Reports and Indices Current Affairs MCQs

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The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released the 7th edition of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO): A Future We Choose report, highlighting urgent global environmental concerns. The report states that greenhouse gas emissions have been rising by 1.5% every year since 1990, worsening climate change impacts. It warns that around nine million people die each year due to various forms of pollution, making pollution one of the world’s largest environmental health risks. At the current pace of land degradation, the world could lose fertile land every year equal in size to Colombia or Ethiopia, severely affecting food security and ecosystems. The report recommends greater use of Indigenous Knowledge and Local Knowledge to build effective, community-led environmental solutions.

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India has been ranked third globally in the ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) Vibrancy’ index by Stanford University, following the US and China. The 2025 version of Stanford’s ‘Global AI Vibrancy Tool’ uses data up to 2024 and assesses countries’ preparedness for AI across seven pillars: Research & Development, Responsible AI, Economy, Talent, Policy & Governance, Public Opinion, and Infrastructure. The tool ranks 36 countries overall, with indicator-level data expanded to 67 countries in the AI Metrics Over Time category.

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Switzerland is ranked the world’s most resilient country for investors in 2025, according to Henley & Partners and AlphaGeo Global Investment Risk and Resilience Index. Switzerland scored 88.42 overall, with a risk score of 9.1 (low risk) and resilience score of 85.94 (high resilience), driven by innovation, governance, and social stability. Singapore is the only Asian country in the top 10, ranking 4th, with the lowest legal and regulatory risk globally. India ranks 104th with a total investment risk and resilience score of 54.42, showing moderate resilience (resilience score 49.76) but elevated risks. India’s high risk profile is due to uncertain political, legal, and regulatory environments, combined with exposure to physical climate hazards.

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Indian athletes topped the global doping charts for the third consecutive year in 2024, recording 260 adverse analytical findings (AAFs), according to the latest World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report. India’s positivity rate was 3.6%, the highest among countries conducting 5,000+ tests. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) conducted 7,113 tests in 2024 (6,576 urine samples and 537 blood samples). Out of these, 253 urine samples and 7 blood samples tested positive for prohibited substances. NADA attributed India’s high ranking partly to intensified testing and stronger detection mechanisms, not necessarily a surge in doping prevalence.

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UNESCO released its flagship report “Bhasha Matters: The State of Education Report for India 2025,” emphasizing that mother-tongue based instruction is essential for improving equity and learning outcomes in India. The report advocates for the adoption of Mother-Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) across the country to ensure linguistic inclusion and cultural preservation. The report recommends establishing a national mission on Mother-Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) to provide a unified and coordinated framework that ensures strong alignment between central and state governments.

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NITI Aayog released a major policy report titled ‘Internationalisation of Higher Education in India: Prospects, Potential, and Policy Recommendations’ in New Delhi. The report is the result of a collaborative effort between NITI Aayog and an IIT Madras–led consortium and is considered a pioneering publication in the Global South. The document emphasises the concept of “internationalisation at home” as envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and analyses internationalisation at global, national, and institutional levels. It examines academic mobility trends of the last 20 years, and explores opportunities for student/faculty mobility, international research partnerships, and establishment of overseas campuses by Indian institutions and foreign universities in India.

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NITI Aayog released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2024, assessing export readiness of India’s States and Union Territories (UTs) to support the goal of USD 1 trillion merchandise exports by 2030 and Viksit Bharat @2047. EPI 2024 is structured around four pillars—Export Infrastructure, Business Ecosystem, Policy & Governance, and Export Performance. It is further divided into 13 sub-pillars and 70 indicators for granular assessment. Top-performing Large States are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, while top-performing Small/North Eastern States & UTs are Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Dadra & Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, and Goa.

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The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health released a report on Global Water Bankruptcy. It warns that the planet has entered a Global Water Bankruptcy era. Water Bankruptcy means long-term water use has exceeded renewable supply and safe limits, causing irreversible damage. Rivers, lakes, aquifers, wetlands, soils, and glaciers are degraded beyond full recovery. This differs from water stress, which is high demand but largely reversible. It also differs from water crisis, which is temporary and manageable with restoration. Key causes include chronic overuse of water resources, dam-driven overexpansion, ecological degradation, and climate change intensifying existing water stress.

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NITI Aayog released the report “Roadmap for Green Transition of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)” aligned with Viksit Bharat 2047 and net-zero by 2070. It is a 10-year action plan for 69 million MSMEs to shift towards low-carbon growth. The roadmap focuses on energy efficiency, green electricity, and alternative fuels. It proposes a National Project Management Agency (NPMA) for implementation and finance support. MSMEs contribute about 30% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 45.7% to exports, employing over 250 million people. They emitted around 135 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in 2022.

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NITI Aayog recently released a report titled “Enhancing Circular Economy of End-of-Life Vehicles in India”, warning of a looming crisis with end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). ELVs in India are expected to rise to 50 million by 2030, from 23 million by 2025, posing safety risks and being a major source of pollution. Older vehicles emit up to 8 times more pollutants than BS-VI standard vehicles. The Vehicle Scrappage Policy (2021) aims to phase out old vehicles through Automated Testing Stations (ATS) and Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSF), offering incentives like scrap value, fee waivers, and tax rebates (up to 25% for non-transport, 15% for transport vehicles).