Work from home

At a recent meet in Bangalore, Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy (pic above) highlighted a serious issue concerning women employees in IT companies. Murthy told the conference that there should be some changes in work arrangements for women so that they are not forced to opt out of the industry, especially from the level of middle management, because of family pressures. And this, he said, incurs significant losses for companies. He suggested that one of the ways of tackling the problem would be to arrange for telecommuting, or working from home. This would enable women to go for extended breaks from work in order to look after their children, he asserted. He also said that when it came to revamping an ailing sector or to driving a new venture, men were more likely to be given the job.

Cloning risk

British women will be allowed to donate eggs solely for cloning experiments that promise new therapies for diseases such as Parkinson’s and diabetes. Scientists will now be permitted to recruit donors who are not already undergoing any medical treatment, in procedures that carry potential health risks. The decision by the government’s fertility watchdog has stirred a fresh controversy on ethics. Egg donation exposes women to potential complications that can cause kidney damage or death. The revised regulations are intended to address a shortage of donated eggs that has hampered efforts to produce cloned embryonic stem cells, and could accelerate the search for new treatments.

The Times, London

Blair project

While her husband is busy ridding Iraq and its neighbours of terror elements, Cherie Blair seems to be quite keen to champion the cause of Arab women. And apparently she has an ally in Irish President May McAleese. At an economic forum in Saudi Arabia last week, Cherie told Arab leaders that the economic potential of the kingdom would be hampered if women were not allowed to be a part of the workforce. McAleese told the meet that Saudi Arabia ought to follow the Irish model of development ? opening the kingdom to the rest of the world and making women part of its offices.

Just beat it

Watch it, all you wife-bashing drunkards. The women of Jamuna Talab, a remote village in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district have taken it upon themselves to force their husbands to quit alcohol. If they refuse to do so, they are just beaten black and blue. Geeta Devi, the village chief and the leader of the anti-liquor brigade, claims that they have so far cured 100 men of their drinking problem by beating them up and driving all liquor sellers away from the village. The women get all the support from the police and have also been awarded a hefty sum by the state government.

KEEP IT UP!

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (pic right) and other women entrepreneurs in India might find this encouraging. If we go by the Census Bureau report in the US, there will soon be a formidable number of women entrepreneurs giving their male counterparts a run for their money. According to data released by the Bureau, the number of women-owned businesses in the country has gone up by 20 per cent from 1997 to 2002, which is twice the growth rate for businesses as a whole. Breaking down the numbers geographically, the report shows Nevada topping the list, followed by Georgia, Florida and New York. Over 117,000 women-owned firms posted sales of $1 million or more in 2002. Way to go, gals!

Overheard: It’s not waif-like models in ad campaigns who lower the self-esteem of women, but the comparatively heavier ones who do the damage, says a new study in the March 2006 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.