Table Of Contents
- 1. Why India?
- 2. India Leading the Digital Revolution
- 3. India - Economic Development, History and International Relations
Why India?
Abstract
India has the world's second largest population and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. India has a promising future, given the unprecedented growth in economy and its clout in the global issues.
India is now riding on the wave of a gigantic boom in computer driven new economy. Many developed countries of the world are seeking the huge pool of English speaking talented software professionals in India.
As the world is transforming towards knowledge society, India too is moving proportionately competing with the world.
With the increase of Internet users and the advancement of information and communication technology in India had boasted the development towards e-commerce in global economic society.
In IT sector India is booming as a super power. In the last few years India has made rapid strides in the IT sector especially in the software services and IT enabled services. In this paper we analyses the picture of IT industry in a very near future in India & contribution of India in world's Information Technology Sector.
Introduction
From the 1950s, IBM had a virtual monopoly of computers in India. The 360 series release in 1960s was the major workhouse of the large organizations.
They even maintained a chain of programmers who could write down software's for their machines. However in 1978, when George Fernandes, ministry of industries at that time, commanded IBM to take local shareholders into its subsidiary, the company refused strictly and went back after winding up its all operations in India. Its ex-employees then set up Computer Maintenance Corporation, with the primary object of maintaining IBM computers.
During the period of 1995-2000, the Indian IT Industry has recorded a C.A.G.R. (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of more than 42.4 percent, which is almost double the growth rate of IT industries in many of the developed countries. For Details contact AMCHAM National Secretariat, New Delhi Foreign companies particularly American companies have played a vital role in making India an emerging IT super power in the world. These MNCs account for nearly 22 per cent of Indian software exports. According to the latest NASSCOM estimates, in 2001-02, multinational infotech companies exported software worth Rs. 6500 crore from India. Country's total software export was pegged at Rs. 29400 crore. In terms of investment and growth, U.S. companies like Cognizant Technologies (largest export revenue earning MNC) IBM, Oracle, GE, Cisco, Compaq, Intel amongst others lead the MNCs in the Information Technology sector. Nine out of top 20 Indian IT firms are from United States. These account for over 37% of the turnover of the top 20 firms operating in India. Despite their significant contribution to the IT sector, these companies have to face a number of procedural and operational problems in India.
However, the volume of e-commerce, in India, is far below the levels achieved in USA, which was about 1 percent of the total GDP in 1999.
Further, the expected volume of e-commerce in India in 2001 (US$ 255.3 million) is also below the levels expected to be achieved, which in comparison to Australia (US$ 3 billion), China (US$ 586 million), South Korea (US$ 876 million) and Hong Kong (US$685 million) is quite less.
Time has changed the way businesses are carried out. What was supposed to be known to few and limited to the home towns, appears to be an ancient methodology of carrying out the work. The present day brands work on world wide scale, that is they are successful in not just one particular region but have deepened their roots to all the corners in the globe that you can think of.
Information Technology is what constitutes the most important sector in the present day trend of carrying out business. It is because you can not be present everywhere to monitor the work, but with networking and communications, you can always stay in contact with the other business sites of yours.
ICT Approaches of India
A spate of reforms-post-1991 economic crisis-have given impetus to the Indian economy, particularly to the ICT sector. As part of the reform agenda, the Indian Government has taken major steps to promote ICT including the creation in 1988 of a World Market Policy, with a focus on software development for export; telecommunications policy reform; privatization of the national long-distance and mobile phone markets; and development of a more comprehensive approach to ICT.
Although India's success is commanding increasing attention and investment, it has yet to result in the distribution of social and economic benefits across a broader base of the population. Challenges-including the perception of an unfavorable regulatory climate, an overloaded judicial system, poor infrastructure and costly access, and limited use of ICT-remain.
The emerging shift in government strategy, toward knowledge-intensive services, has created a climate more conducive to addressing enterprise, domestic infrastructure, education and the use of ICT to meet development needs.
Policy: India's focus on self-reliant industrialization in the 1970s and 1980s has been replaced with reforms aimed at positioning India in the world economy: the foreign direct investment process has been streamlined, new sectors have been opened up to foreign direct investment and ownership, and the government has exempted the ICT industry from corporate income tax for five years. These reforms have helped India to become increasingly integrated into the global economy through growth in the export of software and skill-intensive software services, such as call-centers.
In 1986, the Indian government announced a new software policy designed to serve as a catalyst for the software industry. This was followed in 1988 with the World Market Policy and the establishment of the Software Technology Parks of India (STP) scheme. As a result, the Indian software industry grew from a mere US$150 million in 1991-1992 to a staggering US$5.7 billion (including over US$4 billion worth of software exports) in 1999-2000-representing an annual growth rate of over 50 percent.
The establishment of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was a key step towards effective implementation of telecommunications reforms. In 1992, the mobile phone market was opened up to private operators, in 1994 the fixed services market followed, and finally in 1999, national long distance operations were opened to private competition. Prior to these reforms, the Department of Telecommunications had been the sole provider of telecommunications services.
In addition, to attract foreign direct investment, the government permitted foreign equity of up to 100 percent and duty free import on all inputs. Government-created technology parks also offered professional labor services to clients, a cost-effective program for India since ICT labour is so inexpensive by global standards.
Infrastructure: Teledensity in India has reached 3.5 percent of the population. Approximately 1 percent of households have fixed line connections, compared to 10 percent in China. The mobile sector has approximately 3 million users, growing at 100 percent per annum, and is expected to outstrip the fixed line market in the near future.
The number of Internet accounts is around 1.5 million, growing at 50 percent per annum. India also has very high penetration rates of terrestrial TV, cable and radio. Voice and data wireless solutions, for both domestic and export markets, are increasingly produced and used locally.
Access to telephones in Indian villages has improved in the last five to six years through the introduction of the Public Call Office (PCO) run by local shopkeepers. More than 60 percent of the villages in India have at least one phone. This also includes over 800,000 Village Public Telephones (VPTs). Worldtel is undertaking a pilot in four states to secure financing to upgrade the Village Public Telephones so they will soon be Internet-accessible.
In some urban locations, India's Software Technology Parks (STPs) provide infrastructure, buildings, electricity, telecommunications facilities and high-speed satellite links to facilitate export processing of software.
India also has a number of progressive computerized networks in place, including a stock exchange, the Indian Railways Passenger Reservation System, and the National Informatics Centre Network (NICNET), which connects government agencies at the central, state and district levels.
Enterprise: India's well-established framework for protecting intellectual property rights has been an important inducement to business investment: well-known international trademarks have been protected by Indian laws, even when they were not registered in India. In 1999, major legislation was passed to protect intellectual property rights in harmony with international practices and in compliance with India's obligations under TRIPS.
Much of the initial domestic demand stimulus for ICT and ICT services industries in India has come from government: 28 percent of total IT spending to date can be attributed to government and public sector expenditure.
Major areas of government expenditure include: financial services, taxation, customs, telecommunications, education, defense and public infrastructure.
As a result of the growth in ICT use in India, the ICT industry itself has also increased its domestic economic activity, for example, a number of ICT companies have developed accounting and word processing packages in Indian languages.
The potential impact of this growth on the domestic economy is much broader than developing software for export only.
Human Capacity: In spite of relatively low literacy rates among the general population, India has several key advantages in human capital: a large English-speaking population and world-class education, research and management institutions-a direct result of investment in self-reliance in science and technology.
In addition to establishing Indian Institutes of Technology in various cities around India to create a large pool of technical skills, the government has a computer policy to encourage R&D in personal computers.
The IT training sector continues to grow at a rapid rate: total training revenues in 1998 were estimated at US$225 million, 30 percent up on the previous year. However, one of the biggest challenges to the Indian software industry remains the difficulty in attracting and retaining talented professionals.
Content and Applications: India has a large population with great linguistic diversity. Creating and maintaining locally relevant content for a country with 418 languages is a challenge. Nevertheless, local language content is slowly making ICT more relevant and accessible to a broader cross-section of the population.
For example, India's Center for Development of Advanced Computing has recently launched a scheme called iLEAP-ISP to create a free multilingual word processor to be made available to all Internet subscribers.
On other fronts, some states such as Tamil Nadu have launched their own initiatives to support the standardization of local language software through interface programs that can be adapted to word processors, dictionaries, and commercial keyboards for use in schools, colleges, government offices and homes.
An emphasis has also been placed on the development of relevant e-government applications in India. Some states such as Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have started to introduce applications which allow citizens to have faster and more transparent access to government services-for example, the provision of information on laws and regulations, and the procuring of licenses and official documents online.
Strategic Compact: Public-private partnerships, catalyzed by the IT Ministry, have played a key role in India's ICT-related development.
One of the positive results of this effort has been the IT Act of 2000, which was based on the recommendation of the National IT Task Force, and aims to set the overall strategy for the IT sector. In addition, the government and the private sector are starting to come together to foster ICT development. For example, a joint effort by the Computer Science Automation Department at the Indian Institute of Science and a Bangalore-based private company have developed Simputer-a cheap micro-computer that enables illiterate users to browse the Internet.
India's development and contribution in world's information technology sector is of highest reputation. Cities like Bangalore have become the favorite(most preferred) destinations of all the big banners like HSBC, Dell, Microsoft, GE, Hewlett Packard, and several Indian multi national firms like Infosys Technologies, Wipro, and Microland who have set up their offices in the city. It is because the city offers good infrastructure, with large floor space and great telecom facilities.
This can be judged on the basis of the high growth statistics of India and the changing outlook of the companies towards India .
It is because of this growth many popular brands that have not yet build up there rigid offices in the country are making it fast to have a destination in India too.
For example, Sun Microsystems, a global IT major, announced in Bangalore to double the present workforce of the company's Sun India Engineering Center (IEC) from the present 1000 to 2000 in the next two years time. IEC, which is the largest R&D center for Sun outside the US , would also focus on developing products in India to suit the needs of the Indian market, which would be benchmarked globally.
This speedy growth of IT Sector is undoubtedly due to the efforts of Indian government and the other developments that took in the other parts of the globe.
The country has seen an era when after the IBM shutted its shop in India in 1950, the mainframes that were imported into the country were all from Russia . Western computer could not be imported because of an American embargo on export of high-technology equipment to India , which was considered an ally of the Soviet Union .
Slowly, with the time the country could develop its first powerful parallel computer in 1991 known as CDAC, by connecting together a string of less powerful computers.
With time and the continuous growth across the world, the country continued struggling and came up as the world leader in Information Technology Sector.
The industry has grown up to US $ 5.7 billion (including over $4 billion worth of software exports) in 1999-2000, with the annual growth rate not sliding below 50 percent since 1991.
It exports software and services to nearly 95 countries around the world.
The share of North America ( U.S. & Canada ) in India 's software exports is about 61 per cent.
The Indian labor is not only cheap but is technically skilled too to the world class level. It is due to the Indian Education System that includes in its course curriculum the practical knowledge of the latest technology that is developed in world along with the fluency in English Language that imparts compatibility in an Indian technician to communicate and work through out the world.
Further the geographical location of India serves it the advantage of being exactly halfway round the world from the US west coast, which is another reason why India is preferred destination of many big brands.
Also, The presence of a large number of Indians, especially engineers, in the US gave India an easy entry into the US software market.
What adds more to the dominance of India in Information Technology Sector is the government policies like the enactment of cyber laws to protect and safeguard the interest of software companies in India .
Setting up of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), by the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India and the International Technology Park in a joint project by the State Government, the TATA Group and the Singapore Consortium to promote and facilitate the software exports is another major step towards the growth of Indian Information Technology Sector.
Similarly an industrial park, known as Electronic City , was set up in 1991 takes more than a hundred electronic industries including Motorola, Infosys, Siemens, ITI, and Wipro, in an area of around 330 acres.
The Export Promotion Industrial Park , built near International Technology Park , gives an exclusive 288 acres of area for export oriented business.
GE has its India Technology Center located at this park and employs hundreds of multi disciplinary technology development activities.
The other promotional activities that brought up India to this position include the IT Corridor project. Conceptualized by Singapore 's Jurong Town Corporation Private Ltd, the IT corridor Project was initiated by the Department of IT and the Bangalore Development Authority in order to develop state of the art facilities for the development of knowledge based industries.
Thought's of some World's IT leaders about India
"Economic growth will force better governance, and better governance will feed more economic growth"
SV, NYC, USA
The people and communities at large feel that they don't have the ability to make a difference
Juzar Singh Sangha, Bedford
India has to take more care of the village population who are still struggling to live properly
John Karondukadavil, India, Living in Poland, Jaslo
India can become a superpower if she concentrates on the technology market niche
Devyani Prabhat, Jersey City, USA
India must counter its skills and wage crisis
Pallavi, Sydney, Australia
Hopefully India will lead the world towards a more humane and tolerant future
Nilesh, Antwerp, Belgium
India needs to take strong and clear cut decisions to emerge as a global player
Nivedita Nadkarni, Madison, USA
India is a country gaining economic ground in the world
Justin, Bristol, UK
Indians now have to develop a sense of national pride
Leila, USA
India will never be a superpower, much less a global power
Jonathan, Boston, USA
India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV infections
Sezai, Eskisehir, Turkey
India's economic success is built on the sacrifices of previous generations
Shekhar Scindia, Edison, NJ, USA
While India's economic growth is encouraging, its sustainability is doubtful
Sigismond Wilson, Sierra Leonean in Michigan, USA
Conclusion
India is a perfect solution for all those companies, which seek for cheap, yet technically skilled labor who have innovative minds and state of art to work over a project. The ample of facilities provide in a perfect working conditions. For rest, cyber laws are there to monitor and safeguard everyone's interest related to IT sector.
All these reasons contribute for India to be as the most adored destination to many companies. . So we can conclude:
•India poised for an explosive growth in ICT
•India emerging as a global R&D Hub
•From brain drain to brain gain
•Millions of jobs will be created in ICT & other emerging technology areas
•Quality issues will have to be addressed
•Private Sector world class institutions will emerge with global collaborations
•India will reclaim its ancient heritage of the world's most advanced knowledge-based civilization called "Bharat".
India will become Warehouse of IT in the world
India Leading the Digital Revolution
Today India is - Digital India, all thanks to our Prime Minister of India- Narendra Modi
This campaign has made the country digitally empowered in the area of technology. The regulated government of India has made his grounds over making the availability of government services electronically.
The enhanced online infrastructure and by extending Internet connectivity has eased the work of citizen. In 25 years, there have been lots of advanced changes in India, it is leading the digital revolution. The level of poverty in India has been a drop from 22% in 2012 to 16% in 2022 even after the essential growth in population.
Introduction to the Digital Revolution of 2022
Digital Revolution is all regarding developing for better tomorrow. This change can have an influential impact in different ways on different societies, economies and above all humanity.
Not only that, but digitalization also modified the way information scattered across different sectors of the globe. Giving grounds for businesses to move forward beyond the national markets to other markets, thereby leading international markets, enhancing the interconnection of the world.
One of the signs of these shifting flows is the digital revolution in India that has been catching grip since smartphones and 4G st*eaming have grown commonplace within urban areas including many rural areas too. There are more than 200 million smartphone users and 550 million internet subscribers live in India in 2022.
This trend is being advanced by important rural-to-urban movement as poor villagers explore opportunities in India's advanced cities.
From 2014 the Indian government has taken active participation in bringing digitalization by various measures.
Such an example is demonetization, it has gained global attention has been associated with short-term job losses and economic slowdown.
However, it also shows compliance for government leadership to drive India's digital transformation.
Looking into the factors of the digital revolution from 2014 India has grown to some other level of grounds, our government of India has taken various Digital Initiatives like e- payment, digital literacy and many more.
Digital initiatives of government
India has moved forward, in all sincerity, to growing an essential engine of the world economy, we are on the edge of a transformative opportunity for the country to gain global leadership.
The country is experiencing a digital revolution that is triggering transformative developments in areas like e-payments, digital literacy, financial inclusion, geographic mapping, rural development, much more. So, let us discuss all the factors which have been updated from 2014 to 2022.
GI Cloud Program
This program is also known Meghraj, this is initiated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The program intends to make a multi-level, national cloud-sharing foundation giving affordable, secure and safe data storage for all. The cloud erases financial boundaries and generates growth by services and product.
Giving affordable options to own the expensive hardware needed for data storage. It is a robust catalyst for new- businesses, start-ups and non-profit organizations.
This initiative is more for the poor and underprivileged.
Aims to render digital service to more people who usually not be ready to enter the digital world. Reaching digital services can play a tremendous role in overcoming poverty.
Market Changes
Government strategy is not the only driving constituent of the digital revolution in India. Changes in consumer refinements and function lie at the centre of the movement. India now makes up the biggest YouTube audience by country globally.
Besides, Indians' immense st*eaming habits win them another amount one ranking for monthly data usage, with smartphone users cooking through an average of 8.48 gigabytes per month.
Already many are expecting new market openings by India's increasing st*eaming project. Global powerhouses Google, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix are all reportedly competing for a post in this emerging industry.
Online labour
Now, this is something not everyone knows about it.
This very graceful initiative of the Indian government. Online Labour Index (OLI) to state that India forms 24 % of the online labour market share (as of 2017), generating employment openings for software developers, data entry operators, online sales, and creative professionals.
E-commerce
There are various job openings in the logistics sector because of the e-commerce industry is expanding with new services on the supplier view.
There is an expectation that in 2020 the e-commerce market will increase from at yearly rate f 51 % from Rs 2,484.9 billion in 2017 to Rs 8,526.5 billion. Also, offers the potential for jobs inked to warehouse management, content developers, and marketing professionals.
Investing sector
By Digital revolution, industries like stocks, mutual funds and other securities will develop more open to the crowds. It will not be a thought reserved for the urban states only.
Think today, even small villagers just by a few taps phone can invest in companies that are market. The digital revolution is for the mutual fund industry as well there are various choices for more active digital verification of KYC in mutual funds.
Nowadays mutual funds are available online and one can easily apply their form or application realted to it. Get KYC done with 5-10 minutes.
Aggregator model
Digital marketplaces have developed as a way to operate India's large army of blue-collar workforce.
The appearance of technology authorised aggregator business rules in sectors such as cab services, food delivery, hotel bookings and home service specialists has grown new jobs in India.
Technology start-ups
The digital revolution has provided a great opportunity for digital market-places as many start-ups are there which are building employment options.
The number of tech start-ups in India has grown by 12-15% during the 2014-19 period, extending the requirement of new job positions in the fields of Big Data, analytics and cloud computing.
Also, there has been an expansion in jobs in the area of cybersecurity, social media services, and mobile application development.
The government led by Prime Minister Modi has identified the great potential of startups in changing the economy and unleashing tech-driven conversion. Besides favourable policies, the government shall try to examine more ideas to increase participation of India's startups in the digital conversion.
Today there are about to 21,000 startups in India, out of which about 9,000 are technology startups. Several of these are unicorns, holding a cost of over a billion dollars.
Make in India and Digital India programmes
The adoption of technologies like cloud platforms and applications has added significantly to our digital momentum.
The Make in India and Digital India programmes have now chosen cloud and other digital disruptors to assist in developing a new and comprehensive nation.
The cloud is an open fit for swiftly developing economies. India assists in removing obstacles to costly technology, building opportunities for new services.
Also, products by supporting small businesses, start-ups and NPO.
Further, it allows collaboration and knowledge-sharing among academia the business world NGOs and the immense swathes of the Indian population that will benefit our farmers, rural entrepreneurs and artisans.
Education sector
Education is always the first initiative and aims for government. There are multiple schemes in the education sector. Let's discuss them one by one.
SWAYAM- Its full form is Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds. This scheme was outlined to reach the 3 main sources of Education Policy which access, equity and quality.
This digital scheme not only brings education at the doorstep of many students but also tries to link the digital divide as students who cannot enter mainstream or formal education can reach this application. The scheme gives a chance for students to reach courses taught in classrooms from 9th standard to post-graduation, that can be given by anyone, anywhere at any time.
e-PATHSHALA- This digital scheme broadcasts all educational content by the website and mobile app. This scheme launched by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and National Council of Educational Research and Training.
Mid-Day Meal Monitoring App/ Shaala Sidhi/ Shaala Darpan- 3 of them centres on the quality of school administration and assess the schools and Kendriya Vidyalas to enhance the status of education.
OLABS- The online labs promote research skills for school lab experiments give students the security of conducting experiments over the internet.
Fo higher education Government has the National Scholarship Portal, eGranthalya and National Knowledge Network.
These digital actions not only look at developing the sector of education but are reaching out in delivering education to the needy, thus using the digital revolution to bridge the gap among haves and have-nots of education.
Digital literacy programme for rural adults
Around than 15 crore rural households are not having computers. A notable amount of these households are likely to be digitally uneducated.
The Pradhan Mantri Grameen Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) b will cover 6 crore households in rural areas to be digitally educated.
Health services
The health sector is much needed for a safe and healthy future of society. Digital AIIMS a plan that intends to build an efficient interrelation among UIDAI and AIIMS. The 'e-hospitals' scheme i.e. an open-source health management system.
Agriculture sector
When India is becoming digital what our farmers also get the benefit of it. Some of the schemes in the farming sector include:
mkisan
farmer portal
Kisan Suvidha app
Pusa Krishi
Soil Health Card app
eNAM
Crop Insurance Mobile APP
Agri Market app
Fertilizer Monitoring App
Women safety
Looking to women's safety, applications like 'Nirbhaya app' and 'Himmat app' have been started that helps to send of distress calls. Nirbhaya is a mobile phone app rendered by Uttar Pradesh Police in India that is created to improve the safety of women. Delhi Police in its initiative for women safety has started a mobile application named as HIMMAT (Courage).
Introduction of GST( Goods and service tax)
Growth of GDP due to GST. It has helped in reducing tax rates, eliminate multiple point taxation, and develop revenues. Essentially, a uniform tax system has made India a common market and expand trade, business, and export.
E-payments
Bharat Interface for Money-Unified Payment Interface (BHIM UPI), with over 600 million sales 2022 alone, is the fortitude combining all banks and consumers and is being front-ended by many national and international digital programs. Paytm, Google Pay, Amazon pay etc all are setting their levels in the world of digitalization.
Ways of identification as a resident of India
Goverment of India newly gave a policy drive to secure that no Indian remains without a unique identity. Today, 99% of Indian adults have an Aadhaar identification number. The government further interlinked the status system with bank accounts and mobile numbers, appearing in the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-mobile phone) trinity. JAM has shifted the fundamental digital design ushering in holistic economic inclusion.
Challenges for the future
Being the world's fastest-growing economy, India's main challenge is to guarantee the smooth distribution of that growth over income levels. Digital technology gives the highest potential for decreasing the gap between wealthy and poor customers.
But suggests, building comprehensive digital economies needs the combined action of governments, industry, financiers, and civil society. While the government seems to be moving up, how the private sector and global tech companies will present to equal Indian growth continues to be recognised.
What we see are the real changes that the digital revolution in India is holding on the economic growth of the country. If this remains, India should view a notable reduction in overall poverty rates accompanying economic development.
Conclusion
Since 2014, a slew of policy dimensions like Digital India, Skill India, Make in India, Startup India, and 'Smart Cities' have been revealed, while operating to eliminate bureaucratic red tape and secure the country more investor-friendly. India has jumped towards digital conversion. Its benefits in leveraging digital technologies for changing governance and the lives of every Indian.
"DIGITAL EQUALITY WILL ENSURE OVERALL EQUALITY"
India - Economic Development, History and International Relations
India and Indian civilization have played a major part in human development, world history and international relations. With roughly 1.2 billion people, India is the world's largest democracy and second largest country by population. In recent decades, rapid economic growth and globalization have led to higher living standards and greater integration with the world economy. From 1980 to 2010, India's Human Development Index (HDI) rose by 62 percent, and life expectancy at birth in India increased from 42.4 to 63.7 years from 1960 to 2008.
Economic Growth, Development and Mega-Cities
India's rapid economic growth and development is accompanied by the dramatic rise and growth of so-called mega-cities. People across India and other developing countries flock to cities and urban areas in search of greater opportunity and higher living standards. The fruits of their labors and the economic advantages of cities' financial, human and social capital help fuel India's development and urbanization.
India will have more than 68 cities with populations of more than one million people by 2030, and more than 40 percent of Indians will live in cities of greater than one million people by 2025 according to the McKinsey Global Institute.
Indian Society, Culture and Language
India's society is organized by a hierarchical caste system of four tiers: priests (Brahmins), warriors (kshatriyas), creators of wealth (vaishyas) and laborers and peasants (shudras). A fifth group has long been excluded from the formal caste system for performing dirty jobs that previously branded them as "untouchables." Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi was a leading champion of the poor and untouchables, whom he renamed harijan ("children of god") and also go by the term dalits ("the oppressed"). Economic development has gradually chipped away at some of the rigidities of India's class structure.
India is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country. As of 2001, 29 languages were spoken by more than one million people in India, and more than 122 languages were spoken by at least 10,000 people. India's primary and secondary official languages are Hindi and English, respectively.
History - Colonization, Independence and Partitioning
India's commercial opportunities attracted companies from Portugal, the Netherlands, England, France and Denmark. The most famous of these outfits, the British East India Company, was chartered by Queen Elizabeth on December 31, 1600. By 1668, the British East India Company had leased the enclave of Bombay. The East India Company's settlement at Fort William eventually became Calcutta (present-day Kolkata).
British forces succeeded in putting down the so-called Indian Mutiny or First War of Independence, which began with their own Indian soldiers revolting against the cow and pig grease used on new r*fle cartridges. India officially became a British colony in 1858 when the British army put down the rebellion, and the British crown assumed administration of India.
The resistance of Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress to British rule eventually led to the Government of India Act of 1935. India finally achieved full independence when the Indian subcontinent was officially partitioned into the separate nation states of India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947.
Politics and Democracy in India
India became the world's largest democracy when it adopted universal suffrage (right to vote) for all adults in 1951 following the enactment of the Constitution for India's "Sovereign Democratic Republic and Union of States" on January 26, 1950.
International Relations and Foreign Policy
India's relationship with Pakistan plays a key part in India's role in international politics and security. The uneasy relationship between India and Pakistan can be traced back to the post-WWII partitioning of the India subcontinent, ongoing territorial disputes, particularly over Kashmir, and divided cultural allegiances between Hinduism and Islam. The goals of maintaining peace and stability and preventing any escalation of nuclear armaments guide many countries' foreign policies in the region, particularly those of the U.S. and other highly developed, western nations.