PHOTO CREDITMohd. ShafiqLive ImagesPIBInternational Olympic CommitteeSpecial Olympics BharatWarren Little/LOC/Getty Images

John Patrick McGuire

SPECIAL THANKS

John Louis (Rubik’s Cube)

Raman Rekhi (Special Olympics Bharat)

Special Olympics International

Sandhir Singh Flora (Cinema)

Address all correspondence toLimca Book of Records (Editorial)Hachette IndiaHachette Book Publishing India Pvt Ltd4th & 5th Floors, Corporate Centre,Plot No. 94, Sector 44, Gurugram 122003, INDIAPhone: +91-124-4195000e-mail: lbr.entries@hachetteindia.comWebsite: www.limcabookofrecords.in

ISBN: 978-93-82867-24-1 (Hard cover-English)

OUR TEAM

EditorialVijaya GhoseArthy Muthanna SinghM K JosSmitha Thomas

Design & LayoutP P Peeter

MarketingVVR Murty

LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS 2017© The Coca-Cola Company, USA

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced

or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying or otherwise or stored in any retrieval system

without the prior written permission of the publisher, application

for which shall be made to the publisher.

Researched, compiled and designed by

V G Communications

Processed and printed by

Ajanta Offset & Packagings Ltd, New Delhi

Last date for new entries (complete with documentation) for the next edition: June 30, 2017Note: Limca Book of Records does not have any branch offices or representatives.

CONSULTANTS

SportsChief Coordinator: Novy Kapadia (Athletics, Badminton, Football, Hockey, Squash)Suresh Kumar Lau (Archery, Basketball, Boxing, Cue Sports, Gymnastics, Wrestling)P K Datta (Tennis)Rakesh Rao (Chess, Golf, Table-Tennis)Kamesh Srinivasan (Shooting)Hariprasad Chattopadhyay (Statistics)VK Pahuja/ Meenakshi Pahuja (Swimming)Mohandas Menon (Cricket)Development & Nature - Usha RaiEducation - Dr Alpana NeogyThe Armed Forces - Benita SenMemory - Anant Kasibhatla

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FOREWORD

Venkatesh KiniPresident, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia

Dear Reader,2016 was an unconventional year and demanded unconventional determination from ourachievers to scale new heights and set new bench marks. Despite all odds, they did not stop andkept working harder and harder towards their goals. Most assuredly, they conquered them. Thisreinstates my faith in the inspiring nature of human resolve that can be so resilient andrewarding. The drive and tenacity that a Limca Book of Records record holder possesses is waybeyond the ordinary. It is awe-inspiring. It is humbling — it gives hope to the rest of us that a lotthat we dismiss as being impossible is in fact achievable. It is this firm belief and sheerdetermination that sets the achievers apart.

Most of us aspire to achieve something, to be someone, and to be remembered. Some of usfollow through on our aspirations, but many of us give up. A Limca record holder never gives up,never says never!

Inspiring. Isn’t it? This is what Limca Book of Records is all about. It’s about inspiring Indianswho do extraordinary things by fighting all odds and setting examples for the world. A LimcaBook of Records Certificate is a respectful acknowledgement of the passion and excellence ofthe people who earn it. It is not easy to get featured there, but our go-getters do the“unthinkable” for the world to take notice and admire.

Limca Book of Records People of the Year 2017 have been carefully reviewed and selected byan independent and eminent jury. The master list was so impressive that selecting top 15contenders was very difficult. It required a lot of deliberation, and exclusion of the rest isbecause we could feature only these many. Each of those in the master list is winner in theirown way. From Haryana’s Olympian Sakshi Malik to Naresh Kumar Sharma — the only shooter to

represent India in Paralympics for over five years; from Ajeet Kaur who has indefatigablyorganised the SAARC Literary Festival for the last 30 years to Michelle Kakade who

dared to go where no woman had been before to set the world record as the firstwoman to complete the Golden Quadrilateral run; from Ira Singhal, the first

differently-abled woman to top the Civil Services Examinations to the pioneerof rescue and medical missions, Dr Pradeep Bhardwaj, who has savedthousands of victims of floods, earthquakes and disasters—mighty stalwartsone and all!

So, here’s hoping that this edition inspires you too — to push yourselfbeyond your limits.

Going forward, Limca Book of Records will be in the safe hands ofHachette, one of the country’s leading publishers. It is coincidental that theMD of Hachette, Thomas Abraham, began his professional journey with thevery first edition of Limca Book of Records. Vijaya Ghose, who has been at

the helm of the motivating book since Day 1, will continue tirelessly as theEditor Emeritus.My best wishes to everyone who reads this book. Hope these record holders

inspire each one of us to build India into a country of distinction, where we all giveour best, and savor each step of our journey towards excellence. I hope that someday

this inspiring book of extraordinary feats will have the honour of featuring you here too.

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contentsTHE HUMAN STORY 09-68

ADVENTURE 69-92

COMMUNICATIONS 93-102

EDUCATION 103-112

RADIO 113-118

TELEVISION 119-128

LITERATURE 129-140

GOVERNMENT 141-148

PAINTING 149-166

MUSIC 167-174

DANCE 175-182

CINEMA & THEATRE 183-188

THE ARMED FORCES 189-202

TRANSPORT 203-216

DEVELOPMENT 217-230

NATURE 231-246

AGRICULTURE 247-252

BUSINESS 253-266

MEDICAL SCIENCES 267-278

SPORTS 279-308

INDEX 309-315

RULES AND GUIDELINES 316-320

WR: WORLD RECORD

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p e o p l e o f t h e y e a rLimca Book of Records is proud to announce the 15 People of the Year 2017. Special people who have soared abovethe rest to reach for the sun and make a definite mark for themselves in their respective fields. What they all havein common is the drive and determination to excel!

The jury consisting of Dr Babli Moitra Saraf (Principal, Indraprastha College for Women, Delhi University), HK Dua(former MP Rajya Sabha – retired on Nov 17, 2015) and Prof Dipankar Gupta (sociologist and public intellectual,former Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi) chose the 15People of the Year 2017.

Michelle Kakade – A long distance runner from Pune, who became the firstperson to cover the Golden Quadrilateral on foot — also the longest run on Indianroads by a woman — in 2015-16 in addition to previous records of most desertultramarathons and marathon treadmill run. (See Page 76)

Aditya Mehta – An above-knee amputee from Hyderabad,who has set multiple cycling records like longestcycling (1,450 km) without prosthetic limb,fastest 100 km and London - Paris, Kashmir -Kanyakumari, Manali - Khardung La expeditions – allwearing a prosthetic limb with a mission to motivatedifferently abled persons. (See Page 78)

Ira Singhal – The first differently-abled woman to top the Civil ServicesExaminations in the general category in 2014. (See Page 106)

Sayomdeb Mukherjee (RJ Den) – A 35-year-old whofirst spoke at age 25, currently hosts a daily show (Mon -Fri) on an FM station – 91.9 Friends FM in Kolkata.He was born with Dopaminr-Responsive Dystonia, a raredisorder. (See Page 114)

Ajeet Caur – A well-known Punjabi writer who has been organising the SAARCLiterary Festival for the last 30 years, under the aegis of Foundation of SAARCWriters and Literature (FOSWAL), an organisation started by Caur.(See Page 138)

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The Ramnani FamilyOver the last 29 years, the Ramnani family of Indore hasdonated 18 pairs of eyes through the Lions Club of Neemuchand two members, Manina Ramnani and Laxman Das haveeven donated their bodies. (See Page 218)

Dr Pradeep Bhardwaj – Director of Six Sigma High Altitude Medical RescueInternational Operations, Delhi and a pioneer in rescue and medical missions, hehas worked in most difficult terrains and saved thousands of victims of floods,earthquakes and other disasters. (See Page 224)

Ashraf Palorakunnummal – The United Arab Emirates-based Indian businessman who has taken it upon himself tosend home the bodies of deceased expatriates. Over thepast 14 years, he has organised the last journeys of morethan 2,400 people from 35 countries without charging thefamilies! (See Page 228)

Sitamarhi’s Soak Pit RevolutionTo prevent the spread of vector borne diseases due to water stagnation and torecharge groundwater, some 5.5 lakh people constructed 2,168 soak pits adjacentto hand pumps in schools, madrasas, health centres and anganwadis acrossSitamarhi District on April 21, 2016, under the initiative of District MagistrateRajiv Raushan and PM’s rural development fellows Amit, Abhinav and Nitinand supported by UNICEF. (See Page 244)

www.friends2support.org (F2S) – The largest voluntaryblood donors’ online database started by Shareef SK, NaveenReddy, Koteswararao S, Phani Kethamakka and MuraliKrishna on Nov 14, 2005. (See Page 275)

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B Devendra Jhajharia – A paralympian who despite losinghis left hand at eight years, joined para-athletics in 1995and became the first Indian to win a gold medal inpara-athletics in the 2013 World Championship. He receivedthe Arjuna Award and Padma Shri and was the Indian flagbearer for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. (See Page 280)

Naresh Kumar Sharma – A wheel-chair bound shooter who has representedIndia in over 30 shooting events at Para-Asian Games, World Championships andParalympics and was the only Indian shooter in Paralympics from 1996-2012. Hereceived the Arjuna Award in 1997. (See Page 281)

Joby Mathew –A dwarf athlete and arm wrestling championfrom Kerala, who has won the most gold medals from oneedition of World Dwarf Games in athletics and badminton.(See Page 282)

Dipa Karmakar – The first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympicsand to win a Commonwealth Games medal. She hails from Agartala, Tripura.(See Page 301)

Sakshi Malik — Olympian wrestler from Mokhra, Haryanawho became the first Indian woman to win a wrestlingmedal in Olympics and to achieve the highest world rankingin 2016. (See Page 307)

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Dear readers,

Another edition replete with fascinating stories of grit and determination to fill a year-longLBR! The 2017 book will be my last edition as Editor of LBR but I assure you the book willthrive and grow to even higher levels with the new team.

The LBR People of the Year (POY) 2017 have 15 extraordinary people making significantcontributions in their field of endeavour. The POY tradition started in 1992 choosing five peoplein different fields. In 2012 the pattern changed with 10 POYs selected from the field of Musicas it was the theme of the edition. Now in 2017 we have gone back to our old method ofhonouring POYs from various spheres, from among the names featured in the book.

From the 2018 edition, Limca Book of Records will be handled by the book publishing concernHachette India. It is comforting that the present CEO and MD, Thomas Abraham and Iworked together on many editions of LBR from the very first edition! And Vatsala Kaul whowas my colleague in Target magazine (India Today) will be the LBR Editor! The migration ofLBR to Hachette India will help with better marketing technology. So don’t worry – LBR willbe in good hands!

The LBR 2017 is my tribute to our record holders. Since inception, LBR has been a by-word forexcellence and merit and readers like you have been the backbone of its astounding growth.Without you, the book couldn’t have survived even one year, leave alone 28! Your dreams,aspirations, ambitions pushed LBR to what it has been — a world class book of records.

Record holders remain faceless only until interactions make us ‘mail friends’. I know somewho have been sending updates regularly since the first edition (1990). For them andhundreds of record holders, I offer my salutations!

My thanks to our consultants — the book could not be the same without them. Some havebeen with us since inception, with guidance from Novy Kapadia.

I can’t leave out my own team members who stuck to me in good and bad times — Murty,Peeter, Jos, Arthy and Smitha. You can see the remarkable change they wrought in, each onewith their special aptitudes. My good wishes to them for a successful journey!

Finally, my gratitude to the main benefactor, Coca-Cola, which allowed me free hand tochart my vision for LBR without interference. It is because of their foresight that LBR hasbecome a household name today.

Adieu and farewell…

Vijaya GhoseEditor

Last word ...

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