| FIRST RECIPIENTS OF BHARAT RATNA | |
|---|---|
| 1st Indian to be awarded the Bharat Ratna was C. Rajagopalachari. He was awarded in the year 1954 along with Sir CV Raman and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. | |
| 1st Bharat Ratna Awardee to become the President of India was Dr. S. Radhakrishnan who was awarded in 1954 and became the second President in 1962. | |
| Sir CV Raman who was awarded the Bharat Ratna in the year it was instituted was also the first scientist to be awarded the Bharat Ratna | |
| The 1st person to be awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously was Lal Bahadur Shastri, who passed away on 11 January 1966 and was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in the same year. | |
| The 1st and only Industrialist to be awarded the Bharat Ratna was Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata who was awarded in 1992. | |
| The 1st woman to be awarded the Bharat Ratna was Mrs. Indira Gandhi who was awarded in 1971. | |
| The 1st sportsperson to be awarded the Bharat Ratna was Sachin Tendulkar, awarded in 2014. | |
| FIRST RECIPIENTS OF INDIAN LITERARY AWARDS | |
|---|---|
| The 1st recipient of Bhartiya Jnanpith award was G Sankara Kurup | |
| The 1st recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for English was RK Narayan. | |
| FIRST RECIPIENTS OF GALLANTRY AWARDS | |
|---|---|
| 1st winner of Param Vir Chakra was Major Somnath Sharma | |
| 1st and only Air Force person to receive the Param Vir Chakra was Flying Officer Nirmaljit Shekhon | |
| 1st woman to receive the Ashoka Chakra was Neerja Bhanot (1987) | |
| FIRST RECIPIENTS OF OTHER AWARDS | |
|---|---|
| 1st recipient of Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding was U Thant (1965) | |
| 1st recipient of Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development was Parliamentarians for Global Action(1986) | |
| 1st recipient of Indira Gandhi Award for International Justice and Harmony was Yasser Arafat (1992) | |
| 1st recipient of Outstanding Parliamentarian Award was Shri Chandrashekhar (1995) | |
| 1st recipient of Gandhi Peace Prize (Govt of India Award) was Julius Nyerere (1995) | |
| 1st recipient of Communal Harmony Award (Individual) was Asghar Ali Engineer, 1997 | |
| 1st recipient of Communal Harmony Award (Organisation) was Quami Ekta Trust, 1997 | |
| 1st recipient of Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony was Pt. Ravi Shankar, 2012 | |