Evening News
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HEADLINES
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First full Budget of NDA government’s third term to be tabled in Lok Sabha tomorrow.
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India’s fiscal deficit declines to 5.6 per cent of GDP in 2023-2024, as per Economic Survey; Highlights country’s need to generate nearly 78.5 lakh jobs annually in non-farm sector till 2030.
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Lok Sabha holds discussion on India’s preparedness for upcoming Olympic Games.
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Supreme Court stays Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments orders asking eateries on Kanwar Yatra route to disclose names of shop owners.
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IMD forecasts extremely heavy rainfall over Gujarat, Konkan, Goa and Central Maharashtra over next three days.
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The Budget Session of Parliament began today. On the first day of the Session, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman tabled the Economic Survey 2023-24 in the Lok Sabha. She will present the Union Budget 2024-25 tomorrow. The Economic Survey has projected a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 6.5 to 7 per cent in Financial Year 2024-25.
According to the survey, domestic growth drivers have supported economic growth in financial year 2023-24 despite uncertain global economic performance.
The services sector continues to significantly contribute to India’s growth, accounting for about 55 per cent of the total size of the economy in financial year 2024. As per the provisional estimates, the services sector is estimated to have grown by 7.6 per cent.
The Survey highlights that the global trade outlook for 2024 remains positive, with merchandise trade expected to pick up.
On the inflation front, the Reserve Bank of India expects headline inflation to be 4.5 per cent in financial year 2025 and 4.1 per cent in 2026.
According to the Economic Survey 2023-2024, against the global trend of widening fiscal deficit and increasing debt burden, India has remained on the course of fiscal consolidation. It says, India’s fiscal deficit has been brought down from 6.4 per cent of GDP in Financial Year 2023 to 5.6 per cent of GDP in Fiscal Year 2024. It also says that India’s fiscal deficit is expected to drop to 4.5 per cent of GDP or lower by the financial year 2026.
Addressing a press conference this evening, Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India, Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran said, there is a momentum of growth in the economy.
Dr. Nageswaran said, the agriculture sector is expected to perform better in the coming year. The Agriculture sector has registered an average annual growth rate of 4.18 per cent over the last five years.
The Chief Economic Adviser Dr Nageswaran said, the Economic Survey highlighted that Indian Economy needs to generate nearly 78.5 lakh jobs annually in the non-farm sector until 2030 to cater to the rising workforce.
Dr Nageswaran said, infrastructure expansion in India witnessed significant growth in recent years.
According to the survey, India’s services exports grew by 4.9 per cent to over 341 billion US dollar in financial year 2024, with growth largely driven by IT, software services and other business services. It said, India’s banking and financial sectors have also displayed a stellar performance in 2024.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Economic Survey highlights the prevailing strengths of the country’s economy and also showcases the outcomes of various reforms brought by the Government. In a social media post, Mr. Modi said that it also identifies areas for further growth and progress as we move towards building a Viksit Bharat.
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2024-25 in the Lok Sabha tomorrow. It will be the first full budget of the BJP-led NDA Government in its third term.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Union Budget to be presented tomorrow will set the direction for the journey of the next five years and lay the foundation for fulfilling the dream of Viksit Bharat in 2047. Mr Modi was addressing the media outside Parliament today.
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The Government has said the unemployment rate in the country has been showing a declining trend over the recent years. Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said this in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. She said, as per the latest available Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey Reports, the estimated Unemployment Rate for persons of age 15 years and above was 4.2 percentage in 2020-21, 4.1 in 2021-22 and 3.2 percentage during 2022-23.
Responding to a question asked by Congress MP Praniti Sushil Kumar Shinde in the Lower House, Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Choudhary informed that there is no proposal under consideration for restoration of the Old Pension Scheme in respect of Central Government employees.
In a written reply in the House, Mr Chaudhary said there is no proposal to constitute the 8th Central Pay Commission for revision of pay and pension of Central Government employees.
On special status to Bihar, the Minister of state for Finance in a written reply in the Lok Sabha said, special status to any state is given on certain parameters and request of Bihar for Special Category Status was denied in 2012.
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The Government has asserted that there is no evidence of paper leaks in the last seven years and it is hiding nothing in the alleged NEET-UG paper leak case. This was stated by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha today.
Rejecting the allegations levelled by the Opposition parties that paper leaks incidents have become rampant in the country, Mr. Pradhan said, the CBI is investigating into the matter and the NEET examination issue is sub-judice in the Supreme Court.
Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while raising the alleged paper leak issue said, there is a very serious problem in the country’s examination system.
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The Supreme Court today asked IIT Delhi to form an expert panel to give its opinion on the decision of the National Testing Agency (NTA) to treat two options as the correct answers to a Physics question in the NEET-UG examination. It asked the expert team to remit its opinion to the Apex Court’s registrar by 12 noon tomorrow. The court was hearing a batch of petitions alleging irregularities in the conduct of the NEET-UG exam. Some of the petitioners questioned the award of grace marks in respect of a contentious Physics question, adding that as many as 44 candidates were able to secure full marks on account of the ambiguous question. The matter will be taken up for further hearing tomorrow.
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The Lok Sabha took up discussion on India’s preparedness for the upcoming Olympic Games. Initiating the discussion in the House, Dr Sanjay Jaiswal of BJP said the Central government has spent a total of 470 crore rupees over the athletes in 16 disciplines for upcoming Olympic games in Paris. Another BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that it is the responsibility of Parliamentarians as well to promote sports in the country.
Participating in the discussion Deepender Singh Hooda of Congress stressed on the needs for putting in place a policy for identifying the talents of sportspersons, supporting them and securing their future.
Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, several steps have been taken by the Narendra Modi government for promotion of sports culture in the country.
Kirti Azad of Trinamool Congress raised the issue of vacant posts of coaches in the country. Several other members including Neeraj Maurya of Samajwadi Party, D M Kathir Anand of DMK, Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne, Abhay Kumar Sinha of RJD and Kaushalendra Kumar of JD(U) participated in the discussion. However, the discussion remained inconclusive. Later, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
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The Rajya Sabha has been adjourned for the day. Now, the House will assemble tomorrow, one hour after the conclusion of the presentation of the General Budget in the Lok Sabha.
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Akashvani Jagdalpur has started broadcasting fifty percent of its programmes in Halbi, Gondi, Bhatri and Dhurvi dialects from today. The decision comes in line with the station’s efforts to promote regional culture and dialects.
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Sacred month of Sawan, also known as Shravan, which is considered one of the holiest months in the Hindu calendar and is dedicated to Lord Shiva, commenced today. In the holy month, devotees observe fasting on Mondays, known as Sawan Somwar, to seek blessings and fulfill their wishes. On the first Monday of the Shrawan month, temples across the country witnessed huge rush of devotees. In Nepal as well, lakhs of devotees visited the Pashupati temple in Kathmandu Valley.
The annual Kanwar Yatra for Shravan month also began today. During the Kanwar Yatra, a large number of people visit pilgrimage sites such as Haridwar, Gaumukh, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand to fetch holy waters of Ganga river.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today stayed the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments orders asking the eateries on Kanwar Yatra route to display names of shop owners. The court asked state governments to file the responses till Friday. The bench, however, clarified that the eateries should display the type of food being served.
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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast extremely heavy rainfall over Gujarat, Konkan, Goa and Central Maharashtra during the next three days.
A red alert has been issued for Ratnagiri and Satara districts for tomorrow while an orange alert has been sounded for Pune, Raigad, Sindhudurg and Kolhapur districts. Many rivers in Ratnagiri, Dhule, Sangli, Kolhapur and Jalgaon are overflowing. Meanwhile, NDRF teams have been deployed at Palghar, Thane, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara to help the district administration in case of emergency.
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In Asia Cup Women’s T20 Cricket, Hosts Sri Lanka defeated Malaysia by 144 runs in a group B match in Dambulla.
Another group B match between Bangladesh and Thailand is underway at the same venue.
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The Indian Men’s team reached Sri Lanka today for the white ball series tour. India and Sri Lanka will engage in a three-match T20 International and a three-match One Day International series during the tour. The T20 games will be played at Pallekele from 27th of this month.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN :
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First full Budget of NDA government’s third term to be tabled in Lok Sabha tomorrow.
-
India’s fiscal deficit declines to 5.6 per cent of GDP in 2023-2024, as per Economic Survey; Highlights country’s need to generate nearly 78.5 lakh jobs annually in non-farm sector till 2030.
-
Lok Sabha holds discussion on India’s preparedness for upcoming Olympic Games.
-
Supreme Court stays Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments orders asking eateries on Kanwar Yatra route to disclose names of shop owners.
-
IMD forecasts extremely heavy rainfall over Gujarat, Konkan, Goa and Central Maharashtra over next three days.