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Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi will inaugurate a new chemical laboratory at the National Test House in Ghaziabad on September 10, as the country seeks to strengthen quality testing capabilities across various industries. The state-of-the-art facility will test packaged drinking water, natural mineral water, food packaging materials, and construction materials, including cement and metals, according to an official statement. The laboratory has received accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) under ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standards and holds approvals from the Bureau of Indian Standards, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, and under the Fertilizer Control Order of 1985. Equipment includes atomic absorption spectrometers, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry systems, and high-performance liquid chromatography instruments to conduct sophisticated analyses across diverse sectors, the Food and Consumer ...
The World Food Programme says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel's nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days. Some 80% of Gaza's population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel's blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press. It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza. Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resu
The Indian ice cream market has grown four-fold in the last decade and is expected to reach Rs 45,000 crore in the next three years, according to data from the Indian Ice Cream Manufacturing Association (IICMA). Though seasonal in nature, it has witnessed huge growth helped by tailwinds such as rise in disposable incomes, changing consumer preferences, and expanding distribution channels. "India has seen a fourfold increase in ice cream consumption over the past ten years. In fact, this sector is projected to reach Rs 45,000 crore in the next 3 years and more than Rs 90,000 crore in the next 8 years," said the IICMA statement. Moreover, factors such as stability of prices for essential ingredients, such as milk solids and packaging materials, have enabled the ice cream manufacturers to maintain competitive pricing and enhance profitability. "Consumers are increasingly attracted to premium, health-oriented, and innovative flavours, leading brands to launch plant-based, low-sugar, an
The government aims to reduce logistics costs from the current 13-14 per cent to global standards of around 8 per cent, with the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) playing a crucial role in this nationwide transformation effort. "With the launch of the National Logistics Policy and the PM Gati Shakti Programme, we aim to bring down logistics costs from the existing 13-14 per cent to global standards of around 8 per cent. "CWC, as a leading warehousing organisation, is poised to support these objectives through modern infrastructure development and efficiency enhancements," Food Minister Pralhad Joshi said while addressing the CWC's 69th Foundation Day. The minister highlighted that CWC, established in 1957, has evolved into a dynamic logistics service provider with an extensive network of over 700 warehouses and an operational storage capacity of 148.29 lakh metric tonnes, an official statement said. The government's push comes as part of broader initiatives under the Atmanirbha