WR:Largest vegetarian population  

About 20%Indians are practising vegetarians. There are 744 vegetarian communities. There are 744 vegetarian communities comprising 16% of the population, prominent among them being, Jains and Vaishnavas.

WR: Largest producer and consumer of cashew

India accounts for 42% of the world's total cashew nut production (9.25 lakh tonnes) and consume about onethird of global consumption or 2.10 lakh tonnes per annum.

WR: Largest area under oilseed cultivation

India has 268 lakh land under oilseed cultivation, accounting for 21% of the world's area under this crop.

WR: Tallest Brinjal plant

Abdul Masfoor of Hunsur, Mysore, has a 20 feet tall brinjal plant in his garden with three different varieties growing on it. The plant which began fruiting in April 1998 had produced around 80 Kg. of brinjal by April 1999.

WR: Most expensive tea

In July 1993, Abdulla Alireza of Europe produced one kg. of Castleton tea for Rs.14,250, the highest selling price so far. Castleton Tea Ltd. in the Darjeeling area of West Bengal accounts for 23.5% of the world's tea production.

WR: First on world's highest road

The J&K State Road Transport Corporation operated the first vehicle across Khardung La Pass at 18,380 ft. in 1962.

WR: Mobile Hospital

Jeevan Rekha or Lifeline Express, the first full-fledged hospital on wheels, was flagged off from Mumbai on July 16, 1991. The train has three specially designed air-conditioned coaches that house an operation theatre, sterilizing room and wards apart from accommodation for the mobile medical team.

WR: Highest airport

Leh Airport in Ladakh at a height of 3,256 m(10,680 ft) is the highest non-military airport.

WR: Longest corridor

The corridor in the Ramanathswamy temple at Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, is 1,220m (4,002 ft) long. It has 983 pillars, though popularly known as 'corridor with thousand pillars.'

WR: Longest canal

Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana(IGNP) canal at Rajasthan is 649 km.long. The Rs.4,600-crore project, meant for the irrigation of 13,58 lakh ha in six and districts of Rajasthan, took 35 years to complete.

WR: Most extensive canal system

The canal system constructed in 1909 by the British in Tamil Nadu and Sind had 20,917 km. of primary and secondary canals stretched over 67,578 km.of distributories irrigating 23 millions acres of land, equal to half the total acreage of Great Britain.

WR: Largest chandeliers

The Durbar Hall of the Gwalior royal palace has a pair of chandeliers, 42ft.height and weighing three tonnes each.

WR: Longest constitution

The Constitution of India contains 395 Articles and 12 schedules. The ninth Schedule was added by the First Amendment in 1951 and the 11th and 12th by the 73rd and 74th Amendment in 1992.

WR: Largest constituency

By voter strength: Outer Delhi has 28,80,872 votes. By area: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, with an area of 96,707 sq.km but just 1.3 lakh votes.

WR: Party with most votes

Riding a sympathy wave after the assassination of Indira Gandhi Congress (1)secured a record 11,52,21,078 votes and won 412 out of the 513 parliamentary seats.

WR: Longest press conference

V.P.Singh's second press conference on July 20, 1990 lasted two-and a-half hours. The conference held at the Siri Fort Auditorium in Delhi following a crisis in the Party had over 800 journalists in the audience.

WR: First fingerprint bureau

The world's first fingerprint bureau was set up in Calcutta in June 1897. A murder case in 1898 in Jalpaiguri was among the first in the world where the culprit was caught on the basis of dactyloscopy, the science of fingerprint identification.

WR: Woman's paramilitary battalion

A paramilitary force comprising entirely of women was set up by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), known as the Mahila Battalion, the 88th Battalion of the CRPF was commissioned on March 30, 1986.

WR: Flying cat

The Army's Alloute III B or Cheetah (helicopters regularly fly to altitudes ranging from 20,000 to 23,000 ft, a record unparalleled by helicopters of this class.

WR: National Defence Academy(NDA)

The premier Joint Services undergraduate training institution of India, NDA at Khadakwasla about 16 km from Pune, turned 50 in Jan. 1999. Cadets passing out of the academy are awarded a B.A. or B.Sc. degree by Jawaharlal Nehru University.

WR: Largest mass band

On Dec.16, 1997, 4,459 interservice musicians formed a mass band as a part of a 50minute Vijay Diwas show. A total of 251 pipe and drum bands, 30 military , four Air Force and two Naval bands came together under the baton to play Amazing Grace as a single unit of 227 pipes, 902 drums, 258 buglers, 937 brass band personnel and 135 band majors.

WR: Sister pilots

Plt.Offrs Namrita and Supreet Chandi trained in the same course and both opted to for helicopters. Posted to different Air Force stations, Namrita files a Chetak while Supreet files a Cheetah.

WR: Cancellation at the highest point

A set of four stamps with first-day-cover on Himalayan Ecology depicting the flora and fauna of the first day cover region was carried by a team from the IndoTibetian Border Police which scaled stamps Mt.Everest on May,10, 1996. The stamps were released at the base camp at a height of 21,400 ft.

WR: Largest Open School

National Open School(NOS) received the Commonwealth learning Award of Excellence for Institutional Achievement in Distance Education for 1998.

WR: Most runs in a day

In the Manchester Test between England and India on July 27, 1936, England scored 398 and India 190 to record an aggregate of 588 for the loss of only six wickets at a rate of over 90 runs per hour in six-and a-half hours.

WR: Most 1000+runs in a calender year

Sunil Gavaskar made 1024 runs in 11 tests in 1976; 1944 runs in nine Tests in 1978; 1,555 runs in 18 Tests in 1979; and 1,310 runs in 18 Tests in 1983.

WR: Fastest double century

Ravi Shastri made 200 not out in 113 minutes for Bombay against Baroda at Mumbai in 1984-85.

WR: Maximum overs (match)

C.S.Nayudu bowled 152.5 overs in the Holkar vs Bombay match in 1944. His analysis: 152.5-25-428-11. Broken up: 64-5-10-153-6 and 88-15-275-5.

WR: First woman to swim the Straits of Gibraltar

Aarti Pradhan (then 17) swam the 30 km Straits on August 29, 1988 in 7 hr 17 min.

WR: Shortest man

Gul Mohammed (b. Feb, 15, 1957 d. Oct 1, 1997) a resident of Ballimaran, Delhi, was 57.16 cm(22.5 in) tall and weighed 17 kg.(37.5 ib)

WR: Theme sari

A sari designed and woven in 1998 by Rmk, a silk sari store of Tirunelveli, depicted 33 different designs using Bharata Natyam abhinayas(postures)

WR: Pulling with teeth

Punjab Police ASI Narinder Singh of Nawanpind, Akalgarh (Phagwara) pulled a 150 tonne diesel engine with his teeth for 8.50 m at the Old Delhi railway station on Jan 2,1994.

WR: Longest dance party

MTV India organised the dance party that lasted for 50 hours! The bash began at 10 p.m. on Nov.26, 1999 and concluded at 12p.m. on Nov.28, 1999.

WR: Oldest Record For Rice Cultivation

The records of rice 'domestication' have been found at Neolithic sites (pre-7000 B.C) at Koldhiwa, Mahagara in Allahbad dist.;Manigara and Baraunha in Mirzapur dist.; Sohgaura in gorakhpur dist.; and Lahura Deva in Basti dist.

WR: Highest Wheat Yield

India recorded a yield of about 2,781 kg/ha in 1999-2000, producing 742.5 lakh tonnes of wheat out of  267 lakh ha and ranked second only to China (1,144 lakh tonnes) 

WR: First Semi-dwarf Dicoccum Wheat Variety

The World's first dwarf wheat variety DDK 1001 (yield potential 4 tons/ha) was developed at the Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal in 1995.

WR: Largest Producer of ulses

India produced 161 lakh tonne pulses in 1999,accounting for 27.2% of the global production (593 lakh tonnes)

WR: Largest producer of Millets

India produced 80.96 lakh tonnes of millet in 1999 sharing 30.7% of the global figure (263.5 lakh tonnes). Nigeria came second with 54.57 lakh tonnes

WR: Largest Producer of Dry Beans

India produced 45.5 lakh tonnes of dry beans in 1999 out of the global output of 193.93 lakh tonnes. Brazil came second with 28.89 lakh tonnes.

WR: Largest producer of chickpease

India produced 67 lakh tonnes of chickpea in 1999 out of the global output of 92.44 lakh tonnes. Pakistan was next with6.99 lakh tonnes.

WR: Largest Producer of Caster Seeds

India produced 8.42 lakh tonnes of caster seeds out of 7.13 lakh  in 1999,the exports touched a peak of 2.34 lakh tonnes worth Rs.898 crore in 1999-2000

WR: Largest Cauliflower producer

India produced 52,00,000 tonnes of cauliflower in 1999 sharing 37.6% of the global output (138.42 lakh tonnes).China came second with 46,13,959 tonnes.

WR: Tallest Amaranthus

V.Balasubramanyam of Jayangar, Bangalore grew an Amaranthus hypochondriacs (a leafy vegetable) in his garden which reached a height of 11 ft 7 in before it started withering during the first week of Dec.1998

WR: Highest Production of mango

India ranked first in the production of mangoes in 1999 with 120 lakh tonnes accounting for more than 50% of global output, Mango trees occupy 10.78 lakh  land. India grows over 1,000 out of 1,100 verities of mangoes in the world.

WR: Largest producer of bananas

India produced 110 lakh tonnes of bananas in 1999, sharing 18.8% of the global production (584 lakh tonnes). Bananas account for about 27% of the production of fruit in the country.

WR: Largest Spice producer

India produced 26 lakh tonnes of spices out of 23 lakh ha during 1998-99. The intrinsic value of Indian spices makes them superior in terms of taste, colour fragrance.

WR: Global Supplier of Spices

India accounts for one-fourth of the global trade in spices and herbs, estimated at 5,00,000 tonnes worth US $150 crore

WR: Largest producer of Chilli

India produces 9.46 lakh tonnes globally. India has over 40 different varieties of chillies under cultivation in total area of 9.57 lakh ha. Of the total national figure, Andra Pradesh produces 4.65 lakh tonnes followed by Karnataka.

WR: Hottest Chilli

The world's hottest chilli grows in India. Tezpur chilli, named after the place annually. Indian export in terms of quantity touched an all-time high 2,31,398 tonnes in 1998-99 earning Rs.1,758 crore.

WR: Land pf Black Pepper

With an output of 57,000 tonnes of pepper, India accounted for 24.7% of global production in 1999. India also has the largest area(1,79,590 ha) under the crop in the world.

WR: Largest Cardamom Production

Small Cardamom (Ellettaria Cardamom) is known as 'queen of spices'. With 52,918 ha under this crop, India registered an output of 7,170 tonnes during 1998-99

WR: Largest Turmeric Production

India produced 5.43 lakh tonnes of turmeric (Curcuma longa L) from 1.34 lakh ha of land in 1998-99which accounts for around 76% of the global output.

WR: Most Expensive Spice

Domestic market price for saffron, a spice commonly found in J&K, touched Rs34,500 per kg in Oct.1999 while in the international market it was priced at US $ 365 per pound

WR: Largest Ginger Producer

With an annul output of 2.35 lakhs tonnes of ginger (Zingier officiate) and an area of 70,910 ha under the crop, India shared 34.3% of global production(6.86 lakh tonnes) in 1999. In India,kerla accounts for nearly 70% of the national output.

WR: Largest Mint Oil Producer

India produced 12,000 tonnes of mint oil and exported 8,000 tonnes. Mint oil is derived from the aromatic herb menthol mint (Mentha arvensis) grown in parts of punjab, H.P., U.P.and Bihar.

WR: Largest Suger producer

India registered an output of about 180 lakh tonnes of sugar in 1999-2000 season against 152.38 lakh tonnes the previous year

WR: Largest Tea producer

With an output of 8,16,060 tonnes in 1999-2000, India became the world leader sharing over 26% of the global production

WR: Largest production of Jute & Allied Fibres

With an output of 20.9 lakh tonnes India contributed 62.8% of global output (33.27 lakh tonnes) and exported 13.28 lakh tonnes. India also accounts for 11.1 lakh ha under the cultivation out of 18.3 lakh ha worldwide. 

WR: Only producer of muga Silk

India is the only producer of the golden coloured muga silk of assam. With an output of 15,500 tonnes in 1999, India is the largest producer of silk after China

WR: First Non-Narcotic Poppy 

Sujata, a new opium variety developed in 1998 at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatical plants, Lucknow is non-narcotic, totally free from both opium and alkaloids.

WR: Largest Producer of Arecanuts

India produced 3,10,000 tonnes of arecanuts in 1999 to become the world leader, followd by China with 1,72,574 tonnes.

WR: Pedal-Operated Rice Mill

Suredranath Singh of Manipur Science & Technological Council, imphal developed a pedal-operated rice mill with an output capacity of 10 kg/hr in August. This portable rice mill, weighing just 35 kg, incurs no operation cost as it does not require fuel or electricity

WR: Lrgest Cattle Plague

India shares 15.7% or 20.9 crore cattle head out of a 133.4-crore population world over

WR: Largest Buffalo Population

 India shares 9.2 crore or 55.1% of the total buffalo heads globally, put at 16.7 crore.

 WR: Most Draught Animals

Over 60.4 lakh cattle, 69.7 lakh buffaloes and 2.9 lakh camels are used as draught animals in India

WR: First Test-Tube Buffalo Calf

Scientists at the Embryo Biotechnology Center at NDRI, Karnal, led by Dr M.L.Madan ,evolved the world's first test-tube buffalo calf, Pratham, in Nov.1990. The 38 kg male calf was born to a Murrah buffalo which had received the in-vitro fertilised buffalo embryo.

WR: Milky Way of progress

India started with a baseline annual milk production of 170 lakh tonnes in 1947.The figure skyroceted to 771.8 lakh tonnes in 1999 making India the world's largest milk producing country. With the present annual growth rate of 5.5%, India is expected to produce 220-250 lakh tonnes of milk by the year 2020

WR: Largest producer of milk Products

India is the largest producer of milk products with production of milk powder alone touching 1,75,000 tonnes per year

WR: Largest Agri Research System

Forty-five central agricultural research institutes ,4 bureaux, 10 project directorates, 30 national research centers, 80 all-India co- ordinated research projects,261 krishi vigyan kendras, 1 national research center for women in agriculture.

WR: Largest Plant Gene Bank

The national gene bank at the National Bureau of plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi, set up in 1976 by the ICAR, preserves 1,73,738 plant varieties including over 7,100 under-utilised crops.

WR: Largest Collection of Spices  Germplasm

The All-India on Spices and the Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode together has a collection of over 10,500 germplasm accessions in spices. The IISR alone accounts for 3,000 black pepper,585 ginger,  698 turmeric, 286 cardamom, 465 nutmeg, 229 clove,280 cinnamon, 192 paprka, 12 garcinia,39 vanilla, I allspice and 1 tamarind accession. 

WR: Earliest Research On Coconut

India had taken up systematic research on coconut as early as 1916 with the establishment of four research station in the then South Kanara dist.of the combined Madras Presidency.

WR: Only Research Center For Tropical Tuber Crops

The Central Tuber Crops Research Institute at Sreekariyum, Kerala is dedicated solely to research on tropical tuber crops. It was established in 1963

WR: Largest Potato Research Institute

The earliest Pepper Research Scheme was initiated in 1949 at panniur, Kerala by the Govt of Madras

WR: Highest Motorable Road

Khardung-la road in theLeh-Manali sectored was constructed by the Border Roads organisation at an altitude of 5,682 m (18,383 ft)

WR: Highest Filling Station

The filling station at Kaza, Spiti Valley, is situated at 13,500 ft. The Indian Oil Corporation also operated a petrol pump at leh, Ladhak, at 12,000 ft.

WR: Largest Bus Terminus

Imlibun bus terminus of APSRTC at Hyderabad was inaugrated on Augest 11,1994. The eight-hectare complex, completed at a cost of Rs 13 crore, has 74 platforms for incoming and outgoing buses, a waiting hall of 7,380 sq m and a shopping complex of3,455 sq m besides a 5,000 sq m area for private parking.

WR: On the highest road

The JKSRTC operated the first vehicle across khardung La Pass at 18,380 ft in 1962.

WR: First 4-stroke scooter

Legend, a four-stroke 150 cc 9 hp scooter from Bajaj Auto Ltd, pune, was launched on July 25, 1998. It is also the world's first geared four-stroke scooter.

WR: Largest Makes of Bicycles

Since inception till Sept.2000, the company had produced 600 lakh bicycles and touched a production rate of over 18,500 cycles per day and 52 lakh per annum.

WR: Largest Employer

Indian Railway employs 15.78 lakh people, the largest by any single organisation.

WR: Highest Passenger Earnings

The Mumbai suburban railway system carries 59 lakh passengers a day, the higest in the world when compared to track length. About 1,077 suburban trains run every day on a track length of just 288 km.