I was privileged to address the opening plenary session of the India-International Salt Summit 2010 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, sharing the session with the hosts -- S. Sundaresan, India's Salt Commisioner and leaders of the India Salt Manufacturers Association, President Hiralal Parakh and chairman P.B. Anandam. The featured speaker for the event was Gujarat's Chief Minister (equivalent to a U.S. state governor or Canadian provincial premier) Shri Narenda Modi.

Mr. Sundarsesan called for the 10th International Salt Symposium to be hosted in India in 2016 and predicted India's salt production would double in the next decade. Chief Minister Modi gave an exceptionally enlightened and detailed address advocating measures to support his state's salt industry -- the largest in India (itself, the world's third-largest salt producer).

My opening remarks (pdf 76.91 kB) identified three "global challenges" threatening full enjoyment of salt benefits: environment, safety and mobility, and health outcomes of dietary salt. I called for action by the salt industry to 1) stay informed about policy and technical developments, 2) remain a credible participant in the public policy debate by "speaking the truth," and 3) align salt industry advocacy with the public interest. "We must have a laser-like focus on performance, on outcomes, on actual operations of the systems that use salt."

An international audience of about 400 attended the three day conclave. Included were representatives from Tata Chemicals (India), Hub-Pak (Pakistan), China National Salt Industry Corporation (China) and Industria Salinera de Yucatan (Mexico). Here I am visiting with Ismail Suttar, CEO of Hub-Pak.

Artists are fascinated by salt and history. German photographer Fred Lange wrote today calling attention to his website with 50 large format photos related to salt .

Snowfighters belie the adage that everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. Well, Salt Institute member Compass Minerals is providing a new online winter severity tracking service in support of those who are "doing something about it (winter storm events). See the company's Snow Events page to learn about the severity of winters impacting North American roadways.

The company promises to update the report quarterly. It defines a snow event as one where more than one inch falls in any 24 hour period in one of 11 large cities.

For comparison, the last decade these eleven cities averaged 48.5 snow events during the Fourth Quarters 1999-2008, but the annual fluctuation provides insight into the marketplace, ranging from 20 events in 2006 to 80 in 2008. Here are the numbers:

• 2009 42 snow events
• 2008 80
• 2007 56
• 2006 20
• 2005 68

The new SI Report (html 43.56 kB) (html 48.85 kB) , January 2010, has been published and features stories on a FHWA report on performance measurement, the hazards of "politically-correct" weather forecasting and third quarter industry safety statistics. Read it now (html 43.56 kB) .