Here are the top 5 news updates of December 1, 2021:
The Centre today said it has no record of farmers who died during the agitation against the farm laws. In its response to a question on whether it proposes to provide financial assistance to the kin of farmers who died during the agitation, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare replied in the Parliament that it has "no record in the matter and hence the question does not arise." On the third day of the winter session, the Leader of Congress Party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised the issue of the death of farmers during the protest against farm laws. Meanwhile, farmers' unions have demanded compensation from the Centre for the families of those farmers who died during the agitation.
The government todayy decided not to resume scheduled international flights from December 15, less than a week after announcing the decision in the wake of rising concerns over the COVID variant Omicron. Aviation watchdog DGCA said the effective date for resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services will be notified in due course. Scheduled international flights remain suspended since March 23, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The latest move also comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 27 asked officials to review the plans for easing international travel restrictions amid concerns over Omicron. In a circular today, DGCA said that in view of the evolving global scenario with the emergence of new Variants of Concern, the situation is being watched closely in consultation with all stakeholders.
The Bombay High Court today granted default bail to lawyer-activist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, but rejected the pleas of eight other co-accused, including Varavara Rao, Sudhir Dhawale and Vernon Gonsalves. A bench of Justices S S Shinde and N J Jamadar directed that Bharadwaj, who is currently lodged in the Byculla women's prison here, be produced before the Mumbai special NIA court on December 8, and the conditions of her bail and date of release be then decided by the special court. Bharadwaj is the first among 16 activists and academicians arrested in the case to have been granted default bail. Poet-activist Varavara Rao is currently out on medical bail. Jesuit priest Stan Swamy died in a private hospital in the city on July 5 this year, while waiting for medical bail.
The Centre today opposed the Maharashtra government's order of mandatory RT-PCR testing of all international travellers at the Mumbai airport irrespective of the country of origin. In a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of Maharashtra government, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said: "This is in divergence with the SoPs and the guidelines issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of lndia". The Maharashtra government has made it mandatory for intra-state travellers to either be fully vaccinated or hold valid RT-PCR tests and for inter-state travellers to produce RT-PCR tests (48 hours), without exception. The 14-day home quarantine for all international passengers has been made mandatory despite being testing RT-PCR negative upon arrival.
Equity benchmark Sensex rebounded 620 points today, boosted by gains in index majors Reliance Industries, Maruti and SBI amid a positive trend in global markets. The 30-share index ended 619.92 points or 1.09 per cent higher at 57,684.79. Similarly, the NSE Nifty surged 183.70 points or 1.08 per cent to close at 17,166.90. IndusInd Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising nearly 6 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, SBI, Maruti, Tech Mahindra and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, Dr Reddy's, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel and Titan were among the laggards.
