Quiz on women achievers

On July 21, 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the first female head of government when she was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. This week’s quiz is about women who led the way.

Women of substance

1 She was the daughter of lawyer S Swaminathan and AV Ammukutty, social worker and freedom fighter. Her younger sister was the danseuse Mrinalini Sarabhai. Though she is a doctor, she is better known for the military organisation she headed in the ’40s. Name her.

2 In 1900, Charlotte Cooper became the first woman to win an Olympic Gold medal. In which discipline did she earn her medal?

3 On May 16, 1975, after being partly sponsored by the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun and Nippon television, what did 36-year- old Junko Tabei achieve?

4 In January 2015, which arts graduate from the University of Zagreb and former ambassador to the US became the youngest-ever President of her country?

5 Which former minister with the portfolio of information and broadcasting became the first woman chief minister of Odisha in 1972?

6 She was known in the West as the Afghan Joan of Arc and believed to have been the person who rallied the Afghan warriors in the second Anglo-Afghan War, specially during the Battle of Maiwand. A Nobel laureate was named in her honour. Who, first name will do?

7 Victorial Woodhull made a fortune on the US stock market in the mid-19th century. In 1872, what first did she attempt in American history?

8 Though the Academy Awards have been around since 1929, and directors have been honoured from the same year, the first woman to win a best director award actually did so as late as the 21st century. Who and for which film?

9 In June 2016, what first did Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi together achieve?

10 If Shoaib Akhtar was known as the Rawalpindi Express and Mashrafe Mortaza the Narail Express, which Indian has been nicknamed the Dhing Express?

Answers

1 Lakshmi Sahgal, who headed the all-woman Rani of Jhansi regiment in the INA

2 Tennis

3 She became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest

4 Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, in the news for her passionate support for the Croatian football team in the 2018 FIFA World Cup

5 Nandini Satpathy

6 Malalai of Maiwand, after whom Malala Yousafzai was named

7 She was the first woman to stand for US president, thought she may not have been above the mandated age of 35 at the time

8 Kathryn Bigelow for Hurt Locker in 2009

9 They were the first Indian women to be inducted into the Indian Air Force as fighter pilots

10 Hima Das, the first Indian track athlete to earn a U20 World Athletics gold medal, winning the 400 metres event in Tampere, Finland

Twitter: @joybhattacharj