Saturday, January 16, 2021

SC stays farm laws and other weekly headlines | Weekly Feminist News Wrap

 Here’s your wrap of news for the week gone by:

While the Supreme Court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the farm laws, some remarks made on Monday and Tuesday in the apex court regarding women protesters have sparked outrage. The CJI claimed that women and the elderly were being made to sit in on the protest however many said they were there of their own volition. The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the new farm laws till further orders. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said the minimum age of marriage for women should be raised from 18 years to 21 years. He said a new system will be put in place, under which any woman moving out of her house for her work will register herself at the local police station, will be tracked for her safety. This suggestion by the MP CM drew flak from various quarters calling it a breach of privacy and restriction on women's movement. The CM also suggested the installation of a new helpline for women in cases of distress, and panic buttons in all public transport. The Delhi Commission for Protections of Child Rights (DCPCR), in an order on Wednesday, recommended that the Delhi government should declare a ban on medically unnecessary, sex selective surgeries on intersex infants and children except in the case of life-threatening situations. The plea added that most of the times these surgeries are conducted without prior, free and fully informed autonomous consent. Days after at least four female students of the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) complained about being harassed online during their exams, the management has set up a committee to look into the complaints. This matter came to light last week after some students of NMIMS took to Twitter to share screenshots of messages shared by proctors on the personal mobile phones of the female students. Four proctors working with Mercer Mettl, the online examination conducting company hired by NMIMS, were fired by the company after receiving reports of harassment. Creating history, Air India's longest flight from San Francisco to Bengaluru with an all-women crew landed in Bengaluru on Monday. Air India had said earlier this will be the longest commercial flight in the world to be operated by it or any other airline in India. The direct distance between the two cities at opposite ends of the world is 13,993 km with a time zone change of around 13.5 hours. The all women’s crew was congratulated by Air India, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and San Francisco Airport authorities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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: https://bit.ly/3s18dpS