First happenings in India - Nobel Prizes

Here is the list of first in Nobel prizes happened in India

First Noble Prize Winner	Rabindranath Tagore for the Noble Prize in Literature, 1913. He was also the first Asian to get the Prize.
First Noble Prize in Physics	C.V. Raman in 1930
First Noble Prize in Medicine	Har Gobind Khorana in 1968. (Indian Born US Citizen)
First Noble Peace Prize	Mother Teresa in 1979. (Albanian nun, Indian Citizen)
First Noble Prize in Economics	Amartya Sen in 1998

First in Governance in India

Here is the list of First in Governance in India

First President of India	Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1950-1962)
First Prime Minister of India	Jawaharlal Nehru (1947-1964). The first term lasted till 1952 after which he was re-elected.
First Vice President of India	Dr. S Radhakrishan
First Deputy Prime Minister of India	Vallabhbhai Patel
First Prime Minister to be voted out of Office	India Ghandi (1977) when the Indian National Congress lost to he Janta Party.
First Sikh Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
First Sikh President	Giani Zail Singh
First Non-Congress Government	by Janta Party with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister (1977-1980)
First Prime Minster of India resigned without completing his full term	Morarji Desai
First Prime Minister to lead a minority government for a full term(five years)	P.V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 to May 16 1996
First Prime Minster from South India	P.V. Narasimha Rao, June 21, 1991 to May 16 1996
First Governor-General	Warren Hastings
First British Governor-General	Lord William Bentick
First British Viceroy of India	Lord Canning
First Governor General of Independent India	Lord Mountbatten, 1947
First and Last Indian Governor-General of Indian Union	C Rajagopalachari, 1948
First Chief Justice of India	Justice Hiralal J Kania
First Indian to pass ICS	Surendra Nath Banerjee
First Indian ICS Officer	Satyendranath Tagore, 1863
First Speaker of Lok Sabha	Shri G.V. Mavlankar
First Finance Minister of Independent India	Shri R.K.Shanmukhan Chettys
Presentation of First Budget after India's Independence	Shri R.K.Shanmukhan Chettys on Nov. 26, 1947
First President to die in Office	Dr. Zakhir Hussain
First Prime Minister who did not face the Parliament	Charan Singh
First Chief Justice of Supreme Court to become President of India	Justice M Hidaytullah
First Education Minister	Abul Kalam Azad
First Home Minister	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
First Chief Election Commissioner	Sukumar Sen
First Minister to regin from Union Cabinet	Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1950)

First in India Happenings - Female

Following are first in India happenings - Females

first lady to become Miss World	Rita Faria
The first woman judge in Supreme Court	Mrs. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi
The first woman Ambassador	Miss C.B. Muthamma
The first woman Governor of a state in free India	Mrs Sarojini Naidu
The first woman Speaker of a State Assembly	Shanno Devi
The first woman Prime Minister	Mrs Indira Gandhi
The first woman Minister in a Government	Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
The first woman to climb Mount Everest	Bachhendri Pal
The first woman to climb Mount Everest twice	Santosh Yadav
The first woman President of Indian National Congress	Mrs Annie Besant
The first woman pilot in Indian Air Force	Harita Kaur Dayal
The first woman Graduates	Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883
The first woman Airline Pilot	Durba Banerjee
The first woman Honours Graduate	Kamini Roy, 1886
The first woman Olympic medal Winner	Karnam Malleswari, 2000
The first woman Asian Games Gold Medal Winner	Kamlijit Sandhu
The first woman Lawyer	Cornelia Sorabjee
The first woman President of United Nations General Assembly	Mrs Vijaya Laxmi Pandit
The first woman Chief Minister of an Indian State	Mrs Sucheta Kripalani
The first woman Chairman of Union Public Service Commission	Roze Millian Bethew
The first woman Director General of Police	Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya
The first woman Judge	Anna Chandy (She became judge in a district court in 1937)
The first woman Cheif Justice of High Court	Mrs Leela Seth (Himachal Pradesh High Court)
The first woman Judge in Supreme Court of India	Kumari Justice M. Fathima Beevi
The first woman Lieutenant General	Puneeta Arora
The first woman Air Vice Marshal	P. Bandopadhyaya
The first woman chairperson of Indian Airlines	Sushma Chawla
The first woman IPS officer	Mrs. Kiran Bedi
The first and last Muslim woman ruler of India	Razia Sultan
The first woman to receive Ashoka Chakra	Nirja Bhanot
The first woman to receive Jnanpith Award	Ashapurna Devi
The first woman to cross English Channel	Aarti Saha
The first woman to receive Nobel Prize	Mother Teresa
The first woman to receive Bharat Ratna	Mrs Indira Gandhi
The first woman to receive Jnanpith Award	Ashpurna Devi

First in India Happenings - Male

Following are first in India happenings - Males

The first President of Indian Republic	Dr. Rajendra Prasad
The first Prime Minister of free India	Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru
The first Indian to win Nobel Prize	Rabindranath Tagore
The first President of Indian National Congress	W.C. Banerjee
The first Muslim President of Indian National Congress	Badruddin Tayyabji
The first Muslim President of India	Dr. Zakir Hussain
The first British Governor General of India	Lord William Bentinck(1833-1835)
The first British Governor General of Bengal	Lord Warren Hasting(1774-1885)
The first British Viceroy of India	Lord Canning
The first Governor General of free India	Lord Mountbatten
The first and the last Indian to be Governor General of free India	C. Rajgopalachari
The first man who introduced printing press in India	James Hicky
The first Indian to join the I.C.S	Satyendra Nath Tagore
India’s first man in Space	Rakesh Sharma
The first Prime Minister of India who resigned without completing the full term	Morarji Desai
The first Indian Commander-in-Chief of India	General Cariappa
The first Chief of Army Staff	Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji
The first Indian Member of the Viceroy’s executive council	S.P.Sinha
The first President of India who died while in office	Dr. Zakhir Hussain
The first Muslim President of Indian Republic	Dr. Zakhir Hussain
The first Prime Minister of India who did not face the Parliament	Charan Singh
The first Field Marshal of India	S.H.F. Manekshaw
The first Indian to get Nobel Prize in Physics	C.V.Raman
The first Indian to receive Bharat Ratna award	Dr. Radhakrishnan
The first Indian to cross English Channel	Mihir Sen
The first Person to receive Jnanpith award	Sri Shankar Kurup
The firs Speaker of the Lok Sabha	Ganesh Vasudeva Mavalankar
The first Vice-President of India	Dr. Radhakrishnan
The first Education Minister	Abdul Kalam Azad
The first Home minister of India	Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel
The first Indian Air Chief Marshal	S. Mukherjee
The first Indian Naval Chief	Vice Admiral R.D. Katari
The first Judge of International Court of Justice	Dr. Nagendra Singh
The first person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen	Sherpa Anga Dorjee
The first person to get Param Vir Chakra	Major Somnath Sharma
The first Chief Election Commissioner	Sukumar Sen
The first person to receive Magsaysay Award	Acharya Vinoba Bhave
The first person of Indian origin to receive Nobel Prize in Medicine	Hargovind Khurana
The first Chinese traveller to visit India	Fahein
The first person to receive Stalin Prize	Saifuddin Kitchlu
The first person to resign from the Central Cabinet	Shyama Prasad Mukherjee
The first person to receive Nobel Prize in Economics	Amartya Sen
The first Chief Justice of Supreme Court	Justice Hirala J. Kania
The first Indian Pilot	J.R.D. Tata (1929)

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Tourist Attractions in New Delhi

New Delhi is one of the most historic capitals in the world.  So there are lot of tourist places of attraction in New Delhi.  This article gives the details of the tourist attractions of New Delhi.

The Old Delhi has attractions like monuments, mosques which represent Indian history.  Some of the important places of interest at old Delhi are Majestic Red Fort.  New Delhi has many Government buildings apart from places of historical interest.   The Qutub Minar, Red Fort and Humayun's Tomb are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  Here is a list of tourist places in New Delhi.

Tourist Attractions in New Delhi

There are lot of tourist places of attractions in New Delhi to explore and visit.  New Delhi is an international city with excellent tourist attractions and historic places.  New Delhi is one of the dream city of visitors looking for handicraft items.  There are lot of places of tourist interest and it is very difficult to decide from where to start exploring the city.  Let us now see some of the interesting places of tourist attraction in New Delhi.

India Gate :   India Gate is situated along the ceremonial Rajpath avenue ( means King's way) in New Delhi.  India Gate is constructed as a memorial and was built in the memory of 9,000   Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in World War I.  The shrine in the middle is constructed with black marble and shows a rifle placed on its barrel, crested by a soldier's helmet.  You can see the words "Amar Jawan" ( in Hindi meaning immortal warrior) inscribed on each face of the shrine.  The India Gate is 42 meters high and a popular relaxation area during evenings.  It is also a popular picnic spot during winters.  India Gate was designed and constructed by Lutyens who is an architect who designed Government buildings in New Delhi.  Celebrations are made every year on Republic Day.    The army men and other citizens who are awarded walk through the Rajpath.  The India Gate is a must visit place in New Delhi. 

Red Fort :  The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan has built the Red Fort.  Red Fort is popularly known as Lal Quila and represents the true splendor of Mughal court.   The walls of the Red Fort are 2 Kms. long.  This Fort is built in Old Delhi.
 
The Red Fort is made out of marble and well designed. The Red Fort was built by Shah Jahan in 1638 when he decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi.  The walls of Red Fort are 33 meters above the ground level and built by Red Sandstone.  The walls were designed to keep out the invaders.  The main gate of Red Fort is the Lahore Gate is one of the emotional and symbolic focal points of modern India and attracts major crowd on Independence day.

The construction of Red Fort by red color sandstone gave it the name as Red Fort.  It took 10 years to complete the construction of the Red Fort.  The Fort has a perimeter of 2.5 kilo meters. Various sections in the fort were built according the specific functions.  The "Deewan-e-Aam" is a hall built for general public to interact with the emperor.  "Deewan-e-Khas" is another hall made of natural stones used for private meetings of the emperor.  The "Hammams" is the bath place specially built for the royal family.  "Shahi Burj" is another place where the emperor's office was built.  "rang Mahal" is a special place built for the wives of the emperor.

 "Naqqar Khana" is another place in the fort where musicians would play music specific to the particular time of the day.  The Red Fort is used for addressing the nation on the Independence day of India by Prime Minister of India each year.

Red fort is in Nethaji Subhas marg.  The nearest metro station is chandni chowk.  The entry fee for Indians is Rs.10 and Rs.250 for foreigners.  You need to pay Rs.25 if you want to take video in Red Fort. Monday is closed for visitors.   The sound and light show is an attraction in Red Fort which starts at 6 PM and the ticket amount is Rs.80.  

Rashtrapati Bhavan :  The Rashtrapati Bhavan is  the eminent monument of British Empire which is said to be the palace of Viceroy of India.  This is the best known monument of India next to Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar.  

The Rashtrapati Bhavan is  built with a mix of western and Indian styles and was originally for the Governor General of India.  The building was inaugurated in 1931 as Viceregal Lodge, the name was changed in 1950 after India became Republic.  

The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of President of India.  This is the real master piece which was built during the British period.  The total cost of construction of this building crossed £1,253,000 in British India. Rashtrapati Bhavan was designed by Edwin Lutyens and the construction work began in 1911.  It took 19 years to complete.  Lord Edwin, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India was the first to live in this building in 1931.

The dome like structure on top of Rashtrapati Bhavan is known as Chuttri.  The front of the Rashtrapati Bhavan on east side has 12 unevenly spaced columns with the Delhi order capitals.   In the north block, there is a separate wing for the Viceroy and another wing for the guests.  There is a Durbar Hall at the center of the main part of the palace under the main dome.  The dome of the hall measures 22.8 meters in diameter.  You can see the Viceroy's throne in this hall. Today, the Durbar Hall is the major venue of all official ceremonies of the Indian Government such as the oath taking ceremony by the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Members of Parliament. The Arjuna Awards for Excellence is also presented in this hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Rashtrapati Bhavan has the following:

• The State Drawing Room
• The State Ball Room
•  The State Library
• The State Dining Room
• The Private Apartments

You can see the wonderful Mughal Gardens to the west of Rashtrapati Bhavan which is open to public in spring.  You can reach this building by a taxi or auto rickshaws.
 

New Delhi - The Capital City of India

New Delhi is the Capital city of India.  It is also the center of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.  

Prior to the year 2011,  Kolkata or Calcutta was the Capital city of India during the British regime.  But Delhi served as the political and financial center of several empires of ancient India.    In the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British Government to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire ( India  was called like this at that time ) from Calcutta to New Delhi.  The British India Government also felt that it was easy to administer India from Delhi rather than from Calcutta which was on eastern India.

 George V who was the Emperor of India along with Queen Mary made an announcement on 12th December, 1911 that the Capital of British Indian Empire will be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.  The foundation stone for New Delhi was laid by King George V and Queen Mary on 15th December, 1911.  

Many parts of New Delhi were planned by Sir Edwin Lutyns and Sir Herbert Baker.  Both of them were 20th century British architects.   The new Capital of India, New Delhi was named in 1927 and subsequently inaugurated on 13th February, 1931 by British India Viceroy Lord Irwin.

More Information about New Delhi

New Delhi situated along the Yamuna River, it is the youngest of several historic cities in northern India.  The New Delhi stands on west banks of Yamuna river and bounded by Uttar Pradesh on north, west and south by Haryana.  The name Delhi originated from Persian word Dahleez ( threshold or frontier ) or from the name of Mauryan king, Dhillu.   Here is some information about Delhi.

• Area :  1483 Square Kilometers
• Population : Around 14 millions
• Height above sea level :  216 meters
• 5th most populated urban area in the world
• Languages spoken : Hindi, English, and Punjabi
• Religions : Hindu, Sikhs, and Islam
• Best time to visit : October to March
• STD Code : 011
• New Delhi is considered as cultural center of India.  The city has many historic buildings, festivals to go along with holidays as well as many religious festivals.
• Average Temperature during Summer : 25 to 46 deg celcius
• Temperature during Winter :  5 deg celcius to 22 deg celcius