All About INDIA

The past 75 years have been eventful for Indian Air Force (IAF) from a flight of 'Wapitis' in 1932, to the fourth largest, professionally acclaimed, strategic Air Force responsible for guarding Nation's vital interests. From 1948 to Kargil, the IAF has always fielded wining capabilities. IAF's professional and prompt operations in peace time, at home and abroad and in peacekeeping, have earned many accolades.

The first five pilots commissioned into the Indian Air Force were H C Sircar, Subroto Mukerjee, Bhupendra Singh, A B Awan and Amarjeet Singh. A sixth officer, S N Tandon had to revert to Ground duties as he was too short. All of them were commissioned as ''Pilot Officers'' in 1933. Subroto Mukerjee later went on to become the IAF's first Indian Chief of Air Staff. Subsequent batches inducted before World_War_2 included Aspy Engineer, K K Majumdar, Narendra, R H D Singh, S N Goyal, Baba Mehar Singh, Prithpal Singh and Arjan Singh.
The Indian Air Force is headed by Chief of Air Staff with its headquarters at New Delhi. He is assisted by six Principal Staff Officers, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Air Officer Incharge Administration, Air Officer Incharge Maintenance, Air Officer Incharge Personnel and Training and Inspector General Flight Safety and Inspection.

The Indian Army is the world's second largest army in terms of military personnel. The basic responsibility of the Army is to safeguard the territorial integrity of the nation against external aggressio. In addition, the Army is often required to assist the civil administration during internal security disturbances and in the mainntenance of law and order, in organising relief operations during natural calamities like floods, earthquakes and cyclones and in the maintenance of essential services.

The Indian Army is one of the finest armies in the world. Modernisation and upgradation of Army is a continuous process to keep Armed Forces ready to meet any challenge of tomorrow. It is based on fiver years plans. Focus and core areas of modernisation has been:-

The Indian Navy, by virtue of its capabilities, strategic positioning and robust presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), has been a catalyst for peace, tranquility and stability in the IOR. It has been engaged other maritime nations, extending hand of friendship and co-operation.

On India attaining Independence, the Royal Indian Navy consisted of 32 ageing vessels suitable only for coastal patrol, along with 11,000 officers and men. The senior officers were drawn from the Royal Navy, with R Adm ITS Hall, CIE, being the first Post-independence Commander-in-Chief. The prefix 'Royal' was dropped on 26 January 1950 with India being constituted as a Republic. The first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy was Adm Sir Edward Parry, KCB, who handed over to Adm Sir Mark Pizey, KBE, CB, DSO in 1951. Adm Pizey also became the first Chief of the Naval Staff in 1955, and was succeeded by V Adm SH Carlill, CB, DSO.

On 22 April 1958 V Adm RD Katari assumed office as the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.

Emergence of the Coast Guard in India on 01 Feb 1977 as a new service was the result of an awareness that had been growing for some time in the Government for the requirement to enforce National Laws in the waters under national jurisdiction and ensure safety of life and property at sea. The Coast Guard is responsible for surveillance of the Indian territorial waters and the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone to prevent poaching, smuggling and other illegal activities; to conduct search and rescue operations; to protect and preserve marine environment.

The Indian Coast Guard is the fourth service created to guard Republic of India's vast coastline. It was created on 19 August 1978 as an independent entity as per the Coast Guard Act. Indian Coast Guard is an Armed forces of India and, ICG is not a part of the Indian Paramilitary Forces. 

Indian Economy is Twelfth largest in the world and fourth largest by purchasing power parity. In the 21st century, India is an emerging economic power having vast human and natural resources.

Economic Growth: Economic growth has been defined as "an increase in real terms of the output of goods and services that is sustained over a long period of time, measured in terms of value added". Economic growth is a dynamic concept and refers to continuous increase in output.

Factors in Economic Growth: The four factors contributing to growth are

Gross National Happiness (GNH) : The concept of gross national happiness has been introduced by king of Bhutan, Jigme Singya Wang Chuck, a tiny kingdom on the northern borders of India. The GNH aims to ensure that prosperity is shared across protecting the environment and maintaining a responsive the word happiness, more like what the signers of the Declaration of Independence had in mind when they included the "pursuit of happiness" as an inalienable right equal to liberty and life itself. The index is designed to challenge the well-established indices of countries development. HDI and GDP which are seen as not taking sustainability into account.

1. Iron and steel industry
• First steel industry at Kulti, Near Jharia, West Bengal - Bengal iron works company in 1870
• First large scale steal plant TISCO at Jamshedpur in 1907 followed by IISCO at Burnpur in 1919. Both belonged to private sector
• The first public sector unit was "Vishveshvaraya Iron and Stell works" at Bhadrawati
2. Public sector steel plants
• Russian government -

  Location	Assistance
  Rourkela(Orrisa)	Germany
  Bhilai(MP)	Russian government
  Durga[ir(WB)	British government
  Bokaro(Jharkhand)
  Burnpur(WB)	Acquired from private sector in 1976
  Vishakhapattnam(AP)	Russian government
  Salem(Tamil Nadu)	-
  Vijai Nagar(Karnataka)
  Bhadrawati(Karnataka)	nationalisation of Vishveshvarayya Iron and Steel Ltd(owned by Central and State government)

• all these are managed by SAIL(at present all important steel plants except TISCO, are under public sector)
• steel authority of India Ltd(SAIL) was established in 1974 and was made responsible for the development of the steel industry
• Presently India is the eighth largest steel producing country in the world.
3. Jute industry
• Jute industry is an important industry for a country like India, because not only it earns foreign exchange but also provides substantial employment opportunities in agriculture and industrial sectors
• Its first modernised industrial unit was established at Reshra in West Bengal in 1855
• The jute industry in the country is traditionally export oriented. India ranks number one in the raw jute and juite goods production and number two in export of jute goods in the world.
4. Cotton and textile industry
• Oldest industry of India, and employees largest number of workers
• It is the largest organised and broad-based industry which accounts for 4% of GDP, 20% of manufacturing value-added and one third of total export earnings.
• The first Indian modernised cotton cloth mill was established in 1818 at Fort Gloaster near Calcutta but this mill was not successful. The second mill named "Mumbai's spinning and weaving Co." Was established in 1854 at Bombay by KGN Daber.
5. Sugar industry
• Sugar industry is the second largest industry after cotton textile industry among agriculture-based industries in India.
• India is now the largest producer and consumer of sugar in the world. Maharashtra contributes over one third of the total sugar output, followed closely by Uttar Pradesh.
6. Fertiliser industry
• India is the third largest producer of nitrogenous fertilisers in the world
7. Paper industry
• The first mechanised paper mill was set up in 1812 at Serampur in West Bengal.
• The paper industry in India is ranked among the 15 top global paper industries.
8. Silk industry
• India is the second-largest(first being China) country in the world in producing natural silk. At present, India produces about 16% silk of the world.
• India and joys that distinction of being the only country producing all the five known commercial varieties of silk viz Mulberry, Tropical Tussar, Oak Tussar, Eri and Muga.
9. Petroleum and natural gas
• First successful Oilwell was dug in India in 1889 at Digboi, Assam.
• at present a number of regions having oil reserves have been identified and oil is being extracted in these regions
• for exploration purpose , Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) was established in 1956 at Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Following are the Geography Facts about India.

Location

Ocean

Physical Boundaries :- The sub-continent is isolated in a remarkable way from the rest of Asia, making it a geographical unit. For example, barring the plateau of Baluchistan the two great ranges, namely, the Sulaiman and the Kirthar, cut it off from the west. Along the North the great mountains wall formed by the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and the Himalayas, cut it off the countries that lie beyond as the mountains are very high and difficult to cross. Similarly, the Southward offshoots of the Eastern Himalayas separate it from Burma.

The Himalayas and other lofty mountains- Muztagh Ata, Aghil Kunlun Mountains to the north of Kashmir and south eastern portion of Zaskar mountains to east of Himachal Pradesh - from India's northern boundary, except in the Nepal region. She is adjoined in the north by China, Nepal and Bhutan. A series of mountain ranges in the east separate India from Burma. Also, in the east, lies Bangladesh bounded by Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. In the north-west, Afghanistan and Pakistan border on India. The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait separate India from Srilanka.

Locational Advantage:- India is a unique country as it is easily accessible to other parts of Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas. Its cultural influences have crossed its border from time immemorial and reached far off lands. It acts as a bridge head between developed and developing countries of the world and between the East and the West. India's strength lies in its geography as much as in its culture. Since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, distance between India and Europe has been reduced by 7000 kms. India enjoys a favourable ocean routes from East and South-East Asia and Australia to Africa and Europe pass through Indian Ocean. India is connected with the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal. India can also reach Canada and the USA through the Strait of Malacca after crossing the Pacific Ocean.

Few Facts about some port:- Among major ports, Mumbai is the biggest. Kandla is a tidal port. Marmugao enjoys the second position by value of the tonnage of the bulk of which is export of Iron core. Vishakhapatnam is the deepest land-locked and protected port. Chennai has an artificial harbour, Kolkata is a riverine port, Haldia has a fully equipped containerised berth.

Shipping:- Overseas shipping has an extremely important role to play in India’s international trade. The country has the largest merchant shipping fleet among developing countries and ranks 17th in the world in shipping tonnage. There were 102 shipping companies in country operating as on 31 March 2000, includes shipping corporation of India, a public sector undertaking.

Following are the India Area and Boundaries details :-

Following are the National Parks in India with their location