The most POSITIVE countries in the world

The United States has topped the list of most positive countries of the world this year after taking away the top position from last year's winner Australia.

During the beginning of this month, Daily Positive (D+), a Melbourne-based online media for positive news, announced the top ten winners of the World's Most Positive Countries for 2012.

Reportage: Syed Tashfin Chowdhury

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This is the second time that Daily Positive (D+) has organised the award series that recognises the positive achievements, initiatives and actions accomplished by each country.  Based on the accomplishments of the different countries, D+ publishes an annual list of 10 most positive countries.

In this year's list, US gets the first position (905 points), Australia is at second (831 points), followed by England (778), China (734) and Japan (648).

At the sixth position lies Germany with 602 points, Canada at seventh with 593 points and France at eighth with 575 points.
India came in at ninth with 541 points followed by Sweden with 520 points.

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The points were calculated based on a global expert panel rating, D+ journalists-volunteers rating, a global social media survey, and the number of positive news entries in 2012 in the D+ website.

D+ explained the reasons behind the top 10 World's Most Positive Countries 2012:

USA came in at first position with 905 points as it maintained a strong sense of innovation throughout the year. From the Nobel Prize wins to Mars Rover of NASA besides showing some positive signs of economic recovery, the USA was positively in the news throughout the year. Also, the presidential election campaigns attracted positive attitude towards the USA, demonstrating the stable political system amid fierce contest between the incumbent President and his opponent.

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Australia lost its last year's top position but managed to become the runner-up with 831 points. Despite the apparent political backlog, the nation continued to maintain a strong economy compared to the other developed countries in 2012.

The country was also praised for its contribution in medical science, efficient natural disaster management and for introducing tax on carbon emitters, becoming the first country in the world to do this.

At third position, England (778 points) was in the news for the 2012 Olympic Games and Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Insights for Scotland's independence also improved the English image in general.

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China (734 points) was in the fourth position as it was considered as a major driving force in the world economy, despite its economy showing signs of slowing down.

Japan (648 points) was hailed for continuous progress in science, infrastructure and research despite the burden of natural disasters. Japan was also praised for contribution in socio-economic development and humanitarian work.

Germany, which is at sixth position (602 points) and France, which is at the eighth spot (575 points), are leading the current European Union crisis and to some extent are considered as positive to the EU crisis due to their impact on the world economy.

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At seventh position with 593 points, Canada's involvements in global leadership issues were seen as somewhat limited. Nevertheless, its people maintained better lifestyle. Canada was also acknowledged for its political stability and humanitarian work.

Despite its ninth position with 541 points, India's successful fight against polio stood out. Apart from that, India has been creating a positive image with its consistent economic growth despite alleged widespread corruption.

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At the tenth and final position with 520 points, Sweden's winning of the Eurovision song contest title, as well as success in the fields of medical science and information technology helped the country get into the list.

Apart from the top 10 winners, Myanmar had a year of positive political changes and reforms.

Despite Russia's negative media coverage, it established itself as frontrunner in space programmes, which also includes collaborative programmes with old rival US.

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Brazil not only kept showing leadership in the Latin American region, but also led with environmental initiatives to create examples for the rest of the world.

When asked about the situation of other SAARC countries, Dr Arif Jubaer, founder of Daily Positive, said, "Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Afghanistan and Bhutan all had their shares of positive news. The competition is always very tight and sometimes some countries do not make it to the list just by a few points."

He added, "Now, we publish a list of 10 most positive countries as our aim is to encourage individuals and countries to take more positive action to be able to get into this exclusive list. At the same time, as we are spreading this positive message, we do not want to name a country top-most and the other country as the 190th positive-most, which gives the later a feeling of being inferior compared to the topmost positive countries."

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