Dr Padmavathy Bandopadhyay, the first woman Air Marshal of Indian Air Force was given the Padma Shri award by President Ram Nath Kovind on November 9.
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She was among the 119 recipients to receive the third-highest civilian honour on Tuesday. Out of the 119 awardees, 39 of them were women.
Bandopadhyay chose to become a doctor and vowed to help thousands who suffer because she saw her mother get ill and remain in care for the rest of her life.
Here' what we know of Dr Padmavathy Bandopadhyay:
She was born on November 4, 1944, which makes her 77 years old.
She went to Kirori Mal College of the University of Delhi for her graduation and stood first in the whole course.
She passed the entrance test for the Armed Forces Medical College in 1962 in Pune and passed in the first group.
Bandopadhyay first got posted as an intern at the Air Force Hospital in Bangalore where she met her husband Satinath Bandopadhyay.
In 1968, she got employed at the Indian Air Force from the Armed Forces Medical College. As per reports, the officer faced an issue with her eyesight and that is because she could not become a pilot.
For their benefactions to the war work, both Bandhopadhyay and her husband, an administrative official conferred the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM). It is an award for exemplary dedication to duty.
They were the first-ever husband and wife team to be acknowledged with the VSM at the same defence function by the President.
Bandopadhyay was promoted to Wing Commander, and was posted to DIPAS (Defence Institute of Physiology & Allied Sciences ), where she did outstanding research work in high altitude.
She helped produce the new acclimatisation program for Indian Soldiers at high altitudes. And developed precautionary steps to High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema (HAPO) and High Altitude Cerebral Oedema (HACO).
She is the first Indian female to have administered scientific study at the North Pole.
On her arrival in India, she received the Indira Priyadarshini Award for being an outstanding lady with so many accomplishments to her name. This was a first for any lady in uniform. She was bestowed the Air Force Wives Welfare Association Trophy by AFWWA.
Promoted to become the First Lady Air Vice Marshal of the Indian Air Force, she was the first of all the Air Forces of the world. Padma also took over as the Additional Director General Armed Forces Medical Services.
Padmavathy also became the first Lady Director General Medical Services of the forces.
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