Virus-hit China scraps GDP target for 1st time
FUTURE TENSE Country’s economy shrank 6.8% in opening quarter of 2020 compared with a year earlier; punishment on cards for illegal trade of wild animals
nBEIJING: For the first time, China has decided against officially setting a GDP growth target, taking into account the economic uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision was made known in a government work report released by the country’s Premier Li Keqiang on Friday.
Li read out the report at the launch of the annual summit of the National People’s Congress (NPC) - China’s parliament - in Beijing on Friday, pledging government support to help the pandemic-hit economy and setting out broad economic goals for the rest of the year.
China’s economy shrank 6.8% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with a year earlier, as the deadly coronavirus spread from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, where it emerged late last year.
“We have not set a specific target for economic growth this year. This is because our country will face some factors that are difficult to predict in its development, due to the great uncertainty regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and the world economic and trade environment,” Li was quoted as saying by official media while reading out the work report at the Great Hall of the People on Friday morning.
According to the report, China is targeting a 2020 budget deficit of at least 3.6% of the GDP, above last year’s 2.8%, and fixed the quota on local government special bond issuance at 3.75 trillion yuan ($527 billion), up from 2.15 trillion yuan.
In a draft budget report submitted to the NPC, the government set a 6.6% growth rate for its defence budget, lower than the 7.5% rise in 2019, an outlay that’s closely followed globally.
The proposed defence budget stands at 1.268tn yuan ($178bn), according to the draft budget.
The Chinese government has decided that it will severely punish the illegal hunting and trading of wild animals, it said in its government work report that was issued on Friday.
China is looking to implement a nationwide ban imposed in January as a result of the outbreak.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been blamed on a seafood market in Wuhan that is believed to have sold wild animals such as bats and pangolins, and China has promised new legislation to make the ban permanent.
Wuhan, Shanghai and several other cities in the country have already banned wild animal consumption, and several provinces have also issued action plans to curb hunting, breeding and trafficking.
Ramzan 2020 is ending this week. Yesterday was Alwida (farewell) Jumma, the last Friday of a sacred month in which the Muslims believe that the Quran was sent down from heaven. The practitioners of this faith are obliged to abstain from negative thoughts, speeches and actions to purify their inner selves. And also from food and water, during the day.
This time, Ramzan turned out to be the most unusual one in living memory.
The fast, or roza as it is called, ends every evening after the Maghrib prayers, but this year friends and strangers did not sit together in homes and mosques to have iftari, the day’s first meal. The mosques remained closed to devotees.
At night, the area around Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid did not become a culinary destination as is always the case in Ramzan. Nobody stormed into its narrow by-lanes to shop for dresses and sandals until late night, and to feast on kebabs, biryanis, fried chicken and sewai from the street stalls. There were no street stalls to be spotted.
The historic Shereen Bhawan mithai shop in the city you should see
Chitli Qabar Chowk remained closed the entire month. Its cooks—simply called “labour”—have gone back to their villages in UP and Bihar.
The area had absolutely no Ramzan-time raunaq (dazzle). The Matia Mahal Bazaar was not strung with fairy lights. The small mosques were not decked up with lights either. The streets stayed noiseless the entire night. Barely anybody would be spotted outside after 7pm, the start of the 12-hour curfew.
Old Delhi, as well as the rest of the metropolis and the world, was denied the public face of Ramzan festivities this year, because of the unprecedented lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Here is, as a homage to this loss, a remembered excursion through real places and experiences that went missing this month; the recommendations are drawn from memories of years past. (The photo is from the previous year’s Ramzan night).
Iftari at the Dargah
Start by partaking the evening-hour iftari in the courtyard of the Sufi shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, in central Delhi’s Nizamuddin
basti. Scores of people sit in neat rows just before breaking their fast; each person is served a snack portion containing mixed fruit salad, samosas, cut melons and a glass of roohafza milk. The best part of the gathering is getting to know the folks sitting on either sides of you. Your neighbour could be anybody—a fakir, a Lonely Planet backpacker, a software engineer or even an instagrammer. The hooting of the siren gives the signal to start eating. The first few minutes are completely silent as people dig into their first meal in several hours.
Next, board an auto rickshaw to Turkman Gate, the Mughal-era gateway to Old Delhi, which will set you back in time for just 80 rupees.
The long walk
This evening, all roads lead to Jama Masjid. There are many ways of reaching the historic mosque. You may stroll through the supercrowded lanes snaking through Chitli Qabar and Matia Mahal. The path goes past several points of interest—do stop by a tea shop just beside the unknown person’s tomb located at the first intersection on crossing the gateway. It’s the only chai establishment run by a woman in this part of the Walled City.
Now head straight towards Matia Mahal, and take little breaks on the way.
Asghar Bakery
Treat yourself to their special coconut paratha. Sweet and milky, it looks look like a huge bun and is very heavy, though it feels deceptively light while you are eating it. Kamaal Sweet House
This small shop is stacked with flaky khajlas, the monumental ghee-drenched swollen bread that is consumed by breaking it into bite-sized pieces and then soaking them in a bowl of milk.
Haji Tea Point
The many devotees of this tea house celebrate it for its morning-time sooji halwa, aloo-chhole subzi, poori and milky chai. But in Ramzan it prioritises sevai and pheni, served with piping hot doodh (milk). These two are the season’s staple and occupy a place of honour on the counter. While sevai is roasted vermicelli, pheni is its deep-fried version. Muhammed Imran’s Chai Stall
This lonesome establishment is tucked away on the other side of Jama Masjid, the one that faces the Red Fort. Barely any people here at this hour. It has the character of a quarantined man. Jama Masjid looks like a shadow from there, and the Red Fort like the shadow of a shadow. This is a dream-like way to wind down this memorable Ramzan evening, that this year couldn’t take place.