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  • Comparison between India- Bangladesh per capita GDP

    In IMF’s latest Economic Outlook, Bangladesh has overtaken India in GDP per capita. This has caught everyone’s attention.

    Do you know?

    • In the 2019 edition of Transparency International’s rankings, Bangladesh ranks a low 146 out of 198 countries (India is at 80th rank; a lower rank is worse off).
    • In the latest gender parity rankings, out of 154 countries mapped for it, Bangladesh is in the top 50 while India languishes at 112.

    Bangladesh surpasses India

    • Typically, countries are compared on the basis of GDP growth rate, or on absolute GDP.
    • For the most part since Independence, on both these counts, India’s economy has been better than Bangladesh’s.
    • This can be seen from Charts 1 and 2 that map GDP growth rates and absolute GDP — India’s economy has mostly been over 10 times the size of Bangladesh, and grown faster every year.
    • However, per capita income also involves another variable — the overall population — and is arrived at by dividing the total GDP by the total population.

    What made India lag behind?

    There are three reasons why India’s per capita income has fallen below Bangladesh this year:

    • The first thing to note is that Bangladesh’s economy has been clocking rapid GDP growth rates since 2004.
    • Secondly, over the same 15-year period, India’s population grew faster (around 21%) than Bangladesh’s population (just under 18%).
    • Lastly, the most immediate factor was the relative impact of Covid-19 on the two economies in 2020. While India’s GDP is set to reduce by 10%, Bangladesh’s is expected to grow by almost 4%.

    How has Bangladesh managed to grow so fast and so robustly?

    • Freshly start: In the initial years of its independence with Pakistan, Bangladesh struggled to grow fast. However, moving away from Pakistan also gave the country a chance to start afresh on its economic and political identity.
    • Diverse labour participation: As such, its labour laws were not as stringent and its economy increasingly involved women in its labour force. This can be seen in higher female participation in the labour force.
    • Textile boom: A key driver of growth was the garment industry where women workers gave Bangladesh the edge to corner the global export markets from which China retreated.
    • Less dependence on Agriculture: It also helps that the structure of Bangladesh’s economy is such that its GDP is led by the industrial sector, followed by the services sector. Both of these sectors create a lot of jobs and are more remunerative than agriculture.
    • Better social capital: Bangladesh improved a lot on several social and political metrics such as health, sanitation, financial inclusion, and women’s political representation.

    Retaining the lead

    • The IMF’s projections show that India is likely to grow faster next year and in all likelihood again surge ahead.
    • But, given Bangladesh’s lower population growth and faster economic growth, India and Bangladesh are likely to be neck and neck for the foreseeable future in terms of per capita income.

  • The Human Cost of Disasters Report (2000-2019)

    The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) recently published its report titled “The Human Cost of Disasters”.

    The report holds much significance for prelims as well as mains. Just for the sake of information, we must be aware of the report.

    Highlights of the report

    • 7,348 major disaster events had occurred between 2000 and 2019, claiming 1.23 lives, affecting 4.2 billion people and costing the global economy some $2.97 trillion.
    • Of this, China (577 events) and the US (467 events) reported the highest number of disaster events followed by India (321 events).
    • Climate change is to be blamed for the doubling of natural disasters in the past 20 years says the report.
    • There had also been an increase in geophysical events like earthquakes and tsunamis that are not related to climate but are particularly deadly.

    Back2Basics: UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

    • The UNDRR was established in 1999 as a dedicated secretariat to facilitate the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
    • It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
    • It is mandated to serve as the focal point in the UN system for the coordination of disaster reduction and to ensure synergies among the disaster reduction activities.
    • It has a vision to substantially reduce disaster risk and losses for a sustainable future with the mandate to act as the custodian of the Sendai Framework to which India is a signatory.

  • [pib] Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

    On the occasion of 75th Anniversary of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16th October 2020, PM has released a commemorative coin of Rs 75.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The FAO accords the status of ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)’ to traditional agricultural systems. What is the overall goal of this initiative?

    1. To provide modern technology, training in modern farming methods and financial support to local communities of identified GIAHS so as to greatly enhance their agricultural productivity.
    2. To identify and safeguard eco-friendly traditional farm practices and their associated landscapes, agricultural biodiversity and knowledge systems of the local communities.
    3. To provide Geographical Indication status to all the varieties of agricultural produce in such identified GIAHS Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    About FAO

    • It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security.
    • It was founded in October 1945 and is headquartered in Rome.
    • It maintains regional and field offices around the world, operating in over 130 countries.
    • It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects data on agricultural output, production, and development.
    • Composed of 197 member states, the FAO is governed by a biennial conference representing each member country and the European Union, which elects a 49-member executive council.
    • The Director-General serves as the chief administrative officer.

    India and FAO

    • India has had a historic association with FAO.
    • Indian Civil Service Officer Dr Binay Ranjan Sen was the Director-General of FAO during 1956-1967.
    • The World Food Programme, which has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2020, was established during his time.
    • India’s proposals for the International Year of Pulses in 2016 and the International Year of Millets 2023 have also been endorsed by FAO.

  • Pakistan likely to remain on FATF Greylist

    Pakistan is unlikely to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF’s) greylist with this plenary session as well.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What is FATF? Discuss its role in combating global financial crimes and terror financing.

    What is the FATF?

    • FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.
    • The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
    • It holds three Plenary meetings in the course of each of its 12-month rotating presidencies.

    Why is Pakistan under its scanner?

    • Pakistan has been under the FATF’s scanner since June 2018, when it was put on the Grey List for terror financing and money laundering risks.
    • FATF and its partners such as the Asia Pacific Group (APG) are reviewing Pakistan’s processes, systems, and weaknesses on the basis of a standard matrix for anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regime.
    • In June 2018, Pakistan gave a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime, and to address its strategic counter-terrorism financing-related deficiencies.
    • Pakistan and the FATF then agreed on the monitoring of 27 indicators under a 10-point action plan, with specific deadlines.
    • The understanding was that the successful implementation of the action plan, and its physical verification by the APG, would lead the FATF to move Pakistan out of the Grey List.
    • However, Islamabad managed to satisfy the global watchdog over just five of them.

    B2BASICS

    What are the Black List and Grey List of the FATF?

    FATF has 2 types of lists;

    1.  Black List

    2. Grey List

    1. Meaning of Black List: Only those countries are included in this list that FATF considers as uncooperative tax havens for terror funding. These countries are known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs). In other words; countries that are supporting terror funding and money laundering activities are placed in the Blacklist.

    The FATF blacklist or OECD blacklist has been issued by the Financial Action Task Force since 2000 and lists countries which it judges to be non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terror funding.

    The FATF updates the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries.

    grey list 2018

    (This map shows the countries included in the Greylist)

    2. Meaning of Grey List: Those countries which are not considered as the safe heaven for supporting terror funding and money laundering; included in this list. The inclusion in this list is not as severe as blacklisted.

    Now Grey list is a warning given to the country that it might come in Black list (Just like a yellow card in a football match). If a country is unable to curb mushrooming of terror funding and money laundering; it is shifted from grey list to black list by the FATF.

     

  • Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs)

    Indian Navy is scheduled to hold another Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the US to undertake Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOP).

    Try this question:

    Q.What do you mean by Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs)? What are its legal backings?  Discuss its significance.

    Freedom of Navigation Operations

    • FONOPs are closely linked to the concept of freedom of navigation, and in particular to the enforcement of relevant international law and customs regarding freedom of navigation.
    • Freedom of navigation has been thoroughly practised and refined, and ultimately codified and accepted as international law under UNCLOS, in a legal process that was inclusive and consent-based.
    • The drafting of UNCLOS was driven in part by states’ concerns that strong national maritime interests could lead to excessive maritime claims over coastal seas, which could threaten freedom of navigation.
    • FONOPs are outgrowths of this development of international law, based on sovereign equality and international interdependence.

    Significance of FONOPs

    • FONOPs are a method of enforcing UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and avoiding these negative outcomes by reinforcing freedom of navigation through practice.
    • It is exercised by sailing through all areas of the sea permitted under UNCLOS, and particularly those areas that states have attempted to close off to free navigation as defined under UNCLOS.

    Back2Basics: UNCLOS

    • The Law of the Sea Treaty formally known as the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982 at Montego Bay, Jamaica. It entered into force in 1994.
    • The convention establishes a comprehensive set of rules governing the oceans and to replace previous U.N. Conventions on the Law of the Sea
    • The convention defines the distance of 12 nautical miles from the baseline as Territorial Sea limit and a distance of 200 nautical miles distance as Exclusive Economic Zone limit.

  • Deterrence in Australia-China Ties

    Australia and China’s cordial economic ties, established over the last three decades, have been soured this year over several points of friction.

    Try this question

    Q. Discuss the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or the Quad) and its purpose to establish “Asian Arc of Democracy”.

    Various points of friction

     (1) Australia’s Covid-19 inquiry

    • Australia’s appeal for an independent global inquiry into the origins and initial response of Covid-19 created fury in Beijing.
    • China alleged that Australia was teaming up with the US to spread “anti-China propaganda”.

    (2) Tension over journalists

    • The second diplomatic spat began with the detention of an Australian news anchor based in Beijing by the Chinese authorities after she was suspected of “criminal activities” that endangered China’s national security.
    • The Australian government said the journalist was held under “residential surveillance” at an unknown location.
    • Following this, the journalists sought refuge in Australian diplomatic missions, as they were not allowed to leave the country.

    (3) Ideological issues

    • The two countries have also been at loggerheads on other ideological issues previously too.
    • After reports of China keeping Uighur Muslims in state-run detention camps surfaced, Australia was swift to respond and expressed “deep concern” over the “human rights situation.”
    • Australia also supported Hong Kong’s autonomy cause. It decided to extend visas for Hong Kong residents.
    • In both instances, China responded staunchly and asked Australia to not meddle in its “internal matters.”

    (4) Economic dependence

    • China is Australia’s largest trading partner in terms of both exports and imports.
    • China’s share in Australia’s exports reached a record A$117 billion, or 38 per cent, in 2019, more than any other country.
    • Australian sectors like mining, tourism, education benefit from trade with China. China even imports products such as milk, cheese, wine and meat.
    • Over the years, it has been increasing its investment in Australian infrastructure and real estate products too.

  • World Bank’s Human Capital Index 2020

    India has been ranked at the 116th position in the latest edition of the World Bank’s annual Human Capital Index that benchmarks key components of human capital across countries.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.As per UN-Habitat’s Global Report on Human Settlements 2009, which one among the following regions has shown the fastest growth rate of urbanization in the last three decades?

    (a) Asia

    (b) Europe

    (c) Latin America and Caribbean

    (d) North America

    Highlights of the 2020 rankings

    • The 2020 Human Capital Index update includes health and education data for 174 countries — covering 98 per cent of the world’s population — up to March 2020.
    • It provides a pre-pandemic baseline on the health and education of children, with the biggest strides made in low-income countries.

    Impact of the pandemic

    • The analysis shows that pre-pandemic, most countries had made steady progress in building the human capital of children, with the biggest strides made in low-income countries.
    • The pandemic puts at risk the decade’s progress in building human capital, including the improvements in health, survival rates, school enrollment, and reduced stunting.
    • The economic impact of the pandemic has been particularly deep for women and for the most disadvantaged families, leaving many vulnerable to food insecurity and poverty.
    • Due to the pandemic’s impact, most children — more than 1 billion — have been out of school and could lose out, on average, half a year of schooling, adjusted for learning, translating into considerable monetary losses.
    • Data also shows significant disruptions to essential health services for women and children, with many children missing out on crucial vaccinations.

    India’s performance

    • India’s score increased to 0.49 from 0.44 in 2018, as per the Human Capital Index report released by the World Bank.
    • Last year, India had raised “serious reservations” over the Human Capital Index, wherein India was ranked 115 out of 157 countries.
    • This year India finds itself at 116th from among 174 countries.

    Back2Basics: Human Capital Project

    1. As part of this World Development Report (WDR), the World Bank has launched a Human Capital Project (HCP).
    2. The HCP programme is claimed to be a program of advocacy, measurement, and analytical work to raise awareness and increase demand for interventions to build human capital.
    3. There are three components of HCP:
    • a cross-country human capital measurement metric called the Human Capital Index (HCI),
    • a programme of measurement and research to inform policy action
    • a programme of support for country strategies to accelerate investment in human capital.

    Human Capital Index (HCI)

    1. The HCI has been constructed for 157 countries.
    2. It claims to seek to measure the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18.
    3. The HCI has three components:
      • Survival: as measured by under-5 mortality rates
      • Expected years of Quality-Adjusted School: which combines information on the quantity and quality of education
      • Health environment: Using two proxies of (a) adult survival rates and (b) the rate of stunting for children under age 5. 

    HDI vs. HCI

    1. UNDP constructs Human Development Index (HDI) for several years.
    2. The HCI uses survival rates and stunting rate instead of life expectancy as a measure of health, and quality-adjusted learning instead of merely years of schooling as a measure of education.
    3. HCI also excludes per capita income whereas the HDI uses it.

  • Global Smart City Index, 2020

    Four Indian cities -New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru – witnessed a significant drop in their rankings in the global listing of smart cities that was topped by Singapore.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’?

    (a) Maintenance of law and order

    (b) Paying taxes

    (c) Registering property

    (d) Dealing with construction permits

    Global Smart City Index

    • The Institute for Management Development, in collaboration with Singapore University for Technology and Design, has released the 2020 Smart City Index.
    • Its key findings rest on how technology is playing a role in the Covid-19 era.
    • The 2020 Index was topped by Singapore, followed by Helsinki and Zurich in the second and the third place respectively.
    • Others in the top 10 list include Auckland (4th), Oslo (5th), Copenhagen (6th), Geneva (7th), Taipei City (8th), Amsterdam (9th) and New York at the 10th place.

    India’s performances

    • In the 2020 Smart City Index, Hyderabad was placed at the 85th position (down from 67 in 2019), New Delhi at 86th rank (down from 68 in 2019), Mumbai was at 93rd place (in 2019 it was at 78) and Bengaluru at 95th (79 in 2019).
    • This drop can be attributed to the detrimental effect that the pandemic has had where the technological advancement was not up to date.
    • From 15 indicators that the respondents perceive as the priority areas for their city, all four cities highlighted air pollution as one of the key areas that they felt their city needed to prioritise on.
    • For cities like Bangalore and Mumbai, this was closely followed by road congestion while for Delhi and Hyderabad it was basic amenities, the report said.

  • India joins Djibouti Code of Conduct

    India has joined the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment (DCOC/JA) as Observer, following the high-level virtual meeting.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q.The Djibouti Code of Conduct is related to:

    (a) International trade in precious stones (b) Maritime Security (c) Data sharing on Terrorism related activities (d) Data Localization

    Djibouti Code of Conduct

    • DCOC/JA is a grouping on maritime matters comprising 18 member states adjoining the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, the East coast of Africa and Island countries in the IOR.
    • The DCOC, established in January 2009, is aimed at the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean Region, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

    Provisions of the code

    • The Code provides a framework for capacity building in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean to combat the threat of piracy.
    • It is a partnership of the willing and continues to both deliver against its aims as well as attract increasing membership.
    • The Code was signed on January 29 by the representatives of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Somalia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen.
    • Since the meeting, further countries have signed bringing the total to 18 countries from the 21 eligible.

    Significance for India

    • India joins Japan, Norway, the UK and the US as Observers to the DCOC/JA.
    • As an Observer at the DCOC/JA, India looks forward to working together with DCOC/JA member states towards coordinating and contributing to enhanced maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region.
    • Delhi has been steadily increasing its strategic footprints in Western and Eastern Indian Ocean besides Eastern African coastal states.

  • India becomes a member of UN Commission on Status of Women

    India has been elected as a member of the United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women (UN-CSW), a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Democracy’s superior virtue lies in the fact that it calls into activity:

    (a) The intelligence and character of ordinary men and women

    (b) The methods for strengthening executive leadership

    (c) A superior individual with dynamism and vision

    (d) A band of dedicated party workers

    UN Commission on Status of Women

    • The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main organs within the United Nations.
    • CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
    • Every year, representatives gather at UN Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.
    • India will be a member of United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women for four years, 2021 to ‘25.
    • This year is the 25th anniversary of the famous Beijing World Conference on Women (1995).