India's top 1% grew its wealth by 62% since 2000: G20 report
New Delhi (PTI): India's richest 1 per cent expanded its wealth by 62 per cent between 2000 to 2023, according to a report commissioned by the South African Presidency of the G20.
The study, led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, warns that global inequality has reached "emergency" levels, threatening democracy, economic stability, and climate progress.
The G20 Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality, which includes economists Jayati Ghosh, Winnie Byanyima, and Imraan Valodia, found that the top 1 per cent globally captured 41 per cent of all new wealth created between 2000 and 2024, while the bottom half of humanity received just 1 per cent.
The report said the intercountry inequality, broadly measured, appears to have reduced because of the rise in per capita incomes in some very populous countries like China and India, which brought down the share of high-income countries in global GDP somewhat.
The report said that between 2000 and 2023, the richest 1 per cent increased their share of the wealth in over half of all countries, which contain 74 per cent of the global.
"In India, the top 1% have grown their share of wealth by 62% over this period (2000-2023); this figure is 54% in China," the report said.
"Extreme inequality is a choice. It is not inevitable and can be reversed with political will. This can be greatly facilitated by global coordination, and in this regard, the G20 has a critical role," it said.
The report proposes the creation of an International Panel on Inequality (IPI), modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to monitor global trends and guide policymaking.
The body, to be launched under the South African G20 Presidency, would provide governments with "authoritative and accessible" data on inequality and its drivers.
Countries with high inequality are seven times more likely to experience democratic decline than more equal countries, the report said.
"Since 2020, global poverty reduction has slowed almost to a halt and reversed in some regions. 2.3 billion people face moderate or severe food insecurity, up by 335 million since 2019.26 and half the world's population is still not covered by essential health services, with 1.3 billion people impoverished by out-of-pocket health spending," the report said.
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'Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane...': Tharoor takes dig at failed US-Iran talks in Pakistan
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.
"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.
The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.
अब क्या होगा, ये रब जाने
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 13, 2026
ना वो माने, ना ये माने https://t.co/DYrXpa7C8h
Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".
Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".
The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".
The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke
