SPR 2020: Indices in News part-2

Publishing 

About:

• Swachh Survekshan 2020 is the 5th edition of the annual urban cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry.
• It ranks India’s cities, towns and states based on sanitation, waste management and overall cleanliness.
• It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aimed to make India clean and free of open defecation by 2 October 2019.
• The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities; by 2019 the survey had grown to cover 4237 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world.
• The surveys are carried out by the Quality Council of India.

Methodology:

• Swachh Survekshan 2020 is evaluated for each quarter on the basis of monthly updation of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) online Management Information System (MIS) by cities along with citizen’s validation on the 12 service level progress indicators.
• These quarterly assessments hold 25% weightage in the annual survey.
• The criteria and weightage for different components of sanitation-related aspects used for the survey were:
  1. Municipal documentation (solid waste management including door-to-door collection, processing, and disposal, and open defecation free status. These carried 45% of the total 2,000 marks.
  2. Citizen feedback– 30% (450 + 150 marks)
  3. Independent observation– 25% (500 marks)
• Ranks for Swachh Survekshan 2020 have been assigned based on the population in two categories of the cities :
1. 1 lakh and above with sub-categories of
   1. 1-10 lakh
   2. 10 lakhs and above.
2. Less than 1 lakh (under this category, the rankings are given zone and population-wise).
   • It includes five zones namely, North, East, Northeast, South and West.

Result:

• Indore was declared the cleanest city in India for the fourth consecutive time.
• Surat in Gujarat and Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra bagged the second and third spot respectively among the cleanest cities with more than a million populations.
• Maharashtra’s Karad, Saswad and Lonavala bagged the first three positions for cities having a population less than one lakh.
• Among the cities with a population between one and 10 lakh, Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur was declared the cleanest, followed by Mysore in Karnataka.
• In fact, Chhattisgarh has ranked the cleanest state in the category of states having more than 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULB).
• It was followed by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
• In 2019, Chhattisgarh was in the third position in the category.
• The survey found that Chhattisgarh is the first and only state where every city achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF)++ status.

About:

• The rankings took into account incremental progress made by over 112 aspirational districts across six developmental areas in December 2019.
• The rankings are based on the data that is publicly available through the Champions of Change Dashboard, which includes data entered on a real-time basis at the district level.

Parameters:

• The districts have been ranked on a transparent basis on parameters across various performance indicators like
  1. Health and Nutrition,
  2. Education,
  3. Skill Development and
  4. Basic Infrastructure (among others).

Result:

• Chandauli district in Uttar Pradesh has topped the list of aspirational districts.
• Balangir (Odisha) and YSR (Andhra Pradesh) have been placed at the second and third positions respectively.
• Sahibganj (Jharkhand) has been ranked at the fourth spot and Hailakandi(Assam) at the fifth place.

About Aspirational districts programme:

• The Aspirational district's programme was launched in 2018.
• It is coordinated by the Niti Aayog with support from Central Ministries and the State Governments.
• Aim: To transform districts that have shown relatively lesser progress in key social areas and have emerged as pockets of under-development.
• The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors) and Competition among districts driven by a Mass Movement or a Jan Andolan.

International Index

About:

• The WBL index released by the World Bank.
• The index analyzes laws and regulations affecting women’s economic inclusion in 190 economies.
• It is composed by eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they begin, progress through and end their careers, aligns different areas of the law with the economic decisions women make at various stages of their lives.

Indicators:

1. Mobility,
2. Workplace,
3. Pay,
4. Marriage,
5. Parenthood,
6. Entrepreneurship,
7. Assets, and
8. Pension.

Global Performance:

• The global average was 75.2– a slight increase from 73.9 in the previous index released in 2017.
• Only eight economies scored a perfect 100- Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden.
• Those countries have ensured equal legal standing to men and women on all the eight indicators of the index.
• No economy in ‘East Asia and the Pacific’, ‘Europe and Central Asia’, or ‘Latin America and the Caribbean’ were among top reformers.
• Countries in ‘The Middle East and North Africa’ and ‘Sub-Saharan Africa’ accounted for nine of the 10 top progressing countries on the WBL Index:
  1. Saudi Arabia
  2. The United Arab Emirates
  3. Nepal
  4. South Sudan
  5. São Tomé and Príncipe
  6. Bahrain
  7. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  8. Djibouti
  9. Jordan
  10. Tunisia

India’s performance:

• India placed 117th among 190 countries on the index.
• India, the world’s most populous democracy scored 74.4 on a par with Benin and Gambia and way below least developed countries like Rwanda and Lesotho.

About:

• The Index is released by the University of Pennsylvania each year since 2008.
• It evaluates public-policy research analysis and engagement organizations that generate policy-oriented research, analysis, and advice on domestic and international issues.
• It claims to enable policymakers and the public to make informed decisions on public policy.

Performance of global institutions:

• The list was topped by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace of US, followed by Belgium”s Bruegel and French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).
• UK”s Chatham House was ranked 6th on the list.

Performance of institutions in India:

• Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has been placed at No. 16. CSE climbed up two notches in the 14th version of the report.
• The organization also moved up three places among ‘best independent think tanks’ to be at No.123 in the world and sixth among Indian think tanks.
• Globally, it was ranked 41 of 60 organizations committed to energy and resource policy.
• India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF) has jumped more than 90 places to 27th position among 176 global think tanks.
• Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation was the highest-ranked Indian think tank with a political party affiliation in the world, getting a rank of 31st, among 38 such institutions.
• India Foundation and Vivekananda International Foundation were ranked 36th and 37th on that list.

About:

• The Index evaluates the IP infrastructure in each economy based on 45 unique indicators, which are critical to the growth of effective IP systems.

Indicators:

• The indicators encompass 8 categories of IP protection: patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, commercialization of IP assets, enforcement, systemic efficiency, and membership and ratification of international treaties.

Global performance:

• The US, the UK, France, Germany and Sweden are the top five economies on the IP Index in 2020. 

Performance of India:

• Ranked 40 out of 53 global economies.
• Last year India was ranked at 36th position out of 50 countries.
• India also continues to score well in the Systemic Efficiency indicator, scoring ahead of 28 other economies in these indicators.

Observations made on India:

• India's rank has slipped despite the government's focused effort to support investments in innovation and creativity through increasingly robust IP protection and enforcement, since the release of the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy, 2016.
• GIPC has identified several challenges for India. Prominent among them are:
  • Patentability requirements, patent enforcement, compulsory licensing, patent opposition, regulatory data protection, transparency in reporting seizures by customs, and Singapore Treaty of Law of TMs and Patent Law Treaty.
• However, through the 2016 National IPR Policy, the Government of India has made a focused effort to support investments in innovation and creativity through increasingly robust IP protection and enforcement.
• Implementation of the policy has improved the speed of processing for patent and trademark applications, increased awareness of IP rights among Indian innovators and creators.
• India has made significant progress towards establishing stronger IP protections- but the “job is not yet done”.
• In 2019, the Delhi High Court used dynamic injunctions to disable access to copyright-infringing content online, resulting in an increase in India’s score on two of the copyright-related indicators.
• As a result, India scores ahead of 24 other economies in the copyright indicators.

About:

• The index is released alongside WEFF report which is commissioned by the Yidan Prize Foundation.
• The index is developed to assess the effectiveness of education systems in preparing students for the demands of work and life in a rapidly changing landscape.
• It is the first comprehensive global index to evaluate inputs to education systems rather than outputs such as test scores and concentrates on the 15-24 age band in 35 economies.

Parameters:

• Countries are ranked based on their abilities to equip students with skill-based education. The rankings are based on three categories:
  1. Policy environment.
  2. Teaching environment.
  3. Overall socio-economic environment.

Global performance:

• Finland topped the index followed by Sweden.
• Among the world’s largest economies, the US, UK, France, and Russia fell back in the index while China, India, and Indonesia took steps forward.

India’s performance:

• India ranked 35th and jumped five ranks from the 40th rank (Scored 53).
• India’s growth is attributed to the new national education policy introduced and published in 2019.
• The policy mentions future-oriented skills such as critical thinking, communication, and entrepreneurship.

About:

• The index is released alongside the GHS report. 
• The report gains significance in the context of the recent Coronavirus (COVID19) outbreak.
• The GHS Index is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across the 195 countries that make up the States Parties to the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005).

Indicators:

The GHS Index assesses countries’ health security and capabilities across six categories, 34 indicators, and 85 sub-indicators. The six categories are as follow:

1. Prevention: Prevention of the emergence or release of pathogens.
2. Detection and Reporting: Early detection and reporting for epidemics of potential international concern.
3. Rapid Response: Rapid response to and mitigation of the spread of an epidemic.
4. Health System: Sufficient and robust health system to treat the sick and protect health workers.
5. Compliance with International Norms: Commitments to improving national capacity, financing plans to address gaps, and adhering to global norms.
6. Risk Environment: Overall risk environment and country vulnerability to biological threats.

Ranking:

• The index measures countries’ capabilities from 0-100, with 100 representing the highest level of preparedness. The GHS Index scoring system includes three tiers.
  1. Low Scores: Countries that score between 0 and 33.3 are in the bottom tier.
  2. Moderate Scores: Countries that score between 33.4 and 66.6 are in the middle tier and
  3. High Scores: Countries that score between 66.7 and 100 are in the upper or “top” tier.

Global performance: 

• No country is fully prepared for epidemics or pandemics. Collectively, international preparedness is weak.
• The average overall GHS Index score among all 195 countries assessed is 40.2 of a possible score of 100.
• The US is the “most prepared” nation (scoring 83.5), with the UK (77.9), the Netherlands (75.6), Australia (75.5) and Canada (75.3) behind it.
• Thailand is ranked sixth in the Index- the highest ranking for an Asian country.
• Much of Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Asia and Central and South America are described as “more prepared,” with scores between 66 and 34.3, while the majority of countries ranked “least prepared” are in Africa.
• North Korea (17.5), Somalia (16.6) and Equatorial Guinea (16.2) are listed in the index's bottom three.
• China– which is at the centre of the recent coronavirus outbreak– is at the 51st place, scoring 48.2.

India's performance:

• India is ranked 57th with a score of 46.5, falling in the middle tier.
• Health expenditure by the government in India is less than 1.5% of GDP, which is low for a middle-income country.

About:

• IEP is an Australian based institute which releases the annual Global Terrorism Index (GTI).
• The index provides a comprehensive summary of the key global trends and patterns in terrorism since 2000. 
• It produces a composite score in order to provide an ordinal ranking of countries on the impact of terrorism.
• The Global Terrorism Index ranks 163 countries on four indicators weighted over five years. 
• The GTI is based on data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) which is collected and collated by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. 

Indicators:

• The four indicators are:
  1. the number of terrorist incidents per year.
  2. the number of fatalities caused by terrorists per year.
  3. the number of injuries caused by terrorists per year.
  4. total property damage caused by terrorism per year.
• Countries are ranked in descending order with the worst scores.

Global Performance:

• Afghanistan ranked first on the global terrorism index with a score of 9.6 points, making it the country most affected by terrorism on Earth. 
• Iran stood second after holding the top position since 2004. 
• The deaths from terrorism have decreased by 15.2% in 2018 to 15,952 globally.
• This is the fourth consecutive year of improvement.
• However,71 countries recorded at least one death from terrorism in 2018 which is the highest second number of countries since 2002.
• The Taliban has overtaken ISIL to become the deadliest terrorist group in the world recording a 71% increase in terrorism deaths.
• The group was responsible for 38% of all terrorist deaths globally in 2018.

India's performance:

• India has moved to the seventh position from the previous year’s eighth in the annual Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2019.
• The countries ahead of it are Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, Pakistan and Somalia.
• The NITI Aayog has questioned the methodology adopted to rank India as the seventh-worst terrorism affected country ahead of conflict-ridden countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Palestine and Lebanon.
• It also questions the opaque funding of the IEP.
• GTI scores are directly used in the Global Peace Index, the Global Slavery Report, World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness and Global Competitiveness Indices and compilation of Safe Cities Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
• The positioning in the global indices impacts investments and other opportunities.

United Nations 
Development Programme 
(UNDP)

About: 

• The 1st edition of GSNI 2020 was introduced in Human Development Report by UNDP, in an attempt to tackle gender norms which eventually are a broad contributor to gender inequalities.
• 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Beijing+25), the most visionary agenda on women’s empowerment to date.
• This index measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education, and contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80% of the world’s population.
• The index found new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality – potentially forging a path forward to breaking through the so-called “glass ceiling”.
• It comprises of four dimensions- political, educational, economic and physical integrity.

Key findings:

• Despite decades of progress closing the equality gap between men and women, close to 90% of men and women hold some sort of bias against women.
• Almost half of those polled feel that men are superior political leaders.
• More than 40% believe they make better business executives and are more entitled to jobs when the economy is lagging.
• Moreover, 28% think it is justified for a man to beat his wife.
• The analysis also highlighted a bias shift in some 30 countries, revealing that while some show improvements, attitudes in others appear to have worsened in recent years – signalling that progress cannot be taken for granted.
• The number of female heads of government is lower today than five years ago, with only 10 women in such positions among 193 countries (down from 15 in 2014). 
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 woman in every 180 giving birth dies (more than 20 times the rate in developed countries).
• There is parity in entry-level political participation, where power is very diffused.
• But when more concentrated political power is at stake, women appear severely underrepresented.
• The higher the power and responsibility, the wider the gender gap-and for heads of state and government, it is almost 90%.
• Only 24% of parliamentarian seats are held by women.
• Women represent only 21% of the world’s employers and 12% of the top billionaires.

About:

• Quacquarelli Symonds is a British company specialising in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world.
• It is a global career and education network for ambitious professionals looking to further their personal and professional development.
• QS develops and successfully implements methods of comparative data collection and analysis used to highlight institutions’ strengths.
• The ‘QS World University Rankings’ is an annual publication of university rankings which comprises the global overall and subject rankings.

Parameters:

Six parameters and their weightage for the evaluation:

1. Academic Reputation (40%)
2. Employer Reputation (10%)
3. Faculty/Student Ratio (20%)
4. Citations per faculty (20%)
5. International Faculty Ratio (5%)
6. International Student Ratio (5%)

Global institutions performance:

• Globally, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT – USA) emerged as the world’s best-performing institution,  followed by Stanford University and Harvard University (USA).

Performance of Indian Institutions:

• Top three from India featured in top 200 and their rankings: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay (172), followed closely by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore (185), and IIT Delhi (193).
• However, all three have dropped in their rankings compared to the last year.
• In total, 21 Indian higher education institutions have found their place among the world’s top 1,000 (It was 24 last year).
• Of these 21, 14 have fallen in rank over the past 12 months, while four have improved their position.
• Indian higher education institutions perform strongly in research quality, even though they fail to increase their academic standing, teaching capacity, and levels of internationalisation at the same rate as their global competitors.

Global Energy Transition index 2020

About:

• The Energy Transition Index is a composite score of 40 indicators. 
• It benchmarks 115 countries on the current performance of their energy system, and their readiness for transition to a secure, sustainable, affordable, and inclusive future energy system.
• It intends to enable policy-makers and businesses to plot the course for a successful energy transition.
• The benchmarking of energy systems is carried out annually across countries.
• Part of the WEF’s Fostering Effective Energy Transition initiative, it builds on its predecessor, the Energy Architecture Performance Index.

Global Performance:

• Sweden has topped the Index for the third consecutive year and is followed by Switzerland and Finland in the top three.
• France (8th) and the UK (7th) are the only G20 countries in the top ten.
• Only 11 out of 115 countries have made steady improvements in ETI scores since 2015.
• Argentina, China, India and Italy are among the major countries with consistent annual improvements.
• In China (78th), problems of air pollution have resulted in policies to control emissions, electrify vehicles and develop the world’s largest capacity for solar photovoltaic (SPV) and onshore wind power plants.
• Scores for the US, Canada, Brazil and Australia were either stagnant or declining.

India's performance:

• India has moved up two positions to rank 74th  with improvements on all key parameters of economic growth, energy security and environmental sustainability.
• It is one of the few countries in the world to have made consistent year-on-year progress since 2015.
• Gains have come from a government-mandated renewable energy expansion programme, now extended to 275 GW by 2027.
• India has also made significant strides in energy efficiency through bulk procurement of LED bulbs, smart meters, and programs for labelling of appliances.