First in India

FIRST IN INDIA

First British to Visit India                       Sir William Hawkins

First Chinese pilgrim to Visit India      Fa-hien

First Exclusive internet magazine      Bharat Samachar

irst Indian to reach Antarctica           Lt. Ram Charan

First Post Office Opened in India        Kolkata (1727)

First Test tube baby of India                 “Durga” (Kanupriya Agarwal) on October 3, 1978 (By Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay)

First Wax statue of a Living Indian     Mahatma Gandhi at Madame Tussaud's, London in 1939

India’s first man in Space                     Rakesh Sharma

India's First Open University                Andhra Pradesh Open University (now Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, or Telangana Open University)

India's First University                           Nalanda University

The first and the last Indian to be Governor General of free India    C. Rajgopalachari

The first British Governor General of Bengal    Lord Warren Hasting(1774-1885)

The first British Governor General of India        Lord William Bentinck(1833-1835)

The first British Viceroy of India          Lord Canning

The first Chief Election Commissioner  Sukumar Sen

The first Chief Justice of Supreme Court          Sir Harilal Jekisundas Kania

The first Chief of Army Staff                Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji

The first Chinese traveller to visit India  Fahein

The first Field Marshal of India            S.H.F. Manekshaw

The first Governor General of free India            Lord Mountbatten

The first Home minister of India          Sardar Vallabhai Patel

The first Indian Air Chief Marshal       S. Mukherjee

The first Indian Commander-in-Chief of India  General Cariappa

The first Indian Member of the Viceroy’s executive council   S.P.Sinha

The first Indian Naval Chief                 Vice Admiral R.D. Katari

The first Indian Pilot                              Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata

The first Indian to cross English Channel         Mihir Sen

The first Indian to get Nobel Prize in Physics   C.V.Raman

The first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service Satyendra Nath Tagore

The first Indian to receive Bharat Ratna award            Dr. Radhakrishnan

The first Indian to win Nobel Prize     Rabindranath Tagore

The first Judge of International Court of Justice          Dr. Nagendra Singh

The first man who introduced printing press in India  James Augustus Hicky

The first Muslim President of India     Dr. Zakir Hussain

The first Muslim President of Indian National Congress        Badruddin Tayyabji

The first person of Indian origin to receive Nobel Prize in Medicine            Hargovind Khurana

The first person to get Param Vir Chakra           Major Somnath Sharma

The first person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen  Phu Dorjee (9 May 1984)

The first Person to receive Jnanpith award       Sri G Shankara Kurup

The first person to receive Magsaysay Award   Acharya Vinoba Bhave

The first person to receive Nobel Prize in Economics Amartya Sen

The first person to receive Stalin Prize   Saifuddin Kitchulu

The first person to resign from the Central Cabinet     Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

The first President of India                   Dr. Rajendra Prasad

The first President of India to die-in-harness    Dr. Zakhir Hussain

The first President of Indian National Congress          W.C. Banerjee

The first Prime Minister of free India  Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru

The first Prime Minister of India who did not face the Parliament     Charan Singh

The first Prime Minister of India who resigned without completing the full term    Morarji Desai

The first Speaker of the Lok Sabha    Ganesh Vasudeva Mavlankar

The first Vice-President of India          Dr. S Radhakrishnan

First Women in India 

The first woman to cross English Channel       Aarti Saha

The first and last Muslim woman ruler of India Razia Sultana

The first lady to become Miss World   Rita Faria

The first woman Air Vice Marshal       P. Bandopadhyaya

The first woman Airline Pilot                Sarla Thakral

The first woman Ambassador              Miss Chonira Belliappa Muthamma

The first woman Asian Games Gold Medal Winner     Kamlijit Sandhu

The first woman Chairman of Union Public Service Commission    Roze Millian Bethew

The first woman chairperson of Indian Airlines            Sushma Chawla

The first woman Chief Justice of High Court    Mrs Leela Seth (Himachal Pradesh High Court)

The first woman Chief Minister of an Indian State (Utter Pradesh)       Mrs Sucheta Kripalani

The first woman Director General of Police       Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya

The first woman Governor of a state in free India        Mrs Sarojini Naidu

The first woman IPS officer                  Mrs. Kiran Bedi

The first woman Judge                         Anna Chandy (She became judge in a district court in 1937)

The first woman Judge in Supreme Court of India      Kumari Justice M. Fathima Beevi

The first woman Lawyer                       Cornelia Sorabji

The first woman Lieutenant General Puneeta Arora

The first woman Minister in a Government        Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

The first woman Olympic medal Winner            Karnam Malleswari, 2000

The first woman pilot in Indian Air Force           Harita Kaur Dayal

The first woman President of Indian National Congress        Mrs Annie Besant

The first woman President of United Nations General Assembly     Mrs Vijaya Laxmi Pandit

The first woman Prime Minister           Mrs Indira Gandhi

The first woman Speaker of a State Assembly Shanno Devi

The first woman to climb Mount Everest            Bachhendri Pal

The first woman to climb Mount Everest twice  Santosh Yadav

The first woman to receive Ashoka Chakra       Nirja Bhanot

The first woman to receive Bharat Ratna           Mrs Indira Gandhi

The first woman to receive Jnanapith Award    Ashapurna Devi

The first woman to receive Nobel Prize  Mother Teresa

First in Governance

First President of India                          Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1950-1962)

First and Last Indian Governor-General of Indian Union       C Rajagopalachari, 1948

First British Governor-General            Lord William Bentick

First British Viceroy of India                 Lord Canning

First Chief Election Commissioner     Sukumar Sen

First Chief Justice of India                   Justice Hiralal J Kania

First Chief Justice of Supreme Court to become President of India Justice M Hidaytullah

First Deputy Prime Minister of India   Vallabhbhai Patel

First Education Minister                        Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

First Finance Minister of Independent India     Shri R.K.Shanmukhan Chetty

First Governor General of Independent India   Lord Mountbatten, 1947

First Governor-General                         Warren Hastings

First Home Minister                               Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

First Indian ICS Officer                         Satyendranath Tagore, 1863

First Minister to resign from Union Cabinet       Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1950)

First Non-Congress Government        by Janta Party with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister (1977-1980)

First President to die in Office             Dr. Zakhir Hussain

First Prime Minister of India                 Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-1964)

First Prime Minister to be voted out of Office     India Ghandi (1977) when the Indian National Congress lost to the Janta Party.

First Prime Minister to lead a minority government for a full term(five years)          P.V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 to May 16 1996

First Prime Minister who did not face the Parliament  Charan Singh

First Prime Minster from South India  P.V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 to May 16 1996

First Prime Minster of India resigned without completing his full term         Morarji Desai

First Sikh President                               Giani Zail Singh

First Sikh Prime Minister                      Manmohan Singh

First Speaker of Lok Sabha                 Shri G.V. Mavlankar

First Vice President of India                 Dr. S Radhakrishan

Presentation of First Budget after India's Independence       Shri R.K.Shanmukhan Chetty on Nov. 26, 1947

First Noble Prize Winners

First Noble Prize Winner                      Rabindranath Tagore- in Literature, 1913. He was also the first Asian to get the Prize.

First Noble Prize in Physics                 C.V. Raman in 1930

First Noble Prize in Medicine              Har Gobind Khorana in 1968. (Indian Born US Citizen)

First Noble Peace Prize                        Mother Teresa in 1979. (Albanian nun, Indian Citizen)

First Noble Prize in Economics           Amartya Sen in 1998

Nobel Prize for Peace                           Kailash Sathyarthi (2014)

First in Awards and Titles

Best Model of the World                       Siddharth Shukla in 2005

Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters         Sivaji Ganesan

Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters     Mrinal Sen

First Ashoka Chakra Award winner   Lieutenant Suhas Biswas in 1952

First Bharat Ratna                                 Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishan, C. Rajagopalachari, and Dr. C.V. Raman in 1954

First Booker Prize                                  Arundhati Roy for The God of Small Things in 1997

First Dadasaheb Phalke Award          Devika Rani Rorich in 1969

First ever Miss World to win Beauty with a Purpose award    Manushi Chhillar.

First Foreigner to receive Bharat Ratna Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

First Indian recipient of 'Oscar Award'    Bhanu Athaiya (for Costume Design in film: Gandhi in 1982)

First Magsaysay Award                         Vinoba Bhave (Community Leadership 1958)

First Miss Universe                                Susmita Sen in 1994

First Miss World                                      Reita Faria in 1966

First Person to receive Jnanapith Award           Shri G Shankar Kurup

First Person to receive Stalin Prize    Saifuddin Kitchlu

Miss Asia Pacific World                        Himangini Singh Yadu in 2012

Miss Earth                                               Nicole Faria in 2010

Miss India Worldwide                            Karminder Kaur Virk in 1994

Miss Intercontinental                             Lara Dutta in 1997

Mister World                                            Rohit Khandelwal; first Asian to win Mister World

Mr. International                                     Aryan Vaid in 2000

Mr. Universe                                           Monotosh Roy in 1952

Mrs. World                                               Aditi Gowitrikar in 2001

Nishan-e-Pakistan                                Morarji Desai, 1990

Oscar for Lifetime Achievement          Satyajit Ray

First in Defence

First Commander-in-Chief of Free India            General Sir Roy Bucher

Chief of Army Staff                                Rajendrasinhji Jadeja

Defence Minister of India                     Baldev Singh

First Atomic Submarine of India          INS Chakra

First Chief of Air Staff                           Air Marshall Sir Thomas Elmhirst

First Chief of Naval Staff                      Vice Admiral R D Katari

First Cosmonaut                                    Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, 1984

First female Jawan in the Army           Sapper Shanti Tigga

First Field Marshall of India                 S.H.F. Manekshaw, 1973

First Indian Chief of Staff                     Air Marshall Subroto Mukerjee, 1954

First Indian Commander-in-Chief of Free India           General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa, 1949

First Indian Missile                                Prithvi (Striking range - 250 kms)

First Medium Range Missile                Agni

First Person to receive Paramvir Chakra           Major Somnath Sharma

India's First Nuclear Centre                 Tarapur

First in Film and TV

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: Entry of Cinematograph, The Sea Bath, Arrival of a Train, A Demolition, Ladies & Soldiers on Wheels and Leaving the Factory

3-D film:                                                   My Dear Kuttichathan, a Malayalam film, produced in 1984, dubbed in Hindi as Chhota Chetan, 1984

70 mm film:                                              Around the World [Hindi], 1967

Actor to enact most roles (10):             Kamal Haasan in Dasavathaaram, 2008

Actress to enact most roles (12):         Priyanka Chopra in What's Your Raashee?, 2009

Cinemascope film:                                 Kaagaz Ke Phool, directed by Gurudutt, 1959

Colour film:                                             Kisan Kanya, directed by Moti B. Gidvani

Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient: Devika Rani, 1969

Film screened at the United Nations: Lage Raho Munna Bhai, on 10 November, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, 2006

Film to attract International critical attention:     Pather Panchali, 1955

First actor to win an international film award ( Afro Asian film awards ceremony) :           Sivaji Ganesan for Veerapandia Kattabomman.

First Actress of Indian cinema:            Durgabai Kamat in Mohini Bhasmasur

First film to shoot underwater -            Ondu Muttina Kathe (Kannada movie)

First Indian filmmaker to get Bharat Ratna:       Satyajit Ray, 1992

Guinness Book of World Records in the category "Fewest actors in a narrative film":     Yaadein directed and acted by Sunil Dutt

Music director to win an Oscar and first double Oscar winner:          A. R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire, 2009

National Film Award for cinema:         Shyamchi Aai 9 Golden Lotus Award for Best Film in 1954.)

Oldest award for films:                          Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) – Actor:       Sivaji Ganesan, 1995

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) – Actress:   Sharmila Tagore

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) – Director:  Mrinal Sen

Oscar for Lifetime Achievement:         Satyajit Ray, 1992

Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film:    Mother India, 1957

Oscar winner:                                         Bhanu Athaiya for Best Costume Design for the film Gandhi, 1982

Palme d'Or at 1946 Cannes Film Festival:        Neecha Nagar, directed by Chetan Anand, 1946

Silent film to be made in India:            Raja Harishchandra, by Dadasaheb Phalke and released on 3 May. 1913

Sound film:                                             Alam Ara directed by Ardeshir Irani

Sponsored TV serial:                             Hum Log

First in Sports

A1 GP race victory                                 Narain Karthikeyan, Zhuhai, China, 2007

First Indian Athlete ever to win a Medal in World Championships in Athletics      Anju Bobby George [She Won the Bronze Medal in Long Jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris]

First Indian woman wrestler to win an Asian gold medal       Navjot Kaur

Formula One driver                               Narain Karthikeyan

Formula One team                                 Force India F1

Indian to swim across the English Channel     Mihir Sen, 1958

Person to equal world record in Archery            Limba Ram, 1992

Woman to swim across the English Channel   Arati Saha, 1959

Olympics

Back to Back Medal                               Sushil Kumar,Bronze in the Beijing Olympics 2008 and Silver in the London Olympics 2012

First Indian Golfer                                   Aditi Ashok, 2016 Summer Olympics

First Woman to Win a Medal in Wrestling          Sakshi Malik Bronze in the 2016 Summer Olympics

First Woman to Win an Olympic Silver Medal   P. V. Sindhu in Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Individual Gold Medal                           Abhinav Bindra in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Individual Medal                                    Bronze by K. D. Jadhav for Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki

Individual Medal (Woman)                   Bronze by Karnam Malleswari for Weightlifting 54 kg class, at the 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney

Individual Silver Medal (Independent India)     Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the Men's Double Trap event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens

Medal in Badminton                              Saina Nehwal, Bronze in the London Olympics 2012

Medal in Boxing                                     Vijender Singh in the Beijing Olympics 2008

Medal in Boxing (Women)                   MC Mary Kom, Bronze in the London Olympics 2012

Medal in Tennis                                     Leander Paes at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta

Olympic Team Medal                             Gold in Field Hockey at 1928 Summer Olympics, Amsterdam, beating Netherlands

Chess

Chess Grandmaster                              Viswanathan Anand, 1988

Chess Women Grandmaster               Bhagyashree Thipsay, 1986

Youngest Indian woman to become a grandmaster    Koneru Humpy – 2002;

Tennis 

Grand Slam junior title                          Ramanathan Krishnan, 1954

Grand Slam junior title by a woman   Sania Mirza, 2003

Grand Slam title                                     Mahesh Bhupathi, 1997

Woman to win a Grand Slam title       Sania Mirza, 2009

Cricket 

Batsman to complete 10,000 runs in ODIs        Sachin Tendulkar (first in the world to achieve this feat)

Batsman to complete 10,000 runs in Tests        Sunil Gavaskar (first in the world to achieve this feat)

Captain in tests                                      C. K. Nayudu for the 1932 tour of England.

Cricketer to score a triple century in a test match         Virender Sehwag, 309 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004.

First cricket stadium                               Eden Gardens in Kolkata

First Indian to score the highest runs in a World Cup Sourav Ganguly 183 runs vs Sri Lanka in 1999 World Cup Cricket.

Hat trick in test cricket                           Harbhajan Singh against Australia in 2001 at Kolkata.

Hat-trick in an ODI                                 Chetan Sharma against New Zealand in 1987.

Indian to score an ODI century           Kapil Dev, 175* against Zimbabwe in the 1983 Cricket World Cup.

Indian to score an ODI double century Sachin Tendulkar, 200* against South Africa, 2010

ODI captain                                             Ajit Wadekar

Test match                                               against England at Lord's, 25 June 1932

Winner of the first T20 World Cup      India (in 2007) against Pakistan

World Cup                                               1983 World Cup -India beat West Indies, under the captaincy of Kapil Dev