By IANS
Bangalore : Large number of women in Bangalore took to the streets at the stroke of midnight Friday to hold a torchlight procession in front of Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, to mark International Women’s Day (IWD).
There were also a number of seminars on empowering women and exhibitions of their artistic and entrepreneurial skills.
Former ministers Rani Satish and B.T. Lalitha Naik and former chairperson of Karnataka Women’s Commission Pramila Nesargi led the procession organised by various women’s groups in the city.
The few hundred people carried placards and banners calling for a total ban on liquor, end to atrocities on women and 33 percent reservation for them in parliament and state assemblies.
Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE) announced a summit, Voice of Women, in May where around 800 women entrepreneurs from self-help groups active in textile, handicrafts, gems and jewellery, finance, education, electronics, IT and other sectors will participate.
A trade expo will also be held as part of the summit from May 28 to June 2, AWAKE secretary Revathi Venkatraman said Friday, on the eve of IWD.
IT majors Infosys and Wipro also joined the celebrations with their own programmes. Infosys has named its programme SPARK while Wipro called it WoW (Women of Wipro).
SPARK, a two-day event for women students in their fourth and sixth semesters from engineering colleges across India, began Friday in Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram.
Over 1,200 students across 420 colleges in these cities visited the Infosys campus closest to their educational institution to get a perspective on the IT business; to train for interviews (using self assessment and role plays) and to understand the project approach to enhance analytical and problem-solving abilities, an Infosys statement said.
Wipro honoured its women employees with the title of Green Ambassadors and facilitated achievers among them at a function here Friday.
Several government offices in the state hoisted a specially designed flag called Ananya (Eternal) depicting the colours of a rainbow against a white background.
The colours signify freedom and new hopes and represent new aspirations, expanding role of women in society and a desire for true emancipation, according to an official statement.
An exhibition of paintings by hearing-impaired women and seminars and workshops on women’s empowerment by various trade bodies like Confederation of Indian Industry, Karnataka chapter were also held in the city.