US, Canada move WTO against India on 'under-reporting' of MSP for five pulses
Washington : The US and Canada on Friday said they have jointly approached the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against India for allegedly "under-reporting" market price support for five varieties of pulses and and have submitted their own steeper calculations for scrutiny of members.
"Based on United States/Canadian calculations, it appears that India has substantially underreported its market price support for chickpeas, pigeon peas, black matpe, mung beans and lentils," a US Department of Agriculture release stated.
"When calculated according to WTO Agreement on Agriculture methodology, India's market price support for each of these pulses far exceeded its allowable levels of trade-distorting domestic support," it said.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the US on February 12 has submitted a counter notification, co-sponsored by Canada, in the WTO Committee on Agriculture (COA) on India's market price support (MSP, also referred to as minimum support price) for the five type of pulses.
The two countries have taken issue with the quantity of production used in market price support calculations, the lack of information necessary to assess WTO compliance, problems with currency conversions and the prices used in the calculations.
The US expects a robust discussion on how India implements and notifies its policies at the next COA meeting, which is scheduled for February 26-27, the statement said.
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Kerala: Court imposes 41-year jail term on man for sexual assault of minor
Kozhikode (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 41 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor boy near Valayam in 2021.
Nadapuram Fast Track Special Court judge K Naushad Ali sentenced 64-year-old Panchara Musa, also known as Ganapathiyat Musa, under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to special public prosecutor Manoj Aroor.
As the sentences are to run concurrently, the convict will have to serve the highest term of 20 years’ imprisonment, SPP Aroor said. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 52,000 on Musa.
The incident took place in August 2021 when the accused allegedly took the 14-year-old boy to a bus stop in Valayam town and sexually assaulted him, the prosecutor said. The accused also gave Rs 50 to the boy, he added.
Following the incident, the boy and his father lodged a complaint at the Valayam police station.
A case under various provisions of the POCSO Act and the IPC was registered, and the accused was subsequently arrested, the SPP said.
The prosecution examined 16 witnesses and submitted 16 documents to substantiate its case against the accused, he added.
