Indias Culture, History and Economy

Indias Culture, History and EconomyExecutive SummaryHistorical/ geographical soilWith traces of Human brio dating back e truly(prenominal)place 9000 years, India keep be described as 1 of the oldest nations in the cosmos. This brief psychoanalysis looks at the construction of a study European trading extend and the belt downf each of the colonies as well as looking at how the legitimate trends in populace atomic soma 18 helping India develop into one of the worlds tonicest major powers.Type of judicature and State frame employedIndian g everywherening ar described as a very grey argona. What is construed as a democracy by the writing is in reality a democracy where the sight repeatedly vote in the athe likes of(p) mis soula leaders. It is a convey of matter run by money and its idea of democracy needs to change drastic whollyy if India has both chance of catching up with the powerful G8 nations.Relationship with neighbouring countriesIndias copulationsh ip with neighbouring countries varies masterlyly from Pakistan their arch rival come forward-of-pocket to diverse aspects from holiness to willpower of land. To their relationship with china which has dramatic ally changed from warlike neighbouring countries to making friends with each former(a) and co-operating with one and opposite.Judicial agreementIndias judicature dodge appears to be at fault. Terrorism is becoming increasingly obsess but punishment for much(prenominal) crimes is minimal. Although the court governance is attempting to pass laws to go by crime, the authorities is failing to implement them efficiently and the corrupt patrol specialitys shake off these laws.ReligionReligion within India is widely spread and very primal to the people of India. Instead of having the usual fork frame, India has a club system and as soon as nighbody is born they be edit into rankings concord to the caste system.CultureIndias culture is one of the oldest and close to ridiculous. It is distant both(prenominal) other culture in the world and each realm of the sylvan possesses its own distinctive cultural niche. Cultural variety show is reflected done Indias fire handed-down c galvanic pilehing and passing respectful family values. health, wel far thither and preparationThe healthcare in India has developed dramatically over the years from hardly any at all to a national health armed service even though this is available well-nigh(prenominal) of the high class people choose to seek private centres. Welfare in India differs from the cities where tourism is ordinary to the colonys were at voiceicular months, times plunder be a struggle. training is very popular in the cities where the governing body can provide help, on the other hand, in the give awayer villages genteelness is scarce. judicature and MediaIndian Press, TV, radio receiver and Internet media are all explored in this separate. It explains quick return of Indian media sector and how it came across Governments leave to delay it.Economic climateshortly India is doing very well itself and is in a boom state sort of than a bust in comparison with about other countries. India has many imports and exports e.g. diamonds and fuel. India has some of import trading partners that are America and china.Political circumspectionIndia is a powerhouse in terms of their involvement in European relations. Relationships with neighbouring countries such as Pakistan are hostile but Bhutan and China are both puddleing closely with India to ameliorate trade routes.IntroductionIn our group assignment, the question we were given to answer was How can we accurately lay the 21st century nation state with regards to the country India. This piece consists of investigate into many different aspects of India including,Historical/geographical context and demographics,The type of government and state system employed,The nation state, relati onship with neighbours,Judicial system,Importance of religion/class/caste,Culture and Ideology,Provision of welfare/education,Relationship of media and the Indian government,The moderne economy.During this project, we impart explore deep in to India as a country, to discharge extensive knowlight-emitting diodege, to help us to at a lower place(a)stand more about their life and culture enabling us to complete our report. Each section of the report allow be researched in depth and the most great and pertinent split picked out and used to show our understanding and knowledge of India. This will accordingly enable us to piece to chooseher everyones individual travel and produce an overall project.The report will be created to the best of all our abilities, as it is a group project we will obviously be runing to needher to complete the work. However, non sole(prenominal) will we gift to work together but we will also each fall in to do our own individual piece regarding our country, India. The information and the images e.g. diagrams that we will use in the report will be appropriately referenced in the bibliography a broad with any other relevant information we find.Historical background of IndiaThe Earliest know traces of life in India can be appoint as Stone Age rock shelters with paintings. These can be prove in Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. The scratch line known settlement was traced back to over 9000 years ago. This settlement developed into the Indus Valley Civilization, which dates back to 3300 BCE in the westerly province of India. (http//www.harappa.com/indus/indus1.html) During the 16th Century India was used a major trading post to the far east by the Major European powers such as the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands and France.During the later half of the 16th century colonies were set up in India aided by the countries internal conflicts. By 1856, India was mostly under the control of the British easterly India Company. (http//india .gov.in/knowindia/history_ immunity_struggle.php) Within a year India would be brought under direct rule of the British Crown. These events are some of the major national agents, which gestate helped India to develop into a developing nation faster than a lot of its surrounding 3rd world neighbors. In my opinion India would non cede been considered a developing nation for some time without the azoic introduction to European trading and industry, which are now the foundation to a thriving economy along with other factors such as the abundant state and modern investment.By the 20th Century India was ready for slackdom and a struggle for nationwide independence ensued. The Indian National relative as well as some other political organizations led the struggle. Infamous Indian Leader Mahatma Gandhi led millions of Indian people through with(predicate) non-violent campaigns for freedom. (http//www.kamat.com/mmgandhi/mkgtimeline.htm) On 15 August 1947, the nation of India was d eclared as free from British rule. At the same time as the gained in that respect independence, some mostly Muslim areas where partitioned to Pakistan. (http//english.emory.edu/Bahri/Part.html) India became a republic on the 26th of January 1950 and the new constitution came into power. (https//www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html)Geographical background of IndiaThe seventh largest country in the world India is guarded from the outride of Asia by ranges of mountains and immense seas. This gives India a voluptuous geographical certainity. Spanning an area of 32,87,2631 Km square, India shares its b grazes with Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, China and Kashmir. India has Borders with the Indian Ocean to the second West and Bay of Bengal to the South East with a coastline including non-mainland islands of 7,516.5 km. http//www.indiabook.com/india-information/indian-geography.html A lot of Indias strengths today can be attributed to its size. With size come resources and the power to export.Demographical background of IndiaIndia has an estimated creation of 1.2million people. (http//www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf) This Makes India the 2nd most populated country in the world. I believe that we can attribute some of Indias victor and a growing nation to this. For example, their massive GDP that has been climbing steadily could be accredited to the cheap work crush that they are able to get their hands on. With the labor cost in India being cheaper India has found that authentic nations absorb chance uponn an inte ride out in using that cheap labor. This investing from other countries has also helped India leave its neighbors behind. In young years the population has risen sharply. It has been claimed that this is due to the recent advancements in medicine. I agree that this is an attributing factor and Indias aging population could be a problem for the in the very foreseeabl e future. But as it stands with its vast population India can only execute more powerful as they advance technologically and turn over to catch up with Western nation.Indian PoliticsThere isnt a more populated democracy in the entire world than India. (http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1154019.stm) India also boasts the longest constitution by any independent nation. This exhaustive constitution was in steadyd on the 26th of January in 1950. The constitution outlines India as a Secular, Socialist, Sovereign and Democratic republic. (Identities and the Indian state An overview) India adopted, beneficially, a parliamentary government but has shifted to a much more federal dah in the 1990s due to internal social and scotch change. The constitutional head of the Indian government is the president. He is elected by an electoral college and should serve a maximum of five years with out being re-elected. All real power in the country is dual-lane between the President of India and the Council of Ministers. (http//www.tradechakra.com/india-political-system.html) On paper India is considered a very regular(prenominal) democracy. In reality voters keep voting for corrupt leaders. Democracy in India faces threats from leaders such as Abu Salem, who has recently requested to contest in elections. Abu Salem, and extradite of Portugal would almost certainly use his position of power to initiate hate campaigns against Hindus backed by his pseudo-secular followers. This sticks forward the question, does democracy ever work? Thomas Jefferson once said, A democracy is nothing more than load down rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. Is the majority decision the correct one? Some people would verbalize that Indian politics doesnt work as a democracy, but if you were to equivalence them with Pakistan who go through a very corresponding democracy to India, On Paper. In reality you would find that Pakistan has a much more corrupt government than India. This would suggest that the Indian system is a working democracy to some extent to the extent perhaps that any democracy works.Relationship with Neighbouring countriesPakistan India unalterablely since 1947 when the British government went in and dismantled India as a country they have been arch rivals and even over the many years it has shown that they still do not get along. http//news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/default.stm These arguments go deep into religion and history the state of Jammu and Kashmir, and whom they actually belong to. Pakistan and India have not yet managed to agree on power over the pit equation in south Asia. An undeclared war broke out in 1947 between the two countries over the state of Kashmir this was the first of iii extreme conflicts that the countries have had with each other. On July 18th, both of the countries signed the Karachi con cord establishing a ceasefire line that was supervised by the get together Nations. This left Pakistan, India and China part of the land. Most of the tension between the two nations comes from a long history of conflict, through religion and ownership of land, ending up as a nuclear competition. http//www.ignca.nic.in/ks_41061.htm Each trying to push the other country to back down, one of the countries needs to take the first step to a harmonious relationship or things seem set to only get worse for themselves.China IndiaChina and India have had a completely different relationship with one and other, they are very similar in many different ways, both of the countries had to fight for their countries freedom and have been allies in war. However, the change in new world has managed to alter Indias perspective of China and their true intentions. Chinas military has had a rapid egression and this begins to worry India in several ways. China has always used their military forces to ga in control of different aspects of their culture, for example for the fight for their freedom they used their armed forces to complete a gruelling task to fight until the end to obtain their goal. India went down the opposite route of using non-violent demonstrations to gain their achievements. So naturally, the development of the Chinese army has begun to worry India. Although these http//iaps.cass.cn/xueshuwz/showcontent.asp?id=262two approaches are completely different, both have seen success in their relationship, with one and other and other countries. By keeping there tactics the same, they now in the 21st century are aiming for the same goals of maintaining Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence around the world. I believe that India and china will stick to keep a harmonious relationship with one and other even with their different views on appropriate action so far they have managed to keep a friendship going and will continue this, using each others strengths to help them selves.Indian Judicial SystemHow does it work?The controlling lawcourt of India is the uppermost part in the Indian sound system, consisting of a Chief Justice and 25 associate justices, who are name by the President. Under The Supreme Court of India, each state or group of states possesses High Courts and there are several subordinate courts under these High Courts. As of the 1960s, Indian eliminated the use of juries for most trials as they were deemed unable and corrupt and opted for the majority of trials to be conducted by judges (www.indiafacts.headlinesinindia.com www.wikepedia.com).Does India have a fair and working jurisprudence and court system?From research, I have found much aboriginal data that shows me Indias law and court system appears to be working ineffectively. Terrorism is rife in India and the most recent attack was the Mumbai bombings in November 2008. These were a series of attacks, lasting three days, on some of Indias most famous landmarks, notably t he Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. The attacks resulted in the closing of more than 170 people. According to the Amnesty International Report the government tightened security legislation and set up a federal self-assurance to investigate terrorist attacks. However, the laws swan in place failed to materialize and disdain 70 oddment sentences, no executions took place. This suggests to me that the court system is failing in their attempts to improve the country and perhaps not adequate effort is being put on central laws, such as punishing terrorists. (http//thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/india)Furthermore, a report released by Human Rights Watch on August fourth 2009 gives an in-depth 118-page account of a range of mankind violations committed by the police in India. The report is based on interviews with police officers and over 60 members on the public who have first-hand experience of the police forces unprovoked and superfluous violence. One individual desc ribes how he was tortured in an attempt to force a confession out of him. He describes how he was repeatedly vanquish with a wooden stick until he nearly fainted.India is modernizing rapidly, but the police continue to use their old methods abuse and threats. It is time for the government to forget talking about reform and fix the system. (http//thereport.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/india)This quote from fix Adams, the Asia Director at Human Rights Watch shows how feels that the police system is not working and that the government need to do something about it.Is the court system to blame for the corrupt police system?According to the report, in 2006, The Supreme Court of India judgment attempted to improve police laws. However, the implications of these laws were curtly put into practice. The article implies that officials do not view the need for police and human rights reforms at an urgent matter and are satisfied for it to continue as it is.Indias status as the world s largest democracy is undermined by a police force that pretends it is above the law.This is another quote from Brad Adams, revealing that the Supreme Court of Indias efforts have been overlooked by a policing system that chooses to ignore the law. (http//www.hrw.org/ node/84730) From research, I have learnt that Indias police and court system appears to be failing. Although there seems be attempts to make new laws the process of putting them into practice is poor and ineffective.ReligionIndia is a very religious country and the main religion that is followed in this country is Hinduism, 83% of the population of India is Hindu (http//www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/cms_ summon.asp) and therefore obviously it is a very important subject. Religion in India plays a huge part and is often a way of life for the people who brisk in India and is something they relate to every day. Although Hinduism is the main religion there are many others with Islam been the second biggest religious g roup in India, Muslims play over a million globally, spread among many different countries, ranging from the Middle East and Africa to areas now part of Russia and extending as far as China and Malaysia in East Asia. They make up the majority of the population in 30 countries and large minorities in other (Book-The international Business Environment, 2nd Ed. Janet Morrison 2006, Palgrave, Macmillan Page 182) and others including Christianity, Sikhism and Buddhism.As religion is a way of life for the average person living in India they eat, sleep and breathe their religion because it is very important to them and this is what they live for. There are aspects of all religions within India that have become very gross, the most recent of these aspects is the food and leap festivals that the people have to celebrate certain timesof the year within each religion. However because a large population of India go to these festivals regardless of their religion each actual religion has its own beliefs, heroes and culinary specialties (http//www.squidoo.com/indian-religions). This shows that no religion is the same despite the fact that they celebrate the same religious and cultural events.India has a caste system that is a hierarchical system within their society http//www.indianchild.com/caste_system_in_india.htm, the system is used for almost everything and puts people in a ranking order depending on certain qualities which each individual has e.g. wealth, relatives. This system seems very important because it is used to help identify who is of more worth and who should be looked at differently with regards to the caste system.It becomes easy to see who is where in the ranking and if you are at the lower end of the hierarchical caste system it is believably that people will act differently towards that person compared to if they were of a higher ranking. The extent of the impact will depend upon how severe the caste system is and how much people judge each other i n relation to the system. I dont believe it is fair to judge and make opinions on people just based on the caste system that they use in India, up to now it happens and so the people of India have to cope with it.As there is a caste system the Indian people obviously class people according to things like wealth and power. This in my opinion shows that they have a class system and there will be a lower class who have the basic job and basic wages, the middle(a) class who have the better paid jobs and the better power and then there is the ultimate higher class who most people will aspire to be because they are the wealthiest people among the classes and they have the power and the most powerful contacts and relationships. However most countries do class people according to how much money and power they have and this is unlikely to change any time soon.CultureIndia is ren owned for possessing one of the richest and most unique cultures in the world. Each regions culture enjoys its o wn individual features, demonstrating great cultural diversity throughout the country. It would be difficult to identify any culture in the world that possesses the variation and individuality that Indian culture does. In this section of the assignment, I intend to explore some of the distinctive features of Indian culture, viz. family values, turn and dance.So what is culture?The term culture refers to a state of intellectual development or manners. The social and political forces that influence the growth of a human being are defined as culture. (www.indianchild.com)classifiable features of Indian cultureFamily ValuesTraditional family values remain similar in all regions of India, despite the rich cultural diversity. A common belief among Indians is that children are a gift from God, boys being the more aureate sex as they can earn money to support the family. (www.essortment.com/all/familyindianli_rvuy.htm) Traditional family values are highly respected and a vast majority of Indians have their marriages arranged for them by their parents or other highly regarded family members. In India, marriage is thought to be for life and therefore the separate rate is extremely low. According to statistics, (www.divorcemag.com) the divorce rate in the United Kingdom was 42.6% as a percentage of marriages, whereas India was only 1.1% this huge diversion reiterates that Indian family values believe marriage is for life.ClothingTraditional Indian attire exudes ethnic charm through the bright, rich colours and style and material can vary depending on the geographical location. For women, a captive garment called a sari is popular and an embroidered dress called a salwar kameez. Similarly, men wear a draped garment called a dhoti or a lungi. Also popular for men are European-style trousers and shirts. From research, when I think of Indian habit I instantly visualise radiant and exciting colours. I think this is reflective of Indias rich and unique culture as there are not many other countries in which handed-down clothing is so exciting. The picture shows a woman in traditional Indian salwar kameez, the embroidery detail on the dress along with the vibrant colours suggests to me a lot of effort goes into their clothing and shows that clothing is a authoritative part of their culture.DanceDance forms are separate into two categories classical and folk. Classical usually aim to convey a spiritual message, whereas, folk dances are mainly used as part of celebrations. Like other aspects of Indian culture, dance forms are equally unique and vary across the regions. Bharatnatyam is the most renowned dance from the South, as significant as a dance form it is viewed almost as a religion to many who revere it. I get the sense that dance is a highly significant part of Indian culture if it can be regarded to some people as important as religion.From family values, clothing and dance to their unique monuments and religions, I have found the culture of India to be diverse among regions and extremely interesting to learn about. It is notably dissimilar to any other country I am familiar with.HealthcareHealth care was changed substantially between the 1950s and the 1980s however, this managed to cause a large boost in population growth causing the number of practises per person to be at an extreme low. In 1991, India had about 22,400 primary health centres, 11,200 hospitals and 27,400 dispensaries. (http//www.indianchild.com/health_care_in_india.htm) They managed to produce a tiered health care system that placed more difficult cuticles into the urban hospitals while attempting to provide medical examination care for most of the cases in the countryside this seems quite significant because most of the Indian population live in villages in the outer areas.Many of the hospitals were owned and managed by charitable trusts, and received some payment from the government, while the rest of the hospitals were managed by private trusts . Many of the medical equipment demand for the hospitals was limited as the money needed to by the products was scarce in the early 1990s. By 1992, however, most of the in camera owned hospitals were part of the government scheme for colleges and contained fair to middling medical equipment to treat all major types of diseases including cancer. (http//www.indianchild.com/health_care_in_india.htm) India has a free discussion at public health centres on the other hand however most of the public prefer to pay money for treatment by private physicians. This seems interesting as India is not known as a rich country so paying for treatment rather than take the free care seems to be a bit of a luxury, on the other hand, it shows that the standard of national free health care mustiness be at a poor standard.WelfareIn the case of welfare India is the same as everywhere else depending on its income to help it succeed. However, in India there are two scenarios with the richer parts of Ind ias population have no problem at all maintaining healthy living constantly all year round, however in the small villages of the less developed parts of India this can be an increasing problem with hot summers and no constant flow of tourists, times can seem very hard. (http//giik.net/blog/india-welfare/)With an rattling(a) population in the billions many people live out of the main cities and even further into the country this can make it hard for them to entrance fee medical centres and other vital aid that they may need. This contributes to the high death rate, lowering the average life expectancy.EducationIndias recent economic growth rates have helped them progress in the educational department. The story of Indias educational achievements is one of mixed success. On the negative side, India has 22 per cent of the worlds population and is home to a high proportion of the worlds out of school children and youths. On the positive side, it has made encouraging recent progress in facts of life schooling participation. While the base of Indias education may be weak, it has emerged as an important player in the worldwide information technology whirling due to the substantial numbers of well educated computing and other graduates.However it was not always this way in 1854, Sir Charles Woods introduced a new policy into Indias government, this was made to help those who have not got enough money to send their children to school, for help to be provided for them, so that all children would be treated equally. (Crisis and Change in Contemporary India)On the other hand, due to the marvelous population of the country they could not make the school scheme compulsory, as the government did not have enough money for all of the children that needed their help and support.Media and government of IndiaRelationships between the media and the government in India is not very different to the West European democratic model, however some historic and demographical aspects drove this relation in its own specification and pace. Recent changes in regulations of freedom and speech seems to follow global concept of independent media merchandise and broadcast news.The history of media in India began in the eighteenth century when the first prints were stretch forthed. Indian media has been relatively independent throughout most of their history, however, over the terminus of 1975-1977 Prime Minister Gandhi declared the period of emergency with potential government retribution. This incident has not changed freedom of Indian media in the long term. (http//india.mapsofindia.com/india-forum/media-in-india.html) right away Indian media markets with over 99 million newspaper copies in 2007, 60 million internet users in 2008 and large amounts of TV transmit is one of the leading media markets in the world. With a population of over one billion the Indian market is a lot to fight for. Major newspapers like The India Gazette, The Calcutta Gazette, The Madras Courier were initially carried under the British rule, however same as The Bombay Times most Indian publishers are now independent. The Press Council is a statutory body of journalists, publishers, academics and politicians, with a chairman appointed by the Government. knowing to be a self-regulating mechanism for the press, it investigates complaints of irresponsible journalism and sets a code of conduct for publishers. This code includes a commitment not to publish articles or details that might incite caste or communal violence. receiving set broadcasting became state responsibility in 1930. AM broadcasting remained a government monopoly. offstage FM radio station ownership was legalized during 2000, but licenses only authorized entertainment and educational content. Although there were privately owned radio send, they were not permitted to broadcast news. Major radio stations nowadays in India like All India Radio, Radio City, Big FM, Radio Mirchi are important informational channels all over the country. Some channels are more recognized as of the language dialect, but Hindoo spoken media with over 422 million speakers are the most popular.Complete telly broadcasting was initiated in 1965. The Government of India owned and maintained audio-visual apparatus and contend a significant role in increasing mass education and publishing information. Some TV projects were specifically designed to educate village population. Following the economic reforms of the 90s, major planet TV channels from around the world including BBC, CNN, CNBC and other foreign idiot box channels gained a foothold in the country. In 1993 there were over 47 million registered TV users. Private satellite television was distributed widely by cable or satellite dish. These channels provided substantial competition for Doordarshan, the government-owned television network, in both presentment and credibility. Doordarshan frequently was accused of manipulating the news in the Governm ents favour however, in some parts of the country satellite channel owners used their medium to make headway the platforms of the political parties that they supported. In addition, citizens had access to uncensored Cable News Network, the British Broadcasting Company and a variety of other foreign programs. Recently, with 562 television stations, the country ranked eighth in the list of countries by number of television broadcast stations as of 1997. Star Plus, Colors, Zee TV, DD1 are the top TV channels in 2009.Internet as the newest and the speedy growing media nowadays is the one that seems to be less influenced by Government regulations, however, some radical acts have also taken place in the past. The Government imposed limited access to the Internet. The Informational Technology Act provides for ban information on the Internet on public morality grounds, and it considers unlicenced access to electronic information a crime. According to Reporters Without Borders, this law allowed police officers to search the homes or offices of Internet users, at any time and without a warrant. But it was another way to fight against crime and allowing legal acts against those who are breaking the law. In practice, the internet is the most popular media worldwide and is the most powerful source of information in India, same as the rest of the world.The Constituti