~ INDIA ~

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World’s Most Expensive Saree



Silk Sari

How often have you come across a Rs. 40 lakh ($100,000) silk saree?

Chennai Silks has come up with one of its kind and it is seeking an unmistakable entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most unique and expensive saree.

The exceptionally stunning saree is meticulously woven with 12 precious stones and metals to depict 11 of Raja Ravi Verma’s popular paintings. Explicitly projected is ‘Lady Musicians’, one of the painter’s very famous works that displays women belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds.Besides, the border of the saree pictures 10 other paintings of the artist that pays tribute to 20th century artist.

The best part of the saree being that the women in the paintings are intricately hand-woven and beautified with jewels of gold, diamond, platinum, silver, ruby, emerald, yellow sapphire, sapphire, cat’s eye, topaz, pearl and corals.

Already in the Limca Book of Records, this 40 lakh saree will be the first silk saree that required the use of 7,440 jacquard hooks and 66,794 cards during the weaving process. Moreover, a group of consummate workers took nearly 4,680 hours.

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Partition of India



The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics. This led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan) and the Union of India (later Republic of India) which took place in 1947, on August 14 and 15, respectively.

The partition of India was set forth in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted in the dissolution of the British Raj. It resulted in a struggle between the new states of India and Pakistan and displaced up to 12.5 million people in the former British Indian Empire, with estimates of loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million.

The violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of mutual hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan that plagues their relationship to this day.

The partition included the geographical division of the Bengal province of British India into East Bengal, which became part of the Dominion of Pakistan (from 1956, East Pakistan).

West Bengal became part of India, and a similar partition of the Punjab province became West Punjab (later the Pakistani Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory) and East Punjab (later the Indian Punjab, as well as Haryana and Himachal Pradesh).

The partition agreement also included the division of Indian government assets, including the Indian Civil Service, the Indian Army, the Royal Indian Navy, the Indian railways and the central treasury, and other administrative services.

In the aftermath of the partition, the princely states of India, that had been left alone by the Indian Independence Act 1947 to choose whether to accede to India or to Pakistan or to remain outside them, were all incorporated into one or another of the new dominions, in all cases by the ruler signing an instrument of accession.

The choice between India and Pakistan to be made by Jammu and Kashmir led to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 immediately after the partition and they became part of the disputed territory. Other wars and conflicts between India and Pakistan have continued since then.

As a result of the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh in 1971.

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Jainism



Jainism, is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation.

Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state of supreme being is called a jina (“conqueror” or “victor”).

The ultimate status of these perfect souls is called siddha. Ancient texts also refer to Jainism as shramana dharma (self-reliant) or the “path of the niganthas” (those without attachments or aversions).

Jain doctrine teaches that Jainism has always existed and will always exist, although historians date the foundation of the organized or present form of Jainism to sometime between the 9th and the 6th century BC.

Like most ancient Indian religions, Jainism may have its roots in the Indus Valley Civilization, reflecting native spirituality prior to the Indo-Aryan migration into India.

Other scholars suggested the shramana traditions were separate and contemporaneous with Indo-Aryan religious practices of the historical Vedic religion.

Contemporary Jainism is a small but influential religious minority with as many as 4.2 million followers in India, and successful growing immigrant communities in North America, Western Europe, the Far East, Australia and elsewhere.

Jains have significantly influenced and contributed to ethical, political and economic spheres in India. Jains have an ancient tradition of scholarship and have the highest degree of literacy for a religious community in India. Jain libraries are the oldest in the country.

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Conquests of Alexander in India



In 327 BCE Alexander the Great began his foray into Punjab. King Ambhi, ruler of Taxila, surrendered the city to Alexander. Many people had fled to a high fortress/rock called Aornos.

Aornos was taken by Alexander by storm after a successful siege. Alexander fought an epic battle against the Indian monarch Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes (326). After victory, Alexander made an alliance with Porus and appointed him as satrap of his own kingdom. Alexander continued on to conquer all the headwaters of the Indus River.

East of Porus’ kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the powerful kingdom of Magadha, under the Nanda Dynasty.

According to Plutarch, at the time of Alexander’s Battle of the Hydaspes River, the size of the Magadha’s army further east numbered 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 6,000 war elephants, which was discouraging for Alexander’s men and stayed their further progress into India:

“ As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was •thirty-two furlongs, its depth •a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at‑arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants. And there was no boasting in these reports. For Androcottus, who reigned there not long afterwards, made a present to Seleucus of five hundred elephants, and with an army of six hundred thousand men overran and subdued all India. ”

–Plutarch, Parallel Lives, “Life of Alexander”

Exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing another giant Indian army at the Ganges River, his army mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas), refusing to march further East. Alexander, after the meeting with his officer Coenus, was convinced that it was better to return.

Alexander was forced to turn south, conquering his way down the Indus to the Indian Ocean. He sent much of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) with his general Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus, while he led the rest of his forces back to Persia by the southern route through the Gedrosia (modern Makran in southern Pakistan).

Alexander left behind Greek forces which established themselves in the city of Taxila, now in Pakistan. Several generals, such as Eudemus and Peithon governed the newly established province until around 316 BCE. One of them, Sophytes (305–294 BCE), was an independent Greek prince in the Punjab.

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Some Basic Information about INDIA



Something About INDIA :-

National Name :- Bharat, India ,Hindustan

Current President :- Pratibha Patil

Current Prim Minister :- Manmoham Sing

Land Area:- 1,147,949 sq mi (2,973,190 sq km)

Total Area:- 1,269,338 sq mi (3,287,590 sq km)

Population :- 1,132,446,000

Capital Of India :- New Delhi

Economical Capital Of India :-Mumbai

Currency :- Rupees

National Language :- Hindi

National Official Language:-English

Literacy Rate :- 61%

Ruler Party :- UPA

Religious :- Hindu, Muslim, Shikh, Parsi, Christan.

Ethnicity :- Indo-aryan, dravidion, Mongoloid

Railway Length :- 63,221 km

Highway :- 33,83,344 km

Water way:- 14,500

Airports:- 346

Boarder Country :- Pakistan, china, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangaladesh, burma.

Independent day:- 15 Aug 1947

Republican Day:- 26 Jan 1950

Population Density:- 329 per km2

GDP :- 2.96 trillion

Timezone :- IST UTC +5:30,

Internet TLD :- .in

ISD Call:-+91

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Do You know the Firsts of India? 

1. First Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru

2. First Deputy Prime Minister of India Sardar Vallabhai Patel

3. First President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad

4. First Vice-President of India Dr S.Radhakrishnan

5. First Dalit Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi

6. First Governor-General of Independent India Lord Mountbatten

7. First Indian Governor-General of India C.Rajagopalachari

8. First Sikh Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh

9. First Sikh Chief of Indian Army J. J. Singh

10. First Chief Election Commissioner of India Sukumar Sen

11. First Dalit Chief Justice of India K. G. Balakrishnan

12. First Indian to be elected a member of British Parliament Dadabhoi Naoroji

13. First Foreign Secretary of Free India K.P.S.Menon

14. First Woman President of India Pratibha Patil

15. First Indian woman President of Indian National Congress Sarojini Naidu

16. First Indian woman to become Miss Universe Sushmita Sen

17. First Indian woman to become Miss World Reita Faria

18. First Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympic event P.T.Usha

19. First Miss Universe of the new millennium Lara Dutta

20. First woman Chief Minister of an Indian state Sucheta Kriplanis

21. First woman Governor of an Indian state Sarojini Naidu

22. First woman IPS Officer of India Kiran Bedi

23. First woman Judge of the Supreme Court of India Justice M. Fatima Beevi

24. First woman Minister of an Indian state Vijay Lakshmi Pandit

25. First woman President of Indian National Congress Annie Besant

26. First woman Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi

27. First Five-Year Plan Started in 1951

28. First General Elections in India Held in 1952

29. First Satellite of India Aryabhatta

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Travel of Indian Coin

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Population of TamilNadu..2011 Cencus

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National Insignia of India Part 1

National Insignia of India namely Flag, Anthem, Emblem, Song, Sport, Tree, Flower, Fruit, Bird and Animal.

Insignia is the plural of Latin word, which means emblem, symbol, is a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction. Insignia are especially used as an emblem of a specific or general authority. Here we’ll get to know about the national Insignia of India.

India’s National Flag
The Indian flag was designed as a symbol of freedom. The late Prime Minister Nehru called it a flag not only of freedom for ourselves, but a symbol of freedom to all people.

The Indian flag is a horizontal tri-color in equal proportion of deep Saffron on the top symbol of strength, courage, sacrifice and the spirit of renunciation of the country, white in the middle symbol of peace, purity and truth with Dharma Chakra and dark green at the bottom symbol of fertility, faith, growth and auspiciousness of the land.

The ratio of the width to the length of the flag is two is to three. In the centre of the white band, there is a wheel in Navy Blue known as Dharma Chakra (Ashok Chakra) replaced the Gandhian spinning wheel to add historical “depth” and separate the national flag from that of the Indian National Congress. Its diameter approximates the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. This Dharma Chakra depicted the “wheel of the law” in the Sarnath Lion Capital made by the 3rd-century BC Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. The chakra intends to show that there is life in movement and death in stagnation.

National Anthem of India
Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India. Written in Bengali, it is the first of five stanzas of an ode composed by Rabindranath Tagore, the song Jana Gana Mana was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. On January 24, 1950, the Constituent Assembly adopted the song as the National Anthem of India.The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza comprises the full version of the National.

Devanagari transliteration
Jana gaṇa mana adhināyaka jaya hē
Bhārata bhāgya Vidhātā
Pañjāba Sindhu Gujarāṭa Marāṭhā
Drābiḍa Utkala Baṅga
Vindhya Himācala ẏamunā Gaṅgā
Ucchala jaladhi taraṅga
Taba śubha nāmē jāgē
Taba śubha āśisa māgē
Gāhē taba jaya gāthā
Jana gaṇa maṅgala dāyaka jaya hē
Bhārata bhāgya bidhātā
Jaya hē jaya hē jaya hē
Jaya jaya jaya jaya hē

Translation to English
O! Dispenser of India’s destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh, Gujarat, the Maratha country,
in the Dravida country, Utkala and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
it mingles in the rhapsodies of the pure waters of Yamuna and the Ganges.
They chant only thy name.
They seek only thy auspicious blessings.
They sing only the glory of thy victory.
The salvation of all people waits in thy hands,
O! Dispenser of India’s destiny, thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Victory to thee, Victory to thee,
Victory, Victory, Victory, Victory to thee!.

India’s National Emblem
The National Emblem of India is a replica of the Lion of Sarnath, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital was erected in the third century BC by Emperor Ashoka to mark the spot where Buddha first proclaimed his gospel of peace and emancipation to the four quarters of the universe. The National emblem is thus symbolic of contemporary India’s reaffirmation of its ancient commitment to world peace and goodwill.

The four lions (one hidden from view) – symbolizing power, courage and confidence – rest on a circular abacus. The abacus is girded by four smaller animals – guardians of the four directions: the lion of the north, the elephant of the east, the horse of the south and the bull of the west. The abacus rests on a lotus in full bloom, exemplifying the fountainhead of life and creative inspiration. The motto ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below the emblem in Devanagari script means ‘truth alone triumphs’.

National Song of India
Composed by Bankim Chandra, this song appears in the Bengali novel Anand Math. The English translation of Vande Mataram rendered by Shree Aurobindo, is considered to be the “official” and best. The first stanza of this song has been given the status of our national song.

Devanagari transliteration
vande mātaram
sujalāṃ suphalāṃ
malayajaśītalām
śasya śyāmalāṃ
mātaram
śubhra jyotsnā pulakita yāminīm
phulla kusumita drumadalaśobhinīm
suhāsinīṃ sumadhura bhāṣiṇīm
sukhadāṃ varadāṃ
mātaram

Translation to English
My obeisance to Mother India!
With flowing beneficial waters
Filled with choicest fruits
Sandal wood wafts cool
Lovely mooned nights
O mother! My obeisance to you!
Where the bright morning light and thrilled nights
Are dressed in attires wondrous flora abloom
Sweet speaker of sweet languages
A happy boon are you, o mother…
Aha…dear mother, I salute you!

India’s National Sport
Hockey is the National Game of India. Unmatched excellence and incomparable virtuosity brought India a string of Olympic gold medals. The brilliant Indians brought a touch of black magic to their play and the ball juggling feats of the Indians were a sheer delight.

The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 – 1956 when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics. During the Golden Era, India played 24 Olympic matches, won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. The two other gold medals for India came in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

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Facts About Indian People and Population

India is a country that leaves one spellbound with its alluring contrasts and striking features in all that it beholds! India is a 34,000 years old country with a rich legend and history. India is a country with a population of around 1.15 billion approximately. The current Indian population as on July 2009 is 1,156,897,766. India is the second most populated country is the world after China. Indian population has always been a major issue along with problems like poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. Almost 80.5% of the country men are Hindus. India also has one of the world’s largest Muslim populations amounting to 120 billion. The population also includes other castes like Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis. Scheduled castes amount to16.2% and scheduled tribes amount to 8.2% as per the 2001 Census. There are reservations for these special category people as they belong to the backward class and off late the increase in this quota has created a lot of controversy in the country. The greatest number of tribal people live in Orissa. However, the populations of states in the northeast has the greatest concentrations of scheduled tribe members. 31% of the population of Tripura, 34% of Manipur, 64% of Arunachal Pradesh, 86% of Meghalaya, 88% of Nagaland, and 95% of Mizoram belong to the Scheduled Tribe.

Age Structure :

0-14 years: 30.5% (male 187,197,389/female 165,285,592)
15-64 years: 64.3% (male 384,131,994/female 359,795,835)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 28,816,115/female 31,670,841) (2009 est.)

Median Age :

Total: 25.3 years
Male: 24.9 years
Female: 25.8 years (2009 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 1.407% (2009 est.)
Birth Rate : 21.72 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death Rate : 7.6 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Net Migration Rate : -0.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization :

Urban population: 29% of total population (2008)
Rate of urbanization: 2.4% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex Ratio :

At birth: 1.12 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.1 male(s) / female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s) / female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s) / female
Total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate:

Total: 50.78 deaths / 1,000 live births
Male: 49.33 deaths / 1,000 live births
Female: 52.4 deaths / 1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at Birth :

Total population: 66.09 years
Male: 65.13 years
Female: 67.17 years (2009 est.)
Total Fertility Rate : 2.68 children born / woman (2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate: 0.3% (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS: 2.4 million (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS – deaths: 310,000 (2001 est.)

Major Infectious diseases :

Degree of risk: High
Food or waterborne diseases: Bacterial iarrhea, Hepatitis A and E, and Typhoid fever
Vector-borne diseases: chikungunya, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and malaria
Animal contact disease: rabies
Water contact disease: leptospirosis

Note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009). H1N1.

Nationality

Noun: Indian(s)

Adjective: Indian

Ethnic Groups : Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)

Religions : Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)

Religion : Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)

Languages : Hindi 41%, Bengali 8.1%, Telugu 7.2%, Marathi 7%, Tamil 5.9%, Urdu 5%, Gujarati 4.5%, Kannada 3.7%, Malayalam 3.2%, Oriya 3.2%, Punjabi 2.8%, Assamese 1.3%, Maithili 1.2%, other 5.9% note: English enjoys associate status but is the most important language for national, political, and commercial communication; Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an official language (2001 census)

Education expenditures: 3.2% of GDP (2005)

Literacy:

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 61%
Male: 73.4%
Female: 47.8% (2001 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

Total: 10 years
Male: 11 years
Female: 9 years (2005)

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Facts About Indian Economy

India is developing into an open-market economy, yet traces of its past autocratic policies remain. Since 1997, India is able to accelerate its economic growth at an average of 7% each year. The average 7% growth was a combined result of economic liberalization, including reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, which began in the early 1990s.

More than of the work force of India is indulged in farming and agriculture and the other half is indulged in handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services. The overall economy comprises of traditional village farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, modern industries, and a multitude of services. The service Industry of India is the major contributor accounting for more than half of the economic growth with just one third of work force.

India has one of the largest educated English-speaking population to become a major exporter of information technology services and software workers. An industrial slowdown early in 2008, followed by the global financial crisis, led annual GDP growth to slow to 6.1% in 2009, still second highest growth in the world among major economies.

With the accelerated GDP reports of India, Goldman Sachs has predicted that India will overtake the GDP of France and Germany by 2020. India has made provisions for setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and software parks that offer tax benefits and better infrastructure to set up business, which will in turn benefit the country. Mumbai city remains the economic capital of the country with RBI (Reserve Bank of India) and the Stock Exchange located here.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$3.56 trillion (2009 est.)
$3.343 trillion (2008 est.)
$3.113 trillion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):

$1.095 trillion (2009 est.)
GDP – real growth rate:

6.5% (2009 est.)
7.4% (2008 est.)
9% (2007 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP):

$3,100 (2009 est.)
$2,900 (2008 est.)
$2,800 (2007 est.)
GDP – composition by sector:

Agriculture: 17.5%
Industry: 20%
Services: 62.6% (2009)
Labor force:

467 million (2009 est.)
Labor force – by occupation:

Agriculture: 52%
Industry: 14%
Services: 34% (2009 est.)
Unemployment rate:
10.7% (2009 est.)
10.4% (2008 est.)
Population below poverty line:

25% (2007 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:

Lowest 10%: 3.6%
Highest 10%: 31.1% (2005)
Distribution of family income – Gini index:

36.8 (2004)
37.8 (1997)
Investment (gross fixed):

32.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
Budget :

Revenues: $129.9 billion
Expenditures: $237.2 billion (2009 est.)
Public debt:

59.6% of GDP (2009 est.)
57.6% of GDP (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):

10.7% (2009 est.)
8.3% (2008 est.)
Central bank discount rate:

4.75% (9 December 2009)
6% (31 December 2008)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:

11% (31 December 2009 est.)
13.31% (31 December 2008)
Stock of money:

$278.8 billion (31 December 2009)
$239.8 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of quasi money:

$853.4 billion (31 December 2009)
$687.7 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of domestic credit:

$1 trillion (31 December 2009)
$828.3 billion (31 December 2008)
Market value of publicly traded shares:

$1.301 trillion (31 December 2009)
$645.5 billion (31 December 2008)
$1.819 trillion (31 December 2007)
Agriculture Products:

rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, lentils, potatoes; onions, dairy products, sheep, goats, poultry; fish
Industries:

textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software, pharmaceuticals
Industrial production growth rate:7.6% (2009 est.)
Electricity :

Electricity – production: 723.8 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Electricity – consumption: 568 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity – exports: 810 million kWh (2009 est.)
Electricity – imports: 5.27 billion kWh (2009 est.)
Oil :

Oil – production: 3.72 million bbl/day (2009 est.)
Oil – consumption: 2.67 million bbl/day (2009 est.)
Oil – exports: 738,600 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil – imports: 2.9 million bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil – proved reserves: 5.625 billion bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural Gas:

Natural gas – production: 32.85 billion cu m (2009 est.)
Natural gas – consumption: 42.99 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas – exports: 0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas – imports: 10.79 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas – proved reserves: 1.075 trillion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
Current account balance:

-$8.399 billion (2009 est.)
-$30.41 billion (2008 est.)
Exports:

$165 billion (2009 est.)
$200.9 billion (2008)
Exports – commodities: petroleum products, precious stones, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, vehicles, apparel
Exports – partners: UAE 12.3%, US 11.7%, China 5.4%, Singapore 4.5% (2008)
Imports :

$253.9 billion (2009 est.)
$322.3 billion (2008 est.)
Imports – commodities: crude oil, precious stones, machinery, fertilizer, iron and steel, chemicals
Imports – partners: China 10.8%, Saudi Arabia 6.9%, US 6.7%, UAE 6.7%, Iran 4.2% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$287.5 billion (31 October 2009)
$254 billion (31 December 2008)
Debt – external:

$223.9 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
$232.5 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of direct foreign investment – at home:

$161.3 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
$123.4 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment – abroad:

$77.42 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
$61.77 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Exchange rates:

Indian rupees (INR) per US dollar – 46.78 (2009), 43.319 (2008), 41.487 (2007), 45.3 (2006), 44.101 (2005)

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India’s First Billion Dollar House

Mukesh Ambani is the owner of this massive 27 storey house, located in Mumbai India. The cost incurred is close to $2 billion i.e. Rs.4000 Cr. and this makes it world’s most expensive residence. The arean totals to 4,00,000 sq. ft. It has now become a new landmark in the city of dreams.

Though the design faced some criticism as it looks like Lego blocks put together, still the luxuries and amenities provided are top class and one of a kind. The building is appoximately 550 ft high i.e. 173 meters.

Parking Space and Garage:
The building includes six floors of parking and a garage for routine maintenance. It includes 4 floors for guest parking and two for personal parking.

Entertainment floor :
On the eighth floor is a mini amphitheater with a capacity to hold up to 50 people. It has digital monitors to add to the luxury.

Balconies with gardens
The building is energy efficient and the plants are planted in a solution instead of soil. there are various balconies and large window to make airy and well ventilated.

The ‘health’ floors
Antilla includes a health club, a gymnasium, swimming pool, athletic area, a dance studio with a ballroom.

Guests Appartments :
Two storeys are reserved for Ambani’s family guests. There will be a two-storeyed glass-fronted apartment for the Ambani family’s guests above the health floors. these two floors will have terrace gardens and balconies.

Family
The top four floors are for Ambani Family that has five members, namely Mukesh Ambani, wife Neeta Ambani, Mother Kokilaben, Two sons and a daughter. top floors provide a view of the Arabian Sea and a superb view of the city’s skyline.

Air space floor
Two floors above the family residence are for maintenance, including one floor for air space floor, that will act as a control room for helicopters landing on the helipad above.

Helipads :
The roof consists of three helipads

Extras :
There will be 600 servants staff and two floors for refuge at different levels (in case of emergencies).

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Indian Railways: The Largest and Busiest in the World

The India’s Rail transport is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, transporting seventeen million passengers and more than one million tonnes of freight daily. Indian Railways also known as IR is a Department of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Railways and is the world’s largest commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.6 million employees and enjoys a monopoly on India’s rail transport.

The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country; the routes cover a total length of 63,465 km (39,435 miles). As of 2005, IR owned a total of 222,379 wagons, 42,125 coaches and 7910 locomotives and ran a total of 14,444 trains daily, including about 8,702 passenger trains.

A Brief History of Rail Transport in India
Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. The first passenger train service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder, Bombay and Thane on 16 April 1853. Covering a distance of 34 km (21 miles), it was hauled by three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh and Sultan. This was the formal birth of railways in India.

The then British government encouraged new railway companies backed by private investors under a scheme that would guarantee an annual return of five percent during the initial years of operation. Once established, the company would be transferred to the government, with the original company retaining operational control. By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in Indian guaranteed railways. The route mileage of this network was about 14,500 km (9,000 miles) by 1880, mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay (Mumbai), Madras (Chennai) and Calcutta (Kolkata). By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896 sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railway.

By 1947, the year of India’s independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalized as one unit, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. Indian Railways operates both long distance and suburban rail systems.

Indian Railways Passenger Services
Indian Railways operates 8,702 passenger trains and transports 17 million daily across twenty-eight states and three union territories (Delhi, Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) and Chandigarh). Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya are the only states not connected.

The passenger division is the most preferred form of long distance transport in most of the country.

A standard passenger train consists of eighteen coaches, but some popular trains can have up to 24 coaches. Coaches are designed to accommodate anywhere from 18 to 72 passengers, but may actually accommodate many more during the holiday seasons and on busy routes. The coaches in use are vestibules, but some of these may be dummied on some trains for operational reasons. Freight trains use a large variety of wagons.

Notable Trains
The Palace on Wheels is a specially designed train, frequently hauled by a steam locomotive, for promoting tourism in Rajasthan.

The Maharashtra government did try to introduce the Deccan Odyssey along the Konkan route, but it did not enjoy the same success as the Palace on Wheels.

The Karnataka government has recently introduced The Golden Chariot train which connects popular tourist destinations in Karnataka and Goa.

The Kalka Shimla Railway till recently featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96 kilometres.

The Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the “Hospital-on-Wheels” which provides healthcare to the rural areas. This train has a carriage that serves as an operating room, a second one which serves as a storeroom and an additional two that serve as a patient ward. The train travels around the country, staying at a location for about two months before moving elsewhere.

The Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India today having a maximum speed of 140 km/h (87 mph) on the Faridabad-Agra section.

[MysteRy]

The Best of India: Geographical facts

India, one of the world’s most ancient and living civilizations is the 7th largest country in the world. With 2.4 per cent of the total surface area of the world, many of the Indian states themselves are larger than a number countries of the world.

The geography of India is a showcase of diversity as it’s landscape varies from snow-capped peaks to deserts, plains, rainforests, hills, and plateaus. From the highest mountains in the world to a vast coastline of over 7000km, from the barren and hot Thar desert to the second coldest inhabited place on earth…India has a number of interesting geographical facts in it’s book.

Here’s a look at some interesting facts about Indian geography:

Tallest Mountain in India: Kanchenjunga
Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world (after Mount Everest and K2) and the tallest peak in India, with an elevation of 8,586 metres (28,169 ft). “Kangchenjunga” which lies in the Himalayas means “The Five Treasures of Snows” translated, as it contains five peaks, four of them over 8,450 metres.

Kangchenjunga is known for its famous views from the hill station of Darjeeling. On a clear day, it presents an image not as much of a mountain but of a white wall hanging from the sky. The people of Sikkim revere Kangchenjunga as a sacred mountain.

Longest River in India: Ganga (Ganges)
Considered a sacred river to the Hindu’s, the 2,510 km (1,560 mi) Ganga river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India, and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges and its tributaries drain a 1,000,000-square-kilometer (390,000 sq mi) fertile basin that supports one of the world’s highest density of humans.

Three towns holy to Hinduism – Haridwar, Allahabad, and Varanasi – attract thousands of pilgrims to its waters. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims arrive at these three towns to take a dip in the Ganges, which is believed to cleanse oneself of sins and help attain salvation. The Ganges river’s long held reputation as a purifying river appears to have a basis in science. The river water has a unique and extraordinary ability to retain oxygen.

Largest waterfalls in India: Chitrakot
The Niagara Falls have competition. In the form of Chitrakot, India’s largest waterfalls. About 38 km to the west of Jagdalpur, this Chitrakot Waterfallspectacular fall is formed when the river Indravati abruptly collapses into a 100 feet deep cavern. The mouth of the fall, when in full profusion, is over 1,000 feet wide. Chitrakot is a horseshoe shaped waterfall, best seen during and after the monsoon, between July and October. Chitrakot is a horse-shoe shaped waterfall, best seen during and after the monsoon, between July and October.

Largest Glacier in India: Siachen Glacier
Siachen Glacier is the largest glacier in India. At 75.6 km long and 2.8 km wide, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world’s non-polar areas.

The Siachen Glacier is located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalaya Mountains along the disputed India-Pakistan border. The Siachen Glacier lies south of the great watershed that separates China from the Indian subcontinent in the extensively glaciated portion of the Karakoram. The word ‘Siachen’ means “the place of wild roses”. Siachen also has the dubious distinction of being the highest battleground on earth. The volume of the glacier has been reduced by 35 percent over the last twenty years. Global warming and military activity have been cited as the main reasons for the receding of the glacier.

Highest Rainfall in India: Cherrapunji
Wettest Place in India is Cherrapunjee. In fact, Cherrapunji is the wettest place on the earth receiving the highest rainfall ever. The place receives an annual rainfall of over 1200 cm.

Cherrapunji is situated at 56 kms from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, in one of the heaviest rain-belts in the world. However, off late, a ding-dong battle has been on between Cherrapunji and the neighbouring village of Mawsynram for the crown of “Wettest Place in the World”. Sometimes, it is Cherrapunji which records highest annual rainfall in the world and sometimes it is Mawsynram. However, meteorologists question the genuineness of the data obtained from Mawsynram. Unlike Cherrapunji, there is no meteorological office at Mawsynram and the readings there are taken by a peon of the Meghalaya Public Works Department posted there.

Coldest Place in India: Drass, Ladakh
Drass in western Ladakh is the coldest place in India. It is also the second coldest inhabited place in the world after Siberia.

Situated at an altitude of 3230 m, Dras lies 60 km west of Kargil on the road to Srinagar in Kashmir. Temperatures can drop down to about -45 degrees Celsius in winters. However, summers in Drass are balmy and many trekkers and campers visit Drass during the summer time. The Drass valley starts from the base of the Zojila pass, the Himalayan gateway to Ladakh. Drass is a convenient base camp for treks to Suru valley.

Smallest State in India: Goa
Goa with an area of 3702 sq. km is the smallest State in India. Goa was a Portuguese colony and was liberated from Portuguese rule on December 19, 1961. After its independence Goa along with Daman & Diu was accorded the status of Union Territory. On May 30, 1987, the Union Territory was split, and Goa was elevated as India’s 25th state, with Daman and Diu remaining Union Territories. Goa is one of the most developed states of India. Tourism is the mainstay of Goa. Panaji is the capital of Goa and Vasco is its largest town. The main language of Goa is Konkani.

Largest State in India: Rajasthan
Rajasthan with an area of 342,239 sq km is the largest state in India. Before the formation of Chattisgarh as a separate state in the year 2000, Madhya Pradesh was the largest Indian state in terms of area. Rajasthan is located in the western part of India and has two distinct geographical regions with desert on one side and thick forest on the other. Aravalli the oldest mountain chain is the dividing line between the two climatic zones of the State. Western Rajasthan encompasses most of the area of the Great Indian Desert (also known as Thar Desert). The eastern region of the State has thick vegetation of Sal, Axlewood, Dhak and Mesquite.

State with the highest population: Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh is the state with maximum number of districts in India. It has a total of 70 districts. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous and fifth largest state of India. Only five countries of the world, China, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil and India itself have populations larger than that of Uttar Pradesh. Kanpur is the largest city of Uttar Pradesh and as per the 2001 census six cities of Uttar Pradesh, namely, Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi have population of over million.