Great India

1. Old Monk is the largest selling dark rum in the world.

Owned by Mohan Meakins Ltd., Old Monk has also been the biggest Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brand for many years. Produced in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, it is available in all parts of India and the world, including places like Russia, the USA, the UK, Japan, the UAE, Estonia, Finland, New Zealand and Canada. This cult dark rum has been awarded gold medals at the Monde World Selections since 1982.

2. Mohun Bagan A.C is older than many European giants.



mohunbaganclub.com

Believe it or not, formed in 1889, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is older than many European clubs including Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and A.C Milan. On September 25th, 1977, Mohun Bagan A.C. played a friendly match at the Eden Gardens against the star studded New York Cosmos, a team from the original North American Soccer League that comprised legendary players such as Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and Giorgio Chinaglia. The match ended as a 2-2 draw with the Indian players receiving a lot of praise for their performance. Moreover, it was only a last gasp penalty from striker Chinaglia that denied the Indian club a historic win. Such was the quality of Indian football until the early 1980s. The picture above is from the same game.

3. India has an ice-hockey team.



This is the Indian Ice Hockey team's official website.-http://www.icehockeyindia.com/

4. The world's biggest school is City Montessori School, Lucknow.

City Montessori School

With a staggering 47,000 students accommodated in over 20 branches, City Montessori school in Lucknow is the world's largest school. It has over 1,000 classrooms, 3,700 computers and a staff strength of 3800. That's a LOT of kids, even if they're spread over 20 branches.


5. The Taj Mahal is taller than the Qutub Minar!

Taj Mahal



Because it's a minaret, it is tougher to believe that it is taller than the Qutab Minar. The Taj Mahal stands at 243.5 ft. while the Qutab Minar is at 239 ft.

6. India controls the highest battlefield in the world.

Siachen Glacier

Siachen glacier, at 16,404.2 ft above mean sea level. I'm guessing a lot of 'point 1' gets consumed here.

7. A sugar company supplies rocket fuel to ISRO!

Rocket launch

Andhra Sugars Ltd has started supply of liquid hydrogen and cryogenic fuel to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

8. The Kolkata Book Fair is the most attended public book fair in the world.



blog.pothi.com

This is not a picture of the book fair. This is just a bunch of people losing the plot, most likely not on books. But just to give you an idea, a total of about 2.5 million people attend the book fair every year. That's a LOT of people.

9. India was the first country to produce steel.



eonline.com

Not him. The other steel. The history of steel-making in India can be tracked back to around 400 BC. Much before the advent of Christ.

10. India drink about 50% of the world's whiskey.



According to Quartz.com, India is far and away the world’s biggest guzzler, owing in part to its large population. Roughly half of the world’s whiskey is drunk by the sub-continent. Most of it is made by UB India, the world’s largest whiskey company by volume.

11. In West Bengal, cows need a photo ID.

Cow

To prevent Indian cattle being smuggled along India's border into Bangladesh, authorities have come up with a solution to issue photo ID cards for cattle. According to one estimate, at least 25,000 cows are smuggled into Bangladesh every day from India, mostly through the Indian state of West Bengal. Smell some meat here?