Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday in Lumbini, on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, that his birthplace Vadnagar in Gujarats Mehsana district had been a great centre for Buddhist learning centuries ago.

Even today, there are relics being recovered from there and the excavation work is still on, PM Modi had said.

Vadnagars ties with Buddhism

The Gujarat state archaeology department began excavations in Vadnagar, a small town in Mehsana district of north Gujarat, in 2006, when Modi was chief minister.

In 2014, the excavation work was taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and the combined efforts have thrown up Buddhist relics and around 20,000 artefacts, some dating back to the 2nd century.

Among these, senior ASI officials revealed, are an elliptical structure and a circular stupa along with a square memorial stupa of 22 metres and 130 centimetres in height with a wall enclosure. It is like a platform which has a chamber in the centre that resembles a pradakshina path, a senior ASI official told The Indian Express.

Further, bowls said to be used by monks have been found during the excavations, which have a terracotta sealing with inscriptions of namassarvagyaya and a face-shaped pendant with tritatva symbol.

The excavation work is still underway at two sites in Vadnagar Ambha Ghat, and the Anaaj or grain godown along the railway track, or near Ambaji Kotha Lake.

In Taranga, nearly 30 km from Vadnagar, the ASI has found around 64 natural rock shelters modified into a dwelling place for monks, around 40 votive stupa, a large stupa found on the top of a hill, and another six stupas found near Taran-Dharan Mata shrine.

In another excavation site in Vihar village in Mansa taluka, temple remains dating back to 10th-11th century have been found, revealed the senior ASI official privy to these developments.

According to the Gujarat Tourism website, Vadnagar is mentioned often in the Puranas and even in the travelogue of the great Chinese traveler, Hiuen Tsang (7th century), as a rich and flourishing town. It adds how some of the names attributed to Vadnagar in history are Chamatkarpur, Anandpur, Snehpur and Vimalpur.

How PM Narendra Modi has highlighted Vadnagars Buddhist connect over the years

PM Modi first mentioned the connection between his hometown and Buddhism in 2014 ahead of Chinese Premier Xi Jinpings visit to Gujarat.

An article posted on PM Modis website in English and Mandarin talked at length about the Buddhist heritage in Gujarat.

In the same year, during his trip to Japan, PM Modi visited two ancient Buddhist temples in Kyoto with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.

The feature posted on PM Modis website in 2014 talked about the connections Gujarat, especially his hometown Vadnagar, had with famous Chinese explorer and Buddhist priest Hiuen Tsang, who is believed to have visited the state in 641 AD. It also had snippets about other Buddhist heritage sites in Gujarat, such as Junagadh, Kutch and Bharuch.

Buddhism is a very strong bond between China and India. In fact, Gujarat too has a very rich Buddhist heritage, he had tweeted then.

The article carried a picture of Hiuen Tsang and a map of the route he took in 641 AD while travelling to Gujarat from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. On his visit to Gujarat, Tsang noted the presence of 200 monasteries housing 10,000 monks located at Bharukaccha, Atali, Kheta, Valabhi, Anandapura and Saurashtra, the article on PM Modis website said.

The feature also carried a map of Gujarat, listing the various Buddhist sites in the state, including Siyot, Vadnagar, Taranga Hill, Bharuch, Khambhalida, Junagadh, Sana and Talaja.

Sacred relics of the Buddha were even found in Devni Mori in Aravalli district of Gujarat.

The Govts push to highlight Vadnagar as a heritage destination

The PMs mention about Vadnagar came two days ahead of the Vadnagar International Conference to be held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar on World Museum Day on May 18, which will be attended by Minister of State for Culture and External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi, along with representatives from UNESCO.

The push for Vadnagar as a historical and cultural destination began during Modis time as chief minister, when the Gujarat government launched the Tana-Riri annual music festival at Vadnagar in the name of two sisters, who were gifted singers, and who, by Gujarati folk lore, gave up their lives instead of agreeing to sing in the court of Emperor Akbar. The Kirti Toran of Vadnagar, which is an arch from the Solanki dynasty, was adopted as the symbol of Gujarat.

Newsletter | Click to get the days best explainers in your inbox

The Ministry of Culture is helming a project along with the Gujarat government to develop Vadnagar as a Landmark Heritage Destination and the international conference will discuss the history of Vadnagar, heritage and cultural significance, development of Vadnagar archaeological sites, water management, traditional methods of water storage, Buddhist heritage, and development of archaeological museums, among other things.

Last year, the Railways Ministry redeveloped the Vadnagar Railway Station where PM Modi is said to have sold tea as a young boy.

Read more from the original source:
Explained: Vadnagars ties with Buddhism, and Govts push to make it a heritage site - The Indian Express

The Pittsburgh Buddhist Center in West Deer on Sunday celebrated Vesak, a holiday that commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha.

The belief is that all of these events happened on a full moon in May, said Bhante Pemaratana, chief abbot at the temple, explaining Sunday is Mays full moon. Its a time for us to be grateful for the Buddha, because he rediscovered the idea we could be enlightened.

The idea of enlightenment, Pemaratana said, means that people have room to evolve their minds and better cultivate compassion.

During Vesak, one of the holiest holidays in the Buddhist faith, people try to follow the practices of Buddhas teachings, he said. That often includes practicing generosity, focusing on compassion and spending time in meditation.

Sundays services included meditations, discussions about the Buddhist faith and activities for children.

Its tradition for children to make lanterns of perishable materials such as sticks and tissue paper that they decorate in honor of the Buddha, Pemaratana said. But, because they are perishable, they will decay.

Its learning about impermanence, he said.

Monks often offer additional programs or participate in retreats to mark the holiday, he said.

For Pemaratana, the objective of Vesak celebrations is to encourage people to be more kind and help them to be wiser and more intentional.

Kindness and compassion is something you can grow, he said.

Sundays celebration brought about 50 people, though the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center has about 100 consistent members, he said.

Padma Karunarante said she attends the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center regularly. She said she particularly enjoys discussions with messages that help her overcome challenges, and she was eager to commemorate Vesak on Sunday as a reminder of what Buddha did for humanity.

It gives you a nice perspective, she said.

Another element she loves about the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center is that it welcomes people of all religions and beliefs, she said.

The best thing is you can be whatever religion, she said. You can come and get what you want.

Pemaratana said people of any faith are welcome at the center, and people interested in learning more about Buddhism can call to schedule appointments for personal visits. The Pittsburgh Buddhist Center, he said, can help people find new perspectives or ways to come to terms with challenges they encounter in life.

We like people to know more techniques to handle their emotions and stay balanced in these difficult times, he said. Peoples lives are hard. Everyone goes through different hardships, pains and sufferings. Everybody needs a place to get some solace and a new perspective on their problems.

For Ramona Fernando, the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center provides that. She is Catholic but has been going to the center for about 15 years.

I just came for interests sake, because its part of our culture, she said, explaining she is from Sri Lanka. It really filled my soul. It resonated with me. I like the Buddhist teachings. Its another way of looking at things.

For Nancy Sargent, who became a Buddhist at 17, the faith helped her to find meaning in life.

When I was young, I wondered why we were on this ball going around another ball in the middle of nowhere, she said.

She tried attending various Christian functions and exploring different ways of thinking, but ultimately found purpose and comfort in Buddhism.

In addition to services at its West Deer site, the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center organizes meditations at local libraries, Pemaratana said.

Though the Vesak holiday was celebrated Sunday, the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center will be joining next week with other Buddhist organizations in the region to again commemorate the holiday and meditate for world peace.

Julia Felton is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, jfelton@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Read more:
Pittsburgh Buddhist Center celebrates Vesak, a holiday celebrating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha - TribLIVE

An exhibition of artifacts, replicas, and photographs was organized in Islamabad on Tuesday to showcase Pakistans Buddhist cultural heritage and Gandhara civilization.

Ambassadors of countries observing Vesak were invited to celebrate their Buddhist civilizational linkages with Pakistan.

The Ambassadors and High Commissioners of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Nepal attended the event. Pakistani experts and scholars on the subject also participated.

Addressing the occasion, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar underlined the multicultural and diverse heritage of Pakistan.

She also highlighted the significance of Pakistans cultural connectivity with the South East and South Asian countries.

She invited Buddhist tourists to visit Pakistans Gandhara, which consists of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Celebrating Vesak Day Ambassador of Thailand Chakkrid Krachaiwong shared his thoughts on the message of Lord Buddha and appreciated Pakistan as a guardian of the religious sites of Buddhism and its role in the region as the center of Buddhist civilization.

The event brought together a display of Gandhara artifacts in Pakistan, a screening of a documentary on Buddhist heritage, and an exhibition of Buddhist artifacts, photographs, and crafts by participating embassies.

See the original post here:
Hina Khar invites Buddhist tourists to visit Pakistan's Gandhara sites - The Nation

Students, staff, alumni and community members gathered on April 21 to celebrate those winning nonprofits and the work of the Damus Board. The event marked the culmination of a yearlong program. Since last fall, the students on the board have been collaborating to create a grant application, determine criteria to evaluate organizations, visit and interview the finalists, and select the final awardees.

It has allowed me to better understand the complexity of perspectives and backgrounds that people bring into big decisions, said one student Damus Board member. It allowed me to become a better listener, a more thoughtful leader and a more considerate facilitator.

We were inspired and energized working with the students of the Damus Board, who approached this process with thoughtful questions, curiosity, and a clear vision of how they wanted to make a difference in our communities, said Rae Wood of The Family Partnership. We were blown away by their professionalism, organization and passion, and we felt so invigorated to be able to share our work with such compassionate and insightful students.

Elizer Darris, board chair of The Legal Revolution, accepted the award on behalf of his organization. Receiving the Damus Award will allow us to continue supporting our clients and serves as social proof that the time for change is now and the energy to change is here.

The students on the board channeled their energy into learning about racial injustice in our communities. They invited Dr. Yohuru Williams to talk with them about the history of racism in the Twin Cities, and learned from a panel of professional grant-makers about important considerations when funding organizations working on racial equity issues. Ive become much more passionate about racial equity, commented one board member, and despite knowing theres still so much to do, it gives me hope that there are regular people out there in our community collectively working toward this goal and that anyone can pitch in and make a difference.

The Damus Board was born in 2009 when Jackie Gibney sold the university on her idea to give students an opportunity to practice philanthropy, and learn about themselves and their passions through the process. Gibney has been funding the program every year since that time. This year, the board received additional contributions from a second donor, who was inspired to give after hearing about the boards work, and from the family of a Damus Board alumnus, Nicholas Hughes, because of the positive impactful experience he had serving on the board.

Indeed, alumni frequently call out the Damus Board experience as the best experience they had at St. Thomas. The Damus Board is truly such a rare opportunity and a beautiful gift to anyone lucky enough to be a part of it, said a current Damus Board member. I am beyond grateful to have made lifelong friendships with fellow board members and to share in the gift of giving to nonprofits doing profound work in our communities.

The four Damus Award winners for 2022 are:

The 2021-22 Damus Board members are:

View original post here:
Gaining Philanthropy Experience Through the Damus Board - Newsroom | University of St. Thomas - University of St. Thomas Newsroom

By Laura Leonard Doctor of ChiropracticLos Alamos

Getting sick isnt exactly all in your head but your thoughts about things do play a critical part in how well your bodys physiology handles stress. Psychoneuroimmunology is a field of study that investigates the interactions between thoughts and physiology.

Since the 1960s, research into this field has shown that our thinking patterns directly affect immune, nervous and hormonal systems. Thoughts about life stressors have such a large impact on health that we cant afford to ignore this interaction as we go through life.

Research on patients with various types of cancer tells us that patients with depression and/or a history of multiple stressful life events have lower survival rates. In fact, these risk factors have more impact on survival than a history of alcohol and tobacco use. Perceived social isolation and loneliness are also predictors of cancer survival.

Chronic daily stress also leads to disease especially when we feel like we have no control over our circumstances. Emotions like anger are well known to increase the likelihood of having a heart attack. Mind-body-health interactions are the reason why I teach my patients to take control of their thoughts and personal actions rather than worrying about other people and events they have no influence over.

At the end of the day that is where health starts, with personal empowerment and choosing not to be a victim to the things going on around us. Where the tough work begins is being willing to look at your subconscious thoughts. Negative thinking patterns that are acquired in childhood and filed away until something triggers us.

Our brains are wired to keep these traumas filed away until something in the environment brings it up. PTSD, anxiety and depression are manifestations of these triggers. When our brain gets triggered in the now, our physiology has no idea if this is an imminent threat or if its overreacting. Dealing with our active thoughts in an empowering way is only part of the puzzle. Many of our beliefs about ourselves and the world are subconscious and stored away until something triggers those thoughts to come out. Sadly, most of what we store in the subconscious is negative because that is what allowed our ancestors to survive. In the modern world, these stored thoughts are responsible for making us sick.

Awareness of mind-body-health is becoming mainstream thinking and there are many online resources to get you started. Apps like Headspace, UCLA Mindful, iBreathe and Mindset: Daily Motivation all provide simple ways to start shifting your mind and physiology on the daily. If you are ready to dig into your subconscious, my personal preference is paying attention to emotional triggers and journaling about them when they arise. Triggers always have a deeper origin and I believe those roots exist in childhood and past traumas.

If you like apps, ThinkUp is a useful tool to get positive affirmations for healing old patterns once you start peeling back the onion.

Dr. Leonards practice focuses on posture and performance using a combination of soft tissue release, adjustments and exercise recommendations. She also coaches patients on nutrition, self-care and body awareness so they can manage themselves in between visits. Los Alamos Chiropractic Center is located in the Mary Deal building on Trinity.

See more here:
Leonard: Is It All In Your Head? Stress, Disease And The Mind-Body Connection - Los Alamos Daily Post

Pontiac is a place where opportunities abound for nonprofits to collaborate, says LaToya Morgan, consultant to the Pontiac Funders Collaborative (PFC). Having identified city-wide goals by engaging with community members from its founding in 2018 through 2020, the PFC provides funding for organizations and local leaders to build capacity to achieve those goals. It supports organizations of any size that are led by or serve people from underrepresented groups, low-income backgrounds, and those lacking access to basic resources.

To strengthen nonprofit partnerships that meet the communitys needs, in 2021, the PFC created a Collaborative Development Grant its only competitive grant to fund collaborative projects. E-Community Outreach Services andCenter for Success(CFS), two Pontiac nonprofits focused on serving youth and families, were selected in to receive $15,000 to fund their year-long Parent and Literacy program. The most recent eight-week cohort closed with a celebratory family night at Center for Success that included awarding parent certificates as well as reading and literacy games. Both nonprofits are eager to continue working together in the future.

It's a learning opportunity for organizations when they collaborate an opportunity to not only learn from one another, but to also learn about the work [the other is] doing and the work that needs to be done, Morgan says. It gives them an opportunity to test new experiences or new ideas...and provides the necessary support to learn to do the necessary work in community.

E-Community Outreach Services offers parents the experiential wisdom of its founder and CEO, Eisha Branner. As a woman of color, Branner has confronted personal, financial, and inherent social equity constraints while parenting through difficult socioeconomic conditions. Her nonprofit offers youth programming and mentoring, and uses a case management approach to connect parents in Pontiac with community resources such as workforce training, employment opportunities, emergency food, and housing.

When COVID-19 hit, the organization shifted its programming to a virtual format and met with great success. Since 2020, its weekly, virtual Parents Social Hour has been pulling in 35 to 40 families each session. In 2021, Branner opened the Parent Empowerment Center to increase support to those raising families, offering a variety of educational workshops on site, and through community partners like Center for Success.

Parents celebrate the culmination of the Parent and Literacy program at Center for Success. From left to right: Romona Greenlee and Brooke Myers pose with Eisha Branner and parent program coordinator, Kendra Pitts

"Because we were two different organizations, Andrea [Meyer, from CFS] was focusing on youth literacy and I was focused on engaging parents and connecting them with resources, says Branner. We got to know each other and see where our challenges were. I remember her saying, We interact with kids, but we don't interact with their parents. And I'm like, We have a lot of families, but we don't have space or funding. So, the first thing she did was offer a space.

Serving both Pontiac and Detroit, CFSs literacy program focuses on mentoring elementary and middle school students in after-school sessions that include transportation from partner schools, a nourishing meal, enrichment activities, and one-on-one individualized literacy coaching. The Center also provides virtual and summer literacy programming. In addition to the capacity-building collaboration with E-Community Outreach Services, CFS partners with a dozen other community nonprofits to provide youth with robust programming.

Eisha and her team are incredibly dedicated, says Meyer, executive director of CFS. We worked hard in this program to not only ensure that our families were getting the support they needed, but also that we were thinking very carefully about how our two organizations can enhance their own mission and support each other through this partnership.

Meyer and Branner created a plan for their parent engagement program through ongoing, informal weekly conversations, before funding was even available. The program, led by Branner, included topics such as balancing life and kids, literary resources, how to advocate for your child, positive behavior and goal setting. Parents of children in CFS's literacy programs are able to participate, and at the same time, those who get involved through E-Community Outreach are encouraged to sign their kids up at Center for Success.Andrea Meyer and Eisha BrannerThese two ladies had already been working on their collaboration before they sought funding. This is what added value to their efforts, Morgan says. It's also probably why they are having some good success. When the grant came out, they said, Oh, here's an opportunity for funding,' [and] were happy it could add value to their work at a point where it was helpful.

Some organizations come together for the funding," she says. "Those collaborations struggle because you don't know the who, the what, the why, or the how if you come together strictly to split a larger pot of money.

The Center for Success Networkserves students in Detroit and Pontiac, where schools report a high percentage of students unable to read at grade level literacy is known to be the foundation of success in other subject areas. By collaborating to create the Parent and Literacy program, CFS extends its mentorship programs into the home, giving families more opportunities to hone their reading skills.

If what we're doing with the youth is reinforced and supported at home, it's always going to provide increased impact, says Meyer. Parents know there's a need, and want their kids to be supported in their literacy goals, but don't always know how they can play a role. When they start to learn some of the strategies, and network with the other parents and families who are involved, it gives them a greater awareness of ways to create this culture of learning and literacy in the home environment.Parent and child read together at Parent and Literacy celebration

The Parent and Literacy cohorts began last fall, and met at CFS on Monday evenings over eight consecutive weeks. On Saturdays, parents could opt to take part in workshops led by community experts on housing stability, financial literacy, mental health and education. A brief fitness activity helped keep participants engaged.

"Overall parents felt like they were gaining the knowledge to assist their kids," says Branner.

"In our community, we have a lot of great programs. We have a lot of great resources. But we also have a disconnect, especially in the last few years with COVID-19," she says. "There was nowhere near enough support for our families. A lot of their kids have fallen back in school. If you look in our schools, you see a lot of low scores and very little parent involvement."

Yet, over the past school year, the average attendance for students in CFS's literacy programs with caregivers enrolled in E-Community Outreach programs was 12% higher than for students whose families were not involved in both programs, she says.We're going to be that group that goes to get those families, that engages with them and connects them with the services and support they need," she says.

While working toward this goal, Branner and Meyer are also a part of a larger nonprofit cohort, consisting of all the organizations receiving PFC capacity building grants. The dozen grantees meet together each month, and encompass a wide range of community services, everything from health care and family counseling to after-school music programs. Cohort members offer each other lived experience and broader community connections.

People are able to build relationships across different communities that they may not be connected with, and they can build on those relationships outside of the group, Morgan says. Folks really enjoy learning about what one another are doing, and having the opportunity to connect in different ways, or provide opportunities to serve different constituencies.

Meyer says she hopes that by continuing to engage parents and children together in literacy activities, more parents will turn to E-Community Outreach for access to community resources and in turn, even more children will become involved, and more consistent, in CFS literacy activities.It's powerful for students and parents to be learning together, she says, as it instills a "lifelong learning mentality. I'm just really excited about how we'll continue to work together.

This entry is part of ourNonprofit Journal Project, an initiative inviting nonprofit leaders across Metro Detroit to contribute their thoughts via journal entries on how COVID-19, a heightened awareness of racial injustice and inequality, issues of climate change and more are affecting their work--and how they are responding. This series is made possible with the generous support of our partners, the Michigan Nonprofit Association and Co.act Detroit.

See more here:
Pontiac nonprofits find strength through collaboration to boost youth literacy and empower parents - Second Wave Media

When founder and CEO Stacey Boyd set out to create her company, Olivela, she wanted to establish a luxury shopping platform with a philanthropic mission baked into the core business model. The 5-year-old company donates 20% of net proceeds from every purchase to the consumers charity of choice from Olivelas list of partners, at no cost to the consumer or brand partners.

There are three pillars we work in, Boyd said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. Olivela focuses on womens empowerment, climate action and health and wellness. The name is Olive for olive trees, a symbol of growth and wisdom, and vela, which is Latin for the sails of the ship, with the idea that we help set people forward on the best path in life.

Purpose matters to [our customers], said Boyd. As we think about developing and creating the Olivela website, no one is going to buy something simply because it does good. Our customer is going to buy a bag because she loves the bag. Shes going to choose to buy it from Olivela versus somewhere else because of the good that it does and because she has a choice as a consumer.

Below are additional highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

Olivelas approach to curation

We have a more curated selection [than other luxury retail platforms]. Weve honed and refined the number of brands on our site. We sell ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags, [jewelry, accessories, home] and beauty. Beauty has been a big part of what our consumer has looked for, particularly over the course of the past few years. We have some pretty wonderful brands in [our beauty vertical], including Dr. Barbara Sturm, Vintners Daughter and Augustinus Bader. Our focus is on finding the brands we know our consumers will really love. We focus on these brands and tell their stories.

The power of pop-ups

We find, especially in a location like Nantucket, [pop-ups] are a wonderful way to acquire a VIP customer, those that we do a lot of personal shopping for in the luxury space. Pop-ups have been a wonderful way for us to get the word out on the brand and what it is we do. We have a great Instagram wall. Early on in our pop-up [journey], Jennifer Lawrence walked in and bought a classically Nantucket straw bag. There, on the wall, was: Thank you, Jennifer. You just sent a girl to school for 22 days. Everybody who buys something in our store has [access to] this Instagrammable wall, so its a great way for us to acquire new customers.

The future of luxury

I was talking with the chairman of LVMH, and we were talking about how the world is really stuck in 1832, Paris. Then, it was the cholera outbreak. All of the haves left Paris, while all of the have nots stayed. This wasnt something that lasted a number of months, it lasted years. The chairman thought the merging of the haves and the have nots is whats unique about Olivelas business model. Finding a way for those two [ideals] to live together and support one another is a really important part of luxury going forward. While [Olivela] might have been a little bit ahead of our time, youre seeing luxury brands thinking more about that and that being the beginning of how people are shifting and moving. Its very challenging times, and [the chairman] is right about this place the world is in. Its a scary place, in a lot of ways. There needs to be, especially given the income inequality at the heart of a lot of the unrest, this knitting together. There are a lot of different ways we can do it. Olivela is a very small example of one way businesses could think about that.

Read more from the original source:
Olivela's Stacey Boyd: 'No one is going to buy something simply because it does good' - Glossy

Representative photo: Trust Katsande/Unsplash

A lot has changed since Kamala Sohonie, the first Indian woman to do her PhD in science at a British university, was kept from joining the Indian Institute of Science because of her gender. From institutes posting about womens empowerment to friends reminiscing about their role models, the chants of resilient women in science echo everywhere as womens history month whooshed by in March.

But they remain echoes.

Around 40% of those in undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes are women. However, many of them dont go on to become members of institute faculties. Science institutions remain hierarchical and patriarchal for the most part, discouraging women from enrolling or staying there.

A recent study explored the support systems that women scientists need to balance their professional and personal lives. Anitha Kurup, head of the Education for the Gifted and Talented Program, and Anjali Raj, consultant in the women in STEM project, both at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, interviewed 130 women scientists to understand changes in the responsibilities of women in STEM 1 in India.

Also read: The Implicit and Explicit Biases That Follow Women From School to the Lab

Lack of support

While Indias womens work-force participation has been decreasing overall, there are also more women in science today than there were before. But within the scientific workforce, women are still often expected to fulfill gendered societal expectations, especially of being caregivers. This puts paid to a healthy balance.

The general belief is that things are changing especially for women in metropolitan cities. Thats not true, Kurup told The Wire Science. I know several women who struggle to negotiate a proper work-life balance. We showcased the reality of women researchers in the study.

We want women scientists to have fulfilling careers and happy personal lives, Raj said of the studys purpose, with academic institutions supporting them to achieve that.

For their study, Kurup and Raj interviewed 130 women scientists of various institutes, fields and ages from 2016 to 2018, including about their strategies to maintain work-life balance on three fronts: supporting partners, childcare support and support for/of extended families.

The authors presented their findings as personal narratives instead of as data. Numbers cannot capture what we observe. The dynamic responses from the women from different caste, class, religious and rural/urban backgrounds cannot be fit into neat boxes, the authors wrote.

They found that women scientists are slowly shifting the nature of gender relations both at home and at institutional space through personal negotiations. Some assumed the superwomen role and others actively challenged gender norms but yet others made personal compromises to achieve their professional goals.

A 2010 report Kurup coauthored, entitled Trained Scientific Women Power: How Much Are We Losing and Why?, is considered to be a pioneering effort that influenced policies for women in STEM as well as the creation of the All-India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) database.

It noted then that an important reason for women to drop out of science was the absence of familial support. This appears to be continuing to be the case.

The problem exists because the onus of striking a work-life balance is dumped solely on women, Reeteka Sud, a research coordinator at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Bengaluru, said. If the solution is also dumped on women, we are not going to get very far.

This should be the responsibility of science institutions, which, many women scientists have said, need to provide housing on campus, transportation, flexible timings and childcare and eldercare facilities for both men and women in science. Only then can women be free of their prescribed gender roles.

But the situation in most of these institutes is far from this ideal. For example, the Maternity Benefit Act 2017 mandates every establishment with 50 or more employees to have a crche. But most science institutes dont have this facility.

Without supportive facilities, women scientists especially in institutes and universities in small towns find professional growth harder because they also need to contend with academic check posts that have been designed keeping the more agile work-style of their male counterparts in mind: fixed working hours, research trips and quick workaround on weekends, etc.

For this reason, just having a female director is not going to change that, Vinita Gowda, an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, said. We need to have women across the hierarchy in science. The lack of diversity in administration contributes to the male [perspective on] measuring womens work.

Also read: To Be a Woman in Science

Marital status

All this said, Kurup and Rajs study was undermined by one oddity. It acknowledged that a work-life balance is not limited to married women but extends to include married men, unmarried men and unmarried women. But of the 130 women scientists interviewed, only 16 were unmarried.

As things stand, the high workload in labs pushes researchers to focus on science first often to the detriment of their personal commitments. Sud said that married women are particularly vulnerable to this and that this could have skewed the results. But you face challenges as a woman in science, regardless of marital status, she added.

Aashima Dogra, cofounder of The Life of Science, echoed her: By limiting the concept of work-life balance to only married women, the study reinforces gender norms. It would have been more interesting to broaden the scope to men and unmarried women as well.

The authors acknowledged the need to include unmarried women and men in the study. But due to time and funding constraints, they couldnt do so, they said.

Kurup also reasoned that: Most women in the STEM disciplines have a family and are/were married. The numbers in the study reflect the proportion of women in these disciplines in India.

Nonetheless, Gowda also wished that the category of single parent with child was included. Our challenges are different from married women with family support.

A second criticism is that the study did not address the causes of differences between the work-life balances of men and women. But the authors attributed these forces in their paper to the most fundamental one of them all that Indias science institutes have been run by men, that they were designed for men who had a wife that stayed at home, and that they admitted women only very recently into their ranks.

The other causes, according to them, are superficial manifestations of this history.

C.M. Manasvi is a freelance science communicator. She has written for The Print and The Life of Science. She is currently an MSc plant systematics student at the University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology (TDU).

Originally posted here:
Lack of Family, Institutional Support Continues to Beleaguer Women in Science The Wire Science - The Wire Science

TORONTO, May 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The rate of digital fraud originating from Canada decreased in Q1 2022, with suspected online fraud attempts declining -40.6% from the same quarter last year, in line with the global decrease of -22.6%. TransUnions (NYSE:TRU) quarterly digital fraud analysis observed that while the overall rate of suspected fraud declined in Canada, there were significant shifts year-over-year (YoY) in suspected digital fraud rates within certain industries. Sectors such as financial services, telecommunications, communities (i.e. online dating), and gambling all saw a YoY decrease in the attempted digital fraud rate from Canada. Conversely, fraudsters in Canada significantly increased their scams in sectors such as insurance, gaming, and travel and leisure.

What we are observing in Canada, and on a global stage, is that these sophisticated fraudsters are shifting their focus to target new industries as prior industry targets have ramped up fraud prevention measures. In other words, fraudsters are constantly seeking out new opportunities based on vulnerabilities, said Patrick Boudreau, head of identity management and fraud solutions at TransUnion Canada. Whats critical is that companies dont become complacent with fraud prevention measures as fraudsters become ever more sophisticated. At the same time, companies should leverage this temporary shift in fraudulent activity to focus on optimizing customer experience without compromising security.

Rate of Digital Fraud Attempts Decrease in Canada, but Some Industries See Growth

The financial services industry saw the largest YoY decrease in the suspected fraud attempt rate for digital transactions coming from Canada at -88.2%. When digital fraud in financial services did occur, TransUnion found the most dominant type in that industry was first party application fraud. Thats when an individual completes a fraudulent application(s) that contains intentionally inaccurate or manipulated information with the intention of receiving a lower rate or better terms for a policy or contract.

Certain business sectors, however, were more prone to digital fraud attempts, with fraudsters having cycled through certain industries during the pandemic and now rotating to other vulnerable industries. The insurance industry exhibited the greatest YoY growth in the rate of suspected digital fraud coming from Canada in Q1 2022 by 150.8%, potentially because of the large transactions involved in insurance. Travel and leisure showed the second highest YoY increase by 59.9%. As the Canadian economy normalized from the height of the pandemic, this sector has opened up with Canadians resumed travelling again. The gaming industry experienced the third highest YoY increase at 20.2%. This was followed by the logistics industry, which increased 13.2% YoY, mostly impacted by shipping fraud which is when a buyer spoofs a shipping address or when a seller receives payment for goods or services, but never ships to the buyer.

Year-over-year Growth Rates of Digital Fraud Attempts (Q1 2021 to Q1 2022)

While there has been an overall decrease in suspected digital fraud attempts on businesses, the overall rate of fraud attempts reported by Canadian consumers has not shifted significantly, according to the recent TransUnion Consumer Pulse Study. The survey of 1,069 Canadian adults conducted from Feb. 14-17, 2022, determined that 32% of Canadians had been targeted by digital fraud in the last three months compared to 33% the previous quarter. Among those surveyed, 26% say they had been targeted by a fraud scheme but did not become a victim of it while 6% did fall victim.

Of those Canadians who say they had been targeted, the types of schemes they reported included:

As digital fraud rates stabilize in Canada during a period when fraudsters are searching for new vulnerabilities, its important that organizations shift their focus to identifying more of the good customers and transactions to drive revenue and customer lifetime value. By reducing false positives, false declines and manual review rates, organizations can improve their customer experience through trusted connections while still keeping the fraudsters at bay, said Boudreau.

For worldwide and regional breakdowns around how much the suspected digital fraud attempt rate recently changed, what types of fraud are most prevalent in certain industries and more, download this infographic.

TransUnion came to its conclusions about fraud against businesses based on intelligence from billions of transactions and more than 40,000 websites and apps contained in its flagship identity proofing, risk-based authentication and fraud analytics solution suite TransUnion TruValidate. The percent or rate of suspected digital fraud attempts are those that TruValidate customers either denied or reviewed due to fraudulent indicators compared to all transactions that were assessed for fraud.

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing an actionable picture of each person so they can be reliably represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good. TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people in more than 30 countries. Our customers in Canada comprise some of the nations largest banks and card issuers, and TransUnion is a major credit reporting, fraud, and analytics solutions provider across the finance, retail, telecommunications, utilities, government and insurance sectors.

Continued here:
Rate of Suspected Digital Fraud Attempts Coming from Canada Decreased 41% as Fraudsters Recognize More Businesses are Implementing Fraud Prevention...

CEO Joanna Riley and Executive Board Member Monica Bua to join the US board of So They Can

SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Censia CEO and cofounder Joanna Riley and executive board member Monica Bua have joined the US board of So They Can, an international non-profit organization committed to breaking the poverty cycle in Africa through education.

Censia Logo (PRNewsfoto/Censia)

Joanna Riley, CEO and co-founder of Censia Talent Intelligence, has a deep personal connection with this mission. "I am excited to work with So They Can to open the floodgates to education so that every child has the opportunity to step foot inside the classroom, regardless of their identity, upbringing or the hardship that they have been born into. Censia exists to unleash the full potential in every single individual to contribute to the global economy, and I strongly believe that our partnership with So They Can is the most effective way to create greater prosperity for these children and families."

"Education is key to reducing poverty, improving equity, saving the planet and ensuring we have enough human capital to advance our world. We are building our ambassador program in the US which will have a dramatic increase on the number of girls we will put through school every year in Africa." said Monica Bua.

"Right now 258 million children are left without access to education. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion, with over one-fifth of children between the ages of about 6 and 11 not attending school." says So They Can co-founder Cassandra Treadwell. "We look forward to scaling our impact with the support of Joanna Riley, Monica Bua and the rest of their committed team.

So They Can is educating 33,000 students annually and, to date, has graduated 474 teachers, and provided over a million meals. The organization also provides medical services and has treated more than 20,000 individuals. You can learn more about the organization's impact by visiting https://www.sotheycan.org/what-we-do/our-impact/.

Story continues

About CensiaCensia harnesses the power of deep system intelligence applied to an exceptional master dataset to recruit, develop, and retain a high-quality, diverse workforce and forecast future talent needs. We supercharge talent decisions across multiple industries. For more information, visit http://www.censia.com.

About So They CanSo They Can is an international NGO that delivers education and empowerment programs in some of the most vulnerable communities in East Africa. To learn more, visit https://www.sotheycan.org/what-we-do/our-impact/.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/censia-joins-the-us-board-of-so-they-can-to-support-childrens-education-in-africa-301548442.html

SOURCE Censia

See the rest here:
Censia Joins the US board of So They Can to Support Children's Education in Africa - Yahoo Finance