Current Affair 1:

Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund (TCEPF)

 

Why recent amendment was moved? As per the current framework any excess charges revealed in the billing audit should be refunded to consumers. However, if a service provider is not able to refund the amount despite its attempt within the time period permitted by the regulations, the service provider has to deposit the unclaimed/unrefunded amount into the TCEPF.   The Authority noticed that there is some inconsistency on the grounds on which money is being deposited by service providers. Interactions held with service providers and analysis of the amount deposited, have revealed that while some service providers are depositing money only on account of excess billing revealed in the audit, some other service providers are depositing unclaimed money such as security deposits and plan charges of failed activations which they are unable to refund to the consumers because of non-traceability of the consumers.   It is prudent to deposit any such unclaimed/un refundable amount belonging to consumers in the TCEP fund as it will be utilized for the welfare measures of the consumers. Accordingly, it was felt that an amendment in the TCEPF regulation may be carried out to remove any kind of ambiguity and facilitate deposit of any unclaimed money of the consumer such as excess charges, security deposit, plan charges of failed activations etc.

 

About:

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had notified the Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund Regulations, 2007 on 15th June 2007. In terms of these regulations, a fund called “Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund” (TCEPF) has been created.

The income generated by the TCEPF is utilised to undertake activities such as conduct Consumer Outreach Programmes, seminars, workshops, developing educational and awareness material, etc. for dissemination of information to the consumers.

The activities are planned by the Committee for Utilisation of Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund setup under the regulations.

Authority here means: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Current Affair 2:

Frontier Model Forum

 

It is a joint announcement and effort with Anthropic, Google and Microsoft.

The Forum aims to help (i) advance AI safety research to promote responsible development of frontier models and minimize potential risks, (ii) identify safety best practices for frontier models, (iii) share knowledge with policymakers, academics, civil society and others to advance responsible AI development; and (iv) support efforts to leverage AI to address society’s biggest challenges.

Current Affair 3:

Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT)

 

APT was founded on the joint initiatives of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

APT is an intergovernmental organization established in February 1979 with the aim of promoting ICT development in the Asia-Pacific region.

APT has 38 member administrations. India is one of them.

As the only intergovernmental organization focusing on ICT field in the Asia-Pacific region, APT provides important platforms for ICT policy and regulatory coordination, and for consolidating regional voices for international fora such as Conferences of International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

APT also organizes variety of capacity building programs related to ICT topics, and implements several pilot projects to promote ICT development in the region.

Current Affair 4:

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C56 (PSLV-C56)

 

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the PSLV-C56 carrying Singapore’s DS-SAR satellite and six other satellites.

DS-SAR, a Radar Imaging Earth Observation satellite is the primary satellite for the mission. In addition to this, there are six co-passenger customer satellites also belonging to Singapore.

All satellites would be injected into 535 km circular with 5 orbital inclinations.

This is the 58th flight of PSLV and 17th flight of PSLV in Core Alone configuration.

After injecting all the satellites, the upper stage of the rocket would be placed in lower orbit to ensure its reduced orbital life.

DS-SAR carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). This allows the DS-SAR to provide for all-weather day and night coverage, and capable of imaging at 1m-resolution at full polarimetry.

 

 

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