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Inflation Check: Centre extends ‘free’ import policy for three pulses till Mar ’22

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The Centre has extended the ease in quantitative import restrictions policy for pulses such as tur, urad and moong till March 2022.

Earlier, only tur and urad were under the ‘free’ category, which was supposed to be over by December 31, an industry insider said.

The move entails that ‘bill of lading’ or ‘lorry receipts’ from the originating countries need to be obtained on or before March 31, 2022, and the cargoes should reach Indian ports by June 30, 2022, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a notification.

The Centre’s move is seen as an attempt to stem rising food inflation in the country.

“The move shall bring stability to the trade and provide continuity of shipments, thereby ensuring stability of prices, both at the place of origin and within India. The trade in Myanmar is highly appreciative of the pragmatic trade policies being adopted by the Indian authorities,” said Vatsal Lilani, President at Overseas Agro Traders Association, Myanmar.

Myanmar and Tanzania are two major suppliers of pulses to India.

“Tanzania is Africa’s top pulses’ exporter to India and only comes third – behind Canada and Myanmar – globally. It has always been consistent in supplying the world’s leading pulses consumers with products of good quality for years now,” said Zirack Andrew, national coordinator at Tanzania Pulses Network.

“This move will help restore the fading confidence in Tanzania’s exporters in doing business with India and wash away thoughts of abandoning the country in favour of emerging markets in the Middle East, South Africa, and Singapore. Fairly speaking, it’s long overdue.”

Even though India is a major producer of pulses, its domestic consumption outstrips the production, which pushes the country to import such commodities from other nations.

To check inflationary pressure, the Centre has also reduced import duty on refined palm oil, extended ‘free’ import policy for three variants of palm oil, and banned seven agri commodities from exchange trading.

According to Bimal Kothari, Vice Chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA): “When comparing the prices of pulses to the price of oil, the former have remained relatively stable over the last three to four months. Pulses have not seen a significant increase in their prices. Chana is being sold for lower than MSP whereas tur and urad are being sold at MSP, so prices of pulses aren’t increasing.

“Tur harvesting has already been done in many places and is still in progress in some others. The late rains in the southern states may have caused some damage. In the next three months, however, tur’s availability on the international market will be limited.”

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US flight disruption: Air India advises passengers to check latest status

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New Delhi : Air India on Saturday advised passengers to check the latest status of their flights and plan their journey to the airport accordingly, amid massive disruption at the US airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop that had halted departures at US airports after a communications failure, though airlines warned that disruption and cancellations could continue.

“A nationwide ground stop is currently in effect across the US due to communication outages affecting air traffic operations. As a result, departures from airports across US are impacted, with possible consequential disruptions to Air India flights to and from the US,” Air India said in a statement posted on X. “Our teams continue to closely monitor the situation and will share updates as available,” it added. The cancellation of US flights happened after a communications problem affected air traffic operations. The notice announcing the cancellation did not specify the cause of the failure or say that airline schedules had returned to normal.

Earlier, the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center said the ground stop remained in effect across a large portion of the country, although some coastal facilities had been able to release international departures. In an update, American Airlines said some flights from certain airports were beginning to receive clearance to depart. At that point, most departures remained paused, and the airline expected further disruption, including unavoidable cancellations. American advised customers to check their flight status and review its travel alert for options. Its warning was issued before the FAA’s cancellation advisory. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters earlier that officials had acted as a precaution following a telecommunications outage affecting the FAA. “There is no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack,” he said at the time. That preliminary assessment did not rule out a cyberattack.

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FBI warns AI tool can speed up cyberattacks

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Washington : The FBI has warned that cybercriminals are using an artificial intelligence-assisted security testing tool to accelerate attacks on organisations around the world, with some intrusions reaching privileged access in less than three hours. In an alert issued on Friday (local time), the bureau said malicious actors had used the open-source framework, known as ARTEX, since at least August to target organisations across sectors including finance, government, technology, defence, energy and health care. The FBI said the tool can automate several stages of an intrusion, from identifying potential targets to preparing or carrying out data theft. That speed can leave defenders less time to detect and respond to an attack, it said.

The alert said some intrusions progressed from initial targeting to privileged access in under three hours. According to the alert, the framework was originally intended for authorised security testing. Its developer removed the original online repository in October following reports of malicious use, but copies and variants remained available, the FBI said. The bureau said the tool could lower the technical barriers for conducting complex operations and allow attackers to pursue multiple targets at the same time. Organisations’ internet-facing applications, cloud infrastructure and systems connected to suppliers or partners were among the areas of concern identified in the alert.

The FBI cited financially motivated attacks on South Korean financial institutions that it said resulted in personal information being taken from approximately 67,000 people. It also described a separate supply-chain compromise affecting users of a cloud backup service, which it said enabled access to more than 2,250 downstream customer environments. The bureau encouraged organisations to review their exposure to the internet, strengthen identity and access controls, monitor unusual activity and protect credentials. It also urged organisations that identify suspicious activity to contact the FBI or report it through the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

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India’s forex reserves climb $2.49 billion to $719.5 billion, gold holdings surge to $104.8 billion

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India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $2.49 billion to reach $719.547 billion in the week ended November 6, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

This increase follows consecutive weeks of decline, during which the reserves had slipped from $722.3 billion in the week ended October 17 to $717.057 billion by October 30.

The uptick in reserves was primarily driven by a sharp rise in gold holdings, which surged by $2.205 billion to $104.796 billion during the week, the RBI data showed.

Foreign currency assets, which form the largest component of India’s forex reserves, also rose by $232 million to $591.350 billion.

These assets are influenced by changes in the value of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound, and yen that are held in the reserves.

India’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund climbed by $52 million to $18.610 billion, while the country’s reserve position with the IMF increased by $1 million to $4.791 billion.

In rupee terms, the country’s total foreign exchange reserves stood at Rs 67,58,986 crore as of November 6.

Notably, the weekly increase in dollar terms came even as the reserves declined by Rs 49,742 crore in rupee terms, as per the data.

India’s forex reserves had previously touched an all-time high of $785.7 billion in the week ended September 4, following significant foreign currency inflows through a special concessional swap scheme for diaspora deposits.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the central bank eased the foreign exchange reporting requirements for small exporters and importers of services.

Under the amended Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, individual service exporters will be deemed to have submitted the Export Declaration Form (EDF) once they provide the required payment-related information to their authorised dealer bank for crediting the proceeds to their accounts.

For exporters other than resident individuals, the same treatment will apply if the inward remittance for the service is not more than Rs 10 lakh or its equivalent in foreign currency.

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