India has a long history to tell about itself since
independent till now. On the occasion of India's 69th Independence Day, here
are some interesting and unknown facts related to India and independence.
1. National flag was hoisted first on August 7, 1906
at the Parsee Bagan Square in Calcutta. The flag was composed of horizontal
strips of red, yellow and green. The red strip at the top had eight white
lotuses embossed on it in a row. The green strip had a white sun on the left
and a white crescent and star on the right.
2.
The name `India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were
the home of the first inhabitants of India. The Sanskrit name for India is
Bharat Ganarajya. That is the reason why it is also called Bharat. The name
“India” comes from the Indus River, which is where earliest settlers made their
homes.
3. The current flag has three colours in it. The top strip saffron
stands for courage and sacrifice; the middle portion white for peace, truth,
purity and green for faith, fertility and chivalry. The Ashok Chakra at the
centre of the flag — righteousness.
4. India
never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
5. It is said
that the first version of the current national flag was made by Pingali
Venkayya at Bezwada in 1921. It was made up of two colours-red and
green-representing the two major communities. Gandhiji suggested the addition
of a white strip to represent the remaining communities of India and the
spinning wheel to symbolize progress of the Nation.
6. North
Korea, South Korea, Bahrain and Republic of the Congo share their independence
day with India. Mountbatten chose the day since Aug 15 as it also commemorated
the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the Allied Forces. North Korea,
South Korea, Bahrain and Republic of the Congo share their independence day
with India.
7. Khadi
Development and Village Industries Commission is the only licenced flag
production and supply unit in India. As of 2008, the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga
Samyukta Sangha based in Dharwad was the sole manufacturer of the flag.
Earlier, flags were made with Jayadhar, a popular variety of cotton grown in
Karnataka. But recently, Khadi Gramodyoga has started using Bt cotton instead
of the indigenous
8. India
is the world's largest producer of tea, milk and mangoes and also the second
largest producer of wheat and rice, the world's major food staples.
9.
"Chess" and "Snakes and Ladders" were invented in India.
10.
India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Lal was featured in Vogue magazine. His
unique dressing style, single-breasted jacket, became an important fashion
trend in the West. Nehru jacket was listed on Time list of 'global fashion
statement.' Later, Nehru jacket was popularized by the Beatles and worn by such
famous people as Johnny Carson and Sammy Davis Jr.
11. India
never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
12. On
August 15, 1947, when India became free from the foreign rule, Mahatma Gandhi
was in Calcutta. Gandhiji spent his day in prayers, fasting and spinning
protesting the madness of communal hatred.
13. The
world's largest road network is in India-over 1.9 million miles of roads cover
the country.
14.
Cherrapunji (Meghalaya) is the wettest spot on earth. It receives at least 425
inches of rain every year, which is over 5 times more than the tropical rain
forests of South America!
15. With around 155,618 post offices and over 566,000
employees, India has the largest postal network in the world.
16. Hindi
is not India’s national language as many think or believe; it’s the official
language. Article 343 of the Constitution states that Hindi in Devnagari script
is the official language of India. But Hindi is the first official language of
India and Hindi was declared the Official Language of the Union on September
14, 1949.
17. India
Railways is the single largest civilian employer in the world, with over a
million employees.
18. When
India became independent on August 15, 1947 there was no National Anthem. Even
though the Bengali invocation of Jana Gana Mana was written in 1911, it was not
considered as national anthem till 1950.
19. State Bank of India has the
maximum number of branches in the world, with the number being over 15,000 and
counting.
20. Controversy surrounding Jana Gana Mana claims that Rabindranath
Tagore wrote the song ‘Jana Gana Mana’ for the British monarch. He later
refuted this claim and said that he wrote the song as requested by his friend
and the song pronounced the victory in ‘Jana Gana Mana’ of that Bhagya Vidhata
of India and not of King George V.
21.
The value of "pi" was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician
Budhayana, who also explained the Pythagorean Theorem.
22. India is one of only
three countries that makes supercomputers (the US and Japan are the other two).
23. Navi Mumbai, a planned satellite township of Mumbai, was developed in 1972
and is the largest planned township on the planet.
24. India
produces more movies than any other country in the world and Bollywood is the
largest film industry in the world.
25. There
are 300,000 active mosques in India, more than in any other country, including
the Muslim world.
