BIS Mobile App ‘BIS-Care’, Portals of e-BIS has been launched, Four schemes of Department of Pharmaceuticals, Mobile App “Mausam” launched by Ministry of Earth Sciences
1. BIS Mobile App 'BIS-Care' and Standardization, Conformity Assessment and Training Portals of e-BIS has been launched
- Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan launched the Bureau of Indian Standard’s Mobile App ‘BIS-Care’ and three portals – the Standardization, Conformity Assessment and Training Portals of e-BIS on www.manakonline.in for consumers.
- The mobile app BIS-Care can be operated on any Android phone.
- This app is operational in Hindi and English language and can be downloaded free from Google play store.
- Consumers can check the authenticity of the ISI-marked and hallmarked products and lodge complaints using this app.
- The Minister said that the government has taken several steps to protect the interests of consumers.
- The important aspect of BIS functioning is certification and surveillance to enforce the implementation of standards.
- Also, the BIS is strengthening its capacity of enforcement by implementation of e-BIS, an integrated portal covering all its functions, enlisting the services of outside agencies for factory and market surveillance and development of mobile app-based and AI-enabled surveillance methods.
- It is important to ensure that consumers are aware of the standards and quality products and become a part of our efforts to eliminate the supply of sub-standard products.
- It is also informed that the BIS is developing a portal on Consumer Engagement, which will facilitate the online registration of Consumer Groups, submission of proposals and approval thereof, and complaint management.
- Shri Ram Vilas Paswan also spoke about the plan to implement One Nation, One Standard, and said that BIS has formulated a scheme for the recognition of other Standard Development Organizations in the country with the objective of harmonization of standard formulation. It is under examination and will be launched soon.
- To achieve the objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and protect the interests of consumers, BIS had to further strengthen its efforts to formulate standards in the areas important for boosting our exports and regulating the import of cheap and sub-standard products.
- The expansion and modernization of BIS labs and said that testing facilities for drinking water and assaying of gold jewellery are being created not only in 8 BIS labs, but in several branch offices, like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Bhopal, Raipur and Lucknow.
- Indian National Strategy for Standardization (INSS) was formulated by Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
- All the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 have come into force from 24th July, 2020 including the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2020.
- The new Consumer Protection Act 2019 was implemented throughout the country from 20.7.2020.
- The new Act provides several measures, through rules, for the purposes of preventing unfair trade practices in e-commerce and also to protect the interest and rights of the consumers by establishing mechanism for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers’ disputes.
- The Central Government has accordingly notified the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2020.
- The rules will apply to all goods and services bought or sold over digital or electronic network, all models of e-commerce, including marketplace (such as Amazon and Flipkart) and inventory models (where the e-commerce entity also owns the stocks).
- These Rules specify duties and liabilities of the e-commerce entities (market place & inventory model) and sellers on market place e-commerce entities.
- The e-commerce entities will be required to provide details on their platforms about their legal name, principal geographic address of headquarters/all branches, name and details of website and contact details like e-mail address, fax, landline and mobile numbers of customer care as well as of grievance officer.
- They are also required to provide information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal mechanism, payment methods, security of payment methods, charge-back options, etc.
- Under the rules, e-commerce entities should not impose cancellation charges on consumers cancelling orders after confirmation unless similar charges are also borne by them in case of unilateral cancellation of orders by them.
- In case of an e-commerce entity offering imported goods or services for sale, it has to mention the name and details of the importer.
- A seller on a market place will provide all relevant details about the goods and services offered for sale including country of origin which are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage.
- Every e-commerce entity is required to establish a grievance redressal mechanism and to appoint a grievance officer, whose name, designation, contact details are required to be displayed on its platform.
- The e-commerce entities are to ensure that the grievance officer acknowledges the receipt of any consumer complaint within forty-eight hours and redresses the complaint within one month from the date of receipt of the complaint.
- The violation of the rules will be dealt with under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
- In case of class action regarding unfair trade practice and misleading advertisements, the Central Consumer Protection Authority can take action.
- For any compensation, a consumer can approach a Consumer Commission of appropriate jurisdiction.
2. Four schemes of Department of Pharmaceuticals to India become self-reliant in High-end medical devices
- Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri DV Sadananda Gowda launched four schemes of Department of Pharmaceuticals for promotion of domestic manufacturing of bulk drugs and medical devices parks in the country.
- The Government of India has approved four schemes, two each for Bulk Drugs and Medical Devices parks that the industry and the States to come forward and participate in these schemes.
- India is often referred to as ‘the pharmacy of the world’ and this has been proved true especially in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic when India continued to export critical life saving medicines to needy countries even during the countrywide lockdown.
- However, despite these achievements, it is a matter of concern that our country is critically dependent on imports for basic raw materials.
- Hence, Bulk Drugs (Key Starting Materials (KSMs)/ Drug Intermediates (DIs) and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)) that are used to produce some of the essential medicines.
- Similarly in medical devices sector, our country is dependent on imports for 86% of its requirements of medical devices.
- This is a very important initiative towards further developing Indian pharmaceutical capacities. Giving details of the Guidelines that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes for promoting domestic manufacturing of KSMs, DIs and APIs and medical devices will go a long way including to boost domestic manufacturing of 53 bulk drugs, on which India is critically dependent on imports.
- The list of 41 products contained in the scheme guidelines will enable domestic production of 53 bulk drugs.
- Financial incentives will be given to a maximum of 136 manufacturers selected under the scheme as a fixed percentage of their domestic sales of these 41 products manufactured locally with required level of domestic value addition.
- The incentives would be subject to annual ceilings communicated in the approval letter.
- The incentives would be given for a period of 6 years.
- In case of fermentation based products, the rate of incentive is 20% for first four years, 15% for the fifth year and 5% for the sixth year.
The guidelines are available on the website of the Department of Pharmaceuticals.
The salient features of the four schemes are:
- The scheme is open for applications for a period of120 days from the date of issuance of guidelines and the approval will be given to the selected applicants within 90 days from the closure of application window.
- Applications will be received only through an online portal.
- The total financial outlay of the scheme is Rs. 6,940 crore.
- Scheme for promotion of Bulk Drug Parks: The scheme envisages creation of 3 bulk drug parks in the country.
- The grant-in-aid will be 90% of the project cost in case of North-East and hilly States and 70% in case of other States.
- Maximum grant-in-aid for one bulk drug park is limited to Rs.1000 crore.
It is expected that these schemes will make India not only self-reliant but also capable of catering to the global demand for the selected bulk drugs and medical devices.
This is a golden opportunity for the investors since incentivisation to industry and world-class infrastructure support simultaneously will help in bringing down the cost of production significantly.
These schemes along with the liberal FDI policy in these sectors and an effective corporate tax rate of about 17% (including surcharge and cess) will give a competitive edge to India in the selected products and other economies.
3. Mobile App "Mausam" has been launched by Ministry of Earth Sciences
- India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences has taken various initiatives in recent years for improvement in dissemination of weather forecast and warning services based on latest tools and technologies.
- To further enhance this initiative, Ministry of Earth Sciences feels proud to launch the mobile App “Mausam” for India Meteorological Department.
- This mobile app is available both on Playstore and Appstore.
- This Mobile App is dedicated to the general public and designed to communicate the weather information and forecasts in a lucid manner without technical jargons.
- Users can access observed weather, forecasts, radar images and be proactively warned of impending weather events.
The MAUSAM mobile App has the following 5 services:
- Current Weather –Current temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction for 200 cities updated 8 times a day. Information on Sunrise/ sunset and moonrise/ moonset are also given.
- Nowcast– Three hourly warnings of localized weather phenomena and their intensity issued for about 800 stations, and districts of India by State Meteorological Centres of IMD. In case of severe weather, its impact also is included in the warning.
- City Forecast – Past 24 hours and 7 day forecast of weather conditions around 450 cities in India.
- Warnings- Alerts issued twice a day for all districts for the next five days in colour code (Red, Orange and Yellow) to warn citizens of approaching dangerous weather. The colour code Red is the most severe category urging authorities to take action, Orange code prompts authorities and public to be alert and Yellow code prompts authorities and public to keep themselves updated.
- Radar products:Latest Station wise radar products updated every 10 minutes.
The Mausam mobile app will be an important tool for dissemination of weather information and warnings in an attractive and user friendly manner which will meet the requirements of public.
The mobile app has been designed and developed jointly by ICRISAT’s Digital Agriculture & Youth (DAY) team, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and India Meteorological Department
