Topics to cover

1. Indian Army, Navy and Air Force’s officials

2. Sports events winners
3. Important sport event venues and number of medals won by India
4. Major Awards, Prizes
5. Developments in science and technology
6. Countries Currency & Capital
7. First in world or India

Army

1) Field Marshall
a) 1 January 1973 - Sam Manekshaw (1914–2008)
b) 28 April 1986 - K. M. Cariappa (1899–1993)
2) Generals:

Appointment
Name Rank Left Office
Date

General Sir Robert McGregor Macdonald 31 December

General 15 August 1947
Lockhart 1947

General Sir Francis Robert Roy Bucher General 1 January 1948 15 January 1949

General Bikram Singh General 31 May 2012 31 July 2014

31 December
General Dalbir Singh Suhag General 31 July 2014
2016

31 December
General Bipin Rawat General Current
2016
Navy

1. Commander in chief
 Sir William Edward Parry
 Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey
2. Admiral

Name Term started on Term ended on

Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi August 31, 2012 26 February 2014

Admiral Robin K Dhowan 17 April 2014 31 May 2016

Admiral Sunil Lamba 31 May 2016 To date

3. Vice Admiral-Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar

Air force

1. Air chief marshall

Name Duration

Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst 15 August 1947-21 February 1950

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha 31 December 2013 – 31 December 2016

Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa 31 December 2016 – Incumbent

2. Air Marshall - Anil Khosla- 1 October 2018, Shirish Baban Deo- 31 December 2016 to 30
September 2018

Sports events winners

First held Last held Next at

Games
(Year & Host) (Year & Host) (Year & Host)
1896 2016 2020
Olympic Games Athens Rio de Janeiro Tokyo
Greece Brazil Japan
1930 2018 2022
Commonwealth
Hamilton Queensland Birmingham
Games
Canada Australia United Kingdom
 First held Last held Next at
Games
(Year & Host) (Year & Host) (Year & Host)
1951 2018 2022
Asian Games New Delhi Jakarta Hangzhou
India Indonesia China
1924 2018 2022
Winter Olympics Chamonix Pyeongchang Beijing
France South Korea China
2003 2003 Not Known
Afro Asian Games Hyderabad Hyderabad Algiers
India India Algeria
1995 2015 2019
World Military Games Rome Mungyeong Wuhan
Italy South Korea China
2010 2018 2022
Youth Olympic
Singapore Buenos Aires Dakar
Games (Summer)
Singapore Argentina Senegal
2012 2016 2020
Youth Olympic
Innsbruck Lillehammer Lausanne
Games (Winter)
Austria Norway Switzerland
2015
1975 2019
Cricket World Cup Australia, New
England England
Zealand
Cricket World Cup 1973 2017 2021
(Women's) England England New Zealand
Football World Cup 1930 2018 2022
(Men's) Uruguay Russia Qatar
Football World Cup 1991 2015 2019
(Women's) China Canada France
1971 2014 2018
Hockey World Cup Barcelona, The Hague, The Bhubaneshwar,
Spain Netherlands India
UEFA European
2020
Football 1960 2016
13 cities of
Championship (Euro France France
Europe
Cup)
1984 2016 2019
South Asian Games Kathmandu Guwahati and Kathmandu
(Nepal) Shillong (India) (Nepal)
1985 2017
2021
World Masters Games Toronto Auckland (New
Kansai (Japan)
(Canada) Zealand)
 First held Last held Next at
Games
(Year & Host) (Year & Host) (Year & Host)
2017
ICC Champions 1998 2021
England and
Trophy Bangladesh India
Wales
IAAF World 1983
2017 2019
Championship in Helsinki,
London, U.K. Doha, Qatar
Athletics Finland
1973 2017
Asian Athletics 2019
Marikina, Bhubaneshwar,
Championship Doha, Qatar
Philippines India
1981 2021
2017
The World Games Santa Clara, Birmingham,
Warsaw, Poland
United States United States

First in Sports - India

Achievement Sportsperson

The first Indian to win an individual medal at the

KD Jadhav
Olympic Games

The first Indian to win a gold medal at the Olympic

Abhinav Bindra
Games

The first Indian woman to win an individual medal at

Karnam Malleswari
the Olympic Games

The first Indian (also the first Asian) to win the Ramanathan
Wimbledon junior Singles title Krishnan (in 1954)

The first Indian to win a Grand Slam title (French Open

Mahesh Bhupathi
mixed doubles title in 1997)

The first Indian to achieve a career Grand Slam in Mahesh Bhupathi

mixed doubles (2006)

The first Indian to achieve a career Grand Slam in

Leander Paes (2012)
doubles

The first Indian to become a world champion in billiards Wilson Jones

 Achievement Sportsperson

India's first Grandmaster and also the first Indian to win

Vishwanathan Anand
the FIDE World Chess Championship

The first Indian to win the under 10 World Chess

P. Harikrishna
Championship

The first Indian to win the All England Badminton

Prakash Padukone
Championship

The first Indian gymnast to win a medal at the

Ashish Kumar
Commonwealth Games

The first Indian woman to receive the Grandmaster's

Koneru Humpy
title

Parimarjan Negi (13

The youngest Indian to win the Grandmaster title years 3 months and
22 days)

Mansoor Ali Khan

The youngest Indian to captain its test cricket team
Pataudi

The first Indian to swim across the English Channel Mihir Sen (1958)

The first Indian woman (also Asian woman) to swim

Aarti Saha (1959)
across the English Channel

The first woman in the world to swim the seven seas Bula Chaudhary

The first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the

Kamaljit Sandhu
Asian Games

The first Indian women athlete to win a medal at a

world event (Bronze at World Athletics Championship, Anju Bobby George
2003)

The first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam title Sania Mirza

The first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton

Championships and also to win a Super Series
Saina Nehwal
tournament, (by clinching the Indonesia Open). First
Indian woman to be ranked World No. 1

1st recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Viswanathan Anand

 Achievement Sportsperson

1st woman recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Karnam Malleswari

1st recipient of Dhyanchand Lifetime Achievement

Aparna Ghosh
Award

1st cricket player to be awarded the Arjuna Award Salim Durrani

1st Indian to win Olympic medals at two consecutive

Sushil Kumar
Olympic Games

1st Indian recipient of International Cricket Council's

Rahul Dravid
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (also the first in the world)

1st Indian recipient of Wisden Leading Cricketer in the

Virender Sehwag
World

First in Sports - World

Achievement Sportsperson
Athletics
The first person in the world to run the 100 m race in
Jim Hines (USA)
under 10 seconds
The first person in the world to run the 200 m race in
Tommie Smith (USA)
under 20 seconds
The first person in the world to run the 1,600 m race in Roger Bannister
under 4 minutes (U.K.)
The first person in the world to run the 5,000 m race in
Said Aouita (Morocco)
under 13 minutes
The first person in the world to run the 10,000 m race
Taisto Maki (Finland)
in under 30 minutes
The first person in the world to jump over 8 metres in
Jesse Owens (USA)
long jump
The first person in the world to clear over 7 feet in high
Charles Dumas (USA)
jump
Important Trophies
The first team to win the FIFA World Cup Uruguay (1930)
The first team to win the FIFA Women's World Cup USA (1991)
The first team to win the Hockey World Cup Pakistan (1971)
 Achievement Sportsperson
Athletics
The first team to win the Women's Hockey World Cup Netherlands (1974)
The first team to win the Cricket World Cup West Indies (1975)
The first team to win the Women's Cricket World Cup England (1973)
The first team to win the World T20 Cricket
India (2007)
Championship
The first team to win the Davis Cup USA (1900)
The first team to win the Fed Cup USA (1963)
The first team to win the Merdeka Cup Hong Kong (1957)
The first team to win the Ryder Cup USA (1927)
The first team to win the Thomas Cup Malaysia (1949)
The first team to win the Uber Cup USA (1957)
The first team to win the Sudirman Cup Indonesia (1989)
Others
Mathew Webb (UK,
The first person to swim across the English Channel
1875)

Important General Information on States of

India
First Ranked States

Feature State

Largest state (in terms of area) Rajasthan

Smallest state Goa

Most populous state Uttar Pradesh

Least populous state Sikkim

Most populous union territory (not incl Delhi) Puducherry

Least populous union territory Lakshadweep

Most densely populated state Bihar

 First Ranked States

Feature State

Least densely populated state Arunachal Pradesh

First state to be formed on linguistic basis Andhra Pradesh

Most literate state Kerala

Least literate state Bihar

The state with the longest coastline Gujarat

The state having boundaries with seven states

Assam
and two countries

The state surrounded on three sides by

Tripura
Bangladesh

The state surrounded by three countries and

Sikkim
one state

The number of states which have a coastline Nine

The number of Union Territories which have a

Four
coastline

The states which have neither an international M.P., Chhattisgarh,

boundary nor a coastline Jharkhand, Haryana

Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force

Facts to Remember
Importance Name
1st Commander in Chief of Indian Army General Sir Robert Lockhart
1st Indian Commander in Chief of Indian General KM Cariappa (later Field
Army Marshall)
1st Chief of Army Staff General Rajendrasinhji
The Chief of Army during 1962 war General PN Thapar
The Chief of Army during 1965 war General JN Choudhary
 Importance Name
The Chief of Army during 1971 war Field Marshall SHFJ Maneckshaw
First Army Chief to become Field
Field Marshall SHFJ Maneckshaw
Marshall
First Sikh to become the Chief of Army
General JJ Singh
Staff
First Army Chief to die in harness General BC Joshi
Admiral Charles Thomas Mark
First Chief of Naval Staff
Pizey
First Indian Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral RD Katari
First Naval Chief in the rank of Admiral Admiral AK Chatterji
The Chief of Naval Staff during 1962 and
Vice Admiral BS Soman
1965 war
The Chief of Naval Staff during 1971 war Admiral SM Nanda
1st Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall Thomas Elmhirst
1st Indian Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall Subroto Mukherji
1st Chief in the rank of Air Chief Marshall Air Chief Marshall Arjan Singh
1st Marshall of the Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshall Arjan Singh
The Chief of Air Staff during 1962 war Air Marshall AM Engineer
The Chief of Air Staff during 1965 war Air Chief Marshall Arjan Singh
The Chief of Air Staff during 1971 war Air Chief Marshall PC Lal
First Chief of Integrated Service
Lt Gen Pankaj S Joshi
Command

Important Military Operations

Operation Brief Details
The operation was launched after the 13 December 2001
attack on the Indian Parliament. Thousands of Indian troops
Operation
were deployed along the Indo-Pakistan border. The operation
Parakram
was the largest military exercise carried out by any Asian
country
The operation was launched in Nov 1988 on call of Maldives
Operation President MA Gayoom, who was under threat of a coup from
Cactus mercenaries. The three services of India launched the
operation and captured the mercenaries.
 Operation Brief Details
This was a naval offensive operation launched on Pakistan's
Operation port city of Karachi by the Indian Navy during the Indo-
Trident (1971) Pakistani War of 1971. India celebrates its Navy Day annually
on 4 December to mark this operation.
Operation
Launched in 1961 to liberate Goa from Portuguses control.
Vijay (1961)
Operation Indian operation to push back the infiltrators from the Kargil
Vijay (1999) Sector.
Operation Launched in Sep 2002 to evacuate Akshardham Temple in
Vajra Shakti Gandhinagar, Gujarat of terrorists.
Operation Launched by DGP KPS Gill in 1988 to rid the Golden Temple
Black Thunder of militants.
Operation Launched during the reign of Mrs Indira Gandhi in Jun 1984
Blue Star against the Sikh militants operating from Golden Temple.
Operation An action by National Security Guards against the 26 Nov
Black Tornado 2008 terrorists attacks in Mumbai.
Operation The name given to Government's paramilitary offensive
Green Hunt against the naxals in the 'Red Corridor'.
Operation The operation was launched by the Indian Army in November
Brasstacks 1986 to simulate a full-scale war on the western border.
An operation launched by the Indian Military to capture the
Operation Siachen Glacier in the disputed Kashmir region in April 1984.
Meghdoot The Indian troops finally gained control of the entire Siachen
Glacier.
It was the codename given to the operations by the Indian
Operation
Peace Keeping Force to take control of Jaffna from the LTTE
Pawan
in late 1987.
Operation It was the codename assigned to the Indian Air Force's strike
Safed Sagar to support the Ground troops during Operation Vijay Kargil.
This refers to the deployment of Naval Fleets in the North
Operation
Arabian Sea during the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and
Talwar
Pakistan.
Operation
This refers to the operation launched in Jan 2016 to neutralise
Dhangu
terrorists who attacked Pathankot air base in Punjab.
Suraksha

Important Years in World History

Event Year
Birth of Jesus Christ 4 B.C.
 Event Year
Death of Jesus Christ 29 A.D.
Birth of Prophet Mohammed 570
Emigration of Mohammed to Madina, Beginning of Hijri era 622
Death of Prophet Mohammed 632
Magna Carta, first document limiting the powers of King of
1215
England was signed
Black Death, most devastating pandemic in Europe killed
1348-50
over 100 million people
100 years war between England and France 1337-1453
Christopher Columbus discovers the New World 1492
Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route from Europe to
1497-98
India
Defeat of Spanish Armada also known as Invincible Fleet
1588
by England
Great Plague of London which killed about 1 million people
1665-66
in the city
Great fire of London which destroyed about 70000 homes
1666 (2 - 5 Sep)
in the city
7 years war involving the great powers of the time 1757-1763
Declaration of independence of United States of America 1776
Beginning of the French Revolution 1789
Battle of Waterloo in which Napolean was defeated 1815
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich
1848
Engels published
On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin published 1859
Slavery is abolished by the 13th Amendment in the United
1865
States of America
First modern Olympic Games held at Athens 1896
Robert Peary reached the North Pole 1909
Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole 1911
Republic of China is established, Titanic sinks 1912
1st World War 1914-1918
Russian Revolution ending the Tsarist autocracy 1917
USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) came into
1922
existence
Beginning of the Great Depression 1929
2nd World War 1939-1945
 Event Year
Dropping of Atom Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945
Launch of Sputnik 1, marking the beginning of space age 1957
Landing of Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong on the surface of
1969
moon
Chernobyl disaster 1986
World Wide Web invented, Reunification of Germany 1990
Dissolution of USSR 1991
End of apartheid in South Africa 1994
9/11 attack on World Trade Center 2001
Tsunami in Indian Ocean 2004
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster 2011

Mountains and Hills of India

Important Facts
The study of mountains is called Orology
Feature Mountain

Highest mountain in India Kanchenjunga

Mt K2 also known as
Highest mountain in India (incl POK)
Godwin Austin
Oldest mountain range in India Aravallis
The highest peak in the Western Ghats and also
Anamudi in Kerala
South India is
Guru Shikhar, near Mt.
The highest peak in the Aravallis is
Abu in Rajasthan
Raisina Hill, the area in New Delhi where
Aravalli Hills
Rashtrapati Bhavan is located is an extension of
The hill ranges which geographically divide
Vindhyas
northern India from the Deccan Plateau
The Western Ghats are also known as Sahyadri hills
The name of the hill on which the famous Vaishno
Trikuta
Devi temple is located
Mt Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva of Hindu
Tibet
mythology is located in
Mountains of the World
Feature Name
Highest mountain Mt Everest* (Nepal) 8,848 m
Highest mountain in Africa Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) 5895m
Highest mountain in Australia Mt Kosciuszko 2234 m
Highest mountain in Europe Mt Elbrus (Russia) 5642 m
Mt Denali** (Alaska, USA)
Highest mountain in North America
6187m
Mt Aconcagua (Argentina)
Highest mountain in South America
7021m
Highest mountain in Antarctica Mt Vinson Massif
Highest mountain in Oceania (Australia and Puncak Jaya (Mount Carstensz)
New Guinea) 4884m
*Mt. Everest named after Sir George Everest, Surveyor General of India is
known as Chomolungma in Tibet and Sagarmatha in Nepal.
**Mt Denali was earlier known as Mt McKinley and was renamed in 2015.
Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano in Hawaii is over 10,000 m tall from its base to
peak (taller than Mt. Everest) but most of it lies under the ocean and is only
4,205 m above sea level.

First to Conquer Mt. Everest

Feature Name Date
29 May
First persons Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
1953
16 May
First woman Junko Tabei
1975
First person to summit 1963 and
Nawang Gombu
twice 1965
First woman to summit 1992 and
Santosh Yadav
twice 1993
23 May
Oldest person Yuichiro Muira (80 years 224 days)
2013
19 May
Oldest woman Tamae Watanbe (73 years 180 days)
2012
Jordan Romera (13 years 10 months 19 May
Youngest person
10 days) 2012
25 May
Youngest female Malavath Purna (13 years 11 mths)
2014
 Feature Name Date
23 May
First Indian woman Bachendri Pal
1984
19 May
First twins Tashi and Nungshi Malik
2013
First Indian without 09 May
Phu Dorjee
oxygen 1984
21 May
First female amputee Arunima Sinha
2013
16 May
Kami Rita Sherpa (22 times)
2018
11 May
Most number of times Apa Sherpa (21 times)
2011
24 May
Phurba Tashi Sherpa (21 times)
2013
25 May
First blind person Erik Weihenmayer
2001

Important information on Nationalised Banks

Nationalised Banks of India
The oldest Joint Stock Bank of India Allahabad Bank
The bank founded by Freedom Fighter Dr.
Andhra Bank
Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya
First bank to open a branch outside India Bank of India, London, 1946
The first bank to be given an ISO 9002
Canara Bank
certificate for one of its branches
The Postal Dept has issued a
commemorative stamp in the name of this Central Bank of India
bank celebrating 100 years in 2011
First Indian Bank to be wholly owned by
Central Bank of India
Indians
The bank formed on the efforts of Lala
Punjab National Bank
Lajpat Rai
The only merger of nationalised banks took Punjab National Bank and New
place between Bank of India in 1993
The bank whose brand equity is "Pygmy
Syndicate Bank
Deposit Scheme"
The bank which was conceived by Shri GD
UCO Bank
Birla
 Nationalised Banks of India
The bank which was inaugrated by
Union Bank of India
Mahatma Gandhi in 1919
The largest among nationalised banks Punjab National Bank
The bank established in the year 1913 as
Bank of Mysore Ltd. at the instance of the
banking committee headed by the great State Bank of Mysore
Engineer-Statesman, Late Dr. Sir
M.Visvesvaraya.
The State with largest number of Uttar Pradesh (13167 as on
commercial bank offices 31.03.2013)
The bank which sponsors the annual
Mumbai Marathon held in the month of Standard Chartered
January
Feature World Bank International Monetary Fund
Founded July 1944 December 1945
Headed by President Managing Director
First
Eugene Meyer Camille Gutt
President/MD
Headquarters Washington D.C. Washington D.C.
Constituents IBRD & IDA Single body
To promote economic and
social progress in To oversee a monetary system
developing countries by that will encourage trade, create
Central
helping to raise jobs, expand economic activity,
purpose
productivity so that their and raise living standards
people may live a better throughout the world.
and fuller life.
Regular
World Development
reports World Economic Outlook
Report
published
A pool of resources to which
Borrowing through issue of each member nation contributes
Source of
bonds, grants from donor a certain amount of money
funding
nations. proportionate to its economic size
and strength.
IBRD - Developing nations All nations rich or poor to rectify
- Slightly higher interest the problem of balance of
rate than borrowing rate payments. Interest rates are
Recipients of
and repaying time of 12 to slightly below market rates and
funding
15 years amount must normally be repaid
IDA - Very poor within three to five years, and in
developing nations, no case later than ten years.
 Nationalised Banks of India
interest free with a
repaying time of 35 to 40
years.

Rivers of the World

Longest Rivers
The longest river in the world is the Nile.(Length 6,650 km)
The longest river in Europe is Volga. (Length 3,530 km)
The longest river in Asia is Yangtse. (Length 6,300 km)
The longest river in North America is Missouri-Mississippi. (Length 5,971 km)
The longest river in South America is Amazon. (Length 6,400 km)
The longest river in the USA is Missouri-Mississippi.
The longest river in China is Yangtze.
The longest river in the Indian sub-continent is Indus. (Length 3,180 km)
The longest river in Australia is Murray-Darling. (Length 3,720 km)
The longest river in the United Kingdom is Severn. (Length 354 km)
The largest river in the world (in terms of the volume of water) is the Amazon.
The deepest river in the world is the Congo. It is also known as the Zaire river.

Some Facts to Remember on World Rivers

Facts to Remember - Rivers of the World
River Danube flows through FOUR capital cities Budapest (Hungary),
Belgrade (Serbia), Vienna (Austria) and Bratislava (Slovakia). It also touches or
flows through ten countries viz. Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia,
Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova.
The river which crosses the Equator twice is Zaire.
The river which crosses the Tropic of Capricorn twice is Limpopo.
The river known as China’s sorrow is River Hwang Ho or the Yellow River.
The river which begins south of Equator and then crosses Tropic of Cancer
before emptying into the sea - Nile
The river which does not have any bridges across it throughout its entire length
is the Amazon.
Examples of countries which do have any rivers flowing through them Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar etc.
Largest, tallest etc.
 Facts to Remember - Rivers of the World
Largest flower Rafflesia
Smallest flowering plant Wolffia
Largest tree-grown fruit Jackfruit
Tallest grass Bamboo
Tallest tree Coast Redwood
Largest seed Lodoicea maldivica (Sea coconut)
Largest herb Banana plant
Fastest growing plant Bamboo

First Appointees of India

1st President Dr. Rajendra Prasad
1st Vice-President Dr. S Radhakrishnan
1st Prime Minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru
1st Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel
1st Railway Minister John Mathai
1st Defence Minister Sardar Baldev Singh
1st Finance Minister RK Shanmugam Chetty
1st External Affairs Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
1st Law Minister Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
1st Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
1st Governor General (Indian) C Rajagopalachari
1st Governor General (Independent India) Lord Mountbatten
1st Chief Justice of India Harilal J Kania
1st Lokpal Pinaki Chandra Ghose
1st Chief Election Commissioner Sukumar Sen
1st Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah
1st Central Vigilance Commissioner N Srinivasa Rau
1st Attorney General M.C. Setalvad
1st Speaker of Lok Sabha G.V. Mavalankar
1st Cabinet Secretary N.R. Pillai
1st Chief of Army Staff Gen Rajendra Singhji
1st Chief of Air Staff Air Marshall Thomas Elmhirst
1st Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral RD Katari

First Events in India

 Event Year
29 Jan 1781 (Hicky Calcutta
Newspaper
Gazette)
First issue of Postal Stamp 1825 (in Sind)
1851 (Calcutta & Diamond
First Telegraph line
Harbour)
Railways started 16 April 1853
First air mail in India & World Bumraulli to
1911
Allahabad (6 miles)
Broadcasting started in India 1927
1st electric train 23 Feb 1925
All India Radio established 1936
Television started 1959
First Atomic Power Station commissioned at
1969
Tarapur
First nuclear test carried out 18 May 1974
India's first satellite, Aryabhata launched 19 April 1975
Colour Television started 1982
1st metro trains in India 1984 (Kolkata)
15 August 1995 (provided by
Internet came to India
BSNL)
India's first mission to Moon (Chandrayaan-1)
22 October 2008
launched
India's first mission to Mars (Mangalyaan)
05 November 2013
launched
India's first newsprint factory was set up at
1947
Nepanagar (MP) in
India's first cement factory was set up in
1904
Chennai in
India's first steel factory was set up in
1907
Jamshedpur in
India's first cotton mill was set up in Bombay in 1854

First Woman Chief Ministers of Indian States

State Chief Minister
Assam Syeda Anwara Taimur
Bihar Rabri Devi
Delhi Sushma Swaraj
Gujarat Anandiben Patel
Goa, Daman & Diu Shashikala Kakodkar
Madhya Pradesh Uma Bharti
Odisha Nandini Satpathy
Punjab Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje
Tamilnadu Janaki Ramachandran
Uttar Pradesh Sucheta Kriplani
West Bengal Mamta Banerjee
Jammu & Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti Sayeed

First Woman Governors of Indian States

State Governor
Andhra Pradesh Sharda Mukherjee
Gujarat Sharda Mukherjee
Himachal Pradesh Sheila Kaul
Kerala Jyoti Venkatachalam
Madhya Pradesh Sarla Grewal
Maharashtra Vijayalakshmi Pandit
Rajasthan Pratibha Patil
Tamil Nadu Fathima Beevi
Uttar Pradesh Sarojini Naidu
West Bengal Padmaja Naidu
Jharkhand Draupadi Murmu
Goa Margaret Alva
Uttarakhand Margaret Alva

Firsts in India - Women

The first Indian woman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna - Smt Indira Gandhi.
The first lady Governor of an Indian state was Smt Sarojini Naidu.
The first lady Chief Minister of State was Smt Sucheta Kripalani.
The first lady Central minister of the country was Smt Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.
The first woman president of the Indian National Congress was Annie Besant.
The first woman to become the Chief Election Commissioner was Mrs Rama
Devi.
The first Indian woman to be appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner
- Deepak Sandhu.
The first woman to be appointed the Speaker of Lok Sabha is Mrs Meira
Kumar.
The first woman president of UN General Assembly - Mrs Vijayalaxmi Pandit.
The first woman advocate of India was Cornelia Sorabjee.
The first woman judge of India and also the first woman judge of High Court
was Justice Anna Chandy.
The first woman to be appointed Chief Justice of a state High Court was
Justice Leila Seth.
The first woman to be appointed judge of the Supreme Court was Justice M
Fatima Beevi.
The first Indian woman to swim the English Channel was Aarti Saha.
The first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal was Karnam Malleswari.
The first Indian woman to win an Asiad medal - Kamaljit Sandhu.
The first Indian woman to climb Mt Everest - Bachendri Pal.
The first Indian woman to ski to the South Pole - Reena Kaushal
DharmaShaktu
The first Indian woman to receive a gallantry award in the Indian Army (Sena
Medal for her acts of bravery in Afghanistan) - Major Mitali Madhumita.
The first Indian woman to join the Territorial Army as a jawan - Shanti Tigga.
The first Indian woman to win the Miss Asia-Pacific title - Zeenat Aman.
The first Indian woman to win the Miss Universe title - Sushmita Sen.
The first Indian woman to win the Miss World title - Reita Faria.
The first Indian woman to win the Miss Earth title - Nicol Faria.
The first Indian woman to be appointed as the Minister of External Affairs of
India - Sushma Swaraj. (Note: Mrs. Indira Gandhi held the additional charge as
Minister of External Affairs while being the Prime Minister of India.)

First Awardees of Various Awards

BHARAT RATNA
1st Indian to be awarded the Bharat Ratna C Rajagopalachari
1st Bharat Ratna Awardee to become the President of Dr. S.
India Radhakrishnan
 BHARAT RATNA
1st person to be awarded the Bharat Ratna
Lal Bahadur Shastri
posthumously
1st Scientist to be awarded the Bharat Ratna CV Raman
1st and only Industrialist to be awarded the Bharat
JRD Tata
Ratna
1st woman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna Mrs. Indira Gandhi
1st sportsperson to be awarded the Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar
LITERARY AWARDS
1st recipient of Bhartiya Jnanpith award G Sankara Kurup
1st recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for English RK Narayan

SPORTS AWARDS
1st recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Viswanathan Anand
1st woman recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Karnam Malleshwari
Award
1st recipient of Dhyanchand Lifetime
Aparna Ghosh
Achievement Award
1st cricket player to be awarded the Arjuna
Salim Durrani
Award
GALLANTRY AWARDS
1st winner of Param Vir Chakra Major Somnath Sharma
1st and only Air Force person to receive the Flying Officer Nirmaljit
Param Vir Chakra Shekhon
1st woman to receive the Ashoka Chakra Neerja Bhanot (1987)
OTHER AWARDS
1st recipient of Jawaharlal Nehru Award for
U Thant (1965)
International Understanding
1st recipient of Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Parliamentarians for Global
Disarmament and Development Action(1986)
1st recipient of Indira Gandhi Award for
Yasser Arafat (1992)
International Justice and Harmony
1st recipient of Outstanding Parliamentarian
Shri Chandrashekhar (1995)
Award
1st recipient of Gandhi Peace Prize (Govt of
Julius Nyerere (1995)
India Award)
1st recipient of Communal Harmony Award
Asghar Ali Engineer, 1997
(Individual)
 SPORTS AWARDS
1st recipient of Communal Harmony Award
Quami Ekta Trust, 1997
(Organisation)
1st recipient of Tagore Award for Cultural
Pt. Ravi Shankar, 2012
Harmony

First Indian Awardees of International Awards

International Awards - Indian Recipients
1st Indian to be awarded the Nobel prize in any
Rabindranath Tagore
field (literature)
1st Indian to be featured as the Person of the
Mahatma Gandhi (1930)
Year by Time magazine
1st Indian to be awarded the UNESCO's Kalinga
Jagjit Singh (1963)
Prize
1st Indian to receive the Booker prize (British
Salman Rushdie
citizen)
1st Indian woman (and also first Indian citizen)
Arundhati Roy
to receive the Booker prize
1st Indian to receive the Pulitzer prize
Gobind Behari Lal
(Reporting category)
1st Indian recipient of International Cricket
Rahul Dravid
Council's Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy
1st Indian scientist to be awarded the Nobel
CV Raman
prize
1st Indian to be awarded the Nishan-e-Pakistan Morarjee Desai
1st Indian to be awarded Magsaysay Award Vinoba Bhave
1st Indian to be awarded the Bangladesh
Indira Gandhi
Swadhinata Sammanona
Ela Bhatt of SEWA (Self-
1st Indian and Indian Organisation to be
Employed Women's
awarded the Right Livelihood Award
Association) (1984)
MS Swaminathan (Father of
1st recipient of World Food Prize instituted By
Green Revolution in India )
Norman Borlaug (Father of Green Revolution)
(1987)
1st Asian recipient of Hoover Medal (America's
prestigious award for outstanding extra-career APJ Abdul Kalam (2008)
services by engineers to humanity)
1st Indian recipient of DSC Prize for South
Jeet Thayil (2013)
Asian Literature
 International Awards - Indian Recipients
1st Indian recipient of Priztker Prize (referred to
Balkrishna Doshi(2018)
as Nobel Prize of Architechture)

First Heads of State

First Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaqat Ali
First Prime Minister of England Robert Walpole
First President of United States of America George Washington
First Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibar Rehman
First President of Chinese Republic Sun Yat Sen
First Prime Minister of Australia Sir Edmunton Barton
First Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion
First State President of South Africa Charles Robberts Swart
First President of Russia Boris Yelstin
First President of Nepal Ram Baran Yadav

First in the World - Men

First man in space Yuri Gagarin USSR
Arnaldo Tamayo
First person of African descent in space Cuba
Méndez
First man to reach the North Pole Robert Peary USA
New
First man to scale Mt Everest Edmund Hillary
Zealand
First man to reach the South Pole Roald Amundsen Norway
Enrique, Magellan's
First man to circumnavigate the world Malay
slave
First man to land on the moon Neil Armstrong USA
First Secretary General of the United
Trygve Lie Norway
Nations

First in the World - Women

Valentina
First woman in space USSR
Tereshkova
First woman to cross the Atlantic in a solo
Amelia Earhart USA
flight
First woman to scale Mt Everest Junko Tabei Japan
First woman to win an Olympic gold Charlotte Cooper England
Sirimavo Sri
First woman Prime Minister in the world
Bandaranaike Lanka
First American woman in space Sally Ride USA
First female commander of International
Peggy Whitson USA
Space Station

First Woman Prime Ministers/Presidents in the

World
Name Country Post
Srimavo Bandaranaike Sri Lanka Prime Minister
Golda Meir Israel Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi India Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher United Kingdom Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto Pakistan Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia Bangladesh Prime Minister
Edith Cresson France Prime Minister
Kim Campbell Canada Prime Minister
Julia Gillard Australia Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra Thailand Prime Minister
Angela Merkel Germany Chancellor
Corazon Aquino Philippines President
Chandrika Kumaratunga Sri Lanka President
Megawati Sukarnoputri Indonesia President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Liberia President
Pratibha Patil India President
Dilma Rousseff Brazil President
Park Geun-hye South Korea President
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim Mauritius President
Bidhya Devi Bhandari Nepal President
First in Space - Human Beings/Animals
Name of the
Event Vehicle Date
Person
03 Nov
First animal in space Laika, the dog Sputnik-2
1957
Albert II, a
First primate in space V-2 14 Jun 1949
rhesus monkey
First man in space Maj Yuri Gagarin Vostok 1 12 Apr 1961
Valentina
First woman in space Vostok 6 16 Jun 1963
Tereshkova
First person to walk in 18 Mar
Alexei Leonov Voskhod 2
space 1965
First woman to walk in Svetlana
Salyut 7 25 Jul 1984
space Savitskaya
MR-3 05 May
First American in space Allan Shepard
(Freedom 7) 1961
First American to orbit the 20 Feb
John Glenn Friendship 7
earth 1962
First man on moon Neil Armstrong Apollo 11 20 Jul 1969
Sqn Ldr Rakesh
First Indian in space Soyuz T-11 02 Apr 1984
Sharma
STS-7
First US woman in space Sally Ride 18 Jun 1983
(Challenger)
Soyuz
First space tourist Dennis Tito 28 Apr 2001
TM32/31
Anousheh 18 Sep
First woman space tourist Soyuz TMA9
Ansari 2006
First Indian (American) Spaceship 19 Nov
Kalpana Chawla
Woman in space Columbia 1997
Lt Col Yang
First Chinese in space Shenzou V 15 Oct 2003
Liwei
First Chinese woman in
Liu Yang Shenzou 9 16 Jun 2012
space
First female commander of 03 Feb
Eileen Collins Discovery
a space shuttle 1995
First female commander of October
Peggy Whitson -
International Space Station 2007

Artists of the World and their famous paintings

 Name Nationality Popular Works
The Last Supper, Mona Lisa, The Vitruvian
Leornado da Vinci Italy Man, Adoration of the Magi, The Baptism of
Christ
The Last Judgement, Pieta, David, Sistine
Michel Angelo Italy
Chapel ceiling
Transfiguration, The Marriage of the Virgin,
Resurrection of Christ, La belle jardinière,
Raphael Sanzio Italy
The Sistine Madonna, Madonna and Child
with the Book
The Night Watch, The Return of the
Rembrandt
The Prodigal Son, The Storm on the Sea of
Harmenszoon van
Netherlands Galilee, The Blinding of Samson, The
Rijn
Three Trees
Impression, Sunrise, Woman with a
Claude Oscar
France Parasol, Bridge over a Pond of Water
Monet
Lilies, Garden at Sainte-Adresse
Starry Nights, Sunflowers, Bedroom in
The
Vincent van Gogh Aires, Potrait of Dr. Gachet, The Potato
Netherlands
Eaters
Guernica, The Old Blind Guitarist, The
Pablo Picasso Spain
Weeping Woman

Artists of India and their paintings

Painter/Artist Famous Work
Raja Ravi Varma Hamsa Damyanti, Shakuntala, Arjuna and Subhadra
Nihal Chand Bani Thani, Dipavalika
Syed Hyder Raja Saurashtra
Amrita Shergil Young Girls, Bride's Toilet, Village Scene
Tyeb Mehta Mahishasura
Raqib Shaw The Garden of Earthly Delights
Francis Newton Souza Birth, Balzac Etcetera
Binod Behari
Villagers
Mukherjee
Subodh Gupta Saat Samundar Paar
Arpita Singh Wish Dream
Mother and Child, Krishna and Balarama, Warrior
Jamini Roy
King
Abbreviations - Govt. Bodies/Programmes
Abbreviation Expanded Form

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports

APEDA
Development Authority

CII Confederation of Indian Industry

CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro

FASAL
meteorological and Land based observations

FICCI Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry

ICAR Indian Council of Agricultural Research

ICRISAT International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics

IFFCO Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited

ISOPOM Integrated Scheme of Oilseeds, Pulses, Oil Palm and Maize

KRIBHCO Krishak Bharti Co-operative Limited

MPLADS Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme

NABARD National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development

NAFED National Agricultural Co-operative Marketing Federation

NeGP National e-Governance Plan

NDDB National Dairy Development Board

NREGS National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

SGSY Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India

TRIFED
Limited

GANDHI Green Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative

REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation

Abbreviation Expanded Form

JNNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission

Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural

CAPART
Technology

RNTCP Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme

PYKKA Panchayat Yuva Krida aur Khel Abhiyan

INSPIRE Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research

HRIDAY Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana

NITI National Institution for Transforming India

IUCAW Investigative Units on Crimes Against Women

Banking Related Abbreviations

Abbreviation Expanded Form

ATM Automated Teller Machine

Capital Adequacy, Assets, Management

CAMELS
Capability, Earnings, Liquidity, Sensitivity

CAR Capital Adequacy Ratio

CBS Core Banking Solutions

CRR Cash Reserve Ratio

CTS Cheque Truncation System

ECS Electronic Clearing Scheme

EMI Equated Monthly Installments

FCNR Foreign Currency Non Resident

IDBI Industrial Development Bank of India

Abbreviation Expanded Form

IFSC Indian Financial System Code

IMPS Inter-bank Mobile Payment Service

KYC Know Your Customer

LIBOR London Inter Bank Offered Rate

MICR Magnetic Ink Character Recognition

NBFC Non Banking Financial Company

NEFT National Electronic Fund Transfer

NPA Non Performing Assets

RTGS Real Time Gross Settlement System

MDR Merchant Discount Rate

SLR Statutory Liquidity Ratio

UPI Unified Payments Interface

Founders of Indian Companies

Company Founder
Tata Steel J.R.D Tata
Infosys N.R Narayan Murthy
Wipro Mohamed Hasham Premji
Reliance Industries Dhirubhai Ambani
Bajaj Auto Jamnalal Bajaj
Nirma Karsanbhai Patel

HCL Enterprise Shiv Nadar

Essar Shashi Ruia & Ravi Ruia
Genpact Pramod Bhasin
Champaklal Choksey, Suryakant Dani, Arvind Vakil &
Asian Paints
Chimanlal Choksi
 Company Founder
Biocon Kiran Mazumdar shaw
Dabur S.K. Burman
Lupin Limited Desh Bandhu Gupta
Apollo Hospital Prathap C. Reddy
Ashok Leyland Raghunandan Saran
Bharti Airtel Sunil Bharti Mittal
Escorts Hari Nanda & Yudi Nanda
Future Group Kishore Biyani
Cipla Khwaja Abdul Hamied
Dr. Reddy's
K. Anji Reddy
Laboratories
Aurobindo Pharma P.V. Ramprasad Reddy & K. Nityananda Reddy
Balaji Telefilms Jeetendra

Indian Medal Winners at the Olympic Games

Person Medal Event Year Venue
Norman Pitchard Silver 200 m dash 1900 Paris
Norman Pitchard Silver 200 m hurdles 1900 Paris
KD Jadhav Bronze Wrestling 1952 Helsinki
Leander Paes Bronze Tennis 1996 Atlanta
Karnam Malleswari Bronze Weightlifting 2000 Sydney
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore Silver Shooting 2004 Athens
Abhinav Bindra Gold Shooting 2008 Beijing
Sushil Kumar Bronze Wrestling 2008 Beijing
Vijender Kumar Bronze Boxing 2008 Beijing
Vijay Kumar Silver Shooting 2012 London
Sushil Kumar Silver Wrestling 2012 London
Yogeshwar Dutt Bronze Wrestling 2012 London
Mary Kom Bronze Boxing 2012 London
Saina Nehwal Bronze Badminton 2012 London
Gagan Narang Bronze Shooting 2012 London
P.V. Sindhu Silver Badminton 2016 Rio de Janeiro
Sakshi Malik Bronze Wrestling 2016 Rio de Janeiro
Indian Hockey Medals at the Olympic Games
Year Venue Medal Captain Remarks
1928 Amsterdam Gold Jaipal Singh Netherlands - Silver
1932 Los Angeles Gold Lal Bokhari United States - Silver
1936 Berlin Gold Dhyanchand Germany - Silver
1948 London Gold Kishan Lal Great Britain - Silver
1952 Helsinki Gold K.D. Singh Netherlands - Silver
1956 Melbourne Gold Balbir Singh Sr Pakistan - Silver
1960 Rome Silver Leslie Claudius Pakistan - Gold
1964 Tokyo Gold Charanjit Singh Pakistan - Silver
1968 Mexico City Bronze Gurbux Singh Pakistan - Gold
1972 Munich Bronze Harmeek Singh West Germany - Gold
1980 Moscow Gold Vasudevan Bhaskaran Spain - Silver

Firsts in Nobel Prizes

# Feature Person
The first woman to be awarded the Marie Curie for Physics in
1.
Nobel Prize 1903
The first person and only woman to be Marie Curie - for Physics in
2. awarded the Nobel Prize in two different 1903 and for Chemistry in
fields 1911
Linus Pauling - for Chemistry
The first man to be awarded the Nobel
3. in 1954 and for Peace in
Prize in two different fields
1962.
The first Asian (also first Indian) to be Rabindranath Tagore - for
4.
awarded the Nobel Prize literature in 1913.
The first African woman to be awarded Wangari Maathai from Kenya
5.
the Nobel Prize - for peace in 2004
Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen in
The first person to be awarded Nobel
6. 1901 for his discovery of X-
Prize in the field of Physics
rays.
The first person to be awarded Nobel
Rudyard Kipling (of Jungle
7. Prize in the field of Literature in English
Book fame) in 1907.
language
Jean Henry Dunant, founder
The first person to be awarded Nobel
8. of International Red Cross in
Prize for Peace
1901, jointly with Frédéric
 # Feature Person
Passy, Founder and
President of first French
peace society.
Baroness Bertha Sophie
The first woman to be awarded Nobel
9. Felicita von Suttner of
Prize for Peace
Austria in 1905
Malala Yousafzai - for Peace
The youngest person to be awarded the
10. in 2014 (at the age of 17 years
Nobel Prize
)
International Committee of
The only organisation to be awarded the
11. the Red Cross - 1917, 1944
Nobel Prize thrice
and 1963.

Nobel Prize Winners - UN Secretary Generals

# Person Nationality Field Year
1. Dag Hammarskjöld* Sweden Peace 1961
2. Kofi Annan Ghana Peace 2001
*Dag Hammarskjold was awarded the prize posthumuously.

Nobel Prize Winners - US Presidents

# Person Field Year
1. Theodore Roosevelt Peace 1906
2. Woodrow Wilson Peace 1919
3. Jimmy Carter* Peace 2002
4. Barack Obama Peace 2009
*Jimmy Carter was not the President of the US at the time of award in 2002

Nobel Prize Winners - Presidents/Prime Ministers of other

countries
# Person Country Field Year
1. Juan Maneul Santos Columbia (President) Peace 2016
Ellen Johnson
2. Liberia (President) Peace 2011
Sirleaf
3. Kim Dae Jung South Korea (President) Peace 2000
 # Person Country Field Year
4. Yitzhak Rabin Israel (PM) Peace 1994
5. Shimon Peres Israel (President) Peace 1994
Palestinian National Authority
6. Yasser Arafat Peace 1994
(President)
Frederik Willem de
7. South Africa (President)* Peace 1993
Klerk
8. Mikhail Gorbachev Soviet Union (President) Peace 1990
Oscar Arias
9. Costa Rica (President) Peace 1987
Sánchez
10. Anwar al-Sadat Egypt (President) Peace 1978
11. Menachem Begin Israel (PM) Peace 1978
12. Eisaku Sato Japan (PM)* Peace 1974
13. Willy Brandt Chancellor FRG Peace 1971
Sir Winston
14. United Kingdom (PM) Literature 1953
Churchill

Nobel Prize Winners from India

# Person Field Year Contribution
Because of his profoundly
sensitive, fresh and beautiful
verse, by which, with consummate
Rabindranath
1. Literature 1913 skill, he has made his poetic
Tagore
thought, expressed in his own
English words, a part of the
literature of the West.
For his work on the scattering of
2. C.V. Raman Physics 1930 light and for the discovery of the
effect named after him.
For their interpretation of the
Har Gobind
3. Medicine 1968 genetic code and its function in
Khorana*
protein synthesis.
4. Mother Teresa Peace 1979 Humanitarian work.
For his theoretical studies of the
Subrahmanyam physical processes of importance
5. Physics 1983
Chandrasekhar to the structure and evolution of
the stars.
Economic For his contributions to welfare
6. Amartya Sen 1998
Sciences economics.
# Person Field Year Contribution
Venkatraman For studies of the structure and
7. Chemistry 2009
Ramakrishnan** function of the ribosome.
For his struggle against the
Kailash suppression of children and young
8. Peace 2014
Satyarthi# people and for the right of all
children to education

First Jnanpith Award winners from different languages

1. First Person to win the award G. Sankara Kurup 1965
2. First woman to win the award Ashapurna Devi 1976

First Sportspersons to be awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel

Ratna Award
# Sport Sportsperson Year
First person and first Chess player to 1991-
1. Viswanathan Anand
be awarded 92
1992-
2. First Billiards player to be awarded Geet Sethi
93
Homi Motivala and
First Yachting sportsperson to be 1993-
3. Pushpendra Kumar
awarded 94
Garg
First Weightlifter and also 1994-
4. Karnam Malleswari
first Woman to be awarded 95
1996-
5. First Tennis player to be awarded Leander Paes
97
1997-
6. First Cricket player to be awarded Sachin Tendulkar
98
First Athlete and also first Woman 1998-
7. Jyotirmoyee Sikdar
Athlete to be awarded 99
1999-
8. First Hockey player to be awarded Dhanraj Pillay
2000
First Badminton player to be 2000-
9. Pullela Gopichand
awarded 01
First Shooting sportsperson to be
10. Abhinav Bindra 2001
awarded
First Shooting sportswoman to be
11. Anjali Bhagwat 2002
awarded
# Sport Sportsperson Year
First Boxing sportsperson to be
12. Mary Kom 2009
awarded
13. First Wrestler to be awarded Sushil Kumar 2009
14. First Gymnast to be awarded Dipa Karmakar 2016
15. First Woman Wrestler to be awarded Sakshi Malik 2016
16. First Para-athlete to be awarded Devendra Jhajharia 2017