Mobile services and internet remained suspended for the 16th consecutive day, while landline telephone services in many areas also remained affected.
With farmers on Thursday blocking railway tracks across the country, at stations big and small, protesters at Singhu said it proves that the agitation is not just limited to Punjab and Haryana.
BJP leaders from a dominant farming community in Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh held separate meetings on Wednesday to chalk up an outreach to members of the Jat community and caste councils (khaps) to counter the narrative against the Centre's three farm laws.
Lending his support to the ongoing farmers protests, he said in Lok Sabha that it was not an agitation of the farmers only but a movement of the country and the government will have to repeal the laws.
Besides law and order, the long standing demand for junking Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, economic woes of the land-locked state which has hardly any industries, are expected to figure high on the agenda of the unfolding electoral battle between the two main parties with smaller local parties such as National People's Party and the Naga People's Front chipping in with their own demands.
States and Union Territories have been given the powers for delineation of Red, Green and Orange Zones as per COVID-19 situation, the MHA said. All shops, except those in containment zones and malls, will be allowed to open from Monday with staggered timings during lockdown 4.0, it said.
The West Bengal on Thursday became the sixth state to pass a resolution against the three contentious farm laws enacted by the Centre, even as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party staged a walkout from the assembly amid 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans.
Besides growing tech and digital enhancements, the firms are ramping up the hiring of more delivery partners and reinforcing existing Covid protocols.
"The question of entering into Delhi is a law and order matter and will be determined by the police," the bench said.
There is a need for stimulus, as India is essentially a consumption economy, argues Cargill India chairman Siraj Chaudhry
'There is a need for stimulus, as India is essentially a consumption economy.'
The agriculture ministry, in the last few weeks, issued guidelines and letters to states to ensure agriculture and food products reach consumers in a timely manner, while farmers don't have to come to the mandis to sell them.
In 2019-20, the capital expenditure of Indian Railways (IR) increased 60 per cent over 2016-17. The draft National Railways plan envisages a further increase in IR's capital expenditure, but an analysis by Business Standard shows that IR has come to depend more on borrowings and budgetary support. In 2016-17, while 11 per cent of its capital expenditure (capex) was funded by internal sources, in 2019-20 the ratio dropped to less than 1 per cent. A 2015 Committee on Restructuring Railways had flagged that over-reliance on borrowings could exacerbate the financial situation of Railways.
The plans also state that highly suspected cases testing negative on Rapid Antigen Test should be examined again using the gold standard RT-PCR test.
Hundreds of farmers, chiefly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, continue to encamp Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur border points of Delhi despite "a few" of them being removed after testing positive for COVID-19 and some symptomatic protesters undergoing medication.
Opposition parties, when they were in power, were in favour of these farm sector reforms, but did not take any decision back then, Modi said.
The oil crisis could not have come at a worse time for the Modi government as its tax collection has fallen short of its 2020-2021 target by Rs 5.2 lakh crore.
In their preliminary findings presented to the Andhra Pradesh government, the experts noted that it was a point source epidemic and a likely case of acute intoxication of toxins, but not chronic.
The LDF would meet on Sunday to discuss matters related to ministry formation, Vijayan said when asked about the nature of the new ministry.
'Investors need to expect steady returns over the next one to two years with bouts of high volatility.'
Imports too tumbled by 58.65 per cent to $17.12 billion in April from $41.4 billion in the same month last year, according to the data by the commerce and industry ministry.
Given wild swings, investors are wondering where the metal market is going. There was a strong uptrend in industrial metal through much of the last three years due to fears of supply chain issues - first due to Covid-19 and then due to the Ukraine War. That uptrend broke down as it became apparent that global growth would moderate as inflation rose and Western Europe (the EU plus the UK) went into a near-recession and China was in a rolling lockdown.
The blockade was imposed by the United Naga Council on November 1 to protest against the creation of seven new districts.
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.
Chaired by Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha and attended by chiefs of the three services, secretaries of home, defence and others, the National Crisis Management Committee took stock of the prevailing situation in Kerala and directed all concerned to ensure continued assistance to the state government to meet the crisis, a home ministry spokesperson said.
Hundreds of people have logged on to social networking sites likes Facebook and twitter to share information on floods, which have created havoc in Jammu and Kashmir, and are even collecting aid for the victims.
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.
'Government intervention in agricultural trade is a problem for farmers.'
With the Budget Session starting on stormy note due to disruptions by Opposition on the issue of price rise and rail fare hike, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said the government was ready to discuss all issues including price rise but under appropriate rules.
Mumbai's dabbawala said they are suspending their services till March 31.
Government will make a fresh bid to pass crucial bills on GST and real estate in the last week of the Winter session.
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the 'Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir' is also aimed at deliberating on challenges facing the country such as "freefall of the economy", increasing inequality of wealth, price rise of essential commodities, "deep-rooted conspiracy" to hand over farming sector to a select group of private corporates, "attack on India's territorial integrity by China, "attack" on rights of Dalits, SCs/STs, minorities and attempts to divide by using Hindu-Muslim rhetoric.
Addressing public rallies at Barnala chowk and Bhawanigarh in Sangrur, the chief minister vowed to do whatever it takes to protect the farmers and the state from the 'devastating' effects of the 'black laws'.
Kashmir witnessed the season's heaviest snowfall.
The apex court has also sought details of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the judicial enquiry commission, reportedly set up by the state government.
BJP ally says common man will respond appropriately if promises made are not fulfilled.
The Bharatiya Kisan Union leader, who has held a series of 'kisan mahapanchayats' in Haryana this month, also warned that the government could find it difficult to stay in power if the new agri-marketing laws are not repealed.
Latching on to a Pakistan minister's "destabilisation" remark against Narendra Modi, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad on Thursday said that the BJP prime ministerial candidate should be sent to Pakistan.
Counter-attacking the divisive and communal barb, BJP on Monday said Congress was the 'biggest communal party' because it was responsible for the partition of India and the Bhagalpur riots.
