Indian Women who Made Headlines Recently Across Sectors

A trail of winning that started with the Indian writer and activist, Banu Mushtaq, winning the International Booker Prize 2025 for Heart Lamp, Indian women have garnered more headlines in various areas of work, where their work has been recognised through various awards in the respective fields. Here's an ode to the women who have recently made national and international headlines.

Anuparna Roy, the first Indian to win the Best Director award in Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival

Starting with the very recent, is Anuparna Roy, who is making international headlines now, for being the first Indian filmmaker to make history at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival by winning the Best Director award. She has won the award in the Orizzonti section for her film Songs of Forgotten Trees at the film festival.

The film revolves around of two migrant women in Mumbai, which is also inspired by her own memories and observations of witnessing women juggle with urban life, friendship, and silent resistance. What made the moment even more important is that the Purulia-born filmmaker used the platform to also talk about Palestine, bringing global attention towards the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

Safeena Husain's NGO gets 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Award

A non-profit headed by the founder, Safeena Husain, garnered national attention to its work when it received the 2025 Ramon Magsaysay Award. The NGO works to get the out-of-school girls into the classrooms. Popular as The Foundation to Educate Girls Globally, widely known as Educate Girls, has become the first Indian organisation to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award. The award is considered Asia’s highest honour, comparable to the Nobel Prize. 

A London School of Economics graduate, Husain, after returning from San Francisco, had started the work to tackle female illiteracy. through Educate Girls. Since 2007, it has reached out to over 30,000 villages across India’s most underserved regions, and includes two million girls, with a retention rate of over 90 per cent.

The Bibi Fatima Women’s Self-Help Group wins Equator Initiative Award 2025

The Bibi Fatima Women’s Self-Help Group (SHG), which belongs to the Teertha village in Karnataka’s Dharwad district, recently won the prestigious United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Equator Initiative Award 2025. The award is often described as the 'Nobel Prize for Biodiversity Conservation', which recognises community-led, nature-based solutions for sustainable development and climate resilience.

The SHG has been recognised for their pioneering work in millet revival, along with the eco-friendly farming, community seed banking, and women-led rural entrepreneurship. The award also carries a USD 10,000 prize. The SHG has established a solar-powered processing unit to produce millets in consumer-friendly forms, which also includes ragi dosa mix, multigrain atta, special malt, and vermicelli. Entirely run by women, the SHG also work towards innovating herbal products. 

When Mirabai Chanu get gold at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2025

It might be a repetitive win for the popular former world champion Mirabai Chanu, but clinching gold yet again is nothing but putting India, yet again, on the global map. It has been seen as a triumphant return to competitive action for Chanu. 

Mirabai Chanu lifted 193kg (84kg snatch+109kg clean and jerk) to top the podium and this the gold medal also ensured her a direct qualification for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Belonging to Manipur, Chanu has also been inducted as an Additional Superintendent of Police in the state, and a biopic featuring Priyanka Chopra has also been made in Hindi to mark her contribution and journey.