New Delhi [India], February 25 (ANI): Samyukt Kisan Morcha has written to President Ram Nath Kovind demanding the immediate release of farmers arrested during the ongoing protests against Central agri laws and the removal of “false cases” against them.
A memorandum or letter to the President on Wednesday by Samkyukta Kisan Morcha read, “Regarding the unconditional release of innocent farmers lodged in jails during the farmers movement and cancellation of false cases and notices issued.”
“Sir, the humble request is that for the last six months the farmers of the country have been fighting in various ways and at various levels against the three agricultural laws and for some other demands including legal guarantee of MSP. Under the leadership of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, for the last three months, the farmers have been protesting indefinitely around Delhi, but hundreds of farmers and supporters of the movement have been jailed by the Government of India and several state governments and false cases have been made,” the letter read.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha further said, “Observing ‘Daman Virodhi Diwas’ (anti-repression day) across the country, we are sending the following demands to you through district and tehsil authorities. We hope that you will take immediate action in this regard.”
The demands include, Police cases lodged against innocent farmers lodged in jails should be dismissed and they should be released unconditionally immediately.
False police cases filed against farmers and individuals and organizations supporting their struggle should be dismissed.
The notice sent by the Delhi Police, NIA and other government agencies to intimidate the farmers involved in the struggle should be stopped immediately and the earlier notice should be cancelled, it added.
In the name of the police siege of the Kisan Morcha on the borders of Delhi, the closed roads of the common man should be opened, it said.
Farmers have been protesting at the different borders of the national capital since November last year, against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], February 25 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for Puducherry and Tamil Nadu on Thursday morning where he is scheduled to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development initiatives.
“Leaving for Puducherry and Tamil Nadu to inaugurate development works that will further ‘Ease of Living’ and economic growth,” tweeted the Prime Minister.
According to an official release, at around 11.30 am, Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of various development initiatives in Puducherry. At around 4 pm, Prime Minister will dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple infrastructure projects worth over Rs 12,400 crores in Coimbatore.
The Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are likely to take place in April-May. However, the Election Commission is yet to announce the final dates.
The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for the development of Minor Port at Puducherry under Sagarmala Scheme. He will inaugurate the Blood Centre at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, which will function as a research laboratory and a training centre for the short- term and continuous blood bank personnel training in all aspects of transfusion.
The school education department has announced a holiday for government and private schools as traffic in the city has been diverted due to the Prime Minister’s visit tomorrow.
In Tamil Nadu at around 4 pm, he will dedicate to the nation the Neyveli New Thermal Power Project.
“It is a lignite-based power plant designed for power generation capacity of 1000 MW and has two units of 500 MW capacity each. Built at a cost of about Rs 8000 crore, the pit head power plant will utilise lignite as fuel from the existing mines of Neyveli, which have sufficient lignite reserves for meeting the lifetime requirement of the project.
The Plant has been designed for 100 per cent Ash utilization. The power generated would benefit Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry, with Tamil Nadu having a major share of about 65 per cent,” read the release.(ANI)

New Delhi [India], February 25 (ANI): The air quality in the national capital once again went down to the “very poor” category on Thursday with the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) registered at 303.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), at 6 am, the concentrations of the particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of 10 and 2.5 microns stood at 277 in poor category and 124 in very poor category) respectively.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 is marked as severe or hazardous.
“The overall Delhi air quality is in the Poor category as forecasted. Surface winds are low and forecasted to improve during the day. AQI is likely to marginally deteriorate tomorrow and likely to stay at the Poor to the lower end of the Very Poor category. An increase in wind speed and boundary layer height is forecasted from 26 February. This is likely to influence AQI positively and Poor AQI is forecasted on 26 and 27 February,” SAFAR said in its bulletin.
SAFAR, in its health advisory, stated that people should avoid all physical activity outdoors and move activities indoors. It urged the asthmatics to keep medicines handy.
Meanwhile, the air quality in Maharashtra’s Mumbai also deteriorated to the ‘poor’ category from the ‘moderate’ category. (ANI)

By Joymala Bagchi
Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 25 (ANI): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s (AIMIM) Kolkata wing on Thursday accused the Kolkata administration of “misusing power” for denying permission to party supremo Asaduddin Owaisi’s first rally in the poll-bound state.
Zameerul Hasan, an AIMIM leader told ANI, “We had to cancel the rally as the administration didn’t grant us the requisite permission. Although we sought permission ten days ago still permission was denied. We will do a press conference today at 2:00 pm.”
“They are misusing their power. Seeking permission for the rally by adhering to the procedure is our democratic right,” he added.
The rally was scheduled to take place in the minority-dominated Metiabruz area of Kolkata – which falls in the parliamentary constituency represented by Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The party along with the Indian Secular Front (ISF) of Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui is planning a public meeting at Brigade in the second week of March.
During his earlier visit to West Bengal, after the announcement to contest the West Bengal assembly poll, Owaisi held discussions at Futura Sharif in Bengal’s Hooghly district with Indian Secular Front’s Abbas Siddiqui.
It is to mention that West Bengal is a key state for the AIMIM as the party has stretched its wings in eastern India after bagging five seats in Bihar.
The Assembly election for 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal are slated to take place in April-May. However, the Election Commission is yet to announce the final dates. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], February 25 (ANI): Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will join Kaushik Basu, Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University, in a virtual event on March 2 for an open dialogue on democracy, development, and life in politics, India, and the world.
According to the website of the Cornell University, “Rahul Gandhi, member of India’s Parliament and former president of the Indian National Congress, will join Kaushik Basu, Carl Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University, for an open conversation on democracy, development, and life in politics, India, and the world. Q&A with Cornell students and faculty will follow.”
As per the website, Kaushik Basu is a professor of economics and the Carl Marks Professor of International Studies. From 2012 to 2016 he was chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. Educated at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and the London School of Economics, Basu has published extensively in development economics, game theory, and industrial organization. His most recent book The Republic of Beliefs: A New Approach to Law and Economics was published by Princeton University Press in 2018. (ANI)

Alappuzha (Kerala) [India], February 25 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other organisations have called for a 12-hour shutdown in Kerala’s Alappuzha after a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker was allegedly killed by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) members during a clash in the district on Wednesday night.
“BJP and other Hindu organisations have called for a hartal in Alappuzha district from 6 am to 6 pm to protest against the incident,” said BJP district president MV Gopakumar.
An RSS worker was allegedly killed by SDPI members after a clash erupted between two groups in Cherthala, Vayalar yesterday night.
According to the police, the deceased is identified as Rahul Krishna alias Nandu, a native of Vayalar.
Three RSS workers and six SDPI workers were also injured in the clash that took place around 8 pm. There is a heavy deployment of police in the area following the incident.
A fund collection by SDPI activists on Tuesday was questioned by RSS workers and both organisations on Wednesday took out separate marches which ended up in the violence. (ANI)