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22 June 2019 WORLD www.theasianindependent.co.uk Indian economy grew 7.2% in 2018-19, likely to top at 7.5%: World Bank New York : As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares her budget, the World Bank reports Indias economy grew by 7.2 per cent in 2018-19 in contrast to the recent Indian Central Statistical Office (CSO) estimate of only 6.8 per cent growth during the period. The Bank's Economic Prospects Report released on Tuesday forecast India's economy to grow by 7.5 per cent during this and the next two fiscal years, retaining its top spot as the fastest growing major economy. It would be helped by a "more accommodative monetary policy" and low inflation, it said. The report retained the forecasts it made in January for India. India's growth forecast is the brightest spot in a grim forecast for the world economy. The report said that the global growth rate was estimated at 3 per cent last year and is forecast to dip steeply to 2.6 per cent this year, before edging up to 2.7 per cent next year and 2.8 per cent in 2021. India "is estimated to have grown 7.2 per cent in fiscal year 2018-19, which ended March 31", the report said. "A slowdown in government consumption was offset by solid investment, which benefited from public infrastructure spending". The Bank said that the cut-off dates for data used in the report was May 23. On May 31, the CSO said that India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth during the 2018-19 fiscal stood at 6.8 per cent, lower than the previous year's 7.2 per cent. The CSO said the Indian economy grew by only 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter. That dragged down the fiscal year's growth rate. Finance Secretary Subash Garg attributed the slowdown to "temporary factors like stress in non-banking financial company (NBFC) sector affecting consumption finance". The World Bank report said, "Growth in India is projected to accelerate to 7.5 percent in FY 2019-20." "Private consumption and investment will benefit from strengthening credit growth in an environment of more accommodative monetary policy, and with inflation below the Reserve Bank of India's target", it added. Growth projections for India made by different organisations vary a lot. Last month, UN downgraded India's growth rate for the current fiscal year to 7 per cent, a cut of 0.6 per cent from the projection made in January and reduced the forecast for the next fiscal year by 0.4 per cent to 7.1 per cent. It estimated last fiscal year's growth rate to be 7.2 per cent. In April, the IMF cut India's growth projections for this year by 0.2 per cent from the 7.5 per cent made in January to 7.3 per cent. It projected next year's growth at 7.5 per cent, though lower than the earlier 7.7 projection. The Asian Development Bank said in April that India's growth rate would be 7.2 per cent this year and 7.3 per cent next year. China's economy grew by 6.6 per cent last year and is forecast to grow by 6.2 per cent this year and further decelerate to 6.1 per cent next year and 6 per cent in 2021, the World Bank said. Pakistan was estimated to have grown by 5.2 per cent last year, but is forecast to steeply decline to 3.4 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent next year, before recovering to 4 per cent in 2021, according to the report. This despite "financial assistance from Gulf countries and China and an International Monetary Fund programme (that) have helped rebuild confidence", it said. Last year, the report said, Bangladesh recorded a growth rate of 7.9 per cent -- the highest of all nations, regardless of size, although with a GDP of only about $250 billion, or less than a tenth of India's, it is not considered a major economy. Bangladesh's growth is forecast to fall to 7.3 per cent this year, the Bank reported. It is forecast to rise to 7.4 per cent next year and dip to 7.3 per cent in 2021. Commenting on the global economic outlook, World Bank Group President David Malpass said, "Current economic momentum remains weak, while heightened debt levels and subdued investment growth in developing economies are holding countries back from achieving their potential. It's urgent that countries make significant structural reforms that improve the business climate and attract investment". The Bank report added several notes of caution for India and the South Asia region. "Fiscal deficits continue to exceed official targets in India and Pakistan, and supply bottlenecks and business climate obstacles could hold back investment potential in the region," it said. "In addition, non-performing assets in the region remain high. A sharperthan expected deceleration of growth in major economies or an intensification of trade frictions could have spillover effects for the region," the report added. It is also an oil importer at risk from vagaries of the oil market. Brexit also poses another risk to the region, it said: "A number of economies have preferential trade arrangements with the UK, and would be vulnerable to a turbulent UK exit from the European Union." Trump joins Queen, world leaders to mark 75th D-Day Portsmouth : World leaders, including US President Donald Trump, joined Queen Elizabeth II, here on Wednesday, for the official commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the D- Day landings. The 93-year-old UK monarch was the last to arrive at the event, attended by some 300 veterans and other world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A huge stage, decorated with the national flags of the World War II allies, had been set up for the occasion. Members of the armed forces welcomed the Queen with a military display. The Queen was accompanied by son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, as well as the US President and First Lady Melania Trump, outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May and leaders of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Denmark. As part of the commemorations, images of the D-Day landings were shown on a large screen set up on the stage. Several nonagenarian veterans took to the stage, mostly with walking sticks and wearing medals on their lapels, and were applauded by audience. On Thursday, memorial services are planned to mark the 75 years since the D-Day landings. Troops from the UK, the US, Canada and France attacked German forces on the coast of northern France on June 6, 1944. It was the largest military naval, air and land operation and marked the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe. At the Wednesday event, Trump read a prayer, written by then US President Franklin D Roosevelt and delivered on the evening of D-day -- June 6, 1944, the Guardian reported. May read the letter of Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps written to his wife Gladys on June 3, 1944. The letter was still in his pocket when he landed on Sword Beach on June 6. Skinner was killed the day after, leaving behind wife and two young daughters. French President Macron read the final letter of Henri Fertet, a resistance fighter, executed aged 16. "The soldiers are coming to get me. I must hurry. My handwriting may look wobbly, but it's just because I am using a small pencil. I am not afraid of death, my conscience is completely clear… A thousand kisses. Long live France," he wrote. Ahead of the event, the 16 nations involved in the commemorations agreed a proclamation to mark the anniversary. The statement, coordinated by the UK, recognises the sacrifice of those who took part in the Second World War and salutes the surviving D- day veterans. The text was agreed upon by Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, the UK and the US.
www.theasianindependent.co.uk New York : Turning a conventional wisdom on its head, researchers have found that consuming red meat and white meat, like poultry, have equal effects on blood cholesterol levels. The study indicated that restricting consumption of meat altogether, whether red or white, is more advisable for lowering blood cholesterol levels than previously thought. The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that consumption of high amount of red meat or white poultry resulted in higher blood cholesterol levels than consuming a comparable amount of plant proteins. "When we planned this study, we expected red meat to have more adverse effect on blood cholesterol levels than white meat. But we were surprised that this was not the case -- their effects on cholesterol levels are identical when saturated fat levels are equivalent," said the study lead author Ronald Krauss, Professor at University of California in the US. The study did not include grass-fed beef or processed products like bacon or sausage; nor did it include fish. The study also found that plant proteins were the healthiest for blood cholesterol. Consumption of red meat has become unpopular during the last few decades over concerns about its association with increased heart disease. Government dietary guidelines have encouraged consumption of poultry as a healthier alternative to red meat. But there had been no comprehensive comparison of the WORLD Poultry as bad as red meats for cholesterol: Study Indian-origin woman jailed for killing stepdaughter Washington : An Indian-origin woman has been sentenced to 22 years to life in prison for strangling her 9-year-old stepdaughter in a bathtub in 2016, a crime described by a US court as a "disturbing" example of "extreme violence". Shamdai Arjun, 55, of Queens, New York, was sentenced on Monday after being convicted in May of second-degree murder for killing Ashdeep Kaur. She will spend 22 years to up to life behind bars for the August 2016 killing. Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder handed down the sentence in a case he described as a "disturbing" example of "extreme violence" and suffering, Queens Daily Eagle reported. Ashdeep Kaur had moved from India to be in the care of her father Sukhjinder Singh and his wife in 2016. Family members said the girl told them about past abuse at the hands of her stepmother. "It's disturbing to consider how you placed your hands around the neck and throat of that child and squeezed without letting up until her body went limp," Justice Holder said at sentencing. "The suffering this child endured as she was being killed is unimaginable, and to boot you were the last face she had to look up and see before she died." Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said: "The defendant in this case goes beyond the tales of evil stepmothers. This defendant committed the unimaginable - she wrapped her hands around her stepdaughter's little neck and squeezed the life out of her. "The victim was an innocent child and just nine years old. The court has imposed a sentence that will likely guarantee this woman never sees freedom again. The sentence of the Court is more than warranted in this tragic case," Ryan said. According to trial testimony, Arjun left her home in the Richmond Hill section of Queens on August 19, 2016 around 5.30 p.m. with her former husband and two grandchildren, ages 3 and 5.Asked about the 9- year-old victim's whereabouts, she told an eyewitness that the child was in the bathroom and was waiting for her father to pick her up. The eyewitness, who observed that the bathroom light had been on for several hours, called the victim's father Sukhjinder Singh and was instructed to break through the bathroom door. Ashdeep Kaur's lifeless and bruised naked body was later found in the bathtub. The medical examiner's office determined that the cause of death was strangulation. effects of red meat, white meat and non-meat proteins on blood cholesterol until now, Krauss said. Non-meat proteins like vegetables, dairy, and legumes such as beans, show the best cholesterol benefit, he said. London, On the second day of his UK state visit, US President Donald Trump will meet outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May for “substantial” talks on Tuesday, amid widespread protests planned several cities, including London, against his trip to the country. Trump and May will start the day by co-hosting a breakfast meeting of British and American business leaders at St James’s Palace in a bid to boost trade links, the BBC reported. The Duke of York, Chancellor P h i l l i p Hammond, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the President’s daughter Ivanka Trump are also expected to attend. May, who will stand down as Conservativeleader on Friday, will then hold talks with the US President in Downing Street, when they are expected to discuss a range of issues including climate change and the Chinese tech giant Huawei, which the US has blacklisted for security reasons. Also on Tuesday, thousands June 2019 23 Samsung spurs R&D efforts for 6G mobile network Seoul : Samsung Electronics Co. has opened a new research centre for the development of core technologies for 6G mobile networks, joining the global race for the still nascent technology, a company official has said. Samsung Research, the firm's integrated R&D organisation, has conducted extensive research on advanced cellular technologies and has recently upgraded a next-generation telecommunication research team to a centre to accelerate the development of solutions and standardization of 6G, according to a Samsung official. While 5G networks are just starting to roll out in early markets and the current 4G LTE still remains a mainstream mobile network in many countries, Samsung's move toward a 6G network is part of its long-term business plan to get ahead in the next-generation cellular technology, Yonhap news agency reported. Samsung launched the world's first 5G smartphone, the Galaxy S10 5G, in early April and has promoted its 5G solutions that can be used in a host of new businesses, including self-driving vehicles, smart factories and Internet of Things. South Korean tech companies have started working on future mobile technology to gain an early edge against the US and China, which have announced plans for 6G networks. LG Electronics Inc. in January joined hands with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to open a 6G research centre, and KT Corp., the nation's No. 2 mobile operator, last week signed an agreement with the Seoul National University (SNU) to collaborate on 6G research. Though still in an embryonic stage, the upcoming 6G aims to integrate satellites for global coverage to provide far high data rates and faster Internet speeds than 5G, according to the International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology. Trump to hold talks with Theresa May amid protests of people are expected to join protests against Trump’s visit.A “national demonstration” in London’s Trafalgar Square will start at 11 a.m., while protests are also planned in Birmingham, Stoke, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Chester, Leicester, Oxford and Exeter. Organisers have called for a carnival atmosphere, but a huge police operation is taking place in central London to prevent any disruption to the trip. Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is due to address the London rally, where he will be joined by members of other political leaders. The President and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in London on Monday. He later praised the “eternal friendship” between the UK and US during a state banquet at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen Elizabeth II. But before touching down, the President reignited his political feud with the Mayor of London, calling Sadiq Khan a “stone cold loser”.
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