World Bank to lend $1 billion to support Indias health sector (GS Paper 2, Health)
Why in news?
Details:
- The lending will be divided into two complementary loans of $500 million each.
- Through this combined financing of $1 billion, the bank will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), launched in October 2021, to improve the public healthcare infrastructure across the country.
Key Highlights:
Tenure:
- Both the PHSPP and the EHSDP loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) have a final maturity of 18.5 years, including a grace period of five years.
Health system in India:
- India’s performance in health has improved over time. According to the World Bank estimates, India’s life expectancy has increased from 58 in 1990 to 69.8 in 2020. This is higher than average for the country’s income level.
India scores 74.4 in World Bank index
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
Details:
- Indian laws made little progress in removing possible gender inequities in 2022, with women in the country possessing only 74.4% of the rights that men have on several parameters related to their freedom at the workplace.
- Globally, women have 77.1% of the legal rights that men have, up just half a percentage point from the 2021 score. India’s score was unchanged as no new reforms were enacted.
Key Highlights:
- India scored higher than the 63.7 average for the South Asian region, though lower than Nepal which had the region’s highest score of 80.6.
- Of the 190 economies covered in the Index, only 14 scored a perfect 100: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
- Only 14 economies, all of which are high-income, have laws granting women the same rights as men, and progress has been uneven across regions and over time. Thirteen of them are in Europe, while Canada is the 14th.
- Globally, more than 90 million women of working age (age 18-64) have gained legal equality in the last decade, but nearly 2.4 billion women of this age group live in countries that do not grant them the same rights as men.
- While gender laws have come a long way, the pace of new reforms to address gender inequity globally hit a 20-year low in 2022.
Findings related to India:
- While India has a score of 100 on the “workplace" parameter, it continues to lag in terms of parental reform (score of 40).
- India also lags far behind in terms of equal pay, with a score of 25 compared to the global average of 70. India is one of the 93 countries out of the 190 that still do not mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value.
- About 53% of countries, including India, do not have laws prohibiting gender discrimination in credit access. Nonetheless, in terms of overall progress, India has come a long way from 63.75 index points in 2000 to 74.4 points in 2022. The global score was 60.0 in 2000.
Parameters:
- The report, titled, “Women, Business, and the Law" evaluates laws and regulations affecting women's economic participation in 190 economies based on eight indicators: mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pension.
- It identifies and advocates for the reform of discriminatory laws.
- A score of 100 on the Index means that women are on an equal standing with men on all the eight indicators being measured.
