Who was the first President of independent India?
- A.Jawaharlal Nehru
- B.Dr. Rajendra Prasad
- C.Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
- D.Dr. Zakir Husain
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Dr. Rajendra Prasad. He had presided over the Constituent Assembly that framed the Constitution and became the first President when the Constitution came into force in 1950. He remains the only person to have served two full terms in the office.
Option A, Jawaharlal Nehru, was the first Prime Minister and never held the presidency, and the two offices are the commonest pair to be swapped in this question. Option C, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, was the first Vice-President and became the second President only after Rajendra Prasad. Option D, Dr. Zakir Husain, was the third President, and he carries two firsts of his own that papers like to ask: he was the first Muslim President of India and the first President to die while in office. Keep the sequence of the first three Presidents in mind and none of these can confuse you.
Read the full article: First in India: Men and Women in Office, Science and Sport
Practice Questions
View allWho was the first Indian to be awarded a Nobel Prize?
- A.C. V. Raman
- B.Mother Teresa
- C.Rabindranath Tagore
- D.Amartya Sen
Show answer
He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for Gitanjali and was the first Asian of any nationality to win a Nobel Prize, which is a second fact worth carrying.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Indian to travel into space?
- A.Rakesh Sharma
- B.Kalpana Chawla
- C.Ravish Malhotra
- D.Sunita Williams
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The Indian Air Force pilot flew aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11 in 1984 under a joint programme and spent about a week on the Salyut 7 space station, becoming the first Indian citizen in space.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India?
- A.Justice Leila Seth
- B.Justice M. Fathima Beevi
- C.Justice Ruma Pal
- D.Justice Sujata Manohar
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The correct answer is B, Justice M. Fathima Beevi, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1989, about four decades after the court began work, and later served as Governor of Tamil Nadu.
Read the full explanation →Who was the first woman Prime Minister of India?
- A.Pratibha Devisingh Patil
- B.Sarojini Naidu
- C.Indira Gandhi
- D.Sucheta Kripalani
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Who was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest wartime gallantry award?
- A.Major Somnath Sharma
- B.Naik Jadunath Singh
- C.Captain Vikram Batra
- D.Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid
Show answer
He was decorated after his death for the action at Badgam in which his company held back the advance on the Srinagar airfield in November 1947, and his is the first name on the roll of the Param Vir Chakra.
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