Based mostly on pre-Modi data, India allegedly jumps 15 points in Innovation Index 2016

Modi aide and Niti Ayog vice-chairman Panagariya's tweet

By Rajiv Shah
Top aides of Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have declared, on the basis of the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2016, that India shows an improvement of 15 points in a year, suggesting it's a huge success in strategy to encourage innovation. However, ironically, most of the GII score is based on data collected in 2014 or earlier.
Of the 82 indicators, on the basis of which the GII score has been worked out, just 22 are based on data from 2015, while 41, or exactly half, on data from 2014. Modi came to power in May 2014. Rest of the data is either of the year 2012 or 2013, when the UPA was firmly in the saddle.
While the 451-page GII 2016 report, which has been jointly sponsored by top institutes Cornell University, INSTEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization, its knowledge partners include Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s top industries body, followed by well-known consultants AT Kearney, and the European Innovation Management Academy.
Prepared by Soumitra Dutta, Bruno Lanvin and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, the report says, “Gone are the days when the local could not drive the global. As nations in the developing world become ever more globalized, innovation linkages are quickly gaining prominence, leading to collaboration among nations involving academia and industry as a key driver of economic growth.”
“India maintains its top place in the region (South Asia), moving up 15 spots from 81st last year to 66th overall”, the report states, adding, the second country to come close to India is Kazakhstan, moving up seven spots, from 82nd to 75th overall. The Islamic Republic of Iran ranks 78th, followed by Tajikistan 86th, Sri Lanka 91st, Bhutan 96th, Kyrgyzstan 103rd, Nepal 115th, Bangladesh 117th, and Pakistan 119th.
Switzerland ranks No 1 in GII 2016, followed by Sweden, UK, US, Singapore, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany and South Korea. Japan ranks No 16, Australia No 19, China No 25, Russia No 43, South Africa No 54, and Brazil No 69.
Indicators that that “helped” improve India’s overall performance, the report indicates, include “bilateral or plurilateral” funding for R&D partnerships and policy dialogues such as the US-India Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.
The report includes an article“Leveraging Talent Globally to Scale Indian Innovation” by Gopichand Katragadda, Tata Sons, Aravind Bharadwaj, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, which claims, “India has all the ingredients needed to become a global driver of innovation: It has a strong market potential, an excellent talent pool, and an underlying culture of frugal innovation.”
“The country maintains stable or improved rankings across all pillars, with the most significant improvements in human capital and research (up 40 spots) and business sophistication (up 59 spots)”, “India’s ranking in the business sophistication pillar is affected most by a substantial improvement in knowledge workers (up 46 spots) and knowledge absorption (up 33 spots).”
At the same time, the report regrets, “India shows weakness in two sub-pillars: Business environment (117th) and education (118th). In the former pillar, ease of starting a business (114th), and in the latter, the pupil-teacher ratio (103rd) and tertiary inbound mobility (99th) are three areas where India can seek improvement.”
“Progress is also needed in environmental performance (110th) on the input side; on the output side, indicators measuring new businesses (101st), global entertainment and media market (59th), and printing and publishing manufactures (84th) all show room for improvement”, it says.

Comments

US-China truce temporary, larger trade war between two economies to continue

By Prabir Purkayastha The Trump-Xi meeting in Busan, South Korea on 30 October 2025 may have brought about a temporary relief in the US-China trade war. But unless we see the fine print of the agreement, it is difficult to assess whether this is a temporary truce or the beginning of a real rapprochement between the two nations. The jury is still out on that one and we will wait for a better understanding of what has really been achieved in Busan.

When growth shrinks people: Capitalism and the biological decline of the U.S. population

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Critically acclaimed Hungarian-American economic historian and distinguished scholar of economic anthropometric history, Prof. John Komlos (Professor Emeritus, University of Munich), who pioneered the study of the history of human height and weight, has published an article titled “The Decline in the Physical Stature of the U.S. Population Parallels the Diminution in the Rate of Increase in Life Expectancy” on October 31, 2025, in the forthcoming issue of Social Science & Medicine (SSM) – Population Health, Volume 32, December 2025. The findings of the article present a damning critique of the barbaric nature of capitalism and its detrimental impact on human health, highlighting that the average height of Americans began to decline during the era of free-market capitalism. The study draws on an analysis of 17 surveys from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (...

Justice for Zubeen Garg: Fans persist as investigations continue in India and Singapore

By Nava Thakuria* Even a month after the death of Assam’s cultural icon Zubeen Garg in Singapore under mysterious circumstances, thousands of his fans and admirers across eastern India continue their campaign for “ JusticeForZubeenGarg .” A large digital campaign has gained momentum, with over two million social media users from around the world demanding legal action against those allegedly responsible. Although the Assam government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has arrested seven people, and a judicial commission headed by Justice Soumitra Saikia of the Gauhati High Court to oversee the probe, public pressure for justice remains strong.

Is vaccine the Voldemort of modern medicine to be left undiscussed, unscrutinised?

By Deepika* Sridhar Vembu of Zoho stirred up an internet storm by tweeting about the possible link of autism to the growing number of vaccines given to children in India . He had only asked the parents to analyse the connection but doctors, so called public health experts vehemently started opposing Vembu's claims, labeling them "dangerous misinformation" that could erode “vaccine trust”!

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Trump escalates threats of war against Venezuela, as millions in US set to lose essential benefits

By Manolo De Los Santos The United States government is in the grips of one of its longest-running funding gaps in history. The ongoing government shutdown has already stretched beyond 30 days and now, the food security of millions of Americans is at risk as the funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is drying up and Trump officials have refused to tap into contingency funds . Approximately 42 million individuals per month rely on SNAP benefits and are set to lose them beginning on November 1.

Gujarat civil society to move Supreme Court against controversial electoral roll revision

By Rajiv Shah A recent, well-attended meeting of Gujarat civil society activists in Ahmedabad , held to discuss the impact of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, has decided to file a petition in the Supreme Court against the controversial exercise initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) across the country. Announcing this, senior High Court advocate Anand Yagnik , who heads the Gujarat chapter of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), said that a committee has already been formed to examine the pros and cons of SIR. “While the SIR exercise began in Gujarat on November 4 and is scheduled to continue for a month, we will file a supporting petition in the case against SIR in the Gujarat High Court or the Supreme Court after observing how it proceeds in the state,” he said. Yagnik’s announcement followed senior advocate Shahrukh Alam —who is arguing the SIR case in the Supreme Court—urging Gujarat’s civil society to also file ...

Why PESA, a Birsa Munda legacy, remains India’s unfulfilled commitment to its tribal peoples

By Raj Kumar Sinha* Nearly three decades ago, the Indian Parliament enacted a landmark law for tribal regions — the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, better known as PESA. This legislation sought to restore the traditional autonomy of tribal societies and empower them to use local resources according to their customs and needs. However, such decentralization never sat well with today’s developmental politicians, capitalists, and bureaucrats. The question therefore arises — what makes PESA so important?

Search This Blog