Name	India Tower
Location	Marine LinesMumbai
Coordinates display	title
Building type	Hotel, Residential, Retail
Status	construction stopped
Roof
Floor count	125
Est completion	2016
Developer	Dynamix Balwas (DB) Realtors
Architect	Foster and Partners }}

India Tower (previously known as Park Hyatt Tower; also known as Dynamix Balwas Tower or DB Tower) is a supertall skyscraper that was under construction in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. If completed as proposed, the tower would stand 720 metres (2,362 feet) high, and would become the second tallest man-made structure in the world, after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 828 metres (2,717 ft).

Dynamix Balwas realtor group first proposed the project with the skyscraper named ''Park Hyatt Tower'' in 2008, with 85 floors and a height of . The project was subsequently dropped and later revised in 2010. In January 2010, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation authorised the tower's construction on a site located at Charni Road, Marine Lines, just north of the city's historical district.

Construction has been suspended due to the heavy monsoon in the city.

Construction gallery

See also

List of tallest buildings in India

List of tallest buildings in Mumbai

List of buildings with 100 floors or more

List of tallest buildings and structures in the world

References

External links

Mumbai can claim the tallest building under construction: the 720-m India Tower

Skyscraper city forum thread on the building

Category:Buildings and structures under construction in India Category:Skyscrapers in Mumbai Category:Skyscrapers over 350 meters Category:Residential skyscrapers in India

es:India Tower fr:India Tower hu:India Tower mk:Кула „Индија“ pt:Park Hyatt Tower ru:Башня Индия

Native name	भारत गणराज्य*''''
Conventional long name	Republic of India
Common name	India
Alt flag	Horizontal tricolour flag (deep saffron, white, and green). In the centre of the white is a navy blue wheel with 24 spokes.
Image coat	Emblem of India.svg
Alt coat	Three lions facing left, right,and toward viewer, atop a frieze containing a galloping horse, a 24-spoke wheel, and an elephant. Underneath is a motto "सत्यमेव जयते".
Symbol type	Emblem
National motto	''"Satyameva Jayate" ''(Sanskrit)   (Devanāgarī)"Truth Alone Triumphs"
National anthem	File:Jana Gana Mana instrumental.ogg''Jana Gana Mana''Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people
Other symbol type	National Song
Other symbol	''Vande Mataram''I bow to thee, Mother
Alt map	Image of globe centred on India, with India highlighted.
Map caption	Area controlled by India in dark green;Claimed but uncontrolled territories in light green
Map width	220px
Image map2
Alt map2
Map caption2
Capital	New Delhi
Largest city	Mumbai
Official languages	}}

|regional_languages = |languages_type = National languages |languages = None defined by the Constitution |demonym = Indian |government_type = {{nowrap|Federal parliamentary constitutional republic}} |leader_title1 = President |leader_name1 = Pratibha Patil |leader_title2 = Prime Minister |leader_name2 = Manmohan Singh (INC) |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = Meira Kumar (INC) |leader_title4 = Chief Justice |leader_name4 = S. H. Kapadia |legislature = Parliament of India |upper_house = Rajya Sabha |lower_house = Lok Sabha |sovereignty_type = Independence |sovereignty_note = from the United Kingdom |established_event1 = Declared |established_date1 = 15 August 1947 |established_event2 = Republic |established_date2 = 26 January 1950 |area_rank = 7th |area_magnitude = 1 E12 |area = |area_km2 = 3,287,263 |area_sq_mi = 1,269,219 |area_footnote = ^‡ |percent_water = 9.56 |area_label = |area_label2 = |area_dabodyalign = |population_census_rank = 2nd |population_census = 1,210,193,422 |population_estimate_rank = 2nd |population_estimate_year = 2011 |population_census_year = 2011 |population_density_km2 = /3287263 round 1}} |population_density_sq_mi = /1269219 round 1}} |population_density_rank = 31st |GDP_PPP = $4.060 trillion |GDP_PPP_rank = 4th |GDP_PPP_year = 2010 |GDP_PPP_per_capita = $3,339 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = |GDP_nominal = $1.538 trillion |GDP_nominal_rank = 10th |GDP_nominal_year = 2010 |GDP_nominal_per_capita = $1,265 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = |Gini = 36.8 |Gini_rank = 79th |Gini_year = 2004 |Gini_category = |HDI = 0.519 |HDI_rank = 119th |HDI_year = 2010 |HDI_category = medium |currency = Indian rupee () |currency_code = INR |country_code = INR |time_zone = IST |utc_offset = +05:30 |time_zone_DST = not observed |date_format = dd/mm/yyyy (AD) |DST_note = |utc_offset_DST = +05:30 |drives_on = left |cctld = .in |calling_code = 91 |image_map3 = |alt_map3 = |footnotes = .}} }}

India (), officially the Republic of India ( ''''; see also official names of India), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; Bhutan, the People's Republic of China and Nepal to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Burma to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by the British East India Company from the early 18th century and colonized by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence which was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.

The Indian economy is the world's tenth-largest economy by nominal GDP and fourth largest economy by purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India has become one of the fastest growing major economies, and is considered a newly industrialized country; however, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, corruption and inadequate public health. A nuclear weapons state and a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks tenth in military expenditure among nations.

India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. It is one of the 5 BRICS nations. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, and multiethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats.

Etymology

The name ''India'' is derived from ''Indus'', which is derived from the Old Persian word ''Hindu'', from Sanskrit सिन्धु ''Sindhu'', the historic local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as ''Indoi'' (Ινδοί), the people of the Indus. The Constitution of India and usage in many Indian languages also recognises ''Bharat'' (pronounced ) as an official name of equal status. The name Bharat is derived from the name of the legendary king Bharata in Hindu scriptures. ''Hindustan'' (), originally a Persian word for “Land of the Hindus” referring to northern India and Pakistan before 1947, is also occasionally used as a synonym for all of India.

History

Ancient India

The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in South Asia are from approximately 30,000 years ago. Near contemporaneous Mesolithic rock art sites have been found in many parts of the Indian subcontinent, including at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh. Around 7000 BCE, the first known neolithic settlements appeared on the subcontinent in Mehrgarh and other sites in western Pakistan. These gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, the first urban culture in South Asia, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, and Kalibangan, and relying on varied forms of subsistence, the civilisation engaged robustly in crafts production and wide-ranging trade.

During the period 2000–500 BCE, many regions of the subcontinent evolved from copper age to iron age cultures. The Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed during this period, and historians have analyzed these to posit a Vedic culture in the Punjab region and the upper Ganges Plain. Most historians also consider this period to have encompassed several waves of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent from the northwest. The caste system, creating a social hierarchy, appeared during this period. In the Deccan, archaeological evidence from this period suggests the existence of a chiefdom stage of political organization. In South India, the large number of megalithic monuments found from this period, and nearby evidence of agriculture, irrigation tanks, and craft traditions suggest progression to sedentary life.

By the fifth century BCE, the small chiefdoms of the Ganges Plain and the northwest regions had consolidated into 16 major oligarchies and monarchies called ''Mahajanapadas''. The emerging urbanization as well as the orthodoxies of the late Vedic age created the religious reform movements of Buddhism and Jainism. Buddhism, based on the teachings of India's first historical figure, Gautam Buddha, attracted followers from all social classes; Jainism came into prominence around the same time during the life of its exemplar, Mahavira. In an age of increasing urban wealth, both religions held up renunciation as an ideal, and both established long-lasting monasteries. Politically, by the 3rd century BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had annexed or reduced other states to emerge as the Mauryan Empire. The empire was once thought to have controlled most of the subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are now thought to have been separated by large autonomous areas. The Maurya kings are known as much for their empire building and determined management of public life as for Ashoka the Great's renunciation of militarism and his far flung advocacy of the Buddhist ''dhamma''.

The Sangam literature of the Tamil language reveals that during the period 200 BCE–200 CE, the southern peninsula was being ruled by the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas, dynasties that traded extensively with the Roman Empire and with west and south-east Asia. In north India during the same time, Hinduism asserted patriarchal control within the family. By the fourth and fifth centuries CE, the Gupta Empire had created a complex administrative and taxation system in the greater Ganges Plain that became a model for later Indian kingdoms. Under the Guptas, a renewed Hinduism based on devotion rather than the management of ritual began to assert itself and was reflected in a flowering of sculpture and architecture, which found patrons among an urban elite. Classical Sanskrit literature flowered as well, and Indian science, astronomy, medicine, and mathematics made significant advances,

Medieval India

The Indian early medieval age (600 CE to 1200 CE) is defined by regional kingdoms and cultural diversity. When Harsha of Kannauj, who ruled much of the Ganges plain from 606 to 647 CE, attempted to expand southwards, he was defeated by the Chalukya ruler of the Deccan. When his successor attempted to expand eastwards, he was defeated by the Pala king of Bengal. When the Chalukyas attempted to expand southwards, they were defeated by the Pallavas from farther south, who in turn were opposed by the Pandyas and the Cholas from still farther south. No ruler of this period was able to create an empire and consistently control lands much beyond his core region. During this time, pastoral peoples whose land had been cleared to make way for the growing agriculture economy were accommodated within caste society, as were new non-traditional ruling classes. The caste system consequently began to show regional differences.

In the sixth and seventh centuries CE, the first devotional hymns were created in the Tamil language. These were imitated all over India and led both to the resurgence of Hinduism and to the development of all the modern languages of the subcontinent. Indian royalty, big and small, and the temples they patronized drew citizens in great numbers to the capital cities, which became economic hubs as well. Temple towns of various sizes began to appear everywhere as India underwent another urbanisation. By the eight and ninth centuries, the effects were evident elsewhere as well as South Indian culture and political systems were being exported to Southeast Asia, in particular to what today are Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Java. Indian merchants, scholars, and sometimes armies were involved in this transmission, and south-east Asians took the initiative as well with many sojourning in Indian seminaries and translating Buddhist and Hindu texts into their languages.

After the tenth century, Muslim Central Asian nomadic clans, using swift horse cavalry and raising vast armies united by ethnicity and religion, repeatedly overran South Asia's north-western plains, and led eventually to the establishment of the Islamic Delhi Sultanate in 1206. The Sultanate was to control much of North India, and to make many forays into South India. Although at first disruptive for the Indian elites, the Sultanate largely left its vast non-Muslim subject population to its own laws and customs. By repeatedly repulsing the Mongol raiders in the thirteenth century, the Sultanate saved India from the destruction seen in west and central Asia, and set the scene for centuries of migration of fleeing soldiers, learned men, mystics, traders, artists, and artisans from that region into India, thereby creating a syncretic Indo-Islamic culture in the north. The Sultanate's raiding and weakening of the regional kingdoms of South India, paved the way for the indigenous Vijayanagara Empire. Embracing a strong Shaivite tradition and building upon the military technology of the Sultanate, the empire came to control much of peninsular India, and to influence the society and culture of South India for long afterwards.

Early modern India

In the early sixteenth century, northern India, being ruled then mainly by Muslim rulers, fell again to the superior mobility and firepower of a new generation of Central Asian warriors. The Mughal empire, which resulted, did not stamp out the local societies it came to rule, but rather balanced and pacified them through new administrative practices, and diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralized and uniform rule. Eschewing tribal bonds and Islamic identity, especially under Akbar, the Mughals united their far flung realms through loyalty, expressed through a Persianized culture, to an emperor who had near divine status. The Mughal state's economic policies, deriving most revenues from agriculture, and mandating that taxes be paid in the well-regulated silver currency, caused peasants and artisans to enter larger markets. The relative peace maintained by the empire during much of the seventeenth century was a factor in India's economic expansion, and resulted in greater patronage of painting, literary forms, textiles, and architecture. Newly coherent social groups in northern and western India, such as the Marathas, the Rajputs, and the Sikhs gained military and governing ambitions during Mughal rule, which, through collaboration or adversity, gave them both recognition and military experience. Expanding commerce during Mughal rule gave rise to new Indian commercial and political elites in the southern and eastern coastal India. As the empire disintegrated, many among these elites were able to seek and control their own affairs.

By the early 18th century, with the lines between commercial and political dominance being increasingly blurred, a number of European trading companies, including the English East India Company, had established outposts on the coast of India. The East India Company's control of the seas, its greater resources, and its army's more advanced training methods and technology, led it to increasingly flex its military muscle and caused it to become attractive to a portion of the Indian elite; both these factors were crucial in the Company becoming the ruler of the Bengal region by 1765, and sidelining the other European companies. Its further access to the riches of Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of India by the 1820s. India was now no longer exporting manufactured goods as it long had, but was instead supplying the British empire with raw materials, and most historians consider this to be the true onset of India's colonial period. By this time also, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and effectively now an arm of British administration, the Company began to more consciously enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture.

Modern India

Depending upon the historian, India's modern age begins variously in 1848, when with the appointment of Lord Dalhousie as Governor General of the Company rule in India, changes essential to a modern state, including the consolidation and demarcation of sovereignty, the surveillance of the population, and the education of citizens, were put in place, and technological changes, among them, railways, canals, and telegraph were introduced not long after being introduced in Europe; 1857, when disaffection with the Company's rule, set off by diverse resentments, which included British social reforms, harshness of land taxes, and the humiliation of landed and princely aristocracy, led to the Indian rebellion of 1857 in many parts of northern India; 1858, when after the suppression of the rebellion, the British government took over the direct administration of India, and proclaimed a unitary state, which on the one hand envisaged a limited and gradual British-style parliamentary system, but on the other hand protected India's princes and large landlords as a feudal safeguard; and 1885, when the founding of the Indian National Congress marked the beginning of a period in which public life emerged at an all-India level.

Although the rush of technology and the commercialization of agriculture in the second half of the 19th century was marked by economic setbacks—many small farmers became dependent on the whims of far away markets, there was an increase in the number of large-scale famines, and, despite the Indian taxpayers enduring the risks of infrastructure development, little industrial employment was generated for Indians,—there were also salutary effects: commercial cropping, especially in the newly canalled Punjab, increased food production for internal consumption, the railway network provided critical famine relief, reduced notably the cost of moving goods, and helped the nascent Indian owned industry. After the first world war, in which some one million Indians served, a new period began, which was marked by British reforms, but also repressive legislation, by more strident Indian calls for self-rule, and by the beginnings of a nonviolent movement of non-cooperation, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become the leader and enduring symbol. During the 1930s, slow legislative reform was enacted by the British and the Indian National Congress won victories in the resulting elections. However, the next decade would be beset with crises, which included, the second world war, the Congress's final push of non-cooperation, and the upsurge of Muslim nationalism—all capped by the independence of India in 1947, but tempered by the bloody partition of the subcontinent into two states.

Vital to India's self-image as an independent nation was its constitution, completed in 1950, which put in place a sovereign, secular, democratic republic. In the 60 years since, India has had a mixed bag of successes and failures. On the positive side, it has remained a democracy with many civil liberties, an activist Supreme Court, and an independent press; economic liberalization in the 1990s, has created a large urban middle-class, transformed India into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and increased its global clout; and Indian movies, new music, and spiritual teachings, have increasingly contributed to global culture. However, on the negative side, India has been weighed down with seemingly unyielding poverty, both rural and urban; by religious and caste-related violence, by the insurgencies of Maoist inspired Naxalites, and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir; India has unresolved territorial disputes with the People's Republic of China, which escalated into the Sino-Indian War of 1962, with Pakistan which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999, and nuclear rivalry which came to a head in 1998. India's sustained democratic freedoms, for over 60 years, are unique among the world's new nations; however, in spite of its recent economic successes, freedom from want for its disadvantaged population, remains a goal yet to be achieved.

Geography

India, the major portion of the Indian subcontinent, lies atop the Indian tectonic plate, a minor plate within the Indo-Australian Plate. India's defining geological processes commenced seventy-five million years ago when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a northeastwards drift—lasting fifty million years—across the then unformed Indian Ocean. The subcontinent's subsequent collision with the Eurasian Plate and subduction under it gave rise to the Himalayas, the planet's highest mountains, which abut India in the north and the north-east. The Kanchenjunga is the highest mountain bordering India and Nepal. The Nanda Devi is the second highest peak and the highest mountain located entirely within India. The former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough which, having gradually been filled with river-borne sediment, now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain. To the west lies the Thar Desert, which is cut off by the Aravalli Range.

The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, the oldest and geologically most stable part of India and extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel ranges run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east. To the south the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by the coastal ranges, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats respectively; the plateau contains the oldest rock formations in India, some over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6°44' and 35°30' north latitude and 68°7' and 97°25' east longitude.

India's coast is long; of this distance, belong to peninsular India and to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Islands. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coast consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches, 11% rocky coast including cliffs, and 46% mudflats or marshy coast.

Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges (Ganga) and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter's extremely low gradient causes disastrous floods every year. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea. Among notable coastal features of India are the marshy Rann of Kutch in western India, and the alluvial Sundarbans delta, which India shares with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India's south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea.

India's climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the monsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden southwest summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India's rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane.

Biodiversity

Lying within the Indomalaya ecozone with three hotspots located within its area, India displays significant biodiversity. As one of the 17 megadiverse countries, it is home to 7.6% of all mammalian, 12.6% of all avian, 6.2% of all reptilian, 4.4% of all amphibian, 11.7% of all fish, and 6.0% of all flowering plant species. Many ecoregions such as the ''shola'' forests exhibit high rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indian plant species are endemic. India's forest cover ranges from the tropical rainforest of the Andaman Islands, Western Ghats, and northeastern India to the coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Between these extremes lie the sal-dominated moist deciduous forest of eastern India; the teak-dominated dry deciduous forest of central and southern India; and the babul-dominated thorn forest of the central Deccan and western Gangetic plain. Under 12% of India's landmass is covered by dense forests. Important Indian trees include the medicinal neem, widely used in rural Indian herbal remedies. The pipal fig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro, shaded Gautama Buddha as he sought enlightenment.

Many Indian species are descendants of taxa originating in Gondwana, from which the Indian plate separated a long time ago. Peninsular India's subsequent movement towards and collision with the Laurasian landmass set off a mass exchange of species. However, volcanism and climatic changes 20 million years ago caused the extinction of many endemic Indian forms. Soon thereafter, mammals entered India from Asia through two zoogeographical passes on either side of the emerging Himalaya. Consequently, among Indian species only 12.6% of mammals and 4.5% of birds are endemic, contrasting with 45.8% of reptiles and 55.8% of amphibians. Notable endemics are the Nilgiri leaf monkey and Beddome's toad of the Western Ghats. India contains 172, or 2.9%, of IUCN-designated threatened species. These include the Asiatic Lion, the Bengal Tiger, and the Indian white-rumped vulture, which nearly became extinct by ingesting the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle.

In recent decades, human encroachment has posed a threat to India's wildlife; in response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1935, was substantially expanded. In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger to safeguard crucial habitat; in addition, the Forest Conservation Act was enacted in 1980 and amendments added in 1988. Along with more than five hundred wildlife sanctuaries, India hosts thirteen biosphere reserves, four of which are part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves; twenty-five wetlands are registered under the Ramsar Convention.

Politics

India is the most populous democracy in the world. A parliamentary republic with a multi-party system, it has six recognised national parties, including the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and more than 40 regional parties. The Congress is considered centre-left or "liberal" in Indian political culture, and the BJP centre-right or "conservative". For most of the period between 1950 – when India first became a republic – and the late 1980s, the Congress held a majority in the parliament. Since then, however, it has increasingly shared the political stage with the BJP, as well as with powerful regional parties which have often forced the creation of multi-party coalitions at the Centre.

In the Republic of India's first three general elections, in 1951, 1957 and 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru-led Congress won easy victories. On Nehru's death in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri briefly became prime minister; he was succeeded, after his own unexpected death in 1966, by Indira Gandhi, who went on to lead the Congress to election victories in 1967 and 1971. Following public discontent with the state of emergency she declared in 1975, the Congress was voted out of power in 1977, and a new party, the Janata Party which had opposed the emergency was voted in. Its government proved short-lived, lasting just over three years. Back in power in 1980, the Congress saw a change in leadership in 1984, when Indira Gandhi was assassinated and succeeded by her son Rajiv Gandhi, who won an easy victory in the general elections later that year. The Congress was voted out again in 1989 when a National Front coalition, led by the newly formed Janata Dal in alliance with the Left Front, won the elections; that government too proved short-lived lasting just under two years. Elections were held again in 1991 in which no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress as the largest single party was able to form a minority government, led by P.V. Narasimha Rao.

The two years after the general election of 1996 were years of political turmoil, with several short-lived alliances sharing power at the centre. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996; it was followed by two relatively longer-lasting United Front coalitions, which depended on external support. In 1998, the BJP was able to form a successful coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term. In the 2004 Indian general elections, again no party won an absolute majority, but the Congress emerged as the largest single party, forming a successful coalition, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), with the support of left-leaning parties and MPs opposed to the BJP. The UPA coalition was returned to power in the 2009 general election, with increased numbers that ensured it no longer required external support from India's Communist parties. That year, Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957 and 1962 to be re-elected to a second consecutive five-year term.

Government

India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, in which "majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." Federalism in India defines the power distribution between the federal government and the states. The government is regulated by checks and balances defined by Indian Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950, states in its preamble that India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. India's form of government, traditionally described as 'quasi-federal' with a strong centre and weak states, has grown increasingly federal since the late 1990s as a result of political, economic and social changes.

The federal government is composed of three branches: Executive: The President of India is the head of state elected indirectly by an electoral college for a five-year term. The Prime Minister of India is the head of government and exercises most executive power. Appointed by the president, the prime minister is by convention supported by the party or political alliance holding the majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The executive branch of the Indian government consists of the president, the vice-president, and the council of ministers (the cabinet being its executive committee) headed by the prime minister. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of one of the houses of parliament. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature, with the prime minister and his council directly responsible to the lower house of the parliament.

Legislative: The legislature of India is the bicameral parliament, operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system, and comprising the upper house called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the lower called the Lok Sabha (House of People). The Rajya Sabha, a permanent body, has 245 members serving staggered six-year terms. Most are elected indirectly by the state and territorial legislatures, their numbers in proportion to their state's population. All but two of the Lok Sabha's 545 members are directly elected by popular vote to represent individual constituencies for five-year terms. The remaining two members are nominated by the president from among the Anglo-Indian community, in case the president decides that the community is not adequately represented.

Judicial: India has a unitary three-tier judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, 21 High Courts, and a large number of trial courts. The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over cases involving fundamental rights and over disputes between states and the Centre and appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts. It is judicially independent and has the power both to declare the law and to strike down union or state laws which contravene the constitution. The Supreme Court is also the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.

Administrative divisions

India is a federation composed of 28 states and 7 union territories. All states, as well as the union territories of Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments, both patterned on the Westminster model. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the Centre through appointed administrators. In 1956, under the States Reorganisation Act, states were reorganised on a linguistic basis. Since then, their structure has remained largely unchanged. Each state or union territory is further divided into administrative districts. The districts in turn are further divided into tehsils and ultimately into villages.

Foreign relations and military

Since its independence in 1947, India has maintained cordial relations with most nations. In the 1950s, it strongly supported the independence of European colonies in Africa and Asia and played a pioneering role in the Non-Aligned Movement. In the late 1980s, India made two brief military interventions at the invitation of neighbouring countries, one by the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and the other, Operation Cactus, in the Maldives. However, India has had a tense relationship with neighbouring Pakistan, and the two countries have gone to war four times, in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. The Kashmir dispute was the predominant cause of these wars, except in 1971 which followed the civil unrest in erstwhile East Pakistan. After the India-China War of 1962 and the 1965 war with Pakistan, India proceeded to develop close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union; by late 1960s, the Soviet Union had emerged as India's largest arms supplier.

Today, in addition to the continuing strategic relations with Russia, India has wide ranging defence relations with Israel and France. In recent years, India has played an influential role in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the World Trade Organization. The nation has provided 100,000 military and police personnel to serve in thirty-five UN peacekeeping operations across four continents. India is also an active participant in various multilateral forums, most notably the East Asia Summit and the G8+5. In the economic sphere, India has close relationships with the developing nations of South America, Asia and Africa. For about a decade now, India has also pursued a "Look East" policy which has helped it strengthen its partnerships with the ASEAN nations, Japan and South Korea on a wide range of issues but especially economic investment and regional security.

China's nuclear test of 1964 as well as its repeated threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the 1965 war convinced India to develop nuclear weapons of its own. India conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1974 and carried out further underground testing in 1998. Despite criticism and military sanctions, India has signed neither the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) nor the NPT, considering both to be flawed and discriminatory. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy and is developing a nuclear triad capability as a part of its "minimum credible deterrence" doctrine. It is also developing a ballistic missile defence shield and, in collaboration with Russia, a fifth generation fighter jet. Other major indigenous military development projects include ''Vikrant'' class aircraft carriers and ''Arihant'' class nuclear submarines.

Recently, India has also increased its economic, strategic and military cooperation with the United States and the European Union. In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States. Although India possessed nuclear weapons at the time and was not party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it received waivers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), ending earlier restrictions on India's nuclear technology and commerce. As a consequence, India has become the world's sixth ''de facto'' nuclear weapons state. Following the NSG waiver, India was also able to sign civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreements with other nations, including Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

With 1.3 million active troops, the Indian military is the third largest in the world. India's armed forces consists of an Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, and auxiliary forces such as the Paramilitary Forces, the Coast Guard, and the Strategic Forces Command. The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The official Indian defence budget for 2011 stands at US$36.03 billion (or 1.83% of GDP). According to a 2008 SIPRI report, India's annual military expenditure in terms of purchasing power stood at US$72.7 billion, In 2011 the annual defence budget increased by 11.6 per cent, although this does not include money that goes to the military through other branches of government. India has become the world's largest arms importer, receiving 9% of all international arms transfers during the period from 2006 to 2010. Much of the military expenditure is focused on defence against Pakistan and countering growing Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean.

Economy

According to the International Monetary Fund, India is the world's tenth largest economy by market exchange rates with US$1.53 trillion and fourth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) with US$4.06 trillion. With its average annual GDP growing at 5.8% for the past two decades, and at 10.4% during 2010, India is also one of the fastest growing economies in the world. However, the country ranks 138th in the world in nominal GDP per capita and 129th in GDP per capita at PPP.

Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. Widespread state intervention and regulation caused the Indian economy to be largely closed to the outside world. After an acute balance of payments crisis in 1991, the nation liberalised its economy and has since continued to move towards a free-market system, emphasizing both foreign trade and investment. Consequently, India's economic model is now being described overall as capitalist.

With 467 million workers, India has the world's second largest labour force. The service sector makes up 54% of the GDP, the agricultural sector 28%, and the industrial sector 18%. Major agricultural products include rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane, and potatoes. Major industries include textiles, telecommunications, chemicals, food processing, steel, transport equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery and software. By 2006, India's external trade had reached a relatively moderate proportion of GDP at 24%, up from 6% in 1985. In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.68%; India was the world's fifteenth largest importer in 2009 and the eighteenth largest exporter. Major exports include petroleum products, textile goods, jewelry, software, engineering goods, chemicals, and leather manufactures. Major imports include crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, chemicals.

Averaging an economic growth rate of 7.5% during the last few years, India has more than doubled its hourly wage rates during the last decade. Moreover, since 1985, India has moved 431 million of its citizens out of poverty, and by 2030, India's middle class numbers will grow to more than 580 million. Although ranking 51st in global competitiveness, India ranks 17th in financial market sophistication, 24th in the banking sector, 44th in business sophistication and 39th in innovation, ahead of several advanced economies. With 7 of the world's top 15 technology outsourcing companies based in India, the country is viewed as the second most favourable outsourcing destination after the United States. India's consumer market, currently the world's thirteenth largest, is expected to become fifth largest by 2030. Its telecommunication industry, the world's fastest growing, added 227 million subscribers during 2010–11. Its automobile industry, the world's second-fastest growing, increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009–10, and exports by 36% during 2008–09.

Despite impressive economic growth during recent decades, India continues to face socio-economic challenges. India contains the largest concentration of people living below the World Bank's international poverty line of $1.25/day, the proportion having decreased from 60% in 1981 to 42% in 2005. Half of the children in India are underweight, and 46% of children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition. Since 1991, economic inequality between India's states has consistently grown: the per capita net state domestic product of the richest states in 2007 was 3.2 times that of the poorest. Corruption in India is perceived to have increased significantly, with one report estimating the illegal capital flows since independence to be US$462 billion. Driven by growth, India's nominal GDP per capita has steadily increased from U$329 in 1991, when economic liberalization began, to US$1,265 in 2010, and is estimated to increase to US$2,110 by 2016; however, it has always remained lower than those of other Asian developing countries such as Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, and is expected to remain so in the near future.

According to a 2011 PwC report, India's GDP at purchasing power parity will overtake Japan's during 2011 and the United States by 2045. Moreover, during the next four decades, India's economy is expected to grow at an average of 8%, making the nation potentially the world's fastest growing major economy until 2050. The report also highlights some of the key factors behind high economic growth – a young and rapidly growing working age population; the growth of the manufacturing sector due to rising levels of education and engineering skills; and sustained growth of the consumer market because of a rapidly growing middle class. However, the World Bank cautions that for India to achieve its economic potential, it must continue to focus on public sector reform, transport infrastructure, agricultural and rural development, removal of labour regulations, education, energy security, and public health and nutrition.

Demographics

With 1,210,193,422 citizens reported in the 2011 provisional Census, India is the world's second most populous country. India's population grew at 1.76% per annum during the last decade, down from 2.13% per annum in the previous decade (1991–2001). The human sex ratio in India, according to the 2011 census, is 940 females per 1,000 males, the lowest since independence. India's median age was 24.9 in the 2001 census. Medical advances of the last 50 years as well increased agricultural productivity brought about by the "green revolution" have caused India's population to grow rapidly. The percentage of Indian population living in urban areas has grown as well, increasing by 31.2% from 1991 to 2001. Despite this, in 2001 over 70% of India's population continued to live in rural areas. According to the 2001 census, there are 27 million-plus cities in India, with Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata being the largest.

India's overall literacy rate in 2011 is 74.04%, its female literacy rate standing at 65.46% and its male at 82.14%. The state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate, whereas Bihar has the lowest. India continues to face several public health-related challenges. According to the World Health Organization, 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water or breathing polluted air. There are about 60 physicians per 100,000 people in India.

The Indian Constitution recognises 212 scheduled tribal groups which together constitute about 7.5% of the country's population. The 2001 census reported the religion in India with the largest number of followers was Hinduism, with over 800 million (80.5%) of the population recording it as their religion. Other religious groups include Muslims (13.4%), Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jains (0.4%), Jews, Zoroastrians and Bahá'ís. India has the world's third-largest Muslim population and the largest Muslim population for a non-Muslim majority country.

India is home to two major language families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by about 24%). Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman language families. India has no national language. Hindi, with the largest number of speakers, is the official language of the union. English is used extensively in business and administration and has the status of a 'subsidiary official language;' it is also important in education, especially as a medium of higher education. Every state and union territory has its own official languages, and the constitution recognises in particular 21 "scheduled languages".

Culture

thumb|left|The Taj Mahal in Agra was built by [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered to be of "outstanding universal value".]] Formative in India's 4,500 years old culture is the Vedic age in which were laid the foundation of Hindu philosophy, mythology, literary traditions, beliefs and practices, such as dhárma, kárma, yóga and mokṣa; distinctive in this culture are its diverse religions, which include Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and Jainism. The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by the various schools of thought including those of the ''Upanishads'', the ''Yoga Sutras'', the ''Bhakti'' movement, and by Buddhist philosophy

Indian architecture represents the diversity of Indian culture. Much of it, including notable monuments such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Mughal architecture and South Indian architecture, comprises a blend of ancient and varied local traditions from several parts of the country and abroad. Vernacular architecture also displays notable regional variation.

Indian cuisine is best known for its delicate use of herbs and spices and for its tandoori grilling techniques. The tandoor, a clay oven in use for almost 5,000 years in India, is known for its ability to grill meats to an 'uncommon succulence' and for the puffy flatbread known as the naan. The staple foods in the region are rice (especially in the south and the east), wheat (predominantly in the north) and lentils. Many spices which are consumed world wide are originally native to the Indian subcontinent. Chili pepper which was introduced by the Portuguese is widely used in Indian cuisine.

The earliest literary writings in India, composed between 1,400 BCE and 1,200 AD, were in the Sanskrit language. Prominent works of this Sanskrit literature include epics such as Mahābhārata and Ramayana, the dramas of Kalidasa such as the ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam'' (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the ''Mahākāvya''. Developed between 600 BCE and 300 AD in Southern India, the ''Sangam'' literature consisting of 2,381 poems is regarded as a predecessor of Tamil literature. From the 14th century AD to 18th century AD, India's literary traditions went through a period of drastic change because of the emergence of devotional poets such as Kabīr, Tulsīdās and Guru Nānak. This period was characterised by varied and wide spectrum of thought and expression and as a consequence, medieval Indian literary works differed significantly from classical traditions. In the 19th century, Indian writers took a new interest in social questions and psychological descriptions. During the 20th century, Indian literature was heavily influenced by the works of universally acclaimed Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore.

Society and traditions

Traditional Indian society is defined by relatively strict social hierarchy. The Indian caste system describes the social stratification and social restrictions in the Indian subcontinent, in which social classes are defined by thousands of endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as ''jātis'' or castes. Several influential social reform movements, such as the Brahmo Samaj, the Arya Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission, have played a pivotal role in the emancipation of Dalits (or "untouchables") and other lower-caste communities in India. However, the majority of Dalits continue to live in segregation and are often persecuted and discriminated against.

Traditional Indian family values are highly valued, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in India, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas. An overwhelming majority of Indians, with their consent, have their marriages arranged by their parents or other family members. Marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low. Child marriage is still a common practice, more so in rural India, with more than half of women in India marrying before the legal age of 18.

Many Indian festivals are religious in origin. The best known include Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Thai Pongal, Holi, Durga Puja, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr-Id, Christmas, and Vaisakhi. India has three national holidays which are observed in all states and union territories – Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine and twelve, are officially observed in individual states.

Traditional Indian dress varies across the regions in its colours and styles and depends on various factors, including climate. Popular styles of dress include draped garments such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men; in addition, stitched clothes such as salwar kameez for women and kurta-pyjama and European-style trousers and shirts for men, are also popular. The wearing of delicate jewellery, modelled on real flowers worn in ancient India, is part of a tradition dating back some 5,000 years; gemstones are also worn in India as talismans.

Music, dance, theatre and cinema

Indian music covers a wide range of traditions and regional styles. Classical music largely encompasses the two genres – North Indian Hindustani, South Indian Carnatic traditions and their various offshoots in the form of regional folk music. Regionalised forms of popular music include filmi and folk music; the syncretic tradition of the ''bauls'' is a well-known form of the latter.

Indian dance too has diverse ''folk'' and ''classical'' forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the ''bhangra'' of the Punjab, the ''bihu'' of Assam, the ''chhau'' of West Bengal, Jharkhand, ''sambalpuri'' of Orissa, the ''ghoomar'' of Rajasthan and the ''Lavani'' of Maharashtra. Eight dance forms, many with narrative forms and mythological elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's ''National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama''. These are: ''bharatanatyam'' of the state of Tamil Nadu, ''kathak'' of Uttar Pradesh, ''kathakali'' and ''mohiniyattam'' of Kerala, ''kuchipudi'' of Andhra Pradesh, ''manipuri'' of Manipur, ''odissi'' of Orissa and the ''sattriya'' of Assam.

Theatre in India often incorporates music, dance, and improvised or written dialogue. Often based on Hindu mythology, but also borrowing from medieval romances, and news of social and political events, Indian theatre includes the ''bhavai'' of state of Gujarat, the ''jatra'' of West Bengal, the ''nautanki'' and ''ramlila'' of North India, the ''tamasha'' of Maharashtra, the ''burrakatha'' of Andhra Pradesh, the ''terukkuttu'' of Tamil Nadu, and the ''yakshagana'' of Karnataka. The Indian film industry is the most watched film industry in the world. Established traditions exist in Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil, and Telugu language cinemas. South India's cinema industries account for more than 75% of total film revenues.

Sport

India's official national sport is field hockey, administered by Hockey India. The Indian hockey team won the 1975 Hockey World Cup and 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Olympic games, making it one of the world's most successful national hockey teams ever. Cricket, however, is by far the most popular sport; the India cricket team won the 1983 and the 2011 World Cups, 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and shared the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy with Sri Lanka. Cricket in India is administered by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and domestic competitions include the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy, the Deodhar Trophy, the Irani Trophy and the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy. In addition, BCCI conducts the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition.

India is home to several traditional sports which originated in the country and continue to remain fairly popular. These include kabaddi, kho kho, pehlwani and gilli-danda. Some of the earliest forms of Asian martial arts, such as ''Kalarippayattu'', ''Yuddha'', ''Silambam'' and ''Varma Kalai'', originated in India. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award are India's highest awards for achievements in sports, while the Dronacharya Award is awarded for excellence in coaching.

Chess, commonly held to have originated in India, is regaining widespread popularity with the rise in the number of Indian Grandmasters. Tennis has also become increasingly popular, owing to the victories of the India Davis Cup team and the success of Indian tennis players. India has a strong presence in shooting sports, winning several medals at the Olympics, the World Shooting Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Other sports in which Indian sports-persons have won numerous awards or medals at international sporting events include badminton, boxing and wrestling. Football is a popular sport in northeastern India, West Bengal, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

India has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events, such as the 1951 and the 1982 Asian Games, the 1987, 1996, 2011 Cricket World Cups, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, the 2010 Hockey World Cup and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Major international sporting events annually held in India include the Chennai Open, Mumbai Marathon, Delhi Half Marathon and the Indian Masters.

See also

Notes

Cited References

;History . . .

;Geography

;Biodiversity

;Culture

External links

Government of India – Official government portal (in English)

India at ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''

Category:Countries of the Indian Ocean Category:Federal countries Category:Former British colonies Category:G15 nations Category:G20 nations Category:Liberal democracies Category:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Category:Member states of the United Nations Category:Socialist states Category:South Asian countries Category:States and territories established in 1947

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Name	Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
Birth date	3rd September,1957
Birth place	Mysore, Karnataka
Occupation	Yogic Guru
Nationality	Indian }}

Jaggi Vasudev ( ) also known as Sadhguru, is an Indian yogi and mystic. He founded the Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization which offers yoga programs around the world, including India, United States, England, Lebanon, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, Uganda and Australia. The Foundation is also involved in various social and community development activities, which have resulted in the Foundation being granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Early life

Sadhguru was born as Jagadish Vasudev in a Kannada family on 3rd September,1957 in Mysore, Karnataka, India. His father was a doctor. Even as a child, he exhibited unique tendencies. At the age of 13, Vasudev began yogic practices such as asanas and pranayama under the tutelage of Raghavendra Rao more commonly referred to as Malladihalli Swami. Sadhguru excelled at school and was a very bright student. He graduated with a degree in English Literature from the Mysore University.

Spiritual experience

At the age of twenty-five, he underwent a deep spiritual experience which was to change the course of his future life. One afternoon, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev went to the Chamundi hills in Mysore and sat on a rock with his eyes wide open. Suddenly, he had an out of body experience. He felt as if he was not in his body anymore, rather spread out everywhere, in the rocks, in the trees, in the earth. When he came back to his normal state, it was late in the evening. He wondered if he had hallucinated, but in the days that followed, this experience recurred and each time it left him in a state of utter bliss. This episode entirely changed his way of life. Jaggi Vasudev decided to dedicate his entire life to the sharing of those experiences.

Isha Foundation

Sadhguru established Isha Foundation, a non-religious, non-profit organization entirely run by volunteers. The Isha Yoga Center near Coimbatore was founded in 1992, and hosts a series of programs to heighten self-awareness through yoga.

Social initiatives

He also founded Project GreenHands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative which was awarded the highest Indian environmental award, the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar, by the Government of India in June 2010; Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR), a program aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor; and Isha Vidhya, an educational initiative, which aims to raise the level of education and literacy in rural India.

Dhyanalinga

In 1999, Jaggi Vasudev completed the consecration of the Dhyanalinga yogic temple, which offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief system. A large ellipsoidal dome covers the sanctum sanctorum. The dome was constructed using only bricks and cement stabilized mud mortar without, steel or concrete. The dome is 76 feet in diameter and 33 feet in height. The lingam is 13 feet, 9 inches in height and made of high density black granite. The Sarva Dharma Sthamba, located at the front entrance, functions as an icon of singularity, with the sculptural reliefs and symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Shinto inscribed as a universal welcome.

Yoga programs

The programs offered by Sadhguru are offered under the umbrella of Isha Yoga. The word Isha means the formless divine. Isha Yoga's flagship program is 'Inner Engineering' where individuals are initiated into meditation and pranayam and the Shambhavi Mahamudra. He is also conducting yoga classes for the corporate leadership to introduce them to what he calls "inclusive economics," which he says introduces a sense of compassion and inclusiveness into today's economic scenario.

Sadhguru also regularly conducts Mahasathsangs in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that include discourses, meditations and question and answer sessions with the audience. These Mahasathsangs are also used as platforms to encourage tree-planting activities. He also takes spiritual aspirants on annual yatras to Mount Kailash and the Himalayas. The Kailash Yatra led by Sadhguru is among the largest groups to make the trip to Kailash, with 514 pilgrims attending the journey in 2010.

Participation in global forums

He was a delegate to the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit - and a participant at the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

He was a participant in the 2006 documentary film ONE: The Movie.

Bibliography

English

''Encounter the Enlightened'', ISBN 81-86685-60-X

''Mystic's Musings'', ISBN 81-86685-59-6

''Joy 24x7'', ISBN 978-81-7992-914-8

''Pebbles of Wisdom'', ISBN 978-81-7992-952-0

''The Mystic Eye'', ISBN 81-7992-883-7

''Essential Wisdom from a Spiritual Master'', ISBN 81-79928-82-9

''Flowers On The Path'', ISBN 81-87910-05-4

''Himalayan Lust'', ISBN 9788184950762

''Eternal Echoes: The Sacred Sounds Through the Mystic'', ISBN 81-87910-02-X

''Dhyanalinga: The Silent Revolution'', ISBN 81-87910-00-3

''Dhyanalinga: The Eternal Form'', ISBN 81-87910-12-1

''Circus of The Mind'', ISBN 81-87910-10-0

''Unleashing The Mind'', ISBN 81-87910-08-9

''Good And Bad Divides The World'', ISBN 81-87910-07-0

''Enlightenment: What It Is'', ISBN 81-87910-06-2

''Sacred Space For Self-transformation'', ISBN 81-87910-09-7

''Ancient Technology For The Modern Mind'', ISBN 81-87910-11-9

Tamil

''Sey... Seyyathe!'' ISBN 81-84762-88-4

''Athanaikum Asaipadu'' ISBN 81-89780-05-0

''Moondravathu Konam'' ISBN 81-84761-55-9

''Unakkagave Oru Ragasiyam'' ISBN 81-89936-24-2

''Konjam Amudham Konjam Visham'' ISBN 81-84761-34-4

''Aayiram Jannal'' ISBN 81-84762-26-6

''Anandha Alai''

Hindi

''Ek Aadhyatmik Guru Ka Alaukik Gyaan'' ISBN 81-84951-42-4

''Mrutyu Ek Kalpana Hai'' ISBN 978-81-288-2969-7

''Srushti se srushta tak'' ISBN 978-81-288-2970-3

'' Aatm-Gyan : Aakhir Hai Kya'' ISBN 978-81-288-3495-0, {First Edition in August-2011}

Kannada

''Gnyanodaya'' ISBN 81-72866-06-8

''Karunege Bhedavilla '' ISBN 81-72865-91-0

Telugu

''Sadhguru Sannidhilo'' ISBN 81-87910-01-1

References

Further reading

External links

Isha Foundation - Home Page

Category:Living people Category:People from Mysore Category:1957 births Category:Spiritual teachers

Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Name	Yoshihiko Noda
Office	Prime Minister of JapanDesignate
Monarch	Akihito
Term start	2 September 2011
Succeeding	Naoto Kan
Predecessor	Naoto Kan
Office2	Minister of Finance
Primeminister2	Naoto Kan
Term start2	8 June 2010
Predecessor2	Naoto Kan
Successor2	TBD
Office3	Senior Vice Minister of Finance|alongsideNaoki Minezaki
Primeminister3	Yukio Hatoyama
Term start3	16 September 2009
Term end3	8 June 2010
Predecessor3	Wataru TakeshitaMasatoshi Ishida
Successor3	Motohisa IkedaNaoki Minezaki
Birth date	May 20, 1957
Birth place	Funabashi, Japan
Party	Democratic Party (1998–present)
Otherparty	Japan New Party (1992–1994)
Alma mater	Waseda University
Website	Official website }}

is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), a member of the House of Representatives (lower house) in the Diet (national legislature). He is set to become the next Prime Minister of Japan as a result of a runoff vote against Banri Kaieda in his party. He will be formally appointed as the Prime Minister by the Emperor of Japan on 2 September 2011.

Early life

Noda was born in Funabashi, Chiba, as a son of a member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Unlike many prominent Japanese politicians, Noda has no family connections to Nagatachō. His parents were too poor to pay for a wedding reception.

Noda graduated from Waseda University in 1980 and was later accepted into the prestigious Matsushita Institute of Government and Management, an institution founded by Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita that grooms future civic leaders of Japan. While attending the Matsushita Institute, Noda read household gas meters as a part-time job in his native Chiba Prefecture, partially in order to get to know his future constituents better in preparation for a run for office. He was elected to the assembly of Chiba Prefecture for the first time in 1987 at the age of 29.

Diet career

In 1993 he was elected to the Diet for first time representing Chiba's Lower House District #4 as a member of the now-defunct Japan New Party. He later joined the DPJ and served as its Diet affairs chief as well as head of the party's public relations office. Noda acted as senior vice finance minister when the DPJ won control of the Diet in September 2009.

In June 2010, Noda was appointed as Minister of Finance by Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who was also the previous Minister of Finance. Noda is known as a reformist and has led a DPJ intraparty group critical of ex-DPJ Secretary General Ichirō Ozawa.

Upon assuming the post of finance minister, Noda, a fiscal conservative, expressed his determination to slash Japan's deficit and rein in gross public debt. In January 2011, for the first time in six years, Noda's finance ministry intervened in the foreign exchange market and spent 2.13 trillion yen to purchase dollars in order to rein in the yen’s spiraling appreciation.

Noda is said to have close relations with the United States, and has said that "China's rapid military buildup pose a serious regional risk, and stressed the importance of the US-Japan security alliance."

After Kan's resignation in August 2011, Noda stood as a candidate in the party election to replace him. He won the runoff vote against Banri Kaieda in the leadership election, meaning he would almost certainly become the next prime minister and inherit the challenge of rebuilding from the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

During the party caucus, Noda made a 15-minute speech in which he summarized his political career by comparing himself to dojo loach, a kind of bottom-feeding fish. Paraphrasing a poem by Mitsuo Aida, he said, "I'll never be a goldfish in a scarlet robe, but like a loach in muddy waters. I'll work hard for the people, to move politics forward." Subsequently, he has been widely dubbed "Prime Minister Loach" in the Japanese media, and his cabinet is called the "Loach Cabinet".

Position on war responsibility

In October 2005, Noda criticized Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for his position on Japanese class A war criminals as "war criminals". However, Noda supported Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine. On 15 August 2011—the anniversary of the year for the Surrender of Japan in World War II, he said that Japan's class A war criminals convicted by the Allies were not legally war criminals under his view. Since becoming prime minister he has stated that his position on this issue will follow the standard set by previous administrations, and that he does not wish to alter Japan's close relationship with China and Korea.

Personal life

Noda is married with two children.

Noda is a fan of martial arts and professional wrestling. He has a black belt in judo.

References

External links

in Japanese

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Category:1957 births Category:Current national leaders Category:Democratic Party of Japan politicians Category:Government ministers of Japan Category:Japan New Party politicians Category:Living people Category:Members of the House of Representatives of Japan Category:Ministers of Finance of Japan Category:People from Funabashi Category:Prime Ministers of Japan Category:Waseda University alumni

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Name	Mukesh Ambaniमुकेश अंबानी
Birth place	Aden, Colony of Aden (now Yemen)
Birth date	April 19, 1957
Alma mater	University of BombayStanford University (Dropout)
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Chairman & MD of Reliance Industries
Networth	US$27 billion (2011)
Spouse	Nita Ambani
Religion	Hinduism
Relations	Anil Ambani (Brother)
Children	Akash, Anant, Isha
Website	}}

Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born on 19 April 1957) is an Indian business magnate. He is the chairman and managing director of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, the largest private sector enterprise in India listed in Fortune 500 magazine. His personal stake in Reliance Industries is 48%. On the 17th of August 2011, Reliance Industries Ltd. lost its status as India's most valuable firm. RIL , for long the favourite of Indian investors, was knocked off its four-year perch as the country's most valuable company, as fears over slowing gas production dragged its stock down almost 30% in 2011 and led to the first full day of trade with state owned Coal India on top.

In 2010, he was named among the most powerful people in the world by Forbes in its list of "68 people who matter most" As of 2011, he is the second richest man in Asia and the ninth richest man in the world with a personal wealth of US$27 billion. In 2007, a strong rally in the Indian stock market and the appreciation of the Indian rupee boosted the market capitalisation of Reliance group companies, briefly making him the world’s richest man. According to Forbes Magazine forecasts, he is expected to regain the title of the richest man in the world in 2014.

He is a member of the board of directors of Bank of America Corporation and a present member of the international advisory board of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Early life and education

Mukesh Ambani is the eldest son of Dhirubhai Ambani, the late founder of Reliance Industries. He has a brother, Anil, and two sisters.

The Ambani family lived in a two bedroom apartment in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai until the 1970s. Dhirubhai Ambani then purchased a 14-floor apartment block called 'Sea Wind' in Colaba, where, until recently, Mukesh and Anil each lived with their families on different floors.

Mukesh Ambani was educated at Abaay Morischa School in Mumbai and completed his graduation with a bachelor`s degree in chemical engineering from the UDCT, now Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. Mukesh later enrolled for an MBA from Stanford University but completed only one year of the two year program and dropped out in the year 1980. Indira Gandhi administration threw open the doors of PFY (Polyester Filament Yarn) manufacturing to the private sector in early 1980. Dhirubhai Ambani had applied for a licence to setup PFY manufacturing plant. In spite of stiff competition from Tatas, Birlas and 43 others, Dhirubhai was awarded the licence. To help him build the PFY plant, Dhirubhai pulled his eldest son Mukesh out of Stanford where he was studying for his MBA. Mukesh Ambani, then dropped out to help his father and initiated Reliance`s backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals, beginning in 1981.

Anil Ambani is also a billionaire and owns a competing company, Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. The two brothers have had clashes over business. thumb|[[Antilia (building)|Antilia as seen from Altamont Road, Mumbai]].

Career

He joined Reliance Industries in 1981. He initiated Reliance's backward integration journey from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals, petroleum refining and going up-stream into oil and gas exploration and production.

Ambani set up one of the largest and most complex information and communications technology initiatives in the world in the form of Reliance Infocomm Limited (now Reliance Communications Limited).

Ambani directed and led the creation of the world’s largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, India, with a current capacity of 660,000 barrels per day (33 million tonnes per year) integrated with petrochemicals, power generation, port and related infrastructure.

Awards and honours

! Year of Award or Honor !! Name of Award or Honor !! Awarding Organization
2010	School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean's Medal	University of Pennsylvania.
2007	United States-India Business Council Leadership Award	United States-India Business Council.
2007	Chitralekha Person of the Year Award	Government of Gujarat.
2004	World Communication Award	Total Telecom.

London, November 2004: He was Ranked 42nd among the ''World's Most Respected Business Leaders'' and second among the four Indian CEOs featured in a survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and published in Financial Times. September 2004: He was Chosen ''Telecom Man of the Year 2004'' by Voice and Data magazine. He is ranked 13th in Asia's Power 25 list of ''The Most Powerful He is a former Chairman of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore(IIM-B). He is a Honorary Fellow of IChemE (the Institution of Chemical Engineers)

KG-D6 Gas Controversy

In its leaked Draft Report (2010–2011), the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) first ever audit of oil and gas companies operating in India, said that the Government of India unduly favoured private oil and natural gas explorers including the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd incurring a huge loss to the exchequer. The CAG report mentioned that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG;) and its regulatory arm – the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) – allegedly favoured at least three private oil and natural gas explorers. The report alleges that the government allowed Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to violate terms of its contract with the government for exploration in the Krishna-Godavari basin (KG-D6). The CAG report also stated that the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons had allowed RIL to violate norms.The violation of terms, in turn, helped Reliance Industries Ltd increase its capital expenditure plan to start production from the Krisha-Godavari basin. Allegedly, 70% of the draft Comptroller and Auditor General of India report is devoted to Reliance Industries Ltd alone.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has been accused of providing “''huge''” and “''undue benefit''” to Reliance Industries Ltd – the Comptroller and Auditor General has indicted the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for allowing “''irregularities and bending rules''” to “''oblige''” RIL in the Krishna Godavari basin gas fields, leading to a massive and as yet “''unquantifiable''” loss to the national exchequer. In its 193-page Draft Report on production sharing contracts (PSCs) in the oil and gas field , the CAG exposes the “''close nexus''” between RIL and the “''bureaucrats''” working in the Petroleum Ministry as well as its Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. This allowed RIL to retain its entire offshore acreage, rather than surrendering those areas where it had not found oil or gas so that the government could invite fresh bids from other companies.

The CAG sent its Draft Report to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG;) on 8 June 2011. The CAG report also noted that former Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) permitted Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) to inflate its development costs on extracting the gas in the D6 block to the KG basin (KG-D6) from USD $2.47 billion to a huge USD $ 8.84 billion. The CAG also cited a joint venture of RIL with British Gas(BG) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC) for hiking development costs in the Panna-Mukta and Tapti gas fields. It has been earlier been alleged that an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) had allowed Reliance Industries Ltd to sell per unit of the gas at a price of INR Rs. 4.20 even as the government companies were selling the same for just INR Rs. 1.20.

The alleged modus operandi was to submit a bid which shows a certain capital cost and during the operation of the contract, inflate the capital cost by a huge amount with the connivance of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOP&NG;).

On 24 June 2011, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh amid accusations of his company increasing capital expenditure and violating terms of contracts with the Government of India. Ambani met the PM in the wake of the Draft Report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that had alleged that RIL received favours from the Ministry of Petroleum and Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, the regulator for oil hunting companies. RIL had also obtained portions of the CAG Draft Report after it made a request to the Ministry of Petroleum.

On 1 July 2011, Reliance Industries Ltd. fell 4% after the Press Trust of India reported that a federal probe agency (CBI) had registered a case against V.K. Sibal, a former Director General of Hydrocarbons, for allegedly favouring "''leading private players and foreign consultants involved in oil and gas explorations''." Although the agency didn't name any private-sector companies, dealers said that Reliance dropped sharply because of concerns that the company could be one of those allegedly involved.

On 3 July 2011, the CBI proposed that the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas appoint an expert to assist the CBI in understanding transactions surrounding Reliance Industries Ltd's KG-D6 fields, where the company had shown a phenomenal increase in the cost of producing gas. The CBI wanted to understand the arguments offered by Mukesh Ambani's company when it raised the cost of developing Dhirubhai 1 and 3 gas fields in the KG-D6 block from US$2.39billion proposed in 2004 to US$5.196billion in Phase-1 and another US$3.3billion in Phase-II.

Personal life

He is married to Nita Ambani and has three children, Akash, Anant and Isha. He owns the Indian Premier League team, the Mumbai Indians.

They live in a private 27 story building in Mumbai named Antilia. It is estimated to be valued at over US$1 billion to build. It is claimed to be the most expensive home in history.

References

External links

Profile at Reliance Industries

Profile at Forbes

Mukesh Ambani collected news and commentary at ''The Times of India''

A Biography of Mukesh Ambani

Nita Ambani wife of Sh. Mukesh Ambani.

La casa de Mukesh Ambani, la más cara del mundo Spanish.

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Ambani family Category:Indian billionaires Category:Indian businesspeople Category:Indian Hindus Category:Indian Premier League franchise owners Category:Old Foresters Category:People from Gujarat Category:Stanford University alumni Category:University of Mumbai alumni Category:Reliance people

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