Ex-law minister Shanti Bhushan passes away Former Union law minister and eminent jurist Shanti Bhushan passed away on Tuesday in Delhi following a brief illness. He was 97. Bhushan was law minister from 1977 to 1979 in the Morarji Desai cabinet. His two sons Jayant and Prashant Bhushan are leading lawyers. Bhushan had last year argued on a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the Rafale deal | PTI madurai l wednesday l february 01, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION 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 Growth to slow, India still fastest growing economy Economic Survey 2022-23 bullish on private investments picking up; CEA says the global slowdown could actually work in favour of India FINE PRINT GDP growth to slow to 6.5% in FY24 from 7% this fiscal, but India will remain the fastest growing economy in the world Growth in FY23 has been led by private consumption and capital formation Gross tax revenues touched 65% of Budget estimates at `17.81 lakh crore in first eight months of the current fiscal, propelled by corporate and personal income tax mop-up RBI’s projection of retail inflation at 6.8% in FY23 is neither too high to deter private consumption, nor so low to weaken investments Rupee to remain under pressure due to muted exports growth and widening current account deficit Domestic coal production to soar to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2030, will replace imports Survey calls for entirely dismantling licensing, inspection and compliance regime, and a host of other reforms to accelerate economic growth to sustained higher levels It suggests simpler tax rules to lure Indian-owned startups abroad to shift to India D ipak M o nda l @ New Delhi INDIA’s GDP could grow at 6.5% in FY24 despite a slowing global economy thanks to the reforms undertaken by the Narendra Modi government in the past eight years, the Economic Survey 2022-23 tabled in Parliament on Tuesday said. “The growth in the upcoming year will be supported by solid domestic demand and a pickup in capital investment,” the survey said with a caveat that tighter monetary policy globally and subdued exports might hamper the projections. Unlike last year when 8-8.5% growth was projected, this year’s survey showed less conviction on growth. It pegged real GDP growth in the range of 6-6.8% depending on the trajectory of economic and political developments globally . The survey report is bullish on private capital expenditure picking up thanks to cleaning up of the private sector balance sheet. It said the financial sector stress seen in the previous decade — rising bad loans, low credit uptake and falling private investments — is now behind us. Private investment, according to the survey report, has been aided by the government capex which increased 2.7 times in the past seven years. The capex thrust of the government was part of a strategic package aimed at crowding-in private investment, it noted. Chief Economic Advisor to the government Dr V Anantha Nageswaran told reporters that capital investment by the private sector is beginning to kick in despite several shocks coming one after another. “Once the shocks dissipate, I expect India’s credit and capex cycle to gather more steam than what they have today,” he added. According to the CEA, the recessionary pressures worldwide could prove beneficial for the country as global commodity prices, especially crude oil, would remain at moderate levels. He says that as long as crude oil prices remain below $100 a barrel, it won’t hit India’s growth prospects. While talking about structural reforms such as the GST rollout and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code undertaken over the past eight years, the survey also sets the agenda for next round of reforms – administrative reforms, contract enforcement, dismantling licence, inspection & compliance, access to clean energy and energy security among others. , Adultery law applies for armed forces, clarifies SC S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Tuesday clarified that its 2018 verdict that had decriminalised adultery will not apply to court martial proceedings initiated against armed forces personnel for their adulterous conduct. A five-judge Constitution bench led by Justice K M Joseph said the court’s ruling in the Joseph Shine case was not at all concerned with the provisions of the Armed Forces Act, Navy Act and Air Force Act. In 2018, a Constitution bench had struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, declaring it to be unconstitutional and violative of the right to equality of women in treating them as “chattel” (an item of property) and inferior to their husbands. Section 497 had made adultery an offence only with respect to a man, who has a rela- tionship with the wife of someone else. While issuing the clarification, the bench also comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar said, in the Joseph Shine ruling, “this court was neither called upon nor has it ventured to pronounce on the ef- Simple case of military discipline: Centre “It is not about Victorian morality, mine is a simple case of military discipline, operational efficiency for the armed forces,” Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, appearing for the Centre, submitted fect of section 45 and 63 of the Army Act and corresponding provisions of the other Act.” The court’s order came on the Ministry of Defence’s plea seeking to exempt armed forces personnel from the ambit of the Shine ruling. It was argued that action against adultery was necessary to ensure that the officers who are serving in far flung areas away from their families do not feel insecure or dispirited. It added that discipline in the military would be eroded if the high moral values of of the officers is diluted. Chaos rules ‘Pen’ statue public hearing Vizag to be AP as BJP, NTK oppose DMK’s pet project capital: Jagan S V K R I S H N A C H A I TA N YA @ Chennai The public hearing for the ‘Pen Monument’ proposed to be set up in memory of former chief minister M Karunanidhi inside the sea off the Marina beach was marred by heated arguments between the cadre of different political parties. The hearing that began at 10.30 am turned chaotic when a few members from the BJP, NTK, and a few fishermen’s associations affiliated to these parties, opposed the DMK’s pet project. The hearing was held by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) at Kalaivanar Arangam as part of the statutory process under Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification. Over 1,500 people attended the hearing, which was chaired by collector S Amirtha Jothi and TNPCB member secretary R Kannan. Within minutes after the officials and project consultant explained the mounment’s features, ruckus broke out. The initial few, who began express- ing their opinion on the stage, were affiliated with DMK and wanted the monument to be constructed without any hindrance. One person identified as Perumal claimed he would take his life, if the monument was not built. VP Mani, president of a vendor association, wanted Marina beach to be named after Kalaignar. The members of other parties, activists and fisher groups, who opposed the project, accused authorities of being hand-in-glove with DMK.  P4 express read TN plans vehicle scrapping centres Chennai: The TN transport department has proposed to set up a series of registered vehicle scrapping facilities across the state as the deadline for de-registering government vehicles approaches. With new rules from April 1, heavy vehicles will need to seek FC from automated testing stations | P4 Adoor quits Kerala’s film institute Thiruvananthapuram: Renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan on Tuesday resigned as chairman of the K R Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, days after its director Shankar Mohan quit over complaints of caste discrimination against him by a section of students and staff | P5 P r e e tha N air @ New Delhi In a new twist to the nine-year old Andhra Pradesh capital saga, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday announced that Visakhapatnam will be the new capital of the state. He was speaking here during the International Diplomatic Alliance Meet, the preparatory meeting for the Global Investors’ Summit2023. He added that he will shift to Vizag in a few months. The announcement came at a time when the Supreme Court has stayed a high court order directing the State government to develop Amaravati capital region in six months. It indicates Jagan’s determination to go ahead with his three capital idea.