European Union bans Indian Alphonso mangoes, veggies from May 1

1.    European Union bans Indian Alphonso mangoes, veggies from May 1

i. The 28-member European Union has temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes, the king of fruits, and four vegetables from India from May 1, sparking protests from the Indian community, lawmakers and traders.

ii. The recent decision by the grouping's Standing Committee on Plant Health came after 207 consignments of fruits and vegetables from India imported into the EU in 2013 were found to be contaminated by pests such as fruit flies and other quarantine pests.

iii. The temporary ban, proposed by the European Commission, includes mangoes, eggplant, the taro plant, bitter gourd and snake gourd, and prohibits the import to tackle the "significant shortcomings in the phytosanitary certification system o ..

iv. The UK imports nearly 16 million mangoes from India and the market for the fruit is worth nearly 6 million pounds a year.

v. A revision of the ban will take place before December 31, 2015. Businesses claimed they will lose hundreds of thousands of pounds due to the ban.

2.    Flipkart launches ‘Same-day Guarantee’ delivery in 10 cities

i. Flipkart on Monday launched its ‘Same-day Guarantee’ delivery in 10 cities.

ii. Customers can place their orders by 12 noon on a business day to have their orders delivered to them by 9 p.m. on the same day, Flipkart said.

iii. The service is available in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Manesar, Navi Mumbai and Thane and will be scaled up to other cities soon, it said in a release in Bangalore.

iv. Flipkart’s Same-day Guarantee delivery service is available for additional shipping fees of Rs. 200 with an introductory shipping fee of Rs. 140, it said.

3.    Golf: Lahiri wins Indonesian Masters

i. Anirban Lahiri holed a sensational 20-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole to grab his fourth Asian Tour title and the first outside India at the CIMB Indonesian Masters golf here on Sunday.

ii. Lahiri fought back from a double bogey on 13th as he leapfrogged from second place to go past clubhouse leader Baek Seuk-Hyun of Korea (65), who finished at 16-under.

iii. The Indian, ranked 102 in the world at the start of the week, should move inside the top-75 when the new rankings are released on Monday. He is currently the top Indian in the world rankings and will also move to the top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit.