After imposing 20 per cent export duty on non-basmati rice, the government has banned the export of broken rice with an aim to increase domestic availability, according to a government notification.

The notification comes into effect from September 9, 2022.

Provisions under the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 regarding the transitional arrangement shall not be applicable to this notification, it added.

The notification also said, during the period September 9-15, certain consignments of broken rice will be allowed to be exported.

Consignments will be be allowed for exports during this period where loading of broken rice on ships has commenced before this notification, where the shipping bill is filed and vessels have already berthed or arrived and anchored on Indian ports and their rotation number has been allocated before this order.

Exports will also be allowed in case the consignment has been handed over to the Customs before this notification and is registered in their system, it said.

The approval for loading in such vessels will be issued only after confirmation by the port authorities concerned regarding anchoring/berthing of the ship for loading of broken rice prior to the notification.

The government on  sep 8 imposed a 20 per cent export duty on non-basmati rice except for parboiled rice to boost domestic supplies amid a fall in area under the paddy crop in the current Kharif season.

According to a notification by the revenue department, an export duty of 20 per cent has been imposed on 'rice in husk (paddy or rough)' and 'husked (brown) rice'.

The export duty comes into effect from September 9.

The area under the paddy crop has been down by 5.62 per cent at 383.99 lakh hectare in the ongoing Kharif season so far due to poor rains in some states, as per the latest data released by the agriculture ministry.

India, the world's second-largest rice producer after China, commands a 40 per cent share in the global trade.

The country exported 21.2 million tonne of rice in 2021-22, of which 3.94 million tonne were basmati rice.

It exported non-basmati rice worth USD 6.11 billion in the same period, as per official data.

The country exported non-basmati rice to more than 150 countries in 2021-22.

Rice production rose to a record 130.29 million tonne in the last crop year as against 124.37 million tonne in 2020-21.

The government has already restricted exports of wheat.

The European Central Bank made its largest-ever interest rate increase on Sep 8, following the US Federal Reserve and other central banks in a global stampede of rapid rate hikes meant to snuff out record inflation that is squeezing consumers and pushing Europe toward recession.

The bank's 25-member governing council raised its key benchmarks by an unprecedented three-quarters of a percentage point for the 19 countries that use the euro currency.

The ECB usually moves rates by a quarter-point and had never raised its key bank lending rate by three-quarters of a point since the euro's launch in 1999.

The jumbo increase is aimed at raising the cost of borrowing for consumers, governments and businesses, which in theory slows spending and investment and cools off soaring consumer prices by reducing the demand for goods.

Pakistan's Asif Ali and Afghanistan bowler Fareed Ahmed were on  sep 8 fined 25 per cent of their match fees for their on-field altercation during their Asia Cup Super 4 match in Dubai.

The duo has been punished for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the clash between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Sep 7.

The pair has been fined for an altercation which occurred after the fifth delivery of the 19th over.

The players admitted their offence and accepted the sanctions proposed by match referee Andy Pycroft. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has rehired Australian batting great Matthew Hayden as a team mentor for the ICC World T20 Cup in Australia.

Q1. Name the perfume businessman whose premises were raided last year and around Rs 200 crore in cash and 23 kg of gold were seized by central agencies and who has been released on bail after spending eight months in jail in Kanpur ?

1. Satyendra Jain
2. Piyush Jain
3. Milap Chand Jain
4. Abhayachandra Jain
5. None of These

Q2. The Kerala-based journalist who has been arrested in October 2020 while on his way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh where a Dalit woman had died after allegedly being gang-raped and who has been granted bail by the  Supreme Court on  Sep 9 ?

1. Siddique Kappan
2. Sanjiv Bhatt
3. Rupesh Kumar Singh
4. Mohammad Zubair
5. None of These

Q3. Name the country which has issued a record of 82,000 student visas to Indians in 2022, highest than any country ?

1. UK
2. Australia
3. United States
4. Spain
5. None of These

Q4. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  Sep 8 unveiled a 28-ft-tall statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at

1. JNU , Delhi
2. Red Fort , Delhi
3. Gateway of India, Mumbai
4. India Gate, Delhi
5. None of These

Q5. Name the country which has  rehired Australian batting great Matthew Hayden as a team mentor for the ICC World T20 Cup in Australia ?

1. Sri Lanka
2. Bangladesh
3. Pakistan
4. India
5. None of These

Answers

1---------------2   Piyush Jain

2---------------1 Siddique Kappan

3-----------------3   United States

4----------------- 4   India Gate, Delhi

5----------------- 3 Pakistan

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on  Sep 8 met with his Japanese counterpart Yasukazu Hamada and said the bilateral special strategic and global partnership between the two countries plays a crucial role in ensuring a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.

Singh, who is on the last leg of his five-day visit to Mongolia and Japan, met Japan's Minister of Defence Hamada.

Singh also paid tributes to Japan's self-defence personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China's rising military manoeuvring in the region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it.

In Japan, Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will join their Japanese counterparts at the '2+2' foreign and defence ministerial dialogue.

The '2+2' dialogue is taking place more than five months after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited India for the annual India-Japan summit.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with several party leaders, embarked on the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Kanyakumari on Sep 8 , marking the beginning of a challenging journey through which the party is seeking to reach out to people and rejuvenate its organisation.

Ahead of the start of the padayatra, Gandhi hoisted the national flag at the campsite of the Bharat Yatris, who will walk with him through the 3,570 km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

Gandhi began the padayatra from Agasteeswaram , along with 118 'Bharat Yatris' as well as other party leaders from across the country.

The march would cover 12 states and two Union Territories in about five months.

The participants plan to walk around 22-23 km daily.

About 30 per cent of 'Bharat Yatris' are women.

The scenic and picturesque Kashmir has been attracting travellers from across the country, and an all-time high, 2 million tourists, including 3.65 lakh Amarnath yatris, have visited the Valley in the first eight months of this year.

Director Tourism Kashmir G N Itoo  said that 16.84 lakh tourists, including foreigners, have visited Kashmir till August end of this year. Among the 16.84 lakh tourists include about 10,500 foreign tourists.

Itoo said 3.65 lakh Amarnath yatris also visited Kashmir this year and if this is added to total tourist arrivals, it means about 20.49 lakh travellers have visited the Valley this year.

All the hotels and guest houses in Srinagar and other tourist destinations in the Valley, including Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Sonamarg, witnessed 100 per cent occupancy.

The houseboats in Srinagar also witnessed 70-80 per cent occupancy.

The tourism sector was worst hit by three lockdowns since 2019 but the unprecedented tourist inflow has brought smiles back on the faces of tourism stakeholders.

Due to the increased inflow of tourists, the government gave go-ahead for homestays and tented accommodations at different tourist destinations in the Valley to overcome the shortage of space.