Centre sets standard for ecommerce reviews
- The Centre is planning to bring out a standard for publishing product reviews on e-commerce platforms titled “Indian Standard (IS) 19000:2022 Online Consumer Reviews — Principles and Requirements for their Collection, Moderation and Publication”
- The standard will initially be voluntary for compliance by all e-commerce platforms. BIS will also develop a Conformity Assessment Scheme for the standard to assess compliance.
- The framework for the standard was prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
- The framework was meant to safeguard and protect consumer interest from fake and deceptive reviews on e-commerce platforms.
- Once made mandatory, if required, the violation of the standards by any entity may be considered as an unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights and a consumer may submit such grievances to the National Consumer Helpline, Consumer Commissions or the CCPA.
- Taking cognizance of the impact of fake and deceptive reviews and protection of consumer interest in e-commerce, the Department of Consumer Affairs constituted a committee to develop a framework on checking fake and deceptive reviews in e-commerce on 10th June, 2022.
- The committee included various stakeholders including e-commerce companies, industry associations, consumer organizations and law chairs.
Union Health Ministry launches India’s first suicide prevention policy
- The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced a National Suicide Prevention Strategy, the first of its kind in the country, with time bound action plans and multi sectoral collaborations to achieve reduction in suicide mortality by 10% by 2030.
- The recent National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report stated that 1.64 lakh people died by suicide in 2021. This is 10 per cent higher than the COVID deaths in India 2020, and 6.8 times the maternal death (23800) in 2020.
- The UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.4 aims to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by one-third, through prevention and treatment, and promote mental health and well-being. One of the indicators for this is the suicide rate.
- In India, more than one lakh lives are lost every year to suicide, and it is the top killer in the 15-29 years category.
- In the past three years, the suicide rate has increased from 10.2 to 11.3 per 1,00,000 population.
- The most common reasons for suicide include family problems and illnesses, which account for 34% and 18% of all suicide related deaths.
PM Rojgar Mela
- PM Modi will launch the second phase of the Rojgar Mela.
- PM Rojgar Mela 2022 was initiated by the Government of India and was announced by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi on October 22, 2022 via a video conference.
- Rojgar Mela is an initiative by the Government of India wherein 10 lakh jobs will be available for candidates to apply in Group A and B Gazetted Posts, Group B Non-Gazetted and Group C Non-Gazetted posts.
- Earlier in the month of October 2022, in the first phase appointment letters were handed over to 75,000 new recruits.
- In the second phase, 71000 people will be given employment orders.
- Appointments will be made for the posts of Teacher, Lecturer, Nurse, Nursing Officer, Doctor, Pharmacist, Radiologist and other technical and paramedical posts. In particular, more appointments will be made in the Central Armed Police Forces.
- PM Modi will also launch online training courses for newly appointed candidates.
- According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the training includes Code of Conduct for Government Servants, Workplace Ethics- Coordination, Human Resource Policies, Benefits and Steps for Government Servants.
