‘Drone’ to be used to survey crops: Minister Shivashankar Reddy
Govt to encourage growing of ‘Aane Bidiru’ (Elephant bamboo)
Bengaluru, August 08: Agriculture Minister HN Shivashankar Reddy said that due to scanty rainfall in 13 districts including Raichur, Koppal, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Davangere and Chitradurga, the sowing percentage in kharif season has come down drastically.
Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha here on Wednesday, the Minister said that it was targeted to sow seeds in 74.59 lakh hectare of land. But till August first week, the sowing was done only in 49.47 lakh hectares which is just 66 per cent achievement. Due to scanty rainfall in most of the districts, the sowing activity was not done as expected. So, steps were taken to distribute required seeds and fertilizer to those 13 districts to grow alternative crops, he added.
After monsoon season, the sowing activity would be held in 8 lakh hectares of land during August and September. He was confident of reaching the target of 110 lakh metric tons food grains production this time, he exuded confidence.
Drone survey
It was decided to take the help of Drone technology to survey the crops in various places of the state due to which the government would get actual picture on crop patterns and their conditions. This would help insurance scheme also. The crop patterns were not being mentioned in pahanis. So, it was decided to conduct survey which will be started within a week. This survey would cost minimum Rs 15-20 crore, the Minister said.
Encouragement to agriculture
The government was encouraging zero cultivation method. Shortly a team of officials led by him would visit Ananthapura district in Andhra Pradesh to study zero cultivation methods being adopted there. A comprehensive programme would be introduced to encourage zero cultivation in the state, he said.
Appointment of staff
The appointment process of recruiting total 588 officers and staff including 153 assistant agriculture officers was completed and within 15 days, appointment orders would be issued, he said.
Millets to door-steps
In order to encourage usage and cultivation of millets, marketing facility would be made available through HOPCOMS and KMF to sell the millets. It was also planned to supply the millets to the door-steps of the consumers to avoid middlemen, he added.
“To put an end to the cultivation of eucalyptus and acacia trees which are detrimental to the ground water table, moisture and environment, the government has decided to encourage the programmes to grow elephant bamboo. It was decided to implement the programme as a pilot project in Bengaluru rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts. From this crop, the farmers would get minimum Rs 4 lakh revenue from one acre in just three years”.
- HN Shivashankar Reddy, Agriculture Minister
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K’taka HC judge whose controversial remarks triggered controversy expresses regret before open court
Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court judge, Justice V Srishananda, on Saturday expressed regret in open court after facing backlash over his controversial remarks in his recent court hearings, reported Bar and Bench.
Two purported video clips from Justice V Srishananda’s court hearing that show him making inappropriate comments went viral across social media platforms.
On Saturday, Justice Srishananda invited members of the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, and senior lawyers to his courtroom at 2:30 PM, where he read out a note expressing regret for inappropriate comments.
Quoting Advocates Association President Vivek Subba Reddy, Bar and Bench wrote, “He expressed regret for the comments and clarified that it was not his intention to offend any community or members of the Bar. He also requested the association to relay this message to all members of the Bar.”
Reddy further stated, “We also advised him to encourage young lawyers in the courtroom and refrain from making any irrelevant remarks during hearings.”
Another senior lawyer present during the session confirmed to the legal news portal that Justice Srishananda also addressed comments directed at a woman lawyer, who was seen in one of the videos being reprimanded by the judge. The judge Justice Srishananda clarified that his remarks were not intended to target her (woman lawyer) specifically, but rather pertained to the appellant she was representing. “He explained that his comment was meant to imply that the appellant seemed to know a lot about the other party,” said the lawyer.
In addition, Justice Srishananda assured those present that he would avoid making such comments in the future.
The controversy came to light on September 19, when a video clip from an August 28 Court hearing surfaced on social media, showing Justice Srishananda referring to a Muslim-majority sub-locality in Bengaluru’s Goripalya as "Pakistan." Hours later, another video from the same courtroom emerged, in which the judge was seen making a gender-insensitive remark.
Following outrage over the viral videos, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, Surya Kant, and Hrishikesh Roy, on September 20 took a suo motu cognizance and sought a report from the Karnataka High Court Registrar General in connection with the viral video.
