The British high commission had sought consular access to Michel after he was arrested in the first week of December.
With the issue of recent clarifications, the government seems to have decided to ensure that few, if any, actual foreign investors choose to enter the sector.
India exported $102 million worth of dehydrated onions in 2018-19.
Tomar said the government is committed to "peaceful talks with farmers' leaders and does not intend to hurt farmers' sentiments".
Christian Michel's investigation in New Delhi has revealed nothing substantial, contrary to the expectations of the prime minister and the media hype. A fascinating excerpt from Raju Santhanam's The Untold Story of Christian Michel and Agustawestland.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not respect farmers and wants to tire out those protesting against the Centre's new agriculture laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged.
The Congress on Monday sought a thorough probe in the Rafale defence deal and demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after a French media report claimed that 1.1 million (Rs 9.5 crore) was paid to a "middleman" by the aircraft manufacturer.
One lakh copies of the three agri laws were burnt at the Singhu border alone, said Paramjeet Singh of Samyukta Kisan Morcha.
Addressing a press conference at Singhu Border in New Delhi, farmer leader Balbeer Singh Rajewal said that farmers never demanded the Supreme Court form a committee to resolve the impasse, alleging the central government was behind this development.
Chand pointed out that the government is willing to discuss the three farm laws clause by clause, and farmer leaders should consider this offer.
The court took note of Michel's submission alleging mental torture inside the jail and directed Tihar jail authorities to produce the CCTV footage and reports by Thursday based on which he was shifted to a high-security ward.
"This government is dedicated to the poor -- Dalits, oppressed and deprived and will attempt to do something for those who have to suffer in life. This government is committed to the welfare of the poor and how their lives can be changed and this government has been making constant efforts in this regard," Modi said.
The fifth round of talks was held on December 5, while the sixth round originally scheduled for December 9 was called off after an informal meeting of Home Minister Shah with some union leaders failed to reach any breakthrough.
Instead of grinding your teeth after knowing the reason, look into yourself and question: Did you really deserve the promotion?
'The government till now said that we did not want a meeting, now that we have specifically told them when, where and what of the meeting, there is no response from them'
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).'
Moving the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the upper house, BJP member Bhubaneswar Kalita said the government respects farmers. He said the government has given new rights to farmers through these new farm laws and none of their rights or facilities have been taken away.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Centre has transferred around Rs 1,35,000 crore so far under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme with the payment of eighth instalment on Friday and is also procuring higher quantity of paddy and wheat at minimum support price to boost farmers' income.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has received transcripts of telephone conversations between Italian middlemen and officials of a defence firm, in which the Italy government has a 30 per cent stake, and others in connection with the VVIP helicopter scam. The transcripts of the telephone calls were handed over to the defence ministry, which has been made an "affected party" by the Italian prosecutors, official sources said on Monday.
With the latest AgustaWestland helicopter import scandal, it is time to re-examine the role of the ubiquitous but ostensibly banned defence agents, middlemen, intermediaries, brokers, consultants, weapon merchants or reps as they are variously known, says Rahul Bedi
Charging that the government is working for dealers and brokers where every decision is up for sale, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday demanded that Railway Minister Pawan Bansal be sacked for the alleged involvement of his nephew in a bribery scandal.
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.
Thousands of farmers from across Maharashtra reached Mumbai on Sunday evening to participate in a rally at the state capital on Monday against the Centre's three new farm laws.
A day after protesting farmer leaders paraded a youth who claimed a plot to disrupt their January 26 tractor rally, the Haryana police on Saturday said it had found no proof to support the allegations during its probe. It said the youth had claimed that he 'cooked up' the conspiracy story under fear after some volunteers at a protest site caught him and accused him of eve teasing.
CPI leader D Raja also attacked govt for going back on its assurance to hold consultations with all stakeholders.
'This is going to be our home in the near future as it is going to be a long fight'
The protesting farmers dubbed the three laws as "anti-farmer" and claimed they infringe upon their basic right to sell their produce at MSP.
For a man revered for his probity, Defence Minister A K Antony was caught napping when bribes were paid over the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal. With the UPA government staring at another scam, nothing it seems will change, writes Sheela Bhatt.
A day before the eighth round of talks, the government and the farmer unions stuck to their respective positions on Thursday -- the agitating farmers took out tractor rallies to press their demand for rollback of new agri laws and the Centre asserted it is ready to consider any proposal other than their repeal.
The court asked them to furnish a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety of the like amount.
Two Indian associates of alleged middleman Christian Michel James were on Saturday granted bail by a special court in a money laundering case relating to the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday started questioning cousins of former Air Chief S P Tyagi in connection with its ongoing probe into alleged kickbacks in the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress of ignoring farmers' interests and keeping them poor to ensure cheap grain prices, and asserted that the Modi government empowered them by implementing the Swaminathan commission report to give them remunerative price through MSP.
Italy's state-controlled AgustaWestland had allegedly kept aside Rs 217 crore as part of "corrupt activity" to bag India's Rs 3,600 crore deal and its choppers became eligible only after certain required parameters were altered in the tender document.
The Ministry of Defence has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the allegations that kickbacks were paid to Indian middlemen in the Rs 3,700-crore deal to buy 12 high-security VVIP helicopters from Anglo-Italian company, AgustaWestland.
Old age pension, scholarships, Minimum wages under Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, subsidies for ration and LPG would be paid directly to the beneficiaries.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday warned that the farmers' agitation will spread across the country if not resolved soon and asserted that the only solution to the issue was to throw the new agri laws in the 'waste paper basket'.
If the protests have cemented the ties between the peasantry and the traders, the political implications for the BJP might become too serious to be disregarded because its core base was made up of the urban Khatri merchants.
Backing Centre's decision to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the decision will help farmers prosper by removing middlemen from the supply chain and generate new jobs.
Campaigning for the third day in a row in the state that goes to the polls on November 9, he said the election was not being fought by his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, but the people of the state who were out to "teach" a lesson to the Congress for corruption and poor law and order.
