India

Note: This column mainly includes countries along the Belt and Road and countries that have signed cooperation agreements with China on Belt and Road Initiative.

Official Name

Republic of India

Location

Southern Asia, south of the Himalayas, the southern peninsula bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. India shares borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan to the north-west, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north, Myanmar and Bangladesh to the east. Sri Lanka is separated from the southernmost tip of India by the narrow Palk Straits and the Gulf of Mannar.

Population

1.21 billion (2011 census)

Capital

New Delhi

Climate

Varied continental climate. Spring from March-April, summer from May-October, winter from November-February. Tropical monsoon fromJune-August, and post-monsoon or north-east monsoon season (Oct-Dec).Most of the rainfall is brought by the south-west monsoon. Owing to the geographical diversity of India, regional climatic conditions in the extreme north, east and west can be different.

Religion

Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%,unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)

Administrative Division

There are 29 states and 6 union territories (UTs) besides the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The states are Andhra Pradesh, ArunachalPradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, HimachalPradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa,Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The UTs are Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.

Republic Day

26th January (The Indian Constitution was adopted and Republic formedon this day in 1950.)

Independence Day

15th August (The British Raj ended on this day in 1947.)

National Language

Hindi is the most widely spoken language and primary tongue of 41% of the people; there are 21 other official languages: Assamese, Bengali,Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam,Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi,Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. English enjoys associate status but is one of the most important languages for national political, and commercial communication.

National Calendar

Based on the Saka Era with Chaitra as its first month and a normal year of 365 days, the national calendar has a permanent correspondence with the Gregorian calendar with 1st Chaitra falling on 22nd March (21st March in leap years).

Polity

Constitution of India

The Constitution of India was enacted on26th of January, 1950. Drafted on 26th of November, 1949 by the ConstituentAssembly of India, the Indian Constitution laid the foundations forestablishment of a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic of India.Today, there are 12 Schedules and 395 Articles in the Constitution of India.Amendments have been made to the Constitution time and again as per the need ofthe hour. Till 2006, there have been 94 Amendments made to the constitution.

The Preamble is one of the mostsignificant parts of the Constitution of India. Focusing on the core objectiveof the Indian Constitution, the Preamble includes the following:

Equality - which connotes equal opportunityfor one and all

Justice - which means fair judgment in thefields of politics, society and economy

Fraternity - which works towards keepingthe integrity and strength of the country intact along with special stress onindividual dignity

Liberty - which assures every citizen ofIndia the freedom of speech and expression, religious independence and choiceof going by one's own belief

Executive

The President is the constitutional head ofthe executive of the Union of India. The real executive power vests in aCouncil of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head. Article 74(1) of theConstitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers headed by thePrime Minister to aid and advise the President who shall, in exercise of hisfunctions, act in accordance with such advice. The Council of Ministers iscollectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, the House of the People. In thestates, the Governor, as the representative of the President, is the head ofExecutive, but real executive power rests with the Chief Minister who heads theCouncil of Ministers. The Council of Ministers of a state is collectivelyresponsible to the elected legislative assembly of the state.

The Union Executive at the Centre consistsof the President, the Vice-President and Council of Ministers with the PrimeMinister at the head to aid and advise the President. The President is electedby members of an Electoral College consisting of elected members of both Housesof Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of the states, with suitable weightagegiven to each vote. His/her term of office is five years. Executive power ofthe Union is vested in the President, and is exercised by him either directlyor through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the Constitution.Supreme command of defence forces of the Union also vests in him. The Presidentsummons, prorogues, addresses, sends messages to Parliament and dissolves theLok Sabha, promulgates Ordinances at any time, except when both Houses ofParliament are in session, makes recommendations for introducing financial andmoney bills and gives assent to bills, grants pardons, reprieves, respites orremission of punishment or suspends, and remits or commutes sentences incertain cases. When there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in astate, he can assume to himself all, or any of the functions of the governmentof that state. The President can proclaim emergency in the country if he issatisfied that a grave emergency exists, whereby security of India or any partof its territory is threatened, whether by war or external aggression or armedrebellion. When there is a failure of the constitutional machinery in a state,he/she can assume to himself all or any of the functions of the government ofthat state.

Legislature

The Parliament is the legislative arm ofthe Union. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the directly-elected545-member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lowerhouse, and the 250-member indirectly-elected and appointed Rajya Sabha("Councilof States"), the upper house. All the members of the Council of Ministersas well as the Prime Minister are members of Parliament. If they are not, theymust be elected within a period of six months from the time they assume theirrespective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers areresponsible to the Lok Sabha, individually as well as collectively.

The Lok Sabha (also titled the House of thePeople, by the Constitution) is the directly elected lower house of theParliament of India. So far, there have been fourteen Lok Sabhas elected by thepeople of India. Each Lok Sabha is formed for a five-year term, after which itis automatically dissolved, unless extended by a Proclamation of Emergencywhich may extend the term in one-year increments. Allbills to be made into lawrequire the consent of both the houses of parliament. However, in case of moneybills, the Lok Sabha is the supreme authority. Similarly, m against thegovernment can only be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Councilof States") is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership islimited to 250 members, 12 of whom are nominated by the President of India fortheir expertise in specific fields of art, literature, science, and socialservices. The members of the Rajya Sabha from each state are elected by themembers of the Legislature or the Legislative Assembly of that state by meansof proportional representation through the Single Transferable Vote System. Therepresentatives of the Union Territories are chosen in such manner as may bedecided or prescribed by the Parliament from time to time. Terms of office arefor six years, with one third of the members facing re-election every twoyears.The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous session and, unlike the lower houseof parliament, the Lok Sabha, is not subject to dissolution.

The functions of Parliament are not onlyvaried in nature, but considerable in volume. The time at its disposal islimited. It cannot make very detailed scrutiny of all legislative and othermatters that come up before it. A good deal of its business is, therefore,transacted in committees. Both Houses of Parliament have a similarcommittee structure, with a few exceptions. Their appointment, terms of office,functions and procedure of conducting business are also more or less similar,and are regulated under rules made by the two Houses under Article 118(1) ofthe Constitution. Broadly, parliamentary committees are of two kinds-standingcommittees and ad hoc committees. The former are elected or appointed everyyear or periodically and their work goes on, more or less, on a continuousbasis. The latter are appointed on an ad hoc basis as need arises, and theycease to exist as soon as they complete the task assigned to them.

Judiciary

India has an independent and highly activejudiciary. The Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both stateand federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, HighCourts at the state level, and District and Session Courts at the districtlevel. Below District and Session Courts, there are courts of civiljurisdiction, known in different states as munsifs, sub-judges,civil judges andthe like. Similarly, criminal judiciary comprises of chief judicial magistrateand judicial magistrates of first and second class.

The Supreme Court has original,appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive original jurisdictionextends to all disputes between the Union and one or more states or between twoor more states. The Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction tothe Supreme Court to enforce Fundamental Rights. Appellate jurisdiction of theSupreme Court can be invoked by a certificate of the High Court concerned or byspecial leave granted by the Supreme Court in respect of any judgement, decreeor final order of a High Court in cases both civil and criminal,involving substantialquestions of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution. The Presidentmay consult the Supreme Court on any question of fact or law of publicimportance.

Although the proceedings in the SupremeCourt arise out of the judgments or orders made by the Subordinate Courts, oflate the Supreme Court has started entertaining matters in which interest ofthe public at large is involved, and the Court may be moved by any individualor group of persons either by filing a Writ Petition at the Filing Counter ofthe Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble The Chief Justice of Indiahighlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.Such a concept is known as Public Interest Litigation,or PIL and severalmatters of public importance have become landmark cases.

The Supreme Court of India comprises theChief Justice and not more than 25 other Judges appointed by the President.Judges hold office till 65 years of age.

Political System

Every adult citizen of India can exercisehis or her democratic rights in elections that are held at regular intervals.As like any other democracy, political parties represent different sectionsamong the Indian society and regions. Both the executive branch and thelegislative branch of the government are run by the representatives of thepolitical parties who have been elected through the elections. Through theelectoral process, the people of India choose which party or coalition ofparties gets majority in the lower house and a government can be formed by thatparty or the coalition.

India has a multi-party system, with anumber of national and regional parties. A regional party may gain a majorityand rule a particular state. If a political party is recognized in four or morestates and is either the ruling party or is in the opposition in these states,it is considered as a National Party. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party,Janata Dal, Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) arethe prominent National Parties in the Country. Some of these parties haveexisted before the independence of the country while few of these emerged inpost independent years. Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Asom GanaParishad in Assam, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in Bihar, Maharashtrwad GomantakParty in Goa, National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, Muslim League inKerala, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Akali Dal in Punjab, All-India Anna DravidaMunnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu, Bahujan SamajParty and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and All-India Forward Block in WestBengal are the prominent state parties which are the major political players intheir respective states. Formation of coalition governments reflects thetransition in Indian politics away from the national parties towardsmaller "Regional parties".

Political parties are an established partof modern democracy and have to be registered with "The ElectionCommission of India". The Commission ensures inner party democracy intheir functioning by insisting upon them to hold their organizational electionsat periodic intervals. Political parties so registered with it are grantedrecognition at the State and National levels by the Election Commission on thebasis of their poll performance at general elections according to prescribedcriteria. The Election Commission also ensures a level playing field for thepolitical parties in election fray, through strict observance by them of aModel Code of Conduct evolved with the consensus of political parties.

Economy

GDP(constant market prices) in 2014-15: Rs.10656925 crore( Est.)

Per Capita Income (constantprices 2011-12)in 2014-15: Rs.88533 crore (Est.)

Per Capita Income (currentprices) in2014-15: Rs.74,193 (Est.)

GAV composition by sectorduring 2014-15 (2011-12): Services49.6%, Agriculture 18.7%, and Industry 31.7%

Forex Reserves: US$328.7 billion (forthe end of Jan,2015)

Exports: US $ 310533.87(April-March,2014-2015)

Imports: US$ 447548.33 million (April-March 2014-15)

Cumulative FDI Inflows: US$350.9Billion (April 2000 to November 2014)

Top Investing Countries: Mauritius, Singapore,U.K, Japan, Netherlands, U.S.A, Cyprus, Germany, France and Switzerland.

Top Sectors Attracting highest FDI inflows: Services,Construction, Telecommunication, computer Software and Hardware, Drugs andPharmaceuticals, Automobile industry, chemicals and power.

Agriculture

In India,Agriculture still remains the predominant sector in termsof employment and livelihood with more than half of India's workforce engagedin it as a principal occupation. Agriculture still contributes significantly toexport earnings and is an important source of raw materials as well as ofdemand for many industries.

In 2013-14 India achieved a record food grain production of 264million tonnes (MT), beating the previous year's (2012-13) 257 MT, according todata provided by Department of Economics and Statistics (DES). The Indianagricultural services and the agricultural machinery sectors have cumulativelyattracted foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows to the tune of US$365.79 million in the period April 2000-September 2014, according to theDepartment of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Manufacturing

Manufacturingis the backbone of the economy. Global competitiveness in manufacturing fostersgrowth, productivity and employment and strengthens the agriculture and servicesectors. India has the potential to become a manufacturing hub for textiles,automobiles,steel, metals and petroleum products for the world market.

The General Index for the month of February 2015 stands at 181.3,which is 5.0% higher as compared to the level in the month of February 2014.The cumulative growth for the period April-February 2014-15 over thecorresponding period of the previous year stands at 2.8%.

Some of the importantitems showing high positive growth during the financial year are leather goods,non metallic mineral products, basic metal and alloy industries, textile.

Services

Since thebeginning of the tenth five-year plan, industry and services have acted as twinengines propelling overall growth of the economy.Service sector growthcontinued to be broad based. Among the three subsectors of services, trade,hotels, transport and communication services continued to lead by growing atdouble-digit rates since 2003-2004. Impressive progress in the railwaypassenger network and production of commercial vehicles, rapid addition to theexisting stock of telephone connections, particularly mobiles, growth in thefinancial services (banking, insurance and real estate) and the constructionboom were some of the driving segments of the service sector.

Travel

India, with its diversity, its long historyand rich culture, its geography and landscapes, its traditions, values andcustoms - has always been and will always be unique. India has attracted theattention of the world since time immemorial. Indian music, dances and aplethora of other art forms, Indian languages and literature, India’s religionsand ancient philosophy, the practice of Yoga and Ayurveda,the numerous fairsand festivals, the infinite variety of Indian cuisine, chores and practicesembedded in the daily Indian life - all have evolved over many centuries withthe blending of the original elements with the best of the influencesassimilated from outside.

It is therefore no wonder that Indiapossesses tourist attractions of every kind and for everyone. One of the modernSeven Wonders of the World, Taj Mahal is just one of the 32 World HeritageSites in India.The Himalayas, nestled with many scenic hill stations rangingfrom Srinagar and Shimla in the North to Darjeeling in the East provide cool retreatswith majestic scenes of the youngest and highest mountain range in the world.The Golden Triangle of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur offers a glimpse into an important erain Indian history. The royal charms of Rajasthan and the ride on the ‘Palace onWheels’are a tourist must-see.

The Buddhist circuit of Nalanda-BodhGaya-Sarnath and the sacred cities on the River Ganges have been populardestinations for those who seek to explore India’s contribution to worldspirituality. The temples of India are standing tributes to India’s ancientcraftsmanship.

The coastline of Western India is dottedwith tourist spots. The beaches of Goa and Kerala have beckoned people from allover. The tea gardens of South India and its famed spices enchanted theEuropeans centuries ago. The islands of Lakshadweep and Andamans & Nicobarbring out yet another facet of multifarious India.

Source: indianembassy.org.cn