Every week, HuffPost India will bring you a carefully curated list of things to cheer for, from India and around the world. Our second installment includes certain trains in the Indian Railways getting sanitary pad vending machines, Avon pulling down body shaming advertisement and Delhi preparing to launch disabled-friendly buses from March 2018.
East Coast Railway Installs Sanitary Pad Vending Machines In Trains
PTI reported earlier this week that the East Coast Railway has installed 91 sanitary napkin vending machines in 36 trains as part of the railways’ drive to improve hygiene on board its trains.
While India lacks basic sanitary facilities for women across the country, the vending machines were a welcome move. East Coast Railway also installed vending machines inmajor railway stations over its jurisdiction like Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Puri.
The price of the sanitary napkin is Rs. 5 per piece. Passengers can get the napkins by inserting a Rs. 5 coin in the vending machine. This sanitary napkin vending machine can vend 75 pads at a time.
Read more here.
Avon Pulls Marketing Materials After Jameela Jamil Slams Company For Shaming Women
Cosmetic company Avon pulled down its marketing material that shamed women for having dimples on their thighs after actor and body-positivity activist Jameela Jamil called the company out last week.
Jamil, who has spoken out against body-shaming messages in the past, urged Avon to stop encouraging its customers to “fix” their bodies.
“Stop shaming women about age, gravity and cellulite,” Jamil tweeted at Avon’s UK company. ”They’re inevitable, completely normal things. To make us fear them and try to ‘fix’ them, is to literally set us up for failure.”
Avon’s official Twitter account for its US operations responded to Jamil, saying the ad “was intended to be light-hearted and fun.” Avon US added that they realize we missed the mark.” They also said they were planning to remove the messaging from its marketing materials.
Delhi Will Have Disabled-Friendly Buses From March
In a move that will likely make commuting easier for disabled passengers, the Delhi government has said they will introduce three-door disabled friendly buses by the end of March.
Hindustan Times reported the Delhi Transport Corporation will introduce the first 25 of a lot of 1,000 buses by the end of March.
Minister Kailash Gahlot told the newspaper, “The new variant of buses will have three doors – one in the front, one in the middle and another in the rear. The other type of buses that we approved today was the normal cluster bus with hydraulic lifts fitted for easy access to wheelchair-bound passengers.”
Read more here.
India-Set Short Film ‘Period. End Of Sentence’ Nominated For Oscars 2019
Period. End of Sentence, a film on menstruation set in rural India, was nominated the Documentary Short Subject category for the 91st Academy Awards.
Award-winning filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi directed the short film and was produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. Monga posted on Twitter following the Oscar nominations announcement on Tuesday:
The film came to being as a part of The Pad Project, started by students at the Oakwood School in Los Angeles and their teacher, Melissa Berton.
The documentary feature is set in Hapur village outside Delhi, where women lead a quiet revolution as they fight against the deeply rooted stigma of menstruation.
Stray Dog Saves Doctors Life In Pune
A stray dog in Pune saved the life of a doctor who had been taking care of her for 16 years.
While Dr Ramesh Sancheti had collpased after having a paralytic attack, his wife and children where out of town, Brownie the dog alerted another animal lover who with her behaviour.
Amit Shah, who lives in the same building as Sanchheti told Pune Mirror, “She kept rearing up with difficulty and placing her front leg on the window, looking inside. Initially, I was quite confused, but when I went nearer, a gap in the window revealed to me that the doctor had collapsed on the floor. I immediately swung into action.”
Dr Sancheti and is wife are believed to have taken special care of Brownie when she had a kidney ailment two years ago.
Read more here.