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 bhubaneswar l wednesday l february 01, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l jeypore 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 i pak 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 SH R U TI 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 Naba Das murder: Jharsuguda SP shifted, Oppn piles on govt misery A s i s h M e h ta @ Bhubaneswar WITH conspiracy theories abounding and state police still groping in the dark, the Odisha government on Tuesday transferred two officers, including Jharsuguda SP Rahul Jain, from the district in an attempt to quieten the growing political clamour over Naba Kishore Das’ gruesome murder. Jain as well as sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Gupteswar Bhoi were was shifted to state police headquarters. Bargarh SP Parmar Smit Parshottamdas will take charge of Jharsuguda. Meanwhile, attack on the BJD government continued to mount as the Opposition parties rejected the Crime Branch probe and all the theories of mental illness of the accused policeman Gopal We visited Brajrajnagar police station and the outpost. None of his colleagues have ever witnessed him displaying unruly behaviour A senior police official Das. Congress has been seeking Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s resignation while BJP has demanded a CBI probe into the minister’s daylight murder notwithstanding the state government’s request to Orissa High Court for court-monitoring of the CB probe. Given the immense clout that Naba Das enjoyed and the business interests he had in the region, a barrage of questions over personal and political reasons behind his death continued to be hurled by the Opposition on the day. That the investigating agency has not been able to clearly articulate the motive behind the murder did not help the government’s growing discomfort. Leader of O p p o s i t i o n Jay n a r aya n Mishra even called it a “preplanned’ murder” and alleged that Naba Das had succumbed to the gunshot injury at Brajrajnagar itself on Sunday. Meanwhile, the accused policeman Gopal was remanded in CB custody for four days starting Wednesday. His family members and personal security of ficer (PSO) of Naba Das were also quizzed by the agency. The shocking incident has also brought to fore gaping holes in the security of the former minister who was provided Y level security consisting of two Continued on P5 PSOs. 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. Vizag to be AP capital: Jagan P r e e t h a N a i r @ 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’ Summit-2023. 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.