The opposition Congress listed 59 promises in its 106-page manifesto, with assurances for all sections of the society, including farmers, women and government employees.
The revenue department had sent notices to FIIs demanding 20 per cent MAT
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha 'the government is absolutely sensitive and seized of the matter'.
Gandhi said that the Centre should not discriminate amongst states and no politics should be played with farmers suffering across the country.
The amount of debt waiver and debt relief to the farmers has exceeded by over Rs 6,569 crore (Rs 65.69 billion) against the original estimates of February this year, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
The farmers also marched along the ambulance and demanded action against those who are responsible for his death.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday told Parliament that the farm debt waiver and relief scheme has benefited 36.4 million farmers and taken care of their Rs 66,477 crore (Rs 664.77 billion) debt burden.
The Delhi Police has already stocked up a large number of tear gas shells and ordered 30,000 more from the BSF's Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) located at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior, an official said.
With the general elections due in 2009, lenders to farmers will get cash compensation of Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) -- or almost 70 per cent of the waiver package -- in 14 months from July this year. Farmers whose debt is waived will become eligible for fresh credit after June 30, by which time the relief package will have been completed.
Farmers protesting to press the Centre for their various demands will stay put at the two protest sites on the Punjab-Haryana border till February 29 when the next course of action will be decided, their leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Friday.
The Congress has so far announced 82 candidates for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls beginning April 19.
Priyanka was addressing a rally to canvass for the Congress candidate in the Datia assembly seat of Madhya Pradesh, which will go to polls on November 17.
The much awaited implementation of the over Rs 71,000 crore (Rs 710 billion) farm debt waiver and relief scheme got underway on Thursday with public sector banks, regional rural banks and cooperatives displaying names of the beneficiaries at branches.
The Nuclear Suppliers Group finally gave its nod to the India-specific waiver on Saturday.The decision came after the NSG held fresh rounds of unscheduled discussions on grant of a waiver for India, after marathon parleys on Friday failed to produce a consensus, with China joining a clutch of countries having reservations over the move.Diplomats from 45 countries constituting the nuclear cartel had been engaged in hectic and tough negotiations.
Russia on Friday assured that India would continue to enjoy the waiver it received in 2008 from the Nuclear Suppliers Group's export ban and Moscow wants New Delhi's full participation in the 45-nation grouping that regulates global atomic commerce. Russia's assurance came after India objected to the new guidelines adopted in June by the NSG on the export of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing equipment.
With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the Maharashtra government is set to announce another farm loan waiver package to cover all those who were excluded by the central government's waiver package.
Karnataka Minister for Sugar and Agriculture Marketing Shivanand Patil's statement that farmers wish for repeated droughts in the state so that their loans get waived has caused a stir, with the opposition on Monday terming it as an 'affront' to the farming community and seeking his removal from the Ministry.
Despite the towering image of BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, along with the party's extensive grassroots network and welfare programmes, the perceived inaccessibility of its leaders contributed to the growing anti-incumbency sentiments.
RRBs, which cater to the rural sector, are sponsored by major public sector banks, and Centre and State governments also hold stake in them. Earlier, the bankers told Chidambaram that they were facing liquidity crunch due to delay in the relief package, and were unable to provide credit to farmers.
Farmers of Punjab are not celebrating the farm loan waiver yet, viewing the loan waiver as a 'temporary crisis management measure' by political parties ahead of an impending election. Going by National Sample Survey Organisation's (NSSO) figures, every farmer household in India was having an average outstanding loan of Rs 1,258. In Punjab, it was the highest at Rs 41,576 (December 03 figures). The recovery rate of institutional loan in Punjab was 85%, highest in the country.
Launching the annual survey of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said the government has started a 'revolution' in farming sector by waiving farm loans of Rs 60,000 crore. He said improving the agriculture sector is an important challenge for the Asia-Pacific region & deserves a 'serious response'. The report would open up solutions to the socio-economic issues across the region Nath said on the occasion.
Union Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda on Tuesday said a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) on crops cannot be brought in a hurry without consulting all stakeholders and urged the protesting farmer groups to have a structured discussion with the government on the issue.
A team of three Union ministers will hold talks on Monday with a delegation of farmer leaders, who are planning to march towards Delhi to press for their demands.
US Ambassador to India David C Mulford, who is in Vienna for meetings on the sidelines of the two-day NSG meeting considering India's case ending Friday, told NDTV that Washington thinks that eventually a consensus would be arrived at on the issue, but it does not not know how quickly.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party remained tight-lipped about whether the chief minister will appear before the Enforcement Directorate or not.
"A global settlement was reached between the French tax authorities and Reliance Flag, a telecom company, in a tax dispute pertaining to the period 2008-2012," the French embassy said in a statement.
No irregularities in farm debt waiver scheme: Pawar
Students rescued from Ukraine face an uncertain future due to their inability to complete their education and also run the risk of falling into a debt trap as they may find it difficult to repay education loans, Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh said.
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
Haryana Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two states as thousands of protesters stayed put there on Wednesday, the second day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Tuesday announced a Rs 6,200 crore (Rs 62 billion) farm loan waiver for the 4 million farmers in the state who were not covered by the central governments Rs 71,000 crore (Rs 710 billion) farm loan waiver announced earlier this year.
'We are relying on the understanding of other partners in this effort. We are asking people to look closely and quickly in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, to move expeditiously, and we hope that will happen, and then we'll go to the US Congress,' Boucher was quoted as saying last week in Japan, a transcript of which has been released in Washington.
Despite its strong views on non-proliferation issues, Switzerland is unlikely to block the waiver for India at the NSG meet even as it officially says it is yet to firm up its stand on the matter.
The Haryana Police on Wednesday fired tear gas shells to disperse farmers from Punjab at Shambhu and Khanauri border points as they tried to move towards barricades stalling their protest march to Delhi.
Business Standard's investigations in two of the four states (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala) covered under the prime minister's relief package for farmers following loan-related suicides show that the latest waiver will not reach the deserving for several reasons.
Is likely to give another six-month reprieve from financial sanctions to India, South Korea, Turkey and others.
After Brazil and China, a recently launched pilot program to waive off interview for an American visa is gaining popularity in India as the US Government intends to target the country to increase tourist flow in the years to come.
The Congress on Friday promised that if the party is voted to power in Gujarat, where assembly elections are due by the yearend, it would waive farm loans of up to Rs 3 lakh and provide free electricity for 10 hours daily to farmers in the state.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.
Authorities in New Delhi intensified security arrangements on Tuesday to stop the farmers' march from entering Delhi as the Singhu and Tikri borders were shut while the Red Fort complex was closed temporarily after peasants on their way to the national capital clashed with the police at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.
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