Turkish Female Engineering Students Develop ‘Invisible’ Drone
New Age Islam News Bureau
02 March 2022
• Empowered Indian Muslim Women Refused To Given In To
the Propaganda around Hijab
• Saudi Arabia: Lawyer Faces Disciplinary Action for
Offending Women
• Egypt, World Bank Cooperates To Enhance Women’s
Representation In Judiciary, Build Inclusive Institutions
• French 'Good Mother' Awarded Best Film at Egyptian
Women Film Festival
• AMAN Centre to Celebrate International Women’s Day
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/turkish-female-invisible-drone/d/126491
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Turkish Female Engineering Students Develop
‘Invisible’ Drone
Students work on the drone
at the university in the capital Ankara, Turkey, March 1, 2022. (DHA PHOTO)
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MAR 01, 2022
Five women studying engineering came together to
develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is hard to detect and can be used
both in border security and as an early warning system for forest fires.
Young women from the University of Turkish
Aeronautical Association's (THK) Mechanical Engineering Department in the
capital Ankara plan to showcase their design in the upcoming Teknofest. This
major tech event allows the youth to demonstrate their talents in technology.
The hybrid drone has a flight time of six hours and
its transparent structure keeps it almost invisible. It can carry a
helium-filled balloon and is covered with polyvinyl chloride. The team – mechanical
engineering sophomores Rabia Tuana Atak and Şeymanur Sırtlı,
electrical-electronics engineering sophomore Beyza Nur Büyükyaprak,
mechatronics junior Duygu Nur Kibar and computer engineering sophomore Ümmühan
Şahin – also installed a battery on the drone to power it.
Atak told Demirören News Agency (DHA) on Tuesday that
they were motivated to show "Turkish women’s skills" and followed the
famous saying of modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, that the
"future is in the skies."
"The helium balloon allows the drone to save on
battery life and thus gives it a longer flight time. Existing electric
multicopters cannot fly beyond 55 minutes," she said.
Turkey has made a name in the defense industry in
recent years thanks to Turkish company Baykar’s Bayraktar UAVs, which succeeded
both domestically and for international export, inspiring more youth to take an
interest in the development of drones and similar vehicles.
Source: Daily Sabah
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/5-turkish-female-engineering-students-develop-invisible-drone/news
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Empowered Indian Muslim Women Refused To Given In To
the Propaganda around Hijab
Photo: IANS
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March 1, 2022
Amid the unnecessary hype surrounding the uniform of
students in Karnataka, most commentators seem to have forgotten how the
talented community of Indian Muslim women refused to given in to the propaganda
around hijab.
In fact, even when numerous lawyers attempted to woo
Islamic clerics into the conversation with unfair comparisons between a hijab
and a Bindi/Ghunghat, Muslim women in India did not engage themselves,
correctly believing that the comparison did not merit any further discussion.
Unlike the hijab, neither Bindi nor Ghunghat alter the
uniform scheme of dressing that a school asks students to subscribe to.
It is noteworthy that in many schools of Karnataka,
where guidelines have been prescribed as such, the prohibition is only limited
to the classrooms and not corridors or canteens or other parts within the
school premises.
It is in this context that the demand of clerics for
Muslim girl students to wear hijab even inside the classroom is a bullying
tactic, aimed at further strengthening the patriarchal structure that has
gripped the Islamic community in India.
By constantly bombarding Muslim girl students with the
message that wearing hijab is far more essential to their existence than their
education, the propaganda machinery and Islamic clerics are doing a great
disservice to the nation and the society as a whole.
This stand not only smells of patriarchy, but is also
regressive and hypocritical in nature. Time and again, numerous civil society
organisations have surveyed a vast number of Muslim women and girls and
reported that such issues are of little concern to the community.
Instead, Muslim girls aspire for better security,
education and facilities to make their lives easier and uplift their families
along with themselves as well.
In fact, one of the most vociferous critics is the
famous Bangladeshi-Swedish author Tasleema Nasrin, who believes that the hijab
is an attempt to create a mobile prison at all times as punishment for having
been born as a female.
Though Article 25 grants the freedom to an individual
to practise their religion, most commentators seem to have forgotten that the
right is subject to public order, morality and health as well as other
provisions.
These educational institutions are free to subscribe
to a uniform dress code for their students as well.
In a couple of petitions filed before the Kerala High
Court, a uniform dress code was prescribed for the All India Pre-Medical
Entrance to ensure that no unfair methods are used.
The court went ahead to state that the students must
abide by the rule as the collective right of an institution is far greater than
the individual right.
In any case, an atmosphere is being created to
showcase that the rights of Muslim woman are under threat. However, most
individuals from the community (especially women) are aware that this is not
the case.
Instead, the expansion and widening of rights of
Muslim women that has happened in the last half a decade has never happened in
the history of Independent India.
After the Triple Talaq judgment of the Supreme Court,
Muslim women who had approached the court to outlaw the cruel practice
expressed happiness for those women who had suffered due to no fault of their
own.
Hailed as a historic judgment, it gave a new lease of
life to women who were divorced in this manner. In fact, the top court went a
step further to state that the government must ratify a new law that guarantees
equal rights for women in an Islamic marriage.
With the new law, all propaganda stating that personal
laws of Muslims would be interfered was put to rest and a fair law guaranteeing
an equal process was put in place.
Adding to that is the recent law that increased the
marriageable age for women from 18 to 21 years, which was a big cause of
happiness for different generations of Muslim women that were interviewed.
Ensuring a higher minimum age would ensure that girls
get a better chance to move forward in society and studies instead of being
thrust into a marriage and childbearing responsibilities at a young age.
Overall, it seems fair to state that the hype
surrounding the dress code and hijab ban is one that has been propped up by
those with vested interests. As equal and rightful partners in the Indian
society, the Muslim women and girls are aware that this is yet another attempt
by patriarchs to ensure that talented Muslim girls are not given the
opportunity to achieve lofty aspirations and goals.
However, a democratic society that has been founded on
ideals of equality and fraternity also ensures that Muslims in India are well-integrated,
happy, satisfied and daring to go and achieve even more.
Source: The Statesman
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Saudi Arabia: Lawyer faces disciplinary action for
offending women
February 27, 2022
Ramadan Al Sherbini
Cairo: Saudi justice authorities have referred a
lawyer to a disciplinary inquiry for posting tweets deemed offensive to women
celebrating the kingdom’s Founding Day last week, media reports said.
The lawyer, whose name was not given, has been sent to
a disciplinary board for acting in a way violating ethics and code of conduct
of the profession, the news portal Sabq said.
The man had defamed people celebrating a national
occasion, added the paper without specifying the nature of the offence.
If found guilty of infringements, the lawyer could
have his name stricken off the legal practice roster in the country.
Some media reports said that the lawyer had posted
tweets critical of women who appeared clad in colourful traditional costumes
marking the Founding Day that Saudi Arabia celebrated for the first time on
February 22.
The Founding Day commemorates the founding of the
first Saudi state in 1727 by Imam Mohammed bin Saud.
Last month, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz declared
February 22 every year as the kingdom’s Founding Day and an official holiday.
Source: Gulf News
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Egypt, World Bank cooperates to enhance women’s
representation in judiciary, build inclusive institutions
01 Mar 2022
CAIRO - 1 March 2022: Counselor Mohamed Mahmoud Hossam
El-Din, President of the State Council, and Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International
Cooperation, launched the bilateral meetings between the State Council and the
World Bank to design a framework of cooperation between the two sides in women
empowerment and promoting women’s representation in the judiciary, in line with
Egypt’s gender agenda, which prioritizes women’s participation and influence in
decision-making processes at all levels and in all fields.
The meeting included the participation of Marina Wes,
Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti at the World Bank, Counselor
Taha Abdo Karso, Vice-President of the State Council Secretary-General, judges
and female judges of the State Council, representatives of the Ministry of
International Cooperation and the World Bank delegation.
Counselor Mohamed Mahmoud Hossam El-Din, President of
the State Council, underscored the council's keenness to optimize international
experiences and spur knowledge exchange with the World Bank in developing
judicial systems, particularly in regards to enabling the women to work in the
State Council, where recently 98 female judges have been appointed.
To build effective, accountable and inclusive
institutions at all levels, the Minister of International Cooperation, Rania
Al-Mashat, hailed the continuous reforms that Egypt is spearheading to develop
the State Council, which led to the appointment of 98 female judges. The
transformative power of this step is that it will help to break gender
stereotypes and broaden access to justice, as adopting a gender perspective in
the judiciary enhances the fairness of adjudication, which ultimately benefits
both men and women.
The Minister added that the framework of cooperation
between the state council and the World Bank coincides with the March, which is
an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women.
She added that the Ministry is keen on enhancing
technical cooperation between the State Council and development partners to
build inclusive institutions and promote people-centric governance.
Egypt’s development cooperation portfolio with the
World Bank amounts to a total of $5.5 billion in 15 projects that target a
diversity of sectors such as transportation, education, housing, health, social
protection, petroleum, water and sanitation, and environment. In addition, the
International Finance Corporation, the arm of the World Bank Group for
financing the private sector, directed in 2021 development financing worth $421
million to the private sector in Egypt.
Source: Egypt Today
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French 'Good Mother' awarded best film at Egyptian
women film festival
March 2, 2022
French film Good Mother, by Hafsia Herzi, was named
the best film in the Feature Film Competition of the sixth Aswan International
Women Film Festival (AIWFF), as announced on Monday evening in Upper Egypt's
Aswan city.
The film tells the story of Nora, a housekeeper, whose
son is arrested in a gas station robbery and she does everything she can to
help him as he remains in custody awaiting trial.
The feature film competition saw the contest of at least
11 films from different countries.
Notably, both the best actor and best actress awards
went to actresses, as exceptionally decided by the judges, who explained
onstage that female characters in the competing films were not "used as
decoration" as usual, but they played major roles that outperformed those
of male characters.
The two best acting awards went to Sabine Azema for
her role in the French film Secret Name by Aurelia Georges, and Karam Taher for
her role in Farha, a film directed by Darin J. Sallam, a Jordanian director who
won the best director for the same film.
Farha tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who is
left behind by her father in Palestine in 1948, and she watches from a locked
cellar as catastrophe consumes her home and changes her dream from seeking
education in the city to survival.
"It's very important to have festivals that
address women's issues because it puts their causes under the spotlight,"
Sallam said.
In the Short Film Competition, where 24 films
contested, Spanish film Deaf was named the best, while Canadian actress and
director Marianne Farley was named the best director of short films for Frimas.
Although Egypt did not join the International
Competition for Feature Films at the festival, two Egyptian feature films received
awards under the Egyptian Film Competition.
Full Moon by Hadi El Bagoury was awarded the best
Egyptian film tackling women's issues, and Back Home by Sarah Shazli was named
the best Egyptian film representing women's creativity.
Three other Egyptian films won prizes in a new
competition called Films with an Impact: Her Story by Sayed Abdel-Khalek, Doors
of Makkah by Mohannad Diab and It Takes a Village by Reem Osama.
AIWFF was founded in 2017 by Egyptian screenwriter
Mohamed Abdel-Khalek, and is held in partnership with Egyptian ministries and
NGOs.
Held on Feb. 23-28, the sixth AIWFF screened over 50
films from about 40 countries in support of women's causes and rights.
"The awarded films won the votes of the jury
members, yet all the competing films were inspiring," said Abdel-Khalek
during the closing ceremony.
He congratulated those who won and thanked those who
participated.
"I thank them all for attaching importance to and
interacting with the festival," the AIWFF president told Xinhua.
Source: China.org.cn
http://www.china.org.cn/arts/2022-03/02/content_78080269.htm
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AMAN Centre to Celebrate International Women’s Day
02 Mar 2022
Doha: The Protection and Social Rehabilitation Centre
(AMAN), of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, announced the organisation of
various awareness-raising events and activities on International Women’s Day,
which falls on March 8 of each year.
Acting Executive Director of the Centre Abdulaziz Al
Ishaq expressed his pride in what women offer in all fields, stressing their
important role in building the future of nations.
Al Ishaq affirmed the keenness to ensure that the
celebrations, which lasts for a whole week starting today, are in line with the
slogan of International Women’s Day 2022 entitled ‘Gender Equality Today for a
Sustainable Tomorrow,’ in recognition of the various contributions of women and
girls around the world who are leading the task of adapting, mitigating, and
responding to climate change to build a more sustainable future for all.
He revealed the Centre’s intention to present a gift
to every woman in the State of Qatar under the name ‘Women’s Award’, which will
be divided into several categories in line with the Centre’s objectives, and
its details will be revealed during a press conference that will be announced
soon.
Source: The Peninsula Qatar
https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/02/03/2022/aman-centre-to-celebrate-international-womens-day
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/turkish-female-invisible-drone/d/126491