First of all, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) tweeted about her; the tweet went massively viral. Later, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra quoted the NITI Aayog’s tweet about her and the tweet again broke the internet. The person in the limelight here is Tessy Thomas. She is known as the Missile Woman of India, according to NITI Aayog. Noteworthy, Tessy Thomas is the first woman scientist who is heading a missile project in India. She is a speaker for 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES 2017). Introducing and praising Tessy Thomas, NITI Aayog had tweeted, “Meet Tessy Thomas, our #GES2017 speaker also known as the ‘Missile Woman’ of India. She is the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India.” After the tweet went viral, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said that Tessy deserves to be more famous than the biggest Bollywood star. Anand Mahindra says, “A poster of Tessy in every Indian school will wreck stereotypes and create enormous career aspirations for girls.” Moreover, Anand Mahindra asked Twitter users to retweet to make ‘Missile Woman of India’ Tessy Thomas a star. Mahindra urged Twitter users, “Maybe you can download this pic, turn it into a poster. Give it to the nearest school.”

According to a profile on GES 2017’s speakers’ list, “Dr Tessy Thomas is a Distinguished Scientist and presently the Director of Advanced Systems Laboratory, one of the premier Laboratories of DRDO.”

“As Project and Technology Leader, she has played a major role in Mission Design and Infra-Structure Development. Developed Production teams from various Industries for Process and Product development. She has carried-out continuous nurturing and mentoring of Scientists and ensuring Collective Learning atmosphere and creating a Knowledge sharing platform. She is a fellow of various professional Bodies – INAE, IEI, TAS and Senior Member of IEEE, ASI and AeSI. She received Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from five different Universities,” says Tessy Thomas’ profile.

Moreover, “She is a recipient of DRDO Scientist of the year in 2008 and DRDO Performance Excellence Award for 2011 and 2012, India Today Women of the year in 2009, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration Academics and Management in 2012, CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2012 Special Achievement Award, Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya Award-2016 for outstanding contributions in the field of Engineering from The Institution of Engineers (India), Telangana State Centre, Hyderabad and Outstanding Woman Achiever Award in the field of Science and Technology by Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), India,” as per additional details of her profile.

NITI AAYOG’s tweet: “Meet Tessy Thomas, our #GES2017 speaker also known as the ‘Missile Woman’ of India. She is the first woman scientist to head a missile project in India.”

ANAND MAHINDRA’s tweet: “Tessy deserves to be more famous than the biggest Bollywood star.A poster of Tessy in every Indian school will wreck stereotypes&create enormous career aspirations for girls.RT to make her a star.Maybe you can download this pic, turn it into a poster.Give it to the nearest school.”

GES 2017

NITI Aayog in partnership with the Government of the United States of America is hosting the 8th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad on November 28-30, 2017. The summit will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ivanka Trump, Advisor to US President Donald Trump and other top dignitaries. Reportedly, GES 2017 will create an environment that will empower innovators, particularly women, to take their ideas to the next level.

Ivanka Trump’s GES 2017 address

Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of US President Donald Trump, in her address on Tuesday is likely to stress on fuelling the growth of women-led businesses, saying closing the gender entrepreneurship gap worldwide could grow global GDP by as much as 2 per cent. In her keynote address to the 8th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit later in the day, she is likely to stress on ensuring women entrepreneurs have access to capital, access to networks and mentors, and access to equitable laws.