DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2024, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES BY UNNY LOW REAL INCOME GROWTH IMPACTS DEMAND Concern in Govt: Pvt sector profit at 15-year high but salaries stagnant From services to manufacturing, wages show marginal growth TOO LITTLE HIKE FOR TOO LONG Average wage (INR) across six sectors from 2019 to 2023 Segment 2020 2021 2022 2023 Wage growth* BFSI 2.8% 0.8% 5.4% IT 40,333 44,589 45,186 47,352 49,076 4.0% Logistics 15,844 17,290 17,132 18,331 19,534 4.2% Retail NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 11 THE SHARP slump in economic growth rate to 5.4 per cent in July-September this year has sparkedconcernsamongpolicymakers that low single-digit income growth in the corporate sector despite 4x (four times) 19,659 21,155 19,608 20,608 20,509 FMCD/FMCG 14,608 15,763 16,538 17,826 19,023 AANCHAL MAGAZINE & SANDEEP SINGH 15,184 16,254 16,746 16,735 17,475 EMPI ECONOMY NEED TO BE ALERT: NEW RBI GOVERNOR SANJAY MALHOTRA 2019 15,514 18,048 18,799 17,908 18,675 3.7% *CAGR from 2019 to 2023; Source: Quess Payroll growth in profits over the last four years, is one of the reasons behind the slowing of demand. What has triggered conversations within corporate boardrooms,keyeconomicministries, PAGE 15 DAY AFTER NOTICE TO MOVE NO-TRUST MOTION and between the two, is a report prepared for the government by industry chamber FICCI and Quess Corp Ltd, a tech-enabled staffing firm with 3,000-plus clients, which showed that the compounded annual wage growthrateacrosssixsectorsbetween2019and2023rangedbetween 0.8 per cent for the engineering,manufacturing,process and infrastructure (EMPI) companies and 5.4 per cent for fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) firms. What has made matters worseforworkerseveninformal sectors is a meagre or negative growth in real incomes i.e., wage EXPLAINED BUSINESS AS USUAL `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `17 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 E Inflation an added ● burden WHAT HAS made matters worse for workers is meagre or negative growth in real incomes i.e., wage growth when adjusted for price rise or inflation. Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran has flagged this as “self-destructive” and urged India Inc to look within. Khalistan ‘flag’ case: US says cannot share Pannun bank details HC judge’s anti-Muslim CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Our voice not heard, Dhankhar disrupts remarks: Opp MPs sign House, loyal to ruling party: Opposition on notice to impeach ASAD REHMAN MANOJ C G A DAY after its notice for a noconfidence motion against VicePresident and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday called him the “biggest disruptor” in the House, andsaidhis“partisanbehaviour” had prompted the move. At a joint press conference, the Opposition’s Rajya Sabha members, including Leader of Opposition and Congress presidentMallikarjunKharge,alleged that they were not allowed to speak in the House. “Politics has taken precedence over rules in Rajya Sabha and the Chairman has indulged in partisan behaviour,” Kharge said. “I am very sad to say that the Chairman left us with no optionbuttogoaheadwiththisnotice. For the last three years, rather than providing time and space for Opposition members to raise critical issues, the Chairman has resorted to schooling senior leaders, speaking down to them like a headmaster, as though they are students in a classroom. He never misses an opportunity to insult any Opposition leader,” he said. “TheRajyaSabhaChairman’s conduct in the House has harmed the country’s dignity... The notice for his removal is not THEOPPOSITIONINDIAblocparties in Rajya Sabha are preparing to give notice for moving a motion to impeach Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav following his controversial and derogatory remarksaboutMuslimsatanevent organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad last week. Sources said as many as 36 Opposition MPs across parties NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 11 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 11 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 WHENBIHAR’Sallegedgangster and arms dealer Pappu Chowdhury’s name came up in the November 16 attempt on Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor Sushanta Ghosh’s life last month, it confirmed one thing to law enforcement authorities: the growing nexus be- THE EDITORIAL PAGE NO, YOUR HONOUR HC judge should not get away with hateful references to minorities. SC should draw the line for him PAGE12 NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 11 POLICE AUTHORITIES in the US have expressed their inability to provide details of bank accounts and phone numbers related to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, founder of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) which is banned in India, The Indian Express has learnt. The case pertains to the hoisting of the so-called Khalistan flag atop the District Administration Complex in Moga in Punjab in 2020, allegedly at the behest of Pannun. Asked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for detailsof bankaccountnumbers and phone numbers related to Pannun, the US authorities, cit- ing their law, declined the request since the punishment for theallegedoffenceintheircountry is within one year and they, therefore, could not seek such details, a source said. Wanted in India on terror charges, Pannun holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. He has been designated as a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and there are multiple cases registered against him. On August 14, 2020 — it was the eve of Independence Day — two men breached the security cover and entered the District Administration Complex (Deputy Commissioner’s office building) in Moga, raised the socalled Khalistan flag on the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 BJP rallies to his defence: Insult to Jats & farmers, bid to deflect Soros VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 11 HITTINGBACKattheOpposition for its notice on Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, the BJP on Wednesdaysoughttoframeitas an “insult” to the Jat community and to a “farmer’s son from a humble background”. Targeting the Congress, the BJP called it a diversionary tactic to keep the spotlight away from the “connections” between the Nehru-Gandhi family and billionaire George Soros. “Today, those who talk about caste are bringing a no-confidence motion against the son of a poor farmer, Jagdeep Dhankhar. This is an insult to a How the gangs of Bihar are crossing over into Bengal — just a shot away KOLKATA,PATNA,DECEMBER11 Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar leaves after adjourning the House, Wednesday. PTI CRIME SURGE IN AREAS BORDERING BIHAR, JHARKHAND: POLICE SWEETY KUMARI & SANTOSH SINGH 2020 INCIDENT IN MOGA: NIA PROBE tween organised crime syndicates of the two states. According to police sources, recent months have seen a “surge” in criminal activity in West Bengal, many of these linked to gangs from across the border in Bihar. There are estimated to be at least 50 such gangs operating in Bihar’s areas borderingBengal,UttarPradesh, Jharkhand and Nepal, a senior police officer from Bihar said. The rise of arms and ammu- nition being smuggled into the state from Bihar has also added to these worries. According to data accessed by The Indian Express,58peoplehavebeenarrested and 115 weapons -- including finished and unfinished firearms–havebeenseizedin14 raids conducted jointly by the Kolkata Police’s Special Task Force and Bihar Special Task Force in Bihar’s arms factories in the last three years. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 farmer’s son who comes from a humble background. The Congressanditsalliesknowthat the numbers are not stacked in their favour. This notice is going to fall. But just to insult the Jat community, a party is, for the first time in the history of the Rajya Sabha, giving a notice of this kind against the Chairman,” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE WORLD AFGHAN MINISTER KHALIL HAQQANI KILLED IN KABUL EXPLOSION U.S.-ISRAELI PLAN BEHIND OUSTER OF ASSAD: KHAMENEI PAGE 14 Missing earring, laptop: Some lost, found Parliament stories beyond the ‘note wad’ PAGE 1 ANCHOR DEEPTIMAN TIWARY NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 11 THE TRAIL of the “wad of currencynotes”allegedlyrecovered from the seat allocated to Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha remains “under investigation” a week on. Meanwhile, the wait of one lonely pen for its rightful claimant continues at the ‘Table Office’, the section of Parliament Parliament’s Table Office is where items left behind by members are deposited. File INPARLIAMENT,PAGE5 where all things lost — and almost all found — land up in the House. Time being an exception. “Most members are quietly returned their belongings. Currently, there is just that unclaimed pen lying in the Table Office. Everything else has been returned,” a Parliament security staff member says, adding that ithasbeenlyingwiththemsince the last Session. The case of recovered cash, announced by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar himself in the House and disowned completely by Singhvi, is CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata