-The Hindu Electric buses to be revamped after Sabarimala season THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will launch 10 zero-emission and noiseless air-conditioned battery electric vehicles (BEVs) on the Thiruvananthapuram- Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram route from February 1. The environment-friendly Olectra-BYD’s electric bus, manufactured under the ‘Make in India’ initiative and wet-leased by the KSRTC for 10 years, is being deployed on the corridor after its successful chain service operations from November 17 on...

-The Hindu In 40% of blocks, SC/ST community constitutes less than 5% of residents Bengaluru: A first-of-its-kind snapshot of the distribution of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes community in the city reveals a patchwork of caste-segregated neighbourhoods where socio-economically backward castes are ghettoised. Older areas such as Malleswaram or Basavanagudi exhibit a caste-based pattern, perhaps due to urban planning where caste segregation was INCulcated by design a century ago. Stark in newer areas However, this...

-Orfonline.org The Index is a good start, but future developments will need to be watched with a critical eye. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious declaration of global aspirations, ranging from eliminating poverty, hunger, and violence against women to providing legal identity and equal access to justice to every person in the world. Adopted unanimously by the 193 UN Member States in September 2015, the SDGs are meant to guide...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers could get annual INCome support of Rs 15,000 per hectare if the Niti Aayog’s proposal for an upfront subsidy through direct benefit transfer is accepted, said people with knowledge of the matter. The Aayog has suggested that all subsidies for agriculture, INCluding fertiliser, electricity, crop insurance, irrigation and interest subvention be replaced by INCome transfer. Telangana and Odisha have adopted INCome support to help alleviate agrarian...

-Financial Express With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections approaching, the government plans to offer a stimulus package in the form of agricultural investment support scheme and group insurance to farmers, which could otherwise subsume the fumes of the farm loan waiver burden. Can the government consider Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu Scheme (RBS) on a scaled down version? RBS has a grant component of Rs 4,000 per acre per farmer for one season (kharif/rabi)....