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After a seven-year break, the <keyword id="23464279" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hong-Kong-Sixes" source="keywords">Hong Kong Sixes</keyword> are finally back, and cricket fans couldn’t be more thrilled! This fast-paced, high-energy tournament is set to take place from November 1 to November 3 at the Tin Kwong Road Cricket Ground in Hong Kong. Known for its short, thrilling six-a-side format, the Hong Kong Sixes is a unique event in the cricket calendar, bringing together international talent and enthusiastic spectators in a vibrant carnival-like atmosphere. With 12 teams competing, including <keyword id="23729824" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cricketing-heavyweights" source="keywords">cricketing heavyweights</keyword> like India, Pakistan, Australia, and South Africa, the excitement is set to reach new heights. The Hong Kong Sixes has had a history of ups and downs. Originally launched in 1992, it became popular for its compact and thrilling format. However, financial challenges and organizational hurdles led to irregular schedules and ultimately a seven-year hiatus after the 2017 edition. But with renewed sponsorships and a strong commitment from the <keyword id="23729823" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hong-Kong-Cricket-Association" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Hong Kong Cricket Association" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Hong Kong Cricket Association">Hong Kong Cricket Association</keyword>, the tournament is making a comeback, promising a cricketing spectacle packed with action, music, and food. <h2>What makes this tournament special?</h2>The Sixes format is designed to thrill from start to finish. Each game lasts just five overs per side, with only six players on each team, meaning the action is intense, and every ball counts. Matches are often high-scoring and fast, keeping fans on the edge of their seats. And, this year, the experience is elevated with live performances, music, and a variety of food stalls – a perfect mix for cricket lovers and casual spectators alike. The 12 teams have been divided into four pools of three. Each team will compete in a round-robin format within its pool, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals. The bottom teams will have their own battle in the Bowl Competition, while quarterfinal losers will compete in the Plate semifinals, ensuring that there’s never a dull moment for spectators. <ul><li>Pool A: Hong Kong, South Africa, New Zealand </li><li>Pool B: Australia, England, Nepal </li><li>Pool C: India, Pakistan, UAE </li><li>Pool D: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman </li></ul>A thrilling lineup is expected, with the much-anticipated India-Pakistan showdown happening right on the first day! Other exciting clashes include Australia facing off against England and South Africa taking on New Zealand. One of the special events this year is a Women’s Exhibition Match on the tournament’s final day, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. This addition shows the tournament’s dedication to promoting inclusivity and gender representation in cricket. <h2>Teams and Captains</h2>This time around, India’s lineup will consist of Robin Uthappa, Kedar Jadhav, Manoj Tiwary, Stuart Binny, Shreevats Goswami, Bharat Chipli and Shahbaz Nadeem. Each team features a mix of talented and experienced players, including former internationals and domestic stars. Here’s a look at some of the captains: <ul><li>India: Robin Uthappa </li><li>Pakistan: Faheem Ashraf </li><li>Australia: Dan Christian </li><li>England: Ravi Bopara </li><li>Hong Kong: Nizakat Khan </li></ul>With a vibrant atmosphere, thrilling matches, and some of the best cricketing talent on display, the Hong Kong Sixes 2024 is set to be an unmissable event in the cricket calendar. Whether you’re cheering for India, Pakistan, or the underdogs, make sure to catch all the action starting November 1.

Hong Kong Sixes 2024 returns after 7 years with 12 teams! Here's all you need to know about this unique cricket tournament

<ul><li><keyword id="8058818" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unstereotype-Alliance">Unstereotype Alliance</keyword>'s India National Chapter Founding Members include Hindustan Unilever Limited , Diageo, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Havas Group, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), The Advertising Club and Samhita Social Ventures.</li><li>This new coalition of partners, championed by Hindustan Unilever will focus on broadening the representation of women and men in non-traditional roles in media and advertising. </li></ul>Today, the <keyword id="11017647" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unstereotype">Unstereotype</keyword> Alliance launches the India national chapter with a coalition formed to tackle <keyword id="11017648" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="harmful-stereotypes">harmful stereotypes</keyword> advertising with support from EU funded WeEmpowerAsia Programme. The Alliance will center its work in India on broadening the representation of women and girls in non-traditional roles in advertising with a focus on women returning to the workforce.. Convened by UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, the Unstereotype Alliance is a thought and action platform that seeks to eradicate harmful stereotypes from advertising and media. India is the ninth national chapter to launch worldwide, and the second in Asia. The Unstereotype Alliance’s India National Chapter Founding Members include: Hindustan Unilever (Champion), Diageo, WPP, Publicis Groupe, Havas Group, Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), The Advertising Club and Samhita Social Ventures. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, commented: The launch of the India national chapter is a significant milestone for the Unstereotype Alliance. It shows that the India advertising and media industry is coming together in all its strength and diversity to tackle the harmful stereotypes that hinder progress towards gender equality. This is critical to addressing the drivers of inequality such as violence against women and girls, intergenerational poverty and the lack of women in leadership and decision-making roles. We hope that you will join us in making unstereotyped advertising and content the norm rather than the exception. Stereotypes in advertising perpetuate negative social norms and hinder progress of gender equality. Harmful social norms contribute to increased acceptance of gender-based violence, lack of economic decision-making for women and constricted opportunities in the job market. The chapter has defined strategic priorities to address gender stereotypes with a focus on harmful patriarchal traditions and norms to broaden the representation of empowered and autonomous women in private and public life, including in business leadership; and to ensure progressive representation in media and advertising. Unstereotype Alliance research into gender equality attitudes shows that there is a clear role not only to remove stereotypes in advertising and media, but to challenge widely-held beliefs and norms in society. Data from the Gender Equality Attitudes study, conducted across 10 countries including India, shows that whilst many Indians recognize the importance of women’s rights, outdated beliefs persist. Specifically: <ul><li>87% believe that it is essential for society to treat women as equal to men, yet</li><li>39% believe that there are acceptable circumstances for someone to hit their spouse or partner </li><li>39% believe that a woman should not earn more than her husband </li><li>49% believe that for the same job, men should be paid more than women </li><li>75% believe that when a mother works for pay, the children suffer </li></ul>Susan Ferguson, Country Representative, UN Women India: "UN Women India is excited to launch the India chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance. I am confident with the support of such committed partners, we will generate a positive and enduring impact in the advertising and media industry and contribute to shaping a gender-equal world." Priya Nair, Executive Director,-Beauty &amp; Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever: "Across the globe, consumers are increasingly expecting brands to take a stand on the issues they care most about – gender stereotype has been one such issue. At HUL, we are committed to driving gender equity, including stepping up of brand programmes, advocacy to challenge the status quo and #unstereotyping advertising. With one billion people using our products every day and even more seeing our advertising, we know we have the power to make a real difference. Various organisations need to come together to bring about this systematic change and set new standards of empowerment and equality. As a founding member of the Unstereotype Alliance, we look forward to supporting UN Women, to drive social change, encourage action, and put an end to gender stereotypes and discrimination” CVL Srinivas, Country Head, WPP, India: WPP is delighted to be a founding member of the Unstereotype Alliance – India Chapter. We look forward to working with the Alliance to bring about positive change to the issue of Gender Equality through the creative use of our skills and the passion of our people in this area.” Deepika Warrier, CMO, Diageo India: “Diageo India is proud to be associated with The Unstereotype Alliance – India Chapter, which will work to accelerate progressive gender portrayal in advertising. Together, we will lead the creation of a framework that encourages increasingly progressive codes with themes ranging from empowerment to celebrating the power and imperfections of womanhood to challenging stereotypes to ultimately moving beyond gender codes. We hope our efforts would contribute to empowering women regardless of their race, class, age, ability, religion, sexuality, language, education etc.” Anupriya Acharya, CEO, Publicis Groupe South Asia: “Publicis Groupe through Viva la difference is a company that celebrates talent, inclusivity and diversity. Our core values and people-first culture synergise seamlessly with the Unstereotype Alliance’s larger mission and objectives and we are pleased to be a part of its India Chapter. Publicis Groupe India looks forward to collaborating with other future-facing companies in building narratives that are progressive, purposeful, gender-equal, human and authentic.” Rana Barua, Group CEO, Havas Group India: “We are delighted to be coming on board at a crucial time as a member of the UN Women Unstereotype Alliance as they begin their chapter in India. At Havas Group, we are clear on driving gender diversity and want to bring about a cultural transformation and mindset shift that will encourage many more women leaders in the group. Our alliance with UN Women Unstereotype Alliance will surely help us in this journey.” Manish Kapoor, Secretary General, Advertising Standard Council of India: "Positive gender portrayals and depictions in advertising are high on ASCI’s agenda, and we aim to shape this narrative in the coming months through different initiatives. Partnering with the Unstereotype alliance is an important step in this journey. Working together helps synchronise voices of different stakeholders and we are very pleased to be a part of the alliance.” Sudhesh Kapoor, Secretary General, AAAI: “We are sure that this Alliance will go a long way in taking down some popularly held myths about genders which are consciously or sub-consciously propagated by popular media and advertising.” Namrata Tata, The Advertising Club: "While many organizations are taking initiatives to drive gender diversity &amp; equality, collaboration at an industry level is needed to see the needle movement. As an integral part of the advertising industry ,The Advertising Club believes in driving real change when it comes to the portrayal of gender norms. We are delighted to join The Unstereotype alliance convened by UN women , which aims at removing negative gender stereotypes in Advertising and Media" Priya Naik, Founder and CEO, Samhita Social Ventures: "Companies, media and content companies, advertisers, and creative agencies have a social and ethical responsibility to break gender stereotype, as well as the capability to do so on a large scale. I am proud to be a part of the Unstereotype Alliance movement to dismantle traditional gender roles and their related conventions."

UN Women launches Unstereotype Alliance's India Chapter to eradicate harmful gender stereotypes from advertising and media

A squad full of debutants, free from past baggage will aim to ace the ultimate test of their lives when the shooting competition of the <keyword id="4833237" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Paris-Olympics" source="Orion">Paris Olympics</keyword> begins in the sleepy French town of Chateauroux on Friday. <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> has won four Olympic medals in shooting out of its overall tally of 35 but none in the last two editions of the Summer Games, putting the additional pressure of expectations on the record 21-member Indian contingent based in central France. The national shooting federation, National Rifle Association of India (<keyword id="19910689" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NRAI" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NRAI" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="NRAI">NRAI</keyword>), chose current form over pedigree to pick the squad for the mega event and it will be hoping they hit the bullseye at the <keyword id="22557904" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Shooting-Centre" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="National Shooting Centre" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="National Shooting Centre">National Shooting Centre</keyword> here. Even the quota winners were made to battle out in the trials with the inexperienced Sandeep Singh pipping 2022 world champion Rudranksh Patil, who had secured India's quota in the 10m air rifle. Patil wrote to NRAI proposing his selection in the team despite finishing behind Sandeep in the trials, but the federation stuck to its guns. The athletes have been training away from the hustle and bustle of <keyword id="19916613" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paris" source="keywords">Paris</keyword> and that could work in their favour come competition day. Barring <keyword id="20241095" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manu-bhaker" source="keywords">Manu Bhaker</keyword>, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Anjum Moudgil and Elavenil Valarivan, all will experience the biggest sporting stage for the first time. India will have representation in all 15 shooting events. It is not just peak performance on the day that matters in the Olympics, luck too plays a major part. The 22-year-old Bhaker, who has won a bagful of medals in world events, had a stroke of bad luck at the Tokyo Games where her weapon malfunctioned in 10m <keyword id="20105950" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="air-pistol" source="keywords">air pistol</keyword> qualification and she could not recover from that setback. She will be taking part in three disciplines - 10m air pistol, 25m pistol and 10m pistol mixed team. India's main challenge will come from China who are also fielding 21 shooters across disciplines. Another women shooter to watch out for will be Sift Kaur Samra, who won the 50m rifle three positions gold at the Asian Games. Moudgil, one of the seasoned pros in the squad, is making a comeback and will lineup alongside Sift in the women's 50m rifle three positions. Twenty-year-old Rhythm Sangwan will be participating in two events, women's 10m air pistol alongside Bhaker and the 10m air pistol mixed team. "The preparation has been going good. The range is beautiful. I was a little upset staying away from main village in Paris. It is not as I expected but I am here for the competition and win and not pass any comments on the Games Village. Olympics is the biggest stage out here," said Sangwan. Among the male participants, only Tomar has been part of the Olympics before. Tomar, member of the gold winning team at the 2023 World Championships, will be seen in the men's 50m rifle three positions alongside Swapnil Kusale. The male debutants who have a decent international experience include Anish Bhanwala, Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Babuta, Arjun Singh Cheema and Vijayveer Singh. Gagan Narang, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist who is here as India's chef de mission, is backing the shooters to end the <keyword id="22557903" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="medal-drought" source="keywords">medal drought</keyword> in this edition. "My first Olympic experience was in 2004 and I remember at that time, we were not as confident as we are today. There is genuine belief that we are at par with the best in the world," said Narang. The biggest test of the shooters' lives awaits. Full squad Rifle: Men's 10m air rifle: Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta Women's 10m air rifle: Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita Jindal Women's 50m rifle 3 positions: Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil Men's 50m rifle 3 positions: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Swapnil Kusale 10m air rifle mixed team: Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal Pistol: Men's 10m air pistol: Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema Women's 10m air pistol: Manu Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan Men's 25m rapid fire pistol: Anish Bhanwala, Vijayveer Sidhu Women's 25m pistol: Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh 10m air pistol mixed team: Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker, Arjun Singh Cheema/Rhythm Sangwan Shotgun: Men's trap: Prithviraj Tondaiman Women's trap: Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh Men's skeet: Anantjeet Singh Naruka Women's skeet: Maheshwari Chauhan, Raiza Dhillon Skeet mixed team: Anantjeet Singh Naruka/Maheshwari Chauhan.

Record shooting contingent out to end India's 12-year medal drought

<ul><li>Many research studies conducted across the world show that women are more stressed and discouraged since the pandemic began as they take on an increasing amount of responsibility at home and in their careers.</li><li>The ad, media and marketing industry has a lot more women today than a decade ago. However, many drop out by the time they reach mid-management levels, primarily due to the lack of flexible hours and ever-increasing workload.</li><li>So this Women’s Day, we decided to speak to women in leadership positions about how we can make women feel welcome at workplaces. They told us how employers can support women and create a more high-trust, inclusive environment for the future.</li><li>The women leaders we spoke to believe organizations need to prioritize training more women, to prepare them for leadership roles, and this should be a part of the company’s culture.</li></ul>In the work-from-home era, the responsibility of unpaid domestic work and raising kids has fallen on Indian women more than men. This has affected their ambitions and careers, widening the gender gap at the workplace. A McKinsey report found that women around the world have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has heightened the large and small inequalities—both at work and at home—that women face daily. One in four women are considering leaving the workforce or downshifting their careers versus one in five men. Women only form less than a third of the workforce in marketing, sales and less than a fifth in data analysis, and artificial intelligence, revealed a World Economic Forum’s 2020 study. Another survey by Deloitte found that 51% of women are less optimistic about their career prospects than they were before the pandemic. A lot of women who have chosen to stick to their jobs have missed out on a fair promotion or raise. A LinkedIn report shows that 85% of women in India have missed out on a raise, promotion because of their gender. Women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected despite increasing flexibility at work, as 68% of women and 74% of working mothers in India say it is difficult to balance career and familial responsibilities today. More than 7 in 10 women and working mothers in India also say that household responsibilities often come in their way of their career progression. As you move up in the hierarchy of the corporate world, there’s also a lack of women leaders in the upper rungs. As per Egon Zehnder Global Diversity Report 2020, women in India occupy 5% of executive chairs and 10% of non-executive chairs. The report indicates that only 11% of committee chairs are held by women, while the number stands at 27.3% globally. Having said that, the world of advertising, marketing and media has seen a lot of <keyword id="3275573" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="women-in-leadership-roles" source="Orion">women in leadership roles</keyword>. While we are still far from an equal man-woman ratio in the industry, it is heartening to see more and more women take the top spots. On the other hand, advertising and media are industries that hold a lot of power in shifting perceptions and mending beliefs. The advertising industry was infamous for perpetuating gender stereotypes -- from a sacrificing mother to a man being the bread-earner, the portrayal of women has remained very shallow for years. How brands depict women and their role in society has evolved today, she is independent, she has a voice and is slowly learning to care less about society’s judgement, but we haven’t taken a big leap yet. She is still a woman who is ‘aesthetically pleasing,’ fair-skinned, doesn’t come from a minority community and is a little far from real. There’s almost no progress towards including transwomen in women’s day ads or communication throughout the year. Once we achieve an equal number of gender representation inside Indian advertising agencies, media organisations and the marketing world, there will be diverse opinions in a brainstorming session, leading to better B2C communication. So this women’s day, we decided to speak to women in leadership positions about how we can make women feel welcome at workplaces. They told us how employers can support women and create a more high-trust, inclusive environment during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what they had to say about improving equality at work: Meghana Dave - Head Marketing &amp; PR, Lamborghini India: Power v/s Purpose, women inherently are purpose-driven. The changing environment requires leadership that is driven by adaptability, agility and ambition. Today, companies need these traits to outperform competition which has to deliver in the known and unknown environment. To bring balance and speed with positivity, we need more women in the leadership role. Look at what Falguni Nayyar has done with Nykaa or Anjali Sudd has done with Vimeo. In the 21st century companies will need purpose, innovation and balance to achieve the top position, and the right time to bring women to lead the next generation of business growth. To encourage more women to join these industries by encouraging new formats of working culture or environment. Covid has challenged the traditional approach, and today work from home has become the new normal. Secondly, by promoting diversity and opening leadership positions for women and third, we can improve the pay scale and inculcate mentorship for potential women leaders. Rachna Kanwar, Chief Operating Officer, Digital Media, Radio City and Mid-Day: Women in Corporate India have taken a heavy toll during Covid 19 lockdowns. Organisations, however, rarely recognise the double effort that women have to put into their regular day, which during the pandemic, ravaged their mental and physical health. Having said that, women emerged stronger, seldom seeking ‘preferential treatment.’ Companies need to address and recognise this effort as women continue to remain underrepresented at all levels. Thankfully, in the Media industry, with the inclusion of advertising &amp; marketing, there have been plenty of examples of women super achievers acting as role models for younger women which has led to greater gender parity, but women leaders still need to play a major role in supporting and seeing to it that more leaders emerge from the shadows of doubt and stereotypes to claim their rightful places. It is heartening to see more and more women leaders at Radio City and Midday and all of us here are committed to diversity and excellence. Building a positive mindset for diversity at all levels in an organisation goes a long way in ensuring an equal workplace. Strong women leaders in the organisation act as role models for women aspiring to reach the top. They also help in providing a more empathetic environment which is required at certain delicate stages of a woman employee’s career. And lastly, they provide the much needed confidence both for the women employees and the organisation by being a case study in excellence. At Radio City, a large number of leadership positions are held by women which motivates and inspires the mid-level and entry-level women employees to dream big. Diversity has many virtues and numerous reports time and again have proved that a diverse organisation is a better organisation. Radio City was amongst ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2019.’ Additionally, in 2020, Radio City ranked 4th in ‘Best Large Workplaces in Asia’, according to the GPTW survey. Jyotsna Uttamchandani, Executive Director, Syska Group: I think what is happening is we are definitely attracting more women, but are unable to retain them. The industry also needs to take steps to stop showcasing and representing women in stereotypical ways. The truth is women need to start taking credit for their work, brag and self-promote. What men need to understand is with diversity creativity and innovation only booms. I personally feel advertising, media and marketing industries are more unstructured, and there is no one to help you climb that ladder. You will have to do it yourself. More so we need more women, to help support and mentor other women. I think to be a safe and inclusive environment, we really need to listen to our employees. I have always said that my employees are my first customers. Goals and expectations need to be set mutually, team members need to appreciate each other and there has to be a certain level of trust within the team. Megha Agarwal, CXO-Growth, Meesho: In my last 12 years of working, I have seen many smart women entering the workforce but also taking a step back and stepping out, especially at two pivotal points – marriage and motherhood. The societal maxim is such that it places higher expectations on women, compelling them to juggle many roles – wife, mother, primary caregiver among others. What is imperative is to create support structures that empower them to strike the perfect balance between personal and professional commitments. An example on this front could be Meesho’s recent boundaryless workplace model, enabling people to work from home/ anywhere so that it gives flexibility to facilitate adjustments. Additionally, we, as employers, also need to make a perception shift towards sabbaticals taken by women to rear children. These vital steps could be further bolstered by initiatives aimed to ease their comeback into the workforce again. The responsibility lies with us to act as change agents to create the change we aspire to see. Pragya Misra, Public Affairs Director at Truecaller: I have always believed that empathy, freedom to be authentic and listening are critical to building a work environment that promotes equality. This begins with introducing diversity in the leadership so that the perspectives and related challenges of different employee profiles can be properly understood and addressed. Finally, implementing flexible policies, promoting healthy and non-late work hours, having industry standard pay scale and having actionable punishments (and transparency) in place for any intolerant offenses are some of the other measures that can be put into place to ensure a safe and equal work environment. At Truecaller, being respectful, celebrating diversity and equality in the workplace is deeply set in our values as a company. We continue to make communication safer through our spam blocking, scam and fraud alerts, this principle of safety reflects in our workplace through our employee policies. The inability to feel safe in both offline and online spaces adversely impacts women’s confidence and hinders their ability to grow and thrive. This year we are urging people to #CallitOut and report harassment to the authorities when you see or experience it. We are bringing together all the key stakeholders like government, law enforcement, civil society, mental health experts, lawyers and survivors to work collaboratively to improve the safety of women and continue our 5 year long effort to minimise harassment. This year, we want to create an environment that allows women to feel safe in society, their workplace and in their online communication. Kanika Mittal, Large Customer Solutions, Lead at Twitter India: I strongly believe that a leader is only as good as his/her team &amp; therefore our path starts with building a team that looks like the amazing people of all backgrounds and abilities who use our service every day. At Twitter, we're on a journey to become the world's most inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible tech company — it's key to serving the public conversation. For Inclusion &amp; Diversity strategies to have an impact, leaders along with companies need to ensure that they are tackling systemic challenges and also impacting and nurturing inclusive behavior amongst the team. This requires adapting a new way of thinking and making the right decisions such as becoming more distributed, empowering women employees to share and leverage their unique perspectives and experiences for growth and opportunities. Collectively we’ve got work to do to build a truly inclusive culture across the industry. We’ve made steady progress, and as industry our work doesn’t end <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UntilWeAllBelong?src=hashtag_click">#UntilWeAllBelong</a>. Anika Wadhera, Head of Digital Marketing, Sirona: A supportive work environment is one in which each and every employee can discuss job-related difficulties in confidence and without fear of backlash. Actively showing appreciation to the staff, and encouraging them to exhibit appreciation for each other, is an easy and gratifying way to establish a great working atmosphere. Employees, both male and female, should be taught about ethical behavior and how to create a culture that supports everyone's safety. Although enforcing policies and holding instructional sessions are beneficial, a process or system that promotes power equality in the business can be implemented, reducing the number of unpleasant experiences. My advice to all wonderful women around me will be to ’Take a stand for yourself &amp; be vocal. The world is your oyster.’ We as 21st-century women should focus on creating a network; it may be one of the most powerful factors in our career at any level, whether one is a fresher or a senior leader, just network, network &amp; network. Shradha Agarwal, COO &amp; Strategy Head, Grapes: Women at leadership roles play a very crucial role in the comprehensive growth and development of any organization. They are the true manifestation of sustainable growth. A woman inherently is nurturing and being in a leadership position helps her in cultivating an inclusive work culture with diversity at the core of the organizational structure. This diversity is the precursor of diverse ideas that stimulates creativity and champions for more quality in business operations. Women have a warm and welcoming disposition which enables the organization to develop a much stronger bond and connect with their customers. In any workforce, the major loophole at the very base level is the lack of proper guidance to define the roles and duties to be fulfilled by a person. In order to help them realize their true potential, it is important to first connect with the people. By putting themselves in other’s shoes it becomes easier to understand the situation better and provide a relatable solution. As developing a connection and affinity for people comes naturally to women, in leadership positions they are better able to relate with and understand the pain of their teammates. To get women to join the advertising and marketing industry the mantra is very simple, just make them feel they are making ads for themselves. As women are better listeners and good storytellers, one needs to harness these qualities of women to motivate them to pursue a career in this field. They are better adept at giving a diverse perspective and drawing holistic pictures to a narration. Advertising and marketing is not about selling products, it goes way beyond and is about telling the right story. It is about connecting with the brand rather than the product as the products can be replaced but the brand remains constant. And women love and enjoy such jobs, it is just that we need to tap on this quality of women. Sowmya Iyer, Founder and CEO of DVio Digital: Women have faced more significant economic hardships through the pandemic - disproportionately losing jobs and income. A recent report by LinkedIn shows how Covid-19 has impacted women’s careers. About 85% of women in India have missed out on a promotion because of their gender. Despite the increase in flexibility at work, women’s careers are observed to have been more adversely affected. So, it is safe to say that we are far away from building an inclusive environment for employees of all gender spectrum. Company policies will have to be redefined and relooked at to give women space to work, grow, and balance their careers and Homes. DViO Digital, is an equal opportunity provider. We work towards hiring and promoting our employees based on their merit and not just gender. Our current workforce has a fair divide of 55:45 women to men ratio; a similar trend can be seen in our leadership team, which has a 60:40 ratio (60% women and 40% men), which is not by design but by default. Hence it is safe to say that women are naturally inclined towards the advertising and marketing industry. Tanya Bami - Series Head, Netflix India: The representation of women in entertainment has been increasing with the times and we couldn’t be happier! At Netflix, we are focussed on entertaining the world with authentic stories that are a true reflection of our times and society. Be it Delhi Crime, Aranyak, Masaba Masaba, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, or our latest series The Fame Game, the characters can be determined, driven, fabulous or flawed.” •Since the beginning of 2020, we have collaborated with over 2400 women creators, talent, and crew on and off screen in India. •Half (15) of our original films and series in 2021 had a woman as the central character. • Netflix has 15+ female forward titles already announced for 2022. Apart from the already released Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, Looop Lapeta and The Fame Game, the upcoming titles include Mai, Monica, O My Darling, Masaba Masaba Season 2, Mismatched Season 2, She Season 2, Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives Season 2, The Fame Game, Qala, Plan A Plan B, Khufiya, among others. •In 2021 Netflix worked with nearly 50 women producers, directors or writers (25 women producers and directors + 23 women writers - 2X the women writers in 2020. •In addition, Netflix has worked with incredible women standup comics- Rytasha Rathore, Urooj Ashfaq, Prashasti Singh, Prajakta Koli, Sumukhi Suresh, Mallika Dua, Kaneez Surka and Sumaira Shaikh. •Inclusivity also extends internally to all of us at Netflix as women make up 51.7% of our global workforce, up from 48.7% in 2020. This includes 6.9% growth of women directors and above, totalling 51.1%. Aditi Shrivastava, CEO &amp; Co-Founder, Pocket Aces: It all starts from the top. If there is equality in the mind, it will automatically trickle down to every level within the organization. A few key base rules I always keep in mind: ● Think in terms of equity (not stock options in this case, but what is required to get people to the same level) rather than equality (i.e. providing the exact opportunities to each person) ● Be a true meritocracy ● Even in the most equal households, women are often expected to be the primary caretaker of children or parents, so keep that in mind ● Don’t forget to groom young female talent in the company right from the go by increasing their confidence levels and encouraging them to not be ambivalent about their ambitions and dreams ● Discourage even mildly offensive loose talk / jokes at the workplace ● Have a strong POSH committee in place ● Encourage older male employees / leaders to unlearn from previous “male club” workplaces and see the value their female counterparts can add Overall, be conscious about gender diversity and equity. It won’t happen by chance.

Women in leadership across media, brands and advertising on improving gender representation and retaining women in the workforce

With <keyword id="19899402" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital" source="keywords">digital</keyword> adoption fast gaining currency, <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="India" source="keywords">India</keyword> is likely to see <keyword id="19992513" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="retail" source="keywords">retail</keyword> <keyword id="19989657" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-payments" source="keywords">digital payments</keyword> double to USD 7 trillion by 2030 from current levels, a study by Kearney and <keyword id="19942875" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Pay" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Amazon Pay" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Amazon Pay">Amazon Pay</keyword> said. In the report 'How Urban India Pays', Kearney-Amazon Pay said strong adoption of digital payments in <keyword id="21056201" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-purchases" source="keywords">online purchases</keyword> has potentially led to a permanent shift in consumer behaviours, fuelling offline adoption as well. While 90 per cent of the respondents of the survey preferred digital payments when making online purchases, affluent consumers lead the way with the highest Degree of Digital Payment Usage (DDPU), tending to use various modes of digital payment for 80 per cent of their transactions. "<keyword id="19955338" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="millennials" source="keywords">Millennials</keyword> and Gen X are leading in the adoption of all types of digital payment instruments," it said. "Men and women both use digital payments in about 72 per cent of their transactions, indicating gender parity." The research was based on an online survey of over 6,000 consumers along with more than 1,000 merchants through offline and online methods across 120 cities with representation from various regions, income groups, city categories, age brackets and genders. India has seen a surge in <keyword id="19990771" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="e-commerce" source="keywords">e-commerce</keyword>, with the market valued at USD 75 billion to USD 80 billion in 2022 and expected to grow at a 21 per cent CAGR until 2030. "In line with India's digital journey, retail digital payments have grown dramatically over the past five years - from USD 300 billion in FY18 to USD 3.6 trillion in FY24. By FY30, they are likely to double to USD 7 trillion," the report said. The Unified Payments Interface (<keyword id="19900911" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="UPI" source="keywords">UPI</keyword>) has been a key driver of this growth, demonstrating a CAGR of 138 per cent in its volumes during FY18-24. Other instruments such as cards and digital wallets are also gaining in popularity, contributing 10 per cent of digital transaction value today. "With such dynamic developments, it is no wonder that India is a global frontrunner in the digital payment landscape, accounting for a stellar 46 per cent of the global digital transaction volumes in 2022," it said. Digital payments have penetrated small towns, with respondents in these areas highlighting that 65 per cent of their transactions are digital, while respondents in larger cities cited this ratio to be 75 per cent. "There is a strong correlation between a city's average DDPU and its retail potential, as measured by the Kearney India Retail Index, with the top six metros displaying both high DDPU and high retail potential," the report said. DDPU surpasses retail potential in some cities such as Lucknow, Patna, Bhopal, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Ahmedabad and Pune, which have a high DDPU nearly matching that of larger metropolitan cities despite having a lower retail potential than the top six metros. The report said co-branded credit cards are gaining momentum. "Emerging methods such as buy now, pay later (BNPL), wearable payments and voice assistant-based payments are also starting to make inroads." Digital modes of payment constitute around 69 per cent of the total transaction volumes for the Indian merchants that were surveyed. Even street vendors such as paan shops, fruit and flower sellers, food stalls, and kirana stores are joining the digital payment brigade. "Challenges for merchant adoption mirror consumer concerns, emphasizing issues of financial fraud, limited connectivity and trust," it said. The report said the next wave of growth in digital payments will be fueled by increasing penetration in segments with lower DDPU, such as consumers in lower-income groups and smaller towns, along with enhancing the value of spending via digital modes of payment in the higher DDPU segments by addressing their concerns. "All key stakeholders across the digital payments' ecosystem, including payment providers, the government, and value-added services players, will need to play a part in expanding digital payment adoption," it said. The focus areas should be empowering communities with financial education by launching target programmes to boost awareness of digital payments and new methods such as UPI Lite and UPI Lite X, especially for aspiring consumer segments, women in small towns, and street commerce merchants, to encourage higher adoption. Also, there is a need to create user-friendly consumer journeys by streamlining documentation and know-your-customer (<keyword id="19910870" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kyc" source="keywords">KYC</keyword>) processes, optimising user interfaces, and establishing responsive customer complaint resolution mechanisms, it said adding also there is a need to enhance digital infrastructure by addressing systems and network issues and exploring innovations such as UPI Lite X for areas with limited internet. Also, the risk of fraud has to be minimised and access to credit-based payment methods expanded by using alternate data for underwriting risk, developing innovative credit products and promoting credit education for financial health. "These areas can help India overcome challenges in the digital payment ecosystem by fostering a more inclusive, secure, and user-friendly environment, thereby enhancing the adoption of digital payments among consumers and merchants in India," it added.

India to see retail digital payments to double to USD 7 tn by 2030: Report

<ul><li>From a sacrificing mother to a man being the bread-earner, the portrayal of women in ads has remained very shallow, stereotypical and limiting for years.</li><li>Industry body ASCI is now trying to expand its horizon by launching a gender report to understand the evolution of women representation in advertisements and offer a forward-looking perspective to help brands embrace positive narratives for women in advertising.</li><li>We also speak to a few women from the advertising industry to understand what are some of the concerns that they are expecting ASCI to address.</li></ul>Airbrushed faces, petite figures and fair skinned models in advertisements across the world have made women like me feel uncomfortable in our own skin. We look in the mirror only to notice our flaws and turn to beauty products to fix ourselves because they’ve been feeding on our insecurities and profiting on our vulnerabilities. The portrayal of women has remained very shallow for years. Until early 2020, fairness creams were used as a yardstick to determine a woman’s worth, personally or professionally. The man is usually portrayed as the breadwinner who buys an expensive gift for his wife -- he is smart and successful and the woman is depicted as someone’s wife or mother whose only life purpose is to take care of her kids and husband. While many beauty brands have finally woken up to realise that selling ‘fair skin’ is problematic, even today, we only see thin models, upper-caste and rich women in advertisements and minorities like muslim women, North East Indian women and transwomen aren’t included in mainstream campaigns. They are only given a little attention on Eid or during pride month. The <keyword id="382559" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Advertising-Standard-Council-of-India">Advertising Standard Council of India</keyword> is conducting a research study to understand the damage advertising has done over the years by perpetuating gender stereotypes. Titled ‘GenderNext,’ the report will look back at the representation of women and help Indian brands and advertising agencies shape gender narratives in advertising positively as we move forward. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="81701552" title="ASCI to launch a report to provide actionable insights to shape positive depiction of women in advertising" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Telling us why ASCI decided to plan a report on gender discourse now, Manisha Kapoor, Secretary General of ASCI, said, “Women have been a matter of debate for many years. From time to time, these are issues which are of interest to both advertisers and society because advertising impacts the gender discourse, and gender discourse impacts advertising. They contribute to how the other develops but advertisers definitely have the responsibility through their brands of making sure that their own depictions are responsible, that they are fair, that they are progressive, and they're very positive.” She told us how it is easy to spot an advertisement that overtly crosses a line. However, there are ads which subtly perpetuate stereotypes and ASCI will concentrate on that. “In the spectrum of what is acceptable, there's so much and there are such subtle kinds of narratives, which are part of advertising. The effort is really to uncover those and create many new starting points for advertisers on how we can even within the broad spectrum of what is acceptable to understand what is better, what is more positive, what is accepted by consumers better, what is seen as less problematic. What is seen as aspirational, what is seen as relatable. If we're able to kind of identify those narratives, we believe this is going to be a study which has many actionable insights for advertisers. It may be useful for them in the long run in their brand messaging. Not to kind of find fault with what is happening or anything of that sort. But it is to create a platform for better with more engaging, more responsible, more positive depictions of gender in the future,” she explained. The study will be mainly divided into five parts: decoding of advertising, consumer immersion, ad agencies/people who create ads, gender policy makers and draw insights from Bharat Darshan, a proprietary study done by Futurebrands over a decade, and across more than 200 towns. Elaborating on the study's methodology, Kapoor said, “Firstly, we're looking at a cultural and semiotic decoding of advertising. We would look at how women are shown in ads, said and unsaid equation in that depiction, what are they wearing, are they a decision maker for that category? Is that a role that is expected of them in a more traditional way? We’ll do that across several regional and national ads across a period of time. Secondly, we are doing a consumer immersion study, where we will be talking to consumers about how their own lived reality of gender is. One is what they see on TV and how they respond to it and we'd compare that with their actual lived experience of gender.” She added, “Third is about people who are creating advertising: What is their framework? What are they getting influenced by? What are their reference points? What do they think when they start to create an ad? The fourth is looking at policymakers, gender specialists, experts who have been in the domain for many, many years and who work with real women across different strata of the population. How do they look at advertising and impact of advertising? How would they see life differently because they have decades of experience. They have worked closely with the legal process, with the legal framework of this country as it relates with depiction of women. Fifth part is Bharat Darshan.” The study will cover multiple categories like personal care, fashion and beauty; hearth, home and health; gadgets and wheels; and money and education. On whether ASCI is planning to include minorities like Muslim women, Dalit women or transwomen, Kapoor said, “We will definitely look at advertising of all sorts. While the focus is on women but I think gender dynamics become a part of the query even if you were to look at just women. So where on the gender spectrum you will fall when we look at advertising which may have shown those kinds of depictions, those are certainly the points that we’ll pick up and analyse. We will try and understand how that contributes and how that moves the narrative ahead. So, those kinds of ads will also be on our radar.” As per ASCI’s press statement, it will provide insights to navigate and embrace positive narratives for women in advertising content. Excitedly, we asked if that would include talking about body positivity and encourage advertisers to show real women in ads and much to our relief, Kapoor agreed that it would be a part of the study. She said, “We are looking at health and fitness as one of the sectors that we will study. What you mentioned (body positivity), that gets covered in the whole decoding of advertising: what are the kind of women we are showing in advertising. And when we show different kinds of women, whether be body shape, skin color, age -- we'll do research on what are they falling back on stereotypes: are older women shown in different ways than younger women and all of those dynamics. This is why it's such a complex, but very fascinating study. But yes, absolutely. We will cover health, fitness and women and their bodies.” We reached out to women in advertising agencies to find out what are some of the concerns that they are hoping this report would address. They seem very excited to know that an industry body has taken upon itself to change the gender narrative and make strides towards inclusivity and have high hopes. <keyword id="652941" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashwini-Deshpande">Ashwini Deshpande</keyword>, Co-founder &amp; Director, Elephant Design is also a Co-founder of the initiative ‘The Collective’ that started after #MeToo. Deshpande and her team has been helping women in the advertising fraternity feel safer at their workplace, talking about equal pay and rights for women. Sharing a list of concerns she expects ASCI to address, she mentioned, “Narrations or humour based on gender, caste, racial features, regional accents: any stereotyping that leads to trivializing or offending specific sections of society - Sexualization/ objectification in a completely unrelated or unnecessary context: products or services that have no connection with display of seduction or women in revealing attires - Stereotyping relationships: especially women being shown as people who "serve" others - What is being directed towards children and whether it is being done responsibly - What is being pushed in the name of festivals - Clarity of message while offering discounts or schemes - Claims being made by remedial/ medicinal products” Ronita Mitra, Founder and Chief Strategist, Brand Eagle Consulting said, "Women are already visible achievers in many fields today be it academics, professional/ career achievements, art and culture and many more. In fact, mindset across generations is evolving among all genders towards the traditional classification of roles and expectations. This includes all stereotypical lenses which create divisive and archaic boundaries, be it caste, gender, colourism, etc. If brands and advertisements are to truly reflect consumer trends, this evolving consumer psyche should in any case be reflected in the narratives and storytelling. While some categories and brands have begun the process of reflecting the evolving realities, certain categories continue to be steeped in the stereotypical role definitions and boundaries. Brands, through their advertisements and storytelling are a powerful influencer in engendering shifts in consumer attitudes and thereby, behaviour at societal level." She added, "ASCI's move to develop a report focusing on the depiction of women in advertising, ought to be lauded as it will provide momentum to the need to shift the archaic and stereotypical depiction of women's role in communication in the yesteryears and in fact, showcase women's roles as is already experienced in many facets of our lives today and in the years to come. In fact, many consumers are already living lives guided by gender neutrality rather than traditional gender-based lives. The Guidelines based on consumer insights from a self-regulated, robust institution such as ASCI will lend a lot of credibility and support to the discussions that marketers will have within their organisations to accomplish organisation-wide buy into progressive brand and creative ideas. However, it would be important to ensure that the guidelines are future-ready and not confined to merely reflect the realities of changes in women's role as of today. In a fast-evolving world, the pace of change of role definitions will also keep changing and the guidelines need to be mindful of the same. To that end, while the first report is a great beginning, hopefully, the insights and the resultant guidelines should ideally be refreshed every few years to ensure that it's continuing relevance for the environment that would take shape in the future as well." Nisha Singhania, Founding Partner, Infectious Advertising said, “There definitely has been a gender stereotyping when it comes to the portrayal of women in advertising. I’m hoping this study will identify some of these biases and help project women in a more progressive and equal manner. Guidelines on depiction which are offensive or regressive will definitely help advertisers have a more responsible portrayal of genders in ads.” Rajni Daswani, Director at SoCheers said, “Social stigmas like skin colour, size of a woman, her rights and roles in a household or at a workplace should be some of the things the guidelines should definitely cover. We’ve seen a lot of stereotypical ads whenever there are any women protagonists promoting a product/service. What we portray about women through these ads are what future women are going to see and grow into and it's crucial that we get it right and move towards being a more gender-agnostic progressive society who is ready for the world of tomorrow.”

All about ASCI’s latest Gender Next report and what women of the ad world are expecting the industry body to address

<ul><li>We have come a long way and the day is not far when we will be equal. </li><li>The bridge between men and women in the world of business has been built to a considerable extent and with time, we will only see more improvement.</li><li>Saroja Yeramilli, CEO and Founder, <keyword id="3198780" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Melorra">Melorra</keyword> her personal journey of starting Melorra and how she feels entrepreneurship is an innate quality in women given that they build a home – and that to me is nothing short of being an entrepreneur. </li></ul>“On my own, I will just create, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, I will create something else.” This quote by Oprah is not only profoundly motivating but also relevant in the present scenario. According to the sixth economic census, by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), women comprise as much as 13.76% of the total entrepreneurs in India. This figure indicates the changing times and how women are coming forward to create something of their own –building enterprises and empires. We often hear it said that after years of silence and submission, Indian women are finally ‘getting there.’ While the statement may not apply to all Indian women yet, we cannot ignore the fact that they are successfully breaking the shackles of convention. They are venturing into new areas to explore their talent and build their dreams. Not only have women strived tirelessly to overcome challenges and succeed in their career, but they have scaled unprecedented heights that many of their male peers haven’t even accomplished. Women are no longer relegated to conventional roles and have begun to make their presence felt. Many women entrepreneurs have paved the way, and run successful enterprises and brands – be it Falguni Nayar who founded Nykaa or Richa Kar of Zivame. These women have shown how challenges exist only to be overcome and are not something to run away from. The government, recognizing the potential of start-ups, particularly those led by women, has allocated a good part of the budget to accelerate their growth. Several changes have been made to the existing labor laws and rental housing to have a direct impact on startups. Policies have also been introduced to ensure positive outcomes in startup segments such as e-commerce, food delivery and grocery. All these are helping women entrepreneurs fuel their dreams and shape them into reality. Women-led organizations tend to grow more and have happier employees. Studies have shown that women tend to be more compassionate as leaders and are more communal in any group of people. Women also tend to be more determined and firmer about what they want to do. Their clarity of thought is what often helps them raise funds for their ventures and build a workforce that perpetually feels motivated. If I was to take the example of my personal journey, from being in the corporate domain to now leading a successful startup called Melorra, it has been remarkable. From ideation to fruition and raising the largest ever seed funding for an Indian venture, there has been learning and unlearning. Melorra is now present in almost every pin code in India and is on the way to becoming one of the largest consumer brands in the country – a futuristic jewellery company that uses technology to cater to the wardrobe needs of the modern Indian woman. We have come a long way and the day is not far when we will be equal. The bridge between men and women in the world of business has been built to a considerable extent and with time, we will only see more improvement. I feel entrepreneurship is an innate quality in women given that they build a home – and that to me is nothing short of being an entrepreneur. To all the women out there, you are diamonds, not meant to be broken; not meant to be stopped. If you chase your dream of building something of your own, nothing can come in your way. All the Best! - By Saroja Yeramilli, CEO and Founder, Melorra

Women Entrepreneurship in India: Are we equal yet?

<ul><li><keyword id="2568448" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="DSM-India">DSM India</keyword> has launched its second <keyword id="9950872" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="project-streedhan">Project Streedhan</keyword> campaign, underlining the need to build immunity in women through proper nutrition. </li><li>However, it lacks representation as it features women of one body size, type, shape and age. </li><li>It aims to empower women to embrace, prioritise and take care of themselves by filling up their vault of health with proper nourishing food. </li><li>However, does it fall into the same trap it is trying to escape? We speak to experts to find out. </li></ul>Advertising in India has come a long way when it comes to representation of women. From a time when women were only portrayed as home-makers taking care of everybody, today ads talk about a larger role that they play in the world. However, we realised something. Very few ads show women eating, which as an activity is such a normal, everyday thing. But we've rarely seen women do that in ads. It is usually they who cook, feed others or wait until after dinner to feed themselves from what is left. Women are shown as caretakers, nourishers or givers, very rarely do they prioritize themselves in real life or pop culture. Dutch State Mines’ CSR initiative Project Streedhan has exhorted women to give their nutrition and themselves equal importance by investing in iron-rich food. The first phase of advertisement released in 2019 aimed at raising awareness about iron deficiency in women's bodies that causes. It portrayed uninhibited women consuming food -- with no filters or worrying about ‘what will people think.’ It encouraged women to celebrate their femininity and eat like nobody's watching, becoming the revolutionary campaign women needed that urged them not to neglect their health behind their husband, kids or desk. The project by DSM India also reminded people that women need to be healthy to be financially independent, it changed the definition of what Streedhan meant. This time, the Streedhan campaign seeks to drive home a similar message -- that our health is our real wealth at all times, and that we need to nurture our immunity by feeding it, building it, and protecting it. The ad tells them to be their own bodyguard by filling up the vault of their health. Three out of four women in India are deficient in vitamins and being deficient in vitamins is known to lower immunity, and therefore lower resistance to infections. <div type="Youtube" id="a-v6I_HAl6g" title="Project Streedhan | #InvestInYourImmunity" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/a-v6I_HAl6g/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Titled ‘<keyword id="9927435" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sehat-ki-tijori">Sehat Ki Tijori</keyword>,’ the advertisement has been crafted by <keyword id="2804902" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="FCB-Ulka-Advertising">FCB Ulka Advertising</keyword> to emphasise the importance of stocking nutritious food. The advertisement is aesthetically pleasing and the catchy song stays with you. Every frame seems like painting. However, for an advertisement that aims to raise awareness about anemic women or celebrate women at leisure and empower them, it first comes across as an ad for a clothing, beauty or juice brand. It features women of one kind, with one body type, shape and age, which are otherwise seen as ‘ideal’ bodies of ‘desirable’ age. It aims to be rustic but ends up painting a picture that is flawlessly beautiful. It lacks representation of different kinds of women. While the message is about women empowerment and finding the right nourishment, it uses beauty standards to send it across. Women seem to eat in an erotic way perched up on a branch but it is sexualised, appears pleasurable and not about feeding or taking care of themselves. Since its aim is to celebrate femininity, women’s health and reach out to women in every nook of our country, be it urban or rural, will women resonate with it? Or does it feel like an advertisement made from the male gaze? Does it fall into the trap it is trying to escape from? We reached out to a few experts from our industry to see what they feel. “I am appalled by the sexual overtones. I have no idea what this communication piece is trying to say and to whom,” said Ashwini Deshpande, Co-founder and Director, Elephant Design. Disha Daswani, Creative Director, Schbang, said, "They have achieved cinematic brilliance and even composed a song that one can’t get out of their heads, I mean who wouldn’t want to hear Sona Mohapatra’s voice on repeat? The concept of showing real women, with real problems is completely lost. Yes, we all wished we looked as gorgeous as that, wrapped in a silk saree and glowing amidst vast fields, sucking on a fruit. But sadly no. People with low immunity and anemia (speaking from experience) wake up pale, have noticeable dark circles that prompt questions like ‘hey you look tired today.’ Also, what’s up with casting only slim women who fit the wardrobe well and the excessive lip biting? The concept of Anaemia and low immunity has been romanticized, and not nearly as accurate of how women with this sickness look/feel. You could call it creative liberty or just sheer ignorance?" Alpa Dedhia, Business Director, VMLY&amp;R INDIA felt that the visuals divert attention away from the core message. She said, “Titillating tone of the ad loses the message of women's health for me. There is more to women than just being objectified. The issue about lack of vitamins is an important one and nowhere in the ad is there any serious attempt to address it. A woman is the one who cares for everyone and in the process of doing so; she neglects herself… This is a sacrifice that needs to be addressed and not just girls swinging and dancing around trees.” Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, <keyword id="212000" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Taproot">Taproot</keyword> Dentsu, found the ad ineffective. She said, "The depiction of women was unnecessarily sensual for a subject like immunity building – the execution didn’t connect to the problem at hand at all – at least for me. I mean, when I watched it, the last thing on my mind was whether I might have vitamin deficiencies and what I should do to bolster my immunity." Upasana Naithani- Business Head, Digital, Infectious Advertising also said that the video has sexualised women because it ignores the cause it is made for. She explained, "Especially for the cause it represents, promoting, health and well-being should have been prioritized over the sexual overtone, the video has sexualised women for sure. The fact that immunity is a need for underprivileged, and malnourished is completely overlooked. We also see a certain kind of women being chosen for the ad which is disappointing as this was a great platform to be inclusive of different kinds of women who struggle with immunity." FCB Ulka’s idea behind this advertisement was to celebrate women’s lust for life. Explaining the thought process behind selecting professional models and following beauty standards, FCB Ulka Advertising’s spokesperson said, “There are many narratives that have restricted the idea of womanhood and women’s empowerment – so it is but natural that we may see things at times from different perspectives. With project Streedhan, we wanted to break a fundamental narrative that has restricted women’s empowerment. The idea that women are the nourisher, and therefore de-prioritise their own nourishment. They are expected to eat least and last. Prioritizing their own health and enjoyment is seen as selfish and taboo. With project Streedhan, we celebrate a woman’s lust for life. It is not about sexualizing them as objects of desire, but acknowledging them as whole beings, sexual, woman and above all human. The project gives women ‘permission’ without preaching to them, to enjoy unabashedly their food, to unleash their lust for life. This struck a deep chord with women everywhere as the virality of the first project showed.” “Having different body sizes would indeed be inclusive – however as we were creating a new narrative where women are free to enjoy their food without guilt, we didn’t want body sizes to hijack the messages with more misogynistic “greedy/ selfish’’ narrative. In the future, we will explore how we can drive inclusivity while keeping the narrative intact," said the agency spokesperson. Karthik Srinivasan, Brand Communications and Social Media Expert, had reviewed Streedhan’s first advertisement and appreciated it for its timing, technique, aesthetics and narrative device. However, he posed a few questions that advertisement did not answer the last time and hasn’t this time as well. He wrote, “The film showcases glamorous looking women eating a lot of colourful food and fruits, including corn, watermelon, pomegranate and so on. The text—and the song—exhorts women to eat more iron. Is the implication that they should eat more of what is being shown in the film (those foods that contain iron, presumably)? Wouldn’t it be more useful to showcase a list of kinds of food women should consume instead of just making it seem like the way Katrina Kaif consumes mangoes in the Slice ad? But it doesn’t seem to be doing justice to the problem (and its gravity) it is trying to address.”

Project Streedhan's latest ad wants to prove an important point, but has its over-beautified, sensual storytelling made it lose the plot?

Women account for only 10 per cent of the total <keyword id="86852" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fund-managers" source="Orion">fund managers</keyword> in the <keyword id="6354820" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mutual-fund" source="Orion">mutual fund</keyword> industry despite a gradual increase in their numbers witnessed in the last few years, a report said on Tuesday. The <keyword id="200126" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="morningstar" source="Orion">Morningstar</keyword> Investment Adviser <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s annual report on women fund managers in the asset-management industry said the total count of women fund managers has increased from 32 last year to 42 now. Interestingly, the total number of fund managers also saw a healthy increase this year to 428 from 399 last year. "When it comes to gender diversity, the latest findings of our report show that of the 428 fund managers, 42 are women who are managing funds either as primary or secondary managers," said the Morningstar report released ahead of International Women's Day on May 8. With a meagre 9.81 per cent representation, women still remain drastically under-represented among the ranks of mutual fund managers, Morningstar said. According to the report, there were only 18 women fund managers in 2017, and the number has increased gradually since then. The only exception was in 2020 when there was a minor decrease. "The 42 women fund managers were spread across 24 fund houses, with five fund houses having three or more women fund managers; six fund houses had two women fund managers while 13 fund houses had at least one-woman fund manager," it added. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/slowdown-in-gdp-growth-late-last-year-temporary-moodys-analytics/articleshow/98475415.cms">Slowdown in GDP growth late last year temporary: Moody's Analytics</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/oneplus-11r-review-the-oneplus-phone-for-all/articleshow/98458228.cms">OnePlus 11R Review: The OnePlus phone for all!</a>

Women account for only 10% of total fund managers in MF industry: Morningstar report

<ul><li><keyword id="6361491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Procter-Gamble">Procter &amp; Gamble</keyword> also announced new declarations aimed to accelerate gender equality across India, at its #WeSeeEqual summit, held virtually.</li><li>Built on the theme ‘#Unsaid and #Undone’, the summit brought together leading voices on Gender Equality to challenge the current discourse and commit to the actions needed for progress.</li></ul>Procter &amp; Gamble today announced its commitment to achieve equal <keyword id="10779840" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="representation-of-female-directors">representation of female directors</keyword> behind the camera for its advertisements across brands in India over the next three years. P&amp;G will lead this through a comprehensive set of actions to do its part to build, fuel and connect a pipeline of diverse female talent in advertising, media and content opportunities as a systemic solution. Sharat Verma, Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President – Fabric Care, <keyword id="113078" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PG-India">P&amp;G India</keyword> said, “At P&amp;G, we want to leverage our voice in advertising and media to be a force for good and a force for growth. We are proud of the progress we have made in sparking conversations on gender equality through campaigns like Ariel #ShareTheLoad, Whisper #KeepGirlsInSchool, Gillette #ShavingStereotypes, among others. As we continue to drive accurate portrayal of women in front of the camera, we understand the importance of driving <keyword id="10779838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="equal-representation">equal representation</keyword> behind the camera. With that in mind, over the next three years we are committing to achieve equal representation of women directors for advertisements we make across our brands in India. We believe that having more women behind the camera will help the industry achieve a more accurate and unbiased portrayal of women in advertising.” P&amp;G will also continue to build on its aspiration to achieve responsible advertising by breaking stereotypes and busting myths via its advertising including characteristics, roles and context. Procter &amp; Gamble also announced new declarations aimed to accelerate gender equality across India, at its #WeSeeEqual summit, held virtually. Built on the theme ‘#Unsaid and #Undone’, the summit brought together leading voices on Gender Equality to challenge the current discourse and commit to the actions needed for progress. Hosted virtually for the first time, the event saw distinguished advocates and personalities like Sania Mirza, Faye D’souza, Ritesh Deshmukh, Genelia Deshmukh and many more, come together to address the challenges of gender and women’s equality. Madhusudan Gopalan, CEO, P&amp;G Indian Subcontinent said, “At P&amp;G, we are committed to be a force for good and a force for growth. In line with that, we want to drive equal opportunities for women and girls in education, at home, and in the workplace. In India, we have made strong progress through our initiatives like Whisper Menstrual Health and Hygiene Program, P&amp;G Shiksha, working with women-owned businesses and campaigns like Ariel #ShareTheLoad and Gillette #ShavingStereotypes. Our new declarations will further accelerate our progress through a series of new actions, commitments and partnerships. Promoting equality is critical, now more than ever as we recover from the current health crisis in India.” P&amp;G announced the following new declarations to take action and inspire change on Gender Equality in India: <ul><li>P&amp;G will continue on its commitment to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene, through its brand Whisper®. P&amp;G has educated more than 4 crore girls in India on menstrual hygiene till date and will educate more than 2.5 crore adolescent girls, on puberty and hygiene over the next three years</li><li>In line with P&amp;G India’s announcement to invest in women-owned businesses in 2018, the company has already spent more than ₹200 Cr ($30 million) with women-owned businesses in India. Furthering this commitment, P&amp;G will spend ₹300 Cr by deliberately working with women-owned businesses in India over the next three years</li><li>P&amp;G India will drive equality behind the camera by creating equal opportunities, capability and resource sharing. Over the next three years, P&amp;G commits to have equal representation of female directors for its advertisements across brands in India. </li><li>In order to provide equal opportunity for women in STEM roles, P&amp;G will:</li><li>Build digital and technological capability of 10,000+ women across P&amp;G’s external network (including customers, retailers, agency partners, among others) over the next year. This will help unlock their potential and enable them to meet their career aspirations </li><li>Leverage Government’s NEEM Mission across all plant locations in India to upskill and create opportunities exclusively for girls in the neighbouring communities around its plant. P&amp;G has already kickstarted this with its first of its kind initiative called ‘Venus Betiyaan’ at its Bhiwadi Plant, where they are bringing in girls for apprenticeship opportunities and experience on working on the shopfloor</li><li>Annually engage with 150+ colleges that offer STEM curriculum via a dedicated program focused on breaking gender barriers in STEM and Supply Chain. The company will also work with NITIE towards tackling on-ground, perception-based and opportunity-linked barriers with an aim to double the gender ratio on NITIE campus over the next 5 years</li><li>P&amp;G is introducing ‘Share the Care’, a new inclusive parental leave policy in India. This will entitle all new parents including biological parents, domestic partners, adoptive parents, parents in same-sex couples to 8 weeks fully paid parental leave. This builds on the company’s existing maternity leave policy of 26 weeks for birthing mothers and adoption leave of 26 weeks for primary caregivers.</li></ul>

P&G commits to achieve equal representation of female directors behind the camera for its ads in India over the next three years

New Delhi, <keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword> has said that it is in the right direction to have at least 50% women in its <keyword id="492536" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-workforce">global workforce</keyword> by 2025 and the number has now improved to 42.6% (women in all roles) at the company as 2020 draws to a close. Twitter currently has 38.2% of women in <keyword id="1954202" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="leadership-roles">leadership roles</keyword> and 25.8% women in technical roles, according to its 'Inclusion &amp; <keyword id="10413899" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="diversity-q4">Diversity Q4</keyword> 2020'. "As a company, we doubled down on deeper commitments across leadership, transparency, and accountability  all to drive progress along our journey to be the world's most diverse and inclusive tech company," said Dalana Brand, Vice President, People Experience; Head of Inclusion and Diversity at Twitter. In 2019, Twitter created an internal diversity dashboard so any Tweep can track in real-time how the company is doing against its <keyword id="10413898" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="workforce-representation-goals">workforce representation goals</keyword>. "We recently launched version 3.0 of our diversity dashboard which dramatically expands transparency across these metrics, providing visibility across the board to give Tweeps the opportunity to critically examine how their team is doing and be part of the solution," Brand said in a statement on Thursday. Twitter said that in 2002, it deeply looked at the representation in leadership roles and pay equity. "Our first step in this new area examines differences by gender, which we will share in our annual report early next year. Work is also underway to increase pay transparency and starting in 2021, we'll share with Tweeps the pay bands for their individual position," Brand elaborated. Moving forward, for a hiring decision to be made on any open role, at least one woman (global) and one Black or Latinx candidate (US) must have been considered by the interview panel, she added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/what-is-pm-wani-public-wifi-platform-launched-by-union-cabinet/articleshow/79642267.cms">Government’s plan for public Wi-Fi lets anyone from the kirana store owner to tea shop stalls sign up to provide the internet</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/the-33-billion-itc-one-of-indias-most-trolled-stock-in-recent-weeks-seems-to-have-turned-a-corner/articleshow/79641456.cms">The $33 billion ITC, one of India’s most-trolled stock in recent weeks, seems to have turned a corner</a>

More than one-third of Twitter's leadership roles have women at the helm

<ul><li><keyword id="7691814" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deepshikha-Dharmaraj">Deepshikha Dharmaraj</keyword>, Chief Executive Officer, <keyword id="8878758" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Genesis-BCW">Genesis BCW</keyword> writes how there could be a better understanding of the needs of women in the workplace if we let them lead. </li><li>When a company largely has men in the top management, women drop out faster, because they don’t see role models or a career growth path for themselves. She further tells us how this can be flipped by inspiring more women to continue working and why it is important for companies to build a safe work environment. </li></ul>We live in an unequal world. Nowhere is that more apparent—besides economic inequality—than in the gender equation. The Global Gender Gap Report 2020 by the World Economic Forum says it will take 99.5 years to achieve gender parity. A century is a long time—past our lifetimes and our children’s. There is good news hidden in this gloomy scenario, though—in two years, the outlook has come down from 108 years to this. That means, we are doing some things right. Representation matters One of the most important pivots is, and will continue to be, better <keyword id="1557537" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="representation-of-women">representation of women</keyword> in leadership positions. The percentage of women in senior leadership in India is dismal—ranging from 13-19 per cent, depending on which report you refer to. My organization is one of the most unique ones, with a 7:3 women to men ratio. Our leadership is 85 per cent women. These two statistics are deeply connected. When women lead, they inspire other women to join and want to grow. When a company largely has men in the top management, women drop out faster, because they don’t see role models or a career growth path for themselves. Unique style of leading Empathy, participative decision-making, inspiration and people development—these are just some of the leadership traits that future global challenges are going to need, according to a recent McKinsey study of leadership behavior. These are the traits most women leaders apply, according to the same study. And this is not the only report that says this. Women are naturally wired to make more connections and be more inclusive and collaborative. That leads to a fertile ground for innovation and therefore, growth. What’s more, the fact that women are better at making connections means a more holistic approach to growth. Making the workplace easier for women When women lead, there is a better understanding of the needs of women in the workplace. From policies like flexible timings, work-from-home, safety and specific leaves (we have miscarriage and bereavement leaves, for example) to women-friendly facilities in the office, an organization led by women is more likely to have them. Resilient and motivated Any woman who is in a leadership position has reached there beating some odds. Whether it is leading in a largely men-dominated industry, balancing work and home or dealing with public perceptions of women in leadership, women achievers and leaders have to constantly prove themselves. The thing that keeps them going is resilience and the ability to stay motivated and focused on their goal. That makes them sharper, better able to handle crises and more driven to beat even more odds. Former chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde once said, if women contributed as much to the workforce as men, India’s national income would rise by 27 per cent. For that to happen, we need more women in the leadership, both in the corporate space as well as in politics and other spheres of life. It’s important for women, important for men, important for industry, country and the world.

You Searched For "Women representation in India" and got 12 results

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Women in leadership across media, brands and advertising on improving gender representation and retaining women in the workforce

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India to see retail digital payments to double to USD 7 tn by 2030: Report

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All about ASCI’s latest Gender Next report and what women of the ad world are expecting the industry body to address

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Women Entrepreneurship in India: Are we equal yet?

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Project Streedhan's latest ad wants to prove an important point, but has its over-beautified, sensual storytelling made it lose the plot?

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Women account for only 10% of total fund managers in MF industry: Morningstar report

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P&G commits to achieve equal representation of female directors behind the camera for its ads in India over the next three years

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More than one-third of Twitter's leadership roles have women at the helm

IANS

When women lead

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