UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 19th November 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

In his address to the Indian diaspora in Bali on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the annual Baliyatra on the banks of the Mahanadi in Cuttack, which celebrates the ancient trade relations between India and Indonesia.

About:

• It literally means ‘voyage to Bali’.
• It is one of the country’s largest open-air fairs that commemorates the 2,000-year-old maritime and cultural links between ancient Kalinga (today’s Odisha) and Bali and other South and Southeast Asian regions like Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Burma (Myanmar) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
• This year’s Baliyatra, which concluded recently also found a place in the Guinness World Records for achieving an impressive feat of origami, the creation of beautiful paper sculptures.
• The festival is organised by the Cuttack district administration and Cuttack Municipal Corporation in association with several other government agencies.

Origins of the festival:

• The origins of the festival, which begins on Kartik Purnima (full moon night in the month of Kartik) can be traced back more than 1,000 years.
• The Bay of Bengal region had several ports, and sadhavas (traders) traditionally began their voyage across the sea on this auspicious day, when the winds were favourable for the boats, known as boita, to sail.
• According to historians, popular items of trade between Kalinga and Southeast Asia included pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, silk, camphor, gold, and jewellery.
• Even today, thousands of people across Odisha sail decorative miniature boats made of banana stems, paper, or thermocol to celebrate boita bandana, or the worshipping of the boats.

Source: Indian Express

Context

On November 16, events to commemorate the martyrdom of Uda Devi, a freedom fighter from the Pasi community, were held at various places in Uttar Pradesh.

About:

• She was born in Ujirao, Lucknow.
• She was part of the royal guard of Begum Hazrat Mahal of Awadh.
• Uda Devi is remembered not only for her stories of valour but also for her skill as a leader who managed to mobilise people — specially Dalit women — to take up arms against the British.
• On November 16, 1857, Uda Devi was among the soldiers who clashed with the British regiment stationed near the Gomti River.
• She formed an all-women battalion, today called the Dalit Veeranganas, to take part in armed uprisings against the British.
• Devi belonged to the Pasi community, which was labelled a ‘criminal caste’ by the British administration under the Criminal Tributes Act, 1871.

Pasis:

• Pasis are traditionally pig-herders and toddy tappers and were listed as the second-largest Dalit group in Uttar Pradesh after the 2001 census.

Source: Indian Express

GS-II

Context

In recent years, there has been an erosion of constitutional provisions, constitutional morality, and constitutional ethos being witnessed among various constitutional bodies. The conduct of the Governors of some States has made a mockery of the Constitution and its limitations.

Constituent assembly debates about the Governor

• Exercise of Power according to constitution: In 1949, Prof. K.T. Shah debating Article 130 (now Article 154) said: “the Constitution should make it imperative upon the Governor to use its power in accordance with the Constitution and the Law, that is to say, on the advice of his Ministers as provided for in the subsequent clauses and in other parts of the Constitution.”
• Appointment of governor by president: It was hotly debated whether the Governor should be appointed by the President of India or should be elected. Fearing that this would create a parallel State leadership, the Assembly instead adopted appointment by the President.
• Good governor and Bad Governor: G. Kher said: “a Governor can do a great deal of good if he is a good Governor and he can do a great deal of mischief, if he is a bad Governor, in spite of the very little power given to him under the Constitution”
• Friendly intervention of the Governor: K. Sen said, “The question is whether by interfering, the Governor would be upholding the democratic idea or subverting it. It would really be a surrender of democracy. We have decided that the Governor should be a constitutional head. He would be the person really to lubricate the machinery and to see to it that all the wheels are going well by reason not of his interference, but his friendly intervention.”
• Aid and advice of cabinet: R. Ambedkar said, according to the principles of the New Constitution, Governor is required to follow the advice of his ministry in all matters. Therefore, the real issue before the House is not nomination or election, but what powers you propose to give to your Governor.
• Nomination of governor and not election: If the Governor is a purely constitutional Governor with no more powers than what we contemplate expressly to give him in the Act. I personally do not see any very fundamental objection to the principle of nomination.”

• Constitutional Provision Regarding Governor

• Article 153: Provides a Governor for each State, and by virtue of Article 154, the executive power of the State shall be vested in the Governor “Shall be exercised by him directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with this Constitution”.
• Article 154(2)(a): Prohibits the Governor from exercising any function “conferred by existing law on any other Authority”.
• Article 163: Categorically provides that “there shall be a council of ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor… except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his function or any of them in his discretion”.

How governor ideally supposed to conduct his duty?

• Shamsher Singh vs State of Punjab: The Supreme Court, in Shamsher Singh vs State of Punjab, decided on this issue in 1974: The Governor exercises “all his powers and functions” by making rules for the convenient transactions of the business of the government of the State in accordance with Article 166 of the Constitution. These are called Rules of Business.
• Satisfaction of governor is satisfaction of cabinet: The Court however amplified that “wherever the constitution requires satisfaction of the President or the Governor for the exercise of any power or function by the President or the Governor, as the case may be, as for example in Articles 123, 213, 311(2) proviso (c), 317, 352(1), 356 and 360. The satisfaction required by the Constitution …. is the satisfaction of the President or of the Governor in the Constitutional sense under the Cabinet system of the Government”.
• Use of discretion in harmony with council of ministers: The Court went on to hold that “the discretion conferred on the Governor means that as the Constitutional or the formal head of the State, the power is vested in him” and that it is only in the exercise of the power under Article 356 that the Governor will be justified in exercising his discretion even against the aid and advice of his council of ministers as per his discretionary power but, in all other matters where the Governor acts in his discretion, he will act in harmony with his Council of Ministers
• No parallel administration by governor: The Constitution does not aim at providing a parallel administration. The basic philosophy is that in a democracy, the elected Ministers must accept responsibility for every executive act and that the Council of Ministers alone represents a responsible form of government in the States.

Conclusion

Governor’s role is to assist the Chief minister of state and not creating the trouble for Chief Minister. Governor should not act in a manner that undermines the dignity of constitutional post of Governor. Governor must follow the constitutional morality while discharging his duty.

Source: The Hindu

Context

A truly representative democracy seeks adequate representation of women in politics. India is the largest and one of the most resilient parliamentary democracies in the world. Women’s representation in India’s Parliament has improved since independence. It is an important metric to evaluate progress in bridging gender inequalities in the country.

Background: Gender Inequality in Politics

• Women historically been Politically marginalized: Women, who constitute almost one-half of the world’s population (49.58 percent), have historically been politically marginalized in both developed and developing nations.
• Beginning of social reforms: From the mid-19^thcentury onwards, however, social movements have succeeded in effecting widespread reforms.
• UN charter: The charter of the United Nations Organization (UNO, started in 1945) supported women’s rights.
• International Bill of Rights for women: With the rise of feminist movements of the 1960s and ‘70s, the UN General Assembly in 1979 adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), often considered as an International Bill of Rights for women. In the Convention, Article 7 upholds women’s right to hold political and public office.
• Millennium development goals (MDGs), included gender equality: In 2000, UN member states adopted the Millennium Declaration and outlined eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to be achieved by 2015, which included promoting gender equality.
• Empowering women under Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): In January 2016 the initiative was extended to pursue 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of which Goal 5 seeks to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, ensuring “women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.”

The present status of Women representation in politics worldwide.

• Representative governments increased but women count remains low: According to UN Women, as of September 2022, there were 30 women serving as elected heads of state and/or of government in 28 countries (out of a total of 193 UN member states).
• Dichotomy in active participation: There is the dichotomy between the rapid increase of women’s participation as voters in elections and other political activities, and the slow rise of female representation in Parliament.
• Global average women representation: As of May 2022, the global average of female representation in national parliaments was 26.2 percent.
• Above average representation: The Americas, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa have women’s representation above the global average;
• Below average representation: Asia, the Pacific region, and the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region, are below average.

Varied representation within Asian countries:

• The South Asian countries faring worse than the others.
• IPU data of May 2022 showed that women’s representation in Nepal, for example, was 34 percent, in Bangladesh 21 percent, in Pakistan 20 percent, in Bhutan 17 percent and in Sri Lanka 5 percent.
• For India, women’s representation in the Lok Sabha (the Lower House) has remained slightly below 15 percent.
• The study does not include Afghanistan, but World Bank data of 2021 stated that female representation in the country’s last parliament was 27 percent.

Journey of Women’s Political Participation in India 

• Before Independence: India has a history of marginalization and exploitation of women framed by patriarchal social structures and mindsets.
• Beginning of social reforms and participation in Freedom struggle: The Indian freedom movement, starting with the swadeshi in Bengal (1905-08) also witnessed the impressive participation of women, who organized political demonstrations and mobilized resources, as well as occupied leadership positions in those movements.
• Post-Independence: After India attained independence, its Constitution guaranteed equal status for men and women in all political, social and economic spheres.

Equality guaranteed by The Constitution:

• Part III of the Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights of men and women.
• The Directive Principles of State Policy ensure economic empowerment by providing for equal pay for equal work by both men and women, humane conditions of work, and maternity relief.
• Any Indian citizen who is registered as a voter and is over 25, can contest elections to the lower house of Parliament (Lok Sabha) or the state legislative assemblies; for the upper house (Rajya Sabha) the minimum age is 30.
• Articles 325 and 326 of the Constitution guarantee political equality and the right to vote.

Reservation for women in local bodies: In 1992, the 73^rdand 74^th amendments to the Constitution provided for reservation of one-third of the total number of seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and municipal bodies

Three main parameters to assess women’s participation in politics in India

• Women as Voters: In the last Lok Sabha election of 2019, almost as many women voted as men a watershed in India’s progress towards gender equality in politics which has been called a “silent revolution of self-empowerment The increased participation, especially since the 1990s, is attributed to a number of factors.
• Women as Candidates: Overall, however, while women candidates in parliamentary elections have increased over time their proportion compared to male candidates remains low. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, of the total of 8,049 candidates in the fray, less than 9 percent were women.
• Women’s Representation in Parliament: Although women’s participation as voters in elections has increased significantly, the data on women’s representation in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha suggests that the proportion of women representatives has remained low in comparison to their male counterparts.

Just to know:  

• The highest proportion of women representatives elected to the Lok Sabha so far was in the 2019 elections, and it was less than 15 percent of total
• The number of women candidates and MPs varies greatly across states and parties.
• In the present Lok Sabha (17^th), Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have the highest numbers of women MPs. In terms of percentage, Goa and Manipur had fielded the highest proportion of women candidates.

Why female representation in Parliament and state legislatures remained low?

• Inaccessibility of Institutions: Election records show that most political parties, though pledging in their constitutions to provide adequate representation to women, in practice give far too few party tickets to women candidates. A study found that a large section of women who do get party tickets have family political connections, or are ‘dynastic’ politicians. With normal routes of accessibility limited, such connections are often an entry point for women
• Notion of women less likely to win: It is still widely held in political circles that women candidates are less likely to win elections than men, which leads to political parties giving them fewer tickets.
• Challenging Structural Conditions: Election campaigns in India are extremely demanding and time-consuming. Women politicians, with family commitments and the responsibilities of child care, often find it difficult to fully participate
• Highly vulnerable: Women politicians have been constantly subjected to humiliation, inappropriate comments, abuse and threats of abuse, making participation and contesting elections extremely challenging.
• Expensive electoral system: Financing is also an obstacle as many women are financially dependent on their families. Fighting parliamentary elections can be extremely expensive, and massive financial resources are required to be able to put up a formidable contest. Absent adequate support from their parties, women candidates are compelled to arrange for their own campaign financing this is a huge challenge that deters their participation
• Internalized patriarchy: A phenomenon known as ‘internalized patriarchy’ where many women consider it their duty to priorities family and household over political ambitions.

Why women participation in law making process is so important?

• Political empowerment: Legislative representation is fundamental to political empowerment, enabling participation in the law-making process. Legislatures play a vital role in raising debates and discussions on various aspects of governance and in exacting accountability from the government.
• Shows the status of gender parity: Women’s representation in the national parliament is a key indicator of the extent of gender equality in parliamentary politics.
• Women bring different skills to politics: According to Political scientist, Anne “women bring different skills to politics and provide role models for future generations; they appeal to justice between sexes.
• Facilitates specific interests of women in policy: Their inclusion in politics facilitates representation of the specific interests of women in state policy and creates conditions for a revitalized democracy that bridges the gap between representation and participation.
• Highly effective and less likely to be criminal and corrupt: Study found that, women legislators perform better in their constituencies on economic indicators than their male counterparts also women legislators are less likely to be criminal and corrupt, more efficacious, and less vulnerable to political opportunism.

Way ahead

• It should be made legally obligatory for every registered political party to give one-third of the total number of party tickets it distributes at every election to women. The Representation of People Act, 1950, will have to be amended to enable this strategy.
• Second, if the party-level reform proves difficult, the Women’s Reservation Bill 2008 which mandated reservation of one-third of parliamentary and state assembly seats for women will have to be revived.

Notes in short: Can be used in answers, essays and debates accordingly.

• Despite strong patriarchal norms, the country is seeing an increase in women’s political participation, parallel to higher levels of education and growing financial independence.
• The number of women contesting parliamentary and state legislative elections remains limited.
• Where constitutionally mandated reservation of seats for women has been provided at the local self-government level, women’s representation has increased.
• However, political parties, the primary vehicle of electoral politics, remain largely inaccessible for women to contest parliamentary and legislative elections even after 75 years of Indian independence.

Conclusion

The organic shift to opening up spaces for women in Indian parliamentary politics has been slow. More women are needed in these platforms to transform the discourse on governance and policy-making, and bring India closer to becoming a truly inclusive and representative democracy.

Source: The Hindu

GS-III

Context

• The Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) recently released the new draft - the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022.
• Some of the significant aspects of the revised Bill include:
  • easing cross-border data transfers,
  • increasing penalties for data breaches and noncompliance,
  • allowing the government to exempt state agencies from the law in the interests of national security.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022:

Background:

• The revised draft was released after the government withdrew an earlier version that sparked outrage from Big Tech and civil society.
• Original bill (2019): It was prepared by retired Supreme Court Justice B N Srikrishna, to provide for protection of personal data of individuals and establish a Data Protection Authority for the same.
• The new draft, which has 30 provisions (against more than 90 in the 2019 bill), is now open for public comment, and the final version is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament during the Budget session next year.

Salient provisions in the new draft:

• Purpose limitations, specified grounds for collecting and processing of personal data.
• A Data Protection Board as the adjudicating body to enforce the provisions of the Bill.
• Offers significant concessions on cross-border data flows.
  • The Centre will notify regions, based on their data security landscape, to which data of Indians can be transferred.
  • The previous Bill required businesses to keep a copy of some "sensitive personal data" within India and prohibits the export of undefined "critical" personal data from the country.
    • It was one of the most serious issues raised by IT
  • The new Bill takes a softer stance on data localisation rules and allows data flow to specific worldwide destinations based on predetermined evaluations.
• Companies will no longer be required to retain user data, which no longer serves its business purpose.
• Users will have the right to have their personal data in the custody of enterprises corrected and erased.
• Companies should not process personal data that is “likely to cause harm” to children (less than 18 years of age) and cannot run targeted advertising on children.
• National security-related exemptions have been kept intact. The Centre has been empowered to exempt its agencies from adhering to provisions of the Bill in the interest of -
  • Sovereignty and integrity of India,
  • Security of the state,
  • Friendly relations with foreign states,
  • Maintenance of public order or preventing incitement to any cognisable offence.
• Keeping in mind the start-up ecosystem of the country, the government could also exempt certain businesses from adhering to provisions of the Bill on the basis of volume of users and personal data processed.
• Penalties for companies: Ranging from Rs 50 crore to Rs 500 crore for data breaches and noncompliance.
• Penalties for users: A customer who provides fraudulent documentation for an online service or files frivolous grievance complaints may be penalised up to Rs 10,000.

Concerns:

• Wide-ranging, excessively vague exemptions to the state agencies: This may not qualify the test of ‘necessity’ and ‘proportionality’ as laid down in the landmark right to privacy judgement of 2017
• Reduced independence of a proposed regulator: The appointment of the chairperson and members of the proposed Data Protection Board is completely left to the discretion of the central government.
  • This is unlike the Data Protection Authority (under the 2019 Bill), which was envisaged to be a statutory

Source: The Hindu

Context

• Vikram-S, India's first privately developed launch vehicle, recently took off on its first flight from the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Sriharikota spaceport.
• The mission, dubbed Prarambh (the beginning), is the Indian private sector's first push into the lucrative space launch market.

India’s Space Sector

• Led by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India’s space program has impressively evolved for the past 50 years.
• In terms of technological capabilities India ranks among the top 5 space faring nations of the world.
  • India is globally recognised for building low-cost satellites and launch vehicles.
• Despite having world’s most accomplished space program, India’s space sector accounts for only 2-3% of the global space economy.
  • The global space economy is estimated at ~US $440 billion.
• To increase the share in the global business, Government of India has initiated the space sector reforms, to promote, handhold, regulate and authorise private enterprises and start-ups to undertake space activities.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Approval in Space Sector:

• Presently, FDI in space is allowed under government route only for satellite establishment and operations.
• FDI in space is approved by the Government on a case-by-case basis and often this approval takes time.
• However, witnessing the change in approach of the Indian Government towards private players involvement, Indian companies will be allowed to invest up to 100% and 70% through FDI with approval of centre in all the streams Upstream, mid-stream and downstream segment.

About Mission Prarambh and Vikram-S:

• It is a mission in which ISRO launched Vikram-S, India's first privately manufactured launch vehicle developed by Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace.
• Vikram-S rocket, which is named after Vikram Sarabhai - the founder of India’s space programme, is a single-stage solid fuel suborbital launch
  • In a sub-orbital flight, the vehicle travels slower than the orbital velocity, which means it is fast enough to reach outer space, but not fast enough to stay in an orbit around the Earth.
• The engine used in the launch vehicle - Kalam-80, is named after former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.
• It will carry 3 customer payloads (2 Indian and 1 foreign), including one by SpaceKidz India called FunSat, parts of which were developed by school students.
• The Vikram-S is a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), which will carry between 290 kg and 560 kg payloads into sun-synchronous polar orbits.

 Significance:

• The performance of the Vikram-S and its engine Kalam-80 will help test and validate technologies in the Vikram series space launch vehicles.
  • The company is designing 3 Vikram rockets that will use various solid and cryogenic fuels and have their core structure built using carbon composites.
  • The thrusters used for spin stability in the vehicle have been 3D printed.
• The entry of private players in the space sector in India with more private sector missions coming soon.
  • For example, Agnikul Cosmos, whose semi-cryogenic Agnilet engine was test-fired recently at ISRO’s vertical testing facility at Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), Thiruvananthapuram.
  • ISRO's SSLV is also likely to be manufactured and operated by private players soon.
  • Around 100 start-ups have registered with the ISRO and are working closely with it in various domains of the space sector.

Source: Indian Express

Context

• PM Modi inaugurated the 3^rd No Money for Terror (NMFT) conference, which is being held in New Delhi.
• The NMFT conference started in 2018 as an initiative of the French government to specifically focus on cooperation between countries to choke terror funding.
• In 2019, the conference was held in Australia.
• The conference was to be held in India in 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.

Key highlights of the speech delivered by PM Modi

• Targets Pakistan, China
  • In remarks aimed at Pakistan and China, PM Modi said that while some countries support terrorism as part of their foreign policy, others do so by blocking action against terrorists.
    • China has repeatedly blocked several attempts by India and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorists under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
  • In this context, he urged the world to unite against such overt and covert backing of terror by imposing a cost on these countries.
    • Organisations and individuals that try to create sympathy for terrorists must also be isolated.
• Obliquely criticised the West
  • PM Modi also obliquely criticised the West for being focussed on terror groups with global outreach.
  • The reaction to a terror attack cannot vary based on where it happens, he called for a uniform, unified and zero-tolerance approach.
  • He further said that the International organisations must not think that the absence of war means peace. Proxy wars are also dangerous and violent.
• Emphasised the need to strike at the root of terror financing
  • He flagged organised crime as one of the sources of terror funding.
    • Organised crime should not be seen in isolation and these gangs often have deep links with terrorist outfits.
    • The money made in gun-running, drugs and smuggling is pumped into terrorism. These groups help with logistics and communication too.
    • At times, even activities like money laundering and financial crimes have been known to help terror funding.
• Use of new technologies by terrorist organizations
  • New kinds of technology are being used for terror financing and recruitment. Challenges from the dark net, private currencies and more are emerging.
    • Dark Net is a maze of secret websites which can be accessed only through encrypted channels (specialized web browser).
    • It is used for keeping internet activity anonymous and private, which can be helpful in both legal and illegal applications.
  • Hence, there is a need for a uniform understanding of new finance technologies.
  • It is also important to involve the private sector in these efforts. From a uniform understanding, a unified system of checks, balances and regulations can emerge.
  • The answer is not to criticize technology. Instead, it is to use technology to track, trace and tackle terrorism.
• Raised the issue of online radicalization
  • Today, cooperation is needed not only in the physical world but also in the virtual world too.
  • The infrastructure used for cyber terrorism and online radicalisation is distributed. Some also offer weapons training from a remote location and online resources.
  • Communications, travel, logistics are the links of the terrorism chain. Each country must act against the part of the chain within reach.

Other highlights

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the first session of the 3rd NMFT Conference on ‘Global Trends in Terrorist Financing and Terrorism’ theme in New Delhi.

Key highlights of the speech delivered by the Home Minister

• Financing of terrorism is more dangerous than terrorism itself
  • Because the 'Means and Methods' of terrorism are nurtured from such funding.
  • Furthermore, the financing of terrorism weakens the economy of countries
• Transformation of terrorism with the help of technologies
  • The transformation of terrorism from "Dynamite to Metaverse" and "AK-47 to Virtual Assets" is definitely a matter of concern for the world.
• India's strategy against the financing of terrorism
  • India's strategy against the financing of terrorism is based on these six pillars:
    • Strengthening the Legislative and Technological Framework
    • Creation of a Comprehensive Monitoring Framework
    • Actionable intelligence sharing mechanism and strengthening of the investigation and police operations
    • Provision for confiscation of property
    • Prevent misuse of legal entities and new technologies, and,
    • Establishing international cooperation and coordination

Source: Indian Express

Context

According to North Korea, it recently test fired its massive new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

About:

• The Hwasong-17 is nuclear-armed North Korea’s biggest missile yet.
• It is the largest road-mobile, liquid-fuelled ICBM in the world.
• Its diameter is estimated to be between 2.4 and 2.5 metres, and its total mass, when fully fuelled, is likely somewhere between 80,000 and 110,000 kg.
• Unlike North Korea’s earlier ICBMs, the Hwasong-17 is launched directly from a transporter, erector, launcher (TEL) vehicle with 11 axles.

Source: Indian Express

Context

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is working on guidelines for financial influencers — popularly known as ‘finfluencers’.
• The SEBI move follows a sharp rise in the number of various ‘unregistered’ investment advisors giving unsolicited social media ‘stock’ tips on various social media platforms.

• It was established in April 1988 as an executive body and was given statutory powers in January 1992 through the SEBI Act, 1992.
• It monitors and regulates the Indian capital and securities market while ensuring to protect the interests of the investors, formulating regulations and guidelines.

• SEBI is run by a board of directors, whose members include:
  • the chairman nominated by the Union Government
  • two officers from the Ministry of Finance,
  • one member from the Reserve Bank of India, and
  • five members who are also nominated by Union Government

• Quasi-Judicial
  • SEBI has the authority to deliver judgements related to fraud and other unethical practices in terms of the securities market.
• Quasi-Executive
  • SEBI is empowered to implement the regulations and judgements made and to take legal action against the violators.
  • It is also authorised to inspect Books of accounts and other documents if it comes across any violation of the regulations.
• Quasi-Legislative
  • SEBI reserves the right to frame rules and regulations to protect the interests of the investors.
  • Some of its regulations consist of insider trading regulations, listing obligations, and disclosure requirements.
  • Despite the powers, the results of SEBI’s functions still have to go through the Securities Appellate Tribunal and the Supreme Court of India.

• They are people with public social media platforms offering advice and sharing personal experiences about money and investment in stocks.
• Their videos cover budgeting, investing, property buying, cryptocurrency advice and financial trend tracking.

• There has been a sharp rise in the number of various ‘unregistered’ investment advisors giving unsolicited social media ‘stock’ tips on various social media platforms.
• There were also reports that certain companies used social media platforms to boost their share prices through such finfluencers.
  • Recently, an online portal claimed that finfluencers get paid Rs 7 to 9 lakh per endorsement to push financial products on social media.
• There are two important aspects which requires attention:
  • It is unclear if these influencers have any educational or professional qualification to offer such financial advice, and
  • If there is any kind of monetary transaction that happens between them and the entity they are promoting.

• Critics claim that finflencers render advice to their followers which comes under the ambit of Freedom of Expression of the Constitution.
• Followers are not forced to take action based on the recommendations of
• They point towards the fact that often celebrities endorse certain products without having any expertise. Also, they take money to promote the products. Thus regulating the finfluencers would be improper.

Source: Indian Express