-CounterCurrents.org “The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Saturday that it has busted an al Qaeda module and arrested nine people who were allegedly planning to carry out major terror strikes in India at the direction of their Pakistan-based handler.” The news hit headlines of all major dailies in India last week. Six of these suspects were apprehended from the district of Murshidabad in West Bengal and three others were arrested from...

-The Indian Express The newly passed farm trade Bill has raised concerns that farmers may no longer be assured MSP for their crop. But MSP isn’t even mentioned in the new law or in existing ones. How is it fixed, and how binding is it? The recently enacted law that dismantles the monopoly of APMC (agricultural produce market committee) mandis, thereby allowing sale and purchase of crops outside these state government-regulated market...

-TheWire.in The journalist says that though there is a very clear pro-corporate intent behind the Bills, they may enable middle-men to wring an even harder grip on the farmers. Amidst an uproar and stiff protest, three contentious farm Bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday and Tuesday. The Bills seek to replace ordinances promulgated in June this year and were already cleared by the Lok Sabha. The idea behind all the...

-ThePrint.in Prior to 2014, Indian farmers mostly organised small protests at the state or local level. Modi govt’s inactions on its promises made farmers go national. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Narendra Modi promised to INCrease farmers’ INCome. Yet after coming to power, his government did little towards this promise throughout its first tenure. Recently, however, the Modi government passed three “historic” bills purported to alleviate the woes of India’s...

-Hindustan Times The Shiromani Akali Dal will observe a three-hour chakka jam across Punjab from 11am to 2pm in all constituencies. Over two dozens farmers’ organizations from all across the country, supported by 18 political parties INCluding the Congress, take to the streets on Friday protesting the farm bills passed by Parliament. Punjab and Haryana will be the epicentre of the protests, though the demand for legal guarantee of minimum support prices...