PRATIBHA PATIL
Indian president Pratibha Patil set a record in the world history by flying in a fighter aircraft Sukhoi-30 MKI on Wednesday. She became the world’s first woman president to fly in a warplane. She also set a world record by becoming the oldest woman flying in a combat jet for a 30-minute sortie. Mrs.Patil took two-month preparations for this historic flight. She has usually done yoga and treadmill for this journey. After completing her sortie, Patil told reporters that she would take a decision to recruit women into the fighter stream.
BIOGRAPHY
The first woman president of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil was born on 19th December, 1934 in Nadgaon, Maharashtra. She gained her school education from ‘R.R. School’ at Jalgaon. She also gained M.A from ‘Mooljee Jaitha College’, Jalgaon and law degree from the ‘Government Law College’, Mumbai. She started her political career in 1962 at the age of 27 as a member of the Indian National Congress . She was a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 1962 to 1985. From 1972 to 78, she served as a cabinet minister for the state and handled the portfolios of tourism, social welfare and housing under several chief ministers, Vasantdada Patil, Babasaheb Bhosle, S. B. Chavan and Sharad Pawar. She was also served as deputy chairwoman of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1988, Member of Parliament from Amravati in the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996 and the first woman Governor of Rajasthan from 2004 to 2007. As a Governor of Rajasthan, she has protested against the Rajasthan governments anti-conversion bills. On July 19, 2007, She was elected as the India’s 12th and first woman president. In the presidential election, she was defeated her nearest rival Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by over 300000 votes. Her greatest admirer in her life was Gandhi family and was a huge supporter of it. She has spent 10 days in jail when she protests Indira Gandhi’s arrest in December 1977. She has the credit of establishing hostels for ‘working women’ in Mumbai and New Delhi, engineering college at Jalgaon for the youth , a womens co operative bank at this place. She has also opened many schools for the poor children in Maharashtra. She faced many controversies including Pratibha Women Cooperative Bank scam, Sant Muktabai Cooperative Sugar Factory scam, Polytechnic scam, MPLADS scam and her brother murder case. She was severely criticized by Islamic scholars for her remarks about ‘pardah’ system. After all, she is a very simple lady with great thoughts and dedicates every single step for the further growth of India. She is married to educator Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat, and they have a son and a daughter.