www.gradeup.co 1 www.gradeup.co Yearly Current Affairs 2019 Rank of India in different Indexes 1. Cancer Preparedness Index 2019 - India Ranks 19th • Denmark ranked second followed by • India was ranked 19th out of 28 countries in Norway. the Index. • Pakistan ranked 67th, Bhutan 95th, China • Index is released by the Economist 93rd, Bangladesh 125th, and Sri Lanka 130th Intelligence Unit (EIU). while South Sudan ranked last in the World • Top 3 countries are Australia (1st), Happiness Report. Netherlands (2nd) and Germany (3rd). 6. India Ranks 11th in Gold Holding: WGC Report – The • Bottom three are Saudi Arabia (28th), World Gold Council its latest report highlights the Romania (27th) and Egypt (26th). quantum of gold holding by the different countries. 2. Global Startup Ecosystem – India was ranked 17th • India has the 11th largest gold reserve and position among 100 countries. the current holding pegged at 607 tonnes. • It was released by StartupBlink. • The top spot is occupied by US gold reserves • The report ranks countries based on the of 8,133.5 tonnes, followed by Germany with strength of its startup ecosystem. 3,369.7 tonnes. • China was ranked 27th. • International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranks • Bangalore, New Delhi, and Mumbai were the third on the list with total gold reserves of top cities in the Indian startup ecosystem. 2,814 tonnes. • Top three countries are: United States, • The World Gold Council is the market United Kingdom and Canada. development organisation for the gold 3. India Ranks 140th In World Press Freedom Index – industry and it aims to stimulate and sustain • India ranked 140th out of 180 countries in demand for gold, provide industry the World Press Freedom Index 2019. leadership, and be the global authority on the • Index is released by Reporters Without gold market. Borders. • The members of the World Gold Council • The index is topped by Norway followed by include gold mining companies. Finland and Sweden. 7. India ranks 16th in terms of Highest Number of 4. WEF Global Energy Transition Index – India rank 76th impacted Species in Hotspots – A recent study on a global energy transition index. published in PLOS Biology found that human impacts on • The report stated that India is amongst the species occur across 84% of the earth’s surface and India countries with high pollution levels and has a ranks 16th in such impacts, with 35 species impacted on relatively high CO2 intensity in its energy an average. system. • Malaysia ranks 1st among the countries with • Sweden remains on the top and is followed the highest number of impacted species by Switzerland and Norway in the top three. (125). • The index is compiled by Geneva-based • Southeast Asian tropical forests, including World Economic Forum (WEF). those in India’s Western Ghats, Himalaya, 5. World Happiness Report 2019 – India is ranked and north-east, are among the ‘hotspots’ of 140th out of 156 nations. threatened species. • The World Happiness Report was released • However, these very areas are also ‘cool- by the Sustainable Development Solutions spots’ (the world’s last refuges where high Network for the United Nations. numbers of threatened species still persist). • For the second consecutive year, Finland 8. Inclusive Internet Index 2019 – India has been ranked topped the list. 47th. 2 www.gradeup.co • Sweden has topped the rankings followed by • Last year in 2018, India was ranked at 81st Singapore and the US. position. • The Inclusive Internet Index 2019 was 13. Democracy Index 2019: The Economist Intelligence prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit Unit (EIU) has released the Democracy Index which (EIU) for Facebook. ranks 167 countries by 60 indicators across five broad • The ‘Inclusive Internet’ score was based on categories. the scores of availability, affordability, • Top 3 countries in the list are – Norway, Iceland relevance and readiness categories. and Sweden. 9. International IP index 2019 • Australia and New Zealand are the only “full • India has jumped eight places to 36th position democracies” in the entire Asia-Pacific region on the International Intellectual Property (IP) • India was at the 41st place with a score of Index. 7.23/10 and was placed in the flawed • The US, the UK, Sweden, France and Germany democracies category. remained the top five economies on the 14. India Ranks 79th, Japan Tops List of Most Powerful intellectual property index in 2019 Passports - According to the Henley Passport Index, • In 2018, India was ranked at 44th position. India jumped two positions from 81st in 2018 to 79th in 10. Corruption Perception Index 2018 2019. Japan retained its top spot as the world’s most • India has improved its ranking by 3 points by travel-friendly passport. moving onto 78th position in the Corruption 15. India 6th in GDPR Readiness Index: CISCO - Nearly Perceptions Index 2018 published by 65% of Indian organizations are better prepared for the Transparency International. European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation • China and Pakistan, in a list of 180 countries, (GDPR), making the country the sixth leading nation lagged far behind than India at 87th and 117th globally in the GDPR readiness index, global networking position respectively. leader, according to CISCO. • Somalia has been ranked last with a score of 10 16. World Bank's ease-of-doing-business 2019: India behind South Sudan and Syria. ranked at 77 11. India ranks 54th in 'Bloomberg Innovation Index’ of • India’s jumped 23 places to 77 among 190 60 economies countries in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing • For the first time ever, India has been ranked in Business 2019 index. Bloomberg’s 2019 list of most innovative • The World Bank on October 31, 2018 released countries in the world. the Doing Business Report 2019 titled as ‘Doing • India has grabbed the 54th spot among 60 Business 2019: Training for Reform’, assessing countries in the Bloomberg Innovation Index and ranking countries on the basis of ease of with a score of 47.93 out of 100. doing business in the year 2018. • South Korea has topped the Bloomberg • In its annual 'Doing Business' 2019 report, the Innovation Index for the sixth time in a row with World Bank said India has improved on six of the a total score of 87.38. 10 parameters on starting and doing business in • Germany ranked second, Finland stood on the a country. third spot. • The biggest improvements have been in the 12. Global Talent Competitive Index 2019: indicators related "construction permits" and • India ranked at 80th positions on the Global "trading across borders. Talent Competitive Index (GTCI) 2019. • Last year, India ranked at 100th position. • The index is released by INSEAD business school • The top 3 economies in the ease of doing in partnership with Tata Communications and business rankings are New Zealand, Singapore, Adecco Group. and Denmark. • Switzerland topped the index which is followed 17. IMD World Talent Ranking: India Ranks 53rd by Singapore and the US. • Switzerland has topped the list of the IMD World Talent Ranking 2018 for the fifth year in a row. 3 www.gradeup.co • Among the BRICS countries, South Africa remains in The Top 3 countries in the list are: the middle position (50th) performing better than • Switzerland, Denmark, Norway India (53rd) and Brazil (58th) but lagging behind China (39th) and Russia (46th). 18. Climate Change Performance Index 2019: • As per the WEF’s Global Gender Gap • India ranked at 11th position. Report 2018, Iceland topped the list having • As per the Index, Sweden has topped the closed more than 85.8% of its overall list while India was on 11th position. gender gap. • Saudi Arabia came last, in 60th place, • The Report was published for total 149 partly due to its obstructive role during countries. international climate negotiations. • Norway and Sweden were on 2nd and 3rd 19. WEF Gender Gap Index 2018: position, respectively. • India has been ranked 108th in World Economic Forum (WEF) gender gap index 2018. Important Committees 1. BP Sharma (retired GOI secretary) - The Union locations for a family comprising of 3.6 Government has constituted an expert committee to consumption units. “revisit the criteria” for determining the “creamy layer” • The Present NMW is Rs. 4,576. for OBCs which was laid down in 1993. 6. Sanjeev Sharma (income tax commissioner) Note: The committee will “revisit the criteria evolved by Committee - to look into the matter of taxation related the Prasad committee” and give recommendations for pain points and submit its final report and “redefining, simplifying and streamlining the concept of recommendations by mid-March. creamy layer” while keeping in view the SC’s 7. Jasmine Shah Committee – The Delhi government observations in Indira Sawhney case. constituted a committee to “reform higher education” in 2. Amitabh Kant (Niti Aayog CEO) committee - National the capital. The committee will be chaired by DDC vice- Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage, chairperson Jasmine Shah. which is being set up to promote clean and sustainable 8. CPWD Constitutes 8-member Committee to Chart Out mobility initiatives in the country. Design Policy - The Central Works Public Department 3. Suresh Mathur committee – to review the regulatory (CPWD) has constituted an expert committee to framework on microinsurance and recommend formulate a design policy for building construction and measures to increase the demand for such products. infrastructure development. 4. Bimal Jalan Panel - to suggest how the central bank • The committee has been set up under the should handle its reserves and whether it can transfer its chairmanship of CPWD’s Additional Director surplus to the government. General M K Sharma. 5. Anoop Satpathy Committee - Recommends Rs 9,750 9. Environment Ministry Constitutes Committee to Monthly National Minimum Wage Implement National Clean Air Programme - The Note: Union Environment Ministry has constituted a • submitted its report on “Determining the committee to implement the National Clean Air Methodology for Fixation of the National Programme (NCAP), which aims to reduce particulate Minimum Wage” to the Government.