HISTORY

India’s First War of Independence 1857

Many historians called this First War of Independence as a ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ of 1857. For them it was just a bunch of Indian sepoys (soldiers) who had mutinied. They largely failed to recognize the involvement of a vast section of Indian society that took part in this struggle. Peasants and nobles all were involved. Lack of planning and co-ordination amongst people who took part in this struggle resulted in defeat of Indians. Many innocent people were killed on both sides. Karl Marx wrote about the attitude of British media in 1857 - ‘And then it should not be forgotten that while the cruelties of the English are related as acts of martial vigor, told simply, rapidly, without dwelling on disgusting details, the outrages of the natives, shocking as they are, are still deliberately exaggerated.’

Period just before the beginning of India’s First War of Independence

British had little respite from fighting against Indians as they tried to strengthen their grip on India. Sometimes by design, sometimes almost by accident the area controlled by the British increased, until by 1857 everything from the borders of Afghanistan in the west to the jungles of Burma in the east, from the Himalayas in north, to the beaches of Sri Lanka in south were under British East India companies control. In 1857 the total number of soldiers in India was 260,000 amongst them there were just around fourteen percent (34,000) European soldiers.

Less then ten years after the last Anglo-Sikh war there was great unrest in India, specially the northern part. Somewhere along the way the British seemed to lose touch with their Indian subject. By 1857 there was a big gulf between Indians and British.

Factors responsible for unrest amongst Indian masses

The arrival of missionaries had also caused great unease among the Indians. Evangelical Christians had little understanding of, or respect for, India's ancient faiths.The attitude of scrupulous non-interference in religious affairs that had characterized British rule in the 18th century was forgotten. Native populace started to believe that the British wished to convert them. The passing of Act XXI of 1850, which enabled converts to inherit ancestral property, confirmed this belief; the new law was naturally interpreted as a concession to Christian converts. Hindus and Muslims were forced into Christianity. The British were rude and arrogant towards the Indians who they described as barbarians without any culture. The European judges hardly ever convicted British for their crimes.

 Thousands of soldiers and nobles got unemployed when Lord Dalhousie annexed Avadh. Under his 'Doctrine of Lapse' the princes were denied the long-cherished right of adoption; in this way Dalhousie annexed the Maratha States of Satara, Nagpur and Jhansi and several minor principalities. On the death of the ex-Peshwa, Baji Rao II, the pension granted to him was abolished and the claims of his adopted son, Nana Sahib, were disregarded.

British administrative laws ruined both the peasants and landlords. Indian handicrafts completely collapsed and the craftsmen were impoverished. India became a market place for finished goods from England. Poverty increased and the discontent among the masses motivated the Indians to join the revolt in large numbers. Thus, the British drained India of her wealth and all her natural resources.

Beginning of First War of Independence (1857)

 People whispered of the old prophecy, which stated that 100 years after the battle of Plassey, the rule of 'John Company' would end. Plassey had been in 1757 and in the hundredth year after the battle it seemed everyone was awaiting a spark. The cartridge of Enfield rifle used by British-Indian Army was heavily greased with animal fat. Indian soldiers heard and quickly passed on the news that the grease was a mixture of cow (sacred to Hindus) and pig (abhorrent to Muslims) fat.

It began at Barrackpore on 29th March 1857. Mangel Pande, a young soldier of the 34th Native Infantry, shot at his sergeant major on the parade ground. When the British adjutant rode over, Pande shot the horse and severely wounded the officer with a sword. He was later arrested and hanged. As a collective punishment the 34th Native Infantry was disbanded. Mangal Pande became a martyr and an icon representing the beginning of Indian War of Independence.

A few weeks later on 24th of April 1857, eighty-five soldiers of the 3rd Light Cavalry in Meerut refused orders to handle the new cartridges. They were arrested, court-martialled and sentenced to ten years hard labor each. On9th May 1857, at an appalling ceremony in the parade ground of Meerut, they were publicly humiliated: stripped of their uniform, shackled and sent to prison. The following day (10th May 1857) was a Sunday and as Britons prepared for church, Meerut exploded. Enraged soldiers broke open the town jail and released their comrades. A mob from the bazaar and Indian soldiers poured into the cantonment where the Britishers lived and killed many of them. Then these soldiers marched towards Delhi. There were three regiments of native infantry in Delhi.

On the morning of 11th May the soldiers from Meerut reached Delhi. Gathering below the walls of the Red Fort, the mutineers called for last Mughal King Bahadur Shah. A British officer, Captain Douglas, commanded Bahadur Shah’s personal guard. From the walls high above Captain Douglas ordered them to disperse. Soldiers accompanied by a mob burst into the palace, killed Douglas and asked Bahadur Shah to reclaim his throne. The 38th, 54th, and 74th regiments of infantry and native artillery under Bahkt Khan (1797- 1859) joined the rebel army at Delhi in May. The loss of Delhi was a crushing blow to British prestige and the symbolic associations of the capital of the Moghuls becomming the center of the mutiny was something the British could not ignore. It took British nearly two months to regroup and then they set out to reclaim Delhi. From Meerut and Simla two British columns set out for the capital. Hampered by lack of transport, it was weeks before they joined forces at Ambala. Punishing disloyal villages as they advanced, one could have charted their course by the scores of corpses they left hanging from trees as the British army moved towards Delhi. At Badli-ke-Serai, five miles from Delhi, they met the main army of the Indian soldiers. British won there but most of the Indian soldiers fled back to the protection of the walls of Delhi. The British established themselves on Delhi ridge, a thin spur of high ground to the north of the city. In September 1857, under the command of Major Nicholson and with support of Sikh and Gurkha army were able to reclaim Delhi, breaching the walls with heavy guns and after a bitter street-to-street fight. In the attack on the Kashmiri gate Nicholson had been hit by a bullet and died soon after. One last atrocity was yet to happen. British officer Hodson arrested the old King Bahadur Shah and killed his three sons in cold blood. Bahadur Shah was tried for complicity to murder and other offences, found guilty and sent into exile in Rangoon. The last of the Moghuls, Bahadur Shah died there in 1862. Hodson was never punished for his summary executions of the princes. He died in the retaking of Lucknow in 1858.

Battle of Kanpur

Kanpur was an important junction where the Grand Trunk Road and the road from Jhansi to Lucknow crossed. One of the leaders of the First War of Independence, Nana Saheb of Bithur was born in

1824. Nana Saheb was well educated. He studied Sanskrit and was known for his deep religious nature. On the death of the last Peshwa, Baji Rao-II, in 1851 the Company's Government stopped the annual pension and the title. Nana Saheb's appeal to the Court of Directors was not accepted. This made him hostile towards the British rulers. In 1857 Kanpur was garrisoned by four regiments of native infantry and a European battery of artillery and was commanded by General Sir Hugh Wheeler. After a fierce battle at Kanpur, General Sir Hugh Wheeler surrendered on June 27, 1857.

The English men, women and children who fell into the hands of Nana Sahib were assured of safe conduct to Allahabad. However the inhuman treatment meted out to the Indians by General James O'Neil at Allahabad and Banaras made the crowd angry who retaliated by murdering British men, women and children. Many innocent lives were lost at ‘Massacre Ghat’ and ‘Bibi ka Ghar’ in Kanpur.

After seizing Kanpur, Nana Saheb proclaimed himself the Peshwa. Tantia Tope, Jwala Prasad and Azimullah Khan were the loyal followers of Nana Sahib, and are remembered for their valiant fight against the British. In June 1857 the British defeated Nana Sahib. Though Nana Sahib and Tantia Tope recaptured Kanpur in November 1857, they could not hold it for long as General Campbell reoccupied it on 6th December 1857. Nana Sahib escaped to Nepal and his whereabouts afterwards were unknown. Tantia Topeescaped and joined the Rani of Jhansi.

Jhansi and Gwalior

Rani Laxmibai was born in 1830 at Banaras in a wealthy family and was named Manukarnika at birth. She got married to King Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi. Gangadhar Rao did not have any children and he adopted one of his relatives Damodar Rao as his heir. After Gangadhar Rao's death in 1853 the British refused to accept Damodar Rao as the legal heir of Jhansi and wanted to annex the kingdom into their rule. In 1857 at Jhansi, the army rebelled and killed the British Army officers. Rani Laxmibai, the widow of the late Raja Gangadhar Rao, was proclaimed the ruler of the state. In 1858 the British army once again marched towards Jhansi. Not willing to let the British takeover her kingdom the Rani built an army of 14,000 volunteers to fight the British. The soldiers of Jhansi fought very bravely for 2 weeks and the Rani led the forces in this battle. Sir Hugh Rose recaptured Jhansi on 3rd April 1858. The English could not capture Rani of Jhansi as she escaped to Kalpi (near Gwalior) where Tantia Tope joined her. Both marched to Gwalior. Sir Hugh Rose also advanced towards Gwalior and captured it in June 1858.Rani Laxmi Bai died fighting bravely. Rani Laxmibai (Rani Jhansi) became immortal in Indian history for her bravery and struggle against British rule.Tantia Tope escaped southward, but was betrayed by one of his friends Man Singh and was finally hanged in 1859.

Arrah Bihar

Kunwar Singh, zamindar of Jagdishpur near Arrah in the state of Bihar, was the chief organizer of the fight against British. He assumed command of the soldiers who had revolted at Danapur on 5th July. Two days later he occupied Arrah, the district headquarter. Major Vincent Eyre relieved the town on 3rd August, defeated Kunwar Singh's force and destroyed Jagdishpur. Kunwar Singh left his ancestral village and reached Lucknow in December 1857. In March 1858 he occupied Azamgarh. However, he had to leave the place soon. Pursued by Brigadier Douglas, he retreated towards his home in Bihar. On 23 April, Kunwar Singh had a victory near Jagdishpur over the force led by Captain Le Grand, but the following day he died in his village. The mantle of the old chief now fell on his brother Amar Singh who, despite heavy odds, continued the struggle and for a considerable time ran a parallel government in the district of Shahabad. In October 1859 Amar Singh joined the rebel leaders in the Nepal Terai.

Lucknow

At Lucknow War against British was led by the Begum of Awadh Hazrat Mehal who proclaimed her young son Nawab. Hazrat Begum felicitated her troops in person in Alambagh and when Dilkusha was taken and the soldiers of freedom fought with desperate courage for the defense of Luknow. Musabagh, which was defended, by a valiant band of revolutionaries under the leadership of the heroic Begum herself till March 1858, when she left Lucknow for the north with her troops followed by Ahmad Shah. Both of them fell upon Shahjehanpur and tried to drive out the British from Rohilkhand. She failed to capture Rohilkhand and she marched on along with other revolutionary leaders towards Nepal where she found asylum till her death.

India’s First War of Independence carried on as late as 1859 in some instances before it was finally over. A number of heroes and heroines of the India’s First war of Independence have been immortalized for their fight in against British rule.

Aftermath of First war of Independence

In the early months of the British recovery, few Indian soldiers were left alive after their positions were overrun. The British soldiers seemed to have made a collective decision not to take prisoners and most actions ended with a frenzied use of the bayonet. Whole villages were sometimes hanged for some real or imagined sympathy for the mutineers. Looting was endemic and neither the sanctity of holy places nor the rank of Indian aristocrats could prevent the wholesale theft of their possessions. Many a British family saw its fortune made during the pacification of northern India. Later, when prisoners started to be taken and trials held, those convicted of mutiny were lashed to the muzzles of cannon and fired through their body. For more than a year the people of northern India trembled with fear as the British sated their thirst for revenge. The Indians called it 'the Devil's Wind'.

A hundred years after battle of Plassey the rule of the East India Company finally did come to an end. In 1858, British parliament passed a law through which the power for governance of India was transferred from the East India Company to the British crown. In 1858, the Queen issued a proclamation saying that all were her subjects and that there would be no discrimination, appointments would be made on the basis of merit, and that there would be no interference in religious matters. It became evident in the succeeding years that the British government did not honor the Queen's promises. After 1857, the nationalist movement started to expand in the hearts of more and more Indians. 

1857 - The War of Independence

The Revolutionary Upheaval of 1857

Although dismissed by some as merely a sepoy's mutiny or revolt, or as a protest against the violation of religious rights by the British, the great uprising of 1857 is slowly gaining recognition as India's first war of independance. And in it's broad sweep it was the greatest armed challenge to colonial rule during the entire course of the nineteenth century. Attracting people from all walks of life - both Hindus and Muslims, it triggered demands for radical social and economic reforms, calling for a new society that would be more democratic and more representative of popular demands.

Early Precedents

Neither was it a bolt out of the blue. Although not very well known, the period between 1763 and 1856 was not a period during which Indians accepted alien rule passively. Numerous uprisings bypeasants, tribal communities and princely states confronted the British. Some were sustained - others sporadic - a few were isolated acts of revolutionary resistance - but nevertheless they all challenged colonial rule. Precipitated by the policy of unchecked colonial extraction of agricultural and forest wealth from the region - the period saw tremendous growth in rural poverty, the masses being reduced to a state of utter deprivation.

Even as official taxation was backbreaking enough, British officers routinely used their powers to coerce additional money, produce, and free services from the Indian peasants and artisans. And courts routinely dismissed their pleas for justice. In the first report of the Torture Commission at Madras presented to the British House of Commons in 1856, this was acknowledged along with the admission that officers of the East India Company did not abstain from torture, nor did they discourage its use. A letter from Lord Dalhousie to the Court of Directors of the East India Company confirms that this was a practice not confined to the Madras presidency alone in September 1855 where he admits that the practice of torture was in use in every British province. Click for more details

Desperate communities had often no choice but to resist to the bitter end. Armed revolts broke out practically every year - only to be brutally suppressed by the British. Lacking the firepower of the British arsenal - they were invariably outgunned. And lacking the means of communication available to the British - individual revolts were also unable to trigger sympathetic rebellions elsewhere. Disadvantageous timing led to crushing defeats. Yet, some of these struggles raged for many years. Click for more details

Amongst the most significant were the Kol Uprising of 1831, the Santhal Uprising of 1855, and the Kutch Rebellion, which lasted from 1816 until 1832. There was also precedence for a soldiers mutiny when Indian soldiers in Vellore (Tamil Nadu, Southern India) mutinied in 1806. Although unsuccessful, it led to the growth of unofficial political committees of soldiers who had several grievances against their British overlords.

Seething Grievances

For instance, in the Bengal Army, the 140,000 Indians who were employed as "Sepoys" were completely subordinate to the roughly 26,000 British officers. These sepoys bore the brunt of the First Britsh-Afghan War (1838-42), the two closely contested Punjab Wars (1845-6, and 1848-9) and the Second Anglo-Burmese War. They were shipped across the seas to fight in the Opium Wars against China (1840-42) and (1856-60) and the Crimean War against Russia (1854). Although at constant risk of death, the Indian sepoy faced very limited opportunities for advancement - since the Europeans monopolized all positions of authority.

Many of the sepoys in the Bengal Army came from the Hindi speaking plains of UP where (excluding Oudh) the British had enforced the "Mahalwari" system of taxation, which involved constantly increasing revenue demands. In the first half of the 19th century - tax revenues payable to the British increased 70%. This led to mounting agricultural debts with land being mortgaged to traders and moneylenders at a very rapid rate. This inhumane system of taxation was then extended to Oudh where the entire nobility was summarily deposed.

As a result, the dissatisfaction against the British was not confined to the agricultural communities alone. By bankrupting the nobility and the urban middle class - demand for many local goods was almost eliminated. At the same time local producers were confronted with unfair competition from British imports. The consequences of this were summarized by the rebel prince Feroz Shah, in his August 1857 proclamation: "the Europeans by the introduction of English articles into India have thrown the weavers, the cotton dressers, the carpenters, the blacksmiths and the shoe-makers and others out of employ and have engrossed their occupations, so that every description of native artisan has been reduced to beggary."

Contrast this turn of events with the arrival of Mughal rule in India. Babar, in spite of his distaste for the Indian climate and customs, noted the tremendous diversity and skill of Indian craftspeople, and saw in that a great potential for expanding Indian manufacturing. Quite unlike the British, the Mughals built on the manufacturing strengths of the Indian artisan - (already well establish in the earlier Sultanate period) - and took them to dazzling heights in the later periods. But by the mid-19th century, this pre-industrial virtuosity in manufacturing had been virtually choked of by British policies. A British chronicler of the period, Thomas Lowe noted how " the native arts and manufactures as used to raise for India a name and wonder all over the western world are nearly extinguished in the present day; once renowned and great cities are merely heaps of ruins..."

All this inevitably prepared the ground for the far more widespread revolt of 1857. Although concentrated in what is now UP in modern India - the 1857 revolt spread from Dacca and Chittagong (now Bangladesh) in the East to Delhi in the West. Major urban centres in Bengal, Orissa, and Bihar including Cuttack, Sambhalpur, Patna and Ranchi participated. In Central India - the revolt spread to Indore, Jabalpur, Jhansi and Gwalior. Uprisings also took place in Nasirabad in Rajasthan, Aurangabad and Kolhapur in Maharashtra and in Peshawar on the Afghan border. But the main battleground was in the plains of UP - with every major town providing valiant resistance to the British invaders.

Starting out as a revolt of the Sepoys - it was soon accompanied by a rebellion of the civil population, particularly in the North Western Provinces and Oudh. The masses gave vent to their opposition to British rule by attacking government buildings and prisons. They raided the "treasury", charged on barracks and courthouses, and threw open the prison gates. The civil rebellion had a broad social base, embracing all sections of society - the territorial magnates, peasants, artisans, religious mendicants and priests, civil servants, shopkeepers and boatmen.

For several months after the uprising began in Meerut on May 10, 1857 - British rule ceased to existin the northern plains of India. Muslim and Hindu rulers alike joined the rebelling soldiers and militantpeasants, and other nationalist fighters. Among the most prominent leaders of the uprising were Nana Sahib, Tantia Tope, Bakht Khan, Azimullah Khan, Rani Laksmi Bai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh, Maulvi Ahmadullah, Bahadur Khan and Rao Tula Ram. Former rulers had their own grievances against the British, including the notorious law on succession, which gave the British the right to annexe, any princely state if it lacked "legitimate male heirs".

Expressions of Popular Will

The rebels established a Court of Administration consisting of ten members - six from the army and four civilians with equal representation of Hindus and Muslims. The rebel government abolished taxes on articles of common consumption, and penalized hoarding. Amongst the provisions of it's charter was the liquidation of the hated 'Zamindari' system imposed by the British and a call for land to the tiller.

Although the former princes who joined with the rebels did not go quite as far, several aspects of the proclamations issued by the former rulers are noteworthy. All proclamations were issued in popular languages. Hindi and Urdu texts were provided simultaneously. Proclamations were issued jointly in the name of both Hindus and Muslims. Feroz Shah - in his August 1857 proclamation included some significant points. All trade was to be reserved for Indian merchants only, with free use of Government steam vessels and steam carriages. All public offices were to be given to Indians only and wages of the sepoys were to be revised upwards.

Overpowered by British Might, Betrayed by the Princes

Threatened by such a radical turn of events, the British rulers poured in immense resources in arms and men to suppress the struggle. Although the rebels fought back heroically - the betrayal by a number of rulers such as the Sikh princes, the Rajasthani princes and Maratha rulers like Scindia allowed the British to prevail. Lord Canning (then Governor General) noted that " If Scindia joins the rebels, I will pack off tomorrow". Later he was to comment: " The Princes acted as the breakwaters to the storm which otherwise would have swept us in one great wave". Such was the crucial importance of the betrayal of the princes. The British were also helped by the conservatism of the trading communities who were unwilling to put up with the uncertanties of a long drawn out rebellion.

But equally important was the superior weaponry and brutality of the British in defending their empire. British barbarity in supressing the uprising was unprecedented. After the fall of Lucknow on May 8, 1858 Frederick Engels commented: " The fact is, there is no army in Europe or America with so much brutality as the British. Plundering, violence, massacre - things that everywhere else are strictly and completely banished - are a time honoured privilege, a vested right of the British soldier..". In Awadh alone 150,000 people were killed - of which 100,000 were civilians. The great Urdu poet, Mirza Ghalib wrote from Delhi, " In front of me, I see today rivers of blood". He went on to describe how the victorious army went on a killing spree - killing every one in sight - looting people�s property as they advanced.

Bahadur Shah's three sons were publicly executed at "Khooni Darwaaza" in Delhi and Bahadur Shah himself was blinded and exiled to Rangoon where he died in 1862. Refusing to plead for mercy from the British, he courageously retorted: " The power of India will one day shake London if the glory of self-respect remains undimmed in the hearts of the rebels". Thomas Lowe wrote: "To live in India now was like standing on the verge of a volcanic crater, the sides of which were fast crumbling away from our feet, while the boiling lava was ready to erupt and consume us"

The 1857 revolt, which had forged an unshakable unity amongst Hindus and Muslims alike, was an important milestone in our freedom struggle - providing hope and inspiration for future generations of freedom lovers. However, the aftermath of the 1857 revolt also brought about dramatic changes in colonial rule. After the defeat of the 1857 national revolt - the British embarked on a furious policy of "Divide and Rule", fomenting religious hatred as never before. Resorting to rumors and falsehoods, they deliberately recast Indian history in highly communal colors and practised pernicious communal politics to divide the Indian masses. That legacy continues to plague the sub-continent today. However, if more people become aware of the colonial roots of this divisive communal gulf - it is possible that some of the damage done to Hindu-Muslim unity could be reversed. If Hindus and Muslims could rejoin and collaborate in the spirit of 1857, the sub-continent may yet be able to unshackle itself from it's colonial past.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy (August 14, 1774 – September 27, 1833) was a founder of the Brahma Sabha in 1828 which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential Indian socio-religious reform movement. He is best known for his efforts to abolish the practice of sati, the Hindu funeral practice in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. It was he who first introduced the word "Hinduism" into the English language in 1816. For his diverse contributions to society, Raja Ram Mohan Roy is regarded as one of the most important figures in the Indian Renaissance. Ram Mohan Roy's impact on modern Indian history was a revival of the pure and ethical principles of the Vedanta school of philosophy as found in the Upanishads.Religious reforms

The religious reforms of Roy contained in beliefs of the Brahmo Samaj expounded byRajnarayan Basu[20] are: Brahmos believe that the fundamental doctrines of Brahmoismare at the basis of every religion, followed by man; Brahmos believe in the existence of One Supreme God, and worship Him alone. Brahmos believe that worship of Him needs no fixed place or time.

[edit]Social reforms of Rammohan

Roy demanded property inheritance rights for women and, in 1828, set up the Brahmo Sabha, which was a movement of reformist Bengalis formed to fight against social evils.

Roy's political background influenced his social and religious to reforms of Hinduism. He wrote: "The present system of Hindoos[sic] is not well calculated to promote their political interests…. It is necessary that some change should take place in their religion, at least for the sake of their political advantage and social comfort."[21]

Rammohan Roy's experience working with the British government taught him that Hindu traditions were often not respected or thought as credible by Western standards; this affected his religious reforms. He wanted to legitimise Hindu traditions to his European acquaintances by proving that "superstitious practices which deform the Hindu [sic] religion have nothing to do with the pure spirit of its dictates! [sic]"[22] The "superstitious practices" Rammohun Roy objected included sati, caste rigidity, polygamy andchild marriages.[23] These practices were often the reasons British officials claimed moral superiority over the Indian nation. Ram Mohan Roy's ideas of religion sought to create a fair and just society by implementing humanitarian practices similar to Christian ideals and thus legitimise Hinduism in the modern world.

[edit]Educationist

Roy believed education to be an implement for social reform. In 1817, in collaboration with David Hare, he set up the Hindu Collegeat Calcutta. In 1822, Roy founded the Anglo-Hindu school, followed four years later by the Vedanta College, where he insisted that his teachings of monotheistic doctrines be incorporated with "modern, western curriculum"; Vedanta College offered courses as a synthesis of Western and Indian learning.[24] In 1830, he helped Alexander Duff in establishing the General Assembly's Institution, by providing him the venue vacated by Brahma Sabha and getting the first batch of students. Roy supported induction of western learning into Indian education. He advocated the study of English, science, western medicine and technology. He spent his money on a college to promote these studies.

[edit]Journalist

Roy published magazines in English, Hindi, Persian, and Bengali. He published Brahmonical Magazine in English in 1821. One notable magazine of his was the Sambad Kaumudi, published in 1821. In 1822, Ram Mohan published Mirat-ul-Akbar in Persian language.

Brahmonical Magazine ceased to exist after publication of few[weasel words] issues. But Sambad Kaumudi, a news weekly, covered topics such as freedom of press, induction of Indians into high ranks of service and separation of the executive and judiciary. Sambad Kaumudi became bi-weekly in January 1830 and continued for 33 years.

He published newspaper to register his protest against the introduction of Press Ordinance of 1823. The ordinance stated that a license from the Governor General in council would be mandatory to publish any newspaper. When the English Company censored the press, Rammohan composed two memorials against this in 1829 and 1830 respectively. Being an activist, he steadily opposed social atrocities like Sati and child marriage.

[edit]Cenotaph

Epitaph for Ram Mohan Roy on his cenotaph

Cenotaph of Ram Mohan Roy in Arno's Vale Cemetery, Bristol, England

The tomb was built by Dwarkanath Tagore in 1843, 10 years after Rammohan Roy's death in Bristol on 27 Sep 1833; it is located in the Arnos Vale Cemetery on the outskirts of Bristol. In 1845 Dwarkanath Tagore arranged for Rammohan's remains to be returned to India through Roy's nephew, who had accompanied Dwarkanath for this purpose to Britain. Rammohan's relics were cremated near Kolkata on 28 February 1846 by his family.[25]

In September 2006 representatives of the Indian High Commission and the mayor of Kolkata came to Bristol to mark the anniversary of Ram Mohan Roy's death. During the ceremony Hindu, Muslim and Sikh women sang Sanskrit prayers of thanks.[26] Following this visit the Mayor of Kolkata, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, decided to raise funds to restore the cenotaph, and in June 2007 businessman Aditya Poddar donated £50,000 towards the restoration.[27] In June 2008 the Arnos Vale restorers confirmed that they could not locate Roy's remains at the site after searching for it by digging. Thebrahmosamaj.net stated, "To everyone`s surprise the coffin was not to be seen under the chattri."[28]

Swami VivekanandaParliament of the World's Religions

Swami Vivekananda on the platform of the Parliament of Religions September 1893. On the platform (left

to right) Virchand Gandhi, Dharmapala, Swami Vivekananda[81]

Parliament of the World's Religions opened on 11 September 1893 at the Art Institute of Chicago as part of the World's Columbian Exposition.[82] On this day Vivekananda gave his first brief address. He represented India and Hinduism.[83]Though initially nervous, he bowed to Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning and began his speech with, "Sisters and brothers of America!".[79][84] To these words he got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand, which lasted for two minutes. When silence was restored he began his address. He greeted the youngest of the nations on behalf of "the most ancient order of monks in the world, the Vedic order of sannyasins, a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance."[85] He quoted two illustrative passages from theBhagavad Gita—"As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee!" and "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths that in the end lead to Me."[85] Despite being a short speech, it voiced the spirit of the Parliament and its sense of universality.[85][86]

Dr. Barrows, the president of the Parliament said, "India, the Mother of religions was represented by Swami Vivekananda, the Orange-monk who exercised the most wonderful influence over his auditors."[84] He attracted widespread attention in the press, which dubbed him as the "Cyclonic monk

from India". The New York Critique wrote, "He is an orator by divine right, and his strong, intelligent face in its picturesque setting of yellow and orange was hardly less interesting than those earnest words, and the rich, rhythmical utterance he gave them." The New York Herald wrote, "Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation."

Lecturing tours in America and England

"I do not come", said Swamiji on one occasion in America, "to convert you to a new belief. I want you to

keep your own belief; I want to make theMethodist a better Methodist; the Presbyterian a better

Presbyterian; the Unitarian a better Unitarian. I want to teach you to live the truth, to reveal the light

within your own soul."[91]

Following the Parliament of Religions, Vivekananda spent nearly two years lecturing in various parts of eastern and central United States, mostly in Chicago, Detroit, Boston, and New York. By the spring of 1895, his busy and tiring schedule led to poor health.[92] He stopped lecturing tours, and started giving free and private classes on Vedanta and Yoga. Starting in June 1895, he conducted private lectures to a dozen of his disciples at the Thousand Island Park in New York for two months. Vivekananda considered this to be the happiest part of his first visit to America. He later founded the "Vedanta Society of New York".[92]

During his first visit to the West, he travelled to England twice—in 1895 and 1896. His lectures were successful there.[93] There in November 1895, he met Margaret Elizabeth Noble, an Irish lady, who would later become Sister Nivedita.[92] During his second visit to England in May 1896, Vivekananda met Max Müller, a renowned Indologist from Oxford University who wrote Ramakrishna's first biography in the West.[86] From England, he also visited other European countries. In Germany he met Paul Deussen, another famous Indologist.[94] He received two academic offers, the chair of Eastern Philosophy at Harvard University[95] and a similar position at Columbia University. He declined both, saying that as a wandering monk, he could not settle down to work of this kind.[92]

Founding of the Ramakrishna Mission

Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, a branch of theRamakrishna Math, founded on 19 March 1899, later

published many of Swami Vivekananda's work, now publishes Prabuddha Bharata journal

On 1 May 1897 at Calcutta, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission—the organ for social service. The ideals of the Ramakrishna Mission are based on Karma Yoga.[112][113] Its governing body consists of the trustees of the Ramakrishna Math—the organ to carry out religious works.[114] Both Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission have their headquarters at Belur Math.[86][115] He founded two other monasteries—one at Mayavati on the Himalayas, near Almora, called the Advaita Ashrama and another at Madras. Two journals were started, Prabuddha Bharata in English and Udbhodan in Bengali.[116] The same year, the famine relief work was started by Swami Akhandananda at Murshidabad district.[114][86]

Vivekananda had earlier inspired Jamsetji Tata to set up a research and educational institution when they had travelled together from Yokohama to Chicago on Vivekananda's first visit to the West in 1893. Now Vivekananda received a letter from Tata, requesting him to head the Research Institute of Science that Tata had set up. Vivekananda declined the offer saying that it conflicted with his spiritual interests.[117][118][119]

Teachings and philosophy

Main article: Teachings and philosophy of Swami Vivekananda

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Swami Vivekananda believed a country's future depends on its people; his teachings focussed on this area.[133] He wanted “to set in motion a machinery which will bring noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.”[134] Swami Vivekananda believed that the essence of Hinduism was best expressed in the Vedantaphilosophy, based on the interpretation of Adi Shankara. He summarised the Vedanta's teachings as follows:[135]

Each soul is potentially divine.[135]

The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal.[135]

Do this either by work, or worship, or mental discipline, or philosophy—by one, or more, or all of these—and be free.[135]

This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details.[135]

Vivekananda advised his followers to be holy, unselfish and have Shraddha (faith). He encouraged the practice of Brahmacharya(celibacy).[136] In one of the conversations with his childhood friend Priya Nath Sinha, he attributes his physical and mental strengths, and eloquence, to the practice of Brahmacharya.[137]

Dayananda SaraswatiDayanand's mission

Aum or Om is considered by the ((Arya Samaj)) to be the highest and most proper name of God.

Dayananda mission was not to start or set up any new religion but to tell the humankind for Universal Brotherhood through nobility as spelt out in Vedas. For that mission he founded Arya Samaj enunciating the Ten Universal Principles as a code for Universalism Krinvanto Vishwaryammeaning the whole world be an abode for Nobles (Aryas). His next step was to take up the difficult task of reforming Hinduism with dedication despite multiple repeated attempts on his personal life. He traveled the country challenging religious scholars and priests to discussions and won repeatedly on the strength of his arguments based on his knowledge of Sanskrit and Vedas.[19] He believed that Hinduism had been corrupted by divergence from the founding principles of the Vedasand that Hindus had been misled by the priesthood for the priests' self-aggrandizement. Hindu priests discouraged the laity from reading Vedic scriptures and encouraged rituals, such as bathing in the Ganges River and feeding of priests on anniversaries, which Dayananda pronounced assuperstitions or self-serving practices. By exhorting the nation to reject such superstitious notions, his aim was to educate the nation to Go back to the Vedas. He wanted the people who followed Hinduism to go back to its roots and to follow the Vedic life, which he pointed out. He exhorted the Hindu nation to accept social reforms like the abolition of untouchability, sati, and dowry, Education of women, Swadeshi and importance of Cows for national prosperity as well as the adoption of Hindi as the national language for national integration. Through his daily life and practice of yoga and asanas, teachings, preachings, sermons and writings, he inspired the Hindu nation to aspire to Swarajya (self governance), nationalism, and spiritualism. He advocated the equal rights and respects to women and advocated the education of a girl child like the males.

Swami Dayananda did logical, scientific and critical analyses of all faiths i.e. Islam and Christianity as well as of other Indian faiths like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, in addition to denouncing idolatry in Hinduism, as may be seen in his book Satyartha Prakash.[20] He was against what he considered to be the corruption of the true and pure faith in his own country. Unlike many other reform movements of his times within Hinduism, the Arya Samaj's appeal was addressed not only to the educated few in India, but to the world as a whole as evidenced in the sixth principle of the Arya Samaj.In fact his teachings professed universalism for the all living beings and not for any particular sect, faith, community or nation.

Arya Samaj allows and encourages converts to Hinduism. Dayananda’s concept of dharma is stated in the "Beliefs and Disbeliefs" section of Satyartha Prakash. He said:

"I accept as Dharma whatever is in full conformity with impartial justice, truthfulness and the like; that

which is not opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas. Whatever is not free from

partiality and is unjust, partaking of untruth and the like, and opposed to the teachings of God as

embodied in the Vedas—that I hold as adharma"

He also said:

"He, who after careful thinking, is ever ready to accept truth and reject falsehood; who counts the

happiness of others as he does that of his own self, him I call just."

— Satyarth Prakash

Dayananda's Vedic message was to emphasize respect and reverence for other human beings, supported by the Vedic notion of the divine nature of the individual–divine because the body was the temple where the human essence (soul or "atma") had the possibility to interface with the creator ("Paramatma"). In the ten principles of the Arya Samaj, he enshrined the idea that "All actions should be performed with the prime objective of benefiting mankind", as opposed to following dogmatic rituals or revering idols and symbols. The first five principles speak of Truth and the other five of a society with nobility, civics, co-living and disciplined life. In his own life, he interpreted moksha to be a lower calling (due to its benefit to one individual) than the calling to emancipate others.

Dayananda's "back to the Vedas" message influenced many thinkers and philosophers the world over.

[edit]Arya Samaj

Main article: Arya Samaj

Swami Dayananda's creation, the Arya Samaj, unequivocally condemns idol worship, animal sacrifice, ancestor worship,pilgrimages, priest craft, offerings made in temples, the caste system, untouchability, child marriages and discrimination against women on the grounds that all these lacked Vedic sanction. The Arya Samaj discourages dogma and symbolism and encouragesskepticism in beliefs that run contrary to common sense and logic. To many people, the Arya Samaj aims to be a "universal society" based on the authority of the Vedas.[21]

However, Swami Dayananand showed extreme rationalism and paradoxically made many assumptions while interpreting the Veda. Thus, he posited that Brahman could be the only god, and denied the existence of the lower gods. He also partially accepted the authority of the Shastras, the commentaries of Sayana. It is a matter of surprise that he denied the authority of the shastras, while accepting part of them to be true thus accepting the upanayana and disallowing the Shraddha and Ashvamedha ( The spirits, when summoned, according to him were a bad omen and ashva did not mean 'horse') . In order to get around the shastras, he wrote a treatise on Sanskaras.

The shastras, much like the vedas according to the Sanatana dharma, are correct because of the yogaja pramana of the rishis. The gods cannot either be discovered by the senses or by reason.

The 19th century India renaissance was both an acceptance and rejection of western valuesR.VERMA

Immense intellectual and cultural stirrings characterised 19th century India. The impact of modern Western culture and consciousness of defeat by a foreign power gave birth to a new awakening.

There was awareness that a vast country like India had been colonised by a handful of foreigners because of internal weaknesses of Indian social structure and culture.

Thoughtful Indians began to look for the strengths and weaknesses of their society and for ways and means of removing the weakness. While a large number of Indians refused to come to terms with the West and still put their faith in traditional Indian ideas and institutions, others gradually came to hold that elements of modern western thought had to be imbibed for the regenerations of their society.

They were impressed in particular by Modern science and the doctrines of reason and humanism. While differing on the nature and extent of reforms, nearly all 19th century intellectuals shared the conviction that social and religious reform was urgently needed.

The central figure in this awakening was Rammohan Roy, who is rightly regarded as the first great leader of modern India. Rammohan Roy was moved by deep love for his people and country and worked hard all his life for their social, religious, intellectual and political regeneration.

He was pained by the stagnation and corruption of contemporary Indian society which was at that time dominated by caste and convention. Popular religion was full of superstitions and was exploited by ignorant and corrupt priests. The upper classes were selfish and often sacrificed social interest to their own narrow interest.

Rammohan Roy possessed great love and respect for the traditional Philosophic system of the East; but, at the same time, he believed that modern culture alone would help regenerate Indian society. In particular, he wanted his countrymen to accept the rational and scientific approach and the principle of human dignity and social equality of all men and women. He also wanted the introduction of modern capitalism and industry in the country.

The Arya Samaj movement was an outcome of reaction to western influences. It was revialist in form though not in content. The founder, Swami Dayanand rejected western ideas and sought to revive the ancient religion of the Aryans. The Arya Samaj movement gave proud self-confidence and self reliance to the Hindus and under mined the belief in the superiority of the white Races and western culture.

While the Brahma Samaj and the Theosophical Society appealed to English educated elite only Dayanand's message was for the masses of India also. The didactic rationalism of the Brahmo Samaj appealed to the intellectual elite in Bengal, while the average Bengali f found more emotional satisfaction in the cult of Bhakti and Yoga.

The teachings of Ramkrishna Mission are the based on ancient and traditional concepts amidst increasing westernization and modernisation. The Ramakrishna mission was esternization and modernisation. The Ramakrishna mission was westernization and modernisation. The Ramakrishna mission was conceived and founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897, eleven years after the death of Ramakrishna.

The Theosophical Society was founded by Westerners who drew inspiration from Indian thought and culture. Madame H.P. Blavatsky (1831-1891) of Russo-German birth laid the foundation of the movement in the United States in 1875. Later Colonel M.S. Olcott (1832-1907) of the US Army joined her.

The members of this society believe that a special relationship can be established between a person's soul and God by contemplation, prayer revelation etc. The Society accepts the Hindu beliefs in reincarnations, Karma and draws inspiration from the philosophy of the Upanishads and Somkhya Yoga, Vedanta School of thought. It aimed to work for universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.

The Society also seeks to investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man. The theosophical movement came to be allied with Hindu Renaissance. The Western educated progressive Parsis like Dadabhai Noroji, J.B. Wacha, S.S. Bengali and Noroji Furdonji founded Rahnumai Mazadayasnan Sabha (Religions Reform Association) in 1851.

The association had for its object. 'The regeneration of social condition of the Parsis and the restoration of the Zoroastrian religious to its pristine purity'. Rast Goftar (Voice of Truth) was its weekly organ.

In defense of orthodox Hindusim and against the teachings of the Arya Samaj the Ramakrishna Mission etc. orthodox educated Hindus organised themselves. In 1890s various organisations were founded in different parts of the country in defend orthodox Hinduism. Among these were the Dahrma Maha Parishad in South India and the Dharma Maha Mandali in Bengal etc.

If Hindu minds had responded to Western influence with a desire to learn, the first reaction of the Muslim community was to shut them in a shell and resist western impact. The earliest organised Muslim response of Western influences appeared in from of the Wahabi movement (which may be more aptly being called the Walliulsah movement). It was essentially a revivalist movement. A legacy of the Revolt of 1857 was the official impression that the Muslims were the arch conspirators in 1857-58. The Wahabi political activities of 1860 and 1870 confirmed such suspicious. A section of Muslim community led by Syed Ahamad Khan was prepared to accept this stance of official patronage. These Muslims felt that Muslims community would forgo its rightful share in the administrative service if they shut themselves in a shell and resist modern ideas.

Role of Mahatma Gandhi in Freedom Struggle

One of the greatest men in the history of India is unarguably Mahatma Gandhi. The way he gave shape and character to India's freedom struggle is worthy of a standing ovation. He sacrificed his own life for the sake of his country. The respect that he earned for himself despite leading a simple lifestyle is much appreciable. Mahatma Gandhi played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle of India. His non violent ways and peaceful methods were the foundation for gaining independence from the British. Read about Mahatma Gandhi's role in freedom struggle of India. 

Mahatma Gandhi was born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 2nd October at Porbandar located in Gujarat. He went off to South Africa after marriage and worked as barrister there for twenty years. In South Africa, he had his first brush with apartheid. Once while he was traveling in a train, he was thrown out of the first class compartment despite having a ticket. This made him swear that he would do his best to erase apartheid from the face of his world. He went back to India only to find that his own country was being ruled by the British and his fellow citizens were being treated harshly by the British. 

Like other great men in history, Gandhi took his time to grow and develop his techniques to ensure that his actions made an impact. His faith in different religions was commendable. His listened to the teachings of Christianity with the same belief and faith he read the Hindu scriptures with. He was brutally honest and truthful and this helped him throughout his life. Some of the major movements and freedom struggles led by him are discussed below. 

Non Co-operation MovementOne of the first series of non violent protests nationwide was the non cooperation movement started by Mahatma Gandhi. This movement officially started the Gandhian era in India. In this freedom struggle, the non cooperation movement was basically aimed at making the Indians aware of the fact that the British government can be opposed and if done actively, it will keep a check on them. Thus, educational institutions were boycotted, foreign goods were boycotted, and people let go off their nominated seats in government institutions. Though the movement failed, Indians awakened to the concept of going against the British. 

Civil Disobedience MovementGandhi again took off with another non violent movement known as the civil disobedience movement. This movement was more active than the non cooperation movement and brought about a revolution of sorts. This movement aimed at bringing the British administration to a stop by withdrawing support from everything. There was agitation against land revenue, abolition of salt tax, cutting down military

expenditure, levying duty on foreign cloth, etc. A very important movement was that of Salt Satyagraha where Gandhi undertook the Dandi march as a protest against the Salt tax. 

Quit India MovementThe Quit India Movement was launched under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942. The main aim for launching this movement was to bring the British to negotiate with the Indian leaders. It was a call for immediate independence of India and the slogan of "Do or Die" was adopted for the same. However the leaders were arrested soon after Gandhi's speech and were put in jail by British officials. Gandhi went on a fast for 21 days demanding the release of the leaders despite his failing health. The British had to secure the release of the leaders. 

India IndependenceAfter the Quit India Movement the freedom struggle got even more intense and passionate. Entire India was united together in the movement for freedom. Everyone contributed what they could in the freedom struggle. The cry of Purna Swaraj or complete independence was raised. After much sacrifices and efforts, India gained its independence on the 15th August, 1947.Rise of Indian nationalism (1885–1905)

Main article: Nationalist Movements in India

By 1900, although the Congress had emerged as an all-India political organization, its achievement was undermined by its singular failure to attract Muslims, who felt that their representation in government service was inadequate. Attacks by Hindu reformers against religious conversion, cow slaughter, and the preservation of Urdu in Arabic script deepened their concerns of minority status and denial of rights if the Congress alone were to represent the people of India. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan launched a movement for Muslim regeneration that culminated in the founding in 1875 of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh (renamed Aligarh Muslim University in 1920). Its objective was to educate wealthy students by emphasizing the compatibility of Islam with modern western knowledge. The diversity among India's Muslims, however, made it impossible to bring about uniform cultural and intellectual regeneration.

The nationalistic sentiments among Congress members led to the movement to be represented in the bodies of government, to have a say in the legislation and administration of India. Congressmen saw themselves as loyalists, but wanted an active role in governing their own country, albeit as part of the Empire. This trend was personified by Dadabhai Naoroji, who went as far as contesting, successfully, an election to the British House of Commons, becoming its first Indian member.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was the first Indian nationalist to embrace Swaraj as the destiny of the nation[citation

needed]. Tilak deeply opposed the then British education system that ignored and defamed India's culture, history and values. He resented the denial of freedom of expression for nationalists, and the lack of any voice or role for ordinary Indians in the affairs of their nation. For these reasons, he considered Swaraj as the natural and only solution. His popular sentence "Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it" became the source of inspiration for Indians.

In 1907, the Congress was split into two factions. The radicals led by Tilak advocated civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire and the abandonment of all things British. The moderates led by leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji and Gopal Krishna Gokhale on the other hand wanted reform within the framework of British rule. Tilak was backed by rising public leaders like Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, who held the same point of view. Under them, India's three great states – Maharashtra, Bengal andPunjab shaped the demand of the people and India's nationalism. Gokhale criticized Tilak for encouraging acts of violence and disorder. But the Congress of 1906 did not have public membership, and thus Tilak and his supporters were forced to leave the party.

But with Tilak's arrest, all hopes for an Indian offensive were stalled. The Congress lost credit with the people. A Muslim deputation met with the Viceroy, Minto (1905–10), seeking concessions from the impending constitutional reforms, including special considerations in government service and electorates. The British recognized some of the Muslim League's petitions by increasing the number of elective offices reserved for Muslims in the Indian Councils Act 1909. The Muslim League insisted on its separateness from the Hindu-dominated Congress, as the voice of a "nation within a nation."

[edit]Partition of Bengal, 1905

Main article: Partition of Bengal (1905)

In July 1905, Lord Curzon, the Viceroy and Governor-General (1899–1905), ordered the partition of the province of Bengalsupposedly for improvements in administrative efficiency in the huge and populous region.[11] It also had justifications due to increasing conflicts between Muslims and dominant Hindu regimes in Bengal. However the Indians viewed the partition as an attempt by the British to disrupt the growing national movement in Bengal and divide the Hindus and Muslims of the region. The Bengali Hindu intelligentsia exerted considerable influence on local and national politics. The partition outraged Bengalis. Not only had the government failed to consult Indian public opinion, but the action appeared to reflect the British resolve to divide and rule. Widespread agitation ensued in the streets and in the press, and the Congress advocated boycotting British products under the banner of swadeshi. Hindus showed unity by tying Rakhi on each other's wrists and observing Arandhan (not cooking any food). During this time Bengali Hindu nationalists begin writing virulent newspaper articles and were charged with sedition. Brahmabhandav Upadhyay, a Hindu newspaper editor who helped Tagore establish his school at Shantiniketan, was imprisoned and the first martyr to die in British custody in the 20th century struggle for independence. In 1911 the decision was reversed and Bengal was united.

[edit]All India Muslim League

The All India Muslim League was founded by the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference at Dhaka (now Bangladesh), in 1906, in the context of the circumstances that were generated over the partition of Bengal in 1905. Being a political party to secure the interests of the Muslim diaspora in British India, the Muslim League played a decisive role during the 1940s in the Indian independence movement and developed into the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan in the Indian subcontinent.[12]

In 1906, Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress, which was the largest Indian political organization. Like most of the Congress at the time, Jinnah did not favour outright independence, considering British influences on education, law, culture and industry as beneficial to India. Jinnah became a member on the sixty-member Imperial Legislative Council. The council had no real power or authority, and included a large number of un-elected pro-Raj loyalists and Europeans. Nevertheless, Jinnah was instrumental in the passing of the Child Marriages Restraint Act, the legitimization of the Muslim waqf (religious endowments) and was appointed to the Sandhurst committee, which helped establish the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun.[13] During World War I, Jinnah joined other Indian moderates in supporting the British war effort, hoping that Indians would be rewarded with political freedoms.

[edit]First World War

See also: Defence of India Act 1915

This photograph shows an emaciated Indian Army soldier who survived the Siege of Kut

World War I began with an unprecedented outpouring of love and goodwill towards the United Kingdom from within the mainstream political leadership, contrary to initial British fears of an Indian revolt. India contributed massively to the British war effort by providing men and resources. About 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, while both the Indian government and the princes sent large supplies of food, money, and ammunition. However, Bengal and Punjab remained hotbeds of anti colonial activities. Nationalism in Bengal, increasingly closely linked with the unrests in Punjab, was significant enough to nearly paralyse the regional administration.[14][15]

None of the overseas conspiracies had significant impact on Indians inside India, and there were no major mutinies or violent outbursts. However, they did lead to profound fears of insurrection among British officials, preparing them to use extreme force to frighten the Indians into submission.[16]

[edit]Nationalist response to war

In the aftermath of the World War I, high casualty rates, soaring inflation compounded by heavy taxation, a widespread influenza epidemic, and the disruption of trade during the war escalated human suffering in India.

The pre-war nationalist movement revived as moderate and extremist groups within the Congress submerged their differences in order to stand as a unified front. They argued their enormous services to the British Empire during the war demanded a reward, and demonstrated the Indian capacity for self rule. In 1916, the Congress succeeded in forging the Lucknow Pact, a temporary alliance with the Muslim League over the issues of devolution of political power and the future of Islam in the region.

[edit]British reforms

The British themselves adopted a "carrot and stick" approach in recognition of India's support during the war and in response to renewed nationalist demands. In August 1917, Edwin Montagu, the secretary of state for India, made the historic announcement in Parliament that the British policy for India was "increasing association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire." The means of achieving the proposed measure were later

enshrined in the Government of India Act 1919, which introduced the principle of a dual mode of administration, or diarchy, in which both elected Indian legislators and appointed British officials shared power. The act also expanded the central and provincial legislatures and widened the franchise considerably. Diarchy set in motion certain real changes at the provincial level: a number of non-controversial or "transferred" portfolios, such as agriculture, local government, health, education, and public works, were handed over to Indians, while more sensitive matters such as finance, taxation, and maintaining law and order were retained by the provincial British administrators.[17]

[edit]Gandhiji arrives in India

See also: Jallianwala Bagh massacre

Gandhiji in 1918, at the time of the Kheda and Champaran satyagrahas

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), had been a prominent leader of the Indian nationalist movement in South Africa, and had been a vocal opponent of basic discrimination and abusive labour treatment as well as suppressive police control such as the Rowlatt Acts. During these protests, Gandhiji had prefected the concept ofsatyagraha, which had been inspired by the philosophy of Baba Ram Singh (famous for leading the Kuka Movement in the Punjab in 1872). In January 1914 (well before the First World War began) Gandhiji was successful. The hated legislation against Indians was repealed and all Indian political prisoners were released by General Jan Smuts.[18]

Gandhi returned to India, on 6 January 1915 and initially entered the political fray not with calls for a nation-state, but in support of the unified commerce-oriented territory that the Congress Party had been asking for. Gandhi believed that the industrial development and educational development that the Europeans had brought with them were required to alleviate many of India's problems. Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a veteran Congressman and Indian leader, became Gandhi's mentor. Gandhi's ideas and strategies of non-violent civil disobedience initially appeared impractical to some Indians and Congressmen. In Gandhi's own words, "civil disobedience is civil breach of unmoral statutory enactments." It had to be carried out non-violently by withdrawing cooperation with the corrupt state. Gandhi's ability to inspire millions of common people became clear when he usedsatyagraha during the

anti-Rowlatt Act protests in Punjab. Gandhi had great respect for Lokmanya Tilak. His programmes were all inspired by Tilak's "Chatusutri" programme.

Gandhi’s vision would soon bring millions of regular Indians into the movement, transforming it from an elitist struggle to a national one. The nationalist cause was expanded to include the interests and industries that formed the economy of common Indians. For example, in Champaran, Bihar, Gandhi championed the plight of desperately poor sharecroppers and landless farmers who were being forced to pay oppressive taxes and grow cash crops at the expense of the subsistence crops which formed their food supply. The profits from the crops they grew were insufficient to provide for their sustenance.

The positive impact of reform was seriously undermined in 1919 by the Rowlatt Act, named after the recommendations made the previous year to the Imperial Legislative Council by the Rowlatt Commission. The Rowlatt Act vested the Viceroy's government with extraordinary powers to quell sedition by silencing the press, detaining the political activists without trial, and arresting any individuals suspected of sedition or treason without a warrant. In protest, a nationwide cessation of work (hartal) was called, marking the beginning of widespread, although not nationwide, popular discontent.

The agitation unleashed by the acts led to British attacks on demonstrators, culminating on 13 April 1919, in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre (also known as the Amritsar Massacre) in Amritsar, Punjab. The British military commander, Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, blocked the main, and only entrance-cum-exit, and ordered his soldiers to fire into an unarmed and unsuspecting crowd of some 15,000 men, women and children. They had assembled peacefully at Jallianwala Bagh, a walled courtyard, but Dyer had wanted to execute the imposed ban on all meetings and proposed to teach all Indians a lesson the harsher way.[19] A total of 1,651 rounds were fired, killing 379 people (as according to an official British commission; Indian officials' estimates ranged as high as 1,499 and wounding 1,137 in the massacre.[20] Dyer was forced to retire but was hailed as a hero in Britain, demonstrating to Indian nationalists that the Empire was beholden to public opinion in Britain, but not in India.[21] The episode dissolved wartime hopes of home rule and goodwill and opened a rift that could not be bridged short of complete independence.[22]

[edit]The non-cooperation movements

Main articles: Mohandas Gandhi and Non-cooperation movement

The independence movement as late as 1918 was an elitist movement far removed from the masses of India, focusing essentially on a unified commerce-oriented territory and hardly a call for a united nation. Gandhi changed all that and made it a mass movement.

[edit]The first non-cooperation movement

At the Calcutta session of the Congress in September 1920, Gandhi convinced other leaders of the need to start a non-cooperation movement in support of Khilafat as well as for swaraj (self rule). The first satyagraha movement urged the use of khadi and Indian material as alternatives to those shipped from Britain. It also urged people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts; resign from government employment; refuse to pay taxes; and forsake British titles and honours. Although this came too late to influence the framing of the new Government of India Act 1919, the movement enjoyed widespread popular support, and the resulting unparalleled magnitude of disorder presented a serious challenge to foreign rule. However, Gandhi called off the movement following the Chauri Chaura incident, which saw the death of twenty-two policemen at the hands of an angry mob.

Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee, and a hierarchy of committees was established and made responsible for discipline and control over a hitherto amorphous and diffuse movement. The party was transformed from an elite organization to one of mass national appeal and participation.

Gandhi was sentenced in 1922 to six years of prison, but was released after serving two. On his release from prison, he set up theSabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, on the banks of river Sabarmati, established the newspaper Young India, and inaugurated a series of reforms aimed at the socially disadvantaged within Hindu society — the rural poor, and the untouchables.[23][24]

This era saw the emergence of new generation of Indians from within the Congress Party, including C. Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose and others- who would later on come to form the prominent voices of the Indian independence movement, whether keeping with Gandhian Values, or, as in the case of Bose's Indian National Army, diverging from it.

The Indian political spectrum was further broadened in the mid-1920s by the emergence of both moderate and militant parties, such as the Swaraj Party, Hindu Mahasabha, Communist Party of India and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Regional political organizations also continued to represent the interests of non-Brahmins in Madras, Mahars in Maharashtra, and Sikhs in Punjab. However, people like Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi, Vanchinathan and Neelakanda Brahmachari played a major role from Tamil Nadu in both freedom struggle and fighting for equality for all castes and communities.

[edit]Purna Swaraj

Following the rejection of the recommendations of the Simon Commission by Indians, an all-party conference was held at Bombayin May 1928. This was meant to instill a sense of resistance among people. The conference appointed a drafting committee underMotilal Nehru to draw up a constitution for India. The Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress asked the British government to accord dominion status to India by December 1929, or a countrywide civil disobedience movement would be launched. By 1929, however, in the midst of rising political discontent and increasingly violent regional movements, the call for complete independence from Britain began to find increasing grounds within the Congress leadership. Under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru at its historic Lahore session in December 1929, the Indian National Congress adopted a resolution calling for complete independence from the British. It authorised the Working Committee to launch a civil disobedience movement throughout the country. It was decided that 26 January 1930 should be observed all over India as the Purna Swaraj (total independence) Day. Many Indian political parties and Indian revolutionaries of a wide spectrum united to observe the day with honour and pride.

Karachi congress session-1931 A special session was held to endorse the Gandhi-Irwin or Delhi Pact. The goal of Purna swaraj was reiterated. Two resolutions were adopted-one on Fundamental rights and other on National Economic programme. which made the session particularly memmorable.

This was the first time the congress spelt out what swaraj would mean for the masses.

[edit]Salt March and civil disobedience

Main article: Salt Satyagraha

Gandhi emerged from his long seclusion by undertaking his most famous campaign, a march of about 400 kilometers [240 miles] from his commune in Ahmedabad to Dandi, on the coast of Gujarat between 11 March and 6 April 1930. The march is usually known as the Dandi March or the Salt Satyagraha. At Dandi, in protest against British taxes on salt, he and thousands of followers broke the law by making their own salt from seawater. It took 24 days for him to complete this march. Every day he covered 10 miles and gave many speeches.

In April 1930 there were violent police-crowd clashes in Calcutta. Approximately 100,000 people were imprisoned in the course of the Civil disobedience movement (1930–31), while in Peshawar unarmed demonstrators were fired upon in the Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre. The latter event catapulted the then newly formed Khudai Khidmatgar movement (founder Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, theFrontier Gandhi) onto the National scene. While Gandhi was in jail, the first Round Table Conference was held in London

in November 1930, without representation from the Indian National Congress. The ban upon the Congress was removed because of economic hardships caused by the satyagraha. Gandhi, along with other members of the Congress Working Committee, was released from prison in January 1931.

In March 1931, the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed, and the government agreed to set all political prisoners free (Although, some of the key revolutionaries were not set free and the death sentence for Bhagat Singh and his two comrades was not taken back which further intensified the agitation against Congress not only outside it but within the Congress itself). In return, Gandhi agreed to discontinue the civil disobedience movement and participate as the sole representative of the Congress in the second Round Table Conference, which was held in London in September 1931. However, the conference ended in failure in December 1931. Gandhi returned to India and decided to resume the civil disobedience movement in January 1932.

For the next few years, the Congress and the government were locked in conflict and negotiations until what became theGovernment of India Act 1935 could be hammered out. By then, the rift between the Congress and the Muslim League had become unbridgeable as each pointed the finger at the other acrimoniously. The Muslim League disputed the claim of the Congress to represent all people of India, while the Congress disputed the Muslim League's claim to voice the aspirations of all Muslims.

[edit]Elections and the Lahore resolution

Main article: Lahore Resolution

Jinnah with Gandhi, 1944.

The Government of India Act 1935, the voluminous and final constitutional effort at governingBritish India, articulated three major goals: establishing a loose federal structure, achieving provincial autonomy, and safeguarding minority interests through separate electorates. The federal provisions, intended to unite princely states and British India at the centre, were not implemented because of ambiguities in safeguarding the existing privileges of princes. In February 1937, however, provincial autonomy became a reality when elections were held; the Congress emerged as the dominant party with a clear majority in five provinces and held an upper hand in two, while the Muslim League performed poorly.

In 1939, the Viceroy Linlithgow declared India's entrance into World War II without consulting provincial governments. In protest, the Congress asked all of its elected representatives to resign from the government. Jinnah, the president of the Muslim League, persuaded participants at the annual Muslim League session at Lahore in 1940 to adopt what later came to be known as the Lahore Resolution, demanding the division of India into two separate sovereign states, one Muslim, the other Hindu; sometimes referred to as Two Nation Theory. Although the idea of Pakistan had been introduced as early as 1930, very few had responded to it. However, the volatile political climate and hostilities between the Hindus and Muslims transformed the idea of Pakistan into a stronger demand.

The climax of Indian independence movement

In 1937, provincial elections were held and the Congress came to power in eight of the eleven provinces. This was a strong indicator of the Indian people's support for complete Independence.

When World war II started, Viceroy Linlithgow had unilaterally declared India a belligerent on the side of the Britain, without consulting the elected Indian representatives. In opposition to Linlithgow's action, the entire Congress leadership resigned from the local government councils. However, many wanted to support the British war effort, and indeed the British Indian Army was the largest volunteer forces, numbering 2,500,000 men during the war.[29]

Especially during the Battle of Britain in 1940, Gandhi resisted calls for massive civil disobedience movements that came from within as well as outside his party, stating he did not seek India's freedom out of the ashes of a destroyed Britain. In 1942 the Congress launched the Quit India movement. There was some violence but the Raj cracked down and arrested tens of thousands of Congress leaders, including all the main national and provincial figures. They were not released until the end of the war was in sight in 1945.

The independence movement saw the rise of three movements. The first of these, the Kakori conspiracy (9 August 1925) was done by the Indian youth under the leadership of Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, second was the Azad Hind movement led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, saw its inception early in the war and joined with Germany and Japan to fight Britain. . And the third one after 17 years of the first from the same date (9) saw its inception in August 1942 which was led by Lal Bahadur Shastri[30] and the common man resulting the failure of the Cripps' mission to reach a consensus with the Indian political leadership over the transfer of power after the war.

[edit]Quit India Movement

Main article: Quit India Movement

The Quit India Movement (Bharat Chhodo Andolan) or the August Movement was a civil disobedience movement in India launched on 9 August 1942 in response to Gandhi's call for immediate independence of India and against sending Indians to World War II. He asked all the teachers to leave their school, and other Indians to leave away their respective jobs and take part in this movement. Due to Gandhi's political influence, request was followed by a massive proportion of the population.

At the outbreak of war, the Congress Party had during the Wardha meeting of the working-committee in September 1939, passed a resolution conditionally supporting the fight against fascism,[31] but were rebuffed when they asked for independence in return. In March 1942, faced with an increasingly dissatisfied sub-continent only reluctantly participating in the war, and deteriorations in the war situation in Europe and South East Asia, and with growing dissatisfactions among Indian troops- especially in Europe- and among the civilian population in the sub-continent, the British government sent a delegation to India under Stafford Cripps, in what came to be known as the Cripps' Mission. The purpose of the mission was to negotiate with the Indian National Congress a deal to obtain total co-operation during the war, in return of progressive devolution and distribution of power from the crown and the Viceroyto elected Indian legislature. However, the talks failed, having failed to address the key demand of a timeframe towards self-government, and of definition of the powers to be relinquished, essentially portraying an offer of limited dominion-status that was wholly unacceptable to the Indian movement.[32] To force the British Raj to meet its demands and to obtain definitive word on total independence, the Congress took the decision to launch the Quit India Movement.

The aim of the movement was to bring the British Government to the negotiating table by holding the Allied War Effort hostage. The call for determined but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi foresaw for the movement is best described by his call to Do or Die, issued on 8 August at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay, since renamed August Kranti Maidan (August Revolution Ground).

However, almost the entire Congress leadership, and not merely at the national level, was put into confinement less than twenty-four hours after Gandhi's speech, and the greater number of the Congress khiland were to spend the rest of the war in jail.

On 8 August 1942, the Quit India resolution was passed at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The draft proposed that if the British did not accede to the demands, a massive Civil Disobedience would be launched. However, it was an extremely controversial decision. At Gowalia Tank, Mumbai, Gandhi urged Indians to follow a non-violent civil disobedience. Gandhi told the masses to act as an independent nation and not to follow the orders of the British. The British, already alarmed by the advance of the Japanese army to the India–Burma border, responded the next day by imprisoning Gandhi at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. The Congress Party's Working Committee, or national leadership was arrested all together and imprisoned at the Ahmednagar Fort. They also banned the party altogether. Large-scale protests and demonstrations were held all over the country. Workers remained absent en masse and strikes were called. The movement also saw widespread acts of sabotage, Indian under-ground organisation carried out bomb attacks on allied supply convoys, government buildings were set on fire, electricity lines were disconnected and transport and communication lines were severed. The disruptions were under control in a few weeks and had little impact on the war effort. The movement soon became a leaderless act of defiance, with a number of acts that deviated from Gandhi's principle of non-violence. In large parts of the country, the local underground organisations took over the movement. However, by 1943, Quit India had petered out.

All the other major parties rejected the Quit India plan, and most cooperated closely with the British, as did the princely states, the civil service and the police. The Muslim League supported the Raj and grew rapidly in membership, and in influence with the British.

[edit]Indian National Army

Main articles: Indian National Army, Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and World War 2

See also: Legion Freies Indien, Battaglione Azad Hindoustan, Capt. Mohan Singh, Indian Independence League, and INA trials

The arbitrary entry of India into the war was strongly opposed by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been elected President of the Congress twice, in 1938 and 1939. After lobbying against participation in the war, he resigned from Congress in 1939 and started a new party, the All India Forward Bloc. In 1940, a year after war broke out, the British had put Bose under house arrest in Calcutta. However, he escaped and made his way through Afghanistan to Germany to seek Axis help to raise an army to fight the British. Here, he raised with Rommel's Indian POWs what came to be known as the Free India Legion. Bose made his way ultimately to Japanese South Asia, where he formed what came to be known as the Azad Hind Government, a Provisional Free Indian Government in exile, and organized the Indian National Army with Indian POWs and Indian expatriates in South-East Asia, with the help of the Japanese. Its aim was to reach India as a fighting force that would build on public resentment to inspire revolts among Indian soldiers to defeat the British raj.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

The INA was to see action against the allies, including the British Indian Army, in the forests of Arakan, Burma and in Assam, laying siege on Imphal and Kohima with the Japanese 15th Army. During the war, the Andaman and Nicobar islands were captured by the Japanese and handed over by them to the INA. Bose renamed them Shahid (Martyr) and Swaraj (Independence).

The INA would ultimately fail, owing to disrupted logistics, poor arms and supplies from the Japanese, and lack of support and training.[33] The supposed death of Bose is seen as culmination of the entire Azad Hind Movement. Following the surrender of Japan, the troops of the INA were brought to India and a number of them charged with treason. However, Bose's actions had captured the public imagination and also turned the inclination of the native soldiers of the British Indian Forces from one of loyalty to the crown to support for the soldiers that the Raj deemed as collaborators.[34][35]

After the war, the stories of the Azad Hind movement and its army that came into public limelight during the trials of soldiers of the INA in 1945 were seen as so inflammatory that, fearing mass revolts and uprisings — not just in India, but across its empire — the British Government forbade theBBC from broadcasting their story.[36] Newspapers reported the summary execution of INA soldiers held at Red Fort.[37] During and after the trial, mutinies broke out in the British Indian Armed forces, most notably in the Royal Indian Navy which found public support throughout India, from Karachi to Mumbai and from Vizag toKolkata.[38][39][40] Many historians have argued that the INA, and the mutinies it inspired, were strong driving forces behind the transfer of power in 1947.[41][42][43]

[edit]Christmas Island Mutiny & Royal Indian Navy mutiny

Main article: Royal Indian Navy mutiny

After two Japanese attacks on Christmas Island in late February and early March 1942 relations between the British officers and their Indian troops broke down. On the night of 10 March the Indian troops led by a Sikh policemen mutinied killing the five British soldiers and the imprisoning of the remaining 21 Europeans on the island. Later on 31 March, a Japanese fleet arrived at the island and the Indians surrendered.[44]

The Royal Indian Navy mutiny (also called the Bombay Mutiny) encompasses a total strike and subsequent mutiny by Indian sailors of the Royal Indian Navy on board ship and shore establishments at Bombay (Mumbai) harbour on 18 February 1946. From the initial flashpoint in Bombay, the mutiny spread and found support throughout British India, from Karachi to Calcutta and ultimately came to involve 78 ships, 20 shore establishments and 20,000 sailors.[45]

The agitations, mass strikes, demonstrations and consequently support for the mutineers, therefore continued several days even after the mutiny had been called off. Along with this, the assessment may be made that it described in crystal clear terms to the government that the British Indian Armed forces could no longer be universally relied upon for support in crisis, and even more it was more likely itself to be the source of the sparks that would ignite trouble in a country fast slipping out of the scenario of political settlement.[46]

[edit]Independence and partition of India

Main articles: History of the Republic of India, Partition of India, and Pakistan movement

On 3 June 1947, Viscount Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced the partitioning of British India into India and Pakistan. With the speedy passage through the British Parliament of the Indian Independence Act 1947, at 11:57 on14 August 1947 Pakistan was declared a separate nation, and at 12:02, just after midnight, on 15 August 1947, India also became an independent nation. Violent clashes between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims followed. Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel invited Mountbatten to continue as Governor General of India. He was replaced in June 1948 byChakravarti Rajagopalachari. Patel took on the responsibility of bringing into the Indian Union 565 princely states, steering efforts by his “iron fist in a velvet glove” policies, exemplified by the use of military force to integrate Junagadh and Hyderabad state (Operation Polo) into India. On the other hand Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru kept the issue of Kashmir in his hands.

The Constituent Assembly completed the work of drafting the constitution on 26 November 1949; on 26 January 1950 the Republic of India was officially proclaimed. The Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India, taking over from Governor General Rajgopalachari. Subsequently India invaded and annexed Goa and Portugal's other Indian enclaves in 1961), the French ceded Chandernagore in 1951, and Pondicherry and its remaining Indian colonies in 1956, and Sikkim voted to join the Indian Union in 1975.

Following Independence in 1947, India remained in the Commonwealth of Nations, and relations between the UK and India have been friendly. There are many areas in which the two countries seek stronger ties for mutual benefit, and there are also strong cultural and social ties between the two nations. The UK has an ethnic Indian population of over 1.6 million. In 2010, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron described Indian – British relations as the "New Special Relationship".[

History

The history of the Indian National Congress falls into two distinct eras:

The pre-independence era, when the party was at the forefront of the struggle for independence and was instrumental in the whole of India;

The post-independence era, when the party has enjoyed a prominent place in Indian politics, ruling the country for 48 of the 60 years since independence in 1947.

In the pre-independence era, the Congress was divided in two groups, moderate and activist. The moderates were more educated and wanted to win people's faith to lead the nation to independence without bloodshed; the activists however wanted to follow a revolutionary path and make it a militant organization.[citation needed]

The pre-independence era

First session of Indian National Congress, Bombay, 28–31, December, 1885.

Main article: Indian National Congress - Freedom Era

The Congress was founded by Indian and British members of theTheosophical Society movement, most notably A.O. Hume.[6] It has been suggested that the idea was originally conceived in a private meeting of seventeen men after a Theosophical Convention held at Madras in December 1884. Hume took the initiative, and it was in March 1885 that the first notice was issued convening the first Indian National Union to meet at Poona the following December.[8]

Founded in 1885 with the objective of obtaining a greater share in government for educated Indians, the Indian National Congress was initially not opposed to British rule. The Congress met once a year during December. Indeed, it was a Scotsman, Allan Octavian Hume, who brought about its first meeting in Bombay, with the approval of Lord Dufferin, the then-Viceroy.

Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first President of the INC. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Pune, but due to aplague outbreak there, the meeting was later shifted to Bombay. The first session of the INC was held from 28–31 December 1885, and was attended by 72 delegates.

Within a few years, the demands of the INC became more radical in the face of constant opposition from the government, and the party became very active in the independence movement. By 1907 the party was split into two halves—the Garam Dal (literally "hot faction") of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or Extremists, and the Naram Dal (literally "soft faction") of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, or Moderates—distinguished by their attitude towards the British. Under the influence of Tilak, the Congress became the first integrated mass organization in the country, bringing together millions of people against the British. The Indian National Congress was the only political party to provide harmony to all the sects of the Indian society.[citation needed]

In the pre-independence era, the INC featured a number of prominent political figures: Dadabhai Naoroji, a member of the sisterIndian National Association, elected president of the Congress in 1886, and between 1892 and 1895 the first Indian Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons; Bal Gangadhar Tilak; Bipin Chandra Pal; Lala Lajpat Rai; Gopal Krishna Gokhale; andMohammed Ali Jinnah, later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan. The Congress was transformed into a mass movement by Surendranath Banerjea and Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of Bengal in 1905 and the resultant Swadeshi movement. Mohandas Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915 and with the help of the moderate group led by Ghokhale became president of the Congress and formed an alliance with the Khilafat movement. In protest a number of leaders—Chittaranjan Das, Annie Besant, Motilal Nehru—resigned from the Congress to set up the Swaraj Party. The Khilafat movement collapsed and the Congress was split.

With the rise of Mahatma Gandhi's popularity and his Satyagraha art of revolution came Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (the nation's first Prime Minister), Dr. Rajendra Prasad(the nation's first President), Khan Mohammad Abbas Khan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, Dr. Anugraha Narayan Sinha, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jivatram Kripalani and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. With the already existing nationalistic feeling combined with Gandhi's popularity the Congress became a forceful mass organization in the country, bringing together millions of people by specifically working against caste differences, untouchability, poverty, and religious and ethnic boundaries. Although predominantly Hindu, it had members from virtually every religion, ethnic group, economic class and linguistic group. In 1939,Subhas Chandra Bose, the elected president in both 1938 and 1939 was expelled from the Congress for his socialist views and the Congress was reduced to a pro-business group financed by the business houses of Birla and Bajaj. At the time of the Quit India movement, the Congress was undoubtedly the strongest political and revolutionary organization in India, but the Congress disassociated itself from the Quit India movement within a few days. The Indian National Congress could not claim to be the sole representative of the Indian people as other parties were there as well notably the Hindu Mahasabha, Azad Hind Sarkar, and Forward Bloc.

The 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru holds special significance as in this session "Poorna Swaraj" (complete independence) was declared as the goal of the INC. 26 January 1930 was declared as "Poorna Swaraj Diwas", Independence Day, although the British were remain in India

for seventeen more years. (To commemorate this date the Constitution of India was formally adopted on 26 January 1950, even though it had been passed on 26 November 1949.) However in 1929 Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the Congress for demanding full independence, not just home rule as demanded by Gandhi.

After the First World War the party became associated with Mohandas K. Gandhi, who remained its unofficial, spiritual leader and mass icon even as younger men and women became party president. The party was in many ways an umbrella organization, sheltering within itself radical socialists, traditionalists and even Hindu and Muslim conservatives, but all the socialist groupings (including the Congress Socialist Party, Krishak Praja Party, and Swarajya Party members) were expelled by Gandhi along with Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939.

Members of the Congress initially supported the sailors who led the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny. However they withdrew support at the critical juncture, when the mutiny failed.

During the INA trials of 1946, the Congress helped to form the INA Defence Committee, which forcefully defended the case of the soldiers of the Azad Hind government. The committee declared the formation of the Congress' defence team for the INA and included famous lawyers of the time, including Bhulabhai Desai, Asaf Ali, and Jawaharlal Nehru.

NOTES ON THE FOUNDATION OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

1. Political Feature of Post 1857 Period:- The newly emerged middle class of India took over the politics of India during the post 1857 period. - The middle class started a constitutional agitation after founding an all Indian political association called The Indian National Congress. 2. The Background of the Foundation of the Indian National Congress:a. Causes of the rise of sense of Unity among the Indians:- There was always a cultural unity in India. - The British government established one centralized government over India. - The British government gave a uniform administration, uniform system of education, English language which established a common bond. - The social reforms which were also a result of the British rule, also brought about the sense of national unity among the Indians. - The Indian nationalism and Indian National Congress were also the result of the British rule. - The foundation of the Indian National Congress was a one of the first expressions of political unity in India which was caused by the British rule after 1857. b. Role of the British rule in the rise of Indian National Congress (INC) and Nationalism: (March 00)- The British rule exploited the Indians. - The British rule followed a racial policy under which they discriminated between whites and blacks. - The British rulers adopted repressive policy as a result of which Indians developed discontentment against the British rule. c. Rise of sense of independence among the Indians:- The study of ancient Indian history and its glory generated the sense of self respect among the Indians. - Lord Ripon absorbed the Indians in the administration which gave the Indians the required training and confidence to run their own affairs. - The rise of self respect combined with their discontentment with the British administration gave rise to the sense of independence. - The rise of sense of independence gradually revealed itself in form of national movement. d. Work of Provincial Nationalist Organisations:- The Indians, especially the educated middle class had started forming the provincial organisation. - The provincial organisation conveyed to the British government the demands of Indians. - The provincial organisation performed the important work of raising the political awakening among the

Indians. - They mainly worked for the provincial problems. - Some of the important earlier provincial and political organisations were as follows:i. Bengal Province: Banga Bhasha Prasarika Sabha, The Land Holder’s Association, Bengal British India Society, British Indian Association and Indian Association. ii. Bombay Presidency: Bombay Association, Bombay Presidency Association and Poona Sarvajanik Sabha. iii. Madras Province: East India Association and Madras Mahajan Sabha. iv. England: The Indians and some English well wishers of India had also formed the association which raised political awakening among the Indians. They were London Indian Associations, East India Association, National Indian Association and Indian Society. d1: The Nature of the work of Earlier Association:- The earlier association founded before the Indian National Congress were basically regional association. - Their demands were basically related to their provinces. - They performed the work of raising political awakening among the Indians. - Their demands were not doubt refers to the regional problems but they were national in character. d2: Main Achievements of the Provincial Associations:- The provincial association laid the ground for a national level association. - The provincial association learned that there was no coordination among their activities. This made them to feel the need of a national level association. - Surendra Nath Banerjee founded a National Conference to act as an association at national level. - In 1885, Indian National Congress was also founded which proved more successful and later National Conference was merged with Indian National Congress. 3. Foundation of Indian National Congress: (March 2001)a. Significance of the study of the history of Indian National Congress:- The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885. - An extensive movement of independence of India was carried out under the leadership of INC. - Finally, it was mainly under the leadership of Indian National Congress that Indian attained independence. b. Role of Alan Octavian Hume: (Oct. 96, 99)- Alan Octavian Hume was a retired Civil Servant. - He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress. - He played an important role in the foundation of the Indian National Congress. - The participation of Hume in the founding of the Indian National Congress helped the Indians to remove any possible opposition by the British government to forming of the Congress. c. Theory of Safety Valve: Reasons for the support of the British government: (March 98, 00)- The discontentment of the Indians was rising against the British rule around 1885. - The experiences of the revolt of 1857 were fresh in the mind of the British government. - The government wanted to provide a safety valve for the discontentment of the Indians against it. - The British government felt that the Congress founded with its support would perform the job of a safety valve. - When Hume placed the idea of the Congress before the government it supported it. d. The First Session of the Indian National Congress: 1885 in Bombay: - The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in December in 1885 in Bombay. - Wyomesh Chandra Bannerjee was the president of the first session of the Congress held at Bombay. 4. Three periods of the history of Indian National Congress:a: The history of the Indian National Congress is divided into three periods on the basis of the nature of demands, the form of activities and approach of the leaders towards the demands and the activities of the Indian National Congress.b: The three periods were as follows:

i. The First period known as Moderate period: From 1885 to 1905.ii. The second period known as Extremist period: From 1905 to 1920. iii. The third period known as Gandhian period: From 1920 to 1947. c: Period of Moderates (1885-1905): - The period of Indian National Congress between 1885 and 1905 is called the Moderate Period. - The leaders of the moderate period of the Congress are called the Moderate Leaders. - The politics of the moderate period of the Congress is called the Moderate Politics. - The moderate period was a period of political moderation. - The main Moderate leaders were Wyomesh Chandra Bannerjee, Surendra Nath Banerjee, Anand Mohan Bose, Justice M. G. Ranade, Justice K. T. Telang, Badruddin Tayabajee, Dr. Bhandarkar, Firozshah Mehta, Dadabhai Nawrojee, Gopal Krishan Gokhale, Rangayya Naidu, G. Subramaniyam Iyer, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Deshbandhu Chitaranjan Dass. 5. Objectives of the Indian National Congress: (March 96, 99; Oct. 01)- The main objective of Congress was Swaraj.- It aimed at the overall reforms in India. - It aimed at bringing people of various provinces together on the national level. - It aimed at debating the various social and national issues. - It aimed at finding proper remedies to the National issues. - It aimed at providing the suggestions based on the Indian view for taking measures to solve the national problems. - It aimed at working as a link between the Indians and the British government. 6. Demands of the Indian National Congress: (Oct. 98)- Regardless of the objective of getting Swaraj which means total freedom and own rule, the demands of the Congress during the earlier days were moderate. - It asked for increasing the number of Indians in the British administration in India. - It asked for holding the civil services examinations in India and England simultaneously. - It demanded the increasing the age limit for the civil services examinations. - It asked for the control of Parliament over the bureaucracy in India. - It demanded more elected representatives in the imperial and provincial legislature. - It demanded more powers for Parliament and was not happy with its status as a mere debating body. - It asked British government to reduce the expenditure on the Indian army. 7. The method of functioning of the Indian National Congress: (Methodology)- Petition it importance as per the Moderates: The Congress placed their demands before the government in form of petition. - The method of presenting petition did not disturb the working of the government. It saved the Congress from any negative reaction of the government. - The petition method of was the main method of the functioning of the Congress which is known as moderate approach of the Congress. 8. Difficulties faced by Congress with change in attitude of the British Rule towards it: (Oct. 97) - The British government had given the approval to the formation of the Congress in 1885. - During second annual session in Calcutta (Kalkotta), Viceroy of India had even hosted a dinner for the delegates of the Congress. - However, the attitude of the British rule changed towards the activities of the Congress due to following reasons: (Why did the attitude of the British government changed towards the Congress?)i. The Congress became very popular among the Indians. ii. The membership of the Congress increased every year. iii. The Congress was quite successful in raising political awareness among the Indian masses. iv. The British government did not relish the scenario of rising political awakening due to the activities of the Congress.v. The British government imposed restrictions on Congress. b: British Changed the attitude towards the Congress and imposed restrictions: (March 2001)

- The British government did not like the rising political awareness of the Indian masses due to the activities of the Congress. - The British government did not like the rising popularity of Congress - The British government imposed the restrictions on the Congress.- The Congress members were made to give a guarantee of good conduct. - The British government imposed ban on the government officers to participate in the activities of the Congress.- The government servants like Ranade found it difficult in face government restrictions. However, they kept on participating in the activities of the government indirectly. - The British government adopted oppressive policies towards the Congress in order to rein its activities. However, the popularity of Congress kept on increasing. c: The Popularity of Congress increased inspite of the government restrictions: - The British government imposed restrictions on the government servants for participating in the activities of the Congress- The government servants like Justice Ranade, continued to guide the Congress inspite of the ban. - The popularity of Congress further increased inspite of the numerous restrictions. - Justice Ranade organised Indian Socialist Conference which used to organise its sessions at the same place as that of the Congress. 9. Achievements of the Moderates: a. Activities of the Indian leaders in England:- Dadabhai Nawrojee and Wyomesh Chander Bannerjee created a positive and favourable reputation of Indian National Congress in England. - The activities of Dadabhai Nawrojee created favourable atmosphere for the Congress in England. - The activities of Indian leaders in England won for Congress the support of the English Parliamentarians. - The English Parliamentarians supported the Indian cause in the Parliament due to the works of the Congress leaders in England. b: Indian Council Act of 1892: - The British government passed the Indian Council Act of 1892, which was considered as one of the major achievements of the moderates. - Under the act, the Governor General’s Council was expanded to include the Indian members for the legislative purpose.- The power of the legislature was increased.- The Legislative Council was empowered to discuss the budget and ask questions. - The Act allowed the nomination of members of Indian origin from the Local bodies, Universities, Chamber of Commerce and Land Holders Associations. - The act was mainly aimed to pacify the moderates. - However, it was not able to satisfy the Indian National Congress. c: Rise of Young Congress leaders:- The moderates adopted the policy to accept whatsoever they could get from the government. - They were not satisfied with the Indian Council Act of 1892, but the moderates accepted it. - The young members did not approve of the policy of moderates to accept less than what was demanded. It led to dissatisfaction in the Congress also. d: Major Contribution to the Freedom Struggle: (March 98)- It was the activities of the moderates which laid the ground for democracy and constitutional activities in India. - It was the activities of the moderates which prepared the base for the extremist phase of the Congress. 10. Reaction of British government- Divide and Rule Policy:- The British government took steps to counter the activities of Congress in raising the political awareness among the Indians. - It tried to impose bans on Congress activities. 

- It became suspicious of the Congress. - It started reforms to counter the criticism by the Congress of the British policy. - Along with reforms it adopted the policy of Divide and Rule. a: Divide and Rule Policy:- The British government tried to weaken the activities of the Congress by breaking away from it the support of Muslims community. - The British government successfully tried to convey the message to the Muslims and Muslims leaders that their interests were not safe if they joined with the Congress activities. 11. Criticism and Evaluation of Moderate Period: - The moderates had great faith in the sense of justice of the British. - They worked through representation and petitions only. They did not adopt any anti-law method to ask the government to accept their demands. a: Foundation of the struggle of independence of India:- The moderates laid the foundation of the struggle of independence of India in the following manner. - The leaders like G. K. Gokhale, Ferozshah Mehta etc entered the Legislature and place before the government the demands of the people of India. - The leaders like G. K. Gokhale and Dadabhai Nawrojee made constructive and effective criticism of the government policies. - The moderate leaders also brought out the criticism of the shortcomings of the government. - Through their method of petitions, representations and participation in Legislature, the moderates sowed the seeds of constitutional politics in the minds of the people of India. a1: The Criticism: - The moderates were criticized for their faith in the hope that the British would justice to them. - The moderates were criticized that they were not able to achieve any substantial gains through their method of petition, representation etc. - They were criticised because their criticism of British policy had not brought change in the policies of the British towards India. b: Views of Justice Ranade on the achievements of the Congress:- In answer to the critics of the moderates, Ranade had rightly defended the moderates by explaining their historic role in the history of struggle for freedom of India. - He explained that they were not petitioning the British government but it was an act of raising the political awakening of the Indians towards their actual rights and status. - It was a lesson in constitutional methods to the Indians. - Inspite of the failure of moderates they had introduced Indians to a new type of politics.- It was the moderates who had laid the base for the democracy in India. c: Foundation of the Extremist Faith:- The activities and failures of the moderates had prepared the grounds for the extremist period. - They had increased the discontent of the Indians by criticizing the British government on the economic issues. d: Main Critic of British government on Economic Policies: - The moderates were the first leaders to criticize the economic policies on scientific line. - They increased the discontent of the people by laying before them the real harmful effects of the economic policies of the British rule. e: Contribution of Dadabhai Nawrojee:- It was Dadabhai Nawrojee who had criticised the economic policies of the Indians on the scientific lines. - Dadabhai Nawrojee proved that British government was responsible for the poverty in India. - He explained that how the British rule took away raw material from India and forced the Indians to by British factory products. - He explained that how the British had ruined the traditional Indian indigenous industries for the benefit of British industry by their Indian economic policies. 

- He explained that how the British government was economically exploiting the Indians. - Dadabhai proved on statistical basis that how the expenditure on railways and telegraphs, the expenses incurred on the wars, the salaries of the officers and British Indian military were only meant for benefit for the government. - Dadabhai brought to the notice of the Indians that how different expenditures out the Indian treasury only meant to benefit England. - Through the above explanations and criticism, Dadabhai Nawrojee gave his Economic Drain Theory. f: New messages and Game Plans for the future of Freedom Struggle: - Ranade also supported the version of the economic drain of the India by the British. - Dadabhai gave agitation method in the following words, “Agitate and continue to agitate”. - Dadabhai gave the new programme in 1906 which was, “Swaraj, Swadeshi, National Education and Boycott.” - The programme given in 1906, became the programme of Extremist Congress group during 1906 to 1919. - The moderate period was immediately followed by an Extremist phase of Congress during which the Indian National Movement became aggressive and acquired a concrete shape. 

Facts and Figures to Remember1. Political Feature of Post 1857 Period A new middle class of India took over the political activities of India. 2. The Background of the Foundation of the Indian National Congress:A sense of unity among the Indians became strong. The British helped the rise of the Congress. The desire of independence arose among the Indians. Many political associations before the rise of Congress paved the way for the rise of Congress. 3. Foundation of Indian National Congress: Role of Alan Octavian Hume; the safety valve theory, INC formed on December 31, 1885 at Mumbai. Wyomesh Chandra Bannerjee was its first president. 4. Three periods of the history of Indian National Congress:Moderate period (1885 –1905) Extremist period (1905 – 1920) Gandhian Period (1920 – 1947)5. Objectives of the Indian National Congress: Overall reforms, bringing together of Indians, debate on social and national issues, remedies to the National issues, coordination between Indians and the British Government. 

6. Demands of the Indian National Congress:Moderate demands, involvement of Indians in the British administration in India, holding of civil services examination in India also, increase in the age limit for the civil services examination, control of Parliament over the bureaucracy in India, representation in imperial and provincial legislature, more powers for Parliament, reduction in the expenditure on the Indian army. 

7. The method of functioning of the Indian National Congress: (Methodology)Petitions its importance as per the Moderates

8. Difficulties faced by Congress with change in attitude of the British Rule towards it:Restrictions imposed on the activities of Congress. 9. Achievements of the Moderates:Achievements of W. C. Bannerjee and Dadabhai Nawrojee in India and England, won over the English Parliamentarians for the issues raised by the Indian National Congress. Indian Council Act 1892, spread of awareness among the young Indians, prepared grounds for democratic political activities and rise of extremist form of democratic political activities. 

10. Reaction of British government- Divide and Rule Policy:Numerous bans of the activists of Congress, started reforms to counter the Indian National Congress activities, Divide and Rule policy by encouraging rift among Indians on the basis of religion, castes and classes. 11. Criticism and Evaluation of Moderate Period:Main founder of the struggle for Independence of India, criticised for their faith in British administration that it would do justice to Indians. 1. What was the Safety Valve theory regarding the origin of the Congress?

There was an opinion that A. O. Hume initiated the foundation of the Indian National Congress because of the safety of the British government in India.

Hume saw an impending danger of the British because of powerful rebellion against it.

By initiating the Congress organization Hume tried to channelize the popular discontent to peaceful directions. This was known as the Safety Valve theory.

2. Who were the Presidents of the first and second sessions of the Indian National Congress? What was the importance of the second session of the Indian National Congress?

W.C. Bonnerjee and Dadabhai Naoroji were the Presidents of the first and second sessions of the Indian National Congress respectively.

The first importance of the second session of the Indian National Congress was that with the participation of leaders of Bengal the Congress gained in strength and influence.

The second importance was that there was a tremendous increase in the number of representatives participating in the Congress from its second session.

3. Why did the leaders of Bengal could not participate in the first session of the Indian National Congress? Who was the Viceroy of India at the time of the foundation of the Indian National Congress?

The leaders of Bengal could not participate in the first session of the Indian National Congress because at that time Second All India National Conference was being held in Calcutta.

Lord Dufferin was the Viceroy of India at the time of the foundation of the Indian National Congress.

4. What economic demands ware raised by the leaders of the early phase of the Indian National Congress (1885-1905)?

The leaders of the early phase of the Indian National Congress squarely blamed the British Go 'eminent for the poverty and economic distress of the Indian people.

At the same time they placed before the British government certain specific proposals for the economic progress of the country and its people.

For example, the leaders wanted the British government to introduce modern industry and thereby compensate the damage done by deindustrialization.

5. What was the main constitutional demand raised by the Congress between 1885 and 1892? Who raised the demand for self- government for the Indians in 1905?

Initially, the leaders of the Congress followed a go-slow policy towards the British government.

The main constitutional demand of the Congress between 1885 and 1892 were (a) increase in the number of elected members in the Central and Provincial legislatures, and (b) increase of power of the legislature.

In 1905, Gokhale raised the demand for self-government for the Indians.

6. Write the name of one Moderate leader of the Congress. What demand for reforms was raised by the Congress between 1885 and 1905?

Dadabhai Naoroji was one of the Moderate leaders of the Congress.

In the period between 1885 and 1905 the Congress leaders in the annual conferences raised constitutional demands to the British government.

Besides, in the same period the Congress urged upon the British government to introduce economic reforms as also administrative reforms.

7. What administrative demands were raised in the First phase of the Indian National Congress?

The Moderate leaders of the early Congress achieved very little in getting their demands fulfilled. Yet they had immense contributions to the cause of nationalism.

The Moderate leaders exposed the true nature of the British rule in India. It was, again, the early Congress that for the first time expressed the hopes and aspirations of the Indian people.

Also it was on this foundation upon which the great edifice of the Indian freedom movement was built later.

8. Who were the Moderates?

The leaders of the early phase of the Congress were called the Moderates.

For, they believed in the British sense of justice and expected that they would remove the grievances of the Indians once they were aware of these.

Thus the Moderates raised the hopes and aspirations of the' Indians in the resolutions adopted in different sessions and meetings of the Congress.

9. Who were the Extremist leaders of the Congress?

On the failure of the Moderates' method of agitation their emerged a group within the Congress whose demands were more vigorous.

Their method of agitation was extreme. They believed that boldness and self-sacrifice alone could fulfill the aspirations of the Indian people.

Leaders with such ideas came to be known as the Extremists.

10. On what issue the difference between the Moderates and the Extremists became irreconcilable?

It was during the period of anti-Partition agitation that the ideas of the Moderates and the Extremists came face to face.

By Swaraj the Moderates understood self-rule remaining within the British colonial rule.

But the Extremists understood full-independence by the term Swaraj. This difference along with others created a divide between the two.

11. What was the importance of the Calcutta Congress of 1906?

The greatest importance of the Calcutta Congress of 1906 was that the hegemony of the Moderates in the Congress was considerably reduced.

Again, in the said Congress Swaraj was declared to be the political ideal the Congress stood for. In no other time before, Congress expressed its ideal in such clear terms.

12. What was the Surat Split?

It was not possible to delay the formal split between the Moderates and Extremists any further.

The proposal for change in the Surat Congress of the explanation of 'Swaraj' and 'boycott' created uproar in the meeting. Ultimately the Extremists came out of the meeting-place.

The Congress now came to be fully dominated by the Moderates. This came to be known as the Surat Split.

13. What was the importance of the Surat Split?

The Surat Split was important because: (1) the unity in the Congress was broken.

(2) Consequently the strength of the rational movement was seriously threatened.

(3) The British government tried to pacify the Moderates by the introduction of reforms.

14. Name one Extremist leader. What economic factor was responsible for the growth of militant nationalism (Extremism)?

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an Extremist leader.

The economic factor that led to the growth of Extremism was that the people realized the disastrous effect of the British economic policy.

Also the realization that the British aimed at sucking the wealth of Indian led to the growth of Extremism in Indian politics.

15. Who was the President of the Varanasi Congress (1905)? What happened in the said Congress? (1+1)Gopal Krishna Gokhale was the President of the Varanasi Congress (1905).

In the Varanasi Congress there was a temporary understanding reached between the Moderates and the Extremists.

Despite differences the Extremists agreed to raise their demands in the Congress session.

16. Who was known as the Grand Old Man? What was the main difference between the Moderates and Extremists with regard to the explanation of Swaraj?

Dadabhai Naoroji was the Grand Old Man of India.

The Moderates like Dadabhai Naoroji understood Swaraj to mean self-rule for the Indians remaining within the British rule.

But the Extremists like Tilak and others understood complete independence by Swaraj.

17. When was the Morley-Minto Reforms passed? What was its importance? (1+1)

The Morley-Minto Reforms was passed in 1909.

It was a landmark in the history of India for the Divide and Rule policy of the British behind the Reforms became clear to all.

Besides, the Reforms fell far short of the expectations of the Indians.

18. What international influences helped the growth of militant nationalism?

Several events that took place abroad encouraged the growth of militant nationalism. First was the defeat of the Italian army by the Ethiopians in 1896.

Another was the defeat of Russia by Japan in 1905.

All this exploded the myth of European superiority and encouraged the Indian people to challenge the despotic British government.

19. With what motive Lord Curzon planned the Partition of Bengal?The real motive of Curzon behind the Partition of Bengal was political and economic.(1) Political: Curzon wanted to weaken the strength of nationalism the Bengalees had shown by cutting some portions out of the territory of Bengal.(2) Economic: By partitioning Bengal Curzon wanted to provide the tea-growing people of Assam an outlet to the sea.20. What do you understand by 'Swadeshi' and 'boycott'?

'Swadeshi' and 'boycott' were the two sides of the same thing. The 'boycott' aimed at refusal to purchase foreign goods. 'Swadeshi', on the other hand, encouraged manufacture of goods of common use by the indigenous people. Thus 'boycott' and 'Swadeshi' were the negative and positive aspects respectively of the same idea.

21. What was the role of Rabindranath Tagore in the Partition of Bengal?

It was on the suggestion of Rabindranath Tagore that Rakhibandhan was observed on the day of the Partition.

During the Swadeshi days it was on the recommendation of Rabindranath that technique of mass communication was adopted. Melas and Jatras were regularly organized.

22. What is the reason for calling 'boycott' the negative and 'Swadeshi' the positive aspects of the same idea?

The 'boycott' and 'Swadeshi' were the negative and positive aspects of the same idea.

For, boycott prevented and discouraged the use of foreign goods and may be considered to be a negative approach.

But 'Swadeshi' was a positive approach in the sense that it encouraged production of indigenous goods to supplement the shortfall in the supply of common articles caused by the 'boycott'.

23. What was said in the Carlyle Circular?

Penal measures were taken against the students who participated in the anti-Partition agitation by the Carlyle Circular.

Orders prohibiting the participation of students in political agitation were issued to schools and colleges.

And measures were adopted, under the Circular, punishing those who were found guilty of participation.

24. When was the Partition of Bengal annulled? When was the capital of India transferred from Calcutta to Delhi?

The Partition of Bengal was annulled in 1911 under the Viceroyalty of Lord Hardinge.

In the year (1912) the capital of India was transferred from Calcutta to Delhi.

25. What was the anti-Circular Society? Who founded it?

The Society was started to make necessary arrangement to provide education to the students who were expelled from the government schools.

The anti-Circular Society was founded by Sachindraprasad Basu in 1905.

26. Who founded the Dawn Society? Why was it founded?

Saiislichandra Mukherjee started the L awn Society in 1902.

The purpose of the Dawn Society was to train up Bengalee students so that they become real men through all-round physical, mental and spiritual development.

During the anti-Partition agitation the Dawn Society initiated the national education movement.

27. What was the importance of the 'Swadeshi' movement?

The importance of the 'Swadeshi' movement in the history of the freedom movement of India cannot be denied in any way.

First, the Swadeshi movement for the first time integrated the people of India? As a whole.Second, the Swadeshi movement influenced the course of the Indian freedom movement the post-1905 period.Third, the Swadeshi movement leavened the cultural life of Bengal. The question now was whether the British rule was to endure in India or not.28. What were the direct results of the 'Swadeshi' movement?

The direct results of the Swadeshi movement were:

First, the agenda of boycott considerably reduced the import of foreign goods in India.Second, the Swadeshi movement in the wake of the anti-Partition agitation paved the way for the development of indigenous industries.Third, Swadeshi movement saw the flowering of the Bengali literature.29. Name two journals that focused on the British misrule during the Swadeshi movement. What were the indirect results of the Swadeshi movement?

Sandhya and Sanjivani, amongst others, were the two journals hat enlightened people about the British misrule.

One indirect result of the Swadeshi movement was the growth of Extremism in Indian politics.

The Swadeshi movement also marked the beginning of the national education.

30. Name two newspapers, one each of Bengal and Maharashtra, that projected the idea of expulsion of the British from India by force. Which was the first revolutionary act in India?

Jugantar of Bengal and Kaal of Maharashtra were the two newspapers that projected the idea of expulsion of the British from India by force.

The killing of Rand and Ayrst by the Chapekar Brothers was the first revolutionary act in India.

31. Name the first secret society of Bengal. Who were sent to Bihar to kill Kingsford?

The first secret society of Bengal was the Anushilan Samiti.

Kshudiram Basu and Prafulla Chaki were the two revolutionaries sent to Bihar to kill Kingsford.

32. Who were the Chapekar Brothers? Why are they remembered?

The two brothers Damodar Chapekar and Balkrishna Chapekar were known together as the Chapekar Brothers.

The Chapekar Brothers/Are remembered because (a) they founded a revolutionary society at Pune and

(b) the two brothers avenged the oppressions committee under the directions of Rand and Ayrst by killing the two.

33. Who were the Savarkar Brothers? Why are they remembered?

The two Marathi brothers-Ganesh Savarkar and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar were together known as the Savarkar Brothers.

They founded the Abhinava Bharat, a revolutionary society in 1904. The famous Nasik Conspiracy Case was instituted against them.

34. Who was Ajit Singh? Name two revolutionaries of Madras

Ajit Singh was a revolutionary from Punjab. He sought to create revolutionary zeal among the Punjabi youths by circulating seditious, literature.

Later on he became associated with the Gadar Party.

Chidambaram Pillai and Subhramaniyam Shiva were the revolutionaries of Madras.

By 1907, the Moderate nationalists had exhausted their historical role. Their achievements, were immense, considering the low level of political consciousness and the immense difficulties they had to face when they began.

Their failures too were numerous. They lacked faith in the common people, did not work among them and consequently failed to acquire any roots among them. Even their propaganda did not reach them. Nor did they organize any all-India campaigns and when, during 1905-07, such an all-India campaign did come up in the form of the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement, they were not its leaders. Their politics was based on the assumption that they would be able to persuade the rulers to introduce economic and political reforms but their practical achievement in this field was meager. Instead of respecting them for their moderation British treated them with contempt.

The Government of India, headed by Lord Minto as Viceroy and John Morley as the Secretary of State, offered a bait of fresh reforms in the Legislative Councils and in the beginning of 1906 began discussing them with the moderate leadership of the Congress. The Moderates agreed to cooperate with the Government and discuss reforms even while a vigorous popular movement, which the Government was trying to suppress, was going on in the country. The result was a total split in the nationalist ranks.

There was a great deal of public debate and disagreement among Moderates and Extremists in the years 1905-1907, even when they were working together against the partition of Bengal. The Extremists wanted to extend the movement from Bengal to all over the country. They also wanted to extend the boycott of foreign goods to eventually all kinds of association with the colonial rulers. The Moderates were opposed to all these ideas.

Matters nearly came to a head at the Calcutta Congress in 1906 over the question of its Presidentship. A split was avoided by choosing Dadabhai Naoroji, who was respected by all the nationalists as a great patriot. Four compromise resolutions on the Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education and Self-Government demands were passed. Throughout 1907 the two sides fought over different interpretations of the four resolutions. By the end of 1907, they were looking over eachother as their main political enemy. 

Who were the Moderates and the Extremists?MAYANK SHARMA

a. Moderates:

The leaders of the early phase of the Congress were called the Moderates. For, they believed in the British sense of justice and expected that they would remove the grievances of the Indians once they were aware of these.

Thus the Moderates raised the hopes and aspirations of the Indians in the resolutions adopted in different sessions and meetings of the Congress.

b. Extremists:

On the failure of the Moderates' method of agitation their emerged a group within Congress whose demands were more vigorous. Also their method of agitation extreme.

They believed that boldness and self-sacrifice alone could fulfil the aspirations of the Indian people. Leaders with such ideas came to be known as the Extremists.

The Moderates has immense faith in the British sense of justice. They believed if the British were convinced about the justness of the demands, then they would concede to that.

But the Moderates and the Extremists differed widely regarding the meaning of the term Swaraj. While the Moderates explained it as self-rule remaining within the British Empire the Extremists understood it in a different way.

To the Extremists Swaraj meant total independence from the foreign rule. This difference of opinion took a serious turn in 1907.

c. The Surat Split:

It was not possible to delay the formal split between the Moderates and Extremists any further. The proposal for change in the Surat Congress of the explanation of 'Swaraj' and 'boycott' created an uproar in the meeting.

Ultimately the Extremists came out of the meeting-place. The Congress now came to be fully dominated by the Moderates. This came to be known as the Surat Split.

GEOGRAPHY

The most recent version of this site can be found athttp://nineplanets.orgThe Sun

o Mercuryo Venuso Earth

The Moono Mars

Phobos Deimos

o Jupiter Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea and Thebe Io Europa Ganymede Callisto Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Carme, Pasiphae and Sinope

o Saturn Pan and Atlas Prometheus and Pandora Epimetheus Janus Mimas Enceladus Tethys, Telesto and Calypso Dione and Helene Rhea Titan Hyperion Iapetus Phoebe

o Uranus Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind,

Belinda and Puck Miranda Ariel Umbriel Titania Oberon Caliban, Sycorax, Prospero, Setebos, Stephano, and Trinculo

o Neptune Naiad, Thalassa, Despina and Galatea Larissa

Proteus Triton Nereid

o Pluto Charon Nix and Hydra

o Dwarf Planets Pluto Ceres Eris Makemake and Haumea

o Small Bodies Comets Comet Halley Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud Sedna Asteroids 951 Gaspra 243 Ida 253 Mathilde 433 Eros Meteors, Meteorites and Impacts The Interplanetary Medium

Structure

The Earth’s Interior

A look At The Inner Earth

Studying the earth's interior can help us to understand earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics and more about the inner earths natural processes.

In general the earth's interior has been sorted by Gravity. Heavier elements like iron tend to sink toward the center or core of the earth. Lighter materials, the silicates, oxygen compounds and water have risen to become part of the crust. This action has created distinct layers within the earth and is still in process today.

The Inner Earth is composed of three main parts; the crust, the mantle, and the core as shown in the diagram of the earth's interior below:

The Crust - silicate rocks, primarily granite and basalto Oceanic Crust - mostly basalto Continental Crust - igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks

The Mantle - iron and magnesium rich silicate rockso Upper Mantleo Lower mantle

The Core - iron nickel alloyo Outer coreo Inner core

The CrustThe crust of the earth is very slowly growing thicker. Volcanic activity is continually adding mass to the crust. Though the crust is solid it is made up of about 12 plates. They are called Tectonic Plates. These plates are in constant motion. The movement is caused by convection currents in the mantle. The movement is very slow, averaging about 2 inches a year. This is about like the growth of your fingernails.

The crust is about 0.5 % of the earth’s total mass. The crust is made up of silicate rocks such as granite

and basalt. The continental crust is much thicker than the oceanic crust as shown here in the diagram of the

earth's crust. Oceanic crust - The crust under the oceans is about 10 km thick and is generally made up of rock

rich in iron and magnesium. These are primarily basalt formed by volcanic action at the mid ocean ridges. The oceanic crust is denser than continental crust.

Continental crust (continental cratons) - Where there are continents the crust is about 30 to 50 km thick. It is made up of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The continental crust is less dense than the oceanic crust. When the continental crust collides with oceanic crust through

plate movement the continental crust rides over the top of the oceanic crust while the oceanic crust is pushed back down towards the mantle.

Earth's Interior - The MantleMuch less is known about the mantle than the crust. The crust we can see, measure, dig and drill. The mantle is different. We have little direct contact with the inner earth. We can tell some things about the mantle by studying volcanoes and what comes out of them.

Much of what we believe is true about the earth's interior comes from studying Seismology. Seismology began as the study of earthquakes and the seismic waves they produced. These waves travel through the earth and move at different speeds in different materials. By studying these waves and how they move through the inner earth we can learn about the its structure.

The upper mantle

Is made up of rocks rich in magnesium and iron, and poor in silica; mostly peridotites. It is about 400 km thick and is much denser than the crust. It comprise 10% of the earth’s mass

The Lower mantle

It is more dense and contains a greater amount of iron than the upper mantle It is about 1900 km thick It makes up 41% of the earth’s mass

Earth's Interior - The core The core is composed primarily of a nickel-iron alloy. There is an outer core that is liquid and an inner core that is solid.

Outer coreo Is about 2100 km thick.o It makes up about 30 % of the Earth's total mass.

Inner coreo Is about 1300 km thick.o It makes up about 2 % of the Earth's total mass.

Some points to remember in studying the earth’s interior:

There are distinct layers to the earth’s interior. Heavier elements tend to sink to the core Lighter elements rise toward the surface Much more is known about the crust than the mantle and core. What we believe is true about the mantle and core comes from studying seismology.

Structure of the Interior of Earth

Earth has a diameter of about 12,756 km (7,972 mi). The Earth's interior consists of rock and metal. It is made up of four main layers: 1) the inner core: a solid metal core made up of nickel and iron (2440 km diameter) 2) the outer core: a liquid molten core of nickel and iron 3) the mantle: dense and mostly solid silicate rock 4) the crust: thin silicate rock material

The temperature in the core is hotter than the Sun's surface. This intense heat from the inner core causes material in the outer core and mantle to move around.

The movement of material deep within the Earth may cause largeplates made of the crust and upper mantle to move slowly over the Earth’s surface. It is also possible that the movements generate the Earth's magnetic field, called the magnetosphere.

Climate classification

There are several ways to classify climates into similar regimes. Originally, climes were defined in Ancient Greece to describe the weather depending upon a location's latitude. Modern climate classification methods can be broadly divided into genetic methods, which focus on the causes of climate, and empiric methods, which focus on the effects of climate. Examples of genetic classification include methods based on the relative frequency of different air mass types or locations within synoptic weather disturbances. Examples of empiric classifications include climate zones defined by plant hardiness,[10] evapotranspiration,[11] or more generally theKöppen climate classification which was originally designed to identify the climates associated with certain biomes. A common shortcoming of these classification schemes is that they produce distinct boundaries between the zones they define, rather than the gradual transition of climate properties more common in nature.

[edit]Bergeron and Spatial Synoptic

Main article: Air mass

The simplest classification is that involving air masses. The Bergeron classification is the most widely accepted form of air mass classification.[citation needed] Air mass classification involves three letters. The first letter describes its moisture properties, with c used for continental air masses (dry) and m for maritime air masses (moist). The second letter describes the thermal characteristic of its source region: T for tropical, P for polar, A for Arctic or Antarctic, M for monsoon, E for equatorial, and S for superior air (dry air formed by significant downward motion in the atmosphere). The third letter is used to designate the stability of the atmosphere. If the air mass is colder than the ground below it, it is labeled k. If the air mass is warmer than the ground below it, it is labeled w.[12] While air mass identification was originally used in weather forecasting during the 1950s, climatologists began to establish synoptic climatologies based on this idea in 1973.[13]

Based upon the Bergeron classification scheme is the Spatial Synoptic Classification system (SSC). There are six categories within the SSC scheme: Dry Polar (similar to continental polar), Dry Moderate (similar to maritime superior), Dry Tropical (similar to continental tropical), Moist Polar (similar to maritime polar), Moist Moderate (a hybrid between maritime polar and maritime tropical), and Moist Tropical (similar to maritime tropical, maritime monsoon, or maritime equatorial).[14]

[edit]Köppen

Monthly average surface temperatures from 1961–1990. This is an example of how climate varies with

location and season

Monthly global images from NASA Earth Observatory

Main article: Köppen climate classification

The Köppen classification depends on average monthly values of temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used form of the Köppen classification has five primary types labeled A through E. These primary types are A, tropical; B, dry; C, mild mid-latitude; D, cold mid-latitude; and E, polar. The five primary classifications can be further divided into secondary classifications such as rain forest, monsoon, tropical savanna,humid subtropical, humid continental, oceanic climate, Mediterranean climate, steppe, subarctic climate, tundra, polar ice cap, and desert.

Rain forests are characterized by high rainfall, with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1,750 millimetres (69 in) and 2,000 millimetres (79 in). Mean monthly temperatures exceed 18 °C (64 °F) during all months of the year.[15]

A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months, ushering in a region's rainy season.[16] Regions within North America, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and East Asia are monsoon regimes.[17]

A tropical savanna is a grassland biome located in semiarid to semi-humidclimate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes, with average temperatures remain at or above 18 °C (64 °F) year

round and rainfall between 750 millimetres (30 in) and 1,270 millimetres (50 in) a year. They are widespread on Africa, and are found in India, the northern parts of South America, Malaysia, and Australia.[18]

The humid subtropical climate zone where winter rainfall (and sometimessnowfall) is associated with large storms that the westerlies steer from west to east. Most summer rainfall occurs duringthunderstorms and from occasional tropical cyclones.[19] Humid subtropical climates lie on the east side continents, roughly betweenlatitudes 20° and 40° degrees away from the equator.[20]

Humid continental climate, worldwide

A humid continental climate is marked by variable weather patterns and a large seasonal temperature variance. Places with more than three months of average daily temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F) and a coldest month temperature below −3 °C(27 °F) and which do not meet the criteria for an arid or semiarid climate, are classified as continental.[21]

An oceanic climate is typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of all the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia, and is accompanied by plentiful precipitation year round.[22]

The Mediterranean climate regime resembles the climate of the lands in theMediterranean Basin, parts of western North America, parts of Western and South Australia, in southwestern South Africa and in parts of central Chile. The climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.[23]

A steppe is a dry grassland with an annual temperature range in the summer of up to 40 °C (104 °F) and during the winter down to−40 °C (−40 °F).[24]

A subarctic climate has little precipitation,[25] and monthly temperatures which are above 10 °C (50 °F) for one to three months of the year, with permafrost in large parts of the area due to the cold winters. Winters within subarctic climates usually include up to six months of temperatures averaging below 0 °C (32 °F).[26]

Map of arctic tundra

Tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt, including vast areas of northern Russia and Canada.[27]

A polar ice cap, or polar ice sheet, is a high-latitude region of a planet or moon that is covered in ice. Ice caps form because high-latitude regions receive less energy assolar radiation from the sun than equatorial regions, resulting in lower surface temperatures.[28]

A desert is a landscape form or region that receives very little precipitation. Deserts usually have a large diurnal and seasonal temperature range, with high or low, depending on location daytime temperatures (in summer up to 45 °C or 113 °F, and low nighttime temperatures (in winter down to 0 °C or 32 °F due to extremely low humidity. Many deserts are formed by rain shadows, as mountains block the path of moisture and precipitation to the desert.[29]

[edit]Thornthwaite

See also: Microthermal, Mesothermal, and Megathermal

Precipitation by month

Devised by the American climatologist and geographer C. W. Thornthwaite, this climate classification method monitors the soil water budget using evapotranspiration.[11] It monitors the portion of total precipitation used to nourish vegetation over a certain area.[30] It uses indices such as a humidity index and an aridity index to determine an area's moisture regime based upon its average temperature, average rainfall, and average vegetation type.[31] The lower the value of the index in any given area, the drier the area is.

The moisture classification includes climatic classes with descriptors such as hyperhumid, humid, subhumid, subarid, semi-arid (values of −20 to −40), and arid (values below −40).[32] Humid regions experience more precipitation than evaporation each year, while arid regions experience greater evaporation than precipitation on an annual basis. A total of 33 percent of the Earth's landmass is considered either arid of semi-arid, including southwest North America, southwest South America, most of northern and a small part of southern Africa, southwest and portions of eastern Asia, as well as much

of Australia.[33] Studies suggest that precipitation effectiveness (PE) within the Thornthwaite moisture index is overestimated in the summer and underestimated in the winter.[34] This index can be effectively used to determine the number of herbivore and mammal species numbers within a given area.[35] The index is also used in studies of climate change.[34]

Thermal classifications within the Thornthwaite scheme include microthermal, mesothermal, and megathermal regimes. A microthermal climate is one of low annual mean temperatures, generally between 0 °C (32 °F) and 14 °C (57 °F) which experiences short summers and has a potential evaporation between 14 centimetres (5.5 in) and 43 centimetres (17 in).[36] A mesothermal climate lacks persistent heat or persistent cold, with potential evaporation between 57 centimetres (22 in) and 114 centimetres (45 in).[37] A megathermal climate is one with persistent high temperatures and abundant rainfall, with potential annual evaporation in excess of 114 centimetres (45 in).[38]

Geographical zone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this articleby adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. (March 2011)

The climatical zones.

Map of annual average temperatures as a function of location.

The five main latitude regions of the Earth's surface comprise geographical zones, divided by the

major circles of latitude. The differences between them relate to climate, and the behaviour of the Sun.

They are as follows:

The North Frigid Zone, north of the Arctic Circle

The North Temperate Zone, between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer

The Torrid Zone, between the Tropical Circles

The South Temperate Zone, between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle

The South Frigid Zone, south of the Antarctic Circle

Contents

  [hide] 

1   The apparent movement of the Sun

o 1.1   Torrid Zone

o 1.2   Temperate Zones

o 1.3   Frigid Zones

2   History

3   References

4   See also

[edit]The apparent movement of the Sun

[edit]Torrid Zone

In the Torrid Zone, also known as the Tropics, the Sun is directly overhead at least once during the year.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the overhead Sun moves north from the Equator until it reaches 23.5

degrees North (Tropic of Cancer) at the June solstice, after which it moves back south to the Equator. In

the Southern Hemisphere, the overhead Sun moves south from the Equator until reaches 23.5 degrees

South (Tropic of Capricorn) at the December solstice, after which it moves back north to the Equator.

[edit]Temperate Zones

In the two Temperate Zones, consisting of the tepid latitudes, the Sun is never directly overhead, and the

climate is mild, generally ranging from warm to cool. The four annual seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn

and Winter, occur in these areas. The North Temperate Zone includes Great Britain, Europe, northern

Asia, North America and northern Mexico. The South Temperate Zone includes southern Australia, New

Zealand, southern South America and Southern Africa.

[edit]Frigid Zones

The two Frigid Zones, or polar regions, experience the midnight sun and the polar night for part of the

year - at the edge of the zone there is one day at the winter solstice when the Sun does not rise or set for

24 hours, while in the centre of the zone (the pole), the day is literally one year long, with six months of

daylight and six months of night. The Frigid Zones are the coldest parts of the earth, and are generally

covered with ice and snow.

Climate is the average weather condition and variations in both space and time over a large area.

Humid Tropical Climates The Tropical Rain Forest/Equatorial Climate : This climate is found in a belt 0° to 25°N and S. The annual average temperature is 27°C and rainfall is heavy.

The Savanna Climate : It is surrounded by tropical rain forest climate towards equator and dry climates towards poles. Temperature is high throughout the year, and annual average temperature is 23°C and rainfall is 160 cm.

The Monsoon Climate : It is characterized by seasonal reversal of wind direction associated with alternating period of rainfall and drought.

Dry Climates

The Desert Climate : The chief feature of any desert climate is the scarcity of water. Precipitation is not only scanty but also erratic, and annual  average temperature is about 38°C.

The Steppe Climate : These are dry lands due to their position in land masses away from oceanic influences. It is characterised by meagre and unreliable precipitation. The annual range of temperature and rainfall is 13°C and 30 cm.

Humid Mid-Latitudes Climates

The Mediterranean Climate : This climate is found along the west coasts of continents between 30° and 45° latitudes. The annual range of temperature is about 10°C to 17°C. Rainfall is moderate and varies between 40 cm and 60 cm. Most of it occurs in the winter season.

The Humid Sub-Tropical Climate or China Type : It is found between 25° and 45° latitudes. Summers are hot and humid. Winters are mild. The average annual temperature is 20°C. Yearly precipitation is more than 100 cm.

The Marine West European Climate : It is found along 40° and 65° North and South latitudes. The average annual temperature  is 10°C. Total annual rainfall is about 140 cm. The winters are rainier than the summers.

Humid Mid-Latitudes Climates The Taiga Climate : It is named after the coniferous forest cover found in the region. It is dominated by continental polar air masses. The summers are short and the temperature, varies between 10°C and 15°C. The winters are long and cold.

The Cool East Coast Climate: The summers are long, hot and humid and under the influence of tropical maritime air masses.Average summer temperature is 25°C. The winters are cold and the average winter temperature ranges between -4°C and 0°C.

The Continental Climate : This climatic region is situated in the interior of the big continents between the Taiga and the mid-latitude deserts. Summers are short and warm, temperature being in between 10°C and 21°C. Winters are long. Temperature goes below freezing point.

Polar Climates The Tundra Climate: It is found in Northern Hemisphere occupying coastal fringes of Arctic Ocean and  Islands. Temperature is above freezing point and less than 10°C in the warmest month. ,

The Ice Cap Climate : It is a region of permanent ice and snow and temperature is below 0°C in the warmest months.

The World's 14 Highest Mountain Peaks (above 8,000 meters)

See Named Summits in the U.S. Over 14,000 Feet Above Sea Level for U.S. Peaks.See also Climbing the World's 14 8,000-meter Peaks, The Seven Summits, Mortals on Mount Olympus: A History of Climbing Everest, and the Everest Almanac.

All 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks are located in the Himalaya or the Karakoram ranges in Asia. According to Everestnews.com, only 14 climbers have reached the summits of all 14: Reinhold Messner (Italy) was first, followed by Jerzy Kukuczka (Poland), Ehardt Loretan (Switzerland), Carlos Carsolio (Mexico), Krzysztof Wielicki (Poland), Juan Oiarzabal (Spain), Sergio Martini (Italy), Park Young Seok (Korea), Hang-Gil Um (Korea), Alberto Inurrategui (Spain), Han Wang Yong (Korea), Ed Viesturs (U.S.), Alan Hinkes (British), and Silvio Mondinelli (Italy).

Mountain Location

Height

First to summit (nationality) DateMeters Feet

 1. Everest1 Nepal/Tibet 8,85029,035

Edmund Hillary (New Zealander, UK), Tenzing Norgay (Nepalese)

May 29, 1953

 2. K2 (Godwin Austen)

Pakistan/China

8,61128,250

A. Compagnoni, L. Lacedelli (Italian)July 31, 1954

 3. Kangchenjunga

Nepal/India 8,58628,169

G. Band, J. Brown, N. Hardie, S. Streather (UK)

May 25, 1955

 4. Lhotse Nepal/Tibet 8,51627,940

F. Luchsinger, E. Reiss (Swiss)May 18, 1956

 5. Makalu Nepal/Tibet 8,46327,766

J. Couzy, L. Terray, J. Franco, G. Magnone-Gialtsen, J. Bouier, S. Coupé, P. Leroux, A. Vialatte (French)

May 15, 1955

 6. Cho Oyu Nepal/Tibet 8,20126,906

H. Tichy, S. Jöchler (Austrian), Pasang Dawa Lama (Nepalese)

Oct. 19, 1954

 7. Dhaulagiri Nepal 8,167 26,79 A. Schelbert, E. Forrer, K. Diemberger, P. May

5Diener (Swiss), Nyima Dorji, Nawang Dorji (Nepalese)

13, 1960

 8. Manaslu Nepal 8,16326,781

T. Imamishi, K. Kato, M. Higeta, (Japanese) G. Norbu (Nepalese)

May 9, 1956

 9. Nanga Parbat Pakistan 8,12526,660

Hermann Buhl (Austrian)July 3, 1953

10. Annapurna Nepal 8,09126,545

M. Herzog, L. Lachenal (French)June 3, 1950

11. Gasherbrum IPakistan/China

8,06826,470

P. K. Schoeing, A. J. KauffmanJuly 4, 1958

12. Broad PeakPakistan/China

8,04726,400

M. Schmuck, F. Wintersteller, K. Diemberger, H. Buhl (Austrian)

June 9, 1957

13. Gasherbrum II

Pakistan/China

8,03526,360

F. Moravec, S. Larch, H. Willenpart (Austrian)

July 7, 1956

14. Shisha Pangma

Tibet 8,01326,289

Hsu Ching and team of 9 (Chinese)May 2, 1964

W h a t i s a M o u n t a i n R a n g e ?

A mountain range is a group or chain of mountains that are close together. Mountain ranges are usually separated from other mountain ranges by passes and rivers.

What is the highest mountain range in the world?

The Himalayas are the highest mountain range in the world.

What is the longest mountain range in the world?

The Andes Mountains form the longest mountain range in the world.

W e l l k n o w n m o u n t a i n r a n g e s

 H i m a l a y a s

The Himalayas are the highest mountain range in the world. Over 30 peaks in the Himalayas are over 24,000 ft/7315m high.

The Himalayas, literally translated as 'Land of Snow',

Where are the Himalayan mountains?The Himalayas are the great mountain system of Asia. They form a 1,500 mile broad crescent through Northeastern Pakistan, Northern India, Southern Tibet,Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan.

The Himalayas is one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world.

 A l p s

The Alps is a vast mountain system in south central Europe. About 13 million people live in the Alps in over 6,000 communities.

The Alps are one of the largest and highest mountain ranges in the world, covering some 192,000km2 of land area, stretching over 750 miles (1,200 km) from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west. 

The Alps includes several hundred peaks and glaciers, including numerous peaks over 12,000 feet, with Mont Blanc highest at 15,771 feet.

 A n d e s

The Andes are the second highest Mountain Range in the world with many peaks rising over 20,000 feet.

The Andes Mountains are the longest mountain range in the world. They stretch 4,500 miles (7,200 km) from north to south, along the west coast of the continent.

Where are the Andes?The Andes Mountains are located in South America, running north to south along the western coast of the continent.

Click here to find out more

 R o c k i e s

The Rocky Mountains are a vast mountain system in Western North America, extending north-south from Canada to New Mexico, a distance of about 3,000 miles (4800 km). The highest peak is Mount Elbert, in Colorado, which is 14,440 feet (4401 m) above sea level.

 K a r a k o r a m

The Karakoram is a great mountain range in Northeast Pakistan and Northern India, near the Chinese border. It extends 300 miles southeastwardly and includes many of the world's highest peaks, and many of the world's longest glaciers.

S o m e o f t h e m o u n t a i n r a n g e s f o u n d o n e a c h c o n t i n e n t

 Antarctica:

Antarctic Peninsula, Transantarctic Mountains

The highest mountain, Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mountains, peaks at 4897 m.

 Africa:

Atlas, Eastern African Highlands, Ethiopian Highlands

 Asia:

Hindu Kush, Himalayas, Taurus, Elburz, Japanese Mountains

 Australia:

MacDonnell Mountains

 Europe:

Pyrenees, Alps, Carpathians, Apennines, Urals, Balkan Mountains

 North America:

Appalachians, Sierra Nevada, Rocky Mountains, Laurentides

 South America:

Andes, Brazilian Highlands

 

 

Major World Rivers

River ExtremesThe longest river in the world is the Nile River (4,157 miles long); it is located in northeastern Africa, and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The second-longest river is the Amazon River (3,915 miles long); it is located in northeastern South America, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The third-longest river is the Chang (Yangtse) River (3,434 miles long); it flows across south-central China and into the East China Sea.

The river with the biggest volume (the most water flowing in it) is the Amazon River. 

Continent Longest River Length

Africa Nile River 4,157 miles (6,690 km) long

Antarctica none n/a

Asia Yangtze River 3,434 miles (5,530 km) long

Australia Murray-Darling River 2,310 miles (3,720 km) long

Europe Volga River 2,290 miles (3,700 km) long

North America

Mississippi-Missouri River2,540 miles (4,090 km) + 2,340 miles (3,770 km) long

South America

Amazon River 3,915 miles (6,300 km) long

Date Location Name Magnitude

May 22, 1960 Valdivia, Chile 1960 Valdivia earthquake 9.5

March 27, 1964

Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA 1964 Alaska earthquake 9.2

December 26, 2004

Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

9.1–9.3

November 4, 1952

Kamchatka, Russia (then USSR)1952 Kamchatka earthquakes

9.0[3]

March 11, Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan 2011 Tōhoku earthquake 9.0[4][5][6]

2011

September 16, 1615

Arica, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire)

1615 Arica earthquake 8.8 (est.)

November 25, 1833

Sumatra, Indonesia 1833 Sumatra earthquake 8.8–9.2 (est.)

January 31, 1906

Ecuador – Colombia1906 Ecuador-Colombia earthquake

8.8

February 27, 2010

Maule, Chile 2010 Chile earthquake 8.8

January 26, 1700

Pacific Ocean, USA and Canada 1700 Cascadia earthquake8.7–9.2 (est.)[7]

July 8, 1730 Valparaiso, Chile1730 Valparaiso earthquake

8.7 (est.)[8]

November 1, 1755

Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon, Portugal 1755 Lisbon earthquake 8.7 (est.)[9]

February 4, 1965

Rat Islands, Alaska, USA1965 Rat Islands earthquake

8.7

July 9, 869 Pacific Ocean, Tōhoku region, Japan 869 Sanriku earthquake 8.6 (est.)

September 20, 1498

Pacific Ocean, Nankai Trough, Japan1498 Meiō Nankaidō earthquake

8.6 (est.)

October 28, 1707

Pacific Ocean, Shikoku region, Japan 1707 Hōei earthquake 8.6 (est.)

August 15, 1950

Assam, India – Tibet, China1950 Assam - Tibet earthquake

8.6

March 9, 1957 Andreanof Islands, Alaska, USA1957 Andreanof Islands earthquake

8.6

April 1, 1946 Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake

8.6

March 28, 2005

Sumatra, Indonesia 2005 Sumatra earthquake 8.6

April 11, 2012 Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Indonesia 2012 Aceh earthquake 8.6

December 16, 1575

Valdivia, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire)

1575 Valdivia earthquake 8.5 (est.)

November 24, 1604

Arica, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire)

1604 Arica earthquake 8.5 (est.)

May 13, 1647Santiago, Chile (then part of the Spanish Empire)

1647 Santiago earthquake 8.5 (est.)

October 20, 1687

Lima, Peru (Viceroyalty of Peru) 1687 Peru earthquake 8.5 (est.)

May 24, 1751 Concepción, Chile (Kingdom of Chile)1751 Concepción earthquake

8.5 (est.)

November 19, 1822

Valparaíso, Chile1822 Valparaíso earthquake

8.5 (est.)

February 20, 1835

Concepción, Chile1835 Concepción earthquake

8.5 (est.)

August 13, 1868

Arica, Chile (then Peru) 1868 Arica earthquake8.5–9.0 (est.)[10]

May 9, 1877 Iquique, Chile (then Peru) 1877 Iquique earthquake 8.5-9.0 (est.)

November 10, 1922

Atacama Region, Chile 1922 Vallenar earthquake 8.5[11]

February 3, 1923

Kamchatka, Russia (USSR)1923 Kamchatka earthquakes

8.5[12]

February 1, 1938

Banda Sea, Indonesia (Dutch East Indies)1938 Banda Sea earthquake

8.5

October 13, 1963

Kuril Islands, Russia (USSR)1963 Kuril Islands earthquake

8.5[12]

September 12, 2007

Sumatra, Indonesia 2007 Sumatra earthquakes 8.5

Volcano 

Country  Elevation above sea level  

Status    (meters)   (feet)

Ojos del Salado, Nevados

 Chile/Argentina

  6887  22,595

  Tephrochronology

Llullaillaco  Chile/Argentina

  6739  22,109

  Historical

Tipas   Argentina   6660  21,850

  Holocene

Incahuasi, Nevado de

 Chile/Argentina

  6621  21,722

  Holocene?

Cóndor, Cerro el

  Argentina   6532  21,430

  Holocene

Coropuna   Perú   6377  20,922

  Holocene

Parinacota   Chile/Bolivia   6348  20,827

  Surface Exposure

Chimborazo   Ecuador   6310  20,702

  Radiocarbon

Pular   Chile   6233  20,449

  Holocene?

Solo, El  Chile/Argentina

  6190  20,308

  Holocene

PRESSURE BELTS

INTRODUCTIONSince the time of Guericke, it has been known that the air has weight. Under ordinary conditions, a cubic foot of air weighs about an ounce and a quarter (1.25 ounces). As the air has weight, it must follow that, the atmosphere must press upon the surface of the earth, and the pressure at any point will depend upon the amount of air above it. It will be less on the top of a mountain than that at the foot. But even at the sea level the pressure varies from day to day.Small but distinct pressure differences remain from place to place. If 1,013 mb (29.92 in. or 76 cm) is taken as standard sea level pressure, readings higher than this will frequently be observed in middle latitudes, occasionally upto 1040 mb (30.7 in.) or higher. These pressures are designated as “High Pressures”; ranging down to 982 mb (29.0 in.) or below are “Low Pressures”.

UNITS OF PRESSURE: 1.013 kg/cm2 = 1.013 bar = 1,013 mb = 760 mm of Hg = 76 cm of Hg = 29.92 in. 

1. EQUATORIAL LOW PRESSURE TROUGHWithin a few degrees of equator is a belt of pressure, some what lower than the normal pressure 1013 mb, between 1011 mb and 1008 mb, which is known as the Equatorial Trough or Low Pressure Belt. This is an area of high temperature and high humidity, commonly known as the Doldrums, where the air near sea level is stagnant or sluggish. The low pressure is due to heating; as the pressure of a volume of air decreases when its temperature increases.It lies entirely north of the equator during July, because this is the summer hemisphere (Northern Hemisphere). The trough is by no means uniform in width, depth or position. It is deepest and most pronounced when it lies farthest from the equator, such as over an area extending from the Persian Gulf eastward to north-western India, and also over northern Mexico and the south-western United States. It is least distinct over the western and central pacific.Such continental, thermal lows are relatively shallow and have influence only on surface wind patterns.

2. SUB-TROPICAL HIGH PRESSURE BELTSAt about latitude 30 degrees North and South occur the sub-tropical high pressure belts, sometimes known as the “Horse Latitudes”, zones of calm and descending air currents. In the Southern Hemisphere, this belt is clearly defined but contains centers of high pressure termed as “pressure cells”.In the Northern Hemisphere in summer, the high pressure belt is dominated by two oceanic cells, one over the eastern Pacific and the other over the eastern north Atlantic. Average pressure exceeds 1026 mb in the centers of the cells.The sub-tropical highs are largely developed by dynamic, rather than thermal causes. Subsidizing air from high levels is largely responsible for their great pressures. Variations in their strength and form are among the most important features of the global energy balance, since the air that diverges from them

comprises a large part of the entire air circulation system on the surface.The summer hemisphere (northern hemisphere) shows only the large oceanic, high pressure centers. The winter hemisphere has a greater number of anti-cyclonic highs and the most active day by day pressure changes along the general sub-tropical pressure zones.

3. SUB-ANTARCTIC LOW PRESSURE BELTSPole-wards of the sub-tropical high pressure belts are the broad belts of low pressure, extending roughly from the middle latitude zone (35o to 55o north and south) to the Arctic zone (60o to 75o north and south) but centered and intensified in the sub-Arctic zone (55o to 60o north and south) at about 60th parallel to latitude (horizontal). In the southern hemisphere, over the continuous expense of southern ocean, the sub-Antarctic low pressure belt is specially defined with average pressure as low as 984 mb.It is one of the deepest and most persistent low pressure troughs in the world bordering the Antarctic continent. It is present, however, at all seasons shifting slightly southwards in January. This low pressure trough marks the zone of energy transfer between warm and cold air. It is a strong frontal zone, and the dynamics of air interchange, implemented by the upward displacement of warmer air, the high condensation, great angular momentum, rotational deflection, and other factors produce an almost continuous succession of deep cyclones that move around the world through this zone. Anticyclones, or high pressures accompanied by descending diverging air, sometimes, occupy positions within the trough and at rare intervals may persist for several days.

4. SUB-POLAR LOW PRESSURE BELTSNearer the poles occur the sub-polar low pressure belts. One reason for this pressure distribution is that the rotation of the earth causes a polar whirl and therefore a tendency toward low pressure at the poles. But the intense cold around the poles causes the thermal effect to overcome the dynamic one, with the result that the low pressure belts tend to be around just outside the polar circles. Since the frontal activity between cold and warm air in these latitudes is weak during the summer season, strong sub-polar lows do not develop.The weak low-pressure zone bordering southern Greenland and extending across the north Atlantic to Norway is related to shallow summer cyclonic depressions that pass eastward through the region.

5. POLAR HIGHSThe polar zones have permanent centers of high pressure known as polar highs. Both high and low pressure centers are present, which change in intensity and shape seasonally, with the low (located near the continental margin) dominant during most of the year, but less strongly developed during the winter months. A high pressure ridge tends to occupy the highest portion of the continent but is extremely shallow and not well developed.

RELATION BETWEEN WIND AND PRESSURE

INTRODUCTIONWind may be defined as the movement of air from high to low atmospheric pressure in a virtually horizontal plane. Its direction and strength is the result of following four factors:

1. The Barometric or Pressure GradientRegions of high pressure form centers from which winds tend to blow outwards i.e., they are areas of “divergence”. Conversely, regions of low pressure are the face of winds i.e., areas of “convergence”. The change in barometric pressure across the horizontal surface constitutes a “pressure gradient”, its direction is indicated by a broad arrow in the diagram. The gradient is in the direction from higher pressure (left) to lower pressure (right).

Where a pressure gradient exists, air molecules tend to drift in the same direction as that of the gradient. This tendency for mass movement of the air is referred to as Pressure Gradient Force. The magnitude of the force is directly proportional to the steepness of the gradient. When the difference in pressure between two neighboring points on the earth’s surface is great, there is said to be a steep pressure gradient. In such case, the resulting wind is strong. When, however, the barometric gradient is gentle, winds are light. The result is that the air tends to move from areas of high pressure to those of low. Wind is thus the horizontal motion of air in response to the pressure gradient force.

2. The Coriolis ForceIf the earth did not rotate upon its axis, winds would have followed the direction of pressure gradient. Instead, earth’s rotation produces another force, the Coriolis Force, which tends to turn the flow of air.The direction of action of the coriolis force is stated in Ferrel’s Law:-“Any object or fluid moving horizontally in the Northern Hemisphere, tends to be deflected to the right of its path of motion, regardless of the compass direction of the path. In the Southern Hemisphere, a similar deflection is towards the left of the path of the motion as a result of the earth’s rotation”. The coriolis force is absent at the equator but increases progressively polewards. The force is proportional to the speed of the moving object and it varies with latitude, being zero at the equator and maximum at the poles. Applying these principles to the relation of winds to pressure, the gradient force (acting in the direction of pressure gradient) and the coriolis force (acting to the right of the path of flow) quickly reach a balance or equilibrium when the wind has been turned to the point that it flows in a direction at right angles to the pressure gradient, i.e., parallel with isobars.When a balanced condition develops between the forces exerted by the pressure gradient in one direction and the coriolis force in opposite direction, a steady wind will blow. This is known as a state of geostrophic balance, and the air movement as geostrophic flow or geostrophic wind, in a direction parallel to the straight isobars.

3. Centrifugal ForceWhen an air-stream moves on a curved course, as in a pressure system with closed or curved isobars, it is subjected to centrifugal force acting outwards from the center of curvature. A gradient wind develops as a result of the balance between the pressure gradient on the one hand, and the coriolis and centrifugal forces on the other. The air thus tends to travel along the isobars, clockwise around the highs and anticlockwise around the lows in the Northern Hemisphere; while in Southern Hemisphere, it would tend to move anticlockwise around the highs and clockwise around the lows.This relation of the wind to atmospheric pressure was put forward by Dutch scientist Buys Ballot, in the middle of the 19th century:-“If you stand with your back to the wind in the Northern Hemisphere, pressure is lower on your left than on your right, and the reverse applies in the Southern Hemisphere”.

4. FrictionFriction tends to decrease air velocities. Air that moves over the earth’s surface has some of its mechanical energy transformed into other forms of energy because of friction, and thus its velocity decreases. Friction with surface, since it decreases wind velocity, also tends to decrease the amount of coriolis deflection, which is proportional to straight line velocity. This decrease in the coriolis deflection, in turn, tends to alter the resultant wind direction with respect to the pressure gradient. The wind direction no longer parallels the isobars, as in geostrophic flow, but crosses them some what in the direction of pressure gradient. The angle of intersection is roughly proportional to the amount of friction encountered at the earth’s surface.Surface winds usually cross isobars at about 10o angle over oceans and may reach angles of upto 45o over rough land surfaces. Although the loss of energy by friction takes place only at the surface, the breaking effect may be transmitted upwards in the higher levels of the horizontal wind flow. Usually,

however, it is contained within 1500 to 2000 ft. of the surface.

MONSOON WINDS

IntroductionMonsoons are the winds, which change their direction in different seasons. This is due to the fact that the surface of the earth, which consists of land and sea masses, acts differently to the insolation applied to it and accordingly the pressure is also different.

Cause of the MonsoonsThe unequal heating of land and water areas causes monsoons. During summer, when the land has become quite hot, the contiguous ocean areas are relatively cooler. The air of the land rises up in the form of convection currents and the moist air of the oceans would flow in to take its place. During winter, the conditions would reverse and winds would blow from the lands towards oceans.In lower latitudes, the temperatures are uniformly high throughout the year while in the higher latitudes, the temperatures over the land are never so high as to disturb the prevailing pressure conditions. Hence these types of circulation only take the form of land and sea breezes. But in the middle latitudes, because of vast range of temperature conditions, these land and sea breezes become semi-permanent and are known as the monsoon winds. These monsoons are the most powerful on the sub-continent of Indo-Pak and China.

Monsoons in Different Seasons

SummerDuring summer, the interior of Asia and India becomes center of great heat and a powerful low pressure develops there. Comparatively the water surface of Indian Ocean is cooler and the pressure gradient is towards the heated interior. This factor is so important that trade winds are substituted by monsoon winds blowing from the south-west. Since it moves from water to land, the summer monsoon is moist and brings rain.

WinterIn the winter season, the interior of Asia and India is very cold and high pressure area exists there. In comparison, the contiguous areas of India Ocean are warmer and the pressure gradient exists towards the outlying ocean. As such the wind begins to blow from the interior of the continent towards the ocean and is known as the north-east monsoon. Coming from the dry interior, it is cold and dry. It only brings rain when it reaches some portion after crossing the sea.

Monsoons Winds of South & Southeast AsiaSouth Asian lands have mostly a tropical monsoon type of climate. They have a separate and distinct system of winds and air masses. In the extremely northern areas like Kashmir, Nepal and Bhutan, the winters are distinctly cold and wet, so they become a little different from the true monsoon climate while the eastern sides of south Asia i.e., the ASEAN and Bangladesh areas may be called the true monsoon type. True monsoon types of climate lands experience fairly uniform distribution of temperatures and little diurnal range. Low pressures prevail in the summers, which result in the abundance of rainfall by summer monsoons and long drought periods in winter season for more than four months. So summers are quite hot and rainy, while winters in the true monsoon climate are almost dry and warm.

The summer monsoon comes to South Asia from the Indian Ocean as south-western winds, then it curves

towards the north-west upto Ganges plain and then towards the Indus plain.

Usually monsoon winds of South Asia are sub-divided into two parts:a. The period from June to mid September, a time of advancing monsoon winds.b. The period from mid September to mid December, a time retreating monsoon winds.During the hot dry season, due to very high temperatures in the desert and semi-desert areas of South Asia, very low pressure areas are created, which eventually cause the outburst of the monsoon. This low pressure area attracts winds from Indian Ocean, full of humidity, giving heavy rains over the South Asian region.

The duration of this monsoon varies from six months in the extreme south of Madras, to only six weeks in the Pakistan area.

The speed of monsoon winds also varies in different parts of South Asia. There are two main routes of these monsoon winds. One route starts from Arabian Sea and scarcely reaches the north of the gulf of Cambay. The second route starts from the Bay of Bengal as an east wind, upto the Ganges and reaches Punjab from the south-east.

In the eastern side, i.e., Bengal, the monsoon starts from the middle of June and reaches Punjab in the month of July. South-East Asia receives continuous and the heaviest rainfalls as compared to the others parts of South Asia.

Rainfall reduces the temperatures in most parts of India and Pakistan. The areas of Punjab and Sindh are the driest parts in this season and have the highest temperatures, which remain in June and July.

In northern plain areas, the rainfall is from 30 in. to 60 in. on the leeward side of mountains. In the interior of plateau and valleys of peninsular India, the rainfall received is only 10 in. to 30 in.

When this summer monsoon comes towards the west, rainfall gradually decreases because dry hot air may reach across central India. No rainfall occurs here. Only the Himalayan regions receive heavy rainfall during this time. Kashmir receives 20 in. to 40 in. of rainfall. The Rajisthan and Sindh areas receive no rain during this rainy period.

The winter monsoon of South Asia is dry with cool air travelling across the Indo-Gangetic Plan from the north-west, and in part, from subsidiary air in the sub-tropical high pressure belt.

The winter monsoon moves from west to east and then turns to become north-easterly over the peninsular India. The mean January temperature remains above 70 oF. The rainfall is less than 5 to 13 cm in Punjab and more than 5 to 13 cm in Himalayan areas with cold air blowing.

Monsoon Winds of North AmericaNorth America does not have the remarkable extremes of monsoon winds experienced by South-Eastern Asia, but there is nevertheless an alternation of temperature and pressure conditions between winter and summer.Wind records show that in summer, there is a prevailing tendency for air originating in the gulf of Mexico to move northward across the central and eastern parts of the United States; whereas in winter, there is a prevailing tendency for air to move southward from sources in Canada. Australia, too, shows a monsoon effect, but being south of the equator, it reverses the conditions of Asia.

EARTH’S SURFACE WIND SYSTEM

IntroductionWhen the movement of the air in the atmosphere is in a horizontal direction over the surface of the earth, it is known as the wind. Movement of the wind is directly controlled by pressure.

The Equatorial Belt of Variable WindsOver the equatorial trough of low pressure, lying roughly between 5o S and 5o N latitude, is the equatorial belt of variable winds and calms or the Doldrums. There are no surface winds here, but a fair distribution of directions around the compass. Calms prevail as much as a third of the time. Centrally located on a belt of low pressure, this zone has no strong pressure gradients to induce a persistent flow of wind.

Trade Wind BeltNorth and south of the doldrums are the trade wind belts, covering the roughly the zones lying between 5o and 30o north and south. The trade is a result of a pressure gradient from sub-tropical belts of high pressure to the equatorial trough of low pressure. In the northern hemisphere, air moving equator-wards is deflected by the earth’s rotation to turn westwards. Thus, the prevailing wind is from the north-east and winds are termed as the north-east trades. In the Southern Hemisphere, deflection of the moving air to the left causes the south-east trades. Trade winds are noted for their steadiness and directional persistence. Most winds come from one quarter of the equator.The trades are best developed over the pacific and Atlantic oceans, but are upset in the India Ocean region by the proximity of great Asiatic land mass. The trade wind belts are not altogether favorable for navigation or flying, because over certain oceanic portions, at certain seasons of the year, terrible tropical storms known as hurricanes or typhoons occur.

Sub-Tropical Belt of Variable Winds and CalmsBetween latitudes 30o and 40o north and south are what has long been called the sub-tropical belt of variable winds and calms or horse latitudes, coinciding with the sub-tropical high pressure belt. Instead of being continuos even belts, the high pressure areas are concentrated into distinct anticyclones or cells, located over the oceans.The apparent outward spiraling movement of air is directed equatorward into easterly trade wind system; polewards into the westerly wind system. The cells of higher pressure are most strongly developed in summer. There is also a latitudinal shifting following the sun’s declination. This amounts to less than 5o in the Southern Hemisphere, but is about 8o for the strong Hawaiian high latitude in the north-eastern Pacific.Winds in the high pressure cells are distributed around a considerable range of compass directions. Calms prevail as much as a quarter of the time. The cells have generally fair, clear weather, with a strong tendency to dryness. Most of the world’s great deserts lie is this zone and in the adjacent trade wind belt.

Belt of WesterliesBetween latitudes 40o and 60o north and south, is the belt of westerlies or prevailing westerly winds.

Within the westerly wind belt, winds blow from any direction of the compass, but the westerly components are definitely predominant. Storm winds are common in this belt, as are frequent cloudy days with continued precipitation. Weather is highly changeable. In the Northern Hemisphere, land masses cause considerable disruption of the westerly wind belt, but in the Southern Hemisphere, between the latitude 40o and 60o south, there is an almost unbroken belt of ocean. Here the westerlies gain great strength and persistence.The belt was extensively used for selling vessels travelling eastwards from the south Atlantic Ocean to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and the Southern Pacific Islands. Although the westerly wind belts no longer exert a strong influence over the routes of modern ocean vessels, they are important in long distance flying. Transoceanic and transcontinental flights in the easterly direction require less fuel and shorter time. On westward flights, strong headwinds may eat dangerously into the fuel supply on the plane and in any event necessitate reduced payload.

Polar EasterliesA wind system termed polar easterlies has been described as the characteristic of the Arctic and the polar zones. The concept is greatly over simplified, if not actually erroneous, for winds in these regions take a variety of directions, as dictated by local weather disturbances. Perhaps in Antarctica, where an ice-capped land mass rests squarely upon the pole and is surrounded by a vast oceanic expense, the outward spiraling flow of polar easterlies is a valid concept. Deflected to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, the radial winds would spiral counter clockwise, producing a system of south-easterly winds.

10. Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

It came out in 1991 killing 800 people and 10,000 homeless. When it came out, it emitted smoke and as over 19 miles high.

9. Nevada del Ruiz, Columbia

It came out on 13th November, 1985 and caused death of 23,000 people.

8. Mount St. Helens, Washington

It came out on 18th May, 1980 but it emitted smoke since March, 1980. Almost 80 people died from the eruption.

7. Paricutin, Mexico

It came out in February, 1943 and made a mountain of 1,200 feet in a year. Only three people died in the whole eruption.

6. Mount Pelee, Martinique

It came out on 8th May, 1902 and caused death of 2900 people and destroyed the land near it. In the whole town only 2 people survived.

5. Mount Krakatau, Indonesia

It came out on 27th August, 1883 and was heard over 2000 miles away even in Australia. It killed 36,000 people.

4. Mount Tambora, Indonesia

It came out on 10th November, 1815 and killed almost 92,000 people. Due to the agricultural devastation 80,000 of the people killed.

3. Mount Vesuvius, Italy

This came out in 79 A.D. and covered the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

2. Mount Etna, Sicily

It occurred in December, 1991 and Etna is called the highest active volcano and is after a Greek legend of Hesiod and Pindar.

1. Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon

It came out in 1902, and the interesting thing about this volcano is that it was 12,000 feet high and when the whole eruption was over, all of it was replaced by a 1900 feet deep crater.

Short Notes on Major Physical Divisions of India and Hill RangesTUSHA GUPTA

Major Physical Divisions of India(1) The Himalayan Mountains:

(i) Three parallel ranges:

(a) Himadri

(b) Himachal or Lesser Himalayas

(c) Shiwaliks

(ii) Divisions demarcated by River Valleys:

(a) Punjab Himalayas

(b) Kumaon Himalayas

(c) Nepal Himalayas

(d) Assam Himalayas

(2) The Northern Plains: Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra plains.(3) The Peninsular Plateau:

(a) Central Highlands

(b) Deccan Plateau

(4) The Indian Desert(5) The coastal plains

(a) Western coastal plain.

(b) Eastern coastal plain.

(6) The Island groups:

(a) Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

(b) Lakshadweep.

Main Mountain and Hill Ranges:

(i) In the Himalayas-Karakoram, Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Purvanchal.

(ii) In the Peninsular Plateau-Vindhyachal, Satpura, Mahadeo, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats, Nilgiri Hills, Cardamom Hills.

Major Rivers:

(i) Flowing into the Bay of Bengal

(a) Ganga-Brahmaputra river system and their tributaries.

(b) Peninsular Rivers: Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.

(ii) Flowing into the Arabian Sea

(а) Indus river system with tributaries

(b) Narmada and Tapi rivers.

ndia is a big tropical country and is famous for its diverse climatic features. India climate can be categorized into six principal subcategories and this has been determined by the Koppen climate classification.

Seasons in India 

The seasons in India can be broadly categorized into the following:

Name of the season Tenure

Winter The months of January and February

Summer The months of March to May

Monsoon (rainy) season The months of June to September

A post-monsoon period The months of October to December

Features of the seasons in India

Given below are the prominent features of the seasons in India in a tabular format:

Name of the season Features

Winter

The winter in India spans the months of December till the beginning of April. The coldest months of the year are January and December. During this period, the average temperature is approximately 50-59 °F (10-15 °C) in the northwestern parts of the country. The mercury soars as you move in the direction of the equator, and the maximum temperature in this area is close to 68-77 °F or 20-25 °C in the southeastern parts of the Indian territory.

Summer. The summer is also known as the pre-monsoon season.

The summer months are the months of April to June. However, the summer refers to the months of April to July in the northwestern parts of the country. In the southern and western parts of the country, the month with the maximum recorded temperature is April. In case of the northern parts of the country, the month with the maximum recorded temperature is May. The average temperature registered during these months is close to 90-104 °F (32-40 °C) in majority of the inland areas of the country.

Monsoon or rainy season

The monsoon, also known as the rainy season, spans the months of June to September. This season is primarily influenced with the moist southwestern summer torrential rainfall that gradually moves throughout the nation. It starts in the end of May or the beginning of June. The precipitation starts to ebb from Northern India in the early October. Usually, the southern parts of the country get higher volume of precipitation than the northern parts of the country.

Post-monsoon season

The post-monsoon season spans the months of October to December. In the northwest parts of the country, the months of November and October normally have a bright weather. The Indian state of Tamil Nadu gets the maximum volume of yearly rainfall in the northeastern rainy season.

The states in the Himalayan mountain ranges feature more clement climatic conditions. These states witness two more seasons and they are spring and autumn. Conventionally, the people of India have been experiencing six seasons in a year and every one of it spans for approximately two months or sixty days. These seasons are named summer (grima), the spring (vasanta in Sanskrit), autumn (sarada), monsoon season (vara), winter (sisira) and early late autumn (hemanta). The categorization has been done on the basis of the astronomical distribution of the 12 months in a year into six fragments. The age-old Hindu calendar indicates these periods in its list of months.

Characteristics of rainfall in India

Type of Rainfall Areas

Areas of very little rainfall (lower than 50 cm):

Western Rajasthan, northern part of Kashmir, the Deccan Plateau and Punjab.

Areas of low precipitation (50-100 cm):

Eastern Rajasthan, Upper Ganga basin, Southern plains of Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.

Areas of comparatively heavy rainfall (100-200 cm):

Southern areas of Gujarat, north-eastern Peninsular region, east Tamil Nadu, eastern Maharashtra, Western Ghats, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and the central Gangetic basin.

Areas of heavy rainfall (more than 200 cm):

The western seashores, the Western Ghats, Hills of Meghalaya, and the Sub-Himalayan range territories in North East. West Bengal, Assam, Western Coast, and southern part of east Himalayas.

Where to visit in India during the various seasons

Where to visit in India during the Summer:

Though the summer can be quite rough and difficult in majority of the areas in the country, it's the ideal occasion to visit the hill stations and mountains in the country like Nainital and Manali. If you are a wildlife enthusiast, the summer is also the ideal occasion to go to the national parks in India as the creatures become visible and they look for water in the warmth.

Where to visit in India during the Monsoon:

It's hard to trip in India at the time of the rainy season since it causes disturbances in traffic. Nonetheless, the monsoon is the ideal occasion to see the famous yet secluded Ladakh in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India.

Where to visit in India during the Winter:

The winter season is the ideal occasion to visit the seashores in India. The pristine and sandy beaches in Goa are the most popular tourist draws during this period. The southern parts of India witness more visitors than the northern parts of India during this period. The beaches in Kerala are also good places to visit during this time. The months of December to February are excellent times to make a trip to South India. You can also go to Rajasthan to view its deserts in the winter months.

Climatic regions in India

The various climatic regions of India are given below:

Name of climatic region States or territories

Tropical Rainforest Assam and parts of the Sahyadri Mountain Range

Tropical Savannah Sahyadri Mountain Range and parts of Maharashtra

Tropical and subtropical steppe Parts of Punjab and Gujarat

Tropical Desert Most parts of Rajasthan

Moist subtropical with winter Parts of Punjab, Assam, and Rajasthan

Mountain climate Parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttaranchal

Drought Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana

Tropical semi-arid steppe Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and other parts of South India

Short essay on Drainage Systems of IndiaK.RAJA

The Indian drainage may be broadly divided into two major systems on the basis of their orientation to the sea. These include: (l) the Bay of Bengal Drainage, and (2) the Arabian Sea Drainage.

These are separated from each other through the Delhi ridge (the Satluj-Yamuna divide), the Aravallis, the Sahyadris and Amarkantak. About 77 per cent of the drainage area of the country comprising the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Penner, Kaveri, Vaigai basins is oriented towards the Bay of Bengal.

This includes majorparts of the Himalayas, the Great Plains, the Peninsular Uplands and the Eastern Coastal Plains. The Arabian Sea drainage area spreading over to 23 percent of the country's surface flow area is confined to the north-western Himalayas, Punjab Plains, Rajasthan Plains, Gujarat Plains, Central Plateaus and the Western Coastal Plains. It commands river basins like Indus, Narmada, Tapi, Lune, Mahi and a number of swift flowing western coast rivers descending from the. Sahyadris.

Similarly on the basis of its mode of origin the Indian drainage may also be distinguished as the Himalayan drainage and the peninsular drainage. Here again there is no clear cut line of demarcation between these two drainage systems, as many of the Peninsular streams like the Chambal, the Betwa, the Son etc., much older in age and origin, form part of Krishna, Godavari, Pennar, Kaveri, Vaigai, west flowing Narmada, Tapi and West coast rivers. These have their outlet either to the Bay of Bengal or to the Arabian Sea.

Owing to complex physiographic and lithological characteristics and long geological history the river systems of India have formed varied drainage patterns.

These include antecedent pattern (by the Indus, Brahmaputra, the Satluj etc.), superimposed pattern (by Damodar, Subarnarekha, Chambal and Banas etc), dendritic pattern (by the rivers of the Ganga plain and South India), rectangular pattern (by Kosi and its tributaries and in the sandstone areas of the Vindhyas), radial pattern (in Amarkantak region by the Son, Mahanadi and Narmada), trellis pattern (in old folded areas of Singhbhum), parallel pattern (in Bijawar area and West Coastal Plain), inland drainage (in Rajasthan

(a) West flowing (10): Shetrunji, Bhadra, Dhadar, Burhabalang, Baitarni, Puma, Ambika, Vaitarna, Ulhas, Savitri, Mandavi, Gangavati, Kalinadi, Sharavati, Netiavati, Ghaliar, Bharatpuzhe, Periyar, and Pamba.

(b) East flowing (21): Rushikulya, Vamasdhara, Nagavali, Sarda, Yeleru, Gundlakamma, Musi, Paleru, Muneru, Kunleru, Kaitalaiyar, Palar, Gingee, Pannaiyar, Vellar, Vaigai, Cundar, Varshalli, Vaippar, and Tamrapani.

(c) Flowing into other countries (4): Karnaphali, Kaldan, Imphal, and Tixu Nanitaluk. Their mountain reaches but depicts maturity during their sojourn through the Great Plains forming depositional features like flat valleys, of-bow lakes, natural levees, flood plains and deltas.

The Himalayan courses of these rivers are highly tortuous but in plains they display a strong meandering tendency and shift their courses frequently. This poses problem in the utilisation of these rivers as dependable source of navigation and irrigation. The river regimes, although perennial, exhibit wide seasonal fluctuations; causing devastating floods during rainy season but shrinking to the bottom of the valley with a number of shoals during dry season.

These rivers continue to perform intensive erosional activity as is evident in the huge loads of sands and silt transported by them annually. The transverse sections of the Himalayan valleys with alternately Vs and Us signify the continuation of the process of the upliftment of the Himalayas.

Another well-known characteristic of the Himalayan Rivers is that where they cut across the mountains after flowing in longitudinal valleys they are joined at the bends by tributaries flowing down from the north (Mehdiratta, 1962, pp. 24-25). Many of the great Himalayan Rivers are older than the mountains they traverse.

The water of the Himalayan Rivers is utilised by numerous purposes, drinking, irrigation, river-transport, power generation, industrial use and tourism development.

Desert area by revers like Rupnarain, Medha, Jojari etc), and subsequent pattern (in the Peninsular fore-land by the Chambal, Ken, Sindh, Betwa and Son).

On the basis of the size of the catchment area the drainage basins of the country may be grouped under three categories (Rao, 1977): (a) Major, having a catchment area of over 20,000 sq. km. This includes 14 drainage basins belonging to the Ganga, Indus, Godavari, Krishna, Brahmaputra, Mahanadi, Narmada, Kaveri, Tapi, Penner, Brahmani, Mahi, Subarnarekha, and Sabarmati which are characterised by high rainfall (i.e., 63 million cu. m/100km2  area), (b) Medium, having a catchment area of2,000- 20,000 sq. km This incorporates 44 river basins which generally receive medium rainfall (i.e., 45 million cu.m./lOO km2 area), (c) Minor, with a catchment area of less than 2,000 sq. km. each. This includes a fairly good number of small rivers flowing in the area of low rainfall (i.e., 25 million cu. m. 100 km2  area).

Of the total annual run-off of the country (i.e., 18,58, 100 million cu. m) 84 per cent is carried over by the major river basins, while medium and minor (including inland drainage) river basins each contribute 8 per cent of annual yield of water (Das Gupta, 1989). The total catchment area of all river basins is 3,287,782 sq. km in which the medium and minor river basins occupy 7,11,833 sq. km of the area (21.6%).

Drainage

Definition: The term drainage describes the river system of an area. The area drained by a single river system is called a drainage basin.

DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN INDIA

The drainage systems of India are mainly controlled by the broad relief features of the subcontinent. Accordingly, the Indian rivers are divided into two major groups:

• the Himalayan rivers; and

• the Peninsular rivers.

Most of the Himalayan rivers are perennial. It means that they have water throughout the year. These rivers receive water from rain as well as from melted snow from the lofty mountains. The two major Himalayan rivers, the Indus and the Brahmaputra originate from the north of the mountain ranges. They have cut through the mountains making gorges. The Himalayan rivers have long courses from their source to the sea. They perform intensive erosional activity in their upper courses and carry huge loads of silt and sand. In the middle and the lower courses, these rivers form meanders, oxbow lakes, and many other depositional features in their floodplains. They also have well-developed deltas.

A large number of the Peninsular rivers are seasonal, as their flow is dependent on rainfall. The Peninsular rivers have shorter and shallower courses as compared to their Himalayan counterparts. However, some of them originate in the central highlands and flow towards the west. Most of the rivers of peninsular India originate in the Western Ghats and flow towards the Bay of Bengal.

Drainage Patterns

The streams within a drainage basin form certain patterns, depending on the slope of land, underlying rock structure as well as the climatic conditions of the area. These are dendritic, trellis, rectangular, and radial patterns. The dendritic pattern develops where the river channel follows the slope of the terrain. The stream with its tributaries resembles the branches of a tree, thus the name dendritic. A river joined by its tributaries, at approximately right angles, develops a trellis pattern.

1. A trellis drainage pattern develops where hard and soft rocks exist parallel to each other.

2. A rectangular drainage pattern develops on a strongly jointed rocky terrain.

3. The radial pattern develops when streams flow in different directions from a central peak or dome like structure. A combination of several patterns may be found in the same drainage basin.

The Himalayan Rivers

The major Himalayan rivers are the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. These rivers are long, and are joined by many large and important tributaries. A river alongwith its tributaries may be called a river system.

The Indus River System

The river Indus rises in Tibet, near Lake Mansarowar. Flowing west, it enters India in the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir. It forms a picturesque gorge in this part. Several tributaries, the Zaskar, the Nubra, the Shyok and the Hunza, join it in the Kashmir region. The Indus flows through Baltistan and Gilgit and emerges from the mountains at Attock. The Satluj, the Beas, the Ravi, the Chenab and the Jhelum join together to enter the Indus near Mithankot in Pakistan. Beyond this, the Indus flows southwards eventually reaching the Arabian Sea, east of Karachi. The Indus plain has a very gentle slope. With a total length of 2900 km, the Indus is one of the longest rivers of the world. A little over a third of the Indus basin is located in India in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the Punjab and the rest is in Pakistan.

The Ganga River System

The headwaters of the Ganga, called the ‘Bhagirathi’ is fed by the Gangotri Glacier and joined by the Alaknanda at Devaprayag in Uttaranchal. At Haridwar the Ganga emerges from the mountains on to the plains. The Ganga is joined by many tributaries from the Himalayas, a few of them being major rivers such as the Yamuna, the Ghaghara, the Gandak and the Kosi. The river Yamuna rises from the Yamunotri Glacier in the Himalayas. It flows parallel to the Ganga and as a right bank tributary, meets the Ganga at Allahabad. The Ghaghara, the Gandak and the Kosi rise in the Nepal Himalaya. They are the rivers, which flood parts of the northern plains every year, causing widespread damage to life and property but enriching the soil for the extensive agricultural lands.

The main tributaries, which come from the peninsular uplands, are the Chambal, the Betwa and the Son. These rise from semi arid areas, have shorter courses and do not carry much water in them. Enlarged with the waters from its right and left bank tributaries, the Ganga flows eastwards till Farakka in West Bengal. This is the northernmost point of the Ganga delta. The river bifurcates here; the Bhagirathi-Hooghly (a distributary) flows southwards through the deltaic plains to the Bay of Bengal. The mainstream, flows southwards into Bangladesh and is joined by the Brahmaputra. Further down stream, it is known as the Meghna. This mighty river, with waters from the Ganga, and the Brahmaputra, flows into the Bay of Bengal. The delta formed by these rivers is known as the Sunderban delta. The length of the Ganga is over 2500 km.

The Brahmaputra River System

The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet east of Mansarowar lake very close to the sources of the Indus and the Satluj. It is slightly longer than the Indus, and most of its course lies outside India. It flows eastwards parallel to the Himalayas. On reaching the Namcha Barwa (7757 m), it takes a ‘U’ turn and enters India in Arunachal Pradesh through a gorge. Here, it is called the Dihang and it is joined by the Dibang, the Lohit, the Kenula and many other tributaries to form the Brahmaputra in Assam. In Tibet the river carries a smaller volume of water and less silt as it is a cold and a dry area. In India it passes through a region of high rainfall. Here the river carries a large volume of water and considerable amount of silt. The Brahmaputra has a braided channel in its entire length in Assam and forms many riverine islands. Every year during the rainy season, the river overflows its banks, causing widespread devastation due to floods in Assam and Bangladesh. Unlike other north Indian rivers the Brahmaputra is marked by huge deposits of silt on its bed causing the river bed to rise. The river also shifts its channel frequently.

The Peninsular Rivers

The main water divide in Peninsular India is formed by the Western Ghats, which runs from north to south close to the western coast. Most of the major rivers of the Peninsula such as the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri flow eastwards and drain into the Bay of Bengal. These rivers make deltas at their mouths. There are numerous small streams flowing west of the Western Ghats. The Narmada and the Tapi are the only long rivers, which flow west and make esturies. The drainage basins of the peninsular rivers are comparitevely small in size.

The Narmada Basin

The Narmada rises in the Amarkantak hills in Madhya Pradesh. It flows towards the west in a rift valley formed due to faulting. All the tributaries of the Narmada are very short and most of these join the main stream at right angles. The Narmada basin covers parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

The Tapi Basin

The Tapi rises in the Satpura ranges, in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. Its basin covers parts of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The coastal plains between western ghats and the Arabian sea are very narrow. Hence, the coastal rivers are short. The main west flowing rivers are Sabarmati, Mahi, Bharathpuzha and Periyar.

The Godavari Basin

The Godavari is the largest Peninsular river. It rises from the slopes of the Western Ghats in the Nasik district of Maharashtra. Its length is about 1500 km. It drains into the Bay of Bengal. Its drainage basin is also the largest among the peninsular rivers. The basin covers parts of Maharashtra (about 50 per cent of the basin area lies in Maharashtra), Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The Godavari is joined by a number of tributaries such as the Purna, the Wardha, the Pranhita, the Manjra, the Wainganga and the Penganga.

The Mahanadi Basin

The Mahanadi rises in the highlands of Chhattisgarh. It flows through Orissa to reach the Bay of Bengal. The length of the river is about 860 km. Its drainage basin is shared by Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Orissa.

The Krishna Basin

Rising from a spring near Mahabaleshwar, the Krishna flows for about 1400 km and reaches the Bay of Bengal. The Tungabhadra, the Koyana, the Ghatprabha, the Musi and the Bhima are some of its tributaries. Its drainage basin is shared by Maharasthra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The Kaveri Basin

The Kaveri rises in the Brahmagri range of the Western Ghats and it reaches the Bay of Bengal in south of Cuddalore, in Tamil Nadu. Total length of the river is about 760 km. Its main tributaries are Amravati, Bhavani, Hemavati and Kabini. Its basin drains parts of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

LAKES

India has many lakes. These differ from each other in the size, and other characteristics. Most lakes are permanent; some contain water only during the rainy season, like the lakes in the basins of inland drainage of semi-arid regions. There are some of the lakes which are the result of the action of glaciers and ice sheets, while the others have been formed by wind, river action, and human activities. A meandering river across a flood plain forms cut-offs that later develop into ox-bow lakes. Spits and bars form lagoons in the coastal areas, eg the Chilika lake, the Pulicat lake, the Kolleru lake. Lakes in the region of inland drainage are sometimes seasonal; for example, the Sambhar lake in Rajasthan, which is a salt water lake. Its water is used for producing salt. Most of the fresh water lakes are in the Himalayan region. They are of glacial origin. In other words, they formed when glaciers dug out a basin, which was later filled with snowmelt. The Wular lake in Jammu and Kashmir, in contrast, is the result of the tectonic activity. It is the largest freshwater lake in India. The Dal lake, Bhimtal, Nainital, Loktak and Barapani are some other important fresh water lakes. Apart from natural lakes, the damming of the rivers for the generation of hydel power has also led to the formation of Lakes such as Guru Gobind Sagar (Bhakra Nangal Project).

A lake helps to regulate the flow of a river. During heavy rainfall, it prevents flooding and during the dry season, it helps to maintain an even flow of water. Lakes can also be used for developing hydel power. They moderate the climate of the surroundings; maintain the aquatic ecosystem, enhance natural beauty, help develop tourism and provide recreation.

ROLE OF RIVERS IN THE ECONOMY

Rivers have been of fundamental importance throughout the human history. Water from the rivers is a basic natural resource, essential for various human activities. Therefore, the river banks have attracted settlers from ancient times. These settlements have now become big cities. Make a list of cities in your state which are located on the bank of a river. Using rivers for irrigation, navigation, hydro-power generation is of special significance – particularly to a country like India, where agriculture is the major source of livelihood of the majority of its population.

RIVER POLLUTION

The growing domestic, municipal, industrial and agricultural demand for water from rivers naturally affects the quality of water. As a result, more and more water is being drained out of the rivers reducing their volume. On the other hand, a heavy load of untreated sewage and industrial effluents are emptied into the rivers. This affects not only the quality of water but also the self-cleansing capacity of the river.

Climate

Temperature averages in India; units are in degree Celsius.

Main articles: Climate of India and Climatic regions of India

Based on the Köppen system, India hosts six major climatic subtypes, ranging from arid desert in the west, alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, and humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories. The nation has four seasons: winter (January–February), summer (March–May), a monsoon (rainy) season (June–September) and a post-monsoon period (October–December).[32]

The Himalayas act as a barrier to the frigid katabatic winds flowing down from Central Asia. Thus, North India is kept warm or only mildly cooled during winter; in summer, the same phenomenon makes India relatively hot. Although the Tropic of Cancer—the boundary between the tropics and subtropics—passes through the middle of India, the whole country is considered to be tropical.[citation needed]

Summer lasts between March and June in most parts of India. Temperatures can exceed40 °C (104 °F) during the day. The coastal regions exceed 30 °C (86 °F) coupled with high levels of humidity. In the Thar desert area temperatures can exceed 45 °C (113 °F). The rain-bearing monsoon clouds are attracted to the low-pressure system created by the Thar Desert. The southwest monsoon splits into two arms, the Bay of Bengal arm and the Arabian Sea arm. The Bay of Bengal arm moves northwards crossing northeast India in early June. The Arabian Sea arm moves northwards and deposits much of its rain on the windward side of Western Ghats. Winters in peninsula India see mild to warm days and cool nights. Further north the temperature is cooler. Temperatures in some parts of the Indian plains sometimes fall below freezing. Most of northern India is plagued by fog during this season. The highest temperature recorded in India was 53.6 °C (128.5 °F) in dholpur. The lowest was−45 °C (−49 °F) in Kashmir.

Short essay on the Classification of Soils in IndiaGEETA GUPTA

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has made an authentic and standardized classification of soils and divided the soils of India into the following 8 groups:

(1) Alluvial soils

(2) Black soils

(3) Red and Yellow soils

(4) Laterite soils

(5) Arid soils

(6) Saline soils

(7) Peaty and Organic soils

(8) Forest soils

Alluvial soilsNature of Soil.

The alluvial soils are of many shades depending upon depth, (deep and shallow), deposition conditions (coarse and finer) and time (older and recent). In the western Ganga plains, Punjab and Haryana, the quantity of loam and clay loam increases while in the middle Ganga plain sand decreases and loam increases.

In Punjab and other plains, the excess of irrigation has made the soils waterlogged and saline crusts have been formed. This has also caused the formation of heavy soils in low lying areas.

In the eastern parts finer particles predominate and loams and fine silty clays are formed. Due to heavy rainfall, the alluvial soils have been laterised.

In the river valley plain of northern India floods result in deposition of silt. This new alluvium is known as Khadar. The higher areas, where floods do not reach has old alluvium and is known as Bangar.

Under the bangar deposits, beds of lime modules are found and are known as Kankar and these are usually found in Haryana and are a good source of raw material for cement plants.

Along the coast of the Peninsula, where sea water enters the delta, saltish soils are the result. The salt encrustations in Kutchch (Gujarat) shine with a glaze on sunny days.

In the north-west, the drier parts draw sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc. from the depth and create a powdery layer on the top of the soil because of evaporation of water.

This layer is called Reh (Kallar). No vegetation grows on the Kallar land.

Alluvial soils arc found in two different and distinct regions in India:

(i) Northern Plains.

The whole of the northern plains; from Punjab, Haryana, U.P., Bihar to West Bengal arc included in this region. The river courses and the deltas form alluvial soil regime.

(ii) Southern Coastal Area.

Starting from the Eastern Coast along a narrow belt passing through the flood plains, terraces, deltaic and lagoon areas of the rivers like the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, etc.

Narrow areas along the coast and lower portions of the Narmada, the Tapti, the Sabarmati and the Mahi also have such type of soils.

The alluvial soils are fertile and are responsible for making the northern plains, the granary of India. Agricultural activities and crop productivity are attributed to these soils.

Black Soils

Black soils are said to have developed in the Deccan Trap area on basalt rocks in semi-arid conditions. They are of three kinds- shallow, medium and deep. These are also called Regur.

They are deep black in colour but there is almost complete absence of humus. Water can remain stored in the soils for a long period and this can continue to provide water to the roots of the plants in the dry period.

That is why these soils are used for the cultivation of cotton even in those areas where irrigation is not available. Their black colour is due to certain salts. On getting dry, the soils develop cracks. The soils

have some deficiency of potash, nitrogen and phosphorus but have lime, magnesium, aluminium, etc. Thus they are fertile soils.

Such soils are in eastern Gujarat, south-western M.P (Narmada, parts of Vindhya and Satpura), almost the whole of Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, north-western T.N., western A.P, etc.

They are about 6 metres deep in the lower parts of the Narmada, the Tapti, the upper parts of Godavari and the Krishna rivers.

Black soils are very conducive to cotton cultivation. The Deccan Trap area has become famous for cotton cultivation because of these soils. In fact this region is called cotton bowl of India.

Wherever soils arc less deep as on the slopes of the plateaus and hills, and unable to hold water, there instead of cotton, barley, millets, pulses etc. are grown. In areas of deep soils, besides cotton, a host of other crops like tobacco, groundnuts etc. are successfully raised.

Red And Yellow Soils

The reddish-yellow colour is due to the presence of iron oxide. These soils are formed where the rainfall is low and there is a little leaching lesser than that in the laterite soils.

Red soils are as such usually developed on old crystalline and metamorphic rocks. These are sandier and comparatively less clayey.

These soils cannot retain moisture for a longtime. Use of manures increases their fertility. The soils are deficient in phosphorus, nitrogen and humus. They are acidic in nature and have iron, aluminium and lime in sufficient quantities.

If the soils are fine grained, they are fertile. These are porous soils. They are not fertile on higher dry lands.

These soils are found in three regions:

(i) Central- From Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand to the south, from Orissa, eastern A.P and T.N., these soils occupy large areas.

(ii) Western- The eastern and south-eastern narrow belt to the eastern side of the Aravalis.

(iii) Eastern- Parts of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, etc.

If the soils are not fertile, millets are grown. Where they are deep, deep red and fertile, the main crops grown are wheat, cotton, potato, rough grains and others.

Laterite Soils

These soils are in those areas which are hot and get seasonal rainfall. Due to higher temperatures the bacteria eat away humus and the rainfall leaches silica and lime. As a result the soils are acidic and are rich in aluminium and iron oxides.

At places where aluminium compounds dominate, the laterites are called bauxite. On account of presence of iron oxides in them the soils appear red.

These soils are classified into three types on the basis of their particles:

(a) Deep Red Laterite.

They have excess of iron oxide and potash but are short of Kaolin. The soils are not fertile.

(b) White Laterite.

The colour of the soil is due to excess of Kaolin. Soils lose fertility at a faster rate.

(c) Underground Laterite.

The upper parts are dissolved especially in iron which settles down below the upper layer. This makes the soils fertile.

Laterite soils do not retain moisture. The use of manure is necessary for increasing soil fertility.

Their occurrence is not spread on large areas but they occur in patches, however, continuous also in some areas. Bihar and Jharkhand Plateau has laterite soils. They are in patches on the Eastern Ghats through Orissa, A.P and T.N.

In the western parts of India such soils are in a narrow belt from the north to the south through Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala extending more or less continuously. Shillong Plateau has a laterite soil belt which extends towards Sadiya in Assam.

Soils are useful for making bricks because of presence of lot of iron in them. Its form in-which aluminium is in excess is called Bauxite and is used for extracting aluminium. Soils become fertile with the addition of fertilisers and manures.

These soils are devoted to the cultivation of cotton, rice, wheat, pulses, tea, coffee, etc. These are intensively cultivated in south India. Tapioca and cashew nuts are also grown in these soils. The latter is a cash crop.

Arid Soils

These soils are usually shallow. They have sandy texture. They have low clay and salt content; usually below 10%. The colour ranges from red to brown and light brown.

Due to high evaporation in arid regions, the soils suffer from deficiency of humus and moisture but wherever water is provided through irrigation, soils become fertile. Though these soils are poor in nitrogen yet they are somewhat rich in plant food.

The entire area, west of the Aravalis has arid soils. This is the part of the Thar Desert and it continues into neighbouring Pakistan. The strong desert winds remove fine particles of sand to far off places causing infertile barren lands.

The use of manures and provision of irrigation facilities to such soils result in fairly good crop yields.

Afforestation can help stabilizing shifting sand dunes. Indira Gandhi canal has proven to be a boon for the region by way of converting dry desert lands into blooming landscape full of greenery and economic prosperity.

Saline Soils

Saline soils are found in various climatic regimes - dry, semi-dry and swampy. These soils possess sodium, potassium and magnesium salts. Salts reach these areas by defective drainage and dry climate.

The salts in their solutions move up and are found lying over the surface like a white sheet. Its encrustation is very hard and inpenetrable. It does not allow any vegetation to grow.

The S.W Monsoons which cross Rann of Kutchch bring with them salt particles and form a layer in the Gujarat state. In the swampy areas and in the coastal tidal areas, the swamps are saturated with salts. These soils arc deficient in nitrogen and calcium.

The western Gujarat area (Kutchch) is known for these type of soils. These soils are known as Khar, Khanjan, etc. In the Cauvery and Mahanadi deltas, the sea water makes the soil saline.

In West Bengal the Sunderbans are well known for such soils. In Punjab, Haryana, U.P and Bihar, Saline soils are encompassing more and more agricultural areas. Same is the position in the southern Indian states.

However, the fertility of soils can be regained by way of putting gypsum in the soils and improving drainage.

Peaty and organic soils

A large amount of dead organic matter accumulates in areas which have heavy rainfall and high humidity.

As a result these soils are saline, rich in organic matter (40%) but deficient in potash and phosphorus. These are alkaline, heavy and black in colour.

Such soils are found in the coastal areas of W. Bengal, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, northern Bihar and Almora area of U.P.

Forest soils

These soils are found in the hilly areas, covered with forests. The main characteristic of these soils is the accumulation of organic matter derived from forest cover. The soils are not uniform everywhere but there are variations in their distribution.

The soils are loamy and have silt in the valley areas and are coarse grained, kankar etc. in the higher areas.

There are some important types of soils which have been spread over areas described below:

(i) Fine Textured Soil.

Usually the outwash and river valleys develop these type of soils. For example, in many areas of upper Himalayas (Lahul-Spiti, Kinnaur and even in Ladakh), soils have not fully developed as such stone, kankar and shallow soils are met with.

(ii) Alpine Soil.

In the higher areas about 3,000 metres high, the climate is cold. As a result, the soils have undecomposed vegetative matter derived from grasses resulting in immature soils.

(iii) Podzol.

The area where Podzol soils are found varies in height from 2,000 to 3,000 metres. The soil consists of partly decomposed vegetation derived from the coniferous forests that grow at this height.

Heavy rainfall results in leaching of the soils and turns it acidic. Its colour is greyish brown. Soils are not much fertile.

(iv) Lower Forest Soil.

The height of the mountainous area where these soils develop lies between 1000 to 2000 metres.

The forest cover is mostly of deciduous trees. The soils are brown in colour, deep and slightly acidic. The soils have humus and are thus fertile.

India has a large number of economically useful minerals and they constitute one-quarter of the world's known mineral resources. About two-thirds of its iron deposits lies in a belt along Odisha and Bihar border.

Other haemaite deposits are found in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharastra and Goa. Magnetite iron-ore is found in Tamilnadu, Bihar and Himachal.

India has the world's largest deposits of coal. Bituminous coal is found in Jharia and Bokaro in Bihar and Ranigunj in West Bengal. Lignite coals are found in Neyveli in Tamilnadu.

Next to Russia, India has the largest supply of Manganese. The manganese mining areas are Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Bihar-Odisha area.Chromite deposits are found in Bihar, Cuttack district in Odisha, Krishna district in Andhra and Mysore and Hassan in Karnataka. Bauxite depositsare found in western Bihar, southwest Kashmir, Central Tamilnadu, and parts of Kerala, U.P, Maharastra and Karnataka.

India also produces third quarters of the world's mica. Belts of high quality mica are, Bihar, Andhra and Rajasthan. Gypsum reserves are in Tamilnadu and Rajasthan. Nickel ore is found in Cuttack in Bihar and Mayurbanj in Odisha. Ileminite reserves are in Kerala and along the east and the west coastal beaches.

Silimanite reserves are in Sonapahar of Meghalaya and in Pipra in M.P. Copper ore bearing areas are Agnigundala in Andhra, Singhbum in Bihar, Khetri and Dartiba in Rajasthan and parts of Sikkhim and Karnataka.

The Ramagiri field in Andhra, Kolar and Hutti in Karnataka are the important gold mines.

The Panna diamond belt is the only diamond producing area in the country, which covers the districts of Panna, Chatarpur and Satna in Madya Pradesh, as well as some parts of Banda in Uttar Pradesh.

Petroleum deposits are found in Assam and Gujarat. Fresh reserves were located off Bombay. The potential oil bearing areas are, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, west Bengal, Punjab, Himachal, Kutch and the Andamans.

India also possesses the all-too valuable nuclear uranium as well as some varieties of rare earths.

SOILS

Soil-types in India can be classified into three groups. The first group comprises of the alluvial, black and red soils, which are basically fertile and are arable and cultivatable.

The second group consists of the peaty and marshy, the saline and alkaline soils which are potentially arable.

The third group is the laterite and forest and hill soils, which are not at all suitable for cultivation.

The main alluvial area is found in the Indo-Gangetic plain and the Peninsular regions. The main crops are rice, sugarcane and wheat. Black soil is found in the northwestern regions and in the Deccan lava areas and Tamilnadu.

Black soil is especially suited for cotton. Red soil is particularly rich in potash and is found in northern and central India. The peaty and marshy soils are found in the Bengal deltas, Saline and alkaline soils in the semi-arid regions of Bihar, U.P, Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan. Desert soils are found in the minimum rain receiving areas of Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan. Laterite soil is common in the low hills of Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Assam.

There are two crop seasons: Kharif, Rabi. The major Kharif crops are rice, jowar, maize, cotton, sugarcane, sesame and groundnut. The Rabi crops are wheat, jowar, barley, gram, rapeseed and mustard and the summer crops are rice, maize, groundnut and some cash crops.

India is situated at tropical latitudes and has diverse temperature and rainfall regimes. The overall climate of India is suitable for the growth of forests. The climax formations of Indian subcontinent have been altered much due to human activities in the last few thousand years. However, the remaining vegetation shows that the natural vegetation of India primarily consists of forests. The grasslands found in the region are not natural plant formations but have originated secondarily due to destruction of natural forests in some places. Therefore, these represent various stages of seral (successional) development due to the influence of a variety of biotic influences.

FORESTS OF INDIA

The most important factors influencing the physiognomy, species composition, phenology etc. of Indian forests are temperature, rainfall, local edaphic and biotic factors. These factors have been used in the classification of Indian forests. Most detailed classification of Indian forests is by Champion and Seth (1967) in which 16 major types of forests have been recognized. These 16 major types can be grouped into 5 major categories viz. moist tropical, dry tropical, montane sub-tropical, temperate and alpine forests.

See also: http://www.envfor.nic.in/fsi/sfr99/misc/ifcmap.html

(A) MOIST TROPICAL FORESTS

These forests are found in the areas of quite high temperature and rainfall. The forests are dense, multi-layered and have many types of trees, shrubs and lians. These forests are further categorized into 4 types depending on the degree of wetness in the area and the dominant life form in the forest.

(1)  Tropical moist evergreen forests

These are climatic climax forests found commonly in areas having annual rainfall above 250 cm and temperature 25-30oC. These forests are chiefly distributed on the western face of Western Ghats, Assam,

Cachar, parts of West Bengal, northern Canara, Annamalai Hills and Coorg in Meysore and Andman Islands.

The characteristic feature of these forests is dense growth of very tall trees having height of more than 45 m. Climbers, lians, epiphytes and shrubs are abundant but herbs and grasses are rare in these forests. The carpet layer of herbs and grasses can not grow because very dense layer of leaf canopy of trees does not allow enough light to reach to the ground.

Dominant trees in forests of west coast are Dipterocarpus indica, Palaquim and Cellenia while in forests of Assam Diptercarpus macrocarpus, D. turbinatus, Shorea assamica, Mesua ferrea andKayea are the dominant trees.

Common subdominants in these forests are Mangifera, Eugenia, Myristica, Pterospermum, Polyalthia, Elaeocarpus, Schlechera, Artocarpus, Memeocylon, Poeciloneuron, Cinnamomum, Diospyros, Sapindus, Vitex, Holigarna, Alstonia, Hardwickia, Spondias, Dendrocalamus, Calamus, Bombax, Veteria, Calophyllum, Pandanus, Cedrela, Tetrameles, Strobilanthes, Emblica, Michelia, Ixora, Hopea, Lagerstroemia, several species of ferns and orchids.

See also: http://www.indianetzone.com/2/forests.htm

(2) Tropical moist semi-evergreen forests

These are also climatic climax forests found commonly in areas of annual rainfall 200-250 cm and temperature 25-32oC.These forests are chiefly distributed along the Western Ghats, in upper parts of Assam and Orissa and in Andman Islands. These forests are more developed in the northern India than in southern India.

Characteristic feature of these forests is dense growth of evergreen trees intermixed with deciduous trees that shed their leaves for very brief period of relative dryness. Average height of trees in these forests is 25-35 m and shrubs are common. Forests have rich carpet layer of herbs, grasses ferns and orchids.

Dominant trees in these forests are Dipterocarpus alatus, Hopea, Terminalia and Salmalia in Andman Island; Artocarpus, Micheliaand Mangifera in Orissa; Schima wallichii, Bauhinia, Phobe andAmmora in Assam.

Common subdominants in these forests are Mylia, Schleichera, Bambusa, Ixora, Calamus, Sterculia, Webera, Strobilanthus, Cedrela, Shorea, Actinodaphne, Garcinia, Lagerstroemia, Mallotus, Vernonia, Dendrocalamus, Pelvetta, Elattaria, Pothos, Vitis, Garuga, Albizzia and Dellenia. Common herbs and grasses in the ground (carpet) layer are Inula, Andropogon, Crotolaria, Imperata, Leca, Desmodium, Fambosa and Woodfordia.

(3) Tropical moist deciduous forests

These forests are found in the area having temperature of 25-30oC and quite high annual rainfall of 150-200 cm spread over most of the year but periods of rain alternating with very short periods of dryness. In several areas, the forests have been converted into open savannahs due to intensive biotic factors. These forests are chiefly distributed in a narrow belt along Himalayan foothills, on the eastern side of Western

Ghats, Chota Nagpur, Khasi hills, in moist areas of Kerala, Karnataka, sothern Madhya Pradesh, parts of northern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal.

Chief characteristic of these forests is dominance of deciduous trees that remain leafless for one or two months only along with lower story of smaller trees and evergreen shrubs.

Dominant trees of these forests in north India are Tectona grandis, Shorea robusta, Salmella, andDalbergia while in south India only Tectona grandis and Shorea sp. are dominant.

Common subdominants in the forests are Cedrela, Albizzia, Terminalia, Adina, Melia, Sterculia, Grewia, Gariya, Lagerstroemia, Cordia, Pongamia, Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, Chloris, Mallotus, Anogeissus, heteropogon, Cymbopogon and Andropogon.

See also:

http://www.indianetzone.com/9/eastern_highlands_moist_deciduous_forests.htm

(4) Littoral and swamp forests

These forests are found in wet marshy areas, in river deltas, in saline or other swampy areas and along the sea coasts. They are chiefly distributed in deltas of large rivers on the eastern coast and in pockets on the western coast (Tidal forests), in saline swamps of Sundarban in West Bengal, coastal areas of Andhra and Orissa (Mangrove forests) and in less saline or non-saline swampy pockets throughout the India.

Chief characteristic of these forests is dominance of halophytic evergreen plants of varying height with varying density of plants in different area.

Dominant plants of tidal and mangrove forests are Rhizophora, Bruguiera, Ceriops, Horitora, Avicennia, Nipa, Sonneratia and Acanthus. In less saline swamps, dominant plants are Ipomea, Phoenix, Phragmitis, Casuarina, Manilkara and Calophyllum. In other swamps, the dominant plants are Barringtonia, Syzygium, Myristica, Bischofia, Trowia, Lagerstroemia, Sophora, Pandanus, Entada and Premna.

See also: http://www.indianetzone.com/39/indian_tidal_or_mangrove_forests.htm

(B) DRY TROPICAL FORESTS

These forests are found in the areas where wet season is followed by a relatively long period of dryness during which trees remain leafless. These forests are dominated by smaller trees and shrubs and have abundance of shrubs or sometimes grasses. This category includes three types of forests.

(1) Tropical dry deciduous forests

These forests are found in areas having temperature of 25-32oC and annual rainfall of 75-125 cm along with a dry season of about six months. Distribution of these forests in northern India is in areas of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. In the southern and central India, these forests are distributed in dry areas of Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is open canopy of small (10-15 m high) trees and abundance of shrubs.

Dominant species of the forests in north India are Shorea robusta, anogeissus, Terminalia, Buchnnania, Somocarpus, Carissa, Emblica, Madhuca, Acacia, Aegle, Diospyros, Bauhinia, Eugenia, Zyzyphus, Lannea, Sterculia, Dendrocalamus, Salmelia, Adina, Grewia, Adathoda and Helicteres. In south India, dominant plants are Tectona grandis, Dalbergia, Kydia, Terminalia, Pterospermum, Dillenia, Acacia, Diospyros, Anogeissus, Boswellia, Bauhinia, Chloroxylon, Hardwickia, Soymida, Gymnosporia, Zyzyphus, Dendrocalamus and Holorrhena.

Subdominant species in these forests are Bambusa, Lantana and grasses like Panicum, Andropogonand Heteropogon.

See also: http://www.indianetzone.com/39/indian_dry_deciduous_forests.htm

(2) Tropical thorn forests

These forests are found in the areas of high temperature of 27-30oC and very low annual rainfall of 20-60 cm with long periods of dryness. These forests are distributed in western Rajasthan, parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamilnadu.

Chief charateristic of such forests is sparse distribution of small (8-10 m high) mostly thorny trees with shrubs being more common than trees. The plants in these forests remain leafless for most of the year. They develop leaves only during the brief rainy season when grasses and herbs also become abundant.

Dominant plants in these forests are Acacia nilotica, A. leucophloea, A. senegal, Prosopis spicigera, P. juliflora, Albizzia and Capparis.

Common subdominant plants are Zyzyphus, Anogeissus, Erythroxylon, Euphorbia, Cordia, Randia, Balanites, Salvadora, Gymnosporis, Leptadenia, Suaeda, Grewia, Gymnoma, Asparagus, Butea, Calotropis, Adathoda, Madhuca, Salmelia, Crotolaria, Tephrosia and Indigophera.

(3) Tropical dry evergreen forests

These forests are found in the areas of relatively high temperature and small rainfall available only during summers. The forests are distributed in some parts of Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

Chief characteristic features of the forests are dense distribution of mixed small evergreen and deciduous trees of 10-15 m height, absence of bamboos and abundance of grasses.

Dominant plants in the forests are Memecylon, Maba, Pavetta, Foronia, Terminalia, Ixora, Sterculia, Mesua and Schleichora.

(C) MONTANE SUBTROPICAL FORESTS

These forests occur in the areas where climate is cooler than tropical but warmer than temperate areas i.e. on the hills between the altitudes of 1000 m and 2000 m. The forests are dominated by semi-xerophytic evergreen plants. This category includes three types of forests.

(1) Sub-tropical broad-leaved hill forests

These forests occur in relatively moist areas at lower altitudes on mountain ranges. Their chief distribution is in eastern Himalayas of West Bengal and Assam , hills of Khasi, Nilgiri and Mahabaleshwar.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is dense growth of evergreen browd-leaved trees with abundant growth of climbers and epiphytic ferns and orchids.

Dominant trees in the forests of north are Quercus, Schima and Castanopsis with some temperate species. In the southern areas, dominants are Eugenia and members of family Lauraceae.

Common co-dominants and subdominants in the eastern Himalayas are Dalbergia sissoo, Acacia, catachu, Sterospermum, Cedrela toona, Bauhinia, Anthocephalus cadamba, Lagerstroemia parviflora, Albizzia procera, Salmella, Artocarpus chaplasha and Dendrocalamus. In the western Himalayas, codominants and subdominants are Shorea robusta, Dalbergia sissoo, Cedrela toona, Ficus glomerulata, Eugenia jambolina, Acacia catachu, Butea monosperma, Carissa and Zizyphus. Other common plants in these forests of both north and south India are Actinodaphne, Randia, Glochidion, Terminalia, Olea, Eleagnus, Murraya, Atylosia, Ficus, Pittosporum, Saccopetalum, Carreya, Alnus, Betula, Phobe, Cedrela, Garcinia and Polulus. In the south, Mangifera and Canthiumand climers like Piper trichostachyon, Gnetum scandens and Smilax macrophylla are also common.

(2) Sub-tropical dry evergreen forests

These forests occur in areas having quite low temperature and rainfall. The forests are distributed in the lower altitudes of eastern and western Himalayas.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is presence of thorny xerophytes and small-leaved evergreen plants.

Dominant plants in the forests are Acacia modesta, Dodonea viscosa and Olea cuspidata.

(3) Sub-tropical pine forests

These forests occur at middle altitudes between 1500-2000 m in Himalayas. They are distributed in western Himalayas from Kashmir to Uttar Pradesh. In eastern Himalayas, the forests occur in Khasi Jayantia Hills of Assam.

Chief characteristics of the forests in open formations of pine trees.

Dominant trees in the forests are P. roxburghii and Pinus khasiana.

(D) TEMPERATE FORESTS

These forests are found in the areas having quite low temperature along with comparatively high humidity than the comparable areas of higher latitudes. The cause of high humidity is greater rainfall in Himalayas except in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir where humidity is lower. The forests occur mainly in the Himalayas at altitudes 2000-4000 m. The forests are generally dominated by tall conifers or angiospermic evergreen trees with abundance of epiphytic mosses, lichens and ferns. The category includes three types of forests.

See also http://www.indianetzone.com/2/temperate_deciduous_forests.htm

(1) Wet temperate forests

These forests are found at altitudes of 1800-3000 m in the cooler and humid mountains. They are distributed in the eastern Himalayas from eastern Nepal to Assam, in the western Himalayas from Kashmir to western Nepal and in Nilgiri Hills of south Indian.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests in the Himalayas is dense formation of evergreen, semievergreen broad-leaved and coniferous trees of up to 25 m height. In south India, these forests are termed Shola forests and mostly have 15-20 m high broad-leaved trees with dense leaf canopy, abundant epiphytic flora and rich herbaceous undergrowth.

Dominant trees in the forests of western Himalayas are angiosperms like Quercus, Betula, Acer, Ulmus, Populus, Corylus, Caprinus etc. and conifers like Abies, Picea, Cedrus etc. In eastern Himalayas, dominants are Quercus, Acer, Prunus, Ulmus, Eurya, Machilus, Symplocos, Mahonia, Begonia, Michelia, Thunbergia, Rhododendron, Arundinaria, Bucklandia, Pittosporum, Loranthus, Tsug and, Abies. In the Nilgiri Hills, the dominants are Rhododendron nilagiricum, Hopea, Balanocarpus, Artocarpus, Artocarpus, Elaeocarpus, Pterocarpus, Hardwickia, Myristica, Cordonia, Salmalia, Mucuna and Dioscorea. In all the areas, the undergrowth is formed by members of Asteraceae, Rubiaceae, Acanthaceae and Fabaceae.

(2) Himalayan moist temperate forests

These forests are found at 1700-3500 m altitude in eastern and western Himalayas. These occur in areas having annual rainfall above 100 cm but relatively less than that in areas of wet temperate forests.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is presence of tall (up to 45 m high) conifers, oaks or their mixture along with thin partly deciduous undergrowth.

Dominant trees in the eastern Himalayas are Tsuga dumosa, Quercus lineata, Picea spinulosa, Abies densa and Quercus pachyphylla. In the western Himalayas, dominants in lower zones are Quercus incana, . dialata, Cedrus deodara, Pinus wallichiana, Picea smithiana, Abies pindrew, Cotoneaster,Berberis and Spire while in the higher zones the dominants are Quercus semicarpifolia and Abies pindrew.

(3) Himalayan dry temperate forests

These forests occur in the regions of Himalayas having very low rainfall. They are distributed in both eastern and western Himalayas.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is dominance of evergreen oaks and conifers. Undergrowth is formed by scrubs.

Dominant trees in the forests of comparatively drier western Himalayas are Pinus gerardiana andQuercus ilex. In the comparatively wetter western Himalayan region, the dominants are Abies, Picea, Larix griffithia and Juniperus wallichiana.

Subdominant plants in these forests are Daphne, Artemesia, Fraxinus, Alnus, Cannabis andPlectranthus.

See also: http://www.indianetzone.com/11/himalayan_subtropical_pine_forests.htm

(E) ALPINE FORESTS

These forests are found in the regions of Himalayas having extremely low temperature and humidity. The forests are dominated by perennial and annual herbs and grasses though some trees may also be present in areas of relatively high humidity. Abundant lichen flora is characteristic feature of these forests. This category includes three types of forests.

(1) Sub-alpine forests

These forests are found in open strands throughout the Himalayas between the altitude 3500 m and the tree tine.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is presence of some evergreen conifers and broad-leaved trees along with prominent shrub layer.

Dominant trees in the forests are Abies spectabilis, Rhododendron and Betula. Prominent shrubs in the forests are Cotoneaster, Rosa, Smilax, Lonicera and Strobilanthus.

(2) Moist alpine scrub forests

These forests are found in the Himalayas above the tree line up to 5500 m altitude in somewhat moist areas.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is dominance of dwarf, evergreen shrubby conifers and broad-leaved trees along with prominent shrub layer under them.

Dominant trees in the forests are Juniperus and Rhododendron while prominent shrubs areThalictrum, Lonicera, Saxifraga, Arenaria, Bergia, Sedum and Primula.

(3) Dry alpine forests

These forests are found in comparatively more dry areas of Himalayas upto 5500 m altitude.

Chief characteristic feature of the forests is open formation of xerophytic scrubs with many herbs and grasses.

Dominant plants in the forests are Juniperus, Caragana, Eurctia, Salix and Myricaria.

GRASSLANDS OF INDIA

The grasslands of India are not of primary origin. These have originated secondarily in many areas due to destruction of natural forests by biotic interference, particularly due to excessive grazing and land clearing for agriculture. These grasslands are maintained in various seral (successional) stages by a variety of biotic factors.

According to the dryness of the area, the Indian grasslands may be categorized into three types.

1. Xerophilous grasslands: These are found in semi-desert areas of north and west India.

2. Mesophilous grasslands (Savannahas): These are found in areas of Uttar Pradesh having moist

deciduous forests.

3. Hygrophilous grasslands (Wet savannahas): These are found in wet regions of India.

Whyte et al. (1954) classified Indian grasslands on the basis of dominant grass species into eight major grass associations.

(1) Sehima-Dichanthium association

These grasslands develop on black soil. They are found in some areas of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, south western Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

Dominant grass species in the grasslands are Sehima sulcatum, S. nervosum, Dichanthium annulatum, Chrysopogon montanus and Themeda quadrivalvia.

(2) Dichanthium-Cenchrus association

These grasslands develop on sandy-loam soils. They are found in Plains of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, eastern Madhya Pradesh, coastal Maharashtra and Tamilnadu.

Dominant species in these grasslands are Dichanthium annulatum and Cenchrus ciliaris.

(3) Phragmitis-Saccharum association

These grasslands develop in marshy areas. They are found in terai regions of northern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sundarban region of Bengal, Tamilnadu, and Kaveri delta.

Dominant species in these grasslands are Phragmitis karka,, Saccharum spontaneum, Imeerata cylindrica and Bothriochlo pertusa.

(4) Cymbopogon type

These grasslands develop on low hills. They are found in Eastern Ghats, Vidhyas, Satpura, Aravali and Chota Nagpur.

Dominant species in the grasslands is Cymbopogon.

(5) Arundinella type

These grasslands develop on high hills. They are found in Western Ghats, Nilgiris and lower Himalayas from Assam to Kashmir.

Dominant species in the grasslands are Arundinella nepalensis, A. setosa and Themeda anthera.

(6) Bothriochloa type

These grasslands develop on paddy tracts in areas of heavey rainfall in Lonavala tract of Maharashtra.

Dominant species in the grasslands is Bothriochloa odorata.

(7) Deyeuxia-Arundinella association

These grasslands develop in temperate areas of upper Himalayas between 2100-3500 m altitudes.

Dominant species in the grasslands are Deyeuxia, Arundinella, Brachypodium, Bromus and Festuca.

(8) Deschampsia-Deyeuxia association

These grasslands develop in temperate to alpine regions having thin soil cover over rocky substratum. They are found in Kashmir and in Himalayas above 2600 m altitude.

Dominant species in the grasslands are Deyeuxia, Deschampsia, Poa, Stipa, Glycera and Festuca.

Little known information on the 8 major Multipurpose Projects in India revealedSHIYA

1. Chakra-Nangal multipurpose project:

The Bhakra-Nangal Project, a joint venture of the States of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan is the laree-est. multipurpose project in India as well as one of the largest projects in the world. It comprises the Chakra Dam across the Sutlej River in Himachal Pradesh and the Nan gal Barrage at Nangal in Pun jab.

The Bhakra Dam, 518 meters long and 226 meters high is the highest straight gravity dam in the world, creating a vast reservoir named Govind Sagar. The Nangal Barrage, 305 meters long and 29 meters high is 13 kms below the Chakra Dam. It serves as a balancing reservoir and directs the river water into the 64 kms long and 44 meters deep Nangal Hydel Channel (or, power channel) which supplies water to the Chakra main canal along with generating hydro-electricity. This power channel joins the Sutlej River downstream near an annicut. From that annicut the Bist Doab Canal and the Sir hind Canal rise in the

right and left banks of the river respectively. It is one of the largest irrigation projects of the world. Irrigation is done in extensive areas or' Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan by this project.

2. Hirakud multipurpose river project:

The Hirakud Dam has been built across the Mahanadi at Hirakud near Jabalpur. It has manifold utility of flood control, irrigation, hydro-electricity generation etc. The length of the dam (61 metre high concrete dam with earthen dam on both the flanks of the reservoir) is about 25 kms and the reservoir covers an area of 750 sq. kms it is the longest river dam in the world. This project irrigates about 10 lakh hectares of land. It has an installed power capacity of 270 mega watts, which helps in the industrial development of Orissa.

3. Damodar (multipurpose) valley project:

In the past the Damodar River was called the "Sorrow of Bengal" owing to its devastating floods. But now it is considered as one of the famous multipurpose projects of India. As many as four dams have been, built across the Damodar and its two tributaries named the Konar and the Barakar, for the unified development of irrigation, flood control and power generation in West Bengal and Bihar. This project is managed by the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC). The chief features of this project include multipurpose storage dams at Tilaiya, Konar, Maithor and Panchet Hill.

4. Kisi multipurpose project:

The Kisi was once called the "Sorrow of Bihar". The constructional features of the project comprise a barrage across the Kisi near Hanuman Nagar on the Indo-Nepal border, flood embankments on both sides of the river that save both Bihar and Nepal from the ravages of flood in an extensive area. The Eastern Kisi Canal rises from the Hanuman Nagar barrage. The other two long canals are the Western Kisi Canal and the Rajpur Canal serving both Bihar and Nepal. The main objectives of this project are irrigation, flood control and power generation, the benefits of which are being shared by Bihar and the neighboring kingdom of Nepal.

5. Tungabhadra multipurpose project:

The chief objectives of this multipurpose project are irrigation and power. It is jointly executed by the States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the river Tungabhadra, a tributary of the Krishna. A 50 metre high dam has been built at Hospet of Karnataka. There are 3 power houses and 3 main canals under this project for power generation and irrigation. The benefits of the project are shared by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

6. Nagarjuna Sagar multipurpose project:

A 124 metre high masonry dam has been built across the river Krishna of Andhra Pradesh. The reservoir created there is known as Nagarjuna Sagar. Two main canals and a power house are under the project. It helps in the development of agriculture and industry in Andhra Pradesh.

7. Farakka barrage project:

This project is being carried out in three stages in order to raise the water level of the river Hooghly, a distributary of the Ganga for the effectiveness of the port of Calcutta, The 3 stages are such as (a) a barrage across the Ganga at Farakka of Murshidabad district, (b) an annicut across the river Bhagirathi near Jangipur. And (c) a 43 km. long canal has been dug; connecting the Baraka Barrage in the upstream to convey water to the Bhagirathi below the annicut at Jangipur.

As a result of this provision, steamers can ply conveniently from Calcutta to Patna all the year round and some areas of the districts of Nadia and Murshidabad are irrigated. Above all, the Calcutta Port works efficiently as more water flows in the Hooghly by this canal.

8. Rajasthan Canal project:

This project is a bold venture to bring irrigation to north-western Rajasthan which is a part of the Thar Desert the Rajasthan Main Canal takes off from the Pong Dam of the Beas River, a tributary of the Indus (Sindhu). Its total length is 467 kms. Two branch canals take off from this long canal and help in irrigating some areas of Punjab and Haryana.

Besides these projects, there are many small and big multipurpose projects in India. Some such projects are noted below with the names of rivers and the States benefited by them.

(i) Beas Project (confluence of the Beas and the Sutlej) - Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

(ii) Chambal Project (the Chambal) – Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

(iii) Sone Barrage Project (the Sone) - Bihar,

(iv) Gander Project (the Gander) - Bihar and U.P. States and Nepal.

(v) Kakrapara Project (the Tapti) - Gujarat.

(vi) Koyana Project (the Koyana) - Maharastra.

(vii) Malaprabha Project (the Malaprabha, a tributary of the Krishna) - Karnataka.

(viii) Periyar Project (the Periyar) - Kerala.

(ix) Rihand Project (the Rihand) - Uttar Pradesh.

(x) Mayurakshi Project (the Mayurakshi) – West Bengal.

The population density or density of population is a calculation of population each unit area or unit volume. It is specifically applicable to human beings and is an important expression used in geography.

Different types of methods to measure population density 

Given below are the different methods of calculating population density:

Arithmetic density: The overall number of inhabitants/ land area (calculated in sq miles or km2 ). Agricultural density: The overall agrarian population/area of productive farming land. Physiological density: The overall population/area of productive farming land. Urban density: Population peopling a metropolitan region/overall area of metropolitan region. Residential density: Population inhabiting a metropolitan region/area of housing space. Ecological optimum: Population density which is backed by the natural reserves.

Density of Population of India 

The population density of India is 364.9/km2 and India ranks as the 31st most densely populated country in the world. 

Table describing the population density of India 

The table given below will provide a clear idea about the population density of India, its different states, and union territories:

  Population Density of India  

Serial No. India/ States/UT 2001 2011

- INDIA 324 382

1 Jammu and Kashmir 99 56

2 Himachal Pradesh 109 123

3 Punjab 482 550

4 Chandigarh (UT) 7903 9252

5 Uttaranchal 159 189

6 Haryana 477 573

7 Delhi (UT) 9294 9340

8 Rajasthan 165 201

9 Uttar Pradesh 689 828

10 Bihar 880 1102

11 Sikkim 76 86

12 Arunachal Pradesh 13 17

13 Nagaland 120 119

14 Manipur 107 122

15 Mizoram 42 52

16 Tripura 304 350

17 Meghalaya 103 132

18 Assam 340 397

19 West Bengal 904 1030

20 Jharkhand 338 414

21 Orissa 236 269

22 Chhatisgarh 154 189

23 Madhya Pradesh 196 236

24 Gujarat 258 308

25 Daman & Diu (UT) 1411 112

26 Dadra & Nagar Haveli (UT) 449 491

27 Maharashtra 314 365

28 Andhra Pradesh 275 308

29 Karnataka 275 319

30 Goa 363 394

31 Lakshadweep (UT) 1894 2013

32 Kerala 819 859

33 Tamil Nadu 478 555

34 Pondicherry (UT) 2029 2598

35 Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT) 43 46

West Bengal ranks as the state with the maximum density of population in India and its area is 88,752 sq km. As stated by the census conducted in 2001, the population density of West Bengal was 904. In 1991, West Bengal had a population of 68,077,965 and its density of population was 767. According to the census of 2001, the total population of West Bengal was 8,01,76,197. The state with the lowest population density is Arunachal Pradesh and the Union Territory with the lowest density of population is Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The Union Territory with the highest population density is Delhi.

Density of population of India in a chronological order 

  Density of population of India in a chronological order  

YearDensity of populationper sq km

1901 77

1911 82

1921 81

1931 90

1941 103

1951 117

1961 142

1971 177

1981 216

1991 274

2001 324

India is world's leading producer of white rice, accounting for 20 % of overall production. Rice is India's prominent crop, and staple food for the native population of eastern and southern part of the country. The country has biggest area of fertile land under rice cultivation. In India rice is cultivated traditionally. The fields are prepared by 

Plowing (typically with simple plows drawn by buffalo) Fertilizing (usually with dung or sewage), and smoothing (by dragging a log over them). The seedlings

are started in seedling beds and, after 30 to 50 days, are transplanted by hand to the fields, which have been flooded by rain or river water. During the growing season, irrigation is maintained in some areas. The fields are allowed to drain before cutting.

Rice when it is still covered by the brown hull is known as paddy; rice fields are also called paddy fields or rice paddies.

Before marketing, the rice is threshed to loosen the hulls-mainly by flailing, treading, or working in a mortar-and winnowed free of chaff by tossing it in the air above a sheet or mat.

Rice  is one of the chief grains of India. Moreover, this country has the biggest area under rice cultivation, as it is one of the principal food crops. It is in fact the dominant crop of the country. India is one of the leading producers of this crop. Rice is the basic food crop and being a tropical plant, it flourishes comfortably in hot and humid climate. Rice is mainly grown in rain fed areas that receive heavy annual rainfall. That is why it is fundamentally a kharif crop in India. It demands temperature of around 25 degree Celsius and above and rainfall of more than 100 cm. Rice is also grown through irrigation in those areas that receives comparatively less rainfall. Rice is the staple food of eastern and southern parts of India. In 2009-10, total rice production in India amounted to 89.13 million tonnes, which was much less than production of previous year, 99.18 million tonnes.

Rice  can be cultivated by different methods based on the type of region. But inIndia, the traditional methods are still in use for harvesting rice. The fields are initially ploughed and then fertiliser is applied which typically consists of cow dung and then the field is smoothed. The seeds are transplanted by hand and then through proper irrigation, the seeds are cultivated. Rice grows on a variety of soils like silts, loams and gravels. It can also tolerate alkaline as well as acid soils. However, clayey loam is well suited to the raising of this crop. Actually the clayey soil can be easily converted into mud in which rice seedlings can be transplanted easily. Proper care has to be taken as this crop thrives if the soil remains wet and is under water during its growing years. Rice fields should be level and should have low mud walls for retaining water. In the plain areas, excess rainwater is allowed to inundate the rice fields and flow slowly. Rice raised in the well watered lowland areas is known as lowland or wet rice. In the hilly areas, slopes are cut into terraces for the cultivation of rice. Thus, the rice grown in the hilly areas is known as dry or upland rice. Interestingly, per hectare yield of upland rice is comparatively less than that of the wet rice.

The regions cultivating this crop in India is distinguished as the western coastal strip, the eastern coastal strip, covering all the primary deltas, Assam plains and surrounding low hills, foothills and Terai region- along the Himalayas and states like West Bengal,Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh, eastern Madhya Pradesh, northern Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. India, being a land of eternal growing season, and the deltas of Kaveri River, Krishna River, Godavari River and Mahanadi River with a thick set-up of canal irrigation, permits farmers to raise two, and in some pockets, even three crops a year. Irrigation has made even three crops a year possible.Irrigation has made it feasible even for Punjab and Haryana, known for their baked climate, to grow rice. They even export their excess to other states. Punjab and Haryana grow prized rice for export purposes. The hilly terraced fields from Kashmir to Assam are idyllically suited for rice farming, with age-old hill irrigational conveniences. High yielding kinds, enhanced planting methods,

promised irrigation water supply and mounting use of fertilizers have together led to beneficial and quick results. It is the rain fed area that cuts down average yields per hectare.

In some of the states like West Bengal, Assam, Orissa and Bihar, two crops of rice are raised in a year. Winter season in the north western India are extremely cold for rice. Rice is considered as the master crop of coastal India and in some regions of the eastern India where during the summer monsoon rainy season both high temperature and heavy rainfall provide ideal conditions for the cultivation of rice. Almost all parts of India are suitable for raising rice during the summer season provided that the water is available. Thus, rice is also raised even in those parts of western Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana where low level areas are waterlogged during the summer monsoon rainy season.

Winter rice crop is a long duration crop and summer rice crop is a short duration crop. At some places in the eastern and southern parts of India, rice crop of short duration is followed by the rice crop of long duration. Winter rice crop is raised preferably in low lying areas that remain flooded mainly during the rainy season. Autumn rice is raised in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Summer, autumn and winter rice crops are raised in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Orissa. Summer rice crop is raised on a small scale and on a small area. However, winter rice crop is actually the leading rice crop accounting for a major portion of the total Hectare under rice in all seasons in the country. Moreover in the last few years, several steps in order to augment yield per hectare were taken up very seriously at all levels.

National Highway (India)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about Indian National Highways. For Indian Expressways, see National Expressway

(India).

A dual carriageway section of National Highway 8 connecting Delhi to Gurgaon.

The National Highways Network of India, is a network of highways that is managed and maintained by

agencies of the Government of India. These highways measured over 70,934 km (44,076 mi) as of 2010,

including over 1,000 km (620 mi) of limited-access Expressways . Out of 71,000 kms of National Highways

15,000 plus kms are 4 or 6 laned and remaining 50,000 kms are still 2 laned.[1][2]

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is the nodal agency responsible for building,

upgrading and maintaining most of the national highways network. It operates under the Ministry of

Road Transport and Highways. The National Highways Development Project (NHDP) is a major effort to

expand and upgrade the network of highway network. NHAI often uses a public-private partnership

model for highway development, maintenance and toll-collection.

National highways constituted about 2% of all the roads in India, but carried about 40% of the total road

traffic as of 2010.[1] The majority of existing national highways are two-lane roads (one lane in each

direction), though much of this is being expanded to four-lanes, and some to six or eight lanes. Some

sections of the network are toll roads. Over 30,000 km (19,000 mi) of new highways are planned or under

construction as part of the NHDP, as of 2011. This includes over 2,600 km (1,600 mi) of Expressways

currently under construction.

Contents

  [hide] 

1   Current system

2   Recent developments

3   Indian road network

4   Gallery of national highways in India

5   References and notes

6   External links

[edit]Current system

The Network of National Highways in India

Main article: List of National Highways in India

Main article: List of National Highways in India by highway number

India has 70,934 km (44,076 mi) of national highways (NH) connecting all the major cities

and state capitals as of August 2011. Most of them have two lanes. About 10,000 km(6,200 mi) have been

widened to four lanes with two lanes in each direction. Only a few of NH are built with cement concrete.

As of 2010, 19,064 km (11,846 mi) of NH were stillsingle-laned roads. The government is currently

working to ensure that by December 2014 the entire National Highway network consists of roads with

two or more lanes.[3]

India has the distinction of having the world's second highest-altitude motor highway—Leh-Manali

Highway, connecting Shimla to Leh in Ladakh, Kashmir.[citation needed]

Map showing highway distribution with population density

National highways form the economic backbone of the country and have often facilitated development

along their routes, and many new towns have sprung up along major highways. Highways also have

large numbers of small restaurants and inns (known asdhabas) along their length. They serve

popular local cuisine and serve as truck stops.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India adopted a new systematic numbering of

National Highways in April 2010. The new system will indicate the direction of National Highways

whether it is East-West (odd numbers) or North-South (even numbers) and also the geographical region

where it is located, increasing from east to west and from north to south.[4]

[edit]Recent developments

Under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India launched a massive program of highway

upgrades, called the National Highway Development Project (NHDP), in which the main north-south and

east-west connecting corridors and highways connecting the four metropolitan cities have been fully

paved and widened into four-lane highways. Some of the busier National Highway sectors in India have

been converted to four or six lane expressways – for example, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Jaipur, Ahmedabad-

Vadodara, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Surat, Bangalore-Mysore, Bangalore-Chennai, Chennai-Tada, Delhi-

Meerut , Hyderabad-Vijayawada and Guntur-Vijayawada. Phase V of the National Highway

Development Project is to convert all 6,000 km (3,700 mi) of the Golden Quadrilateral Highways to 6-

lane highways/expressways by 2012.

The National Highways Act, 1956, as amended, provides for private investment in the building and

maintenance of the highways. Recently, a number of existing roads have been reclassified as national

highways. Bypasses have also recently been constructed around larger towns and cities to provide

uninterrupted passage for highway traffic. The hugely varied climatic, demographic, traffic, and

sometimes political situation in India results in NH being single lane in places with low traffic to six lanes

in places with heavy traffic. National highways are being upgraded or are under construction. Some NH

are long while some are short spurs off other NH to provide connectivity to nearby ports or harbours.

The longest NH is NH7,[5] which runs between Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu,

at the southernmost point of the Indian mainland, covering a distance of 2,369 km (1,472 mi), and passes

through Hyderabad and Bangalore. The shortest NH is the NH47A,[6] which spans 6 km (3.7 mi), to

the Ernakulam - Kochi Port.

NH7 Section Between Bangalore to Karnataka-Andhrapradesh Border. It is a part of the North South

Corridor.

[edit]Indian road network

Indian Road Network [7]

Class Length (km)

Expressways 1,000 km (620 mi)

Total National Highways 70,934 km (44,076 mi)

National Highways (Already 4/6 laned)

16,000 km (9,900 mi)

National Highways (Being 4/6 laned) 25,000 km (16,000 mi)

State Highways 154,522 km (96,016 mi)

Major and other district roads 2,577,396 km (1,601,520 mi)

Rural & other roads 1,433,577 km (890,783 mi)

Total (approx) 4,245,429 km (2,637,987 mi)

Major airports in India offer both domestic and overseas flights. The airport transportation network of the country effectively fulfills the needs of a large number of tourists and visitors who are arriving in the country from distant locations. The travel and tourism sector of the country is thriving at a rapid pace. This is making a significant contribution to the economic development of the country in a special way. The country is home to over 20 international airports and various national airports. Over 335 civilian airports in the country are there and they can be categorized into airports with concreted runways (250) and airports with caliche-topped runways (96).

The major airports in India include the following: Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport of Mumbai, Indira Gandhi International Airport of New Delhi, Calicut International Airport of Calicut, Begumpet Airport of Hyderabad, Cochin International Airport Limited of Cochin, Chennai International Airport of

Chennai, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport of Kolkata, HAL Airport of Bangalore, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport of Ahmedabad, Raja Sansi International Airport of Amritsar and Trivandrum International Airport of Thiruvananthapuram.

List of Major Airports in India

Given below are the names of the major airports in India along with the names of the cities served by them and the category in which they fall, following are the categories: 

International - Handles international flights Customs - Airports which have customs checking and clearance facilities for handling

international flights but are not promoted to International Airport status. Domestic - Handles domestic flights Future - Proposed airport project or under construction

Territory or State Name of Airport City Served Category

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Veer Savarkar International Airport Port Blair Customs

Andhra Pradesh Rajiv Gandhi International Airport Hyderabad International

  Visakhapatnam Airport Visakhapatnam Customs

AssamLokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport

Guwahati Customs

Bihar Jaiprakash Narayan International Airport Patna Customs

  Gaya Airport Gaya Customs

Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekananda Airport Raipur Domestic

Daman and Diu Diu Airport Diu Domestic

Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport New Delhi International

Goa Dabolim Airport Entire state International

GujaratSardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport

Ahmedabad International

Jammu & Kashmir Srinagar Airport Srinagar Customs

  Jammu Airport Jammu Domestic

Jharkhand Birsa Munda Airport Ranchi Domestic

Karnataka Mangalore Airport Mangalore Customs

  Bengaluru International Airport Bengaluru International

Kerala Trivandrum International Airport Trivandrum International

  Cochin International Airport Cochin International

  Calicut International Airport Calicut International

Lakshadweep Agatti Aerodrome Agatti Domestic

Madhya Pradesh Raja Bhoj Airport Bhopal Customs

  Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport Indore Domestic

Maharashtra Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Mumbai International

  Pune Airport Pune Customs

  New Pune International Airport Pune Future

  Shirdi Airport Shirdi Future

 Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport

Nagpur Customs

Manipur Tulihal Airport Imphal Domestic

Meghalaya Shillong Airport Shillong Domestic

Mizoram Lengpui Airport Aizawl Domestic

Nagaland Dimapur Airport Dimapur Domestic

Odisha Patnaik Airport Bhubaneswar Domestic

Pondicherry Pondicherry Airport Pondicherry Domestic

PunjabSri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport

Amritsar International

Rajasthan Jaipur International Airport Jaipur Customs

Sikkim Pakyong Airport Gangtok Future

Tamil Nadu Chennai International Airport Chennai International

  Tiruchirapalli International Airport Tiruchirapalli Customs

Tripura Agartala Airport Agartala Domestic

Uttrakhand Jolly Grant Airport Dehradun Domestic

Uttar Pradesh Taj International Airport Greater Noida Future

  Varanasi Airport Varanasi Customs

  Amausi Airport Lucknow Customs

  Agra Air Force Station Agra Domestic

West BengalNetaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport

Kolkata International

  Bagdogra Airport Siliguri Customs

Major international airports in India:Indira Gandhi International Airport 

The Indira Gandhi International Airport is the main international airport situated in the NCR (National Capital Region). It is a public airport and is located in the south-west part of the city. The busiest airport of the country, it houses six terminals for serving the passengers. The airport has a capacity of managing over 46 million passengers. About 80 airlines operate from this airport. The airport functions as a hub for the following airlines: Air India Regional, Air India, GoAir, Blue Dart Aviation, Jagson Airlines, IndiGo, Jet Airways, JetLite, SpiceJet, and Kingfisher Airlines.

Airlines serving Indira Gandhi International Airport

Given below are the names of the airlines that serve Indira Gandhi International Airport: Aerosvit Airlines, Aeroflot, Air Astana, Air Arabia, Air France, Air China, Air India Express, Air India, Air Mauritius, Air India Regional, American Airlines, AirAsia X, Asiana Airlines, Ariana Afghan Airlines, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, China Eastern Airlines, China Airlines, Druk Air, China Southern Airlines, Emirates, East Air, Etihad Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, GMG Airlines, Finnair, Gulf Air, GoAir, Jagson Airlines, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Japan Airlines, Kam Air, JetLite, KLM, Kingfisher Airlines, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait Airways, Mahan Air, Lufthansa, Nepal Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Philippine Airlines, Safi Airways, Royal Jordanian, Singapore Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, SpiceJet, Thai AirAsia, Swiss International Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Thai Airways International, United Airlines, Turkmenistan Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and Uzbekistan Airways. 

Chennai International Airport

Also named as Anna International Airport, the Chennai International Airport is the principal international airport in South India. The airport lies at Tirusalem near Chennai, the capital of the state of Tamil Nadu. There are three terminals in the airport - the Anna Terminal, the Kamaraj Terminal, and the

Meenambakkam Terminal (for cargo). The airport serves as the hub for the following airlines: Air India Cargo, Air India, Jet Airways, Blue Dart Aviation, and Spicejet.

Airlines that serve Chennai International Airport

Given below is a list of the airlines serving the Chennai International Airport: Air Arabia, Air Asia, Air India, Air India Express, Air India Regional, Air Mauritius, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Jet Airways, JetLite, Kingfisher Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, SilkAir, Singapore Airlines, SpiceJet, SpiceJet, Sri Lankan Airlines, Thai AirAsia, Thai Airways International, and Tiger Airways. 

Mumbai International Airport 

The Mumbai International Airport has been renamed as the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. It was previously known as the Sahar International Airport. The air transportation hub functions as the main international airport in the city of Mumbai. By tourist movement, the airport holds the rank of the second busiest airport in Southern Asia. There are four terminals at the airport. One terminal is at Sahar which handles overseas flights and one at Santa Cruz which handles domestic flights. In addition, there is a general aviation terminal and cargo terminal. Mumbai International Airport serves as the hub for the following airlines: Blue Dart Aviation, Air India, GoAir, Deccan360, Jet Airways, IndiGo, Kingfisher Airlines, JetLite, and SpiceJet. In terms of infrastructure, the airport is rated as the best airport in India. 

Airlines that serve Mumbai International Airport

Given below are the names of the Airlines that serve Mumbai International Airport: Air China, Air Arabia, Air India, Air France, Air Mauritius, Air India Express, Austrian Airlines, All Nippon Airways, run by Air Nippon, Bangkok Airways, Bahrain Air, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Druk Air, Delta Air Lines, El Al, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, Emirates, GoAir, Etihad Airways, IndiGo, Gulf Air, Jagson Airlines, Iran Air, JetLite, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Kenya Airways, Kuwait Airways, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Lufthansa, Pakistan International Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Qantas, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Royal Jordanian, South African Airways, Singapore Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, SpiceJet, Thai Airways International, Swiss International Air Lines, United Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Yemenia.

Kolkata International Airport 

The Kolkata International Airport has been renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. The airport is situated in Kolkata, the capital of the state of West Bengal. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport serves the metropolitan region of Greater Kolkata. Formerly it was known as Dum Dum Airport. The airport serves as the hub for the following airlines: Air India Regional, Air India, Deccan Aviation, Blue Dart Aviation, IndiGo, DTDS, JetLite, Jet Airways, Northeast Shuttles, Kingfisher Airlines, and SpiceJet.

Airlines serving Kolkata International Airport

Given below are the names of the airlines that serve the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport: Air India, Air India Express, AirAsia, Air India Regional, China Eastern Airlines, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, GMG Airlines, Druk Air, Emirates, IndiGo, GoAir, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, JetLite, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Silk Air, Thai Air Asia, SpiceJet, Thai Smile, Thai Airways International, and United Airways. 

Category of Airport

Category Description

CustomsAirports with customs checking and clearance facilities handling international flights but not elevated to International Airport status.

Domestic Handles domestic flights

Future Project proposed or under construction

International Handles international flights

Private Private airport for specific purposes

Role of Airport

Role Description

Civil enclave Civil Enclaves in a Military Airport. Handles Commercial Flights

Closed No longer in operation for Commercial Flights

Commercial Handles Commercial flights

Airbase Military Airbase

Flying School Airport used to train commercial and/or fighter pilots

Commercial service

Airport has commercial service

Airport has no commercial service

Gonds Tribe- An introductionOur Indian tribal tour today takes us to The Gonds tribe of India. Many call them as the “face of Indian tribes” because of there population strength. Undoubtedly, these warrior tribes of India have a distinct identity in terms of culture, language and costumes. A visit to the Gonds tribe of India, makes sure that you get a different perspective on the ideologies of Indian tribes.

Historically, known for their heroics in the battle against Britishers, these proud tribes of India also gained control of Malwa after the decline of the Mughals followed by the Marathas in the year 1690. Like many other tribes in India, a watch at the costumes of the Gonds tribe is a delight. A unique ideology and thought process about the religion makes the Gonds tribe stand apart from any other tribe in India.

Gonds Tribe- LocationGonds tribe are generally found in Gond forests of the central India. Chhindwara District of Madhya Pradesh, Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, parts of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Orissa are some of the other places of inhabitation by these warrior and royal Indian tribes.

Gonds Tribe- LanguageGondi language is the prime language spoken by Gond tribes of India. Beside this, these Indian tribes also have a good command on Telgu, Hindi, Marathi, Parsi and many other Dravadian languages.

Gonds Tribe- CostumesGonds tribes of India have a typical Indian dress culture. Male members in the Gonds tribe wear Dhoti ( long piece of cotton cloth wrapped around the waist passing through the legs). Females wear soft cotton saris along with the Choli or blouse.

Gonds Tribe- FoodTwo millets known as Kodo or Kutki are the staple food of Gonds tribes of India. Most of the Gonds are

the meat consumers, though they prefer Rice during the festivals.

Gonds Tribe- ReligionThese tribes of India are highly religious minded. These Indian tribes worship Janani or the mother of creator. Gonds tribe also worship Pharsa Pen, inform of nail or a piece of iron chain. Mariai- the Goddess of plague and other diseases, and Bhimsen – the Hindu God are also worshiped by Gonds tribes in India. One unique feature of their beliefs is the existence of spirits. Gonds tribe believe that every or most places in the World are inhabited by a spirit. Sacrifices are also made to appease a number of deities. Gonds tribe believe that deities control everything in the World. These tribes of India also worship the God of household, God of fields etc.

Gonds Tribe- FestivalsKeslapur Jathra and Madai are the two major festivals celebrated by the Gonds tribe of India. At Kelaspur Jathra they worship, the snake deity called Nagoba, whose temple is found in the Keslapur village of Indervelly mandal of Adilabad district. The most famous attraction at the festival is the Gusadi dance performed by wearing head gears decorated with the peacock feathers, along with cotton cloth around their waist. Smearing ash all over the body is a must see at this distinctive festivals of Gonds tribe of India. The other festival celebrated is Madai. During this festivals Gonds meet their relatives setteled in other parts of India. Sacrifice of goat beeath the sacred village tree to appease the tribal Goddess is also done. In the night they enjoy the party atmosphere with liquor and dance and tribal music. Dusshera is another festival celebrated with utmost pleasure by the Gonds tribe of India.

Bhils Tribes of India

Bhils Tribe- An introductionBhils tribes of India are the the largest tribe of South Asia comprising 39% of the total population of Rajasthan. These Indian tribes have a mention even in epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana. Going by legends Bhil women offered ber to Lord Rama, when he was in the jungles of Dhandaka, searching Sita. In the recent history as well these tribes of India were regarded as the fighters who were in a war against the Mughals, Marathas and the Britishers.

Bhils Tribe- LocationThese tribes are largely found in Rajasthan. Bhils tribe are classified into two groups- the central or pure bhils and eastern or Rajput Bhils. The central category of these Indian tribes are found in mountain regions in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujrat and Rajasthan. Bhils tribes are also found in the north eastern parts of Tripura.

Bhils Tribe- Language

Bhili, which is an Indo Aryan language is the prime language spoken by Bhils tribes of India.

Bhils Tribe- CostumesTraditional saris, loose long frock along with pyjama are the forte dress of women and men respectively of the Bhils tribes. The peasants wear turbans and Bhils also wear brass ornaments.

Bhils Tribe- ReligionThese Indian tribes have a unique religious and ritual beliefs. Bhils tribes of India worship local deities like Khandoba, Kanhoba and Sitalmata. Tiger God called 'vaghdev' is also worshiped. They have no temples of their own though, but they have Bhagat or Gurus who perform the religious rites. On important occasions they consult Badvas- the hereditary sorcerer.

Bhils Tribe- CultureThe culture could be most enjoyable of all the tribes we have seen on our Indian tribal tour. These tribes of India are known for their distinctive society culture. The have a Panchayat like culture where the village headsmen deals with all the major disputes. The strictly adhere to the rules of the society and marry only in their own class. Rich on culture they give a lot of importance to dance and music. Ghoomar is the most famous dance amongst Bhils tribes of India. Than Gair is the religious dance drama performed by the men in the month of Sharavana (July and August). Highly talented on sculptures art, they make beautiful horses, elephants, tigers, deities out of clay.

Bhils Tribe- Fairs and FestivalsBaneshwar fair held during the period of Shivatri (in the month of January or February) dedicated to Baneshwar Mahadev also known as Lord Shiva is the main festival amongst Bhils tribes. During the festival these Indian tribes set up camps on the banks of the Som and Mahi river, perform dance around the fire and sing traditional songs. At night the raslila at the Lakshmi Narayan temple is a must watch.Cultural shows, magic shows, animal shows acrobatic feast are the center of attraction at the fair. They also celebrate Holy And desshera

 NAGA TRIBES

 History 

Originally Nagas were not known as tribes. The Naga tribes are linked with tribes in Assam and Myanmar. From 1816 invasion onwards Assam came under the rule of Myanmar. Naga tribes belonged to Indo-Mongoloid Family.

Each of the Naga Tribe is divided into as many as twenty clans. Some of the major Naga tribes are Angami, Chang, Konyak, Lotha, Phoms, Rengma, Sema, Pochury and Zeliang.

 Food 

Naga food consists of rice or millet accompanied by vegetables, fish and meat. Nagas are fond of chillies and can fill their mouth with chillies and nothing else as if they were chocolates.

Place /Location (then and now) Arunachal Pradesh ,Manipur, Assam and Mynamar

Population 100000 - 200000

Languages spoken Sino-Tibetan

Food Rice, Millets , Vegetables, Fish and Meat

Languages

Nagas speak 60 different dialects belonging to the Sino-tibetan family of languages.

 Location 

Naga tribes are found in the states of Arunchal Pradesh, Manipur and Myanmar.

 Occupation 

Naga tribe burn their fields and grow rice, millets and taro patato. The practice of head-hunting by Naga Tribe is accompanied with a variety of other social and cultural activities. The tribe has stimulated the carving of wooden heads marked with prominent features and mobile expressions which were worn like medals by the proud, successful head-hunters. Dancing, drinking (local rice beer) and merry-making follow the head-hunt. Head-hunting inspired the weaving of special textiles of choice, colours and designs for use as shawls by the head-hunter to identify his heroism. Strong and vigorous figures are carved in bold out of wood and fixed to the baskets of the warriors, indicating the number of heads taken. Such wooden figures were also kept in houses as prized trophies.

 People 

Nagas are people with great hardwork, sturdy, with a high standard of integrity and strong sense of self respect. Most of the time they are simple means the unspolit children of nature. The most important quality of Naga tribes is their hospitality and cheerfulness to greet people with a smiling face while travelling on the roads is the common experience for every one who notices them. Even today people hunt tigers and elephants in the mountains with spears and bows.

 Appearance 

The height of all the Naga is medium -sized. The men are muscular and full of stamina. The nose is flattened but some are sharp in their mongoloid features.The women are short but stout. The eyes of women are deep set with bulged eye sockets. Women are fairer in complexion.

 Costumes 

The Naga tribes are versatile artisans. The design and colour of each group of Naga tribes differs with other group depending on the wearer's position in the society. Every woman is supposed to weave the cloths for her family and carry on the activities like spinning, dyeing and weaving. The Naga shawls are the most famous ones which come in bright colour and various patterns. Colorful ornaments are worn by both men & women which are made of ivory, these ornaments include the bangles and bracelets. The tribe is very much fond of ornaments. Some old men grow hair long and arranged in tangled knots. The babbed hair is the fashion for the young Naga girl. Tattooing is customary for Naga tribes only in North and East.

 Culture 

The daily life of Naga tribe is governed by an ancient tradition of a customary code of laws which, titlehough unwritten, are universally understood and zealously pursued. The village councils among the Ao and Angami group of Naga tribes representing a democratic apparatus made up of village elders or the chieftains' rule as among the Konyak, Sema and Chang tribes, function as court of trial and justice against crime. The judicial process is simple, quick and the final rests on the truthful nature of the criminal.

 Festival 

Naga tribes' biggest festival is New year festival of January 15th, called Kaing Bi and organized by Naga festival committee who choose each year's festival location and details under the control of Central government. The Naga tribes send a few delegations to this occasion, thus it is the perfect opportunity to see variety of different Naga people at once.

Government of India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Republic of India

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Government of India Portal

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The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as theCentral

Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of

28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. It is seated in New Delhi,

the capital of India.

The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The executive

branch is headed by the President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power directly or

through officers subordinate to him.[1] The legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower

house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, as well as the President. The judicial

branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family

courts at the district level. India is the largest democracy in the world.

The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary

legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code.

The union and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The

legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English

Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several

reservations. By the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Rajsystem has been

institutionalized for local governance.

The legislature is the Parliament. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the directly elected 545-

member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lower house, and the 250-member indirectly electedand

appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), the upper house. The parliament enjoysparliamentary

supremacy. All the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister are members of

Parliament. If they are not, they must be elected within a period of six months from the time they assume

their respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha

collectively.

Contents

  [hide] 

1   Collective responsibility

2   Executive branch

o 2.1   President

o 2.2   Vice President

o 2.3   Cabinet, executive departments and agencies

3   Judicial branch

o 3.1   Supreme Court

3.1.1   Public interest litigation (PIL)

4   Civil service

o 4.1   Cabinet Secretary

5   Elections and voting

6   State and local governments

7   Finance

o 7.1   Taxation

8   Central Board of Direct Taxes

o 8.1   Organizational structure of the Central Board of Direct Taxes

o 8.2   General budget

9   Problems

o 9.1   Corruption

o 9.2   Inefficiency

o 9.3   Spending priorities

o 9.4   Deficits

10   See also

11   Further reading

12   References

13   External links

[edit]Collective responsibility

The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are jointly accountable to the Lok Sabha. If there is a

policy failure or lapse on the part of the government, all the members of the council are jointly

responsible. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the government, then all the ministers headed by

the Prime Minister have to resign.[citation needed]

[edit]Executive branch

The executive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility

for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of

government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers. The separation of powers

system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch – an attempt to preserve

individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history.

[edit]President

Main article: President of India

Rashtrapati Bhawan, the residence of the President of India

The executive power is vested on mainly the President of India by Article 53 (1) of the constitution. The

President enjoys all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to

him as per the aforesaid Article 53(1).The President is to act in accordance with aid and advise tendered

by the head of government (Prime Minister of India) and his or her Council of Ministers (the cabinet) as

described in Article 74 (Constitution of India).

The Constitution vests in the President of India all the executive powers of the Central Government. The

President appoints the Prime Minister, the person most likely to command the support of the majority in

the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the

other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime

Minister.

The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. In practice, however,

the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the

Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice,

the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok

Sabha.

The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:

Governors of states

The Chief Justice, and other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India.

The Attorney General

The Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

The Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners.

The President's Officer

The Comptroller and Auditor General

The Chief Election Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary

The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission

Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries.

The President is the de jure Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India can

grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person for one time, particularly in cases

involving punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are

independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most other cases,

however, the President exercises his or her executive powers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

[edit]Vice President

The Vice-President of India is the second-highest ranking government official in the executive branch of

the Government of India, after the President. The Vice-President also has the legislative function of

acting as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

The Vice-President acts as President in the event of death, resignation, or removal of the President until a

new President is chosen by the electoral college for maximum six months. During this period, the Vice

President shall not perform the duties of the office of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.

[edit]Cabinet, executive departments and agencies

Main article: Cabinet of India

The Cabinet of India includes the Prime Minister along with 35 Cabinet Ministers. All Ministers must be

a member of one of the houses of India's Parliament. The Cabinet is headed by the Cabinet Secretary,

who is also the head of the Indian Administrative Service. Other Ministers are categorized as Union

Cabinet Ministers, who are heads of the various Ministries; Ministers of State, who are junior members

who report directly to one of the Cabinet Ministers, often overseeing a specific aspect of government; and

Ministers of State (Independent Charges), who are junior members that do not report to a Cabinet

Minister.

[edit]Judicial branch

Supreme Court of India

India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble

those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of Indiaconsists of a Chief Justice and 30 associate

justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Justice of India. The jury trials were

abolished in India in early 1960s, after the famous case KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra, for reasons

of being vulnerable to media and public pressure, as well as to being misled.

Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and federal

level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts of India at the state level,

and District Courts and Sessions Courts at the district level.

[edit]Supreme Court

Main article: Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India has original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction and advisory jurisdiction. Its

exclusive original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or more

states, or between the Government of India and any state or states on one side and one or more states on

the other, or between two or more states, if and insofar as the dispute involves any question (whether of

law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.

In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme

Court in regard to enforcement of fundamental rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or

writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus,prohibition, quo

warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The Supreme Court has been conferred with power to direct

transfer of any civil or criminal case from one State High Court to another State High Court, or from a

court subordinate to another State High Court.

[edit]Public interest litigation (PIL)

Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgments or orders made by the

subordinate courts, of late the Supreme Court has started entertaining matters in which interest of the

public at large is involved, and the Court may be moved by any individual or group of persons either by

filing a Writ Petition at the Filing Counter of the Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble The Chief

Justice of India highlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.

[edit]Civil service

Main article: Civil Services of India

The Civil Services of India is the civil service and the permanent bureaucracy of the Government of India.

The executive decisions are implemented by the Indian civil servants. Civil servants are employees of the

Government of India and not Parliament of India. Not all employees of the Government of India are civil

servants.

In parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility for running the administration rests with

the elected representatives of the people which are the ministers. These ministers are accountable to the

legislatures which are also elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise. The ministers

are indirectly responsible to the people themselves. But the handful of ministers cannot be expected to

deal personally with the manifold problems of modern administration. Thus the ministers lay down the

policy and it is for the civil servants to carry out this policy.

[edit]Cabinet Secretary

The Cabinet Secretariat of India

The Cabinet Secretary of India is the most senior civil servant in the country. The Cabinet Secretary is

the Ex-Officio and Chairman of the Civil Services Board of the Republic of India; the chief of the Indian

Administrative Service and head of all civil services under the rules of business of the Government of

India. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime

Minister of India.

The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India Transaction of

Business Rules, 1961 and the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules 1961, facilitating smooth

transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these

rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial

coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through

the instrumentality of the standing/ad hoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy

initiatives are also promoted.

The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept

informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary of their activities.

Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries

in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat.

[edit]Elections and voting

Main articles: Elections in India and Politics of India

India has a quasi federal government, with elected officials at the federal (national), state and local

levels. On a national level, thehead of government, the Prime Minister, is elected in-directly by the

people[citation needed], through a general election where the leader of the majority winning party is selected to

be the Prime Minister. All members of the federal legislature, the Parliament, are directly elected.

Elections in India take place every five years by universal adult suffrage.

[edit]State and local governments

Main articles: State governments in India and Local government

State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India and the chief minister heads the

state government.Power isdivided between central government and state governments. State

government's legislature is bicameral in 6 states and unicameral in the rest. Lower house is elected with 5

years term, while in upper house 1/3 of the total members in the house gets elected every 2 years with 6

year term.

Local government function at the basic level.It is the third level of government apart from central and

state governments.It consists of panchayats in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas .They are

elected directly or indirectly by the people.

[edit]Finance

[edit]Taxation

Main article: Taxation in India

Regional office of the State Bank of India(SBI), India's largest bank, in Mumbai. The government of India

is the largest shareholder in SBI.

India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein the constitution empowers the union government to

levy income tax, tax on capital transactions (wealth tax, inheritance tax),sales tax, service

tax, customs and excise duties and the state governments to levy sales tax on intrastate sale of goods, tax

on entertainment and professions, excise duties on manufacture of alcohol, stamp duties on transfer of

property and collect land revenue (levy on land owned). The local governments are empowered by the

state government to levyproperty tax and charge users for public utilities like water supply, sewage etc.[2]

[3] More than half of the revenues of the union and state governments come from taxes, of which 3/4 come

from direct taxes. More than a quarter of the union government's tax revenues is shared with the state

governments.[4]

The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise the tax structure and increase compliance

by taking steps in the following directions:

Reducing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, excises, customs and making it more

progressive

Reducing exemptions and concessions

Simplification of laws and procedures

Introduction of permanent account number (PAN) to track monetary transactions

21 of the 28 states introduced value added tax (VAT) on 1 April 2005 to replace the complex and

multiple sales tax system[3][5]

The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services, interest receipts, public sector

dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the States are grants from the central government, interest

receipts, dividends and income from general, economic and social services.[6]

Inter-state share in the federal tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission to

the President.

Total tax receipts of Centre and State amount to approximately 18% of national GDP. This compares to a

figure of 37–45% in the OECD.

[edit]Central Board of Direct Taxes

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is a part of the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of

Finance, Government of India. The CBDT provides essential inputs for policy and planning of direct

taxes in India and is also responsible for administration of the direct tax laws through Income Tax

Department. The CBDT is a statutory authority functioning under the Central Board of Revenue Act,

1963.It is India’s official Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) unit.The Central

Board of Revenue as the Department apex body charged with the administration of taxes came into

existence as a result of the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1924. Initially the Board was in charge of both

direct and indirect taxes. However, when the administration of taxes became too unwieldy for one Board

to handle, the Board was split up into two, namely the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board

of Excise and Customs with effect from 1.1.1964. This bifurcation was brought about by constitution of

the two Boards u/s 3 of the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963.

[edit]Organizational structure of the Central Board of Direct Taxes

The CBDT is headed by Chairman and also comprises six members, all of whom are ex officio Special

Secretary to Government of India.

The Chairman and Members of CBDT are selected from Indian Revenue Service (IRS), a premier civil

service of India, whose members constitute the top management of Income Tax Department and other

various departments.

[edit]General budget

The Finance minister of India presents the annual union budget in the Parliament on the last working

day of February. The budget has to be passed by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on 1 April,

the start of India's fiscal year. The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the

broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial

year. This economic survey involves all the variousNGOs, women organizations, business people, old

people associations etc.

The 2009 Union budget of India had a total estimated expenditure for 2009-10 was

1,020,838 crore (US$184.8 billion), of which  695,689 crore (US$125.9 billion) was towards Non Plan

and 325,149 crore (US$58.9 billion) towards Plan expenditure. Total estimated revenue was

619,842 crore (US$112.2 billion), including revenue receipts of  614,497 crore (US$111.2 billion) and

capital receipts of  5,345 crore (US$967.4 million), excluding borrowings. The resulting fiscal deficit

was 400,996 crore (US$72.6 billion)while revenue deficit was  282,735 crore (US$51.2 billion).The

gross tax receipts were budgeted at  641,079 crore (US$116 billion)and non-tax revenue receipts at

140,279 crore (US$25.4 billion).

India's non-development revenue expenditure has increased nearly fivefold in 2003–04 since 1990–91

and more than tenfold since 1985–1986. Interest payments are the single largest item of expenditure and

accounted for more than 40% of the total non development expenditure in the 2003–04 budget. Defence

expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been increasing due to India's desire to

project its military prowess beyond South Asia. In 2007, India's defence spending stood at US$26.5

billion.[7]

PANCHAYATIRAJ SYSTEM

The System:

Panchayati Raj Institutions – the grass-roots units of self-government – have been proclaimed as the vehicles of socio-economic transformation in rural India. Effective and meaningful functioning of these bodies would depend on active involvement, contribution and participation of its citizens both male and female. The aim of every village being a republic and Panchayats having powers has been translated into reality with the introduction of the three-tier Panchayati Raj system to enlist people’s participation in rural reconstruction. 

Nodal Agency:

In the State level, Panchayats & Rural Development Department of the Government of West Bengal is the Nodal Agency for Implementation, Supervision & Monitoring of the major poverty alleviation programmes in the rural areas of this State and at the District-level, Zilla Parishad is the implementing agency for the same. 

Under three-tier system of democratic decentralization, Zilla Parishad is the apex body at the district level followed by Panchayat Samitis at Block level as second-tier and Gram Panchayats, the third-tier.

 

ZILLA PARISHAD

Information

The Zilla Parishad, Hooghly is functioning at its own office building "Zilla Parishad Prasasanik Bhavan" at the district head-quarter Chinsurah after constitution of Zilla Parishad. The Parishad consisting of 47 members of Zilla Parishad constitution. These total 47 members include Sabhadhipati, Sahakari-Sabhadhipati & 9 Karmadhakshyas.

This Zilla Parishad has constituted 10 nos. of standing committees i.e. Sthayee Samities. Chairman of the standing committee have been elected by and from among the elected members of Parishad for reviewing the schemes.

The respective standing committees of the Parishad deals with the matter assigned to them. There is provision for holding 3 – 4 Zilla Parishad meetings in a year.  

Besides the Savapatis of Panchayat Samities of this district are the Ex-Officio Members of the Hooghly Zilla Parishad. Moreover, all the MPs and MLAs of the district Hooghly are also the Ex-Officio members of the  Zilla Parishad as per West Bengal Panchayat Act 1973.

The District Magistrate & Collector is the Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, ADM(P&RD) is the Additional Executive Officer and then Secretary, Deputy Secretary & Additional Deputy Secretary are the other officers of the Administration of the Zilla Parishad.  

The Executive Officer is the administrative head of the Zilla Parishad and Secretary is the drawing & disbursing officer of the Zilla Parishad.

The Organizational Structure is given in the diagram below.

Responsibility

            The various Rural  Development Works carried at the Villages, Gram Panchayats, Block and District levels are planned, implemented, monitored and maintained by the Zilla Parishad. These works are monitored on the State Level by the Panchayats & Rural Development Department of the Government of West Bengal and on the National level by the Govt. of India. The Z.P. at the district level is responsible for the development and welfare works carried through the central, state share and its own funding. Zilla Parishad supervises the works of Panchayat Samities as well as Gram Panchayats within its Jurisdiction.

 

PANCHAYAT SAMITIES

There are 18 Panchayat Samities in the district. Each Panchayat Samiti  is functioning with the Community Development at the Block level created by the government in the Panchayats & Rural Development Deptt.

Each Panchayat Samiti consists of official and elected members. The official members are the Block Dev. Officer and the Officers of various State Govt. Deptt. ordinarily stationed at the Block level. The official bearers include the Panchayat Samiti members and the Pradhan of the Gram Panchayats. Savapati is the head of the body and is elected directly by the Panchayat Samiti members. And BDO of the respective block is the Executive Officer of the Panchayat Samity.

The main functions of the Panchayat Samitis are planning, execution and supervision of all developmental programmes in the Block . It also supervises the works of Gram Panchayats within its Jurisdiction.

 

GRAM PANCHAYATS  

Gram Panchayat  is the primary unit of Panchayati Raj Institutions.  The district has 210 Gram Panchayats. Each Gram Panchayat comprising some villages and is divided into mouzas. The election of Pradhan, Upa-Pradhan & members are conducted according to the provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Rules. Pradhan as the head of the GP is elected by the G.P. members. 

The Organizational Structure of the Gram Panchayat :-.

 

There are 210 Gram Panchayats in this district under 18 Panchayat Samitis.

Map of the District with GP-Boundary is given on the left side.

 

 

 

 

Gram   Sabha

The Gram Sabha is the most powerful foundation of decentralized governance by ensuring elected representatives are directly and regularly accountable to the people. The aim of the government has been to strengthen the Gram Sabha by introducing favourable policy changes. However, the Gram Sabhas are yet to become operational entities and to do justice to their potential for making the Panchayat system truly self-governed and a bottom-up structure.

 Some of the key features in relation to Gram Sabhas are as follows:

The quorum for a Gram Sabha meeting remains one tenth & it is essent ial to have one-third of the quorum as women members.The Gram Sabha will work as a supervisory body, and audit and regulate the functioning of Gram Panchayats.Recommendations of the Gram Sabha will be binding on the Gram Panchayat.The Gram Sabha can approve as well as audit expenditure up to three lakhs.The Panchayat Karmi (Panchayat Secretary appointed by the Panchayats but drawing salary from the state government) can be removed from his/her post only if the Gram Sabha approves it.

All the villages within a Gram Panchayat can have separate Gram Sabhas.The Gram Sabha will have the right to recall the Pradhan after two and a half years of commencement of his/her tenure.

The key roles entrusted to the Gram Sabha are microplanning, social audit of Panchayat functioning, ratification of Panchayat accounts, balance sheets, identification and approval of beneficiaries, and supervisory and regulatory functions.

The following indicators were chosen for assessing the prevailing situation in the field:

Participation and level of awareness of the Gram Sabha.Issues of discussion and the process of decision-making.Pattern of leadership.Capacity of Gram Sabhas.Transparency and accountability of the three tiers (GP, PS & ZP) to the Gram Sabha.

Federal System

India, a union of states, is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government. The Indian Polity is governed in terms of the Constitution, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 November 1950.

The President is the constitutional head of Executive of the Union. Real executive power vests in a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head. Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister to aid and advise the President who shall, in exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, the House of the People.

In the states, the Governor, as the representative of the President, is the head of Executive, but real executive power rests with the Chief Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the elected legislative assembly of the state.

The Constitution governs the sharing of legislative power between Parliament and the State Legislatures, and provides for the vesting of residual powers in Parliament. The power to amend the Constitution also vests in Parliament.

The Union Executive consists of the President, the Vice President and Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President.

President

The President is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of the states, with suitable weightage given to each vote. His term of office is five years.

Among other powers, the President can proclaim an emergency in the country if he is satisfied that the security of the country or of any part of its territory is threatened whether by war or external agression or armed rebellion. When there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state, he can assume to himself all or any of the functions of the government of that state.

Vice-President

The Vice-President is elected in the same way as the President, and holds office for five years. The Vice-President is Ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers comprises Cabinet Ministers, Minister of States (independent charge or otherwise) and Deputy Ministers. Prime Minister communicates all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to administration of affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation to the President. Generally, each department has an officer designated as secretary to the Government of India to advise Ministers on policy matters and general administration. The Cabinet Secretariat has an important coordinating role in decision making at highest level and operates under direction of Prime Minister.

The Legislative Arm of the Union, called Parliament, consists of the President, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. All legislation requires consent of both houses of parliament. However, in case of money bills, the will of the Lok Sabha prevails.

Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha consists of 245 members. Of these, 233 represent states and union territories and 12 members are nominated by the President. Elections to the Rajya Sabha are indirect; members are elected by the elected members of Legislative Assemblies of the concerned states. The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution, one third of its members retire every second year.

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of universal adult suffrage. As of today, the Lok Sabha consists of 545 members with 2 members nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian Community. Unless dissolved under unusual circumstances, the term of the Lok Sabha is five years.

State Governments

The system of government in states closely resembles that of the Union. There are 25 states and seven Union territories in the country.

Union Territories are administered by the President through an Administrator appointed by him. Till 1 February 1992, the Union Territory of Delhi was governed by the Central government through an Administrator appointed by the President of India. Through a Constitutional amendment in Parliament, the Union Territory of Delhi is now called the National Capital Territory of Delhi from 1 February 1992. General elections to the Legislative assembly of the National Capital Territory were held in November 1993.

Political System

A recognised political party has been classified as a National Party or a State Party. If a political party is recognised in four or more states, it is considered as a National Party.

Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) are the prominant National Parties in the Country. Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Asom Gana Parishad in Assam, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Bihar, Maharashtrwad Gomantak Party in Goa, National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, Muslim League in Kerala, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Akali Dal in Punjab, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and All India Forward Block in West Bengal are the prominent state parties.

Eleven Lok Sabhas have been constituted so far. Except for the short-lived Sixth and Ninth Lok Sabha, the Congress Party ruled the country. The Sixth Lok Sabha functioned for about two years and four months and the Ninth Lok Sabha functioned for one year and two months.

Even in the states, the regional parties or the non-congress parties have gained in importance over the years. The ruling parties in the states are listed below.

Ruling Parties in States: Macrh 1997_________________________________________________State Ruling Party-------------------------------------------------NORTH Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Himachal Pradesh Congress Punjab Akali Dal - BJP Haryana Haryana Vikas Party - BJP Uttar Pradesh BSP - BJP Rajasthan BJP Delhi BJP

EAST Bihar Janata Dal Orissa Congress West Bengal Left Front Assam Asom Gana Parishad Manipur Congress (Keisingh) Meghalaya Congress Mizoram Congress Nagaland Congress Tripura CPM Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Congress Sikkim Sikkim Democratic Front

WEST Gujarat MJP Maharashtra BJP-Shiv Sena Goa Congress Madhya Pradesh Congress

SOUTH Andhra Pradesh Telugu Desam (Naidu) Karnataka Janata Dal

Kerala LDF Tamil Nadu DMK Pondicherry Congress-------------------------------------------------

Judicial System

The Supreme Court is the apex court in the country. The High Court stands at the head of the state's judicial administration. Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a district and sessions judge, who is the highest judicicial authority in a district. Below him, there are courts of civil jurisdiction, known in different states as munsifs, sub-judges, civil judges and the like. Similarly, criminal judiciary comprises chief judicial magistrate and judicial magistrates of first and second class.

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to all disputes between the Union and one or more states or between two or more states. The Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court to enforce Fundamental Rights. Appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court can be invoked by a certificate of the High Court concerned or by special leave granted by the Supreme Court in respect of any judgement, decree or final order of a High Court in cases both civil and criminal, involving substantial questions of law as to the interpretation of the constitution. The President may consult the Supreme Court on any question of fact or law of public importance.

The Supreme Court of India comprises of the Chief Justice and not more than 25 other Judges appointed by the President. Judges hold office till 65 years of age.

High Courts

There are 18 High Courts in the country, three having jurisdiction over more than one state. Bombay High Court has the jurisdiction over Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Guwahati High Court, which was earlier known as Assam High Court, has the jurisdiction over Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Punjab and Haryana High Court has the jurisdiction over Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Among the Union Territories, Delhi alone has had a High Court of its own. The other six Union Territories come under jurisdiction of different state High Courts.

The Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the Governor of the state. Each High Court has powers of superintendence over all courts within its jurisdiction. High Court judges retire at the age of 62.

The jurisdiction as well as the laws administered by a High Court can be altered both by the Union and State Legislatures. Certain High Courts, like those at Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, have original and appellate jurisdictions. Under the original jurisdiction suits, where the subject matter is valued at Rs.25,000 or more, can be filed directly in the High Court. Most High Courts have only appellate jurisdiction.

Lok Adalat

Lok Adalats are voluntary agencies for resolution of disputes through conciliatory method.

Legislative Relations Between the Union and States

Under the Constitution, Parliament has the power to make laws for the whole of or any part of the territory of India. The State Legislatures have the power to make laws for the States. The subjects on which legislation can be enacted are specified in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

Parliament has the exclusive right to legislate in respect of items appearing in List I, called the ``Union List''. This list includes area such as defence, foreign affairs, currency, income tax, excise duty, railways, shipping, posts and telegraphs, etc.

S

 

Introduction

India is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government, and at the heart of the system is a commitment to hold regular, free and fair elections. These elections determine the composition of the government, the membership of the two houses of parliament, the state and union territory legislative assemblies, and the Presidency and vice-presidency. Indian Elections -Scale of Operation

Indian Elections -Scale of Operation

Elections in India are events involving political mobilisation and organisational complexity on an amazing scale. In the 1996 election to Lok Sabha there were 1,269 candidates from 38 officially recognised national and state parties seeking election, 1,048 candidates from registered parties, not recognised and 10,635 independent candidates. A total number of 59,25,72,288 people voted. The Election Commission employed almost 40,00,000 people to run the election. A vast number of civilian police and security forces were deployed to ensure that the elections were carried out peacefully. The direct cost of organising the election amounted to approximately Rs. 5,180 million.

Constituencies & Reservation of Seats

The country has been divided into 543 Parliamentary Constituencies, each of which returns one MP to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament. The size and shape of the parliamentary constituencies are determined by an independent Delimitation Commission, which aims to create constituencies which have roughly the same population, subject to geographical

considerations and the boundaries of the states and administrative areas. How Constituency Boundaries are drawn up Delimitation is the redrawing of the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies to make sure that there are, as near as practicable, the same number of people in each constituency. 

In India boundaries are meant to be examined after the ten-yearly census to reflect changes in population, for which Parliament by law establishes an independent Delimitation Commission, made up of the Chief Election Commissioner and two judges or ex-judges from the Supreme Court or High Court. However, under a constitutional amendment of 1976, delimitation was suspended until after the census of 2001, ostensibly so that states' family-planning programmes would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. This has led to wide discrepancies in the size of constituencies, with the largest having over 25,00,000 electors, and the smallest less than 50,000. 

Reservation of Seats The Constitution puts a limit on the size of the Lok Sabha of 550 elected members, apart from two members who can be nominated by the President to represent the Anglo-Indian community. There are also provisions to ensure the representation of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, with reserved constituencies where only candidates from these communities can stand for election. There was an attempt to pass legislation to reserve one third of the seats for female candidates but the dissolution of Lok Sabha for the 1998 election occurred before the bill had completed its passage through parliament. System of Election Elections to the Lok Sabha are carried out using a first-past-the-post electoral system. 

The country is split up into separate geographical areas, known as constituencies, and the electors can cast one vote each for a candidate (although most candidates stand as independents, most successful candidates stand as members of political parties), the winner being the candidate who gets the maximum votes. Parliament The Parliament of the Union consists of the President, the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The President is the head of state, and he appoints the Prime Minister, who runs the government, according to the political composition of the Lok Sabha. Although the government is headed by a Prime Minister, the Cabinet is the central decision making body of the government. 

Members of more than one party can make up a government, and although the governing parties may be a minority in the Lok Sabha, they can only govern as long as they have the confidence of a majority of MPs, the members of the Lok Sabha. As well as being the body, which determines whom, makes up the government, the Lok Sabha is the main legislative body, along with the Rajya Sabha. Rajya Sabha - The Council of States The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly, rather than by the citizens at large. Rajya Sabha members are elected by each state Vidhan Sabha using the single transferable vote system. Unlike most federal systems, the number of members returned by each state is roughly in proportion to their population. 

At present there are 233 members of the Rajya Sabha elected by the Vidhan Sabhas, and there are also twelve members nominated by the President as representatives of literature, science, art and social services. Rajya Sabha members can serve for six years, and elections are staggered, with one third of the assembly being elected every 2 years. Nominated members The president can nominate 2 members of the Lok Sabha if it is felt that the representation of the Anglo-Indian community is inadequate, and 12 members of the Rajya Sabha, to represent literature, science, art and the social services. State Assemblies India is a federal country, and the Constitution gives the states and union territories significant control over their own government. 

The Vidhan Sabhas (legislative assemblies) are directly elected bodies set up to carrying out the administration of the government in the 25 States of India. In some states there is a bicameral organisation of legislatures, with both an upper and Lower House. Two of the seven Union Territories viz., the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Pondicherry, have also legislative assemblies. Elections to the Vidhan Sabhas are carried out in the same manner as for the Lok Sabha election, with the states and union territories divided into single-member constituencies, and the first-past-the-post electoral system used. 

The assemblies range in size, according to population. The largest Vidhan Sabha is for Uttar Pradesh, with 425 members; the smallest Pondicherry, with 30 members. President and Vice-President The President is elected by the elected members of the Vidhan Sabhas, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha, and serves for a period of 5 years (although they can stand for re-election). A formula is used to allocate votes so there is a balance between the population of each state and the number of votes assembly members from a state can cast, and to give an equal balance between state and national assembly Parliament members. If no candidate receives a majority of votes there is a system by which losing candidates are eliminated from the contest and votes for them transferred to other candidates, until one gain a majority. 

The Vice President is elected by a direct vote of all members elected and nominated, of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The single transferable vote system. Election for the members of the Rajya Sabha and the President are carried out using the single transferable vote system. The single transferable vote system is designed to ensure more diverse representation, by reducing the opportunity for blocks of voters to dominate minorities. The ballot paper lists all candidates standing for election and the voters' list them in order of preference. A threshold number of votes, known as the 'quota' is set, which candidates have to achieve to be elected. For presidential elections the quota is set at one more than half the number of votes, ensuring that the winner is the candidate who gets a clear majority. For the Rajya Sabha the quota is set at the number of votes that can be attained by just enough MPs to fill all the seats but no more. Votes that are deemed surplus, those given to candidates who have already got a full quota of votes, or votes given to candidates who are deemed to be losing candidates, are transferred according to the voter's listed preferences, until the right number of candidates have been elected. 

Independent Election Commission An independent Election Commission has been established under the Constitution in order to carry out and regulate the holding of elections in India. The Election Commission was established in accordance with the Constitution on 25th January 1950. Originally a Chief Election Commissioner ran the commission, but first in 1989 and later again in 1993 two additional Election Commissioners were appointed. The Election Commission is responsible for the conduct of elections to parliament and state legislatures and to the offices of the President and Vice-President. The Election Commission prepares, maintains and periodically updates the Electoral Roll, which shows who is entitled to vote, supervises the nomination of candidates, registers political parties, monitors the election campaign, including candidates' funding. It also facilitates the coverage of the election process by the media, organises the polling booths where voting takes place, and looks after the counting of votes and the declaration of results. All this is done to ensure that elections can take place in an orderly and fair manner. 

At present, there are two Election Commissioners appointed by the President. Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only by parliamentary impeachment. The Commission decides most matters by consensus but in case of any dissension, the majority view prevails.

Election Commission : Present composition Mr. J.M. Lyngdoh - Chief Election Commissioner Mr. T.S. Krishna Murthy - Election Commissioner Mr. B.B. Tandon - Election Commissioner Chief Election Commissioners Sukumar Sen : 21 March 1950 to 19 December 1958 KVK Sundaram : 20 December 1958 to 30 September 1967 SP Sen Verma : 1 October 1967 to 30 September 1972 Dr Nagendra Singh : 1 October 1972 to 6 February 1973 T Swaminathan : 7 February 1973 to 17 June 1977 SL Shakdhar : 18 June 1977 to 17 June 1982 RK Trivedi : 18 June 1982 to 31 December 1985 RVS Peri Sastri : 1 January 1986 to 25 November 1990 Smt VS Ramadevi : 26 November 1990 to 11 December 1990 TN Seshan : 12 December 1990 to 11 December 1996 Dr. MS Gill : 12 December 1996 to 13 June 2001 J.M. Lyngdoh : 13 June 2001 (afternoon) to present The Commission has its headquarters in New Delhi, with a Secretariat of some 300 staff members. 

At the state level a Chief Electoral Officer with a core staff of varying numbers, is available on a full time basis. At the district and constituency level, officers and staff of the civil administration double up as Election officials. During actual conduct of elections, a vast number of additional staff are temporarily drafted for about two weeks. They function mainly as polling and counting officials. Who can vote? The democratic system in India is based on the principle of universal adult suffrage; that any citizen over the age of 18 can vote in an election (before 1989 the age limit was 21). The right to vote is irrespective of caste, creed, religion or gender. Those who are deemed unsound of mind, and people convicted of certain criminal offences are not allowed to vote. There has been a general increase in the number of people voting in Indian elections. In 1952 61.16 per cent of the electorate voted. By 1996 the turnout for the general election was 57.94 per cent. 

There have been even more rapid increases in the turnout of women and members of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, who had tended to be far less likely to participate in elections, and voting for these groups has moved closer to the national average. The Electoral Roll The electoral roll is a list of all people in the constituency who are registered to vote in Indian Elections. Only those people with their names on the electoral roll are allowed to vote. The electoral roll is normally revised every year to add the names of those who are to turn 18 on the 1st January of that year or have moved into a constituency and to remove the names of those who have died or moved out of a constituency. If you are eligible to vote and are not on the electoral roll, you can apply to the Electoral Registration Officer of the constituency, who will update the register. 

The updating of the Electoral Roll only stops during an election campaign, after the nominations for candidates have closed. Computerisation of Rolls The Election Commission is currently undertaking the computerisation of the electoral rolls throughout India, which should lead to improvements in the accuracy and speed with which the electoral roll can be updated. This has already been completed in the northern states of Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the Eastern state of Tripura and Rolls in the new computerised format put to use for the general Election in 1998. Electors' Photo Identity Cards In an attempt to improve the accuracy of the electoral roll and prevent electoral fraud, the Election Commission has pressed for the introduction of photo identity cards for voters. This is a massive task, and at present over 338 million have been provided. 

The Commission is providing ways and methods to deal with the problems with the issue of cards, and difficulties in keeping track of voters, especially the mobile urban electorate. When do elections take place? Elections for the Lok Sabha and every State Legislative Assembly have to take place every five years, unless called earlier. The President can dissolve Lok Sabha and

call a general election before five years is up, if the government can no longer command the confidence of the Lok Sabha, and if there is no alternative government available to take over. Governments have found it increasingly difficult to stay in power for the full term of a Lok Sabha in recent times, and so elections have often been held before the five-year limit has been reached. A constitutional amendment passed in 1975, as part of the government declared emergency, postponed the election due to be held in 1976. This amendment was later rescinded, and regular elections resumed in 1977. Other measures have been taken to adjust the timetable of elections when civil unrest has made the holding of elections problematic. 

Disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir, the Punjab, and Assam have led to the postponement of elections. Holding of regular elections can only be stopped by means of a constitutional amendment and in consultation with the Election Commission, and it is recognised that interruptions of regular elections are acceptable only in extraordinary circumstances. Scheduling the Elections When the five-year limit is up, or the legislature has been dissolved and new elections have been called, the Election Commission puts into effect the machinery for holding an election. The constitution states that there can be no longer than 6 months between the last session of the dissolved Lok Sabha and the recalling of the new House, so elections have to be concluded before then. In a country as huge and diverse as India, finding a period when elections can be held throughout the country is not simple. The Election Commission, which decides the schedule for elections, has to take account of the weather - during winter constituencies may be snow-bound, and during the monsoon access to remote areas restricted -, the agricultural cycle - so that the planting or harvesting of crops is not disrupted, exam schedules - as schools are used as polling stations and teachers employed as election officials, and religious festivals and public holidays. On top of this there are the logistical difficulties that go with holding an election - sending out ballot boxes, setting up polling booths, recruiting officials to oversee the elections. 

Who can stand for Election ? 

Any Indian citizen who is registered as a voter and is over 25 years of age is allowed to contest elections to the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assemblies. For the Rajya Sabha the age limit is 30 years. Candidates for the Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Sabha should be a resident of the same state as the constituency from which they wish to contest. Every candidate has to make a deposit of Rs. 10,000/- for Lok Sabha election and 5,000/- for Rajya Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections, except for candidates from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who pay half of these amounts. The deposit is returned if the candidate receives more than one-sixth of the total number of valid votes polled in the constituency. Nominations must be supported at least by one registered elector of the constituency, in the case of a candidate sponsored by a registered Party and by ten registered electors from the constituency in the case of other candidates. Returning Officers, appointed by the Election Commission, are put in charge to receive nominations of candidates in each constituency, and oversee the formalities of the election. 

In a number of seats in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha, the candidates can only be from either one of the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes. The number of these reserved seats is meant to be approximately in proportion to the number of people from scheduled castes or scheduled tribes in each state. There are currently 79 seats reserved for the scheduled castes and 41 reserved for the scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha. Number of Candidates The number of candidates contesting each election has steadily increased. In the general election of 1952 the average number of candidates in each constituency was 3.8; by 1991 it had risen to 16.3, and in 1996 stood at 25.6. Some commentators have criticised the openness of the nomination process,

arguing that it is far too easy for 'frivolous' candidates to stand for election, and that this confuses the electoral process. Certain remedial measures have been taken in August 1996, which included increasing the size of the deposit and making the number of people who have to nominate a candidate larger. The impact of such measures was quite considerable at the elections which were subsequently held in Uttar Pradesh in October, 1996, where the number of contestants Come down quite significantly. 

In 1998 the number of nominations for the Lok Sabha has come down to , an average of per constituency and % lower than the figures for 1996. Campaign The campaign is the period when the political parties put forward their candidates and arguments with which they hope to persuade people to vote for their candidates and parties. Candidates are given a week to put forward their nominations. These are scrutinised by the Returning Officers and if not found to be in order can be rejected after a summary hearing. Validly nominated candidates can withdraw within two days after nominations have been scrutinised. The official campaign lasts at least two weeks from the drawing up of the list of nominated candidates, and officially ends 48 hours before polling closes. 

During the election campaign the political parties and contesting candidates are expected to abide by a Model Code of Conduct evolved by the Election Commission on the basis of a consensus among political parties. The model Code lays down broad guidelines as to how the political parties and candidates should conduct themselves during the election campaign. It is intended to maintain the election campaign on healthy lines, avoid clashes and conflicts between political parties or their supporters and to ensure peace and order during the campaign period and thereafter, until the results are declared. The model code also prescribes guidelines for the ruling party either at the Centre or in the State to ensure that a level field in maintained and that no cause is given for any complaint that the ruling party has used its official position for the purposes of its election campaign. 

Once an election has been called, parties issue manifestos detailing the programmes they wish to implement if elected to government, the strengths of their leaders, and the failures of opposing parties and their leaders. Slogans are used to popularise and identify parties and issues, and pamphlets and posters distributed to the electorate. Rallies and meetings where the candidates try to persuade, cajole and enthuse supporters, and denigrate opponents, are held throughout the constituencies. Personal appeals and promises of reform are made, with candidates travelling the length and breadth of the constituency to try to influence as many potential supporters as possible. Party symbols abound, printed on posters and placards. Polling Days Polling is normally held on a number of different days in different constituencies, to enable the security forces and those monitoring the election to keep law and order and ensure that voting during the election is fair. Ballot Papers & Symbols After nomination of candidates is complete, a list of competing candidates is prepared by the Returning Officer, and ballot papers are printed. Ballot papers are printed with the names of the candidates (in languages set by the Election Commission) and the symbols allotted to each of the candidates. 

Candidates of recognised Parties are allotted their Party symbols. Some electors, including members of the armed forces or government of India How the voting takes place Voting is by secret ballot. Polling stations are usually set up in public institutions, such as schools and community halls. To enable as many electors as possible to vote, the officials of the Election Commission try to ensure that there is a polling station within 2km of every voter, and that no polling stations should have to deal with more than 1200 voters. Each polling station is open for at least 8 hours on the day of the election. On entering the polling station, the elector is checked

against the Electoral Roll, and allocated a ballot paper. The elector votes by marking the ballot paper with a rubber stamp on or near the symbol of the candidate of his choice, inside a screened compartment in the polling station. The voter then folds the ballot paper and inserts it in a common ballot box which is kept in full view of the Presiding Officer and polling agents of the candidates. 

This marking system eliminates the possibility of ballot papers being surreptitiously taken out of the polling station or not being put in the ballot box. Political Parties and Elections Political parties are an established part of modern mass democracy, and the conduct of elections in India is largely dependent on the behaviour of political parties. Although many candidates for Indian elections are independent, the winning candidates for Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections usually stand as members of political parties, and opinion polls suggest that people tend to vote for a party rather than a particular candidate. Parties offer candidates organisational support, and by offering a broader election campaign, looking at the record of government and putting forward alternative proposals for government, help voters make a choice about how the government is run. Registration with Election Commission Political parties have to be registered with the Election Commission. 

The Commission determines whether the party is structured and committed to principles of democracy, secularism and socialism in accordance with the Indian Constitution and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Parties are expected to hold organisational elections and have a written constitution. The Anti-defection law, passed in 1985, prevents MPs or MLAs elected as candidates from one party forming or joining a new party, unless they comprise more than one-third of the original party in the legislature. Recognition and Reservation of Symbols According to certain criteria, set by the Election Commission regarding the length of political activity and success in elections, parties are categorised by the Commission as National or State parties, or simply declared registered-unrecognised parties. How a party is classified determines a party's right to certain privileges, such as access to electoral rolls and provision of time for political broadcasts on the state-owned television and radio stations - All India Radio and Doordarshan - and also the important question of the allocation of the party symbol. 

Party symbols enable illiterate voters to identify the candidate of the party they wish to vote for. National parties are given a symbol that is for their use only, throughout the country. State parties have the sole use of a symbol in the state in which they are recognised as such Registered-unrecognised parties can choose a symbol from a selection of 'free' symbols. Limit on poll expenses There are tight legal limits on the amount of money a candidate can spend during the election campaign. In most Lok Sabha constituencies the limit as recently amended in December, 1997 is Rs 15,00,000/-, although in some States the limit is Rs 6,00,000/- (for Vidhan Sabha elections the highest limit is Rs 6,00,000/-, the lowest Rs 3,00,000/-). Although supporters of a candidate can spend as much as they like to help out with a campaign, they have to get written permission of the candidate, and whilst parties are allowed to spend as much money on campaigns as they want, recent Supreme Court judgements have said that, unless a political party can specifically account for money spent during the campaign, it will consider any activities as being funded by the candidates and counting towards their election expenses. The accountability imposed on the candidates and parties has curtailed some of the more extravagant campaigning that was previously a part of Indian elections. Free Campaign time on state owned electronic media By a recent order of the Election Commission, all recognised National and State parties have been allowed free access to the state owned electronic media-AIR and Doordarshan- on an extensive scale for their campaigns during elections. 

The total free time allocated extends over 122 hours on the state owned Television and Radio channels. This is allocated equitably by combining a base limit and additional time linked to poll performance of the party in recent election. Splits and mergers and anti-defection law Splits, mergers and alliances have frequently disrupted the compositions of political parties. This has led to a number of disputes over which section of a divided party gets to keep the party symbol, and how to classify the resulting parties in terms of national and state parties. The Election Commission has to resolve these disputes, although its decisions can be challenged in the courts. As of 1998 there are 7 National Parties, and 35 State Parties, with 620 registered-unrecognised parties. Election Petitions Any elector or candidate can file an election petition if he or she thinks there has been malpractice during the election. An election petition is not an ordinary civil suit, but treated as a contest in which the whole constituency is involved. Election petitions are tried by the High Court of the State involved, and if upheld can even lead to the restaging of the election in that constituency. 

In the 1996 general election xx election petitions were upheld, and in x constituencies the result was countermanded and bye-elections held. Supervising Elections, Election Observers The Election Commission appoints a large number of Observers to ensure that the campaign is conducted fairly, and that people are free to vote as they choose. Election expenditure Observers keeps a check on the amount that each candidate and party spends on the election. Counting of Votes After the polling has finished, the votes are counted under the supervision of Returning Officers and Observers appointed by the Election Commission. After the counting of votes is over, the Returning Officer declares the name of the candidate to whom the largest number of votes have been given as the winner, and as having been returned by the constituency to the concerned house. Media Coverage In order to bring as much transparency as possible to the electoral process, the media are encouraged and provided with facilities to cover the election, although subject to maintaining the secrecy of the vote. Media persons are given special passes to enter polling stations to cover the poll process and the counting halls during the actual counting of votes. Media are also free to conduct Opinion Polls and Exit Polls. By a recent set of Guideline issued, the Election Commission has stipulated that the results of opinion polls can not be published between two days before the start of polling and after the close of poll in any of the constituencies. Results of exit polls can only be published or made otherwise known only after half an hour of the end of polling hours on the last day of poll 28th of February in the present election of 1998.

 

tate LegislatuElection Commission

Elections in India are conducted by the Election Commission of India, the authority created under the Constitution. It is a well established convention that once the election process commences; no courts intervene until the results are declared by the election commission. During the elections, vast powers are assigned to the election commission to the extent that it can function as a civil court, if needed.

[edit]Electoral process

Electoral Process in India takes at least a month for state assembly elections with the duration increasing further for the General Elections. Publishing of electoral rolls is a key process that happens before the elections and is vital for the conduct of elections in India. The Indian Constitution sets the eligibility of an individual for voting. Any person who is a citizen of India and above 18 years of age is eligible to enroll as a voter in the electoral rolls. It is the responsibility of the eligible voters to enroll their names. Normally, voter registrations are allowed latest one week prior to the last date for nomination of candidates.

[edit]Pre elections

At first before the elections the dates of nomination, polling and counting takes place. The model code of conduct comes in force from the day the dates are announced. No party is allowed to use the government resources for campaigning. The code of conduct stipulates that campaigning be stopped 48 hours prior to polling day.

[edit]Voting day

Government schools and colleges are chosen as polling stations. The Collector of each district is in charge of polling. Government employees are employed to many of the polling stations. Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being increasingly used instead of ballot boxes to prevent election fraud via booth capturing, which is heavily prevalent in certain parts of India. An indelible ink is applied usually on the left index finger of the voter as an indicator that the voter has cast his vote. This practice has been followed since the 1962 general elections to prevent bogus voting.

[edit]"None of the above" voting option

"None of the above" is a proposed voting option in India that would allow voters who support none of the candidates available to them to register an official vote of "none of the above", which is not currently allowed under India election regulation.[8] The Election Commission of India told the Supreme Court in 2009 that it wished to offer the voter a None of the above button on voting machines; the government, however, has generally opposed this option.[9]

[edit]Post elections

After the election day, the EVMs are stored in a strong room under heavy security. After the different phases of the elections are complete, a day is set to count the votes. The votes are tallied typically, the verdict is known within hours. The candidate who has mustered the most votes is declared the winner of the constituency.

The party or coalition that has won the most seats is invited by the President to form the new government. The coalition or party must prove its majority in the floor of the house (Lok Sabha) in a vote of confidence by obtaining a simple majority (minimum 50%) of the votes in the house.

[edit]Voter registration

For few cities in India, the voter registration forms can be generated online and submitted to the nearest electoral office.[citation needed]

[edit]Absentee voting

As of now, India does not have an absentee ballot system. Section 19 of The Representation of the People Act (RPA)-1950[10] allows a person to register to vote if he or she is above 18 years of age and is an ‘ordinary resident’ of the residing constituency i.e. living at the current address for 6 months or longer. Section 20 of the above Act disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents a NRI from casting his/her vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures.

In August 2010, Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill-2010 which allows voting rights to NRI's was passed in both Lok Sabha with subsequent gazette notifications on Nov 24, 2010.[11] With this NRI's will now be able to vote in Indian elections but have to bephysically present at the time of voting. Several civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system.[12][13] People for Lok Satta has been actively pushing combination of internet and postal ballot as a viable means for NRI voting.[14]

res have the exIndian electoral system

The Parliament of India comprises the head of state — the president of India — and the two Houses which are the legislature. ThePresident of India is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of members of federal and state legislatures. TheHouse of the People ( Lok Sabha )  has 548 members, 543 members elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and two members appointed to represent the Anglo-Indian community (as envisaged by the Constitution of India, as of now the members of Lok Sabha are 545, out of which 543 are elected for 5-year term and 2 members represent the Anglo-Indian community). The 550 members are elected under the plurality ('first past the post') electoral system.[7]

Council of States ( Rajya Sabha )  has 245 members, 233 members elected for a six-year term, with one-third retiring every two years. The members are indirectly elected, this being achieved by the votes of legislators in the state and union (federal) territories. The elected members are chosen under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote. The twelve nominated members are usually an eclectic mix of eminent artists (including actors), scientists, jurists, sportspersons, businessmen and journalists and common people.[3]

clusive power to Personal Income and Disposable Personal Income

Personal Income (PI): 

This measures all of the income that is received by individuals, but not necessarily earned. Examples of this include social security benefits, unemployment compensation, welfare payments, benefits for veterans, and food stamps. Individuals also contribute income which they do not receive. This includes corporate profits that are undistributed, indirect business taxes, and the contribution of employers to Social Security. 

PI = NI + income received but not earned - income earned but not received 

Disposable Personal Income (DI): 

There are other personal taxes which are not considered when calculating personal income. In order to derive disposable personal income we must subtract these personal taxes from personal income. 

DI = PI - Personal Income Taxes 

Disposable personal income represents what people actually have that they can spend. It is also a result of consumer spending as well as private saving. 

make laws in relation to items appearing in List II called the ``State List''. This includes itNet national product

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(December 2009)

Net national product (NNP) is the total market value of all final goods and services produced by

residents in a country or other polity during a given time period (gross national product or GNP)

minus depreciation. The net domestic product (NDP) is the equivalent application of NNP within

macroeconomics, and NDP is equal to gross domestic product (GDP) minus depreciation: NDP = GDP -

depreciation.

Depreciation (also known as consumption of fixed capital) measures the amount of GNP that must be

spent on new capital goods to maintain the existing physical capital stock.

NNP is the amount of goods in a given year which can be consumed without reducing future

consumption. Setting part of NNP aside forinvestment permits capital stock growth (see economic

growth and capital formation), and greater future consumption.

NNP also equals total compensation of employees + net indirect tax paid on current production

+ operating surplus

ems like public Gross domestic product

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"GDP" redirects here. For other uses, see GDP (disambiguation).

CIA World Factbook 2005 figures of totalnominal GDP (top) compared to PPP-adjusted GDP (bottom)

Countries by 2011 GDP (nominal) per capita[1]

  over $102,400  $51,200–102,400  $25,600–51,200  $12,800–25,600

  $1,600–3,200  $800–1,600  $400–800  below $400

  $6,400–12,800  $3,200–6,400

  unavailable

GDP (PPP) per capita

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all officially recognized final goods and services

produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a

country's standard of living;[2][3] GDP per capita is not a measure of personal income (See Standard of

living and GDP). Under economic theory, GDP per capita exactly equals the gross domestic income

(GDI) per capita (See Gross domestic income).

GDP is related to national accounts, a subject in macroeconomics. GDP is not to be confused with Gross

National Product (GNP) which allocates production based on ownership.

order, pDetermining GDP

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GDP can be determined in three ways, all of which should, in principle, give the same result. They are the product (or output) approach, the income approach, and the expenditure approach.

The most direct of the three is the product approach, which sums the outputs of every class of enterprise to arrive at the total. The expenditure approach works on the principle that all of the product must be bought by somebody, therefore the value of the total product must be equal to people's total expenditures in buying things. The income approach works on the principle that the incomes of the productive factors ("producers," colloquially) must be equal to the value of their product, and determines GDP by finding the sum of all producers' incomes.[6]

Example: the expenditure method:

GDP = private consumption + gross investment + government spending + (exports −imports), or

Note: "Gross" means that GDP measures production regardless of the various uses to which that

production can be put. Production can be used for immediate consumption, for investment in new

fixed assets or inventories, or for replacing depreciated fixed assets. "Domestic" means that GDP

measures production that takes place within the country's borders. In the expenditure-method

equation given above, the exports-minus-imports term is necessary in order to null out expenditures

on things not produced in the country (imports) and add in things produced but not sold in the

country (exports).

Economists (since Keynes) have preferred to split the general consumption term into two parts; private consumption, and public sector (or government) spending.[citation needed] Two advantages of dividing total consumption this way in theoretical macroeconomics are:

Private consumption is a central concern of welfare economics. The private investment and trade portions of the economy are ultimately directed (in mainstream economic models) to increases in long-term private consumption.

If separated from endogenous private consumption, government consumption can be treated as exogenous,[citation needed] so that different government spending levels can be considered within a meaningful macroeconomic framework.

[edit]Production approach

" Market value of all final goods and services calculated during 1 year . "

The production approach is also called as Net Product or Value added method. This method consists of three stages:

1. Estimating the Gross Value of domestic Output in various economic activities;

2. Determining the intermediate consumption, i.e., the cost of material, supplies and services used to produce final goods or services; and finally

3. Deducting intermediate consumption from Gross Value to obtain the Net Value of Domestic Output.

Symbolically,

Gross Value Added = Value of output – Value of Intermediate Consumption.

Value of Output = Value of the total sales of goods and services + Value of changes in the inventories.

The sum of Gross Value Added in various economic activities is known as GDP at factor cost.

GDP at factor cost plus indirect taxes less subsidies on products is GDP at Producer Price.

For measuring gross output of domestic product, economic activities (i.e. industries) are classified into various sectors. After classifying economic activities, the gross output of each sector is calculated by any of the following two methods:

1. By multiplying the output of each sector by their respective market price and adding them together and

2. By collecting data on gross sales and inventories from the records of companies and adding them together

Subtracting each sector's intermediate consumption from gross output, we get sectoral Gross Value Added (GVA) at factor cost. We, then add gross value of all sectors to get GDP at factor cost. Adding indirect tax minus subsidies in GDP at factor cost, we get GDP at Producer Prices.

[edit]Income approach

" sum total of incomes of individuals living in a country during 1 year ."

Another way of measuring GDP is to measure total income. If GDP is calculated this way it is sometimes called Gross Domestic Income (GDI), or GDP(I). GDI should provide the same amount as the expenditure method described below. (By definition, GDI = GDP. In practice, however, measurement errors will make the two figures slightly off when reported by national statistical agencies.)

This method measures GDP by adding incomes that firms pay households for factors of production they hire- wages for labour, interest for capital, rent for land and profits for entrepreneurship.

The US "National Income and Expenditure Accounts" divide incomes into five categories:

1. Wages, salaries, and supplementary labour income2. Corporate profits3. Interest and miscellaneous investment income4. Farmers’ income5. Income from non-farm unincorporated businesses

These five income components sum to net domestic income at factor cost.

Two adjustments must be made to get GDP:

1. Indirect taxes minus subsidies are added to get from factor cost to market prices.2. Depreciation (or Capital Consumption Allowance) is added to get from net domestic product

to gross domestic product.

Total income can be subdivided according to various schemes, leading to various formulae for GDP measured by the income approach. A common one is:

GDP = compensation of employees + gross operating surplus + gross mixed income + taxes less

subsidies on production and imports

GDP = COE + GOS + GMI + TP & M – SP & M

Compensation of employees (COE) measures the total remuneration to employees for work done. It includes wages and salaries, as well as employer contributions to social security and other such programs.

Gross operating surplus (GOS) is the surplus due to owners of incorporated businesses. Often called profits, although only a subset of total costs are subtracted from gross output to calculate GOS.

Gross mixed income (GMI) is the same measure as GOS, but for unincorporated businesses. This often includes most small businesses.

The sum of COE, GOS and GMI is called total factor income; it is the income of all of the factors of production in society. It measures the value of GDP at factor (basic) prices. The difference between basic prices and final prices (those used in the expenditure calculation) is the total taxes and subsidies that the government has levied or paid on that production. So adding taxes less subsidies on production and imports converts GDP at factor cost to GDP(I).

Total factor income is also sometimes expressed as:

Total factor income = Employee compensation + Corporate profits + Proprietor's income +

Rental income + Net interest[7]

Yet another formula for GDP by the income method is:[citation needed]

where R : rentsI : interestsP : profitsSA : statistical adjustments (corporate income taxes, dividends, undistributed corporate profits)W : wagesNote the mnemonic, "ripsaw".

[edit]Expenditure approach

" All expenditure incurred by individuals during 1 year . "

In economics, most things produced are produced for sale, and sold. Therefore, measuring the total expenditure of money used to buy things is a way of measuring production. This is known as the expenditure method of calculating GDP. Note that if you knit yourself a sweater, it is production but does not get counted as GDP because it is never sold. Sweater-knitting is a small part of the economy, but if one counts some major activities such as child-rearing (generally unpaid) as production, GDP ceases to be an accurate indicator of production. Similarly, if there is a long term shift from non-market provision of services (for example cooking, cleaning, child rearing, do-it yourself repairs) to market provision of

services, then this trend toward increased market provision of services may mask a dramatic decrease in actual domestic production, resulting in overly optimistic and inflated reported GDP. This is particularly a problem for economies which have shifted from production economies to service economies.

[edit]Components of GDP by expenditure

Components of U.S. GDP

GDP (Y) is a sum of Consumption (C), Investment (I), Government Spending (G) and Net Exports (X – M).

Y = C + I + G + (X − M)

Here is a description of each GDP component:

C (consumption) is normally the largest GDP component in the economy, consisting of private (household final consumption expenditure) in the economy. These personal expenditures fall under one of the following categories: durable goods, non-durable goods, and services. Examples include food, rent, jewelry, gasoline, and medical expenses but does not include the purchase of new housing.

I (investment) includes, for instance, business investment in equipment, but does not include exchanges of existing assets. Examples include construction of a new mine, purchase of software, or purchase of machinery and equipment for a factory. Spending by households (not government) on new houses is also included in Investment. In contrast to its colloquial meaning, 'Investment' in GDP does not mean purchases of financial products. Buying financial products is classed as 'saving', as opposed to investment. This avoids double-counting: if one buys shares in a company, and the company uses the money received to buy plant, equipment, etc., the amount will be counted toward GDP when the company spends the money on those things; to also count it when one gives it to the company would be to count two times an amount that only

corresponds to one group of products. Buying bonds or stocks is a swapping of deeds, a transfer of claims on future production, not directly an expenditure on products.

G (government spending) is the sum of government expenditures on final goods and services. It includes salaries of public servants, purchase of weapons for the military, and any investment expenditure by a government. It does not include any transfer payments, such as social security or unemployment benefits.

X (exports) represents gross exports. GDP captures the amount a country produces, including goods and services produced for other nations' consumption, therefore exports are added.

M (imports) represents gross imports. Imports are subtracted since imported goods will be included in the terms G, I, or C, and must be deducted to avoid counting foreign supply as domestic.

A fully equivalent definition is that GDP (Y) is the sum of final consumption expenditure (FCE), gross capital formation (GCF), andnet exports (X – M).

Y = FCE + GCF+ (X − M)

FCE can then be further broken down by three sectors (households, governments and non-profit institutions serving households) and GCF by five sectors (non-financial corporations, financial corporations, households, governments and non-profit institutions serving households). The advantage of this second definition is that expenditure is systematically broken down, firstly, by type of final use (final consumption or capital formation) and, secondly, by sectors making the expenditure, whereas the first definition partly follows a mixed delimitation concept by type of final use and sector.

Note that C, G, and I are expenditures on final goods and services; expenditures on intermediate goods and services do not count. (Intermediate goods and services are those used by businesses to produce other goods and services within the accounting year.[8] )

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is responsible for calculating the national accounts in the United States, "In general, the source data for the expenditures components are considered more reliable than those for the income components [see income method, below]."[9]

olice, public health, communications, agriculture, lotteries, taxes on entertainment and wealth, sales tax anGross national product

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"GNP" redirects here. For other uses, see GNP (disambiguation).

Gross National Product (GNP) is the market value of all products and services produced in one year by

labour and property supplied by the residents of a country. Unlike Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which

defines production based on the geographical location of production, GNP allocates production based on

ownership.

GNP does not distinguish between qualitative improvements in the state of the technical arts (e.g.,

increasing computer processing speeds), and quantitative increases in goods (e.g., number of computers

produced), and considers both to be forms of "economic growth".[1]

Basically, GNP is the total value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a particular

year, plus income earned by its citizens (including income of those located abroad), minus income of non-

residents located in that country. GNP measures the value of goods and services that the country's

citizens produced regardless of their location. GNP is one measure of the economic condition of a

country, under the assumption that a higher GNP leads to a higher quality of living, all other things being

equal.

Contents

  [hide] 

1   GNP vs. GDP

2   Use

3   List of countries by GNP(GNI) (nominal, Atlas method) (millions of 2012 US$) [5]   (Top 10)

4   See also

5   References

6   Sources

7   External links

[edit]GNP vs. GDP

See also: Gross domestic product#GDP vs GNP

Gross National Product (GNP) is often contrasted with Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While GNP

measures the output generated by a country's enterprises (whether physically located domestically or

abroad) GDP measures the total output produced within a country's borders - whether produced by that

country's own local firms or by foreign firms.

When a country's capital or labour resources are employed outside its borders, or when a foreign firm is

operating in its territory, GDP and GNP can produce different measures of total output. In 2009 for

instance, the United States estimated its GDP at $14.119 trillion, and its GNP at $14.265 trillion.[2]

[edit]Use

The United States used GNP as its primary measure of total economic activity before 1991, when it began

to use GDP.[3] In making the switch, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) noted both that GDP

provided an easier comparison of other measures of economic activity in the United States and that

"virtually all other countries have already adopted GDP as their primary measure of production."[

d octroi, etc. What are the basic characteristics of Indian Economy?EBUDHIA ARTICLES

Indian economy is an under developed economy in which Agriculture is the back bone of Indian economic. 60% of India’s population are on the below poverty line. Mineral resources are not fully utilized. We are selling iron ore by trucks and getting blades by packets. Majority of the people of India are leading a poverty line. Indian economic is affected by it. Countries which are on the part of progress and which have their potential for development are called developing economic. So India is termed as developing economic by modern views.

The important features of Indian economic:1. Low per capita income:

Under developed economy is characterized by low per capital income. India per capital income is very low as compared to the advanced countries. For example the capital income of India was 460 dollar, in 2000. Where as their capita income of U.S.A in 2000 was 83 times than India. This trend of difference of per capita income between under developed and advanced countries is gradually increasing in present times. India not only the per capita income is low but also the income is unequally distributed. This mal-distribution of income and wealth makes the problem of poverty in ore critical and acute and stands an obstacle in the process of economic progress

2. Heavy Population Pressure:

The Indian economy is facing the problem population explosion. It is clearly evident from the total population of India which was 102.67 cores in 2001 census. It is the second highest populated country China being the first. India’s population has reached 110 cores. All the under developed countries are characterized by high birth rate which stimulates the growth of population; the fast rate of growth of population necessitates a higher rate of economic growth to maintain the same standard of living. The failure to sustain the living standard makes the poor and under developed countries poor and under developed.

3. Pre-dominance of Agriculture:

Occupational distribution of population in India clearly reflects the backwardness of the economy. One of the basis characteristics of an under developed economy is that agriculture contributes a very large portion in the national income and a very high proportion of working population is engaged in agriculture

4. Unemployment:

There is larger unemployed and under employment is another important feature of Indian economy. In under developed countries labor is an abundant factor. It is not possible to provide gainful employment the entire population. Lack of job opportunities disguised unemployed is created’ in the agriculture fields. There deficiency of capital formation.

5. Low Rate of Capital Formation:

In backward economics like India, the rate of capital formation is also low. capital formation mainly depends on the ability and willingness of the people save since the per capita income is low and there is

mal-distribution of income and wealth the ability of the people to save is very low in under developed countries for which capital formation is very low .

6. Poor Technology:

The lever of technology is a common factor in under developed economy. India economy also suffers from this typical feature of technological backwardness. The techniques applied in agriculture industries milling and other economic fields are primitive in nature.

7. Back ward Institutional and social frame work:

The social and institutional frame work in under developed countries like India is hopelessly backward, which is a strong obstacle to any change in the form of production. Moreover religious institutions such as caste system, joint family universal marriage affects the economic life of the people.

8. Under utilization of Resources:

India is a poor land. So our people remain economically backwards for the lack of utilization of resources of the country.

9. Price instability:

Price instability is also a basis feature of Indian economy. In almost all the underdeveloped countries like India there is continuous price instability. Shortage of essential commodities and gap between consumption aid productions increase the price persistently. Rising trend of price creates a problem to maintain standard of living of the common people.

Both Parliament and the State Legislatures have the power to legislate in items appearing in List III of the Constitution which is known as ``Concurrent List''. This list includes items like electricity, newspapers, criminal law, marriage and divorce, stamp duties, trade unions, price controls, etc.