🔍Explained: Why it has been named Omicron and not Nu or Xi

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🔍Vaccines should work, spread a concern: South African expert weighs in

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🔍Explained: What meeting MSP demand would cost govt

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🔍ExplainSpeaking: What to look for in India’s Q2 GDP data this week

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Read this briefing in a single page: https://indianexpress.com/article/live-news/top-news-briefing-7646567/

Good morning,

🚨 *The Big Story*

The Winter session of Parliament is likely to begin on a stormy note with the Opposition looking to press the government over statutory backing to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of crops for farmers. Meanwhile, a Bill to repeal the farm laws, according to sources, was circulated to Rajya Sabha members on Friday for consideration as passed by Lok Sabha. The government, they said, was likely to move it in the Rajya Sabha too on Monday itself after it was passed by Lok Sabha.

https://www.inexp.in/o7Pouq

⚡ *Only in the Express*

In this edition of the Idea Exchange, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla talks about the role of Standing Committees and Opposition, addresses the absence of a deputy Speaker, reiterates the freedom of MPs to speak in House without fear of labels such as anti-national, and defends not telecasting protests inside Parliament.

https://www.inexp.in/b086rL

📰 *From the Front Page*

A day after UP Police named 11 people from an upper-caste family in its FIR on the murder of a Dalit family in Prayagraj, and said that eight had been arrested, they issued a new statement Sunday stating that they have now arrested a youth “who belongs to the same community as the deceased” for the killings. But a close relative of the Dalit family is not buying the new police version.

https://www.inexp.in/Uvnded

“Nafrat jeet gayi, artist haar gaya (hate has won, artist has lost). I’m done, goodbye. Injustice.” That was stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui after another of his shows got cancelled, this time in Bengaluru. He has been constantly targeted by rightwing groups, with his scheduled shows in Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Mumbai and Raipur being cancelled.

https://www.inexp.in/JIB0k-

A 32-year-old resident of Dombivli in Mumbai, who arrived from South Africa via Delhi on November 24, tested positive upon arrival, though health officials are yet to ascertain if he is infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Efforts are on to locate the man’s co-passengers.

https://www.inexp.in/xTwCH9

👩‍💻 *Must Read*

Rear-end collisions account for around 40 per cent of fatal accidents on highway stretches, with driver “sleepiness and fatigue” behind many of these crashes, according to an audit initiated by the government to bring down fatalities on national highways. The four audited stretches had witnessed over 6,500 accidents over the past three years, of which over 1,600 were serious and fatal ones.

https://www.inexp.in/v7W2nS

While the Centre is yet to respond to the farmers’ demand on making MSP (minimum support price) based on the comprehensive cost of production (C2+50%) a “legal entitlement of all farmers for all agricultural produce”, records show that over the last two years, the government’s stand on legal guarantee for MSP moved from a “no” to an offer of a “written assurance” on continuing the existing system.

https://www.inexp.in/evgz87

The 2015 Framework Agreement between the Centre and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) to finalise the Naga Peace Accord is now turning out to be the key stumbling block in reaching an agreement between the two sides and finding a permanent solution to the longstanding Naga issue. Sources in the government said while all other issues have been ironed out, the interpretation of the Framework Agreement by NSCN(IM) on the issue of sovereignty has held up the process being finalised.

https://www.inexp.in/zYBErR

With different motivations and fascinating backstories, the paths of Sharda Nand Tiwari, Uttam Singh and Vishnukant Singh first crossed at the Sports Authority of India’s academy in Lucknow. Now, they are among the 18 representing India at the Junior World Cup where they will face Belgium in the quarterfinals at Odisha’s capital Wednesday.

Five players from this team are from UP, signalling a hockey revival in the state that was once the game’s cradle in the country.

https://www.inexp.in/wAxcMt

⌛ *And Finally...*

Which Indian batter will have to make way for the returning skipper Virat Kohli in the second and final Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai? As the Indian batting line-up stumbled on the fourth morning of the first Test in Kanpur, this question became more pertinent and also more complicated. India are unlikely to sacrifice a bowler to accommodate Virat Kohli. So, it will have to be one from among Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer.

https://www.inexp.in/xK04lP

Until tomorrow,

Leela Prasad G and Rounak Bagchi

🔍Explained: What is the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021?

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🔍Explained: What is Australia’s bill that seeks to regulate social media companies?

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🔍Explained: Who are the major players in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex abuse trial?

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🔍Explained: Will the vaccines stop Omicron?

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🔍Explained: Can an RT-PCR test detect infection with Omicron?

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🔍Explained: How, when MPs are suspended

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🔍Division of assets between UP, Uttarakhand: old dispute, new agreement

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🔍Quixplained: Why Omicron is high risk, what you should do

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Good morning,

🚨 *The Big Story*

As expected, day one of the Parliament winter session began on a stormy note, with the Opposition demanding a debate on issues raised by farmers protesting against the three new agriculture laws being withdrawn by the government. However, the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, cleared the two Houses via voice votes without any discussion.

https://www.inexp.in/QlZ3m0

Meanwhile, 12 Opposition MPs were suspended for alleged unruly conduct towards the end of the monsoon session in August (
https://www.inexp.in/BYL30O). With the issue deepening the political divide and threatening a washout of the entire winter session, backchannel talks were held between the government and the Opposition to find an amicable resolution, but there was no immediate headway. The Opposition is set to take a call on whether to boycott the session or take the fight to the government.

https://www.inexp.in/TV5ahZ

⚡ *Only in the Express*

South Africa is seeing "very low hospitalisation" directly linked to the "highly transmissible" Omicron Covid variant, the country's health authorities have conveyed to top medical experts in India. Significantly, the South African experts have informed that Omicron has not resulted in any deaths, as of now. “So far, it only manifests in the form of mild disease with extreme fatigue and throat irritation being the predominant symptom,” sources said.

https://www.inexp.in/NDHMz4

📰 *From the Front Page*

The BJP in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, the Lok Sabha constituency represented by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is planning to host tournaments in cricket and kabaddi under the label Gandhinagar Loksabha Premier League 370, or GLPL 370, to “draw maximum number of youth to the party”, local leaders said. According to Ahmedabad city BJP unit general secretary Jitubhai Patel, the league is named after Article 370, “which was abrogated in 2019 under Amit Shah’s leadership”.

https://www.inexp.in/lLnUJ3

A question by Congress Rajya Sabha member K C Venugopal to the Minister of External Affairs on whether NRIs living abroad were harassed at airports and sent back, and some even asked by authorities to stop helping the farmers’ agitation, was provisionally admitted and scheduled to be answered on December 2, but dropped from the final list of questions for the day.

When contacted, Venugopal told The Indian Express, “Earlier they used to give a clear reason for dropping a question but this time they have only conveyed it orally. Another question of mine on the Jallianwala Bagh renovation eroding its heritage was also dropped.”

https://www.inexp.in/80TZIY

👩‍💻 *Must Read*

Even as PM Modi asserted that the government was willing to discuss all issues with an “open mind”, the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, was passed in nine minutes in Rajya Sabha and three minutes in Lok Sabha — without any discussion. The BJP government has often faced criticism for rushing Bills. The last session saw 15 Bills — 14 in Lok Sabha and one in Rajya Sabha — being passed in less than 10 minutes, and 26 Bills in less than half-an-hour.

https://www.inexp.in/kzb8ke

Of the seven states headed into Assembly elections next year, Uttar Pradesh has the highest proportion of people who are multidimensionally poor, at 37.79 per cent of its total population, while Goa has the lowest ratio at 3.76 per cent. Of UP’s 71 districts, as many as 64 have Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) higher than the national average. In Gujarat, 9 of 26 districts fall in this category; in Manipur, 4 of 9; and in Uttarakhand, 1 (Almora) of 13. On the other hand, all the districts of Punjab (20), Himachal (12) and Goa (2) have lower MPI than the national average.

https://www.inexp.in/jG0724

The bodies of two Covid patients were discovered from an old mortuary building in a government-run hospital in Bengaluru, after about 500 days of their death.

At the time, Bengaluru was struggling to cope with the Covid spread amid rising cases and deaths. The bodies of those who died due to the virus were not handed over to families by the government.

https://www.inexp.in/bC2bOK

⌛ *And Finally...*

Under fire for a selfie with six women MPs, which he posted with the caption “who says the Lok Sabha isn’t an attractive place to work?”, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor received support from TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Monday. While many, including Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy, pointed out that Tharoor’s caption attempts to “reduce elected political leader to their looks”, Moitra tweeted that the criticism seeks to “detract attention from this non-attractive government’s decision to not allow a discussion on the farm Act repeal.”

https://www.inexp.in/JHc5n0

Until tomorrow,

Leela Prasad G

🔍Explained: Can an RT-PCR test detect infection with Omicron variant of Covid-19?

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