Dr Sana Ramchand Gulwani, First Female Hindu Officer Posted As Assistant Commissioner Hassanabdal in Pakistan
New
Age Islam News Bureau
13
February 2023
• Nurul Izzah Steps Down As Adviser to Her Father Malaysian PM Anwar
•
Houthi-Run Court in Yemen Upholds Five-Year Sentence against Actress Entisar
al-Hammadi
•
Saudi Female Artists Showcase Saudi Craft Through History
•
Turkey Earthquake: Woman Refuses To Step Out Without Hijab From Under Rubble
•
UAE Hosts UN Training on Women, Peace and Security
•
Emirati Women Lead Ranking of Middle East’s Most Powerful Businesswomen
•
More Than 1000 Women Imprisoned in Afghanistan: Prison Authority
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/ramchand-gulwani-pakistan-female-hindu/d/129096
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Dr Sana Ramchand Gulwani, First Female Hindu Officer Posted As Assistant Commissioner Hassanabdal in Pakistan
Photo: Dr Sana Ramchand Gulwani
-----
Amjad
Iqbal
February
13, 2023
TAXILA:
A female belonging to the minority community has been appointed as the
assistant commissioner of Hassanabdal for the first time in the history of the
town.
Dr
Sana Ramchand Gulwani, 27, has assumed the charge of the AC and administrator
of the town.
Dr
Sana was the first female from the Hindu community to join the Pakistan
Administrative Service (PAS) after passing the Central Superior Services (CSS)
exam 2020.
Growing
up in the small town of Chak in Shikarpur, Sindh, she got her primary and
secondary education from a local government school.
In
2016, she graduated from Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University
with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree. She pursued
her studies as a urologist and after this she started preparing for the CSS
exam.
According
to Dr Sana, her parents did not want her to go to the administration. The
family’s dream was to see her in the medical profession itself. However, she
fulfilled both the targets.
Source:
Dawn
https://www.dawn.com/news/1736774/first-female-hindu-officer-posted-as-ac-hassanabdal
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Nurul Izzah Steps Down As Adviser to Her Father Malaysian PM Anwar
Nurul
Izzah Anwer
-----
12
Feb 2023
Nurul
Izzah Anwar, daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, said on Sunday
(Feb 12) that she is no longer serving as his senior economic and finance
adviser.
She
has instead joined the Finance Minister's special advisory body chaired by Mr
Hassan Marican, Ms Nurul Izzah said in a statement.
"Mr
Mohd Hassan has invited me to join the special advisory body to help their
efforts in strengthening the economy of the country and the people," she
said.
She
added that she "humbly accepts the responsibility" and "greatly
appreciates every opportunity to contribute to a better future for
Malaysia".
Ms
Nurul Izzah also expressed hope that the services rendered under her new role
will be beneficial to the country.
"Malaysians
expect an excellent future and solid unity led by the prime minister together
with the unity government.
"Thank
you to the entire committee. Let's all contribute in any capacity for the sake
of our country,” she said.
Late
last month, the eldest daughter of Mr Anwar and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail,
confirmed in an interview that she had been appointed as senior economic and
finance adviser to Prime Minister from Jan 3.
Mr
Anwar previously told local media that his daughter will not have any
opportunity to enrich herself in her role as senior economic and finance
adviser to the prime minister. It was reported previously that Ms Nurul Izzah
is not getting paid for the role.
“She
will not have the power to take on or directly manage any project or tenders
herself,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Mr
Anwar reportedly said that Ms Nurul Izzah did not take on the role “to take
projects” but to “help” him.
“My
daughter was eager to help me in any way she could. If she came to help me
without being given an official position, people will question her intentions
even more severely than they do now,” he said.
Mr
Anwar also denied claims of nepotism in his daughter’s appointment, adding that
some of his critics were in no place to criticise him as they themselves had
given “millions of ringgits worth of contracts” to their children.
“Nepotism
is where (a family member) is given a position to abuse power, enrich
themselves, obtain contracts and get paid a huge sum ... This is not the case,”
he was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today, though he did not elaborate on
the allegations.
During
the recent 15th General Elections (GE15), Ms Nurul Izzah lost her Permatang
Pauh seat which she held for one term.
The
seat has been occupied by a member of her family since 1982 and is currently
held by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia’s Muhammad Fawwaz Mohamad Jan.
Source:
Channel News Asia
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Houthi-Run
Court in Yemen Upholds Five-Year Sentence against Actress Entisar al-Hammadi
Entisar
al-Hammadi
-----
13
February, 2023
A
court run by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia on Sunday upheld a five-year
sentence against an actress and one of her companions who were convicted of
committing an indecent act and having drugs in her possession, her lawyer said.
The
arrest of Entisar al-Hammadi and the three other women in February 2021 — as
well as the court proceedings against them — have been widely criticized by
international rights groups. The case has mirrored widespread Houthi repression
and crackdown on women in areas they control in war-torn Yemen.
Al-Hammadi
and one of the women were first sentenced in November 2021 to five years. The
other two were handed one and three years in prison, respectively.
The
Court of Appeals in the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa upheld the sentences
against al-Hammadi and Yousra al-Nashri who was also handed a five-year
sentence, according to lawyer Khalid al-Kamal, who represents all four women.
Al-Hammadi,
who is also a model, was born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother. She
has worked as a model for four years and acted in two Yemeni soap drama series
in 2020. She was the sole breadwinner for her four-member family, including her
blind father and a disabled brother.
Human
Rights Watch has previously criticized the court proceedings as “marred with
irregularities and abuse.” It said the Houthis confiscated al-Hammadi’s phone
and “her modeling photos were treated like an act of indecency.”
Yemen
has been convulsed by civil war since 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital
of Sanaa.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Saudi female artists showcase Saudi craft through history
February
12, 2023
RIYADH:
As Saudi Arabia’s cultural scene rapidly expands, Saudi female creatives are
looking to the future but also the past by preserving and showcasing Saudi
craftsmanship in their work.
Hana
Almilli, Abeer AlRabiah and Rawan Al-Sehli weave their country’s heritage into
innovative works that reflect today’s rapidly changing contemporary society.
Hana
Almilli
Riyadh-based
multimedia artist, textile designer and poet Hana Almilli’s practice is
research-based and explores the idea of resurrecting identities through the
material culture of textiles and assemblages.
Almilli,
who has Turkish, Syrian, Kurdish and Saudi heritage, explores questions of
identity and alienation in her work, particularly through the representation of
the term Al-Ghorba, which means estrangement in a foreign land in Arabic.
Her
artwork incorporates elements of photography, embroidery, dyeing and weaving.
“My
work ranges from embroidered printed silks, handwoven and naturally dyed
textiles, and, lastly, jacquard woven textiles,” she told Arab News. “I
incorporate craft by using traditional, yet, in a way, modern techniques of
weaving, natural dyeing and embroidery to produce my work.”
In
Riyadh-based Lakum Artspace’s recent exhibition “Performing Bodies,” Almilli
presented “If Voice Has a Memory (2022).”
The
work in a wood frame was made by weaving 100 percent naturally hand-dyed cotton
threads, organic cotton, silk and stainless conductive thread.
Through
the incorporation of mixed media, the installation focused on acts of
remembering, nostalgia, and feelings of alienation from ancestry and heritage.
The
sound component of the work incorporates found imagery and sound frequencies
that Almilli relates to her Kurdish, Syrian, Turkish and Saudi heritage.
“Using
found imagery and sound memories from Kurdistan, Syria, Turkiye and Saudi
Arabia, the piece is a reflection of the interwoven cultures that make up my
identity,” she said.
It
not only explores sound as a medium for expression, but also investigates how
different frequencies can act as a form of therapy, opening access to hidden
memories, and building new avenues for recreating them.
“I
have been constantly defined by topography and its alienness. Every piece of me
has felt that I needed to belong somewhere, but have been longing for somewhere
else, a home for my soul,” she said.
“In
my years studying abroad, I have found that textiles have been the place where
I belong, where that feeling of estrangement disappears. The act of
embroidering, dyeing and shaping my textiles as if they were self-portraits was
almost an act of shaping a home and my own geography. Within these pieces I lay
the map of belonging, the map of being found.”
Abeer
AlRabiah
As
an industrial designer, Abeer AlRabiah, who recently completed a residency at
the Misk Art Institute in Riyadh, incorporates various materials from different
manufacturers, while imbuing her creations with references to Saudi heritage
and craftmanship in a manner that is sustainable and environmentally friendly.
“In
traditional Saudi crafts, people use materials that are available around them
to create iconic traditional craftwork,” she told Arab News. “In a similar way,
I picked existing used pieces of 7x7 cm wood that helped build multiple
buildings in Saudi Arabia by holding concrete to be formed, and worked on them
by hand to build my sculpture.”
During
her residency with Misk Art, AlRabiah created “Memory Apparent,” a light
sculpture embodying what she calls the “evanescence of memories.” It was made
from 7x7 cm white-painted reclaimed wood pieces of various heights to form a
1x1x1-meter cube with a pulsating light inside.
“The
cube looks more solid at the bottom, but at the top, I scattered the pieces of
wood to create gaps between them that represent our memories that have faded,”
she said.
“The
light inside the sculpture deliberately casts shadows of the floating pieces of
wood against the walls. These shadows are our forgotten memories; they are in
the shadows and we can’t see them anymore. I created this light sculpture as a
reminder for myself and others to try to enjoy the present since we don’t know
if we’d be able to remember these moments in the future.”
AlRabiah
is conducting research into traditional Saudi crafts. “I would like to design
contemporary products while staying true to the local crafts we have in Saudi
Arabia,” she said.
Rawan
Al-Sehli
Jewelry
designer Rawan Al-Sehli is on a mission to revive traditional Saudi jewelry
through her hand-crafted contemporary designs.
Al-Sehli
completed a residency at Misk Art Institute from September to December 2022,
her first experience as a resident artist.
The
collection she created during that time was titled “Memory Transformed.”
She
often refers to her creations — a mix of jewelry techniques and research that
revive and preserve Saudi architecture, history, culture and traditional
jewelry — as “wearable art.”
“My
research has been focused on reviving traditional practices used by our
ancestors in Saudi Arabia that have faded due to globalization and technology,
such as palm leaf and palm fronds, and the meaning of generosity in Saudi
hospitality, and then reflected in modern jewelry pieces that were implemented
in traditional ways,” she said.
“This
is the art I present to the world. It is the jewelry stemming from research and
facts that reflect the richness and diversity of the culture of Saudi Arabia.”
In
each of her jewelry collections, Al-Sehli aims to reflect elements that profess
the richness of Saudi architecture and heritage, as well as the diversity of
cultures in the Kingdom.
Each
collection is produced after recorded research with historians and facts, some
of which require approval from Saudi universities and registered studies, she
said.
“That’s
really like winning a tough challenge, to reframe research and facts into
wearable pieces of art,” Al-Sehli said.
“Words
are not enough to describe my happiness with what Saudi Arabia is witnessing
today regarding the country’s newfound interest in its traditional
craftsmanship.
“I’m
also proud to play a vital role, which is teaching traditional jewelry crafting
in the Kingdom with the Royal Institute of Traditional Arts,” she said.
“I
make sure that my jewelry is displayed internally and internationally. For me,
it is a language, dialogue, and local and international discussion. There is a
collection that reflects Islamic architecture and another that shows ancient
civilizations, and more recently revives the traditional practices of our ancestors.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2249791/saudi-arabia
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Turkey
Earthquake: Woman Refuses To Step Out Without Hijab From Under Rubble
Sakina
Fatima
12th
February 2023
A
Turkish woman refused to get out from under the rubble of her family’s house
destroyed by the devastating earthquakes on Monday in the city of Gaziantep,
without her headscarf.
While
the rescue teams were trying to rescue the mother and her three children, the
woman demanded that she be provided with a headscarf.
The
woman was given a headscarf after which she stepped out, covering her head. She
crawled on her knees and hands with the help of rescuers, who were trying to
calm her down the whole time after fulfilling her wish.
A
rescuer can be heard saying “Aunty, I love your emaan!”
The
rescue team carried the woman on a medical crane amid chants of Takbeer and
loud applause.
Victims
of the two earthquakes of magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 that hit southern Turkey and
northern Syria, on Monday, reached 29,789 with over 98,685 being injured.
While
rescue teams continue searching for survivors under the rubble of demolished
buildings, the total number of earthquake victims in Turkey has risen to 24,600
deaths and 93,000 injured.
Source:
Siasat Daily
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UAE
hosts UN training on women, peace and security
February
12, 2023
DUBAI:
The UAE’s permanent mission to the UN has hosted the UN Department of Political
and Peacebuilding Affairs’ training on women, peace and security, Emirates News
Agency reported on Sunday.
The
annual program aimed to increase participants’ understanding of the gendered
effects of conflict while also providing tools to help women participate more
effectively in conflict prevention and resolution, peace-building, and peace
processes.
The
training was attended by nearly 30 people.
Lana
Nusseibeh, the UAE’s permanent representative to the UN, and Khaled Khiari, the
UN assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific at
the DPPA, jointly launched the event by outlining the UAE’s commitment to
advancing the WPS agenda.
“The
UAE mission is always happy to serve as a space for face-to-face exchanges of
opinion, especially when we are meeting about something as important as
mainstreaming the WPS agenda,” Nusseibeh said.
She
continued: “This agenda has been a top priority for the UAE at the UN, and the
Security Council, and beyond. Hosting this training is a way of showing our
strong support for what UN DPPA has been doing on WPS.
“WPS
is a core political issue at the center of what the Security Council does. It
is not an ‘add-on’ or ‘nice-to-have’ element … It is a foundation for
sustainable peace and recovery. In this training, I hope you can draw valuable
lessons and best practices so that we can all together give the WPS agenda the
centrality it deserves.”
Source:
Arab News
The
UAE is the first Arab country to host the event.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2249721/middle-east
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Emirati
women lead ranking of Middle East’s most powerful businesswomen
February
12, 2023
Emirati
women have dominated the list of Middle East’s most powerful businesswomen, it
was revealed on Sunday.
Hana
Al Rostamani of First Abu Dhabi Bank and Raja Easa Al Gurg of Easa Saleh Al
Gurg Group are ranked 1 and 2, respectively, on Forbes Middle East’s ranking of
‘The Middle East’s 100 Most Powerful Businesswomen 2023’.
The
ranking celebrates business titans from 27 different nationalities across 27 sectors.
Emirati and Egyptian women dominate the list, with 15 and 12 entries,
respectively. They are followed by Saudi with 11 entries, Kuwait with eight,
and Lebanon, Oman, and Qatar with six each. Leaders working in the banking and
financial services make up 23 of the 100 entries. Diversified conglomerates and
the investments industry follow with 11 and eight women, respectively.
Hana
Al Rostamani, Group CEO of the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), climbed two spots to
land first place this year. In June 2022, FAB completed a merger with Bank Audi
Egypt under the umbrella of FABMISR, making it one of the largest foreign banks
in Egypt, with assets worth $10 billion as of March 2022.
Raja
Easa Al Gurg, Chairperson and Managing Director of Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group,
and Lubna S. Olayan, Chair of the Saudi British Bank and Chair of the Executive
Committee and Deputy Chair of Olayan Financing Company, rounded up the top
three. NBK’s Sheikha Khaled Al Bahar ranks first in Kuwait and fourth
regionally. Al Rostamani and Al Gurg were also both recognised on Forbes’ 2022
list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.
Three
industry disruptors entered the top 10 for the first time: Shaista Asif,
Cofounder and Group COO of PureHealth Group; Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Managing
Director of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC); and Wadha Ahmed Al Khateeb, CEO of
the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC). Half of the top 10 ranked women
work within the banking and financial services industry.
Many
of the businesswomen on this year’s ranking are placing significant importance
on education and empowerment initiatives. The Apparel Group, led by Founder and
Chairwoman Sima Ganwani Ved, launched its Digital Learning Academy in October
to offer bilingual courses in the GCC. Rawya Mansour, Founder and Chairwoman of
RAMSCO, spearheaded a partnership with the National Council for Women to
empower women in Africa through an organic farming project and entrepreneurs’
initiative for zero-waste eco-villages. And Hind Bahwan, Founder and
Chairperson of Bahwan CyberTek Group, signed an MoU with Dubai’s Heriot-Watt
University to offer internships and deep work immersions to students to tackle
the growing demand for emerging technologies like AI, ML, and IoT.
Source:
Gulf News
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More
Than 1000 Women Imprisoned in Afghanistan: Prison Authority
By
Asma Saayin
The
Directorate of Prisons Affairs said that out of 14,000 people imprisoned across
the country, 1000 of them are women.
Officials
of this department said that all of these prisoners have criminal cases.
"Currently
there are 14,000 prisoners and more than 1000 of them are women," said
Mohammad Yusuf Mistari, the director of the prison's affairs.
The
head of this department said there are no political prisoners incarcerated and
and 15,000 people have been released after their cases were investigated.
"We
check thousands of cases and 15,000 people have been released and nearly to
3,000 prisoners will be released soon, and our prisons have the capacity for
20,000 prisoners," said Mohammad Yusuf Mistari, the director of prison
affairs.
Some
women prisoners in Pule e Charkhi prison called on the Islamic Emirate to
investigate their cases in a timely manner and to rule on them transparently.
Meanwhile,
some analysts said that prisoners' cases must be investigated transparently.
"Every
prisoner from the arrest has some rights and their investigations and trial
must be according to law and done transparently," said Subhan Ullah Misbah, an analyst.
After
the Islamic Emirate, the number of prisoners in Pule e Charkhi was zero.
Officials
of the Directorate of Prisons Affairs said that currently most of the prisoners
are arrested for murder, drug trafficking and theft, and other crimes.
Source:
Tolo News
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-182026
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