Women achievers who did their bit get their due

Bengaluru: It was a day dedicated to "Saluting the queens of the sky" and as part of it women achievers from the Indian Air Force, Navy and Army, civil aviation, DRDO, CSIR and ISRO were felicitated for their contribution to the aerospace industry. A book and a film on women achievers in aerospace were released as part of the event at Aero India on Saturday.

Those honoured included Wing Commander, Asha Jyothirmai of the IAF, Squadron Leader, Khsushboo Gupta of the IAF, Captain Namrata Patel of the Indian Army, Lt. Commander Ambica Hooda of the Indian Navy, Lt. Commander, Seema Rani Sharma of the Indian Navy, Deputy Commandant, Kiran Kumari of the Indian Coast Guard,  Harpreet A De. Singh, president of the Indian Women Pilots Association, Captain Nivedita Bhasin, a senior pilot of the Air India,  T K Anirudha, director, SATCOM, Dr V R Lalithambika, director, HSP, ISRO, Suma Verghese of the DRDO, Shashikala Sinha, a scientist with the DRDO, and Captain Ashima Mendiratta, a  Pawan Hans pilot, who had volunteered for flying in Naxal- hit areas. She has evacuated serious medical casualties from conflict- hit regions.

Speaking at the event, chairman of DRDO, Dr Satish Reddy observed that people no longer under-estimated the capabilities of women in the field of engineering. "When I was a student there was only one woman in my college and now women make up  55 per cent of its students," he said, adding that DRDO too was encouraging women engineers. "In the Gaganyaan mission we will make sure that one astronaut is a woman," he promised.