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 The Hindu Business Line October 19,2020 The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has notified a list of permitted “nutrient function” claims that edible oil companies can use on the labels and advertisements of their products. The regulator in its latest notification said that terms such as “rich in” or “contains” should be in accordance with the conditions laid down under these norms, provided the “food business operators may choose to use the same or similar terms in the claim statements” as listed out in the regulations. It also said that edible oil companies should ensure “there is no change in the intent and meaning of the claim.” For instance, groundnut oil companies can state “contains monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and Omega-6 Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid that helps lowering of cholesterol” and “contains Tocopherols which are natural antioxidants,” on the labels and advertisement. Similarly, companies selling olive oils, olive pomace oil, extra virgin olive o

The Hindu Business Line October 19,2020 ‘Covid-19 has forced consumers to shift from just-in-time inventory management to a more conservative just-in-case approach’ Agricultural commodity buyers from Cairo to Islamabad have been on a shopping spree since the Covid-19 pandemic upended supply chains. Jordan has built up record wheat reserves while Egypt, the world’s top buyer of the grain, took the unusual step of tapping international markets during its local harvest and has boosted purchases by more than 50 per cent since April. Taiwan said it will boost strategic food stockpiles and China has been buying to feed its growing hog herd. The early purchases underscore how nations are trying to protect themselves on concerns the coronavirus will disrupt port operations and wreak havoc on global trade. The pandemic has already upset domestic farm-to-fork supply chains that provided just enough inventory to meet demand, with empty store shelves across the world leading consumers to change th

 The Wire October 19,2020 The Department of Telecom (DoT) has urged the space department and defence ministry to vacate airwaves in the medium and high range spectrum bands for rolling out 5G services, according to sources.The issue was discussed in a meeting of a committee formed under the chairmanship of cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba to resolve spectrum-related issues, they added. Differences among the DoT, Department of Space (DoS) and the defence ministry have led to delay in the rollout of 5G services in the country. The government had set a target to launch 5G services by 2020 but sources said the auction of the spectrum can be held only in early 2021 if the issues are resolved in time. The DoT has requested the defence ministry to vacate 100 megahertz (Mhz) of spectrum in the frequency band of 3300-3400 Mhz and use frequencies in the 3000-3100 Mhz band.It has urged the DoS to vacate spectrum in the frequency band of 3600-3700 Mhz, the sources said. “The DoT is now looking for 40

 The Print October 19,2020 It is important to recall the history of the Quad because alliances have to be formed on agendas, not emotions. From the outset, the US projected and China perceived the Quadrilateral security grouping of US, Japan, Australia and India as the ‘Asian NATO’. Angered by the first-ever meeting of the four countries in 2007 on the initiative of then-Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, the Chinese leadership had come down heavily on the grouping describing it as an anti-China security formation. The Chinese reaction had so rattled several of the partner countries that the Quad lost its momentum as soon as it was born. Abe lost the elections in Japan a few months after the Quad meeting. Yasuo Fukuda and Taro Asō, who became the prime ministers after him, were not too enthusiastic about rubbing China on the wrong side. In Australia too, John Howard lost power in the same year. The new Labor government that came to power led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had completel

 The Indian Express October 19,2020 More than a year after announcing a 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) cap under the government approval route in digital news, the government has said that the CEO of the company would have to be an Indian citizen, and that all foreign employees working for more than 60 days would need security clearance. There was no FDI policy for “news digital media sector” earlier. FDI in print media is capped at 26 per cent, and that in TV news is 49 per cent. The Commerce Ministry said the government had decided in September 2019 “to liberalise the FDI regime for entities engaged in the News Digital Media Sector”, and accordingly, these entities “have been permitted FDI upto 26% through the government approval route”. The digital news media entities looking for FDI would have to adhere to three conditions, the Ministry said: the majority of the directors on the company’s board, and the CEO of the company will have to be Indian citizens and, “the entit

 Indian Express October 19, 2020 Significant changes in regulatory framework, especially in reducing the capital requirement are essential for the spread of microinsurance in India, the Committee on the Standalone Microinsurance Company set up by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in February 2020 concluded in its report released last week. Among its recommendations, the committee has suggested to reduce entry-level capital requirement to Rs 20 crore from the current Rs 100 crore, allowing co-operatives, mutual and companies to act as composite microinsurers, transacting both life and non-life business through a single entity. “Reasons for the slow growth and outreach of microinsurance in India include lack of awareness and understanding of insurance, absence of need-based products customised to the low income segment of our citizens and cumbersome claims processes and procedures requiring much documentation and delays in disbursing claims. Most insuran

Moneycontrol October 19,2020 The Mistry family held Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) has alleged “serious misconduct” in the bid process for the Parliament redevelopment project that was allotted to Tata Sons in September 2020. The Group has in multiple letters to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) requested for retendering of the bids and disqualification of Tata Sons due to “probable conflict of interest”, says a report by Business Standard. SP Group, as per a letter quoted in the report, noted that participation of both Tata Projects (TPL) – bid for subject tender, and Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) – associated as sub-consultant, is a violation of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) rules. “It is essential to make a mention that both aforesaid companies are affiliates and part of the Tata Group, having common shareholding through Tata Sons including its direct and/or indirect associated companies," the letter said and requested for “a thorough examination” of th

  CNBC October 19,2020 Healthy young people might not get the coronavirus vaccine until 2022 as public health officials focus on immunizing the elderly and other vulnerable groups first, top officials from the World Health Organization said Wednesday. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s chief scientist, said health workers, frontline workers and the elderly will likely be offered a vaccine first, though prioritization details are still being worked out by the WHO and its advisory groups. And, of course, a vaccine for the virus has yet to be deemed safe and effective by the WHO, the European Union or the United States.“People tend to think that on the first of January or the first of April, I’m going to get the vaccine, and then things will be back to normal,” Swaminathan said. “It’s not going to work like that.” She added that the world will hopefully have at least one safe and effective vaccine by 2021, but it will be available in “limited quantities.” The WHO’s strategic advisory group of

 The Indian Express October 19, 2020 THE CENTRE is working on a plan to cap the number of subsidised fertiliser bags that individual farmers can buy in any cropping season. This comes even as disbursal of fertiliser subsidy to companies has, since March 2018, been made conditional upon actual sales to farmers and these getting registered on point-of-sale (POS) machines. With companies now being paid only after farmers have purchased — in the earlier system, the bagged material dispatched from the factory/port had to merely be received at a district’s railhead point or approved godown — the Narendra Modi government believes that it has significantly controlled “wholesale diversion” of subsidised nutrients. “Previously, there was scope for pilferage, right from the point of dispatch till the retailer end. Today, such leakage is happening only at the 2.30 lakh retail outlets, where POS machines are installed and every transaction has to be captured on these devices to qualify for subsidy

  The Indian Express October 19, 2020 There is one matter on which we can all agree: no ruling party or government has been as successful as the BJP or Modi government in propagating its views, policies and actions, and to that purpose they will spend any amount of money, bully any ally, threaten any adversary and bend any institution. Hyperbole comes naturally to them, so much so that until February this calendar year they were boasting that India was the ‘fastest growing large economy in the world’ when the truth was the Indian economy was sliding rapidly towards an abyss. The sole aim of the propaganda is to raise Mr Narendra Modi to the pantheon of the greatest leaders of India. Faced with the worst economic performance in decades [8 quarters of declining growth rate culminating in a de-growth of (-)23.9 per cent in Q1 of 2020-21], the effort now is to portray Mr Modi as a bold economic reformer. The latest to join the cheerleaders is a distinguished academic, Dr Arvind Panagariya.