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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Nitish likely to file nominations for Rajya Sabha polls
Patna (PTI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to file nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls on Thursday, according to JD(U) leaders.
Kumar may file his nomination papers at the state assembly around 11 am, they said.
BJP president Nitin Nabin will also file his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to be present at the time of filing of the nomination papers.
State minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary had confirmed on Wednesday that Kumar was considering entering the Rajya Sabha, which would bring to an end his tenure as the longest-serving chief minister of the state.
With Kumar likely to step down after leading the ruling NDA to a landslide victory in the 2025 assembly elections, a BJP leader is expected to take over the top post.
If that happens, Bihar will get its first BJP chief minister -- the only Hindi heartland state where the party has not held the office so far.
However, an official announcement regarding Kumar's entry into the Upper House of Parliament is yet to be made.
Five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar will go to the polls on March 16.
The elections will be held as the tenures of JD(U)'s Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, RJD's Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh, and RLM's Upendra Kushwaha are ending.
As per the latest tally in the state legislature, all five seats would now go to the ruling NDA.
Before filing his nomination papers, the BJP president will visit the revered Mahavir Temple here and offer prayers.
