Bharat Bandh

Most shops and establishments remained closed in Puducherry on Wednesday in response to the call given by the AIADMK for a day-long bandh to urge the Centre to grant statehood for the Union Territory. Secretary of the Puducherry unit of AIADMK (East) A Anbalagan, who gave the call for the shutdown, was taken into custody along with his supporters at his office in the early hours today. Anbalagan had earlier said that statehood was "absolutely necessary" for Puducherry. Privately-owned inter-state and intra-state buses went off the roads while state transport buses operated as usual. The Rajiv Gandhi bus terminal here remained forlorn with private operators not functioning. Auto-rickshaws and tempo travellers did not ply as well. Hotels and jewellery shops remained shut in and around Puducherry. Vegetable shops and fish vendors suspended their business in most of the areas. Police were deployed in strength at vantage points. Only two-wheelers could be seen on the main ...

Parts of Delhi witnessed massive traffic jams on Monday as the traffic police closed off several roads in view of a call for Bharat Bandh

Over 80 trains have been cancelled and massive traffic jams are being witnessed across Delhi-NCR as some organisations have called for a "Bharat Bandh" to mark their protest against Agnipath scheme

Latest live news updates: From protests against the Centre's Agnipath scheme to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's ED summon, catch all the latest updates here

The call for Bharat Bandh comes as the nation has been witnessing violent protests in several parts for the last few days after the central government announced the Agnipath scheme

The main protester has an issue with the non-implementation of reservations for SCs/STs/OBCs in the private sector; others are against the use of EVMs during elections, among other issues

Thousands of workers of state-owned RINL and NMDC boycotted work for a second day on Tuesday as part of the nationwide strike, affecting steel production and mining operations, a union leader said.

About 35,000 workers of state-owned SAIL, RINL and NMDC continued to boycott work on Tuesday as part the nationwide strike, affecting production at steel plants and mines.

The two-day nationwide strike by central trade unions to protest against the government policies entered its second day on Tuesday, impacting normal life in some parts of the country.

Hours after the Kerala HC directed the Left administration in the state to take steps to prevent its employees from abstaining from duty as part of strike, the government on issued a 'dies-non' order.

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the LDF administration to forthwith issue orders preventing its STAFF from abstaining from duty as part of the two-day strike

The two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions against the central government's policies affected the banking services and production of coal and steel in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

As many as 10 central trade unions (CTUs) have joined hands for the strike and they claim the support of about 20 crore workers

According to the SKM, people gathered at more than 500 locations in Punjab to express their support to the bandh

Live news updates: Bharat Bandh from 6am to 4pm exempts essential services; Prime Minister Modi to speak about health welfare.

Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a united forum of farmer unions protesting the three farm laws, on Monday said its call for a Bharat Bandh received "unprecedented and historic" response from more than 23 states and not a single untoward incident was reported from anywhere. "Reports have been pouring in about the overwhelmingly positive and resounding response to the Bharat Bandh call to mark 10 months of peaceful protests with rightful demands from the 'annadaatas' of the country. Spontaneous participation from various sections of the society was witnessed at most places," it said in a statement. The SKM said the bandh was observed peacefully in "more than 23 states" and not a single untoward incident was reported. It also appreciated state governments and political parties that extended support to the bandh. "Reports have come in from hundreds of locations from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, ...

However, markets remained open and business activities were largely unaffected

Shops were shut in state capital Ranchi, while government offices and banks functioned as usual.

Gandhi on Monday said the farmers' non-violent 'satyagraha' is still resolute but the "exploitative" government does not like this and that is why a 'Bharat Bandh' has been called