BJP releases manifesto for Karnataka polls, reaches out to farmers

Feb 3: The Karnataka government is probably the only state to have so many nodal agencies to deal with investment proposals. There is the KIADB, Karnataka Udyoga Mitra, State High Level Clearance Committee (SHLCC), State Level Single Window Clearance Committee (SLSWCC) and District Level Single Window Clearance Committee.

While the government claims these have been created to speed up the process of setting up industries, they’re only delaying it. “A four-to-five year delay in acquiring land has become the norm,’’ say industry sources.

“These entities are only adding layers of obstacles to investors and is not really helping industries,” said a senior IAS officer.

While DLSWCCs are headed by deputy commissioners are empowered to clear investment proposals up to Rs 15 crore, SLSWCC, headed by the industries minister, clears proposals more than Rs 15 crore and up to Rs 500 crore. Proposals worth more than Rs 500 crore have to be cleared by SHLCC chaired by the CM. These entities have to meet regularly and clear proposals. But often, these meetings don’t happen as scheduled. “The delay starts from here,” said Vasant Ladava, industrialist and member of Karnataka Industries and Commerce, Bengaluru.

The single-window agencies involving representatives of departments like industries, revenue, pollution control board and forest are supposed to collectively give necessary clearances required for industries. “But, of late, they have become only project approvers without other responsibilities, leaving investors in the lurch,” said Ladava.

Bengaluru, Jun 17: The Congress on Wednesday decided to field senior party leader B K Hariprasad and incumbent Naseer Ahmed as candidates for the coming legislative council polls in Karnataka.

"The Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved the proposal for the candidature of B K Hariprasad and Naseer Ahmed as Congress candidates to contest the biennial elections to the Legislative Council of Karnataka to be elected by the MLAs," the AICC said in a release.

The election is necessitated as the term of seven MLCs- Naseer Ahmed, Jayamma, M C Venugopal, N S Bose Raju, H M Revanna (all Congress), T A Sharavana (JDS) and independent D U Mallikarjuna- will end June 30.

Polling will be held on June 29 to fill seven MLC berths, and June 18 is the last date for filing of nominations.

While the BJP is in a position to win four out of seven seats, the Congress can win two and the JD(S) one.

Twenty-eight valid votes of MLAs are required for each candidate to win.

Hariprasad’s candidature has been announced as his tenure in the Rajya Sabha is coming to end on June 25.

He has also served as general secretary of the party.

Naseer Ahmed, who is retiring as MLC on June 30, will be seeking another term.

According to state Congress president D K Shivakumar, more than 200 aspirants have sought tickets for the two seats that the party can win in the legislative council polls.

Bengaluru, Jul 26: A year-long probe by Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL) has found that its late founder V G Siddhartha routed Rs 2,693 crore out of the company to Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates Ltd (MACEL), another privately-owned entity of him.

The MACEL owes Rs 3,535 crore to subsidiaries of Coffee Day Enterprises as of July 31, 2019 of which only Rs 842 crore was accounted.

"Therefore, a sum of Rs 2,693 crore is the incremental outstanding that needs to be addressed," said the report of an investigation headed by Ashok Kumar Malhotra, a retired DIG of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and assisted by law firm Agastya Agastya Legal.

Siddhartha was found dead in early August 2019, and many suspected that he had committed suicide.

Steps are being taken by subsidiaries of CDEL for recovery of dues from MACEL, the company said.

"The board authorised the Chairman to appoint an ex-judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court, or any other person of eminence, to suggest and oversee actions for recovery of the dues from MACEL and to help on any other associated matters," it said in regulatory filings at stock exchanges late on Friday.

The probe further gives clean chits to the Income Tax Department and the private equity firms who Siddhartha in his parting letter had alleged of harassment.

"We have not been provided with any documentary evidence to draw an inference that there may have been any advertent or inadvertent harassment from the Income Tax Department," said the probe report.

The probe also highlighted severe liquidity crunch at CDEL in the build-up to Siddhartha's death.

A committee supported by senior professionals was formed to protect the interest of all stakeholders. CDEL said the debt levels which were about Rs 7,200 crore on March 31, 2019 have been brought down significantly by Rs 4,000 crore. The present debt of the group is around Rs 3,200 crore.

"The disinvestment process in the group continues and we are confident to have effective solution to all stakeholders," it said.