FIRST IN INDIA

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 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 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 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 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

Delhi’s First Mayor: Aruna Asaf Ali (1958)

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 Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event: P.T.Usha

First Miss Universe of the new millennium: Lara Dutta

First Indian woman to swim across the English Channel: Arati Saha

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 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

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)