Reports and Indices Current Affairs MCQs

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The ‘Understanding Indian Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sector: Progress and Challenges’ report was released by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). It highlights key challenges faced by MSMEs, including access to finance, technology adoption, competition, compliance, market access, infrastructure, supply chain issues, and availability of skilled labor across 19 sectors in manufacturing, services, and trading. MSMEs contributed 30.1% to Gross Value Added in FY 2022-23 and 45.79% to exports in FY 2024-25 (up to May 2024). Challenges include inadequate access to credit, high competition, technology adoption issues, and complex regulations. Other difficulties involve poor infrastructure and sourcing raw materials and skilled workers.

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The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) 2025 was released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). Internal Displacement (ID) means people are forced to move within their own country due to conflict, violence, or disasters. Internally Displaced People (IDP) are those who flee their homes but do not cross international borders. By the end of 2024, there were 83.4 million IDPs globally, with 73.5 million due to conflict and 9.8 million due to disasters. The United States accounted for 25% of all disaster-related displacements. In India, 1,700 people were displaced due to conflict and 5.4 million due to disasters.

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The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) 2025 shows that over 295 million people in 53 countries faced acute hunger. This marks an increase of 13.7 million people compared to 2023, showing a worsening food crisis. The report was published by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) with the Food Security Information Network (FSIN). The GRFC is released every year to track and analyse global food insecurity and malnutrition. It highlights that conflicts, extreme climate events, economic troubles, and forced displacement are the main causes. The report warns of a deepening global hunger and nutrition emergency.

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In 2024, India lost 18,200 hectares of primary forest, up from 17,700 hectares in 2023, as per Global Forest Watch (GFW) report. Global Forest Watch (GFW) is released by the World Resources Institute (WRI). It’s an open-source web application that monitors global forests in near real-time using satellite data and other sources. Between 2002 and 2024, India lost 3,48,000 hectares of humid primary forest, about 5.4% of its total, making up 15% of all tree cover loss. Humid primary forests are mature tropical forests identified using Landsat satellite images and special algorithms. From 2019 to 2024, India lost 1,03,000 hectares of such forests, or 1.6% of what remained, causing 14% of total tree cover loss. Since 2001, India has lost 2.31 million hectares of tree cover, a 7.1% drop, releasing 1.29 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Assam saw the highest tree cover loss (3,40,000 ha), followed by Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, and Meghalaya.

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NITI Aayog recently launched a report titled “Designing a Policy for Medium Enterprises” to support India’s vision of Viksit Bharat @2047. Medium enterprises form only 0.3% of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) but contribute nearly 40% of MSME exports, showing high growth potential. The MSME sector contributes 29% to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs over 60% of the workforce. The report highlights key challenges like limited finance, slow tech adoption, and lack of research and development (R&D) and testing facilities. It proposes targeted actions in six areas: tailored finance, Industry 4.0 tech, R&D cells, cluster testing, skill development, and a Udyam sub-portal. The aim is to turn medium enterprises into innovation-led growth engines for self-reliant and globally competitive India.

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On June 5, 2025, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the 8th edition of “EnviStats India 2025: Environment Statistics” during a national workshop in New Delhi. The report follows the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES) 2013 and compiles data from various ministries and departments. Inland fish production rose from 61.36 lakh tonnes to 139.07 lakh tonnes, showing strong aquaculture growth. The publication includes data on Ramsar sites, population access to electricity, transport, sanitation, and environmental temperature changes. The highest government expenditure was on the Environment Sustainability Sector with Rs. 2433.24 crore in 2021-22.

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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 World Bank released the State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2025 as carbon pricing now covers 28% of global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and raises over $100 billion in revenue. Carbon pricing attaches a cost to emitting GHGs to encourage emission reductions and reflect environmental costs. There are 80 active carbon pricing instruments, up from 5 in 2005, including Emissions Trading Systems (ETS), carbon taxes, and carbon credit markets. India introduced ETS rules in 2024 for its industrial sector, using rate-based benchmarks instead of emission caps.

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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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As per the 2025 yearbook of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), nine countries possess 12,241 nuclear weapons as of January 1, 2025. These countries are the United States (US), Russia, United Kingdom (UK), France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea. Russia has 5,459 and the US has 5,177 nuclear warheads, together holding around 90% of the global stockpile. China has 600, France 290, UK 225, India 180, Pakistan 170, Israel 90, and North Korea 50 warheads. Of the total, 9,614 warheads are in military stockpiles, and 3,912 are deployed on missiles or aircraft.