Here are the top 5 news updates of November 29, 2021:
Parliament today passed The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, to repeal the three contentious agri laws against which farmers have been protesting for over a year, with its passage in Rajya Sabha. Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha also passed The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 within minutes of its introduction in the lower House. As soon as Rajya Sabha met in the afternoon, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar introduced The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 shortly. The House passed the bill with voice vote amid protests by Congress and TMC members. Dola Sen (TMC) and Nadimul Haque (TMC) were in the well to protest the passage of the bill without debate.
The government has no proposal to recognise Bitcoin as a currency in the country, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a reply to the Lok Sabha today. She also informed the House that the government does not collect data on Bitcoin transactions. Whether the government has any proposal to recognise Bitcoin as a currency in the country, the Finance Minister said "No, sir". Bitcoin is a digital currency that allows people to buy goods and services and exchange money without involving banks, credit card issuers or other third parties. It was introduced in 2008 by an unidentified group of programmers as a cryptocurrency as well as an electronic payment system.
The Bombay High Court today quashed and set aside the order of a single bench of the HC that had refused to restrain Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik from making public statements against the Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede and his family. A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and Milind Jadhav quashed and set aside the order after Malik and Wankhede's father Dnyandev consented that the single bench order be recalled and Dnyandev's grievances against the minister, raised through an interim application on his defamation suit filed against Malik, be heard afresh by the HC.
In continuation of the proactive and risk based approach for management of COVID-19 pandemic, Union Ministry of Health issued revised ‘Guidelines for International arrivals’ today. The updated guidelines require all travellers (irrespective of COVID-19 vaccination status) coming to India from countries identified as ‘countries at-risk’ to mandatorily undergo post-arrival COVID-19 testing at airport on arrival in addition to pre-departure COVID-19 testing undertaken 72 hours before the departure. For passengers found positive in these test, they will be isolated and treated as per the clinical management protocol besides their samples also taken for Whole Genome Sequencing. The passengers found negative can depart the airport but have to undergo home isolation for 7 days, followed by repeat testing on 8th day of arrival in India, followed by 7 days of self-monitoring.
Benchmark BSE Sensex advanced by 153 points today following gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and TCS, even as investors remained cautious over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreading to more countries. In a volatile session, the 30-share Sensex closed higher by 153.43 points or 0.27 per cent to 57,260.58. The index had tanked more than 500 points or over 1 per cent in opening trade in line with weak global cues. The broader NSE Nifty edged higher by 27.50 points or 0.16 per cent to end at 17,053.95.
