Skip to main content

Who are some of the women heads of states & governments?

By
Hello,

How's your week been?
This week saw David Cameron stepping down and Theresa May becoming the new British PM. She's the 2nd female PM that Great Britain has had.
But who have been some of the other leading ladies across the world?
That's the theme for this weekend's GK nugget.
Let's begin at home.
Indira Gandhi served as India's prime minister from 1966 to 1977 & 1980 to 1984.
Pratibha Patil served as the 12th President of India from 2007 to 2012.
Moving west
Golda Meir, the prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 74 was considered the original 'Iron Lady'. She was a founder of the state of Israel and the nation’s 4th prime minister.
Another famous 'Iron Lady', Margaret Thatcher was the 1st woman prime minister of Britain from 1979 to 1990. 
Other erstwhile female heads of state:
Sri Lanka-President Chandrika Kumaratunga Nov, 1994 - Nov, 2005
Pakistan-PM Benazir Bhutto Dec, 1988 - Aug, 1990 & Oct, 1993 - Nov, 1996
Australia-PM Julia Gillard Jun, 2010 - Jun, 2013
Thailand-PM Yingluck Shinawatra Aug, 2011 - May, 2014
Poland-PM Ewa Kopacz Sept, 2014 – Nov, 2015
Argentina-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Dec, 2007 – Dec, 2015
Denmark-PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt Oct, 2011 – Jun, 2015
Some current women leaders:
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been the president of Liberia since 2006.
She was one of three recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for efforts to promote and support the rights of women.
Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany since 2005, is a trained physicist & has emerged as one of the key leaders of the European Union.
Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff came to power in 2011 and was re-elected in 2014. But her govt was accused of corruption & scandals & while she is personally not accused of any corruption or criminal offence, the Brazilian Congress impeached her in May.
South Korea-President Park Geun-hye
Bangledesh-PM Sheikh Hasina Wajed
Norway-PM Erna Solberg
Chile-President Michelle Bachelet
Malta-President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
Croatia-President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic
Of course, this list is not exhaustive. There have been many more women heads of governments and there will be many more to come.
An interesting bit of information: From 1994 to 2000 was the 1st time that a nation (Sri Lanka) possessed a female prime minister and a female president simultaneously. Sri Lanka in 1994 also marked the first time a female prime minister directly succeeded another female prime minister.
Notable mention: While she isn't officially a head of state or government, Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (formerly Burma), has been the poster girl of turbulent burmese politics, having been detained under house arrest for almost 15 of 21 years from 1989 to 2010. She is barred from the presidency owing to a clause in the constitution that doesn't allow anyone with foreign relatives to hold the office (Her 2 sons have British citizenship), but the ruling party has acknowledged that she will be running the government.
This list will have a prominent addition to it if Hillary Clinton wins the American Presidential election at the end of the year. Only time will tell.
That's all for today. Until next Sunday.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering JFK on his 100th Birthday

By
Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. This weekend we’re talking about one of my favourite politicians (yes, there are some likeable ones too), who passed away too young. He was the leader of one of the superpowers of the world and 29 th May 2017 was his 100 th birth anniversary. I’m talking about John Fitzgerald Kennedy , famously known as JFK . JFK was the 35 th President of the USA from January 1961 up until 22 nd November 1963 , when he was assassinated. He was the youngest president of the country and also the youngest to die . JFK’s inaugural address had him reach out to all Americans – “ Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country ” – a line that is till date quoted in essays written by school and college going children. JFK led the US at the height of the Arms Race with Russia and also during the critical Cuban missile crisis . (In October 1962, U.S. spy planes discovered that Soviet missile bases had ...
Read more

12 Must have Apps for Expats In India

By
So you’re an expat and a guest in our country? Welcome and I hope you have an enjoyable time. But let’s face it, this country of 1.3 billion people isn’t the easiest to navigate and takes some getting used to. Let technology come to your rescue and help you get what you want quickly, easily & cheaply (in most cases). So here’s a list of 12 must have Apps for Expats that makes life easier for them here in India. (I’ve given links to their websites – depending on the phone that you are using you can either download the apps by searching in the App Store or Google Play or be redirected from their websites.) 1)   Ola / Uber      Need to hail a cab? Conveniently log onto the Uber app or the Ola app. Both apps allow you to pay using credit cards though Ola also lets you pay cash (I’ve been told that Uber also accepts cash in India). Both apps also accept payment via mobile wallets like PayTM & MobiKwik (digital wallets – details below). ...
Read more

Why is Pluto a "Dwarf Planet" & other Celestial trivia

By
The week gone by saw the world celebrate the 25 th birthday of the internet on 23 rd August. On this day in 1991 , the public gained access for the first time to the World Wide Web, which had been designed & deployed by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in Switzerland. But today’s GK Nugget is about something else. On 24 th Aug 2006 the International Astronomical Union clarified the definition of a “ planet ”. It said that a celestial body must meet the following criteria in order to qualify as a planet: 1) It must be round. 2) It must orbit the sun. 3) It must have “cleared the neighbourhood" of its orbit. This means that as a planet travels, its gravity sweeps and clears the space around it of other objects. Unfortunately, Pluto (which was discovered on Feb 18 th , 1930 ) doesn’t meet criteria #3 & therefore it was classified as a Dwarf Planet . For the common man, this was a shock, but amongst the circle of astronomers it wasn’t so surprisin...
Read more