Portal:India/Did you know 1

This is a selection of articles on Wikipedia that appeared on the India Portal's Did you know section. (Archives are in sets of approximately 50 items each)

Did you know...

 * 1) ...that Ram Shastri, a celebrated 18th-century judge in the Maratha Empire, created judicial history in India by sentencing the incumbent Peshwa (de facto ruler) to death on a charge of murder?
 * 2) ...that the Communist Consolidation group was formed by Indian revolutionary prisoners at the Andaman Cellular Jail in 1935?
 * 3) ...that Subroto Mukerjee, the first Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force (considered as the Father of the Indian Air Force) died in a Tokyo restaurant due to choking of his windpipe by a piece of food?
 * 4) ...that for nearly three centuries until 1956, the Burdwan Zamindari, one of the richest feudal estates in Bengal, was held by the same Punjabi family?
 * 5) ...that Pisharoth Rama Pisharoty was an Indian meteorologist who was a pioneer of remote sensing technologies in India?
 * 6) ...that INS Amba was the only submarine tender ship in service with the Indian Navy?
 * 7) ...that on September 21, 1995, statues of the Hindu pantheon in countries around the world were reported to be drinking spoonfuls of milk offered to them by worshippers?
 * 8) ...that Yuktibhāṣā, written by Indian astronomer Jyeṣṭhadeva, is considered to be the first mathematical treatise on calculus?
 * 9) ...that the Directive Principles, which are guidelines for the government while framing laws and policies, were inspired by the Irish nationalist movement?
 * 10) ...that the Presidential office of India operates from The Retreat at Mashobra in Himachal Pradesh, India at least once every year?
 * 11) ...that Maharaja Gulab Singh, founder of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, was illiterate?
 * 12) ...that J. Dringwell Rymbai had to discontinue his education due to poverty, but became the head master of a school and eventually the Chief Minister of Meghalaya?
 * 13) ...that Ashta Pradhan, a council formed by Shivaji in 1674 to help him in administration, was one of the first instances of ministerial delegation in India?
 * 14) ... that the disputed Sir Creek, a tidal estuary, has prevented India and Pakistan from setting a permanent maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea?
 * 15) ...that the mundum neriyathum is a remnant of the ancient saree worn by women in the South Indian state of Kerala including the Nair community noted for their matrifocality?
 * 16) ...that India's Operation Meghdoot to capture the Siachen Glacier in 1984 was the first assault launched in the world's highest battlefield?
 * 17) ...that Chakara is a rare and peculiar marine phenomenon observed along the coastal waters of Kerala?
 * 18) ...Dungarees, the word for a strong cotton working cloth or overalls comes from Dongari Kapar, a low lying village near Mumbai where it was first manufactured?
 * 19) ...Saint Thomas the Apostle performed the first baptism in India in 52 A.D. at Kodungallur?
 * 20) ...Machilipatnam was the first trading post of the British East India Company in India, where a factory was built in 1611?
 * 21) ...that the state of Punjab ( meaning land of five rivers) gets its name from the fact that five tributaries of the river Indus - Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej - run through the state?
 * 22) ...Kashi (Benares) is the place where Lord Vishnu is supposed to have made an offering of an eye to Lord Shiva?
 * 23) ...that the Bombay Quadrangular cricket tournament originated in an 1877 game to foster interracial harmony, but was abandoned in 1946 over fears that its racial basis threatened Indian independence?
 * 24) ...that Subramanian Swamy worked towards normalizing Sino-Indian relations and persuaded Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to open the Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet to Hindu pilgrims from India?
 * 25) ...that booth capturing is a kind of electoral fraud that is seen mainly in India, where armed gangs belonging to political parties try to "capture" a polling booth and indulge in bogus voting?
 * 26) ...that a young Aruna Asaf Ali had to commence the Quit India Movement in 1942 as all the major leaders were arrested the night before to prevent them from reaching the venue?
 * 27) ...that Patience Cooper (pictured right), an Anglo-Indian actress, was the first to play a double role in an Indian film?
 * 28) ...that the Battle of Garibpur fought between India and Pakistan witnessed the first ever dogfight over East Pakistan and the battle even preceded the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971?
 * 29) ...that Skeleton Lake in Uttaranchal, India is named after the discovery of the remains of approximately 600 people who died in a sudden hailstorm?
 * 30) ...that the Indian film industry in sheer number of movies produced, is the largest film industry in the world?
 * 31) ...that Cherrapunji in India is the wettest place in the world?
 * 32) ...that Jinnah House was the Mumbai residence of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and is the centre of a property dispute?
 * 33) ...that Kuttanad in Kerala, is India's only region below sea level?
 * 34) ...that Skeleton Lake in Uttaranchal, India is named after the discovery of the remains of approximately 600 people who died in a sudden hailstorm?
 * 35) ...that the Chicken's Neck is a narrow strip of land 24 km in width connecting India to its north-eastern states?
 * 36) ...that Indus Valley Civilisation, one of the oldest civilisations in the world, dates back at least 5,000 years.
 * 37) ...that India is the 2nd largest country by population (1,080,264,388).
 * 38) ...that India has an economy ranked as the twelfth largest in the world in terms of currency conversion and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity.
 * 39) ...that the world's first university was established in Takshila, India in 700 BC ?
 * 40) ...that Kolkata, India is called the City of Palaces because of its abundance of European-style buildings? (Pictured to the right is the Durga Puja pandal at College Square, Kolkata, a full-scale replica of the Coochbehar Palace in N. Bengal)
 * 41) ...that the Casino Goa in Goa is the only legal casino in India?
 * 42) ...that the 1959 court case, K. M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra was the last jury trial held in India?
 * 43) ...that in 1969, a world record number of 15 million people attended the funeral of C. N. Annadurai, the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, India?
 * 44) ...that Farkhor Air Base in Tajikistan is India's only extraterritorial military base?
 * 45) ...that Queen frontman Freddie Mercury was born to Indian parents in Zanzibar and studied in St. Mary's High School in Mazagaon, Mumbai?
 * 46) ...Nafisa Ali is a national swimming champion, a jockey, a Miss India, an actress, and now, a social activist?
 * 47) ...that Gulzarilal Nanda (pictured) was the acting Prime Minister of India two times but never became a prime minister?
 * 48) ...that Indian physician Susrutha (c. 6th century BC) - also spelt Susruta or Sushrutha - is known by the title "Father of Surgery", for his seminal and numerous contributions to the science and art of surgery. He is the author of a series of volumes, collectively known as Sushruta Samhita, in which he describes over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures and classifies human surgery in 8 categories ?
 * 49) ...that the city of Baroda or Vadodara, in the state of Gujarat got its name because of the presence of a large number of banyan trees in that area ?
 * 50) ...P. T. Usha lost the Bronze Medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by 100th of a second ?
 * 51) ...that the dispute regarding the distribution of the Zira and Firozpur administrative districts to India was settled as part of an agreement between the governments of India and Pakistan in 1960, thirteen years after partition?