NEW DELHI/METRO

Thursday, September 08, 2022

n VOL. XCVIII NO. 214

Today 5th, soon 3rd: Nirmala

on India’s economic trajectory
Rajeev Jayaswal
letters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: Job creation and

equitable income distribution
are the main priorities of the
government, finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said on
Wednesday, even as she
emphasised the resilience of
the Indian economy and the
reason why the country
remains an attractive destina-
tion for foreign investors.
Sitharaman also commented
on the size of the Indian econ-
omy, and indicated that it’s
expansion was inevitable:
“Today, fifth, soon, third…”
According to State Bank of
India (SBI), India surpassed UK
as the fifth largest economy “as
early as December 2021 itself”
and it is set to become the third
largest economy by 2029. India
is now placed after the US,
China, Japan and Germany
according to a projection by the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF). Emerging markets —
Sitharaman named India, Indo-
nesia and South Africa — will
“lead the global economy in the
next 50-60 years”, the minister
said.
She added that India has
three key strengths to attract
foreign investments: the size of
the Indian economy, demo-
graphic dividend, and rapid
digitalisation.
The minister pointed to
global economic turbulence
that’s roiled many economies
continued on →15
Priorities for the Indian economy
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman named three ‘red-letter’ priorities for the Indian
govt, and also highlighted three key strengths that are attracting foreign investors.
RED-LETTER Why these matter now INDIA’S THREE
PRIORITIES UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: The STRENGTHS
! Job creation unemployment rate in August The finance minister said that
surged to a year’s high of 8.3% India has three key strengths
! Equitable wealth up from 6.8% a month before to attract foreign investments
distribution ! Size of the Indian
UNEQUITABLE RECOVERY:
! Making sure India India’s post-pandemic recovery economy
is still moving on faces the danger of leaving the ! Demographic dividend
towards growth poor behind, warn analysts ! Rapid digitalisation
INFLATION: NO LONGER A RED-LETTER PRIORITY
With inflation easing from a record “In that sense inflation is not red-let-
high, the finance minister said it tered. I hope it doesn’t surprise many
is no longer "red-lettered" as of you. We have shown that in the past
the government has shown couple of months that we were able to
that it can be brought to bring it to a manageable level.”
manageable levels — NIRMALA SITHARAMAN
Goyal launches ‘SETU’ to connect
Indian startups with US investors
Prashant Jha Explaining the significance of various domains including men-
the initiative, Goyal said at an torship, market access and com-
letters@hindustantimes.com
Indian-American community mercialisation. The interaction
PALO ALTO: In a bid to connect event: “Each of us is a part of the will be supported through the
American investors and mentors privileged but millions of people mentorship portal under the
with Indian startups, Union min- back home haven’t got an oppor- Startup India initiative MAARG.
ister for industry and commerce tunity to board the train. This is a Goyal highlighted India’s nat-
Piyush Goyal launched the Sup- chance to give back”. ural advantages — domestic
porting Entrepreneurs through The idea behind SETU is to market size, potential to con-
Transformation and Upskilling create a mechanism that will tribute to the global market, tal-
(SETU) initiative on Tuesday in connect Indian startups to the ent, cost competitiveness and
Bay Area in California. American investor community in enabling policy climate. →P11

{ HIJAB HEARING } SC OBSERVATION CABINET NOD TO

‘1 community wishes to study in
hijab, others fine with dress code’
Utkarsh Anand
letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Only one community
wants to come to educational insti-
tutions wearing hijab while others
are willing to follow the dress
code, the Supreme Court observed
on Wednesday as it prima facie
disagreed that the Karnataka gov-
ernment’s February order on mak-
ing uniforms mandatory targeted
just one community.
Hearing the Karnataka hijab
ban cases, the bench of justices
Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu
Dhulia also disagreed with the
submissions of one of the peti-
tioners that right to dress is a
ing you from wearing the hijab.
THE STUDENT HAS The question is about wearing it in
SAID THE GOVT school,” the bench told senior
TARGETED ONE advocate Devadatt Kamat, who
was appearing for a student from
COMMUNITY IN Udupi which turned out to be the
SAYING THAT HIJAB epicentre of the original protests
IS NOT ESSENTIAL seeking to wear the hijab.
Kamat sought to persuade the
TO THE PRACTICE bench that the February Govern-
OF ISLAM ment Order (GO) by the state gov-
ernment targeted only one com-
fundamental right since it munity as it mentioned that the
involves freedom of expression. wearing of hijab is not a part of
“You cannot take it to illogical essential practice of Islam. The
ends. If the right to dress is a fun- bench said: “Only one community
damental right, the right to wants to come with hijab or head
undress also becomes a funda- scarf while all other communities
mental right... Nobody is prohibit- are following the dress code.” →P10
OVER 14K PM-SHRI
‘MODEL’ SCHOOLS
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet
on Wednesday approved a
₹27,360 crore Pradhan Mantri
Schools For Rising India
(PM-SHRI) scheme for upgrada-
tion of 14,500 schools across the
country over the next five years,
education minister Dharmendra
Pradhan said.
The scheme is expected to
benefit 1.8 million students. Of
the project’s total cost, the Cen-
tre’s share would be ₹18,128
crore, the minister added.
The scheme was announced
on Teachers’ Day by Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi, who said
these schools would serve as
model institutes and will encap-
sulate the spirit of the National
Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
→FULL REPORT ON P11

APPLE LAUNCHES Liz at home at Number 10 MAN ARRESTED FOR

IPHONE 14, NEW
WATCH, REVAMPED
AIRPODS AT EVENT
Vishal Mathur
letters@hindustantimes.com
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA: Apple
launched its new iPhone range, a
new sport watch and a new ver-
sion of its wireless earphone Air-
pods Pro in Wednesday, unveil-
ing upgrades to some of its most
popular devices at its first in-per-
son product launch since the
Covid-19 pandemic began. The
new phone, iPhone 14, includes
upgrades to cameras, including a
machine-learning based image
processing feature that the com-
pany said improves low light
photography capabilities by
49%. New features unveiled on
the iPhone 14 are a crash detec-
tion and a significant new satel-
lite communication-based emer-
gency alert system. →P17
British PM Liz Truss leaves Downing Street to attend her first
Prime Minister’s Questions at the Houses of Parliament in
London on Wednesday.
POSING AS M.H.A.
OFFICIAL DURING
SHAH’S MAHA VISIT
MUMBAI: A 32-year-old resident
of Dhule, who was found to be
moving suspiciously around Mala-
bar Hill area during Union home
minister Amit Shah’s visit to
Mumbai, was arrested late on
Tuesday, a senior officer said.
The man, who identified him-
self as Hemant Bansilal Pawar,
was first checked by ACP Neel-
kanth Patil on Monday when he
was on bandobast duty.
Patil, the officer said, turned
suspicious after he found Pawar
loitering outside the homes of
Maharashtra CM and deputy CM
where Shah was scheduled to
visit.
When Patil questioned him,
the man showed him an identity
card and claimed to be an MHA
official who was in town as part
Related story on page 15 AP of Shah’s visit. →P10

{ SC DECISION } ₨20,000-CR ESTATE

30-yr-long legal fight ends as erstwhile Faridkot

king’s daughters get majority share in properties
Parteek Singh Mahal
letters@hindustantimes.com
FARIDKOT: The Supreme Court
on Wednesday upheld the Pun-
jab and Haryana high court’s
order awarding the majority
share of the estate of the erst-
while maharaja of Faridkot, Sir
Harinder Singh Brar, estimated
to be worth ₹20,000 crore, to his
daughters and dissolved the
Maharawal Khewaji Trust,
which was looking after the
properties.
The ruling ends a 30-year
fight for the inheritance.
A three-judge bench, compris-
ing chief justice of India (CJI)
Uday Umesh Lalit, justice S
Ravindra Bhat and justice
Sudhanshu Dhulia, upheld the
high court’s order.
With the maharaja’s will
being declared “null and void”,
the Maharawal Khewaji Trust
will be dissolved 33 years after it
came into existence. →P10 Rajmahal in Faridkot was built in 1885 as the royal residence. ANI