Two Kashmiri women are among the 115 women achievers to be felicitated by the President of India on January 20, Saturday, at Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi.Those who have achieved first in any field will be felicitated. Known as 'First Ladies', these women have been identified by the Ministry of Women and Child Development of Government of India.The two women from Kashmir to be felicitated are Ayesha Aziz, the youngest pilot in India and the first female pilot from Kashmir and Ruveda Salam, a doctor and Kashmir’s first woman IPS officer.An official statement issued to GNS said the 16-year-old pilot Ayesha Aziz received her student license to fly in 2011. “She flew a MIG-29 fighter jet at Russia’s Sokul airbase and Cessna 172R in January 2012. She has graduated in Aviation from the Bombay Flying Club in 2016 and received her Commercial Pilot License (CPL),” it said.Ayesha has flown single-engine aircraft for 200 hours during her training. She visited NASA and met former astronaut John McBride. She currently pilots single engine Cessna 152 and Cessna 172.
Ruveda Salam, the first women IPS officer from Kashmir encourages the youth of the state to join police services and imparts regular training. She outperforms the assigned duties, ensuring that development and peace prevails in the state of J&K. She has also served in Tamil Nadu as Assistant Commissioner of Police, Chennai & Coimbatore.The list includes women who have achieved distinction in different fields across in and outside the country.Some of the other women in the list are Biocon’s Managing Director - Kiran Mazumdar, Shila Dawre - India’s first autorickshaw driver and Aishwarya Rai - the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival.As a part of the felicitation, a lunch will also be hosted by the WCD Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in which I&B Minister, Smriti Zubin Irani will also felicitate these women.DD News and Facebook have also partnered with WCD Ministry in this unique initiative. (GNS)