-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...

-The Indian Express Around October every year, farmers in Punjab, Haryana and other North West Indian states set fire to paddy residue in order to clear their fields to sow fresh wheat crops. New Delhi: Stubble burning in Punjab can be controlled completely if farmers are compensated for management of paddy straws, the state’s agriculture secretary K S Pannu told The Indian Express Monday. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh would...

-The Indian Express However, fines for violations such as overspeeding, drunken driving and racing will remain unchanged. Bengaluru: Falling in line with states like Gujarat and Uttarakhand, the Karnataka government has reduced the high traffic fines introduced by the Centre under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 by 30-50 per cent. The latest changes come after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said last week that he will follow Gujarat’s footsteps in...

-Financial Express We have been hearing the expression ‘Industry 4.0’ ever since the idea of ‘smart factory’ was unveiled in Hannover in April 2013. Many opine ‘Agriculture 4.0’ akin to 4G of telecom. I believe Agriculture 4.0 is “going back to basics, but with technology as its underpinning” to usher in sustainability, in the wake of climate change and degradation of our agricultural ecosystems. We need to re-look at agriculture with...

-The Hindu Former PM Manmohan Singh says change undermines federal polity New Delhi: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday remarked that the Centre ought to have consulted the State governments before introducing additional terms of reference for the 15th Finance Commission seeking to create separate funds for Defence and Internal Security. Asserting that unilateralism was not good for a federal polity and cooperative federalism, Mr. Singh said the best course would have...