Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah to meet PM on June 29 during 3-day visit to national capital
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said he will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on June 29 during his three-day visit to the national capital to discuss with Union Ministers state projects pending approval from the Centre.
"I will be meeting the Road Transport Minister (Nitin Gadkari), also Prime Minister and the Home Minister (Amit Shah). Will also try to meet the Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman). The Home Minister has still not given the time and he might give today. Will also try to meet Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) and Jal Shakti Minister (C R Paatil)," he told reporters here.
He said the Prime Minister has given an appointment on June 29.
The Chief Minister, who is leaving for the national capital today, has convened a meeting of MPs and Union Ministers elected from the state in the national capital this evening to discuss projects related to Karnataka pending Centre's nod.
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"We will share the list of projects pending at the central government level and ask them to make efforts in favour of the state government aimed at getting approval for projects and getting funds from the Centre and to help in mobilising resources for the state," Siddaramaiah said.
He said several concerned Ministers from the state government will also be coming to Delhi to explain about the projects.
To a question about the expectations of Karnataka from the first budget to be presented by the new government at the Centre, the Chief Minister said the state government has already shared its thoughts with the Centre through Minister Krishna Byre Gowda. "Gowda had attended the meeting, as I could not. He presented my speech at the meeting."
Responding to a question on Rahul Gandhi becoming the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that he will effectively work as the "voice of the people."
"Rahul Gandhi has travelled across the country and has done 'padayatre' (march) twice, and he knows the issues faced by the country," he said.
Regarding Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's statement that the recent Lok Sabha poll results point to the fact that India is not a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, the Chief Minister said: "We have been saying this since the beginning, this is the country of pluralism, it belongs to everyone. It cannot be the country of Hindus alone. It is not possible for it to become Hindu Rashtra."
Noting that people of different castes, religion and language coexist here, he said: "this country has the culture of pluralism. It belongs to everyone. What Amartya Sen has said is right. We have been propagating this since the beginning."
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Unemployed 'youngsters like cockroaches' become media, activists; attack system: CJI
New Delhi (PTI): Likening some unemployed youngsters to cockroaches, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Friday said they go on to "become" media, social media and RTI activists and start attacking the system.
The comments came while a bench of CJI Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was pulling up a lawyer for "pursuing" a senior advocate designation. It said there were already "parasites" in society who attack the system and asked the petitioner whether he wanted to join hands with them.
"The entire world may be eligible to become senior (advocate), but at least you are not entitled," the bench told the petitioner lawyer.
A visibly anguished CJI observed that if the Delhi High Court would confer senior advocate designation upon the petitioner, the apex court would set that aside seeing his professional conduct.
The CJI also referred to the kind of language used by the petitioner on Facebook.
"There are already parasites of society who attack the system and you want to join hands with them?" he said.
"There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don't get any employment or have any place in profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI activists and other activists and they start attacking everyone," he said.
The bench also asked the petitioner whether he did not have any other litigation.
"Is this the conduct of a person who seeks to be designated as a senior advocate?" the bench asked.
It said senior advocate designation is something that is conferred on a person and is not to be pursued.
"You are pursuing it. Does it look proper?" the top court said, asking whether a senior advocate designation was a status symbol to be kept ornamentally.
It also observed that it wanted to ask the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to verify the degrees of many of those who were wearing black robes as there were serious doubts over the genuineness of their degrees.
It said the Bar Council of India would never do anything on this issue as they "need their votes".
The petitioner apologised to the bench and sought permission to withdraw the petition. The bench allowed the withdrawal of the petition.
