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14<br />
INDIA<br />
Friday, <strong>July</strong> <strong>15</strong>, <strong>2022</strong><br />
India is fastest growing<br />
economy in the world with 8.2%<br />
growth rate in <strong>2022</strong>: Amit Shah<br />
Union Home Minister and<br />
China and 8 per cent of Brazil.<br />
Cooperation Minister<br />
Criticising Congress leader<br />
Amit Shah on Tuesday<br />
Rahul Gandhi's comment on<br />
announced that India is the<br />
fastest-growing economy in the<br />
world with a growth rate of 8.2<br />
per cent in <strong>2022</strong>.<br />
Goods and Services Tax (GST),<br />
Shah said our GST collection<br />
has crossed Rs 1.62 lakh crore.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Home Minister further<br />
"Today India is the fastestgrowing<br />
said there is a smooth<br />
economy in the world.<br />
With a growth rate of 8.2 per<br />
cent, we are the world's fastestgrowing<br />
atmosphere for those doing<br />
business in current regime of<br />
the Central government led by<br />
economy in <strong>2022</strong>,"<br />
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<br />
Shah said while addressing the the Government in garnering Shah also said India has<br />
6th National Conclave on Mines valuable feedback for the achieved a record 421 billion<br />
and Minerals.<br />
sustained growth of the mineral dollar merchandise export, an<br />
<strong>The</strong> National Conclave on sector. <strong>The</strong> Minister also all-time high in India's export<br />
Mines and Minerals is reckoned compared India's growth rate history, mentioning "the<br />
as an overwhelming success in with various countries of the achievement is the result of<br />
providing an effective platform same period and said it was 3.7 hard work of <strong>Indian</strong> youth".<br />
to showcase key policy per cent in the US, 2.1 per cent <strong>The</strong> Minister also emphasised<br />
initiatives undertaken and help in Germany, 4.4 per cent of how India recorded the "highest<br />
India is set to<br />
surpass China as the world's<br />
most populous country<br />
in 2023, with each counting<br />
more than 1.4 billion residents<br />
this year, a United Nations<br />
report said , warning that<br />
high fertility would challenge<br />
economic growth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> world's population,<br />
estimated to reach 8 billion by<br />
November <strong>15</strong> this year, could<br />
grow to 8.5bn in 2030, and<br />
10.4bn in 2100, as the pace of<br />
mortality slows, said the report<br />
released on World Population<br />
Day. India's population was<br />
1.21bn in 2011, according to<br />
the domestic census, which<br />
is conducted once a decade.<br />
<strong>The</strong> government had deferred<br />
the 2021 census due to the<br />
Covid-19 pandemic.<br />
<strong>The</strong> world's population<br />
was growing at its slowest<br />
pace since 1950, having<br />
fallen below 1% in 2020, UN<br />
estimates showed. In 2021,<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Indian</strong> government<br />
has defended the look<br />
of the national emblem<br />
on top of the new parliament<br />
building amid criticism over its<br />
appearance.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new statue, adapted from<br />
an ancient <strong>Indian</strong> sculpture,<br />
was unveiled by Prime Minister<br />
Narendra Modi on Monday.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 6.5m (21ft 3in)-tall<br />
cast shows four Asiatic lions<br />
mounted back-to-back on a<br />
circular disc.<br />
Critics say the new lions look<br />
"ferocious" and stray from their<br />
original depiction.<br />
Opposition leaders have also<br />
criticised the government,<br />
saying that the new avatar of<br />
the emblem - adapted from<br />
the Lion Capital of Ashoka, a<br />
the average fertility of the<br />
world's population stood at<br />
2.3 births per woman over a<br />
lifetime, having fallen from<br />
about 5 births in 1950. Global<br />
fertility is projected to decline<br />
further to 2.1 births per woman<br />
by 2050.<br />
"This is an occasion to<br />
celebrate our diversity,<br />
recognize our common<br />
humanity, and marvel at<br />
advancements in health that<br />
have extended lifespans and<br />
dramatically reduced maternal<br />
and child mortality rates," UN<br />
Secretary-General António<br />
Guterres said in a statement.<br />
Still, a growing<br />
sculpture that was atop one of<br />
the several pillars erected by<br />
Emperor Ashoka during his reign<br />
in 250BC - was a "brazen insult<br />
to India's national symbol".<br />
But a federal government<br />
minister on Tuesday dismissed<br />
the criticism, saying the statue<br />
was a "perfect replica" of the<br />
original "except for the size".<br />
"Sense of proportion and<br />
perspective. Beauty is famously<br />
regarded as lying in the eyes<br />
of the beholder. So is the<br />
case with calm and anger.<br />
<strong>The</strong> original Sarnath Emblem<br />
ever" annual foreign direct<br />
investment of 83.57 billion<br />
dollar in 2021-22. Speaking<br />
on inflation in the event, Shah<br />
said "we have controlled"<br />
it in comparison with other<br />
countries in the world.<br />
"<strong>The</strong>re is inflation across<br />
the world. We've controlled<br />
inflation compared to the world.<br />
We're seeing the situation in<br />
Sri Lanka, Pakistan and our<br />
neighbouring countries even in<br />
the US," Shah said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Home Minister lauded<br />
the policies of BJP-led Central<br />
government under supervision<br />
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi<br />
for the effort despite facing<br />
Covid-19 pandemic, world's<br />
worst ever health crisis.<br />
India to surpass China as most populous country in 2023,<br />
UN report says<br />
is 1.6-metre high whereas the<br />
emblem on the top of the New<br />
Parliament building is huge at<br />
6.5 metres," Hardeep Singh<br />
Puri wrote on Twitter, posting<br />
photos comparing the original<br />
emblem and the new statue.<br />
<strong>The</strong> minister added that the if<br />
an exact replica of the original<br />
were to be placed on the new<br />
building, "it would barely be<br />
visible beyond the peripheral<br />
rail".<br />
Sunil Deora, one of the two<br />
sculptors behind the statue, said<br />
that the perceived difference<br />
in the lion's demeanour was<br />
because of the "scale and<br />
dimension" of the new emblem.<br />
"If you look at the Sarnath<br />
Lion Capital from below, it will<br />
look the same as the parliament<br />
Read online www.iwk.co.nz<br />
National emblem: India rejects criticism over ‘snarling’ lion statue<br />
<strong>The</strong> bronze cast of the<br />
national emblem was<br />
unveiled by Prime Minister<br />
Narendra Modi on Monday<br />
population was a reminder of<br />
a shared responsibility of care<br />
for the planet and to "reflect<br />
on where we still fall short<br />
of our commitments to one<br />
another," he said.<br />
Referring to an earlier World<br />
Health Organization report --<br />
estimating about 14.9 million<br />
deaths relating to the Covid-19<br />
pandemic between January<br />
2020 and December 2021,<br />
the UN report said global life<br />
expectancy at birth fell to 71<br />
years in 2021 from 72.8 years<br />
in 2019, mostly due to the<br />
pandemic.<br />
<strong>The</strong> United Nations said<br />
more than half of the<br />
"This is an occasion to<br />
celebrate our diversity,<br />
recognize our common<br />
humanity, and marvel<br />
at advancements<br />
in health that have<br />
extended lifespans<br />
and dramatically<br />
reduced maternal and<br />
child mortality rates<br />
projected increase in the global<br />
population up to 2050 will be<br />
concentrated in eight countries<br />
-- Democratic Republic of<br />
Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia,<br />
India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the<br />
Philippines and Tanzania.<br />
Countries of sub-Saharan Africa<br />
are expected to contribute<br />
more than half of the increase<br />
anticipated through 2050.<br />
However, the population<br />
of 61 countries is projected<br />
to decrease by 1% or more<br />
between <strong>2022</strong> and 2050,<br />
driven by a fall in fertility.<br />
China says India<br />
risks scaring<br />
away investors<br />
with raids on its<br />
companies<br />
India risks damaging<br />
its reputation among<br />
foreign investors with its<br />
"frequent investigations" into<br />
Chinese companies, Beijing<br />
said this week.<br />
China's embassy in<br />
India said in a statement<br />
Thursday that probes by<br />
<strong>Indian</strong> authorities into Chinese<br />
companies were disrupting<br />
"normal business activities"<br />
and chilling "the confidence and<br />
willingness of market entities<br />
from other countries, including<br />
Chinese enterprises to invest<br />
and operate in India."<br />
<strong>The</strong> criticism comes after<br />
India's Enforcement Directorate<br />
— the country's main financial<br />
investigation agency — raided<br />
major Chinese smartphone<br />
company Vivo over allegations<br />
of money-laundering earlier<br />
this week. In a press release on<br />
Thursday, the <strong>Indian</strong> agency<br />
said it had carried out searches<br />
at 48 Vivo locations in the<br />
country, and seized 4.65 billion<br />
rupees ($60 million) from 119<br />
bank accounts, including fixed<br />
deposits, cash and gold bars.<br />
In the statement, the<br />
Enforcement Directorate has<br />
accused Vivo of tax fraud and<br />
said the firm remitted 624.8<br />
billion rupees ($7.9 billion),<br />
mostly to China.<br />
Xiaomi also targeted<br />
<strong>The</strong> raids on Vivo offices<br />
come two months after India<br />
seized more than $700 million<br />
from another big Chinese<br />
smartphone maker — Xiaomi.<br />
It was also accused of moving<br />
money out of the country<br />
illegally.<br />
Xiaomi India said at the time<br />
that "all our operations are<br />
firmly compliant with local laws<br />
and regulations." Chinese phone<br />
makers dominate the <strong>Indian</strong><br />
market, with Xiaomi being the<br />
top-selling brand, according to<br />
data compiled by Counterpoint.<br />
Vivo is also among the top five<br />
brands, the firm said.<br />
emblem does," the 49-yearold<br />
sculptor told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Indian</strong><br />
Express.<br />
Prime Minister Modi had<br />
shared a video of the unveiling<br />
on Monday morning which<br />
showed the cast - weighing<br />
9,500kg (20,943 pounds) - on<br />
top of the central foyer of the<br />
new parliament building.<br />
A senior government official<br />
called the installation of<br />
the emblem an "important<br />
milestone in the decolonisation"<br />
of the capital city.<br />
But many social media users<br />
pointed out that the demeanour<br />
of the lions in the new cast<br />
differed significantly from the<br />
original depiction and that<br />
instead of looking "benevolent<br />
and regal", they now "snarled".