77th birthday of a remarkable woman & a true pioneer. Air Marshall Padmavathy (Swaminathan) Bandopadhyay was the 1st woman to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshall in the Indian Air Force (1/6) 
She's also only the 2nd woman in the Indian armed forces to be promoted to the rank of a 3-star General. A childhood spent in caring for an ailing mother bedridden with tuberculosis helped develop the love for the medical profession for a young Padma (2/6)
She joined the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune in 1963 & was commissioned in the IAF in 1968. She was awarded a VSM for her service during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War (3/6)
She & her husband Wing Commander SN Bandopadhyay became the 1st IAF couple to be awarded at the same President's ceremony. She was the first woman to become a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Society of India (4/6)
She's also the first Indian woman to conduct scientific research at the North Pole & the first woman Armed Forces officer to have completed the Defence Service Staff College course in 1978 (5/6)
AM Padmavathy Bandopadhyay has been honoured with an AVSM & a PVSM by the government of India for her outstanding career. In 2020, she received the Padma Shri. A true icon and role model (6/6)
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
