UN Human Development Index
1. Human Development Index is a statistical tool used to measure a country's overall achievements in its social and economic dimensions.
2. It is one of the best tools to keep track of the level of development of the country, as it combine all major social and economic indicators that are responsible for economic development.
3. HDI was created by Pakistani Economist Mahbub Ul- Haq in 1990 which was further used to measure the country's development by the United Nation Development Program(UNDP)
4. Every year UNDP ranks countries based on the HDI report released in their annual report.
Various Indicators Under HDI
Calculation of the index combines 4 major indicators :-
1.Life expectancy for health
2.Expected years of schooling
3.Living standard of a person
4. Mean of years of schooling for education
What's Unique about this year Index
1. For the first time, UNDP introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country's per capita Carbon emission and its material footprint.
2. This is planetary pressure adjusted HDI or PHDI
3. It measured the amount of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to make a good and services its consumes.
4. The report found that no country has yet been able to achieve a very high level of development without putting a huge strain on natural resources.
India's Performance
India dropped 2 ranks , standing at 131 out of 189 countries.
If the index were adjusted to assess the planetary pressure caused by each nations development, India would move up 8 places in the ranking according to report.
Other Measures
India's status in Human Development Index.
According to report, India's HDI value for 2019 is 0.645 which put the country in the medium Human Development category positioning it at 131 out of 189 countries and territories.Report also said, between 1990 and 2019 , India's HDI value increased from 0.429 to 0.645 and increases of 50.3 %.
Life Expectancy
Life expectancy for India at the birth was 69.7 years in 2019, slightly lower than the South Asian average of 69.9 years but slightly higher than the average of medium Human Development Index grouping in the world at 69.3 years the report said . Bangladesh has life expectancy of 72.6 years and of Pakistan's is 67.3 years.
Malnutrition Front
The report said that indigenous children in Cambodia, India and Thailand show more malnutrition related issues such as stunting and wasting. The report said" In India , the different responses in parental behaviour was well as same disinvestment in girls . Health, education have led to higher malnutrition among girls than among boys."
Performance of Other Countries
1. Norway tops the HDI; it however falls 15 places if the new metric ( The Planetary pressure adjusted HDI or PHDI) Is used , leaving Ireland at the top of the table.
2. In fact 50 countries would drop entirely out of the " very high Human Development group" Category using this new metric.
3. Australia falls 72 places in the ranking, while the United States and Canada would fall 45 and 40 places respectively, reflecting their dis appropriate impact on natural resources.
4. China would drop 16 places from its current ranking of 85.
Impact Of Pandemic
Although this year's report covers 2019 only, and does not count for the impact of Covid, it projected that in 2020 , global HDI falls below for the first time in 3 decades since the index was introduced.
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