Recent Current Affairs related to Women

According to the 13th and 14th editions of the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) released by the Department of Higher Education (DoHE) under the Ministry of Education (MoE) for the academic years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The number of universities increased by 69.6% from 760 to 1.28 thousand.

During this ten-year period, the number of colleges grew by 25.3% to 48.2 thousand, and standalone institutions increased by approximately 24% to 15.2 thousand. Total student enrollment in higher education rose by 31.5% from 3.42 crore to 4.50 crore between 2014-15 and 2023-24.

Female enrollment witnessed a growth of 42.2% over the decade, rising from 1.57 crore to 2.24 crore. It is to be noted that this resulted in a Gender Parity Index (GPI) of 1.08 for the academic year 2023-24.

Shakti Sharma becomes the first woman officer from a non-medical branch in the Indian Defence Forces to attain the rank of Air Vice Marshal (AVM). Upon her promotion, she has taken charge as the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Education) (ACAS (Edn)) at the Air Headquarters.

Himachal Pradesh government has signed a 5-year MoU with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business (ISB-BIPP) to unlock the forest and pastoral economy potential of the state, estimated at ₹22,600 crore.

The initiative focuses on using science and technology-enabled governance for the management of natural resources.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has organised the “Yashoda AI - Women’s Path to AI Empowerment” programme at Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar, Punjab.

The initiative aims to promote AI literacy, digital empowerment, and cyber safety to ensure a secure digital environment.

YES Bank has launched a lifestyle and rewards-oriented credit card named “YES Essence Credit Card” specifically for women. The card aims to address the evolving healthcare and lifestyle requirements of segments including young professionals, salaried employees, and digital-savvy women.

Squadron Leader Bhawana Kanth has become the first woman fighter pilot of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to successfully complete the Fighter Combat Leader (FCL) course at the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE) in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.

With this achievement, she became the first woman graduate of the elite ‘Top Gun’ school of the IAF, where only about 1% of pilots are selected for the 20-week advanced combat programme.

The Tamil Nadu government has launched the ‘Vetri Vaanmagal’ scheme to train women farmers in drone operation, promote precision agriculture, and create high-tech employment opportunities in the rural economy.

HDFC Bank has launched two new savings account variants, “Max for Seniors”, for senior citizens. and “Max for Her”, for women, to offer customized benefits.

The “Max for Seniors” variant offers cyber insurance coverage of up to ₹25,000 and a debit card-linked accidental death cover of up to ₹3.19 crore. The “Max for Her” variant provides an Auto Sweep facility for higher returns on surplus savings, along with a debit card-linked accidental death cover of up to ₹3.19 crore and an additional accident cover of up to ₹10 lakh.

Harshita Jakhar, a 19-year-old cyclist from Rajasthan, becomes the first Indian woman to feature in the Tour de France Femmes.

She was selected by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) as one of only 8 riders worldwide for the UCI World Cycling Talent Programme.

Candere, a luxury online jewellery brand by Kalyan Jewellers, in partnership with Hurun India, has released the 2nd edition of the 'Candere Hurun India Women Leaders List 2026'. The list recognizes 117 women achievers across 12 categories.

Meena Bindra, founder of BIBA, is ranked top on the overall leaderboard, followed by Tushara Shankar and Rajni Bector. Paralympian Avani Lekhara is the youngest individual to be featured in the top 10 overall leaderboard.

Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCLTech, leads the 'Wealth Multipliers' segment, while Priya Nair, CMD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), tops the 'Professional CEOs' category. The 12 category leaders possess a combined 464 years of active professional experience. Manju D. Gupta (Lupin) and Ritu Kumar contributed 58 and 57 years of experience, respectively.

The Chhattisgarh government has launched the ‘Decentralised Women Empowerment on Energy and Policy for Transformative Inclusion (DWEEPTI) Yojana’.

It is India’s first women-led distributed Renewable Energy (RE) policy, designed to empower rural Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to function as solar entrepreneurs. With technical support from Tata, 35 women from SHGs have been trained in rooftop solar installation, forming the first cohort of ‘Solar Didis’.

The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), through the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), has signed a non-financial MoU with Project Concern International (PCI) India to strengthen women-led enterprises (WLEs), particularly those operated by Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

The partnership aims to facilitate public procurement and market-linked enterprise development for these businesses.

The Haryana government has approved a full exemption from motor vehicle tax for new Electric Vehicles (EVs) priced up to ₹30 lakh. This applies to battery-operated two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers at the time of registration. For EVs priced above ₹30 lakh, a 50% tax exemption is provided.

Additionally, the state has announced a 1% motor vehicle tax rebate on non-transport vehicles registered in the name of women. The existing 20% tax rebate on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles remains unchanged.

The 2026 Fields Medals have been awarded to four mathematicians: Yu Deng, John Pardon, Jacob Tsimerman, and Hong Wang. It is to be noted that Hong Wang has become the third woman to receive this prestigious award.

Often referred to as the 'Nobel Prize of Mathematics', the Fields Medal is awarded every four years to researchers under the age of 40 for exceptional mathematical achievement. Each laureate receives a gold medal featuring the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes and a cash prize of $15,000 (Canadian Dollar - CAD).

Akanksha Choudhary from Ajmer, Rajasthan, has been crowned Mrs India 2026 at a ceremony held in Jaipur.

In another achievement, Dr. Priyanka Sharma has won the title of Mrs. Earth International Elite 2026.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh has flagged-in 'Samudra Pradakshina', the inaugural Tri-service all-women circumnavigation sailing expedition, via video conferencing.

The team, comprising nine women officers from the three Services, sailed aboard the Indian Army Sailing Vessel (IASV) Triveni. They returned to Mumbai after completing a 314-day voyage, covering nearly 25,500 nautical miles across four oceans.

Dr. Nandini Azad, the President of the Working Women's Forum (India) (WWF-I) and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW), has been conferred with the Bharat Samman 2026.

The Indian Deaf Women’s Cricket Team has won the inaugural Women’s Twenty20 International (T20I) series against the Sri Lanka Deaf Women’s Cricket Team with a 5–0 victory. The series was held at the De Soysa International Cricket Stadium in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

Shradda Vaishnav was named the 'Player of the Final', while Reddy Jyoshna was adjudged the 'Player of the Series'.

India hosted the BRICS Women Ministerial Meeting (WMM) in Kochi, Kerala under its BRICS Chairship 2026. During the meeting, member nations reached a consensus on two initiatives proposed by India: the 'BRICS Digital Repository of Best Practices' and 'BRICS Digital Capacity Building'.

India also hosted the 3rd BRICS Transport Ministers' Meeting (TMM) in Nagpur, Maharashtra, chaired by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The meeting concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Ministerial Declaration.

Australia, captained by Sophie Molineux, has won the 2026 ICC Women's T20 World Cup, marking their 7th championship victory. They defeated the hosts England by 7 wickets in the final held at the Lord's cricket stadium in London.

The 2026 ICC Women's T20 World Cup featured 12 teams, marking an expansion in participation for the first time. Danni Wyatt-Hodge of England emerged as the top run-scorer with 302 runs, while N Shree Charani of India was the leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets. Beth Mooney of Australia was named the Player of the Match in the final.