FIRST IN INDIA

FIRST IN INDIA (MEN)

• First American President to visit India: Dwight David Eisenhower
• First Asian to be elected president of Britain's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP): Lord Navnit Dholakia
• First Asian to head a British university: Lord Swaraj Paul (when he was elected Chancellor of the Wolverhampton University on May 9, 2000)
• First British Prime Minister to visit India: Harold Macmillan
• First Chairman of the University Grants Commission: S.S.Bhatnagar
• First Chief Election Commissioner of India: Sukumar Sen (21.3.1950 to 19.12.1958)
• First Chief Justice of India: Harilal J.Kania (26.1.1950-6.11.1951)
• First Chief Minister of the tri-lingual Bombay Presidency: B.G.Kher
• First Chief of Air Staff: Air Marshall Sir Thomas Elmherst (1947-1950)
• First Chief of Army Staff: Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Sinhji (1.4.1955 to 14.5.1955)
• First Commander-in-Chief: Gen.Sir Roy Bucher (1.1.1948 - 14.1.1949)
• First Dalit Lok Sabha Speaker: G M C Balayogi
• First Defence Minister of Independent India: Sardar Baldev Singh
• First Deputy Prime Minister of India: Sardar Vallabhai Patel
• First Director General of ICAR: B.P.Pal
• First Eunuch to be elected as a Mayor of an Indian city: Kamla Jaan, who elected Mayor of Katni city in Madhya Pradesh in January 2000.
• First Eunuch to get elected to a state legislature: Shabnam Mausi, won the Sohagpur Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh in the February 2000 elections.
• First European to invade India: Alexander
• First Field Marshal: Gen. S.H.F.J. Manekshaw
• First fighter pilot to win the Param Vir Chakra: Flying Officer Nirmaljeet Singh Sekhon (posthumous) for IAF in 1971 Indo-Pak conflict.
• First Foreign Secretary of Free India: K.P.S.Menon
• First Governor-General of Independent India: Lord Mountbatten
• First Indian bowler to get a hattrick in Test cricket: Harbhajan Singh
• First Indian Chief of Air Staff: Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee (April 1, 1954).
• First Indian Chief of Naval Staff: Vice Admiral R.D.Katari (1958-1962).
• First Indian Governor-General of India: C.Rajagopalachari
• First Indian to be awarded with the 'Victoria Cross': Khuda Dad Khan (for Gallantry in Belgium during the first World War)
• First Indian to be elected a member of British Parliament: Dadabhoi Naoroji
• First Indian to be elected to the US House of Representatives: Dilip Singh Saund
• First Indian to go in space: Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma. He went in the Soyuz 7-II Spacecraft on April 3, 1984 and returned on April 11, 1984.
• First Indian to hoist the National Flag over the North Pole: Squadron Leader Sanjay Thapar.
• First Indian to record a song on a gramophone disc: Sashi Mukhi of Classic Theatres, Calcutta (1902)
• First Indian to swim across the English Channel: Mihir Sen
• First Indian to win an Olympic Bronze: Khashaba Jadhav (wresting; 1952, Helsinki Olympics)
• First Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Tournament: Pullela Gopi Chand (March 11,2001)
• First Indian to win the World Billiards Championship: Wison Jones
• First Jnanpith Award Winner: G.Sankara Kurup (1965), for his work ‘Ottakkuzhal’ in Malyalam.
• First Minister without Portfolio: N.Gopalswami Ayengar in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet. He, however, went on to become the Minister of Defence.
• First Photographer in India: Raja Deendayal
• First President of India: Dr Rajendra Prasad (1950-1962)
• First President of the Indian Union of Civil Liberties: Rabindranath Tagore (1930s).
• First Prime Minister of India: Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-1964)
• First Prime Minister to win a popular entertainment award: Atal Behari Vajpayee (when he won the Screen-Videocon "Best Lyricist" prize in the non-film music category for his collection of poems titled "Nayi Disha" in February 2000).
• First Secretary-General of South-South Commission: Dr Manmohan Singh
• First Surveyor General of India: Sir George Everest
• First Vice-President of India: Dr S.Radhakrishnan (1952-1962)
• First Winner of Param Vir Chakra: Maj.Somnath Sharma (posthumously) in November, 1947
• India's first Test-tube baby: Harsha (born on August 6, 1986).
• Indian Johann Sebastian Bach: Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
• India's longest serving Chief Minister : Jyoti Basu
• Only Army Chief to be awarded with Maha Vir Chakra twice: Late Gen. A.S.Vaidya


FIRST IN INDIA (WOMEN)

• First Woman President of India : Pratibha Patil
• Delhi’s First Mayor: Aruna Asaf Ali (1958)
• Delhi's First woman chief secretary: Shailja Chandra
• Fastest Asian to swim across the English Channel: Anita Sood
• First all-women crew to fly an air Force Chetak Helicopter: Flight Cadets Cheryl Dutta and Simran Sodhi of IAF (December, 1995).
• First Asian woman magistrate appointed in United Kingdom: Kantha Talwar
• First Asian woman mayor in United Kingdom: Lata Patel
• First Indian woman President of Indian National Congress: Sarojini Naidu (1925)
• First Indian woman producer and director: Fatima Begum, who produced and directed Bulbul-e-Parastan in 1926.
• First Indian woman to become Miss Universe: Sushmita Sen (1994)
• First Indian woman to become Miss World: Reita Faria (1966)
• First Indian woman to climb Mt. Everest: Bachendri Pal
• First Indian Woman to go in space: Kalpana Chawla
• First woman to head any Wakf board in India : Bader Sayeed (TN Wakf Board)
• First Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event: P.T.Usha
• First Indian woman to win a medal in an Olympic event: Karnam Malleshwari (bronze medal, Sydney Olympics)
• First Indian woman boxer to win an international event : M.C.Merykom
• First Indian woman to swim across the English Channel: Arati Saha
• First Miss Universe of the new millennium: Lara Dutta
• First woman Ambassador from India: Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (to USSR from 1947-49)
• First woman Central Minister: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
• First woman chief justice of a High Court: Leila Seth (CJ of Himachal Pradesh, 1991)
• First woman Chief Minister of an Indian state: Sucheta Kriplani (Uttar Pradesh from 1963-1967)
• First woman film star to be a member of Rajya Sabha: Nargis Dutt
• First woman Governor of an Indian state: Sarojini Naidu (Uttar Pradesh from 1947-1948)
• First woman Governor of Tamil Nadu: Justice M. Fatima Beevi (1997)
• First woman IPS Officer of India: Kiran Bedi
• First woman Judge of the Supreme Court: Justice M. Fatima Beevi (1989)
• First woman judicial officer: Anna Chandy, who was appointed munsif in the Travancore state in 1937.
• First woman Minister of an Indian state: Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (Uttar Pradesh)
• First woman officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be promoted to the rank of air commodore: 55-year old Padma Bandhopadhyay who was commissioned to the IAF in 1968.
• First woman President of Indian National Congress: Annie Besant (1917)
• First woman President of UN General Assembly: Vijay Lakshmi Pandit (1953-54)
• First woman Prime Minister of India: Late Indira Gandhi (1966-1977 and 1980-1984).
• First woman Speaker of an Indian state: Shano Devi
• First woman Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly :Kavali Prathibha Bharati
• First woman winner of the Bharat Ratna: Indira Gandhi (1971)
• Grandma Madonna from India: Asha Bhonsle
• India's first commercial pilot: Durba Banerjee (1966, Indian Airlines)
• India's first Test-Tube Baby: Kruti Parekh
• India's first woman railway driver: Surekha Yadao
• India's first woman tabla maestro : Dr Aban Mistry
• India's officially recognized billionth citizen: Astha (She was born on May 11,2000 at New Delhi).
• World's first woman Airbus pilot: Durba Banerjee
• Youngest Indian to swim across the English Channel: Arati Pradhan

FIRST IN INDIA (MISCELLANIOUS)

• Earliest school of medicine known to humans: Ayurveda
• First Air Force in Asia to fly jets: Indian Air Force (1948)
• First Book in any Indian Language: It was printed in 1578 in Tamil.
• First Census in India: 1901
• First Cinema House in India: It was built by J.F.Madan in 1907 in Calcutta.
• First complete Technicolor film: Jhansi Ki Rani (1953)
• First Constitutional Amendment: 1950
• First country-wide agricultural census: 1970-71
• First English Newspaper in India: Bengal Gazette printed in 1790 by James Augustus in Calcutta.
• First Film Centre: Nandan. Located in Calcutta, it was inaugurated in September 1985.
• First Film with an all-female cast: Marathi Film Bindhast, directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni.
• First Five-Year Plan: Started in 1951
• First General Elections: They were held in 1952.
• First hydroelectric project in India: Shivasamudram, across the River Kaveri in 1902
• First Indian state to set up a women’s court: Andhra Pradesh
• First international co-production: Nala Damayanti (1921) made in collaboration with Italy.
• First Marine National Park: Jamnagar
• First Moonlit Animal House in Asia: Located in the Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad.
• First Navodaya School: Navegaon-Khairi in Nagpur
• First Postage Stamp: It was issued in India in 1852 at Karachi.
• First Printing Press: It was set up in Goa in 1556 by the Portuguese.
• First Railway Line: It was opened on April 16, 1853 between Bombay and Thane.
• First Rupee in India: It was minted during the reign of Sher Shah Suri in 1542.
• First ship built in India: Jala Usha built by Vishakapatnam Shipyard was commissioned in 1948.
• First silent feature film in India: Pundalik made in 1912 by N.G. Chitre and R.G. Torney. It was half British in its make.
• First solar crematorium: It is proposed to be set up in Valsad, Gujarat.
• First Solar Energy Centre: Gwalpahar, Gurgaon, Haryana
• First song-less film: JBH Wadia's Naujawan (1937).
• First south Indian film to be released in Korea: Tamil Film Muthu Maharaja (June, 2000)
• First Talkie Film: Alam Ara (1931)
• First Telefilm: Satyajit Ray's Sadgati (telecast on Doordarshan in April 1981)
• First Telegraph Line: It was laid between Calcutta and Agra in 1854. This line was 1280 km long. It was extended up to Lahore in 1857.
• First Telephone system: It was started in 1881 from Calcutta.
• First Television Reception Centre: Arvi, located in Maharashtra
• First veterinary college: Opened in Parel in Bombay in 1885. It is still in existence and is the oldest veterinary college in Asia.
• First Wind farm: Mandvi, Kutch in Gujarat
• Highest Airfield in the world: Thoise, Ladakh
• Highest road in India: Khardung La Pass
• India’s first Antartica expedition: January 11, 1982
• India’s first Satellite: Aryabhatta, April 19, 1975
• India's first colour film: Prabhat's Sairandhri, which was processed and printed in Germany in 1933.
• India's first fully indigenous silent feature film: Raja Harishchandra produced by Dada Saheb Phalke on May 3, 1913.
• India's first indigenously built missile destroyer: INS 'Delhi' (commissioned on November 15, 1997 at Mumbai).
• India's first indigenously built submarine: INS 'Shakti' (commissioned on February 7, 1992)
• India's first indigenously made colour film: Ardashir Irani’s Kisan Kanya made in 1937.
• India's first manufacturer of light bulbs and electrical equipment: Bengal Lamps, Calcutta (1933)
• India's First Oil well: Digboi (1890)
• India's first radio programme: This was broadcast privately with a 40w transmitter by the Madras Presidency Club Radio in 1924.
• India's largest inland lake: Lake Chilika, Orissa
• Largest circulated multi-edition daily in India: Roudramukhi Swar in Hindi (12,92,277 copies in 1997).
• Largest circulated periodical in India: Malayala Manorama (11,27,414 copies)
• Largest circulated single edition newspaper in India: Hindustan Times from Delhi (5,40,919 copies in 1997).
• Largest Nandi in India: Nandi of the Leepakshi Temple at Andhra Pradesh
• Largest Stupa in India: Mahachaitya Stupa, Amravati, Andhra Pradesh
• Oldest era in the world: Hindu Era
• Oldest para-military force in India: Assam Rifles (1835) in Shillong
• Only Place in the world where a Brahmat Temple is found: Pushkar in Rajasthan
• Shortest era in the world: Christian Era
• State with the highest % of Scheduled Castes to total population: Punjab (28.31% - 1991 Census)
• State with the highest% of Scheduled tribes to total population: Mizoram (94.75%)
• State with the largest number of Scheduled Castes: Uttar Pradesh (29.276 million - 1991 Census)
• State with the largest number of Scheduled Tribes: Madhya Pradesh (15.399 million - 1991 Census)
• State with the largest number of towns: Uttar Pradesh (704)
• State with the largest number of villages: Uttar Pradesh (1,12,803 - 1991 Census)
• State with the least number of towns: Nagaland (7)
• State with the lowest % of Scheduled tribes to total population: Uttar Pradesh (0.21%)
• State with the lowest number of Scheduled Castes: Mizoram (1000 - 1991 Census)
• State with the lowest number of Scheduled Tribes: Sikkim (91,000)
• State with the lowest number of villages: Goa (360 - 1991 Census)
• World's First University: Taxila (700 B.C.)
• World's highest STD/PCO facilities: Siachen glacier (established in November 1997)
• World's largest school: The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes City Montessori School in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, as the world's largest school with 23,000 students on its rolls.
• Youngest para-military force in India: Coast Guard (1978)