Dubai: A Dubai Municipality official confirmed shops have been asked to halt sales of Maggi noodles made in India.
Officials in India have said samples of Maggi made in India tested positive for unacceptably high levels of lead.
Maggi maker Nestle has said its internal tests, as well as external lab reports, showed Maggi is safe to eat but has voluntarily recalled the product from shops in India on a temporary basis.
In India, there is an official ban on sale of locally made Maggi in some Indian states while other states continue to sell it.
In Dubai, Maggi made in Malaysia, rather than in India, is imported and distributed to local retailers, Nestle Middle East and Dubai Municipality have said, adding that the product is safe.
However, some Dubai shops directly import Maggi from India to cater to mostly Indians who prefer Maggi flavours and varieties made in India.
Following developments in India, Dubai shops have been asked to stop selling Maggi made in India, said Khalid Al Awadhi, Director, Food Control Department, Dubai Municipality .
There is no change in policy towards Maggi made in Malaysia and shops can continue selling that, he added.
Meanwhile, Nestle continues to maintain all Maggi products, regardless of their origin, are safe to eat. It said in a statement that it “reassures consumers in the Middle East that all Maggi products sold are safe and compliant with the highest quality standards.
“We are continuously engaging with authorities in our region and we thank them for their active collaboration.
“Quality and food safety are our top priority and we perform regular tests on our raw material and finished products to ensure food safety and full compliance”.
Dhananjay Datar, managing director of retail chain Al Adil Trading, said the company has destroyed its stock of Maggi made in India. He added that following a query on the status of Maggi made in India, there was an instruction from the municipality on Friday to stop sales of the product.
Hypermarket chain Lulu Middle East earlier said the Maggi noodles sold in their shops are not from India.
“All the Maggi noodles sold here in our shops are from Nestle Middle East and sourced from Malaysia. We don’t import from any other country,” V. Nandakumar, chief communications officer at Lulu Group, had said.
Citation - Taken from ZAWYA : https://goo.gl/Qgu8FP
1991-2011 – Liberalization – India’s
Journey to Nowhere
The caretaker government in India headed by Prime Minister
Chandra Shekhar, and Finance Minister Yashwant
Sinha’s immediate response was to secure an emergency loan of $2.2
billion from the International Monetary Fund by pledging 67 tons of India's
gold reserves as collateral. Reserve Bank of India had to pledge India’s
gold reserve to secure an emergency loan from the IMF which caused national
outrage resulting in the caretaker government’s ouster and Congress won the
fresh elections.
The move
helped tide over the balance of payment crisis and kick-started Manmohan
Singh’s economic reform process.
Crisis was
caused by current account deficits and currency overvaluation.
The
economic crisis was primarily due to the large and growing fiscal imbalances
over the 1980s. During mid eighties, India started having balance of payments
problems. Precipitated by the Gulf War, India’s oil import bill swelled,
exports slumped, credit dried up and investors took their money out.
Due to the currency devaluation the
Indian Rupee fell from 17.50 per dollar in 1991 to 26 per dollar in 1992. The
investor confidence also played significant role in the sharp exchange rate
depreciation. (Government stole money overnight from people, and
country become poor.)
Root cause
of the crisis: Gross (state and center combined) fiscal deficit (Expenditure
more than Revenue) reached 12.7% in 1990-91. The Government borrowed from RBI
to cover up the shortfall (deficit) not covered by the revenue. Money supply
expanded as a result which led to high inflation. Government debt increased to
53% of GDP at the end of 1990-91 and the interest payments increased to 20% of
the total central government expenditure in 1990-91.
Where Do India Stand Today
Are
we heading towards the dangerous economic crisis of 1991? According to a report
presented by major industry body FICCI on, the current financial situation is
somewhat similar to 1991. The report presents a very gloomy picture of the
economy. Report said that current state of borrowings and fiscal imbalance is
more worrying than the crises two decades earlier.
FICCI’s report says that in the decade prior to 1991, the government’s
borrowings increased significantly by annual average rate of 12 percent.
Whereas in last five years, government’s borrowings increased by annual average
rate of 32 percent. Similarly in the decade of 80s, non-plan expenditure saw an
annual average increase of 20 percent whereas it is growing by annual average
rate of 30 percent presently.
In last five years, fiscal deficit has grown by annual average rate of 30
percent as compared to annual average rate of 18 percent prior to the 1991
crisis. In the present scenario, growing revenue deficit is seen as a threat by
economists.
Situation
may worsen further by consistent slow revenue collection figures. In the last
five FY, tax revenue growth has been 13 percent whereas it was 16 percent in
the decade ended in 1990-91.
Trade deficit records new high at
$185 b
The rising
trade deficit, touching $184.9 billion mark, was a worrying factor.
Owing
to the huge trade deficit, the current account deficit (CAD) is likely to be
close to an uncomfortable 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in
2011-12.
The
economic indicators are worrisome certainly. After the massive overrun of the
budget estimate last fiscal, the projected fiscal deficit for 2012-13 at 5.1
per cent appears ambitious.
History of selling the Countries Assets
(How we reduced fiscal deficit by selling
stakes in PSU)
Trends
in the current account deficit are even more troubling. At 4 per cent of GDP in
the first nine months of 2011-12, the current deficit is at levels not seen in
a while. Rising oil prices, the consequent higher import bill, and a surge in
gold imports seem to have combined with a fall in capital inflows to push up
the deficit. Net FII investment in the stock market fell by more than half to
Rs.47,935 crore in 2011-12, with most of it coming in the last quarter,
according to SEBI data.
The trend
of a rising current account deficit and falling capital inflows should be seen
in the context of the foreign exchange reserves, which have been falling in
recent months, thanks to the central bank's market intervention to support the
rupee. At the
current level of a little over $258 billion, the reserves cover about five
months of imports, which is not a very comfortable position.
How much Precious Assets have been sold
In the name of divestment India has sold RS. 1, 00,264.71 (USD 25 billion) of assets i.e. public sector enterprises. Basically
this is used to show fiscal prudence, but this is not fiscal prudence. Today
situation is worst and with ONGC fiasco in selling FPO, government is looking
at other alternatives. According to Bloomberg report government is planning
find innovative way to sell the nation. This fiscal prudence has come from
selling assets, auctioning natural resources. In 2010 it was one time profit
from auctioning 3G telecom licenses.
The
government had in 2010 mobilized Rs 1.08 lakh crore from auctioning of spectrum
for 3G and broadband wireless access (BWA) services.
Nation for Sell
Now comes
this wire from Bloomberg on another new plan. India plans to borrow as much as
500 billion rupees ($9.5 billion) using land and shares as collateral to bridge
a budget deficit. The South Asian nation will set up a fund manager by Jan. 15
that will pledge stocks it holds in non-state companies including ITC Ltd.
(ITC), Axis Bank Ltd. (AXSB) and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT), the officials
said declining to be identified before a public announcement. The company will
use the proceeds to buy the government’s stakes in state-run firms.
The new
holding company will pledge the stakes and real estate properties transferred
to it from the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India, an agency
formed in 2003. The state-run firm will be wound up within 3 weeks and the
assets will be transferred to the new company, the officials said.
This is amazing jugglery and engineering
to manage the fiscal deficit. Each year something like this comes…Though
execution will be a task. Pledging land etc is a task which takes a long time.
A Myth Called Foreign Currency Reserve
India has
foreign currency reserves of around 295 billion USD. Important question is it
enough. If we look at its contribution, which has almost 142 billion USD in
securities which is considered as hot money and can fly anytime. This will
crash the stock market and rupee will collapse, this is reality. In real term we
may consider this amount to be in the range of 175 billion USD to 195 billion
USD. This may be enough for 3 months imports. If oil goes to 150 USD or more
then all calculations will go awry.
The second
problem is India’s coverage of foreign debt with foreign currency reserve. It stands
at around 88% and may go down further. This is alarming situation.
What India Achieved
If
we came back and situation looks similar then what really India achieved. In
last 20 years we sold assets to be prudent, we opened market and still we are
at the situation. Liberalization is starring at India’s policy makers.
India
was Once a self sufficient in all aspects, now we are importing food i.e.
Pulses, Edible Oil and many more items.
India’s
consumer electronics is dominated by foreign companies and BPO is always criticized
by great friend USA.
If
we look at India’s HDI report (Human Development Indicators) we are doing
poorly rather than excellent. Poverty is reduced by taking down poverty line.
Is this economics, or politics?
In 2000 INDIA has been ranked 128th amongst 174 countries
for which the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has released its
latest computations of the Human Development Index (HDI).
In 2011 India ranks a low 134 among 187 countries in
terms of the human development index (HDI), which assesses long-term progress
in health, education and income indicators, said a UN report released on
Wednesday. Although placed in the "medium" category, India's standing
is way behind scores of economically less developed countries including Iraq
and Philippines and Sri Lanka has been ranked 97. Iran is much higher at 88 and
Cuba at 51.
The countries
which are facing discrimination and ban from capitalist nations are doing good
and liberalized India is doing badly. In fact its rank has gone down from128 to
132. Is this called development?
The most important question is why
India liberalizing?
