Women

By NNN-PTI, New Delhi : At a time when the world celebrates Mother's Day, it turns out that India scores poorly among the middle-income countries when it comes to health care and well-being of mothers. The country is ranked 73 in the list of 77 nations rated for the "best place to be a mother", according to a report by child rights organisation 'Save the Children'. What is more shocking in the 'State of the World's Mothers 2010' report is that India is rated much lower than a host of conflict-ridden African countries like Kenya and Congo.

By IANS,

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter, Guwahati: Coinciding with the time when India is getting ready to welcome new leaders to run the country, Maryam Ajmal Women’s College of Science and Technology (MAWCST) at Hojai, about 200 km from state capital Guwahati, organised an interactive session on ‘Leadership Skills’ recently for the benefit of students of the college and their counterparts in other colleges administered by the Ajmal Foundation, one of the leading education NGOs of the North East.

New Delhi : Landlords were free to choose properties for doing business wherever they want, a Delhi court has held while allowing the eviction...

By IANS, Srinagar: There are over 32,000 widows and 97,000 orphaned children in violence-battered Jammu and Kashmir, a new study has found, suggesting that the unending conflict in the border state has only made things worse for the vulnerable sections of society. "There were 32,400 widows and 97,200 orphans in 2008 in Kashmir and the number is growing. With the continuity and intensification of armed conflict, their life conditions have deteriorated to miserable sub-human levels," says the study conducted by valley-based known sociologist Bashir Ahmed Dabla.

By IANS, New Delhi : An eight-year-old student of a government school was allegedly raped by her 20-year-old deaf and dumb neighbour here, police said Thursday.

By IANS, New Delhi : A woman, who has accused five policemen of raping her in a police station this week, failed to identify them when the police station staff was paraded before her Thursday, police said. "She was called up for her help in identifying the accused policemen, but during the re-examination of her statement contradictions were found and these are being examined," Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

By IANS, New Delhi: Eight girls who were refused admission by different government schools in east Delhi have moved the Delhi High Court which Tuesday asked the education department to explain why the students were turned away. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw asked the government to explain by Aug 5 why it failed to admit the girls in its schools. The girls residing in different areas in east Delhi approached the court when they were refused admission by the schools on frivolous grounds.

Agartala: A tribal was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Tripura for raping a 13-year-old girl, police said here Friday. "Dhananjoy Reang raped...

By TCN News, Aligarh: Emphasising that the rights given by the Islam to women about 14 centuries ago are still not available to the non-Muslim women, Professor Shakeel Samdani from the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Monday said, “Islam gives complete liberty to women and they are allowed to do every work within the limits of Sharia.”

Chandigarh: Protests erupted in Haryana's Rohtak town Sunday after details emerged of the barbaric manner in which a mentally-challenged Nepali woman was raped and...

Mumbai/New Delhi : The CBI on Tuesday searched four premises of social activist Teesta Setalvad and her publishing firm in Mumbai in connection...

Lucknow: Social activist Medha Patekar was arrested in Allahabad on Saturday, police said. She was on her way to Kachari village when police tried to...

Chennai : Malini Parthasarathy, the first woman editor of The Hindu daily, put in her papers on Tuesday. The 138-year-old daily is one of the...

By Bilal A. Malik for Twocircles.net Since 1947, women participation has been an inalienable element of Kashmir’s resistance movement. The courageous women of Kashmir stood...

New Delhi: A Class 5 girl has moved the Delhi High Court against her teacher for slapping and humiliating her in front of her...

In the last of the five personal stories of half widows, Raqib Hameed Naik narrates the story of Shabnum Wani. Bemina (Srinagar): On ...

By TCN News, New Delhi: A canteen run exclusively by women and operated by Ekta Self Help Group (SHG) was inaugurated in Jamia Millia Islamia today by Smt. Salma Ansari, Wife of Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Hon’ble Vice-President of India.

Mumbai : On the occasion of the 70th Independence Day, Maharashtra launched the country's first comprehensive 'Crime Criminal Tracking Network System' through 42 cyber...

(One month after Dec 16 gang-rape) By Rajnish Singh, IANS,

(30 years of Bhopal gas tragedy) By Sandeep Pauranik, Bhopal : It's been 30 years since tragedy struck this capital city of Madhya Pradesh. Though life has now returned to normal, many women whose husbands died after the gas leak at the Union Carbide factory are praying to god for death.

Patna : A woman legislator of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United Monday resigned from the party and said she will to contest the Lok Sabha...

Kolkata : The Election Commission Friday said as many as 3,000 women poll personnel will be deployed in 575 polling booths in West Bengal. According...

New Delhi : President Pranab Mukherjee Monday said the government will have a policy of "zero tolerance" for violence against women, and was committed...

By Shubha Singh, IANS, Young Indian women who have followed their non-resident Indian (NRI) husbands abroad sometimes find that a matrimonial dispute can leave them without the wherewithal to contest a divorce case or file for custody of their children. In some cases, the distressed women are unable to fight for their rights because of some lacunae in their immigration papers.

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter   Guwahati: The faculty members and students of Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) have been hosting Iftaar mehfils for the medical...

By TCN News, Chennai: Shia and Sunni speakers came together on stage to talk about ‘Importance of Hijab in women empowerment’ and the topic of Islamic bondage between Shia and Sunni Muslims. The seminar ‘Importance of Hijab in Women Empowerment’ was addressed by Sayeda Sabika Haider, Tabassum Aun, Aalima Ummey Laila and Fathima Muzaffar Sahiba. It was held on Sunday, April 5 at ‘Imam Ali ibne Abi Talib (as) Islamic Centre’ at Perambur, a statement from the Chennai Shia Youth Association said.

By Shuchi Kapoor, TwoCircles.net Students of MWA Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chennai learn to give azan, Islamic call to prayers. MWA Matriculation Higher Secondary...

By IANS, Nagpur : Addiction to smoking almost cost a young woman her two-year-old marriage. She has salvaged it for now by signing an affidavit that binds her to divorce without alimony if she takes a puff again. The woman's husband, a non-smoker, has brought his errant wife back from her parental home on the condition that she must not smoke again.

New Delhi : A court here on Wednesday granted bail to Delhi's former law minister Somnath Bharti, who is accused in a domestic...

It has been labeled as the world’s worst industrial disaster. Thirty years ago, on December 2-3 night, a cloud of deadly methyl-isocyanate enveloped the sleeping innocents in the neighbourhood of the Union Carbide plant that killed at least 3000 immediately and left thousands others suffering a lingering death. Even after three decades of struggle, justice remains a distant cry. In this fourth of the six part series, TwoCircles.net finds out how this gas justice movement also shaped a kind of feminist movement where the victims came out from pardah and started street protests. (Read Part I here: "It was difficult for mothers to save their children, for children to save their aged parents" (Read Part II here: Widows of tragedy an icon of government’s apathy (Read Part III here: Abdul Jabbar: an underrated champion By Mohd Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net,

By IANS Ranchi: Gyan Sudha Mishra, the first woman Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court, was Sunday sworn in by governor Syed Sibte Razi at the Raj Bhawan here. Mishra is the sixth Chief Justice of Jharkhand High Court after the state was carved out from Bihar Nov 2000. Mishra was enrolled as lawyer in 1974 in Patna High Court. She was elevated to the post of judge in 1994 after which she was transferred to Rajasthan High Court. Her father, S.C. Mishra, was Chief Justice of Patna High Court.

By TCN News,

By IANS, New Delhi: Locked up inside their home and unfed for months together, two sisters were rescued from their north Delhi apartment Saturday, police officials said.

Mumbai : The Reliance Foundation on Monday announced a unique initiative it has taken up -- a project to spread financial literacy and awareness...

By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,

Aligarh Movement: Struggle for Women’s Education and establishment of Women’s College By Afzal Usmani

New Delhi : Women in India are not told what to wear and how to wear what, union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani...

By Aparajita Gupta, New Delhi : Women have broken through the glass ceiling not just in India's financial services space, holding top positions in top...

Ghaziabad: The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Ghaziabad unit Saturday lodged a complaint with the police here against a person who allegedly wrote derogatory remarks...

By IANS, Panaji : The rape of a middle-aged woman on Christmas eve at the popular Arambol beach took place right next to a fortified bunker and in close vicinity of a police outpost, former state Bharatiya Janata Party president Laxmikant Parsenkar says. Parsenkar, a member of the Goa assembly, told IANS Friday that the rape occurred just a few metres away from a fortified police bunker and about 60 metres from a police outpost at Arambol that is manned by an officer of assistant sub-inspector rank.

By TCN News, Hyderabad: On 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (8th March), Hyderabad based organization Nisa Research and Resource Centre for Women organized a program in Hyderabad calling for protection of women’s rights both by civil society and governments.

Bengaluru : Delhi's Vani Kapoor and defending champion Mehar Atwal scored two-over 74 and 75 respectively to share the lead in the second round...

अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net ऑल इंडिया मुस्लिम पर्सनल लॉ बोर्ड ने ये ऐलान किया है कि वो भारत सरकार के लॉ कमीशन के ज़रिए यूनिफॉर्म...

By Maulana Waris Mazhari, (Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)

Lucknow : A lower court order directing payment of alimony to a divorced woman under the Domestic Violence Act has been set aside by...

By Ramziya Ashraf,

By TCN News New Delhi: Control Arms Foundation of India in collaboration with Multiple Action Research Group and India Habitat Centre successfully conducted...

New Delhi: The Indian women's hockey team put on an inspiring show to beat Ireland 2-1 in their second Test match in Dublin. The win...

Three Muslim women in Man Asia long list New Delhi: Three Muslim women found themselves among the 21 selected for Man Asia Literary Prize. The long list of 21 unpublished works includes work from Anjum Hasan, Daisey Hasan, and Salma. The 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize long list was chosen from submissions received from all over Asia. The largest single group of submissions was from India, followed by the Philippines. A short list of five works will be announced in October 2008 and winner awarded in November.

By Shuchi Kapoor, TwoCircles.net Students wait patiently for the time to break fast at a school-organized iftar event at MWA School, Chennai. Link: Ramadan 1435: TCN serieswindow.onload...

TCN Special Series on Women of Inspiration By Ilyaskhan Pathan & Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,

By IANS, Bhopal : A Dalit woman, set on fire by two people in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, died at a hospital in Gwalior Thursday, police said. The woman, Krantibai, was living with Raghuveer Gurjar in Padora village in the district after leaving her husband a few years ago. "Raghuveer Wednesday demanded some money from her for liquor. When Krantibai refused, he and his brother doused her with kerosene and set her on fire," Shivpuri Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad said.

By IANS,

By IANS, Bangalore : Women leaders from India and over 50 other countries are gathering here Friday to discuss role of technology in empowering women, particularly in developing nations.

By IANS, Panaji: Four persons, including a woman and a 16-year-old girl who were arrested by the Goa police earlier this week for multiple murders in the state, had left a trail of blood in Mumbai too, police said. Speaking to reporters here Wednesday, Superintendent of Police (CID) Atmaram Deshpande said that the gang, which includes a woman and a 16-year-old girl, had also confessed to murdering a woman in Virar, a suburb on the outskirts of Mumbai.

By Shafee Ahmed Ko, TwoCircles.net, Chennai: The newly formed Federation of Muslim Women’s Aid Societies (FeMWAS) held its maiden function at Hotel Abu Palace in Chennai last week. The federation decided to launch public awareness campaign for Muslim Women’s Aid Society (MWAS), a government aided NGO in each district of Tamil Nadu.

By IANS, New Delhi/Mumbai : Fight-Back, an online gender justice campaign launched this year in Mumbai after a woman there was molested outside the JJ Marriott Hotel on New Year's eve, will represent India at the prestigious International Youth Movements Summit in New York Dec 3-5. The celebrity campaign helps young women across the country with wallet cards listing police helpline numbers, online discussion forums, support groups and media to enable them fight against gender abuse and injustice.

By IANS, Kolkata: Sex workers from the city's red light areas participated in street plays and dances and brought out a rally as part of...

By IANS, New Delhi: The patriarchal Indian society has a deep-rooted bias against the girl child and changing this mindset is essential to curb female foeticide, experts said here Thursday.

By IRNA, Tehran : United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative in Iran Mohamed Abdel-Ahad in his speech on the occasion World Population Day ceremony held here at Tehran University said out of 190 million women who become pregnant annually, more than half a million die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

Shimla : More than 3,500 mothers and their newborns in Himahcal have benefitted in two months under the Janani Express-102 scheme, the state government...

New Delhi: The AAP Thursday announced the setting up of a women's wing in Delhi and appointed Shalimar Bagh legislator Bandana Kumari as its...

By IRNA, London : Shabana Mahmood and Yasmin Qureshi have become the first Muslim women to be elected to the British parliament after successfully defending Labour seats. Mahmood successfully increased the majority of former International Development Secretary Clare Short, who has retired from parliament, from under 7,000 votes to more than 10,000 in Birmingham Ladywood in central England. The Oxford University-educated barrister saw off challenges from two other Muslim candidate, Ayoub Khan representing the Liberal Democrats and Nusrat Ghani, who was standing for the Tories.

New Delhi : As many as 164 ponzi, or chit fund, companies are currently being probed by central agencies for duping customers across the...

By IANS,

Agartala: The Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) -- India's first all-women bank -- will open three more branches in three capital cities of the northeastern...

By IANS,

Bengaluru : Global retail giant's Walmart Foundation trained nearly 12,000 women with life skills in 30 factories across Gujarat, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu with...

By IANS, Lucknow: A man in Uttar Pradesh killed his two minor daughters as he was upset over his wife not giving birth to a son, police said Saturday.

By IANS, Bangalore : Social groups are bracing up to celebrate the International Woman's Day March 8 with gusto in India's IT hub despite a spate of attacks on women in the guise of moral policing and eve-teasing. Asserting the spirit of womanhood and vowing to rid the city of crime against women, the groups will celebrate the day with a slew of programmes.

By IANS Amritsar: "My father should not be spared for his acts. He should be shot dead," was the impassioned plea of the college-going daughter of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. The father has allegedly been raping his daughter for the past eight years. Speaking to reporters here Thursday, the 20-year-old said she wanted no mercy for her father. "Don't spare him. The police should shoot him dead," she said, speaking in Punjabi.

Hyderabad: An unidentified person opened fire and robbed a girl of money and jewellery at an ATM here on Wednesday, police said. The incident occurred...

By IANS, Ghaziabad : A 13-year-old girl was allegedly gangraped by two young men and an adolescent in Pratap Vihar area of Ghaziabad, adjoining the national capital, the police said Sunday. According to the police, the girl, who is a resident of Pratap Vihar, had stepped out of her house Saturday afternoon when the three young men, also staying in the same locality, forcibly took her to a secluded spot and raped her. The men threatened her with dire consequences if she disclosed the crime to anyone.

New Delhi : Pressing for a debate on the issue of juveniles who commit rape, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Mamta Sharma Wednesday...

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net, Part of the Azamgarh speaks series. New Delhi: Nikhat Bano is pursuing MA in geography at Aligarh Muslim University. She did graduation also at AMU. She is from Azamgarh. Her village is not much developed but she herself reflects the developed thinking of Azamgarh Muslims about woman education.

Jaipur : A woman has been paraded naked in Rajasthan's Sikar district by her husband following an argument in their house, eyewitnesses said Monday. Only...

By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS, New Delhi : Call it a thoughtful wedding gift. The government will give packets of pregnancy test strips to rural women on the occasion of their marriage - to reduce unwanted pregnancies and maternal mortality across India. "It's a known fact that 53 percent of Indian women get married before reaching the legal age of 18 and have their first baby by 15 or 16 years of age. The problem is really huge in rural India," Health Secretary Naresh Dayal said.

By IANS,

By IANS, Raipur : Indian women?s hockey team captain Saba Anjum will get Chhattisgarh's top Gundadhur sports award, official sources said Wednesday.

By IANS, New Delhi : A whopping 51 percent of women in Delhi, the highest in the country, feel that they are obese. The majority of them blame it on their irregular eating habits and lack of exercise, said a survey released Tuesday. The women aged between 18 to 50 years said weight management, especially in these size-zero times, is an important issue for them. Kolkata women at 40 percent were second to perceive themselves as obese followed by Mumbai at 39 percent and Chennai at 26 percent.

Srinagar : A school teacher was arrested on Wednesday for attempting to molest a Class 6 girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police...

By IANS, Raipur : A woman prisoner scaled a 22-feet jail wall and jumped off it to escape but broke her leg during the fall and was caught by the prison guards, the police said. Amrika Bai, 28, is facing a 10-year jail term since 2007 and late Saturday dodged the jail security to try and escape by scaling the complex wall. But she was caught when the guards deployed outside the jail complex spotted her. She tried to run away with a fractured leg and bruises but the guards caught her.

New York : Veteran actor Anupam Kher is happy to be appointed as the 50/50 champion for gender equality to support UN Women's work. In...

By IANS, Lucknow : Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Sunday said the women's reservation bill was an "international conspiracy" to weaken Indian democracy and said it would ultimately lead to an all-women parliament that would be "alarming" for the country. "The women's reservation bill will eventually weaken Indian democracy and it is really unfortunate that the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government at the centre was playing into the hands of those whose only intent was to break the backbone of Indian democracy," Mulayam Singh said at a press conference here.

New Delhi : The AAP Tuesday said the BJP-led central government had no "political will" to address the women safety issues, citing a government...

Changing the socio-economic status of Muslim women by mobilising them into Self-Help Groups and building their skills and capacities is the singular goal of ‘Rajya Mahila Samman 2014’ awardee By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net, Kolkata/Howrah: Her mission is to self-help, empower and to protect the minority women, girls and children, especially in the rural society. Rahima Khatun has devoted herself for spreading awareness and upliftment of women, eliminate poverty and help tide over poor health and illiteracy. Her weapons in this fight are skill development programmes and self help groups focusing on Muslims.

By IANS, New Delhi: There were finally some smiles in the Indian women's hockey team as they won the bronze medal Saturday by beating much fancied rivals China in the inaugural edition of the Asia Cup held in Busan, South Korea. The medal will lift the morale of the team, which has been rocked with charges of sexual harassment that saw chief coach Maharaj Kishan Kaushik resigning. India came from behind to register a 2-1 victory over world No.3 China. The Indian team is currently ranked 13th in the world. Wang Mengyu scored the only goal for China in the 16th minute.

By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net Banglore: In a significant move, the Bangalore police on Monday filed an FIR against Amnesty International India, the global human...

Panaji : Goa's first woman chief minister Shashikala Kakodkar is being treated for swine flu, Health Minister Francis D'Souza said on Tuesday. Kakodkar, 80, who...

By Asif Khan, TwoCircles.net “Men are absolutely useless.” For a moment, Shah Mohammad Shadab lost the patience in his voice. Working with underprivileged minorities for...

By IANS, London : Indian-origin author V.S. Naipaul has dismissed female authors as "unequal" to him and said women writers demonstrate a lack of ability.

Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday filed her nomination papers for the West Bengal assembly elections...

New Delhi : The Supreme Court will Tuesday hear a plea alleging police inaction on a complaint by a woman advocate from Chhattisgarh alleging...

By IANS, New Delhi : Amid continued uncertainty here over the fate of a bill to reserve seats for women in parliament and legislative bodies, Pakistan has offered to share its experience in successfully implementing a law in this regard. "We have enacted a law where 20 percent of parliamentarians have to be women. The law was based on recommendations based on a study by NGO Aurat Foundation. India can replicate the model and if it wants we can share the study," Pakistani High Commissioner Shahid Malik said here late Thursday.

By IANS Ghaziabad: A girl was beaten up and set on fire by four men, who accused her of having an affair, in Ghaziabad, police said Tuesday. She later succumbed to her injuries in hospital. The girl, Imrana Hakim (15) was at her house in the Tauri Tereh locality under Bhojpur police station of Ghaziabad, with her younger sister Monday. Her mother was working in the local fields while her father was out of town for some work, district police chief Akhil Kumar said.

By TCN News, New Delhi: In order to express deep respect for Irom Sharmila and to support the ongoing struggle for justice by civil society...

By Asghar Ali Engineer,

By IANS, Panaji : A French woman was found dead in a trailer parked near Vagator beach in Goa, while a man believed to be her companion was lying unconscious next to her, police said Monday. The trailer, equipped with modern amenities including a mini kitchen, was found parked near Vagator beach, 25 km from state capital Panaji, Sunday. Police suspect it could be a case of drug overdose.

Chennai: In a gruesome incident, a woman allegedly burnt her husband and six other family members to death on Wednesday in Tamil Nadu. The incident...

New Delhi : Swati Maliwal, wife of a prominent AAP leader, will be the new chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW),...

New Delhi: The Supreme Court was told Friday that the government was sitting on Rs.2,000 crore earmarked under the Nirbhaya Fund - meant to...

By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,