The Asian Independent 16 Oct to 31 Oct 2019

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12 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 BUSINESS www.theasianindependent.co.uk BJP chief to take up RCEP with govt, PM to make a call New Delhi, Amid opposition to the free-trade agreement (FTA) between 16 countries, including India, by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sent a report to the party president, to be taken up with the Prime Minister. The report has been prepared on the basis of talks with the organisations associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), leaders of workers’ unions and think-tanks. Gopal Krishna Agrawal, BJP spokesman for economic matters, told IANS, “We have garnered across the board views on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)” — both for and against it”.The report has been sent to the BJP president, who would be taking it up with the government, he said and added, the Prime Minister would take the final decision. Given the central government’s approach to the FTA, the SJM threatened to hold protests between October 10 and October 20 across the country. It prompted the top BJP leadership to attempt a ‘damage control’ and it asked General Secretary B.L. Santosh and Gopal to find a way out. On October 7, they had meetings with representatives of various industry organisations and the SJM. An attempt is being made to reach FTA with the RCEP partner countries — India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand — and 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal is in Bangkok to attend the ninth minister-level meeting of the RCEP, scheduled on October 11-12. It’s the last minister-level meeting before the third Summit on November 4. The SJM believes the country is reeling under economic crisis and after this agreement countries, like China, will start dumping products in India, which will ruin the Indian industries and widen the job crisis. Ashwini Mahajan, SJM National Cocoordinator, on October 10 tweeted: “China is selling 17 crore bicycles, while India is able to sell only 1.70 crore bicycles. In this situation, if India allows China a free trade through the RCEP than the bicycle industry of Punjab will be ruined”. Safal to provide tomato puree at Rs 25 per pack in Delhi New Delhi, To alleviate the problem of shortfall of tomatoes in the city, Safal will provide from Friday tomato puree from all its outlets here at Rs 25 per 200 gram pack. This pack is equivalent to about 800 grams of tomatoes. Another larger pack of 825 grams priced at Rs 85 will also be made available which is equivalent to about 2.5 kgs. The stocks have already been moved to all the outlets and the sales will begin from Friday onwards at all booths. The Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs on Thursday chaired an inter-ministerial meeting to take stock of the rise in prices of tomatoes in some parts of the country including Delhi-NCR. It was decided during the meeting that tomato producing states will be asked to augment the supply to regions which are in short supply including Delhi to improve availability and moderate prices. Tomato-producing states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have been advised to interact with APMCs, traders and transporters to ensure regular supply so that prices normalize. The Agriculture Ministry informed the committee that supply has been hit due to incessant rains in Maharashtra and Karnataka and the situation will normalise in the next 10 days as monsoon rains are already receding. Historic fall in India vehicles sales enters 11th month New Delhi, Despite a 135 basis point interest rate cut since February and a number of measures announced by the Central government, including a sharp corporate tax cut, domestic vehicle sales plummeted for the 11th straight month in September. Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) data released on Friday showed that total commercial vehicle sales — a proxy for the economy’s commercial health — steeply fell by 39 per cent to 58,419 units in September. Rating agency ICRA had, earlier this month, said its outlook on the domestic commercial vehicle sector was negative, considering the sharp correction in vehicle sales amid slowing economic growth, overcapacity and tight financing environment. Signs that the customers were still away from showrooms was clearly visible in passenger vehicles sales data, which witnessed a decline of 23.69 per cent to 223,317 units this September. Passenger cars sales witnessed de-growth of of 33.4 per cent to 131,281 units. In August, sales were down 41 per cent. SIAM President, Rajan Wadhera, however, told reporters that the festive season retail sales that are monitored on a regular basis is “good” but avoided giving any sales forecast. “The Navaratri sale has also been good and if we compare it to the sales from last year, the sale has been nearly 10-12 per cent better,” he said. Wadera stressed that owing to number of government steps and ongoing festive season, the consumer sentiments have improved. Consumer confidence, the Reserve Bank of Indian showed, dipped to six-year low in September. Besides, two-wheeler sales – often tracked to analyse the rural markets health – were also down 22.09 per cent. Threewheeler sales declined by 6.66 percent in April-September 2019 over the same period last year. Within three-wheelers, passenger carrier sales registered a de-growth of 6.37 percent and that of goods carriers declined by 7.98 percent in April-September 2019 over April-September 2018. In the two-wheeler segment, sales registered a de-growth of 16.18 percent in April- September 2019 over April-September 2018 while in the segment, scooters, motorcycles and mopeds declined by 16.94 per cent, 15.24 per cent and 25.33 per cent, respectively, in April- September 2019 over the comparable period last year. However, exports across categories inched-up by 0.68 per cent to 417,232 units from 414,428 units shipped-out during September 2018. Aug factory output at 81-month low, manufacturing shrinks New Delhi, Contraction in manufacturing activity decelerated India’s factory output growth to (-)1.1 per cent in August 2019 from a rise of 4.6 per cent reported in July, official data showed here on Friday. The growth has hit the lowest level in the last 81 months. The growth rate of August factory output was lower than the 4.8 per cent achieved during the corresponding month of the previous fiscal. “The Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) with base 2011- 12 for the month of August 2019 stands at 126.6, which is 1.1 per cent lower as compared to the level in the month of August 2018,” the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said. “The cumulative growth for the April-August period over the corresponding period of the previous year stands at 2.4 per cent,” it added. As per the data, the output rate of the manufacturing sector fell (-)1.2 per cent in August from a year-on-year (YoY) rise of 5.2 per cent. On a YoY basis, mining production inched up by just 0.1 per cent from a negative growth of (-)0.6 per cent and the sub-index of electricity generation was lower by (-)0.9 per cent from 7.6 per cent. Among the six use-based classification groups, the output of primary goods, which has the highest weightage of 34.04, grew by 1.1 per cent. The output of intermediate goods, which has the second highest weightage, increased by 7 per cent. The output of consumer nondurables was up by 4.1 per cent, whereas that of consumer durables fell by (-)9.1 per cent. In addition, output of infrastructure or construction goods decreased by (-)4.5 per cent and that of capital goods fell by (-)21 per cent. In terms of industries, 15 out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown negative growth during the month under review as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year. “The industry group ‘manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers’ has shown the highest negative growth of (- )23.1 per cent, followed by (- )21.7 per cent in ‘manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.’ and (-)18 per cent in ‘other manufacturing’,” the ministry said. “On the other hand, the industry group ‘manufacture of basic metals’ has shown the highest positive growth of 11.8 per cent, followed by 11.3 per cent in ‘manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials’ and 10.3 per cent in ‘manufacture of wearing apparel’,” it said. According to Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist at India Ratings & Research: “IIP growth has been the lowest in the last 81 months and saw the first contraction after June 2017. It appears that pre-stocking due to festive demand in September and October has not taken place.” “Going forward, the IIP is likely to show erratic low growth trend. The policy measures announced by the government after the first quarter GDP growth of 5 per cent are more supply side interventions and are unlikely to boost demand. With no fiscal space available to the government, it is unlikely that the demand is going to return back soon,” Pant said. ICRA’s Principal Economist Aditi Nayar said: “With the worsening in the performance of Coal India Limited and electricity generation, and the continuing deep contraction in auto production in September 2019, it appears unlikely that the YoY decline in the IIP in August 2019 will be reversed in the just concluded month.” “There is a growing likelihood that the GDP growth may not meaningfully accelerate in Q2 FY2020 from the multi-quarter low of 5 per cent recorded in Q1 FY2020, despite a favourable base effect. The extent of pickup in consumption in the festive months and crop production in the rabi season will signal whether a material turnaround in demand and economic growth are in the offing.” Emkay Wealth Management’s Research Head Joseph Thomas said: “If we look at the sub classification one can see that the shrinkage in output has come from a dismal performance in manufacturing, substantial fall in capital goods, consumer durables and infra. This amply reflects the underlying weakness in manufacturing and industrial activity which needs to be addressed without much loss of time for economic recovery.”
www.theasianindependent.co.uk Nutrition survey finds rising HEALTH 16-10-2019 to 31-10-2019 13 Health conducted the survey to collect a comprehensive set of data on nutritional status of Indian children from 0-19 years of age. This survey was the largest micronutrient survey ever implemented. Also, the survey used gold standard methods to assess anaemia, micronutrient deficiencies and biomarkers of NCDs for the first time in India. As far as stunting was concerned, a number of the most populous states including Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh had a high (37-42 per cent) prevalence. The lowest prevalence of stunting (16-21 per cent) was found in Goa and Jammu and Kashmir. A higher prevalence of stunting in under-fives was found in rural areas (37 per cent) compared to urban areas (27 per cent). Also, children in the poorest wealth quintile were more likely to be stunted (49 per cent), as compared to 19 per cent in the richest quintile. Stunting and underweight prevalence were both about 7 per cent in newborn children, with a steady increase in both indicators until two years of age. The prevalence of stunting peaked at 40 per cent at approximately two years of age and slow- DIABETES RISK IN CHILDREN ly declined to 30 per cent by the fifth year of life. The prevalence of underweight was highest (35 per cent) in the third year of life and ranged from 25 per cent to 34 per cent during 36-59 months of age. New Delhi : Anaemia Overall, 35 per is at least a mild public cent of children aged health problem for 5 to 9 years were school-age children underweight, with 10 per cent severely New Delhi : There is a growing risk of non-communicable diseases among children aged 5 to 9 years and adolescents aged 10-19 years in India. As per the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) 2016- 18, one in 10 school-age children and adolescents were pre-diabetic. One per cent of school-age children and adolescents were diabetic and three per cent of school-age children and four per cent of adolescents had high total cholesterol. Seven per cent of school-age children and adolescents were at risk for chronic kidney disease. Five per cent of adolescents were classified as having hypertension. The CNNS, the firstever nationally representative nutrition survey of children and adolescents in India, has also found that 35 per cent of children under five were stunted, 22 per cent of school-age children were stunted while 24 per cent of adolescents were thin for their age. The CNNS India for the period 2016-18 is the largest micronutrient survey ever conducted. To provide robust data on the shifting conditions of both under-nutrition and overweight and obesity, the Ministry of LOS ANGELES: Daily consumption of almonds may help reduce the severity of facial wrinkles in post-menopausal women, claims a first-of-its-kind study to examine the effects of the nuts on skin health. Researchers at the University of California (UC), Davis in the US found that a daily snack of almonds in place of other nutfree snacks improved measures of wrinkle width and severity in postmenopausal women. The post-menopause is the time after which a woman has experienced 12 consecutive months of lack of menstruation. In the 16-week randomised controlled trial, published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, 28 healthy postmenopausal women with Fitzpatrick skin type 1 or 2—characterised by increased tendency to burn with sun exposure—were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the intervention group, women ate almonds as a snack, which accounted for 20 per cent of their total daily calorie intake, or 340 calories per day on average (60 grammes). The control group ate a nutfree snack that also accounted for 20 per cent of calories: a underweight. The prevalence of underweight was 30 per cent at age five years and remained stable across the five-year period. On deficiencies, as per the survey, the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency was 18 per cent among pre-school children, 22 per cent among school-age children and 16 per cent among adolescents. Vitamin D deficiency was found among 14 per cent of pre-school children, 18 per cent of schoolage children and 24 per cent of adolescents. Nearly one-fifth of pre-school children (19 per cent), 17 per cent of school-age children and 32 per cent of adolescents had zinc deficiency. On anaemia, the survey found that 41 per cent of pre-schoolers, 24 per cent of school-age children and 28 per cent of adolescents suffered from it. Anaemia was most prevalent among children under two years of age. Female adolescents had a higher prevalence of anaemia (40 per cent) compared to their male counterparts (18 per cent). Anaemia was a moderate or severe public health problem among pre-schoolers in 27 states, among school-age children in 15 states, and among adolescents in 20 states. Thirtytwo percent of pre-schoolers, 17 per cent of school-age children and 22 per cent of adolescents had iron deficiency. cereal bar, granola bar or pretzels. Aside from these snacks, study participants ate their regular diets and did not eat any nuts or nut-containing products. Skin assessments were made at the start of the study, and again at four weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks. At each visit, facial wrinkles were assessed using high-resolution facial imaging and validated three dimensional (3D) facial modelling and measurement. “These high resolution cameras allow for 3D reconstruction of any wrinkles so that they can be Anaemia a health problem in all states except Kerala between the age group of 5-9 years in all states except for Kerala, according to the findings of the Comprehensive mapped for their key characteristics of width and severity. The severity score is a calculation of the depth and length of a wrinkle,” said Raja Sivamani, Associate Professor of Clinical Dermatology at UC Davis, and lead researcher on the study. Skin barrier function was also assessed, by measuring sebum production and transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Skin barrier function examines the strength of the skin barrier and how well it protects skin from moisture loss (TEWL) and from harmful irritants coming from the environment. National Nutrition Survey (CNNS), 2016- 18. Anaemia was a moderate or severe public health problem among pre-school children in 27 states, school-age children in 15 states and adolescents in 20 states, the report said. Anaemia was most prevalent at more than 50 per cent among both boys and girls under two years of age and thereafter, decreased steadily to 11 years of age to about 15 per cent. Overall, 41 per cent of pre-schoolers aged 1-4 years, 24 per cent of schoolage children aged 5-9 years and 28 per cent of adolescents aged 10-19 years had some degree of anaemia. The survey noted that the severity of anaemia varied across age groups. Among preschoolers, 22 per cent had mild anaemia, 18 per cent had moderate anaemia and 1 per cent had severe anaemia. Among school-age children, 10 per cent had mild anaemia, 13 per cent had moderate anaemia, and 1 per cent had severe anaemia. Among adolescents, 17 per cent had mild anaemia, 10 per cent had moderate anaemia and 1 per cent had severe anaemia. An increased prevalence was observed among older adolescents. Anaemia was more prevalent among female adolescents 12 years of age and older at 40 per cent compared to their male counterparts at 18 per cent. The prevalence of anaemia varied by the schooling status of children and adolescents. Compared to those currently in school, anaemia prevalence was higher among out-of-school children aged 5 to 9 years and adolescents aged 10-19 years. Additionally, the prevalence of anaemia decreased with a higher level of mother’s schooling among both school-age children and adolescents. In all three age groups, anaemia was most prevalent among scheduled tribes, followed by scheduled castes. More than half (53 per cent) of pre-schoolers and more than one-third of school-age children and adolescents (38 per cent each) belonging to scheduled tribes were anaemic. The prevalence of anaemia decreased steadily with an increase in household wealth in all three age groups. Among pre-schoolers, the prevalence of anaemia was highest in Madhya Pradesh (54 per cent), followed by Haryana (48 per cent) and Delhi (47 per cent) and was lowest in Nagaland (8 per cent) and Manipur (10 per cent). Among school-age children, Tripura (41 per cent), Assam (35 per cent) and Jharkhand (34 per cent) and West Bengal (34 per cent) had the highest prevalence of anaemia and Kerala (3 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (7 per cent) and Manipur (7 per cent) had the lowest prevalence. Among adolescents, West Bengal (46 per cent), Tripura (41 per cent) and Assam (37 per cent) had the highest prevalence of anaemia, while Nagaland (8 per cent) and Kerala (9 per cent) had the lowest prevalence. Daily almond consumption may help reduce facial wrinkles
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The Asian Independent 16 Oct to 31 Oct 2019

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