Reports and Indices Current Affairs MCQs

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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently released the 2025 Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources. The report highlights that deep-sea species are hard to manage due to their slow growth, late maturity, long lifespans, low natural death rates, and rare spawning. Only 29% of deep-sea fish stocks are being fished sustainably, making them highly vulnerable. It raises concern over overfishing and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. Globally, 64.5% of all fishery stocks are within sustainable levels, but 35.5% are overfished.

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India ranked 131 out of 148 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2025 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), slipping two places from 129 in 2024. The Global Gender Gap Index measures gender parity in Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. India scored 64.1% in overall gender parity, among the lowest in South Asia.

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The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report is an annual publication by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It gives a detailed, evidence-based analysis of global education progress, challenges, and trends. The report was first launched in 2002 as the Education for All Global Monitoring Report and was renamed in 2016. Its main aim is to guide governments and stakeholders by offering policy recommendations to improve education systems. In the latest context, the GEM report shows that 272 million children are out of school globally, which is 21 million more than the previous estimate

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A record 54 Indian Institutes have been listed in the QS World University Rankings 2026, showing strong global progress in higher education. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi has emerged as the top-ranked Indian institute, jumping from 150th to 123rd position globally. This is the highest QS World University Ranking ever achieved by IIT Delhi. The QS rankings are based on data from over 16 million academic papers and feedback from 151,000 academics and 100,000 employers. They assess faculty quality, research strength, global partnerships, and student success.

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India ranks 99th in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index 2025 with a score of 67 as per the recently released Sustainable Development Report 2025. It is India’s first time entering the top 100 out of 193 United Nations (UN) member countries. The report is published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and tracks yearly progress since 2015. Finland, Sweden and Denmark top the index, despite facing environmental issues from high consumption.

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The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2025 on the 19th Statistics Day. The report shows India’s progress on 284 indicators across 17 SDG goals. Maternal and child health, education, poverty reduction, and climate change efforts have improved since 2015–16. Social protection coverage rose to 64.3% in 2025 from 22% in 2016. Senior citizen assistance rose to 1,57,000 in 2023–24 from 23,000 in 2015. Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture per worker rose to ₹94,110 in 2024–25 from ₹61,247 in 2015–16.

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Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the Financial Stability Report for June 2025. The Financial Stability Report is a twice-yearly report by the Reserve Bank of India. It shows the joint assessment of the Sub-Committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council on risks to financial stability and the strength of the Indian financial system. The report highlights that India continues to drive global growth due to solid economic fundamentals and wise policies. Risks include geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions, and weather-related uncertainties.

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The Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2025 reported a record 1,523 unicorns, which are privately held startup companies valued over $1 billion. This marks an increase of 70 unicorns compared to last year, with a total combined valuation of $5.6 trillion. The United States of America leads with 758 unicorns, including 55 new ones, and has six of the ten most valuable unicorns. China holds second place with 343 unicorns. India ranks third with 64 unicorns, with Bengaluru at rank 7 globally, Mumbai at 22, and Gurugram debuting at 27.

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The North Eastern Region (NER) District Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index 2023–24 was released by NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDoNER) with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 85% districts in NER showed an increase in composite scores compared to the previous edition. All districts in Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura achieved Front Runner status (scores between 65 and 99). Hnahthial district in Mizoram topped the region with a score of 81.43, while Longding in Arunachal Pradesh scored the lowest at 58.71.

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Recently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its Frontier Report 2025 titled “The Weight of Time” on July 10, 2025. The report highlights the rising vulnerability of older adults to extreme weather, especially in urban areas and low- to middle-income countries. In India, people aged 65 and above experienced 2.1 to 4 more heatwave days per year between 1986–2005 and 2013–2022. The report warns that heat-related deaths in the elderly may rise by 370% by mid-century. The report calls for urban greenery, weather monitoring, disaster risk management, and community support systems.