Reports and Indices Current Affairs MCQs

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According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Global Methane Tracker 2025, the energy sector emitted about 145 million tonnes of methane in 2024. The Global Methane Tracker 2025 is released by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Oil and gas facilities alone contributed over 80 million tonnes. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for around 30% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution. Its current level in the atmosphere is 2.5 times higher than in preindustrial times and is increasing faster than other gases. The main human sources of methane are agriculture, energy, and waste sectors. The energy sector alone contributes over 35% of human-caused methane emissions.

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Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the State of the World’s Nursing (SoWN) 2025 report on International Nurses Day (IND). The global nursing workforce grew from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023, but 78% of nurses are in countries covering only 49% of the global population. The global nurse-to-population ratio is 37.1 per 10,000, with Europe having five times more nurses than Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. High-Income Countries (HICs) have ten times more nurses than Low-Income Countries (LICs). In India, there are only 1.9 nurses per 1,000 people, below the WHO’s recommendation of 3 per 1,000. India has over 3.3 million registered nurses under the Indian Nursing Council (INC), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. India plans to open 157 new nursing colleges by mid-2025, adding 15,700 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.Sc. Nursing) seats nationwide.

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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 World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) recently released the first State of the World’s Animal Health report. It highlights that infectious animal diseases are now spreading to new regions and species, with 47 percent having zoonotic potential, meaning they can spread to humans. In 2024, Bluetongue virus affected 3,517 cases in 23 countries, and Germany saw its first foot-and-mouth disease outbreak since 1988. Between 2005 and 2023, nearly half the WOAH-listed diseases reported were zoonotic, posing a risk to human health. The report warns that climate change and global trade are key drivers behind the rising spread of these diseases. Preventing diseases reduces the need for antibiotics and helps fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which could cause huge losses. By 2050, AMR could result in livestock loss, threaten food for two billion people, and cause a US$100 trillion economic loss.

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The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2024-25 was released by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Global Education Monitoring Report 2024–25 shows that gender gaps in education still exist across the world, including India. Globally, boys lag behind girls in reading, with only 87 boys reaching minimum proficiency for every 100 girls. In middle-income countries, the gap is wider, with just 72 boys achieving reading standards for every 100 girls. Women are still under-represented in educational leadership roles, especially in India. The report stresses that urgent action is needed to close gender gaps in learning outcomes and leadership.

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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 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released the Global Trends Report: Forced Displacement in 2024. Forced displacement means people are forced to leave their homes due to violence, disasters, persecution, or human rights violations. By the end of 2024, around 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide. Children made up 40% of this displaced population, showing a major humanitarian concern. Over one-third of all forcibly displaced persons were from Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, or Ukraine. About 73.5 million people were internally displaced, meaning they stayed within their own country but had to flee their homes.

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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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India ranked 71st in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Energy Transition Index 2025, showing improvement in energy efficiency and investment capacity. The index assessed 118 countries, with Sweden ranked first, followed by Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland. China ranked 12th, the United States (US) 17th, and Pakistan 101st, while Congo was the lowest. India’s rank dropped from 63rd in 2024, but WEF said India showed one of the strongest improvements among large economies.