Delhi ranks 350 in global index; no Indian city in top 300
Oxford Economics’ new ‘Global Cities Index’ report ranks Delhi at 350, the highest among 91 Indian cities. This was the first edition of the index, released on 21st May by the global advisory firm, Oxford Economics, which is assessing metropolitan cities across 163 countries on five parameters – economics, human capital, quality of life, environment, and governance. The top three cities in the list are New York, London and San Jose.
In the category of human capital, which “encompasses the collective knowledge and skills of a city’s population,” measured on factors such as educational qualifications of residents and quality of universities, New Delhi ranks 51 out of 1,000 cities, beating cities like Geneva, Canberra, and Barcelona, with London ranked as the best. But Delhi ranked badly in all other categories, ranking 975 out of 1,000 in environment and 838 in quality of life.
Of the 91 Indian cities, Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh) has the worst overall ranking, below 950 in four categories — environment, quality of life, economics and human capital. But in governance, calculated at the national level, it stood at 380. Eight other Indian cities were in the lowest 25.
For Quality of Life, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru ranked 915, 879 and 847 respectively, but some south Indian cities such Kannur, Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram scored in the 700s. South Indian cities appear to be ranked higher on the list.
Source: The Print, Hindustan Times
Severe heat wave in North Indian cities
The heat wave in North India may get severe over the next five days, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which issued a ‘red alert’ for Delhi and parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh. The maximum temperatures in many districts of these states may exceed 47 degrees Celsius. Many parts of Central India are expected to experience a gradual rise in maximum temperatures of about 2-3 degrees in the next five days.
On 21st May, severe conditions gripped many parts of northwest India, parts of Rajasthan, as well as isolated pockets of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, said the Met department. Even nights were warm in some parts of Rajasthan. The highest maximum temperature in Sirsa, Haryana, was at 47.8°C, followed by 47.4°C in Najafgarh, Delhi. On May 23, the temperature in Barmer shot up to 48.8 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature recorded in the country this year so far.
Several parts of North India are also facing water and electricity shortages, due to sudden spikes in power consumption.
Source: Hindustan Times, ndtv.com, BBC.com
Read more: Cyclone Fani effect: How is Chennai coping with the heatwave?
Heat-related illnesses claim lives
North India is affected by heat-related strokes due to the increase in temperatures. In Jalore, Rajasthan, four deaths were reported, while two daily wage workers died in Barmer. Severe heatwaves also claimed lives in Alwar, Bhilwara, Balotra, and Jaisalmer. Rajasthan’s Disaster Management and Relief department said that his government will offer a relief package to victims.
Hospital authorities in Delhi say that arrangements are in place to treat patients suffering from heat-related health problems such as exhaustion and stroke. Several hospitals have set up units to treat patients suffering from such heat-related problems.
Meanwhile, Gurgaon Fortis received a heatstroke case a week ago, near Pataudi in Haryana.
Heat stroke occurs when the body can no longer control its temperature and rises to 106°F or higher in 10 to 15 minutes. Among such patients, the sweating mechanism fails and the body fails to cool down. Due to heat exhaustion, the body loses an excess amount of water and salt, typically from sweating.
Source: ndtv.com, Indian Express
Urban women in salaried jobs at 6-yr low, though participation rate rises
Urban women’s labour force participation shot up to the highest level in Q4FY24 since 2018, and the unemployment rate reduced further to 8.5%.
However, the share of women in regular, salaried jobs in urban India was 52.3% in the January-March Q4FY24, a fall from 53% in the previous quarter. The quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed that the earlier low was recorded in the second quarter of FY24, when the share of women in regular wage work fell to 52.8%, till then the lowest share in any quarter in the past six years. The highest of 61.2% was recorded in the first quarter of 2020-21.
However, the share of women in self-employment rose to 41.3% in Q4FY24 from 40.3% in Q3FY24, while in casual work it dipped to 6.5% from 6.7% in the same period.
Representative image. Pic: Wikipedia/Sivahari
The survey used the current weekly status measure of employment. Regular wage or salaried workers are thought to be better employed than casual workers or self-employed, who contribute as unpaid household help in agricultural fields, family businesses or small enterprises.
Hearteningly, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) among urban women has risen to a six-year high of 25.6% in Q4FY24, though it is low compared to rural women’s LFPR, which was 30.5%.
Women are employed in labour market to supplement the family income, rather than working for their professional growth, says labour economist Santosh Mehrotra. In India, the rise in education among women, especially urban women, has not disengaged them from staying at home for household chores and childcare.
However, the State Bank of India’s report claims that the labour market is going through structural transformation, self-entrepreneurship with better education and access to formal credit through MUDRA Yojana and PM SVANidhi. The government’s credit facilitating programmes are enabling family-run enterprises to improve.
Source: Economic Times, Business Standard
Read more: Opinion: Contract workers in PSUs–marginalised castes, women, main victims of discrimination
Delhi first to get bus aggregator license
Uber, a ride hailing app, has been given an aggregator licence by the Delhi Transport Department to run buses under the Delhi Premium Bus Scheme. It enables commuters to book seats one week in advance, track the live location as well as route and check out its expected time of arrival (ETA) by choosing the ‘Uber Shuttle’ option.
Uber technology will enable local fleet partners to operate, with every shuttle vehicle commuting 19-50 passengers. While Delhi is the first state to award a licence for bus operations, Uber is the first aggregator to get such a licence.
Uber Shuttle will enable more commuters in one vehicle, ease traffic congestion and reduce carbon footprint.
Uber Shuttle is a bus service customised for daily commuting and completes a pilot programme in Delhi-NCR. It has been operating in Kolkata for a year, under an MoU with the West Bengal government.
Source: moneycontrol, Hindustan Times
[Compiled by Revathi Siva Kumar]