FSDA suspends 133 drug licences, cancels 20 in Karnataka in June
Bengaluru (PTI): Enforcement officers of the Karnataka Food Safety and Drug Administration department have suspended 133 drug licences and cancelled 20 drug licences in June for violations of the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, officials have said.
The move was initiated after the officials concerned conducted 2,544 inspections over the last month, they said.
According to the department, drug-testing laboratories in Bengaluru, Hubballi and Ballari analysed 1,333 samples in June. Among those, 1,292 samples were declared as "Standard Quality" and 41 as "Not of Standard Quality".
From April to June, the enforcement officers filed a total of 81 cases in courts against firms that violated the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Rules thereunder, the department said.
The department has ensured that "Not of Standard Quality" drugs worth more than Rs 40 lakh were recalled from the market and seized.
A special drive was conducted across the blood centres in the state and a total of 122 such centres were inspected.
"Based on the various violations observed, show-cause notices were issued to 44 blood centres and compliance letters were issued to 80 blood centres," the department said in a statement issued on Friday.
According to the statement, in compliance with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, food safety, quality and hygiene aspects were inspected across the state, covering 1,557 street-food vendors, in June.
Notices were issued to 406 establishments where violations were identified and fines totalling Rs 44,500 were imposed on the spot, the statement added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka Agriculture minister blames Centre for fertilizer shortfall
Bengaluru, Aug 13 (PTI): Karnataka Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy on Wednesday accused the Centre of cutting fertilizer supplies to the state by 2.75 lakh metric tonnes (MT) between April and August this year, leading to a shortage for farmers.
Replying to a debate in the Assembly, he said Karnataka's annual allocation was 11.17 lakh MT, of which 5.55 lakh MT was supplied by April, along with an additional 20,000 MT. However, allocations later dropped by 10,000 MT in May, 79,000 MT in June and 58,000 MT in July.
"The Centre has asked states to use less Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and urea. There are two to three reasons, like import from Iran and China not happening, production in our country coming down and war," Chaluvarayaswamy claimed.
"Till August, the Centre supplied 2.75 lakh MT less fertilizer this year. You can call the Union Fertilizer Minister (J P Nadda) tomorrow and get the details. If there is any false information, I will face whatever punishment you decide," he said.
The minister said the state government was "distributing fertilizer in a controlled manner."
The opposition BJP, which raised the issue citing an acute urea shortage, accused the state government of "turning a blind eye to farmers' problems."
Heated exchanges forced a half-hour adjournment, after which BJP members staged a walkout.
