Dubai-based doctor who studied in Mangaluru gifted me the watch, says CM

[email protected] (CD Network)
February 26, 2016

Bengaluru, Feb 26: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has decided to announce his luxury watch as a state asset, revealed that it was it was a “gift” from his Dubai-based doctor and friend Girish Chandra Varma.

siddaramaiahThe Chief Minister, who came under severe attack from the Opposition JD(S) and the BJP on the “expensive and imported” watch, said: “Dr. Varma gifted me the watch last July when he visited India. I have been a close friend of Dr. Varma since 1983.” Mr. Siddaramaiah said he would pay the gift tax for the watch and provide information to the Lokayukta before July-end during declaration of assets and liabilities.

“I received the gift in July (2015) and I will provide information to the Income Tax Department before March 15. I will not wear the watch, instead I will donate it to the government to preserve it,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said Dr. Varma studied MBBS in Davangere and completed his postgraduation in Mangaluru. He later practised in France and the U.S. He now resides in Dubai. When the doctor visited India in July 2015, he removed the watch from his wrist and gifted it to Mr. Siddaramaiah. The doctor will provide all details of the watch, including bill receipt and payment of taxes, when he visits India this July.

“The doctor meets me whenever he comes to India and Bengaluru,” the Chief Minister said. “Dr. Varma is a cardiac surgeon. He has been my friend for more than 30 years. He gave me the gift as a gesture of affection and friendship. According to Dr. Varma, the value of the watch is 75,000 dirham,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said, adding that JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy has been making the watch “a big issue without any basis”.

During the run-up to the elections to rural local bodies, Mr. Kumaraswamy had alleged that Mr. Siddaramaiah, who boasts of socialist credentials and pro-poor policies, was wearing a watch worth Rs. 50 to Rs. 60 lakh, and sunglasses valued at Rs. 2 lakh. In its petition to the Enforcement Directorate, the BJP had urged the ED to conduct an inquiry into the Rs. 70 lakh Swiss wrist watch.

Asked whether he would file a defamation case against the JD(S) leader, the Chief Minister said he would not indulge in such “low-level politics”.

Comments

Uday
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Congratulations to Siddaramaiah for making the BJP's job easier. Hope he continues to lend his helping hand with his watch:)

Sumathi
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

It seems Siddaramaiah had said he wud sell his watch to anyone who paid him even Rs 5 lakh for it. Ready to beg, steal or borrow.

Suresh Vamanjoor
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

37 Chennai &38 Bangalore ranking is pretty bad. Siddaramaiah can utilise money from d auction of his watch to clean a mini area

Sidda
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

After Modi’s luxury suit, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s Rs 70 lakh watch to be auctioned`

Ravi
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Siddaramaiah Govt must stop fooling people & work for the State. If not time will run out even on his 70 lakhs watch

priyanka
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Modi's few thousand worth suit becomes worth 10 lacs with nonstop coverage. But Siddaramaiah's 70 lacs watch doesn't get any coverage

reshma
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

It's a second hand watch gifted to me. I'll pay gift tax, won't wear it &will make a state asset

Vaman Rai
 - 
Friday, 26 Feb 2016

Will pay tax on Rs 70 lakh watch which was gifted to me but will not wear it, says Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

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News Network
January 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 5: Former Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara has said the Karnataka Congress has unanimously decided to appeal to the party high command regarding the appointment of KPCC President and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the state.

Speaking to reporters, the Congress leader said, "We have decided to gather the opinion of senior leaders regarding the selection of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and opposition leaders. We will appeal to the high command regarding the same. The party will decide its next course of action."

He made these remarks after a meeting of senior party leaders was held at Parameshwara's residence here on Saturday.

Adding that the Congress leaders discussed the current political scenario in the state, Parameshwara said: "We held a meeting to reiterate that we are not confused and we all are together."

"There has been no personal discussion on who should be the president," he said.

Earlier, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had tendered resignation from their respective posts owning moral responsibility for the party's poor performance in the recent by-polls.

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News Network
March 15,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 15: The Karnataka government has intensified screening all international passengers at airports by classifying them into three risk categories.

Passengers, who are symptomatic on arrival fall under risk category 1, those aged above 60 and have Symptoms fall under category 2. Those who fall in both these categories are being quarantined at designated facilities for 14 days from arrival.

Asymptomatic passengers arriving from any of the COVID-19 affected countries will fall under category 3 and will be advised to be under strict home quarantine for 14 days, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said here on Sunday.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Bengaluru, May 1: The Karnataka government on Friday issued a show cause notice to an IAS officer over his recent tweet about coronavirus-cured Tablighi Jamaat members donating plasma for treatment of other patients.

The officer, Mohammad Mohsin, was in the news last year after the Election Commission suspended him for trying to inspect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter during his visit to Odisha in April. He was deployed as a poll observer.

"More than 300 Tablighi Heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about? #Godi Media? They will not show the works of humanity done by these heroes," Mohsin said in a tweet on April 27.

A 1996 batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre hailing from Bihar, Mohsin is currently serving as a secretary in the Backward Class Welfare Department.

The state government said the show cause notice has been issued to the officer in connection with his tweet.

"The adverse coverage this tweet has got in the media has been taken note of seriously by the government, given the serious nature of COVID-19 and the sensitivities involved," the notice, which was accessed by PTI, stated.

The government has sought a written explanation from the officer within five days for violating the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.

It warned of action against Mohsin as per the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 if he fails to submit his reply before the deadline.

"The Karnataka government has made it clear that it would not hesitate to act even against powerful functionaries if their actions are damaging to the harmony in the state at a time when all are united in fighting COVID-19," a senior state bureaucrat said.

The Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary group, shot into the limelight early this year after thousands of its members who attended a congregation in south Delhi's Nizamuddin in March tested positive for coronavirus.

After attending the event, the group's members travelled to various parts of the country, with many of them carrying the virus.

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