Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for News & Politics / India

Live larvae found in milk powder sample of Nestle

by

larvae milk powder Nestle

Coimbatore: Facing trouble in many states over the safety of its popular Maggi noodles, Nestle India has courted fresh trouble after a preliminary test by a state agency of a sample of their milk powder allegedly found live larvae in it.

The Drug Administration Department (food safety wing), tested the NAN PRO3 milk powder, bought by a cab driver and the initial report by one of its food analysts found live larvae in the sample.

The report also found it unsafe for consumption as it contained live insects and did not conform to standards, a health department official, on condition of anonymity said.

The driver had claimed that his child had developed skin allergy after consuming the milk and gave the sample for testing.

The official said they are awaiting a comprehensive report from the Government food safety laboratory.

Nestle denies receiving recall order from central, state FDAs

Nestle India today said it has not received any order from the central or any state FDA authority for recall of its Maggi noodles as the controversy over safety issues deepened.

“We have not received any official communication from the authorities so far,” the company said in a BSE filing.

It further said: “We wish to state that we have till now not received any orders from any state/Centre FDA authorities to recall Maggi noodle products in the market except an order from the Uttar Pradesh FDA dated 30.4.2015 asking us to recall a batch of Maggi noodles manufactured in February 2014, which had already reached the ‘Best Before date’ in November 2014.”

Meanwhile, Kishore Biyani-led Future Group today stopped selling Maggi in its retail stores.

“In the interest of consumer sentiment and concerns, we have taken Maggi noodles off the shelves from all our stores for the time being. We will wait for more clarity from authorities to take any further course of action,” a Future Group spokesperson said.
Modern trade retail outlets like Big Bazaar contribute a large chunk of sales for FMCG firms, including Nestle.

Nestle India, which has been at the receiving end with several state governments ordering tests to find out lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) content in Maggi noodles, said it’s “cooperating with the authorities”.

Yesterday, the Delhi government decided to initiate a case against Nestle India after it found samples of Maggi noodles “unsafe” for consumption. The probe into alleged lapses has already widened to different parts of the country.

However, Nestle India claimed that it has got samples tested in an external laboratory as well as its in-house one, and the product is found “safe to eat”

In Karnataka, Health Minister U T Khader said officials have been directed to randomly lift samples of Maggi noodles for laboratory testing. Haryana, too, ordered the same. The West Bengal Food department has convened a meeting tomorrow to take a call on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is undertaking more tests in the wake of the findings of Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration.

Earlier this week, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said strict action will be taken for any violation.

A case has already been lodged against Nestle India by UP food regulator FSDA in a Barabanki court in UP.

Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta were also separately dragged into the matter for endorsing the noodles brand.

(PTI)

U T Khader urges not to sell, consume Maggi noodles

by

maggi-noodles

Bengaluru: Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader has appealed to retailers to not sell Maggi noodles till the test reports are ready in the state and advised people to not buy it.

Mr Khader said he had directed officials to collect random samples from the manufacturing unit in Nanjangud and retail shops in the State. “The test reports will be made public in the next two days,” he said.

The Minister said the samples would be tested in the four Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI)-identified divisional laboratories, Mysuru-based CFTRI as well as six NABL-accredited private laboratories in the State.

“If required, we will get it tested by laboratories outside the State too,” he said.

FSSAI Deputy Director H.S. Shivakumar said the food safety officers had started surveillance from May 27 as a precautionary measure.

Naresh Bhat, consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Colombia Asia Hospital, said there was no need for people to panic as only long-term regular consumption of the product could affect a person’s health. While MSG can cause certain reactions only in people who are sensitive to it, lead can cause swelling of the brain in children. In adults, it can cause constipation, nerve paralysis, stomach pain and anaemia in some cases, he said.

After samples of Maggi noodles manufactured in March 2014 were found to have high levels of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lead, the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry had directed State governments to get samples of the product tested.

After receiving an official communication from the ministry on Monday, 66 food safety officers in the State have been put on the job of collecting samples.

(Agencies)

California man brutally beat 82-year-old Sikh grandfather he mistook for 'one of those people'

by

Piara Singh

Washington: An 82-year-old Sikh grandfather was brutally beaten with a steel pipe by a man who reportedly targeted him for looking like one of “those people”.

Piara Singh was attacked outside his gurdwara in Fresno California where he was preparing free meals to give to the homeless. He suffered a punctured lung and head injuries and was left lying in a pool of blood, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Two years later, members of Mr Singh’s Sikh community say that while his physical wounds have healed, they are still waiting for closure in the case because of a third delay in sentencing.

The assailant, Gilbert Garcia Jr who was 29 at the time of the 2013 incident, was initially charged with attempted murder but admitted elder abuse and a hate crime in February.

And as they wait for Garcia to at last be sentenced, community advocate Ike Grewal told local KFSN news that the attack was all the more troubling because it is believed the attacker confused Mr Singh for a radical Muslim.

“The Sikhs have been attacked all over the United States after 9/11 and this is not acceptable because we have been mistaken as radicals when we are not,” Mr Grewal said.

Speaking to the LA Times shortly after the incident itself, Mr Singh’s nephew Charanjit Sihota said that police told him they found Garcia hiding behind a tree in a neighbour’s garden, and that as he was arrested he shouted that he hated “those people” and wanted to bomb their places of worship.

Even if his attack was misdirected, legal expert Tony Capozzi told KFSN, it can still be classed as a hate crime. “His hatred was the focus, the driving force, towards that belief,” he said. “And the fact that the victim wasn’t of the religion he thought it was is of no consequence.”

(Agencies)

State withdraws communal violence cases standing against PFI, FFD activists

by

(Representative image)

(Representative image)

Bengaluru: The state government has withdrawn about 175 cases involving about 1,600 accused, which had been filed against various persons in connection with communal disturbances which occurred in Mysuru and other places in the years 2009 and 2010. The accused named in these cases included activists of Popular Front of India (PFI) and Forum for Dignity (FFD).

During April and July 2009, communal clashes had erupted within the limits of Udayagiri and Narasimharaja polie stations in Mysuru. One of these disturbances had taken place in retaliation for tossing of pork inside a mosque, whereas the other one was concerning the activists of PFI and FFD ganging up illegally, engineering communal clashes, attacking policemen on duty and other members of general public besides pelting stones on them and causing loss of property.

In these two disturbances, 40 cases had been registered, and 214 persons had been named as accused.

In the other case pertaining to the year 2010, communal disturbances had occurred in Shivamogga and Hassan relating to the publication of Kannada translation of a work of controversial Muslim writer, Taslima Nasrin titled ‘Parda Ye Parda’. In this connection, 114 cases were registered in Shivamogga, and 21 in Hassan. 1,400 persons had been shown as accused in these cases.

With the state cabinet deciding to withdraw all these cases, the accused have heaved a sigh of relief.

(Agencies)

37K-page charge sheet against pro-IS twitter account handler Mehdi Biswas

by

shamiwitness

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru police has filed a charge sheet against Mehdi Masroor Biswas, 24, the suspected handler of pro-Islamic State Twitter account, @ShamiWitness.

The CCB’s investigation team filed the charge sheet before a special court here on Monday, more than five-and-a-half months after Biswas’s arrest. Police had arrested Biswas, who was then working as a manufacturing executive with ITC Foods, from his one-room rented flat near Jalahalli in Gangammanagudi police limits on December 13, 2014, after Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast an interview with him.

In the interview, Biswas is heard admitting to handling @ShamiWitness, an IS propagandist Twitter account, for the last few years. Biswas’s Twitter account had more than 17,000 followers at the time of his arrest.

“The charge sheet runs into 36,986 pages, including exhibits, and contains details of about 1.22 lakh tweets and 18,000 followers. We have charged him under various sections of appropriate Acts and are confident of proving the charges in the court of law,” Joint Commissioner of (Crime) M Chandrashekhar said.

The charges

The CCB claimed that Biswas was a “representative” of Islamic State (IS) chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and planned to “establish” the caliphate. He made a “mockery” of those opposed to Baghdadi and the IS. He described the militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir as “martyrs” and urged Indians to support the IS. In the interview to Channel 4, he even expressed a desire to join the IS. Tests have “proved” that the voice in the interview was Biswas’s. The CCB also collected evidence about his contacts with “terrorists who know the English language”.

Biswas created “fake” e-mail IDs between January 25, 2013, and December 11, 2014, used the available content on the Internet and generated 1,22,203 tweets, besides uploading 15, 446 pictures. He used the Twitter account as a platform to “expand the base of his operations and instil fear among non-Muslims”. He “shared” the details of bordering areas of the IS to help those willing to join the organisation.

Mehdi has been charged under IPC sections 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 121 (waging or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the government of India), 124 (a) (sedition) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), section 66 (f) (cyber terrorism) of IT Act, 2000, and sections 13(1)(b) (advocating, abetting, advising or inciting any unlawful activity), 18 (b) recruiting of any person or persons for terrorist activity and 39 (support given to a terrorist organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2008.

Assam Court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Subramanian Swamy

by

Subramanian Swamy (Photo credit: Jagran)

Subramanian Swamy (Photo credit: Jagran)

New Delhi: A court in Karimganj district of Assam has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for failing to honour a summons issued on March 19.

Additional CJM (Karimganj) in his order stated that Swamy should be arrested on or before June 30.

He also directed the Delhi and Assam Police to produce Swamy before the court by the date after his arrest.

A complaint has been registered against Swamy for making a controversial remark on mosques.

While speaking in Guwahati on March 13, Swamy had reportedly said, “A mosque is not a religious place. It is just a building and it can be demolished any time. If anyone disagrees with me on this, I am ready to have a debate on the issue. I got this information from people of Saudi Arabia”.

(Agencies)

Achhe din? Higher service tax makes mobile, eating out, travel expensive

by

service tax

New Delhi: Eating out, mobile phone usage and air & rail travel have become expensive from today with the government hiking service tax rate to 14 per cent.

The government’s proposal to increase the rate of service tax from 12.36 per cent (including education cess) to 14 per cent has come into effect from today.

The service tax is levied on all services, expect a small negative list.

Some of the key services that attract higher tax and have become costlier include, rail and air travel, banking, insurance, advertising, architecture, construction, credit cards, event management and tour operators.

Mobile operators and credit card companies have already sent messages to subscribers conveying the increase in service tax rate, which will have a bearing on the bills.

Fares for First Class and AC classes in passenger trains, besides freight charges, have increased by about 0.5 per cent.

Jaitley had proposed to raise the service tax rate to 14 per cent to facilitate a smooth transition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, which the government wants to roll out from April 2016.

Once implemented, GST will subsume service tax, excise and other local levies.

“To facilitate a smooth transition to levy of tax on services by both the Centre and the States, it is proposed to increase the present rate of service tax plus education cesses from 12.36 per cent to a consolidated rate of 14 per cent,” Jaitley had said in Budget speech.

Education cess, which is levied on service tax, has been subsumed in the service tax rate.

Although the Budget also proposed a 2 per cent Swachh Bharat cess on selected services, the government is yet to come out with a notification in this regard.

(PTI)

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan blocks eggs in anganwadi meals

by

Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Bhopal: In a startling revelation it has come to light that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has blocked eggs in anganwadi meals just because he is a strict vegetarian.

In the tribal areas of Alirajpur, Mandla and Hoshangabad districts, where children suffer from malnutrition, eggs would have been a rich source of protein in their diet.

However, when the Chief Minister’s permission was sought for including eggs in the anganwadi meals, he immediately turned down the proposal, according to an Indian Express report.

Chouhan also made it clear that eggs would not be served in the anganwadis as long as he is the Chief Minister of the state.

Clarifying the same, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, S K Mishra said that it’s a sentimental issue with Chouhan.

(Agencies)

Karnataka cabinet decides to challenge acquittal of Jayalalithaa

by

Jayalalithaa

Bengaluru: Ending three-week long suspense, Karnataka government today decided to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against acquittal of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and three others in the disproportionate assets case.

The decision to challenge the May 11 verdict by Justice C R Kumaraswamy of the Karnataka High Court was taken at a cabinet meeting after the advice by the Special Public Prosecutor in the case B V Acharya and state Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar as also the state Law Department.

“The Chief Minister has directed me to file an appeal in the Supreme Court immediately,” Law Minister Jayachandra said.

Replying to a query, he said Acharya will be the SPP in the case in the apex court.

He said the SPP appointed on the direction of the Supreme Court had advised filing the appeal against the acquittal of Jayalalitha and three others and even the AG and law Secretary had concurred with it.

“….And now the cabinet has decided to file the appeal,” he said, adding it was being done “legally on merit”.

The Supreme Court had specifically said Karnataka has stepped into the shoes of TN and it is the sole prosecuting agency for all matters related to the disproportionate assets case, he said.

In the May 11 verdict that restored Chief Ministership to her, Jayalalithaa was acquitted of “all charges” in the 19-year old disproportionate assets case. Three other convicts, including her close aide Sasikala Natarajan, were also given a clean chit by the High Court.

A fresh legal challenge to 67-year old Jayalalithaa has come nine days after she made a triumphant return as Chief Minister with O Panneerselvam making way for her following acquittal by the High Court.

The state government had a 90-day deadline to file the appeal.

Karnataka is the sole prosecuting agency in the case, which was transferred to Bengaluru from Tamil Nadu by the Supreme Court for a “fair” trial.

Justice Kumaraswamy had set aside the trial court’s judgement which had sentenced Jayalalithaa and three others to four years in jail and allowed the appeals by all the four convicts.

Special Court Judge Michael D Cunha had on September 27 last held Jayalalithaa and three others guilty of corruption and awarded four years jail term, due to which she attracted disqualification as an MLA that divested her of Chief Ministership.The judge had also slapped a fine of Rs 100 crore on Jayalalithaa and Rs 10 crore each on three other convicts.

Giving a clean chit to Jayalalithaa, Karnataka High Court had held that the judgement and findings recorded by the trial court convicting her and three others suffers from infirmity and it is not sustainable in law.

Acquitting Jayalalithaa and three others of “all the charges levelled against them”, the single bench judge Justice Kumaraswamy, in his 919-page judgement, had also quashed the order of the trial court relating to confiscation of the properties both movable and immovable.

On disproportionate assets, the judge had held that “it is relatively small. In the instant case, the disproportionate asset is less than 10 per cent and it is within permissible limit.”

“The percentage of disproportionate assets is 8.12 per cent,” the judge had said.

AIADMK’s bitter rival DMK had raised the pitch for filing the appeal against acquittal while the original petitioner Subramanian Swamy had also said he would move the Supreme Court if Karnataka does not challenge the High Court verdict.

(PTI)

Demoncrazy: Little girl arrested for protesting against Narendra Modi in Chennai

by

Police personnel detained this girl along with protesters. (Photo by: Solaris)

Police personnel detained this girl along with protesters. (Photo by: Solaris)

Chennai: In a shocking turn of events following the controversial ban on a student organization in Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, the police personnel detained a little girl for protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The incident has sparked outcry on social media wherein the shocking photos of the detained child is being circulated.

The girl was detained when she was raising pro-democracy and anti-Modi slogans along with the members of Students’ Youth Front and Thanthai Periyar group in Chennai.

The protests erupted after IIT-Madras derecognized an independent student body, Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle last week for creating awareness about the anti-people policies of Modi-led NDA government.

The protests were initiated by members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), and gradually other student organizations too joined them, condemning the alleged undemocratic action of Human Resource and Development Ministry of India.

The agitating members of the group shouted slogans against the Modi government and HRD minister Smriti Irani, while they were whisked away by the police personnel.

Meanwhile, IIT-Madras justified the ban and said that the student body was temporarily derecognized for “violating the guidelines of the institute”. While the agitating members claim that the move was based on a letter from the HRD Ministry, interfering in the matters of student groups within an educational institute.

The questions here are: Can a child be arrested in such a manner? Is Mr Modi seeing all this? Is staging protest a crime in India? Is India really a democratic country?

A police woman takes the girl to the police van. (Photo by: Solaris)

The girl joined the protesting members of the Radical Students’ Youth Front and Thanthai Periyar group. (Photo by: Solaris)

Police personnel detain members of the Radical Students’ Youth Front and Thanthai Periyar group. (Photo by: Solaris)

Police personnel detain members of the Radical Students’ Youth Front and Thanthai Periyar group. (Photo by: Solaris)

Police personnel detain members of the Radical Students’ Youth Front and Thanthai Periyar group. (Photo by: Solaris)

Police personnel detain members of the Radical Students’ Youth Front and Thanthai Periyar group. (Photo by: Solaris)

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives