The government's ninth round of negotiations with protesting farmer unions will take place as scheduled on Friday and the Centre is hopeful of positive discussions, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Thursday.
Modi's unexpected announcement of achieving net zero by 2070 may have neatly deflected the pressures on India to sign up to an ambitious pledge but it does nothing to dispel the ecological emergency that threatens all life on the planet, , points out former forerign secretary Shyam Saran, the prime minister's special envoy and chief negotiator on climate change 2007-2010.
A recent pre-election survey suggests that AAP may win 53 seats in the 117-member Punjab assembly and reduce the Congress to just 43.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde will hear the application on January 18 along with pleas raising the issue of farmers protesting at Delhi borders.
The Border Security Force has been put on high alert along the India-Bangladesh border in Assam and Tripura following intelligence inputs of Islamic terrorists planning to infiltrate the country.
'The BJP would like to capitalise on Yogi's tough image on criminals, law and order situation, and hands-on CM.' 'Modi will be an additional advantage, but it is primarily a contest between Yogi and Akhilesh.'
The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshakti said the principle of natural justice is going to be violated as those appointed to the four-member committee 'have already supported these laws'.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said that 'Khalistanis' have infiltrated the protest and he will file an affidavit along with the necessary inputs of the intelligence bureau (IB).
The farmer leaders said they are not willing to participate in any proceedings before a committee appointed by the Supreme Court, but a formal decision on this will be taken by the Morcha.
The Central Public Works Department, which is executing the government's ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project, will soon start the construction work of the new Parliament building once it gets permission from the Heritage Conservation Committee, officials said on Tuesday.
'Kashmir is the main issue between the two countries.' 'We have not been able to resolve it bilaterally.' 'As the two major countries in South Asia, we have to go back to the drawing board and start engaging.'
'The PLA will not voluntarily withdraw from Indian territory.'
"The question of entering into Delhi is a law and order matter and will be determined by the police," the bench said.
Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary also said the government is always ready for talks but it is up to farmer unions to decide whether they want to go ahead with the scheduled ninth round of talks on January 15.
'India finds itself in an unenviable situation today with its prospects diminished by acutely polarised domestic politics and the setbacks suffered during the pandemic,' notes Ambassador Shyam Saran, the former foreign secretary.
'It indicates the grooming of the party's new leadership.' 'It is also a signal to the states that these ministers represent.'
'India would not like to see Pakistani domination and tutelage of Afghanistan against Indian security and economic interests.'
Rather than worry about what picture of India is being painted in the foreign media, the focus must be on marshalling all our energies to provide relief and solace to our deeply wounded and dispirited citizens, says former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The supplementary nutrition programme and the Poshan Abhiyaan under the Women and Child Development Ministry has been merged to launch Mission Poshan 2.0 to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach, and outcome, according to the Union Budget announced on Monday.
Where do the four members of the Supreme Court appointed panel to interface with farmers stand on the Modi government's farm laws?
Addressing a press conference at Singhu Border in New Delhi, farmer leader Balbeer Singh Rajewal said that farmers never demanded the Supreme Court form a committee to resolve the impasse, alleging the central government was behind this development.
The Supreme Court Wednesday refused to entertain pleas seeking time-bound probe, including by an apex court-appointed commission, into the tractor rally violence in the national capital on the Republic Day saying the government is already inquiring the matter and the Prime Minister has stated that law will take its own course.
Two pleas were filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday over the tractor rally violence on Republic Day, with one seeking the setting up of a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, to inquire into the incident, while the other urged it to direct the media not to declare farmers as "terrorist" without any evidence.
'The military advantage the Indian Army had gained by the Special Frontier Force occupying the heights of the Rezang La-Rechin La ridge on the Kailash Range is lost without the PLA withdrawing to east of the Khurnak Fort line.'
'This four-member committee cannot supersede the four-five member ministerial committees, 25 top-level government bureaucrats, with whom we have had nine rounds of discussions each of which lasted for more than six-seven hours.'
While Bangladesh ranked 75, Myanmar and Pakistan are in the 78th and 88th position. Last year, India's rank was 102 out of 117 countries.
Let's take a look at some countries, including India, that have highest number of people going hungry.
Alibaba's pervasive economic and social influence in China is seen as a threat to the authority of the Chinese Communist party, notes Shyam Saran.
The talks between Singh and Esper came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump.
'More than losing Bengal, the worry for their national leadership is the current crisis.' 'If people perceive that the government does not do enough, then there's trouble.'
'Our strategy should be to 'hold the line' in the north on the Sino-Indian land frontier, but maintain and, if possible, enlarge India's current edge in the maritime south.'
Farmer leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said told reporters after the meeting that the unions urged the government to repeal the three laws, but the Centre was unwilling to do so. "We decided to meet again on January 19 at 12 pm," he said.
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
China's behaviour in the post-pandemic geopolitical landscape which may determine the Quad's future trajectory, notes former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'You cannot fight a disease as complex as COVID-19 without a carefully calibrated, localised response.'
As the pandemic spreads and the urgency for effective treatment of COVID-19 mounts, several countries, including the US, have started relying heavily on HCQ, majorly used in the treatment of malaria and rheumatoid-arthritis.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a stay of the implementation of the contentious three new farm laws hoping this will end the prolonged protests by the farmers and also constituted a four-member panel of agri experts to resolve the impasse between their leaders and the Centre.
Rajiv Kumar will continue as vice-chairman of the body, along with other full-time members V K Saraswat, Ramesh Chand and V K Paul.
Dr Purnima Menon is a research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute's Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division, and is based at IFPRI's Asia office in New Delhi. She conducts applied nutrition research in the South Asia region, with a focus on programs and policies to improve maternal and child nutrition.
The two decades of our "spectacular economic progress" has side-stepped vast swath of our underprivileged that oscillates between twenty per cent and one-fifth of our population!
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