- World Economic Outlook: IMF –
- Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released its World Economic Outlook 2023 titled- Navigating Global Divergence, which stated that the Indian Economy will grow faster than previously estimated.
- The IMF expects global GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth to be 3% in 2023, which is the same as its July 2023 forecast.
- Global GDP growth for 2024, however, has seen a reduction of 10 basis points from the July forecast to 2.9%.
- The Chinese economy is expected to grow at 5% in 2023, which is higher than the 3% it grew at in 2022.
- The IMF expects Global inflation in 2024 to rise at 5.8%, faster than the 5.2% estimated three months and these projections do not reflect events of the weekend and their fallout.
- Growth has lagged on account of Tight Monetary Policies as central banks have kept money supply tight to fight Inflation which rose to 8.7% in 2022.
- And it has logged on account of an uneven recovery from the pandemic and supply chain disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- India’s GDP for 2023-24 will by 6.3%, a 20-basis point increase from the July 2023 numbers.
- The IMF’s 2023-24 growth forecast for India is now the same as what the World Bank (WB) had projected in its India Development Update.
- India’s 2024-25 GDP growth forecast has been left unchanged at 6.3%.
- While the IMF’s upward revision of India’s 2023-24 GDP growth comes in the wake of a strong 7.8% growth in the quarter ending June 2023, the annual growth number is still lower than the 6.5% projection by RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
- Gaza Strip –
- The recent escalation of conflict between Israel and Hamas militants has thrust the Gaza Strip into the global spotlight.
- Amidst this turmoil, Israel’s defense minister, declared a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip, cutting off essential resources. This move has highlighted the long-standing and contentious issue of the Gaza blockade, which has been in place since 2007.
- The Gaza Strip is situated in the eastern Mediterranean basin, sharing borders with Egypt in the southwest and Israel to the north and east. To the west, it is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea.
- It is one of the most densely populated areas globally, with over 2 million residents living in a tiny area.
- The term “open air prison” has been widely used by academics, activists, and journalists to characterize the conditions in Gaza.
- The Six-Day War of 1967 resulted in Israel capturing Gaza from Egypt and initiating its military occupation of the region.Israel withdrew its settlements from Gaza in 2005, but this period also saw intermittent blockades on the movement of people and goods.
- In 2007, after Hamas assumed power in Gaza, Israel and Egypt enforced a permanent blockade, justifying it as necessary for security.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the blockade has severely impacted Gaza’s economy, resulting in high unemployment, food insecurity, and aid dependency.
- Gaza is encircled by walls on three sides, and its western border is controlled by Israel, restricting access by sea.
- Three functional border crossings exist – Karem Abu Salem Crossing and Erez Crossing controlled by Israel, and Rafah Crossing controlled by Egypt.
- These crossings have been sealed in response to recent hostilities.
- Global Hunger Index 2023 –
- In the Global Hunger Index 2023, India ranked 111th out of 125 countries, indicating a serious level of hunger.
- Neighboring countries, such as Pakistan (102nd), Bangladesh (81st), Nepal (69th), and Sri Lanka (60th), scored better than India.
- The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a peer-reviewed report, published on an annual basis by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
- The GHI is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels, reflecting multiple dimensions of hunger over time.
- The GHI score is calculated on a 100-point scale reflecting the severity of hunger – 0 is the best score (implies no hunger) and 100 is the worst.
- India’s GHI score 2023 stands at 28.7, categorized as “serious” on the GHI Severity of Hunger Scale.This shows a slight improvement from its GHI 2015 score of 29.2, which was also deemed serious.
- Also, compared to its alarming GHI scores of 38.4 in 2000 and 35.5 in 2008, India has made significant progress.
- Child stunting is prevalent at 35.5% ( India’s National Family Health Survey(NFHS) 2019-2021)
- The prevalence of undernourishment in India is 16.6% ( State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report 2023 )
- India’s child wasting rate is a concerning 18.7% (India’s NFHS 2019-21), the highest among all countries in the report. The under-five mortality rate stands at 3.1% (United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation January 2023 )