News Analysis India

Tag: Guidelines

  • Government to issue guidelines for social media influencers; declaration to be must for endorsing products

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The government will soon come out with guidelines for social media influencers, making it mandatory for them to declare their association with the product they endorse, sources said.

    “The Department of Consumer Affairs is coming out with guidelines on social media influencers. It is creating dos and don’ts for them,” an official source said.

    Sources said social media influencers, who have large followers on social media platforms like Instagram, are endorsing products after taking payments from the brands.

    As per the proposed guidelines, if social media influencers endorse any brand after taking money, they will have to declare their association with that brand, sources said.

    Social media influencers will need to put disclaimers in such endorsement posts, they added.

    The guidelines might come within the next 15 days. Meanwhile, the department has completed the process of developing a framework to curb fake reviews posted on e-commerce websites. The same will be released shortly.

    In May, the department along with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) held a virtual meeting with stakeholders, including e-commerce entities, to discuss the magnitude of fake reviews on their platforms.

    ALSO READ | Union govt’s draft guidelines for deep sea fishing trigger debate

    Fake reviews mislead consumers into buying online products and services.

    The department had then decided it would develop these frameworks after studying the present mechanism being followed by e-commerce entities in India and the best practices available globally.

    Since e-commerce involves a virtual shopping experience without any opportunity to physically view or examine the product, consumers heavily rely on reviews posted on platforms to see the opinion and experiences of users who have already purchased the good or service.

    “Traceability by ensuring the authenticity of the reviewer and the associated liability of the platform are the two key issues here. Also, e-commerce players must disclose how they choose the ‘most relevant reviews’ for display in a fair and transparent manner,” Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh had said.

    NEW DELHI: The government will soon come out with guidelines for social media influencers, making it mandatory for them to declare their association with the product they endorse, sources said.

    “The Department of Consumer Affairs is coming out with guidelines on social media influencers. It is creating dos and don’ts for them,” an official source said.

    Sources said social media influencers, who have large followers on social media platforms like Instagram, are endorsing products after taking payments from the brands.

    As per the proposed guidelines, if social media influencers endorse any brand after taking money, they will have to declare their association with that brand, sources said.

    Social media influencers will need to put disclaimers in such endorsement posts, they added.

    The guidelines might come within the next 15 days. Meanwhile, the department has completed the process of developing a framework to curb fake reviews posted on e-commerce websites. The same will be released shortly.

    In May, the department along with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) held a virtual meeting with stakeholders, including e-commerce entities, to discuss the magnitude of fake reviews on their platforms.

    ALSO READ | Union govt’s draft guidelines for deep sea fishing trigger debate

    Fake reviews mislead consumers into buying online products and services.

    The department had then decided it would develop these frameworks after studying the present mechanism being followed by e-commerce entities in India and the best practices available globally.

    Since e-commerce involves a virtual shopping experience without any opportunity to physically view or examine the product, consumers heavily rely on reviews posted on platforms to see the opinion and experiences of users who have already purchased the good or service.

    “Traceability by ensuring the authenticity of the reviewer and the associated liability of the platform are the two key issues here. Also, e-commerce players must disclose how they choose the ‘most relevant reviews’ for display in a fair and transparent manner,” Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh had said.

  • Agriculture department issued guidelines regarding fertilizers

    On the instructions of the government, all the fertilizer vendors of the district have been instructed to sell fertilizers under DBT (Fertilizer) scheme by using pass machine or biometric in computer or mobile app. In this context, today a notice has been issued by Deputy Director Agriculture Sant Ram Paikra to all the cooperative and private fertilizer vendors. According to which the quantity displayed in the fertilizer stock and pass machine physically available in the sales center should be same. If any kind of variation is found in this quantity, then in that case action will be taken against the committee and private vendors as per rules. Along with this, a maximum limit of 50 bags of one type of manure has been fixed by the government to each farmer in a month. Along with this, instructions have been given that to whomever fertilizer is being given, fertilizers should be sold immediately using the thumb along with the Aadhar card of the same farmer. For this, the field staff including all the fertilizer inspectors have been given the responsibility to inspect the matching of fertilizer quantities.

  • Preparing to bring ordinance for registration and operation of religious places of UP, Yogi Govt.

    Yogi government will soon bring ordinance for registration and operation of religious places in Uttar Pradesh. In this regard, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is going to have an important meeting with senior officials in Lucknow on Tuesday. According to the information received, CM will see the presentation of the Religious Places Registration and Regulation Ordinance-2020 in this meeting. Along with this, guidelines will be discussed for the operation and maintenance of religious places.

    Explain that earlier in the cabinet meeting, the proposal to set up a directorate for conducting religious works under the chairmanship of CM Yogi has been approved. Now the government is preparing to bring an ordinance for registration and regulation of religious places.

  • Vaccine hesitancy issues will be addressed through education, govt will educate people: Harsh Vardhan

    The coronavirus vaccine cannot be forced upon anyone but the government will educate and give the right information to people about it, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday.

    “Vaccine hesitancy issues will be addressed through education. The government will spread awareness and educate people about the vaccine that this is for their own good and benefit,” Harsh Vardhan said in an interview with ANI.

    He also said that the government had prioritised who will get the vaccines after observing international trends and keeping in mind the guidelines of the World Health Organisation.

    “The ideal time would be when we reach a point where everyone can be vaccinated. But if there is a limited number of vaccines, it is important to prioritise how who will be the first to get it. Before taking a decision, the government consulted experts, those in the ministries, people in the state governments, and those involved in making vaccines. These decisions have been made while observing international trends and WHO guidelines,” the Union Minister said.

    He said the first one crore people to be vaccinated will be the health workers in the private and public sector, while the next two crores to be vaccinated will be frontline workers, sanitation staff, police, and other frontline workers, followed by people over the age of 50.

    “Over 80 percent of the people who died due to Covid-19 have been over 50 years. There are about 26 crore people in this category. After that, people below 50 with health issues like BP, heart and kidney problems will be vaccinated,” he said.

  • CDC Issues Guidelines After Reports Surface Of Allergic Reactions

    US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on December 19 issued a set a guidelines for those reporting Severe Adverse Event (SAE) or severe allergic reactions from the COVID-19 vaccination.The centre stated that they learnt from ‘reports’ that some people were facing allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis and had to be treated with epinephrine or EpiPen while some also needed hospitalisation. 

    The Centre highlighted that people who have severe allergic reaction after the first dose must not take the second shot and those who have had severe allergic reactions to components in a COVID-19 vaccine should not get that specific vaccine.

    It further recommended that people with a history of allergy from the injectable therapies must seek a healthcare consultation first.

    “Your doctor will help you decide if it is safe for you to get vaccinated,” the centre asserted. However, those with allergies such as to food, pet, venom, environmental, or latex, which is unrelated to the injectable medications, can get vaccinated. Moreover, anyone who has a family member with a history of mild allergies to oral medications or severe allergic reactions to vaccines but no anaphylaxis could get themselves vaccinated.

  • Four-day Ramayana fair to be held in Ayodhya from 18

    The government has given permission to organize the 39th 4-day Ramayana Mela on the Saryu coast in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Now this fair will start on 18 December and will run till 21 December. During the Ramayana fair from 11 am to 1.30 pm, Ramlila will be staged by Ramlila mandals associated with the continuous Ramlila. In the cultural evening, programs of bhajan folk song dance etc. will be organized. Such programs are not being kept in which there is a possibility of gathering more crowds.

    This information has been given by Dr. YP Singh, director of Ayodhya Research Institute. He told that only a limited number of visitors will be allowed to enter the Ramayana fair to follow the Kovid guidelines. The organizers of the Ramayana Mela, the Ramayana Mela Committee, have started preparations for the fair.

    On Thursday, a meeting is being held to finalize the preparations and programs of the Ramayana fair in Maniram Cantonment, the monastery of Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the chairman of the committee. In this, Kamlesh Kumar Pathak, Program Officer of Culture Department will also join and finalize the program.

  • 100 people will be able to attend wedding ceremony in UP, band and DJ will be banned

    In view of the increasing cases of corona in Uttar Pradesh, the government has decided to again increase the limit of 100 people who attend wedding and other social functions.

    The UP government has released a new guideline for wedding ceremonies. According to this, only 100 people can attend the wedding ceremony. Also, there will be a ban on bands and DJs at the wedding.

    According to the guidelines, if the marriage house has a capacity of 100, then only 50 people will be involved in the program to be held there. Violation of this new rule will be prosecuted. The elderly, the sick will not be invited to the wedding. Violation of the Kovid Protocol will take action under Sections 144 and 188. However, the matter of relief is that if there is a marriage at home, then no permission will have to be obtained from the district administration. But information about the wedding ceremony will have to be given in the concerned police station.

    The new rules regarding the limited number of people in the wedding ceremony were initially implemented in Noida-Ghaziabad. The Chief Secretary has asked to review it and implement it. It will be strictly implemented after the meeting in important districts.

    In Lucknow district too, the District Magistrate will hold a review meeting to implement the new guideline. Due to increasing infection cases in Delhi adjoining Noida-Ghaziabad, this rule has already been implemented. It has been said that wherever the situation is serious in the state, these rules can be implemented.

    Significantly, the state government had allowed 200 guests to attend the wedding and other ceremonies on October 15 with proper security protocols, but the state government is trying to control the affairs in view of the rise in cases of Kovid again. .

  • Central government’s big decision, Ayurveda doctors will also be able to perform surgery

    The Central Government has taken a big decision regarding Ayurveda Doctor. Ayurveda doctors will now be able to perform eye, ear and throat surgery along with general and orthopedic surgery. According to the Central Council of Indian Medicine, after getting the green signal from the government, PG students will be given detailed information about the surgery.

    Please tell that the students of Ayurveda were still taught about surgery, but there was no clear guideline about whether they can do surgery or not. After the notification issued by the government, now doctors of Ayurveda will also be able to do surgery. According to the government’s notification, students of PG of Ayurveda will be specially trained for eye, nose, ear, throat as well as general surgery.

    Dr. S.K., former advisor of Central Government Ayurveda. Sharma expressed happiness over this decision of the government and described it as a milestone. He said that the country is currently facing a shortage of surgeons. With this decision of the government, the shortage of surgeons in the country will be removed. With this, patients from remote areas will not have to flee the city and they will be able to get a high level of treatment in their area.

  • RBI imposes fine of 5.78 crore on 6 entities including PNB, PhonePe

    The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a fine of Rs 5.78 crore on 6 companies including PNB, Sodexo and PhonePe for violation of regulatory guidelines. Under Section 30 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, the RBI has imposed a penalty on these units for not complying with the regulatory guidelines. Except Punjab National Bank, the remaining five are non-bank prepaid payment product issuing units.

    PPI is used for the purchase of goods and services, as well as for the payment of money to friends, relatives, etc. RBI has fined Sodexo SVC India Private Limited, Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance Limited, Quick Silvers Solutions Private Limited, PhonePay Private Limited, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited and Punjab National Bank.

    Sodexo has been fined Rs 2 crore, while PNB and Quick Silver Solutions were fined Rs 1 crore each. At the same time, a penalty of Rs 1.39 crore has been imposed on PhonePe and Rs 34.55 lakh on Muthoot Vehicle and Asset Finance and Rs 5 lakh on Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.