Femina
Femina
Do women lead, connect and share differently? Subscribe for the latest stories.

South Asia | India | Business

Meet Captain Monica Khanna, who safely landed SpiceJet flight after engine fire

Source:
Captain Monica Khanna’s quick-thinking saved the lives of around 185 passengers on board the SpiceJet flight that caught fire shortly after takeoff on Sunday. The Delhi-bound SpiceJet flight safely returned to Patna after cabin crew noticed sparks flying out of the left engine of the aircraft and alerted the pilots. Captain Monica Khanna – the pilot in-charge – acted calmly and took control of the situation. After consulting with First Officer Balpreet Singh Bhatia, she switched off the affected engine and landed the ‘overweight’ aircraft skillfully in Patna.
South Asia | India | Career

Between domestic chores and agricultural work, rural Indian women have no time for child-rearing

Source:
Working in agriculture-related jobs brings financial freedom to Indian women, but it comes at a cost. Intense work leads to stress and compromises in care responsibilities towards children and also affects the women’s own health, according to recent research published by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). “Women’s work in agriculture seems to have a negative effect on household nutrition through two pathways: lack of adequate time for care work in peak agricultural seasons and seasonal energy with consequent losses in body weight,” the study notes. “Recognition of women
South Asia | India | Career

Women are bringing solar energy to thousands of Indian villages

Source:
India is trying to bring electricity to hundreds of millions of its citizens who live off the grid. And it's trying to ensure that the power comes from clean and renewable sources. Frontier Markets is helping to achieve both those goals in the Western desert state of Rajasthan, selling solar-powered products to hundreds of villages. The company is thriving by turning its customers into salespeople. The company employs women to sell products like lamps, stoves, and even TVs that run on solar power through a program called Solar Sahelis (Solar Friends). Each woman is in charge of sell
South Asia | India | Politics

Women in politics: some prominent faces in the 17th Lok Sabha you should know

Source:
India has sent 78 women lawmakers to the 17th Lok Sabha - the highest ever - and while there are veterans like Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi, there are also celebrities Hema Malini.  The Lower House will also see new faces such as Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty being part of the law-making process this term. Here are some significant faces you should definitely know about.
South Asia | India | Politics

A first in Haryana: One all-women booths in each assembly segment

Source:
For the first time in Haryana, ‘Sakhi Matdan Kendras’ will be set up in each assembly segment to spread the message of woman empowerment. These kendras (polling stations), at least one in each Assembly constituency, will exclusively be run by women only. Haryana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajeev Ranjan said this initiative will go a long way in encouraging women to vote and also ensure that elections are conducted in an efficient manner.
South Asia | India | Technology

Meet the women entrepreneurs who are tapping AI to revolutionise fashion ecommerce

Source:
If data is the new oil, artificial intelligence is the new electricity. AI is helping e-sellers add a personal touch to the shopping experience for buyers. India’s ecommerce market is estimated to be worth $84 billion by 2021 (as per the latest RAI report), which means more offline merchants are coming online. And one of the sectors seeing a revolution, courtesy AI, is fashion retail. Fashion retailers, even those from small towns, are embracing technology, to be seen at par with or as more progressive than their counterparts in metro cities. And a few women-led startups are guiding th
South Asia | India | Culture

‘Insult to all women’: Rabri Devi hits back at BJP leader who said she should ‘stay veiled’

Source:
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Rabri Devi on Saturday hit back at Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party member Ashwini Kumar Choubeyover his comment that she should stay veiled. Earlier on Saturday, Choubey, the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, had said, “What do I say about Rabri Devi? She is like my sister-in-law. It would be better if she remains in ghoonghat [veiled]”. “BJP’s slogan is ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’ [the party’s campaign to educate the girl child] but such insult of daughters? It’s insulting towards all women,” ANI quoted Rabri Devi as
South Asia | India | Music

Mary Kom, Sania Mirza, Juhi Chawla Unite For Ananya Birla’s ‘Unstoppable’

Source:
Pop star Ananya Birla has a brand-new music video, and like the title suggests, it’s all about celebrating women being unstoppable. Ahead of her highly anticipated album launch in April, the first Indian musician to be certified platinum artist in the English category has starred in a powerful video for her International Women’s Day single ‘Unstoppable’ which released earlier last month.
South Asia | India | Culture

Uttar Pradesh’s first woman qazi demands immediate ban on practice of triple talaq

Source:
Supporting the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan’s move to demand a ban on triple talaq and dubbing it as ‘misinterpretation of ‘ayats’ (verses), Uttar Pradesh’s first woman qazi Hina Zaheer Naqvi on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to intervene into the matter and demanded an immediate ban on the practice. Naqvi said oral talaq has been widely misused, adding this puts a Muslim women’s life at risk as it is promoting more and more divorces. “I strongly oppose triple talaq. Even Quran, the central religious text of Islam, does not give any instructi
South Asia | India | Activism

Meet the Feminist Fighting India’s Entrenched Misogyny

Source:
Being a woman in the Republic of India is a dangerous prospect thanks to entrenched misogyny that influences everything from violence on the street to extreme orthodoxy in religious institutions. Fighting against these and other causes of gender discrimination is veteran feminist activist Vidya Bal. Bal entered the world of feminism first as a writer and editor with popular woman-centric magazine Stree (the hindi word for woman). Her articulate deconstruction of India's gender bias practices later propelled her to founding the Nari Samata Manch (Women Equality Forum) in 1982. Since then, Ba
South Asia | India | Activism

The woman who electrified a village and took on a mafia

Source:
Kalawati Devi Rawat is known as the woman who brought electricity to her remote village in the hills of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, writes BBC Hindi's Salman Ravi. It was the early 1980s and she had just been married and moved to Bacher village to live with her husband. The village had no electricity and she found life tough once it got dark in the hills. One day, she led a group of village women to meet government officials at the district headquarters in Gopeshwar to demand that their village be electrified. But the authorities were unmoved. While trekking back to the
South Asia | India | Activism

This IIT alumnus has stopped close to 70,000 people from committing suicide

Source:
According to an earlier study by the World Health Organisation(WHO), Indians are among the worst hit by depression, with nearly 36 percent of the population having a major depressive episode. While one person in India commits suicide every four minutes, younger Indians are among the worst hit. That’s why Richa Singh, an IIT Guwahati alumnus, started www.yourdost.com, an emotional support system for people to discuss problems with qualified and experienced individuals, in anonymity. Available as a free service both through its web portal and mobile app, YourDOST, according to Inc 42,
South Asia | India | Economy

Women account for only 8% of entrepreneurs: Delhi Economic Census

Source:
Women account for only 8% of entrepreneurs in Delhi, while 91% of total establishments work under private proprietorship, according to the economic census of Delhi. The census report released by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday was conducted by the Directorate of Economics & Statistics in collaboration with the Central Statistics Office during February and June 2013. The last economic census of Delhi was released in 2005. The Sixth Economic Census includes all types of entrepreneurial activities in the field of agriculture (except crop production and plantation) as well

Read the world's local women's news


How does Femina work?

  • Step 1
    1
    Local Country Editors From Around the World
  • Step 2
    2
    Choose News Articles From Their Countries’ Local Language Papers
  • Step 3
    3
    Summarize & Contextualize The Stories In English

Got it!

Thanks for registering!

Swipe for more Top Stories


Got it!