Mother Teresa:
She became the first Indian woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, giving her life to social work.
Indira Gandhi:
She became the first woman Prime Minister of India and served from 1966 to 1977. Indira Gandhi was named as the "Woman of the Millennium" in a poll organised by BBC in 1999. In 1971, she also became the first woman to receive the Bharat Ratna award.
Pratibha Patil:
She became the first woman President of India and held office from July 2007 to July 2012.
Kalpana Chawla:
She became the first Indian woman in space. The first time Kalpana Chawla went into space on a space shuttle was in 1997 as a mission specialist and a primary robotic arm operator.
Kiran Bedi:
Justice M. Fathima Beevi:
Sania Mirza:
Saina Nehwal:
Currently ranking no. 2 in the World, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at Olympics in 2012. Later in 2015, she became the first Indian woman to become no. 1 in the world ranking.
Mary Kom:
Bachendri Pal:
In 1984, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Later, she led expeditions in 1993, 1994 and 1997 with a team comprising of only women in the Indo-Nepalese Women's Mount Everest Expedition, The Great Indian Women's Rafting Voyage and First Indian Women Trans-Himalayan Expedition.