FSSAI’s proposed draft regulations on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) & Engineered Food

 

(Source: Economic Times)

India, at present, does not allow GM food in the country. The FSSAI released the draft regulations in November 2021, proposing that food products or food ingredients derived from GMOs may be sold in the country after obtaining prior approval. It laid down the procedure for prior approval as well as safety assessment and labelling norms. It specified norms that labs will need to adhere for testing GM foods.

 The last date for sending objections or suggestions has been extended till 05.02.2022

Gandhi's call for swadeshi was backed by 100 Indian brands

 

Call for Swadeshi coupled with boycott of imported goods was one of historic movements during the freedom struggle. The foreign goods including clothing, sugar, salt and various other luxury items were not only boycotted, but they were also burned.A similar call- Atmanirbhar in free India did not move people. One reason is availability of substitutes- soaps, beauty products, biscuits, tonics etc. Now, Electronic imports are major concern but call for Atmanirbhar has not seen any frenzied activity like boycotting Chinese products by middle class consumers.

Ramya Ramamurthy captures stories of various Indian brands , promoted by industrialists and freedom fighters during per-independence period. 

Vision Document for the electronics sector today, titled “$300 bn Sustainable Electronics Manufacturing & Exports by 2026

 

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in association with ICEA, released a 5-year roadmap and Vision Document for the electronics sector today, titled “$300 bn Sustainable Electronics Manufacturing & Exports by 2026.” This roadmap is the second volume of a two-part Vision Document – the first of which titled “Increasing India’s Electronics Exports and Share in GVCs” was released in November 2021. This report provides a year-wise break-up and production projections for the various products that will lead India’s transformation into a US$300 billion electronics manufacturing powerhouse, from the current US$75 billion. Amongst the key products that are expected to lead India’s growth in electronics manufacturing include Mobile Phones, IT Hardware (laptops, tablets), Consumer electronics (TV and audio), Industrial electronics, Auto electronics, Electronic components, LED Lighting, Strategic electronics, PCBA, Wearables and hearables, and Telecom equipment. Mobile manufacturing that is expected to cross US$100 billion annual production - up from the current US$30 billion - is expected to constitute nearly 40% of this ambitious growth.

 Scale up of domestic manufacture by 2.2X in 5 years appear realistic with PLI schemes but can India increase exports by 10.3X in 5 years?

Revised Consolidated Guidelines & Standards for Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (EV) Promulgated) Promulgated by Ministry of Power

 

The Union Ministry of Power has promulgated the revised consolidated Guidelines & Standards for Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (EV) on 14th January,2022. The objective is to enable a faster adoption of electric vehicles in India by ensuring safe, reliable, accessible and affordable Charging Infrastructure and eco-system. This would also promote energy security and reduction of emission intensity of the country by promotion of entire EV ecosystem.

These guidelines are exhaustive and include provisions for a) individual owners of Electric Vehicles: b) for Public Charging Stations (PCS). In a significant step, Owners may charge their Electric Vehicles at their residence/offices using their existing electricity connections.  Infrastructure requirements for Public Charging Infrastructure as well as for Public Charging Infrastructure for long range EVs and/or heavy duty EVs have been outlined.

Any individual/entity is free to set up public charging stations without the requirement of a license provided that, such stations meet the technical, safety as well as performance standards and protocols laid down  under the guidelines as well as norms/ standards/ specifications laid down by Ministry of Power, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Central Electricity Authority (CEA) from time to time. An exhaustive list of compliance requirements for Public Charging Station (PCS) have also been outlined. These include norms for “appropriate” infrastructure  for civil, electricity and safety requirements .

Technology agnostic Charging Standards: The guidelines have been made further technology agnostic by providing for not only the prevailing international charging standards available in the market but also the new Indian charging standards.

Journey of an innovator from Innovation fair onwards

Indian Innovators Association (IIA) organised GYSC ( Global Young Scientists Challenge ) in 2018 at Visakhapatnam. Saif Seas exibited their rescuse device.  Inventor Alisgar Calcuttawala explained their innovation to AP Innovation Society and other visitors. The startup is mentored by IIA founder member GV Ramana. The startup is now a reliable supplier to Indian navy and others.

CII Industrial Innovation Awards 2021

Every year CII selects top 25 innovative companies and winners in different catagories. For assessment Enterprise Innovation Maturity Model is used. This year winners include Tata Steel and Wipro assessed by me. Tata Steel has 506 patents with R&D strength of 280 which includes 68 with PhD working in 7 Technoology Leadership Areas. The firm fine tuned processes to optimise utilisation of low quality raw materials,  adopt technology to capture Co2 from flue gas and bet huge on Graphine with 45 patents. WIPRO's huge learning platform  is based on challenge architecture , IP gateway, Pragati portal and open innoavation. Every year some of the challenges get funded to scale up to pilot. The firm is one of the few that works both on software and hardware. 

Anuradha attempts to fill great void in the Telugu people history- their journey to South East Asia

Telugu is one of classical languages of India , Battiprolu eddit is dated back to 400 BCE. Telugu langauge characher is unique with consonent modifiers and vowel modifiers. Despite the long history, very little is known about Telugus's history in textbooks sparring reference to Acharya Nagarjuna and Satavahana period. 

Journalist Anuradha travelled to SriLanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and narrates story of telugu people's journey to these distance lands in the form of a fictional story. 

Buy the book: https://www.telugubooks.in/products/jagamunelina-telugu