Jan.17: NEWS FLASH
Mineral water in plastic containers with blue tint
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has permitted the use of blue tint in plastic containers of five litre and above of mineral water. It has also operationalised standards for caffeinated beverages. A declaration ‘consume not more than 500 ml per day’ should be made on the label, a recent FSSAI circular said.
As per the new standards, caffeinated beverages should contain not less than 145 mg/litre and not more than 300 mg/litre total caffeine. Also, water used in preparation of these beverages should conform to the standards of packaged drinking water.
FSSAI launches portal for food safety complaints: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched a section called ‘Food Safety Voice’ on its website (www.fssai.gov.in) to receive complaints related to packed food and food outlets, including roadside eateries. Under this section, a consumer can complain about a food product if he finds that its shelf-life has expired, if it has been adulterated, or doesn’t contain vegetarian/non-vegetarian labelling.
The presence of dust particles, insects or fungus; damaged or puffed pack and fake product are other grounds for complaint. Consumers can post a picture of the product with the grievance.
Now, helmets compulsory even for pillion riders: The Gujarat Commissioner of Transport has issued a circular making wearing helmets mandatory for all pillion riders, including women and children below 12 years, as also those riding 50 cc two-wheelers. Until now, wearing headgear was deemed compulsory only for drivers and male pillion riders.
The circular made it clear that exemptions given in earlier rules had been removed and insisted that the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Gujarat Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, should be followed strictly. In another development, the Supreme Court has made it mandatory for manufacturers to sell helmets with two-wheelers dismissing a plea from industry.
Panic button on all phones from Jan 2017: In a circular, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed handset manufacturers to install a panic button and a global positioning system (GPS) in old and new mobile phones by January 2017 and January 2018 respectively. DoT has notified that all feature phones should have the facility of panic button configured to the numeric key ‘5’ or ‘9’ and all smartphones to three times short pressing of the on-off button.
On pressing the panic button a call would be generated to telephone number ‘112’ of Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) managed by states and union territories. The move is aimed at ensuring safety and access to assistance, particularly for women.
Unilever ‘Axes’ sexist advts: Looks like companies are finally waking up to outdated, stereotypical portrayal of women in advertising – used to sell everything from deodorants, cars, food to even cement! Unilever, the world’s second biggest advertiser, has announced that it will drop sexist stereotypes from its Axe deodorant advts globally. The ‘Axe Effect’ advts showed pouting and skimpily clad women doing anything for male attention.
Unilever’s move and its call to global marketers to do away with sexism is a result of research that suggested that only 2% advts show intelligent women and that 40% women surveyed said that they don’t identify at all with the women they see in advts.
