Visakhapatnam, July 11 (IANS) Ruling out the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Union Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday said that there is a possibility of reviving the plant and a final decision would be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He told media persons after a visit to the plant that there is a possibility of reviving the public sector undertaking.

“Who told you we are going to privatise? Why did I come here? There is no question of privatisation. Before I announce, the PM’s permission is required. I have to convince him,” said Kumaraswamy, who along with Union Minister of State for Steel B. Srinivasa Verma, visited Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), the corporate entity of VSP.

He held talks with the management, the leaders of trade unions, and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Stating that they had held threadbare discussions, the Union Minister said several suggestions were made.

“Ultimately we are going to take some decision with the higher authority,” he said.

Kumaraswamy said he was preparing a note to revive the plant and this would be presented to the Prime Minister.

“There is a possibility of reviving it. We can do it. For that we are working out,” he said.

TDP state President P. Srinivas Rao, who met Kumaraswamy, said he gave the assurance that the project would be revived and protected. He requested that the VSP’s land, which is with the Centre, be transferred to the RINL so that the company can get loans from the banks.

Allocation of iron ore mines, financial assistance of Rs 20,000 crore, and a merger with Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) were other options mooted by them.

BJP leader Vishnu Kumar Raju said Kumaraswamy sought two months for a decision on reviving the plant.

Earlier, Kumaraswamy said nobody should have fears that the steel plant will be shut down. He stated that with the support of Prime Minister Modi, the plant is operating at 100 per cent capacity.

The minister, who penned his thoughts in the visitors’ book, affirmed VSP’s contribution to the nation’s development. He noted that many people are dependent on the plant for their livelihood.

He, along with officials, went around the factory and interacted with workers to review the production activities. The ministers were accompanied by Visakhapatnam MP M. Bharat, BJP leader G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, local MLA Palla Srinivas, VSP Chairman and Managing Director Atul Bhatt and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Sanjay Roy and senior officials.

The Union Minister visited the plant amid the demand by the unions for its merger with the SAIL. Leaders of various employees’ unions of VSP, who have been fighting for more than 1,000 days against the proposal to privatise the steel plant, are likely to meet Kumaraswamy to seek the merger of RINL-VSP with SAIL, as apart from this, there is no other alternative.

The BJP MPs from Andhra Pradesh are also pushing for the VSP’s merger with SAIL. Last month, a delegation of BJP MPs led by the party’s state chief and former Union Minister D. Purandeswari had met Kumaraswamy and submitted a representation, requesting him to consider a takeover of RINL Vizag and Nagarnar Steel, Chhattisgarh by SAIL.

The delegation of MPs included Minister of State for Steel Srinivasa Varma.

After a report in an English daily that the NDA government had taken a U-turn on the privatisation of VSP, Purandeswari posted on X that she had hand-delivered a letter to Kumaraswamy and had been diligently monitoring the situation. “This takeover will not only expedite the national steel policy 2017 targets but also integrate and optimise resources, resulting in increased profitability and market expansion for SAIL. Additionally, the merger will yield considerable cost savings in interest rates and raw materials, contributing to the faster profitability of the RINL Vizag plant,” she said in the letter, posted on X.

–IANS

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Bengaluru, July 11 (IANS) Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister on Thursday said that he does not know the procedure followed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the multi-crore Tribal Welfare Board case.

“I don’t know what procedure the ED is following in their investigation. It is true that fraud has been committed. We know the facts of the case. We formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case and the misappropriated funds have already been recovered,” the Deputy Chief Minister told media persons.

He said that if the fraud amount exceeds a certain limit then the CBI has the authority to investigate a case. “After all these investigations are completed, the ED can review whether the investigation was conducted properly or not. But the ED did not need to conduct a raid without any complaint,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

He said that the SIT investigation is being conducted independently and the ministers have resigned voluntarily to prevent any disruption in the investigation.

“We have also cross-checked and the ministers have not signed anything. They are not involved. The investigation is being conducted according to the law,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.

The opposition has alleged the involvement of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the case and also alleged that the Rs 187 crore funds of the Tribal Welfare Board were used to fund elections in Telangana and other states.

The ED has also raided the residences of Nagendra and Basanagouda Daddal related to the case.

The case came to light after the suicide of senior officer Chandrasekaran. He had left a death note alleging that senior officials had forced him to open a parallel account to divert money from the Corporation’s primary account, based on “oral instructions by a minister.”

–IANS

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Jaipur, July 11 (IANS) The absence of former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Minister Kirodi Lal Meena during the budget speech has raised many eyebrows.

However, both the leaders spoke briefly about the Rajasthan government’s Budget on their social media handles.

“Bhajan Lal’s Budget is for the welfare of all. This budget dedicated to the people is a document for the development of all sections,” Raje wrote on X.

Kirodi Lal Meena has resigned as Agriculture Minister however the status of his resignation still remains unclear whether it was accepted or not.

“Bhajan Lal government is shaping the future of the youth. Youths have got gifts in the form of employment in this Budget,” Kirodi Lal on the Budget.

Vasundhara Raje and Kirodi Lal Meena have been upset with the party and are trying to distance themselves from the organisation. However, BJP leaders have played down the difference within the party.

Former BJP minister Rajendra Rathore said that Kirodi Lal Meena is an experienced leader and he has resigned but we all have requested the Chief Minister not to accept his resignation.

On the absence of Vasundhara Raje in the Assembly, Rathore said that she could not come to the Assembly due to some personal work.

Congress has also criticised the BJP over the absence of Vasundhara Raje and Kirodi Lal Meena in the Assembly during the Budget.

On Wednesday, Bhajan Lal’s government presented its first full budget in the Assembly.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) The President of Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, Deepak Baij, strongly criticised the government over rising crimes in the state and Jagdalpur area in particular.

Baij said that ten such incidents of lawlessness were happening every day across Chhattisgarh, and the BJP government has no control over them.

“Jagdalpur, which serves as the divisional headquarters and district headquarters, is witnessing incidents like knife attacks during the day. This is the third major incident in five days.

“Criminals entered a home at night, tied three people and attacked them with weapons, and hacked them. Two of them died, and one is admitted to the hospital in a critical condition,” he said.

“Criminals are entering people’s homes fearlessly; there cannot be a bigger misfortune for Chhattisgarh than this,” he added.

“The people of Bastar and Jagdalpur are enraged by such incidents. The entire law and order situation in Chhattisgarh has collapsed. I don’t know what kind of good governance the government keeps mentioning. I want to ask whether this is good governance or jungle raj. The government should answer this,” he said.

Reacting to the statement given by PM Narendra Modi about providing gas cylinders for Rs 500 and ‘Modi’s guarantee’, Deepak Baij said that Modi’s guarantee was not just about fulfilling one promise.

“Three lakh youth are yet to be given jobs and employment as promised. I am asking when he will fulfill that guarantee. Apart from this, he has made many announcements, out of which he has fulfilled only two to three promises, which he is calling Modi’s guarantee,” he said.

He further stated that whatever promises and announcements PM Modi made during the Assembly elections, he should fulfill them first and then talk about Modi’s guarantee.

“Modi’s guarantee has completely failed,” he added.

He claimed, “On one side, they increase electricity tariff, on the other hand they give a gas cylinder for Rs 500. If you want to learn how to give from one side and loot with the whole hand, then learn from the BJP.”

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) A Delhi High Court judge on Thursday recused himself from hearing NIA’s plea seeking the death penalty for Yasin Malik, the chief of banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), who is undergoing a life sentence in a terror funding case.

After Justice Amit Sharma withdrew himself from hearing the case, the bench presided over by Justice Prathiba M. Singh directed the matter to be listed before a different combination on August 9 after obtaining approval from the Acting Chief Justice.

In an earlier order, the Delhi High Court had directed the Jail Superintendent of Tihar Jail to produce Malik from jail through video conferencing (VC) on the next date of hearing.

In May 2022, Malik — who pleaded guilty — was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special NIA court in a terror funding case and was convicted of offences under various sections of IPC.

NIA has appealed the trial court order and has sought the death penalty for Malik. The anti-terror probe agency told the high court during the hearing that the accused was responsible for the Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus from the Valley. Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta had said that Malik avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty “very tactfully”.

“A wider issue troubling us is that any terrorist may come, commit terror activities and the court may say because he has pleaded guilty, we are giving a life sentence. Everyone would come here and avoid trial by pleading guilty because they would know if they enter the trial, hanging is the only result,” he had argued.

In another incident, in July last year, the Supreme Court was stunned to see Malik before it as he appeared for an appeal filed by the CBI against a special Jammu court order calling for his physical appearance for trial in kidnapping and murder cases against him. Later, four prison officers were suspended in the security lapse case.

–IANS

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