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First in India: Personalities
An expanded, tabular revision of the people behind India's firsts, in offices, in defence and the forces, in science and sport, and the women firsts, complementing the superlatives page, for CAPF static GK
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At a glance
SubjectStatic GK
RevisionStatic GKFirstsPersonalitiesPaper 1
One screen per section. Cover the right column and test yourself. The people behind India's firsts are durable static facts; the most recent firsts can change, so for any first claimed within the last few years verify the latest. This sheet drills people-firsts in depth; the geographical and institutional firsts are in superlatives and firsts of india.
| Office |
Person |
| President |
Dr Rajendra Prasad |
| Vice-President |
Dr S Radhakrishnan |
| Prime Minister |
Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Deputy Prime Minister |
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
| Chief Justice of India |
H J Kania |
| Speaker of the Lok Sabha |
G V Mavalankar |
| Chief Election Commissioner |
Sukumar Sen |
| Comptroller and Auditor General |
V Narahari Rao |
| Chief of Defence Staff |
General Bipin Rawat |
| Home Minister |
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
| Distinction |
Person |
| Woman President |
Pratibha Patil |
| Woman Prime Minister |
Indira Gandhi |
| Woman Governor |
Sarojini Naidu (United Provinces) |
| Woman Chief Minister |
Sucheta Kriplani (Uttar Pradesh) |
| Woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha |
Meira Kumar |
| Woman judge of the Supreme Court |
Justice Fathima Beevi |
| Woman IPS officer |
Kiran Bedi (1972) |
| Woman IAS officer |
Anna Rajam Malhotra |
| Woman to climb Everest |
Bachendri Pal (1984) |
| Woman in space (of Indian origin) |
Kalpana Chawla |
| Woman to win an Olympic medal |
Karnam Malleswari (2000, weightlifting bronze) |
| Distinction |
Person |
| Field Marshal of India |
Sam Manekshaw |
| Second Field Marshal |
K M Cariappa |
| First Indian Commander-in-Chief |
K M Cariappa |
| First Param Vir Chakra recipient |
Major Somnath Sharma (1947) |
| First Chief of Defence Staff |
General Bipin Rawat |
| First woman fighter pilots (induction batch) |
Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh (2016) |
| First woman to lead a Republic Day contingent |
Various; verify the latest |
| Distinction |
Person / fact |
| First Indian Nobel laureate |
Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913) |
| First Indian Nobel in Physics |
C V Raman (1930) |
| First Indian in space |
Rakesh Sharma (1984, aboard a Soviet mission) |
| First Indian satellite |
Aryabhata (1975) |
| Father of the Indian space programme |
Vikram Sarabhai |
| Father of the Indian nuclear programme |
Homi J Bhabha |
| First Indian to swim the English Channel |
Mihir Sen |
| Distinction |
Person |
| First individual Olympic gold |
Abhinav Bindra (2008, shooting) |
| First Indian to win an individual Olympic medal |
K D Jadhav (1952, wrestling bronze) |
| First woman Olympic medallist |
Karnam Malleswari (2000) |
| First World Chess Champion (India) |
Viswanathan Anand |
| First Indian cricket captain (Test) |
C K Nayudu |
| Peg |
Recall |
| First PVC recipient |
Major Somnath Sharma |
| First Indian in space |
Rakesh Sharma (1984) |
| First woman Olympic medallist of India |
Karnam Malleswari (2000) |
| First woman judge of the Supreme Court |
Justice Fathima Beevi |
| First Indian Nobel laureate |
Rabindranath Tagore (1913) |
| First Chief of Defence Staff |
General Bipin Rawat |