The Day of International Women’s Day, in its spirit is the celebration of the economic, political and social achievements of women. This year it is being celebrated on Thursday, March 8. On this occasion, we are giving you a glimpse of some of the women whose earnings and fame have not only flagged their name in the country but also abroad. Those women who showed something in their era and filed that no Indian woman had done before!
15 women who know who they are:
1. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi: Anandibai Joshi (31 March 1865-26 February 1887), born in Pune city, was the first Indian woman who had a doctorate degree during the times when education of women was also inadequate, so going abroad and getting a doctorate was the rarest case.
2. Roshni Sharma: Roshini Sharma has recently become the first woman biker to decide the journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir by the bike.
3. Arunima Sinha: Arunima Sinha is the first Indian woman to be crowned on Mount Everest. Arunima is also a national level volleyball player who had lost her legs on April 12, 2011, when an accident took place in Lucknow while she was going to Delhi.
4. Rita Faria Powell: Rita Powell is the first Indian and Asian woman to win “Miss World”. She won this title in 1996. After touching the heights of success in modelling for one year, Rita completed her medical studies and made her career in this field.
5. Mithali Raj: Mithali Raj is the first Indian woman cricketer who has scored double 100 in Test Matches. Playing against New Zealand in Wellington in 2014, scored 214 runs in test match. And that was the first woman Indian cricketer to do this.
6. Mother Teresa: Mother Teresa was the first Indian woman to receive Nobel Prize. Teresa was awarded this honor in 1949. Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun who voluntarily took Indian citizenship in 1948. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata in 1950.
7. Indira Gandhi: Indira Gandhi was the first woman Prime Minister of India. Indira took over the PM’s post from 1966 to 1977. Indira was given the name of ‘Women of the Millennium’. Not only this, Indira was the first woman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna Award.
8. Pratibha Patel: Pratibha Patil is the country’s first woman president. Her tenure lasted from July 2007 to 2012.
9. Kalpana Chawla: Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman to go to space in 1977. Kalpana was spared as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator.
10. Kiran Bedi: Kiran Bedi is the first woman IPS officer in the country. Not only this, Kiran Bedi was the first woman to be elected as the United Nations Civil Police Advisor in 2003.
11. Anjali Gupta: Anjali Gupta was an Indian woman pilot who was court martial in the Indian Air Force. Anjali Gupta used to work in the Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment Unit in Bengaluru. After completing masters from Delhi University, Anjali was posted in Belgaum in Karnataka in 2001.
12. Sania Mirza: tennis player Sania Mirza is the first Indian woman to win Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in the year 2005. After this, the first Indian woman to reach number 1 in the WTA rankings in 2015 is Sania Mirza.
13. Saina Nehwal: Saina Nehwal is a women badminton player who won the first bronze medal for India by creating history in the 2012 London Olympics Games. Saina, who did so in the world of badminton, is India’s first female player. Apart from this, Saina is also the first woman to take number 1 in the World Rankings in 2015.
14. Harita Kaur Deol: Harita Kaur Deol is the first woman pilot who flew alone in 1994.
15. Boxer Mary Kom: Mary Kom is the only female boxer who qualifies for the Olympics in the year 2012. Apart from this, she is the first female boxer fetched gold medal to India in the Asian Games 2014.