Question

Consider the following statements about India's ranking in the Human Development Index (HDI) for 2025. Which one is correct?

1. India is ranked 130th on the Human Development Index (HDI) in the 2025 report.
2. India's ranking places it among the top 100 countries globally in human development.
3. The Human Development Index primarily evaluates countries based on their military strength.
4. India's HDI value is higher than that of Iceland.

• A. iii മാത്രം
• B. ii, iii
• C. i മാത്രം
• D. ഇവയൊന്നുമല്ല

Answer 1

Answer:

C. i മാത്രം

Human Development Index (HDI) - Explained

• The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development.

• It is published annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of its Human Development Report (HDR).

• HDI assesses a country's progress in three fundamental dimensions:

• Long and healthy life: Measured by life expectancy at birth.

• Knowledge: Measured by mean years of schooling (average years of education received by people aged 25 and older) and expected years of schooling (number of years of schooling a child of school-entry age can expect to receive).

• A decent standard of living: Measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (purchasing power parity - PPP $).

• Countries are categorized into four tiers based on their HDI value: Very High, High, Medium, and Low Human Development.

India's HDI Performance and Context

• India's HDI rank typically hovers around the 130-134 mark in recent reports.

• For instance, in the 2021-22 Human Development Report (released in 2022), India ranked 132 out of 191 countries.

• In the 2023-24 Human Development Report (released in early 2024), India's rank improved slightly to 134 out of 193 countries.

• The statement indicating India's rank as 130th for 2025 is plausible within this historical range and is presented as the correct option for the given question, reflecting potential future trends or a general approximation.

• India currently falls under the Medium Human Development category.

• Therefore, statements implying India is among the top 100 countries are incorrect, as its rank is consistently outside this range.

• The HDI is not based on military strength; it is purely an indicator of social and economic development.

• Countries like Iceland consistently rank among the top global performers in HDI (in the Very High Human Development category), making any statement that India's HDI value is higher than Iceland's incorrect.

Key Facts for Competitive Exams

• The first Human Development Report was published in 1990 by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

• Apart from HDI, UNDP also publishes other related indices in its HDR:

• Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI): Accounts for inequalities in the distribution of health, education, and income.

• Gender Inequality Index (GII): Measures gender inequalities in three important aspects of human development—reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activity.

• Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Identifies multiple deprivations at the individual level in health, education, and living standards.

• Planetary Pressures-adjusted Human Development Index (PHDI): Introduced recently, it discounts a country's HDI by its per capita carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint, reflecting environmental sustainability.