Amazing India

Government type: Federal Republic

Capital: New Delhi
Geographic coordinates: 28 36 N, 77 12 E

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: $95.28 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: $37.62 billion (2007 est.)

Telephones - main lines in use: 49.75 million (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 233.62 million (2007)

Airports - with paved runways: 250

Airports - with unpaved runways: 96

Airports: total: 346 (2007)

Railways: total: 63,221 km

Roadways: total: 3,383,344 km

Amazing facts about India

1. India is the world’s largest, oldest, continuous civilization.

2. India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

3. India is the world’s largest democracy.

4. Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called “the ancient city” when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

5. India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

6. The World’s first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

7. Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.

8. Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.

9. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India’s wealth.

10. The art of Navigation was bornin the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit ‘Nou’.

11. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.

12. The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.

13. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).

14. IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.

15. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.

16. According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called Sudarshana was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya’s time.

17. Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

18. Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.

19. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).

20. The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world’s population.

21. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.

22. India is one of the few countries in the World, which gained independence without violence.

23. India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World.

24. India is the largest English speaking nation in the world.

25. India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer Indigenously.

Facts to make every Indian Proud

Q. Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems?
A. Mr.Vinod Khosla. (An Indian)

Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of the
today's computers run on it)?
A. Mr.Vinod Dahm. (An Indian)

Q. Who is the fifth richest man on the world?
A. Mr.Lakshmi Lakshmi Mittal. (An Indian)

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web
based email program)?
A. Mr.Sabeer Bhatia. (An Indian)

Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creator
of program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A. Mr.Arun Netravalli. (An Indian)

Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard?
A. Mr.Rajiv Gupta. (An Indian)

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000,
responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Mr.Sanjay Tejwrika. (An Indian)

Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank ?
A. Mr.Vikram Pandit.

Amitabh Harivansh Srivastav born on October 11, 1942), is an Indian film actor. He gained popularity since the 1970s and has since become one of the most prominent figures in the history of Indian cinema.

Bachchan has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards and twelve Filmfare Awards. He holds the record for most number of Best Actor nominations at the Filmfare Awards. In addition to acting, Bachchan has worked as a playback singer, film producer and television presenter, and was an elected member of the Indian Parliament from 1984 to 1987.

Miss Universe 1994 : Sushmita Sen – India

Miss Universe 2000 : Lara Dutta - India

Miss World 1994 : Aishwarya Rai - India

Miss World 1997 : Diana Hayden - India

Miss World 1999 : Yukta Mookhey - India

Miss World 2000 : Priyanka Mini Chopra - India

Kohinoor Diamond

Kohinoor, Koh-e Noor or Koh-i-Nur) is a 105 carat (21.6 g) diamond that was once the largest known diamond in the world. The Kohinoor originated at Golconda in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, belonged to various Mughal and Persian rulers who fought bitterly over it at various points in history, and seized as a spoil of war, was finally taken by the British and became part of the British Crown Jewels when British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli proclaimed Queen Victoria Empress of India in 1877.

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