Karnataka govt to amend certain rules of Land Reforms Act: CM Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Jan 25: Terming his four-day visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meet as "fruitful," Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday said his government has decided to amend the Land Reforms Act, aimed at allaying concerns of investors over delay in acquiring land.
"The investor's side (during the meet) had some doubts and opposition to cumbersome procedures in starting their units and we assured them of solving all their problems.
For example, they complained of delay in acquiring lands and we told them that rules will be simplified and even we told them about amending rules under relevant act," Yediyurappa told reporters here.
Assuring that the necessary changes will be made at the earliest, he said we would rectify all administrative problems within a month or two and legal problems in next couple of months by amending existing laws.
The Chief Minister who had begun his Davos tour on January 19, returned to the city on Friday afternoon.
Yediyurappa said he has held discussions with Industries Minister, Chief Secretary and officials, on his return, regarding concerns expressed by the investors, and has decided to takes some immediate actions.
"To purchase land for industrial purpose, under theKarnataka Industries(Facilitation)Act, 2002, the State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC) and a state-level single-window clearance is required.
After the proposal is cleared, for approval under Section 109, the process has to be completed in 30 days if not such applications will get deemed permission. We will amend the law, we've already discussed this and it'll be done," he said.
"Second, anyone who owns agricultural land and wants to get land use conversion for non-agricultural purposes, the process will be simplified online;
Sharing details of the visit, Yediyurappa expressed confidence over converting Karnataka into a "power house" of development in next three years.
"My four-day visit to Davos, with Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar and a team of officials proved to be fruitful as we had a result oriented discussion with more than 40 heads of various industries and business houses," Yediyurappa said.
"When we began our tour we were slightly skeptical about the tour's outcome, but it will go a long way in Karnataka's development," he added.
The Chief Minister said, though it is too early to quantify investments flowing to Karnataka, he can categorically affirm that definitely investments will be reality in the coming months and it will pick up after world investors meet in November.
Noting that the state government has signed an agreement with WET Managing Director Murat Sonmez on establishing a "Centre For Internet of Ethical Things" which goes a long way in drawing investments in the service and IT, BT sector, Yediyurappa said, Karnataka is the first state in the world to sign such an agreement.
"He (Sonmez) told us that investors will be happy on this count and will not hesitate to make investments in Karnataka," he added.
Some of the companies whose heads and CEOs with whom the Chief Minister led delegation held discussions included ArcelorMittal, Kirloskar, Mahendra, Bharat Forge, 2000 Watt, General Electricals, Dassault Systmes, Dalmia, Lulu group, Volvo, NovoNordisk and Domeco.
"All have responded positively to our appeal to invest in Karnataka," the CM said adding while Lulu group's investment of about Rs 2000 crore will help our farmers in developing a food transport chain, NovoNordisk will help in managing diabetics among state population.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
