Midday meal scheme should include processed food: Sahay

October 14th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Punjab government Wednesday decided to extend till Dec 31 this year the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme, launched to provide relief to sick industrial units. "This decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today (Wednesday)," said an official spokesperson of the state government.

October 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will flag off a Run and Walkathon on October 16 to celebrate World Food Day. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is commemorating World Food Day with the theme, 'India prepares for Commonwealth Games 2010'.

September 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Over 24,000 people have asked big manufacturers of processed foods in India, including Nestle, Britannia and Hindustan Unilever, not to use genetically modified (GM) foods after Greenpeace put up a list of companies that could be using GM products. The NGO put up a list on the internet 11 days ago mentioning firms that did or did not say they used such foods.

August 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The UPA Government is preparing a new National Agriculture Insurance Scheme to make it more inclusive for farmers of the country. Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, in reply to supplementaries in the Lok Sabha, informed that the scheme takes into consideration, factors like larger unit area of insurance among low indemnity level and inadequate coverage of risk.

July 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - A scheme to improve forest management and another to enhance the capabilities of foresters have been approved by the government, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh announced here Friday. The approvals came at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Thursday evening, he told reporters.

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Central Government is proposing to rationalize the parameters for the Mid-day Meal Scheme, as a step towards further benefiting the children covered under this scheme, according to Union Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Kapil Sibal. Inaugurating the conference of State Education Secretaries and Project Directors being held to review matters related to school education and literacy here today, Sibal said that while the mid-day scheme has been seen, through studies, to improve enrolment of children in school substantially, a rationalization of its parameters is now required.

July 8th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government Wednesday launched a food security scheme to provide rice at Rs.2 and Re.1 a kilogram and free salt to 3.7 million families. The new scheme has replaced the Chief Minister's Food Assistance Scheme under which rice was supplied at Rs.3 a kilogram.

July 4th, 2009 Malt-O-Meal recalls oatmeal made with dry milkMINNEAPOLIS — Malt-O-Meal Co. is voluntarily recalling oatmeal that contains instant nonfat dry milk that may be contaminated with salmonella.

June 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The food processing industry has the potential to become the engine growth of the economy and it may get a 10-year tax holiday to attract more investments, Minister for Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahay said Monday. "The food processing sector can be the growth engine of the economy, and is eligible for a 10-year tax holiday," Sahay said here at a conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

June 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Agreeing to industry's demand for access to more credit at competitive rates, the government is examining a proposal to set up a venture capital fund or a bank for the food processing sector. "Entrepreneurs face difficulties in getting bank loans because this is a perishable goods industry," Food Processing Industries Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said here Friday.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The growth rate of India's food processing sector will be brought up to a minimum of 20 percent from the current 14 percent within 100 days of the new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government taking charge, according to Minister for Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahay. "When (India's) overall growth was at 5-6 percent, this ministry's growth was at 14 percent.

May 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Thirty-eight ministers, including 14 cabinet ministers, will be sworn in Thursday morning in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's council of ministers. These include seven ministers with independent charge.

May 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharti group, promoted by the Delhi-based Mittal family, has ventured into food and beverage products in partnership with the Singapore-based Del Monte Pacific at an initial investment of Rs.1 billion ($20 million/Rs.100 crore). Group company Bharti Enterprises Tuesday launched a range of food and beverage products that includes fruit drinks, packaged fruits, ketchup and sauces, apart from several Italian products for the Indian market.

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has allocated Rs.1.31 trillion (Rs.131,317 crore) for its flagship programmes in the coming fiscal. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, while presenting the interim budget for 2009-10 to parliament Monday, said Rs.301 billion (Rs.30,100 crore) would be made available to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) for the next financial year.

December 24th, 2008 CHANDIGARH - Middle-level bureaucrats in the union territory of Chandigarh will now supervise the preparation of mid-day meals for government school children in the city. The Chandigarh administration has ordered that all civil servants from Haryana and Punjab cadre on deputation with the administration will visit the cooking institutes and schools to monitor the quality and hygiene of cooked meals under the mid-day meal scheme, an administration spokesman said here Thursday.