Centre of Excellence for Grain Sciences and School of Sensory Sciences inagurated at IIFPT-Thanjavur
The Hindu
The centre will cater to the needs of grain processing industries, farmers, researchers, start-ups as well as consumer behaviour research on perceptions of food product taste, aroma etc.
A Centre of Excellence for Grain Sciences and a School of Sensory Sciences were inagurated at the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT) in Thanjavur on Friday. The institute, which was recently accorded the status of Institute of National Importance by an Act of the Parliament, has set the facilities to strengthen R&D capabilities in the areas of grain processing and food sensory studies. The facilities were inaugurated at a virtual event by Pashupati Kumar Paras, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, in the presence of Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, and Pushpa Subrahmanyam, Secretary of the Ministry.
In , the grape capital of India and host of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela every 12 years, environmental concerns over a plan to cut 1,800 trees for the proposed Sadhugram project in the historic Tapovan area have sharpened political fault lines ahead of local body elections. The issue has pitted both Sena factions against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra. While Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief, and Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT), remain political rivals, their parties have found rare common ground in Tapovan, where authorities propose clearing trees across 34 acres to build Sadhugram and a MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) hub, as part of a ₹300-crore infrastructure push linked to the pilgrimage.












