AIITA Celebrating International Women’s Day on 8th March

A GLOBAL DAY OF CELEBRATION

In its endeavour to bring women and computers together, AIITA, the IT ASSOCIATION , has embarked upon a special initiative to reach out to thousands of Indian women, starting March 8, 2008, on the occasion of International Women's Day.
To help women become "IT Literate", AIITA has launched AIITA E-Learning for women, a unique curriculum specially tailored to meet their needs, at over 300 Institutional Member education centres. The program has been designed to help today's women become computer users within a short span of time.
"AIITA firmly believes that empowering women with computer skills will help bridge the gender divide. AIITA recognizes that women can play a bigger role in the emerging digital economy."
The program centers around the key concepts of Andragogy (the art and science of adult learning).The learners have the option of choosing assignments to suit their age and work profile.
The program is so simple and easy to learn that even an older woman, hesitant to adopt technology, will be motivated to take the plunge. At the same time, it includes several fun elements for young girls that will make their first interaction with computers very easy and interesting.
The AIITA e-Learning program will enable women to communicate with the outside world and seek and receive information useful to them in areas such as consumer technology, healthcare, money management, children's education, holiday planning etc.

In a country like ours where society is marred by heinous crimes against women, including rape, dowry deaths, female infanticide etc. , the international women’s day holds special significance. In India too therefore, Women’s day is celebrated with great fervour. Several women’s organisations, NGO’s students and social activists participate actively by organising seminars, mass rallies, movie and documentary shows, staging of gender sensitive plays, theatre and so on. Several government and civil society initiatives like girl child education, reservation of seats in local panchayats, etc. have led to empowering the Indian woman today.However much more still needs to be addressed to make women equal citizens both in the public and private domain.The International Women’s Day thus serves as a reminder of how much we have achieved and how much more still needs to be done.
Information technology (IT) has become a potent force in transforming social, economic, and political life globally. Without its incorporation into the information age, there is little chance for countries or regions to develop. More and more concern is being shown about the impact of those left on the other side of the digital divide- the division between the information "haves" and "have nots." Most women within developing countries are in the deepest part of the divide further removed from the information age than the men whose poverty they share. If access to and use of these technologies is directly linked to social and economic development, then it is imperative to ensure that women in developing countries understand the significance of these technologies and use them. If not, they will become further marginalized from the mainstream of their countries and of the world. It is essential that gender issues be considered early in the process of the introduction of information technology in developing countries so that gender concerns can be incorporated from the beginning and not as a corrective afterwards. Many people dismiss the concern for gender and IT in developing countries on the basis that development should deal with basic needs first. However, it is not a choice between one and the other. IT can be an important tool in meeting women's basic needs and can provide the access to resources to lead women out of poverty.
USES
Most women in developing countries who use information technology use it at work. Except in upper-income enclaves, home access to a computer and the Internet is not a phenomenon. Users at work generally divide up between those who use it as a tool of production (routine office work, data entry, manufacturing, computer industry jobs, programming, and related work) and those who use it as a tool of communication (creating and exchanging information). As a tool of communication, the most prevalent application is networking for political advocacy on behalf of women. This came about because the nongovernmental organizations that promoted electronic networking and worked in political advocacy were the early adopters and are continuing users of the technology in developing countries. Also, developing country women have used electronic communication for networking to promote their business interests. This area is far less developed than that of politically activist networking, but it represents an interesting area with possibilities for further development. E-mail is the major information technology application that women's organizations and individual women in developing countries use. But, time constraints as well as bandwidth limitations make Web use difficult for women. Few women are producers of information technology, whether as Internet content providers, programmers, designers, inventors, or fixers of computers. In addition, women are also conspicuously absent from decision making structures in information technology in developing countries.

How It Happened
A Brief History of International Women's Day
The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies.
On 8 March 1857, women working in clothing and textile factories (called 'garment workers') in New York City, in the United States, staged a protest. They were fighting against inhumane working conditions and low wages. The police attacked the protestors and dispersed them. Two years later, again in March, these women formed their first labour union to try and protect themselves and gain some basic rights in the workplace.
On 8 March 1908, 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter work hours, better pay, voting rights and an end to child labour. They adopted the slogan "Bread and Roses", with bread symbolizing economic security and roses a better quality of life. In May, the Socialist Party of America designated the last Sunday in February for the observance of National Women's Day.
Following the declaration of the Socialist Party of America, the first ever National Woman's Day was celebrated in the United States on 28 February 1909. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.
An international conference, held by socialist organizations from around the world, met in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1910. The conference of the Socialist International proposed a Women's Day which was designed to be international in character. The proposal initially came from Clara Zetkin, a German socialist, who suggested an International Day to mark the strike of garment workers in the United States. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, including the first three women elected to the parliament of Finland. The Day was established to honour the movement for women's rights, including the right to vote (known as 'suffrage'). At that time no fixed date was selected for the observance.

Great Women

As the day is a remembrance to great women for their outstanding achievements that are indefinable, let’s have a feel of their feats. Mother Teresa, the idle women, born for a cause and died for that cause and the cause was ‘serving Humanity’. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was the birth name assigned to the lady, who belonged to a small district of Rome with her charity mission. India has been the country, being major blessed with her sanctions. She was also remembered as the Humanitarian Nun of Calcutta “The Saint of the Gutters”

Annie Besant, the daughter of William Wood and Emily Morris, was born in 1847. She came to India on 16 November 1893 to attend the Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society at Adyar in Madras. Since then, she worked for the freedom of India. She purchased the newspaper Madras Standard and renamed it New India, which, thereafter, became her chosen organ for her tempestuous propaganda for India’s freedom. She named this freedom "Home Rule" for India. In August 1917 she was made the President of the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.

The late Diana, Princess of Wales was born as Lady Diana Frances Spencer on 1 July 1961 in Norfolk. She married The Prince of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981. Her biggest achievement, becoming the most famous woman in the world and raising awareness of several social issues including AIDS, poverty, drug problems, homelessness. Diana was involved with dozens of charities and had a particular interest in children and AIDS victims. She held honorary ranks with several regiments of the Armed Forces. She was an excellent pianist and was patron of several music organisations and charities.

Sarojini Naidu, the eldest daughter of scientist-philosopher, Aghornath Chattopadhyaya, and Barada Sundari Devi, a poetess was born on 13 February 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father was also a linguist, a crusader, who established the Nizam's College in Hyderabad in 1878, pioneering English and women's education. Her ability to sing charmingly fetched her the title 'Nightingale of India'. Sarojini worked as an active politician and freedom fighter ever since 1917. She was a woman with multiple talents. A great poet, writer, orator, leader, fighter, activist, liberator, administrator, mother, daughter, friend, but most importantly a true Indian

The great heroine of the First war of India Freedom. She lived for only twenty-two years. She became a widow in her eighteenth year. Jhansi, of which she was the queen, was in the grip of the cunning, cruel British. She was the embodiment of patriotism, self-respect and heroism. She was the queen of a small state, but the empress of a limitless empire of glory.

Indira Nehru Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 and was the only child of Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru. Being influenced and inspired by her parents, Indira Gandhi rose to power in India and eventually became prime minister. She dedicated her life to progress in her country despite the overwhelming problems and challenges she encountered. A brilliant political strategist and thinker, Indira also possessed an extraordinary desire for political power. As a woman occupying the highest position of government in, what was at that time, a very patriarchal society, Indira was expected to be a passive leader, but her actions proved her otherwise.

Bachendri Pal was the first Indian woman to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest, in 1984. Her father was a border tradesman who took atta and rice from India to Tibet on mules, horses and goats. She was judged the best student in the course, and marked down as 'Everest material', much to her surprise. In an advanced camp at NIM in 1982, she climbed Gangotri I (6,672 m/ 21900 ft) and Rudugaira (5,819 m / 19091 ft).