the foreign ministry says frozen food transmission suggest the coronavirus may not have originated in china she went to work oh though china was the 1st to report cases it doesn't necessarily mean that the virus originated in china tracing the origin of the virus is a complicated scientific issue. the world health organization says it's highly speculative to argue that if these did not come from china the agency is conducting an investigation in holland the original epicenter of the outbreak but will be given limited independent access to official records germany and new zealand are among several governments who have criticized china's crackdown on imported fours and fruit saying new restrictions amount to unfair trade barriers the chinese government says frozen packaging can be contaminated by the corona virus there have been no cases of people being infected by consuming imported foods. beating.

the headlines here on al-jazeera the u.k. government has approved fires as covert 19 vaccine for use it will be made available from next week specific hospitals will be set up to carry out a vaccination program a joint committee says that it will shortly publish its final advice for priority groups receive the vaccine phase and bio and tech also asked the european union's but since agency for emergency approval which could come by december 29th hong kong democracy activist for joshua war has been sentenced to jail for 9 months his role in unlawful anti-government protests in 2019 fellow activist agnes chow has been sentenced to 7 other months in prison. u.s. attorney general william boss says the justice department hasn't found widespread voter fraud in last month's presidential election his comments contradict president

donald trump's claims that the vote was rigged alan fischer reports before the election bill barr was saying that voter fraud could well be caused by mail in ballots but now he's saying look we've looked at this and there's no widespread evidence of voter fraud that goes completely against what the president has been seeing even in the last couple of hours if you tweet more people who are suggesting that there is widespread voter fraud in the election was stolen from donald trump you'll remember just a couple of weeks ago the man who was the head of the cyber security unit for the election said this was the most secure election in american history donald trump said yeah that was because of my administration but still stolen from us and by the way you're fired europe today it's the news continues here on out 0 after stays inside story next. to notice there are we realistically how can you do it institutionalize corruption in this country if we listen if this breaks

up and real conflict between pakistan and india this has implications for the rest of the world we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter on al-jazeera. will india's protesting farmers force the prime minister into a climb down and render a modi is resisting calls to repeal farming reform laws they fear they'll be left at the mercy of big corporations what are the political risks for modi this is inside story. hello welcome to the program i'm burnitz. more than 60 percent of india's population rely on agriculture for a living but farmers who've long been a crucial voting bloc often complain of being ignored and now they're worried they

could be exploited by agriculture reforms passed in september the laws seek to loosen rules around the sale pricing and storage of farm produce farmers for the new free market system means they'll lose government backed minimum price guarantees they've tried to march on the capital new delhi but have been stopped by police using tear gas and batons now they're blocking main roads and plan to stay until our demands are met. a lot of us will double that we have enough to sillett east to cook and eat and arrange for our stay we only want the last to be rolled back and to go back home happy if it's not done the moon will continue to protest be it for 6 months or a year the guide again lead the way we always suspected the government's intention and always will because the government has become a slave of the corporations they want to turn us into their slaves as well well we want to government which is elected by the people and talks about the people the indian government says the reforms and necessary to boost production and bring in

much needed private investment prime minister narendra modi has tried to assure farmers the laws won't tom their businesses. there's a lot your book i knocked out that i want to tell the citizens and farmers from the banks of the river ganges and the holy city of out an r.c. that we're working with intentions which a pure is the water of the river ganges and without any purpose of betrayal most of the farmers come from the states of punjab and haryana that are known as india's grain baskets many have camped out at the sink who border elizabeth around him has been to one of the protests in the capital new delhi. well despite from union leaders attending talks with the government tens of thousands of promise remain on 2 key highways blocking the road into the capital region of delhi now from union leaders have told us that they're attending the talks but they're not hopeful of a breakthrough and that's because of prime minister narendra modi's comments that

these laws are good for farmers that they're in the interest of farmers and fama say that that's what happened last time in the last round of talks in november that the government didn't listen that they want to write guarantees around a minimum price for their produce and to nor that is why they're protesting now and that's why they'll say they'll continue to do so until the government repealed these laws meanwhile the pharmacy have had some international support the 1st international comments about what's happening here from canadian prime minister justin trudeau who said that canada will always stand by the rights of people to peacefully protest to protest peacefully that's perhaps not surprising given canada has such a large population more than half a 1000000 people in canada are off panjabi descent many of these farmers are from punjab well those comments weren't well received here in india with the ministry of external affairs calling them calling them ill informed and saying that canada shouldn't be making comments about internal affairs about the internal affairs of

a democracy. the legislation changes the way farmers do business currently farmers a guaranteed a minimum price for their produce at wholesale markets the new law allows them to sell direct to anyone famous for big corporations could force prices down the law also allows private buyers to hoard essential commodities for future sales and farmers will be able to enter into direct contracts with private companies. let's bring in our guests in new delhi we have deeper senhor assistant professor of economics at university in delhi joining us from oxford is nikita sued associate professor of development studies at oxford department international development and pandey is an agriculture policy specialist and the former director of the institute for social and economic change and he joins us from bangalore and welcome to you

all our us are i'll start with you if i may just give a quick brief rundown of what the main the most significant reforms the new laws will bring about. i would the new laws there are 3 laws yes one goes with the our commerce and the. it's called farmers' produce trade and commerce act now this comes under the constitution's concordant list part occurred and there are 6 or 7 points which are covered in this law interstate and interstate trading are produced is free is allowed part of me did without any kind of cess duties etc yes electronic trading is permitted trade also must trade a bit up bankcard bankcard is

a. personal accounting number electronic registration are traders is essential if we're told are terrified of getting into a meant not to be libyan creates no market fees price information system should be in place and a dispute resolution is in place this is the 1st act the 2nd act is far most important under protection agreement act this is pricier surance i'm sorry says bill. farmers and a sponsor may enter this is a contract. they can enter into an agreement litter fix prices with quality grade standards etc then the response of douglas one serving is to pick the product at the pre-decided price and pay $2.00 thirds of the amount immediately yes the sponsor prepared from act quieting this is the most important act quiting only a few needs are marked gauge of the land of the farmer and this is in that

insurance to be provided and elaborate. procedure is 2nd and the 3rd one then the 3rd on these essential commodities act allows the government to regulate the supply of certain food. and the stock limit may be imposed on agriculture for use only if there is a steep price rise and there are triggers about the steep price rise that is 100 percent in case of perishable if the price rises more than 100 will double prize a car 50 percent in case of nonperishable this is basically the clear act or right ok thank you very much deeper just why of many farmers so nervous of what are essentially made free market reforms of farming in india. because i think because of that so broadly if we look at these 3 acts what they do is that they would be to

get lived because of the fact that the country and the state it's not which the family meanly greatest thing i've done all states in which the market regulation this quite a bad public procurement by the state happens from a large number of problems they get to get into right and these markets of looking pretty efficiently and they also provide that 7 use to the federal government. and so this is something that has. without much discussion something that should actually all is under the plough of you all of the federal government not the central government but the state government and i did dying then it's very difficult to put everybody across the country that suddenly think that such major things are being done that out big in the farm wasn't. especially if i'm going to live the last you know all yellows that have been a huge protests across the country in fact asking for legislations which would

increase that if they should reach one getting tea at a minimum price but this is completely against what the promise have been demanding quote over the last little yes and it was something that this. is instilling a spirit in promise that the existing system will change in the way. families as individuals would have to deal with a lot what parents bed they had bought gaining piled up used to be much no. kids or i read that a quarter of india's farm produce is lost to wastage surely that suggests some sort of reform is needed. that's absolutely right and also stenson believe one you know see that this government is trying to respond to a crisis in agriculture and you have touched on one of the issues are we still but there are many others of grabbing a nation of access to credit and be quids it that you're not these 3 laws are being

brought in to make dishes for hamas better in fact that's what the government wants us to believe however why we have to admit that there is a crisis. expectant incestuous sex because a farmer has went you know just last year in 2019 what will that dent housing farmers committed suicide in india are these at the not necessarily like your previous because that's not going to make conditions specter for farmers they're going to liberalise and didn't get markets where is what is really needed is false promise to have better access to credit did it get a nation crisis will send a sharp prices for that for that produce and these actually none of that are us there is no major economy in the world that leaves farmers completely the mercy of free markets quite like this does the e.u. 34 and a half percent of these budget goes on farming and fishing subsidies u.s.

subsidies for custody 37200000000 dollars this year your throwing the indian pharmacy the wolves are they with this legislation. right i bet are quite a few. misunderstandings not only among the promise but also among academicians. just now the other speaker said that the agriculture falls in the stateliest yes group that agriculture falls as entry 48 under the state list that includes agriculture which means production agriculture education protection from person this is us and it is very absolutely clearly written for us . in the union list under the trade and commerce interstate trade is listed and also n $333.00 which came in the concurrent list inserted with the 3rd

amendment in $150.00 pull it specifies trade and commerce in war to stop enable our oil fields cartons and other crops now the farmers are told and in fact a lot of our commissions say that agriculture falls in the stateliest true but then it's only for that purpose 2nd thing is as far as farmer suicides are concerned there is a very very clear logical build up far more suicide and my book is there by such publications. i'm speaking from sri which i'd taken off 30000 farmers in 2000 to yes across 13 states in the country which is impact of union support prices and the farm economy now i had one job in it and one job is very happy with their missed me or a simple reason that like any other government out of the night vision the

government functionaries operating in the m.s.p. sector up and job are absolutely corrupt and i'm saying it on the camera for the reason that when the hard work extent printers are we are off to grade to be monday immediately as soon as we can does the money being the great changes from c. to be around 2030 will be the difference from there from 10 quintals by the time we can wait it becomes 15 cringes ok which means a farmer get a huge amount from the government neither the major neither neither. the parts annoys me not a person who is grading or i'm losing in the think the state which is losing ok and that's part of marsar i did all right so thank you thank you very much deeper most indian farms a very small 1 point one hectare of motion of the farmers or even small i'm not one

of the risks to them of the reforms so. i don't need this drill that if you look at the found most of what protesting a lot section of them are larger families because like you said 80 plus indulging in problems are what you would quote small and marginal and so they do not benefit from the repeal meant by the state very much they don't get the short answers however then the market either believe it and if they don't mean not good things also that we lose out if it regulated markets learnt to many more price signaling for instance as $1.00 of the less bad it kind of sets lower the price of areas commodities that even the government does not. reach 2 and the fed the floor for the price of. either issue which i was saying and yet at the end of the bill with this whole issue will probably and i loudly in the private sector today directly

with what that means is that now you can have big corporate interests that icky dealing with problems without any regulation without any delay or intervention having the promise in place of. the families especially because they have so small on their interest can be protected or leave and they've looked at the pool or they have been to some kind of a fly home that is why i think it's so that is in fact the biggest that these smaller families would be left. would be a great big companies and obviously they would lose leverage then in the market and prices they would not get short prices and i guess bangor not because it isn't it is a problem becoming more expensive but prices i'm going to show and even though these that you talked about earlier is all of sudden the bull with the lack of back because really depressed and that's the markets and so on or so i just want to say

that i'm not saying that people can get does not need to want but going to bump that neither does in fact more and less meant that more regulation rather than blowing in the other that nikita how is the how all these small scale farmers going to be able to deal directly with major businesses that surely the scales are already weighted against them off. yes absolutely and that's why they're protesting i think the. political actors are being very unfair and not getting the pulse of the problem going to see it that these actually end bowering acts and the farmers don't understand what's going on in the farmers are the ones who actually facing the conditions that your previous speakers are talking about and that is like they're protesting why we might be seeing lots of farmers on the street we are also seeing organizations of well and smaller farmers who are protesting and trying to get their voice flooded and this is not new they have this protest have been on

in many parts of locked in difficult when the victory mines and the government to do where to hear what these farmers are seeing instead of trying to grab this legislation down into the distance just because they have a majority. and they. also want to do ask you there are 77 and a half 1000 these regulated agricultural markets mandy's in india are they but we're sort of a role did they play in communities where they are. well. you know we have all nationalist government in power that's trying to turn last that what they're going to bring about is one market for one kind of. what we have learned to stand this sort of legacy in next year's monday's exists which are basically you know marketing produce marketing agencies it does not that monday you stumble all over the farm produce that doesn't leave. even today in more students and allow

people to sell at their farm door rather than thinking that produce to amend the but like i was saying that my over the years and the minimum support price that doesn't really look for some commodities in these mondays i don't have a signal effect so all of the other goods that have been sold even at the far door and it does this sort of price that will be weak and therefore the signal being sent even to those not sending in my dues to date will have an adverse effect on plant prices and that's why our big and small farmers are protesting. an n r us before you address the comments of of our colleagues can i try again to get you to specifically address the issue of farming subsidies they're essential in europe they're essential in the u.s. if you take them away from indian farmers half the population risks it's jobs is

there enough support for these farmers with these new laws one thing is. nor where in their long it has been stated that m.s.p. is going to close to normal the 2nd thing is as far as contract farming is concerned and i don't know if you're able to go see this book. ok so what. this is on contract farming and density farms yes it's subtitle is entangled without no contract farming came in with their 2 coggan clean marvell a p.m.c. act and guess what opium to act had 3 players in fact get told that here on the contract farming makes it come for the 34 d. contractor in wall garment in the contract and garment actually worse are a strange latest forgive me for interrupting you because we have very very very

tight for time but can i just specifically ask is there enough to ensure with the new laws that these farmers will be financially compensated very quickly if you can see these laws are not part of financial compensation if somebody is thinking of that not financial compensation goes through their misspeak 2nd thing is that if we believe and that's what many people believe that it be i'm see our market yards are properly functioning no there are strong cartels and i had done it on an onion the cartel to begin from where it p.m.c. killed the other money be a lot of money these cartels decide the prices and these prizes are decided by even the signals in the air and i have gone into the p.m.c. to instances where the hurricane are under farmers thank you very much deeper he's talking there about the about the cartels currently setting the prices there is some sort of reform needed isn't there is this the way to bring it about.

absolutely bonkers not saying that the b m c is the way they have cut in people actually functioning politically or that they're very democratic that i believe that issues of that option and so on but that it's long then is not to get rid of the of the emcees in fact that at some states in the country like it or rehired rich it will ever be a b m c a what about 10 years back and there you'll find that the markets have even learned that the families have no access they need not get out. because of them not having the monday still there is no need for a reply but that if mom is not $100.00 does not live with any kind of regulation that would be throwing the baby out with the but what of what we need is better to give a shit and more support also look from the brain as the site that's not the one that the middle m.b.m. sees when we live once often i'm actually in the absence of access the formal

credit to the promise and. i are also very important for some great big i don't know what influence of like telling the families about what's going on in the market that is so demented what that has been that is not being used the best is still around that it's just completely different in the case of this evidence in your big corporations have a significant effect on the pricing of agricultural product products for example milk is often supply supplied at less than cost price protections as india learned from the protections here for the absolutely unlocked and that is why the song is about why did it is true that the current laws do not do only that minerals authorized and many come on to do this but there is a system acting meek a new all. good name fall off the farm once and lease being given to lauch agricultural petitions and there are very few guards that yes.

being big into current legislation these t.v. laws but others that we can talk about the way the flom wasn't just being built for us that is not the case it's the corporations that are being pushed for a loophole and even if you see the federal government using the i didn't list of the constitution publishing's will this legislation be a doing that because they are allowed to do that for a motion marketing like food that is aggregate is good subject to the government the central government to see this as well back to our agricultural marketing that is the farmers are fighting is because they're seen it doesn't matter o. identity and likely old and they're powerful so that is that difference in how these this issue is being seen by the central government as cong was and liberalization and by the farmers as their own i get to be like knew what he's doing and you know who they are talking about completely different levels you know

folks unfortunately time is against other more out of time thank you to all our guests to d. percent to nikita sewed and pandey and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website al-jazeera dot com for more debate go to our facebook page facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story we'd also join the conversation on twitter we are a.j. inside story and i am just their opponent for me but it's my whole team here.

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