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First woman jawan in Indian Army
NEW DELHI, October 3, 2011: Outperforming her male counterparts in the physical tests,
35-year-old Sapper Shanti Tigga joined the 969 Railway Engineer Regiment of the Territorial Army. A mother of two, she is the first woman
jawan. "Women are allowed to join the armed forces only as officers in the
non-combat units. But Tigga has earned the distinction of being the first lady jawan in the 1.3 million strong defence forces," a senior
army officer said. "She performed exceedingly well in all the physical tests. She took five
seconds less than her male counterparts to complete 1.5-km run. She completed the 50 meter run in 12 seconds which is rated as excellent,"
he said. Tigga also impressed her recruiters with her firing skills and
was adjudged as the best trainee.
Girls, learn to stand on own feet: Priyanka Chopra
JAIPUR, September 2, 2011: It was a dream come true for many girls of an
anganwadi in Nanakpura village near Jaipur when actor Priyanka Chopra came calling
on Thursday. As goodwill ambassador of Unicef, she came for an interaction as part of the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of
adolescent Girls (RSEAG), called 'Sabla' Encouraging the young girls to reach for their dreams, she said: "The cause of the girl child is very
close to my heart. The woman power today cannot and should not be underestimated.
I am here to teach rural India the value of a girl child. Almost 60% of
the population is below 35 years of age and the power of the youth has to be harnessed." The scheme focuses on holistic development of the girl
child, a sentiment that was also echoed by Lopamudra Mohanty, deputy secretary ministry of women and child development (MWCD). The scheme
provides various facilities like nutritious food to all out-of-school girls aged between 11-18 years and 14-18 years. Counselling and guidance
is provided to create awareness among the adolescent girls on subjects
ranging from life skill education, self-reliance and their rights to
reproduction and sexual health, child care, family welfare and household management.
Various types of vocational training are also organised, aimed at making them independent, said Mohanty. "The rural milieu is changing. There was
a time when village girls were married off at a very young age. But they now yearn to study, RSEAG's mission is work towards empowerment of the
girl child," said Priyanka. Chopra, went to an anganwadi and Mahila Empowerment Centre in Nanakpura village
, about 20 km from Jaipur, where she interacted with a group of girls.
Nepali Women MPs visit India House
NEW DELHI, August 10, 2011: Fifteen Nepali women parliamentarians who are
visiting India at the Invitation of Indian Ministry of External Affairs separately met
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj today.
The team also observed parliamentary proceedings at the lower house. Speaker Kumar told the team that India wanted to see Nepal emerge as
apeaceful, democratic and prosperous country, according to CPN-UML
lawmaker Sapana Pradhan Malla. Kumar said relations between the two countries had always been excellent both at
government and people’s level.
According to NC lawmaker Suprabha Ghimire, leader of opposition Swaraj
said she was deeply interested in Nepal’s peace process and therefore
she discussed the issue with all Nepali leaders who visit India. Swaraj said women leaders also needed to be equally capable if they
wanted to assert their rights and shoulder more responsibilities. Ghimire said Nepal could benefit a lot from the experiences of India,
which is the largest democracy and one of the fastest growing economies of the
world
Delhi
"SlutWalk" in India on July 31, 2011
New Delhi, July 31, 2011: Young women walked the streets of New Delhi
without the fear of being ogled or groped. For yesterday's female participants in SlutWalk Delhi, one of a series of marches around the
world protesting sexual violence against women, the atmosphere of safety
was an exception to daily life in the Indian capital. "People stare at
you, they make you feel uncomfortable and in places where it's very crowded, people take advantage of the crowd and try to molest you," says
Trishla Singh, a college student and a coordinator at the event. "On
public transportation, going out on the streets, anything that has to do with going out of the house is problematic."
To keep the focus on the message of protesting sexual violence, the name
of the march was tweaked in Hindi to the "Shameless Front." Armed with placards drawn in marker with slogans proclaiming "Stop Staring: This is
not an invitation to rape me" and "I have nothing to be ashamed of," the
hundreds of protestors hoped to draw attention to the growing problem of harassment and violence that women in India are facing. The number of
rape cases reported has grown 678% since the country began keeping statistics 30 years ago; rape is ow considered the fastest growing crime
in the country. "There was the feeling that something really needs to be
done because we all know that Delhi is highly unsafe for women," says Umang Sabarwal, a college student in New Delhi and chief organizer of
the event.
Maharashtra to make sexual harassment of women non-bailable
Mumbai, July 9, 2011 (IANS): Maharashtra is considering making offences
pertaining to sexual harassment or outraging the modesty of women
non-bailable, an official said here Saturday. This is proposed to be done through an amendment to section 354 of the
Indian Penal Code -- which deals with assault or use of criminal force
on women with the intent to outrage their modesty -- to make these crimes as non-bailable offences in the state, the official from the home
department said.
Home Minister R.R. Patil presided over the meet which was attended by
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umeshchandra Sarangi, principal secretaries (Home) Pravin Dixit and Medha Gadgil, and senior women
police officials, and former Bombay High Court judge Justice
C.S.Dharmadhikari. The department will now prepare a formal proposal to make the required
amendment and submit it for approval of the state cabinet. It will then be tabled in the state legislature, and after its approval
it would be forwarded to the centre. Though no time-frame has been set for the entire process, the government
is determined to push through the proposal as early as possible, the official said.
Nine rapes in last two days in Uttar Pradesh
Lucknow, June 21, 2011 (IANS) With four more rapes reported Tuesday in Uttar
Pradesh, the total number of such cases in the state has gone up to nine
during the last two days. Of the four incidents that came to light early in the morning, one of
the victims was done to death by the culprits, while another victim chose to end her life by hanging.
'A seventeen-year-old girl was allegedly raped in Mukhari village of
Baghpat district (about 450 km from here) by the brothers of her close
friend Priti with whom she used to attend stitching classes,' a police spokesman said.
Another case of rape was reported from Khanpur village in Fatehpur
district, where a 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by
two youths from the same village Monday night. Besides, two rapes were reported from Hathras district, where both the
victims were minors. A nine-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two teenaged boys in Garhi
Guddu Khan village and a 14-year-old girl was raped by an 18-year-old
boy in Dhatra Khurd village Monday. Earlier on Monday, as many as five rapes, including one in which a woman
was burnt alive, were reported from different parts of Uttar Pradesh, a
day after an attack on a minor girl whose eyes were gouged by a gang
when she resisted rape.
India 4th most dangerous country in the world for women
London, June 15, 2011: Female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking make India the
world's 4th most dangerous country for women, with Afghanistan's violence and poverty taking it to the top spot, followed by Congo due to
horrific levels of rape, a Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll said on Wednesday.
Pakistan and Somalia ranked third and fifth, respectively, in the global
survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination to female
foeticide, genital mutilation and acid attacks. "Ongoing conflict, NATO airstrikes and cultural practices combined make
Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women," said Antonella Notari,
head of Women Change Makers, a group that supports women social entrepreneurs around the world. "In addition, women who do attempt to
speak out or take on public roles that challenge ingrained gender stereotypes of what's acceptable for women to do or not, such as working
as policewomen or news broadcasters, are often intimidated or killed."
Up to 12 mln girls aborted in India over last 30 years - study
HONG KONG, May 25, 2011 (Reuters) - Up to 12 million girls were aborted over
the last three decades in India by parents that tended to be richer and more educated, a large study in India found, and researchers warned that
the figure could rise with falling fertility rates. The missing daughters occurred mostly in families which already had a
first born daughter. Although the preference for boys runs across Indian society, the abortions were more likely to be carried out by educated
parents who were aware of ultrasound technology and who could afford abortions.
"The number of girls being aborted is increasing and may have reached 12
million with the lower estimate of 4 million over the last three decades," said lead author Professor Prabhat Jha at the Centre for
Global Health Research in Toronto, Canada.
Jha said the preference for boys in Indian society remains firmly in
place and the reason why abortions of female fetuses were occurring more among richer and educated parents was because they could afford to do so.
"The preference for boys doesn't differ between rich and poor, it is similar. But the means to ensure a boy is greater among the educated and
the rich," Jha said. Jha and his colleagues, who published their study in The Lancet, said
abortion of girls in India was different from the situation in China
, where a one-child policy results in even abortions of the first girl.
Practice of female foeticide a national shame: PM
NEW DELHI, April 22, 2011: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on
April 21, 2011 said it was a "national shame" that the practice of female foeticide
was continuing in the country despite women breaking existing barriers
to prove their worth in every sphere. "The provisional population totals for Census 2011have
been released recently. While most of the news appears to be good, the
falling child sex ratio is an indictment of our social values," he said inaugurating the Civil Services Day here.
Improving this ratio was not merely a question of stricter compliance with the existing laws and "What is more important is how we view and
value the girl child in our society," he said. "Our girls and women have done us proud in classrooms, in boardrooms and
on the sports field. They have broken existing barriers to prove their
worth in almost every sphere", the Prime Minister said. "It is a national shame for us that despite this, female foeticide and
infanticide continues in many parts of our country", he said, adding the social bias against women has to be fought with all the physical and
moral resources.Seeking a national campaign to counter this bias, Singh told the civil servants to play a big role in launching a crusade against it.
66% of worldwide stillbirths occurs in India
NEW DELHI, April 15, 2011: Four lakh fewer children died while still in their mother's
womb in 2009 in India, Bangladeshm as compared to 1995. However, India is among 10 countries, which, though, contributes 54% of total worldwide births,
66%, or 1.8 million of all stillbirths. India's stillbirth — death after 28 weeks' of gestation
figures have reduced over the past decade. Be that as it may, it's still shameful —
22 stillbirths per 1,000 births. In some states, it varies from 20 to 66 per 1,000 births.
According to a series on stillbirth, published in "The Lancet" on
Wednesday, more than 7, 200 babies are stillborn every day. Around 2.6 million stillbirths occur worldwide each year during the last trimester
of pregnancy, and 98% of them occur in low and middle-income countries. High-income countries, too, report stillbirths with one in 320 babies
stillborn. Sadly, the number of stillbirths worldwide has declined by only 1.1% per
year — from 3 million (1995) to 2.6 million (2009). The global stillbirth rate, in turn,
has reduced from 22 stillbirths per 1,000 to 19./ Source: Times of India
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Saina ends super year on a high
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