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There has been a 95 per cent drop in cases of theft of apples during transportation in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district after GPS was installed in vehicles ferrying the fruit, a police official said. Earlier, on an average, 20-25 cases of such thefts were registered during the apple season between July and October in the district, Shimla Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said. This season (last year) just one case was registered and "this is a 95 per cent drop in cases", he said. The installation of the global positioning system (GPS) in vehicles that transport apples such as trucks and pick-up vans has acted as an effective measure to thwart thefts, Gandhi said. This result was achieved after only GPS-enabled vehicles were registered for inter-state transportation of apples last year with police having access to GPS devices, the SP said. Even in that one case of theft registered last year, the cargo of apples was traced because the vehicle had GPS and police ac
The decision to remove 20 per cent retaliatory customs duty on imported American apples will have a "zero" impact on Indian farmers as the government has sufficient policy space to support growers if there is any implication of the move, a senior government official said on Monday. Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Peeyush Kumar said that India is not giving anything "extra" by removing this duty and it was not that "we have opened a floodgate" for American apples. In fact, it is a win-win deal for India as it restores market access for domestic steel and aluminium products in the American market, which was impacted due to the imposition of high duties by the US in 2018. The decision to remove these additional duties was part of an agreement reached between India and the US, during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington and New York. India and the US have also agreed to terminate six trade disputes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Thes