01022023-TTC-01.qxd 2/1/2023 12:37 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 7 NO. 31 | 16 PAGES | ~5.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2021-2023 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 JAPAN, OTHER DEMOCRACIES MUST UNITE TO DEFEND INT’L ORDER: NATO WORLD /thetribunechd REALTORS WANT CUT IN DECISIVE GOVT AT HELM, LENDING RATES TO PUSH INDIA SOLUTION PROVIDER GROWTH BUSINESS NOW: PREZ BACK PAGE AIR TRAFFIC RESUMES, HIGHWAY REOPENS IN SRINAGAR J&K wednesday | 1 february 2023 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com GDP projection 6.5%, capex to push growth Economic Survey India likely to remain Major challenges Current account deficit, fastest-growing major economy in world depreciating rupee and global slowdown Sandeep Dikshit Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 31 India will have to brace for around 6.5 per cent growth with the Economic Survey projecting the GDP growth in the range of 6 per cent to 6.8 per cent in 2023-24, depending on the trajectory of economic and political developments globally. In contrast, the economy is expected to grow at 7 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.7 per cent in 2021-22. However, the survey took comfort from an IMF report that said India would regain its position as the fastest-growing major economy in FY23 and FY24. The survey that detailed the state of the economy was tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman a day before she presents Union Budget 202324. It said India’s growth was expected to remain robust and the country would remain the fastest-growing major economy in the world as it fared better in dealing with the extraordinary set of global challenges. The 6-6.8 per cent growth projection was premised on the likely rebound of private ❝ digital platforms and measures such as PM Gati Shakti, National Logistics Policy and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes. Coming to the current fiscal, the survey said the economic growth was principally led by private consumption and capital formation. This helped BUDGET WILL BE RAY OF HOPE FOR WORLD: PM Amid global economic turmoil, India’s Budget will attempt to meet the hopes and aspirations of common citizens and be a ray of hope for the world. Narendra Modi, PRIME MINISTER INFLATION: BORROWING COST TO REMAIN HIGHER Borrowing cost may remain ‘higher for longer’, entrenched inflation may prolong tightening cycle CREDIT GROWTH HIGH Credit growth to the MSME sector has been remarkably high, over 30.5% during Jan-Nov 2022 CAPITAL EXPENDITURE Capex, which increased by 63.4% in the first 8 months of FY 23, was another growth driver of the Indian economy consumption, higher capital expenditure, near-universal vaccine coverage, strengthen- IN BRIEF Armed forces can act against officers for adultery NEW DELHI: The SC on Tuesday ruled the armed forces could take action against their officers for adulterous acts, as it clarified on the landmark 2018 judgment that decriminalised adultery. BACK PAGE Visakhapatnam to be Andhra capital, says CM NEW DELHI: Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday said the state capital would be shifted to Visakhapatnam. He was speaking at a preparatory meet for Global Investors Summit. PTI AI urination case accused Mishra granted bail NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to Shankar Mishra, accused of urinating on a woman on an Air India flight from New York to Delhi, saying his custody was no longer required. PTI Oreva MD surrenders in bridge collapse case MORBI: Oreva Group MD Jaysukh Patel on Tuesday surrendered before a court in Morbi in connection with last year’s suspension bridge collapse tragedy in which 135 people were killed. PTI MORE INSIDE Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran and his team at a press meet on Economic Survey 2022-23 in New Delhi. TRIBUNE PHOTO CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT MAY WIDEN KEY INDICATORS ~17.81 26% ~7.5 7.2% 9% lakh cr gross tax revenue in current fiscal till November growth in direct taxes, which account for half of the gross tax revenue lakh cr capital expenditure target for the fiscal year 2022-23 to be met jobless rate in JulySeptember 2022, down from 8.3% in 2019 rise in exports, 24.96% in imports during April-December this fiscal ■ Current account deficit (CAD) may continue to widen as global commodity prices remain elevated ■ Rupee may come under pressure if current account deficit widens FISCAL POSITION ■ Govt’s finances have shown a ing of the balance sheets of corporates and banks and credit growth, the survey resilient performance, buoyancy in revenue from direct taxes & GST said. It expected growth to be powered by vigorous credit disbursal, expansion of public Collegium sends 2 more names for elevation to SC Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 31 Amid the ongoing standoff with the government over judicial appointments, the Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday recommended elevation of Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Aravind Kumar as Judges of the top court. Having a sanctioned strength of 34 Judges, the Supreme Court is functioning with 27 Judges and has “sev- FIVE NAMES ALREADY WITH GOVT SINCE DECEMBER en clear vacancies”. There were 69,768 pending cases in the top court as on January 1. The six-member Collegium led by CJI DY Chandrachud made the recommendation even as the Centre continued to sit over its earlier recommendation for the elevation of three High Court Chief Justices and two High Court Judges to the top court. The other members of the continued on page 8 On trail of illegal foreign funding, I-T sleuths raid 3 Punjab pastors Deepkamal Kaur and PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Jalandhar/Amritsar, Jan 31 The Income Tax Department on Tuesday conducted raids on Pentecostal churches at several places in Punjab in connection with alleged unaccounted foreign funding, illegal transfer of money and tax evasion. The premises were linked with pastors Bajinder Singh of Tajpur village (Jalandhar), Harpreet Deol of Khojewal village (Kapurthala) and Avtar Singh, alias Bittu Patakhiawala, of Kot Khalsa (Amritsar). The raids started simultaneously at the premis- ENGAGED IN ‘MIRACLE HEALING’, PRIESTS GETTING ‘HUGE DONATIONS’ An I-T team during a raid in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO es of all three pastors around 6 am. Deol runs The Open Door Church in Kapurthala. Bajin- der Singh is said to be associated with offshore centres in Dubai, Fiji and Mauritius, besides locally in New Chandigarh, Fazilka, Moga, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Amritsar in the name of The Church of Glory and Wisdom. Sources said Avtar Singh was a government teacher posted at Neshta village. He owns a palatial house at Kot Khalsa and another building located opposite to his house. He was reportedly associated with Bajinder. The department officials conducted raids in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Bathinda and other parts of continued on page 8 related reports inside Asaram gets life imprisonment in another rape case Ahmedabad, January 31 A court in Gandhinagar on Tuesday sentenced selfstyled godman Asaram to life term in a rape case filed by a former disciple in 2013 after the prosecution said he was a “habitual offender”. Additional Sessions Judge DK Soni also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Asaram, which would be paid as compensation to the victim. continued on page 8 2-yr-old APIs flood market, fear of spurious drugs looms Ambika Sharma Tribune News Service Solan, January 31 With the Union Health Ministry mandating a compulsory quick response (QR) code to check the sales of spurious drugs, the market has been flooded with pharmaceutical raw material manufactured RELABELLED STOCK? ■ It is feared old drug raw material may have been relabelled to escape mandatory QR coding ■ The usage of old inventory could lead to manu- facture of substandard drugs, say drug firms way back in 2021, triggering fears it could lead to the production of substandard med- icines. The raw material includes active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), excip- Today’s issue is of 16 pages, including four-page Jalandhar Tribune. ients and solvents. Drug manufacturers fear that leftover stock was being relabelled and sold in the garb of exhausting old inventory. As the quality of these components could not be vouched for, the final product could turn out to be substandard, continued on page 8 PRODUCTION INCENTIVES TO BOOST EMPLOYMENT UKRAINE, INTEREST RATE HIKE KEY THREATS generate employment leading to a fall in the urban unemployment rate and faster net addition in the Employees’ Provident Fund. But reflecting Sitharaman’s earlier complaint against the private sector, the survey wanted private capex to “take up the leadership” role and put job creation on a fast track. India maintained a decent growth rate also because of limited health and economic fallout of continued on page 9 Recovery from Covid complete, says CEA New Delhi, January 31 Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran on Tuesday said the recovery from the pandemic was complete and India was set to perform in this decade owing to the reforms unleashed by the government in the past eight years. “The recovery of the economy is complete; non-banking and corporate sectors now have healthy balance sheets; hence, we don’t have to speak of the pandemic recovery anymore, we have to look ahead to the next phase,” he said at a press conference after the presentation of the Economic Survey. “Reforms of the past eight years, spanning multiple dimensions, including digital, social and physical infrastructure, were happening even as banking clean-up was going on,” he said. The Economic Survey also made frequent mention of the reforms over the past eight years and noted that the Indian economy “appears to have moved on after its encounter with the pandemic, staging a full CORPORATES HAVE HEALTHY BOOKS Non-banking and corporate sectors now have healthy balance sheets; hence, we don’t have to speak of pandemic recovery anymore. ❝ V Anantha Nageswaran, CEA IMF EXPECTS SLOWDOWN WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said it was expecting some slowdown in the Indian economy next fiscal and projected the growth to 6.1% from 6.8% during the current fiscal ending March 31. PTI recovery in 2021-22 ahead of many nations and positioning itself to ascend to the prepandemic growth path in 2022-23”. The CEA pointed out that urban unemployment had come down to 7 per cent and the worker population ratio had picked up to 45 per cent. Credit growth was picking up across sectors and private investment in 10 sectors in the first half of 2022-23 continued on page 9 Adani FPO fully subscribed New Delhi, January 31 Adani Enterprises’ follow-on public offer (FPO) was fully subscribed on the last day mainly due to interest shown by non-institutional investors while retail investors were wary and qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) bought slightly less than the quota assigned to them. Non-institutional investors subscribed 3.26 times while retail individual investors subscribed just 0.11 times. Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) subscribed 0.97 times and shares reserved for employees subscribed 0.52 times. In total, the FPO was subscribed 1.02 times. Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC) saved the offer by announcing that it would take up 16% of the FPO. The company will invest Rs 3,200 crore continued on page 8 edit: hindenburg allegations