RICE EXPORTS

Vide Notification No. 97 (RE-2010) dated 21-2-12 amending Chapter 10 of Schedule 2

Minimum Export Price of Basmati Rice has been reduced to US$ 700 per MT.  Earlier it was US$ 900 or Rs. 41,400/- per MT FOB. MEP is expressed only in terms of US dollar.

(ii)  Export is now permitted through all EDI ports.  Earlier it was allowed only through six ports.

In earlier news, HC had stayed ban on rice exports:

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday extended the stay on export of non-basmati rice after several firms appealed in the court to be made party to the suit, challenging the licences to 82 exporters by the government,alleging lack of transparency in quota allocation process. A Bench of Justice S K Kaul and Justice Rajiv Shakdhar while extending the stay on the export today, allowed the plea of other rice firms, including All India Grain Exporters Association, to raise their objections by making them party to the Kannu Aditya Ltd suit and listed the matter for further hearing on September 7.

The Bench also directed the Director General of Foreign Trade to scrutinise the applications of exporters to whom the Centre has allocated the quota for export of non-basmati rice.

On July 19, the ministry had notified the decision to allow non-basmati rice exports, lifting a ban imposed in April 2008 to control high food prices. The ministry allocated the quota on first-come-first serve basis and the letter of intent was invited through e-mail. However, only two days (July 21-22) were given to make applications for exports.

Following this, Kannu Aditya Ltd, a rice exporting firm, moved the court, alleging that there was no transparency in the process adopted by the government in granting the export licences.

Hearing the petition, the high court on July 26 directed the ministry of commerce not to proceed with its plan to grant licences for export of non-basmati rice.

RTI: Students have right to inspect answer sheets

The Ho’ble Supreme Court  held that students have the right to inspect and photocopy their answer sheets after their evaluation under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. The apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik allowed the disclosure of the answer sheets of the examination conducted by boards, universities, institutions and public service commissions, when it upheld the Calcutta High Court judgment that permitted the students to inspect their answer sheets.

 The apex court pronounced its verdict saying that evaluated answer sheets come under the definition of “information” and reiterated the duty of the public authority under the transparency law to allow maximum disclosure as envisaged by the RTI Act. The case reached the apex court from high court which by its March 28, 2008, judgment permitted a student, Pritam Rooj, to inspect his answer sheets. Rooj was a student of mathematics in the Presidency College. In 2006, when he sat for the first part of degree examination he secured 52 percent marks. In the second year he got 208 out of 400 marks and got just 28 marks out of 100 in fifth papers. Upon seeking re-evaluation, his marks increased by four in the fifth paper.

He contended that his poor marks stood in the way of his getting admission in post-graduation course and applied to inspect his mark sheet under the RTI law which was rejected. The university said that the answer sheets of an examinee cannot be shared. The high court over-ruled it. The order was challenged in apex court by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, among others.