Karnataka is competing for investments globally, not with other states: DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Feb 14 (PTI): Hailing the success of Invest Karnataka-2025 summit as a reflection of Karnataka's strength, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday said that the state is not competing for investments with other states or cities in India, but is competing at a global level.
Speaking at the valedictory event of the summit at Palace Grounds, he said, "We are not competing among the states in the country. We are not competing with Chennai (Tamil Nadu) or Kerala or Telangana -- Hyderabad or Gujarat or anything. Karnataka and Bengaluru is competing globally. That's our strength."
Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, former Prime Minister of Greece, George A Papandreou, Union Minister of State for Railways & Jal Shakti V Somanna, Large & Medium Industries Minister M B Patil, and a host of ministers in the state cabinet were among those present in the event.
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Noting that several investment agreements have been signed over the last four days, the Deputy CM said, "The investors can believe in Karnataka, it never fails. You heard industrialists Sajjan Jindal and Anand Mahindra sharing their success story and singing praise for the state."
"Investing in Karnataka is investing for the future. Investing in Karnataka is in the interest of businesses and the country. We aim to develop not just Bengaluru, but other parts of the state as well -- Beyond Bengaluru".
"Our state is taking giant strides in aerospace and other industries. MSMEs are a big strength for Karnataka," he said, adding that Aerospace parts, including the ones used for space programmes of the country are made in Peenya Industrial area here.
Pointing out that the industries and institutions which started during former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's time have grown to become giants today, Shivakumar said, large corporations from other countries and India have come to Karnataka reposing faith in our policies and business environment. The new industrial policy encourages investment in other regions of the state as well.
"Karnataka has announced a new tourism policy under the leadership of H K Patil. The new policy envisages developing 300 km of coastal zone while preserving historic places in the region," he added.
Highlighting that it was late Chief Minister SM Krishna who started the concept of investors meet for the first time in the country, the Deputy CM said, the Global Investors Meet is a formal platform for investors to invest in the state. However, the state is open for business all through the year.
"We are always available to assist and serve you. The team led by M B Patil has done a good job to make this event successful. Congratulations to all those who were involved in the successful completion of Invest Karnataka 2025," he added.
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36 ex-judges slam Opposition move to impeach Justice Swaminathan
New Delhi (PTI): Thirty-six former judges on Saturday gave a call to people, including parliamentarians, to denounce opposition leaders' move to impeach Madras High Court judge Justice G R Swaminathan, saying such an attempt, if allowed to proceed, would cut at the very roots of democracy and independence of the judiciary.
On December 1, Justice Swaminathan held that the Arulmighu Subramania Swamy Temple was duty-bound to light the lamp at the Deepathoon, in addition to the customary lighting near the Uchi Pillaiyar Mandapam.
The single-judge bench said that doing so would not encroach upon the rights of the adjacent dargah or the Muslim community.
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The order sparked a row, and on December 9, several opposition MPs, led by the DMK, submitted a notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to move a motion for the removal of the judge.
Taking serious exception to the move, the former judges in a joint statement said this is a "brazen attempt to browbeat judges who do not fall in line with the ideological and political expectations of a particular section of society".
"If such an attempt is permitted to proceed, it would cut at the very roots of our democracy and the independence of the judiciary," they said.
"We therefore call upon all stakeholders -- Members of Parliament across party lines, members of the Bar, civil society, and citizens at large -- to unequivocally denounce this move and ensure that it is nipped in the bud at the very inception," they added.
The statement emphasised that the judges must remain answerable to their oath and to the Constitution of India, not to "partisan political pressures or ideological intimidation".
"The message from all constitutional stakeholders must be clear and firm: in a republic governed by the rule of law, judgments are tested by appeals and legal critique, and not by threats of impeachment for political nonconformity," it said.
The statement was signed by former Supreme Court judge Krishn Murari J as well as ex-chief justices and former judges of different high courts.
The statement said the opposition party's move is not an "isolated aberration". It fits into a "clear and deeply troubling pattern" in India's recent constitutional history, where sections of the political class have sought to discredit and intimidate the higher judiciary whenever outcomes do not align with their interests, it added.
"The unprecedented bid in 2018 to initiate impeachment proceedings against then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the sustained campaigns of vilification directed at Chief Justices Ranjan Gogoi, S A Bobde and D Y Chandrachud while they were in office," the statement noted.
"The targeted attacks now being mounted against the incumbent CJI, Justice Surya Kant, whenever a judgment/remark displeases a political constituency, are all manifestations of the same trend," it said.
"This is not principled, reasoned criticism of judicial decisions; it is an attempt to weaponise impeachment and public calumny as instruments of pressure -- a practice that strikes at the heart of judicial independence and the basic norms of constitutional democracy," the statement added.
