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If you would ever ask a woman to list down the most happiest and memorable days of her life, she would definitely mention the day she became a mother. This is one day which is close to every woman’s heart. But what a recent UN report suggests is a complete shame for India. It stated that an estimated 80,000 pregnant women and new mothers die each year in India from preventable causes, including hemorrhage, eclampsia, sepsis and anemia, making it an average of 301 deaths for every 100,000 live births annually.

And this is just what the official records say. There are numerous maternal deaths which go unnoticed or not included in these records as they occur at homes or before an expectant mother reaches a medical facility for help. The actual numbers could be much higher.

Well, there are various reasons behind these maternal deaths, the most prominent one being the lack of facilities and awareness. To find out more reasons, UNICEF has launched the maternal and parental death enquiry and response (MAPEDIR). It has already come across 1600 cases across 6 Indian states to identify medical and social reasons behind these deaths.

The problem is not only with India. Recently UNICEF found out that 5, 00,000 women across the globe die unnecessarily due to complications during pregnancy and child birth.

Lack of awareness has been a major cause of concern in this context. Most women in rural areas still prefer delivering at homes rather than seeking proper medical help. When the cases are critical, it results in maternal deaths due to lack of medical attention. So a lot of work needs to be done in this aspect. Also women themselves should try to take an initiative and help themselves in ensuring a safe delivery.

Tags: anemia, Awareness, eclampsia, hemorrhage, India, Mapedir, Mother, New Mothers, Pregnant Women, sepsis, Shame, UN Rrports, Unicef, Woman, Women

If you’re new here, and interested in the latest news and insights on news from India and world, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting I News India.

The reasons for differences in behavioral characteristics and traits of men and women have always been a little enigmatic for all of us.  Several theories have been proposed as to why men retreat to the “cave” and why a “wave” is a natural cycle for women. There have been many insightful books like “Men are from mars and Women are from Venus” that chalk out these differences of the two sexes. Let’s try and analyze one such difference between men and women today through this forum. Are females blessed with better judgment abilities than men?

Let’s reverse time to the prehistoric ages when men went out to hunt animals, often for days or weeks away from their families: sometimes in groups and sometimes alone, while the females took care of the household chores and the children, together with the other females and were never alone. Men used their intelligence to set up traps and to chase the animals in a clever way. Their judgments helped them to overcome the power of their prey in hunting. Their intelligence helped them be better judges of the unpredictable environments in which they used to hunt. If they went out alone, there would be no interaction with other humans where they could learn the art of recognizing facial expressions, emotions, feelings in other people, and detect cheating, lying, deceiving and dishonesty. Even if they went with a group, their sole purpose of interaction would be to chalk out strategies of hunting rather than socializing. On the other hand, women became better judges of human emotions because they had to constantly monitor these emotions in their children (females had to be good in recognizing the emotions of their children to find out when they were sick, hungry, thirsty etc). Not only this, since womenfolk stayed together in the absence of men folk, they had to develop socializing and networking skills. This would bring them in close contact with individuals of different characteristics, making them better judges of human emotions.

The crux of this discussion is that where men are better at planning and making strategies, women have been given the gift of an understanding heart to comprehend emotions.

Tags: Behaviour, Characteristics, hungry, Mars, Men, Men & Women, Sick, thirsty, Traits, Venus, Women

India has some of the poorest social indicators in the world. Domestic violence is very common amongst the poor and uneducated section of society, especially against women as they are considered weak and docile. In order to help such women gain confidence and fight against domestic violence, government has started “self-help groups” in many parts of rural India. Based on the concept of “self-help,” small groups of women are formed and operate a savings-first business model whereby the member’s savings are used to fund loans. The results from these self-help groups (SHGs) are promising and have become a focus of intense examination as it is proving to be an effective method of poverty reduction.

A SHG is a group of about 10 to 20 people, usually women, from a similar class and region, who come together to form savings and credit organization. They pooled financial resources to make small interest bearing loans to their members. This process creates an ethic that focuses on savings first. The setting of terms and conditions and accounting of the loan are done in the group by designated members. These groups were initially started by NGO’s. Supervisors from these NGO’s ensured that the women had the means and the discipline to repay the loans and more importantly, they could conduct the transactions independently. So, they encouraged the group to elect their leader and build common group savings for a few months. The group leader, who was generally educated enough to read and write, collected the members’ savings and recorded it in registers. The members were told to borrow from the pool and pay back through regular, periodic payments and keep a record of the transactions. Once this fund grew and the supervisor had endorsed the group’s credit worthiness, the bank granted them loans.

The formation of common-interest groups consisting primarily of women has had a substantial impact on their lives. The status of women has generally improved as they have developed stronger confidence which has changed gender dynamics and their role in the household. In south India, significant improvements in fertility rates, female literacy, participation in development programmes and economic independence are evident. Women are able to fight for their rights and entitlements and have emerged as a force to be reckoned with. Further, SHGs are becoming more than just financial intermediaries, instead they have emerged into a more political and social unit of society.

This kind of economic revolution is very essential in a country like India where women are dominated and ill treated in all sections of society, especially in the poor and underprivileged section of society. It’s important for women to establish their own identity to be able to muster courage to raise their voice against injustice done to them. For that, they need to have economic independence and confidence to manage their households without the need to be dependent on their husbands.

Lakhmidevi, 25, the leader of Maramma Swa-Sahaya-Gumpu, (SHG), for example operates her group’s account from this bank. She has been instrumental in the closing of arrack shops in Kanminike village on the Mysore Road where she lives. “The entire group of 15 members and our children protested before the arrack shops to put an end to the intoxicated men beating their wives and children. We refused to budge till they agreed finally,” says Lakshmidevi proudly. “The training the group has received from various government and non-government organisations on leadership and bookkeeping has boosted their confidence and self-worth,” says another member of the group, Hanumakka.

If such groups become operative in every part of our country, the day will not be far when we would be proud to have a society where there is no oppression on gender basis and everyone is contributing equally towards a common objective of country’s development.

Tags: Common Interest Groups, Helping Hand, India, NGO, organization, Self Help, Self Help Group, SHG, Swa-Sahaya-Gumpu, Women

Talk about any kind of group; informal or formal, permanent or temporary, heterogeneous or homogeneous- they are all consequential in producing gender inequality.

There is a delicate but obvious demarcation between the official rank and the gender rank in offices.  Many men have authority over women but very few women have authority over men. A man who bosses a woman is his boss on 2 counts: official rank and gender rank. A man who bosses only men or a woman who bosses only women is superior only in official rank. A woman who bosses men is superior only in official rank but unfortunately considered inferior in the other rank (gender). Moreover, a woman who bosses men finds it very difficult to gain their compliance and support. To add to her challenge, she has little leeway to commit any kind of mistake. She is constantly on parole. Her successes are viewed as coincidences, but her mistakes are taken as confirmation of incompetence, proof that there’s a fraud lurking underneath. Unfortunately women cannot gain respect or acquiescence if they are anything short of being a perfectionist. And this bondage of being a perfectionist demands unrealistically high standards and sacrifices of important responsibilities from them. In the bargain, the cost women pay may be too high for them and may lead to gradual disenchantment with their work and a deadening of the real person inside.

Let’s analyze it with the help of the most common example available today. A software professional’s life. Till a computer engineer is given the initial training, males and females are all equal. But once they plunge into serious coding, their boundaries are marked. Since majority of the IT companies work on off-shore – on-shore model with strict adherence to timely deliveries, it becomes almost impossible to leave office before dinner time (sometimes rather many times the clock strikes at midnight as a reminder to pack up). It’s not difficult for bachelors to stay back late and gain kudos for the hard work they put in. But it’s not always feasible for females to sacrifice the rules of discipline at the altar of work. The result: early promotion and ticket to fly across Atlantic for the male and increasing frustration for the female.

Men and women are expected to demonstrate gender-appropriate behavior- words, mannerisms, facial expressions, tones of voices, emotions etc at all times and all places. As a result women generally face problems in leadership roles where they have to exercise their authority and bend some so called norms associated with their female status. Our society operates on the myth that “leadership” is a male-normative behavior and “following” is a female-normative behavior. As a result women are trapped in the whirlpool of conflicting ethics. They are criticized to be ruthless and incompassionate if they violate the norms associated with the status of women and are adjudged incompetent if they fail to behave like a leader.

Open the newspaper and it’s flooded with news about sexual harassment against females at work. This disgusting exploitation takes place right from the clerical level till the managerial level of work. The reason for this kind of violence is nothing but the patriarchal values and dominating attitudes of men. They are aimed at reminding females of their vulnerability and subjugated status in every field if life.

The prevailing methodology of discriminating against females on the basis of gender has a substantial effect on their work. If we want a woman to contribute towards development in an equal and healthy way, we need to discontinue the practice of pulling her down just because she was born as a female and encourage her to add value to the work with her knowledge.

Tags: Boss, Boss's Gender, Gender, Gender Ranks, Office, Official Rank, Software Professional, Women

The recent Forbes report awarded the tag of world’s most powerful woman of the year 2008 to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It is the third straight year when Merkel topped the Forbes magazine list of top 100 women based on their career, economic impact and media coverage.

Sheila Bair, who chairs the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp that insures bank deposits, debuts at No. 2 due to her increased prominence amid a stumbling US economy. The other ladies in top 10 included the chief executives of PepsiCo, WellPoint, Anglo American, Kraft Foods, Temasek Holdings, Areva, Xerox and Condoleezza Rice.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi is ranked No. 21 while Democratic US senator and former presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton dropped three spots to No. 28 but gained the most media attention of any woman on the list this year.

“Certainly she had been the Democratic nominee that probably would have catapulted her higher. She’s still an incredibly powerful force, she’s way more powerful than any other female senator.” said Forbes’ associate editor Chana Schoenberger.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the only other government official in the top 10, although she dropped three spots from last year to No. 7 as the Bush administration prepares to leave office in January after the US election in November.

According to Forbes report, 45 per cent of the women are based outside the United States.

There are 54 business executives and 23 politicians on the list, with media personalities and heads of non-profit organizations rounding out the top 100.

Gail Kelly, head of Australian bank Westpac, lands at No. 11 as Westpac is making a $15.6 billion takeover of St George Bank in Australia’s biggest-ever bank deal.

French Minister for Economy, Finance and Employment Christine Lagarde is at No. 14

While talking about the enlisted women in the interview, Chana Schoenberger said, “It’s inspiring to look at what some of these women have done and to listen to some of their life stories.”

One third of the women are new to the list, including Argentina’s first popularly elected president Cristina Fernandez and Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, chief executive of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. While the women who drop off the list this year included Zoe Cruz, former president of Morgan Stanley, Patricia Russo, former head of Alcatel Lucent and Meg Whitman, who stepped down as eBay’s chief executive.

“A lot of the women who dropped off the list this year were for job-related reasons,” Schoenberger said.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the US House of Representatives, ranked at No. 35 while talk show host Oprah Winfrey nabbed No. 36. Yahoo President Susan Decker is No. 50 and Queen Rania of Jordan is No. 96.

For complete details visit www.Forbes.com/women.

Tags: Angela Merkel, Anglo American, Areva, Condoleezza Rice, Forbes, Forbes Report, Hillary Clinton, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Powerful Women, Sheila Bair, Sonia Gandhi, Temasek Holdings, WellPoint, Woman, Women, World, Xerox

Hairs are one of the most important parts of women’s look which adds charm and beauty to her. New and latest hairstyles are always a craze among women. Hair care major Schwarzkopf recently unveiled some new styles at its Essential Looks Spring/Summer 2008 show. These styles for women can go easily this summer season. Have a look!

1) School’s Out: This haircut capitalizes on dashes of caramel coloring and layering with an overall smooth silhouette. It is the ideal style choice for straight and silky hairs. It frames your face well and makes you look dashing.

2) Punked Out: This style will provide a funky look. If you prefer your mane doing wilder, wackier things, this style is for you. Schwarzkopf has put a ‘School’s Out’ spin on the traditional bob — an edgy look with uneven layering and bangs that skim your eyebrows. A hint of copper or red will add to its quirky cuteness.

3) Ultra-feminine: The new style with the ‘New Romance’ look is enriched with sculpted, glossy curls fall softly onto your shoulders and the focus of the color is deep and dark. You can also opt for warm, subtle highlights making a perfect look.

4) Flavor of the East: This cute style is all about asymmetric bangs, funky layers and texture. Try brunette shades liberally and don’t be afraid to experiment. This gives a smarter and mod look to your personality.

So what to think about? Just have some guidelines from these styles and visit any local parlor to make your own style…….be cool in this summer!

Tags: Cool Hair Style, Hair Style, Season, Summer Hair Style, Women, Women Hair Style

Dowry, the word always ends with sympathy for women only but many times the dowry laws are misused against men and hence government has decided to look into the other side of the matter after getting complaints of misuse of dowry laws by women. Government announced to hold a consultation program to get views and suggestions from NGO’s and activists working for men where men from different walks of life would be invited to express themselves on June 25.

“The ministry has received complaints from men about the urgent need to amend Section 498A of the dowry law claiming that many women misuse the law to their benefit. After the consultation, the ministry will examine how far this claim is right before deciding on any thing,” Union Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary said.

The anti-dowry provisions state that any willful conduct that is likely to drive a woman to commit suicide or cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health whether mental or physical of the woman will be liable to be punished.

Complaints of dowry are the common occurrence in every city and every town which can be some times fraud cases and following complaints about the misuse of dowry laws, the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development would organize a consultation program.

The ministry has put out advertisements about this subject and asked people to write to them about such grievances. The government has received many suggestions and case studies through its website that invited affected persons to share their woes and offer suggestions to check the misuse of such laws.

“The consultation is a platform to provide them an opportunity to express their concerns about the legal provisions in Section 498A. The government would thereafter examine whether the concerns are a Grey area and whether they require attention,” Chowdhary said.

The decision is unique in itself and the issue is really thoughtful. This will make clear the other side of the picture of dowry laws where men are exploited in place of women.

Tags: Dowry, Government, NGO, Renuka Chowdhary, Women

Mira Nair, the famous Indian director of acclaimed films like monsoon Wedding, The Namesake, Mississippi Masala and Salaam Bombay is honored by the India Abroad Person of the Year 2007, on March 28.

The award was presented by Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and CEO, Pepsi, and India Abroad Person of the Year 2006 at a glittering ceremony held at the Gotham Hall in New York City.

Nooyi said while discussing her contribution to cinema and community that she had captured a special space for herself.

Nair reached New York to receive the award after a week-long trip to Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Toronto, Canada, where she will shoot her next film Amelia, starring Hillary Swank.

Her husband Mahmud Mamdani, a professor at Columbia University, was present on the occasion while only child Zohran, on whose insistence actor Kal Penn was selected for The Namesake, could not make it.

Nair paid her regards to all those mothers and women who inspired her.

Hosted by Columbia Professor Sreenath Sreenivasan, the evening began with Ajit Balakrishnan, publisher of India Abroad, the oldest Indian-American weekly, owned by rediff.com, lauding the winners and the Indian-American community’s achievements.

The awards ceremony was attended by diplomats, artistes, high ranking professionals, businessmen and stalwarts of the community. It was held at the stately Gotham Hall, formerly the headquarters of Greenwich Savings Bank, which hosted an event honoring soccer legend Pele and tennis great Boris Becker last week.

The legendary Economist Padma Desai and his husband Jagdish Bhagwati were chosen for India Abroad Lifetime Achievement Award from writer Salman Rushdie, winner of the same award last year.

Dr Renu Khator, President and Chancellor of the University of Houston, was awarded the India Abroad Publisher’s Special Award for Excellence.

India Abroad Youth Achiever 2007 award was given to 24 year old Somdev Burman. He is the first Indian to win the prestigious US collegiate tennis title.

Award for Service to the Community was given to Naveen Shah and Joy Cherian.

Tags: Mira Nair, Person of the year, Women

Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhary during his Goa visit on Saturday said that the coastal state Goa remains to be safe destination for tourists.

“Goa has built up a reputation over the years and it needs to live up to that,” she said.

Many questions aroused on Goa’s safety after a British teenager Scarlett Eden’s murder. Scarlett was found dead on the state’s Anjuna Beach on February 18. But Renuka stressed that Goa is still safe for the tourists.

Renuka is in Goa to attend a private function. There she interacted with a group of invitees in North Goa’s Candolim Beach village.

According to the sources Chowdhary has several meetings planned in the state with the officials.

Tags: Child, Development, Goa, Renuka Chowdhary, Tourist, Women