World Records from India - III

Largest Ginger Producer
2.35 lakhs tonnes

Largest Mint Oil Producer
12,000 tonnes of mint oil and exported 8,000 tonnes

Largest Suger producer
80 lakh tonnes of sugar in 1999-2000

Largest Tea producer
8,16,060 tonnes in 1999-2000

Largest production of Jute & Allied Fibres
20.9 lakh tonnes India contributed 62.8% of global

Pedal-Operated Rice Mill
Suredranath Singh of Manipur Science & Technological Council, imphal developed a pedal-operated rice mill with an output capacity of 10 kg/hr in August.

Largest Cattle Plague
India shares 15.7% or 20.9 crore cattle head out of a 133.4-crore population world over

Largest Buffalo Population
India shares 9.2 crore or 55.1% of the total buffalo heads globally

Largest producer of milk Products
India is the largest producer of milk products with production of milk powder alone touching 1,75,000 tonnes per year

Highest Motorable Road
Khardung-la road in theLeh-Manali sectored was constructed by the Border Roads organisation at an altitude of 5,682 m (18,383 ft)

Highest Filling Station
The filling station at Kaza, Spiti Valley, is situated at 13,500 ft. The Indian Oil Corporation also operated a petrol pump at leh, Ladhak, at 12,000 ft.

Largest Bus Terminus
Imlibun bus terminus of APSRTC at Hyderabad was inaugrated on Augest 11,1994.

First 4-stroke scooter
Legend, a four-stroke 150 cc 9 hp scooter from Bajaj Auto Ltd, pune, was launched on July 25, 1998

Largest Employer
Indian Railway employs 15.78 lakh people, the largest by any single organisation.

Highest Passenger Earnings
The Mumbai suburban railway system carries 59 lakh passengers a day, the higest in the world when compared to track length. About 1,077 suburban trains run every day on a track length of just 288 km.

Longest Covered Platform
Two of the platform at Sealdah station, Calcutta-1,000 ft each in length and over 28 ft in width-have 550 ft long covering sheds over six lines of rail.

Longest Platform
The railway platform at Kharagpur in West Bengal is 833 m (2,733 ft) long

World Records from India - II

Largest Producer of Pulses
India produced 161 lakh tonne pulses in 1999

Largest producer of Millets
India produced 80.96 lakh tonnes of millet in 1999.

Largest Producer of Dry Beans
India produced 45.5 lakh tonnes of dry beans in .

Largest producer of chickpease
India produced 67 lakh tonnes of chickpea in 1999.

Largest Producer of Caster Seeds
India produced 8.42 lakh tonnes of caster seeds out of 7.13 lakh in 1999

Largest Cauliflower producer
India produced 52,00,000 tonnes of cauliflower in 1999.

Highest Production of mango
India ranked first in the production of mangoes in 1999 with 120 lakh tones.

Largest producer of bananas
India produced 110 lakh tonnes of bananas in 1999

Largest Spice producer
India produced 26 lakh tonnes of spices out of 23 lakh ha during 1998-99.

Global Supplier of Spices
India accounts for one-fourth of the global trade in spices and herbs, estimated at 5,00,000 tonnes worth US $150 crore

Largest producer of Chilli
India produces 9.46 lakh tonnes globally. I

Hottest Chilli
The world's hottest chilli grows in India. Tezpur chilli, named after the place annually.

Land of Black Pepper
With an output of 57,000 tonnes of pepper, India accounted for 24.7% of global production in 1999.

Largest Cardamom Production
India registered an output of 7,170 tonnes during 1998-99

Largest Turmeric Production
India produced 5.43 lakh tonnes of turmeric

Most Expensive Spice
Domestic market price for saffron, a spice commonly found in J&K, touched Rs34,500 per kg in Oct.1999 while in the international market it was priced at US $ 365 per pound .

World Records from India - I

Largest vegetarian population
About 20%Indians are practising vegetarians. There are 744 vegetarian communities.

Largest producer of cashew
India accounts for 42% of the world's total cashew nut production (9.25 lakh tonnes).

Tallest Brinjal plant
Abdul Masfoor of Hunsur, Mysore, has a 20 feet tall brinjal plant in his garden.

First on world's highest road
The J&K State Road Transport Corporation operated the first vehicle across Khardung La Pass at 18,380 ft. in 1962.

Mobile Hospital
Jeevan Rekha or Lifeline Express, the first full-fledged hospital on wheels, was flagged off from Mumbai on July 16, 1991.

Highest airport
Leh Airport in Ladakh at a height of 3,256 m(10,680 ft) is the highest non-military airport.

Longest corridor
The corridor in the Ramanathswamy temple at Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, is 1,220m (4,002 ft) long.

Longest canal
Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana(IGNP) canal at Rajasthan is 649 km.long.

Largest chandeliers
The Durbar Hall of the Gwalior royal palace has a pair of chandeliers, 42ft.height and weighing three tonnes each.

Longest constitution
The Constitution of India contains 395 Articles and 12 schedules.

Largest constituency
By voter strength: Outer Delhi has 28,80,872 votes.

Party with most votes
Riding a sympathy wave after the assassination of Indira Gandhi Congress (1)secured a record 11,52,21,078 votes and won 412 out of the 513 parliamentary seats.

Longest press conference
V.P.Singh's second press conference on July 20, 1990 lasted two-and a-half hours.

First fingerprint bureau
The world's first fingerprint bureau was set up in Calcutta in June 1897.

Most runs in a day
In the Manchester Test between England and India on July 27, 1936, England scored 398 and India 190 to record an aggregate of 588 for the loss of only six wickets at a rate of over 90 runs per hour in six-and a-half hours.

Most 1000+runs in a calender year
Sunil Gavaskar made 1024 runs in 11 tests in 1976; 1944 runs in nine Tests in 1978; 1,555 runs in 18 Tests in 1979; and 1,310 runs in 18 Tests in 1983.

Fastest double century
Ravi Shastri made 200 not out in 113 minutes for Bombay against Baroda at Mumbai in 1984-85.

Maximum overs (match)
C.S.Nayudu bowled 152.5 overs in the Holkar vs Bombay match in 1944. His analysis: 152.5-25-428-11. Broken up: 64-5-10-153-6 and 88-15-275-5.

First woman to swim the Straits of Gibraltar
Aarti Pradhan (then 17) swam the 30 km Straits on August 29, 1988 in 7 hr 17 min.

Theme Sari
A sari designed and woven in 1998 by Rmk, a silk sari store of Tirunelveli, depicted 33 different designs using Bharata Natyam abhinayas(postures)

Pulling with teeth
Punjab Police ASI Narinder Singh of Nawanpind, Akalgarh (Phagwara) pulled a 150 tonne diesel engine with his teeth for 8.50 m at the Old Delhi railway station on Jan 2,1994.

Oldest Record For Rice Cultivation
The records of rice 'domestication' have been found at Neolithic sites (pre-7000 B.C) at Koldhiwa, Mahagara in Allahbad dist.;Manigara and Baraunha in Mirzapur dist.; Sohgaura in gorakhpur dist.; and Lahura Deva in Basti dist.

Highest Wheat Yield
India recorded a yield of about 2,781 kg/ha in 1999-2000

Swami Vivekananda on India

Civilizations have arisen in other parts of the world. In ancient and modern times, wonderful ideas have been carried forward from one race to another...But mark you, my friends, it has been always with the blast of war trumpets and the march of embattled cohorts.

Each idea had to be soaked in a deluge of blood..... Each word of power had to be followed by the groans of millions, by the wails of orphans, by the tears of widows. This, many other nations have taught; but India for thousands of years peacefully existed.

Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist... Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it.

We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is on our head, and therefore we live...."

Unique India

Upnishads says, 'Yatr vishvam bhavati eknidam' which means where the world becomes one nest. It seems it was written keeping India in mind.

If we say that at one time India is living in differnt centuries it won't be wrong. India encompasses of variety of cultures, traditions, festivals, seasons and food habits . But still there is something that bonds India in one thread. It is the swirling feeling for the country amongst all the citizens which brings 'Unity in diversity'.

India is a country any foreigner should experience to understand it. Starting from bullock carts to e-mail, you will find anything and everything. And everything has got its own amazing beauty and importance.

On one hand you will experience the pollution and chaos of metropolitan city like Mumbai but on the other hand you will experience the tranquility and serenity of Himalayas.

In food if rice is the staple food in the south, it is wheat in the north. Idli and kababs, samosa and curry, chole and bhakri and of course the famous tandoori chicken....India's gift to the world's kitchen. Which proves variety is, indeed, the spice of life.

The different shades of India may shock you, stun you, or move you but one thing is for sure that it will touch the bottom of your heart. The diversity which comprises of Ramayana and Mahabharata, celebrating Ganesh festival and Navratri, ancient high profile festivals at Khajuraho and Konark, Peacocks dance in Rajasthan and beautiful snowfall in Shimla, Pushkar and Kumbha mela, Lovely Taj Mahal and mind blowing Ramoji film city of Hyderabad and the journey goes on and on and on..... Infact India is a small world in the world.

Few facts to make every Indian proud

• Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems is an Indian.
  
  
• Vinod Dahm, creator of Pentium chip is an Indian.
  
  
• Sabeer Bhatia, founder and creator of Hotmail is an Indian.
  
  
• Arun Netravalli, president of AT & T-Bell Labs is an Indian.
  
  
• Rajiv Gupta, GM of Hewlett Packard is an Indian.
  
  
• Sanjay Tejwrika, new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000, responsible to iron out all initial problems is an Indian.
  
  
• Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart? were Indians.
  
  
• Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, evenfaring better than the whites and the natives.
  
  

Famous Quotes on India by Non Indians

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
- Albert Einstein

India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.
- Mark Twain

If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.
- Romain Rolland, French scholar

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.
- Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA

Where can we look for sages like those whose systems of philosophy were prototypes of those of Greece: to whose works Plato, Thales & Pythagorus were disciples? Where do I find astronomers whose knowledge of planetary systems yet excites wonder in Europe as well as the architects and sculptors whose works claim our admiration, and the musicians who could make the mind oscillate from joy to sorrow, from tears to smile with the change of modes and varied intonation?
- Colonel James Todd

India was the mother of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages. She was the mother of our philosophy, mother through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics, mother through Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity, mother through village communities of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.
- Will Durant

She [India] has left indelible imprints on one fourth of the human race in the course of a long succession of centuries. She has the right to reclaim ... her place amongst the great nations summarizing and symbolizing the spirit of humanity. From Persia to the Chinese sea, from the icy regions of Siberia to Islands of Java and Borneo, India has propagated her beliefs, her tales, and her civilization.
- Sylvia Levi

Interesting Facts

India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.

When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).

The number system was invented by an indian. Aryabhatta was the scientist who invented the digit zero.

Chess was invented in India.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies which originated in India.

The 'place value system' and the 'decimal system' were developed in 100 BC in India.

The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara temple at Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu, India. The shikhara is made from a single ' 80-tonne ' piece of granite. This magnificient temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.

India is the Largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest country in the world and one of the most ancient and living civilizations (at least 10, 000 years old).

The game of snakes & ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat.' The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. Later through time, the game underwent several modifications but the meaning is the same i.e good deeds take us to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.

The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after levelling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.

India has the most post offices in the world !

The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system, employing over a million people!
The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

Ayurveda of India is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The father of medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.

India was one of the richest countries till the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth and was looking for route to India when he discovered America by mistake.

The art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh 6000 over years ago. The very word 'Navigation' is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.

Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. His calculations was - Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: ( 5th century ) 365.258756484 days.

The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, which was long before the European mathematicians.

Algebra, trigonometry and calculus also orignated from India. Quadratic equations were used by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10*53 ( i.e 10 to the power of 53 ) with specific names as early as 5000 B.C. during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera: 10*12( 10 to the power of 12 ).

Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world. ( Source . Gemological Institute of America )

Sushruta is regarded as the father of surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones and also plastic surgery and brain surgeries.

Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

India exports software to more than 90 countries.

The four religions born in India - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.

There are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including the Muslim world.

The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.

The Vishnu Temple in the city of Tirupathi built in the 10th century, is the world's largest religious pilgrimage destination. Larger than either Rome or Mecca, an average of 50,000 visitors donate more than $6 million (US) to the temple everyday.

Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called "the Ancient City" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C., and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

Martial Arts were first created in India, and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.

Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.