Delhi

Chandigarh, Nov 29 (PTI) Farmers protesting against the Centre's three farm laws on Sunday decided not to shift to the Burari ground in the national capital and stay put at the Delhi borders.

Thousands of farmers continued to protest at the Singhu and Tikri borders on the fourth consecutive day on Sunday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Saturday appealed to the farmers to shift to the Sant Nirankari ground in Burari that was offered to them for peaceful protests and said the Centre was ready to hold discussions with them as soon as they move to the designated place.

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) Amid massive protests by farmers for the third consecutive day, the government on Saturday said it is ready for talks with them anytime and urged them to call off their agitation.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that while a meeting with 32 protesting farmer unions has already been scheduled on December 3 to address their concerns, the government is ready to engage the unions' leaders before that if they wish to.

Dehradun, Nov 27 (PTI) National coordinator of Kisan Congress Rakesh Kumar Singh on Friday accused BJP-ruled states of using repressive measures against farmers and warned that attempts to quell their protests will only further intensify them.

Referring to Thursday's incident in Haryana where farmers marching to Delhi had to face water cannons and teargas shells, Singh said coercive methods to silence farmers would only worsen the situation.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Indian economy contracted by 7.5 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fiscal amid the COVID-19 crisis, official data showed on Friday.

The gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 4.4 per cent in the corresponding July-September period of 2019-20, according to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The economy had shrunk by an unprecedented 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal due to the coronavirus pandemic and resultant lockdowns.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Union government's fiscal deficit further widened to Rs 9.53 lakh crore, which is nearly 120 per cent of the annual budget estimate, at the end of October of the current financial year, according to official data released on Friday.

The deficit widened mainly on account of poor revenue realisation. The lockdown imposed to curb spreading of coronavirus infections had significantly impacted business activities and in turn contributed to sluggish revenue realisation.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Contracting for the eighth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 2.5 per cent in October, mainly due to decline in production of crude oil, natural gas, refinery products and steel.

The production of eight core sectors had contracted 5.5 per cent in October 2019, data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry showed on Friday.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Appealing to protesting farmers to end their agitation, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said the government is ready to discuss all issues with them.

After braving water cannons and clashing with security personnel, thousands of farmers started entering the national capital on Friday as part of their 'Delhi Chalo' march against the Centre's new farm laws.

Earlier in the day, Tomar said the new farm laws will bring a tremendous improvement in farmers' lives.

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) Thousands of farmers gathered at the Singhu border held a meeting on Saturday morning amid heavy security presence and decided to continue demonstrating there even after being offered a site in north Delhi to hold their protest.

Those gathered at the Tikri border continued to hold ground as well. A decision on whether they would head to the designated protest site is expected soon.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) A MiG-29K trainer of the Indian Navy ditched on Thursday evening while operating at the high seas and one pilot has been rescued while another is still missing, Navy officials said on Friday.

The incident took place at around 5 pm in the Arabian Sea, they said.

The Navy has deployed surveillance aircraft and ships to locate the missing pilot. A high-level inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident, the officials said.

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Friday used tear gas shells to disperse a group of farmers who had reached the Singhu border as part of their 'Delhi Chalo' march to protest against the Centre's new farm laws, a senior police officer said.

The shells were fired at the border point which connects Delhi with Haryana.