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On Monday, July 22, Finance Minister <keyword id="22504403" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nirmal-sitharaman" source="keywords">Nirmal Sitharaman</keyword> tabled the <keyword id="20613906" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="economic-survey" source="keywords">Economic Survey</keyword> 2023-24 in the parliament ahead of the much-awaited budget 2024 tomorrow. In addition to a socio-economic stock take, the comprehensive report also outlines the strides India has made on the environment and climate fronts last year. India is in a weird grey area when the climate blame-game is concerned. We continue to average some of the lowest per capita CO2 emissions in the world. But, being the most-populous country in the world, these small bits add up to make India the third-largest emitter of CO2 in the world, after China and the United States. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111923746" title="Economic Survey 2023-2024 highlights emerging job trends in AI, Cybersecurity, 3D Printing and Web Development" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>However, this is not to say that the country has been sitting the green transition out either. As highlighted in the Economic Survey, India has been making notable strides in tackling climate change and promoting <keyword id="19895783" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sustainability" source="keywords">sustainability</keyword> — efforts that will be crucial to protect billions in the coming years and decades. Let's take a look at these efforts and compare them with findings from other recent environmental reports to see the full picture. <h2><keyword id="21818512" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="emission-intensity" source="keywords">Emission intensity</keyword> reduction</h2>The economic survey proudly states that India has reduced the emission intensity of its GDP by 33% from 2005 levels by 2019. This means the country is producing less greenhouse gas for every unit of economic activity. This is a commendable achievement because India’s original climate change target — or Nationally Determined Contribution — was set to precisely 33% reduction of emission intensity by 2030, before being revised to 45% in 2022. While the jump from 33% to 45% is still a significant one with barely half a decade to go, this progress is a clear sign that India’s climate policies are having a real impact. <h2><keyword id="19895602" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="renewable-energy" source="keywords">Renewable energy</keyword> capacity</h2>According to the economic survey, 45.4% of India’s installed electricity generation capacity — which includes solar, wind, and hydropower — now comes from non-fossil sources, as of May 31, 2024. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111774972" title="Economic Survey shows India&amp;#39;s energy needs to grow 2.5x, healthy growth in formal employment" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>As per reports by the Ministry of New &amp; Renewable Energy, India added a record renewable energy capacity of 18.48 GW in 2023-2024, with solar installations amounting to 12.78 GW, followed by 2.27 GW of wind energy. However, industry experts have also noted that India Inc. cannot afford to run out of steam now, and must continue to add at least 50 GW for the next six years to meet the target of 500 GW of renewables by 2030. <h2>Indian energy needs</h2>India's energy needs are expected to grow 2 to 2.5 times by 2047, as per the latest economic survey. This necessitates a balanced approach to <keyword id="19951336" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="energy-transition" source="keywords">energy transition</keyword> that considers resource limitations and the need for resilience to climate change. India has suffered from an overdependence on coal and fossil fuels in the past, accounting for around 75% of total energy generation in 2021, as per the Energy Information Administration. However, this number has been quickly falling, even dropping below a historic 50% in Q1 2024. <h2>Sovereign <keyword id="20177085" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="green-bonds" source="keywords">green bonds</keyword></h2>To fund green projects, India issued Rs 16,000 Crore in sovereign green bonds — financial instruments that support green projects at lower capital costs — in early 2023 and another Rs 20,000 Crore later in the year, the economic survey reports. As per the government, these proceeds were utilised in many eco-friendly projects, such as New and Renewable Energy, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Housing and Urban Affairs, Railways. To widen the investor base, the <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="keywords">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (RBI) also recently permitted eligible foreign investors to invest in such bonds. <h2>Mission LiFE and Green Credit Programme</h2>The survey also talks extensively about Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), which promotes sustainable living, and the Green Credit Programme (GCP), which incentivises eco-friendly actions by offering “green credits”. In the past few months, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and a few other states have reportedly approved thousands of hectares of degraded forest land for greening exercises as part of the GCP. <h2>International initiatives</h2>India has spearheaded several international initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA), One World, One Sun, One Grid (OSOWOG), the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States’ (IRIS) and the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT). Hundreds of nations are signed up for these climate coalitions and our participation will help reflect India's commitment to advancing global <keyword id="20000756" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-action" source="keywords">climate action</keyword> and fostering international cooperation in sustainable development. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111923191" title="Economic Survey 2024 – industries grow by 9.5%, fueling economic growth to 8.2%" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>The report even notes that India is currently the only G20 nation who is set not to cross the 2°C warming threshold. All in all, India’s economic survey and environmental reports together show a nation making impressive progress in combating climate change and advancing sustainability. These achievements will hopefully set a strong example for other countries to follow.

On the right track — Economic Survey 2023-24 outlines India’s commendable climate action

New Delhi, Nov 15 () The UKIBC has launched a campaign to assess the socio-economic impact of UK businesses in India with a view to make sustainable development efforts by companies more effective.
Key findings and observations from the campaign will be compiled into a report to be released in 2020 to coincide with the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, the UKIBC stated.
"UK businesses and universities want to succeed in India, and their definition of success includes helping India achieve its socio-economic objectives," Richard Heald, Group CEO, UK India Business Council, said.
The campaign is being delivered in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and will map the activities of businesses and universities against the UN's sustainable development goals.
"UNDP is excited to partner with UKIBC on this study to measure the socio-economic impact of UK businesses in India. The Sustainable Development Goals provide an excellent framework for this study. 
"We hope that its findings can help make corporate social responsibility efforts more effective, and help companies act on the climate crisis and improve the livelihoods of millions of people across India," Shoko Noda, UNDP Resident Representative in India, said.
The UNDP-UKIBC partnership will facilitate mapping of UK businesses socio-economic impact against the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, which are aimed at eliminating poverty and ensuring prosperity, ranging from environmental sustainability to advancing education.
"UKIBC's initiative will lead the path in harnessing the resources in finance, knowledge, innovation, and strategy of the business sector in India for the successful implementation of the SDGs," Sanyukta Samaddar, Advisor at Niti Aayog said. RSN BAL

UKIBC launches socio-economic impact campaign

<ul><li>While we appear to be in an era plagued by widespread panic – thanks to the inundation of information on social media and every known touchpoint, there also appears to be a positive wave of behavior change amongst societies that prove the resilience and adaptability of humankind.</li><li><keyword id="7856732" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhinay-Bhasin">Abhinay Bhasin</keyword>, Director, Data Sciences at <keyword id="6368370" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="dentsu-aegis-network">Dentsu Aegis Network</keyword>, South Asia pens down how amidst the projected negative climate by media in news surrounding the impact of <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword>, he has seen a few rays of sunshine emerging in humanity. </li></ul>I am fairly certain by now you would have probably read the multiple reports on the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> disease (COVID-19) and reports by every known publication and enterprise in terms of its impact on business, the economy and on the general society. In case you haven’t, please crawl out from under that rock you’re under (or stay there since it might be a better way to be safe). At present there close to 400,000 reported cases of COVID-19. A majority of them outside China, with an impact to nearly every known line of business and economy. While governments and world leaders have taken to prioritizing measures to curtail the spread of the virus, there is no doubt that there is a need for policy makers and decision takers to prevent an economic fallout and to reduce widespread economic anxiety as has been recently witnessed in the US and other markets over a hoarding of essentials. While we appear to be in an era plagued by widespread panic – thanks to the inundation of information on social media and every known touchpoint, there also appears to be a positive wave of behavior change amongst societies that prove the resilience and adaptability of humankind. This discourse will attempt to throw light on those positive and negative impacts on the society and global economy that emerge from the climate created by the onset of the virus and the mitigation steps that inundate the media of today. Let’s Take Stock of What’s Going On Early estimates reveal the global economic impacts to be in the range of USD 1-2.7 Trillion in terms of GDP loss. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation &amp; Development) has forecast global growth of a mere 2.4% in 2020 (down from the earlier estimate of 2.9% from November of last year. This could probably mean the slowest growth rate of the global economy ever since the global economic recession of 2009. Cancelling of major sporting events, lockdown of borders and cities, declining consumer confidence, global store closures by brands such as Apple, Nike etc and potentially severe retail traffic declines have already taken its toll on economies, creating ripple effects in society and especially impacting livelihoods of daily wage earners and workers. In turn, stress on key industries that have already been on a downward spiral such as the aviation industry and the automotive industry (especially in India) come under further pressures as production and mobility further reduce due to precautionary measures. The global travel economy itself is projected to be hit by nearly USD 850 billion dollars in revenue loss. This causes widespread ripple effects on the ancillary industries associated with these sectors. Is it all Doom &amp; Gloom? Amidst the projected negative climate by media in news surrounding the impact of COVID-19 emerge rays of sunshine in humanity. Videos going viral online featuring Italian neighborhoods coming together on balconies and singing songs together – highlight the strength of communities in combatting national challenges. Heroic images of doctors and nurses tirelessly working and staking their own lives to treat to infected patients and those in quarantine reveal the underlying spirit of not just their professions, but the everlasting spirit of hope. While yes – it indeed is a trying time until there is concrete evidence of COVID-19 showing signs of receding and coming under check and global economies bouncing back, the undying spirit of humanity with some of the best minds working on mitigating drugs, and some of the brightest and most successful leaders and companies committing to relief funds highlight the resilience of our species, while giving us all a chance to pause, rewind, recalibrate and move forward together as a unified force. - By Abhinay Bhasin, Director, Data Sciences at Dentsu Aegis Network, South Asia

The socio-economic impact of COVID-19: Cloudy with a chance of resilience

The government is considering the launch of micro-credit programme which would provide easy loans to rural households, helping them out of poverty. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Startup-India-Standup-India-goes-to-rural-poor/articleshow/51580701.cms">Unemployed rural-poor to get desi version of ‘Startup India, Standup India’, fulfil entrepreneurial dreams</a> As per the plan, the government would lend up to Rs 1 lakh per family in the coming three to five years, and the loans would be provided at subsidised interest rates of 4 to 7%, without any security deposit. "We have simplified the process for accessing loans... We are getting into the details of livelihood each house can undertake so that the money can be lent accordingly," rural development secretary Amarjeet Sinha told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/government-planning-an-easy-credit-scheme-for-rural-households/articleshow/58250161.cms?from=mdr">ET</a>. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/government-to-use-scientific-methods-to-implement-social-welfare-schemes-and-fight-poverty/articleshow/56327314.cms">Government to use scientific methods to implement social welfare schemes and fight poverty</a> By 2019, an amount of Rs 60,000 crore per year would be linked to nearly 8.5 crore households that were identified poor in the <keyword id="1037822" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Socio-Economic-and-Caste-Census">Socio Economic and Caste Census</keyword>. By doing this, the government wishes to lessen their reliance on local moneylenders and <keyword id="411605" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Microfinance-companies">microfinance companies</keyword>, since these lenders charge high interest rates as compared to the rate of 11% charged by banks. A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the <keyword id="151047" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rural-Development-Ministry">rural development ministry</keyword> and the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/politics/policy/Modi-govt-launches-its-biggest-land-reform-legalizes-landleasing/articleshow/51812636.cms">agriculture</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/latest/govt-puts-focus-on-animalhusbandry-poultry-and-fisheries-todouble-farmers-income/articleshow/57109382.cms">animal husbandry</a> ministry, which would ease the loan process to such households for activities including tilling and setting up of poultry farms and goat sheds. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/100-youngsters-to-turn-barefoot-engineers-soon-to-better-farm-productivity/articleshow/47583052.cms">100 youngsters to turn ‘barefoot engineers’ soon to better farm productivity</a>

Government is planning easy loans for rural households

The school-to-work transition process is still facing major hurdles in India and a lack of coordinated efforts has resulted in an isolated skilling system that has not been able to achieve its maximum potential, a World Economic Forum (WEF) report stated. The report titled Education 4.0 Report', on how digital and other technologies can address learning gaps and make education accessible to all, has been launched as part of WEF's Education 4.0 India initiative. "India has more than 60 million secondary and higher secondary students, but 85 per cent of schools are yet to implement vocational courses as part of their curriculum, it said.School-to-work (S2W) transition refers to the process of making students job-ready in a rapidly evolving employment landscape. The report said, The S2W transition process is still facing major hurdles such as lack of trainers, inadequate resources and infrastructure, poor integration with the mainstream school curriculum, and poor linkages between localized skill gaps and vocational courses." "A lack of coordinated efforts has resulted in an isolated skilling ecosystem that has not been able to achieve its maximum potential," it said. The report noted that many students and parents consider vocational education to be the second-best option to mainstream education. "Employers expect students to have a high degree of competencies, skills and knowledge relevant to their work. They also prefer strong communication skills, teamwork, and problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities, it stated.According to the report, at present, school pedagogy is designed with no reference to industry needs, since there are no formal channels for industry participation. "Further, credits cannot be transferred between formal and informal education streams, so students who want to pursue higher education after vocational courses (or vice-versa) face difficulty in linking their credits. This discourages mobility between the two streams," it said.Enhancing opportunities for career awareness and exposure through internships and apprenticeships' allowing credit transferability to enable students to transfer between formal and informal channels of education and training and providing experiential learning for holistic development through STEM-based courses, language learning and life-skills coaching, are among the recommendations made in the report. The Education 4.0 India initiative was launched in May 2020 and has convened over 40 partners from the education technology, government, academic and start-up communities. The report is the result of a collaboration between the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Children's Education Fund (<keyword id="56000" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="unicef" source="Orion">UNICEF</keyword>) and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited India). It tracks the progress and findings of the Education 4.0 India initiative, which focuses on how the fourth industrial revolution technologies can enhance learning and reduce inequalities in access to education among children in India. The report also explores challenges and identifies solutions that can be realised as scalable interventions to enable India's youth to participate in the evolving workspace." The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gaps in learning outcomes among school children in India. These gaps have been magnified for children, particularly from disenfranchised and vulnerable families who face innumerable socio-economic issues that also have been worsened by the pandemic," said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum. "Through the Education 4.0 India initiative, the Forum, together with UNICEF India and YuWaah, aims to offer insights and recommendations that transcend the education landscape in India and can achieve global impact. This is the first partnership for the Forum and UNICEF at the country level," Jurgens added. The report also provides a framework for the development of scalable pilots that can be implemented by state governments and ecosystem partners. This includes best practices that can augment the existing education ecosystem and be useful for a wide range of stakeholders. The report identifies gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy, teacher professional development, school-to-work transition and connecting the unconnected and suggests solutions with five common building blocks curriculum, content, capacity, community and digital infrastructure. <a class="c-link c-timestamp" href="https://timesbridge.slack.com/archives/D03ELEB8TJA/p1665146009166099"></a> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tracxn-technologies-ipo-analyst-cautious-due-to-losses-and-investor-exits/articleshow/94708410.cms">Tracxn Technologies IPO: Analyst cautious due to losses and investor exits</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/banks-to-reap-rewards-of-interest-rate-hikes-in-q2-earnings/articleshow/94706875.cms">Banks to reap rewards of interest rate hikes in Q2 earnings</a>

85% Indian schools don't have vocational courses as part of their curriculum: WEF

<ul><li><keyword id="155484" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="salesforce" source="Orion">Salesforce</keyword> research team using <keyword id="6355999" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ai" source="Orion">AI</keyword> to improve the economic and tax policies.</li><li>Indian origin scientist is part of this major research.</li><li>Earlier, Salesforce used AI models to create proteins during the Covid surge.</li></ul>Machine learning and <keyword id="107950" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="artificial-intelligence" source="Orion">artificial intelligence</keyword> (AI) are finding relevance in many industries and sectors. A research team from Salesforce developed a framework to improve economic policies using AI. To demonstrate the potential of AI, a team from ETH Zurich created a system that can read tree heights from satellite images and tested a system to predict a startup's success by using public data. The framework built on Salesforce’s AI is designed to simulate years of economics parallelly to help economists, governments and others to design new tax policies. Chief scientist and head of Salesforce Research, Richard Socher, and his team of researchers, including senior research scientist, Stephan Zheng, Indian-origin lead research scientist, Nikhil Naik, and senior research scientist, Alex Trott spoke about AI Economist and how AI Economist can create an impact in economic and tax-driven policies. In a statement Richard Socher said, "Salesforce aim to tackle customer problems with the help of AI. We have developed deep learning APIs that can be used to build AI-powered applications with Einstein language, vision and speech." He also talked about how his team has <a href="https://blog.salesforceairesearch.com/progen/">generated proteins using AI</a>. In addition, Richard also talked about global issues — economic inequality gaps. According to him, this gap can negatively impact economic growth and opportunities. "With the help of AI Economist, we can apply reinforcement learning (AI language) to discover novel tax frameworks that can develop frameworks to reduce economic inequality and improve economic productivity," he added. Senior research scientist, Stephan Zheng briefed about the working of AI Economist. According to him, governments are not able to use taxes and subsidies which are important tools to reduce inequality. With the help of AI Economist, reinforcement learning will be used to do tax research and will provide a simulation and a data-driven solution to achieve socio-economic objectives. On the working of AI Economist, he said, "it uses a collection of AI agents to simulate the reaction of people to different taxes." Indian origin lead research scientist, Nikhil Naik also gave his input on why AI Economist is exciting from an economic perspective. According to him, this AI model is incredibly powerful. It can help policy makers and economists by simulating millions of years of economies and finding a variety of tax frameworks. The AI and all-new frameworks for economists are showing capabilities to augment research and hypotheses. Partnering with the government and other economists will help in creating a more apt simulation of the real world. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/veranda-learning-forays-into-preschool-segment-goes-deeper-into-test-prep/articleshow/91091639.cms">Veranda Learning forays into preschool segment, goes deeper into test prep</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musk-wants-to-make-significant-improvements-to-twitter-if-hes-able-to-buy-it-here-are-4-changes-we-expect-to-see-straight-from-musks-own-tweets-/articleshow/90942320.cms">Elon Musk pledges to 'authenticate all humans' as he buys Twitter for $44 billion. Here's how the site may change now that he's in charge.</a>

Researchers using AI to simulate tax policies and market research

Indians are proud to belong to the world’s biggest <keyword id="6354914" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Democracy">democracy</keyword>, but do we enjoy extensive freedom online? Not to a great extent, going by the annual <keyword id="169089" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-Index">Web Index</keyword> ranking, where countries are tested against a series of parameters that measure how the World Wide Web empowers people and contributes to <keyword id="518920" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="socio-economic-development">socio-economic development</keyword>. This year, <keyword id="23050" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sweden">Sweden</keyword> takes the top spot out of the 81 countries in the list while <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> has been ranked 56th with an Index score of 32.4, ahead of neighbours China (ranked 57th with a score of 31.1) and Pakistan (77th with 10.4). The bottom two countries are Ethiopia and Yemen. 
 Incidentally, China has the <keyword id="1951187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Largest-Internet-user-base">largest Internet user base</keyword> in the world – a little over 300 million. The US comes 2nd with an estimated 207 million users while India has the <keyword id="1951188" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Third-largest-Internet-population">third-largest Internet population</keyword> of around 200 million and counting. As per the I-Cube 2013 report, the number of <keyword id="414255" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="internet-users-in-India">Internet users in India</keyword> is expected to rise 18.53% to reach 243 million by June 2014. 
 The Web Index is a composite measure that sums up in a single (average) number the extent of ‘freedom’ and ‘utility’ of the Web in various countries. The ranking was started in 2012 by the <keyword id="1947701" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="World-Wide-Web-Foundation">World Wide Web Foundation</keyword>, an organisation set up by the <keyword id="1537311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-inventor">Web inventor</keyword> Sir <keyword id="251605" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tim-Berners-Lee">Tim Berners-Lee</keyword> in 2009. 
 The indexing has got bigger this year and 20 more countries have been added, bringing the total number to 81. Several criteria have been taken into account and scores have been given for universal access, education &amp; awareness, access &amp; affordability, <keyword id="1951195" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Communications-infrastructure">communications infrastructure</keyword>, <keyword id="1951196" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Relevant-content">relevant content</keyword>, <keyword id="1951197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-use">Web use</keyword>, <keyword id="1746818" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Content-Creation">content creation</keyword>, freedom &amp; openness, <keyword id="1951189" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freedom-of-the-Web">freedom of the Web</keyword>, impact &amp; empowerment, <keyword id="1951201" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Political-impact">political impact</keyword>, social &amp; <keyword id="506859" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Environmental-Impact">environmental impact</keyword> and <keyword id="589977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="economic-impact">economic impact</keyword>. 
 Sweden has bagged the top spot for the second consecutive year (94.4 in universal access, 90.1 in relevant content, 86.1 in freedom &amp; openness and 92.2 in impact &amp; empowerment), followed by <keyword id="6356961" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Norway">Norway</keyword>, the UK, the US and <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword>. <keyword id="49968" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Denmark">Denmark</keyword>, <keyword id="6374076" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Finland">Finland</keyword>, <keyword id="55091" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Iceland">Iceland</keyword>, <keyword id="6354785" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="France">France</keyword> and the <keyword id="105814" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Republic-of-Korea">Republic of Korea</keyword> occupy the next five slots. It is not surprising that the US has got the lowest score under ‘freedom,’ following the <keyword id="6423563" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Snowden">Snowden</keyword> debacle. The country has also dropped two places from last year’s list. 
 Ranked at 30th, <keyword id="3746" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mexico">Mexico</keyword> is the best emerging market country while the <keyword id="3750" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Philippines">Philippines</keyword> is the highest-ranked developing nation at the 38th spot. But except for <keyword id="10331" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Morocco">Morocco</keyword> (ranked 54th in the Index), none of the developing nations achieved the 50% connectivity target of the UN World Summit on the Information Society. In <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword>, fewer than 20% people are using the Internet. 
 
As for category leaders, Iceland ranks highest in access, the UK tops in relevant content, Norway leads in terms of freedom &amp; openness and the US comes first for impact &amp; empowerment. 
 
How is India faring? If you are wondering why India has not made it to the ‘Top 10’, here is a score breakdown for greater insight. The country has got 28.6 for access, 22.6 for relevant content, 49.5 for freedom &amp; openness and 31.2 for impact &amp; empowerment. While scores in the first two categories are bound to improve with deeper Internet penetration and <keyword id="1951206" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Scaling-up">scaling up</keyword> of services across the country, impact &amp; empowerment can only happen when the burgeoning user base can actually leverage the numerous benefits of the Internet. 
 “This may happen in the near future as the Internet/Web-based industries are gearing up fast, sensing a really huge opportunity here,” observes a US and India-based <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firm. 
 But what may worry one most is the score under freedom &amp; openness – 49.5 compared to Sweden’s 86.1 and Norway’s ‘perfect’ 100. According to a <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> report published earlier this year, India made an average of 13 requests a day to Google for <keyword id="1951212" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Access-to-personal-details">access to personal details</keyword> of <keyword id="177767" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Web-users">Web users</keyword> during 2012. This was only second to the US, which made 45 requests a day on an average – the highest for any country. The US made a total of 16,407 requests to Google during 2012, followed by 4,750 from India, 3,239 from France, 3,083 from <keyword id="87" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Germany">Germany</keyword>, 2,883 from the UK and 2,777 from Brazil. 
 
Interestingly, China has scored 5.3 for freedom &amp; openness while Pakistan’s score for freedom &amp; openness stands at 9.8. 
 Commenting on the trend, Sir Tim Berners-Lee said, “One of the most encouraging findings of this year’s Web Index is how the Web and <keyword id="6354632" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Social-media">social media</keyword> are increasingly spurring people to organise, take action and try to expose wrongdoing in every region of the world. But some <keyword id="6386287" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="governments">governments</keyword> are threatened by this, and a growing tide of <keyword id="6354565" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="surveillance">surveillance</keyword> and <keyword id="6425075" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Censorship">censorship</keyword> now threatens the future of democracy. Bold steps are needed now to protect our fundamental <keyword id="1850840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="rights-to-privacy">rights to privacy</keyword> and <keyword id="1951220" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Freedom-of-opinion">freedom of opinion</keyword> and association online.” 
 
Key findings from Web Index 2013 
Targeted censorship of Web content by governments is widespread across the globe. Moderate to extensive blocking or filtering of politically sensitive content was reported in over 30% of Web Index countries during the past year. 
 
Legal limits on <keyword id="1951228" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Government-snooping">government snooping</keyword> online urgently need review. Around 94% of countries in the Web Index do not meet best practice standards for checks and balances on <keyword id="1951229" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Government-interception">government interception</keyword> of electronic communications. 
 
The Web and social media are leading to real-world change. 
In 80% of the countries studied, the Web and social media had played a role in public mobilisation in the past year, and in half of these cases, had been a major catalyst. 
 
Rich countries do not necessarily rank highly in the Web Index. 
The Philippines, with a per capita income of $4,410 per year, is more than 10 places ahead of Qatar, the world’s richest country, with an average income over 20 times greater than the Philippines. Saudi Arabia is overtaken by 10 of the sub-Saharan African countries. Switzerland, the world’s third wealthiest nation, is only one place ahead of Estonia. The study shows that once countries surpass a GDP threshold of $12,000 per capita, the link between wealth and Web Index rank weakens significantly. 
 
The rights and priorities of <keyword id="624" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Women">women</keyword> are poorly served by the Web in the majority of countries researched. Locally relevant information on topics such as reproductive health, <keyword id="6360589" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="domestic-violence">domestic violence</keyword> and inheritance remain largely absent from the Web in most countries. Only 56% of Web Index countries were assessed as allocating ‘significant’ resources to ICT training programmes targeting women and men equally. 
 
Image: Wikimedia Commons

When Measuring Internet Freedom, India Ranks Better Than China, Pakistan

<keyword id="10399714" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Co-WIN" source="Orion">Co-WIN</keyword> has developed a new <keyword id="89002" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="API" source="Orion">API</keyword> called 'Know Your Customer's/Client's Vaccination Status', or <keyword id="12066828" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kyc-vs" source="Orion">KYC-VS</keyword>, which will enable a verifying entity to know whether a person has been vaccinated against coronavirus or not, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. Over 72 crore vaccine doses have been administered since the vaccination campaign against <keyword id="8763838" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="COVID-19" source="Orion">COVID-19</keyword> was flagged off on January 16 this year in the country. To provide proof of vaccination for each of these individuals, Co-WIN is already issuing a digitally verifiable certificate. This certificate can be saved on a digital device (smartphone, tablet, laptop etc), or stored in Digi Locker from where it can be digitally shared as and when required as proof of vaccination, the ministry said in a statement. Similarly, at entry points where such certificate is required (e.g., in malls, office complexes, public events etc), it may be shown in both digital and physical forms. However, there may be instances where an entity does not need to see the certificate in full and would just need to know whether an individual has been vaccinated or not, the ministry said. An enterprise/employer may like to know the vaccination status of its employees to resume functions in offices, workplaces etc, it added. The Railways may want to get the status of vaccination of the passengers who are getting their seats reserved in the trains. Airlines may want to get the status of vaccination of the passengers who are booking their flight tickets, and/or airports may only want to allow vaccinated passengers to pass through. Hotels may want to know the vaccination status of the residents at the time they are checking into the hotel, or at the time of making online bookings, it further said. "As the socio-economic activities are being gradually revived while maintaining everyone's safety, there is a need for a way to digitally convey the status of individuals' vaccination to entities with whom they may be engaging with for any or all reasons, as employees, passengers, residents etc. "Therefore, there is a need to enable an Aadhaar like authentication service for the status of vaccination through Co-WIN. To take care of these cases and others that may come up, Co-WIN has developed a new API called 'Know Your Customer's/Client's Vaccination Status' or KYC-VS," the ministry said in the statement. To use this API, an individual needs to enter his/her mobile number and name. Thereafter, they will get an OTP which they have to enter. In return, Co-WIN will send a response to the verifying entity on the individual's status of vaccination, which will be as follows: -- Person is not vaccinated -- Person is partially vaccinated -- Person is fully vaccinated This response will be digitally signed and can be shared instantly with the verifying entity, the ministry said. The KYC-VS is consent-based and privacy preserving, it added. Additionally, in order to facilitate quick integration and faster adoption, the Co-WIN Team has prepared a webpage with the API, which may be embedded in any system. This will allow for a seamless integration with any system in no time, the statement said. Besides the use cases pointed out, this service may be utilised by any service provider, private or public, for whom verifying an individual's vaccination status is critical for facilitating a service requested, it said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-is-now-legal-in-ukraine-but-not-like-it-is-in-el-salvador/articleshow/86091955.cms">Bitcoin is one signature away from becoming legal in Ukraine and it's not following in El Salvador's footsteps</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/electric-vehicles-registration-are-more-than-cng-vehicles-in-last-two-months-in-delhi/articleshow/86089688.cms">EV adoption on a rise in Delhi — more registrations than CNG-run vehicles in last two months</a>

You Searched For "socio economic development" and got 8 results

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When Measuring Internet Freedom, India Ranks Better Than China, Pakistan

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