Indian economy on verge of slow recovery; unemployment remains key challenge: PHDCCI

News Network

October 25, 2020

New Delhi, Oct 25: Industry body PHDCCI expects India’s GDP to contract by 7.9 per cent in the current financial year and grow by 7.7 per cent in 2021-22, assessing that the worst is over and the economy is on the verge of a slow recovery.

The chamber, however, stated that unemployment remains a key challenge to be addressed by the government.

The PHDCCI drew the conclusions based on its analysis of 25 high-frequency economic indicators which point out that there has been a pickup in business normalisation.

However, the unemployment rate still remains a worry as it worsened to 8.3 per cent in August from 7.4 per cent in July, it said in a report.

"Going ahead, India should focus on moving away from imports from China, divert trade towards friendly economies, build domestic capacities and significantly scale-up indigenous production with a thrust to become self-reliant," PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) said.

It said also that efforts should be made to diversify the portfolio of export products in terms of more countries and also in terms of more products, where India has a core competence.

PHDCCI President Sanjay Aggarwal said on the back of various reforms undertaken by the government during the last six months, economic recovery has become visible in the high-frequency indicators.

“At this juncture, on the basis of PHDCCI Economic and Business Momentum (EBM) Index, we estimate that the GDP growth will be at around (-) 7.9 per cent for the current financial year 2020-21 and 7.7 per cent for the next financial year 2021-22,” Aggarwal told PTI.

The chamber suggests that the government should prioritise demand creation measures to attain a positive growth trajectory in the third and fourth quarters of the current financial year ending March 2021.

“Demand creation will have a significant effect on the enhanced production sentiments of producers, increased investments and employment creation. Investments in the infrastructure will refuel the growth trajectory with increased demand for commodities such as steel, cement and power which in turn will rejuvenate private investments and create new employment opportunities in the country,” said Aggarwal.

The chamber observed that while several sectors of the economy will continue to have the after-effects of the pandemic, recent economic data shows that the worst is over and India is on the verge of a slow recovery.

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‘Israel’s sole objective is erasing entire Palestinian presence’

News Network

November 21,2024

Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

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