Gender Inequality

60% women in energy sector seek gender-based policies: IESA report

About 60 per cent of women respondents in the energy sector have called for gender-responsive policies to boost the country's 500 GW renewables target by 2030, a report by industry body India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) said. The study, conducted across 26 states highlighted the urgent need for strong policy and regulatory frameworks to foster participation of women in India's energy sector, an IESA statement said. The report revealed that 60 per cent of women in energy sector sought gender-responsive policies to boost India's 500 GW clean energy target by 2030. With robust government schemes and initiatives such as the PM Surya Ghar, PM KUSUM, and National Green Hydrogen Mission, the industry is striving towards unlocking the full potential of women's engagement in the sector. IESA President Debmalya Sen said in the statement, "Women are not just participating in the energy transition -- they are leading it from the frontlines." The IESA is a premier industry body dedicated to

Centre to launch gender budgeting portal to aid inclusive governance

The Central government will launch on Thursday a dedicated portal to support policymakers and stakeholders with data, resources and tools to strengthen gender budgeting practices. According to an official statement, the Ministry of Women and Child Development will hold wider consultations, bringing together key stakeholders from across the country to reinforce the government's commitment to gender-responsive governance. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi will kickstart the consultations and also launch the Gender Budgeting Knowledge Hub, which will be a dedicated portal providing data, resources and tools to strengthen gender budgeting practices. The day-long event will see participation from 45 Central ministries and departments, 20 states, representatives from international organisations such as UN Women and the Asian Development Bank, as well as leading national institutions. The consultation aims to foster dialogue and promote innovative approaches to

Why Women's Day matters: Leaders across sectors reflect on its significance

Women leaders across sectors reflect on why Women's Day 2025 matters, and how it impacts their lives. We spoke to influential leaders breaking barriers in their own sectors on what makes it special

Gender gap persists in India's blue-collar jobs despite some gains: Report

Women in blue-collar jobs in India continue to face systemic hurdles that limit their career growth, as their participation in the workforce remains predominantly in lower-skilled, lower-paid, and less stable roles, a report said on Friday. According to the report by tech-enabled blue-collar hiring platform WorkIndia, women are increasingly channeled into gendered roles like telecalling and maid services, while opportunities in fields like field sales, marketing, and back-office jobs are shrinking. The overall number of job postings for women in India showed a slight uptick in 2023 (0.4 per cent), but in 2024 it witnessed a 5.3 per cent drop, the report said. "This reduction hints at more than just a statistical anomaly, it underscores a deeper issue in gender equality, particularly in blue-collar jobs. Women's participation in the workforce remains predominantly in lower-skilled, lower-paid, and less stable roles," the report said. The WorkIndia report is based on an analysis of o

Field reports on gender inclusion: Feminism takes different shapes

From doing away with some gender-friendly courtesies to choosing to be called Chairman, there's no one-size-fits-all way to serve the cause of feminism

Only 7 mn women among 71 mn workers employed in Indian real estate: Report

Real estate remains one of the least inclusive sectors for women with only 70 lakh females among 7.1 crore workers employed in the Indian realty industry, according to a report. Realty firm Max Estates and In Tandem Global Consulting in a joint report 'Concrete change -- A Study of the Economic Impact of Better Pay Parity & Inclusion of Women in Real Estate' pointed out that the real estate sector has a long way to go in achieving inclusivity. "The Indian real estate sector stands at a crossroads. Poised for unprecedented growth, it remains burdened by challenges that prevent it from realising its complete potential. Women make up 48.5 per cent of India's population, out of which approximately 1.2 per cent female population is employed in real estate," the report said. Underrepresentation of women along with unequal pay across all levels of the workforce is one of the most pressing challenges the sector faces, it added. "Despite its role as a significant employment generator, the .

Bihar govt asks 12 depts to prepare roadmap against gender-based violence

The Bihar government has asked top officials of 12 departments to immediately prepare a roadmap and plan joint activities for women empowerment and gender justice in the state as part of Centre's third phase of month-long 'Nayi Chetna', a national campaign against gender-based violence. The third edition of Nayi Chetna, a national campaign against gender-based violence, was launched by the Centre on November 25 and it will continue till December 23 this year. The objectives of 'Nayi Chetna' (3.0) include raising awareness about all forms of gender-based violence, encouraging communities to speak out and demand action, providing access to support systems for timely assistance, and empowering local institutions to act decisively against violence. Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena will soon call a meeting of the top officials of 12 departments of the state government to review the roadmaps and joint activities being carried out by the departments concerned as part of 'Nayi Chetna' (3.0) .

Breaking the glass ceiling: Why Kim Kyung-Ah's Samsung CEO role matters

Kim Kyung-Ah's appointment as CEO of Samsung Bioepis breaks an 86-year tradition, making her the first woman outside the founding family to lead a Samsung company

We have achieved gender parity in edu, focusing on pay gap: India at UN

India Tuesday said it has achieved gender parity across all levels of education and is now prioritising increasing women's workforce participation in non-conventional sectors and bridging gender pay gaps and the digital divide. Delivering the country statement at the UN Ministerial Conference on women empowerment here, Preetam B Yashwant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, said India has worked on gender-responsive solutions to reduce "time poverty" of women such as clean cooking fuels, tap water connections and construction of toilets. "Aligned to regional trends demonstrating reduced inequalities in education, today, I am happy to share that India has achieved gender parity across all levels of education. We have one of the highest proportions of women in STEM disciplines globally," he said. Yashwant said that India has adopted a multi-pronged approach to address the issues of women on a life-cycle continuum basis for their educational, social, economic and

India's gender equality advancing; social norms, safety concerns remain: UN

India's progress towards gender equality has accelerated in recent years, with increased investments and focus on women's leadership at the grassroots but social norms, limited workforce participation and gaps in safety measures hinder full gender parity, UN Women officials said. In an interview, Daniel Seymour, UN Women's Director of Strategic Partnerships and Susan Jane Ferguson, Country Representative for UN Women in India, shared insights on the country's strides and the challenges that remain. The conversation highlighted India's increased investments in women's empowerment and gender-responsive policies, yet stressed that deep-rooted social norms and limited financing continue to hamper full progress. "India's progress is significant, but closing the remaining gaps requires targeted efforts across both public and private sectors," Ferguson said. India has seen substantial growth in recent years, especially in gender-responsive budgeting, which has increased to 6.8 per cent, .

Why marriage costs Indian women their jobs while boosting men's careers

Marriage penalty: Social norms often push Indian women to prioritise family, leading them to leave the workforce or choose lower-paying, less demanding jobs

Over 850 million women face 'very poor' gender equality conditions: Report

No country has achieved the gender equality targets set by the United Nations for 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals, said the report

'Self-defence for girls': Maha schools put on alert after Badlapur incident

From September 1, schools and colleges in the Mumbai Suburban area and all Industrial Training Institutes across Maharashtra will provide self-defence training students and young women

Women lead 9 of 46 associations of IMA, one female president so far: Study

Only nine of 46 associations under India's largest and oldest professional medical association, the IMA, are currently led by women, suggesting a "negligible" representation in its leadership, according to a study. Further, of the 92 individuals who have served as the presidents since the Indian Medical Association's (IMA's) inception in 1928, only one was a woman, said a team of researchers, including those from The George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi. They looked at the current and past leaderships of the professional medical associations, including the Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) and those of all broad medical and surgical specialties. Unequal gender representation persists even in the medical associations closely involved in women's health such as obstetrics and gynaecology, pediatrics and neonatology, highlighting a male dominance, the authors said in the study published in the journal PLoS Global Public Health. "For instance, the National Neonatology For

French prosecutors investigate cyber harassment of Olympic champ Khelif

French prosecutors opened an investigation into an online harassment complaint made by Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif after a torrent of criticism and false claims about her sex during the Summer Games, the Paris prosecutor's office said Wednesday. The athlete's lawyer Nabil Boudi filed a legal complaint Friday with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor's office that combats online hate speech. Boudi said the boxer was targeted by a misogynist, racist and sexist campaign as she won gold in the women's welterweight division, becoming a hero in her native Algeria and bringing global attention to women's boxing. The prosecutor's office said it had received the complaint and its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime had opened an investigation on charges of cyber harassment based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insults on the basis of origin. Khelif was thrust into a worldwide clash over gend

Govt set to amend Waqf law to usher in more transparency, gender diversity

The government is all set to bring a Bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards to ensure more accountability and transparency in their functioning and mandatory inclusion of women in these bodies, sources said. They claimed that the move comes in the backdrop of demands from within the Muslim community. The Bill to amend the Wakf Act, 1995, will make it mandatory for Waqf boards to register their properties with district collectors to ensure their actual valuation. There are 30 Waqf boards in the country. The sources on Sunday pointed out that the revenue generated by all Waqf properties is estimated at Rs 200 crore per annum. This is not in sync with the number of properties such bodies have, they said. Originally, Waqf boards had around 52,000 properties throughout India. By 2009, there were 3,00,000 registered Waqf properties covering four lakh acres of land, and as on date, there are 8,72,292 such properties in more than eight lakh acres of land. While ...

Women politicians' share rises in Japanese politics, but challenges remain

Eight years ago, Yuriko Koike became the first woman to lead Tokyo, beating her male predecessor. She won her third term as governor on Sunday, and one of her closest rivals was a woman. Multiple women competing for a top political office is still rare in Japan, which has a terrible global gender-equality ranking, but Koike's win highlights a gradual rise in powerful female officials and a society more open to gender balance in politics. That said, even if a woman eventually becomes prime minister, politics here is still overwhelmingly dominated by men, and experts see a huge effort needed for equal representation. There are growing expectations for women to play a greater role in politics, said parliamentarian Chinami Nishimura, a senior official with the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. In politics or parliament, which are still largely considered men's work, it is extremely meaningful for women to show their presence and have our voices heard. Nishimura,

Lagging indicator

Gender diversity in India Inc still sub-optimal

Apple faces gender pay discrimination lawsuit, women employees seek justice

The lawsuit seeks compensation for lost wages as well as declaratory and injunctive relief for all affected women

Gender Gap index: Indian women earn Rs 40 for every Rs 100 earned by men

India slipped two spots at 129th rank in World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap index 2024. While India's economic parity score has been improving, it's 6.2 percentage points below 2012 level of 46%