TUESDAY 23 JULY 2024 www.thestatesman.com Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 INDIA’S NATIONAL NEWSPAPER SINCE 1818 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR ‘LET’S UPHOLD PRINCIPLES OF DIALOGUE, DISCUSSION, DEBATE’ P5 SENSEX 80,502.08 GENERALLY CLOUDY SKY. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN/ THUNDERSTORM. THE MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 35 AND 27 DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY. RAINFALL: 0.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 100% TEMPERATURE Max: 36.4°C (+1) SUN RISES 05:39 hrs MOON RISES 21:03 hrs P9 NIFTY 24,509.25 WEATHER ` vs $ 83.66 Min: 29.2°C (+2) SUN SETS 19:18 hrs MOON SETS 08:30 hrs THUMBNAILS King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck receives a warm welcome on his arrival at Vadodara Airport, on ANI Monday. INS Brahmaputra severely damaged in fire: An Indian Navy warship which was undergoing maintenance at the naval dockyard in Mumbai caught fire today. The navy said a junior sailor is missing and rescue teams are looking for him. All other personnel have been accounted for, the navy said. P10 GOLD 75,605.00 P12 SILVER 91,500 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 79.59 Economy likely to grow at 6.5-7 per cent in FY25 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The Economic Survey highlights the prevailing strengths of our economy and also showcases the outcomes of the various reforms our Government has brought. It also identifies areas for further growth and progress as we move towards building a Viksit Bharat. NEW DELHI, 22 JULY T he Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Monday said the Indian economy is on a strong wicket and stable footing, demonstrating resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. "High economic growth in FY24 came on the heels of growth rates of 9.7% and 7%, in the previous two financial years.” The Survey said that the headline inflation rate is largely under control, although the inflation rate of some specific food items is elevated. The trade deficit was lower in FY24 than in FY23, and the current account deficit for the year is around 0.7% of GDP. However, it said that the Indian economy needs to generate an average of nearly 78.5 lakh jobs annually until 2030 in the nonfarm sector to cater to the rising workforce. "For the recovery to be sustained, there has to be heavy lifting on the domestic front because the environment has become extraordinarily difficult to reach agreements on key global issues such as trade, investment and cli- NARENDRA MODI PRIME MINISTER mate," the Survey read. "Public investment has sustained capital formation in the last several years even as the private sector shed its balance sheet blues and began investing in FY22. Now, it has to receive the baton from the public sector and sustain the investment momentum in the economy. The signs are encouraging," said the Survey. The Economic Survey 2023-24 said that the inflationary pressures stoked by global troubles, supply chain disruptions, and vagaries of monsoons have been deftly managed by administrative and monetary policy responses. As a result, after averaging 6.7% in FY23, SC stays nameplate orders for eateries issued by UP, Uttarakhand state govts PARMOD KUMAR NEW DELHI, 22 JULY ers etc. may be required to display the kind of food they are serving to Kanwariyas but they must not be forced to disclose the names...,” the bench said in its interim order and posted the matter for hearing on July 26, 2024. The directive to display the names of the w owners of the eateries was reportedly enforced across many districts of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh also came up with similar directives. The top court’s order came while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the directive issued by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, to shop owners to display their names outside shops during the Kanwar Yatra season. Police had said that the decision was in the interest of law and order. As the hearing started, the bench asked whether any formal order had been passed to enforce such direction. Senior advocate Chander Uday Singh, appearing for the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, said that while the authorities were claiming it was being voluntarily done, the directive was being enforced. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was representing Mahua Moitra, Kanwar Yatras have been happening for decades and people of all religions including Muslims, Christians and Buddhists help them on their way. The top court was moved by the petitions including Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra, Association for Protection of Civil Rights, and Delhi University Professor Apoorvanand along with senior journalist and activist Aakar Patel. retail inflation declined to 5.4% in FY24. It said the decrease in retail inflation in FY24 was driven by a fall in core inflation – both goods and services. Core services inflation eased to a nine-year low in FY24; at the same time, core goods inflation also declined to a four-year low. Food inflation has been a global concern over the past two years. Within India, the agriculture sector faced challenges due to extreme weather events, depleted reservoirs, and crop damage, which impacted farm output and food prices. Consequently, food inflation stood at 6.6 per cent in FY23 and increased to 7.5 per cent TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 22 JULY not have a relationship of a head coach and a player. The best relationship is one built on trust. The most important thing is they'll always have my backing. I don't complicate too many things. I am taking over a very, very successful team India are T20 world champions, have been runners-up in the World Test Championship and the 50-overs World Cup,” he said. The forthcoming brief whiteball series against Sri Lanka, starting July 27, will be Gambhir’s first assignment as a full time coach. He has previously served as a mentor in the Indian Premier League (IPL), with both Lucknow Super Giants and the reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders. Dismissing any premeditated timeline of the Test and ODI careers of India’s most decorated duo of the current lot — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Gambhir said the veterans can be a possibility for the 2027 ODI World Cup. Both Rohit and Kohli had announced their retirements from the T20 format after the triumphant World Cup campaign last month, and now with the shortest format behind them, the focus has shifted to their continuity in the other two formats. Stressing on expecting the duo to be available for matches in both formats going forward, Gambhir felt that both Rohit and Virat still have in FY24, according to the Survey. Going forward, the RBI projects inflation to fall to 4.5 per cent in FY25 and 4.1 per cent in FY26, assuming normal monsoon and no external or policy shocks. Similarly, the IMF forecasts inflation of 4.6 per cent in 2024 and 4.2 per cent in 2025 for India, it added. The fiscal balances of the general government have improved progressively despite expansionary public investment. Tax compliance gains driven by procedural reforms, expenditure restraint, and increasing digitisation helped India achieve this fine balance. PM slams Opposition for disrupting last session, calls for unity in Budget session STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 22 JULY Ahead of the commencement of Budget Session of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday strongly criticized the Opposition for "not letting him speak" during the previous session and emphasized the need for unity among lawmakers to work for the nation's progress. In his customary address before the Budget Session, PM Modi remarked, “You must have seen that in the Trust, freedom, success: Gambhir reiterates philosophy for ‘happy dressing room’ Two-time World Cup-winning former India opener Gautam Gambhir on Monday acknowledged that he has “big shoes to fill” as he readies himself for a new role as the head coach of a highly successful Indian team that made the finals of a world event in each of the three formats before winning the T20 crown under his predecessor Rahul Dravid. Addressing the media for the first time after assuming charge, Gambhir reiterated his mantra of a “happy dressing room” by backing his players and giving them the “freedom” as he believes that the “best relationship is one built on trust.” “It is very simple. It is important to give players freedom that's what I believe in - and FITNESS CONCERNS WORKED AGAINST PANDYA Govt needs to generate nearly 78.5 lakh jobs annually to cater to rising workforce Min.65% The Supreme Court on Monday by an interim order stalled the enforcing of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh government's orders asking the owners of the shops selling eateries, all along the Kanwar Yatra route, to display the names of the owners of such shops including those operating from pavements. Issuing notice to the Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh governments where Kanwar Yatra takes place, a bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti said that police cannot force shopkeepers to display their names and they can only be asked to display food items being sold. “Until the returnable date, having regard to the discussion, we deem it appropriate to pass an interim order prohibiting the enforcement of the above directives. In other words, the food sellers... hawk- SC CONFIRMS BAIL OF ASHISH MISHRA BIDEN STAFF KNEW OF HIS DECISION ONE MINUTE BEFORE THE PUBLIC DID a lot to offer in the other formats. “I think they’ve shown what they can deliver in the big stage, whether it was the T20 World Cup or 50-over World Cup. One thing I can be very clear of, both those guys have a lot of cricket left in them. And more importantly with Champions Trophy and a big tour of Australia coming up, there won’t be any shortage of motivation. If they can keep their fitness, the 2027 World Cup as well,” Gambhir said. Confirming the appointments of Abhishek Nayar and Dutchman Ryan Ten Doeschate as assistant coaches, Gambhir said the rest of the support staff will be finalised after the Sri Lanka tour. Meanwhile, T Dilip (fielding coach) and Sairaj Bahutule (interim bowling coach) have accompanied the team. first session of Parliament, an attempt was made to stifle the voice of the government that has been elected with a majority by 140 crore people of the country. For 2.5 hours, an attempt was made to suppress the voice of the Prime Minister. They tried to not let me speak in Parliament in the last session. The people of the country have sent us for the country and not for the party. This Parliament is for the country, not for the party." Highlighting the significance of the current session, he stated, "This is the Budget session. The guarantees that I have been giving, we are moving forward to implement those guarantees on the ground." PM Modi underscored the importance of the Budget for the "Amrit Kaal," a term he and his party often use for the crucial period for India’s development. He expressed confidence that this Budget would set the direction for the nation’s journey towards realizing the vision of a developed India by 2047. “This Budget is an important Budget of the Amrit Kaal. The opportunity of five years that we have, this budget will decide the direction of that journey as well as lay the foundation for fulfilling the dream of Viksit Bharat in 2047," he said. The Prime Minister also touched upon the auspicious timing of the session, coinciding with the first Monday of Sawan, a significant month in the Hindu calendar. Opposition demands Pradhan’s resignation over NEET, stages walk-out STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 22 JULY As Parliament commenced its monsoon session on Monday, the Opposition clashed with the government on the NEET examination paper leak issue in the Lok Sabha and staged a walk-out over Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s replies during the Question Hour. Reacting to the Minister’s statements, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said it is obvious to the whole country there is a serious problem in the examination system; not just in NEET, but in all major examinations. The Minister does not seem to appreciate the current crisis, he said. Millions of students are convinced the Indian examination system was not trustworthy, he said. “This is what is at stake here. Millions believe that if you are rich you can buy the system. This is a systemic issue, and what exactly is the government doing to fix the issue at the systemic level,” he said. Mr Pradhan said it was unfortunate Mr Gandhi had said that the country’s examination system is not trustworthy, “I condemn it.” The UPA government, he said, had brought three Bills including the Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Examination Bill in 2010 to reform the educational system and the Bills were deferred. The NDA government, he said, has shown courage to get a Bill enacted on the unfair practices issue. The UPA government had brought the Bill to reform the examination system, and why was it withdrawn. Was it done under pressure from private institutions, he asked. As the Opposition members kept rising on their seats on the Minister’s replies, Speaker Om Birla intervened and said there have been governments in States run by different parties and there were paper leaks also. It would not be fair to students to make allegations and raise questions on all examinations, he said. It should be seen what improvements can be made in the system and the government can take suggestions from all to work out a better system. The CBI is investigating the current issue and the Supreme Court is monitoring it, he said, and it would not be fair to raise questions on all examinations. The entire Opposition, dissatisfied with the Education Minister’s answers, walked out of the House. Responding to the question by Mr Manickam Tagore (Congress) and Dr Kalanidhi Veeraswamy (DMK), the Education Minister said over 24 lakh candidates registered for the NEET (UG) 2024 examination, out of which over 23 lakh took the examination. Certain cases of alleged “irregularities/cheating/malpractices” were reported and there was one instance where there was a likely “breach of chain of custody of Question Paper,” he said. The Ministry of Education has asked the CBI to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the case. The Education Minister said there was no evidence of any paper leakages in the last seven years. The current case was before the Supreme Court and the CBI was investigating it. After the National Testing Agency (NTA) was set up, five crore students had applied for 240 examinations and 4.50 crore students took the examinations. Centre lifts ban on govt employees joining RSS Govt not considering granting special status to Bihar; RJD demands Nitish’s resignation STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The Centre on Monday virtually ruled out giving special status to Bihar which is one of the key demands of the Janata Dal (United) which is a key constituent of the NDA government, drawing sharp reaction from the RJD which has demanded the resignation of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the issue. The RJD in a post on X in Hindi, slammed the BJP-JD(U) alliance and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have given the Bihar ‘special state’ toy. It further said that Nitish Kumar bowed down to the BJP and lowered demand from special state to special package but that was also refused. The RJD has also demanded that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar NEW DELHI, 22 JULY The Centre has lifted a ban on government employees taking part in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activities. The ban imposed in November 1966 during the rule of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has been removed by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions. In an office memorandum dated 9th July, 2024, the Ministry stated the earlier instructions have been reviewed “and it has been decided to remove the mention of Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh from the impugned OMs dated 30.11.1966, 25.07.1970 and 28.10.1980.” STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 22 JULY tender his resignation for failing to get special category status. Earlier, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the Special Category Status for plan assistance was granted in the past by the National Development Council (NDC) to some states that were characterised by a number of features necessitating special consideration. These features included: hilly and difficult terrain; low population density and/or sizeable share of population; strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries; economic and infrastructural backwardness; and non viable nature of state finances. The decision was taken based on an integrated consideration of the factors mentioned above and the peculiar situation of a state. ''Earlier, the request of Bihar for Special Category Status was considered by an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which submitted its Report on 30 March, 2012. The IMG came to the finding that based on existing NDC criteria, the case for Special Category Status for Bihar is not made out,'' Mr Chaudhary said. Reacting to the Union government's response on special category status for the state, RJD leader Manoj Jha said, " Bihar will get the special state status, by hook or crook. We have been demanding this for so long. Nitish Kumar failed to get this (status). Just by one sign, it can be given but they (the Central government) don't want to give this status." Meanwhile, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said the Government has not dismissed the request.