Firsts in India (Male/Female) Practice Questions

Correct answer: Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Dr. Rajendra Prasad served as the first President of India from 1950 to 1962. He is the only president to have served two full terms in office.

Correct answer: Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work in bringing help to suffering humanity. She was an Albanian-born Indian citizen who founded the Missionaries of Charity.

Correct answer: Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in the Men's 10m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This was India's first ever individual Olympic gold medal.

Correct answer: Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu, known as the 'Nightingale of India', served as the Governor of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh) from 1947 to 1949. She was a prominent leader in the Indian independence movement.

Correct answer: Satyendranath Tagore

Satyendranath Tagore, the elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore, cleared the ICS examination in 1863. He was the first Indian to break the British monopoly on the elite administrative service.

Correct answer: Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi served as the Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She remains the only female Prime Minister of India to date.

Correct answer: Rakesh Sharma

Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 in 1984. During the flight, when asked by PM Indira Gandhi how India looked from space, he famously replied 'Saare Jahan Se Achha'.

Correct answer: M. Fathima Beevi

Justice M. Fathima Beevi was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1989. She later served as the Governor of Tamil Nadu after her retirement from the judiciary.

Correct answer: Bachendri Pal

Bachendri Pal reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1984. She was followed by Santosh Yadav, who became the first woman to climb Everest twice.

Correct answer: General K.M. Cariappa

General Kodandera Madappa Cariappa took over from General Sir Roy Bucher on January 15, 1949. This historic event is celebrated annually as Indian Army Day.

Correct answer: Reita Faria

Reita Faria won the Miss World crown in 1966, becoming the first Asian woman to do so. Unlike many of her successors, she chose to focus on her medical career instead of films.

Correct answer: C. Rajagopalachari, S. Radhakrishnan, and C.V. Raman

The Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, was instituted in 1954 and first conferred on three people together: C. Rajagopalachari (statesman and last Governor-General of India), S. Radhakrishnan (philosopher, later President), and C.V. Raman (physicist and Nobel laureate). Other famous leaders such as Nehru, Patel, and Ambedkar were honored with the award only in later years, not in the inaugural 1954 group.

Correct answer: J.R.D. Tata

J.R.D. Tata was the first person in India to be issued a commercial pilot's license in 1929. He is also considered the father of Indian civil aviation.

Correct answer: Karnam Malleswari

Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the 69kg category. This made her the first Indian woman to stand on an Olympic podium.

Correct answer: Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy won the Man Booker Prize in 1997 for her debut novel 'The God of Small Things'. She was the first resident Indian citizen to win the prestigious literary award.

Correct answer: Vinoba Bhave

Acharya Vinoba Bhave was the first recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1958 for Community Leadership. He was the founder of the Bhoodan Movement.

Correct answer: Sucheta Kripalani

Sucheta Kripalani became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1963. She was a celebrated freedom fighter and the wife of J.B. Kripalani.

Correct answer: Mihir Sen

Mihir Sen crossed the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958. He was also the first person to swim across the oceans of five continents in one calendar year (1966).