Poor record

Environment Protection Columbia and Yale universities USA

An index published in January by researchers from Yale and Columbia universities in the us ranks nations on their success in environmental protection and commitment to sustainable development. India is ranked a lowly 101 among the 146 countries surveyed. Finland, Norway and Uruguay came out on top. Alarmingly, but unsurprisingly, the us is ranked 45th behind such countries as Japan, Botswana, the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and most of Western Europe. The lowest-ranking country was North Korea. The index is based on 75 measures, including the rate at which children die from respiratory diseases, water quality, fertility rates, emission of heat-trapping gases and the export of sodium dioxide, a crucial component of acid rain.