Periscope: Karnataka Assembly elections, Modi's address at WCIT, and more

Destination Karnataka All hands on the political deck will be busy in the poll-bound Karnataka this week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the Mahamastakabhisheka celebrations at Shravanabelagola in Hassan district on Monday, the third day of the anointment ceremony of Lord Bahubali, organised once in 12 years. He will also address a rally in Mysuru. On the other hand, Congress president Rahul Gandhi will return to Karnataka on February 24 for the second leg of his roadshow in the Mumbai-Karnataka region. BJP president Amit Shah will be in Udupi on February 19 and 20 after a tour of Dakshina Kannada district. He will address a convention of fisherfolk from the three coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada, at Malpe beach. Tech talk Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will deliver the inaugural address at the World Congress on Information Technology 2018 (WCIT) that India is hosting for the first time.

He will inaugurate the event via video link. The conference is being organised by Nasscom and the Telangana government. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, state Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Sophia, a humanoid, are expected to speak at the three-day event. Addressing farm distress In order to address farm distress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a national conference on Monday and Tuesday to discuss short- and long-term solutions to give a fillip to the agriculture sector and achieve the goal of doubling farmers' income by 2022. The PM is scheduled to participate on Tuesday. Agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh, senior officials of Niti Aayog, farm price advisory body CACP, state varsities, farmers and farmers bodies will also attend the meeting. Farm experts and officials will brainstorm on issues confronting farmers as well as the overall agriculture and allied sectors.