The term “functional nutritional drinks” (FND) has replaced “health food drinks” in Hindustan Unilever Limited’s (HUL) product category. The “health drink” label of Horlicks was dropped after the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry asked that e-commerce platforms remove drinks and beverages from their lists of “health drinks.” The corporation which owns several brands like Boost and Horlicks changed its “health food drinks” category to “functional nutritional drinks” and rebranded its “health drinks” category. At a press conference on 24th April, Hindustan Unilever’s Chief Financial Offic ..read more

The prestigious Somaiya Trust has acknowledged the information provided by OpIndia against Parveen Shaikh, the principal of the reputable private school The Somaiya School located in the Vidyaviyar neighbourhood of Mumbai. She has been using social media to voice her extreme opinions, which include her consistent abuse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and unflinching support for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The trust said it was unaware of the views expressed by Parveen Shaikh which were brought to their notice by the OpIndia article. The trust also said that they don’t agree with th ..read more

On Wednesday (24th April), the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) criticized the Congress-led Karnataka government’s decision to classify the Muslim community as a backward caste for reservation purposes, claiming that it undermines the ‘principle of social justice’. The commission said socially and educationally backward castes or communities cannot be treated at par with an entire religion. According to the national commission, the move by the Siddaramaiah-led administration undermined the rights of other Backward Classes. Also, in an election rally in Rajasthan’s Tonk on Tuesd ..read more

On 25th April, a group of attorneys sought the Calcutta High Court to consider the statements made by All India Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the High Court on a suo motu basis. According to reports, she charged that the high court had been “sold out.” The statements were uttered following the judgement in the jobs for cash scandal which resulted in the appointment of about 24,000 teachers being quashed. Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, a senior advocate and leader of the Communist Party o ..read more

A day after BJP denied ticket to Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal for the Lok Sabha elections, fake news is being spread claiming that he regrated his decision to join the BJP. Namgyal has said that he never said that and strongly condemned the false statements. Teena Karamveer, Congress communication coordinator of Rajasthan and a spokesperson of the party tweeted the fake quote in Hindi saying, “Joining BJP and supporting Modi was my worst decision, I was not aware of his strategy, people of Ladakh please forgive me ..read more

On Thursday (25th April), the Ministry of External Affairs reacted to the ongoing police crackdown on pro-Palestine protests in various universities in the United States. It said that democracies should have a balance of freedom of expression, a sense of responsibility and public safety and order. Addressing a media briefing today, EAM spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that democracies should, in particular, display this understanding for other democracies since “we are all judged by what we do at home and not what we say abroad.” “We have seen reports on the matter and have been following re ..read more

A Ministerial Round Table Conference was held on 24th April, 2024, at the ongoing 26th edition of World Energy Congress in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Round Table Conference discussed how the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai was a game changer. The Ministerial Round Table also discussed energy innovation and collaboration, and implications in managing the evolving energy trilemma trade-offs. The Round Table, held on day three of the World Energy Congress, was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Climate and Energy Policy of the Netherlands, H.E. Rob Jetten; Secretary ..read more

Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought time from him to explain in person the party’s ‘Nyay Patra’. In his two-page letter, the Congress chief said he is neither “shocked” nor “surprised” by the language used by the prime minister in his recent speeches. “I am neither shocked nor surprised by your language or your speeches over the last few days. It was expected that you and other leaders from your party would start speaking in this manner after you saw the dismal performance of the BJP in the first phase of the ele ..read more

On 24th April, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with the business community and expressed how the economic collapse has dragged their nation far behind Bangladesh. Subtly alluding to the thriving economy of Bangladesh, he stated that “East Pakistan” which was “once considered” a burden on the nation has achieved enormous progress in industrial expansion. The prime minister bemoaned, “I was quite young when we were told that it’s a burden on our shoulders. Today you all know where that ‘burden’ has reached (in terms of economic growth) and we feel ashamed when we look towards them ..read more

It was in December 2019 that Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh became the epicentre of the anti-CAA protests. Shaheen Bagh protests that lasted for three months were marked by Hinduphobic and anti-India propaganda. Many years have passed and now Shaheen Bagh-like encatchments are showing up not in India but the United States with pro-Palestine students protesting in varsities across the country amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. In response to the protest encampments, the US administration is taking firm action and making arrests of unruly protestors. The very same US government takes delight in preachi ..read more