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Study Guide: GK Notes: Miscellaneous
Source: https://www.fatskills.com/general-knowledge/chapter/gk-notes-miscellaneous

GK Notes: Miscellaneous

By Fatskills Exam Guides Team — the exam nerds behind 28,500+ quizzes and 2.1M practice questions across 500+ global exams.

⏱️ ~120 min read

General Knowledge Notes:

 

First in World

First President of United States of America

George Washington

First President of the Republic of China

Dr Sun Yat Sen (1912)

First Prime Minister of Great Britain

Robert Walpole (1715)

Pakistan's first Governor-General

Mohammed Ali Jinnah

First Ethnic-Indian Prime Minister of Fiji

Mahendra Choudhary

First American President to visit India

Dwight David Eisenhower

First Russian (Soviet) Prime Minister to visit India

Nikolai Bulganin

First European invader of Indian soil

Alexander The Great

First man to go into space

Major Yuri Gagarin (USSR)

First man to walk in space

Alexey Leonov (Russia)

First space tourist

Dennis Tito (USA)

First man to set foot on the Moon

Neil Armstrong (USA)

First man to fly an aeroplane

Wright Brothers

First man to reach North pole

Robert Peary

First man to reach South pole

Roald Amundsen

First man to climb Mount Everest

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary (29th May, 1953)

First man to climb Mount Everest twice

Nawang Gombu (1965)

First blind man to scale Mount Everest

Erik Weihenmayer (25th May, 2001)

First person to sail around the world

Ferdinand Magellan

First deaf and dumb to cross the Strait of Gibralter

Taranath Shenoy (India)

First European to visit China

Marco Polo

First man to draw the map of Earth

Anexemander

First man to compile encyclopaedia

Aspheosis (Athens)

First man to win Nobel Prize for Literature

Sully Prudhomme (France)

First man to win Nobel Prize for Peace

Henry Dunant (Switzerland) and Frederic Passy (France)

First man to win Nobel Prize for Physics

WK Roentgen (Germany)

First man to win Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Jacobus H Van't Hoft (Holland)

First man to win Nobel Prize for Medicine

AE Von Behring (Germany)

First man to win Nobel Prize for Economics

Ragnar Frisch (Norway) and Jan Tinbergen (Holland)

First and only black man ever to win singles Wimbledon Trophy

Arthur Ashe (USA)

First Asian to head the International Cricket Council

Jagmohan Dalmiya

First man to hit double century in One Day International Match

Sachin Tendulkar (India)

First in World (Female)

First woman President of UN General Assembly

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1953)

First woman President of a country

Maria Estela Peron (Argentina)

First woman Prime Minister of a country

S Bhandarnayake (Sri Lanka)

First woman Prime Minister of England

Margaret Thatcher

First woman Prime Minister of any Muslim country

Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan)

First woman cosmonaut in space

Valentina Tereshkova (USSR)

First woman space tourist

Anousheh Ansari (Irani American)

First woman to reach the North pole

Frances Phipps

First woman to set foot on the North pole

Ann Bancroft, USA

First woman to reach Antarctica

Caroline Michaelson

First woman to climb Mount Everest

Junko Tabei (Japan)

First woman in the world to cross the Strait of Gibralter

Sophie Psilolignou (Greek)

First woman to chair US Central Bank 'Federal Reserve'

Janet Yellen

First UN Deputy Secretary-General

Louise Frechette (Canada)

First female Amputee to climb Mount Everest

Arunima Sinha

First in World (Miscellaneous)

First country to make a Constitution

United States of America

First country to appoint Lokpal

Sweden

First country to ban capital punishment

Venezuela

First country to give voting right to woman

First country to impose carbon tax

First country to start VAT (Value Added Tax)

Brazil and Germany

First country to issue plastic currency

First country to issue paper currency

First country to give constitutional status to animal rights

First country to implement family planning

India

First country to start Civil Services Competition

First country to make education compulsory

Prussia (Germany)

First country to print books

First country to sign nuclear agreement with India

First country to send human to Moon

United States of America

First space ship landed on Mars

Viking-I 20th August, 1975

First space shuttle launched

Columbia

First country to launch satellite into space

Russia (former USSR)

First country to launch radio telescope satellite into space

First city to be attacked with Atom Bomb

Hiroshima (Japan)

First country to win the Football World Cup

Uruguay (1930)

First country to host the Modern Olympic Games

Greece

First lamb created using DNA from an adult sheep

Dolly

First heart bypass operation by a Robot, carried out in

First cloned human baby

Eve

First religion of the world

Sanatan Dharma

First university of the world

Taxila University

 

Superlatives of the World

Continent

Smallest—Australia Largest—Asia

Largest (in area)—Russia Largest (in population)—China

Mountain Range

Longest—Andes (South America) Highest—Himalayas

Mountain Peak

Highest—Mount Everest (Nepal) (8848 m)

Largest Hot Desert—Sahara, Africa Largest Cold Desert—Gobi (Mongolia)

Longest—Nile (6690 km) Busiest—Rhine (Germany) Largest—Amazon (South America)

Basin

Largest—Amazon

Gorge

Largest—Grand Canyon, on the Colorado river, USA

Highest—Salto Angel Falls (Venezuela)

Delta

Largest—Sundarbans, India

Gulf

Longest—Gulf of Mexico

Island

Largest—Greenland (renamed Kalaallit Nunaat)

Bay

Largest—Hudson Bay, Canada

Peninsula

Largest—Arabia

Volcano

Largest—Mauna Loa (Hawaii Islands), Highest-ojos del Salado, Andes, Argentine-Chile (6885 m)

Sea (Inland)

Largest—Mediterranean

Deepest and Biggest—The Pacific

Lake

Deepest—Baikal (Siberia) Highest—Titicaca (Bolivia) Largest (Fresh Water)—Lake Superior, USA Largest (Artificial)—Lake Kariba (between Zabia and Zimbabwe)

World's Rainiest Spot

Mawsynram (Meghalaya)

Sea Port

Largest— Shanghai (China)

Airport

Largest—King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia (by area) Highest—Daocheng Yading Airport, Garzi, Tibet (China)

Airliner

Largest— Airbus A380

Dam

Tallest—Jinping-I Dam (China) Longest—Hirakud Dam (Odisha), India Biggest (Water storage capacity)— Kariba Dam, Zimbabwe Largest (Concrete)—Grand Coulee Dam (USA)

Coral formation

Largest—The Great Barrier Reef (Australia)

Cruise ships

Largest—Royal Caribbean

Canal

Longest—Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal

Animal

Most Intelligent—Chimpanzee Fastest—Cheetah

Acrhipelago

Largest (area)—Malay Archipelago Largest (number)—Norway Archipelago

Asteroid Impact Zone

Largest—Australia

Nation with boundary

Largest—Canada

Plateau

largest—Pamir Plateau (Asia)

Road

Highest—Leh-Manali Road (India, NH1-A)

Country Sharing border with others

Maximum—China (14)

Country with population Density

Highest—Macau

Bird

Largest—Ostrich Largest (Sea)—Albatross Fastest—Needle-tailed swift Smallest—Humming bird

Mammal

Largest—Blue whale Smallest—Bumblebee bat

Park

Largest—National Park, Greenland

Railway

Longest—Trans-Siberian Railway

Railway Platform

Longest—Gorakhpur, India Largest—Grand Central Terminal, New York (USA)

Tunnel

Longest and Largest (Canal)—Le Rove Tunnel (South of France) Longest (Railway)—Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland)

Bridge

Longest—Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge (Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway)

Building

Tallest—Burj Khalifa, Dubai (828 m)

Minar (Free standing)

Tallest—Great Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco

Statue

Tallest—Statue of unity (Gujarat, India) is the tallest statue of the world

Tower

Tallest—Tokyo Sky Free, Tokyo (Japan)

Mosque

Largest—Masjid at Haram (Mecca)

Temple

Largest—Angkor Vat (Combodia)

Church

Largest—Basilica of St Peter, Vatican City, Rome (Italy)

Museum

Biggest—Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC

Place

Coldest—Verkhoyansk (Siberia), Temperature —85°C Hottest—Al-Aziziyah (Libya, Africa), 136°F Driest—Atacama Desert, Chile (South America)

Stadium

Largest—Strahov Stadium in Prague (the Czech Republic)

Wall

Longest—Great Wall of China

Capital City

Highest—La Paz (Bolivia)

City

Highest—Wen Chuan (Tibet, China) Largest (in population)—Tokyo Biggest (in area)—Hulunbuir, China

Day

Longest—21st June (in Northern hemisphere) Shortest—22nd December (in Southern hemisphere)

Substance

Hardest—Wurtzite boron nitride

Lightest—Lithium Heaviest—Osmium Costliest—Californium 252 ($ 27 million per gram)

Largest—The Cullinan (over 1.5 lb) Largest (Mine)—Kimberley (South Africa)

Melting Point

Highest—Tungsten, 34100°C

Lightest—Hydrogen

 

Countries with Capitals and Currencies

Afghanistan

Kabul

Afghani

Albania

Tirana

Lek

Algeria

Algiers

Algerian Dinar

Angola

Luanda

New Kwanza

Antigua and Barbuda

Saixt John's

East Caribbean dollar

Buenos Aires

Peso

Armenia

Yerevan

Dram

Canberra

Australian Dollar

Austria

Vienna

Euro

The Bahamas

Nassau

Bahamian dollar

Bangladesh

Taka

Barbados

Bridgetown

Barabados dollar

Belarus

Minsk

Belorussian ruble

Brussels

Bhutan

Thimphu

Ngultrum

Bostwana

Gaborone

Pula

Brasilia

Real

Cambodia

Phnom-Penh

Riel

Canadian Dollar

Santiago

Yuan, Renminbi

Bogota

Copenhagen

Krone

Djibouti

Djiboutian Franc

East Timor

Dili

US Dollar

Cairo

Egyption Pound

Ethiopia

Adis Ababa

Birr

Finland

Helsinki

Euro (Formerly Morka)

Paris

Euro (Formerly French Franc)

Georgia

Tbilisi

Lari

Berlin

Athens

Iceland

Reykjavik

Krona

Rupee

Rupiah

Tehran

Riyal

Baghdad

Dinar

Israel

Jerusalem

Shekel

Rome

Jamaica

Kingston

Jamaican dollar

Tokyo

Yen

Astana

Tenge

Nairobi

Shilling

Kuwait

Kuwait City

Kuwait Dinar

Latvia

Riga

Monrovia

Liberian Dollar

Libya

Tripoli

Libyan Dinar

Mauritius

Port Louis

Mongolia

Ulan Bator

Tugrik

Rabat

Dirham

Mozambique

Maputo

Metical

Naypyidaw

Kyat

Windhoek

Namibian Dollar

Kathmandu

Amsterdam

Abuja

Naira

North Korea

Pyongyang

Won (WPW)

Norway

Islamabad

Phillippines

Manila

Poland

Warsaw

Zloty

Portugal

Lisbon

Qatar

Doha

Moscow

Ruble

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh

Singapore

Dollar

Somalia

Mogadishu

Somali Shilling

Pretoria

Rand

Seul

Won (KRW)

South Sudan Juba

Sudanese Pound

Madrid

Colombo

Sudan

Khartoum

Pound

Stockholm

Bern

Swiss Franc

Taipei

Taiwan New Dollar

Bangkok

Baht

Lira

Uganda

Kampala

Uganda Shilling

London

Pound Sterling

Ukraine

Kiev

Hryvnia

Washington DC

Harare

Top 5

Largest and Smallest Countries

Largest Country (Area-wise)

Largest Country (Population-wise)

Smallest Country (Area-wise)

Smallest Country (Population-wise)

Vatican City

Dominica

Monaco

Marshall Islands

Nauru

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Tuvalu

San Marino

Liechtenstein

Languages and Religions Languages Spoken

Mandarin Chinese

882 million

Spanish

392 million

English

312-380 million

Arabic

206-422 million

Hindi

310 million

Religions of the World
Religion Member PercentageChristianity 2.1 billion 33.0% Islam 1.5 billion 21% Hinduism 900 million 14% Buddhism 376 million 6% Sikhism 23 million 0.36%
Geographical Epithets

Nilgiri Hills

City Beautiful

City of Golden Gate

San Francisco

City of Magnificent Buildings

Washington (USA)

City of Palaces

City of Seven Hills

City of Skyscrapper

Cockpit of Europe

Dark Continent

Eternal City of Hopers

Forbidden City

Lhasa (Tibet)

Windy City

Chicago

Land of Golden Pagoda

Garden City

Gift of the Nile

Granite City

Aberdeen

Hermit Kingdom

Holy Land

Palestine

Island Continent

Island of Cloves

Zanzibar

Geographical Discoveries

Discovery

Discoverer

Christopher Columbus

North Pole

South Pole

Amundsen

James Cook

Mount Everest

Edmund Hillary

Newfoundland

Cabot Sebastian

Sailed around the World

Magellan

Hudson Bay

Henry Hudson

Sea route to India via Cape of Good Hope

Vasco da Gama

Tasmania Island

Abel Tasman

Planets

Kepler

Hawaian Island

Solar System

Copernicus

Cape of the Good Hope

Bartolomew Dias

National Monuments of Major Countries

Statue of Liberty (New York)

USA

Kinder Disk

Denmark

Kremlin (Moscow)

Christ the Redeemer

The Great Wall of China

Machu Picchu

Emperial Palace (Tokyo)

Taj Mahal (Agra)

Eiffel Tower (Paris)

Tugu Negara (Kuala Lumpur)

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Great Sphinx (Giza)

Opera House (Sydney)

Pyramid (Giza)

Major News Agencies of the World

Associated Press (AP)

Novosti

Interfax

China News Service, Xin Hua

Allgemeiner Deutschar Nachrichtendienst

Deutsche Presse Agentur

Agence France Presse (AFP)

Agence Parisienne de Presse

Kyodon Tsushin

Reuters

Exchange and Telegraph Company

Australian Associated Press

Australian United Press

Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associate (ANSA)

Europa Press

National Emblem of Major Countries

Australia

Kangaroo

Water Lily

White Lily, Maple Leaf

Candor and Huemul

Beach

Lily

Corn Flower

Lion Capital of Ashoka

Perso Arabic Script of Arabic word 'Allah'

Afghanistan

Shora

People's Assembly

National People's Assembly

Parliament/Federal Parliament

National Assembly

Jatia Sansad

Tasongadu

National Congress

Parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords)

Parliament

China, Mainland

National People Congress

China, National

Yuah (National Assembly)

Congress

Folketing

Bundestag

Sansad (Parliament)

People's Consultative Assembly

Majilis

Ireland

Orieachtas

White Lily

Chrysanthemum

Southern Cross, Kiwi, Fern

Crescent and Star

Eagle

Rose

Bald eagle,Golden Rod

Country Name

Legislature Name

Knesset

Diet

Korea (North)

Supreme People's Assembly

Korea (South)

General People's Congress

Parliament (Dewan Rakyat, Dewan Negara)

Great People's Khural

Rashtriya Panchayat

State General

Parliament (House of Representatives)

Storting

Romania

Grand National Assembly

Duma

Cortes Generales

Federal Assembly

Syria

People's Council

Legislatures of the World Major Newspapers of the World

Major Newspapers of the World Newspaper Country

Newspaper

The Sydney Morning Herald Australia

People's Daily

The Age Australia

Mainichi Daily News

Globe and Mail Canada

The New Zealand Herald

The Gazette Canada

The Press

Le Monde Dawn Paris (France)

The Scotsman

Dawn Pakistan

The Guardian

Die Welt Germany

The Herald

The Times Britain

The Courier

The Sun Britain

Merdeka

New York Times USA

Pravada

Washington Post USA

The Hindu

Official Books of Major Countries

Blue Book

An official report of the British Government

Green Book

An official publications of Italy and Iran

Grey Book

An official report of the Government of Japan and Belgium

Orange Book

An official publication of the Government of Netherlands

White Book

An official publication of China, Germany and Portugal

Yellow Book

French official book

White Paper

An official paper of the Government of Britain and India on a particular issue

Joint Paper

The point report of two or more than two governments

Political Parties of Major Countries

Liberal Party, Labour Party

 

Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Awami League, Jatiya Party

 

Communist Party of China

 

Socialist Party, National Front, Union for French Democracy

 

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), Indian National Congress (INC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Aam Admi Party (AAP)

 

Ba'ath Party

 

Labour Party, Likud Party, Hamas Party, Shas Party

 

Nepali Communist Party, Nepali Congress Party, Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum

 

Muslim League, Pakistan People Party

 

Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Choice of Russia, United Russia Party

 

African National Congress, National Party, Inkatha Freedom Party

 

United National Party, Freedom Party

Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democratic Party

Republican Party, Democratic Party

Some Important Symbols or Signs

Lotus

Culture and civilisation

Red Cross

Medical aid and hospital

Red Flag

Revolution; also sign of danger

Black Flag

Symbol of protest

Yellow Flag

Flown on ships or vehicles carrying patients suffering from infectious diseases

White Flag

Sign of truce, Symbol of Peace

Flag flown upside down

Symbol of distress

Flag flown at half mast

Symbol of national mourning

Pigeon or Dove

Symbol of peace

A blind folded woman holding a balanced scale

Symbol of justice

Black strip on face arm

Sign of mourning or protest

One skull on two bones crossing each other diagonally

Sign of danger

Wheel (Chakra)

Symbol of progress

Olive Branch

Fathers of Various Fields

Atom Bomb

Dr Robert Oppenheimer

Aviation

Alberto Santos Dumont

George Stephenson

Chemistry

Robert Boyle

Economics

Adam Smith

Geography

Eratosthenes

Sociology

Auguste Comte

Political Science

Aristotle

Philosophy

Rene Descantes

Modern Psychology

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt

English Poetry

Geoffrey Chaucer

Greek Tragedy

Aeschylus

Immunology

Edward Jenner

Genetics

Gregor Johann Mendel

Biology

Microbiology

Antonie Van Leeuwenhock

Geometry

Euclid

Mathematics

Internet

Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn

Robotics

Al-Jazari

Computers

Charles Babbage

Artificial Intelligence

John Mc Carthy

Modern Observational Astronomy

Galileo Galilei

Science

Modern Science

Indian Nuclear Science

Homi Jahangir Bhabha

Nanotechnology

Richard Errett Smalley

Intelligence/Detective Agencies of the World

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB)

India

KGB/GRU

National Intelligence Agency

Central External Liaison Department

Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation

Naicho Capitalize

Sazamane Etelaat Va Amniyate Kechvar (SAVAK)

Director General de la Securite Exterieure (DGSE)

General Security Directorate

Military Intelligence (MI-5) and 6, Special Branch, Joint Intelligence Organisation

AL-Mukhabarat AL-Ammah

MOSSAD

Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)

The Seven Wonders of the World

Colossus of Rhodes

Colossus of Rome

Great Pyramid of Giza

Lighthouse of Alexandria

Catacombs of Alexandria

Hagia Sophia (Istanbul)

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy)

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The Pagoda of Nanking

Taj Mahal (Agra, India)

Great Pyramid of Giza

Washington Monument

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Sancta Sophia of Constantinople

Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)

Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Stonehenge

Empire State Building

The 'New' Wonders of Modern World

Christ Redeemer, Brazil

The Roman Colosseum, Italy

The Taj Mahal, India

Machu Picchu, Peru

Longest Bridges in the World

Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge Beijing

164800 m (540700 ft)

China

Tianjin Grand Bridge Beijing

113700 m (373000 ft)

Weinan Weihe Grand Bridge Zhengzhou-Xian

79732 m (261588 ft)

Bang Na Expressway

54000 m (177000 ft)

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

38442 m (126122 ft)

United States

Manchac Swamp Bridge

36710 m (120440 ft)

Yangcun Bridge Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway

35812 m (117493 ft)

Hangzhou Bay Bridge

35673 m (117037 ft)

 

First in India (Male)

First Governor-General of India

William Bentinck (1

833-35)

Governor-General of Independent India

Lord Lewis Mountbatten

First and Last Indian Governor-General of Free India

C Rajagopalachari (1948-1956)

The first Muslim President of India

Dr Zakir Hussain

First in India (Male)

The first Prime Minister of India who resigned before the full term

Morarji Desai

First person to stay in Rashtrapati Bhawan

Lord Irwin

President of National Congress

Womesh Chandra Bannerjee

The first Home Minister of India

The first Indian Judge of International Court of Justice

Dr Nagendra Singh

Indian Managing Director of World Bank

Gautam Kazi

Governor of Reserve Bank of India

Sir Osborne Smith

The first Indian to join the ICS

Satyendra Nath Tagore

The first Field Marshal of India

SHFJ Manekshaw

The first Indian Commander-in-Chief of India

General KM Karippa

The first Indian Naval Chief

Vice Admiral RD Katari

The first Indian to win the Nobel Prize

Rabindranath Tagore (1913)

The first Indian to get Nobel Prize in Physics

CV Raman

The first Indian to receive Nobel Prize in Economics

Amartya Sen

The first person of Indian origin to get Nobel Prize in Medicine

Hargobind Khurana

The first Indian to receive Bharat Ratna Award

Dr Radhakrishnan

Sportsperson to receive Bharat Ratna

Sachin Tendulkar

The first person to receive Magsaysay Award

Acharya Vinoba Bhave

First cricketer to get Padma Bhushan

CK Nayudu

First Indian to get the Grammy Award

Pandit Ravishankar

The first person to receive Stalin Peace Prize

Saifuddin Kitchlew

The first person to receive Jnanpith Award

Sri Shankar Kurup

The first Indian pilot

JRD Tata (1929)

First Indian to swin across the English channel

Mihir Sen

First Indian to score triple century in Test Cricket

Virender Sehwag

First Ex-CJI appointed as Governor

P Sathasivam, as Governor of Kerala

First Viceroy of India

Lord Canning (1858-62)

First Minister of Education in India

Dr. Abul Kalam Azad

First speaker of Lok Sabha

G.V. Mavalankar

First Indian member of British House of Commons

Dadabhai Naoroji

First Indian Cricketer to score a Test Century

Lala Amarnath (1933)

First Chief Election Commissioner of India

Sukumar Sen

 

First in India (Female)

The first woman Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi

The first woman Minister in Government

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

The first woman Judge in Supreme Court

Fathima Beevi

The first woman Chief Justice of High Court

Leela Seth

First Woman Lawyer to appear before a High Court in India and first to preside over the Rajya Sabha

Violet Alva

The first woman President of United Nations General Assembly

Vijaya Laxmi Pandit

The first woman Chief Minister of an Indian state

Sucheta Kripalani

The first woman Governor of a State in free India

Sarojini Naidu

The first woman Chairman of Union Public Service Commission

Rose Millian Bethew

The first woman Director General of Police

Kanchan C Bhattacharya

The first woman IPS Officer

Kiran Bedi

The first woman President of Indian National Congress

Annie Besant

The first woman Judge

Anna Chandy

The first woman Barrister

Cornelia Sorabjee

The first woman Honours Graduate

Kamini Roy

The first woman Chairperson of Indian Airlines

Sushma Chawla

The first woman to receive Nobel Prize

Mother Teresa

The first woman Airline Pilot

Durga Banerjee

The first woman to receive Bharat Ratna

Indira Gandhi

The first woman to receive Jnanpith Award

Ashapurna Devi

The first woman to receive Ashoka Chakra

Nirja Bhanot

The first woman Asian Games Gold Medal Winner

Kamaljit Sandhu

The first woman Olympic Medal Winner

Karnam Malleswari

The first woman to climb Mount Everest

Bachhendri Pal

The first woman to climb Mount Everest twice

Santosh Yadav

The first woman to cross English channel

Aarti Saha

First Woman Doctor

Kadambini Ganguly

First Test Tube Baby

Durga (Kanupriya Agarwal, 1978)

First woman to participate in Olympics

N. Polley (1924, Tennis)

First woman Chief Election Commissioner of India

V.S. Ramadevi (1990)

First woman Speaker of Lok Sabha

Meira Kumar (2009)

First woman to win Wimbledon from India

Sania Mirza

First woman to go into Space

Kalpana Chawla

First woman to win Silver in Olympics

PV Sindhu

First woman wrestler to win Olympic Medal

Sakshi Malik

First woman President

Pratibha Patil

First Indian woman to become member of International Olympic Committee

Nita Ambani

First Indian woman fighter pilot to fly a fighter jet

Avani Chaturvedi

First Indian naval woman pilot

Shubhangi Swaroop

 

First in India (Miscellaneous)

First in India (Miscellaneous) The first Bank

Bank of Hindustan (1770)

First general post office of India

Madras (GPO 1786)

India's first plane to be hijacked

Fokker Friendship Plane (1971)

First telephone line introduced in India

1851

First talkie film of India

Alam Ara (1931)

First battle tank of India

Arjun

First satellite of India

Aryabhatta

The first Indian state to implement the Panchayati Raj System

District to become India's first totally electrified district

Palakkad (Kerala)

City to have an e-court

First Indian to win individual Olympic gold

Abhinav Bindra

First lunar probe

Chandrayaan-I (October 2008)

First dedicated military Satellite

Rukmini (01G-SAT-7)

First Mars Orbiter Mission

5th November, 2013

First Central Agricultural University

Imphal (Manipur)

First state to Attain 100% Primary Literacy Level

First district with complete rural Broadband coverage

Idukki (Kerala)

 

Superlatives India

The longest river

The Ganga (2525 km)

The longest river of Southern India

The longest canal

Indira Gandhi Canal or Rajasthan Canal (Rajasthan)

The longest dam

Hirakud dam (Odisha)

The longest sea beach

Marina beach (Chennai)

The highest lake

Devtal lake (Uttarakhand)

The highest dam

Bhakhra Nangal dam on Sutlej river (Punjab)

The largest lake

Wular lake (Jammu and Kashmir)

The largest saline water lake

Chilka lake (Odisha)

The largest fresh water lake

Wular lake (J & K)

The largest artificial lake

Govind Sagar (Rihand dam)

The largest river island

Majuli, Brahmaputra river (Assam)

The highest waterfall

Kunchikal falls, Shimoga (Karnataka)

The deepest river valley

Bhagirathi and Alaknanda

The longest river bridge

Bhupen Hazarika Bridge, Lohit River (9.15 Km)

The longest sea bridge

Bandra-Worli Sea link

The largest cantilever bridge

Rabindra Setu or Howrah Bridge (Kolkata)

The state with longest coastline

The longest river without delta

The longest railway platform

The longest road

Grand Trunk Road (Kolkata to Delhi)

The highest road

Road at Khardungla (in Leh-Manali sector)

The longest corridor

Corridor of Ramnathswami Temple at Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu)

The highest airport

Leh Airport (Ladakh)

The largest desert

Thar (Rajasthan)

The largest delta

Sunderbans (West Bengal)

The largest zoo

Zoological Garden (Kolkata)

The biggest stadium

Yuva Bharti (Salt lake) Stadium (Kolkata)

The tallest TV tower

Pitampura (New Delhi)

The largest gurudwara

Golden temple, (Amritsar)

The largest cave temple

Kailash temple (Ellora, Maharashtra)

The highest peak

Godwin Austin, K-2 (8611 m)

The largest mosque

Jama Masjid (Delhi)

The longest tunnel

Jawahar Tunnel, Banihal Pass (Jammu and Kashmir)

The largest animal fair

Sonepur (Bihar)

The largest cave

Amarnath (Jammu and Kashmir)

The highest gate way

Buland Darwaza, (Fatehpur Sikri, UP)

The tallest statue

Statue of Unity (Gujarat)

The most populous city

Mumbai (Maharashtra)

The oldest church

St Thomas Church at Palayur, Trichur (Kerala)

The biggest church

Saint Cathedral at old Goa (Goa)

The longest national highway

NH-7 (Varanasi to Kanyakumari)

The highest award

Bharat Ratna

The highest gallantry award

Param Vir Chakra

 

Famous Sobriquets of Important Persons

MK Gandhi

Bapu; Mahatma, Father of the Nation

MS Golwalkar

Shri Guruji

Madan Mohan Malaviya

Mahamana

Rabindranath Tagore

Gurudev

Rajinder Singh

Nightingale of India

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah

Lion of Kashmir (Sher-i-Kashmir)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Bangabandhu

Abdul Gaffar Khan

Badshah Khan; Frontier Gandhi

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Lokmanya

CF Andrews

Deenabandhu

CN Annadurai

Anna

CR Das

Deshabandhu

Rajaji

Grand Old Man of India

Chacha, Panditji

Jayaprakash Narayan

Loknayak

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Man of Peace

Lala Lajpat Rai

Punjab Kesari; Lion of Punjab (Sher-i-Punjab)

Crematorium of Famous Person (India)

Raj Ghat

Mahatma Gandhi

Vijay Ghat

Kisan Ghat

Chaudhary Charan Singh

Smriti Sthal

IK Gujral

Sadaiv Atal

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Veer Bhumi

Rajiv Gandhi

Ekta Sthal

Giani Zail Singh, Chandra Shekhar, PV Narasimha

Uday Bhoomi

KR Narayanan

Shanti Van

Shakti Sthal

 

Some Great Works Associated with Famous Persons (India) Renamed Indian Cities

Father of Sanskrit Grammar

Panini

Founder of Anand Van

Baba Amte

Founder of 'Auroville Ashram' (Puducherry)

Aurobindo Ghosh

Founder of Shantiniketan

Founder of Vishwabharati

Founder of Paunar Ashram

Vinoba Bhave

Founder of Bhudan Movement

Founder of Golden Temple

Guru Arjan Dev

Founder of Khalsa Panth

Guru Gobind Singh

Major Newspapers in India

Economic Times

Mumbai, Delhi

English

Hindustan Times

Delhi, Patna

Deccan

Mid Day

National Herald

Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkata

Pioneer

Lucknow, Delhi, Kanpur

Search Light

Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore

The Indian Express

Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Lucknow, Madurai, Ahmedabad

The Statesman

Kolkata, New Delhi

The Times of India (Largest English circulating newspaper in the world)

New Delhi/Mumbai/ Ahmedabad

The Tribune

Ambala, Chandigarh

Aaj

Kanpur, Varanasi

Amar Ujala

Allahabad/Agra/Jhansi/ Meerut

Hindustan

Delhi/Patna

Nav Bharat Times Amrit Bazar Patrika

New Delhi/Mumbai Kolkata

Hindi Bengali

Anand Bazar Patrika

Bengali

Yugantar

Matrabhoomi

Odiya

Akali Patrika

Jallandhar

Punjabi

Tej

Urdu

Dinamani

Tamil

 

Renamed Indian Cities

Old Name

Changed Name

Vizagapatam

Vishakhapatnam

Avantika

Bezawada

Vijayawada

Bhelsa

Vidisha

Masulipatam

Machilipatnam

Gauhati

Yanaon

Yanam

Baroda

Vadodara

Koyamutthoor

Broach

Bharuch

Simla

Cape Comorin

Kanyakumari

Trivandrum

Conjeevaram

Kozhikode

Benares

Palghat

Palakkad

Foundation Day of Some States

21st January

Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura Day

6th February

Jammu and Kashmir Day

20th February

Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh Day

11th March

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Day

22nd March

Bihar Day (Bihar Diwas)

30th March

Rajasthan Day

1st April

Utkal (Odisha) Day

14th April

Tamil Nadu Day

15th April

Himachal Pradesh Day

1st May

Gujarat and Maharashtra Day

16th May

Sikkim Day

1st November

Chattisgarh

09th November

Uttaranchal (Now Uttarakhand) Day

15th November

Jharkhand Day (Jharkhand Diwas)

2nd June (2014)

Telangana Day

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India
Site Location Founder

1983

Ajanta Caves (Maharashtra)

Ellora Caves (Maharashtra)

Taj Mahal (Uttar Pradesh)

Agra Fort (Uttar Pradesh)

1984

Sun Temple, Konark (Odisha)

Mahabalipuram Temples (Tamil Nadu)

Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Bharatpur (Rajasthan)

Kaziranga National Park (Assam)

Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur (Rajasthan)

1986

Churches in Goa (Goa)

Khajuraho Temples (Madhya Pradesh)

Fatehpur Sikri (Uttar Pradesh)

Hampi Temples (Karnataka)

Sundarbans National Park (West Bengal)

Elephants Caves (Maharashtra)

Pattadakal Temples (Karnataka)

1988

Nanda Devi National Park (Uttarakhand)

Sanchi Stupa (Madhya Pradesh)

1993

Humayun’s Tomb (Delhi)

Qutub Minar (Delhi)

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (West Bengal)

Mahabodhi Temple (Bodh Gaya) (Bihar)

Rock Shelters of Bhimbetaka (Madhya Pradesh)

Brihadeshwara Temple (Gangaikondacholapuram, Tamil Nadu)

Victoria Terminus (CST), Mumbai

Airavatesvara Temple, Darasuram (Tamil Nadu)

Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (Gujarat)

2005

Valley of Flowers (Uttarakhand)

Nilgiri Mountain Railway (Tamil Nadu)

Red Fort (Delhi)

Kalka-Shimla Railway (Himachal Pradesh)

Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (Rajasthan)

Western Ghat

Hill forts of Rajasthan

2014

Rani ki Vav (Gujarat)

Great Himalayan National Park (Himachal Pradesh)

Nalanda Mahavihara (Bihar)

Khangchendzonga National Park (Sikkim)

The Architectural work of Le corbusier (Chandigarh)

Historic city of Ahmadabad (Gujarat)

The victorian and Art Deco Ensemble of Mumbai

 

Famous Tourist Spots of India


Site -Location  - Founder

Aram Bagh

Agra (Uttar Pradesh)

Babur

Anand Bhawan

Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh)

Moti Lal Nehru

Adhai Din Ka Johpda

Ajmer (Rajasthan)

Qutub-ud-din Aibak

Ajanta Caves

Aurangabad

Gupta Rulers

Akbar's Tomb

Sikandera (Uttar Pradesh)

Jahangir

Bibi Ka Maqbara

Aurangabad (Maharashtra)

Aurangzeb

Bharatpur Fort

Bharatpur (Rajasthan)

Raja Surajmal Singh

Bundi Fort

Bundi (Rajasthan)

Bada Imambada

Nawab Asaf-ud-daulah

Belur Math

Swami Vivekanand

Botanical Garden

Shibpur (West Bengal)

Chhatra Mahal

Rani Chhatrasal

Chenna Keshab Temple

Belur (Karnataka)

Vishnu Vardhan

Char Temple

Konark (Odisha)

Narasing Dev I

Chasma-Shahi

Ali Mardan Khan

Charar-e-Sarif

Srinagar (Kashmir)

Jainul Abedin

Choota Imambada

Mohammad Ali Shah

Cochin Fort

Portuguese

Dewan-e-Khas

Shah Jahan

Dilwara Jain Temple

Mount Abu (Rajasthan)

Vastu Pal Tejpal

Deeg Palace

Deeg (Rajasthan)

Raja Badan Singh

Dhar Fort

Dhar (Madhya Pradesh)

Mohammad Bin Tughlaq

Etamad-ud-daulah's Tomb

Agra (Uttar Pradesh)

Noor Jahan

Ellora Caves

Rashtrakuta Dynasty

Elephanta Caves

Rashtrakutas

Fatehpur Sikri

Akbar

Firoz Shah Kotla

Firoz Shah Tughlaq

Fort William

Lord Clive

Fateh Sagar

Udaipur (Rajasthan)

Maharana Fateh Singh

British Government

Golconda Fort

Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)

Qutubshahi Dynasty

Gol Ghar

Patna (Bihar)

Humayun's Tomb

Hameeda Bano Beghum

Hauz Khas

Ala-ud-din Khilji

Hajratbal Masjid

Harmandir Sahib

Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Junagarh

Bikaner (Rajasthan)

Raja Jai Singh

Jama Masjid

Jantar-Mantar

Delhi and Jaipur

Sawai Jai Singh

Jodhpur Fort

Jodhpur (Rajasthan)

Rao Jodha Ji

Jaku Temple

Rani Ras Moni

Jagannath Temple

Puri (Odisha)

Chola Gang Dev

Site Location Founder

Jama Masjid

Shah Jahan

Khas Mahal

Kankaria Lake

Sultan Qutub-ud-din

Khirki Masjid

Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq

Kandaria Mahadev

Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh)

Chandela Kings

Kanheri Caves

Buddhists

Laxman Temple

Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh)

Chandela Rulers

Laxmi Narayan Temple

Birla Family

Laxman Jhula

Rishikesh (Uttarakhand)

Moti Masjid

Delhi Fort

Mrignayani Palace

Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)

Raja Man Singh Tomar

Madan Palace

Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh)

Raja Madan Shah

Mecca Masjid

Kuli Kutub Shah

Nahargarh Fort

Jaipur (Rajasthan)

Nishaat Bagh

Nakhuda Masjid

Old Fort (Purana Quila)

Sher Shah Suri

President House

Pichhola Lake

Pathar Ki Masjid (Naev Masheed)

Parvez Shah

Padari Ki Haveli

Father Capuchin

Patthar Ki Masjid

Prince of Wales Museum

George V

Rani Ki Badi

Rani Nathvati

Red Fort

Sheesh Mahal

Safdarjung ka Maqbara

Shuja-ud-daulah

Sabarmati Ashram

Mahatma Gandhi

St Geogre Fort

Chennai (Tamil Nadu)

East India Company

Vimal Shah

Shalimar Bagh (Garden)

Sunset Point

Sher Shani Masjid

Sher Shah's Tomb

Sasaram (Bihar)

Islam Shah Suri, Son of Sher Shah

Taj Mahal

Tughlakabad

Umaid Palace

Maharaj Ummed Singh

Vijay Stambh

Chittorgarh (Rajasthan)

Rana Kumbha

Victoria Memorial

Vishnupad Temple

Gaya (Bihar)

Rani Ahilya Bai

 

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Institutions


Indian Agriculture Research Institute New Delhi

Central Rice Research Institute

Cuttack

Central Sugarcane Research Institute

Central Tobacco Research Institute

Rajahmundry

Central Potato Research Institute

Kufri, Shimla

National Centre of Organic Farming

Ghaziabad

National Plant Protection Training Institute

Central Frozen Semen Production and Training Institute

Hissar Ghatta (Karnataka)

Central Sheep Breeding Farm

Hissar

Indian Veterinary Research Institute

Izzatnagar, Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh)

Animal Health Institute

Central Institute of Fisheries, Nautical and Engineering Training

Integrated Fisheries Project

Central Island Agriculture Research Institute (ICAR)

Central Institute of Cotton Research

Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering

Bhopal

Central Institute of Fisheries Education

Central Institute of Fisher Technology

Central Institute of Fresh Water Agriculture

Bhubaneswar

Central Soil Salinity Research Institute

Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute

Barrackpore

Locust Warning Organisation

Jodhpur

National Institute of Agricultural Marketing

Random Sample Poultry Performance Testing Centre

National Institute of Animal Health

Baghpat (Uttar Pradesh)

Disease Investigation Laboratory

Institute of Animal Health & Veterinary Biologicals

Bengaluru (Karnataka)

Indian Council of Agricultaural Resarch (ICAR)

National Sugar Research Institute

Commerce Industrial Regulatory Boards

Rubber Board Kottayam Spices Board

Kochi

Coffee Board Bengaluru Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

Tea Board Kolkata Indian Institute of Packaging

Tobacco Board Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) Indian Diamond Institute

Animal Welfare Board Chennai Central Pollution Control Board of India

Institute of Communication

Bharat Ratna Bhim Rao Ambedkar Institute of Telecom Training Jabalpur

Tele Communication Engineering Centre

National Academy of Telecom Finance and Management

Secunderabad, Hyderabad

Advanced Level Telecom Centre

Indian Institute of Telecom Management (IITM)

Indian Railways Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications

Secunderabad

Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Institutions

Indian Agriculture Research Institute

New Delhi

Central Rice Research Institute

Education

Education

Central Institute of Indian Languages

Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan

Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha

Indian National Academy of Engineering

High Altitude Training Centre

Shillaru (Himachal Pradesh)

Fire Training Centre

Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Prathisthan

Indian School of Business

Indian Statistical Institute

National Law School

Bangalore

Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala)

Indian Institute of Public Administration

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research

Energy

National Power Training Institute

Faridabad

Centre for Wind Energy Technology

National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI)

Environment

Centre for Environmental Education (CEE)

Centre for Mining Environment (CME)

Dhanbad

GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development

Almora (Uttarakhand)

Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES)

National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)

CPR Environmental Education Centre (CEEC)

Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)

Forest Survey of India (FSI)

Dehradun

Indian Council of Forest Research and Education (ICFRE)

Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA)

Wildlife Institute of India (WIT)

Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT)

Central Soil and Material Research Station (CSMRS)

National Mangrove Genetic Resource Centre (NMGRC)

National Coral Reef Research Centre (NCRRC)

National Institute of Hydrology (NIH)

Roorkee

National Environmental Engineering Research Institute

Forest

Centre for Social Forestry and Eco-rehabilitation (CSFE)

Indian Plywood Industries Research and Training Institute (IPIRTI)

Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM)

Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB)

Forest Research Institute (FRI)

Tropical Forestry Research Institute (TFRI)

Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI)

Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI)

Jorhat, Assam

Institute for Forest Productivity (IFP)

Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI)

Advanced Research Centre for Bamboo and Rattans (ARCBR)

Aizawal

Centre for Forestry Research and Human Resource Development (CFRHRD)

Chhindwara

Food and Civil Supplies

Bureau of Indian Standards

Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute

Hapur

National Institute of Training for Standardisation

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED)

Food Corporation of India (FCI)

Government Industrial Undertakings

Bharat Electronics Ltd

JalahalIi (Bengaluru)

Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd

Heavy Machine Building Plant

Heavy Vehicles Factory

Avadi (Chennai)

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd

Hindustan Aircraft Factory

Hindustan Prefab Limited

Hindustan Teleprinters Ltd

Integral Coach Factory

Perambar (Tamil Nadu)

Security Paper Mill

Hoshangabad (Madhya Pradesh)

Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd

Neyveli (Tamil Nadu)

Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd

Hundustan Photo Films Manufacturing Company Ltd

Ooty (Tamil Nadu)

Hindustan Zinc Ltd

Health and Family Welfare

National Academy of Medical Science

National Institute of Ayurveda

National Institute of Unani Medicines

National Institute of Homeopathy

National Institute of Naturopathy

National Institute of Siddha

Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga

Health and Medicinal Research Centres in India

School of Tropical Medicine Kolkata

Central Leprosy Training and Research Institute

Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu)

PGI Medical Education and Research

National Institute of Nutrition

National Institute of Occupational Health

King Institute of Preventive Medicine

Guindy (Chennai)

All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health

All India Malaria Research Institute

All India Institute of Medical Sciences

National Tuberculosis Institute

Indian Cancer Research Centre

Institute of Ayurvedic Studies and Research

Jamnagar (Gujarat)

Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute

Haffkine Institute

National Institute of Communicable Diseases

Indian Council of Medical Research

Industry

Sardar Vallabhbhai Institute of Textile Management

Institute of Pesticide Formulation Technology

Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology

Justice and Law

National Judicial Academy

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy

National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science

National Law School of India University

Labour

V V Giri National Labour Institute

Noida (Uttar Pradesh)

National Instructional Media Institute

Central Staff Training and Research Institute

Laboratories

Central Scientific Instrument Organisation

Central Leather Research Institute

Indian Institute of Petroleum

Central Mining Research Station

Central Fuel Research Institute

Dhanbad (Jharkhand)

National Geophysical Research Institute

National Metallurgical Laboratory

Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute

National Botanical Research Institute

Central Drug Research Institute

Central Institute of Medical and Aromatic Plants

Central Food Technological Research Institute

National Environment Engineering Institute

National Physical Laboratory

Pulses Research Laboratory

Pachmarhi (Madhya Pradesh)

National Biological Laboratory

Palampur (Himachal Pradesh)

National Institute of Oceanography

Panaji (Goa)

Central Electronic Engineering Research Institute

Pilani (Rajasthan)

Mass Communication

Film and Television Institute of India

Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute

Indian Institute of Mass Communication

Nuclear and Space Research Centres in India

Research Centre Place

Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL)

Alwaye (Kerala)

Uranium Corporation of India Limited

Jadugora (Jharkhand)

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

Electronics Corporation of India Limited

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

Trombay (Mumbai)

Radio Astronomy Centre

Ootacamund (Tamil Nadu, Ooty)

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

Centre of Earth Science's Studies

Physical Research Laboratory

Space Commission

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Space Application Centre

Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station

Thumba (Kerala)

College of Satellite Communication Technology

Social Welfare Institutes

Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities

National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research

National Institute for the Visually Handicapped

National Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped

Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped

Institute of Physically Handicapped

National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development

National Institute for Mentally Handicapped

Secunderabad (Telangana)

Science and Technology Research Institutes

Physical Research Laboratory

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

Indian Institute of Astrophysics

The National Centre for Biological Science

Raman Research Institute

Institute of Life Sciences

National Institute of Ocean Technology

Central Marine Research Station

Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology

National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research

High Altitude Research Laboratory

Gulmarg (Kashmir)

The Survey Training Institute

Centre for DNA Finger Printing and Diagnostics

Indian National Centre for Ocean and Information Services

Institute of Microbial Technology

Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development

The Centre for Marine Living Resource and Ecology

S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences

National Brain Research Centre

Manesar (Haryana)

Indian Institute of Geomagnetism

Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology

National Institute of Immunology

Indian National Science Academy

National Seismological Database Centre

National Centre for Plant Genome Research

National Centre for Cell Science

Indian Lac Research Institute

SV National Institute of Technology

Shri Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology

Transport

Rail Wheel Factory

Chittaranjan Locomotive Works

Chittaranjan (West Bengal)

The National Institute of Aviation Management and Research

Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi

Fursatganj (Uttar Pradesh)

National Institute of Water Sports

The Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management

Rail Coach Factory

Kapurthala

Diesel Locomotives Work

LBS College of Advance Maritime Studies and Research

Marine Engineering and Research Institute

Fire Service Training School

Narayanpur (Kolkata)

Perumbur (Chennai)

Maritime Training Institute

Powai (Mumbai)

Water Resources

The Central Soil and Material Research Station

The Central Water and Power Research Station

The National Institute of Hydrology

Youth Affairs and Sports

Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports

Patiala

The Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development

Sriperumbudur (Tamil Nadu)

 

Important Dates and Days of the Year


January
1 Army Medical Corps Establishment Day
4 Louis Braille Day
8 African National CongressFoundation Day
9 NRI Day (Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas)
10 World Hindi Day
11 World Laughter Day
12 National Youth Day (Birthday of Swami Vivekanand)
15 Army Day
21 Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura Diwas
23 Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's birth anniversary
24 Rashtriya Balika Divas, Giri Child Day
25 National Tourism Day, Voter's Day, International Customs and Excise Day, Voters Day
26 Indian Republic Day, International Customs Day
30 Martyr's Day (Mahatma Gandhi's Martyrdom), World Leprosy Eradication Day
February
1 Indian Coast Guard Day
2 World Wetlands Day
4 National Day of Sri Lanka
5 Kashmir Day (Organised by Pakistan)
13 World Radio Day
20 World Social Justice Day
21 International Mother Tongue Day
24 Central Excise Day
28 National Science Day
March
3 National Defence Day, World Wildlfie Day
4 National Security Day
8 International Women's Day
11 Andaman Nicobar Day
13 World Kidney Day
15 World Consumer Rights Day, World Disabled Day
16 National Vaccination Day
18 Ordnance Manufacturing Day
21 World Forestry Day, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
22 World Water Day
23 World Meteorological Day
24 World TB Day
26 Bangladesh Liberation Day
27 World Theatre Day
April
2 World Autism Awareness Day
5 National Maritime Day, International Day for Mine Awareness
7 World Health Day
10 World Homeopathy Day
13 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Day (1919)
14 BR Ambedkar Remembrance Day; Fire Extinguishing Day
17 World Haemophilia Day
18 World Heritage Day, Azad Hind Fauz Day
21 Civil Services Day
22 World Earth Day
23 World Book and Copyright Day
24 Panchayat Divas
25 World Malaria Day
26 World Intellectual Property Day
May
1 International Labour Day (May Day), Maharashtra Day, Gujarat Day
2 World Asthma Day
3 World Press Freedom Day, International Energy Day
8 World Red Cross Day
11 National Technology Day
12 International Nurses Day
15 International Family Day
17 World Telecommunications Day
21 Anti-Terrorism Day, Rajiv Gandhi Death Anniversary
22 World Biodiversity Day
24 Commonwealth Day
31 World Anti-Tobacco Day
June
1 Global Day of Parents
5 World Environment Day
20 World Refugee Day
21 International Yoga Day
23 International Widow Day, International Olympic Day
29 National Statistics Day
July
1 Doctor's Day, State Bank of India Foundation Day
4 American Independence Day
7 International Day of Co-operatives
11 World Population Day
18 International Nelson Mandela Day
26 Kargil Victory Day
28 World Nature Conservation Day, World Hepatitis Day
August
1 World Breast Feeding Day
6 Hiroshima Day (World Peace Day)
9 Kranti Divas, Nagasaki Day, Quit India Day, International Day of word's Ingenious People
12 International Youth Day
15 India's Independence Day
19 World Photography Day
20 Sadbhavna Diwas
29 National Sports Day (Dhyanchand's birthday)
30 Small Industry Day
September
5 Teachers' Day, Dr Radhakrishnan's Birthday
8 International Literacy Day (UNESCO)
14 World First Aid Day
15 Engineers Day, International Day of Democracy
16 World Ozone Day
18 Biosphere Day, World Alzheimer's Day
20 Railway Police Force Foundation Day
21 International Day of Peace
24 World Deaf Day, World Heart Day
27 World Tourism Day
October
1 International Day for the Elderly (UN)
2 International Non-violence Day, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday
3 World Habitat Day
4 World Animal Welfare Day
5 World Teacher's Day
8 Indian Air Force Day
9 World Postal Day
10 World Mental Health Day; National Post Day
11 International Girl Child Day
13 World Calamity Control Day (UN)
14 World Standards Day
15 World White Cane Day (Guiding the blind)
16 World Food Day
17 International Poverty Eradication Day
20 National Solidarity Day (China attacked India on that day)
21 World Iodine Shortage Day
22 World Energy Day
24 United Nations Day, World Polio Day
31 World Thrift Day, National Integration Day
November
7 Infant Protection Day; National Cancer Awareness Day
10 Transport Day, Malala Day (by UN)
11 National Education Day
14 Children's Day, World Diabetics Day
16 National Press Day
17 National Epilepsy Day
18 World Adult Day
19 World Citizen Day, National Integration Day, World Toilet Day
20 Universal Children's Day (UN), Africa Industrialisation Day
21 World Fisheries Day
25 World Non-veg Prevention Day
26 Law Day, National Milk Day, Samvidhan Diwas
December
1 World AIDS Day
2 International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, World Computer literacy Day
3 World Disabled Day
4 Navy Day
5 International Volunteers Day
7 Armed Forces Flag Day
10 Human Rights Day
11 UNICEF Day
14 National Energy Conservation Day
16 Vijay Divas
19 Goa's Liberation Day
23 Kisan Divas (Farmer's Day)
25 National Good Governance Day, X-Mas Day
29 International Biodiversity Day


Important UNO Decades

1991-2000

 

UN Decade against Drug Abuse

1995-2004

 

Decade for Human RightsEducation

1997-2006

 

Decade for the Eradication ofPoverty

2003-2012

 

UN Literacy Decade :Education for All

2005-2014

 

UN Decade of Education forSustainable Development

2005-2015

 

International Decade for Action 'Water for Life’

2006-2016

 

Decade of Recovery andSustainable Development of theAffected Regions

2008-2017

 

Second UN Decade for theEradication of Poverty

2010-2020 UN Decade for Deserts andFight against Desertification

 

2011-

2020 Decade of Action for Road Safety UN Decade on Biodiversity Third UN International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism

 

 

 

UN International Year

2018

International Year of IndigenousLanguages

International Year of SustainableTourism for Development

International Year of Pulses

International Year of Soils

International Year of Light andLight-based Technologies

International Year of Small Island Developing States

International Year of Crystallography

International Year of Family Farming

International Year of WaterCooperation

International Year of Quinoa

International Year of Cooperatives

International Year of SustainableEnergy for All

International Year of Chemistry

International Year of Forests

International Year of Youth

International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures

International Year of Biodiversity

 

Abbreviations

ABM – Anti Ballistic Missile
AD – Anno Domini (After the birth of Jesus)
ADF – Asian Development Fund
AERE – Atomic Energy Research Establishment
AFSPA – Armed Forces Special Power Act
AGOC – Asian Games Organising Committee
AIDS – Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
ALH – Advanced Light Helicopter
APPLE – Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment
ASAT – Anti-Satellite Weapon
ASEAN – Association of South-East Asian Nations
ASCI – Advanced Strategic Computing Initiative
ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ATM – Automated Teller Machine
APEC – Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
BIS – Bureau of Indian Standards
BIT – Binary Digit (Basic unit of information in computing and telecommunication)
BMDS – Ballistic Missile Defence System
BRO – Border Roads Organisation
BRT – Bus Rapid Transit
CAA – Civil Aviation Authority
CABE – Central Advisory Board of Education
CAG – Comptroller and Auditor General
CAD – Computer Aided Design
CAIR – Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
CAPES – Computer-Aided Paperless Examination System
CAZRI – Central Arid Zone Research Institute
CAT – Central Administrative Tribunal
CBI – Central Bureau of Investigation
CECA – Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement
CERT – Computer Emergency Response team
CHOGM – Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
CISF – Central Industrial Security Force
CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
CLASS – Computer Literacy and Studies in School
CNG – Compressed Natural Gas
COLA – Cellular Operator Association of India
CPCB – Central Pollution Control Board
CPRI – Central Power Research Institute
CSIR – Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
CVC – Central Vigilance Commission
DAVP – Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity
DDT – Dichlorodiphenyl Trichloroethane
DFDR – Digital Flight Data Recorder (Black Box)
DIG – Deputy Inspector General
DPSA – Deep Penetration Strike Aircraft
DPT – Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus
DRDO – Defence Research and Development Organisation
ECG – Electro Cardiogram
ECT – Electro Concvulsive Therapy (electric shock treatment)
EEG – Electro-Encephalography
EET – Exempt Exempt Taxation
ELISA – Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent
ECGC – Export Credit Guarantee Corporation
ESCAP – Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
EVM – Electronic Voting Machine
EPZ – Export Processing Zone
FDI – Foreign Direct Investment
FII – Foreign Institutional Investor
FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation
FERA – Foreign Exchange Regulation Act
FEMA – Foreign Exchange Management Act
FICCI – Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
FRIBA – Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects
FLAG – Fibre Optic Link Around the Globe
GAIN – Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
GATS – General Agreement on Trade in Services
GATT – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GEF – Global Environment Fund
GMPS – Global Mobile Personal Communications System
GMT – Greenwich Mean Time
GNSS – Global Navigation Satellite System
GPS – Global Positioning System
GSLV – Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle
HAC – Hindustan Aluminium Corporation
HAL – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus
HRIDAY – National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana.
HYVS – High Yield Variety Seeds
IAAI – International Airport Authority of India
IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency
IBRD – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ICAO – International Civil Aviation Organisation
ICAR – Indian Council of Agricultural Research
ICMR – Indian Council of Medical Research
ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross
IDPL – Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited
IMO – International Maritime Organisation
INSAS – Indian Small Arms System
INSAT – Indian National Satellite
IPC – Indian Penal Code
IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
KYC – Know Your Customer
KG – Kinder Garten
LCA – Light Combat Aircraft
LOC – Line of Control
LOAC – Line of Actual Control
LTA – Light Transport Aircraft
LIGO – Laser Interferamenter Gravitational-wave Observatory
MAT – Minimum Alternative Tax
METSAT – Meteorological Satellite
MMS – Multimedia Message Service
MRTS – Mass Rapid Transit System
MTCR – Missile Technology Control Regime
NACO – National AIDS Control Organisation
NADA – National Anti-Doping Agency
NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement
NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NATA – Natural Aptitude Test for Architecture
NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
NCEP – National Committee on Environmental Planning
NeGP – National e-Governance Plan
NEP – National Education Policy
NEPA – National Environment Protection Act
NTPC – National Thermal Power Corporation
OCI – Overseas Citizen of India
OAS – Organisation of American States
OAU – Organisation of African Unity
ODS – Ozone Depletion Substances
OIC – Organisation of Islamic Countries
OSCE – Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
OROP – One Rank One Pension
PURA – Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas
PATA – Pacific Asia Travel Association
PIB – Press Information Bureau
PN – Participatory Note
POTA – Prevention of Terrorism Act
PSLV – Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
PWD – Public Works Department
QIB – Qualified Institutional Buyer
QIP – Qualified Institutional Placement
RAF – Rapid Action Force
RBI – Reserve Bank of India
RCC – Reinforced Cement Concrete
RDSS – Radio Determination Satellite Service
RLV – Reusable Launch Vehicle
RTGS – Real Time Gross Settlement System
SAFTA – South Asian Free Trade Area
SAIL – Steel Authority of India Limited
SAPTA – SAARC Preferential Trading Agreement
SATNAV – Satellite Navigation
SAVE – SAARC Audio Visual Exchange
SCO – Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
SCOPE – Standing Commitiee of Public Enterprises
SEBI – Securities and Exchange Board of India
SIDBI – Small Industries Development Bank of India
SMART – Simple Moral Accountable Responsive and Transparent
SPIN – Software Process Improvement Networks
STARS – Satellite Tracking and Ranging Station
STARTS – Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty Station
SWIFT – Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications
TADA – Terrorist and Discruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
TAPS – Tarapur Atomic Power Station
TIN – Tax Identification Number
TNT – Tri Nitro Toluene (high explosive)
TRAI – Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
TRIPS – Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights
UAV – Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP – United Nations Development Programme
UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme
UNFPA – United Nations Fund for Population Activities
VAT – Value Added Tax
VLSI – Very Large Scale Integration
VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol
VSAT – Very Small Aperture Terminals
WADA – World Anti-Doping Agency
WAVE – Wireless Access for Virtual Enterprise
WFP – World Food Programme
WFTU – World Federation of Trade Unions
WLL – Wireless in Local Loop
WWF – World Wide Fund for Nature
YMCA – Young Men's Christian Association
YWCA – Young Women's Christian Association
ZSI – Zoological Survey of India
ZIP – Zone Improvement Plan

 

Books and their Authors

Eric Segal – Love Story
Ernest Hemingway – The Old Man and the Sea
Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Idiot
GB Shaw – Apple Cart
Gabrielle Hamilton – Blood, Bones and Butter
George Co Bush – Decision Point (Autobiography)
George Orwell – Ninteen Eighty Four
Goethe – Faust
HB Stowe – Uncle Tom's Cabin
Herschele Gibbs – To the Point (Autobiography)
Herta Muller – The Appointment
Homer – Odyssey
Isaac Newton – Principia Mathematica
Jasper F Forde – Shades of Grey
Jean Paul Sartre – Iron in the Soul
Jeffrey Archer – First Among Equals
JK Rowling – The Tales of Beedle the Barol
John Masefield – Nine Days Wonder
John Ruskin – Unto this Last
Jonathan Swift – Gulliver's Travels
Joy Adamson – Born Free
Jules Verne – Around the World in 80 days
Karl Marx – Das Kapital
Katherine Mayo – Mother India
Kim Edwards – Lake of Dreams
L Fischer – A Week with Gandhi
Lapierre and Collins – Freedom at Midnight
Larry Collins Sdomininique lapierre – Mountbatten and Independent India
Lord Byron – Don Juan
Lord Curzon – Problems of The East
M Veerappa Moily – 'Shree Ramayana Mahanveshanam''
Machiavelli – The Prince
Margaret Mitchell – Gone with the Wind
Mark Twain – Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Martin Amis – The Pregnant Widow
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay – Devdas Parineeta
Sarojini Naidu – The Golden Threshold; The Bird of Time
Munshi Prem Chand – Rang Bhoomi Godan
Rammohan Roy – Precept of Jesus; A Gift to Monotheists
Mahatma Gandhi – My Experiments with Truth; Hind Swaraj
Amartya Sen – Development as Freedom; The Idea of Justice
Abul Kalam Azad – India Wins Freedom
AL Basham – Wonder That was India
Amit Chaudhuri – The Immortals
Annie Besant – Wake up India
Anuradha Roy – The Folded Earth
Aravind Adiga – The White Tiger
Arundhati Roy – The God of Small Things; The ministry of Utmost Happiness
Asha Purna Devi – Subarnalata
Aurobindo Ghosh – Life Divine
Balwant Gargi – Naked Triangle
BG Tilak – Gita Rahasya
BR Ambedkar – What Congress and Gandhi have done to Untouchables
Brig John Dalvi – Himalayan Blunder
Dadabhai Naoroji – Poverty and Unbritish Rule in India
Daisy Hason – The To-Let House
Dr Radha Krishnan – Hindu View of Life
Dr Rajendra Prasad – India Divided
VD Savarkar – Indian War of Independence
Edited by Pranab Mukherjee – The Congress and The Making of Indian Nation
Gen Ayub Khan – Friends not Master
Gopal Krishna Gandhi – of a Certain Age : Twenty Life Sketches
GopinathMohanty – Moti Mahal
Hamid Ansari – Travelling Through Conflict
IK Gujral – Matters of Discretion (Autobiography)
Imran Hashmi – The Kiss of Life
Indira Gandhi – My Truth
Janardan Thakur – All the Prime Minister's Men
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam – Ignited Minds : Unleashing the Power within India,; You Are Born to Blossom, My Journey,; India 2020-A vision for the New Millennium,; Wings of Fire
Amitabh Ghosh – The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Mulk Raj Anand – The Village,; Seven Summers,; Two Leaves and a Bud,; Coolie
Amrita Pritam – Kora Kagaz,; Death of a City,; Kagaz Te Kanwas, The Revenue Stamp
Ramachandra Guha – Makers of Modern India India after Gandhi : The History of the World's Largest Democracy,; Environmentalism : A Global History,; The States of Indian Cricket
Khushwant Singh – The Sunset Club,; Sahibs Who Loved India,; Why I Supported the Emergency, Truth, Love and A Little Malice,; We Indians,; A Bride for the Sahib, Maharaja in Denims
RK Narayan – Guide, Dark Room,; The Vendor of Sweets
Chetan Bhagat – One Night the Call Centre,; Revolution 2020, What young India Wants Making India Awesome,; Half Girlfriend,; One Indian Girl
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay – Devi Chaudharani Anand Math
Maithili Sharan Gupt – Saket Yashodhara
JP Narayan – Prison Diary; To all Fighters of Freedom, Why Socialism?
Javier Moro – A Dramatised Biography of, Sonia Gandhi; The Red Sari
Salman Khurshid – The Other Side of the Mountain.
Adam Smith – Wealth of Nations
AG Noorani – 'India—China Boundary Problems, 1846 to 1947''
Al Gore (former US Vice President) – 'An Inconvenient Truth''
Andy Marino : – Narendra Modi : A Political Biography
Arthur Conan Doyle – Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur I Miller – Empire of the Stars
Arthur Stanley Eddington – Expanding Universe
Anna Jeon Mayhew – The Dry Glass of August
Alan Shapiro – Night of the Republic
Benazir Bhutto – Reconciliation : Islam Democracy and the West
Catherin O' Flynn – The News Where you are
Charles Darwin – Descent of Man, Origin of Species
Cherie Blair – Speaking for Myself
Chester Bowles – A View from Delhi
Dan Brown – The Lost Symbol
David Loshak – Pakistan Crisis
Desmond Tutu – No Future Without Forgiveness
DH Lawrence – Sons and Lovers; Lady Chatterley's Lover
Dominque Lapierre – 'A Rainbow in the Night-Nelson Mandela and the Tumultuous Birth of South Africa''
Domingo Martinez – Thy Boy Kings of Taxas
Dould Maraniss – Barack Obama: The Making of the Man
Doniel Silva – Moscow Rules
E M Forster – A Passage to India
Edited by Michele Kelley, Deepika D´Souza – 'The World Bank in India—Undermining Sovereignty, Distorting Development''
Edward Gibbon – Decline and Fall of the Roman Empires
William Shakespeare – King Lear All's Well That Ends Well; Twelfth Night; Comedy of Errors; Romeo and Juliet; Antony and Cleopatra; The Tempest; Macbeth; Julius Caesar; Othello
Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities Oliver Twist; David Copperfield; Great Expectations
George Bernard Shaw – Back to Methuselah Man of Destiny; Arms and the Man; Man and Superman
Leo Tolstoy – Resurrection; War and Peace; Anna Karenina
Barack Obama – Dreams from My Father : A Story of Race and Inheritance; The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
TS Eliot – Murder in the Cathedral; The Wasteland, and other poem
HG Wells – The War of the Worlds; The Time Machine; Invisible Man
George Eliot – Mill on the Floss; Middle March
John Milton – Paradise Regained; Paradise Lost
Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility
Lewis Carroll – Through the Looking Glass; The Hunting of Snark
Rober Louis Stevenson – Kidnapped Treasure Island
Abdul Salam Zaeef – 'My Life With the Taliban''
Mathew Arnold – Sohrab and Rustum
Maxim Gorky – Mother
Malala Yousafzai – We are Displaced
Michael Jackson – Moon Walk (Autobiography)
Michael Phelps – No Limits : The Will to Succeed
Nandan Nilekani – Imaging India : Ideas for a New Century
Nelson Mandela – The Conversations with Myself
Oliver Goldsmith – She Stoops to Conquer
Oscar Wilde – Importance of Being Earnest
Pallava Bagla – ''Destination Moon-India's quest for the Moon, Mars and Beyond''
Parvez Musharraf – 'In the Line of Fire''
Pearl S Buck – The Rainbow
Philip Pullmen – The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ
Plato – The Republic
Robert TS Mickles Sr – Blood Kin, A Savannah Story
Rudyard Kipling – Jungle Book
Ruskin Bond – Notes from a Small Room
R M Lala – For the Love of India : The Life and Times of Jamsetji Tata
Shoaib Akhtar – Controversially Yours (Autobiography)
Sydney Sheldon – The Naked Face
Syyed Amir Ali – The Spirit of Islam
TC Boyle – Wild Child
Thomas Moor – Utopia
Toni Morrison – What Moves at the Margin : Selected Non-Fiction
Thomos Weber – Gandhi at First Sight
Tony Blair – A Journey
U Thant – View from the UN
Willam Alexander – Goblin Secrets
Walter Scott – Ivanhoe
Winston Churchill – Gathering Storm
Mathew Arnold – Sohrab and Rustum
Maxim Gorky – Mother
Malala Yousafzai – We are Displaced
Michael Jackson – Moon Walk (Autobiography)
Michael Phelps – No Limits : The Will to Succeed
Nandan Nilekani – Imaging India : Ideas for a New Century
Nelson Mandela – The Conversations with Myself
Oliver Goldsmith – She Stoops to Conquer
Oscar Wilde – Importance of Being Earnest
Pallava Bagla – ''Destination Moon-India's quest for the Moon, Mars and Beyond''
Parvez Musharraf – 'In the Line of Fire''
Pearl S Buck – The Rainbow
Philip Pullmen – The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ
Plato – The Republic
Robert TS Mickles Sr – Blood Kin, A Savannah Story
Rudyard Kipling – Jungle Book
Ruskin Bond – Notes from a Small Room
R M Lala – For the Love of India : The Life and Times of Jamsetji Tata
Shoaib Akhtar – Controversially Yours (Autobiography)
Sydney Sheldon – The Naked Face
Syyed Amir Ali – The Spirit of Islam
TC Boyle – Wild Child
Thomas Moor – Utopia
Toni Morrison – What Moves at the Margin : Selected Non-Fiction
Thomos Weber – Gandhi at First Sight
Tony Blair – A Journey
U Thant – View from the UN
Willam Alexander – Goblin Secrets
Walter Scott – Ivanhoe
Winston Churchill – Gathering Storm
Mathew Arnold – Sohrab and Rustum
Maxim Gorky – Mother
Malala Yousafzai – We are Displaced
Michael Jackson – Moon Walk (Autobiography)
Michael Phelps – No Limits : The Will to Succeed
Nandan Nilekani – Imaging India : Ideas for a New Century
Nelson Mandela – The Conversations with Myself
Oliver Goldsmith – She Stoops to Conquer
Oscar Wilde – Importance of Being Earnest
Pallava Bagla – ''Destination Moon-India's quest for the Moon, Mars and Beyond''
Parvez Musharraf – 'In the Line of Fire''
Pearl S Buck – The Rainbow
Philip Pullmen – The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ
Plato – The Republic
Robert TS Mickles Sr – Blood Kin, A Savannah Story
Rudyard Kipling – Jungle Book
Ruskin Bond – Notes from a Small Room
R M Lala – For the Love of India : The Life and Times of Jamsetji Tata
Shoaib Akhtar – Controversially Yours (Autobiography)
Sydney Sheldon – The Naked Face
Syyed Amir Ali – The Spirit of Islam
TC Boyle – Wild Child
Thomas Moor – Utopia
Toni Morrison – What Moves at the Margin : Selected Non-Fiction
Thomos Weber – Gandhi at First Sight
Tony Blair – A Journey
U Thant – View from the UN
Willam Alexander – Goblin Secrets
Walter Scott – Ivanhoe
Winston Churchill – Gathering Storm
Jaswant Singh – Jinnah—India, Partition, Independence
Jyotiba Phule – Ghulam Giri and other Stories
K Natwar Singh – One life is not enough 'My China Diary'
Kapil Dev – Straight from the Heart
Kapil Sibal – I Witness–Partial Observation
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan – Pakhtoon
Kingshuk Nag – The Namo Story : A Political Life
KM Munshi – I Follow the Mahatama
Kuldip Nayar – The Judgement
Kailash Sathyarthi – Azad Bachpan Ki Or
KP Mathur – The Unseen Indira Gandhi
Kishalay Bhattacharya – Blood or My Hands; Confession of stated Encounters
Kartar Lahani – The Making of India
Lal Krishna Advani – My Country My Life
Lala Lajpat Rai – Unhappy India
Mahadevi Verma – Yama
Maj HPS Ahluwalia – Face of Everest
Manohar Malgaonkar – A Bend in the Ganges
Meghnad Desai – The Rediscovery of India
MJ Akbar – Nehru: The Making of India
Morarji Desai – A Minister and his Responsibilities
Narayan Lakshman – Patrons of the Poor : Caste Politics and Policy Making in India
Narayan Shehgal – A Voice of Freedom
Shri Narendra Modi – 'Convenient Action : Gujarat's Response to Climate Change''; Exam warriors
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay – Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times
Nirad C Choudhary – An Unknown Indian
NR Narayan Murthy – A Better India A Better World
PM Nayar – The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President
PVR Rao – Defence Without Drift
Rabindranath Tagore – Chitra
Raghunath ▸ Mashelkar – 'Timeless Inspirator— Reliving Gandhi''
Rajmohan Gandhi – The Good Boat Man : A Portrait of Gandhi
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar – Rashmirathi
Rashika Chaube and Chhaya Mahajan – An Inspirational Journey: Pratibha Devi Singh Patil; The First Women President of India
Ramesh Chandra Dutta – Economic History of India
Ram Chandra Guha – Gandhi
Ravi Shankar – My Music, My Life
Ronald Segal – Crisis of India
Saniya Mirza – Ace Against Odse
Ruskin Bond – A little book of Happiness
S Nihal Singh – My India
SC Bose – The Indian Struggle
Shashi Tharoor – The Elephant, Cell Phone : Reflections on India in the 21st century India Shastra', Pax Indica, The Paradoxical Prime Minister
Shashi Tharoor and Shaharyar Khan – Shadows Across the Playing Field : 60 years of India-Pak Cricket
Shobha De – Superstar India : From Incredible to Unstoppable
Shyam Bhatia – Good Bye Shahzadi (A Biography of Benazir Bhutto)
Sir Syyed Ahmed Khan – Causes of the Indian Mutiny
SK Nandi – Ramacharit
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh – Savitri
Subramanian Swamy – 'Electronic Voting Machines—Unconstitutional and Tamperable''
Sunil Gavaskar – Sunny Days
Surjit Singh Barnala – My Other Two Daughters
Swami Dayanand – Satyarth Prakash
TS Krishnanmurthy – The Miracle of Democracy : India's Amazing Journey
Upinder Singh – A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India from Stone Age to the 12th Century
V V Giri – Voice of Conscience
V V S Laxman R – 281 and Beyond
Veerappa Moily – Unleashing India
Vinita Kamte – To the Last Bullet
Vinod Mehta – Lucknow Boy (Autobiography)
Virat Kohli – Driven
YV Reddy – Global Crisis Recession and Uneven Recovery
Jairam Ramesh – Indira Gandhi : A Life in Nature
DG Tendulkar – Gandhi in Champaran


Award Winning Authors of Indian Origin and their Writings

 

Salman Rushdie

Midnight Children Shame The Moor's Last Sigh Fury The Satanic Verses Two years, at Month and Twenty-at Night

Booker Prize 1981 (Midnight Children)

Vikram Seth

The Golden Gate

Padma Shri in Literature and Education

A Suitable Boy An Equal Music Summer Requiem Two Lives

Arundhati Roy

The God of Small things

Booker Prize 1997

The Algebra at Infinite Justice

(The God of Small Things)

Rohinton Mistry

Such a Long Journey

Booker Prize 1991

Family Matters A Fine Balance

(Such a Long Journey)

VS Naipaul

A House for Mr Biswaas

Nobel Prize in Literature 2001

India : a Wounded Civilization

(for having united perceptive narrative

An Area of Darkness India : a Million Mutinies now The Masque of Africa A Bend in The River

and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel)

Amitav Ghosh

The Circle of Reason

Padma Shri by Government of India

River of Smoke

The Glass Palace

(for his best work in English Language)

Shadow Line The Calcutta Chromosome Flood of Fire The Hungry Tide Sea of Poppies In an Antique Land

Crossword Book Prize in 2008 for Sea of Poppier

Jhumpa Lahiri

The Namesake

Pulitzer Prize 2000

The Interpreter of Maladies The Unaccustomed Earth

(The Namesake)

Shashi Tharoor

The Great Indian Novel

Common Wealth Writer's Prize

Show Business India : From Midnight to Millenium India Shastra: Reflections on the Nation in our time

(The Great Indian Novel)

Upamanyu Chatterjee

The Mammaries of the Welfare State English August Way to 90

Sahitya Akademi Award 2004 (The Mammaries of the Welfare State)

Kiran Desai

The Inheritance of Loss

Man Booker Prize 2006

Books Awarded with Prizes

Pulitzer Prize

The Road

Cormac McCarthy

The Looming Tower : Al-Qaeda and The Road to 9/11

Lawrence Wright

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Junot Diaz

The Years of Extermination : Nazi Germany and The Jews, 1939-1945

Saul Friedlander

Olive Kitteridge

Elizabeth Strout

Slavery by Another Name : The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from The Civil War to World War II

Douglas A Blackmon

The Dead Hand : The Untold Story of The Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy

David E Hoffman

Tinkers

Paul Harding

A Visit from the Goon Squad

Jennifer Egan

The Emperor of All Maladies : A Biography of Cancer

Siddhartha Mukherjee

The Orphan Master's Son (Fiction)

Adam Johnson

Disgraced (Drama)

Ayad Akhtar

3 Sections (Poetry)

Vijay Seshadri

The Goldfinch (Fiction)

Donna Tartt

Digest (Poetry)

Gregory Pardlo

Sympathizer (Fiction)

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Underground Railroad (Fiction)

Colson Whitehead

Less (Fiction)

Andrew Sean Greer

Man Booker Prize

The Gathering

Anne Enright

The White Tiger

Aravind Adiga

Wolf Hall

Hilary Mantel

The Finkler Question

Howard Jacobson

Troubles

JG Farrell

The Sense of an Ending

Julian Barnes

Bring up the Bodies

The Luminaries

Eleanor Catton

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Richard Flanagan

A Brief History of Seven Killings

Marlon James

The Sellout

Paul Beatty

Lincoln in the Bardo

George Saunders

Flight

Olgo Tokarczuk

Sahitya Akademi Award

Hajar Churashir Maa

Mahasweta Devi

Mahabharata An Inquiry in the Human Condition

Chaturvedi Badrinath

Hawa me Hastakshar

Kailash Vajpeyi

Book of Rachel

Esther David

Mohan Das

Uday Prakash

India After Gandhi

Ramachandra Guha

Rehan Per Ragghu (Novel) Pathar Fenk Rara Hoon (Poetry) Miljul Man (Novel) Trying to Say Goodbye (Poetry)

Kashinath Singh Chandrakant Devtale Mridula Garg Adil Jussawala

2011 2012 2013 2014

Vinayak (Novel)

Ramesh Chandra Shah

Aag ki Hansee

Ramdash Mishra

Parijat

Nasrina Sharma

The Black Hill (Novel)

Mamang Dai

Post Box No. 203

Chitra Mudgal

Saraswati Samman

Kayakalap

Lakshmi Nandan Bora

Lafzan di Dargah

Surjit Paatar

Mandra

SL Bhyrappa

Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum

AA Manavalan

Manalezhuthu

Sugathakumari

Dhool Paudho Par

Govind Mishra

Ramayana and Mahanveshanam

Veerappa Moily

Chitt-Chete

Padma Sachdev

Hawthan

Mahabaleshwar Sail

Vakhar

Sitanshu Yashaschandra

Orange Prize

Half of a Yellow Sun

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Road Home

Rose Rose Tremain

Home

Marilynne Robinson

The Lacuna

Barbara Kingsolver

Serious Men

Manu Joseph

The Sly Company of People Who Care

Rahul Bhattacharya

Home Boy

HM Naqvi

The Tiger's Wife

Tea Obreht

The Song of Achilles

Maleline

May We Be Forgiven

AM Homes

How to Be Both

Ali Smith

The Glorious Heresies

Lisa Mcinerney

The Power

Naomi Alderman

Home Fire

Kamila Shamsie

 

Books Authors Year


Saraswati Samman
▸ Kayakalap Lakshmi Nandan Bora 2008
▸ Lafzan di Dargah Surjit Paatar 2009
▸ Mandra SL Bhyrappa 2010
▸ Irama Kathaiyum Iramayakalum AA Manavalan 2011
▸ Manalezhuthu Sugathakumari 2012
▸ Dhool Paudho Par Govind Mishra 2013
▸ Ramayana and Mahanveshanam Veerappa Moily 2014
▸ Chitt-Chete Padma Sachdev 2015
▸ Hawthan Mahabaleshwar Sail 2016
▸ Vakhar Sitanshu Yashaschandra 2017
Orange Prize
▸ Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2007
▸ The Road Home Rose Rose Tremain 2008
▸ Home Marilynne Robinson 2009
▸ The Lacuna Barbara Kingsolver 2010
▸ Serious Men Manu Joseph 2010
▸ The Sly Company of People Who Care Rahul Bhattacharya 2011
▸ Home Boy HM Naqvi 2011
▸ The Tiger's Wife Tea Obreht 2011
▸ The Song of Achilles Maleline 2012
▸ May We Be Forgiven AM Homes 2013
▸ How to Be Both Ali Smith 2015
▸ The Glorious Heresies Lisa Mcinerney 2016
▸ The Power Naomi Alderman 2017
▸ Home Fire Kamila Shamsie 2018

 

United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an international organisation, whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights and achievement of world peace. The United Nations Day is celebrated on 24th October each year. Presently, there are 193 member states of the United Nations.

Principle Organs

There are six principle organs of the United Nations, they are 1. General Assembly 2. The Security Council 3. The Economic and Social Council 4. The Trusteeship Council 5. The International Court of Justice 6. The Secretariat

General Assembly

▸ It is also called as the town meeting of the world.
▸ The General Assembly meets at least once in a year and the session commences on the first Tuesday of September.
▸ It appoints the Secretary General of UN Secretariat on the recommendation of the Security Council.
▸ The presidency of the Assembly rotates each year among the five geographical groups of the countries viz Asia, African, Latin America, East European and West European and other states.
▸ Consist of all member states of the UN.
▸ Each member nation can send five delegates, but each nation has only one vote.
▸ The headquarters of General Assembly is at New York (US).

 

Security Council

▸ The main aim of Security Council is the maintenance of the international peace and security.
▸ The Security Council originally consisted of eleven members, but increases to fifteen in 1965.
▸ Security Council comprises of five permanent members namely China, UK, Russia, France and USA and 10 non-permanent members, elected for a term of 2 years by a two-third majority of the General Assembly, five non- permanent members retire every year. Retiring members cannot be re-elected immediately.
▸ Permanent member have Veto Power, which can be cast against any decision supported by the majority members.
▸ The headquarters of Security Council is at New York (US).

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

▸ Its main aim is to promote social progress and better standards of life.
▸ ECOSOC comprises 54 members, 18 (one third) of whom are elected every year by the General Assembly of UN, to serve a 3-years term. The retiring members as well as the President are eligible for immediate re-elections. The headquarters of ECOSOC is at New York (US).

The Trusteeship Council

▸ The United Nations Trusteeship Council was established to help ensure that trust territories were administered in the best interests of their inhabitants and of international peace and security.
▸ Trusteeship Council was formed in 1945.
▸ The headquarters of Trusteeship Council is at New York (US).
▸ The trusteeship council suspended operation on 1st November, 1994. With the independence of Polau, the last remaining United Nations trust territory, on 1st October, 1994.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ)

▸ The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations.
▸ Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by only authorised international organs, agencies and the UN General Assembly. The headquarters of ICJ is at Hague (Netherland).
▸ The ICJ was established in 1945.
▸ It consists of 15 judges. The judges of the court are elected by the General Assembly along with the Security Council for a 9-years term.

The Secretariat

▸ The United Nations Secretariat is one of the principle organs of the United Nations, an inter governmental organisation charged with the promotion of aiding states to collectively maintain international peace and security. It serves as a forum for member-states to discuss and resolve pressing issues in the international field through primarily diplomatic resources.
▸ The Secretariat is composed of a Secretary General, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. The Secretary General is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.
▸ The Secretary General of the UN is elected for 5-years and eligible for re-election, although, none so far has held office for more than two terms.


Secretary Generals Till Date

Resignation/Retirement

Trygve Lie (1946-1952)

On November, 1952, resigned

Dag Hammarskjold (1953-1961)

Died in plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)

U Thant (1961-1971)

Declined to consider a third term

Kurt Waldheim (1972-1981)

China voted against his third term

Javier Perez (1982-1991)

Refused to be considered for a third term

Boutros- Boutros Ghali (1992-1996)

The United States voted against his second term

Kofi Annan (1997-2006)

Retired after two full term

Ban ki- Moon (1st January, 2007-2016)

Antonio Guterres (1st January2017-Present)

 

Important United Nation Agencies


Name of Agency - Estd in - Headquarters - Objective

Name of Agency

Estd in

Headquarters

Objective

Universal Postal Union (UPU)

1874

Bern, Switzerland

The UPU is a specialised agency of the United Nations that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system.

International Labour Organisation (ILO)

1919

Geneva

To improve conditions and living standard of workers.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Promotes international monetary cooperation.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)

To improve living conditions of rural population.

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)

1944

To provide funds from different sources, offers loans to middle income developing countries.

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

1946

To promote children's welfare all over the world.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

To promote collaboration among nations through education, science and culture.

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

1865

Sets international regulations for radio telegraph, telephone and space radio communications.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

Montreal, Canada

It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.

World Health Organisation (WHO)

Attainment of highest possible level of health by all people.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

1957

To promote peaceful uses of atomic energy.

International Development Association (IDA)

An affiliate of the World Bank, aims to help under-developed countries raise living standards.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Helps developing countries increase the wealth producing capabilities of their natural and human resources.

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)

Promotes international cooperation in human environment.

World Trade Organisation (WTO)

1995

Setting rules for world trade to reduce tariffs.

International Organisations and Groups

Red Cross Estd in 1863 (Geneva, Switzerland)

190

 

International Humanitarian Movement for relief of suffering in time of war/disaster.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Estd in 1894 (Switzerland)

98

 

To promote the Olympic ideals and administer olympic games.

International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) Estd in 1923 (Lyon, France)

190

 

To promote international cooperation among criminal police authorities.

The Commonwealth (London) formally estd by London Declaration 28th April, 1949

53

 

It was originally known as 'The British Commonwealth of Nations'. It is an association of sovereign and independent states which formally made up the British empire.

Arab League (AL) Estd in 1945 [Cairo (Egypt)] Syria suspended following the 2011 uprising

22

 

To promote economic, social, political and military cooperation.

International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Estd in 1947 (Switzerland)

162

 

To promote the development of international standards.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Estd in 1949 (Brussels)

28

 

Mutual defence and cooperation

Colombo Plan Estd in 1950 (Sri Lanka)

27

 

To promote economic development in South and South-East Asia.

South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) Estd in 1954 (Bangkok)

8

 

To provide for collective and economic cooperation in South-East Asia.

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Estd in 1959 [Vienna (Austria)]

13

 

Attempts to set world prices by controlling oil production and also pursues member interest in trade and development.

World Wildlife Fund For Nature (WWF) Estd in 1961 (Switzerland)

 

To save the wildlife from extinction.

Amnesty International (AI) Estd in 1961 (London)

To keep a watch over human rights violation worldwide. Got Nobel Prize in 1977 for Peace.

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Estd. in 1961

120

 

Political cooperation and establishment of separate identity from both USA and USSR (in the Cold-War era).

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Estd in 1961 (Paris, France)

34

 

To stimulate economic progress and world trade.

Group of Seventy Seven (G-77) Estd in 1964

134

 

To promote economic cooperation among developing nations.

European Union Formally estd by Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 [Brussels (Belgium)]

To create a United Europe in which member countries would have such strong economic and political bonds that war would cease to be a recurring fact.

Asian Development Bank (ADB) Estd in 1966 (Manila)

67

 

To promote socio-economic development in Asia.

Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Estd in 1967 (Jakarta)

 

Regional economic Social and cultural cooperatino among the non-communist countries of South-East Asia.

Group of 8 (G-8) on 24 March. 2014, Russia was suspended, due to association with crimean crises, 2014 summit took place in Brussels.

 

To promote Cooperation among major non-communist economic power.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Estd in 1969 (Saudi Arabia)

 

57

To promote Islamic solidarity among member states and to consolidate cooperation among members.

World Economic Forum (WEF) Estd in 1971 (Geneva) Annual meeting 2015- Davos, Switzerland

 

To improve the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)Estd in 1981

 

It is a political and economic union of the Arab states.

Nordic Council Estd in 1952

 

Geo-political, inter-parliamentary forum for cooperation among Nordic countries.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Estd in 1985 (Kathmandu)

 

To promote economic, social and cultural cooperation in South Asia.

Group of 15 (G-15) Estd in 1989

 

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Estd in 1989 (Singapore)

 

To promote trade and investment in the Pacific basin.

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Estd in 1991 [Minsk (Belarus)]

 

To coordinate inter-common wealth relations and to provide a mechanism for the orderly dissolution of the USSR.

Sanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Estd in 1996 (Beijing, China)

 

To develop mutual cooperation.

Group of Twenty (G-20) Estd in 1999 2014 summit-Brisbane

 

For cooperation and consultation or matters pertaining to the International Financial System.

African Union OAU charter–1963 AU founded–2002

 

54

To accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent.

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) First formal summit-Yekaterinburg, 2009

 

To improve the economical condition of the country.

Arctic Council Estd. in 1996

 

Try to keep Arctic area clean and safe.

BASIC Estd in 2009

 

To coordinate the policies of developing countries regarding climate change.

European Union

 

To create a United Europe in which member countries would have some strong economic and political bonds that war would lease to be a recurring fact.

 

 

 

Sports

Olympics
▸ The Olympic Games were held for the first time by the Greeks in 776 BC on Mount Olympus, in honour of the Greek God, Zeus. They were stopped by a royal order of the Roman Emperor Theodosius in AD 394.
▸ These games were revived in 1894 by the efforts of a French Baron Pierre de Coubertin and the first modern Olympic Games were started in Athens the capital of Greece on 6th April, 1896. Separate winter Olympic Games began in 1924. Women have been participating in the Olympics since 1912.
▸ The Olympic Games are organised after every 4-years.
Founder and Governing Body
▸ In 1894, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to govern the Olympic Movement (comprising International Sports Federations (ISF's), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and Organising Committees for each specific games).
▸ IOC chooses the host city and the games to be contested organisation and funding is made by the host city.
▸ International Sports Federation (ISF) determines the qualification rules for each Olympic.
▸ The Head office of International Olympic Committee (IOC) is at Lausanne (Switzerland).
Olympic Symbol
▸ It contains five rings or circles linked together to represent the sporting friendship of all people. Each ring is of a different colour i.e., blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings are meant to represent five continents viz Africa (Black), America (Red), Asia (Yellow), Australia (Green) and Europe (Blue).
Olympic Flag
▸ The Olympic Flag was created in 1913 at the suggestion of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It was adopted in Paris in June, 1914, but it was raised over an Olympic stadium for the first time at the Antwerp games (Belgium) in 1920. There is also a second Olympic Flag, which is used for the Winter games. These flags are made of white silk and contain five interwined rings of the Olympic Emblem.
▸ From left to right the rings are Blue (Europe), Yellow (Asia), Black (Africa), Red (America) and Green (Australia). Atleast one of these colours is found on the flag of every country.
▸ The flag is 3 m long and 2 m wide. The emblem placed in the center is 2.06 m by 60 cm.
Olympic Motto
Olympic Motto 'Citius, Altius, Fortius' is the Latin motto meaning 'Faster, Higher and Stronger' composed by Father Didon in 1897. The motto was introduced in 1924 at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Olympic Flame
The Olympic flame symbolises the continuity between ancient and modern games. It was at the Amsterdam Games in 1928 that for the first time an Olympic flame was ceremonially lighted and burned in a giant torch at the entrance of the stadium. The modern version of the flame was adopted in 1936 at the Berlin Games.

Olympic Medals

Olympic champions are rewarded with medals and certificate. The winning athlete or sports persons receive a Gold Medal which, is 60 mm in diameter and 3 mm thick and is made of 92.5% silver plated with 6 gm of gold.
OlympicMascot
▸ The Olympic Mascot(s) is/are a character, usually an animal native to the area or occasionally human figures, who represents the cultural heritage of the place, where the Olympic and Paraolympic Games are taking place.
▸ Since the 1968, Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France the Olympic Games have had a mascot. The first major mascot in the Olympic Games was Misha in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Olympic Gold Order
▸ It is presented by the International Olympic Committee for distinguished services in the development of the Olympic Movement.
Olympics : Quick Digest
▸ 'Norman Pritchard' was the first Indian player to participate in Olympic (2nd Olympic Games in 1900) and won two Silver Medals in athletics.
▸ Marrie Lila Rao is 1st Indian woman participant in the Olympics after Independence.
▸ India officially participated in the Olympics for the first time in the Sixth Olympic Games (1920) at Antwerp Belgium.
▸ The Indian Olympic Association was established in 1927. Sir Dorabji Tata was its first President.
▸ Sonia Denoncourt (Canada) was the 1st woman referee in football in Atlanta Olympics.


The Winter Olympic Games are a major international sporting event that occours once every 4 years. Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics feature sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter Olympics, was held in Chamonix, France. The games were held every 4 years from 1924 until 1936, after which they were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and was again held every 4 years. Until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held in the same years, but in accordance with a 1986 decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to place the Summer and Winter Games on separate 4 year cycles in alternating even-numbered years, the nextWinter Olympics after 1992 was in 1994. The last Olympic games were held in 2014 at Sochi, Russia. It is scheduled to be held in 2018 at Pyeongchang, South Korea. The 2018 winter olympic games were held in Pyeongchang County, South Korea. Norway topped the medal tally by winning 14 Gold, 14 Silver and 11 Bronze.


Summer Olympic Games

Venue

Athenes, Greece

Paris, France

1904

St Louis, France

Athenes, Greece (Games were not recognised by IOC)

1908

London, Great Britain

1912

Stockholm, Sweden

Games not held due to World War I

Antwerp, Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

1932

Los Angeles, USA

1936

Berlin, Germany

Games not held due to World War II

Helsinki, Finland

Melbourne, Australia

Rome, Italy

Tokyo, Japan

Mexico City, Mexico

Munich, West Germany

Moscow, Russia

Seoul, South Korea

Barcelona, Spain

Atlanta, USA

Sydney, Australia

Beijing, China

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2020

Tokyo, Japan

India's Performance in Olympics


Discipline Year Performance

Wrestling

KD Jadhav won Bronze Medal in men's 52-57 kg Freestyle

Sushil Kumar won Bronze Medal in men's 66 kg Freestyle

Sushil Kumar won Silver Medal in men's 66 kg Freestyle

Yogeshwar Dutt won Bronze Medal in men's 60 Kg Freestyle

Sakshi Malik won Bronze Medal in women's 58 Kg Freestyle

Hockey

Won Gold Medal

Won Silver Medal

Won Bronze Medal

Shooting

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won Silver Medal in double trap

Abhinav Bindra won Gold Medal in Men's 10 m air rifle

Vijay Kumar won Silver Medal in 25 Rapid Fire Pistol

Gagan Narang won Bronze Medal in 10m Air Rifle

Athletics

Norman Pritchard won two Silver Medals in (200 m) and (200 m hurdle) events

Milkha Singh-fourth in 400 m final Zora Singh- eighth in 50 km walk

Gurbachan Singh Randhawa -fifth in 100 m hurdles (final)

Sriram Singh-seventh in 800 m final Shivnath Singh-eleventh in the marathon

Sriram Singh-Semifinalist in 800 m

PT Usha-fourth in 400 m hurdles

Football (Soccer)

Semi-finals

Tennis

Leander Paes won Bronze Medal in men's singles event

Weightlifting

Karnam Malleshwari won Bronze Medal in women's 69 kg category

Boxing

Vijender Singh won a Bronze Medal (75 kg)

Mary Kom won a Bronze Medal in Women's flyweight

Badminton

Saina Nehwal won a Bronze Medal in Women's singles

PV Sindhu won a Silver in women's singles

Javelin throw

Neerak Chopra won the gold in Tokyo Olympics.

 

Gymnastics

Dipa Karmakar 4th place in the vault Final.

Commonwealth Games
▸ The Commonwealth Games are a festival of sports of the Commonwealth countries. The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada. The 2010 Commonwealth Games were held in New Delhi, India.
▸ Since 1930, the games have been conducted every 4-years except for 1942 and 1946.
▸ The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is the organisation, which is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games.
▸ There are currently 53 members of the Commonwealth of Nations and 71 team participate in the games.
▸ 20th Commonwealth Games of 2014 were held in Glasgow (Scotland, UK).
▸ The 2018 commonwealth Games were held on the Gold coast, Queensland, Australia. Australia won the most gold medals, where as India ranked 3rd with 26 golds.
Asian Games
▸ The Asian Games, also called the Asiad, are amultisport event held every 4-years among athletes from all over Asia.
▸ The games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
▸ The first Asian Games were held in 1951 in New Delhi (India). The 2014 Asian Games were held in Incheon, South Korea.
▸ The AGF (Asian Games Federation) adopted 'Ever Onward', given by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, as the motto of the Asian Games, which continues till today.
▸ The emblem is a bright full rising Sun with interlocking rings. The King of Patiala presented the Torch and the Flag for the first Asian Games and since then they have been carried from country to country.
▸ The Asian Games or Asiad 2018 were held in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia. India finished at 8th position with 15 Golds.
South Asian Federation (SAF) Games
▸ Like the Commonwealth Games, the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games is a sports festival of South Asian countries. The governing body of these games is South Asian sports Council formed in 1983.
▸ The first South Asian Federation Games were held at Kathmandu (Nepal) in 1984. SAF Games, 2016 were held in India.
▸ The eight participating countries are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Maldives. The games form a part of the SAARC programme. The motto of the SAF Games is 'peace, prosperity and progress'.
▸ No SAF Game were staged in 1986 as it was the year of commonwealth and Asian Games. The SAF Games have been rechristened South Asian Games on 2nd April, 2004. Afghanistan joined the games in 2006.
Afro-Asian Games
▸ The first-ever Afro-Asian Games were held in 2003 at Hyderabad (India). 2007 in Algiers (Cancelled).
▸ The official mascot of the 2003 games was 'Sheroo' (a cartoon representation of the Royal Bengal Tiger) and the message was 'two continents-one spirit'.
Cricket
▸ The first Cricket World Cup was organised in England in 1975. A separate women's Cricket World Cup has been held every 4-years since 1973.
▸ The Cricket World Cup Tournament is organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ICC was founded in 1909 and its headquarters is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
▸ In 1877, the first Cricket Test Match was played in Melbourne between England and Australia.
▸ The first One Day International Cricket Match was played in the year 1971 between England and Australia in Melbourne.
▸ The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was formed in 1927.

Important Facts

Administrator

International CricketCouncil

Format

Women’s ODI

First tournament

1973, England

Last tournament

2013, India

Next tournament

2017, England

Current champion Australia

Most successful

Australia (6 titles)

Most runs

Debbie Hockley (1501)

 

List of Cricket World Cups

 

Won

1975

Lord's, England

West Indies beat Australia

1979

West Indies beat England

India beat West Indies

1987

Kolkata, India

Australia beat England

1992

Melbourne, (Australia)

Pakistan beat England

1996

Lahore, Pakistan

Sri Lanka beat Australia

1999

Australia beat Pakistan

2003

Johannesburg, South Africa

Australia beat India

2007

Bridgetown, West Indies

Australia beat Sri Lanka

2011

Mumbai, India

India beat Sri Lanka

2015

Australia/New Zealand

Australia beat New Zealand

2019

England and Wales

Englnad  beat New Zealand

 

Women's Cricket World Cup

The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of women's One Day International Cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was originally administered by the International Women's Cricket Council until the two associations merged in 2005. The first tournament was held in England in 1973, 2-years before the firstmen's tournament.

1982

England

1997

2021

 

Twenty-20 World Cup

▸ It is organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is held every 2-years.
ICC Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup
Year Host Nations Final Venue Winner Runner-up

Host Nations

Final Venue

Winner

Runner-up

Johannesburg

Lord’s, London

West Indies

R Premdasa Stadium, Colombo

Sher-e Bangla Cricket Stadium, Dhaka

Eden Garden Kolkata, India

WestIndies

 

Women's Twenty-20 Cricket
▸ Women's Twenty-20 cricket is the newly emerging use of the Twenty-20 match format in women's cricket. While both women's cricket and Twenty-20 have themselves enjoyed recent success, women's Twenty-20 has only been an international cricket game format since 2004. In June, 2009, the ICC held the first Women's World Twenty-20 in England, the hosts became the first World Twenty-20 champion.
▸ Australia won their third consecutive tittle in Women's World Twenty-20 after defeating England.
▸ In 2016, West Indies won the T-20 Women's World Cup after defeating Australia.
▸ The 2018 ICC women's world Twenty 20, was hosted in the west Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. Women team of Australia captured the world T20 2018 title.


Football World Cup
▸ The Football World Cup is organised by FIFA (Federation of International Football Association).
▸ The headquarters of FIFA is located in Zurich, Switzerland.
▸ The World Cup is called 'Jules Rimet Cup' named after the name of FIFA President Jules Rimet.
▸ The first FootballWorld Cup was organised in Uruguay in 1930.
▸ In 1942 and 1946, the Football World Cup was not played because of theWorldWar II.
▸ Brazil is the only nation to have participated in every World Cup so far.
▸ 20th FIFA World Cup 2014 held in Brazil. Germany defeated Argentina in the final. FIFA appointed Russia as host for 2018 World Cup and Qatar for 2022 World Cup.
Hockey World Cup
▸ The Hockey World Cup is organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) once in 4-years. The headquarters of FIH is located in Lausanne, Switzerland. The first Hockey World Cup was organised in Barcelona (Spain) in 1971 and winner is Pakistan. Women's Hockey World Cup has been held since 1974.
▸ The 2010 Hockey World Cup was held in New Delhi and winner was Australia.
▸ The 13th Hockey World Cup (men's and women's edition both) were held in Hague (Netherlands) in 2014. Australia won the men's tournament after defeating Netherland. Netherland won the women's tournament after defeating Australia.
▸ The 14th Hockey World Cup was held at kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar India in 2018.


Lawn Tennis
▸ It was invented in 1870 by Major Wing Field in Wales. Wimbledon championship started in 1877 for men only. For women it was introduced in 1884.
▸ The four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. They are held annually and include, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Apart from the Olympic Games, Davis Cup, Fed Cup and Hopman Cup, they are the only tournaments regulated by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
▸ The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed to protect the interests of male professional tennis players is now known as the ATP World Tour.


Grand Slam Tournaments


Tournament Date - Location - Surface - First Held

Tournament

Date

Surface

First Held

Australian Open

January

Melbourne

Hard (Plexicushion)

French Open

May-June

Wimbledon

June-July

Grass

1877

US Open

August-September

New York City

Hard (Decco Turf)

1881

Other Sports

Table Tennis

Table Tennis was introduced in the Olympic Games in 1988 at Seoul (South Korea).

Billiard

Cue sports also known as billiard sports, are a wide variety of games of skill generally played with cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls, moving them around a cloth-covered billiards table bounded rubber cushions.

Polo

Polo (Chowgan) is a team sport played on horseback, in which the objectives is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, 'The sport of kings' it was highly popularised by the British. It is not an Olympic sport.

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of combat sport involving grappling types techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and take downs, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds.

Formula One (F1) Race

▸ Formula one, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Federation International Automobile (FIA).
▸ It was started in 1950.
▸ The first Formula One World Championship was won by Italian Giuseppe Farina in Alfa Romeo in 1950. The first F1 race in India was held at the Buddha International Circuit in Greater Noida, UP (2011).

Badminton

The modern name in 1873 of Badminton came from the Badminton House, the International Badminton Fedration was establisment in 1934, the new name is BadmintonWorld Federation.

Cycling

▸ The Tour de France tournament is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than 3600 km and last three weeks. This is organised every year in month of July.
▸ The 2002 Summer Olympics will be the first, at which men and women complete in the some number of events in all cycling disciplines.

Swimming

▸ Swimming is a water based sport governed by the Federation Internationals de Natation (FINA) and is formed in 1908. FINA is the International Federation (IF) recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competition in the aquatic sports.
▸ Its headquarters is at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Shooting

▸ Shooting sports have been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic Movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics except at the 1904 and 1928 editions.

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance runing event with on official distance of 42.195 km (26 miles and 385 yards), that is usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek Soldier Phedippiddes, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens.

Specific Names of Playing Areas


Sport - Name of Playing Area 

Sport

Name of Playing Area

Court

Golf

Link, Green

Baseball

Lawn Tennis

Ring

Ice Skating

Rink

Cricket

Pitch*

Ring, Arena

 

Important Sport Terms


Sport Terms

Basketball

Dunk, front court, lay up, held ball, pivot, rebound, steal

Bye, draw, googly, topspin, over throw, duck, hit wicket

Football

Bend dribble, dissent, dummy, feint, free kick, header, red card, throwins

Bully, striking, circle, post back

Chess

Castle, diagonaes, files, pawns, peices, promote, gambit, pawn

Jab, laying on knock, second out habbit punch, upper cut

Loab, let, drive, drop, love

Polo

Chuker, bunker

Diamond, home run, put out, strike, ant-rubber.

Rifle Shooting

Target, muzzle fulb, bulls eye

Half, nelson, hold sager, rebuts

Fore some, stymie, T, put hole, caddy, nib lick, iron, the green, bunkeer

Billiards

Jigger, pot, break pot, in off, cans, bolting, long, hazard, cue

Swimming

Breast stroke, twist, butterfly, crawl, spring board

Volley Ball

Antennae, attack hit, libero, service, set-up, blocking, dribbling

Advantage, ace, dence, volley, foot foult, smash, grand-slam, slice, love

Table Tennis

End line, flat hit, foil, service, phnholder grip, reverse, top-spin, couter-hitting, let

 

Important Cups and Trophies Sport Cup and Trophy

 

Cricket

Irani Trophy, Dilip Trophy, Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Asia Cup, Deodhar Trophy, CK Naidu Trophy, Cooch-Behar Trophy, Gandhi-Mendela Series, the Ashes Series, etc

Durand Cup, Nizam Gold Cup, Rovers Cup, Sanjay Gold Cup, Santosh Trophy, Subroto Mukherjee Cup, Vittal Trophy, Nehru Gold Cup

Agha Khan Cup, Azlan Shah Cup, Nehru Trophy, Dhyanchand Trophy, Beighton Cup, Scindia Gold Cup, Modi Gold Cup, Indira Gandhi Gold Cup, Rangaswami Cup, Khan Abdul Gaffar Cup

Canada Cup, Muthian Gold Cup, Ryder Cup, Walker Cup

Corbillion Cup (women), Jayalaxmi Cup (women), Swaythling Cup (men)

Davis Cup, Hamlet Cup, Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, Hopman Cup

Thomas Cup (men), Uber Cup (women), Narang Cup, All England Open

Aspy Adjania Trophy

Rowing

Wollington Trophy

Bridge

Ruia Trophy

Ezra Cup, Winchestor Cup, Radha Mohan Cup

Sports Organisations

FIDE

Federation International Des Echecs (World Chess Federation)

Chess

FIFA

Federation International de Football Association

IHF

Indian Hockey Federation

ICC

International Cricket Council

ITTF

International Table Tennis Federation

BWF

Badminton World Federation

 

Measurements of Sports Fields and Instruments


Cricket Ball 155.9 gm to 163 gm in weight Bat 96.5 cm in length and 10.8 cm width (Maximum) Pitch 20.12 m Length of the Stumps 71.1 cm (28 inch) Length of the Crease 1.22-1.83 (4 ft)

Football Field 100 × 64 m to 110 × 75 m

Hockey Field 100 yards × 60 yards Weight of the Ball 155-163 gm Colour of the Ball White Weight of Hockey Stick 280 gm

Lawn Tennis Court 23.77 m × 8.23 m (Singles) Ball 6.35 cm to 6.67 cm (in diameter) 56.7 gm to 2.53 gm (Weight)

Volley Ball Field 18 m × 9 m Net 1 m deep and 9.50 m long 2.43 m (for men) and 2.24 m for women (Height) Ball Circumference 66 cm + 1 cm Weight 270 gm + 10 gm

Badminton Court 13.40 m × 5.18 m or 44 × 20 ft. Net Top 1.524 m in height from the floor Shuttle 4.73 to 5.50 gm in weight and shall have 14 to 16 feathers fixed in Court

Kabaddi Field 13 m × 10 m (According to Kabaddi Federation of India) Kho-Kho Field 34 × 16 m

Derby Course Length 1.5 miles

Marathon Race Length 26 miles, 385 yards

Polo Field Length 300 yards Field Width 150 yards Distance between the Goals 250 yards Distance between the Goal post 8 yards

Chess 64 Squares on chessboard Colour Black and White Nos. of same colour chess 16

Baseball Distance of each case 90 ft Base distance along with hypotenuse 127 ft

Boxing Length and Width of the Ring 4.9 × 4.9m2 to 6.1 × 6.1m2

 

Players and their Associated Games


Players Game Country
Jhansher Khan Squash Pakistan Jaspal Rana Shooting India Geet Sethi Billiards India Ian James Thorpe Swimming Australia Anju B George Long Jump India Michael J Jordan Basket Ball USA Pankaj Arjan Advani Snooker India Saina Nehwal Badminton India Surya Sekhar Ganguly Chess India Shikha Tandon Swimming India Ignace Tirkey Hockey India
Players Game Country
Soma Biswas Athletics India Arjun Singh Atwal Golf India Narayan Karthikeyan Formula One India Tiger Woods Golf USA Andi Murray Tennis Scotland Kim Clijster Tennis Belgium Caroline Wozniaciki Tennis Den Mark Victoria Anzarenka Tennis Belarush Sania Mirza Tennis India

Famous Sports Stadiums


Stadium Sports Place

Sports

Brookland

England (UK)

Twickenham

Rugby Football

Putney Mart Lake

Boat Race

Yankee Stadium

Brooklyn

Forest Hill

Sendy Lodge

Scotland

Flemington

Horse Racing

Melbourne (Australia)

Headingley Manchester

Lords, Oval, Leeds

Black Heath

Wembley Stadium

Shivaji Stadium

National Stadium

Hockey and others

Wankhede Stadium

Brabourne Stadium

Eden Garden

Green Park Stadium

Keenan Stadium

Trent Bridge

White City

Dog race

Hurlington

Henlay Regatta

Regata

Brisbance, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Indraprastha Stadium

Indoor Games

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

Ferozeshah Kotla Ground

Ambedkar Stadium

Nehru, Chepauk Stadium

Barabati Stadium

Aintree, Doncaster Epsom

 

Nickname of Players

Jhansher Khan

Squash

Pakistan

Jaspal Rana

Geet Sethi

Ian James Thorpe

Anju B George

Long Jump India

Michael J Jordan

Basket Ball USA

Pankaj Arjan Advani

Snooker

Saina Nehwal

Surya Sekhar Ganguly

Shikha Tandon

Ignace Tirkey

Soma Biswas

Arjun Singh Atwal

Narayan Karthikeyan

Formula One

Tiger Woods

Andi Murray

Kim Clijster

Caroline Wozniaciki

Den Mark

Victoria Anzarenka

Belarush

Major Dhyanchand

Hockey ka Jadoogar

Milkha Singh

Flying Sikh

PT Usha

Payyoli Express, Golden Girl

Shoaib Aktar

Rawalpindi Express

Rahul Dravid

The Wall

Harbhajan Singh

Bhajji, The Turbanator

Javagal Srinath

Mysore Express

Paes and Bhupati

Indian Express

Hima Das

Dhing Express

 

Players and their Books


Player - Book

Player

Book

Balvir Singh

Golden Hatrick

Viswanathan

My Best Game of

David Beckham

My Side

Goal

Sunil Gavaskar

Sunny Days, Idols

How I Paly Golf

Kapil Dev

Cricket My Style

Playing It My Way

Yuvraj Singh

The Test of My Life

VV S Laxman

281 and Beyond

National Games of India

The National Games of India is a sporting event held in India. It comprises various disciplines in which sportsmen from the different states of India participate against each other. It was in 1924, in erstwhile Punjab, that the Indian chapter of the Olympic movement was born. The same year, the country's first Olympic Games, now christened as National Games, were organised in Lahore, the then capital of undivided Punjab. National Games are held once in 2 years, But took Guwahati 5 years to conduct the games after the National Games in 2002 are organised in Andhra Pradesh.


List of National Games from 1985

1985

19-26November

 

Cannanore, Calicut,

20-28

Trichur, Quiton &Allepey

December

Mumbai & Pune

16-25January

Bengaluru and

31 May-

Mysura

11 June

14-25 Feb Manipur

 

Ludhiana, Patiala,

19 Nov-

Punjab

 

Jalandhar,Chandigarh, Anandpur Sabih, Mohali

 

1 Dec

 

Hyderabad,

13-22 Dec Andhra

 

Secunderabad,Visakhapatnam

9-18 Feb

Services

Ranchi, Jamshedpur & Dhanbad

12-26 Feb

31 Jan-

, Kollam, Alapuzha,Ennabulam,Kozhikode, Thrissur,Kannur

14 Feb

November Goa

 

November

Principle Languages of India

Assamese

It is an Indo-Aryan language and is the official language of Assam.

Bengali

It is one of the leading Indo-Aryan language and is the official language of West Bengal.

Gujarati

It is an Indo-Aryan language and is the official language of Gujarat.

Hindi

The largest spoken Indo-Aryan language. It is the official language of the Government of India. Various dialects of Hindi are Khariboli, Brajbhasha, Bundeli, Awadhi, Marwari, Maithili and Bhojpuri. In 6 states and UTs, Hindi is the official language.

Kannada

It belongs to the Dravidian family and is the official language of Karnataka.

Kashmiri

It is an Indo-Aryan language. It is often mistaken as the official language of Jammu and Kashmir.

Konkani

It is the official language of Goa and is spoken by thousands of Konkanis in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. It was added in 1992 by 71st Amendment. It is an Indo-Aryan language.

Malayalam

Belong to the Dravidian family and is the official language of Kerala.

Manipuri

It is the official language of Manipur. It was added in 1992 by 71st Amendment. It is a sino-Tibetan language.

Marathi

It is an Indo-Aryan language and is the official language of Maharashtra.

Nepali

It is spoken in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, etc. It was added in 1992 by 71st Amendment. It is an Indo-Aryan language.

Oriya

It is an Indo-Aryan language and is the official language of Odisha.

Punjabi

It is an Indo-Aryan language and is the official language of Punjab.

Sanskrit

It is one of the earliest languages of the world. Early Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit and covers the period between 2000 and 500 BC.

Sindhi

It is an Indo-Aryan language. It was added in 1967 by 21st Amendment.

Tamil

It is the oldest of the Dravidian languages and is the official language of Tamil Nadu.

Telugu

It is numerically the biggest of the Dravidian languages and is the official language of Andhra Pradesh.

Urdu

It is the official language of Jammu and Kashmir. It is an Indo-Aryan language. Modern Urdu developed due to the efforts of Sir Sayyed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898).

Dogri

It is generally spoken in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. It is a combination of ancient Sanskrit and Pahari Dogri languages. It has been added by the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003.

Maithili

It is chiefly spoken in the Maithilianchal region of Bihar. It is the second state language of Bihar. It has been added by the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003.

Santhali

It is chiefly spoken in the area of Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand and Bihar. It has been added by the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003.

Bodo

It is chiefly spoken in Assam and its adjoining North-East States. It has been added by the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003. It belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.

National Insignia of India

Emblem The National Emblem of India is an adaptation of the Buddhist Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Animal The Tiger is the National Animal of India. It is the symbol of India's wealth of wildlife. The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris, is a striped animal.
Bird The Peacock (Pavo cristatus), is the National Bird of India. It is symbol of qualities like beauty and grace.
Flag The National Flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white in the middle, dark green at the bottom and a blue wheel (chakra) with 24 sticks at the centre.
Fruit The Mango (Mangiferra indica) is the National Fruit. It has been cultivated in India since time immemorial.
Tree The National Tree of India is The Banyan (Ficus bengalensis) Tree. This huge tree towers over its neighbours and has the widest trunk.
Sport Field Hockey, in which India has an impressive record with eight Olympic medals, is considered as the National Sport. However, Home Ministry has said that officially, no sport has been accorded, the status of National Sport.
Anthem Jana-Gana-Mana…. The song was composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, adopted in its Hindi version is our National Anthem.
Song
VandeMataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, is our National Song.
Calendar The National Calendar based on the Saka Era with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days was adopted from 22nd March, 1957.
Flower Lotus scientifically known as Nelumbo nucifera is the National Flower of India

Other National Symbols

National Sentence

Satyamev Jayate

National Language

Hindi in Devnagiri Script

Father of the Nation

National Foreign Policy

Non-Alignment

National Information Letter

White Letter

National Currency

Rupee (`)

National Festivals

– Republic Day (26th January)– Independence Day (15th August)– Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October)

National River

National Aquatic Animal

Ganga Dolphin (Platanista gangetica)

National Heritage Animal

Indian Defence

Indian Army Commands

Command

HQ Location

Central Command

Eastern Command

Northern Command

Udhampur

Southern Command

SW Command

Western Command

Chandimandir

Training Command (ARTRAC)

Indian Air Force Commands

Central Air Command

Eastern Air Command

Southern Air Command

Thiruvanan-thapuram

South Western AirCommand

Gandhi Nagar

Western Air Command

Training Command

Indian Navy Commands

Western Naval Command

Eastern Naval Command

Southern Naval Command

Indian Defence Training Institutions

Training Institution

 

Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC)

 

Army Cadet College (ACC)

Indian Military Academy (IMA)

High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS)

 

National Defence Academy (NDA)

Khadakwasla

National Defence College (NDC)

Officers Training Academy (OTA)

1963

Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School

 

Vairengte (Mizoram)

1970

College of Defence Management

College of Combat/Army War College

 

Mhow (MP)

Army Air Defence College (AADC)

Gopalpur (Odisha)

Army School of Physical Training (ASPT)

 

Ranks of Commissioned Officers

Army

Air Force

Navy

Field Marshal

Marshal of the IAF

Admiral of the Fleet

General

Air Chief Marshal

Admiral

Lt General

Air Marshal

Vice Admiral

Major General

Air Vice Marshal

Rear Admiral

Brigadier

Air Commodore

Commodore

Colonel

Group Captain

Captain

Lt Colonel

Wing Commander

Commander

Major

Squadron Leader

Lt Commander

Flight Lieutenant

Lieutenant

Flying Officer

Sub-Lieutenant

Paramilitary and Reserve Forces

Assam Rifles (AR)

It was established in 1835 called Cachar Levy. It is the oldest paramilitary force in the country.

Its main objective is to keep vigilance of international borders in North-East and countering insurgency operations in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland.

Intelligence Bureau (IB)

It was set-up in 1920. Its objective is to collect secret information relating to country's security.

It was originally set-up as Central Special Branch (CSB) in 1887 and renamed IB in 1920.

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)

It was set-up in 1939. Its main objective is to assist the State/Union Territory Police in maintenance of law and order.

National Cadet Corps (NCC)

It was established in 1948. Its main objective is to stimulate interest among the youth in the defence of the country in order to build up a reserve manpower to expand armed forces.

Territorial Army (TA)

It was established in 1948. It is a voluntary, part-time force (between 18 and 42 years), not of professional soldiers, but civilians, who wish to assist in defence of the country.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

It was established in 1962, after the Chinese attack. It is basically employed in the Northern borders for monitoring the borders and also to stop smuggling and illegal immigration.

Home Guard

It was established in 1962, to assist the police in maintaining security, to help defence forces and to help local authorities in case of any eventuality.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

It was established in 1941 and renamed CBI on 1963. Its objective is to investigate cases of misconduct by public servants, cases of cheating, embezzlement and fraud.

CBI is also entrusted with the investigation of international crime cases in collaboration with Interpol.

Border Security Force (BSF)

It was established in 1965. It keeps a vigil over the international borders against the intrusion in the country.

Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)

It was set-up in 1969 after the recommendations of Justice B Mukherji. Its objective is to monitor the industrial complexes of Central Government.

Indian Coast Guard

It was set-up in 1978. Its objective is to protect the maritime and other national interests in the maritime zones of India.

National Security Guards (NSG)

It was established in 1984 to counter the surge of militancy in the country. It is a highly trained force which deals with the militants effectively.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

It was established in 1986. Its objective is to collect crime statistics at the national level, information of inter-state and international criminals to help investigation agencies.

Rapid Action Force (RAF)

It was established in 1991. Under the operational command of CRPF, 10 battalions of the CRPF have been reoriented for tackling communal riots in the country.

 

Defence Research in India

Defence Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO)
It is an agency of the Republic of India, responsible for the development of technology for use by the military, headquartered in New Delhi, India. It was formed in 1958, by the merger of Technical Development Establishment and the Directorate of Technical Development and Production with the Defence Science Organisation.

Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme

(IGMDP)
The IGMDP was launched in 1983, for the development of a comprehensive range of missiles including the intermediate range, Agni Missile (surface-to-surface) and short range missiles such as the Prithvi Ballistic Missile (surface-to-surface), Akash Missile (surface-to-air), Astra Missile (air-to-air), Trishul Missile (surface-to-air) and Nag Missile (anti-tank).


Indian Missiles

Agni-I

It is a medium-range ballistic missile with a range of 700-800 km.

Agni-II

It is an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of 2000-3000 km.

Agni-III

It is an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of 3000-5000 km.

Agni-IV

It is an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of at a distance upto 4000 km.

Agni-V

It is an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5000-8000 km.

Prithvi

Prithvi is a tactical surface-to-surface Short-Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM). It has three versions.

Prithvi-I (SS-150)

Army Version (150 km range with a payload of 1000 kg).

Prithvi-II (SS-250)

Air Force Version (250 km range with a payload of 500 kg).

Prithvi-III (SS-350)

Naval Version (350 km range with a payload of 1000 kg).

Dhanush (SS-350)

Dhanush is reportedly a naval version of Prithvi-III, which can be launched from ships. It can carry 500 kg of conventional or nuclear warhead, to a distance of 600 km.

Astra

Astra is Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile. Astra is designed to be capable of engaging targets at varying range and altitudes allowing for both short-range targets (upto 20 km) and long-range targets (upto 80 km) using alternative propulsion modes.

Akash

Akash is a medium range surface-to-air missile defence system developed by DRDO and BEL as part of the IGMDP. The missile can target aircraft up to 30 km away, at altitudes of 18000 m. Akash can be fired from both tracked and wheeled platforms. Akash is said to be capable of both conventional and nuclear warheads, with a reported payload of 60 kg.

Trishul

Trishul is a short range surface-to-air missile. The range of the missile is 12 km and is fitted with a 15 kg warhead. The weight of the missile is 130 kg.

Nag

Nag is India's third generation 'Fire-and-Forget' anti-tank missile. It is an all weather, top attack missile with a range of 3 to 7 km.

Sagarika

K-15 Sagarika is a nuclear-capable submarine launched ballistic missile with a range of 750 km. It belongs to the K Missile family. The latest test of the K-15 Missile was done on 11th March, 2012.

Agni VI

It is an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 8000-12000 km.

Brahmos

Brahmos is a stealth supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land. It is a joint venture between Republic of India's DRDO and Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, who have together formed Brahmos Aerospace Private Limited.

It is the world's fastest cruise missile in operation. The missile travels at a speed of mach 2.8 to 3.0. It has a range of 290 km. It can carry 300 kg of conventional or nuclear warhead.

It is a hypersonic cruise missile with a range of 290 km. It is under development.

Shaurya

The Shaurya Missile is a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile developed by DRDO for use by the Indian Army capable of hypersonic speeds, it has a range of 600 km and is capable of carrying a payload of one-tonne conventional or nuclear warhead.

Shaurya Missile is a land version of the under-water launched K-15 Missile, Sagarika.

 

Indian Military Aircrafts

Indian Military Aircrafts Aircraft Origin

Type

Versions

II-76 Phalcon

Airborne Early Warning

II-76

Sukhoi Su-30 MKI

Russia, India

Multirole Air Superiority Fighter

Su-30 MKI

Antonov An-32 Cline

Soviet Union

Cargo Aircraft

An-32

HAL Tejas

Fighter

Mark I

SEPECAT Jaguar

France, United Kingdom

Ground-Attack

SI

Mikoyan-Gurevich Mig-27

MIG-27 ML

Mil Mi-35 Hind-E

Attack Helicopter

Mi-35

Mi-17

Transport Helicopter

HAL Dhruv

Utility Helicopter

Dhruv

Nishant

India (DRDO)

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

HTT40

India (HAL)

Replacement of HPT-32

Indian Military Radars
Naval
▸ Super Vision-2000 3D airborne naval surveillance radar.
▸ Revathi 3D Naval medium range radar derived from the 3D CAR.
Land-based and Airborne
▸ Swordfish Long Range Tracking Radar.
▸ INDRA series of 2D radars, low level radar to search and track low flying cruise missiles, helicopters and aircraft for the Indian Army.
▸ BFSR-SR 2D short range battlefield surveillance radar for the Indian Army.
▸ Rajendra Radar 3D medium range fire control radar for Akash SAM.
▸ Central Acquisition Radar (3D-CAR) planar array tracking radar for all branches of the Indian armed forces. Air force version known as the Rohini Naval Version known as Revathi.
▸ 3D AESA Long Range Tracking Radar tracking high speed ballistic missile targets.
▸ Low Level Lightweight Radar (LLLR) 2D low level aircraft tracking radar.
▸ Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interferometer (GIRI) 30 MHz radar system for Ionospheric, meteor and space weather research.

List of Combat Vehicles

Arjun MBT mk-1

Main Battle Tank

T-90 S 'Bhishma'/T-90 M

Main Battle Tank

T-72 M1 'Ajeya'

T-55

BMP-2 'Sarath'

Infantry Fighting Vehicle

BMP-1

NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier)

Tank Destroyer

CMT (Carrier Mortar Tracked)

Mortar Carrier

FV 432

Armoured Personnel Carrier

United Kingdom

OT-64 SKOT

Czechoslovakia, Poland

BRDM-2

Reconnaissance Vehicle

Ferret

PRP-3

Battlefield Surveillance System

 

Indian Naval Aircrafts

Dornier Do 228

Utility Transport

Do 228-101 Do 228-201

HAL HJT-16 Kiran

Trainer

Aerospatiale SA 316 Alouette III

SA 316 B SA 319

HAL HPT-32 Deepak

Basic Trainer

Kamov Ka-31 Helix-B

AEW (Airborne Early Warning)

Tupolev Tu-142 Bear

Maritime Patrol

Tu-142 M

Ilyushin II-38 May

II-38 SD

Mikoyan MiG-29 K

Multi-Role Fighter Trainer

MiG-29 K, MiG-29 KUB

Kamov Ka-25 Hormone

Naval Helicopter

Kamov Ka-28 Helix-A

Anti Submarine Naval Helicopter

BAE Sea Harrier

Fighter Trainer

FRS 51 T4

Westland Sea King

Anti-Submarine Warfare Search and Rescue, Utility Transport

Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King

Anti-Submarine Warfare Utility Helicopter

UH-3 H

 

Sub-marines of the Indian Navy

INS Shakti

It was India’s first indigenously built submarine. The ship is one of the largest in the Indian Navy as it is 175 m in length and 32 m in width. It is a Deepak-class fleet tanker.

INS Chakra

The INS Chakra II (K-152 Nerpa) is a 8140 tonne project 518 (NATO Akula II) type nuclear-powered attack submarine. Constituted in 1993, but suspended due to lack of funding. K-152 Nerpa was launched in October 2008 and entered service with the Russian Navy in late 2009. The submarine was leased to the Indian Navy in 2011 and was formally commissioned into service as the INS Chakra II at a ceremony in Vishakhapatnam on 4th April, 2012.

INS Arihant

It is a class of nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines. It is India's first indigenously designed and built nuclear submarine. It is currently under sea-trial.

INS Kalvari

It is the first of Indian Navy's six Kalvari class sub-marine being build in India. It is a diesal-electric attack sub-marine, which is designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS and being manufactured at Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai.

INS Arighat

It is the second Arihant-class submarine and the second nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine being built by India. It was launched on 19th November, 2017.

INS Khanderi

It is the second of the Indian Navy's six Kalvari-class submarines being built in India. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine. It was launched on 12th January, 2017.

INS Karanj

Third submarine of the first batch of six kalvari class submarine. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine, that was launched on 31th January, 2018.

INS Vikrant

The first Aircraft carrier of Indian Navy was INS Vikrant. India purchased the INS Vikrant from the United Kingdom in 1957.

INS Viraat

INS Viraat is a centaur class aircraft carrier currently in service with the Indian Navy. The Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959, as the Royal Navy's HMS Hermes and transferred to India in 1987.

INS Prahar

It is world’s fastest missile ship commissioned in 1997. It is a veer-class Corvette.

INS Delhi

It is India’s largest and most sophisticated indigenously built warship. It was launched in 1991 at Mazgaon Docks and Commissioned in 1997. It is the leadship of her class of guided Missile destroyers.

INS Mysore

It is a Delhi class guided missile destroyer currently in active service with the Indian Navy. INS Mysore was built at Mazgaon Dock Limited in Mumbai and it was commissioned in 1999.

INS Prabal

It is a veer class corvette, currently in active service with the Indian Navy. It was built at Mazgaon Dock Limited and Commissioned in 2002.

INS Talwar

It is the leadship of the Talwar class frigates of the Indian Navy. Its name means 'Sword' in English. It was built in Russia and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2003.

INS Beas

It is a Brahmaputra class frigate of the Indian Navy. It was built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata, and it was commissioned in 2005.

INS Kadamba

It is India’s largest naval base located near Karwar in Karnataka. It was commissioned in 2005, under the project Seabird.

INS Vikramaditya

It is India's biggest ship, aircraft carrier. It was acquired from Russia. It entered into Service with the Indian Navy in 2013.

INS Kolkata

It is the lead ship of the Kolkata class guided missile destroyers of Indian Navy. It was handed over to the Navy on 10th July, 2014.

INS Visakhapatnam

It is the lead ship of the Visakhapatnam–class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy.

It is being constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and has been launched on 20th April, 2015. The ship is expected to get commissioned by 2018.

INS Kavaratti

It is an anti-submarine warfare corvette of the Indian Navy.

It is the last of four komodo class corvettes under various stages of induction with the Indian Navy.

The ship was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata and launched on 19th May, 2015.

INS Kochi Start

It is the second ship of the Kolkata–class destroyers built for the Indian Navy.

It is built at Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai. She was commissioned to Indian Navy on 30th September, 2015.

It has been built under the code name of project 15 Alpha.

 

Warships/Base of the Indian Navy


INS Vikrant
▸ The first Aircraft carrier of Indian Navy was INS Vikrant.
▸ India purchased the INS Vikrant from the United Kingdom in 1957.
INS Viraat
▸ INS Viraat is a centaur class aircraft carrier currently in service with the Indian Navy.
▸ The Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959, as the Royal Navy's HMS Hermes and transferred to India in 1987.
INS Prahar
▸ It is world’s fastest missile ship commissioned in 1997. It is a veer-class Corvette.
INS Delhi
▸ It is India’s largest and most sophisticated indigenously built warship.
▸ It was launched in 1991 at Mazgaon Docks and Commissioned in 1997.
▸ It is the leadship of her class of guided Missile destroyers.
INS Mysore
▸ It is a Delhi class guided missile destroyer currently in active service with the Indian Navy. INS Mysore was built at Mazgaon Dock Limited in Mumbai and it was commissioned in 1999.
INS Prabal
▸ It is a veer class corvette, currently in active service with the Indian Navy.
▸ It was built at Mazgaon Dock Limited and Commissioned in 2002.
INS Talwar
▸ It is the leadship of the Talwar class frigates of the Indian Navy.
▸ Its name means 'Sword' in English.
▸ It was built in Russia and commissioned into the Indian Navy in 2003.
INS Beas
▸ It is a Brahmaputra class frigate of the Indian Navy.
▸ It was built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata, and it was commissioned in 2005.
INS Kadamba
▸ It is India’s largest naval base located near Karwar in Karnataka.
▸ It was commissioned in 2005
, under the project Seabird.
INS Vikramaditya
▸ It is India's biggest ship, aircraft carrier.
▸ It was acquired from Russia.
▸ It entered into Service with the Indian Navy in 2013.
INS Kolkata
▸ It is the lead ship of the Kolkata class guidedmissile destroyers of Indian Navy.
▸ It was handed over to the Navy on 10th July, 2014.

India's Atomic Research

India's atomic energy research started with the establishment of the Atomic Energy Commission on 10th August, 1948. Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was established in 1954, for implementation of atomic energy programmes.


Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
(BARC) It was set up in 1954, as the Atomic Energy establishment at Trombay, near Mumbai and in 1967, was renamed as BARC in the memory of its founder Dr Homi Bhabha. It is the premier national centre for Research and Development (R & D) work in nuclear energy and related disciplines. At present, BARC houses three research reactors 1. Apsara, a one MW Swimming pool type reactor. 2. Cirus, a 40 MW reactor. 3. Dhruva, a 100 MW high power nuclear research reactor. Earlier, there were two more research reactors at BARC 1. Zerliana (zero energy, natural uranium) 2. Purnima I-III (fuel: plutonium/ uranium-233) The centre has built two Synchrotron Radiation Sources (SRSs) called Indus I and Indus II and developed versatile lasers for various applications. Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) It was set-up in 1971, at Kalpakkam in Chennai for research and development of fast breeder technology. IGCAR designed Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR), which uses indigenous mixed fuel with a plutonium and natural uranium base. IGCAR also developed the country's first neutron reactor, Kamini, which is a 30 MW reactor and uses uranium fuel. Atomic Mineral Directorate (AMD) It is located in Hyderabad and carries out surveys, exploration and evaluation of the resources required for the atomic energy programmes of the country. Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) It was set-up in 1977, at Kolkata as a national centre for advanced work in nuclear chemistry, nuclear physics, production of isotopes for various applications and radiation damage studies on reactor materials. Centre for Advance Technology
(CAT) It was established in 1984, at Indore to coordinate research in high technology fields like lasers, fusion and accelerators.

 

Nuclear Power Stations At a Glance

Location State Number of Reactors

I. Functional 1. Tarapur Maharashtra 4 2. Kaiga Karnataka 4 3. Kalpakkam Tamil Nadu 2 4. Kakrapar Gujarat 2 5. Rawatbhata Rajasthan 6 6. Narora Uttar Pradesh 2 7. Kudankulan Tamil Nadu 1 II. Under Construction 1. Kudankulam Tamil Nadu 1 2. Kalpakkam Tamil Nadu 1 3. Rawatbhata Rajasthan 2 4. Kakrapar Unit 344 Gujarat 2
There are now 21 operating nuclear power reactors (two boiling water reactors and
INS Visakhapatnam
▸ It is the lead ship of the Visakhapatnam–class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy.
▸ It is being constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and has been launched on 20th April, 2015. The ship is expected to get commissioned by 2018. INS Kavaratti ▸ It is an anti-submarine warfare corvette of the Indian Navy.
▸ It is the last of four komodo class corvettes under various stages of induction with the Indian Navy.
▸ The ship was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata and launched on 19th May, 2015. INS Kochi Start ▸ It is the second ship of the Kolkata–class destroyers built for the Indian Navy.
▸ It is built at Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai. She was commissioned to Indian Navy on 30th September, 2015.
▸ It has been built under the code name of project 15 Alpha.
nineteen PHWRs (Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors) with a total installed capacity of 5780 MW (3.5% of total installed base).

Heavy Water Production

Nangal (Punjab) First heavy water plant in the country 2. Baroda (Gujarat) 3. Talchar (Odisha) 4. Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) 5. Thal (Maharashtra) 6. Hazira (Gujarat) 7. Manuguru (Andhra Pradesh) 8. Rawatbhata (Rajasthan)

India's Nuclear Test

▸ On 18th May, 1974, India conducted her first underground nuclear explosion at Pokhran (Rajasthan) in the Thar desert at a depth of 100 m. The code name used to convey the success of the test to the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was 'Buddha is Smiling'.
▸ For the second time, India conducted on 11th May, 1998 three underground nuclear explosions at the same place i.e, Pokhran in the Thar desert of Rajasthan at a depth of 100 m. The test were code named 'Operation Shakti'.
Space Programme of India
▸ The Indian Space Programme was launched in 1962, when the Indian National Committee for Space Research was formed. To this were added the Indian Space Research Organisation in 1969 and the Space Commission and Department of Space in 1972. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is responsible for the planning, execution and management of space research activities and space application programmes.
▸ The ISRO has headquarters at Bengaluru.
▸ India's first satellite communication Earth station was set-up at Arvi near Pune. The first Indian Satellite Aryabhatta was launched on 19th April, 1975 from Baikonur (erstwhile USSR). The first Indian Remote Sensing Satellite was launched on 17th March, 1988.
▸ The first Indian Communication Satellite, APPLE was launched on 19th June, 1981 from Kourou in French Guyana (South America). It was the first Indian satellite that was placed in geostationary orbit.

 

ISRO Establishments

SHAR Centre, Sriharikota
▸ It is located on the East coast of Andhra Pradesh, SHAR is the main launch centre of ISRO. This centre also undertakes large scale production of solid rocket propellant and ground testing of solid fulled rocket stages of the Indian launch vehicles. In September 2002, the Sriharikota Space Centre was renamed as Professor Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC)
▸ It has headquarters and Spacecraft Control Centre at Bengaluru and a network of ground stations at Sriharikota, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Lucknow, Car Nicobar and Mauritius. The ISTRAC provides Telementry, Tracking and Command (TTC) support for the launch vehicles and satellite missions of ISRO and for other space agencies.
Master Control Facility
▸ It is located at Hassan in Karnataka and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, is responsible for all post launch operations of INSAT satellites including orbital manoeuvres, station keeping and in-orbit operations on the spacecraft.
ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU)
▸ It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, carries out development of inertial systems for both satellites and launch vehicles.
Space Applications Centre (SAC)
▸ It is located in Ahmedabad, is ISRO's research and development centre for conceiving, organising and building systems for practical applications of space technology. The major fields of activity cover satellite communication, remote sensing, meteorology and geodesy.
Physical Research Laboratory (PRL)
▸ It is located in Ahmedabad under Department of Space and is the premier national centre for research in space and allied sciences.
National Remote Sensing Agency
(NRSA)
▸ It is located in Hyderabad under the Department of Space, has facilities for surveying, identifying, classifying and monitoring Earth resources using serial and satellite data.
Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU)
▸ It's headquarters is located in Ahmedabad it, is involved in the conception, definition, planning and socio-economic evaluation of space application programmes.
VikramSarabhai Space Centre
(VSSC)
▸ It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, is the leading centre for launch vehicle development and it pioneers in rocket research and planning and execution of launch vehicle development projects.
ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC)
▸ It is located in Bengaluru, is responsible for the design, fabrication, testing and management of satellite systems for scientific, technological and application missions.
National Atmospheric Research Laboratory
▸ At Gadanki near Tirupathi, is used by scientists for carrying out atmospheric research.
Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS)
▸ It is located in Bengaluru and is engaged in design, development and production of Electro-Optic sensors and camera optics for satellites and launch vehicles. The sensors include star trackers, Earth sensors, Sun sensors and processing electronics.
Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC)
▸ It is located at Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru. The LPSC undertakes research, development and testing of liquid propulsion systems for ISRO's launch vehicle and satellite programmes.
The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS)
▸ It is located in Dehradun, is a premier training and education institute dealing with Remote Sensing, Geoinformation Science and GPS Technology and their Applications.
North Eastern-Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC)
▸ It is located at Umiam (near Shillong), Meghalaya. The centre has the mandate to develop high technology infrastructure support to enable North-East states to adopt space technology inputs for their development.
Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres (RRSSCs)
▸ Five RRSSCs have been established by the DoS at Bengaluru, Jodhpur, Kolkata and Nagpur. RRSSCs support the various remote sensing tasks specific to their regions as well as at the national level.
Navik
▸ Navigation with Indian Constitution is India's indigenous global navigation satellite system.
▸ The Constiuation consists of 3 geostationary and 4 geosynchronous satellites.
▸ It is designed as a replacement of U.S. based GPS and to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.

 

Indian Space Programme At a Glance

Satellite

Launch Vehicle Place

19th April, 1975

Cosmos

Baikonur

Experimental

Bhaskara I

7th June, 1979

Earth Observation

Rohini

10th August, 1979

S L V-3

Sriharikota

Rohini D1

31st May, 1981

19th June, 1981

Ariane

Kourou

Communication

Bhaskara II

20th November, 1981

INSAT-IA

10th April, 1982

Delta

IRS-IB

29th August, 1991

Vostok

INSAT 2A

10th July, 1992

Ariane-4

INSAT 2B

23rd July, 1993

INSAT-3B

22nd March, 2000

Ariane-5

GSAT-1

18th April, 2001

GSLV-D1

INSAT-3A

10th April, 2003

GSAT-2

8th May, 2003

GSLV-D2

EDUSAT

20th September, 2004

GSLV-F01

CARTOSAT 1

5th May, 2005

PSLV-C6

HAMSAT

AGILE

23rd April, 2007

PSLV-C8

Astronomy

Tech SAR

21st January, 2008

PSLV-C10

Surveillance

IMS-1

28th April, 2008

PSLV-C9

CHANDRAYAAN-1

22nd October, 2008

PSLV-C11

Moon Mission

OCEANSAT-2

23rd September, 2009

PSLV-C14

CARTOSAT-2B

12th July, 2010

PSLV-C15

GSAT-5P

25th December, 2010

GSLV-F06

RISAT-1

26th April, 2012

PSLV-C19

Radar Imaging

YOUTHSAT

20th April, 2011

PSLV-C16

Experimental/Small Satellite

RESOURCESAT-2 20th April, 2011

Earth Observation Satellite

GSAT-8

21st May, 2011

Ariane-5 VA-202 Kourou

GSAT-12

15th July, 2011

PSLV-C17 Sriharikota

Jugnu

12th October, 2011

PSLV-C18 Sriharikota

Student Satellite

PSLV-C19 Sriharikota

GSAT-10

29th September, 2012

Ariane-5 VA-209 Kourou

SARAL

25th February, 2013

PSLV-C20 Sriharikota

IRNSS-1A

1st July, 2013

PSLV-C22 Sriharikota

Navigation Satellite

INSAT-3D

26th July, 2013

Ariane-5 VA-214 Kourou

Communication Disaster Management, Earth Observation Satellite

GSAT-7

30th August, 2013

Ariane-5 VA-215

MOM

PSLV-C25

Geo-Stationary Satellite

GSAT-14

5th January, 2014

GSLV-D5

IRNSS-18

4th April, 2014

PSLV-24

Navigation

IRNSS-IC

16th October, 2014

PSLV-C26

GSAT-16

7th December, 2014

Ariane-5 VA-221 Kourou

GSAT-15

11th November, 2015

Ariane-5 VA 227 Kourou

GSAT-18

5th October, 2016

Ariane-5 ECA

Resourcesat-2A

7th December, 2016

Remote Sensing

Cartosat-2

15th February, 2017

PSLV-C37

Remote Sensing Satellite

GSAT-9

5th May, 2017

GSLV Mark-2

Communication Satellite

23rd June, 2017

PSLV-C38

GSAT-17

29th June, 2017

Kouron

12th January, 2018

PSLV-C40

Kalamsat V2

25th January, 2019

PSLV-C44

Communication satellite (lightest satellite to be ever launched)

Gagan Mission
▸ It is the first indigenous human space mission designed by ISRO, to be launched in 2022.
▸ Under this mission, three Indian asronauets (Gaganyatris) will be taken to space on board Gaganyaan spacecraft by 2022.
History of Satellite Launch Vehicles

Rocket

Result

SLV-3

Unsuccessful

18th July, 1980

Successful

17th April, 1983

ASLV-D1

SROSS-1

24th March, 1987

ASLV-D2

SROSS-2

13th July, 1988

ASLV-D3

SROSS-C

20th May, 1992

Rocket

Satellite

Date

Result

PSLV-D1

IRS-P1

20th September, 1993

PSLV-D2

IRS-P2 (Ocean Sat)

15th October, 1994

PSLV-C1

IRS-1D

29th September, 1997

PSLV-C2

IRS-P4 or OceanSat-1

26th May, 1999

GSAT

PSLV-C5

Resource Sat-1

17th October, 2003

CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT

GSVL-F02

INSAT-4C

10th July, 2006

PSLV-C7

CARTOSAT-2 and SRE-1

10th January, 2007

CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1

PSLV-C12

RISAT-2

20th April, 2009

GSLV-D3

GSAT-4

12th April, 2010

Resource Sat-2, Youth sat and X-Sat

PSLV-C17

PSLV-C18

Jugnu, Megha-Tropiques

PSLV-C20

PSLV-C22

IRNSS-1A

1st July, 2013

PSLV-C24

IRNSS-1B

PSLV-C23

SPOT-7

30th June, 2014

IRNSS-1C

PSLV-31

IRNSS-IE

20th January, 2016

PSLV-32

IRNSS-IF

10th March, 2016

PSLV-33

IRNSS-IG

28th April, 2016

PSLV-34

Cartosat-2C

22nd June, 2016

PSLV-35

Seatsat

26th September, 2016

PSLV-36

Awards and Honours

International Awards

Nobel Prize
▸ The Nobel Prizes are given under the will of Alfred Bernhard Nobel, who died in 1896. He was a noted Swedish chemist and engineer, who discovered Nitroglycerine and its use in the manufacture of dynamite.
▸ Nobel Prizes are given each year in the six fields. The Nobel Prizes for Peace, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Literature were started in 1901. The Nobel Prize for Economics was started in 1968. The prize awarding bodies are 1. The Swedish Academy of Literature awards the prize in Literature. 2. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the prize in Physics and Chemistry. The Nobel Assembly of Karolinska Chirugical (Swedan) awards the prize in Medicine (Physiology). 3. The Bank of Sweden awards the prize in Economics. 4. The Committee of the Norwegian Parliament, awards the prize for Peace.
▸ Each recipient or laureate, receives a gold medal, a diploma and a sum of money, which depends on the Nobel Foundations income that year. The Noble Prize amount for 2014 is set at SEK (Swedish Krona) 8.0 million.
▸ The awards are presented in Stockholm in an annual ceremony on 10th December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
▸ The awards can be given to maximum three persons in the same field at the same time. The Nobel Prize was not awarded between 1940 and 1942 due to the outbreak of World War II.


Indian Nobel Laureates

Rabindranath Tagore

Literature (Gitanjali)

Physics (Raman Effect)

Har Gobind Khorana (of Indian Descent)

Medicine (Genetic Code)

Peace

Subramaniyan Chandrasekhar (of Indian Descent)

Physics (Chandrasekhar's Limit)

Economics (Welfare Economics)

Sir VS Naipaul (of Indian Descent)

Literature

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (of Indian Descent)

Chemistry (Ribosomes)

Kailash Satyarthi

Peace (Struggle against Child Labour)

 

Important Facts related with Nobel Prize


Unique Winners
Pierre Curie Marie Curie, Irene Ioliot Curie Father Mother Daughter
Person Refusing Nobel Prize
Jean-Paul Sartre (Literature) 1964 Le Duc Tho (Peace) 1973
Posthumous Winners
Erik Axel Karlfeldt (Literature) 1931 Dag Hammarskjold (Peace) 1961
Award to American Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt (Peace) 1906 Woodrow Wilson (Peace) 1919 Jimmy Carter (Peace) 2002 Barack Obama (Peace) 2009

 

Winners of Nobel Prize More than Once

Marie Curie

1903 (Physics), 1911 (Chemistry)

Linus Pauling

1954 (Chemistry), 1962 (Peace)

Frederick Sanger

1958, 1980 (Chemistry)

International Committee of Red Cross

1917, 1944, 1963 (Peace)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

1954, 1981 (Peace)

 

Women Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Women Nobel Peace Prize Winners Bertha Von Suttner 1905

Aung San Suu Kyi

1991

Jane Addams

Rigoberta Menchu

Emily Greene Balch

Joddy Williams

Betty Williams

Shirin Ebadi

Mairead Coarrigan

Wangari Maathai

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbower Tawakkol Kormor

Alya Myrdal 1982

Malala Yousafzai

2014

 

 

 

 

 

Nobel Peace Prize Winning Organisation

Permanent International Peace Bureau

1910

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

1917, 1944, 1963

Nansen International office for Refugees

1938

1954, 1981

Amnesty International

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

United Nations Peace-keeping Forces

Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)

Medicins Sans Frontiers

United Nations

Grameen Bank (Bangladesh)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

European Union

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)

Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapon (ICAN)

 

Oscar Awards or Academy Awards

Awarded for

Excellence in cinematic achievements

Presented by

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Country

First awarded

16th May, 1929

The Oscar statuette is officially named 'The Academy Award of Merit'. The Indian films nominated for Oscars are 1. Mother India (1957) 2. Salam Bombay (1988) 3. Lagan (2001)
▸ The Oscar award is given every year in the month of February at Hollywood Kodek Theatre.
▸ Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to win an Oscar Award in 1982 for costume design in film Gandhi.
Grammy Awards

Outstanding achievements in the music industry

National Academy ofRecording Arts andSciences

1959

 

Grammy Awards Winner Indians

Pandit Ravi Shankar (3 times)

1967, 1972, 2001

Zakir Hussain

1992 and 2009

Vikku Vinayak

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

AR Rehman

Ricky Kej, Neela Vaswani

Golden Globe Awards
Awarded for Excellence in film and television Presented by Hollywood Foreign Press Association Country United States First awarded 1944
▸ AR Rehman is the first Indian to win Golden Globe Award.
Pulitzer Prize
Awarded for Excellence in newspaper journalism, literary achievements and musical composition Presented by Columbia University Country United States First awarded 1917
Indians Winning Pulitzer Prize

Gobind Behari Lal (for 'Reporting')

1937

Jhumpa Lahiri (for her book 'Interpreters of Maladies')

2000

Geeta Anand (for 'Journalism')

2003

Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee (for his book on The Emperor of all maladise; 'A Biography of Cancer')

2011

Vijay Seshadri (for 3 sections) (Poet Category)

Man Booker Prize
Awarded for Best full-length English Novel Presented by Man Group Country Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland and Zimbabwe First awarded 1968
Indians Winning Man Booker Prize
Arundhati Roy (Novel-The God of Small Things) 1997 Kiran Desai (Novel-The Inheritance of Loss) 2006 Aravind Adiya (Novel-The White Tiger) 2008
Man Booker International Prize
Awarded for Best English (or available for translation into English) fiction Presented by Man Group Country United Kingdom First awarded 2005
▸ The award is worth 60000£ and an author can win only once. It is awarded for best English (or available translation into English) fiction.
▸ Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare was named the inaugural International Booker Prize winner in 2005. In 2013, It is given to Lydia Davis (American).
Orange Prize for Fiction
Awarded for Best full-length novel written in English by a woman of any nationality Presented by Orange, A Telecom Company Country United Kingdom First awarded 1996
▸ The winner of the prize receives $ 30000, along with a bronze culture called the 'Bessie' created by artist Grizel Niven, the sister of actor and writer David Niven.
Ramon Magsaysay Award
Awarded for Outstanding contributions in six categories of government. Service, public service and other fields (Given to Asian Individuals) Presented by Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation Country Philippines First awarded 1957
Indians Winning Ramon Magsaysay Award
▸ For Government Service (GS)
▸ CD Deshmukh 1959
▸ Kiran Bedi 1994
▸ TN Seshan 1996
▸ James Michael Lyngdoh 2003
▸ For Public Service (PS)
▸ Jayaprakash Narayan 1965
▸ MS Subbulakshmi 1974
▸ Manibhai Desai 1982
▸ Baba Amte 1985
▸ Lakshmi Chand Jain 1989
▸ Banoo Jehangir Coyaji 1993
▸ Mahesh Chandra Mehta 1997
▸ V Shanta 2005
▸ For Community Leadership (CL)
▸ Vinoba Bhave 1958
▸ Veghese Kurien, Dara Khurodi and Tribhuvandas Patel 1963
▸ Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay 1966
▸ MS Swaminathan 1971
▸ Ela Bhatt 1977
▸ Pramod Karan Sethi 1981
▸ Chandi Prasad Bhatt 1982
▸ Pandurang Shastri Athavale 1996
▸ Aruna Roy 2000
▸ Rajendra Singh 2001
▸ Shantha Sinha 2003
▸ Dr Prakash Amte and Dr Mandakini Amte 2008
▸ Deep Joshi 2009
▸ Kujandel-Francis 2012
▸ For Peace and International Understanding (PIU)
▸ Mother Teresa 1962
▸ Jockin Arputham 2000
▸ Laxminarayan Ramdas 2004
▸ For Emergent Leadership
▸ Sandeep Pandey 2002
▸ Arvind Kejriwal 2006
▸ Nileema Mishra and 2011 Harish Hande
▸ Bezwada Wilson 2016
▸ For Journalism, Literature and the Creative Communication Arts (JLCCA)
▸ Amitabh Chaudhary 1961
▸ Satyajit Ray 1967
▸ Boobli George Verghest 1975
▸ Sombhu Mitra 1976
▸ Gour Kishore Ghosh 1981
▸ Arun Shourie 1982
▸ RK Laxman 1984
▸ KV Subbanna 1991
▸ Ravi Shankar 1992
▸ Mahasweta Devi 1997
▸ P Sainath 2007
▸ Sanjiv Chaturvedi and Anshu Gupta is awarded Magsaysay Award for 2015.
▸ TM Krishna 2016
▸ Bharat Vatwani 2018
▸ Sonam wangchuk 2018

World Food Prize

The prize was created in 1986 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug. The prize recognises contributions in all fields involved in the world food supply. First award was given to Professor MS Swaminathan (India) in 1987. In 2014 Dr Sanjaya Rajaram (Indian Origin American) won this award. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed of Bangladesh is to be honored as the 2015 World Food Prize Laureate. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina from Nigeria won the World Food Prize 2017.
The Right Livelihood Award

'Practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today'

Right Livelihood AwardFoundation

Prize Money

2 Lakh Euro

The Right Livelihood Award is also referred as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize'. It was established by Jakob von Uexkull in 1980.
Indian Laureates

Laureates

Years

Self-Employed Women’sAssociation/Ela Bhatt

Lokayan/Rajni Kothari

Ladakh Ecological Development Group

Chipko Movement

Narmada Bachao Andolan

Vandana Shiva

Vevekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra

People’s science Movement of Kerala (Kerala Safthra Sahithya Parishad)

Swami Agnivesh/Asghar Ali Engineer

Ruth Manorama

Krishanammal Jagannathan andSankaralingam Jagannathan LAFI

Colin Gonsalves

UNESCO Peace Prize
It is presented by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for extraordinary contributions for international peace.
UNESCOHuman Rights Award
It is also presented by UNESCO for contributions in the field of Human Rights Awareness. It is given every alternate year created in 1978.
UNHuman Rights Award
It is presented by United Nations (UN) for personal contribution for the cause of human rights. It is presented every 6th years.
BEAUTY CONTESTS
Miss Universe
▸ It is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organisation. The contest was founded in 1952, by California Clothing Company Pacific Mills. Its headquarters is at New York City (US).
▸ Sushmita Sen is the first Indian woman to win theMiss Universe contest in 1994.
▸ Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach won the crown of Miss Universe 2015.
▸ Catriona Gray of Philippines has been crowned as miss universe 2018.
MissWorld
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley In 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant. Its headquarter is at London (UK). Reita Faria Powell became the first Indian to win the Miss World title in 1966. Miss Stephanie Del Valle of Puerto Rico is crowned the Miss World title for 2016. India's Manushi Chhillar won the Miss World 2017 contest. Vanessa ponce of mexico has been crowned as miss world 2018.
Miss Earth
▸ Miss Earth is an annual international beauty pageant promoting environmental awareness. Miss Earth is also one of the most publicised beauty contest in the world. It was formed in 2001 and its headquarters is at Manila, Philippines. Catharina Svensson of Denmark is the first winner of Miss Earth contest (2001). Katherine Espin of Ecuador, was crowned Miss Earth 2016.
▸ Nguyen phuong khanh of Vietnam won the 2018 miss earth Crown.
Miss India
▸ Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India. It is organised by Femina, a women's magazine published by Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd.
▸ Its headquarters is at Mumbai and it was formed in 1963. Miss India beauty contest started on 1947.
▸ Pramila was the first woman to win the Miss India contest in 1947.

INDIA'S INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

MahatmaGandhi Peace Prize
It was instituted in 1995 and awarded by Government of India to encourage and promote Gandhian values worldwide.The award carries `1 Crore in cash, convertible in any currency in the world, a plaque and a citation.
▸ First recipient (1995) Julius Nyerere
▸ Last recipient (2018) Yohei Sasakawa

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

It was instituted in 1986 and awarded by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. It is awarded for peace, disarmament and development. The prize carries a cash award of 25 lakh Indian rupees and a citation.
▸ First recipient (1986) Parliamentarians for Global Action
▸ Last recipient (2018) Centre For Science and Environment India

Jawaharlal Nehru Award

It was instituted in 1965 and awarded by Government of India for international understanding, goodwill and friendship. The money constituent of this award is 25 Lakh Indian rupees.
▸ First recipient (1965) U Thant (3rd UN Secretary-General)
▸ Last recipient (2009)
▸ Angela Markel (Germany's First Female Chancellor)

National Awards

Bharat Ratna

▸ Bharat Ratna is India's highest Civilian Award. It was first awarded in 1954. The actual award is designed in the shape of a Peepal leaf with Bharat Ratna inscribed in Devanagri script in the Sun Figure.
▸ The reverse side of the decoration Satyamev Jayate has been written in Hindi with an inscription of state emblem. The emblem, the Sun and the rim are of platinum. The inscriptions are in burnished bronze.

2015

Madan Mohan Malaviya*

Sachin Tendulkar, CNR Rao

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

Ustad Bismillah Khan

Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar

Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi *

Professor Amartya Sen

Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan *

Pandit Ravi Shankar

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshm

Chidambaram Subramaniam

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Aruna Asaf Ali *

Gulzari Lal Nanda *

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad *

Satyajit Ray

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata

Rajiv Gandhi *

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel *

Morarji Ranchhodji Desai

1990

Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar *

Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran *

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Acharya Vinoba Bhave *

Kumaraswamy Kamraj *

Varahagiri Venkata Giri

Lal Bahadur Shastri *

Dr Zakir Hussain

Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane

Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy

Shri Purushottam Das Tandon

Dr Dhonde Keshav Karve

Pt Govind Ballabh Pant

Dr Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya

Dr Bhagwan Das

1954

Dr Chandrashekhar Venkata Raman

Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari

Winners of Bharat Ratna
Note * Posthumous Recipient

Padma Awards

There are three Padma Awards given on Republic Day (26th January) every year.

1. Padma Vibhushan

▸ This is the second highest National Award.
▸ Instituted on 2nd January, 1954 by the Government of India.
▸ It is awarded to recognise exceptional and distinguished service to the nation in any field.

2. Padma Bhushan

▸ This is the third largest National Awards.
▸ Instituted on 2nd January, 1954 by the Government of India.
▸ It is awarded to recognise distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.

3. Padma Shri

▸ This is the fourth highest National Award instituted on 2nd January, 1954 by Government of India.
▸ In 1960, Dr MG Ramachandran refused to accept the award as the wordings of the award is in Hindi.
▸ It recognises the contribution of Indian citizens (generally) in various spheres of activity including Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Sports, Social Service and Public life.

Military Awards

To be given on Republic Day (26th January)

Wartime Valour Awards

(Awarded to officers or enlisted personnel from all branches of the Indian Military).

Award

Year of Institution

Awarded by

Paramvir Chakra

Established on 26th January, 1950 wef 15th August, 1947

Government of India

Most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminest valour or self-sacrifice.

Mahavir Chakra

Acts of gallantry in the Presence of the enemy on land, at sea or in the air.

Vir Chakra

Acts of bravery in the battle field

▸ Subedar Major Bana Singh of the 8th Jammu and Kashmir light infantry was the only serving personnel of the Indian defence establishment with a Param Vir Chakra till the Kargil operations.
Recipient of Param Vir Chakra

Name Regiment

 

Major Som Nath Sharma

4th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment

3rd November, 1947

Badgam, Jammu and Kashmir

Lance Naik Karam Singh

1st Battalion, Sikh Regiment

13th October, 1948

Tithwal, Jammu and Kashmir

Second Lieutenant Bombay

Sappers Corps Rama Raghoba Rane of Engineers

8th April, 1948

Naushera, Jammu and Kashmir

Naik Jadu Nath Singh

1st Battalion, Rajput Regiment

February 1948

Company Havaldar

6th Battalion, Rajputana Major Piru Singh Rifles Shekhawat

17th July, 1948, 18th July, 1948

Captain Gurbachan

3rd Battalion, 1st Gorkha Singh Salaria Rifles (The Malaun Regiment)

5th December, 1961

Elizabethville, Katanga, Conga

Major Dhan Singh

1st Battalion, 8th Gorkha Thapa Rifles

20th October, 1962

Ladakh, India

Subedar Joginder Singh

23rd October, 1962

Tongpen La, North-East Frontier Agency, India

Major Shaitan Singh

13th Battalion, Kumaon Regiment

18th November, 1962

Rezang La

Company Quarter Master Havaldar Abdul Hamid

4th Battalion, Grenadiers

10th September, 1965

Chima, Khem Karan Sector Pakistan

Lieutenant-Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore

17th Poona Horse

15th October, 1965

Phillora, Sialkot Sector, Pakistan

Lance Naik Albert Ekka

14th Battalion, Brigade of the Guards

3rd December, 1971

Gangasagar, Agartala Sector

Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon

No. 18 Squadron, Indian Air Force

14th December, 1971

Srinagar, Kashmir

2/Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal

17th Poona House

16th December, 1971

Barapind Jarpal, Shakargarh Sector

Major Hoshiar Singh

3rd Battalion, The Grenadiers

17th December, 1971

Basantar River, Shakargarh Sector

Naib Subedar Bana Singh

8th Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry

23rd May, 1987

Siachen Glacier, Jammu and Kashmir

Major Ramaswamy Parameshwaran

8th Battalion, Mahar Regiment

25th November, 1987

Captain Manoj Kumar Pandey

1st Battalion, 11th Gorkha Rifiles

3th July, 1999

Khaluber/Juber Top, Batalik Sector, Kargil area, Jammu and Kashmir

Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav

18th Battalion, The Grenadiers

4th July, 1999

Tiger Hill, Kargil Area

Peace Time Gallantry Awards

Awarded Either to Military or Civilian Personnel

AshokaChakra

4th January, 1952 with effect-from15th August, 1947

Most conspicuous bravery or some act of daring or preeminent act of valour or self-sacrifice otherwise than in the face of the enemy.

Kirti Chakra

Conspicuous gallantry otherwise than in face of the enemy.

ShauryaChakra

National bravery generally for counter insurgency operations and actions against the enemy during peace time

Other Military Awards

Category

Wartime/ Peacetime Service andGallantry

Sena Medal (Army), Nao Sena Medal (Navy), Vayusena Medal (Air Force)

Wartime Distinguished Service

Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Yudh Seva Medal

Peacetime Distinguished Service

Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal

Sports Awards

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
▸ The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (RGKR) is India's highest honour given for achievement in sports. The words 'Khel Ratna' literally means 'Sports Gem' in Hindi. The award is named after late Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India.
▸ The award was instituted in the year 1991-1992 and was awarded by the ministry of youth affairs and sports.
▸ Upto 2004-05, the cash component was ` 500000. The money has been increased from ` 500000 to ` 750000.
▸ First Awardees-1991-92 Viswanathan Anand (Chess).
▸ 2009-10 Saina Nehwal, (Badminton), 2010-11 Gagan Narang (Shooting), 2011-12 Vijay Kumar (Shooting) 2011-12 Yogeswar Dutt (Wrestling), 2013-14 Ronjan Sodhi (Shooting).
▸ Four athletes namely PV Sindhu, Dipa Karmakar, Sakshi Malik and Jitu Rai were awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2015-16.
▸ In 2018, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting) and Virat Kohli (Cricket) has won Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Arjuna Award
▸ The Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the Ministry of youth affairs and sports, Government of India to recognise outstanding achievement in National Sports. The award carries a cash prize of ` 500000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll.
▸ From the year 2001, the award is given only in disciplines falling under the following categories
▸ Olympic Games
▸ Asian Games
▸ Commonwealth Games
▸ World Cup
▸ World Championship Disciplines and Cricket
▸ Indigenous Games
▸ Sports for the physically challenged

Dronacharya Award

Dronacharya Award is an award presented by the ministry of youth affairs and sports, Government of India for excellence in sports coaching. The award comprises a bronze statuette of Dronacharya a scroll of honour and a cash component of ` 500000. The award was instituted in 1985.

Dhyanchand Award

Dhyanachand Award is India's highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games, given by the Government of India. The award is named after the legendary Indian hockey player Dhyanchand. The awards was instituted in 2002. The award carries a cash prize of ` 500000. Satti Geetha (Athletics), Sylvanus Dung Dung (Hockey) and Rajendra Pralhad Shelke (Rowing) were awarded Dhyanchand Award for 2016.
Some Famous Awards by State Governments

Mahatma Gandhi Award

Madhya Pradesh Government

To an institution working according to Gandhi philosophy and ideology

Tansen Award

Indian classical music

Kalidas Award

Classical dance and music, theatre, painting, sculpture and plastic arts

Tulsidas Award

Folk and traditional tribal art (only for male artist)

Lata Mangeskar Award

For music direction and playback singing in field of light music

Santhala Natya Award

Karnataka Government

Santhal dance (a tribal dance form)

Konark Samman

Odisha State Council of Culture

Literature, art sculpture, music, dance and socio-cultural work

Film Awards

National Film Awards

▸ The National Film Awards are the most prominent film award ceremony in India, established in 1954 and it is administered, along with the international film festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian Government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.
▸ Due to the national character of the National Film Awards, it is considered to be the equivalent of the American Academy Awards.

Dada Saheb Phalke Award

▸ The Dada Saheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in cinema given annually by the Government of India for lifetime Contribution to Indian Cinema.
▸ It was instituted in 1969, the birth centenary year of Dada Saheb Phalke, considered as the Father of Indian Cinema.
▸ Phalke Award carries a 'Swarna Kamal', a shawl and a cash prize of ` 1000000.
Recipients of Dada Saheb Phalke Award

Mrs Devika Rani Roerich

1969 (First)

B N Sirkar

Prithvi Raj Kapoor

Pankaj Mallick

Mrs Ruby Myers

BN Reddy

1974

Dhiren Ganguly

Mrs Kanan Devi

Nitin Bose

RC Boral

Sohrab Modi

P Jai Raj

Naushad Ali

L V Prasad

Mrs Durga Khote

V Shantaram

B Nagi Reddy

Filmfare Awards

▸ The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by the Times group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The awards were first introduced in 1954, the same year as the National Film Awards.
▸ They were initially referred to as the Clare Awards after the editor of the Times of India, Clare Mendonca.

Literary and Cultural Awards

Sahitya Akademi Award

It is a literary honour in India instituted in 1954, by which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in twenty-four major Indian languages.

Jnanpith Award

▸ The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India. The award was instituted in 1961. It is presented by the Bharatiya Jnanpith, a trust founded by the Sahu Jain family, the publishers of the Times of India newspaper.
▸ It carries a check of ` 7 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Saraswati, the Indian Goddess of knowledge, music and arts. First awarded in 1965 to Sankar Kurup (Malayalam).
Recipients of the Jnanpith Award

G Shankar Kurup (Malayalam)

1965

TS Bandopadhyaya (Bengali)

Uma Shankar Joshi (Gujarati)

1967

R S Firaq Gorakhpuri (Urdu)

Sumitra Nandan Pant (Hindi)

Vishwanath Satyanarayan (Telugu)

Vishnu Dey (Bengali)

Ram Dhari Singh Dinkar (Hindi)

Dr D R Bendre (Kannada) and Gopinath Mohanty (Oriya)

V S Khandekar (Marathi)

PV Akilandam (Tamil)

Mrs Asha Purna Devi (Bengali)

K Shiv Ram Karanth (Kannada)

H S Vatsayan 'Ageya' (Hindi)

V K Bhattacharya (Assamese)

S K Pottekat (Malayalam)

Mrs Amrita Pritam (Punjabi)

Mrs Mahadevi Verma (Hindi)

M V Iyengar (Kannada)

T S Pillai (Malayalam)

Panna Lal Patel (Gujarati)

Sachida Nand Routory (Oriya)

V V Shirvadkar (Marathi)

C Narayana Reddy (Telugu)

Qurtul-ain-Haider (Urdu)

Vinayak Krishna Gokak (Kannada)

Subhash Mukhopadhyay (Bengali)

Naresh Mehta (Hindi)

Dr Sitakant Mahapatra (Oriya)

U R Anantha Murthy (Kannada)

M T Vasudevan Nair (Malayalam)

Smt Mahasweta Devi (Bengali)

Ali Sardar Jafri (Urdu)

Girish Karnad (Kannada)

Nirmal Verma (Hindi) and Gurdayal Singh (Punjabi)

Dr Indira Goswami (Assamese)

Rajendra Keshavlal Shah (Gujarati)

D Jaya Kanthan (Tamil)

Vinda Karandikar (Marathi)

Rehman Rahi (Kashmiri)

Kunwar Narayan (Hindi)

Ravindra Kelekar (Konkani) and Satyavrat Shastri (Sanskrit)

O N V Kurup (Malayalam)

Akhlaq Khan Shaharyar (Urdu)

Amar Kant (Hindi)

Shrilal Shukla (Hindi)

Chandrashekhara, Kambara (Kannada)

Pratibha Ray (Odiya)

Ravuri Bharadhwaja (Telugu)

Kedarnath Singh (Hindi)

Bhalchandra Nemade (Marathi)

Raghuveer Chadhari (Gujarati)

Shankha Ghosh (Bengali)

Krishana Sobti (Hindi)

Amitav Ghosh (English)

Bhasha Samman

Instituted in 1996, Sahitya Akademi gives these special awards to writers for significant contribution to Indian languages other than the above 24 major ones and also for contribution to classical and medieval literature.
Translation Awards
Established in 1989, Sahitya Akademi annually gives these awards for outstanding translations ofmajor works in other languages into one of the 24major Indian languages.
Anand Coomarswamy Fellowships
Named after the Indian writer Ananda Coomarswamy, the fellowship was started in 1996. It is given to scholars from Asian countries to spend 3 to 12 months in India to pursue a literary project.
Premchand Fellowships
Named after Hindi writer Premchand, the fellowship was started in 2005. It is given to persons of eminence in the field of culture from SAARC countries.

Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Award)

Awarded by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama. This award was constituted in 1952. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practising artists in the categories of music, dance, theatre, other traditional/ folk/ tribal/dance/music/ theatre and puppetry and contribution/scholarship in performing arts.

Lalit Kala Academy Ratna

Instituted in 1955 by the Government of India, is an honour for the fine arts given to eminent artists for their lifetime achievements in the field of visual arts. It is awarded by the Lalit Kala Academy, India's National Academy of Art. It is the highest honour in the fine arts conferred by the Government of India.

Saraswati Samman

The Saraswati Samman is an annual award for outstanding prose or poetry literacy works in any Indian language listed in Schedule VII of the Constitution of India. The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the KK Birla foundation. The award consist of ` 10 lakh, a citation and a plaque.

Tansen Award

These awards are given by Government of Madhya Pradesh for the outstanding contribution in the field of music. This award was constituted in 1980 and compreses ` 2 lakh.

Vyas Samman

The Vyas Samman is a literary award in India, first awarded in 1991. It is awarded annually by the KK Birla Foundation and includes a cash payout of ` 2.5 lakh.

Iqbal Samman

These awards are given by the Literary Council of Madhya Pradesh for the outstanding contribution in the field of urdu literature. This award was constituted in 1987 and comprises ` 1 lakh and certificate.
Murtidevi Award
This award was constituted in 1984 and is given for extra ordinary performance in literature. It is given by Indian Jnanpith Trust.

Science Awards

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award
▸ This prize for science and technology in awarded annually by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, chemistry, environmental science, engineering, mathematics, medicine and physics under the age of 65 years.
▸ It is the highest award for science in India. It was first awarded in 1958.
▸ The Prize comprises a citation, a plaque and a cash award of `5 lakh.
Dhanwantari Award
▸ It is given for Medical field. This award comprises a certificate, Gold Medal and
` 1 lakh Dhanvantari award.
▸ Instituted in 1971 and given for 'Excellence in Medical Services'.
▸ Thus, award is given by 'Dhanvantari Foundation'.

Dr BC Roy Award

▸ Medical Council of India instituted Dr BC Roy Award in 1976, in memory of Bharat Ratna Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. The award is given annually in each of the following categories: statesmanship of the highest order in India, Medical man-cum- statesman, eminent medical person, eminent person in philosophy and arts.
▸ It is presented by the President of India in New Delhi on 1st July the National Doctor's Day.
▸ This award comprises a Silver Medal, certificate and ` 1lakh cash.

Jamnalal Bajaj Award

It is a prestigious Indian award, for promoting Gandhian values, social work and social development. It is established in 1978 by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation of Bajaj Group. This award contains ` 5 lakh, a certificate and a trophy.

Homi Bhabha Award

▸ Instituted in 1990, and given for excellence in field of Atomic energy.
▸ This award comprises ` 50000 and a certificate.

Vikram Sarabhai Award

▸ Instituted in 1990 and given for excellence in field of Space Research.
▸ This award is given by 'Birla Foundation'.
▸ This award comprises medals, certificate and ` 50000.

GD Birla Award

▸ GD Birla award for scientific research is conferred by KK Birla Foundation. KK Birla Foundation was established in 1991, by Krishna Kumar Birla.
▸ This award comprises ` 1.45 lakh and certificate.



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