• Forest Certification offers a multi-layer audit system that seeks to authenticate the origin, legality, and sustainability of forest-based products such as timber, furniture, handicraft, paper and pulp, rubber, and many more.
• The certification is done to avoid consumption of any product that might be the result of deforestation or illegal logging.
• There are two major international standards:
  • One developed by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ;
  • Other by Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certifications (PEFC).
  • Both operate in India, but the Government is also working on its own national standards.
  • They are not involved in the evaluation and auditing of the processes; it is done by certification bodies authorised by FSC or PEFC.
• Two main types of certification:
  • Forest management and
  • Chain of Custody- CoC certification is meant to guarantee the traceability of a forest product like timber throughout the supply chain from origin to market.
• Currently, forests in only one state in India i.e. Uttar Pradesh are certified.

• World Hearing Day is celebrated on the 3rd of March each year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world.
• The theme of this year is “Ear and hearing care for all”, determined by World Health Organisation.
• Normal hearing range is from 0 dBHL (Decibel Hearing Level), which is the audiometric zero, to 20 dBHL.
• A person who is not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing – hearing thresholds of 20 dB or better in both ears is said to have hearing loss.
• Hard of hearing refers to people with hearing loss ranging from mild to severe.
• Deaf people mostly have profound hearing loss, which- implies very little or no hearing.

• Recently the Government of India and World Bank signed two complimentary loans worth $1 billion to support and enhance India’s healthcare infrastructure.
• The World Bank is lending two complementary loans of $500 million to help India with preparedness for future pandemics as well as to strengthen its health infrastructure.
  • The $500-million Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program (PHSPP) will support efforts to prepare India’s surveillance system to detect and report epidemics of concern.
  • Another $500 million Enhanced Health Service Delivery Program (EHSDP) will support government’s efforts to strengthen service delivery through a redesigned primary healthcare model.
• Both these loans utilise the Program-for-Results financing instrument that focuses on achievement of results rather than inputs.
• Through these loans, the bank will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and health service delivery in seven States of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.

• The Supreme Court recently used its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to attract younger talent to preside over consumer courts by-
• Reducing the mandatory professional experience to 10 years(from presently 20 years for President and 15 years for member)
• Introducing written exams and viva voce to check candidates’ performance.

About the Act

• Consumer Protection Act (CPA), 2019 was enacted with an objective to provide better protection of the interests of the Consumers, especially in the digital era.
• It replaced Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

Key Feature of CPA, 2019

• Promulgates a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism for redressal of consumer disputes.
  1. District Commissions – composed of a President, who is or has been or is qualified to be a District Judge and not less than two members. Pecuniary jurisdiction upto Rs 50 lakh.
  2. State commissions – composed of a President, who is or has been a Judge of a High Court and at least four other members. Pecuniary jurisdiction from Rs 50 lakh- Rs 2 crore.
  3. National Commission – composed of a President who is or has been a Judge of SC and not less than four other members. Pecuniary jurisdiction of above Rs 2 crore.
• Central Consumer Protection Authority to protect rights of consumers.
• Penalties for misleading advertisement.

• Recently, the World Bank released the Women, Business and the Law 2023 report.
• The Report relies on eight indicators to measure if women are on an equal standing with men.
  • A perfect score of 100 on the Index means that women are on an equal standing with men. Only 14 countries scored a perfect 100
• India scored 74.4 in the index which was higher than the 63.7 average for the South Asian region, but lower than Nepal which had the region’s highest score of 80.6.
• The Index used data on the laws and regulations applicable in Mumbai.
• India gets a perfect score in indicators like constraints on freedom of movement, laws affecting women’s decisions to work, and constraints related to marriage, maritime cooperation.
• India lags behind when it comes to laws affecting women’s pay, laws affecting women’s work after having children, constraints on women starting and running a business, gender differences in property and inheritance, and laws affecting the size of a woman’s pension.

• The Ministry of Textiles has invited proposals for empanelment from the textile industry and industry associations to broad base the panel of implementing partners for Samarth.

About SAMARTH

• Samarth is a demand driven and placement-oriented umbrella skilling programme of the Ministry of Textiles.
• It aims to incentivize and supplement the efforts of the industry in creating jobs in the organized textile and related sectors, covering the entire value chain of textiles, excluding Spinning and Weaving.
• The scheme has been penetrated across 28 States and 6 Union territories of the country and caters to all sections of the society including SC, ST and other marginalized categories.
• Ministry of Textiles has partnered with 116 Textile Industries / Industry Associations, 12 Central / State Government Agencies and 3 Sectoral Organizations of the Ministry for undertaking training programmes under Samarth.
• The implementation period of the scheme is up to March 2024. Employment linkage is mandated in the courses under organized textile sector with mandatory placement 70% in entry level & 90% for Upskilling programmes.
• Achievements so far:
  • Out of the skilling target of 3.47 lakh beneficiaries allocated so far, 1.5 lakh beneficiaries have been provided training.
  • More than 85% of the beneficiaries trained so far under the scheme are women.
  • More than 70% of the beneficiaries trained in organized sector courses have been provided placement.

• The state government has asked an NGO to conduct a social impact survey of the project for the expansion of the Gaggal airport in Kangra.
• NGO members, while conducting the survey, faced resistance from people of Gaggal, whose land will be acquired for airport expansion.
  • A social impact survey is a pre-condition before the process of land acquisition is started. In the survey, an independent agency hired by the government would solicit the views of the affected people.
• The Gaggal airport is proposed to be expanded in two phases. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to expand the airport from the current length of 1,372 metres to 1,900 metres in the first phase. In the second phase, its length was proposed to be increased from 1,900 metres to 3,110 metres.
• The airport expansion is a major demand of the tourism industry.

• Jishnu Barua has become the new chairperson of power regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).
• Barua has been appointed chairperson of the CERC on February 27, 2023.
• Earlier, Barua was chief secretary of Assam from October 2020 to August 2022.
• CERC headquarters- New Delhi.

• India’s top triple-jumper Aishwarya Babu has been banned by the National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) disciplinary panel for four years for using a prohibited anabolic steroid.
• Aishwarya Babu, 25 years old, was dropped from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022, along with sprinter S Dhanalakshmi after testing positive for the steroid, which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list.

• Bakhmut is a small mining town in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province.
• Bakhmut is currently in ruins, having been the focal point of Russian assaults and a site of dogged defence by the Ukrainian military.
• Importance of Bakhmut:
  • Bakhmut is proximate to multiple important roads which may have some strategic value to the Russian advance.
  • It’s an important transport hub, a lot of supply lines go through there and Russia could use it as a base.
  • Beyond its limited strategic value, the town has become a symbol for the war itself, guiding both sides’ unrelenting resolve to control it.