In your evening news brief, From the Newsroom, Farmer leaders ready to hold talks with government; Ministry of Home Affairs unilaterally summons three IPS officers of West Bengal to serve in the central deputation; strike called by the Karnataka transport corporation workers continues and adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemns Morocco's normalisation of ties with Israel.
Here is the top news of December 12, 2020:
Sticking to their demands, farmer leaders Saturday said they are ready to hold talks with the government, but will first discuss repealing the three new farm laws, and announced further intensification of their ongoing protest against the legislation.
Addressing a press conference at Singhu Border here, farmer leader Kanwalpreet Singh Pannu said that thousands of farmers will start their 'Delhi Chalo' march from Rajasthan's Shahjahanpur through the Jaipur-Delhi Highway at 11 am on Sunday.
He said that farmers from other parts of the country are also on their way to join the protesters here and they will take the agitation to the next level in the coming days.
Escalating the confrontation between the Centre and the West Bengal government, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday unilaterally summoned three IPS officers of West Bengal to serve in the central deputation, prompting the Trinamool Congress to describe it as a move to "terrorise" IAS and IPS officers.
This comes against the backdrop of an attack on the convoy of BJP President JP Nadda who was visiting Bengal last Thursday. The three officers -- Bholanath Pandey (SP, Diamond Harbour), Praveen Tripathi (DIG, Presidency Range) and Rajeev Mishra (ADG, South Bengal) -- were responsible for the security of Nadda during his December 9-10 visit.
Sources said the decision to ask the three officers to serve in central deputation was taken under the rules governing All India Services officers. The West Bengal cadre IPS officers were called in view of the security breach that led to the attack on Nadda's convoy.
The Congress on Saturday accused the Modi government of branding every person opposing it a "Maoist" and an "anti-national", and urged the Centre to accede to the demands of the protesting farmers.
The Opposition party's assertion came a day after Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said some "anti-social elements" are conspiring to spoil the atmosphere of the peasants' movement under the guise of farmers, and appealed to the protesting farming community to be vigilant against their platform being misused.
The strike called by the transport corporation workers has continued to cripple the bus services for the second day. The KSRTC and BMTC, which would have seen thousands of departures by 10 am, recorded less than 100 services.
Lakhs of commuters continue to suffer as the strike entered the second day, throwing to wind all their plans.
An adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned Morocco's normalisation of ties with the Islamic republic's arch foe Israel, calling it a "betrayal of Islam".
The kingdom on Thursday became the fourth Arab state this year to normalise relations with Israel, in a deal announced by outgoing US President Donald Trump.
In return, Washington fulfilled a decades-old goal of Rabat by recognising its sovereignty over disputed Western Sahara.
"The deal between the triangle of America, Morocco and the Zionist regime was done in exchange for Morocco's betrayal of Islam (and) the Palestinian cause, selling Muslims' honour to international Zionism," foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati said on his official website Friday. He added that the normalisation of ties with Israel was "not a new thing" as the kingdom had maintained a liaison office in Israel in the past.
Source: DHNS / PTI/ AFP