Uncertainty over Crypto Bill

The crypto currency Bill may have been listed for this Parliament session, but it appears that the government has yet to make up its mind on the biggest policy issue that it will deal with — should cryptos be banned, regulated, or left free.

People in the know say that the Finance Ministry has multiple versions of the Bill ready and is awaiting decision at the highest level. Banning or leaving cryptos are the easier options, said a source, but regulating them will be the challenge.

With the Bill yet to be placed before the Cabinet for clearance, there is still no certainty on whether it will find the light of day this session, say people in the know.

Beware of fake videos

Viral videos in social media of patients not getting proper treatment at hospitals keep the officials of the Tamil Nadu health department on their toes.

They, often, rush to provide relief and hold negligent hospital staff to account.

But, recently the State Health Minister M Subramaniam got a WhatsApp video message showing some patients suffering at a Medical College.

When a team of officials was rushed there, it was found out that the video was five years old. Please cross check the authenticity of videos before publishing them, the Minister advised media persons and the general public.

Such fake videos will hurt genuine sufferers and help inefficient hospitals get off the hook. The department, unfortunately, is learning the best and the worst of social media the hard way, he said.

Enemy's enemy is my friend

Normally polls to a State's upper house — legislative council — hardly makes any news. This time though it has become a prestige battle for all parties in Karnataka. In the 75-member council, BJP had 32, Congress 29 and regional JDS 13, with two seats vacant.

However, biennial polls which are held for a third of the seats means now 25 of those seats including seven held by BJP, 14 from Congress, and four from JDS are up for grabs. BJP needs to win at least 13 to get a simple majority and ensure easy passage of Bills in the upper house where till now it has had a rough time.

While BJP is hopeful this time as the regional JDS is bitter about its erstwhile coalition partner Congress, JDS has openly talked of an understanding with the ruling party to take revenge on Congress for its “betrayal”.

Even PM Modi met former PM and JDS Chief, Deve Gowda to ensure his party's support. Clearly, the dictum seems to be my enemy’s enemy is my friend. Whether it pays off electorally will be known on December 10.

‘Cooperative’ women power

At a recently-held inauguration ceremony for the dairy projects set up by Amul in Gandhinagar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah prompted the activists and organisations working on women empowerment to indulge into cooperative activity so as achieve the objective.

“In the entire dairy cooperative structure, processing and marketing is important. But more important is the women who wake up at 4 a.m. to milk the animal and ensure the supplies. Without them India's milk requirements couldn't be met,” Shah said addressing a large gathering that included women milk producers and farmers.

“For empowering our women, I would rather suggest those running the NGOs on women empowerment, to instead, run a cooperative, where more women empowerment is possible. Amul is a live example of it,” said Shah, who is the first Minister of the newly-created Union Cooperation Ministry. Gujarat has over 11 lakh women engaged in dairy cooperative. Our Bureaus

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