General Facts About India

A SUGGESTION: The Geography subject will be clearer to you, if you look at the map.
Please read with a map beside you.
India is the 10th industrialized country in the world.
India is the 6th nation in the world to have gone into outer space.
India is the 7th largest country in the World.
India lies entirely in the northern hemisphere. (Do you know what Northern Hemisphere is?).
India measures 3,214 km from North to South.
India measures 2,933 km from east to west.
The mainland extends between latitudes 8 40 and 37 60 North.
The mainland extends between 68 70 and 97 250 East longitudes.
Indias land frontier is about 15,200 km.
India has a common boarders with
North-west: Afghanistan and Pakistan
North: China, Bhutan and Nepal
East: Myanmar
East of West Bengal : Bangladesh
India is separated from Sri Lanka by a narrow channel of sea formed by the Palk Strait and the
Gulf of Mannar.
The plains of the Ganga and the Indus are one of the worlds greatest stretches of flat alluvium
and also one of the most densely populated areas on the earth.
Between Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea lies a narrow coastal strip.
Between Eastern Ghats and Bay of Bengal there is a broader costal area.
Niligiri Hills is the point where the eastern and Western Ghats meets.
Cardamom hills lying beyond may be regarded as a continuation of Western Ghats.
The Indus, which is one of the greatest rivers of the world rises near manasarovar in Tibet and
flows through India and thereafter through Pakistan and falls in Arabian Sea near Kutch.
Tributaries of Indus: The Sutlej, the Beas, the Ravi, The Chenab and the Jhelum.
The Ganga-Brahmaputra_Meghana is another important system of which the principle sub
basins are those of Bhagirathi and Alakanada join at Dev Prayag to form the Ganga.
The major east flowing rivers are Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi, etc.
The west flowing rivers Narmada, Tapti and Mahi.
The climate of India is tropical monsoon type.
South-West monsoon is the summer monsoon and wind blows from sea to land after crossing
Indian ocean, the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal.
North-east monsoon is known as the winter monsoon and wind blows from land to sea.
Botanical survey of India (BSI) headquarters Kolkata.
Zoological survey of India (ZSI) headquarters Kolkata.
The tiger and lion belong to cat family.
The salt water crocodile is found along eastern coast and in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

 The first census in India was conducted in the year 1872. It was conducted non-synchronously
in different parts.
Since 1881 it was conducted synchronously.
The first census commissioner of India was W W Plowden (1881).
2001 census was undertaken during 9-28 February 2001.
The census moment, the referral time at which the snapshot of the population is taken was
00.00 hours of March 1, 2001.
Until 1991 census, the sunrise of 1 March was taken as the census moment.
India accounts for a meager 2.4 percent of the worlds surface area.
India has 17.5 (2011) percent of World population.
The percent decadal growth of population in the inter-censual period 1991-2001 varies from a
low of 9.43 in Kerala to a very high 64.53 in Nagaland.
The population density of India in 2001 was 324 per sq km.
West Bengal is the most thickly populated state with a population density of 903 in 2001.
Delhi is the city with highest population density with 9340.
Lowest population density is in Arunachal Pradesh with 13.
Bihar second and Kerala third.
Sex ration in India 940:1000. (2011 census)
Highest sex ratio is Kerala. 1084:1000. (2011 census)
Who is a literate? A person aged seven and above, who can both read and write any language
with understanding is treated as a literate.
In the census prior to 1991 children below 5 years were necessarily treated as illiterates.
The literacy rate in the country is 74.04 percent (2011).
Kerala retained its position by being on top with a 93.91 percent literacy rate (2011).
Highest male and female literacy state Kerala.
Bihar with a literacy rate of 63.82 (2011) percent ranks last in the country.
Lowest male and female literacy state Bihar.
743 million people in India live in rural areas as per the 2001 census.
286 million people in India live in urban areas.
Highly populated state in India is UP with 199 million (2011) people.
Lowest population is in Sikkim with 540,851 people and constitutes 0.05 percent of the total.
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DO YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE FACTS ABOUT THE NATIONAL FLAG,
NATIONAL ANTHEM.?
The ratio of width of the flag to its length is 2 to 3.
There are 3 colors in the National Flag. Saffron at the top, White in the middle followed by
Green at the bottom.
In the middle of the National Flag there is a wheel called Chakra.
The Chakra has 24 spokes.
The design of the National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on July 22,
1947.

 The Flag code of India, 2002, has taken effect from January 26, 2002 and supersedes the Flag
code Indias as it existed.
There shall be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by the members of general
public private organizations, educational institutions, etc.
The state emblem is an adoption from the saranath Lion capital of Asoka.
In the sate emblem as adopted on January 26, 1950 only 3 lions are visible and the 4 th one is
hidden.
The wheel appears in the center of the abacus with a bull on the right and a horse on the left
and the outlines of other wheels on extreme right and left.
The words Satyameva Jayate were taken from the Mundaka Upanishad. It means Truth
Alone Triumphs are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.
The National Anthem Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath
Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version as National Anthem on January 24, 1950.
National Anthem was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Calcutta session of the INC.
The National song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a
source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with the
National Anthem.
The first political occasion when National song, sung was the 1896 session of the INC.
The National calendar is based on Saka era, with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year
of 365 days was adopted from March 22, 1957 with Gregorian calendar.

NATIONAL SYMBOLS:
National Animal: The magnificent tiger, (Panthera Tigris).
National Bird: The Indian peacock (Peafowl), (Pavo Cristatus).
National Flower: Lotus (Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn).
National Tree: The Banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis).
National Fruit: Mango (Manigifera Indica).
National River: Ganges
National Aquatic Animal: Gangetic Dolphin
National Reptile: King Cobra (Ophiophagus hanna)
National Heritage Animal: Elephant (Elephas Maximus indicus)
National Drink: Tea (this will be from April 17, 2013)

NATIONAL PARKS
Bandipur National Park
Chandraprabha sanctuary
Corbett National Park
Ghana Bird Sanctuary
Gir National Park
Hazaribagh Sanctuary
Kanha National Park
Kaziranga National Park
horned rhinoceros).
Periyar Sanctuary
Wild Ass Sanctuary
Manas Sanctuary

Karnataka
UP
Uttaranchal
Rajasthan
Gujarat
Jharkhand
MP
Assam (Famous for oneKerala
Gujarat
Assam

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SOME MORE FACTS about INDIA:

Area-wise Rajasthan is the largest state in India.
Area-wise Goa is the smallest state.
Area-wise Andaman & Nicobar Islands is the largest UT.
Area-wise Lakshadweep is the smallest UT.
Highest population is in UP.
Lowest population is in Sikkim.
Highest population Delhi (UT).
Lowest population Lakshadweep (UT).
Largest country is Russia (area wise).
India is the 7th largest country (area wise).
Highest population China.
Population wise India is the second largest country in the world.
Andhra Pradesh is the first state in India that has been formed on a purely linguistic basis in
1953 and enlarged in 1956. Andhra state 1953 and AP in 1956.
Highest number of Assembly seats UP 355.
Highest number of legislative Council seats UP 99.
Highest number of Rajya Sabha seats UP -31.

Highest number of Lok Sabha seats UP 80.

Lowest number of Assembly seats Sikkim -32.
Lowest number of Legislative Council seats JK 36.
Lowest number of Lok Sabha seats Sikkim 1.
Lowest number of Rajya Sabha seats Sikkim, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Goa 1.
The Legislative Councils are present only in seven states. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Bihar, UP, J&K and Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Nadu is the latest state to establish the Legislative Council. (Legislative Councils
are created / abolished by Parliament only).
In Union Territories Delhi has maximum number of seats in Assembly. (70).
Pondicherry has the lowest number of seats in Assembly. (30).
Highest number of districts present in UP. 70 in number
Goa has only 2 districts.
Kutch in Gujarat is the largest district in India. The area is 45,652 Sq.km.
Mahe in the state of Kerala is the smallest district in India. The area is 9 Sq.km. Mahe is
geographically located in Kerala but administered by Pondicherry.
Drass in Western Ladakh is the coldest place in India. It is also the second coldest place in the
World after Siberia.
The High Court was first established in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras in the year 1862.
In the year 2000 three new High Courts were set up in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and
Uttaranchal.
At present there are 21 High Courts present in India.
N-E states are called Seven sisters. (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur,
Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura).
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SUBMARINES:
INS SHALKI: First indigenously built submarine.
INS CHAKRA: Indias first nuclear submarine. (From USSR).
INS ARIHANT: Indias first indigenously built nuclear sub marine
INS Sindhushastra: Indias first missile firing submarine.
INS GHARIYAL: Indigenously built warship.
INS VIBHUTI: Indigenously built missile boat.
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R&D (Research and Development)
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) was set up in 1958. The Defence
Research and Development Laboratory launched Integrated Missile development
Programme. Under this five missiles were successfully test fired.
PRITHVI: Indias first indigenously built Surface to Surface missile. In 1998, first test fired
from Sriharikota. 250 KM. Inducted in 1993.
TRISHUL: Short range surface to Air missile. 5-9 KM. 1988.
AKASH: Surface to Air missile. 25 KM. 1990.

NAG: Third generation anti-tank guided missile. 4 KM. 1988.

AGNI: Intermediate ballistic surface to surface missile. 2500 KM. 1989.
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MISCELLANEOUS:
Coast guards set up in 1977.
Cantonment board is established through cantonment Act of 1924.
Home guards set up in 1946.
******
ATOMIC ENERGY:
The Atomic Energy Commission was set up in 1948. The present Chairman is DR
Sirikumar Benarjee.
On May 18, 1974 India conducted its first underground nuclear explosion at POKHRAN
(RAJASTAN).
The Second test was conducted on May 11, 1998. OPERATION SHAKTI was the code
name of the tests.
India became the sixth nuclear power in the world.
At present there are six Nuclear power stations in India. Tarapur (Maharashtra), Rawatbhatta
(Rajasthan), Kalpak am (Tamil Nadu), Narora (UP), kakrapar (Gujarat), Kaiga (Karnataka).
Tarapur Atomic Power Station (T.AP.S.) was the first nuclear power plant in India. The
construction of the plant was started in 1962 and the plant went operational in 1969.
APSARA was India's First Nuclear Reactor. It was also the first nuclear reactor in Asia.
Apsara went critical at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay on August 4,
1956.
The first Heavy water plant was set up in Nangal (Punjab) in the year 1962. Heavy water is
used in Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR).
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) set up in 1957 at Trombay, near Bombay. It houses
APSARA, CIRUS and DHRUVA the three nuclear reactors.
ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) was set up in 1969.
CENTRE
LOCATION
Vikram Sarabhai Space centre
Thiruvananthapuram.
ISRO Satellite Centre
Bangalore
Space Application Centre
Ahmadabad
SHAR Centre
Srihari Kota (AP)
National Remote Sensing Agency Hyderabad

The first Indian satellite Aryabhatta was launched from USSR on April 19, 1975.
Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma became Indias first man in space.
India set a record on April 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9 successfully launching 10 satellites from
Sriharikota, AP.

 It also included remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A.

SLV-3 was Indias first indigenous satellite launch vehicle. This was launched by ISRO in the
year 1980. Dr A P J Abdul Kalam was the Project Director for the same.
INSAT-2A was India's first indigenously built satellite. The satellite was launched on July 9,
1992 from Kourou, French Guyana.
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NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS:
Central Institute for cotton research

Nagpur.
Coffee Board

Bangalore
Tea Board
Kottayam (Kerala)
Tobacco Board
Andhra Pradesh
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade

New Delhi
Indian Institute of Mathematical Sciences Chennai.
Indian Diamond Institute

Surat
Advanced Level Telecom Centre

Ghaziabad
Bharat Ratna Bhim Rao Ambedkar Institute of Telecom Training Jabalpur.
National Academy for Telecom Finance and Management
Hyderabad.
telecommunication Engineering Centre

New Delhi
Indian Institute of Science

Bangalore.
Indian School Business

Hyderabad
Bureau of Indian Standards

Delhi
Central Drug Research Institute

Luck now
National Institute for Oceanography

Panaji (Goa)
Centre For Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB)
Hyderabad
National Institute for Nutrition

Hyderabad
Central Rice Research Institute

Cuttack
Centre for DNA finger printing and Diagnostics

Hyderabad
Indian Institute for Sugar Technology

Kanpur
National Institute for Immunology

New Delhi
National Institute for Ocean technology

Chennai.
Indian Institute for Spices Research (IISR)
Kozhikode, Kerala.
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HEALTH:
Indias National Anti-Malaria programme is the worlds biggest health
programme against a single communicable disease.
Dengue fever is a viral disease which is transmitted through the bites if
female AEDES mosquitoes.
The National Leprosy control programme was launched in 1955.
The National Programme for control of Blindness was launched in 1976.
The control of sexually transmitted Diseases (STD) was introduced during fourth 5 year
plan.

 National AIDS control programme was launched in 1987.

Deficiency odf Iodine in the daily diet may cause goiter and other iodine deficiency
disorders.
The National Mental Health Programme was started in 1982.
The National Cancer control Programme was launched in 1975.
India became the first country to launch GUINEAWORM eradication programme in
1983. India was declared as guinea worm disease free country.
The GOI was the first country in the world to initiate a comprehensive family planning
programme in 1951.
POLIO ---- Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV)
DIPHTHERIA PERTUSIS TETANUS -------DPT
DIPHTHERIA TETANUS -------- DT
TETANUS TOXOID ---------TT
Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 -------- It
banned any test to determine the sex of an unborn child has become illegal.
*********
LEGISLATIVE MEASURES TO SAFEGUARD THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: A Hindu cannot get married for second time till the first marriage
is dissolved by divorce or decree.
National Commission for Women: The National Commission for Women was set up as
statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990.
Chairman and 5 members are nominated by the Central government. Ms. Jayanti patnaik was
the 1st and present chair person is Dr. Girija Vyas (since 2008).
Prohibition of Child Marriage act, 2006: It replaced the child Marriage Restraint Act of
1929.
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LANGUAGES IN INDIA:
The languages are mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Constitution.
At present there are 22 languages mentioned in the Constitution.
Hindi is spoken by more people in India.
39.85% of the total population in India speaks Hindi.
Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language in India.
Bengali ranks at number two position with 8.22%.
Telugu ranks at number three with 7.80%.
Sanskrit ranks at the last position with 0.01%.
It is the classic language of India and also one of the oldest languages in the world. It starts
with Rig Veda.
Telugu numerically the biggest of the Dravidian languages in India.
Urdu is the official language for Jammu and Kashmir.
*********

DANCE FORMS IN INDIA:

BHARATANATYAM: This is dance form in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The earliest
exponents of Bharatanatyam were the Devadasis in South India. Devadasis means Temple
dancers. This dance form contains 64 principles. The dance syllables are popularly known
as BOLS.
KATHAK: It is confined to North India.
KATHAKALI: KERALA. Its a most scientific and elaborately defined dance form of
Kerala.
MANIPURI: MANIPUR
ODISSI : ORISSA
KUCHIPUDI: ANDHRA PRADESH
MOHINIATTAM : KERALA
TAMILNADU : Kollattam (Folk)
ASSAM: BIHU (folk)
PUNJAB: GIDDHA (WOMEN FOLK)
PUNJAB: BHANGRA (MEN FOLK)
*********
BOOKS:
1. ARTHSHASTRA
KAUTILYA
2. MAHABHASYA
PATANJALI
3. SWAPNA VASAVADATTA BHASA
4. NATYA SASTRA
BHARATA
5. ABIGYAN SHAKUNTALA KALLIDASA
6. MRICHCHAKATIKA
SUDRA
7. RATNAVALI
HARSHA
8. MAHAVIRA CHARITRA BHAVABHUTI
9. UTTARAMA CHARITA
BHAVABHUTI
10. MATTAVILASA
MAHENDRA VIKRAM PALLAVA
11. SANGEETA RATNAKAR SARANGADEVA
The National School of Drama was founded in 1959.
INSTRUMENTALISTS:
1.
VIOLIN
GAJANA RAO JOSHI.
2.
FLUTE
HARIPRASAD CHAURASIA
3.
TABLA
ZAKIR HUSSAIN
4.
VEENA
DORAISWAMY IYENGAR
5.
SAROD
BUDDADEV DASGUPTA
6.
SITAR
PANDIT RAVI SHANKAR
7.
SANTOOR SHIV KUMAR SHARMA
8.
SHEHNAI BISMILLA KHAN
9.
MRIDANGAM
KARAIKUDI MANI
10.
NADASWARAM
NEERUSWAMY PILLAI

PAINTING:
AJANTA paintings belong to 1st century to 8th Century AD. These are associated with the life
History of the Buddha and the Jataka stories.
MUGHAL paintings reached climax during Jahangirs time. Jahangirs court was patronized
by Bishan Das, Murad, Mansur, Bahzad, and Aga Raza.
EUROPEAN STYLE: Raja Ravi Verma of Kerala distinguished himself in this style of
paintings.
The modern paintings in India were pioneered by Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and
Rabindranath Tagore.
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CULTURAL INISTITUTIONS
LALIT KALA ACADEMY: It is the National Academy of Fine Arts. It was Established in
1954 in New Delhi.
SANGEETH NATAK ACADEMY: It is the National Academy of Music, Dance and
Drama. Established in the year 1952 in New Delhi.
NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DRAMA: set up in 1959 in New Delhi.
SAHITYA ACADEMY: Established in 1954 in New Delhi.
*********
OTHER INSTITUTIONS:
ACHAELOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA: ESTABLISHED in 1861 in NEW DELHI.
ASIATIC SOCIETY: It was established in 1784 at Calcutta by Sir William Jones.
Anthropological Survey of India: Set up in 1945 at Calcutta.
National Achieves of India: Set up in 1981 in New Delhi.
*********
PRECEDENCE IN ADMINISTRATION:
1.
President
2.
Vice President
3.
Prime Minister
4.
Governors of states within their respective states.
5.
Former Presidents.
6.
Chief Justice of India.
*********
INDIAs FIRST AND LAST:
First Governor-General of Bengal (1772-1785) Warren Hastings
Last Governor-General of Bengal
Lord William Bentinck (18281833)
GOVERNOR-GENERAL of Bengal became the GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA.
First Governor-General of India (1833-35)

-Lord William Bentinck.

Last Governor-General of India (1856-1858_

- Lord Canning

GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA REDESIGNATED AS GOVERNOR-GENERAL

and VICEROY of INDIA.
First Viceroy

- Lord Canning

Last Viceroy

- Lord Mountbatten

GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIAN UNION

First G-G

Lord Mountbatten

Last G-G

C.Rajagopalachari

PRESIDENTS
First President

(1950-1962)

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

He is the only president who got elected to the office for two times.
Present President (2007- till date
VICE PRESIDENTS

First Vice President (1952-1962)

Smt. Pratibha Patil

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan

He is the only Vice President who got elected to the office for two times
Present Vice President (2007- till date)

Md. Hamid Ansari

First Prime Minister (1947-1964)

Jawaharlal Nehru

Present Prime Minister (2004 till date

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Sardar Patel

PRIME MINISTERS OF INDIA

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTERS

First Deputy Prime Minister (1947-1950)
Last Deputy PM (2002-2004)

LK Advani

FINANCE MINISTERS:
First FM (1947-1949)

RK SHANMUKHAM SHETTY

Present FM (2009 till date)

Pranab Mukharjee

First speaker (1947-1959)

GV Mavalankar

Present speaker (2009- till date)

Meira Kumar

SPEAKERS:

(She is the first women speaker of Lok Sabha).

CHIEF JUSTICES OF INDIA:

 First CJI (1950-51)

Harilal Kania

Present CJI (2010- till date)

SH KAPADIA

CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS:

First CEC (1950-58)

Sukumar sen

Present CEC (2010 till date)

S Y Quereshi

CHAIRMEN OF UPSC:
Present Chairman

DP Agarwal

COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERALS

First CAG (1948-1954)

V. Narahari Rao

Present CAG (2008 till date)

Vinod Rai

ATTORNEY-GENERALS OF INDIA
First A-G (1950-63)

MC. Setalvad

Present A-G (Jun 2009 till date)

G E Vahanavati

GOVERNORS OF RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

Set up in the year 1935.
First Governor (1935-1937)

Sir Osborne Smith

(1943- 1949)

Sir C D Deshmuk

Present Governor (2008 till date)

Dr. Duvvuri Subba Rao

Press Trust of India (PTI) founded in 1947 in Bombay, to provide unbiased

news to all subscribers.
1.

Do you know? Orissa has the distinction of publishing news papers in 18 out
of 23 languages (22 languages plus English).
2.

The largest number of news papers and periodicals registered in any Indian
language is Hindi.
3.

UP has the distinction largest number of registered news papers in India.

NEWS PAPER
COUNTRY
4.

The SUN

Britain

The Mirror

Britain

 DAWN

The Times

Pakistan
-

Britain

New Statesman

Britain

The New York Times

USA

PRAVDA

Russia

Red Flag

China

*********
THE SOLAR SYSTEM and few more facts:
The rotation of the Sun as seen from the Earth. At the poles it is more than the equator. At the
equator it is 25.38 days and at poles it is 33 days.
The Chemical composition of the Sun is 71% Hydrogen, 26.5% Helium and other elements
2.5%.
The age is about 5 billion years.
The nearest planet to the Sun is Mercury 58 million kms.
The farthest planet to the Sun is Neptune 4497 million kms.
The distance of Earth from Sun is 150 million Km.
The planet with highest diameter is Jupiter with 1, 41,968 km. It is next to Sun with 13, 84,000
km.
Mercury has the lowest diameter with 4850 km.
The Earth has only one satellite i.e. Moon.
Jupiter has of 63 satellites. This is the highest for any planet.
The planets Mercury and Venus have no satellites.
On August 24, 2006 Pluto was declared as a dwarf planet. It lost its seven decade status
as the ninth and the outermost planet.
The Pluto was discovered in 1930 by the American Clyde Tom Baugh.
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EARTH
Escape Velocity is the speed necessary to break away from the Earth into outer space. It is 11
km per second.
Speed of the rockets is 8 km per second. This is the velocity required to counter the Earths
gravity to rise up to the atmosphere.
The highest component in the Earth is Iron (35%) and lowest is Aluminum (0.4%).
Period of rotation of earth on its own axis is 23 hours 56 m. 4.09 sec.
Period of revolution of Earth round the Sun is 365 days 5 hrs 48 m 45.51 sec.
Area of water surface on the Earth is 70.9%.
Asia is the biggest continent and it has 29.5% in the earths area.
Approximately 3879 million populations live in Asia.
Antarctica is an uninhabited area and it occupies 9.6% of the earths area.
Lowest population lives in Australia. 32 million people live in Australia.

 Area wise Australia is the lowest with only 5.2% of the earths area.
Highest point on the Earth is Everest with 8848 meters.
Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean.
Greatest depth location is Mariana trench in Pacific.
Russia is the biggest country in area wise.
India is the 7th biggest country area wise.
China is the biggest country population wise.
India is the second biggest country population wise.
Vatican City is the smallest country (0.44 sq km) with respect to area and population.
Highest volcano Ojos del salado 6885 meters. It is in Andes mountain range. It is in
Argentina and Chile.
Largest desert is Sahara.
Deepest cave Reseau du Foillis, in France.
Greenland is the largest islands.
South-china Sea is the largest sea. Largest ocean is pacific.
Longest river is Nile, Africa.
Deepest point is Challenger deep in Mariana Trench.
Highest waterfalls are ANGEL is in Venezuela.
The biggest deltas is Ganges-Brahmaputra in Bangladesh.
China has most land borders. It has borders with 14 countries.
India has borders with 7 countries.
The Tallest statue is USHIKU DAIBUTSU in Japan.
The Worlds longest mountains in the World Andes present in South America. This passes
through the west coast of South America. The range is about 7000 km. This runs through 7
countries. Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. (The highest
peak in Andes is Mt. Aconcagua of 6963 m. This is in Argentina).
*****************
WITH REFERENCE TO INDIA:
The highest mountain peak K2 (Mount Godwin Austen) 8611 meters. It is in Pak-occupied
Kashmir.
Kanchenjunga 8598 meters.
Kuttanadu in the district of Alappuzha in Kerala is the region with lowest region in India. (The
farming is carried below the sea level).
Longest river is Ganga 2510 km.
Longest river in South India is Godavari 1465 km.
Highest population is in Mumbai.
Hindus constitute 80.44% in India.
India has longest border with Bangladesh. (4097 km).
India has lowest border with Afghanistan. (80 km).
Most literate district in India is AIZAWL in Mizoram.
The district with highest sex ratio is Mahe in Pondicherry.

 Highest hill station in India Gulbarga in Jammu and Kashmir. 2250 meters.
*****************
Golden Quadrilateral project:
The Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting India's four largest metropolitan
cities. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, thus forming a quadrilateral of sorts.
The largest highway project in India, initiated by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, it is the first phase of
the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), and consists of building 5,846 km of
four/six lane express highways at a cost of 60,000 crore.
As of 31 October 2010, 5,806 km of the entire work has been completed and work on
remaining 40 km is under progress.
Only National Highways are used in the Golden Quadrilateral. The four legs use the following
National Highways:
Delhi Kolkata: NH 2
Delhi Mumbai: NH 8 (Delhi Kishangarh), NH 79A (Ajmer bypass), NH 79 (Nasirabad
Chittaurgarh), NH 76 (Chittaurgarh Udaipur), NH 8 (Udaipur Mumbai)
Mumbai Chennai: NH 4 (Mumbai Bangalore), NH 7 (Bangalore Krishnagiri), NH
46 (Krishnagiri Ranipet), NH 4 (Ranipet Chennai)
Kolkata Chennai: NH 6 (Kolkata Kharagpur), NH 60 (Kharagpur Balasore), NH
5 (Balasore Chennai)
**************
UNO (UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION):
UNO officially came into existence on October 24, 1945.
The declaration was signed in 1942 in San Francisco.
Every year October 24 is celebrated as UN day.
193 countries are the members in UNO.
193rd country is the South Sudan (2011).
UN has 6 official languages. Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Arabic.
Arabic was added in the year 1973 by the General Assembly.
New countries will be admitted by the General Assembly after the recommendation by the
Security Council.
India became a member of UNO on October 30, 1945.
The UN has six important wings. The General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat,
the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council and the International Court of
Justice.
***************
GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
It is like a world Parliament.
The members of UN form General Assembly.
Meets once in a year.
SECURITY COUNCIL:

 Five Permanent members. USA, Britain, France, Russia and China.

10 Non permanent members elected every 2 years by the General Assembly.
Permanent 5 members have the veto power.
(For more details please read GKBASICS.COM / CURRENT AFFAIRS).
*********
SECRETARIATE:
Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of Security
Council.
Secretary-General Tenure 5 years.
The Secretary-General is eligible for reelection.
First Secretary-general was Trygve Lie of Norway from 1946-53.
Present Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea 2007 to till date.
*********
HEADQUARTERS:
The General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, Trusteeship Council and Economic and
Social Council -------------NEW YORK.
International Court of Justice Hague, Netherlands. (15 Judges)
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) set up in 1946
in Paris.
World Health Organization set up in 1948 in Geneva.
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 1945 in Rome.
World Trade organization set up in Geneva in 1995.
International Maritime Organization set up in London in the year 1948.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) set up in the year 1957 in Vienna.
World Bank set up in the year 1945 in Washington.
10 International Labour Organization (ILO) was set up in the year 1946 in Geneva.
International Monetary Fund (IMF), 1945 at Washington.
International Telecommunications satellite Organization (INTELSAT) 1964, Washington.
*********
UNO INTERNATIONAL DECADES:
2001 2010 International Decade for a Culture of peace and non-violence for the children of
the world.
2003-2012 UN literacy decade: Education for all.
2005-2015 International decade for Action: Water for life.
2008-2017 Second decade for eradication of poverty
2010-2020 UN decade for deserts and the fight against desertification
*********
UNO INTERNATIONAL YEARS:
World Population Year
1974.
International womens year
1975
International year of Children
1979

 World communication year

1983
International Literacy Year
1990
International Space Year
1992
International year of Languages and Planet Earth
2008.
International Year of Reconciliation, National Fibers and Year of Astronomy -2009.
***************
IAU (INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION)
The IAU was founded in the year 1919.
Head Quarters Paris, France.
Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through
international cooperation.
The long-term policy of the IAU is defined by the General Assembly.
The policies are implemented by the Executive Committee.
There are 70 National members in IAU. India is a member in IAU.
*********
NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT (NAM):
It is a group of 118 developing countries.
1955 a conference was held in Bandung in Indonesia. Founded in 1955. NAM officially cane
into operations in the year 1961.
15th summit was be held in 2009 in SHARM EI SHEIK (EGYPT) from July 11-16.
********
THE COMMENWEALTH:
Formed in the year 1926.
India hosted a meeting in the year 1983.
2009 meeting is in Trinidad and Tobago (Port of Spain).
2011 summit will be in Colombo (Sri Lanka)
************
EU (EUROPEAN UNION):
Established in the year 1993.
Head Quarters Brussels (Belgium).
Bulgaria and Romania joined in the year 2007.
Presently there are 27 countries.
**************
SAARC (SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FO RREGIONAL COOPERATION )
SAARC formed in the year 1985, at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Headquarters KATHMANDU, Nepal.
Originally only 7 members and in the year 2007 Afghanistan has been admitted. At present
the number is 8 countries.

 2008 summit was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It declared 2008 as Year of Good
Governance.
2009 summit is in Male, Maldives. 2009 is the year to Fight Terrorism.
2001 2010 declared as SAARC Decade of the Rights of the Child.
2006-20015 SAARC Decade of Poverty Alleviation.
2010 summit was held in Timphu, Bhutan.
The 17th SAARC Summit was held in Addu City (Maldives) in November 2011.
The theme of the summit is Building Bridges.
The summit was held for the 1st time south of the equator in Addu City on one of the southernmost islands in Maldives.
The summit finalizes 4 agreements. 2 on regional standards, one to establish a rapid response
mechanism to deal with natural disasters and the other to establish a SAARC seed bank.
Mahindra Rajapaksa (The President of Sri Lanka) is the present chairman.
Sheel Kant Sharma is the present Secretary-General.
*********
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Asian Development Bank (ADB)
-1966
-Manila (Philippines)
Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) -1967
-Jakarta (Indonesia)
European Space Research Organization -1964
Paris (France)
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOLE) 1923Lyons (France)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - 1949
- Brussels (Belgium)
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)- Vienna, Australia.
G-8 (1985) initially it was G-7, Russia Joined in the year 1998. All are most industrialized
nations.
G-77 1964
- Developing Countries.
D-8, Developing 8. India is not a member.
***********
NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFIRATION TREATY (NPT)
First signed in the year 1968 came into force in the year 1970.
India has not signed the NPT protesting against discriminatory nature.
*********
COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY (CTBT)
1996, UN General Assembly approved the CTBT.
India voted against it.
*********
PANCHASHEEL
Signed in the year 1954 in New Delhi.
Signed between India and China by the PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Chou-en-Lai.
*********
MONTREAL PROTOCOL
Signed in 1987 in Montreal (Canada).
To prevent further depletion of Ozone layer.

*********
KYOTO PROTOCAL
1 Signed in Kyoto (Japan), 2005.
It requires industrialized countries to reduce their emission of Carbon dioxide and other green
house gases.
NOTE: Green House gases water vapour, Methane, Nitrous oxide, ozone and Chloro floro
carbons
India signed and ratified in the year 2002.
USA has not ratified.
***********
BOUNDARY LINES:
Radcliff line
India and Pakistan
McMahon
India and China
th
49 parallel
USA and Canada
th
38 parallel
South Korea and North Korea
Durand Line
India and Afghanistan
th
24 parallel
India and Pakistan
**********
BHUDDISM
Founded in the year 525 BC by Gautama Buddha (Siddhartha).
Vihara means Temple.
Sacred books related to Buddhism are Tripitakas also called Sutras.
Tripitakas (Sutta Piatika, Vinaya Pitaka and Abhidamma pitaka).
Buddha was born in Lumbini in Nepal.
He received enlightnment in Bodh Gaya in Bihar.
Attained Nirvana in Kushinagara in UP.
CHRISTIANITY
Founded by Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth)
Sacred book Bible.
Highest numbers of people in the World belong to this religion.
Christ lived and preached in Jerusalem.
*********
HINDUISM
Founded by Aryan Invaders.
Sacred books Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata, and Ramayana.
*********
ISLAM
Founded by Prophet Mohammad.
Prophet was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Sacred book Quran. God delivered to the Prophet by the angle Gabriel.

Judaism
- Sacred book
Torah
Shintoism
No specific sacred book
Skims Guru Nanak
Sacred Book
Guru Grant sahib
Taoism
-Sacred book

Tao-te-Ching
Zoroastrianism (Fire Temple) Zend Avesta
Majority of the people in the world speak Chinese, Mandarin followed by Spanish and
English.
*********
NATIONAL DAYS
1. National Science Day
February 28
2. International womens Day
March 8
3. World Meteorological Day
March 23
4. World Health Day
April 7
5. World Heritage Day
April 18
6. Earth Day
April 22
7. International Labour Day
May 1
8. World Red Cross Day
May 8
9. World Telecommunication Day
May 17
10. No (Anti) Tobacco Day
May 31
11. World Environment Day
June 5
12. World Population day
July 11
13. Teachers Day
September 5
14. World Literacy Day
September 8
15. World Ozone Day
September 16
16. World Tourism Day
September 27
17. World Post Office Day
October 9
18. National Post Day
October 10
19. World AIDS day
December 1
20. Human Rights Day
December 10
********
MISCELLANEOUS
The largest archipelago (group of islands) in the world is Indonesia.
The largest dam in the world Three Gorges dam in China.
The largest island is the Greenland.
The largest salt water lake is Caspian Sea.
The largest mountain range is Andes (South America).
The largest Railway platform is Kharagpur in West Bengal.
The largest temple is Angkor Vat in Kampuchea.
The country with largest electorate (number of voters) is India.
The largest bird Ostrich.
The largest creature Blue Whale.

 The largest delta Sunder bans.

Gulf of Mexico is the largest gulf.
Etosha Reserve (Africa) is the largest Zoo.
Jama Masjid is the largest Mosque in the world.
The tallest animal Giraffe.
Highest rain fall is in Cherrapunji in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.
The brightest star is Sirius (Dog Star).
Fastest bird Swift.
The largest Public sector bank in India is State Bank of India.
The highest waterfall in India is the jog falls in India.
*********
IMPORTANT PERSONS
Subash Chandra Bose
Netaji
Abdul Gaffar Khan
Frontier Gandhi, Badshah Khan
Madan Mohan Malaviya
Mahamana
Mahatma Gandhi
Bapu, Father of the nation
Lala Lajapathi Rai
Punjab kesari
Rabindranath Tagore
Gurudev
Rajinder Singh
Sparrow
Sheik Mujibur Rahman
Bangabandhu
Jaya Prakash Narayana
Loknayak
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Man of peace
Dadabhai Narorji
Grand Old Man of India
Chittaranjan Das
Deshabandu
C F Andrews
Deenabandu
C Rajagopala Chari
Rajaji
Annadurai
Anna
Adolf Hitler
Fuehrer
*******
NEW 7 WONDERS IN THE WORLD
New Seven wonders foundation is a Swiss based non-profit organization conducted a
worldwide poll. This was conducted by Bernard Weber Swiss adventurer.
1. Taj Mahal
India
2. Roman Colosseum
Italy
3. Pyramid of Chichen Itza
Mexico
4. Machu pichu
Peru
5. Christ the redeemer
Brazil
6. Petra
Jordan
7. Great Wall of China
China
In the year 2007, Red Fort Delhi and in the year 2008 Kalka-Shimla railway in
Himachal Pradesh were included in the UNESCOs list of World Heritage sites.

===========================================================
FIRSTs
First Chinese pilgrim to visit India
Fahein
First Governor-General of Pakistan
-Mohammad Ali Jinnah
First to climb Everest
Tensing Norgay and Edmund Hillary
First to step on the MoonNeil Armstrong followed by Edwin Aldrin
First President of USA
George Washington
First lamb created using DNA from a sheep
Dolly
Worlds first cloned Human Baby
EVE
First women cosmonaut
Valentina Tereshkova
First woman Prime Minister of a Country
-Mrs. Sirimavo Bandarnaike
First woman President of a country
-Maria Estela Peron (Argentina)
First Indian to get Oscar award
-Bhanu Athaiya
First Talkie Film
-Alam Ara
First test Tube Baby
Indira Baby Harsha
First Woman Central Minister
Rajkumari Amrut Kaur
First Woman CM of a state
Mrs. Sucheta Kripalani
First woman Governor
Mrs. Sarojini Naidu
First woman Minister of a state
Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
First women to Climb Everest
Bachendri Pal
First Science city
Kolkata
First silent Movie
- Raja Harish Chandra
First News paper
-Bengal Gazette
First Telegraph line installed between
Diamond Harbour and Kolkata
First Indian in the British Parliament
- Dadabhai Narorji
First Indian woman to go to space
- Kalpana Chawla
*********
OLYMPIC GAMES
First held in 776 BC by Greeks.
Revived and conducted in the modern times in the year 1896 for the first time in Athens,
Greece.
Summer Olympics -2008 - Beijing, China
Summer Olympics- 2012 - London
First winter Olympics 1924 - Chamonix. France.
Winter Olympics
-2006 - Turin, Italy.
Winter Olympics
-2010 - Vancouver, Canada
Indias won the first gold medal in Hockey in the year 1928.
In the year 2008 Abhinav Bindra won gold medal in Mens shooting 10 m air rifle.
India officially participated in the sixth Olympic Games in the year 1920 in Antwerp,
Belgium.
********* President of IOC Jacques Rogge, Belgium***************

COMMON WEALTH GAMES

First
- 1930 Hamilton, Canada
th
18
- 2006 Melbourne, Australia
th
19
- 2010 New Delhi
th
20
- 2014 Glasgow, Scotland
ASIAN GAMES
First
- 1951 New Delhi
th
15
- 2006 Doha, Qatar
th
16
- 2010 Guangzhou, China
th
17
- 2014 Inch eon, South Korea
SOUTH ASIAN FEDERATION GAMES (SAF)
1st
1984 - Kathmandu, Nepal
th
10
2006- Colombo
th
11
2008 Dhaka, Bangladesh
2010 games were held in Dhaka.

2012 and 2014 will be in New Delhi and Kathmandu respectively

********
BANKS AND NATIONALIZATION
SBI (State Bank of India):
SBI is the largest state-owned banking in India.
The government of India nationalized the Imperial Bank of India in 1955, with the Reserve
Bank of India taking a 60% stake, and renamed it the State Bank of India.
In 2008, the government took over the stake held by the Reserve Bank of India.
The Bank of Calcutta, later renamed the Bank of Bengal, was established on 2 June.
The Bank of Bombay established on April 15, 1840.
The Bank of Madras established on July 1, 1843.
These banks amalgamated on 27 January 1921, and formed into Imperial Bank of India.
Imperial Bank of India renamed to SBI.
SBI has five associate banks:

State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur

State Bank of Hyderabad
State Bank of Mysore
State Bank of Patiala
State Bank of Travancore
State Bank of Saurashtra - merged with SBI in 2008.
State Bank of Indore- merged with SBI in 2010.
14 banks were nationalized in the year 1969.

6 more banks were nationalized in the year 1980.

In the year 1993, the government merged New Bank of India with Punjab National Bank.
In early 1990s the Narasimham committee recommended the entry of private banks into the
banking sector.
Global Trust Bank (GTB) was the first private bank to set up.
Later GTB amalgamated with the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).
********
FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry):
FICCI was established in the year 1927.
The headquarters located in New Delhi.
This is an association of business organizations in India.
FICCI was established On the advice of Mahatma Gandhi FICCI was founded by GD
Birla and Purushottam Takkur.
FICCI is also the permanent Indian host of the Global India Business Meeting.
The current President is Harsh C. Mariwala ( Chairman and Managing Director of FICCI).
**********
PARAM-800 (Parallel Machine) is the first Super Computer in India. This is developed by CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) in the year 1991.
(KASEZ) KANDLA SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONE is the first SEZ in India. This was set up
in the year 1965. It is also the first SEZ in ASIA. This is the largest multi-product in India.
The BSE (Bombay Stock exchange) is the oldest stock exchange in India. This was set up in
the year 1875 as The Native Share and Stock Brokers Association. BSE is also the oldest
stock exchange in the country. BSE obtained permanent recognition in the year 1956. This is
located in Mumbai.
Suman Sharma is the first woman in the World to fly Russian MIG-35 fight Jet.
**********
CBFC (Central Board For Film certification):
CBFC was established in the year 1952.
Head Quarters located in Mumbai.
CBFC is popularly known as Censor Board.
This functions under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
This is a regulatory body.
The films can be publicly exhibited in India only after the certification by CBFC.
The term of the chairman is 2 years. Same person can be reappointed.
The current chairperson is Leela Samson (April 1, 2001 - ...).
Leela Samson is a noted Bharatanatyam Dancer.
Prior to her appointment as the Chairperson of CBFC she Chairperson of Sangeet Natak
Academy (Indias National Academy for Music Dance and Drama).
Leela Samson replaced Sharmila Tagore.

*********
CABE (CENTRAL ADVISORY BOARD OF EDUCATION):
This is the highest decision making body on education in the country.
Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal is the Chairman of the Central
Advisory Board of Education. (As on June 8, 2011).
*********

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

The Nuclear power is produced by controlled nuclear reactions.
The plants use nuclear fission reactions to heat water to
produce steam which is then utilizes to generate electricity.
Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant of USSR is the first nuclear
power plant in the World. It was set up on January 27, 1954.
TAPS (Tarapur Atomoc Power Plant), Maharasthra is the first
nuclear power plant in India. This went operational in 1969.
The Nuclear Accident of Chernobyl occurred on April 26,
1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.
It is the worst nuclear power plant accident in the World.
This is considered to be the level 7 on the INES (International
Nuclear and radiological Event Scale).
The INES was introduced in the year 1990 by IAEA
(International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna).
There are 0 to 7 levels. Each level is considered to be 10 times
more severe than the previous level.
The level 7 is considered to be the major accident
(Chernobyl).
AERB (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) was constituted by
the President of India in the year 1983. Head Quarters
Mumbai. Current Chairman is S S Bajaj.
NPCIL (Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd) works under
Department of Atomic Energy. This is set up in the year 1987.
The current Chairman is S K Jain.
NPCIL objective is to implement the atomic power projects for
generation of electricity.
The first AHWR (Advanced Heavy Water Reactor) is
developed by NPCIL in the year 2011. This is under the
consideration of AERB. This reactor is meant for Thorium
utilization.
Thorium was discovered by Jakob Berzelius in the year 1928.
In nature Thorium occurs as Thorium-232. This is estimated to
be 3 to 4 times more abundant than Uranium in the earth

crust.
India has about 25% of the World Thorium reserves.
Indias Kakrapar-1 reactor is the Worlds first reactor which
uses Thorium rather than depleted Uranium.
The KAPS (Kakrapar Atomic Power Station is located in
Gujarat).
At present KAPS using PHWR (Pressurized Heavy Water
Reactors).

Fastest Trains in the World: (Source: The Hindu)

TGV (France). This travels at a speed of 300 km/h.
ICE 3 (Germany). 320 km/h.
Shinkansen (Japan). 330 km/h.
Siemens Velaro (Germany) 350 km/h.
CRH380 (China). 380 km/h.
The latest one is Chinas CRH380. This travels between
Beijing and Shanghai. The time is 4 hours 48 minutes.
Previously it used to take 10 hrs.