November 26 would mark one year of the ongoing farmers' protests at Delhi's border points of Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur.
Business success often involves a combination of planning, implementation, and continuous learning, says rediffGURU Harsh Bharwani.
Uttam Ghosh asks if the hasty manner in which the farm bills were passed means another strike against democracy in a nation which prides itself as the most populous democracy in the world.
"Democracy has been shamed by the manner in which the government passed death warrants against farmers in the form of two farm bills in Rajya Sabha," he tweeted.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint front of almost 40 farmer organisations, wrote a letter to the ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare accepting the Centre's offer for dialogue and proposed December 29 as the next date for the meeting.
"We wanted to give a strong message to the government that we will not leave this site until we win this fight," said Ramjit Singh.
From toys, footwear and furniture to insulated flasks, smart meters, and air coolers - the Central government over the last decade has mandated higher standards for production and imports of such items. Sample this: Till 2014, there were 14 Quality Control Orders (QCOs) covering 106 products. By the latest count, there are 156 QCOs on 672 products.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed that the petition challenging the constitutional validity of the farm laws will be tagged with other similar matters pending before it.
Amid the ongoing farmers protest at the Delhi borders, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to attend kisan mahapanchayat in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district on Wednesday.
"The Union cabinet is likely to take up on Wednesday, November 24 the withdrawal of the three farm laws for approval. The bills for withdrawal of the laws shall then be introduced in the forthcoming Parliament session," sources in the government told ANI.
Hundreds of farmers have been protesting on different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws.
Days after their passage in the Lok Sabha, Tomar introduced the Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 in the Rajya Sabha.
The chances of the posts opening remain slim, with security agencies recently identifying 10 suspects who smuggled in weapons, narcotics and fake currency.
On Thursday, the prime minister appreciated Tomar for 'attempting to have a polite dialogue' with the farmers through an open letter, requesting them to read it.
India imported $62 billion of Chinese goods last year.
Import segments which recorded negative growth include gold, silver, transport equipment, coal, fertiliser, machinery and machine tools. However, exports of oil seeds, coffee, rice, tobacco, spices, pharma, and chemicals reported positive growth in June.
In a major development, India and the US have agreed to end six trade disputes at the WTO through mutually agreed solutions, while New Delhi will remove retaliatory customs duties on certain American products such as almonds, walnuts, and apples.
'It is only under the BJP that laws are made and unmade without prior Cabinet approval'
'The President of India, as advised by the prime minister, has accepted the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect,' the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a statement.
In his letter dated December 28, issued from his native village Ralegan Siddhi of Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, he said, that he has decided to again sit protest in Delhi from next month.
India's recent move to remove additional 'retaliatory' duty on eight products from the United States (US), including apples and walnuts, would not have any negative impact on the domestic producers, the government clarified, even as the issue threatened to snowball into a political slugfest between the ruling and Opposition parties. The move would, in fact, result in competition in the premium market segment, ensuring better quality at better prices for consumers, especially for apples, a senior government official said. "There were certain concerns that were being raised on the mutually agreed solution that has come in, more specific to seven-eight agriculture products where we had levied additional import duties in retaliation to the steel and aluminum measures (imposed by the US)," Peeyush Kumar, additional secretary in the commerce department, told reporters in a briefing.
Tomar and Parkash, along with their ministerial colleague Piyush Goyal, had led the government's negotiations with the protesting farmers.
Of the Rs 1.97 trillion that the government intends to spend on all 14 production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, around Rs 41,000 crore remains unutilised as of now, according to a senior government official. This means that 80 per cent of the total allocated amount, or Rs 1.56 trillion, will be used to pay incentives to companies eligible to claim benefits over the next few years. The unutilised amount/savings result from undersubscription, lukewarm responses in the case of schemes such as textile, as well as a reduction in the allocation of schemes.
Farmers protesting the contentious farm laws will hold demonstrations outside the residences of Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers across the country on Saturday, a Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) office-bearer said.
During their last meeting on Thursday also, the farmer leaders had their own lunch, tea and even water.
As far as possible, investment in the agriculture sector must be from the government, and not the private sector, states Santushti Raj Thapar.
The farmers' union had been camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthal since December 2, demanding withdrawal of the three new farm laws, legalisation of minimum support price (MSP) for crops and implementation of the recommendation of Swaminathan Committee's report.
Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday clarified that the government has no plans to bring back the recently repealed farm laws, and urged farmers to be wary of 'confusion' being created by the Congress on this issue.
"Strict action will be taken as per the law," Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said in Ambala, responding to a question about the incident.
India will not tailor its policies to suit US EV maker Tesla, and its laws and tariff rules will be formulated to attract all-electric vehicle manufacturers from across the world to set up a base in the world's fastest-growing economy, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. Tesla has been seeking an initial tariff concession that would allow it to offset 70 per cent customs duty for cars priced less than $40,000, and 100 per cent for cars of higher value.
"Rahul Gandhi along with opposition leaders met President and submitted the memorandum to resolve farmers' issue. But there was no action from the President and the government. Rahul Gandhi will lead demonstration tomorrow at 10:45 am from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhavan with Congress MPs," Suresh said.
Tikait said the farmers are ready to talk with the government on the farm laws but made it clear that the discussions should be held without conditions.
The Supreme Court-appointed panel on the new agri laws on Thursday started its consultation process and interacted with 10 farmer organisations from eight states, including Uttar Pradesh.
"We would conduct the rally on some different day," Bhartiya Kisan Union Rakesh Tikait said.
'India has an advantage because we produce more cotton and we have more workforce.'
Due to the massive short supply of Paxlovid, demand for Indian generic versions has gone up through Chinese e-commerce platforms.
The government on Wednesday unveiled the FTP for 2015-20.
The Pakistan government has missed a self-imposed deadline for allowing all tradable items through land routes from India because of stiff resistance from "land-owning elite" in the federal cabinet, according to a media report on Sunday.
Opposition parties have alleged that the two agriculture Bills will undermine the safety net provided to the farmers by the MSP system and will lead to their exploitation by big companies.
Beyond a point, competition is boring. The fun is in the doing, irrespective of outcome. By the time I was in college, I knew I valued awareness more than success, notes Shyam G Menon.
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