Archives for December 2020

Thousands of farmers stayed put at Delhi borders on Wednesday to press for repeal of the agree marketing laws.

Farmers unions on Wednesday rejected the union government’s draft of proposals, Darshan Pal, President of Krantikari Kisan Union said.

“We will block the Delhi-Jaipur highway by 12th December. On 14th December, BJP offices will be gheraoed, protest demonstrations will be held in many parts of the country. We are also giving a call to farmers from other parts of the country to reach Delhi,” the leaders added.

The protesting farmers have also decided to boycott corporate giants Ambani and Adani.

Thousands of farmers stayed put at Delhi borders on Wednesday to press for repeal of the agri marketing laws.

A meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah ended in failure on Tuesday night as farmer leaders rejected the government’s offer to amend new farm laws, saying they would settle for nothing less than the scrapping of the legislations.

The sixth round of talks between the government and farmer unions to end the protests on Delhi’s various borders, which was scheduled on Wednesday, has been cancelled.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday visited the Singhu border, where thousands of farmers are protesting against the Centre’s new farm laws, and reviewed arrangements made for them by the city government.

The visit comes a day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) extended its support to the ”Bharat Bandh” called by protesting farmers on December 8.

Kejriwal was accompanied by his Cabinet ministers and some party MLAs during the brief visit to the protest venue on the Delhi-Haryana border.

“I checked the arrangements. We received a lot of pressure to allow the use of stadiums as temporary prisons but we did not give permission and I feel this helped the movement.

Since then our party MLAs and ministers have been involved in ensuring that farmers do not face any discomfort,” he said.

“We are working like ‘sewadar’. Here I have not come as a chief minister but as a ‘sewadaar’ to serve the farmers. It is our responsibility to support the farmers. I hope soon a solution is reached,” he told reporters.

NEW DELHI: Yograj Singh, the father of cricketer Yuvraj Singh, on Monday, urged the Central Government to listen to the demands of the farmers and he also backed all sportsperson who are returning their awards in order to show support with the protesting farmers.

“Sportspersons returning award does not mean that they are defaming the award, it is their way to show their solidarity with the protesting farmers. Awards are earned by hard work of many years, it is not easy to get so if they are returning it, I back them. I am also with farmers, they are demanding the right thing,” he added.

Sportspersons of Punjab and Haryana have been returning their awards (Padma, Dronacharya, and Arjuna award ) in order to show solidarity with the farmers.

Boxer Vijender Singh, who joined the farmers’ agitation at the Singhu border (Haryana-Delhi border), on Sunday, had also said that he will return his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award if the new agriculture laws are not withdrawn.

Addressing a gathering of protestors, Singh said, “I came here today as our big brother Punjab is here, so how can people of Haryana lag behind. If the government does not withdraw the black laws, I will return my Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award–the highest sporting honour of the nation.”

Amid the ongoing farmers’ protest, former national boxing coach Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu had also decided to return his Dronacharya Award to show solidarity with agitating farmers.

Thousands of farmers have gathered in and around Delhi to protest against the three farm laws, passed in the Monsoon Session of Parliament in September.

The farmers are protesting against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. 

Talks between the government and protesting farmers remained inconclusive on Saturday even after five rounds of discussions as the union leaders stuck to their demand for the repeal of the new laws.

JAIPUR: The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), a constituent of the ruling NDA at the Centre, has extended its support to the call for Bharat Bandh on December 8 by farmer groups protesting against three recent farm sector l

RLP convenor and MP Hanuman Beniwal made the announcement on Sunday.

Congress leader Sachin Pilot also supported the Bharat Bandh call, saying that all should raise their voice for their rights.

“Farmers struggling for their rights have called for a Bharat Bandh on December 8. We all should raise our voice for the rights of farmers,” Pilot said in a tweet.

“The unsuccessful dialogue between the central government and the farmers is a sign that the BJP wants to hollow out India’s agricultural foundation,” he added.

Talks between the government and protesting farmers remained inconclusive on Saturday even after five rounds of discussions as the union leaders stuck to their demand for the repeal of the new farm laws, forcing the Centre to call for another meeting on December 9 to resolve the deadlock.

The farmers are protesting against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country.

However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

The Centre has maintained that MSP and Mandi mechanisms will stay.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that there would be only foundation stone laying ceremony for the project and no construction would commence as of now.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Centre to go ahead with the proposed foundation stone-laying ceremony for the Central Vista project after the government assured it that no construction or demolition work would commence till the apex court decides the pending pleas on the issue.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar that there would be only foundation stone-laying ceremony, and no construction, demolition or felling of trees would be done for the project as of now.

The revamp, which was announced in September last year, envisages a new triangular Parliament building, with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs, that is targeted to be constructed by August, 2022 when the country will be celebrating its 75th Independence Day.

The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone on December 10 for the new Parliament building and the construction is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of Rs 971 crore, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had said on December 5.

The top court is seized of pleas which have raised questions over several aspects, including the environmental clearance granted to the project.

During the hearing conducted on Monday through video-conferencing, the bench asked Mehta to apprise it within five minutes about the government’s view on the issue of construction work for the project.

The bench observed that it would not allow construction or demolition till its decision on the pending pleas opposing the project.

The top court said the Centre can proceed with the requisite paperwork in the meantime.

On November 5, the apex court had reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas which have raised questions over the Centre’s ambitious Central Vista project, which covers three km stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Lutyens’ Delhi.

The solicitor general had earlier argued in the top court that the project would “save money” which is paid as rent for housing central government ministries in the national capital.

Mehta had submitted that the decision to have a new parliament building has not been taken in a haste and no law or norms have been violated in any manner for the project.

The Centre had also said there was no arbitrariness or favouritism in selecting consultant for the project and the argument that the government could have adopted a better process cannot be a ground to scrap the project.

Gujarat-based architecture firm HCP Designs has won the consultancy bid for the project to redevelop the Central Vista.

The top court is hearing several pleas on the issue, including the one filed by activist Rajeev Suri, against various permissions given to the project by authorities including the nod to change of land use.

Earlier, the apex court had said that any change at the ground level made by authorities for the Central Vista project will be “at their own risk”.

It had made it clear that the fate of the project, which includes several new government buildings and a new Parliament House, will depend on its decision.

The pleas have also challenged the grant of a no-objection certificate by the Central Vista Committee (CVC) and also the environmental clearances for the construction of a new parliament house building.

One of the pleas was filed against a Delhi High Court order which had said the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) was not required to apprise it before notifying changes in the Master Plan to allow the Central Vista project.

The division bench of the Delhi High Court had on February 28 stayed an order of its single judge bench which had asked the DDA to approach the court before notifying any change in the Master Plan for going forth with the Centre’s ambitious project to redevelop the Central Vista.

The stay order of the high court on the single judge bench’s February 11 direction had come on the intra-court appeal of the DDA and the Centre.

The petitioners before the high court had opposed the Central Vista project on the ground that it involves a change in land use of the green area adjoining Rajpath and Vijay Chowk for building new Parliament and government offices.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tributes to B R Ambedkar on his death anniversary, saying his thoughts and ideals continue to give strength to millions.

Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution and a Dalit icon, passed away in 1956.

“Remembering the great Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on Mahaparinirvan Diwas. His thoughts and ideals continue to give strength to millions. We are committed to fulfilling the dreams he had for our nation,” Modi tweeted.