India ranked second as the better-performing countries in ...



IMPORTANT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INDICES 2019 AND 2020Every year different organizations/ agencies release a list of countries, ranking them on their respective index. Some popular indexes released by international organizations are Ease of Doing business, Global competitive index, Human Development Index, etc. Recently India was in the news because it falls down 10 places in the Global competitive index for which the current government is facing a lot of criticism. This ranking shows the country’s progress in various parameters. Policymakers use these indexes/ rankings to make suitable schemes. Some important national and international indices are picked up for your preparation. India ranked second as the better-performing countries in the API listThe international animal welfare charity, World Animal Protection, released the global Animal Protection Index 2020. India has ranked second as the better-performing countries in the Animal Protection Index (API).? Highlights: ? The aim of API is to showcase where countries are doing well, where they fall short on animal welfare policy and legislation, in order to take steps to improve.? ? The index ranks countries from A, being the highest score, to G, being the weakest score.? ? India secured a 'C' ranking in the index, along with countries like Spain, New Zealand, Mexico, and France. ? India has strong laws on the protection of animals, and the welfare of dairy animals is yet to part of any such law. This index highlighted the work that still needs to done to protect every animal. ? New research reveals poor animal welfare practices will provide a perfect breeding ground for viruses to mutate and spread while trading. ? If animal welfare laws aren't improved, the risk of disease outbreaks becoming more frequent is high.? ? World Animal Protection assessed the animal welfare policies and legislation of 50 countries. ? The report highlighted the lack of adequate animal welfare laws.? ? The index is aimed to help countries to put in place good animal welfare practices such as keeping animals clean, healthy, and with sufficient space to exhibit natural behaviours. (March 2020).India is third-largest producer of Electricity in the WorldThe World Energy Statistics published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2019 states that India is the 3rd largest producer of electricity in the world. India ranked 106th in terms of per capita consumption in 2017. Highlights: ? As per the list, the reforms in the power sector has grown continuously. ? ? India has now become a power surplus from a power deficit situation. ? ? The power sector reforms focus on the supply of 24×7 quality power to consumers, higher standards of service, promotion of renewable energy sources, development of hydropower, improving efficiency, especially in the distribution sector, etc. ? ? Also, the Central government is planning to implement reforms linked distribution schemes and changes in tariff policy, among others. (march 2020).India ranks second as the most promising source of disruptive technologyAccording to KPMG's "2020 Global Technology Industry Innovation Survey" report, India shared the second position with China as the most promising source of disruptive technology in the world. The report was topped by the United States as the most promising market for developing disruptive technologies. Highlights: ? The report ranked countries that are committed to setting up strong innovation ecosystems. ? In terms of the world cities, it highlighted that Silicon Valley/San Francisco would be leading technology innovation hubs over the next four years. Under this category, Bengaluru entered the top 10 list and ranked ninth. Mumbai was ranked 16th. ? In terms of hubs globally outside Silicon Valley, Singapore topped the global rankings for the year 2020. Singapore offers strong government support, advanced IT infrastructure, IP protection laws, and a deep pool of talent. It was followed by London, Tel Aviv. (March 2020).India listed as the worlds second-largest arms importer as per SIPRIIndia stands as the world's second-largest arms importer as per the "Trends in international arms transfers 2019" report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data. The data was released on 9 March. Saudi Arabia topped the list. Also, India has ranked 23rd position among the top 25 weapon exporters.? Highlights: ? Saudi Arabia registered 12% of the total global arms imports. ? India accounted for 9.2% of the total global arms imports during the year 2015-2019. ? ? China stood at fifth position with 4.3% ? Pakistan stands at 11th with 2.6%.? ? It stated that India has been taking steps to modernize its armed forces by acquiring helicopters, combat jets, submarines, warships, artillery guns, and assault rifles from countries like Russia, the US, France, and Israel.? India: India's major exporters are Mauritius, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Russia was the largest supplier to India during 2010-14 and 2015-19 and followed by the US, the second-largest arms supplier during 2010-14. (march 2020).Gujarat topped the list in the installations of solar rooftop plantsAs per Government data, Gujarat has topped the list in the installations of solar rooftop plants. It is followed by Maharashtra. The aim of the installations of solar rooftop plants is to achieve renewable power generation goals. Report Highlights: ? As of 2 March, a total of 79,950 systems have been installed across the country with a combined capacity of 322 MW. ? Gujarat has installed about 50,915 systems being fixed on domestic rooftops in the State. The total capacity of the system is 177.67 MW.? ? Gujarat has adopted "Surya Gujarat," a solar rooftop scheme that covers about 8 lakh domestic electricity consumers under the scheme by 2022. ? Maharashtra has about 5,513 installations of solar rooftop plants. Surya Gujarat: Under the scheme, Gujarat relaxed subsidy criteria for domestic users with up to 40% subsidy on the cost of projects up to 3 kWh capacity, while 20% subsidy assistance is being provided for projects with a capacity between 3 and 10 kWh. The state government has also allotted Rs.912 crore for the scheme. The electricity that is generated thus will be used for households, and the excess units are purchased by the Gujarat State discoms at the rate of Rs.2.25 per unit. (March 2020).UNDP released Gender Social Norms IndexUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released the new Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) on 5 March. The report stated that gender disparity still exists in every country.? Highlights: ? The index measured how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in work, politics, and education in 75 countries or 80% of the world's population.? ? It revealed that about half of the world's men and women feel that men make better political leaders, and over 40% feel that men make better business executives. ? It also stated that people think that men have more right to a job when jobs are scarce, and 28% think it is justified for a man to beat his wife. ? It highlighted that enormous power gaps still exist between men and women. ? Only 24% of parliamentary seats worldwide are held by women, and only 10 out of a possible 193 female heads of government. ? GSNI stated that less than 6% of CEOs in S&P 500 companies are women.? ? UNDP said that even though women work more hours than men, the work is more likely to be unpaid care work. ? Parity has been achieved in primary school enrollment and reduced maternal mortality by 45% since 1990. (march 2020).India ranked 77th on the Sustainability Index as per UN reportIndia secured 77th rank on the Sustainability Index and 131st on the Flourishing Index in the UN report that was commissioned by a Commission of World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and The Lancet. The report was released by over 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world.? Report Highlights: ? The report considered per capita carbon emissions and the ability of children in a nation to live healthy lives. ? The flourishing index measured the best chance at survival and well-being for children. ? The report assessed 180 countries capacity to ensure that their youngsters can survive and thrive. ? The domains that were considered are educational achievement, growth and nutrition, reproductive freedom, and protection from violence. ? The Sustainability Index ranked the selected countries on excess carbon emissions compared with the 2030 target.? ? The report highlighted that the world's survival is depended on the well being of the children, and their ability to flourish. But no country in the world is doing enough to provide the children a sustainable future. (Feb 2020).India ranks 35th in 2019 WEFFI listhe Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)?published?Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2019. India jumped five ranks and secured 35th rank in the list.? Worldwide Educating for the Future Index (WEFFI) 2019: ? WEFFI ranked countries that are based on their abilities to equip students with skill-based education. ? It analyzed the education system from the perspective of skill-based education in areas like problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, leadership, creativity and entrepreneurship, and digital and technical skills. ? India scored 53, based on three categories namely policy environment (56.3), teaching environment (52.2) and overall socio-economic environment (32.2). In 2018, India scored 41.2 and secured 40th rank.? ? The report highlighted that the decentralized education system is another shortcoming of India's education policy. WEFFI: The WEFFI report and index were commissioned by the Yidan Prize Foundation. It ranks 50 economies, which represent nearly 93% of global Gross domestic product (GDP) and 89% of the world's population. It analyses the methods a country uses to equip the people aged 15-24 with skills for the future. (Feb 2020).Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language of the worldThe 22nd edition of the world language database Ethnologue reported that Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language of the world in 2019.? Report Highlights: ? Ethnologue brought out a yearly database of living languages of the world since its establishment in 1951. ? Ethnologue stated that over 615 million people speak Hindi across the world. ? ? English at the top of the list with 1,132 million speakers.? ? Chinese Mandarin is in second position with 1,117 million speakers. ? Bangla has ranked as the 7th most spoken language of the world with 228 million native speakers. ? The current round of the database covers 7,111 living languages in the world. Ethnologue also holds data on languages that have gone out of use in recent history. This edition lists 348 such languages. (feb 2020).Ease of Living Index and Municipal Performance Index 2019 LaunchedEase of living index (EoLI) and Municipal Performance Index (MPI) 2019 have launched by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. The indices designed to assess the quality of life of citizens in 100 Smart Cities and 14 other Million Plus Cities. Municipal Performance Index 2019, the Ministry sought to evaluate the performance of municipalities based on five enablers, namely Service, Finance, Planning, Technology, and Governance, which have been further divided into 20 sectors, which will be evaluated across 100 indicators. This will help Municipalities in better planning and management, filling the gaps in city administration, and improving the liveability of cities for its citizens. Ease of Living Index ? ? ? ? ? ?Ease of Living Index aimed at providing a holistic view of Indian cities - beginning from the services provided by local bodies, the effectiveness of the administration, the outcomes generated through these services in terms of the liveability within cities, and, finally, the citizen perception of these outcomes.?Ease of Living Index is namely a) generate information to guide evidence-based policy making b) catalyze action to achieve broader developmental outcomes including the SDG c) assess and compare the outcomes achieved from various urban policies and schemes and d)obtain the perception of citizens about their view of the services provided by the city administration. EoLI 2019 will facilitate the assessment of ease of living of citizens across three pillars: Quality of Life, Economic Ability, and Sustainability, which are further divided into 14 categories across 50 indicators. ? ?All participating cities have appointed nodal officers whose responsibility is to collect and collate the relevant data points from various departments both within and outside of the ULB and upload the same along with supporting documents in the exclusive web portal designed for this purpose. This portal formally launched by Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, on the 19 th of December 2019.?There is a central helpdesk which is used by nodal officers to seek process-specific and indicator specific clarifications and assistance as and when required. Ease of Living Index Assessment, a Citizen Perception Survey is being conducted on behalf of the Ministry (which carries 30% of the marks of the Ease of Living Index). This is a very important component of the assessment exercise as it will help indirectly capturing the perception of citizens with respect to the quality of life in their cities. This survey, which is being administered both online and offline, has commenced from 1st February 2020 and will continue till 29th February 2020. The offline version involving face-to-face interviews will commence on the 1st of February and will run parallel to the on-line versions. The same is being promoted through bulk SMS push as well as extensive coverage in social media. (feb 2020).India ranked 40th in the International IP Indexndia ranked 40th on a global International Intellectual Property (IP) Index. It was released by the Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) of the US Chambers of Commerce. GIPC conducted the survey for 53 countries.? Report Highlights: ? India scored 38.46% (19.23 out of 50) in 2020. It 2019, it scored 36.04% (16.22 out of 45).? ? As per the report, India has shown improvement in terms of scores when it comes to the protection of IP and copyright issues. India showed a 2.42% jump in the absolute score.? ? Also, India's relative score increased by 6.71%. ? GIPC said India has continued to score well in the Systemic Efficiency indicator by scoring ahead of 28 other economies in these indicators. ? The report identified several challenges for India including compulsory licensing, patentability requirements, patent enforcement, patent opposition, regulatory data protection, transparency in reporting seizures by customs, Singapore Treaty of Law of Trademarks and Patent Law Treaty. Global Innovation Policy Center: GIPC is the premier institution of the United States Chamber of Commerce. It handles all issues relating to innovation and creativity through advocating for strong IP standards. It aims to promote & defend the system of IP rights in the US, multilateral forums, and other key countries. Note: India secured 36th rank among 50 countries in 2019. (Feb 2020).Current Affairs: China ranked second as the worlds second-largest weapons manufacturerStockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish research institute, reported that China ranked second as the world's second-largest weapons manufacturer, behind the US.? Report Highlights: ? China ranked ahead of Russia, from whom the country used to buy many weapons. ? The report showed that the Chinese arms groups have generated sufficient sales to be ranked among the world's top 20 weapons sellers. The four groups have combined sales worth $54.1 billion in 2017.? ? The report represented the most comprehensive picture of Chinese companies' weapons production to date. ? The report highlighted that the new figures are an underestimate, given the lack of transparency in China. (Feb 2020).India ranked 80th in the 2019 Corruption Perceptions IndexIndia ranked 80th in the global Corruption Perceptions Index 2019 (CPI-2019). In 2018, India ranked 78th in the index. The index was released by Transparency International. Report Findings: ? The report considered?revealed that a majority of countries showed little to no improvement in tackling corruption against the previous report. ? It considered 13 surveys and expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries ? It ranks the countries of a score from zero, highly corrupt, to 100, very clean. ? The report stated that corruption is more pervasive in most of the countries that it surveyed. ? It highlighted that, in countries like India and Australia, opaque political financing, lobbying by the corporate sector has caused control of corruption.? ? Yemen (177), Syria (178), South Sudan (179) and Somali (180) performed worst in the ranked at the bottom of the list. Transparency International: Transparency International is a non-governmental organization. It was established in 1993. It is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Managing Director: Patricia Moreira Chairman: Delia Ferreira Rubio The organization aims to combat global corruption with civil societal anti-corruption measures and to prevent criminal activities arising from corruption. (feb 2020).ILO released 2020 World Employment and Social Outlook: TrendsInternational Labour Organization (ILO) released the World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2020 (WESO). The report highlighted that more than 470 million people worldwide are unemployed or underemployed. Report Highlights: ? The report forecasted Global unemployment to increase by around 2.5 million in 2020. ? It reported that around 188 million people are unemployed in the world.? ? Also, 165 million people, aged between 15 and 24, lack sufficient paid work? ? It stated that 120 million people either lack access to the labour market or have given up actively searching for work. ? ? The report stated that unemployment is projected to rise after a long period of stability. It stated that many people are working for fewer paid hours than they would like or lack adequate access to paid work. International Labour Organization (ILO): ILO was established in 1919. The ILO became the United Nation's first specialized agency in 1946. ILO has 187 member States. It aims to bring together governments, employers, and workers to set labour standards, devise programmes and develop policies to promote decent work for all women and men. ILO aims to promote rights at work, enhance social protection, encourage decent employment opportunities, and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues. World Employment and Social Outlook Trends 2020 (WESO): WESO report provides an overview of global and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labour force participation and productivity. (jan 2020).India ranked 51st in the 2019 Democracy IndexIndia ranked 51st in the Democracy Index 2019. It has dropped 10 places in the Democracy Index’s global ranking. The survey described the erosion of civil liberties in India as the primary cause of democratic regression. Report Highlights: ? The index is based on the functioning of government, electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, political participation, and political culture. ? The report A year of democratic setbacks and popular protest was prepared by The Economist Intelligence Unit. ? It provided a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states and two territories. ? Norway topped EIU's index with a score of 9.87 ? North Korea ranked last of the global rankings, with a score of 1.08. ? China ranked 153rd?with a score of 2.26. ? The report described the year 2019 as a tumultuous year for Asian countries. ? Three countries namely Chile, France, and Portugal were from the flawed democracy category to the full democracy category. ? Malta fell out of the full democracy category to the flawed democracy category. India: ? India's scored an overall of 6.90 in 2019 on a scale of 0-10. It fell from 7.23 in 2018 among other countries where there were regressions. ? In the Asia and Australia region, India ranked 8th after countries namely Timor-Leste, Malaysia, and Taiwan. ? The index referred to the changes in Jammu & Kashmir and the controversial implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam as the democratic regression caused in India. India was graded with 8.67 in electoral process and pluralism, 6.79 in government functioning, 6.67 in political participation, 5.63 in political culture and 6.76 in civil liberties. Top 5 countries in the List: 1) Norway with 9.87 2) Iceland with 9.58 3) Sweden with 9.39 4) New Zealand with 9.26 5) Finland with 9.25 Bottom 5 countries: 163) Chad with 1.61 164) Syria with 1.43 165) The Central African Republic with 1.32 166) The Republic of Congo with 1.13 167) North Korea with 1.08 Democracy Index: The Democracy Index is prepared by a UK-based company Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). It is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group. It measures the state of democracy in 167 countries.?(Jan2020).Japan topped the 2020 Henley Passport IndexHenley Passport Index 2020 was launched recently by Henley & Partners. India ranked 84th in the index. Japan has the world's strongest passport. The index was based on the data collected from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Report Highlights: ? In the index, around 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations were considered.? ? It is based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a visa. ? Japan has been holding the top rank positions for the past 3 years. As per the report, the citizens can access 191 destinations without the necessity of obtaining a visa in advance.? Top 5 ranking countries: ? Japan ranked first ? Singapore ranked second ? Germany and South Korea shared third ? Finland and Italy shared fourth ? Denmark, Luxembourg and Spain fifth position Passport Index: The passport index provides insights about visa-free travel options. The index score represents how welcoming the countries are. The index includes the World Openness score, Welcoming score, Visa- Frees score, and Global Mobility score. If the scores are high, the passport index is also high and then the passport is said to be highly powerful. (Jan 2020).IEA released a first in-depth review of India's energy policiesThe International Energy Agency (IEA) along with the country's policy think tank NITI Aayog released the first in-depth review of India's energy policies on 10 January 2020. The review aims to set out a range of recommendations in each energy policy area. The IEA regularly releases energy policy reviews for its member and association countries. For the first time, it has carried out the review for India. This is the first review IEA carried out for India. Report Highlights: ? The report highlighted the achievements made through the country's energy policies ? It suggested recommendations to support the Government of India's (GoI) goals to promote the well-functioning energy markets and boost the deployment of renewables.? ? The review encourages India to institutionalize energy policy coordination across the government with a national energy policy framework.? It marked the government's policy that provided access to electricity, affordable efficient lighting, and clean cooking through schemes like SAUBHAGYA, UJJWALA, and UJALA. ? Also, India is pursuing energy market reforms and the swift deployment of renewable technologies.? ? It highlighted the growth of renewables in India which accounts for almost 23% of India's total installed capacity.? ? The review also founded that the energy efficiency improvements in the country has avoided 15% of oil and gas imports, additional energy demand, and air pollution and 300 million tonnes (MT) of CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2018. Note: India has been an IEA association country since March 2017. (Jan 2020).India ranked 34th in TTCI of WEFIndia has ranked 34th in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of the World Economic Forum for the year 2019. In 2013, India ranked 65th. WEF analyzed 139 countries and scored each according to three sub-indices:? ? Regulatory Framework ? Business Environment and Infrastructure ? Human, Cultural, and Natural Resources These sub-indices are, in turn, composed of 14 pillars of Travel and Tourism Competitiveness. The Ministry of Tourism reported that India has gained popularity among overseas travellers as foreign tourist arrivals grew by 3.23% to 96,69,633 during January-November 2019. It also reported that 93,66,478 overseas travellers had arrived in January-November 2018. Measures taken by Government: ? In 2019, the tourism ministry has taken several steps by opening 120 new peaks for mountaineering in order to boost inbound tourism. It has also reduced e-visa fees and reduced the GST rates on hotel room bookings, among others. ? The government also reduced GST on hotel rooms with tariffs of Rs.1,001-7,500 per night to 12%, while those above Rs.7,501 to 18%. ? Also, the government-sanctioned 77 projects for the development of thematic circuits and allocated an amount of Rs.6,035.70 crore, so far, under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. ? Under the National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) Scheme the Central government identified pilgrimage destinations. It sanctioned 28 projects that amount to Rs.840.02 crore. TTCI: The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) is released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The index measures the factors and policies that make a country a viable place to invest in the Travel and Tourism sector. This sustainability indicator can be used to calculate the status of the Travel and Tourism goal. The top 10 countries of the Index are: 1) Spain 2) France 3) Germany?? ? 4) Japan 5) United States 6) United Kingdom 7) Australia 8) Italy 9) Canada 10) Switzerland. (Jan 2020).India became the world's 3rd largest publisher of science and engineering articlesThe US National Science Foundation (NSF) reported that India has become the world's third-largest publisher of science and engineering articles. It has published over 1.35 lakh scientific papers. China topped the report as the world's largest publisher. ? Report highlights: ? As per the data provided by NSF, the number of scientific papers published worldwide has increased from 1,755,850 in 2008 to 2,555,959 in 2018. ? It also said that science and engineering (S&E) journal articles and conference papers, grew about 4% annually over the last 10 years. China: ? China has accounted for 20.67% of all the global publications of articles. The number of global scientific publications increased from 2,49,049 in 2008 to 5,28,263 in 2018. It has a growth rate of 7.81% per annum. ? It also said that ?China’s rate of research output has grown almost twice as fast as the world's annual average for the last 10 years. US: ? The US stands second and accounts for 16.54%. The total global publications in science and engineering articles by the US grew at a rate of 0.71% from 3,93,979 in 2008 to 4,22,808 in 2018. India: In 2008, around 48,998 science and engineering articles were published by India. The number increased to 1,35,788 articles in 2018. The average annual growth rate in India is 10.73%. India now accounts for 5.31% of the total world publications in science and engineering. Top 10 countries in the list are: 1) China with 5,28,263 science and engineering articles 2) The US with 4,22,808 science and engineering articles 3) India with 2,555,959 science and engineering articles 4) Germany with 1,04,396 science and engineering articles 5) Japan with 98,793 science and engineering articles 6) UK with 97,681 science and engineering articles 7) Russia with 81,579 science and engineering articles 8) Italy with 71,240 science and engineering articles 9) South Korea with 66,376 science and engineering articles 10) France with 66,352 science and engineering articles. (Dec2019).India ranked 112 in the 2019 WEFs Gender Gap ReportIndia ranked 112th?on the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Report 2019. The report listed 153 nations in terms of the gap between genders. India was among the bottom five for women's health and survival and economic participation. India secured 108th rank in 2018. The list was topped Iceland. The country remained the world's most gender-neutral country in the Gender Gap Report.? Report Highlights: The report used four key areas namely health, economy, education, and politics to analyze and rank the state of gender equality in a country. The report stated that the time to close the gender gap has been narrowed to 99.5 years in 2019. In 2018, it was estimated to 108 years. It also reported that the parity between men and women across health, education, work and politics will take more than a lifetime to close the gender gap. India: ? India's rank has worsened on 3 of 4 metrics that were used for the overall ranking ? India ranked 18th in terms of political empowerment ? It slipped to 150th on health and survival and to 149th in terms of economic participation and opportunity ? It ranked 112th place in terms of educational attainment ? As per the report, the economic opportunities for women are extremely limited, 35.4%, in India India's neighbour countries: ? China ranked 106th, Sri Lanka ranked 102nd, Nepal ranked 101st, ?Bangladesh ranked 50th, Indonesia ranked 85th.? ? Yemen ranked the worst and secured 153rd (last) rank and Iraq is 152nd and Pakistan was ranked 151st in the list. Gender gap report: The WEF published the first gender gap report in 2006. India was ranked 98th in 2006. The index has been designed to measure gender equality. (Dec 2020).India has ranked 9th in the 2019 Climate Change Performance IndexIndia has ranked 9th in the high category of 2019 Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) presented on 10 December at the COP25 climate summit in Madrid, Spain. This is the first time India has ranked among the top 10 among the list.? Report highlights: ? The current levels of per capita emissions and energy used in India are still comparatively low for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use categories. ? The report suggest the Indian government to develop a roadmap for the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies that would consequently reduce the country's high dependence on coal. ? India received an overall medium rating in the renewable energy category ? India's 2030 renewable energy target has been rated very high for its well-below 2 degrees Celsius compatibility.? ? National experts have recommended the government for strong policies to support the expansion of renewable energy. ? The first three places of the ranking remain unoccupied as none of the countries assessed is already on a path compatible with the Paris climate targets.? ? Sweden ranked 4th and Denmark ranked 5th among the list. These countries achieved the overall high or very high ratings, the performance of EU countries varied largely. (Dec 2019).India ranked 129 in the Human Development IndexIndia ranked 129 in the Human Development Index (HDI) for the year 2018. The index was released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The report said that India has improved marginally by a notch.? Report highlights: ? UNDP warned about the inequalities that India might have to struggle with. The report said that the group-based inequalities persist in India, especially affecting women and girls.? ? It stated that more Indians showed biases in gender social norms, indicating a backlash to women's empowerment.? ? The overall index showed that India scored 0.647 in 2018, as against 0.643 in 2017. The score is calculated in the range of 1 to 0. ? Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: inequalities in human development in the 21 st century report stated that 271 million Indians were lifted out of poverty from 2005-06 to 2015-16.? HDI: HDI is a statistical tool that is used to measure the overall achievement of the country in its social and economic dimensions as it is based on the health of people, the level of education attained and the standard of living. It emphasizes people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria to assess the development of a country, not the economic growth alone.?(Dec 2019).India ranked 5th in the Global Climate Risk IndexIndia?ranked 5th in the 15th edition of the Global Climate Risk Index 2020. It was released by Bonn-based think-tank Germanwatch. Japan topped the list as the most vulnerable of 181 countries to the effects of climate change, with its poorest being the most at risk. The report released at the 25th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) where 197 countries around the world meet at Spain's capital, Madrid participating.? Report highlights: ? The Global Climate Risk Index was prepared on an analysis of worldwide data on extreme weather events. The report on the weather events was provided by the provided by German reinsurer MunichRe's NatCatSERVICE, a comprehensive database of natural catastrophes.? ? The index does not consider the slower processes of glacier melting and rising sea levels, or more acidic and warmer seas due to climate change. India: ? In 2017, Indian ranked 14th and in 2018 India ranked 5th because of the weather events. ? The report highlighted that 2,081 deaths that happened in 2018 are due to extreme weather events caused by climate change like heavy rainfall, floods, cyclones, landslides among others. ? In 2018, the yearly monsoon season, which lasted from June to September, severely affected India. Kerala was severely affected. Around 324 people died because of landslides that were set off by the flooding. Around 2,20,000 people had to leave their homes, 20,000 houses and 80 dams were destroyed. The damage amounted to Rs.20,000 crore. ? India's east coast was hit by two cyclones namely Titli and Gaja, in October and November 2018, respectively. ? India also suffered from severe heatwaves with temperatures rising to 48 degrees Celsius. It resulted in hundreds of deaths. ? The Global Climate Risk Index study and analyses the extent to which the countries have been affected by the impacts of weather-related loss events like storms, floods, heatwaves, etc. The top 10 countries in the list are: ? Japan ? Philippines ? Germany ? Madagascar ? India ? Sri Lanka? ? Kenya? ? Rwanda ? Canada ? Fiji Germanwatch: Germanwatch was established in 1992. It is located in Bonn, Germany. The organization preserves the livelihood and promotes North-South equity. It aims to represent a strong lobby for sustainable development. (Dec 2020).21.India ranked 73rd in the 2019 E-commerce IndexIndia ranked 73rd in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) Business-to-Consumer (B2C) E-commerce Index 2019. The ranking was conducted for 152 countries. The Netherlands topped the index for the second consecutive year.? Report highlights: ? The survey was conducted among 152 countries. ? The index measured an economy's preparedness to support online shopping. ? The index marked the readiness of the countries that are engaged in online commerce.? ? The survey also included a parameter where the portion of every country's population that uses the internet and has an account with a financial institution or mobile-money-service provider.? ? The least developed countries occupy 18 of the 20 bottom positions. Among the 20 economies that ranked the lowest value in the 2019 index, 18 are the least developed countries.? ? Comoros, Burundi, Chad, and Niger holds the last positions in the index. India: India has slightly improved its position from 80 in 2018 and 83 in 2017. India Internet shoppers as a share of Internet users were 11% and Internet shoppers as a share of population of 3% in 2017. Countries are measured on the access to secure internet servers, the reliability of postal services and infrastructure.? Top 10 countries of the list: 1) Netherlands 2) Switzerland 3) Singapore 4) Finland 5) The United Kingdom 6) Denmark 7) Norway 8) Ireland 9) Germany 10) Australia UNCTAD: Formed on: 30 December 1964 Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland Secretary-General: Mukhisa Kituyi Parent organization: United Nations General Assembly UNCTAD deals with investment, trade, and development issues. It formulates policies for the development including trade, transport, finance, and technology. ( Dec 2019).22.India has 96 universities ranked in the QS World University Rankings 2020 AsiaIndia has 96 universities ranked in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2020. Out of these, 20 are new entries. The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) leads nationally at the overall 34th place, and it is followed by IIT Delhi (IIT-D) in the 43rd place and by IIT Madras (IITM) in the 50th position. The country has 31 institutes among the top 250. Report Highlights: ? Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) reported 8 Indian universities are placed among the top 100.? ? The Indian higher education system has grown exponentially over the past decade.? ? The domestic demand for tertiary education of the country's young population is growing more rapidly than the expanded provision.? ? India's higher education system plays a vital role in driving the nation's competitiveness.? ? The report highlighted the sustained investment in research funding, teaching, and internationalization is paramount to enhance India's competitive edge. Top 3 in the list: Overall for the second consecutive year, the National University of Singapore stands top among Asia's best universities. It is followed by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and the University of Hong Kong, China. Only Mainland China is more represented than India, with 118 featured universities. Among these, 4 stands in the top 10 list. (Nov2019).India ranked 59th in the 2019 IMD World Talent RankingSwitzerland topped the 2019 IMD World Talent Ranking. India ranked 59 on the global annual list of 63 countries. The list was released by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD). Parameters: The ranking was based on the performance in three main categories, namely investment and development, appeal, and readiness.? India's decline: India has witnessed one of the sharpest declines among Asian economies that were owing to a low quality of life, the negative impact of brain drain, and the low priority of its economy on attracting and retaining talents. The drop includes various factors like expenditure on education, pollution issues, and the quality of education that can be linked to the gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Top 10: The top countries on the list share strong levels of investment in education and a high quality of life.? Top 10 Countries in the ?2019 IMD World Talent Ranking list are: Rank 1-Switzerland? Rank 2-Denmark? Rank 3-Sweden Rank 4-Austria? Rank 5-Luxembourg Rank 6-Norway? Rank 7-Iceland? Rank 8-Finland Rank 9-The Netherlands Rank 10-Singapore. (Nov 2019).India is partly free in using its internet freedom statusThe Freedom House released its Freedom on the Net (FoTN) report for the year 2019. The title of the report is The Crisis of Social Media. The report recorded an overall decline in global internet freedom between June 2018 and May 2019. Highlights: ? The international internet rights group said that China was ranked as the world's worst abuser of internet freedom for the fourth consecutive year.? ? India secured an overall score of 55 in the Freedom on the Net 2019 report. India was declared partly free in its internet freedom status. ? It also declared Pakistan as not free in terms of internet freedom status for the ninth consecutive year. Pakistan was listed among the worst 10 countries in the world for internet and digital media freedom. Freedom on the net: Freedom on the Net consists of cutting-edge analysis, fact-based advocacy, and on-the-ground capacity building. It is a comprehensive study of internet freedom in 65 nations across the globe. The report chose specific countries to represent diverse geographical regions. It covers 87% of the world's total internet users. The 2019 edition is the ninth report in the series. It focused on internet freedom in the period between June 2018 and May 2019.(Nov 2019)India secured 63rd rank in World Banks Ease of Doing business rankingIndia has ranked 63rd position on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking. India ranked 77th among 190 countries in the previous ranking. World Bank's Ease Doing Business 2020 report commended the reform efforts undertaken by the country. The World Bank ranked the countries by considering ten indicators. India in Ease of Doing business: India proved its capability of rank in 7 out of 10 indicators. It has moved closer to international best practices.? India has registered significant improvements in resolving insolvency, Dealing with Construction Permits, Registering Property, Trading across Boards, and Paying Taxes indicators.?(Nov 2019).30.NITI Aayog launches India Innovation Index 2019: Karnataka tops the IndexNITI Aayog -Institute for?Competitiveness as the knowledge partner?released the India Innovation Index (III) 2019.?Karnataka is the innovative primary state in India.? Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh are the remaining ten major states respectively.?The ten states in southern and western India. Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the northeastern & hill states and union territories/city-states/small states, respectively.?Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient states in translating inputs into output. The index released in the presence of Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog; Amitabh Kant. The India Innovation Index would create synergies between different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem, and India would shift to good competitive governance. India has a unique opportunity among its myriad challenges to become the innovation leader in the world. History of NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness The role of innovation as a key driver of growth and prosperity for India, NITI Aayog with the Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner, has released the India Innovation Index 2019.? Main Aim: The aim is to create a holistic tool that used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to build the economic growth policies for regions. The index to create an extensive framework of 29 states and seven union territories in India and intends to perform the following three functions- ?1) Ranking of states and UTs based on their index scores,? 2) Recognizing opportunities and challenges 3) To assist in tailoring governmental policies to foster innovation. India Innovation Index 2019 The India Innovation Index 2019 is calculated as the average of the scores of its two dimensions - Enablers and Performance.?The Enablers are grouped in five pillars: (1) Human Capital, (2) Investment, (3) Knowledge Workers, (4) Business Environment, and (5) Safety and Legal Environment.?The Performance dimension captures benefits that a nation derives from the inputs, divided into two pillars: (6) Knowledge Output and (7) Knowledge Diffusion. The industrial policies at the state level should focus more on innovation. At present, only a few policies exist for innovation, even in the most innovative states and union territories. (Oct 2019).World Bank reported that India had halved its poverty rateWorld Bank reported that India achieved annual growth, exceeding 7% in the past 15 years. The country has put efforts to pull millions of people out of poverty.? Report highlights: ? In the past 30 decades, India has halved its poverty rate.? ? Great improvements in most human development outcomes has been highlighted by the World Bank.? ? The report also said that growth is expected to continue, and the elimination of extreme poverty in the next decade is within reach. ? It also warned that India's development trajectory might face considerable challenges. ? There is an immense need to achieve greater resource efficiency as it sustains growth ? Water management is necessary to prepare for shifting water allocation to higher-value uses and for policies to improve the value of water use within sectors. If these previous trends continue,?India's?share of world GDP will significantly increase from 7.3% in 2016 to 8.5% by?2020. In 2012, around 170 million people, or 12.4% of?India's?population, lived in?poverty?(defined as $1.90 (Rs 123.5)), an improvement from 29.8% of?India's?population in 2009. Oct 2019).India ranks 3rd in the 2019 Hurun Global Unicorn ListIndia ranked third in the 2019 Hurun Global Unicorn List. It accounts for 21 of the world’s 494 unicorns. China topped the list with 206 Unicorns, followed by the US with 203 Unicorns. The first edition of the Hurun Global Unicorn List 2019 was released by the Hurun Research Institute. The list is a ranking of the world’s billion-dollar tech start-ups that were founded in the 2000s and not yet listed on a public exchange. Unicorns: Hurun Research found 494 Unicorns across the world based in 25 countries and 118 cities. The unicorns were worth $3.4 billion on average and $1.7 trillion in total. Indian unicorns are led by One97 Communications of worth $10 billion, followed by Ola Cabs with $ 6 billion, Byju’s with $6 billion, and OYO Rooms $5 billion. (Oct 2019).India ranked 102nd in 2019 on the Global Hunger IndexIndia ranked 102nd in 2019 on the Global Hunger Index (GHI). It had slipped from 95th rank in 2010. Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba, and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores. The report said Ethiopia and Rwanda had shown notable progress. Prepared by: The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2019 was jointly prepared by Concern Worldwide, an Irish aid agency, and Welt Hunger Hilfe, a German organization. India: ? India has shown poor performance with the increase in the prevalence of wasting low weight for height among children under five? ? In 2000, India ranked 83rd out of 113 countries. Apart from the fall, the improvement in India’s GHI score has also decelerated.? ? The improvement from 38.9 in 2005 to 32 in 2010 has been reduced to 30.3 between 2010 and 2019. (Oct 2019).India ranked 82nd in the 2019 World Giving IndexIndia ranked 82nd in the 2019 World Giving Index (WGI). The survey ranking was released by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), an international organization. It aims to promote giving to transform lives and communities across the world.? WGI 2019: The survey was conducted by CAF over the past decade, 2009 to 2018. The survey covered 1.3 million people worldwide. Key findings: In India: ? As per the WGI report, India showed that 34% of people helped a stranger, 24% donated money, and 19% volunteered or donated their time.? ? India's ranking might not be representing the exact ranking as much of the giving is informal, and the survey might have missed many. ? India remains unorganized and informal. In India, giving is viewed as a community/ religious obligation. ? It needs to be more strategic so that philanthropy will create a strong and healthy economy. WGI 2019 list: Top 10 countries: USA topped the WGI 2019 list. It is followed by Myanmar, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, UK, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.? India's neighboring countries:? Nepal ranked 53, and Pakistan ranked 69.? Bottom 3 countries: The bottom three countries on the list are Yemen, Greece, and China. Charities Aid Foundation (CAF): Founded: UK, 1974 Headquarters: Kent, UK CAF is a registered UK charity. It promotes general donation to charities. (Oct 2019).India ranked 7th most valuable nation brand in the worldIndia became the seventh most valuable nation brand in the world. The annual report on the world's most valuable nation brands was compiled by Brand Finance. The report showed India's brand value increased by 19% in the year 2018-2019 to $2,562 billion. The Indian economy recovered quickly after the global financial crisis. The economic growth of India has now reduced by a recent slowdown in both the manufacturing and construction sectors. The US topped as the most valuable nation brand, with a brand value of $27,715 billion. It is followed by China and Germany ranked third. (Oct 2019).India ranked 68th in the 2019 Global Competitiveness IndexSingapore topped the 2019 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and pushed the US to the second place. India ranked 68th on the GCI. The list is compiled by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF).? Top 5 countries of the list: 1) Singapore 2) The US 3) Hong Kong SAR 4) Netherlands 5) Switzerland Report highlights about India: ? India ranked 58th in the 2018 GCI report. It is among the worst-performing BRICS nations. The reports suggested that India should grow its skills base. ? India's product market efficiency has been undermined by a lack of trade openness.? ? About Indian's labour market, WEF said that it is characterized by a lack of worker rights’ protections, insufficiently developed active labour market policies and critically low participation of women. ? In the innovation area, India has proved above its development status with several advanced economies. ? Limited information, communications, and technology (ICT) adoption, poor health conditions and low healthy life expectancy are among the major shortcomings of the country. Global Competitiveness Index (GCI): GCI was launched in 1979. It analyzes the competitiveness landscape of 141 economies. It measures through 103 indicators including inflation, digital skills, life expectancy and trade tariffs. (Oct 2019).Jaipur station topped the 2019 Station Cleanliness SurveyPiyush Goyal-led Railway Ministry has released the Station Cleanliness Survey 2019 that ranks the cleanest railway stations in India. Jaipur station of Rajasthan has topped the list of cleanest railway stations in India. The survey was carried out and the list was prepared by the Quality Council of India (QCI). Highlights: ? Jaipur ranked first with an overall cleanliness score of 931.75. Jodhpur ranked second with a score of 927.19? ? Durgapura is third with a score of 922.50 ? Suburban group of stations category, Maharashtra’s Andheri station has topped the list ? North Western Railway Zone won the cleanest railway zone 2019 award. This zone has maintained its rank as the cleanest railway zone in India from 2018 ? The list included 4 categories namely: 1) Cleanest ?railway stations 2) Cleanest railway zones 3) Cleanest suburban railway stations 4) Cleanest non-suburban railway stations.CIAL won an international award for passenger satisfaction by ACICochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has been selected as the best airport in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of services it offered to passengers. The airport was recognized by Airport Council International (ACI).? The award was presented to the authorities of Cochin International Airport at the second Annual ACI Customer Experience Global Summit held at Bali, Indonesia. Airport Council International (ACI) conducted an annual survey in the 5-15 million passenger category in Airport Service Quality's (ASQ) and CIAL topped among them. One airport from Indonesia has also won recognition in the same category. ACI ASQ survey: ACI ASQ survey is a world-renowned airport service quality benchmarking programme. The programme measures passengers' satisfaction and is designed for airports to understand the importance of monitoring and improving passenger service. (Sep 2019).India ranks 44 in the World digital competitiveness rankingsAccording to a global report, India has ranked 44th in World digital competitiveness rankings in 2019. India stood 48th rank in the year 2019. India has made various improvement in terms of knowledge and future readiness to adopt and explore digital technologies.? Also, according to the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2019 (WDCR), with great advancement in the technology sub-factor level, India holds the first position in telecommunications investment. Parameter: The ranking list is produced by the IMD World Competitiveness Center. The rankings are based on various measures including the capacity and ?preparedness to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government and wider society. WDCR examines three factors for the evaluation of an economy. The factors namely: ? knowledge, the capacity to understand and learn the new technologies and? ? technology, the competence to develop new digital innovations ? future-readiness, the preparedness for the coming developments. Top 10 ranks: The top 10 rank holders in the list are: ? The US ranked first as the world's most digitally competitive economy. ? Singapore secured the second position ? Sweden secured the third position ? Denmark secured the fourth position ? Switzerland secured the fifth position ? The Netherlands secured the sixth position ? Finland secured the seventh position ? Hong Kong SAR secured the eighth position ? Norway secured the ninth position ? The Republic of Korea secured the tenth position. (Sep 2019).India ranks 34th in 2019 world travel and tourism competitiveness indexAccording to the?Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) for the year 2019 released by the World Economic Forum(WEF).?India ranked at the 34th spot from 6 places from the 2017 report (40th rank). The index topped by Spain It is followed by France and Germany in the second and third places. Around 140 countries were ranked based on four sub-indexes. They are ranked mainly on the basis of? Infrastructure Travel and Tourism policy enabling conditions Natural and cultural sources and Enabling environment. India needs to improve in the enabling environment, tourist service infrastructure and environmental sustainability as it ranks 98th, 109th and 128th respectively. Rank? Country? 1 -?Spain 2- France 3 - Germany 4- Japan 5- United States 6- United Kingdom 7-Australia 8- Italy 9- Canada 10- Switzerland 34- India. (Sep 2019).Gujarat topped the CWMI 2.0 report in water managementGujarat topped the second Round of Composite Water Management Index (CWMI 2.0). It was released by NITI Aayog in New Delhi. It measures the performance of states on a set of water indicators. The move comes at a time when various states across the country are facing a shortage in groundwater. The index assesses the performance of States on a comprehensive set of water indicators and reports relative performance in 2017-18 as well as trends from previous years (2015-16 & 2016-17). Composite Water Management Index was released for the first time in 2018 to instill a sense of cooperative and competitive federalism among the states. It was the first attempt to create a pan-India set of metrics that measured different dimensions of water management and use across the lifecycle of water. (Sep 2019).World Bank data survey says India stands seventh position in the global GDP rankingsAccording to World Bank data survey, India slipped to the 7th position in the global GDP rankings in 2018. It stands marginally behind UK and France. Economists suggested that the reason for the fall in GDP is due to currency fluctuations and a slowdown in economic growth. GDP: Gross domestic product (GDP) is the monetary measure on market value of goods and services ?in a specific time period annually. Previous year report: India-UK, France: In 2017, India stood on the 6th position with a GDP rate of $2.597 trillion. India was just ahead of France which has $2.582 trillion. As per earlier data, India was on the 6th position in 2017, ahead of just France. UK’ has an economic growth of 6.81% against a contraction of 0.75% in this period. The French economy expanded by 7.33% against 4.85%. India-Japan: The Survey also said that the Indian economy will overtake Japan by 2025 and will become third largest in 2025 as India planned to increase its economic size to $5 trillion by 2024-25. Japan’s economic size was $4.97 trillion in 2018 which is higher than India’s by $2.24 trillion. (Aug 2019).UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released its Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2019The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released its Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2019. The report said that in the 101 countries assessed there are 31 low income, 68 middle income and 2 high income and about 1.3 billion people are multi- dimensionally poor. The 2019 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) provides the detailed information to the policy makers who needs effectively target their policies. The MPI sheds light on disparities in how people experience poverty, revealing vast inequalities among countries and among the poor themselves. MPI: The MPI parameter of the Index explored the ways in which people experience poverty in their health, education, and standard of living beyond income as the sole indicator for poverty. This year’s MPI results show that more than two-thirds of the multidimensionally poor 886 million people live in middle-income countries. A further 440 million live in low-income countries. In both groups, data show, simple national averages can hide enormous inequality in patterns of poverty within countries. In India there were 271 million fewer people in poverty in 2016 than in 2006, while in Bangladesh the number dropped by 19 million between 2004 and 2014.?(July 2019).Kerala topped NITI Aayog's health index 2019 rankingKerala has topped ranking state in terms of overall health performance as per the report submitted by NITI Aayog on health index. This is the second edition of its type. It measured the annual and incremental performances of states and UTs.? Larger States: Overall performance: Next to Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have emerged as the second and third best performers, respectively, on health parameters.?Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were ranked the two worst performers, respectively.? Kerala secured an overall score of 74.01, while Uttar Pradesh was the least performing state with an overall score of 28.61. (June 2019).UNCTAD World Investment Report 2019According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2019, India received foreign direct investments (FDI) worth USD 42 billion in 2018. India attracted over 77% of the total foreign direct investments that came to the South Asian region. The global FDI slipped by 13% in 2018, to US$1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion in 2017, the third consecutive annual decline. India’s rank as a source country for FDI dropped one place to the 10th position as it was overtaken by Spain. Investment in India rose by 6% to USD 42 billion. Among others in the South Asian region, FDI flows to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka rose to a record level, to USD 3.6 billion and USD 1.6 billion, respectively, while Pakistan witnessed a 27% decline in investment to USD 2.4 billion. About UNCTAD: Established by: United Nations General Assembly in 1964. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland. It is part of the UN Secretariat. Purpose: It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively. (June 2019).India ranks 141 in the 2019 Global Peace IndexIceland topped the Global Peace Index 2019 rankings which was released by Institute for Economics & Peace. ?Since 2008, Iceland holds the most peaceful country in the world. India ranked 141 among 163 countries. In 2018, India ranked at 136th among 163 countries. Afghanistan ranked as the least peaceful country in the world. Th has replaced Syria, which is now the second least peaceful Parameters: The Australian think tank ranked countries according to their level of peacefulness. The analysis were based on three major domains: 1) the level of societal safety and security 2) the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict? 3) the degree of militarization Top/Bottom 5 countries: The top five countries in the list are Iceland, New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, and Denmark. The least 5 peaceful countries in the list are Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan, Syria and Afghanistan (ranked the least) remains the world's least peaceful counties. Findings of the report: The report highlighted that India, Philippines, Japan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan are the nine countries with the highest risk of multiple climate hazards. In the overall natural hazard score, India stands 7th highest. The top 5 countries with the largest total military expenditure are India, the US, China, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.? Bhutan topped the index with 15th rank, followed by Sri Lanka 72nd rank, Nepal 76th rank and Bangladesh stood101 among the South Asian countries. Pakistan has been ranked 153rd on the index. (June 2019).India ranked 113 out of 176 countries in End of Childhood IndexAccording to the 3rd End of Childhood Index Global Childhood Report 2019, India ranked 113 in 176 countries with 769 scores out of 1000.? The Index released on May 28, 2019, by 'Save the Children', a United Kingdom (13K) based non-profit organization which works for child rights. The countries are decided on 8 parameters namely child mortality, malnutrition, lack of education, child labor, early marriage, adolescent birth, displacement by conflict and child homicide. Scores were out of 1000.The country topped Singapore with a score of 989 . 8 European countries figured among the top 10.South Korea at 10th position. The last rank is given to the Central African Republic 394 India ranked fourth and Bhutan (98), Sri Lanka (56) and China (36) The rate of child marriage reduced to 25% The biggest score witnessed in Latvia and Estonia (both up 40 points from 927 to 967) and Lithuania (up 39 points from 934 to 973) The top 10 countries at this End of Childhood Index are:? 1 -Singapore 2- Sweden? 3 -Finland? 4- Norway? 5 - Slovenia? 6 - Germany? 7 - Ireland 8 - Italy 9 - South Korea 10 - Belgium About Save the Children:? Headquarters: London, I-JK Founded: April 15, 1919? (June 2019).44.Singapore topped the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2019Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking 2019 said Singapore has dethroned the US to become the most competitive economy in the world. Hong Kong stands second spot in the list. USA stands third followed by Switzerland and UAE and fourth and fifth respectively. Qatar entered the top 10. India ranked 43, one position higher compared to 2018. Parameters considered: The ranking process considers a wide range of hard statistics such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment and government spending on health and education. IMD also used the soft data from an Executive Opinion Survey which covers other parameters such as social cohesion, globalization and corruption.?(June 2019)India ranks 95 in theSustainable Development Goals Gender Indexndia ranked 95th out of 129 countries in the?Sustainable Development Goals Gender Index. India scored?56.2 on a scale of 0–100. The index found that no country has fully achieved gender equality and that the global average score of 65.7 out of 100 which falls in the poor category.? Parameters: SDG Gender Index a new index that measures global gender equality considering various parameters such as education, literacy, political representation, poverty, health, and equality at the workplace. The SDG gender index included 51 indicators across 14 of the 17 official Sustainable Development Goals. The list covered 129 countries across all regions of the world. Index developed by: The SDG Gender Index was developed by UK-based Equal Measures 2030 along with regional and global organisations including Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women, African Women's Development and Communication Network, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and International Women's Health Coalition. India in the list: India's highest goal scores in the Index are on SDG 3 of health where it secured 79.9, SDG 2 of hunger and nutrition with 76.2 and SDG 7 of energy with 71.8. India's lowest goal scores in the SDG index are on SDG 17 of partnerships, the country scored 18.3, SDG 9 of industry, infrastructure and innovation with 38.1 and SDG 13 of climate with 43.4. Top/Bottom 10 Countries in the Index: The countries that secured the top 10 ranks are Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Slovenia, Germany, Canada, Ireland, and Australia. The countries that secured the last 10 ranks are Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Yemen, Congo, DR Congo, and Chad. (June 2019).India ranks 4th in biggest millitary spenderStockholm International Peace Research Institute's (SIPRI)?report said that India is the world’s fourth biggest military spender in 2018. The United States topped the list and it is followed by China and Saudi Arabia.? India was the fifth largest military spender in 2017. France also figures on the list of top five spenders that together accounted for 60% of the global military spending in 2018. India accounts for 3.7% of the global defence spending. In contrast, India’s military spending went up by 3.1% to $66.5 billion. Beijing increased its military expenditure by 5% to $250 billion in 2018. It accounted for 14% of global military spending. The SIPRI report comes at a time when India is investing heavily in building its military capability with new fighter?jets, warships, helicopters, artillery guns and infantry weapons. About SIPRI: Name: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Formed on: 6 May 1966 Headquarters: Solna, Sweden Purpose: Provides data, analysis, and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public SIPRI is dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. SIPRI was ranked among the top three non-US world-wide think tanks in 2014. (May 2019).Norway topped and India ranked 140th in World Press Freedom Index 2019Norway is ranked first in the World Press Freedom Index 2019 for the third year running while Finland (up two places) has taken second place from the Netherlands (down one at 4th). India dropped two places to be ranked 140th out of 180 countries in the global press freedom index analysis. Violence against journalists – including police violence, attacks by Maoist fighters and reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt politicians – is one of the most striking characteristics of the current state of press freedom in India. At least six Indian journalists were killed in connection with their work in 2018. Turkmenistan (down two at 180th) is now last in the World Press Freedom Index 2019. The index is released by Reporters Without Borders. Top 5 countries in World Press Freedom Index 2019 Bottom 5 countries in World Press Freedom Index 2019 About Reporters Without Borders: Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), or Reporters Without Borders (RWB), is a Paris-based non-profit organisation that works to document and combat attacks on journalists around the world. Headquarter – Paris, France Director General – Christophe Deloire Founded: 1985 (Apr 2019).Global Consumer Confidence Survey topped by IndiaIndia ranked first in the Confidence Board Global Consumer Confidence Survey which was conducted in collaboration with a global performance management company Nielsen Holdings. India maintained its 1st position from 3rd quarter and in the 4th quarter of 2018 India’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) score is 133. South Korea has the most pessimistic consumer who are worried about rising inflation, lower wage growth, unemployment, a weak stock market and global trade uncertainties in the world. CCI Confidence Board measured optimism towards job prospects, the health of personal finances and spending intentions in the next 12 months for the survey. (Mar 2019)CONSOLIDATED LIST OF IMPORTANT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INDICES 2019 – 2020IndexReleased byIndia’s Position/total countries Top fiveIndia’s last year rankingGlobal Gender Gap Index 2020World Economic Forum(Dec2019)112th/153(Score 0.668)Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Nicaragua.2018- 1082019- Not conductedEase of Doing Business (EODB) 2020World Bank(Oct 2019)63rd/190(score 71.0)New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Cong, Denmark, south Korea2018 -1002019 - 77Global Democracy Index 2019Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)(Jan 2020)51st/167(Score 6.72)Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, Finland2017 - 2019 -61Henley Passport Index 2020Henley & Partners(07 Jan 2020)84th (India Access 58 countries)/199 passports of 227 destinations.Japan, Singapore,? Germany, South Korea, Finland2018 – 812019 - 82Global Talent Competitiveness Index, 2020INSEAD (Business school, The Adecco Group and Tata Communications.(In annual meeting of WEF)(Jan 22, 2020)72nd/132Theme?for 2020 was?‘Global Talent in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’Switzerland, USA, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark. 2018 - 812019 – 80Global Corruption Index 2019Transparency International(Jan 2020)80th/180Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland2018 - 78Bloomberg Innovation Index 2020Bloomberg(Jan 2020)54th/60(Score 49.33)Germany, South Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Sweden.2018 – No rank2019 - 54Globel Innovation index 2019Cornell University, INSEAD and the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and GII Knowledge Partners.(Jul 2019)53nd/129Switzerland, Sweden, US, Netherland, UK2017- 602018- 57WTTC Ranking 2018(World Travel and Tourism Council)World Travel and Tourism Council(Nov 2018)3rd/185China, USA, India, Mexico and UK From 2009- 20173rd rankGlobal Intellectual Property (IP) Index, 2020US Chambers of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC).(Feb 2020)40th/53(Score 38.46)USA, UK, Sweden, France, Germany. 2018 – 44 2019 - 36Inclusive Internet Index 2020commissioned by Facebook and conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)(Mar 2020)46th/100Sweden, New Zealand, USA, Australia & Denmark, South Korea.2018 -2019 - 47Trends in International Arms Transfers-2020Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)(Mar 2020)2nd largest arms Importer/160In last five yearsImporters/160: Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and china.Exporters/68: US, Russia, France, Germany and ChinaQuality of Living city Index, 2019MercerHyderabad, Pune (143th)(Score 108.63)Vienna, Zurich, Vancouver, Munich, Auckland.(Luxembourg named as the safest city in the world.)World Happiness Report 2019UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network(Mar 2020)144th/156Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway. 2018 - 1382019 -140Global Energy Transition Index 2019World Economic Forum (WEF)(Mar 2019)76th/115Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Denmark.2018 - 78World Press Freedom Index 2019Reporters Without Borders140th /180(Global Score: 45.67)Norway, Finland, Sweden, Netherland, Denmark. 2017 - 1362018 - 138Startup Ecosystem Ranking 2019StartupBlink(Apr 2019)17th/100(Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai are best cities for startup)United States, United Kingdom, Canada2018 - 37IMD World Competitiveness ranking 2019IMD Institute for Management Development?(May 2019)43rd/63Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, USA, Switzerland, UAE2018- 44Global Gender Equality Index 2019Equal Measures 203095th/129(Score : 56.2)Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Netherland Global Peace Index 2019(World Peacefulness improves 0.09% in five years)Institute for Economics & Peace(Jun 2019)141st/163(Score 2.605)Iceland, New Zealand, Portugal, Austria and Denmark.2018 -13625th Annual Cost of Living Survey (Most Expensive City)Mercer12th (Mumbai)Hong Kong, Tokyo, SingaporeMoney parked in Swiss banksSwiss National Bank74thUK, US, West IndiesQS Best Student Cities RankingQuacquarelli Symonds81st (Mumbai)London, Tokyo, MelbourneSafe Cities Index (SCI) 2019Economist Intelligence Unit45th (Mumbai)Tokyo, Singapore, OsakaGlobal Happiness Survey 2019Ipsos Ipsos?Group S.A. (French pronunciation: ?[ip.sos]) is a multinational market research and a consulting firm with headquarters in Paris, France(Aug 2019)9th/28(% of very happy 77%)Australia and Canada, China, Great BritainGlobal Liveability Index 2019Economist Intelligence Unit118th (New Delhi)Vienna, Melbourne, SydneyTravel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2019World Economic Forum(Sep 2019)34th/140Score 4.4(1 worst 7 best)Spain, France, Germany, Japan and USA. 2018 - 40World Digital Competitiveness 2019IMD(International Institute for Management Development)(Sep 2019)44th/63USA, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland 2018 - 48Global Competitiveness Index 2019World Economic Forum(Oct 2019)68th/141(Score 61.4)Singapore, USA, Hong Kong, Netherlands and Japan2018 – 582019 - 68Global Hunger Index 2019 (GHI 2019)International Food Policy Research Institute(Oct 2019)102nd/117Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores of less than five2018 - 103World Giving Index 2019(Charitable countries)Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)(Oct 2019)82nd/128USA, Myanmar, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland2018 - 124World Talent Ranking 2019International Institute of Management Development’s (IMD)(Nov 2019)59th/63BRICs countries - China ranked 42nd on the list, Russia (47th) and South Africa (50th).Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Luxembourg 2018 - 53Human Development Index 2019United Nations Development Programme (Dec 2019)129th/189(Score 0.647)Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, 2018 - 130Climate Change Performance Index 2019 reportGerman Watch(Dec 2019)9th/ / 58India First time in top 10No Country in (1 2 3),4.Sweden. 5. Denmark2018 - 14Global Social Mobility Index 2020World Economic Forum(Jan 2020)76th/ 82(Score 42.7)Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland The?World Economic Forum (WEF)?has come out with its?first-ever Global Social Mobility Report.Freedom in the World 2020 Freedom House(Mar 2020)83rd/ 195 and 15 territories Score 71) (In bottom of free category) Finland, Norway, Sweden, Netherland, Luxemburg 2019 – 49 ?Global Animal Protection Index 2020World Animal Protection(Mar 2020)India C grade/ 50 countries(A Highest G Lowest)Grade C- India, Mexico, Malaysia, France, GermanySweden, the United Kingdom, and Austria?are rated with the highest scores, ................
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