Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday replied in the negative when asked in the Lok Sabha if the government proposes to give compensation to the families of farmers who have died during the ongoing agitation against new farm laws.
Here is an explainer on the functioning of the seven-year-old body.
Increasingly restive protests for over two months have plunged Hong Kong into its most serious political crisis in decades.
The Bill allows stopping of transmission and intercepting messages in case of public emergency, in the interest of the public, to prevent incitement for committing offence.
Farmers have been protesting at various places in Delhi and Haryana and have rejected the central government's offer to hold talks on December 3 saying that imposing conditions for starting a dialogue is an insult to them.
British Parliament's Petitions Committee will consider a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons complex on the issue of farmers protests and press freedom in India after an online petition attracted over 106,000 signatures.
The Centre on Wednesday announced a raft of post-retirement employment possibilities for 'Agniveer' like priority in recruitment to the central armed police forces (CAPF) and Assam rifles but that failed to assuage the concerns of the opposition Congress which warned the 'transformative' 'Agnipath' scheme will reduce the operational effectiveness of the armed forces.
The Delhi Police later said they detained AAP MP Bhagwant Mann and over a hundred protesting workers after 'they started getting agitated'. Addressing his party workers from Punjab at the protest, Kejriwal said the AAP has a very clear stance on the farm laws.
The decision has been taken to "maintain public safety and averting public emergency" under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules 2017, the official said.
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.
Security remained tight at the Delhi borders with hundreds of personnel deployed at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri as thousands of farmers have been staging their protests at the borders for nearly a month now. This has also led to traffic congestion forcing police to divert vehicular movement.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
The development came a day after the protesting farmers rejected the Centre's offer to start talks as soon as they move to Burari and continued to stay put Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital.
A delegation of farmers will meet Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday, said the spokesperson of Bharatiya Kisan Union.
The spokesperson added that the review showed that only the Facebook page was affected by the automated systems while the Instagram account remained unaffected.
'All political parties have exploited the police. The current government at the Centre is blatant and unapologetic about it.'
The plea has sought the apex court directions to the authorities to open the roads at Delhi borders, shift these protestors to allotted place and provide guidelines on social distancing and use of mask at the protest place to contain spread of COVID-19 cases.
"They have put these barbed wires, not us. They are not allowing people to come to Delhi. We are not the one blocking the roads. If we block roads, they ask us to vacate, but no action is taken when the same is done by these security forces," said.
Lam is slated to meet with the members of her cabinet and pro-Beijing lawmakers as she faces pressure to withdraw the bill.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday slammed those calling agitating Sikh farmers names, saying it won't do the country any good as he went on to appeal to the protesting farmers to withdraw their over two-month-long stir and give the new agriculture reform laws a chance.
At least six police personnel and some people were injured in the incident, while 106 protesters were detained and released later, an officer said.
Prominent international celebrities and activists on Wednesday joined American pop star Rihanna to extend support to the farmers' protests here and garner international attention on the protracted stir but their remarks were slammed by India as 'neither accurate nor responsible'.
Addressing reporters at the Singhu border where they have been protesting for almost two weeks to demand a rollback of the law, the farmer unions also reiterated that they will intensify their agitation and start blocking all highways leading to the national capital.
While the police have kept the Haryana-Delhi border at Singhu and Tikri closed for traffic, the protest at Ghazipur, the city's border with Uttar Pradesh, has also intensified.
India on Wednesday hit out at tweets by global celebrities such as singer Rihanna and climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of the farmers' protests, the focus of a sharply polarised international debate that saw many Bollywood stars and top ministers rally around the government in its pushback.
Standing by his cycle, the 36-year-old from Punjab Moga's district said he could have taken a bus or a train to Delhi, but that could mean his family would have to go hungry.
Svaiman Singh, one of the doctors in the team, said they set up medical camps at Tikri nearly 20 days back and have been attending to the sick farmers since then.
The war of words between the two leaders began after Singh, addressing a press conference at Chandigarh on Sunday, described as "theatrics" Kejriwal's announcement earlier during that day that he will observe a one-day fast on Monday in support of the protesting farmers.
>The farmers will go home but the country will not get the agricultural reform it badly needs -- if nothing else, then to prevent a bigger water crisis than already exists, argues T N Ninan.
For over three months, the three Delhi border points at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur have transformed into townships occupied by thousands of farmers from different parts of the country, mainly Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
Holding that Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement has an element of "populism" about it, Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson Tushar has said there is a difference in the way the two leaders have used fasting as an instrument of protest. He also feels that while for the Mahatma, fasting was a means to "reform an adversary", in case of Hazare, a self-professed Gandhian, it was like targeting an "enemy". "Hazare's fast is different because Bapu's fast was to reform an adversary".
Shoving and pushing ensued between the wrestlers and the police officers.
Addressing a press conference, farmer leader Darshan Pal Singh said their proposed parade will be called "Kisan Parade" and it will be be held after the Republic Day parade.
The letter by 'Sanyukt Kisan Morcha', which represents farmer bodies mostly from Punjab, comes against the backdrop of the government holding talks with several farmers organisations from different states who the Centre claimed have extended their support to the new agriculture laws.
Protests by central labour unions and widespread criticism from Opposition parties because of job losses on account of demonetisation and the GST have put the contentious labour reform proposals in the slow lane.
Thousands of farmers are protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26, seeking repeal of three farm laws enacted in September.
Paris came to a halt on Tuesday after seven labour unions went on strike, protesting President Nicolas Sarkozy's Sarkozy's plans to reform labour laws.
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that he held a "good discussion" with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on many important issues, including on the two nations' commitment to democratic principles, recent protests, and the importance of resolving issues through dialogue.
Some have been cherry-picked to assert the BJP's supremacy over its allies or, significantly, its leaders who charted an independent course in the recent past.
