Glimpses of India areanoverviewof India.It is anextensiveapproachto describeIndia inanutshell. India i.e Bharat is the ‘Epitome of the world’. It has rich culture and heritage.Eminent historian Arnold Toynbeesaid ‘India isthe wholeworldplaced atclosequarters’.Nonetheless, it has‘Unityindiversity and diversity in Unity’. India is the second most populous country in the world and Seventh – largest country in terms of area. It covers about 2.4 percent of the world total area and lies in the northern hemisphere. India Surrounded by Mountains and the Sea which gives safeguard to the country as well as gives a distinct feature.
This article will highlight some of the notable features of India. To sum up such vast cultural, political, and economic information for competitive aspirants is a herculean task. Instead of that this article excavates some important information which is very useful for various Government exams like state public service commission, railway exam, banking, UPSC etc.
Goverment
| Officialname |
RepublicofIndiai.eBharat |
| DateofIndependence |
15ThAugust1947 |
| TypeofGovernment |
Sovereign,Socialist,Secular,Democraticrepublic.AparliamentarySystembasedonUniversalAdultFranchise. |
| Capital |
NewDelhi. |
| Motto |
‘SatyamevaJayate‘means’TruthAloneTriumphs’derived from‘MundakaUpanishad’ |
| Constitutions |
Constitutionwasadoptedon26thNovember,1949.The Constitution of India was come in to force on 26thJanuary 1950. |
| FourpillarsofIndianDemocracy |
The Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and the Media/Press. |
| LegislativeBranch |
IndianLegislatureconsistofthepresidentandthetwoHouses LokSabha (house of the People ) and the Rajyasabha (council of State). Both The Houses are formed the Parliament . |
| ExecutiveBranch |
President is the Head of the State. Prime Minister is the Head of the Government .ThereShallbeaCouncilofMinisterswiththePrimeMinister. |
| JudicialBranch |
The Constitution of India is the fundamental Source of Judicial System. It is the cornerstone of the nation.The Supreme court of India is the Apex body of theIndian Legal system and there is also other High courts and Subordinate courts.IndependentfromExecutives. |
| NoofstatesandUnionTerritories |
28statesand8UnionTerritories |
| ParliamentaryDemocracy |
India has a written constitution with a Preamble. Preamble clearly established the constitutional framework by saying ‘Sovereign, Socialist,Secular,Democratic, Republic’.Article 21 (Right to life and personal Liberty) And Article 19 ( Freedom of speech and Expression ) outline the fundamental right and principals. Amendment Process requires Special majority in the Parliament.Constitutions postulates a clear Separation of power.Article 50 separates the judiciary andExecutive.Article 13also allows the Judiciary to review laws conflicting with the Fundamental rights.IndiaistheFederalinStructurebutunitaryinSpirit.ArticleSuggestsdistributionoflegislativepowersandArticleSuggests Subject matter of laws made by parliament and legislatures of States.Judiciary posse’s judicial reviews. If any law contravene the basic Structure of the Constitution. In that case, KesavanandaBharati case1973) established the principle judicial reviews. Article 13 also grants the judicial review. Judiciary also nullify the Constitutional amendment which can undermine the basic structure of the Constitution. |
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| Languages |
Officiallanguage is Hindi in Devnagari Script (Article 343 of the Constitution of India)There are 22 official regional languages as per 8th schedule of the Constitution of India.ThereareAbout844dialectsinIndia.ThereareSixLanguagefamilies:IndoEuropeanLanguagefamilyDravidianLanguagefamilyAustro-AsiaticLanguagefamilySino-TibetanLanguagefamilyTai-kadaiLanguagefamilyGreatAndamaneseLanguagefamilies.78.05%people speak in Indio – European Language and 19.64% people speak in Dravidian Languages. |
| Currency |
Rupee(OneRupeeisequalto100Paisa) |
| FiscalYear |
1StAprilto31stMarch. |
| Religions |
Hinduism,Islam,Christianity,Buddhism,Sikhism,Jainism. |
| NationalCalendar |
BasedontheSakaera.FromMarch22,1957 |
| NationalAnthem |
‘JanaganaMana‘byRabindraNathTagore. ‘ThouArtofRulerof theMindsofallpeople’(English Translations) |
| NationalSong |
‘Vande Mataram’ by Bankim Chandra Chetterjee. ‘I Bow To Thee, Mother’(English Translations) |
| NationalEmblem |
ReplicaoftheLionCapitalofSarnathnearVaranasi. |
| NationalFlag |
Horizontal and tricolor in Shape. Equal Proportion of Saffronon the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom. In the centre of the white band, there is a Ashoka chakra in navy blue color. Ashoka chakra has 24 spokes. |
| NationalDays |
15th August – Independence Day 26th January – Republic day |
| Nationalanimal |
Tiger(PantheraTigris) |
| NationalBirds |
Peacock(PavoCristatus) |
| Nationalflower |
Lotus(NelumboNucifera) |
| NationalTree |
Banyan(FicusBengalensis) |
| NationalFruites |
Mango(MangiferaIndica) |
| NationalGame |
Hockey |
| NationalRiver |
Ganges |
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Geography
| Item |
Description |
| Frontiers&Neighbours |
North – The Great Himalayan range and Nepalisolated India from Tibet.South–IndianOceansurroundedIndiafromtheSouth.Gulf |
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ofMannarandPalkStraitsSeparatedIndiafromSriLanka. East – Bay of Bengal, Myanmar (Burma) and Bangladesh is in the east side of India.West–PakistanandtheArabianSeaisintheWest. |
| Location |
India lies in the Northern Hemisphere Between 8°4’N and 37°6’N parallels of latitude and between 68°7’E and 97°25’ E meridian of longitude. |
| Area |
3.3Millionsq.km |
| Dimension |
DistancefromnorthtoSouth–3214kmDistancefromEasttoWest–2933kmLengthofCoastline–7516.6kmLengthoflandfrontier– 15200kmTotalgeographiclandArea-32,87,263sq.kmEarthSurfacecoverdbyIndia–2.4% |
| IndianStandardtime |
5hoursand30minutesaheadofGMT |
| InternetTLD |
.In(Others) |
| TelephoneCountryCode |
+91 |
| Four(4)PhysicaldivisionofIndia |
The Himalayan Range:- About 2400 km in length and 240 to 320km widthThe Greater Himalayas – Approx 6000m in height. It contains three highest mountains on earthMountEverest(8848m)GodwinAustinorK2(8611m)KanchenJunga(8598m)ThelesserHimalayas-Approx1500mto5000min height. TheOuterHimalayas–Approx900mto1200min height. TheNorthernplainsortheIndo–GangeticPlains:-Most fertile region formed by the valleys of the rivers Ganges and Brahmaputra .length–2400km,width–240to320km iii)TheDeccanPlateau:- – It is the Geographically most oldest region (3000 to 5000 million years old). -EasternandWesternghatsmountainrangessituated here. |
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TheOldestmoutainrangeinIndiaistheAravallis.The Vindhyas separated the southern and northern part of India. -In between the river Narmada and Tapti the SatpurasSituated. -AverageelevationofEasternGhatsisabove610m. -Average elevation of Western Ghats is about 915 to 1220m. CoastalPlains:- –Konkan Coast is in the northern part of the western Coastal plain. Malabar Coast is in the southern part of the western Coastal plain.CoromandalCoastisintheeasterncoastalStrip. |
| Islands |
AndamanAndNicobarGroup:- – The AndamanConsists of 204 small islands of northern Cluster. -The Nicobar comprises of 19 small islands of Southern cluster. Lakshadweep:– -Itis a group of 27 coral Islands Scattered in the Arabian Sea. |
| Soils |
MainlyfourtypesofsoilfoundinIndia: Alluvialsoil:– -Found in the Indo – Gangetic plain baically in Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, UP, Jharkhand, Uttrakhand, and West Bengal .It is the most fertile Soil. BlackSoil:-ItisRich inMineral.Formed By deposition of Lava which is ejected by Volcanoes. -Itissuitableforcottoncultivation. Mostly found in Maharashtra, Madhy Pradesh,Gujrat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu. RedSoil:-It is suitable for cultivation of pulses and coarse grains. HavinghighIroncontentbecauseitisformedbythe weathering of ancient metamorphic and crystalline rocks. |
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– Mostly found in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka And the north – eastern hill states.
iv)LateriteSiol:- – Mostly found in Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Assam and Coastal area of Orissa.
-ItisformedbytheWeatheringoflateriterocks.
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| RiverSystem |
Indianriversaremainlyclassifiedasthreecategories. The Himalayan System:- Three great Himalayan rivers are as follows :-Indus and its five major tributaries (Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum). Length of Indus –2900km.Ganga and its tributaries (Yamuna, Gomti, Ghagra, Gandak, Ram Ganga,Sone, Chambal, Betwaand ken). LengthofGanga—2510km. Brahmaputra river system. Length -2900 km. ii)TheDeccanSystem:- – The Deccan System rivers are Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi, Damodar,Narmada, Tapti, Saraswati, Netravati, Periyar And pamba. -InPenninsularIndiaGodavariisthelargestriver. -The Southernmost river System in India is the Cauvery. iii)TheThirdRiverSystem:- – These are small rivers called ‘river of inland drainage basins’. |
| Climate |
Indian has four seasons as per the Indian Meteorological Department WinterSeason(DecemberToMarch)Summerseason(ApriltoMay)MonsoonOrrainyseason(JuneToSeptember).PostMonsoon(OctobertoDecember)MainlytropicalmonsoonprevailinIndia.86% of the total rainfall contributed by the south – west monsoon (June to September).WinterMonsoonisalsocalledtheNorthEast |
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Monsoon(NovemberToDecember) The Trans – Himalayan and Greater-Himalayanregions are the coldest regions.Ladakh region’sDras andkargil sector are the coldest regions in India (Temperature Below 40°c). West Rajasthan’sBarmer is the hottest place in India (Temperature 50°C (122°F)Cherrapunjiin Meghalaya is the wettest place in India.JaisalmerinwesternRajasthanisthedriestplace. |
| Forest |
TypesofforestinIndia:- Evergreenforests(Tropical) -Coniferousforests. Basically found teak, rosewood, ebony, bamboo etc.Found in western Ghats and Sub- Himalayan regions. -averagerainfall200to300cm. DeciduousForest(MonsoonForest)Basicallyfoundteak,sal,sandalwoodetc. Found in Deccan plateau region. Mainly Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karntaka etc.Rainfallbetween150to200cm DryForest:-Found in Rajasthan and south of Punjab .Mainly in desert regions .Rainfallisbellow75-100cm HillForest:-Oak,deodar,pines,Chir,etc. Found in Himalayan region and in southern India. TidalForest(Mangrove):- Found in coastal regions. Particularly on river deltas on the east coast (Ganga, Mahanadi and Godavari).Sundaritreesfoundinsundarban(Westbengal). B)InformationRegardingForest:- |
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Approximately6,78,333 sq km (nearly 20.64%) total land area covered by forest.about2%oftheworld’sareaunderforest. -Arunachal Pradesh covers maximum geographical area under dense forest. Haryanacoverslowestareaunderforest.MadhyaPradeshcoverslargestareaunderforest. |
| Agriculture |
A)Cropseason:- i)Kharif:- -Rice,Jowar,Bajra,Ragi,Maize,Cotton,juteetc. – Sown in June, July. Harvested in September, October. Rabi:-Wheat,Barley,Peas,Mustardetc.Sown in October, December. Harvested in April, MayAgricultureinformation:-142.42 million hectares and above 50% of the total geographical area is under cultivation.About 65% -70% people are engaged in agriculture. -FirstGreenRevolutionwaslaunchedin1967–68. SecondGreenrevolutiontookplacein1983-84. |
| MineralResources |
Iron, coal, manganese, mica, bauxite (aluminum ore), copper, crude oil, lignite, gold, magnetite, gypsum, lead,-zinc,chromites, dolomite, diamond found in India. -India has the world’s largest reserves of iron ore. It is one fourth of world’s reserves. Indiaisthethirdlargestproducerofcoalintheworld.India is the third largest producer of manganese in the world. -Indiahasthelargestdeposits’ofmicain theworld. Indiaisthethirdlargestproducerofbauxiteintheworld. |
| Irrigation |
TypeofIrrigation:- Wells – Found in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Maharashtra.48%ofirrigatedareaisunderwellIrrigation.Tanks – Found in central and Southern India. Mainly in Andhra Pradesh.10%ofIrrigatedareaUnderTankIrrigation. |
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iii)Canals:- Found in Utter Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. -40%ofIrrigatedareaUnderCanalIrrigation. |
Demography:-
People play a most crucial role in indian democracy. Human Resource is the most valuable resource in any economy. Population density, skill of people, education, and health determine the economic condition. Here is the information of 15th census of India 2011.
| Item |
Description |
| TotalPopulation |
121.08crore(Asper2011Census) |
| MalePopulation |
62.37crore(2011census) |
| FemalePopulation |
58.64crore(2011census) |
| PercentageofworldPopulation |
17.5% |
| SexRatio |
940femaleperthousandmale |
| DensityofPopulation |
382persq.km |
| ChildsexRatio(0-6ageGroup) |
914femaleperthousandmalechild |
| Totalliteracyrate |
74% |
| MaleLiteracyrate |
82.10% |
| FemaleLiteracyRate |
65.46% |
| Birthrate |
ThecrudeBirthrate20.1(2011-2015) |
| Deathrate |
Thecrudedeathrate7.2(2011-2015) |
| Infantmortalityrate |
`44perthousandlifebirth. |
| LifeExpectancy |
Total life Expectancy- 66.1 yrs Male“ “ -64.6yrs Female“ “ -67.7yrs |
| Statewithhighestpopulation |
UttarPradesh(1St)–199.5millionor20Crores Maharashtra(2nd)—112millionor11crores |
| Statewithlowestpopulation |
Sikkim(1st) –6lakhs Mizoram(2nd))–10lakh |
| Stateswithhighestpopulation density |
Bihar(1st) –(1106) WestBengal(2nd)–(1028) |
| StateswithLowestpopulation density |
ArunachalPradesh(1st)—(17) Mizoram(2nd) —(52) |
| StateswithHighestsexRatio |
Kerala(1st) –(1084) Puducherry(2nd) –(1038) |
| LowestsexRatio |
Haryana—(879) |
| HighestLiteracyratestates |
Kerala(1st)—(94.22%),Mizoram—(91.3%), |
| Lowestliteracyratestates |
Bihar(1st) —(63.82%) Rajasthan(2nd)—– (79.2%) |
| Urbanpopulation |
31.65% |
| StateswithHighesturban population |
Goa(62.17%) |
| NegativepopulationGrowth |
Nagaland |
| Mostpopuloustribe |
Bhil(37.7%oftotalS.Tpopulation) |
| MostpopulatedDistrict |
Thane (1st ) – 1 crore 10 lakh North twenty fourth parganas (2nd )– 1 crore 9 thousand. |
| MostpopulatedUnionTerritories |
Delhi(1.67crore) |
| LeastpopulatedUnionTerritories |
Lakshadweep(64,000) |
| Union Territories with highest density of population |
Delhi (1st) –(11,297) Chandigarh (2nd) Puducherry(3rd) |
| UnionTerritorieswithlowest densityofpopulation |
Andaman&Nicobar(46) |
| UnionTerritorieswithhighestsex ratio |
Puducherry(1037) |
| UnionTerritorieswithlowestsex ratio |
Daman&Diu(618) |
| Unionterritorieswithhighest literacyrate |
Lakshadweep(91.8%) |
| UnionTerritorieswithlowest literacyrate |
Dadra&NagarHaveli(76.2%) |
| StatewithhighestSCpopulation |
UttarPradesh |
| StateswithhighestpercentageofSC population |
Punjab(31.9%) |
| StateswithhighestSTpopulation |
MadhyaPradesh |
| States&Unionterritorieswith highestpercentageofSTpopulation |
Lakshadweep(94.8%) |
| LifeexpectancyRate(Recent) |
Ingeneral70.15Years 65.8years(Males) 68.1years(Female) |
| EthnicGroups |
Five Major ethnic groups found in India – Australoid, Mongoloid, Europoid, Caucasian and Negroid. |
| Religions |
Aspercensus2011-Hinduism(79.8%) Islam(14.2%) Christianity(2.3%) Sikhism(1.7%) Buddhism(0.7%) Jainism(0.4%) Unaffiliated(0.23%) Other(0.65%) |
Polity:-
| NationalParties |
Sixnational parties – Aam Aadmi party (AAP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), communist Party of india (Marxist), Indian national congress (INC), national people’sparty. |
| Regionalparty |
Morethen50 |
Economy:-
| Item |
Description |
| IndianEconomyworth |
$3.46trilloin(2022),fifthlargestEconomy |
| GDPgrowth |
5.8% |
| RanksinnominalGDPperCapita |
139th($2,612)2023Estimate |
| RankinGDPpercapitaatPPP |
118th |
| India’sforeignexchange remittances |
US$100Billions(2022) |
| Importer&ExporterPerspective |
Indiaistheworld’sninthlargestimporter. IndiaistheWorld’sSixteenthLargestExporter |
| RankinGlobalCompetitiveness |
68th |
| Rankinglobalinnovationindex |
40th(2023) |
| RankinCorruptionperceptionindex |
85th(2020-22) |
| Rankinglobalhungerindex |
111 |
This is the brief description of India. It is not possible to describe India in such a short span .India’s legacy, history, culture, demography is boundless. For the sake of competitive exam a brief but point wise information is required. We are sure that this article will serve the purpose of aspirants as well as fulfills the pursuit of knowledge.
