In the Global Innovation Index 2017, co-authored by Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation WIPO , India has moved up 6 places to reach 60th place among 130 countries emerging as the top-ranked economy in Central and South Asia. This is the 10th edition of the Global Innovation Index 2017 GII. Salient Highlights Top 10 most Innovative countries: Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, the US, the UK, Denmark, Singapore, Finland, Germany and Ireland. Switzerland leads the rankings for the 7 th consecutive year. The index is dominated by high-income economies which took 24 of the top 25 spots except for China which is ranked at 22 nd spot. Pakistan has been ranked as 113th followed by Bangladesh at 114. BRICS countries: Brazil 69 , Russia 45 , China 22 , South Africa 57. India India has made improvements in the rankings after five continuous years of decline in the ranking. The index has highlighted the continuous improvement of India in terms of investment, tertiary education, quality of its publications and universities, ICT service exports etc. GII GII surveys are conducted every year which analyses 130 economies and aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of innovation. The index makes use of a dozen parameters ranging from patent filings to education spending and offers the decision makers a high-level look at the innovative activity which are drivers of economic and social growth. GII, over the last few years has established itself as a leading reference on innovation. World Intellectual Property Organisation WIPO is the global body for promotion and protection of intellectual property rights IPR , headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Apart from the lawyers, law school clinics, District Legal Service Authorities, voluntary service providers and Non-Government Organisations working on legal aid and empowerment can also be connected through the CSCs. In the initial phase, the initiative will be tested as a pilot project across 500 Common Service Centres CSC in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In this phase, challenges to the initiative would be identified and necessary corrections would be made and would eventually be rolled out across the country in a phased manner. The initiative would strengthen access to justice for the marginalized communities. The government will also put in place a robust monitoring and evaluation system to assess the quality of the legal advice delivered to the people. Under the initiative, a Para Legal Volunteer PLV , would be employed in each CSC. The volunteer would serve as the first point of contact for the marginalized communities in the rural areas who will help them understand the legal issues, explain the advice given by lawyers and assist in further action as per the advice of the lawyer. Around 1000 women Para Legal Volunteers will also be trained under this initiative to provide legal aid services through the CSCs. This is expected to promote women entrepreneurship and empowerment. Further, the National Legal Service Authority NALSA will also provide a panel of lawyers who will provide advice from the state capitals to the applicants in the CSCs through video conferencing.
