The Evening Wrap: India’s GDP grows at 13.5% in April-June quarter

India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 13.5% in the first quarter of 2022-23, the fastest pace in four quarters, with the Gross Value Added (GVA) in the economy rising by 12.7%, as per National Statistical Office estimates released on Wednesday. The economy’s latest growth print, aided by a pick-up in private consumption spending and capital investments, is significantly lower than the 16.2% GDP uptick projected by the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee and was just 3.8% above pre-pandemic levels. The corresponding April to June quarter of last year had recorded a GDP growth of 20.1% and an 18.1% uptick in GVA amid the second COVID-19 wave, thanks to the base effects from the more stringent initial COVID-19 lockdowns. Economists expect the headline growth rate to moderate in the ongoing quarter as base effects fade out and uncertainties around global growth and domestic inflation linger on. GVA from agriculture, forestry and fishing, the only sector that continued to grow through the pandemic, rose 4.5% in the April to June quarter of this year, while manufacturing and mining grew at 4.8% and 6.5%, respectively. While the share of Government Final Consumption Expenditure in GDP moderated to 11.2% between this April and June, from 12.6% last year, GDP growth was boosted by private final consumption expenditure which surged to 59.9% of GDP from 54% in Q1 of 2021-22 and Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) which reflects capital investments in the economy. The share of GFCF improved to 34.7% of GDP in Q1 this year from 32. 8% in 2021-22. The Finance Ministry said that GFCF and private consumption spending in the first quarter were at their highest levels in the past 10 years, aided by several reforms and steps taken by the government to reinvigorate capital investments and boost consumption. Meanwhile, eight core sectors’ output growth dropped to a six-month low of 4.5% in July from 13.2% in June, with crude oil and natural gas output declining from a year ago and growth in sectors like cement and electricity dropping to around 2%. Overall output levels were 2.3% lower than June 2022 and the Index of eight core industries slipped to 140.7, the lowest level since this March. The Commerce and Industry Ministry also revised its estimates for core sectors' growth in April to 9.5% from the provisional figure of 8.4%. Further, the country’s fiscal deficit touched 20.5% of the annual target at the end of July 2022-23 against 21.3% a year ago, reflecting improvement in public finance, as per data released on Wednesday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit was ₹3,40,831 crore during the April-July period this financial year. According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government's receipts, including taxes, stood at ₹7.85 lakh crore or 34.4% of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23. India lodged average 86 rapes daily, 49 offences against women per hour in 2021: NCRB India registered 31,677 cases of rape in 2021 — an average 86 daily — while nearly 49 cases of crime against women were lodged every single hour, according to the latest government report on crimes in the country. The number of rape cases in 2020 was 28,046, while it was 32,033 in 2019, the National Crime Records Bureau's 'Crime in India 2021' report showed. Among States, Rajasthan (6,337) was on top of the list followed by Madhya Pradesh (2,947), Maharashtra (2,496) and Uttar Pradesh (2,845), while Delhi recorded 1,250 rape cases in 2021, it showed. The rate of crime (per lakh population) for rape was highest in Rajasthan (16.4) followed by Chandigarh (13.3), Delhi (12.9), Haryana (12.3) and Arunachal Pradesh (11.1). The all-India average rate stood at 4.8, according to the NCRB. Overall 4,28,278 cases of 'crimes against women' were lodged across the country in 2021, with a rate of crime (per lakh population) 64.5. The charge-sheeting rate in such offences was 77.1, the official data showed. The number of cases of crimes against women in 2020 stood at 3,71,503 and in 2019 at 4,05,326. The crimes against women category included offences like rape, rape with murder, dowry, acid attacks, suicide abetment, kidnapping, forced marriage, human trafficking, online harassment, among others. In 2021, the maximum cases of crimes against women were lodged in Uttar Pradesh (56,083) followed by Rajasthan (40,738), Maharashtra (39,526), West Bengal (35,884) and Odisha 31,352, the NCRB showed. However, in terms of rate of crime against women, Assam (168.3) was on the top of the list for 2021, followed by Delhi (147), Odisha (137), Haryana (119.7) and Telangana (111.2). An average of 82 people were murdered daily across India in 2021, while more than 11 kidnappings were reported every single hour during the year, the data from NCRB showed. The rate of murder per lakh population was highest in Jharkhand, while that of kidnapping and abduction in Delhi. A total of 29,272 cases of murder involving 30,132 victims were registered during 2021, showing a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent over 2020 (29,193 cases). While 1,01,707 cases of kidnapping and abduction involving 1,04,149 victims were registered during 2021, showing an increase of 19.9% over 2020 (84,805 cases), nearly a lakh were "recovered" during the year, the data showed. Among the top five States reporting murders were Uttar Pradesh (3,717 cases, 3,825 people), Bihar (2,799 cases, 2,826 people), Maharashtra (2,330 cases, 2,381 people), Madhya Pradesh (2,034 cases, 2075 people) and West Bengal (1,884 cases, 1,919 people), it showed. Delhi recorded 459 cases in which 478 people were murdered, according to the NCRB figures. Assam bulldozes another madrassa ‘linked to al-Qaeda’ The authorities of western Assam’s Bongaigaon district demolished a madrassa allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda. Eight bulldozers were used to bring down the madrassa, the third since the arrest of 37 people found to be direct or indirect members of the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and Bangladesh-based terror group Ansarul Bangla Team (ABT), a month ago. The arrested included an imam of a mosque and a few madrassa teachers, some allegedly involved in financial transactions for ABT. The demolition followed the arrest of Mufti Hafizur Rahman, who had been teaching at the Markazul Ma-Arif Quariayana Madarssa since 2018. He was arrested by the police of Goalpara district from the Jogighopa area. The madrassa is in Bongaigaon district’s Kabaitary Part-IV village. According to the Bongaigaon District Disaster Management Authority, an order to demolish the madrassa was issued on Tuesday as multiple activities with an unspecified number of people were being carried out from the structure without necessary papers. The structure also appeared to be in a hazardous condition, it said. The district police, which raided the madrassa on Tuesday, claimed to have found several objectionable items and documents from the structure. “Some 200 students staying at the madrassa were evacuated on Tuesday night,” a district police officer said. On August 4, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the police busted at least five modules of ABT since March. While the mastermind of a module was arrested, the whereabouts of the others have not been known. Claiming that Assam was becoming a hotbed for Islamist radicals, he said the terror trainers were technology-savvy and used sophisticated methods to brainwash young minds. Some of the “jihadists”, he said, were masquerading as imams of mosques or teachers of madrassas. Gyanvapi case | Allahabad High Court finds affidavits by Uttar Pradesh government, ASI ‘very sketchy’ Hearing the petition pertaining to the Kashi Vishwanath temple and Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Allahabad High Court termed the response of the Uttar Pradesh Government as ‘sketchy’. The court also directed the Additional Secretary (Home) U.P. Government to file his personal affidavit in the matter within 10 days. Terming the issue a “matter of national importance”, the court also directed the Director-General of Archeological Survey of India (DG-ASI), Delhi, to file his personal affidavit in the matter within the same period. The court also extended the interim stay on a Varanasi court order dated April 8, 2021, directing the ASI to conduct a physical survey at the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex till September 30, 2022. The stay order was first given in September last year. One of the respondents in the case, the “next friend of Lord Visheshwar”, argued that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, makes it clear that it relates to the prohibition of conversion of a place of worship and from perusal of the plaint, the plaintiff does not seek the conversion of the place. It is argued that the religious character of the place in dispute is a temple that is in existence from ancient times till today, therefore, for better adjudication of the application under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) the evidence should be led. “M.C. Chaturvedi, Additional Advocate General/Senior Counsel assisted by advocate Hare Ram is present on behalf of the respondent. Counter affidavit has been filed in the aforesaid cases. The aforesaid counter affidavit is very sketchy. Almost all the paragraphs of the petition, i.e. Paragraphs No.3 to 50 were replied as ‘need no comments.’,” the court stated. In the circumstances, Additional Secretary (Home) U.P. Government is directed to file his personal affidavit in the matter within 10 days, it said. As no one from ASI was present in the hearing, the court said that even the ASI’s short counter affidavit is ‘very sketchy’ and runs only two and a half pages. Rishi Sunak pledges to work ‘night and day’ for vision as U.K. PM race enters finale Rishi Sunak pledged to work "night and day" for the “best country in the world” as the election campaign to take over from Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and the new British Prime Minister entered its final stage with the very last hustings event set for London. Sunak reiterated his vision statement as the first British Indian to run for the top job at 10 Downing Street ahead of the final campaign event scheduled at a popular concert venue in Wembley. The former Chancellor will go head-to-head with his rival Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for one last time as they fight it out for any remaining Tory members yet to cast their ballots before voting closes on Friday evening. The 42-year-old former finance minister, who has focussed his campaign message on the urgency of getting a grip on inflation and countered 47-year-old Truss’ claims that tax cuts are the answer to address the cost-of-living crisis crippling the UK economy, made a last-ditch effort to drive home his “consistent, clear and honest” vision. “I have the right plan, rooted in Conservative values, and I have been consistent, clear and honest throughout this contest that we must fix inflation first. Only by supporting people through this winter and gripping inflation can we lay the foundations for growth and prosperity – for lower taxes, a better NHS and a healthy economy making full use of our Brexit freedoms,” he said. "That's my vision for Britain, and I'll work night and day to deliver it for the party and country I love,” he added. After a series of hustings events since last month, the voting in the leadership election will officially close at 1700 local time on Friday. By then, an estimated 160,000 Tory voters should have registered their ballots either by post or online. In Brief Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav in Patna. During an event, Rao also pledged financial assistance to the family members of five Galwan valley martyrs and 12 migrant workers who were killed in a fire accident in Hyderabad earlier in March. Kumar praised Rao for his contribution in making Telangana a separate State. The meeting assumed significance amid the ongoing political slugfest between the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and the BJP in Bihar. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 31 AUGUST 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( India’s GDP grows at 13.5% in April-June quarter [India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 13.5%]( in the first quarter of 2022-23, the fastest pace in four quarters, with the Gross Value Added (GVA) in the economy rising by 12.7%, as per National Statistical Office estimates released on Wednesday. The economy’s latest growth print, aided by a pick-up in private consumption spending and capital investments, is significantly lower than the 16.2% GDP uptick projected by the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee and was just 3.8% above pre-pandemic levels. The corresponding April to June quarter of last year had recorded a GDP growth of 20.1% and an 18.1% uptick in GVA amid the second COVID-19 wave, thanks to the base effects from the more stringent initial COVID-19 lockdowns. Economists expect the headline growth rate to moderate in the ongoing quarter as base effects fade out and uncertainties around global growth and domestic inflation linger on. GVA from agriculture, forestry and fishing, the only sector that continued to grow through the pandemic, rose 4.5% in the April to June quarter of this year, while manufacturing and mining grew at 4.8% and 6.5%, respectively. While the share of Government Final Consumption Expenditure in GDP moderated to 11.2% between this April and June, from 12.6% last year, GDP growth was boosted by private final consumption expenditure which surged to 59.9% of GDP from 54% in Q1 of 2021-22 and Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) which reflects capital investments in the economy. The share of GFCF improved to 34.7% of GDP in Q1 this year from 32. 8% in 2021-22. The Finance Ministry said that GFCF and private consumption spending in the first quarter were at their highest levels in the past 10 years, aided by several reforms and steps taken by the government to reinvigorate capital investments and boost consumption. Meanwhile, [eight core sectors’ output growth dropped to a six-month low of 4.5%]( in July from 13.2% in June, with crude oil and natural gas output declining from a year ago and growth in sectors like cement and electricity dropping to around 2%. Overall output levels were 2.3% lower than June 2022 and the Index of eight core industries slipped to 140.7, the lowest level since this March. The Commerce and Industry Ministry also revised its estimates for core sectors' growth in April to 9.5% from the provisional figure of 8.4%. Further, the [country’s fiscal deficit touched 20.5%]( of the annual target at the end of July 2022-23 against 21.3% a year ago, reflecting improvement in public finance, as per data released on Wednesday. In actual terms, the fiscal deficit was ₹3,40,831 crore during the April-July period this financial year. According to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), the government's receipts, including taxes, stood at ₹7.85 lakh crore or 34.4% of the Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23. India lodged average 86 rapes daily, 49 offences against women per hour in 2021: NCRB India registered [31,677 cases of rape in 2021 — an average 86 daily — while nearly 49 cases of crime against women were lodged every single hour]( according to the latest government report on crimes in the country. The number of rape cases in 2020 was 28,046, while it was 32,033 in 2019, the National Crime Records Bureau's 'Crime in India 2021' report showed. Among States, Rajasthan (6,337) was on top of the list followed by Madhya Pradesh (2,947), Maharashtra (2,496) and Uttar Pradesh (2,845), while Delhi recorded 1,250 rape cases in 2021, it showed. The rate of crime (per lakh population) for rape was highest in Rajasthan (16.4) followed by Chandigarh (13.3), Delhi (12.9), Haryana (12.3) and Arunachal Pradesh (11.1). The all-India average rate stood at 4.8, according to the NCRB. Overall 4,28,278 cases of 'crimes against women' were lodged across the country in 2021, with a rate of crime (per lakh population) 64.5. The charge-sheeting rate in such offences was 77.1, the official data showed. The number of cases of crimes against women in 2020 stood at 3,71,503 and in 2019 at 4,05,326. The crimes against women category included offences like rape, rape with murder, dowry, acid attacks, suicide abetment, kidnapping, forced marriage, human trafficking, online harassment, among others. In 2021, the maximum cases of crimes against women were lodged in Uttar Pradesh (56,083) followed by Rajasthan (40,738), Maharashtra (39,526), West Bengal (35,884) and Odisha 31,352, the NCRB showed. However, in terms of rate of crime against women, Assam (168.3) was on the top of the list for 2021, followed by Delhi (147), Odisha (137), Haryana (119.7) and Telangana (111.2). An average of [82 people were murdered daily across India in 2021]( while more than 11 kidnappings were reported every single hour during the year, the data from NCRB showed. The rate of murder per lakh population was highest in Jharkhand, while that of kidnapping and abduction in Delhi. A total of 29,272 cases of murder involving 30,132 victims were registered during 2021, showing a marginal increase of 0.3 per cent over 2020 (29,193 cases). While 1,01,707 cases of kidnapping and abduction involving 1,04,149 victims were registered during 2021, showing an increase of 19.9% over 2020 (84,805 cases), nearly a lakh were "recovered" during the year, the data showed. Among the top five States reporting murders were Uttar Pradesh (3,717 cases, 3,825 people), Bihar (2,799 cases, 2,826 people), Maharashtra (2,330 cases, 2,381 people), Madhya Pradesh (2,034 cases, 2075 people) and West Bengal (1,884 cases, 1,919 people), it showed. Delhi recorded 459 cases in which 478 people were murdered, according to the NCRB figures. Assam bulldozes another madrassa ‘linked to al-Qaeda’ The [authorities of western Assam’s Bongaigaon district demolished a madrassa]( allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda. Eight bulldozers were used to bring down the madrassa, the third since the arrest of 37 people found to be direct or indirect members of the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent and Bangladesh-based terror group Ansarul Bangla Team (ABT), a month ago. The arrested included an imam of a mosque and a few madrassa teachers, some allegedly involved in financial transactions for ABT. The demolition followed the arrest of Mufti Hafizur Rahman, who had been teaching at the Markazul Ma-Arif Quariayana Madarssa since 2018. He was arrested by the police of Goalpara district from the Jogighopa area. The madrassa is in Bongaigaon district’s Kabaitary Part-IV village. According to the Bongaigaon District Disaster Management Authority, an order to demolish the madrassa was issued on Tuesday as multiple activities with an unspecified number of people were being carried out from the structure without necessary papers. The structure also appeared to be in a hazardous condition, it said. [A madrassa is demolished by authorities in Bongaigaon district on August 31, 2022 for allegedly carrying out ‘jihadi’ activities on its premises. ] The district police, which raided the madrassa on Tuesday, claimed to have found several objectionable items and documents from the structure. “Some 200 students staying at the madrassa were evacuated on Tuesday night,” a district police officer said. On August 4, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the police busted at least five modules of ABT since March. While the mastermind of a module was arrested, the whereabouts of the others have not been known. Claiming that Assam was becoming a hotbed for Islamist radicals, he said the terror trainers were technology-savvy and used sophisticated methods to brainwash young minds. Some of the “jihadists”, he said, were masquerading as imams of mosques or teachers of madrassas. Gyanvapi case | Allahabad High Court finds affidavits by Uttar Pradesh government, ASI ‘very sketchy’ Hearing the petition pertaining to the Kashi Vishwanath temple and Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the [Allahabad High Court termed the response of the Uttar Pradesh Government as ‘sketchy](. The court also directed the Additional Secretary (Home) U.P. Government to file his personal affidavit in the matter within 10 days. Terming the issue a “matter of national importance”, the court also directed the Director-General of Archeological Survey of India (DG-ASI), Delhi, to file his personal affidavit in the matter within the same period. The court also extended the interim stay on a Varanasi court order dated April 8, 2021, directing the ASI to conduct a physical survey at the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex till September 30, 2022. The stay order was first given in September last year. One of the respondents in the case, the “next friend of Lord Visheshwar”, argued that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, makes it clear that it relates to the prohibition of conversion of a place of worship and from perusal of the plaint, the plaintiff does not seek the conversion of the place. It is argued that the religious character of the place in dispute is a temple that is in existence from ancient times till today, therefore, for better adjudication of the application under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) the evidence should be led. “M.C. Chaturvedi, Additional Advocate General/Senior Counsel assisted by advocate Hare Ram is present on behalf of the respondent. Counter affidavit has been filed in the aforesaid cases. The aforesaid counter affidavit is very sketchy. Almost all the paragraphs of the petition, i.e. Paragraphs No.3 to 50 were replied as ‘need no comments.’,” the court stated. In the circumstances, Additional Secretary (Home) U.P. Government is directed to file his personal affidavit in the matter within 10 days, it said. As no one from ASI was present in the hearing, the court said that even the ASI’s short counter affidavit is ‘very sketchy’ and runs only two and a half pages. Rishi Sunak pledges to work ‘night and day’ for vision as U.K. PM race enters finale [Rishi Sunak pledged to work "night and day"]( for the “best country in the world” as the election campaign to take over from Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader and the new British Prime Minister entered its final stage with the very last hustings event set for London. Sunak reiterated his vision statement as the first British Indian to run for the top job at 10 Downing Street ahead of the final campaign event scheduled at a popular concert venue in Wembley. The former Chancellor will go head-to-head with his rival Foreign Secretary Liz Truss for one last time as they fight it out for any remaining Tory members yet to cast their ballots before voting closes on Friday evening. The 42-year-old former finance minister, who has focussed his campaign message on the urgency of getting a grip on inflation and countered 47-year-old Truss’ claims that tax cuts are the answer to address the cost-of-living crisis crippling the UK economy, made a last-ditch effort to drive home his “consistent, clear and honest” vision. “I have the right plan, rooted in Conservative values, and I have been consistent, clear and honest throughout this contest that we must fix inflation first. Only by supporting people through this winter and gripping inflation can we lay the foundations for growth and prosperity – for lower taxes, a better NHS and a healthy economy making full use of our Brexit freedoms,” he said. "That's my vision for Britain, and I'll work night and day to deliver it for the party and country I love,” he added. After a series of hustings events since last month, the voting in the leadership election will officially close at 1700 local time on Friday. By then, an estimated 160,000 Tory voters should have registered their ballots either by post or online. In Brief Telangana Chief Minister [K. Chandrashekhar Rao met Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav]( in Patna. During an event, Rao also pledged financial assistance to the family members of five Galwan valley martyrs and 12 migrant workers who were killed in a fire accident in Hyderabad earlier in March. Kumar praised Rao for his contribution in making Telangana a separate State. The meeting assumed significance amid the ongoing political slugfest between the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and the BJP in Bihar. 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