Why credit Centre for metro but blame State for fare hikes: Siddaramaiah calls out BJP's 'hypocrisy'
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sharply criticised the opposition BJP, accusing the party of "hypocrisy" regarding the recent metro fare hike in Bengaluru.
The chief minister highlighted that while BJP leaders credit the central government for the construction of the metro, they simultaneously blame the state government when people voice their discontent over the fare increase. “This is hypocrisy," he said in a statement, two days after Namma Metro hiked its fares by 45-46 percent after discounts.
The fare revision saw rates ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 90, with some routes experiencing up to a 100 percent increase. Siddaramaiah clarified that the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) was a joint venture, with equal contributions from both the state and central government.
"As an autonomous body, the BMRCL is not entirely under the control of the state government," Siddaramaiah mentioned.
Siddaramaiah noted that no increase had been implemented since 2017. He revealed that the BMRCL had approached the Centre for approval regarding the hike. "If the power to revise fares was solely with the state government, why would the BMRCL write to the central government?" he questioned.
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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".
