The Week That Was: Indian Women Empowerment News Overview (21 - 25 June)

By: WE Staff | Saturday, 25 June 2022

What could be more exciting than learning that India would get its second female president? It is true that Droupadi Murmu, a 64-year-old Santhal from Odisha, has been nominated by the BJP as its candidate for the highest position in the country. Not only this, but womenentrepreneurindia.com has reported several other similar stories this week. Have a look at it.

Only 7 Percent of Pregnant or Postpartum Women Engage in Prenatal or Postpartum Yoga

The benefits and practise of prenatal and postnatal yoga, as well as how many moms truly choose yoga as a lifestyle in the long run, were revealed in a Prenatal Yoga Survey on the occasion of the approaching International Day of Yoga.

Mylo, a full-stack D2C platform for expectant and new mothers, has released the findings of a survey of 6,000 expecting and new mothers.

Ninety-one percent of expectant mothers believe that exercise is good both during pregnancy and after childbirth, and 85 percent believe that yoga is beneficial both during and after childbirth. Only 7% of the women really did prenatal or postnatal yoga, contrary to popular belief.

'Nishiddho' Named Best Indian Film at The Ottawa Indian Film Festival

At the Ottawa Indian Film Festival Awards, 'Nishiddho,' the first film produced by Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) as part of the State government's pioneering effort to promote promising women directors, won the Best Feature Film Award (OIFFA). Tara Ramanujan won the FFSI K R Mohanan Award for Best Debut Director from India at the International Competition Section of the 26th International Film Festival of Kerala 2022 (IFFK), according to a press statement from KSFDC.

According to the release, the film won Best Feature Film at OIFFA shortly after winning Second Best Film at the 52nd State Film Awards this year.

India may have its First Tribal and Second Female President

With the BJP nominating Droupadi Murmu (64), a Santhal from Odisha, as its candidate for the top constitutional office, India may finally receive its first tribal President.

JP Nadda, the BJP's national president, announced Murmu's candidacy after the party's parliamentary board accepted what is widely seen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's choice for Rashtrapati Bhavan.

“Millions of people, especially those who have experienced poverty and faced hardships, derive great strength from the life of Smt Droupadi Murmu Ji. Her understanding of policy matters and compassionate nature will greatly benefit our country,” tweeted the PM.

If elected, Murmu will be the second woman to serve as President, following Pratibha Patil (2007-12), who was endorsed by the UPA.

Subhi's most recent Music Video, 'Empire,' is about Women's Empowerment

The Indian-American singer-songwriter Subhi discusses the theme of women's emancipation in her most recent music video, "Empire."

As she explains: "It's time for the women of the world to rise and create their own Empire. This song is a call to all women out there, to let them know that our dreams and desires are powerful and we can achieve anything we want. Fight for it and build your empire, your world your way." Subhi has always published songs with strong messages and this time around the song resonates with women and self-empowerment.

Financial Aid Programme for Sthree Shakhti Sanghas to Commence on October 2, Says CM Bommai

Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka, said on Wednesday that the financial aid programme for Sthree Shakhti Sanghas will begin on October 2.

The Federation of Karnataka Voluntary Service Organizations, Karnataka Border Areas Development Corporation, Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi, and Sumangali Seva Ashrama jointly arranged the convention of State Level Voluntary Service Organizations, which the Chief Minister had just opened.

For the first time, a grant of Rs 1.5 lakh has been made available in the state budget for each Sthree Shakthi Sangha to enable them to contribute to the GDP of the state. An anchor bank has also been linked to meet their needs for financial services, purchase necessary equipment, and improve market access for their products. Additionally, efforts are being made to connect them with online marketing platforms like Amazon to increase marketing opportunities for their products, according to Bommai.

Awareness Rally on Women Empowerment marks Raja Ram Mohan Roy's 250th Birth Anniversary

To honour Raja Ram Mohan Roy's achievements to women's rights in India, including the abolition of practises like sati, polygamy, child marriage, and the caste system, the department of art & culture organised awareness rallies on women's empowerment in many districts.

According to a DIPR report, Dr. Kuzo Duadeo announced that various programmes and schemes were coming up where women's empowerment had been stressed in observance of the 75th year of independence while flagging off the rally, ADC Chümoukedima.

He claimed that education was the "most basic thing" for empowering women because it gave one the ability to know what to do, what was right, and what course of action to take.

Jet Airways Calls Former Female Cabin Crew Members to rejoin the Airline

As full-service airline Jet Airways gears up for resuming operations after a hiatus, the company has invited its former female cabin crew members to rejoin the airline. Jet Airways received its air operator certificate from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on May 20 following which the airline is allowed to resume its commercial operations.

As stated in a tweet from the company’s official twitter handle, for now the airline is looking to recruit only female crew. Recruitments for male crew will start as the airline scales up.

The tweet read, “There’s really nothing like home! Inviting former Jet Airways cabin crew to come back and join us in relaunching India’s classiest airline. Base: Delhi. Note: For now we are inviting female crew only. Male crew recruitment to commence as we scale up.” It further stated the applicants can drop an email with the subject line ‘Jet Homecoming Crew’ to careers@jetairways.com.

Microsoft Launches Cybersecurity Skilling Initiative with ICT Academy; to focus on Higher Participation of Women Education

Microsoft India has launched the CyberShikshaa for Educators initiative to empower higher education students and educators with industry-relevant skills in cybersecurity. The company said that the program will emphasize on having higher participation of women educators and women graduating students from rural areas. The objective of the initiative is to create an equitable and diverse cybersecurity talent pool.

The CyberShikshaa for Educators was launched in collaboration with ICT Academy. The initiative intends to provide cybersecurity skills training to 400 faculty members across 100 institutions in the first leg. The trained individuals will further upskill 6,000 students from rural engineering colleges. The initiative’s end goal is strengthen career opportunities for participants in cybersecurity via skills training, internships and job placement opportunities.

In its first year, the CyberShikshaa for Educators program will be implemented in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Assam, Uttarakhand, Delhi NCR and Rajasthan.

Punjab Women's participation in NREGS rises by 8.25 Percent

In the first 100 days (from April 1 to June 20) of this fiscal year, the Scheduled Caste (SC) and female participation in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in Punjab has increased by leaps and bounds. The proportion of person-days in Punjab is higher than the national average. One "person day" is defined as a person working for a full eight hours.

In comparison to previous year's total share in both categories, the state's SC and women's person-days have increased by 7.56% and 8.25%, respectively. Additionally, when compared to the national average this year, the state has seen increases in SC and women's person-days of 55.26 percent and 12.43 percent, respectively.

In the first 100 days from April to June 20, according to data from the NREGA portal, women's and SC's share of total person-days was 68.37 percent, compared to 67.11 percent and 60.12 percent for the entire previous fiscal year.

Reproductive Rights are Integral to Women's Rights: UN Women

United Nations Women stated that reproductive rights are integral to women's rights, a fact that is supported by international agreements and reflected in law in various parts of the world, following the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion. Reproductive rights are both women's rights and human rights, according to UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

“To be able to exercise their human rights and make essential decisions, women need to be able to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and to have access to information, education and services,” a statement by UN Women said.

Specifically for women who are impacted by poverty or marginalisation, including minority women, UN Women stated that when safe and legal access to abortion is restricted, women are forced to turn to less safe techniques, too frequently with devastating or tragic effects.