In a three-page letter written to 40 farmer leaders, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Vivek Aggarwal said, 'I again request you that the government has been discussing all issues with open heart and good intention to end the protest, and will continue to do so. Kindly suggest a date and time (for the next round of talks).'
He also launched a strident attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was 'globe-trotting', afraid of facing questions over the Manipur violence.
During his just-concluded visit to China, Muizzu, regarded as a pro-China leader, sought to align Maldives closer to Beijing and both countries elevated their ties to a strategic partnership.
Banks and companies in India are taking a cautious approach towards Sri Lanka, which, reeling from a financial crisis, has sought a $1-billion loan from the country to import essential commodities. A senior State Bank of India (SBI) executive said the bank was committed (to Sri Lanka) for the long term. "As far as exposures (are concerned), the bank will be cautious on its dollar exposure to Sri Lankan entities till the situation improves," he said.
US-based global tech giants, including IBM, Amazon, Google and Microsoft, have partnered with the White House to "unleash the power of American supercomputing resources" for combating the novel coronavirus, President Donald Trump has said. From volunteering to manufacturing masks and ventilators to ramping up production of essential medical supplies and general items, the country's private sector have joined America's war against coronavirus in a big way, Trump said on Sunday, while launching a new public-private consortium organised by the White House, the department of energy and tech company IBM.
The government on Thursday said it will not allow prices of essential food items to increase due to the impact of possible deficient monsoon this year.
Worried about the adverse impact that price rise could cause to Congress' prospects in Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi unveiled quick fix policy prescriptions for 12 party-ruled states including reform in PDS and giving farmers a wider choice to sell vegetables and fruits.
The governor also said no life has been lost in Jammu and Kashmir due to any violence in the last 10 days
The move comes after the Punjab assembly earlier this month adopted a resolution against the farm laws and unanimously passed four bills to counter the Centre's contentious legislations.
Judge Rajasekhar also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each on the crew members comprising 12 Indians, three Ukranians, six British and 14 Estonian nationals.
On the completion of two years of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said his government ushered a historic increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for crops and was doing everything possible to double the income of farmers.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved seven multi-tracking projects of Indian Railways at an estimated cost of around Rs 32,500 crore, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The proposed projects, which will be fully funded by the Centre, will help increase the existing line capacity, smoothen train operations, reduce congestion and facilitate ease of travelling and transportation. The projects covering 35 districts in nine states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal -- will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by 2,339 km and provide employment of an estimated 7.06 crore man-days to the people of the states.
Tikait also said if the government continues to dismantle the resources, one day India will be known as 'Mazdoor colony' and only labour class (will be left) in the country.
Intelligence Bureau (IB) will interrogate actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu on Wednesday, who has been sent to seven-day police custody for his alleged role in the violence that took place at the Red Fort and other parts of the national capital on Republic Day, according to Delhi Police sources.
The Congress had on Friday extended support to the countrywide 'chakka jam' called by the farmer unions, saying party workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in their protest.
International pop star Rihanna teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and others extended their support to farmers protesting on the borders of India's capital against the three agriculture laws introduced by the Central government last year and asked why people were not talking about it.
Thousands of demonstrators have hit the streets since April 9, as the government ran out of money for vital imports; prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed and there are acute shortages in fuel, medicines and electricity supply.
A Trinamool Congress member on Wednesday used the debate on price rise in the Lok Sabha to attack BJP over Tuesday's incident in the House where members came to the verge of a clash.
The deceased has been identified as Jai Bhagwan Rana (42), a resident of Pakasma village in Rohtak district of Haryana. He had consumed Sulphas tablets at the farmers' protest site at Tikri on Tuesday, they said.
Sri Lanka's main Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) on Tuesday handed over to the parliamentary Speaker motions of no-confidence against the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition government and embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, even as the government announced the appointment of a cabinet sub-committee to look into the proposal for a new Constitution.
Nazim confirmed the meeting and said the agenda for the meeting was the request to withdraw troops by March 15.
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India eats 1.2 million tonnes of onions a month and the current stock will last till the end of August.
Tikait said that farmers under the BKU will not accept anything less than a complete rollback of the laws.
The Assam government also decided to revoke an advisory issued earlier against travel to Mizoram, they said.
Asserting that the state government was initiating all measures to control the coronavirus, Health Minister B Sriramulu said: "There is no need to panic or lose hope."
Maharashtra has reported 31 positive cases, Kerala 19, Uttar Pradesh 11, Delhi and Karnataka six each, Ladakh three, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Telangana two each; and Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab one case each. The total number of confirmed cases also includes 17 foreigners -- 16 Italian tourists and a Canadian, it said.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
As India looks to mend its Covid-battered economy, one thing that will grab the attention of all concerned is the path that both wholesale and retail inflation will follow. Even the Reserve Bank of India in its latest policy statement said, "Going forward, the inflation trajectory is likely to be shaped by uncertainties impinging on the upside and the downside.
Government sources said the ministers deliberated on various arrangements being made to deal with increasing cases of coronavirus cases as well as to ensure adequate supplies of medicine and essential commodities during the lockdown.
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
'All imaginary figures are pushed by government bureaucrats.' 'They never showed that the production of wheat was less this time.'
Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Civil Supplies Corporation and Horticulture Corporation would get Rs 65 crore (Rs 650 million) and Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) respectively, while the balance amount would go to the Consumer Federation and other state agencies.
But we have enough stacked up for another 2-3 months. We have come prepared for a long haul, Gurjaint Singh from Panipat said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron recently asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's help to send back six British sailors who have been in Tamil Nadu for two years.
The army conducted flag march in tense areas and used choppers to reach parts of Rohtak even as incidents of violence and arson by Jats demanding quota continued
Extending his support to the farmers agitating in the national capital against the three farm laws, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party workers of perpetrating the violence that took place on Republic Day at Red Fort during farmers' tractor rally.
"Dialogue is the only solution to the ongoing crisis in Manipur," Shah said.
Uttar Pradesh's police helpline recently got a strange call when an elderly person made an 'urgent request' for rasogullas. The cop who answered the phone thought it was a prank. But when a volunteer delivered the sweets in Lucknow's Hazratganj, it was found that the man in his 80s really needed them.
The SKM had said that the rail blockade will held across the country from 12 pm to 4 pm.
Speaking to reporters at the Gujarat BJP headquarters, the Union textiles and women and child development minister hit out at Gandhi over his comment that the Congress, if voted to power, would scrap the contentious legislations.
