Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah warns of action against officials delaying investment approvals
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday warned of action against officials who delay approvals for investment proposals, citing random court orders.
He stressed that the time frame for issuing various No Objection Certificates (NOCs) should be shortened to prevent delays in investment in the state.
"Officials should not sit idle, citing the court orders as an excuse. The same order exists for neighbouring states as well. If we keep saying that problems which do not occur in other states are happening to us, action will have to be taken," Siddaramaiah said at a meeting in Vidhana Soudha on attracting capital investment.
He said the investment-friendly environment in the state should be further strengthened, according to a statement from the CMO.
"The time limit for issuing various NOCs, including the process of land use change, should be reduced. A detailed proposal should be submitted for reducing the time limit. Under no circumstances should there be any scope for delay," he added.
Expressing concern over delays in approvals from the pollution control board and the fire department, Siddaramaiah underlined the need for necessary amendments to expedite clearances.
He also asked departments to coordinate in providing essential infrastructure to industries, including roads, water, and electricity.
According to Siddaramaiah, the state attracted Rs 10.27 lakh crore in investments during this year’s Global Investors’ Meet, "of which around 60 per cent of investments are already in the implementation stage."
He noted that capital investment proposals exceeding Rs 1.5 lakh crore are at various stages of clearance.
Karnataka Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister Priyank Kharge highlighted the growth of the workforce, including skilled labour, which has contributed to steady employment generation in the state.
In this context, he stressed the need to speed up permissions for industries and related matters, urging officials not to delay investment proposals.
Kharge also noted, "Tamil Nadu has 51 Special Economic Zones (SEZ), contributing a total of 8.9 per cent to the state GDP, whereas Karnataka has only 37 SEZs but yet it contributes as much as 8.2 per cent."
He urged officials to take note of this favourable situation.
"Employment generation can happen only when capital investment increases in the state," he added.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
