Indians happier than Americans and British
By siliconindia   |   Tuesday, 04 August 2009, 14:49 IST   |    59 Comments
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Indians happier than Americans and British
Bangalore: According to a survey conducted, India is way far ahead of many developed countries such as U.S. and U.K in terms of happy lives and eco friendliness. Amongst the 143 nations, India was ranked at 35th while U.S. and U.K are ranked at 114th and 74th spot respectively. The survey also noted that "the countries that are meant to represent successful development are some of the worst-performing in terms of sustainable well-being. The index provides a measure of the ecological efficiency with which happy and healthy lives are supported." The survey, 'Happy Planet Index (HPI)' was conducted by UK-based New Economics Foundation. The index is based on high life expectancy, high life satisfaction and ecological footprint. According to the report, ecological footprint of a person is a measure of the amount of land required to provide for all the resource requirements for that person, plus the amount of vegetated land required to absorb his CO2 emissions and the CO2 emissions embodied in the products he consumes. The report has ranked Costa Rica at the top of the list. Amongst the other BRIC nations, Brazil and China are ranked at ninth and 20th places respectively while Russia is ranked at 108th. The survey has covered around 99 percent of the world's population. The survey also noted that there is actually a negative connection between GDP growth and change in HPI scores between 1990 and 2005. "In an age of uncertainty, society globally needs a new compass to set it on a path of real progress. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) provides that compass by measuring what truly matters to us - our well-being in terms of long, happy and meaningful lives - and what matters to the planet - our rate of resource consumption," the report further added.

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