dharmapuri l saturday l august 31, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Vistara to merge with Air India from Nov 12, deal gets govt nod Singapore Airlines (SIA) said the Indian govt has cleared its `2,058.50 crore FDI into the enlarged Air India Group as part of Vistara-Air India merger No immediate change in schedule, aircraft Concerns over service POST-MERGER From September 3, those trying to book Vistara for travel on November 12 or beyond will be redirected to Air India’s website. Customers who have already booked Vistara will automatically have their reservations converted to Air India flight numbers. Though flight numbers will change, the aircraft fleet, flight schedules, and crews will largely remain the same till early 2025 ■ Vistara, which has 90 aircraft, is known for its excellent service quality and in-flight experience, while Air India gets panned for its older planes and disruptions due to crew shortage. Industry experts have flagged concerns whether Air India will be able to match up to Vistara’s high standards ■ The merger will create one of the world’s largest airline groups | P12 25.1% Stake Singapore Airlines will get for investing `2,058.5 cr in Air India group 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 Modi apologises GDP growth slips to 15-month low in Q1 over collapse of Shivaji’s statue MONIKA YADAV @ New Delhi S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologise to them Visited Raigad in 2013: PM “In 2013, when BJP projected me as PM pick, the first thing I did was to visit Raigad Fort and bow before Shivaji Maharaj’s statue,” Modi recalled With assembly elections in Maharashtra around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sought to limit the political damage caused by the recent collapse of a 35-ft statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the state, by apologising to the legendary ruler and all those who were hurt by it. Modi had inaugurated the statue at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg district on December 4, 2023, on the occasion of Navy Day . The prime minister was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of the `76,000-crore Vadhvan Port project in Palghar district located adjoining Mumbai. “The moment I landed here, I first apologised to Shivaji over the statue collapse. I also apologise to the people who were hurt by the collapse,” he said. “Those who consider Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj as their deity and have been deeply hurt, I bow my head and apologise to them. For us, nothing is bigger than our deity he added. ,” The statue was erected to honour the legacy of the Maratha Navy and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj towards pioneering maritime defence and security and its historical linkage with the mod, ern Indian Navy . Modi also took a swipe at the Opposition for insulting Savarkar. “Our values are different, we are not those who keep abusing and insulting the great son of Mother India, Veer Savarkar. They are not ready to apologise, they are ready to go to the courts and fight,” he added, taking potshots at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. POOR performance of the agriculture and services sectors pulled down India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the April-June 2024 quarter to a 15-month low of 6.7%, against 8.2% in the yearago period, government data released on Friday showed. The agriculture sector registered a 2% growth during April-June 2024, down from 3.7% in the same quarter a year ago. Trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting moderated to 5.7% from 9.7%, as per data released by the National Statistical Office. The NSO data also indicated that India’s gross value added or GVA, which measures the growth in supply by subtracting net product taxes from GDP showcased a 6.8% , g rowth rate in the April-June quarter. The latest GDP growth rate is less than the Reserve Bank of India’s estimate of 7.1% for the same period and also lowest in the past five quarters. Explaining the dip, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said it could be due to reduced government spending during the general elections. “Growth momentum has remained strong, with the slowdown in the first quarter anticipated due to elections and less spending by the Government ,” he said. The CEA noted that the final consumption expenditure and net exports have remained resilient, even as the growth rate in agriculture and livestock sectors appears to be reaching its lowest point. Nageswaran said India is positioned to achieve a GDP growth of 6.5-7% in FY25, as projected in the Economic Survey. He added that growth exceeding 7% is attainable, especially since the Budget includes measures to enhance employment generation. He added that a decrease in net FDI does not indicate a lack of confidence in the Indian economy; rather, it reflects profitable exits in FY24. This trend should serve as an encouragement for future investment, he observed. JD(U), TDP join walkout by oppn from Waqf JPC P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi historic gold Avani Lekhara celebrates her gold with coach Suma Shirur on Friday. She became the only para athlete to win gold in consecutive Paralympics | AP The second Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday ran into rough weather after Opposition MPs and the ruling NDA allies staged a walkout over several amendments in the proposed legislation. Sources said the Opposition walked out after officials of the minority affairs ministry failed to provide satisfactory replies regarding the proposed omission of Section 40 from the Waqf Act 1995, which currently allows Waqf boards to decide if a property is a Waqf or not. Sources said DMK’s A Raja questioned the intention to remove Section 40, which was included by amending the Waqf Act 1995 in 2013 under the Manmohan government. As per Section 40 of the Waqf Act 1995 (as amended in 2013), the state Waqf Board is empowered to decide any question that arises as to whether a particular property is a Waqf property or not. Sources the Opposition Congress, DMK, and AAP along with TDP and JD(U) boycotted , the meeting. Six US deals to bring `900cr, 4K jobs to TN e x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government has inked pacts with companies such as Nokia, PayPal, Yield Engineering Systems, Microchip, Infinx, and Applied Materials for an investment commitment of `900 crore and employment target of 4,100 jobs in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, the state government said on Friday . The six companies signed the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) during the investment conclave held in San Francisco on Thursday in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin. The CM is on a two-week visit to the US to attract investments to Tamil Nadu with a focus on high-end jobs. Nokia, the Finnish multinational telecommunications behemoth, will be setting up the “world’s largest” fixed network testing facility at an investment of `450 crore at the SIPCOT industrial park at Siruseri near Chennai to generate 100 jobs, a press release said.  Continued on P7