News Wrap Dec 20: Cryptocurrency bill deferred; sharp sell-off on D-Street; Aishwarya Rai Bachchan questioned by ED and more

The cryptocurrency bill will not be tabled in this winter session of Parliament, government sources said on Monday. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) for six hours in connection with the Panama Papers leak case. Meanwhile, there was a bloodbath on D-street today with Sensex ending 1,189.7 points lower the broader Nifty50 benchmark settling at 16,613.7, down 371.6 points amid Omicron concerns. The Lok Sabha on Monday cleared the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to link electoral roll data with Aadhaar cards. Here are some top news of the day

The cryptocurrency bill will not be tabled in the winter session of Parliament, government sources have indicated as the Centre is still collecting feedback on global regulations for the cryptocurrency sector. Read more 

If the RBI’s dovishness was more than expected, the Fed’s hawkishness was shades above market expectation. Even more unexpected was the Bank of England’s rate hike to 0.25 percent from 0.1 percent. Read more

Axis Bank has emerged as the top contender to acquire Citibank India’s retail assets, three people with knowledge of the matter told CNBC-TV18. The deal could be an all-cash transaction, with a valuation of around $2 billion including incentives, they said. Read more

A rise in omicron cases and rate hike fears spooked investors. The frontline indices slipped over 2 percent while the broader markets saw bigger cuts. Here's what experts make of the steep fall  

Sustained selling by foreign portfolio investors is hurting investor sentiment on Dalal Street. In December so far, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold shares worth Rs 13,470 crore ($1.8 billion), according to provisional exchange data.  Dig deeper

The Lok Sabha on Monday cleared the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to link electoral roll data with Aadhaar cards. The bill was introduced in the House by Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju amid strong opposition from Congress leaders. Read more

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in New Delhi in connection with the Panama Papers case. Being questioned under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), the actor had sought adjournments on two occasions earlier. Read more 

Amid Omicron threat, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said all new positive cases of coronavirus being reported in the city will be sent for genome sequencing even as he appealed to the Centre to allow booster doses for health workers and others. Read more

China has cut its lending benchmark loan prime rate (LPR) for the first time in 20 months, matching market expectations, in a bid to prop up the slowing economy. Read more

There is "no evidence" that Omicron has a lower severity than the Delta strain, according to a study in the UK which also found that the new variant of coronavirus largely evades immunity from past infection or two vaccine doses. Check details 

The COVID-19 omicron variant is just raging around the world, the White House's top medical adviser said, and President Joe Biden is planning to give a stark warning of what the winter will look for unvaccinated Americans. Read more

A key aspect of risk management is to stick to the asset allocation plan based on an individual’s financial circumstances without bothering much about market volatility. Check how to manage it

Apple’s iPhone 13 is priced at Rs 79,900 at the Flipkart Big Saving Days sale, but you can get up to Rs 20,000 off on the smartphone with additional offers. Read on to find out.