K'taka will continue to fight for its rights against the 'injustices' of Modi govt: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Feb 21 (PTI): Emphasising that Karnataka's economy is strong enough to withstand the BJP's alleged "betrayals", Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said, the state will continue to fight for its rights against the "injustices" of the saffron party-led central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He also urged the opposition in the state to stop spreading lies and to join hands with his government in working for the welfare of Karnataka's people.
The Chief Minister said this in response to the allegations made by opposition leaders, including BJP State President B Y Vijayendra, former CM and MP Basavaraj Bommai, and others, regarding the state's financial situation, while noting that they have claimed that the state's economy is declining, and that Karnataka is heading towards bankruptcy, and that the financial system has collapsed.
"The reality is that during the BJP's rule, the state's economy was pushed to the brink of collapse. Now, while sitting in the opposition, they are speaking as if they are great economists. Our government is working hard to bring the state's economy back on track after the mismanagement and chaos caused by the BJP's irresponsible financial policies. It is unfortunate that the BJP cannot accept or understand this," he said in a statement.
Insisting that Karnataka's economy remains strong, the CM said, the state's average budget growth over the last two years is 18.3 per cent, compared to just 5 per cent during the BJP's four-year rule. The state's own tax revenue growth is 15 per cent, compared to 11 per cent during the BJP's tenure.
"We are providing over Rs 90,000 crore annually directly to the people through DBT and subsidies, including Rs 10,400 crore for senior citizens, disabled persons, widows, and others," he said. The central government contributes only Rs 450 crore, the same as during former PM Manmohan Singh's tenure, he added.
"What has the BJP done for Karnataka?" CM asked.
Karnataka's fiscal discipline is intact. The fiscal deficit is below 3 per cent, and total liabilities are within 25 percent of GSDP, he further said that "during the BJP's rule, these were out of control. Our capital expenditure is better than neighboring progressive states."
Despite the BJP's "conspiracies and betrayals", Karnataka continues to stand strong and the state government is providing over Rs 52,000 crore for guarantee schemes and supporting farmers in distress, Siddaramaiah said.
"We are fulfilling our promises to Kalyan Karnataka and providing grants to all parts of the state, including Bengaluru. While Bommai, as Water Resources Minister, failed to release funds for the Krishna Upper Bank project, our government has decided to complete the land acquisition process," he said, adding that the government has also implemented the 7th Pay Commission report.
Claiming that his government's strong economy and good governance have attracted investments worth Rs 10.27 lakh crore at the recent Invest Karnataka event, the CM said, despite this, the BJP continues to criticize the state's financial situation for political reasons.
Alleging that PM Modi's economic policies have destabilised state finances, he said, in March 2014 all states' combined debt was Rs 25 lakh crore.
"Now, it has exceeded Rs 95 lakh crore, an increase of Rs 70 lakh crore in 10 years. States are suffering due to the central government's policies, and the central economy is also weakening," he added.
He has also listed out certain alleged mismanagements by the BJP in the state while it was in power. He has also accused the Modi government of doing great injustice to Karnataka in tax devolution.
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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".
