Important Indexes | Current Affairs Compilation for UPSC Prelims 2022 | Nov. 2021 to March 2022

Dear Friends,

This post is a part of our current affairs series for the UPSC IAS Prelims 2022. In this series, we are covering important current affairs from the period July 2021 to 31st April 2022.

This post covers all the current affairs linked to important Indexes from Nov. 2021 to March 2022.

To Read Other Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC Prelims 2022 – Click here

Important Indexes

Wage Rate Index 

News: The Union Labour Ministry has revised the Wage Rate Index by setting the new base year at 2016 which will replace the old series with base of 1963-65.  

About the Wage Rate Index 

It is a vital economic indicator that measures changes in the wage level in selected industries. It is released by the Labour Bureau, an attached office of the Ministry of Labour & Employment. 

These changes are based on the recommendations of the International Labour Organization and the National Statistical Commission. 

Changes made to the wage rate index  

Base year: The base year has been changed from 1963-65 to 2016. 

Half Year Basis: The new WRI will now be compiled on a half-year basis (on the first of January and July every year) as against the annual in the existing series. 

Basket of Goods: The previous series covered 21 industries. But the new one covers 37 including 30 from the manufacturing sector and the rest from the mining and plantation sectors. 

The motor vehicles, coal mines, textile garments, iron & steel, and cotton textiles industries together account for 46% of the total weight. 

Corruption Perception Index 

News: The Corruption Perception Index, 2021 has been released. 

About the Corruption Perception Index 

Released by: Transparency International annually since 1995. 

Purpose: To rank 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people. 

Scoring: The index uses a scale of 0 to 100 to rank Corruption Perception Index (CPI), where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. 

Key Findings: Top countries are Denmark, Finland and New Zealand each with a score of 88. 

India’s rank improved by one place to 85 in 2021 from 86th in 2020. India was given a score of 40. Except for Bhutan, all of India’s neighbors are ranked below it. 

Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 

News: The Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 was released by the World Economic Forum. 

Purpose: It gives insights into cybersecurity challenges and highlights measures that need to be taken to enhance cyber resilience within organisations and the wider ecosystem. 

Key findings of the Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2022 

The accelerating pace of digitalisation fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a 151% surge in Global ransomware attacks in 2021. 

Cyber security leaders around the globe have listed ransomware, identity theft, and critical infrastructure failure among their top personal cyber risk concerns.  

Cyber incidents are becoming costly and damaging, sometimes even paralyzing critical services and infrastructure. 

Recommendations of global cybersecurity outlook 

-Prioritise cybersecurity in all domains of society and the economy. 

-Anticipate, recover and adapt quickly to cyber incidents. 

-Shift from a cyber-defensive posture to a stronger cyber-resilience position, i.e. to anticipate attacks and be prepared for likely digital shocks. 

Henley Passport Index 

News: The Henley Passport Index 2022 has been released. 

About the Henley Passport Index 

Released by: Henley and Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm since 2005. 

Purpose: To rank 199 passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. 

Source of Data: The index is based on exclusive data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

Key findings of the Henley Passport Index 2022 

India now ranks at 83rd in the Index, climbing seven places from 90th rank in 2021. India now has visa-free access to 60 destinations worldwide, with Oman and Armenia being the latest additions. 

Japan and Singapore have topped the index. The citizens of these countries can travel visa-free to 192 destinations. 

 Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 

News: The Ministry of Education’s innovation cell released the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021. 

About ARIIA 2021 

Aim: To systematically rank all major higher educational institutions and universities in India. 

Parameters: The various parameters considered in ARIIA for ranking are:  

1. Budget & Funding Support 
2. Infrastructure & Facilities 
3. Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation 
4. Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development 
5. Innovative Learning Methods & Courses 
6. Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization 
7. Innovation in Governance of the Institution. 

Categories: The rankings were made under two categories: Technical and Non-Technical. The technical category included 5 sub-categories and Non-Technical category has two subcategories. 

Top-ranked Institutions as per ARIIA 2021 

Technical  

Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & Central Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs):  IIT Madras has secured the first rank. IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi were placed at the second and third ranks respectively. 

In government and government-aided universities: Punjab University topped the list. 

Non-Technical 

Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs (non-technical): Indira Gandhi National Open University was placed at top position. 

General (Non-Technical): Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India topped the list. 

State Health Index for 2019–20 

News: NITI Aayog has released the fourth edition of the State Health Index for 2019–20 with the title “Healthy States, Progressive India”. 

About the State Health Index 

Developed by: NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and the World Bank since 2017. 

Objective: To track progress on health outcomes and health systems performance, develop healthy competition and encourage cross-learning among states and UTs.   

Indicators: The index is a weighted composite score incorporating 24 indicators covering key aspects of health performance. The indicators are categorized into three domains:  

1. Health Outcomes: It includes parameters such as neonatal mortality rate, under-5 mortality rate, sex ratio at birth etc. 
2. Governance and Information: It includes parameters such as institutional deliveries, average occupancy of senior officers in key posts earmarked for health, etc. 
3. Key Inputs/Processes: It consists of the proportion of shortfall in health care providers to what is recommended, functional medical facilities, birth and death registrations and tuberculosis treatment success rate. 

Categorization: The states are classified into three categories (Larger States, Smaller States, and UTs). In this round, all the states and UTs participated except West Bengal. The UT of Ladakh was not included due to the non-availability of data. 

Base Year: The index has been calculated as a weighted average of all the indicators in each state and union territory for a base year (2018-19) and a reference year (2019-20).  

Source of Data: The index uses existing data sources such as the Sample Registration System, Civil Registration System, and Health Management Information Systems. However, the index does not incorporate the impact of Covid-19. 

Significance of this index: The index will help drive state/UT’s efforts toward the achievement of health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including those related to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and other health outcomes. 

Key findings of the index 

Among the larger states, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana emerged among the best three performers in terms of overall performance.  

Uttar Pradesh ranked at the bottom in Overall Performance. However, it ranked at the top in terms of Incremental Performance by registering the highest incremental change from the Base Year.  

Among the Smaller States, Mizoram emerged as the best performer in Overall Performance as well as Incremental Performance. 

Among UTs, Delhi followed by Jammu and Kashmir showed the best incremental performance. 

Moreover, the report has found that better performing States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu performed comparatively better on the health outcomes domain but performed badly on key inputs and processes. 

Good Governance Index 2021 

News: The Union Minister of Home Affairs has released the Good Governance Index 2021 on Good Governance Day. 

About the Good Governance Index 2021 

It has been prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG). 

Aim: 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. 

Sectors: The index covers ten sectors and 58 indicators. The sectors are 1) Agriculture and Allied Sectors, 2) Commerce & Industries, 3) Human Resource Development, 4) Public Health, 5.) Public Infrastructure & Utilities, 6) Economic Governance, 7) Social Welfare & Development, 8) Judicial & Public Security, 9) Environment, and 10) Citizen-Centric Governance.  

Categories: The index categorizes States and UTs into four categories, i.e., (i) Other States – Group A; (ii) Other States – Group B; (iii) North-East and Hill States; and (iv) Union Territories. 

About the key findings of the index 

Gujarat has topped the composite ranking in the Index followed by Maharashtra and Goa.  

Delhi has topped the Union territories composite ranking category. 

Around 20 states have improved their composite GGI scores over the GGI 2019 index scores.  

States and UTs such as UP, Jharkhand, Mizoram, and J&K have shown incremental growth.

Global Unicorn Index 2021 

News: Hurun Research Institute has released the Global Unicorn Index 2021. The index is a ranking of the world’s start-ups founded in the 2000s that are worth at least a billion dollars and not listed on a public exchange. 

Key findings of the Global Unicorn Index 2021 

India has a total of 54 Unicorns. It is ranked third in the world, after the United States and China. India has added 33 Unicorns in a single year. This has helped India overtake the UK in the number of Unicorns. 

However, US and China are way ahead of India in the number of Unicorns. The US has added 254 unicorns and now totals 487 companies, while China added 74 to take its tally to 301 Unicorns. These top-two occupants are home to 74% of the unicorn universe. 

Note: A unicorn is a term used in the venture capital industry to describe a startup company with a value of over $1 billion. 

All-India Quarterly Establishment Based Employment Survey (AQEES) 

News: The Government has released the results of the first round of the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) for the period April to June 2021. 

Note: QES is part of the All-India Quarterly Establishment Based Employment Survey (AQEES). 

About AQEES 

Released by: Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment  

Purpose: To provide frequent (quarterly) updates about the employment and related variables of establishments, in both organised and unorganised segments, of nine selected sectors. These sectors altogether account for a majority of the total employment in the non-farm establishments.  

Nine Selected Sectors: Manufacturing, Construction, Trade, Transport, Education, Health, Accommodation and Restaurant, IT/ BPO, and Financial Services. 

Components: There are two components under AQEES – 

-Quarterly Employment Survey(QES): It compiles relevant data from about 12,000 establishments selected through a sampling design to represent each of the nine sectors within each state/ Union Territory. 

-Area Frame Establishment Survey (AFES): It covers the unorganized segment (with less than 10 workers) through a sample survey. 

Key highlights of QES 2021 

It shows a 29% increase in employment in nine sectors during the peak Covid-19 months of April-June 2021 over a base of 2013-14 (Sixth Economic Census – EC). 

The most impressive growth of 152% has been recorded in the IT/BPO sector. 

Nearly 90% of the establishments have been estimated to work with less than 100 workers. 

There has been a decline in the share of female workers. From 31% in the 6th EC (2013) to 29% in QES (2021) data. 

Out of the 9 sectors, 7 sectors saw growth in employment while only 2 sectors (Trade, Accommodation & Restaurants) saw a decline in employment figures. 

Global Health Security Index (GHS) 

News: The Global Health Security Index 2021 has been released. 

About Global Health Security Index (GHS) 

It is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across 195 countries. It is published by Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.  

Aim: To spur measurable changes in national health security and improve the international capability to address one of the world’s most omnipresent risks: infectious disease outbreaks that can lead to international epidemics and pandemics. 

Indicators: The Index assesses countries across 6 categories, 37 indicators, and 171 questions. The six categories are: prevention, detection and reporting, rapid response, health system, compliance with International norms and risk environment. 

Scoring: The overall score (0–100) for each country is a weighted sum of the six categories, in which 100 represents the most favorable health security conditions and 0 represents the least favorable conditions. 

Key findings of the 2021 index 

Global findings: The world’s overall performance on the Index score slipped to 38.9 (out of 100) in 2021 from a score of 40.2 in 2019. 

In 2021, no country scored in the top tier of rankings and no country scored above 75.9. 

Around 73% of countries did not have the ability to provide expedited approval for medical countermeasures, such as vaccines and antiviral drugs, during a public health emergency. 

Findings related to South Asia: In South Asia, India with a score of 42.8 (out of 100) has slipped by 0.8 points since 2019. But three neighbouring countries — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives — have improved their score. 

Thus, based on these findings, the report concluded that the world remains completely unprepared for future epidemic and pandemic threats. 

National MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index) 

News: Niti Aayog has released India’s first National MPI (multidimensional poverty index). 

About National MPI (Multidimensional Poverty Index) 

It seeks to measure poverty across its multiple dimensions and in effect complements existing poverty statistics based on per capita consumption expenditure.  

Methodology: The index has used the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Global MPI. 

Indicators: The index is based on three equally weighted dimensions – health, education and standard of living – which in turn are represented by 12 indicators. 

Key findings of the National MPI 

Multidimensionally Poor: Around 25.01% of the Indian population is multidimensionally poor. Bihar has the maximum percentage of the population living in poverty among all the States and the Union Territories, with over 50% of the population in the State identified as “multidimensionally poor”. On the other hand, Kerala registered the lowest population poverty levels (0.71%). 

Education:  At least 13.9% of households have a member aged 10 years or older who has not completed six years of schooling. At least 6.4% of households have a school-aged child not attending school up to the age at which he/she would complete class 8. 

Standard of Living 

Source of Cooking Fuel: At least 58.5% of households have dung, agricultural crops, shrubs, wood, charcoal or coal as their primary source of cooking fuel. 

No Access to Drinking water: At least 14.6% of households do not have access to improved drinking water or a safe drinking water facility that is more than a 30-minute walk from home (as a round trip).  

Inadequate Housing: Some 45.6% of households have inadequate housing. Their floor is made of natural materials, or the roof or walls are made of rudimentary materials. 

Earlier reports on poverty 

Tendulkar Report: It showed the proportion of the poor in the rural population declined to 25.7% from 33.8%, while that in the urban population came down to 21.9% from 29.8% between 2009-10 and 2011-12. The report took those spending less than Rs. 33 a day in urban areas and Rs 27 a day in the rural areas as poor. 

Rangarajan Report: According to this report, the poor constituted 30.9% of the rural population during 2011-12, against 39.6% during 2009-10. On the other hand, the urban poverty ratio fell to 29.5% from 38.2% over this period. The report took a person spending less than Rs 47 a day in cities and below Rs 32 a day in villages as poor. 

Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) 

News: Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has prepared the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI). 

About the Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) 

INCOIS has carried out a coastal vulnerability assessment for the entire Indian coast at States level. It has brought out an Atlas comprising 156 maps on 1:1,00,000 scales to prepare a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI). 

The atlas determines the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the physical and geological parameters for the Indian coast. 

Parameters used: a) Tidal range b) Wave height c) Coastal slope d) Coastal elevation e) Shoreline change rate f) Geomorphology and g) Historical rate of relative sea-level change. 

Coverage: The mapping was carried out for the entire mainland of India on a 1:25000 scale. The maps depict coastal low-lying areas exposed to the coastal inundation.