List of firsts in India

This is a list of firsts in India.

Architecture

• First Islamic (tomb) in India: Sultan Ghari Sultan Ghari (Hindi: सुल्तान ग़ारी, Urdu: سلطان غاری), built in 1231 CE for Prince Nasir ud, 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,Methala, Kodungallur, Kerala built 629 A.D by Malik Bin Dinar.

Awards and titles

• Mr. Universe: Manohar Aich in 1952
• Miss World: Reita Faria in 1966. (She was also the first Asian to win the title.)
• Miss Asia Pacific: Zeenat Aman in 1970
• International Teen Princess: Radha Bartake in 1974
• Miss Teenage Intercontinental: Elizabeth Anita Reddi in 1978
• Miss World Amber : Mala Rai Singani in 1978.
• World Miss University: Priyadarshini Pradhan in 1989
• Miss Universe: Sushmita Sen in 1994
• Miss India Worldwide: Karminder Kaur Virk in 1994.
• Miss Intercontinental: Lara Dutta in 1997.
• Mr. International: Aryan Vaid in 2000
• Manhunt International: Rajeev Singh in 2001
• Miss Tourism International: Candice Pinto in 2001
• Mrs. World: Aditi Gowitrikar in 2001
• Miss Tourism Queen International: Zabina Abdul Rashid Khan in 2004
• Miss World Tourism : Sonal Chauhan in 2005.
• Best Model of the World : Siddharth Shukla in 2005
• Miss Tourism: Priyanka Shah in 2007
• Miss Earth: Nicole Faria in 2010
• Miss Tourism Queen Of The Year International: Urvashi Rautela in 2011
• Miss Asia Pacific World: Himangini Singh Yadu in 2012
• Mister United Nations : Rahul Vyas in 2013
• Miss Supranational : Asha Bhat in 2014
• Miss Universal Peace and Humanity : Ruhi Singh in 2014
• Miss Tourism International (China Version) : Parul Bindal in 2014
• First Indian to win any literary award (the Newbery Medal) in the United States, in 1927 for Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon: Dhan Gopal Mukerji
• 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
• Param vir chakra : Major Somnath Sharma
• 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

• 1913: Literature: Rabindranath Tagore; was also the first Asian to win the prize
• 1930: Physics: C. V. Raman
• 1968: medicine: Har Gobind Khorana; US citizen of Indian origin
• 1979: Peace: Mother Teresa; Indian citizen of Albanian origin
• 1998: Economics: Amartya Sen
• 2009: Chemistry: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan; US citizen of Indian origin
• 2014: Peace: Kailash Sathyarthi (first Indian-born)

Defence (in the Republic of India)

• President of Indian Republic: Dr. Rajendra Prasad
• Prime Minister of Indian Republic: Jawaharlal Nehru
• Vice President of Indian Republic: Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
• Defence Minister of India: Baldev Singh
• Commander-in-Chief of Free India:Kodandera Madappa Cariappa
• Indian Commander-in-Chief of Free India: General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa,1949
• Chief of Air Staff: Subroto Mukerjee
• Indian Chief of Staff Indian Army: Maharaj Shri Rajendrasinhji Jadeja
• Commander-in-Chief, IAF: Subroto Mukerjee
• Chief of Naval Staff: Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey
• First Indian (pre Independence) flying ace : Indra Lal Roy
• India's first military helicopter pilot : Air Commodore Sudhindra Kumar Majumdar
• Cosmonaut: Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma, 1984
• Field Marshal: Sam Manekshaw (S.H.F Manekshaw), 1973
• First female jawan in the Army: Sapper Shanti Tigga lp
• First Param Vir Chakra Winner: Major Som Nath Sharma

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: Shibnath Majumdar
• Person to reach the South Pole: Bijoy Kumar Das
• Woman to scale Mount Everest: Bachendri Pal on 23 May 1984. She was the 5th woman in the world to scale the peak.
• Person to reach Mount Everest without oxygen : Sherpa Anga Dorjee
• Woman to reach South Pole: Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu
• Person to reach the North Pole: Jagannathan Srinivasaraghavan on April 23, 1985.
• Person to have walked across Gobi desert: Sucheta Kadethankar
• Youngest one in the world to climb Everest: Malavath Purna on 25 May 2014 at the age of 13.

Film, TV and entertainment

• 1896: Film to be exhibited in India: On 7 July, 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.
• 1902: Music record was recorded by Gauhar Jaan singing a khayal in Raag Jogiya, recorded on 2 November, by Fred Gaisberg, assistant to Emile Berliner, the father of Gramophone record.
• 1913: Silent film to be made in India: Raja Harishchandra, by Dadasaheb Phalke and released on 3 May.
• 1913: Actress of Indian cinema: Durgabai Kamat in Mohini Bhasmasur, released in November, second movie of Phalke
• 1931: Sound film: Alam Ara directed by Ardeshir Irani
• 1937: Government award for films: Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
• 1937: Colour film: Kisan Kanya, directed by Moti B. Gidvani
• 1946: Palme d'Or at 1946 Cannes Film Festival: Neecha Nagar, directed by Chetan Anand
• 1954: National Film Award for cinema: Shyamchi Aai
• 1955: Film to attract International critical attention: Pather Panchali
• 1957: Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film: Mother India
• 1959: Film to be banned: Neel Akasher Neechey, directed by Mrinal Sen
• 1959: Cinemascope film: Kaagaz Ke Phool, directed by Gurudutt
• 1964: Guinness Book of World Records in the category, Fewest actors in a narrative film: Yaadein directed and acted by Sunil Dutt
• 1967: 70 mm film: Hindi film Around the World
• 1969: Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipient: Devika Rani
• 1982: Oscar winner: Bhanu Athaiya for Best Costume Design for the film Gandhi
• 1984: 3-D film: My Dear Kuttichathan, a Malayalam film, produced in 1984, dubbed in Hindi as Chhota Chetan
• 1984: Sponsored TV serial: Hum Log, started on 7 July, was also the first soap opera of India, ran for 156 episodes
• 1985: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) - Director: Mrinal Sen
• 1987: First film to shoot underwater Kannada movie Ondu Muttina Kathe, was the first Indian movie to be shot under water in Maldives
• 1992: Oscar for Lifetime Achievement: Satyajit Ray
• 1992: Indian filmmaker to get Bharat Ratna: Satyajit Ray
• 1995: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) - Actor: Sivaji Ganesan
• 2004: Colorized film: Mughal-e-Azam in 2004 (the original black-and-white version was released in 1960)
• 2004: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) - Actress: Sharmila Tagore
• 2006: Film screened at the United Nations: Lage Raho Munna Bhai, on 10 November, directed by Rajkumar Hirani
• 2008: Actor to enact most roles (10): Kamal Haasan in Dasavathaaram
• 2009: Music director to win an Oscar and first double Oscar winner: A. R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
• 2009: Actress to enact most roles (12): Priyanka Chopra in What's Your Raashee?

Governance

• President of the Indian National Congress: Womesh Chandra Bannerjee, 1885
• President of the Indian National Congress of independent India: Acharya Kripalani, till November 1947
• President: Rajendra Prasad (1950–1962)

• 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 (1947–64). 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
• Non Congress Prime Minister to serve a full term: Atal Bihari Vajpayee
• Prime Minister from South India: P. V. Narasimha Rao, 1991, H.D.Deve Gowda
• 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 (2004–2014)
• First Muslim President: Zakir Hussain (1967–1969)
• First Sikh President: Giani Zail Singh
• 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: 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 Prime Minister to be born after India's independence: Narendra Modi , 17 September 1950(birth)

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 (now Kolkata) 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.
• 1990 - First technology park in India, Technopark, Trivandrum was launched
• 1995 - First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis on 15 August 1995 in Delhi.
• 2014 - First country to enter Mars’ orbit on their first attempt with successful launch of Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan)
• 2015- First 3D printed humanoid robot in India at A-SET Training & Research Institutes - Manav (robot)

Medical science

• First Graduate in Medicine: Surjo Kumar Chakraborty
• First Ever Rhinoplasty noted in world/India: Over Ksatji a British soldier by a Kumhar Vaidya.
• First physician in India and second in the world to perform the In vitro fertilization: Subhash Mukhopadhyay.
• First in India to receive a fellowship of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine - Dr. K. Hari Prasad

Sport

• Indian to swim across the English Channel: Mihir Sen, 1958.
• Woman to swim across the English Channel: Arati Saha, 1959
• Formula One driver: 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, 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, first Indian to win 2 Gold Medals for India in Winter sports at the Asia Cup in Japan in 2011 and 2012. The Asian Champion is also a 4 time Olympian and has set the new Asian speed record on ice at 134.3 kmph and track record a 49.590 seconds.
• 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)
• Santhi Soundarajan first World Peace Sports Festival Ambassador from India and first Tamil woman to win medal at Asian Games.

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 bronze in the London Olympics 2012
• Medal in wrestling: Sushil Kumar, winning a Bronze in the Beijing Olympics 2008 and a Silver in the London Olympics 2012
• Medal in boxing: MC Mary Kom, winning bronze in the London Olympics 2012
• Medal in wrestling: Yogeshwar Dutt, winning a bronze in the London Olympics 2012

Chess

• Chess Grandmaster: Male - Viswanathan 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 14 years and 6 months.)

Football

• First Indian Footballer to play overseas : Mohammed Salim
• First Indian football goalkeeper to play overseas : Subrata Paul
• First footballer to be named the Indian footballer of the century (20th century) : Pradip Kumar Banerjee
• First Indian as well as an Asian to be declared best captains in the world by English FA : Shailen Manna
• First Indian to manage a Bundesliga football club : Robin Dutt
• First Indian to be inducted in the AFC Hall of Fame : Baichung Bhutia
• First Indian to score the fastest goals (3rd fastest in the world) : I. M. Vijayan

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.
• Sania Mirza became the first Indian to reach #1 doubles WTA ranking

Cricket

• First Cricket Club in India: Calcutta now Kolkata (1792) Calcutta cricket club
• First test match played in India: India v/s England in Eden Gardens,(Calcutta) (result draw) (5-8 Jan 1934)
• First Indian Captain and the third in history to have led his team to victory after being enforced to follow on - against Steve Waugh's Australia in 2001-02: Sourav Ganguly
• First Cricket Stadium: Eden Gardens in Kolkata
• First Test Victory: Against England At Madras
• Cricket tournament: The Bombay Triangular (1905–1911) which later became the Bombay Quadrangular (1912–1936)
• First Indian Captain to win more than 21 test matches as a captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
• 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.
• First Indian to score the highest runs in a World Cup: Sourav Ganguly 183 runs V/S Sri Lanka in 1999 World Cup Cricket.
• 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 (he was the first in the World to achieve this feat).
• Indian to score two ODI double centuries and the highest individual runs in ODI is Rohit Sharma, 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014.
• Hat-trick in an ODI: Chetan Sharma against New Zealand in 1987.
• First World Cup Runners up captain: Sourav Ganguly (2003)
• World Cup: At the 1983 World Cup when India beat West Indies in the Finals Under the captaincy of Kapil Dev
• 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) against Pakistan.
• Cricketer to score 100 centuries in Test and ODIs combined: Sachin Tendulkar (he was the first in the World to achieve this feat)
• 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)
• First Indian to score a T20 century: at Suresh Raina vs South Africa.
• 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.
• Fastest Fifty in a T20I: 50 runs of 12 balls by Yuvraj Singh(vs England in the Inaugural World T20 Championship held in South Africa, 2007)

Women

• First women's court in India: Malda, West Bengal
• Graduates: Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883
• The first woman Honours Graduate: Kamini Roy, 1886
• Head of an Undergraduate Academic Institution: Chandramukhi Basu, 1888
• Honours Graduate: Kamini Roy (1886)
• Pilot a locomotive engine (train driver) : Surekha Yadav
• Chairperson of State Bank of India:Arundhati Bhattacharya
• 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
• Air Vice Marshal: Padmavathy Bandopadhyay
• Supreme Court judge: Justice M. 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
• 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)
• To cross English Channel: Aarti Saha
• Monarch of Delhi Sultanate: Razia Sultana (1205–1240) of Mamluk Sultanate (Delhi)
• Minister in a government: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur in the Ministry of Health
• Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Meira Kumar
• Asha Pande, first Indian woman to be the member of Legion of Honour
• Anjali Gopalan, first Tamil woman member of the royal French Legion of Honour.
• Asian Games gold medal winner: Kamlijit Sandhu
• 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.
• Paris Brest Paris Cycling Event: Divya Tate (44): August, 2011
• Pilot: Harita Kaur Deol .
• To Cross Gobi Desert: Sucheta Kadethankar (33): 2011
• Reach the final of an Olympic event : P. T. Usha
• IAS officer:Isha Basant Joshi
• Youngest Ultramarathoner to run a 100 Mile Race(Himalayas): priyadarshini.com
• Magasasay Award: Kamladevi Chattopadhyay
• Bus driver at Delhi Transport Corporation: Sarita

Governance

• Indian National Congress President: Annie Besant
• Prime Minister: Indira Gandhi, 1966
• President: Pratibha Patil, 2007
• IPS Officer Kiran Bedi
• Cabinet Minister in India: Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
• Minister in India: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
• Chief Minister: Sucheta Kriplani
• Governor : Sarojini Naidu (Governor of Uttar Pradesh, 1947–49)
• Home Minister of a State : Sabitha Indra Reddy, Andhra Pradesh.
• Speaker of the Lok Sabha: Meira Kumar
• Finance Minister of State Government in India: Dr Upinderjit Kaur, in Punjab Govt.
• President: Pratibha Patil (2007–2012)
• Director General of Police: Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya
• Railway Minister of India : Mamata Banerjee;
• Fully blind IFS officer: Beno Zephine
• To join IFS, to be a diplomat, to become the ambassador/High commissioner (She also to sue the Indian government for gender bias): C. B. Muthamma.
• IPS officer, Assam: Yamin Hazarika

Places

• First partition of Indian state: Bengal
• First road which is a connected to a Wi-Fi Zone: Rajarhat (connecting Rajarhat Main Arterial Road to the airport to Sector V in the city of Kolkata with 10.5 km)
• 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
• India's first Wi-Fi city : Kolkata

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: RD Tata 1905
• First woman to drive a railway train in India : Surekha Yadav
• 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 indigenous 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.

Literature and media

• Newspaper: Hicky's Bengal Gazette started in 1780.
• Hindi Newspaper: Udant Martand on May 30, 1826; published and edited by Jugal Kishore Shukla from Calcutta.
• Hindi monthly magazine: Saraswati on January 1, 1900, started by Chintamani Ghosh in Allahabad

• Exclusive Internet magazine: Bharat Samachar

Others

• The first Indian to cross English Channel: Mihir Sen
• First practicing barrister of Indian origin : Monomohun Ghose
• First Indian as well as an Asian to be called to the bar in England : Gnanendramohan Tagore
• First Post Office Opened in India: Kolkata (1727)
• First telegraph message: On November 5, 1850, between Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Diamond Harbour, a distance of about 50 km.
• Wax statue of a living Indian: Mahatma Gandhi at Madame Tussaud's in 1939.

• Miss India to participate in Miss Universe: Indrani Rahman in the Miss Universe 1952 Pageant at Long Beach, California
• India’s First woman Merchant Navy Officer: Sonali Banerjee
• First Lady Teacher: Savitribai Phule
• First Lady Doctor: Anandibai Joshi
• First Indian World #1 women's tennis sportsperson (doubles) : Sania Mirza
• First Indian #1 women's badminton player: Saina Nehwal
• The first record holder in the field of development of eco-innovation: Shripad Vaidya 13 Jun 2010 – Vaidya is the first Nagpurian to get two Limca records within a year in ... as the first record holder in the field of development of eco-innovation.
• World's first hand written needle book: Madhushala
• Writer of world's first hand written needle book (Madhushala): Piyush Goel
• First Disabled Friendly Bank ATM by Union Bank of India