PUNE: The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has prima facie found that adulterated milk was supplied to Indapur Dairy and Milk Products Ltd, popularly known as Sonai Dairy, as investigators probe an organised milk adulteration network, officials said on Wednesday. According to the FDA, milk delivery records and tanker challans helped establish a supply chain running from the accused through Mahalakshmi Milk and Milk Products and Yogininatha Milk Suppliers to Sonai Dairy at Gokhali in Pune district. Investigators also identified another route through which adulterated milk was allegedly prepared and supplied directly to Sonai Dairy, news agency PTI reported. The probe is being conducted as part of a special FDA campaign aimed at tracing the entire milk adulteration chain. The investigation covers suppliers of substances used to manufacture synthetic milk, their storage facilities, milk collection and chilling centres, as well as processing units. According to an FDA release, two separate cases were also uncovered in Malshiras in Solapur district. At Mahalakshmi Milk and Milk Products in Piliv, a milk sample tested positive for detergent, while the fat and milk solids-not-fat (SNF) levels were found to be below the prescribed standards. Following the findings, 7,634 litres of milk valued at Rs 3.05 lakh were destroyed. The FDA said milk collected at the facility was allegedly supplied to Sonai Dairy through Yogininatha Milk Suppliers. An FIR was registered against the persons concerned, including those associated with Sonai Dairy, PTI reported. In another case, 9,096 litres of milk worth Rs 3.64 lakh were destroyed at Dailywish Agro Dairy Product Pvt Ltd in Piliv after a sample was declared unsafe for human consumption. The sample was found to contain detergent, while its fat and SNF levels were below the required standards. An FIR was also registered in this case.

WASHINGTON: The US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday rejected Iran's claim that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed, saying commercial and energy shipments are still moving through the strategically important waterway. CLAIM: Earlier today, a general from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed in media reports that 'the Strait of Hormuz is closed' and his country has 'full control over it.' This is FALSE," CENTCOM said in a post on X. FACT: Traffic is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz right now carrying commercial goods and energy supplies, including 20 million barrels of crude oil. The United States and regional partners clearly control the strait," it added. The statement followed remarks by Mohammadreza Naqdi, an adviser to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who repeated Tehran's position on the strategic waterway in comments to the semi-official Fars news agency on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported. Naqdi also warned that transit routes considered illegal by Iran would be closed soon. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran had "clearly and firmly" outlined its conditions for ending the war on all fronts and restoring security across the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. According to Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, Baghaei said Tehran would also convey its response to US proposals through mediators, Al Jazeera reported. Baghaei further said Iran and Oman had reached an understanding regarding the safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and would soon submit the agreement to the relevant international body. "The consultation process between Iran and Oman has been carried out well, and the two sides, in addition to agreeing on the geographical coordinates of safe routes to and from the Strait of Hormuz, have also reached an understanding on how to reflect the issue at the relevant international authority level, which, God willing, will be done soon," Baghaei was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying, as reported by Al Jazeera. The latest developments come as tensions around the Strait of Hormuz remain high amid the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran. Earlier on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran would end "very quickly" and predicted that oil prices would "come tumbling down". He also claimed that the US had taken away Iran's nuclear power. "It is a war from the standpoint of what we have to do. We have to get rid of the nuclear weapons for Iran. We have taken away their nuclear power. If they had nuclear power, you would have had problems like you have never had before," Trump told reporters while leaving Washington for a Republican campaign rally in San Antonio. "Their whole country right now is wiped out. It will be over very quickly, and when it does, oil prices will come tumbling down," he added. Meanwhile, Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani rejected Trump's claim that Iran's oil minister had resigned because of pressure linked to the US war, calling the statement "a futile effort to hide his own failures", Al Jazeera reported. Mohajerani said the resignation of the oil minister was "not a sign of weakness", but instead reflected flexibility within a stable political system. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has meanwhile said that although Iran remains determined to defend itself, its officials are serious about pursuing diplomacy to protect the country's interests and national security.

A barge carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol departed from Bogibeel Terminal in Dibrugarh, Assam, for Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 5 October, marking the first cargo shipment from Upper Assam to a foreign port since India's independence in 1947. Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel DLB Patkai, which was pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar, while Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the ceremony virtually. The methanol, manufactured by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited at Namrup, is headed for Pangaon Port in Dhaka. The vessel will cover around 768 kilometres along National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra before reaching the Indo-Bangladesh border. It will then continue through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, covering nearly 1,300 kilometres from Bogibeel to Narayanganj in Dhaka. The shipment was made possible after customs and immigration complexes were recently established at Bogibeel and Dhubri. Regular methanol shipments to Bangladesh are now planned, with the voyage also serving as a test of the Brahmaputra's potential as a commercially viable freight corridor connecting India's Northeast with overseas markets. Sonowal described the development as the revival of a river route that had remained largely silent for seven decades. Recalling the steamers that once operated regularly from Dibrugarh, he said the latest shipment was intended to mark the start of regular voyages rather than remain a one-time movement. He said the development demonstrated the potential of the Brahmaputra to once again connect the region with international markets. Sarma called it a proud moment for Assam, noting that a product manufactured in Namrup was reaching global markets through the state's own river. He also described the Northeast as no longer a frontier, but India's gateway to the East. Dibrugarh was once among eastern India's important river ports, with government steamers reaching the town from Calcutta by 1856. The Dibru-Sadiya Railway began operations from the Dibrugarh steamer ghat in 1882. By 1913, steamers were travelling up the Brahmaputra to Dibrugarh daily, carrying tea, timber and passengers. The trade was disrupted after the 1947 partition, which cut the route to Calcutta through what became East Pakistan. A 1950 earthquake further affected navigation by altering the riverbed near Dibrugarh. Regular bookings from the ghat ended in 1954, while the port was completely closed on 15 October 1956 as tea shipments shifted to rail. The 1965 India-Pakistan war brought cross-border river trade to a complete halt.

Crown Worldwide Group has opened a new facility in Siwari, Delhi NCR, expanding its integrated logistics, information management, relocation and workspace services in India. Spread across 7.5 acres, the 135,000 sq ft facility brings several of the Group's business operations together at a single location under its "One Crown" approach. The facility includes an 82,000 sq ft warehouse with capacity to accommodate up to 900,000 cartons. The site is Green Building certified, with 20% of the overall area allocated to green coverage. The new facility brings together capabilities from Crown Information Management, Crown Workspace, Crown Relocations, Crown Logistics, Crown World Mobility, Crown Fine Art and exXtra. The integrated model is aimed at giving customers access to multiple services through a single service partner. For businesses, the facility can cater to requirements ranging from workplace transitions and employee relocation to specialised logistics, storage, records management and the handling of surplus assets.