What can we learn from India's farmer protests?

@PLAAS webinar starting now. Click below to watch (now or later) and follow #FarmersProtests

Most Indian farmers have less than 2 hectares! And depend on state-guaranteed prices for wheat & rice. This has been the foundation for smallholder agriculture for decades. It's this system which is under threat from new agricultural laws.

Siddharth Joshi, PhD #FarmersProtests

Restrictions on buying farmland by non-farmers and companies in Karnataka have been removed. These were meant to protect farming communities from dispossession by corporate interests. The squeeze on farmers means a crisis for rural people, says Joshi

#FarmersProtests

The 3 Indian farm laws that are being disputed are about removing regulation of farm product markets; removal of guaranteed farm prices; promotion of contract farming which would make farmers 'price-takers' from agribusiness.

#FarmersProtests

Dr. Vikram Singh (Joint Secretary, All India Agricultural Workers Union) says there are almost 300,000 protesters are on the streets, have been on the road for the past two and a half months. This is unprecedented, a mass movement that extends beyond a peasant movement.

#FarmReforms
#FarmBills

Who Is Protesting and Why?

Reforms have proved controversial. In Sept, BBC wondered whether they were a “death warrant” for farmers.

Some worry whether reforms might lead to the end of wholesale markets and guaranteed

Currently, the government offers a minimum support price that acts as a safety net for farmers. Even though the government has promised to retain such a price, farmers fear its withdrawal over time.

There is an added fear that big private players will offer good money to farmers in the beginning, kill off their competition and then pay little for agricultural produce.

Farmers might go from the local monopsonies of APMCs to the national oligopoly of Amazon-like behemoths.

It is important to remember that the government offers price support only for the staple crops of the Green Revolution.

Other crops do not qualify, nor do fruits and vegetables.

Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming number of protesters are farmers from India’s northwest, the region that has benefited most from the old system. In particular, they belong to Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, the birthplace of the Green Revolution.

Very Well Written..

100% factual aspects are brought out in this text. Circulate this to as many people as you can...

*Dear CJI* & fellow Justices of Supreme Court of India,

1. A party Wins Lok Sabha elections, gets 303 seats with massive 46% vote share.

😔

2. Then it wins state after state to get majority in Rajya Sabha.

3. It passes Kisan Bills in both the Houses, gets President's approval & the Bills become Laws.

4. Some 20-25 K of 1 state sits on road for a month, then you stay the LAWs.

5. What a mockery of the democratic process..!!!

6. Where are our protectors of democracy now ?? Those who were screaming that democracy is being murdered, not so long ago ??

7. The Supreme Court today said, "We are trying to solve the problem in accordance with the Law."

8. Hello Sir ji..! Your job is not to solve a problem (but to judicially decide a case on merits). That would mean you don't want to annoy any party. You want to please everyone. Sorry! you are not here to please people U are here to interpret existing Law & pronounce a judgment.

9. Your job is to say who is right and who is wrong. That's all. Nothing more. Nothing less.

10. But you didn't do that. What do you do? From this country of 130 crore people, you hand pick four people and ask them to tell you what is their opinion about these Laws.

Ambedkar's ADAMBARVAAD-2

CLAIMS: Nirvana of BhagwatGeeta is stolen from BUDDHISM .

Today we will look into the depth of his claims and check if there is any truth in his allegations or the claims are hollow.
👇
https://t.co/pWI6GWx1vo
Expose Thread
Read it full

Before proceeding with Arguments ,l will assume following thingsas TRUE just for the sake of Argument ,then also lwill prove that Ambedker's claim lacks substance.
Assumption:
• Gita is composed afterBuddha
• AIT is true 
• Ramayana&Smriti texts are composed after to buddha

CLAIMS*
"Bhagvat Gita has borrowed the entire conception of Brmhma Nirvana from Buddhism "

~~DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES，Volume 3 pp369...........[1]

1.Upanisadic roots of Brahma-Nirvana of Gita

Buddhist  Nirvana refers to final stage of non self.Its state of shoonya or emptiness.

While Upnishadic Nirvana /brahmanirvana is State of unification with brahman which is completely based on Vedas & Pre-buddhist Upnishads

BG 2.72 uses the word "brahmaNirvan".
Nirvana is end of all Material activities & worldly life. It's process of transformation from material plateform to state of emptiness (zero).while Vedanta goes one step further, as .

1/ Indians must have no confusion about how we reached impressive Covid herd immunity: "India’s masses didn’t have the luxury to ‘work from home’ and follow social distancing, but they might have silently built India’s herd immunity"

[FACT CHECK]

The @nytimes recently published an article about the Turkish occupation of Afrin, calling it a ‘safe zone’. The article contains several inaccuracies about the situation on the ground, outlined

The Afrin canton has seen virtually no combat during the Syrian Civil War. Religious minorities were protected under the AANES and its predecessors in this overwhelmingly Kurdish region. An estimated 316,000 internally-displaced Syrians - both Kurdish and Arab - fled to Afrin.

The invasion’s raison d'être does not hold up to scrutiny. Turkey accused the PYD/YPG forces in Afrin of launching “more than 700 attacks” against Turkish cities. However, upon further investigation, only 15 confirmed incidents of cross-border attacks from Afrin emerged.

Over half of Afrin’s majority-Kurdish population were forcefully displaced by Turkey’s invasion and prevented from returning. Around 400,000 Syrian Arabs were settled in the region. Currently, Arabs and Turkmen make up around 75% of the population…

...Together with Turkey’s erasure of the Kurdish language and culture in occupied Afrin, this amounts to a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing and a prosecutable crime against humanity.

#EPWConversations: We are live with @vabhis, and we invite you to send your questions about public transportation in India in this thread. He will be tweeting through EPW's account for the next hour.

Our cities happen to be the places where distortions of development are amplified and more visible. Transport and urban equity is one major indicator to assess this distortion. One class of cities (particularly, metropolitan cities) gets priority over the smaller cities and towns

Similarly, within the city and towns, the more affluent class gets priority over the poor and underprivileged ones. | @vabhis

Inequity is visible on the following fronts — investments, policy focus, public discourse, and ultimately who ends up at the receiving end of the negative externalities. | @vabhis

Some of the widely employed methods to ease congestion on roads have created extremely inequitable car-only facilities. A case in point is that of Bandra–Worli Sea Link, which does not allow pedestrians, cyclists, two-wheelers, and auto-rickshaws. | @vabhis

Hearing in MJ Akbar's criminal defamation case against Priya Ramani to begin before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra K Pandey.

Case is at the stage of rebuttal by Akbar. Ramani has concluded her defense.

#MeToo #PriyaRamani #MJAkbar #Metooindia

@mjakbar

Hearing begins.

Your honor will give three hours to me today? : Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra for @mjakbar

Today is court is for physical hearing. I will only give 1 hour. Parties will have to come for physical hearing whenever listed : Judge

I have some medical issue..I will not be able to come for physical hearing: Senior Adv Luthra

Can I be give 1-2 hours tomorrow (when court is for virtual hearing): Luthra

We can do it on January 21. Only one hour today for virtual hearing. My duty is for physical hearing: Judge

India’s Rustom-2 UAV gets massive upgrade, will soar to 27,000 feet in April

Rustom-2, India’s medium-altitude long-endurance drone being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, is targeted to achieve a huge milestone in April when it will take off from its test range in

Karnataka’s Chitradurga to fly for more than 18 hours at a height of over 27,000 feet, people familiar with the development said.

Rustom-2, also known as Tapas-BH (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon 201),

successfully completed the last flight test in October last year when it successfully flew for eight hours at an altitude of 16,000 feet.

“This will be a huge step,” said a senior government official about the

indigenously-developed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for strategic reconnaissance and surveillance operations. Rustom-1

All 'HALAL' references removed from APEDA under Modi govt. In a move that finally ends the discriminatory slaughtering practices, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) which comes under the Ministry of Commerce

It has removed all 'Halal' references from its Red meat manual.
There've been complaints in the past abt the Halal system waging an economic Jihad on people from other faiths. This move frm APEDA ll finally put a full stop to the institutionalisation of this discriminatory system

Here is a explainer how it affected us, especially Hindus. How it is being used in anti India activities, killings, bombing and attacks. Also, organised protests like anti CAA protests and creates unrest in country.

There was demand of of setting up a Sharia compliant Islamic banking system, which the current Modi govt refused to accede to.
Islamic or Sharia banking is a finance system based on the principles of not charging interest, which is prohibited under Islam.

India’s culture & civilisation through the ages been tolerant and inclusive, ‘Independent’ India has been under the grip of a westernized idea of ‘Secularism’. Successive govts have bent over backwards to cater to the whims & fancies of the minorities to ensure votebank.

The Arhtiyas (Middlemen) of Punjab

The Arhtiyas of Punjab are political connected.

In July 2017, in a public function the Arhyiyas felicitated Amarinder Singh with the title of ‘Fakhr-e-Quam’(Pride of the Community).

Post that function, the CM had said it would be difficult to waive off the debt owed by farmers to the arhtiyas.

As many as 86% of farmer & 80% of agricultural labours are mired in debt, says a study on Indebtedness among Farmers & Agricultural Labourers in Rural Punjab.

Its authors, researchers at Punjabi University, Patiala, say over a fifth of that debt was owed to commission agents and moneylenders.

No less than 8,294 farmers took their own lives between 2000 & 2015, says a study presented last year before the Vidhan Sabha’s Committee.

6,373 agricultural labourers also killed themselves in the same period. And that was in just six of the state’s 22 districts.

The study, commissioned by the state government’s revenue department, found that 83 per cent of all these suicides were largely debt-driven.

An estimate in the year 2012-13 indicated that every Arhitya/ Middle men/ Commission agent earned on a average of 6.7 Lakh on interest payments.

Their average other income excluding commissions & MSP cuts per year is 12 Lakh/ Annum. They receive 1370 Cr in interest every year

THAT Kashmir is an
 internationally recognized dispute Is an UNDENIABLE
 historical fact.
 AS THINGS STAND AT THE MOMENT, India’s mighty
 military power can’t change it.
 No movement loses
 its legitimacy because of sham elections being held in Kashmir.

India even did not consider Kashmir's PM Sheikh Abdullah as legitimate leader which is why Indian govt.toppled his govt .in a military coup in 1953.He had become after 1st controversial elections held in 1951 India didn't stop here. It kept him in jail for 22 long years

On a petition against the withdrawal ceiling of Rs. 5 lakh from deposits in the PMC Bank, @RBI submits yet again that the ceiling has already been raised from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 5 lakhs but allowing further withdrawals will result in "a run on the Bank."

The petitioner cites various instances of depositors in desperate need of funds suffering due to the withdrawal ceiling.

Chief Justice DN Patel had shown an inclination towards adjourning the matter, however, the petitioner is emphasizing his case through various factual instances.

CJ: If you raise these grounds, then everybody is in need of money. Nobody is saying that you don't have the need for the money. But please understand what the counsel for @RBI is saying, that if this is allowed, then many people may not get any money.

CJ: Somebody may have put their retirement money, someone may have put some other funds, but you are a counsel, and not a petitioner, kindly understand what the @RBI is pleading.

Breaking: Bombay High Court Bans Propagation For Sales Of Item Claiming Miraculous or Supernatural Powers via Television Advertisement 

TV channel, telecasting such advertisement, would be liable under the provisions of the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013: #BombayHC

The Petitioner, through his plea, stated that he came across advertisements on TV channels which were propagating that there were special, miraculous and supernatural properties/qualities in Hanuman Chalisa Yantra, which the advertiser was selling.

The claim of the seller like after achieving Siddhi, special power, the 'Baba' has created Yantra leads to inference that the seller claims that the Baba has power of 'black' magic.

"It can be said that atleast basic education is available to everybody in this State. Though these things are there, the scientific temper and the spirit of inquiry and reform are not yet developed.

Thread. Agriculture as shock absorber.

In all the discussions on Indian agriculture and farming, one aspect of this sector gets largely overlooked.

Its role as a social safety net.

1/11

For the poor and the vulnerable, the agricultural and allied sectors are still the main safety net in times of crisis.

And it is much bigger and more effective than all the other safety nets - like MNREGA - that we currently have.

2/11

Safety nets are most important in countries that have a lot of vulnerable people and have adopted a market-led growth strategy.

Markets are useful in driving higher growth over time, but are also much more vulnerable to many types of shocks.

Covid-19 is a good example.

3/11

Vulnerable people do not have adequate savings to fall back on in times of such shocks.

Social safety nets are the only mechanism that can prevent them from life and health risks during these shocks.

4/11

Think of the reverse migration that India experienced after the imposition of the first lockdown.

The only reason so many wage workers took such a risky decision was because they trusted the agricultural sector to save their lives. And arguably it did.

5/11

Kanchi Elephants were taken out & gifted to a Rogue NGO to beg westerners for donations shaming India. A business model invented by traitors. All the 3 girls were bleeding as they were forcefully taken out of the Mutt! 👇

https://t.co/gTPjhhqyuZ
1/14

With no help from any Hindu organisation, Kanchi Mutt or @BJP4TamilNadu we filed a PIL at Madras HC & Brought the girls back to forest department camp at M.R.Palayam near Trichy.

Judgement

The Anti Hindu mafia then gathered Anti India forces across the world to attack us personally & called the judgement rogue!
Sangita Crypto Iyer the rogue Nari Sakthi awardee is one among them who was in charge to shame India worldwide. @Manekagandhibjp gave the award!
3/14

That didn't deter us. We also stalled Gomathi of Thiruvidaimaruthur being taken away to the same Scamtuary with another judgement from Madras HC!

We then went after Sangita Crypto Iyer & Exposed her illegality by filing a PIL at Kerala HC to ban her entry into India. Also an RTI reply confirmed that she lied about her profession to @MEAIndia as film industry while she was traveling in Tourist visa sabotaging.
5/14

Remember India, YOU CHOSE THIS!!
An interesting snippet shared by a protesting farmer at Singhu border. It gives us an insight into the sharp brain of Gujarati businessman Gautam Adani
In Himachal Pradesh there are beautiful apple orchards everywhere, especially in Shimla.

There is a place called Lalru where small merchants and traders would deal in apples buying it off the farmers.
One day Adani's eyes fell on this lucrative market. He quickly got a survey done of the warehouses in the region.

He found out that these warehouses could store small quantities of around 100 to 200 tons of apples which were brought in by traders and soon sold off.
Now what Adani did was construct a warehouse which was thousand times bigger than the warehouse in the area.

In fact, said the farmer, it was so huge that it was beyond what one's eyes could see. At that point apples were sold at Rs. 20 per kilo to traders by the apple growing farmers.

Adani in a tempting gesture gave the farmers @ Rs. 22 a kilo, something the farmers just could not resist and accepted. Unfortunately the new dealings hit the small traders there adversely. Within one year the small traders could barely sustain themselves yet prodded on.

Delhi High Court is hearing a petition by Sr. Adv. Abhishek Manu Singhvi against the Central Board of Direct Taxes - filed in response to a penalty on Singhvi of about Rs. 57 crores, imposed for undisclosed income of almost Rs. 91 crores.

Singhvi is making submissions on merits of the case.

Delhi High Court has asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to consider not taking any precipitative action against Singhvi.

Singhvi: Government has taken a lot of action to reduce tax related litigation. Singhvi refers to a scheme meant to reduce direct tax litigation taken out by the government.

Singhvi: I'm jumping out of sequence to refer to a CBDT Circular which repeats the same objects which were laid down in the Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Act.