70th Republic Day: 70 facts about INDIA that make the country GREAT

“At the stroke of today’s midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom,” said Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, on 26th January 1950 after the country got freedom from the British rule. Today we are celebrating India’s 70th Republic Day. 70 years ago, on this day, India was born as a free, democratic country which had many challenges ahead. During the past 70 years, India overcomes different hurdles and Indians earned global recognition in various fields. This Republic Day, doesn’t just celebrate the freedom, but take pride in what India have achieved.

India has gone through several changes over the years. From political arena to the social life, Indians have witnessed major changes in their lives. No doubt, life in several rural parts of the country are yet to get basic facilities like water and electricity, but it is also a fact that many cities are now being compared with New York or Bangkok. Be it physics, maths, medicine, chemistry, literature, music, film, sports or space, India have achieved new heights. Scroll down and know one of the greatest achievements of India in different fields.

·       India designed and built Asia’s first nuclear reactor Apsara nuclear     reactor on August 4 1956. India currently has 21 nuclear reactors in operation in 7 nuclear power plants.

• India designed first space satellite, Aryabhata, in 1975. The first space satellite was named after an Indian astronomer Aryabhata.
• Indian Space Research Organisation, India’s space agency, successfully launched Mars Orbiter Mission to probe Mars. India become the fourth country to reach Mars orbit, after the Soviet space program, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It is the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt.
• India successfully launched Chandrayaan in order to explore the moon. The vehicle inserted into lunar orbit in its first attempt. On the greatest achievements of Chadrayaan was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in the lunar soil.
• The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi won the Best Airport award from the Airports Council International within 25–40 million annual passengers category in 2015. It also bags two awards for The Best Airport in Central Asia/India and Best Airport Staff in Central Asia/India at the prestigious Skytrax World Airport Awards.
• Railway network in India was nationalized in 1951 and Indian Railways became one of the largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km (71,000 mi) of track over a route of 67,312 km (41,826 mi) and 7,112 stations.
• Indian Railways carries more than 23 million passengers daily from one place to another. The Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai and the Mountain Railways of India have been declared as World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.
• The Mid-Day mean scheme of Government of India is the world’s largest scheme for kids serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools across the country.
• India has won a total of 26 Olympic medals. India won its first gold medal in men’s field hockey in the 1928 Olympic Games. Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games.
• India gave every adult the right to vote from its first day. In the US, the right to vote to every individual was given more than 150 years after their Republic.
• As many as 29 languages are spoken in India, by more than one million people each.
• More than 1,650 dialects are spoken in India.
• The Mid-Day mean scheme of Government of India is the world’s largest scheme for kids serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools across the country.
• India has won a total of 26 Olympic medals. India won its first gold medal in men’s field hockey in the 1928 Olympic Games. Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games.
• India gave every adult the right to vote from its first day. In the US, the right to vote to every individual was given more than 150 years after their Republic.
• As many as 29 languages are spoken in India, by more than one million people each.
• More than 1,650 dialects are spoken in India.
• India witnessed 16 major bloodless changes of power (Lok Sabha) at the Centre. It shows the strength of democratic values of the people of this country.
• India has largest number of elected persons in the world, thanks to Panchayati Raj system across the country.
• India has one of the highest number of female politicians.
• India is among the very first countries to have woman head of state (Indira Gandhi).
• Women have held high offices in India including that of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition. One of the five major states have women chief ministers.
• Majority of candidates in these Panchayaths are women. Currently 100 per cent of elected members in Kodassery Panchayat in Kerala are Women.
• India is one of the four countries that refused to sign Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on matter of principle.
• India is lowest cost producer of nuclear energy ($ 1700 per kilowatt).
• India has one of the largest supplies of thorium in the world.
• India is among the first country to develop satellite for domestic communication.
• The Indian National Satellite System or INSAT is a series of satellites used of the  telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology, and search and rescue operations.
• India successfully launched nuclear submarine called INS Arihant class.
• India is the only country to launch nuclear submarine after five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
• India is among the five nations to send unmanned mission to moon.
• India is among the few nation that produces lowest cost producer of steel, aluminum, cement and fertilizer.
• India has largest single location copper smelter.
• India is among the few countries that offer lowest cost delivery of wireless telephony.
• India is currently the world’s second-largest telecommunications market.
• India develops world’s lowest cost supercomputer.
• In 2015, eleven Indian machines found a place in the latest list of the world’s 500 most powerful supercomputers, including two in the top 100.
• India produces one the lowest cost car.
• Indian companies with Hero MotoCorp are the world’s largest manufacturer of two wheelers.
• India has the largest single location oil refinery capacity nearly 70m tonnes in the world.
• India is the world’s largest milk producer, with 18 percent of global production.
• India is the largest exporter of beef in the world.
• India is the largest producer, consumer  and importer of pulses.
• India is the second largest producer of sugar cane in the world.
• India is the largest producer of cotton with production of 6.51 million tonnes of the fibre.
• India is the second-largest importer and buyer of gold.
• 90 per cent of all diamonds polished and processed in India.
• India’s Bombay Stock Exchange is world’s 11th largest stock exchange.
• With 1,55,618 post offices and over 5,66,000 employees, India has the largest postal network in the world.
• India is among the countries that have largest number of bank account holders.
• India is the second largest producer of rice and wheat.
• India is the largest producer of ginger, safflower and okra.
• India is the largest producer of banana, mango, papaya, lemon, jackfruit, guava and pomegranate.
• India is the largest producer of wood fuel.
• India has largest intra-country remittances.
• India has world’s highest motorable pass (Khardung La at 5600m).