Many more Isro’s “rocket women” were a part of the team that launched 104 satellites on a single day from Sriharikota, last month. They display a sense of self-belief that allows them to excel in any domain and compete with their male counterparts on an equal footing.We also find a very strong representation of women in middle management levels across diverse sectors like science and technology, pharma and biotech, banking and financial services, information technology, retail, engineering, consumer goods, etc.India today is home to a new breed of women, who exude self-confidence irrespective of what strata of society they come from. Anna Mani, an Indian physicist and meteorologist, conducted research and published numerous papers on solar radiation, ozone and wind energy measurements. Like most Asian countries, India today is home to a new breed of women, who exude self-confidence irrespective of what strata of society they come from.If we look back at the achievement of “Women in Science” we have several outstanding women who have pursued science and set new milestones.Women need to capitalise on their inherent qualities of compassion, sensitivity, multi-tasking and above all, the inner strength to excel. Indira Hinduja is the first Indian woman who delivered a test tube baby on August 6, 1986. Driven by a “strong sense of purpose” undeterred with initial failures, I took challenges head-on, and set up Biocon as India’s first biotech company, which went on to become India’s first publicly listed biotech company in 2004. Around 60 years ago, she was the only woman on the faculty in the Indian Institute of Science.
Among the younger breed we have Tessy Thomas, project director for the Agni-IV missile at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), known as the “Missile Woman of India”.These names indicate that India has had a fair representation of “Women in Science” who have made exemplary contribution to create a strong history for the country. But I could succeed against all these odds because I understood that all challenges can be surmounted with courage and conviction, passion and perseverance, commitment and determination, and, most important, with a bold and fearless attitude. Today, eight out of the top 10 banks in India are headed by women, one out of every three startups in India are led by women.There are 16,000 women working at Isro today and a team of eight bright women scientists from this group had enabled India’s recent Mangalyaan — Mars mission. I had to confront an array of regulatory business challenges, besides dealing with lack of credibility associated with women. All that is required is for the woman is to be innovative, use her instinct, intellect, resourcefulness and commitment to take ideas to market to tap the enormous opportunities unfolding before her. Likewise, the recent ABLE report shows that out of 3,000 biotech start-ups in the last five years, more than one third were led by women entrepreneurs.I believe the time today is just right for women entrepreneurs to flourish in India. Rajeshwari Chatterjee, the first woman scientist to pioneer the Field of Microwave Engineering and Antennae Engineering in India. She has also pioneered the Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT) technique resulting in the birth of India’s first GIFT baby on January 4, 1988.When I started Biocon, in 1978, at the age of 25, biotechnology as a science was not widely known in China hot water tap electric faucet Manufacturers India and there were no first-generation women entrepreneurs.