8 MAY2023INFOCUSINFOCUSThe Women's Premier League (WPL) needs to be kept in a different window, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).The inaugural season of WPL 2023 ended providing Mumbai Indians with the first winners of the season but it was soon followed by the 16th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The tournament started around in just five days of ending the WPL. After this rush, the BCCI has decided to keep a gap between both tournaments. The BCCI is considering organizing the WPL during the Diwali season, in addition to that it is believed that the home and away format would be introduced for the five teams in the WPL for the second edition.The initial edition of WPL had a great start creating a huge fan base, according to the BCCI secretary, Jay Shah. He also made a clearance about not organizing two matches in a single year due to the Diwali season announcement.Jay further added to his statement, "Women's cricket now has a dedicated audience base, and this number will only keep growing as we expect an encouraging turnout at the next WPL." He mentioned the viewership figures of this year's WPL which has attracted a huge audience both Live and virtually which is surely increase in the following seasons of this tournament. The largest viewership was recorded with 50.78 million people on RCB vs MI match receiving the top TV ratings. It became the most viewed match in India among male and female viewers aged above 15 in both urban and rural areas. The match that received the second-highest viewership was between Gujarat Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore. BCCI TO ORGANIZE WPL DURING DIWALI, A GAP BETWEEN WPL & IPLINDIA TO CREATE E-PLATFORM TO MENTOR WOMEN OF G-20 COUNTRIESFor promoting women's leadership at all possible heights, India is going to take a lead in setting up global mentorship for the G20 Countries by providing knowledge exchange through an online platform among women. The NITI Aayog's platform for women's empowerment would house the portal. The issue was covered at the second working group meeting on women's empowerment, which took place last week in Thiruvananthapuram. There were 18 nations represented, including the United States, Japan, South Africa, Turkey, Italy, and France. There were also representatives from international organizations such as the UN Women, the World Bank, the IMF, the UNICEF, the World Trade Organization, and the ILO.According to a statement from the Women and Child Development Ministry, the e-platform will act as a worldwide mentoring and capacity-building gateway that enables organized knowledge-exchange among women mentors and mentees of G-20 countries.Accelerated successIn the release, it was stated that "women entrepreneurs in small, medium, and big firms, as well as grassroots leaders, will enjoy accelerated success through the mentorship, networking, knowledge-sharing, capacity development, and best practices given by this platform. Moreover, it would serve as an amalgamator of already-established mentorship portals that focus on particular fields, such as Science, business leadership, and entrepreneurship.At the meeting, the gender gap in digital abilities as well as education and skilling that have impacted women's capacity to excel in many fields were also covered. The report stated that the discrepancy was especially wide in the case of STEM, the sector that offers the highest-paying professions and quickest job growth, excluding entrepreneurial options.The availability of finance and market access are the two biggest obstacles for women entrepreneurs, which were also covered by the G-20 empowerment group. It suggested long-term gender-inclusive financial models such as loan guarantees, pooled credit funds, and promoting gender-responsive procurement in the public and commercial sectors through the use of a 'proudly owned by women' seal, among other things. The goal was to develop a thriving ecosystem for female entrepreneurs.
< Page 7 | Page 9 >