INDIAN EXPRESS

Growth estimate at 4-year low of 6.4% on weak manufacturing and investment

India's Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is seen growing at a four-year low of 6.4 per cent in the current financial year (2024-25), primarily due to weak industrial and investment growth, the first advance estimates for FY25 released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed. The GDP growth for FY25 is seen lower than both the growth estimate of the Reserve Bank of India (6.6 per cent) as well as the government (6.5-7 per cent growth in the Economic Survey 2023-24). The first advance estimates of GDP, obtained by extrapolation of data of the first seven-eight months of the ongoing financial year (FY25), are released early to help officers in the Union Ministry of Finance and other departments in framing the broad contours of Union Budget for the next financial year, which is to be presented in Parliament.

6,000 leaders from 75 nations to attend Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention

As many as 6,000 business leaders, philanthropists, academicians, economists, cultural proponents, philosophers and thought leaders will converge in Bhubaneswar from 75 countries over the next three days. The sessions will be focussed on seeking investments for India, and specifically for Odisha, which installed a BJP CM last year, wresting it from Naveen Patnaik's BJD. The last two editions of the convention were also held in BJP- ruled states-Madhya Pradesh (Indore) in 2023 and Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi) in 2021. As India marks 10 years of the Act East Policy, Odisha, given its vast coastline, well-developed ports and abundant natural resources offer huge economic opportunities to investors and business stakeholders in the ASEAN region and the Indo-Pacific, officials say. The state leads in mining, iron and steel manufacturing, marine economy, sports, skilling and even knowledge economy, Several Indian IT companies have established bases in Odisha.

GROWTH PANGS

The Indian Economy is expected to grow at 6.4 per cent in 2024-25 as per the first advance estimates released by the National Statistics Office. Considering that the economy grew at 6 percent in the first half for the year, these estimates imply that the momentum which had dipped in the second quarter - GDP growth had slumped to 5.4 percent is expected to pick up pace in the second half of the year, with growth likely to average around 6.7 percent. The NSO's estimate is marginally lower than the RBI's revised forecast. In the last monetary policy committee meeting, the central bank had lowered its growth estimate for the full year to 6.6 percent, pegging the economy to grow at 6.8 percent in the third quarter and 7.2 per cent in the fourth quarter. However, this latest estimate also implies that growth this year is likely to be 1.8 percentage points lower than the 8.2 per cent registered last year.

Let's trust our universities

The Indian higher education sector is overregulated and grossly underfunded. The New Education Policy (NEP) and the draft regulations titled "University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025" at least promise to bring in flexibility though the tighter governmental control has still been retained. The government plays a crucial role in the appointment of the VCs and the autonomy of the university is given scant regard. VCs in central universities are appointed by the President of India, the ex-officio visitor of all central universities, who generally acts on the advice of the Centre. However, according to the SC judgment in Dr Premachandran Keezhoth (2023), he acts purely as a statutory authority under a particular university Act and not as constitutional head of state. In state universities, appointments are made by the governor rarely on his own except in Opposition- ruled states.

AFTER TRUDEAU

For some time now, the departure of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been expected. Over the last several months, partners from within the ruling coalition as well as senior members of his Liberal Party have questioned his leadership and handling of key issues, including inflation and immigration. As far back as the pandemic, his record on the economy has been mixed at best. The immigration issue is more vexed: Canada needs, and has welcomed, migrants and refugees. However, like in the US, many in Canada contend that Trudeau has gone too far in making borders more open. With a slew of senior leaders resigning recently and with a general election slated for later this year, Trudeau's resignation this week may well have come too late for the Liberals to salvage their fortunes.

Atomic power equations

The US national Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's visit to India the last of his foreign visits as the top official of President Joe Biden's security establishment highlights three important features of the bilateral relationship. The policy instrument for this has been the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) that was unveiled by Sullivan and the Indian National Security Adviser in January 2023. The iCET has involved massive and detailed negotiations on a range of complicated issues and several difficult bureaucracies in Delhi and Washington. It will endure as an important legacy of the Biden years for India- US relations. Despite the non-proliferation challenge, Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi sought to find some common technological ground with the US during the 1980s. But the 1990s saw a strengthening of the non- proliferation controls against India. Atal Bihari Vajpayee's nuclear tests of May 1998 provided a new basis for India-US engagement and a big push to resolve the nuclear and related technological disputes. The breakthrough came with the India-US civil nuclear initiative that was negotiated between President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during 2005-08.

RBI asks credit bureaus, banks to pay ₹100 per day for delays in data updation

With customers facing inordinate delays in data updation by credit information companies (CICs) and credit institutions (Cls) like banks and finance companies, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed them that complainants should be given a compensation of Rs 100 per calendar day in case their complaint is not resolved within a period of 30 calendar days from the date of the initial filing of the complaint by a customer with a Cl or CIC. Further, CIC should inform the customers by email or SMS when their credit information is sought by a bank or NBFC and banks should inform customers when they are in default. Banks should pay compensation to the complainant if they have failed to send updated credit information to the CICs by making an appropriate correction or addition or otherwise within 21 calendar days of being informed by the complainant or a CIC, the RBI said.

Microsoft plans to invest $3 billion on AI, cloud infrastructure in India

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said that the company will invest $3 billion in India in cloud and artificial intelligence (Al) infrastructure and skilling over the next two years, including the establishment of new data centers. The company will also help train 10 million people over the next five years with Al skills in the country. MSR India has already initiated a collaboration with edtech firm Physics Wallah on math reasoning and is in ongoing discussions on topics such as causal inference, optimising Indic LLMs, prompt optimisation, and reinforcement learning.

e-Shram portal in 22 scheduled languages

Minister of Labour & Employment Mansukh Mandaviya launched multilingual functionality on the e-Shram portal to provide seamless access to various government schemes for unorganised workers. In line with the vision of making eShram a 'One-Stop-Solution', this portal will now be available in all 22 Scheduled Languages, a Labour Ministry statement said.

10.

Indonesia joins BRICS bloc as full member

Indonesia will formally join BRICS as a full member, Brazil's government said, further expanding the group of major emerging economies that also includes Russia, India, China and South Africa. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous nation, had previously expressed its desire to join the group to further the interests of the Global South. Brazil noted that Jakarta's bid got the green light from the bloc in 2023 but the Southeast Asian country asked to join following the presidential election held last year.

11.

Earth's water cycle, and how climate change is impacting it

Climate change has been "wreaking havoc" on Earth's water cycle by disrupting how water circulates between the ground, oceans and atmosphere, according to a new report. This has led to extreme precipitation, ferocious floods and droughts, which affected billions of people across the world in 2024. The report, '2024 Global Water Monitor Report', was produced by an international team of researchers from universities in Australia, Saudi Arabia, China, Germany, and elsewhere. For their analysis, the researchers used data from ground stations and satellites to access water variables such as soil moisture, rainfall etc. The water cycle is the constant movement of water in all its phases - solid, liquid and gas - on the ground, inside the ground and in the atmosphere. The water cycle involves water evaporating from the ground and sea, and eventually returning to Earth as rain or snow. Climate change has intensified this cycle as air temperatures soar, more water evaporates into the air.

12.

What GDP estimates show

The Government on released "First Advance Estimates" (FAEs) of India's GDP growth in 2024-25. Advance Estimates are essentially a forecast of what the government expects India's economic output to be at the end of the financial year in March. These estimates are made by extrapolating available data and past trends. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which released the estimates, India's nominal GDP is expected to be Rs 324 lakh crore by March- end. This is a growth of 9.7% over the last financial year. The nominal GDP is used to arrive at the US dollar equivalent figure for the size of the Indian economy. At an exchange rate of 85 rupees to a dollar, India's GDP in 2024-25 (FY25) will be $3.8 trillion.

13.

HAL's ALH, and concerns over the chopper

An indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Mark-III of the Indian Coast Guard crashed in Porbandar during a training sortie, killing all three persons on board. Military aviation veterans have expressed concern over the safety record of the helicopter, designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), and sought independent inquiries into the crashes. Each of the crashes has been followed by safety audits and temporary groundings to carry out detailed inspections. Following Sunday's crash, the entire fleet of around 300 ALH helicopters has been grounded for checks. Issues identified in the past include design flaws, particularly with the booster control rods, which could affect control over the chopper. HAL had initiated a replacement program, installing more durable steel rods in newer ALH models.

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