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Bengal Govt to set up tea testing laboratories The Bengal Government plans to establish two food safety laboratories in Terai and Dooars, marking the first such facility in North Bengal to ensure tea quality compliance. The decision follows a meeting led by labour minister Moloy Ghatak, with key officials and industry stakeholders discussing tea garden concerns. A task force, including scientists from the Tea Research Association, will oversee compliance. A recent Government notification mandates strict checks on banned pesticides and insecticides in tea gardens. The West Bengal Tea Directorate, in coordination with the labour commissioner, has been directed to enforce regulations, preventing the use, stocking, and sale of tea cultivated with restricted chemicals. Customs officials at border check posts will only permit tea imports with valid clearance reports.

Coca-Cola has officially entered the booming prebiotic soda market with the launch of Simply Pop, a functional beverage designed to support gut health and immunity. The new drink, set to hit select retail stores and Amazon Fresh later this month, marks the beverage giant’s challenge to established players like Olipop and Poppi. Read More

India and US are set to join hands for a major trade move in a few months’ time, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has hinted. India and the US are committed to increasing bilateral trade to $500 billion and negotiating a ‘strong’ trade agreement within the next 6-8 months. Read More

The Government of India approved the continuation of the integrated Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), scheme during the 15th Finance Commission Cycle up to 2026. The integrated PM-AASHA Scheme is administered to bring-in more effectiveness in the implementation of procurement operations that would not only help in providing remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce but also control the price volatility of essential commodities by ensuring their availability at affordable prices to consumers. Read More

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to cut down on their oil consumption by 10% in a bid to combat India’s obesity epidemic. Read More

Following the directions of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar, Dr Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat, Food Safety/ Drug and Food Control Organisation held intensive food safety inspections in various areas of City today ensuring strict adherence to hygiene and sanitary standards by food business operators. Read More

The import of cheaper, duty-free edible oil is adversely affecting oilseed farmers and domestic processors, prompting the edible oil industry to urge the government to regulate the influx of low-cost refined cooking oil, particularly from Nepal. Read More

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that BRICS nations could face 100% tariffs from the United States ‘if they want to play games with the dollar.’ ‘If any trading gets through, it’ll be 100% tariff, at least,’ he said in response to a question about the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – setting up their own currency. Read More

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has been implementing Central Sector Umbrella Scheme – PMKSY since 2016-17 to create post-harvest infrastructure and processing facilities to boost the overall development of the food processing sector including reduction in post-harvest losses. The component schemes under PMKSY provide credit linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) in the form of grants-in-aid to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing/preservation infrastructure which, inter-alia, includes cold storages and refrigerated vehicles to minimize post-harvest losses. Read More

Implementation of Indian Standards should be accorded top priority, said Smt. Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India while chairing an inter-ministerial meeting on Implementation of Standards – Bringing more products under Quality Control Orders (QCOs) in New Delhi. The Secretary emphasized on the role of QCOs in achieving the aim of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat” considering its twin objectives of uplifting quality ecosystem in domestic market and curbing sub-standard imports. Referring to the speech by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 78th Independence Day, wherein a thrust on Indian Standards has been envisioned to make Indian products stand out in the global market, she appealed to all the Ministries to prioritise Indian Standards. Read More