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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Reforms And Relief For The Telecom Sector

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-09-16 03:10:19

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

The Union cabinet provided huge relief to the telecom sector by approving several measures that bring in much needed reforms. It has provided a 4-year moratorium on payment of spectrum charges and AGR dues. It has also brought down certain charges and redefined AGR to exclude revenue from non-core business. The telcos were demanding these measures for long and in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment ordering telcos to pay the entire AGR dues in 10 yearly installments, Vodafone-Idea had indicated that it might fold up.

The government was concerned as Vodafone's exit would have left the field open for a duopoly of Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel (the government-owned BSNL is an insignificant player) in the vital sector. Since Vodafone has the infrastructure and the brand image to survive if could tide over its current difficulties, it was necessary to provide some relief to the sector and ensure that competition among the players would benefit the consumer and not allow just two strong companies to control and manipulate the business.

Further, with 5G on the anvil, if reforms were not introduced and if charges were high, companies would have hesitated in investing the enormous sums required for the transition. In any case, the definition of AGR needed rectification as the government cannot logically claim a share in the non-core business of companies that are licensed to operate telecom services. By now excluding non-telecom revenues from AGR, the government has acceded to the long-standing demand of the sector. If only this realization had dawned some years earlier, the long-drawn out litigation in the Supreme Court could have been avoided and things could have been settled amicably.

Among other measures, interest rates have been reduced and penalties for late payments have been waived. The government said that it would also consider converting the interest burden into equity if the need arises after the moratorium period. The licence period of spectrum has also been extended by ten years. Financial constraints in spectrum sharing, after a lock-in period, have also been removed. It also allowed 100% FDI in the sector through the automatic route, except from China and countries that share a land border. 

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