Less patients die if the physician treating is female

Does the gender of your physician play any role in the outcome of your illness ?

I know many patients who are not so confident in getting treated by a female physician. They feel women are not up to the mark in solving complex issues in medicine though they are very comfortable to be under the care of a female nurse. Such misconceptions based on gender is prevalent widely and is probably one of the reason why female physicians in USA gets on an average 20000 dollars less than male colleagues in a year. 

But what does scientific data say ?

A new study published online in JAMA has some interesting results. As per the study female internists give better results than their male counterparts.

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At least a rape victim get some justice

He was in some way a celebrity. As a co-director of a popular political satirical film from Bollywood he was regarded highly. Fortunately that did not prevent him from being convicted of raping a research scholar who came to him for help in her research.

A special fast track court on Saturday convicted filmmaker Mahmood Farooqui of raping a research scholar from the United States in Delhi last year. Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain found Farooqui — who had been on bail — guilty under IPC Section 376 (punishment for rape), and ordered that he be taken into judicial custody.
The court will hear arguments on sentencing on August 2. The offence of rape entails a minimum punishment of seven years’ rigorous imprisonment and a maximum punishment of imprisonment for life. As of Saturday evening, the detailed conviction order was still awaited.
Farooqui, co-director of the 2010 satirical comedy Peepli (Live), and an exponent of the centuries’ old art of Urdu storytelling called Dastangoi, was accused of raping the 30-year-old research scholar from Columbia University at his home in south Delhi’s Sukhdev Vihar on March 28, 2015.

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She drove in with a 30 tonne cargo

People in my conservative town seldom see women drivers , except may be on two wheelers. If they see one, there is always a tendency by men on the road to bully them and pass bad comments on their driving.

The other day they had a huge surprise. They had their eyes jutting out of their sockets in astonishment as a lady drove into our town on a 14 wheel truck with a cargo weighing 30 tonnes ( around 66000 pounds).

She was Yogita Raghuvanshi, the first woman truck driver of India.

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End to age old gender discrimination in Lord Saturn temple

Finally it happened. Age old discriminatory practice of women being prohibited from entering the core area of Shani temple in Maharashtra in India ended today as activists were allowed to offer worship close to the deity.

hmednagar: Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai offering prayer at the Shani Shingnapur temple after the gates were opened for women, in Ahmednagar on Friday, April 8, 2016. (PTI)

Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai offering prayer at the Shani Shingnapur temple after the gates were opened for women, in Ahmednagar on Friday, April 8, 2016. (PTI)

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Lord Saturn not yet ready to face women !

It seems the patriarchal Indian society is not yet ready to allow women to worship Lord Shani by entering the temple premises.  A group of villagers including women physically prevented the activists from entering the temple.

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A day after the Bombay High Court ruled that it is the fundamental right of women to go to all places of worship, around 25 women activists led by Trupti Desai today entered the premises of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra, but were stopped by locals from offering prayers at the inner sanctum.

As the standoff escalated, the police took away Ms Desai and other protesters away from the temple premises.

Members of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade led by Ms Desai alleged that women villagers pushed them and tried to block their way as they tried to enter the inner sanctum of the temple, which according to tradition is forbidden for women.

Activist Desai, who had pledged to pray at the famous temple in the state’s Ahmednagar district, said: “We are not going to turn around we have the court order and if need be we will file an FIR (first information report) against the home minister and chief minister.”

“What is the police doing? They were directed to provide protection to us by the court,” Ms Desai said questioning the state government.

More details and video here

Now Indian women can worship Lord Saturn but ….

It is the fundamental right of a woman and the government should protect it.

Lofty words from a court in India. The court was disposing off a petition challenging the barring of entry of women in to sanctum sanctorum of a temple for the god Shani ( Lord Saturn ).

Similar struggles by women wanting to enter religious shrines which traditionally barred their entry is taking place in many parts of the country. Overall the courts were seen taking a progressive non discriminatory view on this issue.

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Freedom and cricket

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The cricket World Cup in the 20-20 format for both men and women are being held in various cities of India this month. Sadly, but as expected, the women’s tournament is getting less than 10% of media coverage when compared to that of men.

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I did watch some of the women’s games on TV and was very impressed with the level of skills, application and competitiveness. More heartening to watch was the clash between teams from Pakistan and Bangladesh, two predominantly Muslim countries. The point to note was the women players did not have any attire that was different from players of other countries. I could sense the freedom and carefree joy they were feeling, running and diving around with  hair all over the place. Wish all women of the Indian subcontinent, regardless of religion could enjoy the freedom these girls get in the playing field.

pics from espncricinfo