Nearly 30 years ago, Benazir Bhutto became the first woman in modern history to give birth while in office. Her daughter Bakhtawar was born after the Pakistani prime minister went into a hospital incognito, had her child via Caesarean section and returned to work the next day.
Fast forward 28 years and it seems the world is still losing its mind over a woman having a baby while in employment. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that she is expecting a baby in June. She will take six weeks of leave after the birth and then return to work. Her husband will look after the baby.
There has been much hand-wringing for the poor baby and even more wailing about how on earth Ms Ardern will cope with being a new parent. And let’s not forget the job. How on earth will the job get done?
In 2000 then British prime minister Tony Blair had his fourth child while serving in office. David Cameron also had a child while ensconced in 10 Downing Street.
Nobody at the time urged them to think of the baby, wondered how they would be able to get the job done or how they might cope.
Naturally, there’s a physical impact of pregnancy and labour that affects a mother in a way that doesn’t affect a father. But six weeks is often enough time to recuperate.
Not every woman wants to go back to work. But to suggest that somehow a woman can't or shouldn’t and that being a parent and having a job are incompatible, simply by virtue of being a woman, is ridiculous. "How is a new father going to do the job justice?" asked no headline, troll or commentator ever.
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Ms Ardern will forever carry the label of being a "working mother", a description that has stood fast in the last decades, despite the gritted teeth of mothers everywhere about the criteria with which we clarify who counts as a worker. Being a caregiver to a child is actually work. Because it is considered "women’s work" and is not paid, it is considered as having no value. Hence, when a woman has a paid job, the adjective "working" is applied to her as a reminder that being a mum is not really work and it’s not paid for anyway because it should be done for free. Being a mum is still seen as her primary descriptor in a way that the phrase "being a dad" is never used. Motherhood has become a singular definition for some women. By contrast, how many times have you word the phrase “working dad"? Never.
The explanation is simple: we see children as the responsibility of the mother.
While the issues are serious, we find ourselves using language that is frankly hilarious when it comes to parenting and households. Have you ever heard of a mother babysitting her own children? Yet we talk about fathers babysitting their children all the time when their wives go out. Pause for a moment. A father’s job is to look after his children. He’s not the paid help. He is not an outsider. He is not someone yanked from the street to supervise the young ones. A father looks after his children. That’s just normal life. But deep in our collective psyche, this terminology is used because we think it’s all down to the mother.
The same extends into the household. Men too often are described as "helping" around the house. “Isn’t it great that your husband is so helpful around the house and with the kids," people gush. But men aren’t "helping". Just as women do the work, men should be doing the work.
The saddest part of the frenzy over whether Ms Ardern will be able to manage this entirely precedented situation of being a parent in office, is how little focus has been placed on her partner and dad-to-be. Given his global standing, he is a prominent figure in the shift towards men taking a bigger and more prominent role in the parenting of their children. He’s not just babysitting; he’s a global pioneer, as is his wife, mother-to-be and Prime Minister. And yes, she can be all of those things.
Shelina Janmohamed is the author of Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
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Sweet%20Tooth
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MATCH INFO
Inter Milan 2 (Vecino 65', Barella 83')
Verona 1 (Verre 19' pen)
