The Delhi government has approved the withdrawal of 17 cases registered during the anti-farm law stir, including one involving last year's Republic Day violence, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Another round of discussions between the farmer unions and Centre is slated for Saturday.
The tractor parades will start from the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri border points of Delhi, but details will be finalised tonight, farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said after attending a meeting between the unions and the police.
In the wake of farmers' tractor rally turning violent, the Centre on Tuesday decided to deploy additional paramilitary troops in Delhi to restore peace and maintain law and order, officials said.
Seven other states - Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat - had earlier confirmed Avian Influenza
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of the farmer unions protesting the three farm laws, said emergency and essential services such as ambulance and school bus will not be stopped during the 'chakka jam' that is proposed to be held between 12 pm and 3 pm.
Tractors from Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan have also reached on Tikri border between Delhi-Haryana as the farmers sit in for protest for nearly two months. The move comes as Delhi Police formally granted permission for the rally on January 26, assigning them routes for the same.
The farmers' tractor rally - Kisaan Parade - against the farm laws was expected to be held after 12 pm. However, huge crowds gathered on the borders at around 8 am.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday had a meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava, ahead of the 'chakka jam' announced by farmer unions protesting against the three agri laws at Delhi's borders, sources said.
Farmer unions on Monday had announced a countrywide 'chakka jam' on February 6 when they would block national and state highways for three hours in protest against the internet ban in areas near their agitation sites, harassment allegedly meted out to them by authorities, and other issues.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ayodhya on December 30, the streets in the temple town in Uttar Pradesh are being decorated with flowers to give the city a 'divine look'.
At the Ghazipur border, they huddled close together, only some with masks -- aware of the coronavirus threat that had led to an unprecedented 21-day lockdown of the country and taken away their jobs, but helpless to do anything about combating the infection.
Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, Rashtriya Lok Dal's Anil Kumar and two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were sworn in on Tuesday as Yogi Adityanath expanded his council of ministers, weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The protest by farmers at the Delhi border points entered the sixth day and is set to continue as the critical talks between three Union ministers and farmer groups ended in a stalemate on Tuesday after they rejected the government's suggestion of a new committee to look into issues raised by agitating farmers.
A court in Varanasi on Monday convicted gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari in the murder of Congress leader Awadhesh Rai more than 30 years ago.
The suggestions submitted to the Centre on Thursday evening also recommended restarting construction activities and allowing movement of labourers within the city, sources said.
On Wednesday, the top court observed that the Centre's talks with the protesting farmers have 'not worked apparently' and were bound to fail, and said it will form a committee having representatives of both the sides, but the agitating leaders dismissed it as no solution.
The bus had gone to Delhi and was plying on the wrong side of the expressway after refilling CNG near Ghazipur border.
The government and the farm unions had reached some common ground on Wednesday to resolve the protesting farmers' concerns over rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning, but the two sides remained deadlocked over the main contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.
There is no protest yet on Delhi's borders with Gurgaon and at other points of National Highway-8 that connects the national capital with Jaipur, a senior police officer said.
However, in some markets of the city meat is anyways not sold on Tuesdays as this day of the week is considered auspicious by many Hindus.
Police said the border has not been sealed but they are checking all vehicles entering the national capital.
Those gathered at the Tikri border continued to hold ground as wellA decision on whether they would head to the designated protest site is expected soon.
According to senior officials, nine additional commissioners have been allocated departments and office spaces at different floors of the Civic Centre, while three deputy commissioners were also appointed.
In a series of tweets, the Delhi Traffic Police said Tikri and Dhansa borders are closed for traffic movement, while Jhatikara border is open only for two-wheelers and pedestrians.
The ban by the Delhi government was imposed after a large number of ducks at Sanjay Lake and crows at various parks were found dead in the past several days.
The National Human Rights Commission sent notices to the police heads of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh after an alleged victim of sexual assault and police apathy set herself afire outside the Supreme Court in August, officials said Wednesday.
After over a year, the Singhu border, which was the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, now bears a deserted look with the last batch of demonstrators leaving for their home states on Monday.
Security was stepped up after farmers threatened to block more highways connecting the national capital.
Ahead of Republic Day, the Delhi-National Capital Region has been put under a 'very high-security' cover after police received inputs from Intelligence agencies about a possible terror attack, officials said on Tuesday.
A day after farmers' tractor rally turned violent in Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday took stock of the security situation and measures taken to ensure peace in the city, officials said.
South Delhi Mayor Mukesh Suryan on Tuesday said there was "no need to open meat shops" during Navratra, claiming that "most people do not consume non-vegetarian food" during this period, even as the move has triggered sharp reactions on social media.
The Delhi Traffic Police took to Twitter to inform commuters about alternative routes open for travelling to the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
The tightening of traffic restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus by Gurgaon and Ghaziabad administrations on their borders with Delhi led to chaos and traffic congestion on Friday.
Some groups of farmers started going back to their respective sit-in sites on Tuesday evening after hours of chaos during their tractor parade against the farm laws, but thousands of other protesters were still in several areas, including ITO, Nangloi and Mukarba Chowk, of the national capital.
Some taxi and cab unions, including those associated with app-based aggregators, have decided to join the strike called by farmers organisations demanding repeal of three new farm sector laws.
The 45-year-old actor, a vocal advocate for a clean environment, on Monday shared a post by Extinction Rebellion, a global climate movement, on the social media site.
November 26 would mark one year of the ongoing farmers' protests at Delhi's border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur.
Emotions ran high as the farmers performed ardas (prayers) and havan to thank the almighty and started their 'victory march' from Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur protest sites to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in convoys of tractors, bedecked with colourful flowers and lights and blaring songs of jubilation.
Officials of the Transport Department, bus drivers and conductors were contacted on Friday night to help the people who were stranded in Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar and Aligarh, among other places, he said.
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