-India Today Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court has banned holding of any government functions during the BJP-sponsored Suraj Gaurav Yatra undertaken by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. A PIL had challenged the government expenditure on the yatra because it was a party show. The PIL cited a few instances where government departments had invited tenders and deputed officials for the yatra. The BJP had submitted bills of the expenditure it has been incurring on the...

-Hindustan Times The Delhi government had launched the common mobility card service on August 25, enabling commuters to pay bus fares through their Metro cards. New Delhi: The Delhi government PLAns to give 10% discount to the users of newly launched common mobility card in all state-run buses. The transport department will put up the proposal before the Cabinet within a week. The move is aimed at encouraging more passengers to use...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A group of ministers led by Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday deliberated on the recommendations that a panel had submitted last week as part of efforts to check lynchings following a Supreme Court prod to end such "acts of mobocracy". Among the suggestions that the panel, headed by Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba, had come up with was tightening of existing laws and action against India...

-The Hindu The government must stop storing millions of tonnes of foodgrains in the open under tarpaulins In India, the height of the rainy season is a time that one prays will pass — flooded roads, wet clothes, masses of insects and mould. No PLAce is safe from the growth of fungi that spring up overnight. With the humidity in the air and the warmth of summer, all that fungi need is...

-The Hindu Floods often wash away rich, weathered soil. Rehabilitation programmes must consider this loss As the rains abate in Kerala and parts of Kodagu district in Karnataka, the loss of lives and the devastation of infrastructure and crops is apparent. However, as rebuilding is PLAnned, what is often ignored is the soil that has been washed away. While roads and houses will be rebuilt, and crop losses compensated partially through insurance,...