The World Bank released Human Capital Index (HCI) as part of the World Development Report 2019.

The HCI has been constructed for 157 countries. It claims to seek to measure the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18. The HCI index values are contended to convey the productivity of the next generation of workers, compared to a benchmark of complete standard education and full health.

The HCI has three components:

(i) Survival, as measured by under-5 mortality rates;

(ii) Expected years of Quality-Adjusted School which combines information on the quantity and quality of education (quality is measured by harmonizing test scores from major international student achievement testing programs and quantity from number of years of school that a child can expect to obtain by age 18 given the prevailing pattern of enrolment rates across grades in respective countries); and

(iii) Health environment using two proxies of (a) adult survival rates and (b) the rate of stunting for children under age 5.

UNDP constructs Human Development Index (HDI) for several years. The HCI uses survival rates and stunting rate instead of life expectancy as measure of health, and quality-adjusted learning instead of merely years of schooling as measure of education. HCI also excludes per capita income whereas the HDI uses it.

Two significant changes from HDI are exclusion of income component and introduction of quality adjustment in learning. Exclusion of income element and introduction of quality adjustment makes HCI far less representative of Human Capital Development than the Index claims it to be.

Source "

https://www.unicef.org/sowc/ "

• 'Water for Life' Decade - 2005-2015
• International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade - 1981-1990
• International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development - 2018-2028

The Water Action Decade 2018-2028 will accelerate efforts towards meeting water-related challenges, including limited access to safe water and sanitation, increasing pressure on water resources and ecosystems, and an exacerbated risk of droughts and floods.

In the news: PIB ;

UN1 ; UN2

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Itai-itai disease was the name given to the mass cadmium poisoning of Toyama Prefecture, Japan, starting around 1912. Cadmium poisoning can also cause softening of the bones and kidney failure.

Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, in 1956.

The most common cause of blue baby syndrome is water contaminated with nitrates. "

Municipality has three authorities, namely, the council, the standing committees and the chief executive officer.

The council is the deliberative and legislative wing of the municipality. It consists of the councillors directly elected by the people. The council is headed by a president/chairman. He is assisted by a vice-president/vice-chairman. He presides over the meetings of the council.

Statement 2 is incorrect:

Unlike the Mayor of a municipal corporation, he plays a significant role and is the pivot of the municipal administration. Apart from presiding over the meetings of the Council, he enjoys executive powers. The standing committees are created to facil-itate the working of the council. They deal with public works, taxation, health, finance and so on.

Statement 3 is correct:

The chief executive officer/chief municipal officer is responsible for day-to-day general administration of the municipality. He is appointed by the state government.