What is the story about?
International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year to commemorate women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights
movement. This day is celebrated to bring the focus back to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women, among others. On this day, let's take a look at Indian women who changed history through their achievements.
Indira Gandhi – First woman Prime Minister of India (1966)
Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, carved her way in the Indian history through her own achievements. She was India's first woman Prime Minister of India. She served in this position from 1966 to 1977, and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.
During her tenure as the Prime Minister of India, she was known for taking some major decisions such as nationalizing banks and leading India during the 1971 war.
Karnam Malleswari – First Indian woman to win an Olympic medal
Born in 1975, Karnam Malleswari is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics. She achieved this remarkable achievement in 2000 Olympics that were held in Sydney (Australia), where she lifted 110 kg in the "snatch" and 130 kg in the "clean and jerk" categories for a total of 240 kg, and was awarded with a Bronze medal.
Kalpana Chawla – First woman of Indian origin to go to space (1997)
Born in Haryana's Karnal, Kalpana Chawla began working at NASA's Ames Research Center in 1988, and served in several projects before she was picked for her first space mission in 1997. She was selected to be a part of a six-astronaut crew that flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. With the launch of STS-87 Kalpana Chawla became the first woman of Indian origin to go into space.
After a successful mission, she was then selected for her second flight as part of the crew of STS-107, but could not make it back to Earth safely due to technical issues with the craft.
Bachendri Pal – First Indian woman to climb Mount Everest (1984)
Bachendri Pal achieved a remarkable feat at a young age as became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest in 1984. She commenced ascent in May 1984, and it was on 23 May 1984 that she, along with her teammates, reached the summit of Mount Everest at 1:07 p.m. and Bachendri Pal created history. She became an inspiration for many young women who then got the courage to achieve this dream.
Justice M. Fathima Beevi – First woman judge of the Supreme Court of India (1989)
Born in 1927, Justice M. Fathima Beevi has broken several records, but the biggest one was that she was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of India in 1989. She is also the first Muslim woman to be appointed to any of the higher judiciaries in the country. for her achievements, she was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest honour given by the Government of Kerala in 2023.
Women's Day 2026 Theme
This year's International Women’s Day theme is “Give To Gain” that "underscores the principle that meaningful progress on gender equality requires deliberate contributions from governments, institutions and individuals," as per Ambassador Holland, Head of UK Delegation to the OSCE, Vienna.
"When we invest in women’s safety, rights and leadership, we strengthen societies as a whole. The campaign’s message is clear: gender equality is not a concession, but a collective benefit," he added.
