india basic facts

8/7/2019 INDIA BASIC FACTS

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INDIA BASIC FACTS

Official Name Bharat (Hindi), Republic of India (English)

Capital New Delhi

Population1, 027, 015, 247 (2001 Census)

Area 3.3 million square kilometers

Geographical Location Lies between latitudes 8 4' and 37 6 '

north and longitudes 68 7 ' and 97 25' east

Coastline Length 7600 km

Languageshas two National languages (Central administrative). They

are English (associate official) and Hindi (in the Devanagiri script). The

Indian Constitution also officially recognizes 22 regional languages.

Major Religions Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism,Jainism

Literacy 65.38%

National Anthem Jan gana mana written by Rabindranath Tagore

National Song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by

Bankimchandra Chatterji

National EmblemReplica of the Lion Capital of Sarnath

National Flag Horizontal tricolor in equal proportion of deep saffronon the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. In the

center of the white band is a wheel in navy blue color

National Animal Tiger


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National Bird Peacock

National Flower Lotus

National Tree Banyan

National Currency Rupee (One Rupee=100 paise)

National Sport Hockey

INDIA is one of the oldest civilisations in the world with akaleidoscopic variety and rich cultural heritage. It has achieved all-

round socio-economic progress during the last 60 years of itsIndependence. India has become self-sufficient in agricultural

production and is now the tenth industrialised country in the worldand the sixth nation to have gone into outer space to conquernature for the benefit of the people. It covers an area of 32,87,2631sq km, extending from the snow-covered Himalayan heights to the

tropical rain forests of the south. As the 7th largest country in theworld, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it isby mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct

geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, itstretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the

Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and theArabian Sea on the west. Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere,the mainland extends between latitudes 84' and 376' north,

longitudes 687' and 9725' east and measures about 3,214 kmfrom north to south between the extreme latitudes and about 2,933km from east to west between the extreme longitudes. It has a land

frontier of about 15,200 km. The total length of the coastline of themainland, Lakshadweep Islands and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is7,516.6 km.

Countries having a common borderwith India are Afghanistanand Pakistan to thenorth-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north, Myanmar to the east and

Bangladesh to theeast of West Bengal. Sri Lankaisseparated from India by anarrow

channel ofsea formed by the PalkStraitandthe Gulf of Mannar.

Themainland comprises fourregions,namely,thegreatmountain zone,plains ofthe


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Ganga and the Indus, thedesert region and the southernpeninsula. The Himalayas

comprise three almost parallel ranges interspersed with large plateaus and valleys,some ofwhich,likethe Kashmirand Kullu valleys,are fertile,extensiveand ofgreat

scenic beauty. Some ofthe highestpeaksintheworldare foundintheseranges. The

high altitudesadmittravel only to a fewpasses,notably the Jelep Laand Nathu La on

themain Indo-Tibettraderoutethrough the Chumbi Valley,north-east of Darjeelingand Shipki Lainthe Satlujvalley,north-east of Kalpa (Kinnaur). Themountainwall

extends overadistance ofabout 2,400kmwith avaryingdepth of 240to 320km. Intheeast, between Indiaand Myanmarand Indiaand Bangladesh, hillrangesaremuch

lower. Garo, Khasi, Jaintiaand Naga Hills,runningalmosteast-west,jointhe chainto

Mizo and Rkhine Hills running northsouth.The plains of the Ganga and the Indus,

about 2,400kmlongand 240to 320km broad,are formed by basins ofthreedistinctriversystems - the Indus,the Gangaandthe Brahmaputra. They are one oftheworlds

greateststretches of flatalluviumandalso one ofthemostdensely populatedareas on

theearth.

FIRST IN INDIA

First British Governor General of Independent India- Lord Mountbatten

First Chief Justice of India- HJ .Kaniya

First Commander-in-Chief of Free India- General K M Kariappa

First Chief of Air Staff- Air Marshal Sir Thomos Elmhirst

First Acting PM of India- Gulsarilal Nanda

First Indian to become member of house of lords- S.P.Sinha

First Robot built in India- Progman 150

First Indian Air Chief- Air Marshal S Mukherjee

First Chief of Army Staff- General M Rajendra Singh

First Chief of Naval Staff- Vice Admiral R D Katari

First Chairman-Prasar bharati- Nikhil chakravarthy

First Cosmonaut- Rakesh Sharma

First Female Graduates- Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu

First Female Head of an Undergraduate Academic Institution- Chandramukhi


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Basu

First Female Honours Graduate- Kamini Roy

First Female Lawyer- Cornelia Sorabjee

First Female Physician- Kadambini Ganguly

First Field Marshal- SHFJ Manekshaw

First Governor-General of Indian Union- C Rajagopalachari

First Graduate in Medicine- Soorjo Coomar Goodeve Chuckerbutty

First Indian to get an Oscar- Bhanu Athaiya

First actress to get Padmasree- Nargis

First Indian to reach the South Pole- Col Jatinder Kumar Bajaj

First Indian to win a major literary award in the United States- Dhan GopalMukerji

First Indian to win an Olympic medal- Norman Pritchard

First Indian ICS Officer- Satyendranath Tagore

First Indian Man to swim across the English Channel- Mihir Sen

First Indian Woman to swim across the English Channel- Miss Arati Saha

First Magsaysay Award Winner- Acharya Vinod Bhave

First Nobel Prize Winner- Rabindranath Tagore

First President of the Indian National Congress- W C Bonnerjee

First President of the India- Rajendra Prasad

First Prime Minister of India- Jawaharlal Nehru

First Deputy Prime Minister of India- Vallabhbhai Patel

First Talkie Film- Alam Ara (1931)

First Woman President of the Indian National Congress- Annie Besant

First Woman Prime Minister- Indira Gandhi

First Woman Minister- Rajkumari Amrit Kaur


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First Woman Chief Minister of a State- Sucheta Kripalani

First Woman Governor- Sarojini Naidu

First Woman central Minister- Vijayalakshmi Pandit

First Woman Speaker of a State Assembly- Mrs Shanno Devi

First Woman Airline Pilot- Durga Banerjee

First Woman to Win Asiad Gold- Kamlijit Sandhu-

First Woman to Win an Olympic medal- Karnam Malleswari

First Woman Judge of Supreme Court- Meera Sahib Fatima Beevi

First Woman IPS Officer- Kiran Bedi

First Woman to Win Miss Universe Title- Sushmita Sen

First Woman to win the Ford Supermodel of the World (contest)- BipashaBasu

First Woman to Win Nobel Prize- Mother Teresa

First Woman to win Miss World title- Reita Faria

First Formula 1 Race Driver- Narain KarthikeyanNATIONAL FLAG

National flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesaria) at the top, white in the middle and dark greenat the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the centre ofthe white band is a navy-blue wheel which represents the chakra. Its design is that of the wheel which

appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the width of thewhite band and it has 24 spokes. The design of the National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assemblyof India on 22 July 1947. Apart from non-statutory instructions issued by the Government from time totime, display of the National Flag is governed by the provisions of the Emblems and Names (Prevention ofImproper Use) Act, 1950 (No. 12 of1950) and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 (No.

69 of1971). The Flag Code of India, 2002 is an attempt to bring together all such laws, conventions,practices and instructions for the guidance and benefit of all concerned. The Flag Code of India, 2002, takeseffect from 26 January 2002 and supersedes the Flag CodeIndias as it existed. As per the provisions ofthe Flag Code of India, 2002, there shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by members ofgeneral public, private organisations, educational institutions, etc., except to the extent provided in the

Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and the Prevention of Insults to NationalHonour Act, 1971 and any other law enacted on the subject.

NATIONAL EMBLEM

The state emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are fourlions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of anelephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus.


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Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of the Law (DharmaChakra).In the state emblem, adopted by the Government of India on 26 January 1950,only three lions are

visible, the fourth being hidden from view. The wheel appears inrelief in the centre of the abacus with a bullon right and a horse on left and theoutlines of other wheels on extreme right and left. The bell-shaped lotushas beenomitted. The words Satyameva Jayate from Mundaka Upanishad, meaning 'Truth Alone Triumphs',are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.

india basic facts

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