[Sreekar]

Bhutan better than India on Human Development Index
(source:IBNLive News | News Homepage)

India lost two places on the Human Development Index (HDI) prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) compared with last year.


The just released Human Development reports places India at 128 spot among 177 countries rated by it and Pakistan is eight places below at 136. But interestingly, Myanmar is placed higher than both the countries at 132, just above Bhutan.


Sri Lanka is at 99th position and Nepal way down at 144. China gets 81st spot. Iceland narrowly passed Norway to take the top spot. Norway which had occupied top place for last six years slipped to second position as a result of new estimates of life expectancy and updated GDP per capita, the authors of the report say.

Introduced in 1999, the HDI assess the state of human development based on several factors including life expectancy, adult literacy and school enrollment at primary, secondary and tertiary levels as also income.


The top five positions are occupied by Iceland, Norway, Australia, Canada and Ireland. The bottom five are Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Mali.

-Thanks much,
Sreekar