YouTubers, Instagrammers in India help educate 100K Women on Benefits of Menstrual Cups

~Led by feminine hygiene brand everteen, #FixYourPeriods campaign fetches a million video views over a one-month period, creates awareness on menstrual cups as a modern and sustainable sanitary method ~

~ Nearly 20% of the women did not know that menstrual cups let them pursue outdoor activities, 10% wanted a reassurance that using menstrual cups will not put them at risk of infection ~

YouTubers and Instagrammers from different parts of India came forward to lend their support for #FixYourPeriods, a first-of-its-kind digital campaign that aimed to create large-scale social awareness on modern methods of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) among Indian girls and women. The campaign that lasted for over a month was conceived and executed by everteen, a feminine hygiene products brand owned by Wet and Dry Personal Care, a PAN Health initiative that ships products globally.

The campaign was supported by the Women Health Organization (WoHO), Indian Medical Academy for Preventive Health (IMAPH) and HEAL Foundation. A massive online success, the campaign generated approximately 1 million views and engaged nearly 100,000 women who posted their comments and queries regarding use of menstrual cups.

Social media influencers from Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal took part in this campaign. Besides English, these social media champions also created user-friendly content in regional languages including Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.

Hariom Tyagi, CEO of Wet and Dry Personal Care, said, “As the complete feminine hygiene expert, everteen has continually taken leadership to create awareness on menstrual and feminine hygiene over the years. Since 2014, our everteen Menstrual Hygiene Surveys have mapped emerging trends and preferences of Indian women. We are also one of the participating members of the global Menstrual Hygiene Day held annually with support of UNICEF, USAID and other organizations.”

Highlighting the role of video-based learning in creating awareness through the #FixYourPeriods campaign, Mr. Tyagi added, “Creating awareness on complete feminine hygiene is the need of the hour, and video-based education has emerged as one of the most effective means for it. Statistics show that in India, mobile video consumption has grown to as high as 73%. In fact, KPMG estimates that India will have more than 500 million online video subscribers by 2023.

everteen salutes the immense contributions of YouTube and Instagram bloggers, who helped harness multiplier effect in creating unprecedented awareness on menstrual cups and have impacted the quality of life of Indian women in dealing with periods. These bloggers displayed inspiring creativity through fun and engaging mascots such as Cupwati and dramatizing real-life issues that women undergo during periods.”

Through the #FixYourPeriods campaign, everteen gave Indian women an open forum to clarify doubts so that they could make better informed choices in adopting modern menstrual hygiene methods. As many as 20% of the girls were unaware that menstrual cups allow them to pursue outdoor activities with ease. Another 8% of the women did not know that menstrual cups created a vacuum seal that provided them leak-proof protection during periods.



Nearly 10% of the girls wanted a reassurance that using menstrual cups will not cause any risk of infection. They learnt that good quality period cups made from medical-grade silicone are among the most skin-friendly and safe. The social media influencers also helped girls understand how to choose the right size of the menstrual cup suitable for them, how to insert and remove the menstrual cup, different types of folds, do’s and don’ts, things to keep in mind while choosing the right menstrual cup and several other aspects. The campaign busted myths and helped create awareness on a growing body of medical research that is in line with the huge popularity of this menstrual hygiene method.

The everteen #FixYourPeriods campaign was launched the same week when The Lancet Public Health Journal’s published the world’s first-ever systematic review and meta-analysis of the international use of menstrual cups. This review stressed on the need for practice, peer support and training to initiate women in adopting menstrual cups. According to a 2018 data published by World Health Organization (WHO), there are approximately 3.73 billion women in the world, out of which 1.9 billion, or 52% women are of reproductive age, implying that they are menstruating. This constitutes roughly 26% of the world’s entire population that need menstrual hygiene management.

In a transparent point-based metric system, #FixYourPeriods campaign team rated YouTubers and Instagrammers across criteria based on reach, influence and awareness of their social media posts. Mangalore-based Kannada YouTuber Priya Monica scored the highest to emerge as the first prize winner of everteen’s #FixYourPeriods, campaign. Khushboo Rajendra Chawda from Mumbai was the runner-up winner. Ten other social media influencers from different parts of the country were also recognized for their winning contributions. One of the high points of this unique initiative is that the content created on YouTube and Instagram will help girls and women seek accurate and comprehensive information on menstrual cups for years to come, thanks to the long tail nature of the digital media.

Indian Railways Bans WhatsApp and YouTube For On-Duty Staff

While for some social media is simply a way of connecting to the outside world once in a while, for others it might end up being a distraction. After facing severe backlash for back-to-back accidents, the Indian Railways has arrived at the conclusion that when it comes to its employees, they might fall in the second category mentioned above.

A recently issued circular by the Delhi division of Indian Railways has termed WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app as a major “major distraction” and has asked all of its employees, which includes train drivers, TTEs and guards to not use such apps when they’re on duty.

The circular further noted that anyone seen flouting the orders would be strictly dealt by the authorities and such orders would soon make their ways across all railways divisions of the country.

Explaining the reason that drove Indian Railways to take such an extreme step, a railway official spoke with India Today and said, “It was noted that several staff associated with the safety department or the operational staff were indulging in WhatsApp and YouTube during working hours. This caused major distraction and thus compromised passenger safety. They have been told not to use these apps and entertainment medium and perform their duty with greater efficiency and alertness.”

While the circular didn’t read when exactly did the ban come into order, it clearly stated that included all maintenance and safety staff in the railways, which includes track-men, gang men guards on crossings, loco pilots, and train guards. Not only them, even mid-level station managers and superintendents are have been ordered to abstain from using such apps while at work. In fact, the drivers and guards have been asked to switch off their mobile phones altogether while on duty. If staff members need to communicate among themselves, they have been directed to make use of walkie-talkies made available to them.

For the uninitiated, WhatsApp and YouTube are considered as the two most popular apps in the Indian subcontinent. With over 96 percent of smartphones in India having WhatsApp, the country houses WhatsApp’s largest user base in the world, a 2016 study had revealed. Same is the case with YouTube, too. The video-sharing website has over 180 million users in India, which makes it one of the top most global markets for the firm.

It is interesting to note here, that the Indian government has been actively pursuing having free Wi-Fi availability across major railway stations in the country as part of its ambitious Digital India initiative. Hence, banning its employees to use these apps might appear contradicting on the part of the government but as they say safety above everything else.

[Image: Business92]

YouTube Launches Open Pathshala - Channel For Indian School Curriculum Class 1-12

Lately, YouTube India has launched YT-Edu India Channel dubbed as Online Pathshala which consist videos, tutorials for India specific curriculum where students can find class 1-12 specific videos at a single destination. The YouTube channel will be indeed be beneficial to students in India as it do have extensive playlists of explanatory videos which irrespective of any education board act as an efficient online platform.

Online Pathshala is Youtube channel created & curated by a bunch of awesomely talented teachers who wants to make learning fun and enjoyable allowing students learn at their own pace by pausing, rewinding and playing videos online. This channel brings the best videos on You Tube for all the students in Class 1-12

"YT-Edu India" Channel has been created by educators to make discovery of curated videos, easier. The channel's playlists have also been optimized and made user-friendly by creating subject specific sections and easy to access channels for all classes. As per Google, "The GEG community and teachers are continuously engaged in the process of improving the current playlists by adding new videos and replacing existing ones with better videos."

The subject covered in YouTube's Online Pathshala are - Arts & Craft, English, Civics, Computers, Geography, History and Maths. For 11-12 standards students it also have video playlists for Physics, Chemistry, Accountancy, Business Studies etc.

A group of tech savvy teachers and GEG India community (Google Educator Group) with considerable classroom experience, have explored the impact of technology on student learning and curated videos for various subjects, keeping in mind the challenges faced during day to day learning.

The contents and information contained in this channels and playlist are not specific to any single curriculum or board such as CBSE, ISC or any state boards in India, the channel, however is intended only for reference purposes for various classes and subjects across Indian school curricula.

YouTube Soon on Indian Television Screens through DTH

YouTube receives more than 55 million unique monthly users from India which means India account for around 5.5 per cent  of its global monthly unique visits. This is the the reason Google is all set to bring YouTube to television screens of Indians.

Recently Francisco Varela, who is Global Director of YouTube platform partnerships made visit to India and as per the reported news from Economics Times, Varela made a strategic move that will allow YouTube to be part of channels of DTH service providers in India such as Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel etc. Although Varela declined to name the DTH service providers in India he was in talk with.

India is fastest-growing markets for YouTube and YouTube itself is an important part of Google's revenues, which crossed $50 billion (about Rs 3.1 lakh crore) in 2012. This is sees as strategic move from Google which will surely multiply the revenue of YouTube if brought to DTH in India.

Not all people in India have reach to internet especially in rural areas where people don't access internet but still have DTH services to watch TVs, this YouTube to DTH in India move will enhance the reach of the YouTube video service to these areas.

More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month and 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US and from this India's share is 5.5%. It clearly says that India is a significant market for YouTube and this YouTube to Indian TV sets decision will further boost its business in the country.

YouTube is localized in 56 countries and across 61 languages and 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube, that's almost an hour for every person on Earth, and 50% more than last year.

Image Credit [ francescominciotti]

Youtube teaser of Rajnikanth starrer Kochadaiiyaan got 2 million views in 60hrs

The first trailer of the highly anticipated Indian Tamil film 'Kochadaiyaan', starring south India's superstar Rajinikanth, has been unveiled on Youtube on Monday this week thereafter the video gone viral and within 60 hours the video got more than 2 million views and by the time we are writing this article it has got 2,079,061 views. Kochadaiiyaan which means - King with long, curly mane, is an upcoming Tamil period film directed by Rajnikanth's own daughter Soundarya R. Ashwin .

One of a commentator on Youtube said about the vide - "2,000,000 views in 2 days is not an achievement, in Rajni terms. 90% of his fans are in rural areas with no computer access (and possibly never in their life). We're talking about almost every single soul in Tamil Nadu.Tamil speaking population is a minority number, even on YouTube."

The film Kochadaiyaan is first Indian film that utilised performance capturing technology or motion capture technology (MOCAP), this is same technology that has been used in hollywood blockbusters such as Avatar in 2009 and The Adventures of Tintin in year 2011.

Moreover, under another interesting technology Rajinikanth who is in lead role got his face scanned and a 3D model has been built to get the exact precision of his features, such as the scar on his nose. And then the 3D model goes for correction such as tightening his skin to make him look 25 years younger, the technology was used in the film Tron.

The 48 cameras captured performance of artistes' at 48 angles. The film was equipped with Auro 3D sound technology, becoming the third Indian film to do so.

The film is set to release in September 2013 and various Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam and and in foreign languages English, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.