As the nation celebrates Republic Day, DNA looks back at how India has crossed one milestone after another and made a mark in every sphere of life
August 18, 1951
First Indian Institute of Technology set up in Kharagpur.
Seven IITs namely Kharagpur, Chennai, Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Guwahati and Roorkee conceived by then PM Jawaharlal Nehru
1952
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav wins the bronze medal in wrestling (bantamweight, 57kg) category at the Helsinki Olympics.
It is independent India’s first individual Olympic medal
1951-52
An historic moment for India, after gaining independence in 1947, the first general elections are held in independent India
October 1951
Shyam Saran Negi becomes the first Indian to cast vote
1952
India launches family planning programme, the first among developing countries
1952
India wins its first ever cricket test match, defeating England in Madras (Chennai)
July 1, 1955
State Bank of India formed, becomes the first Indian bank to be nationalised
1955-56
HEC-2M, the first computer in the country is installed at Indian Statistical Institute in then Calcutta
August 4, 1956
India enters the nuclear age as Apsara, India’s first nuclear reactor goes into operation
1957
The Indian polo team wins the title at the World Polo Cup in France
1958
The first Hindustan Ambassador car is manufactured
September 15, 1959
Doordarshan’s transmission begins from a makeshift studio in Akashwani Bhavan in New Delhi
1960
Air India goes international with flight from Delhi to NY
1961
Indian Institutes of Management set up in Calcutta and Ahmedabad
November 21, 1963
India’s space programme begins in Trivandrum. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre is named after the father of Indian Space Programme
1963
Bhakra Nangal dam laid by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955 becomes operational
1964
First Indian mutual fund, Unit Scheme,1964 – US-64, is founded by UTI.
1966
Rita Faria, Femina Miss India is crowned Miss World, the first Indian to win the title
1968
The year marked the beginning of the Green Revolution
1968
India’s first meteorological rocket, Menaka, is launched at the Thumba Equatorial Rocket launching station in Kerala.
July 19, 1969
Indira Gandhi-led Congress government nationalises 14 commercial banks of the country
1969
India’s first Atomic Power Station at Tarapur becomes operational
April 19, 1975
First Indian satellite ‘Aryabhata’ launched into near earth orbit
June 07, 1979
India’s first remote sensing low orbit earth observation satellite, Bhaskaran 1, carrying TV and microwave cameras, launched by Russian launch vehicle Intercosmos
1980
India’s first credit card, Central Card, introduced by the Central Bank of India
1982
Bhanu Athaiya is first Indian to win an Oscar – best costume design (Gandhi)
June 25, 1983
India wins its first Cricket World Cup
August 30, 1983
Nation’s first multi-purpose communication and meteorology satellite, INSAT-IB, launched
1984
Soyuz T-11 with India’s first cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma returns to Earth
1984
First Metro Railway becomes operational in Kolkata
January 2, 1986
S&P BSE Sensex, India’s first equity index, launched
1987
First debit card issued, first ATM installed in Mumbai
July 24, 1991
India opens up its economy with major reforms
November 15, 1998
First liver transplant done on an 18-month-old child
May 26, 1999
IRS-P4 OCEANSAT, for Ocean applications, launched
July 10, 1992
INSAT-2A, first of India’s multipurpose satellites in INSAT second-generation series, launched. It carried out meteorological, communication, satellite based search & rescue functions
August 3, 1994
India’s first heart transplant successfully conducted on Devi Ram, diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, in a 59-minute procedure by a team of 20 surgeons led by Dr Venugopal at AIIMS, Delhi
October 15, 1994
First successful development launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), capable of launching satellites. It became a workhorse launch vehicle for ISRO
July 31, 1995
The first cell-call made by Jyoti Basu as CM of West Bengal to Sukhram, then telecom minister. Like all revolutions, it eventually spreads like wild fire
April 18, 2003
INS Shivalik, first indigenously designed stealth warship, launched
August 23, 2003
Low-cost carrier Air Deccan gives wings to the nation’s dream to fly
September 20, 2004
ISRO launches EDUSAT, first satellite dedicated for educational services
July 2007
Pratibha Patil becomes the first woman President of India. She serves as the 12th President from 2007 to 2012
September 24, 2007
India wins its first T20 World Cup
2008: Six more IITs set up
August 11, 2008
Abhinav Bindra wins India’s first individual Olympic gold in shooting
September 16, 2008
Intel launches world’s first six-core processor in Bengaluru
October 22, 2008
Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to Moon, is launched
2009: Indore, Mandi get IITs
March 23, 2009
Nano, world’s cheapest car, is launched by Tata Motors
July 26, 2009
Country’s first indigenous N-powered submarine, INS Arihant, launched
April 19, 2012
India joins the elite club of nations with ICBM technology by successfully test-firing nuclear-capable Agni-V, which has a range of over 5,000 km
September 2012
ISRO launches its 100th successful mission by carrying a French satellite, the heaviest by India for a foreign client
July 2013
IRNSS-1A, first regional navigation satellite system is launched
November 5, 2013
ISRO launches Mangalyaan – India’s Mars Orbiter Mission
February 1, 2014
Nation’s first monorail, an 8.93-km-long mass transit corridor, flagged off between Wadala and Chembur in Mumbai
June 21, 2015
UN General Assembly declares June 21 as Int’l Day of Yoga
September 28, 2015
ISRO launches ASTROSAT, its first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory
2015 IITs established in Tirupati, Palakkad
2016
IITs set up in Bhilai, Dharwad, Jammu and Goa
October 2016
Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak temple becomes nation’s first green temple. It becomes unique for utilising almost 100 per cent sunlight that it gets
May 2017
Country’s first womb transplant done in Pune
June 5, 2017
India launches its heaviest satellite GSLV-MKIII-D1 – weighing 3,136 kgs
June 9, 2017
India enters Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
June 22, 2017
NASA launches KalamSat, world’s smallest satellite weighing 64 grams, named after India’s former president APJ Abdul Kalam
December 14, 2017
INS Kalvari, India’s first Scorpene class submarine designed by French naval defence and energy company DCNS and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Ltd, is inducted
Compiled by DNA – Research N Archives
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