GK - List of firsts in India ( 7 )

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Places

    District to achieve 100% literacy rate : Ernakulam district, Kerala, 1990
    City/town to achieve 100% literacy rate : Kottayam, Kerala, 1989
    District to achieve 100% literacy rate and lowest population growth rate : Pathanamthitta district, Kerala
    District to be polio-free : Pathanamthitta district, Kerala
    District to achieve tobacco free: Kottayam district, Kerala, 27 September 2008
    District to become India's 'total electrified district' : Palakkad, Kerala, 2011
    City to have an e-court : Ahmedabad, 8 February 2009

Transport

    First (Metro) rail to become Zone of Indian Railways : Kolkata Metro as the (17Th Zonal Headquarter) (30-12-2010)
    First and the only Indian (Metro) rail under Indian Railways : Kolkata Metro
    First Passenger Train : between Mumbai and Thane on 16 April 1853
    First suburban railway line : Mumbai Suburban Railway in 1857
    First rapid transit (Metro) rail : Kolkata Metro in 1984
    First Motorcar : in 1897, Mr Forster of Crompton Greaves
    First Motorcar in regular use : Francis Spring, Chennai in 1901.
    First Indians to own a motor car : Jamshedji Tata and Rustom Cama, a Parsi Lawyer in 1901.
    First competitive event : Delhi - Bombay trials in 1905 at the behest of Lord Curzon and Motor Union of Western India to test the suitability of the Automobile for Indian roads and to facilitate interaction between the fledging Automobile Industry and prospective Indian clients
    Oldest surviving and running cars in India : De Dion Bouton 1904, Rover 1905
    First woman to drive a car in India: Suzanne RD Tata 1905
    First Motor Taxi : Mumbai, 1911
    First largescale import of motor cars : Relatively large contingent of motorcars imported for the Delhi Darbar held in 1911 to mark the arrival of King George V
    First registration scheme for motor vehicles in India : 1912
    Arrival of mass production technology makes the Automobile a practical means of transport by the 1920s and most British officers had cars
    First Assembly of motor cars : General Motors sets up the first assembly unit to assemble cars from imported parts in 1928. The National Series AB sedan is produced.
    First manufacture of motor cars : Hindustan Motors begins production of cars in 1942. Premier automobiles and Standard Motors setup. Technology stagnates as a result of economic autarky as India is isolated from the rest of the world
    First act leading to liberalization of the Auto sector : Maruti 800 launched in 1983 and the automotive industry is progressively liberalized
    First fully indegenous passenger car developed in India : Tata Indica, launched in 1998
    First expressway: Mumbai - Pune Expressway in 2000,
    First major acquisition of a foreign company by an Indian company : Tata Motors acquires Jaguar and Land Rover in 2007. Mahindra Automotive emerges as the top bidder for SsangYong Motor Company in 2010.
    First aeroplane in India : Maharaja of Patiala, 1910
    Domestic commercial aviation is born in India in 1911 when on 18 February, Henri Piquet, flying a Humber biplane, carries mall from Allahabad to Naini Junction, some six miles away.
    1927 : India's first airline, Imperial Airways, extends its Empire Routes to India, connecting India with the outside world for the first time through an air network. A de Havilland Hercules flies the Cairo-Basra-Karachi-Jodhpur-Delhi route. It is also the first domestic passenger flight to be operated in India. Passengers could be for the first time fly from Karachi to Jodhpur and to Delhi on Imperial Airways.
    On 10 February 1929, J. R. D. Tata is awarded India's first pilot licence, Pilot Licence No.1 by Federation Aeronotique International signed by Sir Victor Sasoon on behalf of the Aero Club of India and Burma.
    1932 : Urmila K Parikh becomes the first woman to get a pilot licence when she is given an a licence by the Aero Club of India and Burma.
    1932 : J. R. D. Tata launches India's first scheduled airline, Tata Airlines, by piloting the first flight himself from Karachi to Bombay via Ahmedabad on a single-engine Puss Moth with a load of airmail.

Others

    The first Indian to cross English Channel: Mihir Sen
    The first Indian Air Chief Marshal: S. Mukherjee
    First Post Office Opened in India :Kolkata(1727)
    Wax statue of a living Indian: Mahatma Gandhi at Madame Tussaud's in 1939.
    Newspaper : Hicky's Bengal Gazette started in 1780.
    Exclusive Internet magazine: Bharat Samachar
    Miss India to participate in Miss Universe: Indrani Rahman in the Miss Universe 1952 Pageant at Long Beach, California
    Graduate in Medicine: Soorjo Coomar Goodeve Chuckerbutty
    India’s First woman Merchant Navy Officer : Sonali Banerjee
    First Lady Teacher : Savitribai Phule
    First Lady Doctor : Anandibai Joshi
    First lady tennis sports : Saniya mirza
    The first record holder in the field of development of eco-innovation : Shripad Vaidya

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GK - List of firsts in India ( 6 )

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Cricket

    First Test Victory : Against England At Madras
    Cricket tournament: The Bombay Triangular (1905–1911) which later became the Bombay Quadrangular (1912–1936)
    Test match: Against England at Lord's, 25 June 1932
    Captain in Tests: C. K. Nayudu for the 1932 tour of England.
    ODI captain: Ajit Wadekar.
    Cricketer to score a century in a Test match : Lala Amarnath, 118 against England in December 1933 at Bombay Gymkhana grounds.
    Cricketer to score a double century in a Test match : Polly Umrigar, 223 against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1955-56
    Cricketer to score a triple century in a Test match : Virender Sehwag, 309 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004.
    Indian to score an ODI century : Kapil Dev, 175* against Zimbabwe in the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
    Indian to score an ODI double century is Sachin Tendulkar, 200* against South Africa at Gwalior, 24 February 2010.
    Hat-trick in an ODI: Chetan Sharma against New Zealand in 1987.
    World Cup: At the 1983 World Cup when India beat West Indies in the Finals.
    Batsman to complete 10,000 runs in Tests : Sunil Gavaskar (he was the first in the World to achieve this feat)
    Batsman to complete 10,000 runs in ODIs : Sachin Tendulkar (he was the first in the World to achieve this feat)
    Winner of the first T20 World Cup: India (in 2007).
    Cricketer to score 100 centuries in Test and ODIs combined : Sachin Tendulkar
    First bowler to take all 10 wickets in an innings : Anil Kumble (against Pakistan)
    First batsman to score 50 centuries in Test Cricket : Sachin Tendulkar
    First woman to score a double hundred in Test cricket : Mithali Raj [214* against New Zealand at Wellington, 2004] (she was first in the world to achieve this feat)
    Six sixes in an Over : Yuvraj Singh in a T20 match vs England.
    First Nation to win a World Cup Finale on its home ground: India (ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup) Final held at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Women

    Graduates: Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883
    The first woman Honours Graduate :Kamini Roy, 1886
    Head of an Undergraduate Academic Institution: Chandramukhi Basu, 1888
    The first woman Director General of Police :Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya
    Honours Graduate: Kamini Roy (1886)
    The first woman to receive Nobel Prize :Mother Teresa of Calcutta
    Women Railway Minister of India :Mamata Banerjee
    Court martialled: Anjali Gupta in 2005
    Lawyer: Cornelia Sorabjee (1892) also the first female graduate from Bombay University, and the first woman in the world to read law at Oxford.
    Photojournalist: Homai Vyarawalla (1913)
    Doctorate of Science: Asima Chatterjee (1944)
    Chief Justice of a High Court (Himachal Pradesh): Leila Seth, 1991
    The first woman Air Vice Marshal :P. Bandopadhyaya
    Supreme Court judge: Kumari Fathima Beevi
    High Court Judge : Anna Chandy
    Woman President of the United Nations General Assembly : Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, 1953
    Physician: Kadambini Ganguly, 1886
    Airline Pilot: Durba Banerjee
    In space: Kalpana Chawla aboard Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87, on 19 November 1997. She was a naturalized United States citizen, and represented the US during the event.
    Nobel Prize winner: Mother Teresa of calcutta in 1979 (Albanian born Indian citizen)
    Women Railway Minister :Mamata Banerjee.
    The first Indian woman to sit in civil services exam, to join IFS, to be a diplomat, to become the ambassador/High commissioner (She also to sue the Indian government for gender bias) : Muthamma Chonira.
    The first woman to cross English Channel :Aarti Saha
    Monarch of Delhi Sultanate: Razia Sultan (1205–1240) of Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi)
    Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi, 1966
    Minister in a government: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur in the Ministry of Health
    Chief Minister of a State: Sucheta Kripalani, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, 1963–1967
    Chief Minister of West Bengal : Mamata Banerjee
    Governor: Sarojini Naidu, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, 1947–1949
    Women Governor of West Bengal: Padmaja Naidu, 1956–1967.
    Central Minister (in pre-independent India): Vijayalakshmi Pandit, minister of local self-government and public health, 1937
    Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Meira Kumar
    Indian National Congress President: Annie Besant
    President: Pratibha Patil, 2007
    IPS Officer Kiran Bedi
    Asian Games gold medal winner: Kamlijit Sandhu
    The first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest : Bachendri Pal, 1984
    Chess Grandmaster: Koneru Humpy, 2002. She was also the youngest woman in the world to become a grandmaster at 15 years old.
    To win 1st round match in a Grand Slam event: Nirupama Vaidyanathan beat Italian Gloria Pizzichini in the first round of the 1998 Australian Open
    To reach 4th round (highest as of 2008) of a Grand Slam event: Sania Mirza in the Singles category of the 2005 US Open.
    Grand Slam junior title : Sania Mirza (partnering with Russian Alisa Kleybanova) in the Doubles category of the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.
    State Finance Minister : Dr Upinderjit Kaur, in Punjab : October, 2010
    Paris Cycling Event : Divya Tate(44) : August, 2011
    The first Indian woman pilot : Harita Kaur Deol becomes the first Indian woman pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF), on a solo flight in 1994.
    To Cross Gobi Desert : Sucheta Kadethankar(33) :2011
    First Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil Usha, popularly known as P. T. Usha
    first woman IAS officer:Anna Rajan George(b1927)kerela qualified in 1950 sub divisional officer in Tamil Nadu 1951
    First and youngest Indian female Ultramarathoner (23yrs) to run a 100 Mile Race(Himalayas) Priya Darshini (October, 2007)

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GK - List of firsts in India ( 5 )

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Sport

    Indian to swim across the English Channel: Mihir Sen, 1958.
    Woman to swim across the English Channel: Arati Saha, 1959
    Formula One racer: Narain Karthikeyan
    Formula One team: Force India F1
    A1 GP race victory: Narain Karthikeyan, Zhuhai, China, 2007
    Person to equal world record in Archery: Limba Ram, 1992
    Person to walk across the Mongolian Gobi Desert: Sucheta Kadethankar who achieved the feat in 51 days, 11 hours and 40 minutes in 2011.
    Ashish Kumar is the first Indian to win a medal in both Asian games(November 12 to 27 November 2010, Guangzhou(China)) and Commonwealth games(Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010). He won Bronze medal in both games.
    Shiva Keshavan is the first Indian to win a Gold Medal for India in Winter sports at the Asia Cup in Japan on 18 December 2011. The Asian Champion is also a 4 time Olympian and has set the new Asian speed record on ice at 134.3 kmph.
    Sushil Kumar (wrestler) is the first Indian to win back to back Olympic medals (Bronze and Silver in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics respectively)

Olympics

    Olympic team medal: Gold in Field Hockey, Amsterdam, beating The Netherlands in the Finals.
    Individual medal (in British India): Two Silver medals by Norman Pritchard in 200 metres and 200 metres hurdles at the 1900 Summer Olympics, Paris. (This is disputed however. The IOC claims he participated for India. The IAAF records him as participant for Great Britain.)
    Individual medal: Bronze by K. D. Jadhav for Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
    Medal in Tennis: Leander Paes at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
    Individual medal by a woman: Bronze by Karnam Malleswari for weightlifting 54 kg class, at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney.
    Individual Gold medal: Abhinav Bindra in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
    Individual Silver medal (Independent India): Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the Men's Double Trap event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
    Medal in Boxing: Vijender Kumar in the Beijing Olympics 2008.
    Medal in Badminton: Saina Nehwal, winning a Bronze in the London Olympics 2012

Chess

    Chess Grandmaster : Male - Vishwanathan Anand, 1988.
    Female - Koneru Humpy - 2002 - She was also the youngest woman to become a grandmaster at 15 years old.(Hou Yifan of China is the youngest woman to become a grandmaster at 14years and 6 months.)

Tennis

    Grand Slam title: Mahesh Bhupathi (partnering with Japanese Rika Hiraki) in the Mixed Doubles category of the 1997 French Open.
    Woman to win a match in a Grand Slam event: Nirupama Vaidyanathan beat Italian Gloria Pizzichini in the first round of the 1998 Australian Open
    Woman to reach 4th round (highest as of 2009) of a Grand Slam singles event: Sania Mirza in the Singles category of the 2005 US Open.
    Woman to win a Grand Slam title: Sania Mirza (partnering with Mahesh Bhupathi) in the Mixed Doubles category of the 2009 Australian Open.
    Grand Slam junior title: Ramanathan Krishnan in the Singles category of the 1954 Wimbledon Championship.
    Grand Slam junior title by a woman: Sania Mirza (partnering with Russian Alisa Kleybanova) in the Doubles category of the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.
    Yuki Bhambri became the first Indian to win the Singles in the Junior Australian Open, when he defeated the Greek Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas in the final 6–3, 6–1 in the Finals in 2009.

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GK - List of firsts in India ( 4 )

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Science

    The first president of the inaugural session of the Indian Science Congress :Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee in 1914
    Hydroelectric plant: Sidrapong near Darjeeling, commissioned in 1897, followed by the Gaganachukki waterfall of the Sivasamudram Falls, Mysore Kingdom, built in 1902.
    Place to get electricity: Darjeeling in 1897, followed by Calcutta in 1898 and Kolar Gold Fields in 1902.
    Man in space: Rakesh Sharma aboard Soyuz T-11, on 3 April 1984. He was the 138th man in space worldwide.
    Woman in space: Kalpana Chawla aboard Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87, on 19 November 1997. She was a naturalized United States citizen, and represented the US during the event.
    Test-tube baby: Durga Agarwal, born 1978
    Scientific Expedition to Antarctica: 1981
    Nuclear Reactor: Apsara, Mumbai, Maharashtra
    First Genetically Modified Food Product in India : Bt. Egg plant Hybrid (Bt. -- Bacilius thuringiensis)
    Satellite : Aryabhata, launched on 19 April 1975
    Satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services : EDUSAT
    Successfully indigenous launch vehicle : SLV-3
    Prospective space tourist: Santhosh George Kulangara, proposed in 2009 aboard Virgin Galactic
    Cloned Animal : Bhass, sampura
    In 1850, the first experimental electric telegraph line was started between Kolkata and Diamond Harbor. In 1851, it was opened for the use of the British East India Company
    1854: Telegraph service opened to the Public
    First telephone exchange: On 28 January 1882, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor General of India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named the "Central Exchange", was opened at third floor of the building at 7, Council House Street, with a total of 93 subscribers. Later that year, Bombay also witnessed the opening of a telephone exchange.
    1902 - First wireless telegraph station established between Sagar Islands and Sandheads.
    1907 - First Central Battery of telephones introduced in Kanpur.
    1913-1914 - First Automatic Exchange installed in Shimla.
    1927 - Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with Imperial Wireless Chain beam stations at Khadki and Daund. Inaugurated by Lord Irwin on 23 July by exchanging greetings with King George V.
    1933 - Radiotelephone system inaugurated between the UK and India.
    1953 - 12 channel carrier system introduced.
    1960 - First subscriber trunk dialing route commissioned between Lucknow and Kanpur.
    1975 - First PCM system commissioned between Mumbai City and Andheri telephone exchanges.
    1976 - First digital microwave junction introduced.
    1979 - First optical fibre system for local junction commissioned at Pune.
    1980 - First satellite earth station for domestic communications established at Secunderabad, A.P..
    1983 - First analog Stored Program Control exchange for trunk lines commissioned at Mumbai.
    1984 - First Underground Metro Railways System at Calcutta.
    1984 - C-DOT established for indigenous development and production of digital exchanges.
    1995 - First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis on 15 August 1995 in Delhi.

Medical Science

    First Ever Rhinoplasty noted in world/India: Over Ksatji a British soldier by a Kumhar Vaidya.

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GK - List of firsts in India ( 3 )

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Governance

    President of the Indian National Congress : Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee, 1885
    President of the Indian National Congress of independent India : Acharya Kripalani, till Nov 1947
    President : Rajendra Prasad (1950–1962)
    First Woman President: Pratibha Patil (2007–2012)
    First Bengali President :Pranab Mukherjee (Incumbent)
    First President of India from West Bengal :Pranab Mukherjee (Incumbent)
    The first Chief Election Commissioner : Sukumar Sen
    Industries and Supplies Minister: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
    The first person to resign from the Central Cabinet : Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
    Vice-President : Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
    Prime Minister : Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964). India held its first constitutional elections in 1952 after which he was re-elected.
    Deputy Prime Minister : Vallabhbhai Patel (1947–1950)
    Law Minister of India : B. R. Ambedkar
    Leader of Opposition : A. K. Gopalan
    Prime Minister to be voted out of office : Indira Gandhi (1977), when the Indian National Congress lost to the Janata Party
    Non-Congress government : Janata Party, with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister (1977–1980)
    Non-Congress State government with Majority by a single party : E. M. S. Namboodiripad of CPI, Kerala 1957
    Prime Minister to lead a minority government for a full term (five years) : P. V. Narasimha Rao, 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996
    Person outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve as Prime Minister for a full term (five years) : P. V. Narasimha Rao, 21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996
    Prime Minister from South India : P. V. Narasimha Rao, 1991
    Women Railway Minister of India : Mamata Banerjee
    The first Viceroy of India : Lord Canning, 1858
    Governor-General of India : Warren Hastings, 1773
    Governor-General of Independent India : Lord Mountbatten, 1947
    Indian Governor-General of Indian Union : C Rajagopalachari, 1948
    Chief Justice of India : H. J. Kania (1947–1951)
    First Sikh Prime Minister : Manmohan Singh (2004–present)
    First Muslim President : Zakir Hussain (1967–1969)
    First Sikh President : Giani Zail Singh
    First Chief Minister of West Bengal :Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh
    Indian ICS Officer : Satyendranath Tagore, 1863
    Speaker of Lok Sabha : G.V. Mavlankar (1952–1956)
    Finance Minister of Independent India : R.K. Shanmukhan Chetty (1947–1949), for others see First Indian Cabinet
    Presentation of First Budget after India's Independence : R. K. Shanmukhan Chetty on 26 November 1947
    First Home Minister of India : Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
    First Indian President to die in Office: Dr Zakir Hussain, 3 May 1969
    First Chief Minister to die in Office : C.N.Annadurai, Tamil Nadu
    First Indian Prime Minister to resign from office : Morarji Desai, 1979
    First Woman Cabinet Minister in India : Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
    First Woman Minister in India : Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
    First Woman Chief Minister : Sucheta Kriplani
    First Woman Chief Minister of West Bengal : Mamata Banerjee(2011-present)
    First Female Home Minister : Sabitha Indra Reddy in Andhra Pradesh Govt..
    First Woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha : Meira Kumar
    First Woman Finance Minister of State Government in India : Dr Upinderjit Kaur, in Punjab Govt.

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GK - List of firsts in India ( 2 )

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Economy

    First power in India with Soviet Collaboration : Neyveli Lignite Corporation in 1962.

    First central PSU to be privatized : Modern Food Industries in January 2000

Exploration

    Person to fly in a balloon and land in a parachute : Ram Chandra Chatterjee
    Person to reach the South Pole : Col Jatinder Kumar Bajaj
    Woman to scale Mount Everest : Bachendri Pal on 23 May 1984. She was the 5th woman in the world to scale the peak.
    Woman to reach South Pole : Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu
    Person to reach the North Pole : Squadron Leader Sanjay Thapar
    Person to have walked across Gobi desert : Sucheta Kadethankar

Film, TV and entertainment

    First Film to be exhibited in India on 7 July 1896, with the Lumiere Brothers' Cinematography, unveiling six silent short films at the Watson's Hotel in Bombay, viz., Entry of Cinematographe, The Sea Bath, Arrival of a Train, A Demolition, Ladies & Soldiers on Wheels and Leaving the Factory.
    First silent film to be made in India : Raja Harishchandra, 1913 by Dadasaheb Phalke.
    Bengali film maker:Hiralal Sen
    First Bengali talkie  : Dena Paona (1931)
    Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Devika Rani (1969)
    First Government award for films :Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards(1937)
    First Punjabi film made in the city :Kolkata
    First Indian filmmaker to get Bharat Ratna :Satyajit Ray (1992)
    Sound film: Alam Ara (1931) directed by Ardeshir Irani, 1931, First Talkie actress:Zubeida
    Colour film : Kisan Kanya (1937), directed by Moti B. Gidvani.
    Film to be banned : Neel Akasher Neechey, (1959(Directed by-Mrinal Sen) .
    Cinemascope film : Kaagaz Ke Phool(Directed by -Gurudutt) (1959)
    Oscar for Lifetime Achievement: Satyajit Ray (1992)
    Film to attract International critical attention : Pather Panchali, (1955) won eleven awards.
    Oscar winner: Bhanu Athaiya for Best Costume Design for Gandhi (film) in 1982
    Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film: Mother India, 1957
    Music director to win an Oscar and first double Oscar winner-Mr. A. R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire, 22 February 2009.
    Sound engineer to win an Oscar : Resul Pookutty for Slumdog Millionaire, 22 February 2009
    Palme d'Or at 1946 Cannes Film Festival : Neecha Nagar, directed by Chetan Anand
    National Film Award for cinema : Shyamchi Aai, 1954
    Colorized film : Mughal-e-Azam in 2004 (the original black-and-white version was released in 1960)
    Sponsored TV serial : Hum Log, started on 7 July 1984, was also the first soap opera of India, ran for 156 episodes
    Guinness Book of World Records in the category, Fewest actors in a narrative film : Yaadein (1964) directed and acted by Sunil Dutt
    Actor to enact 10 roles: Kamal Haasan
    Actress to enact 10 roles = Priyanka Chopra plays 12 different characters in Bollywood film-"What's Your Raashee?"
    3-D film : My Dear Kuttichathan, a Malayalam film, produced in 1984, dubbed in Hindi as Chhota Chetan.
    70 mm film : Around the World, a Hindi film, starring Raj Kapoor and Rajshree in 1967
    Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) - Director : Mrinal Sen (1985); Actor : Sivaji Ganesan (1995); Actress : Sharmila Tagore(2004)
    Hindi film screened at the United Nations : Lage Raho Munna Bhai, 10 November 2006,directed by Rajkumar Hirani
    First Bhojpuri feature film to be featured in the Indian Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India : Deswa (2011)
    First music record was recorded by Gauhar Jaan singing a khayal in Raag Jogiya, recorded on 2 November 1902, by Fred Gaisberg, assistant to Emile Berliner, the father of Gramophone record.

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GK - List of firsts in India ( 1 )

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Architecture

    First Islamic (tomb) in India : Sultan Ghari(Hindi: ??????? ?????, Urdu: ????? ????), built in 1231 CE for Prince Nasir ud din Mahmud, eldest son of Iltumish.
    First true dome : Alai Darwaza, Qutb complex, Delhi, built in 1311 CE, by first Khilji Sultan of Delhi, Ala-ud-din Khilji.
    First true arch : Balban's tomb, Mehrauli Archeological Park, Delhi, built c. 1287 CE, by Ghiyas ud din Balban of Mamluk dynasty.
    First garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent, also the first with Persian double-dome : Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, built 1562-1571 CE.
    First Mosque in India : Cheraman Juma Masjid Kodungallur (Kerala), built 629-630 A.D by Malik ibn Deenar, an Arab trader on the order of Chera ruler Cheraman Perumal (Tajjudin after conversion to Islam)

Awards and Titles

    Miss World : Reita Faria in 1966
    Miss Asia Pacific : Zeenat Aman in 1970
    Miss Universe : Sushmita Sen in 1994
    Miss Earth : Nicole Faria in 2010
    Miss Asia Pacific World : Himangini Singh Yadu in 2012
    World Miss University : Priyadarshini Pradhan in 1989
    Manhunt International : Rajeev Singh in 2001
    Dhan Gopal Mukerji, first Indian to win any literary award (the Newbery Medal) in the United States, in 1927 for Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon
    Nirad C. Chaudhuri, first Indian to win a major non-fiction award, the Duff Cooper Prize in the United Kingdom, in 1966 for The Continent of Circe
    Man Booker Prize : Arundhati Roy for her novel "The God of Small Things" in the year 1997.
    Bhaswati Bhattacharya was the first Indian to speak as Orator at the Harvard University, in the Commencement Exercises in 1993.
    Bharat Ratna : Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C. Rajagopalachari, and C. V. Raman in 1954
    Padma Vibhushan : Satyendra Nath Bose, Nand Lal Bose, Zakir Hussain, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, V. K. Krishna Menon in 1954
    Commandeur of the Order of Arts and Letters: Mrinal Sen
    Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters: Sivaji Ganesan
    Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Devika Rani in 1969
    Ashoka Chakra Award to a civilian : D.K. Jatar (posthumous) and M.C Dixit, captain and co-captain respectively, of the sabotaged plane Kashmir Princess, for "most conspicuous bravery, daring and self-sacrifice"
    Magsaysay Award : Vinoba Bhave, 1958
    Stalin Peace Prize (now known as Lenin Peace Prize) in 1952-Saifuddin Kitchlew
    Oscar for Lifetime Achievement - Satyajit Ray
    Nishan-e-Pakistan : Morarji Desai, 1990

Nobel Prize

    Nobel Prize winner : Rabindranath Tagore in Literature, 1913. He was also the first Asian to win the prize.
    Nobel Prize in Physics : C. V. Raman in 1930.
    Nobel Prize in Medicine : Har Gobind Khorana in 1968. (US citizen of Indian origin )
    Nobel Peace Prize : Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1979 (Indian citizen of Albanian origin)
    Nobel Prize in Economics : Amartya Sen in 1998
    Nobel Prize in Chemistry : Venkatraman Ramakrishnan in 2009 (UK citizen of Indian origin)

Defence (in the Republic of India)

    Commander-in-Chief of Free India : General Sir Roy Bucher
    Indian Commander-in-Chief of Free India : General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, 1949
    Chief of Air Staff : Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst
    Indian Chief of Staff : General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, 1947
    Commander-in-Chief, IAF : Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, 1954
    Chief of Naval Staff : Vice Admiral R D Katari
    Cosmonaut : Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, 1984
    Field Marshal : Sam Manekshaw, 1973
    First Parsi Army Chief : Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
    First Parsi Navy Chief : Admiral J L Cursetji
    First Parsi Air Force Chief : Air Marshal Aspy Engineer
    First Christian Army Chief : General Sunith Francis Rodrigues
    First Christian Navy Chief : Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira
    First Christian Air Force Chief : Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne
    First Sikh Army Chief : General Joginder Jaswant Singh
    First Sikh Air Force Chief : Air Marshal Arjan Singh
    First Muslim Air Force Chief : Air Marshal Idris Hasan Latif
    First female officer to be court martialled: Anjali Gupta
    First female jawan in the Army : Sapper Shanti Tigga

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GK - Quiz Questions with Answers

GK - Quiz Questions with Answers

1. 83rd Oscar Award declared in February 2011 for the best feature film went to the film—
The King’s Speech

2. The Ramon Magsaysay Award 2011 has been conferred to—
Koul Panha

3. Who was awarded the UNESCO—Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Award for 2011 ?
Ahmad Zeidabadi

4. Which Hindi author has been selected for the K. K. Birla Vyas Samman 2010 for his poetry
collection “Phir Bhi Kuch Rah Jayega” ?
Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari

5. Who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in the year 2010 ?
Liu Xiaobo

6. The first Indian to win Nobel Prize was—
Rabindra Nath Tagore

7. Who was awarded the UNESCO Peace Prize 2008 ?
Institute for Justice and Reconciliation

8. Julictte Binoche has begged best actress award in 63rd International Film Festival of Cannes for the film—
Certified Copy

9. Who has been awarded the Best Younger Player Award in FIFA World Cup Football 2010 ?
Andres Iniesta

10. Which Indian Scientist has had the distinction of receiving not only the Nobel Prize, but also Bharat Ratna ?
Dr. C. V. Raman

11. With what game is the name of Cara Black associated ?
Lawn Tennis

12. India successfully launched its first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 ?
22nd Oct., 2008

13. Which scientist received Shantiswarup Bhatanagar Award 2009 for Mathematical Sciences ?
Dr. Mitali Mukherjee

14. India’s newly built and tested missile ‘Astra’ is meant for—
Air to air strike

15. Who has been appointed the first woman Prime Minister of Tobago ?
Kamla Prasad Bissessar

16. Who among the heading the SEBI’s Committee on Corporate governance?
Narayan Murthy

17. International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected India’s GDP growth rate for 2010-11 at—
9•5%

18. The person who headed U. N. Weapons Inspectors in Iraq was—
Hans Blix

19. Who won the Miss Universe 2010 ?
Jinena Navarrete

20. In a historic judgement the Supreme Court asked the government to link all the rivers by—
2012

21. Which company recently hit the business headlines for striking a historic natural gas discovery near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh ?
Reliance Industries

22. Who became the first Indian women to cross Gobi Desert in July 2011 ?
Sucheta Kadethanker

23. How many states in the country have been chosen for a pilot project to introduce a new multipurpose national Identity Card ?
13

24. Which country along with India has begun its first ever joint co-ordinated patrols in the Andaman Sea to check poaching, smuggling and drug trafficking in the region ?
Indonesia

25. With the admission of two new members into the European Union on January 1, 2007, the membership of the organisation has now risen to—
27

26. The famous Akshardham Temple is situated in the city of—
Gandhi Nagar

27. With the admission of one new nations into the SAARC countries, the membership of the organisation has now risen to—
8

28. Which International Telecom Company uses the baseline ‘Intelligence Everywhere’ ?
Motorola

29. The multinational company which has launched ‘Bio Colour Television’ in Indian market?
Samsung

30. ‘Power’ a new variety of petrol has been introduced in the market by—
HPCL

31. Who is the new President of the European Council ?
Herman Van Rompuy

32. Who was awarded the 83rd Oscar Award for the Best Director on 27th February, 2011?
Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)

33. Name the magazine which has been circulated on the board of Indian Airlines after replacing ‘Swagat.’
Darpan

37. Government of India formed a new South-Western Command of the Indian land army. With this the number of commands will be raised to—
7

35. Which position did Sachin Tendulkar achieve in the ICC ranking in August 2011 ?
Third

36. ‘India’s Gateway to the World’ the famous slogan is of—
VSNL

37. ‘Vision India 2020’ is a book written by—
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

38. The company which sponsored the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the century is—
Electrolux

39. The centre is planning to set up the National Institute of Animal Welfare in the state of—
Haryana

40. Britain’s Virgin Atlantic has ended codeshare agreement with—
Air India

41. Who has been appointed as Chairman of ICC?
Sharad Pawar

42. Laura Chinchilla is—
First Woman President of Costa Rica

43. Where was the COP-15 Summit held in December 2009 ?
Copenhagen

44. Who has been appointed the as Director General of National Investigation Agency in February 2010 ?
S. C. Sinha

45. Who is the Chief Justice of India ?
Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia

46. The theme for the 24th National Science Day 2010 was—
Science and Technology Challenge of the 21st Century—National Perspective

47. Who is the Chief Election Commissioner of India ?
S. Y. Qureshi

48. The first World Hindi Day was celebrated for the time on—
10th January, 2007

49. Who is the newly elected President of CIC ?
A. N. Tiwari

50. Who is newly appointed President of FICCI ?
Harsh Mariwala

51. Who became the first woman Prime Minister of Thailand ?
Yingluck Shinawatra

52. The Nobel Laureate who is fighting to liberate the people of Myanmar is—
Aung San Suukyi

53. "India House" is located in—
London

54. Who was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day function on January 26, 2011 in New Delhi ?
Susilo Babang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia

55. Who was the first Prime Minister of England ?
Robert Walpole

56. Name the inventor of ATM who died recently—
John Shepherd Barron

57. What is Fahrenheit 9/11 ?
U S Film-maker Michael Moore’s film which bagged top prize in May 2004 at the Canves Film Festival

58. What is "NMD" ?
National Missile Defence Space based anti ballistic missile system being set up by the US

59. Who was the first Caliph ?
Abu Bakr

60. Whose teachings inspired the French Revolution ?
Rousseau

61. D-Day is the day when—
Allied troops landed in Normandy

62. The first airline to allow flyers to surf the net was—
Singapore Airlines

63. World Computer Literacy Day is celebrated on—
2nd December

64. Fabianism is closely related to—
Democratic Socialism

65. The Bandung Conference was a major milestone in the history of—
The Non-Aligned Movement

66. Former Soviet President Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev had become popular for his policy of—
Perestroika

67. Who is popularly known as 'Missile Man of India' ?
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

68. The abbreviation TRAI stands for—
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

69. ‘Ramadorai Sujatha’ who was recently in news is a—
Mathematician

70. Who said, " Man is a Social Animal" ?
Aristotle

71. The Government of India in a bid to attract foreign investments into India has appointed the Investment Commission which is headed by—
Ratan Tata

72. 'Red Revolution' in China took place in—
1949

73. Who was ruling over Pakistan at the time when Bangladesh became independent ?
Yahya Khan

74. The present Chairman of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal is—
Justice N. P. Singh

75. The first unified theatre commanded by the Indian Defence Forces has been set at—
Andaman Nicobar Islands

76. What is the full form of CMP ?
Common Minimum Programme

77. The motto of CNBC India is—
Profit from it

78. Which country has recently announced of having built the world’s highest elevated railway line ?
China

79. Who was awarded the 2009 Vyas Samman ?
Amar Kant

80. ‘Daughters of Shame’ is a book written by—
Jasvinder Sanghera

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GK - Miss Universe (1952-2012)

GK - Miss Universe (1952-2012)

Miss Universe 1952 - Armi Kuusela, Finland
Miss Universe 1953 - Christiane Martel, France
Miss Universe 1954 - Miriam Stevenson, USA
Miss Universe 1955 - Hellevi Rombin, Sweden
Miss Universe 1956 - Carol Morris, USA
Miss Universe 1957 - Gladys Zender, Peru
Miss Universe 1958 - Luz Marina Zuluaga, Columbia
Miss Universe 1959 - Akiko Kojima, Japan
Miss Universe 1960 - Linda Bement ,USA
Miss Universe 1961 - Marlene Schmidt, Germany
Miss Universe 1962 - Norma Nolan, Argentina
Miss Universe 1963 - Idea Maria Vargas, Brazil
Miss Universe 1964 - Corinna Tsopei, Greece
Miss Universe 1965 - Apasra Hongsakula, Thailand
Miss Universe 1966 - Margareta Arvidsson, Sweden
Miss Universe 1967 - Sylvia Hitchcock, USA
Miss Universe 1968 - Martha Vasconcellos, Brazil
Miss Universe 1969 - Gloria Diaz, Philippines
Miss Universe 1970 - Marisol Malaret, Puerto Rico
Miss Universe 1971 - Georgia Risk, Lebanon
Miss Universe 1972 - Kerry Anne Wells ,Australia
Miss Universe 1973 - Margarita Moran, Philippines
Miss Universe 1974 - Amparo Munoz, Spain
Miss Universe 1975 - Anne Marie Puhtamo, Finland
Miss Universe 1976 - Rina Messinger, Israel
Miss Universe 1977 - Janelle Commissiong, Trinidad & Tobago
Miss Universe 1978 - Margaret Gardiner, South Africa
Miss Universe 1979 - Maritza Sayalero, Venezuela
Miss Universe 1980 - Shawn Weatherly, USA
Miss Universe 1981 - Irene Saez, Venezuela
Miss Universe 1982 - Karen Baldwin, Canada
Miss Universe 1983 - Lorraine Downes, New Zealand
Miss Universe 1984 - Yvonne Ryding, Sweden
Miss Universe 1985 - Deborah Carthy-Deu, Puerto Rico
Miss Universe 1986 - Barbara Palacios Teyde, Venezuela
Miss Universe 1987 - Cecilia Bolocco, Chile
Miss Universe 1988 - Porntip Nakhirunkanok, Thailand
Miss Universe 1989 - Angela Visser, Holland
Miss Universe 1990 - Mona Grudt, Norway
Miss Universe 1991 - Lupita Jones, Mexico
Miss Universe 1992 - Michelle McLean, Namibia
Miss Universe 1993 - Dayanara Torres, Puerto Rico
Miss Universe 1994 - Sushmita Sen, India
Miss Universe 1995 - Chelsi Smith, USA
Miss Universe 1996 - Alicia Machado, Venezuela
Miss Universe 1997 - Brook Lee, USA
Miss Universe 1998 - Wendy Fitzwilliam, Trinidad & Tobago
Miss Universe 1999 - Mpule Kwelagobe, Botswana
Miss Universe 2000 - Lara Dutta, India
Miss Universe 2001 - Denise M. Quiñones, Puerto Rico
Miss Universe 2002 - Oksana Fyodorova, Russia
Miss Universe 2002 - Justine Pasek, Panama
Miss Universe 2003 - Amelia Vega Polanco, Dominican Republic
Miss Universe 2004 - Jennifer Hawkins, Australia
Miss Universe 2005 - Natalie Glebova, Canada
Miss Universe 2006 - Zuleyka Riviera Mendoza, Puerto Rico
Miss Universe 2007 - Riyo Mori, Japan
Miss Universe 2008 - Dayana Mendoza, Venezuela
Miss Universe 2009 - Stefanía Fernández, Venezuela
Miss Universe 2010 - Jimena Navarrete, Mexico
Miss Universe 2011 - Leila Lopes, Angola
Miss Universe 2012 - Olivia Culpo, USA

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