-TheWire.in A sudden spike in farm fires has prompted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to write to his Haryana and Punjab counterparts. New Delhi: With the arrival of the paddy harvesting season, there has been a sharp increase in the number of farm fires reported in Punjab. There were 107 fires between September 24 and 26 this year compared to just 11 in the same period last year, according to a report...

-The Indian Express Torture is an endemic characteristic of Indian policing. A commitment to eradicating it requires the police force as a whole to have zero tolerance for the practice besides a specific anti-torture law The home minister’s recent pronouncement that the days of third-degree torture are gone is extraordinarily welcome. His announcement is as much a signal to the SECurity forces to lay off this practice as it is an acknowledgment...

-PTI New Delhi: Easing the regulatory framework for foreign portfolio investors, SEBI has simplified KYC requirements for them and permitted them to carry out off-market transfer of SECurities. Besides, the regulator has broad-based the classification for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and simplified their registration process. The notification comes after the board of SEBI in August approved a proposal to simplify the regulatory norms for FPIs.   The new regulations have been redrafted based on...

-The Hindu Business Line Mumbai: Thousands of distraught customers of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank gathered at the bank’s branches in Mumbai for a SECond day on Wednesday to protest against the Reserve Bank of India’s direction to impose restrictions on withdrawal amounts. Some of them said they would initiate legal action. “I had saved up for my daughter’s marriage in December, but my money is now stuck,” said Harshit Rane, a customer....

-The Telegraph Yediyurappa sought department cash for flood relief Bangalore: The Karnataka government has shunted out an IAS officer who reportedly refused to divert funds from her department for flood relief. Rohini Sindhuri, SECretary of the Karnataka Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board, was shifted without a posting after she apparently ignored orders to contribute a slice of the department’s funds for flood relief. Chief minister and BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa had...