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New Delhi: The government has listed 26 Bills for introduction during the Winter session of Parliament that begins on November 29. The list includes a Bills to repeal the farm laws, electricity amendement, bank privatisation, regulation of cryptocurrencies among others.
Ironically, while a Bill to repeal the three contentions farm laws is in the list, another Bill that the farmers’ movement wants to be repealed is also being planned to be pushed through in this session– the Electricity Amendment Bill.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the farmers collective that has been spearheading the movement for close to one year now, has made it clear that it will withdraw the agitation only if a law is brought to guarantee minimum support prices for all crops as well as the repeal of the Electricity Bill. The farmers have once again sought talks with the government on these two crucial demands. A Bill on MSP is missing in the list, indicating the Centre’s design to not give in to this demand.
Also a Bill -- Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021 -- is being brought in to privatise two public sector banks, which is being opposed by banking unions and federations.
Another Bill that is important is one seeking to regulate cryptocurrencies that are catching on like wild fire. The Bill seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, but allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses. The government also plans to introduce its own digital currency
In fact, cryptocurrency prices crashed on Wednesday after news of the Bill being listed spread.
“All major digital currencies saw a fall of around 15 per cent and more, with Bitcoin down by around 18.53 per cent, Ethereum fell by 15.58 per cent, and Tether down by 18.29 per cent,” said a report in News18.
Citing data sourced from CoinDesk, a New York-based news site specialising in cryptocurrencies, the report Bitcoin’s value depreciated to $55,460.96 on Tuesday evening, “an additional 20% slump from the all-time high of nearly $69,000 that it reached earlier on in November.”