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India has imposed restrictions on sugar exports for the first time in six years by capping this season’s exports at 10 million tonnes, a government order said, to prevent a surge in domestic prices after mills sold a record volume on the world market, Reuters reported.

The government has also asked exporters to seek its permission for any overseas shipments between June 1 and October 31, the order said.

India is the world’s biggest sugar producer and the second biggest exporter behind Brazil.

Reuters in March reported that India was planning to curb sugar exports to keep a lid on local prices and ensure steady supplies in the domestic market.

Benchmark white sugar prices in London jumped more than 1% after India’s decision.

“The government is worried about food inflation, and that’s why it is trying to ensure that enough sugar remains in the country to cater to the festival season,” said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

Exporters also said the decision to allow mills to export 10 million tonnes would help India sell a reasonably big quantity of sugar on the world market, according to Reuters.

Initially, India planned to cap sugar exports at 8 million tonnes, but the government later decided to allow mills to sell some more sugar on the world market as production estimates were revised upwards.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association, a producers’ body, revised its output forecast to 35.5 million tonnes, up from its previous estimate of 31 million tonnes.

Indian mills have so far signed contracts to export 9.1 million tonnes of sugar in the current 2021/22 marketing year without government subsidies. Out of the contracted 9 million tonnes, mills have already dispatched around 8.2 million tonnes of the sweetener, Reuters reported.

Nepal reported five new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 1, 889 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which four returned positive. Likewise, 838 people underwent antigen tests, of which one was tested positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that nine infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 128 active cases in the country.

The United Nations is honoring four Nepali UN peacekeepers posthumously on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 26 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres will award the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal posthumously to 117 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, who lost their life serving under the UN flag last year, read a statement issued by the United Nations on Wednesday.

NCE Pitambar Thapa of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL); Private Dipendra Osti, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); Police POA Umesh Kumar Mehattar; who served with the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); and Mr. Jhank Nath Regmi who served in a civilian capacity in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) are among the peacekeepers to be honored posthumously.

In his message, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Today, we honour the more than one million women and men who have served as UN peacekeepers since 1948.  We pay tribute to the nearly 4,200 heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives in the cause of peace. And we are reminded an age-old truth: peace can never be taken for granted. Peace is the prize. We are deeply grateful to the 87,000 civilian, police and military personnel now serving under the UN flag who are helping to realize the prize of peace worldwide.”

The theme for this year’s observance is “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.” According to the Secretary-General, "Around the globe, UN peacekeepers work with Member States, civil society, humanitarians, the media, the communities they serve and many others, to foster peace, protect civilians, promote human rights and the rule of law and improve the lives of millions of people.”

Nepal is the third largest troops-contributing country in the United Nations Peacekeeping mission.

The Nepali idols stolen from different parts of country have been repatriated from the United States of America.

Among the repatriated idols are Standing Buddha that was lost from Kwaya Bahi, Lalitpur, Padmapani Lokeswora, Chaturmukhi Shivalinga (Panchadeval Temple, Pasupati), Uma Maheswori (Ga: Hiti, Lalitpur) and Nagaraja (Bhagawan Bahal, Naxal).

As informed, Uma Maheswora sculpture has been repatriated from the Denver Museum, while Chaturmukhi Shivalinga from the Art Institute of Chicago and remaining three statues from the James & Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, USA.