Nestle In A Soup As Maggi Noodles Row Escalates: Your Top India Headlines

At first there were two, now there are 10. That’s the number of states that have seized samples of the popular Maggi Noodles for testing. The state governments of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have said their tests show an unnaturally high component of lead and MSG in the samples, an allegation that the Swiss food major is contesting. Eight more states have said they are testing samples in their states. Based on the results, the food regulator has said it will take action by next week.

Now other food companies such as snackmaker Parle, PepsiCo and Yum! Foods (which runs the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell outlets in India), have taken to advertising and social media campaigns to stress the safety of their products. There is a sense of déjà vu in all this. Remember the worms that were found in a chocolate bar of another multinational food company, Cadbury’s, 12 years ago?

We had been prepared for a weak monsoon and higher food prices, but the scenario may be bleaker than we first thought. The Met department, which predicts and monitors weather, has sounded another alarm on the rains front. It has cut its rain outlook further, to 88 percent of the long-term average, from 93 percent, bringing its forecast worryingly close to drought conditions. The saving grace is high stocks of staple foodgrains and the fact that the regions most likely to be hit by drought are also the ones which are best irrigated.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan clearly knows all this, as his monetary policy review shows. His seemingly contradictory move of cutting the rate by the minimum quarter point and raising his inflation forecast is clearly a signal to the government. The ball is now in the government’s court as growth and inflation control will now depend on government action.

US companies looking to hire foreign workers, your job just got tougher. New rules for H1-B visa make it impossible to move employees away from the location mentioned in the application. Needless to add, the hardest hit will be the Indian IT services industry, where benching and reallocation of employees between projects is common.

Foreign funding for NGOs, or Indian non-profits, is under the scanner. The prime minister’s office is looking into a deeper scrutiny of foreign money coming into Indian social organizations. A move towards more transparency, especially in the non-profit business is a good thing. But, coming on the heels of its controversial actions on the Ford Foundation and Greenpeace earlier this year, the reactions to this move are mixed.

Every morning, we'll share the top news from India that professionals need to know. Click on the Follow button above to not miss one. And we want to know what you think, so head to the comments below with feedback, suggestions, bouquets and brickbats. I am also on Twitter here.

Do you have a view on current hot stories? Write about them on LinkedIn. Click here to get started.