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Mahesh Rangarajan formally appointed NMML director
- Environmental historian and political commentator Mahesh Rangarajan has been formally selected and appointed as Director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, one of the country's top centres for research on modern Indian history.
- This comes four months after the Delhi High Court struck down his original appointment on the grounds of an invalid selection process.
- However, while asking NMML to start the appointment process anew, the judge said the institution was free to re-appoint Dr. Rangarajan to the post as per established procedure if he was found to be the best candidate for the post.
Independents won't lose identity on joining government: court
- By joining a coalition government and becoming Ministers, Independents will not lose their separate identity, and later by expressing lack of faith in the Chief Minister, they will not attract disqualification, the Supreme Court has held.
- A Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph gave this ruling while setting aside the Karnataka Assembly Speaker's order disqualifying five Independents for expressing lack of faith in the B.S. Yeddyurappa government.
- Even as Independents, the appellants could extend support to a government formed by a political party and could become a Minister in such government.
- Hence, such extension of support by an Independent or his joining the government as Minister would not by itself mean he had joined the party which formed the government.
- The appellants were treated differently from BJP members and considered to be only lending support to the government without losing their independent status. Mere participation in rallies or public meetings organised by the BJP could not lead to the conclusion that the appellants had joined the BJP.
- On the contention that the Speaker was not amenable to court jurisdiction, the Bench, citing various decisions, held that under the Constitution, “the Speaker discharges quasi-judicial functions, which makes an order passed by him in such capacity subject to judicial review.”
Sensitising traders to Food Safety and Standards Act
- Explaining the salient features of the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, which has repealed the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954, the Food Safety Office sensitised the merchant community to the need for registration and obtaining licence.
- Food safety and prevention of adulteration has been taken away from the local administration ministry and made a separate department under the Food Safety Authority of India.
- The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 will automatically repeal any other State legislation on food safety in force.
- The Act brings roadside eateries, food stalls and vendors under its purview and also enables manufacturers of food items to write to the Food Safety authorities and recall their food products in the event of defective products or adulteration in their food items.
- As against the seven different licences for products coming under
- Fruit Product Order,
- Meat Food Production Order,
- Vegetable Oil Product Control Order,
- Edible oil Packaging and Regulation Order 1988,
- Solvent Extracted Oil Order, Edible Flour Food Products Order,
- Milk Products Order 1992, and
- Any other orders relating to products covered under Essential Commodities Act 1955
there is only one unified licence under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. - List of private food laboratories with certification from National Accreditation Board for Calibration and Laboratories (NABL) has been circulated and the Government laboratories are also on the job of getting the NABL certification.
- To prevent complaints of excesses, the new Act paves the way for picking up four samples and the manufacturer or shop owner is at liberty to send one of the samples to a private laboratory of his choice.
- In the event of difference in lab reports, then the samples could be sent to the referral laboratory.
