India’s GDP grows 7.2% in FY23, 6.1% in March quarter
India’s GDP growth accelerated to 6.1% in the January to March 2023 quarter, lifting the economy’s uptick in 2022-23 to 7.2% from 7% estimated earlier, as per the provisional national income data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on May 31. The Gross Value Added (GVA) in the economy is reckoned to have risen 7% in 2022-23, compared to 8.8% in 2021-22, with manufacturing GVA growth sliding to 1.3% from 11.1% a year ago. In January, the NSO had estimated India’s real GDP to grow 7% in 2022-23, slowing from 9.1% in FY22.
Manipur violence | Amit Shah visits border town Moreh, reviews security; meets community leaders
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a review meeting in the border town of Moreh on May 31 to take stock of the security situation in Manipur, which has been witnessing sporadic violence for nearly a month. Mr. Shah, on the third day of his visit to the State, also met a delegation of the Kuki community and a team representing others communities, and they expressed strong support for the government’s initiatives to restore normalcy.
BJP ‘threatening’ people and ‘misusing’ government agencies: Rahul Gandhi in U.S.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has taken a swipe at the ruling BJP government, saying it is “threatening” the people and “misusing” the country’s agencies as he addressed a gathering of the Indian diaspora in San Francisco. Speaking at an event on May 30, Mr. Gandhi said the BJP and the RSS are controlling all the instruments of politics in India. He said before starting his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, he realised that the normal tools that have historically been used in politics were not working anymore.
Wrestlers’ protest | Naresh Tikait announces mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar on June 1
BKU leader Naresh Tikait said a ‘mahapanchayat’ will be held in Muzaffarnagar’s Soram village on June 1 to discuss the ongoing protest by wrestlers against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment charges. Mr. Tikait, the head of Balyan khap, said the matter will be discussed in detail in the mahapanchayat.
Reports claiming lack of evidence against WFI chief wrong, probe underway: Delhi Police
The investigation into the sexual harassment case against ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is under progress and reports claiming that the Delhi Police has not found sufficient evidence are “wrong”, officials said on May 31. The police had earlier said that they had not found sufficient evidence to arrest Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing seven female wrestlers, including a minor.
Nepalese PM Prachanda arrives in India on four-day visit
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on May 31 began a four-day visit to India that is expected to inject a fresh momentum in the already close relations between the two countries. It is the first bilateral trip abroad by the 68-year-old Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) leader after he assumed the top office in December 2022. He was received at the airport in Delhi by Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi.
Israeli strike on eastern Lebanon kills 5 Palestinian fighters, wounds 10
An Israeli airstrike targeting positions of a Syria-backed Palestinian group in eastern Lebanon early on May 31 killed five Palestinian militants and wounded 10 others, an official with the group said. Anwar Raja of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — General Command, said the Israeli strike hit positions in the Lebanese eastern town of Qusaya near the border with Syria. He said two of the wounded are in critical condition.
Australian General says U.S. warns war crime allegations could prevent work with Australia’s SAS
The U.S. Government warned that allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers in Afghanistan could prevent U.S. forces from working with Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment, Australia’s Defence Force Chief said on May 31. Gen. Angus Campbell told a Senate committee that he received a letter from the U.S. defence attache in Canberra in March 2021 suggesting the elite SAS may have been “tainted” by the allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan raised in an Australian war crime investigation report that was made public in 2000.
Top AI CEOs, experts raise ‘risk of extinction’ from AI
Top artificial intelligence (AI) executives including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Tuesday joined experts and professors in raising the “risk of extinction from AI”, which they urged policymakers to equate at par with risks posed by pandemics and nuclear war. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” more than 350 signatories wrote in a letter published by the nonprofit Center for AI Safety (CAIS).
Core sectors’ growth slips to six-month low of 3.5% in April
India’s eight core sectors’ output growth slid from 3.6% in March to 3.5% in April, marking the slowest pace in six months with half of the sectors, including electricity and natural gas, reporting a contraction. Crude oil production shrank 3.5% in April, the 11th straight month of contraction. Natural gas output dropped 2.8% and refinery products plummeted 1.5% — the first such decline since November 2022 for both these sectors.
Thailand Open badminton: Kiran stuns Shi Yuqi; Saina, Ashmita too win
India’s Kiran George scripted a stunning straight-games win over world number 9 Shi Yuqi of China to storm into the pre-quarterfinals of the Thailand Open Super 500 tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 31. Ashmita Chaliha and Saina Nehwal also made winning starts to their campaign in women’s singles. On a day when Kidambi Srikanth and B. Sai Praneeth made early exits, Odisha Open winner Kiran, a product of the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, notched up a 21-18 22-20 win over third seed Shi Yu Qi, who is a 2018 world championships silver-medallist
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