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Manohar Aich won the ‘ Mr. Universe’ title in the Group III Championship category in 1952, achieving greatness in becoming India’s first Mr.Universe. His global achievement came in an era, when the country rarely made heroes of its sports people.

The diminutive Manohar Aich also known as ‘Pocket Hercules’ having a height of 4’11” (approximately 1.5 metre tall). He was born in Dhamti village, Comilla district (now in Bangladesh). With Independence he moved to Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1949.

Manohar Aich attended the Jubilee school in Dhaka. Later he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1942 where he began his pursuit in body building. He was encouraged by a British officer named Reub Martin who introduced him to weight training.

In 1950 – he won the Mr. Hercules contest. In 1951 he stood 2nd in the Mr. Universe contest . He went to London for training and in 1952 he won the Mr. Universe title achieving body building glory. In 1955 he stood 3rd in the Mr.Universe contest.

The superfit centenarian Aich currently lives in Baguihati, north of Kolkata and celebrated his 100 years on Sunday, March 17th, 2013.

On 23rd May 1984, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman mountaineer to climb Mount Everest.

May 22nd, 1984 alongwith other climbers in the team they started the ascent to the summit of Mount Everest, Bachendri was the only woman in this group. They continued the ascent climbing ‘vertical sheets of cold ice’, cold winds sometimes blowing at the speed of 100Km per hour, temperatures touching minus 30-40 degree celsius.

May 23rd, 1984 Bachendri Pal reached the summit of Mount Everest, creating history at 1:07pm IST, she was standing at the peak (29,028 feet) alongwith one other climber.

Born 24th May 1954 in Nakuri village, Uttarakashi district of Garhwal, Bachendri Pal started mountaineering at the tender age of twelve, when during a picnic alongwith several of her school mates they climbed 13,123 feet high peak. She went to become the first female graduate in her village. Continued and did her Masters Degree in Sanskrit and then her B.Ed.

After completing her studies she joined the ‘Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM). In 1982 whilst at NIM she climbed ‘Gangotri’ (21,900 feet) and ‘Rudugaria’ (19,091 feet).  In 1985 she led an Indo-Nepalese Everest Expedition  team comprising of only women. The expediton created 7 world records and set benchmarks for Indian mountaineering.

She is working as Chief of Adventure Program with Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, where she conducts high altitude training workshops for the corporate workforce.

‘Le Sutra’, Mumbai.  The 16-rooms boutique hotel is the first hotel in the world with the theme as ‘Indian Art’ where the rooms are inspired by Indian culture making it the First Indian Art Hotel.

“Sutra” means rope or thread that holds things to-gether in Sanskrit. It is  inspired by Indian mythos based on ‘character’ (Ravana, Ashoka, Buddha) or ‘characteristics’ (Sensuality, Love, Purifiction). The 3-level hotel represents the ‘Gunas’ which sum up the worldview in Indian philosophy. The 3 Gunas being: Tamas, Rajas and Sattva.

The erstwile Pali Hills Hotel in Mumbai’s hip suburb of Bandra, has completely reinvented itself and resulted in the stunning ‘Le Sutra’.

The Indian Air Force(IAF) formally inducted the first 12 of its 75 Swiss manufactured Pilatus PC-7 Mk11 basic training aircraft into operational service at a ceremony at the premier academy Dundigal AirForce Academy near Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) on June 07th, 2013.

Minister of State for Defense Jitendra Singh unveiled the tandem-seat turboprop aircraft that is capable of aerobatics as well as tactical night flying. This marked the first formal flight of the Basic Trainer Aircraft. All the 75 aircraft are expected to be delivered by August 2015.

Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall N.A.K.Browne said the Pilatus will be the ‘ideal platform’ to expose initial trainees to basic flying, modern avionics and navigation aids. This aircraft will be used to train all pilots of the IAF, in addition to pilots of the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard.

Apart from an integrated ground-based training system and a comprehensive support package, the contract requires the company to implement the required transfer of technology to Hindustan Aeronautics, enabling establishment of in-country depot-level maintenance facilities to support the aircraft, throughout its 30-year service life.

Rahi Sarnobat is the first ever Indian woman pistol shooter to win gold in 25 metres sports pistol at ISSF, Changwon Gold Cup, South Korea.

The 22 year old Indian markswoman hails from Kolhapur, Maharashtra and trains at Gagan Narang’s Gun for Glory Academy in Pune.

Rahi Sarnobat was the youngest Indian shooter at London Olympics 2012. She won 2 gold medals in 2010 Commonwealth Games, Delhi,India. Also won the first gold in 25m pistol event in pair with Anisa Sayyed.

Arunima ‘Sonu’ Sinha became the first Indian amputee to scale Mount Everest. This Indian girl surprised all with her exceedingly rare achievement of scaling the summit on a prosthetic leg.

History was created when 25 year old Arunima Sinha reached the 8,848 metre-high summit, of the world’s highest peak. She left the high camp at 6pm on Monday evening and arrived at the summit at 10.55am on May 21st, 2013 (Tuesday).

Arunima Sinha, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh (about 200 km from Lucknow) was a part of the 6 member Indian team ‘Eco Everest expedition’ from the Tata Group . Led by India’s former Border Security Force (BSF) staffer Love Raj Singh and accompanied by 9 sherpas on their successful ascent of the summit.

The former national level player, had lost her right leg, in an accident after being thrown off a moving train. Subsequently she joined Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) camp in Uttarakashi last year, where she was trained by Bachendra Pal, the first Indian woman to conquer Mount Everest.

Dr.Manmohan Singh, The Prime Minister of India conveyed his congratulations and added “Arunima’s achievement is an example not only to society at large, but also to women everywhere. This young woman looked adversity in the eye and when all seemed lost, decided to make something of her life in the most spectacular fashion possible.”

Arunima’s achievement coincides with the 60th anniversary of Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay’s feat on May 20th, 1953

Lieutanant Commander Abhilash Tomy became the first Indian to sail the globe solo, non-stop and un-aided.

34 year old Indian Navy aviator, Tomy sailed continuously circumnavigating the earth and crossing the equator twice in 150 days in INSV Mhadei to reach the milestone. He arrived at the same spot after creating history – Gateway of India , Saturday afternoon April 06th, 2013. He commenced the extra ordinary journey on November 01st last year at the same spop.  Lt. Cdr Abhilash Tomy’s arrival was marked by gun salutes and firing of signal flares.

The arrival was witnessed by President Pranab Mukherjee, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Governor of Maharashtra K. Sankarnarayan, Health Minister Suresh Shety and Senior Navy officers wre there to welcome his.

” If one thing that the sea taught me, is is humility. The proudest moment for me was when I hosted the Tricolour on reaching Cape Horn ” say Tomy.

INSV Mhadei is a 56-foot long custom built sailboat with 23 tonne displacement for the Indian Navy on the banks of her namesake river in Goa in 2009.

Tomy is the second Indian to circumnavigate th globe after Commander Dilip Dhonde, his mentor who achieved the feat in 2010.

D. Mohini Kumari, a woman has been appointed for the first time in history of the South Central Railways (SCR) as a ‘Guard’ for the Goods/Freight trains.

Mohini Kumari, a graduate,  was initially appointed in 2006 as a clerk, on compassionate grounds after the death of her husband. She subsequently qualified for the post of Guard after a departmental examination and subsequently underwent training in Secuderabad.  Mohini Kumari, the 43-year old graduate took charge of her new position as ‘Guard’ on Friday, July 26th, 2013.

The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) first giant Boeing C-17 Globemaster III (tail no. CB-8001)has taken off, after its transfer ceremony held in Long Beach, California on Tuesday, June 11th, 2013. The IAF is flying its first heavy-lift strategic transport plane, on its more than 8,000 mile journey to its new home at the Hindon Air Force Station (outside Delhi), where the squadron will be based.

Nearly a year ago, Indian Consul General Shri. N Parthasarathi stood on the floor of the Boeing Co. C-17 Globemaster III production plant, drilling ceremonial rivets into the first of the 10 military planes bound for India.

” The C-17 will equip the IAF with amongst the world’s most advanced humanitarian and strategic capabilities ” said Air Vice Marshall SRK Nair, Assitant Chief of Air Staff Operation Transport and Helicopter. The IAF’s capability to swiftly transport combat troops and war-fighting equipment to distant battle fronts will be hugely bolstered with the induction of the C-17’s aircraft that will augment their air lift capacity.

The giant Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, a high-wing, four engine, T-tailed military transport aircraft can take off from short runaway of as little as 7,600 feet in length and land on runaways as short as 3,000 feet. It can fly 2,400 miles without aerial refuelling – flying longer with refuelling and carry as much as 80 tons of cargo. Th C-17’s are as much valued for their cargo capacity, the ability to fly long distances, their versatility and ability to land on remote airfields in rough terrain.

The first C-17 arrives in India almost exactly after 2 years of the deal being signed in June 2011. The $4.116 billion deal for 10 aircraft will make India the largest operator of the aircraft outside of the U.S.  India became Boeings’s largest foreign customer when it endorsed the $ 4 billion deal to purchase the C-17’s. Boeing is on track to deliver 4 more this years and 5 more to the IAF in 2014.

Once the deliveries are done, it will make the IAF the operator of the 2nd largest fleet of C-17’s after the US Air Forces’ current 218 strong inventory. The UK currently holds the status with the Royal Air Force operating 8 of the type.

Boeing will support the IAF C-17 fleet through the Globemaster III Integrated Sustainment Program (GISP) Performance-Based Logistics Contract.

V. S. Rama Devi was India’s first and only woman Chief Election Commissioner till date (ie. April 18, 2013) for a brief periond November 26, 1990 to December 11, 1990. She was succeeded by T. N. Seshan.

She did her M.A and then obtained her LLM. Subsequently enrolled as an Advocate in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Then joined the Central Government Service as an officer belonging to the Group A service.

V.S. Rama Devi held several important assignments in her career. She was Governor of Himachal Pradesh (July 26, 1997 to December 01, 1999). Next she served as the First Woman Governor of Karnataka (December 02, 1999 to August 02, 2002).

Other key assignments of the talented Telugu bureaucrat were Honorary Advisor to the National Commission for Women(NCW), Member, Secretary – National Law Commission and Secretary General, Rajya Sabha (July 01, 1993 to July 25, 1997).

Rama Devi co-authored the book ‘Rajya Sabha at Work’.

V. S. Rama Devi was born in Chebrolu of West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. Born January 15, 1934 – Tuesday , April 17, 2013 – age 79 years, Bangalore.