Skip to main content

Academic freedom index: German-Swedish report places India below Pakistan, Sri Lanka

By A Representative
A recent study “Free Universities Report: Putting the Academic Freedom Index Into Action”, jointly prepared by two institutes in Germany in Sweden has placed India below Pakistan in its Academic Freedom Index (AFi), stating India is among the “one-third of countries with the worst performances in 2019” with a “D” status, with an AFi score, between 0.4 and 0.2 on a scale of 1.
Stating that India is one of the country which have de jure guarantees in place, while extensive violations of academic freedom occur in practice.” The report has been prepared by Germany’s Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and Sweden’s V-Dem Institute.
On a scale of 1, while Pakistan scores 0.554 and Sri Lanka 0.506, while India scores 0.352. As a matter of comparison, United Kingdom scores 0.934, Brazil 0.466, Singapore 0.411 and Russia 0.364 (a little better than India), while Bangladesh and China a poor 0.195 and 0.101 respectively (in E status, below 0.2). The report says, there was “insufficient data” to rate US and Australia along with several African countries, Burma and Afghanistan.

Comments

TRENDING

100,000 dead, 4 million displaced: Myanmar's post-coup war grinds on as the junta loses ground

By Nava Thakuria*  At least 100,000 people, including civilians, have been killed in Myanmar's conflicts since the military coup of 1 February 2021, according to the UN. Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, gave the figure to the UN General Assembly in New York on 27 October 2026. She called President Min Aung Hlaing a tyrant who still deliberately attacks civilians to force them into submission.

Delhi’s waste-to-energy plants emit 3.5 times more carbon than coal, new report reveals

Counterview News  Centre for Financial Accountability exposes the “plastic paradox” and calls for an end to climate finance for incineration, urging a shift to genuine zero-waste systems *** A damning new report by the Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) and the National Alliance for Climate and Ecological Justice (NACEJ) has exposed the severe climate cost of waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration in India. Titled “The Climate Cost of Burning Waste,” the study reveals that Delhi’s WTE plants produce electricity that is significantly more carbon-intensive than coal, challenging the government’s classification of these facilities as "renewable" energy sources.

Israel’s political deadlock: Arab parties may emerge as potential kingmakers

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  The final results of Israel’s recent general election have produced a deeply divided parliament, placing Arab-led political parties in a potentially decisive position in determining the country’s next government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing alliance have secured 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the opposition alliance led by Gadi Eisenkot has won 48 seats. Arab-led parties have secured 19 seats. Since a majority of 61 seats is required to form a government, neither of the two main political blocs has the numbers needed to govern independently.