Facts///1

1. Fifteen of the worlds major automobile manufactures are now obtaining components from Indian firms.

2. Trade of Indian medicinal plants has crossed Rs. 4000 crore.

3. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Caraka, the father of medicine, made Ayurveda strong and firm.

4. The first scheduled airline in the world to enroll a woman Pilot, was Indian Airlines in 1966.

5. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra in Gujarat, Western India.

6. Asian paints is the market leader in 11 of 22 countries of five continents in which it is present including India.

7. Indian scientist M.S. Swaminathan has been greeted by America's 'Time' magazine as one of the twenty most influential Asians of the 20th century. He has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as father of Eco-Economics.

8. Worlds highest astronomical observatory is situated in India at 4517 metres above means sea level at Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir State.

9. Sanskrit is the mos suitable language for speech recognition in computer. Principles of Sanskrit grammar given by Panini las down the writing code for use in software in modern times.

10. India has the longest postal network in the world.

11. India is the largest producer of milk in the world. National Dairy Development Board handles more than 10,900 tons of milk daily. This operation has created 6 million rural enterpreneurs. It has generated rural income of over one billion (1000 million) dollars.

12. Hero cycles Ltd is the largest producer of bicycles in the world since 1986.

13. Indian Railways is the largest employer of man-power in the world. It carries more than a million passengers everyday. It has the longest railway platform at Kharagpur and the largest railway station at Howrah, both in West Bengal.

14. Mumbai's (Bombay) suburban railway system carries 59 lakh passengers a day-the highest in the world.

15. Bajaj Auto Ltd., Pune (Maharashtra State), manufactured 'Legend, the world's first four stroke geared scooter on 25 July, 1998.

16. 'Jeevan Rekha Express' set on rails on 16 January 1991 is the world's first hospital on the wheels with free medical and surgical facilities.

17. The special word 'Jaipur foot' in medical language all over the world is contributed by manufacturers of artificial limbs of Jaipur in Rajastan (northwestern India).

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