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Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar moved two agriculture sector Bills in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday. These Bills are -- Farmers' and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. Both of them were passed by the Lower House with a voice vote a couple of days back.

Hailing the passage of the bills, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described this proposed legislation as historic and said that they will rid farmers and the farm sector of middlemen and other bottlenecks. The Prime Minister further stated that these agrarian reforms will open new doors for farmers to sell their produce, which will fetch them more profit for their produce.

Farmers in Haryana began their three-hour protest against the agriculture-related farm bills on Sunday. The farmers have started to gather at various places in the state amid elaborate security arrangements which have been made to ensure that the event passes off smoothly. The Bharatiya Kisan Union's Haryana unit, supported by some other farmer outfits, is holding a statewide protest against the Centre's farm bills during which they will block roads for three hours from 12 pm to 3 pm.

The farmers are also joined by the 'arhitiyas' or commission agents during their protest.

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day.

4:01 AM

Reformist farm laws that dent status quo have strong basis in data

“The Indian farmer needs Marks and Spencer more than Marx and Engels,” the late farmer leader from Maharashtra, Sharad Joshi, used to say, in support of liberalising agricultural marketing in India. Nearly forty years after his clarion call for removing shackles from the hands of farmers, the Union government passed three laws that create a legal framework for deregulating the farm market to some extent.

 

While chaos ruled in the Upper house of the Parliament when the bills were passed on Sunday, the opposition of Punjab and Haryana’s protesting farmers has now been seconded by farmer groups in Maharashtra and elsewhere. Read more

3:55 AM

Most global investors cautious of equities after sharp rally: Raychaudhuri

The market rally since March 2020 lows has been led mostly by foreign institutional investors. MANISHI RAYCHAUDHURI, head of Asia Pacific equity research, BNP Paribas, tells Puneet Wadhwa the reason for India being such an FII favourite is the breadth of stocks and sectors that the market offers. Edited excerpts... Read more

3:52 AM

IPL 2020: RCB look to fix old problems against Sunrisers Hyderabad

As opening examinations go, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) couldn’t have expected anything sterner. David Warner, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain, has expressed a willingness to come flying out of the blocks, and RCB, given their abject recent record, might not be such a bad place to start. The Virat Kohli-led team finished bottom last season — although only one point separated fourth and eighth — while SRH made the playoffs, losing to Delhi Capitals in the eliminator.

 

However, the two sides look evenly matched heading into the new season. Batting is the stronger suit for both, and you can expect Warner and Kohli to bank heavily on their spinners in conditions that are likely to favour them. Though it’s worth mentioning that SRH have slightly the better bowling unit, with bowlers that can offer more variety, one of the cornerstones for success in the T20 format. Read more

12:48 AM

UN chief: No support for reimposing Iran sanctions now

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the United Nations will not support reimposing sanctions on Iran as the United States is demanding until he gets a green light from the Security Council.

 

The UN chief said in a letter to the council president obtained Sunday by The Associated Press that there would appear to be uncertainty on whether or not US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo triggered the snapback mechanism in the Security Council resolution that enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers.

12:24 AM

Will move court and fight the 'draconian' farm legislations as soon as they get presidential nod: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh

12:23 AM

The farm legislations are against the interest of farmers. Today will be remembered as a 'black day for democracy': Congress

9:04 PM

EPFO records over 845,000 new enrolments in July

Net new enrolments with retirement fund body EPFO rose to 8.45 lakh in July from 482,000 in June 2020, according to its latest payroll data, providing a perspective on employment in the formal sector amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Provisional payroll data released by the EPFO last month had shown that net new enrolments stood at 6.55 lakh in June this year. The figure has now been revised down to 4,82,352.

The net enrolments with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had dropped to 5.72 lakh in March 2020 from 102.1 million in February, according to the payroll data released in May.

8:57 PM

UN report on presence of ISIS terrorists in Kerala, Karnataka incorrect: Govt in LS

The government on Sunday dismissed as "factually not correct" a United Nations report which suggested presence of "significant numbers" of ISIS terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy's reply came in Lok Sabha on whether the government is aware of the United Nations report, titled 'The 26th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIS, Al-Qaeda and associated individuals and entities', stating that there are "significant numbers" of ISIS terrorists in Kerala and Karnataka.

The minister said the government was aware of the report.

8:44 PM

Only 'swadeshi' products available in central police canteens: Govt

The Central Police Canteens (CPC), now renamed as Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandar (KPKB), have been selling only ''swadeshi'' products in order to promote domestic industries, the Lok Sabha was informed on Sunday.

Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Lower House that 119 ''master bhandar'' and 1,871 ''subsidiary bhandar'' are functioning for the benefit of serving and retired personnel of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

Besides, he said, 10 ''mini bhandar'' have been sanctioned for Ex-Central Armed Police Force Personnel Association, out of which, seven are functioning under the supervision of ''master bhandar''.

8:31 PM

Farmers block roads in Haryana, burn effigies in Punjab

Farmers on Sunday blocked roads in Haryana and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in neighbouring Punjab, protesting against the farm bills passed in Parliament.

Two MLAs from the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which is part of the BJP-led ruling coalition in Haryana, also participated in the protests, reflecting a rift on the issue among their ranks on the issue.

Farmers occupied portions of roads and highways at several places in the state between 12 and 3 pm, following a call given by the Haryana unit of the Bhartiya Kisan Union against the agri-marketing bills, two of which were passed by Rajya Sabha on Sunday.

8:19 PM

Noida: Rs 3,090-cr infra projects to be ready before Dec 2021

Infrastructure projects, including key road underpasses , multi-level parking lots and an indoor stadium, costing over Rs 3,090 crore in Noida are expected to be completed by end of 2021, officials said on Sunday. Work is underway on 11 projects worth Rs 545 crore and their completion is expected by December 2020, while 14 other projects worth Rs 2,546 crore are scheduled by end of the next year, a senior Noida Authority official said.

 

The completion of four projects is expected by the end of this month. These include two multi-level parking lots, one each in sector 3 (Rs 62 crore) and sector 16A Filmcity (Rs 110 crore), besides Shaheed Bhagat Singh park (Rs 23 crore) and Biodiversity Park (Rs 35 crore), Noida Authority General Manager Rajeev Tyagi said.

8:06 PM

I am also a farmer, MSP, APMC not going to end: Rajnath

7:50 PM

21 states accept Rs 97,000 cr borrowing proposal to meet GST shortfall

The Centre has received support of 21 states and Union Territories for its offer of Rs 97,000 crore RBI window to give them compensation under the goods and services tax (GST) regime. This would help clear this proposal in the GST Council in case of voting.

 

The 21 states and UTs are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, finance ministry sources said.

7:30 PM

Haryana farmers block roads, copies of farm bills burnt in Punjab

Farmers on Sunday blocked roads in Haryana and burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in neighbouring Punjab, protesting against the farm bills passed in Parliament.

Farmers occupied portions of roads and highways at several places in Haryana between 12 and 3 pm, following a call given by the state unit of the Bhartiya Kisan Union against the agri-marketing bills, two of which were passed in Rajya Sabha on Sunday.

After 3 pm, reports said the road blockades were lifted, ending the day's protests in which BKU was also supported by several other farmer organisations.

7:12 PM

No mention of ending MSP in farm bills: Dushyant Chautala