DH 2017- Looking back at Women's Achievements

This year India saw many leading ladies shining at home and around the world making us proud: from India’s first female defence minister to Mithali Raj’s struggle finally bearing some fruit with the entire country being glued to the women’s cricket match finale.

Even if everything is not perfect, we had reason to celebrate and be hopeful when women shone for the right reasons.

Kanaka V, a child labour survivor was selected to address the Parliament, while Gurmehar Kaur was named an ambassador of ‘’free Speech’’ by TIME Magazine, and Manushi Chhillar put India on the world beauty map once again after a gap of 17 years. Here are some stories that DH reported on:

Nirmala Sitharaman: India's first independent woman defence minister

This is for the first time in independent India that the male-dominated corridors of power in the defence ministry would be run by India’s first woman defence minister. Along with Nirmala Sitharaman, two other women occupy top berths in Modi’s cabinet: Sushma Swaraj as the EAM, and Smriti Irani I&B minister.

17-year-old rescued child labourer from Bengaluru to address Parliament

Breaking social barriers, Kanaka V, a 17-year-old girl from Bengaluru was given the honour of addressing the parliament after being selected from among hundreds of children from Karnataka.

Mithali's journey to the top

Mithali Raj became the youngest centurion in the history of women’s ODIs. Her performance shone the spotlight on the country’s women's cricket team, taking the limelight away from the male cricketers who are treated like demigods in India.

TIME names Gurmehar Kaur as the Next Generation Leader

Gurmehar Kaur, social media darling to some, and social media meme to others rose to popularity after a picture of her holding a placard with the words ‘it was war, not Pakistan that killed my father’ went viral on Twitter. Since then, she has emerged as a champion for free speech for young India. TIME magazine’s recent issue Kaur as a “free-speech warrior”.

Mysuru mother-daughter duo to circumnavigate earth in 80 days

Adventurous mother-daughter duo Audrey Maben and Amy Mehta will be taking off on an expedition to circumnavigate the earth in 80 days in a motor glider. Two women, one plan, one plane!

India's Manushi is new Miss World
Manushi Chhillar was crowned Miss world, making India the joint-most successful in the beauty pageant's history at par with Venezuela.  The medical student from Haryana is the sixth Indian winner, following in the footsteps of Bollywood actors Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

(Compiled by Tenzin)