NCW’s slap rap

Almost a week after the moral policing act on amorous couples in Meerut, the Uttar Pradesh police is getting a dose of its own medicine. The authorities have already been lambasted by politicians like Brinda Karat and Sushma Swaraj for roughing up women and heads have rolled in the police ranks ever since. And now, National Commission for Women chairperson Girija Vyas has also come out strongly against the UP police.

“We have asked the (state) government to submit a report on the incident,” Vyas told reporters in New Delhi recently. Ridiculing police claims that they wanted to ‘clean up’ public parks, Vyas said the incident was nothing but public harassment of young couples who wanted to spend some time together.

Said Vyas: “If you want to save women within the ambit of the law, you have to follow a different method. You cannot humiliate and harass anyone in public. Fathers of the victims have asked us what would be the future of their daughters. It’s really disturbing.”

Pretty Witi

Women in Technology International (Witi), a leading professional organisation for women in the US, is planning to bridge the divide between female entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Last week, Witi announced the launch of Venture Connections, an event that will bring capital providers and industrialists together to ensure that financial handicaps don’t stymie the growth of women entrepreneurs. The event will be held in California on February 13 next year. And Witi is sure of its success. “Much of the legwork has already been done to ensure a rewarding experience for both sides,” a Witi official said.

Soft sedans

Nissan’s sedans are going slow on the muscles and working on the curves. In an effort to warm up to women, Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. unveiled a revamped Bluebird Sylphy sedan last week, aimed specifically at the needs of women. A recent Nissan survey showed that a car’s exterior design and interior styling are important factors in women’s purchase decisions. So, the new sedan, in addition to a sleek curvaceous body, has a 9.7 litre console box ? large enough to accommodate a handbag, bottles, a cellphone and CDs. That’s supposed to be a powerful incentive to get all the gals drooling over this ‘dream machine’.

Her viagra

Pharma giant Pfizer has finally heard the distress call from the woman who is desperate to match her Viagra-boosted man’s performance in bed. The company’s executive director Peter Ellis, who was in India last week, said that a version of the Viagra pill meant for women would be developed soon. “The female sexual dysfunction market is much larger,” said Ellis. “But it’s also that much more difficult to develop a pill for women. The desire, arousal and pain experienced by her has to be factored in,” he added. The trials for the drug are being conducted at the UK laboratory of Pfizer, and the first molecule could be ready by 2012.

Still queen

Her Roman Holiday may be long over but her Irish honeymoon certainly isn’t. More than a decade after her death, Irish women voted Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn as their number one style icon, ahead of today’s tinsel town queens Sarah Jessica Parker and Cameron Diaz. Hepburn received 17.5 per cent votes in the Kelloggs Special K Survey with Parker finishing a close second with 17 per cent. In fact, deceased icons continued to queen over women’s hearts with Grace Kelly, Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe calling the style shots even as the likes of supermodel Kate Moss languish in the bottom rungs. It seems old is really gold when it’s about style.

Overheard: That the Swiss government has proposed to raise the retirement age of women by a year from the present age of 64 to 65 years and bring it on a par with men to help cut costs for the state’s pension fund.