the best."Velasquez said she initially feared backlash from locals and admitted some people were upset by the town's quick change. Others saw it as an opportunity to create their own businesses with the influx of new residents and visitors.In 2000, Boquete was home to 17,000 people, according to<a target="_blank" href="https://www.citypopulation.de/en/panama/admin/chiriqu%C3%AD/0404__boquete/"> City Population</a>. By 2023, the town ballooned to 23,500 residents. <a target="_blank" href="https://internationalliving.com/building-a-better-life-on-2500-a-month-in-boquete/">International Living</a> said 5,000, or about a fifth of the population, are expats.<div type="image" title="A billboard advertising one of dozens of new projects being developed in the highlands of Panama in 2008." height="702" width="1024" msid="112650994" hostid="261" sizebytes="163818"></div><h2>Thousands of expats now call Boquete home</h2>As I hopscotched between Boquete's roads and uneven sidewalks, I saw the beauty and change Laws and Velasquez described.The small town sits at the bottom of a valley where the outline of mountains can be spotted in every direction. It's one of the greenest places I've visited: tropical flowers fill gardens outside family-owned restaurants, and massive palm fronds reach toward the sky.Between green landscapes, I also saw foreign retirees' influence on Boquete. I doubted the sandwich shop Holy Cow Boquete or Panama Barcade existed when Laws grew up. Traffic sometimes clogged the main street. Signs hung in the library advertising an upcoming talk on cybersecurity and another discussion on wills — topics seemingly fit for an older generation.Boquete is still a small Panamanian town. Walmarts and McDonalds have yet to reach the serene valley and Spanish was the language I heard most. But walk down any street, and older Americans are impossible to miss. They're also eager to share how they ended up in Boquete.Jackie Lange, 70, moved to the town in 2010 to escape the Texas heat.Kelle Sparta, 54, and her husband, Jeff Brandon, arrived in Boquete in 2022, citing tension and high stress levels from America's political climate.Mike Hill was ready to retire, but early retirement in California was out of reach. Faced with working until his full Social Security hit at 67, Hill and his wife decided to relocate somewhere cheaper in 2018.<div type="image" title="TapOut Sports Zone in Boquete, Panama." height="1536" width="2048" msid="112650984" hostid="261" sizebytes="583986"></div>Each expat I spoke with had a different reason for the initial push to move to Boquete, but they all mentioned similar motives for staying. Mild temperatures, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-cost-of-living-what-is-middle-class-housing-market-2024-4">cost of living is cheaper</a>, healthcare is affordable, the economy uses the US dollar, no one talks about politics, and you can get by only speaking English.Boquete is also home to tour companies showing off the technicolor landscape, grocery stores, and nearby hospitals.Lange owns one of those companies, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://panamarelocationtours.com/">Panama Relocation Tours</a>, which takes groups to meet with immigration lawyers to discuss visa options. For many retirees, getting residency in Panama is easy with the pensionado visa, which requires proof of income or a pension of $1,000 a month and an additional $250 for each dependant.While $1,000 is required, realistically, retirees can comfortably live in Boquete for $1,400 a month as an individual or $2,000 as a couple, Lange said.That's drastically less than the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-states-to-retire-in-cost-of-living-comfortably-2023-10"> cheapest US state for retirement</a>. A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gobankingrates.com/retirement/planning/how-much-a-comfortable-retirement-will-cost-you-in-each-state/">June analysis by GOBankingRates</a> found that Mississippi had the lowest cost for a comfortable retirement at $62,154 annually, or $5,180 a month. Meanwhile, Americans living in places like California and New York need closer to $100,000 a year for retirement.<div type="image" title="A group of ex-pats meeting up through Panama Relocation Tours." height="1536" width="2048" msid="112650997" hostid="261" sizebytes="272700"></div>Lange estimates that her team helps about 100 people move to Panama monthly. And it's not just Boquete, Panama City and the San Carlos area are also popular retiree destinations in the country.<h2>Cheap living is not so cheap anymore</h2>Dagmar Rios grew up taking family trips to Boquete. "At that time, it was more simple," she told me.After studying and working in Panama City, Rios, 34, moved to Boquete in 2018. She bought a house and eventually opened her own dentist's office.Boquete is drastically different from Rios' childhood memories, but she said she's also seen many changes in the town in the six years she's lived there."Now, there are more supermarkets. Now, there are more restaurants and hotels," she said.With these changes, Rios said costs have increased. A few years ago, a person could afford a house with a monthly salary of $600. Rios said her employees tell her that's no longer possible.Instead, houses are more expensive, targeting foreign buyers with larger budgets.<div type="image" title="A view of Boquete, Panama." height="1536" width="2048" msid="112651003" hostid="261" sizebytes="362590"></div>Jason Cohen, the CEO and owner of the Boquete realty company <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.casasolution.com/">Casa Solution</a>, said a decade ago, homes in Boquete were priced between $150,000 and $500,000. Today, properties range from $200,000 to $2,000,000."As Boquete gained international recognition, and with baby boomers approaching retirement, the allure of living in a foreign country grew," Cohen added. "This, coupled with Panama's economic expansion, led to a dramatic surge in prices from 2002 to 2006."Panamanians feel these rising costs the most, but some of Boquete's long-term expats also mentioned that the town has become more expensive.Gabrielle Reynolds, who has lived in Boquete for nine years, told me drinks cost $3 at a popular restaurant two summers ago. Last year, prices went up to $7.It's still cheaper than a cocktail back home in Los Angeles, she added."In LA, people are telling me it's $20 a drink," she said. "I'd have to give up martinis, and don't ask me to do that."As the owner of three restaurants in Boquete, Chris Young said he's had to balance increasing costs, pleasing customers, and avoiding pricing out Panamanians.<div type="image" title="A view of Boquete, Panama." height="1365" width="1820" msid="112650988" hostid="261" sizebytes="356148"></div>Young moved from the US about 15 years ago and arrived in Boquete with a restaurant background."When I got here, there were maybe five restaurants,'" he said. "Now, there's a hundred."After bouncing around regions and jobs, Young and a friend opened <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/bigdaddysgrillboquete/">Big Daddy's Grill</a> in Boquete eight years ago. Since then, Young has opened two more restaurants in the town: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/139559905897345/christophers-american-bistro/">Christopher's American Bistro</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/tapoutboquete/">TapOut Sports Zone</a>.For years, Young said he was able to sell meals for cheap. Recently, that has become increasingly difficult.While inflation plays a role, he said the country's pensionado discount — a discount on goods and services for retirement-age residents — has impacted profitability in an industry that's hard to stay afloat. At restaurants, older diners get 25% off their bill.Young said his menus focus on local, typically inexpensive ingredients to keep food costs low. He's also created a tacaño or "cheap" menu at Big Daddy's Grill to appeal to Panamanians and foreigners.<div type="image" title="Jackie Lange with tour guides, Jay and Jolynn." height="1349" width="2024" msid="112650992" hostid="261" sizebytes="168594"></div>Young and others said the arrival of the expat community has also positively impacted Boquete. The surge of hotels, restaurants, and businesses means more job opportunities for Panamanians.Rios said she's grateful for the tourism and retirement community in Boquete. About 80% of Rios' patients are foreigners, and those patients are partly why her <a target="_blank" href="https://www.odontosmileclinic.com/osc/osc.html">Odonto Smile Clinic</a> has grown from two employees to an office with two doctors, four assistants, and three specialists.Before the retirees came, Laws worked in coffee fields, making $5 daily. "I came from the bottom of the bottom," he said.Now, Laws runs a successful tour company where he spends his days showing off his beautiful home."I love to live around the retirees. I love business. I love to talk to the tourists," he said. "I want to live the rest of my life in Boquete."<h2>Ditching the American rat race</h2>The Americans I spoke to also plan to live the rest of their lives in Boquete, and they said it's their job to integrate into the town's community and culture — not the other way around.<div type="image" title="A group of expats in Boquete, Panama." height="3024" width="4032" msid="112651004" hostid="261" sizebytes="710648"></div>Hill, for example, enrolled in Spanish classes after arriving in Boquete to better communicate with locals. Reynolds, who helps run Boquete Community Players, said she's always searching for ways to include the Panamanian community in the theater group.One of the biggest challenges Lange has seen with retirees is shifting from America's intense work culture to Boquete's quiet and relaxed pace."Panama is not right for everybody," Lange said. "Some people, it's too different from what they're used to. There's no Walmart down the street."While some struggle with the change of pace, others love it. Christopher Minori, 58, remembers moving to Boquete with his wife, Brandy Minori, in 2021 and being shocked by how friendly and stress-free everyone seemed. It was a complete 180 from his life back in Georgia."It doesn't matter what side of the aisle you're on in the States; half of the country hates the other half," he told me over the phone. "It was, to me, stressful."That wasn't the case for Panama. "It's a very, very mellow country, which is actually hard to get used to when you first move," he said.Once he accepted small changes — like needing to ask a waiter for more water or understanding that a driver might stop in the middle of the road to chat with a neighbor — he fell in love with the town.I heard about Panamians' friendly and carefree attitude from every expat, and I witnessed it during my first afternoon in Boquete. After touring a coffee farm, the owners didn't call me a taxi to my hotel — they drove me there themselves.<div type="image" title="The view from Gabrielle Reynolds' front porch." height="924" width="1232" msid="112651001" hostid="261" sizebytes="306260"></div>While the expats <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-keep-busy-after-early-retirement-big-tech-employee-2024-3">ditched America's rat race</a>, they said it hasn't led to boredom. Retirees no longer fill their days with work they're unhappy with or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/my-husband-worries-well-run-out-of-money-in-retirement-2024-4">stress over finances</a>. Instead, they've found community and joy in Boquete.Sparta, who continues to run a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://kellesparta.com/">business as a spiritual coach</a>, pulled up her calendar to show me events every evening in Boquete. Theater practice, karaoke, bingo, and volunteering pack her schedule.Hill, who spends his days fishing, working with the Boquete Community Players, writing novels, learning the saxophone, and volunteering with local schools, agreed. "I'm retired, but I'm busier than ever," he said.Reynolds said between their busy days, she and her husband spend each morning sipping coffee and soaking in mountain views from their home. In the evening, she swaps coffee for cocktails and enjoys the sunset."We say this to each other almost every night, "Could it get better?'" she said. "I don't think it could be better than this."

Boquete, Panama, was once a quiet town home to rainforests and coffee farms. Then came the retirees. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jerry O'Shea and Lucie Davidson decided to leave the UK for Italy after finding it too expensive.</li><li>They bought an Italian farm for $154,000 in October 2021 and moved to Italy that month.</li></ul>When couple Jerry O'Shea, 30, and Lucie Davidson, 27, decided they wanted to move from the UK <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-retired-to-italy-at-55-despite-reducing-pension-2024-8">to Italy</a>, they didn't foresee <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/christmas-tree-farm-selling-owner-how-to-grow-fir-2022-11">running a farm</a> in the Mediterranean countryside.The couple, both academics doing their Ph.D.s, were living in O'Shea's mom's house outside London and remotely teaching students at their college in 2021. The aspiring academics wanted to buy a home but couldn't afford anywhere with outdoor space in London.Davidson told Business Insider they wanted a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tuscany-americans-moving-italy-cost-of-living-slow-pace-2024-3">better quality of life and a cheaper cost of living</a> — but warmer weather than in the UK.<h2 id="3619d29a-1c6e-4e06-9643-21ab10400fb7">They wanted flexibility in their careers</h2>O'Shea said they could afford to buy properties in the Italian countryside without taking on a mortgage. "Academia is not a very stable career. You're certainly not well paid," he said. They wanted to buy a property outright instead of taking on a mortgage to give them more freedom in their careers.When searching for properties in Italy, the couple settled on the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-lesser-known-italy-travel-destinations-according-to-local">Marche, a region on the east coast</a>, because it was more affordable than other areas they considered.In May 2021, they found a farmhouse on the market for 200,000 euros, or around $218,000. O'Shea told BI they fell in love with the 44-hectare farm, which had an olive grove and a dilapidated farmhouse, as soon as they saw it.The farm had been on the market for 30 years, which helped the couple's bid to lower its price by 60,000 euros. They had 80,000 euros saved and covered the rest by selling their campervan and receiving a loan from O'Shea's parents.They bought the farm, including the farmhouse, for 140,000 euros, which is around $154,000, in October 2021, according to documents seen by BI. O'Shea and Davidson moved to Italy shortly after.<h2 id="f0bb98b8-e7a7-4a29-8c6c-450253efaa16">They work on the farm alongside academia</h2><div type="image" title="A crumbling farmhouse without a roof amongst trees and grass." height="1536" width="2266" msid="112566302" hostid="261" sizebytes="429178"></div>The couple were recently approved for a grant of 328,000 euros to support young farmers and plan to spend 250,000 euros to replace the farmhouse, which they said is not structurally sound.While they await planning permission to replace the farmhouse, the couple told BI they are renting a nearby property for 300 euros a month. They split their time between tutoring and working on the farm and said they work seven days a week most weeks.O'Shea, who finished his Ph.D. in 2022, spends one or two hours a day tutoring college students in the UK remotely in the morning. He earns around £1,500, which is about $1,900 a month from tutoring. Davidson told BI they spend much less on food and bills now than they did in the UK.After tutoring, he told BI he spends between six and eight hours a day farming olive oil from the trees and picking lavender to sell. The first year, he drove the oil to the UK to sell at markets, but they have since shipped it over."I love farming," O'Shea said, "I think it's a real challenge and it's something that for me is a really nice overlap of academia."Davidson took an agriculture course this year and told BI that she relished learning how to farm alongside finishing her Ph.D. "Doing something really manual and concrete was so appealing," she said."When work is your own boss and you're doing what you want to do, then obviously it's exhausting physically and mentally, but it's not draining in the same way because you are happy to do it," she said.Davidson and O'Shea don't earn enough from their farming business to live on and O'Shea currently tutors UK students remotely to supplement their income.They aim to make produce from their farm their main income in several years and plan on running olive grove tours for tourists in the future.<h2 id="2c8dce27-069f-4b6e-9673-c03073f3d086">They have no regrets</h2>The couple told BI the lifestyle suits them better than working in the UK did."Everyone I know who lives in London or in a big city in the UK and works in a traditional office job has said, since COVID, it is so much more unpleasant. It's so much more oppressive. The financial stress of it takes the joy out of a lot of things," said Davidson.She said though there aren't many young people in the Marche, they've made friends and feel a strong sense of community."I haven't thought, for a single day, that I'd rather be back in London," said O'Shea.If you moved countries while working remotely and would like to share your story, email <a target="_blank" href="mailto:ehopkins@businessinsider.com">ehopkins@businessinsider.com</a>.

A millennial couple moved to Italy and bought an olive oil farm for $154,000. They have no regrets. 

The <keyword id="6354872" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="economic-survey" source="Orion">Economic Survey</keyword>, which was tabled earlier today by Finance Minister <keyword id="129243" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirmala-sitharaman" source="Orion">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> estimated that in 2022-23, India's total workforce stood at nearly 56.5 crore. However, as data from the recent Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) notes, their distribution is highly skewed, with over 45% of them engaged in agriculture, followed by 28.9% in services, 13% in construction, and 11.4% in manufacturing. At the same time, while the agriculture sector has grown at about 4.18% at constant prices over the last 5 years, India's service sector is estimated to have grown by around 7.6% in just the last financial year, as provisional estimates suggest. As such, the continued dominance of the agriculture sector as an employer, particularly when it comes to women, is concerning, especially as India's service sector, which contributes about 55% to the total size of economy, demands increasingly more workers, who possess specific, focused skill sets (think blockchain, AI, machine learning, 3D printing, web development and more). <h2>Encouraging trends</h2>The unemployment rate amongst youth, or those aged between 15-29 has come down sharply to 10% in 2022-23, from 17.8% in 2017-18. Nearly 75% of all new subscribers on EPFO payroll, a gauge for formal employment generation, are aged between 18 and 28. But while our economy keeps pace with employing young population, a staggering 57.3% of this workforce is self-employed, while another 18.3% work as unpaid laborers in households. The most prominent participant in both these categories happen to be women. As for regular wage or salaried workers, they constitute merely 20.9% of the workforce. Casual labor, characterized by sporadic, intermittent terms of employment, makes up for 21.8% of the workforce. Its not as if female labor workforce participation (FLFPR) is dwindling. In fact, as the survey notes, it has been rising for the last 6 years, with rural FLFPR inching up by 16.9 percentage points between 2017-18 and 2022-23. But the same rise is not to be seen in urban FLFPR, which inched up a meagre 5% to 25.4% in 2022-23. Pan-India, women participation in workforce jumped to 37%, largely driven by the thrust in rural FLFPR. The growth in terms of wages per worker in rural areas between FY15-22 was also higher in rural areas at 6.9%, as compared to 6.1% in urban areas. So, what can be done to rationalize this lopsidedness in employment? <h2>Developing the care economy </h2>In order to cater to the requirements of the growing workforce, the survey estimated that India will have to annually generate around 78.5 lakh non-farm jobs annually till 2030. And with India's care needs set to grow significantly in the next 25 years, it is time to develop India's care economy. Consider this-by 2050, the population of those aged between 0-14 years will decline to 18%, or 30 crore people, while those aged above 60 will swell to 20.8%, or a massive 34.7 crore person. Both these segments will need considerable care, which is currently an unpaid job both employed and unemployed women already undertake. Per NSO’s time use statistics for 2019, working-age women in India spend 5.6 hours per day on unpaid work, as opposed to just 30 mins for men. Even employed women end up spending 6x more time on unpaid care, compared to their male counterparts. As it is, studies notes that an additional hour of caregiving per day reduces women’s labor market participation by 20 percentage points, while having no effect on men. A recent report by CII pegged the economic value of women's unpaid domestic and care work to be a staggering 15-17% of GDP. As it is, care economy is one of the fastest growing sectors, expected to generate around 475 million jobs globally. In India, an investment of just 2% of GDP could lead to 11 million new jobs, 70% of which will go to women, accelerating their participation in labor force, the survey revealed. As such, developing India's care economy, both for catering to its young and silver dividend, will become a cornerstone for employment related policies in the times to come.

Economic Survey 2023-24: Where does India stand on the employment, and what's next?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>John Walker, 73, moved to Thailand from Australia for retirement.</li><li>Living on an $18,000 annual pension, Walker saves 40% of his income due to low expenses.</li></ul>John Walker's studio apartment in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/relocate-chiang-mai-thailand-affordable-quality-of-life-best-city-2024-7">Chiang Mai, Thailand</a> isn't much bigger than a hotel room, but it has everything he needs: air conditioning, basic kitchen appliances, and proximity to his favorite Mexican restaurant — all for less than $200 a month in rent.The 73-year-old moved to Thailand from Western Australia in 2019. A lifelong traveler, Walker liked the idea of living somewhere new, and was drawn to Chiang Mai's beautiful temples and mild climate when he first traveled there in the early 2010s.Walker now lives off his roughly $18,000 annual pension (AU$28,000), according to bank statements reviewed by Business Insider. And, because his expenses in Chiang Mai are so low, Walker said he is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-security-no-savings-snap-benefits-debt-boomers-experiences-2024-6">able to save</a> about 40% of his income."The cost of living is cheap," he said. "It's a major incentive."It isn't uncommon for retirees to move internationally. Business Insider has heard from Americans who moved from <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boomer-moving-texas-panama-retirement-cheaper-tourism-weather-social-security-2024-7">Texas to Panama</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/woman-retired-to-italy-at-55-despite-reducing-pension-2024-8">California to Italy</a>, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retired-boomer-moved-abroad-cost-living-mexico-cheaper-than-us-2024-8">Minnesota to Mexico</a>, all in search of exciting travels and reduced financial stress.Millions of older adults are living on fixed Social Security incomes — or, in Walker's case, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-make-us-retirement-system-better-australia-superannuation-benefits-2024-4">a government pension</a>. For those with limited savings and tight budgets, living in a less expensive country can offer travel experiences alongside more financial freedom. Per the Social Security Administration, there are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/2023/5j.pdf">over 700,000 US workers</a> retired abroad. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/income-support-older-australians#:~:text=As%20at%2031%20March%202023%2C%20around%202.8%20million%20people%20aged,2.6%20million)%20received%20Age%20Pension.">Nearly 3 million Australians</a> receive a government-age pension, but it's not clear how many of those retirees live abroad.In Thailand, Walker said he has met people from all over the world."People from all different countries come here," Walker said. "It's got a huge retirement community."<h2 id="713257b8-a76e-454c-a2ee-d5a5fd1a66e6">Walker's lifestyle is cheaper in Chiang Mai, which allows him to travel</h2>Walker largely spent his career working in finance, venture capital, and startups, along with a stint managing his family's farm. But, when Walker was in his early 60s, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-x-baby-boomer-college-students-changing-professors-teach-2024-5">he went back to school</a>. He retired to study health and natural medicine shortly before moving abroad.When Walker settled in Chiang Mai, he was immediately struck by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/expat-bangkok-thailand-better-life-low-cost-living-culture-home-2024-5">low cost of living</a>. Food is cheap at restaurants and street vendors, he said, and his housing, utilities, and transportation only cost him a few hundred dollars a month. He said his pension would be <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/typical-australian-millennial-16k-student-debt-housing-crisis-2023-7">nowhere near enough to live on in Australia</a>, but the money goes far in Thailand.Because he's able to save almost half of his pension income each month, Walker feels more prepared to pay <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boomers-live-on-social-security-cant-afford-healthcare-transportation-retirement-2024-6">unexpected costs and healthcare fees</a>. He often turns toward alternative medicine and supplements to stay healthy — which he said are more widely available in Thailand than Australia — but he anticipates needing to pay for a knee replacement surgery sometime soon.Although he lives alone, Walker said he makes an effort to meet new people. He has joined local social organizations and sometimes attends group wellness retreats. He <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boomers-retirement-loneliness-making-friends-lifesaver-solutions-epidemic-happiness-2024-3">doesn't feel lonely</a>, he said.For others thinking about retiring abroad, Walker said it's important to do research on a country's culture and cost of living. He also advises others to visit their destination at least once before making a long-term move.Recently, Walker spent a few weeks in Spain. He plans to move again and is considering Majorca as his next destination. He's also been researching a trip to Costa Rica — or maybe somewhere tropical."I wouldn't mind living on an island for a while," he said.Have you chosen to retire abroad? Are you open to sharing your experience? If so, reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" class="" href="mailto: allisonkelly@businessinsider.com">allisonkelly@businessinsider.com</a>.

An Australian boomer retired in Thailand on an $18,000 annual pension. He saves almost half his income and can still travel the world.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Laura and John Lewis, a couple from Wales, built three luxury treehouses on their hillside farm.</li><li>The latest treehouse, over a stream, cost the couple £150,000 and took six months to build.</li></ul>In spring 2017, the Welsh sheep farmers Laura and John Lewis knew they needed another income to make their hillside farm more sustainable.John Lewis, a trained carpenter whose family has owned the farm for three generations, wanted to build something on the land. At first, the couple thought they might build a holiday lodge. He trawled holiday-booking sites to see which homes jumped off the page. He decided instead, with the help of a farm loan, to build a treehouse.He had built oak-framed houses, but this would be his first treehouse. The couple chose a large oak tree in a secluded part of the farm so their future guests would have some privacy. Then, with the help of a local architect, they drew up the plans for the treehouse.At first, they were going to create an off-the-grid eco-hideaway, but then Laura Lewis said she knew she couldn't do without modern conveniences."I didn't feel very comfortable building something I wouldn't stay in," she told Business Insider. So they started to design a luxury treehouse.<div type="image" title="Photo of a multiroom treehouse on a wooden frame with a balcony" height="1080" width="1620" msid="106184454" hostid="261"></div>A luxury treehouse was immediately more challenging. Their application for planning permission — formal approval from the authorities required for construction in the UK — was slow. Then the farm was struck by a snowstorm, which meant they were cut off from the site for three months."The snow disappeared after four weeks, but the ground was so wet we couldn't carry any materials to the site," Laura Lewis said.With the help of his father, John Lewis then started building the treehouse, which they called Trawscwm. The treehouse and its shingle roof were made with locally sourced oak, larch, and red cedar, as well as pieces of wood they retrieved from the farm. The ground floor featured a living space, bedroom, and bathroom. It also had a ladder to take guests to the loft, where another bed was tucked away.<div type="image" title="Interior shot of a tree house with mounted TV, couch and chair and stairs leading up to bedroom" height="1333" width="2000" msid="106184455" hostid="261"></div>To ensure the treehouse could get electricity and water, they had to dig a borehole and pay a one-off fee for it to be connected to the electricity mains. Laura Lewis said plumbers and electricians were scarce and in demand in their rural location.The couple spent £100,000, or about $126,000, to build Trawscwm. It opened in June 2018. At first, they worried such a rural location would struggle to get guests. But when they launched the treehouse on the glamping website Canopy &amp; Stars, it was soon booked up."We didn't have a day empty for about six months," Laura Lewis said.While they originally planned to build only one treehouse, the speed at which bookings came in encouraged them to build another. The couple chose a site in the field next to the first treehouse, in a tree with views over the <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radnor_Forest">Radnor Forest</a>."The first treehouse was quite secluded, whereas this one would be all about the views," Laura Lewis said.The couple looked at the images guests tagged the treehouse in on Instagram to see what they liked about it, such as a countryside view from the bathtub."They liked the 'wow' features, so we thought about this for the next design," she said.<div type="image" title="A living room in a treehouse with a view across a forest in the background" height="1080" width="1620" msid="106184458" hostid="261"></div>Like Trawscwm, the Cadwollen treehouse included a copper tub. It also had a suspended hammock on the second floor above the lounge and a hot tub on a pier jutting out from the deck, 8 meters above the ground.John Lewis brought in extra workers and machinery to help fulfill their plans for an extended deck."We were concerned about the wind, but we made sure it was extremely strong," he said.It took him and his dad nine months to build the next treehouse. In 2019, they launched it on Canopy &amp; Stars but noticed that their treehouses were attracting bookings via social media."Instagram was becoming a massive income stream," Laura Lewis said.In February 2020, the couple created a website, called ToWander UK, to showcase their treehouses and holiday homes on other farms. While they didn't charge anyone for listings early in the pandemic, they now charge members £250 to £475 a year.Eventually, the two treehouses and the website became so successful that Laura Lewis left her role in education to look after their booking site. They could afford to pay her a salary, as they were no longer paying a 20% commission to Canopy &amp; Stars for bookings, she said.<div type="image" title="A cement truck delivers cement to a construction site in a field" height="1152" width="1536" msid="106184460" hostid="261"></div>The third treehouse was their most challenging. Designed for families, it sleeps seven and wraps around five trees. They also chose to build it over a stream and add a slide.Having received planning permission to build it, they were about to start work in March 2020 but had to stop when the country went into lockdown. A month later, John Lewis' father died.As they were now building during a pandemic, they were beset with delays. Wood was in short supply and expensive. Because they had chosen the banks of a stream to build on, the ground was wet, so they decided to use a steel frame. A truck had to navigate the muddy field to pour the concrete for the frame's footings."The frame came to the site in individual lengths, and then we bolted it together on the field," John Lewis said.When it was complete, they used a crane to lift the steel frame into place.<div type="image" title="A house on a steel frame under construction" height="1152" width="1536" msid="106184461" hostid="261"></div>They finished it in December 2020. The build cost £150,000. But as they were about to open for Christmas, the country went into lockdown again. The treehouses remained empty for the next three months.When they furnished the treehouses, they used some products from the furniture store Dunelm, which Laura Lewis tagged in the images on Instagram. The Dunelm team reached out to her to ask if it could use one of them. It then suggested a competition for a stay in a treehouse. When the competition went live in November 2020, Laura Lewis said their Instagram account grew by about 44,000 followers in two days.Then a couple asked if they could renew their vows in one of the treehouses. The Lewises didn't need to be licensed to hold the blessing, but they applied for a venue marriage license to conduct weddings there. In 2022, they held 18 weddings."We still work 9-to-5 in an office," Laura Lewis said. "It's just that John might have to also drive between the treehouses on a quad bike with clean bed linen."They're also busy with their farm, and when it's lambing season, the guests can visit the lambing shed.Laura and John Lewis also now have a team to help with their treehouses and the ToWander UK website. They have three part-time cleaners and three part-time staff members who oversee social media, admin, and finance.The couple are now planning their fourth treehouse, aimed at couples, which they hope to build next summer.

This couple built 3 luxury treehouses on a picturesque Welsh farm and now rent them out &mdash; see inside

<ul><li>Finance Minister <keyword id="129243" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirmala-sitharaman" source="Orion">Nirmala Sitharaman</keyword> made five announcements in the personal income tax front including changing the income tax rebate limit. </li><li>The allocation to PM Awas Yojana was also enhanced by 66% to ₹79,000 crore. </li><li>PAN will be common identification for all digital systems which will increase ease of doing business. It will be facilitated via a legal mandate. </li></ul>Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday that those earning below ₹7 lakh income per annum need not pay any income tax in the new tax regime. This limit has been increased from ₹5 lakh earlier. “This is for our hard working middle class,” she said in her Budget speech insisting that this is the announcement ‘everyone’ is waiting for. The government also said it will increase its capital outlay by 33% to ₹10 lakh crore in FY24 – that’s 3.3% of GDP. The allocation to PM Awas Yojana was also enhanced by 66% to ₹79,000 crore. She also allocated ₹15,000 crore over three years to the Schedule Tribe Mission. The FM also allocated ₹35,000 crore as energy transition investment. She also said that FY23 fiscal deficit at 6.4%, adheres to budget estimates. She fixed FY24 fiscal deficit target at 5.9%. India is heading towards a bright future despite challenges, as she delivered her fifth budget in the parliament. She identified seven priorities for the budget — inclusive growth, reaching the last mile (digital public infra for agriculture), infrastructure and investment, unleashing potential, green growth, youth power, and financial sector. “Three things will be in focus – ample opportunities for citizens to youth to fulfill growth, strong impetus to growth and job creation and strengthening macro economic stability,” Sitharaman said. It is the last budget that the government will deliver before India goes into a general election next year. Here are the Budget speech highlights: 5 Personal Tax Announcements <ul><li>The FM today changed the income tax rebate limit from ₹5 lakh per annum to ₹7 lakh per annum in the new tax regime. Those with an annual income of ₹7 lakh and below need not pay income tax. </li><li> In the second announcement, FM said that she is changing the tax structure and reducing the number of slabs and increasing the tax exemption limit, under the new tax regime. The new tax rates are </li></ul><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Slab </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tax rate </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹0-3 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nil </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3-6 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 6-9 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 9-12 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">15% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹12-15 lakh </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹15 lakh and above </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">30% </td></tr></tbody></table> <ul><li>The third proposal is for the salaried class and the pensioners including family pensioners. She extended the benefit of standard deduction to the new tax regime. Each salaried person with an income of ₹15.5 lakh or more will thus stand to benefit by ₹52,500. </li><li>The FM reduced the highest surcharge rate in personal income tax from 37% to 25% in the new tax regime. This would result in reduction of the maximum tax rate to 39%. </li><li>The limit of ₹3 lakh for tax exemption on leave encashment on retirement of non-government salaried employees is increased to ₹25 lakh. </li></ul>She also said that the new income tax regime will be the default tax regime. However, citizens can continue to avail the benefit of the old tax regime. Other speech highlights <ul><li>It’s the first budget in Amritkaal. It hopes to build on the foundation laid in previous Budgets and the blueprint drawn for India@100. </li><li>Current year eco growth is estimated to be at 7% – highest among all major economies in spite of the massive slowdown globally caused by war and Covid-19. </li><li>Despite challenges, India is heading to a bright future. </li><li>The government will provide 5 kg grains to 81 crore people free of cost. This will result in a food subsidy bill of ₹2 lakh crore for the next one year. </li><li>Three things will be in focus – ample opportunities for citizens to youth to fulfill growth, strong impetus to growth and job creation and strengthening macro economic stability. </li><li>Seven priorities – inclusive growth, reaching the last mile (digital public infra for agriculture), infrastructure and investment, unleashing potential, green growth, youth power, financial sector. </li><li>Agricultural credit target raised to ₹20 lakh crore. An agricultural accelerator fund to be set up. </li><li>157 new nursing colleges to be started. </li><li>Age appropriate reading material to be provided to children and adolescents with non-curricular titles via National Book Trust and more to make up for the loss of learning during the pandemic. </li><li>Allocation to PM Awas Yojana enhanced by 66% to ₹79,000 crore. </li><li>₹15,000 crore allocated over three years to the Scheduled Tribe Mission. </li><li>Computerisation of 63,000 primary agricultural credit societies with an investment outlay of ₹2,516 crore. </li><li>More than 39,000 compliances have been reduced and over 3,400 legal proceedings have been decriminalised to enhance Ease of Doing Business. </li><li>PAN will be common identification for all digital systems which will increase ease of doing business. It will be facilitated via a legal mandate. </li><li>₹35,000 crore allocated for energy transition investment. </li><li>₹7,000 crore for the third phase of e-courts. </li><li>Will facilitate 1 crore farmers to adopt natural farming methods. For this, 10,000 bio-input resource centers will set-up. </li><li>A unified skill India digital platform will be set-up linking with employers, facilitating entrepreneurship schemes and stipends to students. </li></ul>Customs Duty The number of basic customs duty rates on goods reduced, other than textiles and agriculture, from 21 to 13. There are minor changes in the basic custom duties, cesses and surcharges on some items including toys, bicycles, automobiles and naphtha, FM said in her speech. Savings &amp; Deposits Mahila Samman Bachat Patra – a one-time small savings scheme called Mahila Samman Savings Certificate will be made available for a 2-year period upto March 2025. This will offer ₹2 lakh for women and girls for 2 years at a FD rate of 7.5% with partial withdrawal option. The maximum deposit for senior savings increased from ₹15 lakh to ₹30 lakh. Fiscal Deficit <ul><li>FY23 fiscal deficit retained at 6.4%, adheres to budget estimates. </li><li>FY24 fiscal deficit target is at 5.9%. To bring fiscal deficit below 4.5% by FY25-26 </li></ul>Calamity related duty on cigarettes hiked by 16%. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/mukesh-ambani-overtakes-gautam-adani-as-the-richest-indian/articleshow/97519749.cms">Mukesh Ambani overtakes Gautam Adani as the richest Indian on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/startups-incorporated-till-march-2024-to-get-income-tax-benefits-fm/articleshow/97519570.cms">Startups incorporated till March 2024 to get income tax benefits: FM</a>

Budget 2023-24 highlights: Those with income below ₹7 lakh a year need not pay income tax

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The land used to produce food that's wasted in the US totals the size of California and New York.</li><li>There are many reasons food gets tossed but consumers are the biggest source of waste.</li></ul>Danielle Melgar is working with the caterer for her wedding to make sure that between the "I do's" and the last dance, food won't be going to waste.The October ceremony, at a botanical garden in Michigan, will feature a buffet so guests aren't served more than they can eat. And there will be containers so people can take home leftovers.Wanting to limit how much gets tossed at an event she's hosting comes naturally for Melgar, whose work focuses on food issues. She notes that some <a target="_blank" href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_Report.cfm?Lab=IO&amp;dirEntryId=353471">140 million acres</a> of agricultural land in the US are devoted to food that is ultimately wasted. If all that food came from a single farm, it would be about the size of California and New York combined."We're wasting more than enough food to feed every hungry person twice over," Melgar, who focuses on food and agriculture for the consumer advocacy group PIRG, told Insider.<div type="image" title="Danielle Melgar sits at a picnic table with food" height="3024" width="4032" msid="103555127" hostid="261"></div>The waste baked into the US food system is a problem for obvious reasons: People go hungry, money and resources are lost, and landfills, where most surplus food goes, continue to fill up. There isn't one fix that would do away with the problem, though advocates say consumer education and a renewed push to apply national standards to the "use by" dates manufacturers put on food products could go a long way toward helping the US meet a goal of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/united-states-2030-food-loss-and-waste-reduction-goal#:~:text=The%20goal%20seeks%20to%20cut,money%20for%20families%20and%20businesses.">cutting food waste in half</a> by 2030.<h2>It's not me, it's you</h2>Part of the problem with unused food is that because it's so commonplace, it's easy to overlook. But it piles up. Estimates vary, but <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs">about 30% to 40%</a> of food in the US is wasted. That's why food is the No. 1 type of everyday garbage making its way into US landfills — comprising some 24% of municipal solid waste, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.And the biggest contributor to that waste? You and me. Consumers scraping off plates we couldn't finish or ditching the moldy artifacts we come across in our kitchen are the biggest sources of discarded food in the US — more than the food waste coming from restaurants and grocery stores."People often talk about food waste as if it is one problem, but in reality, you're really talking about fixing the whole food system," Dana Gunders, the executive director at the nonprofit ReFED, told Insider. She said different factors are at play depending on whether you're talking about fields of tomatoes that aren't getting harvested, too many potatoes on a breakfast platter, or "the science experiment in the back of your fridge."Emily Broad Leib, the director of the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School, told Insider that many of us don't realize how much we're wasting. She pointed to one academic study in which three in four of the consumers surveyed said they got rid of less food than the average American. In her own home, Broad Leib said, once her family started using a composting service that collects kitchen scraps, she realized how much excess food waste her family produced."Actually one of the biggest benefits has been when you really see all your food in one place, you start to really recognize what you're wasting in a way that I think is really beneficial," Broad Leib said.All that waste can add up: The US Department of Agriculture estimates the average American family of four <a target="_blank" href="https://www.usda.gov/foodlossandwaste/consumers">loses $1,500</a> a year on uneaten food. And all that food rotting in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas that's initially <a target="_blank" href="https://www.edf.org/climate/methane-crucial-opportunity-climate-fight#:~:text=Methane%20has%20more%20than%2080,warming%20in%20the%20near%20term.">80 times more powerful</a> than carbon dioxide before breaking down.People usually have good intentions when buying food but end up dumping it because there's just so much of it. We want to be sure we buy enough for a party or for a busy workweek. And some consumers might decide they're going to start eating better, so they scoop up good-for-you things like leafy greens."They might buy a bunch of produce at the grocery store because they want to eat healthy, but then go out for pizza and never get around to it," Gunders said. "And we don't really have sort of a cultural taboo on throwing food out as we do for things like littering."Beyond not following through on our intentions — or committing the cardinal sin of shopping while hungry — we have an overabundance of inexpensive food available to us.Gunders notes the average grocery store carries some 50,000 items. And while spikes in food prices have drawn headlines in the past couple of years, costs in the US are lower as a percentage of our incomes than in decades past. That makes it easier to junk our leftovers. And with restaurants and grocery stores, things like labor costs tend to trump concerns about the comparatively smaller expenses tied to food.<h2>Your milk hasn't gone bad</h2>Another source of the problem in the US, in particular, is that there aren't federal regulations around date labels on food products other than for baby formula."They generally are not indicators of safety. They're not federally regulated, and they don't mean the food will make you sick," Gunders said of the expiration dates on food.<a target="_blank" href="https://pingree.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4587#:~:text=The%20bipartisan%20Food%20Date%20Labeling%20Act%20establishes%20an%20easily%20understood,life%2C%20after%20which%20the%20product">Proposed federal legislation</a> would set standards by allowing "use by" dates to indicate the point after which food shouldn't be consumed. And it would allow "best if used by" date so producers can indicate when the quality of the food might start to fade.Some states don't allow food to be donated after the quality date has passed — another source of unnecessary food waste, advocates say."We don't have a mechanism to show people which of those labels are related to quality versus which foods are really a safety risk," Broad Leib said.She said milk is one of the top foods people waste because the date has passed. But, she said, milk can go bad before the date stamped on the container or still be good for days after.Not wasting so much food could also help combat food insecurity. While not all of it is fit for people, much of what grocery stores or food sellers might discard could still be used."Twenty minutes before, it was safe for people to buy, take home and eat. And then all of a sudden, you know, the end of the day comes and it's not perfect anymore — or the date passes — and suddenly, it's trash and goes to the landfill," Broad Leib said.<h2>Wasteless Wednesdays</h2>Part of the fix could involve simple things like making a grocery list, taking inventory of your fridge before you shop, and freezing food before it goes bad. There are various efforts to educate consumers; terms like "stir Fridays" or "wasteless Wednesdays" are meant to prod us to look twice at what we can cobble together into a meal.Some observers also sense an opening."If we are throwing, you know, 30 to 40% of our food away — and the money along with that — there's actually a lot of opportunity and business proposition in not throwing that out," Gunders said.There are apps like Flashfood and Too Good To Go that let consumers buy food that grocers and restaurants would otherwise toss at discounted prices. Hellman's, the mayonnaise brand, has an app called Fridge Night that helps people figure out what to do with leftovers. And a company called Mill lets you <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mill.com/">dry your food waste</a> in a mechanized container and mail back the resulting mix to be used as feed on farms. Shuggie's, a restaurant in San Francisco, uses food that would otherwise go to waste to create meals, including pizzas it refers to as "trash pie."<h2>Thinking about food waste at every meal</h2>Melgar is focused on policy goals like setting standards around food-date labels because changing consumer habits can be tough."There are a lot of solutions that help people compost in their own backyards or make their food last a little bit longer, but it doesn't necessarily reduce the amount that they're buying," Melgar said."Our entire goal as a society when it comes to agriculture has been to make sure that everyone has enough food. We have achieved that but we have not acknowledged that," she said. "And so we have continued to construct our food system in a way that prioritizes producing as much food as possible, when actually we could be lessening the impact of our food system by not producing so much surplus in the first place."Melgar said she knew she'd found the right wedding caterer when she learned the woman already had a policy of sending excess food home with her staff rather than throwing it out."I'm thinking about food waste every time I have a meal, every time I go grocery shopping," Melgar said. "So it was very natural that I wanted to have that conversation with someone who's going to be serving food to a lot of people on a day when I get to control what happens with that food."

If a single farm produced all the food wasted in the US, it would be the size of California and New York combined. We're the culprits.

<keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> has embraced technology in every field of activity. It is adopting smart farming methods through technology and innovation in the agriculture sector and this may prove to be a game changer in the days to come by substantially raising farmers income. How is this method beneficial? Smart farming involves the application of sensors and automated irrigation practices. It can help monitor agricultural land, temperature and soil moisture. This would enable farmers to monitor crops from anywhere. Moreover, smart farming can help integrate digital and physical infrastructures, which would benefit small farmers. Agri-based startups can reach out to the farmers and help them gain access to such viable and cost-effective solutions. Agri-based, tech-driven startups have been very innovative in assisting farmers and revolutionising farming techniques. They have also addressed one of the most powerful headwinds (climate change) through climate-smart farming. In a unique move, the Indian government is implementing a <keyword id="12166469" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital-Agriculture-Mission" source="Orion">Digital Agriculture Mission</keyword> (DAM), which includes India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA), Farmers' Database, Unified Farmers Service Interface (UFSI), funding to the states on the new technology (NeGPA), revamping <keyword id="3182679" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahalanobis-National-Crop-Forecast-Centre" source="Orion">Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre</keyword> (MNCFC), Soil Health, Fertility and profile mapping. According to a report published by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in 2019, there were more than 450 argi-based tech-driven startups in India as of 2019. This number has skyrocketed in the last two years as the sector witnessed a surge in investments and funding. Agri-based tech-driven startups have been very innovative in assisting farmers and revolutionising farming techniques. They have also addressed one of the most powerful headwinds (climate change) through climate-smart farming. Under the NeGPA programme funding is given to the governments in various Indian states for Digital Agriculture projects using emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Internet of Things (IOT), Block chain etc. Adoption of drone technologies is being done too. To promote smart farming, the government promotes startups in the agriculture sector and nurtures agri-entrepreneurs. The 'Per Drop More Crop' component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana (PMKSY-PDMC) aims to increase water use efficiency at the farm level through micro irrigation technologies like drip and sprinkler irrigation systems. PMKSY is a scheme initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The <keyword id="87560" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Council-of-Agricultural-Research" source="Orion">Indian Council of Agricultural Research</keyword> (ICAR) promotes innovation, extension and education in agriculture. A total of 1,575 field crop varieties were released for different agricultural crops during 2014-21. During 2014-21, 91.43 crore agri-advisories were provided to farmers through mobiles. ICAR developed 187 mobile apps on different farm and farmer related services during 2014-21. The agriculture sector plays a vital role in enriching India's economy. Agriculture accounted for almost 17.8 per cent of India's Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2019- 20. According to the World Bank's collection of development indicators, employment rate in the Indian agriculture sector stood at 41.5 per cent in 2020. From a socio-economic standpoint, agriculture is a vital sector which requires focus and awareness at all levels. According to India Brand Equity Foundation, the rising population and changing diets have created a huge pressure on land in India. Farmers are struggling to keep up as crop yields level off, soil degradation rises, water shortage increases, biodiversity declines, and natural calamities become more frequent. Furthermore, agriculture accounts for almost 14 per cent of India's total greenhouse gas emissions. In the meantime, the NITI Aayog (erstwhile Planning Commission of India) conducted a study entitled "Efficacy of Minimum Support Prices on farmers", in 2016, which found, among other things, that MSP declared by the government has encouraged 78 per cent of the farmers covered under the study for adopting improved methods of farming such as high yielding varieties of seeds, organic manure, chemical fertilizer, pesticides and improved methods of harvesting etc. Additionally, oilseeds, pulses and copra of Fair Average Quality (FAQ) are procured from registered farmers under Price Support Scheme of the umbrella scheme of Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), as per its prescribed guidelines. The Indian national Budget for 2018-19 had announced the pre-determined principle to keep Minimum Support Price or MSP at levels of one-and-half times of the cost of production. Accordingly, government has increased the MSPs for all mandated Kharif (including wheat), Rabi and other commercial crops with a return of at least 50 per cent over all India weighted average cost of production from the agricultural year 2018-19. Moreover, India's National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) is the only source of enrolment for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), on which farmer applications from various designated sources including banks/financial institutions are entered. Specific cut-off dates have been prescribed for enrolment of farmers, debit of premium, remittance of farmers' premium to concerned insurance company and uploading of data of farmers on NCIP. The <keyword id="603825" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ministry-of-Food-Processing-Industries" source="Orion">Ministry of Food Processing Industries</keyword> (MoFPI) has been incentivising setting of food processing industries through central sector umbrella scheme �Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI) and centrally sponsored scheme �PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme across all the country. Under scheme of creation of infrastructure for agro processing clusters, a component scheme of PMKSY, the scheme is aimed at development of modern infrastructure and common facilities to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach and also to create modern infrastructure for food processing closer to production areas and to provide integrated and complete preservation infrastructure facilitates from the farm gate to the consumer. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/india-must-pitch-for-rupee-as-dollar-distancing-might-be-finally-happening-sbi-ecowrap/articleshow/93513940.cms">India must pitch for Rupee as dollar distancing might be finally happening: SBI Ecowrap</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/snapchat-comes-to-india-with-exclusive-features-heres-how-much-it-costs-and-how-to-sign-up/articleshow/93513880.cms">Snapchat+ comes to India with exclusive features — here's how much it costs and how to sign up</a>

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