Here are the top 5 news updates of November 30, 2021:
Amid concerns of the Covid-19 variant Omicron, the reopening of schools from Class 1 to 7 has been postponed by 10-15 days in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik, officials said today. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner I.S. Chahal and Pune Municipal Corporation Mayor Murlidhar have said that schools in the two cities -- both among the worst-hit in the two Covid-19 waves in 2020 and 2021 -- will now reopen from December 15. Similarly, the Nashik Municipal Corporation has also postponed the schools reopening plan to December 10. However, all schools in the rest of Maharashtra are likely to reopen from December 1, for Class 1 to 5 in the rural areas and 1-7 in the urban areas with full Covid protocols, as announced earlier by School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad.
The Centre today extended the nationwide COVID-19 containment measures till December 31 in view of the emergence of a highly mutant COVID-19 variant Omicron in some countries and asked the states to be vigilant. In a communication, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also asked states and UTs to strictly adhere to the November 25 advisory issued by the Union Health Ministry, recommending rigorous screening and testing of all international arrivals. Bhalla also said that the contacts of the international travellers must be closely tracked and tested as per the health ministry guidelines, and the samples of travellers turning positive sent to the designated Genome Sequencing Laboratories promptly, as per the INSACOG Guidance Document.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai today said that till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level. His statement comes after Congress leader Hibi Eden in Lok Sabha questioned whether the Government is considering the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the progress made in this regard. "Till now, the Government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level," Rai said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. "The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) was notified on 12 December 2019 and it came into force from 10 January 2020. The persons covered under the CAA may apply for citizenship after the rules are notified under the CAA," Rai added.
The government today said it has no proposal under consideration for the creation of a separate Vidarbha state out of Maharashtra. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said this in Lok Sabha in reply to a question on whether any step has been taken or proposed to be taken by the government to carve out a separate Vidarbha state out of Maharashtra. "No such proposal is under consideration with government," he replied. The minister said demands and representations are received from time to time from various individuals and organisations for the creation of new states. "Creation of a new state has wide ramifications and has a direct bearing on the federal polity of our country. Government takes a decision on the matter of formation of new states after taking into consideration all relevant factors, and only when there is a broad consensus on the issue," Rai said.
Equity benchmark Sensex dropped 196 points today, hit by fag-end selling in auto and metal stocks following sluggish investor sentiment in global markets. The selling pressure was triggered after European markets opened in the negative territory amid concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, traders said. After rallying over 900 points, the 30-share BSE index surrendered all gains to settle 195.71 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 57,064.87. Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined 70.75 points or 0.41 per cent to close below the 17,000-mark at 16,983.20.
