Democracy Report 2024

Context:

• The V-Dem Institute’s Democracy Report 2024 has once again categorized India as an electoral autocracy, with the country’s democracy scores continuing to fall across various components.

Key Findings:

• India’s Decline from Democracy to Electoral Autocracy
  • According to the report, India dropped down to the status of an electoral autocracy in 2018 and has remained in this category through the end of 2023.
  • The report notes that eight out of ten countries in the top 10 standalone autocratizers group were democracies before the start of autocratization.
  • Democracy broke down in six of those eight cases, including India, while only Greece and Poland remain democracies as of 2023.
  • The report cites a recent study showing that 80% of democracies break down if they start autocratizing.
• Deterioration of Freedom of Expression and Media Independence
  • The V-Dem Institute’s report documents India’s autocratization process, highlighting the gradual but substantial deterioration of freedom of expression, compromised media independence, crackdowns on social media, and harassment of journalists critical of the government.
  • The report also points to attacks on civil society and the intimidation of the opposition as contributing factors to India’s declining democracy scores.

Hate Speech Events in India’ Report

Context:

• India Hate Lab – a United States based research group tracking hate speech trends released disturbing findings in February 2024 highlighting exponential surge in online and offline hate rhetoric, calls for violence and incitement against Muslims in 2023 underscoring volatile communal fault lines.

Key Findings:

• Over 650 anti-Muslim Hate Instances
• In first of its annual series, the 2023 report titled ‘Hate Speech Events in India’ found 668 instances of hate speech targeting Muslims – translating into almost 2 cases daily with steep 62% rise in second half to 413, post elections in key states.
• 75% of hate speech events took place in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States.
• Calls for explicit economic and social boycott of Muslims
• Dehumanizing stereotypes like termites and vermin
• Justification of past and potential mob violence

State of the World’s Migratory Species

Context:

• The State of the World’s Migratory Species – 2024 report was launched by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a UN biodiversity treaty on February 12, 2024.

Key Findings:

• Nearly half of CMS-listed species are showing population declines
• More than one-in-five are threatened with extinction
• 97% of CMS-listed fish are threatened
• Extinction risk is growing globally even for non-CMS listed migratory species
• Overexploitation and habitat loss are the top threats facing migratory species

Recommendations

• To address these threats, the report provides several recommendations, including:
  • Increase protection of key habitats and migratory routes
  • Address species most at risk of extinction
  • Tackle climate change, pollution, and invasive species
  • Expand conservation efforts to migratory species not currently protected

Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023

Context:

• Recently, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 has been released by Transparency International showing that most countries have made little to no progress in tackling public sector corruption.

Key Finding:

• India’s Ranking and Score
  • India was ranked 93 out of 180 countries on the CPI 2023. The overall score for India in 2023 was 39, a slight decrease from 40 in 2022.
  • In 2022, India was ranked 85.
• Link Between Access to Justice and Corruption
  • According to the Rule of Law Index, the world is experiencing a decline in the functioning of justice systems.
  • The Rule of Law Index is published by the World Justice Project (WJP), an independent organization that works to advance the rule of law globally.
  • The index provides data on several dimensions of the rule of law, which are further broken down into 44 indicators.
  • Countries with the lowest scores in the Rule of Law index are also scoring very low on the CPI, highlighting a clear connection between access to justice and corruption.

IEA’s Electricity 2024 Report

Context:

• According to the latest International Energy Agency (IEA) projections in Electricity 2024 Report, India’s electricity demand will outpace China’s and have the world’s fastest growth rate by 2026.

Key Findings:

• Coal Dominance to Continue
• Coal will meet 68% of India’s electricity needs in 2026, as per IEA forecasts. While lower than coal’s 74% share in 2023, this highlights its continued dominance despite renewable growth.
• India added 21 GW of renewable energy capacity in 2023. But renewables stagnated at a 21% generation share as reduced hydropower output offset solar and wind growth.
• Key Growth Drivers
  • Rapid economic expansion and increased cooling needs are major electricity demand growth drivers.
  • Weather fluctuations also periodically spike demand – a hot and dry August 2022 led to record power consumption exceeding 240 GW.
  • To guarantee supply amidst peaks, the government mandated blending at least 6% imported coal until March 2024.
  • Domestic coal remains the mainstay for baseline generation.
• Nuclear and Hydro Push
  • India is also expanding hydro and nuclear generation to diversify its energy mix.
• Net Zero Balancing Act
  • Even as India pushes clean energy to achieve its 2070 net zero target, rising electricity needs means coal will remain indispensable in the medium term.

Status Report of Snow Leopards in India

Context:

• The Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, released India’s first nationwide snow leopard population assessment report titled “Status Report of Snow Leopards in India.

Key Findings:

• State-wise Estimates:
  • Estimated state-wise population is: Ladakh – 477; Uttarakhand – 124; Himachal Pradesh – 51; Arunachal Pradesh – 36; Sikkim – 21; Jammu and Kashmir – 9.
• Need for Regular Monitoring:
  • The need for a dedicated snow leopard cell at the Wildlife Institute of India under the Ministry to ensure regular monitoring and long-term conservation.
  • It suggests states adopt assessments every 4 years.
  • Regular range-wide surveys will help address threats and devise effective protection strategies tailored to regional priorities.
• Conservation Significance:
  • Until recently, snow leopard ranges in India were poorly defined and studied only across 5% of their habitat.
  • The SPAI has significantly expanded habitat surveys to 80% versus just 56% in 2016.

All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 

Context:

• The Ministry of Education released the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for 2022-23, covering all higher education institutions in India. AISHE has been conducted annually since 2011.

Key Findings:

• Increase in Overall Enrolment
  • The total enrolment in higher education has grown to nearly 4.33 crore, increasing by over 91 lakh students since 2014-15. 
• Rise in Enrolment Across Categories
  • Enrolment has increased across categories like females, SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities since 2014-15. 
• Jump in GER Ratio
  • Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), or percentage of 18-23 age group enrolled in higher education, has gone up from 23.7% in 2014-15 to 28.4% in 2021-22.
  • The rise has been higher for females and reserved categories like SCs and STs.
• Increase in Ph.D Enrolment
  • Ph.D enrolment increased 81.2% since 2014-15 to 2.12 lakh. Female Ph.D enrolment doubled in the same period highlighting greater gender parity in research degrees.
• Predominance of Undergraduate Degrees
  • Nearly 79% of total enrolment is in undergraduate programs while 12% is in postgraduation. Arts, Science and Commerce remain the top disciplines at UG level.
• Social Sciences Dominate Postgraduation
  • At postgraduate level, maximum students opt for Social Sciences followed by Science. 
• STEM Enrolment Trends
  • Around 98.5 lakh students are pursuing STEM degrees in UG, PG and Ph.D levels in 2021-22, registering an increase over previous years.
• Infrastructure Availability
  • As per collected data, higher education institutions have near universal availability of key infrastructure like libraries, labs, computer centers, playgrounds etc.
• Number of Institutions
  • The total number of universities, colleges and standalone institutions registered under AISHE now stands at 1168, 45473 and 12002 respectively.

ASER Survey 

Context:

• The 2023 ASER survey focused on 14-to-18-year-old children in rural areas, specifically on their ability to apply reading and math skills to everyday situations. 

Key Findings:

• Measuring Four Areas
  • The survey aimed to measure four broad areas – activity, aspiration, general awareness, and ability. 
• Multiple Roles but Limited Options
  • Around 30% of respondents already work, often for parents, but don’t aspire to continue this work when older. 
• Basic Skills Still Lacking
  • About 25% still cannot fluently read a Standard II level text in their regional language.
  • Over half struggle with division problems typically mastered by Standard III-IV.
  • Girls outperform boys in reading while boys do better in arithmetic and English. 
• Widespread Digital Access, Surface-Level Use
  • Over 90% of respondents can use a smartphone, similar across genders. But fewer girls personally own devices.
  • Most use phones for entertainment and social media more than education. 
• Schools Still Have a Role
  • With 85% enrollment, schools can reach students through both in-person and remote learning. 
• Job Market and Education Misalignment
  • Most older respondents study humanities, reflecting local availability.
  • Students interested in science may lack those options nearby. 

Oxfam’s Inequality Inc Report

Context:

• Global inequality between the wealthy and impoverished has notably worsened for the first time in 25 years, according to Oxfam’s recent “Inequality Inc” report published on January 15, 2024. 

Key Findings:

• Per current trajectories, the world may see its first trillionaire within 10 years. 
• The net worth of the world’s five richest billionaires has spiked from $405 billion in 2020 to over $869 billion today, accumulating wealth at $14 million per hour.
• Nearly five billion people have become poorer over the same period.
• In 2023 alone, billionaires gained $3.3 trillion, a 34% net wealth surge versus 2020.
• Corporations contribute to inequality via factors like labor exploitation, privatizing public services, tax evasion and exacerbating climate change.
• The gender wealth disparity remains pronounced worldwide.
• Men hold $105 trillion more wealth than women – over 4 times the size of the entire US economy. 

Global Risks Report 2024

Context:

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) driven misinformation and disinformation will pose great risks globally in 2023 and 2024. 

Key Findings:

• Misinformation and disinformation are the biggest short-term risks highlighted in the report.
• Extreme weather events and critical changes to Earth’s systems like biodiversity loss are noted as the greatest long-term concerns.
• Cost-of-living crisis and the interlinked risks of AI-enabled misinformation/disinformation and societal polarization dominate the global risks outlook for 2024.
• With several live conflicts underway, underlying geopolitical tensions and weakening societal resilience risk creating conflict contagion, the report warns.
• The survey for the report covered over 1400 global risk experts, industry heads and policymakers.

World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2024

Context:

• The International Labour Organization (ILO) projects worldwide joblessness will increase through 2024 as declining economic growth combines with persistent inflation and stagnant wages to spur inequality – though some labor markets have proved resilient.

Key Findings:

• sharp macroeconomic deterioration over the past year from cascading global crises.
• Multiple major economies slowed considerably in 2023 amid lingering geopolitical tensions and aggressive central bank interest rates hikes aimed at taming inflation – dampening industrial production, trade, and investment flows.
• Recent jobs growth and falling unemployment surprisingly outperformed forecasts in certain countries as pandemic impacts faded.
• The global jobless rate dropped below pre-COVID levels to 5.1% with labor force participation also bouncing back close to early 2020 levels. But concerns remain over the quality of work available.

UNODC’s Global Study on Homicide Report 2023

Context:

• The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has revealed that disputes over property, land, or access to water were responsible for nearly 16.8% of murder cases recorded in India from 2019 to 2021. 

Key Findings:

• About 0.5% or 300 of the murders recorded in India between 2019 and 2021 were specifically linked to water-related conflicts.
• In India, disputes over access to water have become a prominent driver of interpersonal homicide outside families. 
• The situation is further exacerbated by factors such as population growth, economic expansion, and climate change.
• As natural resource scarcity intensifies, disputes over water access have become more frequent and violent, contributing to the overall homicide rate.
• Competition over resources, including water, has resulted in increased violence globally. Southern Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Central America have reported a significant number of incidents related to resource conflicts.
• In addition to land and water disputes, the report outlines various other motives behind murders in the interpersonal category.
• These include honor killings, love affairs, illicit relationships, personal vendettas, dowry-related issues, witchcraft, psychopathy or serial killings, incidents of lunacy, road rage, and rape.

Good Governance Index

• Context:
  • On the occasion of Good Governance Day (25th December), the government released the Good Governance Index.
  • The index was prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
  • Earlier this year, India was ranked 49th in the Chandler Good Government Index (CGGI).
• About:
  • GGI is a comprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance across the States and UTs which enables the ranking of States/Districts.
  • The objective of GGI is to create a tool that can be used uniformly across the States to assess the impact of various interventions taken up by the Central and State Governments including UTs.
  • Based on the GGI Framework, the Index provides a comparative picture among the States while developing a competitive spirit for improvement.
  • The GGI says that 20 States have improved their composite GGI scores over the GGI 2019 index scores.
  • The GGI is envisaged as a biannual exercise.
• Basis of the Ranking:
  • It is based on ten sectors and 58 indicators. The sectors are:
    • Agriculture and Allied Sectors
    • Commerce & Industries
    • Human Resource Development
    • Public Health
    • Public Infrastructure & Utilities
    • Economic Governance
    • Social Welfare & Development
    • Judicial & Public Security
    • Environment
    • Citizen-Centric Governance
• Ranking of the States: The Index categorises States and UTs into four categories, i.e.,
  • Other States – Group A:
    • Gujarat has topped the composite ranking in the Good Governance Index 2021 covering 10 sectors, followed by Maharashtra and Goa.
  • Other States – Group B:
    • Madhya Pradesh tops the list followed by Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
  • North-East and Hill States:
    • Himachal Pradesh topped the list followed by Mizoram and Uttarakhand.
  • Union Territories:
    • Delhi tops the composite rank registering a 14% increase over the GGI 2019 indicators.

SDG Urban Index: NITI Aayog

• Context:
  • Recently, NITI Aayog under the Indo-German Cooperation released the inaugural Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Urban Index.
• About:
  • The index and dashboard are a result of the NITI Aayog-Germany's International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) and BMZ collaboration focused on driving SDG localization in our cities, under the umbrella of Indo-German Development Cooperation.
  • It ranks 56 urban areas on 77 SDG indicators across 46 targets of the SDG framework.
  • It will further strengthen SDG localization and institute robust SDG monitoring at the city level.
• Key rankings:
  • Top Performers: Shimla, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
  • Worst Performers: Dhanbad, Meerut, Itanagar, Guwahati and Patna.

Climate Vulnerability Index

• Context:
  • Recently, a report titled “Mapping India’s Climate Vulnerability – A District-level Assessment” has been released by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) (not-for-profit policy research institution).
  • The report has also launched the first-of-its-kind Climate Vulnerability Index.
  • The index has analysed 640 districts in India and found that 463 of these are vulnerable to extreme floods, droughts and cyclones.
• Climate Vulnerability Index:
  • The Index takes into account certain indicators when assessing the preparedness of a state or district.
    • It considers:
      • Exposure (that is whether the district is prone to extreme weather events)
      • Sensitivity (the likelihood of an impact on the district by the weather event)
      • Adaptive capacity (what the response or coping mechanism of the district is)
• Key findings of the CVI:
  • According to CVI, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Bihar are most vulnerable to extreme climate events such as floods, droughts and cyclones in India.
  • 183 hotspot districts are highly vulnerable to more than one extreme climate event.
  • 60% of Indian districts have medium to low adaptive capacity in handling extreme weather events:
    • these districts don’t have robust plans in place to mitigate the impact.
    • North-eastern states are more vulnerable to floods.
    • South and central are most vulnerable to extreme droughts.
    • 59 and 41 per cent of the total districts in the eastern and western states, respectively, are highly vulnerable to extreme cyclones.
• https://samajho.com/upsc/climate-vulnerability-index/

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2023

Context:

• Recently, the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2023 has been released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

Key Highlights of the Index:

Global Outlook:

• 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.
• Sub-Saharan Africa has 534 million poor and South Asia has 389 million.
• These two regions are home to approximately five out of every six poor people.
• 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 %.

Outlook for India:

• Poverty in India: India still has more than 230 million people who are poor.
• The UNDP defines, “Vulnerability — the share of people who are not poor but have deprivations in 20 – 33.3% of all weighted indicators — can be much higher.
• India has some 18.7% population under this category.
• India’s Progress in Poverty Reduction: India is among 25 countries, including Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Vietnam, that successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years.
• Some 415 million Indians escaped poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21.
• The incidence of poverty in India declined significantly, from 55.1% in 2005/2006 to 16.4% in 2019/2021.
• In 2005/2006, approximately 645 million people in India experienced multidimensional poverty, a number that decreased to about 370 million in 2015/2016 and further to 230 million in 2019/2021.
• Improvement in Deprivation Indicators: India progressed significantly in all the three deprivation indicators: Health, Education, Standard of living.
• Decline in poverty has been equal as well, cutting across regions and socio-economic groups.
• The poorest states and groups, including children and people in disadvantaged caste groups, had the fastest absolute progress.
• The percentage of people who were multidimensionally poor and deprived of nutrition decreased from 44.3% in 2005/2006 to 11.8% in 2019/2021, and child mortality fell from 4.5% to 1.5%.

Global Innovation Index (GII) 

Context: 

• The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2023 has been released.

About:

• Published by: the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in partnership with the Portulans Institute and with the support of corporate network partners.
• Objective: The index ranks 132 world economies according to their innovation capabilities.
• Indicators: The index ranks world economies according to their innovation capabilities and consists of roughly 80 indicators grouped into innovation inputs and outputs.
• Innovation inputs: Institutions; Human capital and research; Infrastructure; Market sophistication; Business sophistication.
• Innovation outputs: Knowledge and technology outputs; Creative outputs

Key findings:

Top Five:

• Switzerland, Sweden, U.S., and the U.K. continue to lead the innovation ranking and have all ranked in the top 5 in the past three years.
• The Republic of Korea joins the top 5 of the GII for the first time in 2021.

Related to India:

• India has been ranked 46th in the Global Innovation Index 2021 rankings. It was ranked 48th in 2020.
• India has been on a rising trajectory over the past several years in the Index, from a rank of 81 in 2015 to 46 in 2021.
• Graduates in science and engineering disciplines and global corporate research and development investors are India’s strengths.

Financial Inclusion Index

• Context:
  • Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has unveiled the first composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index).
• About:
  • The index has been conceptualised as a comprehensive index incorporating details of banking, investments, insurance, postal as well as the pension sector in consultation with the government and respective sectoral regulators.
  • It will be published annually in July every year.
  • It has been constructed without any ‘base year’ and as such it reflects cumulative efforts of all stakeholders over the years towards financial inclusion.
• Aim:
  • To capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country.
• Parameters:
  • It captures information on various aspects of financial inclusion in a single value ranging between 0 and 100, where 0 represents complete financial exclusion and 100 indicates full financial inclusion.
  • It comprises three broad parameters (weights indicated in brackets) viz., Access (35%), Usage (45%), and Quality (20%) with each of these consisting of various dimensions, which are computed based on a number of indicators.
  • The index is responsive to ease of access, availability and usage of services, and quality of services for all 97 indicators.
• Importance of FI Index:
  • Measures Level of Inclusion: It provides information on the level of financial inclusion and measures financial services for use in internal policymaking.
  • Development Indicators: It can be used directly as a composite measure in development indicators.
  • Fulfil the G20 Indicators: It enables fulfilment of G20 Financial Inclusion Indicators requirements.
  • The G20 indicators assess the state of financial inclusion and digital financial services, nationally and globally.
  • Facilitate Researchers: It also facilitates researchers to study the impact of financial inclusion and other macroeconomic variables.

Performance Grading Index (PGI)

• Context:
  • The Union Education Minister has approved the release of the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for States and Union Territories.
  • The PGI is a tool to provide insights on the status of school education in States and UTs including key levers that drive their performance and critical areas for improvement.
• About the Performance Grading Index (PGI):
  • The PGI for States and Union Territories was first published in 2019 with the reference year 2017-18.
  • The PGI: States/UTs for 2019-20 is the third publication in this series.

• Implementing Agency:
  • It is initiated by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL).
• Important Findings:
  • State-wise Performance:
    • This shows that 33 States and UTs have improved their PGI scores compared to the previous year.
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Puducherry, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have improved their overall PGI scores by 10%.
  • Inter-state Differential:
    • On a maximum possible of 1000 points, the range between the States and UTs with the highest and the lowest score is more than 380 points in the year 2019-20.
    • Domain-wise Performance:
      • Access: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Punjab have shown improvement of 10% or more in the ‘Access’ domain.
      • Infrastructure and Facilities: Thirteen states and UTs have shown improvement by 10% or more in ‘Infrastructure and Facilities’ while Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Odisha have improved their scores in the domain by 20% or more.
  • Equity:
    • In ‘Equity, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Odisha have shown an improvement of more than 10%.
  • Governance Process:
    • 19 states have shown improvement by 10% or more.
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal have shown improvement by at least 20%.