Kiran Bedi is a reputed Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. She is memorable for being the first woman to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972, and was later posted as Director General, BPR&D (Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs). Kiran Bedi retired from IPS in December 2007 on voluntary retirement. During her service, she served a considerable period in the Inspector General Prisons of Tihar Jail from 1993 to 1995.

Early life of Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi was born on 9 June 1949 in Amritsar, Punjab. She completed her schooling from the Sacred Heart Convent School, Amritsar, where she joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC). Kiran Bedi had a strong passion for tennis that she inherited from her father, who himself was a talented tennis player. Later, she graduated in English (Hons.) followed by a Master`s degree in1970. Kiran Bedi obtained the doctorate title through her Ph.D. from Social Sciences in the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and the topic of her research was `Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence`.

Kiran Bedi was the winner of the Asian Lawn Tennis Championship in 1972, the Junior National Lawn Tennis Championship in 1966 and the All-India Interstate Women`s Lawn Tennis Championship in 1976; besides this she also won the all-Asian tennis champion, the Asian Ladies Title and had won at the age of 22.

Career of Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi began her career in1972 as a Lecturer in Political Science at Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar, India. In July 1972, Kiran Bedi joined the Indian Police Service. Kiran Bedi served in a number of tough assignments starting from Traffic Commissioner of New Delhi, Deputy Inspector General of Police in rebellion prone Mizoram, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor of Chandigarh, Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau and also on a United Nations deputation, where she was appointed as the Civilian Police

Kiran Bedi has been an influential voice in several decisions of the Indian Police Service, particularly in the segments of narcotics control, traffic management, and VIP security. Kiran Bedi was last appointed as Director General of India`s Bureau of Police Research and Development.

On 27 November 2007, she told the government that she wished to voluntarily retire from the police force in order to undertake new challenges in life. On 25 December 2007, the Government of India relieved Bedi of her duties as Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development

Kiran Bedi as a Social Reformer
Kiran Bedi founded two NGOs in India, namely Navjyoti for welfare and preventive policing in 1987 and India Vision Foundation for prison reforms that dealt with drug abuse prevention, child welfare in 1994.

During her tenure as the Inspector General of Prisons, Tihar Jail (1993-1995), she established a number of reforms in the management of the prison, and initiated a number of actions such as detoxification programs, Vipassana Meditation, yoga asanas, negotiating of complaints by prisoners and literacy programs. After retirement Kiran Bedi launched a new website, www.saferindia.com on January 3, 2007. She aimed to help people through this website, whose complaints were not accepted by the local police.

Kiran Bedi is one of the prominent members of the India against Corruption (IAC) along with Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal.

Personal Life of Kiran Bedi
Kiran Bedi married Brij Bedi who was a former University Tennis Player, textile Engineer by Profession and a renowned Social Activist in 1972 and three years later, in 1975, they had daughter Saina who is involved in Community Service.

Her organizations were awarded the Serge Soitiroff Memorial Award for drug abuse prevention by the United Nations.

Some of the extraordinary publications by Kiran Bedi are as follows -
It`s Always Possible: Kiran Bedi in October 1999 by Indra Publishing. "What Went Wrong?" is the collection of the fortnightly column written by Kiran Bedi, The Motivating Bedi by Kiran Bedi. Kiran Bedi has written her autobiography, `I Dare. It`s Always Possible`, which was released in 1998.

Books written on Kiran Bedi are as follows -
I Dare! biography of Kiran Bedi by Parmesh Dangwal, Government@net by Sandeep Srivastava and Parminder Jeet Singh and Kiran Bedi, The Kindly Baton by Dr Meenakshi Saksena.

Awards and Recognition of Kiran Bedi
* She was honoured with the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship to write about the reforms done at Tihar Jail
* Kiran Bedi was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law in May 2005
* Joseph Beuys Award (1997)
* President`s Gallantry Award (1979)
* Women of the Year Award (1980)
* Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention and Control (1991)
* Magsaysay Award (1994)
* Father Machismo Humanitarian Award (1995)
* Lion of the Year (1995)
* Mahila Shiromani Award (1995)
* Pride of India (1999)
* Mother Teresa Memorial National Award for Social Justice (2005)
* Star Parivar Award (2010)
* Bharatiya Manavata Vikas Puraskar (2011)
* She had also received a United Nations Medal from the United Nations.