Oct 4, 2022 | Business
In light of the significant financial and socio-economic risk for the consumers, especially youth and children, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting today issued two Advisories, one for private television channels and the other for digital news publishers and OTT platforms strongly advising them to refrain from showing advertisements of online betting sites and surrogate advertisements of such sites. The Ministry had earlier issued an Advisory on 13 June, 2022 advising newspapers, private TV channels and digital news publishers to refrain from publishing advertisements of online betting platforms.
It had come to the notice of the Government that several sports channels on television, as well as on OTT platforms, have recently been showing advertisements of offshore online betting platforms as well as their surrogate news websites. The Advisories were supplemented with evidences which contained direct and surrogate advertisements of offshore betting platforms such as Fairplay, PariMatch, Betway, Wolf 777, and 1xBet.
In the Advisories, the Ministry has informed that online offshore betting platforms are now using news websites as a surrogate product to advertise the betting platforms on digital media. In such cases, the Ministry has found that the logos of surrogate news websites bear striking resemblance to betting platforms. Moreover, the Ministry has stated that neither the betting platforms nor the news websites are registered under any legal authority in India. Such websites are promoting betting and gambling under the garb of news as surrogate advertising.
The Advisories issued by the Ministry stated that since betting and gambling is illegal in most parts of the country, advertisements of these betting platforms as well as their surrogates are also illegal. The Advisories relied upon the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019, Cable TV Network Regulation Act 1995 and the IT Rules, 2021. The Ministry has stated that such advertisements are not in conformity with various related laws and has strongly advised TV channels as well as digital news publishers from broadcasting such betting platforms or their surrogate news websites, reminding TV channels that violation may invite penal action. The Ministry has also advised online advertisement intermediaries to not target such advertisements towards Indian audience.
The Ministry has mentioned that betting and gambling pose significant financial and socio-economic risk for the consumers, especially youth and children. Accordingly, the promotion of offline or online betting/gambling through advertisements is not advised in larger public interest.
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting worked in close coordination with the Department of Consumer Affairs for the issue of the two Advisories.
Read the two Advisories at the links below:
- Advisory to TV channels: https://mib.gov.in/sites/default/files/Advisory%20to%20Private%20Satellite%20TV%20Channels%2003.10.2022.pdf
- Advisory to Digital Media: https://mib.gov.in/sites/default/files/Advisory%20to%20Digital%20News%20Publishers%20and%20OTT%20Platforms%2003.10.2022%20%281%29.pdf
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Saurabh Singh
(Release ID: 1864846)
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Sep 18, 2022 | Business
In conformity with the Government’s policy of facilitating Ease of Doing Business and decriminalisation of offences, CBDT has taken steps in this direction and issued revised Guidelines for Compounding of offences under the Income-tax Act, 1961(the ‘Act’) dated 16.09.2022 with reference to various offences covered under the prosecution provisions of the Act.
Some of the major changes made for the benefit of taxpayers include making offence punishable under Section 276 of the Act as compoundable. Further, the scope of eligibility for compounding of cases has been relaxed whereby case of an applicant who has been convicted with imprisonment for less than 2 years being previously non-compoundable, has now been made compoundable.The discretion available with the competent authority has also been suitably restricted.
The time limit for acceptance of compounding applications has been relaxed from the earlier limit of 24 months to 36 months now, from the date of filing of complaint. Procedural complexities have also been reduced/simplified.
Specific upper limits have been introduced for the compounding fee covering defaults across several provisions of the Act. Additional compounding charges in the nature of penal interest @ 2% per month up to 3 months and 3% per month beyond 3 months have been reduced to 1% and 2% respectively.
The revised Guidelines for Compounding of offences dated 16.09.2022 are available on http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in.
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RM/PPG/KMN
(Release ID: 1860175)
Visitor Counter : 681
Aug 23, 2022 | Business
The National Health Authority (NHA) issued hardware guidelines across States and Union Territories for healthcare institutions like hospitals, clinics and health and wellness centres to promote digitization in hospitals. The guidelines provide a basic framework to States/UTs for planning, assessment and procurement of the IT hardware (including IT specifications of various hardware equipment) to operate applications compliant with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
Talking about the guidelines, Dr. R. S. Sharma, CEO, NHA said – “The first step towards ABDM implementation is digitization of hospitals. Several States and UTs expressed the need for some guidelines that gives them an overview of the IT infrastructure requirements based on the health facility size. The hardware guidelines issued by NHA will help the states/ UTs in assessing the requirement and facilitate the adoption of ABDM in their healthcare institutions.”
ABDM will simplify the processes and increase ease of living by connecting the digital health solutions of hospitals and other health facilities across the country with each other. The digital ecosystem will also enable a host of other facilities like teleconsultation, paper-less health records, QR code based OPD registrations etc. The digitization of health records will ensure that old medical records of patients cannot get lost and are accessible to them anytime anywhere. Ensuring necessary IT infrastructure and implementation of Hospital Information Management Systems across health facilities at the State/UT level will play a pivotal role in creation and exchange of digital health records across the ecosystem.
The guidelines on the IT hardware specifications to support this ecosystem is available at https://abdm.gov.in:8081/uploads/Hardware_Guidelines_ABDM_e162cf7a7b.pdf. The document will help the States/ UTs in assessing the hardware requirements while planning and procurement of IT assets for healthcare institutions of all scales. The guidelines published by NHA is suggestive and recommendatory in nature. States/UTs and the health facilities have the flexibility to modify these guidelines based on local requirements and circumstances.
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MV/PR
HFW/NHA/ABDM/Hardware Guidelines to States & UTs/22nd August, 2022
(Release ID: 1853603)
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Jul 2, 2022 | Business
J&M Foods Issues a Voluntary Recall on a Select Lot Number of Favorite Day, Lavender Shortbread Cookies Due to the Packages Contain Chocolate Chip Cookies That Do Not Disclose the Correct Allergens
J&M Foods is initiating a voluntary recall because a select number of the Lavender Shortbread Cookies were erroneously packed with Chocolate Chip Cookies. As a result, the packaging does not list the presence of possible allergens (soy and eggs). Some people who have an extreme allergy or severe sensitivity to soy or eggs could run the risk of a serious allergic reaction if they consume this product.
Following are the product lots impacted by this voluntary recall.
Brand Name: Favorite Day
Product: 7 oz Lavender Shortbread
UPC: 0-85239-28609-8
Lot Code: Best By 18-Apr-2023
Units: 1,464
The recalled product was sold as an individual package of 7 ounces. On individual packages, the lot code (best by date) can be found on the back of the bag and the item number (UPC) can be found on the bottom of each package. Photos of the recalled product are below.
This product was distributed nationally at Target. This is the only product that is subject to the recall. Target has been notified and they have removed the product from their store shelves and online.
J&M Foods was made aware of this issue via a consumer contact. To date, there have been no illnesses reported.
Consumers who purchased the impacted product specified above can contact
Target at 1-800-440-0680, or J&M Foods at 1-800-264-2278 for a refund.
Consumers with questions may contact J&M at 1-800-264-2278.
For media inquiries, reach out to Scott Thibault at sthibault@jm-foods.com.
Apr 16, 2022 | Business
Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), a Public Sector Undertaking under the aegis of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, has issued the tender for setting up 500 MW/1000 MWh Standalone Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in India. A first-of-its-kind tender in the country, it will provide Discoms with storage facilities to be used on an “on-demand” basis.
The tender has been issued under the Standard Bidding Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Power in March 2022. The total capacity to be set up under the RfS is 1000 MWh (500 MW x 2hrs), which will constitute two projects of 500 MWh (250 MW x 2 hrs) capacity each. The Projects will be installed in the vicinity of the Fatehgarh-III Grid-Substation of the ISTS network, in the State of Rajasthan. The Buying Entities will be offered the storage capacity to charge and discharge the same daily through RE power, as per their energy shifting requirements.
The Projects will be set up on a “Build-Own-Operate” basis, with the connectivity and necessary permissions being under the scope of the Project Developer. Land for the Projects will be provided by the CTU to the Developers on a right-to-use basis. SECI is the implementing agency of this tender and will be procuring capacity on behalf of the Buying Entities, charging a facilitation fee in the form of a trading margin.
A unique feature of this tender is the composition of capacity offtake. Out of the total capacity being installed under the tender, 60% of the capacity will be off taken by SECI on behalf of the Buying Entities, and the offtake of 40% of capacity will be the responsibility of the Developers, through third-party or market sale. Thus, through this tender, the Government provides substantial support for market development in the energy storage domain. Out of the 60% capacity off taken by SECI, 30% will be earmarked to be used by NLDC, POSOCO for Grid Ancillary Services.
The Developer shall make the BESS available for 2 operational cycles per day, i.e. 2 complete charge-discharge cycles per day. The Projects are required to demonstrate minimum Availability of 95% on an annual basis, a minimum Round-Trip Efficiency of 85% monthly, and suitable liquidated damages stipulated in case of shortfall in meeting the above criteria. The term of the Projects will be 12 years, with the Scheduled Commissioning Date being 18 months from the date of signing of the Battery Energy Storage Purchase Agreement (BESPA). Financial Closure is to be achieved within 12 months of the signing of BESPA.
The tender marks the first tranche of the Government’s immediate target of setting up 4000 MWh of Battery Storage Capacity as part of achieving increased penetration of RE in the national grid. Central Electricity Authority (CEA)/MoP has prepared a Report on Optimal Generation Capacity Mix for 2029-30. As per the report, a Battery Energy Storage capacity of 27,000 MW/108,000 MWh (4-hour storage) is projected to be part of the installed capacity in 2029-30.
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NG/IG
(Release ID: 1817294)
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