New Delhi, Nov. 17 -- Hope springs eternal in the midst of despair, be it the global economy or Indian. But before we come to the encouraging bits, the bad news first. A new study released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that its World Uncertainty Index has doubled from its January level.

About a month ago, IMF managing director Kristina Georgieva, while addressing the Fund's annual meetings, emphasized that heightened uncertainty is likely to stay longer than expected.

In short, it has now become the new normal.

This index tracks the degree of uncertainty in the global economy by mining country reports filed by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Index readings are available for 143 countries. It is the index's subcomponen...