Nooyi, Williams, Lahiri women role models: PM

Even as India salutes the achievements of its diaspora in a wide variety of fields, it is particularly happy with the strides made by women of Indian origin globally, says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Even as India salutes the achievements of its diaspora in a wide variety of fields, it is particularly happy with the strides made by women of Indian origin globally, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday.

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"We in India take pride in the achievements of the people of Indian origin in diverse fields of human endeavour in different parts of the world," the prime minister told the 6th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"I am particularly happy at the strides made by our women. Indra Nooyi, Sunita Williams, Kalpana Chawla and Jhumpa Lahiri are role models for our society seeking to give women a rightful place," he said.

While Nooyi is the chief executive officer of the US food and beverages giant PepsiCo, Williams set a new women's space walking record last year during the course of her 195-day stay in space.

And while Karnal-born Chawla, also an Indian American astronaut, perished during the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, the teacher-turned-author Lahiri won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.