Here’s your wrap of news for the week gone by!
Forty-year-old transgender woman Anjali Patil of the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) emerged as one of the winners of the much talked about gram panchayat polls in Maharashtra, whose results were declared on Monday. Anjali had filed her nomination from the seat reserved for a woman. However, the administration had rejected her candidature. She had then moved the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, which allowed her to contest the election. Lucknow police on Wednesday announced its plan to set up cameras equipped with artificial intelligence that will automatically take a photo of a woman in distress on the basis of her facial expression, thus pushing police to act. “The cameras will be able to detect any change in the facial expressions of a woman being subjected to stalking, threats or harassment on the streets, and an alert will be sent to the police control room,” said the police. In addition to questions on whether such a plan is feasible for rapid action at all, activists and lawyers have said that not only is this an infringement on an Indian citizen’s right to privacy, but it can also be used as a tool of surveillance against vulnerable communities. The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the police to escort a woman, who appeared before it, to the destination of her choice, observing that she was a “major”, “free to move as per her own wish” and that her parents could not curtail her freedom. The court said this while disposing of a Habeas Corpus plea filed by an MBA student seeking that a 23-year-old woman, whom he wished to marry, be produced before the court, as she had been illegally detained by her parents because the two belonged to different faiths. The bench said that “Since the woman is admittedly a major aged about 23 years old, she is free to move as per her own wish.” Drawing the hard line to press for the repeal of the new agriculture laws, farmer unions Thursday rejected the Centre’s offer to keep the laws on hold for 18 months and form a joint committee to address grievances. A statement on behalf of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha said “In a full general body meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha today, the proposal put forth by the Government yesterday was rejected. A full repeal of three central farm acts and enacting a legislation for remunerative MSP for all farmers were reiterated as the pending demands of the movement.” Sameera Fazili, who traces her family's roots to Kashmir, has been named to US president Joe Biden's A-team. Fazili has been appointed as Deputy Director, National Economic Council. According to the report, Fazili played a key role in one of the protests within four days of abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. n the Obama-Biden administration, Fazili served as a senior policy advisor on the White House’s National Economic Council and as a senior advisor at the US Treasury Department -------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Feminism In India: Website: https://www.feminisminindia.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/feminisminindia Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/feminisminindia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feminismini... Telegram: https://t.me/feminisminindia Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cjuLbv
