1.
Metropolis
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The term is Greek and means the mother city of a colony, that is, the city which sent out settlers. This was later generalized to a city regarded as a center of an activity, or any large. A big city belonging to an urban agglomeration, but which is not the core of that agglomeration, is not generally considered a metropolis. The plural of the word is most commonly metropolises, although the correct plural is metropoles, in the ancient past, metropolis was the designation for a city or state of origin of a colony. Many large cities founded by ancient civilizations have been considered important world metropoles of their times due to their large populations, some of these ancient metropoles survived until the modern days and are among the worlds oldest continuously inhabited cities. This usage equates the province with the diocese or episcopal see, in modern usage the word has come to refer to a metropolitan area, a set of adjacent and interconnected cities clustered around a major urban center. In this sense, metropolitan usually means spanning the whole metropolis or proper of a metropolis, the concept of a global city is of a city that has a direct and tangible effect on global affairs through socioeconomic means. The term has become familiar, because of the rise of globalization. An attempt to define and categorize world cities by financial criteria was made by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, the study ranked cities based on their provision of advanced producer services such as accountancy, advertising, finance and law. The inventory identifies three levels of cities and several sub-ranks. A metropolis is not necessarily a global city—or, being one, it not be among the top-ranking—due to its standards of living, development. A metropolis that is also a city is a global metropolis. Cairo and Alexandria are considered Egypts biggest metropolis, lagos is Nigerias biggest metropolis city. In South Africa, a municipality or Category A municipality is a municipality which executes all the functions of local government for a conurbation. This is by contrast to areas which are rural, where the local government is divided into district municipalities. There are eight municipalities in South Africa. In the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, there are eleven metropolitan areas, Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Gazipur Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barisal, lands are highly priced and residents are considered to have a better urban lifestyle. Special police departments are allotted for the cities, and there are city corporations for which mayors are elected for five-year regimes
2.
The Doon School
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The Doon School is a boys-only independent boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. It was founded in 1935 by Satish Ranjan Das, a Kolkata lawyer and he prevised a school modelled on the British public school, but alive to Indian ambitions and desires. The present headmaster is Peter McLaughlin, who has occupied the post since 2009 and is the headmaster of the school. He is a member of Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference, the school is a member of G20 Schools and Round Square group. Doon houses roughly 500 pupils aged 13 to 18, admission to the school is based on a competitive entrance examination and an interview. Every year in January and April, the school admits pupils aged 13 in Grade 7, Doon pupils take the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education in tenth grade and are thereafter offered two strands for the final two years, International Baccalaureate or Indian School Certificate. The school began offering the IB curriculum only in 2006, before which all pupils had to sit the ISC examinations in twelfth grade, Doon has consistently been ranked the best residential school of India by media such as BBC, The Times of India and Outlook. Doon remains a boys-only school despite continued pressure from leaders, including President Pratibha Patil. Old boys of the school are known as Doscos. Although the total number of Doscos is relatively small, they some of Indias most prominent politicians, government officials. The best known alumnus is former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and he decided to name the new school Doon, as it was situated in the Doon Valley. He travelled widely in India with the goal of collecting ₹4 millions, but at the time of his death had raised only ₹1 million in cash and a further ₹1 million in promises. With the money, Das formed the Indian Public Schools Society, under the IPSS, a Board of Governors supervises all matters of Doon. Jawaharlal Nehru encouraged a move towards establishing the school, but Mahatma Gandhi would have nothing to do with it. After the death of Das in 1928, the IPSS accomplished little, sir Frank Noyce also joined the team. Lord Halifax, then President of the British Board of Education, led a committee that nominated Arthur E. Foot. On 27 October 1935, the Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, presided over the opening of the school. Seventy boys enrolled in the first term, and 110 more signed up for the second, Kashmir House, after Maharajah Hari Singh, then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, promised a contribution of ₹100,000, which was delivered in 1935
3.
Dehradun Airport
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Dehradun Airport is a domestic airport located about 22 km southeast of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, the airport resumed commercial operations on 30 March 2008 after an extension to accommodate larger aircraft. A new terminal building was inaugurated in February 2009, located 20 km from Rishikesh, and 30 km from Haridwar, the airport allows easy access to the region. It is approximately a 20 minutes drive to Rishikesh and 45 minutes to Haridwar from Dehradun, Jolly Grant airport became the center of operations for rescue effort in evacuating pilgrims from Kedarnath and the surrounding pilgrimage sites during the 2013 Uttarakhand floods. The airport was constructed in 1974, vayudoot operated scheduled services to New Delhi, Lucknow and Pantnagar from 1982 to 1995. Air Deccan started flights between Dehradun and New Delhi in December 2004 and added a daily flight from August 2006. The Airport Authority of India suspended flight operations at the airport from 1 March 2007 in order to execute its airport modernization plan. The runway was extended from 3,500 feet to 7,000 feet and also broadened from 23 metres to 45 metres to enable the landing of narrow body jets like the Boeing 737 and the Airbus 320. A night landing system was installed and a new terminal building, the expansion work was expected to cost ₹720 million and was to be completed by the end of 2007. However, it took a few more and scheduled flights resumed only in March 2008 with Air Deccan re-launching its flights. Jet Airways and Air India both launched their Delhi to Dehradun services on 28 January 2010, followed by SpiceJet in 2012, in mid-2016, Jet Airways launched daily nonstop Mumbai-Dehradun-Mumbai flights. The Terminal has peak hour passenger handling capacity of 150 passengers and it has 4 check-in counters, an X-ray baggage scanner,3 Security check booths in the Departures section and 2 Baggage claim conveyor belts in the Arrivals section. Its adjoining airport apron can accommodate 2 Category C’ type of aircraft, list of airports in India Jolly Grant Airport Airport information for VIDN at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006
4.
Doon Valley
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The Doon Valley is an unusually wide, long valley within the Shivalik Hills in the Lower Himalayas, in the state of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, India. Within the valley lies the city of Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand state, Doon or Dun is a local word for valley, particularly an open valley in the Shivaliks or between the Shivaliks and higher Himalayan foothills. Other valleys in this region have names like Patli Dun, Kothri Dun, such valleys are termed Inner Terai in Nepal. IT IS75 KM LONG The Doon valley lies between two intermittent ranges of the Himalayas. It is bounded on all sides by mountains, with one running from the west to the east in a semi-circular arc. The valley also forms a watershed between the Yamuna and Ganges river systems, in fact the Yamuna and Ganges are closest to each other as they pass the Doon valley, with the Yamuna forming the western boundary and the Ganges the east. Kalesar National Park and Jaunsar-Bawar region lie within the valley as well, Dehradun Narendra Nagar Paonta Sahib List of valleys of India Inner Terai Valleys of Nepal The Doon valley across the years, by Ganesh Saili. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
5.
Landour
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Landour, a small cantonment town contiguous with Mussoorie, is about 35 km from the city of Dehradun in the northern state of Uttarakhand in India. The twin towns of Mussoorie and Landour, together, are a well-known British Raj-era hill station in northern India, Mussoorie-Landour was widely known as the Queen of the Hills. The name Landour is drawn from Llanddowror, a village in Carmarthenshire in southwest Wales, during the Raj, it was common to give nostalgic English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish names to ones home, reflecting ones ethnicity. Names drawn from literary works were common, as from those by Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson. Landour is located in the Lower Western Himalaya, in the Mussoorie Range, on average, Landour is about 984 ft above Mussoorie, which itself is mostly at an altitude of 6,800 to 7,798 ft. The town lies largely on an east-west ridge, with a prominent southerly spur connecting its western end to Mussoorie, the altitude differential, aided by Landour being partly Tibet-facing, has a marked effect on the temperature, which can be 2−3 °C lower than in Mussoorie. During the monsoon, Landour receives almost daily rainfall, often heavy, additionally, pre- and post-monsoon showers mean a rainy season that can run from May to September, though it can be shorter. Before the rains arrive, April–May is the warmest period, with the rising to over 30 °C. on hotter days. December to February is downright cold, especially if one does not receive direct sunlight. It can snow anywhere between 3 and 15 times in the winter, at times heavily, in a given year Landour receives perhaps twice the snow that Mussoorie does, it also takes longer to melt especially on the north-facing slopes. If one travels the 290 km to Landour from New Delhi by train or bus, buses and taxis, and even shared taxis, are easily available. There are also buses from New Delhi, and one can easily negotiate with taxis at any of New Delhis railway stations or at the Delhi airport. One can also fly from Delhi in just 40 min to Jolly Grant Airport east of Dehradun, which saves a lot of time, east of Landour lie the small hamlet of Dhanaulti and the Surkhanda Devi temple, further east are Kanatal, Tehri and Chamba. And to the West lie the tourist trap of Kempty Falls, the town of Chakrata. Landour is within Dehradun District of the former United Provinces, Landour was initially built by and for the British Indian Army. From 1827 when a sanatorium was built in Landour, the town was a convalescent station for the military, the original sanatorium is now occupied by the Institute of Technology Management of the DRDO, it is at the eastern end of the Landour ridge. In the early 20th century, a full British Military Hospital was opened, with a staff that specialized in tropical diseases. Also within the ITM premises is the former Soldiers Furlough Home, or, the holidaying soldiers were serving in British regiments on rotation in India, their tours of duty lasting anywhere from 6 to 48 months
6.
Indian Military Academy
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The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun is the officer training Academy of the Indian Army. During the Indian independence struggle, Indian leaders recognized the need for a military institution to meet the needs of an armed force loyal to sovereign India. The British Raj was reluctant to commission Indian officers or to local officer training. Until World War I Indians were not eligible for commission as officers in the Indian Army, in 1922 the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College was set up in Dehraadun to prepare young Indians for admission to Sandhurst. The Indianisation of the Army started with the commissioning of 31 Indian officers, despite demands, the British resisted expansion of the Indian officer cadre. Indian leaders then pressed for the issue at the first Round Table Conference in 1930, eventually, the establishment of an Indian officer training college was one of the few concessions made at the conference. Brigadier L. P. Collins was appointed the first Commandant, the institute was inaugurated on 10 December 1932, at the end of the first term by Field Marshal Chetwode. In 1934, before the first batch had passed out, then Viceroy Lord Willingdon presented colours to the academy on behalf of George V, through the first 16 regular courses that passed out of the academy, until May 1941,524 officers were commissioned. But the outbreak of the Second World War resulted in an increase in the number of entrants, a temporary reduction in the training period to six months. 3887 officers were commissioned between August 1941 and January 1946, including 710 British officers for the British Army, the academy reverted to its original two and a half year course of training at the end of the war. Following the independence of India in August 1947, a number of trainers and cadets left for Britain, brigadier Thakur Mahadeo Singh, DSO, was appointed the first Indian Commandant of the academy. In the interim, they decided to conduct Joint Services training at the IMA, the IMA was renamed the Armed Forces Academy and a new Joint Services Wing was commissioned on 1 January 1949, while training of Army officers continued in the Military Wing. The academy was renamed as the National Defence Academy on 1 January 1950, in December 1954, when the new Joint Services training academy was established in Khadakwasla, near Pune, the NDA name along with the Joint Services Wing was transferred to Khadakwasla. The academy in Dehradun was then rechristened as Military College, khanna, MVC was the first IMA alumni to be appointed Commandant of the IMA at the end of 1956. In 1960, the academy was renamed back to its founding name, on 10 December 1962, on the 30th anniversary of the academys inauguration, the second President of India, Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, presented new colours to the academy. From 1963 until August 1964, following the Sino-Indian War, the duration of regular classes was truncated, emergency courses were initiated, however, unlike previous wars, the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 and that of 1971 did not disrupt academy training or graduation schedules. On 15 December 1976, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed presented new colours to the IMA, in 1977, the Army Cadet College was moved from Pune to Dehradun as a wing of the IMA. In 2006, the ACC was merged into the IMA as its Siachen Battalion, the academy is located in the foothills of the Himalayas, about 8 km west of Dehradun in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand
7.
Forest Research Institute (India)
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The Forest Research Institute is an institute of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education and is a premier institution in the field of forestry research in India. It is located at Dehradun in Uttarakhand, and is one of the oldest institutions of its kind, in 1991, it was declared a deemed university by the University Grants Commission. The Forest Research Institute campus hosts the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy and it was founded in 1878 as the British Imperial Forest School. In 1906, it was reestablished as the Imperial Forest Research Institute, the Indian Forest College was established in 1938, officers recruited to the Superior Forest Service by the states and provinces were trained there. Established as Imperial Forest Research Institute in 1906, the Forest Research Institute Dehradun, was first located at Chandhbagh on the Mall Road, a much larger campus at the present location was acquired ca 1923. Construction of the present buildings commenced thereafter, styled in Greeko Roman Architecture by C. G. Blomfield, the building was inaugurated in 1929 by then Viceroy Willingdon. It is now a National Heritage site, FRI Dehradun is one of the oldest institutions of its kind and acclaimed the world over. The institute’s history is synonymous with the evolution and development of scientific forestry, not only in India. The building was listed for a time, in the Guinness Book of Records and it is 7 km from Clock Tower, on the Dehradun-Chakrata motorable road and is of the biggest forest based training institute in India. Most of the forest officers are a part of this institute, the FRIs building also houses a Botanical Museum. FRI and College Area campus is a town, between Kashmir in the north and the Indian Military Academy to the south. The Tons River forms its Western Boundary, within its campus it hosts Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, which is a separate organisation of the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests. It also hosts the Central Academy for State Forest Services, the Wildlife Institute of India was on campus but now has moved to Chandrabani, and is an independent organisation under MoEF. IIFM is an independent autonomous organisation of MoEF and has good liaisoning with FRI for forestry research, the deemed university of FRI runs four MSc courses viz. Cellulose & Paper Technology, Environment Management, Forestry Management, Wood Science Technology and it also enrolls large number of research scholars every year for PhD. FRI also contains a museum on forestry and it is open from 9, 30am to 5, 00pm daily, which an entry fee of Rs 25 per person and a nominal entry fee for vehicles. 404, Paan Singh Tomar, Nanban, Student of the Year, Dilli Khabar, Yaara, television commercial ad of Bournvita was also shot here
8.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
9.
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
10.
States and union territories of India
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India is a federal union comprising twenty-nine states and seven union territories. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and further into smaller administrative divisions, the Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any State between the Union and that State. The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by different ethnic groups throughout its history. Between 1947 and 1950, the territories of the states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, the new republic was also declared to be a Union of States. The nine Part A states were Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India, the Part B states were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin. The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners provinces and some states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Cutch, Manipur, Tripura, the only Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government. The Union Territory of Puducherry was created in 1954 comprising the previous French enclaves of Pondichéry, Karaikal, Yanam, Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras State. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised the states based on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states, as a result of this act, Madras State retained its name with Kanyakumari district added to from Travancore-Cochin. Andhra Pradesh was created with the merger of Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State in 1956, kerala was created with the merger of Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara districts of Madras State with Travancore-Cochin. The Laccadive Islands which were divided between South Canara and Malabar districts of Madras State were united and organised into the territory of Lakshadweep. Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra State and Kutch State, Rajasthan and Punjab gained territories from Ajmer and Patiala and East Punjab States Union respectively and certain territories of Bihar was transferred to West Bengal. Bombay State was split into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963, the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and the transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. The act also designated Chandigarh as a territory and the shared capital of Punjab
11.
Uttarakhand
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Uttarakhand, officially the State of Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Devbhumi due to many Hindu temples, Uttarakhand is known for its natural beauty of the Himalayas, the Bhabhar and the Terai. On 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand became the 27th state of the Republic of India, being created from the Himalayan, the state is divided into two divisions, Garhwal and Kumaon, with a total of 13 districts. The interim capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun, the largest city in the region, the High Court of the state is in Nainital. Archaeological evidence supports the existence of humans in the region since prehistoric times, the region formed a part of the Kuru and the Panchal kingdoms during the Vedic age of Ancient India. Among the first major dynasties of Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century BCE who practised a form of Shaivism. Ashokan edicts at Kalsi show the presence of Buddhism in this region. During the medieval period, the region was consolidated under the Kumaon Kingdom, in 1816, most of modern Uttarakhand was ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli. The natives of the state are generally called Uttarakhandi, or more specifically either Garhwali or Kumaoni by their region of origin, according to the 2011 Census of India, Uttarakhand has a population of 10,116,752, making it the 19th most populous state in India. Uttarakhands name is derived from the Sanskrit words uttara meaning north, the name finds mention in early Hindu scriptures as the combined region of Kedarkhand and Manaskhand. Uttarakhand was also the ancient Puranic term for the stretch of the Indian Himalayas. Chosen for its allegedly less separatist connotations, the name change generated enormous controversy among many activists for a separate state who saw it as a political act, the name Uttarakhand remained popular in the region, even while Uttaranchal was promulgated through official usage. In August 2006, Union Cabinet of India assented to the demands of the Uttaranchal state assembly, legislation to that effect was passed by the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in October 2006, and the Union Cabinet brought in the bill in the winter session of Parliament. The bill was passed by Parliament and signed into law by then President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in December 2006, and since January 1,2007 the state has been known as Uttarakhand. Ancient rock paintings, rock shelters, paleolithic stone tools, there are also archaeological remains which show the existence of early Vedic practices in the area. The Pauravas, Kushanas, Kunindas, Guptas, Gurjara-Pratihara, Katyuris, Raikas, Palas, Chands, Parmars or Panwars, at that time, present-day Uttarakhand also served as a habitat for Rishis and Sadhus. It is believed that the sage Vyasa scripted the Hindu epic Mahabharata in the state, among the first major dynasties of Garhwal and Kumaon were the Kunindas in the 2nd century BCE who practised an early form of Shaivism and traded salt with Western Tibet. It is evident from the Ashokan edict at Kalsi in Western Garhwal that Buddhism made inroads in this region, folk shamanic practices deviating from Hindu orthodoxy also persisted here
12.
Dehradun district
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Dehradun district is a district of Uttarakhand state in northern India. The district headquarters is Dehradun, which has served as the provisional capital of Uttaranchal since its founding in 2000. The district has 6 tehsils,6 community development blocks,17 towns and 764 inhabited villages, as of 2011 it is the second most populous district of Uttarakhand, after Haridwar. Dehradun district also includes the prominent towns of Rishikesh, Mussoorie, Landour, the district stretches from the Ganges river in the east to the Yamuna river in the west, and from the Terai and Shivaliks in the south and southeast to the Great Himalaya in the northwest. Dehradun is located 230 km from the capital, Delhi. The national Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Survey of India, basmati rice, tea and litchi orchards are some of the major agricultural crops. Dehradun includes various Puranic stories and cultures and it is mentioned in the Ramayana that Lord Rama, along with brother Lakshmana, came to the area after defeating Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka. The area is linked to Dronacharya, the guru of the Kauravas and Pandavas in the Mahabharata. The area of Rishikesh is mentioned in the Skanda Purana as having given to rishis by Lord Vishnu after killing the asuras Madhu-Kaitabh. Ancient temples, statues and archaeological remains have been found at the sites in and around the area that are mentioned in the Ramayana and these remains have been dated to be approximately 2000 years old. The Pandavas held influence over the region after the battle of the Mahabharata, the discovery of Ashokan edicts at Kalsi near Dehradun show that the area was quite prosperous. Huen Tsang also observed Kalsi as Sudhnagar in the 7th century AD, archaeological remains from the time of Raja Rasaal have been found at Haripur near Kalsi. The area was attacked by Mahmud Ghaznavi, Timur in 1368 and he founded his own Udasi Panth and received support from Auragnzeb. Rohilla chieftain Najeebuchhaula in 1757 and Ghulam Qadir in 1785. This kept the area in disarray till 1801, the British captured the area in 1816 and found the cities of Landour and Mussourie in 1827-28. The district was added to the Garhwal division in the 1970s and it was established as the capital of Uttarakhand after the establishment of the state as Uttaranchal in the year 2000. As of 2011 Indian census provisional figures, the Dehradun district has a population of 16,98,560 the second highest in Uttarakhand after Haridwar, the Decadal growth rate has jumped up from 25% to 32. 48%. This is the third highest in Uttarakhand after Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, the district has a gender ratio of 902 as against a state average of 963. This has however improved from 887 in the 2001 census, the population density is 550, again the 3rd highest after Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar
13.
Municipal corporation
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A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located, often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter. A city charter or town charter is a document establishing a municipality such as a city or town. The concept developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and is considered to be a version of a constitution. Traditionally the granting of a charter gave a settlement and its inhabitants the right to town privileges under the feudal system, townspeople who lived in chartered towns were burghers, as opposed to serfs who lived in villages. Towns were often free, in the sense that they were protected by the king or emperor. Today the process for granting charters is determined by the type of government of the state in question, in monarchies, charters are still often a royal charter given by the Crown or the state authorities acting on behalf of the Crown. In federations, the granting of charters may be within the jurisdiction of the level of government such as a state or province. In Brazil, municipal corporations are called municípios and are created by means of legislation at the state level. All municipal corporations must also abide by a municipal law which is passed and amended at the municipal level. In Canada charters are granted by provincial authorities, in Germany, municipal corporations existed since antiquity and through medieval times, until they became out of favour during the absolutism. In order to strengthen the spirit, the city law of Prussia dated 19 November 1808 picked up this concept. It is the basis of municipal law. In India, a Municipal Corporation is a local government body. This standard varies from state to state, according to laws passed by state legislatures, the Corporation of Chennai was the first Municipal Corporation in India. It was established on 29 September 1688 by the British East India Company, the second was Hyderabad Municipal Corporation established in 1869 by the Nizam rulers of Hyderabad State. The third was the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, established in 1876, the Bombay Municipal Corporation was established in 1888 by the Bombay Municipal Corporation Act. The Delhi Municipal Council was established in 1911 during the Delhi Durbar when New Delhi was proclaimed to be the new Capital of India and it was elevated to Municipal Corporation level on 7 April 1958 by an Act of Parliament which established the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
14.
District Magistrate
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A District Collector, often abbreviated to Collector, is the foremost Indian Administrative Service officer in charge of revenue collection and administration of a district in India. The Collector is assisted by Deputy Collectors, Assistant Collectors, Sub Collectors, District Administration in India is a legacy of the British Raj. District Collectors were members of the Indian Civil Service, and were charged with supervising general administration in the district, warren Hastings introduced the office of the District Collector in 1772. As District Magistrate, he exercised general supervision over the courts and in particular. The office was meant to achieve the purpose of collecting revenue. The Superintendent of Police, Inspector General of Jails, the Surgeon General, the Divisional Forest Officer, until the later part of the nineteenth century, no native was eligible to become a district collector. But with the introduction of competitive examinations for the Indian Civil Services. The district continued to be the unit of administration after India gained independence in 1947, the role of the District Collector remained largely unchanged, except for separation of most judicial powers to judicial officers of the district. They are appointed by the State government, from among the pool of Indian Administrative Service officers in the state, the members of the IAS are either directly recruited by the Union Public Service Commission or promoted from Provincial Civil Services. A District Magistrate, District Collector, Deputy Commissioner or District Commissioner are transferred from this post by State government, District Collectors are entrusted with a wide range of duties in the jurisdiction of the district. Acts as ex-officio chairman of the District Development Authority in absence of Divisional Commissioner, a District Magistrate/District Collector/Deputy Commissioner/District Commissioner is assisted by some I. A. S and P. C
15.
Indian Administrative Service
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The Indian Administrative Service is the All India administrative civil service. IAS officers hold key and strategic positions in the Union Government, States governments, along with the Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service, the IAS is one of the three All India Services — its cadre can be employed by both the Union Government and the individual States. On attaining the upper levels of Super Time Scale to Apex Scale, they can go on to head whole departments and subsequently entire Ministries of Governments of India, IAS officers represent Government of India at the international level in bilateral and multilateral negotiations. On deputations they work at Intergovernmental organisations like World Bank and United Nations or its Agencies, IAS officers at various levels of administration play vital roles in conducting free, fair and smooth elections in India under the direction of Election Commission of India and states. The erstwhile Imperial Civil Service was the highest civil service of the British Empire in British India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947, Civil servants were divided into two categories - covenanted and uncovenanted. The covenanted civil service consisted of only white British civil servants occupying the higher posts in the government, the uncovenanted civil service was solely introduced to facilitate the entry of Indians at the lower rung of the administration. With the passing of the Government of India Act 1919, the Imperial Services headed by the Secretary of State for India, were split into two – All India Services and Central Services. At the time of the partition of India and the departure of the British in 1947, the part which went to India was named the Indian Administrative Service, while the part that went to Pakistan was named the Civil Service of Pakistan. IAS officers are recruited from Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and they are also promoted from State Civil Services and selected from non-state civil service. After getting selected, candidates undergo training at LBSNAA, Mussoorie for IAS, being an All India Service, officers of the IAS are allotted to State cadres at the beginning of their service. They continue to work in that cadre or are deputed to Government of India, there is one cadre for each Indian state, except for three joint cadres, Assam–Meghalaya, Manipur–Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh–Goa–Mizoram–Union Territories. The insider-outsider ratio is maintained as 1,2, with one-third of the recruits as insiders from the same state. The rest are posted as outsiders according to the roster in states other than their home states, the next year the roster starts from H, for either Haryana or Himachal Pradesh. This highly intricate system, in vogue since the mid-1980s, had ensured that officers from different states are placed all over India, changes of state cadre is permitted on grounds of marriage to an All India Service officer of another state cadre or under other exceptional circumstances. The officer may go to their home state cadre on deputation for a limited period, the centralising effect of cadre system was considered extremely important by the systems framers, but has received increasing criticism over the years. There are also concerns that such reform, the IAS will be unable to move from a command and control strategy to a more interactive. A civil servant is responsible for the law and order and general administration in the area under his work, most IAS officers start their careers in the state administration at the sub-divisional level as a sub divisional magistrate. They are entrusted with the law and order situation of the city along with general administration and they proceed to various posts in the State and Central Governments, and also local-self Governments, and Public Sector Undertakings
16.
Superintendent of police (India)
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In India, a District Senior Superintendent of Police or Superintendent of Police heads the police force of a district. In metropolitan areas having police commissionerate system, the head of police is called Deputy Commissioner of Police. Superintendents of Police are officers of the Indian Police Service and they are entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues of a district of a state or a union territory of India. They are assisted by the officers of the State Police Service and their rank badge is the State Emblem above one star, although those selected for higher rank or with fifteen or more years service wear the State Emblem above two stars. The rank of superintendent of police is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Indian army
17.
Indian Police Service
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The Indian Police Service or IPS, is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. It has replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India gained independence from Britain, the service is not a force itself but provides leaders and commanders to staff the state police and all-India Central Armed Police Forces. Its members are the officers of the police. The Bureau of Police Research and Development is responsible for research, in 1861, the British Government introduced the Indian Councils Act of 1861. The act created the foundation of a modern and professionalised police bureaucracy in India and it introduced, a new cadre of police, called Superior Police Services, later known as the Indian Imperial Police. The highest rank in the service was the Inspector General, in 1902-03, a Police Commission was established for the Police reforms under Sir Andrew Frazer and Lord Curzon. It recommended the appointment of Indians at officer level in the police, Indians could rise only to the ranks of Inspector of Police, the senior N. C. O. However they were not part of Indian Imperial Police, from 1920, Indian Imperial Police was open to Indians and the entrance examination for the service was conducted both in India and England. Prior to Independence, senior police officers belonging to the Imperial Police were appointed by the Secretary of State on the basis of a competitive examination. The first open civil service examination for admission to the service was held in England in June 1893 and it is not possible to pinpoint an exact date on which the Indian Police came formally into being. In this sense,1907 could be regarded as the starting point, in 1948, a year after India gained independence, the Imperial Police was replaced by IPS. In 1972, Kiran Bedi joined the IPS, becoming the first woman police officer, as per media reports in 2016, there is massive shortfall of IPS officers in India, which is nearly 19% to 22% of total strength. Historically, few officers have been awarded United Nations Medal and have participated in Indian Army United Nations peacekeeping missions, the Indian Police Service is not a force itself but a service providing leaders and commanders to staff the state police and all-India Central Armed Police Forces. Its members are the officers of the police. Leading and commanding the Indian Intelligence Agencies like Research and Analysis Wing, Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation, Indian Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Civil and Armed Police Forces in all the states and union territories. To interact and coordinate closely with the members of other All India Services and with the Indian Revenue Service, to lead and command the force with courage, uprightness, dedication and a strong sense of service to the people. Endeavor to inculcate in the forces under their command such values. IPS officers are recruited from Civil Services Examination and they are also promoted from State Police Services and DANIPS
18.
Metropolitan area
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As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
19.
Garhwali language
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Garhwali language is a Central Pahari language belonging to the Northern Zone of Indo-Aryan languages. It is primarily spoken by the Garhwali people who are from the north-western Garhwal Division of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand in the Indian Himalayas, the Central Pahari languages include Garhwali and Kumauni. Garhwali, like Kumauni, has many dialects spoken in different places in Uttarakhand. The script used for Garhwali is Devanagari, Garhwali is also spoken by Garhwali migrants to other parts of India including Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. According to various estimates, there are at least 2.5 million Garhwali migrants living in Delhi, however, due to a number of reasons, Garhwali is one of the languages which is shrinking very rapidly. UNESCOs Atlas of the Worlds Languages in Danger designates Garhwali as a language which is in the unsafe category, almost all people who can speak and understand Garhwali can also speak and understand Hindi, one of the most commonly spoken languages of India. In the middle period of the course of development of Indo-Aryan languages, of these, the Khas Prakrit is believed to be the source of Garhwali. The early form of Garhwali can be traced to the 10th century which is found in numismatics, royal seals, inscriptional writings on copper plates and temple stones containing royal orders, one such early example is the temple grant inscription of King Jagatpal at Dev Prayag. Most of the Garhwali literature is preserved in form, handed down verbally from generation to generation. Till the 17th century, Garhwal was always a sovereign nation under the Garhwali Kings, Garhwal Kingdom acceded to the Union of India as a part of Uttar Pradesh in 1949. Srinagariya – classical Garhwali spoken in erstwhile royal capital, Srinagar, tihriyali /Gangapariya – spoken in Tehri Garhwal. Badhani - spoken in Chamoli Garhwal, dessaulya Lohabbya Majh-Kumaiya - spoken at the border of Garhwal and Kumaon. Nagpuriya - spoken in Rudraprayag district, rathi - spoken in Rath area of Pauri Garhwal. Salani - spoken in Talla Salan, Malla Salan and Ganga Salan parganas of Pauri, ranwalti - spoken in Ranwain, the Yamuna valley of Uttarkashi. Bangani - spoken in Bangaan area of Uttarkashi, parvati – reportedly not mutually intelligible with other dialects. Jaunpuri - spoken in Uttarkashi and Tehri districts, gangadi Chaundkoti चौंदकोटी- spoken in Pauri. Standard Garhwalis & more of its dialects have an accusative case सणि while South Garhwalis dialects have different word ते for accusative case, but in Standard Garhwali or High Garhwali ते is used as oblique case. These are primarily the Munda, Bhil, Naag, Yaksha, the other non-Aryan tribes from the Northwest, such as Kunind, Kirat, Shak, Hun, Gurjar, Pisach, Darad also contributed to its vocabulary and influenced the language
20.
Postal Index Number
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A Postal Index Number or PIN or Pincode is a code in the post office numbering or post code system used by India Post, the Indian postal administration. The code is six digits long, the PIN Code system was introduced on 15 August 1972 by Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, an additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications. The system was introduced to simplify the manual sorting and delivery of mail by eliminating confusion over incorrect addresses, similar place names, there are nine PIN zones in India, including eight regional zones and one functional zone. The first digit of the PIN code indicates the region, the second digit indicates the sub-region, and the third digit indicates the sorting district within the region. The final three digits are assigned to individual post offices, a state may have one or more sorting districts depending on the volumes of mail handled. The fourth digit represents the route on which a Delivery office is located in the sorting district and this is 0 for offices in the core area of the sorting district. The last two represent the delivery office within the sorting district starting from 01 which would be the GPO or HO. The numbering of the office is done chronologically with higher numbers assigned to newer delivery offices. If the volume of mails handled at an office is too large, a new delivery office is created. Thus two delivery offices situated next to each other only have the first four digits in common. Each PIN code is mapped to exactly one delivery post office which receives all the mail to be delivered to one or more lower offices within its jurisdiction, all of which share the same code. The delivery office can either be a General Post Office, a Head Office or Sub Office which are located in urban areas. The post from the office is sorted and routed to other delivery offices for a different PIN or to one of the relevant sub offices or branch offices for the same PIN. Branch offices are located in areas and have limited postal services
21.
Vehicle registration plate
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
22.
North India
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North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indus-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, other states sometimes included are Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat and West Bengal. North India has been the centre of the Mughal, Delhi Sultanate. The languages that have official status in one or more of the states and union territories located in North India are Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri/Koshur, Dogri, different authorities and sources define North India differently. Rajasthan is also included in North Central Culture Zone as well as West Cultural Zone, the Northern Zonal Council is one of the advisory councils, created in 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act to foster inter-state cooperation. It differs from the North Cultural Zone in its inclusion of Delhi, in contrast, the Geological Survey of India included Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in its Northern Region, but excluded Rajasthan and Chandigarh, with a regional headquarters in Lucknow. The Hindu newspaper puts Bihar as well as Uttar Pradesh and Delhi related articles on its North pages, however according to the Government of Bihar official page as well as Indian Zonal Coucil, it is considered to be an Eastern Indian state instead. North Indian states which are entirely above the Tropic of Cancer are Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The term North Indian is sometimes used to people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, often using the term bhaiya in a derogatory sense. In Punjab, people from the region are often referred to as Purabias. Some publications of the Government of Bihar place that state in the part of India. Within Uttar Pradesh itself, the divide between the east and the west is considerable, with the purabiyas often being clubbed with Biharis in the perception of the westerners. One demarcation between northern and southern nations has been the Vindhya mountain range, in centuries past this sometimes formed a border during periods of imperial expansion, such as the one ruled by the Gupta emperor Samudragupta. The Vindhyas also find mention in the narrative of Rishi Agastya as a dividing feature between North and South India, the Manusmṛti also describes the southern limit of Aryavarta as being defined by the Vindhya range. North India lies mainly on continental India, north of peninsular India, towards its north are the Himalayas which define the boundary between the Indian subcontinent and the Tibetan plateau. To its west is the Thar desert, shared between North India and Pakistan and the Aravalli Range, beyond lies the state of Gujarat. The Vindhya mountains are, in some interpretations, taken to be the boundary of North India. The state of Madhya Pradesh has large areas under forest cover, as do Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, North India lies mainly in the north temperate zone of the Earth
23.
Garhwal division
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Garhwal, IPA, /ɡəɽʋːɔɭ/) is the northwestern region and administrative division of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand which is home to the Garhwali people. Lying in the Himalayas, it is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Kumaon region, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state and it includes the districts of Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, and Uttarkashi. The people of Garhwal are known as Garhwali and speak the Garhwali language, the administrative center for Garhwal division is the town of Pauri. The Divisional Commissioner is the head of the Division, and is a senior Indian Administrative Service officer. Mr. Vinod Sharma, IAS is currently the Divisional Commissioner of the Garhwal Division, Garhwal is the land of many garh’ or forts. This region was made up of small forts which were ruled by chieftains. Therefore, the history of Garhwal before the rule of the ‘Panwar’ rulers is very obscure. Kanak Pal was the first ruler of the state of Garhwal in 823 AD, the Garhwal Himalayas appear to have been a favorite locale for the voluminous mythology of the Puranic period. The traditional name of Garhwal was Uttarakhand, excavations have revealed that it formed part of the Mauryan Empire. The earliest reference regarding Garhwal and its spots are cited in the Skanda Purana. Skanda Purana defines the boundaries and extend of this holy land and it also finds mention in the 7th-century travelogue of Huen Tsang. The history of Garhwal as a whole began in the 15th century. For 300 years, Garhwal remained one kingdom, with its capital at Srinagar, then Pauri and Dehradun were perforce ceded to the Crown as payment for British help, rendered to the Garhwalis during the Gurkha invasion, in the early 19th century. The earliest ruling dynasty of Garhwal known is of the Katyuris, the Katyuri Raja of Uttarakhand was styled Sri Basdeo Giriraj Chakara Churamani. The earliest traditions record that the possessions of Joshimath Katyuris in Garhwal extended from Satluj as far as Gandaki and from the snows to plains, including the whole of Rohilkhand. Tradition gives the origin of their Raj at Joshimath in the north near Badrinath and subsequent migration to Katyur Valley in Almora district, Katyuris ruled Uttarakhand up to the 11th century and in certain pockets even after their decline. In Garhwal their disruption brought into existence 52 independent chiefs, one of the important principalities in that period was that of Parmars, who held their sway over Chandpur Garhi or Fortress. Katyuris ruled Uttarakhand up to the 11th century and in certain pockets even after their decline, kanak Pal was progenitor of this dynasty
24.
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
25.
Chandigarh
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Chandigarh is a city and a union territory of India that serves as the capital of the Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. As a union territory, the city is governed directly by the Union Government and is not part of either state, Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the north, west and south, and to the state of Haryana to the east. Chandigarh is considered to be a part of the Chandigarh capital region or Greater Chandigarh, which includes Chandigarh, and it is located 260 km north of New Delhi,229 km southeast of Amritsar and just 116 km southwest of Shimla. Chandigarh was one of the planned cities in the post-independence India and is internationally known for its architecture. Most of the government buildings and housing in the city, were designed by the Chandigarh Capital Project Team headed by Le Corbusier, Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry. In 2015, an article published by BBC named Chandigarh as one of the cities of the world in terms of architecture, cultural growth. Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex was in July 2016 declared by UNESCO as World Heritage at the 40th session of World Heritage Conference held in Istanbul, UNESCO inscription was under “The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier an outstanding contribution to the Modern Movement”. The city tops the list of Indian States and Union Territories by per capita income followed by Haryana, the city was reported to be the cleanest in India in 2010, based on a national government study. The union territory also heads the list of Indian states and territories according to Human Development Index, in 2015, a survey by LG Electronics, ranked Chandigarh as the happiest city in India over the happiness index. The metropolitan of Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula collectively forms a Tri-city, with a population of over 2 million. The name Chandigarh is a portmanteau of Chandi and Garh, Chandi refers to Hindu Goddess Chandi, the warrior Avatar of Goddess Parvati, and Garh means home. The name is derived from Chandi Mandir, an ancient temple devoted to the Hindu Goddess Chandi, the logo of The City Beautiful derives from the City Beautiful movement that was a popular philosophy in North American urban planning during the 1890s and 1900s. Architect Albert Mayer, the planner of Chandigarh, lamented the American rejection of City Beautiful concepts. The phrase was used on as a logo in official publications in the 1970s, the city has a pre-historic past. Due to the presence of lake, the area has fossil remains with imprints of a variety of aquatic plants and animals, and amphibian life. As it was a part of the Punjab region, it had many rivers nearby where the ancient, so, about 8000 years ago, the area was also known to be a home to the Harappans. Chandigarh was the city of Indias first Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru. After the partition of India in 1947, the former British province of Punjab was split between East Punjab in India and West Punjab in Pakistan, the Indian Punjab required a new capital city to replace Lahore, which became part of Pakistan during the partition
26.
National Capital Region (India)
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The National Capital Region is a coordinated planning region centred upon the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. It encompasses the entire NCT of Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, the NCR is a rural-urban region, with a population of over 46,069,000 and an urbanization level of 62. 6%. As well as the cities and towns the NCR contains ecologically sensitive areas like the Aravalli ridge, forests, wildlife, all the areas of NCR together generated GDP of $128.9 billion in 2011-12, which was 7.5 percent of the Indian GDP. The National Capital Region and its board were created under the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985. The 1985 boundary of the NCR covered an area of 34,144 km2, in July 2013, NCR was expanded to include three more districts, Bhiwani, and Mahendragarh in the state of Haryana, as well as Bharatpur in the state of Rajasthan. This brought the number of districts in NCR to 19, with the total NCR area increasing 34% to 45,887 km2. On 9 June 2015 the Government of India approved the inclusion of three districts in NCR - Jind and Karnal in the state of Haryana and Muzaffarnagar in U. P. There are now a total of 22 districts within NCR, covering an area of 58,332 km2. Uttar Pradesh is pushing to have the districts of Agra, Aligarh, punjab is also forcing to have Patiala, Dera Bassi and Mohali included in the NCR. Outskirts of Rajasthan like Bhadra are also included in the Future Extension plans, prior to the creation of the NCR, an area described as the Delhi Metropolitan Area was described in the 1962 Master Plan for Delhi.1 million in 1951. The following Master Plan for Delhi, approved in August 1990, added Noida, Bahadurgarh and the township of Kundli to the DMA. Topics covered by the 2001 plan included transport, telecommunications, power and water supply, waste and sewerage, education, health, the environment, housing, the 2021 plan extended these with the additional topics of social infrastructure, heritage, tourism, rural development and disaster management. Sewage connectivity About 46% of the National Capital Region —home to 40 to 50 million people—is not connected to sewage networks, sewage from these areas flows into stormwater drains that empty directly into the Yamuna. The 2001 regional plan defined the Delhi Metropolitan Area as including Ghaziabad, Noida, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Bahadurgarh, the 2021 plan renamed the area as the Central National Capital Region, covering about 2,000 km2 in addition to the 1,483 km2 of NCT Delhi. The 2021 plan estimated the 2001 population of the CNCR outside of Delhi NCT to be over 2.8 million, while Delhi NCTs population was 13.8 million, as of 2016 the most recent population estimates have spanned 25.7 to 26.5 million people. The 1985 Act gives the NCRCB has the ability to select districts outside of the NCR to act as counter magnets, counter-magnet cities are identified as those that can be developed as alternative centres of growth and attract migrants to them rather than Delhi. The counter magnet cities should be given priority when allocating funding for development of land, housing and infrastructure
27.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
28.
Smart city
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A smart city is an urban development vision to integrate information and communication technology and Internet of things technology in a secure fashion to manage a citys assets. A smart city is promoted to use urban informatics and technology to improve the efficiency of services, through the use of sensors integrated with real-time monitoring systems, data are collected from citizens and devices – then processed and analyzed. The information and knowledge gathered are keys to tackling inefficiency, Smart city applications are developed to manage urban flows and allow for real-time responses. A smart city may therefore be prepared to respond to challenges than one with a simple transactional relationship with its citizens. Yet, the term remains unclear to its specifics and therefore. The European Union has devoted constant efforts to devising a strategy for achieving smart urban growth for its metropolitan city-regions, the EU has developed a range of programmes under Europes Digital Agenda. In 2010, it highlighted its focus on strengthening innovation and investment in ICT services for the purpose of improving public services, arup estimates that the global market for smart urban services will be $400 billion per annum by 2020. Examples of Smart City technologies and programs have been implemented in Milton Keynes, Southampton, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, Stockholm and in China. Due to the breadth of technologies that have been implemented under the smart city label, deakin defines the smart city as one that utilises ICT to meet the demands of the market, and that community involvement in the process is necessary for a smart city. A smart city would thus be a city not only possesses ICT technology in particular areas. Alternative definitions include, Giffinger et al, Smart Cities Council, A smart city is one that has digital technology embedded across all city functions. Excelling in these key areas can be done so through strong human capital, social capital, learn, adapt and innovate and thereby respond more effectively and promptly to changing circumstances by improving the intelligence of the city. They evolve towards a strong integration of all dimensions of human intelligence, collective intelligence, the intelligence of cities resides in the increasingly effective combination of digital telecommunication networks, ubiquitously embedded intelligence, sensors and tags, and software. This has been referred to as the first example of a city or an intelligent community. Empowerment intelligence, Cities provide open platforms, experimental facilities and smart city infrastructure in order to cluster innovation in certain districts and these are seen in the Kista Science City in Stockholm and the Cyberport Zone in Hong Kong. Similar facilities have also established in Melbourne. Instrumentation intelligence, Where city infrastructure is made smart through real-time data collection, with analysis, there is much controversy surrounding this, particularly with regards to surveillance issues in smart cities. Examples of Instrumentation intelligence have been implemented in Amsterdam and this is implemented through, A common IP infrastructure that is open to researchers to develop applications
29.
British Raj
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The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India, the resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan and this area is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar desert. In addition, at times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948, among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory, British India and the Native States. In general, the term British India had been used to also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also used to refer to the British in India. The terms Indian Empire and Empire of India were not used in legislation, the monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victorias Queens Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. The passports issued by the British Indian government had the words Indian Empire on the cover, in addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, during the partition of Bengal the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, there were 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent from Britain in August 1947. The princely states did not form a part of British India, the larger ones had treaties with Britain that specified which rights the princes had, in the smaller ones the princes had few rights. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control, the British also exercised a general influence over the states internal politics, in part through the granting or withholding of recognition of individual rulers. Although there were nearly 600 princely states, the majority were very small
30.
Himalayas
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The Himalayas, or Himalaya, form a mountain range in Asia separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The Himalayan range has the Earths highest peaks, including the highest, the Himalayas include over a hundred mountains exceeding 7,200 metres in elevation. By contrast, the highest peak outside Asia – Aconcagua, in the Andes – is 6,961 metres tall. The Himalayas are spread across five countries, Bhutan, India, Nepal, China, the Himalayan range is bordered on the northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Some of the major rivers, the Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas. The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the cultures of South Asia, many Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism and Buddhism. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate and its western anchor, Nanga Parbat, lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river. Its eastern anchor, Namcha Barwa, is just west of the bend of the Tsangpo river. The range varies in width from 400 kilometres in the west to 150 kilometres in the east, the name of the range derives from the Sanskrit Himā-laya, from himá and ā-laya. They are now known as the Himalaya Mountains, usually shortened to the Himalayas, formerly, they were described in the singular as the Himalaya. This was also previously transcribed Himmaleh, as in Emily Dickinsons poetry and Henry David Thoreaus essays. The mountains are known as the Himālaya in Nepali and Hindi, the Himalaya or The Land of Snow in Tibetan, the Hamaleh Mountain Range in Urdu, the flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice, the amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall and soil conditions combined with the high snow line supports a variety of distinct plant. The extremes of high altitude combined with extreme cold favor extremophile organisms, the unique floral and faunal wealth of the Himalayas is undergoing structural and compositional changes due to climate change. The increase in temperature is shifting various species to higher elevations, the oak forest is being invaded by pine forests in the Garhwal Himalayan region. There are reports of early flowering and fruiting in some species, especially rhododendron, apple. The highest known tree species in the Himalayas is Juniperus tibetica located at 4,900 metres in Southeastern Tibet, the Himalayan range is one of the youngest mountain ranges on the planet and consists mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock
31.
Ganges
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The Ganges, also Ganga is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through the nations of India and Bangladesh. It is the third largest river in the world by discharge, the Ganges is the most sacred river to Hindus. It is also a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course and it is worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. It has also important historically, with many former provincial or imperial capitals located on its banks. The Ganges was ranked as the fifth most polluted river of the world in 2007, pollution threatens not only humans, but also more than 140 fish species,90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganges river dolphin. The levels of fecal coliform from human waste in the waters of the river near Varanasi are more than 100 times the Indian governments official limit. The main stem of the Ganges begins at the confluence of the Bhagirathi, the Bhagirathi is considered to be the source in Hindu culture and mythology, although the Alaknanda is longer, and, therefore, hydrologically the source stream. The headwaters of the Alakananda are formed by snowmelt from such peaks as Nanda Devi, Trisul, although many small streams comprise the headwaters of the Ganges, the six longest and their five confluences are considered sacred. The six headstreams are the Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini, the five confluences, known as the Panch Prayag, are all along the Alaknanda. After flowing 250 km through its narrow Himalayan valley, the Ganges emerges from the mountains at Rishikesh, the Ganges follows an 800 km arching course passing through the cities of Kannauj, Farukhabad, and Kanpur. Along the way it is joined by the Ramganga, which contributes an annual flow of about 500 m3/s. The Ganges joins the Yamuna at the Triveni Sangam at Allahabad, at their confluence the Yamuna is larger than the Ganges, contributing about 2,950 m3/s, or about 58. 5% of the combined flow. Now flowing east, the river meets the Tamsa River, which flows north from the Kaimur Range, after the Tamsa the Gomti River joins, flowing south from the Himalayas. The Gomti contributes an annual flow of about 234 m3/s. Then the Ghaghara River, also flowing south from the Himalayas of Nepal, the Ghaghara, with its average annual flow of about 2,990 m3/s, is the largest tributary of the Ganges. After the Ghaghara confluence the Ganges is joined from the south by the Son River, the Gandaki River, then the Kosi River, join from the north flowing from Nepal, contributing about 1,654 m3/s and 2,166 m3/s, respectively. The Kosi is the third largest tributary of the Ganges, after the Ghaghara and Yamuna. Along the way between Allahabad and Malda, West Bengal, the Ganges passes the towns of Chunar, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Patna, Bhagalpur, Ballia, Buxar, Simaria, Sultanganj, and Saidpur
32.
Yamuna
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It is the longest river in India which does not directly flow to the sea. Most importantly it creates the highly fertile alluvial, Yamuna-Ganges Doab region between itself and the Ganges in the Indo-Gangetic plain, nearly 57 million people depend on the Yamuna waters. With an annual flow of about 10,000 cubic billion metres and usage of 4,400 cbm, just like the Ganges, the Yamuna too is highly venerated in Hinduism and worshipped as goddess Yamuna, throughout its course. One official describes the river as a drain with biochemical oxygen demand values ranging from 14 to 28 mg/l. Yamunotri temple, a dedicated to the goddess, Yamuna is one of the holiest shrines in Hinduism. Also standing close to the temple, on its 13-kilometre trek route, that follows the bank of the river, lies the Markendeya Tirtha. Large terraces formed over a period of time can be seen in the lower course of the river. Kalanag is the highest point of the entire Yamuna basin, other tributaries in the region are the Giri, Rishi Ganga, Kunta, Hanuman Ganga and Bata tributaries, which drain the Upper Catchment Area of the vast Yamuna basin. Thereafter the river descends on to the plains of Doon Valley, the Yamuna also creates natural state borders between the Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand states, and further down between the state of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The plain itself supports one-third of Indias population through its farming, here pilgrims travel by boats to platforms erected mid stream to offer prayers. During the Kumbh Mela, held every 12 years, the ghats around the Sangam are venue of large congregation of people, the cities of Baghpat, Delhi, Noida, Mathura, Agra, Firozabad, Etawah, Kalpi, Hamirpur, Allahabad lie on its banks. At Etawah, it meets it another important tributary, Chambal, followed by a host of tributaries further down, including, Sindh, the Betwa, and Ken. Tons River, Yamunas largest tributary, rises in the 20,720 ft high Bandarpoonch mountain and it meets Yamuna below Kalsi near Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Sasur Khaderi River, known as Sasur Khaderi is a tributary in Fatehpur district, the name Yamuna seems to be derived from the Sanskrit word yama, meaning twin, and it may have been applied to the river because it runs parallel to the Ganges. The Yamuna is mentioned at many places in the Rig Veda, 1700–1100 BC, and also in the later Atharvaveda, and the Brahmanas including Aitareya Brahmana and Shatapatha Brahmana. In Rig Veda, the story of the Yamuna describes her love for her twin, Yama, who in turn asks her to find a suitable match for herself. It is also said that lord shiva was the reason for the colour of the Yamuna river. After the death of Sati Devi, lord shiva couldnt tolerate the sadness around him, and At last when he went to Yamuna river, it became so black as it absorbed all his sorrow
33.
Mussoorie
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Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board in the Dehradun District of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is located about 35 km from the capital of Dehradun and 290 km north from the national capital of New Delhi. This hill station is situated in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayan range, the adjoining town of Landour, which includes a military cantonment, is considered part of greater Mussoorie, as are the townships of Barlowganj and Jharipani. The pin code for Mussoorie is 248179, being at an average altitude of 1,880 metres, Mussoorie, with its green hills and varied flora and fauna, is a fascinating hill resort. Mussoorie was founded by Lt. Frederick Young of East India Company, Lt. Young came to these hills for the sole purpose of bagging some game. He was so enamoured by the beauty that he decided to build a lodge on the Camels Back Road along with FJ Shore. He also raised the first Gurkha Regiment and planted the first potatoes in the valley, however, there is a Young Road in Dehradoon on which ONGCs Tel Bhawan stands. In 1832 Mussoorie was the terminus of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India that began at the southern tip of India. Although unsuccessful, the Surveyor General of India at the time, a compromise was to have it in Dehradun, where it still is. In 1850 the first beer brewery in India was built in Mussoorie, by 1894 there were 22 breweries in India producing 6 million gallons a year. By 1901 Mussoories population had grown to 6,461, rising to 15,000 in the summer season, earlier, Mussoorie was approachable by road from Saharanpur,58 miles away. Accessibility became easier in 1900 with the coming to Dehradun. The name Mussoorie is often attributed to a derivation of mansoor, the town is often referred to as Mansoori by most Indians. The main promenade in Mussoorie is called, as in other hill stations, in Mussoorie, the Mall stretches from Picture Palace at its eastern end to the Public Library at its western end. During the British Raj, signs on the Mall expressly stated, Indians, racist signs of this type were commonplace in hill stations, which were founded by and for the British. Motilal Nehru, the father of Jawaharlal Nehru, deliberately broke this rule every day whenever he was in Mussoorie, the Nehru family, including Nehrus daughter Indira were frequent visitors to Mussoorie in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, and stayed at the Savoy Hotel. They also spent much time in nearby Dehradun, where Nehrus sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit ultimately settled full-time, the first Tibetan school was established in Mussoorie in 1960. Tibetans settled mainly in Happy Valley in Mussoorie, today, some 5,000 Tibetans live in Mussoorie
34.
Auli
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Auli is a ski destination in Chamoli district in the Himalayan mountains of Uttarakhand, India. Auli, also known as Auli Bugyal, in Garhwali, which means meadow, is located at an elevation of 2,500 metres to 3,050 metres above sea level. After the creation of the state of Uttarakhand, formerly part of Uttar Pradesh, Auli lies on the way to the Hindu pilgrimage destination of Badrinath. It is surrounded by coniferous and oak forests, with a view of the peaks of the Himalayas. The slopes are intended for both professional skiers and novices, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited a state govt agency which takes care of this resort, and Uttarakhand Tourism Department conduct winter sports competitions at Auli to encourage skiing in India. It has a 4 kilometres cable car, a chairlift and a ski lift, there is a training facility of Indo-Tibetan Border Police. A small Hindu temple connected with the Hindu epic the Ramayana is also present, the nearest airport is Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, about 270 kilometres from Auli. The airport operates flights to Delhi, The nearest international airport is Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. The nearest railway stations are Rishikesh railway station and Dehradun railway station, nearby attractions include Vishnu Prayag, Gorson Bugyal, Kuari Pass, Joshimath, Badrinath, and Tapovan Auli and Dehradun hosted the First South Asian Winter Games in 2011
35.
Hindu
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Hindu refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. It has historically used as a geographical, cultural, or religious identifier for people indigenous to South Asia. The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time, by the 16th century, the term began to refer to residents of India who were not Turks or Muslims. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within the Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear, competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu-Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma, the Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term Hindu in religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals, scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. Hindoo is a spelling variant, whose use today may be considered derogatory. At more than 1.03 billion, Hindus are the third largest group after Christians. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million, live in India, according to Indias 2011 census. After India, the next 9 countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Myanmar. These together accounted for 99% of the worlds Hindu population, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means a large body of water, covering river, ocean. It was used as the name of the Indus river and also referred to its tributaries, the Punjab region, called Sapta Sindhava in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta. The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions the province of Hidush, the people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian in the 8th century text Chachnama. The term Hindu in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term, the Arabic equivalent Al-Hind likewise referred to the country of India. Among the earliest known records of Hindu with connotations of religion may be in the 7th-century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang, Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose connotation overflows in the religious according to Arvind Sharma. The Hindu community occurs as the amorphous Other of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that Hindu retained its geographical reference initially, Indian, indigenous, local, virtually native. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves, the poet Vidyapatis poem Kirtilata contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks in a city and concludes The Hindus and the Turks live close together, Each makes fun of the others religion
36.
Haridwar
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Haridwar pronunciation also spelled Hardwar is an ancient city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. Haridwar is regarded as one of the seven holiest places to Hindus and this is manifested in the Kumbha Mela, which is celebrated every 12 years in Haridwar. Brahma Kund, the spot where the Amrit fell, is located at Har ki Pauri and is considered to be the most sacred ghat of Haridwar, Haridwar is the headquarters and the largest city of the district. The name of the town has two spellings, Hardwar and Haridwar, each of these names has its own connotation. So, Haridwar stands for The Gateway to Lord Vishnu, in order to reach Badrinath, one of the four Char Dhams, with a temple of Lord Vishnu, Haridwar is a typical place to start a pilgrims journey. On the other hand, In Sanskrit, Hara means Lord Shiva, hence, Hardwar stands for Gateway to Lord Shiva. Har ki Pauri or footsteps of Lord Shiva is considered the most sacred site in Hardwar, Haridwar is also known as the home of Devi Sati and the palace of her father Daksha. In ancient times, the town was referred to as Gangadwára. Ayodhyā Mathurā Māyā Kāśī Kāñcī Avantikā Purī Dvārāvatī caiva saptaitā mokṣadāyikāḥ– Garuḍa Purāṇa I XVI.14 Lit, ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kasi, Kanchi, Avantika and Dwaraka are the seven holy places. Note the use of puranic name Maya for Haridwar, as also the inter-change usage of Puri and Dwaraka. The Garuḍa Purāṇa enumerates seven cities as giver of Moksha, Haridwar is said to be one of the seven most holy Hindu places in India, with Varanasi usually considered the holiest. A Kṣetra is a ground, a field of active power. In the scriptures, Haridwar has been mentioned as Kapilasthana, Gangadwara. It is also a point to the Char Dham, hence, Shaivaites and Vaishnavites call this place Hardwar and Haridwar respectively, corresponding to Hara being Shiv. Sage Kapila is said to have an ashram here giving it, its ancient name, Lord Vishnu is said to have left his footprint on the stone that is set in the upper wall of Har Ki Pauri, where the Holy Ganges touches it at all times. Haridwar came under the rule of the Maurya Empire, and later under the Kushan Empire, Archaeological findings have proved that terra cotta culture dating between 1700 BCE and 1200 BCE existed in this region. Among the ruins are a fort and three temples, decorated with stone sculptures, he also mentions the presence of a temple, north of Mo-yu-lo called Gangadwara. The city also fell to the Central Asian conqueror Timur Lang on 13 January 1399, Pandas of the Haridwar have been known to keep genealogy records of most of the Hindu population
37.
Rishikesh
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Rishikesh is a city, municipal council and a tehsil in Dehradun district of the Indian state, Uttarakhand. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, it is known as the Gateway to the Garhwal Himalayas, Rishikesh is surrounded by three districts, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal and Haridwar. It is approximately 25 km north of the city Haridwar and 43 km southeast of the state capital Dehradun. According to Census of India,2011 Rishikesh had a population of 102,138 making it the 7th most populated city and it is known as the pilgrimage town and regarded as one of the holiest places to Hindus. Hindu sages and saints have visited Rishikesh since ancient times to meditate in search of higher knowledge, in September 2015, the Union tourism minister Mahesh Sharma announced that Rishikesh and Haridwar will be the first in India to be given the title of twin national heritage cities. Due to the significance of the place, non-vegetarian food. IAST, Hṛṣīkeśa is a name of Vishnu composed of hṛṣīka meaning senses and īśa meaning lord, the name commemorates an apparition of Vishnu to Raibhya Rishi, as a result of his tapasya, as Lord Hrishikesha. In Skanda Purana, this area is known as Kubjāmraka as Lord Vishnu appeared under a mango tree, another legend says that fierce fire broke out here. Lord Shiva was angry with Lord Agni and cursed him, then Lord Agni prayed here for the expiation of his sins. Hence it is known as Agni Tīrtha — the holy place to do penance of Lord Agni or Fire God. Rishikesh has been a part of the legendary Kedarkhand, the Kedarkhand of Skanda Purana, also mentions the existence of Indrakund at this very point. The jute-rope bridge was replaced by iron-rope suspension bridge in 1889, after it was washed away in the 1924 floods, it was replaced by the present stronger bridge. Another similar suspension bridge Ram Jhula was built in 1986 at nearby Sivananda Nagar, the sacred river Ganges flows through Rishikesh. Here the river leaves the Shivalik Hills in the Himalayas and flows into the plains of northern India, several temples, ancient and new, are along the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh. Shatrughna Mandir, Bharat Mandir, Lakshman Mandir are the ancient temples established by Adi Shankaracharya, shatrughna Temple is near Ram Jhula and Lakshman Mandir is near Lakshman Jhula. As with Haridwar about an hour south, Rishikesh is considered by Hindus to be a city and is vegetarian by law. Meat and alcohol are not served in the city, Rishikesh is at 30. 103368°N78. 294754°E /30.103368,78.294754. It has an elevation of 372 metres
38.
Chota Char Dham
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The Chota Char Dham, is an important Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the Indian Himalayas. Located in the Garhwal region of the state of Uttarakhand, the circuit consists of four sites—Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath is also one of the four destinations of the longer Char Dham from which the Chota Char Dham likely draws its name. While each of these sites is unique in its own fashion, inclusion in the Char Dham has, over time, caused them be viewed together in popular imagination, the Annual Char Dham Yatra restarted in May 2014, after remaining suspended since the outbreak of 2013 Uttarakhand floods. The footfall has now improved due to measures taken by the government of Uttarakhand. The day of Akha-Trij or Akha-Teej marks the beginning of the Char Dham Yatra, the ‘Yatra’ typically closes 2 days after Diwali, on the day of Bhai-Bij. Also, there are chances of roadblocks due to rainfall in late July. In May and June, tourists flock in large numbers, so, there is very little time offered for ‘Darshan’. So, it is best to take the Char Dham Yatra in early July, an archetypal All-India pilgrimage circuit, the formation of the original Char Dham is credited to the great 8th century reformer and philosopher Shankaracharya. In the original Char Dham, three of the three sites are Vaishnava while one is Shaiva, the Chota Char Dham included representatives from all three major Hindu sectarian traditions, with two Shakta sites, one Shaiva site, and one Vaishnava site. While the individual sites and the circuit as a whole were known to Hindus on the plains below. After the 1962 war between India and China, accessibility to the Chota Char Dham improved, as India undertook massive road building to border area and other infrastructure investments. As pilgrims were able to travel in buses, jeeps and cars to nearest points of four shrines. Vehicles reach up to Badrinath temple and Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath are at a distance of 10 to 15 km from nearest motorable road. Since the 1950, the importance of the Chota Char Dham as both a destination and an object of the national Hindu religious imagination has grown considerably. Today, the circuit receives hundreds of thousands of visitors in an average pilgrimage season, the season is heaviest in the two-month period before the monsoon, which normally comes in late July. After the rains begin, travel to the sites becomes extremely dangerous, mortality rates for a season often surpass 200. Some pilgrims also visit the sites after the ends and before the sites become impassable due to snow. The Chota Char Dham was washed away in the recent 2012 Himalayan flash floods, access to the pilgrimage is either from Haridwar, or Rishikesh, or from Dehradun
39.
Basmati
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Basmati is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice which is traditionally from the Indian subcontinent. However, many countries use domestically grown basmati rice crops, Basmati derives from the Hindi word बासमती, bāsmatī, literally meaning fragrant. Basmati rice is believed to have been cultivated in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, the earliest extant work to mention basmati rice is Heer Ranjha. Basmati was introduced to the Middle East by Indian traders, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are the exclusive growers and exporters of this type of rice. The areas of rice production in India are in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh. Indias total basmati production for the July 2011–June 2012 crop year was 5 million tonnes, in India, Haryana is the major basmati rice cultivating state, producing more than 60 percent of the total basmati rice produced in India. In Pakistan,95 percent of the rice cultivation takes place in the Punjab province. Basmati rice has a typical pandan-like flavour caused by the aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline and this natural aroma is also found in cheese, fruits and other cereals. It is a flavoring agent approved in the United States and Europe, there are several varieties of basmati rice. Traditional Indian types include basmati 370, basmati 385, and basmati Ranbirsinghpura & Gujjar Chack area in Jammu province situated at the Indo -Pak border in Jammu & Kashmir state of India, pakistani varieties of basmati rice are PK385, Super Kernel Basmati Rice and D-98. Scientists at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi, used conventional plant breeding to produce a hybrid semi-dwarf plant which had most of the features of traditional basmati. This hybrid was called Pusa Basmati-1, crop yield is up to twice as high as traditional varieties, fragrant rices that are derived from basmati stock but are not true basmati varieties include PB2, PB3, and RS-10. Bamsati, P3 Punjab, type III Uttar Pradesh, hbc -19 Safidon,386 Haryana, Kasturi, Basmati 198, Basmati 217, Basmati 370, Bihar, Kasturi, Mahi Suganda, Pusa, Pusa 1121. Basmati 370, Super Basmati, Basmati Pak,386 or 1121 basmati rice, Basmati 385, Basmati 515, Basmati 2000, in the United States, a variety of rice based on Basmati called Texmati is grown. In Kenya, a variety called Pishori or Pisori is grown in the Mwea region. A2010 U. K. test on rice supplied by wholesalers found 4 out of 15 samples had cheaper rice mixed with basmati, and one had no basmati at all. A PCR-based assay similar to DNA fingerprinting in humans allows adulterated and non-basmati strains to be detected, exporters of basmati rice use purity certificates based on DNA tests for their basmati rice consignments. Based on this protocol, which was developed at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, in September 1997, a Texas company, RiceTec, was granted U. S
40.
Guru Har Rai
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Guru Har Rai was the seventh of ten Gurus of Sikhism. He became the Sikh leader at age 14, on 8 March 1644, after the death of his grandfather and he guided the Sikhs for about seventeen years, till his death at age 31. Guru Har Rai is notable for maintaining the army of Sikh soldiers that the sixth Sikh Guru had amassed. He supported the moderate Sufi influenced Dara Shikoh instead of conservative Sunni influenced Aurangzeb as the two entered into a war of succession to the Mughal Empire throne. After Aurangzeb won the war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him, Aurangzeb kept Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs at that time. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims, Har Krishan became the eighth Guru at age 5 after Guru Har Rais death in 1661. Some Sikh literature spell his name as Hari Rai, Har Rai was born to Nihal Kaur and Baba Gurditta. His father died while he was 8 years old, at age 10, in 1640, Guru Har Rai was married to Mata Kishan Kaur the daughter of Daya Ram. They had two children, Ram Rai and Har Krishan, the latter of whom became the eighth Guru and his elder brother Dhir Mal had gained encouragement and support from Shah Jahan, with free land grants and Mughal sponsorship. Dhir Mal attempted to form a parallel Sikh tradition and criticized his grand father, the sixth Guru disagreed with Dhir Mal, and designated the younger Har Rai as the successor. Authentic literature about Guru Har Rai life and times are scarce, he left no texts of his own, some of the biographies of Guru Har Rai written in the 18th century such as by Kesar Singh Chhibber, and the 19th century Sikh literature are highly inconsistent. Guru Har Rai provided medical care to Dara Shikoh, possibly when he had been poisoned by Mughal operatives, according to Mughal records, Har Rai provided other forms of support to Dara Shikoh as he and his brother Aurangzeb battled for rights to succession. Ultimately, Aurangzeb won, arrested Dara Shikoh and executed him on charges of apostasy from Islam, in 1660, Aurangzeb summoned Har Rai to appear before him to explain his relationship with Dara Shikoh. In the Sikh tradition, Guru Har Rai was asked why he was helping the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh whose forefathers had persecuted Sikhs and Sikh Gurus. Har Rai is believed to have replied that if a man plucks flowers with one hand and gives it away using his other hand, Guru Har Rai died of natural causes. He appointed his 5 year old younger son Har Krishan as the guru before his death. Guru Har Rai traveled to Malwa region of the Indian subcontinent and he started several public singing and scripture recital traditions in Sikhism
41.
Shiva
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Shiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme God within Shaivism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism, Shiva is the transformer within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In Shaivism tradition, Shiva is the Supreme being who creates, protects, in the goddess tradition of Hinduism called Shaktism, the goddess is described as supreme, yet Shiva is revered along with Vishnu and Brahma. A goddess is stated to be the energy and creative power of each and he is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. At the highest level, Shiva is regarded as formless, limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman, Shiva has many benevolent and fearsome depictions. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives a life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with wife Parvati. In his fierce aspects, he is depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi Shiva, regarded as the god of yoga, meditation. Shiva is usually worshipped in the form of Lingam. Shiva is a deity, revered widely by Hindus, in India, Nepal. The Sanskrit word Śiva means, states Monier Williams, auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, the roots of Śiva in folk etymology is śī which means in whom all things lie, pervasiveness and va which means embodiment of grace. The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda, as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, the term Shiva also connotes liberation, final emancipation and the auspicious one, this adjective sense of usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic layers of literature. The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics, Sharma presents another etymology with the Sanskrit root śarv-, which means to injure or to kill, interprets the name to connote one who can kill the forces of darkness. The Sanskrit word śaiva means relating to the god Shiva, and it is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism. Some authors associate the name with the Tamil word śivappu meaning red, noting that Shiva is linked to the Sun, the Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings, The Pure One, and the One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti. Shiva is known by names such Viswanathan, Mahadeva, Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra, Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha. The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his epithets Mahādeva, Maheśvara, Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and epithets of a deity. There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, the version appearing in Book 13 of the Mahabharata provides one such list
42.
Mahabharata
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The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. The Mahābhārata is a narrative of the Kurukṣetra War and the fates of the Kaurava. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four goals of life or puruṣārtha, traditionally, the authorship of the Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The oldest preserved parts of the text are thought to be not much older than around 400 BCE, the text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period. The title may be translated as the tale of the Bhārata dynasty. According to the Mahābhārata itself, the tale is extended from a version of 24,000 verses called simply Bhārata. The Mahābhārata is the longest known epic poem and has described as the longest poem ever written. Its longest version consists of over 100,000 śloka or over 200,000 individual verse lines, and long prose passages. About 1.8 million words in total, the Mahābhārata is roughly ten times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined, or about four times the length of the Rāmāyaṇa. W. J. Johnson has compared the importance of the Mahābhārata in the context of civilization to that of the Bible, the works of Shakespeare. The epic is traditionally ascribed to the sage Vyāsa, who is also a character in the epic. Vyāsa described it as being itihāsa and he also describes the Guru-shishya parampara, which traces all great teachers and their students of the Vedic times. The first section of the Mahābhārata states that it was Gaṇeśa who wrote down the text to Vyasas dictation, the epic employs the story within a story structure, otherwise known as frametales, popular in many Indian religious and non-religious works. It is recited by the sage Vaiśampāyana, a disciple of Vyāsa, the text has been described by some early 20th-century western Indologists as unstructured and chaotic. Hermann Oldenberg supposed that the poem must once have carried an immense tragic force. Moritz Winternitz considered that only unpoetical theologists and clumsy scribes could have lumped the parts of disparate origin into an unordered whole, Research on the Mahābhārata has put an enormous effort into recognizing and dating layers within the text. Some elements of the present Mahābhārata can be traced back to Vedic times, the background to the Mahābhārata suggests the origin of the epic occurs after the very early Vedic period and before the first Indian empire was to rise in the third century B. C
India
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