Nirmal
This week’s top stories include US women’s football team winning the long-fought battle, Madhya Pradesh setting up its first women’s cricket academy and others. Let’s catch up with the happenings of this week.
1. US women’s football team reaches equal pay agreement
US women’s football team after years of fighting for equal pay lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has finally won a payout amounting to $24 million and a commitment from USSF for equal pay for both men’s and women’s teams across all the competitions including the World Cup. USSF has also agreed to establish a fund with $2 million for benefiting the players in their post-football careers aiming to grow the sport for women.
According to a statement,” U.S. Soccer has committed to providing an equal rate of pay going forward for the Women’s and Men’s National Teams in all friendlies and tournaments, including the World Cup.”
The star midfielder Megan Rapinoe said in an interview, ” I think we’re going look back on this day and say this is the moment that, you know, US Soccer changed for the better”. She further added, “Obviously, we can’t go back and undo the injustices that we faced but we know that something like this is never gonna happen again,” she continued, adding she hopes that they can now “move forward” with “setting up the next generation so much better than we ever had it. So it’s a great day.” and also celebrated the historic moment taking to Twitter. However, the lawsuit was filed in March 2019.
“It’s a really amazing day. I think we're going to look back on this day and say this is the moment that, you know, U.S. Soccer changed for the better.” — @mPinoe on the #USWNT reaching a historic agreement in gender discrimination case. https://t.co/kWY5S6eOU4 pic.twitter.com/k6Wf2rx9qM
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 22, 2022
"Something like this is never going to happen again and we can move forward in making soccer the best sport we possibly can in this country…"@alexmorgan13, @mPinoe and the president of the US Soccer Federation live as the @USWNT wins their fight for equal pay. pic.twitter.com/uV2nNh7WAE
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 22, 2022
2. Maharashtra to bring policy for gender equality and women empowerment
The proposed women’s policy in Maharashtra which was presented to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Feb 25 aims at prioritising gender integration in public transport systems, infrastructure, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and facilitates optimum participation of women and transgender persons in the economy.
Women and child development minister, Yashomati Thakur has confirmed the policy titled “Policies and Strategies on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women”. The proposed policy is said to strengthen women and transgender person’s representation and participation in all governance and administrative institutions including in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and urban governance, statutory committees, missions, commissions, state-run corporations, cooperative sector, and political parties through a mechanism.
However, including both women and people from the LGBTQIA community together in the draft for gender equality and women empowerment is causing rage among both women and LGBTQIA persons.
“Including gay, bisexuals and trans men in the draft state policy and action plan for gender equality and women’s empowerment 2022 sends out a signal that the government does not regard us as men,” as said by LGBTQIA activists.
3. Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first black woman to serve on Supreme Court
President Joe Biden nominated federal appellate judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on US Supreme court making her first Black woman do so to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer at the Supreme Court at the end of this summer.
Biden appeared at the White House with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and Vice President Kamala Harris. While introducing Jackson, Biden said, “I believe it’s time that we have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications.”
Calling Jackson a proven consensus builder and a distinguished jurist he said, “During this process, I looked for someone like Justice Breyer who has a pragmatic understanding that the law must work for the American people.”
Jackson commended Biden for “discharging your constitutional duty in service of our democracy with all that is going on in the world today”.
4. Madhya Pradesh’s first Women’s cricket academy at Shivpuri
अब मध्यप्रदेश की बेटियां सीखेंगी क्रिकेट के गुर!
शिवपुरी में शुरू हो रही देश की पहली सरकारी महिला क्रिकेट अकादमी के लिए चयन ट्रायल 28 फरवरी से 8 मार्च तक क्रमशः इंदौर, भोपाल, जबलपुर और शिवपुरी में आयोजित किये जाएंगे।@JansamparkMP pic.twitter.com/v5P9LnP9Vf
— Yashodhara Raje Scindia (@yashodhararaje) February 27, 2022
Madhya Pradesh’s first women’s cricket academy will be set up in Shivpuri district and a talent hunt program to select players will begin on Monday as said by an official. Shivpuri is the assembly constituency of the state’s Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia.
A state official said, “This is going to be the 11th sports academy in the state. Academies for athletics, shooting, horse riding, water sports, martial arts, men’s hockey, women’s hockey, badminton, archery and men’s cricket are already running in Madhya Pradesh”.
The talent search program for State Women’s cricket academy will begin on February 28 and the first talent search will be held in Indore on Feb 28 and March 1. The talent search program will be open for the age group of 14 to 21, as said by officials.
