Daily News Mail - News of 31/05/2015

U.P. sues Nestle for excess lead in Maggi

• With the row over Maggi noodles escalating, the Food Safety and Drug Administration of the U.P. government has filed a case against the manufacturing company, Nestle India Ltd., and five others, including the Barabanki store from where samples with excess lead were seized. The case was filed in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM), Barabanki, under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, on May 30.
• The move comes after tests on the samples of two-minute Maggi noodles of the March 2014 batch found the presence of lead in excess of the permissible limit. Monosodium glutamate too was more.

Monsoon progress sluggish, says IMD

• The onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala has been delayed from the date forecast by the Met Department due to its “sluggish” pace. The normal date for onset of monsoon over Kerala is June 1. It also marks the official onset of rains in the country.
• This year, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted that it will hit the southern State on May 30.
• According to Skymet, a private forecasting agency, monsoon arrived over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 16, three days prior to the onset date. Since then, the advance has been slow. By May 21, the southwest monsoon advanced over the Bay of Bengal, touching southern parts of Sri Lanka. But here on, the monsoon has stagnated for a week.
• “The Arabian Sea branch of the southwest monsoon made very slow advance and is yet to reach the extreme southern tip (Kerala) of India. Cloud build up on either side of the sea looked promising till a few days back for the timely onset over Kerala. However, it slowed down as the cloud pattern became a little diffused and unorganised,” Skymet said.
• However, the IMD has refused to call it a delay, but said that the progress is sluggish. “As per our forecast, there is +/— difference of four days, which is from May 27 to June 3.”
• “At this moment, monsoon has already entered the Arabian Sea, crossed Sri Lanka, and entered the Bay of Bengal. We are closely monitoring its progress. During the progress of monsoon, it is often observed that its pace varies,” said Krishnanand Hosalikar, Deputy Director, IMD.
• But pre-monsoon rain is still being observed in Karnataka and Kerala.
• “In the last 24 hours, Karnataka has observed good rainfall. Kerala too experienced good rain on May 28 with Pampakuda in Ernakulam district recording 55 mm of rainfall. Udayanampuram in Kottayam district received 37 mm of rain while Mundathicode in Thrissur received 30 mm of rainfall. On May 29, the rainfall activity in Kerala became minimal with isolated places receiving very light rain. “However, in the last 24 hours, some rainfall has been observed in the State,” Skymet added.