We've selected a group of six 'Most Influential Females' from across South Asia for 2013. The list includes politicians, millionaires, civil society activists and philanthropist. They have been ranked based on their global recognition, wealth, charitable activities and overall influence in the region.
Between Forbes’s list of '100 Most Powerful Women' to TIME magazine’s list of '100 Most Influential People', the following names stand out as six important female figures in South Asia, who are out to change the world one day at a time.
SONIA GANDHI
The president of the Indian National Congress, needs no introduction. Just take a look at the picture of Sonia Gandhi and you can see she's a formidable force. She turned down the position of Prime Minister after the assassination of her husband and Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
Since then, she has risen to head the ruling political party of the world’s second largest population.
It’s no surprise that the name of this resilient woman has found its way onto the Forbes' list of 100 Most Powerful Women, the TIME's list of 100 Most Influential People and New Statesmen’s World’s 50 Most Influential Figures on multiple occasions.
INDRA K. NOOYI
This Yale graduate is proof that a woman can make it to the top.
The Indian-American business executive has served as the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, the second largest food and beverage business in the world by net revenue.
However, she hasn’t been resting on her laurels. Rather, this year Indra Nooyi has worked to boost quarterly results, increasing revenue by 1.2% to $13 billion.
With her influence, PepsiCo’s research department has a good chance at putting them ahead of their rival Coca Cola, quite soon, with the creation of a new sweetener.
ROYA MAHBOOB
This 25-year-old technology entrepreneur is redefining women’s roles in Afghanistan by defying the traditional responsibility of staying at home.
Her almost 4-year-old IT consulting firm, Afghan Citadel Software Co, employs a workforce of 18 women and 7 men, who develop software and databases for NATO, governments and private companies.
Mahboob is also working on building 40 free internet-enabled classrooms around Afghanistan, thereby enabling over 160,000 female students access to the internet.
This is usually a problem as most public internet access in the country is limited to urban Internet cafes, places often unsafe for women.
In addition, Roya Mahboob has founded blog and video site, Women’s Annex, that has since provided a place for the women of Afghanistan to connect and share their stories, as well as earn a small living via advertising revenues.
KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW
About the same time Steve Jobs formed Apple, Indian biotech startup leader Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw defied the odds and the hazards of a country in infrastructural shambles to launch Biocon, a pharmaceutical research company.
Despite the company’s rocky start operating research labs at a time when sterile conditions, water, superior equipment and ample scientific skills were hard to come by. Today, the 35-year-old company produces affordable drugs for everything from psoriasis and diabetes to various forms of cancer.
Mrs. Mazumdar-Shaw’s net worth is $655 million, making her the wealthiest woman in India and an accomplished self-made woman.
VRINDA GROVER
The human-rights lawyer and women’s rights advocate has begun to reshape the political and legal system in India with her beliefs in equal justice for everyone.
From the most privileged in India to those who often fall to the wayside through insurgency or faults in the system, Vrinda Grover’s work has made waves in the last several months particularly in relation to the rapes in Delhi.
In the ensuing rise of voices in support of women’s rights, hers has rung out repeatedly as the loudest and her uncompromising fight, no matter how uphill the battle. She stands to remind India that to ensure the country’s future, only absolute justice will do.
MALALA YOUSAFZAI
Today, the 16 years old spends time at her favorite place – school. However, Malala Yousafzai is no ordinary teenaged girl.
Between the age of 11 and 12 she wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about her life in the Swat Valley, promoting her views on women’s right and education despite fear of persecution under Taliban Rule.
The 15-year-old activist was shot at point-blank range by Taliban insurgents for her beliefs and to teach a lesson to others who might try to stand against them.
She lived against all odds, becoming not a martyr but a living symbol of the power of education and a model for young women everywhere.
Even as her recently released autobiography closes on the chapter of her life under a terrorist regime, Malala’s story has just begun with her activism.
Tell us if you feel we missed anyone from this top 6 list and which female you admire the most?
Source: Forbes.com, Time100.time.com
Feature Image: Thejanedough.com
Indra Nooyi Image: Forbes.com
Sonia Gandhi Image: Forbes.com
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Image:Forbes.com
Vrinda Grover Image: Blogs.wsj.com
Roya Mahboob Image:Time100.time.com
Malala Yousafzai Image: Time100.time.com
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