Static GK: List of First in India

First in India – Science

First hydroelectric plant

Sidrapong (Darjeeling)

First Man in Space

Rakesh Sharma

First Nuclear Reactor

Apsara (Maharashtra)

First satellite

Aryabhatta

First successful indigenous launch vehicle

SLV-3

First genetically modified food product in India

Bt. Eggplant Hybrid [Banned]

First to pass the examination of the Indian Medical Service (IMS)

Surjo Kumar Chakroborty

First Indian appointed as the deputy director-general (DG) of programmes (DDP) of the World Health Organization (WHO)

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan

First satellite earth station for domestic communications

Secunderabad

First Indian to get Nobel Prize in Physics

C.V Raman

First in India – Defence

First Defence Minister of India

Baldev Singh Chokkar

First Commander-in-Chief of Free India

Kodandera Madappa Cariappa

First Commander-in-Chief, Indian Air Force

Subroto Mukherjee

First Field Marshal

Sam Manekshaw

First Param Vir Chakra Winner

Major Somnath Sharma

First female Jawan in the Army

Shanti Tigga

First Indian woman to fly fighter aircraft without co-pilot

IAF Officer Avani Chaturvedi

First cosmonaut

Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma

First woman in the Indian Army awarded the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ prize

Divya Ajith Kumar

First in India – Governance

First President of India

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

First Vice-President of India

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

First President of Indian National Congress

Womesh Chandra Bannerjee

First Prime Minister of India

Jawaharlal Nehru

First Chief Election Commissioner of India

Sukumar Sen

First Viceroy of India

Lord Canning

First Governor-General of India

Lord William Bentinck

First Chief Justice of India

H.J Kania

First Speaker of Lok Sabha

G. V. Mavlankar

First Home Minister of India

Sardar Vallabhai Patel

First Chairperson of Lokpal of India

Pinaki Chandra Ghose

First in India – Sports

First Olympics Team Medal

Gold in Field Hockey (1928, Summer Olympics)

First Indian woman wrestler to win an Asian gold medal

Navjot Kaur

First Indian woman badminton player to win an Asian Games medal

Saina Nehwal

First Indian woman to win a medal at Asian Games

Santhi Soundarajan

First person to win the international bronze medal in skiing

Aanchal Thakur

First Woman to Win an Olympic Silver Medal

P. V. Sindhu (Badminton)

First female to represent India at the Summer Olympics

Nora Polley (1924 Summer Olympics)

First Individual Gold Medal won by

Abhinav Bindra (2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing)

First Woman to Win a Medal in Wrestling

Sakshi Malik (Bronze, at 2016 Summer Olympics)

First in India – Architecture

First temple was constructed from a single rock

Kailasa temple at Ellora

First church in India

St. Thomas Church, Palayoor

First mosque in India

Cheraman Juma Mosque in Methala

First dam in India

Kallanai Dam

The first Indian temple with many interconnected structures

Brihadeeswarar Temple, Tamil Nadu

First British to Visit India

Thomas Roe

First Chinese pilgrim to Visit India

Fa-Hien/Faxian

First Indian to reach Antarctica

Lt. Ram Charan

First Judge in International Court of Justice

Dr. Nagender Singh

First Muslim President of the Indian National Congress

Badruddin Tayyabji

First Post Office Opened in India

Kolkata(1727)

First Wax statue of a Living Indian

Mahatma Gandhi at Madame Tussaud’s in 1939

India’s First Lok Sabha Member to be elected with a record maximum number of votes

P.V.Narasimha Rao

India’s First Open University

Dr B.R Ambedkar Open University

India’s First University

Nalanda University

India’s first man in Space

Rakesh Sharma

The first Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Ganesh Vasudeva Mavalankar

The first and last Muslim woman ruler of India

Razia Sultan

The first and the last Indian to be Governor-General of Free India

C. Rajgopalachari

The first British Governor-General of Bengal

Lord Warren Hastings(1774-1885)

The first British Governor-General of India

Lord William Bentinck(1833-1835)

The first British Viceroy of India

Lord Canning

The first Chief Election Commissioner

Sukumar Sen

The first Chief Justice of Supreme Court

Justice Hirala J. Kania

The first Chief of Army Staff

Gen. Maharaj Rajendra Singhji

The first Education Minister

Abdul Kalam Azad

The first Field Marshal of India

S.H.F. Manekshaw

The first Governor-General of free India

Lord Mountbatten

The first Home Minister of India

Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel

The first Indian Air Chief Marshal

S. Mukherjee

The first Indian Commander-in-Chief of India

General Cariappa

The first Indian Member of the Viceroy’s executive council

S.P.Sinha

The first Indian Naval Chief

Vice-Admiral R.D. Katari

The first Indian Pilot

J.R.D. Tata (1929)

The first Indian to cross the English Channel

Mihir Sen

The first Indian to get the Nobel Prize in Physics

C.V.Raman

The first Indian to join the Indian Civil Services

Satyendra Nath Tagore

The first Indian to receive Bharat Ratna award

Dr. Radhakrishnan

The first Indian to win the Nobel Prize

Rabindranath Tagore

The first Judge of the International Court of Justice

Dr. Nagendra Singh

The first lady to become Miss World

Rita Faria

The first man who introduced the printing press in India

James Hicky

The first Muslim President of India

Dr. Zakir Hussain

The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress

Badruddin Tayyabji

The first Muslim President of the Indian Republic

Dr. Zakhir Hussain

The first person of Indian origin to receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine

Hargovind Khurana

The first person to get Param Vir Chakra

Major Somnath Sharma

The first person to reach Mt. Everest without oxygen

Sherpa Anga Dorjee

The first person to receive the Jnanpith award

Sri Shankar Kurup

The first person to receive Magsaysay Award

Acharya Vinoba Bhave

The first person to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics

Amartya Sen

The first person to receive the Stalin Prize

Saifuddin Kitchlu

The first person to resign from the Central Cabinet

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee

The first President of India who died while in office

Dr. Zakhir Hussain

The first President of the Indian National Congress

W.C. Banerjee

The first President of the Indian Republic

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

The first Prime Minister of free India

Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru

The first Prime Minister of India who did not face the Parliament

Charan Singh

The first Prime Minister of India who resigned without completing the full term

Morarji Desai

The first Vice-President of India

Dr. Radhakrishnan

The first woman Air Vice Marshal

P. Bandopadhyaya

The first woman Airline Pilot

Durba Banerjee

The first woman Ambassador

Miss C.B. Muthamma

The first woman Asian Games Gold Medal Winner

Kamlijit Sandhu

The first woman Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission

Roze Millian Bethew

The first woman chairperson of Indian Airlines

Sushma Chawla

The first woman Chief Justice of High Court

Mrs Leela Seth (Himachal Pradesh High Court)

The first woman Chief Minister of an Indian State

Mrs Sucheta Kripalani

The first woman Director General of Police

Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya

The first woman Governor of a state in free India

Mrs Sarojini Naidu

The first woman Graduates

Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu, 1883

The first woman Honours Graduate

Kamini Roy, 1886

The first woman IPS officer

Mrs. Kiran Bedi

The first woman Judge

Anna Chandy (She became judge in a district court in 1937)

The first woman judge in the Supreme Court

Mrs. Meera Sahib Fatima Bibi

The first woman Judge in the Supreme Court of India

Kumari Justice M. Fathima Beevi

The first woman Lawyer

Cornelia Sorabjee

The first woman Lieutenant General

Puneeta Arora

The first woman Minister in a Government

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur

The first woman Olympic medal Winner

Karnam Malleswari, 2000

The first woman pilot in Indian Air Force

Harita Kaur Dayal

The first woman President of Indian National Congress

Mrs Annie Besant

The first woman President of United Nations General Assembly

Mrs Vijaya Laxmi Pandit

The first woman Prime Minister

Mrs Indira Gandhi

The first woman Speaker of a State Assembly

Shanno Devi

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

The first woman to receive Ashoka Chakra

Nirja Bhanot

The first woman to receive Bharat Ratna

Mrs. Indira Gandhi

The first woman to receive the Jnanpith Award

Ashapurna Devi

The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize

Mother Teresa