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Over four decades ago, the then union industry minister T A Pai launched a unique campaign against multinational corporations producing and marketing global consumer bands in the country and following local practice of cheating in measures. MNC toothpaste brands were his favourite target. Packed toothpaste tubes, the minister pointed out, contained upto 20 percent air content. The year was 1974, months after the government promulgated the country’s first foreign exchange regulation act (FERA). Low technology-based multinational consumer products manufacturers and marketers were worried. Pai’s campaign worked. The MNCs, selling branded consumer products, soon mended their ways. The industry minister’s consumer protection campaign, most unusual by a union cabinet minister, also served a strong message to Indian brands, their marketing managers and ad firms. The country did not have a consumer protection act, then. The consumer movement hardly existed.

The Black Plague was the most devastating pandemic ever recorded, resulting in the deaths of between 75-125 million people. It peaked in Europe between 1347 and 1351, having come on Italian merchant ships from Asia via the Silk Road. In fact, the idea of quarantine originates in plague-stricken 14th-century Italy, when ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to wait offshore for 40 days before docking. The word quarantine derives from the Italian quaranta giorni, 40 days.

The UK has been pushed into its first technical recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of economic decline - since 2009. The economy shrank 20.4 per cent compared with the first three months of the year. Household spending plunged as shops were ordered to close, while factory and construction output also fell.

We have all known that the personal is political for a very long time. But when it comes to institutions, there is a sharp distinction between the two. The institution of the judiciary is a constitutional one. Those who occupy the offices of India’s higher judiciary fill the roles in these offices. The office and the office-holder are always distinct. Judicial authority has been vested in these offices to discharge constitutional functions and not protect themselves personally.

New Delhi: leading football players of the country on Sunday lavished praise on cricket icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni saying the wicketkeeper-captain was also quiet good at football.

New Delhi: Ending uncertainty and speculations, the organisers on Sunday announced that the seventh edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) will be held at Goa in November this year.

New Delhi: Promising hockey defender Sanjay has exuded confidence of representing country at the senior level soon because he has done well at the junior level.

New Delh: "Main pal do pal ka shayaar hoon, Pal do pal meri kahaani hai" the song written by legendary poet Sahir Ludhanvi played on Instagram as former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday announced his retirement on an emotional note.

The three recognized unions of defence civilian employees namely All India Defence Employees’ Federation (AIDEF), Indian National Defence Workers’ Federation (INDWF) and Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS) have served an indefinite strike notice to the central government. As there is no positive response from the Union defence minister Rajnath Singh regarding the withdrawal of the decision of corporatisation of Ordnance Factories, the three trade unions have decided to commence indefinite strike from October 12, 2020.

The Independence Day this year would be celebrated with a new spirit. There would be many historical changes in the country’s present that are going to have farfetched impact on our future. We are not even sure where do we go from here. In the recent past itself, on August 5, we had the Bhoomi Poojan, for which a section of the majority community led by Hindutva forces strived for long. They were keen to uproot a mosque that stood for hundreds of years in Ayodhya, said to be the birth place of Ram, the leading Hindu deity.