impact on economy by bridging the gender gap

BRIDGE THE GAP

Bridging the gender gap will have huge economic impact and could add Rs 46 lakh crore  to India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, says a report by the McKinsey  Global Institute (MGI). The report said about 70 per cent rise in GDP would come from  raising India’s women labour-force participation rate MGI has developed a Gender Parity Score that uses the 15 indicators to measure the  progress each country has achieved on gender parity in society and the economy The report said gender disparity was high on three dimensions — gender equality in work,  legal protection and political voice, and physical security and autonomy The report found a huge variation in gender equality among India’s 32 states India’s share of women’s contribution to GDP is at 17 per cent, much lower than the global  average of 37 per cent  India would gain the most with Rs 190.2 lakh crore  added to annual GDP in 2025, 60 per  cent higher than business-as-usual The economic boost would translate to 1.4 per cent a year incremental GDP growth for  India. This would bring 68 million more women into the economy over this period, the  report said.

The report said gender inequality in India was high or extremely high on three dimensions in MGI’s framework — gender equality in work, legal protection and political voice, and physical security and autonomy — and medium to high on the fourth dimension of essential services and enablers of economic opportunity.

MGI has developed a gender parity score (GPS) that uses 15 indicators to measure each country’s progress on gender parity in society and the economy. GPS establishes a strong link between gender equality in society, attitudes and beliefs about the role of women, and gender equality in work.

In its analysis for India, MGI has introduced a new score, an India Female Empowerment Index or Femdex, to measure gender equality at the state level. It is based on a sub-set of 10 of the 15 indicators for which state-level data was available.

The average Femdex score of the top-five states closest to gender parity — Mizoram, Kerala, Meghalaya, Goa and Sikkim — stood at 0.67, which is comparable with a modified GPS (considering only the 10 indicators included in the Femdex) for Argentina, China and Indonesia.

 The average Femdex of India’s bottom-five states on gender parity — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh — was 0.46, comparable to the modified GPS of Chad and Yemen.

wpi vs cpi vs iip

WPI

• The Wholesale Price Index focuses on the price of goods traded between corporations, rather than goods bought by consumers, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index. 
• The purpose of the WPI is to monitor price movements that reflect supply and demand in industry, manufacturing and construction. This helps in analyzing both macroeconomic and microeconomic conditions of an economy.
• CALCULATED BY Office of the Economic Adviser In DIPP Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (Ministry of Commerce & Industry)

 Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in India

Index of Industrial Production (IIP) measures the quantum of changes in the industrial production in an economy and captures the general level of industrial activity in the country.It is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mining, electricity and manufacturing. with respect to the base period(2004).

• The base year is always given a value of 100. The current base year for the IIP series in India is 2004-05. So, if the current IIP reads as 116 it means that there has been 16% growth compared to the base year.
• It is calculated by Central Statistics Office (CSO) < In the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI)
• It is brought out on monthly basis with the time lag of six weeks from the reference month (on 12th of the Month, or if 12th is a Gazetted Holiday, on the previous working day).Although IIP is just a short term indicator. The actual results come with the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI).
• Uses of IIP: The IIP measures volume changes in the production of an economy
  Provides a measurement that is free of influences of price changes
  Data used in Government policy planning purposes, Industrial Associations, Research Institutes and Academicians.
• Industrial Production in the IIP comprises three distinct groups of industry, (a) Mining, (b) Manufacturing and (c) Electricity.
• Core IIP: to provide an indication of how the industries whose production performance was ‘core’ in nature because of their likely impact on general economic activity as well as other industrial activity,  with six industries, viz. Coal, Cement, Electricity, Crude Oil, Refinery products, and Steel. When the base year for IIP was revised to 2004-05, the base year for the Index of Core Industries was also revised to 2004.
• The Eight Core Industries are Coal, fertilizer, electricity, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, and cement, which have count in IIP.
• The data for compilation of IIP is received from 16 different source agencies viz. Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP); Indian Bureau of Mines; Central Electricity Authority; Joint Plant Committee; Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas; Office of Textile Commissioner; Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals; Directorate of Sugar; Department of Fertilizers; Directorate of Vanaspati, Vegetable Oils & Fats; Tea Board; Office of Jute Commissioner; Office of Coal Controller; Railway Board; Office of Salt Commissioner and Coffee Board.
• IIP covers 682 items comprising Mining (61 items), Manufacturing (620 items) & Electricity (1 item). The weights of the three sectors are 14.16%, 75.53% and 10.32% respectively and are on the basis of their share of GDP at factor cost during 2004-05. The general scope of IIP, as recommended by United Nations Statistics Division includes Mining & Quarrying, Manufacturing, Electricity, Gas steam, Air conditioning supply, Water supply, Sewerage, Waste management and Remediation activities. But in India, due to constraints of data availability and other resources, the index is compiled using figures of mining, manufacturing and electricity sectors only.

(CPI) Consumer Price Index in India

CPI is a measure of change inetail prices of goods and services consumed by defined population group in a given area with reference to a base year.The consumer price index number measures changes only in one of the factors- prices.

• This basket of goods and services represents the level of living or the utility derived by the consumers at given levels of their income, prices and tastes.  This index is an important economic indicator and is widely considered as a barometer of inflation, a tool for monitoring price stability and as a deflator in national accounts. Consumer price index is used as a measure of inflation in around 157 countries. The dearness allowance of Government employees and wage contracts between labour and employer is based on this index. The formula for calculating Consumer Price Index is Laspeyre’s  with base year 2010.

• It is calculated by Central Statistics Office (CSO) < In the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI)
• It is brought out on monthly basis for urban, rural and all India.Also Annually: with lag of one month.And State/UT’s separate Consumer Price Index are also released if they provide 80% of the required data.
• The origin of Consumer Price Index can be traced to the period after first world war when there was a sharp rise in prices and cost of living. The erosion in the real wages of the workers led to a demand by the workers for compensation.
• Presently the consumer price indices compiled in India are CPI for Industrial workers CPI(IW), CPI for Agricultural Labourers CPI(AL) & Rural Labourers CPI(RL) and CPI ( Urban) and CPI(Rural). Consumer Price Index for Urban Non Manual Employees was earlier computed by Central Statistical Organisation. However this index has been discontinued since April 2008.
• The CPI(IW) and CPI(AL& RL) compiled are occupation specific and centre specific and are compiled by Labour Bureau. This means that these index numbers measure changes in the retail price of the basket of goods and services consumed by the specific occupational groups in the specific centres.
• CPI(Urban) and CPI(Rural) are new indices in the group of Consumer price index and has a wider coverage of population. This index compiled by Central Statistical Organisation tries to encompass the entire population and is likely to replace all the other indices presently compiled.
• The index is a measure of the average price which consumers spend on a market-based “basket” of goods and services. Inflation based upon the consumer price index (CPI) is the main inflation indicator in most countries. Based on the recommendations of Urjit R. Patel Committee report that have been implemented by RBI, a new CPI (combined) as the key measure of inflation

Trans-Pacific Partnership

What is the TPP?

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement between several Pacific Rim countries concerning a variety of matters of economic policy.

The aims of the TPP include the lowering of barriers to trade in goods and services, reducing tariffs to zero by 2015. In addition, the TPP hopes to promote investment and job creation in member states.

How does it come into reality?

TPP initially called the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, the pact began as a 2005 trade agreement between Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore in an effort to integrate their economies, drive growth and create unified regulations.

In 2008, during the Bush administration, the U.S. joined talks to expand the agreement, along with Australia, Peru and Vietnam. The U.S. trade representative under Obama, Ron Kirk, declared the American interest in forging a broad-based regional pact.

Then, in 2010, under the new name the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Malaysia entered the discussions, followed by Canada and Mexico in 2012.

By 2013, Japan began participating in the talks. South Korea and Taiwan have subsequently announced their interest but not formal participation.

Though all of the negotiating parties belong to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), the TPP is a separate initiative but with similar goals as APEC’s proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific.

Why the Trans-Pacific Partnership Matters?

The Pacific accord would phase out thousands of import tariffs as well as other barriers to international trade, like Japanese regulations that keep out some American-made autos and trucks.

It also would establish uniform rules on corporations’ intellectual property, andopen the Internet even in communist Vietnam.

It eventually would end more than 18,000 tariffs that the participating countries have placed on American exports, including autos, machinery, information technology and consumer goods, chemicals and agricultural products as varied as avocados in California and wheat, pork and beef from the Plains states.

The trade ministers who negotiated it predicted the overall economic and political heft of the 12-nation group would turn the accord into a model for future trade agreements.

It would overhaul the system for settling disputes between nations and foreign companies, while barring tobacco companies from using that process to block countries’ antismoking initiatives.

It also would enforce higher standards for labor conditions and environmental protection, including wildlife-trafficking.

How will it benefits to USA ?

Expanding the orbit of U.S. free trade is a major foreign policy goal of the Obama administration, and as a part of its desired international “pivot” toward Asia, it hopes to increase its economic presence in the region.

Supporters of the partnership say by lowering barriers to trade and increasing avenues for economic globalization, the enlarged $2 trillion zone of diminished tariffs would stimulate employment in U.S. and provide an incentive to invest abroad.

Agreement hopes to show China that the U.S. will remain a committed economic partner for the nations of the Pacific Rim, without excessively provoking Beijing.

Who opposes the TPP?

Opposition to the proposed agreement and to the perceived influence of multinational corporations in the process has been led by public health advocates, labor groups and environmentalists and politicians.

Some U.S. legislators have voiced concerns that the TPP requirements would prevent access to medicine in developing countries, due to excessive patent protection. Doctors Without Borders argues against “dangerous provisions that would dismantle public health safeguards enshrined in international law.”

Many activists also focused criticisms on the intellectual property section of the proposed partnership, which, according to WikiLeaks, could have “wide-ranging effects on medicines, publishers, internet services, civil liberties and biological patents.”

As a trade agreement, the TPP would require House and Senate majorities and then the president’s signature. Domestic American opposition has concentrated their skepticism not just on how “free” the agreement would be but also on problems with the “fast track” congressional voting procedure.

Japanese producers in the anime and manga industry say the TPP could damage their business by allowing companies to halt imports of intellectual property, in order to protect local distributors of licensed merchandise.

Rice farmers, as well as beef, poultry and pork producers, have mounted firm resistance to the pact, which would dramatically decrease import tariffs.

Geopolitically, China is concerned that the partnership is designed to exclude its economic activities, while some American officials have expressed doubts whether the market-oriented pact would ever be compatible with Beijing’s command economy.

In Europe, analysts view the TPP as a trade regime that could set a precedent for the nascent Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

google project loon

Project Loon has major positive ramifications for India since only less that 20% of the India’s 1.2 bn plus population have access to the Internet, in this backdrop, this initiative by Google will jumpstart a new access revolution and will connect the unconnected.

WHAT IS PROJECT LOON?

Many of us think of the Internet as a global community. But two-thirds of the world’s population does not yet have Internet access. Project Loon is a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas, help fill coverage gaps, and bring people back online after disasters.

THE TECHNOLOGY

Project Loon balloons float in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and the weather. In the stratosphere, there are many layers of wind, and each layer of wind varies in direction and speed. Loon balloons go where they’re needed by rising or descending into a layer of wind blowing in the desired direction of travel. By partnering with Telecommunications companies to share cellular spectrum we’ve enabled people to connect to the balloon network directly from their phones and other LTE-enabled devices. The signal is then passed across the balloon network and back down to the global Internet on Earth.

WHERE LOON HAS BEEN

Project Loon began in June 2013 with an experimental pilot in New Zealand, where a small group of Project Loon pioneers tested Loon technology. The results of the pilot test, as well as subsequent tests in New Zealand, California’s Central Valley and in Northeast Brazil, are being used to improve the technology in preparation for the next stages of the project.

HOW LOON FLIES

• NAVIGATING WITH THE WIND
 
• STRATOSPHERE

Project Loon balloons travel approximately 20 km above the Earth’s surface in the stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind varies in speed and direction. Project Loon uses software algorithms to determine where its balloons need to go, then moves each one into a layer of wind blowing in the right direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be arranged to form one large communications network.

Situated on the edge of space, between 10 km and 60 km in altitude, the stratosphere presents unique engineering challenges: air pressure is 1% that at sea level, and this thin atmosphere offers less protection from UV radiation and dramatic temperature swings, which can reach as low as -80°C. By carefully designing the balloon envelope to withstand these conditions, Project Loon is able to take advantage of the stratosphere’s steady winds and remain well above weather events, wildlife and airplanes.

HOW LOON IS DESIGNED

The inflatable part of the balloon is called a balloon envelope. A well-made balloon envelope is critical for allowing a balloon to last around 100 days in the stratosphere. Loon’s balloon envelopes are made from sheets of polyethylene plastic, and they measure fifteen meters wide by twelve meters tall when fully inflated. When a balloon is ready to be taken out of service, gas is released from the envelope to bring the balloon down to Earth in a controlled descent. In the unlikely event that a balloon drops too quickly, a parachute attached to the top of the envelope is deployed.

Each balloon’s electronics are powered by an array of solar panels. The solar array is a flexible plastic laminate supported by a light-weight aluminum frame. It uses high efficiency monocrystalline solar cells. The solar array is mounted at a steep angle to effectively capture sunlight on short winter days at higher latitudes. The array is divided into two sections facing in opposite directions, allowing us to capture energy in any orientation as the balloons spin slowly in the wind. The panels produce approximately 100 Watts of power in full sun, which is enough to keep Loon’s electronics running while also charging a battery for use at night. By moving with the wind and charging in the sun, Project Loon is able to power itself using entirely renewable energy sources.

A small box containing the balloon’s electonics hangs underneath the inflated envelope, like the basket carried by a hot air balloon. This box contains circuit boards that control the system, radio antennas to communicate with other balloons and with Internet antennas on the ground, and lithium ion batteries to store solar power so the balloons can operate throughout the night

HOW LOON CONNECTS

Each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area about 80 km in diameter using a wireless communications technology called LTE. To use LTE, Project Loon partners with telecommunications companies to share cellular spectrum so that people will be able to access the Internet everywhere directly from their phones and other LTE-enabled devices. Balloons relay wireless traffic from cell phones and other devices back to the global Internet using high-speed links.