Twenty-five women including boxer Mary Kom, veteran actress Waheeda Rehman and social activist Aruna Roy were today awarded by the Limca Book of records on the occasion of its silver jubilee celebrations.
The victim of the December 16, 2012 gangrape in Delhi (posthumously), Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay, Captain Indraani Singh, journalist Mrinal Pande and noted writer Mahasweta Devi were also among the awardees.
The 25th edition of the record chronicler is dedicated to the cause of empowering women. The first edition of the Limca Book of Records, which is the regarded as an Indian equivalent of the Guinness Book of World Records with emphasis on unique achievements of Indians within the country and abroad, was launched in 1990.
The awards were presented by Justice Leela Seth.
Lauding the dedication of women in every sphere, Seth, who was the first woman judge in the Delhi High Court and the first woman to become Chief Justice of a state high court, said, "If men can do everything, we can do everything better than them."
While the awardees chose to walk down the memory lane, remembering their struggle, Asha Devi, mother of the December 16 gangrape victim said several 'Nirbhayas' across the country are still waiting for justice.
The other awardees included Bharatnatyam dancer Alarmel Valli, human rights activist Anjali Gopalan, first woman chairperson of SBI Arundhati Bhattacharya, classical singer Kishori Amonkar, international para athlete Deepa Malik, designer Laila Tyabji, painter Arpana Caur, Planning Commission member Syeda Saiyidain Hameed and agricultural scientist Vijaykumari Narukulla.
The 2014 edition of the Limca Book of records which is also published in Hindi and Malyalam, has 20 chapters celebrating over 10,000 remarkable achievements out of which 6000 are new records.
"We always keep a new theme for every edition, and this time we decided to dedicate the edition to the cause of empowering women and decided the launch date to coincide with the International Women's day as well," said Venkatesh Kini, President Coca-Cola India & South West Asia.
"Over 25 years, the book has continued to serves as the platform to showcase exceptional and awe-inspiring records. The current edition dedicated to women is another initiative to honoring achievements par excellence," said Vijaya Ghose, the editor of the record book since its inception.
