 A very good morning friends. I welcome you all to the weekly Indian Express newspaper article discussion brought to you by the Shankara IS Academy. In this video, we are going to see important events from the very last week of November. Displayed here are the news articles which we are going to discuss today. So, let us get into discussion. Look at this news article. Recently, to curb the rising online payment frauds, the government is planning to introduce a minimum time frame of transaction beyond a particular amount which is happening for the first time between two persons in UPA. In this time frame, a person can reverse or modify those payments. Know that it happens for the digital transactions likely above Rs. 2000. See, this is the crux of the article. In this discussion, we shall see about UPA and its futures. First of all, what is UPA? See, Unified Payment Interface or UPA is an instant real-time payment system which was developed by National Payment Corporation of India or NPCI. See, it is a system that allows multiple bank accounts into single mobile application, thus allowing the customers to pay directly from the bank account to different merchants. Know that it will happen both in online or offline mode. Actually, it is an advanced version of the immediate payment system or IMPS. The daily transaction limit for a single user of UPA is 1 lakh. Now, let us see the futures of UPA. Firstly, there is an immediate money transfer through mobile devices around the clock 24 into 7 for 365 days. Secondly, there is a two-factor authentication system which is aligned with the regulatory guidance of RBI. Thirdly, there is a virtual address of customer for push and pull transactions. Here, know that the push transactions means when you send money by your own discretion, that is sending money to your friend or your relative. Whereas the pull transaction means when you have given command that every month electricity company should cut the money from your bank account. To put simply, company will pull money without requiring you to push or click button every month. Actually, in 2018, NPCI launched UPI 2.0 with the futures like linking of overdraft account. Actually, in addition to the current and saving accounts, now customer can also link their overdraft account to the UPI. Secondly, NPCI introduced one-time mandate. Actually, it is called UPI mandate. With this, the customer can pre-authorize a transaction and pay at a later date. On the date of actual purchase, the amount will be detected and received by the merchant. Thirdly, invoice in the inbox. According to NPCI, this feature is designed for the customer to check the invoice which is sent by the merchants prior to making the payment. It will help the customers to view and verify the credentials of the merchant. Finally, sign the intent and QR. It can be used to check the authenticity of the merchants while scanning QR or quick response code. It notifies the user with information to ascertain whether the merchant is a very paid UPI merchant or not. This is all about the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the unified payment interface and the various futures of UPI. Please revise it often so that you can eliminate in the statement-based questions. The various benefits and the challenges associated with the UPI are more important for mains rather than for preliminary. With this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. Recently, Supreme Court approved the extension of Chief Secretary of Delhi for six months. This appointment was a point of contention between Delhi government and the central government. The court, while approving the appointment, said that it had not stayed there, Government of National Capital Territory, GNCT Amendment Act 2023. And the court also observed that this act was pending before the constitutional bench. Why I am saying this is, this act was used by the central government to appoint the Chief Secretary. See, this is the crux of the article. In our discussion, let us see the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi or GNCT Amendment Act 2023 from our example's perspective. Let us know that it is an important topic under federalism, central state relation, and separation of power. Before seeing the provisions of the Act, let us have a basic support of the governance structure of Delhi for our better understanding. See, based on the recommendation of Y. S. Balakrishna Committee in 1987, the Parliament enacted the 69th Constitutional Amendment Act 1991. This Act introduced Article 239 A. A. in the Constitution. This amendment introduced a governance structure where the NCT of Delhi will have an administrator and legislative assembly. Not only it created the structure, but also it gave powers and functions to the legislature. The powers and functions include the legislative assembly will have power to make law for the whole or any part of the NCT in the matters of state list or concurrent list. But know that the assembly cannot legislate on the following three subjects. They are police, public order, and land. See, there are various instances of conflict between left-hand governor and CM of Delhi over the authority issues. When both of them approached the court, the Supreme Court granted that the government of Delhi had complete command over most services in the Delhi, leaving out public order, police, and land. In these three subjects, the central government has exclusive powers. Moreover, the SC ruled that the LG did not have an independent decision-making power and he or she should bound by the aid and advice of Council of Ministers and CM. After this pronouncement of judgment, the central government enacted the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Ordinance 2023. After the enactment of this ordinance, the Parliament passed the GNCT Amendment Act 2023. See, this is the background story of this amendment act. Now, with these basics, let us see the various provisions of this act. Firstly, the creation of National Capital Civil Service Authority, NCCA. See, this act establishes this authority to make recommendations to the left-hand governor of Delhi on certain matters related to services. This includes transfers and posting, matters related to vigilance, disciplinary proceedings, prosecution sanctions of the Group A of All India Services, except IPS and Danix. Know that NCCSA consists of Chief Minister of Delhi as Chairperson, the Principal Home Secretary of Delhi Government as Member Secretary, Chief Secretary of Delhi Government as Member. All decisions of this authority will be based on majority vote of the members who are present and voting. The second provision is with the powers of the left-hand governor. This act expanded the discretion of the LG. It delineates the matter where the LG may act solely on its discretion, like the matters which are outside the legislative competence of the Delhi Assembly, but which have been delegated to the LG or matter where he or she is required by law to act in this discretion. The third provision is with the primacy to left-hand governor. Since it expands the discretionary role of the LG by giving him powers to approve the recommendations of the NCCA or return them for reconsideration. Moreover, in case of a difference of opinion between LG and the authority, the LG's decision will prevail. Fourthly, this act introduced the duties of secretaries. This act said that the concerned department secretary must bring matters to the notice of LG, Chiefs Minister and Chief Secretary. This includes the matters which bring the Delhi Government in controversy with the Central or State Government. See, this is all about the provisions of the act. Now, let us see some key issues with the act. An important issue is this act gives more power to the Central Government. This includes the control over the transfer and posting of officers in Delhi. See, it clearly violates the Government of NCT of Delhi as a union of India 2023 ruling of the Supreme Court. See, in this ruling, the Supreme Court gave primacy of power to the Delhi Government. The second issue is with respect to the structure of NCCSA. See, two of three members of the board is appointed by the Central Government. Moreover, the decisions and meetings can be done even excluding the Elector Head, that is the Chief Minister of Delhi, because the quorum for meeting of NCCSA is two and the decision is by the majority. The third issue is it is breaking the triple chain of accountability, which is often stressed by the Supreme Court. Any democratic government should meet the triple chain of accountability, that is civil servants accountable to ministers. Then the ministers are accountable to legislators and the legislators are accountable to electorate. This act contradicting the first link as it makes the civil servants accountable to LG. The fourth issue, this act violates the principles of collective responsibility and this makes the department secretary brings the matter directly to LG, bypassing the concerned minister. Finally, he talks about the controversial matters where the secretary should report to the left-hand governor, but it did not give any clarity on this record. So, it may be misused in the future, thus bypassing the ministers and the CM and council of ministers. This is all about the discussion. In this analysis, we saw about the GNCT Act and the various challenges associated with it. Reveal it often so that you can have a sound knowledge of this act and the issues which are imaging this act. See, this is an important questionable area for our examination. With this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. This express explained article talks about the recent geo-economical and geopolitical issue of dollarization. See, in the recent election of Argentina, a self-proclaimed libertarian and anarcho-capitalist Javier Milley became the president. See, he is infamous for his unconventional and worrying views such as his opposition to abortion and his ambivalent attitude towards torture and undemocratic excess of Argentina's military government. In the economic front, he is planning to replace Argentina's currency, the Piso, with the dollar. He is also advocating for the elimination of central bank and to slash the governmental spending. See, this is the crux of the article. In this discussion, we shall see about three important terms which could be important for our understanding. They are libertarianism, anarcho-capitalism and dollarization. First of all, let us see what is libertarianism. See, libertarianism is a political philosophy that gives primacy to individual liberty. Know that the basic premise of this theory is that the individuals have a certain God-given rights such as right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, right to property, freedom of worship, etc. It also tells that the duty of the government is to protect these rights. Let us see the second phenomenon. It is anarcho-capitalism. The term anarcho-capitalism was coined by Murray Rothbard, a leading figure in the American libertarian movement. It advocates a society where the protection and exchange of all goods and services, including those which are usually assigned to the states like law enforcement, education, protection of environment, should be conducted through voluntary agreements between the individuals. It seems very complex, right? Let me break it for you with an example. Imagine a society where even law and order and judiciary is privatized. In such a society, the government has no monopoly on the police like it has on the present. Almost every sector of the economy is run on free market principles with the belief that people or the customers will choose the best option which is available among them. This demand for the better quality goods and services will incentivize the entrepreneurs to come up with the most efficient solutions. See, this is about anarcho-capitalism. Let us see the third term, that is dollarization. See, what is dollarization? It is a form of currency substitutions where dollars are used in addition to or instead of the local currency of the country. It usually happens when a country's own currency loses its usefulness as a medium of exchange or the currency loses its usefulness due to hyperinflation or instability, as in the case of Argentina. Let us see three fully dollarized economies. They are Ecuador, Panama and El Salvador. Know that they have had their economic successes following the dollarization process. So, in achieving the same, Argentina proposes this scheme. Now, in our analysis, let us see the significance of dollarization. Firstly, it is a solution to hyperinflation. Let us see how it does. It does this by breaking the linkages between the rising prices and money supply. Let us discuss how. See, when the domestic currency is replaced by dollars, money supply can no longer be controlled by the vested political interests, who often increases the spending for their political milieu. This is exactly the case with respect to many hyperinflation countries like Argentina and Zimbabwe. Let us see the second significance. Secondly, it will have a positive effect on the growth of the economy. We shall know this from the success story of Ecuador. See, the Ecuadorian economy suffered a series of crises in the 90s. Its economic output, contracted by almost 7%, the inflation was running at 67% and the domestic currency, the surcar, depreciating by almost 200% in 1999. So, Ecuador announces the adoption of dollar in 2000. Since then, it is registering a considerable progress on both economic and social welfare. The Wazildubang estimates that the growth of the 4.5% in real GDP between 2001 to 2004 in Ecuador. Its poverty rate fell from 36.7% in 2007 to 22.5% in 2014. This tells the success rate of Ecuador by adopting the dollarization principle. Let us see the third significance. The third significance is with respect to the stability. We know that dollar is a hard currency. Its stableness will enable the countries to make a long-term plan regarding their economic activity. Fourthly, integration into global economy. Full dollarization can improve the global economy by allowing for easier integration of economy into the world economy. This will ensure the stable capital markets, the end of sudden capital outflows and the lesser threat of balance-of-payment crisis. See, these are all the one end of the spectrum. But there are various issues with the dollarization like loss of economic sovereignty of a country, no immunity from the world shocks, etc. See, if you prepare the challenges along with the above benefits, you will have a comprehensive picture about this issue, which is very important for our example's perspective. This is all about the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about three important terms. We also saw about the significance of dollarization. With these learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. Foreign portfolio investments, or FPI, worth 12,400 crores, infused in the deep market of India in the month of November. Know that this is the highest inflow in more than two years. This is the crux of the news article. In this discussion, we shall see about the two basic economic terms, which are very important for our example's perspective. They are FDI and FPA. Actually, what do you mean by FPA and FDI? Technically, both are class of investments made by a person or a firm who is a resident outside India in the capital instruments of an Indian company. To put it simply, they are a class of foreign investments. Now, let us see the basics of FDI or Foreign Direct Investment. See, FDI is the investment by a person who is a resident outside India through the various capital instruments like equity, debentures in the Indian market. Know that the investments which are done in an unlisted Indian company or in 10% or more of the equity capital of a listed Indian company will be considered as an FDI. Moreover, know that there are two routes of FDI, automatic route and government route. Firstly, with respect to automatic route, here no prior permission is needed for investing. Thereby, results in a minimum monitoring. Under this route, the investor just need to inform the RBI after the investment has been made. Know that in India, FDI up to 100% is permitted for agriculture, manufacturing, airport, e-commerce, etc. Secondly, with respect to government route, here prior to investment an approval from the government of India is required. Know that it is permitted in sectors like defence and telecom, mining, print media, etc. See, the other characteristics of FDI which are very important from a prince perspective are FDI generally happens through primary market of a country. Know that there are more sectors specific in nature, that is they will come in either manufacturing or service sector, etc. Know that they are long-term investment. To achieve this phenomenon, there is always a lock-in period and during this period, the foreign investor cannot sell his investment. Moreover, this makes the FDI quite stable and it can also happen in three ways, that is by purchasing of share, by forming a joint venture company or by establishing a subsidiary company. Thus, in FDI, a foreign investor appoints board of directors and get involved in the decision making of a company. This is all about the FDI. Now, let us see the basics of FDI or foreign portfolio investment. See, FDI is any investment made by a person residents outside India in the capital instruments where such investment is less than 10% of the equity capital of a listed Indian company. Know that FDI can also invest in state or central government securities and they are treated as debts. Moreover, they require SEBI approval or license to invest in India. With this basic, let us see the characteristics of foreign portfolio investment. Generally, FPI happens through secondary market. Know that they can also happen through primary market. Secondly, unlike FDI, which is a sector-specific nature, FPI is invested in general capital market. That is, a foreign investor is not particularly concerned about any sector. He or she will invest in any sector which gives a chance of share price appreciation. Thirdly, generates a short-term investment and there will be no lock-in period. Now, having discussed both the basics of FPI and FDI, before concluding, let us see some brilliant specific facts before we wind up discussion. As we already know, FDI is an investment about 10%, but know that an investor may be allowed to invest below 10% and they can be still considered as FDI. This will happen only when the FDI stack is raised to 10% or beyond within one year from the date of first purchase. This obligation to do so will fall on the company. If the stack is not raised to 10%, the investor still will be considered as a portfolio investment. Moreover, in case of an existing FDI falls to a level below 10%, it can continue to be treated as a foreign direct investment. Guys, remember this saying, once an FDI, always an FDI. Lastly, in a particular company, an investor can hold the investments either under the FPI route or under the FDI route, but not both routes. These are some of the brilliance-related facts about FDI and FPI. Guys, please revise it often because there will be statement questions which can directly come from the basics of this class of investments. With these learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this article. Rising sea temperatures due to climate change is causing the tropical marine species to move from equator towards the poles. This climate phenomenon, accompanied by a mass movement of species towards the pole, is called a tropicalization. See, this is the crux of the article. In our analysis, let us see about this climate phenomenon for our example's perspective. First of all, what is tropicalization? As we already saw, tropicalization is a recent global phenomenon characterized by a poleward range expansion of the marine tropical and sub-tropical species. This also means a range of retraction or a decreased abundance of the temperate species in the biogeographic transition zone in the temperate regions. Know that such range shifts are caused by climate change and lead to the alteration of the interaction between various species. To sum it up, this will have a knock on effects on the functioning of the ecosystem and its stability. Moreover, know the term tropicalization was initially coined to describe the increase in tropical species in the Mediterranean Sea. Since then, it has been widely used to denote the increase in the ratio of tropical to temperate species in the marine temperate communities. Know that the tropicalization is a marine specific phenomenon, but it can also happen in the terrestrial ecosystem. In the long term, tropicalization can alter the assembly of community over various decadal timescales and ultimately lead to new ecological and evolutionary results in a particular area. Okay, let us see why this phenomenon is happening. Main culprit is the climate change. See, the climate change has affected the physical factors of the ocean, which in turn affects the dispersal of the species. To put it simply, climate change is affecting the ocean currents, thereby minimizing the boundaries of separation between tropical and temperate regions. Know that the warm water boundary currents are hitting them the seawater averages. This facilitates the poleward movement of the species. Let us see what are the impacts of this phenomenon. See, it has a multitude of ecological and environmental consequences. The impacts will be ranging from the individual species level to community and ecosystem level. It has the capacity to alter the global biodiversity patterns. Overall, it may increase the invasive species in native areas, which in turn affects the native species of the region. See, this is all about the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the climate phenomenon called tropicalization and we saw the causes behind it and finally we saw the impacts of this phenomenon. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding our UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy. Thank you.