First lady film director in India

Fatma Begum was an Indian actress, director, and screenwriter. She is often considered the first female film director of Indian cinema. Within four years, she went on to write, produce and direct many films. She launched her own production house, Fatma Films, and directed Bulbul-e-Paristan in 1926. She lived from 1892-1983 and was mother to three children.

She began her career on the Urdu stage. She later shifted to films and debuted in Ardeshir Irani's silent film, Veer Abhimanyu (1922). It was common practice for men to play women in plays and movies, so she became a huge woman superstar. Fatma Begum was fair skinned and wore dark make-up that suited the sepia/black & white images on the screen. Most of the roles required whigs for the heroes as well as the heroines.

In 1926, she established Fatma Films which later became known as Victoria-Fatma Films in 1928. She became a pioneer for fantasy cinema where she used trick photography to have early special effects. She was an actress at Kohinoor Studios and Imperial Studios, while writing, directing, producing, and acting in her own films at Fatma Films.

Begum became the first female director of Indian cinema with her 1926 film, Bulbul-e-Paristan. While no known prints of the film currently exist, the high budget production has been described as a fantasy film featuring many special effects. If true, the film places Begum among early pioneers of fantasy cinema such as George Melies. While continuing to produce and appear in her own work, Fatma worked for Kohinoor Studios and Imperial Studios until her last film in 1938, Duniya Kya Hai?

She directed many other films, her last being the Goddess of Luck in 1929.

10 Worst Countries for Women

10. Iraq

The US-led invasion to “liberate” Iraq from the hanged Saddam Hussain, imprisoned women in an inferno of sectarian violence that targets women and girls. The literacy rate, once the highest in the Arab world, is now among the lowest.

9. Pakistan

In some tribal areas, women are gang raped as punishment for men’s crimes. But honor killing is more widespread, and a renewed wave of religious extremism is targeting female politicians, human rights workers and lawyers. Women are victims of violence and abuse, and the country still lacks a law against domestic violence. Last year the country saw around 1000 honor killings of women and girls, a practice that has been exported to the West. 90 percent of women experience domestic violence in their lifetimes; women earn 82 percent less than men.

8. India

Women account for 39 percent of all adult HIV infections in India. Domestic violence in India is endemic and widespread predominantly against women. Around 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence, according to Renuka Chowdhury junior minister for women and child development. National Crime Records Bureau reveal that a crime against a women is committed every three minutes, a women is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every 77 minutes and one case of cruelty committed by either the husband or relative of the victim occurs every nine minutes. 50 million girls were killed in the past century in the practice of female infanticide or foeticide; around 100 million women and girls are estimated to be victim of human trafficking; 44.5 percent of girls are married before the age of 18.

7. Somalia

In the Somalia capital, Mogadishu, a vicious civil war has put women, who were the traditional ministry of the family, under attack. 95 percent of girls face genital mutilation mostly between the ages of 4 and 11; only 7.5 percent of parliament seats are held by women; only 9 percent of women give birth in a health facility.

6. Mali

In Mali, one of the world’s poorest countries, few women escape torture of genital mutilation. Many of them are forced into early marriages, and one in ten dies in pregnancy or childbirth. There are no laws against female genital mutilation in Mali, and a large number of women have been subjected to it.

5. Guatemala

The impoverished female under-class of Guatemala faces domestic violence, rape and the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS after Sub-Saharan Africa.

4. Sudan

While Sudanese women have made strides under reformed laws, the plight of those in Darfur, in westren Sudan, has worsened. Abduction, rape or forced displacement has destroyed more than one million women’s lives since year 2003.

3. Democratic Republic of Congo

In the eastern DRC, a war that claimed more than 3 million lives has ignited again, with women on the front-line  Many others were victims of direct attacks and violence perpetrated by the warring parties or by rogue armed militias. Women in the Congo face especially harsh realities; around 1,100 are raped every day. Since 1996, more than 200,000 rapes have been reported in the country. 57 percent of pregnant women are anaemic; women can not sign legal documents without their husbands’ authorization.

2. Afghanistan

The average Afghan girl will live to only 45 – one year less than an Afghan male. After three decades of war and repression, an overwhelming number of women remain illiterate in Afghanistan. Afghan girls are also discouraged, sometimes fatally, from seeking an education and Afghan rape victims can be forced, by law, to marry their attacker. More than half of all brides are under 16, and one women dies in childbirth every half an hour. A large majority, up to 85 percent, of women in Afghanistan give birth with no medical attention. It is the country with the highest maternal mortality rate in the world.

1. Chad

Women in Chad have very few rights. Arranged marriages are still common and often times the girls are around 11 and 12 years old. Sudanese Women living in refugee camps in eastern Chad are facing rape and other forms of violence. Outside the camps, they face a range of abuses from harassment and threats to physical attacks, committed by members of opposition armed groups, bandits and members of the Chadian security forces.

Diet tips for healthy hair

Protein

As hair is made of protein, ensuring you have enough protein in your diet is crucial for making hair strong and healthy. If you are not consuming enough protein in your diet, your hair is likely to become dry, brittle and weak. Extremely low protein diets may result in hair loss. Choose chicken, turkey, fish, dairy products and eggs as excellent sources of protein along with vegetarian sources such as legumes and nuts.

Iron

Iron is an especially important mineral for hair and too little iron (anaemia) is a major cause of hair loss. The hair follicle and root are fed by a nutrient rich blood supply. When iron levels (serum ferritin) fall below a certain point, you may experience anaemia. This disrupts the nutrient supply to the follicle, affecting the hair growth cycle and may result in shedding. Animal products such as red meat, chicken and fish provide iron with a high bioavailability, meaning the iron is readily available to the body. Vegetarians can raise their iron stores by including lentils, spinach and other leafy green vegetables such as broccoli, kale and salad greens.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C aids the absorption of iron so foods high in vitamin C are good to eat in conjunction with iron-rich foods. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant so is used readily by the body. The best sources are blackcurrants, blueberries, broccoli, guava, kiwi fruits, oranges, papaya, strawberries and sweet potatoes. Vitamin C helps in the production of collagen that strengthens the capillaries that supply the hair shafts.

Omega-3

Omega-3 fatty acids are important fats our body cannot make itself, and therefore must be obtained through our diet. Omega-3s are found in the cells that line the scalp and also provide the oils that keep your scalp and hair hydrated. Look out for oily fish such as salmon, herring, sardines, trout and mackerel and plant sources including avocado, pumpkin seeds and walnuts.

Zinc and selenium

Scalp protection involves other important minerals, notably zinc and selenium. A lack of zinc can lead to hair loss and a dry, flaky scalp. Fortified cereals and wholegrains are a good source of zinc along with oysters, beef and eggs.

Vitamin E

The sun can damage our hair just like it can damage our skin so ensure you eat foods rich in vitamin E to provide protection for your hair. Nuts are nutritional powerhouses, providing zinc and selenium as well as vitamin E so try to include them as part of a balanced diet.

Biotin

Biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin. Too little biotin can cause brittle hair and may lead to hair loss. Include biotin rich foods such as wholegrains, liver, egg yolk, soy flour and yeast.

Ridiculous restrictions on women’s rights around the world

1. India (some parts): Road safety rules don’t apply to women. In some states of India,women are expected from safety rules that mandate motorcycle passengers wear helmets -- an exemption that kills or injures thousands each year. Women’s rights advocates have argued the exemption springs from a culture-wide devaluation of women’s lives. Supporters of the ban say they’re just trying to preserve women’s carefully styled hair and make-up -- which isn’t exactly a feminist response.

2. Yemen: A woman is considered only half a witness. That’s the policy on legal testimony in Yemen, where a woman is not, to quote a 2005 Freedom House report, “recognized as a full person before the court.” In general, a single woman’s testimony isn’t taken seriously unless it’s backed by a man’s testimony or concerns a place or situation where a man would not be. And women can’t testify at all in cases of adultery, libel, theft or sodomy.

3. Saudi Arabia and Vatican City: Women can’t vote... still. This is amazingly the case in Saudi Arabia, though a royal decree, issued in 2011, will let women vote in Saudi elections in 2015. Vatican City is the only other country that allows men, but not women, to vote.

4. Ecuador: Abortion is illegal, unless you’re an “idiot.” Begum says this is the policy in Ecuador, where abortions have long been outlawed for everyone but “idiots” and the “demented.” Politicians are considering a policy with the more politely worded term “mentally ill,” but that won’t change abortion’s legal status in Ecuador -- or, more importantly, the fact that the law is frequently used to criminalize miscarriages.

5. Saudi Arabia and Morocco: Rape victims can be charged with crimes. Many, many countries fail to protect the victims of rape, but some go a step further -- punishing women for leaving the house without a male companion, for being alone with an unrelated man, or for getting pregnant afterwards. The most infamous case may be Saudi Arabia’s "Qatif girl," but a recent suicide in Morocco also made headlines -- 16-year-old Amina Filali killed herself after a judge forced her to marry her alleged rapist, in keeping with a policy that invalidates statutory rape charges if the parties marry.

6. Yemen: Women can’t leave the house without their husbands’ permission. Yemen, where this law remains in force, does allow for a few emergency exceptions, Begum says: if the woman must rush out to care for her ailing parents, for instance.

7. Saudi Arabia: Women can't drive.

Gender pay gap in India

One of the ugly realities of the 21st century is the persistence of a serious gap between the wages of Working men and women around the world. Advanced economies of the United States and Western Europe also still continue to struggle to achieve a fair wage balance between men and women workforce. However, when it comes to developing economies like India, the size of gender-based wage disparities is far more striking. 

The recent survey findings by the World Economic Forum (WEF) put the spotlight on India, ranking it among the bottom 10 countries in the world in terms of women’s participation in the economy. The WEF report reveals a shocking disparity between the wage structure of men and women in corporate India. The average annual income of a woman in India is US$ 1,185, compared to US$ 3,698 for the men employed in the India’s corporate sector.

This translates to an average woman’s pay of less than one-third of the average man’s pay in India. The WEF survey finds that India has fared worse than last year in terms of “economic participation and opportunity” for women, pushing the country among the bottom 10 countries on the WEF list. Overall, India achieves a score of 59.4% in terms of gender equality in the survey, but in terms of economic participation and opportunity, it scores a dismal 39.8%. India’s general participation of women in the workforce stands at 36%, where as for professional and technical workers, the figure is 21%.

Dangal Girl Geeta Phogat

Geeta Phogat (born 15 December 1988) is a freestyle wrestler who won India's first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010. She is also the first Indian female wrestler to have qualified for the Olympic Summer Games

2009 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship

Phogat won the Gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championship held in Jalandhar, Punjab between 19 and 21 December 2009.

2010 Commonwealth Games

She won India’s first ever gold medal in women’s wrestling at the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, beating Emily Bensted from Australia in the gold medal match.

2012 Summer Olympics

Phogat won a gold medal in the Wrestling FILA Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament that concluded at Almaty, Kazakhstan in April 2012. She has undergone rigorous training at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, (NSNIS), Patiala, under the guidance of chief coach O.P. Yadav and foreign expert Ryan Dobo.

Phogat was beaten in her opening fight by Canadian Tonya Verbeek (1–3). She received a chance to win the bronze medal since the Canadian went to the finals. In the repechage round, she lost her first match to Lazareva from Ukraine.

2012 World Wrestling Championships

In the 2012 World Wrestling Championships held in Canada, Phogat won the bronze medal.

In the first round, Phogat faced Maria Gurova of Russia, beating her 3:1. The second round brought a 5:0 loss for Phogat against Saori Yoshida of Japan. With the Japanese grappler making the finals, Phogat contested in the repechage round, first against Akziya Dautbayeva of Kazakhstan whom she beat 3:1 and then winning the bronze medal bout 3:0 against Natalya Sinishin of Ukraine.

2012 Asian Wrestling Championships

In the first round of the 2012 Asian Wrestling Championships, Phogat lost to her Japanese opponent Kanako Murata in a 5:0 scoreline. With the Japanese grappler entering the finals, Phogat was able to contest in the bronze medal round and won the bronze medal in the 55 kg category, beating Sumiya Erdenechimeg from Mongolia 3:1.

2013 Commonwealth Wrestling Championships

At the tournament held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Phogat finished second and won the silver medal in the women's freestyle 59 kg category after losing the final bout to Oluwafunmilayo Adeniyi Aminat of Nigeria.

2015 Asian Wrestling Championships

At the 2015 Asian Wrestling Championships in Doha, Phogat finished third, winning the bronze medal in the freestyle 58 kg category along with Aiym Abdildina of Kazakhstan.At the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, she was drawn against nine-time world Champion, the Japanese Kaori Icho, and lost to her in the opening round 0–10. With Icho qualifying for the finals, Phogat was given a chance to contest in the repechage for the bronze medal. She again lost 0–10 to her opponent, Elif Jale Yeşilırmak of Turkey

Top 10 Highest Paid Women in The World

10. Elizabeth Buse ($15,586,076/Year

9.  Marillyn Hewson ($15,746,535/Year)

8. Sheryl Sandberg ($16,147,148/Year)

7. Meg Whitman ($17,643,243/Year)

6.  Phebe Novakovic ($18,769,110/Year)

5. Carol Meyrowitz ($20,720,802/Year)

4. Meg Gentle ($21,721,238/Year)

3. Marissa Mayer ($24,935,712/Year)

2. Safra Catz ($37,666,750/Year)

1. Martine Rothblatt ($38,218,255/Year)