Portal:India

Parent portals : Geography / Asia / India

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Introduction

Flag of India

Location on the world map

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the world's seventh-largest country by area and its most populous. 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 north, and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives. (Full article...)

National Anthem of India

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  Basohli miniature, c. 1730. National Museum, New Delhi

  
  Ganesha, or Ganesh (Sanskrit: गणेश, IAST: Gaṇeśa, IPA: [ɡɐˈɳeːɕɐ]), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most revered and worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme god in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hindu denominations worship him regardless of affiliations. Ganesha also holds the Title of "Pratham Pujya" (the god to be worshipped initially before the worship of any other Deity). Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains and Buddhists and beyond India.
  
  Although Ganesha has many attributes, he is readily identified by his elephant head and four arms. He is widely revered, more specifically, as the remover of obstacles and bringer of good luck; the patron of arts and sciences; and the deva of logic, intellect, and wisdom. As the god of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Ganesha is also invoked during writing sessions as a patron of letters and learning. Several texts relate anecdotes associated with his birth and exploits. (Full article...)
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  Darjeeling (/dɑːr.ˈdʒiː.lɪŋ/, Nepali: [ˈdard͡ziliŋ], Bengali: [ˈdarˌdʒiliŋ]) is a city in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of 2,045 metres (6,709 ft). To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, to the east the Kingdom of Bhutan, to the north the Indian state of Sikkim, and farther north the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Bangladesh lies to the south and southeast, and most of the state of West Bengal lies to the south and southwest, connected to the Darjeeling region by a narrow tract. Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, rises to the north and is prominently visible on clear days.
  
  In the early 19th century, during East India Company rule in India, Darjeeling was identified as a potential summer retreat for British officials, soldiers, and their families. The narrow mountain ridge was leased from the Kingdom of Sikkim, and eventually annexed to British India. Experimentation with growing tea on the slopes below Darjeeling was highly successful. Thousands of labourers were recruited chiefly from Nepal to clear the forests, build European-style cottages and work in the tea plantations. The widespread deforestation displaced the indigenous peoples. Residential schools were established in and around Darjeeling for the education of children of the domiciled British in India. By the late-19th century, a novel narrow-gauge mountain railway, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, was bringing summer residents into the town and carrying a freight of tea out for export to the world. After India's independence in 1947, as the British left Darjeeling, its cottages were purchased by wealthy Indians from the plains and its tea plantations by out-of-town Indian business owners and conglomerates. (Full article...)
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  Procession held in Dhaka on February 21, 1952

  
  The Bengali language movement was a political movement in East Bengal in 1952, advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as a co-lingua franca of the Dominion of Pakistan. The movement wanted to allow its use in government affairs, the continuation of its use as a medium of education, its use in media, currency and stamps, and to maintain its writing in the Bengali alphabet and Bengali script.
  
  When the Dominion of Pakistan was formed after the separation of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, when the British left, it was composed of various ethnic and linguistic groups, with the geographically non-contiguous East Bengal province having a mainly ethnic Bengali population. In 1948, the Government of the Dominion of Pakistan ordained as part of Islamization of East Pakistan or East Bengal that Urdu will be the sole federal language, alternately Bengali writing in the Perso-Arabic script or Roman script (Romanisation of Bengali) or Arabic as the state language of the whole of Pakistan was also proposed, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Bengal. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the government outlawed public meetings and rallies. The students of the University of Dhaka and other political activists defied the law and organised a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day. The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956. (Full article...)
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  Territory of the Western Chalukyas (c. 1100 CE) in India (modern boundaries shown) and the empire's capital, Kalyani, in the modern Bidar district, Karnataka state, India

  
  A large body of Western Chalukya literature in the Kannada language was produced during the reign of the Western Chalukya Empire (973–1200 CE) in what is now southern India. This dynasty, which ruled most of the western Deccan in South India, is sometimes called the Kalyani Chalukya dynasty after its royal capital at Kalyani (now Basavakalyan), and sometimes called the Later Chalukya dynasty for its theoretical relationship to the 6th-century Chalukya dynasty of Badami. For a brief period (1162–1183), the Kalachuris of Kalyani, a dynasty of kings who had earlier migrated to the Karnataka region from central India and served as vassals for several generations, exploited the growing weakness of their overlords and annexed the Kalyani. Around 1183, the last Chalukya scion, Someshvara IV, overthrew the Kalachuris to regain control of the royal city. But his efforts were in vain, as other prominent Chalukya vassals in the Deccan, the Hoysalas, the Kakatiyas and the Seunas destroyed the remnants of the Chalukya power.
  
  Kannada literature from this period is usually categorised into the linguistic phase called Old-Kannada. It constituted the bulk of the Chalukya court's textual production and pertained mostly to writings relating to the socio-religious development of the Jain faith. The earliest well-known writers belonging to the Shaiva faith are also from this period. Under the patronage of Kalachuri King Bijjala II, whose prime minister was the well-known Kannada poet and social reformer Basavanna, a native form of poetic literature called Vachana literature (lit "utterance", "saying" or "sentence") proliferated. The beginnings of the Vachana poetic tradition in the Kannada-speaking region trace back to the early 11th century. Kannada literature written in the champu metre, composed of prose and verse, was popularised by the Chalukyan court poets. However, with the advent of the Veerashaiva (lit, "brave devotees of the god Shiva") religious movement in the mid-12th century, poets favoured the native tripadi (three-line verse composed of eleven ganas or prosodic units), hadugabba (song-poem) and free verse metres for their poems. (Full article...)
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  Four-time world champion Mark Selby playing at a practice table during the 2012 Masters tournament

  
  Snooker (pronounced UK: /ˈsnuːkər/ SNOO-kər, US: /ˈsnʊkər/ SNUUK-ər) is a cue sport played on a rectangular billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six pockets: one at each corner and one in the middle of each long side. First played by British Army officers stationed in India in the second half of the 19th century, the game is played with 22 balls: a white cue ball, 15 reds and six colours – yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black. Using a snooker cue, players take turns to strike the cue ball to pot other balls in a defined sequence, scoring points for each pot and for fouls committed by the opposing player. An individual frame of snooker is won by the player who has scored the most points, and a snooker match ends when a player wins a predetermined number of frames.
  
  In 1875, army officer Neville Chamberlain, stationed in India, devised a set of rules that combined black pool and pyramids. The word snooker was a well-established derogatory term used to describe inexperienced or first-year military personnel. In the early 20th century, snooker was predominantly played in the United Kingdom, where it was considered a "gentleman's sport" until the early 1960s before growing in popularity as a national pastime and eventually spreading overseas. The standard rules of the game were first established in 1919 when the Billiards Association and Control Club was formed. As a professional sport, snooker is now governed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. (Full article...)
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  Zinta in 2018

  
  Preity G. Zinta (pronounced [ˈpɾiːt̪i ˈzɪɳʈɑː]; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress and entrepreneur primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in Dil Se in 1998, followed by a role in Soldier in the same year. These performances earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, and she was later recognised for her role as a teenage single mother in Kya Kehna (2000). She established a career as a leading Hindi film actress of the decade with a variety of character types. Her roles, often deemed culturally defiant, along with her unconventional screen persona won her recognition and several accolades.
  
  Following critically appreciated roles in Sangharsh (1999), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002), and Armaan (2003), Zinta received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003). She starred in two consecutive annual top-grossing films in India, Koi... Mil Gaya (2003) and Veer-Zaara (2004), and was noted for her portrayal of independent, modern Indian women in Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), top-grossing productions in domestic and overseas markets. For her first international role in the Canadian drama Heaven on Earth (2008) she was awarded the Silver Hugo Award for Best Actress and nominated for the Genie Award. She followed this with a hiatus from acting work for several years, with intermittent appearances such as in her self-produced comeback film, Ishkq in Paris (2013), which failed to leave a mark. (Full article...)
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  Profile of a Hoysala temple at Somanathapura

  
  Hoysala architecture is the building style in Hindu temple architecture developed under the rule of the Hoysala Empire between the 11th and 14th centuries, in the region known today as Karnataka, a state of India. Hoysala influence was at its peak in the 13th century, when it dominated the Southern Deccan Plateau region. Large and small temples built during this era remain as examples of the Hoysala architectural style, including the Chennakesava Temple at Belur, the Hoysaleswara Temple at Halebidu, and the Kesava Temple at Somanathapura. These three temples were accorded UNESCO world heritage site status in 2023. Other examples of Hoysala craftsmanship are the temples at Belavadi, Amruthapura, Hosaholalu, Mosale, Arasikere, Basaralu, Kikkeri and Nuggehalli. Study of the Hoysala architectural style has revealed a negligible North Indian influence while the impact of Southern Indian style is more distinct.
  
  Temples built prior to Hoysala independence in the mid-12th century reflect significant Western Chalukya influences, while later temples retain some features salient to Western Chalukya architecture but have additional inventive decoration and ornamentation, features unique to Hoysala artisans. Some three hundred temples are known to survive in present-day Karnataka state and many more are mentioned in inscriptions, though only about seventy have been documented. The greatest concentration of these are in the Malnad (hill) districts, the native home of the Hoysala kings. (Full article...)
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  A female African bush elephant in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

  
  Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea; extinct relatives include mammoths and mastodons. Distinctive features of elephants include a long proboscis called a trunk, tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and tough but sensitive grey skin. The trunk is prehensile, bringing food and water to the mouth and grasping objects. Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.
  
  Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. They live in different habitats, including savannahs, forests, deserts, and marshes. They are herbivorous, and they stay near water when it is accessible. They are considered to be keystone species, due to their impact on their environments. Elephants have a fission–fusion society, in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Females (cows) tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with its calves or several related females with offspring. The leader of a female group, usually the oldest cow, is known as the matriarch. (Full article...)
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  Collins on an 1899 postcard

  
  Arthur Edward Jeune Collins (18 August 1885 – 11 November 1914) was an English cricketer and soldier. He held, for 116 years, the record of highest score in cricket: as a 13-year-old schoolboy, he scored 628 not out over four afternoons in June 1899. Collins's record-making innings drew a large crowd and increasing media interest; spectators at the Old Cliftonian match being played nearby were drawn away to watch the junior school house cricket match in which Collins was playing. Despite this achievement, Collins never played first-class cricket. Collins's 628 not out stood as the record score until January 2016 when an Indian boy, Pranav Dhanawade, scored 1009 in a single innings.
  
  Collins joined the British Army in 1902 and studied at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, before becoming an officer in the Royal Engineers. He served in France during the First World War, where he was killed in action in 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres. Collins had been mentioned in despatches and also represented the Royal Military Academy at cricket and rugby union. (Full article...)
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  Cyclone 04B at peak intensity near landfall

  
  The 2000 Sri Lanka cyclone (IMD designation: BOB 06 JTWC designation: 04B) was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Sri Lanka since 1978. The fourth tropical storm and the second severe cyclonic storm of the 2000 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, it developed from an area of disturbed weather on December 25, 2000. It moved westward, and quickly strengthened under favorable conditions to reach top wind speeds of 75 mph (121 km/h). The cyclone hit eastern Sri Lanka at peak strength, then weakened slightly while crossing the island before making landfall over southern India on December 28. The storm degenerated into a remnant low later that day, before merging with another trough on the next day.
  
  The storm was the first cyclone over Sri Lanka with winds of at least hurricane strength since a cyclone of 1978 hit the island in the 1978 season, as well as the first tropical storm to hit the island since 1992. The storm was also the first December tropical cyclone of hurricane intensity in the Bay of Bengal since 1996. It produced heavy rainfall and strong winds, damaging or destroying tens of thousands of houses and leaving up to 500,000 homeless. At least nine people died as a result of the cyclone. (Full article...)
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  Monier Williams, elected as the second Boden Professor of Sanskrit in 1860; this photograph was taken by Lewis Carroll.

  
  The election in 1860 for the position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford was a competition between two candidates offering different approaches to Sanskrit scholarship. One was Monier Williams, an Oxford-educated Englishman who had spent 14 years teaching Sanskrit to those preparing to work in British India for the East India Company. The other, Max Müller, was a German-born lecturer at Oxford specialising in comparative philology, the science of language. He had spent many years working on an edition of the Rig Veda (an ancient collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns) and had gained an international reputation for his scholarship. Williams, in contrast, worked on later material and had little time for the "continental" school of Sanskrit scholarship that Müller exemplified. Williams regarded the study of Sanskrit as a means to an end, namely the conversion of India to Christianity. In Müller's opinion, his own work, while it would assist missionaries, was also valuable as an end in itself.
  
  The election came at a time of public debate about British rule in India in the wake of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Opinions were divided on whether greater efforts should be made to convert India or whether to remain sensitive to local culture and traditions. Both men battled for the votes of the electorate (the Convocation of the university, consisting of over 3,700 graduates) through manifestos and newspaper correspondence. Williams laid great stress in his campaign on the intention of the original founder of the chair, that the holder should assist in converting India through dissemination of the Christian scriptures. Müller's view was that his work on the Rig Veda was of great value for missionary work, and published testimonials accordingly. He also wanted to teach wider subjects such as Indian history and literature to assist missionaries, scholars, and civil servants – a proposal that Williams criticised as not in accordance with the original benefactor's wishes. The rival campaigns took out newspaper advertisements and circulated manifestos, and different newspapers backed each man. Although generally regarded as superior to Williams in scholarship, Müller had the double disadvantage (in the eyes of some) of being German and having liberal Christian views. Some of the newspaper pronouncements in favour of Williams were based on a claimed national interest of having an Englishman as Boden professor to assist with the work of governing and converting India. (Full article...)
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  Core Western Ganga Territory

  
  Western Ganga was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India which lasted from about 350 to 1004 CE. They are known as "Western Gangas" to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas who in later centuries ruled over Kalinga (modern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh). The general belief is that the Western Gangas began their rule during a time when multiple native clans asserted their freedom due to the weakening of the Pallava empire in South India, a geo-political event sometimes attributed to the southern conquests of Samudra Gupta. The Western Ganga sovereignty lasted from about 350 to 550 CE, initially ruling from Kolar and later moving their capital to Talakadu on the banks of the Kaveri River in modern Mysore district.
  
  After the rise of the imperial Chalukyas of Badami, the Gangas accepted Chalukya overlordship and fought for the cause of their overlords against the Pallavas of Kanchi. The Chalukyas were replaced by the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta in 753 CE as the dominant power in the Deccan. After a century of struggle for autonomy, the Western Gangas finally accepted Rashtrakuta overlordship and successfully fought alongside them against their foes, the Chola Dynasty of Tanjavur. In the late 10th century, north of Tungabhadra river, the Rashtrakutas were replaced by the emerging Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola Dynasty saw renewed power south of the Kaveri river. The defeat of the Western Gangas by Cholas around 1000 resulted in the end of the Ganga influence over the region. (Full article...)
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  INS Vikrant in 1984

  
  INS Vikrant (from Sanskrit vikrānta, "courageous") was a Majestic-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy. The ship was laid down as HMS Hercules for the British Royal Navy during World War II, but was put on hold when the war ended. India purchased the incomplete carrier in 1957, and construction was completed in 1961. Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and played a key role in enforcing the naval blockade of East Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
  
  In its later years, the ship underwent major refits to embark modern aircraft, before being decommissioned in January 1997. She was preserved as a museum ship in the Naval Docks in Mumbai until 2012. In January 2014, the ship was sold through an online auction and scrapped in November 2014 after final clearance from the Supreme Court. (Full article...)
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  Core area of Western Chalukya architectural activity in modern Karnataka state, India

  
  Western Chalukya architecture, also known as Kalyani Chalukya or Later Chalukya architecture and broadly classified under the Vesara Style, is the distinctive style of ornamented architecture that evolved during the rule of the Western Chalukya Empire in the Tungabhadra region of modern central Karnataka, India, during the 11th and 12th centuries. Western Chalukyan political influence was at its peak in the Deccan Plateau during this period. The centre of cultural and temple-building activity lay in the Tungabhadra region, where large medieval workshops built numerous monuments. These monuments, regional variants of pre-existing dravida (South Indian) temples, form a climax to the wider regional temple architecture tradition called Vesara or Karnata dravida. Temples of all sizes built by the Chalukyan architects during this era remain today as examples of the architectural style.
  
  Most notable of the many buildings dating from this period are the Mahadeva Temple at Itagi in the Koppal district, the Kasivisvesvara Temple at Lakkundi in the Gadag district, the Mallikarjuna Temple at Kuruvatti in the Bellary district and the Kallesvara Temple at Bagali in the Davangere district. Other monuments notable for their craftsmanship include the Kaitabheshvara Temple in Kubatur and Kedareshvara Temple in Balligavi, both in the Shimoga district, the Siddhesvara Temple at Haveri in the Haveri district, the Amrtesvara Temple at Annigeri in the Dharwad district, the Sarasvati Temple in Gadag, and the Dodda Basappa Temple at Dambal, both in the Gadag district. (Full article...)
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  Male in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

  
  The lion (Panthera leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera, currently ranging only in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane that extends from the head to the shoulders and chest.
  
  The lion inhabits grasslands, savannahs, and shrublands. It is an apex and keystone predator, preying mostly on medium-sized and large hooved mammals. It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion pride consists of related females and cubs, and a few or one adult male who is unrelated to the females. Groups of female lions usually hunt together. Adult males often compete to keep or gain their membership in the pride. (Full article...)
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  Virupaksha temple at Hampi, the sacred centre at Vijayanagara, the royal capital

  
  Vijayanagara literature in Kannada is the body of literature composed in the Kannada language of South India during the ascendancy of the Vijayanagara Empire which lasted from the 14th through the 16th century. The Vijayanagara empire was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I. Although it lasted until 1664, its power declined after a major military defeat by the Shahi Sultanates in the battle of Talikota in 1565. The empire is named after its capital city Vijayanagara, whose ruins surround modern Hampi, now a World Heritage Site in Karnataka.
  
  Kannada literature during this period consisted of writings relating to the socio-religious developments of the Veerashaiva and Vaishnava faiths, and to a lesser extent to that of Jainism. Writing on secular topics was popular throughout this period. Authorship of these writings was not limited to poets and scholars alone. Significant literary contributions were made by members of the royal family, their ministers, army commanders of rank, nobility and the various subordinate rulers. In addition, a vast body of devotional folk literature was written by musical bards, mystics and saint-poets, influencing society in the empire. Writers of this period popularised use of the native metres: shatpadi (six-line verse), sangatya (compositions meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument), and tripadi (three-line verse). (Full article...)
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  Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford CBE FBA FSA (28 October 1886 – 28 November 1957) was a British archaeologist who specialised in the archaeology of prehistoric Britain and Sudan. A keen proponent of aerial archaeology, he spent most of his career as the archaeological officer of the Ordnance Survey (OS) and also wrote a range of books on archaeological subjects.
  
  Born in Bombay, British India, to a wealthy middle-class Scottish family, Crawford moved to England as an infant and was raised by his aunts in London and Hampshire. He read geography at Keble College, Oxford, and worked briefly in that field before devoting himself professionally to archaeology. Employed by the philanthropist Henry Wellcome, Crawford oversaw the excavation of Abu Geili in Sudan before returning to England shortly before the First World War. During the conflict he served in both the London Scottish Regiment and the Royal Flying Corps, where he was involved in ground and aerial reconnaissance along the Western Front. After an injury forced a period of convalescence in England, he returned to the Western Front, where he was captured by the German Army in 1918 and held as a prisoner of war until the end of the conflict. (Full article...)
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  Male at Head Marala, Punjab, Pakistan
  

  
  The Sind sparrow (Passer pyrrhonotus) is a passerine bird of the sparrow family, Passeridae, found around the Indus valley region in South Asia. Its name refers to the province of Sindh, and it is also known as the jungle, Sind jungle, or rufous-backed sparrow. Very similar to the related house sparrow, it is smaller and has distinguishing plumage features. As in the house sparrow, the male has brighter plumage than female and young birds, including black markings and a grey crown. Distinctively, the male has a chestnut stripe running down its head behind the eye, and the female has a darker head than other sparrow species. Its main vocalisations are soft chirping calls that are extended into longer songs with other sounds interspersed by breeding males. Historically, this species was thought to be very closely related to the house sparrow, but its closest evolutionary affinities may lie elsewhere. The species was discovered around 1840, but went undetected for several decades afterwards.
  
  Within its Indus valley breeding range in Pakistan and western India, the Sind sparrow is patchily distributed in riverine and wetland habitats with thorny scrub and tall grass. During the non-breeding season, some birds enter drier habitats as they disperse short distances from their breeding habitat, or migrate into western Pakistan and the extreme east of Iran. Since this species is fairly common and expanding its range, it is assessed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. The Sind sparrow is social while feeding and gathers in small groups both while breeding and during winter dispersal. It feeds mostly on seeds and less often on insects, foraging close to the ground. Nests are made in the branches of thorny trees, and are untidy globular masses constructed from grass or other plant matter and lined with softer material. Both sexes are involved in building the nest and caring for the young, and usually raise two clutches of three to five young each breeding season. (Full article...)
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  Nyctibatrachus major, the Malabar night frog, large wrinkled frog, or Boulenger's narrow-eyed frog, is a species of frog in the family Nyctibatrachidae, commonly known as the robust frogs. It was described in 1882 by the zoologist George Albert Boulenger, and is the type species of the genus Nyctibatrachus. It is a large frog for its genus, with an adult snout–vent length of 31.5–52.0 mm (1.24–2.05 in) for males and 43.7–54.2 mm (1.72–2.13 in) for females. It is mainly brownish to greyish in colour, with a dark greyish-brown upperside, a greyish-white underside, and light grey sides. It also has a variety of grey or brown markings. When preserved in ethanol, it is mostly greyish-brown to grey, with whitish sides. Sexes can be told apart by the presence of the femoral glands (bulbous glands near the inner thigh) in males.
  
  The species is endemic to the Western Ghats mountain range of India, where it is found in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. Adults inhabit fast-moving forest streams at elevations of up to 900 m (3,000 ft) and have highly specific habitat requirements. Adults are mostly found in or near water and are nocturnal; subadults can be found during both the night and day. Its diet mainly consists of other frogs and insect larvae. Over a period of several days or weeks, females lay multiple small clutches of eggs on leaves and rocks overhanging water; tadpoles drop into the water below on hatching. The species is currently classified as being endangered on the IUCN Red List owing to its small and severely fragmented range and ongoing habitat degradation. Threats to the species include habitat loss, increased human presence near the streams it inhabits, and possibly nitrate pollution caused by fertiliser overuse. (Full article...)
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  Kahaani (IPA: [kəˈɦaːni]; transl. Story) is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language thriller film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Sujoy Ghosh. It stars Vidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman looking for her missing husband in Kolkata during the festival of Durga Puja, assisted by Assist Sub-Inspector Satyoki "Rana" Sinha (Parambrata Chatterjee) and Inspector General A. Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).
  
  Made on a budget of ₹80 million (US$830,000), Kahaani was conceived and developed by Ghosh, who co-wrote the film with Advaita Kala. The crew often employed guerrilla-filmmaking techniques on Kolkata's streets to avoid attracting attention. Its creative portrayal of the city and its use of local crew and cast made it a notable film. Kahaani explores themes of feminism and motherhood in a male-dominated Indian society. The film also makes several allusions to Satyajit Ray's films, such as Charulata (1964), Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), and Joi Baba Felunath (1979). The film's musical score and soundtrack were composed by Clinton Cerejo and Vishal–Shekhar respectively, with cinematography handled by Setu and editing done by Namrata Rao. (Full article...)
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  Bhatt in 2026

  
  Alia Bhatt (/ˈɑːliə ˈbʌt/; born 15 March 1993) is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi films. Known for her portrayals of women in challenging circumstances, she has received several accolades, including a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards. She is one of India's highest-paid actresses. Time awarded her with the Time100 Impact Award in 2022 and named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2024.
  
  Born into the Bhatt family, she is a daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan. After making her acting debut as a child in the 1999 thriller film Sangharsh, she played her first leading role in Karan Johar's teen film Student of the Year (2012). She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for playing a kidnapping victim in the road drama Highway (2014) and went on to establish herself with starring roles in several romantic films produced by Johar's studio Dharma Productions. (Full article...)
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  The Legend of Bhagat Singh is a 2002 Indian biographical drama film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The film is based on Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary who fought for Indian independence along with fellow members of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. It features Ajay Devgn as the titular character along with Sushant Singh, Akhilendra Mishra and D. Santosh as the other lead characters. Raj Babbar, Farida Jalal and Amrita Rao play supporting roles. The film chronicles Singh's life from his childhood where he witnesses the Jallianwala Bagh massacre until the day he was hanged to death before the official trial dated 24 March 1931.
  
  The film was produced by Kumar and Ramesh Taurani's Tips Industries on a budget of ₹200–250 million (about US$4.2–5.2 million in 2002). The story and dialogue were written by Santoshi and Piyush Mishra respectively, while Anjum Rajabali drafted the screenplay. K. V. Anand, V. N. Mayekar and Nitin Chandrakant Desai were in charge of the cinematography, editing and production design respectively. Principal photography took place in Agra, Manali, Mumbai and Pune from January to May 2002. The soundtrack and film score were composed by A. R. Rahman, with the songs "Mera Rang De Basanti" and "Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna" being well received in particular. (Full article...)
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  Greatest extent of the Western Chalukya Empire, 1121 AD

  
  The Western Chalukya Empire (/tʃəˈluːkjə/ chə-LOO-kyə) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the Kalyani Chalukya after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan in the modern Bidar district of Karnataka state, and alternatively the Later Chalukya from its theoretical relationship to the 6th-century Chalukya dynasty of Badami. The dynasty is called Western Chalukyas to differentiate from the contemporaneous Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, a separate dynasty. Before the rise of these Chalukyas, the Rashtrakuta Empire of Manyakheta controlled most of the Deccan Plateau and Central India for over two centuries. In 973, seeing confusion in the Rashtrakuta empire after a successful invasion of their capital by the ruler of the Paramara dynasty of Malwa, Tailapa II, a feudatory of the Rashtrakuta dynasty ruling from Bijapur region defeated his overlords and made Manyakheta his capital. The dynasty quickly rose to power and grew into an empire under Someshvara I who moved the capital to Kalyani.
  
  For over a century, the two empires of South India, the Western Chalukyas and the Chola dynasty of Thanjavur fought many fierce wars to control the fertile region of Vengi. During these conflicts, the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi, distant cousins of the Western Chalukyas but related to the Cholas by marriage, took sides with the Cholas further complicating the situation. During the rule of Vikramaditya VI, in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, the Western Chalukyas convincingly contended with the Cholas and reached a peak, ruling territories that spread over most of the Deccan, between the Narmada River in the north and Kaveri River in the south. His exploits were not limited to the south for even as a prince, during the rule of Someshvara I, he had led successful military campaigns as far east as modern Bihar and Bengal. During this period the other major ruling families of the Deccan, the Hoysala Empire, the Seuna dynasty, the Kakatiya dynasty and the Kalachuris of Kalyani, were subordinates of the Western Chalukyas and gained their independence only when the power of the Chalukya waned during the later half of the 12th century. (Full article...)
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  Nil Battey Sannata (lit. 'Zero Divided by Zero Equals Nothing'; slang for "Good for Nothing"), released internationally as The New Classmate, is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama film directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari in her feature debut. Produced by Aanand L. Rai, Ajay Rai, and Alan McAlex under the banners of Colour Yellow Productions and JAR Pictures, the film was co-written by Iyer, Neeraj Singh, Pranjal Choudhary, and Nitesh Tiwari. Swara Bhaskar starred as Chanda Sahay, a high-school drop-out household maid and single mother of a sullen young girl named Apeksha, played by Riya Shukla. The film's theme is a person's right to dream and change their lives, irrespective of social status.
  
  Released in India on 22 April 2016, Nil Battey Sannata was distributed by Eros International and garnered critical and audience acclaim. Reviewers praised most aspects of the production, especially its narrative and realism, and the performances of the cast, Bhaskar's in particular. At the 62nd Filmfare Awards, Iyer won the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Director, while Bhaskar and Shukla won the Screen Awards for Best Actress (Critics) and Best Child Artist respectively. The film did well at the box-office, collecting a total of around ₹69 million (US$720,000) during its entire theatrical run. The same year, the film was remade in Tamil as Amma Kanakku, with Iyer returning to direct. The following year, it was remade in Malayalam as Udaharanam Sujatha. (Full article...)
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  A posthumous depiction of the Rani of Jhansi dressed for battle

  
  Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi (Hindi: Jhānsi Ki Rāni; born Manikarnika Tambe; 1827–30, or 1835 – 18 June 1858) was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The queen consort of the princely state of Jhansi from 1843 to 1853, she assumed its leadership after the outbreak of the conflict and fought several battles against the British. Her life and deeds are celebrated in modern India and she remains a potent symbol of Indian nationalism.
  
  Born into a Marathi family in Varanasi, Manikarnika Tambe was married to the raja of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao, at a young age, taking the name Rani Lakshmibai. The couple had one son but he died young, and so when Gangadhar Rao was on his deathbed in 1853, he adopted Damodar Rao, a young relative, to be his successor. The British East India Company, which by then had subjugated much of India, including Jhansi, refused to recognise this succession and annexed Jhansi under the Doctrine of Lapse, ignoring the Rani's vigorous protests to the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie. (Full article...)

Selected pictures

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  City Palace of Jaipur

  Photograph credit: Jakub Hałun

  The City Palace of Jaipur, constructed between 1727 and 1732, is a royal residence located in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. It was the ceremonial and administrative seat of the Kingdom of Amber, and home of its rulers, from the time of the state's foundation in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II until 30 March 1949. The palace continues to be a residence of the royal family of Jaipur and is a popular tourist attraction. This picture shows the Leheriya gate, one of four intricately designed gates in an inner courtyard of the palace. The gate is dedicated to Hindu god Ganesha (carved above the door) with the green colour representing the season of spring.
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  Indian highways

  Map credit: PlaneMad

  A map of Network of National Highways in India, including NHDP projects up to phase IIIB, which is due to be completed by December 2012. The National Highways are the main long-distance roadways and constitute a total of about 58,000 km (36,250 mi), of which 4,885 km (3,053 mi) are central-separated expressways. Highways in India are around 2% of the total road network in India, but carry nearly 40% of the total road traffic.
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  Bangles

  Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

  Bangles on display in Bangalore, India. These rigid bracelets are usually made from metal, wood, or plastic and are traditionally worn by women in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In India, it is a common tradition to see a new bride wearing glass bangles at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks.
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  Mohur

  Coin design credit: East India Company and the Calcutta Mint; photographed by Andrew Shiva

  The mohur is a gold coin that was formerly minted by several governments, including those of British India. It was usually equivalent in value to fifteen silver rupees. Gold mohurs issued by the British East India Company or the Crown are valuable collectors' items, and sell in auctions for high prices. The double mohur (minted between 1835 and 1918), with a value of thirty rupees, is the highest-denomination circulating coin ever issued in India. The 1835 two-mohur coin above was minted in the reign of King William IV, while the 1862 one-mohur coin below was minted in the reign of Queen Victoria; both are now part of the National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.
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  Bengal tiger

  Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

  The Bengal tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies Panthera tigris tigris found in the Indian subcontinent. Ranking among the largest wild cats alive today, it is considered to be one of the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late Pleistocene, for about 12,000 to 16,500 years. Today it is threatened by poaching, and habitat loss and fragmentation, and was estimated to comprise fewer than 2,500 wild individuals by 2011. The tiger is the national animal of India. This female Bengal tiger was photographed in Kanha Tiger Reserve, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
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  Pomegranate juice

  Photograph credit: Augustus Binu

  Pomegranate juice is a beverage made from the fruit of the pomegranate. It is used in cooking both as a fresh juice and as a concentrated syrup. The fruit originated in the region extending from Iran to northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times. The fruit has a hard outer husk and a spongy mesocarp in which the seeds in their fleshy seedcoats are embedded. Pomegranate juice can be sweet or sour, but most fruits are moderate in taste. The juice has long been a popular drink in Europe and the Middle East, and is now widely distributed in the United States and Canada.
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  Odissi

  Photograph: Augustus Binu

  Odissi is an ancient classical dance that originated in the Hindu temples of Odisha, India. Historically, it has been performed predominantly by women, and expressed religious stories and spiritual ideas, particularly of Vaishnavism (Vishnu as Jagannath), but also of other traditions such as those related to Hindu gods Shiva and Surya, as well as Hindu goddesses (Shaktism). Modern Odissi productions by Indian artists have presented a diverse range of experimental ideas, culture fusion, themes and plays.
  
  Odissi is learnt and performed as a composite of a basic dance motif called the Bhangas (symmetric body bends, stance). It involves the lower, mid, and upper body as three sources of perfecting expression and audience engagement with geometric symmetry and rhythmic musical resonance.
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  Indian palm squirrel

  Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

  An Indian palm squirrel (Funambulus palmarum) photographed in Bangalore, India. In India these squirrels are associated with the Hindu deity Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, and as such are not to be harmed. However, in Western Australia they are considered pests and at times targeted for eradication.
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  Round ribbontail ray

  Photograph credit: Rucha Karkarey; edited by John Harrison

  The round ribbontail ray (Taeniura meyeni) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, found throughout the nearshore waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific region. Reaching 1.8 m (6 ft) across, this large ray is characterized by a thick, rounded pectoral fin disc covered by small tubercles on top, and a relatively short tail bearing a single venomous spine. The ray is well-camouflaged when lying on the seabed; it is largely nocturnal, and preys on molluscs, crustaceans and bony fish. Mature females bear litters of up to seven pups, which are fed during gestation on "uterine milk", a product secreted by the walls of the oviduct. This round ribbontail ray was photographed in Lakshadweep, India.
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  Macrotyloma uniflorum

  Photograph credit: Prathyush Thomas

  Macrotyloma uniflorum, commonly known as horse gram, is a legume native to tropical southern Asia. The plant grows from a rhizome, sending up annual shoots to a height of 60 cm (24 in). The flowers are cream, yellow or pale green and are followed by short pods. The seeds, pictured here, have been consumed in India for at least 4,000 years and are used both for animal feed and human consumption, including Ayurvedic cuisine. In other tropical countries in southeastern Asia, and in northern Australia, the plant is grown mainly as a fodder crop and for use as green manure. It is a drought-tolerant plant, largely cultivated in areas with low rainfall.
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  Taj Mahal

  Photograph: Yann; edit: Jim Carter

  A view of the Taj Mahal from the south, featuring the Charbagh garden. The mausoleum complex also includes subsidiary tombs, waterworks infrastructure, the small town of Taj Ganji, and a "moonlight garden". Its origins and architecture have been extensively documented, covering both the circumstances of its commission and the cultural and historical influence of the Islamic Mughal Empire in India.
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  Indus River

  Photograph credit: KennyOMG

  The Indus River is a 3,180-kilometre (1,980 mi) transboundary and trans-Himalayan river that rises in western Tibet before flowing northwest through the regions of Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan in Kashmir. The river then bends sharply to the left after the Nanga Parbat massif, flows generally southwest through Pakistan, and empties into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi. The Indus has a total drainage-basin area exceeding 1,165,000 km² (450,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow is around 243 km³ (58 cu mi), making it one of the fifty largest rivers in the world by discharge. This photograph shows the Indus valley near the city of Leh, a capital of Ladakh in Indian-administered Kashmir.
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  Indian tent turtle

  Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

  The Indian tent turtle (Pangshura tentoria) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae, endemic to India and Bangladesh. The species's carapace grows to a maximum length of 27 centimetres (11 inches). This turtle of the subspecies P. t. tentoria was photographed beside the Chambal River in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
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  Chota Imambara

  Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

  The Chota Imambara in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, is a mausoleum constructed by and for Muhammad Ali Shah, the third Nawab of Awadh, beginning in 1838.
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  Palace of Assembly

  Photograph credit: duncid, retouched by UnpetitproleX and Aristeas

  The Palace of Assembly in Chandigarh, India, is a legislative assembly building designed by modernist architect Le Corbusier forming part of the Chandigarh Capitol Complex – a larger government compound including several other buildings such as the Secretariat Building and the Palace of Justice. Constructed to serve as the administrative capital for the eastern half of the historic British Indian Punjab province that remained in India after the 1947 partition of India, the compound, along with sixteen other globally scattered buildings designed by Le Corbusier, was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2016. The Palace of Assembly houses the legislatures of the present-day northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana.

Featured list –

This is a Featured list, which the Wikipedia community considers to be the best lists on English Wikipedia.

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  Kapoor in 2022

  
  Ranbir Kapoor is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi-language films. He worked as an assistant director on the films Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) and Black (2005), before making his acting debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic drama Saawariya (2007). It earned Kapoor the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He established himself in 2009 with leading roles in three films—the coming-of-age drama Wake Up Sid, the comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and the drama Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. He won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his combined work in these three films. In 2010, Kapoor played a character based on Arjuna and Michael Corleone in the commercially successful political thriller Raajneeti.
  
  From 2011 to 2013, Kapoor's releases were among the highest-grossing Hindi films of their respective years. In Imtiaz Ali's musical Rockstar (2011) he played an aspiring singer, and in Anurag Basu's comedy-drama Barfi! (2012), he starred as a joyful deaf and mute man. His performance in both films was critically acclaimed and he earned two consecutive Best Actor awards at Filmfare and the former also earned him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. The romantic comedy Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) further established him as a star. (Full article...)
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  The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service of a high order", without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex. The recipients receive a Sanad, a certificate signed by the President of India and a circular-shaped medallion with no monetary association. The recipients are announced every year on Republic Day (26 January) and registered in The Gazette of India, a publication used for official government notices and released weekly by the Department of Publication, under the Ministry of Urban Development. The conferral of the award is not considered official without its publication in the Gazette. The names of recipients whose awards have been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the President, are archived, and recipients who are struck from the register are required to surrender their medals; none of the conferments of Padma Bhushan during 1990–1999 have been revoked or restored. The recommendations are received from all the state and the union territory governments, as well as from Ministries of the Government of India, the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan awardees, the Institutes of Excellence, the Ministers, the Chief Ministers and the Governors of State, and the Members of Parliament including private individuals.
  
  When instituted in 1954, the Padma Bhushan was classified as "Dusra Varg" (Class II) under the three-tier Padma Vibhushan awards, which were preceded by the Bharat Ratna in hierarchy. On 15 January 1955, the Padma Vibhushan was reclassified into three different awards as the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri. The criteria included "distinguished service of a high order in any field including service rendered by Government servants", but excluded those working with the public sector undertakings with the exception of doctors and scientists. The 1954 statutes did not allow posthumous awards; this was subsequently modified in the January 1955 statute. The design was also changed to the form that is currently in use; it portrays a circular-shaped toned bronze medallion 1+3⁄4 inches (44 mm) in diameter and 1⁄8 inch (3.2 mm) thick. The centrally placed pattern made of outer lines of a square of 1+3⁄16 inches (30 mm) side is embossed with a knob carved within each of the outer angles of the pattern. A raised circular space of diameter 1+1⁄16 inches (27 mm) is placed at the centre of the decoration. A centrally located lotus flower is embossed on the obverse side of the medal and the text "Padma" is placed above and the text "Bhushan" is placed below the lotus written in Devanagari script. The State Emblem of India is displayed in the centre of the reverse side, together with the national motto of India, "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) in Devanagari script, which is inscribed on the lower edge. The rim, the edges and all embossing on either side is of standard gold with the text "Padma Bhushan" of gold gilt. The medal is suspended by a pink riband 1+1⁄4 inches (32 mm) in width with a broad white stripe in the middle. It is ranked fifth in the order of precedence of wearing of medals and decorations of the Indian civilian and military awards. (Full article...)
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  Dil Dhadakne Do (transl. Let the Heart Beat) is a 2015 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, the film features an ensemble cast consisting of Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma and Farhan Akhtar. The supporting cast also includes Rahul Bose, Zarina Wahab, Vikrant Massey, Ridhima Sud, Pawan Chopra, Parmeet Sethi, Dolly Mattdo and Manoj Pahwa. Akhtar co-wrote the screenplay with her friend and longtime collaborator Reema Kagti. The soundtrack was composed by the trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy while the cinematography was provided by Carlos Catalan. Anand Subaya and Manan Mehta edited the film.
  
  The film tells the story of the Mehras, a dysfunctional Punjabi family who invite their family and friends along on a cruise trip to celebrate the parents' 30th wedding anniversary. Dil Dhadakne Do was released worldwide on 5 June 2015 to positive reviews from critics. The film grossed ₹1.45 billion at global box office on a budget of ₹580 million. The film garnered awards and nominations in a variety of categories with particular praise for Akhtar's direction, the performances, the music and costume design. (Full article...)
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  Vidya Balan's performance in Kahaani garnered her several awards and nominations

  
  Kahaani (transl. Story) is a 2012 Indian mystery thriller film directed and co-produced by Sujoy Ghosh. The film stars Vidya Balan as the protagonist, and features Parambrata Chatterjee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Saswata Chatterjee in supporting roles. The film was edited by Namrata Rao, with the cinematography provided by Setu. Set in the city of Kolkata during the festivities of Durga Puja, Kahaani follows the life of a pregnant woman, Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), in search of her husband, a man whose existence is denied by the people she encounters.
  
  Made on a budget of ₹80 million (US$830,000), Kahaani was released on 9 March 2012 and grossed over ₹1.04 billion (US$11 million) worldwide after a 50-day theatrical run. The film garnered awards and nominations in several categories, with particular praise for its direction and the performance of the lead actress. As of 2014, the film has won 28 awards. (Full article...)
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  Bendre in 2025

  
  
  Sonali Bendre is an Indian actress widely known for her work in Hindi and Telugu films, along with a few appearances in Tamil, Marathi and Kannada cinema. Bendre made her acting debut with the action-drama Aag (1994), opposite Govinda, for which she received the Filmfare Lux New Face of the Year award. She gained further recognition with her role in the 1995 romantic thriller Takkar. Between 1994 and 1996, Bendre appeared in several commercially unsuccessful films, including the action-drama Gaddar (1995), action thriller Rakshak (1996), and romantic comedy English Babu Desi Mem (1996). Her first major box office success came with the romantic action Diljale (1996).
  
  Bendre's prominence grew in the late 1990s with a series of successful films such as action comedy Duplicate (1998), romantic action Major Saab (1998), drama Zakhm (1998), action thriller Sarfarosh (1999), the highly successful family drama Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999) and romantic drama Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai (2000). Her performance in Sarfarosh earned her a nomination for the IIFA Award for Best Actress for Best Actress, while Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai won her the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress. (Full article...)
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  The National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the chief executive authority of the BJP, and fills a number of roles, including chairing meetings of the National Executive of the party and appointing the presidents of party subsidiaries, such its youth wing and farmer's wing. Any candidate for the presidency needs to have been a member of the party for at least 15 years. The president is nominally elected by an electoral college composed of members drawn from the party's National and State councils, but in practice is a consensus choice of senior members of the party. The term of the president is three years long, and individuals may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The president usually does not also hold a post within a government, and party chiefs have resigned the position to assume posts in Cabinet.
  
  After the party's foundation in 1980, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became its first president. He later became the prime minister of India, the only BJP president to serve in that position to date. In 1986, Lal Krishna Advani was sworn in as the party president and has been the longest serving president over three different periods. As of 2025, 12 people have served as the president of the BJP, including Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah who have also served two terms. Nitin Nabin is the incumbent president, having been appointed on 20 January 2026. (Full article...)
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  The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Since 1984, the award is given by a national panel appointed annually by the NFDC to an actress for the best performance in a supporting role within Indian cinema. It is presented by the President of India at a ceremony held in New Delhi. Since the 70th National Film Awards, the name was changed to "Best Actress in a Supporting Role".
  
  The winner is given a "Rajat Kamal" (Silver Lotus) certificate and a cash prize of ₹2,00,000. Including ties and repeat winners, the NFDC has presented a total of 41 Best Supporting Actress awards to 35 different actresses. Although Indian cinema produces films in more than 20 languages, the performances of films that have won awards are of 11 languages: Hindi (20 awards), Malayalam (8 awards), Bengali (4 awards), Tamil (4 awards), English (2 awards), Gujarati (1 award), Haryanvi (1 award), Marathi (1 award), Meitei (1 award), Odia (1 award) and Urdu (1 award). (Full article...)
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  Warsi in 2010

  
  
  Arshad Warsi started his career as an assistant director to Mahesh Bhatt in Kaash (1987). Warsi choreographed the title song of Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja (1993), before making his acting debut in the Amitabh Bachchan-produced Tere Mere Sapne (1996). It was followed by Betaabi (1997), Hero Hindustani (1998), Hogi Pyaar Ki Jeet and Trishakti (both 1999), among others, but most of these films failed to do well at the box office. In 2003, he had his breakthrough by playing the comic sidekick Circuit in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy-drama Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. His performance garnered him the Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role and received nominations for the Filmfare, IIFA, Screen and Apsara Film Producers Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. Warsi won the GIFA Best Comedian Award for his role in the comedy Hulchul (2004), and garnered critical acclaim for portraying a police officer in the crime drama Sehar (2005). He received his second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in the romantic comedy Salaam Namaste (2005).
  
  In 2006, Warsi starred in the Rohit Shetty-directed comedy Golmaal: Fun Unlimited, and reprised his role of Circuit in the sequel Lage Raho Munna Bhai. His performance in the latter won him the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role, among other awards. That same year, he played lead roles in the mystery Anthony Kaun Hai? and the counter-terrorism drama Kabul Express. Warsi also hosted the first season of the reality television show Bigg Boss for which he earned the Indian Television Academy Award for Best Anchor – Game/Quiz Show. In 2007, he played a footballer in the sports film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. The following year, he reteamed with Shetty for Golmaal Returns (2008), and played an intermittent explosive disorder patient in the comedy Krazzy 4 (2008). He won the Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor and received several nominations for playing a con man in the black comedy Ishqiya (2010). Also in 2010, Warsi co-produced and starred in the supernatural comedy-drama Hum Tum Aur Ghost, which performed poorly at the box office. Golmaal 3, the year's second-highest grossing Hindi film also featured him in a primary role. His first negative role came in 2013 with the action thriller Zila Ghaziabad, a critical and commercial failure. Warsi's portrayal of a lawyer in the comedy-drama Jolly LLB (2013), directed by Subhash Kapoor, garnered him several awards, including the IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role. His portrayal of a thief in Dedh Ishqiya (2014) attracted critical praise. (Full article...)
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  Koirala during the promotions of Bhoot Returns in 2012.

  
  Manisha Koirala is a Nepalese actress known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. Koirala's acting debut was in the Nepali film Pheri Bhetaula (1989). Two years later, she made her Bollywood debut in Subhash Ghai's Saudagar, which was a commercial success. However, she followed this by appearing in a series of films which performed poorly at the box office, including First Love Letter (1991), Anmol (1993), and Dhanwan (1993). Koirala's career had a turnaround when she starred as the daughter of a freedom fighter in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 1942: A Love Story (1994). Her performance was critically acclaimed and she earned a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. The following year, Koirala received the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress, and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil for playing a Muslim married to a Hindu during the 1992–1993 Bombay riots in the Mani Ratnam-directed Tamil drama Bombay (1995).
  
  For playing the daughter of a mute and deaf couple in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Koirala garnered a second consecutive Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. She followed this with leading roles in Agni Sakshi (1996) and Gupt: The Hidden Truth (1997), which were among the highest-grossing Indian films of their respective years. She played a terrorist opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Dil Se.. (1998), the first Indian film to reach the top ten in the United Kingdom box office. However, Koirala's roles in films which performed poorly at the box office, such as Dil Ke Jharokhe Mein (1997), and Achanak (1998), led to a decline in her film career. She made her television debut in 2000 as the co-host of the game show Sawaal Dus Crore Ka with Anupam Kher. The show's poor ratings led to both Kher and Koirala being fired. For her role as a gangster's girlfriend in Ram Gopal Varma's 2002 crime drama Company, she received her third Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. Koirala also appeared in the controversial film Ek Chhotisi Love Story in which she played a woman secretly spied upon by a teenage voyeur. The following year, her portrayal of Bengali writer Sushmita Banerjee in the drama Escape from Taliban garnered her the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for Best Actress (Hindi). (Full article...)
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  Lagaan (English: Taxation) is a 2001 Indian sports drama film, written and directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The film stars Aamir Khan, who also produced the film, and Gracy Singh in the lead roles. Yashpal Sharma, Raghubir Yadav, Rachel Shelley, and Paul Blackthorne feature in supporting roles. The film was edited by Ballu Saluja, with music and cinematography provided by A. R. Rahman, and Anil Mehta respectively. Lagaan is set in India in 1893, during the British Raj. The film tells the story of a small village whose inhabitants are oppressed by high taxes. They are challenged to a cricket match by an arrogant officer as a wager to avoid the taxes.
  
  Lagaan was released on 15 June 2001. The film grossed over ₹1.3 billion (US$13 million) globally on a production budget of ₹250 million (US$2.6 million). It received nominations, and awards in several categories both in India and internationally, with particular praise for its direction, acting and landscapes. (Full article...)
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  Members of the Indian cricket team before a Women's Cricket World Cup game in Sydney

  
  A One Day International (ODI) is an international cricket match between two teams, each having ODI status, as determined by the International Cricket Council. The women's variant of the game is similar to the men's version, with minor modifications to umpiring and pitch requirements. The first women's ODI was played in 1973, between England and Australia. The Indian women's team played their first ever ODI match in 1978, against England, after the Women's Cricket Association of India was formed. The Women's Cricket Association of India was merged with the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2006 as part of the International Cricket Council's initiative to develop women's cricket.
  
  Since the team was formed, 151 women have represented India in ODI cricket. This list includes all players who have played at least one ODI match and is arranged in the order of debut appearance. Where more than one player won their first cap in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by last name at the time of debut. (Full article...)
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  Kapoor in 2013

  
  
  Karisma Kapoor is an Indian actress widely known for her work in Hindi films. She made her acting debut in 1991 at the age of seventeen in the romance Prem Qaidi, which was a box office hit. She then appeared in successful ventures, drama Sapne Sajan Ke (1992), and action drama Jigar (1992). She had her first commercial success in a leading role in romantic action drama Anari (1993), which was a moderate success and was one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 1993. Between 1993–1996 she featured in several highly successful films, including the comedy drama Raja Babu (1994), action drama Suhaag (1994), action comedy Andaz (1994), the comedies Coolie No. 1 (1995), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), and Hero No. 1 (1997), and the action thriller Jeet (1996). The success of these films marked a turning point in her career, and established Kapoor as one of the leading actresses in Hindi cinema.
  
  Kapoor's career prospects improved in 1996 when Dharmesh Darshan cast her in his romantic drama Raja Hindustani. With worldwide earnings of ₹763.4 million (US$7.9 million), it emerged as the highest-grossing film of the year and the fourth highest-grossing film in India of the 1990s. The film earned her praise from critics, and Kapoor won her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress. The following year, she received widespread recognition as well as the National Film Award and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for portraying a headstrong dancer in Dil To Pagal Hai, a musical romantic drama produced by Yash Raj Films. Subsequently, she played leading roles in several blockbuster films, including the comedies Biwi No.1 (1999), the ensemble family drama Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999), and the romantic comedy Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000). Her acclaimed performance of a disillusioned sister of Hrithik Roshan's character in the crime drama Fiza (2000) which earned her a second Best Actress award at Filmfare. The following year, she portrayed actress Zubeida Begum in the biographical drama Zubeidaa (2001), won her a Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics). In 2002, she portrayed a troubled daughter-in-law in the revenge-seeking war drama Shakti: The Power. (Full article...)
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  Emblem of Karnataka

  
  The Chief Minister of Karnataka is the head of government of the Indian state of Karnataka. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's de jure head, while the de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the political party (or a coalition of political parties) with a majority of assembly seats to form the government in the state. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers is collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he/she has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years, renewable, and is subject to no term limits. Usually, the chief minister also serves as leader of the house in the legislative assembly.
  
  The office traces its lineage to the dewan of Mysuru, the chief minister of the princely Kingdom of Mysore under the British Raj. After Indian independence in 1947, this became the office of prime minister of Mysuru State, which was in turn redesignated chief minister when Mysuru became a constituent state of the newly declared Republic of India in 1950. The state, expanded along linguistic lines in 1956, was renamed Karnataka in 1973, and the office has been styled Chief Minister of Karnataka ever since. Since 1947, twenty-one people have held the position, an overwhelming majority of them from the Indian National Congress (INC), which has supplied twelve of the twenty-one officeholders and accounted for the bulk of the office's cumulative tenure. INC's dominance was broken only intermittently: by Ramakrishna Hegde of the Janata Party in 1983, the first chief minister unaffiliated with Congress or its breakaway factions; by two terms of Janata Dal-descended governments in the 1990s and 2000s, including the Janata Dal (Secular) premierships of Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy; and, from 2007 onward, by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose B. S. Yediyurappa became Karnataka's first BJP chief minister and, across four separate terms, the only person to hold the office that many times. (Full article...)
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  Rahul Dravid during the Australian tour of India in 2004

  
  Rahul Dravid is a retired Indian international cricketer. in both Test and One Day International (ODI) cricket in matches organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Nicknamed "The Wall" for his ability of "... fending off the fiercest, the fastest and the wiliest of bowlers around the world", he scored 36 centuries (scores of 100 runs or more) in Test cricket and 12 in One Day Internationals (ODI) between his debut in 1996 and retirement in 2011. He was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000, as well as the ICC Test Player of the Year and ICC Player of the Year in 2004. After retiring from international cricket, Dravid took on key developmental roles in Indian cricket, including serving as the head of the National Cricket Academy and coaching India's Under-19 and A teams.
  
  Dravid scored his first Test century in January 1997 against South Africa. In a man-of-the-match performance, he made 148 runs spanning nine hours and took India to their only draw of the series. He made centuries in both innings of a match when he scored 190 and 103 not out in the final Test of the 1998–99 series against New Zealand. He repeated the feat in March 2005 when he scored 110 and 135 against Pakistan in another man-of-the-match performance, leading India to victory in the second of the three-match series. Scoring 180 in a fifth-wicket partnership of 376 with VVS Laxman, in the Second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2001, Dravid helped lead India to victory by 171 runs despite being asked to follow-on by the Australians. His partnership with Laxman was the third-highest for the fifth wicket in Test cricket history. Dravid's highest Test score of 270, achieved in April 2004 in Rawalpindi, helped India to an innings victory against Pakistan. The performance was the fourth-highest score by an Indian batsman in Test cricket. He scored centuries against all Test playing nations and was the first cricketer to score centuries in all 10 Test playing nations. (Full article...)
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  Madras is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith. It was produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja under his production company, Studio Green. The film features Karthi and Catherine Tresa in the lead roles, with Kalaiyarasan, Riythvika and Rama playing supporting roles. The film's story revolves around Kaali (Karthi), an impulsive and short-tempered IT professional who lives in the Vyasarpadi area of Chennai. His friend Anbu (Kalaiyarasan) is killed in the midst of a feud between two factions of a political party over a building wall at one of the housing board apartments in the area. When Kaali hears of this, he decides to avenge Anbu's death. The soundtrack and score were composed by Santhosh Narayanan while the cinematography and editing were handled by Murali G and Praveen K. L. respectively.
  
  Released on 26 September 2014, the film garnered generally positive reviews and was a commercial success at the box office. It was included in The Hindu's top 20 Tamil-language films of the year. The film won 24 awards from 51 nominations; its direction, screenplay, performances of the cast members, music, and cinematography have received the most attention from award groups. (Full article...)
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  Haasan in 2014

  
  
  Shruti Haasan is an Indian actress and singer who works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. She started her career as a playback singer at the age of six in the 1992 Tamil film Thevar Magan. She had a brief role in her father, Kamal Haasan's Tamil-Hindi directorial Hey Ram (2000) as a child artist. Haasan's first major appearance was in the Hindi film Luck (2009), in which she played a dual role of a woman avenging her twin sister's death. She played the female lead in the films Anaganaga O Dheerudu and 7 Aum Arivu; both were released in 2011 and together earned her the Best Female Debut – South at the 59th Filmfare Awards South ceremony.
  
  Haasan's subsequent releases Oh My Friend (2011) and 3 (2012) were commercially unsuccessful. The latter earned her a nomination for the Best Actress – Tamil at the 60th Filmfare Awards South ceremony. A turning point came in Haasan's career with Harish Shankar's commercially successful Telugu film Gabbar Singh (2012). The release was followed by a series of successful films such as Balupu (2013) and Yevadu (2014). She received her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for her performance in Race Gurram (2014). (Full article...)
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  Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language thriller-drama film directed by Dileesh Pothan. The film stars Fahadh Faasil, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Nimisha Sajayan, Alencier Ley Lopez, Vettukili Prakash, and Sibi Thomas. It was written by Sajeev Pazhoor along with Syam Pushkaran who was also creative director. Bijibal composed the music while Rajeev Ravi handled the cinematography.
  
  Produced on a budget of ₹65 million, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum was released on 30 June 2017 and grossed ₹175 million in Kerala. The film was cited as one of the "Top 5 Malayalam movies in 2017" and "The 25 best Malayalam films of the decade" by The Hindu. The film garnered awards and nominations in several categories, with particular praise for its direction, screenplay and Fahadh's performance. The film won 36 awards from 45 nominations. (Full article...)
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  Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra received several nominations for their respective performances in Kaminey.

  
  Kaminey (English: Rascal) is a 2009 Indian action thriller film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Amol Gupte star in the lead roles. The film's screenplay was written by Bhardwaj, Abhishek Chaubey, Sabrina Dhawan, and Supratik Sen. Bhardwaj also composed the soundtrack of the film, with lyrics written by Gulzar. Kaminey was edited by A. Sreekar Prasad, and Meghna Manchanda Sen, and the cinematography was provided by Tassaduq Hussain. Set against the backdrop of the Mumbai underworld, the film focuses on the rivalry between identical twin brothers both played by Kapoor, one with a lisp and the other with a stutter, over the course of a single day.
  
  Made on a budget of ₹350 million (US$3.6 million), Kaminey released on 14 August 2009 to critical acclaim and was a commercial success, grossing over ₹710 million (US$7.4 million). The film's soundtrack was also a critical and commercial success, with the song "Dhan Te Nan" topping the charts. Over the years, Kaminey achieved cult status. The film garnered awards and nominations in several categories, with praise for its direction, performance of the cast, screenplay, musical score, cinematography, editing and sound design. (Full article...)
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  Surya Kant, the current CJI since 24 November 2025

  
  The chief justice of India is the highest-ranking officer of the Indian judiciary and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India. As head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law. In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all work to the other judges.
  
  A new chief justice is appointed by the president of India with recommendations by the outgoing chief justice in consultation with other judges. The chief justice serves in the role until they reach the age of sixty-five or are removed by the constitutional process of impeachment. As per convention, the name suggested by the incumbent chief justice is almost always the next senior-most judge in the Supreme Court. This convention has been broken twice: in 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding three senior judges and in 1977, Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the chief justice superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna. (Full article...)
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  Emblem of Tamil Nadu

  
  The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, while the de facto authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with the majority of seats in the assembly to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that the chief minister has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.
  
  Since 1950, Tamil Nadu has had 14 chief ministers. The first four chief ministers belonged to the Indian National Congress, of which K. Kamaraj held the post for the longest, for more than nine years. With the rise of Dravidian parties in the state, C. N. Annadurai of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) became the first non-Congress chief minister in 1969. Annadurai was from the Tamil film industry, and since his tenure, a significant number of the state's chief ministers have hailed from the industry. (Full article...)
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  Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson is an Indian journalism award named after Chameli Devi Jain, an Indian independence activist who became the first Jain woman to go to prison during India's independence struggle. The award was instituted in 1980 by The Media Foundation and is given to women in the field of journalism. According to Business Standard, the award is "perhaps India's longest running media award for women".
  
  The Media Foundation was founded in 1979 by B. G. Verghese, Lakshmi Chand Jain, Prabhash Joshi, Ajit Bhattacharjea and N. S. Jagannathan. The award was instituted in 1980 by Verghese and the family of Chameli Devi. The criteria for selection include social concern, dedication, courage and compassion in the individual's work. Journalists in print, digital and broadcast are eligible including photographers, cartoonists and newspaper designers; the entries are judged by an independent jury. Preference is given to rural or small-town journalists and journalists in regional Indian languages. (Full article...)
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  Hrithik Roshan garnered several awards and nominations for his performance in Koi... Mil Gaya.

  
  Koi... Mil Gaya (transl. I Have Found Someone...) is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language science fiction film directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. Starring Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta, the film focuses on Rohit (Hrithik Roshan), a developmentally disabled man who comes into contact with an extraterrestrial being while using the computer of his late father Sanjay (Rakesh Roshan). In addition to writing the film's story, Rakesh Roshan also created its screenplay along with Sachin Bhowmick, Honey Irani, and Robin Bhatt. The cinematography was handled by Ravi K. Chandran and Sameer Arya, and the production designer was Sharmishta Roy. Farah Khan, Raju Khan, and Ganesh Hegde served as the choreographers, while Allan Amin and Tinu Verma completed the action direction. Rajesh Roshan and Sanjay Verma were the music director and editor, respectively.
  
  Produced on a budget of between ₹250 million (US$2.6 million) and ₹350 million (US$3.6 million), Koi... Mil Gaya was released on 8 August 2003 and received positive reviews from critics. A commercial success, the film emerged as the second-highest-grossing Indian film of the year, earning ₹823.3 million (US$8.5 million) in India and abroad. The film won 35 awards out of 71 nominations; the direction, performances of the cast, choreography, and special effects garnered the most attention from various award groups. (Full article...)
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  Aadukalam (transl. Arena) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Vetrimaaran and produced by S. Kathiresan. Vetrimaaran co-wrote the dialogues with Vikram Sugumaran. The film stars Dhanush and Taapsee Pannu with Kishore, V. I. S. Jayapalan, Naren, and Murugadoss playing supporting roles. The musical score was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar while the cinematography and editing were respectively handled by Velraj and Kishore Te. The film's story revolves around Karuppu who is the understudy of an experienced cockfighter, Pettaikaran. When Karuppu wins in a cockfight against Pettaikaran's rival Rathnasamy, Pettaikaran, who is initially happy, becomes jealous of Karuppu's newfound popularity and plots his downfall.
  
  Produced on a budget of ₹150-200 million, Aadukalam was released on 14 January 2011 and grossed ₹300 million according to a February 2011 report by The Economic Times. The film garnered awards and nominations in several categories, with particular praise for its direction, screenplay, Dhanush's performance, music, cinematography, and editing. The film has won 33 awards from 52 nominations. (Full article...)
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  The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa on the west coast of India. Its seat is at Porvorim, and it sits for a term of five years unless it is dissolved early. Goa is India's smallest state by area and fourth-smallest by population. The Goa Legislative Assembly has existed since 1963. As of the 2022 election, it comprises 40 constituencies.
  
  The Constitution of India lays down the general principles of positive discrimination for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Since the transition of India from a United Kingdom dominion to an independent republic in 1950, the SCs and STs have been given reservation status—guaranteeing political representation—and after Goa was annexed from Portugal in 1961, the same principles applied to it as well. The 2011 census of India found that, within Goa, the population of the Scheduled Castes was 1.74% of the total. Accordingly, one constituency (Pernem) in the assembly is reserved for candidates of the Scheduled Castes. (Full article...)
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  Padmaavat is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language epic period drama film directed and produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The film stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji and features Aditi Rao Hydari, Jim Sarbh, Raza Murad, and Anupriya Goenka in supporting roles. The film's screenplay was written by Bhansali and Prakash Kapadia. Bhansali also composed the soundtrack of the film, with lyrics written by A. M. Turaz, Siddharth-Garima and Swaroop Khan. The original score of the film is composed by Sanchit Balhara. Padmaavat was edited by Rajesh G. Pandey while Sudeep Chatterjee is its cinematographer. Set in medieval Rajasthan in 1303 AD, Queen Padmavati of Mewar is married to a noble king and they live in a prosperous fortress with their subjects until an ambitious Sultan hears of Padmavati's beauty and becomes obsessed with having her.
  
  Made on a budget of ₹2.15 billion (US$22 million), Padmaavat was released on 25 January 2018 in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D formats, making it the first Indian film to be released in IMAX 3D. Despite not being released in some states of India, it grossed over ₹5.85 billion (US$61 million) at the box office, becoming a commercial success and one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. The film won 25 awards from 68 nominations; its music, and the performance of Singh have received the most attention from award groups. (Full article...)

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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

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  "Tum Hi Aana" (transl. You, please come back) is an Indian Hindi-language song from the soundtrack of the Indian feature film, Marjaavaan (2019). The pop ballad was released by major Indian label T-Series on 3 October 2019 as a single from the soundtrack. It was composed by Payal Dev, written by Kunaal Verma, and sung by Jubin Nautiyal. The melody of the song occurred to Dev, while she was working on a different track.
  
  The song received positive reviews from film critics, the majority of whom complimented its composition. The song peaked at number one and two on the Official Charts Company Asian Music Charts and The Times of India Mirchi Top 20 Chart, respectively. The music video features Sidharth Malhotra and Tara Sutaria reprising their characters in Marjaavaan. (Full article...)
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  "The Inner Light" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by George Harrison. It was released on a non-album single in March 1968, as the B-side to "Lady Madonna". The song was the first Harrison composition to be issued on a Beatles single and reflects the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation, which they were studying in India under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the time of the single's release. After "Love You To" and "Within You Without You", it was the last of Harrison's three songs from the Beatles era that demonstrate an overt Indian classical influence and are styled as Indian pieces. The lyrics are a rendering of chapter 47 from the Taoist Tao Te Ching, which he set to music on the recommendation of Juan Mascaró, a Sanskrit scholar who had translated the passage in his 1958 book Lamps of Fire.
  
  Harrison recorded the instrumental track for "The Inner Light" in Bombay in January 1968, during the sessions for his Wonderwall Music soundtrack album. It is the only Beatles studio recording to be made outside Europe and introduced Indian instruments such as sarod, shehnai and pakhavaj to the band's sound. The musicians on the track include Aashish Khan, Hanuman Jadev and Hariprasad Chaurasia. Aside from Harrison's lead vocal, recorded in London, the Beatles' only contribution came in the form of group backing vocals over the song's final line. In the decade following its release, the song became a comparative rarity among the band's recordings; it has subsequently appeared on compilation albums such as Rarities; Past Masters, Volume Two; and Mono Masters. (Full article...)
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  Lenyadri complex

  
  Lenyadri, sometimes called Ganesa Lena, Ganesh Pahar Caves, are a series of about 30 rock-cut Buddhist "caves", located about 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) north of Junnar in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. They are cut into a natural cliff or steep slope. Other caves surrounding the city of Junnar are: Manmodi Caves, Shivneri Caves and Tulja Caves. The Lenyadri caves date between the 1st and 3rd century AD. Some have later been adapted to Hindu use.
  
  Twenty-six of the caves are individually numbered. The caves face to the south and are numbered serially from east to west. Caves 6 and 14 are chaitya-grihas (chapels), while the rest are viharas (dwellings for monks). The latter are in the form of dwellings and cells. There are also several rock-cut water cisterns; two of them have inscriptions. The layout of the caves, in general, are similar in pattern and shape. They generally have one or two sides with two long benches for occupants' use. (Full article...)
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  Operation Trident was an offensive operation launched by the Indian Navy on Pakistan's port city of Karachi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Operation Trident saw the first use of anti-ship missiles in combat in the region. The operation was conducted on the night of 4–5 December and inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels and facilities. While India suffered no losses, Pakistan lost a minesweeper, a destroyer, a cargo vessel carrying ammunition, and fuel storage tanks in Karachi. Another destroyer was also badly damaged and eventually scrapped. India celebrates its Navy Day annually on 4 December to mark this operation. Trident was followed up by Operation Python three days later (Full article...)
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  Rakkiaiah (alternatively Rokkiah, born Rajathi Samsudeen in 1968) is an Indian Tamil writer, activist, and politician known by the pen name Salma and the nickname Rajathi, and often referred to as Rajathi Salma. Her works have received international acclaim and she is renowned as a sensation in contemporary Tamil literature.
  
  She is a Rajya Sabha member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and involved in women's and transgender rights activism. Between 2007 and 2011, she served as the chairperson of the State Social Welfare Board of Tamil Nadu. Salma is also the founder of a non-government women's rights organisation named "Your Hope is Remaining". (Full article...)
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  A. R. Rahman: The Spirit of Music is a biographical book by the author and television documentary producer Nasreen Munni Kabir, containing her extensive conversations with the composer A. R. Rahman on the latter's life and career. It describes his birth in Madras (present-day Chennai) in 1967, his 29-year-long musical career, and his marriage in 1995 to Saira Banu, with whom he has three children. The book was published by Om Books International on 29 March 2011 and declared as a commercial success.
  
  The Spirit of Music was the second work on Rahman, following the unauthorised biography A. R. Rahman: The Musical Storm (2009) from Kamini Mathai. Kabir's first discussion with him about the book happened in 2003, while their conversations started in 2007 and ended four years later. Critical reviews to the book were mixed, some of which panned the author for providing less detail information about his Tamil songs. However, its question-and-answer format was generally praised. (Full article...)
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  Three athletes from India qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, held between 7 and 23 February 2014. The country's participation in Sochi marked its ninth appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut in 1964.
  
  While three Indians qualified for the games, they entered the competition as Independent Olympic Participants due to the suspension of the Indian Olympic Association since 2012. After Shiva Keshavan had participated in the luge event on 11 February 2014, the International Olympic Committee reinstated India's National Olympic Committee (NOC). This allowed the other two athletes, Himanshu Thakur and Nadeem Iqbal, who still had their respective events to compete under the Indian flag. (Full article...)
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  Santosh Subramaniam (spelt Santhosh Subramaniyam onscreen) is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by M. Raja and produced by Kalpathi S. Agoram. The film stars Ravi Mohan (credited as Jayam Ravi) and Genelia while Prakash Raj, Geetha and Sayaji Shinde play supporting roles. It is a remake of the Telugu film, Bommarillu (2006). Genelia and Raj reprise their roles in the film, which revolves around a father and son relationship; the father dotes on his son, who resents the same. The son's choices and his ambitions to achieve something in life are subdued by his father.
  
  Santosh Subramaniam was released on 11 April 2008 during the Tamil New Year festival. The film was positively received and commercially successful; critics praised the performances of Ravi, Genelia and Prakash Raj. It won the third prize for the Best Film at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards of 2008. It was nominated for four awards at the 56th Filmfare Awards South, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress, but did not win in any category. (Full article...)
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  Mukundrao Damodar Pai (21 June 1883 – 5 August 1948) was an Indian cricketer and a member of the first Indian team that toured England in 1911 under the captaincy of Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. Pai was the first Indian cricketer to score a century on his first-class debut, playing for the Hindus against the Europeans in the Bombay Presidency game in 1906.
  
  In a career spanning 15 years, he played a total of 22 first-class matches scoring 640 runs before retiring as captain of the Hindus cricket team in 1920. (Full article...)
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  Gaalipata (pronunciation transl. Kite) is a 2008 Indian Kannada-language romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Yogaraj Bhat. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Ganesh, Anant Nag, Rajesh Krishnan, Diganth, Daisy Bopanna, Neethu and Bhavana Rao. The plot revolves around three friends who, debilitated of city life, decide to spend some time in the paternal house of one of them, at a picturesque location atop a hill station. Spending a gala time there, they become romantically involved with the three daughters of an avid hunter.
  
  The film was produced by Suryaprakash Rao of SPR Entertainment Pvt Ltd., and was made on a budget ₹60 million. The cinematography was done by R. Rathnavelu, and the film was edited by Suresh Urs. The film score and soundtrack were composed by V. Harikrishna. Gaalipata was the first in Kannada to be shot in Super 35 format. (Full article...)
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  The Ross Island Prison Headquarters, 1872

  
  Ross Island Penal Colony was a convict settlement that was established in 1858 in the remote Andaman Islands by the British colonial government in India, primarily to jail a large number of prisoners from the Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Indian Mutiny. With the establishment of the penal colony at Ross Island, the British administration made it the administrative headquarters for the entire group of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and built bungalows and other facilities on the site. This colony was meant as "manageable models of colonial governance and rehabilitation". The Chief Commissioner's residence was located at the highest point on the island. Over time, several other islands including Chatham and Viper were used for the penal colony.
  
  The penal colony became infamous as "Kalapani" or "black water" for the brutalities inflicted by the British authorities on the political prisoners from India, and most of whom had died by 1860 due to illness and torture suffered during the initial stages of the clearance of the forest to establish the colony. In later years the colony experimented for a short time with civilizing the indigenous people of Andamans. The penal colony was used as an experimental station for various methods of torture and medical tests During World War II, the island was invaded by the Japanese army, forcing the British to evacuate. The administrative buildings were destroyed but the penal colony remained. After the Allied forces reoccupied the island the penal colony was disbanded on 7 October 1945. (Full article...)
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  A statue of a girl with a bird, 2nd Century CE, found at Arikamedu

  
  Arikamedu is an archaeological site in Southern India, in Kakkayanthope, Ariyankuppam Commune, Puducherry. It is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the capital, Pondicherry of the Indian territory of Puducherry.
  
  Sir Mortimer Wheeler 1945, and Jean-Marie Casal conducted archaeological excavations there in 1947–1950. The site was identified as the port of Podouke, known as an "emporium" in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and Ptolemy. Digs have found Amphorae, Arretine ware, Roman lamps, glassware, glass and stone beads, and gems at the site. Based on these excavations, Wheeler concluded that the Arikamedu was a Greek (Yavana) trading post that traded with Rome, starting during the reign of Augustus Caesar, and lasted about two hundred years—from the late first century BCE to the first and second centuries CE. Subsequent investigation by Vimala Begley from 1989 to 1992 modified this assessment, and now place the period of settlement from the 2nd century BCE to the 8th century CE. (Full article...)
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  INS Shakti

  
  INS Shakti (A57) (lit. Strength) is a Deepak-class fleet tanker in service with the Indian Navy. She was built by Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste. She is the second and final ship of her class. Shakti, along with her predecessor Deepak, is one of the largest ships of the Indian Navy.
  
  The construction of the vessel began in November 2009 and she was launched in October 2010. She was handed over to India by September 2011 and was commissioned on 1 October 2011. The construction of the vessel was completed in a record time of 27 months, after the contract worth €159.32 million was signed in April 2008. (Full article...)
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  The Pratapgarh Kingdom (Bengali: প্রতাপগড় রাজ্য) was a medieval state in the north-east of the Indian subcontinent. Composed of the present-day Indian district of Karimganj, as well as parts of Tripura State and Sylhet, Bangladesh, the kingdom was ruled by a line of Muslim monarchs over a mixed population of Hindu and Islamic adherents. It was bordered by the larger kingdoms of Kachar, Tripura and Bengal.
  
  Centred around the hilly, forested region which forms the modern border between eastern Bangladesh and India, the lands which later formed Pratapgarh were initially under the control of the rulers of Tripura and were principally inhabited by Hindu tribes. It is believed that during the latter years of the 15th century AD, the area was seceded by Malik Pratap, a landowner of mixed native and Persian ancestry, who established the kingdom and from whom it may have received its name. Under the rule of his grandson, Sultan Bazid, the influence of Pratapgarh reached its zenith, developing into a significant cultural centre. It also became a notable military power, defeating the stronger kingdom of Kachar as well as engaging against the dominance of Bengal. It was during this time that the state enjoyed its territorial peak, having briefly captured Sylhet from the latter. (Full article...)
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  Three athletes from India participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, held between 12 and 28 February 2010. The country's participation in Vancouver marked its eighth appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut in 1964.
  
  The India team consisted of skiers Jamyang Namgial and Tashi Lundup apart from luger Shiva Keshavan. Keshavan was the country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony. None of them won a medal, and as of these Games, India had not earned a Winter Olympic medal. Lundup served as the flag-bearer during the closing ceremony. (Full article...)
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  DakshinaChitra ("a picture of the south") is a living-history museum in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, dedicated to South Indian heritage and culture. It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) to the south of Chennai. Opened to the public on 14 December 1996, the museum was founded and is being managed by the Madras Craft Foundation (MCF). The MCF was established in 1984. Deborah Thiagarajan, an Indian art historian of American origin, governs the museum. The museum is built on 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land taken on a 33-year lease from the Government of Tamil Nadu. Located at Muttukadu, on the East Coast Road connecting Chennai and Pondicherry, the site overlooks Bay of Bengal.
  
  Developed as a heritage village, DakshinaChitra has an array of displays and relocated originals of dwellings depicting the life pattern of people in the states of southern India. The exhibits portray the architecture, art, folk performing-arts and craft of South Indian traditions. The amenities include a research unit, crafts bazaar, playground, an area to hold religious functions, stone workshop, and souvenir kiosks. There are craftsmen who permanently work at DakshinaChitra who demonstrate or explain how they make their wares. Besides workshops are conducted regularly for various crafts by artists who rent the community studio. (Full article...)
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  A traditional Indian thali meal served in a metal tray with small dishes for sauces, accompanied by rice, roti and puri

  
  
  Indian cuisine is not a single ethnic cuisine; instead, it represents the country's national culinary identity. It consists of the regional and ethnic cuisines native to the Indian subcontinent. Indian food has been influenced by religion, cultural choices and traditions.
  
  Agriculture spread to the Indus Valley Civilisation around 7000 BCE, bringing cereal cultivation. Spices such as turmeric and cardamom were being grown in India by 3,000 BCE. Indian cooking uses simple equipment such as a burner, and labour-intensive processes such as grinding flavourings by hand. Techniques unique to the area include frying of a paste of onion, garlic, and ginger in oil, then browning the meat or vegetables in that oil, and then adding liquid stepwise; and adding fried spices to cooked dishes. Many dishes are specific to India's many religious festivals. Religious faiths influence the region's cuisines, since Hindus often do not eat beef; Muslims avoid pork; and Jains are strict lacto-vegetarians. (Full article...)
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  Ming China's treasure fleet undertook maritime expeditions between 1405 and 1433. The Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of the fleet in 1403. The grand project resulted in seven far-reaching ocean voyages to the coastal territories and islands of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Admiral Zheng He was commissioned to command the fleet for the expeditions. Six of the voyages occurred during the Yongle Emperor's reign (r. 1402–1424) and the seventh voyage occurred during the Xuande Emperor's reign (r. 1425–1435). The first three voyages reached up to Calicut on India's Malabar Coast, while the fourth voyage went as far as Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. In the last three voyages, the fleet traveled up to the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.
  
  The Chinese expeditionary fleet was heavily militarized and carried great amounts of treasures, which served to project Chinese power and wealth to the known world. They brought back many foreign ambassadors whose kings and rulers were willing to declare themselves tributaries of China. During the course of the voyages, they destroyed Chen Zuyi's pirate fleet at Palembang, captured the Sinhalese Kotte kingdom of King Alakeshvara, and defeated the forces of the Semudera pretender Sekandar in northern Sumatra. The Chinese maritime exploits brought many countries into China's tributary system and sphere of influence through both military and political supremacy, thus incorporating the states into the greater Chinese world order under Ming suzerainty. Moreover, the Chinese restructured and established control over an expansive maritime network in which the region became integrated and its countries became interconnected on an economic and political level. (Full article...)
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  Stephen Fuchs (April 30, 1908 – January 17, 2000) was an Austrian Catholic priest, missionary, and anthropologist who researched the ethnology and prehistory of India. After obtaining a Ph.D. in ethnology and Indology from the University of Vienna in 1950, Fuchs moved to India where he assisted in founding the Department of Anthropology at St. Xavier's College in Bombay. After a brief imprisonment for being misidentified as a German missionary by the British government during World War II, Fuchs founded the Indian Branch of the Anthropos Institute, later renamed the Institute of Indian Culture. Fuchs, because of health concerns, moved to Austria in 1996 and died at the age of 91 in Mödling, Austria.
  
  In his research, Fuchs conducted field studies in Central India. He focused particularly on the customs and beliefs of modern Indian tribes. Originally when he moved to India, he researched solely the social and cultural customs of modern-day central Indian tribes. After founding the Institute of Indian Culture, Fuchs researched the cultures of ancient India, back to India's original inhabitants. (Full article...)
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  Morya Gosavi lithograph

  
  Morya Gosavi or Moraya Gosavi (Morayā Gosāvi) alias Moroba Gosavi was a saint of the Hindu Ganapatya sect, which considers Ganesha as the Supreme God. Morya Gosavi is considered the chief spiritual progenitor of the Ganapatyas and has been described as the "most famous devotee" of Ganesha.
  
  The lifetime of Morya Gosavi is speculated between the 13th to 17th century. Numerous legends recall his life. Morya became devoted to Ganesha when he started visiting the Morgaon temple of Ganesha. It is believed that due to the hindrance in Morya's services to the god in the popular Ganesha shrine, Ganesha told Morya that he would appear in Chinchwad for Morya to worship, so Morya moved from Morgaon to Chinchwad, where Morya built a Ganesha temple. Consequently, Morya took sanjeevan samadhi by burying himself alive in his tomb. (Full article...)
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  Srimanthudu (transl. Wealthy Man) is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Koratala Siva. The film is produced by Mythri Movie Makers and G. Mahesh Babu Entertainment. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Shruti Haasan, Jagapati Babu and Rajendra Prasad. Sampath Raj, Mukesh Rishi, Sukanya and Harish Uthaman appear in supporting roles. It was distributed globally by Eros International.
  
  The film tells the story of Harsha Vardhan (Mahesh Babu), a young man who inherits a business empire from his father Ravikanth (played by Jagapati Babu). Urged by his friend Charuseela (Haasan) to learn about his and his father's ancestral roots in a remote village named Devarakota, Harsha adopts the village and spends some time trying to improve the standard of living of the local people and the infrastructure of the village. His efforts anger the local crime boss Sashi (played by Sampath Raj) and his brother Venkata Ratnam, a politician (played by Mukesh Rishi). (Full article...)
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  Mehta at the 2017 Paul Hunter Classic

  
  Aditya Mehta (born 31 October 1985) is an Indian former professional snooker player. He participated on the World Snooker Tour for the 2007–08 season, and between 2011 and 2018. He reached a highest world ranking of 49. Mehta participated in the final of a ranking event for the first time at the 2013 Indian Open where he played Ding Junhui, but lost 0–5.
  
  Mehta has several medals at the Asian and World Games. He won the gold at the men's event at the 2013 World Games, and the team event at the 2009 Asian Games. Mehta compiled a total of 41 century breaks whilst on tour, the highest of which was at the 2014 Paul Hunter Classic where he made his first ever maximum break in competition. (Full article...)
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  Remal before its landfall on 26 May

  
  Severe Cyclonic Storm Remal was a tropical cyclone that affected West Bengal and Bangladesh in late May 2024. The was the first depression and the first cyclonic storm of the 2024 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, it originated from a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal and became a cyclonic storm on 25 May. Moving northwards, it intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and reached its peak intensity on 26 May, beginning its landfall process over Bangladesh. It continued moving inland on 27 May losing its convection while northeast of Dhaka. Its center became ragged as it weakened into a depression. On 28 May, it degenerated into a low-pressure area over Meghalaya.
  
  In preparation of the cyclone, multiple airports and ports were closed and their operation temporarily suspended across India and Bangladesh. 800,000 residents in Bangladesh and 110,000 residents in West Bengal, residing primarily in coastal areas, were evacuated further inland, and 4,000 storm shelters were readied in Bangladesh. In India, 12 National Disaster Response Force teams were deployed. (Full article...)
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  Satya is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language crime film, produced and directed by Ram Gopal Varma; written by Saurabh Shukla and Anurag Kashyap. It stars J. D. Chakravarthy, Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpayee, alongside Saurabh Shukla, Aditya Shrivastava, Paresh Rawal, and Shefali Shah. It is the first of Varma's Gangster trilogy about organised crime in India. The film follows Satya (Chakravarthy), an immigrant who comes to Mumbai looking for a job, befriends Bhiku Mhatre (Bajpayee) and is drawn into the Mumbai underworld.
  
  Varma initially planned to make an action film but decided to make a film focusing on felonies after meeting some criminals. He hired Kashyap and Shukla to write the film and opted to use lesser-known actors. The soundtrack and score were composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and Sandeep Chowta, respectively, while the lyrics were written by Gulzar. Its early cinematography was done by Gerard Hooper, who was replaced by Mazhar Kamran. The film was shot in Mumbai on a budget of ₹2.5 crore (US$260,000). (Full article...)
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  Businessman is a 2012 Indian Telugu-language action crime film directed and written by Puri Jagannadh and produced by R. R. Venkat under the banner R. R. Movie Makers. It is based from a concept by Ram Gopal Varma and stars an ensemble cast featuring Mahesh Babu, Kajal Aggarwal, Prakash Raj, Nassar, Sayaji Shinde, Raza Murad, Subbaraju and Brahmaji. In the film, Vijay Surya arrives at Mumbai with aspirations to rule the city due to his grudge against the corrupt system in the country, but begins to face violent challenges from the cops and his enemies.
  
  S. Thaman composed the music, while Shyam K. Naidu and M. S. Rajashekhar Reddy (S. R. Shekhar) handled the cinematography and editing. The film was made with a budget of ₹40 crore and was launched formally on 15 August 2011 in Hyderabad. Principal photography began on 2 September 2011 and was shot in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Goa. A few song sequences were shot in Bangkok. Filming ended on 10 December 2011 in 74 working days, making as one of the shortest periods in which a Telugu film has been shot. (Full article...)

News

29 September 2026 – Somali Civil War

Five crew members aboard the MT Honour 25 are killed and four more injured by the pirates before the rescue. The fatalities are three citizens of Pakistan and one each from India and Myanmar. It is the first time in over a decade that people are killed by the pirates. (Al Jazeera)

29 September 2026 –

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issues two recalls for more than 25,000 bottles of chlorthalidone, a diuretic antihypertensive drug, created by Indian-based Inventia Healthcare Limited, due to faulty dissolution times in the human body. (USA Today)

28 September 2026 –

Eighty-one people in Uttar Pradesh, India, and 21 more in Nepal are killed during heavy floods and landslides in the past three days. (Euronews)

The government of Delhi, India, announces a six-week construction ban from December 10 to January 20, along with traffic restrictions, staggered office hours, and higher parking fees, as part of measures to reduce winter air pollution. (AFP via Gulf Times)

26 September 2026 –

India's Election Commission orders a review of its voter-roll software after concerns arise over changes that excluded millions of voters. A committee will examine whether the software complied with election laws and rules. (Reuters)

Did you know...

• ... that a viral video by an Indian influencer resulted in the sugar content of Bournvita being cut by almost 15 percent?
• ... that Indian film editor A. Sreekar Prasad holds a record for editing films in 17 different languages?
• ... that Indian member of parliament Hira Singh Chinaria died in his seat after delivering a speech?
• ... that dal puri, a national dish in multiple countries, was introduced by Indian indentured labourers?
• ... that Indian activist V. V. Dravid moved to Indore to build a textile workers' union, spent one and a half years in jail there, and later represented the city at the state's legislative assembly?
• ... that the Indian emperor Jahangir was so amazed by the emaciated condition of a dying nobleman that he ordered a court artist to create a painting of him?

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