INDIA - an
overview 
The world's largest
democracy and second most populous country has emerged as a major
power after a period of foreign rule and several decades during
which its economy was virtually closed. It has developed the
capacity to strike at China and arch-rival Pakistan with its own
missiles, and has carried out a programme of nuclear tests in
defiance of world opinion. However, India is still struggling
with huge social, economic and environmental problems.
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OVERVIEW
The vast and diverse Indian sub-continent - stretching from
the mountainous Afghan frontier across to the jungles of Burma -
was subject to foreign rule from the early 1800s until the demise
of the British Raj in 1947. But the subsequent partition of the
sub-continent sowed the seeds for future conflict with three wars
between India and Pakistan since 1947. Communal, caste and
regional tensions continue to haunt Indian politics, sometimes
threatening its long-standing democratic and secular ethos.
In 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her
Sikh bodyguards after ordering troops to flush out Sikh militants
from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. And in 1992, widespread
Hindu-Muslim violence erupted after Hindu extremists demolished
the Babri mosque at Ayodhya.
Independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal
Nehru, dreamed of a socialist society and created a vast public
infrastructure, much of which became a burden on the state. In
the late 1980s and 1990s, India began to open up to the outside
world, encouraging economic reform and foreign investment.
The country now has a burgeoning middle class and has made
great strides in fields like information technology - exporting
its talented professionals abroad. India also boasts one of the
world's biggest film industries, based in the huge commercial
metropolis of Mumbai (Bombay). But the vast mass of the rural
population remains illiterate and impoverished. Their lives
continue to be dominated by the ancient Hindu caste system, which
assigns each person a fixed place in the social hierarchy.
FACTS
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Population: 1 billion (UN,
2004) Capital:New Delhi Area: 3.17 million sq km
(1.2 million sq miles) Major languages: Hindi, English and 17
other official languages Major religions: Hinduism, Islam,
Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism Life expectancy: 63
years (men), 65 years (women) (UN) Monetary unit: 1 Indian Rupee
= 100 paise Main exports: Agricultural products, textile goods,
gems and jewellery, software services and technology, engineering
goods, chemicals, leather products GNI per capita: US $530 (World
Bank, 2003) Internet domain: .in International dialling code: +91
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LEADERS
President: APJ Abdul Kalam
Prime
minister: Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh was appointed prime minister in May 2004 after
the Congress Party's unexpected success in general elections.
Manmohan Singh took office after Sonia Gandhi turned down the job
The party's president, Sonia Gandhi, the widow of former
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, shocked her supporters by declining
the top post, apparently to protect the party from damaging
attacks over her Italian birth. She said she had never wanted to
be prime minister. The stock market, which went into a tailspin
as investors feared that the return of Congress would derail
economic reforms, rallied when Mr Singh was chosen as prime
minister. He established his reputation as a finance minister in
the early 1990s, under the Narasimha Rao government. He is
credited with being the driving force behind the liberalisation
of the economy. The reforms helped to ease the financial crisis
that held sway as he took office. When the Congress Party was
voted out of office, Mr Singh became opposition leader in the
upper house. Mr Singh has said the main tasks of his premiership
are to reduce poverty and to continue economic reforms. He has
also stated his desire for friendly relations with India's
neighbours, especially Pakistan. A Sikh born in West ***jab, Mr
Singh is a former International Monetary Fund official and
governor of India's Central Bank. He was educated at Oxford
and Cambridge.
Foreign minister: Natwar Singh
Finance minister: Palaniappan Chidambaram
Defence minister: Pranab Mukherjee
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MEDIA
Broadcasting in India has flourished since state TV's
monopoly was broken in 1992, and the number of stations and
channels is still growing.
Cable and satellite TV stations command large audiences for
their multichannel offerings. STAR Plus - owned by the global
media giant News Corporation - is one of the most popular
non-state channels. Its version of the game show "Who Wants
to be a Millionnaire?" proved to be one of the channel's
biggest draws.
News programmes attract large audiences and often outperform
entertainment shows. Channels dedicated to 24-hour news are up
and running and more are planned. India's dynamic national
film industry supplies material to many broadcasters.
Doordarshan, the public TV service, operates 21 services
including its flagship DD1 channel, which reaches some 400
million viewers.
Two multichannel, direct-to-home (DTH) operations -
subscription-based Dish TV and a free-to-air offering from
Doordarshan - are recent arrivals on the TV scene.
Private radio is a relative newcomer. Since they were
sanctioned in 2000, music-based FM stations have proliferated in
India's cities. But only public All India Radio (AIR) is
permitted to broadcast news on the radio. In late 2002 the
government gave the go-ahead to educational institutions to set
up their own low-power FM stations.
India's private press is independent and active. The
Official Secrets Act has sometimes been used against journalists.
In 2002 a Kashmir Times reporter was jailed under the act for
several months before the case against him was withdrawn.
A Freedom of Information Act, approved in 2002, proposed to
give citizens the right to access some state information.
India and neighbouring Pakistan regularly engage in a war of
words via their respective media, occasionally banning relays of
broadcasts from the other country.
India is expected to have 25 million internet users by 2005,
up from 5.5 million at the beginning of 2001.
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The press
Deccan Herald - Bangalore-based daily
The Hindu - Madras-based dailyRead
The Hindustan Times - New Delhi-based daily
The Pioneer - New Delhi-based daily
The Indian Express - New Delhi-based daily
The Statesman - Calcutta-based daily
The Times of India - Mumbai-based dailyRead
India Today - New Delhi-based news magazine
Outlook - New Delhi-based news magazine
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Television
Doordarshan Television - public TV; operates some 21 national,
regional or local servicesWatch live
Zee TV - satellite, cable TV services operated by Zee Group
STAR TV - operates satellite, cable TV services, owned by News
Corporation
Sony Entertainment TV - commercial channelWatch Live
Aaj Tak - 24-hour news channelWatch Live
New Delhi TV (NDTV) - operates NDTV-India and NDTV 24x7 news
channels
Sun Network - commercial multi-channel broadcaster
Radio
All India Radio - public radio
All India Radio External Service - broadcasts in local and
regional languages as well as in Arabic and English
Radio Mirchi - commercial network, stations in Mumbai, Delhi
and other cities, mainly music, operated by The Times Group
Radio City - commercial, FM stations in Mumbai and other
cities, owned by News Corporation News agency
Dishant.Com Desi Tuner Radio(24/7)Live
Apna Radio (Non-Stop Bhangra)Live
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