From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Mar 7: While Congress President and Congress-led UPA regime’s Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who figures in many of the top lists of most influential persons in the world including Time, has topped the list of 20 most popular Indian women in a comprehensive survey conducted by ASSOCHAM and Zee Business News, she is followed by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of private sector ICICI Bank Chanda Kochchar.

The ASSOCHAM and Zee Business News survey, which was released on the eve of the Women’s Day, has identified by the Indian-American Business Executive and the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo – the world’s second largest food and beverage business leader in terms of net revenue – Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi as the third while Bangalore-based entrepreneur and Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon Ltd Kiran Mazumdar Shaw as the fourth.

The popular Mangalore-born Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, wife of Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law of 'Big B’ Amitabh Bachchan-Jaya Bachchan, has emerged as the fifth most popular person.

The countrywide joint survey was conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Zee-Business under the aegis of its Social Development Foundation, in the months of January-February this year to identify the ''Most popular women of India in 2012.”

Major metropolitan cities in which respondents were interviewed include Delhi-National Capital Region, Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Cochin, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Indore, Patna, Pune, Chandigarh and Dehradun.

On the eve of Women’s Day, ASSOCHAM’s study based on the survey of 2,000 corporates employees from 32 various companies/organizations across 11 broad sectors of the economy. A little over 200 employees were selected from each city on an average.

Around 55 per cent of the survey respondents fall under the age bracket of 20-29 years, followed by 30-39 years (26 per cent), 40-49 years (16 per cent), 50-59 years (2 per cent) and 60-69 years (approximately 1 per cent).

The survey reveals that Shikha Sharma, MD and CEO, Axis Bank ranks 6th followed by Vidya Balan (7th), one of Bollywood's pre-eminent leading ladies and Mary Kom, a female boxer from Manipur, who did the country proud by winning medals in the recent London Olympics, scores 8th position.

Saina Nehwal also achieved 9th rank in the survey, winning three International tournaments back to back and upsetting top seeded players in World Badminton. Kiran Bedi India’s first and highest ranking officer ranks 10th position.

Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head of HSBC Bank ranks 11th in the list of most leading women of country followed by Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson of Piramal Life Sciences limited and Director of Piramal Healthcare Ltd. She is also the past president of ASSOCHAM gets 12th position.

Shabana Azmi, one of the most leading actresses to have graced the screens of Bollywood, scores the 13thposition while Ekta Kapoor, the Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms ranks 14th position for her entrepreneurial skills and achievements, mentions the survey.

Zoya Akhtar, one of India's great director of the Indian cinema scores the 15th position. Sushma Swaraj , BJP’s leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, is placed 16th.

Jayalalithaa Jayaram, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, cores 17th position followed by Mamatha Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, in the 18th position.

Lok Sabha Speaker and former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram’s daughter, Meira Kumar, gets the 19th position with Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s wife, Dimple Yadav, who is an MP and daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, ranking the 20th position.
 

Ranks

1st - Sonia Gandhi

2nd - Chanda Kochchar

3rd - Indra Nooyi

4th - Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

5th - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

6th - Shikha Sharma

7th - Vidya Balan

8th - Mary Kom

9th - Saina Nehwal

10th - Kiran Bedi

11th - Naina Lal Kidwai

12th - Swati Piramal

13th - Shabana Azmi

14th - Ekta Kapoor

15th - Zoya Akhtar

16th - Sushma Swaraj

17th - Jayalalithaa Jayaram

18th - Mamata Banerjee

19th - Meira Kumar

20th - Dimple Yadav