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Prime Minister’s Office

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated Indian Boxer Mary K
om on her gold at Asian Confederation Women’s Boxing Championships.

Prime Minister said, “Congratulations Mary Kom for clinching the gold at the ASBC Asian Confederation Women’s Boxing Championships. India is elated at your accomplishment.”

Women Power and Science

The international physics conference convened in Brussels by Belgian chemical magnate Ernest Solvay, 1911. Perhaps the most formidable gathering of scientists ever, most are Nobel laureates. Marie Curie is the only woman in the gathering.

Marie Curie

D.O.B: November 7____? (Calculate)
Her 150th birth anniversary is as good a reason as any to look at how far women in science have come since.
A rare successful woman because
1903: 1st woman ever to win the Nobel Prize.
1906: 1st woman professor at Sorbonne University in Paris.

1911: 1st person (not woman, person) to ever win two Nobel Prizes in a lifetime.

More than a century after Marie Curie broke that glass ceiling, the number of women in STEM – science, technology, engineering and medicine – fields continues to belie the number of years that have passed.
Consider this: Since Curie’s physics Nobel in 1903, only one other woman has ever won that prize; and since her chemistry Nobel in 1911, only three other women including her daughter have ever won.
In the 117 years of its existence, 12 women have won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.
The current situation in India has not improved the state of affairs much.
Of all the enrolments in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), only about 10% are women.
Those in PhD and post doctoral research are even fewer.
Research indicates that while 46% of all undergraduate students in STEM fields are women, not many continue to work in the field.
A shocking 41% of women in technology quit their role after a decade, as compared to 17% of men; and 81% of women in STEM fields in India perceived a gender bias in performance evaluation.
It is not just this sort of blatant misogyny (Nobel Prize winning biochemist Tim Hunt commented that the trouble with “girls” is that they cause men to fall in love with them and cry when they are criticised) and sexual harassment which works against women.
The deep-seated bias that women simply cannot “do” science keeps them from even breaking into the networks that are so essential for rising in research fields.
Earlier this year, a promising PhD scholar from IIT Delhi committed suicide, allegedly under pressure from her husband and in-laws for dowry and to give up her research dreams.
Statistics from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Bank reveal that India scores very badly when it comes to participation of women in the workforce.
In its India Development Report released in March, the World Bank ranked the country 120th among 131 countries, only above Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
It is the job of universities and governments, and society at large to ensure that hiring practices in organisations are free from the insidious sexism that keeps women from achieving their full potential.

Prime Minister’s Office

The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated people of Chennai on inclusion of Chennai in UNESCO creative Cities Network.
The Prime Minister said, “Congratulations to the people of Chennai on the city’s inclusion in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network for its rich musical tradition.
Chennai’s contribution to our rich culture is precious. This is a proud moment for India.”

Ministry of External Affairs

Britain’s Prince Charles, who is set to arrive in New Delhi, has given his backing to a new development bond for India to provide education to marginalised children in the country.
The 10-million-dollar Education Development Impact Bond, DIB, has been created by the British Asian Trust, founded by the Prince of Wales to fight poverty in South Asia.
It is designed to improve learning outcomes for thousands of marginalised children in India.