# BRICS summit, warning labels for packed food, and Orangutans in Odisha

An episode of [3 Things](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1406730235), 11 Sep 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75053735/3_things_2026_september_11_v1.mp3

First, we speak to The Indian Express’ Diplomatic Affairs Editor Shubhajit Roy about the 18th BRICS summit in Delhi, disagreements over the war in West Asia, and the significance of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first visit to India in seven years. Next, we speak to The Indian Express’ Anonna Dutt about the red warning labels that could soon appear on packaged foods, what they will tell consumers, and whether such front-of-pack warnings can influence purchasing decisions. (15:00) And in the end, we speak to The Indian Express’ Sujit Bisoyi about five orangutans found in Odisha’s Balasore district, the steps being taken to protect them, and suspicions that they were brought into India through an international wildlife-smuggling network. (22:51) Hosted by Shashank Bhargava Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava, Niharika Nanda and Ichha Sharma Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: In this episode, we talk about the food regulator deciding
[0:03] Speaker 1: to introduce warning labels on packaged foods and what impact
[0:07] Speaker 1: it hopes they will have. We also discuss the concerns
[0:11] Speaker 1: raised among wildlife officials after orangutans were spotted in Odisha.
[0:16] Speaker 1: But we begin today by talking about the BRICS summit,
[0:19] Speaker 1: which is taking place in the capital starting tomorrow. Hi,
[0:26] Speaker 1: I'm Shashank Bhargav. And you're listening to Three Things, the
[0:29] Speaker 1: Indian Express news show. The 18th BRICS Summit is scheduled
[0:37] Speaker 1: to take place over the weekend in Delhi. This meet
[0:41] Speaker 1: will not only see the attendance of the Russian, Iranian,
[0:44] Speaker 1: South African and Indonesian presidents, but officials are also preparing
[0:49] Speaker 1: for the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will
[0:53] Speaker 1: be visiting India after a span of seven years. Now BRICS,
[0:57] Speaker 1: which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa,
[1:02] Speaker 1: is a forum where these countries, along with six other members,
[1:06] Speaker 1: aim to cooperate and coordinate on issues such as trade, finance,
[1:10] Speaker 1: global governance and geopolitics. And right now, officials from member
[1:15] Speaker 1: countries are burning the midnight oil as they try to
[1:18] Speaker 1: hammer out a joint declaration for the summit. And one
[1:22] Speaker 1: of the key points of discord concerns the language around
[1:26] Speaker 1: the war in West Asia, given that Iran, the UAE
[1:30] Speaker 1: and Saudi Arabia are also expected to be at the
[1:33] Speaker 1: summit table. So to talk about the dynamics at play
[1:36] Speaker 1: and the significance of this meet, we are joined by
[1:39] Speaker 1: the Indian Express's Diplomatic Affairs Editor, Shubhjeet Roy. Shubhjeet, tell
[1:44] Speaker 1: us what makes this topic so particularly sensitive for countries
[1:48] Speaker 1: like India. And what exactly is the discord between these
[1:52] Speaker 1: two countries when it comes to this war?
[1:55] Speaker 2: Well, you know, right now the BRICS is happening, summit
[1:58] Speaker 2: is happening at the point when two wars are ongoing.
[2:02] Speaker 2: Not just the Russia-Ukraine war, but the six-month-old war in
[2:06] Speaker 2: West Asia, which was launched by US and Israel against Iran.
[2:09] Speaker 2: And Iran counterattacked on the Gulf countries. So UAE was
[2:14] Speaker 2: one of the places where Iran attacked on the US
[2:17] Speaker 2: military bases and also other facilities. So the war in
[2:23] Speaker 2: West Asia has disrupted the global energy supply because the
[2:29] Speaker 2: state of Hormuz was closed. And it has had a
[2:32] Speaker 2: tremendous amount of impact on the energy prices in India
[2:37] Speaker 2: and across the world, especially the developing countries.
[2:40] Speaker 3: So this is a very real.
[2:43] Speaker 2: Impact on Indian consumer, Indian people and Indian government. So
[2:48] Speaker 2: the Indian government wants this to be acknowledged and reflected
[2:53] Speaker 2: adequately in the joint declaration at the end of the
[2:58] Speaker 2: BRICS summit. And in this particular BRICS grouping, now after
[3:02] Speaker 2: its expansion, UAE, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the three countries
[3:07] Speaker 2: which are.
[3:08] Speaker 3: Part of the conflict, they are members. They're sitting at
[3:11] Speaker 3: the table.
[3:12] Speaker 2: And UAE and Iran, especially Saudi, has actually been kind
[3:16] Speaker 2: of a very inactive member in this particular grouping so far.
[3:19] Speaker 2: But UAE and Iran, which have been very active members,
[3:22] Speaker 2: they are fighting amongst themselves and not letting a consensus
[3:27] Speaker 2: to be built on the phrasing on the Iran war,
[3:31] Speaker 2: on the war in West Asia.
[3:33] Speaker 1: And we even saw this play out in May earlier
[3:36] Speaker 1: this year when foreign ministers of these countries met and
[3:41] Speaker 1: even then they couldn't come up with a joint statement.
[3:45] Speaker 4: Correct.
[3:46] Speaker 2: And similar thing is playing out right now where before
[3:49] Speaker 2: the leaders summit, the Sherpas of the country, Sherpas are
[3:53] Speaker 2: the senior most officials who act as the principal negotiators
[3:57] Speaker 2: on behalf of each of the member countries. So the
[3:59] Speaker 2: BRICS Sherpas, as we call them, they are working overnight
[4:04] Speaker 2: for the last week or so to come to an
[4:09] Speaker 2: agreed formulation so that there is consensus document in place
[4:15] Speaker 2: At the end of the BRICS summit. In this, what
[4:17] Speaker 2: we have learned is that India is taking the help
[4:21] Speaker 2: of Russian diplomats, Egyptian diplomats and Brazilian diplomats to convince
[4:28] Speaker 2: both sides, the UAE, Emiratis on one side and the
[4:32] Speaker 2: Iranians on the other side, to come to not block
[4:35] Speaker 2: consensus and to come up with the ideal wording, which
[4:40] Speaker 2: reflects everyone's position at a common position. So that is
[4:44] Speaker 2: the biggest challenge that India is facing right now while
[4:48] Speaker 2: coming up with the BRICS declaration.
[4:51] Speaker 1: And can you talk about what is the significance of
[4:54] Speaker 1: this grouping and how does it compare to, you know,
[4:57] Speaker 1: these other groupings, these countries are a part of like
[5:01] Speaker 1: the Quad and the G7?
[5:04] Speaker 3: So every grouping has its own interest, own agenda.
[5:08] Speaker 2: In this case, the shared interest initially was that these
[5:11] Speaker 2: are all emerging economies, five countries which came together, earlier four,
[5:15] Speaker 2: and then South Africa joined. So Brazil, Russia, India, China
[5:19] Speaker 2: were the original members. And then, you know, South Africa joined.
[5:22] Speaker 2: And they were seen as emerging economies who have challenges
[5:27] Speaker 2: different from the Western developed countries. So development was the
[5:34] Speaker 2: biggest sort of unifier of all these countries that all
[5:37] Speaker 2: these countries needed to develop at a pace for the
[5:41] Speaker 2: benefit of their people. Every member country's economy has developed differently.
[5:48] Speaker 2: China has galloped to become the second largest economy in
[5:52] Speaker 2: the world after the United States. It sees itself as
[5:56] Speaker 2: a pure competitor to United States.
[5:59] Speaker 3: Russia's has become, has shrunk.
[6:02] Speaker 2: It is currently, I mean, the last estimates in, I think,
[6:07] Speaker 2: 2024 estimates suggest that its economy is as big as Italy's.
[6:12] Speaker 2: India has grown, but it had also gone through its challenges.
[6:16] Speaker 2: South Africa and Brazil have not been able to sustain
[6:19] Speaker 2: their growth. So in the growth curve, all of them
[6:23] Speaker 2: have are in different stages right now. So that inequality
[6:28] Speaker 2: within the grouping is pretty huge. And China has, because
[6:32] Speaker 2: it has become so overpowering and dominating in this group,
[6:37] Speaker 2: and Russia, they have tried to push this particular grouping
[6:42] Speaker 2: and frame it as an anti-Western bloc, an alternative to
[6:45] Speaker 2: the Western bloc, which is the G7 grouping. That is what,
[6:50] Speaker 2: if you look at them, then it offers an alternative
[6:54] Speaker 2: to the rest of the world that this is the
[6:56] Speaker 2: parallel grouping or alternative grouping. It's an anti-Western. India has
[7:00] Speaker 2: been very careful in not signing off to that particular framing.
[7:05] Speaker 2: It sees BRICS as a country for developing countries and
[7:10] Speaker 2: it says it's for development, it is for greater good
[7:13] Speaker 2: and it says it's not anti-Western. It sees it as
[7:16] Speaker 2: a non-Western grouping.
[7:18] Speaker 1: Yeah, India wouldn't want to position itself as anti-West or
[7:22] Speaker 1: Anti-US for that matter.
[7:23] Speaker 4: Correct.
[7:24] Speaker 2: Because India realizes that its interests, its overall interests, international interests,
[7:31] Speaker 2: strategic and economic interests are deeply tied to the West.
[7:36] Speaker 2: First is capital. Second is technology. And third is access
[7:41] Speaker 2: as a destination for Indian people to education and jobs.
[7:46] Speaker 2: But now the BRICS countries have been expanded where there
[7:50] Speaker 2: are partners like, for example.
[7:52] Speaker 3: UAE or Saudi Arabia.
[7:55] Speaker 2: They are big investors in Indian economy in the last
[7:59] Speaker 2: decade and decade and a half. And also they have become,
[8:03] Speaker 2: traditionally they have been destination for Indian workers, mostly semi-skilled
[8:08] Speaker 2: blue collar worker, but now also some skilled professionals also.
[8:12] Speaker 2: So from that perspective, some members of the BRICS countries
[8:16] Speaker 2: who are essentially actually part of the G20 grouping, so
[8:20] Speaker 2: they are rich economies and are closer to the West
[8:23] Speaker 2: as well. They are not anti-West, Saudi Arabia or UAE.
[8:26] Speaker 2: They are also part of the grouping. So India, that's
[8:30] Speaker 2: why it doesn't consider BRICS as an anti-Western because it
[8:35] Speaker 2: shows to the world that, look, not just I am
[8:39] Speaker 2: part of this grouping, but also countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia,
[8:43] Speaker 2: even Egypt, they're also part of the grouping, which also
[8:47] Speaker 2: benefit from its association with the West and with the
[8:51] Speaker 2: American or the European economies.
[8:54] Speaker 1: And now the summit is going to be attended by
[8:56] Speaker 1: Chinese President Xi Jinping as well. Talk about the significance
[9:01] Speaker 1: of his presence and what talks is India going to
[9:04] Speaker 1: have with China on the sidelines?
[9:08] Speaker 2: So I think the biggest visit in this particular BRICS
[9:12] Speaker 2: summit is going to be the Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit,
[9:16] Speaker 2: who is coming here after seven years. Last time he
[9:19] Speaker 2: came was in October 2019, when I had gone to
[9:23] Speaker 2: cover the visit in Mamlapuram near Chennai, which is Mahabalipuram.
[9:27] Speaker 2: And at that point of time, there was a lot
[9:29] Speaker 2: of bonhomie. There was a lot of, you know, building
[9:31] Speaker 2: of trust. That was the stage of relationship.
[9:35] Speaker 1: Yeah, this was way before the border standoff.
[9:38] Speaker 2: Six months later, in fact, four months later, the pandemic
[9:42] Speaker 2: hit the world. And by January, March 2020, it had
[9:47] Speaker 2: become full pandemic was in display and it impacted all
[9:51] Speaker 2: of us.
[9:51] Speaker 3: Entire world.
[9:52] Speaker 2: And then the border standoff took place in East.
[9:56] Speaker 3: And the Dark.
[9:57] Speaker 2: So from since then, the Galwan clashes happened in which
[10:01] Speaker 2: 20 Indian security personnel, army personnel were killed, including a
[10:05] Speaker 2: colonel rank officer. And that diminished and sort of destroyed
[10:10] Speaker 2: the strategic political trust India had with China.
[10:15] Speaker 3: So over a period of time, by.
[10:18] Speaker 2: October 2024, The standoff has been eased to an extent
[10:22] Speaker 2: that there is no face-to-face sort of deployment right now.
[10:28] Speaker 2: There are still 50,000 troops on either sides of the border,
[10:31] Speaker 2: but the disengagement has been completed. But de-escalation and de-induction
[10:36] Speaker 2: of troops have not happened. But since 2024, what has
[10:40] Speaker 2: happened is the two sides have tried to repair the damage,
[10:44] Speaker 2: repair the ties and rebuild the relationships. So there have
[10:48] Speaker 2: been some measures that have been taken that like direct
[10:51] Speaker 2: flights have pre-started. Some visa curbs have been removed. The
[10:55] Speaker 2: Kailash Mansar Barriyatra, which is a pilgrimage, it has been resumed.
[11:00] Speaker 3: So some of these softer, low-hanging fruit has begun.
[11:05] Speaker 2: But full-fledged normalization has not happened because the border standoff
[11:10] Speaker 2: is still on. There's been no de-escalation. 50,000 troops are
[11:14] Speaker 2: still deployed at the border. So this visit by President
[11:19] Speaker 2: Xi is being looked at as an effort to repair
[11:23] Speaker 2: the ties between India and China in the last two years,
[11:28] Speaker 2: in the last two years that the process that started
[11:31] Speaker 2: in Kazan when Prime Minister Modi met President Xi. And
[11:35] Speaker 2: that process has been underway. And the two sides want
[11:39] Speaker 2: that the economic cooperation, the political cooperation, the strategic cooperation
[11:44] Speaker 2: the cooperation on transboundary reverse, they should continue. And that
[11:50] Speaker 2: will only happen if there is trust is rebuilt.
[11:53] Speaker 1: And you mentioned the thawing of the relationship. And even
[11:56] Speaker 1: on the trade side, you know, there has been some easing.
[11:59] Speaker 1: In March this year, the government relaxed rules for the
[12:02] Speaker 1: country's largest state-run power equipment maker, the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.
[12:10] Speaker 1: It allowed it to procure 21 critical items from China
[12:14] Speaker 1: for five years. And then in June, the finance ministry
[12:19] Speaker 1: allowed four Chinese power companies equipment manufacturing companies with factories
[12:24] Speaker 1: in India to participate in government tenders for critical power projects.
[12:29] Speaker 1: So there was that. But Shubhjeet, coming back to the
[12:34] Speaker 1: summit itself, tell us what these next two days will
[12:38] Speaker 1: look like.
[12:40] Speaker 2: Well, there are two components to it. First is obviously
[12:43] Speaker 2: the BRICS summit and the BRICS outreach summit with some
[12:46] Speaker 2: of the dialogue partners and invitees who will come. So
[12:50] Speaker 2: there are 10 BRICS member countries, 11 dialogue partner countries
[12:54] Speaker 2: and about four or five invitees, including UN Secretary General
[12:58] Speaker 2: and some international organizations. So about 25, 26 countries and
[13:02] Speaker 2: organizations will participate and they're expected to talk about from
[13:07] Speaker 2: what you said, supply, critical mineral, AI, climate change, energy security,
[13:14] Speaker 2: economic security.
[13:15] Speaker 3: And food security.
[13:16] Speaker 2: These are the broad baskets where the countries will talk
[13:22] Speaker 2: amongst themselves and try and come at a declaration at
[13:26] Speaker 2: an agreed document, which will be the New Delhi Declaration.
[13:31] Speaker 3: That is one thing to watch out for.
[13:33] Speaker 2: The second thing to watch out for the key bilateral
[13:36] Speaker 2: meetings that Prime Minister Modi will have, firstly with President Xi,
[13:39] Speaker 2: as we discussed, Russian President Vladimir Putin, it's the second
[13:43] Speaker 2: meeting within a fortnight, So that is another thing that
[13:48] Speaker 2: will be closely watched, especially on defense and energy, these
[13:52] Speaker 2: two issues, and also sort of market access for Indian
[13:56] Speaker 2: goods into Russian market. And the third important and very
[14:01] Speaker 2: significant bilateral meeting that everyone will watch out for will
[14:05] Speaker 2: be the bilateral meeting with the Iranian president, Fezesh Kyan,
[14:09] Speaker 2: who is coming here for the first time as president.
[14:13] Speaker 2: His country is at war with US. So it's a
[14:16] Speaker 2: very volatile, very turbulent time in his country. So this
[14:21] Speaker 2: is a visit after a long gap from the Iranian side.
[14:24] Speaker 2: And there's a lot to talk about, especially because India
[14:27] Speaker 2: has stopped buying oil, but it has strategic interests and
[14:31] Speaker 2: concerns with Iran, especially when it comes to dealing with
[14:35] Speaker 2: Taliban or accessing Central Asia through the Chabahar port. and
[14:40] Speaker 2: also trade, especially when it comes to supplying rice to
[14:45] Speaker 2: Iranian people. So all these issues will be sort of
[14:49] Speaker 2: discussed in that meeting. So these are sort of the two.
[14:53] Speaker 2: One is a bilateral basket. The other one is a
[14:55] Speaker 2: BRICS basket. These are the two basic baskets which we
[14:59] Speaker 2: will watch out for in the next two days.
[15:06] Speaker 1: And next, we look at a new warning label that
[15:08] Speaker 1: could soon change the way consumers look at packaged food.
[15:12] Speaker 1: Things like chips, biscuits, and soft drinks could soon carry
[15:16] Speaker 1: a warning label on the front of the pack, telling
[15:19] Speaker 1: you if the product has ingredients that are considered unhealthy.
[15:23] Speaker 1: The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, or FSSAI,
[15:27] Speaker 1: has now told the Supreme Court that it will implement
[15:30] Speaker 1: a red hexagonal warning label on the front of some
[15:34] Speaker 1: packaged food products. Several labelling options were considered, but the
[15:38] Speaker 1: FSSAI has now narrowed its choice down to the red hexagon.
[15:43] Speaker 1: But what exactly will this label tell consumers, and which
[15:47] Speaker 1: products will carry it? To find this out, my colleague
[15:50] Speaker 1: Niharika Nanda spoke with the Indian Express's Anona Dutt, who
[15:54] Speaker 1: reports on health for the paper.
[15:57] Speaker 5: Anona, firstly, tell us about the label.
[15:59] Speaker 6: What all will it indicate to consumers about the packaged product?
[16:04] Speaker 7: So the new warning labels on the front of pack
[16:07] Speaker 7: are meant to basically immediately tell you that something is
[16:11] Speaker 7: high in fats, sugars or salts, things that can be
[16:15] Speaker 7: harmful to your health. So the FSSAI has now proposed
[16:20] Speaker 7: red hexagons, which will have the words either say high fat,
[16:25] Speaker 7: high salt, high sugars or even like highly sugared beverages
[16:30] Speaker 7: on the hexagon so that it tells people what are
[16:33] Speaker 7: the nutrients that this particular product is high in. And
[16:37] Speaker 7: this is meant to help users make an informed choice
[16:41] Speaker 7: whether they do want to buy something which is not
[16:44] Speaker 7: good for their health. But at least it lets people
[16:47] Speaker 7: know that this is high in fats, sugars and salts.
[16:50] Speaker 7: So if you do buy it, it should be your
[16:53] Speaker 7: choice knowing that it is.
[16:55] Speaker 6: And we understand that the red hexagon was actually not
[16:59] Speaker 6: the first choice, right?
[17:01] Speaker 7: So front of pack labeling actually was first proposed in 2020.
[17:07] Speaker 7: And I think the first draft guidelines came out in 2022.
[17:12] Speaker 7: And in this first draft guidelines by the FSACI, which
[17:15] Speaker 7: is the National Food Regulator, the proposed front of pack
[17:19] Speaker 7: label was supposed to be a health star rating. So
[17:23] Speaker 7: it's something like what you see on, say, electronic items
[17:27] Speaker 7: where the number of stars tell you how energy efficient
[17:30] Speaker 7: they are.
[17:31] Speaker 5: This was supposed to be.
[17:32] Speaker 7: Similarly giving a score to different food products, packaged food products,
[17:38] Speaker 7: and the pack would have this star rating on the front. However,
[17:43] Speaker 7: a lot of health activists and experts argued that this
[17:48] Speaker 7: star can be misconstrued because even if a product gets, say,
[17:52] Speaker 7: a half a star, people might think that it is
[17:55] Speaker 7: a positive connotation because we have this connotation of stars
[17:59] Speaker 7: being a positive thing in our mind.
[18:01] Speaker 5: However, that is not the case.
[18:03] Speaker 7: If something is a half star, that means it's quite unhealthy,
[18:07] Speaker 7: which is why the experts wanted something which is clearly
[18:10] Speaker 7: understood by people as being unhealthy. When they are picking
[18:14] Speaker 7: up a packet of chips or say cola, whatever, they
[18:18] Speaker 7: should be immediately told that, okay, this is not good
[18:21] Speaker 7: for your health. And which is why the experts have
[18:25] Speaker 7: been pushing for a health warning label.
[18:28] Speaker 5: And how will the system be implemented? What is the
[18:31] Speaker 5: FSSAI's plan exactly?
[18:34] Speaker 7: So as of now, the proposal that FSSAI submitted to
[18:38] Speaker 7: the court says it would be implemented in two phases.
[18:42] Speaker 7: The first phase would have warnings only if a product
[18:46] Speaker 7: is high in.
[18:47] Speaker 5: Two of the three nutrients.
[18:49] Speaker 7: So if it is either like high in fats and
[18:52] Speaker 7: sugars or sugars and salt, then they would have to
[18:55] Speaker 7: carry these red hexagonal warning labels and also the sweetened.
[19:00] Speaker 5: Beverages, colas, etc. would have to carry it.
[19:03] Speaker 7: In the second phase, this would be applicable to any
[19:07] Speaker 7: product which is even high in one of the three nutrients.
[19:10] Speaker 7: which means anything which is high in fats, sugars or
[19:13] Speaker 7: salts will have to carry this warning. However, the food
[19:17] Speaker 7: regulator has not given a timeline for implementation of this.
[19:21] Speaker 7: And you know, how long after the first phase would
[19:25] Speaker 7: the companies have to implement the second phase? This sort
[19:28] Speaker 7: of has not been provided by the food regulator in
[19:32] Speaker 7: their code documents.
[19:34] Speaker 6: And Anona, what do the experts have to say about this?
[19:37] Speaker 6: Because they were the ones who were pushing for this.
[19:40] Speaker 5: Development, right?
[19:42] Speaker 1: Yes.
[19:42] Speaker 7: So actually, experts welcomed the warning label because, like I said,
[19:47] Speaker 7: it will immediately tell people that, OK, something happened.
[19:50] Speaker 5: Is not good for your health.
[19:51] Speaker 7: And if you're making a purchase, then you make an
[19:54] Speaker 7: informed purchase. However, the experts did raise this issue, which
[19:59] Speaker 7: I mentioned, where a product will carry a warning label
[20:03] Speaker 7: in the first phase only if it's high in two
[20:05] Speaker 7: of the three nutrients.
[20:07] Speaker 5: Now, this the experts say will exclude a lot of
[20:09] Speaker 5: the products.
[20:10] Speaker 7: Which may be just high in fats or just high
[20:13] Speaker 7: in sugar, and they would get excluded.
[20:15] Speaker 5: They would not have to carry the warning label.
[20:17] Speaker 7: And secondly, there was no timeline given for the implementation
[20:22] Speaker 7: of the second phase. So that is one critique that
[20:26] Speaker 7: the experts have about the FSACI plan. The second critique
[20:31] Speaker 7: is that the FSACI plan now says that this warning
[20:35] Speaker 7: label will be used depending on the level of total
[20:38] Speaker 7: added sugar and total added fats.
[20:41] Speaker 5: So this actually again gives.
[20:44] Speaker 7: A wide berth to the food companies because one, it
[20:48] Speaker 7: is difficult sometimes to estimate the total added fat, for example,
[20:52] Speaker 7: and even when you do, it is still the fat
[20:55] Speaker 7: in general and the total sugar in general, which can
[20:59] Speaker 7: harm your health and not just the added sugar or
[21:02] Speaker 7: added fat. So that again leaves out a lot of
[21:06] Speaker 7: products from the warning, which is what experts have pointed out.
[21:11] Speaker 7: And in addition to that, they have also pointed out
[21:13] Speaker 7: that the font size that has been proposed by FSACI
[21:16] Speaker 7: is also very small and should be bigger. And probably
[21:19] Speaker 7: the warning should be in both Hindi and English instead
[21:23] Speaker 7: of just one language. So these were the changes that
[21:26] Speaker 7: have been suggested by experts based on what the submission
[21:31] Speaker 7: of FSACI has been in court.
[21:33] Speaker 6: So Anuna, do we have any evidence of these signs working?
[21:38] Speaker 6: Like there are warnings on cigarette packs as well, but
[21:41] Speaker 6: we do see people still buying them.
[21:44] Speaker 7: So actually, there is evidence for both when it comes
[21:47] Speaker 7: to food as well as cigarettes. The reason we have
[21:49] Speaker 7: been increasing the surface area of these warning on cigarette packs,
[21:54] Speaker 7: and India is one of the countries which actually does
[21:56] Speaker 7: have the 80% pack.
[21:59] Speaker 5: Having the warning on it.
[22:02] Speaker 7: These have shown over the years to be very effective
[22:05] Speaker 7: in discouraging people to smoke or to consume these products.
[22:10] Speaker 7: When it comes to smoking, actually, there's a lot of
[22:13] Speaker 7: evidence that exists. The challenge in India, of course, is
[22:17] Speaker 7: that we do sell a lot of loose cigarettes and
[22:20] Speaker 7: which is why the warning on the pack may not
[22:22] Speaker 7: be as effective as you would see in Western countries.
[22:26] Speaker 7: But overall, these measures have been shown to to reduce
[22:30] Speaker 7: cigarette consumption. And when it comes to warning labels, there
[22:34] Speaker 7: is actually evidence from not just from, you know, developed countries,
[22:38] Speaker 7: but also countries such as Cuba, which implemented these warning
[22:41] Speaker 7: labels and the consumption of the sweetened beverages actually went
[22:46] Speaker 7: down with this, you know, implementation of the warning label.
[22:50] Speaker 7: So that was important evidence to show that it does work.
[22:59] Speaker 1: And finally, we turn to Odisha, where the sighting of
[23:02] Speaker 1: a rare animal has raised concerns about a possible international
[23:06] Speaker 1: wildlife smuggling operation. Earlier this week, a few locals in
[23:10] Speaker 1: the Balasore district were walking through a forest near their village,
[23:15] Speaker 1: when they came across an unusual sight. In front of
[23:18] Speaker 1: them were five tiny creatures that looked a little like monkeys,
[23:23] Speaker 1: but their faces were flatter, their eyes larger, their ears smaller,
[23:28] Speaker 1: and most noticeably, their bodies were covered in reddish-orange hair.
[23:33] Speaker 1: These were orangutans, Asia's only great apes, native to the
[23:39] Speaker 1: forests of Bornea and Sumatra and classified as critically endangered. Now,
[23:45] Speaker 1: as news of the animals spread, Thousands of people gathered
[23:49] Speaker 1: within an hour to see them, prompting the Forest Department
[23:52] Speaker 1: to step in and rescue them. Officials now suspect that
[23:56] Speaker 1: the apes may have been brought into the state as
[23:59] Speaker 1: part of an international wildlife smuggling operation. To find out
[24:03] Speaker 1: what action officials have taken since, we are joined by
[24:07] Speaker 1: the Indian Express's Sujit Bisoy, who reports on the state
[24:10] Speaker 1: for the paper. Sujit, tell us, where are these orangutans
[24:15] Speaker 1: right now?
[24:16] Speaker 8: Well, Sasank, you rightly mentioned at around 6 a.m. on
[24:20] Speaker 8: Tuesday morning, when the locals spotted the five orangutans near
[24:25] Speaker 8: a cashew in a forest in Orissa's Baleshwar, it's a
[24:28] Speaker 8: coastal district. And the place where the five orangutans were
[24:33] Speaker 8: sighted is very close to West Bengal border. So the locals,
[24:37] Speaker 8: out of curiosity, they informed the forest officials who came
[24:41] Speaker 8: and identified them as orangutans. And they were kept for
[24:47] Speaker 8: some hours under observation at the local forest office in Udaipur.
[24:51] Speaker 8: Then currently they are in Nandan Khanan and under quarantine.
[24:55] Speaker 7: Right.
[24:55] Speaker 1: And Nandan Khanan, of course, is the famous zoo in Bhubaneswar.
[25:00] Speaker 1: But Sujit, do we know how old these orangutans are
[25:04] Speaker 1: and what kind of measures are officials taking right now
[25:08] Speaker 1: to keep them safe?
[25:10] Speaker 8: Well, we have checked about their age. That is not
[25:13] Speaker 8: confirmed yet. But from their height and physical appearance, the
[25:17] Speaker 8: experts and the forest officials are saying that they are infant,
[25:20] Speaker 8: they are juveniles. And as you know, the Mysore Zoo
[25:24] Speaker 8: in India is the only home to three orangutans. So
[25:27] Speaker 8: the forest officials in Orissa and the Nandan Kannan Zoo
[25:30] Speaker 8: authorities are in constant touch with the orangutans. Moisurju authorities
[25:34] Speaker 8: because they had the experience of taking care of orangutans.
[25:38] Speaker 8: So three dedicated animal keepers in Nandan Kanand have been
[25:42] Speaker 8: exclusively assigned to take care of the five babies which
[25:46] Speaker 8: comprise three males and two female infants. and a dedicated
[25:50] Speaker 8: medical team including a veterinary doctor are taking care 24
[25:53] Speaker 8: into 7 they are monitoring their.
[25:56] Speaker 4: Activities through cctb.
[25:58] Speaker 8: Initially when they arrived at nandan kananju was close to
[26:01] Speaker 8: bhubaneswar so one of them had a fever but What
[26:05] Speaker 8: the officials are saying that after administrating medicine, the infant
[26:09] Speaker 8: is doing fine and others are also stable. They are
[26:13] Speaker 8: taking foods, they are eating bananas, apples, and the infants
[26:18] Speaker 8: which are not taking food on themselves, they are being
[26:22] Speaker 8: fed regularly.
[26:23] Speaker 4: Like apple mash, potato mash.
[26:26] Speaker 8: And in every two hours, as per the suggestions of
[26:29] Speaker 8: the Mysore Jew authorities, milk is being fed to them
[26:33] Speaker 8: in every two hours. And Nandan Khan and deputy director
[26:36] Speaker 8: said that to keep the apes engaged, they've arranged toys,
[26:41] Speaker 8: then a sling is being... And right now, of course,
[26:45] Speaker 8: these orangutans are being quarantined for 30 days because they
[26:48] Speaker 8: might catch an infection or even pass on an infection.
[26:50] Speaker 4: But do we know what happens next?
[27:11] Speaker 8: Well, it's not clear yet what will be the next,
[27:15] Speaker 8: whether they'll be kept in Nandan Khanan or whether they'll
[27:18] Speaker 8: be shifted to any other Jews in India or they'll
[27:20] Speaker 8: be repatriated to the origin country.
[27:23] Speaker 4: So it's not clear yet.
[27:25] Speaker 8: Now, the officials, what they are saying that all their
[27:27] Speaker 8: focus is to make them stabilize, because initially they were
[27:31] Speaker 8: a bit scared, you know, for obvious reasons.
[27:34] Speaker 4: They were scared.
[27:35] Speaker 8: Separated from their mother then they were brought in must
[27:39] Speaker 8: be in case through sea routes or whatever mode of
[27:42] Speaker 8: transportation so they were a bit scared but now four
[27:45] Speaker 8: of them are very healthy but one is suffering from
[27:48] Speaker 8: fever but the infant is also stable but what the
[27:51] Speaker 8: officials are saying that all their focus all the time
[27:54] Speaker 8: they are investing now to make them stabilize with the
[27:57] Speaker 8: current environment once they stabilize they will seek permission of
[28:00] Speaker 8: the central jew authority the government and whatever agencies required
[28:04] Speaker 8: to take the next step.
[28:06] Speaker 1: And Sujit, do we see a lot of cases of
[28:08] Speaker 1: wildlife smuggling in the state?
[28:11] Speaker 8: Wildlife trafficking is quite rampant in Orissa like pangolin trafficking
[28:16] Speaker 8: from Orissa. But as far as orangutans is concerned, there
[28:20] Speaker 8: was no previous incident.
[28:22] Speaker 4: In fact, I.
[28:22] Speaker 8: Was discussing with the DIG special task force last evening
[28:27] Speaker 8: to know the direction of their investigation because they are
[28:30] Speaker 8: currently blind how to lead the investigation. So what they
[28:34] Speaker 8: said that they are currently focusing on two-way investigation. One,
[28:38] Speaker 8: local inquiry, questioning the locals, examining the area, both bordering
[28:44] Speaker 8: area in Orissa and West Bengal. Because that's a coastal area,
[28:47] Speaker 8: the officers are also focusing that the.
[28:50] Speaker 4: Smugglers might have used.
[28:53] Speaker 8: sea routes because hundreds and thousands of fishing trawlers from
[28:57] Speaker 8: Digha and.
[28:58] Speaker 4: Border area Baleshwar.
[28:59] Speaker 8: Are every day they go to deep sea for fishing
[29:02] Speaker 8: so they are suspecting that sea route could be a
[29:06] Speaker 8: medium to traffic the orangutans Also, they are saying that
[29:10] Speaker 8: India might be a transit route to traffic these animals
[29:14] Speaker 8: to some other countries. And the other part what they
[29:17] Speaker 8: are focusing is that they are verifying, they are gathering
[29:21] Speaker 8: data on the recent incidents of Rangotang smuggling. So I
[29:26] Speaker 8: was also checking the data. In the past five years,
[29:29] Speaker 8: one incident was reported in Mizoram-Assam border. Because that is
[29:30] Speaker 8: the police said they are gathering data and they are
[29:32] Speaker 8: checking what the case starters and the person who were
[29:32] Speaker 8: quite close to the Southeast Asia region. So two infant
[29:34] Speaker 8: accused in that case is, where are they, whether they
[29:36] Speaker 8: have any role in it. These are the two basic
[29:36] Speaker 8: pangolins were rescued from, I think it's in 2023. So
[29:58] Speaker 8: parts they are inquiring. And the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau
[30:01] Speaker 8: team has also been constituted.
[30:03] Speaker 4: So that is a very professional agency.
[30:05] Speaker 8: It seems the probe will further intensify once the team
[30:09] Speaker 8: will reach in Bhubaneswar.
[30:10] Speaker 1: And Sujit, are these orangutans mainly smuggled to be sold
[30:14] Speaker 1: as exotic pets?
[30:16] Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah.
[30:17] Speaker 8: That is what they admit that even though it's not
[30:21] Speaker 8: allowed as per the Wildlife Protection Act in India, but
[30:24] Speaker 8: in foreign countries, it's not totally illegal. So since these apes,
[30:29] Speaker 8: they found only in the Borneo and Sumatra region of
[30:32] Speaker 8: Southeast Asia. So India might be a transit route for
[30:35] Speaker 8: them and their aim is to sell it to some
[30:39] Speaker 8: agents in other countries. Even I was talking to a
[30:41] Speaker 8: senior forest official. She said that India is a large country.
[30:45] Speaker 8: We don't know what's happening in someone's house. So in
[30:48] Speaker 8: some people in India also, they may keep such exotic pets.
[30:53] Speaker 8: So that is quite possible.
[30:57] Speaker 1: You were listening to Three Things by The Indian Express.
[31:00] Speaker 1: Today's show was edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar and
[31:03] Speaker 1: was produced by Niharika Nanda and Misha Shank Bharkov. If
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