kochi l saturday l february 01, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION brace for an unusually hot february with little rain: imd Most parts of India are expected to experience above-normal temperatures and below-normal rainfall in February, the IMD said on Friday impact on crops and advisory for farmers 4.5 mm rain in january cause for concern The hot and dry weather conditions may cause premature bud break and early flowering in apple and stone fruits. Wheat crops at the flowering and grain filling stages may experience significant adverse impacts, while mustard and chickpea are likely to experience early maturity. The IMD advised farmers to use intermittent light irrigation to prevent crop loss ■ ■ The country’s mean temperature in January was 18.98 degree Celsius, the third highest for the month in more than a 100 years India received an average of 4.5 mm of rainfall in January, making it the fourth lowest since 1901 and the third lowest since 2001, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday | P9 1901 january 2025 was the third warmest in 124 years 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 CHALLENGES Geopolitical, trade uncertainties, and commodity price shocks could upset growth projections STATE OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY GROWTH FY25 INFLATION Real GDP projected to grow by 6.4% Retail inflation softened from 5.4% in FY24 to 4.9% in April–December 2024 Agriculture and services pushed growth in first half of FY25 FY26 India to grow in the range of 6.3% and 6.8%. If exports pick up, add another 0.5% to 1% growth However, food inflation shot up from 7.5% in FY24 to 8.4% in FY25 (April-December) at 8% 20 2047 India needs to growby 2047.forAlso,years to become a developed nation investment goal rate must rise to 35% of GDP, up from 31% now Overall, the risk to inflation from increases in commodity prices seems limited in FY26 Economic Survey 2024-25 ‘Getting out of the way’ and allowing businesses to focus on their core mission is a significant contribution that governments around the country can make to foster innovation and enhance competitiveness V Anantha Nageswaran, CEA Get out of the way of growth, says Survey The ‘business as usual’ attitude will lead to growth stagnation, warns document D I PA K M O N D A L @ New Delhi INDIA’s economy is powering down due to multiple factors—both domestic and global—and the ‘business as usual’ approach would only lead to growth stagnation. This is the clear message from the Economic Survey 2024-25, tabled in Parliament on Friday . Presented a day before the Budget, the Survey illustrates the challenges India has to surmount to meet the ambitious target of becoming a developed nation by 2047. To realise the Viksit Bharat dream, the country needs to grow at a high rate of 8% for the next two decades— a challenging task given that the growth forecasts for FY25 and FY26 are less than 7%. The Survey expects FY26 growth to be within a range of 6.3% and 6.8%, which is in line with the prediction of many national and international agencies. “To achieve the target of Viksit Bharat by 2047, India needs to grow at a nominal rate of 10% in dollar terms,” Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said in a press briefing on Friday . India’s message to Trump: De-dollarisation not our policy Jayan t h Ja c o b @ New Delhi INDIA on Friday reaffirmed that de-dollarisation is neither its policy nor strategy, after President Donald T r ump warned BRICS nations against replacing the US dollar as a reserve currency, reiterating his threat of 100% tariffs. “On de-dollarisation, External Affairs Minister has made it clear that we don’t have any policy or strategy in this regard,” Exter nal Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. Trump had posted on Truth Social on Thursday: “We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor back , any other currency to replace the US dollar or, they will face 100% tariffs.” BRICS group of countries including India, China and Russia account for 40 per cent of global population and an estimated one-third of global GDP . Although the BRICS countries have explored the idea of an alternative currency, the idea remains far from realisation as they lack a common market or unified trade policy . 18 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express Real income in FY24 less than FY18 levels The real monthly income of male salaried workers was 6.4% lower in FY24 compared to FY18, the Economic Survey said quoting Periodic Labour Force Survey data. For female workers, the inflation-adjusted monthly income was 12.5% lower in FY24 Long work, junk food may hit mental health Cautioning against putting in long work hours, the Survey flags the adverse health effects. It says people who spend 12 hours at desk have struggling levels of mental well-being. The Survey also notes that individuals who rarely consume ultra-processed or packaged junk food have better mental well-being than those who regularly do The Survey calls for an overhaul in approach to achieve the target. Its prescription for growth includes deregulation, augmenting internal capabilities, and shedding the businessas-usual approach. It advocates the need to improve India’s global competitiveness through grassroots-level structural reforms and deregulation. The Survey which had last year ad, vocated for better collaboration with China for giving a boost to the manufacturing sector, sings a different tune this year as it identifies the neighbouring country posing the ‘single-source concentration risk’. It says India depends on China for several products, which exposes it to potential supply chain disruptions, price fluctuations and currency risks. Wading into the debate over long working hours, the Survey warns companies against making their employees spend long hours at work. “Individuals who spend 12 or more hours at a desk have distressed/ struggling levels of mental well-being, with a mental well-being score approximately 100 points lower than those who spend less than or equal to two hours at a desk,” it says citing the Sapien Labs Centre for the Human Brain and Mind study . Like in the previous year, the Survey has once again red-flagged excessive financialisation of the Indian P2, 12 economy  . ED arrests 4 Tamil Nadu natives linked to Chinese bogus loan apps E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kochi Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths have arrested four Tamil Nadu natives over their links to China-based bogus loan apps, after a probe revealed the shell companies operated by them transferred over `170 crore to their Chinese operators via Singapore since 2023. The money swindled from victims of the bogus apps from across the country was sent through hawala networks and as cryptocurrency the sleuths said. , The arrested persons are Daniel Shivakumar, 37, director of Xoduz Solution in Jawahar Nagar, Chennai; Kathiravan Ravi, 42, director of Future Vision Media Solutions in Mudichur, Kancheepuram; Anto Paul Prakash, 32, proprietor of Global Exposition and Infomedia Solution in Alandur, Kancheepuram; and Allen Samuel, 29, director of Aprikiwi Solutions in Alandur, Kancheepuram. “One of the shell companies received `115 crore in its bank account, of which `110 crore was transferred to another account in Mumbai, and later sent to Singapore. Another shell company received around `58 crore, of which `50 crore was channelled to China and Sin● More on P4 gapore,” said a source. men lead in hospitalisation Kerala women over 30 report higher illness rates Unnik r i s h nan S @T’Puram Women in Kerala report higher illness rates than men after the age of 30, a new report from the Department of Economics and Statistics has revealed. The data is in surprising contrast to common perception that men typically face higher morbidity rates as they age while women are often more resilient biologically . Going by the findings, the percentage of women reporting illnesses jumps by 4 percentage points once they surpass this age, while the disparity between men and women remains around 2 percentage points from age 45 and above. Notably men over 60 are less likely to , report ailments. The study, ‘Report on Household Social Consumption: Health’, draws on data from the 75th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) Socio-Economic Survey conducted from July 2017 to June 2018. However, inpatient data indicates an opposite trend: men aged 45 and above are more likely to be hospitalised than women counterparts, with the gap reaching nearly 9,000 additional male admissions after age 70. Health experts say the observed higher reporting of illness among women may stem from their increased likelihood of consulting healthcare pro● More on P4 viders.  First time in 10 yrs, no foreign bid to stoke pre-session row, says PM Modi r a j e s h k u ma r t h ak u r @ New Delhi Sonia’s remark on Prez sparks controversy In a rather sharp remark, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that for the first time since 2014, no foreign attempts were made this year to stoke trouble before the start of a Parliament session. He was R A JESH K U M A R TH A K UR and P r e e t h a N ai r @ New Delhi speaking to journalists ahead of the start of the Budget session on the premises of Parliament. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s comments about “Shayad 2014 se lekar ab tak, ye pehla Parliament ka the hour-long address of President Droupadi Murmu satr hai, ki jiske ek-do din pehle koi videshi chingari to Parliament on Friday gave the BJP ammunition to nahi pakdi hai, videsh mein se aag lagane ki koshish launch a scathing attack on nahi hui hai (Perhaps since the grand old party. “The 2014, this is the first session poor lady the President, was , of Parliament in which a day getting very tired by the or two before the session, end... she could hardly speak, there has been no foreign atpoor thing,” Sonia was heard tempt to stoke a fire from saying in a viral video on soabroad),” Modi said. He did cial media. not elaborate. While Rashtrapati Bhavan With the NDA govsaid they were in “poor taste, ernment tabling its first fullunfortunate and unacceptafledged budget in its third ble,” Prime Minister Narenterm on February 1, Modi indra Modi accused the ‘royal voked Goddess Lakshmi and family’ of the Congress of insulting the President, who said he prayed that the goddess of wealth blesses the hails from a tribal background. BJP president J P Nadda people of the country with prosperity and success. termed Sonia “poor thing” phrase “deeply disre“The people of the country have given me this respectful” and indicative of the opposition’s feudal sponsibility for the third time, and this is the first First mindset and disregard for the dignity of the highfull budget of our third term. Many important day, first est Constitutional office. The Congress defended decisions will be taken in the current budget sesthe remarks saying every Indian respects the sion. I can confidently say that in 2047 when the show President and accused the BJP of being unable to country will celebrate 100 years of Independence, accept Sonia’s empathy for Murmu’s health. the resolution of a developed India that the country Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said BJP and the has taken will create a new confidence and infuse a media were twisting her statement. Priyanka Gandhi new energy .” Vadra said: “My mother is a 78-year-old lady, she has Modi said: “In the third term, we are moving ahead simply said that ‘the President read such a long speech towards all-round development of the country ... innoand she must have been tired, poor thing’. She fully revation, inclusion and investment have constantly been spects the President of India.” the basis of the roadmap of our economic activity .”