The Researchers from the Department of Sociology have compiled the first ever ‘World Cybercrime Index’, which identifies the globe’s major cybercrime hotspots by ranking the most significant sources of cybercrime at a national level. ABOUT THE WORLD CYBERCRIME INDEX: The World Cybercrime Index has been developed as a joint partnership between the University of Oxford and University of New South Wales, Sydney. It has been funded by CRIMGOV, a European Union-supported project. The index was developed to identify major cybercrime hotspots globally by ranking countries based on the significant sources of cybercrime at a national level. The study ‘Mapping the....Read More

American business magazine Forbes released its "Forbes World's Billionaires List 2024: The Top 200". Forbes has released its 2024 Billionaires List with record 2,781 individuals holding $14.2 trillion of the wealth in the world. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: India too saw its billionaires soar to record high. The list features 200 Indians, up from 169 last year. They hold a combined wealth approaching a trillion dollars, with a record total of $954 billion. Bernard Arnault and family, with a total net worth of $233 billion, topped the list, followed by Elon Musk ($195 billion), Jeff Bezos ($194 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($177 billion),....Read More

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute of Human Development (IHD) have released a report named “India Employment Report 2024”. KEY FINDINGS: Basic long-term feature of the employment situation in the country continues to be insufficient growth of the non-farm sectors and the ability of these sectors to absorb workers from agriculture. India’s working-age population (aged 15–59) increased from 61% in 2011 to 64% in 2021 and is projected to reach 65% in 2036. About 7-8 million young people are added each year to the labour force. The authors warn that unemployment in the country is “predominantly a problem....Read More

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) has jointly released the Food Waste Index Report 2024. According to the Food Waste Index Report 2024, households across the globe wasted over one billion meals a day in 2022. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: The report defines “food waste” as “food and the associated inedible parts removed from the human food supply chain”. ‘‘Food loss” is defined as “all the crop and livestock human-edible commodity quantities that, directly or indirectly, completely exit the post-harvest/slaughter production/supply chain up to, and excluding, the retail level”. It noted that in 2022, there....Read More

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute of Human Development (IHD) have jointly published a report titled “India Employment Report 2024”. KEY FINDINGS India’s youth account for almost 83% of the unemployed workforce. The Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker Population Ratio and the Unemployment Rate showed a long-term deterioration between 2000 and 2018, but witnessed an improvement after 2019. The youth unemployment rate increased with the level of education, with the highest among graduates and higher among women than men. Most of the workers remain engaged in informal work and the share of regular work declined after 2018. India’s....Read More

The Hurun Research Institute has released the "Hurun Global Rich List 2024". Among global billionaires, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has re-emerged as the richest man, boasting a fortune of $231 billion. The 2024 Hurun Global Rich List is the 13th edition of the ranking of billionaires. Wealth calculations in the report are a snapshot of 15th January 2024. The 2024 list features a total of 3279 billionaires which includes 167 new billionaires. The number of billionaires globally increased by 5% compared to 2023. TOP 5 BILLIONAIRES ON THE 2024 LIST: Rank Name Total Net Worth (USD billion) 1 Elon Musk....Read More

The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has released the Global E-waste Monitor 2024, which states that the world’s generation of electronic waste is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling. KEY FINDINGS: The world’s generation of electronic waste is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling. The 62 million tonnes of e-waste generated in 2022 would fill 55 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to bumper line encircling the equator. Meanwhile, less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-waste mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022,....Read More

India was ranked 126th out of 143 nations in a global happiness index released recently, which noted that older age is associated with higher life satisfaction in the world's most populous country. KEY-FINDINGS OF THE REPORT Finland with a score of 741, remained the world's happiest country for a seventh straight year. The other top 10 countries are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia. Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian catastrophe since the Taliban regained control in 2020, stayed at the bottom of the 143 countries surveyed. The ranking is based on six factors— GDP per....Read More

World Air Quality Report 2023 was released by Swiss organisation IQAir. The report looked at data from more than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 7,812 locations in 134 countries, territories, and regions and tracked 5 concentrations – fine particulate aerosol particles measuring up to 2.5 microgrammes per cubic metre – to understand the exposure to the people living in the specific area and determine a population-weighted exposure level. MAJOR FINDINGS India has emerged as the world’s third most polluted country. In 2023, India’s air quality, with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre, was better....Read More

The Gender Inequality Index 2022 has been released by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in their Human Development Report 2023/2024. On the Gender Inequality Index (GII) 2022, India stands at rank 108 out of 193 countries with a score of 0.437. India stood at rank 122 out of 191 countries with a score of 0.490 in the Gender Inequality Index 2021. This shows a significant jump of 14 ranks on GII 2022 vis-à-vis GII 2021. ABOUT THE INDEX The Gender Inequality Index presents a composite measure of gender inequality using three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. The....Read More