Hi dear ones,
- Nobel Prize winner: Rabindranath Tagore for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1913. He was also the first Asian to get the prize.
- Nobel Prize in Physics: C. V. Raman in 1930.
- Nobel Prize in Medicine: Har Gobind Khorana in 1968. (India born US citizen)
- Nobel Peace Prize: Mother Teresa in 1979 (Albania born Indian citizen)
- Nobel Prize in Economics: Amartya Sen in 1998
- Nobel Prize in chemistry: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan in 2009 (US citizen)
Exploration
- Person to reach the South Pole: Col. Jatinder Kumar Bajaj
- Woman to scale Mount Everest: Bachhendri Pal on May 23, 1984. She was the 5th woman in the world to scale the peak.
Film and TV
- Sound film: Alam Ara, 1931, First Talkie actress:Zubeida
- Oscar winner: Bhanu Athaiya for Best Costume Design for Gandhi (film) in 1982
- Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film: Mother India in 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 in 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 July 7, 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 [2]
- Actor to enact 10 roles: Kamal Haasan
- 3D film: My Dear Kuttichathan, a Malayalam film, produced in 1984, dubbed in Hindi as Chhota Chetan.
- 70 mm film: Padayottam, a Malayalam film, produced in 1982
- Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (officer of the order of arts and letters): Actor: Sivaji Ganesan (1995), Shahrukh Khan (2007); Actress: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (2009); Director: Adoor Gopalakrishnan (2003)[3]
- Hindi film to be screened at the United Nations: Lage Raho Munna Bhai on 10 November 2006
Governance
- President: Rajendra Prasad (1950-1962)
- Vice-President: S. Radhakrishnan
- Prime Minister: Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-1964). The first term lasted till 1952 after which he was re-elected
- Deputy Prime Minister: Vallabhbhai Patel (1947-1950)
- Prime Minister to be voted out of office: Indira Gandhi (1977) when the Indian National Congress lost to the Janata Party
- Non-Congress government: by Janata Party with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister (1977-1980)
- Prime Minister to lead a minority government for a full term (five years): P. V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 – May 16, 1996
- Person outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve as Prime Minister for a full term (five years): P. V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 – May 16, 1996
- Prime Minister from South India: P. V. Narasimha Rao, 1991
- Governor-General: Warren Hastings
- 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)
- 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 Nov 26, 1947
- First Home Minister of India: Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel[4]
- First Indian Chief Minister to die in Office: Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy
- First Indian President to die in Office: Dr Zakir Hussain, 3 May 1969
- 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 Female Home Minister: Sabitha Indra Reddy
Science
- Hydroelectric plant: On the Gaganachukki waterfall of the Sivasamudram Falls, Karnataka. Built in 1902.
- City to have electricity: Bangalore, in 1906 (it was in fact the first city in Asia to have electricity)
- Man in space: Rakesh Sharma aboard Salyut 7, on April 3, 1984. He was the 138th man in space worldwide.
- Woman in space: Kalpana Chawla aboard Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87, on November 19, 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: CIRUS, Mumbai, Maharashtra
- First Genetically Modified Food Product in India : Bt. Egg plant Hybrid (Bt. — Bacilius thuringiensis)
- Satellite : Aryabhatta, launched on April 19, 1975
- Satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services : EDUSET
- Successfully indigenous launch vehicle : SLV-3
- Prospective space tourist: Santhosh George Kulangara, proposed in 2009 aboard Virgin Galactic
Women
- Graduates: Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883
- Head of an Undergraduate Academic Institution: Chandramukhi Basu, 1888
- Honours Graduate: Kamini Roy (1886)
- Lawyer: Cornelia Sorabjee (1892)
- Doctorate of Science: Asima Chatterjee (1944)
- Chief Justice of a High Court (Himachal Pradesh): Leila Seth, 1991
- Supreme Court judge: Kumari Fathima Beevi
- High Court Judge : Anna Chandy
- Physician: Kadambini Ganguly, 1886
- Airline Pilot: Durba Banerjee
- In space: Kalpana Chawla aboard Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87, on November 19, 1997. She was a naturalized United States citizen, and represented the US during the event.
- Nobel Prize winner: Mother Teresa in 1979 (Albanian born Indian citizen)
Administration and Politics
- First female monarch of Delhi Sultanate: Razia Sultan (1205-1240) of Mamluk dynasty
- 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
- Governor: Sarojini Naidu, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, 1947-1949
- 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
