7 Totally Unexpected Ways in Which India Is Leading the World

The daily news about increasing crime against women, seemingly endless clashes on the basis of religion and caste: this country sure has miles to go in some ways. But between all the hatred and negativity, the scams and the riots, there are still some amazing things that India is doing (and doing right!)

Here is a list of some kickass things that India leads the world in:

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1. Tobacco warnings

Fun fact: all tobacco products in India must carry a pictorial warning and text message that needs to occupy at least 85 per cent of the front and back of the package. This brings India to the no. 1 position in the world (along with Thailand) on how much space is dedicated to warning labels.

2. Reading habits

Photo: blog.roomtoread.org

Did you know Indians are the biggest bookworms in the world? As per this survey, Indians spend an average of 10.7 hours reading every week! That’s a lot of learning, guys. And at a time when smartphones and laptops are threatening to take over all our free time, this statistic is simply marvellous. It’s also almost twice the reading average of countries such as the USA and UK.

3. Many, many agricultural products

Photo: Wikipedia

With its legendary diversity, India is rich in many, many ways. One of these is agriculture. India is the largest producer of cotton, millet, dry beans, chick peas, pulses, banana, mango, papaya, cumin, ginger, chilli pepper, and turmeric. Yummy in my tummy — that’s a whole lot of goodness we’re producing every year.

4. Post offices

Photo: Wikipedia

Yes, e-mail may have taken over, but spare a thought for the amazing reach of the Indian postal service. With 154,919 post offices as per this report, India is leading the world in this (postal) department. That’s nothing to scoff at!

5.  Stock exchange

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Photo: Wikipedia

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai is Asia’s first stock exchange and the world’s fastest stock exchange with a median trade speed of 6 microseconds. More than 5500 companies are publicly listed on the 137-year-old BSE.

6. Mangalyaan

Photo: ISRO

Let’s not forget that India became the first (yes, the first!) nation in the world to successfully put the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, into orbit in its very first attempt.

7. Movies!

Photo: ajinkyapokharkar.files.wordpress.com

The 103-year-old Indian film industry is the largest producer of films in the world with over 1,600 films released every year – in as many as 20 different languages!

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