Crack Grade B 1

MSME ECONOMIC ACTIVITY INDEX “SUMPOORN”.

 Financial advisory and technology company Jocata on Friday announced its

partnership with SIDBI, the principal financial institution for MSME development,
to launch an MSME Economic Activity Index – Sumpoorn.
 Jocata, a subsidiary of online payment gateway company BillDesk, was founded in
2010 to specialize in digital lending using credit automation, smart decisioning
and intelligent monitoring.
 A minimum of 13 months of sales data (GSTR1) is required to calculate the Index
for a particular month and a minimum of 1,000 MSMEs are considered to release
the Index for any month.
 The current monthly count of MSMEs is around 2,500, according to the company.
It will release the index monthly with only a four-week reporting cycle.
 MSME sales performance will be measured on a scale of 0 to 1 in the index while
the ‘bin’ will represent the state of contraction or expansion of economic activity of
the sector, the company said on its website.

WHO GLOBAL TB REPORT 2023

 The WHO highlighted the tremendous progress that India has made in its fight
against TB.
 It noted that since 2015, TB incidence and mortality have declined by 16 per cent
and 18 per cent respectively, faster than the decline globally.
 Global decline is of 8.7 %.
 Mortality rate in India is over 34% reduction that is 4.94 lakh in 2021 to 3.31 lakh
in 2022.
 According to the data, India has reached a treatment coverage of 80% for
estimated TB cases.
 The WHO report notes that in 2022, a record 24.2 lakh patients were notified in
India. This number stood at 15.6 lakh in 2014 — indicating an increase of around
nine lakh notifications.
 The government’s Ni-kshay portal also reports that till October, India has already
notified nearly 21 lakh cases.
 Behind this success lies a matrix of transformative policies — from universal
nutritional support for patients, effective engagement with the private sector, to
the first-of-its-kind crowd sourcing programme to help patients complete
treatment. These efforts have been backed by enhanced government funding —
from Rs 710 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 3,410 crore in 2021-22.
 Question is that still it seems difficult to eliminate TB by 2025?
 Reasons:
1. To ensure elimination, we need to augment not just our curative but also
detection capabilities. It means if we can not find TB, we cannot treat TB”.

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2. Current testing rate is 1.2 % (or 1,281 per lakh population) is not enough,
we must test 4-5 %.
3. Himachal is on its way to 4 per cent.
4. Private sector Infrastructure to be tapped in cases for TB also like we did in
COVID pandemic.
5. As per the ICMR’s national prevalence study, 46 per cent of diagnosed cases
were asymptomatic and were detected only due to the use of chest x-rays.

QS ASIA UNIVERSITY RANKINGS 2024

 India (148) beats China (133) with highest number of universities in QS Asia
University Rankings.
 7 Indian Universities were amongst the top 100 Asian universities.
 There were 37 new entrants from India.
 In this 16th edition, is largest till date with 856 institutions from 25 countries.
 IIT DELHI, 46th rank, IIT Madras stood 53rd, IISc Bengaluru 52nd position, IIT
Kharagpur 61st and Delhi University.
 The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay secured 40th rank, emerging
as the highest-ranking Indian institution in Asia this year. It retained its position
in the Asian Top 50.
 As per a press release, IIT Bombay secured an overall score of 67.2 out of 100.
 This year’s top 10 performers in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2024
are:

1) Peking University

2) The University of Hong Kong

3) National University of Singapore (NUS)

4) Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU)

4) Tsinghua University

6) Zhejiang University

 Peking University comes in first place with 100 points overall – scoring highly in
indicators such as ‘Academic reputation’ (100) and both ‘Employer reputation’ and
‘Staff with PhD’ (99.8).
 Kazakhstan ranks higher than any other Central Asian country, with 34 ranked
universities – which is twice as many as its closest competitor, Uzbekistan (with
14 universities ranked).
 There are 11 indicators employed in compiling the QS Asia University Rankings.

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ADANI GREEN ENERGY SURPASSES 8.4 GW CAPACITY MARK.

 Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has achieved a significant milestone by becoming
the largest renewable energy company in India, reaching an installed capacity of
8.4 GW.
 Adani Green becomes India’s largest Renewable Energy Company.

 Among its peers, ReNew is closest with 8.3 GW, followed by Tata Power and
Greenko Energies with close to 4 GW capacity each. State-owned NTPC has a 3.2
GW green energy capacity
 At 5 GW, AGEL also operates the country's largest solar portfolio.
 AGEL announced earlier this year an ambitious target of achieving 45 GW of
renewable energy capacity by the year 2030.

WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INDICATORS REPORT FOR 2022

 In 2022, innovators from around the world submitted a record-breaking 3.46

million patent applications – the highest number of filings ever recorded.
 It reveals an increase in number of global patent applications, driven primarily by
innovators from India and China.
 Asia accounted for 67.9% of global patent filings, 67.8% of trademark applications
and 70.3% of industrial design filings.
 China is at top position followed by US, Turkey, Germany and India.
 In 2022, women constituted 17.1% of all inventors listed in published PCT (Patent
Corporation Treaty) applications, while men accounted for the remaining 82.9%.
 The proportion of women inventors has increased notably from 10.6% in 2008 to
17.1% in 2022. Moreover, the proportion of women inventors has expanded in
every region of the world over the past decade.

INDIA AMONG TOP COUNTRIES WITH HIGH INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY:
UNDP REPORT

 Title: “Making our Future: New Directions for Human Development in Asia and the
Pacific”.
 While the country reduced multidimensional poverty from 25% to 15% between
2015-16 and 2019-21, disparities persist, particularly among vulnerable groups
like women and informal workers.
 The report emphasizes the urgent need for investments in human development,
job creation, and environmental sustainability to address these challenges.
 In India, between 2000 and 2022, per capita income soared from USD 442 to USD
2,389. Whereas, between 2004 and 2019, poverty rates (based on the international
poverty measure of USD 2.15 per day) plummeted from 40 to 10 per cent.
 The report also pointed out that India is contributing significantly to the growth in
the global middle class-encompassing those living between USD 12 and USD 120
a day. India is expected to contribute 24 per cent to the global middle-class growth
(192 million people), it said.
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 Persistent Poverty, despite progress, poverty remains concentrated in states

housing 45% of the population but 62% of the poor.
 Women constitute only 23% of the labor force, with growing income disparity
despite rapid economic growth.
 Report stated that 185 million people continue to live in extreme poverty.
 Administrator of UNDP: Achim Steiner
 HQ: New York, USA.

STATE FOOD SAFETY INDEX 2022-2023

 19 out of 20 large Indian states experienced a decline in their 2022-2023 SFSI

scores compared to 2019.
 The average score dropped from 13 out of 20 in 2019 to 7 out of 17 in 2022-2023.
 Food Testing Infrastructure: Gujarat and Kerala were the top performers in this
category while Andhra Pradesh performed the worst.
 Compliance scores also on decline: Punjab and HP received the highest scores,
while Jharkhand received the lowest.
 Varied Consumer Empowerment: Tamil Nadu emerged as the leading state
followed by Kerala and MP.
 Highest weightage is given to compliance that is 28/100.
 Lowest is given to Training and Capacity Building that is 8/100.

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ALARMING RISE IN ROAD ACCIDENTS AND FATALITIES: INDIA’S ROAD SAFETY

CRISIS

 The data is released by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

 In 2022, India faced 53 accidents and 19 deaths per hour.
 The severity of road accidents rose from 28.2% in 2012 to 36.5% in 2022.
 Over Speeding: 72.3% accidents and 71.2 % deaths.
 Significant portion of victims fall in young age group that is from 18-45 years age
bracket, that is 66.5% of total fatalities.
 UP is highest in fatalities, followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

MGNREGS REPORTS A 7.5% DECREASE IN ACTIVE WORKFORCE PARTICIPATION

 Data is released by Lib Tech India, a consortium of academics and activists.

 The number of active workers in MGNREGS decreased by 7.5% from April to
September 2023.
 The workforce has decreased from 15.49 crores in previous fiscal year to 14.33
crores.

 Workforce Reduction: From the previous fiscal year, the number of active workers
under MGNREGS reduced by 7.5%. During the designated period, the workforce
shrank from 15.49 crore to 14.33 crore.
 Comparative Analysis: To give a comparison, Lib Tech’s MGNREGS tracker
reviewed data from the prior fiscal years (2021-22 and 2022-23) within the same
time frame.
 Net Worker Deletion: There was a net deletion of 80 lakh workers from the
program during the current fiscal year.
 West Bengal, HP and MP has shown significant dropped, in total 6 states has
shown a decline.
 Highest increase has been shown by the state of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and
Tamil Nadu in employment opportunities.

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INDIA RANKS 3RD IN FINTECH UNICORNS, WITH US AT THE TOP

 As per the data released by Statista, India has scored the 3rd position worldwide in
the number of FinTech unicorns WITH 17 FinTech unicorns.
 The US and UK are at the top positions as first and second respectively.
 USA (134), UK (27), INDIA, CHINA, FRANCE are at the top 5.
 India’s top profitable companies include Zerodha, Billdesk, Paytm, and others.

SBI REPORT: PM SVANIDHI SCHEME IS A GENDER EQUALIZER

 A recent study by SBI has hailed the performance of the scheme stating that 43%
beneficiaries are women street vendors. Moreover 44% of the PM SVANidhi
beneficiaries belong to OBC category, while Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
account for 22%.
 As per the report, the ratio of people repaying first loan of Rs 10,000 and taking the
second loan of Rs 20,000 loan is 68%. Similarly, the ratio of people repaying second
loan of Rs 20,000 and taking the third loan of Rs 50,000 loan is 75%, suggesting
the financial discipline among the small and marginal street vendors. Till date the
Banks have disbursed Rs 9,152 crore loans under the scheme.
 Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have taken the lead in sanctioning loans. Among the
PSBs, the State Bank of India (SBI) has disbursed 31% of the total loans under this
scheme, followed by Bank of Baroda (31%), Union Bank of India (10%), and Punjab
National Bank (8%) respectively.
 Among the cities, Ahmedabad has the highest number of PM SVANidhi account
holders at 1,37,516, closely followed by Lucknow (1,35,581), Indore (112,015),
Kanpur (109,952) and Mumbai (99,209). In terms of percentage of active spenders,
Varanasi is the top performer where 45% of total spenders are active, followed by
Bengaluru (31%), Chennai (30%) and Prayagraj (30%).
 The report says: "Almost 75% loan beneficiaries come from non-general category, a
testament of the innate power of well-intended policy schemes to seed
transformative changes.”
 OBCs account for 44% of total disbursement, while SCs/STs account for 22%
 43% of the total beneficiaries are women. The report says: “female share indicates
empowerment of entrepreneurial capabilities of urban female, giving SVANidhi a
gender equalizer tag.”
 65% of the borrowers in PM SVANidhi are in the age-group of 26-45.

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 About 80 percent of borrowers are Hindu, while the remaining 20 percent are non-
Hindu.

EU REPORT RECOMMENDS 2% GLOBAL WEALTH TAX ON BILLIONAIRES TO CURB

EVASION
 The EU Tax Observatory has published the “Global Tax Evasion Report 2024”
calling for a 2% global wealth tax on billionaires.
GLOBAL PENSION INDEX 2023: COUNTRIES WITH THE BEST PENSION SYSTEM
 The 15th annual Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index (MCGPI) recently
revealed the ranking of retirement income systems in various countries.
 The Netherlands secured the top position, followed by Iceland and Denmark. India
showed improvement, moving up to the 45th rank out of 47 systems analyzed.
 India rank 45th out of 47 countries with score 45.9.
 New countries were added: Botswana, Croatia and Kazakhstan.

GLOBAL REMOTE WORK INDEX, INDIA AMONG THE WORLD’S WORST COUNTRIES

 India has been ranked 64th out of 108 countries in the index.
 Four fundamentals for ranking: Cyber Safety, Economic Safety, Digital and
Physical Infrastructure and Social Safety.
 TOP 5 countries are: Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Sweden.

NSO RELEASED PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (PLFS) ANNUAL REPORT

2022-2023.

 Released for the period of April- June 2023.

 LFPR= Labour Force Participation Survey, shows population working between the
age group of 15-64 who are either employed or actively seeking employment.
 It is for age group of 15 years or more.
 In urban areas: 48.8%
 Increase in females: 23.2%
 Worker population Ratio (WPR): 45.5%.
 Unemployment rate: 6.6% (Urban: 5.9% for males and decrease for females is
9.1%).
 The Female Labour Force Participation Rate, has risen by 4.2% reaching 37.0% in
2023.

GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX 2023

 India ranked 111th out of 125 countries

 Published by Irish NGO Concern Worldwide and German NGO Welt hunger Life.
 India has highest child wasting rate in the world at 18.7% during 2018-2022.
 Undernourishment India: 16.6%
 Under 5 mortality India- 3.1%

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 Prevalence of anaemia among women between the age group of 15- 24 years at
58.1%.
 India’s overall GHI score is 28.7 making the condition as “severe”
 India is lowest in ranking compared with Pakistan (102nd), Bangladesh (81st),
Nepal (69th) and Sri Lanka (60th).
 Top countries: Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Chile, China and Croatia.
 Bottom countries: Yemen, Madagascar and Central African Republic.

INDIA RANKS 40TH IN GLOBAL INNOVATION INDEX 2023

 The ranking is given out of 132 economies published by World Intellectual

Property Organization in collaboration with CII and NITI Ayog.
 Switzerland is the most innovative economy continuously for 13th year in a row.
 It is followed by Sweden, US, UK and Singapore.
 China is the sole middle income economy to secure a position in the top 30
economies.
 The top S&T clusters in the world in 2023 are- Tokyo- Yokohama, followed by
Shenzhen- Hong Kong- Guangzhou, Seoul, Beijing and Shanghai- Suzhou.
 China has highest number of Clusters in the world, followed by US.
 India secured the top position among 37 Lower-middle income countries.
 There are 4 clusters in India- Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.

TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION (THE) RELEASES WORLD UNIVERSITY RANKINGS

2024.

 20th edition
 The 2024 rankings include 1,904 universities from 108 countries and regions.
 18 key indicators across 5 areas: Teaching, Research Environment, Research
Quality, Industry and International Outlook.
 The top university in India is IISc in global top 250.
 The second highest is Anna University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Mahatma Gandhi
University, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management.
 Top Universities: University of oxford, Stanford University, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Harvard University.

INDIA SLIPS 4 SPOTS TO 56TH POSITION IN 2023 WORLD TALENT RANKING

 Released by International Institute for Management Development.

 Ranking out of 64 economies.
 Top: Switzerland, Luxembourg and Iceland.

INDIA’S AGING POPULATION KEY HIGHLIGHTS 2023

 India to comprise over 20% of the total population by the year 2050.
 It is released by United Nations Population Fund.
 India’s elderly population is growing rapidly at a decadal growth of 41%.

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 The elderly population will surpass the population of children (0-15 years) by
2046.
 The population aged 80+ is expected to increase by around 279% between 2022-
2050.
 Women have higher life expectancy at the ages 60 and 80 compared to men.

INDIA RANKS FIRST AMONG 154 NATIONS IN GRASSROOT ADOPTION OF CRYPTO

 India has achieved top rank.

 4 critical parameters: Centralized Service Value Received, Retail Centralized
Service Value Received, DeFi Value Received and retail DeFi Value Received.
 2nd position is of Nigeria, followed by Vietnam, USA and Ukraine.
 The GoI charges 30% tax on gains and 1% TDS on crypto trades.

CENTRE’S REPORT SAYS INDIA HAS 150 ELEPHANT CORRIDORS

 Report by Union Environment Ministry.

 Title of Report: “Elephant Corridors of India”.
 This has been a significant increase from 88 corridors in 2010 Elephant Task
Force Report “Gajah report”.
 Highest corridors: West Bengal.
 6 Transactional elephant corridors between India and Nepal primarily located in
UP.

THE GENDER SNAPSHOT 2023 REPORT, PROGRESS ON THE SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT GOALS

 Title “The Gender Snapshot 2023” showcases the reality of progress towards
gender equality by 2030 as UN’s SDG.
 SDG 1 (NO POVERTY): If current trend persist, around 340 million women and
girls will live in extreme poverty by 2030 that is 8% of female population.
 SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): One in 4 experiencing food insecurity.
 SDG 5 (Gender Equality): The report reveals that women still spend 2.3 more
hours per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men.
 SDG 13 (Climate Action): Climate change threatens to push approximately 158
million more women and girls into poverty by mid-century, highlighting the
intersection of climate action and gender equality.
 Wage Gap: The labour and earnings gap remains persistently high. For each dollar
men earn in labour income globally, women earn only 51 cents.

INDIA’S RANKING FOR BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD BY U.S NEWS & WORLD
REPORTS

 India’s rank 30th with score of 40.8.

 Top 5 are Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Australia and US.
 In neighbouring countries China ranked highest.

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SWACHH VAYU SARVESKSHAN 2023 CLEAN AIR SURVEY

 It is conducted by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

 Indore, Amravati and Parwanoo boast the cleanest air in India.
 Madurai, Jammu and Kohima face significant challenges in terms of air quality.
 National Clean Air Programme, the government has launched the “PRANA” portal.

ALL INDIA HOUSE PRICE INDEX SURGES 5.1% IN Q1 FY 24: RBI’S LATEST DATA

 The all-India House Price Index (HPI) rose by 5.1% in the April- June quarter of
2023-24 as compared with 3.4% a year ago, according to data released by the RBI.
 The RBI releases quarterly HPI based on transaction- level data received from the
registration authorities in ten major cities viz., Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai,
Delhi, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow and Mumbai.
 Delhi leads with a growth of 14.9% Growth.
 Kolkata witnessed a contraction of 6.6%.

SRINAGAR TOPS JAL JEEVAN MISSION (JJM) IMPLEMENTATION

 Srinagar district tops among 114 Har Ghar Jal Certified Villages across India.
 The performance is measured between time frame from 1st October 2022 to 30th
June 2023.
 Launched in 2019, it envisages supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to
every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by
2024.
 It is under Ministry of Jal Shakti.
 The mission aims at ensuring functionality of existing water supply systems and
water connections, water quality monitoring and testing as well as sustainable
agriculture.
 Also put in use conserved water, drinking source augmentation, grey water
treatment and its reuse.
 As on date, 6 States namely Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab and
Himachal Pradesh) and 3 UTs - Puducherry, D&D and D&NH and A&N Islands,
have reported 100% coverage. Bihar at 96.39%, followed by Mizoram at 92.12%,
are also poised to achieve saturation in the near future.
 As many as 145 districts and 1,86,818 villages in the country have reported 100%
coverage.

INTERNET RESILIENCE INDEX

 Released by Internet Society based in USA.

 India ranked 6th achieved an overall score of 43%.
 Top 5 countries are Bhutan (58%), Bangladesh (51%), Maldives (50%), Sri Lanka
(47%) and Nepal (43%).
 4 Crucial Pillars are: Infrastructure, Performance, Security and Market Readiness.

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BIHAR, UP, TAMIL NADU TOPS WITH MAXIMUM JAN DHAN BENEFICIARIES

 A total of 6.23 crore Jan Dhan Accounts for Fiscal Year 2022-23.
 It is heartening to note that more than 50 crore people have been brought into the
formal banking system through the opening of Jan Dhan Accounts. Among these
accounts, approximately 55.5% belong to women, and 67% have been opened in
Rural / Semi-Urban areas.
 Background:
 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial
Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings &
Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable
manner.

 Objectives:
o Ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost
o Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach
 Basic tenets of the scheme
o Banking the unbanked - Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD)
account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in
camp mode, zero balance & zero charges
o Securing the unsecured - Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash
withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance
coverage of Rs. 2 lakhs
o Funding the unfunded - Other financial products like micro-insurance,
overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit

 Initial Features of PMJDY: The scheme was launched based upon the following 6
pillars:
1. Universal access to banking services – through Branch and Banking
Correspondents.
2. Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000/- to every
eligible adult
3. Financial Literacy Programme– Promoting savings, use of ATMs, getting ready
for credit, availing insurance and pensions, using basic mobile phones for
banking
4. Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund – To provide banks some guarantee
against defaults
5. Insurance – Accident cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 and life cover of Rs. 30,000 on
account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015
6. Pension scheme for Unorganised sector

 Important Approaches Adopted:

 Focus shifted from “Every Household” to “Every Unbanked Adult”
 RuPay Card Insurance: Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards
increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakhs for PMJDY accounts opened after
28.8.2018.
 OD limit doubled from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000; OD facility upto Rs. 2,000
without condition

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 Upper age limit for OD facility also increased from 60 to 65 years.

 As on 9th August 23 number of total PMJDY Accounts: 50.09 crore; 55.6% (27.82
crore) Jan-Dhan account holders are women and 66.7% (33.45 crore) Jan Dhan
accounts are in rural and semi-urban areas.
 Continuous increase in no of accounts under PMJDY
 PMJDY Accounts have grown three-fold (3.4) from 14.72 crore in March 15 to 50.09
crore as on 16-08-2023. Undoubtedly a remarkable journey for the Financial
Inclusion Programme.
 Total deposit balances under PMJDY Accounts stand at Rs. 2,03,505 crores.
 Average deposit per account is Rs. 4,063 as on 16.08.2023.

 Avg. Deposit per account has increased over 3.8 times over August 15
 Total RuPay cards issued to PMJDY accountholders: 33.98 crore.
 Jan Dhan Darshak Application (JDD): JDD App is a mobile application which
provides a citizen centric platform for locating banking touch points such as bank
branches, ATMs, Banking Correspondents (BCs), Indian Post Payment Banks etc.
in the country.

WORLD RICE PRICE INDEX JUMPS TO NEAR 12- YEAR HIGH IN JULY: FAO REPORT

 The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) said that the rice
price index has rose 2.8 percent in July to their highest level in nearly 12 years.
 Reasons for surge: High Demand, reduction in supply and unpredictable weather
patterns.
 Countries such as India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Pakistan are major
exporters.
 Major importers are: China, the Philippines, Benin, Senegal, Nigeria and Malaysia.
 In 2022-23, India’s rice exports of non- basmati white rice amounted to USD 4.2
Million.
INDIAN METEOROLOGICAL DEPARTMENT (IMD) ISSUED HEAT INDEX
 It provide information about the impact of humidity on high temperatures.
 It provides guidance towards additional care to be taken by people to reduce
discomfort.
 Heat wave is considered if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least
40 degree Celsius or more in plains and at least 30 degree or more for hilly regions.
 Shri Rijiju said colour codes used for Experimental Heat Index are as follows:
 Green: - Experimental heat Index less than 35 deg C
 Yellow: - Experimental heat Index in the range 36-45 deg C

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 Orange: - Experimental heat Index in the range 46-55 deg C

 Red: - Experimental heat Index greater than 55 deg C

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT INDEX (WEI) & GLOBAL GENDER PARITY INDEX (GGPI)

 Analysis of 114 countries by UN Women & UNDP at the Women Deliver

Conference.
 The report highlights the challenges in achieving gender parity and women’s
empowerment worldwide.
 Key findings of the report:
 Only 1% of women live in countries with high women’s empowerment and
gender parity.
 Leadership roles and decision making remain predominantly male- dominated,
restricting opportunities for women.
 On an average, women are empowered to achieve only 60 per cent of their full
potential.
 Globally women lag behind men by 28%, achieved only 72% of what men
achieved across key human development dimensions.

 Over 90% of women worldwide reside in countries with low or middle women's
empowerment and low or middle performance in achieving gender parity.
 None of the 114 countries analyzed achieved complete women's empowerment
or gender parity.
 Additionally, about 8% of women live in countries with low empowerment but
high gender parity.
 More than 90 percent of the world's female population —3.1 billion women and
girls — live in countries characterized by a large women’s empowerment deficit
and a large gender gap.

UN REPORT TITLED “A WORLD OF DEBT”

 In 2022, global public debt – comprising general government domestic and

external debt – reached a record USD 92 trillion.
 Developing countries owe almost 30% of the total, of which roughly 70% is
attributable to China, India and Brazil.
 However, public debt has increased faster in developing countries compared to
developed countries over the last decade.
 The rise of debt in the developing world has mainly been due to growing
development financing needs – exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-
of-living crisis, and climate change – and by limited alternative sources of
financing.
 Consequently, the number of countries facing high levels of debt has increased
sharply from only 22 countries in 2011 to 59 countries in 2022.

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GLOBAL MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY INDEX (MPI)

 Released by “UNDP” and the “Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative”
(OPHI).
 485 million poor people live in severe poverty, experiencing 50-100% of weighted
deprivations.

 Globally, 1.1 billion people (18% of the total population) out of 6.1 billion
people, are acutely multidimensionally poor and live in acute
multidimensional poverty across 110 countries.
 566 million of the 1.1 billion poor people are children under the age of 18 years.
 Sub-Saharan Africa has 534 million poor and South Asia has 389 million.

 Children under 18 years old account for half of MPI-poor people (566 million).
 The poverty rate among children is 27.7%, while among adults it is 13.4 %.
 India is one of the 25 nations that have successfully halved their Global MPI
values within 15 years.
 In India, the incidence of poverty fell from 55% (645 million) in 2005/2006 to 16%
(230 million) in 2019/2021.
 People in India who are multi-dimensionally poor and deprived under the nutrition
indicator decline from 44% in 2005-2006 to 12% in 2019-21.
 Those who are deprived of cooking fuel declined from 53% to 14%.
 Those who are deprived of sanitation declined from 50% to 11.3%.
 In drinking water, there is a decline from 16% to 3% and in housing there is
decline from 44% to 14%.
 Significant progress of India is in Health, Education and Standard of living.
 GMPI have 3 dimensions: Health, Education and Standard of living.
 Health: Nutrition & Child mortality.
 Education: Years of Schooling, School attendance, Intensity of poverty, Headcount
ratio.
 Standard of living: cooking fuel, Sanitation, Drinking water, Electricity, Housing
and Assets.

PERFORMANCE GRADING INDEX 2.0 FOR STATES AND UTs FOR THE YEAR 2021-
22

 Released by Ministry of Education.

 It comprises 1000 points across 73 indicators.
 It focuses on mainly two categories (a) Outcomes and (b) Governance Management.
 These categories are further divided into six domains, namely learning outcomes
(LO), access (A), infrastructure and facilities (IF), equity (E), governance process
(GP), and teachers’ education and training (TE&T).

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 The PGI 2.0 for 2021-22 classified states/UTs into ten grades, where the highest
achievable grade is 'Daksh', which is for state/UT scoring more than 940 points
out of a total of 1,000 points. The lowest grade is 'Akanshi-3', which is for a score
up to 460.
 None of the states/UTs has attained the highest grade, Daksh.
 Only two states/UTs, namely Punjab and Chandigarh have attained Grade
Prachesta -2 (score 641-700); six states/UTs joined Grade Prachesta - 3 (score
581-640); 13 states/UTs joined Grade Akanshi -1 (score 521-580); 12 states/UTs
attained Grade Akanshi - 2 (score 461-520); and three states got Grade Akanshi –
3 in PGI 2.0.
 Chandigarh received a score of 659.0 (Grade: PRACHESTA-2) highest.
 Top 10 States & UTs are: Chandigarh, Punjab, Delhi, Kerala, Gujarat, Puducherry,
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan.

FARMERS DISTRESS INDEX (FDI)

 Launched by the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA),

under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).
 The main aim behind creating such an index is to minimise the agrarian distress
in the form of crop loss / failure and income shock.
 Farmers’ exposure to shocks have increased in the recent years, with an increase
in extreme climate events as well as market and price fluctuations, many times
driving them to death by suicides.
 21 standardized questions designed to detect early signs of distress.
 Methodology to track distress
 Exposure to droughts, floods, crop failure due to pest attacks, livestock
deaths.
 Debt.
 Adaptive capacity of farmer and local government through different
schemes.
 Land holding and irrigation facilities.
 Sensitivity, mitigation and adaptation strategies like growing of contingency
crops if main crop fails.
 Triggers for immediate distress like health-related expenditure.
 Socio- psychological factors and impacts.
 Index will assign a value between 0 and 1 to indicate the level of distress.
 0 to 0.5: low distress
 0.5 to 0.7: Moderate stress
 Above 0.7: Severe distress

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2023 GLOBAL PEACE INDEX

 Released by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

 The 17th edition of the annual Global Peace Index (GPI), the world’s leading
measure of peacefulness.
 Iceland tops the index with rank 1 and score of 1.124, followed by Denmark,
Ireland, New Zealand and Austria.
 India ranks 126/163 countries, with score of 2.31 and with this score India fall
below the global average of 2.314.

UNCTAD’S WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT 2023

 Globally, FDI declined 12% to $1.3 trillion after a strong rebound in 2021.
 The report highlights that FDI inflows to developing Asia remained stagnant at
$662 billion, with the majority of investments highly concentrated in few
economies: India, China, Singapore, Hong Kong.
 FDI flows to India rose to 10% to $49 billion from $45 billion.
 India is 5th Top host location for international EV, Battery R & D projects.
 India’s international project finance deals up to 64%, 2nd top recipient.

 FDI inflows to developing Asia were highly concentrated, with five economies
accounting for nearly 80% of the total investment. These economies are India,
China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.
 FDI flows to India increased by 10% to reach $49.3 billion, positioning India as the
third-largest host country for greenfield project announcements and the second-
largest for international project finance deals in South Asia.
 The report states that greenfield project announcements by Indian multinational
enterprises more than tripled, reaching $42 billion.
 ReNew Power announced an $8 billion green hydrogen plant in the Suez Canal
Economic Zone.

REPORT ON PANCHAYAT DEVELOPMENT INDEX

 The index measures the performance of panchayats in achieving the Localization

of SDG.
 Four grades are there: D (scores under 40%), C (40-60%), B (60-75%), A (75-90%)
and A+ (Above 90%).

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 There are 9 themes: Poverty- free and enhanced livelihood, healthy village, child-
friendly village, water-sufficient village, clean and green village, self sufficient
infrastructure, socially just and secured villages, good governance and women
friendly village.

 The pilot project was carried out in four districts of Maharashtra, namely Pune,
Sangli, Satara, and Solapur.
 The data collected from the pilot project was used to compile the report of the
Panchayat Development Index Committee.
 The pilot study showed that 70% of the panchayats in the four districts of
Maharashtra fall in Category C, while 27% are in Category B.
 The report highlights the need for evidence-based planning, resources must be
deployed where required for overall development.

GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX 2023

 Published by the International Institute for Management (IMD).

 Top three economies are: Denmark, Ireland and Switzerland.
 India ranked at 40th place in 2023 GCI.

GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT 2023

 Released by World Economic Forum.

 17th Edition
 India ranked 127th out of 146 countries with score of 0.643.
 Iceland is at top position, the most gender-equal country for the 14th consecutive
year with a gender gap score of 91.2%. It is the only country with score over 90%.

 Three other Nordic countries—Norway (87.9%), Finland (86.3%), and Sweden

(81.5%)—join Iceland in the top five rankings, highlighting their strong
commitment to gender equality.
 India’s neighbours Pakistan ranked at 142, Bangladesh at 59, China at 107,
Nepal at 116, Sri Lanka at 115 and Bhutan at 103.

 India had closed 64.3% of the overall gender gap.

 Countries that report relatively even access for men and women when it comes
to Economic Participation and Opportunity- India (36.7%).

 Iceland and Bangladesh are the only countries where women have held the
highest political position in a country for a higher number of years than men.

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