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Country profile: India

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Map of India

The world's largest democracy and second most populous country emerged as a major power in the 1990s. It is militarily strong  has a big cultural influence and a fast-growing and powerful economy.

A nuclear weapons state  it carried out tests in the 1970s and again in the 1990s in defiance of world opinion. However  India is still tackling huge social  economic and environmental problems.

Overview

The vast and diverse Indian sub-continent - from the mountainous Afghan frontier to the jungles of Burma - was under foreign rule from the early 1800s until the demise of the British Raj in 1947.

AT-A-GLANCE
Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, New Delhi; said to be the world's   largest Hindu temple
Economy: Fast-growing economy; large  skilled workforce but widespread poverty
Politics: 344m people voted in 2009 election - Congress-led alliance of PM Manmohan Singh won second mandate
International: Ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir region; nuclear weapons state; world's most prolific film industry - Bollywood

The subsequent partition of the sub-continent - into present-day India and Pakistan - sowed the seeds for future conflict. There have been three wars between India and its arch-rival Pakistan since 1947  two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

A peace process  which started in 2004  stayed on track despite tension over Kashmir and several high-profile bombings until the Mumbai attacks of November 2008  which police blamed on Pakistani militants. India announced that the process was on pause the following month.

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.

From the late 1980s India began to open up to the outside world  encouraging economic reform and foreign investment. It is now courted by the world's leading economic and political powers  including its one-time foe China.

The country has a burgeoning urban middle class and has made great strides in fields such as information technology. Its large  skilled workforce makes it a popular choice for international companies seeking to outsource work.

But the vast mass of the rural population remains impoverished.

Their lives continue to be influenced by the ancient Hindu caste system  which assigns each person a place in the social hierarchy. Discrimination on the basis of caste is now illegal and various measures have been introduced to empower disadvantaged groups and give them easier access to opportunities - such as education and work.

Poverty alleviation and literacy campaigns are ongoing.

Nuclear tests carried out by India in May 1998 and similar tests by Pakistan just weeks later provoked international condemnation and concern over the stability of the region.

The US quickly imposed sanctions on India  but more recently the two countries have improved their ties  and even agreed to share nuclear technology.

India launches its own satellites and in 2008 sent its first spacecraft to the moon. It also boasts a massive cinema industry  the products of which are among the most widely-watched films in the world.

 

Facts
  • Full name: Republic of India
  • Population: 1.2 billion (UN  2009)
  • Capital: New Delhi
  • Most-populated city: Mumbai (Bombay)
  • Area: 3.1 million sq km (1.2 million sq miles)  excluding Indian-administered Kashmir (100 569 sq km/38 830 sq miles)
  • Major languages: Hindi  English and at least 16 other official languages
  • Major religions: Hinduism  Islam  Christianity  Sikhism  Buddhism  Jainism
  • Life expectancy: 62 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 $1070 (World Bank  2008)
  • Internet domain: .in
  • International dialling code: +91

 

Leaders

President: Pratibha Patil

Pratibha Patil became India's first female president in July 2007  after being voted into office by members of state assemblies and the national parliament.

Pratibha Patil
President Pratibha Patil

Mrs Patil  the candidate of the ruling Congress Party  was previously the little-known governor of the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan. She drew criticism during the campaign over scandals involving family members  and over controversial remarks.

Supporters hailed her election as a victory for women  but critics wondered how much influence she would have.

India has had several women in powerful positions - most notably Indira Gandhi  one of the world's first female prime ministers in 1966 - but activists complain that women still face widespread discrimination.

Mrs Patil succeeds APJ Abdul Kalam  a scientist and the architect of the country's missile programme.

Indian presidents have few actual powers  but they can decide which party or individual should form the central government after general elections.

Prime minister: Manmohan Singh

Mr Singh became prime minister in May 2004 after the Congress Party's unexpected success in general elections.

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 origin.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
PM Singh took office after Sonia Gandhi turned down the job

Mr Singh said his priorities were to reduce poverty and to plough on with economic reforms. He stated a desire for friendly relations with India's neighbours  especially Pakistan.

During his first year in office he held together a coalition which included communist allies and ministers accused of corruption. He continued to pursue market-friendly economic policies and oversaw the introduction of nuclear non-proliferation legislation.

But his promised "New Deal" for rural India - an attempt to raise the poorest citizens out of poverty - has still to bear fruit.

Manmohan Singh's government also came under intense pressure after the Mumbai attacks of November 2008  which left nearly 200 people dead and prompted a storm of criticism of security arrangements.

However  Mr Singh's Congress-led coalition scored an emphatic victory at general elections in April and May 2009  coming within 11 seats of winning an absolute majority in parliament.

The emphatic defeat of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) confounded predictions of a close contest.

While still needing the support of some smaller parties  the government looked to be in a much stronger position to pursue economic reforms  particularly against opposition from left.

Mr Singh made his reputation as a finance minister in the early 1990s  under the Narasimha Rao government  when he was the driving force behind economic liberalisation.

When the Congress Party was voted out of office  Mr Singh became opposition leader in the upper house.

A Sikh born in West Punjab  Mr Singh is a former International Monetary Fund official and governor of India's Central Bank. He was educated at Oxford and Cambridge.

 

Media

Indian broadcasting has flourished since state TV's monopoly was broken in 1992. The array of channels is still growing.

Hand-painted Bollywood film posters, Mumbai, 2005
Billion-dollar film industry produces hundreds of movies each year

Private cable and satellite stations command large audiences. News programmes often outperform entertainment shows. Many 24-hour news channels are up and running and more are planned.

Doordarshan  the public TV  operates 21 services including its flagship DD1 channel  which reaches some 400 million viewers.

Multichannel  direct-to-home (DTH) TV has been a huge hit. Five operators - Dish TV  Tata-Sky  Sun Direct  Big TV and Airtel Digital TV - have attracted millions of subscribers. State-owned Doordarshan Direct offers a free-to-air DTH service.

Some industry sources say the number of DTH subscribers could reach 60 million by 2015. The cable TV market is one of the world's largest.

Since they were given the green light in 2000  music-based FM radio stations have proliferated in the cities. But only public All India Radio can broadcast news.

Indian newspapers
Established newspapers are slugging it out with new rivals

India's press is lively. Driven by a growing middle class  newspaper circulation has risen and new titles compete with established dailies.

Internet use has soared; by September 2007  around 60 million Indians were online (ITU figure).

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders says press freedom is threatened by "the violence of political parties as well as religious and separatist groups" (India - Annual report 2008).

The press

Television

Radio

  • All India Radio - public  operates domestic and external networks
  • Radio Mirchi - commercial network  stations in Mumbai  Delhi and other cities  mainly music  operated by The Times Group
  • Radio City - commercial  FM stations in Delhi  Mumbai and other cities  owned by News Corporation
  • Red FM - commercial  operated by India Today Group

News agency

 

 

 

 

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