Uttaranchal State India: Area : 53,484 sq km

Population: 84,70,562; growth rate (1991-2001): 19.220%

Density per sq km: 159

xxx ratio (females per 1,000 males): 964

Literacy rate: 72.28% (males: 84.01%; females: 60.226%)

Capital: Dehradun

No. of Districts: 13

Legislature: Unicameral

Principal Cities, Towns and Religious/ Tourist Places:

Almora, Mussoorie, Nainital, Ranikhet (Magnificent scenic beauty spots), Hardwar (Holy place year), Rishikesh, Pauri, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamnotri (ancient places of pilgrimage), Hemkund Sahib, Nanakmatta (Sikh pilgrimage places), Dehradun (Capital city and known for Forest Research Institute and Indian Military Academy), Gairsen (the proposed new capital), Gopeshwar, Pithoragarh and Rudrapur (Populous towns), Pindari Glacier and Corbett National Park.

Judicature: Common High Court with Uttar pradesh at Allahabad and a Bench at Lucknow.

Location: Uttaranchal is bounded by Tibet (China) in the North and Uttar Pradesh in the South, Nepal in the east and Himachal Pradesh in the west.

History:

Uttaranchal is the sacred land (Puniya Bhumi) where so many ancient shrines and places of pilgrimage are scattered. The damand for a separate hill state of Uttarakhand arose in 1930 for rapid development of Kumaon and Garhwal regions.

Many committees of the government of Uttar Pradesh considered it from time to time but did not find it economically feasible until the agitation by the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal became violent. That brought out ultimately the new State on November 9, 2000.

Economy:

Almost entire State is a hilly carved out except two districts of Hardwar and Udhamsingh Nagar. 63% area is covered by forests and hardly 12.5% land is fit for cultivation. The State also does not have many big industries. It comes to that the economy o0f the new State is likely to remain in a non-self-sustainable condition.

The State mainly depends on remittances for people employed in North India. It has been granted special status by Planning commission to come over its teething financial constraints. Fortunately, the State has the high potentiality for development of tourism, forestry and hydroelectric power which if fully harnessed could help to make Uttaranchal a prosperous State.

Indian Architecture: One of the most enduring achievements of Indian civilization is undoubtedly its architecture. Indian architecture, which has evolved through centuries, is the result of socio-economic and geographical conditions. Different types of Indian architectural styles include a mass of expressions over space and time, transformed by the forces of history considered unique to India. As a result of vast diversities, a vast range of architectural specimens have evolved, retaining a certain amount of continuity across history.

Indian architecture, belonging to different periods of history, bears the stamp of respective periods. Though the cities of Indus Valley provide substantial evidence of extensive town planning, the beginnings of Indian architecture can be traced back to the advent of Buddhism in India. It was in this period that a large number of magnificent buildings came up. Some of the highlights of Buddhist art and architecture are the Great Stupa at Sanchi and the rock-cut caves at Ajanta.

With the establishment of Hindu kingdoms in South India, the south Indian school of architecture began to flourish. The most notable achievements of the Pallava rulers were the rock-cut temples of Mahabalipuram and the temples of Kanchipuram. The Chola, Hoyasala and Vijayanagar rulers also did remarkable job in the field of architecture. The temples at Thanjavur, Belur and Halebid bear testimony to the architectural excellence of the South Indian rulers.

In north India, there developed a new a different style of architecture. This was called as the Nagara style architecture. In central India, the Chandela rulers built a magnificent temple complex at Khajuraho. With the coming of the Muslim rulers, there developed a new architectural style in India- the Indo-Islamic architecture. The Indo-Islamic style was neither strictly Islamic nor strictly Hindu. The architecture of the medieval period can be divided into two main categories. They are the Delhi or the Imperial Style and the Mughal Architecture.

It was followed by a new style of architecture that developed as a result of colonization of India. This style of architecture came to be called as Indo-Saracenic. The Indo-Saracenic architecture combined the features of Hindu, Islamic and western elements. The colonial architecture exhibited itself through institutional, civic and utilitarian buildings such as post offices, railway stations, rest houses and government buildings

Climate: The Indian climate is a cycle of six seasons. There are areas where the distinction of the seasons is felt, but in most areas the six seasons overlap.

The Indian seasons in the Christian calendar are:

• Spring Mid-Feb to April

   

• Summer May and June

   

• Monsoon July to September

   

• Autumn Sept to Mid-November

   

• Pre-winter Mid-Nov to December

   

• Winter Mid-December to Mid-February

   

It is quite possible to tour India the year round, avoiding blistering heat and the monsoons, provided we choose the area. While it is roasting in the South, it would be mild in the north and the Himalayan peaks will be covered with snow most of the year.

The plains of India are at their freshest in the winter.

The optimum season to travel in northern India, from Rajasthan to Delhi is between September and March, although it would be quite chilly from December to January.

To the east, the more extreme combination of heat, humidity and monsoon leaves only November to February fairly comfortable. Southern India is always hot but again, it is at its best between November and February.

The green strip of Kerala down the Malabar Coast is more temperate, with a much gentler climate.

The scorching pre-monsoon heat, the monsoon deluge and the post-monsoon humidity strike almost everywhere some time between May and September.
The stultifying pre-monsoon heat is to be avoided throughout the country. But when the rains come, they have their own attraction, provided the humidity between showers is bearable. It is a repeated agony-ecstasy cycle.

The winter is more or less pleasant throughout the country.
In the north temperatures falls steeply; in western, southern and eastern India, the winter is cool.

The summer is hot is most parts of the country.
But there are a number of hill resorts to provide cool retreats for the tourists.

The southwest monsoon begins on the west coast in early June and spreads to other parts. In most of India it rains from June to September.
But the southeastern regions experience greater rainfall during November to January, due to the advent of the northeast monsoon.

Cool spots are mostly British -built retreats from the boiling Madras and Bombay, such as Ootacamund and Kodaikanal in the Nilgiris and the Cardamom hills dividing Tamilnadu and Kerala states, Mahabaleshwar and Pune in the Western Ghats of Maharastra, and Mount Abu on the Rajasthan-Gujarat border.

Rainfall in India is variable. The northeastern region, the western slopes of the Western Ghats and parts of the Himalayas have very high rainfall of around 2000mm annually.

The eastern part of the peninsula extending up to the northern plains receive around 1000 to 2000mm rainfall, while the area from the Western Deccan up to the Punjab plain gets around 100mm to 500mm rainfall. Kutch and Ladakh areas have hardly any rainfall.

Chirapunji in Assam is said to receive the highest amount of rainfall in the whole world.

Hindu Festivals:

Christian Festivals:» Christmas

» Easter

» Good Friday

Muslim Festivals:» Ramzan

» Eid-ul-Fitr

» Muhorram

Sikh Festivals:» Guru Nanak Jayanti

» Guru Purab

» Holla Mohalla

» Lohri

Buddhist Festivals:» Buddha Purnima

» Hemis Gompa

» Losar

» Ullambana

National Festivals:» Children's Day

» Gandhi Jayanti

» Independence Day

» Republic Day

» Teacher's Day

Indian Government: Government of India:

The Government of India (Hindi: Bharat Sarkar), officially referred to as the Union Government, and commonly as Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a federal union of 28 states and 7 union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, etc.

The federal (union) and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations.

Indian Government - Legislative Branch:

India's bicameral parliament (also known as the Sansad) consists of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The Union Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha. In India's parliamentary system, the executive is nominally subordinate to the legislature. There are 543 members in the Lok Sabha that are elected from the various states on the basis of proportional representation. There are 2 Anglo-Indian members nominated by the President. The Rajya Sabha has 250 members.

Indian Government - Executive Branch:

The Executive arm consists of the President, Vice-President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of either house of parliament.

Indian Government - President of India: The government exercises its broad administrative powers in the name of the President of India, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the Head of State and chief guardian of the Constitution of the Republic.

The President's true role is mostly ceremonial. He is the Supreme Commander of the nation's armed forces, has the authority to dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections, declare a state of emergency, and dismiss governments in the states, but all upon the counsel of the Prime Minister and the elected government.

Historically, the President of the Republic has been a person revered by the people for his position above ordinary politics. The President and Vice President are elected indirectly for 5-year terms by a special electoral college, composed of delegates from the federal Parliament and state legislatures.

Indian Government - Union Cabinet: Real national executive power is centered in the Council of Ministers, the Union Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of India, the Head of Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister, who is the designated leader of the political party or coalition commanding parliamentary majority. All Central Government decisions are nominally taken in the name of the President.

The Ministers may be of 3 types - Cabinet Minister, Minister of State (Independent Charge) and Minister of State, in order of seniority. Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State with independent charge may usually attend Cabinet meetings.

Indian Government - Judicial Branch:India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief Justice and 25 associate justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Justice of India. In the 1960s, India moved away from using juries for most trials, finding them to be corrupt and ineffective, instead almost all trials are conducted by judges.

Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts at the state level, and District and Session Courts at the district level.

India in Guinness Book of World Records:

Famous Personalities in India: Famous Indian Instrumentalists:

Prominent Indian Instrumentalists

Famous Indian Tabla Instrumentalists:

Abad Mistry
Ahmed Thrikuwa
Alla Rakha Khan
Kishan Maharaj
Nikhil Ghosh
Shafat Ahmad Khan
Shaikh Dawood (Hindustani)
Shanta Prasad
Zakir Hussain

Famous Indian Sitar Instrumentalists:

Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan
Buddhaditya Mukherjee
Hara Shankar Bhattacharya (Hindustani)
Rais Khan
Ravi Shankar
Uma Shankar Mishra (Hindustani)
Annapurna Devi Surbahar Hindustani
Vilayat Khan

Famous Indian Sarod Instrumentalists:

Ali Akbar Khan
Allauddin Khan
Amjad Ali Khan
Bahadur Khan
Buddhadev Desgupta (Hindustani)
Sharan Rani
Zarin S. Sharma

Famous Indian Violin Instrumentalists:

Famous Indian Veena Instrumentalists:

Asad Ali Khan (Hindustani)
K.R.Kumaraswamy Iyer (Carnatic)
Kaplakkam Swaminathan (Carnatic)
M.K.Kayanakrishna Bhagavathar (Carnatic)
S. Balachander (Carnatic)
Sadiq Ali Khan

Famous Indian Shahanai Instrumentalists:

Bageswari Gamar
Bismillah Khan

Famous Indian Guitar Instrumentalists:

Barun Pal

Famous Indian Santoor Instrumentalists:

Bhajan Sopori (Hindustani)
Tarun Bhattacharya

Famous Indian Pakhwaj Instrumentalists:

Chhatrapati Singh (Hindustani)

Famous Indian Flute Instrumentalists:

Hari Prasad Chaurasia
Pannalal Ghose
T.R. Mahalingam

Famous Indian Piano Instrumentalists:

Kaikhosm Shapurji Sorabiji

Famous Indian Sarangi Instrumentalists:

Ramnarayan
Sabri Khan
Sultan Khan (Hindustani)

Famous Indian Clarionate Instrumentalists:

Sheikh Mohammed Arif(Hindustani)

Famous Indian Mridungam Instrumentalists:

Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman (Carnatic)

Famous Indian Writers:

Assamese : Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, Hem Chandra Barua, Hem Chandra Goswami, Madhu Kandli

Bengali : Ashapoorna Devi, Bankim Chandra Chattarjee, Bibhuti Bhushan Bandhopadhyay, Bishnu Dey, Premendra Mitra, Rabindranath Tagore, R.C. Dutta, Michael Madhusudhan Dutta, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Tarashankar Bandhopadhyay

English : Kamla Das, Manohar Malgaonkar, R.K.Narayan, Raja