India Development Report: World Bank

• In its "Navigating the Storm" India Development Report, the World Bank (WB) revised its estimate of 6.9% growth for India's economy in 2022–2023.
• India's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth forecast was lowered by the World Bank in October 2022 from 7.5% to 6.5%.

Which points stand out the most?

• Growth Projection: The Bank predicts that the Indian economy will expand at a slightly slower 6.6% rate in 2023–2024 as a result of a difficult external environment and weak global growth, which will have an impact on its outlook for the economy through a variety of channels.
• Indian economic activity's resiliency in the face of a deteriorating external environment is a growth driver.
• In contrast to other emerging market economies, India's economy has proven to be remarkably resilient to the deteriorating external environment thanks to strong macroeconomic fundamentals.
• Strong private investment and consumption.
• In the first half of 2022–2023, the government's focus on increasing capital spending helped domestic demand.
• India's domestic market is sizable, and it is relatively less exposed to foreign trade flows.
• Beginning of the third quarter (October to December quarter), 2022–2023, with a persistently strong increase in domestic demand.
• India is navigating both domestic and international challenges with the help of a well-designed and responsible policy response to global spillovers.

Challenges:

• In FY2023/24, the impact of a tightening global monetary policy cycle, sluggish global economic expansion, elevated commodity prices (inflation), and rising borrowing costs will have a negative impact on domestic demand, particularly private consumption, while sluggish global economic expansion will restrain demand growth for India's exports. Due to these factors, the Indian economy will grow less in FY23 than it did in FY22.

Suggestions:

• Numerous jobs can be generated in the green economy and renewable energy sectors.
• It issues a warning about the trade-offs between trying to prevent negative global spillover effects on growth and the available policy options.

About The World Bank:

• In 1944, it was founded alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) (IMF). The World Bank is now known as the IBRD.
• The World Bank Group is a distinctive five-institution global partnership that works to find long-term solutions to poverty reduction and shared prosperity in developing nations.
• One of the United Nations' specialised agencies is the World Bank.
• Member countries: There are 189 of them.
• India is a member as well.

Important Reports

• Ease of Doing Business (Stopped publishing).
• Human Capital Index.
• World Development Report.
• Its Five Development Institutions:
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Development Association (IDA)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC).
• Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
• International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) [India is not a member of this].

Binary Merger Of Gamma-Ray Burst with Kilonova

• A long Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) produced by a compact binary merger twinned with kilonova emissions was recently reported as a rare astronomical event.
• The Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), India's largest optical telescope, also confirmed this combination, which had never before been accepted or proven scientifically.
• The GRB, designated as GRB211211A, lasted for more than 50 seconds.
• Kilonovae are produced by the collision of two compact objects, such as binary neutron stars or neutron stars and black holes.

How do Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) work?

• GRBs are short, high-energy gamma radiations that are released when massive stars in the universe collapse or die. They are massive but incredibly bright.
• They are the most potent cosmic events, and they can be seen from billions of light-years away.
• A light-year, or 9.5 trillion kilometres, is the distance a light beam covers in one year on Earth.
• Based on whether the event lasts longer than or less than two seconds, astronomers categorise them as long or short.

Long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs):

• These bursts are seen in connection with the death of large stars.
• A black hole is created when the core of a star many times more massive than the Sun abruptly collapses due to fuel exhaustion.
• A black hole is a region in space where the matter has been compressed to such an extent that it has produced a gravitational field from which even light cannot escape.
• Some of the matter that is swirling toward the black hole escapes as two strong jets that travel in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light.
• Only when one of these jets happens to be almost directly pointed at Earth can astronomers detect a GRB.
• Each jet pierces the star, sending out a pulse of gamma rays, the light with the highest energy, that can last for several minutes. The star that was damaged by the burst then rapidly expands as a supernova.
• An exploding star that has reached the end of its life is known as a supernova.

Short Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB):

• Contrarily, a short GRB is created when two compact objects, like neutron stars, which are also created during stellar collapse, spiral inward over a period of billions of years and collide.
• One of the potential evolutionary endpoints for high mass stars is a neutron star.

SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN)

• Recently, The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) signed an MoU with Social Alpha to launch SpaceTech Innovation Network (SpIN).

About Social Alpha:

• Social Alpha is a multistage innovation curation and venture development platform for science and technology start-ups.

About SpIN:

Space entrepreneurship:

• SpIN is India’s first dedicated platform for innovation, curation, and venture development for the burgeoning space entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Public-private collaboration:

• The space agency said that the tie-up is a one-of-a-kind public-private collaboration for start-ups and SMEs in the space industry.

SpIN will primarily focus on facilitating space tech entrepreneurs in three distinct innovation categories:

• Geospatial Technologies and Downstream Applications;
• Enabling Technologies for Space & Mobility; and
• Aerospace Materials, Sensors, and Avionics.

Significance of SpIN:

Shaping policies:

• This novel partnership is a significant step forward in providing further stimulus to India’s recent space reform policies.

Creating market potential & ecosystem:

• It will work towards identifying and unleashing the market potential of the most promising space tech innovators and entrepreneurs in India.
• The SPIN platform is also expected to create a level playing field for various stakeholders to collaborate and contribute to the space ecosystem in the country.

SpIN innovation challenge:

• In line with the partnership announcement, SpIN has launched its first innovation challenge.

Areas of innovation:

• Early-stage start-ups for developing solutions in areas of maritime and land transportation, urbanization, mapping, and surveying, disaster management, food security, sustainable agriculture, environmental monitoring, and natural resources management, among others are encouraged to apply.

Significance of the innovation challenge:

• The selected start-ups and innovators will be able to access both Social Alpha’s and ISRO’s infrastructure and resources as per the prevailing guidelines.
• They will be provided active hand-holding in critical areas, including access to product design, testing and validation infrastructure, intellectual property management, go-to-market strategy, and access to long-term patient capital, among other technical and business inputs.