The global financial crisis is exacerbating concerns about surging food and fuel costs, which has pushed 75 million into poverty, the United Nations chief said on Wednesday, terming the turmoil a 'colossal human tragedy'.
"The situation would be alarming enough if it were confined to a matter of hunger, but a wide-spread lack of food triggers other threats, from social unrest to environmental degradation," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said on the eve of the World Food Day on October 16.
India appears to have made some progress in tackling the hunger and malnutrition issue, but the situation remains
'alarming' in the country on this front, according to the Global Hunger Index released recently.
India ranks 66th on the 2008 Global Hunger Index of 88 countries. Congo showed highest hunger rate of 42.7 points at the 88th place.
The report noted that countries that have scored between 20-30 points are in an alarming condition. The index ranked countries on a 100-point scale, with zero being the best score having no hunger and 100 being the worst.
The Index measures global hunger by ranking countries on three leading indicators and combining them into one index. The three indicators are prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient.
We present here a list of some of the Asian countries worst hit by hunger and malnutrition, starting with India.
India; Rank: 66
According to the 2008 Global Hunger Index, India's hunger rate fell to 23.7 points, from 32.5 points in 1990.
India has the world's fourth largest gross domestic product at $4.726 trillion. India's per capita income is $950.
Indian economy is among the fastest growing in the world and the country also has the world's second largest labour
force.
However, the ongoing financial sector crisis in the United States and its repercussions on developed markets
worldwide result in lower capital inflows into India, it is feared.
And this in turn is expected to slow down investment growth in the months ahead.
With the Indian economy exhibiting distinctive signs of slowdown, Indian economists predict a real growth rate of 7
per cent for the current financial year.
Image: Indian folk dancers from The Panghat Group of Performing Arts help a young
performer with her costume during a full dress rehearsal in Ahmedabad as they prepare for the Navratri Festival. |
Photograph: Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Meltdown: Thousands of jobs to go globally!
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