IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

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E-com norms

News

• To protect the interest of online shoppers, the Department of Consumer Affairs has released draft guidelines on e-commerce that state that an e-commerce entity cannot directly or indirectly influence the price of the goods or services.

E-commerce guidelines for consumer protection

• The draft ‘e-commerce guidelines for consumer protection 2019,’ which adds that e-commerce firms need to ensure that personally identifiable information of customers is protected, is open for stakeholder comments for 45 days or till September 16, 2019.
• These are issued as guiding principles for e-commerce business for preventing fraud, unfair trade practices and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. These guidelines apply to business-to-consumer e-commerce, including goods and services.
• Every e-commerce entity needs to publish the name and contact details of the grievance officer on their website along with the mechanism by which users can lodge their complaints.
• An e-commerce firm cannot falsely represent themselves as consumers or post reviews about goods and services in their name.
• Besides, it proposed to make it mandatory for firms to display terms of contract with the seller relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty/guarantee, delivery/shipment, mode of payments and grievance redressal mechanism to enable consumers to make informed decisions.
• The draft also proposes that once an e-commerce firm comes to know about any counterfeit product, and if the seller is unable to provide any evidence that the product is genuine, the firm needs to take down the listing and notify the consumers of the same.

Cost-effective HIV treatment drug recommended by WHO

News

• Based on new evidence assessing benefits and risks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended the use of the HIV drug dolutegravir (DTG) as the preferred first-line and second-line treatment for all populations, including pregnant women and those of childbearing potential.

Advantages

• DTG is more effective, easier to take and has fewer side effects than alternative drugs.
• It also has a high genetic barrier to developing drug resistance, which is important, given the rising trend of resistance.

Anti-Lynching Bill 2019

News: Rajasthan Assembly Passed Anti-Lynching Bill 2019

More to know:
•“Mob”– a group of two or more individuals.
•“Lynching“- “an act or series of acts of violence or those of aiding, abetting or attempting an act of violence
•For the offence of an assault by mob, leading to the victim suffering grievous hurts, the Bill provides for jail terms up to 10 years and a fine of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 3 lakh.
•The Bill empowers the state police chief to appoint a state coordinator of the rank of inspector general of police to prevent the incidents of lynching in the state

Consumer Protection Bill

News

• The Rajya Sabha passed the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019 that provides for the establishment of authorities for the timely and effective administration and settlement of consumer disputes.

Importance of Bill

• The Bill, seeks to strengthen the rights of consumers and provides a mechanism for redressal of complaints regarding defects in goods and deficiency in services.
• The Bill will replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Lok Sabha endorses Centre’s decisions on Kashmir

News

• The Lok Sabha approved a resolution abrogating special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and a Bill for splitting the State into two Union Territories.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

U.S. labels China a ‘currency manipulator’

News

• The S. officially labeled China a currency manipulator, accusing it of using yuan to gain “unfair competitive advantage” in trade, a move that could further escalate the tense trade relations between the world’s two largest economies.

Background

• Washington’s move came as Beijing allowed its yuan to fall below the politically sensitive level of seven to the U.S. dollar for the first time in 11 years and Chinese firms have reportedly stopped buying U.S. farm produce.
• During the 2016 presidential elections, Donald Trump had promised to label China as a currency manipulator, but the Department of Treasury kept the country on its watchlist, declining to take the step.

Beyond News

• President Trump announced that the US will impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion in Chinese imports, as he accused China of not being serious in arriving at the trade deal and failing to keep its promise to buy more American agricultural products.
• S.President kicked off the trade war demanding China to reduce massive trade deficit which last year climbed to over USD 539 billion.
• S. President is also insisting that China work out verifiable measures for protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) technology transfer and more access to American goods to Chinese markets.

Cost of coal plants complying with green norms is ₹73,000 crore

News

• It would cost India’s coal-fired power plants at least ₹73,000 crore to comply with the government’s directive to implement clean technology in existing and new plants, an analysis has shown.
• This could mean, at the minimum, a 10% hike in electricity bills for consumers.

Findings

• For the analysis, coal plant units across the country producing about 177,000 MW of power were analysed. The plants were all commissioned on or before June 2017. India’s installed power capacity as of March 2019 is 194,000 MW.
• The total capex required for pollution-control technology installation is estimated to be significant.
• The costs range between ₹73,176 crore if plants marked for retirement are not retrofitted and ₹86,135 crore if the retrofits were to happen across all eligible plants. This will add between INR 0.32 per kWh to INR 0.72 per kWh (or around 9% to 21% to average tariffs) of electricity generated from these plants, depending on the load factor, the size of the unit and the remaining useful life.
• 166 GW of capacity requires retrofitting with flue gas desulphurisation (to meet sulphur oxide emission norms) and 66 GW with modifications or enhancements to reduce particulate matter emissions.
• Exorbitant as the cost of retrofitting plants may be, not doing so would mean around 300,000 to 320,000 premature deaths and 5.1 crore hospital admission cases due to respiratory disorders between 2019 and 2030.
• The mortality and morbidity costs attributing to PM2.5 alone were estimated to be INR 8,88,038 crore (USD 128 billion) and INR 74,184 crore (USD 11 billion) respectively during 2015-2030.

Beyond News

• Current rules say that coal-fired power plants have to ensure that they curtail sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from their smoke stack by implementing appropriate technology.
• While this was to be in place by 2017, it has now been extended to 2022 by the Union Environment Ministry.

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