Not acknowledging gender only makes sense when there has been no discrimination against that gender in the past. Women in STEM and especially in India have accomplished their successes in spite of heavy odds against them. Women in India (traditionally) have been expected to stay at home and take care of the family, not send rockets to Mars.
As such acknowledging their accomplishments while acknowledging their gender is not a bad thing.
I wish they could be asked, though. Some people really do not like explicitly acknowledging their special status, and wish that everyone would just focus on their accomplishments instead of their traits.
As such acknowledging their accomplishments while acknowledging their gender is not a bad thing.