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Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Kisan Union's Haryana unit will hold a statewide protest against the Centre's farm bills on Sunday during which they will block roads for three hours, even as Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar appealed for deferring the stir and invited them for talks. Haryana BKU chief Gurnam Singh said the Centre did not withdraw the three agriculture-related ordinances and instead presented them as bills during the ongoing session of Parliament. The bills have been passed in the Lok Sabha. "We had warned the government not to go ahead with these 'anti-farmer' legislations. Tomorrow, we will be holding a protest across the state during which we will block roads for three hours. However, the GT road (national highway) will not be blocked," he said on Saturday, adding that they have support from other farmer outfits. He also said that farmers from Haryana and Punjab will start a movement against the anti-farmer measures which will later intensi

New Delhi: Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday said minimum price or MSP based procurement of agriculture crops from farmers will continue and is not related to the farm bills that seek to give cultivators freedom to market their produce. Days after their passage in the Lok Sabha, Tomar introduced the Farmer''s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 in the Rajya Sabha. The bills are facing staunch Opposition from farmer bodies as well as from within the ruling coalition. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the food processing minister from the Shiromani Akali Dal party, resigned from the government last week. KK Ragesh (CPI), Derek O'Brien (TMC), Trichi Siva (DMK) and K C Venugopal (Congress) moved resolutions for sending the two bills to a select committee of the House for consideration before they are taken up for passage. Speaking at

Gangtok: The Sikkim government has allowed hotels, homestays and other tourism-related services to restart operations from 10 October, officials said on Saturday. The Himalayan state has also decided to open its border with West Bengal for unrestricted movement of vehicles from 1 October, they said. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the hotels and the tourism sector is expected soon, they added. Bookings for hotels and homestays will start from 27 September, officials said. While the odd-even road rationing rule for public vehicles will be lifted from 1 October, it may continue for private vehicles, they said. The odd-even rule, which was first implemented in Delhi to tackle air pollution by limiting the number of cars as per the last digit of their registration number, was also imposed in Sikkim to reduce movement amid the COVID-19 outbreak. However, a complete lockdown will be imposed in the Gangtok Municipal Corporation area from 21 to 27 September as part of "spe

09:52 (IST) Rajya Sabha LATEST Updates Bill is govt's motive to destroy our farmers: KC Venugopal "It is very clear that this government's motive is to destroy our farmers and help the corporate sector. Our party has decided to oppose the Agriculture Bills. Government has to reconsider the bills, at least they should have sent it to the select committee," said Congress MP KC Venugopal. 09:39 (IST) Rajya Sabha LATEST Updates Farm bills have nothing to do with MSPs: Narendra Singh Tomar Addressing the Upper House, Narendra Singh Tomar said: "I want to assure everyone that the bills have nothing to do with MSPs. MSPs were there and will continue. I would request everyone to reconsider their views on the farm bills."  The Agriculture Minister says the two Bills, which have been passed by Lok Sabha, are historic and will bring revolutionary change. Farmers will have the freedom to sell their produce wherever they want, he says. These Bills are not rel

22:39 (IST) Lok Sabha LATEST Updates Lok Sabha passes Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to the Opposition's arguments on the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in the Lok Sabha on Saturday. She said, "This Bill will help companies doing their business easily, will help them in ease of leaving. It will also amend companies law to decriminalise various offences." The House is adjourned till 3 pm on Sunday. 22:01 (IST) Lok Sabha LATEST Updates Lok Sabha takes up Companies Amendment Bill for discussion BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi  said that the Companies Amendment Bill will be of benefit to investors. "India’s ease of doing business ranking improved to 63 from 142, as per the report of World Bank. This is only possible because of the strong leadership of PM Modi.  And this bill will improve business environment in the country," she said. 21:17 (IST) Lok Sabha LATEST Updates Lok Sabha passes Taxation Amendment

New Delhi: Companies having not less than 300 workers will soon be allowed to hire and fire workers without seeking prior government permission, with the Union labour ministry proposing changes to rules in a bill introduced in Lok Sabha on Saturday. The proposal, which was the bone of contention between the ministry and trade unions, is part of the Industrial Relation Code Bill 2020. Currently, only those industrial establishments with less than 100 employees are permitted to hire and fire their staff without permission of the government. The bill was introduced by Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar amid opposition from Congress and few other parties. The Industrial Relation Code Bill 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha last year and subsequently sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour. This bill was withdrawn on Saturday. An earlier draft bill circulated by the ministry for discussion had also proposed the criteria that companies having not less than 300 employees can

Mumbai: Indian Navy's decommissioned aircraft carrier Viraat on Saturday set sail for the last time, on way to Alang in Gujarat, where it will be broken down and sold as scrap. For Navy veterans who watched the huge vessel being towed away by a tug boat, it was an emotional moment as they stood near the Gateway of India, waving at the once 'floating town', aboard which they spent the best years of their career. As Viraat began its final journey from the Naval dockyard, a Navy helicopter circling overhead provided a majestic backdrop to the vessel's last voyage. A Defence spokesperson said Viraat was to leave for Alang on Friday, but its departure was delayed by a day. The aircraft carrier served the Indian Navy for 29 years before being decommissioned in March 2017. It had served in the UK's Royal Navy as HMS Hermes and was named INS Viraat after being inducted in the Indian Navy in 1987. There were attempts to convert 'Viraat' into a museum or a resta

On the sixth day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Saturday, the Lok Sabha passed the Taxation Amendment Bill after a detailed debate in which allegations of corruption flew across Opposition and Treasury benches. The Lower House also passed the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020, in an extended session. The Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020, passed by the Lok Sabha includes extending deadlines for filing returns and for linking PAN and Aadhaar as well as allows for donations made to the PM CARES Fund to claim 100 percent deduction in taxable income. The Bill will replace the ordinance promulgated by the Centre in March. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha passed two bills — the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Bill, and the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill. Additionally, MoS Labour and Employment, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha — The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020, The Ind

New Delhi: The Press Club of India (PCI) on Saturday called the arrest of freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma by Delhi Police "high-handed" and alleged that it "may be inspired by obscure or questionable considerations". The Delhi Police on Saturday said Sharma was allegedly passing sensitive information about India's border strategy and Army deployment and procurement to Chinese intelligence agencies. Sharma was arrested September 14. In a statement, the PCI demanded that in all cases of arrests of journalists anywhere in the country, "the police must be required to inform the Press Council of India as well as the self-regulatory body of the broadcast media on an immediate basis". It also said that the police should provide pertinent details "so that a defence may be possible to construct". The PCI said it is "astounded to hear of the arrest of Rajeev Sharma, a well-known independent journalist of long standing and a member of the

New Delhi: The CBI has filed a supplementary charge sheet against British National Christian Michel James and businessman Rajeev Saxena in the AgustaWestland chopper scam. In its final report filed before Special Judge Arvind Kumar, the CBI has named both alleged middlemen Michel and Saxena, and 13 others. The court is likely to take up the matter for consideration on 21 September. According to the sources, the probe report filed on Friday details the alleged role played by Michel, Saxena and others in bringing bribes for politicians, bureaucrats and Indian Air Force (IAF) officials in India in the scam. The sources said that the agency, which had earlier this year sought sanction from the authorities concerned to prosecute former defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, has not named him as an accused since the request is not granted yet. The agency told the court that it may file another supplementary charge sheet in the matter later. The first charge sheet in the case was filed