Portal:India

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Introduction

India (ISO: Bhārat), also known as the Republic of India (ISO: Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country as well as 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; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. In the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, and Buddhism and Jainism arose. Early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires; later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as Southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, and Sikhism emerged, all adding to the region's diverse culture. Much of the north fell to the Delhi Sultanate; the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal Empire. In the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British Crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance and led to India's independence in 1947.

National Anthem of India

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Selected articles

Hyderabad (/ˈhaɪdərəbɑːd/ (listen) HY-dər-ə-baad) is the capital of the Indian state of Telangana and de jure capital of Andhra Pradesh. Occupying 650 square kilometres (250 sq mi) along the banks of the Musi River, Hyderabad City has a population of about 6.9 million and about 9.7 million in Hyderabad Metropolitan Region, making it the fourth most populous city and sixth most populous urban agglomeration in India. At an average altitude of 542 metres (1,778 ft), much of Hyderabad is situated on hilly terrain around artificial lakes, including Hussain Sagar—predating the city's founding—north of the city centre.

Established in 1591 by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, Hyderabad remained under the rule of the Qutb Shahi dynasty for nearly a century before the Mughals captured the region. In 1724, Mughal viceroy Asif Jah I declared his sovereignty and created his own dynasty, known as the Nizams of Hyderabad. The Nizam's dominions became a princely state during the British Raj, and remained so for 150 years, with the city serving as its capital. The city continued as the capital of Hyderabad State after it was brought into the Indian Union in 1948, and became the capital of Andhra Pradesh after the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. Since 1956, Rashtrapati Nilayam in the city has been the winter office of the President of India. In 2014, the newly formed state of Telangana split from Andhra Pradesh and the city became the joint capital of the two states, a transitional arrangement scheduled to end by 2025. Read more...
Gemini is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language gangster film written and directed by Saran and produced by AVM Productions. The film features Vikram in the title role of a small-time criminal and aspiring don who, after falling in love, decides to refrain from crime; Kiran Rathod plays his love interest. Murali stars as Singaperumal, a police officer who inspires and guides Gemini in his attempts to reform. The cast includes Kalabhavan Mani as the principal antagonist while Vinu Chakravarthy, Manorama and Thennavan portray significant roles. Based on gang wars in Chennai, the film delves into the lives of outlaws and the roles the police and society play in their rehabilitation and acceptance.

In early 2001, rival gangsters "Vellai" Ravi and Chera reformed themselves with the patronage of a police officer. Saran was inspired by this incident and scripted a story based on it. The film was initially entitled Erumugam with Ajith Kumar intended to play the lead role, but the project was shelved after a week's shoot when Ajith lost interest and left. Saran reworked the script, retitled the production Gemini and cast the new leads. The revived project was announced in August 2001. Production began shortly afterwards in December the same year and was completed by March 2002. The film was shot mainly at the AVM Studios in Chennai, while two song sequences were filmed in Switzerland. The film had cinematography by A. Venkatesh and editing by Suresh Urs while the soundtrack was scored by Bharathwaj. Read more...
Murray in 1928

Margaret Alice Murray (13 July 1863 – 13 November 1963) was an Anglo-Indian Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist. The first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom, she worked at University College London (UCL) from 1898 to 1935. She served as President of the Folklore Society from 1953 to 1955, and published widely over the course of her career.

Born to a wealthy middle-class English family in Calcutta, British India, Murray divided her youth between India, Britain, and Germany, training as both a nurse and a social worker. Moving to London, in 1894 she began studying Egyptology at UCL, developing a friendship with department head Flinders Petrie, who encouraged her early academic publications and appointed her Junior Professor in 1898. In 1902–03 she took part in Petrie's excavations at Abydos, Egypt, there discovering the Osireion temple and the following season investigated the Saqqara cemetery, both of which established her reputation in Egyptology. Supplementing her UCL wage by giving public classes and lectures at the British Museum and Manchester Museum, it was at the latter in 1908 that she led the unwrapping of Khnum-nakht, one of the mummies recovered from the Tomb of the Two Brothers – the first time that a woman had publicly unwrapped a mummy. Recognising that British Egyptomania reflected the existence of a widespread public interest in Ancient Egypt, Murray wrote several books on Egyptology targeted at a general audience. Read more...
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (English: The Big-Hearted Will Take Away the Bride), also known by the initialism DDLJ, is an Indian romance film, directed by Aditya Chopra (in his directorial debut), produced by his father Yash Chopra, and written by Javed Siddiqui with Aditya Chopra. Released on 20 October 1995, the film stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. The plot revolves around Raj and Simran, two young non-resident Indians, who fall in love during a vacation through Europe with their friends. Raj tries to win over Simran's family so the couple can marry, but Simran's father has long since promised her hand to his friend's son. The film was shot in India, London and Switzerland, from September 1994 to August 1995.

Earning ₹1.06 billion (valued at about US$32,766,000 in 1995) in India and ₹160 million (valued at about US$4,946,000 in 1995) overseas, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge became the highest grossing Bollywood film of the year, and one of the most successful Indian films in history. It won 10 Filmfare Awards, the most for a single film at that time, and won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Its soundtrack album became one of the most popular of the 1990s. Read more...
Anbe Sivam (English: Love is God) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Sundar C. with K. Muralitharan, V. Swaminathan and G. Venugopal under the banner of Lakshmi Movie Makers. The film was written by Kamal Haasan, and Madhan provided the dialogues. Anbe Sivam features Haasan, R. Madhavan and Kiran Rathod in the lead roles, with Nassar, Santhana Bharathi, Seema and Uma Riyaz Khan playing supporting characters.

The film tells the story of an unexpected journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai undertaken by two men of contrasting personalities, Nallasivam and Anbarasu. The musical score was composed by Vidyasagar. Arthur A. Wilson and M. Prabhaharan undertook responsibility for the film's cinematography and art direction, respectively. Read more...
Monier Williams, elected as the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit in 1860; this photograph was taken by Lewis Carroll.

The election in 1860 for the position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford was a hotly contested affair between two rival candidates offering different approaches to Sanskrit scholarship. One was Monier Williams, an Oxford-educated Englishman who had spent 14 years teaching Sanskrit to those preparing to work in British India for the East India Company. The other, Max Müller, was a German-born lecturer at Oxford specialising in comparative philology, the science of language. He had spent many years working on an edition of the Rig Veda (an ancient collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns), and had gained an international reputation for his scholarship. Williams, in contrast, worked on later material and had little time for the "continental" school of Sanskrit scholarship that Müller exemplified. Williams regarded the study of Sanskrit as a means to an end, namely the conversion of India to Christianity. For Müller, his work, while it would assist missionaries, was also valuable as an end in itself.

The election came at a time of public debate about Britain's role in India in the wake of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Opinions were divided on whether greater efforts should be made to convert India or whether to remain sensitive to local culture and traditions. Both men battled for the votes of the electorate (the Convocation of the university, consisting of over 3,700 graduates) through manifestos and newspaper correspondence. Williams laid great stress in his campaign on the intention of the original founder of the chair, that the holder should assist in converting India through dissemination of the Christian scriptures. Müller's view was that his work on the Rig Veda was of great value for missionary work, and published testimonials accordingly. He also wanted to teach wider subjects such as Indian history and literature to assist missionaries, scholars, and civil servants – a proposal that Williams criticised as not in accordance with the original benefactor's wishes. The rival campaigns took out newspaper advertisements and circulated manifestos, and different newspapers backed each man. Although generally regarded as the superior to Williams in scholarship, Müller had the double disadvantage (in the eyes of some) of being German and having liberal Christian views. Some of the newspaper pronouncements in favour of Williams were based on a claimed national interest of having an Englishman as Boden professor to assist with the work of governing and converting India. Read more...
General Hastings Lionel Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay KG, GCB, CH, DSO, PC, DL (21 June 1887 – 17 December 1965), nicknamed Pug, was a British Indian Army officer and diplomat, remembered primarily for his role as Winston Churchill's chief military assistant during the Second World War and his service as the first Secretary General of NATO from 1952 to 1957.

Ismay was born in Nainital, India, in 1887, and educated in the United Kingdom at the Charterhouse School and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After Sandhurst, he joined the Indian Army as an officer of the 21st Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry. During the First World War, he served with the Camel Corps in British Somaliland, where he joined in the British fight against the "Mad Mullah", Mohammed Abdullah Hassan. In 1925, Ismay became an Assistant Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID). After being promoted to the rank of colonel, he served as the military secretary for Lord Willingdon, the Viceroy of India, then returned to the CID as Deputy Secretary in 1936. Read more...
A Marwari Stallion

The Marwari or Malani is a rare breed of horse from the Marwar (or Jodhpur) region of India. Known for its inward-turning ear tips, it comes in all equine colours, although piebald and skewbald patterns tend to be the most popular with buyers and breeders. It is known for its hardiness, and is quite similar to the Kathiawari, another Indian breed from the Kathiawar region southwest of Marwar. Many breed members exhibit a natural ambling gait. The Marwari horses are descended from native Indian ponies crossed with Arabian horses, possibly with some Mongolian influence.

The Rathores, traditional rulers of the Marwar region of western India, were the first to breed the Marwari. Beginning in the 12th century, they espoused strict breeding that promoted purity and hardiness. Used throughout history as a cavalry horse by the people of the Marwar region, the Marwari was noted for its loyalty and bravery in battle. The breed deteriorated in the 1930s, when poor management practices resulted in a reduction of the breeding stock, but today has regained some of its popularity. The Marwari is used for light draught and agricultural work, as well as riding and packing. In 1995, a breed society was formed for the Marwari horse in India. The exportation of Marwari horses was banned for decades, but between 2000 and 2006, a small number of exports were allowed. Since 2008, visas allowing temporary travel of Marwari horses outside India have been available in small numbers. Though they are rare they are becoming more popular outside of India due to their unique looks. Read more...
Loev (pronounced love) is a 2015 Indian romantic drama film written and directed by Sudhanshu Saria. Produced by Saria and Bombay Berlin Film Productions, the film stars Dhruv Ganesh and Shiv Pandit as two friends who set off to the Western Ghats for a weekend trip and focuses on their complex emotional and sexual relationship. It was Ganesh's final film role as he died from tuberculosis prior to the production's release. Loev also features Siddharth Menon and Rishabh Chaddha in supporting roles. The film's title is a deliberate misspelling of the word "love".

Saria wrote Loev's script while he was working on the draft of the unreleased film I Am Here and drew heavily from his personal experiences. It was eventually picked up for production by Arfi Lamba and Katherine Suckale despite Saria's own doubts on its viability. Principal photography took place at Mahabaleshwar, in the Western Ghats in peninsular India, and at Mumbai. The film was shot in the summer of 2014, over the course of 16 days by the cinematographer Sherri Kauk in 2K resolution. It relied on crowdfunding and cost-cutting measures; its budget was relatively low at $1 million. Read more...
Kahaani (IPA: [kəˈɦaːni]; lit. Story) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film co-written, co-produced and directed by Sujoy Ghosh. It stars Vidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman searching for her missing husband in Kolkata during the festival of Durga Puja, assisted by Satyoki "Rana" Sinha (Parambrata Chatterjee) and Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

Made on a shoestring budget of ₹80 million (US$1.1 million), Kahaani was conceived and developed by Ghosh, who co-wrote the film with Advaita Kala. The crew often employed guerrilla-filmmaking techniques on Kolkata's city streets to avoid attracting attention. The film was noted for its deft portrayal of the city and for making use of many local crew and cast members. Kahaani explores themes of feminism and motherhood in male-dominated Indian society. The film also makes several allusions to Satyajit Ray's films such as Charulata (1964), Aranyer Dinratri (1970) and Joi Baba Felunath (1979). Read more...

Did you know...

... that fire has been burning continuously since 1971 in an urn at the Indian memorial Amar Jawan Jyoti?
... that E. S. Raja Gopal held the position of a CSIR emeritus scientist at both the National Physical Laboratory of India and the Indian Institute of Science?
... that Shriya Saran played the female lead in the 2007 film Sivaji, India's most expensive film to that point?
... that the Left Front governed the Indian state of West Bengal for 34 years, winning the elections of 1977, 1982, 1987, 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006?
... that although Indian cassava mosaic virus does indeed infect cassava crops in India, the actual origin of the virus is unknown?
... that Neeru Chadha is the first Indian woman to be elected as a judge to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea?

Learn more facts ...

Selected images

Shola highlands are found in Kudremukh National Park, Chikmagalur which is part of the Western Ghats.
The Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is the Indian national bird. It roosts in moist and dry-deciduous forests, cultivated areas, and village precincts.
A Sikh pilgrim at the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, in Amritsar, Punjab
Paintings at the Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, 6th century
The brahminy kite (Haliastur indus) hunts for fish and other prey near the coasts and around inland wetlands.
Leaders of the BRICS nations
Muslims offer namaz at a mosque in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
A farmer in Rajasthan milks his cow. Milk is India's largest crop by economic value. Worldwide, as of 2011, India had the largest herds of buffalo and cattle, and was the largest producer of milk.
Girls play hopscotch in Juara, Madhya Pradesh.
Hampi, seat of the Vijayanagara Empire
The Kedar Range of the Greater Himalayas rises behind Kedarnath Temple (Indian state of Uttarakhand), which is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines.
Infosys Leadership Institute in Mysuru built by India's information technology giant Infosys.
Four activities of a Hindu priest, clockwise from top left: (1) preparing the deity for public worship; (2) making sandalwood paste for ritual blessing; (3) successively dripping the altar with milk, honey, dry fruit, yoghurt, and bananas to make ambrosia; (4) distributing the Prasad, food viewed as blessed by the deity, to the worshipers.
Women in Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir
An ascetic in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
A Bondo woman walks to a weekly market in Chhattisgarh.
A Warli tribal painting by Jivya Soma Mashe from Thane, Maharashtra
India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV-III)[1][12], a three-stage, medium-lift launch vehicle, lifts off at the Satish Dhawan Spare Centre in Andhra Pradesh.
The Awadhi Hindi poet Tulsidas composed the Ramcharitmanas, which is one of the best-known vernacular versions of the Ramayana.
During a twenty four-year career, Sachin Tendulkar has set many batting records, including most runs in both tests and ODIs and most number of centuries in both tests and ODIs, making him one of the most successful cricketers.
A feeder ship in Diamond Harbour, West Bengal. International trade accounted for 14% of India's GDP in 1988, 24% in 1998, and 53% in 2008.
The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar commemorates the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha.
Jawaharlal Nehru (left) became India's first prime minister in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi (right) led the independence movement.
A handicraft seller in Hyderabad, Telangana
Power Loom used inside a house in a village near Salem, Tamil Nadu. The Power loom accounts for more than 60% of textile production in India.
A street-corner game of pachisi in Pushkar, Rajasthan
India's GDP has increased more than ten-fold after the economic reforms in 1991.
Indian hockey team, captained by Dhyan Chand (standing second from left), after winning the finals at the 1936 Summer Olympics – their third of six consecutive Olympic golds.
Women attend a literacy programme in Thiruputkuzhi, Tamil Nadu.
A woman in Bundi, Rajasthan
An assortment of Indian spices
A Kuchipudi dance performance is accompanied by Carnatic vocalisations.
A Rajput Hindu marriage ceremony
Fishermen on the Chinese fishing nets of Cochin. Fisheries in India is a major industry in its coastal states, employing over 14 million people. The annual catch doubled between 1990 and 2010.
A vegetable retailer in Tamil Nadu. More than 95% of retail industry in India is unorganised.
The granite tower of Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by Raja Raja Chola I.
A parliamentary joint session being held in the Sansad Bhavan.
Agricultural workers involved in Rice planting. Rice production in India reached 102.75 million tons in 2011–12.
Children prepare for a traditional dance in Tripura.
Indian chess grandmaster and former world champion Vishwanathan Anand competes at a chess tournament in 2005. Chess is commonly believed to have originated in India in the 5th century CE.
Top: Roti bread and sabzi (vegetable) stew are cooked outdoors in the Thar Desert using traditional Rajasthani methods. Bottom: The kitchen of a Hindu temple.
Cricket is the most popular game among India's masses. Shown here is an instance of street cricket.
A daily wage worker in a salt field. The average minimum wage of daily labourers is around Rs. 100 per day
Muria tribal dancers in Bastar, Chhattisgarh
Rukmini Devi Arundale, one of the foremost revivalists of bharatnatyam dance in the 20th century, performs at a concert.
Indian agriculture dates from the period 7,000–6,000 BCE, employs most of the national workforce, and is second in farm output worldwide. Above, a farmer works an ox-drawn plow in Kadmati, West Bengal.
Folk musicians in Hyderabad
Area controlled by India shown in dark green;
regions claimed but not controlled shown in light green.
The British Indian Empire, from the 1909 edition of The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Areas directly governed by the British are shaded pink; the princely states under British suzerainty are in yellow.
INS Vikramaditya, the Indian Navy's biggest warship.
Top: A North Indian home-cooked tiffin lunch as delivered to an office by a dabbawala. Bottom: A South Indian thali-style dinner as served in a restaurant.
A small hydro-electric dam on the Ganges Canal at Nagla Kabir, UP. The electricity sector in India has an installed capacity of 205.34 Gigawatt (GW), the world's fifth largest. Coal-fired plants account for 56% of India's electricity capacity, renewal hydropower for 19%.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan is the official residence of the President of India.
A game of kabaddi in Bagepalli, Karnataka
Population pyramid 2016
Sarod performance at the Musée Guimet, Paris
A Christian wedding in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Christianity is believed to have been introduced to India by the late 2nd century by Syriac-speaking Christians.
A computer lab being conducted at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, September 2012
Boys playing football in Manipur.
A sculpture fashioned in the Gandharan tradition depicting Gautama Buddha, founder of Buddhism, at the Tokyo National Museum
Coaches of the Delhi Metro Blue Line, manufactured by Bombardier Transportation, Canada.
The lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is the Indian national flower. Hindus and Buddhists regard it as a sacred symbol of enlightenment.
A topographic map of India
Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king in Persian, 1590–1595
A coal miner in Bachra, Jharkhand
A Toda tribal hut exemplifies Indian vernacular architecture.
Schoolchildren in Chambal, Madhya Pradesh eating a mid-day meal. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme attempts to lower rates of childhood malnutrition in India.
The Bombay Stock Exchange is Asia's oldest and India's largest bourse by market capitalisation.
Tourists from North-East India, wrapped in sarongs and shawls, visit the Taj Mahal.
A Chola bronze depicting Nataraja, who is seen as a cosmic "Lord of the Dance" and representative of Shiva

Selected lists

The 1970 North Indian Ocean cyclone season had no bounds, but tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and November. The 1970 season saw a total of seven cyclonic storms, of which three developed into severe cyclonic storms. The Bay of Bengal was more active than the Arabian Sea during 1970, with all of the three severe cyclonic storms in the season forming there. Unusually, none of the storms in the Arabian Sea made landfall this year. The most significant storm of the season was the Bhola cyclone, which formed in the Bay of Bengal and hit Bangladesh on November 12. The storm killed at least 500,000, making it the deadliest tropical cyclone in recorded history. Read more...
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, KBE, KCSS (Arabic: صدرالّدين آغا خان‎, Ṣadr ad-Dīn Āghā Khān, 17 January 1933 – 12 May 2003) served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1966 to 1977, during which he reoriented the agency's focus beyond Europe and prepared it for an explosion of complex refugee issues. He was also a proponent of greater collaboration between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies. The Prince's interest in ecological issues led him to establish the Bellerive Foundation in the late 1970s, and he was a knowledgeable and respected collector of Islamic art. Read more...
The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple (Devanagari: कंदारिया महादेव मंदिर, Kandāriyā Mahādeva Mandir), meaning "the Great God of the Cave", is the largest and most ornate Hindu temple in the medieval temple group found at Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is considered one of the best examples of temples preserved from the medieval period in India. Read more...
Statue of Shiva performing yogic meditation in lotus position

Yoga (/ˈjoʊɡə/; Sanskrit: योग; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The term "yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, consisting largely of the postures called asanas. Read more...
The Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus), also known as the greater Indian fruit bat, is a species of flying fox found in South Asia. It is one of the largest bats in the world. It is of interest as a disease vector, as it is capable of transmitting several viruses to humans. It is nocturnal and feeds mainly on ripe fruits, such as mangoes and bananas, and nectar. This species is often regarded as vermin due to its destructive tendencies towards fruit farms, but the benefits of its pollination and seed propagation often outweigh the impacts of its fruit consumption. Read more...
Kumari 21F is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Palnati Surya Pratap, and written and co-produced by Sukumar with Vijay Bandreddi and Thomas Reddy under their banners Sukumar Writings and P. A. Motion Pictures. Devi Sri Prasad composed the film's music and R. Rathnavelu was its director of photography. Kumari 21F focuses on a romantic relationship between Siddhu, a chef and Kumari, a struggling model. Siddhu's friends doubt Kumari's character and she rejects his proposal, citing a lack of maturity. The film's centrepiece revolves around Siddhu's realisation and his attempts to unite with Kumari after an incident. Read more...
The 6 metres (20 ft) high Trimurti sculpture

Elephanta Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a collection of cave temples predominantly dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. They are located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri (literally "the city of caves") in Mumbai Harbour, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the east of the city of Mumbai in the Indian state of Mahārāshtra. The island, located offshore about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, consists of five Shaivite caves and a few Buddhist stupa mounds that may be dating to the 2nd century BCE, as well as a small group of two Buddhist caves with water tanks. Read more...
Missamma is the soundtrack of the 1955 Indian Telugu-language film of the same name directed by L. V. Prasad. Composed by S. Rajeswara Rao, the soundtrack contains 11 songs with lyrics by Pingali Nagendrarao. The film was written by Aluri Chakrapani, who co-produced it with B. Nagi Reddy for Vijaya Vauhini Studios. N. T. Rama Rao and Savitri played the lead roles the Telugu version, with Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Jamuna, S. V. Ranga Rao, Rushyendramani, Relangi Venkata Ramaiah and Ramana Reddy in supporting roles. Read more...
The Delhi Daredevils (DD) is a franchise cricket team based in Delhi, India, which plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team competed in the 2012 IPL and finished at the third place, thus qualified for the 2012 Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20). It topped the league and the group stage in the IPL and the CLT20 respectively; however, it failed to win any match in the playoffs. Read more...
Sharma on a 2003 stamp of India

Major Somnath Sharma, PVC (31 January 1923 – 3 November 1947), an Indian Army officer, was the first recipient of Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India's highest military decoration. Read more...

In the news

12 March 2019 – Boeing 737 MAX groundings: The European Union, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Turkey ground all Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets. This means 40% of the global fleet is now grounded, with Indonesia, China and several airlines grounding their aircraft yesterday. Boeing states they will issue a software update for the model within weeks. (The Guardian) (BNO) (AFP)
9 March 2019 – 2018–19 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season: The floods from the predecessor of Cyclone Idai cause 23 deaths and 11 missing in southern Malawi. (The Maravi Post)
2 March 2019 – 2019 India–Pakistan standoff: Indian and Pakistani soldiers target each other’s posts and villages in Kashmir, killing at least six civilians and two Pakistani troops. (Associated Press)
28 February 2019 – 2019 India–Pakistan standoff, 2019 Balakot airstrike: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan says that captured Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman will be released tomorrow as a gesture of peace. (Economic Times) (Reuters)
27 February 2019 – 2019 India–Pakistan standoff: The Pakistani Air Force announces it has carried out airstrikes against Indian-held Kashmir, shooting down two Indian aircraft and capturing one pilot following a dogfight. Indian officials confirm one of their planes has crashed, killing both pilots on board. Indian media claim India has shot down a Pakistani F-16 that violated its airspace. (Bloomberg) (ANI); An Indian Air Force Mi-17 transport helicopter crashes in the Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, killing all six IAF personnel onboard and a civilian on the ground. (Hindustan Times)