India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bharat Ganrajya)[c], is a country in South Asia, and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the Asian Development Bank, the South Asian Regional Co-operation Organisation and the United Nations. SONY KFRMBA151B laptop keyboard
india is also an observer-member of the Organisation of American States, the Arab League[11] and of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. It is the seventh-largestcountry by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracyin the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, SONY VAIO VGN-FS115Z laptop keyboard
and the Bay of Bengalon the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;[d] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and theMaldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.[12] Four world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, andIslam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century andadministered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. GATEWAY NV-54 Laptop Keyboard
The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity(PPP).[13] Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. SONY KFRMBA151B Laptop Keyboard
However, it continues to face the challenges ofpoverty, illiteracy, corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, violence against women, andterrorism. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks seventh in military expenditure among nations. SONY VAIO VGN-C2S Series Laptop Keyboard
India is a federal constitutional republic governed under aparliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, andmulti-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. HP Pavilion G6-1223TX Laptop Keyboard
The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hinduš. The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River.[14] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), which translates as "the people of the Indus".[15] HP Compaq NC8430 Laptop Keyboard
The geographical term Bharat (pronounced [ˈbʱaːrət̪] ( listen)), which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations.[16] The eponym of Bharat isBharata, a theological figure that Hindu scriptures describe as a legendary emperor of ancient India. Hindustan([ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn] HP 636376-001 Laptop Keyboard
( listen)) was originally a Persian word that meant "Land of the Hindus"; prior to 1947, it referred to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan. It is occasionally used to solely denote India in its entirety.[17][18] The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in South Asia date from approximately 30,000 years ago.[19] TOSHIBA Satellite L755-SP5102CL Laptop Keyboard
Nearly contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh.[20] Around 7000 BCE, the first known Neolithicsettlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan.[21] DELL Latitude D620 Laptop Keyboard
These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation,[22] the first urban culture in South Asia;[23] it flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India.[24] Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilization engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.[23] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from theChalcolithic to the Iron Age.[25] The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,[26] were composed during this period,[27] and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upperGangetic Plain.[25] ACER Aspire 5810T-8929 Laptop Keyboard
Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the north-west.[28][26][29] The caste system, which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure, ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
arose during this period.[30] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation.[25] In southern India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period,[31] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.[31] ACER Aspire 5740 Laptop Keyboard
During the period 230 BCE to 220 CE, Satavahana empire covered much of India. The Satavahanas are credited for establishing peace in the country, resisting the onslaught of foreigners after the decline of Mauryan Empire. Satavahanas are also credited with furthering Budhism in India including Ajanta caves. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard
In the late Vedic period, around the 5th century BCE, the small chiefdoms of theGanges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.[32][33] The emerging urbanisation and the orthodoxies of this age also created the religious reform movements ofBuddhism and Jainism,[34] COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
both of which became independent religions.[35] Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India.[34][36][37] DELL Inspiron 8500 Laptop Keyboard
Jainism came into prominence around the same time during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.[38] In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,[39] and both established long-lasting monasteries.[32] Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, HP 640436-001 Laptop Keyboard
the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.[32] The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas.[40][41] SAMSUNG N140 Laptop Keyboard
The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.[42][43] Toshiba Satellite A200-1E1 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan
The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empireand with West and South-East Asia.[44][45] In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women.[46][32] Toshiba Satellite A105-S271 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan
By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created in the greater Ganges Plain a complex system of administration and taxation that became a model for later Indian kingdoms.[47][48] TOSHIBA Satellite M645-S4070 Laptop Keyboard
Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself.[49]The renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite.[48] Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances.[48] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity.[50] When Harsha ofKannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by theChalukya ruler of the Deccan.[51] ACER NSK-H361D Laptop Keyboard
When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal.[51]When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south.[51] DELL PVDG3 Laptop Keyboard
No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region.[50] During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes.[52] The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.[52] DELL Inspiron 6400 Laptop Keyboard
In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language.[53] They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent.[53] Indian royalty, bigand small, SONY VAIO VGN-N38Z/W laptop keyboard
and the temples they patronised, drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well.[54] Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation.[54] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, GATEWAY M-6846 laptop keyboard
as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Java.[55] Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.[55] TOSHIBA 9J.N5682.701 laptop keyboard
After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206.[56] TOSHIBA Satellite l25-s119 laptop keyboard
The sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs.[57][58] ACER NSK-H361D laptop keyboard
By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the subcontinent, HP Pavilion dv6-2141ee laptop keyboard
thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.[59][60] The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.[61] Embracing a strong Shaivitetradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India,[62] and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards.[61] SONY Vaio PCG-K45 laptop keyboard
n the early 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers,[63] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.[64] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices[65][66] and diverse and inclusive ruling elites,[67] Packard Bell NEW95 laptop keyboard
leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.[68] Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.[67] IBM ThinkPad T42 2378 laptop keyboard
The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture[69] and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[70] caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[68] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion,[68] resulting in greater patronage of painting, Packard Bell Easynote TK81 laptop keyboard
literary forms, textiles, and architecture.[71] Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience.[72] TOSHIBA Satellite A205-S5823 laptop keyboard
Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India.[72] As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.[73] IBM ThinkPad T40p 2373 Laptop Keyboard
By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts.[74][75] The East India Company's control of the seas, DELL PK130AF2B00 Laptop Keyboard
greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies.[76][74][77][78] TOSHIBA G83C0000EA10 Laptop Keyboard
Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s.[79] India was now no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British empire with raw materials, and many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period.[74] TOSHIBA Satellite P300 Laptop Keyboard
By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.[80] IBM Lenovo Thinkpad X201 Laptop Keyboard
Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. SONY VAIO VGN-FS550 Laptop Keyboard
These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe.[81][82][83][84] DELL NSK-DG101 Laptop Keyboard
However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule.[85][86] SONY VAIO VGN-FS742/W Laptop Keyboard
Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and to the direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest.[87][88] HP 636376-001 Laptop Keyboard
In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.[89][90][91][92] TOSHIBA Satellite A205-S5823 Laptop Keyboard
The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets.[93] There was an increase in the number of large-scalefamines,[94] TOSHIBA NSK-TAJ01 Laptop Keyboard
and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians.[95] There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption.[96] DELL NSK-DJD01 Laptop Keyboard
The railway network provided critical famine relief,[97] notably reduced the cost of moving goods,[97] and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.[96] After World War I, in which some one million Indians served,[98] a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard
and by the beginnings of a non-violent movement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol.[99] During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections.[100] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the bloody partition of the subcontinent into two states: India and Pakistan.[101] DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard
Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic.[102] In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed record of successes and failures.[103] It has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an activist Supreme Court, ACER NSK-AL01D Laptop Keyboard
and a largely independent press.[103] Economic liberalisation, which was begun in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies,[104] and increased its geopolitical clout. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.[103] SAMSUNG N140 Laptop Keyboard
Yet, India has also been weighed down by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban;[103] by religious and caste-related violence;[105] byMaoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies;[106] and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast India.[107] It has unresolved territorial disputes with China, which escalated into the Sino-Indian War of 1962;[108] DELL INSPIRON 1464 Laptop Keyboard
and with Pakistan, which flared into wars fought in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999.[108] The India–Pakistan nuclear rivalry came to a head in 1998.[109] India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.[110] HP Pavilion DV7-4053 Laptop Keyboard
India comprises the bulk of the Indian subcontinent and lies atop the minor Indian tectonic plate, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Australian Plate.[111] India's defining geological processes commenced 75 million years ago when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, HP Mini 210-1109TU Laptop Keyboard
began a north-eastward drift across the then-unformed Indian Ocean that lasted fifty million years.[111] The subcontinent's subsequent collision with, and subduction under, the Eurasian Plate bore aloft the planet's highest mountains, the Himalayas. They abut India in the north and the north-east.[111] ACER TravelMate 4600 Laptop Keyboard
In the former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that has gradually filled with river-borne sediment;[112] it now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain.[113] To the west lies the Thar Desert, which is cut off by the Aravalli Range.[114] SAMSUNG N150 Laptop Keyboard
The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, which is the oldest and geologically most stable part of India; it extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east.[115] HP Pavilion dv6-3141ea laptop keyboard
To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats;[116] the plateau contains the nation's oldest rock formations, some of them over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44' and 35° 30' north latitude[e] and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude.[117] HP Pavilion dv6-3143sa laptop keyboard
India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains.[118] According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores.[118] ACER Aspire 5410 laptop keyboard
Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.[119] Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes.[120] TOSHIBA Satellite P300D-14A laptop keyboard
Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal;[121] and theNarmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.[122] Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch TOSHIBA Satellite P300-18M laptop keyboard
of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh.[123] India has two archipelagos: theLakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.[124] DELL 0NC929 laptop keyboard
The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and wintermonsoons.[125] The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes.[126][127] HP G42-200XX laptop keyboard
The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall.[125] Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, andmontane.[128] GATEWAY M680 laptop keyboard
India lies within the Indomalaya ecozone and contains three biodiversity hotspots.[129] One of 17 megadiverse countries, it hosts 8.6% of all mammalian, 13.7% of all avian, 7.9% of all reptilian, 6% of all amphibian, 12.2% of all piscine, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.[130][131] HP 636191-001 Laptop Keyboard
Endemism is high among plants, 33%, and among ecoregions such as the sholaforests.[132] Habitat ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to theconiferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the moist deciduous sal forest of eastern India; the dry deciduous teak forest of central and southern India; DELL Latitude D830 Laptop Keyboard
and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.[133] Under 12% of India's landmass bears thick jungle.[134] The medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies, is a key Indian tree. The luxuriant pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment. TOSHIBA NSK-TK001 Laptop Keyboard
any Indian species descend from taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the Indian plateseparated more than 105 million years before present.[135] Peninsular India's subsequent movementtowards and collision with the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. HP G62-339WM Laptop Keyboard
Epochal volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago forced a mass extinction.[136] Mammals then entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes flanking the rising Himalaya.[133]Thus, while 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians are endemic, HP 605344-001 Laptop Keyboard
only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are.[131] Among them are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172 IUCN-designated threatened species, or 2.9% of endangered forms.[137] These include the Asiatic lion, theBengal tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which, by ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-laced cattle, nearly went extinct. HP 9Z.N4DUQ.001 Laptop Keyboard
The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act[138] HP Pavilion DV7T-4100 Laptop Keyboard
and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988.[139] India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and thirteen biosphere reserves,[140] four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[141] HP 605344-001 Laptop Keyboard
India is the world's most populous democracy.[142] As a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system,[143] it has sixrecognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40regional parties.[144] The Congress is considered centre-left or "liberal" in Indian political culture, and the BJP centre-right or "conservative". TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4N02 Laptop Keyboard
For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP,[145] as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalitions at the centre.[146] Lenovo Thinkpad T520 Laptop Keyboard
In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957, and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Indira Gandhi, DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard
who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977; the then-new Janata Party, which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over three years. Dell Inspiron 2500 Laptop Keyboard
Voted back into power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, DELL UW739 Laptop Keyboard
won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived: it lasted just under two years.[147] Elections were held again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. But the Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao.[148] ACER TravelMate 3002WTCi Laptop Keyboard
A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996. Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. HP 519265-001 Laptop Keyboard
In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term.[149] In the 2004 Indian general elections HP Mini 110-3506tu Laptop Keyboard
, again no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had the support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties.[150] That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term.[151] HP Mini 210-1000 CTO Laptop Keyboard
India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, in which "majority rule is tempered byminority rights protected by law". SAMSUNG Q320 Laptop Keyboard
Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the federal government and thestates. The government abides by constitutional checks and balances. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950,[152] states in its preamble that India is a sovereign, Lenovo 04W0872 Laptop Keyboard
socialist, secular, democratic republic.[153] India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states,[154] has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes.[155][156] DELL Precision M4500 Laptop Keyboard
India is a federation composed of 28 states and 7 union territories.[172] All states, as well as the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments, both patterned on the Westminster model. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the centre through appointed administrators. Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis.[173] Since then, their structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts. The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages. SONY VAIO PCG-792L Laptop Keyboard
India possesses membership of various international organisations, including the World Trade Organisation, the UN, theCommonwealth of Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and others. Additionally, India is an observer-member of the Arab League, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation and the Organisation of American States. FUJITSU Lifebook T4220 Laptop Keyboard
India, like the PRC, is, as a major Asian economic power, is a partner of the South Pacific Islands Forum.
Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relations with most nations. In the 1950s, it strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia and played a lead role in the Non-Aligned Movement.[174APPLE A1278 Laptop Keyboard
] In the late 1980s, the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of neighbouring countries: a peace-keeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990; and an armed intervention to prevent a coup d'état attempt in Maldives. India has tense relations with neighbouring Pakistan; the two nations have gone to war four times: in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W Laptop Keyboard
Three of these wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir, while the fourth, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for theindependence of Bangladesh.[175] After waging the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the 1965 war with Pakistan, India pursued close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier.[176] DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard
Aside from ongoing strategic relations with Russia, India has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France. In recent years, it has played key roles in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organisation. The nation has provided 100,000military and police personnel to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard
t participates in the East Asia Summit, the G8+5, and other multilateral forums.[177] India has close economic ties with South America, Asia, and Africa; it pursues a "Look East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan, and South Korea that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security.[178][179] SONY KFRMBA151B Laptop Keyboard
China's nuclear test of 1964, as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war, convinced India to develop nuclear weapons.[181] India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, SONY VGN-FE28H Laptop Keyboard
considering both to be flawed and discriminatory.[182] India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine.[183][184] It is developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, in collaboration with Russia, afifth-generation fighter jet.[185] Other indigenous military projects involve the design and implementation of Vikrant-class aircraft carriers and Arihant-class nuclear submarines.[185] HP Pavilion G6-1223TX Laptop Keyboard
Since the end of the Cold War, India has increased its economic, strategic, and military cooperation with the United Statesand the European Union.[186] In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, DELL NSK-DG101 Laptop Keyboard
it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear weapons state.[187] India subsequently signed cooperation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia,[188] France,[189] the United Kingdom,[190] andCanada.[191] FUJITSU CP270342-02 Laptop Keyboard
The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1.6 million active troops, they compose the world's third-largest military.[192] It comprises the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force; auxiliary organisations include the Strategic Forces Command and threeparamilitary groups: the Assam Rifles, the Special Frontier Force, HP 633183-001 Laptop Keyboard
and the Indian Coast Guard.[8] The official Indian defence budget for 2011 was US$36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP.[193] For the fiscal year spanning 2012–2013, US$40.44 billion was increased by 11.6%,[196] Packard Bell Easynote TK85 laptop keyboard
budgeted.[194] According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military expenditure in terms of purchasing power stood at US$72.7 billion,[195] In 2011, the annual defence budget SONY VAIO VGN-AR500 laptop keyboard
although this does not include funds that reach the military through other branches of government.[197] As of 2012, India is the world's largest arms importer; between 2007 and 2011, it accounted for 10% of funds spent on international arms purchases.[198] Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.[196] SONY VAIO VGN-CS160J/W laptop keyboard
According to the World Bank, as of 2011, the Indian economy is nominally worth US$1.848 trillion;[13] it is the tenth-largest economy by market exchange rates, and is, at US$4.457 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity, or PPP.[199]With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–12,[200] HP Pavilion dv4-1211tu laptop keyboard
India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies.[201] However, the country ranks 140th in the world in nominal GDP per capitaand 129th in GDP per capita at PPP.[199] Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. SONY VGN-FE790 laptop keyboard
Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced the nation to liberalise its economy;[202] since then it has slowly moved towards a free-market system[203][204] by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows.[205]India's recent economic model is largely capitalist.[204] India has been a member of WTO since 1 January 1995.[206] SONY 147859712 laptop keyboard
The 487.6-million worker Indian labour force is the world's second-largest, as of 2011.[8] The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes.[172] Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, HP Pavilion DV7-3057nr laptop keyboard
biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software.[172] In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.[203] In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.68%;[207] In 2011, India was the world's tenth-largest importer and the nineteenth-largest exporter.[208] Major exports include petroleum products, TOSHIBA Satellite A300-1DG laptop keyboard
textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.[172] Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.[172] Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%.[209] ACER TravelMate 6252 laptop keyboard
Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007,[203] India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century.[210] Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030.[211] Though ranking 51st in global competitiveness, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, ThinkPad Edge E525 laptop keyboard
24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies, as of 2010.[212] With 7 of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States, as of 2009.[213] India's consumer market, currently the world's eleventh-largest, is expected to become fifth-largest by 2030.[211] SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W laptop keyboard
India's telecommunication industry, the world's fastest-growing, added 227 million subscribers during the period 2010–11.[214] Its automotive industry, the world's second fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009–10,[215]and exports by 36% during 2008–09.[216] Power capacity is 250 gigawatts, HP Pavilion dv6-2164ca laptop keyboard
of which 8% is renewable. The Pharmaceutical industry in India is among the significant emerging markets for global pharma industry. The Indian pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $48.5 billion by 2020. India's R & D spending constitutes 60% of Biopharmaceutical industry.[217][218] SONY KFRMBA151B laptop keyboard
India is among the top 12 Biotech destinations of the world.[219] [220] At the end of 2011, Indian IT Industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues close to US$100 billion equaling 7.5% of Indian GDP and contributed 26% of India's merchandise exports.[221] DELL Inspiron 1731 laptop keyboard
Despite impressive economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic challenges. India contains the largest concentration of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of US$1.25 per day,[222] the proportion having decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005.[223] Compaq Presario CQ62-227TU laptop keyboard
Half of the children in India are underweight,[224] and 46% of children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition.[222] The Mid-Day Meal Scheme attempts to lower these rates.[225] Since 1991,economic inequality between India's states has consistently grown: the per-capita net state domestic product of the richest states in 2007 was 3.2 times that of the poorest.[226] ACER Aspire 5610Z Laptop Keyboard
Corruption in India is perceived to have increased significantly,[227]with one report estimating the illegal capital flows since independence to be US$462 billion.[228] Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita has steadily increased from US$329 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$1,265 in 2010, ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
and is estimated to increase to US$2,110 by 2016; however, it has always remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future.[229] DELL NSK-D8001 Laptop Keyboard
According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2045.[230] During the next four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%, making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050.[230] DELL NSK-D8001 Laptop Keyboard
The report highlights key growth factors: a young and rapidly growing working-age population; growth in the manufacturing sector because of rising education and engineering skill levels; and sustained growth of the consumer market driven by a rapidly growing middle class.[230] DELL Vostro PP37L Laptop Keyboard
The World Bank cautions that, for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education, energy security, and public health and nutrition.[231] DELL Inspiron 6400 Laptop Keyboard
Citing persistent inflation pressures, weak public finances, limited progress on fiscal consolidation and ineffectiveness of the government, rating agency Fitch revised India's Outlook to Negative from Stable on 18 June 2012.[232] DELL Precision M4500 Laptop Keyboard
Another credit rating agency S&P had warned previously that a slowing GDP growth and political roadblocks to economic policy-making could put India at the risk of losing its investment grade rating.[233] However, Moody didn't revise its outlook on India keeping it stable,[234] but termed the national government as the "single biggest drag" on the business activity.[235] IBM 39T0550 Laptop Keyboard
With 1,210,193,422 residents reported in the 2011 provisional census,[5] India is the world's second-most populous country. Its population grew at 1.76% per annum during 2001–2011,[5] down from 2.13% per annum in the previous decade (1991–2001).[236] The human sex ratio, COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males.[5] The median age was 24.9 in the 2001 census.[8] The first post-colonial census, conducted in 1951, counted 361.1 million people.[237] Medical advances made in the last 50 years as well as increased agricultural productivity brought about by the "Green Revolution" have caused India's population to grow rapidly.[238] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
India continues to face several public health-related challenges.[239][240] According to the World Health Organisation, 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water or breathing polluted air.[241] There are around 50 physicians per 100,000 Indians.[242] The number of Indians living in urban areas has grown by 31.2% between 1991 and 2001.[243] HP 550 Laptop Keyboard
Yet, in 2001, over 70% lived in rural areas.[244][245] According to the 2001 census, there are 27 million-plus cities in India;[243] among them Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are the most populous metropolitan areas. The literacy rate in 2011 was 74.04%: 65.46% among females and 82.14% among males.[5]Kerala is the most literate state;[246] Bihar the least.[247] Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
India is home to two major language families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families. India has no national language.[248] Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the government.[249][250] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a "subsidiary official language";[251] it is important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. Each state and union territory has one or more official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular 21 "scheduled languages". DELL Vostro 1015 Laptop Keyboard
The Constitution of India recognises 212 scheduledtribal groups which together constitute about 7.5% of the country's population.[252] The 2001 census reported that Hinduism, with over 800 million adherents (80.5% of the population), was the largest religion in India; it is followed by Islam (13.4%),HP Mini 210-1109TU Laptop Keyboard
Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.9%), Buddhism (0.8%), Jainism(0.4%), Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and the Bahá'í Faith.[253] India has the world's largest Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian, and Bahá'í populations, and has thethird-largest Muslim population and the largest Muslim population for a non-Muslim majority country.[254][255] HP 519265-001 Laptop Keyboard
Indian cultural history spans more than 4,500 years.[256] During the Vedic period (c. 1700–500 BCE), the foundations of Hindu philosophy, mythology, and literature were laid, and many beliefs and practices which still exist today, such as dhárma,kárma, yóga, and mokṣa, were established.[15] DELL INSPIRON 1464 Laptop Keyboard
India is notable for its religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and Jainism among the nation's major religions.[257] The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by various historical schools of thought, including those of the Upanishads,[258] the Yoga Sutras, the Bhakti movement,[257] and by Buddhist philosophy.[259] DELL KR737 Laptop Keyboard
Art and architecture
Much of Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal, other works of Mughal architecture, and South Indian architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles.[260] Vernacular architecture is also highly regional in it flavours.Vastu shastra, literally "science of construction" or "architecture" and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan,[261] explores how the laws of nature affect human dwellings;[262] SONY VGN-AR390CE laptop keyboard
it employs precise geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic constructs.[263] As applied in Hindu temple architecture, it is influenced by the Shilpa Shastras, a series of foundational texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, IBM 39T0550 Laptop Keyboard
a square that embodied the "absolute".[264] The Taj Mahal, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage List as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."[265] Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th century, drew on Indo-Islamic architecture.[266] Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
The earliest literary writings in India, composed between 1400 BCE and 1200 CE, were in the Sanskrit language.[267][268] Prominent works of this Sanskrit literature include epics such as the Mahābhārata and the Ramayana, the dramas of Kālidāsa such as the Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the Mahākāvya.[269][270][271] HP G42-415DX Laptop Keyboard
Kamasutra, the famous book about sexual intercourse also originated in India. Developed between 600 BCE and 300 CE in South India, the Sangam literature, consisting of 2,381 poems, is regarded as a predecessor of Tamil literature.[272][273][274][275] From the 14th to the 18th centuries, IBM 39T0550 Laptop Keyboard
India's literary traditions went through a period of drastic change because of the emergence of devotional poets such as Kabīr, Tulsīdās, and Guru Nānak. This period was characterised by a varied and wide spectrum of thought and expression; as a consequence, medieval Indian literary works differed significantly from classical traditions.[276] LENOVO MP-08F53US-686 laptop keyboard
In the 19th century, Indian writers took a new interest in social questions and psychological descriptions. In the 20th century, Indian literature was influenced by the works of Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore.[277] SONY VAIO VGN-N21Z/W laptop keyboard
Performing Arts Indian music ranges over various traditions and regional styles. Classical music encompasses two genres and their various folk offshoots: the northernHindustani and southern Carnatic schools.[278] Regionalised popular forms include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter. Indian dance also features diverse folk and classical forms. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard
Among the better-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhau of West Bengal and Jharkhand, sambalpuri of Odisha, ghoomar of Rajasthan, and the lavani of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: SONY VAIO VGN-CS13G/Q laptop keyboard
bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniyattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of Odisha, and thesattriya of Assam.[279] Theatre in India melds music, dance, and improvised or written dialogue.[280] HP G72-b15EB laptop keyboard
Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances or social and political events, Indian theatre includes the bhavai of Gujarat, the jatra of West Bengal, the nautanki and ramlila of North India, tamasha of Maharashtra, burrakatha of Andhra Pradesh, terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and the yakshagana of Karnataka.[281] DELL 0PVDG3 laptop keyboard
Motion Pictures
The Indian film industry produces the world's most-watched cinema.[282] Established regional cinematic traditions exist in the Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada,Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, and Telugu languages.[283] HP Mini 110-1113NR laptop keyboard
South Indian cinema attracts more than 75% of national film revenue.[284] Television broadcasting began in India in 1959 as a state-run medium of communication, and had slow expansion for more than two decades.[285] The state monopoly on television broadcast ended in 1990s and, since then, satellite channels have increasingly shaped popular culture of Indian society.[286] HP Mini 210-1084TU Laptop Keyboard
Today, television is the most penetrative media in India; industry estimates indicate that as of 2012 there are over 554 million TV consumers, 462 million with satellite and/or cable connections, compared to other forms of mass media such as press (350 million), radio (156 million) or internet (37 million).[287] HP G61-401SA Laptop Keyboard
Traditional Indian society is defined by a relatively strict social hierarchy. The Indian caste system embodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in the Indian subcontinent. Social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis, or "castes".[288] HP Pavilion G60-230 Laptop Keyboard
India declared untouchability illegal in 1947 and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives, albeit numerous reports suggest that many Dalits ("ex–Untouchables") and other low castes in rural areas continue to live in segregation and facepersecution and discrimination.[289][290][291] SAMSUNG NP-Q320-FS01UK Laptop Keyboard
Family values are important in the Indian tradition, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas.[292] TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4N02 Laptop Keyboard
An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have their marriages arranged by their parents or other family members.[293] Marriage is thought to be for life,[293] and the divorce rate is extremely low.[294] Child marriages are common, especially in rural areas; more than half of women in India wed before reaching 18, which is their legal marriageable age.[295] DELL Inspiron 1750 Laptop Keyboard
Many Indian festivals are religious in origin; among them are Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Thai Pongal, Navaratri, Holi, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, and Vaisakhi. India has three national holidays which are observed in all states and union territories: Republic Day, Independence Day, ACER 9Z.N3K82.01D laptop keyboard
and Gandhi Jayanti. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine and twelve, are officially observed in individual states. Traditional Indian dress varies in colour and style across regions and depends on various factors, including climate and faith. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as the sari for women and the dhoti or lungi for men. HP Mini 110-3007tu laptop keyboard
Stitched clothes, such as the shalwar kameez for women and kurta–pyjama combinations or European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.[296] Use of delicate jewellery, modelled on real flowers worn in ancient India, is part of a tradition dating back some 5,000 years; gemstones are also worn in India as talismans.[297] HP Pavilion G6-1B79US Laptop Keyboard
Indian cuisine features an unsurpassed reliance on herbs and spices, with dishes often calling for the nuanced usage of a dozen or more condiments;[298] it is also known for its tandoori preparations. HP 416416-001 Laptop Keyboard
The tandoor, a clay oven used in India for almost 5,000 years, grills meats to an "uncommon succulence" and produces the puffy flatbread known as naan.[299] The staple foods are wheat (predominantly in the north),[300] rice (especially in the south and the east), and lentils.[301] HP CT1A Laptop Keyboard
Many spices that have worldwide appeal are native to the Indian subcontinent,[302] while chili pepper, native to the Americas and introduced by thePortuguese, is widely used by Indians.[303] Āyurveda, a system of traditional medicine, used six rasas and three guṇas to help describe comestibles.[304] COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
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Over time, as Vedic animal sacrifices were supplanted by the notion of sacred-cow inviolability, vegetarianism became associated with high religious status and grew increasingly popular,[305] a trend aided by the rise of Buddhist, Jain, and bhakti Hindu norms.[306] TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4N02 Laptop Keyboard
India has the world's highest concentration of vegetarians: a 2006 survey found that 31% of Indians were lacto vegetarian, and another 9% were ovo-lacto vegetarianism.[306] Common traditional eating customs include meals taken on or near the floor, caste and gender-segregated dining,[307][308] and a lack of cutlery in favour of the right hand or a piece of roti. HP 605344-001 Laptop Keyboard
In India, several traditional indigenous sports remain fairly popular, among them kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda. Some of the earliest forms of Asian martial arts, such as kalarippayattu, musti yuddha, silambam, and marma adi, originated in India. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award are the highest forms of government recognition for athletic achievement; the Dronacharya Award is awarded for excellence in coaching. FUJITSU Lifebook T4220 Laptop Keyboard
Chess, commonly held to have originated in India aschaturaṅga, is regaining widespread popularity with the rise in the number of Indian grandmasters.[309][310] Pachisi, from which parcheesi derives, SONY VAIO VGN-CR520E Laptop Keyboard
was played on a giant marble court by Akbar.[311] The improved results garnered by the Indian Davis Cup team and other Indian tennis players in the early 2010s have made tennis increasingly popular in the country.[312] India has a comparatively strong presence in shooting sports, and has won several medals at the Olympics, SAMSUNG NP-N150-JP01 Laptop Keyboard
the World Shooting Championships, and the Commonwealth Games.[313][314] Other sports in which Indians have succeeded internationally include badminton,[315] boxing,[316] and wrestling.[317] Football is popular in West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the north-eastern states.[318] IBM Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Laptop Keyboard
Field hockey in India is administered by Hockey India. The Indian national hockey team won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and have, as of 2012, taken eight gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, making it the sport's most successful team. India has also played a major role in popularizing Cricket, TOSHIBA Equium A100 Series Laptop Keyboard
thus cricket is by far the most popular sport of India; theIndian national cricket team won the 1983 and 2011 Cricket World Cup events, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Cricket in India is administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCCI; the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, HP Mini 210-1103TU Laptop Keyboard
the Irani Trophy, and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy are domestic competitions. The BCCI conducts a Twenty20 competition known as the Indian Premier League. India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events: the 1951 and 1982 Asian Games; the 1987, 1996, and 2011 Cricket World Cup tournaments; the 2003 Afro-Asian Games; the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy; ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
the 2010 Hockey World Cup; and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Major international sporting events held annually in India include the Chennai Open, the Mumbai Marathon, the Delhi Half Marathon, and the Indian Masters. The firstIndian Grand Prix featured in late 2011.[319] India has traditionally been the dominant country at the South Asian Games. An example of this dominance is thebasketball competition where Team India won three out of four tournaments to date.[320] HP Pavilion dv6-2112sa Laptop Keyboard
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bharat Ganrajya)[c], is a country in South Asia, and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the Asian Development Bank, the South Asian Regional Co-operation Organisation and the United Nations. SONY KFRMBA151B laptop keyboard
india is also an observer-member of the Organisation of American States, the Arab League[11] and of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. It is the seventh-largestcountry by area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracyin the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, SONY VAIO VGN-FS115Z laptop keyboard
and the Bay of Bengalon the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;[d] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and theMaldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history.[12] Four world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, andIslam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century andadministered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. GATEWAY NV-54 Laptop Keyboard
The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity(PPP).[13] Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. SONY KFRMBA151B Laptop Keyboard
However, it continues to face the challenges ofpoverty, illiteracy, corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, violence against women, andterrorism. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks seventh in military expenditure among nations. SONY VAIO VGN-C2S Series Laptop Keyboard
India is a federal constitutional republic governed under aparliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, andmulti-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. HP Pavilion G6-1223TX Laptop Keyboard
The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hinduš. The latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River.[14] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), which translates as "the people of the Indus".[15] HP Compaq NC8430 Laptop Keyboard
The geographical term Bharat (pronounced [ˈbʱaːrət̪] ( listen)), which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations.[16] The eponym of Bharat isBharata, a theological figure that Hindu scriptures describe as a legendary emperor of ancient India. Hindustan([ɦɪnd̪ʊˈst̪aːn] HP 636376-001 Laptop Keyboard
( listen)) was originally a Persian word that meant "Land of the Hindus"; prior to 1947, it referred to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan. It is occasionally used to solely denote India in its entirety.[17][18] The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in South Asia date from approximately 30,000 years ago.[19] TOSHIBA Satellite L755-SP5102CL Laptop Keyboard
Nearly contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh.[20] Around 7000 BCE, the first known Neolithicsettlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan.[21] DELL Latitude D620 Laptop Keyboard
These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation,[22] the first urban culture in South Asia;[23] it flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India.[24] Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilization engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.[23] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
During the period 2000–500 BCE, in terms of culture, many regions of the subcontinent transitioned from theChalcolithic to the Iron Age.[25] The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism,[26] were composed during this period,[27] and historians have analysed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upperGangetic Plain.[25] ACER Aspire 5810T-8929 Laptop Keyboard
Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the north-west.[28][26][29] The caste system, which created a hierarchy of priests, warriors, and free peasants, but which excluded indigenous peoples by labelling their occupations impure, ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
arose during this period.[30] On the Deccan Plateau, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organisation.[25] In southern India, a progression to sedentary life is indicated by the large number of megalithic monuments dating from this period,[31] as well as by nearby traces of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions.[31] ACER Aspire 5740 Laptop Keyboard
During the period 230 BCE to 220 CE, Satavahana empire covered much of India. The Satavahanas are credited for establishing peace in the country, resisting the onslaught of foreigners after the decline of Mauryan Empire. Satavahanas are also credited with furthering Budhism in India including Ajanta caves. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard
In the late Vedic period, around the 5th century BCE, the small chiefdoms of theGanges Plain and the north-western regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies that were known as the mahajanapadas.[32][33] The emerging urbanisation and the orthodoxies of this age also created the religious reform movements ofBuddhism and Jainism,[34] COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
both of which became independent religions.[35] Buddhism, based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha attracted followers from all social classes excepting the middle class; chronicling the life of the Buddha was central to the beginnings of recorded history in India.[34][36][37] DELL Inspiron 8500 Laptop Keyboard
Jainism came into prominence around the same time during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira.[38] In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal,[39] and both established long-lasting monasteries.[32] Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, HP 640436-001 Laptop Keyboard
the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire.[32] The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas.[40][41] SAMSUNG N140 Laptop Keyboard
The Mauryan kings are known as much for their empire-building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka's renunciation of militarism and far-flung advocacy of the Buddhist dhamma.[42][43] Toshiba Satellite A200-1E1 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan
The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that, between 200 BCE and 200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empireand with West and South-East Asia.[44][45] In North India, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family, leading to increased subordination of women.[46][32] Toshiba Satellite A105-S271 Laptop CPU Cooling Fan
By the 4th and 5th centuries, the Gupta Empire had created in the greater Ganges Plain a complex system of administration and taxation that became a model for later Indian kingdoms.[47][48] TOSHIBA Satellite M645-S4070 Laptop Keyboard
Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself.[49]The renewal was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite.[48] Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances.[48] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
The Indian early medieval age, 600 CE to 1200 CE, is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity.[50] When Harsha ofKannauj, who ruled much of the Indo-Gangetic Plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by theChalukya ruler of the Deccan.[51] ACER NSK-H361D Laptop Keyboard
When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal.[51]When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south.[51] DELL PVDG3 Laptop Keyboard
No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region.[50] During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agricultural economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes.[52] The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.[52] DELL Inspiron 6400 Laptop Keyboard
In the 6th and 7th centuries, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language.[53] They were imitated all over India and led to both the resurgence of Hinduism and the development of all modern languages of the subcontinent.[53] Indian royalty, bigand small, SONY VAIO VGN-N38Z/W laptop keyboard
and the temples they patronised, drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well.[54] Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation.[54] By the 8th and 9th centuries, the effects were felt in South-East Asia, GATEWAY M-6846 laptop keyboard
as South Indian culture and political systems were exported to lands that became part of modern-day Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Java.[55] Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission; South-East Asians took the initiative as well, with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.[55] TOSHIBA 9J.N5682.701 laptop keyboard
After the 10th century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift-horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, leading eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206.[56] TOSHIBA Satellite l25-s119 laptop keyboard
The sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs.[57][58] ACER NSK-H361D laptop keyboard
By repeatedly repulsing Mongol raiders in the 13th century, the sultanate saved India from the devastation visited on West and Central Asia, setting the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into the subcontinent, HP Pavilion dv6-2141ee laptop keyboard
thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north.[59][60] The sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire.[61] Embracing a strong Shaivitetradition and building upon the military technology of the sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India,[62] and was to influence South Indian society for long afterwards.[61] SONY Vaio PCG-K45 laptop keyboard
n the early 16th century, northern India, being then under mainly Muslim rulers,[63] fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors.[64] The resulting Mughal Empire did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices[65][66] and diverse and inclusive ruling elites,[67] Packard Bell NEW95 laptop keyboard
leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule.[68] Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far-flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianised culture, to an emperor who had near-divine status.[67] IBM ThinkPad T42 2378 laptop keyboard
The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture[69] and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency,[70] caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets.[68] The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the 17th century was a factor in India's economic expansion,[68] resulting in greater patronage of painting, Packard Bell Easynote TK81 laptop keyboard
literary forms, textiles, and architecture.[71] Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs, gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience.[72] TOSHIBA Satellite A205-S5823 laptop keyboard
Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites along the coasts of southern and eastern India.[72] As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.[73] IBM ThinkPad T40p 2373 Laptop Keyboard
By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established coastal outposts.[74][75] The East India Company's control of the seas, DELL PK130AF2B00 Laptop Keyboard
greater resources, and more advanced military training and technology led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in allowing the Company to gain control over the Bengal region by 1765 and sideline the other European companies.[76][74][77][78] TOSHIBA G83C0000EA10 Laptop Keyboard
Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s.[79] India was now no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British empire with raw materials, and many historians consider this to be the onset of India's colonial period.[74] TOSHIBA Satellite P300 Laptop Keyboard
By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.[80] IBM Lenovo Thinkpad X201 Laptop Keyboard
Historians consider India's modern age to have begun sometime between 1848 and 1885. The appointment in 1848 of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the East India Company set the stage for changes essential to a modern state. SONY VAIO VGN-FS550 Laptop Keyboard
These included the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens. Technological changes—among them, railways, canals, and the telegraph—were introduced not long after their introduction in Europe.[81][82][83][84] DELL NSK-DG101 Laptop Keyboard
However, disaffection with the Company also grew during this time, and set off the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Fed by diverse resentments and perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, and summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, the rebellion rocked many regions of northern and central India and shook the foundations of Company rule.[85][86] SONY VAIO VGN-FS742/W Laptop Keyboard
Although the rebellion was suppressed by 1858, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company and to the direct administration of India by the British government. Proclaiming a unitary state and a gradual but limited British-style parliamentary system, the new rulers also protected princes and landed gentry as a feudal safeguard against future unrest.[87][88] HP 636376-001 Laptop Keyboard
In the decades following, public life gradually emerged all over India, leading eventually to the founding of the Indian National Congress in 1885.[89][90][91][92] TOSHIBA Satellite A205-S5823 Laptop Keyboard
The rush of technology and the commercialisation of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far-away markets.[93] There was an increase in the number of large-scalefamines,[94] TOSHIBA NSK-TAJ01 Laptop Keyboard
and, despite the risks of infrastructure development borne by Indian taxpayers, little industrial employment was generated for Indians.[95] There were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, led to increased food production for internal consumption.[96] DELL NSK-DJD01 Laptop Keyboard
The railway network provided critical famine relief,[97] notably reduced the cost of moving goods,[97] and helped nascent Indian-owned industry.[96] After World War I, in which some one million Indians served,[98] a new period began. It was marked by British reforms but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard
and by the beginnings of a non-violent movement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol.[99] During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British; the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections.[100] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
The next decade was beset with crises: Indian participation in World War II, the Congress's final push for non-cooperation, and an upsurge of Muslim nationalism. All were capped by the advent of independence in 1947, but tempered by the bloody partition of the subcontinent into two states: India and Pakistan.[101] DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard
Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a secular and democratic republic.[102] In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed record of successes and failures.[103] It has remained a democracy with civil liberties, an activist Supreme Court, ACER NSK-AL01D Laptop Keyboard
and a largely independent press.[103] Economic liberalisation, which was begun in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle class, transformed India into one of the world's fastest-growing economies,[104] and increased its geopolitical clout. Indian movies, music, and spiritual teachings play an increasing role in global culture.[103] SAMSUNG N140 Laptop Keyboard
Yet, India has also been weighed down by seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban;[103] by religious and caste-related violence;[105] byMaoist-inspired Naxalite insurgencies;[106] and by separatism in Jammu and Kashmir and in Northeast India.[107] It has unresolved territorial disputes with China, which escalated into the Sino-Indian War of 1962;[108] DELL INSPIRON 1464 Laptop Keyboard
and with Pakistan, which flared into wars fought in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999.[108] The India–Pakistan nuclear rivalry came to a head in 1998.[109] India's sustained democratic freedoms are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population remains a goal yet to be achieved.[110] HP Pavilion DV7-4053 Laptop Keyboard
India comprises the bulk of the Indian subcontinent and lies atop the minor Indian tectonic plate, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Australian Plate.[111] India's defining geological processes commenced 75 million years ago when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, HP Mini 210-1109TU Laptop Keyboard
began a north-eastward drift across the then-unformed Indian Ocean that lasted fifty million years.[111] The subcontinent's subsequent collision with, and subduction under, the Eurasian Plate bore aloft the planet's highest mountains, the Himalayas. They abut India in the north and the north-east.[111] ACER TravelMate 4600 Laptop Keyboard
In the former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that has gradually filled with river-borne sediment;[112] it now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain.[113] To the west lies the Thar Desert, which is cut off by the Aravalli Range.[114] SAMSUNG N150 Laptop Keyboard
The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, which is the oldest and geologically most stable part of India; it extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east.[115] HP Pavilion dv6-3141ea laptop keyboard
To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats;[116] the plateau contains the nation's oldest rock formations, some of them over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6° 44' and 35° 30' north latitude[e] and 68° 7' and 97° 25' east longitude.[117] HP Pavilion dv6-3143sa laptop keyboard
India's coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains.[118] According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores.[118] ACER Aspire 5410 laptop keyboard
Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.[119] Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes.[120] TOSHIBA Satellite P300D-14A laptop keyboard
Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal;[121] and theNarmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.[122] Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch TOSHIBA Satellite P300-18M laptop keyboard
of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh.[123] India has two archipelagos: theLakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.[124] DELL 0NC929 laptop keyboard
The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and wintermonsoons.[125] The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes.[126][127] HP G42-200XX laptop keyboard
The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall.[125] Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, andmontane.[128] GATEWAY M680 laptop keyboard
India lies within the Indomalaya ecozone and contains three biodiversity hotspots.[129] One of 17 megadiverse countries, it hosts 8.6% of all mammalian, 13.7% of all avian, 7.9% of all reptilian, 6% of all amphibian, 12.2% of all piscine, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.[130][131] HP 636191-001 Laptop Keyboard
Endemism is high among plants, 33%, and among ecoregions such as the sholaforests.[132] Habitat ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to theconiferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the moist deciduous sal forest of eastern India; the dry deciduous teak forest of central and southern India; DELL Latitude D830 Laptop Keyboard
and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.[133] Under 12% of India's landmass bears thick jungle.[134] The medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies, is a key Indian tree. The luxuriant pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment. TOSHIBA NSK-TK001 Laptop Keyboard
any Indian species descend from taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the Indian plateseparated more than 105 million years before present.[135] Peninsular India's subsequent movementtowards and collision with the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. HP G62-339WM Laptop Keyboard
Epochal volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago forced a mass extinction.[136] Mammals then entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes flanking the rising Himalaya.[133]Thus, while 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians are endemic, HP 605344-001 Laptop Keyboard
only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are.[131] Among them are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172 IUCN-designated threatened species, or 2.9% of endangered forms.[137] These include the Asiatic lion, theBengal tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which, by ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-laced cattle, nearly went extinct. HP 9Z.N4DUQ.001 Laptop Keyboard
The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Indian wildlife. In response the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act[138] HP Pavilion DV7T-4100 Laptop Keyboard
and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial wilderness; the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988.[139] India hosts more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries and thirteen biosphere reserves,[140] four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.[141] HP 605344-001 Laptop Keyboard
India is the world's most populous democracy.[142] As a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system,[143] it has sixrecognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40regional parties.[144] The Congress is considered centre-left or "liberal" in Indian political culture, and the BJP centre-right or "conservative". TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4N02 Laptop Keyboard
For most of the period between 1950—when India first became a republic—and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP,[145] as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalitions at the centre.[146] Lenovo Thinkpad T520 Laptop Keyboard
In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957, and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Indira Gandhi, DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard
who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977; the then-new Janata Party, which had opposed the emergency, was voted in. Its government lasted just over three years. Dell Inspiron 2500 Laptop Keyboard
Voted back into power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated; she was succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, DELL UW739 Laptop Keyboard
won the elections; that government too proved relatively short-lived: it lasted just under two years.[147] Elections were held again in 1991; no party won an absolute majority. But the Congress, as the largest single party, was able to form a minority government led by P. V. Narasimha Rao.[148] ACER TravelMate 3002WTCi Laptop Keyboard
A two-year period of political turmoil followed the general election of 1996. Several short-lived alliances shared power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two comparatively long-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. HP 519265-001 Laptop Keyboard
In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the NDA became the first non-Congress, coalition government to complete a five-year term.[149] In the 2004 Indian general elections HP Mini 110-3506tu Laptop Keyboard
, again no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming another successful coalition: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). It had the support of left-leaning parties and MPs who opposed the BJP. ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
The UPA returned to power in the 2009 general election with increased numbers, and it no longer required external support from India's communist parties.[150] That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a consecutive five-year term.[151] HP Mini 210-1000 CTO Laptop Keyboard
India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, in which "majority rule is tempered byminority rights protected by law". SAMSUNG Q320 Laptop Keyboard
Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the federal government and thestates. The government abides by constitutional checks and balances. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950,[152] states in its preamble that India is a sovereign, Lenovo 04W0872 Laptop Keyboard
socialist, secular, democratic republic.[153] India's form of government, traditionally described as "quasi-federal" with a strong centre and weak states,[154] has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic, and social changes.[155][156] DELL Precision M4500 Laptop Keyboard
India is a federation composed of 28 states and 7 union territories.[172] All states, as well as the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments, both patterned on the Westminster model. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the centre through appointed administrators. Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis.[173] Since then, their structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts. The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages. SONY VAIO PCG-792L Laptop Keyboard
India possesses membership of various international organisations, including the World Trade Organisation, the UN, theCommonwealth of Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and others. Additionally, India is an observer-member of the Arab League, the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation and the Organisation of American States. FUJITSU Lifebook T4220 Laptop Keyboard
India, like the PRC, is, as a major Asian economic power, is a partner of the South Pacific Islands Forum.
Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relations with most nations. In the 1950s, it strongly supported decolonisation in Africa and Asia and played a lead role in the Non-Aligned Movement.[174APPLE A1278 Laptop Keyboard
] In the late 1980s, the Indian military twice intervened abroad at the invitation of neighbouring countries: a peace-keeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990; and an armed intervention to prevent a coup d'état attempt in Maldives. India has tense relations with neighbouring Pakistan; the two nations have gone to war four times: in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W Laptop Keyboard
Three of these wars were fought over the disputed territory of Kashmir, while the fourth, the 1971 war, followed from India's support for theindependence of Bangladesh.[175] After waging the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the 1965 war with Pakistan, India pursued close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union; by the late 1960s, the Soviet Union was its largest arms supplier.[176] DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard
Aside from ongoing strategic relations with Russia, India has wide-ranging defence relations with Israel and France. In recent years, it has played key roles in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organisation. The nation has provided 100,000military and police personnel to serve in 35 UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard
t participates in the East Asia Summit, the G8+5, and other multilateral forums.[177] India has close economic ties with South America, Asia, and Africa; it pursues a "Look East" policy that seeks to strengthen partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan, and South Korea that revolve around many issues, but especially those involving economic investment and regional security.[178][179] SONY KFRMBA151B Laptop Keyboard
China's nuclear test of 1964, as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war, convinced India to develop nuclear weapons.[181] India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty nor the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, SONY VGN-FE28H Laptop Keyboard
considering both to be flawed and discriminatory.[182] India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine.[183][184] It is developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, in collaboration with Russia, afifth-generation fighter jet.[185] Other indigenous military projects involve the design and implementation of Vikrant-class aircraft carriers and Arihant-class nuclear submarines.[185] HP Pavilion G6-1223TX Laptop Keyboard
Since the end of the Cold War, India has increased its economic, strategic, and military cooperation with the United Statesand the European Union.[186] In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, DELL NSK-DG101 Laptop Keyboard
it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India became the sixth de facto nuclear weapons state.[187] India subsequently signed cooperation agreements involving civilian nuclear energy with Russia,[188] France,[189] the United Kingdom,[190] andCanada.[191] FUJITSU CP270342-02 Laptop Keyboard
The President of India is the supreme commander of the nation's armed forces; with 1.6 million active troops, they compose the world's third-largest military.[192] It comprises the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force; auxiliary organisations include the Strategic Forces Command and threeparamilitary groups: the Assam Rifles, the Special Frontier Force, HP 633183-001 Laptop Keyboard
and the Indian Coast Guard.[8] The official Indian defence budget for 2011 was US$36.03 billion, or 1.83% of GDP.[193] For the fiscal year spanning 2012–2013, US$40.44 billion was increased by 11.6%,[196] Packard Bell Easynote TK85 laptop keyboard
budgeted.[194] According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military expenditure in terms of purchasing power stood at US$72.7 billion,[195] In 2011, the annual defence budget SONY VAIO VGN-AR500 laptop keyboard
although this does not include funds that reach the military through other branches of government.[197] As of 2012, India is the world's largest arms importer; between 2007 and 2011, it accounted for 10% of funds spent on international arms purchases.[198] Much of the military expenditure was focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.[196] SONY VAIO VGN-CS160J/W laptop keyboard
According to the World Bank, as of 2011, the Indian economy is nominally worth US$1.848 trillion;[13] it is the tenth-largest economy by market exchange rates, and is, at US$4.457 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity, or PPP.[199]With its average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% over the past two decades, and reaching 6.1% during 2011–12,[200] HP Pavilion dv4-1211tu laptop keyboard
India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies.[201] However, the country ranks 140th in the world in nominal GDP per capitaand 129th in GDP per capita at PPP.[199] Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. SONY VGN-FE790 laptop keyboard
Widespread state intervention and regulation largely walled the economy off from the outside world. An acute balance of payments crisis in 1991 forced the nation to liberalise its economy;[202] since then it has slowly moved towards a free-market system[203][204] by emphasising both foreign trade and direct investment inflows.[205]India's recent economic model is largely capitalist.[204] India has been a member of WTO since 1 January 1995.[206] SONY 147859712 laptop keyboard
The 487.6-million worker Indian labour force is the world's second-largest, as of 2011.[8] The service sector makes up 55.6% of GDP, the industrial sector 26.3% and the agricultural sector 18.1%. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes.[172] Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, HP Pavilion DV7-3057nr laptop keyboard
biotechnology, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software.[172] In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.[203] In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.68%;[207] In 2011, India was the world's tenth-largest importer and the nineteenth-largest exporter.[208] Major exports include petroleum products, TOSHIBA Satellite A300-1DG laptop keyboard
textile goods, jewellery, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.[172] Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.[172] Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%.[209] ACER TravelMate 6252 laptop keyboard
Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years prior to 2007,[203] India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the first decade of the 21st century.[210] Some 431 million Indians have left poverty since 1985; India's middle classes are projected to number around 580 million by 2030.[211] Though ranking 51st in global competitiveness, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, ThinkPad Edge E525 laptop keyboard
24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication, and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies, as of 2010.[212] With 7 of the world's top 15 information technology outsourcing companies based in India, the country is viewed as the second-most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States, as of 2009.[213] India's consumer market, currently the world's eleventh-largest, is expected to become fifth-largest by 2030.[211] SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W laptop keyboard
India's telecommunication industry, the world's fastest-growing, added 227 million subscribers during the period 2010–11.[214] Its automotive industry, the world's second fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009–10,[215]and exports by 36% during 2008–09.[216] Power capacity is 250 gigawatts, HP Pavilion dv6-2164ca laptop keyboard
of which 8% is renewable. The Pharmaceutical industry in India is among the significant emerging markets for global pharma industry. The Indian pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $48.5 billion by 2020. India's R & D spending constitutes 60% of Biopharmaceutical industry.[217][218] SONY KFRMBA151B laptop keyboard
India is among the top 12 Biotech destinations of the world.[219] [220] At the end of 2011, Indian IT Industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues close to US$100 billion equaling 7.5% of Indian GDP and contributed 26% of India's merchandise exports.[221] DELL Inspiron 1731 laptop keyboard
Despite impressive economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic challenges. India contains the largest concentration of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of US$1.25 per day,[222] the proportion having decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005.[223] Compaq Presario CQ62-227TU laptop keyboard
Half of the children in India are underweight,[224] and 46% of children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition.[222] The Mid-Day Meal Scheme attempts to lower these rates.[225] Since 1991,economic inequality between India's states has consistently grown: the per-capita net state domestic product of the richest states in 2007 was 3.2 times that of the poorest.[226] ACER Aspire 5610Z Laptop Keyboard
Corruption in India is perceived to have increased significantly,[227]with one report estimating the illegal capital flows since independence to be US$462 billion.[228] Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita has steadily increased from US$329 in 1991, when economic liberalisation began, to US$1,265 in 2010, ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
and is estimated to increase to US$2,110 by 2016; however, it has always remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future.[229] DELL NSK-D8001 Laptop Keyboard
According to a 2011 PricewaterhouseCoopers report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity could overtake that of the United States by 2045.[230] During the next four decades, Indian GDP is expected to grow at an annualised average of 8%, making it potentially the world's fastest-growing major economy until 2050.[230] DELL NSK-D8001 Laptop Keyboard
The report highlights key growth factors: a young and rapidly growing working-age population; growth in the manufacturing sector because of rising education and engineering skill levels; and sustained growth of the consumer market driven by a rapidly growing middle class.[230] DELL Vostro PP37L Laptop Keyboard
The World Bank cautions that, for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education, energy security, and public health and nutrition.[231] DELL Inspiron 6400 Laptop Keyboard
Citing persistent inflation pressures, weak public finances, limited progress on fiscal consolidation and ineffectiveness of the government, rating agency Fitch revised India's Outlook to Negative from Stable on 18 June 2012.[232] DELL Precision M4500 Laptop Keyboard
Another credit rating agency S&P had warned previously that a slowing GDP growth and political roadblocks to economic policy-making could put India at the risk of losing its investment grade rating.[233] However, Moody didn't revise its outlook on India keeping it stable,[234] but termed the national government as the "single biggest drag" on the business activity.[235] IBM 39T0550 Laptop Keyboard
With 1,210,193,422 residents reported in the 2011 provisional census,[5] India is the world's second-most populous country. Its population grew at 1.76% per annum during 2001–2011,[5] down from 2.13% per annum in the previous decade (1991–2001).[236] The human sex ratio, COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males.[5] The median age was 24.9 in the 2001 census.[8] The first post-colonial census, conducted in 1951, counted 361.1 million people.[237] Medical advances made in the last 50 years as well as increased agricultural productivity brought about by the "Green Revolution" have caused India's population to grow rapidly.[238] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
India continues to face several public health-related challenges.[239][240] According to the World Health Organisation, 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water or breathing polluted air.[241] There are around 50 physicians per 100,000 Indians.[242] The number of Indians living in urban areas has grown by 31.2% between 1991 and 2001.[243] HP 550 Laptop Keyboard
Yet, in 2001, over 70% lived in rural areas.[244][245] According to the 2001 census, there are 27 million-plus cities in India;[243] among them Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad are the most populous metropolitan areas. The literacy rate in 2011 was 74.04%: 65.46% among females and 82.14% among males.[5]Kerala is the most literate state;[246] Bihar the least.[247] Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
India is home to two major language families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austroasiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families. India has no national language.[248] Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the government.[249][250] ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a "subsidiary official language";[251] it is important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. Each state and union territory has one or more official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular 21 "scheduled languages". DELL Vostro 1015 Laptop Keyboard
The Constitution of India recognises 212 scheduledtribal groups which together constitute about 7.5% of the country's population.[252] The 2001 census reported that Hinduism, with over 800 million adherents (80.5% of the population), was the largest religion in India; it is followed by Islam (13.4%),HP Mini 210-1109TU Laptop Keyboard
Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.9%), Buddhism (0.8%), Jainism(0.4%), Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and the Bahá'í Faith.[253] India has the world's largest Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Zoroastrian, and Bahá'í populations, and has thethird-largest Muslim population and the largest Muslim population for a non-Muslim majority country.[254][255] HP 519265-001 Laptop Keyboard
Indian cultural history spans more than 4,500 years.[256] During the Vedic period (c. 1700–500 BCE), the foundations of Hindu philosophy, mythology, and literature were laid, and many beliefs and practices which still exist today, such as dhárma,kárma, yóga, and mokṣa, were established.[15] DELL INSPIRON 1464 Laptop Keyboard
India is notable for its religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and Jainism among the nation's major religions.[257] The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by various historical schools of thought, including those of the Upanishads,[258] the Yoga Sutras, the Bhakti movement,[257] and by Buddhist philosophy.[259] DELL KR737 Laptop Keyboard
Art and architecture
Much of Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal, other works of Mughal architecture, and South Indian architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles.[260] Vernacular architecture is also highly regional in it flavours.Vastu shastra, literally "science of construction" or "architecture" and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan,[261] explores how the laws of nature affect human dwellings;[262] SONY VGN-AR390CE laptop keyboard
it employs precise geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic constructs.[263] As applied in Hindu temple architecture, it is influenced by the Shilpa Shastras, a series of foundational texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, IBM 39T0550 Laptop Keyboard
a square that embodied the "absolute".[264] The Taj Mahal, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage List as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."[265] Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th century, drew on Indo-Islamic architecture.[266] Compaq Presario CQ57 Series Laptop Keyboard
The earliest literary writings in India, composed between 1400 BCE and 1200 CE, were in the Sanskrit language.[267][268] Prominent works of this Sanskrit literature include epics such as the Mahābhārata and the Ramayana, the dramas of Kālidāsa such as the Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the Mahākāvya.[269][270][271] HP G42-415DX Laptop Keyboard
Kamasutra, the famous book about sexual intercourse also originated in India. Developed between 600 BCE and 300 CE in South India, the Sangam literature, consisting of 2,381 poems, is regarded as a predecessor of Tamil literature.[272][273][274][275] From the 14th to the 18th centuries, IBM 39T0550 Laptop Keyboard
India's literary traditions went through a period of drastic change because of the emergence of devotional poets such as Kabīr, Tulsīdās, and Guru Nānak. This period was characterised by a varied and wide spectrum of thought and expression; as a consequence, medieval Indian literary works differed significantly from classical traditions.[276] LENOVO MP-08F53US-686 laptop keyboard
In the 19th century, Indian writers took a new interest in social questions and psychological descriptions. In the 20th century, Indian literature was influenced by the works of Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore.[277] SONY VAIO VGN-N21Z/W laptop keyboard
Performing Arts Indian music ranges over various traditions and regional styles. Classical music encompasses two genres and their various folk offshoots: the northernHindustani and southern Carnatic schools.[278] Regionalised popular forms include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter. Indian dance also features diverse folk and classical forms. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard
Among the better-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhau of West Bengal and Jharkhand, sambalpuri of Odisha, ghoomar of Rajasthan, and the lavani of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama. These are: SONY VAIO VGN-CS13G/Q laptop keyboard
bharatanatyam of the state of Tamil Nadu, kathak of Uttar Pradesh, kathakali and mohiniyattam of Kerala, kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, manipuri of Manipur, odissi of Odisha, and thesattriya of Assam.[279] Theatre in India melds music, dance, and improvised or written dialogue.[280] HP G72-b15EB laptop keyboard
Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances or social and political events, Indian theatre includes the bhavai of Gujarat, the jatra of West Bengal, the nautanki and ramlila of North India, tamasha of Maharashtra, burrakatha of Andhra Pradesh, terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and the yakshagana of Karnataka.[281] DELL 0PVDG3 laptop keyboard
Motion Pictures
The Indian film industry produces the world's most-watched cinema.[282] Established regional cinematic traditions exist in the Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada,Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, and Telugu languages.[283] HP Mini 110-1113NR laptop keyboard
South Indian cinema attracts more than 75% of national film revenue.[284] Television broadcasting began in India in 1959 as a state-run medium of communication, and had slow expansion for more than two decades.[285] The state monopoly on television broadcast ended in 1990s and, since then, satellite channels have increasingly shaped popular culture of Indian society.[286] HP Mini 210-1084TU Laptop Keyboard
Today, television is the most penetrative media in India; industry estimates indicate that as of 2012 there are over 554 million TV consumers, 462 million with satellite and/or cable connections, compared to other forms of mass media such as press (350 million), radio (156 million) or internet (37 million).[287] HP G61-401SA Laptop Keyboard
Traditional Indian society is defined by a relatively strict social hierarchy. The Indian caste system embodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in the Indian subcontinent. Social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis, or "castes".[288] HP Pavilion G60-230 Laptop Keyboard
India declared untouchability illegal in 1947 and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives, albeit numerous reports suggest that many Dalits ("ex–Untouchables") and other low castes in rural areas continue to live in segregation and facepersecution and discrimination.[289][290][291] SAMSUNG NP-Q320-FS01UK Laptop Keyboard
Family values are important in the Indian tradition, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas.[292] TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4N02 Laptop Keyboard
An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have their marriages arranged by their parents or other family members.[293] Marriage is thought to be for life,[293] and the divorce rate is extremely low.[294] Child marriages are common, especially in rural areas; more than half of women in India wed before reaching 18, which is their legal marriageable age.[295] DELL Inspiron 1750 Laptop Keyboard
Many Indian festivals are religious in origin; among them are Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Thai Pongal, Navaratri, Holi, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, and Vaisakhi. India has three national holidays which are observed in all states and union territories: Republic Day, Independence Day, ACER 9Z.N3K82.01D laptop keyboard
and Gandhi Jayanti. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine and twelve, are officially observed in individual states. Traditional Indian dress varies in colour and style across regions and depends on various factors, including climate and faith. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as the sari for women and the dhoti or lungi for men. HP Mini 110-3007tu laptop keyboard
Stitched clothes, such as the shalwar kameez for women and kurta–pyjama combinations or European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.[296] Use of delicate jewellery, modelled on real flowers worn in ancient India, is part of a tradition dating back some 5,000 years; gemstones are also worn in India as talismans.[297] HP Pavilion G6-1B79US Laptop Keyboard
Indian cuisine features an unsurpassed reliance on herbs and spices, with dishes often calling for the nuanced usage of a dozen or more condiments;[298] it is also known for its tandoori preparations. HP 416416-001 Laptop Keyboard
The tandoor, a clay oven used in India for almost 5,000 years, grills meats to an "uncommon succulence" and produces the puffy flatbread known as naan.[299] The staple foods are wheat (predominantly in the north),[300] rice (especially in the south and the east), and lentils.[301] HP CT1A Laptop Keyboard
Many spices that have worldwide appeal are native to the Indian subcontinent,[302] while chili pepper, native to the Americas and introduced by thePortuguese, is widely used by Indians.[303] Āyurveda, a system of traditional medicine, used six rasas and three guṇas to help describe comestibles.[304] COMPAQ Presario C700 Laptop Keyboard
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Over time, as Vedic animal sacrifices were supplanted by the notion of sacred-cow inviolability, vegetarianism became associated with high religious status and grew increasingly popular,[305] a trend aided by the rise of Buddhist, Jain, and bhakti Hindu norms.[306] TOSHIBA Satellite L750-ST4N02 Laptop Keyboard
India has the world's highest concentration of vegetarians: a 2006 survey found that 31% of Indians were lacto vegetarian, and another 9% were ovo-lacto vegetarianism.[306] Common traditional eating customs include meals taken on or near the floor, caste and gender-segregated dining,[307][308] and a lack of cutlery in favour of the right hand or a piece of roti. HP 605344-001 Laptop Keyboard
In India, several traditional indigenous sports remain fairly popular, among them kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda. Some of the earliest forms of Asian martial arts, such as kalarippayattu, musti yuddha, silambam, and marma adi, originated in India. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award are the highest forms of government recognition for athletic achievement; the Dronacharya Award is awarded for excellence in coaching. FUJITSU Lifebook T4220 Laptop Keyboard
Chess, commonly held to have originated in India aschaturaṅga, is regaining widespread popularity with the rise in the number of Indian grandmasters.[309][310] Pachisi, from which parcheesi derives, SONY VAIO VGN-CR520E Laptop Keyboard
was played on a giant marble court by Akbar.[311] The improved results garnered by the Indian Davis Cup team and other Indian tennis players in the early 2010s have made tennis increasingly popular in the country.[312] India has a comparatively strong presence in shooting sports, and has won several medals at the Olympics, SAMSUNG NP-N150-JP01 Laptop Keyboard
the World Shooting Championships, and the Commonwealth Games.[313][314] Other sports in which Indians have succeeded internationally include badminton,[315] boxing,[316] and wrestling.[317] Football is popular in West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and the north-eastern states.[318] IBM Lenovo ThinkPad X300 Laptop Keyboard
Field hockey in India is administered by Hockey India. The Indian national hockey team won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and have, as of 2012, taken eight gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, making it the sport's most successful team. India has also played a major role in popularizing Cricket, TOSHIBA Equium A100 Series Laptop Keyboard
thus cricket is by far the most popular sport of India; theIndian national cricket team won the 1983 and 2011 Cricket World Cup events, the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Cricket in India is administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCCI; the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, HP Mini 210-1103TU Laptop Keyboard
the Irani Trophy, and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy are domestic competitions. The BCCI conducts a Twenty20 competition known as the Indian Premier League. India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events: the 1951 and 1982 Asian Games; the 1987, 1996, and 2011 Cricket World Cup tournaments; the 2003 Afro-Asian Games; the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy; ACER Aspire 5742 Laptop Keyboard
the 2010 Hockey World Cup; and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Major international sporting events held annually in India include the Chennai Open, the Mumbai Marathon, the Delhi Half Marathon, and the Indian Masters. The firstIndian Grand Prix featured in late 2011.[319] India has traditionally been the dominant country at the South Asian Games. An example of this dominance is thebasketball competition where Team India won three out of four tournaments to date.[320] HP Pavilion dv6-2112sa Laptop Keyboard
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