01012025-TTC-03.qxd 2/1/2025 12:50 AM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL.9 NO. 31 | 20 PAGES | ~7.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881 SUNITA WILLIAMS BREAKS SPACEWALK RECORD WORLD /thetribunechd TWO MILITANTS SHOT DEAD, ARMS RECOVERED J&K THE STORYTELLER: THIS IS HOW YOU TELL A STORY REVIEW TENDULKAR TO GET BCCI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD SPORT saturday | 1 february 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Fundamentals strong: Economic Survey pegs GDP growth at 6.3-6.8% next fiscal No bid to ignite fire from abroad this Parliament session: PM’s jibe at Oppn Stresses need to grow at 8% for up to two decades to be ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047 New Delhi, January 31 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took a swipe at the Opposition saying this was the first time since 2014 that no attempt had been made to ignite a fire on the eve of a Parliament session. Vijay C Roy GROWTH DRIVERS Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 31 The economy is likely to grow at 6.3 to 6.8 per cent in 2025-26 on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals, although strategic and prudent policy management will be required to navigate global headwinds, said the Economic Survey tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Friday. However, the GDP growth rate is estimated to slip to fouryear low of 6.4 per cent in the current financial year ending March 2025, close to its decadal average. The key pre-Budget document emphasised that the country needed to grow at 8 per cent for up to two decades to become a developed nation or “Viksit Bharat” by 2047. The survey displayed steady economic growth, despite global headwinds. According to it, the overall picture was encouraging. “The agriculture sector remains strong, consistently operating well above trend levels. The industrial sector has also found its footing above the pre-pandemic trajectory. The robust rate of Arvinder Pal Kaur joins as Punjabi Tribune Editor Chandigarh, January31 Arvinder Pal Kaur took over as Editor of Punjabi Tribune on Friday. She has been serving as Officiating Editor of the newspaper since January 2024. She has the distinction of being the first woman Editor of the newspaper. She joined as trainee subeditor in 1988 after having completed her post-graduation in Punjabi and Journalism and Mass Communication from Punjabi University, Patiala. In her career spanning 36 years, she has worked in various capacities, including News Editor. Arvinder has translated into Punjabi language two books written by eminent journalist Kuldeep Nayar — autobiography ‘Beyond the Lines’ (‘Ajoke Bharat di Unkahi Dastan’) and ‘Scoop’ (‘Khas Khabar’), besides RAW chief AS Dulat’s book ‘Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years’ (‘Kashmir di Dastan’). She has also translated the biography of actor Om Puri, ‘Unlikely Hero: Om Puri’ (‘Zindagi da Nayak: Om Puri’), written by his wife Nandita C Puri. — TNS ■ Deregulation for growth of MSMEs ■ Augmenting internal capacities ■ Private sector to play key role ■ Energy transition to cut costs ■ Increase in rural demand CHALLENGES AHEAD ■ Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas wars ■ Rising incidents of cybercrime ■ Geopolitical risks around policies guiding global trade ■ Increasing commodity prices Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Economic Survey in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament on Friday. PTI ■ Slow job creation, high power tariff Economic GLOBALISATION THING OF PAST ❝ We will have to rely on domestic growth drivers as the era of globalisation, faster and larger movement of trade and goods and services is behind us. Survey 2024-25 NEED TO STRICTLY REGULATE ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS ‘UNTAPPED’ POTENTIAL IN AGRI, POLICY SHIFT A MUST V Anantha Nageswaran, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER growth in the recent years has taken the services sector close to its trend levels,” it said. The survey cited strong domestic economic fundamentals, a declining unemployment rate, stable inflation and the need for further reforms to RELATED REPORTS INSIDE sustain growth momentum. “The fundamentals of the domestic economy remain robust, with a strong external account, calibrated fiscal consolidation and stable private consumption. On balance of these considerations, we Meant ammonia as poison: Kejri to EC expect that the growth in FY26 would be between 6.3 and 6.8 per cent,” the survey stated. The survey stated that the manufacturing sector faced pressures due to weak global continued on page 8 edit: sobering survey Ujwal Jalali Pradeep Sharma New Delhi, January 31 Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday submitted his reply to the Election Commission (EC) regarding his “Yamuna poisoning” charge against the Haryana Government, saying his remarks were in context with the “unprecedented high levels of ammonia in the river water”. In his six-page reply addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Kejriwal also accused Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini of hatching a “conspiracy” to “influence” the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections by sending highly-polluted water to the national capital. Accompanied by Delhi and Punjab CMs Atishi and Bhagwant Mann, the AAP convener submitted his reply to EC officials over the poll panel’s notice to him in the matter. The AAP leaders also carried three bottles of ammoniamixed water to drive home their point. In his reply, Kejriwal said the “poison” found continued on page 8 New Delhi, January 31 The Economic Survey waded into the work-hour debate and emphasised that a work week exceeding 60 hours could undermine health. Individuals who spent 12 or more hours per day at desk had distressed or struggling levels of mental well-being, said the survey at a time when top corporate leaders, including Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, were asking the youth to work 70 hours a week to improve the country’s productivity. Likewise, SN Subrahmanyan, chairman of Larsen & Toubro, had recently invited wrath for asking his employees, “How long can you stare at your wife?” He was stressing longer work hours and no off even on Sundays. The survey suggested a sustainable work schedule, citing a study that had documented adverse health effects when hours exceeded 5560 per week. — TNS Get off copter to know people’s pain: Vij’s fresh swipe at Saini Tribune News Service Calls 60-hr-plus work week harmful for mental well-being Tribune News Service Haryana CM Saini shows water sample taken from the Yamuna. DIRTY POLITICS supply ❝ Webut Delhiclean water, polluting it… Kejriwal resorting to cheap politics to cover his failures. Nayab Saini, HARYANA CM 7 AAP MLAs QUIT In a setback for AAP, seven of its outgoing MLAs resigned from the party on Friday, with only five days to go for the Delhi Assembly polls. Sources said these MLAs were disgruntled after being denied ticket for the February 5 polls and were in touch with other parties. Chandigarh, January 31 Senior Haryana Minister Anil Vij today left the BJP-led government red-faced yet again by launching an attack on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, saying he had been travelling in his “udan khatola” (helicopter) ever since he assumed office. BJP shifts Ambala DC in bid to placate minister “Our CM has been on a helicopter since the day he became the CM. He will come to know about people’s pain only after he gets out of the helicopter. This is not just my voice, but that of all MLAs, MPs and ministers as well,” the seven-time BJP MLA alleged. Vij’s fresh attack comes close on the heels of his threat to go on a fastunto-death, on the lines of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, over alleged non-compliance of his orders by government officials. continued on page 8 Doors & fans under surveillance, CCTV cameras at tehsils in Punjab lose focus Rajmeet Singh Tribune News Service Chandigarh, January 31 With the government directing officials to capture CCTV footage of public dealings to check illegal practices during property registration, staff at sub-registrar/joint registrar offices have found a way to hoodwink the system by focusing the cameras on ceiling fans or doors. This was witnessed at the sub-registrar offices in Khadoor Sahib, Rajpura, Were installed to check illegal practices 720 CAMERAS AT 180 OFFICES In 2023, as many as 720 CCTV cameras were installed at a cost of ~2 crore to provide real-time access of public dealings at 180 offices of sub-registrars Kharar and Ludhiana. Instead of focusing CCTV cameras on the sub-registrar office, room of the registry clerks and public waiting areas, these were found either pointing towards the ceiling fan or towards the door, said sources. Only the cameras in Patiala, Mansa and Mohali were found focused on the designated spots, said the sources. A week ago. revenue officials were pulled up after CCTV cameras were found non-functional at 177 of the 180 sub-registrar/joint registrar offices across the state. Though the cameras at 160 locations have become functional, these are not focused on the right places in some offices. Additional Chief Secretary (Revenue) Anurag Verma on Friday wrote to the Deputy Commissioners to ensure the cameras were functional and focused on the designated areas. A random check by the ACS (Revenue) had found continued on page 8 c m y b Tribune News Service Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi with party MPs Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at Parliament. ANI Sonia takes ‘poor thing’ dig at Murmu; in bad taste, says Prez House Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 31 The Rashtrapati Bhavan today issued a rare rebuttal over senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s on-camera remarks addressing President Droupadi Murmu as a “poor thing”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the remarks as a “full display of arrogance of the Congress’ first family”. Sonia, chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, responding after Murmu’s address, was caught on video cameras, saying, “Poor lady, the President was getting very tired by the end. No... she could hardly speak, poor COULD HARDLY SPEAK Poor lady, the President was getting very tired by the end. No... she could hardly speak, poor thing. Sonia Gandhi LOWERS DIGNITY Comments clearly hurt the dignity of the high office and, therefore, are unacceptable. Rashtrapati Bhavan ❝ ❝ PREZ BACKS ‘1 NATION, 1 POLL’, CHANGES TO WAQF BACK PAGE thing.” Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was heard telling his continued on page 8 Prime Minister Narendra Modi In his customary address at the start of a session, the PM also expressed confidence that the first full Budget of the BJP-led NDA-3 would inspire new confidence and power the goal of Viksit Bharat. “Perhaps since 2014, this is the first session of Parliament in which there has been no foreign spark a day or two before the session, there has been no attempt to ignite a fire from abroad,” he said. “I have been observing for 10 years, since 2014, that before every session people used to sit ready to create continued on page 8