While gender equality ratios have improved in 85 percent of countries over the past six years, economic participation and political empowerment for women has failed to match the steady progress of health and education, says a new report by the World Economic Forum. The report, "Global Gender Gap", compiled by Ricardo Hausmann from Harvard University, Laura Tyson from University of California, Berkeley and Saadia Zahidi from the World Economic Forum, illustrates...

-The United Nations   With the world population projected to reach 7 billion in five days’ time, actions taken now will decide whether the future will be healthy, sustainable and prosperous or marked by inequalities, environmental decline and economic setbacks, according to a United Nations report issued today. The world must seize the opportunity to invest in the health and education of its youth to reap the full benefits of future economic development...

Imagine there was one changeable factor that affected virtually every measure of a country's health— including life expectancy, crime rates, addiction, obesity, infant mortality, stroke, academic achievement, happiness and even overall prosperity. Indeed, this factor actually exists. It's called economic inequality. A growing body of research suggests that such inequality — more so than income or absolute wealth alone — has a profound influence on a population's health, in every socioeconomic...

-ANI   Expressing concern over the excess female and infant mortality rates in various states of the country, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said that economic growth does not necessarily translate into gender equality.  "Economic growth does not automatically ensure gender equality. In fact, it is a very tenuous relationship between and I have something to say about this in the Indian context, but I think it is a very salutary finding...

Any new system for the socio-economic progress of Dalits and other vulnerable sections must not lose sight of Special Component Plan goals. THE Planning Commission's “Approach to the 12th Five Year Plan” deals with the Scheduled Castes (S.C.s) briefly in a portion of Chapter 11 titled “Social and Regional Equity”. It, however, significantly mentions the need to devise a new system that can overcome the difficulties experienced with regard to the...