INDIA - A MIRROR VIEW

We Indians secured freedom over seven decades ago. During this long span of time we have been ruled by different political parties either singularly or jointly. We have wedded to mixed economy and so far no one wanted a divorce. If we compare the development of other countries with ours we can have a mirror view of ours; an image not so healthy and beautiful. A detailed comparison is made in different aspects. Those who look at these seriously can find that the loud speeches made by our politicians are hollow; there is no substances in those.

What we Indians have been taught is to obey and follow the politicians carrying their respective flags. Of late we have allowed political parties to rule our educational institutions too. We are now giving preference to politics than knowledge. At the entrance of some of our renowned educational institutions we can find boards saying, 'Welcome to Red Fort'. Neither the government nor the management of the institution nor the police nor the judiciary nor the public as a whole come forward to remove these writings or to replace them with 'Welcome to the Temple of Knowledge'. This shows that we prefer illiteracy, violence and vandalism than knowledge, comforts and peaceful 

living.

The most terrifying state of our country is about the safety of women. A girl is neither safe in her own house or out side. A girl is raped and burnt alive very recently and the culprits are scot free. Where is the law? Where is the government? Where is our age old culture? Yet, we loudly speak about our political achievements. According to Priyanka Gandhi, 90 rape cases are reported from Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh in the past one year, but the police say it is not 90 but 51. 

We must know that we have all the potential to be a rich country. Wealth of a country is determined by the natural resources available and the man power have to exploit those. Though we are rich in these two, we prefer to remain poor because we do not have an ideal leadership at the helm of affairs to effectively manage what have.

Better the reader go through the statements and say, 'I'm proud to be an Indian but no so proud to be part of Indian politics'.

Mirror view:

Per capita income in selected countries in USD with world ranking in bracket

Luxembourg 113,196 (1)

Switzerland     83,717 (2)

USA                  65,112 (7)

Sweden            51,242 (12)

Japan               40,847 (22)

India                    2,041 (126)

Richest and poorest countries in the world

(Based on currency exchange rates and GDP and PPP adjustments in USD of 2018)

Rank  -  Country   - GDP PPP ($)

1. Qatar                       134,623

2. Macao  SAR           122,201

3. Luxembourg           108,813

8. UAE                           70,474

9. Kuwait                       67,969

21.Australia                  53,559

24. Canada                   50,626

31. Japan                      45,565

37. Italy                          40,206

39. Israel                        39,160

50. Malaysia                  32,455

55. Russia                      30,284

66. Maldives                  23,154

70. Thailand                   20,474

74. China                        19,520

83. Iraq                           18,008

99. Sri Lanka                  13,954

114. Bhutan                    10,015

124. India                          8,484

132. Myanmar                  7,029

137. Nigeria                      6,098

148. Sudan                       4,089 

152. Kenya                       3,863

161. Nepal                        3,115

164. Uganda                     2,622

167. Ethiopia                    2,517

176. Afghanistan             2,086

191. Barundi                        727

*Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook 2019

Most educated countries in the world.

No. 1 is Canada (56.27% of adults having earned some kind of higher education) followed by Japan, Israel, Korea, UK, USA, Australia and Finland.

India has jumped significantly in The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020, with 56 institutions making it to the list, up from 49 previously. However, for the first time  since 2012, not a single Indian university made it to the top 300 list. India holds 52nd rank global innovation index 2019.(Economic Times, July 2019)

According to Forbes the top in the list of smartest countries in the world are:

Japan, Switzerland, China, US, Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, UK, Canada and South Korea..

Literacy rate of selected countries in 2015. Ranking given in the bracket

North Korea          100    (1)

Latvia                       99.9 (2)

Azerbaijan               99.8 (3)

Maldives                  99.3 (22)

China                        96.4 (54)

Sri Lanka                  92.6 (83)

Uganda                     78.4 (114)

Kenya                        78.0 (115)

India                          71.2 (124)

India rank 177 out of 180 in Environmental Performance Index (or to say cleanliness) Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Luxembourg, Estonia and Ireland are top in the list.

Crime Index of selected countries (2019 mid year)

Ranking, Country and Crime Index

1. Venezuela                       84.86

2. Papua New Guinea        80.26

3. South Africa                    77.02

5. Afghanistan                    73.36

24 Somalia                          58.74

47 Sweden                          47.21

49 USA                                46.73

56 Pakistan                        44.58

65 India                              42.38

Corruption Perception Index 2018

Rank        Country          Score

1. Denmark                       88

2. New Zealand                87

3. Finland                          85

4. Sweden                         85

11 UK                                 80

18 Japan                           73

22 USA                              71

23 UAE                              70

25 Bhutan                         68

34 Israel                            61

53 Italy                              52

78 India                             41

According to reports compiled by a group of travel firms, the following are the 10 safest countries for women to travel alone.

1. Finland 2. Canada 3. New Zealand

4. Uruguay 5. Switzerland 6. Belgium

7. Austria 8. Iceland 9. Japan

10. Chile

As per Thomson Reuters Foundation, The World's 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Women are:

1. India 2. Afghanistan 3. Syria

4. Somalia 5. Soudi Arabia 6. Pakistan

7. DR of Congo 8. Yemen 9. Nigeria

10. USA

Countries Ranked by Overall Score

(Main factors considered are: Government representation, Cellphone use, Employment, Financial access, Education, Intimate partner violence, Community safety, Organized violence, Discriminatory norms, Son bias and Legal discrimination)

(The first figure indicates ranking)

1. Norway 2. Switzerland 3. Finland

9. Sweden 11. Canada  14. New Zealand  9. USA  22. Australia 28. Italy

29. Japan  51. Russia  74. Zimbabwe

76. China  84. Nepal  94. Tanzania

107. Sri Lanka 109. Uganda

133. India

Demographic rankings of India

(Item / Ranking-Total countries / Source / Notes)

_______________

Population - 2/238 - CIA world Factbook - 1,296,834,042 in July 2018

Age structure:

0 - 14 years 26.98%

15 - 24          17.79%

25 - 54          41.24%

55 - 64            7.6%

65 and above 6.39%

Population density - 33/246 - Economist Intelligence Unit - 403 per sq km in 2017

Fertility rate - 103/210 - Population Reference Bureau - 2.4 children per woman in 2018

Life expectancy - 125/183 - World Health Organization - 68.8 years - 2017

Death rate - 7.3 deaths/1000 (2018)

Infant mortality - 113/223 - CIA - 32 per 1000 in 2017

Urbanization:

Urban population 34% of the total population

2.37% annual rate of change (2015-20)

Sex ratio - male/female - 2017

at birth 1.12 male/female

0 - 14    1.13

15 - 24  1.13

25 - 54  1.06

55 - 64  1.01

65 and above 0.9 male/female

Total population 1.08

People living with HIV/AIDS

2.1 million (2017)

HIV/AIDS death - 69,000 (2017)

Health expenditure - 4.7% of GDP (2014)

Physicians density - 0.76/1000 (2016)

Hospital bed density - 0.7/1000(2011)

KV George

kvgeorgein@gmail.com