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22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze,India finishes fourth at Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022

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Nasheman news

BIRMINGHAM: From the beats of Bhangra to the power-packed performance of ‘Apache Indian,’ it was a carnivalesque atmosphere at the refurbished Alexander Stadium here, as a dazzling closing ceremony brought the curtains down to the high-octane edition of the 2022 Commonwealth Games

More than 4,500 athletes competed from 72 countries over the past 11 days.

India finished with 61 medals, five less than their tally four years ago at Gold Coast.

Team India’s flagbearers Achanta Sharath Kamal and Nikhat Zareen lead the team during the closing ceremon

As per tradition, the flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation was lowered to officially mark the end of the Birmingham Games and handed over to the state of Victoria, Australia, the host of the next edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2026.

Prince Edward “proclaimed Birmingham 2022 closed” and made a formal invitation to the Australian state of Victoria for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

“You have inspired us and hopefully the future generations. You have demonstrated what unites us. On behalf of the Majesty of the Queen, our patron, and in the name of the Commonwealth Games Federation, I proclaim Birmingham 2022 closed,” he said, as fireworks lit up the Birmingham sky.

‘Apache Indian’, Bhangra set up the tempo Indian-origin Steven Kapur, a singer-songwriter and a reggae DJ, popularly known as ‘Apache Indian’ delivered a power-packed performance, belting out chartbusters ‘Boom Shack-A-Lak’, ‘Pass the Dutchie’ and ‘Red Red Wine’ to celebrate sound system culture of the city.

It was followed by model-cum-activist Neelam Gill, who was driven in a yellow MG, while Punjabi MC played out ‘Mundiyan To Bach Ke’ to a packed stadium, celebrating Birmingham ‘daytimers’ culture – the 80s and 90s cultural phenomenon.

There were 20 musical performances, which included musical legends Goldie and Beverley Knight collaborating on the iconic ‘Inner City Life’ in a tribute to Wolverhampton’s pioneering role in rave culture and 80s street art.

Transgender British model Talulah Eve paid homage to the new romantic era and Birmingham queer culture, while current Birmingham superstars Raza Hussain, Mahalia, Jaykae and Ash gave a performance “Looking to the future.”

The musical show was followed by farewell speeches by the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation Dame Louise Martin and Birmingham 2022 CEO Martin Green, among others.

“The closing ceremony was a true celebration of an outstanding Commonwealth Games and showcased the very best of Birmingham, the country and the Commonwealth,” Martin said.

“We have witnessed an incredible showcase of Commonwealth sport across 11 fantastic days and the Closing Ceremony provided a wonderful conclusion to the special competition,” Martin added.

Low-key presence of Indian athletes Star female boxer Nikhat Zareen and veteran table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal led the sparsely populated Indian contingent, who walked into the stadium for the closing ceremony in tandem with the Pakistani athletes and officials.

As soon as they entered, Panjabi MC blasted their hit number ‘Mundian To Bach Ke’ with a performance by Lions of Punjab, a Midlands-based Punjab Bhangra dance group, with over 85 years of history.

Coming soon, 790 food streets across India

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NEW DELHI: On the lines of Singapore’s world-famous open-air food courts that have Unesco status, India is planning 790 Indigenous Food Streets (IFS) an authorised vending zone which will not only serve mouth-watering, safe and hygienic local delicacies, but would further promote the country’s vibrant and unique street food culture.

The proposal by Union health ministry is being studied by the Prime Minister’s Office, sources said. A presentation was made to MPs during last Parliament session and it had received an enthusiastic response, they added.

The ministry, which will pilot the project, will be the funding agency for creating 158 such streets per year for five years.

The budget earmarked for the project is Rs 395 crore Rs 50 lakh per street in 5 years. An additional amount of Rs 19.75 crore has also been allocated for carrying out social audits by the health ministry.

A vending zone meeting specified benchmarks for street food safety and hygiene will be declared as an Indigenous Food Street, officials said.

According to the proposal, every parliamentary constituency will have at least one cluster of vendors, lanes, and streets recognised as Indigenous Food Street.

While the health ministry will allocate 60% funds, 40% will be drawn from the funds of the urban local body, MPLADS or the state government. The proposals will be monitored by an Empowered Committee chaired by the Union health secretary.

According to the proposal, it will be mandatory for each street vendor to have a valid allotment and registration with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the health ministry.

While the Directorate General of Health Services will be the central implementing agency, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will identify designated clusters. They will allot space to the food vendors, identified by the local civic bodies and duly approved by the concerned MP.

The ministry will also make necessary provisions for basic infrastructure.

Standard facilities for the vendors
Like in Singapore, food vendors will be located in a common area like specific roads, alleys, lanes, markets, or even prominent tourist places. They will be provided with standard facilities like food carts, water, light, gas connection, waste disposal, garbage collection, washrooms, hand washing stations and parking

BBMP ward reservation list unfair: DKS

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BENGALURU: The state government arbitrarily announced the reservation list for the BBMP polls recently, to deny a fair chance to Congress, alleged KPCC president DK Shivakumar here on Sunday.
“Our party leaders protested in front of the Urban Development Department chambers,” he said.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

The reservation for backward classes, SCs and women has not been allocated fairly. Of the 14 wards in the Bommanahalli Assembly constituency, nine are reserved for women. Eight wards out of nine in Jayanagar, eight out of nine in BTM Layout, seven wards in Gandhinagar and six in Chamarajpet have been reserved for women, he said. Of the 93 wards in the constituencies represented by Congress MLAs, 76 are set aside for women, he said.

“We are not against reservation for women. Our aim is to give them political power, but fairly. It is unfair to focus on reservation only in constituencies represented by Congress, while leaving the jurisdictions of BJP MLAs relatively free,’’ he said.

“Also, many backward, minority and Scheduled Caste people have been left out of the voters’ list. Our party workers have been asked to check the list,” he added. “On August 15, we will take out an Independence Walk from Sangolli Rayanna Circle to Basavanagudi National College Ground carrying the national flag. It is a nonpolitical programme. Around 29,000 people have  registered for the event. They should use public transport,” he said.

Maharashtra: 10 more held for attack on man for allegedly backing Nupur Sharma; all 14 accused arrested

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MUMBAI: With the arrest of 10 more persons in connection with the attack on a man in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district for allegedly supporting Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nupur Sharma on social media, the police have held all 14 accused in the case, an official said on Sunday. 

The incident of attack had occurred on August 4 in Karjat town of Ahmednagar district.

The 23-year-old victim, Pratik alias Sunny Rajendra Pawar, was attacked with sharp weapons by at least 14 people from the Muslim community with a sword, sickle, sticks, and hockey sticks, police said.

Pawar was later admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital for injuries to his head and other parts of the body, they said.

The police had earlier arrested four accused in the case.

“After the first information report (FIR), the Ahmednagar police had launched a search operation to nab the accused. On Saturday, four accused in the case were arrested,” the official said.

Continuing the searches in Karjat area, officials of the probe team nabbed 10 more accused later, he said adding, “All 14 accused in the case have been held now.”

The incident of attack had occurred when Pawar and Amit Mane, the complainant in the case, were going to attend an event on his two-wheeler and waiting for a friend near the medical shop at Akkabai Chowk in Karjat.

While they were waiting for a friend, some men belonging to the Muslim community approached them on two-wheelers.

They were carrying a sword, sickle, and hockey sticks, the FIR said.

One of them shouted at Pawar saying he had written a post on social media in support of Nupur Sharma and also put the status on Instagram after Kanhaiya Lal, and attacked him, Mane stated in his complaint filed on Friday.

According to the complaint, the attackers targeted Pawar for his alleged social media post for supporting Nupur Sharma and status of Kanhaiya Lal on Instagram, the police official said.

Kanhaiya Lal was allegedly murdered by two Muslim men in June in Udaipur for allegedly sharing a social media post in support of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, whose comments on Prophet Mohammad had caused a huge row.

Pawar sustained serious injuries in the attack in his head and other body parts and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

The attackers threatened Pawar that he will meet the same fate as that Umesh Kolhe.

One of the attackers hit Pawar in his eyes, the official said quoting the FIR.

Kolhe, a chemist, was killed over his alleged support for Nupur Sharma on social media in Maharashtra’s Amravati district.

After Pawar was left injured, Mane called up his two friends and they rushed Pawar to a state-run hospital, police said.

The FIR was registered against 14 people under sections 307 (attempt to murder),143 (being a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and others of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said.

“Police are examining Pawar’s social media accounts and also recovered his mobile phone for further investigation in the case,” the official said.

The mobile phone will be sent to the forensic science lab to verify whether he had uploaded any post from the gadget, he added.

Commonwealth Games: Heartbreak for India as world champion Australia wins maiden gold medal in women’s cricket

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CHENNAI: It was a rewind back to Lord’s in 2017. If it was England then, this time India, once again came close to making history before falling short against Australia in the final moments at Edgbaston, bagging silver in their maiden appearance at the Commonwealth Games.

Chasing 162, the Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur was in the middle sooner than they would have wanted. Having watched their bowlers take pace off the ball, Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma did not waste any time to charge down against Megan Schutt. While they took 12 runs off the first over and Mandhana scored another boundary from Darcie Brown in the next, the party did not last long as the 19-year-old castled the stumps. With Shafali Verma getting out to Ashleigh Gardner in the next over, the onus was on Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues. 

And she did exactly that, taking things into her own hands. While Jemimah struggled to keep up with the run rate, Harmanpreet — who’s going through a purple patch, especially against Australia — creamed Brown for back-to-back boundaries. Brought out her favorite sweep shot against spinners. She used her feet to loft Jess Jonassen down the ground, over midwicket, adjusting to lengths even at the last moment. There were the pulls, cover drives, paddle sweeps and her signature batswing as India controlled the proceedings. With Jemimah, she took India to  118/2 in 15 overs. And then Gardner happened.

Jemimah went for a slog and lost her stumps to Schutt. Pooja Vastrakar was caught in the deep off Gardner and Harmanpreet tried to scoop and the ball lobbed off her helmet with Alyssa Healy completing the rest as India lost three wickets for three runs. They were down to 121/5. A series of run outs happened and they needed 11 runs in the last over. 

Earlier, once again, Renuka Singh Thakur was at the forefront, up against Alyssa Healy. While the first couple of overs were quiet, it did not take long for the pacer to make an impact. She delivered her trademark inswinger — something she has done consistently in this tournament — and with Taniya Bhatia standing up to the stumps, Healy was pinned to the crease. The ball hit her on the knee roll, umpire denied, but India took it upstairs to remove their nemesis from the 2020 T20 World Cup final early.

Beth Mooney was still there and with captain Meg Lanning, the southpaw took charge of the innings. When Harmanpreet brought herself on, Australia milked her for 17 runs, taking them to 83/1 after 10 overs. With momentum on their side, they looked good for another 100 runs. But Radha Yadav had other ideas.

The left-arm spinner throwed the ball, from a Mooney straight drive, back on to the stumps at non-striker’s end to catch Lanning short of crease. Five balls later, she took a blinder at point to get rid of Tahlia McGrath, who was allowed to play despite testing positive for Covid as per the tournament norms. It was the beginning of a phase where India started to turn things around with their fielding. 

However, Mooney — who often goes unnoticed in a team of superstars — notched up another fifty and threatened to take the game away. And that is when, Deepti pulled off a one-handed stunner running back from mid-on to dismiss the Australian opener (61).

It was one of those days where even the players, whom India generally used to hide in the field, were throwing themselves around, hitting stumps and taking the catches at every possible occasion. Deepti and Radha nailed their death overs as India conceded just 11 runs in the last two, restricting Australia for 161/8.

Brief scores: Australia 161/8 (Mooney 61; Renuka 2/25) bt India 152 all out in 19.3 ovs (Harmanpreet 68, Gardner 3/16).

BJP flip-flop on posts delays Maharashtra cabinet expansion

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Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde. (Photo | PTI)

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has so far made seven visits to New Delhi in the last one month, but could not get an approval to expand his cabinet. Reason: The BJP has apparently dragged its feet on two promises made to Shinde.-ADVERTISEMENT-Ads by 

“When Shinde tied-up with the BJP to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government, the saffron party top leadership had made two promises to him that he would made the chief minister and his camp would get two-thirds ministerial portfolios in the new government. Hence, most Sena MLAs were promised to make either cabinet minister or junior minister in the new government. The BJP fulfilled its first promise by making Shinde as the chief minister, but dragged its feet on giving the 2/3 ministries to his loyalists. That’s why the delay in the cabinet expansion,” said sources.

Shinde, however, said that there would be a cabinet expansion soon. In the first swearing-in, 15 MLAs from both the BJP and the Shinde camp will take the oath as the minister while Devendra Fadnavis is likely to get the home department.

The initial plan of the BJP was to give Shinde outside support, the sources said. “But the top leadership of the BJP changed the plan at the last minute and asked Devendra Fadnavis to take oath as the deputy chief minister. They felt that outside support will create instability in the Shinde government and the BJP may face flak if anything goes wrong. Now, the BJP demands a majority share in the cabinet, while Shinde is reluctant,” the sources added.

“Shinde is not happy with the BJP leadership for changing plan at the eleventh hour. But he has little options and cannot speak openly about it as well. The BJP used him to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government and is now demanding 2/3 ministerial berths. Shinde has decided not to expand the cabinet till the issue is sorted,” said sources.

Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said that Shinde had promised a ministerial berth to every MLA who joined him. “Now Shinde is not able to fulfil his promise, hence there is delay in cabinet expansion. The chief minister should spell out the reasons behind the delay,” Pawar said.

Shinde follows KCR in expansion delay
Maharashtra has the second highest delay in expanding the cabinet after forming the government. It has been 37 days but no cabinet expansion of the Shinde-Fadnavis government has happened in Maharashtra. KCR had delayed cabinet expansion for 61 days after forming the government in Telangana. 

BJP flip-flop on posts delays Maharashtra cabinet expansion

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Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde. (Photo | PTI)

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has so far made seven visits to New Delhi in the last one month, but could not get an approval to expand his cabinet. Reason: The BJP has apparently dragged its feet on two promises made to Shinde.

“When Shinde tied-up with the BJP to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government, the saffron party top leadership had made two promises to him that he would made the chief minister and his camp would get two-thirds ministerial portfolios in the new government. Hence, most Sena MLAs were promised to make either cabinet minister or junior minister in the new government. The BJP fulfilled its first promise by making Shinde as the chief minister, but dragged its feet on giving the 2/3 ministries to his loyalists. That’s why the delay in the cabinet expansion,” said sources.

Shinde, however, said that there would be a cabinet expansion soon. In the first swearing-in, 15 MLAs from both the BJP and the Shinde camp will take the oath as the minister while Devendra Fadnavis is likely to get the home department.

The initial plan of the BJP was to give Shinde outside support, the sources said. “But the top leadership of the BJP changed the plan at the last minute and asked Devendra Fadnavis to take oath as the deputy chief minister. They felt that outside support will create instability in the Shinde government and the BJP may face flak if anything goes wrong. Now, the BJP demands a majority share in the cabinet, while Shinde is reluctant,” the sources added.

“Shinde is not happy with the BJP leadership for changing plan at the eleventh hour. But he has little options and cannot speak openly about it as well. The BJP used him to topple the Uddhav Thackeray government and is now demanding 2/3 ministerial berths. Shinde has decided not to expand the cabinet till the issue is sorted,” said sources.

Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar said that Shinde had promised a ministerial berth to every MLA who joined him. “Now Shinde is not able to fulfil his promise, hence there is delay in cabinet expansion. The chief minister should spell out the reasons behind the delay,” Pawar said.

Shinde follows KCR in expansion delay
Maharashtra has the second highest delay in expanding the cabinet after forming the government. It has been 37 days but no cabinet expansion of the Shinde-Fadnavis government has happened in Maharashtra. KCR had delayed cabinet expansion for 61 days after forming the government in Telangana. 

Asia Cup 2022: KL Rahul, Deepak Chahar set for Team India comeback

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NEW DELHI: Senior opener and first-choice vice-captain KL Rahul is expected to reclaim his place back in the Indian team along with seamer Deepak Chahar when the squad will be selected for the Asia Cup on August 8.

The Asia Cup will be played in T20 format in Dubai and Sharjah from August 27 to September 11.

Rahul was supposed to make a comeback for the away ODI series in Zimbabwe but a bout of COVID-19 has was apparently delayed his recovery from the sports hernia surgery he underwent recently.

What would be interesting is to find out whether the selection committee, headed by Chetan Sharma, picks a usual squad of 15 or extend it to 17, keeping in mind a chance to try out all possible options.

The Indian squad for the Asia Cup will provide a fair idea about the team’s composition for the T20 World Cup as the team is set to play around a dozen games before its game at the showpiece against Pakistan at the MCG on October 23.

While Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav have been Rohit Sharma’s opening partners in the last six T20 games, Rahul will get back his place at the top of the order in this line-up.

“KL Rahul doesn’t need to prove anything. He is a class player. Whenever he plays T20, it is always as a specialist opener and that would continue. Surya and Rishabh are set to play as specialist middle-order batters going forward,” a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

One of the most prolific IPL performers, Rahul has often been criticised for his dated approach while opening the innings in T20Is.

But with Indian team employing an ‘attack at all costs’ philosophy in the Powerplay, propagated by both Pant and Surya, Rahul will certainly need to change his game in the continental tourney in the UAE.

Debate regarding Virat Kohli

While Virat Kohli’s form has been the biggest worry for the Indian team, there is no imminent threat to master batter’s No.3 slot as he is set to continue in the same slot.

There has been no specific discussions on Kohli’s future in the shortest format and even if he doesn’t have a great Asia Cup, his years of experience and match-winning ability will be difficult to ignore for the marquee event in Australia where experience always rules the roost.

Dinesh Karthik has made one middle-order slot his own while Deepak Hooda is going to be the first back-up option going forward.

The interesting aspect will be whether selectors prefer an extra opener/keeper in Ishan Kishan or an explosive middle-order back-up/keeper in Sanju Samson.

Either way, one among the two will miss out.

Bowling attack

In the bowling unit, Chahar, who will make a comeback in the Zimbabwe ODIs, in all likelihood, will also be a part of the Asia Cup-bound squad.

“Deepak was one of India’s consistent T20 bowlers before he got injured.

He deserves a fair chance and also we need a like-for-like back-up for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Also now that he is coming back, he would need to play a lot of games to get his rhythm back,” the source added.

Harshal Patel is reportedly down with a rib-cage injury and his inclusion in the squad will be subject to fitness.

As far as the off-spinner’s position is concerned, Washington Sundar won’t be considered for the T20 World Cup as the team management wants to go ahead with the experience of Ravichandran Ashwin alongside Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel.

Similarly, Mohammed Shami has been intimated that he will only be considered for Tests and ODIs.

Asia Cup Squad (In Contention) Certainties (13): Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Back-Up batter: Deepak Hooda/Ishan Kishan/Sanju Samson Back-Up Pacers: Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan/Deepak Chahar/Harshal Patel.

Triple delight for Sharath in Commonwealth Games as ace Indian paddler maintains his winning run

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BIRMINGHAM: Ace Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal put up a sensational show to progress to the semifinals of all his three events in the table tennis competition of the Commonwealth Games here on Friday

The record nine-time national champion, who has as many as 10 CWG medals to his name, entered the men’s singles semifinals after beating Nigeria’s Olajide Omotayo 4-2 in a thrilling contest.

Sharath, 40, also reached the semifinals of mixed and men’s doubles competitions along with his respective partners.

He first paired up with young Sreeja Akula to stun two-time silver medallists Liam Pitchford and Tin-Tin Ho of England 3-2 (11-7 8-11 11-8 11-13 11-9) in mixed doubles quarters and then combined with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran to beat another English pair of Tom Jarvis and Sam Walker 3-0 (11-6 11-8 11-4) in men’s doubles event.

Sreeja too dished out superlative performances to progress to the women’s singles semifinals to go with her mixed doubles performance.

The 24-year-old from Hyderabad showed nerves of steel as she scripted a sensational come-from-behind 4-3 win over Mo Zhang of Canada to advance to the semifinals.

She beat Zhang 9-11 11-4 6-11 9-11 11-5 11-4 11-8 in her quarterfinal match.

Gnanasekaran also reached the men’s singles quarters, beating Nicholas Lum 4-2 at the NEC Hall.

However, Sanil Shetty lost 2-4 to Nigeria’s Bode Abiodun.

Sreeja and Sharath had earlier come from behind to beat Malaysia’s Leond Chee Fang and Ho Ying 5-11 11-2 11-6 11-5, while Sharath and Gnanasekaran eased past Bangladesh’s Bawm Ramhimlian and Ridoy Mohutasin Ahmed 11-6 11-1 11-4 in their round of 16 clash.

Defending champion Manika Batra, however, had a bad day as she suffered a 0-4 defeat against Jian Zeng of Singapore in the women’s singles quarterfinal to bow out of the competition.

Earlier, Manika and Sathiyan had lost 2-3 to Malaysia’s Javen Choong and Karen Lyne, while men’s pairing of Sanil Shetty and Harmeet Desai also ended their campaign with a 0-3 loss to Singapore’s Chew Zhe Yu Clarence and Poh Shao Feng Ethan.

In another result, Sreeja and Reeth Tennison entered the pre-quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Scotland’s Lucy Elliott and Rebecca Plaistow.

Earlier in the day, Manika and Sreeja had entered the women’s singles quarterfinals.

While the 27-year-old Batra steamrolled Australian Jee Minhyung 11-4 11-8 11-6 12-10 to set up a fight with Singapore’s Jian Zeng, Sreeja played out a nerve-wracking encounter against Charlotte Carey of Wales to secure herself a last-eight berth.

The 24-year-old toiled hard but held her nerves to beat Carey 8-11 11-7 12-14 9-11 11-4 15-13 12-10.

Meanwhile, Reeth Tennison, bowed out in the women’s singles event after she went down to Singapore’s Feng Tianwei in a round of 16 match.

Tianwei proved too strong for Tennison as the latter was beaten 11-2 11-4 9-11 11-3 11-4.

Storm over teacup:Nepal concerned about possible Indian levies on its tea

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NEW DELHI: Nepal is worried about the survival of its tea sector over the possibility of India imposing levies on their tea exports

“Diplomatically India says that Nepal for India is like a younger sister, however, they are threatening us with heavy levies which will lead to a crisis in the sector and endanger livelihoods of thousands of workers,’’ says former Vice Chairman, Tea and Coffee Board of Nepal, Santosh C Kunwar.

The issue gained momentum after India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce in June recommended that the Indian government apply stringent norms for certification of tea that came in from Nepal, in addition to duties.

“The Parliamentary committee also pointed out that the entry of low-quality products from the neighbouring countries was jeopardising the Indian tea industry, and asked that anti-dumping duty ranging from 40-100 per cent be imposed. The panel has also asked that the Indo-Nepal Treaty of 1950 be reviewed,’’ said sources.

India is Nepal’s largest customer for its tea. Out of the 30 million kg of CTC (crush, tear, and curl) tea that India imports annually half the amount at 15 million kg comes from Nepal.

“India suspects that tea from Nepal (which is much cheaper than what is grown within their country) is being surreptitiously blended with Indian tea before being packed and sold in the market. Do we have any control on what the traders do locally?”, Kunwar added.

The blending of Orthodox tea imported from Nepal with Darjeeling tea is also allegedly being done in India. The cost of Orthodox tea from Nepal is less than half of what it costs in India. These are also factors responsible for the possible levies that tea imports from Nepal will attract.

Meanwhile, Nepalese tea planters say they have to follow rigorous quarantine regulations once their supplies land in India – which includes a certification they need from the Central Food Laboratory in Kolkata.

“This certification is valid for only six months for one buyer and costs Rs 30,000. If we intend to sell the same product to another buyer, we need another certification. Tea planters of Nepal are making a presentation to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to convince Indian authorities not to levy more taxes. If bill number 171 (recommended by the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee) gets cleared, it would be a death knell for Nepal’s tea sector,’’ lamented Kunwar.

Tea produced in Nepal which is cheaper than Rs 250 per kg isn’t allowed to be exported to India at present as it would create challenges for tea producers in India.

Nepalese tea growers are also highlighting the fact that consideration be given to them as they import goods worth $9 billion from India every year as they are almost entirely dependent on India.

Nepal’s tea planters are hoping against hope that the Indian government doesn’t impose heavy duties on their tea and are optimistic that diplomatic ties between the two nations will thwart this possible move.

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