[Chetan]

Facts and Figures
 

 Official Name  Republic of India 
 Population  1027 million (2001 Census) 
 Area  3.3 million square kilometers 
 Geographical Location  Lies between latitudes 8 ° 4' and 37 ° 6 ' north and longitudes 68 ° 7 ' and 97 ° 25' east  
 Coastline length  7,600 km 
 Languages  17 major languages, 844 dialects 
 Major religions  Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism  
 National anthem  Jan gana mana written by Rabindranath Tagore 
 National emblem  Replica of the Lion Capital of Sarnath 
 National flag  Horizontal tricolor in equal proportion of deep saffron on the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. In the center of the white band is a wheel in navy blue colour. 
 National animal  Tiger, Panthera tigris 
 National bird  Peacock 
 National flower  Lotus 
 National tree  Banyan 
 National fruit  Mango 
 National currency  Rupees (One Rupees=100 paise)

India  Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic 
The Indian Union  28 States and seven centrally administered Union Territories 
 Form of government  Parliamentary, based on universal adult franchise 
 Legislature  Parliament, consists of President and the two Houses, known as Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People ) 
 Executive  Consists of President, Vice-President and Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister 
 Judiciary  Independent of executive

Historical facts

India never invaded any country in her last 10,000 years of history. 



India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.



The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education. 



Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software, reported in Forbes magazine, July 1987.



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.



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.



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 the European 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 10^6(10 to the power of 6) 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 of 12).



According to the Gemological Institute of America, up until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world. 



USA based IEEE has proved what has been a century-old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of Wireless communication was Prof. Jagdeesh Bose and not Marconi.



The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.



According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called 'Sudarshana' was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.



Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.



Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology,digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.



When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization.)



The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

Famous Quotes about India :

Albert Einstein :
	 "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made!"


 

Mark Twain :
	 "India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most astrictive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only!"


 

Romaine Rolland (French scholar) :
	 "If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India!" 


 

Mark Twain :
	 "So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."


 

Sylvia Levi :
	 "She (India) has left indelible imprints on one fourth of the human race in the course of a long succession of centuries. She has the right to reclaim ... her place amongst the great nations summarizing and symbolizing the spirit of humanity. From Persia to the Chinese sea, from the icy regions of Siberia to Islands of Java and Borneo, India has propagated her beliefs, her tales, and her civilization!"


 

Hu Shih (former Ambassador of China to USA) :
	 "India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border!"


 

Swami Vivekanand (Indian Philosopher) :
	 "Civilizations have arisen in other parts of the world. In ancient and modern times, wonderful ideas have been carried forward from one race to another...But mark you, my friends, it has been always with the blast of war trumpets and the march of embattled cohorts. Each idea had to be soaked in a deluge of blood..... Each word of power had to be followed by the groans of millions, by the wails of orphans, by the tears of widows. This, many other nations have taught; but India for thousands of years peacefully existed. Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist... Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it. We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is on our head, and therefore we live....!"

National Emblem

The National Symbol is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Emperor Ashoka, who ruled from 272 BC to 232 BC. In the original pillar, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the Capital is crowned by the Wheel of Law (Dharma Chakra).
 emblem.jpg   12.16K   6 downloads
     In the State Emblem adopted by the Government of India on January 26 1950, only three lions are visible, while the fourth is hidden from view. The wheel appears in relief in the center of the abacus with a bull on right and a horse on left, and the outlines of the other wheels on the extreme right and left.

     The bell-shaped lotus has been omitted. The words Satyameva Jayate from Mundaka Upanishad, meaning 'Truth Alone Triumphs', are inscribed below the abacus in Devanagari script.

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.
 flagBig.gif   1.32K   7 downloads
     The national flag is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal proportion. The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three. In the center of the white band is a navy blue chakra or the wheel which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. Its diameter approximates to the width of the white band and it has 24 spokes. The design of the national flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on July22, 1947. Its use and display are regulated by the Indian Flag Code.





The National Pledge

India is my country.

All Indians are my brothers and sisters.

I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage.

I shall strive to be worthy of it. 

I shall respect my parents, teachers and all elders and treat
 everyone with courtesy. 

To my country and all my people, I pledge my devotion.

In their well being and prosperity alone lies my happiness.

Jai Hind.

National Song

The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the Indian people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with the National Anthem, Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. The following is the text of its first stanza:


Original Sanskrit Words

Vande Mataram! Vande Mataram!

Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja sheetalam
Shasyashyamalam, Mataram!


Vande Mataram!

Shubhrajyothsna pulakitayaminim 
Phullakusumita drumadala shobinim
Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim,
Sukhadam varadam, Mataram!
Vande Mataram! Vande Mataram!

English Translation  

I bow to thee, Mother,

richly-watered, richly-fruited ,cool with the winds of the south,
dark with the crops of the harvests, 

The Mother!

Her nights rejoicing in the glory 
of the moonlight
her lands clothed beautifully with 
her trees in flowering bloom
sweet of laughter, sweet of speech
The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss!

National Anthem

The anthem, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24 January 1950. It was first sung 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress.

        The complete song consists of five stanzas. Playing time of the full version of the National Anthem is approximately 52 seconds. A short version consisting of first and last lines of the stanza (playing time approx. 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions. The lyrics were rendered into English by Tagore himself.

Hindi Anthem :

 anthemHindi.gif   5.95K   8 downloads

Latin Translation :

 anthem.gif   5.24K   10 downloads

English Translation :

 anthemEnglish.gif   7.99K   8 downloads

[Judi]

What an awesome post!  Thanks for this.