I need a few more days to realise what just happened. Oh my god, I’m speechless, to be honest - Aryna Sabalenka kollam l Sunday l january 29, 2023 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city edition sabalenka lights up melbourne ‘aryna’ the belarusian roars back in final Aryna Sabalenka beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at Australian Open on Saturday Hard work pays off The 24-year-old from Belarus dropped her first set of 2023 in the final but roared back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Sabalenka has now won all 11 matches she has contested this season. Big-serving Rybakina is the latest to succumb to her power game and new-found mental strength. It is in stark contrast to a year ago when Sabalenka’s serve and nerves were her biggest enemies ■ Sabalenka hit an astonishing 51 winners and 17 aces in 2 and 1/2 hours of gruelling tennis. She now has 4-0 record against Rybakina ■ The men’s final will be played between Novak Djokovic of Serbia (chasing his 22nd Slam title) and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (yet to win a Major). Djokovic has never lost an Australian Open final | P11 No. 2 Sabalenka will now rise to second in the world rankings CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Big outlay for capital spend in TNSE shadow budget S u n i t h a N at t i There are budget wish lists. There are sectoral spending estimates. Then there are income and expenditure projections with achingly specific detail on fiscal deficit. But few venture on a complex, national accounting exercise, which looks and talks exactly like a union budget. In a first, this newspaper gave it a shot. The Shadow Budget 2024 explored if there are any different and efficient ways of maximising income and expenditure. Turns out, there aren’t many . Anil K Sood, Founder, Institute for Advanced Studies in Complex Choices, an economic research firm, painstakingly punched in the numbers and proposed, what he calls, a business-as-usual budget for FY24. Sood’s sums include an exhaustive account of revenue and spending, broken down all the way to department-wise revenue and capital expenditure allocations, alongside the receipts budget comprising tax, non-tax revenue and debt and capital receipts. Given the uncertain global conditions, he pegged real GDP growth at a conservative 6% in FY24. In all, expenditure budget was set at `45.67 lakh crore, an increase of 11.1% over FY23’s revised estimates of `41 lakh crore, up from the budget estimate of `39 lakh crore. As a percentage of GDP, FY24 expenditure stood at 15.2%. Gross tax revenue will likely increase by 13.1% at `34.40 lakh crore. He proposed no changes to personal income taxes but expects FY24 budget to tinker with the long-term capital gains tax. Within indirect taxes, GST 1 IAF pilot dead, 2 safe as Sukhoi, Mirage jets crash Mid-air collision angle during operational training being investigated An u r a a g S i n g h @ Bhopal Two front-ranking combat fighter jets of the Indian Air Force — a Mirage-2000 and a Sukhoi Su-30 — crashed in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday morning. Confusion persisted over whether there was a midair collision between the Russian-designed Sukhoi Su-30 and French Mirage-2000. IAF officials merely said the two fighters were on a routine operational training mission. A pilot identified as Wg Cdr Hanumanth Rao Sarathi (flying the Mirage-2000) died in the accident. The two other pilots (flying the Sukhoi Su-30) ejected safely and were flown away by an IAF helicopter for medical treatment. The SU-30MKI is a twin-seater combat jet, while the Mirage 2000, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, is single-seater. Villagers said the body parts of the dead pilot were scattered in a large area, where the debris of the Mirage-2000 he was flying was also found. Local villa g e sar panch Shailendra Shak ya said: “Flashes of fire were seen in one of the aircraft’s rear portions, after a boom. While one of the planes which had caught fire was seen nosediving into the Pahargarh forests, the other aircraft glided towards the forest area of adjoining Rajasthan. We also saw two pilots descending with their parachutes. We spotted them on the ground 15-20 minutes later.” While the two IAF fighters crashed in Manpur village of Pahargarh forest area in Morena district of MP’s GwaliorChambal region, the major portion of the Sukhoi was strewn in the Pingora area of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. Morena district collector Ankit Asthana said both aircraft crashed in Morena district’s territory but since the ejection , of the pilots happened safely from the Su-30 aircraft at a high altitude, both landed safely in Morena, while their aircraft crashed into the jungles of Bharatpur in Rajasthan. The IAF has ordered an inquiry . Mughal Gardens is Amrit Udyan Cash-for-verdict New Delhi: The scam: Probe sought iconic Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhavan will now be known as ‘Amrit Udyan’, which would be opened open for public from January 31, an official statement issued on Saturday said. Muslims in India have more religious freedom: Sunni leader chairman C Muhammad Faizi said the community itself is, by and large, reReligious freedom enjoyed by Mus- sponsible for the several misunderstandlims in India cannot be experienced in ings. “There is no point in criticising the any Muslim country, including government or other organisaSaudi Arabia, said Ponmala Abtions. The community should dul Qadir Musaliyar, leader of correct itself wherever it is the Kanthapuram faction of the needed,” he said. Sunnis. Speaking at the Golden Inaugurating the conference, Fifty programme of the Sunni Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Students Federation (SSF) in Musliyar said secularism should Kozhikode on Saturday, he said be protected for the peace and there is no Arab country where progress of the country. “Stu“we can carry out organisationdents and youth should work to There is no Arab create a positive environment in al activities like in India.” country where “There is no hindrance for our the country. Terrorism and exorganisation’s activities at all we can carry out tremism are not the solution to organisational levels in the country But that is . anything,” he said. activities like not the case in countries like Instead of such subversive acin India Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Bahtivities, the country demands Ponmala Abdul rain,” said Musaliyar, who is educational revolution from stuQadir Musaliyar secretary of the Samastha facdents. The Sunni ideals are tion of the Samastha Kerala against extremism, he said. Jem-Iyyathul Ulama. Citing his experiSSF state president K Y Nizamuddin ence in the UAE, he said there are re- Faizi presided over the event. Kanstrictions for religious activities in those thapuram released the new issue of ‘Riscountries. ala Weekly’ by handing it over to former In his address, Kerala Haj Committee Karnataka minister U T Khader. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kozhikode Budget at a glance (In crore rupees) FY23 BE categories Total Expenditure Total Receipts Revenue receipts Net tax revenue B orrowings and other Liabilities/Fiscal deficit Primary deficit What’s a shadow budget FY23 SBE FY24 SBE 39,44,909 39,44,909 22,04,422 19,34,771 41,12,597 41,12,597 23,47,280 20,63,662 45,67,959 45,67,959 26,91,670 23,70,367 11.1  15.07 16,61,196 7,77,298 17,03,110 7,20,545 17,85,353 7,52,214 4.8  FY24 SBE  FY24 SBE % growth  % of GDP 11.1  15.07 14.7  8.8 14.9  7.82 5.9 4.5  2.39 Prevalent in countries like the UK. Presented by the opposition, involving economists, think tanks, academics and civilians, it offers an alternative take on spending and revenue raising measures China focus of Indian N-arms: Report M aya n k S i n g h @ New Delhi India is gradually reorienting its nuclear deterrence posture and widening its focus from Pakistan to China, according to a research paper published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It claims India is strengthening its nuclear triad and will increase its production of weapons-grade plutonium required to produce nuclear warheads. The paper jointly written by Hans M Kristensen and Matt Korda titled ‘Indian nuclear weapons, 2022’ says while In- Burning debris of a fighter jet that crashed in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena district | PTI EXPRESS READ Kochi: Following a preliminary probe into allegations against HC lawyer Saiby Jose Kidangoor, Kochi city police have filed a report with the state DGP seeking a detailed probe. Saiby is accused of collecting large amounts of money from clients purportedly to bribe judges for favourable verdicts. P4 will likely retain its star performance with a 14.3% growth, while customs and excise duties together will likely fetch a handsome `5.7 lakh crore revenue. Still, borrowings are estimated to jump 4.8% to `17.85 lakh crore, while fiscal deficit is pegged at 5.9% in FY24. A similar 50-60 bps deficit correction next two years should help meet the 4.5% target by FY26. Subsidy outgo will likely moderate at `4.25 lakh crore, or 1.4% of GDP, while capital expenditure is expected to increase by a neat 13.3%. At `8.15 lakh crore, it accounts for 2.67% P10 of GDP  . ‘Only Shashi Tharoor can save Congress’ p4 Won’t cheat people for ministership, says Ganesh E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Putting the LDF government in a fix, Kerala Congress(B) leader K B Ganesh Kumar has once again come out against it, alleging lack of healthy discussions within the front, including on development policy. He also demanded that the government should openly speak about the state’s economic situation to the people. The Pathanapuram MLA made the rem a rk s a m i d speculation that his future ministership in the LDF cabinet is hanging in the balance. At the LDF parliamentary party meeting earlier this month, Ganesh had criticised Public Works minister P A Mohamed Riyas and Education Minister V Sivankutty over the lapses in according administrative sanction to various projects and works. However, this time Ganesh opted for an open platform to criticise the government and the Left front. “I won’t cheat my party leaders or the people for ministership or any other status,” he told a press conference after the party state committee meeting on Saturday ● More on P5 . dia’s primary deterrence relationship is with Pakistan, its nuclear modernisation indicates it is putting increased emphasis on its future strategic relationship with China. “Nearly all of India’s new Agni missiles have ranges that suggest China is their primary target. This posture is likely to have been reinforced after the 2017 Doklam standoff,” it said. The expansion of India’s nuclear forces against a militarily superior China (in terms of both conventional and nuclear forces) will result in significant new capabilities being deployed over the next decade, the research paper said. “This development could potentially also influence how India views the role of its nuclear weapons against Pakistan,” it added. Quoting an analyst, it said, “we may be witnessing what I call a ‘decoupling’ of Indian nuclear strategy between China and Pakistan. The force requirements India needs in order to credibly threaten assured retaliation against China may allow it to pursue more aggressive strategies — such as escalation dominance or a ‘splendid first strike’ — against Pakistan.” WITH THIS ISSUE By the Book PLUS 12 PAGES