Priyanka Mohite becomes first Indian woman to scale Mt Annapurna, world's 10th highest peak
Mumbai, Apr 20: Priyanka Mohite from Satara in western Maharashtra has scaled Mt Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain peak in the world, becoming the first Indian woman climber to achieve the feat.
The news of the 28-year-old climbing the peak was shared by her employer Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited.
"Our colleague Priyanka Mohite scaled the peak of Mt.
Annapurna, (8091 metres) 10th highest mountain in the world, on 16th April 2021 at 1.30 pm. - first Indian woman to do so! We at @SyngeneIntl are so very proud of her," she tweeted.
The Biocon boss also shared a photo of Priyanka Mohite holding the national flag atop the peak.
Mount Annapurna is a massif in the Himalayas located in Nepal that includes one peak over 8,000 metres and is considered to be one of the toughest mountains to climb.
Priyanka has also climbed the world's highest peak Mount Everest (8,849 metres) in 2013, Mount Lhotse (8,516 metres) in 2018, Mount Makalu (8,485 metres) and also Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 metres) in 2016.
Passionate about mountaineering since childhood, Priyanka started to scale mountains in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra as a teenager and in 2012 scaled Bandarpunch, a mountain massif of the Garhwal division of the Himalayas, in Uttarakhand, her brother Akash Mohite told PTI.
In 2015 Priyanka scaled Mt Menthosa which at 6443 metres is the second-highest peak in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
The Bengaluru-based climber is also the recipient of the Maharashtra Government's Shiv Chhatrapati state award for adventure sports for 2017-2018.
She works with Syngene International Limited, Biocon's research organisation offering pharma and biotechnology majors customised solutions in synthetic chemistry and molecular biology for early-stage drug discovery and development.
Our colleague Priyanka Mohite scaled the peak of Mt. Annapurna, (8091 mtrs) 10th highest mountain in the world, on 16th April 2021 at 1.30pm.- first Indian woman to do so! We at @SyngeneIntl are so very proud of her ?? pic.twitter.com/Eh85xy46g0
— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) April 19, 2021
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Allahabad HC orders probe into 'reinstatement' of teacher in UP's Barabanki
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
