International Women’s Day-Saluting Women Achievers

Marie Curie- First Principle -Never to let one’s self be beaten down by persons or by events 

 International Women’s Day

Marie Curie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize .

 

  Marie Curie was a Polish  citizen who was naturalised French  after she married Piere Curie. She was a physicist & chemist.She was a pioneer in science  & conducted pathbreaking research in radioactivity.She had several firsts to her name. She was the first woman to win a Nobel prize, first woman to receive it in 2 fields & the first married couple to win the prize.

 

 International Women’s Day

 Firstly, March 8th is celebrated as International Women’s day . Shopkhoj salutes remarkable  women of courage, resilience and determination who have worked with unmatched zeal & passion to be recognised for their  outstanding achievements. In other words ,they have set high standards as women achievers. There are several women who have done exceptional work in various fields in India & abroad.  For instance, they have all successfully broken the glass ceiling and conquered whatever challenges that came their way.This is not an easy path. Passion, hard work & dogged perseverance  is required .Let them be an inspiration for all girls in India to think big. Here, we have showcased 10  outstanding global Indian women from the field of politics, business, science, sports & performing arts.

POLITICS-International Women’s Day 

1. Nirmala Sitharaman  is the current Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister of India.

 

She  is only the second woman in India  to hold the post of Finance Minister & also the post of  Defence Minister earlier.  Further, she had earlier served as Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in 2014.  Further, she had  also worked in the National Commission for Women.She was educated in Chennai and at JNU in Delhi.

2. Hema Malini

 

Ms. Hema Malini is a  classical Indian dancer, actress,  director &  producer of  Hindi films. She was the heroine in the mega blockbuster Sholay in the year 1975. She is a recipient of several awards including the Padma Shri award from the Government of India in recognition of her contributions in the fields of arts & culture.  Not one to sit on her laurels, she fought & won the Lok Sabha seat from Mathura in UP & has won the seat in 2 consecutive elections. In other words she did not retire and stay at home after her popular ‘heroine days’. She is keen to serve the people of India in her own way.

 BUSINESS-International Women’s Day 

3. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

 

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw  is the managing director & chairperson of Biocon Ltd.  Further, she worked as a brewer in Melbourne before pursuing a career in biotechnology. For instance , in 2019, she figured  in the Top 50 business leaders list on the Financial Times  and also in  the Times 100 Most Influential Leaders. In addition, she has been recognised & awarded by the government of India .Biocon is a biopharmaceutical company.

4. Indira Nooyi

 

Indira Nooyi is a household name. She  is  the former Chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO) of PepsiCo.  She held this position from 2006 to 2019 and was consistently ranked  in  the gobal 100 Most Powerful People in  Business .

Ms. Nooyi was educated in Chennai and in the  Indian Institute of  Management in Kolkata . In addition, She attended the Yale school of Management  in the US.

SPORTS

5.Sania Mirza

 

 Sania Mirza is a former World No1 doubles player in  tennis  and was the No1 women’s singles player in India for a considerable period of time.  She is the only  female player  from India to win a WTA title. She has won 6 Grand Slam titles.  Further, Sania Mirza, who is  from Hyderabad  has won several awards including the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Padma Shri in 2006 & the Padma Bhushan in 2016. Sania Mirza hails from Hyderabad. As a matter of fact ,her parents encouraged here tennis aspirations and were a constant support.

6.Saina Nehwal

 

Saina Nehwal, again from Hyderabad,  is  the first Indian  badminton player to have won  an Olympic medal.  Further, she has also won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the  Padma Shri & the Padma Bhushan. She has won the World Badminton Federation junior & senior singles championships,  in addition to several other international championships .She has indeed raised the bar by excelling in her sports.  In other words, there are many young girls following her footsteps.

SCIENCE-International Women’s Day 

7. Kalpana Chawla 

 The Sky was the limit for this young girl from India. Firstly, Kalpana Chawla who was born in Karnal ,India, went on to become a NASA scientist aboard the Columbia shuttle. She was educated in the Punjab Engineering College & later in the University of Texas & finally got her Phd from the University of Colarado, Boulder.

 She was the first woman of Indian origin in space. Unfortunately,  the 2003 expedition of  the Columbia Shuttle ended in tragedy and all the crew members perished. However, she was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and has several institutions named after her.

8. Gita Gopinath

 

Gita Gopinath was appointed as Chief Economistof the International Monetary Fund in October 2018 . Today she is the Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Ms. Gopinath  was  in fact educated at the Delhi School of Economics and received her Phd from Princeton University. Further, she is also  the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard.

PERFORMING ARTS-International Women’s Day 

9.Priyanka Chopra

 

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is an Indian actress and winner of the Miss World Pageant in the year 2000. She has  acted in several Hindi films and won several awards for her acting. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian  Government in 2016. Ms. Chopra is one of the first successful movies stars from India  to seamlessly move to Hollywood and is a  recognised star globally today.She has acted in several serials such as Quantico ,which is an American drama thriller series.

 In addition, she has been honoured by Time Magazine ,who named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and by Forbes, who  listed her among the 100 most powerful women in the world .

 10.Mira Nair

 

Mira Nair is an Indian American film maker. She studied in Delhi and later attended Harvard University. Some of her popular films are Namesake ,Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding & Salaam Bombay . Her latest film is ‘A Suitable Boy’, which was made for the  BBC . She has won several awards including the BAFTA  Award, The Golden Lion, Camera D’or , the Golden Globe Award & so on.  In addition ,she was also awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government.

 In conclusion, let these women achievers help us to look up and inspire other women to succeed and achieve greater heights .

Finally, Let us salute women who inspire us on this International Women’s Day . There are mothers, housewives, corporate achievers, pilots, taxi drivers, sportswomen ,artists & scientists who inspire us .Let women aspire & achieve in India .