A – D E – H I – L M – P Q – T U – Z
Innocent, Helen Mary: (born March 14, 1977) is a field hockey goalkeeper from India, who made her international debut for her country in 1992 in the test series against Germany. In 2003 she saved two penalty strokes in final tie-breaker to win title for India at the Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad. She also earned the Arjuna Award.
Jaffrey, Madhur: (born 13 August 1933) is an Indian actress, who has also found fame as a food writer, introducing the Western world to the many cuisines of India. Among the many awards she has won are the Best Actress Award from the Berlin Film Festival in 1965 for her performance in Shakespeare Wallah; Taraknath Das Foundation Award of the Southern Asian Institute of Columbia University in 1993; and the Muse Award presented by New York Women in Film & Television in 2000. She was named to the Who's Who of Food and Beverage in Americain recognition of her services to cultural relations between the United Kingdom, India and the United States, through her achievements in film, television and cookery" by the James Beard Foundation in 1995 and was awarded an Honorary CBE on 11 October 2004 "
Jaising, Indira: (born 1940, Mumbai) is an Indian lawyer. Jaising became the second woman to be designated as a Senior Advocate by the High Court of Bombay in 1986 (the first was Sohini Nanavati).She became first women to reach the post of Additional Solicitor General of India in 2009. From the beginning of her legal career, she has focused on protection of human rights, rights of women and those of the poor working class.
Jayalalithaa, J: Jayalalithaa Jayaram or J. Jayalalitha (as commonly referred), (born 24 February 1948), is a former Chief Minister and current leader of the opposition of the Government of Tamil Nadu, India. She is the incumbent general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a Dravidian party in the state. She is popularly called Amma (mother) and Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader) by her followers. She was a popular film star in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema before her entry into politics.
Jayaram (Jairam), Vani: is a prominent Indian female playback singer. She has thrice won the National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer. She has rendered classical songs in Carnatic and Hindustani styles, Ghazals, light and pop songs and some popular folk songs.
Jhingan, Priya: became the first woman officer to join the Indian Army in 1992. She retired after her 10 year short-service commission in the army.
Joshi, Isha Basant: was born Isha Basant Mukand and published books under the name of Esha Joshi. She was the first woman to be accepted as an officer in the Indian Administrative Service. She was also the first "Indian" to be accepted into the "Bastion of the British" school of La Martiniere Girls High School in Lucknow. In 2004 it was reported that she was living uncared for in a cow-shed in Lucknow, thrown out of her home by relatives.
Kanaka, TS: (born 1932) (aka Tanjore Santhana Krishna Kanaka, Kanaka Santhanakrishna) is Asia's first female neurosurgeon and one of the world's first women neurosurgeons. A specialist in rehabilitation medicine, she received recognition for her research and contributions to the field of stereotactic surgery. She was also the first neurosurgeon in India to do a chronic electrode implantation into the brain. Dr. Kanaka served the Indian Army as a commissioned officer during the 1962-1963 Chinese aggression. She was predominantly associated for the most part of her career with the Government General Hospital, Chennai. Dr. Kanaka also served or taught at the Madras Medical College, at the Epidemiological Research Centre (Chennai), Adyar Cancer Institute (Chennai), Hindu Mission Hospital (Chennai) and other hospitals.
Kanwar, Roop: (c. 1969 – 4 September 1987) was an 18-year old Rajput woman who committed sati on 4 September 1987 at Deorala village of Sikar district in Rajasthan, India. At the time of her death, she had been married for eight months to Maal Singh, who had died a day earlier at age 24, and had no children. News reports of the incident present conflicting stories about the voluntary (or otherwise) nature of Kanwar's death.
Karat, Brinda: (born October 17, 1947) is a communist politician from India, elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member, on April 11, 2005 for West Bengal. In 2005, she became the first woman member of the CPI (M) Politburo. She has also been the general secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) from 1993 to 2004, and thereafter its Vice President. In the late 1960s, she had worked for Air India at Bond Street in London, where she campaigned against the mandatory wearing of skirts in the airlines, after which she became an activist.
Karthika, VK: is theChief Editor and Publisher of Harper Collins, India.
Kharab, Mamta: (born January 26, 1982) is the current captain of the Indian women's hockey team. During the 2002 Commonwealth Games, she scored the winning goal which gave India the Gold. She also served as the model for the character of Komal Chautala in the 2007 Bollywood hit, Chak De India. She is a recipient of the Arjuna Award.
Khote, Durga: Indian cinema entered a new phase with the entry of this fiery young actress in 1931 when she made her debut in a silent film. The first woman from a ‘good’ family who entered films, Durga Khote broke the notion that movies were a taboo profession for Indian women. A leading Indian magazine, rated her among 100 people Who Shaped India, as it noted that "Durga Khote marks the pioneering phase for woman in Indian cinema.”
Kidwai, Naina Lal: the first Indian woman to graduate from the Harvard Business School, Naina Lal Kidwai was appointed as the country head of HSBC (India). Kidwai was bestowed with the Padma Shri in 2007and was alos in WSJ’s list of world’s top 50 businesswomen. Not only this, the woman was listed as one of the 15 global influentials of 2002 by Time magazine.
Kishwar, Madhu: is the Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), based in Delhi, and the Director of the Indic Studies Project based at CSDS and Convener of a series of International Conferences on “Religions and Cultures in the Indic Civilization”. She is the founder editor of Manushi - a journal about women and society published since 1979. The Journal attempts to bridge the gap between academia and activism. It is widely read by social activists, academics, and a whole range of concerned citizens, including Non Resident Indians.
Kochhar, Chanda: (born November 17, 1961) is currently the Managing Director (MD) of ICICI Bank and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). ICICI Bank is India's largest private bank and overall second largest bank in the country. She also heads the Corporate Centre of ICICI Bank. Kochhar has also consistently figured in Fortune's list of "Most Powerful Women in Business" since 2005. In 2009, she debuted at number 20 in the Forbes "World's 100 Most Powerful Women list".
Kriplani, Sucheta: the first woman Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in independent India in 1963, Sucheta was a freedom fighter as also one of the few women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly and was part of the subcommittee that drafted the Constitution of free India.
Krishnamurthy, Yamini: (b. 1940 in Madanapalli, Andhra Pradesh, brought up in Chidambaram, Tamilnadu in a Telugu family) is an eminent Indian dancer of Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi styles of dancing. Beginning her dancing debut in 1957, Yamini had led an eventful dancing career. She has the honor of being Asthana Nartaki (resident dancer) of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. Her dancing career brought her many awards, including the Padma Shree (1968) and the Padma Bhushan (2001), which are among the highest civilian awards of the Republic of India.
Kumar, Meira: (born March 31, 1945) is an Indian politician and a five time Member of Parliament. She was elected unopposed as the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha on 3 June 2009. She is a lawyer and a former diplomat. Prior to being a member of the 15th Lok Sabha, she has been elected earlier to the 8th, 11th, 12th and 14th Lok Sabha, wherein she remained Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (2004-2009). Earlier, in 1973, she joined the Indian Foreign Service and served at embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius. She also served as a member of the India-Mauritius Joint Commission. While serving for IFS, she also worked in Embassy of India, Madrid from 1976 to 1977. She was at the High Commission of India in London from 1977 to 1979 and at Ministry of External Affairs from 1980 to 1985.
Kumari, Meena: or Mahjabeen Bano (1 August 1932 - 31 March 1972), was an Indian movie actress and poetess. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses to have appeared on the screens of Hindi Cinema. During a career spanning 30 years from her childhood to her death, she starred in more than ninety films, many of which have achieved classic and cult status today. Kumari gained a reputation for playing grief-stricken and tragic roles. Her life and prosperous career were marred by heavy drinking, troubled relationships, an ensuing deteriorating health, and her death from liver cirrhosis in 1972. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award four times (1954, 1955, 1963, and 1966).
Lahiri, Jhumpa: (born on July 11, 1967) is an Indian American author. Lahiri's debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies (1999), won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her first novel, The Namesake (2003), was adapted into the popular film of the same name. She was born Nilanjana Sudeshna, but goes by her pet name Jhumpa. Lahiri was born in London, the daughter of Bengali Indian immigrants. Her family moved to the United States when she was three; Lahiri considers herself an American, stating, "I wasn't born here, but I might as well have been.” Lahiri graduated from South Kingstown High School, and received her BA in English literature from Barnard College in 1989.She then received multiple degrees from Boston University: an MA in English, MFA in Creative Writing, MA in Comparative Literature, and a PhD in Renaissance Studies. She took a fellowship at Provincetown's Fine Arts Work Center, which lasted for the next two years (1997–1998). Lahiri has taught creative writing at Boston University and the Rhode Island School of Design.
Lakshmibai, the Rani (Queen) of Jhansi: (1835 - 1858) was the queen of the Maratha ruled state of Jhansi, and was a key figure in the rebellion against the British in 1857. She died in the Battle of Gwalior in 1858 and is often compared to Joan of Arc.
