SUPERLATIVE IN INDIA_Descriptions

India's Superlative in every respect

Geographical Area of India

India has an area of 3,287,240 sq. km. It is the seventh largest country of the world after Russia (1,70,75,000 sq. km), Canada (99,76,132 sq. km), China (99,76,132 sq. km), the U.S.A. (90,72,340 sq. km), Brazil (85,11,965 sq. km) and Australia (76,82,300 sq. km). India accounts for about 2.4 per cent of the total surface area of the world. India is nearly twenty times as large as Great Britain. Many of the Indian states are larger than several countries of the world.

Largest State in India

Rajasthan with an area of 342,239 sq km is the largest state in India. Before the formation of Chattisgarh as a separate state in the year 2000, Madhya Pradesh was the largest Indian state in terms of area. Rajasthan is located in the western part of India and has two distinct geographical regions with desert on one side and thick forest on the other. Aravalli the oldest mountain chain is the dividing line between the two climatic zones of the State. Western Rajasthan encompasses most of the area of the Great Indian Desert (also known as Thar Desert). The eastern region of the State has thick vegetation of Sal, Axlewood, Dhak and Mesquite.

Smallest State in India

Goa with an area of 3702 sq. km is the smallest State in India. Goa was a Portuguese colony and was liberated from Portuguese rule on December 19, 1961. After its independence Goa along with Daman & Diu was accorded the status of Union Territory. On May 30, 1987, the Union Territory was split, and Goa was elevated as India's 25th state, with Daman and Diu remaining Union Territories. Goa is one of the most developed states of India. Tourism is the mainstay of Goa. Panaji is the capital of Goa and Vasco is its largest town. The main language of Goa is Konkani.

Largest District in India

Kachchh (also spelled as Kutch) in Gujarat, with an area of 45,652 sq km is the largest District in India. The administrative headquarters of Kachchh is in Bhuj. The district's five main towns are Gandhidham, Bhuj, Anjaar, Mandavi and Mundra. There are 966 smaller villages in the area.
Kachchh literally means something which intermittently becomes wet and dry. Rann of Kachchh, a significant region of Kachchh district is shallow wet-land which submerges in water during the rainy season and becomes dry during other seasons. Kachchhi and Gujarati are the dominant languages of the area. Kachchhi draws heavily from its neighbouring language groups: Sindhi, Punjabi and Gujarati.

Smallest District in India

Mahe is the smallest district in India. It has an area of 9 sq. km. Mahe is geographically located in the state of Kerala, where as administratively it comes under the control of Union Territory of Pondicherry. Mahe has the official name of Mayyazhi in the local Malayalam language.
Mahe has a population of about 36,000 according to the 2001 census. The population density of the town is 4091 per sq. km. Males constitute 47% of the population and females 53%. Mahe has an average literacy rate of 85%. Mahe has two members in the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly, representing Mahe and Palloor.

State with Least Number of Districts in India

Goa is the state with least number of districts in India. It has two districts: North Goa & South Goa. The North Goa District has an area of 1736 sq. Km. Geographical position of Goa is marked by 15^o 48' 00" N to 14^o 53' 54" N latitudes and 73^o E to 75^o E longitudes. North Goa shares its boundaries with the Sawantwadi & Dodamarg, of Ratnagiri District and Kolhapur District of Maharastra state and with South Goa District shares the southern boundary.
South Goa is situated between the latitudinal paralles of 15^o 29' 32" N and 14^o 53' 57" N and longitudinal parallels of 73^o 46' 21" E and 74^o 20' 11" E. Arabian Sea is to the west of district, North Goa district to the North and Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka in the East and South. The total geographical area of the district is 1966 sq km.

State with Maximum Number of Districts in India

Uttar Pradesh is the state with maximum number of districts in India. It has a total of 70 districts. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous and fifth largest state of India. Only five countries of the world, China, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil and India itself have populations larger than that of Uttar Pradesh. Kanpur is the largest city of Uttar Pradesh and as per the 2001 census six cities of Uttar Pradesh, namely, Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi have population of over million.

The 70 districts are as follows:

Agra Aligarh Allahabad Ambedkar Nagar Auraiya Azamgarh Baghpat Bahraich Ballia Balrampur Banda Barabanki Bareilly Basti Bijnor Budaun Bulandshahar Chandauli Chitrakoot Deoria Etah Faizabad Farukkhabad

Fatehpur Firozabad Gautam Buddha Nagar Ghaziabad Ghazipur Gonda Gorakhpur Hamirpur Hardoi Hathras Jalaun Kannauj Website Kanpur Dehat Kanpur Nagar Kaushambi Kushi Nagar Lakhimpur Kheri Lalitpur Lucknow Maharajganj Mahoba Jaunpur Jyotiba Phoole Nagar Mainpuri

Mau Mathura Meerut Mirzapur Moradabad Muzaffar Nagar Pilibhit Pratapgarh Raebareli Rampur Saharanpur Sant Kabir Nagar Sant Ravidas Nagar Shahjahanpur Shravasti Siddharth Nagar Sitapur Sonbhadra Sultanpur Unnao Varanasi

Largest Union Territory in India

Andaman & Nicobar Islands with an area of 8,249 sq km is the largest union territory in India. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands are situated between 6^o and 14^o North Latitude and 92^o and 94^o East Longitude. The group of 572 islands / islets is located in the Bay of Bengal, 1,255 km from Kolkata and 1190 km from Chennai. The entire chain of island consists of two distinct groups of islands. The Great Andaman group of islands in the north is separated by the Ten Degree Channel from the Nicobar group in the south. The Andaman group of islands is divided into three main groups’ viz., North Andaman, Middle Andaman and South Andaman. Little Andaman is separated from the Great Andamans by 50 km wide Duncan Passage. The Nicobar group of islands consists of 7 big and 12 small islands together with several tiny islands. The Great Nicobar is the largest of all the islands.

Smallest Union Territory in India

Lakshadweep with an area of 32 sq km is the smallest Union Territory in India. Lakshadweep islands lie in the Arabian Sea and extend from 8^o N to 12^o 20' N and 71^o 45' E to 74^o E. The islands north of 11^o N is known as Amindivi Islands while that south of this latitude are called Cannanore Islands. In the extreme south is the Minicoy Island. The Laccadives, Minicoy and Amindivi group of islands were renamed as Lakshadweep in 1973. All the islands are of coral origin. The islands consist of 12 atolls, three reefs and submerged sand banks. Of the 27 islands, only 11 are inhabited.

Westernmost Point of India West of Ghuar Mota in Gujarat is the westernmost point of India. Its Latitude/Longitide is 23.67 N/ 68.52 E. Ghuar Mota is in the Kutch region of Gujarat. Other cities located near Ghuar Mota are: Koteshwar, Mudia, Panadra, Pipar, Ber Mota, Ber, Lakhpat, and Lakhpal. Kutch was one of the princely states of India during the British rule. During the monsoon season the region becomes virtually an island resembling a tortoise "Katchua", surrounded by seawater. Kutch has an extreme climate and the temperature ranges from 20^o C in winter to 45^o C in summers.

Easternmost Point of India Kibithu is the easternmost point of India. Kibithu is a tiny village located at an altitude of 11,000 feet in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit District, bordering China's Tibet region. Kibithoo is nestled on the right bank of the mighty Lohit River. It is the first settlement along the banks of Lohit River in Arunachal Pradesh after the river enters the Indian Territory from China. The climate of Kibithu is cool and salubrious. The whispering pine forests, wild rash berries, beautiful flowers and majestic waterfalls set against tall blue hills add to the abundant natural beauty of Kibithu.Kibithu witnessed some of the fiercest fights by Indian Soldiers against the Chinese in 1962. But with the passage of time, after Nathu La, Kibithu is fast emerging to be a new melting point of Indo-China friendship. It offers relatively easy travel up to Chinese side.

Northernmost Point of India

Northernmost Point of India is disputed. The Siachen Glacier in the State of Jammu & Kashmir is the northern most point under Indian control. India claims the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir on the basis of Instrument of Accession signed in 1947, which inter alia includes Gilgit, Baltistan, and Kanjut. Gilgit, Baltistan, and Kanjut are presently under the control of Pakistan. The northern most point if we take the whole state of J&K in consideration is Dafdar in the Taghdumbash Pamir near Beyik Pass in Kanjut.

Southernmost Point of India

Indira Point, the southernmost tip of the Great Nicobar Island is the southernmost point of land in the territory of India. It is at 6^o 45' N latitude. Indira Point was formerly known as Pygmalion Point and it was so named by the late Rajiv Gandhi after his mother on a visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A large part of the Indira point was submerged under the sea due to the tsunami generated by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The sea is now slowly retreating back to its original position. Indira Point is also a favourite nesting site for exotic sea animals.

Coldest Place in India

Drass in western Ladakh is the coldest place in India. It is also the second coldest place in the world after Siberia. Temperatures drop down to about -40 degrees Celsius in winters. However, summers in Drass are balmy and many trekkers and campers visit Drass during the summer time. Drass has an altitude of 3230 m and lies 60 km west of Kargil on the road to Srinagar. The Drass valley starts from the base of the Zojila pass, the Himalayan gateway to Ladakh. Drass is a convenient base camp for treks to Suru valley. Inhabitants of Drass are of Dard descent, an Indo-Aryan race believed to have originally migrated to Ladakh from Central Asia.

Largest Delta in India

Sundarban is the largest delta in India. The Sundarbans are a part of the world's largest delta formed by the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. They are vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp forming the lower part of the Ganges Delta, extending about 260 km along the Bay of Bengal from the Hooghly River Estuary in India to the Meghna River Estuary in Bangladesh. Sunderban covers an area of 4262 sq. km in India. Sunderban is a unique ecosystem dominated by mangrove forests and gets its name from the Sundari trees. Sunderban is spread over 54 islands and two countries. It is one of the last preserves of the Bengal tiger and the site of a tiger preservation project.

Largest River Island in India

Majuli Island in Assam is the largest river Island in India. Majuli is in the Brahmaputra River, and is about 200 kilometres east from Guwahati, the capital of Assam. Majuli was formed due to course changes by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries, mainly the Lohit. The total area of the island was 1250 sq.km but due to erosion its present area is 557 sq km. Majuli is inhabited mainly by tribals. Major tribes are: Mishing, Deori, and Sonowal Kacharis. Major languages spoken in Majuli are Assamese, Mishing, and Deori. The island has twenty-three villages with a population of 150,000 and a density of 300 persons per square km.

Largest Glacier in India

Siachen Glacier is the largest glacier in India. In fact, it has the distinction of being the largest glacier outside the polar and the sub-polar regions. Siachen glacier is 75.6 km long and 2.8 km wide. It is the source for the 80km-long Nubra River, a tributary of the Shyok, which is part of the Indus River system. The Siachen Glacier lies south of the great watershed that separates China from the Indian subcontinent in the extensively glaciated portion of the Karakoram. The word 'Siachen' means "the place of wild roses". Siachen also has the dubious distinction of being the highest battleground on earth. India and Pakistan have fought intermittently since April 13, 1984. The volume of the glacier has been reduced by 35 percent over the last twenty years. Global warming and military activity have been cited as the main reasons for the receding of the glacier.

Largest River Island in India

Majuli Island in Assam is the largest river Island in India. Majuli is in the Brahmaputra River, and is about 200 kilometres east from Guwahati, the capital of Assam. Majuli was formed due to course changes by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries, mainly the Lohit. The total area of the island was 1250 sq.km but due to erosion its present area is 557 sq km. Majuli is inhabited mainly by tribals. Major tribes are: Mishing, Deori, and Sonowal Kacharis. Major languages spoken in Majuli are Assamese, Mishing, and Deori. The island has twenty-three villages with a population of 150,000 and a density of 300 persons per square km.

Longest River of India

Ganga is the longest river of India. The total length of the Ganga River from its source to its mouth (measured along the Hughli) is 2525 km of which 1450 km is in the Uttar Pradesh, 445 km in Bihar and 520 km in West Bengal. The remaining 110 km stretch of the Ganga forms the boundary between Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Ganga originates as Bhagirathi from the Gangotri glacier in Uttar Kashi District. It is joined by the Alaknanda at Devaprayag and the combined flow of the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda is known as Ganga. After traveling 280 km from its source, Ganga enters plains at Haridwar. At Allahabad, about 770 km south-east of Haridwar, Ganga is joined by Yamuna, which is its most important tributary. After Farraka in West Bengal, the river ceases to be known as the Ganga. It bifurcates itself into Bhagirathi-Hughli in West Bengal and Padma-Meghna in Bangladesh. After traversing 220 km further down in Bangladesh, the Brahmaputra joins it at Goalundo and after meeting Meghna 100 km downstream the Ganga joins the Bay of Bengal.

Highest Mountain Peak in India

Kanchenjunga is the highest mountain peak in India. Kanchenjunga has an altitude of 8,586 metres (28,169 feet). It is engirdled by three territories: Sikkim in the south and east, Nepal in the west, and Tibet in the north. The name Kanchenjunga is derived from the Tibetan words, 'Kanchen' and 'Dzonga', meaning 'Five Treasuries of the Great Snow', as it contains five peaks. The treasures represent the five repositories of god, which are gold, silver, gems, grain, and holy books. The five ridges are named according to their respective directions with reference to the main peak to which they are attached.

The five peaks of Kanchenjunga are:

• Kanchenjunga Main: 8,586 m
• Kanchenjunga West: 8,505 m
• Kangchenjunga Central: 8,482m
• Kangchenjunga South: 8,494m
• Kangbachen: 7,903m

Length of Coastline of India

Length of coastline of India including the coastlines of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshwadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea is 7517 km. Length of Coastline of Indian mainland is 6100 km. Coastline of Indian mainland is surrounded by Arabian Sea in the west, Bay of Bengal in the east, and Indian Ocean in the south. length of total coastline of India. The long coast line of India is dotted with several major ports such as Kandla, Mumbai, Navasheva, Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Tuticorin, Vishakapatnam, and Paradip. For the effective defence of Indian Coastline, a separate force known as Indian Coast Guard was formed on February 1, 1977.

India's First Supercomputer

India's First Supercomputer was PARAM 8000. PARAM stood for Parallel Machine. The computer was developed by the government run Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in 1991. The PARAM 8000 was introduced in 1991 with a rating of 1 Gigaflop (billion floating point operations per second). All the chips and other elements that were used in making of PARAM were bought from the open domestic market. The various components developed and used in the PARAM series were Sun UltraSPARC II, later IBM POWER 4 processors, Ethernet, and the AIX Operating System. The major applications of PARAM Supercomputer are in long-range weather forecasting, remote sensing, drug design and molecular modelling.

India's First Nuclear Reactor

India's First Nuclear Reactor was Apsara. It was also the first nuclear reactor in Asia. Apsara went critical at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay on August 4, 1956. It heralded the arrival of India's nuclear energy programme. Dr. Homi Bhabha himself conceptualised the design of the reactor and the reactor was built entirely by Indian engineers in a record time of about 15 months.  Apsara is a swimming-pool-type reactor loaded with enriched uranium as fuel. The fuel core is suspended from a movable trolley in a pool filled with water. The pool water serves as coolant, moderator and reflector, besides providing the shielding.

India's First Indigenously Built Satellite

Insat 2A was India's first indigenously built satellite. The satellite was launched on 9 July 1992 from Kourou, French Guyana. The satellite had a dry mass of 916kg and it weighed 1906 kg with propellants. The satellite had following payload:

Communication Transponders: 12 C-band, 6 ext. C-band (for FSS), 2 S-band (for BSS), 1 Data relay, 1 search and rescue.

Meteorology: Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) with 2 km resolution in visible and 8 km in Infrared band.

The INSAT 2 program was started in 1983. Its objective was to develop an indigenous multi-purpose Geo spacecraft. In 1985, the basic spacecraft configuration was adopted. The configuration called for an on-station dry mass of 860 kg which later rose to 910 kg. The communications payload was increased with six additional 7/5 GHz transponders for a total of 18, plus two S-band transponders. The Insat 2 series consisted of Insat 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, and 2E satellites.

India's First Indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle

SLV-3 was India's first indigenous satellite launch vehicle. The vehicle was launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on July 18, 1980. President A P J Abdul Kalam was the Project Director of SLV-3 the SLV-3 weighed 17 tonne and had a payload of 40 kg. The SLV-3 put 35 kg Rohini Satellite into the orbit. The launch of SLV-3 was a historic landmark for the Indian space programme. It gave ISRO an insight into the conceptualisation, design, development and management of a technically complex multi-disciplinary project. With the launch of SLV-3, India joined a select band of five nations that had this capability. The other five countries are USSR, USA, France, China and Japan.

First Satellite Launched by India

Aryabhatta was the first satellite launched by India. It was named after the great Indian astronomer of the same name. Aryabhatta weighed 360kg and was launched by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1975 from Kapustin Yar using a Cosmos-3M launch vehicle.

The satellite had following objectives:

• To indigenously design and fabricate a space-worthy satellite system and evaluate its performance in orbit.
• To evolve the methodology of conducting a series of complex operations on the satellite in its orbital phase.
• To set up ground-based receiving, transmitting and tracking systems.
• To establish infrastructure for the fabrication of spacecraft systems.
  Aryabhatta carried experiments related to X-Ray Astronomy, Solar Physics and Aeronomy. The satellite re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 11 February 1992.

First Nuclear Power Plant in India

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. The 320 MW Tarapur nuclear power station housed two 160 MW boiling water reactors (BWRs), the first in Asia. The Tarapur Plant was originally constructed by the American companies Bechtel and GE, under a 1963 123 Agreement between India, the United States, and the IAEA. The Tarapur Atomic Power Station is under the control of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. Recently, two 540 MW pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) were operationalised at Tarapur. The new reactors were constructed by L & T and Gammon India. Tarapur Nuclear Power Station is the largest PHWR-based power station in India.

Largest Botanical Garden of India

Indian Botanical Garden situated in Shibpur, Howrah near Kolkata is the largest botanical garden of India. The gardens exhibit a wide variety of rare plants and have a collection of over 12,000 specimens spread over 109 hectares. The garden is renowned for The Great Banyan an enormous banyan tree (Ficus bengalhensis) that is considered to be the largest tree in the world. It has a circumference of more than 330 metres. The gardens are also famous for their rich collection of orchids, bamboos, palms, and plants of the screw pine genus. Indian Botanical Gardens were previously known as Royal Botanic Gardens and were founded in 1786 by the British East India Company.

Largest Zoo in India

The Zoological Garden in Kolkata is the largest Zoo in India. It is spread over an area of about 100 acres. The Zoo is located on Belvedre road in Kolkata and was established in 1876. The zoo is home to a rich variety of birds, animals, and reptiles. The origins of the Zoo can be traced back to 1873, when, the then Governor Sir Richard Temple proposed the formation of a zoo in Calcutta. Sir C.L. Lendal corroborated it. Finally, the Government allotted land for this purpose responding to the joint petition of the Asiatic Society and Agri-Horticultural Society. The zoo was inaugurated on the January 1, 1876 by King Edward VII.

Zoological Garden, Kolkata is credited with bringing back the rare Manipur Brow Antlered Deer from near extinction. The zoo was first to have bred Giraffes and has produced Tigions, and Litigons as a cross breeding experiment. The artificial lake of the zoo attracts a large number of migratory birds every year.

Largest Library in India

The National Library in Kolkata is the largest library in India. It is an institution of National importance under the Department of Culture, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Government of India. National Library is situated on a scenic 30 acres Belvedere Estate, in Kolkata. The library is designated to collect, disseminate and preserve the printed material produced in the country.
The origins of the National Library can be traced back to 1836 when the Calcutta Public Library was established. The then Governor General, Lord Metcalf transferred 4,675 volumes from the library of the College of Fort William to the Calcutta Public Library. In 1891, the Imperial Library was formed by combining a number of Secretariat libraries. Lord Curzon, the then Governor General of India, conceived the idea of opening a library for the use of the public. He amalgamated Calcutta Public Library with the Imperial Library. The library was formally opened to the public on 30th January 1903 at Metcalf Hall, Kolkata. After independence, the library was renamed as the National Library.

Largest Museum in India

Indian Museum in Kolkata is the largest museum in India. It is the ninth oldest regular museum of the world and oldest institution of its kind in Asia Pacific region. Indian Museum is a multipurpose and multi disciplinary institution of national importance. The museum was established at the Asiatic Society, the earliest learned body in the country on 2nd February 1814. Dr. Nathaniel Wallich, a Danish botanist, was the founder curator of the museum. Indian Museum was transferred to the present building in 1878 with two galleries. Today, the museum has over sixty galleries of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, Zoology and Botany sections, spreading over ten thousand square feet area. Many rare specimens of both Indian and Trans-Indian origin relating to Humanities and Natural Science are preserved and displayed in museum.

Largest Planetarium in India

The M. P. Birla Planetarium in Kolkata is the largest planetarium in India. The planetarium started functioning from September 29, 1962 as an educational, scientific and research institution and was formally inaugurated on July 2, 1963 by the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. M. P. Birla Planetarium is established on an acre of land leased by the West Bengal Government.

Since its inception, M. P. Birla Planetarium has designed and presented more than 350 astronomical projects dealing with many facets of astronomy, astro-physics, Celestial Mechanics, Space Science, History of astronomy, Centenaries of famous astronomers as well as mythology concerning stars and planets. The Planetarium owns an astronomical observatory equipped with a Celestron C-14 Telescope with accessories such as ST6 CCD Camera, Solar Filter etc.

Largest Prison in India

Tihar Jail Complex in New Delhi is the largest prison complex in India. It comprises of nine prisons in the Tihar Complex with a sanction capacity of 4800 prisoners and one District Jail at Rohini with a sanction capacity of 1050 prisoners. Before 1958, the Jail was located at Delhi Gate area of Delhi. In 1958, the prison was transferred from Delhi Gate to its present site in Tihar Village in western part of New Delhi. In the beginning, only one Central Jail was commissioned with the lodging capacity of 1267 prisoners. Till 1966, the administrative control of the Jail was with the Government of Punjab. In 1966, the control of Tihar Jail was transferred to the Delhi Administration, Delhi in 1966.

First Indian Scientist to Win Nobel Prize

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (C.V. Raman) was the first Indian scientist to win Nobel Prize. C.V. Raman was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman Effect, which is named after him. Raman Effect relates to the inelastic scattering of a photon. When light is scattered from an atom or molecule, most photons are elastically scattered (Rayleigh scattering). The scattered photons have the same energy (frequency) and, therefore, wavelength, as the incident photons. However, a small fraction of scattered light (approximately 1 in 10 million photons) is scattered from excitations with optical frequencies different from and usually lower than, the frequency of the incident photons. Raman Effect is helpful in analyzing the composition of liquids, gases, and solids.

Longest Indian Novel

Longest Indian Novel is Avakasikal, written by MK Menon in Malayalam under the penname "Vilasini". The novel runs into 3,958 pages in four volumes and took ten years to complete. MK Menon spent the best part of his life abroad as a journalist. At an early stage in his literary career he set his mind on writing long novels. MK Menon received Sahitya Akademi Award for Avakasikal in 1981 and Vayalar Award in 1983. Sahitya Akademi is an independent organistion, supported by Government of India, and dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Vayalar Award is given for the best literary work in Malayalam. Other famous novels of MK Menon include "Oonjal" and "Agnisaakshi".