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June 11,2024 New Delhi: Extending the Ayushman Bharat coverage to everyone aged above 70 years and the pan-India roll out of the U-WIN portal to digitise routine vaccinations are among the highlights of Narendra Modi’s new government’s 100-day agenda for the Union health ministry. In a brief interaction with senior officials after taking charge of the ministry on Tuesday, J P Nadda, who is also the BJP president, asked them to focus on the agenda, sources said. Prime Minister Modi while releasing the BJP’s Lok Sabha poll manifesto in April had announced that senior citizens above 70 years of age and the transgender community will be brought under the ambit of the Centre’s health scheme Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Launching the National Health Claims Exchange to ensure inter-operability and faster processing of health insurance claims, use of drone services to deliver medical essentials from AIIMS and other Institutes of National Importance in difficult terrains and providing cashless treatment services to ex-servicemen also feature among the 14 agenda items for the ministry, the official sources told PTI. The other key areas of focus in the 100-day plan include ease of doing business — ‘tatkal’ issuance of licence or registration in select food businesses under the FSSAI, deployment of Arogya Maitri Cubes in central government hospitals to meet health emergencies, providing financial support to the Banaras Hindu University’s Institute of Medical Sciences on the lines of AIIMS, and making operational the National Medical Register. Extending the Ayushman Bharat scheme to everyone aged 70 years and above is one of the top priorities of the government, the sources said. The modalities of the proposal are being worked out. Once finalised, the proposal will be sent to the Expenditure Finance Committee for approval of allocation of funds before being sent to the Cabinet, they said. The U-WIN portal — based on the Co-WIN Covid vaccination application’s design — for maintaining electronic registry of routine immunisations under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) is at present being run on a pilot mode in two districts of each state or a Union Territory. The platform captures each and every vaccination event of children and pregnant women under the UIP. It is linked with Co-WIN and beneficiary records from Co-WIN can be accessed through U-WIN using the registered mobile-phone number for facilitation of registration of children. The National Medical Commission is in the process of creating the National Medical Register, a centralised repository of doctors practising in India as a part of which all doctors in the country will have a unique identification number by the 2024-end. A pilot project of the register is also underway. Source: Economic Times

June 11,2024 India will remain the fastest-growing major economy recording a steady growth of 6.7 per cent in the next three years including the current financial year, said a world bank report released on Tuesday. In India, growth is estimated to have picked up to 8.2 per cent in fiscal year (FY) 2023/24 (April 2023 to March 2024) — 1.9 percentage points higher than estimated in January, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report. It further said global growth is projected to hold steady at 2.6 per cent in 2024 before edging up to an average of 2.7 per cent in 2025-26. That is well below the 3.1 per cent average in the decade before COVID-19. “The forecast implies that over the course of 2024-26 countries that collectively account for more than 80 per cent of the world’s population and global GDP would still be growing more slowly than they did in the decade before COVID-19,” it said. Growth in the South Asia (SAR) region is projected to slow from 6.6 per cent in 2023 to 6.2 per cent in 2024, mainly due to a moderation of growth in India from a high base in recent years. With steady growth in India, regional growth is forecast to stay at 6.2 per cent in 2025-26. Among the region’s other economies, growth is expected to remain robust in Bangladesh, though at a slower rate than in the past several years, and to strengthen in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. “India will remain the fastest-growing of the world’s largest economies, although its pace of expansion is expected to moderate. After a high growth rate in FY2023/24, steady growth of 6.7 per cent per year, on average, is projected for the three fiscal years beginning in FY2024/25,” the report said. This moderation is mainly due to a slowdown in investment from a high base. “However, investment growth is still expected to be stronger than previously envisaged and remain robust over the forecast period, with strong public investment accompanied by private investment,” it said. It further said that private consumption growth is expected to benefit from a recovery of agricultural production and declining inflation. Government consumption is projected to grow only slowly, in line with the government’s aim of reducing current expenditure relative to GDP, it added. According to the report, global inflation is expected to moderate to 3.5 per cent in 2024 and 2.9 per cent in 2025, but the pace of decline is slower than was projected just six months ago. Many central banks, as a result, are expected to remain cautious in lowering policy interest rates. Global interest rates are likely to remain high by the standards of recent decades — averaging about 4 per cent over 2025-26, roughly double the 2000-19 average, it said. In India, World Bank said inflation has remained within the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2 to 6 per cent since September 2023. However, apart from India, regional inflation, though below peak levels, has remained elevated, reflecting persistently high food price inflation from local food supply disruptions, and increased energy prices. Source: Economic Times

June 11,2024 The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea alleging discrepancies in the NEET-PG examination conducted in 2022 for admissions to post-graduate courses in various streams of medical sciences and seeking disclosure of answer keys and answer sheets. “These petitions are rendered infructuous due to the passage of time,” said a vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah while dismissing a plea filed by a candidate named Pritish Kumar and others in 2022. The counsel for Kumar and others said the plea has not become infructuous as two out of the six petitioners would be taking up NEET-PG on June 23 this year. The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Post Graduate (NEET-PG) examination is conducted by the National Board of Examination (NBE) for admissions in various PG courses after the students complete MBBS, BDS and other equivalent courses. “The trouble is they (NBE) are not allowing us to access the answer keys, answer sheets, question papers (of NEET-PG 2022),” the lawyer said. The bench rejected the plea saying that it cannot keep it pending “unnecessarily”. Pritish Kumar and others had filed the plea alleging that there were mismatches in their NEET-PG 2022 scores and the NBE was not permitting re-evaluation. Source: Economic Times

June 07,2024 A recent investigation has brought to light a troubling issue within India’s prison system – a staggering number of wrongly incarcerated children are being held in adult prisons. A recent iProbono report, based on RTI responses, revealed that nearly 10,000 minors were wrongly locked up in adult prisons between Jan 2016 and Dec 2021. It is very likely that this number doesn’t reveal the entire picture because information was only sought from central and district jails in 28 states and two UTs, and only half of the prisons responded. This is scandalous for a nation that purportedly invests its future in its young. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 states that placing a child in an adult prison is unlawful. As per the Act, a child alleged to have committed an offence, or found guilty of an offence, is to be placed in an appropriate juvenile home – observation home, special home or a place of safety. Commenting on the JJ Act, the Supreme Court in 2005 had said, ‘The Act is not only a beneficent legislation, but also a remedial one. The Act aims to grant the care, protection, and rehabilitation of a juvenile vis-a-vis adult criminals.’ The first objective of the state is the promotion of the well-being of the juvenile, and the second is to bring about the principle of proportionality, by which proportionality of the reaction to the circumstances of both offender and offence, including the victim, should be safeguarded. The state has failed to implement the law on all counts. Affixing responsibility is critical, as is improving the juvenile corrections system by creating a network of observation homes, special homes and places of safety. Efforts to increase awareness of rights and access to legal aid will help protect rights of such hapless young Indians. Source: Economic Times

May 16,2024 The Supreme Court has declared that the the fundamental right to health encompasses the right of a consumer to be made aware of the quality of products being offered for sale by manufacturers, service providers, advertisers and advertising agencies. To protect this right, the Court directed that henceforth, before an advertisement is printed/aired/displayed, a Self declaration shall be submitted by the advertiser/advertising agency on the lines contemplated in Rule 7 of the Cable Television Networks Rules, 1994. The direction was passed by a bench comprising Justices Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah in the Patanjali case (Indian Medical Assocaition v. Union of India and others) on May 7. In the copy of the order uploaded today, the Court made certain pertinent observations regarding the customers’ rights. It may be recalled that the case was filed by the IMA seeking regulation of the misleading medical advertisements published by Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. During the course of the case, the Court initiated contempt proceedings against Patanjali Ayurved, its founders Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna. Advertisers and endorsers are equally responsible for issuing false and misleading advertisements In the order dated May 7, the Court commented on the responsibility of celebrities and influences who endorse products in advertisements. “We are of the firm view that advertisers/advertising agencies and endorsers are equally responsible for issuing false and misleading advertisements. Such endorsemehat are routinely made by public figures, influencers, celebrities etc. go a long way in promoting a product. It is imperative for them to act with a sense of responsibility when endorsing any product and take responsibility for the same, as reflected in Guideline No.8 of the Guidelines, 2022 that relates to advertisements that address/target or use children for various purposes and Guideline No.12 that lays down the duties of manufacturers, service providers, advertisers and advertising agencies to ensure that the trust of the consumer is not abused or exploited due to sheer lack of knowledge or inexperience. Guideline No.13 requires a due diligence to be undertaken for endorsement of advertisements and requires a person who endorses a product to have adequate information about, or experience with a specific good, product or service that is proposed to be endorsed and ensure that it must not be deceptive.” The Court also noted that there is no robust mechanism available for the customer to lodge complaints for violation of Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements of Misleading Advertisements, 2022 framed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. “In view of the above and in the absence of any robust mechanism enacted in law to ensure that the obligations cast on the advertiser to adhere to stipulations in the Guidelines, 2022 in letter and spirit, it is deemed appropriate to invoke the powers vested in this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India for the enforcement of the fundamental right to health that encompasses the right of a consumer to be made aware of the quality of products being offered for sale by manufacturers, service providers, advertisers and advertising agencies. The Court directed that the Self-declaration shall be uploaded by the advertiser/advertising agency on the Broadcast Sewa Portal run under the aegis of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. As for the advertisements in the Press/Print Media/Internet, the Ministry is directed to create a dedicated portal within four weeks from May 7. Immediately on the portal being activated, the advertisers shall upload a Self-declaration before any advertisement is issued in the Press/Print Media/Internet. Proof of uploading the Self-declaration shall be made available by the advertisers to the concerned broadcaster/printer/publisher/T.V. Channel/electronic media, as the case may be, for the records. No advertisements shall be permitted to be run on the relevant channels and/or in the print media/internet without uploading the self- declaration as directed above. The above directions shall be treated as the law declared by this Court under Article 141 of the Constitution of India. Source: Livelaw

May 19,2024 New Delhi: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has alerted traders, fruits handlers and Food Business Operators (FBOs) who are operating ripening chambers to strictly ensure compliance with the prohibition on Calcium Carbide for artificial ripening of fruits, particularly during the mango season. FSSAI is also advising Food Safety Departments of States/UTs to remain vigilant and take serious action and deal stringently against person(s) indulging in such unlawful practices as per the provisions of FSS Act, 2006 and Rules/Regulations made thereunder, the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare informed in a press release. Calcium carbide, commonly used for ripening fruits like mangoes, releases acetylene gas which contains harmful traces of arsenic and phosphorus. These substances, also known as ‘Masala’, can cause serious health issues such as dizziness, frequent thirst, irritation, weakness, difficulty in swallowing, vomiting and skin ulcers, etc. Additionally, acetylene gas is equally hazardous to those handling it. There are chances that calcium carbide may come in direct contact with fruits during application and leave residues of arsenic and phosphorus on fruits, the release stated. Due to these dangers, the use of calcium carbide for ripening fruits has been banned under Regulation 2.3.5 of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Regulations, 2011. This regulation explicitly states, “No person shall sell or offer or expose for sale or have in his premises for the purpose of sale under any description, fruits which have been artificially ripened by use of acetylene gas, commonly known as carbide gas.”Considering the issue of rampant use of banned calcium carbide, FSSAI has permitted the use of ethylene gas as a safer alternative for fruit ripening in India. Ethylene gas can be used at concentrations up to 100 ppm (100 ml/L), depending upon the crop, variety and maturity. Ethylene, a naturally occurring hormone in fruits, regulates the ripening process by initiating and controlling a series of chemical and biochemical activities. The treatment of unripe fruits with ethylene gas triggers the natural ripening process until the fruit itself starts producing ethylene in substantial quantities. Further, the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIB & RC) has approved Ethephon 39 per cent SL for the uniform ripening of mangoes and other fruits. The Ministry emphasised that FSSAI has published a comprehensive guidance document titled “Artificial Ripening of Fruits – Ethylene gas a safe fruit ripener” suggesting the Food Business Operators to follow the procedure for artificial ripening of fruits. This document outlines a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) incorporating all aspects of artificial ripening of fruits by ethylene gas viz. Restrictions, Requirements for Ethylene Ripening System/Chamber, handling conditions, Sources of Ethylene Gas, Protocol for application of Ethylene gas from various sources, post treatment operations, safety guidelines etc. “In case any use of Calcium Carbide or any wrong practice of using ripening agents for artificial ripening of fruits is noticed by the consumers, the same may be brought to the notice of concerned State Commissioners of Food Safety for taking action against such violators,” the release added. Source: Healthworld

May 24,2024 Mumbai: The ‘Label Padhega India’ campaign, an important step in building domestic consumer activism and fostering awareness, underscores the inherent issues related to product labelling locally. Still, products aimed at more sensitive consumer segments, such as children, may undergo greater manufacturer scrutiny. “Label Padhega India campaign has the potential to become the second largest consumer campaign after the ‘Jaago Grahak Jaago’ campaign by the Indian government,” said Harish Bijoor, brand strategy specialist. “However, for that to happen, the digital marketing has to be strong. Companies will not pay heed to the campaign until it gains larger traction and manages to yield a change in consumer behaviour. The onus on the influencers is to garner traction for the campaign by advertising it on a larger scale across media.” Product labelling in India faces several issues – ranging from non-compliance with the regulations, language barriers, misinformation and misleading claims, inconsistent labelling standards, illegible labels, lack of transparency, inadequate enforcement of the labelling regulations and imported goods not meeting the Indian labelling standards. “The campaign is an effective step in the right direction with its timing being right – coming days after the Supreme Court strictures on Patanjali and its founders for misleading advertisements,” said business strategist and FMCG industry expert Lloyd Mathias. “However, there are issues with product labelling in India.” Consumers, globally, do not generally read the product labels minutely to find out about the ingredients used. Hence, the use of pictorial labels has become more widespread. Countries such as Chile, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and Israel have implemented the use of pictorial warnings on food labels. For instance, Chile uses black octagonal signs to indicate high levels of sugar, sodium, calories and saturated fats. In India, green dots on food products indicate that the product is vegetarian. But, as Mathias said, the intended outcome from product labelling faces a question mark due to inherent issues. “First, to what extent companies are truthful about their labels. Second, how stringent is the law enforcement on product labelling by the FSSAI. Third, local and small brands selling snacks or fast foods go past the FSSAI regulations,” Mathias said. “However, the campaign is important in drawing public attention toward nutritional information about the product and is likely to appeal to young, urban consumers. It emphasises that the onus is on the consumer to make an informed buying decision. The jury is out on the potential impact of the campaign on buying behaviour. “I don’t think that the campaign will make a significant difference in terms of consumer buying patterns, since most consumers are either making a conscious choice or don’t have alternative options to choose from,” said Sachin Bobade, VP – research, Dolat Capital. To be sure, product labelling is a small aspect of consumer awareness. “Displaying labels as part of the advertising campaign proves to be more effective than simply product labelling since only around 0.2% of the consumers in India read packaging on the product,” Bijoor said. “The law currently doesn’t mandate showing labels in the product advertising. But a display of the product label in a digital ad is effective in communicating the contents to the consumer.” The Label Padhega India campaign nevertheless is likely to prompt companies to re-jig their product portfolio. According to Mathias, the companies are very sensitive about what is said about them. “Once the campaign starts garnering attention, a lot of companies will look at ways in which their labelling can become better,” he said. “The campaign may prompt companies to relook at their product portfolio – especially the ones targeted for kids,” said Bobade. “Companies will have to change the contents or proportion of sugar, salt or fats in the products – that may lead to changes in taste and increase in prices. But their concern would be whether consumers continue to prefer the products with changed taste and higher prices,” he said. “A sizable public chatter building up shall make the regulator wake up. The regulator can issue specifications related to the size, font and other details of the label, guidelines for companies to follow especially when they are selling the same product in different parts of the world and improve the enforcement of the laws at the last mile,” Mathias added. Source: Economic Times

June 10,2024 “I am not saying that the market will go up five times, but I am seeing the repeat of that. So, we are seeing, as you said, huge volatility, not the kind which we saw earlier, but still a huge volatility,” says Milind Karmarkar, Dalal & Broacha Portfolio Manager. So, actually, again, as always, I go back in history. So, in fact, 2002 to 2008, that period was one of the best periods to be in the markets because you saw the best, you saw the worst. You saw what happens after a coalition comes in power. You see what happens when a liberal party like Congress is supported by communists, the market goes down 20% and after that the market goes up five times. You have seen that happen. I think we are seeing a repeat of that. I am not saying that the market will go up five times, but I am seeing the repeat of that. So, we are seeing, as you said, huge volatility, not the kind which we saw earlier, but still a huge volatility. And now we have a government which is a coalition government all said and done, though BJP has a significant number of seats, but it is a coalition government and there will be coalition politics will come into play. So, my belief is that whenever a coalition is at the centre, then you see a decent growth. The clear focus is economics. The clear focus is to do better for the masses and that is what drives the markets, that is what drives the economy as well. My view is that, frankly, now the market is far better discovered than what it was in 2003-04. There are so many analysts, there are so many funds, and everyone is researching companies. So, according to me, market is fairly discovered market. There may not be a single theme which will drive the market. The only mega trend which I see and I have been talking about it earlier also is consumption and rising per capita income. So, whichever industries benefit out of that will continue to do well. Within that, of course, there are smaller trends which are also there, like you said, whether it is railways, whether it is power. But again, there is a slight difference here. What will happen probably is that the PE expansion will not happen going forward. You will get the returns which earnings will give you. I do not see it immediately. Five years down the line, I do not know. But immediately, at least it is unlikely that the PEs will contract, especially in themes like railways, power and these, because there is a defined growth path there for next four-five years. Source: Economic Times

May 11,2024 The Supreme Court held that the onus to prove that the service was obtained for a commercial purpose under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 lies with the service provider and not the consumer. The Bench reiterated that the Consumer Protection Act is a consumer-friendly and beneficial legislation intended to address the grievances of consumers which could not place a negative burden cannot be placed on the consumer to show that the service available was not for a commercial purpose. Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Aravind Kumar observed, “Structurally, there are three parts to the definition of a consumer. We can deconstruct Section 2(7)(i) as a matter of illustration. The first part sets out the jurisdictional prerequisites for a person to qualify as a consumer – there must be purchase of goods, for consideration. The second part is an ‘exclusion clause’ [‘carve out’] which has the effect of excluding the person from the definition of a consumer. The carve out applies if the person has obtained goods for the purpose of ‘resale’ or for a ‘commercial purpose’. The third part is an exception to the exclusion clause – it relates to Explanation (a) to Section 2(7) which limits the scope of ‘commercial purpose’. “Since it is always the service provider who pleads that the service was obtained for a commercial purpose, the onus of proving the same would have to be borne by it. Further, it cannot be forgotten that the Consumer Protection Act is a consumer-friendly and beneficial legislation intended to address grievances of consumer”, the court added. Sr. Advocate Shailesh Madiyal represented the appellant, while Sr. Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan appeared for the respondent. The Shriram Chits (India) Private Limited Chit Fund) raised a plea arguing that the complainant company was excluded from availing any remedy as it did not come under the definition of a ‘consumer’ under the Act since the service obtained by the complainant was for a commercial purpose. Source: Livelaw

May 11,2024 In a recent decision concerning insurance law, the Supreme Court observed that the issuance of a receipt of the first premium payment by the insurer would provide a presumption of the acceptance of the policy by the insurer. Reversing the findings of the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (“NCDRC”), the bench comprising Justices AS Bopanna and CT Ravikumar, while interpreting the terms and conditions of the insurance contract, noted that the risk of the insured is deemed to be covered from the date of the issuance of the first premium amount receipt by the insurer. In the instance case, the respondent/Life Insurance Corporation (“LIC”) denied the claim of the appellant’s husband/insured on the ground that the policy wouldn’t be deemed to come into force from the date of the issuance of the receipt towards the payment of the first premium amount. However, the appellant contended that the policy would be deemed to be commenced from the date of the receipt of the first premium amount payment made to the LIC. The uncontroversial fact was that the first premium towards the insurance policy was accepted and a duly signed receipt was issued by the LIC on 09.07.1996. The cheque issued by the appellant against the payment of the premium amount was encashed on 12.07.1996. The appellant’s husband died on 14.07.1996 and the policy was prepared on 15.07.1996. Taking reference to the case of D. Srinivas v. SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd. & Ors, the court framed a question as to whether issuance of receipt towards the first premium payment to the LIC would provide a presumption of the acceptance of the policy by the LIC. Rather than strictly interpreting the terms and conditions of the contract, the Supreme Court in the D. Srinivas case laid down a flexible formula for the court to see whether there was a clear indication of acceptance of the insurance. After noting that the LIC has not disputed the issuance of the First Premium Receipt carrying the assurance, the court while relying upon the dictum of D. Srinivas inclined to hold that there exists a presumption of acceptance of the policy by the LIC since the issuance of First Premium Receipt. Source: Livelaw