<p>India has moved up 8 points to 105th position in the global Gender Gap Index of 135 countries for 2012, from 113th position in the previous year, according to the World Economic Forum.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The index, which examines the gap between men and women on the basis of economic participation and opportunities; educational attainment; health and survival, and political empowerment is topped by Iceland, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden and Ireland.<br /><br />Neighbouring China, though slipped in its ranking to 61st, is way ahead of India.<br />India has fared better than countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey among others.<br /><br />About India, the report said the country has performed above average on the political empowerment of women but lags behind in the other three categories.<br /><br />"There is also some evidence from India to suggest that women in local government roles make decisions with better outcomes for communities than men when charged with budget decisions.<br /><br />"... they also appear to be more competent representatives than men, obtaining more resources for their constituencies despite having significantly lower education and relevant labour market experience," the report said.<br /><br />The WEF said that persistent health, education and economic participation gaps would be detrimental to India's growth.<br /><br />Among other countries in the top 10 are -- New Zealand, Denmark, the Philippines, Nicaragua and Switzerland.<br /><br />Notably, the US has bagged the 22nd place in the list, a decline from last year's 17th place.<br /><br />The report said that 32 countries have closed the gap in health and survival, while 20 countries have fully closed the gap in the educational attainment.<br /><br />However, no country has closed the economic participation gap or the political empowerment gap.</p>
<p>India has moved up 8 points to 105th position in the global Gender Gap Index of 135 countries for 2012, from 113th position in the previous year, according to the World Economic Forum.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The index, which examines the gap between men and women on the basis of economic participation and opportunities; educational attainment; health and survival, and political empowerment is topped by Iceland, followed by Finland, Norway, Sweden and Ireland.<br /><br />Neighbouring China, though slipped in its ranking to 61st, is way ahead of India.<br />India has fared better than countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Turkey among others.<br /><br />About India, the report said the country has performed above average on the political empowerment of women but lags behind in the other three categories.<br /><br />"There is also some evidence from India to suggest that women in local government roles make decisions with better outcomes for communities than men when charged with budget decisions.<br /><br />"... they also appear to be more competent representatives than men, obtaining more resources for their constituencies despite having significantly lower education and relevant labour market experience," the report said.<br /><br />The WEF said that persistent health, education and economic participation gaps would be detrimental to India's growth.<br /><br />Among other countries in the top 10 are -- New Zealand, Denmark, the Philippines, Nicaragua and Switzerland.<br /><br />Notably, the US has bagged the 22nd place in the list, a decline from last year's 17th place.<br /><br />The report said that 32 countries have closed the gap in health and survival, while 20 countries have fully closed the gap in the educational attainment.<br /><br />However, no country has closed the economic participation gap or the political empowerment gap.</p>