India ranks 129th on Global Gender Gap index, Iceland on top: WEF
New Delhi, Jun 12: India has slipped two places on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap index to 129th place, while Iceland retained its top position in the rankings published on Wednesday.
Within South Asia, India was ranked fifth after Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, while Pakistan was ranked last.
Globally, Sudan was ranked last on the index of 146 countries, while Pakistan slipped three places to 145th.
India figured among the economies with the lowest levels of economic parity, alongside Bangladesh, Sudan, Iran, Pakistan, and Morocco. All of them registered less than 30 per cent gender parity in estimated earned income.
However, India showed the best gender parity in terms of enrolment in secondary education, while it scored well on political empowerment of women at 65th rank globally.
With regard to parity in the number of years with female/male heads of state for the last 50 years, India was ranked 10th.
With a population of over 140 crore, India has closed 64.1 per cent of its gender gap in 2024 and the decline of two places from 127th last year, mainly happened due to small declines in 'Educational Attainment' and 'Political Empowerment,' parameters, while 'Economic Participation' and 'Opportunity' scores slightly improved.
The WEF said India's economic parity score has trended upwards for the past four years.
In the Political Empowerment subindex, India scored within the top-10 on the head-of-state indicator, but its scores for women's representation at the federal level, in ministerial positions (6.9 per cent) and in Parliament (17.2 per cent), remain relatively low, it added.
The WEF said the world has closed 68.5 per cent of the gender gap, but at the current pace it will take another 134 years -- equivalent to five generations -- to achieve full gender parity.
Since last year, the gender gap has closed by 0.1 percentage points.
"Despite some bright spots, the slow and incremental gains highlighted in this year's Global Gender Gap Report underscore the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to achieving gender parity, particularly in economic and political spheres," WEF Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said.
"We cannot wait until 2158 for parity. The time for decisive action is now," she added.
Iceland was followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden in the top five.
The UK was ranked 14th, while the USA was at 43rd place.
The @wef's Global #GenderGap24 report is now live. It shows only a slight improvement in the global gap, with parity still five generations away at current rates of progress.
— World Economic Forum (@wef) June 11, 2024
However, in a historical election year, improving the #political participation of #women could have a… pic.twitter.com/HPLRKNVFg1
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CSK beat KKR by two wickets in IPL
Kolkata, May 7 (PTI): Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by two wickets to send the defending champions virtually out of the IPL play-offs contention here on Wednesday.
CSK chased down the target of 180 with two balls to spare with Dewald Brevis top-scoring with 52 off just 25 balls while Shivam Dube and captain MS Dhoni chipped in with 45 and 17 not out respectively.
For KKR, Vaibhav Arora (3/48) was the most successful bowler while Harshit Rana (2/43) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2/18) took two wickets apiece.
Earlier, KKR scored 179 for 6 after opting to bat.
Captain Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 48 while Andre Russell and Manish Pandey chipped in with 38 and 36 not out respectively.
For CSK, Noor Ahmad was the most successful bowler with four wickets.
Brief Scores:
KKR: 179 for 6 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 48, Andre Russell 38; Noor Ahmad 4/31).
CSK: 183 for 8 in 19.4 overs (Dewald Brevis 52, Shivam Dube 45; Vaibhav Arora 3/48,Varun Chakaravarthy 2/18).
