India's Women Achievers: A Tribute to the woman of India

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Jyoti Naik

President of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad

Everyone enjoys 'rags to riches' stories and everyone likes tales of stupendous success achieved through sheer determination. The story of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad is all that and much more.



Today, Lijjat is more than just a household name for 'papad' (India's most popular crispy bread). Started with a modest loan of Rs 80, the cooperative now has annual sales exceeding Rs 301 crore (Rs 3.1 billion). What's more stunning than its stupendous success is its striking simplicity.

And perhaps that is the most interesting lesson managers can pick up from Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. Sticking to its core values for the past forty years, Lijjat has ensured that every process runs smoothly, members earn a comfortable profit, agents get their due share, consumers get the assurance of quality at a good price, and society benefits from its donations to various causes.

Jyoti Naik, is currently the President of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. She has been repeatedly been felicitated for her pioneering spirit by different organizations, including the Economic Times

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission of India has conferred the Best Village Industry award on Lijjat Papad from the period 1998-99 to 2000-01.

Jyoti Naik was conferred Businesswomen of the Year (2001-02) for corporate excellence by the Economic Times

 

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Priya Paul

President, The Park Hotels

Priya Paul, President of The Park Hotels and a Director of the Apeejay Surrendra Group, is among the few 'born to sweet delight', as William Blake would put it. And rightly so, as today she is a part of the hospitality industry where sweetness counts. Despite her tough job, this elegant lady exudes complete calm. "I have been learning yoga and meditation for the past five years from a teacher, Tripta Bhanot," replies the charming lady when questioned about it.


Armed with a bachelor's degree in economics from Wellesley College, USA, she started her career as the Marketing Manager of The Park in 1988. She soon climbed the ladder, being promoted to Acting General Manager and was finally given the chair of Director, Apeejay Surrendra Group, and President, The Park, in 1990.

Does spirituality play an integral part in her professional life? "I stopped the formal training for yoga and meditation six months ago as I realized that spirituality is within you. My spirituality is something very personal and private for me. It's not something that I really want to share… Coming to meditation, it has helped me professionally by enabling me to distance myself from the chaos all around," she replies.

Priya is also Vice-President, the Hotel Association of India, and a founder member of World Travel Tourism Council (Asia chapter). Then, she's a member of the Young President's Organization, a member of the PATA Environment and Eco-tourism Committee and a trustee of India Foundation of the Arts.

 

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Ekta Kapoor

Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms

Since producing her first blockbuster television program at 19, Ekta Kapoor has rewritten the script on TV entertainment for the masses. She has created more than 20 soaps on 10 major Indian networks; a comedy series she created ran for 5 years. The Indian showbiz people watches her every move, and older, more experienced producers are quick to copy any new Kapoor concept.


As creative director of Balaji Telefilms in Mumbai, Kapoor, 27, continues to produce absorbing dramas - whether about an ambitious tycoon or a beautiful but scheming wife or a 70-year-old grandmother looking for a job - that consistently strike a chord with viewers across the subcontinent. Kapoor now hopes to find similar success with audiences in a different medium: the big screen.

Now she is making new records on Big Screen Also.Ekta Kapoor (born June 7, 1975) is the Creative Head of Balaji Telefilms. She is the daughter of Indian actor of yesteryears Jeetendra and sister of Tusshar Kapoor. She has produced a host of television serials based on conflicts in Indian joint families. She is notorious for her idiosyncrancy for naming all of the TV Serials produced by her with names starting from letter "K". This is generally attributed to some sort of superstitious belief

 

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Ms Rajshree Pathy

Chairman and Managing Director, Rajshree Group of companies.

"I rebel against awards for the woman entrepreneur," said Ms Rajshree Pathy, Chairman and Managing Director, Rajshree Group of companies.


When the balance sheet does not provide for gender performance, why should there be an award for a woman entrepreneur.

She said there is no postscript in balance sheet which says the CEO is a woman and therefore eligible for a tax break or some other incentive. What matters is that you play the game and come out a winner, Ms Pathy said.

She was speaking at a function organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) to honour her with the "Woman of the Year'' award. The previous recipient was Ms Priya Paul, President, Apeejay Surrendra Hotels.

 

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Ritu Nanda

Leading Insurance Advisor

She is in the Guinness Book of Records for selling 17,000 pension policies in a single day and is the member of elite LIC Chairman's Club for an amazing eight years in a row. That's not all. She figures among the top 1,000 insurance professionals in the world.

Meet Ritu Nanda daughter of Raj Kapoor, wife of Rajan Nanda and aunt of Karishma and Kareena Kapoor. But above all that, a self-made tycoon.

Indeed, more than her family connections, Ritu Nanda would prefer to be known as the country's leading insurance advisor. Besides being an ace agent she is also the CEO of RNIS College of Insurance and Management, Chairman of Escolife IT, a high technology platform created to provide service to the insurance sector worldwide, head of Raksha, a third party administrator that runs services in the health sector, author of best-selling novel Raj Kapoor Speaks and owner of art gallery Rimari. Phew!

"Nothing has come by connections. Everything has been achieved by persistence and my belief that every drop in the ocean counts," says Ritu.

Take for example the RINS College of Insurance and Management that has seen phenomenal growth in the last three years and now has 80 branches countrywide. "Our aim is to develop skilful insurance professionals who can make a mark in a competitive world. We strive to provide a sound knowledge base with emphasis on building strong fundamentals," says Ritu.

How she became a professional is an absorbing story in itself. Fifteen years ago, her home appliance company NikiTasha folded up prematurely. "It was a fantastic concept as the appliances used to run both on gas and electricity. However, we could not continue due to the exploitative tax structure of Haryana where the plant was located. So, I decided to shut it down rather than continue in such an environment."
Being a thoroughbred professional she decided to direct her energy into the insurance sector. Though the idea sounded great to her, those around her were very sceptical. "After all, the perception then was that people who couldn't do anything else in life became insurance agents. And here was Raj Kapoor's daughter and magnate Rajan Nanda's wife all set to sell insurance policies. To say the least, the very idea was outrageous for everyone," reminisces Ritu.

 

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Zia Mody

AZB & Partners - Mumbai

Zia Mody is a Senior Partner of the Law Firm of AZB & Partners which has its offices in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore in India. Zia Mody did her law at Cambridge University and then went on to do an LLM from Harvard University. Thereafter, she worked with Baker & McKenzie in New York from 1979 to 1983 and was admitted as a member of the New York State Park by examination.


Zia Mody's primary practice consists of M&A, Private Equity, Securities Laws, BPO related work and Litigation. She has practiced in the Indian Courts for over 15 years as Counsel. She has also advised several International and Indian clients in significant M&A transactions.

Zia Mody was selected as one of the 25 most powerful women in Indian business by Business Today, September 2004 and has been selected as one of India's 100 most powerful CEO's by the Economic Times in 2005. She has also been awarded the Business Women of the Year-2003 by the Financial Express in the category of the Best Knowledge Manager.

Apart from her commitment to the legal practice Mrs. Mody is also a committed Baha'i by religion and serves as a member on various Baha'i organizations and Baha'i sponsored NGOs in the field of education and empowerment of rural women.
Mrs. Mody is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Hong Kong
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Simone Tata

Chairman, Trent Ltd.

Simone Tata was born and brought up in Geneva, Switzerland and graduated from Geneva University. Always fond of travelling, she came to India as a tourist in 1953, where she met her future husband, Naval H. Tata. They married in 1955 and she settled down in Bombay permanently.


Simone joined the Board of Lakme Ltd in 1961 and was appointed as the Managing Director in 1964. This was followed by taking over as Chairman of the Board in 1982. From small beginnings, Lakme blossomed to be the leading cosmetic company in India. It also exports to several foreign countries. In 1989, Simone was also appointed as a Director of Tata Industries Ltd, which is Asia's largest private sector group, with over ninety-one companies in various sectors. Like the Wallenbergs in Sweden and Oppenheimers in South Africa, Tata's interest span much of India' economy.

Simone has been responsible for setting up a chain of successful department stores under the brand name of Westside. Starting from one single store in Bangalore in 1998, it now operates sixteen stores located in major cities around India and plans to double its coverage by 2005.

Apart from her business activities, Simone is connected with several social organisations to which she devotes much time.

 

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SMT. RANJANA KUMAR

Chairman, NABARD

Smt. Ranjana Kumar joined as Probationary Officer in Bank of India on 15.2.1966. She is a gold medalist in B.A. She belongs to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.



Her achievements:

Banker of the Year 2002 Award by Business Standard in June 2003.
Best Professional Manager Award for the year 2003 from Financial Express
Finance & Banking Award 2003 was conferred by Ladies Wing of Indian Merchants’ Chamber.
Acclaimed by the “Economist”,UK as ‘India’s turn around queen’.

Details of Postings held :
1966 -1995 Held various positions in Bank of India in different States. Chief Instructor Bank’s Trg. College.
1995 – Jan 1999 Chief Executive Officer of Bank of India’s U.S. Operations in United States of America at New York.
April 1999 Executive Director holding concurrent charge as Chairperson of Canara Bank.
2000 Chairperson of Indian Bank.
2003 - Chairperson of National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development.
Director, National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) Ltd.
Chairperson, Governing Council, Bankers’ Institute of Rural Development (BIRD), Lucknow
Member, Governing Council, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Development Banking, Hyderabad.
Honorary Visiting Professor of Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad.
Member, Board of Trustees, Indian School of Microfinance for women, Ahmedabad.
2005 Vigilance Commissioner in Central Vigilance
Commission.

 

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Smitha Sarah Fenn

Jewellary Designer

She looks like the girl-next-door with a smile straight out of a toothpaste advertisement but she designs jewellery for the rich and famous. For 23-year-old Smitha Sarah Fenn, it has been a long journey from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to Venice in Italy to collect an international award for designing diamond jewellery.
Her creation, the 342-gram choker-necklace of several 5-cent baguettes (rectangular diamonds) has been named as The Great Journey by the Chennai-based Prince Jewellery where she works as a designer.



Not only elegant but it is also a piece that showcases her creativity. Seen on the slender neck of Aishwarya Rai, this choker can be had for a whopping price of Rs. 1.7 million. "The experience in Venice was thrilling. There were 39 jewellers from all over the world who were honoured. While most of them were middle aged and experienced, the three of us from India were pretty young," she says with a smile.

"I felt blessed to be among so many creative persons. I might have won an award but my main aim is to continue my good work and concentrate on innovative designs," she adds. Talking enthusiastically about her design, she explains: ‘’Little diamond pieces, amounting to 61.55 carats in all, are set in many fine bars of 18k white gold, all of which are held by links. The conception of the necklace took about five days and its fabrication took one and a half months." She is grateful to Prince Jewellery, her employers, which did the fabrication being and gave her "the big break in life".

 

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Shobhana Bhartia

Age 50/ Vice Chairperson & Editorial Director/ HT Media

Mint, a business daily launched in February in association with the Wall Street Journal, is seen to be closing in on the No. 2 spot in its segment with an estimated circulation of 80,000 copies; Fever 104, an FM channel where Richard Branson’s Virgin Radio is the partner, debuted in Mumbai and Bangalore (it’s been in Delhi for 10 months now) this year and has done well for itself. Metro Now, a daily tabloid, launched this February in Delhi in association with former arch-rival Bennett, Coleman & Company, has managed to rack up 1.10 lakh copies in daily sales.
HT’s first quarter numbers were pretty impressive. Revenues were up 33 per cent at Rs 247.90 crore, while the bottom line jumped 212 per cent at Rs 30.6 crore. The stock (HT Media listed in September 2005) has been on a roll since June last year, going from Rs 78 or so to Rs 218 on September 12. The 50-yearold Bhartia, who is married to Shyam Sundar Bhartia, Chairman & Managing Director, Jubilant Organosys, has her hands full otherwise.

The Padma Shri awardee is a Rajya Sabha member and an active industry figure, who until recently was the Chairperson of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. Apparently, her focus now is on the Hindi daily, Hindustan, and HT’s internet initiatives.
Still, rumours keep resurfacing about Bhartia either selling her majority stake or merging with another media heavyweight. The lady never reacts to such rumours, and that only seems to add to her power halo.

 

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Manndhir Rajput

First woman driver

SHE was fascinated with trains during her childhood and desired to drive one in her lifetime. Today 34-year-old Manndhir Rajput drives one with ease. She is the first Indian woman to become an engine driver with the New South Wales Rail Corporation, Australia. Originally from Jalandhar, she immigrated to Australia six years ago after getting married to Sukhminder Singh Rajput from Ludhiana. “After clearing an aptitude test, I underwent rigorous training and was finally on the tracks,” says Manndhir, who enjoys her stint with the Rail Corporation.

 

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Sharan Apparao

Internationally aclaimed Gallerist

Sharan Apparao is one of India’s leading contemporary art gallerists, producing exhibitions in Delhi, Mumbai and Madras. From her start in 1984, Apparao Gallery has been seen as an important force in the Indian art community. Ms. Apparao has promoted the careers of some of the most important artists in Indian art today.
Associated with contemporary art for close to two decades, Apparao has expanded her activities worldwide to meet the growing needs of Indian artists and the growing community of collectors focusing on the art of the sub-continent. Known for her ability to identify promising talent, Ms. Apparao has nurtured the careers of many young artists. An art historian by training, she has explored the idea of the Indian Diaspora through numerous curated shows and publications.

 

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Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje*, Macedonia, on August 26**, 1910. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence, and started an open-air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible for her to extend the scope of her work.
On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. In 1965 the Society became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.
Today the order comprises Active and Contemplative branches of Sisters and Brothers in many countries. In 1963 both the Contemplative branch of the Sisters and the Active branch of the Brothers was founded. In 1979 the Contemplative branch of the Brothers was added, and in 1984 the Priest branch was established.
The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers.
The Missionaries of Charity throughout the world are aided and assisted by Co-Workers who became an official International Association on March 29, 1969. By the 1990s there were over one million Co-Workers in more than 40 countries. Along with the Co-Workers, the lay Missionaries of Charity try to follow Mother Teresa's spirit and charism in their families.
Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards.
From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1971-1980, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frängsmyr, Editor Irwin Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1997
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
* Former Uskup, a town in the Ottoman Empire.
** Mother Teresa's date of birth is disputed: "So unconcerned was she about accuracy in relation to the chronicling of her own life, and so disinclined actually to read anything written about her, that for many years and in a succession of books her birthdate was erroneously recorded as 27 August 1910. It even appeared in the Indian Loreto Entrance Book as her date of birth. In fact, as she confided to her friend, co-worker and American author, Eileen Egan, that was the date on which she was christened Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. The date which marked the beginning of her Christian life was undoubtedly the more important to Mother Teresa, but she was none the less actually born in Skopje, Serbia, on the previous day." (Spink, Kathryn: Mother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography, HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.

 

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Rukshana:The girl who fought off jehadi terrorists

Rukshana, the girl from Jammu and Kasmir, who fought off three militants after she turned their own arms on them and shot one dead is to get a gallantry award.

For years Kashmir valley residents have been terrorized but finally a group of terrorists who had infiltrated into India got a taste of their own medicine.

When they barged into Rukhsana's home in Rajouri district, they were confronted by a woman who was just not ready to take things lying down. She trained the terrorists guns on them in an amazing act of bravery.

"Three militants entered our house. Some of them were outside. They quarreled with our parents and started beating them. We attacked them with an axe," she says, still holding the gun that one of the militants left behind.

Farukh another resident of Shahdra-Sharief says, "After I hit the militants with the axe, he fell down. Then I picked up his rifle and hit him with it several times. He became weak."

Rukhsana adds, "I just went charging, pulled the hair of one, snatched his gun and fired. Watching one of them fall dead the two other injured militants panicked and ran. They left their guns behind.

Shakkat Wadali, Special Superintendent of Police, Rajouri district says, "How long will people bear the atrocities of militants? Time has come for people to resist. So what if it is an AK-47 rifle against an axe?"

What Rukhsana's family has done is a first in 20 years in Jammu and Kashmir. It is a definite act of courage but it has raised concerns that the family could become a target for revenge.

 

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Xposting nandu's post from Indian Paramilitary: News and Discussions thread

Meet The First Woman Officer Of GREF !!!​

I was clearly quite surprised when I first saw her at the BRO Golden Jubilee function, as I could not relate to women being in GREF/BRO.
Meet Bindu Sehgal, Assistant Director (OL) at the BRO headquarters in Delhi, in an administrative role.

Sehgal joined GREF- General Reserve Engineer Force, in October 1986, as Hindi Officer, through UPSC. "I've never faced difficulties or discrimination in a male-dominated place like GREF. They treat me with a lot of respect," said Sehgal, in a one-to-one with Chindits.

Basically engaged in implementation of Official Language in the Deptt, Sehgal says she would like to see more women officers joining GREF. "There are a few working in this department on compassionate grounds," she adds.

Though the lady had traveled all over the country, on work, she has largely been at the Delhi-based headquarters of the organisation.

http://chhindits.blogspot.com/

 

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cross posting from indian army news thread....

brave lady

In a first, woman officer gets award for bravery overseas​

Major Madhumita, of the Army Education Corps, was the first officer to reach the Indian guesthouse that came under attack by suicide bombers on February 26. The officer was staying at a nearby guesthouse when she got information that the Indian facility had come under attack by a number of suicide bombers.

Though unarmed, she literally ran close to 2 km to reach the spot and rescued her colleagues who were trapped beneath the debris. Even though the encounter was on and shots were being fired as the attackers were in the area, the officer reached the Noor guesthouse that had been destroyed by a vehicle borne suicide bomb within minutes of the explosion.

While two Indian Army officers died on the spot, Major Madhumita personally extricated several officers of the Army training team who were buried beneath the rubble and rushed them to hospital. Regardless of her own safety, she pulled out several officers from the burning guesthouse and directed rescue operations on the ground.

The Noor guest house, in which doctors as well as Army officers of the training team were staying, was one of the main targets hit by suicide attackers in the February attack that was directed at Indian citizens working in Kabul. Three officers, all of the rank of Major, were killed in the attack. Major Laishram Jyotin Singh, who tacked a suicide bomber to save his colleagues, has been awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumously.

Major Madhumita, who spoke to The Indian Express days after the attack, said that her biggest concern was to get the injured officers to the nearby hospital and save as many lives as possible. Her only regret was that one the officers who has been taken to hospital with 40 per cent burns, Major Nitesh Roy, succumbed to his injuries in a Delhi hospital.

 

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Girls chase away Maoists​

PTI
Gaya, Aug 16 (PTI) A group of girls chased away four armed Maoists when they tried to disturb the flag hoisting ceremony at a state-run school at Maigra in Bihar's Gaya district on the Independence Day, a senior police official said. The girls intervened when four Maoists reached the school on motorcycles and raised anti-national slogans before showing disrespect to the flag, SP Daljit Singh said. The girls raised protest and chased the Maoists who opened fire and fled. Later the girls brought out a procession against the activities of the Maoists in the village, he said.

 

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It will always be a indian woman at the helm of affairs who gonna give right direction to india and beat the carp out of the enemies of india.

Chennai cadet creates history at OTA passing-out parade​

Divya Ajith Kumar, first woman to receive the best cadet prize

memorable day: Chief of Army Staff General V K Singh congratulating Divya Ajith Kumar who won the Sword of Honour, awarded to the best cadet passing-out of Officers Training Academy, St.Thomas Mount, on Saturday. — Photo: K.Pichumani

A total of 244 cadets, including 63 women, were inducted into the Indian Army on Saturday on completion of their training at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in St. Thomas Mount here.

Divya Ajith Kumar of Chennai became the first woman in the history of the Indian Army to receive the coveted 'Sword of Honour' prize, which is awarded to the best cadet.

Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh presented the prize to her at the passing-out parade. "It was my dream to enter the Army. I am happy to receive this prize," she said.

Addressing the cadets on the occasion, General Singh said the gentlemen and lady officers should be ready to face various challenges and motivate their team wherever they are posted. The 244 cadets would be inducted into various regiments of the Indian Army.

This passing-out parade will also be memorable for 18 gentlemen cadets from the Afghan National Army and two lady cadets from Lesotho who underwent training at OTA. Speaking to The Hindu after the ceremony, Ahmed Shahpoor Nooristani from the Nuristan province in Afghanistan, said "Back home there isn't enough military training facilities or instructors. This was a golden opportunity for us." The men from various provinces, including Logar, Ghazi and Kandahar, who are alumni of Afghan Military School, will be heading to Kabul via Delhi on Saturday night to join their army as officers. Fourteen more Afghan cadets are undergoing training in OTA.

The ceremony concluded with the cadets marching out of the parade ground and a chopper showering petals on them.