1. 17th Annual Education Report (ASER), 2022
Tags: Reports
%2C-2022.jpg)
Recently the 17th Annual Education Report (ASER), 2022 was released by NGO Pratham, which highlights the impact on education during the pandemic.
An overview of the news
This survey has been conducted on such a large scale after the year 2018 by the Pratham Foundation.
ASER has been conducted every year since 2005 in all rural districts of India. It is the largest citizen-led survey in India.
Key Findings of the Report
Enrollment Figures
As per ASER 2022, the number of children enrolled in government schools is expected to increase from 65.6% in 2018 to 72.9% in 2022.
The overall enrollment figure for the age group of 6 to 14 years is expected to increase from 97.2% in 2018 to 98.4% in 2022.
Girls enrolled in school (age group 11-14) who do not go to school have also decreased. The number of such girls is expected to decrease from 4% in 2018 to 2% in 2022.
Literacy level
The percentage of children in Grade 3 in public or private schools who were able to read at the Grade 2 level fell from 27.3% in 2018 to 20.5% in 2022.
The percentage of children enrolled in grade 5 in public or private schools who can read at least a grade 2 level text fell from 50.5% in 2018 to 42.8% in 2022.
According to the report, the percentage of students in classes 1-8 taking tuition classes is 30.5% in the year 2022, while this figure was 26.4% in the year 2018.
Basic Education and Arithmetic Skills
In India, there is a decline in basic learning and arithmetic skills of young children in grade 3 and grade 5.
Nationally, the proportion of children who can do splits is projected to increase from 44.1% in 2018 to 44.7% in 2022.
Other findings of the report
According to the report, the average teacher attendance has increased from 85.4% in 2018 to 87.1% in 2022.
The number of schools with girls' toilet facilities has increased from 66.4% in 2018 to 68.4% in 2022.
There has been an increase in the number of schools having drinking water availability.
2. Reliance Jio among the top 25 strongest brands in the world
Reliance Jio, India's leading private sector telecom service provider, has been included in the world's top 25 strong brands.
An overview of the news
According to the latest 'Global 500-2023' report released by Brand Finance, Jio has emerged as the strongest brand in India and is ranked 9th among the 25 strongest brands in the world.
Jio has been given a score of 90.2 in the Strong Brand Index.
Brands like EY, Coca Cola, Accenture, Porsche and Google precede Jio in the list. Whereas giants like Apple, Amazon, Alibaba and Pepsi have been left behind by Reliance Jio.
The index is prepared on the basis of certain parameters such as marketing spend, awareness, consideration, trust and market share.
Reliance Jio India's largest network
With over 400 million subscribers, Reliance Jio is the largest mobile operator in India and the third largest in the world.
Jio formally launched its 4G services on 5 September 2016.
Chairman - Akash Ambani
Headquarters - Mumbai
3. India surpasses China to become most populous country in the world
Tags: Reports International News
According to projections by the World Population Review (WPR), India has surpassed China as the world’s most populous nation.
An overview of the news
As per WPR, India’s population was 141.7 crore as of the end of 2022.
According to official announcements, India's population is a little over 5 million, compared to 141.2 million declared by China on 17 January.
As per WPR estimates, India's population has increased to 142.3 crore as of January 18.
India, with 50 percent of its population below the age of 30, is poised to be the fastest growing major economy in the world.
According to WPR, although India's population growth has slowed down, it will still increase till at least 2050.
India, the third largest economy in Asia, is currently self-sufficient in food production.
India ranks second in terms of production of rice, wheat and sugar.
Apart from being a major importer of edible oils, India is also the largest consumer of sugar.
India is the third largest market for the purchase of crude oil, the second largest consumer of steel and gold.
In addition, India is the third largest domestic aviation market in the world.
4. India to become $26 trillion economy by 2047: EY report
Tags: Reports Economy/Finance
An EY report states that the Indian economy is likely to reach $26 trillion by the year 2047, which will also be the 100th year of India's independence.
An overview of the news
The report also pointed out that the country's per capita income would cross $15,000, making it among the top developed economies.
The report also pointed out that despite maintaining a steady but modest growth rate of 6% per annum, India would still be able to become a $26 trillion economy by 2047–48, with per capita income six times higher than current levels.
According to the report certain factors have contributed to bring India to a position of high and sustainable growth.
These include accelerated pace of economic reforms in critical areas such as social inclusion, financial inclusion, fiscal, physical and digital infrastructure.
This has ultimately resulted in increased global competitiveness of Indian businesses and entrepreneurs.
An area with major potential is services exports which are set to grow by 14% over the past two decades to reach $254.5 billion in 2021-22.
Other enabling areas include 'digitalisation'.
Government’s efforts
Government's focus on increasing the country's digital infrastructure
Efforts towards e-governance
A strong digital payment ecosystem
Introduction of digital services in almost all domains
Large telecom subscriber base of 1.2 billion
837 million internet users, etc.
Focus Areas
macroeconomic stability,
more energy independence,
ease of doing business,
power sector reform
What is EY report?
Launched in 2011, EY Reporting is EY Global Assurance’s insights hub.
It provides thought leadership on the issues global companies face in communicating corporate performance.
5. Global Fire Power Index 2023
The Global Firepower Report 2023 has rankedIndia as the 4th most powerful army in the world.
An overview of the news
145 countries are ranked this year in the Global Firepower Report.
Global Firepower ranks countries based on troop strength, national resources, financial status, logistics and geographic scale.
Themost powerful country in the world is the United States of America, followed by Russia, China, India.
Most powerful country in the Middle East and North African region
According to the Global Firepower Military Index 2023, Turkey has once again emerged as the most powerful country in the Middle East and North African region. Turkey has been placed at the 11th position in the global ranking.
Egypt and Iran are ranked second and third respectively in this index, while Egypt is ranked 14th and Iran is ranked 17th in the global ranking.
Egypt is ranked as the most powerful Arab country in terms of its military power.
Saudi Arabia emerged as the most powerful country among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Saudi Arabia has the second most powerful military among the Arab countries. It is placed at the 22nd position in the global ranking.
Algeria is the most powerful of the North African countries, ranking 26th on the global index.
In this index, Lebanon has been described as the weakest country in the Middle East.
Top 10 Countries on Global Power Index 2023
1. America
2. Russia
3. China
4. India
5. United Kingdom
6. South Korea
7. Pakistan
8. Japan
9. France
10. Italy
6. Shahrukh Khan on the fourth position in the list of world's richest actors
Tags: Reports
The list of world's richest actors was released on the Twitter account of World of Statistics, in which Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan has overtaken Hollywood star Tom Cruise to become the world's richest actor.
Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan is the only actor from India in this list, whose total assets are more than 770 million dollars i.e. 6 thousand 300 crores.
Jerry Seinfeld has been placed at number one in this list.
Shahrukh Khan has also left behind Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan.
Hollywood star Jackie Chan is at number six on the list with earnings of $520 million.
5 Richest Actors In The World
1. Jerry Seinfeld (American) – (Rs 8200 crore)
2. Tyler Perry (American) – (Rs 8200 crore)
3. Dan Johnson (American) – (6500 crores)
4. Shahrukh Khan (Indian) – (6300 crores)
5. Tom Cruise (American) – (5900 crores)
7. India’s richest 1% own more than 40% of total wealth: Oxfam
Tags: Reports
According to a recent report by Oxfam International, more than 40 percent of India's total wealth is held by just one percent of the country's richest people, while 50 percent of the population has only three percent of the country's total wealth.
News Overview
According to the report, from the beginning of the Corona epidemic in the country to November 2022, the wealth of the country's billionaires has increased by 121 percent.
The total number of billionaires in the country has increased from 102 in 2020 to 166 in 2022.
According to the report, the total wealth of the 100 richest people of India has increased to US$ 660 billion i.e. about Rs 54.12 lakh crore.
According to the report, the contribution of the richest 10 percent of the country's 10 percent of the country's richest people was just 3 percent of the Rs 14.83 lakh crore collected through Goods and Services Tax (GST) during 2021-22.
While about 64 percent contribution in this has been given by the people coming from the weakest 50 percent sections of the country in terms of economic status.
Oxfam International said that a 5 percent tax on India's ten richest people could provide enough money to get children back to school.
8. 1668 Journalists killed in the last 20 years: Reporters without Borders.
Tags: Reports International News
According to the yearend report of the Reporters without Borders (RSF) which was published on 31 December 2022, a total of 1,668 journalists have been killed worldwide in connection with their work of journalism over the past two decades (2003–2022), due to murders, contract killings, ambushes, war zone deaths, and fatal injuries.
The report says that on an average every year 80 journalists lost their lives.
Due to the war in Syria over 144 journalists lost their lives in 2012 and 142 journalists died in 2013.
According to the RSF, in the last two decades, 80% of the deaths of journalists have happened in 15 countries. Syria and Iraq have the highest death rates, with a total of 578 journalists killed there over the past twenty years. This is about 1/3 of the world’s death rate.
After these dangerous countries the most unsafe countries for journalists were Afghanistan, Yemen, and Palestine.
Reporters without Borders (RSF)
Reporters without Borders (RWB) is an international non-profit organisation.
- It was founded by four journalists in 1985 in Montpellier, France.
- RSF works to safeguard and promote the freedom of information.
- Headquarters: Paris, France
- It has 7 offices in London, Brussels, Tunis, Washington DC, Rio de Janeiro, Dakar, and Taipei.
9. FDI investment still more in service sector than manufacturing sector: Ind-Ra report
Tags: Reports Economy/Finance
According to a research report published on 28 December 2022 by the India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India was still limited to few sectors and maximum investment was still in the service sectors.
According to Ind-Ra despite the government’s effort to attract more investments in the manufacturing sector through “Make in India" campaign, the FDI inflow is still tilted in favour of the services sector,"
Ind-Ra believes this could be because doing business in the services sector is less complicated than doing business in the manufacturing sector in India. This could also be the reason for the majority of the FDI coming in the manufacturing sector is not a Greenfield investment.
Main points of the report
The share of the services sector and computer software & hardware in the FDI between April 2014 and March 2022 were as high as 41.3% and 19.6%, respectively, while manufacturing accounted for just 25.4%.
Between April 2000 and March 2014, the share of the services sector and computer software & hardware in such inflows were 37% and 5.9%, respectively, and that of manufacturing was as much as 35.4%.
Of the total FDI inflow of $146.7 billion during October 2019 and March 2022, just four states attracted 83.0% of the FDI with Maharashtra accounting for 27.5%, Karnataka 23.9%, Gujarat 19.1% and Delhi 12.4%.
According to the report three distinct FDI corridors have emerged in India. They are the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) in the North, Maharashtra-Gujarat in the west and Karnataka-Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh-Telangana in the South.
Among the emerging market economies, India has done reasonably well in attracting FDIs. Only China has been consistently ahead of India.
According to the World investment Report 2022 of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India is ranked 7 FDI destinations globally.
India Rating and Research (Ind-Ra)
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) is a subsidiary of the global rating company Fitch. It is a credit rating agency headquartered in Mumbai. Ind-Ra is recognised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and Reserve Bank of India.
Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer: Rohit Karan Sawhney
10. Government owned WAPCOS ranked as top consulting firm by the Asian Development Bank
Tags: Reports National Economy/Finance
.jpg)
The Asian Development Bank(ADB) in its annual Procurement report 2022 has ranked the Government of India owned Water and Power Consultancy Services India Limited (WAPCOS) Company as the top Consulting Services Firm in Water and other Infrastructure Sectors.
In another report on its Members’ Fact Sheet - 2022 released by the ADB, WAPCOS figured amongst the top 3 Consultants from India involved in Consulting Services Contracts under ADB Loan, Grant and Technical Assistance Projects in Energy, Transport and Water & other Urban Infrastructure Sectors. WAPCOS is the only Indian Public Sector to feature in the above categories.
The Manila, Philippines based Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank for Asia and Asia-Pacific region. It has 68 member countries and it is headed by Masatsugu Asakawa. It also releases the Asian development Outlook report.
WAPCOS
It was established by the government of India in 1969 under the aegis of the Ministry of Water Resources to utilize India’s knowledge and expertise in the field of water resources by sharing and exporting technology to friendly developing nations.
In 1979 the name of the Company was changed from “Water and Power Development Consultancy Services (India) Limited” to “Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Limited.”
Apart from India, the Company has successfully completed/on-going consultancy assignments in more than 51 Countries covering Asia, Africa, CIS, Pacific Islands and South America.
Chairman cum Managing Director: Rajni Kant Aggrawal
Headquarters: New Delhi
