Tripura, which is the second largest natural rubber producing state in the country after Kerala, has exported 14,550 kg of natural rubber to Nepal, Rubber Board officials said.

The Manimalayar Rubbers Pvt Ltd, promoted by the Rubber Board, had exported 18 tonne natural rubber (sheet rubber) to Nepal in 2020 and a similar quantity to Bangladesh in the same year from Tripura.

General Manager of the Manimalayar Rubbers, Arunabha Majumdar, said that 14,550 kg rubber latex (Cenex) valued at Rs 12.42 lakh produced in Tripura was exported to Kathmandu for shoe manufacturing.

Manimalayar Rubbers, which has branch offices in Guwahati, Silchar and Tura in Meghalaya, has been extending marketing support to the producers since 1997.

At present, Tripura is cultivating natural rubber on 89,264 hectares of land, annually producing 93,371 tonnes of rubber worth Rs 1,691 crore.

About two lakh families, including tribals, are directly or indirectly associated with rubber cultivation in Tripura.

According to the Board officials, after Tripura, Assam is cultivating natural rubber in 58,000 hectare area and produces 31,000 tonnes rubber annually, followed by Meghalaya with 17,000 hectares and 9,500 tonnes, Nagaland's 15,000 hectares and 6,100 tonnes and Manipur's 4,200 hectares producing 2,000 tonnes.

The commerce ministry has terminated an anti-dumping investigation into import of solar cells from China, Thailand and Vietnam following a request from the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA).

On May 15, 2021, the ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) initiated a probe into alleged dumping of "solar cells whether or not assembled into modules or panels" exported from the three nations, following a complaint by the association.

Anti-dumping rules, 1995 provide for termination of a probe in certain situations which include withdrawal of application by the affected domestic industry at whose instance the investigation was initiated.

Post initiation of the probe, the government levied customs duties of 25 per cent on solar cells and 40 per cent on solar modules with effect from April 1 this year.

The ISMA has submitted to the directorate that the imposed duties cover the entire scope of the product under investigation and have alleviated the price pressure being suffered by the domestic industry due to the dumping to a considerable extent, though not fully, the DGTR notification said.

While the DGTR recommends the duty, the Department of Revenue takes the final decision to impose it.

In international trade parlance, dumping happens when a country or a firm exports an item at a price lower than the price of that product in its domestic market.

Dumping impacts the price of that product in the importing country, hitting the margins and profits of manufacturing firms.

The duty is imposed only after a thorough investigation by a quasi-judicial body, such as the DGTR, in India.

It is aimed at ensuring fair trade practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers.

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani has entered the race to bid for world-renowned English football club Liverpool FC's takeover, reported a leading English daily.

The English Premier League giants have been put up for sale by their current owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG), who bought the Merseyside club in October 2010 and have reportedly appointed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to assist them in selling the team.

According to 'The Mirror', the FSG are willing to sell the club for 4 billion British pounds.

Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries and rated by Forbes as the eighth richest person in the world, has enquired about the club, the English daily reported.

Few associated with the Mumbai-headquartered Indian multinational conglomerate, however, could not confirm the development.

Ambani's company owns Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket side Mumbai Indians and also runs the Indian Super League football event besides being the commercial partner of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

Ben Stokes held his nerve with an unbeaten half-century as England claimed their second Twenty20 World Cup title with a five-wicket win over Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Nov 13 . Thirty years after losing the 50-over World Cup final to Pakistan at the MCG, England turned the tables on the south Asians with brilliant death bowling and with Stokes finishing on 52 not out in a chase of 138 for victory.

Earlier. England won the toss and decided to field first in the T20 World Cup final against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Nov 13 . Both teams were unchanged from their semi-finals. Pakistan registered 137 in their quota of 20 overs.

Sam Curran was named the player of the match (3/12) and the player of the tournament (12 wickets in six matches).

Q1. Name the winner of T20 World Cup held in Australia recently ?

1. Pakistan
2. England
3. India
4. Australia
5. None of These

Q2. Name the statenwhich is the second largest natural rubber producing state in the country after Kerala and which has  has exported 14,550 kg of natural rubber to Nepal ?

1. Assam
2. Manipur
3. Tripura
4. Mizoram
5. None of These

Q3. Name the Indian-origin Nobel laureate who has been awarded the Order of Merit -- an exclusive mark of honour conferred by the British sovereign -- in recognition of his distinguished service to science ?

1. Venki Ramakrishnan
2. Amartya Kumar Sen
3. Kailash Satyarthi
4. Abhijit Banerjee
5. None of These

Q4. Name the place in Indonesia at which G 20 ,  group of world’s 20 largest economies , summit was held recently ?

1. Jakarta
2. Aceh
3. Bali
4. Yogyakarta
5. None of These

Q5. Name the Marathi TV actor who died in road accident in Kolhapur recently ?

1. Sanskruti Balgude
2. Priya Bapat
3. Kalyani Kurale
4. Priya Arun
5. None of These

Answers

1----------------2    England

2-----------------3  Tripura

3----------------1    Venki Ramakrishnan

4-----------------3   Bali

5----------------4   Priya Arun

The world is in a state of crisis and it is difficult to predict how long this state of instability will last, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on  Jan 11 referring to various global challenges arising out of conflict, war and terrorism among others.

In his opening remarks at the Voice of Global South virtual summit, Modi flagged concerns over rising prices of food, fuel and fertilisers, the economic impact of COVID-19 as well as natural disasters driven by climate change.

India is hosting the two-day summit to bring together countries of the Global South and provide them a common platform to share their common concerns relating to various global challenges, including food and energy security triggered by the Ukraine conflict The 'Global South' largely refers to countries in Asia, Africa and South America.

The theme of the inaugural leaders' session is "Voice of Global South - for Human-Centric Development" while the leaders' concluding session will be on "Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose".

The summit envisages ten sessions out of which four sessions would be held on  Jan 11 while six sessions would take place on jan 13 . Each session is expected to witness the participation of leaders and ministers from 10-20 countries.

Aviation watchdog DGCA will seek a report from SpiceJet on an incident at Delhi airport this week where passengers of a Bengaluru-bound flight had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge.

A passenger had shared on social media a video and his experience with co-passengers having had to wait for a long time at the aerobridge on  jan 10 at the Delhi airport. It happened with passengers of SpiceJet flight SG 8133 from Delhi-Bengaluru.

In recent days, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued show-cause notices to Air India for incidents of passenger misbehaviour onboard two international flights.

Go First has also been served a show cause notice after 55 passengers who were to board a Delhi flight were left behind in a coach at Bangalore airport.

Top Maoist leader Madvi Hidma, 42, was reportedly killed in an encounter on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border on Jan 11 . Though the police are yet to confirm his death

With the death of Hidma, the Maoist organisation lost a powerful leader and a strategist. A member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Hidma was known to be an expert in guerrilla operations.

The slain man who joined the Maoist organisation in 1996 rose in rank step by step. He carried a reward of Rs 45 lakh and was a prime suspect in the attack where 22 security personnel were killed in April 2021. He was a suspect in many other attacks against forces in the Bijapur and Sukma areas. While it was reported that six jawans sustained injuries in the encounter.