India’s First Awards and Titles
- Mr. Universe : Monotosh Roy in 1952
- Miss World : Reita Faria in 1966; also the first Asian to win the title
- Miss Asia Pacific: Zeenat Aman in 1970
- International Teen Princess: Radha Bartake in 1974
- Miss Teenages Intercontinental: Elizabeth Anita Reddi in 1978
- Miss World Amber: Mala Rai Singani in 1978
- World Miss University: Priyadarshini Pradhan in 1989
- Miss Universe: Sushmita Sen in 1994
- Miss India Worldwide: Karminder Kaur Virk in 1994
- Miss Intercontinental: Lara Dutta in 1997
- Mr. International: Aryan Vaid in 2000
- Manhunt International: Rajeev Singh in 2001
- Miss Tourism International: Candice Pinto in 2001
- Mrs. World: Aditi Gowitrikar in 2001
- Miss Tourism Queen International: Zabina Abdul Rashid Khan in 2004
- Miss World Tourism: Sonal Chauhan in 2005.
- Best Model of the World: Siddharth Shukla in 2005
- Miss Tourism: Priyanka Shah in 2007
- Miss Earth: Nicole Faria in 2010
- Miss Asia Pacific World: Himangini Singh Yadu in 2012
- Mister United Nations: Rahul Vyas in 2013
- Miss Supranational: Asha Bhat in 2014
- Miss Universal Peace and Humanity: Ruhi Singh in 2014
- Miss Tourism International (China version): Parul Bindal in 2014
- Ms United Nations: Amiiee (Amisha) Chaudhary Verma in 2017
- Mrs United Nations Classic: Neepa Singh in 2017
- Mrs United Nations: Roshni Hassan in 2017
- First Indian to win any literary award (the Newbery Medal) in the United States, in 1927 for Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon: Dhan Gopal Mukerji
- Mister World: Rohit Khandelwal; first Asian to win Mister World
- First ever Miss World to win Beauty with a Purpose award: Manushi Chhillar.
- First Indian to win a major non-fiction award, the Duff Cooper Prize in the United Kingdom, in 1966 for The Continent of Circe – Nirad C. Chaudhuri
- Man Booker Prize: Arundhati Roy for her novel The God of Small Things in 1997
- First Indian to speak as orator at Harvard University, in the commencement exercises in 1993 – Bhaswati Bhattacharya
- Bharat Ratna: Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, C. Rajagopalachari, and C. V. Raman in 1954
- Padma Vibhushan: Satyendra Nath Bose, Nand Lal Bose, Zakir Hussain, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, V. K. Krishna Menon in 1954
- Param Vir Chakra: Major Somnath Sharma
- Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters: Mrinal Sen
- Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters: Sivaji Ganesan
- Dadasaheb Phalke Award: Devika Rani in 1969
- Ashoka Chakra Award to a civilian: D.K. Jatar (posthumous) and M.C Dixit, captain and co-captain respectively, of the sabotaged plane Kashmir Princess, for “most conspicuous bravery, daring and self-sacrifice”
- Magsaysay Award: Vinoba Bhave, 1958
- Stalin Peace Prize (now known as Lenin Peace Prize) in 1952: Saifuddin Kitchlew
- Oscar for Lifetime Achievement: Satyajit Ray
- Nishan-e-Pakistan: Morarji Desai, 1990