SATURDAY 01 MARCH 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 16 |` 5.00 | LC KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR SIDDARAMAIAH JOINS ISSUE WITH CENTRE ON DELIMITATION QUESTION ‘UKRAINE PEACE DEAL CANNOT BE ONE THAT REWARDS THE AGGRESSOR’ P10 SENSEX 73,198.10q1414.33 WEATHER Generally clear. Hazy in the evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 34°C and 23°C respectively. NIFTY P6 22,124.70q420.35 ` vs $ 87.46 “ ASHOK TUTEJA Min. 68% NEW DELHI, 28 FEBRUARY Max: 34.2˚C SUN RISES 05:57 hrs MOON RISES 06:45 hrs Min: 23.7˚C SUN SETS 17:40 hrs MOON SETS 19:07 hrs P rime Minister Narendra Modi and European Union President Ursula von Der Leyen on Friday pledged to conclude a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides by the end of the year. "We have directed our teams to conclude a mutually beneficial bilateral FTA by the end of this year," Prime Minister Modi announced at a press conference here after the talks between the two sides. He said the two sides have THUMBNAILS GOLD 87,725.00 P16 SILVER 1,05,000 BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 73.14q0.90 PM Modi said the two sides have prepared a blueprint for collaboration in Trade, Technology, etc Max. 74% Full Moon on 14 March P9 ‘India, EU to conclude free trade agreement by year-end’ RAINFALL: NIL RELATIVE HUMIDITY TEMPERATURE JOS BUTTLER STEPS DOWN AS ENGLAND’S WHITE-BALL CAPTAIN ‘INDIA NOW THE SPIRITUAL CAPITAL’ It is exactly the moment we find ourselves in. The planets are aligned – and so are Europe and India. URSULA VON DER LEYEN PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION also decided to create a bold and ambitious roadmap for the India-EU partnership for the period beyond 2025. It will be launched during the next India-EU Summit. The EU is India's largest trading partner in goods. Talks between the two sides for an FTA, stalled for eight years resumed in 2021. Ms von der Leyen is leading a 27-member delegation on a two-day India visit, with both sides expected to speed up talks for the proposed FTA. PM Modi noted that this is not just the European Commission’s first visit to India, but also its first such comprehensive engagement in any single country. “Also, this is one of the first visits of the new Commission in its latest term. On this historic occasion, I warmly welcome the President of the European Commission and the College of Commissioners to India," he said. Describing the two-decade-long strategic partnership between India and the EU as natural and organic, he noted that its core is built on trust, a shared belief in democratic values, and a mutual commitment to prosperity and shared progress. The PM said the two sides have prepared a blueprint for collaboration in the areas of Trade, Technology, Investment, Innovation, Green Growth, Security, Skilling and Mobility. Manipur Governor extends deadline for arms surrender STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE IMPHAL, 28 FEBRUARY A boatman uses a snow shovel to wipe off snow from his Shikara boat at the Dal lake after fresh snowfall, in Srinagar on Friday. n ANI 42 construction workers trapped in avalanche in Uttarakhand P R SINGH Trial incineration of Bhopal toxic waste begins: More than 40 years after the Bhopal gas tragedy in December 1984, the trial incineration of 10 tons of waste, out of the total 337 metric tons, from the defunct Union Carbide factory in Bhopal finally began around 3 pm on Friday at ‘Ramky Enviro’, a private incineration facility at Pithampur in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, under heavy police security. DEHRADUN, 28 FEBRUARY At least forty-two construction workers are feared trapped in an avalanche at Mana village of Chamoli district in Uttarakhand near the India-China border, officials said on Friday. The on-going rains for the past more than two days resulted in the breaking away of a thick mass of a glacier from the hills of the Mana village area on Thursday at around 1.30 p.m. Rescue teams of IndoTibet Border Police (ITBP) and Border Road Organisation (BRO) were able to rescue 15 workers, while 42 others are still trapped under the debris. India’s GDP grows at 6.2 per cent for Q3FY25; overall FY25 forecast revised to 6.5 per cent STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 28 FEBRUARY Market plunges nearly 2 per cent, investors lose around `9 lakh cr STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE India's real GDP in the third quarter (Q3) of FY 2024-25 is projected to expand at a rate of 6.2 per cent, data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said on Friday. This marks a spike from the GDP growth of 5.4 per cent in the last quarter. The construction sector recorded the highest growth at 8.6 per cent, followed by financial, real estate, and professional services at 7.2 per cent. Trade, hotels, transport, communication, and broadcasting-related services were at 6.4 per cent, while the private final consumption expenditure also rose by 7.6 per cent, reflecting a rebound in consumer spending. As a result, the government has revised its full-year real GDP growth projection for FY25 to 6.5 per cent, from NEW DELHI, 28 FEBRUARY 6.4 per cent. For the full fiscal year 2024-25, the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in Real GDP terms, an upward revision from earlier estimates. The nominal GDP is projected to increase by 9.9 per cent , signaling continued economic expansion. Benchmark indices plunged nearly 2 per cent on Friday, dragged down by a broadbased sell-off wiping out Rs 8.8 lakh crore in market capitalisation. For the week, the total wealth erosion has been recorded at 20 lakh crore. The Nifty 50 ended the session with a 1.85 per cent decline, closing at 22,128 points, marking its biggest single day fall of 2025 while the Sensex recorded its worst intraday fall of the year, tumbling 1.90 per cent to 73,198 points. The Nifty 50 index opened downside at 22,433 and touched an intraday low of 22,104. The Sensex today opened lower at 74,201 and touched an intraday low of 73,141. (Details on Page 12) India needs to expand at 7.8 pc to become a high-income country: World Bank STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 28 FEBRUARY The World Bank in a report on Friday said India’s economy needs to expand at an average growth rate of 7.8 per cent over the coming decades to become a highincome country. “For India to become a high-income economy by 2047, its gross national income per capita would have to increase by nearly 8 times over the current levels,” it said in its new India Country Economic Memorandum titled ‘Becoming a HighIncome Economy in a Generation’. The World Bank said that India is currently on track to become an upper-middle-income country by 2032, but it will need two more decades of “very high growth” to reach its target of becom- STEEP ASK India i currently on track to become an is upper middle-income country by 2032, but it will need two more decades of “very high growth” to reach its target of becom an advanced economy by ming 2047, the 100th anniversary of its Indepe endence from Britain, according to the Wo Bank. orld India’s gross national income per capita stood at $2,540 in 2023. This would have to grow to $20,000 by 2047 for the country to reach high-income status. Only a few countries have made the transit from middle to high income tion in less than two decades. Many nats ions, including Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico th & Sout Africa, have languished in the middle e-income trap for two decades. ing an advanced economy by 2047, the 100th anniversary of its independence from Britain. According to the World Bank, India’s gross national income per capita stood at USD 2,540 as of 2023. That number would have to grow to USD 20,000 by 2047 for the country to reach a high-income status. Only a handful of coun- tries have managed to make the transition from middle to high income in less than two decades. Many nations, including Brazil, Malaysia, Mexico, and South Africa, have languished in the middleincome trap for two decades, the lender said. To reach its growth goals, the South Asian country will have to focus on capital investment, labour reforms, and boosting productivity, it added. India will need to achieve faster and inclusive growth across states, increase total investment from current 33.5 per cent of GDP to 40 per cent (both in real terms) by 2035, increase overall labour force participation from 56.4 per cent to above 65 per cent and accelerate overall productivity growth if it is to achieve high-income growth within a generation, the World Bank report said. “India can take advantage of its demographic dividend by investing in human capital, creating enabling conditions for more and better jobs and raising female labor force participation rates from 35.6 percent to 50 percent by 2047,” said Emilia Skrok and Rangeet Ghosh, co-authors of the report. A team of the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response (SDRF) was also rushed to the avalanche site, while two high-altitude teams were stationed on alert mode in Gauchar and Shastradhara, Dehradun, for transporting the trapped workers to the hospitals. Chamoli District Administration and SDRF officials informed that although the exact position of the workers trapped under avalanche will be known after taking stock of the situation at the site, but they were believed to be close to each other when the incident took place and a thick mass of snow and glacier came crashing down above them. In response to appeals from residents across both hill and valley regions, Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla has extended the deadline for the voluntary surrender of looted and illegal arms until 4 p.m. on 6 March. “Upon the expiry of the seven-day deadline for the voluntary surrender of arms, there have been requests from both the valley and hill areas to extend the period. I have considered these requests and decided to extend the deadline until 4 PM on March 6,” read an official statement from the Governor’s office. The statement further reiterated that individuals who surrender their weapons within this period will not face punitive action. Over 300 weapons were handed over in the last week in the wake of Mr Bhalla's appeal, Manipur Police said. On Thursday, Meitei militia group Arambai Tenggol turned in 246 weapons, the largest such surrender of illegally held weapons till date. (Details on Page 13)