Womens News Archives

The Chinese have entered every known market, striking terror in the hearts of competitors because their products are known to be of good quality and their price unbeatable. There has been talk of economy cars around the world and manufacturers have been looking pretty smug about it until China announced that in a matter of time she would be entering the car race. Thousands of engineers, auto designers and technicians are already at work preparing scores of new models for the next triumph. In the next few years, there will be a definite surge of Chinese cars into the European market.

Stepping up car production

There has been an increase in the production of cars in China and therefore the country surpassed Germany in car production and is today just behind the US and Japan. So far the exports have been only to developing countries like Malaysia, Iran, Syria and Russia. The Chinese are now planning joint venture productions in Southeast Asia and Latin America. Some cars have found their way into Belgium and Italy. Most of them are Honda Jazz and Chery QQ models. The Chinese have to get geared up for meeting the expectations of the developed countries. They will have to raise the quality and safety levels of the cars. Moreover, they will also have to build brand equity and establish distribution and network services for the export of their cars. These will remain the major hurdles. The government of China has been encouraging the car industry for the past few years by investing in good roads and investing as little as possible in public transport. So here is to more competition!

Dr Chitra Bharucha will be the first woman and the first NRI to become the Vice-Chairman of the recently formed BBC trust from January 1, 2007. This comes in the wake of the resignation of BBC chairperson Michael Grade. She will continue to carry out the responsibilities until a full-time chairman is appointed. The tenure does not really matter; what matters is the prestige of the position, considering that BBC is one of the largest broadcasting companies in the world. It is a £4 billion company with a staff of 26,000 people!

Career

Chitra was born in Madurai in India. She has lived in Britain since 1972. She is a haematologist by profession and currently chairs the General Medical Council panel which decides on how fit doctors are to practise medicine. In 1996 she moved to a career in media when she joined BBC Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland. She held this position till 2003. Her success is proof of her toughness and her ability. People who know her well say that she has a capable pair of hands. Her first job as Vice Chairperson will be to carry on with the negotiation on the licence fee, something that her predecessor was in the midst of, at the time of his resignation. We wish the Indian born doctor every success!

Well, if you are the wife of a world figure like Bill Gates, then you would undoubtedly remain in his shadow, no matter what your achievement. Melinda Gates is a highly educated, successful woman and is slowly emerging from the shadow of her husband’s overwhelming popularity, fame and wealth! She has a lot on her agenda in doing good for the world, right from fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in the developing countries to homelessness in the USA. Given her determination, power and wealth, she will soon accomplish her target.
A powerful woman
Melinda Gates is described as ‘the most powerful woman you know next to nothing about.’ She has been content to let it be that way till now. She has been getting a number of awards and citations. The Wall Street Journal has included her name in ’50 women to watch’. Forbes has ranked her the 12th most powerful woman in the world. She did her MBA from Duke University and was a very bright student. After graduation she joined the growing computer technology corporation Microsoft. And after that is history. Isn’t it surprising that Melinda does not want any recognition for herself but is making use of her identity to help the country, the world? How many people would be willing to donate so much money not just for the sake of their country, but for the sake of humanity? Hats off to this wonderful couple!

Shirin Ebadi, known for her crusade on human rights, practises law in Iran and was on a visit to India. She has escaped two assassination attempts and is very critical about the US war on terrorism. She feels that human rights cannot be imposed by bringing in tankers and throwing bombs in countries with an alien culture. She laments that though the world has become a village as far as technology and travel are concerned, the borders are still in tact when it comes to humanity. Human rights need to be globalised, said the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, 2003. Fighting terrorism is only an excuse, a pretext to impose your rule on another country, to violate human rights. Interference Using terrorism as an excuse, people have started invading into the privacy of their own people and the people of other lands and this in no way solves the problem of terrorism. On the question of the veil, she says that women cannot be forced to wear them and neither can be they forced to remove them. Women’s rights are also part of the human rights issue. Getting the Nobel Prize has not changed her perspective of the world and neither has it changed her; only her workload has increased! She still goes to court, still cooks but of course today the international doors have allowed her to speak her opinion. Her books have been translated into many languages in the hope that the message for freedom, of equality will at least float in through the keyholes of the countries of the world.