Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R). Assertion (A) :There is a positive relation between Human Development Index (HDI) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) ranking of Indian State. Reason (R) :The underlying dimension of SDG targets are closely related to education and health aspect. Select the correct answer from the codes given below:

The correct answer is A. Both the assertion and the reason are true, and the reason explains why the assertion holds.

The HDI rests on three pillars: health (life expectancy at birth), education (expected and mean years of schooling) and income (GNI per capita). The SDG India Index by NITI Aayog covers a wider set of goals, but its health (SDG 3) and education (SDG 4) goals carry substantial weight. Because the two indices share these core dimensions, states that do well on one usually do well on the other. Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu typically rank high on both, which is the positive relation the assertion describes.

• Option B is wrong because the reason does explain the assertion: the shared health and education content is the reason the rankings move together.
• Option C is wrong because the reason is accurate; SDG targets do strongly involve education and health.
• Option D is wrong because the assertion is true; the correlation between state HDI and SDG rankings is positive.

Mains angle: this links to the debate on whether composite indices merely repeat social-sector outcomes or capture distinct sustainability concerns such as environment and governance. Rankings are revised every year, so check the latest edition before quoting figures.

Trap: aspirants pick B by assuming that a correct reason must be a different concept from the assertion, when here the reason is the very mechanism behind the link.