kottayam l saturday l may 31, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l 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 ■ ■ As per the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) 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 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 slips 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 Real gdp growth 15 13.5% 7.6% 9.2% 6.5% 2022-23 12 9.7% 2023-24 9.3% 9.5% 6% 6.4% 8.4% 9 6.5% 6 5.6% 3 Q1 Q2 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 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 Eco- 2024-25 7.4% 6.9% 4.8% Q3 Q4 nomic 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 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. 104 schools in state flagged as drug hotspots S han A S @T’Puram With only a couple of days left for school reopening, the excise department has identified 104 schools in the state as drug hotspots and initiated measures to counter the influence of intoxicants among students. The department flagged the schools as drug hotspots after it was found that substance abuse among students were prevalent in these institutions. Among the list are government, aided and private schools in the high school and higher secondary categories. Thiruvananthapuram topped N A R E N D R A S ET 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. The prosecution said Bhandari and Arya had a dispute after which the three pushed the woman into the Cheela canal in Rishikesh. After her body was found, 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 . 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 Parv e z S u ltan @ New Delhi Days after the Cong ress squir med 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 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. It 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.” EX P RESS READ Swaraj is Left candidate in Nilambur by-election 5 dead, 13 missing as state reels under monsoon fury T’Puram: Ending speculation, the CPM has decided to field state secretariat member M Swaraj as its candidate for the Nilambur by-election. This is the third assembly poll for Swaraj. P4 T’Puram: The southwest monsoon picked up pace with different parts of the state experiencing extreme rainfall, leading to five deaths being reported on Friday, while 13 people went missing. As many as 1,894 people have been shifted to 66 relief camps across the state. P4 revised class x textbook ‘Sociological imagination’ concept to help students break stereotypes, broaden outlook S O V I V I D YA D H A R A N @T’Puram This academic year, Class X students following the state syllabus are in for a fresh concept — ‘sociological imagination’. Aimed at breaking stereotypes on the understanding of social structures, the revised social science textbook helps students unlearn most of their ‘commonsense knowledge’. One chapter in the textbook, brought out by SCERT, begins with the experiences of a girl named Anu who believes personal reasons alone are responsible for her family’s poor financial background. Titled ‘Social Analysis Through Sociological Imagination’, the chapter then prompts students to move beyond their life situations and view The chapter in Class X social science textbook that introduces ‘sociological imagination’ their experiences and personal problems in the context of broader social structure. Using this tool, Anu realises that besides financial reasons, environmental, administrative and geographical disparities too have Sleuths to examine school campuses to identify unauthorised entry and exit points Shops near schools to be inspected to curb sale of intoxicants Licences of shops engaged in peddling of drugs and other intoxicants to be cancelled. Owners to be booked Mufti and bike patrolling near schools before and after the classes on daily basis the list with 43 schools from the district featured in it, followed by Ernakulam and Kozhikode districts, which have an unspecified number of schools in the list, said a source with the excise department. The hotspot schools will be placed under excise surveillance, and the assistance of police will be sought, if required. Confirming the existence of such a list, multiple sources said the state government has instructed the excise department to take specific measures to get the students hooked to intoxicants released from the clutches of drug rackets. “The department has been directed to take action on its own and also in coordination with other departments, such as police, to purge the elements that lure school students to their dragnet,” said a senior excise officer. Sources said the inputs they received suggest that certain shops operating near these schools supply drugs to stud e n t s. T h i s i n fo r m at i o n was passed on to the state government, which gave strict instruction to revoke the licences of the shops engaged in peddling of drugs and other intoxi● More on P4 cants.  Look who’s seeing merit in Art 370’s abrogation Ex-BJP leader’s son 2 shifts ‘arbitrary’ hold gets life term in 2022 NEET-PG in one, says sc Ankita Bhandari case s u c hi t ra k a lyan m ohan t y @ New Delhi Counter measures Excise range officers to visit all schools under their jurisdiction played a role in her situation. “The unit helps students differentiate between superficial explanations and structural causes of various social issues. The reflective and meta-cognitive elements of the unit support learners in engaging with their own lived realities and recognise how personal troubles are linked to larger social forces,” said SCERT research officer Anjana V R. The textbook explains that individual problems are generally analysed using the knowledge and practices acquired through the process of socialisation. “It is on the basis of such commonsense knowledge that individuals often find causes of their problem,” the chapter reads, before bringing in ‘sociological imagination’.  ● More on P4 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 sep- arate from the rest of the country. But Article 370 was abrogated and it was finally put to an end,” the veteran leader said. “Subsequently there , was an election with 65% par ticipation. 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.