Sunita to run marathon in space

BOSTON: Zooming through low-earth orbit at 17,500 mph, Sunita Williams completes the standard marathon distance every 5.4 seconds. But for next month's Boston Marathon, the US Navy commander will run the equivalent distance on a treadmill, 338 kilometres above earth in the International Space Station, and tethered to her track by bungee cords so she does not float away. "She thought it would be cool if she gave it a try," said Sunita’s sister, Dina Pandya, who will run the race the traditional way with almost 24,000 other runners. "She said, 'I'll call you on Heartbreak Hill.'" Although the world's oldest annual marathon starts at 1930 IST on earth, Sunita might not be able to run at that time because her sleep schedule, a fairly arbitrary matter in space, is set for the arrival of a Soyuz mission. "I'm not sure the timing will be that she'll be awake," Dina said. "They're going to be on Russian time, so they're kind of sleep-shifting." Sunita, 41, qualified for the Boston race by finishing last January's Houston Marathon in 3 hours, 29 minutes, 57 seconds. On December 9, Sunita took off on the space shuttle Discovery and it became clear she was not going to make it to the starting line. "I considered it a huge honour to qualify, and I didn't want my qualification to expire without giving it a shot," Sunita told the Boston Athletic Association, which organises the race. link Sunita to_run_Boston_Marathon_in_space

Women on march to top of US companies
Indira Nooyi is the fourth powerful woman in the world - According to Forbes
Women march to the top of US companies
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“The number of women in charge of large US companies could double in the next five years as more female managers break through corporate America's glass ceiling, according to Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's chief executive.
Ms Nooyi, one of only 11 female chief executives among Fortune 500 companies, said a growing number of women had risen to senior corporate positions and could make the leap to a top job over the next few years.
"The next five to 10 years I think are very promising . . . I am meeting more and more fantastic women at what I call almost-CEO levels. There is a lot of hope," she told the Financial Times in an interview.
"Eleven is better than zero, progress has been made and I hope that number doubles quickly".
The comments by Ms Nooyi, who became PepsiCo's first female CEO last October after 12 years with the consumer goods group, contrast with the widespread fears of a slowdown in women's rise to the top of corporate America.
Last year, women lost ground to men in the share of both board memberships and corporate officer positions, according to Catalyst, an organisation focused on gender and equality issues.
The research found that, despite accounting for nearly half of the US workforce, women make up only 15 per cent of directors and 16 per cent of senior officer positions in Fortune 500 companies.
"Women candidates for senior positions face greater scrutiny than men," said Ilene Lang, president of Catalyst.
"But women are emerging. As companies look for the leaders of the future they want to play with a full deck, why look at only half of the potential talent?"
The ranks of female chief executives of large companies, which include Ebay's Meg Whitman and Xerox's Anne Mulcahy, were recently augmented by the appointment of Irene Rosenfeld, a former senior executive at PepsiCo, as chief executive of Kraft.
Ms Nooyi, who spent the first 23 years of her life in her native India before winning a place at Yale University in the US, said the lack of women in senior positions was one of the historical reason for their small presence in the boardroom.
She said that companies had a responsibility to break any remnants of a glass ceiling by setting up programmes to help women rise to the top.”Link Financial times

Facts about indian women and pioneers among indian women

Here is a list of pioneers among Indian Women in various fields:
Graduates:
Kadambini Ganguly, Chandramukhi Basu (1883)

Lawyer:
Cornelia Sorabjee (1924)

Physician:
Kadambini Ganguly (1886)

Oscar Winner:
Bhanu Athaiya (1982)

To swim Across the English Channel:
Miss Arati Saha (1959)

President of Indian National Congress:
Annie Besant (1917)

Union Cabinet Minister:
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (1947)

Chief Minister:
Sucheta Kripalani (1963)

Governor:
Sarojini Naidu (1947)

Speaker of State Assembly:
Shanno Devi (1966)

Asiad Gold Medalist:
Kamaljit Sandhu (1970)

Olympic Medalist:
Karnam Malleswari (2000)

IPS Officer:
Kiran Bedi (Haryana) (1972)

Women’s College:
Bethune College, Kolkata (1879)

To Climb Mt. Everest:
Bachendri Pal (1984)

Lieutenant General:
Punita Arora (2004)

Air Marshal:
Padmavathy Bandopadhyay (2004)

Army Medal Winner:
Bimla Devi (1990)

Commercial Pilot:
Prem Mathur (1951)

Airline Pilot:
Durba Banerjee (1966)

Judge of Supreme Court:
M. Fatima Beevi (1989)

Civil Pilot:
Beant Kaur

President of the UN General Assembly:
Vijayalakshmi pandit (1953)

Chief Justice of a High Court:
Leila Seth (1991)


Literacy rate (2001)
Female 54%
Male 76%

Drop out rate I-VIII (2005)
Female 73%
Male 70%

Sex ratio (2001)
933 Females per 1000 men

Child Sex ratio (2001)
927 Females per 1000 men

14th Lok Sabha (2004)
Male Female
91% 9%

Life expectancy (2005)
Female 65
Male 64

Per capita PPP (2004)
Female $1,471
Male $4,723

Work participation rate (2004-05)
Female 21
Male 54

Time spent on non-market activity
Female 65
Male 8


Over 54% of pregnant women in India are anasmic

Only 43% of birth are attended by trained staff

For every 1 lakh live births, there are 301 maternal deaths

70% of the female workforce is engaged in agriculture

Yet, only 10% of female farmers are landowners

Women’s wage for casual labour is 65% of the male wage in rural areas and 61% in urban areas

WATER

Producer: David Hamilton

Director: Deepa Mehta

Starring: Seema Biswas, Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Sarala(introducing), Manorma, Raghuveer Yadav, Khulbhushan Kharbanda, Waheeda Rehman

Music: Mychael Danna, A.R. Rahman-Hindi Songs

"We are very good, as different nations and different cultures, to have a collective amnesia about our own [problems]…[Water] is about three women trying to break that cycle and trying to find dignity, and trying to get rid of the yoke of oppression, and if it inspires people to do something in their own culture, that´s what´s important."

(Deepa Mehta, as told to the CBC).

Water brings the plight of women at the hands of religious fundamentalist. It was worth going to Oscar. The Indian audiences have got opputunity to see the film after it got recognition internationally. The film shooting is banned in India because of dirty politics.

Can Indian women get freedom from so called traditions?????????????

Ms. Mehta brings us into the world of those girls and women unfortunate enough to have become widows before India´s independence. Our eyes and ears are those of Chuihya (Sarala), a seven-year-old widow sent to live in an ashram for widows. She encounters the vile head of the widows, Madhumati (Manorma), who exploits the residents. Shakuntala (Seema Biswas) is the only force that occasionally opposes Madhumati´s tyranny. Kalyani (Lisa Ray) is the beautiful young widow who befriends Chuhiya--she is also pimped by Madhumati and the eunuch Gulabi (Raghuveer Yadav). Ironically, she sent to work by crossing the Ganges. Narayan (John Abraham) is a follower of Gandhi who falls in love with Kalyani, regardless of her status as a widow.

Throughout Water, Mehta exposes the cruelties against widows. It is not that Mehta raising the right questions--she is striving to empower those with the means to help those widows who, till this day, suffer in the same conditions described in the film.

Welcome to Women blog..................

This blog is realated to the matter relating to women.