12 August 2024

• Tech regulation: a US court ruled Google violated antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly in general search services. India's Competition Commission has also penalised Google for market dominance.
• Health policy: Ayushman Bharat reduced out-of-pocket medical expenditure, with health spending falling from 10.8 to 9.4 per cent of monthly household expenditure.
• Banking: the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill 2024 allows up to four nominees for bank accounts and lockers, and raises the shareholding threshold for directors.
• Geography: three underwater geological structures in the Indian Ocean were named using Indian terms: Ashoka Seamount, Chandragupt Ridge and Kalpataru Ridge.

GS area: Economy, Governance, International Relations

Judge Amit Mehta of the US District Court ruled that Google violated US antitrust law (the Sherman Act) by illegally maintaining a monopoly in general search services and search text advertising:

• Market share: Google holds over 89 per cent share in general search services and approximately 95 per cent on mobile devices.
• How the monopoly was maintained: Google paid over USD 26 billion annually to make itself the default search engine on devices and browsers. The largest single payment went to Apple.
• Indian parallel: the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has separately imposed penalties on Google. In 2022, CCI fined Google Rs 1,337.76 crore for abusing its dominant position in the Android mobile device ecosystem (forcing pre-installation of Google apps). A separate Rs 936.44 crore penalty followed for the Play Store.
• Competition Act 2002: India's principal competition law. CCI was established under it. The Competition Amendment Act 2023 updated the framework, adding provisions for digital markets.
• Digital Markets Act (EU): the EU's 2022 regulation designates major tech companies as "gatekeepers" subject to ex-ante obligations, a stricter approach than the US's case-by-case antitrust litigation.

Static linkage: competition law, digital economy governance, CCI.

GS area: Economy, Governance

The Bill amends the RBI Act 1934, the Banking Regulation Act 1949, the SBI Act 1955, and the Banking Companies Acts 1970 and 1980:

• Four nominees: a bank account holder or locker holder may now nominate up to four people (up from one), either simultaneously or successively. This reduces inheritance disputes and speeds settlement of estates.
• Shareholding threshold: the threshold for counting as a shareholder with directorship implications was raised from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 2 crore, preventing small shareholders from having disproportionate board influence in cooperative banks.
• Cooperative bank directors: tenure in cooperative banks extended from 8 to 10 years.
• Unclaimed assets: unclaimed dividends and shares are to be transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF). IEPF was established under the Companies Act 2013. Investors can reclaim from IEPF.
• Banking landscape: India has 137 scheduled commercial banks and approximately 9,516 NBFCs. The Amendment aligns the legal framework with modern banking operations.

Static linkage: banking regulation, company law, investor protection.

GS area: Geography, Science and Technology

The International Hydrographic Organisation and UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission approved three names for underwater structures in the Indian Ocean, following a proposal by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (Goa):

• Ashoka Seamount: named after Emperor Ashoka.
• Chandragupt Ridge: named after Chandragupta Maurya.
• Kalpataru Ridge: named after the mythological wish-granting tree.
• NCPOR: India's leading polar and ocean research institution, based in Goa under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. It discovers and documents Indian Ocean geological features using oceanographic survey ships.
• Total: seven Indian Ocean structures now carry names connected to Indian history, mythology or science.
• Why it matters: naming rights in international waters are recognised under IHO procedures. Proposing and securing approved names is both a scientific achievement and a soft-power instrument.

Static linkage: Indian Ocean geography, India's ocean science capacity.

• Ayushman Bharat health data: India's health spending is about 3.2 per cent of GDP, against 5.2 per cent in lower-middle income countries globally. India has 1.0 hospital beds per 1,000 population against a global average of 2.7. A 79 per cent shortfall in specialists at Community Health Centres and only 36 per cent Ayushman Bharat coverage among the lowest-wealth quintile are the pressure points.
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0: Cabinet approved a new phase providing financial assistance for one crore urban poor and middle-class families over five years. Covers Economically Weaker Section, Lower Income Group and Middle Income Group categories. Includes rental housing and innovative construction technology support.
• Continuous clearing of cheques: the RBI is implementing Continuous Clearing under the Cheque Truncation System. Under the new system, cheques submitted during business hours will be cleared within hours (compared with up to two working days previously). Reduces settlement risk and improves cash flow for businesses.
• St Martin's Island: Bangladesh's only coral island, in the Bay of Bengal near the Myanmar maritime boundary. The island has been in the news in the context of post-Hasina Bangladesh's foreign policy posture and its geopolitical significance.