Current Affairs October 2016 - Reports

News 1 - World Economic Outlook released by IMF

The IMF released the latest World Economic Outlook which highlights the threats from the anti-trade movement to an already subdued global expansion.

As per the report, world economy’s expansion will slow to 3.1 percent in 2016 before rebounding to 3.4 percent in 2017. The pickup in 2017 will be driven mainly by emerging markets. The IMF also forecast that India's GDP would expand 7.6 percent this year and next, the fastest pace among the world's major economies.

News 2 - Study reveals that apes can think like humans

As per the research that is based on the view that other primates can empathise and have complex inner lives, found that chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans seem to have this ability to see someone else’s point of view, even when they know that point of view is dead wrong just as humans do.

The findings were published in the journal Science. In a summarized view, findings state that human brains are bigger, true, which means that humans have a more powerful computer, but its fundamentals, its hardware, is similar to that of other primates.

News 3 - Global Hunger Index 2016

According to the Global Hunger Index report released by the Washington based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India ranked 97^th out of 118 countries. India was rated with ‘serious’ hunger levels in the 2016 Index.

According to this report, 15.2% of Indians are undernourished and 38.7% of under-five children are stunted. India’s global hunger index or GHI score of 28.5 is worse than the developing country average score of 21.3. China (29), Nepal (72), Myanmar (75), Sri Lanka (84) and Bangladesh (90) ranked better than India except Pakistan (107).

News 4 - WHO released Global Tuberculosis Report 2016

WHO has released the "Global Tuberculosis Report" 2016. Governments have agreed for a 90% reduction in TB deaths and an 80% reduction in TB cases by 2030 compared with 2015.

In 2015, there were an estimated 10.4 million new TB cases worldwide. India followed by Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa accounted for 60% of the total burden. The revised estimates put the incidence of TB in India at 217 per 100000 population in 2015. The disease was one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide in 2015, responsible for more deaths than HIV and malaria.

News 5 - Mangaluru International Airport rated best in Southern region

Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) has been rated the best in Southern region and third among all the 52 airports in the country. Airports Authority of India (AAI) conducts survey of all the airports once in six months through an external agency. The performances of all the airports are rated based on overall customer satisfaction.

In the latest survey, MIA secured 4.72 points out of 5. Chandigarh airport has taken the top slot in the survey, followed by Raipur, with the third position being shared by Mangaluru and Udaipur airports.

News 6 - System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research states Delhi’s air quality as worst

System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) recorded suspended respirable pollutants and arrived on the decision that air quality of Delhi is under ‘very poor’ category. The average (24hour rolling) of PM2.5 and PM10, suspended pollutants, were recorded as 120.8 and 248 micrograms per cubic metre as against safe limits of 60 and 100.

National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi government to conduct a meeting and implement solutions to tackle the air pollution. The main reason for the poor air is vehicular pollution and farm fires in neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana.

News 7 - World Bank released report titled Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All

The World Bank released the report titled Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All. It is the 14^th report in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.

India is ranked 130 out of 190 countries in the report. New Zealand topped the World Bank ranking for ease of doing business, followed by Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, Norway, UK, US, Sweden, and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Pakistan made it to the World’s top 10 improvers, based on reforms undertaken.

News 8 - India ranked 87 in the WEF Gender Gap Report

India has been ranked 87^th out of 144 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2016. It has moved 21 spots up from 108^th in 2015, driven largely by major improvements in education. China ranks 99^th in the list.

Iceland tops the latest rankings followed by Finland, Norway and Sweden. The report measures gender gap as progress towards parity between men and women in four areas - Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, Economic Opportunity and Political Empowerment.

News 9 - Water level of 91 major reservoirs of the country goes down by Two percent

The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on October 27, 2016 was 115.457 BCM, which is 73% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This was 130% of the storage of corresponding period of last year.

The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 157.799 BCM which is about 62% of the total storage capacity of 253.388 BCM, which is estimated to have been created in the country. 37 Reservoirs out of these 91 have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.

News 10 - India ranked at 133^rd position in Commonwealth Youth Index

The Commonwealth Secretariat on the countries' prospects for young people in employment, education, health, civic and political spheres, released Global Youth Development Index which shows youth development scores in health, education and employment.

Out of the 183 nations, India ranked 133^rd in the index followed by Nepal at 77^th, Bhutan at 69^th and Sri Lanks at the 31^st place. The top 5 countries on the index are Germany (1), Denmark (2), Australia (3), Switzerland (4) and United Kingdom (5).