Interesting Facts about India, Study Notes, Material – All Teaching Exams | Part 2

NAME

OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS

First President of the Indian Republic

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, 1950 to 1962

• President of the Constituent Assembly (1948-1950)

First Prime Minister of free India

Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru

• He is also called as architect of modern India.
• Chairman of the constituent assembly.
• Chairman of Union Constitution Committee, Union Powers Committee and States Committee

First Indian to win Nobel Prize

Rabindranath Tagore

• Also Known as Gurudev.
• Wrote National Anthem of India.

First President of Indian National Congress

W.C. Banerjee

First Muslim President of Indian National Congress

Badruddin Tayyabji

First Muslim President of India

Dr. Zakir Hussain

First British Governor General of India

Lord William Bentinck (1833-1835)

• Sati system was banned during his regime.

First British Governor General of Bengal

Lord Warren Hasting (1774-1885)

• First Maratha war and second Mysore war occured during his regime
• Founded Asiatic Society of Bengal.

First British Viceroy of India

Lord Canning

• Revolt of 1857 happened during his regime.
• Established 3 universities at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay.

First Governor General of free India

Lord Mountbatten

• Indian Independence Bill 1947 was passed during his regime.

First and the last Indian to be Governor General of free India

C. Rajgopalachari

• Informally called as Rajaji or C.R.

The first man who introduced printing press in India

James Hicky (Bengal Gazette)

• Bible was the first book printed in India.

The First Indian to join the I.C.S

Satyendra Nath Tagore

First man in Space from India

Rakesh Sharma

First Prime Minister of India who resigned without completing the full term

Morarji Desai

First Indian Commander-in-Chief of India

General Cariappa

First Chief of Army Staff

Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji

First Indian to join Viceroy’s executive council

S.P.Sinha

First President of India who died while in office

Dr. Zakir Hussain

• He was awarded with Bharat Ratna award.

First Muslim President of Indian Republic

Dr. Zakir Hussain

First Prime Minister of India who did not face the Parliament

Charan Singh

• Serving from 28 July 1979 until 14 January 1980.

First Field Marshal of India

S.H.F. Manekshaw(1914-2008)

First person to get Nobel Prize in Physics from India

C.V.Raman

• For the discovery of Raman Effect or Raman Scattering.

First Indian to receive Bharat Ratna award

Dr. Radhakrishnan

• First Vice President of India

First Indian to cross English Channel

Mihir Sen

First Person to receive Jnanpith award

Sri Shankar Kurup

The first Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Ganesh Vasudeva Mavalankar

• Also known as Dadasaheb
• Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of India

First Vice-President of India

Dr. Radhakrishnan

First Education Minister

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

First Home Minister of India

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel

• India’s first Deputy Prime Minister.
• Started Bardoli Satyagarh.
• Chairman of Provincial Constitution Committee and Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas.

First Indian Air Chief Marshal

S. Mukherjee

First Indian Naval Chief

Vice Admiral R.D. Katari

First Indian Judge of International Court of Justice

Dr. Nagendra Singh

First person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen

Sherpa Ang Dorjee

First person to get Param Vir Chakra

Major Somnath Sharma

First Chief Election Commissioner

Sukumar Sen

First person to receive Magsaysay Award

Acharya Vinoba Bhave

• First person chosen for Individual Satyagraha.

First person of Indian origin to receive Nobel Prize in Medicine

Hargovind Khurana

First Chinese traveller to visit India

Fahein

• During the reign of Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and wrote the book “Si-Yu-Ki”.

First person to receive Stalin Prize

Saifuddin Kitchlu

• Jalliawala Bagh gathering 1919 was held against the arrest of Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlu and Dr. Satyapal.

The first person to resign from the Central Cabinet

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

• Served as Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet
• Founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a predecessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in 1951.

First person to receive Nobel Prize in Economics

Amartya Sen

• For his contributions to welfare economics

First Chief Justice of Supreme Court

Justice Hirala J. Kania

First Indian Pilot

J.R.D. Tata (1929)

First Indian woman to become Miss World

Rita Faria

First Indian woman judge in Supreme Court

Mrs. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi

First woman Ambassador fom India

Mrs. C.B. Muthamma

First Indian woman Governor of a state in free India

Mrs Sarojini Naidu

• She became the first Indian President of Indian National Congress
• Known as the ‘Nightingale of India’

First Indian woman Speaker of a State Assembly

Shanno Devi

First Indian woman Prime Minister

Mrs Indira Gandhi (sworn on January 24, 1966

• Full name Indira Priyadarshini Nehru.
• Indo Pakistan war 1971 was fought during his regime.
• Imposed National Emergency from 25 June 1975 to 21 March 1977.
• Operation Bluestar Started by her.

First Indian woman Minister in a Government

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

• As Health minister.

First Indian woman to climb Mount Everest

Bachhendri Pal

First Indian woman to climb Mount Everest twice

Santosh Yadav

First woman President of Indian National Congress

Mrs Annie Besant

• Started Home league in India.
• Theosophical society in Idia.

First Indian woman President of Indian National Congress

Mrs. Sarojini Naidu

First Indian woman President of United Nations General Assembly

Mrs. Vijay  Laxmi Pandit

First Indian woman who got Graduates degree

Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883

First Indian woman Honours Graduate

Kamini Roy, 1886

First Indian woman Olympic medal Winner

Karnam Malleswari, 2000

First Indian woman to win Gold Medal in Asian Games

Kamlijit Sandhu

First Indian woman Lawyer

Cornelia Sorabjee

First woman Chief Minister of an Indian State

Mrs. Sucheta Kripalani

• Head of the Uttar Pradesh government from 1963 to 1967.
• Part of the subcommittee that drafted the Indian Constitution.
• Like her contemporaries Aruna Asaf Ali and Usha Mehta, she came to the forefront during the Quit India Movement.

First Indian woman Chairman of Union Public Service Commission

Roze Millian Bethew

First Indian woman Director General of Police

Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya

First woman Judge of India

Anna Chandy (She became judge in a district court in 1937)

First Indian woman Chief Justice of High Court

Mrs. Leela Seth (Himachal Pradesh High Court)

First Indian woman Lieutenant General

Puneeta Arora

First Indian woman Air Vice-Marshal

P. Bandopadhyaya

First woman to receive Jnanpith Award from India

Ashapoorna Devi 

• For her novel ‘Pratham Pratisruti ‘in 1965

First Indian woman IPS officer

Mrs. Kiran Bedi

• India’s First & Highest (Woman) Ranking Officer

First Indian and last Muslim woman ruler of India

Razia Sultan

• 1236 –1240, Slave Dynasty

First Indian woman to receive Ashoka Chakra

Nirja Bhanot

First woman to cross the English Channel from India

Aarti Saha

First Indian woman to receive Nobel Prize

Mother Teresa

• Received honors, like Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize 1962 and Nobel Peace Prize 1979.
• Founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation for the welfare of HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis affected People and Orphanage.
• Born in Skopje (Macedonia) moved to India in 1930’s.
• She was canonized (recognized by the church as a saint) on 4 September 2016,

First Indian woman to receive Bharat Ratna

Mrs. Indira Gandhi

First Indian woman pilot in Indian Air Force

Harita Kaur Dayal

First Indian woman appeared on Time Magazine cover.

Parveen Babi

India’s first test tube baby

“Durga” (Kanupriya Agarwal)

• She was brought into life in the year 1978 by the hands of D.r Subhash Mukhopadhyay