India, the largest democracy, the second most populous country, is
geographically
located at 20ð N and 77ð E. India is bounded by Pakistan to north-west, Nepal
and China to the north-east, Arabian sea to the south-east and Bay of Bengal to
the south-west. The capital of India is New Delhi, a sprawling city with 11
million people. Indian history can be traced back over some 5,000 years. Many
dynasties like Gupta, Mogul, and Sultans ruled India over centuries. The history
of British India begins in 1600, with the setting up of the East India Company.
Gradually they became the rulers and ruled India until it became independent in
1947 under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. After independence India was
partitioned to create Pakistan, a Muslim state.
According to Indian constitution, India is a "sovereign, socialist, secular,
democratic
republic". The central government is patterned after the British parliamentary
system. The government has three branches, executive, legislative, judiciary.
India
India At Its Best
Portrait of Jana KrishnamurthiThe president is the head of the state and his duties are largely ceremonial.
Prime Minister is the head of the government and he leads the cabinet, the
council of ministers. India's bicameral parliament consists of the Council
of States, Rajya Sabha, and the House of the People, Lok Sabha. The Council of
Ministers
is responsible to the Lok Sabha. The Council of states consists of 250 members
and the
House of People is composed of 550 members.
India's natural resources are coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite,
chromite, thorium, limestone, barite, titanium ore, diamonds, and crude oil. Its
agriculture products are wheat, rice, coarse grains, oilseeds, sugar, cotton,
jute, and tea. India's industry is based on textiles, jute, processed food,
steel, machinery, transport equipment, cement, aluminum, fertilizers, mining,
petroleum, chemicals, and computer software. India exports 4 billion in
agricultural products, engineering goods, precious...