India's rice story

began in South Asia's Indus Valley much before than thought. A study by the Banaras Hindu University and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England shows that people in the Indus Valley had the knowledge of cultivating domesticated rice around the same time when the Chinese were growing it. The researchers concluded this after analysing traces of ancient rice, which they found in the ruins near Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley site near Haryana's Hisar. Using carbon dating, the researchers ascertained that the rice is most probably the domesticated form of the wild variety, Oryza nivara, and was grown between 2430 BC and 2140 BC. Though scientists have found rice grains dating back to 6000 BC in Uttar Pradesh's Lahuradewa, they were wild varieties. The rice found at Rakhigarhi suggests that farming of domesticated rice was in vogue in South Asia before the conventional date—2000 BC, when Chinese rice (Oryza Japonica) reached South Asia.

Jan Dhan withdrawal limited

emerged of Jan Dhan accounts being used to hoard unaccounted money, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has curtailed the withdrawal limit from such accounts to `10,000 per month. kFully Know Your Customer (KYC) compliant account holders may be allowed to withdraw `10,000 from their account, in a month,y RBI said in a statement. kThe branch managers may allow further withdrawals beyond `10,000 within the current applicable limits only after ascertaining the genuineness of such withdrawals and duly documenting the same on the bank's record,y it said. For non-KYC compliant accounts, the withdrawal limit has been fixed at `5,000 per month from the amount deposited after November 9, 2016, with an overall ceiling of `10,000. kThe decision has been taken to protect farmers and rural account holders of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana from money launderers and legal consequences,y the statement added.