The
First Ladies Awards 2017, was presented to the women, who are the pioneers in setting milestones in their respective fields, and breaking stereotypes and making their mark along the way.
The
Ministry of Women and Child Development, has felicitated
112 women achievers that include Indian team skipper
Mithali Raj, former Indian Cricket players
Anjum Chopra and
Diana Edulji (
who is also at present the member of CoA).
Cricketers as First Ladies – MITHALI RAJ- The
skipper of the Indian team in
2017, became the first women to score
6000 runs in International cricket and now is presently the
highest run-getter of the sport in ODI’S. The 35-year-old is the only Indian captain to
lead the team twice to the finals of the Cricket World cup.
ANJUM CHOPRA- An
exemplary all-rounder, for team India, the
former captain is the
8th highest-run getter of all-time in Women’s ODI -cricket. Anjum was the
first women to get Honorary Membership of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC),
Lord’s Cricket Ground, London in 2016.
DIANA EDULJI- She is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers India has ever produced. She holds the record for
delivering the most number of balls by any woman cricketer in Women's test
history. She is the 1st women cricketer to be appointed
the member of CoA by the Honourable Supreme Court.
About the event –The event was graced by over 100 women achievers from different fields. The
Honourable President of India presented the women achievers with a shield to honour their efforts and embrace their journey.
However, neither of them were present on the occasion to receive their award. Due to prior commitments,
Raj and
Edulji could not attend.
Anjum Chopra also left for New Zealand to complete her commentary duty for the
ICC U-19 World Cup and was not present.
The
other prominent sports stars who were also felicitated with the honour were:
Sania Mirza,
Saina Nehwal,
Deepa Karmakar,
Sakshi Malik and
P.V.Sindhu.