Current Affairs November 2019 - Reports

1 - Kanpur recorded as the world’s most polluted city

Kanpur has held the title for the world’s most polluted city in the latest edition of Guinness World Records. The book, ‘Guinness World Records 2020’, lists thousands of new record titles and holders that will educate curious readers of all age groups. It is released annually by publisher Penguin Random House.

Analysis of a World Health Organization report showed that the most polluted city in the world is Kanpur in northern India, with an average PM2.5 level of 173 micrograms per m3 for 2016, over 17 times higher than the WHO recommended maximum of 10 micrograms per m3.

2 - India ranks 5^th in "Global Microscope 2019: The enabling environment for financial inclusion" report

According to a report titled the 2019 Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), India has the fifth most conducive environment among emerging countries for inclusive finance.

The Global Microscope for Financial Inclusion, now in its 12^th year, is a benchmarking index that assesses the enabling environment for financial access in 55 countries. The EIU’s analysis takes four basic parameters into account: (1) Whether non-banks can issue e-money, (2) the presence of financial service agents, (3) proportionate customer due diligence and (4) effective financial consumer protection.

3 - Pakistan rated among worst 10 countries in world for internet, digital media freedom

The Freedom House, an international internet rights group, released its 'Freedom on the Net' (FoTN) report titled as 'The Crisis of Social Media' for the year 2019. Pakistan was rated among the worst 10 countries in the world for internet and digital media freedom. An overall decline was observed in global internet freedom between June 2018 and May 2019.

Since June 2018, 33 of the 65 countries assessed in FoTN, experienced deterioration in internet freedom. Pakistan emerged as the third worst country after Vietnam and China.

4 - MMR of India declines by eight points in one year

Maternal Mortality Ratio, MMR, of India has declined by eight points in one year as per the latest special bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India. It translates to over 2,000 more pregnant women saved annually.

The MMR has declined from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 122 per lakh live births in 2015-17 which is a decline of 6.2%. India is on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) set for reducing the MMR by 2025 which is five years ahead of the fixed time-line of 2030.

5 - India Justice Report 2019 topped by Maharashtra

India Justice Report 2019’ published by Tata Trusts was topped by Maharashtra state in delivering justice to its citizens. This report, the first of its kind, ranks states according to the level to which they have capacitated themselves to deliver justice to all.

The list included Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana in the top five ranking. Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were among the bottom in the list. Report provided us a holistic understanding of the key actors in the Indian justice system-the police, prisons, legal aid, and judiciary.

6 - NCRB Report shows decline in Accidental and Suicidal Deaths in India

The National Crime Records Bureau of India in its latest Accidental Death and Suicide report unveiled that 11,379 farmers committed suicide in India in 2016 and there were 948 farmer suicides every month, or 31 suicides every day.

Key Findings:

Maharashtra witnessed a 20% dip from the previous year, it continued to be the top state with 2,550 of the 6,270 farmers' suicides documented nationwide.
While farmer suicides have dipped by about 21%, those by farm labourers have risen by 10%.
Majority of farmers who died by suicide in India were men.

7 - Nasscom’ report on ‘Indian Tech Start-Up Ecosystem: Leading Tech in the 20s’ released

India retained its position as world's third-largest startup hub in the 5^th edition of ‘The Nasscom’ report on ‘Indian Tech Start-Up Ecosystem: Leading Tech in the 20s’.

Key Finding

Investment in startups were steady with USD 4.4bn in Jan to Sep 2019 across 450 startups.
Fintech, enterprise and retail tech are the most mature sectors.
Indian startup ecosystem has potential to grow 4x by 2025.
The trend witnessed over the year was that start-ups are driving focus more towards the B2B space.
The startups have created an estimated 60,000 direct jobs and 1.3-1.8 lakh indirect jobs.

8 - India ranked at 34^th position in Travel & Tourism competitiveness Index

India has moved up six places to rank 34^th on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR), driven by rich natural and cultural resources and strong price competitiveness. The GoI had launched two flagship programs: Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD- Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive for promotion of tourism in the country.

WEF ranked 140 countries on their relative strengths in global tourism and travel in the report. Spain held on to the top spot in the index. France, Germany, Japan and United States formed the other top five countries in the list.

9 - NITI Aayog released Report on Building a 21^st Century Health System for India

NITI Aayog released the report on ‘Health Systems for a New India: Building Blocks-Potential Pathways to Reforms’. The report charts a clear roadmap for the complete transformation of India’s health system.

The report identified 5 focus areas of future health system, deliver on unfinished Public health agenda, change health financing away from out of pocket so spend into large insurers, integrate service delivery vertically and horizontally, empower citizens to become better buyers of health, harness the power of digital health.

10 - Ministry of Road Transport and Highways released ‘Road Accidents in India-2018’

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has released the ‘Road Accidents in India, 2018’. It is an annual publication which reports on accidents, related deaths and injuries, calendar year-wise. The major findings of the Report are as follows −

Road accidents in the country have increased marginally by 0.46 % during 2018

The fatalities increased by 2.37% in 2018

State of Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2018 the number of persons killed in road accident was the highest in Uttar Pradesh in 2018

11 - Bangladesh topped business bribery risk in South Asia

According to the Trace Bribery Matrix, Bangladesh has the highest business bribery risk among South Asian nations at 178^th position. The annual report ranks 200 countries under four parameters which are business interaction with the government, anti-bribery deterrence, transparency and civil society oversight.

Bhutan, at 52, has the lowest risk of bribery on the index in South Asia. Somalia, South Sudan, North Korea, Yemen and Venezuela presented the highest risk of bribe demands. New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland presented the lowest bribery risk. India stands on 78^th rank.

12 - Mumbai topped, Delhi at bottom of tap water quality ranking

Mumbai has topped the quality of tap water ranking released by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Delhi is at the bottom, with all 11 samples failing on 19 parameters. The samples of drinking water were taken from capitals of 20 states across the country. In Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar, Ranchi, Raipur, Amravati, and Shimla, one or more samples did not comply with the requirements.

None of the samples drawn from Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram, Patna, Bhopal, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Gandhinagar, Lucknow, Jammu, Jaipur, Dehradun, Chennai, Kolkata complied with the requirements.

13 - IMD World Talent Ranking Report released of year 2019

Switzerland topped the International Institute of Management Development’s (IMD) World Talent Ranking (WTR) report 2019. Switzerland topped the ranking in the effective implementation of apprenticeships and health infrastructure. Denmark ranked second in the overall ranking, but remains at the top of the Investment and Development factor.

Other countries that remained in the top six were Sweden (3^rd), Austria (4^th), Luxembourg (5^th) and Norway (6^th). India stood at 59^th rank in annual list of 63 countries due to low quality of life and expenditure on education.IMD World Talent Ranking evaluates three factors: Investment & Development, Appeal, and Readiness.

14 - International Energy Agency released World Energy Outlook, 2019

International Energy Agency released World Energy Outlook, 2019 report. World Energy Outlook 2019 highlighted deep disparities in the global energy system such as dissonance between well-supplied oil markets and growing geopolitical tensions and uncertainties. The report described a pathway that enables the world to meet climate, energy access and air quality goals while maintaining a strong focus on the reliability and affordability of energy for a growing global population.

As per the World Energy Outlook 2019, the installed capacity of solar energy will increase from 495 GW to 3142 GW by the year 2040.

15 - UNICEF Report stated India as second largest in Pneumonia deaths

United Nations' new report on Pneumonia stated that India has the second largest deaths of children under the age of five due to pneumonia. According to new study by UNICEF, Pneumonia claimed the lives of more than 800,000 children under the age of five last year, or one child every 39 seconds. Pneumonia is caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi, and leaves children fighting for breath as their lungs fill with pus and fluid.

Five countries were responsible for more than half of child pneumonia deaths: Nigeria (162,000), India (127,000), Pakistan (58,000), Congo (40,000) and Ethiopia (32,000).

16 - LANCET report on Health and Climate Change 2019 released

2019 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change was released representing the findings & consensus of 35 leading academic institutions & UN agencies with a view to ensuring that the health of a child born today is not defined by a changing climate.

The 2019 report presented an annual update of 41 indicators across 5 key domains: climate change impacts, vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement.

17 - Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella topped Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year 2019 list

Microsoft's India-born Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella occupied the top spot in Fortune's Businessperson of the Year 2019 list followed by CEO of Perth-based Fortescue Metals Group Elizabeth Gaines at 2^nd spot.

Fortune's annual Business Person of the Year list included 20 business leaders who tackled audacious goals, overcame impossible odds, found creative solutions. The list also featured Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga (8^th), Puma CEO Bjorn Gulden(5^th), JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon(10^th), Accenture CEO Julie Sweet(15^th) and Arista head Jayshree Ullal(18^th).

18 - National Statistical Office released report on disability

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had conducted a Survey of Persons with Disabilities as a part of 76^th round of National Sample Survey (NSS). The report is based on the central sample data of the Survey of Persons with Disabilities.

In India, percentage of persons with disability in the population was 2.2% with 2.3% in rural and 2.0% in urban areas.
Among males, prevalence of disability was 2.4% while it was 1.9% among females.
Number of persons with onset of disability was 86 per 1,00,000 persons.

19 - India ranked 8^th by WHO study on physical activity

The World Health Organization published its study about physical activity of adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years. The study was about the level of physical activity in children. India ranked eighth with overall prevalence of insufficient physical activity in adolescents at 73.9%. Bangladesh topped the list with most active teenagers.

Philippines ranked to be the most inactive country among boys. South Korea had the least active girl adolescents. The study was conducted across 146 countries with the help of data from 298 school-based surveys.