The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a tweet said the rights to peaceful assembly and expression should be protected both offline and online.
As general elections approach Uttar Pradesh may see more communal incidents as political parties make an all-out play for votes, says Faisal Kidwai.
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.
The nodal officer for EVMs in Varanasi, a returning officer (RO) in Sonbhadra district and an additional election officer in Bareilly district have been pulled out from election duties, a day ahead of the counting of votes in UP.
Tikait has been at loggerheads with various governments on a range of farmers' issues, including loan waivers, minimum support price, power tariff and land acquisition in states such as UP, Haryana Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh.
The remarks of the apex court, which also said there is a 'peculiar lack of comprehension' about constitution of a panel, assumes importance as some of the members of the recently constituted committee to resolve the deadlock between farmers and the centre over the farm laws had earlier reportedly expressed their views on the subject.
The protesting farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been at the border points of the national capital for almost 40 days now, braving the bone-chilling cold weather in the region.
Protesting farmer leaders in the vulnerable age group Monday said they are not afraid of coronavirus and won't take vaccine jabs, even as the second phase of vaccination drive got underway to inoculate senior citizens and those above 45 with underlying medical conditions.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday invoked the "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana a few years back, telling people in the western Uttar Pradesh town that those who shoot at traders now will be dispatched to the "next world".
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's campaign against the Centre's meat exports policy is likely to be replicated by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in western Uttar Pradesh to increase the party's vote share in the Lok Sabha elections.
The government and unions representing farmers, who have been camping at Delhi's border for about three months in protest against the three laws that they see will end state procurement of crops at MSP, have held 11 rounds of talks, the last being on January 22.
On chances of taking uncle Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia along in the polls, he said, "I dont have any problem in this. He and his men will be given due honour".
Reaching out to Jats, a politically crucial community in western Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has presented his party as the best bet for them, saying voting for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal or any other party would not help their cause.
'The government knows our demands and knows well about our peaceful demonstration. It can address our concern and we will be gone'
Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, but acknowledged he does not know them.
Azad was taken into custody by police on Tuesday for violating the model code of conduct.
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders and organisations on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted", asserting that the matter pertains to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
India's recently-enacted agri laws have the potential to increase farmers' income, but there is a need to provide a social safety net to the vulnerable cultivators, IMF's Chief Economist Gita Gopinath has said. Indian agriculture is in need of reforms, she said. There are multiple areas where the reforms are needed, including infrastructure, the chief economist of the Washington-based global financial institution said on Tuesday. The three agri laws, enacted in September last year, have been projected by the Indian government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.
Yadav denied any possibility for a post-poll alliance between the BJP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal's Jayant Choudhary.
Wearing garlands, the farmer leaders, who had called for observing 'Sadbhavana Diwas' (Harmony Day) on Saturday after the immense outrage over violence by protesters during their Republic Day tractor rally, sat on the dais during the fast, as crowds of supporters swelled, especially in Gazipur where the Bharatiya Kisan Union is leading the protest.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) supporters stayed put on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on Friday as the crowd swelled there, notwithstanding the Ghaziabad administration's ultimatum to vacate the UP Gate protest site where security force in large numbers was re-deployed.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appears to have shed the maximum sweat among top leaders for over the last 45 days in the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh assembly elections campaign.
A large number of women from various states reached the sites of protest against the Centre's three farm laws that has been going on for over 50 days now.
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.
With several political stalwarts of Uttar Pradesh no longer on the scene, it will be keenly watched how their children lead at the hustings this time without their formidable presence.
'The cabinet approval is a logical step. It doesn't hold any more significance than what we have already stated on November 19.'
Several trains were cancelled, highways and key roads blocked and many thousands stranded for hours on Monday as a nationwide 10-hour shutdown against the Centre's three agri laws disrupted lives across parts of India, particularly in the north.
Former Union Minister Rasheed Masood was on Monday made special invitee to the Congress Working Committee with immediate effect. The announcement was made by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi.
The agriculture minister said the government's constant efforts are aimed at making farmers prosperous by increasing their income.
The letter by Singh, who is camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthal in Noida along with his faction members since December 2, came as protestors marked the birth anniversary of former prime minister and farmers' leader Chaudhary Charan Singh.
After last month's devastating debacle at the state assembly elections, Bhartiya Janata Party had now got down to rebuilding the party in Uttar Pradesh, where the party failed to even maintain its five year old tally of 52 , which plummeted to 48.
The 'Gram Sanvad Yatra', as it is called, will start from June 18 and end on July 12 and will be anchored by Team Anna member Manish Sisodia. The yatra is aimed at drumming up support for its indefinite fast in New Delhi from July 25 against the United Progressive Alliance government for failing to pass a strong Lokpal Bill
Local police officers, however, said that the cremation was being carried out "as per the wishes of the family".
With just the right amount of rhetoric, provocation and promises, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's much-publicised padyatra struck a chord. Each step he took looked impromptu -- there were no announcements or itineraries or discussions.
A slight intensity quake with western Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat as its epicentre shook the capital and adjoining areas early Tuesday morning.
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.
Tension prevailed on Monday in parts of western Uttar Pradesh hit by farmers' unrest over land acquisition even as a heavy police deployment was made in the affected areas and political leaders were detained preventing them from reaching the troubled spots.
On International Women's Day, hundreds of women took to streets while raising slogans of "kisan ekta" (farmer unity) and some broke into nonchalant rhythmic steps of 'bhangra'.
An interesting phenomenon of the UP assembly elections 2012 is the emergence of many small Muslim political outfits, says Dr Mohammad Sajjad
After his party formally joined the United Progressive Alliance on Monday, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh is likely to be sworn in as a Union Cabinet Minister this week with civil aviation being mentioned as the possible portfolio.
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