1.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
2.
Yoga
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Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. There is a variety of Yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism. Among the most well-known types of yoga are Hatha yoga and Rāja yoga, the chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali date from the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Hatha yoga texts emerged around the 11th century with origins in tantra. Yoga gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west, following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th, in the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world. Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more physical exercise, it has a meditative. One of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism is also called Yoga, which has its own epistemology and metaphysics. Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as an intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma. On December 1,2016, Yoga was listed as UNESCO’s Intangible cultural heritage, in Sanskrit, the word yoga comes from the root yuj which means to add, to join, to unite, or to attach in its most common senses. By figurative extension from the yoking or harnessing of oxen or horses, all further developments of the sense of this word are post-Vedic. More prosaic moods such as exertion, endeavour, zeal, there are very many compound words containing yoga in Sanskrit. Yoga can take on such as connection, contact, union, method, application, addition. In simpler words, Yoga also means combined, thus, bhaktiyoga means devoted attachment in the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriyāyoga has a sense, meaning connection with a verb. But the same compound is given a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras, designating the practical aspects of the philosophy. In the context of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the root yuj samādhau is considered by commentators as the correct etymology. In accordance with Pāṇini, Vyasa who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras, according to Dasgupta, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga or yuj samādhau. Someone who practices yoga or follows the philosophy with a high level of commitment is called a yogi or yogini
3.
Mentorship
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Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The mentor may be older or younger than the person being mentored and it is a learning and development partnership between someone with vast experience and someone who wants to learn. The person in receipt of mentorship may be referred to as a protégé, a protégée, an apprentice or, in the 2000s, the mentor may be referred to as a godfather/godmother or a rabbi. Mentoring is a process always involves communication and is relationship-based. Mentoring in Europe has existed since at least Ancient Greek times, the roots of the practice are lost in antiquity. The word itself was inspired by the character of Mentor in Homers Odyssey, though the actual Mentor in the story is a somewhat ineffective old man, the goddess Athena takes on his appearance in order to guide young Telemachus in his time of difficulty. Mainstream business literature subsequently adopted the terms and concepts, promoting them as pathways to success for all career climbers, in 1970 these terms were not in the general American vocabulary, by the mid-1990s they had become part of everyday speech. The focus of mentoring is to develop the person and so the techniques are broad. Sowing, mentors are often confronted with the difficulty of preparing the learner before he or she is ready to change. Sowing is necessary when you know that what you say may not be understood or even acceptable to learners at first, catalyzing, when change reaches a critical level of pressure, learning can escalate. Here the mentor chooses to plunge the learner right into change, provoking a different way of thinking, showing, this is making something understandable, or using your own example to demonstrate a skill or activity. You show what you are talking about, you show by your own behavior, harvesting, here the mentor focuses on picking the ripe fruit, it is usually used to create awareness of what was learned by experience and to draw conclusions. The key questions here are, What have you learned, leadership authors Jim Kouzes and Barry Z. Multiple mentors, A new and upcoming trend is having multiple mentors and this can be helpful because we can all learn from each other. Having more than one mentor will widen the knowledge of the person being mentored, there are different mentors who may have different strengths. Profession or trade mentor, This is someone who is currently in the trade/profession you are entering and they know the trends, important changes and new practices that you should know to stay at the top of your career. A mentor like this would be someone you can discuss ideas regarding the field, industry mentor, This is someone who doesnt just focus on the profession. This mentor will be able to give insight on the industry as a whole, whether it be research, development or key changes in the industry, you need to know
4.
Indira Gandhi
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Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was an Indian politician and central figure of the Indian National Congress party, and to date the only female Prime Minister of India. Indira Gandhi was the daughter of Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, despite her surname Gandhi, she is not related to the family of nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi. She served as Prime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and then again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984, Gandhi served as her fathers personal assistant and hostess during his tenure as prime minister between 1947 and 1964. She was elected Congress President in 1959, upon her fathers death in 1964, Gandhi refused to enter the Congress party leadership contest and instead chose to become a cabinet minister in the government led by Lal Bahadur Shastri. As the Prime Minister of India, Gandhi was known for her political ruthlessness, Gandhi also presided over a controversial state of emergency from 1975 to 1977 during which she ruled by decree. Akin to Mahatma Gandhis fate, she was assassinated by nationalists in 1984. The assassins, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, were both killed, in 1999, Indira was named Woman of the Millennium in a poll organised by the BBC. Indira Gandhi was born as Indira Nehru in a Kashmiri Pandit family on 19 November 1917 in Allahabad and her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a leading figure in Indias political struggle for independence from British rule, and became the first Prime Minister of the Union of India. She was the child, and grew up with her mother, Kamala Nehru, at the Anand Bhavan. She had a lonely and unhappy childhood and her father was often away, directing political activities or incarcerated, while her mother was frequently bed-ridden with illness, and later suffered an early death from tuberculosis. She had limited contact with her father, mostly through letters, Indira was mostly taught at home by tutors, and intermittently attended school until matriculation in 1934. It was during her interview that Rabindranath Tagore named her Priyadarshini, a year later, however, she had to leave university to attend to her ailing mother in Europe. While there, it was decided that Indira would continue her education at the University of Oxford, after her mother died, she briefly attended the Badminton School before enrolling at Somerville College in 1937 to study history. Indira had to take the entrance examination twice, having failed at her first attempt with a performance in Latin. At Oxford, she did well in history, political science and economics and she did, however, have an active part within the student life of the university, such as the Oxford Majlis Asian Society. During her time in Europe, Indira was plagued with ill-health and was attended by doctors. She had to make repeated trips to Switzerland to recover, disrupting her studies and she was being treated there in 1940, when the Nazi armies rapidly conquered Europe. Gandhi tried to return to England through Portugal but was stranded for nearly two months
5.
President of India
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The President of the Republic of India is the Head of State of India and the Commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The oath of the President is taken in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, the President resides in an estate known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan situated in Raisina Hill in New Delhi. The presidential retreats are The Retreat in Chharabra, Shimla and Rashtrapati Nilayam in Hyderabad, the 13th and current President is Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected on 22 July 2012, and sworn in on 25 July 2012. He is also the first Bengali to be elected as President, India achieved independence from the British on 15 August 1947, initially as a Dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations with George VI as king, represented in the country by a governor-general. Still, following this, the Constituent Assembly of India, under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Constitution of India was eventually enacted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950, making India a republic. The offices of monarch and governor-general were replaced by the new office of President of India, the constitution of the Republic of India gave the President the responsibility and authority to defend and protect the constitution of India and its rule of law. Invariably, any action taken by the executive or legislature entities of the constitution shall become law only after Presidents assent, the president shall not accept any actions of the executive or legislature which are unconstitutional. The president is the foremost, most empowered and prompt defender of the constitution, the primary duty of the President is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law of India as made part of his oath. The President is the head of all independent constitutional entities. All his actions, recommendations and supervisory powers over the executive and legislative entities of India shall be used in accordance to uphold the constitution, there is no bar on the actions of the President to contest in the court of law. Legislative power is vested by the Parliament of India of which the president is the head. The President of the Republic summons both the Houses of the Parliament and prorogues them and he can dissolve the Lok Sabha. The President inaugurates Parliament by addressing it after the general elections, the Presidential address on these occasions is generally meant to outline the new policies of the government. All bills passed by the Parliament can become laws only after receiving the assent of the President per Article 111, after a bill is presented to him, the President shall declare either that he assents to the Bill, or that he withholds his assent from it. As a third option, he can return a bill to Parliament, if it is not a money bill, when, after reconsideration, the bill is passed accordingly and presented to the President, with or without amendments, the President cannot withhold his assent from it. Article 143 gave power to the president to consult the Supreme Court about the validity of any issue. These are in the nature of interim or temporary legislation and their continuance is subject to parliamentary approval, ordinances remain valid for no more than six weeks from the date the Parliament is convened unless approved by it earlier. Re-promulgation of ordinances after failing to get approval within stipulated time of the houses of parliament is unconstitutional act by the President
6.
Delhi Republic Day parade
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Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important parade that marks the Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Rajpath and it is the main attraction of Indias Republic Day Celebrations, which extends for 3 days. The parade showcases Indias defence capability and its cultural and social heritage, to mark the importance of the Republic Day, every year a grand parade is held in the capital, New Delhi, from the Raisina Hill Rashtrapati Bhavan, along the Rajpath, past India Gate. It is a reminder of the sacrifice of the martyrs who died for the country in the freedom movement. Thereafter he/she reaches the main dais at Rajpath to join other dignitaries and they are escorted on horseback by the Presidents Bodyguard. First, the president unfurls the National flag, as the National Anthem is played, next, important awards like the Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra are given away by the President, before the regiments of Armed Forces start their march past. Children who receive the National Bravery Award ride past the spectators on colourfully decorated elephants or vehicles, nine to twelve different regiments of the Indian Army in addition to the Navy, and Air Force with their bands march past in all their finery and official decorations. The President of India who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces, takes the salute, twelve contingents of various para-military forces of India and other civil forces also take part in this parade. One of the sights of the parade is the camel mounted Border Security Force contingent. Cadets, selected from all over the country consider it an honour to participate in this event, as do the school children from various schools in the capital. They spend many days preparing for the event and no expense is spared to see that every detail is taken care of, from their practice for the drills, the essential props and their uniforms. These moving exhibits depict scenes of activities of people in those states, each display brings out the diversity and richness of the culture of India and the whole show lends a festive air to the occasion. Around 1200 schoolchildren present cultural dances as part of the parade, the 2016 Republic Day marked the return of K-9 Dog Squad to the parade after 26 years. Every part of the country is represented in the parade, which makes the Republic Day parade very popular, a full dress rehearsal Parade is also organized on 23 January every year to take stock of the preparedness. The Beating Retreat ceremony officially denotes the end of Republic Day festivities and it is conducted on the evening of 29 January, the third day after the Republic Day. It is performed by the bands of the three wings of the military, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. The venue is Raisina Hills and an adjacent square, Vijay Chowk, the Chief Guest of the function is the President of India who arrives escorted by the, a cavalry unit. Since 1950, India has been hosting a head of state or government of another country as the state guest of honour for Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi, during 1950–1954, Republic Day celebrations were organised at different venues
7.
Sushmita Sen
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Sushmita Sen is an Indian film actress, model and the winner of the Miss Universe pageant of 1994. Sen was the first Indian to win the crown, after completing her reign, Sen went on to pursue Bollywood. She started her career with the Hindi film, Dastak and she rose to stardom with the Tamil musical Ratchagan opposite Nagarjuna, later, she attained commercial and critical recognition for her roles in Sirf Tum and the comedy Biwi No.1. The latter earned her the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award and she has also acted in commercially successful films such as Aankhen, Main Hoon Na – her biggest commercial success so far — and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. She received critical acclaim for her roles in films such as Filhaal. Samay, When Time Strikes, Chingaari, Zindaggi Rocks, Aag, Sen was born into a Bengali family in Hyderabad. Her parents are Shuber Sen, a former Indian Air Force Wing Commander, and Subhra Sen and she has two siblings, a sister named Neelam and a brother named Rajeev. She has attended Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute in New Delhi and St. Anns High School in Secunderabad, Sushmita Sen challenged Indian social taboos by adopting a baby girl named Renée in 2000. As a single woman of only 25 years of age, it was not viewed as acceptable for her to obtain the guardianship of the baby. However, the High Court of Bombay quashed the appeal and granted her custody, on 13 January 2010, she adopted a three-month-old girl, Alisah. In 1994, as a teenager, Sen won the title of Femina Miss India, Sen then won the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant, held in Manila, Philippines, representing India. At the Miss Universe contest, Sen ranked third overall in the preliminaries, right behind preliminary winner Miss Colombia Carolina Gómez, Sen went on to place second, fifth and third in the forthcoming rounds, and finally winning the overall competition. After Femina Miss India relinquished the rights to choose the Indian representative to Miss Universe, Sens project I Am She – Miss Universe India, from 2013 onward, Femina was awarded the contract back once again. As a celebration of 65th Miss Universe,23 years after winning the pageant, she returned to Manila, Philippines, in January 2017, the pagent took place at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines on January 30,2017. Joining her as judges were Cynthia Bailey, Mickey Boardman, Francine LaFrak, Miss Universe 2011 Leila Lopes, after her reign as Miss Universe, Sushmita became an actress. Her first film, Dastak was in 1996, in which she played the victim of a stalker played by Sharad Kapoor, mukul Dev starred as the lead actor. She then starred in the 1997 Tamil, action film Ratchagan, two years later her appearance as Rupali in David Dhawans movie Biwi No.1 won her the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award in 1999. Biwi No.1 was the second highest-grossing movie of 1999, the same year, she was also nominated for her role in Sirf Tum in the same category
8.
Aishwarya Rai
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Aishwarya Rai, also known by her married name Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant. Through her successful acting career, she has established herself as one of the most popular, Rai has received numerous awards and accolades, including two Filmfare Awards from eleven nominations, and she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009. She has often called the most beautiful woman in the world. While in college, Rai did a few modelling jobs, following appearances in several television commercials, she entered the Miss India pageant, in which she placed second. She was then crowned Miss World 1994, after which she began receiving offers to act in film and she made her acting debut in Mani Ratnams 1997 Tamil film Iruvar and had her first Hindi film release in Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya that same year. Rai married actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007 with whom she has one daughter and her off-screen roles include duties as a brand ambassador for several charity organisations and campaigns. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS, in 2003, she was the first Indian actress to be a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival. Rai was born into a Tulu-speaking Bunt family in Mangaluru, Karnataka and her father, Krishnaraj who passed away on 18 March 2017, was an Army biologist, while her mother, Brinda, is a homemaker. She has one brother, Aditya Rai, who is an engineer in the merchant navy. Rais movie Dil Ka Rishta was co-produced by her brother and co-written by her mother, the family moved to Mumbai, where Rai attended the Arya Vidya Mandir High School. Rai did her schooling at Jai Hind College for a year. She trained in dance and music for five years during her teens. Her favourite subject was zoology, so she initially considered a career in medicine, then with plans to become an architect, she enrolled at Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, but later gave up her education to pursue a career in modelling. In 1991, Rai won an international supermodel contest and was featured in the American edition of Vogue. In 1993, Rai gained huge public recognition for her appearance in a Pepsi commercial with actors Aamir Khan, the single line – Hi, Im Sanjana, of her dialogue in the commercial made her instantly famous. With Sen representing India at the Miss Universe pageant, Rais duties as the first runner-up included representing India in the rival Miss World Pageant, held that year in Sun City, South Africa. She went on to win the crown where she won the Miss Photogenic award. After winning the pageant, Rai spoke of her dream for peace for this world, Rai continued to pursue a career as a model until she became an actress
9.
New Delhi
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New Delhi is the capital of India and one of Delhi citys 11 districts. The National Capital Region is a larger entity comprising the entire National Capital Territory along with adjoining districts. The foundation stone of the city was laid by George V and it was designed by British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker. The new capital was inaugurated on 13 February 1931, by Viceroy, New Delhi has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister of India Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Calcutta was the capital of India during the British Raj until December 1911, Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient India and the Delhi Sultanate, most notably of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire, as India was officially named, from Calcutta on the east coast, to Delhi. The Government of British India felt that it would be easier to administer India from Delhi in the centre of northern India. The land for building the new city of Delhi was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The foundation stone of New Delhi was laid by King George V and Queen Mary at the site of Delhi Durbar of 1911 at Kingsway Camp on 15 December 1911, during their imperial visit. Large parts of New Delhi were planned by Edwin Lutyens, who first visited Delhi in 1912, the contract was given to Sobha Singh. The original plan called for its construction in Tughlaqabad, inside the Tughlaqabad fort, construction really began after World War I and was completed by 1931. The city that was later dubbed Lutyens Delhi was inaugurated in ceremonies beginning on 10 February 1931 by Lord Irwin, Lutyens designed the central administrative area of the city as a testament to Britains imperial aspirations. Soon Lutyens started considering other places, however, it was rejected by the Viceroy when the cost of acquiring the necessary properties was found to be too high. The central axis of New Delhi, which faces east at India Gate, was previously meant to be a north-south axis linking the Viceroys House at one end with Paharganj at the other. During the projects early years, many believed it was a gate from Earth to Heaven itself. Eventually, owing to space constraints and the presence of a number of heritage sites in the North side. A site atop the Raisina Hill, formerly Raisina Village, a Meo village, was chosen for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, then known as the Viceroys House. The reason for this choice was that the hill lay directly opposite the Dinapanah citadel, which was considered the site of Indraprastha
10.
Guru
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Guru is a Sanskrit term that connotes someone who is a teacher, guide, expert, or master of certain knowledge or field. The term also refers to someone who primarily is ones spiritual guide, the oldest references to the concept of guru are found in the earliest Vedic texts of Hinduism. These gurus led broad ranges of studies including Hindu scriptures, Buddhist texts, grammar, philosophy, martial arts, music, the tradition of guru is also found in Jainism, referring to a spiritual preceptor, a role typically served by a Jain ascetic. In Sikhism, the tradition has played a key role since its founding in the 15th century, its founder is referred to as Guru Nanak. The guru concept has thrived in Vajrayāna Buddhism, where the guru is considered a figure to worship. The word guru, a noun, connotes teacher in Sanskrit, but in Indian traditions it has contextual meanings with significance beyond what teacher means in English. The word has the meaning in other languages derived from or borrowing words from Sanskrit, such as Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Bengali, Gujarati. The Malayalam term Acharyan or Asan are derived from the Sanskrit word Acharya, as a noun the word means the imparter of knowledge. The word has its roots in the Sanskrit gri, and may have a connection to the word gur, meaning to raise, lift up, Sanskrit guru is cognate with Latin gravis heavy, grave, weighty, serious and Greek βαρύς barus heavy. All three derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷerə-, specifically from the zero-grade form *gʷr̥ə-, another etymological theory considers the term guru to be based on the syllables gu and ru, which it claims stands for darkness and light that dispels it, respectively. The guru is seen as the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance, reender Kranenborg disagrees, stating that darkness and light have nothing to do with the word guru. He describes this as a folk etymology, karen Pechelis states that, in the popular parlance, the dispeller of darkness, one who points the way definition for guru is common in the Indian tradition. The Guru is an ancient and central figure in the traditions of Hinduism, at a social and religious level, the Guru helps continue the religion and Hindu way of life. Guru thus has a historic, reverential and an important role in the Hindu culture, the word Guru is mentioned in the earliest layer of Vedic texts. The hymn 4.5.6 of Rigveda, for example, states Joel Mlecko, describes the guru as, the source and inspirer of the knowledge of the Self, the Upanishads, that is the later layers of the Vedic text, mention guru. Chandogya Upanishad, in chapter 4.4 for example, declares that it is only through guru that one attains the knowledge that matters, the Katha Upanisad, in verse 1.2.8 declares the guru as indispensable to the acquisition of knowledge. In the Taittiriya Upanishad, the guru then urges a student, states Mlecko, to struggle, discover and experience the Truth, the 8th century Hindu text Upadesasahasri of the Advaita Vedanta philosopher Adi Shankara discusses the role of the guru in assessing and guiding students. In Chapter 1, he states that teacher is the pilot as the student walks in the journey of knowledge and he should also thoroughly impress upon the student qualities like humility, which are the means to knowledge
