Here are the top 5 news updates of December 20, 2021:
A bill to link electoral rolls with the Aadhaar ecosystem to weed out duplication was passed in the Lok Sabha today. The Bill sought to allow electoral registration officers to seek the Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters "for the purpose of establishing the identity". Introducing The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the legislation will end bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process more credible. Dismissing the apprehensions of the opposition on the bill as "baseless", the minister said opposition members were "misinterpreting" the Supreme Court judgement on personal liberty. "The opposition has not understood the objectives of the bill. This will make the election process more credible," he said.
Amid the Omicron scare and the growing number of coronavirus cases in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said all samples that test positive for the infection will now be sent for genome sequencing. He also urged the Centre to allow the administration of booster shots to the fully vaccinated city residents. The chief minister appealed to people not to panic and wear masks as they are the most effective protection against the virus. "For the last few days, COVID-19 cases are increasing in the city. Yesterday (Sunday), it was over 100. We don't know what type of Covid cases these are, normal or the Omicron variant. So, to ascertain this we have now decided to send the samples of all positive cases for genome sequencing," Kejriwal said at a press conference.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut today said Union Home Minister Amit Shah's claim that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it clear that BJP's Devendra Fadnavis will become the chief minister of Maharashtra after the 2019 state polls is "far from reality". It was the BJP which "ditched" the Shiv Sena in 2014 for a larger share in power, Raut claimed while talking to reporters in Delhi. The Shiv Sena's spokesperson also said his party will never abandon Hindutva. Earlier, Shah during his Pune visit on Sunday said he and PM Modi had made it clear that Fadnavis will become the CM of Maharashtra after the 2019 polls. Targeting Thackeray and the Shiv Sena, Shah had said "since you wanted to become a chief minister, you betrayed the BJP and became CM by compromising on Hindutva for power".
The four labour codes on wages, social security, industrial relations and occupation safety, health and working conditions are likely to be implemented by the next fiscal year as at least 13 states have pre-published draft rules on these laws, a senior official said. The Centre has already finalised the rules under these codes and now states are required to frame regulations on their part as labour is a concurrent subject. A senior official said that the four labour codes are likely to be implemented by the next fiscal year. "The four labour codes are likely to be implemented in the next financial year of 2022-23 as a large number of states have finalised draft rules on these. The Centre has completed the process of finalising the draft rules on these codes in February 2021. But since labour is a concurrent subject, the Centre wants the states to implement these as well in one go," the official said.
Equity benchmark Sensex plunged 1,190 points today as concerns over the impact of surging Omicron cases across the world spooked investors, triggering an intense selloff in global equities. The 30-share index slumped 1,189.73 points or 2.90 per cent to end at 55,822.01. Similarly, the NSE Nifty tanked 371 points or 2.18 per cent to 16,614.20. Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, sinking over 5 per cent, followed by SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and NTPC On the other hand, HUL and Dr Reddy's were the gainers.
