Note :-We are running little late as far as the date is concerned , but the time lag will be over soon.We can end it in a single day , but that may compromise our quality, thus we have taken up this approach to fill the gap one step at a time without any impact on quality.Don’t miss this article or the article that are about to come, they will be of vital importance as far as exam is concerned.Ignorance is unafforadable. A single error can cost a year, kindly don’t procrastinate.
Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS)
The Natural Resources Data Management System (NRDMS) Programme was launched in 1982 with the objectives of developing and demonstrating scientific methods and techniques for local level planning. It envisions enabling people, communities and institutions of Local Self-Governance with requisite databases and Science & Technology tools for informed participation in local level governance.
The objective of the Programme is to set up integrated geo-spatial databases at lower area units like Districts and Sub-Districts, demonstrating their utility in various application sectors like Rural Development by developing Village Information Systems and Urban Development by Municipal GIS systems. The other areas of application include Water Resources Management, Conservation of Environment & Forests, Mining & Mineral Explorations, Natural Disaster Management with special reference to Landslides, Infrastructure Development, Capacity Building and Human Resource Development, promoting and providing R&D support in emerging areas of Geospatial Technologies, forging linkage with stakeholders, and documenting and disseminating the Programme outputs amongst the end user agencies.
National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board
In order to provide dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of Medical Tourism, Wellness Tourism and Yoga, Ayurveda Tourism and any other format of Indian system of medicine covered by Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH), a National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board has been constituted. The Board shall work as an umbrella organization that governs and promotes this segment of tourism in an organized manner. The Ministry would drive the promotion of Medical & Wellness Tourism and will act as a facilitator and support the medical/wellness segment in promoting tourism and promoting India as a medical and wellness destination. The Board held its first meeting on 13th January 2016 and will look into the issues relating to visa issues, accreditation of hospitals and allied services as well as marketing and promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism.
Buddhist Circuit under Swadesh Darshan Scheme
The Ministry of Tourism has launched the Swadesh Darshan scheme in the year 2014-15 with a vision to develop theme based tourist circuits on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergizing efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities. The Ministry has identified Buddhist Circuit as one of the thirteen thematic circuits for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme.
*Check editorials for details
Prevalence of Sickle Cell Anaemia Among Tribals
The prevalence of Sickle Cell Anemia is higher in the tribal belt of Central, Western and Southern India; not so much in the tribes of North-East India. It is chiefly confined to dravidians and pre-dravidians tribes inhabiting malaria endemic regions. There is a little worthwhile treatment for the disease as of now but with management of disease, severity and complications can be curtailed to improve the quality of life and life span. The sickle cell gene is passed from generation to generation in a pattern of inheritance.
Government has decided to screen three crore tribal children across the country to find the incidences of Sickle Cell Anemia among them. The children with Sickle Cell trait or disease are counselled through their parents not to marry the other carrying trait or disease in order to control spread of the disease to next generation. The Ministry organised regional training workshops in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to facilitate State/ UTs to train adequate manpower to undertake the screening exercise using a simple and cost effective screening test developed by ICMR. In addition, Department of Biotechnology is involved in research to find cure of the disease.
What Is Sickle Cell Disease?
The term sickle cell disease (SCD) describes a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. People with SCD have abnormal hemoglobin, called hemoglobin S or sickle hemoglobin, in their red blood cells.
Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen throughout the body.
“Inherited” means that the disease is passed by genes from parents to their children. SCD is not contagious. A person cannot catch it, like a cold or infection, from someone else.
People who have SCD inherit two abnormal hemoglobin genes, one from each parent. In all forms of SCD, at least one of the two abnormal genes causes a person’s body to make hemoglobin S. When a person has two hemoglobin S genes, Hemoglobin SS, the disease is called sickle cell anemia. This is the most common and often most severe kind of SCD.
Hemoglobin SC disease and hemoglobin Sβ thalassemia (thal-uh-SEE-me-uh) are two other common forms of SCD.
Some Forms of Sickle Cell Disease
- Hemoglobin SS
- Hemoglobin SC
- Hemoglobin Sβ0 thalassemia
- Hemoglobin Sβ+ thalassemia
- Hemoglobin SD
- Hemoglobin SE
Overview
Cells in tissues need a steady supply of oxygen to work well. Normally, hemoglobin in red blood cells takes up oxygen in the lungs and carries it to all the tissues of the body.
Red blood cells that contain normal hemoglobin are disc shaped (like a doughnut without a hole). This shape allows the cells to be flexible so that they can move through large and small blood vessels to deliver oxygen.
Sickle hemoglobin is not like normal hemoglobin. It can form stiff rods within the red cell, changing it into a crescent, or sickle shape.
Sickle-shaped cells are not flexible and can stick to vessel walls, causing a blockage that slows or stops the flow of blood. When this happens, oxygen can’t reach nearby tissues.
Normal Red Cells and Sickle Red Cells
The lack of tissue oxygen can cause attacks of sudden, severe pain, called pain crises. These pain attacks can occur without warning, and a person often needs to go to the hospital for effective treatment.
Most children with SCD are pain free between painful crises, but adolescents and adults may also suffer with chronic ongoing pain.
The red cell sickling and poor oxygen delivery can also cause organ damage. Over a lifetime, SCD can harm a person’s spleen, brain, eyes, lungs, liver, heart, kidneys, penis, joints, bones, or skin.
Sickle cells can’t change shape easily, so they tend to burst apart or hemolyze. Normal red blood cells live about 90 to 120 days, but sickle cells last only 10 to 20 days.
The body is always making new red blood cells to replace the old cells; however, in SCD the body may have trouble keeping up with how fast the cells are being destroyed. Because of this, the number of red blood cells is usually lower than normal. This condition, called anemia, can make a person have less energy.
Outlook
Sickle cell disease is a life-long illness. The severity of the disease varies widely from person to person.
In high-income countries like the United States, the life expectancy of a person with SCD is now about 40–60 years. In 1973, the average lifespan of a person with SCD in the United States was only 14 years. Advances in the diagnosis and care of SCD have made this improvement possible.
At the present time, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only cure for SCD. Unfortunately, most people with SCD are either too old for a transplant or don’t have a relative who is a good enough genetic match for them to act as a donor. A well-matched donor is needed to have the best chance for a successful transplant.
There are effective treatments that can reduce symptoms and prolong life. Early diagnosis and regular medical care to prevent complications also contribute to improved well-being.
Snapshot:-
Symptoms:-
Inclusion of Communities of Puducherry in ST List
Importance of this news:- The tribe names can be asked for mapping questions in prelims
UT Administration of Puducherry has submitted the proposal for declaration of communities namely (i) Irular (including Villi and Vettaikaran); (ii) Kattunayakan; (iii) Malalikuravan; (iv) Yerukkula; and (v) Kuruman as Scheduled Tribe.
Target for generation of nuclear power
The Integrated Energy Policy formulated in the year 2006 had envisaged reaching a nuclear power capacity of 63,000 MW by 2032. Further, the government in its recent submission of Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) has also stated that efforts are being made to achieve 63 GW installed capacity by the year 2032, if supply of fuel is ensured.
Rahuri in Ahmednagar Becomes First to have Digi-Locker
Rahuri Municipal Council of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra today became the first Municipal Council to attain the status of integrated with digital locker for the issuance of all essential Documents.
CORPAT:-
The Indonesian Navy and the Indian Navy have been participating in coordinated patrol (CORPAT) twice a year since 2002 to keep this vital part of the Indian Ocean Region safe and secure for commercial shipping and international trade.
Vidyanjali:-
The Central Government is working on a pilot programme ‘Vidyanjali’ to involve retired teachers, retired government officials including retired defense personnel, retired professionals, people from Indian diaspora and women who are home makers to volunteer for co-scholastic activities in schools. These volunteers will not be replacement for regular teachers and will not be involved in formal teaching. In a meeting of State Education Ministers held on February 08th, 2016 by the Ministry of HRD, nineteen States/UTs had expressed willingness to participate in this programme on pilot basis.
Setting up of New Courts
In accordance with the recommendations made by the Jaswant Singh commission and judgment pronounced by the Apex Court,High Court are established after due consideration of a complete proposal from the State Government, which is to provide infrastructure and meet the expenditure, along with the consent of the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court, which is required to look after the day to day administration of the High Court and its Bench. The proposal should also have the consent of the Governor of the concerned State.
Requests for establishment of High Court Benches in different parts of the country have been received from various sources, including some State Governments. However, at present there is no proposal complete in all aspects pending for consideration by the Central Government.
The Chief Minister of Kerala had sent a request in the year 2005 for setting up a bench of Kerala High Court at Thiruvananthapuram. The Chief Justice of High Court of Kerala has not approved the establishment of the High Court Bench at Thiruvananthapuram.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, provides for setting up of a separate High Court for the State of Andhra Pradesh. The Act also provides that once separate High Court for the State of Andhra Pradesh is established, the existing High Court will go to the State of Telangana. However, separate High Court for the State of Andhra Pradesh could not be established yet as the State government has not yet completed all the necessary infrastructure for setting up of a separate High Court.
Gauhati High Court is common High Court for State of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram & Arunachal Pradesh. Separate High Courts have been established w.e.f. 23.03.2013 in the States of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. Separate High Courts for the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram have not been established because the State Governments has not completed creation of necessary infrastructure. A statement showing the detail of the High Courts functioning in North-Eastern States alongwith the sanctioned/working strength of Judges in enclosed as Annexure.
Article 130 of the Constitution states that the Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint, the Law Commission, in its 229th Report had also suggested that a Constitutional Bench be set up at Delhi to deal with Constitutional and other allied issues of national importance and four Cassation Benches be set up in the Northern region at Delhi, the Southern region at Chennai/Hyderabad, the Eastern region at Kolkata and Western region at Mumbai to deal with all appellate work arising court of the orders/judgments of the High Courts of the particular region.
However, the Supreme Court has not agreed to such a proposal. There is also a Public Interest Litigation being heard by the Supreme Court on the need to set up a National Court of Appeal. The matter is sub-judice.
| High Court | Principal Seat | Jurisdiction |
| Gauhati | Guwahati | Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram,Arunachla Pradesh |
| Sikkim | Gangtok | Sikkim |
| Manipur | Imphal | Manipur |
| Meghalaya | Shillong | Meghalaya |
| Tripura | Agartala | Tripura |
Use of Hindi Language in Courts
Article 348 (1) of the Constitution of India provides that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High court shall be in English Language until Parliament by law otherwise provides. Under Article 348 (2), the Governor of the State may, with the previous consent of the President, authorize the use of the Hindi language or any other language used for any official purpose of the State, in the proceedings of the High Court having its principal seat in that State provided that decrees, judgments or orders passed by such High Courts shall be in English.
Section 7 of the Official Languages Act, 1963, provides that the use of Hindi or official language of a State in addition to the English language may be authorized, with the consent of the President of India, by the Governor of the State for purpose of judgments etc. made by the High Court for that State.
Government had taken up with the Supreme Court of India the proposals of the Governments of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka seeking consent of the President of India for allowing regional languages in the proceedings of their High Courts. However, the Full Court of the Supreme Court disapproved these proposals.
The provision of optional use of Hindi in proceedings has already been made in the High Courts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Encouraging Growth in Power Sector
For monitoring ongoing/delayed power projects for their timely completion:
• Central Electricity Authority (CEA) monitors the progress of under construction power projects through frequent site visits and interaction with the developers, equipment suppliers and other stakeholders to identify issues critical for commissioning of projects and help in resolving them.
• Regular reviews are also undertaken by Ministry of Power, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Cabinet Secretariat to identify the areas of constraint and facilitate faster resolution of inter- ministerial and other outstanding issues.
• A Power Project Monitoring Panel (PPMP) has been set up by the Ministry of Power for monitoring of on-going Thermal and Hydro Generation projects targeted for commissioning during the 12th Plan and beyond along with the associated transmission system.
• Issues are also raised in PRAGATI, for proactive governance and timely implementation, as and when required.
For development of Power Sector, the following schemes have been launched:
Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY) for :-
(i) Separation of agriculture and non-agriculture feeders facilitating judicious restoring of supply to agricultural & non-agriculture consumers in the rural areas; and
(ii) Strengthening and augmentation of sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure in rural areas, including metering of distribution transformers / feeders / consumers
(iii)Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution networks in the urban areas;
(iv) National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) for planning, monitoring and implementation of policies & programs related to development of smart grid in India
Water Crisis
The average annual per capita water availability in the country, as per 2011 census, was 1545 cubic meters; it is estimated to go down to 1340 cubic meters by the year 2025. State wise details of per capita water availability in the country are not maintained by the Central Government.
The availability of water resources is limited, but demand for water in the country is increasing due to increasing population, industrialization, urbanization and changing lifestyle. As a result water has become a relatively scarce resource in some areas of the country.
A per-capita water availability of less than 1700 cubic meters is considered as water stressed condition, whereas per-capita water availability below 1000 cubic meters is considered as a water scarcity condition.
Several measures for meeting water crisis through augmenting, conserving and using water resources more efficiently are undertaken by the State Governments. The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation provides technical and financial assistance to the State Governments in this regard through various schemes and programmes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme, Scheme for Repair, Renovation & Restoration of Water-bodies etc.
Central Ground Water Board, under this Ministry has prepared a conceptual document entitled “Master Plan for Artificial Recharge to Ground Water in India” during the year 2013 envisaging construction of 1.11 crore Rainwater Harvesting and Artificial Recharge structures in the country to harness 85 BCM (Billion Cubic Meters) of water. The augmented ground water resources will enhance the availability of water for drinking, domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes. The Master Plan has been circulated to all State Governments for implementation.
Water conservation and water harvesting structures to augment ground water constitute a special focus area for MGNREGA works and about 2/3rd of the expenditure is directly related to construction of such structures.
Central Government has launched the National Water Mission with the objective of conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its more equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management.
The National Water Policy, 2012 has been formulated which has made several recommendations for conservation, development and improved management of water resources in the country. Jal Kranti Abhiyan (2015-16 to 2017-18) has been launched in order to consolidate water conservation and management in the country through a holistic and integrated approach involving all stakeholders, making it a mass movement.
Recycle and reuse of water, after treatment to specified standards as well as rainwater harvesting and artificial recharge are being incentivized through various initiatives, programmes/ schemes of the Government. Improved water use efficiency in different sectors such as in irrigation (through micro-irrigation, e.g., drip, sprinkler etc.), industry and households is being encouraged through various initiatives, programmes/ schemes of the Government.
This Ministry has also formulated a National Perspective Plan (NPP) envisaging inter-basin transfer of water. The implementation of NPP would give benefits of approximately 35 million hectare of additional irrigation potential and 34000 mega watts (MW) hydro power generation apart from the incidental benefits of flood moderation, navigation, drinking and industrial water supply, fisheries, salinity and pollution control etc.
Cleaning of Hindon River:-
The assessment of the water quality of river Hindon by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) indicates that the river is not meeting the criteria with respect to Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, BOD, Total Coliform and Faecal Coliform. The Dissolved Oxygen as low as 0.4 mg/l has been observed downstream Saharanpur. The high level of BOD can be attributed to discharge of industrial effluents from number of electroplating and tannery units. River Hindon receives the municipal as well as industrial effluents from the township of Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, Baghpat and Gautam Buddhnagar.
Important take away form this news from exam perspective:-
- Hindon is a tributary of Yamuna
- Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, BOD, Total Coliform and Faecal Coliform are the parameters used to determine pollution level of a river
Recent Posts
Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.
On March 31, the World Economic Forum (WEF) released its annual Gender Gap Report 2021. The Global Gender Gap report is an annual report released by the WEF. The gender gap is the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes. The gap between men and women across health, education, politics, and economics widened for the first time since records began in 2006.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]No need to remember all the data, only pick out few important ones to use in your answers.
The Global gender gap index aims to measure this gap in four key areas : health, education, economics, and politics. It surveys economies to measure gender disparity by collating and analyzing data that fall under four indices : economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
The 2021 Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks 156 countries on their progress towards gender parity. The index aims to serve as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men in health, education, economy, and politics.
Although no country has achieved full gender parity, the top two countries (Iceland and Finland) have closed at least 85% of their gap, and the remaining seven countries (Lithuania, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Rwanda, and Ireland) have closed at least 80% of their gap. Geographically, the global top 10 continues to be dominated by Nordic countries, with —Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden—in the top five.
The top 10 is completed by one country from Asia Pacific (New Zealand 4th), two Sub-Saharan countries (Namibia, 6th and Rwanda, 7th, one country from Eastern Europe (the new entrant to the top 10, Lithuania, 8th), and another two Western European countries (Ireland, 9th, and Switzerland, 10th, another country in the top-10 for the first time).There is a relatively equitable distribution of available income, resources, and opportunities for men and women in these countries. The tremendous gender gaps are identified primarily in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
Here, we can discuss the overall global gender gap scores across the index’s four main components : Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
The indicators of the four main components are
(1) Economic Participation and Opportunity:
o Labour force participation rate,
o wage equality for similar work,
o estimated earned income,
o Legislators, senior officials, and managers,
o Professional and technical workers.
(2) Educational Attainment:
o Literacy rate (%)
o Enrollment in primary education (%)
o Enrollment in secondary education (%)
o Enrollment in tertiary education (%).
(3) Health and Survival:
o Sex ratio at birth (%)
o Healthy life expectancy (years).
(4) Political Empowerment:
o Women in Parliament (%)
o Women in Ministerial positions (%)
o Years with a female head of State (last 50 years)
o The share of tenure years.
The objective is to shed light on which factors are driving the overall average decline in the global gender gap score. The analysis results show that this year’s decline is mainly caused by a reversal in performance on the Political Empowerment gap.
Global Trends and Outcomes:
– Globally, this year, i.e., 2021, the average distance completed to gender parity gap is 68% (This means that the remaining gender gap to close stands at 32%) a step back compared to 2020 (-0.6 percentage points). These figures are mainly driven by a decline in the performance of large countries. On its current trajectory, it will now take 135.6 years to close the gender gap worldwide.
– The gender gap in Political Empowerment remains the largest of the four gaps tracked, with only 22% closed to date, having further widened since the 2020 edition of the report by 2.4 percentage points. Across the 156 countries covered by the index, women represent only 26.1% of some 35,500 Parliament seats and 22.6% of over 3,400 Ministers worldwide. In 81 countries, there has never been a woman head of State as of January 15, 2021. At the current rate of progress, the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take 145.5 years to attain gender parity in politics.
– The gender gap in Economic Participation and Opportunity remains the second-largest of the four key gaps tracked by the index. According to this year’s index results, 58% of this gap has been closed so far. The gap has seen marginal improvement since the 2020 edition of the report, and as a result, we estimate that it will take another 267.6 years to close.
– Gender gaps in Educational Attainment and Health and Survival are nearly closed. In Educational Attainment, 95% of this gender gap has been closed globally, with 37 countries already attaining gender parity. However, the ‘last mile’ of progress is proceeding slowly. The index estimates that it will take another 14.2 years to close this gap on its current trajectory completely.
In Health and Survival, 96% of this gender gap has been closed, registering a marginal decline since last year (not due to COVID-19), and the time to close this gap remains undefined. For both education and health, while progress is higher than economy and politics in the global data, there are important future implications of disruptions due to the pandemic and continued variations in quality across income, geography, race, and ethnicity.
India-Specific Findings:
India had slipped 28 spots to rank 140 out of the 156 countries covered. The pandemic causing a disproportionate impact on women jeopardizes rolling back the little progress made in the last decades-forcing more women to drop off the workforce and leaving them vulnerable to domestic violence.
India’s poor performance on the Global Gender Gap report card hints at a serious wake-up call and learning lessons from the Nordic region for the Government and policy makers.
Within the 156 countries covered, women hold only 26 percent of Parliamentary seats and 22 percent of Ministerial positions. India, in some ways, reflects this widening gap, where the number of Ministers declined from 23.1 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2021. The number of women in Parliament stands low at 14.4 percent. In India, the gender gap has widened to 62.5 %, down from 66.8% the previous year.
It is mainly due to women’s inadequate representation in politics, technical and leadership roles, a decrease in women’s labor force participation rate, poor healthcare, lagging female to male literacy ratio, and income inequality.
The gap is the widest on the political empowerment dimension, with economic participation and opportunity being next in line. However, the gap on educational attainment and health and survival has been practically bridged.
India is the third-worst performer among South Asian countries, with Pakistan and Afghanistan trailing and Bangladesh being at the top. The report states that the country fared the worst in political empowerment, regressing from 23.9% to 9.1%.
Its ranking on the health and survival dimension is among the five worst performers. The economic participation and opportunity gap saw a decline of 3% compared to 2020, while India’s educational attainment front is in the 114th position.
India has deteriorated to 51st place from 18th place in 2020 on political empowerment. Still, it has slipped to 155th position from 150th position in 2020 on health and survival, 151st place in economic participation and opportunity from 149th place, and 114th place for educational attainment from 112th.
In 2020 reports, among the 153 countries studied, India is the only country where the economic gender gap of 64.6% is larger than the political gender gap of 58.9%. In 2021 report, among the 156 countries, the economic gender gap of India is 67.4%, 3.8% gender gap in education, 6.3% gap in health and survival, and 72.4% gender gap in political empowerment. In health and survival, the gender gap of the sex ratio at birth is above 9.1%, and healthy life expectancy is almost the same.
Discrimination against women has also been reflected in Health and Survival subindex statistics. With 93.7% of this gap closed to date, India ranks among the bottom five countries in this subindex. The wide sex ratio at birth gaps is due to the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices. Besides, more than one in four women has faced intimate violence in her lifetime.The gender gap in the literacy rate is above 20.1%.
Yet, gender gaps persist in literacy : one-third of women are illiterate (34.2%) than 17.6% of men. In political empowerment, globally, women in Parliament is at 128th position and gender gap of 83.2%, and 90% gap in a Ministerial position. The gap in wages equality for similar work is above 51.8%. On health and survival, four large countries Pakistan, India, Vietnam, and China, fare poorly, with millions of women there not getting the same access to health as men.
The pandemic has only slowed down in its tracks the progress India was making towards achieving gender parity. The country urgently needs to focus on “health and survival,” which points towards a skewed sex ratio because of the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices and women’s economic participation. Women’s labour force participation rate and the share of women in technical roles declined in 2020, reducing the estimated earned income of women, one-fifth of men.
Learning from the Nordic region, noteworthy participation of women in politics, institutions, and public life is the catalyst for transformational change. Women need to be equal participants in the labour force to pioneer the societal changes the world needs in this integral period of transition.
Every effort must be directed towards achieving gender parallelism by facilitating women in leadership and decision-making positions. Social protection programmes should be gender-responsive and account for the differential needs of women and girls. Research and scientific literature also provide unequivocal evidence that countries led by women are dealing with the pandemic more effectively than many others.
Gendered inequality, thereby, is a global concern. India should focus on targeted policies and earmarked public and private investments in care and equalized access. Women are not ready to wait for another century for equality. It’s time India accelerates its efforts and fight for an inclusive, equal, global recovery.
India will not fully develop unless both women and men are equally supported to reach their full potential. There are risks, violations, and vulnerabilities women face just because they are women. Most of these risks are directly linked to women’s economic, political, social, and cultural disadvantages in their daily lives. It becomes acute during crises and disasters.
With the prevalence of gender discrimination, and social norms and practices, women become exposed to the possibility of child marriage, teenage pregnancy, child domestic work, poor education and health, sexual abuse, exploitation, and violence. Many of these manifestations will not change unless women are valued more.
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]2021 WEF Global Gender Gap report, which confirmed its 2016 finding of a decline in worldwide progress towards gender parity.
Over 2.8 billion women are legally restricted from having the same choice of jobs as men. As many as 104 countries still have laws preventing women from working in specific jobs, 59 countries have no laws on sexual harassment in the workplace, and it is astonishing that a handful of countries still allow husbands to legally stop their wives from working.
Globally, women’s participation in the labour force is estimated at 63% (as against 94% of men who participate), but India’s is at a dismal 25% or so currently. Most women are in informal and vulnerable employment—domestic help, agriculture, etc—and are always paid less than men.
Recent reports from Assam suggest that women workers in plantations are paid much less than men and never promoted to supervisory roles. The gender wage gap is about 24% globally, and women have lost far more jobs than men during lockdowns.
The problem of gender disparity is compounded by hurdles put up by governments, society and businesses: unequal access to social security schemes, banking services, education, digital services and so on, even as a glass ceiling has kept leadership roles out of women’s reach.
Yes, many governments and businesses had been working on parity before the pandemic struck. But the global gender gap, defined by differences reflected in the social, political, intellectual, cultural and economic attainments or attitudes of men and women, will not narrow in the near future without all major stakeholders working together on a clear agenda—that of economic growth by inclusion.
The WEF report estimates 135 years to close the gap at our current rate of progress based on four pillars: educational attainment, health, economic participation and political empowerment.
India has slipped from rank 112 to 140 in a single year, confirming how hard women were hit by the pandemic. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two Asian countries that fared worse.
Here are a few things we must do:
One, frame policies for equal-opportunity employment. Use technology and artificial intelligence to eliminate biases of gender, caste, etc, and select candidates at all levels on merit. Numerous surveys indicate that women in general have a better chance of landing jobs if their gender is not known to recruiters.
Two, foster a culture of gender sensitivity. Take a review of current policies and move from gender-neutral to gender-sensitive. Encourage and insist on diversity and inclusion at all levels, and promote more women internally to leadership roles. Demolish silos to let women grab potential opportunities in hitherto male-dominant roles. Work-from-home has taught us how efficiently women can manage flex-timings and productivity.
Three, deploy corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the education and skilling of women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid. CSR allocations to toilet building, the PM-Cares fund and firms’ own trusts could be re-channelled for this.
Four, get more women into research and development (R&D) roles. A study of over 4,000 companies found that more women in R&D jobs resulted in radical innovation. It appears women score far higher than men in championing change. If you seek growth from affordable products and services for low-income groups, women often have the best ideas.
Five, break barriers to allow progress. Cultural and structural issues must be fixed. Unconscious biases and discrimination are rampant even in highly-esteemed organizations. Establish fair and transparent human resource policies.
Six, get involved in local communities to engage them. As Michael Porter said, it is not possible for businesses to sustain long-term shareholder value without ensuring the welfare of the communities they exist in. It is in the best interest of enterprises to engage with local communities to understand and work towards lowering cultural and other barriers in society. It will also help connect with potential customers, employees and special interest groups driving the gender-equity agenda and achieve better diversity.