Contents:

1. Deeper role
2. 2. A food-sufficient India needs to be hunger-free too.

Deeper Role

Conflict in West Asia consistently the draw attention of multiple state and non-state actors, including the United States. The recent announcement of the United States to provide a THAAD advanced anti-missile system highlights the growing intervention of the US into the conflicts of West Asia. Escalations may further increase US involvement in the region.

Relevance: GS 2 (International Relations).

Practice question: Explain the increasing role of the US in west Asia, especially focussing on he Israel-PaPalestine conflict  Discuss how the US can utilise its diplomatic powers to bring peace to the region. (250 words)

Key Issues

US support to Israel:

The US has adopted a twin approach of providing military aid and providing diplomatic support to avoid regional escalation.

• The US has provided $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel since October 2023.

• Deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in favour of Israel.

• Airstrikes against Houthis and militias in Iraq and Syria (both of them declared war against Israel) by the United States.

• Secretary of State repeated visits to maintain American Arab cooperation.

• US reluctance to pressurise Israel despite allegations of a war crime.

Increasing regional instability:

• Israel has expanded its operation beyond Gaza to Lebanon,Syria and even bombed the Iranian embassy in Damascus.

• Hezbollah has intensified its attack. On Sunday, it killed four Israeli soldiers by drone attack, and Iran launched a massive missile attack on October 1st.

Consequence of escalation :

• Escalation may increase the risk of increased US involvement in the conflict.

• Increased destabilisation may draw many state and non-state actors into the conflict, resulting in large-scale influence on global geopolitics and energy markets.

Conclusion :

The United States should utilise its position to reduce conflict in the region by putting meaningful pressure on Tel Aviv , failing to which will result in serious consequence in the west Asia region ,which may spill over to global geopolitics affecting supply chain and energy markets  

THAAD: Terminal high altitude missile system is an anti-missile system developed by the US that intercepts and destroys short, medium, and intermediate ballistic missiles. THAAD was designed to intercept missiles at the terminal stage itself.

A Food-Sufficient India Needs To Be Hunger-Free Too

Context: In the 2024 global hunger index, India ranks 105th out of 127 countries, denoting a serious level of hunger.

Relevance: GS2 (Social Justice)

Practice question: Discuss the relations between poverty, hunger, and nutrition. Explain how various government initiatives like PDS can be utilised to address hunger and malnutrition in India.

Introduction :

Despite being food sufficient, India is facing challenges in addressing hunger and malnutrition, as highlighted by global hunger index report 2024. Eliminating both malnutrition and hunger requires a multifaceted approach targeting poverty, inequality, rising food prices, and universal basic income.

Hunger and malnutrition in India:

• Food production : In 2023–24, India produced 330 million metric tonnes of food grains, sufficient enough for its population.

• Affordability : Despite food sufficiency, 72% of households are facing issues accessing nutritious diets due to poverty and inflation, as observed by the global nutrition report, 2023.

• Malnutrition : India has nearly 1/3 of the malnourished population in the world, i.e., 220 million.

• Child malnutrition : Child wasting: 19.3% and child stunting: 35.5%, according to NFHS5.

• Protein deficiency :the recommended protein intake is 60-75g/day, while the average Indian consumes 55g/day. Even the richest 5% consume less protein and prefer processed food.

• Disparity : Urban-rural disparity: hunger and malnutrition are more prevalent in rural areas than urban areas in India.

Cost of a healthy diet:

• Thalinomics: According to NSSO 2011,rural population spent nearly 63.3% of their income on food alone ,despite the public distribution system (PDS) .

• CoHD : The cost of a healthy diet (CoHD) in Southeast Asia is $4.20 PPP per person per day and 60% of low-income Indians can’t afford this (World Bank, 2023).

• Affordability of meals: NSSO finds 3.2% of the population cannot afford 60 meals per month.

Measures needed:

• Strengthening the PDS system by addressing leakage and inefficiencies. As PDS under the National Food Security Act covers more than 800 million people.

• Encouraging crop diversification and resilient agriculture may check food inflation.

• India wastes 70 million metric tonnes of food annually, which is nearly 20% of the total food produced. This issue needs to be addressed.

• Promoting meat- and protein-rich diets.

Govts initiatives:

• Eat Right Movement : a campaign to promote healthy diet .

• Poshan 2.0 :an integrated approach for maternal and child nutrition .

• Food Fortification : fortification of staple foods like rice and wheat with essential nutrients .

Hunger and Africa:

Undernourished population at global level is 757 million in 2023, where 20.4% facing hunger are alone in Africa.Projected trend remark , by the end of 2030, half of the world’s hungry will be in Africa.

Conclusion : 

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2) speaks about ending hunger by 2030; considering the current scenario, it requires global efforts. Developed countries should come forward for the sake of humanity. India should take concrete steps to be hunger-free and to address malnutrition .