Don’t interfere in our state’s affairs: Shivakumar tells Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday advised Kerala Chief Minister not to interfere in Karnataka’s affairs with regard to an anti-encroachment drive in North Bengaluru.
Vijayan on Friday strongly criticised the reported demolition of Muslim residential areas in Karnataka's capital, calling the action shocking and painful.
In a Facebook post, Vijayan referred to the reported bulldozing of Fakir Colony and Waseem Layout, where Muslim families had been living for many years.
“It is all a political statement. Without knowing the facts, Pinarayi should not interfere in our state’s affairs. These are all political gimmicks at the time of the elections,” Shivakumar, who is also Congress state president, told reporters here.
He said it was unfortunate that senior leaders like Pinarayi Vijayan commented on the matter without knowing the facts of the issues in Bengaluru.
“Some people had encroached. It’s a waste dump site. It was a quarry pit. It is a very dangerous place. A lot of health hazard is there and they (slum dwellers) illegally tried to occupy. It’s land grabbing. Our government and the local MLA said this is very dangerous,” the Deputy CM said.
He emphasised that the Congress government in Karnataka knows humanity and will give an alternative space as per the rules to the eligible people. According to him, the slum dwellers came and captured the land overnight. Barring a few, most of the encroachers are outsiders.
Asking Vijayan not to interfere in such affairs, Shivakumar said the Congress government knows Bengaluru well, and it does not want to entertain the slum created by land mafias.
“We tried to protect our land, and we are ready to give houses to those who are eligible, under the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana. Our Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and I have directed officers to submit a report, which they did. Our leaders from Kerala have also spoken to me,” the Deputy CM said.
He clarified that no bulldozers were used in it. Instead, the government tried to protect the public place, which is in the heart of the city. “We can’t encourage slums like this. It is a site meant for waste management,” Shivakumar said.
He added that he would give a reply to the Kerala Chief Minister and would send him and also to the Congress leaders a report. According to him, slum clearance was a routine exercise.
“It is a routine thing that takes place in Bengaluru. You know that Bengaluru is not like Mumbai or any other city. We don’t have many slums in Bengaluru, and we don’t want to create slums in Bengaluru,” he underlined.
Shivakumar said the place where the slum had come up falls under the Byatarayanapura Assembly segment, represented by the Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.
The Deputy CM said Gowda is a very learned senior leader of the Congress party and the government who was aware of the fact regarding the status of the site. He was the one who directed officers not to allow any land grab attempts.
“No one should come and put up huts there. It is not a question of minorities or other people. We don’t want to hurt anyone but if anyone wants land and are eligible, we will definitely give houses,” Shivakumar explained. He also said that the Congress government has planned lakhs of houses in the city.
“Our CM and our Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan are in talks with the officers to find out how to rehabilitate them. Only genuine will be rehabilitated, not those who try to occupy government land without any reason,” the Congress state chief said.
Shivakumar said the land in question was notified nine years ago for solid waste management, where people built slums in the quarry pit overnight.
In his post, the Kerala Chief Minister said the incident reflected a form of minority-targeting politics seen earlier in North India and warned that such practices were now spreading to the South.
He alleged that entire families were forced out of their homes in harsh winter conditions and pushed onto the streets, leaving them with no choice but to flee.
Vijayan expressed surprise that what he described as "bulldozer justice" was carried out under a Congress-led government in Karnataka.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
