BHUBANESWAR  SATURDAY  MAY 31, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION FSSAI BANS USE OF ‘100%’ ON FOOD LABELS CITING POTENTIAL MISUSE MANDAR PARDIKAR ALL FOOD BUSINESSES ASKED TO FALL IN LINE 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 Food Safety and Standards Authority of India on Friday advised not to use the term ‘100%’ in food labelling, citing concerns over its misuse CLAIMS MUST BE TRUTHFUL, UNAMBIGUOUS Regulations, 2018, the term “100%” is not defined or referenced in any manner under the FSS Act, 2006, or rules under the Act ■ Sub-regulation 4(1) of the 2018 rule says the claims must be truthful, unambiguous and help consumers to comprehend the information ■ As per the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) 2006 FOOD SAFETY ACT IS THE BASIS OF MOST REGULATIONS IN INDIA 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%; manufacturing down 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 the robust performance of construction, public administration, and financial services sectors, government data 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 2 shifts ‘arbitrary’, hold NEET-PG in one, says SC two wks before exam S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N 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 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. Real GDP growth 15 13.5% 2022-23 12 9.7% 7.6% 9.2% 6.5% 2023-24 9.3% 9.5% 6% 6.4% 9 6.5% 6 5.6% 3 Q1 Q2 the corresponding quarter previous 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. 2024-25 8.4% 7.4% 6.9% 4.8% Q3 Q4 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. Look who’s seeing merit in Art 370’s abrogation in J&K election with 65% participation. There’s an elected governDAYS after the Cong ress ment in Kashmir today, and squir med after its leader therefore, for people to want to Shashi Tharoor aligned him- undo everything that has hapself with the government’s Oppened, the prosperity that has eration Sindoor against Paki- come to Kashmir, it would not stan’s terror nests, another be advisable,” the Congress veteran leader Salman Khur- leader added. shid on Friday went completely The delegation led by Janata against the party line, Dal (United) MP Sanjay saying the abrogation Kumar Jha reached Jaof Article 370 in J&K in karta on Wednesday as 2019 ushered in prosperpart of India’s diplomatity and democratic ic outreach on Operation progress to the region. Sindoor. It engaged with Speaking to members various think tanks, inof Indonesian think cluding the Indonesian tanks and academia as Council of World Afpart of an all-party Infairs; Centre for Stratedian parliamentary delgic and International For people to egation, Khurshid acStudies; Foreign Policy want to undo knowledged that the Community of Indoneeverything that special status previous- has happened, sia; The Habibie Centre; ly granted to J&K had the prosperity Indo-Pacific Strategic Incontributed to a sense that has come telligence Centre for Inof separation from the donesia Policy Studies, to Kashmir, it would not be rest of India. University of Indonesia, advisable “Kashmir had a maand the Indonesia Air jor problem for a long Power Studies Centre. time. Much of that was reflectThe BJP national spokespered in the thinking of the gov- son Shehzad Poonawalla used ernment in an Article called Khurshid’s comment to poke 370 of the Constitution, which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. somehow gave the impression “Hope Congress does not desigthat it was separate from the nate Salman Khurshid as “Surest of the country But Article . per Pravakta” after he has 370 was abrogated and it was busted their narrative on 370... finally put to an end,” Khur- Will Rahul Gandhi admit Art shid said. 370 was his family blunder?” he “Subsequently there was an wondered. , CHIEF ENGINEER RAINS CASH FROM FLAT WINDOW DURING VIG RAID, `2.56 CR SEIZED A S I S H M E H TA @ Bhubaneswar STARTING with a salary of just `2,000 as a stipendiary engineer in 1991, Baikuntha Nath Sarangi, now a chief engineer in Rural Works department, was found to have made a bounty of 10s of crores in his 34-year-long service as a Vigilance raid on Friday detected a cash stash of more than `2.56 crore and at least `15 lakh worth of property and assets in his possession. Such was the volume of the alleged unaccounted cash in his possession that he began to throw bundles of notes of `500 denomination out of the window as soon as the anti-corruption agency’s officers knocked at the door of his flat in Dumduma here. The officials then had to recover the cash bundles from the dumping spot. Out of the total cash, `1.21 crore was found from his flat here and `1.30 crore from his house in Angul. Vigilance officials had a tough time counting the cash at both the places. During the searches, he was also found in possession of a two-storey building spread over 3,200 sq ft at Karadagadia and a double-storey building over 1,000 sqft at Matia Sahi, both in Angul. The chief engineer also owns seven high-value plots in Bhubaneswar and Angul as well as one flat each in the capital city and Pipili. Vi g i l a n c e a l s o t r a c e d Sarangi’s bank and insurance deposits to the tune of `1.5 crore, investments in shares Cash found in chief engineer’s house and mutual funds amounting to `2.7 crore, gold ornaments weighing over 1.1 kg, house- ED dy director, associate arrested for accepting `20 lakh bribe from bizman A S I S H M E H TA @ Bhubaneswar THE Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested deputy director of Enforcement Directorate (ED), Bhubaneswar zonal office, Chintan Raghuvanshi, a 2013-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, and his associate Bhaghti for allegedly accepting `20 lakh bribe from a quarry owner and businessman Ratikanta Rout. Bhaghti, a private individual, was reportedly caught redhanded by CBI sleuths on Thursday evening while accepting the bribe amount from Rout on behalf of the senior ED official. Both Raghuvanshi and Bhaghti were then interrogated at CBI office here, and arrested on Fri- ED deputy director Chintan Raghuvanshi (wearing mask) comes out of the court complex after his arrest on Friday day. As per the CBI FIR, Rout, who belongs to Kalarahanga in Bhubaneswar, has stone quarry a n d c r u s h e r bu s i n e s s i n Dhenkanal. He had lodged a complaint alleging Raghuvanshi had first demanded a bribe of `5 crore for not arresting him in connection with a case related to financial irregularities. He had, however, reportedly reduced the amount to `2 crore later while assuring Rout to settle the case. He had asked Rout to pay `50 lakh as the first installment through Bhaghti on Thursday, the FIR stated. Rout had last year received summons from the ED after a case was registered against him. On January 8, 2025, the central agency had conducted simultaneous searches at his office, residence and properties of a few acquaintances. ED officials had again sent him summons earlier in March following which he had appeared before them for questioning. CONTINUED ON P5 PA R V E Z S U LTA N @ New Delhi INDIGO TO END PACT WITH TURKISH AIRLINES DGCA on Friday asked IndiGo to terminate its leasing of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines by August 31 EVENING SHOW People enjoy the fountain display as they spend time on the Bindusagar ghat, in Bhubaneswar on Friday | DEBADATTA MALLICK hold articles worth more than `15.44 lakh and 15 expensive imported wrist watches. He has reportedly also spent a huge amount of money towards his daughter and son’s dental and B.Tech courses respectively in two private colleges here. On receiving allegations against Sarangi of amassing disproportionate assets, Vigilance officials carried out searches at seven locations linked to him in Bhubaneswar, Pipili and Angul. Searches were carried out at his office chamber in Bhubaneswar, two houses in Angul, two flats in capital city and Pipili, house of a relative at Sikshyakpada and paternal house at Lokeipasi in CONTINUED ON P5 Angul. 3 CONVICTED Ex-BJP neta’s son gets lifer in ’22 Ankita Bhandari case N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun A court in Kotdwar on Friday sentenced three accused to life imprisonment in the 2022 Ankita Bhandari murder case. Additional district and sessions judge Reena Negi found Pulkit Arya, Saurabh Bhaskar, and Ankit Gupta guilty under sections 302, 201, 120B, and 354A of the IPC and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act. “Justice has been served,” said those present in the courtroom as the verdict was delivered. Besides the life sentence, the court also slapped a fine of `50,000 each on all three convicts and directed a compensation of `4 lakh for Bhandari’s family . Bhandari (19), a receptionist at Vanantra Resort located in Yamkeshwar of Pauri district, was killed on September 18, 2022 by resort operator Pulkit Arya and his two employees Saurabh Bhaskar and Ankit Gupta. Police investigations revealed that Ankita was being pressured by resort owner Pulkit Arya and his associates, Ankit Gupta and Saurabh Bhaskar, to engage in immoral activities. According to the prosecution, Bhandari and Arya had a dispute after which the three pushed the woman into the Cheela canal in Rishikesh. After her body was found from the canal, police arrested all three. Pulkit Arya is the son of former BJP leader Vinod Arya. The party showed the door to Vinod Arya soon after the verdict was delivered on Friday . State’s only free BMT service at SCB on ‘death bed’ HEMANT KUMAR ROUT @ Bhubaneswar AFTER the liver transplant fiasco and a struggling kidney transplant unit, the highly successful bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit at SCB medical college and hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack seems to have been pushed to its death bed. The state-of-the-art facility, which had the distinction of being the first government-run centre in the country to offer free bone marrow transplants, is gasping for survival for the last few months, thanks to the political and bureaucratic apathy . The last transplant performed at the unit, in February 2025, was a milestone in itself as it was the first paediatric allogeneic transplant in the state. Since then, the lights have dimmed, and the lifesaving care has come to a grinding halt. People privy to the development attributed the sudden downfall of the unit to severe crunch of transplant specialists and the failure of the state government to retain experts. The unit is virtually defunct due to non-renewal of the contract of Prof RK Jena, former head of the department, who was continuing as the chief BMT physician postretirement. The government had in April last year extended him a fouryear contract with annual renewal. With the renewal not forthcoming, Prof Jena has stopped attending duty, which has pushed the unit to a complete standstill as there are no other qualified BMT specialists in the department. While around 35 patients, all having cleared their pre-transplant evaluations, are now waiting in limbo, 160 others are struggling without adequate follow-up care post-transplant. “Plagued with inadequate faculty and lack of political will, the unit is now staring at an uncertain future as Prof Jena’s exit has dealt a body blow. It is shocking that the government let go of someone who was central to the functioning of such a vital facility sources said. ,” Started in April 2014 with autologous transplants, the unit has so far successfully conducted 180 transplants with a high survival rate. Sources said, the post of pro- Prof RK Jena’s exit has dealt a body blow. It is shocking that the government let go of someone who was central to the functioning of such a vital facility - Sources fessor and assistant professors in the clinical haematology department remain vacant. The study of six DrNB (super speciality) students has also been stalled due to a lack of specialist faculty which is a worrying sign , for the future of haematology training in the state. The SCB BMT unit had earned national acclaim for conducting complex procedures free of cost. In 2021, the centre began performing allogeneic transplants. Patients from across the country , including those referred from reputed institutions like Vellore, AIIMS, and Tata Memorial, have been treated here free of cost. The procedure costs over `30 lakh in private facilities. But the government’s apathy may leave the facility to rot and push thousands patients to the brink. Health minister Mukesh Mahaling did not respond to calls and messages from TNIE.