index

Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index-2013
• Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index is compiled by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the US
Council on Competitiveness.
• The five developed economies that were ranked in the top 10 are: Germany (2nd), the US (3rd), South
Korea (fifth), Canada (seventh) and Japan (tenth). The five emerging economy nations were ranked in the
top 10 are: China (first), India (fourth), Taiwan (sixth), Brazil (eighth), and Singapore (ninth).
• According to the report, India is likely to emerge as the 2nd most competitive economy in the world after
China in terms of manufacturing in the next 5 years.









education development index-------kerala topped it


national human development report 2001 tn scored 3rd rank

the following city has topped a global list of cities facing the highest
climate change risks in the coming decades as per the Maplecroft’s Climate
Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI)?
[A]Manila
[B]Dhaka
[C]Yangon
[D]Bangkok
Dhaka
Bangladeshi capital Dhaka has topped a global list of cities facing the highest
climate change risks in the coming decades, while Indian metropolis Kolkata is
ranked seventh, Mumbai eighth and Delhi at 20th. Manila, the capital city of The
Philippines, was ranked second in the British risk consultancy Maplecroft’s fifth
annual “Climate Change and Environmental Risk Atlas 2013,” while Bangkok,
Yangon, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City came third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Chicago, London, St Petersburg, Paris and Madrid are the only five cities classified
as “low risk“. Dhaka came top in the ranking of 50 cities by Maplecroft, specialising
in risk analysis, as the changing temperatures and weather systems are forecast to
take hold in the country in the coming decades. Maplecroft’s Climate Change
Vulnerability Index (CCVI) classifies seven cities as “extreme risk,” out of a list of 50
that were chosen for their current and future importance in global business.

the rank of India on Ernst & Young’s renewable attractiveness index?

[A]2nd

[B]3rd

[C]4th

[D]5th

4th

India ranks fourth on Ernst & Young’s renewable attractiveness index after China,

the US and Germany. It ranks second on the solar index, and third on the wind

index, says the latest study by Ernst & Young – UBM India.

the rank of India in the recent financial development index by World
Economic Forum (WEF)?
[A]26th
[B]32nd
[C]36th
[D]40th
40th
India’s ranking went down 4 places to 40th in 2012 compared to the previous year in
an index compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to track financial
development of 62 countries due to poor enforcement of contracts and lack of
liberalization. The break-up of Financial Development Index showed that India
ranked 9th in non-banking financial services and capital markets tracked by the
index, but India lost out in in terms of banking financial services standing at 45th
place. The report came a few days after the Doing Business Report 2013 by the
World Bank ranked India at a low position of 132 out of 185 countries in 2013 report,
same as 2012.

Retail Inflation in India rose to 9.75 percent in October 2012

The data on retail inflation was released by the Government of India on 11 November 2012. The retail inflation in India rose to 9.75 percent in the month of October 2012 after being measured on the scale of Consumer Price Index (CPI).The retail inflation was marginal as it witnessed a rise of 0.02 percent of the noted rise of 9.73 percent in the month of September 2012. 

The rise in rural India the consumer price inflation rose to 9.98 percent from the 9.79 percent recorded in September 2012. The inflation in urban India was recorded to be 9.46 percent in October from 9.72 percent recorded in the previous month. 

Reaching close to the double digit mark, the inflation witnessed the maximum price rise on Sugar that rose at 19.61 percent per year and was followed by edible oil and fat which saw a rise of 17.92 percent, whereas pulses and cereal grains witnessed a rise of 14.89 percent. Prices of vegetable grew by 10.74 percent in October 2012, and the rates of meat, eggs and fished went up by 12.18 percent. Costs of cloths, beds and footwear went up by 10.47 percent year after year. 

All India Provisional General (all groups) the CPI numbers for the month of October 2012 for urban, rural and combined level were recorded as 122.6, 126.7 and 124.9 respectively.

the following State has topped the Planning Commission’s latest
Environmental Performance Index (EPI) list?
[A]Himachal Pradesh
[B]Sikkim
[C]Uttarakhand
[D]Andhra Pradesh
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand has more than just natural beauty to boast of. It also tops the list of
best-performing States and Union territories in terms of environmental wellbeing.
Uttarakhand is followed by Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Sikkim, and
Andhra Pradesh on the Planning Commission’s Environmental Performance Index
(EPI) list. Environmental well-being is one of the considerations for devolution of
funds to the States under the Gadgil formula. Uttarakhand has been given a
cumulative score of 0.8123, followed by Himachal Pradesh (0.7316), Chandigarh
(0.7270), Sikkim (0.7149), and Andhra Pradesh (0.7147)

India declines 4 places, ranked 40th in WEF’s financial development index

November 4th, 2012

 India was ranked at 40^th position in the World Economic Forum’s Financial Development Report 2012, down four spots from last year. The index ranked 62 leading financial systems and capital markets. As per the report weak institutional and business environment in India is the reason behind the fall in ranking.

As per Financial Development Report 2012, the rankings were as follows:

1. Hong Kong
2. US
3. UK
4. Singapore
5. Australia
6. Canada
7. Japan
8. Switzerland
9. Netherlands
10. Sweden

IIP goes down by 0.4 % in September 2012

In September 2012, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) declined 0.4%, mainly on account of a poor show by the capital goods and consumer durables sectors, which contracted 12.2% and 1.7%, respectively, implying a slowdown in investment activity and demand.

The contraction in IIP was despite the 8-core industries, with a combined weight of 38% on IIP, growing a robust 5.1% in the same month.

GLOBAL CORRUPTION INDEX RELEASED BY TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL

Consumer Confidence Index: India’s first monthly and comprehensive consumer index

Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) shows how typical urban consumers feel about the current economy and its prospects, and hence how likely they are to spend.


BluFin works with TNS, the world’s largest custom market research company, to collect data for CCI by conducting random face–to–face interviews of 4,000 people across a representative mix of 18 Indian urban centres.



 Global Hunger Index for seventh year 

Global Hunger Report 2012: India ranked at 65th position

the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
in its Measuring the Information Society 2012 report, what is the rank of India in the
world in the ICT Development Index?

119
The ITU report, Measuring the Information Society 2012 , ranks 155 countries on the
basis of the ICT Development Index, which measures ICT access, use and literacy,
and the ICT Price Basket, a country-wise indicator of ICT affordability. South Korea
has the most advanced telecommunication infrastructure in the world, while Niger
was ranked the worst. Despite India’s widely reported advances and investments in
the telecommunication sector, the country is ranked 119th in the world in the ICT
Development Index, below Zimbabwe, Bhutan and Ghana. India fares slightly better
in the affordability index, and is ranked 85th out of 161 countries in the ICT Price
Basket (IPB) Index.

The report on Global Hunger Index for seventh year was released on 11 October 2012 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide. The basic theme of the report for the 2012 Global Hunger Index -- The Challenge of Hunger: Ensuring Sustainable Food Security under Land, Water, and Energy Stresses.

IFPRI that calculated the global hunger Index analysed the measures based upon multidimensional angles. The published report have shown a proportional growth in hunger reduction of people worldwide but recorded the progress speed was tragically slow and alarming.

The report in its findings recorded twenty countries across the world mainly from South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to be highly alarming and have highest level of hunger, and showcased the sufferings of millions of poor.

As per the report, the nations that had showcased an absolute progress between 1990 Global Hunger Index to 2012 Global Hunger Index were Bangladesh, Angola, Malawi, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Niger, and Vietnam. Whereas there are 15 countries that have managed to reduce it by 50 percent or more. As per the report, India instead of its fast paced economic growth in past two decades has lagged behind in improving its record in Global Hunger Index chart. In the list of 79 countries in the global Hunger Index, India was ranked 65th behind China that was placed at 2nd place position, Pakistan at 57th and Sri Lanka at 37th position.

The report also points out the three countries Bangladesh, India and Timor-Leste constitutes to the highest occurrence of underweight children under the age group of five years, which records to more than 40 percent in each country. India was ranked second with 43.5 percent of the children less than five underweight in the list of the 129 countries compared for underweight child, after Timor-Leste. Countries like Ethiopia, Niger, Nepal and Bangladesh followed the chart.

The report also complained about the lack and absence of an up-to-date data and information in case of India for the ineffectiveness of Indian Government’s nutrition relevant social programmes. India’s expenditure on Nutrition-related schemes for 2012-13 states that there is not a problem of resources in this case.

India’s investments in the schemes are:

•    Mid Day Meal - 11,937 crore rupees
•    Food Subsidy - 60, 573 crore rupees
•    ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) - 15,850 crore rupees
•    MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) - 33,000 crore rupees

Whereas the surveys done during 2005-06 proved the health indicators of India to be poor with 36 percent of Indian women during their child bearing age were underweight and 43.5 percent of the children under age of 5 were underweight.

IIP grows 5.9% in November 2011
 Index of Industrial Production bounces back to register a growth of 5.9 percent in November 2011 compared to
the corresponding month in the previous year.
 As per the data released by the government, the Manufacturing sector grew by 6.6 percent, Electricity registered
a growth of 14.6 percent but the mining sector reported a negative growth of 4.4 percent during the
corresponding period.
 The data say that although there has been negative growth in capital goods, the basic goods, intermediate goods
and consumer durables and non durables have registered a positive growth.








We may expect New IIP soon
The government is set to form a fresh committee to improve the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) series after an
uncomfortable inconsistency in the January 2012 data. Apart from revising the current series, the committee will
propose ways to perk up the reporting of data.
 Govt to appoint committee for IIP revision
 Timing significant as it comes just after data BLUNDER
 Committee to look at revising base year from current 2004-05
 New base year may not be 2009-10 since it was an exceptional year, with the economy recovering from the
global financial crisis
 IIP composition may change; more important will be to address data reporting
What was the issue with IIP for January 2012?
MoSPI (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) revised the IIP for January 2012 from 187.9 to 177.9 i.e.
a growth rate over the corresponding period of previous year has been revised from 6.8% to 1.1%.
That means an overvaluation of 5.7% points, a goof-up described as "totally baffling" by finance minister Pranab
Mukherjee.
The changes resulted in decline in the growth rate of Index for consumer non-durables, which was reported earlier as
42.1%, to 11%. The growth rate of overall consumer goods reported earlier as 20.2% now declined to 2.9%.
Why the IIP figures went wrong?
Current Affairs Published on www.gktoday.in from January 1, 2012 to
September 10, 2012
It was detected at the time of compilation of IIP for the month of February, 2012 that during the compilation of IIP for
January, 2012, the sugar production was wrongly taken as 134.08 lakh tonnes in place of actual figure of 58.09 lakh
tonnes. This wrong figure was taken because of incorrect reporting by the directorate of sugar in the ministry of
consumer affairs, food and public distribution.
Why this was NOT a small issue BUT a BLUNDER and Instances of such BLUNDERS in recent past…






India drops to 64th position on Global Innovation Index
 India dropped in the Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking of 2012 to 64th position from 62nd in 2011.
 Lowest among the BRICS nations in the 2012 GII.
 Nonetheless, the nation ameliorated its position in innovation efficiency
from 9th position (just behind China).
Country GII Rank Rank in Innovation Efficiency
Brazil 58 38
Russia 51 43
India 62 2
China 34 1
South- Africa 54 116
 GII exhibits nations that are innovating in spite of a weaker innovation environment.
Current Affairs Published on www.gktoday.in from January 1, 2012 to
September 10, 2012
 Switzerland, Sweden and Singapore secured the top 3 positions in the GII rankings.
 The Global Innovation Index 2012 was released by France-based international business school INSEAD and
World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, along with the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).









Food Inflation comes down
 Food prices drop for the first time in 6 years. Inflation in low, yet prices pinch as rising cost of living overshadows
drop in vegetable prices.
 With prices plummeting to record low on account of good production and oversupply in markets, farmers are
now going for distress selling’.
 Food inflation slipped into the negative zone, falling to minus 3.36 per cent for the week ended December 24, as
the prices of essential items like vegetables, onions, potatoes and wheat declined.
 This is the first time in almost six years that food inflation has fallen, on an annual basis. Food inflation, as
measured by Wholesale Price Index, had stood at 0.42 per cent in the previous week, and at almost 21 per cent
in the corresponding week of 2010.
 As per the official data, Onions became 73.74 per cent cheaper, year-on-year, during the week under review,
while potato prices were down 34.01 per cent. Wheat prices fell 3.41 per cent. Overall, vegetables became 50.22
per cent cheaper during the week under review.
 This would ease the pressure on government as well as RBI to containing inflation side.