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Oxfam Report titled “India Inequality Report 2021: India’s Unequal Healthcare Story” shows that the “general category is better off than the SCs and STs, Hindus are better off than Muslims, the rich are better off than the poor, men are better off than women, and the urban population is better off than the rural population.
Sources : The Hindu
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This joint report between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WWF released on 8th July 2021 with titled 'A future for all - the need for human-wildlife coexistence', reveals that globally conflict-related killing affects more than 75% of the world’s wild cat species as well as many other terrestrial and marine carnivore species such as polar bears and Mediterranean monk seals, and large herbivores such as elephants.
Human-wildlife conflict is as much a development and humanitarian issue as it is a conservation concern affecting the income of farmers, fishers, and Indigenous peoples particularly those living in poverty and without resilience; interfering with access to water for communities competing with wildlife for local water sources. Sources : UNEP The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook provides an assessment of the prospects of national, regional and global agricultural commodity markets over the coming decade. The baseline projections for production, consumption, stocks, trade and prices for cereals, oilseeds and oilseed products, roots & tubers, pulses, sugar, meat, dairy products, fish, cotton, biofuels and tropical fruits cover the years 2021 to 2030.
Sources : FAO U.S State Department's "Trafficking in Persons Report 2021" published on 2nd July 2021. Six countries were downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 are Cyprus, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland. Two nations Guinea-Bissau and Malaysia were added to the Tier 3. The United States may restrict foreign assistance to Tier 3 nations subject to presidential approval.
About India in "Trafficking in Persons Report June 2021" While retaining India in the Tier 2 category, the Trafficking in Persons Report June 2021 said that the Government of India has demonstrated "overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity". About Trafficking in Persons Report Published by : U.S. State Department The Trafficking in Persons Report, or the TIP Report, is an annual report issued by the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. The Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report is the U.S. Government’s principal diplomatic tool to engage foreign governments on human trafficking. It is also the world’s most comprehensive resource of governmental anti-trafficking efforts and reflects the U.S. Government’s commitment to global leadership on this key human rights and law enforcement issue. Sources : US State Department Union Education Minister on 1st July 2021 released the Report on United Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2019-20 for School Education in India. As per the UDISE+ report 2019-20, Gross Enrolment Ratio at all levels of school education has improved in 2019-20 compared to 2018-19. Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) has improved at all levels of school education. The UDISE+ report shows a remarkable improvement in the number of schools with functional electricity, with functional computers, internet facility in 2019-20 over the previous year.
About UDISE+ system Published by : Department of School Education & Literacy The UDISE+ system of online data collection from the schools was developed in the year 2018-19 to overcome the issues related to manual data filling in paper format and subsequent feeding at the block or district level, which was in practice in the UDISE data collection system from 2012-13. The present publication relates to UDISE+ data for the reference year 2019-20. Sources : PIB The Reserve Bank released the 23rd issue of the Financial Stability Report (FSR), which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). According to Report Gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) of banks may rise to 9.8 per cent by March 2022 under a baseline scenario, from 7.48 per cent in March 2021, according to the Financial Stability Report (FSR) released by the Reserve Bank of India.
About Financial Stability Report (FSR) of RBI The Reserve Bank of India biannually releases the Financial Stability Report (FSR), which reflects the collective assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). Sources : RBI Union Education Minister on 10th June 2021 released the report of All India Survey on Higher Education 2019-20. This Report provides key performance indicators on the current status of Higher education in the country.
Key features of All India Survey on Higher Education Report 2019-20
Sources : PIB Union Education Minister on 6th June 2021 approved the release of Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2019-20 for States and Union Territories of India. The Government has introduced the Performance Grading Index with a set of 70 parameters to catalyse transformational change in the field of school education.
About Performance Grading Index (PGI) Established : 2019 Implemented by : Department of School Education and Literacy The schemes initiated by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL). The PGI is a tool to provide insights on the status of school education in States and UTs for their performance and critical areas for improvement. The PGI for States and Union Territories was first published in 2019 with reference year 2017-18. Sources : PIB The World Press Freedom Index, 2021, produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French non-governmental organisation, has again ranked India at 142nd out of 180 countries.In 2016, India’s rank was 133, which has steadily climbed down to 142 in 2020.
About World Press Freedom Index The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders since 2002 based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. About Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. Founded by four journalists in the southern French city Montpellier in 1985, RSF is now one of the world’s leading NGOs in the defense and promotion of freedom of information. Registered in France as a non-profit organization since 1995 and Headquarter at Paris, France. 2021 annual Report of United States Commission on International Religious Freedom(USCIRF) monitors international religious freedom has recommended that India be designated as a “country of particular concern” for the second consecutive year. USCIRF recommended to designate 14 countries a “countries of particular concern (CPCs)”. These include 10 that the State Department designated as CPCs in December 2020—Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—as well as four others—India, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.
About United States Commission on International Religious Freedom(USCIRF) USCIRF, which calls itself an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) to monitor the universal right to freedom of religion. Arms imports decreased by 33% between 2011–15 and 2016–20 while India continues to remain the second largest arms importer after Saudi Arabia, according to a report from Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
 Report by : Freedom House(United States)
India Status in 2021 Report : partly free India’s status as a democracy and free society has been downgraded to “partly free” in the 2021 annual report on global political rights and liberties by Freedom House, a US government-funded non-governmental organization (NGO) that studies political freedom around the world, India had a score of 67 out of 100 in 2021 Report. India had been rated as “free” in Freedom House’s reports for 2018, 2019 and 2020. About Freedom House Freedom House is a U.S.-based, U.S. government-funded non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights.Freedom House was founded in October 1941. In 1973, Freedom House launched the Freedom in the World report, which assessed the level of freedom in each country and ranked them with a numerical score and declared them as “free”, “partly free” or “not free”. The annual report is perceived as one of the oldest quantitative measures of democracy. Report by : Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs
Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs announced the final rankings of Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020 virtually. The rankings under Ease of Living Index 2020 were announced for cities with a population of more than a million, and cities with less than a million people. 111 cities participated in the assessment exercise that was conducted in 2020. The analysis categorises them into Million+ populated cities (those with a population of more than a million) and Less than Million populated cites (those with a population of less than a million) along with all the cities under the Smart Cities Program.
About Ease of Living Index (EoLI) Ease of Life Index ranking was conceptualised in 2018 and developed with a framework in 2020. The EoLI 2020 strengthens its scope by consolidating the framework with the addition of a Citizen Perception Survey in the index, holding a weightage of 30%. It, therefore, examines the outcomes that lead to existing living conditions through pillars of Quality of Life, Economic Ability, Sustainability, spanning across 13 categories of Education, Health, Housing and Shelter, WASH and SWM, Mobility, Safety and Security, Recreation, Level of Economic Development, Economic Opportunities, Environment, Green Spaces, and Buildings, Energy Consumption, and City Resilience, that account for 70% of the overall outcome. About Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) The Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) was undertaken to help validate citizens' experience of their city in terms of service delivery. The assessment was conducted from 16th January 2020 till 20th March 2020.  10th Edition of Hurun Global Rich List 2021 released 02 Feb 2021.
About Hurun Global Rich List Hurun Report, headquartered in Shanghai release Hurun Global Rich list every year. The LinkedIn Opportunity Index report focuses on the manner women perceive their opportunities. It also focuses on how gender gap is slowing down the career progress for working women in India in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic. LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021 showed that 9 in 10 or 89 per cent of women were negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Highlighting the unequal playing field for women, the report said that as many as 85 per cent women in India have missed out on a raise, promotion or other work offers because of their gender. This is significantly higher than the regional average of 60 per cent in Asia Pacific. More than 10,000 respondents across the Asia Pacific region, from Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore participated in the online survey. The survey covered 2,285 respondents in India, 1,223 of whom were men and 1,053 were women.
About LinkedIn Opportunity Index The LinkedIn Opportunity Index research was conducted by market research firm GfK. The survey included respondents from 18 to 65 year olds. The Finance Commission is a constitutional body formed by the President of India to give suggestions on centre-state financial relations. The 15th Finance Commission (Chairman: Mr. N. K. Singh) submitted final report with recommendations for the 2021-26 period was tabled in Parliament on February 1, 2021. Key recommendations in the report for 2021-26 include:
Share of states in central taxes The share of states in the central taxes for the 2021-26 period is recommended to be 41%. This is less than the 42% share recommended by the 14th Finance Commission for 2015-20 period. The adjustment of 1% is to provide for the newly formed union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh from the resources of the centre. Criteria for devolution to state The Finance Commission uses certain criteria when deciding the devolution to states. The 15th Finance Commission used the following criteria while determining the share of states:
About Finance Commission of India(FCI) Established : 1951 Govt Body Type : Constitutional Body The Government of India, with the approval President of India, ha constitutes Finance Commission in pursuance of article 280 of the Constitution, read with the provisions of the Finance Commission Act, 1951  Report Published by : NITI Aayog NITI Aayog’s plan ‘Sustainable Development of Little Andaman Island - Vision Document’, for the sustainable and holistic development of the 680 sq km, fragile Little Andaman Island in the Andaman and Nicobar group. This will be done by building a new greenfield coastal city there, that will be developed as a free trade zone and will compete with Singapore and Hong Kong. Three zones The NITI Aayog’s plan proposed three zones.
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