NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured farmers on Saturday that reforms in the agrarian sector were aimed at helping them as thousands of farmers continued protests against three new laws to overhaul procurement and sale of produce.
“Reforms will help draw investment in agriculture and benefit farmers, ” he said at the annual meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi.
“The aim of the all government reforms is to make farmers’ prosperous,” he said adding that private sector must help improve the country’s agriculture sector.
But protesting farmers in northern states fear the new legislations will eventually dismantle India’s regulated markets and stop the government from buying wheat and rice at guaranteed prices, leaving them at the mercy of private buyers.
At least 30 farmer unions are actively protesting against the new laws. Talks between leaders of the farmers’ unions and government officials have failed to break the deadlock with the farmers demanding the complete rollback of the reforms.
Despite Modi’s latest assurances, thousands of farmers are trying to enter New Delhi from neighboring states to press for the repeal of the new legislation.
“We plan to protest peacefully,” said Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Indian Farmer Union).
“The government must accept our demands if they want us to stop our protest,” Rajewal said.
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India’s Modi says government committed to farmers’ welfare
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India’s Modi says government committed to farmers’ welfare
- At least 30 farmer unions are actively protesting against the new laws
Australia to ban citizen from returning to country under rarely-used terror laws
- They were briefly freed on Monday before being turned back by Damascus for holding inadequate paperwork
SYDNEY: Australia said on Wednesday it would temporarily ban one of its citizens held in a Syrian camp from returning to the country, under rarely-used powers aimed at preventing terror activity.
Thirty-four Australians in a northern Syrian facility holding families of suspected Daesh militants are expected to return home after their release was conditionally approved by camp authorities.
They were briefly freed on Monday before being turned back by Damascus for holding inadequate paperwork.
Australia has already said it would not provide any assistance to those held in the camp, and is investigating whether any individuals posed a threat to national security.
“I can confirm that one individual in this cohort has been issued a temporary exclusion order, which was made on advice from security agencies,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement on Wednesday.
Security agencies have not yet advised that other members of the group meet the legal threshold for a similar ban, he added.
Introduced in 2019, the legislation allows for bans of up to two years for Australian citizens over the age of 14 that the government believes are a security risk.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday some members of the cohort, that includes children, had aligned themselves with a “brutal, reactionary ideology and that seeks to undermine and destroy our way of life.”
“It’s unfortunate that children are caught up in this, that’s not their decision, but it’s the decision of their parents or their mother,” he added.
News of the families’ possible return has caused controversy in Australia, where support for the right-wing, anti-immigration One Nation party has surged in recent months.
A poll this week found One Nation’s share of the popular vote at a record high of 26 percent, above the combined support for the traditional center-right coalition currently in opposition.
Thirty-four Australians in a northern Syrian facility holding families of suspected Daesh militants are expected to return home after their release was conditionally approved by camp authorities.
They were briefly freed on Monday before being turned back by Damascus for holding inadequate paperwork.
Australia has already said it would not provide any assistance to those held in the camp, and is investigating whether any individuals posed a threat to national security.
“I can confirm that one individual in this cohort has been issued a temporary exclusion order, which was made on advice from security agencies,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement on Wednesday.
Security agencies have not yet advised that other members of the group meet the legal threshold for a similar ban, he added.
Introduced in 2019, the legislation allows for bans of up to two years for Australian citizens over the age of 14 that the government believes are a security risk.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday some members of the cohort, that includes children, had aligned themselves with a “brutal, reactionary ideology and that seeks to undermine and destroy our way of life.”
“It’s unfortunate that children are caught up in this, that’s not their decision, but it’s the decision of their parents or their mother,” he added.
News of the families’ possible return has caused controversy in Australia, where support for the right-wing, anti-immigration One Nation party has surged in recent months.
A poll this week found One Nation’s share of the popular vote at a record high of 26 percent, above the combined support for the traditional center-right coalition currently in opposition.
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