HDK slams ED for summoning D K Shivakumar on Ganesh Chaturthi festival day
Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Sunday slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED_) for 'refusing' to allow a plea by senior Congress leader D K Shivakumar for exempting him from appearance before it on Monday in view of Ganesha Chaturthi featival.
Kumaraswamy termed as "vindictive attitude" the ED's action in summoning Shivakumar to appear before it on a festival day.
Shivakumar, a former Karnataka Minister, had appeared before the ED in New Delhi on Saturday for the second straight day in the money laundering case filed against him and others.
According to him, the ED has asked him to appear again on Monday.
Gowri Ganesha is an important festival for Hindus. Mr.
@DKShivakumar had asked for a day to observe the festival.
However, ED officials denied him even this. If this is not vindictive attitude, then what is? Kumaraswamy tweeted.
Shivakumar was a Minister in Kumaraswamy lead Congress-JD(S) coalition government.
After a day-long questioning on Saturday, Shivakumar had said ED issued summons seeking his appearance again on Monday, rejecting his request for relaxation as it was a festival day.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Saturday night, he had said that according to his family traditions, they offer prayers to ancestors like on the day of the festival.
"We requested stating that I have to offer my respect to elders of the family on the day of the festival. They said no and have issued me summons to appear at 11 am (on Monday) I have happily accepted it, he had said.
On Friday, the investigating officer of the case had grilled Shivakumar for over 4 hours and recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had asked him to appear for questioning after the Karnataka High Court dismissed his plea challenging earlier summons.
Karnataka Congress on Friday had defended Shivakumar and accused BJP lead central government of "misusing" investigating agencies "to take revenge" against him.
Shivakumar and Congress have indicated that his "instrumental role" in ensuring safe stay of Gujarat Congress MLAs in a Karnataka resort during the Rajya Sabha polls in 2017, amid allegations that the BJP was trying to poach them, was the reason for the I-T searches and subsequent ED action against him.
The ED had in September last year registered the money laundering case against Shivakumar, Haumanthaiah, an employee at Karnataka Bhavan in New Delhi, and others.
It was based on a charge sheet (prosecution complaint) filed by the Income-Tax Department against Shivakumar last year before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and hawala transactions worth crores.
The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his associate S K Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with help of three other accused.
Gowri Ganesha is an important festival for Hindus. Mr. @DKShivakumar had asked for a day to observe the festival. However, ED officials denied him even this. If this is not vindictive attitude, then what is?
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) September 1, 2019
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Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates Gems and Jewellery Institute campus in Udupi
Udupi (Karnataka) (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday inaugurated the premises of the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery here, praising the centre for providing professional training and promoting entrepreneurship among youth.
Speaking at the event, Sitharaman said the centre, established in 2016 with support from the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council and the district administration, has grown steadily despite disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We started in a very small place, unsure of the response. Today, advanced facilities including CAD and 3D printing are available, enabling students to gain industry-relevant skills,” she said.
Sitharaman highlighted the centre’s reach across Karnataka and beyond.
“Students have come from Karwar, Chitradurga, Raichur, and Tamil Nadu. Some had no prior experience but are now running successful jewellery businesses,” she said, citing examples of trainees who returned to their hometowns to start enterprises.
Emphasising affordability, she noted, “Training abroad is expensive, but here the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery offers professional courses at accessible costs, making skill development widely available.”
The minister also underlined the centre’s contribution to India’s jewellery export sector.
“This region, from Ratnagiri to Kerala, has a rich jewellery tradition serving the Indian diaspora. Skilled manpower from such centres strengthens our exports and creates livelihood opportunities,” she said.
Sitharaman commended the collaboration between the government, GJEPC, and local jewellers, noting that around 600 students were trained last year.
She urged greater awareness to attract more youth to the institute, describing it as a model public-private partnership that fosters entrepreneurship and skill development.
The minister also witnessed the signing of an MoU between the Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery and IIT Madras under the InCent LGD platform for a specialised, industry-oriented certification programme in lab-grown diamond technologies.
The office of the minister said in a post on X that the programme will help bridge critical skill gaps, create job-ready professionals, boost value-added manufacturing, and strengthen India’s position in the global LGD (lab-grown diamond) value chain, aligned with Make in India, Skill India, and the goal of a self-reliant, globally competitive LGD ecosystem.
It further said that the Rs 242 crore grant announced in the Union Budget 2023–24 for lab-grown diamond research at IIT Madras is helping build a world-class ecosystem.
Under the InCent initiative, India’s first indigenously designed scaled prototype of a High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) LGD machine has been developed and installed at IIT Madras, while imported commercial HPHT machines have also been installed for benchmarking.
Sitharaman also witnessed a demonstration of the ‘Design to Manufacturing’ process by students at IIGJ Udupi and interacted with trainees of the institute and entrepreneurs from the gems and jewellery industry, the minister’s office said in another post.
