FAQ

Retired Justice Arumugasamy commission, which was appointed to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, submitted its report to Chief Minister MK Stalin on 27 August 2022.

• The commission was set up by the then AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu in September 2017 to inquire about the circumstances and situation leading to her hospitalisation on September 22, 2016 at the Apollo Hospital, treatment provided to her till her unfortunate demise on December 5, 2016.
• Many supporters of AIADMK party including the then Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam had raised suspicion on the death of Jayalalithaa.
• Although the commission headed by the Madras High Court retired Judge, Justice Arumugasamy was asked to submit the report after three months of its formation, its tenure was extended about 14 times over the years. 

The Supreme Court-appointed Justice Indu Malhotra Committee which probed the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab in January this year has indicated that the then Ferozepur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) failed to take requisite action. 

The report was submitted to the bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana, Justices Surya Kant, and Hima Kohli on 25 August 2022.

The Chief Justice said the court would send the report to the government for further action.

Background of the Case 

• A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli had set up a 5 member inquiry committee on 12th January 2022.
• The committee headed by Justice (Retired) Indu Malhotra was asked to investigate and fix responsibility for those responsible for the breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security in Punjab on 5th January 2022.
• The prime minister's convoy was stuck on the road overbridge near Piareana village on the Ferozepur-Moga road for nearly 20 minutes.
• The prime minister’s convoy was stranded on a flyover allegedly due to a blockade by farmers in Ferozepur after which he returned from Punjab without attending any event, including a rally.

The Reserve Bank of India issued detailed guidelines that will increase scrutiny and supervision over digital lending apps and lenders who engage with them on 10 August 2022.

Digital lenders are those entities which provide loans online. The entire process takes place online and there is no physical interface between the lender and the borrower.

Working Group on Digital lending 

RBI had set up a working group on ‘digital lending including lending through online platforms and mobile apps’ (WGDL) on January 13, 2021, with Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director, RBI as the Chairman.  

The working group was set up by the RBI after there were several complaints of malpractices by the  online lending apps.

Main points of the RBI Guidelines 

Classification of online lenders 

RBI has classified the online lenders into three categories ;

• entities regulated by the RBI and permitted to carry out lending business; 
• entities authorized to carry out lending as per other statutory/regulatory provisions but not regulated by RBI; and
•  entities lending outside the purview of any statutory/ regulatory provisions.

Guidelines applicable on which category of entities 

• RBI has said that its guidelines will be applicable on entities that are regulated by the central bank and the lending service providers (LSPs) engaged by them.
•  Lending service providers are the intermediary between the regulated entities and the borrower . In simpler terms it is an online platform which brings the lender and the borrower online.

Guidelines of RBI 

• All loan disbursals and repayments are required to be executed only between the bank accounts of the borrower and the regulated entities. It shall not be routed through any LSP or  third party.
• Any fees, charges, etc., payable to LSPs in the credit intermediation process has to be paid directly by the regulated entity and not by the borrower.
•  The all-inclusive cost of digital loans in the form of Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is required to be disclosed to the borrowers. 
• There cannot be an automatic increase in the credit limit without explicit consent of the borrower.
• Any lending sourced through DLAs(Digital Lending Apps) have to be reported to Credit Information Companies (CICs) by regulated entities irrespective of its nature or time period. This is particularly important given a number of 'buy now, pay later' players were not reporting the loans they were offering to CICs.
•  RBI has said the data collected by Digital lending Apps  (DLAs) has to be need based, they should have clear audit trails and should be only done with prior explicit consent of the borrower.

Governor of RBI : Shaktikanta Das

The Capital and Commodities markets regulator, Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on 5 August 2022, has set up a committee, which will advise it on measures to facilitate ease of doing business by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in India.

Chairman of the Committee

The 15 member committee will be headed by former chief economic adviser to the Government of India K V Subramanian.

Term of reference of the committee 

• The committee will suggest measures required to encourage FPI participation in the bond market.
• It will suggest and advice on issues related to investments and operations of such investors in the Indian financial markets.
• The panel will be required to recommend measures for simplification of FPI regulations and to advice on custodian-related matters pertaining to such foreign investors. 

What is Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI)?

• Foreign Exchange Management act 1999(FEMA) which deals with Foreign exchange has defined Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI).
• Foreign Portfolio Investment means any investment made by a person resident outside India in capital instruments where such investment is (a) less than 10 percent of the paid-up equity capital of a listed Indian company or (b) less than 10 percent of the paid up value of each series of capital instruments of a listed Indian company.
• Unlisted Company means that the Capital instrument of the company is not listed on any stock exchange and it cannot be bought and sold in the market.
• Capital Instrument means an instrument issued by a company to raise capital (money) from the market for business/investment purposes.  It includes both Shares (equity) or debenture or bonds. 

SEBI 

Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was set up on 12 April 1988 and it was given statutory status by the SEBI Act 1992 on 30 January 1992.

• It comes under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• It is the regulator of the Capital market and Commodities market in India.
• The first SEBI chairman was Dr. S A Dave (1988-90)
• Madhabi Puri Buch is the current and 10th Chairperson of the SEBI.
• Headquarters: Mumbai

The Government of India has set up a task force to monitor the monkeypox situation in India on 31 July 2022.The team will be headed by Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog and the members include the Secretary of Union Health Ministry, Pharma and Biotech.

The Task force will monitor and provide guidance to the government on the expansion of the diagnostic facilities and vaccination development on monkeypox in the county. 

• The first monkeypox related death was reported from Kerala when a youth who tested positive in a test conducted in foreign country died on 30 July 2022. Till date four cases have been reported in India, three in Kerala and one in Delhi.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 18,000 cases have been reported from 78 countries. 
• Who declared monkey pox as a "public health emergency of international concern on 23 July 2022.
• Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same family of viruses that causes smallpox.
•  The disease is endemic in regions like West and Central Africa but lately, cases have been reported from non-endemic countries too.
• The first death outside Africa due to monkeypox was reported in Brazil and since then it has been reported in Spain and other countries.

For details kindly see 23 July 2022 post.

The government of India on 18 July 2022 notified the formation of a committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP). The committee has been formed eight months after the government promised to set up such a panel while withdrawing the three contentious farm laws in 2021.

The committee will be headed by the former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal.

Background to the issue 

The government has made a provision to include three members from Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) as part of the committee but the farm organisation has so far not given any names to be part of the panel.

Under the leadership of SKM, thousands of farmers had held around one year-long agitation at Delhi borders and forced the government to withdraw the farm laws.

While announcing the repeal of three farm laws in November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to set up a committee to discuss the farmers’ demand for a legal guarantee on MSP.

For detail kindly see 25 November 2021 post 

Members of the committee 

The panel will comprise Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand, agri-economists CSC Shekhar from Indian Institute of Economic Development and Sukhpal Singh from IIM- Ahmedabad and Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) senior member Naveen P Singh.

Among farmer representatives, the committee will have National award-winning farmer Bharat Bhushan Tyagi, three members from SKM, and five members from other farmer organisations include Gunwant Patil, Krishnaveer Choudhary, Pramod Kumar Choudhary, Guni Prakash and Sayyed Pasha Patel.

Two members of the farmers’ Cooperative and group include IFFCO Chairman Dilip Sanghani and CNRI General Secretary Binod Anand are also part of the committee.

Senior members of agricultural universities, five central government secretaries and chief secretaries of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha are also part of the committee.

Function of the Committee

The committee will suggest to the government how to make the MSP system more efficient and transparent and also to “make available MSPs to farmers of the country.

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

MSP is the minimum price at which the government guarantees to buy the selected crops from the farmer. This is done to assure farmers that their produce will be bought by the government at a guaranteed price. 

However, the government is not bound to buy the crops of every farmer. 

Who decides MSP 

The MSP price is calculated by an expert committee under the ministry of Agriculture. 

The expert committee is called CACP (Commission for Agricultural Costs and Price). 

It recommends the MSP to the Agricultural ministry and the ministry announces the MSP.

 However the Agricultural Ministry is not bound to accept the recommendation of the CACP. 

When is MSP announced 

MSP is announced by the Agricultural ministry twice a year. One during Kharif season and another during Rabi season. 

Crops under MSP

The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) recommends MSPs for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.

The mandated crops are;

Cereals - Paddy, Wheat, Maize, Sorghum, Pearl millet, Barley, Ragi

Pulses - Chickpea / Gram, Tur, Moong, Urad, Lentil

Oilseeds - Peanut, Rapeseed, Soyabean, Sesame, Sunflower, Safflower, Niger seed

Commercial crops - Copra, Sugarcane, Cotton, Raw jute

Capital market regulator SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) has set up an advisory committee on hybrid securities, which will make recommendations for giving a push to the growth of such instruments, including measures focusing on ease of issuance and attracting domestic and global capital.

Hybrid instruments are financial instruments which include the features of both equity shares and debt instruments. 

Chairman of the committee

The 20-member committee will be chaired by K V Kamath, Chairperson of National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development.

In addition, the committee comprises top level officials of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), finance as well as legal experts and representatives of SEBI.

REITs (Real Estate Investment Trust) and InvITs (Infrastructure and Investment Funds) are classified as hybrid securities and they are relatively new investment instruments in the Indian context.

Function of the committee

The committee has been given the task of advising SEBI on issues related to development and regulation of primary and secondary markets of hybrid securities in the country.

It will identify use case scenarios of hybrid securities in the context of the infrastructure financing needs of the Indian economy and make recommendations for developing instruments to meet the needs of the infrastructure sector

SEBI 

Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was set up on 12 April 1988 and it was given statutory status by the SEBI Act 1992 on 30 January 1992.

• It comes under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• It is the regulator of the Capital market and Commodities market in India.
• The first SEBI chairman was Dr. S A Dave (1988-90)
• Madhabi Puri Buch is the current and 10th Chairperson of the SEBI.

The Pushkar Singh Dhami led Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP) government in Uttarakhand has set up a five-member committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to prepare a draft on implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state on 27 May 2022. It was one of the promises made by the BJP during the recently held Assembly election.

 The Chairman of the committee is a retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai and the other members of the committee are;

• retd. Judge ,Pramod Kohli ,
•  social activist Manu Gaur,
•  retired IAS, Shatrughan Singh and
•  Doon University Vice- Chancellor Surekha Dangwal.

The panel will examine all relevant laws governing civil affairs of people living in the state and prepare a report on all applicable laws related to marriage, divorce, property rights, succession and adoption among others.

Uniform Civil Code 

• Article 44 of the constitution provides for a Uniform Civil code for India. The civil code will provide one law for the citizens of India regarding marriage, divorce, succession of property, etc.
• So far only Goa has a Uniform Civil Code.
• In the rest of the country, Hindus, Muslims, Christians etc are governed by their own community laws.
• Many minorities groups are opposing the idea of a uniform civil code as they feel that they will have to give up their tradition and customs under the common civil code and they will lose their identity. 
• It is different from the Criminal code.  There is a common criminal law in India where people are not discriminated against on the ground of religion.

For a detailed view on Uniform Civil Code Kindly see November 2021 post 

After ten years an Indian Anwar Hussain Shaik has been made the chairman of the World Trade Organisation’s committee on Technical Barriers on Trade. 

He is currently posted to the Permanent Mission of India to the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland.

WTO (World Trade Organisation) members use this committee to discuss specific trade concerns, specific laws, regulations or procedures that affect their trade, usually in response to notifications issued by the member countries.

The Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement aims to ensure that technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade.

World Trade Organisation (WTO) 

• It was set up on 1^st January 1995 replacing the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT).
• Its main purpose is to promote rule based trading systems in the world and it also settles trade related disputes between the member countries. 
•  The headquarters of WTO is in Geneva, Switzerland.
• There are 164 member countries.
• Director General of WTO : Dr Ngozi -Okonjo-Iweala of of Nigeria
• Report released by WTO : World Trade Report 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on May 23 set up a six-member committee to examine and review customer services in regulated entities like Banks and Non -Banking Financial Company (NBFC) with an aim to protect the interests of customers.

The committee will also look into the adequacy of customer service regulations and suggest measures to improve customer service

The committee, which will be chaired by former RBI deputy governor BP Kanungo, will submit its report in three months from the date of its first meeting.

Other members of the panel are: 

A K Goel (Chairman IBA and MD & CEO, PNB),

A S Ramasastri (former Director, IDRBT), 

Amitha Sehgal (Honorary Secretary, AIBDA), 

Rajeshri N Varhadi (Professor, University of Mumbai), and

Anil Kumar Sharma (Executive Director, RBI).

Full form for Exam 

IDRBT: Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology 

AIBDA: All India Bank Depositors Association 

IBA: Indian Bank Association