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The Indian Awaaz (theindianawaaz.com) is a fast growing English news website based in New Delhi. Website covers Politics, Economy/Business, Entertainment, Health, Education, Technology, Fashion, Lifestyle, Stock Market, Commercial issues and much more. It has separate sections in Hindi and Urdu too.

AIKSCC GIVES CALL FOR ALL INDIA PROTEST DAY BY FARMERS ON 25TH SEPTEMBER

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AIKSCC shall launch a massive resistance against new farm Acts on September 25th with a call for an All India Protest Day by Farmers as well as observe this year’s 114th birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh on September 28th to highlight the Pro-Corporate, Anti-Farmer acts of the Central Government – the 3 Ordinances, the New Power Bill 2020 and the steep hike in Diesel and Petrol prices. 

These 3 Bills/ Acts will completely stop Government procurement of crops, bringing to a grinding halt the price security for peasants as private mandis shall be set up and price and trade regulation of all cereals, all pulses, all oilseeds, onion and potato shall be removed from coverage under Essential Commodities. 

Sri Nadda’s assurance that MSP will continue is a blatantly lie as Shanta Kumar committee appointed by this BJP govt declared that only 6% farmers enjoy benefit of MSP, that it should be wound up, that FCI and NAFED procurement should stop and that food grain supply under PDS should stop.

World over, in all countries, barring none, price security for farmers’ produce is always provided for by Government, not by companies, which only buy cheap to sell dear and earn huge profits. Crop once produced has to be sold, otherwise it will perish and lose value. BJP claims that food grain production has increased in India. More food grain requires more Government procurement, without which companies will bring down prices even faster. This BJP govt is batting strongly for the Corporate profit by opening up the entire food chain for them.

Farmers’ indebtedness has grown during BJP rule and is rising faster as input prices are being raised by the Government, as in Electricity and Diesel and by the Companies which will have freedom to contract peasant land and force them to buy dear under the new laws. Indian peasants and landless are committing suicide in huge numbers, almost two every hour, but despite slogan of ‘atmanirbharta’, the Government is selling their interest to big companies.

AIKSCC has appealed to all patriotic forces to oppose these Bills/Acts and to launch struggles to force the Central Government to pass the two bills proposed by AIKSCC for “Karja Mukti, Poora Daam”.

Press release

India extends $250 mn support to Maldives to overcome economic impact of Covid-19

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WEB DESK

India has provided financial assistance of 250 million dollars as budgetary support to the Maldives government to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A handover ceremony was held today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives government to mark the occasion. Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer, High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir and CEO, SBI, Male Bharat Mishra were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion in Hindi, the Maldives Foreign Minister said, India has proved to be a great friend during this difficult time of pandemic.

The 250 million dollar budgetary support was a response to the request made by Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for financial assistance to overcome the difficult economic situation in the Maldives.

Italian Open Tennis: Simona Halep reaches final of Women’s Singles

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In Italian Open Tennis, Top-seeded Simona Halep has reached final of the Women’s Singles beating Garbiñe Muguruza 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the first semifinal clash today. The other semifinal will be played between last year’s French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova against fellow Czech and defending champion Karolina Pliskova this evening.

In Men’s Singles, first semifinal match is underway between Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud. The other semifinal encounter will take place between Denis Shapovalov and Diego Schwartzman tonight.

106-year-old woman defeats COVID-19 in Maharashtra

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WEB DESK

A 106-year-old woman defeated COVID-19 and was discharged from hospital in Thane district of Maharashtra on Sunday with doctors and nurses giving her a warm farewell. With happiness writ large on her face, the Dombivli-based centenarian proudly displayed her discharge certificate to the media before walking out of the hospital after a 10-day stay.

After the Dombivli-based centenarian in Thane district of Maharashtra contracted coronavirus, no hospital was initially ready to admit her due to her age. According to her daughter-in-law, she was finally admitted 10 days back to the COVID-19 treatment facility set up by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) at Savlaram Sports complex and doctors and medical teams there took proper care of her.

Maharashtra cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray took to twitter to laud the KDMC staff and Shiv Sena’s Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde for providing proper treatment to the elderly woman. In another positive development, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has now lifted the restrictions on providing plasma from the plasma banks of civic hospitals such as KEM and Nair to patients admitted in other hospitals. Earlier only patients admitted in these civic hospitals were getting this facility.

Lok Sabha: Oppn slam govt over handling of pandemic, ‘unplanned’ lockdown

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LS takes up discussion on COVID 19 pandemic

AMN

Lok Sabha today took up discussion on COVID 19 pandemic in the country. Initiating the discussion, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that most of the countries across the world have either managed to keep its country safe from the virus at the cost of their economy or have kept the economy running while experiencing the onslaught of the disease. “India has become the poster child of the worst case scenario (of the pandemic, he said.

He said, the spread of the virus has affected the economy of the country and the government should have taken measures to keep the economy afloat. He said, GDP will shrink for the first time in 41 years.

BJP leader Kirit Solanki highlighted the various steps taken by the Centre to check the spread of coronavirus. He also said the government has also taken care of the vulnerable and poor sections of society by providing financial assistance in the wake of the pandemic.

DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran criticised the government and the Prime Minister for imposing lockdown abruptly within four hours of announcement. Describing the hardships faced by the common people and the migrants, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant said, “After the announcement of lockdown, Mumbai streets saw more people than number of people who would have come to streets post-Partition. But the govt did not start trains. People were mowed down by (goods) trains on railway tracks. Somewhere, we made mistakes.”

Farm bills: Opposition parties move no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Dy chairman

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The Rajya Sabha witnessed unprecedented scenes during the passage of the farm bills as members from Opposition parties snatched and threw papers from the table and even broke the chairman’s mic.

STAFF REPORTER

As many as 12 Opposition parties today moved a no-confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh over the manner in which two contentious farm Bills were passed in the Upper House after he overruled their pleas for an adjournment of the proceedings.

The parties that have submitted the notice include Congress, All India Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, CPI, CPM, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, National Conference, DMK, and the Aam Aadmi Party.

The Bills, which seek to replace the two ordinances promulgated on June 5 this year and which were already cleared by the Lok Sabha, were passed by voice vote in the Upper House amid ruckus by opposition leaders.

“Our demand for adjourning the House and division of votes was disallowed,” Congress leader Ahmed Patel told reporters outside Parliament. “He (Harivansh) should safeguard the democratic traditions but instead, his attitude today harmed the democratic traditions and processes. So, we have decided to move a no-confidence motion against him.”

The protesting members also sat in Rajya Sabha after the House was adjourned following the passage of the Bills.

TMC MP Derek O’Brien accused the government of “murdering” the Parliamentary system and democracy.

“They cheated. They broke every rule in Parliament. It was a historic day. In the worst sense of the word. They cut RSTV feed so the country couldn’t see. They censored RSTV. Don’t spread propaganda,” O’Brien said in a tweet.

Earlier in the day, the Rajya Sabha witnessed unruly scenes during the passage of the farm bills as members from Opposition parties snatched and threw papers from the table and even broke the chairman’s mic.

JD(U) leader Harivansh was re-elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Upper House on September 14, the first day of the ongoing Monsoon Session.

Rajya Sabha uproar: Congress calls it ‘anti-farmer day’, Govt terms Oppn conduct ‘shameful’

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Staff Reporters / WEB DESK

The unprecedented scene in the Rajya Sabha during passage of two contentious farm sector bills on Sunday has futher intensifired war of words between reuling party and the opposition.

While ministers termed the opposition conducts as “saddening, shameful” the opppostion term the day as‘anti-farmer day’.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the behaviour by members from Opposition parties was “saddening, shameful” and unprecedented in Parliament’s history.

Addressing a press conference with Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Pralhad Joshi, Piyush Goyal, Thawarchand Gehlot and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajnath Singh assured farmers that minimum support price would continue and would not be removed at any cost.

“What happened in Rajya Sabha today was saddening, unfortunate and shameful. It is the responsibility of the ruling side to enable discussions in the House but it is also the duty of the Opposition to maintain decorum. This has never happened in the history of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha,” the defence minister said.

The Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.

Asserting that such a conduct was not “expected in a healthy democracy”, Singh said Opposition members tore the rule book and threw papers at the desk of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh. “Even if Opposition was not convinced, does it allow them to be violent, attack the Chair,” he said.

“I am also a farmer and I want to assure farmers of the country that MSP (minimum support price) & APMC (agricultural produce market committee) systems are not going to end. These will never be removed at any cost,” Singh said.

Hitting back, Congress said passage of the two farm bill would be remembered as a “black day” of Parliamentary democracy in India.

“Whatever the prime minister may say and preach that today is a historic day for farmers, but today is a black day and will be written in black ink,” senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel told reporters.

Patel also said the government was attempting to hand over farming to corporates and the day would be remembered as “anti-farmer day”. He said instead of MSP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was saying farmers would be paid the “maximum selling price”.

“The proposed legislations are against the interests of farmers and they want to hand over farming into the hands of the corporate sector and people will be harassed. Farmers’ problems would rise. Today is an anti-farmer day,” Patel said.

Meanwhile, farmer organisations ratcheted up their protests in Punjab while Haryana Police used water cannons to stop Punjab Youth Congress activists from entering the state during a tractor rally. In response to a call for statewide bandh by Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), thousands of farmers held a three-hour long protest in Haryana, blocking major national and state highways.

Farmers, mostly in Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting against the farm reform bills, alleging that the legislations would dismantle the existing system minimum support price (MSP) regime for their crops guaranteed by the government.

On the decision of SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal to quit the Union Cabinet in protest against the farm bills, Rajnath said, “There are some political reasons behind certain decisions people take”.

Two JJP MLAs join farmer protests in Haryana

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AMN / WEB DESK


Two Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) MLAs today joined protests of farmers, who are opposing the Centre’s farm Bills in Haryana.

JJP is part of the ruling alliance in the state with BJP, with its senior leader Dushyant Chautala being the deputy chief minister.


Barwala MLA Jogi Ram Sihag and Shahabad MLA Ram Karan Kala joined protesting farmers and assured them of their support. Sihag went to a protest near Sarsod village of Hisar district, where farmers were blocking the national highway which connects Hisar to Chandigarh. Sihag’s constituency is dominated by farmers. “If people of my constituency ask me to resign, I am ready for the same,” he told media persons.

The Barwala MLA further said that earlier, he too used to think the Bills are pro-farmer. “But then I studied the three proposed laws. For the time being, the Bills should be withdrawn,” said the first-time legislator, adding that he would raise the matter at the party meeting.

In the current system, the arhtiyas (commission agents at mandis) purchase crops from farmers for government procurement agencies in lieu of a fixed commission from the government. According to Sihag, the mandi system won’t survive after the introduction of new laws with “big capitalists purchasing most of the food grains”..

Widespread protest over passage of farm Bills

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AGENCIES / WEB DESK

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA government seemed to be facing more after the passage of two key farm bills in Parliament today. While farmers have been protesting, leading to sealing of Punjab and Haryana border, BJP’s Haryana ally and Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala has threatened to quit over “danger” to minimum support price system. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, meanwhile, said that he will take BJP and its allies — including Akali Dal — to court over the “unconstitutional anti-farmer laws”. This comes even as SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur resigned from the Union cabinet over the bills.

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.

Punjab protesters set fire to one of their own tractors when they were forced to end their rally at the Haryana border, police said. Farmers were joined by ‘arhitiyas’ — or the commission agents at mandis’ –during their protests at many places in Haryana.

The situation at the Haryana-Punjab border was tense for a while as Youth Congress activists were bent upon moving on the national highway towards Delhi. But the spot was heavily barricaded by police, who also used water cannons to disperse the protesters.

Farmers at several places in Punjab burnt effigies and copies of the farm bills, claiming that the new laws will destroy their livelihood. The three bills are aimed at giving farmers the choice to sell their produce at competitive prices. But many farm organisations fear they will lead to the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system.

On the other hand, all APMC mandis across Rajasthan have decided to observe a one-day strike on September 21 (tomorrow), at least 10 farmer organisations have given a state-wide bandh call for September 25 and a country-wide ‘resistance’ call by the AIKSCC has also been given for the same day.

On Sunday, Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. The bills were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday. A third bill is yet to be passed in Rajya Sabha.

Rajnath Singh condemns ruckus created by opposition members in Rajya Sabha

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AMN / NEW DELHI

Union Minister Rajnath Singh has condemned the ruckus created by Opposition members in Rajya Sabha today and said it is shameful and unfortunate.

Briefing media this evening, the Minister said it is the responsibility of the ruling side to enable discussions in the House but it is also the duty of the Opposition to maintain decorum. He said that such an incident has never happened in the history of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.

The Minister said the unparliamentary behaviour by opposition members against the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha was witnessed by the entire nation and has tarnished the image of Parliamentary democracy. He said, opposition parties are trying to mislead the nation’s farmers. He asserted that government is aiming to double farmers income and the two farm bills passed in Rajya Sabha today are historic and will pave the way in enhancing farmers income.

Replying to queries, Mr Singh said, MSP to farmers will continue. On no-confidence notice by the Opposition against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, the Minister said the notice has been given to the Chairman and he will take a decision on this.