FSSAI bans use of ‘100%’ on food labels citing misuse mangaluru l saturday l may 31, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Mandar pardikar Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on Friday advised not to use the term ‘100%’ in food labelling, citing concerns over its misuse. The apex food regulator asked all Food Business Operators (FBOs) to refrain from using the term on food labels, packaging, and promotional content, owing to its ambiguity and potential for misinterpretation within the existing regulatory provisions. it said the terminology is not only undefined but also misleading and likely to create a false impression CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Economy grew 7.4% in Q4, beat estimates Full-year growth for FY25 pegged at 6.5% D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi INDIA’s economy ended 2024-25 on a strong note, with real GDP growth accelerating to 7.4% in the fourth quarter (Q4) driven by robust performances in construction, public administration, and financial services, provisional estimates of GDP released on Friday showed. This is, however, lower than the 8.4% growth reported in Q4 of the previous financial year, but higher than 6.4% in the third quarter of FY25, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The data surprised most analysts who had forecast the GDP growth to be below 7% in Q4. The real GDP growth for FY25 stood at 6.5%, in line with RBI’s projections. In FY24, the GDP had grown at 9.2%. The surge in the fourth quarter was led by construction (10.8% growth), public administration & defence (8.7%), and financial services (7.8%), signalling strong infrastructure and government-led activity. Agriculture (primary sector) rebounded to 5.0% growth in Q4, a sharp recovery from 0.8% in the same quarter last year. Manufacturing growth declined sharply year-on-year to 4.8% in the fourth quarter of FY25 compared with 11.3% in the corresponding quarter pre- Real gdp growth 15 7.6% 9.2% 6.5% 13.5% 2022-23 12 9.7% vious year. For the full year, the manufacturing sector in real terms grew at 4.5% against 12.3% in the previous year. Private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) rose 7.2% in FY25, showing robust demand. However, PPCE moderated to 6% in Q4. Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said contribution of private consumption to GDP rose to 61% (current prices) in FY25—the highest since FY04. Investment, or gross fixed capital formation, slowed down in FY25 to 7.1% against 8.8% in the previous year. However, investments picked up in Q4 of FY25 to 9.4%, the highest quarterly growth during the year. The CEA said industrial growth picked pace in Q4, helped by the monetary policy —by lowering rates and easing liquidity, while the services sector maintained its pace. Nominal GDP rose 9.8% in FY25 to `331 lakh crore, or $3.92 trillion in dollar terms. Nominal GDP growth hit 10.8% in Q4, reflecting both real expansion and inflation. For FY26, CEA estimated the growth in the 6.3-6.8% range. “If we continue with the efforts to bring in FDI and private capex, and urban consumption picks up on the back of higher capital formation, and tax cuts, we can achieve the growth around 6.8%,” Nageswaran pointed out. 2023-24 9.3% 9.5% 6% 6.4% 9 6.5% 6 5.6% 3 Q1 Q2 K’taka raises age for tobacco purchase to 21 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @Bengaluru The Karnataka government on Friday completely banned hookah bars, raised the legal age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21 years, and increased the maximum fine for violations under tobacco control laws from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000. A government order notifying the changes was issued on Friday, after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Karnataka-specific amendment to the central tobacco control law on May 23. The revised law — The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Karnataka Amendment) Act, 2024 — was published in the Karnataka Gazette on May 30. 2024-25 8.4% 7.4% 6.9% 4.8% Q3 Q4 3 kids among 4 dead as heavy rain Look who’s seeing merit pours misery in Dakshina Kannada in Art 370’s abrogation Pa r v e z S u ltan @ New Delhi E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Mangaluru At least four persons, including three children, died and three others were feared drowned after heavy and continuous rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods across Mangaluru on Friday . Three of them died after a portion of land fell on their house when a big mango tree got uprooted at Montepadav in Manjanady near Deralakatte around 4 am. A family of six lived in the house. Kantappa Poojary (58), his wife Prema (54), daughter-inlaw Ashwini (35) and grandchildren Aryan (3) and Arush (2) got trapped under the debris, while Kantappa’s son Seetharam Poojary managed to run out of the house in the nick of time. After a six-hour long operation, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personn e l p u l l e d o u t P re m a , Ashwini and the two chil- Ashwini and her sons Aryan and Arush trapped unde the debris of their house near Deralakatte on Friday. Inset: Fathima Nayeem dren from under the rubble. By then, Prema, Aryan and Arush had died, while Kantappa and Ashwini, who were injured, were rushed to the hospital. Videos showed Ashwini trying to protect her sons in her arms. “The family has been living at the house for the last 100 years. They were told to shift to safer areas, but they did not,” an officer said. In another incident, sevenyear-old Fathima Nayeem was killed when a wall of her SC: 2 shifts ‘arbitrary’, hold NEET-PG in one s u c h i t r a kalyan mo h an t y @ New Delhi IN a surprising order, the Supreme Court on Friday issued directions that the post-graduate medical entrance exam scheduled on June 15 be conducted in a single shift, saying holding it in two shifts “creates arbitrariness”. A three-judge vacation bench comprising justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Kumar and N K Anjaria rejected the decision of the National Board of Examination to hold NEET-PG 2025 in two shifts. “Holding the exam in two shifts leads to arbitrariness and cannot give a level playing field. The question papers in the two shifts can never be of the same difficulty level…The examining body ought to have considered making arrangements for holding the examination in one shift,” the bench said. The court was hearing petitions challenging the the two shifts. Counsel for NBE told the court that to hold the exam in one shift, 900 extra centres will have to be arranged, which is not possible before June 15. The counsel further said NBE has limited centres to hold the exam in one shift. After hearing NBE’s submissions, the court said, “We are not ready to accept that examining body could not find enough centres to hold the examination in one shift.” The bench, however, clarified that NBE can apply for extension of time if they fail to make the arrangements by June 15, the date of the exam. express read CM warns DCs, SPs on L&O Bengaluru: CM Siddaramaiah has warned deputy commissioners and SPs that action will be taken against them if they fail to curb anti-social elements disturbing peace in society | P4 RI for 3 in Ankita murder case Kotdwar: A court on Friday sentenced Pulkit Arya, a resort operator and son of a former BJP leader, and his two employees to rigorous life imprisonment in the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case | P10 Parents fret as schools offer EMI schemes to meet steep hike in fee Ris h i ta K h anna @Bengaluru WITH no fee cap or regulation in place, private schools in Bengaluru are not only hiking annual fees steeply but are now tying up with private financiers to offer EMI schemes to parents. The move, flagged by parent groups, highlights the growing commercialisation of school education and the state government’s continued inaction despite repeated demands for intervention. Parents lament that by introducing finance-backed EMI options, schools are turning basic education into a debtdriven service. Many argue that this is a way to normalise exorbitant fees rather than address the root problem — the absence of a regulatory framework to keep education affordable. In Bengaluru, most private schools charge anywhere between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh just for nursery admissions — and the fees only keep rising as the child moves to primary and high school. This amount, however, doesn’t cover everything. Parents are made to pay up to Rs 30,000 separately for transport, uniforms, books, extracurricular activities, and other add-ons. Speaking to TNIE, parents said that private schools in the city suggest they tie them up with some finance companies that often charge high interest rates, making it difficult for families to repay the loans.  CONTINUED ON P5 house collapsed on her after a landslide at Belma village. Her parents, who were sleeping in another room, escaped unhurt. Two fishers Yashawanth and Kamalaksha went missing after their traditional fishing boat capsized near Thotabengre- Alivebagilu because of rough weather. A person was electrocuted in Belthangady taluk. Another person slipped and fell into a rivulet and got washed away in Moodbidri. The search is on for him.  P4 Days after the Cong ress squirmed after its leader Shashi Tharoor aligned himself with the government’s Operation Sindoor against Pakistan’s terror nests, another veteran leader Salman Khurshid on Friday went completely against the party line, saying the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K in 2019 ushered in prosperity and democratic progress to the region. Speaking to members of Indonesian think tanks and academia as part of an all-party Indian parliamentary delegation, Khurshid acknowledged that the special status previously granted to J&K had contributed to a sense of separation from the rest of India. “Kashmir had a major problem for a long time. Much of that was reflected in the thinking of the government in an Article called 370 of the Constitution, which somehow gave the impression that it was sepa- rate from the rest of the country. But Article 370 was abrogated and it was finally put to an end,” Khurshid said. “Subsequently there was an , election with 65% participation. There’s an elected government in Kashmir today, and therefore, for people to want to undo everything that has happened, the prosperity that has come to Kashmir, it would not be advisable,” the Congress leader added. The delegation led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha reached Jakarta on Wednesday as part of India’s diplomatic outreach on Operation Sindoor. It engaged with various think tanks, including the Indonesian Council of World Affairs; Centre for Strategic and International Studies; Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia; The Habibie Centre; Indo-Pacific Strategic Intelligence Centre for Indonesia Policy Studies, University of Indonesia, and the Indonesia Air Power Studies Centre.