Miscellaneous Events Aug-2023
India ranked 67th on Energy Transition Index, Sweden on top: WEF
The World Economic Forum ranked India at the 67th place globally on its Energy Transition Index and said it is the only major economy with energy transition momentum accelerating across all dimensions. India and Singapore (70th) are the only major economies showing transition momentum by advancing sustainability, energy security and equity in a balanced way, according to the report titled ‘Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2023’. Sweden topped the list and was followed by Denmark, Norway, Finland and Switzerland in the top five on the list of 120 countries. France (7) was the only G20 country in the top 10, followed closely by Germany (11), the US (12), and the UK (13). The WEF said that out of 120 countries, 113 have made progress over the last decade but only 55, including India, have improved their scores by more than 10 percentage points
World Economic Forum:
- Formation: January 1971
- Founder: Klaus Schwab
- Headquarters: Cologny, Switzerlan
- Chairman: Klaus Schwab
- President: Børge Brende
India removed from UNSG report on impact of armed conflict on children
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has removed India from his annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children, citing measures taken by the Indian government to better protect them. India was mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General on Children and armed conflict since 2010 along with other countries of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines for alleged recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir; detainment of boys by Indian security forces in J&K for their alleged association with armed groups, or on national security grounds.
Singapore replaces Japan passport to become world’s most powerful
According to the Henley Passport Index 2023, published by Henley & Partners, Singapore becomes the world’s most powerful passport with visa-free access to 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world. While India ranked 80th with visa-free entry to 57 nations. Germany, Italy, and Spain shared second place with 190 visa-free destinations. Japan has slipped to third place as the number of destinations its passport can access without a visa fell to 189.
Here’s the list of top 10 powerful passports:
Rank 10: Iceland, Estonia (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 182) Rank 9: Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 183) Rank 8: Lithuania, United States (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 184) Rank 7: Greece, Canada (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 185) Rank 6: Australia, Hungary, Poland (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 186) Rank 5: Czech Republic, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 187) Rank 4: Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 188) Rank 3: Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, Sweden and Japan (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 189) Rank 2: Germany, Italy and Spain (Number of countries allowed visa-free: 190) Rank 1: Singapore (Number of countries allowed visafree: 192)
Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari moves on
Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari has moved on from the company to pursue a new path. Chief Operating Officer Irina Ghose has been promoted to Managing Director of India. Sashi Sreedharan, managing director, has been promoted to a more senior position. Maheshwari joined Microsoft in 2016. He has served in companies such as Honeywell, and McKinsey & Company.
Microsoft:
- Founded: April 4, 1975
- Founders: Bill Gates, Paul Allen
- Headquarters: Washington, U. S.
- Chairman and CEO: Satya Nadella
- Vice chairman and president: Brad Smith
- Technical adviser: Bill Gates
Dutch PM announces resignation
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced his resignation from the coalition government due to lack of agreement on migration policy. Rutte, 56, holds the record for the longest tenure as prime minister in the Netherlands. He is in this position since 2010. This was Rutte’s fourth coalition since taking office in 2010.
Netherlands:
- Capital: Amsterdam
- Prime Minister: Mark Rutte
- Currency: Euro
SBI’s chief financial officer Charanjit Surinder Singh Attra resigns
State Bank of India (SBI) informed that its Chief Financial Officer Charanjit Surinder Singh Attra resigned from his position. SBI also mentioned that it has appointed Kameshwar Rao Kodavanti as the bank’s new CFO effective July 1, 2023. In another filing, the country’s largest lender informed about appointment of four director on the bank’s central board for a period of three years. Two of the directors, Ketan Shivji Vikamsey and Mrugank Madhukar Paranjape, have been re-elected. The other two directors who have appointed are Rajesh Kumar Dubey and Dharmendra Singh Shekhawat.
State Bank of India:
- Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Chairman: Dinesh Kumar Khara
- Denmark
- Ireland
- Switzerland
- Singapore
- Netherlands
- Taiwan
- Hong Kong
- Sweden
- United States United Arab Emirates
IIT Bombay top Indian educational institute, 149th globally: QS Rankings
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, emerged as India’s highest-ranked educational institute, showed the QS World Rankings 2024 released. Globally, it was ranked 149th and was the only such Indian institute in the top 150. However, it is the highest rank the institute has ever attained. IIT Bombay showed an improvement from last year’s QS world rankings when it took the 172nd spot. It was followed by IIT Delhi (ranked 197th globally), slipping from 174th last year. These were the only two institutes in the top 200 on the list. At the third spot was the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, ranked 225th globally. It slipped sharply from 155th place last year. The rankings were based on nine indicators, including citations per faculty, employment outcomes, employer reputation, academic reputation, faculty-student ratio, sustainability, international research network, international faculty ratio and international student ratio. Globally, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Cambridge retained the top two spots. They were followed by the University of Oxford, which rose one rank.
Global competitiveness index 2023 released
According to the Global competitiveness index 2023, published by International Institute for Management Development (IMD), India has ranked 40 out of 64 economies in its annual report. India fell 3 rungs to finish 40th but is still in a better position than it was between 2019-2021 when it was placed 43rd three years in a row. Based on the IMD report, the country improved in government efficiency but fared slightly poorer than other countries in business efficiency, infrastructure, and economic performance. Specifically, the top three measures that helped India in its score are exchange rate stability, compensation levels and improvements in pollution control. In this year’s ranking, Ireland made the most impressive overall improvement as it leapt from 11th place to second. Denmark’s top position is based on its continuous achievements across all four competitiveness factors measured. It remains first in business efficiency and second in infrastructure, and shows slightly improved results in government efficiency, going to fifth from sixth
Top 10 in the 2023 Global Competitiveness Index Rank:
