Karnataka to launch unified portal to automate land functions shortly: Report
Bengaluru: In a move aimed at simplifying land-related processes for citizens, the Karnataka government is developing a Unified Land Management System (ULMS) — a digital platform designed to consolidate all land-related procedures under one paperless system. Once implemented, citizens will no longer need to visit multiple departments to get their work done.
All immovable properties in the state will be integrated into the ULMS, which is currently under development. According to a recent government order cited by Deccan Herald on Wednesday, four hundred officials in the Department of Town and Country Planning will be trained on handling the new technology platform. The platform will unify all land-related databases of the government, including those related to survey, settlement and land records (agricultural land), town planning approvals, Kaveri (property registration), and e-Aasthi (khatas).
Calling ULMS a “start-to-end solution” for land administration, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said the system will ensure smooth coordination between departments. “A piece of land, from its origin till it is made into a site or becomes a property, will travel within ULMS from one department to another,” he explained. While the concept isn’t entirely new, Gowda noted, “a serious effort was never made. We are doing it seriously now.”
"Any property can be brought into existence and defined only by the survey department. From there, it goes to the revenue department if there is conversion required. If an approval is needed to form a layout, it goes to town planning. If one wants to sell land, it goes to Kaveri. From there, it goes to the local body for khata," DH quoted Gowda as saying.
"Things will move from one stage to another automatically. There will be no file movement. You don't have to go knocking on several doors to get one work done," he added.
Gowda emphasised that the initiative is focused on improving citizen experience. “The first aim is to make governance easy and reduce delays for citizens. This can also reduce the scope for frauds. Fewer frauds mean lesser litigation, and that ultimately translates to lower costs for citizens,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered the release of Rs 2 crore to train officials on Geographic Information System (GIS). This was announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his 2025-25 Budget.
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Judge issues temporary injunction against Trump administration cancellation of humanities grants
Washington (AP): A district court judge in New York issued a preliminary injunction Friday night stopping the mass cancellation of National Endowment for the Humanities grants to members of the Authors Guild on the grounds that their First Amendment rights were violated.
Judge Colleen McMahon of the US District Court in the Southern District of New York stayed the mass cancellations of grants previously awarded to guild members and ordered that any funds associated with the grants not be reobligated until a trial on the merits of the case is held.
In reaching her decision, the judge said the “defendants terminated the grants based on the recipients' perceived viewpoint, in an effort to drive such views out of the marketplace of ideas. This is most evident by the citation in the Termination Notices to executive orders purporting to combat Radical Indoctrination' and Radical … DEI Programs,' and to further Biological Truth.'”
One of the grants was to a professor writing a book on the reemergence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s and 1980s. On a spreadsheet entitled “Copy of NEH Active Grants,” the government flagged the work as being connected to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, McMahon wrote.
The judge said several other history projects on the spreadsheet were also canceled in part because of their connection to DEI-related subjects.
“Far be it from this Court to deny the right of the Administration to focus NEH priorities on American history and exceptionalism as the year of our semiquincentennial approaches,” McMahon said. “Such refocusing is ordinarily a matter of agency discretion. But agency discretion does not include discretion to violate the First Amendment. Nor does not give the Government the right to edit history.“
McMahon said some of the grantees lost grants simply because they had received them during the Biden administration.
The Guild filed a class action lawsuit in May against the NEH and the Department of Government Efficiency for terminating grants that had already been appropriated by Congress.
The humanities groups' lawsuit said DOGE brought the core work of the humanities councils “to a screeching halt” this spring when it terminated its grant program.
The lawsuit was among several filed by humanities groups and historical, research and library associations to try to stop funding cuts and the dissolution of federal agencies and organizations.
McMahon noted her injunction is narrowly tailored “to maintain the status quo until we can decide whether Plaintiffs are entitled to ultimate relief. It does nothing more.”
The judge denied a temporary injunction request from the American Council of Learned Societies, as well as several of their claims in the lawsuit. Their case included the American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association.
