Study Notes for UPSC/PCS: Important facts about India

Part-2
Firsts in India

Male

First Person NAME OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS

• President of the Constituent
First President of Indian Dr. Rajendra Prasad,
Assembly (1948-1950)
Republic 1950 to 1962

• He is also called as the

architect of modern India.
• Chairman of the constituent
assembly.
First Prime Minister of free Pt. Jawahar Lal
• Chairman of Union
India Nehru
Constitution Committee,
Union Powers Committee
and States Committee

• Also Known as Gurudev.

First Indian to win Nobel • Wrote National Anthem of
Rabindranath Tagore
Prize India.

First President of Indian

W.C. Banerjee
National Congress
First Muslim President of
Badruddin Tayyabji
Indian National Congress
First Muslim President of
Dr. Zakir Hussain
India
• Sati system was banned
First British Governor Lord William
during his regime.
General of India Bentinck (1833-1835)

• First Maratha war and second

Mysore war occurred during
First British Governor Lord Warren Hasting his regime
General of Bengal (1774-1885) • Founded Asiatic Society of
Bengal.

• Revolt of 1857 happened

during his regime.
• Established 3 universities at
First British Viceroy of India Lord Canning
Calcutta, Madras and
Bombay.
 • Indian Independence Bill
First Governor General of 1947 was passed during his
Lord Mountbatten
free India regime.

First and the last Indian to • Informally called as Rajaji or

be Governor General of free C. Rajgopalachari C.R.
India
The first man who • Bible was the first book
James Hicky (Bengal
introduced printing press in printed in India.
Gazette)
India
The First Indian to join the Satyendra Nath
I.C.S Tagore
First man in Space from
Rakesh Sharma
India
First Prime Minister of India
who resigned without Morarji Desai
completing the full term
First Indian Commander-in-
General Cariappa
Chief of India
Gen. Maharaj
First Chief of Army Staff
Rajendra Singhji
First Indian to join Viceroy’s
S.P.Sinha
executive council
• He was awarded with Bharat
First President of India who Ratna award.
Dr. Zakir Hussain
died while in office

First Muslim President of

Dr. Zakir Hussain
Indian Republic
First Prime Minister of India • Serving from 28 July 1979
who did not face the Charan Singh until 14 January 1980.
Parliament
S.H.F.
First Field Marshal of India Manekshaw(1914-
2008)
• For the discovery of Raman
First person to get Nobel
C.V.Raman Effect or Raman Scattering.
Prize in Physics from India

First Indian to receive • First Vice President of India

Dr. Radhakrishnan
Bharat Ratna award
First Indian to cross English
Mihir Sen
Channel
First Person to receive
Sri Shankar Kurup
Jnanpith award

The first Speaker of the Lok Ganesh Vasudeva
Sabha Mavalankar
First Vice-President of India Dr. Radhakrishnan
First Education Minister
First Home Minister of India
First Indian Air Marshal
First Indian Naval Chief
First Indian Judge of
International Court of
Justice
First person to reach Mt.
Everest without oxygen
First person to get Param
Vir Chakra
First Chief Election
Commissioner
First person to receive
Magsaysay Award
First person of Indian origin
to receive Nobel Prize in
Medicine
First Chinese traveller to
visit India
First person to receive Stalin
Prize
The first person to resign
from the Central Cabinet
• Also known as Dadasaheb
• Speaker of the Constituent
Assembly of India
Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad
• India's first Deputy Prime
Minister.
• Started Bardoli Satyagarh.
• Chairman of Provincial
Sardar Vallabh Bhai Constitution Committee and
Patel Advisory Committee on
Fundamental Rights,
Minorities and Tribal and
Excluded Areas.
S. Mukherjee
Vice Admiral R.D.
Katari
Dr. Nagendra Singh
Sherpa Ang Dorjee
Major Somnath
Sharma
Sukumar Sen
• First person chosen for
Acharya Vinoba
Individual Satyagraha.
Bhave
Hargovind Khurana
• Visited India during the reign
of Gupta emperor
Fahein
Chandragupta II
• Jalliawala Bagh gathering
1919 was held against the
Saifuddin Kitchlu arrest of Dr. Saifuddin
Kitchlu and Dr. Satyapal.
Shyama Prasad • Served as Minister for
Mukherjee 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.

• For his contributions to

First person to receive Nobel
Amartya Sen welfare economics
Prize in Economics

First Chief Justice of Justice Hirala J.

Supreme Court Kania
First Indian Pilot J.R.D. Tata (1929)

Female

First Indian woman to become

Rita Faria
Miss World
Mrs. Meera
First Indian woman judge in
Sahib Fatima
Supreme Court
Bibi
First woman Ambassador fom Mrs. C.B.
India Muthamma
• She became the first Indian
President of Indian National
First Indian woman Governor of Mrs Sarojini Congress
a state in free India Naidu • Known as the 'Nightingale of
India'

First Indian woman Speaker of a

Shanno Devi
State Assembly
• Full name Indira
Priyadarshini Nehru.
• Indo Pakistan war 1971 was
Mrs Indira fought during his regime.
First Indian woman Prime Gandhi (sworn • Imposed National Emergency
Minister on January 24, from 25 June 1975 to 21
1966 March 1977.
• Operation Bluestar Started by
her.

First Indian woman Minister in a Rajkumari • As Health minister.

Government Amrit Kaur
First Indian woman to climb
Bachhendri Pal
Mount Everest
First Indian woman to climb
Santosh Yadav
Mount Everest twice
• Started Home league in
First woman President of Indian Mrs Annie India.
National Congress Besant • Theosophical society in Idia.

First Indian woman President of Mrs. Sarojini

Indian National Congress Naidu
Mrs.
First Indian woman President of
Vijay Laxmi
United Nations General Assembly
Pandit
Kadambini
First Indian woman who got Ganguly and
Graduates degree Chandramukhi
Basu, 1883
First Indian woman Honours Kamini Roy,
Graduate 1886
Karnam
First Indian woman Olympic
Malleswari,
medal Winner
2000
First Indian woman to win Gold
Kamlijit Sandhu
Medal in Asian Games
Cornelia
First Indian woman Lawyer
Sorabjee
• Head of the Uttar Pradesh
government from 1963 to
1967.
• Part of the subcommittee that
drafted the Indian
First woman Chief Minister of an Mrs. Sucheta Constitution.
Indian State Kripalani • Like her contemporaries
Aruna Asaf Ali and Usha
Mehta, she came to the
forefront during the Quit
India Movement.

First Indian woman Chairman of Roze Millian

Union Public Service Commission Bethew
Kanchan
First Indian woman Director
Chaudhary
General of Police
Bhattacharya
Anna Chandy
(She became the
First woman Judge of India judge in a
district court in
1937)
 Mrs. Leela Seth
First Indian woman Chief Justice (Himachal
of High Court Pradesh High
Court)
First Indian woman Lieutenant
Puneeta Arora
General
First Indian woman Air Vice- P.
Marshal Bandopadhyaya
• For her novel ‘Pratham
First woman to receive Jnanpith Ashapoorna
Pratisruti ‘in 1965
Award from India Devi

• India's First & Highest

First Indian woman IPS officer Mrs. Kiran Bedi (Woman) Ranking Officer

First Indian and last Muslim • 1236 –1240, Slave Dynasty

Razia Sultan
woman ruler of India
First Indian woman to receive
Nirja Bhanot
Ashoka Chakra
First woman to cross the English
Aarti Saha
Channel from India
• Received honours, 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,
First Indian woman to receive leprosy, and tuberculosis
Mother Teresa
Nobel Prize 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 Mrs. Indira

Bharat Ratna Gandhi
First Indian woman pilot in Harita Kaur
Indian Air Force Dayal
First Indian woman appeared on
Parveen Babi
Time Magazine cover.

India's first test tube baby
• She was brought into life in
“Durga”
the year 1978 by the hands of
(Kanupriya
D.r Subhash Mukhopadhyay
Agarwal)

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