What to read in The Hindu

1 June 2024, The Hindu

GDP growth surges to 8.2% on manufacturing gains

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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment

• India’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for FY24 is estimated to have grown by a faster-than-projected 8.2%, quickening from FY23’s 7% pace, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in its provisional estimates released on May 31.
• The NSO had in its first advance estimates, earlier this year, projected real GDP growth for FY24 at 7.3%.
• “Nominal GDP has witnessed a growth rate of 9.6% in FY24 over the growth rate of 14.2% in FY23,” the NSO said, adding that real Gross Value Added (GVA) had likely expanded by 7.2% in FY24, compared with FY23’s 6.7% pace.

An Odisha fortress and a hard electoral battle

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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance

• In modern India, no other political party has been as consistently aggressive as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been election after election in its campaign to expand its social base to all corners of India including Odisha.
• Not surprisingly, the State has witnessed a campaign blitzkrieg by the BJP’s tall leaders, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi who addressed a few meetings just a couple of days before May 13, the first phase of elections in Odisha.

Splash back

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GS 3: Indian Economy - Infrastructure – Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

• On May 30, a start-up named Agnikul Cosmos successfully conducted the first test flight of its rocket ‘Agnibaan’ in a mission called ‘Suborbital Tech Demonstrator’ (SOrTeD).
• The flight was Agnikul’s fifth attempt after the first four were called off owing to suboptimal launch conditions. 
• ‘Agnibaan’ is a two-stage, 14-tonne launch vehicle designed to lift small satellites to low-earth orbits.
• Both stages are powered by bespoke semi-cryogenic engines. The test flight flew a ‘minimal’ version of the rocket with one engine (or stage).
• Notably, many of the vehicle’s components, including the engines, are 3D-printed, and Agnikul has said it will be able to build one rocket a month. 

Fiscal deficit in FY24 narrowed to 5.6% on better tax mop-up

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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment

• The Central government's fiscal deficit during 2023-24 at 5.6% of the GDP was better than previous estimates of 5.8% on account of higher revenue realisation and lower expenditure, according to official data released on Friday.
• In actual terms, the fiscal deficit — or gap between expenditure and revenue — was ₹16.53 lakh crore, or 5.63% of the GDP, which grew 8.2% in 2023-24.

April core sector output rises 6.2% as electricity, steel buoy

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GS 3: Indian Economy - Infrastructure – Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

• Eight key infrastructure sectors' growth rose to 6.2% in April on healthy expansion in the production of natural gas, refinery products and electricity, according to official data released on Friday.
• The production of eight sectors grew by 6% in March.