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| India, home to One billion people,
constitutes for 18% of the world's population.
Indus Valley Civilization (circa 2500-1700BC), earliest known civilization of South Asia, corresponding to the Bronze Age cultures of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete (Kríti). The remains of settlements belonging to this culture have been found throughout the Indus River valley in Pakistan, westward along the coast to the Iranian border, in India's northwestern states as far east as New Delhi, and on the Oxus River in northern Afghanistan. The Indus Valley civilization encompasses one of the largest geographical areas covered by a single Bronze Age culture. AREA: 1.3 million sq miles (3.3 million sq km) stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Indian ocean in the south. India shares borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and Bangladesh. Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987. Main exports: Gems and jewelry, ready made garments, cotton yarn and fabrics, handicrafts, cereals, marine products, transport equipment. Main imports: Crude oil, petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, electrical machinery, fertilizers, iron, steel, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones. India, which traces its civilization back 5,000 years, won independence from Britain in 1947 in a welter of sectarian bloodshed as the subcontinent was partitioned into predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. India has since fought three wars with Pakistan, two of them over disputed Kashmir. In 1962, India also fought a short border war with China. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth. Bombay (Mumbai), home to India's largest stock exchange and its reserve bank, has vast slums sitting on some of the most expensive real estate of the world. India is the world's largest consumer of gold. And, by year 2000 the Indian market for gold will reach 1000 tons. Dating from the Vedic period, the Neem plant is considered to be very auspicious, not only for it's medicinal values, but also for it's use in religious rites. Neem is also revered for it's unmatched use as a biologically sound pesticide and an air purifier. The magical properties of the neem have now been revealed to the world. India is one of the biggest players in the international fashion arena. Buyers such as Macys, Levi's, Wrangler, etc. all folk to India for its vast array of cloths and prints. Mohandas Karamchand) Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Porbandar, India. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900's. Gandhi helped free the Indian people from British rule through nonviolent resistance, and is honored by his people as the father of the Indian Nation. The Indian people called Gandhi Mahatma, meaning Great Soul. India is the biggest diamond-cutting center for small roughs. These diamonds are eventually sold in shops on Fifth Avenue. The caste system was created as an means for providing social status in the community. A family's caste was determined by the family's main occupation. The classifications of the caste system are: Brahman (the priest), Kshatriya (the warrior), Vaisya (the trader), and Sudra (the laborer). Since the beginning of history the Ganges (THE GANGA, Holy River) has been a precious source of water in the hot climate of India, providing water for drinking, irrigation, bathing, and most recently, electrical energy. For providing such sustenance the river is worshipped by millions of Indian as Mother Ganges. By bathing in the Ganges, one can wash away all sins and begin again, cleansed from the imperfections of the past. YOGA: The ancient Hindu system of mental and physical exercise is practiced the world over. The belief that yoga can improve one's health and peace of mind, has prompted thousands of foreigners to try it out. India has 3.5 million professionals trained in medicine or other technical sciences. Ranking India as one of the ten largest emerging markets in the world. India has one of the largest middle classes in the world nearly 250 million people which is the total population of the United States. Perhaps the most popular of all India's culinary exports, the curry was recently named as the most popular dish in Britain. Curry derives it's name from 'kadi', the Tamil word for sabzi (or vegetable). In some parts of the world, going for a 'curry and a beer' are an intrinsic part of a good 'night out'. The dowry system was originally created in the days when Hindu women had no right to inheritance by law. This was the only way parents could insure that her daughter would have some property of her own. Even her husband had no claim on this property. Arranged marriages was the practice where elders of the family made marriage decisions for their children at a time when children were married at a very young age. Today, families merely introduce youngsters and no demands are made of them. The word arranged has become a misnomer. The red dot(BINDI) used to be worn on the forehead of married women as a sign of matrimony (similar to wedding bands here). Nowadays, Bindis are very advanced. On January 26, 1950 India adopted its Constitution which declared India as a sovereign, socialist, secular republic. India follows a two-tiered parliamentary system. The Parliament consists of the President of India and the two houses: Lok Sabha (House of the People) comprised of elected representatives from the states and Rajya Sabha (Council of the States) comprised of appointed representatives. India is a country with probably the largest and most diverse mixture of races. All the five major racial types - Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian and Negroid - find representation among the people of India, who are mainly a mixed race. Kamasutra, This ancient text on sexual love, was written by Vatsyayana in the mid-4th century. The text was made accessible to the English-speaking world by the orientalist Sir Richard Burton. It is essentially a philosophy on love and how to achieve happy and harmonius relationships, especially between husband and wife. One of the most enduring symbols of India is the figure of Shiv Nataraj or the dancing Shiva. Shiva's cosmic dance is believed to encompass creation, preservation, and destruction and this idea has been embedded in Hindu thought and ritual since the dawn of civilisation. Films arrived in India less than a year after the Lumieres first exhibited their cinematographie in Paris. On July 7, 1896, an agent who had brought equipment and films from France first showed his moving pictures in Bombay. That was an important day in the social and cultural history of the Indian people. The first Indian-made feature film (3700 feet long) was released in 1913. It was made by Dadasaheb Phalke and was called Raja Harishchandra. Based on a story from the Mahabharata it was a stirring film concerned with honour, sacrifice and mighty deeds. From then on many "mythologicals" were made and took India by storm. Phalke's company alone produced about a hundred films. India's mastery of the science of pure mathematics goes back to ancient times. It is generally acknowledged that the concept of zero, crucial to the development of the science, is India's contribution to the world, which was given to Europe through the Arabs. In the Ganita Sara Samgraha, 850 A.D., Mahaviracharya, the greatest Jain mathematician mentions the significance of zero. In the fifth century BC Brahmagupta became the first mathematician to solve the Pellian equation. A century later, Aryabhatta arrived at the most accurate value of the mathematical constant, Pi, in the Gitikapada. The Bakhsali manuscript, written in the third or fourth century BC, on 72 leaves of birch bark, is an exclusively mathematical text that presents rules, illustrated instances and solutions to geometric, algebraic and arithmetical problems. In the Kalpasutras, penned in 290 BC, Bhadrabahu solved the Pythagorean theorem. The mathematical genius of the Jains was so developed that their highest numeral was a forerunner of the Alef zero of modern-day mathematics. The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days. The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before theEuropean mathematicians. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of12). Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of12). India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in100 BC. Albert Einstein said: "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made". Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India. The arc-shaped Himalayas extend along the entire northern boundary of India and carve just as far across the Indian subcontinent as they do deeply into the life around them. The term "Himalaya" -- a Sanskrit word meaning "the Abode of Snow" -- was coined by the Indian pilgrims who traveled in these mountains in ancient times. For centuries, the inhabitants of India have been fascinated by this mountain chain. The feeling is a mixture of admiration, awe and fear; and for the Hindus of India, the Himalayas are also "the Abode of God". There are numerous pilgrim routes that have brought the Hindu pilgrims to these mountains since time immemorial. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth. India is the world's largest consumer of gold, but does not produce any gold of its own. The ever increasing demand for the precious yellow metal, subject to high import duty, is fueling a multi-million dollar gold smuggling racket. Even though millions of Indian people live in poverty, India is the world's largest consumer of gold. Not just a luxury for the rich, every family acquires and gives gold on special occasions. From a bride's wedding ornaments to a baby girl's first gold earrings or the gold grain placed in the mouth of a deceased loved one, gold is the touchstone of status and security. India is about the order of magnitude in area as the whole of Europe, excluding the formally known USSR. However, its total population is today greater than the whole of Europe, including the former USSR. That is nearly four times the US population. Yoga is highly relevant in the modern day context. With tension and stress becoming a part of our daily life ‘Yoga’ enables us to achieve self-realistion in a systematic manner. By helping the union of the body with the mind and the mind with the soul, it creates the ultimate symphony of life. Different forms of yoga i.e. -Hatha yoga, Raja yoga, Karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Jnana yoga, Mantra yoga and Laya yoga- provides the finest system of education and brings out the best in a person Ayurveda in Sanskrit means "the science of Life". It is an ancient, unfailing system of treatment based on medicines prepared from herbal plants found in abundance in India. Ayurveda is an integral part of the people of India. This ancient knowledge system of medicine has gained global acceptance especially for alternative ways of preventive, curative and rejuvenative processes making life a more pleasurable experience. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.Dating from the Vedic period, the Neem plant is considered to be very auspicious, not only for it's medicinal values, but also for it's use in religious rites. Neem is also revered for it's unmatched use as a biologically sound pesticide and an air purifier. The magical properties of the neem have now been revealed to the world. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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