HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN IN INDIA

Human Development for women in India.

Today is International Women’s Day. Each year International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. The first International Women's Day was held in 1911. Thousands of events occur to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. Organisations, governments, charities, educational institutions, women's groups, corporations and the media celebrate the day.

The UN theme for International Women's Day 2015 is "Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it!" Governments and activists around the world will commemorate the 20th anniversary year of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, an historic roadmap that sets the agenda for realizing women's rights.
The International Woman’s Day theme for 2015 is ‘Make It Happen’ with a dedicated hashtag for social media.

All know its significance but most of the people do not aware about the factual figures.

India ranks 135^th in case of world rank in human development index whose value is 0.586 and India belongs to Medium Human Development Countries. But India is improving its index because from 2000 to 2013 India’s human development index increased at the rate of 1.49% per year but its rank could not improve too much. Remind that India’s female human development index is now 0.519 as against 0.629 for male human development index where the female expected years of schooling is 11.3 as against 11.8 for men . Female literacy rate in India is 65.46% as against 82.14 % for male. The male literacy rate is growing at the rate of 6.9% whereas female literacy rate becomes 11.8% per annum. Female life expectancy is 57.7 years in comparison to 54.9 years for male. In 2013, India’s gender inequality index is 0.563 whose world rank is 127^th.India’s female labour force is 28.8% which is too lower than men. Women’s share in Parliament is only 10.9%. India’s adult mortality per 1000 for male is 247 but for female it is only 159.But the suicide rate of female  per lakh is only 7.8 which is too lower than the male of 13.0.The human development report-2014 says that the overall gender gap is 8% deficit. For women per capita income of women is half than that of men. So to reduce the gap , 4% of its GDP is required. The deprivation of women in innumerable both in livelihood or in social security in which dalit women suffers too much in education, job availability,sexual oppression and social crime or violence against dalit women , for example, verbal abuse (62.4%),physical assult(54.8%),sexual harassment and assult(46.8%) domestic violence(43%) and rape(23.2%) respectively.    

Gender equality is not just a condescending goal anymore; it is the necessary missing link for sustainable development, which is now been agreed by all. Reducing gender inequality gives women more money to spend on food, housing and education – essential component for reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development. The consensus is growing: getting more women into the workforce is one of the cure to many economic ills and imperative to sustainable development. If economic growth is to be achieved without social development at the grassroots level, it will not only widen inequality but also give rise to socioeconomic paranoia, socio-political unrest and instability. Growth and progression without development will have dangerous socio-political consequences that could undermine the very essence of freedom and democracy and deepen inequality.

Emphasis on gender budgeting and climate finance for women may have new light for women development in a sustainable manner.

INDIA'S TRADE SCENARIO

INDIA’S TRADE SCENARIO

India’s import grew higher than export in most of the decades,therefore, India is structurally a deficit country in trade.

 Its negative trade balance is increasing by degrees although it improved marginally in 2013.India’s merchandise trade balance is positive with developed north America and with Southern Asia only and it is negative with the rest of the other regions.

Since India’s trade is  service sector led ,then it is shown that service trade balance of India is on the upward trend although it trends downward since 2010 due to financial crises.India’s service exports contain 33.7% in computer and information  technology followed by other business 31.4% ,travel 12.3% and so on .

On the other hand, service imports contain 46.9% in transportation followed by other business 23.2% and travel 9.6% respectively.It is noted that India was the largest exporter worldwide of computer and information services in 2012 and India’s largest import in 2013 was in oils and minerals.  

MACRO FUNDAMENTAL OF THE BUDGET 2015-16

Macro Fundamental of the Budget-2015-16

It is claimed that the Indian budget has emphasized the macro fundamentals but it is not the full story. India’s savings and Investment rates are both declining. In 2011-12,saving rate was 33% of GDP which was reduced to 31.1% in 2012-13 and to 30% in 2013-14 respectively. On the contrary, Gross fixed capital formation was 33.6% of GDP in 2011-12 which was declined to 31.9% in 2012-13,30.7% in 2013-14 and 29.8% in 2014-15 respectively.So,there saving investment gap which is volatile.India’s fiscal deficit as % of GDP was 6.68% in 2009-10,4.80% in 2010-11,5.75% in 2011-12, 4.82% in 2012-13, 5.41% in 2013-14 and 4.13% in 2014-15 respectively and the Government targets to achieve 3.6% in 2017 and 3% in 2018 respectively which are too much ambitious.Therefore India’s fiscal balance is also volatile and uncontrolled.Lastly India’s external balance is widening in case of trade balance but current account balance as % of GDP was -2.8% in 2010-11, -2.7% in 2011-12, -4.7% in 2012-13 and -1.7% in 2013-14 respectively which was marginally improved at present. Moreover, the growth rates of exports and imports became negative in 200-10and 2012-13 respectively  and growth of imports always exceeds exports and in real terms negative capital account balance is increasing. This is fundamental deficit in external sector in India. Thus in a macro economic sense, India is facing disequilibrium and is growing instability  while price stability or war on inflation is continuing. Although India’s growth of GDP is rising slowly except in the crisis period but the share of agriculture is falling steadily  and growth of industry is stagnant or slowing down. In this circumstances, this budget is crucial in the sense that it can boost in capital market too and a scope of new investment in social and infrastructure sectors too.But the domestic demand and supply in various sectors will mismatch. However, until and unless the fundamental disequilibrium is removed the sustainable development in India is doubtful.     

REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM HOMES AND BUSINESSES

REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM HOMES AND BUSINESSES

The residential and commercial sectors include all homes and commercial businesses (excluding agricultural and industrial activities). Greenhouse gas emissions from this sector come from fossil fuel combustion for heating and cooking needs, management of waste and wastewater, and leaks from refrigerants in homes and businesses. Indirect emissions, resulting from electricity consumed by homes and businesses, are discussed on the Electricity Sector page.

Residential and commercial activities contribute to emissions in a variety of ways:

    Combustion of natural gas and petroleum products for heating and cooking needs emits carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Emissions from natural gas consumption represent about 79% of the direct fossil fuel CO2 emissions from the residential and commercial sectors. Coal consumption is a minor component of energy use in both of these sectors.

    Organic waste sent to landfills emits CH4.

    Wastewater treatment plants emit CH4 and N2O.

    Fluorinated gases (mainly hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs) used in air conditioning and refrigeration systems can be released during servicing or from leaking equipment.

Emissions and Trends

In 2012, direct GHG emissions from homes and businesses accounted for approximately 10% of total U.S. GHG emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from homes and businesses have generally been increasing since 1990, but vary from year to year based on short-term fluctuations in energy consumption caused by weather conditions. Total residential and commercial GHG emissions in 2012 have decreased by about 8% since 1990. Greenhouse gas emissions from on-site energy combustion in homes and businesses have decreased by about 13% since 1990 due to efficiency improvements in the residential and commercial sectors. However, indirect emissions from electricity use by homes and businesses have increased by 26% since 1990, due to increasing electricity consumption for lighting, heating, air conditioning, and appliances.

 Line graph of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from home and business for 1990 to 2012. There are three lines - one for total emissions, a second for direct emissions, and a third shows indirect emissions from electricity. The indirect and total emissions lines rise slowly throughout the time span, with a slight decline around 2008 and 2009 continuing unsteadily through 2012. The indirect greenhouse gas emissions start at about 1,200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents and peaks around 1,700 million around 2007. Total emissions are around 2,100 million in 2012. The direct emissions remain relatively constant throughout the time series, around 750 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.

The table shown below provides some examples of opportunities to reduce emissions from homes and businesses. For a more comprehensive list of options and a detailed assessment of how each option affects different gases, see Chapter 8 of the Contribution of Working Group III to IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report. Link to EPA's External Link Disclaimer

Homes and Commercial Buildings	Reducing energy use through energy efficiency.	Homes and commercial buildings use large amounts of energy for heating, cooling, lighting, and other functions. "Green building" techniques and retrofits can allow new and existing buildings to use less energy to accomplish the same functions, leading to fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Techniques to improve building energy efficiency include better insulation; more energy-efficient heating, cooling, ventilation, and refrigeration systems; efficient fluorescent lighting; passive heating and lighting to take advantage of sunlight; and the purchase of energy-efficient appliances and electronics. Learn more about ENERGY STAR.
Wastewater Treatment	Making water and wastewater systems more energy efficient.	Drinking water and wastewater systems account for approximately 3-4% of energy use in the United States. Studies estimate potential savings of 15-30% that are "readily achievable" in water and wastewater plants. Learn more about Energy Efficiency for Water and Wastewater Utilities.
Waste Management	Reducing solid waste sent to landfills. Capturing and using methane produced in current landfills.	Landfill gas is the natural by-product of the decomposition of solid waste in landfills. It primarily consists of CO2 and CH4. Well established, low-cost methods to reduce greenhouse gases from consumer waste exist, including recycling programs, waste reduction programs, and landfill methane capture programs. Learn about EPA's waste reduction and resource conservation efforts. Learn more about climate change and waste. Learn about EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program, which promotes the recovery and use of landfill gas.
Refrigeration	Reducing leakage from refrigeration equipment. Using refrigerants with lower GWPs.	Commonly used refrigerants include ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants, often HCFC-22, and blends consisting entirely or primarily of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), both of which are potent greenhouse gases. In recent years there have been several advancements in refrigeration technology that can help food retailers reduce both refrigerant charges and refrigerant emissions. Learn more about EPA's Greenchill Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from commercial refrigerators.