A glance at India

Narayan Khatri

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Houston

(email: ndkhatri@mail.uh.edu)

World Affairs Council of Houston

Kingwood High School, Kingwood, TX

April 11, 2011

Republic of India (Bharat Ganarajya - भारत गणराज्य)

India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother

of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition.

-Mark Twain

Some Facts

One of the oldest civilizations on earth

Largest democracy on earth

Federal Republic

Independence Day: 15 August, 1947

Republic Day: 26 January, 1950

Capital: New Delhi

States: 28

Union Territories: 7

Population: 1.21 billion (2011 census)

Area: 3,287,263 sq. km

Official Language: Hindi, English,

and 21 regional languages

Namasteनमस्ते

Government of India

India is the largest democracy on earth. India has three independent branches of government, namely, executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch.

Executive Branch:

Head of the Nation: PresidentHead of the Government: Prime Minister

Legislative Branch:

Bicameral Parliament (Sansad)Upper House is called ‘Rajya Sabha’ (Council of States). Maximum strength 250. Lower house is called ‘Lok Sabha’ (People’s Assembly). Total strength 545.

Election for the lower house of the Parliament is the largest democratic exercise in the world. The last election in 2009 was done in five phases from April 16 to May 13, and had 714M registered voters, 300+ political parties contesting, 1.3M electronic voting machines, 2M security personnel, 828,804 polling stations, and $400M spent on election.

Judicial Branch:

Supreme Court of India has one Chief Justice and 30 associate justices, appointed by the President and remain in office maximum up to the age of 65.

National Figures

Mahatma GandhiFather of the Nation

Jawaharlal NehruFirst Prime Minister of India

Dr. Rajendra PrasadFirst President of India

National Symbols

Lotus Peacock

Tricolor

Field Hockey

MangoTiger

Lion of Sarnath

Indian Dances

Bharatnatyam

Geetru

Kathak

Kathakali

Kachipudi

Pung Cholom

Odissi

Ghoomar

Garba

Giddha

Cave Painting

Mysore Painting

Miniature Painting

Mughal Painting

Rajput Painting

Madhubani Painting

Tanjore Painting

Paintings

Indian Woman in Sari

Indian Women Traditional Dressing

West Bengal Rajasthan Assam

Punjab Kashmir Tamil Nadu

Indian Food

Punjabi ThaliGulab Jamun

Chicken Tandoori Masala Dosa

Samosa

Indian food contains a lot of spices.

Religions in India

Somnath Temple, Saurashtra, 1995Hinduism

Jama Masjid, Delhi, 1644-1656Islam

Golden Temple, Amritsar, 1588-1601Sikhism

Basilica of Bom Jesus, Goa, 1594-1605Christianity

India has two million gods, and worships them all. In religion all other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire.

-Mark Twain

Religions in India

Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, Bihar, 3rd Century BCUNESCO World Heritage Site

Buddhism

Ranakpur Jain Temple, Rajasthan, 15th Century ADJainism

Lotus Temple, Delhi, 1986Baha’i

Ohel David Synagogue, Pune, 1863Judaism

Bollywood and Indian Cinema

Birth of Indian Cinema: 1913, first fully indigenous silent film

Largest film industry in the world according to number of movies produced

Some of the famous movies: Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Pather Panchali, Lagaan, Sholey,

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Black, Pyaasa

Songs and Dances are integral part of the Indian movies...

Festivals in IndiaIndia celebrates hundreds of festivals every year. Different states of India have their own festivals also

depending on the different culture.

Diwali: festival of lights, an important festival in Hinduism

Holi, festival of colorsKite Flying

Eid-ul-fitr, an important festival in Islam

Baisakhi, an important festival in Sikhism

Karwa Chauth

Christmas, an important festival in Christianity

Indian Wedding

Married Couple

Phere (Circling round the holy fire) Choori (Bangles)

Mehandi (Henna)

Dulha (Bridegroom) on Ghodi (Horse)

Snowy Fields of Kashmir Himalayan Mountains of SikkimDeserts of Jaisalmer

Wonder of the World

Palaces of Rajasthan

Beaches of Lakshadweep

Commercial about Indian Tourism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNWeBVBqo2c)

Tourist Places

Gateway of India, Mumbai 1924 Humayun Tomb, Delhi 1562-1572UNESCO World Heritage Site

Khajuraho Temple, Madhya Pradesh 950-1050

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Nalanda University Ruins, Nalanda, Bihar 5th Century AD

Qutub Minar, Delhi 1193-1386UNESCO World Heritage Site

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur 1799 (Palace of Winds)

Indian Pilgrimage

Vaishno Devi, Jammu and Kashmir Rishikesh, Uttarakhand

Ganges, Haridwar Tirupati Balaji, Andhra Pradesh

Buddha Statue, Bodh Gaya, Bihar

Sufi Saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty Dargah,

Ajmer

Palaces and Forts

Amber Fort

Gwalior Fort

Red Fort

Mehrangarh Fort

Umaid Bhawan Palace

Lake Palace

Rambagh Palace

Gorbandh Palace

Carving (Ranakpur Jain Temple)

The Ranakpur temple was built in 15th century and is the largest and the most significant temples of the Jains, covering 48,000 square feet. The whole temple is made of marble. There are around 1444

pillars in the temple and no two pillars are carved the same.

India at Sport

Field Hockey, Amsterdam Olympics, 1928India’s first Gold Medal win as a team

Sushil Kumar, World Wrestling Champion, 2010

Cricket World Champion, 1983 & 2011

Abhinav Bindra, Beijing Olympics, 2008India’s first individual Gold Medal, in Shooting

Sachin Tendulkar

Main Sports: Cricket, Field Hockey, ChessTotal Olympics Medals: 20 (till 2008)Commonwealth Games: 2nd Position (2010)

One day in the life of a nation of 1.1 billion people – China Daily, 08-12-2008

For long, sports in India has not been encouraged actively, except Cricket and Field Hockey, which government is now taking seriously for last few years.

Viswanathan AnandWorld Chess Champion

Living in India (Indian Villages)

Tribal areas in India – Dongaria Tribe, Orrisa

Nearly one third of the Indians live below $1.25 a day

A neighborhood in a village

In some villages, women walk up to 30 min and sometimes even more to fetch water on their

heads.

Women empowerment, Bonthi Village, Karnataka

Women in villages protesting against Coca-Cola company, Sinhachwar Village, Bihar

Neighborhood in small cities

Shopping on streets in India. These are best bargain places, fixed price system mostly doesn’t work on streets

In big cities, residential buildings are expanding vertically in the

form of apartment complexes, as the land is very expensive

Living in India (Indian Cities)

Upper section of society can afford bungalows, even in big cities

Culture of shopping luxury brands in malls in India is mainly limited to big

cities and mostly visited by young generation and rich section of society very

frequently. But, this trend is spreading quite fast now to even small cities

Indian Metros

Mumbai Skyline

Delhi Metro Train

Infosys Campus, PuneLakme Fashion Week

Brindavan Gardens, Bangalore

Metro cities in India are growing very fast in almost

every respect; living standard, infrastructure etc.

Miss Mumbai competition

Young, urban generation of India is mostly well educated, English speaking, and is of casually western and culturally

traditional style.

Night parties, are quite common in big cities

Young, Urban Generation of India

Girls in traditional dress (Salwar-Kameez)

Spin Night Club, Bangalore

Students at Delhi University

Women Empowerment

Women in India play a very significant role in almost every sector in India. Last year, 2010, Indian Government went further and passed the bill in Rajya Sabha (bill is currently in Lok Sabha), reserving 33 percent seats for

women in Parliament and State Legislatures.

Indira Gandhi2nd longest serving Prime

Minister of India

Indu Jain, Chairperson of Times Group

Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of National Congress Party

Meera Shankar, India’s Ambassador to USA

Arundhati Roy, Writer and Social Activist

Meira Kumar, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Lower House

of Parliament

Lata Mangeshkar, Playback Singer

Saina Nehwal, Super Series Badminton Champion

Education in India Education system in India is both under Union and State government.

Education in India is described in three categories:

Primary and Middle Education – Grades 1-5 (Primary) and Grades 6-8 (Middle)

Secondary Education – Grades 9-12

Tertiary Education – College and higher education (India has third largest

higher education system in the world after United

States and China)

Almost 11 million students (which is 1 in 10 eligible) were enrolled in higher education in 2006.

Literacy: The definition of literacy in population

census of India is ‘a person, who can read and

write with understanding in any language, is

treated as literate. The person may or may not

have received any formal education’

Literacy in India

Notes: Literacy rates for 1951,1961 and 1971 censuses relate to population aged 5 years and

above. The rates for 1981, 1991 and 2001 related to population aged 7 years and above.Source: UNESCO Global Monitoring Report, 2006/ED/EFA/MRT/PI/36

Lack of infrastructure and government spending, some schools lack even clean water and toilets.

Location of school is also an issue.

Poverty leads to child labor and hence school dropout, nearly 34% students dropout by the time

they reach to Grade 5 starting from Grade 1 (according to a 2007 global monitoring report).

Pro-boy social attitude is a disadvantage for girls education.

Challenges for Indian Education System

Source: National Knowledge Commission Report 2006-09, Govt. of India

Stage wise enrollment (2005-06)

After Primary School, the girl education ratio

reduces significantly.

‘Right to Education (RTE)’ law passed in 2010, makes every state to make sure that all the

students between age 6-14 are in the school providing free and compulsory education.

‘Mid Day Meal Scheme’ was launched in 1995 with a view to enhancing enrollment, retention

and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children (for school

grades I-V). It has been a highly successful scheme.

See the video regarding ‘Mid Day Meal’ program in the state of Karnataka

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f227UYDJ7EU)

Union Cabinet cleared a bill this March (2010), ‘Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation

of Entry and Operation) Bill, 2010’, which would allow foreign education providers to open

campuses in India.

Some Initiatives Taken

Mid Day Meal in schools

Educational Institutions

Ancient educational system was of ‘Gurukul’ style, where students

used to live at teacher’s place

In many primary schools (especially in villages), students

sit on floor in classes

Some private and government schools, especially in big cities,

are really well structured

Mostly schools have decent facilities (especially in cities),

e.g. infrastructure, teachers, etc.

Schools in India have morning prayers, before the day starts in

school

India has some very well structured Colleges and Universities

Institutes of Higher EducationIndia has some world class higher education institutions (colleges and graduate schools), especially

in the field of engineering, medicine, and management.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi

National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Mohali

Status of Higher Education in India

Demographic composition of India’s population Growth of Higher Education System

Growth of student enrollment in higher education in India (1950-51 to 2005-06)

Expenditure for Education

1 Crore Rs. = ~0.22 Million USDSource: National Knowledge Commission Report 2006-09, Govt. of India

Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India

Indian Economy

India liberalized its economy and opened markets for foreign investment in early 1990s, and

since then it has been growing with an average of 7% since 1997. It sprang back quickly

from 2008 recession compared to other developed countries.

India’s GDP:

$3.56 trillion (2009 est.) – purchasing power parity

$1.095 trillion (2009 est.) – official exchange rate

GDP – by sector (2009 est.)

Agriculture – 17%

Industry – 28.1%

Services – 54.9%

Labor force – by occupation (2009 est.)

Agriculture – 52%

Industry – 14%

Services – 34%

India’s Growth since 1951

Source: India’s Trade Policy Choices, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2008

CIA World Factbook

India has liberalized its markets in

early 1990s and reduced tariff

barriers. It currently has trade

agreements with some countries

such as South Korea, Thailand,

Malaysia, Japan, Finland, ASEAN,

SAARC Members and is discussing

trade agreements with many other

countries also.

India’s Trade

Source: Department of Commerce, Govt. of India

India is a country of almost 1.2 billion people, with enormous potential and also facing

enormous challenges. To name a few:

Poverty,

Poor Infrastructure,

Need for Energy

To meet these challenges, India is going through an ambitious transformations almost in every

sector, such as, infrastructure, energy, education, technology etc

There is no doubt that progress in India is slow, but in a democracy as diverse and complex as

India, it is not easy to get the things done quickly. It will take time, but India is hopeful that it

would be able to provide basic services to all its people, and not just to top few.

Challenges for India

Poverty in India

Poverty in India is concentrated mostly in rural areas. This is driven in large part by deeply

rooted problems and slow growth in the agricultural sector.

That’s why government is investing significant resources in rural areas (inclusive growth), to

improve the livelihood of people in rural areas. For example, in 2005, Government of India

passed an act, ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)

2005’. Also, people below poverty line (BPL), are assisted by many welfare programs.

For almost a decade now, India has been growing 6-9%. It is utmost necessary for it to keep on

growing at this rate, possibly even more, to take a major section of population out of poverty.

Source: India’s Trade Policy Choices, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2008

Transportation and Infrastructure in India

Traffic in big cities of India can be really terrible

Metro trains in Delhi has improved the traffic significantly. More than 1 million

people travel through metro trains everyday.

Government of India is spending huge in infrastructure, especially, on roads, ports, airports, power plants. It has invested $500 billion in infrastructure for the 11th five year plan (2007-12) and is poised to

spend $1 trillion for the next five year plan (2012-17).

Delhi-Noida ExpresswayNewly built Delhi International

Airport Terminal 3 (almost 3 billion USD, 500,000 sq m, 34M passengers

a year)

Local trains in Mumbai Public Buses in Delhi (All public vehicles in Delhi run on CNG, no Diesel)

Trains and buses are the backbone of transportation in India’s big cities

Energy

With expanding economy and a quest for improved quality of life, energy usage in India is

going to increase drastically.

Huge demand, limited resources, and shortage of electricity generation capacity causes

uneven distribution of electricity. Blackouts are common in many cities.

To address electricity shortage, government is taking some steps: India’s 11th five year plan

sets the goal of adding 79,000 MW by 2012. The US-India Civil Nuclear Energy Act signed

in July 2005, allows civil nuclear trade between US and India with the goal of increasing

India’s nuclear power generation capacity. India is investing significantly in renewable

energy, mainly wind energy.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

Energy Consumption Comparatively

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

Energy Use (Kg of oil equivalent per capita), 2007

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

Energy Use (kt of oil equivalent), 2007

India still has one of the

least energy consumption and CO2

emissions (per capita), among the

major developed and developing

economies of the world.

Source: The World Bank; Union of Concerned Scientists, USA

CO2 Emissions

800 KW rice husk based co-generation project for captive use by a Rice Mill,

Bamunpura, West Bengal

A wind farm with 800 KW wind turbines at Kappadgudda, Karnataka

A 14.5 MW Biomass Power at village Channu, Punjab 100 kWp Rooftop SPV system

installed at JIVA, Hyderabad

Renewable Energy

A 5 MW Small Hydro Power Project at Taraila,

Himachal Pradesh

Renewable energy use at very local level in small villages in India

Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India

A moment in India

India has seen a very significant moment in its recent history, where the Parliamentary

election of 2004 was won by the party lead by a woman of Catholic origin (Sonia Gandhi), who steps aside for a

Sikh (Dr. Manmohan Singh) to be sworn in as Prime Minister and that Prime Minister takes the oath of office

from a Muslim President (Dr. Abdul Kalam), to govern a nation whose more than 80% population is Hindu.

Hindu, 80.5%

Muslim, 13.4%

Christian, 2.3%

Sikh,1.9% Others, 1.9%

Sonia Gandhi Dr. Manmohan Singh Dr. Abdul Kalam

Thank you all so very much!!!