More power to women

The city is currently hosting the 78th national meet of the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), a non-political social welfare organisation founded in 1926 that has been working for social justice, equal rights and opportunities for women. About 400 AIWC delegates from all over India are participating in the event being held at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), Calcutta. As part of the programme, a seminar on ‘Personal Laws and Women’s Rights: The Indian Experience’, was held yesterday. The speakers included Mahasveta Devi (picture, left), Sayeeda Hameed, member, Planning Commission, and Flavia Agnes, activist and lawyer. Striking a balance between academic discourses and activism, the seminar sought to take a fresh look at personal laws from the perspective of gender issues. As part of the meet, an exhibition of handicrafts has also been organised at the EZCC.

Body blow

Now, you can’t be expected to be in stitches over this piece of news. An organisation, which calls itself H.com, has been exhorting Muslim women in a town near Kozhikode not to go to a particular tailoring shop where the tailor, a man, is “guilty” of taking measurements of women’s bodies to make dresses. The shop has been torched and the police do not rule out the organisation’s involvement in it. In fact, it had put up a notice at a mosque in the area recently threatening to take action against the tailor, who, it said, was ‘defaming’ Islam.

RU ready?

Beware, before you pop that pill, say anti-abortion lobbyists in Australia, who are stepping up a campaign to stop the sale of the controversial abortion pill, RU486. A survey released by an organisation called Australians Against RU486 reports that more than half of the 500 women surveyed oppose the pill because they are wary of its possible side effects. But the Australian Medical Association has criticised the findings as an effort to change the debate on the drug into one on abortion. The survey, for instance, found just a quarter of the women were aware of the drug, despite months of debate about its introduction.

Rational move

How would you ensure an effective management of the distribution of essential commodities? Why, let women take over! At least, that’s what the Maharashtra government seems to think. To teach dishonest ration shop owners a lesson, it has decided to hand over ration shops to a small savings women’s group called Mahila Bachat Gaat (MBG). If such a step is taken, it will spell the doom for about 50,000 shop owners across the state ? their licences could be revoked. However, the state government has clarified that the scheme will be carried out in a phased manner. The authorities will first see how the MBG fares in tribal areas.

Pleasing!

Remember the ad where two pretty nurses shriek ‘it’s a boy’ when they uncover a motorbike in the babies’ ward? Well, it seems that motorbikes are now no longer being seen as boy toys. Hero Honda has just opened 22 sales outlets across the country exclusively for women as part of its marketing campaign for its latest product called Pleasure. This seems to be a first attempt by a company to tap the women’s market for two-wheelers. The demand for scooters or bikes is particularly strong in the southern and western parts of the country. Hence, two of the outlets are located in Chennai alone.

Overheard: Younger women may be able to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) without raising their risk of heart disease, US researchers reported in a study, aimed at reducing some of the confusion regarding HRT.