India: Difference between revisions

Republic of India
भारत गणराज्य*
*Bhārat Gaṇarājya*
Republic of India भारत गणराज्य*; Bhārat Gaṇarājya
	Flag National Emblem
	Motto: "Satyameva Jayate" (Sanskrit); सत्यमेव जयते (Devanāgarī); "Truth Alone Triumphs"
	Anthem: Jana Gana Mana; Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
	National Song; Vande Mataram; I bow to thee, Mother
	Area controlled by India in dark green;; Claimed but uncontrolled territories in light green.
Capital	New Delhi
Largest city	Mumbai
Official languages	Hindi, English Hindi in the Devanagari script is the official language of the Union and English the "subsidiary official language".;
Recognised regional languages	8th Schedule: Assamese; Bengali; Bodo; Dogri; Gujarati; Hindi; Kannada; Kashmiri; Konkani; Maithili; Malayalam; Manipuri; Marathi; Nepali; Oriya; Punjabi; Sanskrit; Santali; Sindhi; Tamil; Telugu; Urdu;
National languages	None defined by the ; constitution.
Demonym(s)	Indian
Government	Federal constitutional; parliamentary democracy
• President	Pratibha Patil
• Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh (INC)
• Chief Justice	S. H. Kapadia
Legislature	Sansad
• Upper house	Rajya Sabha
• Lower house	Lok Sabha
Independence from the United Kingdom
• Declared	15 August 1947
• Republic	26 January 1950
Area
• Total	3,287,240 km2 (1,269,210 sq mi)‡ (7th)
• Water (%)	9.56
Population
• 2024 estimate	Template:IndiaPopCommas (2nd)
• 2001 census	1,028,610,328
• Density	425.1/km2 (1,101.0/sq mi) (31st)
GDP (PPP)	2010 estimate
• Total	$3.862 trillion (4th)
• Per capita	$3,176 (128th)
GDP (nominal)	2010 estimate
• Total	$1.367 trillion (11th)
• Per capita	$1,124 (139th)
Gini (2004)	36.8; Error: Invalid Gini value
HDI (2007)	0.612; Error: Invalid HDI value (134th)
Currency	Indian rupee (Rs.) (INR)
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+5:30 (not observed)
Driving side	left
Calling code	91
ISO 3166 code	IN
Internet TLD	.in
	Non-numbered Footnotes: * Bharat Ganarajya, that is, the Republic of India in Hindi, written in the Devanāgarī script. See also other official names; ‡ This is the figure as per the United Nations though the Indian government lists the total area as 3,287,260 km2 (1,269,220 sq mi).;

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India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: भारत गणराज्य Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also in other Indian languages), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world.^[16]^[17] Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the east; and it is bordered by Pakistan to the west;^[note] China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka, and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, and its Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also in the vicinity of the Indonesian island of Sumatra in the Andaman Sea.^[18] India has a coastline of 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi).^[19]

Home to the 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.^[20] Four major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by widespread non-violent resistance.^[21]

India is a federal constitutional republic consisting of 28 states and seven union territories with a parliamentary system of democracy. The Indian economy is the world's eleventh largest economy by nominal GDP and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity.^[22] Economic reforms since 1991 have transformed it into one of the fastest growing economies in the world.^[23] India is a nuclear weapons state and has the third-largest standing army in the world.^[24] India is considered to be a potential superpower, having a rapidly growing economy and growing political clout.^[23] It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, G15, G20, Asia Cooperation Dialogue, the Colombo Plan, Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation and the Non-aligned movement, and is one of the BRIC Countries. A pluralistic, multilingual and multiethnic society, India is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Etymology

The name India (Template:Pron-en) is derived from Indus, which is derived from the Old Persian word Hindu, from Sanskrit सिन्धु Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River.^[25] The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi (Ινδοί), the people of the Indus.^[26] The Constitution of India and common usage in various Indian languages also recognise Bharat (pronounced [ˈbʱɑːrʌt̪] ^ⓘ) as an official name of equal status.^[27] The name Bharat is derived from the name of the legendary king Bharata in Hindu Mythology. Hindustan ([hɪnd̪ʊˈstɑːn] ^ⓘ), originally a Persian word for “Land of the Hindus” referring to northern India, is also occasionally used as a synonym for all of India.^[28]

History

Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in India. The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation,^[29] dating back to 3400 BCE in western India. It was followed by the Vedic period, which laid the foundations of Hinduism and other cultural aspects of early Indian society, and ended in the 500s BCE. From around 550 BCE, many independent kingdoms and republics known as the Mahajanapadas were established across the country.^[30]

In the third century BCE, most of South Asia was united into the Maurya Empire by Chandragupta Maurya and flourished under Ashoka the Great.^[31] From the third century CE, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient "India's Golden Age".^[32]^[33] Empires in Southern India included those of the Chalukyas, the Cholas and the Vijayanagara Empire. Science, technology, engineering, art, logic, language, literature, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings.

Following invasions from Central Asia between the 10th and 12th centuries, much of North India came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate and later the Mughal Empire. Under the rule of Akbar the Great, India enjoyed much cultural and economic progress as well as religious harmony.^[34]^[35] Mughal emperors gradually expanded their empires to cover large parts of the subcontinent. However, in North-Eastern India, the dominant power was the Ahom kingdom of Assam, among the few kingdoms to have resisted Mughal subjugation. The first major threat to Mughal imperial power came from a Hindu Rajput king Maha Rana Pratap of Mewar in the 16th century and later from a Hindu state known as the Maratha confederacy, that ruled much of India in the mid-18th century.^[36]

From the 16th century, European powers such as Portugal, the Netherlands, France, and Great Britain established trading posts and later took advantage of internal conflicts to establish colonies in the country. By 1856, most of India was under the control of the British East India Company.^[37] A year later, a nationwide insurrection of rebelling military units and kingdoms, known as India's First War of Independence or the Sepoy Mutiny, seriously challenged the Company's control but eventually failed. As a result of the instability, India was brought under the direct rule of the British Crown.

In the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress and other political organisations.^[38] Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi led millions of people in several national campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience.^[21]

On 15 August 1947, India gained independence from British rule, but at the same time the Muslim-majority areas were partitioned to form a separate state of Pakistan.^[39] On 26 January 1950, India became a republic and a new constitution came into effect.^[40]

Since independence, India has faced challenges from religious violence, casteism, naxalism, terrorism and regional separatist insurgencies, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast India. Since the 1990s terrorist attacks have affected many Indian cities. India has unresolved territorial disputes with the People's Republic of China, which, in 1962, escalated into the Sino-Indian War, and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. India is a founding member of the United Nations (as British India) and the Non-Aligned Movement.

In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test^[41] and five more tests in 1998, making India a nuclear state.^[41] Beginning in 1991, significant economic reforms^[42] have transformed India into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, increasing its global clout.^[23]

Government

Template:Indian symbols India is federation with a parliamentary form of government, governed under the Constitution of India.^[43] It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the center and the states. The government is regulated by a checks and balances defined by Indian Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.

Constitution

The Constitution of India, the longest and the most exhaustive among constitutions of independent nations in the world, came into force on 26 January 1950.^[44] The preamble of the constitution defines India as a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.^[45] India has a bicameral parliament operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. Its form of government was traditionally described as being 'quasi-federal' with a strong centre and weaker states,^[46] but it has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic and social changes.^[47]

President and Prime Minister

The President of India is the head of state^[48] elected indirectly by an electoral college^[49] for a five-year term.^[50]^[51] The Prime Minister is the head of government and exercises most executive power.^[48] Appointed by the President,^[52] the Prime Minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in the lower house of Parliament.^[48] The executive branch consists of the President, Vice-President, and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet being its executive committee) headed by the Prime Minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of either house of parliament. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature, with the Prime Minister and his Council being directly responsible to the lower house of the Parliament.^[53]

Legislature

The Legislature of India is the bicameral Parliament, which consists of the upper house called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the lower house called the Lok Sabha (House of People).^[54] The Rajya Sabha, a permanent body, has 245 members serving staggered six year terms.^[55] Most are elected indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures in proportion to the state's population.^[55] 543 of the Lok Sabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote to represent individual constituencies for five year terms.^[55] The other two members are nominated by the President from the Anglo-Indian community if the President is of the opinion that the community is not adequately represented.^[55]

Judiciary

India has a unitary three-tier judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 21 High Courts, and a large number of trial courts.^[56] The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases involving fundamental rights and over disputes between states and the Centre, and appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts.^[57] It is judicially independent,^[56] and has the power to declare the law and to strike down Union or State laws which contravene the Constitution.^[58] The role as the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution is one of the most important functions of the Supreme Court.^[59]

Administrative divisions

India consists of 28 states and seven Union Territories.^[60] All states, and the two union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments patterned on the Westminster model. The other five union territories are directly ruled by the Centre through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were formed on a linguistic basis.^[61] Since then, this structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts.^[62] The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and eventually into villages. Template:India states

Politics

Large building on grassy grounds. A walkway with pedestrians and central reflecting pools leads to the arched entrance. The ground floor is red; the rest of the building is beige. A main cupola is atop the center of the building. — The North Block, in New Delhi, houses key government offices.

India is the most populous democracy in the world.^[63]^[64] It has operated under a multi-party system for most of its history. For most of the years since independence, the federal government has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC).^[60] Politics in the states have been dominated by national parties like the INC, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and various regional parties. From 1950 to 1990, barring two brief periods, the INC enjoyed a parliamentary majority.

The INC was out of power between 1977 and 1980, when the Janata Party won the election owing to public discontent with the state of emergency declared by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In 1989, a Janata Dal-led National Front coalition in alliance with the Left Front coalition won the elections but managed to stay in power for only two years.^[65] As the 1991 elections gave no political party a majority, the INC formed a minority government under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and was able to complete its five-year term.^[66]

The years 1996–1998 were a period of turmoil in the federal government with several short-lived alliances holding sway. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996, followed by the United Front coalition that excluded both the BJP and the INC. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with several other parties and became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term.^[67]

In the 2004 Indian elections, the INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with a coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), supported by various Left-leaning parties and members opposed to the BJP. The UPA again came into power in the 2009 general election; however, the representation of the Left leaning parties within the coalition has significantly reduced.^[68] Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.^[69]

Foreign relations and military

Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relationships with most nations. It took a leading role in the 1950s by advocating the independence of European colonies in Africa and Asia.^[71] India is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement.^[72] India was involved in two brief military interventions in neighbouring countries – Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and Operation Cactus in Maldives. After the Sino-Indian War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, India's relationship with the Soviet Union warmed and continued to remain so until the end of the Cold War. India has fought two wars with Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute. A third war between India and Pakistan in 1971 resulted in the creation of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan).^[73] Additional skirmishes have taken place between the two nations over the Siachen Glacier. In 1999, India and Pakistan fought an undeclared war over Kargil.

In recent years, India has played an influential role in the SAARC and the WTO.^[75] India has provided as many as 55,000 Indian military and police personnel to serve in thirty-five UN peacekeeping operations across four continents.^[14] India is also an active participant in various mutlilateral forums, particularly the East Asia Summit^[76] and the G8+5.^[77] Recent overtures by the Indian government have strengthened relations with the United States and China. In the economic sphere, India has close relationships with other developing nations in South America, Asia and Africa.

India maintains the third-largest military force in the world, which consists of the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force^[40] and auxiliary forces such as the Paramilitary Forces, the Coast Guard, and the Strategic Forces Command. The official Indian defence budget for 2010 stood at US$31.9 billion (or 2.12% of GDP).^[78] According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military expenditure in terms of PPP stood at US$72.7 billion.^[79] The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. India maintains close defence cooperation with Russia, Israel and France, who are the chief suppliers of arms. Defence contractors, such as the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), oversee indigenous development of sophisticated arms and military equipment, including ballistic missiles, fighter aircraft and main battle tanks, to reduce India's dependence on foreign imports.

India became a nuclear power in 1974 after conducting an initial nuclear test, known as the Operation Smiling Buddha, and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has consistently refused to sign the CTBT and the NPT. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy^[80] and is developing nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine.^[80] On 10 October 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement between India and the United States was signed, prior to which India received waivers from the IAEA and the NSG which ended restrictions on nuclear technology commerce and recognized India as the world's de facto sixth nuclear weapons state.^[81]

Geography

India, the major portion of the Indian subcontinent, sits atop the Indian tectonic plate, a minor plate within the Indo-Australian Plate.^[82]

India's defining geological processes commenced seventy-five million years ago, when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a northeastwards drift—lasting fifty million years—across the then unformed Indian Ocean.^[82] The subcontinent's subsequent collision with the Eurasian Plate and subduction under it, gave rise to the Himalayas, the planet's highest mountains, which now abut India in the north and the north-east.^[82] In the former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough, which, having gradually been filled with river-borne sediment,^[83] now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain.^[84] To the west of this plain, and cut off from it by the Aravalli Range, lies the Thar Desert.^[85]

The original Indian plate now survives as peninsular India, the oldest and most geologically stable part of India, and extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel ranges run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east.^[86] To their south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the left and right by the coastal ranges, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats respectively;^[87] the plateau contains the oldest rock formations in India, some 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^[88] and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude.^[89]

India's coast is 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) long; 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 Islands.^[19] According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coast consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky coast including cliffs, and 46% mudflats or marshy coast.^[19]

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges (Ganga) and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal.^[90] Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi, whose extremely low gradient causes disastrous floods every year. 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;^[91] and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea.^[92] Among notable coastal features of India are the marshy Rann of Kutch in western India, and the alluvial Sundarbans delta, which India shares with Bangladesh.^[93] India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.^[94]

India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the monsoons.^[95] The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian Katabatic wind from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes.^[96]^[97] The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden southwest summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall.^[95] Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane.^[98]

Flora and fauna

Template:Indian image rotation

India, which lies within the Indomalaya ecozone, displays significant biodiversity. One of eighteen megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species.^[99] Many ecoregions, such as the shola forests, exhibit extremely high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic.^[100]^[101]

India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and North-East India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; the teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain.^[102] Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment. According to latest report, less than 12% of India's landmass is covered by dense forests.^[103]

Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the Indian plate separated. Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards, and collision with, the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms.^[104] Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya.^[102] Consequently, among Indian species, only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians.^[99] Notable endemics are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and the brown and carmine Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designated threatened species.^[105] These include the Asiatic Lion, the Bengal Tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.

In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's 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^[106] and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; in addition, the Forest Conservation Act^[107] was enacted in 1980. Along with more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries, India hosts thirteen biosphere reserves,^[108] four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.^[109]

Economy

In 2009, India's nominal GDP stood at US$1.243 trillion, which makes it the eleventh-largest economy in the world.^[22] If PPP is taken into account, India's economy is the fourth largest in the world at US$3.561 trillion,^[110] corresponding to a per capita income of US$3,100.^[111] The country ranks 139th in nominal GDP per capita and 128th in GDP per capita at PPP.^[22] With an average annual GDP growth rate of 5.8% for the past two decades, India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.^[112]

India has the world's second largest labour force, with 516.3 million people. In terms of output, the agricultural sector accounts for 28% of GDP; the service and industrial sectors make up 54% and 18% respectively. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish.^[60] Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software.^[60] India's trade has reached a relatively moderate share of 24% of GDP in 2006, up from 6% in 1985.^[113] In 2008, India's share of world trade was about 1.68%.^[114] Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.^[60] Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals.^[60]

From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed socialist-inspired policies. The economy was shackled by extensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow growth.^[115] In 1991, the nation liberalised its economy and has since moved towards a market-based system.^[113]^[116] The policy change in 1991 came after an acute balance of payments crisis, and the emphasis since then has been to use foreign trade and foreign investment as integral parts of India's economy.^[117]

The Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car.^[118] India's annual car exports have surged fivefold in the past five years.^[119]

In the late 2000s, India's economic growth averaged 7.5% a year.^[113] Over the past decade, hourly wage rates in India have more than doubled.^[120] In 2009, the Global Competitiveness Report ranked India 16th in financial market sophistication, 24th in banking sector, 27th in business sophistication and 30th in innovation; ahead of several advanced economies.^[121] Seven of the world's top 15 technology outsourcing companies are based in India and the country is viewed as the second most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States.^[122]

Despite India's impressive economic growth over recent decades, it still contains the largest concentration of poor people in the world.^[123] The percentage of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of $1.25 a day (PPP, in nominal terms Rs. 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs. 14.3 in rural areas in 2005) decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005.^[124] Since 1991, inter-state economic inequality in India has consistently grown; the per capita net state domestic product of India's richest states is about 3.2 times that of the poorest states.^[125] Even though India has avoided famines in recent decades, half of children are underweight^[126] and about 46% of Indian children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition.^[123]^[127]

A 2007 Goldman Sachs report projected that "from 2007 to 2020, India’s GDP per capita will quadruple," and that the Indian GDP will surpass that of the United States before 2050, but India "will remain a low-income country for several decades, with per capita incomes well below its other BRIC peers."^[128] Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades; its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.^[123] The World Bank suggests that India must continue to focus on public sector reform, infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labor regulations, improvement in transport, energy security, and health and nutrition.^[129]

Demographics

With an estimated population of 1.2 billion,^[10] India is the world's second most populous country. The last 50 years have seen a rapid increase in population due to medical advances and massive increase in agricultural productivity due to the "green revolution".^[130]^[131] India's urban population increased 11-fold during the twentieth century and is increasingly concentrated in large cities. By 2001 there were 35 million-plus population cities in India, with the largest cities, with a population of over 10 million each, being Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. However, as of 2001, more than 70% of India's population continues to reside in rural areas.^[132]^[133]

India is the world's most culturally, linguistically and genetically diverse geographical entity after the African continent.^[60] India is home to two major linguistic families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by about 24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families. Neither the Constitution of India, nor any Indian law defines any national language.^[8] Hindi, with the largest number of speakers,^[134] is the official language of the union.^[135] English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a 'subsidiary official language;'^[136] it is also important in education, especially as a medium of higher education.In addition, every state and union territory has its own official languages, and the constitution also recognises in particular 21 "scheduled languages".

As per the 2001 census, over 800 million Indians (80.5%) were Hindu. Other religious groups include Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians and Bahá'ís.^[137] Tribals constitute 8.1% of the population.^[138] India has the third-highest Muslim population in the world and has the highest population of Muslims for a non-Muslim majority country.

India's literacy rate is 64.8% (53.7% for females and 75.3% for males).^[40] The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate at 91% while Bihar has the lowest at 47%.^[139]^[140] The national human sex ratio is 944 females per 1,000 males. India's median age is 24.9, and the population growth rate of 1.38% per annum; there are 22.01 births per 1,000 people per year.^[40] Though India has one of the world's most diverse and modern healthcare systems, the country continues to face several public health-related challenges.^[141] According to the World Health Organization, 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water and breathing in polluted air.^[142] There are about 60 physicians per 100,000 people in India.^[143]

Culture

India's culture is marked by a high degree of syncretism^[145] and cultural pluralism.^[146] India's cultural tradition dates back to 8,000 BCE^[147] and has a continuously recorded history for over 2,500 years.^[148] With its roots based in the Indus Valley Tradition, the Indian culture took a distinctive shape during the 11th century BCE Vedic age which laid the foundation of Hindu philosophy, mythology, literary tradition and beliefs and practices, such as dhárma, kárma, yóga and mokṣa.^[149] It has managed to preserve established traditions while absorbing new customs, traditions, and ideas from invaders and immigrants and spreading its cultural influence to other parts of Asia, mainly South East and East Asia.

Indian religions form one of the most defining aspects of Indian culture.^[150] Major dhármic religions which were founded in India include Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Considered to be a successor to the ancient Vedic religion,^[151] Hinduism has been shaped by several schools of thoughts such as the Advaita Vedanta,^[152] the Yoga Sutras and the Bhakti movement.^[150] Buddhism originated in India in 5th century BCE and prominent early Buddhist schools, such as Theravāda and Mahāyāna, gained dominance during the Maurya Empire.^[150] Though Buddhism entered a period of gradual decline in India 5th century CE onwards,^[153] it played an influential role in shaping Indian philosophy and thought.^[150]

Traditional Indian society is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. The Indian caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis or castes.^[154] Several influential social reform movements, such as the Bramho Shômaj, the Arya Samāja and the Ramakrishna Mission, have played a pivotal role in the emancipation of Dalits (or "untouchables") and other lower-caste communities in India.^[155] However, the majority of Dalits continue to live in segregation and are often persecuted and discriminated against.^[156]

Traditional Indian family values are highly respected, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm, although nuclear family are becoming common in urban areas.^[115] An overwhelming majority of Indians have their marriages arranged by their parents and other respected family members, with the consent of the bride and groom.^[157] Marriage is thought to be for life,^[157] and the divorce rate is extremely low.^[158] Child marriage is still a common practice, with half of women in India marrying before the legal age of 18.^[159]^[160]

Indian cuisine is characterised by a wide variety of regional styles and sophisticated use of herbs and spices. The staple foods in the region are rice (especially in the south and the east) and wheat (predominantly in the north).^[161] Spices, such as black pepper which are now consumed world wide, are originally native to the Indian subcontinent. Chili pepper, which was introduced by the Portuguese, is also widely used in Indian cuisine.^[162] Template:Indian image rotation Traditional Indian dress varies across the regions in its colours and styles and depends on various factors, including climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as salwar kameez for women and kurta-pyjama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular.

Many Indian festivals are religious in origin, although several are celebrated irrespective of caste and creed. Some popular festivals are Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Ugadi, Thai Pongal, Holi, Onam, Vijayadashami, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, Buddha Jayanti and Vaisakhi.^[163] India has three national holidays which are observed in all states and union territories — Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanthi. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine and twelve, are officially observed in individual states. Religious practices are an integral part of everyday life and are a very public affair.

Indian architecture is one area that represents the diversity of Indian culture. Much of it, including notable monuments such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Mughal architecture and South Indian architecture, comprises a blend of ancient and varied local traditions from several parts of the country and abroad. Vernacular architecture also displays notable regional variation.

Indian music covers a wide range of traditions and regional styles. Classical music largely encompasses the two genres – North Indian Hindustani, South Indian Carnatic traditions and their various offshoots in the form of regional folk music. Regionalised forms of popular music include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the bauls is a well-known form of the latter.

Indian dance too has diverse folk and classical forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the bhangra of the Punjab, the bihu of Assam, the chhau of West Bengal, Jharkhand , sambalpuri of Orissa , the ghoomar of Rajasthan and the Lawani 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: 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 Orissa and the sattriya of Assam.^[164]

Theatre in India often incorporates music, dance, and improvised or written dialogue.^[165] Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances, and news of social and political events, Indian theatre includes the bhavai of state of Gujarat, the jatra of West Bengal, the nautanki and ramlila of North India, the tamasha of Maharashtra, the burrakatha of Andhra Pradesh, the terukkuttu of Tamil Nadu, and the yakshagana of Karnataka.^[166]

The Indian film industry is the largest in the world.^[167] Bollywood, based in Mumbai, makes commercial Hindi films and is the most prolific film industry in the world.^[168] Established traditions also exist in Assamese, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu language cinemas.^[169]

The earliest works of Indian literature were transmitted orally and only later written down.^[170] These included works of Sanskrit literature – such as the early Vedas, the epics Mahābhārata and Ramayana, the drama Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the Mahākāvya^[171] – and the Tamil language Sangam literature.^[172] Among Indian writers of the modern era active in Indian languages or English, Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in 1913.

Sport

India's official national sport is field hockey, administered by Hockey India. The Indian field hockey team won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Olympic games,the highest from any national team. However, cricket is the most popular sport; the India national cricket team won the 1983 Cricket World Cup and the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka.India has also won the Asia Cup a record five times.Cricket in India is administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI); and domestic competitions include the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy. In addition, BCCI conducts the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition.

Tennis has become increasingly popular, owing to the victories of the India Davis Cup team. Association football is also a popular sport in northeast India, West Bengal, Goa,Tamil Nadu and Kerala.^[173] The Indian national football team has won the South Asian Football Federation Cup several times. Chess, commonly held to have originated in India, is also gaining popularity with the rise in the number of Indian Grandmasters.^[174] Vishwanathan Anand,an Indian Grandmaster,has won the World Chess Championship four times.

Traditional sports include kabaddi, kho kho, and gilli-danda, which are played nationwide. India is also home to the ancient martial arts, Kalarippayattu and Varma Kalai.The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award are India's highest awards for achievements in sports, while the Dronacharya Award is awarded for excellence in coaching.

The Jaypee Group Circuit in Greater Noida,will be the upcoming hosts of the Indian Grand Prix in 2011.India has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 2003 Afro-Asian Games and the 2007 Military World Games. India has also hosted or co-hosted the 1951 and the 1982 Asian Games, the 1987 and 1996 Cricket World Cup. It has also successfully hosted the 2010 Hockey World Cup and is scheduled to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games and later the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Notes

^{^} The Government of India also considers Afghanistan to be a bordering country. This is because it considers the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir to be a part of India including the portion bordering Afghanistan. A ceasefire sponsored by the United Nations in 1948 froze the positions of Indian and Pakistani-held territory. As a consequence, the region bordering Afghanistan is in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

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^ Achaya 1994, Achaya 1997
^ "18 Popular India Festivals". Retrieved 23 December 2007.
^ 1. "South Asian arts: Techniques and Types of Classical Dance" From: Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 12 Oct. 2007. 2. Sangeet Natak Academi (National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama, New Delhi, India). 2007. Dance Programmes. 3. Kothari, Sunil. 2007. Sattriya dance of the celibate monks of Assam, India. Royal Holloway College, University of London.
^ Lal 1998.
^ (Karanth 1997, p. 26). Quote: "The Yakṣagāna folk-theatre is no isolated theatrical form in India. We have a number of such theatrical traditions all around Karnataka... In far off Assam we have similar plays going on by the name of Ankia Nat, in neighouring Bengal we have the very popular Jatra plays. Maharashtra has Tamasa. (p. 26.)
^ "Country profile: India". BBC. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
^ Dissanayake & Gokulsing 2004.
^ Rajadhyaksha & Willemen (editors) 1999.
^ MacDonell 2004, pp. 1–40.
^ Johnson 1998, MacDonell 2004, pp. 1–40, and Kalidasa & Johnson (editor) 2001.
^ 1. Encyclopaedia Britannica (2008), "Tamil Literature." Quote: "Apart from literature written in classical (Indo-Aryan) Sanskrit, Tamil is the oldest literature in India. Some inscriptions on stone have been dated to the 3rd century BC, but Tamil literature proper begins around the 1st century AD. Much early poetry was religious or epic; an exception was the secular court poetry written by members of the sangam, or literary academy (see Sangam literature)." 2. Ramanujan 1985, pp. ix–x. Quote: "These poems are 'classical,' i.e. early, ancient; they are also 'classics,' i.e. works that have stood the test of time, the founding works of a whole tradition. Not to know them is not to know a unique and major poetic achievement of Indian civilisation. Early classical Tamil literature (c. 100 BC–AD 250) consists of the Eight Anthologies (Eţţuttokai), the Ten Long Poems (Pattuppāţţu), and a grammar called the Tolkāppiyam or the 'Old Composition.' ... The literature of classical Tamil later came to be known as Cankam (pronounced Sangam) literature. (pp. ix–x.)"
^ Majumdar & Bandyopadhyay 2006, pp. 1–5.
^ "Anand crowned World champion". Rediff. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.

References

History

Brown, Judith M. (1994). Modern India: The Origins of an Asian Democracy. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. xiii, 474. ISBN 0198731132. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
Guha, Ramchandra (2007). India after Gandhi — The History of the World's Largest Democracy. 1st edition. Picador. xxvii, 900. ISBN 978-0-330-39610-3. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
Kulke, Hermann (2004). A History of India. 4th edition. Routledge. xii, 448. ISBN 0415329205. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
Metcalf, Barbara (2006). A Concise History of Modern India (Cambridge Concise Histories). Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. xxxiii, 372. ISBN 0521682258. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
Spear, Percival (1990). A History of India. Vol. 2. New Delhi and London: Penguin Books. p. 298. ISBN 0140138366.
Stein, Burton (2001). A History of India. New Delhi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. xiv, 432. ISBN 0195654463. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
Thapar, Romila (1990). A History of India. Vol. 1. New Delhi and London: Penguin Books. p. 384. ISBN 0140138358.
Wolpert, Stanley (2003). A New History of India. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 544. ISBN 0195166787.

Geography

Dikshit, K.R. (2007). "India: The Land". Encyclopædia Britannica. pp. 1–29. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Government of India (2007). India Yearbook 2007. Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. ISBN 81-230-1423-6.
Heitzman, J. (1996). India: A Country Study. Library of Congress (Area Handbook Series). ISBN 0-8444-0833-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Posey, C.A (1994). The Living Earth Book of Wind and Weather. Reader's Digest Association. ISBN 0-8957-7625-1.

Flora and fauna

Ali, Salim; Ripley, S. Dillon (1995), A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent, Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press. pp. 183, 106 colour plates by John Henry Dick, ISBN 0195637321.
Blatter, E.; Millard, Walter S. (1997), Some Beautiful Indian Trees, Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press. pp. xvii, 165, 30 colour plates, ISBN 019562162X {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help).
Israel, Samuel; Sinclair (editors), Toby (2001), Indian Wildlife, Discovery Channel and APA Publications., ISBN 9812345558 {{citation}}: |last2= has generic name (help).
Prater, S. H. (1971), The book of Indian Animals, Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society and Oxford University Press. pp. xxiii, 324, 28 colour plates by Paul Barruel., ISBN 0195621697 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help).
Rangarajan, Mahesh (editor) (1999), Oxford Anthology of Indian Wildlife: Volume 1, Hunting and Shooting, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. xi, 439, ISBN 0195645928 {{citation}}: |first1= has generic name (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help).
Rangarajan, Mahesh (editor) (1999), Oxford Anthology of Indian Wildlife: Volume 2, Watching and Conserving, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. xi, 303, ISBN 0195645936 {{citation}}: |first1= has generic name (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help).
Tritsch, Mark F. (2001), Wildlife of India, London: Harper Collins Publishers. p. 192, ISBN 0007110626.

Culture

Dissanayake, Wimal K.; Gokulsing, Moti (2004), Indian Popular Cinema: A Narrative of Cultural Change, Trentham Books, p. 161, ISBN 1858563291. {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
Johnson, W. J. (translator and editor) (1998), The Sauptikaparvan of the Mahabharata: The Massacre at Night, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics), p. 192, ISBN 0192823618 {{citation}}: |first1= has generic name (help); Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
Kalidasa; Johnson (editor), W. J. (2001), The Recognition of Śakuntalā: A Play in Seven Acts, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press (Oxford World's Classics), p. 192, ISBN 0192839114 {{citation}}: |last2= has generic name (help); Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
Karanth, K. Shivarama (1997), Yakṣagāna, (Forward by H. Y. Sharada Prasad). Abhinav Publications, p. 252, ISBN 8170173574. {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
Kiple, Kenneth F.; Ornelas, Kriemhild Coneè, eds. (2000), The Cambridge World History of Food, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521402166.
Lal, Ananda (1998), Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, p. 600, ISBN 0195644468.
MacDonell, Arthur Anthony (2004), A History of Sanskrit Literature , Kessinger Publishing, ISBN 1417906197.
Majumdar, Boria; Bandyopadhyay, Kausik (2006), A Social History Of Indian Football: Striving To Score, Routledge, ISBN 0415348358 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help).
Massey, Reginald (2006), India's Dances, Abhinav Publications, ISBN 8170174341 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help).
Ramanujan, A. K. (1985), Poems of Love and War: From the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 329, ISBN 0231051077.
Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen (editors), Paul (1999), Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, 2nd revised edition, University of California Press and British Film Institute, p. 652, ISBN 0851706696, archived from the original on 6 August 2007 {{citation}}: |last2= has generic name (help); Check |isbn= value: checksum (help).
Vilanilam, John V. (2005), Mass Communication in India: A Sociological Perspective, Sage Publications, ISBN 0761933727 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help).

External links

Template:Wikipedia-Books

Government of India – Official government portal (in English)
"India". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
India at UCB Libraries GovPubs
India at Curlie
Wikimedia Atlas of India
Template:Wikitravel

21°N 78°E / 21°N 78°E / 21; 78

Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link FA Template:Link GA Template:Link GA

[1] "State Emblem -Inscription". National Informatics Centre(NIC). Retrieved 17 June 2007.

[2] "National Anthem – Know India portal". National Informatics Centre(NIC). 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.

[3] "National Song – Know India portal". National Informatics Centre(NIC). 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2009.

[4] "Constituent Assembly of India — Volume XII". Constituent Assembly of India: Debates. parliamentofindia.nic.in, National Informatics Centre. 24 January 1950. Retrieved 29 June 2007. The composition consisting of the words and music known as Jana Gana Mana is the National Anthem of India, subject to such alterations in the words as the Government may authorise as occasion arises; and the song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it.

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[CONCISE_ENCYCLOPEDIA..-39] written by John Farndon. (1997). Concise Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 322. ISBN 0-7513-5911-4.

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[51] "Tenure of President's office". The Constitution Of India. Constitution Society. Retrieved 2 September 2007. The President shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office.

[52] "Appointment of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers". The Constitution Of India. Constitution Society. Retrieved 2 September 2007. The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

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[86] Dikshit & Schwartzberg 2007, p. 8.

[britan-weghats-87] Dikshit & Schwartzberg 2007, pp. 9–10.

[88] India's northernmost point is the region of the disputed Siachen Glacier in Jammu and Kashmir; however, the Government of India regards the entire region of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (including the Northern Areas currently administered by Pakistan) to be its territory, and therefore assigns the longitude 37° 6' to its northernmost point.

[yearbook-89] (Government of India 2007, p. 1.)

[90] Dikshit & Schwartzberg 2007, p. 15.

[91] Dikshit & Schwartzberg 2007, p. 16.

[92] Dikshit & Schwartzberg 2007, p. 17.

[93] Dikshit & Schwartzberg 2007, p. 12.

[94] Dikshit & Schwartzberg 2007, p. 13.

[chang1967-95] Chang 1967, pp. 391–394.

[Posey_1994_118-96] Posey 1994, p. 118.

[Wolpert_2003_4-97] Wolpert 2003, p. 4.

[Heitzman_Worden_1996_97-98] Heitzman & Worden 1996, p. 97.

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[autogenerated1-136] "Notification No. 2/8/60-O.L. (Ministry of Home Affairs), dated 27 April 1960". Retrieved 4 July 2007.

[CensusRel-137] "Census of India 2001, Data on Religion". Census of India. Retrieved 22 November 2007.

[Tribal-138] "Tribes: Introduction". National Informatics Centre. Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. Archived from the original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[139] "Kerala's literacy rate". kerala.gov.in. Government of Kerala. Retrieved 13 December 2007.

[140] Census Statistics of Bihar: Literacy Rates "Literacy rate of Bihar". Government of Bihar. Retrieved 13 December 2007. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)

[WHOCCS-141] "Country Cooperation Strategy: India" (PDF). World Health Organization. November 2006.

[142] Robinson, Simon (1 May 2008). "India's Medical Emergency". TIME magazine.

[143] "Doctors per one hundred thousand people in India". IndiaReports.

[UNESCO_TM-144] "Taj Mahal". World Heritage List. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 28 September 2007. The World Heritage List includes 851 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.

[145] Das, N.K. (2006). "Cultural Diversity, Religious Syncretism and People of India: An Anthropological Interpretation". Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology. 3 (2nd). ISSN 1819-8465. Retrieved 27 September 2007. The pan-Indian, civilizational dimension of cultural pluralism and syncretism encompasses ethnic diversity and admixture, linguistic heterogeneity as well as fusion, and variations as well as synthesis in customs, behavioural patterns, beliefs and rituals {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

[146] Baidyanath, Saraswati (2006). "Cultural Pluralism, National Identity and Development". Interface of Cultural Identity Development (1stEdition ed.). New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. xxi+290 pp. ISBN 81-246-0054-6. Retrieved 8 June 2007. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)

[147] Arnett, Robert. India Unveiled. Atman Press, 2006. ISSN 9780965290043 0965290042, 9780965290043. {{cite book}}: Check |issn= value (help)

[148] Sharma, Shaloo. History and Development of Higher Education in India. Sarup & Sons, 2002. ISSN 9788176253185 8176253189, 9788176253185. {{cite book}}: Check |issn= value (help)

[149] Bruyn, Pippa. Frommer's India. Frommer's, 2010. ISSN 9780470556108 0470556102, 9780470556108. {{cite book}}: Check |issn= value (help)

[Heehs-150] Heehs, Peter. Indian religions: a historical reader of spiritual expression and experience. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2002. ISSN 9781850654964 1850654964, 9781850654964. {{cite book}}: Check |issn= value (help) Cite error: The named reference "Heehs" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[151] Stietencron, Hinduism: On the Proper Use of A Deceptive Term, pp.1–22

[152] "Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction," By Eliot Deutsch, University of Hawaii Press, 1980, ISBN 0-8248-0271-3.

[Merriam155-153] Merriam-Webster, pg. 155–157

[154] "India – Caste". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.

[155] Paswan, Sanjay. Encyclopaedia of Dalits in India: Movements. Gyan Publishing House, 2002. ISSN 9788178350349 8178350343, 9788178350349. {{cite book}}: Check |issn= value (help)

[156] "UN report slams India for caste discrimination". CBC News. 2 March 2007.

[Nilufer-157] Medora, Nilufer (2003). "Mate selection in contemporary India: Love marriages versus arranged marriages". In Hamon, Raeann R. and Ingoldsby, Bron B. (ed.). Mate Selection Across Cultures. SAGE. pp. 209–230. ISBN 0761925929.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

[158] "Divorce Rate In India".

[159] "Child marriages targeted in India". BBC News. 24 October 2001. Retrieved 5 January 2010.

[160] "State of the World's Children-2009" (PDF). UNICEF. 2009.

[Food-161] Delphine, Roger, "The History and Culture of Food in Asia", in Kiple & Kriemhild 2000, pp. 1140–1151.

[162] Achaya 1994, Achaya 1997

[Indobase-163] "18 Popular India Festivals". Retrieved 23 December 2007.

[all3-164] 1. "South Asian arts: Techniques and Types of Classical Dance" From: Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 12 Oct. 2007. 2. Sangeet Natak Academi (National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama, New Delhi, India). 2007. Dance Programmes. 3. Kothari, Sunil. 2007. Sattriya dance of the celibate monks of Assam, India. Royal Holloway College, University of London.

[165] Lal 1998.

[166] (Karanth 1997, p. 26). Quote: "The Yakṣagāna folk-theatre is no isolated theatrical form in India. We have a number of such theatrical traditions all around Karnataka... In far off Assam we have similar plays going on by the name of Ankia Nat, in neighouring Bengal we have the very popular Jatra plays. Maharashtra has Tamasa. (p. 26.)

[BBC_1154019-167] "Country profile: India". BBC. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

[168] Dissanayake & Gokulsing 2004.

[169] Rajadhyaksha & Willemen (editors) 1999.

[Sanskrit-170] MacDonell 2004, pp. 1–40.

[171] Johnson 1998, MacDonell 2004, pp. 1–40, and Kalidasa & Johnson (editor) 2001.

[Tamil-172] 1. Encyclopaedia Britannica (2008), "Tamil Literature." Quote: "Apart from literature written in classical (Indo-Aryan) Sanskrit, Tamil is the oldest literature in India. Some inscriptions on stone have been dated to the 3rd century BC, but Tamil literature proper begins around the 1st century AD. Much early poetry was religious or epic; an exception was the secular court poetry written by members of the sangam, or literary academy (see Sangam literature)." 2. Ramanujan 1985, pp. ix–x. Quote: "These poems are 'classical,' i.e. early, ancient; they are also 'classics,' i.e. works that have stood the test of time, the founding works of a whole tradition. Not to know them is not to know a unique and major poetic achievement of Indian civilisation. Early classical Tamil literature (c. 100 BC–AD 250) consists of the Eight Anthologies (Eţţuttokai), the Ten Long Poems (Pattuppāţţu), and a grammar called the Tolkāppiyam or the 'Old Composition.' ... The literature of classical Tamil later came to be known as Cankam (pronounced Sangam) literature. (pp. ix–x.)"

[Soccer-173] Majumdar & Bandyopadhyay 2006, pp. 1–5.

[Anand_crowned_World_champion-174] "Anand crowned World champion". Rediff. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.

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@@ Line 116: / Line 116: @@
 }}
-'''India''', officially the '''Republic of India''' ({{lang-hi|भारत गणराज्य}} ''{{lang|inc-Latn|'''Bhārat''' Gaṇarājya}}''; see also [[Official names of India|in other Indian languages]]), is a country in [[South Asia|South]] [[Asia]]. It is the [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|seventh-largest]] country by geographical area, the [[List of countries by population|second-most populous]] country with  [[Demographics of India|1.18 billion people]], and the most populous democracy in the world.<ref name="largestdem1"/><ref name="largestdem2"/> [[Mainland India]] is bounded by the [[Indian Ocean]] on the south, the [[Arabian Sea]] on the west, and the [[Bay of Bengal]] on the east; and it is bordered by [[Pakistan]] to the west;{{Ref_label|A|note|none}} [[China]], [[Nepal]], and [[Bhutan]] to the north; and [[Bangladesh]] and [[Burma]] to the east. India is in the vicinity of [[Sri Lanka]], and the [[Maldives]] in the Indian Ocean, and its [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] are also in the vicinity of the [[Indonesia]]n island of [[Aceh|Sumatra]] in the [[Andaman Sea]].<ref>[http://indiannavy.gov.in/Milan%202008_files/Page4063.htm ANDAMAN &  NICOBAR COMMAND – Indian Navy]</ref> India has a coastline of {{convert|7517|km|mi|-2}}.<ref name=sanilkumar>{{cite journal|last=Kumar|first=V. Sanil|coauthors=K. C. Pathak, P. Pednekar, N. S. N. Raju|title=Coastal processes along the Indian coastline|journal=Current Science|volume=91|issue=4|year=2006|pages=530–536|format=PDF|url=http://drs.nio.org/drs/bitstream/2264/350/1/Curr_Sci_91_530.pdf}}</ref>
+'''India''', officially the '''Republic of India''' ({{lang-hi|भारत गणराज्य}} ''{{lang|inc-Latn|'''Bhārat''' Gaṇarājya}}''; see also [[Official names of India|in other Indian languages]]), is a country in [[South Asia|South]] [[Asia]]. It is the [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|seventh-largest]] country by geographical area, the [[List of countries by population|second-most populous]] country with  [[Demographics of India|1.18 billion people]], and the most populous democracy in the world.<ref>{{cite news
+|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1154019.stm
+|title = Country profile: India
+|accessdate = 21 March 2007
+|date = 9 January 2007
+|publisher = BBC
+}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
+|url = http://www.un.org/esa/population/pubsarchive/india/ind1bil.htm
+|title = World's Largest Democracy to Reach One Billion Persons on Independence Day
+|accessdate = 6 December 2007
+|work = [[United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs]]
+|publisher = United Nations: [[Commission on Population and Development|Population Division]]
+}}</ref> [[Mainland India]] is bounded by the [[Indian Ocean]] on the south, the [[Arabian Sea]] on the west, and the [[Bay of Bengal]] on the east; and it is bordered by [[Pakistan]] to the west;{{Ref_label|A|note|none}} [[China]], [[Nepal]], and [[Bhutan]] to the north; and [[Bangladesh]] and [[Burma]] to the east. India is in the vicinity of [[Sri Lanka]], and the [[Maldives]] in the Indian Ocean, and its [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] are also in the vicinity of the [[Indonesia]]n island of [[Aceh|Sumatra]] in the [[Andaman Sea]].<ref>[http://indiannavy.gov.in/Milan%202008_files/Page4063.htm ANDAMAN &  NICOBAR COMMAND – Indian Navy]</ref> India has a coastline of {{convert|7517|km|mi|-2}}.<ref name=sanilkumar>{{cite journal|last=Kumar|first=V. Sanil|coauthors=K. C. Pathak, P. Pednekar, N. S. N. Raju|title=Coastal processes along the Indian coastline|journal=Current Science|volume=91|issue=4|year=2006|pages=530–536|format=PDF|url=http://drs.nio.org/drs/bitstream/2264/350/1/Curr_Sci_91_530.pdf}}</ref>
 Home to the [[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.<ref>Oldenburg, Phillip. 2007. "[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761557562_10____97/India.html#s97 India: History]," [[Microsoft Encarta]] Online Encyclopedia 2007. [http://www.webcitation.org/5kyWYD7cM Archived] 1 November 2009.</ref> Four major religions, [[Hinduism in India|Hinduism]], [[Buddhism in India|Buddhism]], [[Jainism in India|Jainism]] and [[Sikhism in India|Sikhism]] originated here, while [[Parsi|Zoroastrianism]], [[Judaism in India|Judaism]], [[Christianity in India|Christianity]] and [[Islam in India|Islam]] arrived in the first millennium CE and shaped the region's diverse [[Indian culture|culture]]. Gradually annexed by the [[East India Company|British East India Company]] from the early eighteenth century and colonised by the United Kingdom from the mid-nineteenth century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a [[Indian independence movement|struggle for independence]] that was marked by widespread [[non-violent resistance]].<ref name="CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA 3">{{cite book |title = Concise Encyclopedia|publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley|Dorling Kindersley Limited]] |year = 1997 |page = 455 |isbn = 0-7513-5911-4 |author = written by John Farndon.}}</ref>
@@ Line 157: / Line 169: @@
 |format = MS Word
 |accessdate = 13 June 2007
-}}</ref> have transformed India into [[List of countries by GDP (real) growth rate|one of the fastest-growing economies]] in the world, increasing its global clout.<ref name="ERS"/>
+}}</ref> have transformed India into [[List of countries by GDP (real) growth rate|one of the fastest-growing economies]] in the world, increasing its global clout.<ref name="ERS">{{cite web |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/India/ |title=India is the second fastest growing economy|accessdate=5 August 2007 |work=Economic Research Service (ERS)|publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture]] (USDA)}}</ref>
 == Government ==
 {{Main|Government of India}}
 {{Indian symbols}}
-India is [[federation]] with a [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary form]] of government, governed under the [[Constitution of India]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/india/index.html|title= India|date= 2010-04-29|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|accessdate= 2010-06-08 | first=Akash | last=Kapur}}</ref> It is a [[constitutional republic]] and [[representative democracy]], "in which [[majority rule]] is tempered by [[minority rights]] protected by [[Law of India|law]]." [[Federalism#India|Federalism in India]] defines the power distribution between the center and the [[States and territories of India|states]]. The government is regulated by a [[separation of powers|checks and balances]] defined by Indian Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.
+India is [[federation]] with a [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary form]] of government, governed under the [[Constitution of India]].<ref>{{cite news|url= http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/india/index.html|title= India|date= 2010-04-29|publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''|accessdate= 2010-06-08}}</ref> It is a [[constitutional republic]] and [[representative democracy]], "in which [[majority rule]] is tempered by [[minority rights]] protected by [[Law of India|law]]." [[Federalism#India|Federalism in India]] defines the power distribution between the center and the [[States and territories of India|states]]. The government is regulated by a [[separation of powers|checks and balances]] defined by Indian Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.
 === Constitution ===
@@ Line 241: / Line 253: @@
 == Foreign relations and military ==
 {{Main|Foreign relations of India|Indian Armed Forces}}
-[[File:DN-SC-89-03179.JPEG|thumb|A [[Charlie class submarine|''Charlie'' class nuclear submarine]], then known as INS ''Chakra'', leased between 1988-1991 by the Indian Navy.]]
 [[File:SU-30MKI-g4sp - edit 2(clipped).jpg|thumb|Jointly developed by [[Sukhoi]] and [[Hindustan Aeronautics]], the [[Sukhoi-30 MKI|Su-30 MKI]] "Flanker-H" is the [[Indian Air Force]]'s prime [[air superiority fighter]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenceaviation.com/2007/08/typhoon-vs-su-30mki-2007-indra-dhanush.html |title=Typhoon vs. SU-30MKI: The 2007 Indra Dhanush Exercise |accessdate=1 April 2009 |author= |date=8 August 2007 |work=Defence Aviation |publisher=}}</ref>]]
 Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relationships with most nations. It took a leading role in the 1950s by advocating the independence of [[List of former European colonies|European colonies]] in Africa and Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/solidarity/significance.html|title= Significance of the Contribution of India to the Struggle Against Apartheid1 by M. Moolla}}</ref> India is a member of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] and a founding member of the [[India and the Non-Aligned Movement|Non-Aligned Movement]].<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Non Aligned Movement |url=http://www.nam.gov.za/background/history.htm |accessdate=23 August 2007}}</ref> India was involved in two brief [[military intervention]]s in neighbouring countries&nbsp;– [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]] in Sri Lanka and [[Operation Cactus]] in Maldives. After the [[Sino-Indian War]] and the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]], India's relationship with the Soviet Union warmed and continued to remain so until the end of the [[Cold War]]. India has fought [[Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts|two wars with Pakistan]] over the [[Kashmir dispute]]. A [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|third war]] between India and Pakistan in 1971 resulted in the creation of [[Bangladesh]] (then [[East Pakistan]]).<ref name="IB">{{cite book|title=A History of the Twentieth Century|year=2002|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jhwY1j8Ao3kC&pg=PA486&lpg=PA486&dq=india+creation+of+bangladesh&source=web&ots=LuQAQJVYik&sig=UA_kWLaz3CnoH4QBioUXU6THqkQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPA487,M1|pages=486–87|author=Martin Gilbert|isbn=006050594X|accessdate=3 November 2008|publisher=HarperCollins|location=London}}</ref> Additional [[Operation Meghdoot|skirmishes]] have taken place between the two nations over the [[Siachen Glacier]]. In 1999, India and Pakistan fought an undeclared war over [[Kargil War|Kargil]].
-[[File:Dmitry Medvedev at the 34th G8 Summit 7-9 July 2008-61.jpg|left|thumb|alt=Two seated men conversing. first is dressed in Indian clothing and turban and sits before an Indian flag; the second is in a Western business suit and sits before a Russian flag.|India and Russia share an extensive economic, defence and technological [[India–Russia relations|relationship]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianembassy.ru/cms/index.php?Itemid=449&id=551&option=com_content&task=view |title=30/12/2005-India-Russia relations, an overview |publisher=Embassy of India, Moscow |date= |accessdate=15 February 2009}}</ref> Shown here is [[Prime Minister of India|PM]] [[Manmohan Singh]] with [[President of Russia|President]] [[Dmitry Medvedev]] at the [[34th G8 Summit]].]]
+[[File:Dmitry Medvedev at the 34th G8 Summit 7-9 July 2008-61.jpg|left|thumb|alt=Two seated men conversing. The first is dressed in Indian clothing and turban and sits before an Indian flag; the second is in a Western business suit and sits before a Russian flag.|India and Russia share an extensive economic, defence and technological [[India–Russia relations|relationship]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianembassy.ru/cms/index.php?Itemid=449&id=551&option=com_content&task=view |title=30/12/2005-India-Russia relations, an overview |publisher=Embassy of India, Moscow |date= |accessdate=15 February 2009}}</ref> Shown here is [[Prime Minister of India|PM]] [[Manmohan Singh]] with [[President of Russia|President]] [[Dmitry Medvedev]] at the [[34th G8 Summit]].]]
-[[File:IA T-90 in action.jpg|thumb|Indian Army [[T-90]] tanks take part during an exercise in the Thar Desert]]
 In recent years, India has played an influential role in the [[South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation|SAARC]] and the [[World Trade Organization|WTO]].<ref>[http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/genf/50205.pdf India's negotiation positions at the WTO.<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> India has provided as many as 55,000 [[Indian Armed Forces|Indian military]] and [[Indian Police|police]] personnel to serve in thirty-five [[Peacekeeping|UN peacekeeping]] operations across four continents.<ref name="UN">{{cite web |title=India and the United Nations |url=http://www.un.int/india/india_and_the_un_pkeeping.html |accessdate=22 April 2006}}</ref> India is also an active participant in various mutlilateral forums, particularly the [[East Asia Summit]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-4519133/ANALYSTS-SAY-INDIA-S-POWER.html |title=Analysts Say India'S Power Aided Entry Into East Asia Summit. &#124; Goliath Business News |publisher=Goliath.ecnext.com |date=29 July 2005 |accessdate=21 November 2009}}</ref> and the [[G8+5]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23978188-2703,00.html|title=G8 plus 5 equals power shift |publisher=[[The Australian]]|date=7 July 2008|author=Peter Alford|accessdate=21 November 2009}}</ref> Recent overtures by the Indian government have strengthened relations with the United States and China. In the economic sphere, India has close relationships with other [[Developing country|developing nations]] in South America, Asia and Africa.
@@ Line 343: / Line 353: @@
 India has the world's second largest [[Labour in India|labour force]], with 516.3 million people. In terms of output, the agricultural sector accounts for 28% of GDP; the service and industrial sectors make up 54% and 18% respectively. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry; fish.<ref name="LOC PROFILE"/> Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software.<ref name="LOC PROFILE"/> India's trade has reached a relatively moderate share of 24% of GDP in 2006, up from 6% in 1985.<ref name="oecd"/> In 2008, India's share of world trade was about 1.68%.<ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/Business/India-Business/Exporters-get-wider-market-reach/articleshow/4942892.cms Exporters get wider market reach]</ref> Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures.<ref name="LOC PROFILE"/> Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals.<ref name="LOC PROFILE"/>
-From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed [[Socialist economics|socialist]]-inspired policies. The economy was shackled by [[License Raj|extensive regulation]], protectionism, and public ownership, leading to [[Corruption in India|pervasive corruption]] and slow growth.<ref name="makar">{{cite book|title=An American's Guide to Doing Business in India|author=Eugene M. Makar|year=2007}}</ref> In 1991, the nation [[Economic liberalisation in India|liberalised its economy]] and has since moved towards a [[market economy|market-based system]].<ref name="oecd">{{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/52/39452196.pdf|title=Economic survey of India 2007: Policy Brief|publisher=[[OECD]]}}</ref><ref name="astaire">{{cite web|url=http://www.ukibc.com/ukindia2/files/India60.pdf|title=The India Report|publisher=Astaire Research}}</ref> The policy change in 1991 came after an acute balance of payments crisis, and the emphasis since then has been to use foreign trade and foreign investment as integral parts of India's economy.<ref name="India's Open-Economy Policy">{{cite book|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=A_5ekf5jpgUC|title = India's Open-Economy Policy: Globalism, Rivalry, Continuity|author = Jalal Alamgir|publisher = [[Routledge]] | isbn=9780415776844}}</ref>
+From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed [[Socialist economics|socialist]]-inspired policies. The economy was shackled by [[License Raj|extensive regulation]], protectionism, and public ownership, leading to [[Corruption in India|pervasive corruption]] and slow growth.<ref name="makar">{{cite book|title=An American's Guide to Doing Business in India|author=Eugene M. Makar|year=2007}}</ref> In 1991, the nation [[Economic liberalisation in India|liberalised its economy]] and has since moved towards a [[market economy|market-based system]].<ref name="oecd">{{cite web|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/52/39452196.pdf|title=Economic survey of India 2007: Policy Brief|publisher=[[OECD]]}}</ref><ref name="astaire">{{cite web|url=http://www.ukibc.com/ukindia2/files/India60.pdf|title=The India Report|publisher=Astaire Research}}</ref> The policy change in 1991 came after an acute balance of payments crisis, and the emphasis since then has been to use foreign trade and foreign investment as integral parts of India's economy.<ref name="India's Open-Economy Policy">{{cite book|url = http://books.google.com/books?id=A_5ekf5jpgUC|title = India's Open-Economy Policy: Globalism, Rivalry, Continuity|author = Jalal Alamgir|publisher = [[Routledge]]}}</ref>
 [[File:Nano.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Tata Nano]], the world's cheapest car.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE52M2PA20090323|title=The Nano, world's cheapest car, to hit Indian roads|date=23 March 2009|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=27 August 2009}}</ref> India's annual car exports have surged fivefold in the past five years.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122324655565405999.html|title=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122324655565405999.html|date=6 October 2008|publisher=Wall Street Journal|accessdate=27 August 2009}}</ref>]]In the late 2000s, India's economic growth averaged 7.5% a year.<ref name="oecd"/> Over the past [[2000s (decade)|decade]], hourly wage rates in India have more than doubled.<ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/Money/The-Daily-Reckoning/2010/0320/Make-way-world.-India-is-on-the-move Make way, world. India is on the move.], ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'']</ref> In 2009, the [[Global Competitiveness Report]] ranked India 16th in financial market sophistication, 24th in banking sector, 27th in business sophistication and 30th in innovation; ahead of several advanced economies.<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www.weforum.org/pdf/GCR09/GCR20092010fullreport.pdf| author =Klaus Schwab| year = 2009 | title =The Competitiveness Report 2009-2010| publisher = [[World Economic Forum]], Geneva, Switzerland|accessdate=10 September 2009}}</ref> Seven of the world's top 15 technology outsourcing companies are based in India and the country is viewed as the second most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124344190542659025.html#articleTabs_comments%3D%26articleTabs%3Darticle|title=Outlook for Outsourcing Spending Brightens|author=[[Wall Street Journal]]|accessdate=3 October 2010}}</ref>
-Despite India's impressive economic growth over recent decades, it still contains the [[poverty in India|largest concentration]] of poor people in the world.<ref name="WB India"/> The percentage of people living below the [[World Bank]]'s international poverty line of $1.25 a day ([[Purchasing power parity|PPP]], in nominal terms [[Indian rupee|Rs.]] 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs. 14.3 in rural areas in 2005) decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:21880725~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html |title=New Global Poverty Estimates&nbsp;— What it means for India |publisher=World Bank }}</ref> Since 1991, inter-state [[List of Indian states by GDP|economic inequality]] in India has consistently grown; the per capita [[Net domestic product|net state domestic product]] of India's richest states is about 3.2 times that of the poorest states.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2007/wp45_2007.pdf |title=Inequality in India: A survey of recent trends |publisher=United Nations }}</ref> Even though India has avoided [[Famine in India|famines]] in recent decades, half of children are [[underweight]]<ref name="underweight">{{Cite web |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20916955~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html |title=India: Undernourished Children: A Call for Reform and Action |work=World Bank }}</ref> and about 46% of Indian children under the age of three suffer from [[Malnutrition in India|malnutrition]].<ref name="WB India">{{Cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/DPR_FullReport.pdf |accessdate=7 May 2009 |title=Inclusive Growth and Service delivery: Building on India’s Success |date=29 May 2006 |work=World Bank }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1421393.ece |accessdate=8 May 2009 |title=Indian children suffer more malnutrition than in Ethiopia |first=Jeremy |last=Page |date=22 February 2007 |newspaper=The Times | location=London}}</ref>
+Despite India's impressive economic growth over recent decades, it still contains the [[poverty in India|largest concentration]] of poor people in the world.<ref name="WB India"/> The percentage of people living below the [[World Bank]]'s international poverty line of $1.25 a day ([[Purchasing power parity|PPP]], in nominal terms [[Indian rupee|Rs.]] 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs. 14.3 in rural areas in 2005) decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:21880725~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html |title=New Global Poverty Estimates&nbsp;— What it means for India |publisher=World Bank }}</ref> Since 1991, inter-state [[List of Indian states by GDP|economic inequality]] in India has consistently grown; the per capita [[Net domestic product|net state domestic product]] of India's richest states is about 3.2 times that of the poorest states.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2007/wp45_2007.pdf |title=Inequality in India: A survey of recent trends |publisher=United Nations }}</ref> Even though India has avoided [[Famine in India|famines]] in recent decades, half of children are [[underweight]]<ref name="underweight">{{Cite web |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20916955~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:223547,00.html |title=India: Undernourished Children: A Call for Reform and Action |work=World Bank }}</ref> and about 46% of Indian children under the age of three suffer from [[Malnutrition in India|malnutrition]].<ref name="WB India">{{Cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/SOUTHASIAEXT/Resources/DPR_FullReport.pdf |accessdate=7 May 2009 |title=Inclusive Growth and Service delivery: Building on India’s Success |date=29 May 2006 |work=World Bank }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1421393.ece |accessdate=8 May 2009 |title=Indian children suffer more malnutrition than in Ethiopia |first=Jeremy |last=Page |date=22 February 2007 |newspaper=The Times }}</ref>
 A 2007 [[Goldman Sachs]] report projected that "from 2007 to 2020, India’s GDP per capita will quadruple," and that the Indian GDP will surpass that of the United States before 2050, but India "will remain a low-income country for several decades, with per capita incomes well below its other BRIC peers."<ref name="potential">{{cite web|url=http://www.usindiafriendship.net/viewpoints1/Indias_Rising_Growth_Potential.pdf |title=India’s Rising Growth Potential |publisher=Goldman Sachs |year=2007 }}</ref> Although the Indian economy has grown steadily over the last two decades; its growth has been uneven when comparing different social groups, economic groups, geographic regions, and rural and urban areas.<ref name="WB India"/> The World Bank suggests that India must continue to focus on public sector reform, infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labor regulations, improvement in transport, energy security, and health and nutrition.<ref name="wboverview">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org.in/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/INDIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20195738~menuPK:295591~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:295584,00.html |title=India Country Overview 2009 |publisher=World Bank }}</ref>
@@ Line 364: / Line 374: @@
 India's literacy rate is 64.8% (53.7% for females and 75.3% for males).<ref name="CIA"/> The state of [[Kerala]] has the highest literacy rate at 91% while [[Bihar]] has the lowest at 47%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kerala.gov.in/education/|title=Kerala's literacy rate|publisher=[[Government of Kerala]]|accessdate=13 December 2007|work=kerala.gov.in}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://gov.bih.nic.in/Profile/CensusStats-03.htm Census Statistics of Bihar: Literacy Rates|title=Literacy rate of Bihar|accessdate=13 December 2007|publisher=[[Government of Bihar]]}}</ref> The national [[human sex ratio]] is 944 females per 1,000 males. India's median age is 24.9, and the [[population growth|population growth rate]] of 1.38% per annum; there are 22.01 births per 1,000 people per year.<ref name="CIA"/> Though India has one of the world's most diverse and modern healthcare systems, the country continues to face several public health-related challenges.<ref name=WHOCCS>{{Cite web |url=http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccsbrief_ind_en.pdf |title=Country Cooperation Strategy: India |date=November 2006 |work=World Health Organization }}</ref> According to the World Health Organization, 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water and breathing in polluted air.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1736516,00.html |title=India's Medical Emergency |first=Simon |last=Robinson |date=1 May 2008 |work=TIME magazine }}</ref> There are about 60 physicians per 100,000 people in India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://india-reports.in/transitions/global-skills/doctors-per-one-hundred-thousand-people-in-india |title=Doctors per one hundred thousand people in India |work=IndiaReports }}</ref>
-{| class="infobox" style="text-align:center; width:97%; margin-right:10px; font-size:90%"
-|+ align=center style="font-weight:bold" | Indian Cities by Population
-|-
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[Status]]
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[City]]
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[State]]
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[Population]]
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[Status]]
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[City]]
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[State]]
-! align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | [[Population]]
-! rowspan=11 | {{Tnavbar|Largest cities of India|plain=1}}
-[[File:Mumbai Downtown.jpg|border|135px|MUmbai]]<br />[[Mumbai]]<br />[[File:New Delhi Lotus.jpg|border|135px|Delhi]]<br />[[Delhi]]
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 1 ||align=left | '''[[Mumbai]]''' || [[Maharastra]] || 13,662,885 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 11 ||align=left | '''[[Jaipur]]''' || [[Rajastan]] || 2,997,114
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 2 ||align=left | '''[[Delhi]]''' || [[Delhi]] || 11,954,217 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 12 ||align=left | '''[[Lucknow]]''' || [[Uttar Pradesh]] || 2,621,063
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 3 ||align=left | '''[[Bangaluru]]''' || [[Karnataka]] || 5,180,533 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 13 || align=left | '''[[Nagpur]]''' || [[Maharastra]] || 2,359,331
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 4 ||align=left | '''[[Kolkata]]''' || [[West Bengal]] || 5,021,458 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 14 ||align=left | '''[[Indore]]''' || [[Madhya Pradesh]] || 1,768,303
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 5 ||align=left | '''[[Chennai]]''' || [[Tamilnadu]] || 4,562,843 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 15 ||align=left | '''[[Patna]]''' || [[Bihar]] || 1,753,543
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 6 ||align=left | '''[[Hyderabad]]''' || [[Andhra Pradesh]] ||3,980,938 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 16 ||align=left | '''[[Bhopal]]''' || [[Madhya Pradesh]] || 3,792,375
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 7 ||align=left | '''[[Ahmedabad]]''' || [[Gujarat]] || 3,867,336 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 17 ||align=left | '''[[Thane]]''' || [[Maharastra]] || 1,673,465
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 8 ||align=left | '''[[Pune]]''' || [[Maharastra]] || 3,230,322 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 18 ||align=left | '''[[Ludhiana]]''' || [[Punjab]] || 1,662,325
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 9 ||align=left | '''[[Surat]]''' || [[Gujarat]] || 3,124,249 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 19 ||align=left | '''[[Agra]]''' || [[Uttar Pradesh]] || 1,590,073
-|-
-| align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 10 ||align=left | '''[[Kanpur]]''' || [[Uttar Pradesh]] || 3,067,663 || align=center style="background:#f0f0f0;" | 20 ||align=left | '''[[Vadodara]]''' || [[Gujarat]] || 1,487,956
-|-
-| colspan="11" align=center style="background:#f5f5f5;" | 2008 estimation<ref>[http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&dat=32&geo=-104&srt=npan&col=aohdq&pt=c&va=&srt=pnan World Gazetteer online]</ref>
-|}
-== Transport in India ==
-{{Main|Transport in India}}
-[[Image:MumbaiPuneExpressway.jpg|thumb|The Mumbai-Pune Expressway as seen from [[Khandala]]]]
-[[File:Bandra-Worli Sea Link from Taj Lands End.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Bandra-Worli Sealink]] is the longest and tallest cable-stayed bridge in India.]]
-'''Transport in the [[India|Republic of India]]''' is an important part of the nation's [[economy of India|economy]]. Since the [[Economic liberalisation in India|economic liberalisation]] of the 1990s, development of infrastructure within the country has progressed at a rapid pace, and today there is a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air. However, the relatively low GDP of India has meant that access to these modes of transport has not been uniform. Motor vehicle penetration is low with only 13 million cars on the [[Indian Road Network|nation's roads]].<ref name="india_cars">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/11/india.carbonemissions|publisher=[www.guardian.co.uk guardian.co.uk]|title=India gears up for mass motoring revolution with £1,260 car|author=Randeep Ramesh | location=London | date=2008-01-11 | accessdate=2010-05-26}}</ref> In addition, only around 10% of Indian households own a [[motorcycle]].<ref name="bicycles">{{cite web|url=http://www.bike-eu.com/news/1573/bicycle-ownership-in-india.html |title=Bicycle Ownership in India |publisher=Bike-eu.com |date= |accessdate=2010-04-05}}</ref> At the same time, the [[Automobile industry in India]] is rapidly growing with an annual production of over 2.6 million vehicles<ref>{{cite web
-|title=World Motor Vehicle Production by Country: 2008-2009
-|publisher=[[Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles|OICA]]
-|url=http://oica.net/category/production-statistics/}}</ref> and vehicle volume is expected to rise greatly in the future.<ref name="india_2050_cars">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/oct/23car.htm|title=India to top in car volumes by 2050|author=S Kalyana Ramanathan|publisher=Rediff}}</ref> In the interim however, public transport still remains the primary mode of transport for most of the population, and India's public transport systems are among the most heavily utilised in the world.<ref name="wbtransport"/> [[Rail transport in India|India's rail network]] is the longest and fourth most heavily used system in the world transporting over 6&nbsp;[[EMD E9|billion]] passengers and over 350 million&nbsp;tons of [[cargo|freight]] annually.<ref name="wbtransport">{{cite web|url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/EXTSARREGTOPTRANSPORT/0,,contentMDK:20703625~menuPK:868822~pagePK:34004173~piPK:34003707~theSitePK:579598,00.html|title=India Transport Sector|publisher=World Bank}}</ref><ref name=salient>{{cite web
- | title = Salient Features of Indian Railways
- | url=http://www.indianrail.gov.in/abir.html
- | accessdate = 2007-05-12
- | publisher=Indian Railways}}</ref>
-Despite ongoing improvements in the sector, several aspects of the transport sector are still riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure, lack of investment, corruption and a burgeoning population. The demand for transport infrastructure and services has been rising by around 10% a year<ref name="wbtransport"/> with the current infrastructure being unable to meet these growing demands. According to recent estimates by Goldman Sachs, [[India]] will need to spend $1.7 Trillion USD on infrastructure projects over the next decade to boost economic growth of which $500 Billion USD is budgeted to be spent during the [[Five-year plans of India|eleventh Five-year plan]].<ref name="bloomberg">{{cite web|title=U.S. Pension Funds May Invest in India Road Projects, Nath Says  |url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aRSTVq.5UVt8|publisher=Bloomberg|author=Shobana Chandra}}</ref>
-==Science and Technology==
-{{Main|Science and technology in the Republic of India|List of Indian inventions and discoveries}}
-[[Image:GSLV-FO4-LIFTOFF.jpg|thumb|250px|left|GSLV-F04 lifts off from the Second Launch Pad carrying INSAT-4CR]]
-[[Jawaharlal Nehru]], the first [[Prime Minister of India]] (office: 15 August 1947 – 27 May 1964), initiated reforms to promote higher education, science, technology in India.<ref name=nanda/> The [[Indian Institute of Technology]] — conceived by a 22 member committee of scholars and entrepreneurs in order to promote technical education — was inaugurated on 18 August 1951 at [[Kharagpur]] in [[West Bengal]] by then minister of education [[Maulana Abul Kalam Azad]].<ref name=vrat/> Beginning in the 1960s, close ties with the [[Soviet Union]] enabled the [[Indian Space Research Organization]] to rapidly develop the Indian space program and advance [[nuclear power in India]] even after [[Smiling Buddha|the first nuclear test explosion by India]] on May 18, 1974 at [[Pokhran]].<ref name=khan/>
-India accounts for about 10% of all expenditure on [[research and development]] in Asia and the number of scientific publications grew by 45% over the past five years.<ref>[http://74.125.93.104/search?q=cache:3K8Qz38-hW8J:www.infovision.org.in/2007/topic/presentations/Bob%2520Stembridge.ppt+india+patents+highest+scientific&cd=23&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us Innovation in India]</ref> However, according to India's science and technology minister, [[Kapil Sibal]], India is lagging in science and technology compared to developed countries.<ref name="Kapil Sibal"/> India has only 140 researchers per 1,000,000 population, compared to 4,651 in the United States.<ref name="Kapil Sibal">{{cite web|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/news/india-lagging-behind-in-s&tt-govt/424607/|title=India lagging behind in S&Tt: Govt}}</ref> India invested US$3.7 billion in science and technology in 2002-2003.<ref name="scidevlagging"/> For comparison, China invested about four times more than India, while the United States invested approximately 75 times more than India on science and technology.<ref name="scidevlagging">{{cite web|url=http://www.scidev.net/en/new-technologies/space-technology/news/india-lagging-in-science-and-technology-says-offi.html|title=India lagging in science and technology, says official|publisher=scidev.net|date=29 August 2006}}</ref> Despite this, five [[Indian Institutes of Technology]] were listed among the top 10 science and technology schools in Asia by ''[[Asiaweek]]''.<ref>[http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/features/universities2000/scitech/sci.overall.html Asia's Best Science and Technology Schools.]</ref> One study argued that Indian science did not suffer from lack of funds but from unethical practices, the urge to make illegal money, misuse of power, frivolous publications and patents, faulty promotion policies, victimization for speaking against wrong or corrupt practices in the management, [[sycophancy]], and brain drain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/mar252007/709a.pdf|title=Indian science is not short of money}}</ref> However, the number of publications by Indian scientists is characterized by some of the fastest growth rates among major countries. India, together with [[China]], [[Iran]] and [[Brazil]] are the only developing countries among 31 nations with 97.5% of the world's total scientific productivity. The remaining 162 developing countries contribute less than 2.5% of the world's scientific output.<ref>http://www.scidev.net/en/news/china-brazil-and-india-lead-southern-science-outp.html</ref>
 == Culture ==
@@ Line 450: / Line 400: @@
   |title = Indian religions: a historical reader of spiritual expression and experience
   |publisher = C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2002
-  |issn = 1850654964, 9781850654964}}</ref> Major dhármic religions which were founded in India include [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]]. Considered to be a successor to the [[Historical Vedic religion|ancient Vedic religion]],<ref>Stietencron, ''Hinduism: On the Proper Use of A Deceptive Term'', pp.1–22</ref> Hinduism has been shaped by several schools of thoughts such as the ''[[Advaita Vedanta]]'',<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=63gdKwhHeV0C "Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction,"] By Eliot Deutsch, University of Hawaii Press, 1980, ISBN 0-8248-0271-3.</ref> the ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Yoga Sutras]]'' and the [[Bhakti|''Bhakti'' movement]].<ref name=Heehs/> Buddhism originated in India in 5th century BCE and prominent early Buddhist schools, such as ''[[Theravāda]]'' and ''[[Mahāyāna]]'', gained dominance during the [[Maurya Empire]].<ref name=Heehs/> Though Buddhism entered a period of gradual [[Decline of Buddhism in India|decline in India]] 5th century CE onwards,<ref name="Merriam155">Merriam-Webster, pg. 155–157</ref> it played an influential role in shaping [[Indian philosophy]] and thought.<ref name=Heehs>{{cite book
+  |issn = 1850654964, 9781850654964}}</ref> Major dhármic religions which were founded in India include [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]]. Considered to be a successor to the [[Historical Vedic religion|ancient Vedic religion]],<ref>Stietencron, ''Hinduism: On the Proper Use of A Deceptive Term'', pp.1–22</ref> Hinduism has been shaped by several schools of thoughts such as the ''[[Advaita Vedanta]]'',<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=63gdKwhHeV0C "Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction,"] By Eliot Deutsch, University of Hawaii Press, 1980, ISBN 0-8248-0271-3.</ref> the ''[[Yoga Sutras of Patanjali|Yoga Sutras]]'' and the [[Bhakti|''Bhakti'' movement]].<ref name=Heehs/> Buddhism originated in India in 5th century BCE and prominent early Buddhist schools, such as ''[[Theravāda]]'' and ''[[Mahāyāna]]'', gained dominance during the [[Maurya Empire]].<ref name=Heehs/> Though Buddhism entered a period of gradual [[Decline of Buddhism in India|decline in India]] 5th century CE onwards,<ref name="Merriam155"> Merriam-Webster, pg. 155–157</ref> it played an influential role in shaping [[Indian philosophy]] and thought.<ref name=Heehs>{{cite book
   |last = Nakamura
   |first = Hajime
@@ Line 487: / Line 437: @@
 {{Main|Sport in India}}
 [[File:IPL T20 Chennai vs Kolkata.JPG|thumb|alt=Cricketers in a game in front of nearly-full stands.|A [[2008 Indian Premier League]] [[Twenty20]] cricket match being played between the [[Chennai Super Kings]] and [[Kolkata Knight Riders]]]]
-India's official national sport is [[Field hockey in India|field hockey]], administered by [[Hockey India]]. The [[Indian field hockey team]] won the 1975 [[Hockey World Cup]] and 8 [[Gold medal|gold]], 1 [[Silver medal|silver]] and 2 [[Bronze medal|bronze]] medals at the Olympic games,the highest from any national team. However, [[cricket]] is the most popular sport; the [[India national cricket team]] won the [[1983 Cricket World Cup]] and the [[2007 ICC World Twenty20]], and shared the [[2002 ICC Champions Trophy]] with [[Sri Lanka]].India has also won the [[Asia Cup]] a record five times.[[Cricket in India]] is administered by the [[Board of Control for Cricket in India]] (BCCI); and domestic competitions include the [[Ranji Trophy]], the [[Duleep Trophy]], the [[Deodhar Trophy]], the [[Irani Trophy]] and the [[NKP Salve Challenger Trophy]]. In addition, BCCI conducts the [[Indian Premier League]], a [[Twenty20]] competition.
+India's official national sport is [[Field hockey in India|field hockey]], administered by [[Hockey India]]. The [[Indian field hockey team]] won the 1975 [[Hockey World Cup| Hockey World Cup]] and 8 [[Gold medal|gold]], 1 [[Silver medal|silver]] and 2 [[Bronze medal|bronze]] medals at the Olympic games,the highest from any national team. However, [[cricket]] is the most popular sport; the [[India national cricket team]] won the [[1983 Cricket World Cup]] and the [[2007 ICC World Twenty20]], and shared the [[2002 ICC Champions Trophy]] with [[Sri Lanka]].India has also won the [[Asia Cup]] a record five times.[[Cricket in India]] is administered by the [[Board of Control for Cricket in India]] (BCCI); and domestic competitions include the [[Ranji Trophy]], the [[Duleep Trophy]], the [[Deodhar Trophy]], the [[Irani Trophy]] and the [[NKP Salve Challenger Trophy]]. In addition, BCCI conducts the [[Indian Premier League]], a [[Twenty20]] competition.
-Tennis has become increasingly popular, owing to the victories of the [[India Davis Cup team]]. [[Association football]] is also a popular sport in northeast India, West Bengal, Goa,Tamil Nadu and Kerala.<ref name = Soccer>{{Harvnb|Majumdar|Bandyopadhyay|2006|pp=1–5.}}</ref> The [[Indian national football team]] has won the [[South Asian Football Federation Cup]] several times. [[Chess]], commonly held to have [[Origins of chess#India|originated]] in India, is also gaining popularity with the rise in the number of Indian [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmasters]].<ref name="Anand crowned World champion">{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/oct/29anand.htm|title= Anand crowned World champion|date=29 October 2008|publisher=Rediff|accessdate=29 October 2008}}</ref> [[Vishwanathan Anand]],an Indian Grandmaster,has won the [[World Chess Championship]] four times and he is considered by many one as of the best chess players of all time.
+Tennis has become increasingly popular, owing to the victories of the [[India Davis Cup team]]. [[Association football]] is also a popular sport in northeast India, West Bengal, Goa,Tamil Nadu and Kerala.<ref name = Soccer>{{Harvnb|Majumdar|Bandyopadhyay|2006|pp=1–5.}}</ref> The [[Indian national football team]] has won the [[South Asian Football Federation Cup]] several times. [[Chess]], commonly held to have [[Origins of chess#India|originated]] in India, is also gaining popularity with the rise in the number of Indian [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmasters]].<ref name="Anand crowned World champion">{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/2008/oct/29anand.htm|title= Anand crowned World champion|date=29 October 2008|publisher=Rediff|accessdate=29 October 2008}}</ref> [[Vishwanathan Anand]],an Indian Grandmaster,has won the [[World Chess Championship]] four times.
 Traditional sports include [[kabaddi]], [[kho kho]], and [[gilli-danda]], which are played nationwide. India is also home to the ancient [[Indian martial arts|martial arts]], [[Kalarippayattu]] and [[Varma Kalai]].The [[Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna]] and the [[Arjuna Award]] are India's highest awards for achievements in sports, while the [[Dronacharya Award]] is awarded for excellence in coaching.
-The [[Jaypee Group Circuit]] in Greater Noida,will be the upcoming hosts of the [[Indian Grand Prix]] in 2011.India has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the [[2003 Afro-Asian Games]] and the [[2007 Military World Games]]. India has also hosted or co-hosted the [[1951 Asian Games|1951]] and the [[1982 Asian Games]], the [[1987 Cricket World Cup|1987]] and [[1996 Cricket World Cup]]. It has also successfully hosted the [[2010 Men's Hockey World Cup|2010 Hockey World Cup]] and is scheduled to host the [[2010 Commonwealth Games]] and later the [[2011 Cricket World Cup]].
+The [[Jaypee Group Circuit]] in Greater Noida,will be the upcoming hosts of the [[Indian Grand Prix]] in 2011.India has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the [[2003 Afro-Asian Games ]] and the [[2007 Military World Games]]. India has also hosted or co-hosted the [[1951 Asian Games|1951]] and the [[1982 Asian Games]], the [[1987 Cricket World Cup|1987]] and [[1996 Cricket World Cup]]. It has also successfully hosted the [[2010 Men's Hockey World Cup|2010 Hockey World Cup]] and is scheduled to host the [[2010 Commonwealth Games]] and later the [[2011 Cricket World Cup]].
 == See also ==
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