Current Affairs June 2017 - Reports

1 - Kohli, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Raina feature in ESPN World Fame 100 list

Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina have featured in this year's ESPN World Fame 100 list. Kohli is ranked 13^th in the list, Dhoni 15^th, Yuvraj at 90^th and Raina at 95^th.

The list is topped by Christiano Ronaldo followed by NBA great Lebron James at second, Lionel Messi at third, Roger Federer fourth and American Golfer Phil Mickelson at fifth.

The ranking is based on endorsements, social media reach and other data to create a comparative ranking system.

2 - Global Peace Index 2017: India ranks 137^th

According to the Global Peace Index 2017prepared by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), India is ranked at 137^th globally in 2017. Bhutan, which ranked 13, has been named as the most peaceful country in South Asia, followed by Sri Lanka 80^th, Bangladesh 84^th, India 137^th, Pakistan 152^nd and Afghanistan 162^nd.

Top 10 Peaceful Countries : Iceland (1), New Zealand (2), Portugal (3), Austria (4), Denmark (5), Czech Republic (6), Slovenia (7), Canada (8), Switzerland (9), Ireland (10).

Top 10 Least Peaceful Countries : Syria (163), Afghanistan (162), Iraq (161), South Sudan (160), Yemen (159), Somalia (158), Libya (157), Sudan and Central African Rep., both countries placed at 155^th position and Ukraine (154).

3 - India slipped to 45^th spot in IMD's World Competitiveness list

According to the World Competitiveness list compiled by the International Institute for Management Development's (IMD) World Competitiveness Center, India has been ranked 45^th, four points down the previous ranking.

Hong Kong was ranked first followed by Switzerland and Singapore at second and third respectively, with the USA at the fourth spot. Netherlands was ranked fifth in the list. Others in the top 10 list include Ireland at 6^th, Denmark 7^th, Luxembourg (8^th), Sweden (9^th) and UAE at 10^th. China improved its position by seven places to 18^th.

4 - India ranked at top position in Global Retail Development Index

According to the 2017 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) titled ‘The Age of Focus', India has been ranked top among 30 developing countries on ease of doing business.

The index ranks the top 30 developing countries for retail investment worldwide and analyses 25 macroeconomic and retail-specific variables.

The ease of FDI rules, rapidly expanding economy and a consumption boom are the key drivers for India’s top ranking. The index has placed China at the second place.

5 - Virat Kohli only Indian in top 100 of Forbes list of world’s highest paid athletes

Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has been ranked 89^th on the 2017 Forbes list of ‘The World’s highest paid athletes’ with a total pay of $ 22 million.

The list is topped by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo with a total pay of 93 million dollars. The others in the top five are LeBron James with $ 86.2 million, Lionel Messi ($80 million), Roger Federer ($64 million) and Kevin Durant ($60.6 million) respectively. Serena Williams, at the 51 spot with $ 27 million, is the lone female athlete to make the cut this year.

6 - UNCTAD: India among Top FDI Destinations

According to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2017, India continues to be a favourite FDI destination though tax-related concerns remain a deterrent for some foreign investors.

According to the report, the favourite FDI destinations remain the US, China and India. In South Asia, FDI inflows increased by 6% to USD 54 billion. Flows to India were stagnant at USD 44 billion.

For the first time, China was the world's second-largest investor as FDI outflows surged by 44% to USD 183 billion, a new high.

7 - QS World Universities Ranking 2018

In the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2018 list, three Indian universities, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay at 179, IIT-Delhi at 172 and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru at 190, have featured in the top 200 global universities.

IISc has been placed at 6^th position among 959 universities for ‘Citations per Faculty’ in the 2018 rankings. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been ranked as the world’s best university for the sixth consecutive year. Stanford University and Harvard University have been ranked second and third respectively. The list has a total of 959 top universities. 20 Indian institutions have been included in the ranking table this year.

8 - Forbes world's highest-paid celebrities list unveiled

Forbes list of world’s highest-paid celebs was unveiled where musician Sean Combs topped the list with $130 million, followed by musician Beyoncé Knowles with $105 Million at 2^nd spot and writer J.K. Rowling with $95 Million at 3^rd spot.

The list also included Indian Bollywood stars such as actor Shah Rukh Khan at 65^th position with $38 million earnings, Salman Khan at the 71^st spot with $37 million earnings and actor Akshay Kumar at 80^th position with $35.5 million.

9 - GII Rankings placed India at 60^th spot in most innovative global country

According to Global Innovation Index (GII) rankings released by GII Rankings for the second year in succession, India was placed at 60^th spot in most innovative countries list.

The list was topped by Geneva (Switzerland), followed by Sweden at 2^nd place, Netherlands at 3^rd place, US at 4^th place and UK AT 5^th place. Last year, India was placed at 66^th spot in most innovative countries list.

List highlights the India’s rise as an emerging innovation centre in Asia. Index was formulated by Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organization.

10 - Mumbai most expensive for expatriates in India

According to Mercer's 23^rd annual Cost of Living Survey, Mumbai is the most expensive city for expatriates in India. It has been ranked 57^th on the list. Delhi at 99, Chennai 135, Bangalore 166 and Kolkata 184 were the other cities in the list.

Luanda, the capital of Angola, was the costliest city with Hong Kong and Tokyo at the second and third places, respectively.

Others in the top 10 include Zurich at the 4^th place, Singapore (5^th), Seoul (6^th), Geneva (7^th), Shanghai (8^th), New York City (9^th), and Bern (10^th).

11 - Dangal became 1^st Indian movie to earn Rs 2,000 cr worldwide

According to Forbes Magazine's latest report, 'Dangal' has become the first Indian movie in the history to earn Rs. 2000 crores (307 million USD) worldwide. Dangal achieved this feat by earning Rs 2.5 crore on its 53^rd day at the China box office.

'Dangal' has also become the fifth highest-grossing non-English film in the history, and the highest-grossing live actions sports movie of 2017. The movie also became the only non-Hollywood film to be listed among the top 16 highest-grossing films of all time at the China box office.

12 - India can integrate 175 Gigawatts of renewable energy into the electricity grid

The first part of the study “Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India’s Electricity Grid”, confirms the technical and economic viability of integrating 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy into India’s power grid by 2022.

The study was released by Union Minister Piyush Goyal. A multi-institutional team from India’s Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) produced the report using advanced weather and power system modeling.