ARCI Internal Committee

2024

International Women’s Day Celebrations at ARCI

Internal Committee (IC), ARCI., Hyderabad organized the International Women's Day (IWD) at ARCI 08th March, 2024,and it was celebrated with great enthusiasm and aplomb.

The IWD celebrations at ARCI commenced with an event calledcalled ‘Ideathon –Inspiring to Innovate’ organized in-line with the UN theme :“Invest in women, Accelerate progress”.”. This event aimed to encourage researchers and scholars to pitch their ideas for start-ups that would either be be "by her", "for her" or "with her".The event witnessed a great collaboration between men and women who formed 6 teams and pitched their innovative ideas. Ideathon was well-received by everyone and attractive prizes were given away to all the participant as a token of encouragement. It was the first of its kind event organized at ARCI. Dr. Zahoorulla S, Chief Innovation Officer ALEAP & Atal Innovation Centre, Hyderabad was invited as the expert to the event and he also delivered an insightful talk on ‘Various Schemes available for start-ups and Encouraging Entrepreneurship’

The Inaugural Proceeding of the IWD commenced after the Ideathon event. Ms. Priya A. Mathews, Member Secretary IC welcomed the gathering and Dr. Neha Hebalkar, Presiding officer IC, delivered the opening speech. Dr. Tata Narasinga Rao, Director, ARCI and Associate Director Shri. D. Srinivasa Rao also addressed the gathering and extended their best wishes on the Occasion of International Women’s day, to all the women working at ARCI.

Dr. Prabhjot Kaur, Co-Founder Estimoto Solutions Pvt Ltd., the Chief guest delivered a very insightful lecture on “Challenging fears towards better future: Perspective from Woman’s Life”.She also shared very inspiring anecdotes from her personal experience as a women and the challenges she faced as an entrepreneur and how to navigate the way forward. The talk was open to both the genders and was well-received.

The women achievers of ARCI for the year 2023-24 were presented with a memento by the Chief Guest and Director of ARCI. Mrs. V. Uma, Technical Officer E, was felicitated for her remarkable 33 years of service to ARCI. AIC also extended a warm welcome to Ms. K. S. Athira, who recently joined ARCI. The inaugural programme concluded with Dr. Neha delivering the Vote of Thanks.

An interactive cultural session for the women of ARCI was organized by the AIC in the later part of the day in which all the women participated whole-heartedly.

Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Observance Week at ARCI, Hyderabad

AIC organized and conducted various activities during the period December 04 – 09, 2023, to create awareness about Women’s safety and the POSH Act

• An essay writing competition was held on December 6th, 2023, with the theme of "Your thoughts about women's safety in the workplace". Both men and women were invited to participate, and they were encouraged to express their thoughts in English, Hindi, or Telugu. The top three essays were awarded for their views on the subject.

• A lecture on "Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal: Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace" was delivered by Mrs. Priya Anish Mathews, Scientist E and Member Secretary IC, ARCI, to the students and research scholars at ARCI, Hyderabad on December 06th 2023. The lecture was conducted in a hybrid mode (online and offline) for the benefit of the students at ARCI, Chennai and Haryana. At the end of the session, situation-based exercises were conducted for the students to help them understand the topic better.

On December 8th , 2023, Shri. G. Venkatesham, Assistant commissioner of Police,December 8th , 2023, Shri. G. Venkatesham, Assistant commissioner of Police, Cyber Crimes, Rachakonda, Hyderabad delivered a talk on Cyber crimes and Women’s safety. The talk received positively by attendees and offered them valuable insights on how to safeguard themselves against various forms of cybercrime. In addition, three police personnel from the Women's Safety Team were present to interact with participants and provide helpful tips on staying secure, as well as emergency contact numbers in case of any unexpected incidents or emergencies.

The IC members organized a counselling session exclusively for women staff and students at ARCI, Hyderabad, for discussion and clarification regarding the POSH act and to provide a platform for women to share any concerns related to harassment or any other issues they may have faced/ be facing.

There were enthusiastic participation from both men and women in all the programs organized by ARCI. The objective was to spread awareness and sensitize them about making our workplaces, home and nation a safe place for women where they are respected, valued and cherished, and every effort must be made to ensure their safety and well-being.

2023

International Women's Day Celebrations 2023 at ARCI

Internal Committee (IC), ARCI., Hyderabad organized the International Women's Day (IWD) at ARCI 08th March, 2023, in-line with the UN theme on "DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality". Dr. Tata Narasinga Rao, Director, ARCI addressed the gathering and gave a message of taking wise decisions in the life choices which can lead to less risk and more benefits. Dr. Geeta K. Vemuganti, Prof.& Dean, School of Medical Sciences, University of Hyderabad graced the occasion as Chief Guest. She delivered a talk on "Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine: Progress and Promise" and also shared very inspiring anecdotes from her personal experience as a women. To inspire a feeling of inclusiveness and one-ness among all, badges with the message "Let Us March Together", were distributed to all the participants. The women achievers of ARCI for the year 2022-23 were also presented with a memento as a token of appreciation and encouragement, by the Chief Guest and Director, ARCI. An interactive session for the women of ARCI was organized by the IC. Interesting videos and a short cultural programme "Splash" with a theme-based on celebrating different shades and colours of a women was conducted, in which all the women participated whole-heartedly.

2022

Women's Safety Observance Fortnight Programme at ARCI

Internal Committee (IC), ARCI organized and conducted various activities throughout the period between November 25 - December 10, 2022, to create awareness about the POSH Act, Women's safety, Human rights, Women empowerment etc and received enthusiastic participation from the employees and students.

• Poster and Slogan competitions on the following themes were conducted :
• He for She
• My daughter My pride
• Narishakti - Role of women in Nation Building
• Safety of women @ workplace
• Participants were encouraged to make slogans and posters in trilingual formats - English, Hindi and Telugu. Men and women actively participated in the competitions and the best 3 Posters and Slogans were chosen and the winners were awarded for their creative ideas.

Breaking Stereotypes : A challenge was given to everyone at ARCI, to write a few lines on any stereotype that they have broken or wish to break and drop it in a box (kept at a central location in the office from November 25- December 01, 2022). These were then read out during the interactive session held on December 01, 2022. It was observed that most people broke or wished to break gender-related stereotypes.

All through the fortnight, Important information related to themes such as women safety, cyber safety, human rights, Posh Act were shared online through official WhatsApp groups of ARCI in the form of power point presentations and videos. These were also put up on digital notice boards of ARCI

On December 1, 2022, the following programmes were organized to mark the fortnight. Awareness Workshop for sensitizing on SH Act 2013, By Dr. Neha Hebalkar, Presiding Officer, IC & Sc-F, ARCI for Students & Research Scholars.

Awareness Workshop for sensitizing on SH Act 2013 was conducted in Telugu by Dr. Mamatha Raghuveer Achanta, Founder Director Tharuni & External Member IC- ARCI for all out-sourced contract staff of Area Cleaning/ Gardening Electrical-pump house, canteen, security, etc.

Interactive session on the POSH Act was conducted by IC ARCI members and moderated by Dr. Mamtha Raghuveer External member IC, ARCI. This session was open for all ARCI employees and students. Dr. Tata N. Rao, Director ARCI, in his address, gave a strong message that there is zero tolerance to sexual harassment at ARCI.

On this occasion ARCI felicitated Dr. Mamatha for her long and dedicated services to ARCI as an External Member of IC and for her devoted social work for Women and Girl's welfare.

ARCI witnessed enthusiastic participation from men and women alike in all the programmes organized, with the aim to spread awareness and sensitize them about making our workplaces, home and nation a safe place for women where they are respected, valued and nurtured. IC of ARCI made all efforts to keep the programmes as interactive as possible so that there is a chance for each one of the participants to express their feelings and thoughts. Also efforts were made to provoke a positive thought process among them and not just to play a role of a listener of the talks. This inclusiveness helped the organisers to generate empathy for the topic, a few levels higher.>/p>

• ARCI witnessed enthusiastic participation from men and women alike in all the programmes organized, with the aim to spread awareness and sensitize them about making our workplaces, home and nation a safe place for women where they are respected, valued and nurtured. IC of ARCI made all efforts to keep the programmes as interactive as possible so that there is a chance for each one of the participants to express their feelings and thoughts. Also efforts were made to provoke a positive thought process among them and not just to play a role of a listener of the talks. This inclusiveness helped the organisers to generate empathy for the topic, a few levels higher.
• Apart from the above an “Women's Safety at Work Place - Know the POSH Act” - an Interactive Session was conducted by Dr. Neha Y. Hebalkar, Scientist F & Presiding Officer IC, ARCI and Ms. Priya A. Mathews , Scientist E & Member Secretary IC, ARCI at DLRL, DRDO., Hyderabad on December 06, 2022

International Women's Day Celebrations:

International Women's Day at ARCI was organized in a hybrid mode (Online & Office) on 08th March, 2022 for Hyderabad and Chennai campuses. The occasion was marked by conducting various programmes for women during March 7- 8, 10th 2022. Themes such as 'Gender Equality', 'Role of women in our lives' were artistically expressed by women at ARCI through Paintings, Drawings, Rangoli, Drama and Poetry. Ms. Priya Anish Mathews, Member Secretary IC, welcomed the participants, Dr. Neha Hebalkar, Presiding Officer IC, Hyderabad briefed them about various activities taken up by IC and the importance of celebrating International women's day. Dr. K. Ramya, Presiding officer IC, Chennai delivered her message on the occasion. Dr. Tata Narasinga Rao, Director (additional charge), Dr. R. Gopalan, Regional Director ARCI, Chennai and Dr. Roy Johnson, Associate Director extended their greetings and emphasized ARCI's commitment to providing a safe and secure working environment for the women.

International Women's Day Celebrations:

ARCI celebrated International Women's Day on 8th March 2021 on virtual platform. Dr. Preeti Banzal, IES, Indian Telecommunications Service Officer, Advisor & Scientist G, Office of Principal Scientific Advisor, Govt. of India, New Delhi delivered a motivational speech on “Women in Disaster Management”.

2016

International Women's Day Celebrations:

The International Women's Day was celebrated on March 10, 2016 at ARCI. A Motivational Speech on "Bhramari...Positive Transformation from the Inside Out" by Dr. Padma Pothukuchi, Behaviour Analyst, Educationalist and International Corporate Coach was organized on the occasion. An interactive session among the Women Employees, Research Fellows, Trainees and Project students was also conducted in the afternoon session as part of the International Women's Day Celebrations at ARCI.

Science and Technology for a Better world: Role of Research Revisited:

Dr.B V Sarada, Scientist-E, ARCI gave an awareness lecture on "How science can create wonders" to students of VIII & IX of Zilla Parishad High School, Badangpet on 20th January 2016. The students as well as teachers have immensely benefited from the talk.

2015

Health and Hygiene

Dr.Mamatha Raghuveer delivered a talk on "Health and Hygiene" on 21-09-15 at ARCI.

International Women's Day-2015:

Smt. Swati Lakra, I.P.S., Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes and SIT), Hyderabad City and Head, SHE Teams delivered a lecture on "Women Safety" on the occasion of International Women's Day-2015 celebrated at ARCI on 10-03-15.

Awareness Program

An awareness program on new rules on SHWWP for all contract staff of ARCI was organized by AICC and conducted by Asmita Resource Centre for Women on 10-03-15.

Lecture by Gynaecologist

Dr. Rooma Sinha, Senior Consultant Gynecologist, Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, delivered a health talk addressing all women staff, Fellows, Trainees, students of ARCI on January 6, 2015 at ARCI, on the topic "Staying young and healthy- Role of a Gynecologist". The talk was very informative and interactive and Dr Rooma Sinha provided clarifications to various questions posed from the audience.

2014

Awareness Lecture

An awareness lecture for all Research Fellows/Trainees/Students of ARCI was conducted on June 2nd, 2014, by the Internal Complaints Committee sensitizing them about the new rules on Sexual harassment of women at workplace: Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal. Dr Neha Hebalkar, Member-Secretary, AICC, delivered a an awareness talk briefing the rules.

An awareness program on the "Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace: Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal" was arranged on April 16th, 2014 for all staff of ARCI. The awareness program was conducted in two batches. A training program for all members of the Internal Complaints Committee was also conducted on April 17th, 2014. ASMITA Resource Centre for Women, an NGO based at Hyderabad facilitated the awareness program and the training.

International Women's day was organized on March 12th, 2014 at ARCI. Two eminent and successful women personalities were invited to share their experiences with ARCI staff. Dr Tessy Thomas, Project Director, AGNI Missile Program, DRDO, Hyderabad delivered a lecture on "My Experiences in the Technology Growth of AGNI Systems". Mrs Radhika Acharya, Consultant Rehabilitation Psychologist, Stress Management Lab, Deccan Hospitals, Hyderabad delivered a lecture on "Stress Management for Working Women"

A short course on self-defense for women was organized for women employees and students at ARCI from January 16th till February 13th, 2014. Twelve women participants benefitted from this short course.