 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu Newspaper Analysis brought to you by Shankar Ayesh Academy. Today's date is 1st of October 2022. So, displayed here are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So, without much delay, let us get into the first news article discussion. Now, look at this news article from yesterday's newspaper. This text and context article talks about the draft telecommunication bill 2022. The article covers almost every aspects of the bill. So, without wasting much time, let's start the discussion. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this news article is highlighted for your reference. Just go through it. First, let us start our discussion by seeing what is the need for the new draft telecommunication bill 2022. See, the first reason is the telecom sector is fast evolving but the laws that govern the sector are outdated. See, currently the sector is governed by three legislations. They are the Indian telegraph act which was enacted in 1885, the Indian wireless telegraphy act which was enacted in 1933 and the telegraph wireless unlawful position act which was enacted in 1950. These laws are pretty outdated to deal with the fast evolving telecommunication sector and this is the first reason for drafting the new telecommunication bill. The second reason is to provide a level playing field between the telecom service providers, TSP and the over the top that is OTT communication service providers. Here, TSP includes telecommunication companies like GEO, YATL and BSNL and the OTT communication service providers includes apps like WhatsApp, Signal, DO, Telegram and Facebook Messenger. See, few years back before the advent of WhatsApp, we used only voice calls and SMS for our daily communication, right? So, when we use voice call and SMS, it is the TSP who makes the money. This is fair because it is the TSP who creates the necessary infrastructure to make it possible. The TSP are the one who purchase spectrum through auction and they are the one who build and maintain telecom towers. But after the advent of OTT communication services like WhatsApp, we can make calls using the internet and messaging through SMS has become absolute. Due to this, the TSP has been losing their revenue. See, internet access which makes the functioning of OTT communication service providers possible is built on the infrastructure developed by the TSP's. So, the TSP's are of the view that by providing better internet services, they are fueling the growth of their bigger rivals, which is the OTT communication service providers. So, they want to create a level playing field. So, to address this fair request, the draft telecommunication bill 2022 proposes to include OTT communication services under the definition of telecommunication services. So, if the OTT communication services are included under the definition of telecommunication services, then they will have to obtain the license to operate in India. Then they have to maintain know your customer details of their users. That is right now, we need to submit our other or address proof to get a SIM card, right? This will be extended to OTT communication services like WhatsApp also. This will help the government trace the origin of fake news in WhatsApp. Finally, if the OTT communication services are included under the definition of telecommunication services, then they must allow the government to access their equipment and networks, okay? Now, the third main reason is to ensure consumer protection. See, the issue of spam calls and fraudulent calls has increased in recent times. So, to address this problem, the government through the draft bill proposes that the identity of the person communicating using any form of telecommunication services shall be available to the user receiving such communication. See, right now, if you receive a call from an unknown number, only the number will be displayed, right? But the draft bill proposes that instead of a number, the name under which the connection has been taken will be displayed if you receive a call from an unknown number. Remember, this provision is not only for voice calls, but also SMS and calls made through OTT communication services. This will help in curbing fraudulent calls. Then, to address spam calls and spam messages, the draft bill also provides that communications of commercial nature like advertisement and promotion should be made only with the prior consent of a subscriber or the consumer. The government will take stringent consequences against the companies that violate this clause. See, earlier this was dealt with by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, that is TRI, but the draft bill takes it out from the purview of TRI and gives the government the power to take stringent measures against violators. Now, the fourth major reason for introducing the draft bill is to increase network connectivity in India. See, currently, cell phone towers density in India is low. One reason for low density is unavailability of space for construction of cell phone towers. To address this, the draft bill proposes that the land owned by a public entity should be available ready for the construction of towers. The access to construction in land owned by a public entity can only be denied if there is strong reason for refusal. Now, the last major reason for drafting this new bill is to ensure that the spectrum allocation procedure is simplified. See, the bill lays down that the primary route for allocation of spectrum is auction. Once the TSP obtains the spectrum through auction, the bill simplifies the procedure for sharing, trading, leasing, surrendering or returning of unutilized spectrum. So, these are major reasons for drafting a new telecommunication bill, but note that bill is not without its fault. So, now let's see what are the faults in the bill. The first one is regarding internet shadow. See, the draft bill has a specific provision enabling the government to order suspension of the internet. See, the bill basically says that the government has the ultimate authority when it comes to internet shutdown with no judicial oversight. This provision goes against the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Information Technology. The second issue is regarding the provision that says land owned by the public entity should be available ready for the construction of towers. See, we know that land is a state's matter, right? So, the state government might see this as an encroachment upon their rights. The last and the major issue with the draft bill is that it seeks to dilute the role of TROI. See, the bill seeks to turn TROI from regulatory body to recommendation body. First, the government would no longer be required to seek recommendations from the TROI before issuing license. Secondly, the bill also removes the power of the TROI to request from the government information or documents that are necessary to make such recommendations. See, this is against international best practices. See, world over, while the power of telecom regulators are increased to protect the interest of the consumers, diluting the power of TROI looks mindless. So, that's all about this news article discussion. So, in this news article discussion, we saw in detail about the draft telecommunication bill 2022. We saw some of the reasons why this bill is necessary. Then we saw some of the flaws in the bill. So, with these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Have a look at this news article. See, this news article talks about the Monetary Policy Committee. In short, we call this committee as MPC. See, yesterday the Monetary Policy Committee of RBI has raised the rapport rate by 50 basis points to 5.9% from 5.40%. And this is because of the high inflation prevailing in the country. So, this is the crux of the news article given here. So, in this background, let us learn some of the important points about Monetary Policy Committee in detail. See, the Monetary Policy Committee that is MPC was constituted by the central government under the RBI Act of 1934. Note that the MPC was first proposed by the Urjit Patel Committee and remember the MPC is assisted by the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Department to formulate the Monetary Policy. So, what does the term Monetary Policy mean here? See, the Monetary Policy is a set of tools used by a nation's central bank. Here in India's case, it is RBI to control the overall money supply and promote economic growth. So, we call that as Monetary Policy. The Monetary Policy also employs strategies such as revising interest rates and changing bank reserve requirements to control the money supply. And all these are done to achieve the ultimate objective of economic policy. So, the decision of MPC to raise the report rate by 50 basis point is also a Monetary Policy. So, having this basic understanding, let us see the composition of this MPC. See, the MPC is a six-member panel, including Cha person. It consists of three members from the RBI and three independent members. So, let us see who are they. First is the governor of RBI. He is the ex-officio chairman of MPC. Then comes the deputy governor of RBI. He or she is in charge of Monetary Policy and that person will serve as an ex-officio member of MPC as well. Then comes the executive director of the RBI who is in charge of Monetary Policy. He also serves as an ex-officio member of MPC. Now, lastly, there are three persons who are appointed by the central government. They serve as independent members of MPC. Here, you should note that the three independent members are selected by a search comm selection committee which would be headed by the cabinet secretary of India and the other members including RBI governor and economic affairs secretary. So, know that the three independent members should be expert in the field of economic or banking or finance or monetary policy. Also, note that the term independent means a person who is not an employee of the central government or the bank. See, make note of these minute points and remember the independent member of MPC will be appointed for a period of four years and they should not be eligible for reappointment. Now, talking about the meeting of MPC, see the MPC is required to meet at least four times in a year and the quorum for the meeting is four members. Remember, each member has one vote and in the event of an equality of votes, the governor has a second vote or casting vote. Okay, now let us see in brief about the functions of MPC. See, their main function is to determine the policy rate which is required to achieve the inflation target and to control the money supply in the economy. Also, note that the decision of MPC will be binding on the banks. So, that's all about this news article discussion. See, in this news article discussion, we saw about MPC, its functions, then we saw about the composition of MPC and then we saw about the meeting of MPC. So, with these learnt points, let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now, have a look at this news article. See, this news article speaks about Eurozone. Now, this is in news because the inflation rate in Eurozone has hit a new record high of 10% in September. Now, the surprising fact is that even the EuroSTAT data showed that the inflation was 9.1% in August and the inflation projected for September was 9.7%. So, this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us learn some of the important points about Eurozone. See, the Eurozone which is officially called as Euroarea is a group of 19 member states of the European Union which have fully implemented the Economic and Monetary Union that is EMU of the European Union. So, here what is this Economic and Monetary Union? See, the Economic and Monetary Union that is EMU is a group of policies that include economic policy, fiscal policy, common monetary policy and a common currency policy which are aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union. The decision to form an EMU was taken by the European Council in 1991 through the Maastricht Treaty. Through this treaty, a number of member states have replaced their national currencies with a single common currency, the Euro. So, these member states, they form the Euroarea or Eurozone countries. And remember when Euro was first introduced in 1999, only 11 of the 15 European Union member states joined the Eurozone. But today the Eurozone consists of 19 European Union member states out of 27 European Union member states. Note that the other 8 members of the European Union continue to use their own national currencies and most of them have agreed to adopt the Euro in the future. But you have to remember this also, recently only the UK formally lift the European Union on 31st January 2020. Now the monetary policy of the European zone is in the hands of the independent Euro system. Now this comprises the European Central Bank, ECB and the national central banks of the Eurozone member states. So, these are all some of the important points that you have to know about Eurozone. Now let us see some of the conditions that are required to join in Eurozone. See first is the price stability. This ensures that inflation is under control and the consumer price inflation rate should not be more than 1.5 percentage of the top three lowest inflation having countries of Eurozone. Okay, now the second condition is the sound and sustainable public finances. Here they are talking about the government deficit, it should not be more than 3 percentage of GDP and government debt should not exceed 60 percentage of GDP except for certain extreme cases. Now the third condition is the exchange rate stability. That is the exchange rate must be stable and finally long-term interest rates. It indicates that the interest rate should not be more than 2 percentage as compared to the first three lowest interest rate having countries. Okay, so that is all about this news article. In this news article we saw about Eurozone. Eurozone is nothing but a group of 19 member states of the European Union which have fully implemented the economic and monetary union of the European Union. Now this economic and monetary union is a group of policies that include economic policy, financial policy, common monetary policy and a common currency policy which are aimed at converging the economies of member states of the European Union. So by implementing EMU the member states have replaced their national currencies with a single common currency that is the Euro. So the member states that uses the single common currency the Euro forms the Eurozone or the Euro area. Okay, then we saw about the conditions to join the Eurozone. First is price stability. Then comes the sound and sustainable public finances. Then exchange rate stability is in condition and finally is the long-term interest rates. So these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now let us take up this news article. See this news article speaks about foreign exchange management act 1999. This act is in use because the competent authority appointed under the foreign exchange management act has confirmed the order that was issued by enforcement directorate. The order of ED provided for the seizure of rupees 5551.27 crore from the ZOME Technology India Private Limiter. This order was made because the company has transferred the set rupees out of India in an unauthorized manner which is violation of section 4 of the FEMA. So this is the crux of the news article given here. So in this context let us learn about FEMA and we shall see some of the important provisions of FEMA. See this foreign exchange management act 1999 was proposed as an act to consolidate and amend the law relating to foreign exchange with objective of amending the law relating to foreign exchange. Its objective is to facilitate external trade and payments and to promote the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India. Remember this act replaced the foreign exchange regulation act of 1973 and it came into force in first June 2000 and it is to be noted that the act extends to the whole of India. Also know that the head office of the FEMA is located in New Delhi. It is also known as enforcement directorate and is headed by a director. It has five zonal offices which is located in Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and Jalandhar each of which is headed by deputy director. So these are all some of the important points regarding FEMA. Now let us discuss some of the important provisions of the act. See section 3 of the act is about dealing in foreign exchange. It says that no person can deal in any foreign exchange or foreign security except an authorized person and it also says that nobody can make any payment or credit to any person residing outside India in any manner and it says that nobody can also receive any payment on behalf of any person residing outside India in any manner. So here the reserve bank may authorize any person to be an authorized person to deal in foreign exchange or in foreign securities. Now coming to the section 4, see section 4 of the act puts certain restrictions on holding of foreign exchanges. It says that no person residing in India shall acquire, hold, own, possess or transfer any foreign exchange, foreign security or any immovable property situated outside India. Then talking about section 5, see section 5 talks about the restriction on current account transactions. Here the current account transactions includes payment due in connection with foreign trade, other current businesses, services etc. Here the payments due includes interest on loans, net income from investments, remittances for living expenses of parents, spouse and children residing abroad and expenses in connection with foreign travel, education and medical care of parents, spouse and children. And then it says that the central government in public interest and in consultation with the reserve bank can impose reasonable restriction on such transactions. And remember such restrictions can be imposed even if a deal is done with the authorized person. So these are all some of the important provisions that you have to make note of with respect to FEMA. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about foreign exchange management act. Then we saw about the enforcing agency. Then we saw three important sections that you have to make note of. So with these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now look at this news article. See this news article says that SEBI tightened the initial public offering that is IPO norms. So what is IPO here? See IPO is a process by which a privately held company or a company owned by the government raises fund by selling shares to the public or to new investors. See basically SEBI has made the norms relating to IPO stricter. That is why it is in news. So in this context let us learn some of the important points about SEBI. See the SEBI or the Securities and Exchange Board of India was constituted as a non-statutory body. This was on April 12, 1988 through a resolution of the government of India. Then the SEBI was established as a statutory body in the year 1992. Note that the provision of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act 1992 came into force on January 30, 1992. The basic functions of this SEBI or first is to protect the interest of investors and securities. Then to promote the development of securities market, thoroughly to regulate the securities market and some of its other functions include regulating the business in stock exchanges and any other securities markets. Then registering and regulating the working of stock brokers, sub brokers, share transfer agents and other intermediaries are also functions of SEBI and some of other functions of SEBI are given here for your reference. Just go through it. So in addition to this let us discuss some of the important points about the securities appellate tribunal. See securities appellate tribunal is a statutory body. It was established under the provision of Section 15K of the SEBI Act 1992. So what is the purpose of this appellate tribunal? See its purpose are first to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by the SEBI. Second is to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by an adjudicating officer under the Act. Third is to exercise jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on the tribunal by the SEBI Act or any other laws for the time being enforced. Fourthly after a government notification, this sat hears and disposes of appeals against orders passed by the pension fund regulatory and development authority which is in short called as PFRDA and this is under PFRDA Act 2013. And fifthly after another government notification sat hears and disposes of appeals against orders passed by the insurance regulatory development authority of India IRDAI. So these are all some of the important points that you have to make note of from this news article. So in this news article discussion we saw about SEBI. SEBI was constituted earlier as non-statutory body but later it was established as a statutory body in the year 1992. Then we saw some of the important functions of SEBI. Its function is to protect the interest of the investors in securities then promote the development of securities market and to regulate the securities market. Then we saw about securities appellate tribunal. It is a statutory body and its purpose is to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by the SEBI. Then we saw some of its functions as well. So these learnt points. Now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Now look at this first question. This question is about Eurozone. Statement one all the member states of the European Union or the members of Eurozone. Statement two Euro is used as a common currency in Eurozone countries. So you have to choose the correct statement here. Option A one only. Option B two only. Option C both one and two and option D neither one nor two. See the correct answer for the question is option B two only. Statement one is wrong because only 19 members out of 27 European Union member states are the part of Eurozone. So the first statement is incorrect and the second statement is correct because in our discussion we saw that Euro is used as a common currency in Eurozone countries. So other countries in European Union they are using their own national currencies. So this statement is correct. So the correct answer for the question is option B two only. Now moving on. This question is about Securities Appalachabunal. Statement one the presiding officer of SAT will be appointed by the central government in consultation with the governor of RBI. And statement two if any person feels aggravated by SAT's decision or order they can appeal to the high court. Each of the statement given above is correct. Option A one only. Option B two only. Option C both one and two and option D neither one nor two. See the correct answer for the question is option D neither one nor two. Statement one is incorrect because the presiding officer of SAT shall be appointed by the central government in consultation with the chief justice of India or his nominee but not the governor of RBI. So this statement is incorrect. Statement two is also incorrect because any person feels aggravated by SAT's decision or order they can appeal to the Supreme Court. So this statement is incorrect. So the correct answer for the question is option D neither one nor two. Now two questions displayed here or the quiz question for you. The first question is about MPC. This is a previous question. Try to solve it and post the correct answer in the comment section. And this second question is regarding the FEMA Act. Try to answer this question also. So the question displayed here is the mains practice question for you today. Just go through the question, write an answer and post it in the comment section. So with this we came to the end of the news article discussion. 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