Indira ‘woman of millennium’
Mahatma ‘Asian of century’

LONDON, Dec 1 (PTI) — Late Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has been voted the greatest woman of the millennium in a BBC online poll pushing behind Queen Elizabeth I.

They were followed by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, Marie Curie and Aung San Suu Kyi and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Those next to them, chosen by the international users of BBC as the greatest woman of the last 1000 years, included Joan of Arc, Emmeline Pankhurst and Elanor Roosevelt.

Lord Swraj Paul, leading NRI industrialist and Chairman of the £ 500 million Caparo group, said he was personally delighted to hear about the BBC news online verdict about Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by her own bodyguards in 1984.

"I have always believed that Mrs Gandhi was the greatest politician of the century. But to be adjudged the woman of the millennium is more heartening," he said.

Meanwhile, Mahatma Gandhi, "Father of the Nation", has been named "Asian of the century" by the reputed "Asiaweek" magazine, winning over strong contenders including, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and legendary Japanese film maker Akira Kurosawa.

"His name is the first to spring to mind when thinking of great Asians," the weekly says in "The Asian of the century" cover story which appears in the latest issue of the weekly, according to a release of the Hong Kong-based weekly.

"More than 50 years after his death, Gandhiji is the only Asian leader this century whose achievements and influence have transcended international borders.

While Gandhi topped the category of "moral and spiritual leadership", Morita Akio, co-founder of Japanese multinational ‘Sony’, was selected leader in the business and economics field.

Other leaders selected were Charles Kao Kuen, father of fibre optics (science and technology), Akira Kurosawa, first Asian to win an Oscar (art, literature and culture) and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (politics and government).